Unaware of the Turtles’ rescue mission, Kirby O’Neil, one of the smartest men in the country, sat in his Kraang prison cell. He was one of several scientists who had recently been abducted by the Kraang. Normally, he spent his nights wondering why, but right now he was thinking only of his daughter, April. Had Pigeon Pete been able to deliver his video message to her? Was she okay? Was she fleeing the city for safer ground? As long as the Kraang’s plot was still in motion, the clock was ticking for planet Earth. And all Kirby could do was wonder about April’s fate as he sat in silence.

Then he heard a voice on the other side of the wall. “Mr. O’Neil? Are you in here?”

He looked through the small window of his cell door and was shocked to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

“You’re the turtles who rescued my daughter!” he cried. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Leo answered, trying to break the door lock. “She’s right outside.”

“You mean she’s still in the city?!” Kirby exclaimed, shaking his head. “Man, that girl is stubborn.”

“Yeah,” Leo admitted. “We’ve noticed.”

Leo went to work on the lock.

Back in the Kraang’s control room, things weren’t going any better for Donnie. He had to use every ounce of his ninja speed to smack Mikey’s hand away from the array of buttons on the computer console.

“What’s that one do?” Mikey asked.

Smack! “I don’t know,” Donnie replied.

“What’s that one do?”

Smack! Smack! “I don’t know!”

“What’s THAT ONE do??”

Smack! Smack! Smack!

“I DON’T KNOW!”

Not being able to touch anything was making Mikey want to touch everything. He noticed a stream of digital lights flowing up toward another button.

“Ooooh, that one’s pretty!” he exclaimed.

Donnie snapped. “Just stop it!” he yelled, slamming his fists down in frustration, which made the room go dark.

After a moment, one computer screen lit up.

“I’m in!” Donnie said excitedly.

The Kraang’s files were now an open book—and it wouldn’t have been possible without Mikey.

“You’re welcome,” Mikey teased.

But the celebration would have to wait. As Donnie tried to make sense of the Kraang’s secret plans unfolding on the monitor, a grave look came over his face. He might not have fully understood complex alien technology, but he knew a bomb when he saw one.

And he was staring at the blueprints for the biggest one he’d ever seen.

All he could say was “Uh-oh.”

Despite Leo’s best lock-picking efforts, Kirby O’Neil was still trapped in his cell. There was no sign of any Kraang-droids, but Raph knew they were running out of time. “Since it’s taking Leo forever to pick that lock—”

“I’m working on it!” Leo said impatiently.

“—maybe you can tell us what the heck’s the deal with the Kraang?” Raph continued, ignoring Leo.

Kirby took a moment. The Turtles were protecting his daughter and trying to rescue him. They deserved some answers. But were they ready for the truth?

“They’re aliens from another dimension,” he began. “When they came here, they brought the mutagen with them.”

That gave Leo pause. The Kraang were the ones who had brought the mutagen? The same stuff that had mutated Master Splinter all those years ago? The same ooze that had mutated them? Leo understood the idea of an alien race wanting to destroy humanity, but choosing to mutate it into something else? Why?

“What’s the point of turning people into monsters?” Leo asked Kirby.

“The mutagen doesn’t work the way they thought it would,” Kirby explained. “Apparently, the physical laws of their universe are different from ours.”

And with that, the reasons behind the Kraang’s kidnapping of Kirby suddenly became clear to Leo. “They’re grabbing scientists to help them modify the ooze,” he concluded.

“Wow! You figured it out!” Raph mocked. “How’s that lock coming?”

Now it was Leo who was ignoring Raph. “So what do they want the ooze to do?” he asked Kirby.

Kirby sighed. “I wish I knew.”

Suddenly, Raph and Leo heard footsteps coming from around the corner. They braced for the worst!

It was only Mikey and Donnie.

“Leo! Raph! They’ve planted a mutagen bomb downtown!” Donnie said, panicked. “They’re going to use it to disperse ooze over the entire city!” Then, seeing April’s dad for the first time, he tried to compose himself and added, “Oh, hi, Mr. O’Neil! Your daughter’s really nice.”

Leo had to stay focused and think. Breaking Kirby out seemed impossible. Soon more Kraang would come looking for them. And to top it all off, they now had to deal with an intergalactic bomb threat. This mission was spiraling out of control fast, but Leo kept calm. He knew if the Turtles wanted to save the day, they were going to have to face these challenges one at a time—starting with this lock.

“We have to disarm that bomb,” Leo said, still tinkering with the cell door. “If I could just get this stupid door open!”

That gave Mikey a bright idea. “Have you tried this?” he asked, pushing a random button on the wall.

“Noooo!” everyone else yelled.

But it was too late. Mikey had just triggered an alarm.

“And that’s why no one wants to be with you!” Raph remarked.

They could hear the clanging feet of Kraang-droids as they marched down the hall.

There was no time for Leo to panic. He felt a small lever move inside the lock, and then—click—the cell door popped open!

“Got it! Let’s move!” Leo ordered, grabbing Kirby from his cell.

With April’s dad in tow, the Turtles ran down the corridor as fast as they could, dodging blaster fire from the approaching Kraang-droids.

Quickly, Leo led them back to the original rooftop hatch. As planned, he started doing dove calls, hoping this would cue April to lower the rope. But it was no use. With the alarm blaring over the PA and energy bolts whizzing in every direction, she couldn’t hear his signal.

More blaster fire cut through the air. The Turtles were surrounded by Kraang-droids!