New World: The Darkness Rises (Discontinued for Time Being)

Chapter 3 - The Portal to the New World

The lair was quiet except for the small television and the occasional curse or noise from Donnie's lab. Mikey sat in front of the TV as he watched Super Robo Mecha Force Five, a TV show Mikey had found from some old tapes that had been abandoned in a dumpster awhile back. Raph was off to investigate Tunnel 999, the tunnel that had started all their problems nearly a week ago.

Donnie moved around in his lab as he worked on the machine part they had found from the portal and tried with everything he had to decode the piece of paper that had been placed in the holder on the back of the part. The geeky brother had been working nonstop for over a week, barely eating and barely sleeping. He'd started to worry his two brothers, but he was too anxious about decoding the paper to realize.

"Guys, I'm back!" Raph called as he walked into his long known home. "And I've got news about the sewer tunnel."

"What news about it?" Donnie called from the lab, never taking his eyes off the piece of paper he was examining. Raph walked in to the lab and shut the door so Mikey wouldn't have to hear anything. Raph's action sent Donnie into the red zone about the information his older brother had, but he still listened and stayed where he was anyway.

"You're not gonna' believe this Donnie." Raph stated plainly as he sat down in Donnie's desk chair. Donnie looked at Raph and nodded for him to continue. "When I went to go check out the tunnel I realized I-I couldn't."

"What do you mean you couldn't? All you had to do was examine the tunnel and bring back anything you thought was important!"

"I tried I swear Donnie! But you go out there and you try to examine a tunnel that was there a week ago and that's gone!"

Donnie stopped in his tracks. He turned slowly to look at Raph with a questioning gaze and you could see the gears turning in his head. He looked down at the floor and then back at the piece of paper, as if the tile knew the answer to the sheet. His eyes darted back and forth for a few minutes before he snapped his fingers and ran back to his desk.

Raph watched in curiosity and worriment as Donnie rushed back and forth between his piece of paper and computer. His worriment and curiosity turned into anticipation as he watched Donnie slide another chair towards his computer and type a few things into the monitor. Finally, Donnie sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"Hey, Don', you alright?" Raph asked as he stood up and walked over to where Donnie was seated. The purple masked brother didn't answer as Raph came closer and examined the computer screen.

The monitor showed a map of nearly every single tunnel that stretched underneath Manhattan. It wound deep, deep underground. The map Donnie had pulled up had a search engine with the number "999" typed in. Underneath, in the results, there was nothing except a blank space with the words "No Results of '999' Found."

"I thought I knew something was up with that tunnel, Raph. Something wasn't right when we stepped into it." Donnie said in a muffled tone. Raph looked at his brother and then back at the screen. There was no Sewer Tunnel labeled "999", so – how the hell had they found it?

"Well, whatever the case, you'll figure it out . . . hopefully." Raph responded, patting Donnie's shoulder in an eerie sense of comfort. Donnie didn't move a muscle, but he seemed to relax a little.

The two brothers sat in the dim light of the lab, an eerie silence echoing throughout the room. The computer screen light illuminated their faces and somewhat of their shoulders and plastron. Outside the room they could hear the muffled sounds of the TV and Mikey chanting away.

Suddenly, Donnie's mind clicked. He bolted straight up suddenly, knocking down the chair and surprising Raph at the same time. The geeky brother stared at the computer screen, his pupils dilating to the sudden burst of bright light. His hands clutched the rim of the lab table, his knuckles actually starting to pale in color. He stood attentive, his breathing slowed down to nearly a whispering breeze.