The next evening, in the back of the lab, the technicians were piling up rubble to be covered up. As they did so, a shadowy presence came over them. They looked confused, and looked up. There they saw Dragon Lord and his army standing there. A couple of the technicians fainted while a couple of others gasped. The rest began running.
"Stop!!"
Dragon Lord's commanding voice made them stop dead in their tracks. They turned frightened eyes towards Dragon Lord.
"We're not here to harm you; we're here to assist you." said Dragon Lord. "I must speak with the T.G.R.I. scientist."
"D, d, Dr. Rigler is, inside." said one of the technicians as she faced Dragon Lord.
"Capital. You must bring me to him." said Dragon Lord. Then he turned to the warriors. "The rest of you, help the technicians clean up. Listen to what they tell you to do." he ordered the rank.
The warriors nodded.
Dragon Lord, with Wick close by, then went into the lab with the other technician.
Inside, the technician brought Dragon Lord downstairs.
"Dr. Rigler, you have a, um, guest." said the technician.
Dr. Rigler turned around. "Who could possibly . . ." he stopped as he saw Dragon Lord. "My goodness."
"Dr. Rigler I presume." said Dragon Lord. "I am Dragon Lord, and this is my assistant, Wick."
"Hello." said Wick.
"What, what are you?" asked Dr. Rigler.
"Dragons, what do you think?!" exclaimed Wick.
Dragon Lord hit him and he fell off his shoulder. "Excuse Wick, he's a bit, impatient."
Dr. Rigler snapped out of his staring trance. "To what do I owe this, eh, visit?"
"I'm glad you asked." said Dragon Lord. "We must talk about this ooze you produce; there are ways in which we can both help each other out."
Dr. Rigler sat down as Dragon Lord began explaining what he meant.
Back in the sewers, Donny was looking at the 'eye-in-the-sky' program on Rita's computer. He noticed that there was no activity in the LA dragon fortress.
"They left already?" he asked himself. He then turned around to see if Rita had come in yet, but she didn't. He then got up from the computer, and went back to the main lair.
At the lair, Donny saw that no one but Ashton, Splinter, and Pidgina were around.
"Sheesh, where is everybody?" asked Donny.
"Out. I presume they're enjoying each other's company before the inevitable separation." said Pidgina.
"Hmm . . ." Donny said thoughtfully. Then he walked up to Ashton. "You busy?"
"Nope; never am really." said Ashton.
"Good; I need you to do me a favor." said Donny.
"No I will not get any more pizza or Chinese food; I feel like a freakin' delivery person." said Ashton.
"No no no, it's more important than that. I want you to help me check out Dragon Lord's LA fortress." said Donny.
"Why?" asked Ashton as she stood up from her chair.
"Because according to the eye-in-the-sky, they're not there anymore." said Donny.
"They went back home then." said Ashton.
"Since when do the dragons give up that easily?" asked Donny.
Ashton thought for a moment. "I see your point. All right, I'm up for it, let's go."
"Excellent." said Donny. He then turned to Splinter and Pidgina. "If anyone asks, we're out making sure the dragons really are gone ok?"
"Okay." said Splinter.
Donny and Ashton then left the lair.
Splinter and Pidgina looked around them at the empty, quiet lair.
"All the kids are out, and we're here just sitting in recliners; knitting and reading." said Pidgina. She sighed heavily.
"I feel old." said Splinter.
Pidgina nodded.
Out at the fortress, the front door was wide open, so Donny and Ashton just walked in.
"This place is empty as what." said Ashton.
"They couldn't of gone back already." said Donny.
They both looked around for a while, and found nothing.
Just as they were about to leave, Ashton spotted a piece of paper by Dragon Lord's throne. She went over to it, and picked it up.
"What is it?" asked Donny.
Ashton looked at it carefully. "Uh oh."
"What? What's uh oh? I don't like the sound of uh oh." said Donny.
"It's a map to the lab." said Ashton, then she looked at Donny. "I think they went there."
"What can they do there? The ooze is all destroyed." said Donny.
"But the scientist isn't." said Ashton. "Something tells me it's not time to leave LA yet."
"Oh boy." said Donny.
Back at the lab, Dragon Lord, Dr. Rigler, and Wick stood in a room looking at the technicians fixing up the auxiliary production tank.
"How long will that take?" asked Dragon Lord.
"It should be working by tomorrow." said Dr. Rigler.
"Capital." said Dragon Lord.
"I still can't believe that there are actually mutant Turtles, mutated by this ooze, out there. Fascinating." said Dr. Rigler. "And you say I get a share of the Turtles?"
Dragon Lord nodded.
"Excellent." said Dr. Rigler. "I'll get your warriors that ooze, and you get me the Turtles; sounds good to me."
"Then we have a deal?" asked Dragon Lord.
"Of course." said Dr. Rigler.
The two shook hands on it.
"Well then, as your warriors help, I'll show you some of my experiments." said Dr. Rigler.
Dr. Quease soon came downstairs and joined the trio.
"Ah, Dr. Quease, you've made it." said Dragon Lord.
"Yes . . ." said Dr. Quease somewhat absent-mindedly. He took a look around at the lab, and longed for his own that wasn't cooped up inside a fortress. He got introduced to Dr. Rigler, who soon shared with them his experiences in experimenting.
