I don't own TMNT or UY.

Long chapter is long.

Xxxxx

Donny piloted the Shell-sub out of the base, through the connecting tunnel and out into the main river. I sat in the passenger's seat next to him, staying silent as we travelled the dark water towards where Raph and I had found the entrance to this large headquarters of Bishop's. I was tense. Somewhere, deep within me, I imagined the hundreds if not thousands of ways this could all go wrong. But I didn't focus on my worries, locking them up tight as I kept my mind sharp, focusing purely on what we needed to do.

I turned around in my seat to see what every-one else was up to. Usagi was standing close behind me, a hand resting on the back of my chair to steady himself as he peered out the front of the sub's windshield nervously. You didn't need to be a genius to see he didn't like this way of travelling at all. He said nothing though and didn't show any of his fears on his face more than a slightly worried frown, his gaze raised to where he knew the surface was even though we couldn't see it in the dark. Behind him I saw Raph sitting near the top hatch, his eyes on Usagi. When he saw I was watching him he looked away, obviously a little embarrassed at being caught watching over our friend. Next to him Mikey stood with his shell pressed against the wall of the sub, staring past me and Donny out the window with an apprehensive expression. He looked almost ill.

I turned in my seat properly so that I could address every-body.

"Alright. Now we're gonna do this just like the last time guys. Usagi and I will get Donny to a computer where he can tell us where to find Jotaro and not get ourselves caught. Raph and Mikey, you two enter through one of the side tunnels and see if you can find out where the Containment cells or the portal device are on your own. Remember we don't wanna tip them off that we're here any sooner than we need to, so try staying out of a fight if you can help it. Donny, once you've gotten into Bishop's system try and find where he's got Jotaro locked away, as soon as you know that find as much information on this 'Project Gateway' as you can. If it is what we think it is try find a weak point or a way to stop it or something. Once we know that, one of our groups is gonna have to get Jotaro while the other destroys however much they've completed of the portal device."

They all nodded.

"If I may make a request," Usagi spoke up. "If you do not mind Leonardo, I would prefer it if you and I are the ones to locate and liberate Jotaro-kun."

I nodded at him in understanding.

"No problem. Me and Mikey are good at breakin' stuff!" Raph spoke up, giving us a smirk.

Mikey gave a hesitant nod in agreement.

"Ok then." I said. "So Raph and Mikey try find the gate and make sure Bishop won't be able to use it, while Usagi and I try and find Jotaro. We stick to this unless, once Donny hacks into the system he finds Mikey and Raph to be closer to the containment cells. In that case, Raph, you and Mikey head that way and we'll focus on the gate." I turned to Usagi. "Is that ok?"

Usagi nodded.

"Once we reach the entrance, Raph and Mikey exit the sub and make for one of the side tunnels. After that, try and get us as far into that underwater entrance as you can without us being seen Don." I continued.

Donny gave a nod. "I dunno how far I can get us but I'll try."

I nodded again. "That's fine. Now remember guys, Just like last time. Keep it cool and quiet and focus on what we gotta do."

"Yeah, except lets leave out that cute little endin' we had." Raph commented, playing with the tip of a sai restlessly.

----

After an uneventful journey we reached the entrance to the base. It was lit only enough to be able to discern it from the rock and cement wall around it as it led from the open water of the bay to under the streets of the city. Once we got close Donny switched off the sub's lights and we made our approach as silently as we could. No subs of Bishop seemed to be using the entrance at the moment and it was deserted. We were in luck.

I could see the two twin tunnels on either side of the main entrance, barely visible and unlit. They were closed off with a grate to prevent unwanted visitors from getting inside, however, using the sub's claws, Donny managed to pry one of them open without too much noise. I was concerned that it would set off an alarm but Don said that, since it appeared to be used for waste disposal he doubted it would be closely watched.

Mikey and Raph each took one of the small oxygen masks meant to be used for emergencies and exited the sub via its second hatch. I noticed that Usagi's hand tightened drastically on the back of my seat when Raph opened the hatch. I half wanted to reassure him that the Sub would not flood and that it was designed for this, but I didn't want to call attention to his nervousness and insult him. Mikey and Raph put on the breathing masks and disappeared into the water.

I'd been unsure if it was the best idea to team Mikey and Raph together since they still seemed a little edgy around each other since their fight. However I noticed that Raph was, in his own way, trying to make an effort at setting things straight again, and Mikey was starting to act less coldly towards him. Knowing they were slowly getting back to being on better terms I thought maybe this could in some way help them sort out their issues. Also, Mikey and Raph just work well together during a mission. I knew they'd be ok.

We waited, keeping our eyes on them as they swam towards one of the now open tunnels and slipped inside. We stayed put for a few minutes, making sure everything was ok before Donny manoeuvred the sub back to the base entrance.

He flipped a few switches and pressed a few buttons on the sub's control panel, switching on his various detection equipment to make sure the way ahead was clear and that we could slip inside without being seen. The tunnel was well lit but not overly bright. Lights lined the walls on either side, casting a cold, blue light on the passage. Don kept the sub low, checking the perimeter readings to make sure we weren't gonna scrape the bottom, since we didn't want to switch on the headlights.

Before too long we could see the surface of the water ahead of us light up. Don lowered the sub and slowly brought it to a halt a short way off. He entered some commands, and the sub nestled itself into the rock-bed of the tunnel. There was no sand to hide itself in sadly. Donny set it to stealth mode, muting its engines and turning off all unnecessary power. It didn't render the machine invisible but if it stayed still and in the dark it could blend in with the surroundings pretty well. It's small size also helped to keep it from view.

I got up out of my seat. "Alright. Keep it cool and stay quiet. We don't know what kind of welcome we can expect when we break the surface."

They both nodded, Donny getting up from his seat as Usagi pulled on his kimono sleeves before tying them back. We didn't bother with the last two oxygen masks as it wasn't that far of a swim. Well, not far of a swim for me and Don. I turned to Usagi who was watching Donny as my little brother opened the hatch of the sub for us to exit out of. I walked over to my friend, reaching out and taking him by a wrist. He turned to blink at me, confused as I put his hand to the ridge of my shell.

"Hold this." I said.

He frowned for a moment before he understood what I was saying and gave me a nod.

Donny Slipped into the water, us following closely behind.

We made the swim without any-one opening fire into the water. Usagi's hand grasping my shell tightly as Donny lead the way.

We slipped behind a docked sub and broke the surface of the water as silently as we were able to. We stayed low in the water as I quickly took note of the immediate area. The concrete platform next to the dock was large and open. Various metallic shipping crates were piled along the back walls containing who knows what. There were at least 3 large hallways spanning from the cavern we were in. The roof was high above us, curving in, almost like a dome. A handful of subs, each of a different design were moored next to the large, stretching platform. The one we were hiding against was of a blackish purple colour and had a sleek, sport-like design. The one on the other side us looked more industrial than anything else.

I could see guards patrolling the dock. Not a large group of them but enough to raise the alarm if they spot us. We wouldn't be able to silence them all. I heard Donny moving next to me and turned to look at him. He gave me a look that basically said 'stay put' before he took a breath and slipped below the surface of the water. I stared at the spot where he'd disappeared for a few moments. Usagi was looking around the area, staying next to me and keeping his hand on the ridge of my shell to stay afloat. He wasn't dragging me down, but I was aware of the extra weight.

Donny reappeared, breaking the surface of the water again without a sound. I frowned at him questioningly. He lifted up a hand to revealed a pebble he'd retrieved from the rock-bed below us. He then turned to the platform. He raised an arm over his head, took aim, and flicked the rock across the platform where it hit one of the steel crates with a loud clang before tumbling out of sight between them.

The guards instantly turned towards the sound of the noise, pulling out their guns and running to inspect the spaces between the stacked crates. With their attention on the other side of the cavern we quickly pulled ourselves free from the water and made a run for the closest hallway. As we ran down it I kept glancing back, expecting at any minute for some-one to yell out and alert the others about us, but no-one saw us make the mad dash across the large room and into the passageway. Let's hope this luck holds up.

We slid down a side-passage as soon as we found one, not wanting to run around in a main hallway. So far we hadn't come across any-one else yet. I kept my eyes open for any sort of traps or security cameras that might spot us. Too many times had I forgotten to check for cameras in an area, only to have us found out much sooner than I would've liked. The side-passage was of the same curved design as the deeper hallways had been of the last base we infiltrated. The same circular lights lit the ceiling and the walkway was lit by the same sort of secondary light. Yet it felt slightly different. It must've had something to do with being so close to the water, but this base felt a lot colder than the last.

"Matte!" Usagi's hand shot out in front of me, bringing me to a halt. "Some-one is coming!"

I looked around hurriedly for a hiding place and spotted a door.

"This way!" I ran towards it, turning the handle and pushing it open with one hand, drawing a katana with the other.

The door opened to a small room with controls and monitors lined all along the walls apart from the doorway. The man who had been sitting at the lone chair, monitoring the different screens spun around to face me at my entry.

I charged him, striking out with the butt of my sword, delivering a hard blow to the man's head. He fell to the ground without a sound. Behind me Donny and Usagi hurriedly entered the room, closing the door behind them. Usagi pressed the side of his head to it, listening for the people he had heard coming down the passage. Donny came over towards me, running his eyes over the monitors and control panels.

"Anything useful?" I asked him as I removed the man I'd knocked out's tie to bind his wrists with.

Donny sighed and shook his head. "Not at all. This is all just monitoring equipment for the various computer systems and networks here in the base. There's no direct access to any of it though. It's just an observation deck so to speak."

I made a disappointed noise but nodded. "We keep moving then, as soon as the coast is clear."

I made sure I'd done the knot tight before I left the man and walked over to stand beside Usagi, half-leaning against the door myself.

"How's it looking?" I whispered urgently.

Usagi made a thoughtful noise. "There are two of them but they are passing us. They do not seem to be aware of our presence. They appear to be discussing something but I can not discern what they are saying."

I gave a nod. "That's ok. As long as they don't come in here, we're fine."

Usagi gave a nod as well. "They do not appear to be concerned with this room."

I straightened and turned to Donny to let him know we were moving again, only to see him bent over the control panel, frowning in concentration at one of the monitors as his hands moved across the keys.

"What are you doing?" I asked, coming closer. "I thought you said you couldn't use this stuff?"

"I can't." He said, not looking away from the screen. "But I can use this to track down where there's a computer I can use."

I blinked, looking over his shoulder, but all I was able to see where flashing numbers and a jittery image of a layout graph.

"Are we moving?" Usagi asked, turning his head to look at us but not leaving his position.

"In a minute." I said, breaking my gaze from the monitor. "Donny's just getting his bearings."

Usagi nodded, turning to press himself against the door again, listening closely for any-one else that might be walking down the hall outside.

"Ok got it!" Donny said, straightening. "There's a small, private workstation not too far from here which should have access to the data files. I can't do anything security wise but I can at least get us some answers and get you guys going. After that I can try and hack into the larger mainframe and see if I can shut down some of the alarms and buy us some more time before we're found out."

I nodded. "Good job Don." I walked over to Usagi again, my brother following close behind me.

"Are we good to go?" I asked my friend.

He gave a nod. "I can not hear any-one entering the hallway from either side. We should be alright for a while."

I nodded again. "Ok then. Let's move." I gripped the door handle and we slipped out of our hiding place. I turned as we left to make sure the man I'd KOed was still out of commission before I closed the door behind us and we kept moving.

The private work station Donny had mentioned wasn't that far from where we had been but the going was slow. Every now and then we would need to hide ourselves in either a side room or we'd have to make a detour to avoid the scientists, engineers and armed guards that patrolled the place. It wasn't overly populated, which was good because if it had been we'd have been caught ages ago, but there were enough people moving between their various areas of work for it to be obvious that this place was very busy.

After a slightly aggravating journey we finally arrived at the door to the office or lab or whatever it is Donny was looking for. We put our heads to it and listened for any activity inside.

"There's some-one in there." I said

Usagi nodded in agreement. "Yes, but it can not be helped."

I nodded grimly, gripping the handle with my free hand before throwing open the door in one swift movement.

The door opened to an almost blindingly white room. After the darkly coloured hallway the sharp light came as shock to the system. The person who had been in the room turned out to be a man with your typical educated stature. He wore a white uniform and heavy glasses. He shot up from his chair when I threw the door open, staring at us in disbelief. I faltered slightly in the sudden brightness but Usagi did not. He shot past me, his short-sword in his hand as he threw it forward, twisted it and sent it curving in an arc. The man gave a loud, cut off noise and fell, going silent.

Usagi flicked his blade and turned, beckoning to us impatiently. "Hayakusiro!"

We entered and I closed the door behind us. I half-registered the fact that the door had a lock on it as I activated it, turning to look at Usagi.

"Was that really necessary?!" I said, maybe a little more harshly than I meant to.

Usagi replaced his blade before moving the slain man out of the way of the desk. "I apologise. I did not mean to sound so commanding."

I rolled my eyes irritably. "Not that! I don't care if you order us around, but did you need to kill him?"

He blinked at me, looking a little taken aback. He thought for a moment, then looked back at me. "What would you have done?"

I pulled a slight face, turning to look at the man. "I... I dunno." I gave a frustrated sigh. "Look just... don't do it if you can help it ok?"

Usagi frowned at me lightly with a soft noise. I hoped he wasn't thinking me childish. I didn't break my gaze from him, but I made sure not to glare. I wasn't angry at him, I just really didn't like settling for killing some-one if I can make another plan.

He sighed. "Although I find your logic questionable Leonardo, I will try and honour your wishes."

I relaxed slightly and nodded. "That's all I ask."

I turned my attention away from him and to Donny who had moved to take the scientists seat at the white desk, his hands already flying across the keyboard and his eyes glued to the projected screen in front of him. He seemed to be concentrating heavily on what he was doing, however whether he was doing so because he needed to or because he was trying to distract himself from the kill I wasn't sure.

While he tried to navigate around the system I took the time to look over the room properly.

The walls, floor and ceiling were all clinically white. It wasn't painted on, the very material the room was constructed from appeared to be this emotionless colour. Occupying most of one wall was a large, white desk of a modern looking design. A keyboard built into the top of it and a holographic screen hovering a few inches above it. The rest of the space on the desk held controls and switches although I had no idea what sort of function they could have. The already bright light was magnified by the featureless walls, making the room almost unbearably bright. It was giving me a headache. Apart from the work-desk, the rest of the room was filled with a large cupboard built into the wall on one side, as well as a second desk which was covered in piled papers, files and folders as well as various things like pens, staplers, blue pencils, a large ruler with a steel edge and other office equipment. There was a second chair pulled under it and I could see the wall it was set against was covered in bright yellow and pink post-it notes, the only real colour in the room. In the other corner of the room was a small, standing coffee machine and a white couch. I couldn't help but think that, if you painted the walls and dimmed the lights, then this would be exactly the kind of room Don could get very comfortable in.

I turned back to him to see if he'd gotten anywhere, but seeing that he was sitting with his chin on a hand, frowning deeply as he speed-read over a file he had open I sighed, turning to look at Usagi again.

I was a little jarred to see he had been watching me while I looked over the room with a thoughtful expression, frowning ever so slightly to himself.

I frowned back. "What?"

He shook his head at me. "Nothing."

I made a slight noise. "Not 'nothing'. What is it?"

He pulled a worried face at me and gave a slight breath. "I am merely trying to understand your reasoning behind not slaying the enemies we come across when it is clear to me that, if given the chance, they would most certainly not hesitate in slaying you."

My frown stayed as I gave a slight shrug. "I don't like killing people that's all. It's... it's not right."

Usagi blinked at me. "I see no wrong in it. There is no dishonour in falling in battle. It is merely a question if you are able to fulfil the objectives assigned to you. If you are not then you fall, and there is no dishonour in that, and if you are successful then you have the knowledge that those you have had to kill to achieve your goal hold no ill towards you, just as you would hold no ill against them."

I made an aggravated noise. "It doesn't work like that here."

"Why not?" Usagi asked, tilting his head at me slightly.

"It just doesn't!" I snapped. I didn't mean to, but I found it frustrating to try and explain something I thought was pretty straightforward.

Usagi stared at me for a moment before he sunk very slightly. "I am sorry. I meant no disrespect."

I sighed, putting a hand to my head. "No. No it's ok. Look, I'd love to discuss ethics with you but let's save it for after we get out of here ok? We don't need to get into an argument about it now."

He gave a nod, staring at me with an apologetic expression.

I felt kinda bad once I calmed down a little. To be honest Usagi wasn't exactly wrong. But it was just such a removed way of dealing with things when compared to 21st century thinking I had a hard time understanding it. Then again, he didn't understand why I don't like killing people who would, very obviously, kill me if they had the chance. To be honest I can't fully explain it myself. I just didn't like settling for simply killing some-one standing in my way if I could help it. Especially since often, I really couldn't help it. But in a way that's what made it even more important to me to know the difference.

"Look." I said to him with a much calmer tone of voice. "I'm not judging you, and to be honest I can see where you're coming from." I gave a sideways smile and a slight shrug. "I just... don't like it."

He stared at me quietly before he gave a nod. "I understand." His expression became slightly concerned. "But just be aware of when you can take such a liberty Leonardo, lest it mean harm will come to you." He gave me a small smile. "I do not wish for that to happen."

I couldn't stop myself smiling back. "Fair enough."

"Guys over here!" Donny spoke up, lifting a hand and snapping his fingers at us to catch our attention.

I turned to him and came over quickly, Usagi copying me as we stood behind Don to look over his shoulder.

"What d'you find?" I asked, looking at the window he had open.

"More than enough." Donny said, turning to look at me. "First off all, Bishop is most definitely building a portal gate."

I pulled a slight face but nodded. "Ok. That's ok though. We already knew you were probably right about that. What else?"

He nodded and turned back to the screen. "Man. Where to start?"

"Start with Jotaro-kun." Usagi said, leaning forward anxiously.

Donny nodded. "Alright. Well first of all, I am happy to announce that there's no doubt that he's in this base."

Usagi and me both sunk in relief, but no sooner had we done so than Usagi straightened again.

"And where is he? Is he alright?" He asked eagerly.

Don nodded. "According to this he's fine. Condition normal, vital sign feedback normal, weight normal, electrolyte levels normal."

"Is he near here?" I asked, almost as anxiously as Usagi.

Donny clicked a few times before he sighed. "Actually, the containment cells are on the other side of the base from where we are. It'll be difficult to get there from here."

Usagi sunk slightly as he gave a disappointed breath.

I pulled out my shell-cell and opened it up, going through my phonebook to get to Raph.

"What about the Portal-Device?" I asked as I did so. "What's the situation like there?"

Donny clicked a few times again. When he found what he was looking for I heard him take a small, staggering breath. "Ut-oh."

"What?" I put down my phone, leaning closer again. "What is it?"

"Well," Donny said shakily. "According to this the Portal is very close to being completed." He turned to me, slightly wide-eyed. "And this update was filed yesterday."

"He has not used it yet has he?!" Usagi said, sounding alarmed.

Donny shook his head. "No, I don't think so. If he had there'd be some kind of record that they were gonna activate it today or something, but I don't see any kind of information like that."

Usagi exhale. "Thank the Gods."

"Can you find anything to tell us what Bishop plans to do with it Don? Or at least where it is from here?" I said, not wanting to get side-tracked.

Donny looked over the information again. "It's kinda hard since these records are all just fact and progress. There's nothing here that lists exactly what Bishop's hoping to do or anything like. That's too much in the realm of speculation to be put down on paper. Bishop would keep that kind of thing for his personal log or whatever. No way I would be able to get access to that from here. However I can tell you what I can figure out at least. It seems I was right and the gate's been designed so that a large group of people can use it at once. It's rather big because of this, we're not just talking a small doorway, we're talking at least a 3 storey high ring here."

He paused for a few moments as he scrolled down the data on the screen. "It seems the reason behind it is because Bishop wants to use it as some kind of weapon against hostile beings. There's talk here about how they can't afford another mess like the Triceratron invasion. There's also mention here of 'The newly acquired information on inter-dimensional beings who might or might not pose a threat to Earth's protection'. It seems they want to use the Gate as a way to launch first strikes against worlds they see as potential threats. On top of this there's talk here for possibilities of trade with inter-dimensional civilizations for more advanced weaponry as well as technological support from worlds which may be more advanced than ours."

"But then how do we feature in all of this?" Usagi asked. "We are most definitely not able to provide any sort of technological advancement that this man would find beneficiary, nor do we have any kind of weaponry that he would deem useful. We have also never shown any hostility towards your dimension. If anything, apart from myself and Gen, no-one else is that aware of your existence. Why would he have targeted us?"

"For exactly those reasons." Donny said, reading things over on his screen. "Bishop needed a specimen from another dimension for analysis to understand the difference in our atomic vibrations." He turned to face us both, using his hands as he spoke. "You know how I told you how we're mostly made up of atoms? And how atoms are mostly made up of empty space and, how our atoms circulate and vibrate could, in theory, dictate in which plane of existence we live?"

Usagi made a frustrated noise. "Forgive me Donatello-san, but none of this makes any sense to me."

I pulled a slight face as well. "I'm sure I'd understand if you explained more slowly Don, but we really don't have time right now. Could you give us the summarized version?"

He looked almost disappointed but nodded. "To put it bluntly, things and people from other dimensions' physical being have a different energy to them." He turned to Usagi. "I guess, if I had to translate it, I'd call it an Aura."

Usagi nodded and made an understanding noise. "You could have just said that in the first place."

Donny gave a slight shrug. "It's not completely accurate but I guess it's pretty close to what I'm getting at. Anyway, Bishop needed a specimen from another dimension to study the difference so that he could apply that knowledge to his gate. Your dimension was chosen because it'd be easy to overpower some-one from 2nd Earth with our superior weapons. It was just bad luck that you had Jotaro with you when the portal opened. I guess they just figured a child would be an easy subject to control in captivity."

"Wait a minute." I interrupted. "How did Bishop know all this about 2nd Earth if he didn't have a portal to begin with? Where's he getting his information from?"

Donny looked over the info again. "It says here, that the person who gave him his info was Tibalt."

"And how did Tibalt know?" I asked.

Donny shook his head. "It doesn't say. It only says that Tibalt contacted Bishop, explaining how his boss had been able to find a way to create portals, but only ones big enough for one or two people to use at once. He wanted Bishop to develop a larger Portal Gate for him, telling him he could use the technology however he wanted once the project was done, but Tibalt's boss gets access to the larger portal for his own personal use. In return for Bishop's resources and man-power Tibalt's boss would give Bishop the rudimentary knowledge he had on inter-dimensional travel as well as fund the project himself. Other than how it works, there's no info on where Tibalt's boss got the knowledge from in the first place."

"So... He is not planning to invade my home?" Usagi asked hopefully, diverting the conversation away from Tibalt.

Donny made a noise. "Actually... That's the first place he's planning to go."

"What?! Why?!" I blurted out.

"It seems he wants to test how successful an invasion would be using this gate." He turned to look at us again. "And since he already knows 2nd Earth is not as advanced as we are, he sees Usagi's home as an easy target. He knows you don't pose much of a threat, and he's already gotten some knowledge on your people from what he's been able to find out from Jotaro."

Usagi gritted his teeth, grumbling something under his breath in Japanese, but I wasn't able to catch.

"Where is this Portal Donny?" I asked.

Don turned back to the screen once again and opened up a few files. "It's not exactly next door, but it's closer to us than the containment cells are."

I nodded as I picked up my phone again, opening it up and getting Raph's number again. "Ok. Then that's our target. I'll check where Raph and Mikey are and let them know that we're going for the portal and they should head for the containment cells."

Donny nodded in agreement. Usagi nodded as well, but I could see he was disappointed. He really wanted to be the one to break Jotaro out of his cell. I felt for him. It wasn't really fair, but if that's how it's gotta be then we don't have much of a choice.

I called Raph's number and waited for him to pick up.

The phone rang.

And rang.

I felt a frown slowly settle on my face.

I hung up and redialed, swallowing as I put the cell to my ear-spot again, waiting for a response.

Again, the phone rang endlessly, no-one picking up. Eventually the ringing stopped and there was a long tone before the phone hung itself up. I removed it from ear and stared at it. It wasn't suppose to do that. If no-one picked up it should've gone to voice mail.

"Donny." I said, accessing Mikey's number instead. "I can't get Raph on the shell-cell."

Don turned to me with a concerned frown. He pulled out his own phone and went through the menu himself before putting it to his ear.

I bit my lip, listening to the ring as I waited for Mikey to pick up. Again the phone went dead before hanging up.

I shook my head tightly and turned back to Donny.

He turned to me, looking a little pale as he shook his head back.

I felt a heavy lump fall into the pit of my stomach as my pulse sped up. I hurriedly tried Mikey's number a second time, pressing the buttons rather hard.

"What is the matter?" Usagi asked, looking back and forth between us.

"Raph and Mikey aren't answering their phones." Donny said, putting his own to his ear again.

"I'm not getting anything." I said, turning to look at the screen of my shell-cell shakily. They had to be ok! They just had to be!

"What about trying to contact each other?" Usagi asked, waving a hand back and forth between me and Donny. "Are you able to do that?"

Don turned to gape at him, shocked by the insight.

I stared at the samurai myself before turning to stare at the phone in my hand. I licked my lips nervously before I accessed Donny's number and entered it, turning to look at the phone he was holding in his own hands.

Don turned to give me a nervous glance before he turned to look at it too, expectingly.

I listened to the constant ringing before the same long tone came up and my phone hung itself up. Donny's phone hadn't so much as buzzed.

"A dead-zone." Donny said, turning to look at me as he breathed out in relief. "They've got a signal blocker in here."

I shook my head hard before looking at Usagi. "How the heck did you figure that one out?!"

He gave a slight shrug and a small grin. "It just seemed a logical test to try. If you could not reach each other then it would stand to reason you would not be able to reach them either."

"I think we've just been techno-schooled. Samurai style." Donny said.

"Yeah but that gives us a new wrinkle." I said, not buying into the light-hearted relief. "It means we're completely out of touch with Raph and Mikey. And once Usagi and I leave here we won't be able to communicate with you either."

Donny immediately became more serious. "That's gonna be a problem."

I nodded. " a Major problem."

Xxxxx

D8