Tbreader: June 27? I'll see if I can have it finished by then. If I keep updating the way I've been, it should be no problem (crosses fingers).

Yes, the spelling in the first line is intentional.

Leonardo hated to be a tattletail, but letting Shredder communicate with his mothership seemed like such a bad idea to him that he just couldn't allow it. So, as Donatello made the finishing touches on the souped-up transmitter that would project onto a bigscreen TV, Leonardo ducked out to "use the bathroom."

He found Splinter in his bedroom, and disturbed his father's meditation for the first time since he was old enough to understand what "not now" meant.

And he was shocked when Splinter didn't see the situation as an urgent threat. "Remember what I told you, Leonardo?" Splinter asked calmly. "Information. Understanding. It's possible to learn a great deal by listening to Shredder speak to his allies." He rose slowly and took Leonardo's hand. "Come – I will go with you, just in case."

Donatello was lying on his back under the TV. "I don't know which wire. Is that is? How about that one?" he was asking. Sparks were flying.

All of a sudden Krang's ugly pink face filled the screen. "Dude!" Michelangelo shouted.

As Donatello wriggled out, muttering "there we go," Shredder stepped up to the screen and inclined his head in what might generously be called a respectful manner.

"Krang."

The brain frowned. "Shredder? Oh dear, what an unpleasant surprise. Where have you been?"

"I was...detained."

"And are those turtles I see in the background?" Krang demanded. "Shredder! The company you have been keeping..."

A low growling sound escaped Shredder, and it was clear that he was fighting a losing battle to keep a grip on his temper. "I had no choice! Anyway, didn't you always say it would be a good idea for me to infiltrate their lair? Didn't you?" he pressed.

Krang sighed. "Well yes, but that was before I...never mind. Now that you're there, you might as well kill them. What are you waiting for? There's a turtle right behind you. Kill him first!"

Shredder whipped around, ready to obey. But then, when he saw that the turtle right behind him was Raphael, his scowl relaxed into an almost puzzled expression. "No..." he murmured, turning back to Krang. "Not that one. Let me kill one of the others instead."

Leonardo and Donatello exchanged glances. Michelangelo looked alarmed and raised his hand. "Not it!"

"WHAT?" Krang's tentacles thrashed around furiously. "Shredder, you will do as I command!" He gave him a wide, pulpy smile. "You have sworn loyalty to me, after all. So you have no choice."

Shredder stamped his foot. "But that one's my favorite," he complained, looking for all the world like a three-year-old preparing to throw a tantrum. "It's not fair! I never get to say who to kill, and now-"

"Shredder, he's a turtle, you imbecile. Your sworn enemy," Krang reminded him impatiently.

"I know he's a turtle, you filthy tyrant, and I am going to kill him. But just...not yet," Shredder explained haltingly. "I can...I can kill the others first, see, and then do him later."

Krang's face scrunched into an even more angry expression. "I don't like this attitude, Saki. Stop arguing and do what I tell you."

This time Shredder really did lose control. "No! I won't! I refuse!" he shouted, jumping into the air and waving his arms around. "It's not fair! Every time I make a new friend, you make me kill them!"

Michelangelo was so surprised he just couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Whoa...Canhead's got friends?" he asked in wonder.

"No, Canhead doesn't," Shredder snapped, whirling on him, "Because they're all dead!" He faced the video screen again, chest heaving, and managed to uncurl one of his fists long enough to point at Krang menacingly. "You are lucky I can't reach you right now." His voice had become low and venomous. "But I'm coming for you. Krang, you'd better-"

"Good," Krang cut him off with satisfaction. "That will save me the trouble of finding you. You see, you're to be eliminated."

The fight went out of Shredder at once. "Eliminated?" he echoed, stunned. He sounded petulant, almost hurt. "But you need me."

"Not anymore. I'm importing a new army from Dimension X, complete with commander this time, to take over the world. They'll arrive any minute now and when they do, I'll no longer require your services. So as of this minute you're dismissed. Goodbye." Krang cut off the transmission.

"Dismissed," Shredder repeated, still not able to come to terms with the idea.

But then Donatello went up and touched him, and he snapped right out of it. "Oh, no," he growled, throwing the turtle's hand off him. "Nobody dismisses me. I'll have his head!"

"Uh, Shredder, he doesn't have one," Donatello pointed out. "And besides, I think your unemployment is the least of our problems. No offence."

Leonardo agreed with him. "Yeah, Krang is bringing in an army to take over the world with! We have to stop him!"

"I agree." Raphael stretched his aching shoulders. "Not that I'm looking forward to a fight while we're still tired from the pizza-monsters, but if we don't hurry-"

"The pizza-monsters!" Michelangelo jumped up. "Dudes! They're still there. If we go after Krang and don't come back...and dude, if he's bringing a whole army you gotta admit it could happen...then who's going to stop them from like having lots of babies and taking over the sewers?" He paused and then, to diminish the seriousness of the question, added, "Like, they could take over our rooms, and lie in my bed, and that would not be cool."

Leonardo considered it. "If we die in the Technodrome, then we'll have failed at shutting down the portal, and Krang's army will take over anyway," he said at last. "So it really doesn't matter if we-"

"Wait," Donatello said. "Why don't I just fix the controller first? Then we could use the pizza-monsters against Krang and his army. For all we know, Krang's bred more of them. Wouldn't that be great? We'd have allies. Good ones."

Raphael cocked his head. "Well, can you fix it fast?"

"Only one way to find out." Donatello retreated back into his room, leaving the others to iron out the details of the plan.

"Krang plans to bring the army immediately," Splinter noted. "This means that we will most likely be too late to stop him before he does."

"That's right," Leonardo added. "So this time, we'll have to infiltrate the Technodrome and fight through the foot soldiers and these Dimension-X-ers, and then hit the portal and arrange to have everything sucked back into space."

"If Donny can even do that again," Raphael added.

"Have faith, compadre," advised Michelangelo laconically. "I'm going to order some pizza...when are we leaving? The pizzaman won't come down here because of the monsters, so I'm gonna have him meet us on the way. Like where are we going?"

Leonardo's jaw dropped. "The Technodrome," he breathed, "We don't know where it is! It could take us weeks to-"

"I know." Everybody turned to look at Shredder, who hadn't spoken since the transmission with Krang had been cut. "And I'll take you there. If Krang's plan succeeds, I'll be out of a job. I can't allow that to happen."

Michelangelo laughed. "Don't tell me you're still going to work for him after he tried to have you killed, dude."

Shredder shrugged and looked away.

"Right," said Raphael sarcastically. "And we're all glad to have you on board. We really respect your motives. After all, what does the safety of the world matter anyway, when your job is at stake?" He headed for the door, obviously disgusted. "I'm going to go see how Donny's making out."

TBC…