WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #123, available now from IDW.
Ever since Old Hob and the Mutanimals were driven out of power by the citizens of Mutant Town, a uniquely peaceful atmosphere has finally settled in on their slice of the city. Thanks to this, nearly everyone in the Splinter Clan has found a new opportunity to spend meaningful time with their friends and family. At least, almost everyone has save for Leonardo, who seems to be the odd Turtle out. Luckily enough, a new hotspot has just opened up where he just so happens to fit right in, and Mutant Town's very own fight club might just be the outlet he has been looking for.
While everyone else is busy with their own little groups and significant others, Leonardo has taken to the rooftops for a late night stroll to try and ease his stress. As it turns out, Leo isn't the only one out and about at night, and in the large line he comes across are none other than Casey Jones and Sheena. Casey is excited to catch up with his old friend, although Sheena is far more concerned with Leo not telling Jennika about her whereabouts. It isn't that anything particularly seedy is going on, but rather that Sheena is worried what her girlfriend would think about the brawls taking place right under her nose.
Thankfully, whatever concerns Leonardo initially has about the fight club that has cropped up are soon enough dissolved in the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #123 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, Jodi Nishijima, Ronda Pattison, Shawn Lee, and Bobby Curnow. Despite the inherent risks that come with humans sneaking across the border into Mutant Town, the fight club itself is all in good fun. While there is money on the line, that doesn't seem to matter nearly as much as the sense of community that is being built in the walls of the mutant mouse Winny's establishment.
As Sheena explains during Casey's bout, no one ever really gets hurt in the ring, and from the looks of things the usual crowd is genuinely welcoming. Still, it makes sense that she would be worried about Jennika's opinion of such an establishment considering her violent past. On the other hand, Sheena's own experiences aren't so dissimilar from Jennika's own that she can't relate, and for her the fight club has become both a way to work on her Splinter Clan training as well as meet new friends. Even Casey and his four-armed opponent are genuinely happy to shake hands after a thorough thrashing, and Leo can't help but get caught up in the atmosphere himself. Seeing humans and mutants duking it out would normally be cause for alarm, but in Winny's bar it has become the best way for them to bridge the ultimately baseless gaps that have divided them.
The fact that the community in Mutant Town is coalescing in such joyous if not mildly violent ways is really what the Turtles have been trying to work towards this entire time. That it is happening without them realizing it only speaks to how easy that is now that the Mutanimals are a non-issue.
This isn't to say that there is any shortage on legitimate issues to deal with, but the ones which were keeping people from truly coming together are no longer standing in their way. With any luck, this will only make Mutant Town stronger whenever it has to face whatever the next grave threat waiting in the wings is.