Chapter 6: Minimal Terror
In the Technodrome, Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady and Team Rocket watched as Krang worked on the keyboard. It had been sometime since the diversion with CY-CLOMPS at the Fort Charles base to steal power from the Malik Missile Plant nearby. "We now have more than enough power to run everything in the Technodrome," he announced. "We can conquer the world and nothing can stop us!" Jessie scoffed, knowing who to praise for the effort.
"Well, Meowth definitely became the hero for all of us," Jessie bragged.
"Yes, and the distraction was a decent wrinkle," Krang agreed. "In the meantime, I can now contact General Traag and send over the Minimizer!" Team Rocket blinked to the names.
"Traag?" repeated James. "Minimizer?"
"Yeah, we's not knowing what dose are, ourselves," Rocksteady admitted.
"Of course you don't," Shredder mulled. "General Traag leads the Rock People under Krang's orders in Dimension X before his exile."
"And before I lost my body," Krang added. Suddenly, a brown rock-like humanoid wearing a green bowl helmet appeared.
"Lord Krang!" he greeted. "We have been wondering when we'd hear from our lord and savior!"
"General Traag," Krang returned. "Have you been able to retrieve the weapon I requested before?"
"Of course," Traag acknowledged. "We have the Minimizer ready for transport."
"Make it so," Krang commanded. The screen flashed white before a black boomerang-like saucer flew out. Everyone saw it.
"So, what's dis Minimizer do?" asked Meowth.
"Quite simple, my feline friend," Krang replied. "The Minimizer will shrink anything it shoots at. My plan is to minimize the army bases that might cause problems for when we rise to the surface which may take hours." With the Minimizer out and about, Krang's plans began. Meanwhile, the Turtles, trainers and Pikachu headed through the sewers to go after the Technodrome.
"I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Team Rocket is helping Shredder in some truce," Brock believed.
"It makes sense as to how Rocksteady and Bebop were able to get the fuel cells from the missile plant," Leonardo added. Donatello looked at a device in his hand where a screen showed zigzagging lines that grew.
"Meanwhile, I'm picking up heavy soundwave activities," he noticed as he scanned the device around before finding the highest spikes. He pointed. "Over there!" Large wires hanged over the pathway, but Leonardo sliced through them.
"Come on, troops!" urged Raphael. They leaped onto a lower level where a giant pipe laid in wait.
("Can we get down this!?") asked Pikachu. Looking, Michelangelo nodded.
"We can use this as a shortcut!" he pointed out. Leonardo used his katanas to slice through it and open up.
"Hearing about this Technodrome is making me anxious to tear it down," Ash prepared as he punched his open hand. Leonardo leaped into the pipe first.
"Turtle Power!" he shouted. Ash was next.
"Here we go!" he cheered as he leaped in.
"Geronimo!" cried Donatello before going in.
("Wait for me!") squeaked Pikachu as he entered.
"Cowabunga!" shouted Michelangelo as he slid down.
"Let's rock!" yelled Brock as he slid down.
"Have a nice day!" teased Raphael as he slid down. After a minute of sliding, they hurried to find the Technodrome while the Minimizer reached the surface and flew. The heroes reached lower echelons of the sewers.
"Is it just me, or is it getting warmer down here?" wondered Ash as they climbed down ladders.
("I feel it!") squeaked Pikachu.
"Well, we're beneath the sewers and reached the Earth's crust," Donatello mentioned. Michelangelo irked to the mentioning.
"Don't mention crust," Michelangelo complained. "It makes me think of pizza at a bad time." The group proceeded on when a large vibration shook the cavern.
"Did you feel that?" wondered Ash.
"We did," Leonardo confirmed. "We must be getting closer."
"Well, it is the Technodrome," Raphael reminded. "What do you expect us to do, say 'Stop!' to it?"
"No, we need to get inside," Leonardo corrected. "We have to shut it down before it reaches the surface."
"Considering your description of the Technodrome, we might need to split into teams when we get there," Brock added. On the surface, a military base found the Minimizer flying overhead. Turrets fired at the craft, but couldn't strike it once. Then, it fired a green beam at the base. The facility shrunk to half the size of a blade of grass.
"It worked!" celebrated Krang. "The Minimizer works like a charm!"
"I see," Jessie smiled. "That's a handy weapon. We could shrink the twerp and take Pikachu while he's powerless!"
"You can have fun with it when we're done making sure the armies are small problems," Shredder promised.
"And da toitles?" asked Bebop.
"They'll be crushed," Shredder sneered. The Turtles and Trainers continued their path before they felt stronger vibrations.
"We have to be getting really close!" yelped Donatello.
"I think we can all tell!" snapped Raphael.
"How close are we exactly!?" shouted Ash.
"If I'm right, the Technodrome is beyond that wall!" assumed Donatello. On cue, the giant fortress broke through the wall. It caused the ceiling to crumble on top of the Turtles and Trainers, but they bailed before they were buried. Seeing the size of the mobile fortress, Ash, Brock and Pikachu gawked.
"You have to be kidding!" gulped Brock. "That's the Technodrome!?" Ash saw the treads and realized an opening.
"Between the tank treads!" he alerted. The heroes gathered between the treads as it rolled pass.
"Since the Technodrome's going the same way!" plotted Michelangelo. "How about we hitch a ride!" He threw a hook that latched onto an upper portion of the fortress. Everyone hung on the line with the Technodrome dragging them. Raphael was on the Turtle Comm.
"April, come in!" he shouted. "The Technodrome about to surface. Do what you can to warn everybody!"
"I'm on it, Raphael!" called April. He pocketed the Turtle Comm before climbing to the platform. The Turtles were breaking off a panel before Brock spotted an easier method.
"Over here!" he shouted. Everyone came to the vault-like door with "ENTRANCE" on top.
"Entrance?" read Ash.
"Krang expects us to fall for that?" teased Raphael. Leonardo turned the wheel before kicking the door out. Everyone jumped in but Raphael who shrugged his shoulders. "I guess he does." Inside was a hanger bay as a set of different vehicles.
"Dudes, looks at all of those wheels!" awed Michelangelo.
"If only I was old enough to get behind the wheel of any of them," Ash joked. Donatello had an idea.
"I can think of two places where we can shut down the Technodrome," he started. "The engine room and the relay room."
"Then, Ash, Raphael and I will hit the engine room," Leonardo declared.
"That means Brock, Michelangelo and I will go after the relay room," Donatello added.
"Bingo!" agreed Michelangelo. "We'll delay the relay." The two teams broke in which they headed for their assigned rooms. Riding on three-wheeled motorcycles, Raphael and Leonardo rode with Ash joining Raphael's drive and Pikachu with Leonardo down corridors.
"We could search this king-size rat cage for days and not find anything!" argued Raphael.
"It could mean that the engine room's in the lower levels!" believed Leonardo.
"We won't know until we keep pressing forward!" warned Ash. They entered a facility with all sorts of cylinders and steam pouring out.
"What the heck is this place!?" questioned Raphael.
"My best guess is the Thermal Regulating Chamber!" thought Leonardo. As they toured, the other team drove in a tank in finding the relay room.
"You know, sooner or later," Michelangelo thought. "Shred-Head's gonna be onto us." As if proving his prediction, Shredder watched as he realized the Turtles and Trainers had infiltrated the Technodrome.
"How in the devil did the Turtles and humans get in here!?" he snapped.
"If the Breeder Twerp got in," Jessie pondered. "Pikachu's Twerp won't be far behind." It was a problem the evil ninja wasn't going to let slide.
"We must stop them quickly!" agreed Shredder.
"You continue to operate the Minimizer," Krang instructed. "Let these guys and some Foot Soldiers deal with our guests." Complying, Shredder turned to the four in knowing what to do.
"You heard him," he ordered. "Annihilate the turtles and those boys!"
"Right, boss," Bebop accepted before heading off. "We got dem shellbacks right where we want dem!"
"As long as you leave the twerps to us," James argued. Krang had more.
"Just to be on the safe side should those dim bulbs fail," he sneered. "I have a few more surprises in store for the Turtles." A while later Ash, Leonardo, Raphael and Pikachu reached a room with a conveyor belt and claws. They entered through a ventilation shaft.
("Now where are we!?") wondered Pikachu. Looking around at the machinery, Leonardo had a guess.
"This must be the Manufacturing Plant," he believed.
"It must also be where the Foot Soldiers are made," Ash pondered. "We can destroy this place before they know what hit them."
"We'd like ta see you try!" shouted Rocksteady. Hearing, the heroes turned to Rocksteady and Foot Soldiers at the ready. By him was Jessie.
"Rocksteady!" snapped Leonardo.
"And Jessie!" snapped Ash. A showdown was about to take place. Meanwhile, an elevator shaft reached a new level. The door opened where James and Bebop stood in wait. However, they gasped when they found nothing but a silver shell.
"Is that… Forretress?" wondered James. Suddenly, it was aglow. KABOOM! The trio flew from the shaft to the wall far in the back. Forretress emerged where it had swirls in its eyes. Brock, Donatello and Michelangelo emerged from above.
"You must have some mondo trust for Forretress to use Explosion," Michelangelo gulped.
"This is from being with Ash for all of these years," Brock joked. April buzzed Donatello through the Turtle Comm.
"Donatello, there's something flying and shrinking army bases with a UFO!" she reported. To Donatello, the saucer from above didn't surprise him.
"The Technodrome's back to full power," he briefed. "Krang and Shredder can send anything they want through here. Just stay out of sight if you can."
"I can do that!" accepted April. They proceeded on when they found a room with all sorts of technical and scientific equipment from electrical rods to plenty of other relays.
"This is it!" awed Donatello. "The Relay Room." Brock awed the area.
"So, what do we do?" he asked.
"If we take out a few of these electrodes," Donatello plotted. "It will shut down the Technodrome." A laugh came from the side. All turned to Krang with maces for arms and Meowth on the robot's head.
"Krang!" gawked Michelangelo. Brock blinked to the name.
"That's Krang?" he wanted to be sure. "And I thought Ash was one who thinks with his stomach." Krang gawked to what he implemented as an insult.
"Very funny!" he snarled. Donatello eyed Meowth with an interest.
"Wait, isn't that the cat what April mentioned in the news?" he pointed out.
"Oh, I was mentioned?" believed Meowth. "I guess I must be famous."
"In your dreams, Meowth!" argued Brock. "Why help this brainiac?"
"Youse means you don't know?" taunted Meowth. "We've been enemies and Team Rocket share a goal with dis warlord in conquering woilds. Sure, being with a grotesque Rhydon knockoff doesn't settle with Jessie, but it beats being with Toitles protecting Pikachu from us." Michelangelo and Donatello were having a hard time believing Meowth.
"I know it hadn't been that long since April was a cat girl," Michelangelo recalled. "Quite literally and freaky…"
"Yeah, Meowth is an exception as a Pokémon with him talking human," Brock summarized. "I bet that's what you were going to bring up." Michelangelo nodded.
"Now that you know who I brought along," Krang growled as he swung the maces around. "It's time I make sure you don't interfere!" He flung both maces which tethered Michelangelo and Donatello. Brock was left.
"Looks like you'll need an extra hand," he sneered as he reached for his belt. However, that was denied by Bebop as he lassoed Brock to the ground.
"Would dis woik?" he snorted as James joined.
"Sometimes, comedy works in mysterious ways," he taunted. Brock now realized the trap. While the Turtles and Trainers were dealing with Shredder's combined forces, April trailed the Minimizer in the news van. It hovered over a baseball diamond. She didn't know what she saw.
"A few bases like Fort Macintosh being shrunk and stored in that UFO, and now this," she gathered. The Minimizer fired a beam to the ground, confusing her. "Now, what is it doing!?" The Minimizer turned around and spotted the van. April felt like she had been targeted. "Sorry I asked!" The Minimizer fired laser shots at the van and April began to panic. "I'd like to lose a few pounds… but not like this!" She tried to drive the van away, but the momentum of turning the steering wheel back and forth to evade the Minimizer's attacks caused her to flip the van onto the roof. April sighed, unhurt from the flip. "It's a good thing I wear my seat belt." Then, an earthquake… and very close. "Now what!?" The land began to crumble as something began to rise. To Shredder, the arrival of the Technodrome neared completion.
"At last," he gasped. "After all this time… the Technodrome arises!" The Technodrome surfaced where April saw it, disbelieving the sight.
"That's got to be the Technodrome," she gawked. "And it's headed this way!" The news van laid in the path. She, the Turtles and Trainers were in a crisis.
TO BE CONTINUED...