Author's note: The reader may assume that for the most part, the rest of the events occur as they did in the episode. For example, Casey has gone to the store to talk to the guy with the dream plug, and after their conversation, they have the fight with the chain saw, and things proceed the same except for what I've written. Thanks so much to all the reviewers and followers! You guys are great. :)

"Dream…beavers?" Casey burst out laughing.

The haggard old man nodded. "I know it sounds ridiculous."

Casey shrugged. "Meh, if I couldn't handle ridiculous, I would've gone nuts months ago. So let me get this straight: dreams are really a different dimension?"

"Yes," the man said emphatically. "And those beavers are more like demons in beaver form. They're absolutely terrible. In your unconscious state, all of your thoughts and memories are vulnerable. Normally, when we dream, they recombine randomly. But the Dream Beavers are able to manipulate them and direct the dream the way they want it to go. They have everything you've ever done or thought to work with. I can't possibly imagine the horrible things they could do in real life."

"Okay, but why won't my friends wake up?"

"The Beavers won't let them. They'll keep them asleep until they've finished feeding."

Casey grimaced. "Feeding?"

"Yes. They draw out your life force and feed on it. It's terrible. I barely escaped myself. It's bad enough that they try to kill you…they get most of their nourishment from fear. The more terrified the victim, the more satisfying. And as I said…they have everything you've ever known to work with. They can see your worst fears more easily than you can. Then, once your life force is gone, you die, and they move on to their next victims."

Casey's stomach twisted. With everything that had happened to them recently, he hated to think what kind of dreams his friends were having. "So…my friends are going to have horrible nightmares until they die?"

"Yes."

"Dude, I don't care what those beavers could do here. We've gotta pull that dream plug."

The old man picked up a massive chain saw. "Not going to happen."

Casey had already lost too much. His dad, his sister, his home…he wasn't about to let his friends die on account of some old paranoiac. "Pull the plug, man," he growled.

The chain saw revved. "No."

"If that's the way you want it, Casey Jones will bring the pain!" He grabbed his hockey stick and attacked. "Goongala!"

"Okay, Mikey, come on," April said, gently smacking the side of Mikey's face. "I know you can wake up. If you wake up, we'll get pizza! With pepperoni!" April looked back over at Donnie. There didn't seem to be any change. But just because it hadn't worked yet didn't mean it wouldn't…

She grabbed the sides of Mikey's head and started to concentrate.

Cold, lonely, and covered in sticky ice cream, Mikey had finally cried to the point where he couldn't anymore. His whole body was locked up with fear. He couldn't even say anything anymore. If it was possible to die of loneliness, that was what was happening.

He had never thought much about dying, but he always assumed it would be as an old dude, or during an epic fight where he and his brothers went down in a blaze of glory.

Or got swallowed by a Kraang worm, or shot by Kraang, or something like that.

But the loneliness was worse than anything he'd ever experienced. He was going to be alone for the rest of his life. That terrified him more than any of the freaky things they'd seen yet.

Now, he couldn't even cry about it.

"Mikey? Michelangelo!"

Weakly, Mikey pushed himself up from the ground. "Wait a minute…April?"

Once again, there was only silence. Mikey collapsed back down to the ground, lying on his front. He plopped his face into ice cream. "I'm hearin' things."

After a few more minutes, he thought he heard another small sound. He lifted up his head just enough to see that a small light shone in the distance. It appeared to be a large glowing lollipop, and it was running toward Mikey at an alarming rate. He thought about maybe getting up, just in case it was going to attack him or something, but he felt like lying here in the snow and dying of loneliness might be the easier option.

The glowing lollipop thing nudged Mikey's shoulder. "Wake up," it said.

"A giant glowing lollipop that sounds like April," Mikey muttered. "Everyone knows that lollipops are dishonest."

"Mikey, wake up! It's April. Please, you've got to wake up. You're asleep. I'm begging you! You're like the little brother I never had…please, please don't do this to me…don't leave me, Mikey."

Mikey pushed himself up. "Wait a minute…everyone knows that lollipops are dishonest, but something here isn't addin' up. Ice cream world? Glowing lollipops telling me I'm asleep? What if I'm not really alone…what if I'm just dreaming?"

"Oh, you is," Dave's voice said. Suddenly, it was brilliant daylight again, and the gargantuan blue beaver stood in front of Mikey. "And you isn't alone, Mikey. I'm here, eatin' up your nummy life forces."

Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Dude. I come up with a lot of crazy stuff, but that just straight up makes no sense."

Dave laughed. "Nuthin' makes sense to me, hurrrr."

A faint echo of April's voice floated through the air. "Wake up…"

"You know what?" Mikey said, scowling at Dave. "You seem like a nice dude, so I'll ask you to let me go before I pound you like Raph pounds me when he's cranky! I know I'm totally scrumptious and all, but this dish is not on the menu."

Giggling hysterically, Dave clapped his hands together. "Whatcha gonna do, Mikey?"

Mikey was about to reply, when a massive stampede of candy canes and whipped cream canisters came charging toward him. "Oh, snap."

"You better run fast."

Mikey chose a direction and ran. "Not cool, Dave! Not cool!"

This isn't working, April thought, staring at Mikey's pale, slack face. Do I keep trying, or…?

She couldn't imagine any 'or' option at all. What else was there that she and Casey hadn't tried? Giving up? Accepting the fact that her best friends were going to die?

No way. April O'Neil did not give up.

"All right, you stupid turtles," she snapped. "You're going to wake up if it's the last thing I do."