Aspect Elemental: By Amanda Flowers

Leonardo blinked. Somehow, he was no longer in the Trial by Water. He had completed it! But...it had not returned him to his home. Aquaria had not returned him home.

Aquaria!

Leonardo looked down at his belt, and found himself still holding something that belonged to her. Her necklace: her gift. He had forgotten to give her the gift.

He looked up, finding himself completely submersed in water, standing on the floor of the ocean. He inhaled sharply, finding the real water as breathable as air. Light danced and reflected around him, and beyond the dancing waves rested...the Technodrome.

Just as Leonardo took in the new surroundings, he was once more whisked away.

Raphael was shaking. What had happened? There had been light, so much light, tearing out his eyes...

He opened them, and found himself outdoors, far from the pit where he had tasted the flame. As before, the sky here was red, speckled now with yellowy stars. He recognized this place: Dimension X. The sky was split by the volcano in front of him, and the Technodrome sat along the side of it, trapped in hardened rock. The ground shook, and the volcano erupted. Still Raphael stood fast, watching the lava overtake the fortress, then letting it lap at his feet, warm but painless. Then, he too, was carried away.

Something cold hit Michaelangelo's foot, and he shivered. He looked down to see his feet completely plunged in a bank of snow. The ground and sky were the same color here; wind caressed Mike's face, cold, bitter, but somehow comforting. He adjusted his eyes to the whiteness around him, and saw, in the distance, a vision of metal. As it had been in the past, the Technodrome was here.

Mike took one difficult step forward, and a flurry put out his eyes. He had vanished by the time the next wind blew.

Like his brothers, Donatello emerged from his trance of power. He was still underground, but in a darker place, veins of solid earth under his feet. There were tread marks in the ground in front of him.

He looked up, and saw the Technodrome at its newest and brightest.

Just as abruptly as he had been transported, he awoke.

Donatello sat up, and looked around. He was home, in the Lair, in Master Splinter's room. There was a mat beneath him, but other than that, he had not left the spot where he first lost consciousness.

He had never left this spot...

He looked over, and saw the others, each waking, sitting up, looking around. "Guys, I just had an odd...dream," Donatello said. He put his hand to his head. It had all been a dream?

   "Whoa, me too!" Michaelangelo answered. He shook his head fast, waking himself. "There was this bodacious dudette... I saw the Technodrome!" he added. "And it was majorly cold!"

   "I saw the Technodrome, too," Leonardo said, somewhat puzzled.

Donatello opened his eyes wide, and turned around, trying to get a look at his back.

   "You were hurt!" Mike suddenly cried.

   "I was," Donatello noted. "But, it seems to be gone, now." It had been just a dream.

   "I saw it!" Mike exclaimed.

   "You what?" Suddenly, Don realized something else. That fabulous weapon he had picked up in the Trial... "Where's my bo?" he asked.

Raphael looked down. "My sais are gone, too!"

Leonardo sighed. "We weren't equipped with our weapons when we fainted," he remembered.

   "Right!" Don exclaimed. "So...you all got new weapons, too?"

The others nodded.

At that moment, Master Splinter entered the room. He gave a start at the sight of the turtles, sitting on the floor. "You are awake!"

   "We're fine," Leo stated. "Though, we all seem to have shared a dream...about the four elements, and the Technodrome."

Splinter shook his head. "I knew the scroll was important, but I did not predict that it would have such a profound effect on you. Tell me about the dream."

   "I met another turtle," Leonardo offered. "But, I think she was...different, somehow."

   "Were you in a weird hallway, painted blue?" Donatello asked.

   "Yes!" Leo answered. "And there was a place where I could breathe the water!"

Don shook his head. "I couldn't breathe water... But I did inhale some quicksand! And I met a Rock Soldier..."

   "I met a steaming snake with a bad attitude..." Raphael piped in.

   "Dudes, in mine, I could fly!" Michaelangelo added.

Leonardo reached down at his belt, as Splinter listened intently.

   "Flying would have been nice. I got stuck in a maze for hours."

   "...there was a face on the wall..."

Leonardo lifted his hand, and found the necklace he had retrieved, still glowing there.

Conversation ceased.

   "Where did you get that?" Donatello asked him.

   "Would you believe...in my dream?" Leo answered, staring.

Splinter was awed. "The...pearl?"

   "What is it, Master?" Don asked.

Splinter reached for the table, where he had set the translated scroll. "While you were asleep, I deciphered the fifth verse. I thought at first that the reading of it would awaken you," he explained, lifting the paper. "I see now that you had quests to complete, and did it in your own time."

   "What does the verse say, sensei?" Leo wondered.

Splinter read:

   "That's not just some rock!" Raphael cried. "It's the Technodrome!"

   "And," Leonardo added, "I have the pearl..."

   "You dudes suppose the key to getting rid of Shred-head is in that fancy jewelry?" Mike wondered.

   "I saw the Technodrome, underwater," Leonardo stated.

   "I saw it in the Arctic!" Michaelangelo remarked.

   "Dimension X," came another reply.

   "I saw it in that big cavern where we first found it!"

The ground shook slightly, then stopped.

   "What was that?" Don wondered.

   "The weather is much worse than it was before you left for your quests," Splinter replied, slightly saddened.

   "I'll check my seismic vibration system," Donatello offered, and ran to the lab.

The others left Splinter's room, and walked out to the couch.

   "This effects more than the Earth," Splinter observed, pointing out a television that pictured raging storms: wind, rain, and lightning.

Donatello came back from his lab, with a printout. "According to this, these are ordinary quakes. No Technodrome involved!" The ground shook again. "But there's just too many of them!"

   "Master, how long were we out?" Leo suddenly asked.

   "Almost all day, I'm afraid."

Raph gasped. "That's long enough for the Terrible Twosome to conquer several major universes!"

   "Unless...they were out, too..." Donatello remarked.

   "You don't suppose Shredder had a Trial?" Leo asked.

   "Was that the quest, in the dream you had?" Splinter wondered.

   "Yes. I had the Trial by Water."

   "I had Fire!"

   "I was Earth."

The others looked to Michaelangelo, who was staring into space.

   "Michaelangelo?" Leo attempted.

   "Huh?" Mike looked over. "Oh, Air. But..." he stuttered, "but I saw a Trial by Metal! On a screen! Maybe that was Shredder's!"

Leonardo gawked. "It had to have been!"

   "This is grave news," Master Splinter said. "What do you think it all means?"

   "Personally?" Raph asked. "I think it means we had some bad pizza the other day."

Leonardo leaned over the couch, and turned up the volume on the TV.

   "No way, dude. Anchovies and peanut butter never messed with my stomach."

   "Shhhh..."

   "...will try to remain on the air for as long as possible," April assured, from her spot in the middle of the downpour. "Outdoor conditions are unsafe for anyone at this time. Channel Six encourages all viewers to remain indoors, and stay tuned for further updates."

Leo turned off the TV. "I have a plan."

   "What?" Raph asked him.

   "I say we consult Shredder."

   "Are you nuts?" Raph groaned. "I say we kick the crap outta Shredder."

That remark was met with a glare from Splinter.

   "Maybe his Trial will provide a clue," Leonardo maintained. "Donatello. Can you adjust a Turtlecom to Comlink frequency?"

   "I can try," Don offered. He disappeared into his lab, and came back with a 'com and a screwdriver.

He fiddled. "I really don't know where to start!"

   "This could take hours!" Raph groaned.

   "Almost...got it..." The ¾com sparked, and fizzled. A trail of smoke came up from it. "Or not."

   "We'll have to go to the Technodrome," Leonardo decided.

   "A direct assault?" It sounded like a bad idea to Raph.

   "No!" Donatello exclaimed. "What if we each go to the different places where we saw it!"

Leo squinted. Four locations, four Technodromes, four elements...

Four dragons...

   "Does your portal still work?"

Raphael stepped out of the glowing door and onto the crimson-flecked stone, sickened slightly when the humming portal sealed behind him. Dimension X wasn't exactly a prime vacation spot, and there was no possible way he was going to set up permanent residence if that portal didn't work on the return. He marked a spot on the ground below him; thirty minutes was all he had to explore, or else the train back to Earth would leave without him.

He turned, and looked up. He was at the base of a volcano: the same volcano from his dream! He walked around the base, carefully, scanning the sides, until he saw a shining globe, rising over the side of the mountain. His pace quickened.

It was the Technodrome.

Heartbeat accelerating, he walked up to it, and felt his hand along the side. It was solid; it was really here, and dead. No alarms rang, no blasters aimed, as if the great beast were ignoring him. Knowing that his target must be inside, he found a loose panel, tucked in between hardened lava underneath and the curve of the side, and pried it loose with a sai.

He crawled into the Technodrome through a narrow duct, and stepped out into an open hall. There was no one inside; it was that simple. A small security camera protruded from the far wall, the eye dark. Raphael inspected it. Like the rest of the place, it was inactive; no flashing lights, and no recording. Suddenly, Raphael smiled. He reached up, and drove his weapon into the eye of the camera, allowing the glass to shatter, throwing no sparks.

He laughed out loud, almost maniacally. "Hell-ooooooo!!" he called down the hall, the echoes vibrating like a yodel. He snickered again, and drove the tip of his sai into the wall, slicing through.

   "Hey, Chrome-Dome! Where're ya' at?" Raph sliced another streak in the metal wall. "I'm wasting your precious 'Drome!" The turtle kicked his foot into the rip in the wall, tearing a hole through the sheet of metal. "C'mere and try and stop me!"

Nothing.

   "Where are all the Foot Soldiers, huh? Did they finally get sick of your voice, Krang?!" Raphael sprinted through the hall, tearing satisfying gaps in the metal walls, breaking the glass on consoles. "Hey, Horn-nose! Pig-face! Too chicken to come out and play? By the time I'm done, the whole Technodrome's gonna look like your room!"

Raphael gleefully knocked down a door, entering a deserted chamber.

   "And while I'm on the subject of pigs..." He halted, gazing suddenly upward.

   "Whoa."

All tunnels seemed to lead to this place, and while it in some ways resembled the portal room the turtles had trafficked before, there was a major change. A tall, round cylinder, big enough to fit several people but seemingly designed for only one, stood atop a wealth of machinery. The thick cylinder--glass, but too thick to be shattered easily--was accessible only by climbing over rows of switches, hoses, and consoles--except on one side, where it was adjoined with a small set of metal stairs. Raphael approached the machine cautiously, idly pressing random buttons on the powerless controls. He knew there was an important reason this was here...

He halted. Thirty minutes would soon be over.

Don lifted the Turtlecom from his belt, blinking at the face of the turtles' leader on the screen. "Not much. That is...the Technodrome..." He swallowed. "The Technodrome's here, but it's all shut down. There's some kind of weird device in here." He looked up once again at the tall cylinder.

   "Donatello..." Leonardo began, "the Technodrome is here."

   "I know! I know the Technodrome is there, but... I can't explain it, but I'm standing right in a control room in the Technodrome! Underground."

   "I'm telling you, I'm below it, in the van!" The Turtlevan's underwater capabilities accounted for that. "But it's locked up too tight. I can't risk going in alone."

Don nodded. "Right." Leonardo had visited the Technodrome where Shredder and Krang ought to be, and probably were.

A pause. "Could they have somehow duplicated it?" Leonardo asked.

   "I don't know." Another pause. "Four Technodromes...that's a scary possibility. Half hour's almost up," Donatello added.

Leonardo sighed. "We'll regroup at the Lair."

Splinter took a deep breath, and looked up from the scroll. "Do these verses mean more to you now?"

   "Sort of," Leonardo replied groggily. Another reading of the verse had produced no physical results this time, but illuminated little. The water dragon, to lead them all. That was Leonardo. To learn to love the sacrificed... What was that supposed to mean?