Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE TMNT.

A/N: Just another reload, pay it no mind.

20.

'Did I just hear you correctly?'Don stammered. 'You said Marianas Trench.'

'Would I lie, Donatello?' A piercing stare on Saesha's part was directed at him.

'Well, no..'

'Then you heard me right.'

Splinter rose, cracking his back in painfully loud snaps. "I see we shall have some difficulty reaching your sibling, am I right?" he asked calmly, eyes unblinking.

Don appeared troubled. 'Sensei, do you even know how deep that place is? Over seven miles! How on Earth are we supposed to get seven miles underwater without being crushed by extreme pressure?'he demanded.

"Technology has its ups and downs, my son. I am surprised you did not think of it before."

'There's something else, Splinter.'

"Please explain yourself, Saesha."

'On New Years Eve, we dragons are given specifically enormous amounts of power,' she explained rather quietly. 'So much that it overflows out of us. Do you understand what would happen if we all were assembled in the same place? Rijinn has mentioned to me a device that Keron and Nechai used. It was named a spirit extractor. If we were to all be, and I'm not saying we will, ripped from your sons' minds and placed in some sort of energy channeling machine, it would mean the end of this world as we know it. The magical properties of dragons have enough energy to blow this continent sky-high and if used correctly, the entire world. Tiquae could hold this Earth hostage with just a word.' Her bright lavender eyes were glowing.

Splinter stroked his chin. "This is a most troubling development, Saesha. We must get to your sister at once."

'Again I bring up the stinging subject of how.'

A stare. "You know what your task is, my son, and although I would not normally encourage such an escapade, circumstances dictate it must be done. Do not tell your brothers of this just yet, though. I am sure Michelangelo would get overly excited."

'That would be the case.'

Mikey poked his head gleefully out the kitchen door. "Hey dudes and dudettes! Lunch is served!"

Saesha gave up her position to Don, announcing that she needed a nap. "What is it today, Mystery Meat?" he chuckled, walking side by side with Splinter.

"Nope! Girled cheese!" Mikey felt a searing glare boring into the base of his skull. "Er, I mean grilled cheese!" Keilah grunted and made as if to kick him in the rump.

"Go 'head. Give 'im the boot, Keilah," Raph encouraged. "All this cookin's gone to his head."

"Hey!"

Y'know, it would be rather lovely to see him go flying, Rijinn mused thoughtfully.

You and me both, brother, Bima said.

"If you guys were out, I'd be stringin' you up for punchin' bags!"

Says the little turtle with puny muscles.

Yah. Puny muscles, Rijinn agreed, pulling a Swedish accent.

Mikey grinned evilly and stomped on Raph's twitching tail. "OW!" he roared, whirled around the grabbing his appendage to tenderly nurse it. "Jus' cuz it's new don't mean I can't feel anything!" he snarled, voice more whimper than anger.

"Well, dude, you'd better tell your friend Rijinn to quit messin' with my cooking skills!" Mikey delivered his ultimatum sourly. "AND insulting my muscle mass! I'm a buff guy!" He struck a modeling pose, eliciting several loud guffaws from all the inhabitants.

"Are you goin' for the muscley brainless jock effect, or the puny brainless nerd effect? Cuz ya got both in the bag."

"My sons! Silence!" Splinter ordered rather sternly. They all shut up in a matter of seconds. "I am aware that you are all exceedingly hungry, but your sister, Bima and Rijinn, is at the bottom of the ocean and needs assistance."

Leo's jaw hung open. "W-where?"

"Marianas Trench," Don stated. "And by my calculations, we haven't much time before Keron and Nechai get out of that gopher hole you dug, Rijinn."

The red dragon scowled. I never told you about that! Don motioned to his own skull with a small smile. Oh, drat that mind reading ability! Ling Pi, I'll have your head for this!

"Ling Pi didn't bestow that ability upon you guys. You've always had it."

True. It did make stealing goats much easier when we knew their thoughts.

"You're hopeless," Don said.

Mikey had long ago abandoned his cooking supervision, leaving Leo to burn the sandwiches. "So, dude, how're we getting' to the bottom of the ocean?" Don gave him a disbelieving stare and right then and there, the turtle realized what they were bound to do.

"WHOA!" Keilah, Raph, Mikey, Saesha, and Leo all tumbled out of thin air. Low groans and fervent complaints of broken limbs were heard under the wriggling mass of bodies.

"You're sittin' on my tail!"

"Hey, it's nothin' when Leo's mooning in your face!"

"Oh yeah? Well I've got full view of Saesha's behind as well!"

'My wings are getting squashed!'

Ow! Rijinn, get off me!

Why're you complaining?! You're not even down there!

Neither are you!

. . . Your point?

Leo had managed to tumble off the top, resulting in a large wail of protest from Saesha. 'You have your hind quarters directly in my face, Leonardo!'

"Leo, your sword hilt's pokin' my eye out!" Keilah complained hotly.

'I'm so glad I'm in here…'

"Raph! OW, that Sai's givin' me open heart surgery!"

"Well, your…uh…"

"Exactly! I don't have sharp weapons! And you're currently squashing my broken leg! YEOW!"

Raph dragged himself out of the pile, throwing an exasperated glare at his tail, which was firmly lodged under Keilah. With a hard yank, he freed it, unbalancing the girl in the process. Yelling enough to wake the dead, she tumbled into an open crate full of fish.

Here comes the S.W.A.T. team, guys!

Leo clapped his good hand over her mouth, hissing a sharp warning. Immediately, the turtles and dragon dissipated into the shadows. Keilah's eyes wandered to Leo's, full of apprehension. Slowly, he released her so she could breath and froze as voices met their ears.

"Did you hear somethin' over here? Sounded like a yell!" one voice remarked. A bright flashlight beam pierced the darkness of night and seagull calls.

"Yeah, I heard it. Prob'ly some homeless guy. Better check it out anyway," the other sighed. Leo saw Raph motion silently with an evil grin. Only two. They'd be able to knock 'em out cold with ease. Carefully he repositioned himself, throwing a warning glance to Keilah. She remained quiet. With a sharp nod, he broke out of the shelter of the crate and tackled the first man. A quick blow to the neck and he was unconscious.

"That was easy," Raph remarked. Leo winced as his wounded shoulder shrieked in protest at being wrenched around in such a manner. His brother's eyes softened noticeably and he arrived at Leo's side to steady him. "Y'okay, bro? We shoulda left ya at home with Splinter."

Saesha padded out from behind a crane. 'We haven't much time before dawn. I'd say maybe ten hours.'

"You don't think that's 'nough time ta get Iwansi?" Raph demanded suddenly. A moan from Leo made him revert his attention.

'Considering it's in the Pacific, no.'

'Hello? Wake up, Saesha! You can teleport!'

It seems our dear Saesha can't do everything, little turtles.

Raph threw Bima a glare that stabbed knives. "Zip it, gackbag."

'Shh! We have to find a sub!'

"Oh, so that's how we're getting' down there! We're stealin' a sub!" Mikey grinned.

'Commandeer, nautical term. We're gonna commandeer a sub.'

"And that submarine is where?"

'Should be right in front of this cargo dock.'

"Oh. This should be easy then."

'I can think of an obstacle,' Saesha whispered.

"What?" Raph asked, supporting Leo.

'That.'

Mikey took one look around the crate she'd appeared from and groaned. "Aw shell! Wouldn't ya know it! There's a Foot freighter at the pier!"

Leo struggled upright. "They must've somehow caught wind of this. But who from?"

Take a wild guess and look up there, Rijinn instructed. There they stood, Keron and Nechai, on the deck.

"Drat them goons!" Raph snarled.

"This'll be a trick and no mistake," Don muttered.

If I'm not mistaken, them goons have pretty big goose eggs on the back of them heads, Rijinn imitated Raph with a grin of pure mischief. Raph glared. Don't forget, them goons also have spirit extractors.

"Alright. Point taken. Now shut up."

'We're gonna need a diversion. Our dear buddy Oroku has unwittingly presented us with a way to Iwansi.' He directed their view to the deck of the ship, where a Foot sub hung suspended by cables.

"Don, you kinda forgot they can track their machines."

'And you kinda forget I am a professional hacker slash technogeek. It's a piece of cake to mask the tracking signal.'

Raph grumbled, "Everybody's a critic." Mikey giggled, prompting a soft chuckle from Leo, who was currently leaning heavily on his red garbed brother. "Hey, you wanna take a tumble, keep on laughin'," Raph warned, poking him in the plastron.

So, what's the plan, Donnie?

'Obviously you, Rijinn, Raph and Keilah are gonna need to be the diversion. Here's the plan: I'll sneak onboard the sub, knock out any or all of the Foot inside—'

"I've been thinkin', Don," Mikey piped up. "Wouldn't it be Feet?"

'No Mikey. Be quiet.' Keilah snorted with laughter at the question. 'As I was saying, I'll get the sub into the water. Rijinn, you can leave whatever tokens of love on Nechai and Keron you want.' Rijinn bared his teeth and flapped his wings experimentally. 'Bima, you and Keilah will be working to sabotage the engine of the freighter.'

Will do, Captain! she saluted.

'Saesha and I will get the sub running. On my signal, all of you have to book and hop in.'

We're not all gonna fit, Keilah pointed out. Someone should go to stay with Splinter.

"Well it ain't gonna be me!" Raph declared vehemently.

Mikey held up his hands. "Nada."

Leo swallowed hard. "I guess I'll go with Sensei when we're done. After all, what use am I to you with a gashed arm?"

'We're going to need Bima. She has the skills to breath underwater. After Saesha teleports to the surface location of Marianas Trench, I'll need you to keep watch. Got it?'

Raph, I think we're going to have to keep tabs on things over here, Rijinn said pointedly. If Saki or Tiquae are planning something, we'll need to alert your bros right away.

"You can communicate over long distances?" Raph asked incredulously. Rijinn nodded an affirmative.

Saesha changed into Don. "Keilah, here's a little present to help you with your mission," he murmured, grinning. He pulled something out of his belt pouch and shoved it into her hands. One look and her face was beaming with pleasure. Don reverted back to Saesha in a flash.

'Oh, and Raph?'

"Yeah?"

'You're gonna need to learn how to use that tail one of these days.' Before Raph could protest, Don had given the order to move out.