A New Start

by DARKFUZZYbubble89

Follow the story of the four brothers as they discover how dangerous the Krang truly are, will they defeat their enemy or will their tense relationship tear them apart from the inside? Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. :)

5. Chapter 5

Authors Note: Welcome back to the continuation of A New Star chapter 5. Before diving into it, we last found our brothers following Liz back through a portal, only to be ambushed on the other side. Was Liz telling the truth about a plan or was this all a ploy to reclaim Raphael? To find out you will have to read on, happy reading and see you at the end of chapter 5.

A New Start Chapter 5

(R) "Ah sewer apples."

The brothers find themselves crouched on the ground, disorientated from being hurled through the portal. They try to stand but are cut short as the Krang charge up their blasters. Raph hovers his hand over his sai, ready to attack, knowing now that perhaps coming here was a terrible idea.

(R) "Nice going Leo, this couldn't have gone any worse."

Suddenly, Raph feels a suffocating sensation gripping his chest.

(NO… I forgot we can't breathe here, shit.)

The brothers collapse to the floor, gasping for air in a dimension where their air was unbreathable. Quickly Liz rushes to their defence, positioning herself in front of them, her arms outstretched like a shield.

(Li) "Please lower your weapons. They do not pose a threat."

"Who are these creatures, Liz?"

"They are noble warriors from a planet called Earth. I have brought them back here as allies to help us win this war. Please, lower your weapons so I can assist them. They are dying."

(Yeah no crap Liz, hurry it up!)

The krang exchange glances with each other before eventually relenting, lowering their blasters, and walking away as if nothing had happened. As Raph lies on the floor, his lungs burn and scream at him, slowly he reaches the verge of unconsciousness. Through squinted eyes, he glances over at his brothers, watching as they slowly suffocate, their skin turning blue, and expressions of anguish plastered on their faces.

(I'm sorry. I failed.)

Just as Raph feels himself fading, a rush of air fills his lungs. Quickly he jolts up into a sitting position, gasping for air. Gradually, his breathing steadies and he looks over to see his brothers doing the same. Relief washes over him; he hadn't failed. Anger however quickly overtakes his relief and he glares at Liz, rising to his feet and storming over to her.

(D) "You just... had to say something... didn't you!"

(R) "YOU ALMOST KILLED US LIZ! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

"I'm sorry I forgot you can't breathe our air here. I honestly forgot. I'm sorry."

"WELL, IF WE WERE DEAD, 'SORRY' WOULDN'T CUT IT!"

(M) "Chill, dude. You're overreacting."

"I AIN'T OVERREACTING! YOU ALMOST SUFFOCATED US!"

Liz looks down, visibly ashamed, and for some reason, Raph couldn't justify his angry outburst. He knew he was right about her nearly killing them, but it didn't feel right to keep berating her.

(Li) "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly. I promise I'll think ahead from now on."

Raph felt a tinge of embarrassment for shouting at her and turned away.

(Li) "Now, if you would be so kind as to follow me, we can begin discussing the plan. It's just this way."

(L) "Sure thing. We'll follow behind you."

Liz leads the way, disappearing through a doorway. Leo casts a disappointed look at Raph before joining Liz, followed by Donnie and Mikey. Raph hesitates for a few seconds, reluctantly surveying his surroundings, before trailing after them. They enter a room as Liz pushes open the door, revealing a meeting chamber with a wooden table in the center. Around this table, 20 Krang droids sit, their gazes fixed on the brothers. The atmosphere feels tense, and the brothers can't help but feel uncomfortable under their watchful eyes.

(L) "I hope you told them we were coming."

(Li) "I did this time, fortunately. They were the ones who instructed me to go and get you, take a seat."

Silently, they take their seats. Liz takes the final chair, but instead of commencing the conversation, an awkward silence hangs in the air. After a minute, Raph can feel himself growing impatient, he starts tapping his finger on the table waiting for anyone to start talking, but he is unable to tolerate the silence any longer.

(R) "Look, are we going to do this or not?"

"So I'm guessing this is the loudmouth."

A majority of the Krang at the table chuckle at the remark, except for Liz and one Krang at the head of the table, who remains stern and serious. Raph clenches his jaw, standing up from his chair.

"LOUDMOUTH, LISTEN HERE. YOU GUYS WERE THE ONES WHO WANTED US BACK HERE. WE DIDN'T HAVE TO COME!"

The krang at the end of the table then stands, prompting everyone to fall silent and bow their heads out of respect. He places his hands on the table. Scanning the room.

"I am council member Yezeiri, I apologize for the council's behaviour, I do not condone it in any sense. These are our guests, they have come back from their homes in order to help us and you mock them, they are giving up much of their time to help us and are risking their lives, so I warn you, show respect to them. I apologize I forgot you cannot hear us telepathically; we had already begun."

"No, we can't hear you telepathically."

(L) "Raph, just…"

Leo grabs Raph's shoulder, guiding him back into his chair. He gives him a reassuring squeeze before looking around at the council.

(L) "So, you're wanting our help with something?"

(Y) "Indeed we do. It has come to our knowledge that the other Krang have a book that belongs to us, a bestiary that contains much knowledge about a deadly weapon. With that book in their possession..."

A hologram of a giant portal then appears in the middle of the table.

"They can create a portal so large that it can teleport entire islands from this dimension to Earth. This would have catastrophic consequences, not only for Earth but for us as well. We have some time on our hands in this matter, as you could probably tell, building something of this magnitude won't be easy. However, they managed to construct half of it within just a single week. If we do not stop them by the end of this week, the portal will be complete."

(D) "Hey, we had that book. There was nothing about a weapon in there. I read the entire thing."

"We would not simply write the instructions in regular ink. We used ultraviolet-activated ink instead. We believed placing the instructions into something as unsuspicious as a bestiary would throw them off, but I guess they figured it out."

(Li) "Wait, you guys had the book?"

(M) "Yeah, we found this freaky crashed Krang ship, and when I went inside, I found the book and a jar of freaky mind bugs."

(Li) "I'm guessing that's how Raphael got infected."

Raph looks over at Mikey and frowns, he still slightly blamed Mikey for what had happened.

(Li) "That ship belonged to us. We were going to attempt to hide the book somewhere in New York City, but the other Krang shot our ship down before we could."

(D) "So are you guys Utroms?"

"No, while we are very similar to Utroms, we are not the same."

(L) "How so?"

"Utroms are a group of our kind who were never under her control. They've always had their freedom and individuality. We, on the other hand, were once under her control. We considered ourselves Krang, but we eventually broke free and formed our own Krang community, one with a group of leaders, not just one dictator. We are friendly to the Utroms, but we don't prefer their way of life. We still prefer some order and structure."

(M) "Who's her?"

(D) "Krang Prime, Mikey, if I'm not mistaken."

(Y) "Yes Krang Prime. She is a wicked being, controlling our kind like puppets, mindless slaves. She has perfected a type of mutagen that gives her control over other species, like yourself, Raphael, we lost many good soldiers to it. She forces them to do unimaginable things, things that they cannot control, things that…. I'm sorry, I will speak no more of it."

Everyone looks at Raph, making him feel uneasy. He tries to avoid eye contact with everyone but accidentally glances at Liz. She looks back at him, giving a warm smile, but he looks away awkwardly.

(L) "So, what exactly are we supposed to do about this portal? It must be massive?"

"It is indeed very big, but we have two devices that will allow us to destroy it. One will short-circuit the system if needed, and the other is a teleportation gun we'll use to destroy it."

(D) "A teleportation gun… How is that going to destroy it?"

(Li) "The gun itself won't destroy it. It's the location we're sending it, that is going to destroy it."

Liz presses a button on the table, the hologram changing into a giant black hole. Donnie stares in awe at the hologram, while his brothers look at it confused.

(L) "What is it, Don?"

"It's... it's a massive black hole. Something this size must be producing an immense amount of Hawking radiation. That level of energy could power… well, just about anything. How on earth did you find this?"

(Li) "We have been around for hundreds of millennia, searching the vast expanse of space, traveling the universe from galaxy to galaxy. How could we not stumble upon it?"

(M) "What's a mellenni… melleiums… mellemium?"

(D) "A millennium is a time period of one thousand years, so they have been around for a very… very long time."

(M) "Duuudddeee, that's so wicked!"

(L) "So throwing this portal into the black hole will destroy it."

(Li) "That's the plan, and even if it isn't destroyed by the black hole, the gravitational pull of this black hole will be too great for them to escape from if they try and retrieve it."

(L) "This plan seems dangerous."

(Li) "It won't be easy, but this is the best solution we have. We need your help."

(R) "So what exactly do you need us to do?"

A new hologram then appears on the table, and the brothers stare at it, feeling themselves begin to sweat. As they look at the hologram, they see a giant battlefield that stretches for miles and miles, every inch of it lined with droids and bunkers equipped with laser guns. Further out in the distance, a fortress comes into view. It is extremely high and well-defended, with hundreds of Krang guards outside and more surely lurking within, and right in the middle of that fortress, the giant portal is being built.

(HOW IN THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO GET THROUGH ALL THAT?!)

(R) "You gotta be joking. Look, I like smashing in Krangs like there's no tomorrow, but this is ridiculous."

(M) "Dude, we'd get blown to Pieces!"

"Look, turtles, I know this isn't exactly the best scenario, but you have to remember you aren't fighting this alone."

(R) "It doesn't matter if we're fighting this alone or not. This is just stupid. There's no way we can get through all this."

(Li) "That's what the first weapon is for. We can also use it to short-circuit the laser guns long enough for you to get in and destroy the controls."

(M) "WAIT!"

(L) "What is it?"

"Liz, does that weapon have a name?"

(Li) "Uhhh…"

Liz looks around at the other Krang, and they all shrug.

(Li) "No?"

(M) "YES! Naming things is my specialty. Just give me a minute, I'll have something!"

(R) "MIKEY, stop interrupting for stupid things!"

"THIS ISN'T STUPID, DUDE! We can't go around calling it weapon one!"

Raph sighs and brushes him away.

(R) "Just do it quietly, stupid."

(D) "I don't know, Leo. Our odds of surviving this aren't very high."

(L) "What are they?"

(D) "You don't wanna know."

Everyone starts discussing options on what the plan should be, Raph doesn't pay attention. He looks back at the hologram, and the camera has now moved inside the fortress to the main area where the portal is being built. Raph stares into the hologram, and a familiar figure catches his eye. He leans in to examine the hologram more closely, and just as he had thought, he finds Kanz walking around screaming at other Krang.

"Hey, Liz."

The room falls silent at his voice, everyone turning to look at him.

"Yes?"

"Is this thing broadcasting a live feed."

"No, it isn't. This was taken a few hours ago."

Raph leans in closer and stares at Kanz. Surprisingly, Kanz stops what he is doing and looks back at him. Kanz smiles up at Raph, as if he knows he can see him, and then does a hand gesture for Raph to come and get him. Even though Raph can't be sure that this was meant for him, he has a suspicion that it is. Raph can feel his body heating up out of anger. Kanz was so smug and cocky, and this pissed Raph off to no end.

(R) "We'll do it. We'll do your stupid plan."

(L) "WHAT?!"

(D) "Raph!"

(M) "Dude, no way."

(L) "Raph, we haven't even discussed this yet 'AS A TEAM'. We don't even know the full plan. How can you say we're in."

(R) "I don't care about the plan."

(L) "Well that's obvious."

"All I know is we have to stop Kanz. If he gets this portal up and running, then we can kiss our city goodbye. Plus you said you wanted to be some kind of hero."

(L) "Running in blind isn't the best option, and what happened to 'I don't trust the Krang,'? You only wanna do this because of Kanz."

"Leo, as soon as that Krang messed with my family, he went straight to the top of my hit list. I'm doing this with or without you."

Raph slams his fists into the table and storms out of the room, hiding just outside the door and quietly listening in.

(Li) "What about you three?"

(L) "We need some more time to think this over, and we would actually like to hear the rest of the plan. Our hot-headed brother usually just jumps into this kind of thing without knowing all the details."

(M) "Yeah, he's like a raging bull most of the time."

(D) "I would also like to know more about this first device."

(M) "OOOOO, I KNOW! CALL IT THE CIRCUIT KILLER!"

Donnie sighs heavily.

(D) "I would like to know more about the… circuit killer."

"Awwww man, it's such a cool name!"

(Li) "Of course, let us continue then. We can go over the entire plan and your roles."

Raph scoffs and walks down the hallway. He tries to find something to do, but no matter how hard he tries to avoid other Krangs, he always seems to find himself being stared at.

(God it's like I'm some sort of exhibit.)

Eventually, his attention is drawn to a dark room, and he walks towards it. As he enters, the light automatically flicks on, revealing a shocking sight. It was a massive training room equipped with every imaginable piece of equipment, yet it was completely empty. He scans the room for a moment until his eyes land on the virtual training room. Taking a quick glance around to ensure he's alone, he rushes over and pushes open the door. However, upon entering, nothing seems to happen. Confusion sets in, but then a camera emerges from the ceiling, scanning him. Suddenly, an alleyway materialises as a backdrop, gradually replacing the training room until he finds himself back in New York. Slowly, a pair of legs materialises, followed by a body, and finally, a head, Fish-Face.

"Oooookkkkk?"

Fish-Face finally loads in, immediately launching an attack on Raph without hesitation. Swinging his blade, he tries to slice Raph, but Raph manages to back away and counterattack. He jabs his sai towards Fish-Face, attempting multiple strikes, yet Fish-Face expertly ducks under each one and pushes Raph back with a forceful kick.

"You're getting slow, turtle."

"Huh, try it again and see what happens."

"With pleasure."

Fish-Face charges at him once more, swinging his blade like a mad man. Raph seizes the opportunity, using his sai to trap Fish-Face's arm and swiftly bending his wrist until the knife drops into his hand. With the knife in hand, Raph kicks Fish-Face's legs out from under him, causing him to fall over. Raph kicks him into a wall and delivers a final blow, rendering him unconscious. Raph tosses Fish-Face into a nearby dumpster, closing the lid, and brushing off his hands.

"Damn, taking out the trash has never been so easy."

The simulation then fades away, the virtual training room reappearing around him, a camera descends from the roof, and scans him.

"Would you like to initiate another virtual training session?"

"Eh, why the hell not."

"At what difficulty level would you like it set?"

"Uuuuhhhh…"

"Easy, medium, hard, or real life?"

"Real life?"

"Option confirmed, readying blades."

[Three training sessions later]

Raph smashes the garbage can lid into Bebop's face as he turns the corner. Bebop tumbles to the ground, groaning in pain.

"You hurt my piggy snout."

Raph swiftly strikes Bebop in the face with a side-swipe kick, rendering him unconscious.

"That was some Looney Tunes bullshit. You actually ran into the lid."

Raph discards the lid, and the session comes to an end.

"Would you like to run another training session?"

"Nah, don't wanna get too cocky, though I am pretty good."

Raph exits the training room and walks over to a nearby window, he leans up against the glass and gazes outside at the barren wasteland, miles and miles of desert stretching out before him. Surprisingly, despite the emptiness of it all, it was still somehow beautiful. Taking a moment to absorb the scene, he notices a small figure sitting on a tree in the distance. The figure was strangely familiar and filled Raph with intense rage.

"How in the hell does he keep finding me?"

Without hesitation, he dashes out to the main area of the building, frantically scanning the surrounding area for an exit. His eyes lock onto a giant red sign labelled "exit."

(God, they really do like labelling their stuff.)

He rushes towards the door, pushing it open. He feels a hot gust of wind brush against his face. Racing back to the window he had looked out of earlier, his gaze shifts to the tree in the distance. He sprints for twenty minutes until he reaches the tree, where Kanz sits calmly, engrossed in his book.

"Do you ever put that stupid book down?"

"Do you always go out of your way to find me?"

Raph remains silent, acknowledging that Kanz's remark held some truth. He had disobeyed Leo to Chase after him.

"I'm only doing this because you messed with my family. No one messes with my family."

"Oh, how sweet. I didn't take you as a family man, Raphael."

"I ain't here to talk."

"Do you really think that's a good idea? Our previous encounters didn't end well for you."

"Well, in this field, we're more evenly matched. You don't have droids to cower behind anymore."

"HA! Like you're the last person to call anyone a coward. Every time we've crossed paths, you've run away like a coward. You and your brothers, you're all cowards!"

"Enough!"

In a swift motion, Raph lunges at Kanz, unsheathing his sai. However, instead of striking Kanz, his sai strikes the tree trunk where Kanz had been sitting.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Raph feels his body being slammed into the tree, causing the bark to crack and collapse under pressure. He crashes into the ground, struggling to comprehend what just happened. Before he can react, Kanz lifts him by his shell and hurls him across the wasteland. Raph tumbles uncontrollably until he finally comes to a stop, lying on his stomach. He props himself up, using his arms, and glances back to see Kanz Slowly approaching.

"You're slow, turtle. In this dimension, I am the most powerful, the fastest, and the strongest. Against me, you stand no chance. That's why I am second in command, why I am A LEADER. I OWN YOU, AND YOU WILL BE MINE!"

"God, do you ever shut up!"

Kanz sprints at Raph before he can react, grabbing him and flinging him into the air, and slamming him back down into the ground, all within a few seconds. Despite the pain, Raph musters the strength to stand up and block Kanz's next attack with his arm. The pressure threatens to break his arm, but he manages to push Kanz away and assume a defensive stance. Kanz charges at him with a knife, but Raph evades, skilfully flipping and ducking under the attacks. He continues to dodge until he spots an opening and seizes it. Kanz misjudged his aim, and Raph seizes his chance, grabbing Kanz's wrist and twisting it until he can snatch the knife away. Raph plunges the knife into Kanz's suit, but Kanz grabs it, halting Raph from pushing it deeper. Both of them strain against each other, exerting so much force that it feels as if they are being pushed into the ground. Their eyes lock, and neither breaks the intense gaze. No words are exchanged for some time.

"You stand no chance, Raphael. Just let me have you!"

Kanz starts to slowly overpower him.

"It would be so easy if you would just give in and let me take control."

The knife is pulled further and further out, despite Raph's best efforts.

"As if I would willingly do that. I'm taking you down, one way or another, you ain't hurting my BROTHERS!"

Their eyes remain locked, but Raph notices Kanz's gaze drift towards his arm. He follows Kanz's line of sight and sees him eyeing the device on his arm. Their eyes meet again, and Kanz lunges for it, attempting to rip it off. Raph jumps back, but this distraction allows Kanz to retrieve his knife and strike. Raph feels the blade slice across his arm, cutting through his skin and some muscle. He glances at his wounded arm, but Kanz seizes the opportunity. He kicks Raph's feet out from under him, launching him into the air. As Raph ascends, Kanz jumps after him and kicks him back toward the Krang's building. The force of the kick leaves Raph winded, he struggles to catch his breath. Moments later, he crashes through the window of the building, sliding across a table before coming to a stop, shards of glass jabbing their way into his skin. Slowly, Raph rises to a sitting position, glass shards sticking to his skin. He acts as of nothing had happened, slowly getting to his feet shakily, brushing off the glass shards from his body. Suddenly, a hand touches his shoulder, Raph spins around quickly to find his brothers and the Krang council all staring at him, their expressions stern and concerned.

(L) "Raph, what the hell is happening?"

"I can explain."

Before Raph can even get out an explanation for crashing through the window, he feels something wrap around his waist, yanking him back out through what remained of the window, shards of glass still attached to the window frame, sliced him as he was dragged through. As he is pulled down to the floor, he manages to land on his feet but rolls his ankle awkwardly, letting out a slight yell due to the jolt of pain. Kanz attempts to pull him again, but Raph retaliates, throwing Kanz off balance. He swiftly charges at Kanz, kicking him onto his back. Kanz quickly gets back on his feet, and a standoff ensues. However, their confrontation is cut short when Raph's brothers and multiple Krang join behind him.

(R) "Face it, Kanz. You're outnumbered."

"Although I may be outnumbered, That won't stop me."

(R) "Surrender, and I will think about not pounding your face into the floor."

"If you've learned anything today, Raphael, it's that you're no match for me. And for once, I get to be the coward. It's only fair, after all."

A portal materialises behind Kanz, and he quickly flees inside, the portal closing behind him. Raph tries to chase after him, but the pain from his injuries and rolled ankle prevents him from doing so. Standing in the barren wasteland, Raph feels frustration and anger welling up within him. How could Kanz have escaped again? Was he truly that bad at fighting?

(R) "I swear if it's that last thing I do I…!"

Leo places a hand on Raph's shoulder, Raph spins around to look at his brothers, their faces are y serious and stern.

(R) "Let me guess, I was stupid for taking him on alone."

(L) "You were. That wasn't exactly the best thing to do. I mean you absolutely got your ass handed to you."

(R) "I know."

"Not to mention, he got away."

"I know!"

"And you got hurt pretty bad in the process."

"I KNOW!"

"But you showed me something."

"I did?"

"Is taking down Kanz something you really want to do?"

"It's not something I want to do, it's something I need to do. He won't stop until we're dead."

"Then we're in."

"You are?"

(D) "Yeah, we went over the plan and… well, we're in."

(M) "Yeah, dude! We are, like, super chill with these guys now. Even Liz, she's pretty cool."

Liz comes walking over and smiles at Raph.

(R) "So you actually convinced them to go along with this crazy plan."

(Liz) "Pfft, like you can talk. You don't even know the plan."

Raph jokingly scoffs at the comment and looks down at his arm, which is still dripping blood.

(Li) "Come with me, Raphael. Let's get you cleaned up, and then the plan can begin."

[2 days later]

(Li) "ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP!"

The Krang droids quiet down and look up to Liz. She stands for a few seconds and then calls out the brothers to join her on the stage. Leo guides his brothers out behind him, standing awkwardly on the stage, looking out to hundreds of thousands of Krang droids.

(R) "Well, this ain't terrifying or anything."

Leo elbows him in the gut and signals to Liz to continue. She nods and looks out into the crowd. Raph looks down at her hands and sees her fidgeting, then he looks back up at her face, noticing she's nervous.

(Li) "Now listen, I am aware that what we are about to do is ambitious at best, crazy at worst. But this is important. It may not feel like that. It may feel like we are charging head-first into the storm for no reason, risking our lives for something so insignificant. But it's not that. It's… it's uh…"

Liz looks at Raph, giving him a look for help. Raph tries to look away but out of the corner of his eye, he can see her panicking about what to say, how to say it.

(R) "Guess it's up to me then, huh?"

She smiles at him hopefully and moves out of the way. Raph walks to the middle of the stage and channels all his anger into this speech. He is unsure of what to say, but then it just comes to him.

"Now I know you don't know me. I know you may not like me or understand why I am here, talking to you, fighting alongside you. But the truth is we have a common problem, an enemy that threatens to wipe out the very existence of all of us. They say war and fighting bring out the worst in people, show they are monsters, and push them to their very limits. I've seen fights and fought in many battles, and sometimes yes, losing people… good people. But I stand before you today not as a warrior or stranger, but as a testament to the strength we can harness through war. War is not a path we choose to go down. We were merely thrown into the deep end and expected not to come out on top. But we will. They cannot win because if they do, all will be lost. This very ground we claim as ours, this very air we breathe, these very people we love will cease to exist. We cannot let them win. So I ask, do not see me as the enemy. Do not question why I fight alongside you. We must ask ourselves how we are going to fight and come up on top, how will we claim victory. So go forth and destroy the one thing to stands between us and victory. DESTROY THE KRANG!"

The crowd becomes a sea of angry and determined warriors. They scream and yell, banging their weapons on the floor, and await for the orders to advance. Liz walks over to Raph and places a hand on his shoulder.

"Where the hell did that speech come from?"

"I have no idea. But all I know was that it lacked a few bits of coarse language here and there."

"You did good."

Raph then realises she was no longer nervous.

"Hey, wait a minute are you telling me you."

"Yep."

"And it was all."

"Yep."

"And you were."

"Yep."

"Huh, you little shit."

"I just thought I would give you an opening to speak on behalf of your brothers."

Liz then giggles to herself and pushes Raph gently to the side.

"Listen up, in 2 hours, the sun is going to have fully set, and we don't have long left until the portal has finished being built. We have five days max to stop them, and if we don't, it will spell disaster for us all. Once that sun has set, we are going to send out the four brothers to disarm all the laser guns. This will give us a fighting chance to advance our troops and take down the Krang. Once the brothers have set off their flare we're going to advance and take down these Krang!"

The crowd starts up again before moving off to get ready.

[2 hours later]

The four brothers stand at the portal, they check their gear and headsets, ready to start the mission.

(M) "So, what's the plan again?"

They all groan in annoyance.

(L) "Mikey, we've talked about this for the last 2 hours."

(M) "Well, sorry! It's a lot to remember, and I was busy."

(D) "Busy doing what?"

Mikey smirks and reaches into his belt, pulling out a handful of small beads. His brothers look at him confusingly, frowning.

(L) "Good job, you found… beads?"

(M) "I know, right? Pretty cool."

Leo palms his face.

(L) "Ok, look Mikey, the plan is simple. First, we go out there and disarm all the laser canons with the… circuit killer. Once we have disarmed them all, we set off this flare and signal for the Krang to advance. Then we get into the fortress, short-circuit the portal, and teleport it away. Got it?"

(M) "Cooolll, riiiggghhhttt."

"You already forgot, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Ok, look, just follow my lead, got it?"

Mikey puts a thumbs-up and smirks.

(L) "Right, let's do this."

Raph hadn't paid much attention to the conversation and was instead staring blankly into the portal, almost like he was off in his own world.

(L) "Psstt guys, come here."

The three brothers get closer together and form a huddle.

(L) "Whatever happens out there, we can't let Raph be alone with Kanz. He's likely to do something he'll regret."

(D) "That's going to be kind of hard, considering we have a lot of other things going on."

"I know, but we have to try. It isn't going to end well if Kanz gets his hands on him."

(M) "Don't worry about it, dudes. I'll keep an eye on Raph. He won't leave my sight. Oo, is that a coin? … Nope, it was a pebble."

(L) "Did you seriously just do that, you know what sure."

The three break the huddle and begin double-checking their gear. Leo grabs Raph's shoulder, snapping him back to reality.

(R) "Uh, sorry. I was off in my own world there."

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. He has to be stopped."

"Promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise me you won't go after him. If he gets away, let him."

"Leo, I can't do th-."

"RAPH, please, remember what Splinter said."

"Yes, but-."

"NO... no but's. If he gets away, LEAVE HIM! He isn't worth risking your life over."

Raph looks at the floor.

(I can't let that happen. I have to protect you guys. It's my fault. I'm sorry Leo.)

"I promise I won't go after him."

"Good. Now let's do this."

(M) "Aww yeah, high three, bros! booyakasha!"

The brothers high three and walk through the portal. The battle has begun.

This is the end of chapter 5, I tried to spend some more time on it to make it read better, I probably didn't do as good of a job as I think I did, but that is up to you to decide. I'm excited for chapter six, that's when all the action-packed stuff can begin, yyyeeesss! I released this just before I went away on my ski trip, which was my deadline to get this out. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you next chapter, happy reading.