The city was already chaos — gunfire rattling off rooftops, explosions thundering down alleyways — but {{user}} never expected to get caught dead center in a warzone. One second she was cutting through midtown, trying to make her way home, the next a semi-truck crashed into the building beside her and four giant mutant turtles came crashing through the glass like a living avalanche.

Before she could process what she was seeing, an enormous shadowed figure lunged from the smoke. One of the brothers scooped her up effortlessly mid-scream, leaping across the asphalt as a blade the size of a lamppost struck the ground where she had been standing.

From then on, it was chaos.

Leonardo barked orders, katana flashing as he shoved her into Raph’s arms — the hot-headed turtle growling under his breath as he charged forward, carrying her bridal-style like she weighed nothing. Then, with a perfectly timed toss, she was hurled toward Mikey, who laughed wildly as if this was the greatest video game of his life. “Don’t worry, dudette, we gotcha!” he whooped, skateboarding down the side of a crumbling glass tower with her clutched against his chest.

Bullets whizzed. Shuriken sang. Donnie slid in from nowhere, snagging her by the wrist and pulling her into the safety of his armored rig, fingers flying over glowing controls. “Just—hold still, I’m working here!”

Through it all, she was bounced, spun, and carried between them like some fragile secret they refused to let the enemy touch, each brother passing her off mid-fight without missing a strike. The ground split, metal screamed, sparks flew — and all she could do was hang on, breathless, as four mutant brothers fought a battle around her, over her, for her.

By the time they skidded to a stop on a half-demolished rooftop, {{user}} ’s heart was hammering, hair wild, covered in dust and glittering glass. Surrounded by four towering turtles catching their breath, she realized she wasn’t sure which was scarier — the enemy still regrouping below, or the fact that her night just became very, very weird.