The turtles and Aina rode inside the Turtle Tank down the streets, wearing their protective suits in their own colors.
Donnie sat beside Aina on his computer, while Raph drove the Turtle Tank and Mikey and Leo sat in the very front.
"Donnie, I need an update," Mikey called.
"Okay, one more time: Baron Draxum created ooze and put it in carrier bugs that bite people and turn them into mutants, and for some reason, it’s up to us to stop the whole situation," Donnie explained the situation that had happened early on.
"No, I need an update on my phone," Mikey said.
"Focus," Raph firmly stated. "The news said this hotel was full of oozesquitoes. We’re suited up, so let’s get down to business."
They soon arrived at a tall hotel, where dozens of people ran out of the lobby. They jumped inside with their bug weapons ready.
The oozequitoes are everywhere in the hotel lobby, apart from no one else in there.
"Okay, bugs, it’s just you and us," Raph pointed his bugger zapper at them.
"And me," a man dressed in a red bellhop outfit popped up from behind the desk. "I’m here, too."
They all blink at him, wondering why he was still there when everyone else evacuated. Leo steps over to him.
"Do not fear, sir. We are unlicensed amateurs, and we have this situation mildly under control."
"Ugh, your skin's all green!" He exclaims in disgust.
"Relax, sir, it's a perfectly normal side effect of all the chemicals we use," Leo explains, as they rehearsed to say that in case someone suspects their looks.
"That's right," Aina calls as she steps behind Leo, "and they are highly dangerous, so if you could just stay right here." She follows after Leo, leaving the bellhop confused as he's never heard of any chemicals that turn peoples' skin green. And not only that, but Aina was still a human...but he waved it off.
"Alright, remember the plan," Raph orders as he's standing in front of them. "We trap and smash," He punches a fist. "Zap, smash. Bash, smash!"
Unfortunately, when he turns around, he knocks a vase off a table.
"Ah, no!" The bellhop panics, jumping and catching it with his hands. "No, no! No! Don't break anything! The boss'll have my hide!" Two oozesquitoes fly near him and he screams, running away from them.
"I say we revise Raph's plan to make sure this guy doesn't get mutated," Leo jerks a thumb at the bellhop, who's trying to fend off the oozesquitoes.
"Stick to the plan," Raph warns him. "If we capture the oozesquitoes, nobody gets mutated. Alright? Mikey, you're up."
"Roger, Skipper!" Mikey salutes at him. "Honey-based distraction released!" He releases some honey onto him from his shell. "I'm so sweet, baby!" He strikes a pose as the words 'mmm, mmm, tasty!' appear above him. "Come get me!" He shakes his butt as he attracts some of the bugs over to him. The bellhop sees Mikey making a mess.
"No, no, no!" He catches a lamp that was about to fall. If anything breaks, it'll be his fault and he might get fired! "Hey, be careful!" He catches another vase, falling onto the ground. He stands up, glaring at them. "No no, gentle." He sees Raph swinging his zapper around, tiptoeing to a statue, which has an oozesquito on top of it. "No, no!"
"Zappin' like a-" The bellhop covers the statue from Raph and gets zapped instead, falling onto the ground.
"Not me, the bugs!"
"Get behind me," Leo stands in front of the bellhop, holding something that spews gas. "My trusty catanoxious gas will save you!" The bellhop holds his breath.
"Leo, you're wasting it! We need that for the bugs!" Raph exclaims at him.
"I'm protecting this guy!" Leo retorts back and they start fighting.
Donnie eyes a bug flying around and keeps watch over it. "Okay, bugs, check in time is now a clock," He throws a purple sphere, which traps the bug. "Yesssss!" Donnie pumps a fist and gets the sphere, laughing. A camera is watching him from behind, which he doesn't notice. The bug tries to escape, which breaks the sphere and releases it.
"Cowabunga!" Mikey leaps towards Donnie and crashes into him, activating something from Donnie's suit. The same sphere traps them both inside and they move around like a pinball. They fly towards the other two, trapping them inside as well. Amy's axe turns into a bow and arrow. She grabs an arrow and prepares to trap an oozesquito...until the sphere trap bounces towards her and she's trapped as well. They're all covered in honey due to Mikey.
"Plan is really coming in together, Raph," Leo states sarcastically. "No more hunting next plan."
Meanwhile, Aina is in another part of the lobby as she puts her idea into play.
She pulled out a jar with a golden-green substance glued in the middle and held it up in the air. A few oozesquitoes became attracted to the substances and flew in the jar.
Aina closed the jar tightly and sighed in content.
As much as she has to help them, right now, she needs to get the other oozesquitoes.
A few more flew into the jar and licked at the sweet golden substance. She closed the jar tightly like the first one and placed them on her side.
"I’m so glad that you’re the only one who is not making a mess in here," the bellhop called to her from a meter.
"I'm a lot more patient that they are when it comes to times like these," she gestured herself and smiled.
Aina then saw the four turtles trapped in Donnie’s trapped and coated in honey.
"Donnie said that bugs like this one are attracted to sweet substances," she mumbled to herself. "I'll need to thank him for this."
As she pulled out another jar with the same substance, she saw out of the corner of her eye Donnie and Mikey trapped in the intelligent turtle’s trap and rolling around. She holds back a snicker which turned into a cruel smile.
The bellhop sighs in relief that nothing is broken. He didn't care if the place was a mess, that could be dealt with easy. He places down the vase and starts dusting it. An oozesquito flies towards him from behind and bites him in the neck.
"Oh! Oh, that's odd," He groans as he mutates into a bull. The camera from before is getting all this footage.
"Hm, so that's how it happens," A woman says in interest. "Oh, his love of beef jerky was his downfall."
The bull goes crazy, running around and knocking down some antiques. He then runs out of the hotel, with the oozesquitoes escaping. A chandelier breaks into pieces as it lands on the rugs.
"Gah, no! Leo, if you'd just listen to me, we would've gotten the bugs and be hosing down Mikey right now," He looks at the honey.
"We did listen to you, Raph, and that persnickety guy was ironically mutated into a clumsy bull," Leo points out.
"Hey, how about we continue this classic Raph-Leo argument outside the trap?" Donnie asks, as he wanted his personal space.
Suddenly, a spark appears and all the turtles are shocked along with Amy. Donnie enlarges the sphere trap, setting them free. Then it shrinks into a star, falling onto the ground. They all stretch their legs, Mikey picks up a vase.
"Look at this mess. We gotta do the right thing, guys...and get out of here," Mikey throws away the vase.
The elevator opens and they whip around. A purple-skinned lady is standing there. She's wearing a dark purple jacket with light purple cuffs, with some green poof on the collar, a brooch on her chest, and a light purple skirt. Her hair is silver and shaped like a bud, and she wears clear lenses on her face.
"Uh oh."
"Omigosh. Humans. Be cool."
Big Mama, Aina thought to herself in fret.
The employees surround her and roll out the red carpet. It rolls all the way to the entrance and they stare, never seeing an entrance like this one from any human. They wonder just who she is. She's escorted to them and jumps onto her feet.
"Well, you've turned my hotel into quite the fizzy winkle!" She smiles slightly, chuckling.
"You sure that was us?" Raph fibs as the others smile nervously. "I tell you what, we totally human exterminators will have our friend pay the usual fee and-"
"Don't fret," She interrupts, shaking her head. "My people will sort out this cracker-doo!" She claps and some workers come out of nowhere, even from an air vent as they start to clean up the damages.
"Well, since you have this under control, we'll be heading back to our human office like humans do," Raph smiles, as this all worked out.
"No need for flim flam. You're amongst your own kind," She gestures to herself. The lady claps again and the human workers press a button from their chest, revealing themselves to be mutants.
"Whoa!" Mikey exclaims as they also press a button, taking off their suits. "Mutants can work here?"
"Mutant? What strange words you use. We prefer to call ourselves yokai. Come, I'll give you the grand tour. Your human friend can come along too, everyone is welcome!" She waves them forward, three of the turtles smiling at her hospitality. Leo had feeling that something was weird here.
Big Mama then saw Aina's cloaking broach and gave an eerie smile. "Aina! Is that you? Why are you in your human form?" She exclaimed as she pointed to the broach. "Feel free to turn into a yokai!"
Aina tapped her broach and changed into her turtle form, making Big Mama's eyes widened. "You look quite the dazzer!" She gasped, clasping her hands. "It's been so long!"
"Not long enough." Aina muttered under her breath. Just as Big Mama was about to get closer, Leo got in front of Aina. "Um, exactly how do you know Aina?" He asked sceptically.
"Oh, she used to be a delighted guest here a few months ago!" Big Mama said gleefully.
"Okay," Leo calls out as his brothers start walking. "Anyone else think we shouldn't follow a stranger we just met into who knows what now? She said Aina was hear a few months ago! That was how long Draxum had her!" He exclaimed as he was confirming his suspicions.
"He has a point guys! We need to leave!" Aina agreed, making the rest groan at them.
"She's a nice lady, guys. What's not to trust?" Raph replies, Aina scoffing at him as they walk forward without her.
They get into the elevators and Aina looks around at all the brass.
"Yokai, number five, please," Bug Mama says to a pigeon dressed like a concierge.
"Yes Big Mama!" He chirps. "Welcome, gentle-turtles and lady, to the best hotel in town!" He releases some energy, changing the interior to green, with an eye looking down at them. Ajna shivers uncomfortably and 'Big Mama' places her hands on her shoulders.
"It's so good to have you back dearie!" She said before giggling excitedly.
The concierge pulls a lever and the doors open at their floor.
"Whoa..."
"Whoa."
"Awesome!"
It's a casino filled with mutants, and they're all acting like as if they're regular human customers. "Ugh," Aima deadpans when she ducks her head at the familiar sight.
"Draxum created everyone in here?" Raph wonders, questioning just how many mutants he's been the cause of...
"Draxum? Whatever is a Draxum?" She turns to look at them.
"I'm sorry, you've never heard of Baron Draxum? Tall, ugly dude with talking gargolyes for shoulder pads?" Leo raises an eyebrow. Oozesquitoes were the only way to turn all these people into mutants, and with her high status, it's a little weird that she wouldn't know him. "Likes to make mutants in his spare time? None of that rings a bell?"
"Hmm," She thinks as she places a finger on her cheek. "Sounds fascinating. No, we yokai have existed for thousands of eons. Most live in the Hidden City, but my hotel gives them a chance to kick up their flippers and stretch out their holidoes." She snaps her finger and a door dissects to reveal a room that's filled with mutants also, but has spheres overlooking over other areas.
Aina eyes then met a certain door where she stiffened and her tears broke out automatically. Leo was shocked at the girls sudden tear flow and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hey! What's wrong?" He asked soothingly.
"It's just that door.... It brings backs memories." She said shuttering before wiping her tears away.
"You know you can't just cover up the details of you past forever! It's how you can trust people!" Leo explained as he pulled out of the hug with a worried expression.
"Please?"
"I'll tell you later, but thank you." Aina said with a grateful look, before getting back with the others.
Turns out the other Softshell had stayed behind from the group as well, and saw the two turtles hug. It made him jealous before hearing the conversation, which made his stomach turn and twist.
Only when Donnie realized Aina had been here at the hotel, was the moment he made a mental note not to trust Big Mama.
"This place is amazing!" Mikey exclaims, "What is it?"
"Our sporting lounge, where you can take in the ferocious fights at the Battle Nexus," She explains as they look around.
"Hm," Aina hums slightly, as it was a little nice to see once more of how mutants could live regular lives like her...well, not as regular as her life was. Maybe there was hope for them after all.
"Sounds scary," Mikey comments as mutants are in battle somewhere.
"Heavens no," Big Mama turns around to them. "Unless you're put off by blood-curdling battles where warriors are ripped limb from liberty limb." She giggles at her exaggeration, as Aina's narrow.
"Guys, remind me not to ask anymore questions," Mikey whispers to them. As they're exploring, Huginn and Muninn see them, as they were watching the battles too. They're the ones that hang off Baron Draxum's shoulders.
"Oh and did you know that little Aina here had participated in a few fights here! I even seen her and her siblings when she was a little buggy baby!" She explained, grasping onto Aina's shoulders firmly as the Turtle's glare turned into an ashamed expression.
"What?!" The three other turtles gasped as Leo's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, she was quite the warrior down here and even though she ripped a few limbs off, it was only for her own protection! She was definitely the fan favorite." The woman continued.
"Aina," Raph began. "Is it true that you fought here?" Her silence said everything, and right about when Raph could say anything else, Leo stepped in between them. "Leave her alone raph!" He growled.
"It's not her fault she's here and if you want to berate her over something she was forced to do, then we're leaving!" Leo grabbed Aina's wrist and started to make his way to the exit. "C'mon Aina! We're leaving!"
However, before they could get the chance Big Mama had stepped in front of them. "Please don't go! I didn't mean to create a rift between you all. I deeply apologize, and think we should go to my office so I can make it up to you all." Her eyes became sheepish and smile became soft.
Even though her act was good enough to fool some rando' on the streets, Leo wasn't having any of it. However, before he declined, Donnie shoved in front of him.
"I think that would be a great idea!" He answered, sporting a jovial grin, as the Softshell earned a vexing look from his blue clad brother and a look of betrayal from Aina.
"Oh goodie!" Big Mama cheered while clapping. "Come! My office is right this way!"
The slider glared at his brother before he and Aina reluctantly follow.
As they walked by, they didn't notice two familiar gargoyles had spotted them.
"Do those turtles look familiar to you?" Huginn asks, looking at the group.
"I think they do, but I can't be sure," Muninn shrugs cluelessly.
"Well, that's what familiar means," Huginn reminds him, "I think they're the ones who exploded the boss' lab and let all these oozesquitoes loose."
"Oh yeah! I thought I just knew 'em from spin class!" Muninn replies, his partner facepalming and shaking his head.
-/-
Soon, the five are in Big Mama's office, which has a view of some buildings of New York. Aina looks around in awe at the decorations and glamour that was mixed with sadness and fury.
"Here Aina!" Big Mama called. "I still have you chair!" The older woman had pulled out a small home office chair that Aina used to spin around in when she wasn't busy. Aina did take the chair but she scooted it away from Big Mama and from her friends.
The female Softshell positioned herself to look out of the window sill, not paying attention to the rest of the group. Mikey, Donnie and Raph observed her and looked guilty. Yes, they did act very poorly from before, but she didn't tell anyone about her connections with Big Mama, but then again why would she?
"So, this Draxum's 'oozysquitoes' are causing quite the tissle tassle." She looks at photos of the mutant silverfish, Hypno, Meat Sweats, Warren Stone, Todd Capybara, a mutant cockroach, Stewart, Clem, and Repo Mantis. "Creating all these new...'mutants.' Oh, so troubling, gives us yokai a bad name." The images disappear as she turns around. "I prefer a low profile. Excuse me while I slip into something a little more comfortable."
She presses her brooch, and a purple tornado surrounds her.
"Uh oh."
"Oh no."
"Omigosh!"
She turns into a large mutant spider, with seafoam green hair, six eyes, and a large body, shocking the others, but Aina just looked at the form with indifference and looked back out of the window sill.
"Oh, I knew it!" Leo pumps his fist. "Not that specifically, but there had to be something!"
"I see my true form shocks you," She places an arm to her forehead.
"You would hurt a nice spider lady's feelings, wouldn't you?" Raph glares at Leo.
"Boo!" Mikey calls out to them and Leo narrowing his eyes.
"You know, come to think of it," Big Mama states while Leo is crossing his arms, pouting. "Perhaps my webs could be of use in catching the bugs. I have no means to slot them around them, but surely a genius!" She leans in towards Donnie. "Just like you could create a device to capture the bugs."
"Okay, I know what you're doing," Donnie points at her as he comes closer. "You're just trying to flatter me...with the truth! And I love it!"
"Well then," She leans back in her chair, "Allow me." She throws a bucket at Donnie, which hits his head before he catches it. He looks up as she spits her webs at him. He's knocked against the wall, covered in the sticky substance.
"As fascinating as it is," He tries not to throw up, "Hideous...oh, I hate it," He falls onto the ground and the others give a sound of disgust. Raph glances at Big Mama, who's wiping her mouth with a napkin. Amy turns to glare at her while she attends to Donnie to see if he's okay. She had just grossed him out for the sake of a demonstration.
"Once you catch those squitoes, bring them to me and I'll safely turn them to the Hidden City."
"You," Raph points at her. "Got yourself a deal." He chuckles as he walks away, Leo's eye twitching.
"Raph," Leo lean in towards him. "What are we getting ourselves into? In case you haven't noticed, these mystic types have a nasty habit of trying to kill us!"
"You're being crazy," Raph dismisses their suspicious. "She's helping us catch the oozesquitoes! Don't look a gift spider in the mouth."
"Never look in the...mouth," Donnie shudders in horror.
"Uh, Aina, ya comin'?" Raph asked with a hopeful look.
Unfortunately, to dash his hopes away, Aina gave a silent not and leaned in closer to the window ceil. Raph's face fell and Mikey and Donnie had similar guilty looks as well as they walk out the office.
"Draxum actually succeeded in creating artificial yokai. Can you believe that, Nana? It's why you sit up here with me. Heh..... He made a mistake years ago when decided to continue his work. Gonna lose all that respect. He really has sank as low as it can go."
Aina frowned at her choice of words, and the effect they had on her. She knew that people who differed from her own race and in this case species shouldn't be treated as freaks and monsters.
Also she had lived in the Hidden City long enough to learn a lot of things, but sometimes and sure she knew they looked different from humans and their customs and politics were worlds apart from human, but even if some went astray from the ancient code...well they were something that deserved a second chance. Especially if they were created in a lab.
"But I have to say, they can fit in with yokai kind just as the other yokai could." Big got up from her and stood over Aina with an intimateding pose. "And you." Aina felt Big Mama's nail plunge slowly in her chest. "You are almost alike." She muttered.
"You're mother was an old friend of Draxum and mine, but unfortunately our paths differed and we both led astray. She was a nice gentle yokai until Draxum tortured and beaten her for many weeks causing some dreaded trauma. My soul does weep for her." Big Mama's voice was shaking at the last sentence, and Aina couldn't bare to look at the pain in her eyes.
"I'm saddened for you too dearie, you must know that I am truly sorry for putting you in my Nexus." Big Mama had the same sheepish look in her eyes this time, but at for now she wasn't acting.
It might not matter now, Aina thought as she considered the next step for as of now, but her kindness might matter later.
All of a sudden, the spider lady turned back into her human form and kneeled down before the young turtle.
"Could you ever forgive me?"
There was a tug at Aina's hands and she glance to see that Big Mama had grasped her gently into hers. Tears slowly appear in the corner of the yokai's eyes as she laid a soft kiss on the hand she held.
"When you and brother came to visit, it was always such a pleasure to have you both cause a ruckus in the hotel, neither of you ever seen to bore me." Big Mama's voice was so quiet that even if there was someone else in the room, Aina would still be the only one to hear her.
"I forgive you." Aina spoke.
Big Mama then pulled the girl into a deep embrace, which Aina gladly gave back.
"I forgive you, Big Mama."
Big Mama rises of her knees happily and gives her something. "Don't tell your mother." She whispers as she pulls out a mystic sphere.
"This looks like one of those human magic 8 balls, but this can help you find whatever you need!" She said blissfully as she watched the young girl in front of her take the sphere.
"Thank you."
"No problem, dearie."