A few months after the events of the previous battle

Location: EPF headquarters

"So where do we begin looking? Ch'rell's gone underground, and there's no telling where he could beat this time. It's just too bad we couldn't capture him before, the pesky alien slipped right off our hands." Leonardo said in a tone of irritation as he was in a conference room alongside the other turtles, Mira and Bishop, looking at a map of the desert wasteland that outlined key locations.

"Do not despair Leonardo. My EPF soldiers have been working hard and around the clock to track him down, we believe he has split up from his fellow Utroms to confuse us." Bishop said in response, as he was once again in his calm and collected demeanor after the rage he had experienced in the battle before.

With a level head, he then continued to speak to the team of five, briefing them on their next mission would be while looking at the map of the desert:

"There is not an army of mutants that is truly invincible on this earth, and Ch'rell's is no exception.

What we must do is find his weak spot, and I think I know just where that is."

Hearing this, the turtles and Mira were instantly intrigued, eager to hear what Bishop had to tell them.

"And what would that be?" Mira asked the EPF Leader.

"Torrinan. The most cowardly and careless of the four utroms, my EPF soldiers believe they might have a lockdown on his possible hiding location out of all the Utroms, but its no guarantee that this isn't just trap meant to set us up." Bishop said in response to her, addressing the entire group as he said so.

"Should we take that risk though?" Donatello asked the EPF leader, sceptical of the possible consequences of undertaking such a mission for his family.

"I'd say lets go for it. This might be our only chance to track down Ch'rell, once and for all." Raphael said in response, eager and ready.

"Plus, if we actually manage to capture Torrinan, he will spit out all he knows about Ch'rell faster than Michelangelo can devour a pizza. That Utrom is a shameless coward after all, he always took the easy way out when I used to be on his side." Leonardo added, noting his familiarity with Torrinan's pathetic personality during his time as Maximus Kong.

"Trust me Leo, nothing on the earth is faster than my ability to devour a pizza." Michelangelo said in response to his older brother, playfully jumping on Leonardo's shoulder, while having a slice in hand, of course.

"The place where we believe that Torrinan is hiding, is heavily guarded by mutants of every calibre, so I want you to be extra careful for this mission." Bishop then addressed the group again, knowing that a large risk was inevitably being taken.

"Well, if we were still teenagers, we'd probably have a good chance of using our stealth, but as we are now, we turtles would stick out like a sore thumb in that place." Donatello added, knowing that his team alone would have a hard time confronting so many mutants at a time.

The last time they took that risk during their previous confrontation, the combined might of Ch'rell's mutants put their fair share of hurt on each turtles, so our heroes weren't willing to take any chances this time.

"You have a good point Donatello, after all, you turtles would have a low chance of moving through the narrow underground tunnels that Ch'rell's mutants use at all, let alone move undetected." Bishop said in response to the turtle, wondering how else to approach the upcoming mission.

"Maybe its hard for a turtle, but Meerkats would have no problem, tunnels are what we're all about. I can sneak past them all, without making a sound." Mira added, feeling confident about the situation.

"Not a bad idea." Raphael said in response to his Meerkat friend.

"Very well then, Mira will sneak past the mutant patrols and get a confirmation on Torrinan's location. And remember team, this will bring us one giant step closer to that coward Ch'rell. I can't wait for the day that I have utrom in the mercy of my hands." Bishop then addressed the group one final time, with a tone of power and dominance in his voice that caught everyone's attention.

"Easy there, Bishop. I know you're still shaken up from that battle, but we can't focus too much on revenge." Leonardo said in response to the EPF Leader, gently placing his hand on Bishop's shoulder.

Bishop said nothing in response, only looking back straight into the turtle's eyes. Leonardo then gave him a re-assuring smile, empathisizing with him as someone who had suffered at the hands of Ch'rell as well, through all the years in the past.

Later that day

The sun had fully set, and there was only a half broken moon to light up the vast sandy desert.

Of course, this was the perfect time for the turtles and Mira to undertake their mission, and that is exactly what they did.

"You feeling confident about going in there alone, Mira?" Raphael asked the mutant meerkat, admittedly feeling very concerned for his friend's safety.

"Couldn't be any less prepared for this." The mutant meerkat said in response to him, fully equipped with the equipment she needed, including her binoculars to spy on enemies from far away, a radio from which she could conctact the turtles to give any valuable information, and a laser weapon, just in case if stealth was not an option for Mira.

"See you on the other side, my friends." Mira then added.

"Best of luck."Michelangelo said to Mira, with a smile to re-assure for the mission she was about to under-take.

"Thanks." Mira said in response, looking at the turtles at one last time with a grateful expression, before disappearing off into the night.

"Come on team, lets get into our positions." Leonardo then said to his brothers, as they followed in Mira's direction, slowly but surely.

Meanwhile

The night had dragged on, and Mira had just caught up to the location where she was supposed to infiltrate.

There was empty sand everywhere as usual, but Mira spotted two Mutants standing guard on top what appeared to be nothing, but was infact an entry to the underground tunnels that Torrinan was using.

She knew exactly what she needed to do at this point.

"Alright Leo, I have the gatekeepers in sight." Mira said on the radio as she carefully observed the guards.

"Good, take them out one by one, and then we will dispose of the bodies one by one when you're safely inside." Leonardo said in response to her, watching Mira and the mutants from a great distance alongside his brothers.

"Understood" Mira said as she got her laser blaster ready, aiming at the head of one of the mutants.

She pulled the trigger as fast as possible, instantly causing the mutant to go down.

This immediately alerted the mutant guard besides him, but before he could respond and alert the entire base, he was already under the chokehold of Mira's long and powerful tail, which repeatedly squeezed his neck until the second mutant was down as well.

"Infiltrating the base." Mira said to the turtles on her radio, as she grabbed the key off one of the guard's pockets, using it to open the door on the ground that previously disguised by a whole heap of sand.

From there, Mira was now safe inside.

The tunnels were nearly pitch black, with only a small bulb being there for illumination every few metres, but this proved to be an advantage for the small and lithe Mira, who could sneak past undetected in the dark, while using her night-vision to spy on other mutants who were completely unaware.

It was only a matter time before she reached an underground room larger than the others, and the occupant of that room was none other than Torrinan himself, in his android body but looking so vulnerable that he might've as well have not been inside it.

"Guards! Come in! Come in!" Torrinan frantically howled into the radio in an attempt to contact the mutants who were guarding the base from the outside, but to no avail as Mira had already disposed of them.

Now having gotten past all of the Mutant patrols, Mira was essentially free to do whatever she wanted with the Utrom, but she listened, for Torrinan was about to make an important call right infront of her on the gigantic screen that he was using.

Immediately then, a face of Ch'rell lighted up on the screen, and Mira carefully watched as the two utroms began to converse:

"Master, how much longer do we have to keep this up?!" The terrified Torrinan asked Ch'rell in a tone of pure panic and terror.

"It won't be long, just sit tight for a couple of days and I will have our portal ready to open a gateway to Dimension X. From there, I will once again create an army of Kraang, and then no one will be able to stand in my way." Ch'rell said in response to his Utrom follower, with his usual tone of power and confidence.

"Can't you make it go any quicker?! I have already lost contact with a few of my guards, and there is no telling when someone will come and attack me in these caves!" The cowardly utrom follower then blurted out in response, feeling overwhelmed with fear all over.

"If you happen to be attacked and don't make it, your service to the Kraang will be remembered." Ch'rell then said with a tone of dismissal and slight annoyance, as he disconnected the line, leaving Torrinan all on his own.

Torrinan then turned out, because he could've sworn that he heard footsteps slowly behind him.

Surely enough, there stood the mutant meerkat behind him, with her weapons in hand.

Before Torrinan could use his radio to contact the guards outside of the facility, Mira immediately flung a shuriken at the radio, shattering it in an instant and leaving Torrinan unable to contact his mutant guards.

"The turtles taught me that one." Mira said as she had her eyes dead set on the evil Utrom, ready to fight.

"Oh look now, is violence really the answer here?" Torrinan said in response, trying to stall the situation because he preferred not being in a direct confrontation.

"You know what you have done to deserve being dealt like this. I remember your face, that sick smile you had as you and those other utroms wiped out my entire clan." Mira said to him, her eyes not budging one bit as she raised her laser weapon straight at the evil utrom, walking towards him as he took a good few steps back.

Torrinan was cornered at this point, but still preferred to not fight directly due to his cowardly nature.

He was willing to use any means possible to escape a possible injury to himself, even If that resorted to the use of taunting to demoralize his enemy.

He then spoke, appearing to be confident but still nervous from the inside:

"Why yes, I remember very well, the look of fear on your family's faces as I murdered them in cold blood and made you the last of your kind. And when you die, the meerkat clan will be completely extinct." Torrinan said in the most sly and intimidating tone he could manage, trying to make Mira doubt herself.

Mira initially hesitated after hearing these words leave Torrinan's mouth, but then she remembered that these were only the words of a coward who was trying to make her lose her will to fight.

With a sudden rush of adrenaline, she then rushed towards Torrinan at full force, leaving the utrom with no choice but to engage her in direct hand to hand combat.

The utrom tried to land a blow using the powerful hands of his robotic android body but it was no use, for Mira's speed was too much for him.

Being the superior fighter, Mira easily dispatched of Torrinan in no time, knocking him unconscious in an instant and then removing his actual body from his robot interior, placing it in a bag that she brought for the purpose of kidnapping him.

"Turtles, I have Torrinan alive, and I making my way to your position right now." Mira informed the group of four, as she quickly made her way through the tunnels, stealthily avoiding any mutant patrols.

Meanwhile

Ch'rell was sitting in his secret headquarters, brainstorming his next plan when suddenly:

"Master Ch'rell, Torrinan has been kidnapped from his secret base!" Duke Acurades said as he entered the room with haste , looking worried about the situation.

"We lost all contact with him, and believe its those mangy turtles who are behind this!" Kako Naso then added, being equally as worried as his fellow utrom.

"No, how could they have bypassed all that security?!" Ch'rell said with a growing sense of desperation in his voice, as he looked at his utrom followers with a look that was equally disgusted and terrified.

Ch'rell then stood, and spoke once more:

"We have to go now! If he's actually in their hands, then that filthy coward will tell them everything about our plan!"

And with that, the three evil utroms wasted no time and immediately made their way into the sandy deserts, looking for where their kidnapped utrom might be.

About half an hour later

Torrinan's eyes opened after having been unconscious for quite a while, but a quick look at his surroundings showed him that he was in unfamiliar territory, having been tied up onto a table and directly facing the scorching desert sun.

Infact, the only thing of familiarity for the cowardly utrom were five figures who stood next to him on the table, ready to interrogate him for every last bit of information he had on Ch'rell's whereabouts.

"Alright slimeball, its time for some answers." Raphael said as he raised one of his Sai's, placing it up against the throat of the evil utrom.

Being the type of utrom he was, Torrinan was instantly intimidated by the sight of the turtles and Mira looking at him with such sterness, because they meant business this time.

"Please! Don't hurt me! I'll tell you everything!" Torrinan shouted to the absolute limit of his voice in sheer terror, as he could not stand the thought of possibly being cut open.

And with that, the turtles and Mira listened carefully and noted down everything Torrinan had to say.

They were surprised infact, by how much Torrinan had to tell them, an absolute goldmine of information about Ch'rell which would easily lead them towards him within a matter of mere hours.

"So, should we let him go now?" Michelangelo then inquired, as he looked at the evil utrom, now feeling very exhausted from the sheer heat of the desert sun shining down upon him, as he was still strapped to the table and trying to keep his eyes closed.

"We have all the information we need." Donatello added, looking quite satisfied with what the team had achieved up to this point.

"You decide brother." Raphael said as he warmly placed his hand on Leo's shoulder, looking forward to what the leader of the team had to say.

Leonardo pondered upon what should be done, but as he watched Torrinan strapped to the table, he couldn't help but remember the pain he had gone through, when he was strapped to a table by the four evil utroms and brainwashed to become Maximus Kong for 50 whole years.

The giant turtle didn't speak, but immediately then lost his temper after a bit of thought, proceeding to brutally punch Torrinan a good couple of times with a growing rage, from which his brothers and Mira had to hold him back.

"Keep it together Leo!" Donatello said as he ran his metal hand across Leonardo's shoulder, trying to calm the mutant turtle down.

"I just couldn't help it, I'm sorry you had to see me like that." Leonardo said in response, immediately having a tone of remorse.

Leonardo then continued in a more contained tone, delivering his verdict on what should be done with Torrinan:

"But the utrom doesn't deserve to be let go, for what he has done all these years.

He will burn under this desert sun, and feel every little inch of pain as his body starves."

His brothers and Mira then nodded in agreement with him, beginning to walk away with him from the scene and leaving Torrinan for dead.

Hours then passed, and Torrinan continued to suffer from the intense heat inflicted on his strapped body, but it all came to a grinding halt when familiar voices and footsteps echoed in his ears.

It was Ch'rell, Kako Naso and Duke Acurades who had finally managed to locate their fellow utrom after a lot of searching.

"Oh, how glad that you came for me!" Torrinan squealed in utter relief as two of his utrom partners wasted no time in untying him.

"Did you tell them anything?" Ch'rell asked Torrinan, with a suspicious look on his face.

"Of course not! I'd never betray you master, after all you've done for me!"

The cowardly utrom said in response, lying straight to Ch'rell's face.

As Torrinan continued to speak in flattery, Ch'rell then noticed a piece of paper drop from underneath the table.

Kako Naso picked up and read the note, giving it to Ch'rell immediately.

"I think you need to see this for yourself, master." The evil utrom said as he handed over the note.

Torrinan continued speaking in empty praises to Ch'rell, but soon stopped as he noticed that the expression on Ch'rell's face immediately changed from neutral to extremely angry.

Torrinan's eyes then widened as he then realized what kind of situation he now in, but it was too late at this point.

"No, please!" Torrinan squealed in a last ditch plea of mercy, but to no avail.

"Die you traitor!" Ch'rell said angrily as he already had his giant robotic hands choking the life out of Torrinan, not showing a hint of mercy.

It wasn't long before the cowardly utrom suffocated to death, in the most miserable way possible.

"That is what he gets for betraying us."Ch'rell murmured to himself, as he then let go of Torrinan's corpse, still retaining the wide eyed expression of horror as it became completely still.

"What to do now master?" Duke Acurades asked Ch'rell, eager to follow any new instructions.

"Torrinan has ruined everything we have worked so hard for, so its time to fall back on Plan B." Ch'rell said in response to his loyal follower, as he ripped apart the note which let him know of the betrayal.

Ch'rell's two remaining utroms then nodded in agreement as they walked away from the scene by his side, becoming even more loyal after having witnessed a traitor die in such a gruesome way.

As they were walking towards their next objective, Ch'rell could not help but repeatedly think of the note which he had read earlier, that read:

"He told me absolutely everything I need to know, and now I am coming for you. Your old friend and worst nightmare, Maximus Kong."