Mikey drew in a sharp gasp when he felt the cool water hit his eyes, trying to keep them open even through the intense burning and stinging. Everything was still a huge mass of vague, blurry shapes, but it was starting to clear up.
"There. That's all I have, I'm afraid. How are you feeling?"
Mikey blinked a few times until he could make out Raphael's form in front of him, the other turtle corking a small metal flask before he replaced it back in his coat.
"Ughh... Still stings like hell, but... I think I'm good." he groaned out, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. He froze. Something was missing. He looked around frantically as his vision cleared. Oh, he couldn't have lost it... He'd lost a lot of important things in his life, but he absolutely could not lose that!
"By chance, are you looking for this?"
Mikey looked up at Raphael, spotting what he'd held out for him. It was a thin, ragged strip of orange fabric, still stained with black patches of soot from his earlier excursion.
"My mask!" he cheered happily, snatching the strip of cloth back from the other turtle. "Oh man, my master woulda killed me if I lost this..."
"That filthy cloth is important to you? Well, I wouldn't put it on before you've washed it properly. You'll just get soot in your eyes again." he stated as boredly as ever, reaching down to pick up the lantern off the floor. Mikey glanced down at the mask laying across his hands. He really didn't want to get that coal crap in his eyes again, but he didn't want it going missing in this maze of a machine. He wrapped the fabric around his neck, tying it in place before following after Raphael.
The two of them found themselves walking down a long, dark shaft, both trying their best not to kick up too much soot as they walked along the coal chute. The Manpigs hadn't followed them, or rather, it seemed they couldn't, the entrance to the shaft far too narrow for their bulky bodies.
Soon enough, the two of them came upon one of a few access platforms for the area, climbing up a steel ladder to escape the confines of the dark, cramped tunnel. Raphael pushed past a few shipping crates until he came to a small door in the middle of the wall. The thing was tiny, only a few feet tall and hardly that much across. He slid open the door, revealing a cramped little space barely as deep as it was tall.
"Right then, in you go." Raphael ordered casually.
"What? Dude, that thing's tiny!"
"True, which is why you'll have to go first. The dumbwaiter's the only way down to the tunnels from here, now that we've been chased through like rats. Trust me, it's not the route I'd prefer either, but we haven't the time to sneak past those brutes up there and go the proper way. I'll lower you down, then follow right behind. It'll only be a few moments."
Mikey glanced between Raphael and the dumbwaiter a few times, letting out a light groan of protest. After quickly realizing that his whining could no more affect this Raphael than his own, he reluctantly climbed in. After he'd practically curled up in a ball to fit into the tiny space, Raphael placed the lantern at the young turtle's feet before sliding the door shut.
The ride down was nerve-wracking. He could see nothing but the sheet metal that made up the small lift, and he could hear it groaning and creaking around him as it was slowly lowered ever downward. He found himself holding his breath every time he heard a particularly loud creak, afraid the whole thing would give way under his weight if he so much as sneezed. Finally, after what felt like ages, the lift stopped.
Mikey slid the door open and tumbled out, eager to get out of that rickety contraption. As soon as his weight left the dumbwaiter the door fell closed and it began its journey back up to retrieve Raphael.
With no one there to accompany him but the light of his lantern, Mikey proceeded through this new chamber with caution. It looked much cleaner than the other areas, almost obsessively so. Everything was spotless, from the great circular hatches that sealed off the room, to the catwalks winding above, to the odd contraption mounted in the center of the room. Actually, that contraption looked rather interesting, whatever it was. It looked like a small circular table with a class dome mounted in the top, three tubes sticking out of the edges at even intervals. At the end of each tube, there were mounting points for cylindrical shaped objects. In one of the mounts, there was a glass canister. An eerily familiar glass canister. This had to be where they made their Mutagen, their Compound X.
His interest in the large centrifuge suitably deterred by the chemicals it surely contained, Mikey moved on to other things. The next section over could be nothing but a laboratory. There was what looked like a dentist's chair in the center of the room, thick leather straps hanging from the arm and foot rests. Mikey shuddered at the sight, turning away from the chair to avoid his mind dwelling too long on what could have been strapped in there. It was probably just to restrain the Manpigs while they tried to figure out how to turn them back into humans. Yes, surely that was it.
His lantern light soon found the surface of the laboratory table, piquing Mikey's interest all over again. There were beakers with odd chemicals lined up in neat rows, cabinets mounted on the wall with all manner of equipment housed in them, and it was all perfectly, obsessively organized. All in all, it was a set-up that would have made Donnie drool. There were a few oddities, of course. The scale model of an Aztec pyramid seemed rather out of place, as did the...
"Woah!" Mikey exclaimed, leaning down to get a better look at the item he'd just found. It was a glass box, just a foot in length, width, and height, but it's what it contained that interested the young turtle. Two eyeballs stared back at him from behind the glass, a human brain floating behind it in the glowing green liquid of the container. Mikey knew those eyes.
"Pulverizer! Dude! Or, wait... Would it just be Timothy here? Whatever. Dude, what are ya doin' down here? And why are ya in such a small box?" Mikey rambled energetically, picking the box up. Timothy merely blinked back at the turtle, having been reduced to just a brain and eyes. That didn't seem to bother Michelangelo. In fact, he could hardly contain his excitement at his discovery. Then, it hit him. This was the perfect opportunity for a new nickname!
"Oooh! I'm gonna call you 'Tiny Box Tim'! Get it?! 'Cause, your name is Tim, and you're in an itty bitty box! You're comin' with me, Tiny Box Tim! We're gonna go on tons of adventures and have so much fun and-"
"Put. That. Down."
Mikey froze in place when he heard the very slow, yet oddly demanding order. He glanced back over his shoulder, spotting a less-than-amused Raphael standing there behind him. He gave a nervous laugh, gingerly setting the glass box back on the table.
"Bro, you've got a killer Professor Snape impression." he commented, earning him little more than an arched brow from the other turtle. Raphael didn't bother asking, merely walking past Mikey to the metal bar door behind him. He retrieved a ring of keys from his belt and had the heavy padlock removed in seconds.
"Let's go. And please, for the love of Christ, don't touch anything else." Raphael ordered before leading the way through. Mikey glanced back at Timothy.
"Don't worry, Tiny Box Tim! I'll come back for ya!" he whispered before following Raphael out.
The two turtles descended down further into the machine, down staircases and ladders and even through a few large pipes. Soon enough, they came to the tunnels. Raphael leapt down a few feet from the last intact rung of a broken ladder, landing with a thud on the wet, sludgy brick floor. He grimaced in disgust, covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief as he rose up to his feet.
"Uggh... Dear God, the stench... This fecal matter is the true product of the age..." Raphael grumbled out. Michelangelo hopped down seconds later, raising his lantern to look around. What he saw was quite possibly the most comforting sight he'd seen since coming to this world. The hot, dank air, the sludge caked to wet brick walls, a river of foul, cloudy water. He drew in a deep breath, taking in that odor that would have nauseated any normal person. Yep, it was a sewer all right.
"Awright! Home sweet home, baby! We're on Mikey's turf now!" the ninja cheered happily, earning him absolutely horrified look from Raphael.
"Y-you... You can't be serious! You mean you and your family live in a bloody sewer?!"
"Dude, there's not really that much blood in our sewer. It's mostly water and crap. Besides, ain't your place ta judge, bro. You guys got all this freaky steampunky machine stuff goin' on with all the creepy pig monsters, and we got our sewer... Okay, yeah, and we got, like, one creepy pig monster, but that dude's a skinny guy that couldn't throw a punch to save his life. He's got a bitchin' mohawk, though."
Raphael could only stare at Michelangelo as he gave his rambling, nonsensical retort, utterly bewildered and slightly concerned for his companion's sanity.
"Right... My mistake..." he replied very slowly, taking a step away from the other turtle as if trying to step outside of Mikey's aura of insanity. Mikey didn't seem to pick up on Raphael's discomfort, merely shrugging his shoulders and following along once they started on their way once more.
As they traveled along it became more and more apparent just how much damage the saboteur had done by stalling the engines and shutting down the pumps. The rotten water had risen above several lower catwalks, flooded a few tunnels, and seemed to have punched a sizable hole in a brick wall that had divided one chamber from another. Raphael was having one hell of a time trying to navigate his way towards the bilge pumps. It seemed every time they took a turn they came upon a flooded path or an emergency gate closed tight to prevent the water from advancing. It was during their fifth turnaround back to the main chamber that Mikey caught something out of the corner of his eye.
"Uhhh, Raph? Do you know if those pig things can breathe underwater?" he asked, staring down at the vast pool of murky liquid.
"No, I can't imagine they'd fare terribly well in water for too long. Whatever gave you that idea?"
"I dunno, I just... I coulda sworn I saw something moving down there..." he mumbled, focusing intently on the water to see if he could catch it again. Raphael merely rolled his eyes.
"I'm quite certain you're seeing things. Come along. I think perhaps we need to open a few of these gates if we intend to continue on." he replied, turning down one of the tunnels they hadn't yet explored. Mikey sighed, but left the water's edge and jogged to catch up with the other turtle.
"Hey, Raph... I been meanin' ta ask... I know ya said Master Spli- I mean... your dad is sick an' all, but I saw a painting back at your place of him with a woman and a baby. Where are they?"
"Ah, you saw that, did you?" Raphael began, never stopping as he began to explain. "The woman would be Father's late wife, Tang Shen. She became ill after giving birth to their daughter and sadly passed away just a few weeks later. Father was rather distraught at the thought of losing her. He actually had that painting commissioned at quite a hefty price so he could have at least one picture of his family together before she died."
"Oh... Dude, that sucks..." Mikey replied, feeling a bit bad for asking. Well, that explained why she looked so pale in the painting, at least. "So, uhh... What about Miwa? I mean... That was her name, right? The little girl?"
"Yes, that's correct. Do you know her in your world?"
"Uhh... Yeah, I guess you could say that. Don't you?"
"I'm afraid not. We never got the chance to meet her. There was an accident, you see. A little over a year ago. It was when Father took his trip out to Mexico. They were exploring one of the recently uncovered Aztec pyramids when it happened. They were returning from the summit when the poor dear tripped and cracked her skull on the steps of the temple. She would have been seven this year."
Michelangelo wasn't sure what to say to that. He couldn't help but feel bad for this world's Hamato Yoshi. It sounded like he'd been through quite a lot. It was no wonder now that he'd poured himself into making these great machines. He likely needed something to distract himself from his losses.
"Wait a minute..." Mikey started out of the blue. "Miwa only died a year ago. How could ya not meet her? You guys are, like... My age, ain't ya?"
"Yes, I suppose we are... But we were only changed into these humanoid forms after Father returned from Mexico. We were actually Tang Shen's pets for years before that. She'd apparently cared for us very much when she was alive, and Father couldn't bear to get rid of us after she died. After Miwa passed away I suppose he was rather afraid of the idea of being alone, so he formulated what you call Mutagen and changed us into what we are today. We four became his new family."
This was all so hard for Michelangelo to wrap his head around. There was so much in this world that felt vaguely familiar to him, yet everything was so different from what he knew was right. Karai would have still been a little girl right now. Splinter wasn't Splinter. The turtles had only been mutants for a year, yet Raphael and even his own alternate self sounded as brilliant as his Donatello was. Just what kind of freaky, backwards world had he been transported to?!
"Michelangelo, pay attention, would you?"
Mikey snapped out of his daze just in time to avoid walking headlong into a brass pipe. He hadn't even noticed Raphael had stopped. The other turtle was currently standing on the other side of the pipe, hands on a large valve wheel.
"Could you lend me a hand? It's rusted shut."
Mikey nodded, stepping forward and taking hold of the wheel. The two tugged together with all their strength until the valve finally gave up the fight. They could hear a rush of water in a nearby tunnel, a clear sign that they'd managed to open one of the emergency gates properly. They backtracked down the tunnel to the main chamber once more. The water level had gone down by several feet, leaving a few more paths safe to cross. They headed for one of the lower ones, Raphael clearly making an effort not to think of what was left caked onto the wet bricks beneath his feet.
A sudden splash in the water made Mikey practically jump out of his shell, pressing back against the wall to get as far away from the water as he could, which sadly wasn't far.
"See?! I told ya somethin' was down there!" he shouted, pointing towards the water. Raphael couldn't deny him this time, and it didn't look like he was prepared to.
They both stared wide-eyed at the water as a V-shaped wake cut across the pool. Something broke the surface briefly, letting off what looked to be blue sparks of electricity. That definitely wasn't a Manpig. Mikey looked to Raphael for answers, but only received a look of utter terror and a single word.
"Run!" he shouted, taking off down the path at full sprint. Mikey didn't have to be told twice in a place like this. He took off after Raphael, glancing back once over his shoulder. The wake was following them, the creature below swimming quickly after them. The ninja gave a nervous whine, running a little faster to catch up with the other turtle.
"Dude, what is that thing?!"
"It's... Well, there's really no good way to put this; it's a test subject."
"'Test subject'? You mean you guys made that thing?!"
"Yes, but I assure you, it wasn't meant to turn out like this! We only wanted to test the stability of our inter-dimensional gate, but something malfunctioned. That creature is stuck between the barriers of two worlds, and it's constantly being ripped back and forth between dimensions at rapid speeds. I'm afraid the process has driven it quite mad!"
The two slipped through a narrow gate, likely the one they'd opened earlier, and passed across to the other side of a brick dam. The creature slammed into it with enough force to rattle the entire tunnel, knocking a few bricks out already. Another run up from the aquatic beast produced a large crack in the wall. A third was all it took to collapse the entire dam. Mikey let out squeak, picking up his pace as much as his legs could bear.
"So you kept it down here in the sewer?!"
"Of course not! We had it contained near the core, around the coolant systems. The cold temperatures help stabilize it's condition, but the saboteur must have let it loose!"
Mikey couldn't help but look down at the water as Raphael spoke. The wake had returned, and not only was it still chasing them, it was starting to swim ahead of them.
The two scrambled to a stop when the creature suddenly leapt from the water and onto the path in front of them. It's hulking body seemed to flicker in and out of existence like the reception on an old TV, there one instant and gone the next, only to flicker back a split second later. The same sparks from earlier arced wildly around it's body, it's veins glowing an eerie blue even through it's thick, dark scales. The creature rose up on it's hind legs, towering over the two turtles easily at ten feet tall. It's long, thick tail slammed into the wall, cracking several bricks with ease. It stared down at the two with glowing blue eyes, letting out a low reptilian hiss.
Michelangelo stared up at the creature with wide eyes. His hands shook at his sides, his heart felt like it was going to drop clean out of his body, his knees felt as though they wanted to give out underneath him, but the worst feeling of all was knowing that it wasn't fear that stirred this reaction in him. No, it was a far worse pain than dread could cause him. He opened his mouth and, after a long moment, willed his vocal cords to function just enough to utter a single word.
"Leatherhead!"