"Woah! Destiny, calm down!" Casey says, gripping the wolf girl's shoulder and giving her a sharp tug.

She glances at him, then back at Bernie. In that split second, Bernie kicks her in the face and makes her release him. She yelps and the store owner dashes for his chainsaw. Instantly, Casey trips him with his baseball bat.

"OW!" the man exclaims.

He rolls over, staring at the two teens with wide eyes. Destiny winces and cracks her jaw, massaging it gently as her ears tuck against her curls.

"What is wrong with you?!" Casey demands.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Bernie apologizes, gripping his head as he stumbles to his feet. "I'm a little high-strung. I haven't slept in forty years, so I'm starting to see things, like wolf people."

"News flash, I'm real," Destiny snaps, stepping towards him. "And you're going to be in real pain if you don't tell me—"

"Wolfie, your Raph is showing," Casey says, placing his arm across her chest and stopping her advance. He looks to Bernie. "Why haven't you slept in forever?"

"Because of the Dream Beavers!" Bernie exclaims, imitating claws.

"What are Dream Beavers?" Destiny asks, taking slow breaths as her temper simmers back down to normal.

"They're beings of pure evil from another dimension. You see, it all began forty years ago..."

"Nobody asked, dude," Casey groans.

"I was a physicist trying to prove my theory that our dreams take place in a dimension of their own," Bernie continues, unfazed by the comment. Destiny and Casey sigh. "A defective portal projector short circuited and I lost consciousness. The Dream Beavers had been about to break through into our reality, but instead, they materialized in the dream dimension, in my dream. When I awoke, they remained trapped in the world of dreams, unable to return as long as this device remains operating."

The man stoops to grab the book that Casey had nearly taken. Destiny and Casey exchange quick looks while the man's back is turned. He turns back to them and gestures to the retrieved item.

"Device? It's a book, Bernie!" Casey says forcefully.

"Obturaculum somniorum means 'dream plug,'" Bernie explains, flipping the book open and revealing a strange device, beeping with red lights. "For forty years, I have protected the plug to ensure that the Dream Beavers remain trapped. For forty years, I have remained awake so that they cannot drain my life force. But they are always near." He clutches the book closer, looking out the window. "They attack anyone close to me and drain the life from them when they sleep. That's why I came out here, far away from everyone!"

"Not far enough," Casey says. "They're draining our friends right now!"

"Please, Bernie, you have to help us," Destiny pleads, her anger completely dissipated into fear. "They're our family."

"You know what? He is gonna do something about it!" Casey decides, grabbing Bernie by the shirt collar and dragging him from the store. Destiny scurries after him.

----------

How the turtles and Diaval ended up in a comic book, they don't know.

"What? Where are we?" Raphael asks as he pokes the panelling near him with his sai handle.

"Phew! Back in the real world at last!" Michelangelo says, unfazed by the style over the new world. His words appear in a speech bubble.

"This looks real to you?" Donatello inquires.

"More or less." The orange-masked turtle shrugs. "Except for those guys."

He points to the sky. The Dream Beavers laugh at them, four blots of colour in the sepia comic world. Diaval steps backwards, wishing that he had some kind of weapon.

"I spy with my little eye, something green." Dave Beaver giggles.

"SHUT UP, DAVE!" the other three shout.

"Destroy them!" Dire Beaver exclaims.

He lunges, plummeting down and sending the four turtles careening through the panelled backdrop as the comic world crumbles. Words like "BOW", "WHAM" and "POW" appear all around as they tumble further and further down.

They land on piping, the entire world turned upside down with moss sticking up in spikes around them. The turtles' mask tails hang straight up, as does Diaval's cloak. Diaval blushes and pulls his shirt down over his exposed stomach.

Dire Beaver punches Leonardo, the blue-masked turtle retaliating with a swing of his katanas. The beaver doesn't slow down, and with every swing of Leonardo's katanas, the assailant only laughs and flings him around as if he was a hacky-sack.

Dire Beaver backs up, grinning. "Now you see me..." He swishes his tail as he dissolves into smoke. "Now you don't."

Leonardo backs up, but the purple rodent appears behind him and smacks the turtle into another set of piping with a quick flick of his clawed wrist.

"Unh..." Leonardo groans and gets back up, his heart racing. "This isn't working!"

Donatello goes ricocheting into Leonardo and the two turtles go tumbling off towards the ceiling. Raphael dodges Dread Beaver as best he can, but Dark Beaver's giant paddle tail stops his advance and smashes him.

Michelangelo grunts as he tries to smack a very tiny Dave Beaver with his nunchucks.

"Hold still, Dave," he exclaims, smacking over and over. "I gotta chuck ya!"

Dave giggles. Each time the nunchuck hits, the blue beaver divides into more and more little copies. Then, all the little duplicates jump onto Mikey, making him scream. Diaval races along the pipe and manages to punt a Mini Dave across the room before falling flat on his back.

Two of the Mini Daves turn on the sewer pipes, making water rush in and swallow them up in a rushing river. The water disappears and the boys are suddenly pinwheeling through Dimension X, the sewers, TCRI, the streets, and numerous other places before finally coming to a stop in a meat locker.

Michelangelo groans, taking a good look at what he's holding on to. He squeaks in terror when he sees the empty turtle shells hanging from meat hooks, including the one he's dangling on.

The chain drops, placing the youngest turtle next to his brothers and Diaval on a conveyor belt. At the far end of the belt is a gaping pit that drops into a fiery inferno. Turtle shells drop into it as the belt moves along, and the turtles scream in terror. Diaval shuts his eyes and musters every part of himself into detaching from the dream dimension, but he's exhausted and every effort falls flat.

The Dream Beavers cackle, sharpening their eating utensils as they slice up pepperoni and onions to shower all over the terrified terrapins. Their screams grow ever louder, unable to be stopped as they move closer and closer to their doom.

----------

April slaps Donatello's face over and over again as Casey and Destiny rush into the living room.

"I thought you said that wouldn't work," Casey says as Destiny kneels next to Diaval.

"I don't know what else to do! I can barely find their pulses anymore!" April exclaims. "If we can't wake them up, they won't make it!"

Destiny's heart clenches and she leans down, her lips hovering next to Diaval's ear. "Try to get back," she whispers. "I know it's hard, but...please. I lost Leo, don't make me lose you too. Think of Karai...think of Melanie..."

Diaval doesn't respond in the slightest and she leans away from him as Casey disappears from the room. He returns a second later, holding Bernie by the collar.

"Ah! Oh my gosh!" he exclaims. "Is that TV set an Astroview?"

"Really?" April asks. She looks at the five unconcious males. "Not, 'Oh my gosh, giant turtles?'"

Bernie's creased eyes widen noticeably and he nearly chokes with the force of his sharp inhale. "You see them too?"

"Bernie, the Dream Beavers are sucking out their life force!" Casey says urgently, shaking the man's shoulders. "How can we wake them up?"

"You can't. The Obturaculum keeps the beavers trapped in the dream realm, and as long as they're there their dream powers are unbeatable! That's why I don't sleep!" Bernie retorts. Although Casey still has a grip on his shirt, he turns and smiles at April. "Got any coffee, by the way?"

Destiny's ears perk and her eyes snap to Leonardo. She bolts away from Diaval and nearly trips onto Leonardo's sleeping form, listening near his mouth for any sign of life. She's greeted with silence. She opens her mouth to speak but April beats her to it.

"Donnie's not breathing," April says, her breaths picking up as her pupils dilate. "DONNIE'S NOT BREATHING!"

Destiny's fierce gaze locks on the males standing behind them. "Casey, Bernie, do something!" she screams, frustrated tears appearing on her lashes.

Casey snaps into action. He snatches the dream plug from Bernie and steps back. "So this is what keeps them in the dream realm?" he demands, holding it up for clarification.

"Yeah," Bernie responds. Casey smirks and the man's eyes bulge out with realization. "Wait, what are you—NO!"

Casey smashes the device with his baseball bat, shattering bits of glass and metal over the carpet. Almost instantly, the turtles wake up with a round of groans. Diaval, on the other hand, lets out a long exhalation of breath but doesn't stir further.

"Oh my god! Never scare me like that again!" Destiny cries, hugging Leonardo's neck tightly as tears start to stream down her scarred face.

The disoriented turtle blinks a few times as he returns the embrace, far too winded to argue or put energy into avoiding it. "It's okay, Des, I'm okay," he soothes.

"You're okay!" April grins, kissing Donatello's cheek. The turtle lets out a few bashful giggles as he slumps against the couch.

"The Obturaculum is broken! The beavers are free!" Bernie shouts, starting to pivot back and forth in place as he bounces on his feet. The teenagers around him stare, put off. "Free to destroy our world! All is lost! All is—"

A purple column of smoke erupts from the broken dream plug and evil cackling fills the air. The beavers appear, menacing grins on their rodent faces, and everyone tenses up. When the smoke clears, however, it's another story.

"Wait a second," Dire Beaver says.

The four colossal Dream Beavers are now the size of regular beavers, perhaps smaller. Destiny giggles a little.

"Aw, they're so cute," she whispers.

Leonardo looks at her like she's got a screw loose.

"Aw, dang," Dire Beaver grumbles. His voice is far squeakier than before. Their faces fall and they slump, discouraged.

"Hi Dave," Michelangelo says, waving.

"Hi Mikey!" Dave responds as he too waves his little paw up at the orange-masked turtle.

"Shut up, Dave!" the other three squeak.

"This is it? This is what I've been protecting the Earth from for forty years?!" Bernie exclaims, grabbing at his own face. Dave Beaver ruffles his fur, blinking a few times. "Plush toys?!"

"If I were you guys, I'd be—" Casey starts.

"Leaving. My thoughts exactly," Dire Beaver sighs. He straightens up. "Come, beavers! Let us leave this world for one that is—" Casey nudges him with his bat, making the tiny rodent squeak. "Alright, we're going. Big bully..."

They disappear with a round of laughter and a puff of blue smoke. The turtle brothers share a few quick looks. Destiny realizes that she still has her arms draped around Leonardo's neck and pulls away, lifting herself off the couch as she fiddles with her hair.

"Destiny, April, Casey...giant talking turtles," Bernie addresses, looking sheepish. "I've been awake for forty years for no good reason. So—" He yawns loudly. "If you'll excuse me." He collapses to the ground, snoring away in an instant.

No one moves. Three seconds tick by without interruption.

"Hey dudes, why is Diaval still down?" Michelangelo asks.

Before anyone can react, April scoots over to the boy's side and gently rests her fingers against his throat. She pouts, then her lips slowly spread into a tiny smile. "Well, his pulse isn't weak," she says with a small laugh. "Maybe he's actually tired."

"Hold on, I'll test it," Casey says.

He saunters over, readies his baseball bat, and nudges Diaval's cheek with it. The boy's eyes snap open and he sits bolt upright, his hair flopping over his eyes.

"Wha?" he mumbles. "Huh?"

"Thank god," Destiny says, kneeling down in front of her friend and craning her neck downwards so that she can peer at his face from beneath his bangs. "Tired?"

He shoves his hair out of his eyes. "Mhm," he answers with a nod. He yawns. "Couldn't escape beavers."

"Have you been sleeping enough lately?"

"Mhm."

Destiny frowns. Diaval leans back against the nearest armchair, his eyelids starting to droop again. Behind Destiny, Casey wanders back over to Bernie and with a sigh, he sets his baseball bat down and rubs his hands together.

"Well, who wants to help me carry him back home?" Casey asks, gesturing to the grown man on the floor.

Donatello gets up. The two grab Bernie and carry him out as April heads off to do her own thing. Michelangelo dashes from the room, acting as if he didn't almost bite the dust a moment or so ago. Raphael flops down next to Leonardo on the couch as Destiny stands and heads outside.

"I know that was terrifying and we nearly bought it and everything, but my leg really feels a lot better," Leonardo admits, swinging his injured leg.

"See?" Raphael grins, punching his brother's arm. "Told you some rest would help."

Diaval looks out the window as Casey and Donatello load Bernie into the back of the wagon. Destiny walks out to them, tapping Casey on the shoulder and making him turn around. They talk, Destiny's tail wagging as she occasionally brushes her fingers under her eyes and wipes her hands on her jeans. She says something that makes Casey grin widely and throw his arms up, flexing his muscles, and Destiny laughs and shakes her head.

She wraps her arms around him and he returns the hug, lifting her slightly off her feet. They're both still grinning, their shoulders shaking as if their amusement is still present. Casey sets Destiny down and she leans up to press a quick kiss to his cheek. She bumps his arm with her fist before heading out to the barn. He winks a does finger guns at her, something she shouts a response to.

Diaval turns away from the window only to bump into Leonardo. Their eyes lock. Leonardo's lip twists at the corner slightly and Diaval stares back with a hint of animosity in his blank expression.

Diaval shoves past the blue-masked turtle without a word, heading for the stairs. Leonardo looks back out the window as Casey drives away with Donatello in the front seat. He leans his forehead against the glass as he takes in the peeling paint of the windowsill, his heart thrumming uncomfortably beneath his plastron.