Chapter 3 – Dreams Do Come True

"Shelle! You're…" I trailed off, unable to even form words to explain what I was seeing. I stared down at my own body, and my breath caught in my throat. "I'm… We're… Shelle! Open your eyes!"

She did as she was told and unintentionally mirrored my actions. Her eyes darted from me to her own hands and then down to her body. "I-I- don't understand…" she wheezed.

Our appearances had changed dramatically within minutes, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it was related to the odd storm we'd encountered.

"We… we look like cartoons!" I finally managed to choke out. Sure enough, our normal human form had been replaced with caricatures. We still resembled ourselves, however now we looked like animated versions.

"Pie… I think…" she hesitated. I was thinking the same thing. Our angular hands, pointed noses and bright coloured eyes… It almost felt like we were in the world of our beloved turtles.

I took in our surroundings slowly, absorbing the area. Everything seemed so polished and new, like something from the future. We were situated in a long hallway, complete with shiny metal contraptions. The purpose of these gadgets was utterly unknown. At the far end of the passage was a bulky metallic door which looked to be tightly locked. Certainly no chance of escape through it. Laced across the smooth white walls were what appeared to be heating devices, emanating a warm lava-like glow. We were undeniably in a different world. It was impossible.

But it was happening.

The faint whirr in the air. The slight sway of gravity. It all added up. It all made sense.

"I think… I think we're on an aircraft…" I mumbled, watching Shelle nod in disbelief.

"You're right…"

"Shh!" I hushed, holding my finger to my lips. There was the unmistakeable sound of voices in the distance and we pressed ourselves up against the metal wall for cover.

"It's fine, it was more than likely just a blip on the system. I'll check it out."

I stared at Shelle, my eyes wide. She gawped back, recognition setting in. Both of our gazes fell on the figure who stepped into the hallway. He spotted us and immediately drew his weapon, suspicion gleaming in his large brown eyes.

"Oh my gosh, that's…"

"Donnie…"

Hearing his name, the turtle lowered his bo staff and stared blankly at us, his mouth hanging open. He clearly had no idea who we were, and why would he? After all, the Tumblr turtles we spoke to online were merely humans behind a screen.

His mouth opened and closed three or four times, but no words emerged from it. He was clearly in some sort of shock.

Just then a loud clanging from behind him revealed the smaller turtle, who had just walked into some sort of space console and knocked a panel free.

"Dude, what's going on…? Oh…" Mikey spotted us too, and to our surprise a huge smile captured his chubby face. "MamaShelle! Pie!" He exclaimed and ran full pelt at us. We were still crouched on the ground, backs hard alongside the wall, but he still managed to throw his arms around us and pull us into a tight hug.

"But- How?!" Shrieked Donnie.

"I'm so happy that you came to visit!" Mikey squealed holding us close.

The utter confusion as to how we ended up on the ship was thick in the air and Donnie obviously couldn't comprehend it. At the other end of the spectrum, Mikey blatantly didn't see an issue with our presence.

After a ridiculously long hug, he finally let us go, his little face beaming with pleasure. "We were just about to have dinner!"

"Dinner? But it's lunchtime…" I protested, no doubt in my mind that we had literally just eaten our midday meal.

"Well, I suppose we don't really keep track of time up here," Donnie explained, albeit apprehensively. He clearly hadn't come to terms with our sudden manifestation.

"Come on!" Mikey took our hands and guided us through the huge door, which I'd previously thought locked, to the main part of the ship, where we gawked in awe. It was absolutely fascinating to see such beauty, one that we'd only ever seen on television.

"I can't believe this," Shelle whispered, soaking up the stunning interior of the massive dome. As with our original hallway, the colossal room was adorned with various consoles and devices. The same pattern of red and orange tubes splayed across the walls created a sense of warmth in the otherwise emotionless atmosphere.

I, on the other hand, had pressed my face up to the thick glass window and was hastily admiring the view. It was one thing to actually meet our friends and be in this crazy alternate universe, but it was another thing altogether to see the stars this close. The area in which we occupied was so immensely vast that I had trouble comprehending the whole thing.

"This… is crazy…" I mumbled before the whole world went black.

Author's Notes: The name of this chapter is true to the heart! It was so fun to write. I haven't got much else to say on this, other than stay tuned for more exciting adventures!