Chapter 23: The Zipp Storm
Things have gone from bad to worse as the Zipp Ash and Michelangelo saved became hundreds if not thousands of the metal-eating creature from Dimension X. They ate cars, streetlights, hydrants, I-beams, anything made of metal. The Turtles, Trainers and Pikachu seemed surrounded by the creatures. "They're going to eat the city alive if we don't do something!" exclaimed Raphael.
"But how!?" asked Brock. "There's so much copper up here, there isn't enough time to settle everyone down!" Leonardo had a theory of the Zipp's origin.
"I'm beginning to get an idea where the creature came from," he suspected.
"You mean… Dimension X?" guessed Ash.
"Not much of a surprise if that's the case," Raphael assumed as well. "It's got Shredder's fingerprints all over!" He tried to catch one Zipp, but he missed and crashed into a car. Pikachu saw a Zipp eating a parking meter and used Thunderbolt, but the Zipp split into two and dodging the electric attack.
"We need a plan," Donatello suggested. Everyone wondered about an idea.
"Dudes, I say we split up," Michelangelo thought.
"Any reason we should?" questioned Raphael.
"Because that's what they're doing!" pointed Michelangelo, referring to the Zipps.
"We'll use it and see if we can gather them to one spot," Ash believed. Everyone split up and tried to tackle the Zipps. None came close. The Zipps were too elusive for even Pikachu to catch and they fell on their faces.
"This isn't working!" complained Leonardo.
"What did you expect?" shrugged Michelangelo. "There's six of us and 80 bazillion of them."
"And counting…" added Brock.
"This is more for the Department of Pest Control," Raphael sighed.
"Look, we found that creature and should've been watching over it," Ash admitted. "They're still new to this place as we are to them. Right now, shadowing them is all we've got."
"It's a hard reality, but Ash has a point," Leonardo sided. They pursued any litany of the Zipps as Shredder, Krang, Team Rocket and the mutants watched in glee from the Technodrome.
"This plan is working much better than anticipated," Krang awed. "Those Zipps are ravaging the city!" He turned to Shredder and the Rockets. "This is perfect to steal the Rigidium and bring it back to the Technodrome."
"Who knew dem Zipps were dat devastating?" awed Meowth.
"I see," Shredder pondered. "Perhaps you have something that can indicate where the Rigidium is."
"And I do," Krang confirmed. "Use the vehicle's built-in metal detector when you reach the surface. I have it set to locate the Rigidium." A Foot Soldier rolled a tank into the main room.
"If it means getting to the surface and going after Pikachu, I'm in!" demanded Jessie. Krang grabbed her and held her up.
"You will do no such thing!" he refused. "Besides, you've done nothing to help with this place you're staying in."
"We fail time and time again," Rocksteady admitted. "But we give it 110%."
"Even these Nimrods know they do more work than you, Crimson brat," Shredder scowled. Jessie growled as James latched on to the tank in the back before Shredder left for Earth with him, Rocksteady and Bebop. They landed on the streets of New York where they were stuck in traffic.
"You'd think that cranial entity would've had us somewhere empty!" complained James.
"We've landed in the middle of Rush Hour traffic!" realized Shredder.
"So?" voiced Bebop. "Dis tank is bigger dan dem cars. We can just roll over dem." Shredder awed the idea.
"About time you said something smart, Bebop," he agreed. Putting the tank in drive, Shredder bulldozed and flattened cars. People scrambled out of their cars and to safety. Meanwhile, the Turtles and Trainers followed the Zipps to a museum.
"They're headed to the Museum of Natural History!" gasped Raphael. Inside, the Zipps were eating anything metallic. One entered a case, somehow phasing through the glass.
"Hey, those aren't yours!" scolded Ash. The Zipp ate a mineral before belching a couple of time. It started to glow before vanishing. "And it's gone?" More Zipps ate legs of a table holding two turtle models. The table fell and the models were destroyed.
"Oh, now that's too far!" complained Raphael. Michelangelo had to put a stop to the shenanigans.
"Alright, you little dudes!" he shouted. "KNOCK IT OFF!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" snapped Ash. The Zipps stopped and turned to Ash and Michelangelo while Brock and the other Turtles were stunned. "Did anyone tell you to eat other people's property? You should be ashamed at what you did!" The Zipps looked apologetic.
"Whaddaya know?" awed Michelangelo. "It worked!"
"Yeah, they're actually listening!" giggled Ash.
("They look guilty,") squeaked Pikachu. Raphael wondered if this was from the first encounter.
"I wonder if it has to do with saving that first one from the barrel in the last chapter?" he guessed, breaking the fourth wall.
"Ash and Michelangelo did use their teamwork to corral that one, meaning that it thinks he's their father," Leonardo assumed. Ash managed to lead the Zipps out with everyone following. "Now we need to get the rest of the creatures." At a new tower, Shredder's tank rolled up as he left a cascade of crushed and destroyed vehicles.
"According to the metal detector," he studied. "It's picking up a large quantity of Rigidium at this tower." Looking up, James studied the structure.
"I read before that today's the opening of the new Lofty Tower," he spoke up. "What are the chances that the Rigidium is the foundation to this building?"
"I'd say da chances are good," Rocksteady guessed. "But how do we get up dere in da first place?"
"We shift gears and go vertical," Shredder plotted as he adjusted the stick shift. Engines propelled the tank upward. At the top, a handful of reporters stood in front of an aged gray-haired wearing a blue tuxedo with a bow-tie.
"And so it was, through the discovery of the new miracle metal that I, Donald J. Lofty, could build Lofty Tower," he proclaimed. "A huge shaft of Rigidium that helped build this tower runs through the building…" He pointed to the steel spire that topped the tower. "It connects here, in the central support spire." April and Irma felt bored while standing by their camera.
"Oh boy…" yawned Irma. "This is the longest speech I've ever heard."
"Not to mention boring," April mulled. She turned to find Pete with the hand-held camera and came to him. "It seems that you'd prefer the skyline than Lofty."
"It's not as exciting hearing somebody's life story than it is getting a breathtaking view of Manhattan," Pete compared. "Think about it: the scenery, the breeze, Shredder appearing to cause havoc…" April gasped as they saw the tank rising. Donald held a giant pair of scissors as others stretched a ribbon across.
"And now, the Mayor and I will cut this ribbon and proclaim Lofty Tower to be-" he started before Bebop shot a laser blast that destroyed the scissors. All turned to see the flying tank and Bebop standing and aiming.
"Nobody move!" he ordered.
"The Rigidium is ours!" added James. Everyone felt held hostage. Back with the Turtles, Trainers and the Zipps.
"So, we know that these creatures came from Dimension X," Donatello reviewed. "The only reason this could happen is that Shredder and Krang have a plan that had us distracted by the one creature and manifest into many." Brock sensed a missing component into the scenario.
"But what could they be after?" he questioned. Leonardo cupped his chin with his hand.
"That's what we don't get," he shrugged. "It wouldn't make sense for Shredder to simply use this creature without a reason."
"The question is what for?" pondered Leonardo as Donatello eyed something close by.
"All of this detective work is starting to make me hungry," he sighed. He found a vending machine and headed toward it.
"I haven't seen you eat anything that wasn't a pizza," Brock pointed out.
"Who knows how much damage has been done around the city, especially the pizzerias," Donatello pointed out as he purchased a chocolate bar. A Zipp zipped in and took the bar from Donatello before eating it.
"Whoa, the little guy appreciates something actually edible!" awed Leonardo. "It probably doesn't help that there isn't any chocolate in Dimension X." Donatello bought another bar and the Zipps became interested.
"Maybe there's something about chocolate that these guys enjoy," he pondered before offering it to the Zipps. Two ate the chocolate before the two became one after a flash.
"Whoa, what just happened!?" gasped Brock.
"Did they reunite?" guessed Leonardo. Brock had an idea as he pounded his fist to his palm.
"Of course!" he voiced. "We still need Ash and gather the creatures to snack on it, and that it's the first thing they've eaten that isn't metal!" Leonardo wanted to follow up on the idea.
"We're gonna need a big candy bar for this!" he plotted. "And I know where! Come on!" They left with the Zipps still by them, now eager to have the candy. Meanwhile, Donald, his staff and the reporters couldn't move aside from having their hands up.
"Vernon got off easy compared to us," Pete mulled.
"But what can we do?" whispered Irma. April had an idea.
"Pete, reach for my Turtle Comm," she quietly suggested. "It's in my back pocket."
"Okay, but I don't want to hear anything about getting close for no reason," Pete warned. Shredder and James set up a device aimed at the spire.
"Let's get the spire and get back to the Technodrome!" ordered Shredder. Donald didn't like the approach.
"You can't!" he pleaded. "Every girder in the building connects to that! If you cut it off, the tower will collapse!" Shredder scoffed to Donald's warning.
"That's your problem!" he argued as the laser from the device started. At a warehouse, Leonardo, Donatello and Brock arrived at a sign that had "AJAX CANDY" with a wrapper above the latter word.
"Ajax Industrial Candy Foundry: makers of the world's largest chocolates!" announced Leonardo.
"Think the guys inside can help us?" wondered Brock. They entered to find a warehouse with one chocolate bar that was as tall as the building.
"There it is!" pointed Donatello. "Let's see if we can ask for help." A worker spotted the trio and came to them.
"Hey, if it isn't the Teenage Mutant Ninja Frogs!" he misidentified.
"Turtles," Donatello corrected. The worker didn't mind.
"I'm a big fan of yours!" he cheered.
"That's great, but let's not do autographs right now," Leonardo refused.
"Is it possible to take that giant bar?" requested Brock.
"Sure!" the worker accepted. "Anything for some of my favorites!"
"Thanks!" praised Leonardo. "Brock, get Ash over here." Brock nodded before opening his Turtle Comm.
"Ash, come in!" he called. "Can you hear me?" Ash appears on screen.
"Loud and clear, Brock-o!" replied Ash. "What's up?"
"Listen, can you guys bring those creatures over to a warehouse called Ajax Industrial Candy Foundry?"
"A… candy warehouse? What's going on?"
"Leonardo, Donatello and I may have found a solution to the mess. We just need to have those creatures over here."
"Good timing to call. We've managed to round up all of the creatures in the city. We'll head there ASAP!"
"Good… Brock out!" He closed the Turtle Comm as the Turtles used pulleys and a semi-truck to pull the giant chocolate bar outside. The Zipps came flying in as the Turtles undid the wrapper.
"Dessert's ready!" shouted Leonardo. Michelangelo, Raphael, Ash and Pikachu arrived to see the Zipps eating the chocolate.
"Well, this is something we can all relate to," Ash laughed.
"They're really going to town on that!" awed Michelangelo.
"Just watch," Leonardo sneered. "There's a little magic to the candy." As they watched, the Zipps started shrinking in numbers at a massive speed.
"Whoa, the chocolate's bringing them together quite literally!" wowed Raphael. As the Zipps became less and less, the sizes of the remaining began growing. Worry came over the heroes.
"Um, guys," Ash gulped. "We may have a big problem." There was one Zipp… but it was the size of the warehouse.
"Big?" gulped Raphael. "How about King Kong size!?" The giant Zipp looked down at the heroes, still happy to see them. They don't know about the situation at Lofty Tower.
TO BE CONTINUED...