April informed the turtles of her vision and the Krang's invasion plan. After talking it over for quite some time, the turtles decided to infiltrate one of their known Krang locations to gather more intel.

The four of them had just arrived on the scene and Raphael was already griping about the fact that they had to stick to the shadows.

"You know what? Fine. If you can't handle the stealth mission then you can fight off the Krang at the entrance, try and draw them out of the building." Leo told his brother with annoyance.

Why can't Raph just be part of the team for once? Leo thought to himself. Somehow, no matter what my orders are he always winds up fighting on his own. We're supposed to be a team, but we can't be a team until Raphael gets his act together...as usual. Oh well...better to give him orders that he'll actually obey than giving him orders that will make get mad and end up in trouble. Leo sighed as he watched Raph engaging the Krang below them in the warehouse. At least he's good at drawing Krang fire. He thought dryly as Raph lead the Krang outdoors.

Leonardo jumped down from the rafters and landed quietly atop a stack of wooden crates. He took a careful look around before jumping the rest of the way to the warehouse floor. The blue masked turtle then turned to his brothers and motioned for them to join him down below.

Donnie headed straight for the Krang computer and began to hack it, quickly downloading as many files as possible to his T-phone.

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Raphael quickly disposed of the first few Krang with ease, but it wasn't long before reinforcements arrived. Raph barely jumped out of the way when a krang in a blue ape body began firing its butt canons at him. Unfortunately for him, two more of the giant apes appeared, as well as a large group of Krang units. One of the Krang apes hit him and he went flying, injuring his left arm in the landing. Raphael swallowed his pride, knowing this was a battle he was doomed to lose. He pulled out his T-phone and called Leo on speed dial. It rang once, twice...Leo, come on, if you don't pick up soon I'm a goner.

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Leo's T-phone went off, making all three turtles jump. The leader looked at the screen, and raised an eye-ridge. Raph? "Hello?"

"Well, you took certainly took your time."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Raph, why are you calling me from right outside?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to say goodbye to ya before I get fried by the Krang."

"Seriously, Raph? You can't handle it? I've seen you take way more than ten Krang at a time." Leonardo was shocked that his hot-headed brother was even asking for help, let alone acknowledging that he needed it.

"Yeah, sure I have. But right now I've only got one arm and I got two oversized Krang apes to deal with."

"Your arm? What happened to your arm?" Leo was now alarmed. Raph was hurt?

"Leo, just get the shell over here! Ahhhhh!" Raph's yell was accompanied by the sickening thud of someone getting hit, followed by a cry of pain before a barely audible voice gasped out, "Help."

Leo's eyes widened, his heart beating wildly with fear. Raph almost never asked for help. Not on the battlefield anyway. "Raph?! Raph! Raphael! Answer me!"

Donnie looked over to Leo form behind the Krang computer, as did Michelangelo who had been trying to press the buttons on the computer panel. Leo returned the glance, his dark blue eyes clouded with fear. "Raph's in trouble come on, we have to get out there and help him."

Donattello nodded and Michelangelo looked concerned. If Leo's afraid, then it must be really bad.

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On the outside with Raph...

Come on Leo, pick up...

"Hello?"

"Well, you certainly took your time." Raph could practically see Leo rolling his eyes at him.

"Raph, why are you calling me from right outside?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to say goodbye to ya before I get fried by the Krang." As he spoke he stabbed a Krang bot in the head with his good arm. He was currently using his injured arm to hold the phone while he used the other to fend off the Krang. Shell, my arm hurts!

"Seriously, Raph? You can't handle it? I've seen you take way more than ten Krang at a time."

"Yeah, sure I have. But right now I've only got one arm and I got two oversized Krang apes to deal with."

"Your arm? What happened to your arm?"

Raph was losing patience fast. A few more minutes and he'd be turtle soup. "Leo, just get the shell over here!" Just as he finished his sentence one of the Krang apes backhanded him and sent him flying right into a brick wall, head first. The red banded turtle struck his head on a brick that was jutting out from the rest of the wall. The T-phone fell from his grasp, hit the concrete and the screen cracked. Raphael slowly pushed himself back up onto his hands and knees reaching for the phone, only to get kicked in the stomach by the same blue ape that flung him into the wall. Desperate, he used everything he had left to get out one quiet, barely audible plea. "Help." The last thing he saw was a giant blue foot coming at his face before everything went dark.

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Meanwhile with the other turtles...

The turtles burst through the door of the warehouse, eyes widening in shock at what they saw.

Their brother was unconscious and completely surrounded by Krang. Two giant Krang apes on either side of Raph lifted his arms and began to drag him away.

Leo snapped.

He actually growled, making Mikey and Donnie jump.

I thought only Raph could make that noise. Mikey thought as he stared at his older brother.

Then before they could stop him, before he'd even told them the plan, Leo charged the Krang, his eyes white with fury. His brothers stood there in silent shock, Leo wasn't just fighting them: he was destroying them. Michelangelo and Donatello exchanged a sideways glance and then jumped in to help their brother.

Leo slashed left and right, cutting through countless Krang bots on his mad dash towards his brother. The two Krang dragging Raph turned the corner of the building while Leo was being distracted by the other Krang. One of them held a portable portal open while the other dragged Raph's unconscious body into the portal. Leo sheathed his blades and turned the corner just in time to see the Krang holding the portal open jump in.

Leonardo raced towards the portal as it closed, and, determined to follow, flung himself toward it, only to hit the brick wall where the portal had once been face-first. He immediately jumped back up, too worried about his brother to acknowledge the pain in his head. Leo put a hand against the wall, his head bowed low with defeat. "Raph...no." My little brother. I failed my little brother. I failed him when he needed me most.

When he came back around the corner, Mikey and Donnie had just about finished off the rest of the Krang.

Only one left, only one. Leonardo felt a wave of anger well up inside of him as he pushed his brothers aside. He pinned the Krang down with one kick. Forcing himself to remain calm, for now, he smoothly drew a katana from its sheath. "Where is my brother?"

Donnie and Mikey exchanged a wide-eyed glance before focusing in on the Krang their brother was questioning.

"The knowledge that the turtle called Leonardo wants from Krang is not knowledge that the ones called the turtles shall be getting from Krang."

Leo lowered the blade directly over the brain, pressing tip lightly against the squishy pink body. "If you don't tell me where you've taken my brother..." the leader finished his threat by pressing the blade a little bit harder, still hard enough to break the skin, but definitely getting close.

"The one called Raphael is being taken to that which is known as the Preliminary."

Leo's eyes narrowed. "What is the Preliminary?"

"The Preliminary is that which is known in earth terms as: a prison."

Donnie jumped in before Leo could ask another question. "But if the prison is a preliminary than what comes afterwards?"

"After the one called the prisoner has served that which is called the set term, they are put through Secondary; that which is known in Earth terms as: elimination alternative term: execution." All three brothers, even Mikey, went completely silent.

"Where is this Preliminary?"

The little pink Krang opened its inhumanly green eyes and smiled wickedly. "That which is known as the Preliminary can only be accessed by Krang. That which is known as the Preliminary is deep within the dimension of Krang, that which the ones who are turtles refer to as Dimension X. The one called Raphael is as good as that which is known in your earth terms as: dead."

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Raphael groaned. Ugh...what happened? I feel like I've been hit by bus. He rubbed the back of his head and winced. More like my head got hit by a bus. Wait—Where are my brothers? Were they captured too? No, they couldn't have been, they weren't with me during the fight, they probably don't even know where I am, which means the only one that can get me out of here is me. Great, how am I supposed to get out of here? But more importantly, where is here? Hmm...time to go hunt down some answers. Raph walked to the door of the cell. This Krang cell was much more elaborate than any of the cells he'd seen previously. The walls were thick and made of the metal alloy that Raph had mentally dubbed Krang Chrome: a solid white and silvery alloy that was virtually impenetrable. He stood up and slowly approached the door, or what would appear to be the door. Unlike other Krang cells this one had a door that was blocked, not by a wall or a sliding door, but some kind of plasma screen.

The turtle reached out to touch it when she spoke: "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Raphael whipped around his eyes honing in on what he had thought to be a dark, empty corner. His bright green eyes could just about detect her movements, though he still could not see her face. "Why not?" He replied impertinently.

For a moment or two there was nothing but silence, at for a while Raphael thought she wasn't going to answer. Just when he had given up on a reply she spoke again. "That's a very high-tech plasma grid, it will automatically repel anything that touches it."

"So?"

"Observe." The turtle's mysterious cell-mate stepped into the light, and for a moment all Raph could do was stand there staring. She was young, probably around sixteen years old, if not younger. She had long, wavy brown hair, and dark brown eyes that seemed to draw him in with their intensity. But that wasn't all, she was green! Not as dark as he was but not much lighter than Leo. A lot of her front side was deep cream color, as well as the underside of her long tail. She had obviously been mutated into some kind of lizard, though what type, Raph had no clue. She was thin and shapely, but also lean muscled and strong. Raph was pulled away from his thoughts when she walked passed him, and tossed a small rock into the plasma field. The pebble went flying across the room and imbedded itself in the wall opposite the cell's plasma gate.

"Thanks for the tip. Didn't catch your name."

"It's Mona, Mona Lisa."

"Nice name." He stated.

"Thanks, what's yours?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm Raphael. Call me Raph." He grinned at her. She's pretty cute. Wait—did I really just think that?!

She grinned back. "Okay Raph."

The red masked turtle glanced at their surroundings. "So...seems like the security doesn't leave many methods of escape."

She sighed. "I've been in and out of enough Krang prisons to last me a lifetime, but this one is virtually inescapable."

"Do you mind my asking how you were turned into...you know—"

"A monster? An abomination? A hideous freak?"

"Hey, that's not what I was going to say, and as far as I'm concerned: none of those things apply to you." Something about Raph's words left Mona feeling oddly contented, perhaps it was the honesty or the utter certainty in his voice that convinced her he was telling the truth.

"Thank you." Mona's voice came out soft and quiet. "I apologize for my outburst, it's just that I haven't interacted with anyone since the Krang locked me up in here." She stated looking down at her feet, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.

"Hey, it's all cool. I'm not exactly the socializing type myself." The conversation faltered at that leaving the turtle and the lizard in the midst of a rather awkward silence.

"Yes well you see...it all started nine-and-a-half years ago..."