Chapter 2: Explanation Time

Happy Thanksgiving!

BIG APPLE
1:30 AM

Once they had gotten some good distance away from Purple Dragon headquarters, both groups of Turtles stopped on a rooftop.

"Alright…time for some answers," declared Raph. "Who the shell ARE you guys?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," insisted Donatello.

Raph jabbed his plastron with a finger. "Don't get cute," he snipped.

"Alright, bozo, I don't care who you are, and I don't care if you DID save our shells back there," Raphael shot back. "If you want answers, then quit treating us like babies!"

"So ya wanna fight, short stuff?" Raph snapped. "Fine, bring it on!"

"Oh-ho-ho, gladly!" Raphael shot back, as he got into a combat stance, which Raph mirrored. Before either of them could come to blows, their respective Leonardos got between them.

"Raphael, stop it!" insisted Leonardo. "We're on the same side!"

"Is that right, then?" asked Raphael. "Could've fooled me!"

"Raph, calm down, would you?" Leo insisted.

"No way!" spat the bruiser. "Pudge-ball needs a serious spankin'!"

"'PUDGE-BALL'?" Raphael snapped. "This is all muscle—y'know, like your HEAD!"

"That's enough, you two! Mikey, Donnie, hold him back!" Leo demanded.
"You better not, if ya know what's good for you," warned Raph.

"Sorry, bro," said Mikey, as he grabbed the left arm. "You've been outvoted!"

"Democracy in action," Don chimed in, grabbing the right arm.
The explosive turtle angrily scoffed at this before relenting.
"Look, we just risked our shells saving you from Hun and the Purple Dragons. I think we're entitled to some answers," said Leo.

Leonardo took point for his group. "You're right; we are eternally grateful for your help," he replied. "But we have our own questions that need answering."

"I assure you that if you cooperate, you'll get those answers," said Leo.

"Sounds fair to me," replied Leonardo.

"Then I believe we've reached an agreement," said Leo.

"You see, it all started when—" began Leonardo, before Don cut him off. "Sorry, but weren't there four of you a few minutes ago?" he inquired.
"Well, yeah," replied Leonardo before he looked behind and saw who was missing. "Wait a second…where's Michelangelo?!"

"Great," Raphael vocalized. "You turn your head for a second, and he pulls a vanishing act on you!"

"My guess? He must've slipped away when the fight started," Donatello commented.

"Uh, fellas?" asked Mikey, glancing over the side of the roof. "...I think I found your me."

There Michelangelo was, walking the streets in his famous hat and trench coat disguise while humming a tune that some of our sharper-eared viewers will recognize. "Growin' up in a glass bowl, with chameleons, lizards and tad-poles, it hardly enters your mind, that there's somethin' better than this…" he muttered.

"That IDIOT!" Raph already had one foot over the edge. "I'm gonna kill 'im!"

"Like heck you are!" Raphael retorted. "He's my brother, so if anyone's gonna kill him, it'll be me!"

"Guys, we gotta knock off the fighting and focus on the real issue," said Mikey. "...like where'd he get the coat and hat?"

Raph smacked his brother in the back of the head. THWACK!

"Oww!" Mikey groaned.

"Alright, let's go get him," said Raphael, putting on his own fedora and coat.

"Are you sure you wanna run around in public like that?" asked Donnie.

"Well, if you're so worried, don't be," replied Leonardo. "Our disguises have always fooled the humans."

Donatello continued to look down at the people on the streets. "I wonder…"

"About what?" asked Mikey.

"I'll explain later," replied Donatello. "But tell me one thing: how popular are you guys in this New York?"

Raphael and Leonardo glanced at each other. "This New York?"

"You see, where we come from, half of our New York is on our side," Donatello explained. "The other half switches between considering us a threat or a menace."

"We're not that popular," Don responded, catching on. "Only a handful of humans are on our side. If your brother got spotted by the wrong—"
"Then we'd better move quickly," said Leo. If someone like Bishop or Karai caught wind of their newfound doppelganger's existence, there would be trouble.

"Say no mo', bro," replied Mikey. "We're good to go!"

As they got ready to leave, Donatello looked contemplative as he rubbed his chin, lost in thought. His theory wasn't finished. Not yet.

MEANWHILE, AT STREET-LEVEL…

Michelangelo continued on his way, ignoring the curious looks he was getting from passers-by on the street.

"Now, if this city never sleeps…by that logic, neither do the pizza guys!" he said to himself, as he kept on sniffing around.

Soon his long trek came to an end when he reached the end of the block, and with it his destination!

"Jay's Pizza?" Michelangelo's eyes roved over the sign. "Must be a new place…" So he headed indoors.

Inside, a few people waiting spotted him and freaked out, before they ran for their lives. "Bodacious! No line~!" gushed Michelangelo, approaching the counter and the chef behind it. "I'll have one gigundo-pizza, with chocolate fudge, whipped cream, sausage, and clams!"

Whether it was because of seeing a four-foot turtle in a trenchcoat, or because he'd been given a pizza order that ridiculous, the chef immediately dropped the pizza he was holding, and ran screaming from the restaurant.

Before the pizza hit the floor, Michelangelo snagged it out of the air. "Must've been out of fudge," he shrugged. "Oh, man…the guys are probably gonna be sore at me for takin' off!"

As he eyed the stove, and the dough next to it, an idea began forming in his brain.

"Then again…"

TEN MINUTES LATER…

Michelangelo was at a table, helping himself to the fruits of his labor when he overheard the back door opening. As he looked up, he saw his brothers approaching from the kitchen.

"Hey, compadres!" he waved. "Wanna sit down and dig in?"

"Sorry, but we'll have to take those to-go!" replied Raphael as he snatched up a few boxes.

"Hey, what gives?" asked Michelangelo.

"We'll explain later; right now, we need to get out of here before—" Donatello started, before being cut off by the sound of police sirens. It didn't take the turtles long to recognize it.

"Uh-oh!" said Leonardo. "The boys in blue! Let's slip out the back."

Michelangelo sprang to his feet, and put a few bucks on the table before he grabbed the remaining boxes, then followed his fellow turtles to the back door.

As they exited, they were herded into what looked like a souped-up garbage truck.

"Is this your Turtle Van?" asked Leonardo as he climbed in. "...it's very sleek."

"Uh, thanks," replied Don. "But we'd better get you guys to the lair so we can get that explanation."

"In the meantime, you guys want some?" asked Michelangelo, offering one of the pizzas he'd made. "Plenty to go around!"

Mikey was the first to accept the offer. "Hook a turtle up with the good stuff!" he exclaimed, snagging one of the boxes.

Raph groaned. "And here I thought one Mikey was enough of a pain…" he groused.

"Dude…is this fudge?!"

"Yup!"

"...oh. My. GOD~"

RESERVOIR LAIR

2:15 AM

Once the van was parked, both turtle teams disembarked and headed inside. When they entered, the smaller Turtles were, for lack of a better word, astonished.

"...this place is tremendous!" exclaimed Leonardo.

"No kidding…makes our lair seem like a shoebox!" Raphael chimed in.

"Oh, dudes! Wonder what kinda videogames they got around here?" pondered Michelangelo.

"Not to mention all the state-of-the-art tech!" exclaimed Donatello, eyeing the massive computer.

"We'll give you all the full tour later, but right now there's someone that wants to see you," Leo announced.

Upon being addressed, the shorter turtles all turned around, when their eyes fell upon…

"Master Splinter?!"

Now Splinter was perplexed. "...you know me?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," replied Michelangelo. "But…"

"Did you get a perm job or something?" asked Raphael.

"Guys, it's just what I've theorized," said Donatello. "And this confirms it. Haven't you noticed that everything's been looking a little different?"

Leonardo pondered. "...hey, yeah! Ever since that big explosion, New York just hasn't been the same," he replied.

Don raised a brow. "Explosion?" he inquired.

"Well, yeah, during our latest battle with Shredder," replied Raphael.

This grabbed the taller Turtles' attention even more. "...the Shredder?" mused Leo.

"Perhaps it would be best if you started from the beginning," encouraged Splinter.

Leonardo pondered, but he did comply. "Well…we were mixing it up inside the Shredder's ultimate weapon—the Technodrome," he began, remembering the events in his head.

[NOTE FOR VISUALS: During portions in the Fred Wolf universe, the aspect ratio shifts to 4:3, and the background has just a little bit of film grain to it.]

As the people of New York fled for their lives from the encroaching battle fortress, deep within, Shredder cackled wickedly, as he brandished the vials of mutagen he'd received, Xpress-delivery from Dimension X.

"Try and take them if you can, you terrapin twits!" he declared.

"Oh, you better BELIEVE we will!" called Raphael, as he and his brothers sprang into action. "GO, GREEN MACHINE!"

Donatello pulled out his bo staff and grabbed one end, with Leonardo grabbing the other. Together, they slammed into Shredder, running back, and pushed him off, sending him flying and making him lose his grip on the mutagen vials.

As the other Turtles snagged the vials, inspiration struck Donatello. Quickly, he somersaulted over to the Trans-Dimensional Portal's control panel.

"Now, for a little creative re-wiring," he declared as he punched through a spot on the dashboard and began to reconfigure the system. "I just hope they haven't had the time to patch that backdoor from the first time I did this…"

Suddenly, the entrance doors slid open, and in came Bebop and Rocksteady, along with a squadron of gun-toting Foot Soldiers.

"Hey, look, Rocksteady—it's one a'dem toitles!" snorted Bebop.

"He looks more like a sittin' duck ta me!" said Rocksteady as he aimed his blaster. "And I like my duck EXTRA-CRISPY!"

All at once, the mutants and the Foot Soldiers opened fire, and Donatello had to resort to some serious fancy footwork to avoid getting laser-flambeed. But then, one of the blasts struck the control panel, causing it to crackle, sending out an electrical charge that rattled through the Technodrome.

Immediately, Shredder rounded on Rocksteady and Bebop. "You moronic mutants!" he shouted. "What have you done?!"

The two mutants gulped heavily. "It wuz DEIR fault!" they exclaimed, pointing at the Foot Soldiers.

Within minutes, the Technodrome was completely engulfed in an energy wave—KA-SHWOOM!—and then it completely vanished!

[END FLASHBACK.]

"The next thing we knew, we were back in the city," finished Leonardo.

"And then we were gonna start looking for death on wheels, but then we got ourselves mixed up with some scuzzbuckets," added Raphael.

"Hun and the Purple Dragons," nodded Leo.

"After everything we just experienced, guys, I'm afraid to say this…but I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," Donatello responded. "...at least, not our Kansas, anyway."

"Dude…" said Michelangelo, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Are you saying…?"

"I'm saying that the Technodrome's trans-dimensional portal zapped us all to a different world!" Donatello answered.

"Swell!" Raphael scoffed. "Remind me to thank Tin-Grin and the Brainless Boys next time we see them."

"And this Shredder of yours…" Leo asked. "He's here, too?"

"Highly likely," replied Donatello. "After all, we weren't the only ones who got caught up in that explosion."

"Our path is clear," concluded Splinter. "Together we must find this 'techno-drome'. It may be the only way to get these four home."

"Well…we can start searching in the morning," yawned Leonardo. "It's been a long night, that much is for sure."

"I agree. We should all get our rest, for tomorrow will be a very busy day," said Splinter.

Raph sighed as he headed up to his bedroom. "The sooner, the better," he muttered to himself.