- Chapter 30 -
Notes from the Underground, Part 1
The Hamato siblings and Kagome, accompanied by Tai, Mizuki, Erika, Jade, Hana, Miko, and Makoto, scoped out the warehouse Sam had mentioned. Eventually, two disguised Krangdroids approached the building, carrying strange blue crystals from a large hole that had been drilled in the ground.
"That's new." Donnie turned to Hisako. "Any idea what those... are?"
Hisako had gone pale, rubbing her temples and looking queasy. "Ugh, sorry D... just got one shell of a migraine…"
"Did you eat one of Mikey's pizza dishes?" Kagome asked. "You're looking a bit queasy."
"Hey!" Mikey objected.
"No, I don't have a death wish," Hisako replied, getting another "Hey!" from Mikey. "But no... I don't know what those are. Power cell crystals are pink."
"What's to know?" Raph asked. "Krang has them. They're bad news. Let's take 'em down."
"Hey, works for me," Tai agreed. "Erika, stay with Hisako while we check this out. She looks ready to keel over."
"You got it," Erika gave a thumbs up, sitting Hisako down as the others crept over, getting to vantage points. Mizuki drew her bow, taking careful aim at the back of one Krangdroid's head. Taking a deep breath, she fired. The arrow struck true, piercing through the Krangdroid's skull and dropping it. Immediately, the other Krangdroids rushed to their companion's aid, and were simultaneously shot down. The Utroms inside jumped free.
"Miko, sic 'em!" Tai ordered.
Nothing happened. looked up, seeing Miko laying on Hisako's lap on the roof.
"Are you serious right now…" One of the Utroms lunged at him and he quickly cut it down. "She's stealing my dog!"
"Honestly, I think Hisako just has animal magnetism," Mikey mused, using his nunchucks to knock out another Utrom.
"Yeah, don't be jealous," Raph added, smashing two more together. With that done, Donnie picked up two crystals, looking them over.
"Fascinating…" he mused. "The composition is completely different from the Power Cell crystals… I'll need to get these back to the lab to analyze them."
He slung his duffel bag off his shoulder, placing them in.
"While he does science nerd stuff, wanna come hang out?" Mikey offered. "We can finally get around to watching my new Super Robo Mecha Force Five box set."
"No way!" Tai said, visibly excited. "That was one of my favorites when I was little!"
"Well, we just happened to have connections who hooked us up!" Mikey grinned.
"Our friend April," Kagome added. "Her dad owns an antique store. He gave them to us as a gift."
"Well…" Leo began, uncertain of letting them down in the lair.
"If you're worried about too many people and someone noticing, we can split up," Hana suggested. "Go to your place separately."
"Yeah, and we can take separate entrances," Tai added.
"That could work," Donnie noted. "We can spread them out across different manholes."
The Clan all stopped.
"...Did you say manholes?" Jade asked.
"You live in the sewers?" Makoto questioned.
"More specifically an old abandoned subway station in the storm drain, but yeah," Vee clarified. "Where else would a bunch of mutant turtles live in New York?"
"They have us there," Hana conceded.
"Well, when in Rome…" Jade shrugged. "Let's hit the manholes."
Down in the lair, everyone arrived through different entry ways. The Clan took in the sights.
"Welcome to our humble abode!" Mikey declared. "It ain't the Hilton, but... eh, let's face it. You'd be better off staying at the Hilton. But hey, it's home."
"Whoa…" Tai whistled. "This place is pretty neat."
"Is this really an old subway station?" Erika asked.
"Yeah," Leo confirmed. "We washed up in here when we were little, and it's been home ever since."
"My mom helped Master Splinter refurbish the place, and provided them with a lot of essentials," Kagome added. "Electricity, heat, TiVo, and all that."
"Feel free to boot up the TV and enjoy," Donnie said. "I'm gonna be in my lab."
He headed for the lab while Mikey got the DVD player ready, inserting Disc 1 of the Super Robo Mecha Force Five set. The others kicked back, watching and getting into it.
"Eh, it's okay," Tai allowed, "but the original Japanese was way better."
"Maybe, but who wants to read while watching cartoons?" Mikey challenged.
"Mikey, we're bilingual," Raph reminded him, flipping through his Modern Ninja magazine on the couch. "We literally speak Japanese. We don't need subtitles."
"You guys speak Japanese?" Mizumi questioned.
"Of course we do," Mikey answered in fluent Japanese, albeit with a rather thick accent. "Our Dad wanted us to be able to properly understand and respect our heritage."
"You don't grow up with Japanese immigrants without learning the native tongue, after all," Leo added. However, unlike Mikey's, Leo's Japanese was perfect and devoid of a New York accent.
"Show off," Mikey grumbled in English.
"Oh yeah, Leo's the master of speaking Japanese, as you can see," Vee remarked. "You'd think it was his first language."
"Impressive," Tai admitted.
"Meh, he's nothing but a teacher's pet," Raph insisted.
"And you're just jealous, Raph," Leo shot back without missing a beat.
They glared at each other for a moment before Kagome stood between them.
"All right, break it up, you two," she ordered. "We have guests."
Hana blinked. "I take it they butt heads a lot?"
Kagome sighed. "More than I'd like to admit."
"Sounds like there's never a dull moment down here," Makoto mused, idly fiddling with a camera he had pulled from his own bag. It was a small digital camera, but it was clearly well cared for.
"You're into photography?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah, it's a hobby of mine," Makoto replied. "I've even worked it into my ninjutsu style."
Mikey instinctively rubbed his eyes. "So I've noticed."
"Just make sure you keep photos down here and in the tunnels to a minimum," Leo requested. "It's not that we don't trust you. It's just we'd rather not risk our home being accidentally compromised."
"No worries. Nobody outside the clan really sees them anyway." Makoto came to the photo he took of Mikey during the fight, depicting the orange turtle's surprised expression and shrunken pupils. He chuckled. "Oh, that'll be a keeper."
Mikey grumbled, then went back to watching TV.
-X-
Inside Donnie's lab, the purple-banded turtle was studying his new crystals. He examined one on the microscope, seeing a bizarre structure that was almost organic.
"The microscopic crystal structures are linked, almost like... mutated brain cells," he mused. "Absolutely fascinating. And they seem to be giving off some sort of low level resonance… I wonder…"
He picked up both crystals, slowly and gently touching them together. Much to his surprise, once he did, they began glowing and emitting a high-pitched ringing noise.
-X-
In the living room, Hisako perked, feeling a sharp pain in her head. She cringed, hands going to her head, before squeezing her eyes shut and screaming in agony. All eyes instantly fell on her as she crumbled to the ground.
"Hisako!" Leo screamed.
Erika rushed over to her and Miko began whining.
"Nandayo-" the medic managed before gasping in horror. "She's bleeding out of every orifice!"
Sure enough, small trickles of blood were running like tears from Hisako's eyes, as well as from her nose and through her fingers around her ears. As if that wasn't bad enough, she spasmed, letting out a choked gurgle as a small trickle of blood bubbled out of her mouth, just as the ringing finally reached their own ears.
"What is that?!" Tai demanded.
"Whatever it is, it's killing Hisako!" Leo shouted.
"The crystals!" Vee realized. "Hisako got sick being near them!"
Mikey immediately jumped to his feet just as Donnie stood up, hearing the screams, which were getting progressively more shrill. He saw the crystals glowing, putting two and two together.
"Donnie, do something!" Mikey yelled. "Shut 'em off!"
Donnie panicked and quickly swatted one away, where it clattered to the ground. As soon as he did so, the ringing and glowing petered out. Hisako released a violent gasp before collapsing and flopping over like a puppet with cut strings. Miko nudged her with his nose, whining again before tentatively licking her face. Erika carefully pulled her up, checking her pulse as Vee came over with a washcloth.
"Her vitals are stabilizing," she reported, "but that was… The best I can compare it to is a seizure, or an aneurysm."
"What the fuck?!" Jade demanded.
"Donnie, what just happened?" Leo asked. "What are those things?"
" I don't know!" Donnie objected. "All I did was touch them together!"
"Yeah, and it nearly killed Hisako!" Raph yelled. "We should destroy these things here and now!"
"Hold it, Raph," Leo cut in. "We have no idea how that would affect Hisako. We need to think about this rationally.
"I've only scratched the surface of what these things are," Donnie said.
"One thing's for sure," Mikey mused. "We've found Hisako's Kryptonite."
"And there's no way in hell we can let even a single one of these damn crystals end up in Krang's hands," Raph declared, Leo nodding in agreement.
"Guys, we've got a bigger problem," Erika interjected. "Hisako's condition... she needs to go to a hospita-"
"NO!" the Turtles and Kagome quickly interjected.
"Look at her!" Erika exclaimed, gesturing to the unconscious girl in her lap. "She's lost too much blood! The internal damage that those things caused... I'm not trained for those kinds of medical procedures!"
"We're not taking her to a hospital," Leo declared.
"We can't," Donnie insisted. "How would we even explain this? Not to mention she doesn't have a health record, or anything to prove she exists, and don't even get me started on the ramification of her waking up surrounded by unfamiliar people in-"
"Then you might as well start planning her funeral!" Erika snapped. "'Cause that's what's gonna happen!"
Tensions were steadily rising, torn on what to do. Then Tai perked up, remembering something.
"Hold up, didn't that Mortu guy say that mutagen is a medicine?" Everyone turned to him, also remembering that little tidbit of information. "Why don't we take her back to him?"
"He's right…" Vee reluctantly admitted, "and it's not like we have a lot of options."
"Are we sure we wanna trust them with Hisako's life?" Raph questioned.
"It's either him-" Leo scooped up Hisako, adjusting his grip on her, "-or a hospital."
Raph was instantly sold. "Mortu it is."
Meanwhile, deep within the catacombs of New York, Hisako wasn't the only one affected by the ringing noise. Something else was awakened by the noise. Something monstrous… and deadly.
Samson opened the door as soon as the Turtles arrived, gasping at the sight of the bloodied Hisako.
"What happened?!" he demanded.
"Artificially induced aneurysm," Erika replied. "She's lost a lot of blood and her cognitive functions are severely hindered.
Samson quickly snapped to. "Come, follow me."
He led the group into the lobby, then over to a second elevator, one different from the one to Mortu's office. He swiped his ID, scanned his retina, and stepped in, hitting a series of buttons.
"Where are you taking us?" Raph asked.
"To the true TCRI."
The elevator descended to the bottom floor, opening into a sizable facility that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Technodrome and Krang's other facilities. Utroms walked around in unsuited exoframes, as well as miniature flying saucers. Naturally, the Turtles were uncomfortable stepping into that area, Leo adjusting his grip on his sister. Thankfully, Mikey was quick to speak up.
"Everything's so blue…"
"That's because this is real Utrom technology," Samson explained. "Everything Krang uses, he stole and repurposed."
"Honestly, the blue looks so much better," Mikey mused. "I mean, pink? Really?"
"Actually, there are prisons that once used pink as a means of calming prisoners, only for it to backfire and make them worse," Donnie recalled.
"Can we save the trivia bits for after we save Hisako, please?" Raph requested.
"This way," Samson led them over to several clear tanks attached to the wall, gesturing to Leo. "Put her in."
Leo carefully did so, setting Hisako upright. Samson strapped an oxygen mask to her face, attaching two wires to her temples before pressing a button. As they watched, the tank slowly filled up with mutagen. Mikey's eyes lit up at the sight.
"Oh my God, it's a real life bacta tank!" he exclaimed.
"Indeed, it's quite similar," Samson confirmed. "The mutagenic medicine will work to repair her body on the cellular level. It will take a couple of hours for the process to be complete, but she'll make a full recovery."
Hisako's siblings all sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Samson," Kagome told him.
"You can thank me by telling me what caused her to fall into such a state."
"These," Donnie opened up his duffel bag to reveal the crystals, much to his family's horror.
"You brought those things here?!" Vee shrieked.
"How else was I gonna explain it, or get any confirmation whether or not they're from Dimension X?" Donnie defended.
Samson took a look at the crystals, grimacing. "I'm afraid I can't answer for certain. Bring them to Mortu. He can answer better than me."
Leo nodded. "Then that's what we'll do."
-X-
Mortu picked up one of the crystals, examining it closely.
"I have never seen such crystals before," he informed them. "They are not of our home planet, nor are they of Dimension X. This is something... entirely undiscovered by our kind."
"Well, that's ominous," Raph deadpanned.
Jade crossed her arms in thought. "So if they're not from space... and they were around this big drill hole… could they be from Earth?"
Donnie tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It's possible."
"That... can't be," Makoto insisted. "I mean, people would have found such crystals before if they were from Earth."
"And no doubt the government ensured that information on them got locked down," Hana pointed out.
"No doubt they did," Mortu agreed. "There are some things mankind was never meant to tamper with."
Mikey swallowed hard. "I hate when people say that. In horror movies, that's the line right before the leader says-"
"Then we need to find them first," Leo declared.
Mikey let out a whimper. "That."
At that very moment, Donnie's T-Phone went off. He pulled it out, the screen depicting a giant turtle shell flashing green and emitting a high-pitched alarm (1).
"The perimeter alarm…" he gasped. "Something's set it off!"
"Not good," Tai patted his leg. "Miko, come!"
Miko didn't move, the dog currently sitting right in front of Hisako's tank like a statue.
"Oh, come ON!"
"We'll come back for him later," Mizuki decided.
"Seriously?!" Tai objected. "That's MY dog!"
"And here, he'll be safe," Mizuki pointed out. "And Hisako will have protection."
Tai grumbled indignantly as they went.
The group hurried back down to the sewers, arriving at the area where the alarm was tripped. They looked around, finding nothing.
"There's nothing here." Raph said.
"I… wouldn't say that," Makoto pointed to the ceiling. They looked up, gasping to see a set of four-toed, clawed tracks embedded across it.
"Please tell me that's from your gecko cousin..." Hana quipped lightly.
"No," Leo replied. "And they're too small to be Leatherhead."
Hana blinked. "Leatherhead?"
"A mutant croc who likes to grab Donnie by the face," Mikey explained. "Hisako's bestie, and the reason they got out of Krang's lair to begin with."
"Oh..."
"The tracks lead this way," Tai cut in. "C'mon!"
They followed the tracks, which eventually led them to a massive hole in the wall.
"Whatever this thing is, it tunneled clean through a cement wall," Jade mused.
Donnie pulled out a baggie, chipping off part of the cement. "Looks like the molecules have become unbonded. Maybe some kind of catalyst? Or an acid?"
Mikey was looking around nervously. "Okay... this is the part in the monster movie where the first attack happens. The first guy never makes it. Need I say more?"
Raph smacked him upside the head. "Get a grip, shell-for-brains. For one, unlike in your dumb movies, all of us are trained ninjas. We got this."
"I'm well within my rights to panic, bro!" Mikey insisted. "Haven't you seen those movies?! The monster always starts with the good-looking comic relief guy- ME!"
Raph just smacked him again.
"I'll need to take a closer look at this in my lab," Donnie decided. "Then maybe we can find out what we're dealing with here."
As they walked back, they missed a pair of glowing red eyes appearing in the darkness of the hole, followed by an ominous growl...
-X-
In the lab, Donnie looked over the cement fragment.
"Interesting…" he noted.
"Was that a good interesting, or a bad one?" Mikey asked, still unnerved. "'Cause this is the part in the movie where we should be looking for the monster's one weakness or we can kiss our shells good-bye. Trust me, you don't want to underestimate a monster!"
Raph and Vee exchanged looks, nodding. The next thing Mikey knew, he was taking a Super Soaker blast to the face. He sputtered before shaking his head.
"Thanks. I needed that."
"No problem," Vee replied. "It was our pleasure."
Erika looked over the petri dish. "What've we got, Donnie?"
"It looks like that creature melted right through the stone," Donnie remarked. "Being able to liquefy stone is the perfect ability for a subterranean life form."
"Maybe, but I don't think there's any creature capable of doing that," Makoto said.
"It's probably not a normal creature…" Leo mused. "It's probably a mutant. And where there's mutants..."
"There's Krang." Raph realized.
"That answers one question, but raises a lot of others," Vee noted. "As Dad would say, a wise strategist gathers all his information before deciding on a course of action."
"Uh-oh..." Mikey gulped.
"Time for a little fact-finding," Hana decided. "All those in favor, say 'Aye'."
Everyone raised their hand and shouted "Aye". Reluctantly, Mikey followed suit.
"I think we're gonna die…" he sighed before perking. "Oh, wait! I just remembered. I have to, uh... go wash my hair. It'll take all day. Gotta run!"
He turned to go, only for Vee to grab him by the back of the bandanna and drag him along.
"Nice try, baldy," she said.
"Aw, man…"
"Mikey, we literally invaded an alien spaceship twice," Leo pointed out. "Why is this what scares you?"
"If you must know, it's because this little scenario is almost exactly like this freaky monster movie I watched last night."
"And this is why you're not allowed to watch horror movies," Vee deadpanned. "How did you even get it past Hisako?"
"...I bribed her with chocolate and got her some MCR (1) CDs to listen to." Mikey confessed.
Leo rubbed his eyes. "I should've guessed…"
"Well Mikey, there's a saying I think fits this scenario," Jade said. "'You reap what you sow'."
Some time later, the group was geared up, standing before the tunnel. Leo entered first, followed by the others. Mikey signaled to Raph.
"Age before beauty, bro." he offered.
As Raph entered, Mikey started tiptoeing away, only for his red-banded brother to grab him and yank him in by the scruff of his neck. They made their way down the acid-carved tunnel, stepping out into what looked to be a long abandoned subway depot.
I'm guessing these are the old subway cars that used to connect to our subway tracks," Donnie whispered. "They date back to the early 1900s at least."
"Why are you whispering?" Makoto asked.
Donnie was spared the effort of an answer by the sound of ominous creaking from the nearby supports, followed by pebbles and dust falling.
"Ah, gotcha."
"When you live down here, you learn the hard way that structural integrity is a pipe dream," Leo remarked.
"These boards will give way at any second," Donnie added. "So no loud noises and no touching."
They slowly and quietly crept along, looking around on the ground.
"See any tracks?" Kagome asked.
"Nope, nothing," Mikey declared, already turning to go back. "Let's go home."
Mizuki cleared her throat, pointing down on the ground where there were more tracks visible.
"Oh, those tracks…" Mikey whimpered.
Raph snarled, then grabbed Mikey by the tails of his mask, pulling him closer and hissing in his ear. "Mikey, let me make this clear: If we don't get those crystals, Krang will, and he will use them to make Hisako suffer. Do you really want to do that to her?"
Mikey went wide eyed, horrified at the thought. "No, of course not!"
"Then suck it up and mutate a pair for our sister." Raph shoved him back in the right direction, releasing his mask. "Get it?"
"Yeah…" Mikey let out. "Yeah, I got it."
"Good," Raph nodded. "Don't make me tell you twice."
As they continued along, a booming sound startled them, along with falling debris.
"Everybody freeze!" Leo hissed.
They all stood stock still, even as dust kicked up. Their blood ran cold as Mikey's nose began twitching and he began to inhale. He was about to sneeze, and from the looks of it, it was going to be a big one. Before he could let it out, Raph darted over, slapping a hand over his mouth.
"Not. A. Sound," he hissed. "Got it?"
Mikey nodded rapidly. Raph let him go at that. Mikey placed a finger under his nose, and it slowly faded away. But then he let out a loud sneeze, which echoed through the tunnel and caused more rumbling. More debris fell, everyone freezing in place.
"Okay, I'm gonna say it," Jade sighed. "This guy is a walking hazard."
"Mikey, for God's sake!" Raph hissed. "Next time, bring an antihistamine!"
"It's a reflex, not a circus trick! How am I supposed to control a... " Mikey looked past them, the blood draining from his face at the sight. "A huge, grotesque, and frankly quite horrifying monster?!"
Everyone stiffened at that before slowly turning around. Indeed, approaching them was a hulking monster made entirely out of stone with glowing red eyes.
"That... doesn't look like Traag, or Granitor…" Donnie said meekly.
"Of all the times to be without Hisako…" Raph sighed.
The monster let out a massive roar. At the sound, the rumbling got louder and support beams began to collapse.
"Oh, crap!" Kagome shrieked. "RUN!"
All of them rushed out of the depot. The tunnel collapsed behind them, the group narrowly jumping out just as it collapsed. As they panted, getting their bearings, Tai looked at the blocked off tunnel.
"Guess we're not going back that way."
"You think that thing survived?" Jade asked.
"I have little doubt," Donnie replied. "Its stony exterior would no doubt protect it from cave-ins."
"Plus, it can melt rock, remember?" Mikey pointed out.
"Oh, right." Raph replied, slowly getting in Mikey's face. "Guess it slipped my mind while I was busy trying not to get buried BY A COLLAPSING SUBWAY TUNNEL!"
"Dude, it's not like I did it on purpose!" Mikey objected. "It snuck up on me!"
"The tunnel's blocked off!" Erika exclaimed, panicked. "How are we gonna get outta here?!"
Makoto put an arm around her comfortingly, Erika hyperventilating as Raph and Mikey got into a shouting argument. Leo covered his ears in annoyance before exploding.
"Alright, enough! EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!"
Silence fell over all of them as Leo took a deep breath.
"Look, these tunnels stretch on for miles, meaning there's likely at least half a dozen exits we can take. Raph, Mikey tried to cover the sneeze, so lay off of him. Everyone else, pick yourselves up. We need to keep moving."
As he continued going, Makoto and Erika realized the position they were in. Both pulled away from the other, blushing.
"Um…" he cleared his throat. "You okay?"
"Yeah…" Erika sighed, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Thank you, Mako."
"Y-you're welcome."
They followed the others. The tunnels began to get bigger and bigger, becoming a full blown cavern.
"This is insane," Tai remarked. "All of this below Manhattan? How has no one explored these?"
"Who's to say they didn't?" Leo asked.
"Five mutant turtles growing up in the sewers, unable to go up and walk amongst humans until two months ago." Vee added. "We didn't have much else to do but explore the tunnels and catacombs down here."
"Never could get Hisako to come though," Mikey included. "Not that we blamed her."
"Still, we've never ventured this deep before…" Raph remarked. "Usually because we had to be back by curfew."
They pressed onward, eventually coming to a deep chasm.
"Better watch that first step," Mikey remarked. "It's a doozy."
Donnie tied a rope around a nearby stalagmite, lowering it down. From there, they descended down the chasm, eventually making it to the ground. Mizuki yawned, stretching her arms out.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat," she declared.
"Agreed," said Leo. "Let's make camp and have everyone sleep in two-hour shifts. We should have at least one of us awake at all times."
-X-
A few hours later, Tai and Leo were sharing a shift, sitting around casually. Eventually, Tai broke the silence.
"So, space aliens, underground monsters, weird crystals, and cave-ins." he listed off. "This just another day at the office?"
"Not really," Leo smirked. "Sometimes things get weird."
Tai blinked. "I'm afraid to ask what your definition of 'weird' is, then."
"Honestly, weird lost any meaning to us when Dad brought our sister into our life."
"Right…" Tai looked aside at that.
"Hey, don't be upset because Miko's watching over her for a bit," Leo insisted. "Honestly, I feel better knowing she's got someone waiting for her up there when she wakes up."
"I know," Tai sighed. "It's just... I raised and trained that dog from a puppy. He's never left my side or ignored me like that before."
"He knows where he's needed, but that doesn't change that he's your dog."
"Yeah…"
"Still, this does give me the idea of getting Hisako a dog of her own. A therapy dog."
"Not a bad idea. Dogs can do wonders."
"I believe it."
Before Tai could reply, they heard monstrous growls and the rocks around them began to shake and shift. The sound had everyone sitting up, weapons at the ready.
"What's going on?!" Jade demanded.
They all looked up, seeing a massive red monster with blade-like crab claws pushing a boulder off the cliff toward them.
"So, running would be good, right?" Mikey asked.
"Everyone move!" Tai screamed.
They all took off, the boulder hitting the ground before rolling after them. They ran for several minutes as they tried to ditch the boulder, only to skid to a stop before a broken bridge.
"Oh, great!" Hana cursed. "Now what do we do?!"
The Turtles and Kagome all drew their Turtle Lines, spinning and throwing them across. They latched on, the group tugging to test them.
"Buddy system, NOW!" Leo shouted.
Each member of the clan grabbed onto one Hamato sibling before swinging across the chasm. The boulder crashed into the chasm and slammed into the ground below with a mighty crash as they landed, catching their breath.
"Well…" Erika remarked, "that was dramatic."
"Hey, guys!" Kagome called. "Check it out!"
They looked to see her standing in front of a room built into the side of the rock, the metal doors bent open at a bizarre angle. They approached the doors, and Donnie examined them.
"Not to make things worse, but you'll notice the door was forced open from the inside," he reported. "Someone or something was in a big hurry to get out."
"Oh, that doesn't make things worse, D," Mikey deadpanned. "That makes things horrifying."
"Mikey…" Raph began.
Mikey held up his hands. "I never said we weren't going in. Pair mutated."
Raph nodded, the group heading in. They saw the interior had been ransacked, and was clearly some kind of scientific facility.
"Anybody got a clue what this place is?" Hana questioned.
Donnie looked around, taking note of the surrounding machinery. "Devices related to physiology, biology, genome analysis… My guess? It's a genetics lab. More specifically, one of Krang's. He was experimenting with mutation down here."
"Now I'm really glad Hisako isn't here," Kagome remarked. "She'd be having a breakdown."
"Well, Leo, looks like you and Raph were right on the money," said Vee. "Those things are definitely some of Krang's mutants."
"But why were they all the way down here?" Makoto questioned. "I mean, wouldn't it make more sense for them to be... up top?"
Before anyone could answer, Mikey, looking around nervously, inadvertently stepped on a security laser near the floor, setting off an alarm.
"MIKEY!" His siblings and Kagome all shouted simultaneously.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Mikey defended.
A metal door slammed shut over the entrance and something began glowing. They turned to the device in the center of the room, seeing a blue crystal placed on the device. A field of blue energy sparked around the crystal, expanding outward.
"What the hell?!" Jade demanded.
As the field expanded, it phased through the objects around the room, but once it touched the teens, it began pushing them back, slowly forcing them against the wall.
"Looks like it only affects living tissue!" Donnie noted as they backed up.
"And that's exactly what we're made of!" Raph added.
They were soon pressed against the wall, struggling not to get crushed.
"What do we do now?!" Erika screamed.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Donnie let out frantically.
"Well, think faster!" Jade snapped. "We're running out of room!"
"Wait, the crystal!" Kagome yelled. "It's powering the field! Mizuki, shoot the crystal!"
With one hand occupied by keeping the field back, Mizuki drew her bow and an arrow with her free hand. Nocking it, she grabbed the string and fletching in her teeth, pulling back and firing (2). The arrow struck the panel just under the crystal, which sparked and flickered off, the field dissipating and door opening. As they caught their breath, they all looked at Mizuki.
"Did she seriously just pull and shoot her bow with her teeth?" Raph asked incredulously.
"She broke her arm during a competition," Tai explained. "She pulled that trick and got first prize."
"Wow," Vee said in admiration. "You'd give Robin Hood a run for his money."
"Thanks," Mizuki beamed happily.
"Donnie, see if there's anything you can pull from the terminals," Leo ordered. "See what Krang was working on down here."
Donnie went over to one of the computers, beginning to hack into the terminal.
"Word of warning," Vee began. "If this is anything like what we know he's capable of, we may need to find a few trash cans."
"I'm in," Donnie reported. "Looks like they archived some video logs here. Everyone… brace yourselves."
Donnie pressed a button, and the log began, revealing an Utrom scientist on the camera.
"Day 1: Project commences. General Krang believes the Turtles have taken refuge underground. Our soldiers have been unable to locate them, so the genetic division has been directed to mutate human subjects, so that they can explore deeper into the earth."
Everyone gasped at his choice of words.
"Shit…" Raph swore, "they made those things to look for us!"
"Those mutants…" Mikey said in shock, "they're because of us…"
"No," Tai said firmly. "Krang did that to them, not you."
The camera cut to a human man strapped to an operating table as several Krangdroids clamped an IV-like device to his arm, mutagen flowing through the tube and into his veins.
"No…" the man pleaded. "Please!"
"The subject appears to be in some discomfort," the scientist continued, "but this is a minor annoyance."
The man began writhing and screaming in agony as he transformed into a monster. The group looked on in open-mouthed horror, Mizuki and Kagome clutching Tai and Raph's hands respectively.
"That…" Mikey stammered. "That's just wrong."
Erika dropped to her knees and retched on the floor, shuddering. "Oh, my God…"
"Just when you thought those scumbags couldn't sink any lower," Donnie said in disdain.
The tape cut to several days later, showing the silhouettes of three monsters in tubes of mutagen.
"Day 39, the experiment appears to be a success! Though the subjects are exhibiting reduced intelligence."
The diary cut ahead once again, revealing the monsters snarling and growling, trying to break out of their tubes.
"Day 57. The creatures are showing signs of instability, becoming angry and vicious! Certain aspects of the experiment have gone horribly wrong! Have we attempted too much in developing this unnatural life form?!"
"Yes!" Mizuki snapped. "You fucked with innocent people, you slimy sadistic piece of shit!"
The tape skipped ahead once again, stopping as the monsters were being threatened with stun sticks into going down a tunnel to investigate.
"Through the generous use of shock restraints, the creatures have been trained to retrieve evidence from their explorations." The scientist was grinning as he said this.
"Generous use?!" Jade echoed with a scowl.
"Generous my ass!" Raph hissed.
Erika doubled over and vomited again. Makoto knelt down to her, gently rubbing her back. The tape cut ahead once more, showing multiple Krangdroids cheering and celebrating.
"Day 72. The project is a success! Our creatures have found evidence of habitation underground, which has been turned over to General Krang. I've been told he's quite pleased."
"Habitation underground?!" Kagome gasped. "Oh, no. You don't think…"
"No. They couldn't have found the lair," Leo replied. "They would have made a move by now."
"Yeah," Raph agreed. "The joint would be flooded with Krangdroids."
"But if they didn't find us… who did they find?" Vee asked.
The log skipped ahead once again, and the scientist looked disappointed.
"Day 112: the settlement we found is not what General Krang was searching for. He has pronounced the project: a failure. We've been ordered to shut down the operation, and destroy the creatures."
The footage suddenly cut to the monsters breaking free of their cages and the place in complete shambles.
"What?!" the scientist gasped. "The creatures have freed themselves! They are more intelligent than we ever dreamed!"
A Krangdroid was shown getting speared on the red monster's claws as the tape went on.
"They… They have been manipulating us all along waiting for their moment to escape!" the scientist continued, just before the monsters bashed down the door to the room he was in. He backed up in absolute terror as the monsters closed in on him. "No! NO, STAY AWAY!"
He screamed in agony as they pounced on him, green blood splashing on the camera before it went dead.
"Good fucking riddance." Tai spat.
Suddenly, a loud growling noise sounded behind them in the tunnels, causing the group to jump.
"What was that?!" Vee demanded.
"So, I hate to be the coward stereotype here," Mikey began nervously, "but I propose that we get out of here, and fast!"
"Not that I'd ever agree with him, but he has a point," Raph remarked.
"I'm with Mr. Chicken on this one," Jade declared. "Let's get the fuck outta here!"
They hurried out of the lab, but stopped short when they saw acid eating through a nearby rock wall. It melted away, revealing the two monsters from before joined with a blue third one, who advanced on them threateningly as the group drew their weapons.
"We…" Mikey gulped nervously, "are in serious trouble…"
Author's Note:
(1): My Chemical Romance.
(2): Inspired by Green Arrow in The Dark Knight Returns doing the same, to compensate for the fact he only had one arm.
Well, my first multi-part chapter arc, since the original Notes from the Underground was three episodes long, and it'd be way too long a chapter otherwise.
And yes, Makoto and Erika have crushes on each other. But they're shy; it'll be resolved in time.
The idea of Hisako being sensitive to the crystals was Author of the Insane's. Makes sense, 'cause she's psychic. Hence why, in this revamp, she doesn't accompany them to the underground city.
Please R&R. Until next time!