Chapter 6: Merlot

THEN

It had taken over two months of back-breaking, mind-bending labor. Gathering the materials, repairing and refining the parts. Two months of assembly. But it was finished. The new Transmat Device was now powering up.

"My friends, I cannot thank you enough for your help," Leatherhead told the group, "Now, I can finally return to my family."

"We're glad to help, Leatherhead," Donatello replied, "Working on a marvel like this is any techno-geek's dream!"

"And we understand how important family is." Leonardo said, "I just hope this thing works."

"It should," April O'Neil said. She was inspecting the inside of the Transmat's computer console, checking to make sure all of the circuitry was hooked up properly. "We've done over a dozen checks. And just to be sure, being underground won't be a problem?"

To ensure that they could work undisturbed and have access to supplies, the group had chosen to build the Trans-mat in an abandoned subway station underneath New York City.

Leatherhead shook his head. "It shouldn't. The Transmat is designed to send its traveler through space by dismantling, transmitting, and reassembling their atoms. Physical boundaries will not apply."

"I can vouch for that," Raphael commented, "It's gonna tingles all over you for a few minutes."

It was at that moment, Casey Jones and Master Splinter came in. Casey was carrying a cooler in his arms. Splinter opened it to show several bottles resting in ice. He began to pass them around.

"Got the drinks, guys!" Casey announced, "Let's get this party started!"

"Drinks?" Leatherhead asked quizzically.

"We just wanted to give you a little send-off," Michelangelo explained, handing Leatherhead a bottle. "Promise you won't forget us, right?"

Leatherhead smiled. "Of course not." He said as he used his claws to open the bottle. The bottle cap flew into the air.

After the drinks were done, Leatherhead boarded the Trans-mat Device. April and Don began to activate the machine. While Casey and Splinter kept away so as not to interfere, Leo, Mike, and Raph stuck close to watch. A hum filled the air as the Trans-mat Device began to power up.

"Okay, we're all set!" Don announced.

"Good bye, Leatherhead!" Leo said.

"Say hi to Professor Honeycutt for us!" Mike said.

"Don't be a stranger!" Raph swore.

"Farewell, my friends!" Leatherhead said.

But then the air started to crackle. Sparks of electricity began to appear all over the Trans-mat Device.

"What is- Get away from the machine!" Splinter ordered, but it was too late.

There was a flash, and they-The Turtles, April, Leatherhead, and the Trans-mat Device- were gone.

When the light and noise faded, the Transmat was no longer in the underground. It, the Turtles, April, and Leatherhead, were now in a forest of some kind. Several trees had been displaced by the Transmat's abrupt appearance, forcibly uprooted. Many birds and squirrels were chirping and chattering wildly. For their part, the New Yorkers stumbled about dizzily as they tried to get their bearings.

"Ugh…wha happen'?" Raph groaned as he tried to steady himself against the Transmat.

Mike was about to make a wisecrack when his vision cleared enough to see his surroundings. "Hey, when did we go outside?"

With a feeling of dread, April opened her cell phone and tried to place a call. The screen showed only static and the words "NO SIGNAL".

"Uh, guys, I think we're more 'outside' than you'd expect." April said, showing the group her phone.

Leo quickly took command, as was his wont. "All right, let's look around. Maybe we can find a town and figure out where on Earth we are."

"Uh, Leo?" Don pointed into the sky. "I don't think 'on Earth' applies here."

Everyone looked where Don was pointing. Even in the daylight, they could see the moon. Or rather, 2/3rds of the moon.

"Oh…kay," Leo said awkwardly, trying to process what he was seeing. "So…I guess we're on an alien planet. Again."

"Yeah, but which one?" Mike asked, "I mean, did the Transmat send all of us to the Utrom planet?"

"I…I'm not sure," Leatherhead spoke up. He had been examining the Transmat Device for damage. "The Utroms have never mentioned a broken moon orbiting their planet."

"Well, why don't we do what Leo said and look- wait," Don took out his bo, "You guys hear that? Something's coming!"

The other Turtles got out their weapons as well. They were right to, as a monstrous wolf-like creature came barreling out of the thicket and charged at the group. The Turtles and Leatherhead, already disoriented by their impromptu transport, and the appearance of the monster further unnerved them. They fought back, but the beast was a lot tougher than they had expected, and took several minutes to put down. Luckily, Leatherhead's robust strength proved invaluable. Once the fight was over, the monster's body seemed to evaporate.

"What kind of thing was that?" April asked as she tried to tend to the Turtles. She looked to Leatherhead. "Please tell me that thing is native to the Utrom world."

"No, it's not," Leatherhead sighed, "I suspect that whatever malfunction expanded the Transmat Device's teleportation field also disrupted the assigned spacial coordinates."

"Well, if this place ain't the Utrom world, I say we go home," Leo decided, "Before something really bad shows up."

Unfortunately, that would be easier said than done. A quick look at the Transmat showed that the teleportation had damaged several parts. Repairs would be needed before they attempted to 'port back to Earth. Parts would have to replaced, on top of figuring out what caused the malfunction. With luck, however, they found that the woods they appeared in was just a stone's throw from a nearby city- what they would later learn was the Kingdom of Mistral.

After taking measures to disguise the Transmat Device so it wouldn't be spotted by passing aircraft, the New Yorkers began their infiltration of the new society they had found. It started out simply. In the daytime, April would locate places that had the appropriate materials they could use for the Transmat's supplies. At night, the Turtles, with the occasional help from Leatherhead, would 'obtain' it. There would be the occasional scuffle with the Grimm, but they were able to handle it. For a week, the arrangement worked quite well.

Until something went horribly wrong.

While the Turtles were out on a caper (Mike's choice of words), Leatherhead had prowled a bit too close to the city's border. He was spotted, and not by reputable people. These people realized that there was probably big money in the giant lizard wandering about, and elected to set a trap. When the Turtles came back to their camp one night, they found their home-away-from-home in shambles. April, who had been knocked into some bushes, told the ninja what had happened- Leatherhead had been taken. The only notable feature about his abductors was that one of them had a distinctive tattoo on his shoulder- shaped like a spider.

Asking around town led the Turtles to a chop shop for stolen vehicles. Once the local thugs had been suitably clobbered, they grilled the one person still semi-conscious for intel. What he had to tell them was not uplifting.

"So, apparently these 'Spiders' have hideouts all over these country," Leonardo sighed, sheathing his swords. "And none of these low-level punks know which one Leatherhead would be at."

"So if we want to save Leatherhead, we're gonna have check each one?" Raphael groused, "Terrific."

"Lucky for us, these very cooperative goons were nice enough to leave a map out," Donatello said, weaving a paper to the others. "It doesn't have specific addresses, but we should know what direction to look in."

"Even luckier, we won't even have to go on foot!" Michelangelo said, and held up set of keys. He pushed a button on the handle, a pair of headlamps light up. They turned out to be for a large flying vehicle.

Seeing it, each Turtle's mouth curled into a mischievous smile.

NOW

In the village of Wind Path, the officially-abandoned inn was alive with activity. Although the curtains were drawn and the doors shut, music could be heard from within. Any passerby would assume some gang was just having a party. They were right.

Inside, as "I Burn!" played on Yang's scroll, Team RWBY and the New Yorkers whooped it up, celebrating the successful rescue of Leatherhead.

"It must have been awful, Leatherhead," April said, "I mean, weeks locked in some dungeon?"

Leatherhead nodded. "It was not a pleasant experience."

"Did they…torture you?" Blake asked hesitantly.

"No," Leatherhead replied, "I kept silent, and so they believed I was just a large animal. I felt that if they knew I was sentient, they would have placed me under stricter protection."

Ruby noticed that one of Leatherhead's arms had a bandage on it. She was about to ask about it when her scroll rang. Excusing herself, she stepped into another room to take the call. The scroll's holographic screen showed none other than the face of Jaune Arc.

"Oh, hey, Jaune," Ruby greeted, "What's up?"

"Just wondering how things have been going for you, Ruby," Jaune said, "I heard from Sun. He said you were going to attack the mafia, or something."

"Or something," Ruby laughed, "Actually, we've been helping some…out of towners," She briefly wondered if she should tell Jaune about the Turtles. She didn't want to hide things from one of her friends, but she knew how much the Turtles wanted to keep their existence hidden from the world. "A friend of theirs was kidnapped by the Spiders gang, and they needed a hand with the rescue mission. What about you?"

"Nothing as personal as all that," Jaune said, "Just the usual Grimm hunting. They've been pretty agitated for some reason."

Ruby thought about the theory that the New Yorkers' presence had were responsible for the Grimm's present activity. "Yeah, we've had to deal with that up here," She then remembered the machine that supposedly kept the Grimm away from the Spiders' castle. "The Grimm around one of the Spiders' hideouts were acting pretty weird too. Blake thinks-"

"Hey, Ruby," Mike popped up behind Ruby, munching on a slice of pizza. He had another in his other hand. "You want the last slice of pizza? You didn't have as many as the others and- Whoop!" Spotting the holographic screen, Mike ducked back out of sight.

"…Ruby?" Jaune said after gaping for a minute. "Was that a big turtle-man behind you?"

"…Yup." Ruby sighed.

"Was he one of the 'outsiders' you mentioned?" Jaune asked.

Ruby nodded, saying, "Yeah. But he's not from the Ever After. We checked. They're from another planet."

"You mean aliens!?" Jaune gasped, before palming his face. "Sure, why not? We've had to deal with magic, gods, and fairylands. Why not aliens?"

"Please don't tell anyone," Ruby added, "The guys don't really wanna have to deal with anything…"

"No, no, I get it," Jaune assured, "I've seen the movies, you don't want your new friends caught by the government and…dissected."

That was a vivid image. Ruby tried to not to think about it. Instead, she said, "Thanks, Jaune."

"So…that mask he was wearing, is he some sort of space-burglar?"

Ruby couldn't help but giggle. "Not quite, Jaune…"

As much fun as the party was, it eventually came to an end. And it was time to head out onto the next phase of the mission…returning to the Transmat Device. They would use the truck stolen during the rescue/escape from the Spider's castle, as it was the only vehicle that could efficiently carry Leatherhead. They didn't want to take the risk of getting spotted by the Spiders, so they waited until night had fallen before heading out.

Once they were on the road (With Yang driving and Blake riding shotgun), Ruby asked the one question that had been nagging at her at the back of her mind.

"Hey, Leo, at the Spider's place, you threw something with your foot," the young huntresses said, "Is that something all you guys can do?"

"Wait, that was you Leo?" Mike asked before his brother could respond, "You threw something with your foot?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I needed to distract the Spiders so we could escape. And to answer your question, Ruby, no."

"But you did it," Blake pointed out, "You threw that wrench like it was a baseball. That's not something anyone can do, unless they were a monkey-faunus with prehensil toes as their animal-trait."

Raph chuckled, "Maybe that's gonna be your Semblance, Leo; Foot-throwing."

"Oh no," Don sighed, palming his forehead. "Now I can't stop thinking of Leo throwing feet at people."

Everyone laughed.

The road trip was not a complicated affair. They still had to take stops to for meals, re-fueling, and dealing with any Grimm that ventured too close. But even with those diversions, the group were able to reach the territory where the New Yorkers first appeared. They parked at the edge of the forest, as the trees were too close together to drive through.

"Ugh, that car ride felt like it lasted forever," Mike groaned, stretching as he and the others piled out of the truck. "I think it took longer coming back than it did going the other way!"

"Mikey, are you kidding me?" Don laughed, patting his melodramatic brother on the shell. "It took us weeks to reach Leatherhead. And we've just cut our travel time down to one and-a-half days, two tops."

"Weeks? Two days? That's nothing!" Ruby laughed, "Some of us spent half a year crossing Anima. On foot!"

"I imagine it wouldn't have taken so long if you hadn't lost your map so many times." Weiss noted teasingly.

"Hey!"

"All right, keep it down, gang," Leo said, "We need to find our way back to where we left the Transmat Device."

"You think it's still here?" Yang asked, "What if somebody took while you were gone?"

"For the same reason why we couldn't take it with us when we went after Leatherhead," Raph explained, "The thing's too damn big and heavy to move around."

Yang wasn't so sure. She had a strange sense of foreboding as the group walked through the forest. Eventually, they reached the clearing where the New Yorkers had left the Transmat Device.

Only the Device wasn't there.

"No…no!" Leatherhead cried, "Where is it?!"

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Blake asked the Turtles, "Maybe we're in the wrong area."

Leo looked grim as he bent down and examined the ground. "Unfortunately, this is definitely where we left the Transmat. See these indentations? They're from the Device. It's gone."

"But how is that possible?" Don asked, "I don't see any sign of tow trucks, or any other lifting equipment."

"Maybe it was someone with a telekinetic Semblance." Ruby suggested, "Our old teacher Professor Goodwitch could lift all kinds of stuff with her Semblance."

"It does look like other people have been through here." Blake remarked, looking around.

"HOW CAN YOU TAKE THIS SO LIGHTLY!?" Leatherhead exploded, "OUR ONLY WAY OF GOING HOME- THE ONLY MEANS I HAVE OF FINDING MY FAMILY IS GONE!"

The sheer force of the mutant crocodile's bellow echoed through the tree tops. While the New Yorkers were more used to Leatherhead's episodes, Team RWBY were caught completely off-guard and instinctively went for their weapons. That did not help with Leatherhead's temper.

"We're not making light of the problem, Leatherhead," April said, putting herself between the angry lizard and the huntresses. "But we need to get our facts straight before we try to find it."

"Besides, we've been through this whole song and dance before." Mike put in.

"What, stranded on another planet?" Yang asked incredulously.

"We've been through that too…" Ruby whispered to her sister.

"Pretty much!" Mike nodded, "And we've always managed to pull through. This isn't game over, we're just going into overtime!"

Ruby couldn't help but smile. It felt good to have someone else be the 'spirit-lifter'. But Leatherhead didn't look convinced. Or maybe he was just angry in general. His face was a less expressive than the Turtles', even with their masks. Either way, his nostrils were still flaring with frustration and he stalked off into the forest.

"Is…he going he going to be okay?" Weiss asked, the unspoken 'Will he hurt someone?' hanging in the air for all to ponder.

"Yeah…but it might be a good idea to give him his space," Leo said, rubbing the back of his head. "He tends to lose control sometimes."

"See, unlike us, Leatherhead had to survive in New York all by himself," Don explained, "And the only thing that's kept him going is the hope that he might return to the Utroms."

That rang a bell, and one Yang didn't like to hear. Sighing, she said, "Maybe I should go talk to him."

"That might not be a good idea," Raph said, "Leatherhead can a little dangerous when he's in one of his moods."

"And that's exactly why I'm going to talk to him," Yang said, her mind made up. "Trust me, I think I know what he's dealing with."

It wasn't too hard to follow Leatherhead's trail- The way he stomped the ground left a trail of footprints only the blind could miss. And if the footprints weren't enough, Yang could also hear the sound of some feral beast snarling. Sure enough, she found Leatherhead- currently fighting an Ursa Grimm. It was the first time she actually felt sorry for one of the Creatures of Grimm.

After the Ursa dissolved in a mass, Yang clapped her hands. Leatherhead jumped slightly and whirled about. He calmed down when he saw who it was.

"Not bad," Yang said, "But a lot of people tell me that hitting things isn't a good way of dealing with rage issues."

Leatherhead's nostril's flared, but instead of saying anything, the mutant lizard simply closed his eyes. After a few seconds of silently fuming, he opened them up and said, "I imagine you are right. But you don't understand…"

"No, I get it," Yang interrupted, closing the distance between huntress and mutant. She gave Leatherhead a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Losing your family is hard. I know what it feels like when they…just up and leave you behind," Yang's eyes briefly turned red, and the image of a certain woman in red flashed in her mind. "I-I can also get wanting to find that family so much that you'd throw yourself into danger just for a chance to see them again."

Yang stopped. She recalled that day when she, as a child, took Ruby to that barn and the two of them were almost killed. Even now, thinking about who close they were to death, and the shame for having almost brought it upon them, sent shivers down her spine.

She almost didn't hear Leatherhead respond. He said, "I…thank you for your sympathy, Miss Xiao Long. But it's…every time I think I am going to find them, some…unexpected event happens and my family is ripped away from me again!"

"Hey, I can definately get that," Yang said, "But, you know, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you don't not have a family now." Leatherhead gave Yang a look of total bewilderment. Evidently, her phrasing had gone over his head. She jerked a thumb over her own shoulder. "What I mean is, there are five people back there willing to start a mob war just to get you back. Just…remember that."

A light of comprehension dawned in Leathearhead's eyes. And although he didn't smile, he did seem to take her words at value. "I will…thank you."

When Yang and Leatherhead returned to the others, they found the group was discussing their next move. Currently, Ruby had the floor.

She said, "If your Trans-thingy is as big as you say, whoever took couldn't have moved it far, even with a telekinetic semblance."

"You guys got your first ship from some chop-shop for vehicles, right?" Weiss considered, "Why don't we check that place out first?"

"Then let's get moving," Leo said, getting up. "Sun's starting to set. If we start now, we can get out of the woods before night falls completely."

They hadn't taken more than two steps before Blake held up her hands. Her cat ears twitched.

"Something's coming." She reported.

"Is it a Grimm?" Yang asked.

"N-no…" Blake strained her ears the best she could. "It sounds like…rockets?"

Something flew Into the clearing. Something Team RWBY had not seen for some time. It was an Atlas Military monitoring drone. It hovered in front of the girls, then slowly turned around, observing the rest of the group before stopping on Leatherhead. A panel on top opened, and a hologram was projected into the air. It showed an old man with a robotic eye.

"Greetings, Huntresses and mutants," The man greeted, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Merlot."

TO BE CONTINUED_