AN: Hi, and sorry this took so long to get out! I've been having MAJOR issues with my internet tether for MONTHS, and finally managed to sort of work around it. On top of that, I've had some trouble getting this latest chapter finished. The end of it feels a bit rushed to me, and it kind of rambled a bit- I dunno. But I wanted to tie up as many loose ends as possible, and put a bit more of the Mutanimals into the picture, since I felt they needed some fleshing out. I didn't get to show Alopex or Koya as much as I wanted, but rest assured, they WILL be featured more in the up-coming sequel! As will a few other familiar faces...

We Are One/Burn It To the Ground

When the lift finally stopped, the doors opened up on another long, empty corridor. I assumed it was the same one we had passed through on our last foray through the Technodrome, but couldn't be certain. Everything looked the same in this huge battle-station- cold, metallic and barren. We continued on for about 20 yards or so, when a side door opened up about fifty feet ahead, and two of those odd robots with the domed heads and gyro-wheel bases rolled out into the corridor, accompanied by a dozen Foot-bots. Crap. Just when I had started to think we were done fighting, this had to happen.

"Uh-oh! Looks like we got some unfriendly company!" Mikey shouted, grabbing the gecko and raven over their surprised protests, and diving for cover behind one of the support beams along the outer wall. I grabbed the cat-man and did the same on the other side.

The robots saw us and opened fire. Apparently, they hadn't gotten the memo that their commander was dead. Fortunately, the support beams provided enough cover to avoid getting shot- mostly. Dr. Allen waved his arm frantically in the direction of the robots, shouting anxiously.

"What do we do now? We're going to be slaughtered!" An instant later, a laser shot burned right through the feathers of his arm, slicing through three to send the charred ends fluttering to the floor. He squawked in alarm and yanked the appendage back quickly.

"Relax, we've got this!" Mikey exclaimed optimistically. "These things are a walk in the park!" He glanced at me and grinned. "You ready?"

"Uh, sure- what's the plan? I'm open to suggestions!" I wasn't really anxious to tangle with more of those damned robots, but we didn't have much choice at the moment.

"I'll distract 'em, you go in low up the middle." Mikey replied, whipping out his 'chucks.

"I want a piece of the action, too," growled Hob, his tail swishing in agitation. Somehow I had the feeling he was a bit more eager to fight than was healthy.

"Okay, cat-dude, you can be back-up," Mikey replied. "On three, guys," he said, and proceeded counting. As soon as he reached three, he sprang out from behind the beam with his nunchaku out, leaping more than ten feet forward, to the opposite side of the corridor, then kicking off the wall and repeating the maneuver; he rolled back across, coming up to spring once more. He continued bouncing back and forth like a living green pinball, kicking off the walls, to land in the midst of the robotic soldiers, his 'chucks spinning wildly, slamming into them like whirling pinwheels of demolition.

As soon as he leapt into combat, I took it as my cue to attack. I ducked into a low, crouching run, zig-zagging down the corridor toward the robots, until I was about a dozen feet away. I dove forward feet-first into a slide that took me right past the first of the mechanical menaces, and swiped a foot out at the thing's legs. It went down with a metallic clang, and I grabbed its head while it was knocked down, twisting it around backwards. I heard a satisfying snap, and yanked hard. The head came off, and the Foot-bot went immobile. I crouched low and rammed into the next one, throwing the dismembered head like an oversized baseball at one of the others, even as the one I had tackled staggered backward, its blaster firing wildly up at the ceiling.

I heard a feral yowl of fury, and glanced behind to see a crazed feline go flying over me to land on the robot I had tackled. They went crashing to the floor, and the cat-man grabbed the robot's blaster and yanked it out of the machine's hand, and then spun it around with ease, finding the trigger and firing a hole in the Foot-bot's head with astounding speed. He was good, I had to give him that. A natural at combat.

Michelangelo waded through the Foot-bots like a tornado, whacking at vulnerable spots as he went, while I slashed off arms and feet wherever I could. Meanwhile, Hob, as he called himself, was having a "blast" shooting at any target that presented itself. The two wheeled robots Mikey had called "Rodneys" lashed out with their deadly electric whips, forcing us to dodge out of their path even as we attempted to take out the laser-toting Foot robots. At last Mikey decided enough was enough, and leapt up onto two of the Foot-bots, timing his move so that the two whip-wielding wheeled "Rodneys" hit the two robots. As soon as he saw the whips flick out toward him, he flipped back off the two humanoid robots, leaving them to get zapped.

"Aim for the domes on the heads of those two Rodneys!" Mikey shouted back to Hob, as one of his nunchaku sticks wrapped around the arm of a robot, and he heaved with all his might to slam it into another, pointing briefly at the odd-looking pair of wheeled robots. "Shoot out the sensors, then blast their base!"

"Thanks for the tip, turtle!" Hob shouted back, and then proceeded to do just that. He blasted them both right in the round lenses of their "eyes", sending the pair into a confused and erratic spin that had them careening about in wobbly circles, crashing into each other and the remaining Foot-bots. Then he shot out the gyros on their bases, bringing them crashing down. In no time at all, it seemed, the battle was over, and we were left standing in a passage strewn with the wreckage of busted and sparking hunks of metal.

"Well, that's that!" Mikey said after the smoke had settled. He made a gesture of wiping his hands, grinning back at the others. "Man, we TOTALLY need some kind of kick-ass battle music when we do this stuff. Okay, guys, you can come out now!" He chirped, and then he started singing, doing a little shuffle-foot dance in celebration. "You're the BEST around- nothin's gonna' ever keep you down! You're the BEST aro-ound…." He crooned. I chuckled at his victory dance; yup, he was back to his old self, alright! "Uh, is it clear?" Jason asked hesitantly, poking his head out from behind the support beam. He had turned a dark shade of grey, seemingly blending into the walls.

"Yup, looks clear!" Mikey said, kicking one of the robots. It jerked and fired off a laser-blast, which ricocheted off the ceiling and hit the wall just beyond the pair still hiding behind the beam. The gecko yelped and pulled his head back quickly; Mikey winced at his error, while Hob swung his stolen weapon around and fired several shots at the errant machine, silencing it for good.

"Hey! I thought you said it was clear! What d'ya call THAT?!" The gecko asked, looking stricken.

"No, I said it LOOKS clear! Oops, my bad." He shrugged, smiling apologetically.

"So what about now?" The raven croaked out, peeking around cautiously.

"Yeah, how does it look now?" Jason echoed.

Mikey shrugged again. "Looks clear," he repeated, and nudged a Foot-bot's head out of the way as he strolled down the passage. "You guys comin', or what?"

We made it to the armory without further incident, thankfully. I decided that if Donnie couldn't find a way to un-mutate the kid and the others who had been human, we seriously needed to ask Splinter to teach them some basic defensive skills. They might live longer that way. The ape and Dr. Allen were smart enough to be okay, maybe, but I wasn't so sure about the lizard-boy. He seemed kind of dumb, to be honest. Or maybe he was just really naïve. Either way, he needed to learn some survival skills. They ALL did. Except for Hob; he seemed to be getting along just fine in his new shape. Maybe living on his own as a stray had given him an instinct for knowing how to handle unfamiliar situations.

Of course when we got there, Hob took one look around at the arsenal Shredder and Krang had accumulated, and suddenly his eyes lit up and he grinned like a kid in a candy store. He shouted "Halleluja!" and began rushing about excitedly, grabbing various weapons and arming himself. He donned two belts with pouches and hooks for ammo, grenades, and knives, several holsters for small laser-guns, and then began strapping on various knife sheaths and even a pair of tanto blades. He finally grabbed a pair of large blasters and a couple of sais, while the rest of us just stood and stared at him.

"Whoa! This place is like an FPS gamer's wet dream!" Jason exclaimed, and skittered over to join Hob in his "shopping spree".

"Damn! And you thought I went gun-crazy! Well, at least THEY'RE happy," Mikey commented, watching the pair with a bewildered expression.

"I think you mean trigger-happy. Should we be worried, here?" I replied, shaking my head in disbelief. The mutant feline was still gathering up weapons of all sorts, from katanas and kamas to high-powered rocket-launchers and laser-toting remote-controlled spider-bots.

"Hey, whatever makes the fur-ball and lizard-dude happy, works for me," Michelangelo shrugged, looking amused.

Hob had found a large wheeled cart with several shelves on it, and began piling weapons onto it. Gecko-boy had opted for smaller weapons, mostly small blaster-pistols and throwing darts, but I noticed him swinging around a katana, and wondered if we should start taking away his new toys before someone got hurt. Both seemed excited at their new acquisitions, though for seemingly different reasons. As far as I could tell, Jason was less interested in blowing things up than he was in finding a cache of what he muttered to himself was a "Call of Duty player's paradise". Or something like that. So he was a video game nut? Go figure.

"I suggest we steer those two toward safer avenues of recreation," Eric observed with a nervous croak. "They seem highly interested in tools of destruction and mayhem. In fact, I'm not entirely sure our lizard friend knows what he is even holding." He was referring to the sonic disruptor the gecko had picked up, identical to the one Mikey had purloined on our last trip. Either Krang had built a replacement, or there had been more than one of the dangerous devices.

"Yeah, I'm startin' to think we should put the brakes on those two," Mikey agreed, when he saw Jason put the disruptor on the cart, then pick up a pair of nunchaku and begin twirling them awkwardly, far too close to a box of grenades for our comfort.

It took fifteen minutes to herd the pair back out of the armory and down to the transport hanger, but we finally managed it. Fortunately, we didn't run into any more robot patrols, though we did discover a few automated defenses that Donnie hadn't taken off-line yet. A few of the "borrowed" grenades and blaster-shots took care of them.

We met up with Leo's group in the hanger several minutes later, with only Donatello and Rockwell missing. "Where's Donnie? And that monkey-dude?" Mikey asked, frowning when he saw that the brainiac and the chimp weren't with the others.

"The two egg-heads are still downloading all the data," Raph said peevishly. "We got tired of all the techno-babble and headed for the spare parts storage to get some equipment Don wanted to strip from this place." He pointed over at a rather large pile of electronic odds and ends, robot parts, and pieces of metallic bric-a-brac on a large hover-platform, and grinned. "Think this will make him happy?"

"Whoa. He's gonna have a geek-gasm when he sees all that!" Mikey replied, laughing. "So, how much longer are they gonna take?"

"He said they'd be down as soon as they finish. Meantime, Leatherhead and Raph will stay here with our new friends to help unload everything into the mini Techno-Rover, while the rest of us head for the bio-engineering labs. Don wants us to see if we can find anything that we can use to recreate the retro-mutagen. I guess he wants to try to get these guys back to normal." He sounded doubtful, and I wondered if he suspected that Michelangelo might be the real reason for Donatello's sudden renewed interest in the formula. I glanced at Mikey, who passed a furtive look back at me, and realized he was thinking the same thing. Leonardo was acting as if he was about to launch into one of his long-winded rants about the dangers of messing with mutagen or running off without telling anyone.

"Hmm, I might be of some assistance in that endeavor," Eric suggested, tapping the side of his beak with one finger thoughtfully. Perhaps he had caught the unspoken tension, as well. Leo glanced at him curiously for a moment, but then nodded.

"Sure, why not? We could use someone who knows what we're dealing with. You can join the THREE of us." Leo glanced sharply at Mikey and emphasized the "three", before tugging us both along as he headed back toward the lift doors. Somehow I had a feeling we would have been in for a lengthy, stern lecture if Dr. Allen had not decided to join us.

The only opposition we ran into on our way to the bio-engineering labs was a brief encounter with a pair of Rodneys and four of what I had by now come to see as minor annoyances in the form of the Mouser robots. The Mousers fell easily to Leo's blades, while I simply dodged the whips of the two gyro-propelled Rodneys- why they had been given that odd name, I'll probably never know- and sliced through the whips to give Mikey a chance to smash their sensors with his 'chucks. I was learning how to deal with robotic enemies pretty quickly by now, a fact that I took pride in, given how many we had encountered.

By the time we had reached the bio-engineering labs, the two absent science-nerds were already there, gleefully ransacking the place of- whatever wasn't nailed down. I watched in awed amusement as they excitedly chattered back and forth about various vials and beakers as they gathered them up in large padded containers, spouting out names of chemicals I couldn't even pronounce, much less identify. Donatello also grabbed several handfuls of what appeared to be surgical and lab implements, and even medical supplies such as gauze, tape, petri dishes, a microscope, boxes of slides and specimen jars, test tubes, droppers, and a myriad of other items. He was like a kid in a candy store, alright.

"Are you two done cleaning the place out, yet?" Leo asked, clearing his throat to get their attention. They both paused in the middle of their spree to glance our way, and Donnie looked sheepishly at his sibling.

"Oh! I guess we DID get a little carried away," Don glanced down at the number of storage boxes filled with various bottles and jars, and gods-knew what else, and laughed nervously. "Still, you never know when we might need some of this stuff. Krang has a fully stocked bio-chem lab in here, and I'm pretty sure I found the catalyst he used for the retro-mutagen! I can analyze it to figure out a way to stabilize the formula!" He glanced directly at Mikey, sounding just a touch more excited than he should have. Leo caught it, and pounced.

"Ah-HA! I KNEW there was a reason you wanted to raid this lab!" He pointed at Mikey. "YOU talked him into making more, didn't you?!" He rounded on his youngest brother angrily, stepping right up into his face, dark copper eyes blazing.

"Hey, back off, bro! What's your beef, anyway?!" Mikey shoved him back, while Rockwell and Dr. Allen both just backed away, apparently sensing the fight brewing.

"My BEEF?! Really, Mikey, you have the NERVE to ask me what my problem is, after the stunt you pulled?! You had NO RIGHT to come down here, make a decision that affects this ENTIRE FAMILY, and drag HER into YOUR mess on top of everything else!" Damn. When Leo went off, he really exploded! He was shouting, pushing back at Mikey with teeth bared, the veins standing out in his neck.

Donnie stepped between the pair, and glared at Leo. "OK, that's ENOUGH, you two! Leo, this isn't about Mikey-" He paused when Leonardo turned to glare darkly at him, and quickly amended his statement. "Okay, well, it's not ENTIRELY about him. Leo, we both know that I need to find a way to stabilize that formula if I'm going to get those two back to normal, and that goes for the lizard-kid, too! So don't start getting on your high-horse!"

Leo suddenly turned on Donnie, and it occurred to me that I might have to intervene- though how to do it without getting caught up in a brawl was the big question of the hour. "I thought you were on MY side! Now you want to help him tear this family apart?! Have you BOTH lost your minds?!" He poked Don in the plastron, thumping it loudly.

Donatello glanced down at the finger at his chest, and then back up, staring Leo calmly, but with ice in his gaze. "Don't start with me, Leo. You know I'm right on this one. I owe it to those three to try to change them back if I can. Anything beyond that is up to whomever wants to use it. And yes, that includes Michelangelo. If that's what he REALLY wants, then we have no right to deny him that. It took me a while to realize it, but the truth is, he's right. We ARE trapped in a dead-end life, Leo. We're isolated and alone in a world we can't be a part of, and sooner or later, it's going to either kill us, or drive us crazy. We can't survive unless we adapt, and we're just fooling ourselves to think we can keep going the way we always have without outside interactions. We need allies and resources we just don't have. Besides, how long do you think we can stay hidden now, with that Bishop guy running around out there? Especially with more mutants who need our help?"

Ouch. That one seemed to hit the leader hard, as he turned to glance quickly at the two recently mutated scientists, and frowned at the implications of Donatello's words. He was in charge of keeping the family safe- and that included close friends and allies, and helping any mutants who needed it. He would never admit to it, but his sense of duty to clan would never allow him to abandon his family, which now seemed to include these innocent individuals who had been caught up in his world through no fault of their own. Like it or not, they were his responsibility now.

I decided it was time to throw in my own two cents, even if that was all it was worth. "Leo, he's right. You can't just keep sticking your head in the sand and hoping that staying in the shadows is going to keep all of you safe. Sooner or later, someone is going to come along with a spotlight and point it right at you in front of the whole world. I'm betting it will be that Bishop creep. He's got the tech and the skills and the manpower to do it. You need a new tactic, and a way to disappear completely. Maybe this is exactly what you ALL need."

He snorted, shaking his head, and stared at me with a hint of distain, and I wondered if he would ever fully accept me as part of the clan. "Of course, you would say that- you've already got Mikey's head twisted around. You working on Donnie too, now? Or Raph?"

"I'm NOT your enemy, damn it! For once in your life, Leo, LISTEN to someone besides your own ego! Why does it always have to be YOUR way? Don't they get a say in their own lives? Or does being 'leader' trump everyone else's vote? At some point you have to let them choose their own paths, Leo. Otherwise you're just holding on because you're afraid of getting left behind."

I was about to say more, when Mikey came up beside me, and stood with his head held high, arms folded, with an expression of calm determination. "Dude, ya' gotta' chill and trust us. It's not like we're gonna' stop bein' a family if some of us go human. But see, all this? This isn't what I want from life." He paused and waved one hand to indicate the room around us before continuing, shaking his head.

"I mean, sure, bein' a ninja is pretty cool sometimes- heck, I even enjoy it sometimes. But I want a life of my own, too. I want to be able to walk down to the corner store for a soda and some chips and not have to wear some stupid disguise so people won't freak out when they see me. I don't want to look at someone and see fear and hate in their eyes just because of how I look. I'm tired of bein' called a monster or a freak. I wish you'd tried it last time like I did, so you'd know what it was like- that moment when I looked in a mirror and for the first time I realized I was totally free to do anything I wanted. And this morning, I woke up and went outside to watch the sunrise outside our hotel room. I even had some stubble comin' in! It was the greatest feelin' in the world, bro, just knowin' I was just like everyone else, and I didn't have to be afraid of bein' seen."

He sighed, and finally moved over to stand before Leo, reaching out to gently grasp his brother's shoulders. "I wish I could explain what it's like, so you'd understand. I NEED this, Leo- I need to feel the sun and the rain, to wake up with daylight outside my window, or walk down a street and not have to worry about what people think, or have to spend my life lookin' over my shoulder for scientists or hunters who want to dissect me or turn me into a trophy or a circus attraction, or stick me in a zoo. I want to be treated like a real person, not some kind of abomination or alien."

Leo stared hard at him in silence for a long, tense moment, before he finally sighed, dropping his gaze and shaking his head. "It really means that much to you? More than us sticking together?" He asked, in a tone that was almost sad, or perhaps it was fearful.

"Leo, I'm not goin' anywhere, just, y'know, evolving. It's like Sensei always says- 'the only constant in the universe is change'." Mikey said in a mock-sage tone, holding up one finger, mimicking Splinter's voice with surprising accuracy.

Leo arched one brow-ridge in mild reproof, rolling his eyes at the imitation. "That was a cheap shot, Mikey," Leo said. "Using Sensei's own words against me? But I guess if this is what you want, I can't stop you, either. I just hope you know what you're doing, because I have a bad feeling about this. We were never meant to be like them." No one asked what he meant by "them"; it was clear he meant humans. I scowled slightly at the implication.

"How can you be sure of that?" Mikey asked innocently. Leo dropped his gaze again, knowing he had no real answer.

Donatello stepped in then, adding his own two cents. "Hey, remember, Mikey- I said I couldn't make any guarantees. I said I would try, but don't get your hopes up too high."

"Yeah, D, I know; but I've got faith in ya'. You're like, a total genius! If anyone can do it, YOU can." He nodded for emphasis, clapping his brainy brother on the shell. Donnie practically beamed at the praise, but held up a hand in a gesture of caution.

"Thanks, Mikey, but it's not exactly a cakewalk, you know. That formula had components that I may not even be able to duplicate. Let's just see how it goes, okay?"

Michelangelo shrugged, his seemingly inexhaustible optimism back in full force. "Good enough for me, bro!"

Leo turned to Donnie, not quite as convinced. "You sure you want to do this? You remember what happened last time, right?"

Donatello laughed nervously. "Yes, well, I'll be careful, Leo. I'll try not to blow up any more garbage cans. Or anything else. We won't try it out unless I'm absolutely SURE it will work!"

Leo seemed satisfied by that, and nodded slowly. "Alright, everyone, now that we've go that settled, it's time to leave. So we're going to do one last sweep to see if there's any other prisoners or mutants to bust out, and then we're out of here!"

So we fanned out on the rest of the level, checking each room for other victims of Krang's experiments, though thankfully we found none. Leo had paired me with Donatello, and Mikey with Eric. I think he was trying to separate us, out of some residual resentment for what he still saw as a disruptive and dangerous relationship. I suppose it takes time to let go of doubt and fear, but at least he was starting to come around- hopefully.

While we were checking the upper levels, we met back up in the large central hub of the main bridge level to compare notes. Fortunately, there had been no further incidents, though Donnie and I did find evidence that there had been other mutants at some point. Aside from the dissected bodies of the ones Mikey had put to sleep, we found several files referring to others, particularly an elite Foot ninja who had been mutated into a tiger and sent to Japan, and a mutant trio that had managed to escape. Krang had been experimenting on a mutant lioness, manta, and jaguar, and they had somehow awakened while sedated and broken loose, stealing a mini-rover in the process. Donatello speculated that they might have made it to the surface, but we had no way of knowing for sure. It was a mystery, to be sure, but one that would have to wait.

Later, while we were informing Leo of the escaped mutants, Mikey glanced toward the blast doors that led to Shredder and Krang's personal quarters, and headed in that direction. "where are you going?" Leo asked, sounding perturbed. I had to admit, I was curious, too.

"I want to go check out Krang's digs. Been curious about that place ever since Bebop told us nobody ever goes in there. And maybe there's a clue in there to what happened to those other mutants that got away." He didn't even turn around or stop walking toward the doors, just shrugged as he continued on.

"In that case, I'll join you," I said, being a bit curious myself. "Two heads are better than one!" And I sprinted off after him before Leo could try to stop us.

Once we were beyond the doors and they had fully closed, he spun on his heels and reached out to pull me in for a deep, hungry kiss. I was caught off guard, but didn't resist him. Actually, it was a welcome relief after everything we had been through. I felt the tension flow right out of me, replaced by a pleasant heat. Okay, maybe this wasn't the time or place for it, but…. Who cares, right?

"Okay, what was that for?" I asked when he finally released me. I wasn't complaining, mind, just- curious.

"I've been tryin' to get some privacy ever since Donnie brought me back from la-la land. I don't care if Leo doesn't approve, it's really none of his business. But I figure this is about as much alone time as we're gonna' get for the next few hours, so I might as well take advantage. You- uh, you don't mind, do you?" He asked, seeming suddenly unsure of himself. He's adorable when he gets all bashful like that.

"No, no complaints here. It was a bit stifling in there, now that you mention it. Too many eyes watching for my taste. And I know what you mean. It looks like we're going to have a LOT of extra company on the way home. Who would have thought we'd end up rescuing a bunch of captive mutants when we came down here!" I laughed a little, but the question of what would happen to all of them now still nagged at me.

"Yeah, weird, huh?" He shook his head, with a half-smile that couldn't quite hide the look of worry on his face.

"So exactly why did you want to come in here, anyway?" I asked, knowing it had nothing to do with our kiss, since I hadn't even offered to join him until after he suggested exploring Krang's quarters.

"I needed to get away from Mr. Leader, mostly. But I DO want to see what's in there- I mean, what does an alien brain-dude do in his down time? And what's in that other room?" He pointed to the one at the end of the corridor, beyond the two doors that led to Krang's and Shredder's private quarters.

A moment later, the big blast door opened again, and Hob and Dr. Allen stepped through. Both of them looked as nervous as the proverbial cat in a room full of rocking chairs- which was kind of fitting, in Hob's case. They glanced around anxiously, searching for weapons or robots ready to attack. Hob was still packing plenty of heat, having kept several of the weapons from the armory.

"The other turtle told us to come along and keep an eye on you two," Hob said by way of explanation. He didn't even have to say which "other turtle" he meant- clearly Leo was behind their arrival. Mikey swore under his breath, and though it was in Japanese, I got the gist of it. Big brother was playing chaperone once again, by proxy.

"Well, then, come on. Let's see what's behind door number one!" I said, hoping to forestall any awkward questions. I strode purposely toward the chamber of my former "master", though I didn't think we'd find anything of interest.

As predicted, the room was just as I'd left it last, though Mikey did rifle through the chest and pulled out several old-looking scrolls and books. "Not much here except some old Foot records," he commented, rolling them all up inside a black silk kimono he found, and tying it up. "Master Splinter might want to look at these. Nothin' else to see in here." He did pluck a daisho pair off one of the weapon racks- the area was still a shambles from my sparring match- and tossed me a pair of kamas. "Here! These will go great with your new kimono! Always remember to accessorize!" He joked.

"My word, what happened in here?" Eric asked, cocking his head again in that odd fashion he had.

Hob's ears went back a little, and he sniffed the air. "Looks like there was a fight, but I don't smell any blood. Strange," he said, looking puzzled. His tail swished back and forth in an agitated manner, whiskers pricked forward alertly.

"Yeah, you could say that," I muttered sourly. "Mr. Personality decided he needed a sparring partner, and I got nominated. He made me fight naked, too, just to be a prick."

Mikey stared for a moment in shock, then shook his head angrily. "Damn, I wish I'd been able to kick his ass for that! Sick fuck."

"I see," Eric said, surveying the toppled racks and weapons strewn across the practice mat. "I'm glad you and your friends were able to put an end to that madman. When I think of what he did to my brother…." He shook his head sadly, head lowered, his shoulders hunched and feathered arms drooping at his sides.

"Yeah, good riddance to that human scum," Hob spat. His ears went flat back for a moment, his lips curling back into a snarl that showed far too much fang.

"Okay, moving on," I said, changing the subject, as I led the way back out of the room. I kicked at a stray bisento on the floor as I passed, deciding that I was happy that I'd never have to set foot in there again. We stepped back out into the corridor and I crossed to the door on the opposite side- the one Bebop had said no one ever entered but Krang.

I had no idea what to expect when I opened the door. It certainly wasn't what we saw. The interior resembled something out of every "mad scientist creates monster" sci-fi/horror movie I'd ever seen. And since I'd started hanging out with Mikey and his brothers, that was quite a few. I had idly wondered how the little alien gumball slept; apparently, it was in some kind of large vat of neon lime-green jello, like a giant Petri dish- or at least that was what it looked like. Whatever strange liquid it contained bubbled from air being pumped continuously from a series of tubes running from the wall, and it smelled like sweaty socks steeping in vomit. A small, clear-domed platform seat on robotic legs, with a set of what looked like videogame joystick and button controls set at the front, stood in one corner, while the rest of the room was dominated by a large computer bank and view screen similar to the one in the main control room.

A large, metal chair with control buttons on the arm and a set of power cords running to it sat in another corner, with a device attached to the seat that resembled a cell phone jack. I surmised it was some kind of power recharging station for his android body. A second screen that swiveled on an arm attached to the chair showed views of the control room and various other parts of the vast mobile fortress. No doubt he used this as a private spy-post, to watch his allies for signs of betrayal.

"So this is Krang's pad? Huh. Nothin' interesting here," Mikey said as we entered. I was inclined to disagree, but that might have just been curiosity regarding the personal habits of an alien being. I didn't see any sort of bathroom. How did he….? I shook the thought away, deciding it was better not to speculate on Krang's anatomical functions. I did spot what appeared to be his dinner; a small bowl of something that looked like worms or insect larvae sat on a table near the vat of- whatever it was in the giant Petri dish. It was clearly still alive, squirming in the bowl with a wet squishy noise. Gross.

I saw two tanks, which contained some sort of aquatic creatures, set into the wall opposite the door, but the inhabitants were like nothing I'd ever seen. Most of them had bizarre shapes and colors, like the strange-looking purple shark-squid creature with spikes all over its body, or the odd crimson jellyfish-eel monstrosity with yellow spots, or the blue-shelled crab-octopus thing that crawled on the bottom. At least, those were the closest I could come to describing them.

There were also several small cages, containing various creatures of decidedly alien origin. One held a small ball of brown fluff that appeared to do little more than make soft trilling purring sounds as it ate, while another held a slightly larger animal that looked like a football sized ball of fur with enormous eyes and a huge fang-filled mouth, and four short legs. It looked like a mop had mated with a piranha. There was even something resembling a small hairless cross between a monkey and a mouse hanging by its tail. Whether they were pets or experiments was anyone's guess.

Several tables covered with various alien artifacts- mainly consisting of strange skulls and preserved creatures, as well as bizarre and obviously ancient pieces of what I could only assume were "art"- were the only other furnishings in the room. There were no books or knick-knacks, but I suspected Krang didn't go in for that sort of thing. Even what few objects were present all seemed to be science-related, or to have some kind of intellectual value as cultural relics.

"Should we leave these animals here?" I asked, turning back toward odd menagerie, considering their likely fate after we left.

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to take them with us; but, I'm not sure what to do with them once we're home. I mean, what do they even eat?" Mikey replied, though it was clear he shared my concern.

"Perhaps your brother Donatello and I can ascertain how to care for them properly once we have had a chance to study those files he and Rockwell acquired," Eric suggested. "As for myself, I believe all life is part of the sacred hoop of creation, and though I have no idea how we might remove those aquatic creatures safely, perhaps we can find some means of transporting them if we continue searching," he added.

Hob just let out an annoyed "hmph," and shook his head. "Looks like dinner, if ya' ask me," he muttered.

"Uh, yeah, I'm not gonna try to eat some alien fish, or whatever you call those things" Mikey replied. "Who knows whether they're poisonous or whatever?"

"You do have a point," chuckled the raven-man. "But let's hurry. Your brothers will probably get impatient if we stay here too long." I nodded concurrence and began searching for a container of some kind to hold the odd sea creatures. We came up empty handed, so Mikey suggested looking in Shredder's now vacant quarters. A search of Shredder's suite turned up a pair of large vases and a stew pot, all of which we turned to the purpose of scooping up the strange sea creatures. But there were too many for so few containers, and a few, like the squid-shark, were too large for them anyway. So we pondered what to do.

"Hey, maybe we should check that other door, the one we haven't been in yet?" I suggested. Michelangelo made a grunt of agreement, and we headed for the third hatch at the end of the corridor. I'm not sure what we had expected to find beyond it, but it certainly wasn't what we found inside.

Pottery. Porceline pottery, to be precise. Lots and lots of it. The entire room was like an exhibit of ancient porceline vases, teapots, jugs, urns, cups, bowls- you name it. Mostly Asian, from the look of it. In fact…. I looked closer, and realized that a large portion of it was Ming. I saw some that was clearly Japanese, based on the designs and themes on them, but most of it was the classic blue and white Chinese type. There were a few porceline figures and statues scattered among the more useful pieces, but the room reminded me of a China shop. All we were missing now was the bull.

"Huh. I guess that little Ogg dude didn't eat it all after all!" Mikey's bizarre statement made me turn to eye him quizzically.

"How's that again?" I asked, wondering if I'd misheard. "EAT it? What are you talking about?"

He just shrugged and shook his head. "Little obnoxious guy from another dimension. He had some pretty gonzo powers, and he liked to eat pottery. Don't ask me why- he was weird. Like Q from Star Trek, but shorter and with an annoying voice. Old Shred-head got pretty pissed when Ogg tried to eat his entire collection. Krang portaled him up to the city to get rid of him, but then Ogg tried to chow down on some priceless vases at the Metropolitan Art Museum. We had a hard time gettin' him back to his own dimension 'cause he decided he liked it here. Had to trick him with a bunch of fake pottery. Long story."

"Heh, I'll bet," Hob muttered. Dr. Allen let out a croaking chuckle.

"Sounds like quite a tale. I'd enjoy hearing it sometime," he said. "Meantime, let's do what we came here for. Grab some of the larger pieces to put those sea creatures in, and we can rejoin your brothers and the others."

Mikey looked around with a thoughtful expression for a moment. "Y'know, I feel kinda' bad about leavin' all this stuff down here- especially after we accidently broke so many of the ones at the Museum during that fight with the Pack. Maybe we can leave 'em these to make up for it?" He said, tapping his chin. I shook my head and smiled. Leave it to Mikey to think of something so seemingly inconsequential, yet worthy.

"That's a lot of pottery to carry back," Hob commented. "Not worth the time, if ya' ask me. Humans worry too much about useless junk, anyway. I say leave it."

"There is something to be said for preserving cultural heritage," Dr. Allen said, picking up a large vase with the classic blue-on-white imagery of willows, birds, and flowers. "My mother's people understand better than most how easily the knowledge and treasures of a culture can be lost. I agree with Michelangelo here- these should be saved."

"What people are you referring to?" I asked curiously. He had mentioned it twice now, which made me wonder what the significance was.

"My mother was full-blood Navajo. She left my father when I was twelve. But I remember her stories of the old ways, the myths and ceremonies of her tribe. I wonder what she would say if she saw me now?" He mused, with an odd, croaking chuckle.

"Nevermore?" I asked, suppressing a grin. He made a squawk of mock indignation, then laughed again. At least the man- er, mutant- had a sense of humor.

"Uh, we still need to find a way to get these out of here," Mikey reminded us. "And we need to get those animals from Krang's quarters, so let's get goin'!" For once, it seemed he was being the practical one. He grabbed the largest container he could find- a big green urn with peacocks molded into the surface- and began to carry it out of the room. I glanced toward the others, and shrugged, before picking up a large blue pitcher with a handle shaped like a dragon, and a lid like a lotus flower in bloom.

The others each picked up the largest pots they could find, and we all marched back to Krang's quarters o begin the task of catching the odd sea creatures for transport. I won't go into all the boring details of getting the animals out, but suffice to say, we filled nearly a dozen of the jugs, pots, urns, and vases with water and various resident sea beasties. The only problem now was how to transport them all down to the hanger and the hover-sled. Not to mention the rest of the pottery.

Once again, Mikey came up with the solution; he suggested we use the large chest from Shredder's quarters to pack as many of the fragile pieces as possible into; meanwhile he sent me down to level eight to the bio-genics and chemistry labs to find a cart or other means of carrying the rest. It didn't take long to find a large rolling medical cart, which I pulled back up to Krang's quarters. We loaded it with the precious living cargo, and then piled on as much of the remaining porceline as we could. I even pulled the covers off the bed-mat and wrapped up what I could in it, before loading it on top of the rest.

By the time we had finished, we had nearly all of the pottery stacked and packed into the chest or crammed onto the cart with the cages and make-shift fishbowls. What little was left, we found a laundry hamper, which we piled the remaining pieces into with Shredder's kimonos and hakamas for some padding. It took a bit longer than we would have liked, but in the end we finally managed to haul everything down to the hanger and into the conscripted Foot-rover, eliciting a few odd looks from the others as we loaded everything into the rover. I was glad when we all finally piled in to the rover and the sewer-sled, and bid the Technodrome a final farewell.

As we reached the tunnel entrance of the huge cavern, Donatello detonated the charges the brothers had set on the ledge below the enormous fortress-tank, and we watched with satisfaction and cheers of victory as the ledge crumbled, sending the Technodrome tumbling down into the magma lake at its base. It sank in slowly, listing sideways into the magma, and a few moments later, the first of several explosions blew open the underside of the base. A chain of similar explosions followed, each larger than the last, until the final blast blew apart the entire side of the Technodrome and rocked the whole cavern, causing huge chunks of the ceiling to break loose and crash down to the floor below. Leo took that as our signal to leave, and we drove away from the ensuing cave-in at top speed, leaving the Technodrome- and whatever alien secrets it still held, forever buried deep beneath the ocean floor.