After losing the power cell last night, they did their best to try and find it. But they couldn't track it down, every signal led them to dead ends and a microwave burrito in one instance. Every attempt to avoid the inevitable didn't work, and Leo was done running. "That's it, we're going to see Leatherhead."
"Uh… L-Leatherhead?" Donnie gulped nervously.
"Yeah, he's the one who took the power cell from the Kraang." Leo said as they went back into the sewers, "He's the one who might know where to find it."
"He's also the one who likes to grab my face and shake me like a rag doll!" Donnie yelled in a frenzy
Mikey was enjoying Donnie's pain far too much for his own good. He laughed at Donnie and sighed, "Good times."
"Zip it!"
"Oh, come on. He's a pussy cat, who likes to grab your face and shake you like a rag doll!" Mikey laughed again then stopped when he saw Donnie's murderous glare directed towards him, "Right…"
"Mikey's… kinda right. Leatherhead's a pretty chill guy, as long as you don't bring up the Kraang. He's helped me a lot with sorting out my bloodlust and feelings of vengeance towards them." Hikari said brightly, "I'm sure he'll understand."
They started making their way to Leatherhead's new home, a spot hidden away in the sewers where no human would likely wander into. They made sure of it, because it can only be accessed by swimming a large part of the way there.
The five of them emerged from the water, each with a wide variety of reactions. Hikari was pulling herself out of the water and taking large breaths, while Mikey hopped out of the water with his latest find in hand, "Who can hold their breath? We can."
"Speak for yourself." She said, standing up as she was catching her breath, "Still not a turtle."
"We wouldn't have to if you didn't keep swimming off to pick up trash." Raph pointed out.
"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Mikey smiled.
Raph just gave him a dead stare, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's every man's trash."
"Cut him some slack." She came to Mikey's defense, "Almost everything in the lair came from the trash."
"He's snuggling a half-rotten fish." Raph glanced over to Mikey, Hikari followed suit and shut herself up after seeing that. Because really, how could one defend it?
A loud monstrous snore broke the silence. None of them said another word until they spotted Leatherhead sleeping in the next room. "There he is." Leo whispered, "We don't wanna alarm him. We don't want to make any sudden moves."
"Aww, he's so cute." Mikey cooed. Hikari just rolled her eyes fondly, she never saw Leatherhead as cute like Mikey did, but she could see this kind innocent soul under all that torment and that was enough for her.
"So… Who's gonna wake him up?" Leo said, his voice a little higher than usual.
"Not it!" The turtles all shouted, leaving Hikari as the one to do it.
"Boys." She shook her head before approaching Leatherhead with caution, "Leatherhead, it's Hikari. I need to talk to you."
Mikey, a little more boldened, approached him as well, "Leatherhead? Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey?"
That did the trick as Leatherhead sprang up like someone flipped a switch and growled, "Kraang!"
"Can we make sudden movements now?" Donnie gulped before a clawed scaly hand grabbed his face, "Ah! Grabbing me by the face again!"
"Leatherhead, don't!" Mikey tried to reach for Leatherhead, only to have Leatherhead knock him back. Leatherhead thrashed around, knocking Leo into the water and Raph onto the floor.
Hikari rushed to his side, "You OK?"
"Yeah, he must be having a nightmare."
Raph jumped onto Leatherhead's back, trying to let him to let Donnie go, "He's your friend, how do we stop him?"
"Rub his belly, he likes it!" Mikey responded.
"What did you say?" Raph blurted in his disbelief before he got smushed between Leatherhead and the wall behind him.
Leo climbed out of the water, only to get hit in the face by Leatherhead's tail. Hikari tried to stop him from falling back in, but she got pulled in along with him.
Mikey noticed that his family was getting hurt and called out to him, "Come on, Leatherhead. It's me, Michelangelo. Turn off the crazy eyes."
"Michelangelo?" Leatherhead looked around as his eyes lost that milk-white glaze over them, "My friends… Oh no, I got angry again, didn't I?"
"Yes! And you grabbed my face!" Donnie cried in outrage, "Why do you keep grabbing my face? What's wrong with my face?"
"Would you like to list it alphabetically or in descending order of grossness?" Raph quipped back.
"I am sorry, you are my friends. The only ones I can truly trust." Leatherhead said with earnestly, "That's why I gave you the power cell for safekeeping."
Leatherhead's casual mentioning of the power cell brought the spotlight back on the reason they were here in the first place. Neither of them wanted to be the one to tell him but they all knew they couldn't keep it from it. "Yeah, u-mh-uhm, it's-it's a funny story-" Donnie started with a nervous laugh.
Donnie looked over to Leo, who tried to say something, "Uhm - about that"
"Funny story. True story." Mikey interjected with his own nervous chuckling.
"But before we tell it, why don't you sit down, and I and my face will take one big step backwards." Donnie then backed away from Leatherhead and had his shell up against the wall behind him, "Okay. Go ahead."
Hikari stood by Leo and interlocking their hands as a show of support. With the anchor in place, Leo figured it was best to just rip off the band-aid, "Well, about the power cell, we sort of lost it-" Leo started losing some of that bravado when he saw Leatherhead's eyes changing, "to the Kraang."
Right after he squeaked that out, Leo and Hikari moved out of the way from Leatherhead's rage. Hikari deployed her shield to cover them, but it wasn't needed as Leatherhead bolted past them and went for his favorite thing to grab when he's stressed, Donnie's face. Donnie was not amused with that at all if his panicked muffled scream or his frantic flailing was any sign of that.
"No, Leatherhead, these are your friends." Leatherhead muttered to himself as he started to calm himself down. He let Donnie go, Donnie dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Leatherhead sat down now that all that fight and rage had left his body, "Obviously, you did everything you could to protect it."
"Well, to be honest I wasn't –" Mikey tried to explain before Raph clamped his mouth shut with one hand.
"Yes, that's exactly what happened." Raph said quickly.
Hikari, being the second closest to Leatherhead, sat next to him, "Leatherhead, we need to get it back.
Leatherhead nodded somberly, "With the power cell, the Kraang can open the portal to Dimension X. And when it opens.."
"They can use it to bring anything from their home here." Donnie finished that sentence in horror, finally realizing the gravity of the situation.
"Things so horrible, they terrify even me." Leatherhead's words sent chills down their spine. They had their hands full just by handing the Kraang already on Earth and the Foot Clan. For a group of 5 teenagers to be the first and possibly last line of defense for the Earth, it would be far too much for them to handle.
Mikey noticed Hikari's shift in stance, her posture had gotten stiffer and she seemed like she was trying to take calming breathes in an inconspicuous manner. Mikey decided to prod into it, "Nee-chan, you OK? You seem really tense, and more than you normally do when it comes to the K-R-A-A-N-G?"
Hikari thought about shrugging it off, there was so much she couldn't really share with them after all. But she didn't want to hide anything more than she had to. "You're right. I do have more reasons to hate them than what they did to me personally." She stood up off the ground, "We Lightfuries have our fair share of enemies. But there was one that history wouldn't let us forget, even if the faces of the victims themselves have been lost to time. Back when the Nebula was born and the first Lightfuries made their homes, Dimension X wasn't just home to the Kraang, but also to the Utroms."
"The Utroms?" Leo asked.
"An alien race that was known for their diverse personalities, all unified under the name of peace and prosperity. The Lightfuries and the Utroms were said to be close allies, which made it all the worse when the Kraang eliminated them all. Although history didn't have a lot to say about the Utrom themselves, we still honor our alliance and swore to avenge them."
"So that's why you know so much about them." Donnie's eyes widened with that realization.
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Raph looked at her, mildly annoyed that she hid this from them.
"I didn't see the point in bringing up intergalactic politics, and I don't see how this has anything to do with why the Kraang are so interested in Earth."
"Whatever reason they have, we need to stop them and keep that portal from opening." Leo turned to Leatherhead, "Can you tell us where it is?"
"All I remember is this." Leatherhead used his claw to scratch a symbol on the ground. It was quite simple in design, a series of six hexagons connected on their sides to make a honeycomb-like circle. Donnie took note of the symbol and took a picture of it with his T-Phone.
Donnie knew that Leatherhead was a nice guy with some issues he had to work through. He saw what that kind of trauma did to Hikari, so he had no doubts about that. But that didn't mean he was comfortable hanging around him considering he was usually the poor target when Leatherhead lost control. Hikari and Mikey chatted with Leatherhead a little more, before they all headed back for the lair.
Once they were back in the lair, Hikari got a call from Murakami-san to help him with his shop. She left while Donnie and his brothers pondered over the symbol for any clues as to where the Kraang would've taken the power cell.
"I know I've seen this symbol. It's so familiar–" Donnie said his thought aloud as he stared at the symbol.
"The Olympics." Mikey exclaimed.
"NO!" Donnie shouted, getting quite tired of hearing that answer.
Unfortunate for him, Mikey is very persistent as he thought about it and gave his next guess, "I got it: the Olympics."
"Stop guessing." Donnie glared at Mikey and sighed in frustration, "Obviously it's a Kraang symbol. –"
"But from where?" Leo asked.
"The Olympics!" Mikey jumped in.
"Quit it! There's something here and I can figure it out if you'll all just go away and let me THINK!" His brother knew better than to piss Donnie off when he was stuck on a problem, so they left to do their own things.
Donnie was left alone with his thoughts as he racked his brain, trying desperately for any signs he could remember. He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Splinter approaching him. "Oh, the Olympics?" Splinter asked curiously.
"For the hundredth, I-" Donnie nearly lost it until he saw who was speaking to him, he slumped down back onto his seat in defeat, "Ugh! It's driving me crazy! I know I've seen this somewhere else but I just can't remember."
"You must calm your mind and wait. You are ninja, Donatello. The word nin means patience and perseverance." Splinter advised, "Deep breath. Breathe."
"Okay, okay. I'm calm" Donnie did so and grinned when his head cleared, and a light bulb appeared.
Meanwhile, Mikey was sitting in the pit, halfheartedly watching whatever was on TV. He was too busy worrying about Donnie's reaction just now, "Man, I hadn't seen Donnie so mad since we lost the power cell."
"You mean two days ago." Raph clarified, not taking his eyes off the comic he was reading.
Leo noticed how concerned Mikey was and tried comforting him, "Don't worry, Mikey. He's going to solve it then he's gonna be fi-"
Leo was cut off by the loud sound of the lab door slamming wide open. "Call Hikari and get her to meet us at Brooklyn." Donnie said to them before heading to the turnstiles.
"Donnie, hold on!" Leo ran after him, leaving Raph and Mikey frozen in shock.
"I guess he figured it out." Mikey said aloud. Raph rolled his eyes and smacked him on the back of the head. After that, they followed the other while Raph pulled out his T-Phone to make the call.
Hikari got the call as she was helping Murakami with his evening stock. She apologized profusely, though he completely understood, before taking off to the closest subway station. She slipped into the subway and got off as soon as she made it to Brooklyn. She tracked them down with the T-Phone and got up onto the rooftops. She caught up with them soon after, with her asking where they were going.
"I figured out where else I've seen this." Donnie replied.
"Where?" She asked, though her question was answered when Donnie slowed down and an odd-looking skyscraper came into view. On that skyscraper was the same symbol on all the Kraangdroids and the symbol Leatherhead drew.
Raph apparently recognized the building and gawked in disbelief, "T.C.R.I.? They're behind the Kraang plot?"
"The invasion?" Leo continued, still in disbelief as well.
"The Olympics?" Mikey asked with a mock running motion which earned him another smack on the head. "Oww! What was that?!"
"A new Olympic event." Raph said bluntly, much to Mikey's annoyance.
"T.C.R.I?" Hikari was the only one who didn't know about this building or organization that they were talking about.
"The techno cosmic research institute. They're supposed to be the leading research institute for technological breakthroughs in New York." Donnie explained, "They've been in plain sight the whole time, we just never realized it."
"Just like the World Genome Project." Hikari realized.
Leo looked at the ominous building then back to his team, "I think it's pretty obvious what we have to do. We're going in and we're taking down that portal."
Now that the team had a target, they needed a plan to pull this off. They weren't crazy or stupid enough to rush into a Kraang base of that size and fight their way to the portal, even if they knew where the portal was. They told Sensei and April about it, wanting to cover as much as they can.
Leo was sitting on the dining island with Hikari and a reluctant Raph while April showed them her findings. "I downloaded the blueprints for T.C.R.I." She placed the printout onto the island, "Now the bottom two-thirds of it are just a normal office building. And from what I can tell, normal humans work there."
"Imagine if they knew who they were working for." Leo then put on a Kraang impression, "The ones who are working for this place must punch the card that is known as the time card in the clock that is known as the clock of time."
April and Splinter stared at Leo, very unamused by his joke. Hikari was hiding her giggles, but he was happy that someone enjoyed his joke. Raph on the other hand, was ready to punch something by now and scoffed at the display, "You two are made for each other."
Leo nervously laughed before going back into leader mode, "Sorry, where were we?"
"What about the upper floors?" Splinter asked.
"Well, that's the thing." April said, "The top third is completely blank."
"Whatever they have up there, they don't want anyone to know about it." Leo pointed out.
"Which means that is exactly where you need to go." Splinter agreed.
Raph sat upright, "Ok, we know where the portal is. How are we going to destroy it?"
"What if we overload it?" Leo looked to Hikari.
"I doubt I could overload it." She responded, "They brought me here to see if I could be an alternate power source. If my energy isn't enough for that, then I don't think I'm strong enough to tip the scales."
Donnie had been listening in on their discussion and spoke up, "I think I've got something for that."
"Great. Now we need to figure out how to get past security in the lobby." Leo looked back at the blueprints for any openings.
"Tricky…" April mused, "It's not like we can just pack you in a box and send it in special delivery."
"Maybe not us…" Hikari perked up, "I've got an idea, but I gotta run it through with Leatherhead."
Leo caught onto what she meant and gave her a knowing smirk. April, on the other hand, was very confused, "Leatherhead?"
"Giant mutant alligator, but he is a very pleasant person to talk to. He also has a vendetta against the Kraang, and quite powerful." Hikari explained.
Leo stood up and gave his orders, "OK. Hikari, go talk to Leatherhead and see if he's willing to help. Raph, Mikey. You're on patrol duty, make sure there aren't any signs that the Kraang had already got the portal working. We'll keep working on the plan."
After Mikey, Raph, and Hikari left the lair, Leo finished mapping out their route and went to speak to Donnie after April left the lair and Splinter went back to his room. "Donnie? I need to talk to you."
"Sure, what's up?" Donnie asked without taking his goggled-eyes off the explosives he was working on.
"I'm worried about Hikari."
Donnie stopped his work and took off his goggles, "You're worried about what she said back at Leatherhead's place?"
"Kinda. I'm more worried about what she'll do once we get into T.C.R.I"
"I think you're overreacting. She's been fighting the Kraang with us for 5 months now, and she hadn't tried killing them for 2 of them."
"Yeah, but this could be their main base. It's not gonna be the same like every other battle."
"It's about what happened on her ship, isn't it?"
"She was willing to blow herself up to take out all the Kraang on the ship. If anything goes south… I'm worried she might do something crazy like that."
"She's not gonna sit out on this."
"I know better this time. I can't stop her from coming with us, but I was wondering if…" Leo went on to explain what he had in mind, though Donnie wasn't on board with it if his expressions were anything to go off on.
Donnie just listened and frowned thoughtfully, "She's not gonna be happy if she ever finds out about this."
"Hopefully we won't even need to use it."
Hikari made her way over to Leatherhead's place with ease now that she didn't have to slow down. Swimming had gotten easier the more she did it, but she was still leagues behind the turtles even without their biological advantages.
When she arrived at his place, Leatherhead was in the middle of his calming exercises that Sensei taught him. She made her presence known, it was better to interrupt him than to catch him off guard after all. "Hey, Leatherhead."
"Hello Hikari, have you and your friends figured out where the power cell is?"
"Yes, that's actually why I'm here. We need your help to create a distraction while we sneak into the building."
"I can do that. Just tell me when and what you need me to do."
Hikari went into depth about what she had in mind. It was quite simple, Leatherhead would be waiting in a box that April would push into the lobby. He would then go on a rampage and cause a massive scene that would draw a good portion of the Kraang to him, which would allow the team to sneak out of the box and into the elevator shaft. Leatherhead listened attentively, asking his own questions and providing input that she would bring up with Leo and the others.
After they finished their discussion, Hikari took a moment to speak her mind, "I'm sorry. We never really apologized for losing the power cell, and you deserve an apology at the very least."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but words won't stop them from opening that portal."
"I won't let them win. I'm not letting them wipe out another one." She said with determination.
Leatherhead took note of the ferociously in that statement and thought back to the many private conversations they shared. Stories and dark pasts that none of them shared with another soul, not even Michelangelo. "Do you think you could ever tell them everything?" He asked her.
She froze at that, and spoke after a long silence, "I'm not sure. Part of me would rather let all of it go, I'm not fighting that war anymore and they're better off not knowing what's out there. But I don't want to hide anything from them, they're my family now."
"And you don't think they will come to Earth."
"No offense to the Earth, but it is so primal in the eyes of most alien races that it wasn't even worth engaging contact." She scoffed, "They have got their own battles. As long as we deal with the Kraang, the Earth will be safe."
On the night of the plan, tensions were high as they all got ready. Despite the carefree attitudes they all exuded, they all knew what they were at stake. They waited patiently in the box as April pushed them straight into the front doors of T.C.R.I. and into the elevator. "Good luck, you guys." She whispered before the box was pushed forward and stopped with a thud once they hit the wall.
They could hear the muffled voices of Kraangdroids on the other side of the door, but they, especially Donnie, were relieved when it sounded like April made it out of the building. With no time to lose, they snuck out of the box and jimmied open the door on the ceiling on the elevator. They just managed to shut the door when they heard Leatherhead's loud roar.
Mikey looked down at the door as it shut, "Kinda feel bad leaving Leatherhead down there all by himself."
"Don't worry, he said he was happy to help." Hikari reassured him.
As if to corroborate with her statement, Leatherhead let out another loud roar. "Besides, I think he'll be fine." Leo said with confidence.
"How long to the top?" Raph asked, leading the five of them to look up at the monstrous climb they had ahead of them. "Yikes…"
Neither of them said another word as they started working their way up. Donnie noticed a noise coming from Mikey and had a look of disbelief when he recognized it, "Are you… humming the Olympics theme?"
"It seemed appropriate." Mikey smiled, lost in his world and his humming.
Hikari was confused about Mikey's answer and Donnie's reactions, "Am I missing something here?"
"Pipe down, you guys." Raph hissed. He climbed onto a set of elevator doors. Now that they were in the top third of the building, they had to start looking for the Portal. He opened the door as they were making their way up. They were caught off guard when they heard him screaming, "Wah!" Raph quickly shut the door behind him, "I gotta wash my eyes."
An alarm started blaring through the building, no doubt alerting everyone that they had been discovered. "That's bad." Raph remarked.
"All right!" Mikey cheered.
"What?" Leo responded in anger.
"Finally someone set off an alarm and it wasn't me."
"Mikey, I adore you. But now is not the time." She scowled just as a blaster shot went by her. The Kraang had found them and started shooting down the elevator shaft. She grabbed her uniweapon and changed it into a whip. With one swift motion, she sent her whip up around the arm of the Kraangdroid shooting at her and yanked downward, causing it to fall down the chute. Mikey would do the same with his kusarigama, wrapping it around another Kraangdroid by the waist and sending it crashing down onto the elevator below.
"Oh darn it, forgot to say 'see you next fall'." He said with a tinge of regret, "Next elevator shaft fight."
As they moved up, Hikari started to move downwards with the rope she was holding onto. A loud rumble echoed around them as the elevator beneath them was rising up towards them. There were Kraangdroids on the top of the elevator firing upon them. Hikari let go of the rope and used her whip to slice through a group of nearby Kraangdroids. The turtles dropped down to engage in battle as well. They made quick work of the ones on the top, which was good for them because they were already getting tired of all the fighting and climbing.
"Ok…" Leo said as he caught his breath, "Let's get inside to where it's safe."
They opened the hatch, only to freeze when they spotted a large group of Kraang inside. They screamed as shut the door, the door bouncing as blasts were shot at it. "I gotta stop saying stuff like that." Leo sighed.
"For Solar sakes." Hikari groaned. She stood up and looked to the four of them, "Give me a few minutes, also sorry in advance for the gore."
With that, she opened the hatch and dropped a smoke bomb into the elevator. She jumped in and changed her uniweapon into a sword and activated her energy blade. Under the cover of smoke, she moved swiftly and brutally, stabbed into the Kraang brains with little disregard. They were tired and she didn't get the chance to let out her resentment towards them like Leatherhead did. She felt guilty of going against Leo's wishes against this, but she felt like she had to do what needed to be done.
Once the smoke cleared, the turtles looked into the elevator to see Hikari with green gunk on her arms and a few puddles of it on the floor. There was no question about what she did. Leo could see his brothers watching him, waiting for his reaction. "She did what she said" was all he had to say before jumping down into the elevator. Hikari looked ashamed, though Leo knew she was worried about what he thought. Leo reached out for her hand, a sign to reassure her that he wasn't going to leave this time.
Raph was already done with the mission and they hadn't even really started yet, "Can we please just ride this thing to the top now?"
Donnie tried to select the top floor on the elevator, "We can't. There's a retinal scanner."
"On it." Mikey exclaimed, picking up the head he was playing with and stuck it against the retinal scanner.
"That which is known as access is granted to Kraang." The robotic voice said as the elevator started to move again.
"Great job, Mikey!" Hikari smiled, much to Mikey's delight.
"This is so much easier."
"Yeah, finally a chance to catch our breath." Raph agreed.
The elevator soon reached its destination with a ding, the doors opening to the top floor of the building. They had their weapons out, bracing themselves for the fight of their life. However, they were greeted by a wall of thick murky gas that flooded into the elevator. The team was on their knees, coughing while their airway and lungs felt like they were on fire until they passed out.
When Leo came back to consciousness, it was with a burning throat and a slight headache. His brothers and Hikari all stirring back aware after he did.
"The good news is we're still alive." Donnie said only slightly sarcastically.
Hikari took that to heart as she had that blank look in her eyes again, the same look of fear and righteous fury she had whenever the Kraang were involved.
"What's the bad news?" Leo asked, a little scared about what answer he was going to get.
"That." Donnie's eyes were staring outwards. The sight before them was a terrifying one. There were Kraang in little hovercrafts carrying them around and flying all across the room. The toxic gas that knocked them out was dense and all over the place except their little captive bubble. There were screens on one wall, Kraang being displayed on it and communicating with it. And in the center of the room was a giant piece of machinery, it looked like 3 massive laser guns all pointed at one platform in the middle like a big triangle. "We are deep in Kraang country." Donnie continued as if this base could be anything else.
Leo flinched when a Kraang brain threw itself at the containment bubble they were in. Leo was unamused as it slowly slid down off the glass. "We're not in Kansas anymore." He said with a dull tone.
"I thought we were in New York!" Mikey gawked, earning him another smack on the head by Raph.
"The portal!" Hikari pointed at the mechanical centerpiece of the room.
"It's beautiful…" Donnie gasped in awe, "scientifically speaking, of course."
Raph just rolled his eyes at Donnie's heart eyes, "Well if you love it so much, why don't you marry it?"
Mikey put on a lovesick look and mocked him, "Do you, Donatello, take this portal to be your-"
"Knock it off, all of you!" Leo took back control of the group.
Hikari placed her hand on Donnie's shoulder, "Besides, we're here to destroy your technological love so it's best not to get attached."
"In case you didn't notice, we're stuck in here, our weapons are way over there," Raph gestures outwards, "in a room that is filled with poison gas."
"If it's poison, how can they breath that stuff?" Mikey asked.
"Mikey, not all lifeforms breath in oxygen." Hikari answered, "This must be what the gas in Dimension X is like."
"Well that's stupid, why would you invade a place when you can't even breath the air?" Raph posed forward.
"Yeah, what are they gonna do?" Mikey laughed, "Mutant the whole planet so that they can live here, and we can't?"
Hearing that, a lightbulb flashed in their heads. Donnie looked to him and said with a shocked expression, "I don't know what's scarier, what you said or that you that said it."
"Wait? What did I say?" Mikey asked puzzled.
"Mikey's right… The mutagen, the portal, the invasion plan, it all makes sense." Hikari's pale skin went grey in horror, "They're trying to transform the Earth into a habitable planet for them."
"We have to stop them." Leo said, now more determined than ever.
"How are we supposed to do that with these guys watching our every move?" Raph pointed to the Kraang swarming the room and shooting nasty glances at their bubble.
"We need a distraction."
Just then, a thunderous whirring sound came from the portal. The Kraang that were hovering around started getting excited and crowded around it. "Like the portal?" Mikey blurted out.
The moment they had an opening, Hikari pulled out one of her hidden knives from her belt and tossed it over to Donnie, which he used the knife to scratch a deep line into the glass. Leo turned to Mikey and asked, "Mikey, you said you could hold your breath?"
Mikey scoffed at the fact Leo even asked, "Like a turtle do."
"Now's your chance."
Once everyone took in a deep breath, Mikey popped into his shell and let two of them use him as a battering ram to crash out of their glass bubble. The glass shattered and Mikey went flying out of their cage. He quickly stuck his limbs back out in a well-timed attacking, taking out the Kraang that were guarding their weapons. "Booya-" Mikey almost cheered but he stopped himself when he remembered the gas.
Although the turtles could hold their breath for longer, Hikari couldn't so they fought off the Kraang and kept them distracted. Hikari went her uniweapon, then straight to the nearest window. The uniweapon transformed into a war hammer, as she swung it at the glass with full force. The window cracked on impact, but it wasn't enough. She noticed some Kraang flying towards her with their lasers on blast. She moved out of range, but the laser hit the crack she made. With a high-kick to knock one away from her and a swing with smash one down to paste, she wounded up for one last swing at the crack which broke through the glass. The hole in the window did its job as it sucked all the poisonous gas out of the room. She let out a loud gasp as she took in the now clean air before switching her war hammer into a whip and rejoined the group.
"We're good! Let's go!" Leo shouted. But just as he said that, the portal was up and fully functional. A sound and a glowing light signalized that as a figure was seen in it. "We're too late!" Donnie cried out, "Something's coming through."
The light dissipated, showing a sentient rock golem with the dim glow of molten lava leaking from every crack and joint on its body. The golem stood tall, looming over the teenagers as they faced their most challenging battle yet.
"Welcome to Earth, giant rock man." Mikey winced with an awkward wave.
The golem let out a roar and stomped towards the team. "Scatter!" Leo shouted. They all moved and got out of the way. Donnie was in awe of it just like with every other piece of alien technology he had seen so far, "Wow… An entity out of living rock. I wish I could study it."
Donnie moved in for a strike, distracting it by jumping on its head before swinging his staff at its face and legs. Both attacks bounced off its body like a ball on the pavement.
"Study him after we smash him to a million pieces!" Leo remarked as he went in with his katanas. He slashed at its legs, only for one of his katana to break like the blade was a twig. "…or not." Leo looked nervously at his broken katana.
The golem was not amused as it stomped around them and spat out a small pool of lava at Raph and Mikey.
"Watch out for the lava barf!" Raph ran on the walls to avoid it before jumping down with his sais in hand. The lava golem snatched him in mid-air as if he was some toy. Raph tried slicing its hand with his sais and kicking his face, but nothing worked.
"Hands off!" Hikari yelled, her uniweapon now a scythe as she aimed the bladed end onto its elbow joint. She poured more energy into her weapon until it was enough to slice through and sever its arm. Raph broke free while the arm dropped to the ground and the golem roared in outrage. Hikari was a little drained from that attack, which didn't help her ego when the golem's arm was pulled back to its body and reattached as though nothing had happened.
"Come on!" She groaned aloud before getting smacked into one of the guns for the portal with the very arm she cut off. Donnie and Mikey didn't stand much of a chance before they ended up next to her.
Leo moved swiftly and leaped into the air, throwing a few smoke bombs at its face. That was enough to get its attention as it lunged towards him, swinging its arms around to catch him as Leo dodged its every attempt. He then leaped onto the upper platform and waited. The golem stood upright with malice in his magma eyes and punched straight at him. The punch went through the concrete wall, but Leo avoided it with a leap and remain unharmed.
While Leo got into position, the remaining four moved to the right spot and timed their attack perfectly. All four of them launched themselves into the air with a flying kick directed at the golem, sounded by Mikey's battle cry, "Booyakasha!"
The golem was knocked back and fell down to the ground like lumber down onto the forest floor. The five regrouped as the golem got back into its feet once more. Raph was more than done with this, "Do we have anything that can hurt this thing?!"
Donnie's eyes widen with a realization, "The explosives I made might do it, but then we won't be able to take down the portal."
"Unless…we do both at the same time!" Leo gestured to Donnie's bag, "Hand them over."
Donnie handed Leo the bag as Mikey threw down a smoke bomb. They all scattered again with the smoke while Leo focused on his part. He snuck back onto the upper platform and leaped onto its back with the bag hooked onto its neck in a way that it couldn't reach for the explosives.
The golem was furious, desperately reaching behind him to no avail. Leo met up with his team to their praises. "Awesome, Leo!" Mikey said, "So how do we get it into the portal?"
Leo blinked and admitted, "I, uh… I kinda hadn't thought that far ahead."
Suddenly, they heard a ding coming from an elevator. A couple of mangled Kraangdroids came flying out the doors the second they opened and out stepped Leatherhead with all his righteous fury.
"Leatherhead!" Mikey and Hikari cried out in relief.
Leatherhead had his eyes set on the enemy before him, "Traang!"
He wasted no time and immediately ran on all fours to fight him. With a strong tailwhip, he knocked out its legs and sent it to the ground. While it was down, Leatherhead grabbed its feet and tossing it onto the ground again and again over his shoulder.
Donnie saw this and took advantage of it, "Leatherhead, get it by the portal!"
Leatherhead heard it and tossed Traang onto the portal platform. Donnie immediately pulled out his T-Phone and activated the explosives. The bag around Traang's neck exploded into a loud powerful blow. The five teenagers started to cheer as the plan went as well as it could have, they got the bomb onto the portal and blow it up…if only the bombs had done their part. As the smoke started to clear, the joy on their faces were wiped clean off as the portal stood there untouched with a purple outline sizzling around it.
"A shield… I should've known." Hikari cursed.
"What do we do now?" Donnie asked, now out of ideas.
"I can punch you a few times, but I don't think that's gonna help." Raph said without as much snark as usual.
To make matters worse, they saw the parts of Traang move on their own as it started to reassemble itself just like with its arm. "Well, this day couldn't get any worse." Raph said dully.
As if the universe wanted to prove him wrong, the portal started to glow again. "And it just did." He finished.
"Something else might come through!" Donnie realized.
"How can we stop it if we can't even stop one of that?" Hikari was starting to spiral, but she was still trying to keep her head focused and at the moment.
Leatherhead charged in once more to continue his fight with Traang, completely disregarding the portal behind him. "Leatherhead, something else might come through!" Mikey shouted to warn him.
"Not if I can do anything about it." Leatherhead roared as he wrestled Traang back towards the portal, "Farewell, my friends."
"Leatherhead! NO!" Mikey shouted in anguish, while Hikari stared in disbelief and shock. Leatherhead and Traang went through the portal, which set off a blast that knocked them onto the ground. When they looked back, all they saw was an empty platform.
"Leatherhead…" Mikey murmured sadly, "I can't believe he's gone."
"We gotta get out now!" Leo pointed to the hole Hikari made.
"We can't leave!" Donnie argued, "With the portal operational, the Kraang are more dangerous than ever!"
While those two were arguing, Raph was getting worried about how stiff Hikari had become, "Uhh, Leo?"
Leo and Donnie turned to see Hikari frozen with her back towards them. They couldn't see her face, but they could hear the emotionless words coming out of her mouth, "He's gone… They took him…" The uniweapon in her hand shifted into a sword as the elevator doors opened to reveal more Kraang reinforcements, "Not again."
Leo gritted his teeth and made the call, "Donnie, we gotta do it."
"I'm sorry, Hikari." Donnie whispered under his breath. He pulled a needle out from his belt and injected it into the back of her arm. The look of guilt on Leo and Donnie's face was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.
The team made it back to the lair with defeat in their eyes. Mikey and Raph were furious when they saw Donnie sticking a needle into her before she passed out. Leo and Donnie had a long talk on their way back. They were not happy about their reasons or the fact it was hidden from them, but Raph and Mikey understood it.
But nothing was like the walk of shame they had to do when they arrived back in the lair. April was already up and greeting them the moment they walked in. "You're OK!" Her relief quickly morphed into shock and horror when she noticed Hikari in Leo's arms, "What happened?"
"Welcome home, my children" Splinter frowned when he noticed their expressions and Hikari's limp form, "I take it your mission was not successful then."
"I'm afraid not, sensei." Leo answered remorsefully as he looked down at the girl in his arms, "Leatherhead's… gone, and Hikari didn't take it well."
"Yeah, but he saved us." Mikey said with morose and pulled out a metal thing he picked up during the battle, "And I found this."
"Oh, good. Now you're picking up alien trash." Raph's words made Mikey a little defensive about his new treasure.
Donnie took notice on the device in Mikey's hand and his eyes widened, "Do you realize what this is?"
"Shiny!" Mikey exclaimed.
"It's a Kraang data storage device! If I can decode it, maybe it can help us find a way to stop them." Donnie said, hope now present in his voice.
"Let me know if you find anything, I need to take her to her room." Leo went up to her room and laid her onto her bed, then he waited by her side. He was getting worried when he noticed the scrunched-up look of distress on her sleeping face. He could only hope that she would forgive him for knocking her out like that.
When Hikari woke up again, the first thing that came to her blurry vision was a bright white light. Her arms felt heavy and she felt weak. Her heart started to race as she feared the worse. She didn't even realize that she was thrashing or screaming until a familiar voice broke through her hazy mind. "Hikari! Calm down!" The voice cried out. Worry, and panic was evident in tone.
She could then make out a green figure with a comforting shade of blue on its face. As her vision started to focus, she could finally see where she was. "Leo?" She murmured hoarsely, looking around the room to see that all the turtles were now in her room, each wearing looks of concerns on their faces. She was confused, why were they worried? Why were they in her room? The last thing she remembered was their mission in T.C.R.I, and… Her thoughts halted when everything that happened came back to her in one ruthless flash. Her hand tighten around the bedsheets, "Did… Did all that really happen?"
"Yeah, I injected you with a drug I developed for situations like that." Donnie explained, not looking her in the eye, "I didn't want to use it, but we weren't sure if we could've stopped you from going on a rampage after what happened."
"Donnie, please never do that again. I-I was so scared I was gonna wake up in that cell again." She wished she could stop her body from shaking right now, she didn't want them to see her like this again.
"I promise." Donnie nodded seriously.
"It's kinda ironic, isn't it? I always knew there was a possibility that we might not make it, but… I wasn't ready to lose him."
"Leatherhead's a tough guy." Raph tried to console her, "If anyone's gonna kick Kraang butt, it's gonna be him."
Hikari didn't say anything else, she merely turned over to the side with her back facing them. The four brothers shared a look, unsure of what to do. Mikey then spoke up, "Can you bros wait outside?"
"OK, Mikey." Leo said before they left Mikey and Hikari alone.
Mikey walked over to her bed and sat down on the floor with his shell against the bedframe. The two shared a moment of silence before Hikari turned to face him, "I'm sorry, nii-chan. He's your friend too, and I'm making this all about me."
"Yeah, it sucks that he's gone. I miss him." Mikey said, "But if I was gone-"
"Don't even joke about that, Mikey." Hikari got out of bed and said that to his face.
Mikey noticed her anxiety, but he had to say what he wanted to, "If I was gone, I don't want you or my bros to stop because of that. And I think Leatherhead wouldn't want it. So tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up and I'm gonna do whatever I can to bring him home again."
"What about now?"
Mikey said nothing more and just hugged her. The act was enough to understand and calm her emotions enough to work through what had happened in that building. Hikari did her best to soothe Mikey by petting his head just the way he liked it. The two sat there for hours, sharing their pain and grief for their lost friend.
A/N: The Kraang just won't give them a break. They lost the Shellraiser, Mikey and Hikari lost a close friend, and now she's got more to work through than she's ready to handle. What Leo and Donnie did was a little iffy, but I think Leo would be worried she would do something crazy since they never talked about it yet. Whether you think what they did was right is up to you. I'd love to hear what you think.
I really wished that I would've had this up by Sunday but action also takes longer and I can only hope I did the battle justice. I'll try to have the next chapter out by this coming Sunday. I'm thinking of writing something a little calmer for the next chapter after everything that went down.
Stegz, I am so happy to hear that you like my version better than the Canon version. I figured that the original lesson wouldn't make sense in this story so I changed it. It worked well in my favor c:
I wanna give a special shoutout to KDBloomfield for your comments. it makes me so happy to know that you like it so much that you reread it. Hikari's past and Lightfurian side isn't given a lot of focus right now but there is more to come in the future. I promise.
On that note, KDBloomfield also brought up the idea of a ship name for Hikari and Leo. So far, there are "Likari", "Leonari", and "Leokari". I want to hear what you guys want. If there is one you prefer, please let me know or add your own hat to the ring.
Please feel free to leave some comments to share some love. Feedback and reviews give me life and motivation.
Thank you all for your support c: