TMNT 4 Secret of the Ooze

by Steve Antonette

This continues from my third installment of my retelling of the classic tales. The Secret of the Ooze introduces more characters and continues the bond between the turtles and their new human friends. This isn't finished. It is a work in progress. I hope you enjoy

(From the Brilliant Creative minds of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

T.M.N.T. #4: Secret of the Ooze

(A Steve Antonette retelling)

Steve Antonette

© June 2014

"I suffered my first real defeat. Those strange humanoid turtles and my ego had gotten the better of me. But not next time, next time will be different. I'll have to come up with a conniving well-thought out scheme to take down my new foes, and find out the truth on the whereabouts of my uncle's killer, Yoshi.

I was only a young boy when my beloved uncle, whom I admired and inspired to become, was taken from me and for what; over some wench. And the Foot gave him, my uncle's murderer only two options; commit seppuku or flee Japan. I don't feel my uncle's death was properly avenged, but that was something I vowed to achieve at my uncle's tomb.

The next fifteen years I trained harder than any other student, became the greatest assassin the Foot had ever seen. Quickly moving up in the ranks, the next decade went by rather fast it seemed, they made me a Master and my first assignment as a Master, go to the United States and start a branch of the clan over there. I grinned with pleasure, knowing my path will possibly cross the man who is held responsible for my mentor's demise. I have been over here for about a year now; the Master's back home had sent a young pupil who is also my niece, named Karai. She sort of reminded me of myself when I was her age; needs to work on her temper however, but I think it's because she too, wants to find her great-uncles murderer. But when she arrived, that was when my encounter with these strange reptiles began, and I realized Yoshi had trained them. It was only a matter of time before I flushed him out, one way or another.

Justice I seek, but I will let Fate work it out, patience is something a ninja must master, with patience, comes answers...My name is Oroku Saki, better known as the Shredder and I know no fear, no mercy and will not give up until I find my uncles killer."

A much deserve restful week after the turtles defeated the Shredder and his Foot clan:

"Good evening folks, April O'Neil here. Still missing are two scientists that were working for T.C.R.I. a small independent research company that uses their resources to conserve and save nature. More tonight at six along with the mysterious break in at the Metro Zoo, two animals kidnapped one was a Warthog and the other a Rhinoceros..."

April walked out of the newsroom and into the hallway, walking back towards her office when her boss, Burne's hollered over. "April, get in my office, now!" Quickly obliged, she entered the usually fuming boss, to her surprise, when she entered, there sat in one of the comfy leather chairs, a young blonde woman, patiently waiting to be introduced.

Burne's smiled. "Aw, April, I want you to meet my niece, June." The bubbly blonde jumped to her feet and faced April, she was a few years younger than herself, you could tell by her persona, she had no real journalism skills; she was only here because who her uncle was.

"Hi April, I admire your work."

Discouraged, April responded. "Thanks, err, Burne's I got some reporting to do, what's up?"

"Exactly, I want you to show June here around, give her some tips on real reporting." He patted his niece on the back. "June here even knows her first story she wants to crack."

Little more intrigued; April replied. "Oh, may I ask what the story is about?"

June confessed. "Well, actually, it's the real reason why I asked Uncle Burney to introduce us; I want to continue on where you left off with the masked Felon story..."

April corrected her. "You mean vigilante, be careful, the public will use those misused words against you."

"No, I meant Felon. He may be doing vigilante work, but the severe beatings, even criminals have rights, so what he is doing is wrong."

"That's one way to look at it. Besides you'll be wasting your time. I stopped the story because the trail got cold and old."

"Are you kidding? The police are seeking answers, the public desperately searching to find out who their hero truly is. He's still out there April, stopping crime and brutally beating up thugs."

April knew deep down, this young naive girl couldn't crack Casey, so she politely smiled. "Well, if you think you can solve it, go for it. Last thing I wish to do is crush some young upcoming journalist's dreams."

June sensed some deception from April's tone and let loose a wicked grin. "Oh, ok, I just didn't want to snag your old story without asking, I heard that's frown upon. So, I'll just go poke my nose around then?"

"Go right ahead."

After an embarrassing loss to the four teens in green and with the firemen tearing the Dragon's burnt down warehouse apart during their arson investigation, The Foot regroup back to the secret back up location, where a furious Shredder is taking his frustration out on a wooden target dummy when the Hun walked in.

"Master Shredder, a moment if you please."

Shredder, with one swift move, broke the dummy with a devastating palm strike. "What is it; can you not see I am busy?"

"I'm sure you'll want to hear this, I acquired those scientists you asked for and set them up in a secluded area. You'll be happy to know, after some, persuasion, they gave up the formula and Stockman was able to create some of this mutagen they refer to it as..."

The Shredder stopped his severe beating on next available dummy and after several deep breaths of exhaustion later he drew a most devious and satisfying grin. "Excellent, take me to them." He began to walk away and abruptly to look back at his loyal henchman, "Oh, and gather your two best men, I have something special in store for them."

Weary by the Shredder's tone, the Hun bowed and responded with, "As you wish Master."

Karai met up with the two men after their scheming and she graciously bowed, knowing she had let them down during the fight. "Master, may I be allowed to speak?"

An impatient Shredder didn't really care to hear what she had to say, amused her anyways. "What is it Karai, we have important matters to take care of."

"Master Kraang wishes to inform you he is on his way to America."

His grin quickly disappeared and was replaced with a scowl. "Why is Kraang coming here?"

"Well, he heard of our lack of progress and defeat against the giant amphibians, he is coming to take over, assure victory and get the clan back in the right track."

"Not much I can say, we have much work to do, celebrate his arrival, but like I just said, I have some oppressing matters to take care of for the moment; so if you'll excuse me."

Karai bowed and left the two men to their duties, waiting until they were very alone, the Shredder turned to the Hun once more. "Ugh, Kraang is a nuisance."

"I can have some men take care of him when he arrives, Master."

A sinful smirk erected from the Shredder's face. "No, I have a better idea. When he arrives, be sure he stumbles upon this ooze, yes, I like it."

Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael stood in an abandoned warehouse waiting for their ingenious brother to unveil his secret he's been working on for the pass little while.

"Come on Donnie, the pizzas are getting cold."

Raphael spoke out next. "If you brought us out here for nothing, there was a Clint Eastwood marathon on that I'm missing right now."

An excited Donatello remarked as he stood next to a huge item, covered by a large tarp, he couldn't resist any further, he grabbed and yanked the tarp off of the hidden item, underneath was a beige utility van. The three unimpressed brothers took a deep sigh of disappointment, Raphael muttered. "Oh how spectacular, a rundown van."

"I was expecting some sort of impressive gizmo from you bro, you let me down."

Leonardo spoke next, defending his unconventional brother. "Now wait a minute, allow him to explain why he wasted our time."

"Thank you Leo. See, it's a way for us to get around town faster..."

Mikey interrupted, "This is the Big Apple dude, the world's largest traffic jam."

Donatello rubbed his scaly chin and added. "Well, maybe not, but I was able to install highly sophisticated high-tech computers from Baxter's lab inside. Not to mention also took the liberty to add some hidden weaponry, secret compartments and other little gizmos. It's what you might refer to as, fully loaded."

Raphael took a slow walk around the normal looking van, it was like he was looking for something more, "Well, at least you didn't jazz it all up and making it look cheesy, like turning it into a giant looking turtle van."

Then it hit Mikey, "So, you're saying this is like James Bond's car? But instead of some slick cool sports car, you just used a crummy rundown van?" He then deepened his tone, adding a cheesy British accent to it. "My name is Angelo, Michel-Angelo and hey, that makes you Q!"

"Well, I was able to install more into a utility van. You do know the Bond car couldn't exactly hold all that gear they say it did, it's impossible to think that you could..."

Raph cut in, "Don't crush the hopes of Bond fans Donnie."

Leonardo seemed somewhat impressed when he finally was able to check out the inside and see all that his brother had done. "I like it Donatello, excellent work indeed."

"Why thank you Leo, nice to know my skills, dedication and hard work is appreciated by at least one of my brothers."

Two thugs impatiently waited in a small white room with a door off to the one corner. When the thug with a red Mohawk spoke, he had a very poorly educated demeanour. "Yo man, why we here, did they tell yous why?"

The other retorted with a high pitch nasally tone to his speech. "I don't know either, all I knows is we were handpicked, which means we did something right."

"I hope it's to get another shot at that masked wimp," He slammed his fist into the palm of his opposing hand; you could tell he was loaded with frustration. "I've failed to kill him a bunch of times now, I thought maybe they were going to, I don't want to say, you know, in case they is listening."

The door slid quickly open and in stepped your typical scrawny geeky appearing scientist holding two clipboards. "Sorry to keep the both of you waiting, this way please." Escorting the two unaware thugs into the adjacent room, where three more people in lab coats, one of which was Baxter, eagerly waiting for them, two cold metal table slabs were also in the room.

"Please, each of you lie down and get comfy, we'll begin soon."

The Mohawk goon was the first to lie down. "Burr, the table sure is cold, what's all this for scientific junk for?"

Baxter hovered over while the assistants tied both men down securely. "Patience my friend, you will see soon enough."

"Why are you tying us down, this going to hurt or something?" The other thug asked as he watched them secure the restraints.

"It's all safety precautions, that's all, just relax, you're in safe hands now." Once they were sure the two goons couldn't move, they opened the one wall, it slid and revealed two rather disgruntled animals, the same two April reported missing from the zoo.

"Yo, why do you need them animals for?"

A sinister Doctor Stockman grinned while answering. "It's all part of the experiment."

Later that evening, Casey came in through the open balcony to his and April's apartment, holding a greasy bag of take-out grub in hand. "Yo, April, I brought home dinner." Exhausted, he tossed off the mask, the golf bag and his vigilante attire. Planted his butt down on the comfy couch; using the remote to turn the television set on. Some sports highlights entertained him as he removed the greasy cheeseburger goodness from its wrapping and called for his reporter girlfriend once more. "April, the food's getting cold."

Muttering nothing coherent as she came waltzing down the spiral stairs, in nothing but a bath towel with another one she used to dry her long reddish-brown hair. Her sight hindered under the towel as she remarked, "I just hope it isn't from that stupid burger joint you jump by every night. Between you and our sewer dwelling friends and their pizza obsession, it's hard for a girl to keep her figure."

Casey, with a mouthful of juicy meaty goodness, quickly panicked as he looked to the greasy bag on the nice glass coffee tabletop. "Um, no I didn't," stuttering to figure out a plan. "I thought we'd go somewhere nice tonight." He quickly shoved the partially eaten burger back into its foil wrapping and into the bag. Then, before she saw, he tucked the take-out bag underneath the couch, out of eye sight.

"Oh, you made reservations, to where?" she smiled, sat down beside him, nestling herself up against his sweaty body. She stopped, pulling herself back, taking the towel away from her scalp, sniffing the aroma still lingering in the air, "Do you smell that?"

Swallowing the last mouthful of food, he tried his best to play dumb. "I just smell your fresh lovely beauty, why do you ask princess?"

Peering through his deception, she did some more investigating, "Burger, fries." Sniffing Casey chest, "You reek of the stuff." She leaned closer, like she was going in for a kiss. "I can smell it on your breath even."

"I had one on the way home to tie me over until we got to the restaurant; you know how long you chicks take to get ready."

She smiled. "I'm sorry for not believing you." She then sat on top of him, slowly caressing her body up against his, moaning with pleasure along the way. "Do we have a little time for..." Then she knelt down on the carpeted floor, positioning herself right in between his legs. Her hands rubbing his chiseled chest, she accidentally got another waft of the lingering fatty perfume that seemed to have now engulfed the entire area. "That scent is stronger from down here."

"Just forget it for now; you were just about to do something magical..." As she followed her nose, looking under the couch, grumbled as she reached under, pulled out the slimy brown take-out bag.

Standing up, angrily glaring at Casey who just remained sitting on the couch, "What's this, a special dinner for two?"

"But, but baby. Can we just rewind to where we were merely minutes ago?"

Taking the bag with her as she marched up the steps; she bickered back. "Take care of that yourself and sleep there tonight."

"Can I at least finish my burger, I'm starving here." She didn't respond, marched up to be alone with the grub in her room.

The Shredder stood, looking rather impatient in a low-lit room, along with Stockman, some of his lackeys and the Hun by his side. Concealed out in front of them all, two rather large items with dark robes hiding whatever it was underneath.

"I'm not in the mood for the dramatics Stockman." The Shredder sternly spoke, adding, "Did the project work, yes or no?"

"Indeed it did master and surpassed all expectations. Truly a remarkable substance, in time I might be able..."

"I don't care about wasting more funding into this until I see some results, you understand me Stockman, just show me what you claim to have accomplished."

"As you wish master," The psycho doctor bowed, looking over towards his assistants, nodding his head. Soon after, they pulled the tarp that was concealing what was hidden underneath. There were two cages, standing in them, two hulking mutant creatures.

The first one was broad, best described a humanoid rhinoceros, fierce and angry, snarling and drooling as the Shredder leaned closer for a better view. The other cage, an angry humanoid Warthog shook the bars; his strength was remarkable, almost bending the few inch thick steel bars.

The oversized pig growled. "Yo Doc, what did you do to us?"

"The second you let me out, I'm busting in your skulls. What are we?" The Rhino-man whined.

A wicked grin erected on the Masters face, looking rather pleased. "Excellent work Baxter. Now, what about their tempers, I mean they seem quite brute and noncompliant."

"Oh, I took the liberty to strap on a few obedience collars." Baxter pulled out a little handheld device, "See those collars wrapped around their necks? Yes, think of them as shock collars owners place on dogs, but with much more punch so to speak."

"Impressive Stockman, I am quite pleased. You may receive your funding after all." The Shredder with a wicked grin then added. "Release them from their cages; it's time they learned who their master is."

Stockman didn't hesitate; he handed the remote over and made his way behind the protective glass in another room. The electronic gate opened for both beasts and they stepped out, the ground shook when they did.

The humanoid rhino turned to the hog and said. "Let's show this guy whose boss hey Beebop."

The warthog snarled when he replied, "With pleasure Rocksteady." Both mutants stood a foot taller and not to mention, easily had a hundred pounds of solid muscle over the Shredder. The slowly made their approach, about to pummel their victim to mulch just as he hit the button, activating the collars.

With enough volts to cause the lights to flicker, the electricity surged through both Beebop and Rocksteady, dropping them both to a knee. When the Shredder was satisfied, he took his thumb off the button.

Still smoking from the shock, Beebop was the first to be back on both feet. "You think that's funny huh?" He reached for the collar, and with all his might, tried to pry it free. But with his tampering, only set off secondary command of the collar, shocking him once more.

Snivelling from his shelter, Stockman spoke through the radio. "Oh, don't tamper with the product, I installed... well, I think it's obvious." After which he let out a conniving chuckle.

The Shredder stood over top of the mutants in dire pain, they looked up, saw his thumb hovering out the button as he asked. "Do you yield?"

Rocksteady spoke for them both. "If that means we'll do whatever you say, then yeah."

The Shredder nodded and then gave them their first assignment. "Excellent, now bring me April O'Neil."

Day time was boring for a vigilante and his unique looking friends. It was hard to patrol the streets and remain under the radar and foil crime. That's why, to make a living, earn some money, Casey worked at his repair shop and in the back room, out of sight, helping him was Donnie from time to time. The others tried to help, but found to be more of a nuisance than helpful, Mikey usually made the problem worse, Leo would try and do it on his own, thinking he was finished but then saw he had left over pieces, and then give it over to Casey or Donnie to fix. Then there was Raph... well, he'd lose his temper and end up hurling the object across the room.

Mikey and Leo were trying to remain inconspicuous as they drove the van around the city, getting the feel for driving through the busy streets of New York. Both turtles were wearing tailor etched, designed just for them by April, trench coats and hats with sunglasses. Mikey had on a phoney beard to cover his green scaly chin.

"See Bro, I told you, nobodies looking at us?"

Leo nodded, "Yeah, for now. But wait until your overcautious driving gets us into an accident. How are we going to explain ourselves then?"

But for April, day time meant reporting, her job; her passion. It was what she wanted to do ever since she was a little girl. She was sitting on the two biggest stories out there, but she kept them only to herself, because she knew, if everyone knew the turtles, their heroic days would be over and the same went for Casey. So instead she found herself reporting lost animals from the zoo, listening to witnesses claim outrageous bogus accusations just to get their three minutes of fame, all while imagining the big stories and the "what if" that was haunting the back of her mind.

After she delivered her infamous, "This is April O'Neil, channel six, eyewitness news..." catchphrase, her and her cameraman Frankie, began to pack up. "Ok Frankie, let's get back to the station so I can check up on some leads."

The two captive TCRI scientists were being moved via unmarked black van during the day by some of the Foot to another disclosed location for safe keeping. But as they turned down a vacant side road, out of nowhere, a few shuriken's popped to front tires, causing the vehicle to veer off and collide with a lamp post. The masked men in black jumped down, took out the two Foot members with ease, blew the back doors open and escorted the scientists away, out of sight.

Both blindfolded, they were brought back to the TCRI building, where another pale-skinned hulking individual was patiently sitting, waiting for their arrival.

Their mysterious saviors removed the wrapping from their eyes and saw the man sitting across from them. The scientist on the right spoke first. "Kraang, what are you doing back in New York?"

"Is that the thanks I get for saving you two? Besides, I came to check up on the progress, do you have any?"

"Earth's resources and technological state is still nowhere near what we need. And there are just the three of us, and these bodies are... clunky."

"That's why I moved to Japan, their robotics technology was far surpassed what was over here at the time. It has cost us greatly, but I have brought some new, improved bodies for you to work with."

The two scientists stood tall as two people entered. They appeared to be emotionless as they just marched over and stood in front of the others. All party members lifted their shirts, revealing their bare stomachs, wasting no time, those stomachs opened, and inside, small pink skinned aliens hosted inside. The new empty bodies pulled the aliens out and placed them inside their own compartments.

After the old bodies left and they sat back down, Kraang then asked. "Now, tell me about these mutant turtles and this mysterious ooze?"

Beebop and Rocksteady stuck out in a crowd, hulking over at almost seven feet tall, three-hundred plus pounds, they marched towards the channel six building. Confused, scared and frightened people parted ways, when they felt the ground tremble and saw these two storming their way. Rocksteady was the first to reach the entrance way, and bull rushed his way through, the glass shattered and the door flew off the hinges with ease.

They instantly created a mass panic, as Beebop entered and turned to the front desk clerk. He snarled as he asked. "Where's... err." Turning towards his partner he asked. "What's the dames name again?"

In his high pitch whine, he replied. "I don't know, you were supposed to remember. Wasn't it like a month or something like that?"

"Yeah, Wednesday or something," It then dawned on Beebop when he saw the date on the calendar; it was the month June. "June, her name is June. Where's the reporter June?"

April was just getting off the elevator and saw the two frightening mutants yelling at the clerk. She immediately reached for her purse and pulled out the Turtle com. "Please, come in, someone, who's there?"

The police finally made it on scene and drew their guns. Rocksteady snagged a few random stragglers and held them out to shield him from harm. Beebop was low on patience and banged his fist on the counter, smashing it into pieces. "Where is she?"

April, assuming they were looking for her, didn't want them to hurt anyone else. So she stepped off the elevator while purposely dropping her comlink and used the heel of her boot, to stomp on it knowing that would trigger the distress beacon Donnie had installed. She remembered the GPS he installed so she bent over and stuffed the pieces of the comlink down her boot.

MIkey and Leo were in the van when the com started to beep uncontrollably. Leo pulled it out to see why. Mikey asked. "What's wrong Bro?"

"April's com is sending out a distress call, she must be in trouble." Mikey spun the wheel around, causing the van to veer a sharp left. "She's at the station, which is right around the corner..."

Mikey interrupted by saying. "Yeah Dude, I know."

April had her hands up, inching closer about to surrender when she heard who these two were looking for. She then asked herself, why June? The clerk was scared, and while shaking, her trembling hand pointed out the blonde reporter who wasn't too far from April's position. June was crying as she cowered in the corner when Beebop made his way over. He snatched her and lifted her up with ease.

"Hey, you; I'm June." April shouted, grabbing the warthog's attention.

The startling surrounding people didn't pipe up, but were confused as to why she'd admit to that. "Whoa, wait, there are two Junes, I'm confused."

Completely hysterical, June blabbed out. "No, there's only one me, she's April."

Beebop shook his head, trying to understand and make sense of it all. "April... that's a month too isn't it?" and before she could say anything, he added. "I'll just take you both." April tried to resist, but his massive strength was too much for her to compete with. While both girls tried desperately to wiggle free, Beebop carried them over to the Rhino, who was stalling the police from storming in.

"These pigs..." He saw the disgust look on the warthog's and corrected his term. "Sorry, these cops are getting antsy, did you get the dame?"

Beebop showed him the two reporters and explained. "Both their names are months, so I say we take them both and kill the one he don't need."

Out of nowhere, Mikey cried out in mid-air, "Cowabunga!" And delivered a mighty jump kick to the warthog's chest as Beebop turned to see what it was. Mike's foot connected, but it was like colliding into a steel door, Beebop barely moved as Mike hit the ground, rubbing a now sore leg.

Leo was the next to combatant the Rhino, who dropped one of his hostages to catch Leo's fist. Rocksteady's strength was far greater than the turtles and squeezed his fist, bringing Leo to a knee as he cringed in pain.

"Hey Beebop, check out these puny freaks." Rocksteady was about to crush the bones in Leo's left hand. Leo spun his leg around and used it to sweep the rhino off his feet. After a hard land, the hostages free, Leo rolled back and tended to his hand.

Beebop brought his foot up, intending to stomp Mike, but April bit the hog's hand, preventing him from completing the devastating attack enabling Mike to join back up with Leonardo.

"Yo Bro, these two are like Mack trucks."

"Yeah and they're super strong." Leo remarked as they watched Rocksteady get back to his feet. The rhino wasn't happy, he got into a football tackler's stance, snarled, spraying mist and charged. He made a mad dash for both turtles who attempted to dodge to the side. But Rocksteady extended his arms and was able to catch the arm of Leo and the foot of Mike and with his brute strength, hurl them across the room and into the wall, shell first. But the sheer force was enough to knock both turtles out for the moment, allowing the other two to flee the scene with both girls.

When Leo and Mike came to, Burnes and Irma were standing over them, tending to their wounds. In their blurry haze, they saw Vernon at the entrance, trying his best to steer the police away so they didn't see the giant mutant turtles.

"Whoa, did anyone get the plate number of that thing?" Mikey rubbed his head and was helped to his feet by Irma.

Burne's didn't hesitate to get Leo back to his feet and the curious turtle asked why. Burne's replied.

Confused but grateful, Leo asked. "Whoa, you're helping us; I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth here, but why?"

"Those two things took not only my niece but April as well. And I don't think the cops are going to be any use on getting them back. So I'm putting my faith in you." Leo nodded, assuring that he had made the right choice.

Kraang leaned back after hearing what was going on and what the Shredder wanted with them. "So this ooze you accidentally made up fifteen years ago and decided to dump assuming it was a failed experiment, actually mutated some turtles, and now these two beasts for the Shredder?"

"I don't think we should be wasting more time on this when we should be focusing our attention on repairing the ship or at least the translocator so we can communicate back home."

"Well, that was professor Honeycutt's project and has kept most of the knowledge and data inside his own mind and since he's still in that coma..."

"What about his SAL unit, couldn't we plug him into it and he could control that via brainwaves?"

"Theoretically I presume so and that way he can continue his research and work. We've been stuck here for almost two decades now; I don't wish to be here for another one."

"Well, the SAL unit is still not functional and last time I checked, the three of us weren't the robotics expert in this galactic convoy."

Kraang leaned back, thinking hard on a solution. He then remembered reading the Shredder's personnel files and one distinctly stuck out from the bunch; Baxter Stockman.

Bound and gagged, both April and June stopped wiggling from the grasp of both Rocksteady and Beebop who had returned back to the Foot's secret headquarters in the abandoned warehouse district in southern New York. There impatiently waiting for their successful return was the Shredder.

"We meet again Miss O'Neil." And since April was gagged, she couldn't respond so he continued on. "We both know why you're here..." The Shredder paused when he finally turned to face the intrepid reporter and to his surprise, there were two. "Imbeciles, why did you bring her?"

Rocksteady realized the one he was holding, June, wasn't the one his boss wanted. After dropping her to the ground, he tried to explain. "Yo, we just kind of forgot the dame's name. So we decided it'd be easier if we just brought them both."

"Yeah, but boss, these two green puny freaks came out of nowhere and attacked us, do you know why?"

The Shredder smiled, answering accordingly. "Yes, I do Beebop and it's the reason why I wanted to speak to Miss O'Neil. Those are her friends, and her friends know where the man who murdered my uncle may be."

The Rhino quickly replied with his own plan. "Yo boss, you don't need her for that. Just send us back and we'll just beat the answer from those pukes."

"In due time my adolescent friend."

Leo and Mikey were back in the van on their way back to Casey's shop when Donnie called via the Turtle com. "Leo, what's going on, is April ok?"

Leo didn't want to alarm his brothers and friend through the phone; he wanted to wait until he was there, because he knew how his brother Raphael and Casey would respond. Once they heard of her capture, they'd drop what they were doing and race to go get her back. But after the butt kicking he and his youngest brother just received, he knew it was going to take all of them to combatant such powerful foes.

"She's," He hesitated to respond, he didn't want to lie, but knew it he had to in order to protect the rest from going in headstrong. "She's fine, listen, we're almost at the shop; I'll explain when we get there."

Tied up with duct tape to a wooden chair and a black cloak covering his head, Kraang and the other two TCRI scientists stood in a triangle around the mystery guest. The captive was not gagged however and sniffled when he finally spoke.

"Do what you want, but I won't tell you anything. And I hope you are well connected, because the people I work for will be looking for me and they won't leave witnesses behind, if you caught my drift."

With a smirk, Kraang seemed quite impressed with the Doctor. He leaned in and removed the cloak, revealing Baxter's squinting face. After putting the man's glasses on so he could see, Baxter instantly recognized two of the three men standing before him. "Aw, the two lackeys from the Shredder's lab..."

Kraang interrupted the Doctor. "Listen, we need a man of your intellectual stature." He knew how to talk to this man, knew what this man truly wanted, to be recognized for his unique and brilliant mind. After a subtle head nod to his fellow assistants, they stood side-by-side and in unison, lifted their shirts. Baxter was speechless as he soaked in the information given and Kraang continued on. "Allow me to explain who we really are..."

"My colleagues and I are Utroms, from a planet that's in another galaxy, light-years away. We went on an extensive scientific exploration to see other worlds. Professor Honeycutt, our fourth member, who's in a comatose state at the moment, was our technician. To make this story short, we were struck by an asteroid and had to crash land here, on this primitive world. This planet's technological advancements are nowhere near what we needed to repair our vessel. Our translocator, the device used to communicate back home was also damaged. And like I mentioned previously, Honeycutt was the only one who knew how to fix it."

"And since you are the number one robotics expert on Earth it seems, I think you'll be able to help us reconstruct it so we can get back home."

Baxter nodded, soaking it all in was rather intrigued by this alien technology phenomenon. He motioned down towards his bound hands and replied. "Well, you've certainly struck my interest. So because of that, yes, I am willing to help, but as you've noticed, I'm a little tied up at the moment..."

The three extraterrestrials brought the insane doctor to the next room, where there was an elevator that lead to the whereabouts of the incomplete translocator along with the specifications that were already waiting. Grinning from ear to ear like a kid in a candy store, Stockman rubbed his hands together as he impatiently waited as Kraang hit the button and the doors shut.

As a recently repaired toaster collided with the wall from an enraged Casey hurling it, he stormed over to his locker and almost ripped the door from the rusty hinges. Inside was his vigilante gear and wasted no time suiting up.

On his six, a concern Leo tried to reason with him. "Listen Casey, we have no clue where these things took her. And with the heavy police presence at the crime scene, I don't think the number one man they're searching for should make an appearance."

Casey didn't respond, he was focusing all his attention on getting April, his girlfriend back. Raphael, also feeling the same way, spoke for him. "Listen Leo, I think Casey's got one thing on his mind, where's April. And I don't think you want to get in the way of the answer. So, just tell us who took her and which way they went, Ok?"

Donatello cut in with his inquisitive questions. "I'm curious as to how you allowed some goons to apprehend Miss O'Neil to begin with? After all, we are highly trained ninjas." Wasting no time, he made his way over to his laptop and began typing away as Michelangelo explained.

"Yo Bro, we already told you. These two hulking beasts nabbed her, whooped our butts and knocked us out cold. When we came to they were gone with April."

With peeping eyes hovering over his shoulder, Donatello discovered some troubling news about his solution for locating April. "She must have dropped her comlink or whoever has her, knew to disable the GPS I had installed. I believe we're dealing with highly intelligent sophisticated people here."

After a rather loud and powerful sneeze that hurled wet sticky mucus across the room, Rocksteady started to rifle his finger up his nose in search of the cause blocking the passageway while his comrade Beebop tossed the last bone behind him and wiped the sticky BBQ sauce from his mouth using his shirt sleeve.

Meanwhile the Shredder circled around the two bound reporters, using a tactic he learned long ago, the silent intimidation approach to gain the knowledge he longed for. But April wouldn't give in, she was strong willed, the Shredder sensed that and knew if he was going to somehow break her, he'd need some sort of leverage.

A whimpering June was red and in tears, she's never experience something this traumatic in her entire twenty years of life. She was a spoiled brat and in the face of danger, did whatever she had to in order to come out alive. "Please, if she won't tell you what you want to know, I will."

Curious, the Shredder didn't waste time moving around to see what the other had to share. She continued on. "It's that mask felon fellow you're looking for isn't it? Let me guess, he killed your beloved uncle. Well let me tell you, I'm on the story and have been following many leads."

April was both surprised and concerned, but kept her composure as the Shredder weighed the newly brought information. He did not care for this masked lunatic that stalked the streets, he was a more a nuisance than anything else, but he was known to be working with his enemy the turtles and they were the ones that would ultimately lead him to Hamato Yoshi.

It might not have been exactly what he sought for, but it was good enough. "Tell me where he is."

June didn't know precisely, after all, just before being abducted, she was heading out to contact a lead who had more info for her. But she did know the vicinity he was in and April knew Casey's identity had been made; his repair shop was right smack in the middle of that area given.

As the Shredder was about to give his mutant goons the go-ahead order, the Hun entered and delivered some more pressing news. "Master, Doctor Stockman and his two associates have been abducted during their transport to the other facility. Also when I went to meet up with Master Kraang at the docks, he did not show." The Hun pulled out from his pocket a well-crafted shuriken from his pocket; it was from the van heist that was transporting Stockman between locations.

The Shredder eyes fixated on the well known ninja weapon, the craftsmanship and etching engraved all over it, was the markings of the Foot; well the clan in Japan, Kraang's clan. Without flinching or remarking in words, the Shredder ever-so slightly turned to his eager mutant goons and gave them the go-ahead nod.

With giddy grins, Rocksteady smashed his fist into his palm and grunted. "Time to have us some fun."

Several subfloors beneath the TCRI lab, Kraang brought Stockman into a hulking metallic mobile dome that rested in a condemned underground cavern. Stockman's jaw was hanging low as he stared in awe at the impressive technology he only could imagined existed and here it was, right before his eyes. He found it hard to listen as Kraang continued to explain the pending issues with the translocator and admire the alien technology at the same time.

As the door on the side of the massive hall slid open, Baxter peered inside the large room where the malfunctioning translocator sat. Baxter pushed his glasses back up and didn't wait for the invitation to proceed inside.

It was midday when a few loyal Purple Dragon members drove the inconspicuous black unmarked van with Rocksteady and Beebop sitting in the back towards Casey's neighbourhood. When they were in the general vicinity, a block from his repair shop, the back doors swung open and out leapt both hulking mutants.

Both overly eager thugs didn't waste time and got right down to business. As they started rolling over parked cars and hurling garbage bins into people's homes, frightened people scattered. The ones, who were walking down their way, spun around and quickly sped off the opposite way. The screams and cries of concerned and confused woman and children echoed down the street and through the open window of Casey's shop.

All four turtles and Casey perched right up the second they heard the cries for help and Casey wasted no time rushing to his locker and retrieved his vigilante attire. Once he slid the mask on to keep his identity a secret, he spun around to find himself alone, "Damn their ninja skills."

From a slightly raised manhole cover, Raphael snuck a peek to see what all the commotion was about. From the shadows of the nearest alleyway, Leonardo and Michelangelo prowled closer; Mikey saw an opportunity for cover in a dumpster and took it. He quietly remarked. "Whoa Leo, there's leftover pizza in here."

Raph softly spoke to Donnie who was standing at the bottom of the ladder that led up to the streets. "These must be the goons that whooped Leo and Mikey's butts. Man, they sure are strong ones..."

"Don't worry Raphael; remember that the pen is mightier than the sword, brains over brawn..."

"They're flipping over cars like they're pancakes bro." Raph took a deep breath, to prepare his mind for the worst case scenario and muttered. "This isn't going to be fun."

Beebop snorted as he chucked son poor kids tricycle down the middle of the street. "Yo Rock, this sure is building up an appetite."

Leo and Mikey remained in the shadows, trying to figure out a good plan of attack. Leo made some comments. "I think we should tail these two buffoons back to their lair and find April. We can't provoke them in the open like this, that's for sure."

"Yeah Bro, only an idiot would be dumb enough to take these two brutes head on."

Casey Jones had his goalie stick in hand as he marched down the middle of the vacant road towards the two responsible for kidnapping April. He didn't care at this moment about strategy, he had one thing on his mind and he wanted answers; where was his girlfriend, April O'Neil?

It didn't take long for Rocksteady to spot Jones, since after all he was the only person crazy enough to not be fleeing. "Yo Beebop, looks like its payday time."

Beebop spun around after chucking a garbage bin into a doghouse and grinned with excitement when he saw the masked vigilante present. Back when they were merely thugs for the Dragons, they encountered Casey multiple times and each time got an unnecessary beat down. So side by side, the hulking mutants approached the lone Jones.

A determined Casey didn't show fear and in a gritty tone asked. "I'm only going to ask you dimwits once, where's April?"

Beebop wasn't bright and didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "She's back at the base with our master, being tortured to find these petty green freaks for some reason."

Rocksteady spoke next. "Don't worry about her; you should be more worried about your beating we here are gonna give ya."

Casey didn't waste time as the turtles were forced to jump in. Without another thought, Casey swung the goalie stick, but Rocksteady caught the weapon in midair and snapped it like a toothpick. Before Casey could react, the rhino used his free hand to punch him in the face, shattering the mask and sent his victim flying backwards into a parked car; leaving a Casey-sized dent impression. Bloody and unconscious, Casey fell to the ground.

Celebrating their victory, Beebop high-fived his friend as three of the turtles jumped them. The three brothers struck the same target with ninja precision, kicking the rhino in the chest and knocking him down hard on his back end.

Donnie was in the turtle van and wasted no time pulling out of Casey's garage and swerving to a halt next to his unconscious self. He gently placed his masked buddy in the back, removed his vigilante attire so when the cops came, they didn't put one and one together.

The others circled around the warthog and prepared to attack. Beebop remarked. "Yo, how many green freaks is there?"

Leo didn't wait to answer and was about to lunge forward just as a small dart shot from out of nowhere, struck his neck and pierced his skin. Before he could ask "what was that?" he felt dizzy and passed out. The same went for the other two a mere second later.

From the van Donatello could only watch as the two hulking mutants with a half dozen Dragon members toss his brothers into the black van and peel away. Feeling powerless, he remained with Casey and brought him back to the lair so Splinter could attend to his wounds.

Casey was now all bandaged up lying on the ratty couch down in the turtle's secret sewer lair while Splinter nursed his wounds with a troubled Donatello carefully watching over his master's shoulder. Donatello felt sick to his stomach, the fact that he stood there and watched those thugs kidnap his brothers and didn't do anything about it, just didn't sit well. But what could he have done, he was supposed to attend to Casey while the others distracted the mutants and were severely outnumbered.

Feeling the urge to do something, Donatello went to his happy place, the place where he could escape reality and find a way to save his brothers from overwhelming odds. As he entered his lab, panning the random items collected from Baxter's shop, it suddenly dawned on him and he got right to work.

Unarmed and alone in a small ten-foot cubed cage, Leonardo stood there baffled as dozens of foot members circled the cage, chanting on. What or who were they chanting for, Leo soon found out as the cage door opened and in stepped Rocksteady grinning with excitement.

As the big Rhino cracked his fingers, the Shredder hollered. "Tell me where Hamato Yoshi is and we will make this short, for you and your brothers."

Leo didn't answer and tried his best to fend off Rocksteady's brutal attacks by staying on the defensive, striking only when an opportunity presented itself. But each punch and kick, didn't seem to faze his opponent; he was too tough and strong to face head on.

After a viscous beating, two foot soldiers had to carry the exhausted Leo back to his cell where his brothers were impatiently waiting his return. They ordered Raphael to come next.

Eager to get into a fight, Raph obliged and when he left, it gave Mikey and Leo time to talk alone and in whispers. "Whoa Leo, they sure did a number on you huh? What do these scumbags want?"

"They want to know where Hamato Yoshi is? I can only assume, because the Shredder wants revenge."

Mikey scratched his scaly scalp with confusion. "Hamato Yoshi, wasn't that Splinters name before he turned into a rat?" Leo tried to silence his brother, but was too drained to move. But the lingering ears of Tatsu heard all he needed to report back to his master.

Both April and June were left alone bound and gagged. April wigged her body as best she could and found a relatively sharp shard of glass she could use to cut through the bindings. June just sat there and watched, tears pouting down her cheek, she's never been through something like this before; after all, she was just starting out as a field reporter.

It didn't take long for April to cut through the ropes and after removing the gag, she reassured herself that the turtle com was still stuffed safely in her sock, she quickly untied June. Once she could, June started weeping. "I'm so sorry April; I don't want to be a reporter anymore. I don't care if I think your boyfriend is the masked man, I just want to forget all this."

In a whisper, April tried to calm the young reporter and ignored on how did she figure it all out? "June, you need to calm down and keep quiet, we don't need the others to come back."

But June was too busy panicking to listen and continued to whine out. "This isn't the glamorous reporting I had in mind. Yeah sure, stalking people, following them home to peek in their windows, drop a few harmless bugs in their purses while pretending to be a bumbling moron. But not in the hands of giant creatures and some lunatic man dressed in scrap metal."

April had her back to the only door to the room and was frantically fidgeting with the com, hoping she could figure out how to put it back together, or well enough to communicate with her green scaly friends. But key pieces such as the microphone were missing, so she couldn't send a message through. So instead, she just prayed that enough was there to grab their attention and come to their rescue.

Tinkering away with his father hovering over his shoulder, watching his every move, trying to understand what his intelligent son was building, the computer off to the side began beeping. Donnie wheeled himself over on his stool to see what it could be. Excited to see the homing beacon in effect, he shared the information with Splinter. "Sensei, that's one of the GPS of the others, we now know where they're being held."

"Excellent work Donatello, so how long will it take for this plan of yours to be completed?"

Donnie flipped his welders goggles back down and continued back on his project while replying. "It's hard to say Sensei; I'll have to run a simulation to ensure it'll be effective…"

Casey managed to pull himself out of bed and stumble into the workshop. He was face to face with what resembled a metallic head of one of the turtles, most notably, its creator, Donatello. While staring in confusion at the drone, Casey asked. "What are you planning here Donnie? A robot turtle…"

"I've been redesigning the schematics of those Mousers units I acquired from Stockman's computer to make something for us to use as a sparring AI drone. Instead of sparring with each other and possibly inflicting injuries, we'd use old Metalhead here. I've programmed our moves and techniques into the computer so he will respond and attack like each of us; I even made a program for you Casey."

"So your bros are out there somewhere, April's been kidnapped and you're in here, tinkering away on some high-tech practice dummy?" Casey wasn't seeing the bigger picture; his concussion was clouding his thinking and judgement. "You should be figuring out a way on finding them and then we'll go in and…"

An agitated Splinter lost his cool composure. After all, Donatello was his son and knew how he worked. "Enough Casey, can you not see, Donatello is building the solution. With the others captured, we are severely outnumbered when it comes to Oroku Saki and his foot clan…"

A raging Raphael found himself face first on the cool cement floor. With a bloody nose, he looked up to see Beebop with his back to him, with his hands raised, cheering with the crowd. With the rage fueling Raphael's emotions and drive, he power pushed himself up to his feet. He made a mad dash towards his foe and took to the air with his right leg out, preparing for a jump kick. As the foot tried to warn the warthog, Raphs foot connected, striking Beebops back. But Beebop didn't seem affected by the attack, as he spun around to dish out more punishment to the puny turtle.

Overconfident, Beebops attacks were slow, but fierce. The enraged turtle easily avoided each blow, but knew his opponent was too tough to match toe to toe. Remembering what his master had taught him "The bigger they are, the harder they fall" Raphael took one glimpse down to the knee of Beebop and grinned. One swift kick struck the knee, cracking the joint and taking the big brute down. While screaming with agony, the cage door opened and in swarmed dozens of foot soldiers with cattle prods, taking Raph down and tying him back up.

Tatsu stood behind the Shredder as he watched from his balcony the fight that just finished. He impatiently waited until his master motioned for him to speak. And when the Shredder ever-so slightly waved his hand, Tatsu now had permission to do so. And after he informed the Shredder of what he discovered, Saki jumped to his feet and seemed furious rather than joyful. "You waited to tell me this?" Tatsu stammered to reply; he came here as soon as he could and knew his master's rules and didn't speak until motioned to. "Never mind that now…" The Shredder banged his fist into his palm as he muttered. "Damn, I had the rat in my clutches too and it was he all along."

The Shredder had an idea and commanded his right-hand man Tatsu. "I need the Doctor's services once more. Go fetch me Stockman immediately." After Tatsu bowed and left for his mission, the Shredder just stood there, staring at the cage where his loyal foot bound the pesky nuisance and imagined that finally, he would get his revenge.

As the foot tossed Raphael into the cage with his brothers, they motioned for Mikey to come out next. Raphael wiggled his way out of the gag and let his younger brother know. "Don't worry Mikey, the giant pig won't be walking for a bit."

A reluctant Michelangelo hesitated to go at first, but remembered the threat made when Leo refused, they'd kill one of them. With that in mind, he willingly went with the foot. As he entered the cage and the door locking behind him, Mikey was in awe on how many loyal foot members there was. As they in unison cheered, Rocksteady made his way through the crowd and on the outskirts of the fighting cage.

"Whoa, he's bigger than I remember. I sure hope Donny makes that miraculous dynamic entrance before he gets inside; that'd be wicked cool!" The hopeful turtle stood there, staring at the outer walls, praying for his eccentric brother to come to their rescue before he had to go one on one with this massive foe.

Rocksteady entered the cage, the door locked behind him. A nervous Mikey kept his distance. The Rhino grinned with glee.

The Shredder announced. "Turtle, tell me where your lair is, the whereabouts of the fourth one and the rat and Rocksteady will go easy on you."

"Sorry dude, I rather face the music." Mikey stared up at the big brute ready to unleash his power. Under his breath, Mikey prayed. "Come on Donnie, cutting it super close bro."

Rocksteady made his approach, closing the gap between them. Mikey did his best to avoid the brute's attacks, but eventually succumbed to a haymaker punch. The dazed turtle was prone to the onslaught of punches thereafter. Bloody and lying on the ground, Mikey looked up. The ceiling lights shone bright into his eyes. The burning bright white light felt like heaven's gates opening for Michelangelo.

Rocksteady made a victory lap before standing over the turtle to deliver the final, fatal blow. With both hands clenched overhead, Rocksteady was ready to bring the double-hammer down. Mikey accepted his fate, closing his eyes.

An explosion from above erupted, the lights shattered. A shadowy figure resembling a turtle shaped humanoid, leapt down from the ceiling. Rocksteady looked upward and Mikey rolled out of harm's way. The heavy being landed hard on the ground, leaving quiet the impression. The unusual turtle stood tall, right between Mikey and Rocksteady. What made this being unusual, he was metallic, chrome shell, laser red eyes, best description, a metal robotic turtle.

Rocksteady was more bewildered than usual. "Umm, another toortle?"

The metal turtle replied, using Michelangelo's voice. "Party time bros!" he pulled out a pair of nunchucks and made a leaping kick towards an offguard Rocksteady.

A work in Progress. More to continue. I hope you've enjoyed what I've done so far. Thank you.

Steve