Michelangelo dove away just as the hulking mutant pig brought its hoof crashing down, cracking the cement where the young turtle stood just a moment ago. It let out another loud, screeching roar, slamming a shoulder into one of the cages lining the walls before giving chase after it's quarry. Mikey scrambled through the dark, musty basement, dodging the flying cages by mere inches.
"Woah, woah! Chillax, piggie dude! I ain't tryin' ta start a fight with ya!" Mikey shouted, ducking to dodge another swinging blow aimed to take off his head. Whatever this thing was, it was clearly in no mood to talk. He hated resorting to hurting someone, especially since this pig didn't seem smart enough not to think he was a threat, but he couldn't simply dodge forever.
Mikey hooked his lantern to his belt, freeing up both hands to unsheathe his nunchaku. He waited for the Manpig to lash out at him once more, leaping above the blow as it crashed into concrete below. He vaulted over the hulking beast's shoulder, hooking the chain of one of his nunchaku around its thick neck. He braced both feet against its back, pulling back on both ends of his weapon.
The Manpig let out a horrid squeal, lowering down on all fours and bucking wildly, slamming itself into walls and cages and anything else it could find. It wasn't long before Michelangelo found himself flying across the room, slamming shell-first into a cage so hard it left a large turtle shell shaped indentation in the bars. Mikey let out a pained groan as he picked himself up off the floor. He looked up towards the pig just in time to watch it bite clean through the handle of his nunchaku, wooden splinters raining down from it's powerful jaws.
"Oh shit..." he breathed out, his eyes wide. Well, so much for not wanting to hurt the thing. It was starting to look like that wasn't possible, not with his weapons, at least. He would kill for Leo's katana right about now.
The beast lowered down once more, giving another roar before charging at the young terrapin. Mikey let out a yelp, diving away as the pig crashed headlong into the cage behind him. He took the opportunity to run while the creature was dazed, shutting off his lantern as he slipped behind one of the covered cages. It was clear he couldn't fight this thing, not alone. He needed to get out of there and find Raphael.
Easier said than done. He could hear the Manpig just feet away, snuffling around the cages, trying to sniff the turtle out. Mikey practically held his breath as the beast closed in, sniffing around the other side of the cage he was hiding behind, afraid the slightest noise would alert it to his position.
Suddenly, the snuffling faded, the Manpig's heavy footsteps wandering off to some other part of the basement. Mikey waited until it was quite a ways away before letting out his held breath. The creature was too far away to hear him, but the same couldn't be said of someone else.
"H-hello?! Please, God, let me out of here!" a man's voice shouted from behind him, causing Mikey to jump in surprise. It took him a moment, but he eventually figured out where the voice was coming from; it was the cage. The man was hidden from view by the heavy canvas covering the cage, but he could both hear and feel as the man rattled the cage bars, shouting, desperate to get out.
"Dude! N-no! Shhh! Seriously, it'll-" But it was far too late. It had already heard. He could hear the Manpig barreling through the basement towards him. Mikey took off running through the maze of cages, willing himself not to look back even as the caged man's voice stopped crying out abruptly, smothered out by the sound of twisting metal and a sickening, meaty splatter. Still, the pig continued after him unimpeded, as if it hadn't noticed at all what it had just crushed in its wild hunt.
Mikey still had no idea where he was going, but he was desperate to get out of that cellar. He vaulted over cages and tipped over barrels in his effort to slow his pursuer, but it didn't seem to do much. Finally, just as he was running out of places to run to, he spotted something. It was just a split second, just out of the corner of his eye, but it was the most welcome sight he'd ever seen.
The young turtle sprinted towards what looked like a solid wall, grabbing hold of something metal protruding out ever so slightly. A solid grip on the handle, he pushed with all his might until the false wall swung open, a rush of cool, fresh air hitting his face as he fell forward onto the concrete floor of what looked like a large loading dock. He quickly scrambled to his feet, pushing the secret door back into place. He barely heard the click of the latch locking back into place before the Manpig slammed itself into the other side of the wall. The building rattled under the force, dust and chunks of brick raining down over Michelangelo's head.
Everything calmed down once the creature gave up. Mikey slumped down against the wall, taking a moment to catch his breath. What the hell was going on here?! What was that thing? Was it the same one he'd seen in the grave, or were there more of them?
Just more questions to ask Raphael. He picked himself up, stumbling lightly from the aching in his legs, and made his way out into the streets once again.
It didn't take long to get to the factory from there, that much was true. He'd spotted the tall smokestacks the instant he stepped out of the loading bay. As he approached, he could see a large sign above the entrance of what looked like the main building.
"'Hamato Co. Meat Processing Factory'... Woah, way bizarre, dude." he commented aloud, staring up almost in awe at the size of this place. Did all of it really belong to Master Splinter? He just couldn't picture him as some big business man, especially when the business he ran was something like this.
Not wanting to waste any time, Michelangelo made his way inside. It looked like some sort of reception area, with a couple of desks on either side of the entrance way. The lamps on the desks were turned on, but their light didn't reach very far. He took his lantern from his belt, switching it on to have a better look around. Despite the lights and even some of the ceiling fans being on, it didn't look like this office had ever been used. It was almost like it was all a front, the facade of a normal business hiding something much bigger underneath. Just what was Hamato Yoshi doing with all this?
"Ah, there you are. Not the most punctual man in the world, are you?"
Mikey turned when he heard his brother's voice behind him, a huge smile on his face. British accent or not, it was good to finally hear a friendly, familiar voice in this crazy place.
"Yo, Raph! Ya coulda given me better directions, br..." Mikey paused when he saw his brother. He almost didn't recognize him. He wore a black suit that was covered in spots by what looked like coal dust, a gray silk vest underneath, and a red puff tie tucked into the collar. He wore a dusty black bowler on his head and an expression on his face that Mikey hadn't seen since Raphael had accidentally swapped minds with a Kraang.
"Dude... Weird threads, bro..." Mikey commented, a bit unsure now. Raphael's dull expression hardly twitched at that.
"You're certainly one to talk, wandering around in the nude in the dead of winter." he replied almost boredly, not agitated at all by Mikey's comments. The shorter turtle furrowed his brow slightly. He was late, he was making smart-ass comments, yet there wasn't an ounce of anger in Raph's voice. He'd usually be smacked upside the head by now. But no, instead Raphael merely cleared his throat and started off towards the door at the back of the room, looking hardly bothered by anything at all. Hardly entertained either, for that matter.
"Come. We've much to do and so little time to do it." Raphael stated, leading the way through the door as if expecting the other to follow behind. Mikey did, jogging a bit to catch up. Once through the door, they found themselves walking on a grated platform, surrounded on all sides by gigantic machines of brass and iron. Mikey couldn't help but stop and stare for a long moment. He'd never seen machinery like this in his life, even in his modern age. It was all so new, so enchanting, yet... Something about it all seemed so very dark.
"Hurry along, then. You may gawk later after we repair The Machine." Raphael called out, continuing on ahead of him and starting down a set of stairs. Mikey ran after him.
"So, uhh... What's wrong with your machine? Why's it broken? Did I do that?" he asked, so used to being blamed for everything.
"No, it's nothing you did. We've been plagued by a saboteur for months now. We haven't found who it is, but the depth of their meddling suggests it to be an inside job. They caused extensive damage during our last test, causing the great engines to stall, the lower chambers to flood, and you to be transported here from your world." Raphael explained as they made their way down to a lower level.
This floor smelled heavily of soot and coal, and Mikey could see several large coal furnaces from where he was standing. None of them were on currently. Raphael directed him to load coal into one of the open furnaces as he attended to the one on the opposite wall. Mikey grabbed a shovel and started loading it in.
"So, if we fix this... whatever it is... Then you can send me back to where I belong? What all do we gotta do?" he asked as Raphael came over, stoking the furnace once Mikey had shoveled enough coal in.
"That is correct. Luckily the saboteur's efforts seem to have been rather rushed, as he's taken to simply switching off all he could get his hands on. We need to get these fires going and start the pistons, then it's down to the reservoirs to restart the bilge pumps and flush out the rotten water. After that, it's simply a matter of restarting the system." he continued as the two of them moved their work to the next set of furnaces.
"Uhhhh... Dude, I'm not sure what the 'me' from this world is like, but I ain't exactly that good with machines..."
"Are you not? How strange. The Michelangelo I know is an absolutely brilliant chap. He and Father designed everything you see here, built an empire of a business, and my brother continued to run everything even after Father fell ill. We'd never have gotten this far if not for him. Fear not, I can take care of the technical aspects of the repair in his stead. You merely do as I ask and everything should be fine."
Mikey couldn't help but stare on in awe as Raphael spoke of his other self. He sounded so... so cool! For once, Mikey wasn't assumed to be a clutz or an idiot, but a brilliant guy that everyone loved! Maybe this world wasn't so bad after all!
"Wait... 'Father'? Ya mean Spli- I mean... Hamato Yoshi? Is he sick?"
"It's 'Yoshi Hamato', but yes. Father had been ill for some time, some malady he'd picked up whilst in Mexico years ago. He's never quite recovered, and I'm afraid his condition has taken a turn for the worse as of late."
"Can I see him?"
Raphael stopped his work when Mikey asked that, taking a long moment to silently consider, as if debating whether he should allow him to meet their master.
"I... I'm not sure we have time for that. Father is in a rather frail state, and we need to transfer you back before the saboteur has a chance to undo our efforts once again."
Mikey didn't try to press the issue further, feeling like he was starting to overstep his bounds. They completed their work there with little conversation until finally all of the furnaces were lit.
Mikey wiped the sweat and soot from his forehead as Raphael stepped up to the control unit. He began throwing levers forward, the giant pistons behind the glass in the center of the room groaning to life in front of them. Mikey smiled lightly. One step down, two to go. And nothing had gone wrong yet! This universe really did run a lot smoother than his!
As if to prove him wrong, a loud, screeching roar echoed through the dimly lit chamber. Both turtles froze dead where they stood, each recognizing that eerie call. Slowly, Raphael turned back to look at Mikey.
"Turn off your lantern..." he whispered low, his green eyes staring right past the younger turtle. This was quite possibly the first time he'd seen this Raphael show a modicum of emotion, his eyes wide and alert, fear leaking through his calm facade.
"I said turn off the bloody lantern..!" Raphael repeated harshly, ducking low and slipping away slowly. Mikey finally snapped out of his daze, switching off his lantern and ducking low. Just in time, it seemed. Mere moments after the light was shut off, the Manpig came snuffling around the corner.
Michelangelo felt his heart jump up into his throat. Oh God, it was back! How did it get out of the church? It was trapped down there! He looked to Raphael for answers, who nodded towards the back of the room. He followed silently, taking care not to knock into anything that would alert the creature to their position. He could hear the creature slowly shuffling its way towards them, but it didn't seem to know they were there. Yet.
Once to the rear of the room, Mikey saw what it was Raphael had been after. There was another staircase leading downward, deeper into the vast machine. It was the closest escape route away from the beast, and it likely led to where they needed to be next anyway. Raph had said the lower chambers were flooded.
They proceeded with extreme caution down the stairs, taking each step as gingerly as possible. It was times like these that made Mikey glad he was a ninja. It truly felt as though they would have their necks snapped clean off their body if they made even the tiniest noise. Once at the bottom of the stairs, they let out a collective sigh of relief at having made it down there safely.
"Man, what was that thing? It almost killed me back at the church, and now it's here!" he asked, keeping his voice low in case the Manpig could hear them down there. Raphael seemed to hesitate a moment before answering, or perhaps he was merely trying to catch his breath.
"It's... It was an accidental exposure of Compound X... One of our workers hadn't disposed of it as we'd instructed and some unfortunates came into contact with it. It was an unstable formula, imperfect. It's driven the poor wretches quite mad, I'm afraid..."
"The hell's 'Compound X'?"
"A chemical Father developed. It's what he used to turn myself and my brothers into sentient beings."
"You mean Mutagen?! Dude! That stuff is gnarly!"
"Precisely. Which is why we have strict guidelines on the disposal of imperfect compounds. But, of course, one can't seem to trust anyone with an important task in this day and age..."
Mikey opened his mouth to reply, but stopped suddenly, his eyes going wide.
"Wait... you said 'wretches' a minute ago... Y'mean... Is there more than one of those things..?"
There was a crash further into the room, the sound of something metallic and very heavy clattering to the ground. The two turtles ducked behind the nearest object, what looked to be an old conveyor belt for transporting coal from one area to another. They peeked over the belt to see a second Manpig trot by, stopping suddenly to look around, its snout raised to sniff at the air. Then, it raised its head and let out a loud squealing sound. It was echoed a moment later by the creature still on the upper level.
They were communicating.
Mikey cursed internally. Damn, those things were smarter than he thought. It wasn't long before they heard heavy hoof-beats coming down the stairs. They knew they were there. With any luck, they wouldn't know exactly where.
Soon enough, they had two Manpigs combing the room for them, snuffling about and knocking over objects as they went. Mikey looked to Raphael, hoping he had another escape route. Luckily, he did. In the near darkness, he could just barely make out the other turtle pointing to the far corner of the room. Mikey squinted his eyes, trying to peer through the pitch-black to whatever it was he was trying to show him. From there it looked like a chute of some sort, possibly even another conveyor leading downwards. Ever downwards.
Mikey nodded and the two began to make their separate routes over to their escape. Here was another maze of a room, with conveyor systems and other big blocks of machinery keeping them from making an easy path. The Manpigs, persistent as ever, weren't making it any easier. They moved freely through the room, jumping over machinery and conveyor belts, knocking over anything the two could be hiding under.
Michelangelo had nearly been caught twice, going round a corner only to find one of the creatures directly in front of him. He managed to pull back around before being spotted, but it was still way too close a call. After the second near-miss, he took a second to sit behind one of the other conveyor belts, waiting for the danger to pass. He chanced a quick peek over at the coal chute, spotting a small figure wearing a hat as he stealthily climbed down into it. Good. Raphael made it. That only left him.
There was a loud bang behind Mikey just before he could set off once more, the machinery behind his shell rattling and buckling under a great weight. He looked up, heart pounding away in his chest. Standing atop the conveyor belt just above him was one of the Manpigs, its ears swiveling around as it listened for movement, it's beady little eyes scanning the room. The thing was so close Mikey could have counted the coarse bristles on its chin, he could smell a stench like a filthy barn coming off it.
He clamped his jaw shut and remained perfectly still, not wanting to make a sound. It would leave. Surely it would. It wouldn't look down. If it hadn't looked down already, it wouldn't look down at all. He just had to not give it a reason to look down. At first, it looked as though it had worked. The Manpig turned to continue further down the line, snuffling and sniffing as it went.
Mikey was tempted to let out a sigh of relief, but unfortunately for him these creatures weren't the most careful things in the world. As the pig turned, its hoof knocked down some coal dust from the conveyor. The young terrapin couldn't cover his mouth and nose in time. He felt the dust sting his nostrils, his throat, his eyes began to water. He couldn't hold it in for long, but he had to. The beasts were too close. They'd find him for sure.
The pigs hadn't wandered too far before he reached his breaking point.
"AAACHOOO!"
Both Manpigs immediately let out a squealing roar, the thunder of hooves closing in on their prey's position. Michelangelo had no other choice now. He made a break for it, sprinting towards the coal chute as fast as his legs would carry him, vaulting over anything in his way that was short enough and weaving around objects that were too tall. His vision was beginning to blur, tears streaming down his cheeks from the coal dust still stuck in his eyes, but he couldn't stop now. He could feel them nipping right at his heels, their hot, stinking breath beating down on the back of his neck.
He couldn't see through the tears, having to shut his eyes tight, they stung so much. He had to navigate by memory, by instinct. He weaved around a large metallic object, hearing a satisfying thud of a thick skull colliding with it mere seconds behind him. There was still at least one of them after him, though. The chute should be around here. It had to be. He came to a metal railing, which he nearly clothes-lined himself on. He ducked under the rail a split second before hearing something coming crashing down against it where he'd been standing just a moment ago. He felt a void in the floor in front of him. He didn't know if this was where he was supposed to be, but it was his only chance at this point.
He jumped.