Author's Note:

The turtles are currently split in two teams, or two more-or-less teams:

Rise Raph, Rise Donnie, 2003 Leonardo and 2003 Michelangelo

Rise Leo, Rise Mikey, 2003 Raphael and 2003 Donatello.

To the Guest: Maybe not the best of plans! Thanks a lot for commenting :D

Hidden Place

Unknown verse

Donnie's pride knew no bounds when his portal left all four of them on the ground of something that looked very much like a room.

It meant that they hadn't landed in space, or any other inconvenient place like that. Not that Donnie had feared such a thing - of course not - but it was good to know his portal worked.

"What is this place?" Michelangelo asked, in awe.

Donnie picked himself up - he might have landed with his face against the floor, and for the first time in days he was happy Leo wasn't there - to take a better look at the room.

As he couldn't bear leaving any question unanswered even for a second, though, he began answering Michelangelo's one at once.

"I think we're in an alternate universe born of mystical energy where - wait, I know this place!"

The room was huge and its many shelves and chests displayed weapons of all kinds. On one wall, a brightly lit area showcased a purple-glowing halberd and three empty spaces.

"It's Draxum's armory! My portal led us straight inside the Hidden City." Donnie paused for a second so his brain could choose between the myriads of explanations his creative mind was suggesting. "It's probably because I used Raph's weapons. They must have led us to the last other-dimensional place they remember."

Donnie glanced at Raph, and saw that his brother was not-so-discreetly hiding said weapons behind his back.

"Oh, so you saved them! Good one, Raph."

Raph squeezed his weapons harder, as if he expected someone to take them from him any second. "Yeah."

"Draxum?" Leonardo frowned. "Isn't he the yokai who created the Oozesquitoes?"

"The Oozesquitoes and yours truly," Donnie said nonchalantly. "Yes. He wants to kill us now, so I suggest we find another place to continue this conversation."

The others nodded and they all headed for the exit.

But Donnie quickly noticed that Raph was lagging behind, shoulders hunched.

For someone who had just survived one of Donnie's amazing experiments, he didn't look very happy.

Raph caught Donnie's look and sighed. "It looks like Leo and Mikey aren't here."

Donnie internally panicked. He had noticed the same thing, of course - which meant their quest wasn't at an end - but it sounded like Raph needed comfort now. Was Donnie supposed to hug him? He wasn't wearing his shell with pliers. Should he use his arms instead?

Hugging was hard. Where was Mikey when Donnie needed him?

Donnie decided on patting Raph's shoulder awkwardly.

"Let's have a look at Draxum's lab," he suggested. "Maybe we can destroy it once more in order to save a few humans? Then we go home and I'll build a brand new portal."

"Oh," Raph said, perking up just a little. "Okay."

"Wreaking havoc in a villain's lair? I'm in," Michelangelo said, his voice sounding cheerful.

Donnie was grateful for the reinforcements.

"Alright. The lab would be this way, right after the -"

The ground below them lighted up. Its purple color was pleasant to Donnie's eye.

Less pleasant was the fact that they all began sinking into it.

"What's happening?" Leonardo shouted.

"Oh, it wasn't there last time." Donnie tried to move his legs, but he was trapped. "It looks like Draxum strengthened the security of his lair."

Now his body was half inside the ground. A chilly breeze blew on his legs, letting him think that maybe this was a portal of some kind.

"See you on the other side," he added.

When he saw Michelangelo's expression, he realized that maybe he should have made himself clearer.

"Nooooo! I don't want to die without having seen Don again. And Master Splinter. And Klunk. Oh, and Raph too."

Donnie was about to explain that they weren't about to die, he was 98.78% sure of it, when the sinking intensified.

With an ominous pop, the four turtles disappeared into the ground.

They were in a cell. Granted, it was spacious, but it had bars and no way to leave. The only light came from a globe of light hanging on the wall of the tunnel outside the cell.

Michelangelo looked up, but the purple light had disappeared. The ceiling was now a dark gray and very much solid, as the turtle realized when he tried to hit it with his nunchucks.

Michelangelo was torn between happiness at the fact he was still alive - his gorgeous body didn't deserve to stop breathing, it was way too young for that - and the fact he was imprisoned.

He hated that. Turtles were made for the immensity of rooftops, not for prisons.

"Why does it have to be a prison?" he complained. "Don't people realize we already spend most of our time underground?"

"Yeah, villains should realize that." Raph nodded.

"Who are you calling a villain?" a new voice said. "You're the trespassers here."

Michelangelo turned around to see who had spoken.

Behind the bars, a big and proud mutant was now watching them. He had impressive horns and long hair. Michelangelo wondered if he would let him braid them.

He had always wanted to try doing that, and Splinter had always refused to lend Michelangelo his beard for such an experiment.

"Draxum!" Raph straightened up. "Free us immediately, or fear the wrath of my mighty… my mighty…"

Raph leaned towards Donnie. "What should I put after that?" he whispered.

Draxum didn't even blink. "I must say, I didn't think you turtles were stupid enough to go back to my armory. Did you really think I would take no steps to protect it from you after last time?"

"That was clever," Donnie acknowledged.

"Donnie, no need to praise the enemy," Michelangelo muttered.

Draxum was watching him intently, and he felt uneasy under his gaze.

"Incredible," their captor whispered. "Where are you two coming from?"

Michelangelo exchanged a glance with Leonardo. Maybe they could make the mutant talk long enough to find a way of leaving this place?

"How about we tell you over a cup of tea?" Michelangelo said. "Not that I care too much about tea, but I could make an exception. You seem to be the kind of well-behaved person who would enjoy the whole ceremonial."

"I have no intention of sharing any kind of beverage with you."

"Dude, no need to be rude," Michelangelo protested. "I take it back, you're not well-behaved at all."

Draxum narrowed his eyes. Before he could answer, though, a strident ringing sound echoed.

Draxum took a cell phone from one of his pockets and listened to his mysterious caller.

"I'm coming," he said ten seconds later. He waved his hand and a purple rectangle of light appeared in front of him. Without another glance for the turtles, he entered the portal, which quickly disappeared behind him.

"He could at least have said goodbye," Michelangelo complained. "He really has no manners."

Unknown verse

Donatello watched the sight with amazement. He didn't know where they were, but it wasn't on Earth - or on an Earth.

Creatures were flying around them, while others walked or slid on roads suspended mid-air. Strange buildings stood here and there. In the distance, a ship was flying peacefully.

There was no sun or sky as far as Donatello could tell. It was as if they were underground.

"Ommigosh! We're home!" Mikey shouted.

Donatello watched him in surprise. "This is your New York? I must say, I expected something more… conventional."

"New York is up there." Leo pointed above their heads with a grin. "We're in the Hidden City. Your portal worked, Don!"

"Oh, excellent!" Donatello grinned too. "Do you know how to get home from there?"

He couldn't wait to be reunited with his brothers.

Leo's grin turned into a grimace. "Well, not exactly. We need another portal to go back to our city."

Raphael snorted. "I'd have been surprised."

Leo ignored him. "But there are many such portals. Yokai go to the surface all the time! We only have to find one!"

Mikey nodded vigorously. "Let's explore!"

The two of them began walking away.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Raphael muttered.

Donatello smiled at his brother. He knew how much Raphael hated transdimensional travel.

"Let's see the bright side," he told him softly. "Leo won't run into Hun here, will he?"

Raphael sighed. "I guess you're right."

They followed Leo and Mikey, and it wasn't long until they arrived at a busy marketplace. All around them, merchants sold items Donatello had never seen.

This was exactly his sort of candy store.

"Do you think they accept US dollars?" he asked Raphael.

Raphael watched him fondly. "You can always try."

Donatello began bargaining with an old woman to acquire a bottle of a blue substance that was liquid or solid depending on the orientation of the bottle. He was amazed that she spoke the same English he did - but maybe the whole market was under a spell.

"Oooh, look!" Mikey suddenly shouted.

Donatello turned to him. As Mikey didn't seem to be in danger, though, he finished his transaction - the woman was interested in his money after all - before joining him.

Mikey stood in admiration of a pet store.

"Can we go inside? Can we?"

Leo considered the place. It was small and looked shady. "Mikey, I'm not sure it's a good idea."

"We have no time to lose," Raphael added.

Leo glanced at the red-masked turtle. "On second thought, I think we can, Mikey." He pushed the door and entered, quickly followed by his overjoyed brother.

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Seriously? Just to get to me?"

Donatello wisely decided not to reply that Raphael might be familiar with the feeling and followed Leo and Mikey inside.

Surprisingly enough, the pet store smelled like dust and old scrolls. Inside the various cages, Donatello discerned cats and dogs, crows and sphinxes, and a solitary Hydra.

They all looked unhappy.

"This is not right," Raphael whispered in Donatello's ear.

Donatello was glad his brother had decided not to pout outside.

Leo and Mikey were nowhere in sight. At the counter, the shop owner was talking to two little creatures looking like living gargoyles.

"No, I don't have what you're looking for," he was saying.

"That's not what they said," one of the gargoyles whispered.

"I think you're lying to us," the other one added.

Out of nowhere, a green hand grabbed Donatello's arm.

"Let's hide in the backroom," Leo whispered urgently.

Donatello didn't question it and used the shadows of the shop to his advantage. Soon he and Raphael were in a small room separated from the main shop by a dusty curtain.

"Do you know them?" Donatello whispered.

"They are Draxum's minions." Leo's expression was somber. "I don't know what they're doing in that shop, but we better not let them know we're here."

Mikey moodily sat on a chair next to a small cage hidden by a piece of cloth.

"We need to help these poor little guys," he said. "This shop owner doesn't feed them nearly enough. Have you seen how skinny they all are?"

As in answer, the cage next to him buzzed. Mikey frowned and carefully removed the cloth.

Inside the screened cage, tiny flying insects were throbbing.

Their color, a threatening green unlike any other, made crystal clear what they were.

"Oozesquitoes!" Mikey exclaimed. "They're selling Oozesquitoes?"

"It looks like it." Leo rubbed his chin. "What for, I wonder?"

But Mikey's yell hadn't gone unnoticed. The curtain was drawn and the entrance framed the head of a very mad shop owner as much as two flying gargoyles.

"Hey, you!" the yokai shouted. "You shouldn't be here!"

Huginn and Muninn, proud gargoyles in the service of the famous Baron Draxum, couldn't believe their luck. They had not only found proof that the shop owner was a liar and part of the Oozesquitoes traffic that made their master so mad, but they had also found the turtles.

Although two of them looked very different from last time. Had they double-mutated or something?

The two gargoyles retreated to the main room of the shop.

"Do you have the phone?" Huginn asked.

"Of course I have the phone!" Muninn answered.

"Then make the call!"

"No, you make the call! Last time I did and the boss yelled at me!"

"Because last time you mistook flies for Oozesquitoes!"

"You were the one to tell they were!"

"Just make the call!"

Muninn unhappily relented.

"Boss? Boss? We found your Oozesquitoes! And the turtles, too!"

"I'm coming," the boss said.

"He's coming," Muninn mouthed to Huginn.

"He's coooming," Huginn repeated with delight.

Both gargoyles flew to the ceiling of the pet shop to have a better view of what was about to unfold.

Mikey put his hands on his hips and glared at the shop owner.

"Dear Sir, it appears that your shop is breaking the law!"

He pointed at the Oozesquitoes.

"It is forbidden to sell these."

Something like fear flickered on the shop owner's face.

"Are you from the police?"

"Of course we are!" Leo crossed his arms. "I'm afraid you'll have to close your business."

"And free all the pets," Mikey added for good measure.

The yokai's eyes narrowed. "Really? Can I see your police card?"

"Uh…" Leo said.

He was spared an answer by the sudden appearance of a rectangle of purple light behind the shop owner.

A yokai Leo and Mikey knew all too well emerged from it.

"Who dares to steal from me?" he bellowed.

The shop owner's eyes widened. To his credit, customers must rarely use portals to barge into his store. "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" Draxum grabbed him by his collar. "I am Baron Draxum, and these Oozesquitoes are mine!"

Mikey exchanged a glance with the other turtles. By mutual agreement, they all began heading for the main room of the shop.

"I didn't know, Sir!" the shop owner whined. "It's Big Mama! She's paying in gold for those things!"

Draxum released him with a disgusted expression and took the cage containing the Oozesquitoes.

"Big Mama should know better than to step on my toes," he muttered as his gargoyles landed on his shoulders. "Maybe I should pay her another visit."

"Maybe you should, Boss," one of them said.

"Yes, so she knows who's the boss, Boss," the other added.

Meanwhile, the turtles had managed to retreat to the shop, and were on their way to the exit.

And the pleading eyes of the undernourished pets were weighing heavily on Mikey.

Surely he had the time to free them.

He began running from cage to cage and opening them. Leo gave him a hand, as did Donatello and even Raphael.

It looked like Draxum had forgotten all about them. Mikey grinned as the pets ran away, followed by the shop owner.

Followed by the shop owner?

"Don't think that I've forgotten about you, turtles," Draxum said, leaving the backroom with the Oozesquitoes' cage in one hand.

Raphael raised his sai, ready to strike.

"But I have business to attend to before I can deal with you and your new friends," Draxum added, looking at Donatello and Raphael.

"I don't think I'll accept your invitation," Raphael spat, running to Draxum.

The yokai raised his hand and threw four little brown balls.

Each ball reached a turtle and transformed into a cocoon, efficiently imprisoning them.

"What?" Raphael yelled.

As he wiggled to try and break free, his cocoon merged with Leo's, squishing him against Mikey's brother.

"Aww, why am I alone this time?" Mikey whined.

"Get me out of here!" Raphael protested.

Draxum considered him. "But of course."

He waved his hand, and a new purple portal appeared under the cocooned turtles.

Mikey yelled all he was worth as he fell inside.

"The nerve of that guy!" Raph paced back and forth in their cell.

Leonardo was probing the bars separating them from the tunnel where Draxum had stood. "My swords won't cut through them," he said, frowning.

Raph stopped abruptly. "Oh! But maybe my weapons will. Let me try!"

He went to the bars and extended his arms.

"Stand back," he said confidently.

The others complied. Raph took a deep breath and focused to use the mystical energy of his tonfa. If he could turn them into giant red fists, maybe they would be enough to crush the bars of their prison.

But it didn't work.

"Donnie, they're not working," Raph said, frowning. "Why are they not working?"

Donnie didn't look at him. "It's probably a minor inconvenience," he said, typing something on his phone.

"You broke them with your portal!" Raph accused his brother.

"Which is why non-mystical weapons will always remain superior." Donnie stroked his tech-bō lovingly. "Especially those made of titanium."

Raph sighed deeply. There was no point in arguing with his brother now. He had known the risks of surrendering his weapons to Donnie.

He was about to ask if anybody had an idea to get out of here when a portal opened in the ceiling, letting three cocoons into the cell.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH," one of the cocoons was saying.

Raph would have recognized that yell anywhere. He rushed to the cocoons, not daring to hope that his brothers were there - alive.

"Guys!"