Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Tremorton

The sky a perpetual, oppressive haze of smoky orange and corrosive fog. The memory of before with birdsong and the cheerful, everyday roar of traffic was a ghost of two months past. Now, the city was a half ruin, a creaking, silent cemetery of twisted metal and shattered glass. Though pockets of buildings still defiantly stood, the town was deserted.

E.P.F. Officers barely managed to save the town. Jenny's sisters were on the prowl, providing safety in their sister's absence. They were the steel wall, constantly engaging the scuttling armies of Morphoids in vicious skirmishes. The endless battle had pushed Tremorton to the brink, making it not just a danger zone, but a location one failed defense away from being declared a total quarantine zone.

People weren't dead, at least most hoped. XJ3 was mostly giving Nora, Brad, Tucker and other survivors water and other supplies. Nora's house wasn't big as a mansion, but had plenty of room and was bigger than most houses in the town.

XJ4 kept the house tidy, she loved cleaning. Since she possesses four long robotic arms. Each arm has two fingers, and these arms aid in her goal to retain neatness, as she can multitask quite well with them. She occasionally ventured outside and tidied up any debris in the sidewalk or lawn. She wasn't the greatest fighter, more of a support.

XJ-5 is a teal, rather boxy-shaped radio-like prototype XJ robot. Her design looks rather old-fashioned, with a radio dish feature on her base, two eyes that resemble dials, and a squared speaker for a mouth. A peculiar, dish-shaped antenna mounted to her base, and rocket-powered pigtails that sprouted from her head were her only concessions to speed. Unfortunately, she and XJ-6 are missing. The disappearance was total. Dr. Wakeman tried to locate her creations every way, but she only met with crushing silence; They went missing a month ago.

XJ-7, despite having the usual depressive attitude, was a companion to some survivors at the Wakeman house. XJ-8, the second oldest and bulkiest of the robot gals, was the most active in defending the last remains of the town and the lawn of the house from the Morphoids. She put in so much effort, yet after so long it turned to waste.

Anyday now the remaining E.P.F. officers were close to labeling it as a Slime Zone and completely quarantine zone.

Timmy Turner and Jimmy Neutron had been hanging out since they first met three years ago. They were quite the friends. Despite Timmy being a little taller, Jimmy always had Timmy's back in case if there was a test or any other science related problem. Timmy usually relies on his trusty 'holograms' when he's in a jam, but when a problem is truly complicated and brain-intensive, the actual boy genius, Jimmy, has to step in and save the day with his real scientific smarts.

The Mawgu lair, once a hub of chaotic energy, now was full of relaxing silence. Outside, on the craggy shore of the island, Raph stood in stark solitude, his posture tense against the relentless sea wind, his eyes scanning a horizon that offered little comfort.

Miles away, Neutron Labs, deep in discussion, received Dib, whom they had ignored while Arnold was quite chatty.

Meanwhile, a small, quiet rebellion against the tension was underway. Rocko, seeking an oasis of normalcy, was sprawled just beyond the lair. He was deeply engrossed in the escapism offered by a tattered comic book, his mind lost in the absurd heroics of "Really Really Big Man."

A sudden, soft clank broke his concentration. Rocko looked up, and his heart seized in his chest. It was a moment that defied all logic, a sliver of pure, desperate hope materialized: Spunky, his faithful, utterly irreplaceable dog. He was alive, found by the cold, metallic logic of a stray robot. It wasn't merely a discovery; it was a pure, unlooked-for miracle, a spark of warmth in the lair's pervasive gloom.

The moment Spunky's warm, frantic licks landed on Rocko's face.

"Spunky!" he blurted. Spunky, sensing his owner's immense relief, snuggled deeper into Rocko's chest.

Mawgu Lair

Normally, Jenny would assist, but this time, a strange, metallic thrumming resonated deep within her chassis, a sensation like a vital internal part skipping a beat. She stood tall, drawing the attention of Dudley and Jimmy in the background, just as a thin, silver tendril smoothly extruded from her abdomen. The metallic strand unfurled, then stabilized, blossoming into a small, flickering monitor screen.

"Mom!?" Jenny exclaimed, the surprise echoing the stunned silence. On the screen, a familiar, yet distorted image of her mother, Nora Wakeman, materialized, her features obscured by a shifting veil of digital static. "Jenny, darling, I need your help!" she pleaded, the urgency cutting through the crackle.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be right there!" Jenny declared in a rush.

"Hey, Jen! Take me with you, I can help!" Manny piped up, his voice ringing with a mix of excitement and determination. He flipped the buckle on his belt with a practiced flourish, and in a swift burst of energy, he transformed into his powerful El Tigre persona, ready for action.

"Well, it never hurts to have help," Jenny replied, a small, desperate smile flickering across her face. She accepted the offer, the extra help may come in handy.

"Oh, wait! Do you want to join us too, Kid Danger?" Manny questioned, and Kid Danger, wanting to assist, happily agreed with a nod.

"Okay, but let's be quick!" Jenny shouted as she grabbed both of the boys' hands.

"Wait, do teenage robots come with seatbelts?!" Kid Danger yelled, his eyes widening as her engines flared. "Because I feel like I should be wearing a—"

"Prepare for a ride! This one is going to be extra fast!" Jenny interrupted. She morphed thrusters below her feet and instantly flew like a jet toward the exit of the Mawgu Lair, cutting off Kid Danger's scream as the doors opened just fast enough for them.

Raph was still resting, he opened one of his eyes as he spotted the three zooming away in the sky as a blue blur. He went back to resting as he took a deep breath taking in the fresh air.

The pair rushed through the sky almost to the very entrance of Tremorton. It would normally be a bit of a lengthy flight for most, since it was located all the way in Pennsylvania. But speed wasn't too much of a problem for Jenny. After all, she could zoom around the world in eighty seconds.

"Fools! We will hunt you down! We are already upon you! You only prolong your inevitable defeat by clinging to your pathetic sanctuary!" The venom in the voice was palpable.

Jenny and Manny. They hung suspended in the air, their gaze locked on the menacing tableau below. The puppet of the Morphoid, its face covered by the orange slime as a joyless eye hovered above. Nearby stood two colossal, mutated frogs. The frogs' eyes were twin pools of malevolent, pulsating crimson, and their slick, green skin shimmered with orange goo. Clearly, the unmistakable sign of alien control.

"I know I haven't been home in awhile, but I don't appreciate aliens trespassing at my mom's house! Especially with two giant amphibians!" Jenny called out.

Jenny and Manny slammed onto the pavement, the impact generating a visible shockwave that fanned out and kicked up a circular cloud of dust and debris.

"You good?" Manny asked.

Kid Danger stood up tall, crossing his arms and trying to look imposing, though his legs were visibly shaking. "Yeah, yeah, child's play," he lied, swallowing hard. "Captain Man drives faster than that, just going to get corn dogs."

As the dust settled, three figures emerged in perfectly synchronized, powerful poses. Manny hit the ground in a low, feline crouch, his muscles coiling and his stance radiating primal, barely contained aggression. With a shine of metal against air, his retractable claws slid out and locked into place, glinting wickedly in the strange light. Jenny stood tall, her internal machinery humming, every panel and weapon port in a state of ready alert, her blue eyes narrowed into targeting sensors. Kid Danger took a minute to catch his breath, then got into a pose with the other two.

"I'm really not keen on hostile takeovers. It's kind of personal issue I have with my home planet." El Tigre growled.

El Tigre noticed the loud croaks of both frogs. The ballooning gulp was a bit disgusting. He got ready to pounce. However, the two frogs were ready to attack as well.

"Manny, wait, don't just jump in!" Jenny warned, extending a blaster from her right arm. "Subdue the frogs first!"

"Those things are so disgusting..." Kid Danger muttered, his eyes locked on the pulsating slime and Morphoid starting to narrow.

"Your mechanical mind is closed to us, Robot," the Morphoid hissed, the eerie voice echoing down the empty street. "But your flesh-and-blood allies are fragile. They resist now, but their minds will crack. It is inevitable. You will all be consumed."

A cold chill spiked down Kid Danger's spine. He'd fought a lot of weird villains in Swellview, but seeing a regular guy hollowed out like a puppet, his body completely hijacked by that glowing slime, was deeply unsettling. It made his stomach churn in a way the high-speed flight hadn't.

The massive amphibian didn't just pounce; it unleashed a weapon. With a sickening, wet crack, a thick, muscular tongue lashed out of its maw like a spiked bullwhip, aimed straight for Kid Danger's chest.

Kid Danger rolled away, feeling the wind of the strike rustle his hair as the tongue shattered the pavement where he'd just been standing. Riding a surge of pure adrenaline, he scrambled up, lunging forward to grab the slippery, retracting appendage.

"Not today, Kermit!" Henry grunted. Digging his boots into the asphalt, he hauled back with all his might, using the beast's own momentum against it. The frog lurched forward, and Kid Danger stepped into the pull, delivering a brutal, twisting right smack straight into the creature's slick, pale chest.

The blow landed with a heavy thud, but the mutant barely flinched. Instead, it vaulted backward in a massive arch, crashing down onto the front lawn. Before Henry could even process the recovery, the tongue snapped out a second time. It didn't strike; it coiled. In a blur of motion, the thick muscle wrapped tightly around Kid Danger's waist, lifting him off his feet with a violent jerk.

"Whoa, hey! Let go!" Henry yelled, his boots kicking empty air. His hands frantically clawed at the vice-like grip as the frog inexorably dragged him toward its gaping, murky mouth.

Across the street, the battlefield was pure, kinetic chaos, playing out in striking visual extremes. The unnatural glow of the Morphoid slime cast heavy, high-contrast shadows across the battle, turning the fight into a stark clash of bright energy and deep, darkness. In the center of the carnage, El Tigre was a blur of bold, clean motion. His titanium claws carved sweeping, glowing arcs through the air as he tore into a literal sea of creeping Morphoids. It was like wading through a rising tide of toxic, sticky glue, but Manny didn't slow down. He roared, a feral sound of exertion and thrill, slicing relentlessly through the viscous orange mass that threatened to swallow him whole.

Above the fray, Jenny was a streak of blue and white machinery, her arm cannons pulsing with blinding light. She fired precise, rapid blasts, carving a path through the Morphoid drones to reach the puppet-controlled civilian coordinating the assault.

"I'm coming for you!" she yelled, her targeting sensors locking onto the floating alien eye.

But she never saw the second frog. She was so focused, she forgot about ti completely. Well, that was a mistake.

Disgustingly massive, concussive mucus slammed into Jenny's side. The sheer kinetic force of the gelatinous blast sent her careening out of the sky. She crashed into the street with a screech of metal and a shower of amphibian drool, skidding to a halt as the sticky residue instantly hardened, locking her thrusters and weapon ports in place.

"What the heck?!" Jenny said as she was stuck, her movement wasn't working at all. It became worse as she realized her thrusters became full of slime. She couldn't move, and retracting them would let the mucus seep into her gears. It wasn't worth it. She had to think of a way to escape.

The second frog let out a deep, vibrating croak that rattled the nearby windows. Its crimson eyes locked onto Jenny, and its massive muscles coiled as it began lumbering toward the grounded teenage robot.

"Help!" Jenny's synthesized voice cracked, a rare sound of genuine panic cutting through the deafening din of the battle.

The cry pierced the thick, suffocating darkness closing in around Henry. He was waist-deep in the mutant frog's cavernous, slime-coated maw, the crushing pressure of its muscular tongue threatening to snap his ribs. The smell was horrendous. Panic flared in his chest, but Henry forced it down. He needed an out right now.

His fingers, slick with the beast's neon-orange saliva, fumbled blindly at his wrist. He found his Whiz-Watch, his thumb desperately seeking the small, recessed gray button on the side. He pressed it harshly. With a sharp, electric hum, a concentrated, fiery red laser erupted from the watch's surface. The intense beam cut through the gloom like a brilliant strobe, casting harsh, burning against the fleshy walls of the frog's throat, reaching to its mouth.

The pinpoint heat met the mucus-coated tongue, and the thick moisture instantly boiled. A sharp hiss of steam exploded within the creature's mouth, cooking the creature's gums.

The frog let out a gurgling, earth-shaking shriek. Its jaws snapped open, and with a violent, full-body convulsion, it coughed up Kid Danger. He clashed against the lawn in a sprawling, sticky heap, gasping for clean air. Behind him, the giant amphibian thrashed wildly. Its heavy body contorted in agony as it crashed through a neighbor's parked car, desperately searching for water to soothe the searing burn on its tongue.

"Eww," Henry groaned, violently shaking a thick string of glowing, neon-orange saliva from his glove with a full-body shudder. "Note to self: never, ever get eaten by an amphibian again."

Meanwhile, the sea of slime was getting too deep for El Tigre. Manny's titanium claws carved bold, clean lines of glowing energy through the horde, but for every Morphoid he slashed, two more oozed into its place to fight.

Before El Tigre could pivot to strike, the brutish Morphoid swung a massive, mallet-like fist.

The impact was harsh. It caught El Tigre square in the chest, lifting him off his feet and launching him backward with the brutal force of a freight train. He skimmed across the pavement like a skipped stone, coming to a painful, grinding halt right next to a mailbox.

Above the carnage, the controlled civilian hovered, the blue textured alien eye glaring down at the bruised and battered heroes. The host's jaw unhinged, letting out a chilling, laugh that vibrated with malicious triumph.

Down came the frog, like a meteor. The impact was deafening. The asphalt shattered beneath its weight, sending a violent shockwave and a shower of jagged concrete debris exploding outward in sharp, high-contrast silhouettes. A thick cloud of dust billowed into the air.

The frog croaked, a deep, rumbling sound of confusion, as it swept its massive front claws through the rubble. The crater was empty.

Hovering just a few yards away, a sleek streak of blue and white machinery hummed in the air. Jenny had fired her thrusters the exact millisecond her restraints melted, narrowly escaping the crush. Her blue digital eyes narrowed, locking onto the confused beast.

"Kid, go help Manny!" Jenny ordered, her voice cutting through the dust with metallic authority. "I can handle the frog!"

Henry didn't hesitate. He gave a sharp nod, spinning on his heel and sprinting full-speed toward the sea of slime where El Tigre was slowly, painfully pushing himself up from the unforgiving street.

Kid Danger slid to a halt, his boots kicking up dust on the asphalt as he grabbed El Tigre's arm, hoisting the battered hero to his feet.

"You good, dude?!" Henry yelled over the deafening roar of the Morphoid swarm.

"Yeah, I am. Let's destroy this overgrown booger!" El Tigre said while brushing a bit of slime off his leg.

Towering above them, the Brute Morphoid let out a guttural, gurgling roar. It brought both of its massive, mallet-like fists together, raising them high above its head for a devastating, earth-crushing slam. The sheer mass of the monster blotted out the streetlights, casting the two teens in deep trouble.

"I've got its eye, you take the legs!" Kid Danger shouted. He didn't wait for an answer. Tapping his belt buckle, Kid Danger retrieved a small red capsule and hurled it directly at the beast's pulsating eye.

The Brute shrieked, blindly swinging its fists down, but Kid Danger and El Tigre had already moved. Kid Danger dove to the left, firing a concentrated, sweeping beam from his Whiz-Watch laser. He didn't aim at the monster; he aimed at the asphalt beneath it, flash-melting the street into a pit of bubbling, liquid tar that instantly trapped the Brute's heavy feet.

The monster froze, its glowing orange form suddenly bisected by lines of blinding light. While the tar halted it, Kid Danger's laser was what really stung. Pain caused the creature's torso to begin bubbling.

"I hope the Knock Out Gas works on this thing!" Kid Danger bellowed.

While the boys tore through the ground forces, Jenny was waging a high-speed, systematic war in the sky.

The remaining giant frog was relentless. It bounded off the walls of Tremorton's suburban houses like a horrific, muscular pinball, leaving craters wherever it landed. It snapped its jaws, launching volley after volley of toxic, hardened mucus. Even more destruction followed throughout the fight. It was a sorrowful situation. The jumping frog was destroying houses in Tremorton, which was on the brink of becoming deserted.

Jenny flew backward, her eyes flashing as her internal targeting systems calculated every trajectory. She kept a little distance as the orange projectiles missed her by mere millimeters.

"Alright, I think it's time to put an end to this!" Jenny called out.

Her right arm retracted. The metal plating shifted, expanded, and locked into place, transforming her forearm into a massive, heavy-duty laser cannon. The frog, uncoiled its massive legs for a final, lethal pounce. It hurled itself through the air, its jaw unhinging to swallow the teenage robot whole.

Easily a concentrated, roaring beam of absolute strength blasted from her cannon. It struck the frog squarely in its open mouth. The frog appeared frozen by the movement, as if it were in a deep state of recoil.

It crashed into the center of the street like a tumbling boulder, completely incapacitated, encased in a mountain of slime slithering down its murky skin. The frog shut its eye as its mouth still incredibly burned. It felt like its insides were burning, the frog struggled to even move a single muscle.

Above the shattered battlefield, the eerie, layered laughter of the puppet-controlled civilian abruptly stopped. The joyless, floating eye dilated in sheer rage as it looked down at the defeated Brute and the defeated frogs.

"You… you insolent pests!" the Morphoid screeched through its host, the voice cracking with raspiness.

The very asphalt of Tremorton's streets began to bubble and heave. From the storm drains, the gutters, and the shattered craters of the battlefield, a massive, gelatinous tidal wave of neon-orange Morphoids surged forward. They fused together, creating a literal sea of pulsating, toxic slime. A thick goo hoisted the hollow-eyed civilian high into the air at the crest of this horrific wave, suspending them like a macabre king upon a liquid throne.

"You cannot fight an ocean!" the Morphoid parasite roared through the man's throat, the sound wet and sickening. The massive wave reared up, blotting out the moonlight, ready to crash down and swallow the three heroes whole.

"Oh, this isn't good..." El Tigre quietly coughed out.

"Uh, Jenny?! A little help here?!" Henry screamed, his voice pitching up as the suffocating shadow of the slime fell over them.

"Get in close!" Jenny commanded.

In a blur of shifting titanium plates and whirring servos, Jenny's entire body collapsed inward and rapidly expanded outward. Thick, interlocking panels of heavily armored steel vaulted over Henry and Manny, sealing shut just as the tsunami of slime crashed down. The deafening, heavy thud and squelching of thousands of gallons of viscous goo burying them plunged the inside of Jenny's protective igloo into pitch darkness.

Inside the cramped, claustrophobic dome, the only light came from the faint blue glow of Jenny's internal HUD and the frantic red blinking of Kid Danger's Whiz-Watch. The metallic hull groaned under the crushing weight of the alien sea above them.

"I'm open to ideas, guys, because I can't keep this up for long!" Jenny's voice echoed from the walls of the dome. "If they find a seam, we're doomed!"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Henry panicked. His thumbs flew across the tiny interface of his Whiz-Watch, desperately swiping through menus for a laser, a distress beacon, anything that could help. He pressed a combination of gray and blue dials in his haste.

"Wait, I think my watch can distrupt their nervous systems. I doubt it'll stop them for good."

Suddenly, the watch emitted a piercing, ear-splitting ringing noise. It wasn't just loud; it was a deeply uncomfortable, vibrating frequency that seemed to make the Morphoid's stop. Completely drooping and melting into a pile of sluggish slime. Control over the man by the Morphoid started to wane. It began to descend into the vast morphoid slime sea.

A panel on the inner wall of the dome slid open, and Jenny's head popped out, her eyes wide with realization. "Kid, keep it up! That frequency, it's destabilizing their cellular structure!" Jenny silently did a thank you to her mother for teaching her the scientific words.

With a couple of cranking sounds, a metallic arm extruded from the wall right beside her head, the hand rapidly unfolding and morphing into the shape of a massive, heavy-duty megaphone speaker.

"Put your wrist right up to the mic!" Jenny ordered, her voice urgent.

Henry didn't hesitate. He thrust his arm forward, jamming the face of the Whiz-Watch directly into the center of the megaphone.

Jenny patched the audio directly into her amplified sound system. A blinding, localized sound-based explosion ripped outward from the igloo. The concentrated, high-pitched frequency blasted through the steel walls and hit the ocean of slime like a physical shockwave.

The effects were instantaneous and catastrophic for the aliens. The bold, clean lines of the Morphoid mass violently shuddered and broke apart. The screeching reached a fever pitch as the sea of neon-orange slime literally boiled away, dissolving from a suffocating, sticky trap into a harmless, watery puddle of gray mush that washed down the neighborhood storm drains.

The towering wave collapsed entirely. The mastermind civilian plummeted toward the street, his body convulsing as the stretched Morphoid eye above his head frantically tried to maintain its psychic grip. The parasite flickered, stunned and weakened by the sonic blast.

"My turn!" El Tigre roared.

As the sea of slime had even finished hitting the pavement, Manny vaulted out from underneath the retracting igloo. Propelled by pure feline adrenaline, he launched himself through the air. . With one swift, surgical slash, El Tigre attempted to catch the Morphoid parasite.

unfortunately, he was too late despite his increased speed. He felt a large pillar of Morphoid goo erupt like a volcano below him. It launched him in the air as he blinked and became completely flabbergasted.

In a matter of seconds, El Tigre hit the ground, slowly picking himself up. Above him, the severed Morphoid eye slowly reached its host with a single stretched limb. Evil cackling began to spawn. El Tigre, Jenny and Kid Danger were in disbelieve. They thought they could finish him off, but they were wrong.

"No way..." Kid Danger whispered, his eyes widening in sheer disbelief as the screen on his Whiz-Watch flashed a frantic red warning.

The civilian's spine arched at an unnatural, agonizing angle as the alien parasite forcibly re-established its psychic grip. The orange residue that had just melted away suddenly surged back with a vengeance, crawling up the man's veins with a sickening, bio-luminescent glow.

Jenny's internal threat-assessment alarms instantly flared back to crimson. "Manny, get back! It's regenerating!"

It was too late to stop it. Driven by the renewed power of the parasite. The host's body went entirely rigid, bathed in harsh, dusk of the sunlight. Slowly, deliberately, the victim crossed his arms over his chest in a posture of absolute, arrogant superiority. The floating, joyless eye glared down at them.

A low, vibrating chuckle crawled from his throat, rapidly escalating into a booming, layered, metallic cackle that echoed ominously off the quiet suburban houses of Tremorton. Jenny, Manny, and Henry froze, staring up in paralyzed shock.

The puppet'd civilian didn't just hover above them; he commanded an ocean. The neon orange tide of Morphoid slime surged forward from all sides, swallowing the shattered asphalt and cutting off every escape route. The sickening, wet squelch of the encroaching alien mass drowned out the ambient noise of the Tremorton suburbs. The villain's floating throne completely marooned them on a shrinking island of concrete, trapping them beneath its eerie, bioluminescent glow.

"Okay, I'm officially out of ideas, and my laser needs three minutes to recharge!" Kid Danger yelled, his voice tight with panic. He backed up until his shoulders bumped against El Tigre's.

"Here, let's get inside and think of a plan!" Jenny said as the two boys agreed. Since they didn't want to get infected and lacked a plan, their behavior was only natural. They rushed inside easily.

The splintered remains of the front door had barely hit the floor when the sickening, wet whack of Morphoid slime hit the exterior of the house.

"Barricade it! Now!" Henry screamed, his voice cracking. He scrambled to his feet, grabbing the edge of a massive, overturned oak bookshelf. Manny was right beside him, his muscles straining as they shoved the heavy furniture into the gaping hole in the doorway.

This wasn't the quirky, pristine home of a brilliant scientist anymore. It was a tomb.

The living room became a makeshift, depressing triage center. Twelve people of Tremorton appeared huddled in the heavy shadows, their clothes torn, their faces pale and etched with absolute despair. There was no talking, only the hollow, echoing sounds of quiet sobbing and the ragged breathing of terrified survivors.

"Whoa..." Kid Danger whispered. He instinctively stepped closer to Jenny, his eyes wide as he took in the apocalyptic scene.

"My home..." Jenny murmured, her synthesized voice barely a whisper.

"What happened here?" She somberly whimpered...

Rolling slowly through the crowd of huddled survivors was XJ-1, Jenny's infant, egg-shaped robotic sister. The tiny robot wasn't spewing her usual chaotic ink or emitting high-pitched sirens; she was just softly whirring, bumping gently into the legs of crying civilians, letting out a series of low, mournful beeps that sounded heartbreakingly like whimpers.

"Oh, XJ-1," Jenny cooed. Holding her sister, she proceeded to cradle her as one would a baby. She was just a baby, after all.

They slowly navigated through the depressing sea of survivors, the heavy atmosphere pressing down on their shoulders. Jenny's metallic footsteps felt heavy as she led the boys toward the reinforced steel door at the back of the hallway. In a matter of time, they found the entrance to Nora Wakeman's laboratory.

The heavy door slid open with a depressing hiss. Mostly dark was the lab, normally a brightly lit hub of chaotic genius, explosive experiments, and whirring machinery. The only illumination came from the dull, sickly glow of a few active computer monitors.

Slumped over the main command console was Dr. Nora Wakeman. She looked nothing like the proud, scientific creator Jenny knew. Her signature white hair was disheveled and flat. Grease and soot stained her lab coat. Her posture screamed of utter defeat. She was staring blankly at a radar screen that was completely covered in a sea of blinking red hostiles.

"Mom?!" Jenny called out She rushed towards her as she quickly placed XJ-1 in El Tigre's hands. He held her close.

Sitting on the floor beside the console was XJ-3. The clunky, mismatched prototype robot was literally falling apart. One of her arms hung loosely from a frayed wire, occasionally emitting a weak, pathetic spark that briefly illuminated her droopy, sorrowful, drawn on eyes. She let out a sigh.

"Jenny?" she heard the young voice call out. The small, wavering voice cut through the heavy, depressing hum of the laboratory. Jenny froze, her audio receptors instantly recognizing the pitch. She spun around. Stepping tentatively out from behind a computer was a little boy, his clothes smudged with soot and dust.

"Tuck!" She held him in open arms, she gave a tight hug. He wrapped his small arms around her neck, squeezing with all the strength he had. A watery, relieved laugh bubbled out of the boy's chest. He quickly wiped his eyes against her shoulder, sniffling loudly.

"I mean, I wasn't scared or anything," Tuck mumbled defensively near her face. "I just... I knew you'd show up, eventually."

Jenny chuckled in reply, however, that was short lived.

She stood up, her gears shifting with a sharp, mechanical click as she immediately pivoted and marched back toward the dimly lit command console where her mother slumped.

He finally turned his attention to the two strangers standing near the blasted doorway. He blinked, taking in Henry's bright spandex and Manny's sparking titanium claws.

Kid Danger offered a slightly awkward, sympathetic wave. "Hey, little dude. I'm Kid Danger. Uh... sorry about your town. Usually, Captain Man and I just deal with guys who are, uh... less dangerous."

Tuck raised an eyebrow. He was curious about Kid Danger's adventures now, but that had to wait as El Tigre introduced himself.

"I am El Tigre, protector of Miracle City! It is an honor to meet you, little dude."

"Whoa, those are cool claws." Tuck said in excitement.

"Yes, they are." El Tigre replied, showing them off a little.

Across the room, Jenny reached the command console. The harsh, blinking red lights of the monitors cast deep shadows across Nora Wakeman's slumped form. Jenny gently placed a cool, titanium hand on her mother's trembling shoulder.

"Mom," Jenny said softly, yet her tone demanded an answer. "I need you to look at me. Tell me exactly what happened. How did they breach the defenses?"

Nora let out a long, ragged sigh. The sound was heartbreaking slowly, painfully, the brilliant scientist pushed herself up from her heavy leather chair. The chair gave a depressing, metallic groan as she stood.

"I thought..." Nora started, stopping to swallow the painful lump in her throat. "I thought that I could save them. You were so busy saving the world, Jenny. I just wanted to save our town."

She slowly dragged a trembling hand down her face, smearing soot and tears across her cheek. "But I was wrong. I was so, terribly wrong. The Morphoids didn't just beat my machines... they slaughtered them. I sent your sisters into a war that couldn't be won, and I had to listen to their audio feeds as they were dismantled."

Nora finally turned her head, looking at Jenny with eyes completely devoid of hope. "Look around us. The weapons are gone. The city is gone. There is no miracle invention coming to fix this, Jenny. We've lost."

"Also, that hooglian Professor Membrane chose that wretched copycat, Phineas, over me!" Nora complained briefly.

"Oh... Mom," Jenny whispered, her mechanical voice thick with a heavy, somber sorrow she could barely articulate.

"Everything is going so wrong..." Nora said with a heavy, rattling exhale, her shoulders slumping as if gravity itself had doubled inside the cold metal bunker.

Kid Danger slowly stepped out from the shadows. The sarcastic, quick-witted Kid Danger was entirely gone, replaced by a genuine teenager who knew what it looked like when a hero broke. "Hey, Dr. Wakeman... look, I get it," Henry said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "My boss, Captain Man, he's supposed to be literally indestructible. But I've seen him hit rock bottom, too. You didn't fail. You turned your house into a fortress and kept all those people upstairs alive. That's... that's real superhero stuff."

Manny walked up right beside Henry, his sparking titanium claws fully retracted. He placed a gentle hand on the edge of the console. "El Danger is right, Señora," Manny said, his voice dropping its usual boisterous volume to a respectful, earnest tone.

A few feet away, Jenny's internal processors were working in overdrive. She looked from her mother to the radar screen. "Evacuating them one by one is impossible," Jenny muttered, her blue digital eyes racing calculations. "My thrusters can't carry a hundred civilians at once. If we open that door, the slime will flood the house in seconds."

Nora slowly lifted her head, her red-rimmed eyes widening slightly at the unexpected compassion from the two boys.

A few feet away, Jenny's internal processors were working. She looked from her mother to the radar screen. "Evacuating them one by one is impossible," Jenny muttered, her eyes racing calculations. "My thrusters can't carry fifteen civilians at once. If we open that door, the slime will flood the house in seconds."

The massive central monitor flickered violently, cutting through the red static of the Morphoid radar. Suddenly, the apocalyptic image of Tremorton was replaced by a brightly lit, high-tech underground laboratory. A boy with a massive, swirled hairstyle leaned into the camera, his eyes wide with alarm. Beside him, a robotic dog let out a frantic mechanical bark.

"Jenny?!" Jimmy yelled over the transmission, his fingers flying across his own keyboard. "Holy quasars, what is happening over there?! Your atmospheric pressure is off the charts, and I'm reading massive danger surrounding your coordinates!"

"Jimmy, Tremorton is falling!" Jenny pleaded, her voice laced with sheer desperation. "We are trapped inside my home, surrounded by an ocean of alien slime. I have eighty civilians upstairs, my mother, and two dimensional allies. We need an immediate evac transport that can survive a highly corrosive environment!"

Jimmy didn't hesitate. His genius brain was already formulating the extraction geometry. "I've got exactly what you need. I'm locking onto your beacon and remotely deploying the Jimbus."

"A bus?!" Kid Danger blurted out, leaning toward the screen. "Dude, we are drowning in mutant alien goo, and you're sending public transit?!"

"It's not just a bus, it's an interplanetary, heavily armored extraction vehicle!" Jimmy shot back, pulling up a 3D schematic of the machine on the screen. It was a massive, heavily modified school bus sporting a bold yellow, red, and blue color scheme. "I originally built it for deep-space travel during the Astroruby incident, but I've retrofitted it. The chassis is reinforced with heavy-duty, corrosion-proof titanium plating, and it has an ultra-wide, reinforced plasma windshield. It'll plow right through that slime like a hot knife through butter."

Jimmy slammed a red button on his desk. "Hold your ground, Jenny. The Jimbus is entering your atmosphere now. ETA is exactly ninety seconds!"

The ninety seconds Jimmy promised felt like nineteen agonizing hours.

The heavy titanium walls of the house groaned, buckling inward as the sheer, crushing mass of the Morphoid ocean pressed against the bunker. slime rained from the ceiling, while Kid Danger braced himself against the doorframe.

Violently, the entire base began to lurch. Nobody expected an explosive crunching noise echoing from the floor above, followed by the sound of tearing metal and shattering wood.

Everyone instinctively ducked, startled as a blinding beam of light pierced down through the ceiling of the lab. The glowing, neon-orange slime poured into the breach but before it could flood the room, a massive, blocky silhouette slammed down through the gap, completely plugging the hole.

That was a sign of safety. The heavily retrofitted school bus looked like a tank disguised as public transit. Its bold yellow, red, and blue paint job was scuffed but impenetrable, wrapped in thick, heavy-duty titanium plating. Its massive rocket thrusters scorched the remaining slime away, and the reinforced plasma windshield glowed with a faint, protective energy shield.

With a pneumatic hiss, the reinforced accordion doors of the bus snapped open, revealing the brightly lit, sterile interior.

"Your ride is here! All aboard!" David's voice crackled through the Jimbus's external PA system.

"Move! Everyone, move!" Kid Danger shouted, springing into action. He and El Tigre flanked the laboratory door, acting as a barricade to usher the terrified civilians from the center.

It was pure, kinetic chaos. The mob of survivors rushed forward in a desperate stampede. Tuck sprinted past Henry, lugging the infant robot. XJ-1 whined a little. XJ-3 limped heavily up the rubber stairs of the bus.

Amidst the frantic evacuation, Jenny rushed to the command console. Nora Wakeman froze completely, her eyes wide with shock as the reality of abandoning her home finally set in. Her legs gave out, but before she could hit the floor, Jenny was there.

"I've got you, Mom. I've always got you," Jenny said, her voice fiercely gentle. She wrapped her cold, metallic arms around her mother's waist, effortlessly lifting the exhausted scientist. Jenny practically carried her through the rushing crowd, gently setting Nora down in one of the heavily padded front seats of the Jimbus.

"We have everyone!" Manny roared from the doorway, throwing a civilian inside before leaping into the bus himself. "Close the doors, Jen!"

But as Jenny turned to initiate the launch sequence, the entire Jimbus violently tipped backward. The reinforced plasma windshield cracked under a sudden, immense pressure.

Unfortunately massive, thick tendrils of hardened paste shot forward, wrapping around the Jimbus's rear thrusters like giant, glowing tentacles, physically anchoring the massive bus to the dying city.

"Warning! Thrusters compromised!" the Jimbus's computer blared.

"I could use some help, Jenny!" David hollered, pressing buttons sporadically.

She didn't retreat into the bus. Instead, she hovered above the sea of morphoid slime below. She had to shoot, and so did she. With a rapid series of sharp, mechanical clicks, both of her arms retracted, transforming into massive, heavy-duty plasma cannons. Her internal reactor hummed as she got ready to fire at the target.

Jenny easily unleashed a devastating, hyperkinetic barrage of blinding blue lasers from her plasma cannons. The sheer kinetic force of her sustained fire pushed the encroaching slime back, vaporizing the large tendrils into mush. She had a smirk on her face after that.

"Hit the gas, David!" Jenny yelled, flying underneath the vehicle just as the Jimbus's doors snapped shut. She intended to act as cover fire if needed.

"Hang on to your lunches, everybody!" David called out.

The strong rockets blasted off, leaving a large, scorched area where they had been. The Jimbus shot upward like a bullet, violently smashing through the remaining canopy of Morphoid slime and breaking through the heavy clouds over Pennsylvania.

A weary silence fell over the bus's clean, bright cabin after the frantic energy of their escape finally eased.

The thick, yellow vinyl seats crammed the Tremorton survivors, who had pale faces streaked with soot. The collective sound of ragged breathing and quiet, relieved sobbing filled the aisle.

Beneath the reinforced floorboards of the bus, a brilliant, pulsating blue light flickered against the thick plasma windows.

Inside the cabin, Kid Danger slumped heavily against a metal handrail, his brightly colored spandex torn and covered in hardened, flaky orange residue. He let out a long, shuddering exhale, wiping a streak of grime from his forehead.

"Is everyone... is everyone in one piece?" Henry panted, his eyes scanning the traumatized civilians.

"I'm pretty sure." Tuck answered.

A few rows back, Dr. Nora Wakeman was staring blankly out the reinforced window at the shrinking Earth. She looked impossibly frail, clutching XJ-3's dented, sparking metal hand. Next to her, little Tuck sat surprisingly still, he gave way to sheer exhaustion as he leaned his head against the comfy seat.

Nora sighed. The sigh was heavy as Tuck stared at her. He was relaxing of course, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Uh... Mrs, Wakeman are you okay?" Tuck asked.

"It's all gone, Tuck. It's all gone and I let down thousands of people... including my children." Wakeman said as she stared at XJ03's dented and severed hand. She failed, why did this have to happen to her? She's supposed to be a genius.

"I... I'm sorry?" Tuck confusingly said. He didn't fully understand, he tried, but being a hyperactive kid wasn't the best at understanding serious situations and loss.

Unknown - 2 months ago

The forest had always been loud. Birds chirping. Wind through the leaves. Daggett screaming for no reason. Today it was quiet. Too quiet. The trees stood still as if they were holding their breath. Norbert slowly pushed aside a bush and stepped into the clearing where their dam stood. The once cozy home looked small now… fragile against the strange orange glow spreading through the forest. Daggett stood beside him, trembling. "Tell me I'm hallucinating," Daggett whispered. Norbert squinted toward the trees.

"I'd love to, Dag," he whispered. "But I'm not that good a liar." Across the clearing, something moved.

A tall figure hopped slowly from the shadows. Big Rabbit. But it wasn't really Big Rabbit anymore. His fur flickered with strange glitch-like distortions, as if pieces of him were constantly loading and unloading. His eyes glowed an eerie green. The ground beneath his feet warped like melting pixels every time he hopped forward. Daggett grabbed Norbert's arm.

"NOPE. NOPE, NOPE," Norbert swallowed hard.

"Dag… I think Big Rabbit joined a new club." Behind the rabbit, animals began emerging from the trees. Deer. Raccoons. Owls. Their eyes glowed the same unnatural green. The forest animals weren't acting like animals anymore. They were marching. Daggett slowly stepped backward. "Why are they walking like that?" Norbert whispered, horrified. "They're not walking…" He watched the creatures move in perfect synchronization. "…they're being controlled." Big Rabbit tilted his head slightly.

Suddenly, Big Rabbit opened his mouth, but instead of a normal sound, a loud, metallic screech echoed through the clearing. The corrupted animals surged forward in terrifying unison.

"SPOOT!" Daggett shrieked, his arms flailing wildly. "Run away! Run away very fast!"

Norbert didn't need telling twice. The two beavers spun on their heels and scrambled up the side of their dam, their claws frantically digging into the familiar wood. Below them, the glitching creatures began tearing at the base of the structure. Chunks of wood and mud dissolved into pulsing orange and orange goop the moment the infected animals touched them.

"My beautiful wood!" Daggett cried, clutching his head. "They're turning it into... into space jam!"

"Forget the wood, Dag! Save the pelt!" Norbert yelled, pulling his brother toward the top of the dam.

Just as a massive, pixelated bear reared up, ready to smash the very top of their home into splinters, the sky above them tore open.

A swirling vortex of blue and white energy ripped through the clouds. A split second later, a brilliant blast of ectoplasmic energy shot out from the portal, striking the ground between the dam and the corrupted horde. The shockwave knocked the glowing animals backward, giving them pause.

Norbert grabbed Daggett's shoulders, his usually relaxed grip tight enough to make Daggett wince. "Dag!" Norbert barked, dropping his usual smooth, brotherly demeanor entirely. "What?! WHAT?! Are they going to eat our spleens?! I need my spleen, Norb! It's my favorite internal organ!" "We need to leave."

Daggett blinked, the sheer absurdity of the statement momentarily overriding his panic. "…leave?" He pointed a trembling, stubby finger at their magnificent, multi-tiered wooden fortress. "But... our stuff! My jalapeno cheese logs!"

Norbert looked back at their dam. The home they built with their own efforts. The forest they grew up in.

A wave of pulsing, orange Globulous slime began to creep up the primary support logs of the dam, dissolving their perfectly chewed wood with a sickening hiss. The structure groaned, no longer a sanctuary but a trap.

He turned away, his expression unreadable, but his voice was absolute iron. "Now, Daggett. Now."

Daggett didn't argue. For once. He could count on one hand the number of times Norbert had used his actual name without a nickname attached, and every single time, it meant imminent doom.

The two beavers bolted into the trees, their flat tails slapping the dirt in a desperate rhythm as the corrupted animals flooded the clearing in eerie, synchronized silence. They didn't look back to see the roof of their home collapse into the glowing ooze.

Behind them, Big Rabbit watched silently. His glowing eyes flickered. The invading Morphoids had claimed the forest.

Present Day - Dusk

Two months had passed. The invasion had gotten bigger. And significantly, undeniably worse.

Norbert trudged up the side of a steep, rocky hill, dragging his flat, leathery tail behind him like a fifty-pound lead weight. His normally pristine, golden-brown fur was dusty, matted, and tangled with burrs. His perfect, gleaming buck teeth, which were his pride and joy, had been chipped from weeks of gnawing on bitter bark and tough roots just to survive.

Daggett crawled up behind him on all fours, panting dramatically, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

"I miss plumbing," Daggett wheezed, his voice hoarse. "I miss the sweet, sweet sound of a flushing toilet, Norb."

Norbert collapsed onto the crest of the hill, not even caring that he was lying face-first in the dirt. "I miss furniture. I miss my deep-pore cleansing mud masks. Look at my split ends, Dag. It's a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions."

Daggett flopped onto his back beside him, staring at the bleak, smoggy sky. "I miss my jalapeño cheese logs. I miss the concept of not being chased by glitchy, green-eyed disco animals!"

For two months they had wandered. Forest after forest. Hill after hill. Escaping by the skin of their teeth time and time again. Nothing felt familiar anymore. The world they knew was slowly being overwritten. Some forests were completely empty, stripped of all life and replaced by that pulsing, pixelated orange goop. Others were worse than the one they had left, crawling with corrupted wildlife marching in lockstep.

Daggett groaned, rubbing his empty stomach. "Norbert." "Yes, Daggett." "I think we're lost."

Norbert stared blankly ahead into the dust. "Dag... my delightfully dimwitted brother... we were lost six weeks ago. Right around the time we took a left at that giant, floating, glowing cube that used to be a mountain."

Daggett opened his mouth to argue, a classic "Eh, b-b-b-but!" ready to fire, then stopped. His eyes went wide. "…uh… Norb?"

Norbert sighed, peeling his face out of the dirt to follow his brother's gaze. Beyond the hill, the valley plunged down into a massive, sprawling basin.

A town. Tall, concrete buildings scraped against the bruised sky. Broken streets wound through the valley like gray ribbons. It wasn't perfect, plumes of black smoke rose in the distance, and several skyscrapers had massive, glowing orange craters blown through their middles.

But down there, things were moving. Tiny, distant cars navigated the rubble. The faint noise of a helicopter echoed across the basin. Massive makeshift barricades of junk and cars blocked off the main bridges.

It sustained heavy damage. But it was alive.

Daggett slowly stood up, his jaw dropping. "A town."

Norbert blinked, rubbing the dirt out of his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "A functioning, partly dissolved town."

Daggett grabbed Norbert's shoulders and shook him with sudden, manic energy. "CIVILIZATION, NORBERT! BEDS! TELEVISION! PROCESSED SNACK FOODS!"

Norbert squinted at a massive, rusted metal sign tilted precariously near a cracked highway overpass below them. The letters were faded, but still readable: WELCOME TO NEARBURG.

Daggett gasped, tears welling in his eyes. "They even have a sign! We're saved, Norb! The spooky wilderness can eat my tail! WE'RE SAVED!"

Behind them, the dry bushes rustled. A tall, lanky gray wolf lazily stepped out from the trees, scratching his stomach. He looked like he had just woken up from a ten-year nap.

Wolffe D. Wolf yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "You guys done yelling, man? It's really harshing the mellow of the apocalypse."

Daggett screamed, jumping three feet in the air and scrambling up Norbert's back, clinging to his brother's head like a panicked hat. "WOLF! IT'S A WOLF! DON'T EAT MY SPLEEN!"

Wolffe slowly blinked, completely unfazed. He reached up and lazily scratched behind his ear. "Yeah. Hey, dude." He ambled forward, looking down over the cliff toward the sprawling urban landscape. "Place is weird, though."

Norbert struggled to peel Daggett off his face. "Weird how? Weird like 'they don't serve brunch,' or weird like 'the apocalypse has arrived'?"

Wolffe shrugged lazily, leaning against a dead tree. "Just, you know... lots of squares down there. And monsters."

Daggett froze, his claws still dug into Norbert's shoulders. "…define monsters."

Wolffe looked back at them, his half-lidded eyes completely devoid of concern. "The glitchy kind, man. The ones with the bad vibes and the blue eyes. They're all over the downtown area. Total bummer."

Daggett slowly turned his head toward the town again. The vibrant illusion of safety shattered. His excitement evaporated like a puddle in a desert.

Norbert sighed, a long, tired sound that seemed to carry the weight of the last two months. "Well." He adjusted his tail, patted down the matted fur on his chest, and started walking downhill toward the highway. "Let's go find out exactly how doomed this place is. Maybe they at least have a comb."

Daggett whimpered, his shoulders slumping as he followed his brother down the rocky slope.

Behind them, Wolffe casually trotted along, whistling a slow, off-key tune.

The cracked asphalt of Interstate 9 felt strangely hard under their leathery foot-pads. It had been weeks since they had walked on anything but dirt, grass, and dissolved pixel-goop.

As they drew closer to the city limits, the sheer scale of Nearburg's defenses became staggering. A massive barricade made of flipped city buses, stacked shipping containers, and glowing, transparent energy shields blocked the main entrance.

Spotlights cut through the thick, smoggy air, sweeping frantically back and forth into the wasteland.

"Whoa," Daggett whispered, his previous panic temporarily overwritten by absolute awe. "Look at all the shiny... pointy... heavily armed things."

Norbert straightened his posture, brushing a final layer of dust off his shoulders and puffing out his chest. "Remember, Dag. We are sophisticated, cosmopolitan bachelors. Act like we see this every day. Keep it suave."

"I haven't seen a toilet in two months, Norb! I'm going to hug the first fire hydrant I see!"

"Please don't."

At the barricade checkpoint, the Nearburg Police Department—a gruff assortment of anthropomorphic canines, and other animals, and alley cats in dark blue uniforms—were frantically directing traffic and yelling into radios. But they weren't alone.

Mixed among the local animal cops were tall, imposing figures in sleek, high-tech tactical gear. E.P.F. Agents. They wielded heavy, glowing blasters and wore helmets with sliding visors that constantly scanned the crowd with targeting lasers.

Wolffe ambled past a concrete barrier, sniffing a discarded hotdog wrapper with mild interest. "Man, the authorities are really harshing the local aesthetic. Too much neon, not enough groove."

"Halt!" barked a massive bulldog wearing a police cap, and a heavily reinforced Kevlar vest. He held up a thick, furry hand, glaring down at the trio. "No one enters Nearburg without a full Morphoid scan! Step into the ring!"

An E.P.F. agent stepped forward silently, raising a heavy, rifle-like scanner that hummed with a strange, oscillating blue energy.

Daggett grabbed Norbert's arm, his claws digging in again. "Norb! He's got a space-ray! He's gonna vaporize my gorgeous buck teeth!"

"Relax, brother mine," Norbert said smoothly, stepping forward into a glowing blue ring painted directly onto the asphalt. He threw his arms out dramatically, striking a pose. "Scan away, my good sir. You'll find nothing here but one-hundred percent pure, unadulterated beaver."

The scanner swept over Norbert, a beam of light washing over his fur before the device chimed a pleasant green tone.

"Bio-signature clean. No Morphoid anomalies," the E.P.F. agent reported in a robotic, filtered voice.

Daggett nervously shuffled into the ring next. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, clamped his hands over his ears, and held his breath until his cheeks puffed out and turned slightly orange. The scanner hummed, sweeping over him from head to tail.

Daggett exhaled in a massive, sputtering rush of air. "I live! My spleen is intact!"

Wolffe slouched into the ring next. The scanner beeped green almost instantly. He didn't even stop walking, just sauntered past the bewildered E.P.F. agent with a lazy wave. "Keep it real, spaceman."

"Move along," the bulldog cop grunted, waving them through the heavy metal gates. "And keep your heads down. Curfew is at sundown. If you see any orange slime, you don't fight it. You run."

As the heavy gates clanged shut behind them, the brothers finally got a look at the interior of Nearburg proper.

It was a total sensory overload.

Neon signs buzzed and flickered against the twilight sky, casting harsh shadows across the cracked sidewalks. The streets were packed, not just with the animal citizens of Nearburg, but with refugees. Characters and creatures from areas they didn't even recognize huddled around burning trash cans in the alleys or stood in long, winding lines for rations handed out by more E.P.F. agents.

The air was thick with the smell of exhaust fumes, cheap greasy diner food, and the sharp tang of ozone from the energy shields.

Daggett's eyes darted everywhere, his pupils dilating as his brain tried to process everything at once. He saw a cat in a torn business suit carrying a briefcase, a squad of heavily armed birds marching past a mailbox, and a giant holographic billboard glitching out. It appeared to be advertising something since it had Professor Membrane's face on it.

"It's... it's so loud," Daggett muttered, his ears twitching at every blaring siren, shouting voice, and humming engine. "There are so many people, Norb."

Norbert placed a reassuring, brotherly hand on Daggett's shoulder. He looked around, taking in the bruised, battered, but still beating heart of the town. For the first time in two months, the constant, suffocating dread in his chest loosened just a fraction.

"It's beautiful, Dag," Norbert smiled, a genuine, relaxed grin finally returning to his face. "It's chaotic, it's crowded, it smells like old fish and fluids... but it's civilization. Come on. Let's find out if the apocalypse has a decent coffee shop."

They didn't find a coffee shop. What they found was a greasy, dimly lit cafe serving something that closely resembled fish and another odd assortment.

While Norbert and Wolffe secured a booth, Daggett wandered toward the back alley in search of a restroom. Instead of a bathroom door, he found a rusted grate leading into an alleyway thick with green fog. He was about to turn back when a wet, rhythmic squelching noise caught his ear.

Daggett pressed his back against the damp brick wall, peeking around the corner.

A large, disgusting figure made entirely of pulsing orange sludge was sliding out of a sewer grate. Standing before it was a controlled alley cat, its eyes covered in slime and a long blue eyeball hovering above its head.

"The eastern survivor camp," the slime creature gurgled, its voice sounding like static. "They are vulnerable. Take the brutish ones. Launch the assault from the house on the hill."

"Affirmative," the corrupted cat droned, turning away urgently.

Daggett didn't wait to hear the rest. He scrambled back into the diner, his tail whacking against a stool, and practically threw himself into their booth.

"Norb!" Daggett hissed, his eyes wide as dinner plates. "Slime monsters! A big stinking plot! They're going to attack a survivor camp!"

Norbert slowly lowered a stale tortilla chip. "Daggett, we just got here. Can we please let those officers or whatever save people."

"They said they're launching it from a house on a hill!" Daggett grabbed Norbert's arm, panic escalating. "Norb, if that camp falls, the slime guys flank the city! All this beautiful civilization... the plumbing... it'll all turn into grape jelly!"

Norbert looked at his brother's terrified but determined face, then sighed. He looked at Wolffe. "You in, canine?"

Wolffe took a slow bite of a nacho. "Man, saving a camp sounds like a lot of cardio. But... bad vibes do ruin the local music scene. Nah, I don't care."

"Fine, but only because this Cafe has amazing food!" Daggett replied.

Sneaking back out of Nearburg was surprisingly easier than getting in, mostly because the E.P.F. agents were focused on looking outward. Thirty minutes later, the duo was creeping through the eerily quiet Nearburg suburbs. Although they did have a little help from two E.P.F. agents.

The hill loomed ahead of them, shrouded in dark, swirling fog. And sitting right at the very top was the staging ground.

Daggett stopped dead in his tracks, staring up. "Uh, Norb? What... exactly am I looking at?"

Norbert was surprised. It was a house, but it defied all rules of logical architecture. Someone had violently smashed a giant, hollowed-out bone and a massive wooden fish together, creating the structure. A tall brick chimney jutted awkwardly from behind the 'bone' half. Two large, round windows sat in the 'fish' half, staring out over the valley like dead, unblinking eyes.

But worst of all was the second story of the bone section. A wooden balcony hung precariously off the side, and currently, it was barely hanging on.

"The bone-house," Norbert whispered, realizing Daggett's intel was flawlessly accurate.

Pulsing tendrils of a Morphoid crawled up the sides of the house. Beneath the balcony, pacing heavily on the dead grass, were five hulking, brutish Morphoids. They were massive. Twice the size of Big Rabbit, with thick, muscular arms.

Standing on the balcony, looking down at the brutes, was the corrupted cat Daggett had seen earlier.

"Prepare to march," the cat commanded, raising a glitching paw. "The survivor camp is just over the ridge. Leave no survivors. Also, next is that horrible cafe."

"Okay," Daggett whispered, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. "They're huge. We are small. I vote we just leave."

"No time," Norbert said, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the house. A classic beaver instinct took over. He wasn't looking at a monster base anymore. He was looking at structural integrity. "Look at the balcony, Dag. It's supported by those two wooden pillars directly underneath."

Daggett blinked, following his brother's gaze. "Yeah? So?"

"So," Norbert grinned, tapping his massive front teeth. "We do what we do best. We chew."

"So while you beavers do that, my partner and I will go evacuate those survivors." The E.P.F. agent said as the other nodded. Naturally, the beavers nodded in response.

Before Daggett could protest, Norbert darted out from the bushes, moving with surprising speed and silence. He slid into the shadows directly beneath the balcony, right behind one of the hulking brutes. Daggett, fueled entirely by the fear of being left behind, scrambled after him, pressing his back against the opposite pillar.

Above them, the corrupted cat began screeching its last orders. "Go! Devour the camp!"

"Now, Dag!" Norbert yelled.

With blinding speed, both beavers latched onto the thick wooden support pillars of the balcony. CHOMP.. Wood chips flew like shrapnel as their diamond-hard teeth tore through the timber in seconds.

The brutish Morphoids spun around, roaring in confusion as the beavers chewed entirely through the bases of the pillars in less than five seconds.

"Timber!" Norbert shouted.

The balcony gave a horrific groan. The corrupted cat above let out a startled yowl as the entire structure snapped off the side of the bone-house. Hundreds of pounds of wood, metal, and one very surprised commander plummeted straight down.

The balcony completely flattened the five brutish Morphoids beneath it in an explosion of dust, splinters, and splattering orange ooze. The corrupted cat commander hit the ground and instantly dissolved into a harmless puddle of pixelated green goo, the mind-control broken.

Silence fell over the hill, save for the settling of dust.

Daggett peeked out from behind a piece of shattered wood, his chest heaving. "Did... did we get 'em?"

The two E.P.F. agents sprinted out from the bushes, looking down at the pile of rubble and twitching ooze. "Not bad, little guys. You really brought the house down."

Norbert dusted off his hands, adjusting an imaginary tie. "Just a bit of classic forestry, friend. Just a bit of classic forestry." He looked out over the ridge, where the faint lights of the survivor camp were visible. The two E.P.F. officers swiftly rescued the five survivors from the house within two minutes.

"Are they all okay?" Norbert questioned.

One of the E.P.F. agents gave a nod and a thumbs up as the other one kept guiding the lone survivors.

"Yeah. Thanks for the help, fellas." The E.P.F. Agent said as he began to follow his partner.

"Come on, Dag," Norbert smiled, turning back toward Nearburg. "I think we've earned that coffee."

Highland Park - Teeter Totter Gulch

The world fractured, and California did not escape it.

Usually a sun-drenched paradise, the state now sat beneath the suffocating, pulsing orange shadow of Globulous Maximus's invasion. Highland Park, however, was one of the luckier zones. Thanks to heavily armed E.P.F. agents and a few resistance organizations that actually had a backbone, the streets were relatively clear of the slime-dripping monsters. It wasn't completely safe, but it was a far cry from the devastated wastelands outside the city limits.

In the center of the neighborhood sat Teeter Totter Gulch. The playground was empty, save for a twelve-year-old brunette sitting heavily on the lowered end of a seesaw.

Under normal circumstances, she ruled this playground. She was the resident bully, the undisputed terror of the jungle gym. But the apocalypse had a funny way of shifting priorities. Today, she wasn't looking for kids to shove; she was looking for her parents. She hugged her fluffy cat tightly against her chest, the feline purring nervously.

She had checked everywhere. The abandoned gas station. The Java Lava Coffee House, which is boarded up. Nothing. The Gulch was the closest landmark to her house, and sitting here was the only thing keeping her from completely breaking down. She remembered she was twelve, resolutely lifting her chin.

"You there! Surrender!"

The shrill, metallic voice pierced the quiet playground like a kazoo in a library.

The brunette whipped her head around, her cat letting out a startled meow. She scanned the empty swings and the rusted slide. Nothing.

"I said, SURRENDER!" the voice demanded again.

This time, she tracked the noise to the woodchips near her feet. Standing there was what looked like a discarded wind-up toy. It had a sleek, albeit tiny, metallic body, a large wind-up key turning slowly in its back, and oversized eyes. It didn't look dangerous. If anything, it looked like a happy meal toy that had been left out in the rain.

What she didn't know was that miles away, in the dusty city of Tremorton, Globulous Maximus had ordered his forces to tear the town apart looking for this exact toy. Globulous needed a specific, unique technological mind to calibrate his ultimate doomsday weapon. But his Morphoid armies had failed to find him, entirely unaware that the tiny, self-proclaimed conqueror had marched his way all the way to Highland Park on foot.

The girl blinked, lowering her guard. "A toy? What are you supposed to be?"

The little robot raised its stubby metal arms to the sky, striking what it clearly thought was a terrifying pose. "I am not a toy! I am the harbinger of your doom! I am... KILLGORE!"

"Killgore?" the girl repeated, tilting her head. "That's a weird name for a toy."

The sound came from the dense bushes bordering the park. A thick, wet bubbling noise that made the hair on the back of her cat's neck stand straight up.

A lone morphoid dragged itself out of the foliage. It was a twisted, corrupted mass of orange Globulous slime, its body shifting and glitching like a broken television screen. Its glowing green eyes locked onto the playground. It had been aimlessly wandering, separated from its pack, until it heard the girl speak.

"Target identified..." the Morphoid gurgled, its voice sounding like a person drowning. "Killgore... located."

The girl backed up, clutching her cat so tightly that it squeaked.

"Oh..." she muttered.

"I have no friends! Only subjects to conquer!" Killgore shouted before turning around. His red eye widened as he processed the towering, glitching slime monster looming over them.

The Morphoid didn't attack immediately. The lone morphoid was summoning a horde.

"Okay, change of plans!" the girl yelled, her tough-bully facade completely shattering. She scooped Killgore up in her free hand, holding him like a metallic football, and bolted out of the playground.

"Unhand me, peasant! I am Killgore! I do not retreat! I advance in the opposite direction and want to destroy XJ9!" the robot shrieked as he bounced under her arm.

"Shut up and let's get out of here!" she screamed back, her sneakers pounding against the pavement as a tide of orange slime monsters poured into Teeter Totter Gulch, hot on their trail.

The girl closed her eyes, bracing herself.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over the alley, blocking out the dim twilight.

The ground violently shook as something dropped from the sky, slamming into the pavement directly between the girl and the Morphoids. The sheer force of the impact cracked the concrete, sending a shockwave of dust and loose trash flying into the air.

The Morphoids stumbled backward, shrieking as the dust cleared.

Standing there was a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a sleek blue superhero suit with a striking yellow lightning bolt emblazoned across the chest. A matching blue cape fluttered dramatically behind him, defying the lack of wind in the alley.

He slowly stood up from a heroic landing, placing his hands on his hips and flashing a brilliant white smile.

"Hold it right there, slimeballs!" the man boomed, his voice echoing with absolute authority. "Nobody should corner a child!"

The girl's jaw dropped. "No way..."

The Morphoids roared, lunging forward in unison.

"Big mistake," Thunder Man chuckled. He didn't even flinch. He simply reared back his right fist, which shook with intense strength. With a mighty grunt, he threw a devastating punch. However, not at the monsters, but straight into the nearest steel dumpster.

With unimaginable super-strength, Thunder man launched the two-ton dumpster through the air like it was a softball. It slammed directly into the cluster of Morphoids with the force of a freight train. The monsters were instantly flattened, exploding into a shower of harmless, orange goop that splattered against the ground.

Thunder man brushed off his hands, his cape swirling as he turned to face the stunned twelve-year-old. The imposing superhero instantly shifted into a warm, slightly goofy dad-smile.

"You okay, kiddo?" he asked gently, kneeling down slightly to meet her eye level. "That was a close call. Good thing my patrol route covers the place. I was just looking for anyone that could use a hand."

The brunette blinked, slowly lowering her cat. All her bully instincts were gone, replaced entirely by starstruck awe. "You're... your Thunder Man. From Hiddenville."

"The one and only!" He pointed a finger gun at her, winking. "Though the E.P.F. has me working overtime all over California lately. What's your name, brave girl?"

Before she could answer, Killgore squirmed out from under her arm and landed on the pavement with a tiny metal clank.

"I am Killgore!" the little robot announced, pointing a stubby metal finger up at the towering superhero. "And I had them exactly where I wanted them! Your interference was unnecessary, spandex-man! Though... I suppose I could use a heavily muscled lieutenant in my army. Kneel before Killgore!"

Thunder man blinked, looking down at the tiny wind-up toy. He let out a booming laugh. "Well, aren't you a feisty little guy! Is this your science project, kid?"

"He's not mine," the girl said quickly, stepping away from the robot. "And those slime monsters specifically called his name out. They were looking for him."

Thunder Man's smile faded, his heroic jawline setting into a serious line. He tapped the communicator built into his wrist.

"This is Thunder man to E.P.F. Command," he said, his tone all business now. "I've secured a civilian in Highland Park... and a target of interest. Looks like Globulous is sending search parties. I'm going to bring her back with me to the base."

He looked back at the girl and Killgore, the sky above them beginning to scatter with that orange mist once again.

"Stick with me, kid," Thunder Man said, his eyes scanning the rooftops. "I'll carry you to safety." Thunder man cooed.

Before the twelve-year-old could even ask how they were supposed to leave, Thunder Man scooped her up securely under his right arm.

She shrieked, clutching her fluffy cat tightly against her chest to keep it from bolting. With his left hand, the superhero casually pinched the large claw on Killgore's body, lifting the struggling robot off the pavement like a misbehaving kitten. He practically held Killgore by his hand.

"Up, up, and away!" Thunder man boomed.

The ground cracked beneath his boots, and with a deafening sonic boom, they shot straight up into the sky.

The brunette squeezed her eyes shut, her stomach dropping into her shoes as gravity abandoned them. When she finally dared to peek, her breath hitched. The sky over California was a nightmare. What used to be a clear, starry night was now a murky, suffocating canopy of bruised orange clouds. Massive, glitching geometric patterns drifted through the atmosphere. Below them, Highland Park looked small and fragile against the creeping neon-green corruption spreading through the state.

"Unhand me, you brightly colored simpleton!" Killgore shrieked, dangling helplessly from Thunder Man's grip thousands of feet in the air. His little metal arms flailed wildly in the rushing wind. "You dare suspend the supreme conqueror, Killgore?!"

Thunder Man just chuckled, adjusting his flight path. "Feisty little guy, aren't you? Hang tight, we're almost there."

"I am not 'feisty'!" Killgore screeched, his volume somehow overpowering the roaring wind. "I am pure, undiluted malice! I am the architect of despair! And once I am finished with you, I will march to Tremorton and finally destroy XJ9! I will dismantle that blue-and-white teenage toaster, tear out her servos, and use her motherboard as a coaster for my victory chalice!"

The girl just buried her face in her cat's fur, trying to drown out the maniacal ravings of the tiny piece of tin.

Hiddenville - Secret E.P.F. Base

The flight was terrifyingly short. Within minutes, Thunder man banked sharply toward a disguised sector of the Hiddenville suburbs. The ground below them suddenly rippled—a massive holographic cloaking field giving way to reveal a sprawling, heavily fortified military compound hidden inside a hollowed-out canyon.

This was the Hiddenville E.P.F. Base. While the primary headquarters in New York coordinated the global defense, this subterranean fortress was the vital backup command center keeping the West Coast from completely falling to Globulous. Heavy plasma cannons tracked them as they descended, their glowing blue barrels lowering only when Thunder Man transmitted his clearance codes.

Thunder Man touched down smoothly on the central landing pad. The massive blast doors hissed open, spilling sterile white light into the murky night.

A squad of E.P.F. operatives in heavy tactical armor immediately rushed out, their blasters raised, clearly on edge. They stopped in their tracks when they saw the legendary superhero casually holding a terrified middle-schooler, a hyperventilating cat, and a screaming toy.

The lead operative lowered his weapon, thoroughly confused. "Uh... Thunder Man, sir. Command said you were bringing in a high-value Morphoid target?"

"Globulous's creatures were trying to kidnap him," Thunder Man explained, dropping Killgore onto the steel floor.

Killgore instantly righted himself, pointing a dramatic finger at the heavily armed soldiers. "Bow before Killgore! Lay down your weapons, or I shall command my armies to crush you into dust! Right after I reduce the insufferable XJ9 into a pile of scrap metal! Yes! Tremble!"

The E.P.F. operatives slowly exchanged exhausted, deadpan looks. They were fighting a multi-dimensional war against planet-eating slime, and now they had to babysit a wind-up toy with a habit of endless ranting.

As Thunder Man escorted the girl and her cat toward the medical bay to get checked out, Killgore marched behind them, his metal feet clanking annoyingly against the floor grates. The cat audibly meowed once.

"Surrender!" Killgore shouted again.

In the center of the room, the Lead Communications Officer rubbed his temples, a massive migraine forming behind his eyes. He looked at the technician sitting next to him.

"Is he going to do this all day?" the officer groaned.

"He's been doing it for ten solid minutes, sir," the technician sighed, typing on his console. "He just keeps ranting about XJ9."

The officer slammed his hand onto his desk.

"Fine. If he wants XJ9 so badly, give her to him. Get the robot on the secure line. Call the damn robot and show them the little pest."

"Sir? You want to pull one of the heaviest hitters off the frontline to talk to... that?"

"If it makes him stop screeching for five minutes so I can hear myself think, yes!" the officer barked. "Patch her through! Let her deal with him!"

The technician didn't argue. His fingers flew across the glowing holographic keyboard, overriding the standard communication protocols to punch a direct line through to Jenny.

The static on the massive screen snapped into sharp focus.

The image displayed was a view far from the ground, deep in the sky. Smoke billowed in the background, and the sky was lit up with a mixture of orange and blue. Hovering right in the foreground, taking up the entirety of the screen, was Jenny Wakeman.

"E.P.F. Command?" Jenny's voice echoed through the base, a mix of synthesized audio and exasperated teenager. She wiped a smudge of orange Globulous slime off her metal cheek with her free hand. The sky still had that orange mist.

"Greetings, Wakeman. We have a problem here." The Officer said.

"Oh? What is it?" Jenny humbly questioned.

"AHA! BEHOLD! THE WRETCHED XJ9 FINALLY DARES TO SHOW HER FACE!" Killgore shouted, instantly breaking apart the silence and not finishing the officer's reply.

Jenny's face froze on the screen. She sighed, her face contorting with annoyance. Killgore had to pick this exact time, of all times, to bother her again.

Killgore raised both his fists to the ceiling, his wind-up key spinning furiously on his back. "Cower in fear, you blue-and-white toaster! It is I, Killgore! I have infiltrated the very heart of this pathetic human survival base, and soon, I shall march upon Tremorton to dismantle you piece by piece! Your doom is at hand! Acknowledge my supreme evil!"

Everyone stared at him for a long, agonizingly silent five seconds.

Jenny let out a massive, synthesized sigh that sounded like a deflating tire.

"Are you kidding me?" Jenny groaned, throwing her right hand in the air. She glared at the E.P.F. Lead Officer.

"He wouldn't stop screaming your name, ma'am," the officer replied, suddenly feeling very foolish.

Killgore's tiny metal feet clanked against the floor. "I am the master of your demise! Tremble! Tremble, I say!"

"Ugh, I'll pick him up in five minutes, tops." Jenny said, pinching the metal bridge of her nose as if she had a headache.

"Wait! Do not disconnect! I have a monologue prepared! I have a monologue!"

With the colossal holographic screen gone, the middle of the room was again lit by standard blue light.

The Lead Communications Officer let out a long breath, finally feeling his migraine begin to recede. He pointed to two heavily armored guards.

"Get a shoebox," the officer ordered. "And put him in holding."

5 Minutes Later

The sky stretching out over the ocean was stained with an unnatural, sickly blue and orange mist—the lingering, atmospheric residue of the impending threat. The sun finally dipped below the horizon, officially casting the world into the heavy, deep shadows of dusk.

Jenny soared through the thick clouds, her twin thrusters humming with a low, exhausted purr. Her titanium chassis was battered and scratched from the Tremorton siege, but a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her mother, Tuck, and the rest of the survivors were finally safe, tucked away with the other refugees at the Volcano Island sanctuary.

The flight back to the Mawgu Lair to regroup with the other heroes should have been a peaceful, much-needed moment of zen. It would have been, if not for the ceaseless, shrill yapping of her cargo.

Dangling effortlessly from Jenny's metal fingers by his wind-up key was Killgore. His miniature, tank-like treads spun uselessly in the open air, his oversized glass eyes glaring at the clouds with manufactured rage. His tiny voice box had been blasting a continuous stream of robotic threats since she picked him up.

After three solid minutes of listening to his high-pitched, megalomaniacal ranting, Jenny's optical sensors narrowed in pure teenage exasperation. She lifted the tiny robot up to her eye level, pausing her flight path just enough to glare at him.

"Alright, Killgore, I'll bite," Jenny sighed, her synthesized voice heavy with fatigue and a heavy dose of sarcasm. "Why did an army of giant, world-ending slime monsters want to capture a wind-up toy?"

"I am no toy! I am Killgore! Conqueror of worlds!" the miniature robot screeched. His tinny voice vibrated with outrage as his tiny, clawed arms flailed wildly at her face, coming up several inches short. "And to answer your question, idiot, those gelatinous fools clearly recognized my supreme evil! They wished to harness my destructive power for their hive! But they failed! Just as you will fail when you inevitably surrender to Killgore!"

Jenny just deadpanned, staring at the tiny, vibrating robot. With a heavy, metallic sigh, she didn't even look down as she spoke, keeping her optical sensors fixed on the distant horizon.

"Well, whatever they wanted you for they aren't going to get you now. Volcano Island is pretty safe. There's even a special spot for you." Jenny politely said.

"Well, whatever they wanted you for, they aren't going to get you now," Jenny said, her tone politely deadpan, like a tired babysitter.

"Volcano Island is pretty safe. There's even a special spot for you."

Killgore's tiny, clawed pincers clamped down on empty air in sheer outrage. The high altitude wind whipped past his boxy metallic frame, catching the silver wind-up key on his back and making it spin with an angry, frantic whirl.

"A special spot?!" Killgore shrieked, his shrill voice box crackled with electronic static. "You dare speak to Killgore as if he is some mere trinket for a display shelf?! I require no sanctuary, moron! I am the danger they flee from!"

"Sure, they do." Jenny whispered under her breath.

"The only 'special spot' I demand is a towering throne built upon the crushed, rusting chassis of you!" the tiny robot raged, shaking a minuscule fist at her kneecap. "Unhand me, you robotic buffoon, so I may smite you and claim this 'Volcano' as my ultimate fortress of doom! SURRENDER TO KILLGORE!"

Jenny just blinked. Her expression remained entirely unbothered by the tiny overlord in her grip.

Location Unknown

The lone turtle blinked, his emerald eyes slowly adjusting to the flickering orange light. He had absolutely no idea where he was.

Tall pines loomed on all sides, their thick branches swaying gently in the cool night breeze to form a dense, shadowy canopy. The distinct smell of burning wood and damp, untamed earth filled his nostrils. It felt eerily familiar, bringing back memories of the farmhouse in Northampton.

He stared down at the crackling campfire at his feet, the flames casting dancing, high-contrast shadows against the tree trunks. "Why is there a campfire out here?" Raph muttered to himself, rubbing his temples.

He tilted his head back. Without the suffocating light pollution of the city, the stars were blindingly bright, scattered across the sky like a sea of spilled diamonds. A sinking, dreadful hunch hit him right in the plastron.

"Ugh, don't tell me I time-traveled again," Raph groaned, gripping the sides of his head in frustration. "If Renet dragged me back to the Mesozoic era, I swear I'm gonna—"

"What are you going on about, dude?"

Raph whipped around. Stepping casually out from the heavy shadows of the trees was Mikey, holding a long stick with a perfectly toasted marshmallow. The youngest brother tilted his head, his baby-blue eyes wide with innocent confusion. "Did Leo hit you too hard in the noggin during sparring? Because I told you, bro, that spinning back-kick is lethal."

"Mikey?!" Raph gasped.

Every ounce of his tough-guy facade instantly evaporated. Before Mikey could even process the reaction, Raph lunged forward. He wrapped his thick, muscular arms around his little brother, pulling him into a bone-crushing, desperate squeeze. Raph buried his face into Mikey's shoulder, holding onto the youngest turtle like he was a lifeline.

Mikey let out a muffled squeak of surprise, his arms pinned tightly to his sides. The stick slipped from his fingers, the toasted marshmallow plummeting tragically into the dirt.

"Uh... Raph? Are you feeling okay?"

A tall, lanky turtle stepped into the warm glow of the firelight, nervously adjusting his purple mask. Donnie blinked, staring at the embrace with profound bewilderment, as if trying to calculate the mathematical probability of what he was seeing. "You don't typically hug Mikey. Statistically speaking, you usually put him in a headlock until he taps out or cries."

Leonardo walked up right behind Donnie, his posture perfectly straight, his hand resting casually near the hilt of his katana. He frowned, his dark blue eyes narrowing with concern as his older-brother instincts flared. "Seriously, Raph, what's going on with you?"

"Guys?!" Raph yelled, his gruff voice cracking with sheer, overwhelming relief.

Without a single second of hesitation, Raph unceremoniously shoved Mikey backward. The youngest turtle yelped, tumbling into the grassy dirt with a heavy thud. Raph scrambled forward, throwing his thick arms around both Donnie and Leo in a fierce, tight embrace, completely ignoring Mikey's muffled complaints from the ground as he finally reunited with his brothers. It's been maybe two months? He clearly lost track, but that didn't matter now.

""Hey, guys? Why is the fire doing that?" Mikey asked, brushing dirt off his kneepads as he took a cautious step back.

The comforting, warm orange flames violently surged, twisting high into the air. The heat vanished entirely, replaced by an unnatural, bone-chilling cold. The fire mutated, shifting from a natural amber into a blinding, ghostly neon green. It didn't burn like normal fire; it swirled with a strange, ectoplasmic energy. The emerald flames spun into a localized vortex, and from the swirling ashes, a tall, imposing silhouette formed, bathed in a spectral glow.

"Master Splinter?!" all four turtles gasped in unison.

"Whoa! Sensei, are you a ghost?! Are you... are you dead?!" Mikey cried out, his baby-blue eyes welling up with thick tears as sheer panic took over. "Oh man, please don't let me be right!"

Splinter raised a translucent, glowing hand. His expression was calm, yet undeniably grave. "Relax, Michelangelo. I am not deceased. My spirit has temporarily detached from my physical form, but my body still draws breath... with the assistance of a ghostly friend."

"You're alive?!" Leonardo stepped forward, dropping to one knee in immediate respect, his voice thick with desperate hope. "Sensei, please. Tell us where you are. Tell us how we can help!"

Splinter sighed, his ethereal ears drooping slightly as he looked at the stunned, desperate faces of his sons. "You cannot. Not yet. There is much you must overcome first."

The spiritual projection flickered, casting stark, dramatic shadows across the forest floor. "Raphael is still separated from you three, and a far greater darkness looms. You must focus your minds on the world-eater, Globulous. If he succeeds, the earth will fall."

Donatello swallowed hard, looking down at his hands. "He's right... the mathematical probability of survival against Globulous again is basically zero if we don't have help."

"Remember, my sons: we choose what holds us back, and what moves us forward," Splinter said gently, his voice echoing with spiritual resonance. "I have faith that you will reunite in due time, and then you will have the strength to find me."

"Hai, Sensei," the four brothers answered in perfect, ingrained unison.

Splinter's glowing eyes shifted, locking directly onto the red-banded turtle. "Globulous is the greatest threat you all have ever faced. Raphael, you will play a key part in the battles to come. Remember what you learned in the woods of Northampton. Do not let your fierce temper control you and do not be afraid of seeking assistance during hardship."

Raph lowered his gaze, his fists clenching tightly at his sides as he fought the lump in his throat. "Hai, Sensei," he replied somberly.

"I must go. Keep my words in your minds," Splinter whispered. The ghostly green fire flared one last time, completely consuming the rat's spirit before rapidly shrinking back down into a normal, crackling orange campfire.

For a moment, the woods were dead silent.

"Wow..." Mikey breathed out, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "This is just like when we were training in the forest a year ago."

"Yeah. When we prepared to take back New York from the Kraang," Leonardo said, his dark blue eyes hardening with renewed, fierce determination. He drew his katana, resting the blade on his shoulder as he looked at his brothers. "If we can do that, then we can beat Globulous and save the world."

But before Raph could agree, the dark canopy of the forest began to bleach. The heavy, cel-shaded outlines of the trees dissolved into a blinding, suffocating white light. The solid ground vanished beneath his feet.

Panic seized Raph's chest. The dream was collapsing.

"Wait! Guys!" Raph yelled, his ingrained anger flaring up to mask his sheer desperation as his brothers began to fade into the endless white void. He reached out, his fingers grasping at empty air. "I miss you guys!"

Leonardo's voice echoed from the blinding distance, fading to a fleeting whisper. "We miss you too, Raph..."

With a sharp gasp, Raphael violently jerked awake. His thick green hands clawed blindly at the heavy canvas of his hammock. The spiritual forest was gone, replaced by the humid, salty night air of Volcano Island. He sat bolt upright, his chest heaving, the distant sound of crashing waves filling his ears as the heavy waves clashed.

It was starting to become night.

Volcano Island 8pm

The sun had fully dipped below the horizon, leaving Volcano Island bathed in the cool, violet and indigo hues of early evening. Jenny's twin thrusters whined down from a high-pitched roar to a soft, fading purr as she descended from the misty sky.

Her heavy titanium boots touched down, sinking slightly into the soft, coarse sand of the beach. Almost immediately, her optical sensors locked onto a set of massive, deeply entrenched tire tracks carving a chaotic path from the shoreline toward the dense grassy canopy. The Jimbus.

Jenny let out a quiet, mechanical sigh of relief, her glowing blue eyes softening. "At least everyone got here okay," she murmured to herself. The crushing weight of the Tremorton evacuation finally began to lift from her metal shoulders.

A low, rumbling grunt drew her attention toward a pair of sturdy palm trees near the edge of the treeline. Strung tightly between them was a heavy hammock. Raphael was sprawled out inside it, his thick green arms crossed behind his head and his signature red bandana pulled down slightly to block out the remaining light. Considering the sheer amount of chaos he's been through the hot-headed turtle seemed to claim that specific nap spot fairly often.

As the residual hum of Jenny's landing faded into the ambient sound of crashing waves, Raph stirred. He cracked one eye open, pushing the red fabric up with a thick green finger. With a heavy, irritated sigh, he rolled out of the hammock, his three-toed feet hitting the sand with a solid thud. He reached his arms high above his head, twisting his torso until the joints in his shoulders and shell popped with a loud, satisfying series of cracks.

Shaking off the last of his grogginess, Raph began a slow, ambling stroll toward the teenage robot.

Jenny offered a small, exhausted smile, shifting her weight in the sand and placing a hand on her hip.

"Hey, Raph," she called out casually.

"How was the nap? Catch enough Z's?" Jenny held a smirk.

He crossed his green arms tightly over his plastron, his amber eyes drifting away from her and staring out at the dark, crashing waves of the ocean.

"Eh, it was fine." Raph grumbled. He let out a heavy breath, the tough vibe slipped for a fraction of a second. "Just... thinkin' about some things."

"Oh, mind if I ask what?" Jenny politely asked.

"Just about my brothers..." Raph uttered.

"Oh, you miss them, don't you?" Jenny questioned.

"Listen..." Raph started, his voice dropping an octave. He still refused to make eye contact, desperately trying to play the question off as a casual, tactical inquiry rather than genuine desperation. "You're a giant, walking supercomputer, right? So... do you got a scanner or something built in there? Like, if I handed you a piece of gear, or... or a weapon... could you lock onto a guy and track the guy?"

Jenny's glowing blue eyes softened. She didn't miss the slight, uncharacteristic tremor in the ninja's gruff voice, or the way he kept his green eyes deliberately fixed on the crashing waves instead of looking at her.

"I think I do. I haven't used my tracking or scanning technology too much." Jenny replied, her synthesized voice appearing remorseful.

She tapped a few glowing holographic keys on her wrist. "If you have a piece of gear, a weapon, or even just a scrap of fabric that belongs to the person you're looking for, I can isolate their specific genetic signature and cross-reference it and should be able to track them."

She took a slow step closer, the cool evening breeze off the ocean whistling softly through her exhaust ports. She looked down at the tense, defensive posture of the mutant turtle, her face projecting pure empathy.

She extended her metallic hand, palm open, a gesture of complete support. "I don't know who you're looking for... But clearly they mean a lot to you. So whatever you got... Pass it here. We'll find them."

With a ragged, shuddering exhale, Raph finally broke his stiff posture. He reached behind his back, sliding his thick, three fingers beneath his belt to a hidden, heavily secured leather pouch tucked safely against his carapace. He had stashed the weapon away. It was more of a reminder of his family than used as an actual weapon.

Slowly, he pulled his hand free. Resting in his green palm was a single throwing star.

It was heavily scuffed, the sharp edges scorched by strange, chaotic dimensional energy. But what caught the blue glow of Jenny's scanner wasn't the scratches on the cold steel, it was the dark, rusted-brown liquid stained across the center grip.

He extended his arm, gently placing the stained weapon into Jenny's cold, titanium hand.

Jenny carefully closed her cold, metallic fingers around the blood-stained steel. As she did, the bright blue glow of her wrist-scanner flickered, dimming for a fraction of a second before stabilizing. A soft, low-pitch whine emanated from her chest cavity, followed by the tired whir of her internal cooling fans.

"I have it," Jenny assured him, her synthesized voice gentle but firm. "The genetic marker is intact. I just need to isolate their frequency, and my radar should be able to track exactly where they are."

"His DNA is all over it. I just need to lock onto the frequency and should be able to track them. First, I need a small recharge. I got about forty percent power in me left." Jenny said.

"Mhm. Fine, I'll wait out here." Raph replied as Jenny nodded.

"Yeah. Mhm. Fine," Raph grunted, the words tight and strained in his throat.

He immediately turned his back to her, his amber eyes locking back onto the dark, crashing waves of the ocean so she wouldn't see how anxious he really was. He crossed his thick green arms defensively over his plastron, his three-toed foot already tapping a restless, impatient rhythm into the cool sand.

"I'll just... wait out here," Raph muttered into the sea breeze. "Make it quick, metal girl."

Jenny offered a small, understanding nod to his turned shell. She carefully secured the stained shuriken in a protective chest compartment before firing up her thrusters to a low hover, making her way toward the Mawgu Lair's charger. She asked Jimmy to install one just for her and she made use of it.

She let out a long, synthesized sigh of relief as the sweet, revitalizing surge of electricity finally began to cycle through her exhausted core.

Before she could even check her battery percentage, the echoing sound of heavy footsteps—accompanied by a very distinct, wet squelch—drew her attention down the cavernous stone corridor.

The strike team had returned. And they looked absolutely miserable.

Leading the pack was Jimmy Neutron, his usually pristine, gravity-defying hair drooping sadly over his forehead. He was tightly clutching a glowing, mechanical component—the crucial piece they had been sent to retrieve from the plant monster, but he looked too tired to even celebrate.

Trailing right behind him was SpongeBob, who was leaving a trail of sticky footprints on the stone floor. The little yellow sponge wasn't completely covered, but several stubborn, neon-orange globs of viscous plant-sap clung to his square edges, slowly absorbing into his porous body with every squeaky step he took.

Right next to him was a blonde girl in a green shirt, looking absolutely furious as she aggressively yanked at a thick string of the same orange goo that had firmly cemented itself into her hair.

"Stupid, mutant, giant Venus flytrap..." she muttered through gritted teeth, trying to pry her fingers loose from the sticky, rubbery mess. "This is completely ruining my highlights!"

Jenny raised a metallic eyebrow, watching the battered team approach her charging station. "Hey guys," she greeted politely. "I see you survived the giant girl-eating plant. Who's the new girl?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes, letting out a loud, exasperated groan. "That is Cindy Vortex," he introduced, his voice dripping with exhausted sarcasm. "Also known as the loudest, most persistent complainer in all of Retroville. I'd tell you more, but she hasn't stopped yelling since the plant tried to digest us."

"I wouldn't have gotten eaten if your stupid 'Plant-B-Gone' laser hadn't jammed, Nerdtron!" Cindy snapped back, glaring daggers at the boy genius before violently ripping a clump of goo from her hair and flicking it at the floor.

Suddenly, Dudley Puppy bumped directly into Jimmy's back. The T.U.F.F. agent hadn't been paying attention to the argument, the cavern, or the mission at all. In fact, he was walking in a slow, confused circle, his eyes completely crossed as he stared intensely over his own shoulder.

"Wait, what?" Dudley gasped, freezing in place. His floppy ears perked up as he looked at Cindy in absolute bewilderment. "We have a new person? Since when?! Was she in the plant with us?!"

Before anyone could answer him, Dudley gasped again, his attention violently snapping back to his rear end. "Wait! Guys, look! My tail is following me again!"

The faint, electronic chime of Jenny's internal HUD indicated her battery was creeping past ninety-five percent. She watched the exhausted strike team drag themselves into the corridor, her teenage curiosity completely overriding the grim atmosphere of the day.

"So, are you guys going to tell me what happened?" Jenny asked, leaning forward against the charging terminal. "I'm really interested in hearing about this adventure!"

SpongeBob stopped in his tracks, a few drops of the neon-orange plant sap splattering onto the stone floor beneath him. His porous body sagged with exhaustion, but he still managed to force a bright, squeaky, and completely genuine smile.

"Oh, sure thing, Jenny!" SpongeBob replied, though a massive yawn that stretched his rectangular face immediately interrupted the sentence. He rubbed his heavy eyelids. "I would love to tell you all about our daring escapades... but my porous little body is completely pooped. I'll tell you the whole story bright and early tomorrow, I promise!"

"Is there any place to take a shower in this damp, depressing cave, Nerdtron?!" Cindy hollered, her voice echoing shrilly off the cavern walls. She was furiously scraping a thick, rubbery patch of green slime off her sleeve, looking absolutely disgusted. "I am sick of smelling like a mutant compost bin, and I can't stand this gooey plant junk in my hair for another minute, or it's going to permanently ruin my complexion!"

Jimmy rubbed his temples, his face contorting as a massive headache began to form behind his eyes. He didn't even have the energy to argue with her.

"Yeah, yeah, relax," Jimmy muttered wearily, gesturing a thumb down the dimly lit hallway. "Just go down to Sector 4 and step into the primary Teleportation Booth. It's pre-programmed to beam you directly to the decontamination wing of Neutron Labs. One of my Neutron Bots will help guide you along."

Cindy huffed, flipping her sticky hair over her shoulder as she stomped off toward the teleporter, grumbling under her breath about how she should have stayed home.

Jimmy sighed, turning to check on the rest of his team. "Alright, Dudley, let's get you to a bunk—"

He stopped. Dudley Puppy wasn't listening. In fact, the T.U.F.F. agent was already completely unconscious. He hadn't even bothered to look for a bed. Dudley was curled up in a tight, furry ball right on the freezing cold stone floor of the lair. He was snoring softly, his floppy ears acting as a blanket and his tail draped over his nose, sleeping exactly like an actual, ordinary dog.

Jenny couldn't help but smile at the chaotic, mismatched team. A sudden, sharp dinging noise echoed from her chest cavity. She's a quarater away from hundred percent power.