Episode 14: Enter Dimension X – Part 2

*Note: Alright guys, I'm headed out for a vacation to Illinois, but I didn't want to leave you hanging, so I'll be posting four parts today. This is one of them. That way it will take care of every day I would have posted. We are approaching the turtle entrance I've been waiting so long for! 5/31 I'll post again! Thanks again for anyone still reading.

Ethan and Jessica sat nearby on a dry part of the sewer that they had managed to find in a big entry way complete with a huge drop down twenty feet or so to even deeper tunnels. They rested their feet after having walked for several hours and now they were not too far from their home at the turtles lair. "If we have to walk that far again, I'm going to cry." Jess said as she rubbed her feet. "And we still haven't found anything! Not even a clue to where the turtles could be!"

Drumming his claws across the stones beneath him, Ethan corrected her. "Not true. Now we know that the Kraang may be involved. Maybe next time we can look for them instead above ground." They took deep breaths for a moment together when the quiet vanished at the sound of water sloshing nearer and nearer, moving quickly.

"There you guys are!" Kaela burst around the corner. Her backpack was gone and in her hand was the ribbon dart weapon that she favored so much, in the other was her phone that was glowing across her face like a spotlight. "I've been looking for you guys everywhere." she panted, leaning over and holding her forearm against the wall.

Jess and Ethan got to their feet. "What's going on? Did you get attacked?" Jess asked urgently, grabbing at her kama threateningly and glancing past Kaela's shoulder down the dark tunnel, as if expecting something to burst out from it.

Ethan, however, noticed the smile that was starting to play on Kaela's lips and he looked suspiciously at the phone in her hand and her weapon. "No!" Kaela said. "At school, Mrs. Campbell is back, and I totally sneaked into her office and took a picture of this map!" She turned to show the phone to Ethan and Jess who exchanged looks with one another. Ethan then reached out his hand and took her phone, gazing over the diagram. It definitely did look like a map with lines going in almost every direction and a single red dot titled base stood in the far corner of the page.

He then looked up from her phone, feeling the same excitement that she had on her face. "This is awesome!" Ethan said, hugging Kaela enthusiastically. "We can find the Kraang! And maybe the turtles! Then we won't have to deal with this Black Hole thing alone!"

Kaela coughed, blowing some of the fur on his shoulder out of her face and chuckled, "You are freakishly warm." she commented and Ethan quickly parted from their hug, ignoring her comment and looked back down at the phone, tracing his finger against the screen.

"Let's go now!" Jess said, peeking over Ethan's shoulder to look at Kaela's glowing screen. "That isn't very far from here. And the sooner we find the turtles, the better!" Ethan gave the phone back to Kaela and, readjusting the naginata on his back, he grinned, white teeth flashing and motioned for them to follow him. "Yes!" Jess pumped her fist into the wet air. "Finally! Revenge of the Kraang for bringing that stupid mutagen into our lives!"

The three moved quickly through the sewers and Ethan passed the phone back to Kaela who had now become their designated GPS guidance system. "Turn left." She would say. Then "Turn right." "Keep going." "Loop around this way." As they moved, they got deeper and deeper into the darker parts of the sewers, moving further downwards, taking odd, wet stairs to lower levels where it was even darker and the lights worked even less. "Okay." Kaela finally slowed them as they reached a huge black archway. A huge hole had been smashed into the ground and below was the tell-tale signs of Kraang.

Pinkish light glowed form that floor and the sound of spewing electrical sparks could be heard. Ethan glanced at the other two and ran his hand over his head to push some of his fur back out of his face and he licked his lips to keep them wet and to taste the air. "I think we're alone." He finally said. The familiar scent of danger, the feeling of adrenaline at the presence of others around him had evaporated to quiet solitude. Jess nodded her approval of his assessment, likely sensing the same thing.

"No fair." Kaela said folding her arms. "I don't get animal sensing skills."

"You also don't have to deal with one of these waving behind you all the time." Jess said grabbing her own white tail as if snatching at a snake and holding it up to Kaela who chuckled.

Ethan rolled his eyes and jumped down into the hole, landing gracefully on the ground below, pulling his naginata out at the same time and he quickly straightened, ready for battle. But as Jess and Kaela jumped down next to him, they realized that Ethan and Jess' assessment had been correct. This Kraang base looked like it had already been destroyed.

Pink sparks showered over the dry sewer floor from Kraang computers that had been smashed to pieces. Kraang droids littered the ground with random metal limbs in every direction, some of them entirely smashed in. Most of the fleshy pink Kraang brains were nowhere to be seen. "Wow." Kaela said looking around. "This place is ruined." She reached out to touch the wall where huge smash marks were. "Recently." She added. "Nobody I know could do this."

"The Mutanimals?" Jess suggested.

"Maybe." Kaela said, "But I don't think so. This is even more damage than Slash could do, I bet. Whatever made this was massive."

Ethan nodded in agreement. From what he could see, it looked like a giant piece of rounded metal with spikes had slammed into the wall and made a dent that resembled more of a crater than anything else. He licked at the air again, just to make sure that they really were relatively safe. "Well, whoever it was, was no friend to the Kraang." Ethan said brightly, trying to be hopeful. "They could be an ally."

"A super violent, reckless, crazy ally, yes." Jess said.

"Look!" Kaela pointed at a nearby desk. At first, Ethan had no idea what she as pointing to, but then, he could see something frighteningly familiar. It was a little metal device with three pink pentagon shaped buttons on its front. A portable portal. "Maybe there is a clue in there."

"Ugh." Ethan grimaced as he looked at the little machine. "I don't want to get assaulted by giant beavers." Your the leader, Ethan. Get over it. If there's a lead we need to take it. He crossed the lab and snatched it up from the desk. It was hot to the touch, like it had been recently used and Ethan slumped over with a groan. "Alright," he sighed, "Let's do this."

Jess and Kaela closed the gap between them and grabbing the two edges, Ethan pushed the three pentagon buttons and they lit up immediately in vibrant, electric pink. Jess and Kaela pulled back, the giant glowing triangle glowing between the three limbs of the machine. The portal stretched out before them and Jess and Kaela finally placed their two slabs of metal to the ground. "I guess I will go first." Ethan said. "I have no idea where this is going to take us, so I'll look first and then we can go."

His two sisters nodded and Ethan walked forward, his tail twitching behind him from his nervous tension. He adjusted the white mask around his eyes and reminded himself the truth that Master Hamato believed in him and with a "Here goes nothing." stuck his head down into the portal. Again, the odd sensation that his face was being sucked down a drain surrounded him, making him feel ill.

What he saw was so bizarre that it took him a good few seconds to wrap his mind around it. The whole place was doused in Kraang colored pink. Little islands seemed to be floating in the sky with chrome silver buildings, some of them pointy, scattered across them. Odd worm like beasts seemed to be floating through the air. Pink crystal jutted from every which direction, a prism of color glowing from each of them. Kraang droids could be seen stomping around. The air seemed to choke him and he quickly wrenched his head back out, dizzy for a moment as his orientation switched again. "Guys." he said, gulping down bile. "I think that this is the dimension that the Kraang come from."

Kaela and Jess widened their eyes and looked down at the portal as if it were about to explode. "We should go!" Kaela said. "If I were to keep missing turtles somewhere and I were a Kraang, I would trap them there! No way anyone would go."

"And you want us to?" Jess asked.

"Well . . . yeah."

Ethan pulled his naginata from his back and pointed the blade down. "I think Kaela's right. Sam said there was some chance that the Kraang are connected to the turtles. And if that's true, then we gotta risk it."

"Sounds like an adventure, I guess." Jess said. "Let's do it."

Ethan took another nervous look down at the portal. "Also, there were just a few islands floating in the sky, so jumping down might end badly. So, you guys grab my arms and then I'll try to swing down there." he tried not to envision that he was going to be dangling in mid air over a world of enemies. If he thought about that too much he wouldn't do it at all.

"Then what?" Kaela asked.

He ignored her question and reached out his hands. With one he grabbed onto Jess' white fur and with the other he grabbed onto Kaela's hands. He tried not to dig his nails into her skin as he slowly put his foot down into the pinkish void. His feet slipped through and again that horrible feeling like he was being sucked down overcame him. They slowly lowered him, gritting their teeth and keeping balance at the edge of the portal until he was entirely down through the hole. Suddenly he felt everything but his arms doused as if with mist. The air here was different than it was back at home in New York. The pinkish violet color of the whole sky made him feel dizzy, vertigo taking over. His breath caught in his lungs and he began to cough violently.

The air was really different here.

Was it toxic?

"Pull me up!" Ethan managed to gag out, but Kaela and Jess couldn't hear him. He tried to give a signal up to them by nudging at his arm with his ear, and then he dug his nails into their wrists to try and give them incentive to pull him up, even if it was to slap him. He could feel himself getting pulled back up as he continued to gag on air, when suddenly, one of the worm monsters that looked to be the size of a train saw him with it's tiny beady black eyes. It's coiling pale body twisted in the air as if it were flying. Long fleshy tendrils hung back from its head as it began to glide up to Ethan. It opened its mouth wide, showing rows of sharp teeth, like a shark. Ethan tried to yell, but the air choked him.

With little to no option, he let go. For a second he was free falling and the worm missed him, chopping on nothing and gliding away, but then, suddenly, Ethan was falling upward. But the portal was no longer up.

Confused, sick, and gagging, he landed softly on the ground of this strange world, the sky looked like it had changed it's mind and had turned a deeper color, almost purple, but then it reverted back to its regular Kraang pink.

A second later, he could see feet near him.

Kaela and Jess had jumped through the portal.

Ethan was losing consciousness fast and he felt them tugging at his arms, but a second later, they were on the ground next to him, clutching at their throats, their eyes squinting from the strain of trying to breath the strange air. A moment later, Ethan closed his eyes to the strange colors and everything, including his emotions, fell into darkness.

Groaning, Ethan slowly opened his eyes. All he could see was chrome and blue light. He seemed to be in a large room on a table. For a horrifying moment he thought he was going to be double mutated, but then, he realized there was nothing binding him to the table at all. He sat up from the cool table and took a harder look around him.

The room gleamed, made of the same metal that the Kraang used, but rather than violet pink glowing all around him, it was a pale, icy blue color. The room looked empty of about anything else, save another metal table at the far end that was stacked with different instruments. Lots of them looked medical if Ethan were to guess.

Jess and Kaela were lying on tables to either side of him, still out. There was a strange metal ring around their throat, almost like a collar. Ethan put his hand up worriedly to his own throat to find he had one too. He grabbed at it, but stopped when a voice appeared from the other side of the room. "I would keep that device on, if you wish to live." Ethan spun around. A door had opened and inside walked what would have looked like a man with black, short, curly hair, wearing a nice pinstripe suit. His arms were behind his back and a pair of black sunglasses masked his eyes. Ethan knew these droids well.

"Kraang." He jumped from the table and snatched the naginata next to him and pointed it at the intruder. This one speaks just as good as Kraang Sub-Prime. That can't be a good sign. Ethan thought.

The Kraang did not flinch. Instead he adjusted his glasses. "I am not here to harm you." He said. "You are lucky that we found you before the Kraang did." He walked closer but Ethan did not lower his weapon. "Perhaps before I begin to explain, you should wake up your siblings. They will want to hear this as well."

Still feeling incredibly apprehensive and odd about the Kraang talking to him, Ethan reached out his hand and shook Kaela's shoulder. She blinked slowly and then with a gasp, her body arched and she flung herself from the table. "What is going on?" She gasped, looking at Ethan, then the Kraang, then the room around them. This sudden movement woke Jess who stared at the ceiling for several long moments and then finally looked over at the Kraang.

"Is this a dream?" she closed her eyes again.

"No, Jess." Ethan said. "We are in the Kraang's home."

The Kraang spoke again. His mouth moved like any normal human, yet Ethan knew that inside his suited chest was a pink, squishy brain. "Our home is called Dimension X. And it would interest you to know that I am not a Kraang. I am an Utrom. My earth name is Bishop." He slowly unbuttoned his suit to show, as Ethan predicted, a pink brain with green eyes and sharp teeth, much like any other Kraang Ethan had seen.

Jess flipped herself off from the table and, noticing her kama's leaning against the wall nearby from their wooden handles, she picked them up and turned to face Bishop. "You sure look like a Kraang to me." She said.

Bishop slowly buttoned his shirt up again and continued, "No. In reality, all those that you call Kraang were once Utrom. However, Kraang, an Utrom from long ago, discovered and tampered with the mutagen, transforming himself into Kraang Prime and using his psychic abilities to create the hive mine that he employs now, both here in Dimension X and on earth."

Kaela was busying herself with the metal collar around her throat and was prying at it with her fingers. Bishop, noticing this, held out his hand to stop her, the other behind his back respectfully. "You seem to have forgotten, but the air in Dimension X cannot be breathed by humans. If we had not found you near our secret base, you would have perished. Those contraptions around your neck are to allow you to breath in this world." Kaela immediately lowered her hands from her neck and back down to her side. Bishop turned to Ethan. "Now, I have answered some of your questions as to who I am and why you are here. Now it is my turn to ask questions."

Finally feeling like Bishop could at least be trusted to a degree, Ethan lowered his naginata and stood straight again. "Fair enough." he said nodding his head to Jess and Kaela to let them know that he was fine with them answering – not that they were ever going to ask anyway.

"What are you doing in Dimension X and how did you get here?"

Ethan knew that would be the first question. Kaela was quickest to the draw. "On our world, we have an idea of some terrible things that could happen and we need the help of . . . well . . . a group of four turtles and their master in order to prevent it. We found one of your portals and got in from there."

"The turtles you speak of," Bishop said slowly, "We know of them. They are Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo. If they are missing from your world, then perhaps you were right to come here. It would be bad news indeed if they fell into the hands of the Kraang." Bishop went quiet for a moment as if he was considering and Ethan felt butterflies in his stomach. Perhaps they were finally close to discovering the turtles, Hamato Yoshi, and figuring out what this whole Black Hole thing really was. Bishop finally looked back up at them. "I know the base where Kraang Prime is. That is where they would be kept. I can bring you there, but I cannot guarantee your safety."

Snorting, Jess smiled at Bishop, "We are never safe."

Bishop smiled back and then motioned for them to follow him to the door. "This way. If all goes well, I should be able to get you back through the portal and safely to earth. I would not recommend any confrontation with Kraang Prime." We weren't planning on that anyway. Ethan thought, his memory going back to the day a year ago when Kraang Prime, the huge brain, had appeared from a giant portal in the middle of the street and began mutating things with a giant gun that shot out mutagen. Fighting that thing definitely didn't sound like a good idea.

They walked down long empty hallways that were equally decorated in the pale blue lights until they reached a large metal door. Bishop pressed several buttons on a small panel near the door, the metal gleaming off his sunglasses. The metal door slowly slid open to reveal an immense hanger. Inside was a ship that Ethan had seen before in the previous invasion. It looked much like a UFO with a window that looked like a blackened eye. On the lower half of it were three metal tentacles that waved as the ship flew.

Kaela wrapped her ribbon around her hand and put it down into her belt. "Are we going to be riding in that?" she asked and Ethan couldn't tell if her voice was full of concern or excitement – perhaps something in between.

Bishop nodded and slowly walked down a long ramp from the door to the hanger floor. The same smooth, chrome metal decorated everything here. The blue lights made the whole place feel like it was made of nothing but neon light, as if it were some kind of dance club. The hanger doors on the other end opened slowly to reveal the contrasting pink color of the sky outside. Bishop's nice, polished black shoes tapped against the ground as they followed him to the entrance of the huge stealth ship and he pressed a button on the giant machines side to open another hanger door to the ship. "After you." he motioned inside the stealth ship and Ethan let Jess and Kaela walk in first, taking up the rear. That way, he could keep a close eye on Bishop and attack if necessary. It was difficult to trust a Kraang from Dimension X. Or an Utrom rather – if that were true.

Bishop complied and soon the ramp was closing behind them. I hope I don't regret this in about ten seconds. Ethan turned to look around the stealth ship.

"This is so cool!" Jess ran her fingers over the chrome panel, complete with buttons, levers, and a series of monitors. Bishop immediately went to the front of the circular ship and placed his hands over the panels. He began to busy himself and with the sound that reminded Ethan of a power generator turning on. The whole ship filled with the same pale, blue light and slowly the ship levitated into the air. "I would have never though we'd be in one of these things a year ago." Jess said grinning with her pointed teeth.

Kaela rolled her eyes, "I just hope we find the turtles. This whole Dimension X thing is weird."

"I would suggest holding onto something, mutant friends." Bishop adjusted his sunglasses and then flipped a switch and the ship propelled forward with incredible speed, throwing all three of them backward into the wall behind them with a grunt. "I did warn you."

Slowly Ethan got back to his feet and helped Kaela up. She rubbed at her bandages from Mako's stinger and then looked back towards Bishop who was now floating them past Kraangy islands and the pink atmosphere. Odd creatures, like the worm from before fly past them, not paying much attention. "This is so weird." Kaela said, exasperated, as if the oddness of the dimension had tired her out. Ethan nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. All he wanted was to find the turtles.

As they swung around another pair of strange, florescent looking crystals, a new floating island came into view that made Ethan's mouth drop and his heart beat rapidly. A huge fortress had appeared, complete with huge pink spikes and surrounded by Kraang droids. Bishop stopped the ship and it sat floating quietly, as they looked out of the window at the fortress. "That is where Kraang Prime would be. Unfortunately, it seems that getting in will prove impossible."

"So, what are we going to do?" Ethan asked.

Bishop was busying himself with button pushing and so Ethan, Kaela, and Jess exchanged confused looks with each other. A second later, a screen popped up in front of them and on the screen was a huge brain. One that was immediately recognizable by the huge pentagons on its head. "Kraang Prime." Kaela said aloud, glaring at the monstrosity that grinned back at them.

Bishop turned to explain, his arms at his side and his face as blank and stern looking as always. "I managed to hack into one of their communications that they are transmitting as we speak. Perhaps this will give both you three and us the information we need." he turned back to watch the video.

Kraang Prime, the huge, pulsating leader, began to speak. "Kraang, the second in command known as Kraang Sub-Prime is preparing that which is known as the technodrome army for the invasion known as the invasion of earth."

That doesn't sound good. Ethan thought nervously, not wanting to see what Jess and Kaela's reaction was. Bishop glared, his fists clenching into tight balls at his side. Trusting him was getting a little bit easier, nevertheless, Ethan held tightly to his weapon. "Soon, we will begin the terraforming of the planet known as Earth. While we wait, continue to look for the ones known as the turtles and April O'Neil." The video then slowly shut down and the ship went quiet again.

Ethan turned to Jess and Kaela who looked just as concerned as him. Not only did they have a Black Weapon to deal with now – but a repeat of the nightmare from last year. "This isn't good." Kaela said.

Maneuvering the ship to turn around and head back the way they came, weaving through the islands, Bishop spoke, "No, it is not." He looked over at Ethan, "The Utrom Council has been concerned about recent events in the ten dimensions and I fear we have only seen the tip of the ice berg. It is dangerous for you to be here. I will bring you to a portal that will send you back to Earth."

"At least we know that the turtles aren't captured. They still have to be out there somewhere." Jess added. "I swear, we've gone through the whole sewer system though."

Bishop slowed the ship and turned back to look at Jess. "If that be the case, then finding them will be imperative. If you three are allied with the turtles, then I will ensure to keep you informed. We will need your help." he then motioned out the window. Ethan leaned in to see that a huge triangular, glowing, pink portal was sitting in front of him.

Ethan nodded to Bishop. "Thank you for your help, Bishop." he said, wanting to reach out to grab his shoulder, but realized the would just be holding a metal arm. "I can't believe I am saying that to a Kraang." he smiled and Bishop gave a small smile back before motioning out to the portal.

"Good luck."

The floor opened up behind them and the ramp extended towards the portal. Kaela was braver and patted Bishop's arm, making an odd clanging sound. "We appreciate your help." she said. "We'd be dead without you."

The three walked out onto the ramp and turned one last time. Kaela gave a small wave to Bishop who just stared back at them and then they slipped through the portal and out of Dimension X.