me: Hello readers! Introducing Slash and Leatherhead in this chapter, and having said that, I'm not sure if this is my best work compared to my other chapters... but that's for you guys to decided. Enjoy!
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"Kraang, the experiments that is known as experiment 41828 and experiment 330110 have done that which is known as escape."
"Kraang, the experiments that is known as experiment 41828 and experiment 330110 have stolen that which is known as the Kraang Power Cell."
"Kraang must destroy the ones known as experiment 411828 and experiment 330110 and retrieve that which is known as the Kraang Power Cell for Kraang."
The sounds of chatter echoed throughout the hallways as two large green mutants stomped and ran through the hallways, doing their best to avoid the laser fire from the Kraang's guns. As they ran, even the Kraang reinforcements that appeared in front of them couldn't stop them, even as they fired on them as the two large mutants just ploughed right through them, disabling some of them like they weren't even there. A laser blast fired from a gun from one of the downed Kraang and it hit one of the mutants directly on the left side of his chest, leaving a nasty laser burn mark.
"Gahrr!" the mutant grunted from the pain, that just showed how tough he was. Anyone else would have yelled and screamed from the pain, not just grunt from it. It still caused the other large mutant to check if he was alright.
"Hey! Can you still- "but at that moment another laser shot from the many being fired at them struck him and he grabbed the other mutant and practically dragged him, although the other ran as well. They came across an archway of sorts, in the shape of a circle that also had a pink swirling whirlpool of sorts swirling and moving inside.
"Other there! Our way out!" one of the large mutants shouted and the two wasted no time running towards and seconds later into it. The pink swirling vortex then dissipated, effectively stopping the Kraang from pursuing them any further.
"Kraang, those that are the experiments that are known as experiment 41828 and experiment 330110 have escaped with that which is the Kraang Power Cell."
"I am knowledge of that, Kraang. Those that are the Kraang's future planning are now that which is known as delayed."
Earth… New York City Sewers… ?...?
Luckily for the two large mutants, they were somehow in the sewers, away from any life form. Hidden in the dark, and thus unable to cause a panic, and for their sake, it would stay that way.
June 26th… The Lair… 10:34am…
Trying new things can either be a good experience or a very unpleasant one. Either way it will be an experience any person wouldn't soon forget. In this instance, Leo and Donnie were sat in the living room, Leo switching channels on the TV and Donnie was happily typing away at his laptop. Raph was nearby, punching and kicking the stuffing out of there practise dummy. It was then that Mikey approached his brother's and was hiding something behind his shell.
"Who wants to try my latest creation?" Mikey said, getting the attention of his brothers, "We all love pizza, we all love milkshakes! So, I combined the two." Since April had made it her mission to make sure that the turtles and Splinter got some real food, Mikey made it his mission to be the Lair's resident chef. He has cooked some nice things, but he had also made some… less than appetising stuff.
"Okay, that could not be any less appetising than your chocolate, pepperoni and anchovy pizza." Donnie said with a grimace. Leo and Raph also showed their grimace, they never thought that pizzas could be that disgusting. They also grimaced when they remembered that Mikey ate the whole thing when they could barely contain a single bite without spitting it out.
"I call it a P-Shake!" Mikey said as he revealed a jug of what can only be described as vomit. The thick yellow(ish) and red(ish) liquid sloshed around inside. Mikey looked proud of his creation, but Donnie did all he could not to throw up and make something similar on the floor.
"I stand corrected." Donnie said.
"You just have no sense of adventure." Mikey said and then he took a sip of his creation. And then promptly spat it back into the jug. His brother's responses were the same, looking away and grimacing.
"Where did I go wrong?" Mikey said and just to see what it was that did go wrong, he took even more sips of his creation, this time without spitting it out. Much to the disgusted faces his brothers were making. Leo couldn't bear to watch Mikey swallow what he thought looked like puke, so he went back to the TV and switched the channel again, and his attention was completely on it as another episode of Space Heroes was on.
Raph approached Leo, ignoring the episode (mostly) that showed the characters opening an airlock to get rid of an overflowing amount of fluffy balls.
"You have to be the only person in the world who likes this show." Raph said to Leo, but he was adamant that he wasn't.
"No way! There are millions of Space Heroes fans out there." Leo said and it was then that Donnie chimed in.
"I wouldn't say millions, Leo. But, the Ratings show website does say that the Space Heroes cartoon does have a reasonably sized cult following." Donnie said, and Leo grinned at Raph in response at this small victory, but Raph simply snatched the remote away from Leo and switched the channel over to the Channel Six news. Just in time for a female news reporter to give the latest news story.
"I'm Joan Grody, with breaking news. City workers scared to work… because of mutants?" This news statement caught the attention of everyone in the room, even Splinter was listening from his bedroom. "And city officials are not believing in the numerous sightings." The screen then switched to a reporter interviewing a Sewer Worker inside a sewer tunnel, "There were these two, huge green… things! Me and my buddies have been seeing them occasionally, but this one was too close to call!" Leo and Donnie turned to Raph and Mikey.
"Wasn't me!" Raph and Mikey said in defence and in unison.
"Take a look at this chilling footage." The reporter said and the screen changed to a camera recording,
The sewers were dark, even during the day, "Okay, we are going to prove to these higher ups that we're not alone down here." A sewer worker said and it was then that at the end of the tunnel, were two huge hulking figures that couldn't be human walking into one of the other tunnels but not before the sounds growling from one of them echoed throughout the tunnels. And given that they were at the end of the tunnel and the sewer worker in the middle of it, they were very close to each other, though the darkness in the tunnel prevented further details from being revealed.
"Are we seeing the birth of mutants in Manhattan? Though after this footage was shown to investigators, very little investigating has taken place." Raph then paused the TV.
"I got a bad feeling about this." Donnie said, then Leo stood from where he sat,
"The last thing we need now, is a couple of mutants causing trouble in the sewers." Leo said, and even though Raph would like to fight with him, he supported Leo with his next set of words,
"Or some news crew poking around and instead of them, they find us." Raph said.
"We've got to find them first and make sure they don't stir things up." Leo ordered, Donnie then pressed the rewind button on the remote,
"Hey guys, I think we can track them down easier if we look at the tunnel number from they were last seen… there! Tunnel 281." Donnie said as he paused the screen to show the tunnel number where the two hulking figures were.
"Let's go!" Leo ordered and with that, the four turtles set out into the tunnels for their new scouting mission.
10:51am… Sewers… Tunnel 281…
It took a little while to get there, even though they knew a majority of the sewers, they still had to take it slow, because it would have been very easy to miss it if they weren't paying close enough attention. But they did, and they wasted no time in walking through the tunnel. Leo thought that with a sighting like the one that was seen on the news, that this place would've been sealed off with security tape, but there was nothing in the way.
There was very little light inside the tunnels, but the ninjas' eyes had long since adapted to the dark and could see as clear as day. But, for this instance, they would need to use their ears. Reason being was because when they reached the middle of the tunnel, there were two echoing roars the sounded throughout the tunnel along with the sounds of laser fire. Leo knew what the laser fire meant: Kraang. As they neared the corner, the sounds of laser fire and the double roaring grew louder and at the corner, the turtles hid to see what was happening.
There, they stood side by side. Two humongous green mutants, one giant alligator mutant and an equally large turtle mutant. Unlike the other four smaller turtle mutants at the corner, this large turtle looked as though he had naturally grown spikes on every part of his shell. The two mutants charged in barrelling through Kraang like they were made of paper, tearing off the android heads. The four smaller turtles at the corner stared on in awe at the sight of the two mutants fighting together. At one instance, the mutant alligator latched onto one of the Kraang droids with his large mouth and shook it about in the air like a normal alligator would with its prey before it threw the android at the wall behind the four turtles. The squishy Kraang inside popped out of the android and scurried away in terror of the alligator.
"I never thought I'd feel sorry for the Kraang." Donnie said but then at that instant, the mutant alligator was surrounded by Kraang droids while the large turtle mutant was busy smashing up more Kraang. The droids that surrounded the alligator activated what looked to be taser rods and thrust them into the alligator's sides. The electrical effect was clear as the alligator roared in pain, this continued for several seconds until the alligator slumped to the ground.
"Tell Kraang at what place can be found the Power Cell that Kraang wishes to find the place of." One of the Kraang said in its ever monotone, robotic voice. The alligator growled out before replying,
"Never." His voice was rough and deep but clear. The Kraang didn't like this answer as they backed away and pointed their blasters at the alligator. Although the four turtles saw this happen, only Mikey responded to this situation,
"We gotta help them!" Mikey said to his brothers, but Raph was almost nonchalant with his words,
"I think 'gotta' is a strong word." Raph said. Leo sided with Raph,
"Mikey, we don't know anything about them. They could be way more dangerous than the Kraang." Leo said with reason but Mikey was having none of it,
"Those two dudes need our help! I can't wait around for you cowards!" Mikey said and then at that point,
"NOOOO!" the large turtle mutant shouted before smashing his way through more Kraang droids and didn't stop until he covered the mutant alligator. The Kraang droids fired and the large turtle mutant winced in pain as the laser shots pelted his hard, spiked shell. Mikey looked on and turning to his brothers one last time,
"How can they be dangerous if they are protecting each other?" Mikey reasoned,
"Do you know what you're getting into?" Donnie said but it was too late as a loud "BOOYAKASHA!" sounded throughout the tunnel as Mikey charged in to the rescue. He used his kusarigama chain to hook onto one of the droids and pulled it to him before using the nunchuck in his other hand to smack the droid's head off.
"Well, that settles it." Raph said as he then brought out his twin sai, "Let's go whack some piñatas!" and with that, Leo and Donnie also brought out their weapons and charged into battle with Raph to join Mikey.
*SMASH**CRASH**BASH**SLICE*STAB*CRUNCH*
It wasn't really much of a fight, it more like target practise for the four ninja turtles. During the commotion, the large mutant turtle that was protecting the alligator mutant, had looked behind him and looked on as the four ninja turtles defeated the Kraang in what looked like practised ease. He stood up fully and turned to the turtles. He completely towered over all of them. The four smaller turtles stood at between 5'8 to 5'11 with Raph being the shortest and Donnie being the tallest. However, the new turtle stood at around 6'5 and was as big as a sumo wrestler, and judging by his visibly toned muscles on his arms and legs, he was also very strong.
"Thank you, for helping us." The large turtle said, his voice was also deep but not as rough sounding. He then looked back at the alligator who appeared to be out cold, "We can't stay here, there could be more hunting for us." The mutant turtle said to which Mikey replied,
"So, why are those Kraang after you?" Mikey asked, though the large new turtle looked a little hesitant to answer,
"We- uh… no I can't. Not where the Kraang are likely to listen." The turtle said, and when he turned back to the alligator, something clicked inside Mikey's head. If this were a cartoon, he would've had a lightbulb appear and shining over his head. He turned to his brothers and spoke quietly so that only they could hear him,
"Guys, guys! How about we get them to safety in the Lair?" the faces of all three of his brothers went completely deadpan complete with their eyes wide and resembling plates. Leo eventually snapped out of it,
"What…? No… no! We still don't know anything about them!" Leo said and then Raph and Donnie nodded in agreement, however, Mikey was still having none of it,
"But they were fighting the Kraang, guys! It's like what Master Splinter said: 'The enemy of my enemy, is my bro'." Mikey said in his best Splinter impersonation. Leo and Raph face-palmed, while Donnie simply sweat-dropped.
"Friend, Mikey. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Donnie corrected, with Mikey replying with a simple, "Whatever." Though Leo was quick to back up his claim with another claim,
"Besides, Mikey, what on earth would Master Splinter say? He was livid enough when we ended up bringing Angel, practically a stranger, into the Lair. It wouldn't take a genius to know what he would do if we brought two huge mutant strangers home." Leo explained, which sent a shiver done his, Raph's and Donnie's shells. Though Mikey remained adamant,
"This time, we'll give him a heads up!" Mikey said but it was at that moment that the large mutant turtle approached them,
"We can't stay here, we have to move, now!" he announced, and prompted Mikey with his offer,
"We have a hideout that you can hideout in!" Mikey said which promptly made his brothers face-palm with Leo quietly saying, "We've literally just been over this…" fortunately for Leo, the larger turtle didn't quite hear him and also, he had something else planned,
"Your offer is appreciated, but no. We wouldn't want to intrude, and besides we've already got our own hideout." The large turtle said and then turned to the alligator and picked him up off the ground and carried him bridal style, though the alligator's limbs were hanging from the unconscious body.
"See Mikey? They already have a hideout." Donnie said and it was then that the large turtle, with the alligator mutant in his arms, turned to the turtles with a thought in mind,
"Listen, I'm not very good when it comes to healing. Do any of you know how to help?" the large turtle said and Mikey wasted no time in pointing Donnie out, earning a very annoyed response from said turtle. "Good. I'll lead the way." And with that, the turtle turned to exit the area carrying the alligator. Mikey got three scowls as he looked to his brothers.
"What? But those guys need our help." Mikey said but Leo remained firm by what he said,
"Mikey, following two mutants that could kill us in a moment's notice is by far the worst idea anyone could come up with." Leo said, but still Mikey wouldn't back down,
"Come on, guys. They're about the only other mutants we've encountered who haven't tried to kill us. And they were fighting the Kraang! We can't leave them alone against the Kraang! Splinter would get really mad at us if we left them to fight the Kraang alone!" Leo would've made a retort but by then, Mikey had already left them to catch up with the larger turtle and alligator. Leo called out for him but then with a huff of annoyance, he, Raph and Donnie eventually jogged up to catch up as well.
11:15am… Abandoned Tunnel Ruins…
Nostalgia was the best word to describe what the four turtles were feeling right now. As they recognised the tunnels they were now walking through.
"Guys, do you realise where we are?" Donnie asked as he and his brothers walked a few feet behind the larger turtle, still carrying the alligator.
"Yeah, I do." Leo said and it was all the more confirmed by the next few corners.
11:16am… The Old Lair…
Old home. Still ruined from when Stockman's mouser robots destroyed it, but it was clear that someone else had come by and cleared some of the rubble. There were still some places that were inaccessible like the kitchen, dojo plus Leo's and Donnie's old bedrooms and the place still looked a little unstable but otherwise it still provided cover for the two new occupants of the old Lair.
"Guys…"
"Dude…"
"No way…"
"…"
Four different responses, but all were pretty understandable given where they were. The larger turtle payed no attention as he headed through the door that led into Donnie's old lab/workplace. Raph, Donnie and Mikey followed the larger turtle inside while Leo motioned that he would call Splinter about the situation.
Inside Donnie's old lab…
It took Donnie few seconds before the nostalgia dissipated and only because the larger turtle had carefully lowered the alligator on his old workbench that was barely big enough for the mutant to lie down on. Donnie walked over to the still mutant with Raph and Mikey following. Donnie examined the alligator, then when he examined the area where the heart was, he made a conclusion.
"Alright, here's what happened: the Kraang's electric shock rods have stopped his heart, if he wasn't already unconscious, he would be dead. We need to give him Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation to jumpstart his heart, now!" Donnie said, prompting the larger turtle wonder what that meant.
"I'm sorry… I don't know what that means, but you said he could die?" the larger said in a partial panic but was doing well trying to keep from falling apart. Donnie went into what his brothers dubbed the Dr Donnie mode,
"Alright, I help through it. Mikey, Raph, give us some space." When Donnie was like this, it was best not to argue. Ever since their first venture on the surface, Donnie had it his mission to learn about medicine, first aid and other healing methods and even surgery from Splinter and of course the internet. He and Splinter had also prompted his brothers to learn as well. Leo was learning well but not as quick as Donnie, while Raph and Mikey were struggling with it. Now, a potentially dangerous alligator mutant needed medical assistance.
It was at that moment that leo walked into the old lab having just finished a phone call to Master Splinter and he had a face that said, 'You were right'. Splinter probably told him the same thing that Mikey did. Though that quickly disappeared when he saw Donnie helping the larger turtle perform CPR. He approached Raph and Mikey, and the two acknowledged him,
"So, how did it go, Fearless?" Raph asked,
"Well, Splinter said to… give them a chance." Leo said and Mikey's face beamed while Raph's nearly deflated.
"Wait… are you saying…" Raph asked, and Leo gave out a defeated, "Yeah…" before his next choice of words he would have to say that he would quickly regret,
"Splinter agreed with Mikey… he was right… and we should give them a chance…" Leo said this very quietly not wanting Mikey to hear, but he did.
"BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey almost shouted, not wanting to distract Donnie and the larger turtle from whatever it was they were doing but that didn't stop him from doing a little victory dance.
Donnie had learned how to tune out his three brother's antics when he was working as long as they didn't touch anything. He had just finished quickly walking the larger turtle through on how to perform CPR. The larger turtle pressed his hands on the alligator's chest area, roughly were the heart was and the CPR began.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… 9… 10… 11…!
On the eleventh pound, the alligator was startled awake, but his eyes were different, and he roared as he leaped off the table,
"KRAANG!" the alligator roared before lashing out at Donnie and the larger turtle, prompting the other three turtles to spring into action. Well… almost. Except for Mikey. The alligator roared at the top of its lungs before suddenly spinning towards Donnie and grabbing him by the face.
"Get him off me! Get him off me!" Donnie said through a partially muffled voice, Leo and Raph brought out their weapons, but Mikey and the larger turtle protested,
"WAIT! He's going through a nightmare that he can't properly wake from!" the larger turtle plead while Mikey used his kusarigama chain to wrap around Donnie's waist to try and pull him free,
"Not like that! Not like that!" Donnie protested before the larger turtle tackled the alligator, forcing him let go of Donnie and was shoved into the wall and was pinned in place, the larger turtle holding him there, using his forearm against the alligator's collarbone and the other on one wrist.
"RELAX! Calm down! Your safe, no-one is going to hurt you!" the larger turtle said firmly but trying to calm the alligator, and after a few struggling seconds, the alligator's eyes returned to normal and eventually calmed down. The larger turtle backed up to give the alligator some space to breath, and after a few deep but ragged breaths,
"We're back at our hideout, you're safe, you know that, right?" the large turtle said,
"…yes…"
"What just happened?" Raph said as though he wasn't going to take a no answer for an answer,
"It has been like this since we escaped from Dimension X. But the nightmares don't stop." The large turtle said, and even though Leo and Raph were still on their guard, Mikey took this news in and felt sympathetic for the two large mutants. The alligator abruptly slid against the wall and sat down, feeling a mixture of shame, sadness and rage and still taking a few deep breaths. Donnie rose to his feet, and it was then that Leo stepped up to ask questions,
"Alright, what is 'Dimension X'?" Leo asked, the large turtle turned to him and then answered,
"It's the home of the… you know what…" the large turtle said as if to try and subtly tell them to mention…
"What? The Kraang?" Mikey said quickly to confirm but then,
"KRAANG!" the alligator roared as its eyes changed feral again and again he lashed out at the large turtle and the other turtles. The large turtle's reaction was instantaneous as he wrapped his huge arms around the alligator and pinned his arms to his sides, while Leo and Raph readied their weapons again, Donnie sprinted to the far side of the room to avoid getting grabbed by the face again and Mikey was ready to help calm the alligator,
"WOAH! It's just us! You're safe!" the large turtle shouted but the alligator struggled and thrashed to get out of his grip, and feeling guilty for being the to trigger this, Mikey jumped into action and onto the alligator's back,
"Woah, buddy!" Mikey shouted and then to massage the alligator's shoulders and then quick massage chops on the same shoulders, "Cleansing breaths!" Mikey said loudly but not shouting, "Cleansing breaths." He said again, this time soothingly which helped stopped the struggling and thrashing. The alligator calmed enough and his eyes went from feral to normal and the episode ceased. The large turtle unwrapped his arms and stepped back, causing the alligator to fall onto his hands and knees. Leo was about to step in with another question but Donnie held him back and shook his head as if to say 'no'.
"It looks like he has some type of PTSD. Mentioning… you know what… might trigger another episode." Donnie said quietly. He hoped this would stop the alligator from lashing out and it worked. Leo still had questions that needed answering and motioned for the large turtle to come outside with him.
Outside, Leo and Donnie stood with the large turtle and the questions began again,
"Okay, so you said that the Kraang's home is called 'Dimension X'. How do you know this?" Leo asked,
"We know this because the two of us were imprisoned there by the Kraang for many years. They performed horrible experiments on us… though it seemed to have damaged him more than me…" the large turtle answered,
"Obviously…"
"Is that why he lashes out like that? Because of their… experiments?" Leo said almost hesitantly, starting to feel bad for the two of them. Another reason to dislike the Kraang even more. The large turtle nodded in confirmation. Donnie was next to question him, though his was a little light hearted in nature but it had the opposite effect,
"I just realised… we never really introduced ourselves." But before Leo and Donnie could do that, the large turtle responded,
"Well, it wouldn't be much of an introduction. We don't have names." The large turtle said, and even though he didn't want to bring down the mood any more than it already had, but it had to be said to avoid future surprises, "But, you can still tell me yours." After introducing himself and Donnie, Leo pointed out his other two brothers in detail, though he was going to have to point this out to Raph and Mikey. It was then that Raph and Mikey walked out of the lab with the alligator mutant. Keeping his voice low so as to keep the alligator from hearing, he quietly said to the large turtle,
"So, the you know who want to bring you back to their home dimension? Is that it?" Leo said and along with a nod of conformation, the large turtle added something else,
"Yes, but that's not all. Before we escaped, we stole something from them. If they get they're tentacles on it, they could do more damage to this planet like they had originally planned for centuries." The large turtle said, but this prompted more questions,
"Centuries?" Donnie said and it was at that point that Mikey, Raph and the alligator were now within talking distance. After a few minutes of the large turtle and the alligator talking it over, they agreed to share what little they knew,
"We don't why they are choosing now and the last decade and a half or so to come to Earth. But we're just guessing that something here on Earth has changed." The large turtle said,
"You said you stole something from them." Leo said and when the large turtle and the alligator looked to each other, they both nodded in confirmation, and the alligator turned to walk towards the rubble were the dojo was being blocked, he picked something out of the rubble and when he walked back to the group, what looked to be a large pink glowing battery with a crystal of sorts inside, got more visible and the alligator explained what it was,
"About a month ago, when we escaped Dimension X, we stole this from them." The alligator said as he held out the object he was holding for all to see,
"What is it?" Leo asked,
"It's a Power Cell. Without it, they cannot enter or exit through their dimensional portal." The alligator explained, when Donnie looked and examined it, something clicked inside his brilliant mind,
"This thing even looks powerful. Something that powerful, the… might have a way to track something like that." Donnie said, careful not to mention the Kraang in fear of getting his face grabbed again.
"We know, that's why we keep moving it. Which is why we have to move it again, now." The large turtle explained,
"Right." Said the alligator and then the two turned around to exit the old Lair,
"Wait, you could use some help." Mikey quickly said. Before, his brothers would've face-palmed but now that they knew more, they did no such thing.
"Thanks, but we can't let you get involved in our problems." The large turtle said but Leo give Mikey his support this time regarding the two large mutants who stopped at the turnstiles,
"Mikey's right. We have already been fighting them for a while now. The more we know about them will help us plan ahead, so we can better fight them." Leo said and Mikey felt better knowing he wasn't fighting his brothers for their support. The two large mutants looked to each other for a few moments before motioning for the four turtles to come along with them.
11:36am… Abandoned Tunnel Tracks…
Walking in silence can go one of two ways. One, the silence can help relax the atmosphere between a group of friends. Two, in can increase tension until there is an ice breaker. This scenario however, it was very much the latter. The six mutants walked along the abandoned tracks, underground and the place was dark and almost depressing because all of this was just about lost or forgotten and perhaps both. But if there was anything that Mikey was good at, besides pranking his brothers, was knowing how and when to break the ice. With this in mind, he turned his head to Leo as they, Raph and Donnie walked a few feet behind the two larger mutants,
"So, Leo, did we ever learn their names?" Mikey asked quietly,
"Well, when we tried to learn their names, they said they didn't have names." Leo said just as quietly, though this sparked a reaction out of Mikey,
"Really!" Mikey suddenly reacted loudly, causing the whole group to stop and look at them. Mikey barely noticed as he practically dashed to the larger mutants, "You guys don't have names?!" Mikey asked as if it were somehow unbelievable, but it was believable when the two large mutants responded with a shake of their heads, "Ha, well you guys are in luck, cuz' I'm a genius at namin' stuff!" Mikey announced, and his brothers sweat-dropped. Raph tried to step in and clonk Mikey over the head for stopping them for something like this, but Leo held him back. Mikey turned his attention to the alligator,
"Let's see…" Mikey said as he looked at the alligator in the eye, the alligator wondering what Mikey was thinking, but didn't get the chance to as Mikey darted around him, poked at his thick tail and then opening his big jaws and inspected the inside of it before closing it. The alligator and his large turtle companion were absolutely bemused by this but as Mikey poked at the top of the alligator's head, he finally spoke,
"Hm… your head is kind of leathery. How about Headleather? Heather?" but then something clicked inside his mind, "No wait! Leatherhead! Even better. Leatherhead." Mikey announced,
"Leatherhead…?" the alligator contemplated this before he smiled, "Leatherhead it is. Thank you…" the newly named Leatherhead accepted his new name and for Mikey, it felt amazing to be thanked for doing something like this,
"I'm Michelangelo!"
"Thank you, Michelangelo." Leatherhead said with a smile before Mikey turned his attention to the larger turtle.
"Now then, let's do you!" Mikey announced and just like he did with Leatherhead, he darted all around the larger turtle, inspecting the spikes on his shell, and his big, muscled limbs. He stood still for a moment, putting his fingers against his chin thinking about another name,
"Your shell has spikes all over it… how about Spike? No wait… Bowser? Nah, that name is already taken." Mikey said and then something just popped into his mind again, "Ooh! I know! Slash! That's great! Slash!" Mikey announced and the larger turtle thought about this for a moment before nodding his thanks,
"Slash… I like that name." the newly named Slash smiled and Mikey was elated by this achievement. He made them happy by giving them their own names, and that made his smile wider. Slash and Leatherhead smiled and as they turned to continue in their tracks,
"I don't know why, but I feel like this has been our best day so far… Leatherhead." Slash said as he and Leatherhead walked alongside each other,
"I agree. This has been good… Slash." Leatherhead said and the two smiled again at the mention of their new names. Meanwhile, a few feet back…
"I can't believe you, Mikey." Raph said with a huff of annoyance, but Leo and Donnie defended Mikey's actions,
"How can you say that, Raph? Don't you see what Mikey did for them?" Leo said,
"Yeah, having no name is like having no identity to call your own. Besides, after being tortured by the Kraang for goodness knows how long, they at least deserve something back." Donnie said as they walked. Though Raph didn't say anything, he silently agreed with his brothers. He was never one to admit his faults so easiy.
11:50am… Train Car Graveyard…
It took some more minutes of walking and navigating, but eventually the group of six mutants made to what looked like a cluster of disused and abandoned train cars. There were dozens of them stacked close to each other and in hindsight, it looked like a good hiding spot. But, Donnie realised that with the Kraang Power Cell, the Kraang would no doubt be able to track that energy signature as it was clear that they have done in the past, and so as he walked with the group, he thought about how they would be able to stop the Kraang from tracking the Power Cell.
"Woah…" Mikey said, bringing Donnie out from his train of thoughts for a moment. And upon looking at the sight of the graveyard of disused train cars, Donnie nearly followed suit. Leatherhead entered the nearest one which was coincidently on the track that the six mutants were walking on.
"This should be a good place to hide it for a while." Leatherhead said, thinking he would need to keep moving it to keep it out of the Kraang's reach, but as Mikey and Donnie entered the train with Leatherhead, Donnie voiced what he had been thinking on the way,
"You know, I think we can use a more effective way of hiding this…" Donnie said, and though Leatherhead wanted the same thing, he felt that no matter what, the Kraang would figure out how to get what they want eventually.
"The Kraang are smarter than they are as soldiers. How can you be sure that whatever you do, that the Kraang won't find it eventually?" Leatherhead asked,
"Well, it certainly could be a lot better than constantly moving it to try and throw them off." Donnie replied, and then Mikey was next to question him,
"Dude, what are you thinking?" he asked, and though Leo, Raoh and Slash were outside the train car, they could also overhear their conversation,
"Well, I'm making an educated guess that… they… are tracking the Power Cell's unique energy signature by using a type of tracker that has the Power Cell's unique energy on record so that they could trace it should they ever lose it. If my guess is correct, then their way of tracking energy is not that much different from how human technology tracks energy, although that is still most likely in its infant stages compared to advanced alien technology but otherwise much less the same. If I had the right- "but during Donnie's rambling his own thoughts, he stopped himself when he saw the glass casing in the floor at the back of the train car, and walked to it. He kneeled to get a closer look at it.
"Actually… this could be it, you guys." Donnie said and Leo and Raph entered the train car to see what had stopped Donnie,
"What is, Donnie?" Leo asked,
"Well, judging by how this graveyard of train cars is, I'm guessing the era that they were built used materials that could do more harm than good. But in our case, it might just be the solution." Donnie explained.
"How? With dirty glass?" Raaph said with a smirk, not really getting what Donnie was onto as he analysed the glass casing, but Donnie just turned his head to Raph.
"Not dirty glass, Raph. Lead Glass. If this really is lead glass, then we can use to refract and bounce the Kraang's tracking capabilities, virtually making them useless." Donnie said, and Raph and Mikey didn't quite understand, Leo understood right away,
"Sounds like we need to get this track car back to the Lair so you can do a proper analysis." Leo said and then Slash entered the train car, it was a bit of a tight squeeze for him, more so for the others as things get even tighter for them since Slash and leatherhead took up a lot of space being inside this small train car. But before he could voice anything, the all too familiar sound of android movement echoed from outside the train car. All six of the mutants inside heard it and when Slash turned around to see what was happening…
"Give to Kraang the Power Cell that Kraang demand that you give to Kraang." A Kraang droid said among the dozens that approached the train car. Slash quickly closed the door,
"It's the Kraang!" Mikey shouted out and Slash used all his strength to keep the train door closed as the Kraang fired on the train car with their laser blasters, while Raph and Mikey did the same with the side door. The Kraang outside pelted the train car with their blaster with not much effect, and they also rocked the train car. But then it all suddenly stopped. The turtles and Slash and Leatherhead, looked about them at the silence but before anyone could breath, Raph and Mikey were startled as the razor blades of the Kraang's blasters sawed through the train car in order to create an opening, this was followed seconds later by more razor blades sawing in through the roof and the other side pf the train car. The Kraang's sawing and cutting were getting bigger, they would eventually see them, and seeing that there were dozens, not even the six of them together could take them on, at least not without sustaining serious life-threatening injuries.
"We're surrounded!" Raph said, stating the obvious as he used his twin sai to block one razor blade from cutting any further. Leo also blocked a razor blade with his twin katana, as he was doing this, he turned his head to Donnie,
"Donnie, can you get this thing running?" Leo asked, a bit desperately,
"This track is dead, there's no power on it." Donnie replied but then Leo thought of the Power Cell,
"What about the Power Cell? Would that power it?" Leo asked quickly, to which Donnie replied just as quickly,
"I can probably use it to hotwire this thing. But I'll need time!" Donnie said. Upon hearing this, Leatherhead and Slash exchanged a knowing look,
"We will buy you time!" Leatherhead announced as he and Slash readied themselves,
"My friends, we have been hiding the Power Cell with very little success. You say you have a plan? We will trust that can do a better job. We will deal with the Kraang." Slash said and then he opened the door, greeting the Kraang with his enormous build before roaring at the top of his lungs a war-cry before lunging at the Kraang with a mighty shoulder tackle and ploughed his way through, followed shortly by Leatherhead who also roared a just as loud battle-cry and joined Slash as they thrashed and lashed at every Kraang in front of them. Meanwhile, back inside the train car…
Donnie was frantically trying to remove the glass cover on the floor of the train car as his brothers tried just as frantically to block the door to prevent the Kraang from getting in.
"Donnie, hurry it up!" Raph shouted,
"I'm going as fast as I can!"
"Not to rush you, but Slash and Leatherhead can't hold them off for long!" Leo all but ordered,
"Be quiet!"
Donnie kept working despite all the demands to hurry up,
"Donnie!"
"I got it!" Donnie announced as all but slammed the Power Cell into the casing and before he knew it, the Power Cell glowed and the train car rattled into life as it was given new juice and before Donnie could acknowledge what was going on, the train car he and his brothers were in suddenly sped along the abandoned train tracks, destroying many Kraang droids that were unfortunate enough to be on the tracks and also making the fight easier Slash and Leatherhead.
The powered train car was speeding at a speed abnormal for its type, as it was evident when the four brothers inside were pushed to the back of the car by the sheer force at which the train car was moving. The boys screamed as though they were on a death defying roller coaster ride for the first time; terrified but thrilled at the same time. Donnie's brain tried to calculate how fast they were going but realised they must have left the Kraang plus Slash and Leatherhead behind in their dust by now, and so without thinking much of it, he pulled on the train car's emergency brake hanging from the ceiling and the result was the train car screeching to a halt, almost like it was in pain from braking so hard at the speed it was going, there were even sparks emanating from the bottom of it. Eventually though, the alien battery powered train car stopped and the brothers could feel the whiplash effect from the sudden screeching stop.
11:58am... In the abandoned tunnels, somewhere…
*DING DONG*
The sound of door opening followed after the sound and the turtles all but crawled out, they tried standing up, but it was like trying to stand up after spinning for too long, their shaky legs couldn't handle it much and so, they either ended up on their hands and knees or sprawled out on their shells or plastrons.
"… Donnie… *HUFF*… *HUFF*… where… are we?" Leo asked as he tried to catch his breath. Though Donnie looked no better sprawled out on his plastron,
"…tunnel… 87…" Donnie voice sounded like he was going to vomit but he said it and when he heard this, Raph sat up from lying on his shell,
"…okay… we were racing at who knows what speed, and yet you know where we still are? How?" Raph asked, and Donnie was too weak to verbally answer so he just pointed up behind Raph, and when he turned to where he was pointing, he saw a tunnel sign marked '87'. "Oh."
"At least we know where we are. We need to get back home so Donnie can… do his science thing…" Leo said in a tone that was less than leader like, causing Raph to smirk,
"Heh, 'do his science thing'?" Raph said mockingly,
"Shut up, Raph! I'm just a little out of breath from that…" Leo snapped but with his weak and shaken limbs, he looked more pathetic than snappy. But they smiled all the same.
12:02pm… Train Car Graveyard…
The train car, along with the turtles and the Power Cell were gone now, the speeding train car decimating most of the Kraang present and with other remaining Kraang droids destroyed by Slash and Leatherhead, only two barely functioning Kraang droids tried to crawl away to safety,
"Kraang must inform Kraang that the ones known as the Turtles have taken Kraang's Power Cell from Kraang." One of the Kraang droids said but in response, two huge looming shadows covered the two followed by a growl,
"You won't be telling anyone, anything!" Leatherhead said as he and Slash attacked the two remaining Kraang.
12:34pm… The Lair…
Being in an unknown tunnel, it took a little longer for the turtles to arrive home. Donnie wasted no time in rushing to his lab with the Power Cell they acquired. Splinter saw this from the living room and wasted no time in asking what happened,
"My sons, what is happening?" Master Splinter asked. At this time, it was unusual since it was still early, but Leo stepped forward to begin explaining their hectic morning. All the while, Donnie was heard using his louder tools and mechanics skills from where everyone else stood. Donnie felt that something like this, he couldn't afford to be quiet about it, he knew what to do and didn't waste time and got straight to work.
12:51pm…
By the time it was done, there was only one thing that was different about this explanation. Master Splinter praised Mikey for his wise decision in giving two souls names they could have and deserve for themselves. This earned four surprised looks from all four turtles, including Donnie who heard it from inside his lab. It even surprised Splinter himself when he used the words 'wise' and 'Mikey' together in one sentence but that didn't stop Mikey from grinning from ear to ear from such a praise that was practically never said. But eventually, Master Splinter got a full grasp of the situation at the end of Leo's explanation, also at that time, Donnie exited his lab with what looked like good news,
"Good news guys!" Donnie announced and when he got a look of confirmation to go on from Leo and Splinter, he continued, "So, I was right about this being lead glass. I can use this to scramble however it is that the Kraang can trace the Power Cell." Donnie said, earning a 'Good work, Donnie' from Leo, and he wasted no time exiting the Lair again with the power cell and the lead glass. No doubt to head back to the train car they brought with them.
Donnie knew that they were going to gain a small advantage over the Kraang and their seemingly endless number of troops and weapons, and he wasn't going to waste it. He would take full advantage of the Power Cell for his next project.
me: hey there! Hope you liked this chapter! Got a challenge for you, at the beginning of this chapter, the Kraang referred to Slash and Leatherhead as 41828 and 330110. These numbers are a reference to something, try to figure out what these numbers mean. Another reference to look out for is when Donnie pointed out they were in tunnel 87. A reference to the TMNT cartoon that first aired in 1987. Anyway, hope you will like the next chapter! Until then!