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Donatello– the scientist, the engineer, the genius brother– he’s done something amazing. Not that everything he does isn't downright amazing, but this is next level. Reverse engineering Kraang technology is one of Donatello’s favorite past times, and with all the information he's gleaned about the aliens from data downloads on flash drives, stolen tech, and simple observation he could write a Kraang encyclopedia! In fact, he has been writing one.
All of his information is contained in pages upon pages of paper notes, digital copies, resource folders, backed up on multiple hard drives to ensure his data is never lost. All it would take is some restructuring and formatting to make himself a multitude of volumes on the Kraang, Dimension X, the mutagen, their technological advances, and don't even get Donnie started on the Utrom.
Then there's all of his notes and information on space, aliens, alien planets, he could be the most famous researcher in the world with everything he knows! That is, if anyone would ever believe him.
This compilation of data makes most of the fantastic things Donnie does possible, including his latest and greatest pride and joy which, unfortunately, took a lot longer than intended after the Ronin showed up. Things went sideways after that, the turtles going to space shortly after, then they lost Splinter, had to put an end to the Super Shredder, and all the other chaos in their lives since seeing that first Triceraton put the project on the back burner. Since the Shredder’s death he's had more time to himself and a lot of trauma to work through– a perfect combination for Donnie to get things done.
He’s already called his brothers to the turnstiles at the lair entrance, and of course they're griping about being bothered.
“This better be good, Donnie.” Raph groaned, as if he were doing anything of importance.
“When do I ever call you guys to show you something that isn't downright amazing?” Remarks Donnie back.
Mikey beams in excitement, “Yeah! Like the Shellraiser, and the Turtle Mech!”
Raph growls, “Whatever, this better be worth it.”
Donnie’s meat-headed brother can really grind his gears sometimes, but he's sure his tone will change once he sees what the engineer has been cooking up.
They follow the tallest turtle just a short way down the subway tunnel– Donnie would have preferred to put an entrance in the lair somewhere, but there's just no room to keep it hidden. Besides, it's probably safer to keep it from being directly connected to their lair and with all the security measures he installed– cameras, motion detectors, his turtle DNA scanners– they'll learn about anything strange going on from an app he’s installed on his T-Phone and the computers in the lab.
He steps up to an unassuming wall, pipes running along the weathered brickwork graffitied with colorful spray paint.
“Ta-da!” Donnie waves his hands with a raised brow.
They all look unimpressed. “It's… Awesome, Donnie.” Leo says flatly.
“So you learned graffiti. You needed us to see it, why?” His hotheaded brother is always the quickest to assume, never able to see past his own snout.
Just as planned, Donnie feigns annoyance as if he doesn't love getting to insult his older brother back. “No, shellbrain, watch.” He traces the thick black outlines of the graffiti– an incredibly stylized depiction of a robotic turtle– until his finger reaches the tip of its tail. He presses in on the small, invisible little black button and the brick with the turtle’s camera head sinks into the wall and out of the way. A pastel green light glides twice over the turtles before the rest of the bricks pull back into the wall and open up to reveal the room behind.
Donnie guides them into the small subway tunnel, one wall untouched and unassuming but the other is lined with old technology, jukeboxes of varying styles and bookshelves made of scrap metal, glass doors locking away the strange metal discs inside. In the corner there's a couple of milk crates full of the same metal discs and against the far wall is a desk, a computer, and various robotic bits and bobs resting on top. Above it is a non-functioning Kraang dimensional doorway device hung like a trophy.
Leo and Raphael still seem completely perplexed, while Mikey beams at the old jukeboxes and coin machines hiding away whatever it is Donnie wants to show them.
Donnie smirks, he loves dragging out his reveals, even if excitement is eating away at him.
“Okay, Donnie. We still don't get it.” Leo finally says.
“As you know, I've been working on reverse engineering the Kraang’s trans-dimensional travel gateways, and with technology this dangerous we can't just leave it out in the open, or in the lair. After our visit from the ronin, I decided to move my work here.”
“So this is where you've been running off to. Shoulda known better than to think you were actually hanging out with April that much.” Raph mutters.
The genius silently seethes before continuing. “I found out how to recreate the devices using CDs, some magic with motherboards, old wires and GPS systems! I've set up a few already, all with unique coordinates to unique dimensions,” he waves his hand at the wall with the jukeboxes, “but I need help documenting where they all go.”
Donatello walks over to the jukebox, the old music names removed and replaced with numbers corresponding to unexplored, unnamed dimensional doors. Number one is the only label actually named, simply titled “Ronin” in black sharpie. He presses the button labeled #2 and the jukebox lights up. The mechanical arm grabs the first CD– which looks like a bomb with its exposed wires, black and green screen displaying numbers that could be mistaken as a timer at first glance– and pops it into the player like any other jukebox would. A projector on top of the jukebox, painted to match the machine below its aesthetic, lights up. Its lens glimmers pink, the same vivid color glaring through cracks in the old plastic casing, before it projects a sparkling, wavering circle on the plain wall. A portal, just as Donnie had dreamed it!
“What I was thinking is we call April and Casey down here to help us cover more ground. Raph would go with Casey, Mikey with Leo, and I would go with April.”
They all sigh at Donatello's team choices, but they don't exactly have a good argument against it.
“Wait!” Mikey hollers. “Can I invite Mondo?”
“Send you and Mondo into a portal to another dimension. Alone?” Leo says exactly what Donnie is thinking. “Absolutely not.”
“What about Leatherhead?” Pleads their littlest brother with his big sky blue eyes. All three brothers look at one another and shrug– despite Donatello's initial disdain for the mutant alligator given his inclination to grab the scientist’s face and shake him like a maraca, the more Leatherhead calmed down the more Donnie grew to like him. Besides, he was one of Mikey's best friends and if there was anyone who would get their little bro back home safe, it would be Leatherhead.
“Alright,” Leo decides, “I'll call up Karai, then, see if she and Shini want to join me.”
“Okay, see who's on board but don't go far. I want us to all be prepared.”
Leo and Raphael filter out of the room, leaving Mikey and Donnie there alone. Don had given the mighty mutanimals who needed them T-Phones, but Leatherhead and Slash broke theirs almost instantly. In the fallen phones' places, they were given small devices that vibrate and flash various color-coordinated signals, fitted with a small compass to track the locations of the T-Phones. The more complicated devices have an app for contacting the watches. It was a pretty witty solution for those two careless brutes if you ask Donnie.
Finding April's contact in his phone as he sits down at his desk, Donatello dials her number. It rings a few times before she picks up. “Hey, Dee, what's up?”
“Hey April!” The turtle draws out the ‘y’ trying to be smooth, "You busy today? I've got something to show you, it might be an all day thing.”
“What is it?” April sounds slightly skeptical.
“So you remember the Kraang portal tech?” He asks.
“Yeah!”
“Well I've recreated it, and we're trying to cover as much ground as possible without going in alone. Raph’s going to search with Casey, Leo’s going with Karai, and Mikey’s going with Leatherhead. Thought you might want to tag along with me.”
“Sure, why not! Sounds fun, and it's not like I have much to do.” April graduated from High School in June and she still isn't sure what she wants to do next. They both agree that college would be a waste of her time and money. Donnie’s been encouraging a partnership so April could publish all of their research, maybe even get them grants or prizes and have her name written in history books as the first and greatest researcher of the Kraang, mutants, and more. There's a million different holes in the plan that April always points out, but Donnie keeps trying to fill them in one by one while keeping their identities a secret. “I'll be there in ten.”
“See you soon, Dr. O’Neil.”
“Oh shut it, Dee.” The comment is playful, and then she hangs up.
Donnie sits and allows the conversation to hang in his head for a moment before turning around in his office chair, tapping his finger on his knee. It's only a few more minutes before everyone files back in, Raphael entering a few minutes after the others. The hothead probably walked far out of earshot, then spent way longer on the phone than any of them. Raph always says Donnie is annoying about April, but his and Casey's constant insults and name calling is far worse. It just never ends, but it's not the same bickering Dee does with Jones which makes it way worse– they don't even mean any of their insults, they just think it's funny!
“Okay.” Donnie says, cutting off his line of thought. “I'm going to give you each a notepad, and I want detailed notes on whatever dimension you explore, got it? I want to know the dominant life form, if they have advanced technology, if there are versions of us, anything and everything. BUT, and here's the big but,” he looks directly at Michelangelo. “Do not speak to anyone, stay hidden in the shadows, and observe. Silently!”
“Why are you looking at me!?” Mikey asks, offended, before he thinks for a moment. “Alright, fine.”
With that warning out of the way, Don passes out a notepad and pen to each of the other turtles before heading over to the shelf. He opens up the glass door on the top and pulls out four discs, all calibrated to the same coordinates. These four have a large apparatus attached, wires and lenses and buttons making the thing difficult to decipher.
“We're going to close the portals behind you– mine and April’s has a timer since we're going last– so everyone takes one of these.” He hands them out but holds Mikey’s over his brother's head. “Do not press any buttons until I explicitly tell you to.”
Donnie sets the disc into his little brother's hands but doesn't take a single eye off him. “These will take you back home– do NOT mess with the coordinates. They should be locked, but try to remember the numbers just in case. This button here,” he says while pointing to the largest, green and messily painted to look like a turtle shell, “will trigger the projector to open the portal.”
“The red button next to it,” a big black skull is painted on the smaller button, “is the self-destruct button. To come home, press the shell button, check the portal you're about to enter, if it takes you back to the lair, hit the self-destruct so nobody can follow you, then get out of there fast. Got it?”
Leonardo, always the best student, is taking notes in his notepad. Raph seems to be doodling something and Mikey looks wide-eyed as though he was actually listening! Wonderful!
“Raph,” his hotheaded brother looks up, “make sure you're the one holding the doorway disc and not Jones.”
“Can do, Don.”
“Oh, and if something does go wrong with your discs, just wait until we come find you, and make sure your T-Phones are on so we can track you. I cannot stress this enough, do NOT go through any portals that don't lead you back home! It would be impossible to find out where you've gone.”
“Alright, alright.” Leo says and the tension is released from Donnie's shoulders. He's sure everything will go to plan, he trusts his brothers. After everything they've been through they've all grown up and matured a lot, even Mikey! They can handle a simple recon mission.
With the warnings and explanations out of the way, all that's left to do is wait for their expedition partners.