Everyone gathered around looking at a map. It was of the city. "Okay, we've searched the Shredder's building and every other place the foot have encountered. We've scoured every sewer tunnel, back street, dark alley in the city, with only one area left. "
"The worst part is, we don't know if Master Splinter is still... " Donnie explains but trails off not wanting to say the worse case scenario.
"I don't even want to think about it." Mikey says as he twirls his nun chucks.
"Until we learn otherwise, he's alive and waiting our rescue." Leo says as he puts his swords in his sheaths.
Raph was punching his punching bag. He takes out his sai and slices it in anger "I'm tired coming home empty handed!" He growls in frustration "We find Splinter tonight!"
They split up to look again. Mikey in the sewers, Raph driving in the streets on his motorcycle, Donnie searched in the sky, April and Yuuki and Mona in the Battle Shell, Leo on foot.
Leo shell cell rings and he answers it "Please tell me someone found something? "
"Nada in the sewers." Mikey informs.
"Nothing on the rooftops, either. " Donnie says
"Or the junkyard." April replies "Lots of rats but none of them ours."
"Man, where is he?!" Raph asks angrily
" Keep it cool, Raph." Leo advises "We'll find him."
Raph stops for a second as he spots a purple dragon pulling a man out from his car " Hey that's my car! " The purple dragon drives off "Buddy, have you picked the wrong night!"
Raph chases after him, with some difficulty as the purple dragon tried to ram into stuff trying to lose Raph. Eventually causing a fire at a gas station. Raph growls as he manages to get out of the fire . Leo sees the chase and jumps down to the streets "Oh, great. "
Raph evades some trash that was hit by the purple dragon. "That would have to be garbage day." Raph drives up the stairs of a building trying to catch up. The purple dragon chuckles when he doesn't see Raph. The turtle suddenly crashes out from a boarded window and skids on top of the car. He jumps on top of the hood and rammed his sais on the battery making the car stop. He drags the purple dragon out.
"You feel like taking what don't belong to ya punk? Huh?" Raph asks, about to punch him but his brothers show up.
" Let him go, Raph. " Leo calls out. Raph lets the dragon go "Beat it." The purple dragon, runs off scared.
" Raph, this doesn't help anything. " Leo says.
"Helps more than you think!" Raph shouts, throwing his helmet down on the ground hard.
" Gotta admit, the dude knows how to blow off steam. " Mikey points out
"Maybe, but if we're going to find Master Splinter, we have to put a lid on it." Leo tells him
"Well, prowling around ain't cutting it anymore, Leo. We need something to go on." Raph said.
"What about the Guardians?"
The brothers looked at Donnie "If you think about it. Right after Splinter disappeared, they disappeared. "
"Yeah, hey, they could've taken him easy." Mikey answers.
"Somehow, we need to hook up with one of those guys." Raph said.
"Raph, looks like we might have something to go on." Leo replies
They hear a clunking noise and look to see the Battle Shell driving up to them. April opens the door"Sorry, after your patch up job on this rig, even my grandma's tractor handles better." She says then a police siren getting closer. Mona covered her ears from the sound. "Come on, guys. Cops are combing the neighborhood."
"Maybe I should drive ?" Donnie suggests
"Nah, I think I'm getting the hang of it." April assures.
"Later, a guardian was looking over the city. He stops when he sees the foot symbol of the Shredder's skyscraper, blinking. He turned on his watch to alert the council.
"Guardian, what is so urgent?"
"The symbol upon the Shredder's building has been reactivated."
"He has deceived us before." The guardian points out
"Investigate. "
The guardian sneaks into the building and sees the Shredder in his destroyed room. He lets out a gasp "The Shredder,...alive!"
"Hes...Alive?!" The guardian says. The Shredder was silent not moving. He pulled out his sword and attacks him only to find out that was a dummy filled with sand and a sign that said kick me. "What?!" He asks in disbelief. The guardian hears snickering and turns to attack. It was Mikey.
" Whoa, wait, wait, wait!" Mikey protests as the others jump down.
"Easy we're not here to fight." Leo assures trying to get the guardian to stand down.
"If you laid a trap for me, then be prepared to fight." He growls
"Our bad. Now, um, you suppose you can, maybe?" Mikey apologizes, pointing at the sword at his neck
"We're looking for answers, that's all." Donnie explains
"Look elsewhere." The guardian tells them
"Cool, elsewhere it is. Now, how's about you out that sword elsewhere?" Mikey replies, placing a small tracker on the sword, while the guardian of wasn't looking.
"Our Master's missing and we intend to find him." Raph explains putting his sais away. The puts his sword back into his coat and walks away
"I cannot help you."
"You've always helped us in the past. Why wont you now?" Yuuki asks
"When we met, you called yourself our ally. Allies are supposed to help. Can you at least tell us he's okay?" Leo asks as well
"I'm sorry." The guardian uses a smoke bomb and disappeared.
"Mikey." Leo asks, turning towards him
"One turtle tracker duly planted." Mikey confirms, clicking his teeth and winks.
The turtles and Yuuki and Mona chased after the guardian who was traveling at an very fast pace. "He's still on foot, passing for North and D." The guardian jumped over some rooftops, landing on a fire escape the then road. The six followed him from the rooftops to see him cut a corner quickly. "C'mon!"
They jumped down trying to catch their breath "Man this guy's fast. He's already made it to 12th!"
They look at an alley "This way!"
The guardian looked behind him as he hid. Can't shake the feeling that he was being runs off as the six chased after him only to find an empty alley.
"He's not here." Leo says.
"It appears his signal disappeared across the street. " Donnie informs.
They walked down the alley, to see a building where the signal disappeared "it's just an office building." Leo says.
"Shredders was office building, and nearly took us out." Raph replies.
"But why would he go in there?" Donnie questions.
" To have his taxes done? " Mikey joked.
Donnie sets his bag down and takes out a small shell device "Let's find out for sure."
In the building, the receptionist was looking over the security cameras, when he hears a small knock at the door. He opens it to find no one there. A small turtle like robot sneaks in while he is distracted.
The robot had a camera and was being controlled by Donnie "Now, let's see what's behind door number one." He says as he moved it towards one of the doors. The receptionist stands up moving his chair, and the robot begins to spin out of control. Donnie tries to regain control of it.
"Whoa, I'm getting car sick." Mikey says.
The robot stops and points the camera up towards a logo. Donnie's eyes widen "Uh, guys here's a new wrinkle." he says.
Everyone looked at the sign it read: "Techno Cosmic Research Institute"
"I don't get it." Raph replies in confusion.
"Techno Cosmic Research Institute?" Donnie asks
"So?" Leo questions
" Yeah?" Raph murmurs
"Huh?" Mikey asks
Yuuki saw that Donnie was slightly shaking "Donnie what's wrong?" She asks concerned. She never seen him this worked up.
"Say the first letter of each word." Donnie informs
"What? TCRI. Sorry, it's not ringing any..." Mikey stops in mid sentence when he finally figures it out "Bells."
" TCRI" Raph says "That's the-the... "
"The-The... " Mikey stammers
"The what?!" April asks in frustration " Tell me! "
"Guys, you're freaking us out!" Yuuki yells
"TCRI was printed on the canister of ooze that mutated us into what we are." Leo explains
"The secret to our origin could very well lie within the walls of that building." Donnie says.
"Well, just have to find out, won't we?" He replied as he moved the camera "Okay, let's snoop around."
As he tried to moved the robot he looks over to see everyone crowding around him " Um, guys you're sucking the oxygen right out of my personal space here. " He informs
"Sorry." Everyone replies, backing up. But they crowded around him again as he started to move the cam around until he finds a security room.
"Jackpot, the security control room. Their brains find security system."
"Can you look under the door to see what we're up against?" Leo asks.
"I think so."
When Donnie moved the camera under the door the first thing he sees is feet heading their way " Uh-oh. " The door swings open and the robot spirals out of control then stops, only to be crushed by a moving cart of canisters.
"Now, what." April asks.
" Master Splinter might be in there. Answers that we've been looking for our entire lives might be in there. So, that means, we're going in there. " Leo says.
Donnie looked at the building determination. He just had to know.
Why were they made?
Why did they exist?
What was their purpose?
Everyone headed back to the lair to try and devise a plan.
"Now, what exactly have we found out about TCRI?" Leo questions and looks at the TV screens "April?"
"Okay." April replied as she looks up the TCRI building on the computer "TCRI is a highly successful new technology company that's been around for the past twenty-five years, and whose head of corporate liaison is a, Mr. Mortu.
These are the blueprints submitted to the city planner's office when it was constructed." Leo says as some blueprint pop up.
"Looks as boring on the inside as it doesn't the out. " mikey comments as he hangs upside down on some rope between Donnie and Raph who were packing up for the mission.
"Here's what some of our cam shell recorded before it became roadkill." April explains and pulls up the camera of the front desk "Security cameras cover the perimeter and the roof. All laced with alarm sensors."
"So what we need is someone smart, capable, techno savvy, to get in, find the alarms and cut them off." Leo says.
"Me!" Mikey exclaims as he hangs upside down between Leo.
" No. April. " Leo answers pointing to her.
"Me?!" April exclaims
" You'll sneak past the guard, enter the security control room, deactivate the cameras and alarms. "
"O...K?" She answers slowly
" Here's a schematic of some basic security systems you 'll likely find inside. " Donnie explains as he handed her a device.
"Once the alarms are off, you'll contact us on the Shell Cell and we'll gain access through the roof ventilation system." Leo informs.
" Makes total sense." April answers, unsure
"After we're in, you'll reset the alarm and surveillance cameras and sneak back outside unnoticed." Donnie finishes. "It all rests on your shoulders, girl." Mikey commented as he hangs upside down beside April "No pressure."
"Uh-huh, that's all good. There's a teeny tiny detail of that plan missing." April explains "There's a guard sitting right there! "
" We'll be employing an old ninja trick, the art of distraction." Leo answers.
The elevator doors open, revealing Casey. He walks out "Somebody call for a distraction? He calls out as he past his hand with his bat.
April lets out a sigh, putting her hands on her face " My life is in the hands of a lunatic. "
Mikey, suddenly line out of control from the ropes and gets tangled up "Somebody wanna help me out here?"
Yuuki let's out a small laugh and shakes her head "Mikey." She stood up and untangled him from the ropes and he plops to the ground.
Mona stared at everyone. These were very strange people she has ever seen.
Leo walks over Yuuki "I want you to keep on look out." He replies. "In case we need a quick get away."
"Okay." She answers. Leo shot her a surprise look "You feeling alright?"
She shrugs her shoulders "Yeah, why?" Yuuki said.
"Usually, you would argue." Leo points out.
"I can't exactly do much on account of a broken leg." Yuuki explains. "I'll just be slowing everyone down."
Raph answers "Why don't you be on the look out with Mona?" Mona tensed up as she looks at Yuuki. Mona shot Raph a frown but he ignored it. Yuuki gave her a small comforting smile. Mona stared back at her with distrust.
"It'll give you two some bonding time. "
As everyone was loading the equipment into the Battle Shell, Mona managed to sneak away, as they did. She walked into Raph's room and looked around. She saw a hammock in the corner, a couple of weights and barbells on the floor, some magazines. She walked over the books and picked one up and opened it.
Her eyes widened in shock and she felt her cheeks grew hot as she blushed. She quickly shut the magazine and threw it. Well, that is going to mentally scar her for life. She tried to shake the images out of her mind until she saw a picture frame sitting on the table. She picked up the picture. It was a rat with four of the turtles when they were little.
Mona traced her finger over the picture of the rat "He must be the Splinter person that everyone's been talking about." She set the photo down "He was their father."
The word felt weird as it etched in Mona's mind. What kind of person was he?
Her trailed away as something caught her eye and she walked over to it. She reached out to a pink scarf hanging on the bed frame and picked it up, admiring it.
"There you are." A voice called out to her.
Mona looked looked over her shoulder to see Raph by the door as he entered into the room. He noticed the scarf in Mona's hand "You can have that, if you want. Mikey messed up the laundry. Pink's not really my color."
Raph walked over to her helping her put it on "Here, I'll help." He tied the ends around her neck and stepped back "There we go."
His eyes widen as he stared at the lizard girl. Her long brown hair was partially covering her face and her eyes. Raph grabbed a rubber band off of his table and tied Mona's hair up lifting it out of her eyes. Big blue icy eyes stared back into his. Raph felt an unusual emotion cloud his mind. He never felt this way before. Nothing this intense, it scared him. He felt his heart begin to beat fast and his hands began to feel sweaty. He quickly looked away as he felt his cheeks grew hot as he blushed.
"You look nice." He mumbled.
Mona stared back at him then made a small smile.
"C'mon the others are waiting for us. " He gestures nervously.
They park the Battle Shell in an alley in front of the building. As the turtles and April stepped out from the van, Yuuki grabbed Leo by the shoulder "Wait, there's something that I want to give you."
" What is it? " Leo asks
"This." Yuuki smiles as she answered. She leaned and kissed him on the lips " For luck. " Mona stared at them, curious, then shot a glance towards the red masked turtle.
She climbed out of the Battle Shell and walked over to him. Raph's eyes widen in shock and he let out a surprised yell as he felt the tail ends of his mask being yanked as he was turned around In an instant, he felt lips pressed against his.
The brothers went to the roof while April walked to the receptionist desk. "You can definitely do it, April!" Donnie assures her through the headset.
"Can I help you?" The receptionist asks.
" Yes, I'm Dr. Vander Pepper of TMNT university. I'm here to see Mr. Mortu." April says.
"Uh, Mr. Mortu doesn't take appointments."
"Listen, I've came a long way for this meeting, at his request! So, either get him on the phone or I'm gone!" April argues, crossing her arms. He gives her a look then picks up the phone.
"Dr. Vander Pepper?" Mikey asks in disbelief and April shushes him.
Casey barges through the door, carrying a toaster "I want to the see the boss man right now!"
April and the receptionist looks at him as he puts the phone down. "Remember Casey, just distract him long enough for April to slip in and slip out." Leo informs him through the headset.
"Yeah, don't screw this up, bonehead." Raph tells him.
"If anyone's going to screw this up, it'll be you freak face!" Casey shouts loudly and cringes as he saw that the two had heard him. In the van, Yuuki slapped her forehead and shook her head. Mona looks at her.
"Yes?" The receptionist asks.
" I gotta complain about one of your products. " Casey says, slamming the toaster on the desk.
"TCRI, doesn't manufacture toasters, sir." The man explains,April backs away from them silently, unnoticed.
"Oh, yeah? Says it right here. " Casey challenges pointing to the bottom of the toaster revealing a label.
"That says RITC. In crayon, sir." The man points out.
"Now, I wanna see the head geek or I'm gonna tear this place apart!" Casey starts to take out his bat and destroying the toaster. The receptionist presses a button and a guard runs out. "Gimme a toaster or give me death!" Casey declared and tackles the two. He gives April a wink and she runs into a room that was the security room. She looks around in awe "Whoa." The room was very futuristic and filled with that she has never seen before.
"Impressive...Okay, I'm looking for the splitter for the main junction box which should look like... absolutely nothing here."
Meanwhile, the turtles walked across a tight rope.
"Guys this isn't going to work." April says over the headset.
"What's the problem, April?" Donnie asks.
"I don't recognize the technology. Nothing makes sense in here. I can't turn off the roof alarm or the cameras." She explains.
"Um, anybody got a plan B?" Mikey questions.
"April, we'll handle the camera,just get the alarm turned off anyway you can." Donnie explains.
"Whatever don't come whining to me if we all get captured and tortured and stuff. " April mumbles as she looks around. She sees a panel and walks over to it "A floor plan would be nice?" She suggest sarcastically. Suddenly the panel lights up and a hologram appears in front of her, of the building.
"Cool!" She walks over to it " Now, how do I turn off the roof sensors?"
The door of the hologram lit up "Roof sensors off."
"Guys you're good to go." April reports.
Back with Casey, he swings around his bat and breaks a chair as it was thrown at him. The receptionist tries to snatch his bat his bat away while the security guard looks at the security system "What?"
A pigeon is flying in front of it. Donnie crunches down in front of the camera holding the pigeon, which was actually a puppet. "Hurry with that picture."
Leo takes a photo of the roof "Got it." He places the picture in front of the camera and Donnie moves out of the way. They make their way towards ventilation.
" I don't know what bothers more, that thing actually worked or that Donnie carries around a pigeon puppet." Mikey says.
Raph pride open the ventilation. He looks down to see nothing. "Hey, It's fake. It doesn't go anywhere." He murmurs "What kind of people would put a fake vent on the roof?"
"The kind that wants to make this place look normal." Donnie confirms.
"So, now what?" Mikey asks.
"We cut through the window. " Leo said.
They climbed to one of the window, wearing suction cups on their hands and knees. Donnie pulls out a cutting tool but it doesn't work. The blades didn't even cut through the glass "Diamond edge blades." He replies removing the device "And they're not even scratching the surface. This is no ordinary glass."
"We better think of something, cause who knows how long that bat happy idiot in the lobby can it keep it up." Raph replies as the begin to scale the window.
Casey smacks the damaged computer system "What kinda customer service is this?!" He hits it again, swinging around his bat "I simply refuse to be treated this way! Attica! Attica!"
The security looks at the receptionist and their eyes began to glow a mysterious blue color. One of them presses a button and the doors began to bar themselves closed. Casey looks in surprise as the security guard grabs his bat, kicking him away. Casey falls to the floor. He looks up to see the guard breaking his bat in half. "Uh, fellas, I've got news flash for ya. Things are not what they seem here."
"Just keep them busy, Casey. How tough can a couple of guards be?" Raph says. Casey sees the two strange people pull out sticks, giving off electricity.
"I'm about to find out."
April walks around the hologram scanning and looking over it "April, the roof and the windows are a no go."
"You want another way in? No problem. This thing's a piece of cake." April answers, rubbing her hands "Okay, find me an entrance point." She orders.
She hears a beep and sees one of the windows glow "Exhaust cover currently active. "
"Here we go. There's some kind of exhaust opening on the west side, 9th floor." April explains.
"We'll check it out. Thanks." Leo answers.
"There's nothing here." Raph said.
"Hold on, so you hear that? " Leo questions, moving his hand in front of the window. He felt a small breeze from it. "Air's coming out. You can feel it too."
"Amazing. Maybe it's some kind of hologram." Donnie replies, touching the window.
"Yeah, finally! A way in!" Mikey exclaims, moving his hand through the window.
"Mikey, wait!" Leo calls out.
Mikey peeks in with half of his body through the hologram window, looking inside. A giant blue electrical orb quickly shoots out at him. Mikey screams as he pulled back, wobbling as he did. The orb flies out of the window. Mikey loses his balance and he falls, smacking right into Donatello, causing him to fall as well. They were descending quickly down to the concrete street below them.
Yuuki and Mona's eyes widen in horror as they saw the two turtles fall.
"Mikey!" "Donnie!" Yuuki screamed out.