Evening settled over Dakota and the street where the mech had gone nuclear was still taped off. Flashing lights painted the smoke-stained buildings while cleanup crews hauled twisted metal into trucks. The news vans had staked their territory too. People crowded the sidewalks just to point at the crater.
Two blocks away, J&H&M Pizza was quiet. Too quiet for Harley's taste. The attack had scared off half their usual customers, so the shop only had a couple of deliveries to show for the day. The ovens were cooling, the counter was wiped clean, and John was fixing the blinking light near the slushy machine.
Out back, Harley had declared boredom the greatest enemy of mankind. Her solution: pogo stick drills.
"Boing, boing, boing!" she chanted with every bounce, shooting up and down like a human jack-in-the-box.
The back door creaked and Maureen stepped out with a garbage bag. She spotted Harley hopping and blinked slowly, like she was calculating whether this was worth commenting on. She heaved the trash into the dumpster and turned just as Harley zipped past her with a dramatic spin.
"See, this is how you fight depression, bad vibes, AND gravity. Triple combo!" Harley said with a large grin.
"Really, now? That thing is dangerous," Maureen said, knowing very well that it was useless.
"Ah-ha!" Harley yelled, pointing dramatically mid-bounce. "You! Perfect student material. C'mon, Mo-Mo, it's time you learn the sacred art of the pogo."
Maureen folded her arms. "No."
"Yes!" Harley countered instantly. She pogoed in a circle around her. "Think of it. You, me, boing-boing sisters. A dynamic duo of bounce. A legacy in the making."
"I don't bounce," Maureen said flatly.
"You will," Harley declared. She landed with both boots on the ground and thrust the pogo stick toward Maureen like she was offering Excalibur. "Take it. Feel the call of destiny."
Maureen stared at it, unimpressed. "It looks like a spring with handles."
"Exactly! The purest form of joy ever invented!" Harley hopped onto it again to demonstrate. "Observe. Step one, plant your feet. Step two, chant 'boing boing boing' to summon the ancient pogo gods. Step three, ascend to greatness." She launched herself a good foot off the ground, yelling "BOING" with all the seriousness of a war cry.
Maureen pinched the bridge of her nose. "You sound insane."
"And yet, I'm having a blast," Harley said, still bouncing. "Now come on. Your turn. I'll hold the stick for you."
Reluctantly, Maureen set her hands on the pogo's grips. Harley clapped like a proud coach. "There you go! Alright, now plant your feet, straight posture. And remember the mantra."
Maureen sighed. "I'm not saying it."
"You have to. It's tradition."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes!"
Maureen gave her the iciest look she could manage. Then, in the flattest tone possible, she muttered, "...boing."
"Louder!" Harley cried.
"Boing," Maureen repeated, a little sharper.
"Louder! Feel the spirit of the spring!"
"BOING," Maureen snapped, shoving herself up on the pogo stick. The spring fired, and for one glorious second, she bounced almost gracefully into the air.
Then she tilted sideways and crashed into Harley, both of them collapsing in a heap.
From the doorway, John leaned against the frame with his usual scowl. "Do I even want to know?"
Harley shot a thumbs-up from the ground. Maureen sprawled next to her. "Training montage," Harley wheezed. "We're killing it."
Maureen groaned. "I'm never touching that thing again."
"Yes you are," Harley said cheerfully, rolling to her feet. She dusted herself off and struck a pose with the pogo stick raised overhead. "This is only the beginning, partner. Tomorrow, we boing higher."
John just turned and went back inside without a word. 'Haaa... I want to jump too, but this goes against my broody character, and Harley will never stop making fun of me. Fuck! Maybe I'll sneak out at night and have some fun.'
Maureen sat up, hair a mess, glaring at Harley. "If you say boing one more time—"
"Boing," Harley whispered dramatically, grinning ear to ear.
...
[Meanwhile...]
The outskirts of Dakota were quiet except for the hum of six trucks tearing down a cracked highway. Each one was armored, reinforced plates welded crudely onto the sides, with Foot Clan ninjas perched on top and clinging to the sides like shadows. Their red insignias flashed in the moonlight whenever the trucks hit a bump.
On a rooftop a block away, four green shapes crouched low. The Turtles stayed hidden, eyes locked on the convoy.
Donnie adjusted his goggles, lenses glowing faint purple as the scan completed. Numbers flickered across the display. "Not good. Each of those trucks is loaded with mutagen canisters and enough explosives to level a city block. If they make it downtown…" He trailed off, his jaw tightening.
Leo's eyes sharpened. "We stop them here."
Raph grunted, gripping his sai tighter. "Hold up. What about Master Splinter? Those trucks could lead us straight to Shredder. We waste time fighting these guys and he slips further away."
Leo didn't waver. "I haven't forgotten about Master. But if this much mutagen and firepower gets into the city, people will die. We can't risk it."
Mikey leaned forward, whispering, "So… plan A is smash trucks, beat ninjas, save the day. Plan B is… we don't have a plan B, do we?"
Donnie sighed. "Plan B is hoping none of those canisters crack open while we fight on top of moving trucks."
"Awesome," Mikey said, already spinning his nunchaku.
Raph shook his head, frustrated. "Leo, I'm telling you, if we follow them, we get answers. Shredder's out there, and we need the cure, fast. Every second we waste..."
Leo turned to him, voice calm but firm. "And every second we argue, those trucks get closer to the city. We take them down, then we make them talk. That's how we find Shredder."
Raph stared at him for a tense moment, then finally grunted, "Fine. But if this doesn't get us anywhere, that's on you."
Leo gave a sharp nod. "Positions. We hit them fast, we hit them hard, and we keep those canisters intact. Let's move."
The Turtles rose from the shadows, ready to leap into the convoy below.
Donnie slipped a small device from his belt and snapped it open. Purple lights pulsed along its edges as it activated. "Comm jammers are up. No distress signals, no backup. It's just them and us."
Leo didn't hesitate. "Go."
The four brothers dropped from the rooftop in unison. They hit the convoy like thunder, each one targeting a different truck.
Leo landed clean on the lead vehicle, his katanas flashing as he sliced through the roof. The driver jerked in surprise, but a single kick sent him crashing against the door. Leo flipped in and wrenched the wheel and slammed the brakes, skidding the truck sideways across the highway.
Behind him, Raph hit the second truck like a cannonball. His sai speared through the windshield, forcing the driver to swerve. Raph ripped the door off with raw strength, yanked the man out by the collar, and tossed him onto the road. Then got inside and slammed the brakes. The truck fishtailed before screeching to a halt.
Mikey spun through the air and landed on the third truck. "Cowabungaaaa!" His nunchaku lashed out, cracking against the driver's head before the man even reached for his blade. Mikey slid into the seat, laughing as he mashed the brake. "I always wanted to drive one of these!"
Donnie was more precise. He used his staff as a pole vault to land neatly on the fourth vehicle. He jammed his bo through the window, flicked the driver unconscious with a single strike, then climbed inside. His fingers flew over the controls, shutting the engine down before it could jackknife into the others.
They did the same with the other two trucks.
Screech after screech filled the highway until all six trucks were forced to a grinding stop.
The Foot Clan moved fast. Dozens of ninjas leapt from the truck beds and rooftops, blades flashing in the moonlight. They poured toward the Turtles in a swarm of red and black.
Leo raised his swords. "Keep the fight away from the canisters. We can't let one of those break."
The first wave hit.
"Bring it on!" Raph roared, swinging his sai like short spears, stabbing one ninja's weapon aside before ramming his shell into another and sending him flying into the dirt.
Mikey spun in circles, his nunchaku a blur of wood and chain. He cracked one Foot soldier across the jaw, then flipped backward to kick another in the chest. "Truck fight, ninja edition! Who's got the popcorn?"
Donnie used precision strikes, his bo staff clanging against steel and skull alike. He swept two ninjas off their feet in one smooth motion, then vaulted over a third to strike him down from behind. "Three down."
Leo's blades flashed as he parried and disarmed, each movement measured to keep the fight controlled. He slashed through a ninja's polearm, spun, and elbowed another square in the mask.
The highway turned into chaos. Sparks flew as steel clashed with steel. Ninjas flipped from the truck roofs to rain down on the brothers, only to be met with spinning shells and snapping weapons. The Turtles held the line, keeping the battle tight but never letting it creep too close to the trucks.
Still, the Foot Clan pressed harder, their numbers endless.
Ralf quickly dashed toward the trucks, piercing the tires to prevent the foot clan from running away. Then he joined the fight again.
Donnie slammed his staff into the ground and activated a pulse from his gauntlet. A wave of purple energy knocked back the nearest ninjas, giving him a brief window. "Leo, there are too many. We need to thin them faster."
Leo's eyes narrowed. "Alright. Shell shock formation."
---[That's it for this week. See ya on Monday.]---
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