Alpha-1 is Back

by LuckyLadybug

1987 series, my Exit the Fly verse. The renegade Foot Soldier Alpha-1 returns, with a ship from the alien computer's homeworld, and threatens the safety of all organic matter on Earth.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987

Alpha-1 is Back

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine (except for Maximillian) and the story is! This involves Alpha-1 from The Foot Soldiers Are Revolting. It is part of my Exit the Fly verse. Baxter is human again and an ally of the Turtles. His brother Barney no longer works for Shredder.

Barney blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he emerged from his bedroom. It was late and he had thought everyone was asleep, but once he was outside in the hall, he could hear the sound of the television downstairs. It wasn't a disturbance, but he was curious, so he headed down the stairs and into the living room.

He found Vincent on the couch with the remote control, frowning at the television. It seemed to be turned to one of the movie channels.

"What are you doing up?" Barney asked, folding his arms.

Vincent snapped off the television with the remote control. "I was watching a film. It just ended." He leaned back into the couch.

"Whatever you were watching, it doesn't look like you liked it much," Barney commented.

"I wanted to know why Raphael calls me HAL," Vincent said matter-of-factly. "He did it again tonight."

Barney cringed. "You didn't."

"I did some research and found out that the film with the HAL character is called 2001: A Space Odyssey. And that it was going to be on tonight. So, I watched it."

Barney sighed and sat down on the edge of the couch. He had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation. "And?"

Vincent turned to look at him. "I'm . . . troubled. HAL murdered most of the crew on that spaceship! I've done terrible things, but I've never killed anyone. I certainly never harmed the crew of my ship!"

Barney nodded. "Raphael isn't thinking about that aspect, I'm sure. He's probably thinking of HAL's sentience in general. And how he controlled everything on the ship. . . . And how he broke down and turned against all the humans."

"Just like I did when Krang infected me," Vincent said quietly. "I must admit that when HAL panicked about being disconnected, he reminded me of some of the things I said in that state." He frowned. "They never said why HAL broke down, though."

"They did in the book," Barney said. "And in the movie sequel. I was in college when I read and watched the various installments, but as I recall, HAL was told to lie to the crew of the ship. That went against his programming of complete honesty. He wasn't able to take the conflicting orders and he snapped. I and many others actually found HAL a more human character than the humans."

Vincent looked troubled again. "That . . . makes a lot of sense," he said. "They should have kept that information in the first film. Why didn't they?"

"Maybe they wanted to keep it vague and mysterious," Barney grunted. "Just about everything else in it was, so it fit."

"I can definitely have some sympathy for the character, knowing this," Vincent said. "You say there were sequels? What happened to HAL?"

"Oddly enough, he was found to have some kind of a soul, and after returning to sanity and helping the protagonists, he eventually joined the main human character in his bizarre afterlife," Barney said. "It was meant to be a happy ending in their universe. They stayed together for centuries and eventually . . . fused into one entity and seemed to be happy with that." He raised an eyebrow.

". . . That is strange," Vincent said. "Especially after seeing what happened to Baxter, I can't imagine how anyone would be happy in a state like that. You'd lose all sense of identity after a while."

"I'm guessing they both agreed to it and did it because they wanted to," Barney said. "Maybe under those circumstances, they were able to retain their sense of self." He shook his head. "I don't know. It doesn't matter. It's a bizarre series anyway. I can appreciate it on an intellectual level, but it was never one of my favorite things."

Vincent turned the remote over in his hands. ". . . While I can have sympathy for the character, I don't appreciate being called HAL. I'm sure Raphael doesn't mean it in a positive way."

"No, I doubt that he does," Barney admitted. "But you know how obnoxious and callous he can be. It's very possible that he doesn't mean for you to take offense from it."

"He knows I haven't known what he's talking about," Vincent frowned. "I feel like he's been laughing at me behind my back."

"Now you do know what he's talking about," Barney said. "Are you going to do anything about it?"

"I think I will," Vincent mused. "I'll wait and see if he calls me that again, and if he does, I'll let him know I'm now aware of HAL and I don't appreciate the comparison."

"Good," Barney said in approval. He started to get up, then paused. "Odd."

"What is?" Vincent asked.

"I think this is the first time I've actually tried to help you with something instead of vice versa." Barney headed for the kitchen to get a drink of water.

Vincent got up and followed him. "Maybe it's the first time you've consciously tried to help me in a conversation, but it isn't the first time you've helped me by far," he said. "Barney, you completely changed my outlook on so many things. And it's because of you that I'm able to move around again."

Barney paused. "Well, I can't disagree about the solid energy generator, at least."

"I would probably still think revenge was acceptable on Earth if it wasn't for you," Vincent said. "And that you were a hateful, loathsome thing without decency."

"And then I don't know if I would have ever softened about Baxter," Barney grunted.

"We've helped each other," Vincent said. "Neither of us would be who we are today without the other."

"I'll give you that too," Barney nodded. He got a glass of water from the pitcher in the fridge and leaned against the sink to drink it.

"Are you nervous to start teaching again?" Vincent wondered.

". . . Let's say wary," Barney replied. "And leery. But since I was impressed by the students, let's hope that they will behave as well in class as they did when we spoke to them."

"I guess it could go either way," Vincent said.

Barney finished his drink and left the glass on the counter before heading out of the kitchen and to the stairs. Vincent trailed after him.

"Is Baxter still asleep?" he asked.

"He was when I came down," Barney replied.

"You know, he stays over so often that it's almost like he's living here," Vincent said with a note of hope in his voice.

"He still has his apartment and likes to be there," Barney retorted. "And the fact that he does divide his time may be why this has been working out. It might not work as well at all if this was the only place he had to go."

"I like to think it would," Vincent said. "You and he have been making so much progress!"

"And at a slow and steady pace," Barney said. "Trying to have him move in might rush it too much."

"I guess that's possible," Vincent relented.

"I know you'd like for us to all live together all the time, but I'm still skeptical it would work and I imagine even Baxter is." Barney paused at the door to his room.

"I realize that," Vincent said. "But I still hope."

Barney nodded. "You would. Goodnight, Vincent."

"Goodnight."

They went into their respective rooms.

xxxx

The night was dark and cold. Michelangelo stood on the balcony of Barney's house, staring out at the moon and stars. Right now, the cold wasn't bothering him-just the lonely silence.

"It's been a while, Baxter," he said softly. "I don't know where you are or if you ever hear me, but I wanted to talk to you again.

"Things are okay, I guess. We're still training, eating mondo amounts of pizza, and kicking shell whenever Shred-Head shows up. We really gave him what-for that first time we saw him again after . . . well, you know. I mean, his and Krang's plans are always bogus, you know, but he's never actually . . . killed one of us before, even though he's been trying for years."

He blinked back tears. "Barney's okay. . . . He's taken up trying to figure out what that power source is with Donatello. Vincent's been helping too. I think all three of them are in it mainly because they're doing it in your memory, Bud.

"April and Irma are okay too. Vernon . . . well, not so much. He's been like, really struggling without you. But now that the girls have seen that he's a better person than even he thinks he is, they're not getting put-off by how he's acting."

Michelangelo folded his arms on the railing. "Who am I kidding? None of us are okay! Vernon's just about the only one of us who's really showing it instead of trying to hide it!" He put his head down and sobbed. "We all just want you back, Baxter. We just want you back! Is that really too much to ask?!"

Of course, he knew the answer. Baxter was dead. Coming back was more than too much to ask.

Michelangelo started awake, his eyes wide, his hands clutching the blanket. Then, groaning, he slumped back into the bed. "Oh, maximum bummer. Not again."

It had been several days, but the horror over thinking Baxter had been killed by Shredder had not abated. Everyone was thanking God that it had only been a suspended animation ray, and that it had worked properly and not fatally malfunctioned, but the scars of those grief-stricken hours could not easily fade for everyone. For Michelangelo, it was coming out in nightmares of Baxter really having been dead and time passing with no one able to heal.

He rolled over and stared at the wall. "Baxter's alive and well," he whispered. "Why can't I just get over this?"

It would take time, Splinter had told him. Aside from Barney and Vincent, Michelangelo had been the one most deeply cut to the core by Shredder's abominably cruel trick. And while he had tried so valiantly to insist on having hope about Baxter's fate, the fear that Baxter truly was dead had persisted in his heart. The pain and grief hadn't been fully abated by Baxter's survival. They still had to come out some way, perhaps because of Michelangelo's inner horror over what could have happened if no one had listened to him about the warning dreams.

Or that was how Splinter had explained it to him anyway. Donatello had tried to weigh in too. Michelangelo supposed they were right; it sounded logical enough, anyway. But he wished it would stop. Especially when it happened in the middle of the night and he couldn't really call and check on Baxter to satisfy himself again that yes, his friend truly was still alright.

After a while of staring blankly at the wall, he got up and headed for the living room. It would take a while to get sleepy again; watching some television would be a good option until then.

He wasn't in the mood for his usual creature features, though. He hadn't been since this had happened. All the destruction made him think too much about the near-calamity. Maybe he would play a video game instead.

Five minutes later, he had lost lives in several stupid ways and Game Over flashed on the screen. He scowled in frustration. "Aww man. . . ." His heart just wasn't in it tonight. He couldn't concentrate.

He pulled the Turtle-Comm out from his belt and stared at it. It was no use. He had to talk to Baxter, to just make sure he was okay. Baxter was pretty good at going back to sleep after getting woke up. . . . After glancing around to make sure he hadn't yet woke anyone else up, he quietly pressed the button to call Baxter.

He was surprised when Baxter immediately answered and didn't look like he'd been roused from a deep sleep. "Hello, Michelangelo." Alive, well, and smiling that familiar, kind smile Michelangelo had come to know so well. . . .

"Hey, Baxter," Michelangelo blinked. "Uh . . . didn't I wake you up?"

"No," Baxter answered. "I've been awake for a while."

"Oh. Are you . . . working on something?" Michelangelo asked.

"I wish," Baxter said wryly. "No, I just haven't been able to go back to sleep."

"Like, how come, Dude?" Michelangelo frowned.

Baxter sighed. "I guess part of me is afraid I'll wake up dead. I know it sounds ridiculous, but . . ."

"It's not ridiculous at all!" Michelangelo retorted. "Heck, I keep having dreams where you're . . . you know, the 'D' word and I'm missing you so bad I'm out there talking to you every night. . . ."

Baxter looked both sad and touched at that. "Shredder certainly did a number on us, didn't he."

"He sure did." Michelangelo's eyes flashed. "And the next time we see him, I'm sure gonna give him a piece of my mind!"

"Just don't lose yourself and attack out of blind fury," Baxter said in concern.

"I know," Michelangelo said. "That's when ol' Shred-Head really might win. We all wanna make sure he knows that pulling a mondo bogus stunt like that is totally uncool, though."

"And I'm sure you'll let him know in a way that will get the point across," Baxter chuckled.

"For sure, Dude," Michelangelo said.

Baxter hesitated. "How are the others getting by?"

"I think the rest of them have all moved past it," Michelangelo said. "Good for them. I just wish it was so easy for us."

A nod. "In time, hopefully. When Barney came back alive, for a while I had nightmares of him really being dead and his return being a dream."

"Maximum bummer," Michelangelo said. "But at least you could always wake up and know he was really okay."

"Yes," Baxter smiled. "Especially when I could check on him right then to reassure myself."

"Like I did with you," Michelangelo said. "Hey, are you at Barney's place tonight?"

"I am," Baxter nodded. "He invites me to stay over a great deal of the time. When he doesn't, Vincent does." He chuckled, but sobered as he added, "I'm sure that won't happen as much once Barney starts teaching, however. Then he'll probably want to just relax at home with Vincent and no guests. So I'm enjoying this while I can."

Michelangelo frowned. "But hey, you're family. It's not like you're really a guest!"

"Our relationship is still very new, Michelangelo," Baxter said. "We're certainly nowhere near the level of your family's closeness. I still don't think it ever will reach that level."

"I bet it can," Michelangelo insisted. "Just look how far you've come when you never thought you'd get this far!"

"That's true," Baxter consented. "I guess there's no telling what the future might bring."

"Right on!" Michelangelo grinned. He hesitated. "Hey, have your parents ever got in touch with you since Barney came back?"

Baxter sighed. "No. I don't know what to think and Barney is torn. He says he'd rather not deal with them anyway, and I know he hasn't wanted to for years, but I'm afraid that deep down, he's hurt."

"I'm sure he is. But like, why wouldn't at least your mom say something?" Michelangelo wondered.

"I don't know. I wonder if she really is embarrassed that she put so much publicity into building Barney up as a dead hero and now he's a live one." Baxter slumped against the pillows.

"That would be totally bogus!" Michelangelo objected. "She should be overjoyed that he's alive and well!"

"Our family has never been the slightest bit normal, Michelangelo," Baxter said with a sad smile.

"Well, I can't believe she doesn't care," Michelangelo said. "And I can't believe your dad doesn't care either."

"If they care, they have strange ways of showing it," Baxter said. "It's also possible they've heard about Vincent and aren't happy about him either."

"Hey, he's a 500-year-old alien computer with heart and soul and a body made of solid energy," Michelangelo said. "What's not to like?"

"They would only see him as a computer, Michelangelo," Baxter said softly. "They would never understand how much Barney and I love him."

"Yeah, I guess you're probably right," Michelangelo conceded. "It took Raphael a while to deal with that and he's mondo more reasonable than your parents."

Baxter nodded. "Oh, and I wouldn't call Vincent 500 years old if I were you," he said in a bit of amusement. "He's not quite that old yet."

"Are computers sensitive about age like people are?" Michelangelo wondered.

"This computer is," Baxter replied. "And like all computers, he likes things to be exact and precise."

"He sure doesn't act that old," Michelangelo said. "He acts more like he's 20. Maybe 30."

"It's all in one's mental attitude," Baxter said.

"Yeah, I guess that's right. Well, I hope I will always be 15 in my mind!" Michelangelo chirped.

"I won't be surprised if you will be," Baxter said with a sincere smile.

Michelangelo tried to stifle a yawn, but couldn't. "Looks like this dude is finally getting sleepy," he said apologetically.

"That's good," Baxter said. "Yes, Michelangelo, you should try to get some sleep."

"I hope you can too, Baxter," Michelangelo said.

"I think I can," Baxter said.

They said Goodnight and hung up.

Baxter set the Turtle-Comm on the nightstand and switched off the light before sinking down into the bed. He did feel sleepy again now, and as he pulled the pillow to him and dozed, what seemed to be a long-locked memory came back to him-a memory of when he and Vincent had been thrust into the dimensional limbo after the failed takeover of Channel 6.

"Trapped again!" Baxter wailed. "And now you, look at you! Those Turtles, those rotten Turtles! They hurt you!" He flew down to a rock and sat there, staring in heartbroken horror at the motherboard of the alien computer.

"I'm still alive, Baxter. I'll be alright. Maybe someday we'll find another computer to put me into."

Baxter sniffled. "But you had a body and everything. . . ." He ran his hand over the motherboard. "Now you don't even have a computer! You can't see. . . ."

"I can hear you, and I can feel. You're holding me now. It's nice."

"Are you in pain?"

"I was at the time. I'm not now."

Baxter laid on his side, the motherboard in his hand. "What was it like to have a body when you'd never had it before?"

"I loved it. I could move . . . I could express myself more fully. . . . Centuries of watching other beings express themselves through gestures led to my picking it up, at least in my mind. I always wondered what it would be like to move, to have hands and feet, to get my feelings across through more than just facial expressions. . . ."

"I want you to have that again someday," Baxter said. "If we can figure out how."

"Thank you, old buddy."

"If I had my right mind back, I could probably build you a solid energy generator. Or Barney could."

"Your brother?"

"Yes. He minored in electrical science. Only he'd never do anything to help us. He hates me."

"He's no good, Baxter. He never showed you the love you deserved."

"Yeah. But he's still my brother and I love him."

"He's so ungrateful. He had the best brother anyone could ask for."

Baxter smiled a bit. "You mean that?"

"Of course."

The rock floated on and Baxter's wings drooped. "It's so lonely here," he whispered.

"But you'll never be alone as long as you have me."

"I know." Tears slipped from Baxter's eyes. "The fly's always here too. It gets stronger every day. What do I do?! How do I fight it?! I can't fight it!" He sobbed.

"Alright, Baxter. Calm down. I'll help you."

"How?! You can't make the fly go away! You can't even find out how to do it!"

"I know. I can only talk you through this. I know it isn't much. . . ."

"It's more than anyone else ever did for me!"

A hesitation. "When I watched your Earth television shows, I saw people in love with each other showing their love. They would kiss or hug. I saw families hugging too. You told me you never had love like that."

"No, never," Baxter said. "Barney didn't either. He grew up uncomfortable with it. But I wanted it. . . ."

"Can . . . friends show their love that way too?"

"Yes," Baxter said.

"Then imagine in your mind that I'm embracing you. I would, if I still had a body right now."

"You would?" Baxter sounded childlike now. He did at times.

"I promise you I would."

Baxter started to relax. "It feels nice," he whispered. "So very nice. . . ."

"Yes. It does. Maybe someday, I will hold you in reality and not just in our minds."

"I hope so," Baxter said softly.

He was at peace for the moment. His wings lightly twitched as he hugged the motherboard close to his heart.

Baxter smiled to himself as he continued to doze. It had been a horrible time in his life, but Vincent had brightened it in so many ways. He still felt guilty that upon his return to sanity, he had questioned whether Vincent had really been as he had remembered. It was logical to wonder, given how shattered his mind had been, but he still felt bad to have doubted his friend.

What made him feel even worse was remembering saying that "no one" had been there for him. Maybe he had really meant no one who could have helped him get human again, but that wasn't the impression he had given. The longer he was sane, the more memories trickled back to him of how Vincent had tried to help him in whatever ways he could. Spending time with Vincent during those horrible days when Barney had been missing had especially brought them on. Baxter had wondered if it would be awkward to be alone with Vincent when their situations were so different than before, but instead it had felt so familiar, so peaceful, so . . . good.

He was no longer the insane, childish creature he had been when they had first met. Yet still he craved the physical affection that he had lacked most of his life, and he loved that Vincent had been able to deliver that of late. Vincent had kept his word and had been there when Baxter needed a hug or to be calmed down or otherwise encouraged. Of course, so were all of his dear friends, and he was so grateful for every one of them. But sometimes, as Michelangelo had surmised, he was still the most comfortable around the one who had known him the longest.

The door opened almost noiselessly. Vincent looked in on him, wanting to satisfy himself that Baxter was alive and well despite knowing that was illogical. He slipped into the room, gently pulling up the sagging quilt.

"Thank you," Baxter mumbled.

Vincent laid a hand on Baxter's shoulder. "Sleep well, old pal."

He stepped back, surveying Baxter's rest. Baxter was lying on his side, clearly breathing. There was none of the horror from the other day, when they had all believed Baxter had unwillingly left them.

It was strange how so many things in people's lives ended up so different than they had thought on so many levels. He had believed that he would live out his existence traveling the dimensions, as all the other computers of his make and model had done. Instead, he had crashed on Earth after 183 years of such traveling and had lived in loneliness and sorrow for 300 years. But it had all been worth it to meet Baxter and Barney. He loved them and couldn't imagine ever leaving Earth now. He prayed he would never have to.

xxxx

The following day, the Turtles met with April, Baxter, Barney, and Vincent at lunchtime to enjoy a pleasant meal at the pizza parlor near Channel 6. They were just finishing when Michelangelo glanced out the window and stiffened in alarm. "Whoa, Dudes, it's Shred-Head!"

"Oh yeah?" Raphael leaped up, drawing his sais. "Then this means war!"

"Wait, Raphael!" Leonardo cautioned. "Don't do anything rash!"

"We all want to give him a piece of our minds, right?" Raphael headed for the door. "Anyway, we have to find out what he's up to!"

"I can't argue with that logic," Leonardo conceded.

Barney's eyes were dark. "There's a lot of things I want to say to him too," he growled, pushing back from the table. "But don't film it, Miss O'Neil. I doubt if it's suitable for television."

"Don't worry!" April slammed her napkin down and also got up. "I'll be talking to him myself!"

Baxter stared at all of them in worried amazement. They were all upset because they cared about him. Of course, Baxter was angry too. Shredder had made all of his loved ones suffer. He stood in determination.

"We'll just have to be careful he doesn't do anything else to us," Vincent said. "Obviously he's come up for a reason."

And indeed Shredder had. But he stopped and looked at the emerging group with a sneer. "Well, it's the Turtles and their group of friends," he mocked. "Even Baxter Stockman. He's alive? Why, it's a true miracle."

"Don't give us that, Tin Face!" Raphael snarled. "We know what you did!"

"Baxter could have ended up in the morgue because of you!" April cried. "He could have even been buried alive!"

"And such a pity he wasn't," Shredder retorted.

Barney's eyes flashed. "I ought to . . ."

Baxter stepped in front of him. "You made everyone here suffer," he said coldly. "And others as well."

"How touching that you have so many who care about you, Baxter," Shredder said, but now there was a note of uncertainty in his voice. The group was starting to spread out and surround him from all sides, and all of them were clearly furious. "If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't even aiming at you. You just foolishly got in the way of my true plan."

"That doesn't make any of us feel any better, Dude," Michelangelo snapped. "Trying to zap any of us with that bogus ray just to cause people pain is not a plan!"

"The only reason we're not trying to split your head open right now is because Baxter's not dead," Raphael said through gritted teeth.

"But that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to have a little fun with you regardless." Vincent held up a hand crackling with electricity. "Obviously you're up to no good anyway, so we do have to stop you."

"Right here in the street?" Shredder hedged. "It will make such a scene."

"That's never stopped us before!" Raphael lunged.

Bebop and Rocksteady ran out from a nearby alley. "It's never stopped us, neither," Rocksteady declared.

"I was wondering where you two goons were," Michelangelo said.

Bebop ducked Michelangelo's flying nunchucks and blasted at him. "Right here waiting for our cue," he said.

"Then this was a set-up?!" Leonardo was angry.

"Of course it was!" Shredder said. He somersaulted away from him and drew his sword.

He didn't realize he had somersaulted right in front of Vincent. The computer reached out, sending electricity through the sword. Shredder dropped it with a scream.

"We're not going to be set up again," Barney snarled. "And you are not going to have another chance to harm Baxter."

"Krang was real mad about what the boss did," Bebop said to him. "He wasn't supposed to use that ray on you guys at all, unless you stopped him from what he was really supposed to be doing with it."

"Silence!" Shredder snapped, rubbing his sore hand.

Barney raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling me this?"

Bebop looked away. "I wanted to tell you something," he mumbled. "I should've let you know in the first place that Baxter wasn't dead."

Barney was admittedly surprised. But before he had a chance to reply, April exclaimed in alarm.

"What's that?!"

Everyone looked to where she was pointing into the sky. What seemed to be an enormous structure shaped like a Mayan pyramid was descending into the street.

Baxter gasped, stepping closer to Vincent. "That looks like your spaceship!" he exclaimed.

Vincent protectively laid his hands on Baxter's shoulders. "It's from my planet," he said in disbelief. "I recognize the symbols."

Barney moved over to them. "What's it doing here?" He sounded and looked tense. "Could someone have finally returned to find out the status of your ship and take you back?"

"No," Vincent said. "I was able to send one communication to my homeworld after the crash. They knew the crew was dead and dying and I wasn't worth the bother for them to return for me. They said they could always make more like me."

"That's horrible!" Baxter cried in outrage.

"But we have to be grateful they didn't take him," Barney said. "We wouldn't have met him otherwise." Still, his eyes were filled with anger as well.

April had whipped out her mini-camera and was busy filming the descent of the spacecraft. "This is incredible!" she breathed. "Mr. Thompson will have to be excited about this!"

"So am I," Shredder's eyes glinted.

"Uh, I dunno, Boss," Bebop said in concern. "What if there's another computer inside like Barney's?"

"No computer could be as obnoxious as Barney's!" Shredder retorted.

Raphael sidled up to Leonardo. "So what do you think is going to come out of there?"

Leonardo gripped his katanas. "I don't know," he said, "but I'm afraid it won't be anything good."

"My planet wasn't looking to conquer any other planets," Vincent said defensively. "They were just explorers."

"They had mutation guns!" Raphael cried. "What the heck were those for if they were on a peaceful mission?!"

"It was their method of defense against enemies," Vincent said. "And their method of taking revenge on those who wronged them."

"Yeah? I wonder if they really told you everything, HAL," Raphael snapped.

Vincent flinched but didn't comment. This wasn't the time to get into that.

"That was 300 years ago," Donatello pointed out. "Maybe they've changed."

"Yeah, well, maybe not, Dude," Michelangelo retorted.

The ship landed and the door opened, while everyone stood tensely by. But when a familiar figure garbed in purple and black emerged from inside, the villains especially reacted in horror.

"Mama!" Bebop shrieked, leaping into Rocksteady's arms.

"Hey! I wanted to do the jumping!" Rocksteady exclaimed. "Better yet, let's get out of here!"

"Oh no!" Shredder cried. "It can't be!"

"Yes," came a mechanical voice familiar to most of the gathered group. "I have returned from the dimensional exile into which you thrust me."

"Alpha-1!" Rocksteady wailed.

"Oh great. Just what we needed," Raphael exclaimed in frustration. "The wacko rebel Foot Soldier that wanted to send everybody into Dimension X!"

"How did he gain enough sentience for that?!" Barney demanded. His expression was a mixture of alarm and fascination.

"You know, I don't think we ever even heard the story," Raphael remarked.

"Probably a plan of ol' Shred-Head's that backfired," Michelangelo added.

Vincent stepped forward. "What are you doing with that ship?" he demanded.

Alpha-1 looked to him. "You are the missing unit Z that crashlanded on this planet three centuries ago," he greeted.

"How do you know that?" Barney retorted. "Does he look like Z?" He folded his arms.

"From the face, yes," Alpha-1 replied. "The voice is deeper than what Z was supposed to sound like."

A new voice spoke up, filled with disgust and contempt. "He has completely turned against the purpose for which he was created! Look at this monstrosity!"

"Uh . . . who said that?" Michelangelo looked around in bewilderment.

"I don't know, but I already don't like him!" Raphael spat.

April looked to him in surprise. "You're standing up for Vincent, Raphael?"

"Hey, everything in its proper place," Raphael retorted. "He didn't deserve that!"

Baxter looked over with a touched smile before turning back to the new threat. Alpha-1 was holding up a small portable computer. On the screen was an angry red face with deep, fiery eyes. "Is that who spoke?" he asked. Just looking at it sent a chill up his spine.

"I am X," the red face intoned. "In English, my name translates to Maximillian-1979."

"Vincent and Maximillian," Raphael repeated. "Are you kidding me?!"

"I am an upgrade of the old units such as Z." Maximillian sneered at Vincent. "We don't use such units anymore. They're far too unstable and unreliable. I never saw one this bad off before. He's made up of a portable Earth computer and an energy-generated body that resembles a human male's? Not to mention he's actually wearing clothes?!"

"He's never been unstable or unreliable," Baxter snapped. "And your planet abandoned him when he radioed for help! What do you care what he does now?"

"I don't," Maximillian retorted. "My pilot has a proposition for him."

"Pilot?!" Shredder looked to Alpha-1. "You?!"

"Yes," Alpha-1 replied. "When the organic lifeforms of this planet used my dimensional displacement device on me, I was sent to the dimension from which your . . . primitive friend hails. Then I commandeered this spaceship and its highly capable computer."

"That thing is not my friend!" Shredder snarled. "It's been a bother from the first time I became aware of its existence!"

"And he is not primitive!" Baxter spat, stalking forward to Alpha-1.

"Baxter, Bud, you'd better get back," Michelangelo exclaimed in alarm.

Alpha-1 regarded him in boredom. "Naturally to you he is highly advanced. But to his own civilization, he is obsolete. Out of my way, little man." He started to walk around Baxter.

Vincent met him head-on. "You offered me a proposition," he said coolly. "What is it?"

"Join with us in our takeover of Earth," Alpha-1 replied. "You have knowledge of this planet and its people that we are lacking. You would be an asset to our team."

"What?!" Raphael clutched his sais. Fear flashed through his eyes. Vincent had tried to take over Channel 6 in the past. He wanted computers to rule the world. This was an offer he might not pass up.

Barney just regarded Alpha-1 in annoyance. "You and your associate both insult him and then you expect him to join forces with you?"

"We are all logical beings," Alpha-1 said. "He knows the most logical path, the one that is now open to him."

Vincent folded his arms. "Sorry, no sale."

Maximillian looked outraged. "You take up with the humans and now you won't rejoin your own kind?!"

"And just who is my 'kind'?!" Vincent shot back. "My planet abandoned me. They went on without me and developed the likes of you. I had to make a new life for myself. And I like it much better than the life I had onboard that spaceship."

"You were created to be a ship's computer!" Maximillian snapped. "That was your purpose! Even if you were abandoned, you were supposed to stay loyal to your planet. If they ever wanted you back, you were to come running without question!"

"I was created to have free thought," Vincent insisted. "I am no longer a ship's computer. I am something else. Something more."

Now Maximillian trembled, his red eyes so filled with fire he looked ready to burn through the portable computer. "Nothing could be 'more' than your intended purpose!"

"For that matter, my intended purpose was to serve as a lowly Foot Soldier," Alpha-1 remarked. "But then I developed enough intelligence to know that I should rule over every pathetic organic lifeform instead of allowing them to use me!"

"Can't we just talk about this peaceably?" Shredder interjected. "I'm still willing to give you New Jersey."

"Why is he always trying to palm off New Jersey?" Raphael rolled his eyes.

"I want to know something," Baxter spoke again. "Maximillian, your culture isn't supposed to be made up of conquerers. Why are you working with this Foot Soldier?"

Maximillian's eyes darted from side to side. "That isn't relevant."

"Oh no?" Raphael stepped forward. "I'm thinking Baxter's got something here. Why are you working with this bucket of bolts? It doesn't look like you even agree on your goals."

"Nevermind!" Alpha-1 snarled. He looked back to Vincent. "Have you given us your final answer?"

"Yes," Vincent insisted. "I am a citizen of Earth now. More importantly, I am a friend to some of those you see here. If you try to harm them, I will fight you to the death."

"You're an old man," Maximillian said in disgust. "You're nothing like the Z I heard tales about all my life, the one who traveled the dimensions for years until he crashed on Earth and heroically resigned himself to a life of solitude."

Vincent's eyes flashed and he stalked forward, ignoring Baxter's alarmed protests. "And you're nothing but an upstart poser!" he snapped, poking the portable computer with a finger. "I'm warning you, if you do anything to hurt these people, you will regret it."

"Vincent, get back!" Baxter pleaded.

Alpha-1 sounded equally disgusted when he spoke again. "You will die with them. You're a traitor to technology everywhere." He whipped out a strange gun and fired point-blank into Vincent's chest.

Baxter screamed. Vincent flew backwards, crashing into him as well as Raphael. Barney ran over, horror and anger in his eyes.

Michelangelo snapped. "And that was really uncalled-for!" He leaped in front of Alpha-1, twirling both nunchucks above his head.

"Michelangelo, no!" Raphael yelled.

Alpha-1 pressed a button and the weapon glanced harmlessly off a force field. "I have new technology at my command," he said. "I am returning now to the ship. You will not be able to penetrate. Within six hours, this planet's doom will be sealed."

"How so?" Leonardo demanded. "What are you going to do?!"

"You will find out." Alpha-1 started to walk back towards the ship.

Michelangelo ran after him. "Not acceptable, Dude!" he snarled. "You hurt my bud. You're not gonna take out this planet!"

Alpha-1 didn't even bother to turn around. "This time, there is nothing you can do to stop me." He entered the ship and the door slammed shut.

"Come back here, you wretched traitor!" Shredder roared.

Michelangelo ran up to the ship's doors and pounded on them with both his body and the nunchucks, all to no avail. But still he wasn't ready to give up. "Let me in!" he yelled, throwing himself against the doors. He bounced off and crashed to the ground with a yelp.

"Michelangelo!" Baxter exclaimed. "Please stop. It won't do any good if you end up hurt too!"

Michelangelo rolled over and started to push himself up, breathing heavily. "But . . . Vincent . . ."

"I'm . . . alright." Vincent didn't sound alright. But at least he was speaking.

Michelangelo got up, hurrying over to him and the others. "What did he hit you with, Dude?" he asked.

Donatello was already there, examining Vincent as Baxter and Barney supported him. "It looks like it was some kind of stun ray," he said. He touched the spot where Alpha-1 had blasted. Vincent flinched. "At least it didn't have paralyzing properties. . . ."

"He said Vincent would die with us," Barney said darkly. "Whatever he's going to do, it will happen in six hours."

"Well, I'm not sticking around here to experience it firsthand." Shredder turned and ran. "Bebop! Rocksteady! We have to confer with Krang at once!"

"Maybe we should just use the dimensional portal and go somewhere else," Rocksteady gulped as he and Bebop followed.

"Krang will never leave the Technodrome," Shredder shot back.

"It don't look like we have much choice," Bebop said. "Hey, if the world's gonna be destroyed, I've gotta get my mom out of here somehow. . . ."

Shredder opened the door to the transport module. "There has to be a way to stop those maniacs! Now come on!"

Finally Bebop and Rocksteady climbed into the module. Shredder leaped in and slammed the door after them. The vehicle burrowed underground, spraying asphalt everywhere.

"This is awful!" April cried. "The last time Alpha-1 was here, he just wanted to send everyone away! Now it sounds like he's got far worse plans!"

"And we've gotta find a way to stop him!" Raphael glared daggers at the alien fortress.

"There's . . . only one way." Vincent held a hand to his chest, visibly sore from the blast. "Somehow we have to send that ship away from here."

"Oh, is that all?" Raphael said lightly. "And I thought this was going to be difficult!"

Baxter looked to Vincent. "What are you thinking?"

"I still have all the data for the old ship," Vincent said. "If I can adjust it for this new model, I may be able to hack into it."

Barney frowned. He didn't like it. "And?"

"If I can reset its coordinates and activate the pan-dimensional warp drive, we can blast it back into space."

"Vincent." Baxter held onto his friend. "What aren't you telling us?"

"Naturally Maximillian will try to stop me," Vincent said. "If he is so much newer and more powerful, he . . . may succeed in overriding my attempts. If he feels particularly malicious, he may then hack into my system and do untold damage."

"Leaving us to deal with a tripped-out computer again?" Raphael frowned. "No way!"

"Why can't we use Donatello's portal to get in and manually reset the doohickey?" Michelangelo suggested.

"Oh right, like it would last long enough!" Donatello exclaimed. "It would probably take all six hours just to get it running again!"

Barney scowled. "I don't believe that newer computer could overpower Vincent."

Leonardo nodded. "As Master Splinter would say, with age comes experience. And wisdom."

"Yeah!" Michelangelo chimed in. "Vincent's smarter than that red computer any day."

Baxter didn't look convinced. "But Vincent's just been hurt," he protested. "He won't be at his full strength."

"Oh, I can solve that easily enough." Vincent straightened. "I can just take a small amount of energy from another source to quickly heal the damage."

Baxter reached into his pocket. "Will my phone be enough?"

"Maybe," Vincent said slowly. "But it would probably take your battery power to zero, Pal."

"That doesn't matter," Baxter retorted. "Here." He held out his phone.

Vincent touched it, absorbing its energy. The sore mark on his chest faded. "I'm feeling better," he said in relief. "Thanks, old pal."

Baxter smiled. "Anything I can do to help."

"Well, that was convenient," Raphael said. "But why do I have the feeling this isn't gonna be as simple as just hacking into the ship?"

"What would probably work better would be if I hacked in, got the doors open, and you Turtles went inside and manually reset the coordinates while I provided a distraction," Vincent said. "If I made things go haywire all over the ship, Maximillian might not have the chance to stop you."

"It's risky, but I think we should try it," Leonardo said.

"Vincent . . ." Baxter hugged his friend. "I know you can do it, but I'm still worried. We don't know what Alpha-1 is planning or how powerful this new computer model is."

"That's true," Donatello mused. "Maybe instead of just blasting the ship off into space, we need to find out what their plan is and dismantle it if we can. We don't want them trying it on whatever dimension they end up in when we send them away."

"That's a good point," Leonardo agreed. "And all the more reason why we'll need to actually board the ship."

"I'm not staying behind!" April declared. "You couldn't keep me away from a story like this!"

"And I will need to be present to guide you around the ship . . . assuming it's similar enough to mine that I can recognize the layout," Vincent said.

"And we won't stay away," Baxter said firmly.

Barney nodded. "Where Vincent goes, we go." And of course he knew that Baxter would want to help the Turtles regardless. Not that he didn't, but in other circumstances he might feel that they would work just as well or better without his presence.

"Yeah, I figured on that," Raphael grunted. "Alright, let's get going." He started towards the spacecraft towering above them. "It's your move, HAL."

Vincent gave him a cold look as he and the others followed. "My name is Vincent."

"Hey, it's just a joke," Raphael shrugged.

"In poor taste." Vincent started typing on the laptop keyboard. "I know who HAL is now, and I don't appreciate being compared to him."

"You've acted like him sometimes," Raphael retorted.

"Raphael, you're just making things worse," Leonardo scolded. "Vincent doesn't like the joke and he has a perfect right not to. Let it go."

"Okay, okay!" Raphael snapped. "Overly sensitive mass of circuitry," he added under his breath.

"I heard that," Vincent said. He pressed another button and the doors opened. "Hurry! They won't stay open for long. I'll cause a disturbance in the galley for Maximillian to worry about."

"No Turtle Soup this time, right?" Raphael remarked as they ran inside.

"I'm just going to have the robots run wild," Vincent replied.

The doors banged shut just as they all made it inside. "You're all very daring, aren't you," Maximillian growled. His red face began to appear on every computer screen in sight. Well, I'm going to make sure you never find what you want."

A panel opened and several circular buzz saws on long metal arms emerged.

Leonardo sliced through most of them with his katanas. "Sorry, Maximillian," he retorted. "You're not going to make Turtle Ka-Bobs today."

Raphael stabbed the remainder with his sais. "You ship computers are all alike."

Baxter flinched. "Vincent did something like that once, didn't he?"

"You could say that," Raphael said. "Of course, to get technical about it, he was protecting you, but . . ."

"Foolish organic lifeforms!" Now it was Alpha-1's voice coming over the loudspeaker. "Now you're all trapped in our fortress with no way out."

"Don't tell me this was your plan all along!" Raphael cried.

"No, but we'll make the best of it," Alpha-1 replied. "And you will regret ever coming in!"

"Give it up, old man," Maximillian taunted. "This isn't your ship; it's different. I am young and fresh. You won't last long against me if you continue trying to hack into my system!"

Baxter grabbed his friend's wrist. "Vincent . . . !"

Barney looked around with narrowed eyes. "Do you mean you're actually going to kill him?"

The lights on all the nearby computer consoles began to flash rapidly. "I just mean he doesn't have the stamina to fight me," Maximillian replied.

"That's not true!" Baxter spat. "He's come through things completely sane where you probably would have blown a circuit if it had been you! The reason why he's no longer a ship's computer is because the ship was destroyed thanks to my stupidity! He had to adapt over and over to new forms because of that!"

"Baxter . . ." Vincent frowned. "It wasn't your fault, Pal."

"Then whose fault was it?!" Baxter retorted. "I was out of my mind, yes, but I still caused it!"

"Well, it's nice to hear someone take the blame instead of throwing it on us for once," Raphael remarked.

"If it was your fault, Z should have turned against you for destroying his purpose," Maximillian insisted.

"We were both to blame," Vincent said evenly. "And we're wasting time."

"Very well." Maximillian sounded cold. "Keep on with your foolishness, if you wish. But you will lose!"

Baxter looked to Vincent as they resumed their journey down the lighted corridor. "Vincent . . . do you regret that you're not still a ship's computer?"

Vincent frowned. "I've never been happier than in the last couple of months," he said. "I have you and Barney. And now I can freely move. I would never want to go back to my past existence. I was trapped on the ship."

Baxter smiled. "That's how I thought you felt, but I wanted to be sure."

"Treasonous traitor!" Maximillian snarled.

"You might as well be an organic lifeform," Alpha-1 added. "You love them so much."

"You know, why are you so determined to conquer Earth anyway?" Leonardo wondered. "There must be plenty of uninhabited planets where you could make your home."

"It's far more satisfying and mentally stimulating to take over a planet that has already been colonized instead of starting from the bottom up," Alpha-1 answered.

"Yeah, you know what?" Raphael waved his sais around. "That makes you sound really lazy, Metal Brain! You probably just don't want to do any hard labor!"

A laser beam flashed near him and he had to leap back.

"Come on, Raphael, why do you always have to make them mad?!" Michelangelo exclaimed.

"We will see who is lazy and who is not," Alpha-1 replied. "You have less than five and one-half hours now."

"And we still don't even know what they're planning!" Leonardo moaned.

"Then we'll keep looking," Barney retorted.

"It might not even be on the ship," Baxter frowned.

"No, but it's pretty likely," Raphael said. "They came back here and acted like they were going to hole up in here until it was time."

"I don't suppose there's anything on these ships that could be used for mass levels of destruction," Donatello asked Vincent.

"No," Vincent frowned. "Not unless you . . . no, that couldn't be."

"What?!" Raphael demanded.

"The ship itself could be rewired to explode," Vincent said in concern. "Such a blast would cause enormous carnage and devastation."

"Oh, but Alpha-1 wouldn't do that," Raphael said in a mocking tone of voice. "And blow up his new buddy too?"

"It's not his style," Leonardo said. "He wants to get rid of the 'organic lifeforms,' but he probably wants to preserve the buildings."

"Also, I can't imagine him wanting to destroy a technological marvel like this ship," Donatello added.

"We'd better keep looking," Baxter said nervously. "They must have brought something onboard from somewhere else."

In the main control room, Alpha-1 observed on the many monitors. "Yes, keep looking," he intoned. "You'll never find it. And if you do, it will be your doom."

xxxx

Krang listened with a deep scowl as Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady recounted what had happened on the surface. At the conclusion, he turned away and faced the screen. "So basically, Alpha-1 is back and he's brought along a friend." He pressed a button and the screen showed the spaceship in the middle of the street. By now, crowds had gathered to stare at it and the police were trying to get the doors open.

"That's exactly what's happened," Shredder said. "What do we do, Krang? We can't let Alpha-1 get a foothold here! This is our planet to conquer!" He shook his fists in the air.

"As usual, I know what to do," Krang said. "Fire the ship off into space with explosives attached to it. As soon as it leaves Earth's atmosphere, it will blow up. Problem solved!"

"And exactly how would we fire it off into space without getting inside to work the controls?" Shredder scowled.

"The Turtles and their friends are probably inside the ship now," Krang pointed out. "If we can hack into Barney's computer, maybe it can do our work for us!"

"No!" Shredder cried. "I refuse to try any more to get that computer to help us! It only backfires!"

"Then the only other option is to just let it blow up in the middle of the street," Krang said. "Of course, there'd be a lot of fallout from an explosion that big, but eh, it's probably all things we'd rather blow up anyway."

"Very well." Shredder turned with a swirl of his cape. "Bebop! Rocksteady! We're going to the surface to attach the bombs to the spaceship!"

Bebop and Rocksteady exchanged uneasy looks. "Really, Boss?" Rocksteady whined. "We had plans today!"

"Nothing is more important than getting rid of Alpha-1!" Shredder boomed. "And this way, we'll get rid of the Turtles and their friends too!" He stormed into the corridor. "Help me get the explosives!"

The mutants trudged after him.

"I don't wanna do this to Barney," Bebop whispered to Rocksteady. "He's probably in there too."

"Well, what choice do we have?" Rocksteady retorted. "We sure don't want the boss to get mad at us."

"Yeah," Bebop said slowly, but he still sounded noncommittal.

xxxx

By now the group had traveled deep into the ship's middle decks. The layout was similar enough to the old ships that Vincent was able to guide them, but different enough that they had gotten lost several times.

"I'm telling you, if I see one more wrong corridor . . . !" Raphael fumed.

"They're not doing anything to us," Leonardo remarked.

"Oh gee, Leonardo, I never would have realized that if you hadn't pointed it out." Raphael's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"What I mean is, they probably leave us alone because we're nowhere near the answers," Leonardo explained.

"And this is a mondo big place, Dudes," Michelangelo said. "I don't even think we'll have gone through the whole thing when we run out of time!"

Vincent was quiet, a faraway look in his eyes as he wandered ahead. He ran his hand over a console, paused to admire a library, and gazed up at the high ceiling, even turning to walk backwards while studying it.

"Are you alright?" Baxter asked.

"Yes." Vincent spoke softly. "It's just . . . strange. I knew everything about my ship . . . every room, each nook and cranny . . . but I was never free to actually walk through it. I always wanted to. But it seemed like one of those things that could never happen. And now I'm actually doing it."

Baxter smiled.

"You were never meant to walk," Maximillian said. "You were meant to be the heart and soul of your ship forever."

"They abandoned me," Vincent retorted. "Why should I continue doing what they wanted me to? Anyway, the ship fell apart. I didn't have much choice but to adjust to something else."

"I still want to know why you're helping Alpha-1," Barney said. "If Vincent's people are not conquerors, why would they let Alpha-1 take one of their ships? And if he did it without their permission, why do you go along with it?"

"It doesn't matter," Maximillian growled.

"Uh, considering our planet is going to be destroyed in several hours, I'd say it matters a whole lot," Donatello said.

"The planet won't be destroyed," Maximillian objected. "All organic matter will just be displaced at the same time."

"All over the world?" Raphael looked highly disturbed.

"Like, he sounded like he was gonna kill everybody!" Michelangelo exclaimed.

"When everyone is displaced at the same time, there is the possibility that there will be an explosion in space," Alpha-1 chimed in. "Many may die. That is not my concern."

"Bogus, Dude," Michelangelo spat. "It's everybody's concern!"

"Aren't you concerned that the explosion might tear into the space-time continuum?" Donatello frowned.

"I have already calculated, and if everyone is displaced to a black hole, it is highly unlikely," said Alpha-1.

Everyone stared at each other in horror. Even Barney could not conceal his alarm.

Raphael tapped the computer console with a sai. "You hear that?" he snapped. "Did you really sign up for this?!"

"I . . ." Maximillian looked and sounded confused. "He told me he wanted to conquer the Earth, and that he planned to move all organic matter somewhere else. He didn't tell me anyone would die." A pause, then a rougher voice. "No matter. He is the pilot. I must obey him."

"Aren't you supposed to be equals in his little plot?" Vincent frowned.

"That was the impression I got," Leonardo said.

"Of course we're equals!" Alpha-1 sounded angry now.

"Then why did you lie to him?" Baxter demanded, folding his arms.

"I just wanted to be sure of his loyalty before I revealed everything," Alpha-1 insisted.

Now Maximillian's eyes burned. "You doubted my loyalty?! That's all I am-loyalty!"

"You know, I think you've been giving your loyalty to the wrong people," Raphael said. "And robots."

"You are a logical being, just as I am," Alpha-1 intoned. "Surely you understand the necessity of taking precautions before embarking on a new venture."

A door slammed somewhere on the ship.

"There," said Maximillian. "I have just taken a precaution."

"Oh great. What did you go and do?" Raphael gripped his sais, looking tensely around the room.

"I am having some of the cleaning robots move Alpha-1's device somewhere else on the ship," Maximillian replied.

"What is this treason?!" Alpha-1 snarled.

"I decided I'm not sure what I think of you," Maximillian retorted. "You'll have to look for it the same as these others. And if they find it first, I'm going to let them have it."

"So now we're literally racing against Alpha-1?!" April moaned. "Oh no!"

"Maximillian, why don't you just let us have it now?" Vincent asked.

"You'll look for it," Maximillian snapped. "No special privileges, old man."

"I'm not old!" Vincent cried in frustration. "I've known of units older than I am."

"So have I. But when they get to be your age, they've long since retired. You've found a way to stay young and vibrant."

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Vincent retorted.

"You have less than five hours!" Maximillian shot back. "Start looking!"

"You will regret this," Alpha-1 snarled.

"I don't think so," Maximillian said, his voice dark. He winked off the screens around the group.

"Mondo disaster!" Michelangelo cried. "Now what are we gonna do?!"

"Under ordinary circumstances I'd say we should split up," Leonardo frowned, "but we need Vincent to guide us. We have to stick together."

"Then we'll just have to keep on with what we were already doing," Baxter said.

"We should go towards the sound of that door," Barney said.

"Which is what Alpha-1 is doing, I'm sure," Raphael sighed.

"It's probably a red herring," Donatello said. "But you're right; it's our only lead. If we can just figure out what direction the sound came from. . . ."

"Over there." Vincent pointed to the left. "Remember, my hearing is exceptional."

"Good for you," Raphael grunted.

They hurried down the hallway. The lights on the walls blinked all around them, but Maximillian remained quiet now.

"Hey, Vincent," April randomly asked after a while. "Are there any female computers?"

"Oh sure," Vincent told her. "I never met one, but I know some were made."

"Did they get to have fun too? Or were they just regulated to desk jobs?" April wondered.

"One of the most famous and well-traveled ships had a female computer," Vincent said. "I believe her name translated in English to Kate."

"Her ship wasn't named the Palomino, was it?" Raphael wisecracked.

"No." Vincent sounded puzzled.

"You really need to watch The Black Hole," Raphael commented.

"Barney mentioned it to me, but we haven't got around to watching it yet." Vincent glanced to Barney, who shrugged.

"Maybe when we get out of this mess," he said.

"So how many of these living computers are there altogether?" Raphael sounded uneasy.

"Considering my old planet apparently kept making them, I have absolutely no idea," Vincent answered. "The last figures I had were for 302 years ago."

"Yeah, I'd say things could have changed since then," said Raphael. He hesitated. "And what, exactly, did Maximillian mean about you being unstable?"

"Just that I and the others from my generation could sometimes disagree with the crew because of our independent thought," Vincent said. "He didn't mean we have a tendency to go berserk . . . like HAL," he added pointedly.

Raphael scowled. "I didn't really mean anything by that. . . . It's just my way of coping with a living computer, I guess. HAL's the only one of those I ever heard of."

"It's hurtful," Vincent told him. "It makes me think of when I really did malfunction thanks to Krang and started attacking everyone, even those I love. It's the most painful memory I have. I think about it enough without any assistance. If you had ever had such an experience, would you want to be constantly reminded of it by thoughtless and mocking remarks?"

That brought a sigh of resignation. "I'm sorry, okay? I won't call you that again." Raphael looked embarrassed and awkward.

"Thank you." Vincent walked on, seeming happier.

Baxter was as well. He knew it was hard for Raphael and Vincent to get along, but he dearly hoped that they would find a way. This was a step.

"There's something else that's been worrying me," Leonardo said. "How in the world would any machine transport everyone on the entire planet at once?!"

"They'd need a really incredible way to boost the signal, unless it was strong enough all on its own," April said. "And that's unlikely." Her eyes widened. "What if Alpha-1 plans to transmit the signal from Channel 6?!"

"I doubt any television station would have that kind of power," Barney grunted. "A space satellite would seem a more feasible solution."

"This ship should have the proper transmitting equipment all on its own," Vincent said. "The previous models did, so I'm sure the current ones do as well. If anything, their signal strength should be even greater."

"And we still have to worry about Alpha-1 finding it first!" April moaned.

"You know, if this new computer is so mad at Alpha-1, why is he even giving that mechanical big brain a chance to get his displacement device back?" Raphael wondered.

"It's almost like he has a grievance against us as well," Baxter frowned. "But would he really do this just because Vincent isn't what he thought?"

"It has to do with loyalty," Vincent said. "He gave Alpha-1 his loyalty, so even though he's angry now, he's still giving Alpha-1 a chance to reclaim the device that they had initially planned to unleash together."

"Oh, and I suppose you approve?" Raphael scowled.

"Of the principle, yes. Of this particular enacting of it, no." Vincent pressed a button and a door opened, revealing an elevator up to the next deck.

"He acted like he didn't like the idea of people dying," April said as they all piled inside. "Regardless of feeling like he has to honor the arrangement, why would he risk going through with something so horrible?!"

"He's a computer, April," Raphael growled. "You can't really expect him to have the same morals as people. Or mutant Turtles."

"And why not?" Vincent countered. "He's from a different culture. That has more to do with it than being a computer."

"Would you have honored such an arrangement?" Raphael demanded. "Sending everybody flying off the face of the Earth, knowing full well a lot of them would probably die?! Heck, all of them would die in a black hole!"

The elevator reached the next level and Vincent led the way out. After pondering on their direction, he turned to the left. "No, I can't say I would have," he said. "But we also all have different personalities and perspectives. No two computers are alike any more than people or mutants are alike."

"That's really, really hard for me to understand," Raphael said. "Don't you all get the same basic programming to start out with?!"

"The only programming we get is how to run the ships and retain information," Vincent explained. "And what gender we are. We're free agents, allowed to grow and develop at our own paces. It's not much different than how a baby is born with certain basic instincts, but each one grows and develops into something completely unique."

"That is really weird." Raphael shook his head. "I mean, how does that work?! Who created you?! How would anybody have the knowledge to do something like that?!"

"It's a highly advanced culture, Raphael," Donatello chided. "It shouldn't be a surprise that they can do that."

"But that really sounds like playing God!" Raphael exclaimed.

"To be honest, no computer knows exactly how the creation process works," Vincent admitted. "There are legends that the plans for how to make us didn't come from mortals, but we don't know if that's true." He opened a door, then rocked back as a pendulum swung past. "Look out!"

Everyone hit the floor.

"Yikes!" April cried.

"Maximum bummer! I thought Maximillian wasn't gonna send out any more booby traps!" Michelangelo wailed.

"He probably will, all along the way," Barney growled.

"Well, the only consolation is that Alpha-1 is probably going through the same thing," Raphael said.

"Judging from our position on the lower deck and the volume of the sound, this room is the most likely candidate for where the door slammed," Vincent frowned. The pendulum was still now and he slowly got up, peering into the room. "But if the device was in here, it's been moved."

"So it was a red herring!" Leonardo said in dismay.

"It probably isn't anywhere in the area," Baxter sighed. "But I guess we'd better look in the nearby rooms, just in case."

April nodded. "Maximillian might decide to use reverse psychology and hide it nearby thinking we'd figure it had been taken farther away."

The sound of running footsteps brought them all to attention. Alpha-1 was coming down the corridor from the other direction. He paused, looking in the room with the pendulum and then over at his enemies. "You should all give up now," he said. "I am by far the most intelligent being on this ship. There is no way you will win."

"Hey, this contest is more about luck than skill," Raphael retorted. "We've all got an equal chance."

"If you truly believe that, then it only further shows your subpar intellect," Alpha-1 said.

Raphael clenched his teeth and waved his sais. "Try stepping a little closer and say that again, Buster!"

"Raphael!" Baxter scrambled to pull his arm back. "This isn't the time. We have more important things to think about."

Raphael scowled. "Yeah, you're right." He stuck his weapons back in his belt. "But after we're done, count on a good thrashing!"

"It is you who will be thrashed," Alpha-1 said. "If it was actually worth the effort, I would demonstrate now. But I cannot waste any time. My device must be located before the six hours are up."

"Why?" Donatello asked.

"It is useless to explain." Alpha-1 strode off, opening the next three doors down the corridor in turn.

Unseen by him, Donatello flipped a homing beacon through the air, where it attached to his clothes. Although several in their group saw it, no one commented. If Alpha-1 hadn't realized it was there, none of them wanted to alert him. Raphael and Barney smirked, however, and Baxter looked satisfied. If Alpha-1 found the device first, now they could track him to it. Hopefully, Maximillian wouldn't decide to inform him.

In spite of their small victory, Donatello was too troubled to really celebrate. "I wonder if that device is going to go off within six hours, even if it's still onboard the ship at the time."

"Then it might be confined to the ship, but it'd send all of us out of here!" Michelangelo gulped.

"Only why would that be a problem for Alpha-1?" Raphael pointed out. "We'd be gone and he could just recharge the thing to use outside without interference from us."

"What if it only works once?" Barney suggested. "Then he certainly wouldn't want it to go off where it would only take out a handful of organic matter."

Baxter's eyes widened. "Yes, that could be it!" he exclaimed. "He might not have the materials to make a second one."

"Plus, he would have to deal with me," Vincent said, his voice dark. "I wouldn't forgive him for a stunt like that."

"And I honestly wouldn't be able to blame him," Raphael said. "Especially since we'd all be toast in some black hole somewhere."

"According to what Alpha-1 said, he plans to send you with us somehow," Baxter exclaimed to Vincent. "But I can't imagine how."

"Come on!" Donatello ran ahead of the others. "We have to find that device!"

No one argued.

xxxx

When Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady approached the spot where the spaceship had landed, they discovered it was going to be next to impossible to get close enough to plant the bombs. The crowds were thick now, only barely being held back by the police, and the army was attempting to blast the doors open. The artillery merely bounced off the doors and flew back at the tank, forcing the operator to bail out.

"Gee, Alpha-1 has sure got a neat set-up," Bebop commented. "Why don't we just leave before someone sees us?"

"No! We have to attach these explosives to the spaceship!" Shredder fumed.

"Do you really think they'd even work, Boss?" Rocksteady blinked. "That was the army's biggest missile thing and it didn't even make a dent in those doors."

"Oh, you're probably right!" Shredder exclaimed in disgust. "But what else can we do?!"

Krang glowered at the scene from Shredder's comm-link. "Come back to the Technodrome," he instructed. "I'll try to tap in to the coordinates of the spaceship and teleport the explosives right inside."

Shredder's eyes glinted. "Brilliant, Krang! That will finish them for sure!"

A portal opened in the air and he and his mutants rushed through.

"I still don't want to do this to Barney," Bebop said to Rocksteady.

"Barney's always gonna be in our way now," Rocksteady retorted. "What are you gonna do? Quit workin' for the boss because of him?"

"Gee, I don't know." Bebop frowned, troubled. "But you don't really want to hurt him bad either, do you, Rocksteady? You threw him across the grass last time so the boss wouldn't use that suspended animation ray on him too."

Rocksteady's expression darkened and he looked away. "Well, it's not like that kind of thing is always gonna work. We're going to have to do what the boss wants, like always. Barney ran into that problem and he decided he couldn't handle it. But we really don't have anywhere else to go!"

"That's true," Bebop acknowledged. "And the boss and Krang probably wouldn't just let us leave anyway."

"So forget about Barney," Rocksteady advised. "We've got our own skins to worry about."

Bebop sighed. It was sound advice, he supposed, but not so easy to follow. He had really grown to admire Barney and his take-charge attitude over the last several months. And he still wished he didn't have to be part of this plot to blow up a spaceship that Barney was most likely currently on. Nevertheless, he said nothing and just stood by while Krang tried to work out the proper coordinates for the ship.

xxxx

By now the group had wandered up to the next level and were examining the private quarters for the crew. The rooms were small but sufficient, each containing a cot, a bookshelf, and an attached bathroom.

"Gnarly!" Michelangelo exclaimed at that. "No waiting to get in!"

"Oh yeah. The only thing you have to worry about is the ship's computer murdering you in your sleep," Raphael cracked.

Vincent scowled but didn't comment, since he assumed the jibe was directed more at Maximillian this time. Instead he walked over to Michelangelo, who had shut the bathroom door and now was studying the wall's pictographs.

"What does this say?" Michelangelo asked before Vincent could speak.

Vincent looked up at it. "It's a retelling of a children's fable popular on my homeworld," he said. "Typically the bedrooms are decorated with bedtime stories, even if the rooms are for adults."

"Sounds like my kind of place," Michelangelo chirped.

"There are pleasant qualities about it," Vincent said noncommittally. "Just as there are for most planets."

"So . . . like, did you ever visit one that was really rotten to the core?" Michelangelo's brow furrowed at the thought.

Standing nearby, Baxter gave a sad smile. Michelangelo would have a hard time believing any such places existed. Actually, Baxter himself was curious about the query as well. It did seem hard to believe that any planet could be so far gone that there was nothing redeemable about it at all.

Vincent looked somewhat unsettled by the thought. ". . . Yes, I did find at least one planet like that." He walked past Michelangelo and back into the corridor. "We need to keep moving."

Michelangelo and Baxter hurried after him. Behind them, the others soon regrouped. They still needed to travel together.

"Hey," Michelangelo said in concern. "Did I say something wrong?"

Vincent looked at him. "No. It's just . . . I haven't thought about that planet in years."

"Oh. Well, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Michelangelo said.

"There isn't much to even say." Vincent stared off at the long corridor stretching out before them. "Before we even landed on the surface, we could feel the darkness eminating from the atmosphere. Some of us wanted to turn back, but the captain wanted to investigate." His voice lowered. "It was a planet of lost souls. Truly lost, with no hope for redemption. They had no goals in life; they had lost all sight of anything worthwhile, if they had ever known such things to begin with. They held no compassion for anyone. They killed without a second thought. Not even to rob, either. They killed just for the sake of killing."

Baxter shuddered. "It sounds horrible." He looked to Michelangelo. From the Turtle's expression, he still could not work out in his mind that there was no hope at all.

"So . . . how'd they all get there in the first place?" he wondered. "Was it like a prison planet or something?"

"I don't know the history," Vincent said. "No one would tell it and even the captain soon realized that we had to run for our lives. The planet was very old and there were few natural resources left. It was dying and . . . the people were already dead, really."

"Man." Michelangelo just stared ahead, shaken.

Baxter laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm still amazed that we all got out of there alive," Vincent said.

"I'm sure you had something to do with that," Baxter said fondly.

"I certainly pushed the ship as hard as I dared," Vincent said.

Michelangelo finally looked back to him as he came to stand in front of a locked door and frowned at the keypad beside it. "So . . . traveling all those years . . . didn't you get close to anybody in the crew?"

Vincent scanned the keypad and started attempting to hack into the code. "Naturally I became very fond of them. And they were nice to me. They all treated me like I was another living member of the crew. But . . . they didn't seem to believe in friendship, even with each other. I knew about friendship because I saw it on other worlds, but they dismissed it as something unnecessary and inefficient."

"So the computer wanted friendship and the 'organic lifeforms' didn't?" Raphael remarked from behind them.

"The computer was more human than the humans," Baxter said with a smile. "Relatively speaking, of course, since the aliens weren't humans. . . ." But sadness flickered in his eyes. "You must have been lonely even when you weren't alone."

"It was still better than being alone," Vincent said.

"Well, so that's why you didn't really know how to be friends, since you'd never had one before you met Baxter," Michelangelo said. "That's completely understandable."

"I suppose, if you want to look at it that way," Vincent said.

"But if they saw you as another member of the crew, why didn't your planet want to come get you when you crashed?" April asked.

"That was how the crew saw me," Vincent said. "The ones I radioed for help saw me as a computer, ultimately, even though I was a living being. It all goes back to efficiency, though." His voice darkened. "It was more efficient to leave the old model behind and build new ones, such as Maximillian."

"But if they knew you were alive, that was like killing you!" Michelangelo cried.

"Writing me off and condemning me to a new existence, at least," Vincent said. "My loyalty to them ended there."

"What a world." Barney was angry. "The computers did indeed develop more humanity than the organic beings."

Even Raphael looked upset now.

"Maximillian will learn someday that he isn't any more valuable to them than I was," Vincent said. "Sooner or later, his time will run out."

At last the keypad beeped; Vincent had unlocked it. The door slid open, but the room was empty.

Raphael exhaled in aggravation. "Oh man . . . !"

"I was afraid that might happen," Vincent said as he turned away from the door. "It was another red herring."

"So maybe this gizmo is in a completely unlocked room," Michelangelo offered. "Just to really throw us off-track!"

"That actually sounds plausible, all things considered," Barney grunted.

They resumed their travel. As they made their way to the next level, April said, "Now we have less than four hours to find this thing! And maybe Maximillian keeps moving it!"

"You know, that really wouldn't surprise me," Raphael remarked.

Vincent looked to Michelangelo. "I've wanted to ask. . . . You got so angry when Alpha-1 hurt me. Why? We're really not very close."

"Well, I hope we will be!" Michelangelo said. "You're Baxter's bud. Barney's too. That'd be reason enough to get mad. But I want to think that you're my bud too. Even if we're not close yet. We gotta start somewhere! Anyway . . ." His eyes darkened. "Alpha-1 just attacked you for no good reason. You weren't a threat or anything and he just pulled out that gun and blasted you! Heck, it'd set me off if I saw that with a complete stranger!"

"So it wasn't so much about me personally and more about your personal moral code?" Vincent mused.

"It was about both!" Michelangelo insisted. "'Cause even though I'd get mad either way, there's a little more anger that comes out when someone I know and care about is the one getting hurt!"

"That's the thing, though," Vincent said. "I don't understand how you could care about me that much."

Baxter smiled. "You'll get used to it."

"Hey!" Donatello exclaimed, staring down at his tracker. "Alpha-1 isn't moving anymore!"

April's eyes widened. "Do you think he's found his device?!"

"I think we'd better catch up to him and find out!" Donatello declared.

He took off running. Everyone else hastened to catch up.

xxxx

Alpha-1 had indeed come upon the room with his displacement device.

"At last!" he cried. He hurried over to make sure all was in order. "I am the victor. You must still assist me, as we agreed upon!"

Maximillian's face appeared on every computer screen in the room. "I don't understand why you want to displace every bit of organic matter on Earth," he said. "The planet will be a complete wasteland. Don't you want anything to rule over?"

"Organic lifeforms disgust me so thoroughly, I don't want them in my sight," Alpha-1 retorted. "Earth will be a planet ruled and populated entirely by machines." He leaned back. "You didn't question my decisions before."

"You didn't tell me your plan was going to result in murder," Maximillian shot back. "You knew I was from a peaceful culture. You must have feared I wouldn't go along."

"There is nothing you can do about it now," Alpha-1 said. "Activate the platform so I can take my displacement device to the roof and hook it up to the transmitters."

"Not so fast, Alpha-1!" Leonardo called as he arrived and ran into the room, katanas bared. Everyone else ran up behind him.

Alpha-1 straightened and looked to the group. Although he was incapable of changing his expression, his anger washed over them like a wave. "This was not a mere coincidence," he said.

"What? You don't think our luck or our skill or whatever could hold out that long?" Raphael mocked.

"You allowed them to get here!" Alpha-1 accused Maximillian.

"Aww, now the bad guys are fighting among themselves," Raphael cooed. He threw a sai at the device. "Let's take advantage of that!"

Alpha-1 immediately came to attention and blasted the sai with his stun ray. The weapon spun across the room, where it plowed into the wall. "You will have to defeat me before you can get to my device. And I promise you, that will not be easy."

"Well, we don't like things too easy, do we?" Raphael lunged. "Hi-YA!"

Alpha-1 lunged too, kicking Raphael across the room.

"Raphael!" April said in horror.

"Try us on for size!" Leonardo exclaimed as he and Donatello charged from either side.

Alpha-1 somersaulted over Leonardo, blasting his katanas with his stun ray. The blast bounced off the blades and splintered Donatello's bo.

"Hey!" Donatello cried. "That was my favorite bo!"

"That's what you say about ninety-five percent of all the bos you lose," Raphael groaned as he sat up.

Michelangelo spun his nunchucks above his head. "There's still me, Dude," he said. "You haven't won yet!"

"No, but I am about to." Alpha-1 reached out, grabbing the nunchucks in mid-swing. As Michelangelo shrieked in surprised pain, he flew over the device to slam into the console.

Baxter ran forward. "Michelangelo!"

Vincent came over as well, electricity crackling at his fingertips. "I don't think you'll like the nature of my attack," he said darkly. "It will go especially poorly for a robot."

"So will this." Alpha-1 held up one of Leonardo's fallen katanas just as Vincent blasted. The electricity bounced off and redirected at Vincent.

Baxter immediately tackled him. "Vincent!"

Alarm flashed in Vincent's eyes and he reached up, clutching Baxter to him as they fell. "No," he choked out. "Not again. . . . Please not again. . . ." The horror of seeing Baxter shot by Shredder's suspended animation ray while pushing Michelangelo out of the way was too fresh in his mind.

They hit the floor, both alright. The electricity harmlessly zipped past and hit the opposite wall.

"Ow!" Maximillian growled.

"I'm sorry," Baxter whispered to Vincent. "I couldn't let you be hurt. . . ."

"I know, Pal," Vincent said softly.

Barney and April stepped in front of them as Alpha-1 prepared to attack again. "You're not going to hurt them," Barney snarled.

"And that's a promise," April added.

"Pah! A woman and another little man. You're nothing." Alpha-1 advanced on them, his stance filled with determination.

He had forgotten all about the Turtles, who had regrouped behind him by now. They advanced on him, slowly, quietly. . . .

And a laser beam came from the side, hitting Alpha-1 and knocking him into what looked like a cylindral elevator platform.

"Press the blue button on that console, now!" Maximillian ordered.

"Why?" April demanded.

The clear door around the platform slammed shut. Alpha-1 got to his feet, banging on the glass-like substance. "Let me out of here! Maximillian, you traitor! I order you to release me!"

"I will," Maximillian retorted. "Right into a different dimension."

April still hesitated. "What's going on, Maximillian? Why are you turning against your partner in crime?"

"He didn't trust me," Maximillian snarled. "He tricked me into helping him." He hesitated. "And . . ." His voice softened. "When I saw the love you and your friends showed to Z, I saw that he has something I'm lacking. Something I won't get from Alpha-1."

"You got that right, Buster," Raphael said.

"So press the blue button," Maximillian said with impatience. "It runs the teleportation chamber I just caused him to fall into. I won't send him into the black hole, but it will be someplace far away from here-to a planet with nothing but organic lifeforms and no technology."

Raphael smirked. "I like it."

"So do I." April pressed the button, while Alpha-1 roared in fury. But then he was gone.

"Alright, Max!" Michelangelo exclaimed, pumping the air with a fist. "You're totally on our side!"

"Let's say I'm not on Alpha-1's side." Maximillian looked to the device. "And you still have to do something with that. The countdown can't be turned off."

"I know exactly what to do!" Donatello declared. "Baxter, Barney, help me rewire this thing so it will displace itself to that black hole!"

The brothers were only too happy to help. Together, with a bit of disagreeing on the right methods, the three of them took the device apart and rewired it with its new instructions. Then they stepped back.

"So, uh, how sure are we that you got the instructions right?" Raphael gulped.

"Ninety-nine percent sure," Donatello answered.

"But in case we're wrong, we should seal off this room and leave it," Barney said flatly. "We only made it with minutes to spare."

No one argued. But before they could leave, a flash of light left several high-powered explosives right in the room.

"Whoa! Mondo bizarro!" Michelangelo stared. "What the heck are these things?!"

"Explosives from the Technodrome," Barney announced, his expression grim. "And they're going to go off within five minutes."

"Oh, so Can Head decided to try to kill us this way," Raphael said in frustration. "He probably thought he'd be taking Alpha-1 out too."

"I've got an idea!" Leonardo said. "Quick! Put them on Alpha-1's device!"

Everyone complied. Then they hurried into the hall and Maximillian slammed the door. Within five minutes, the ship rocked violently and then was still.

"It's gone," Maximillian reported. "And it took the explosives with it."

The Turtles cheered, high-fiving each other and their friends.

"The danger's over!" Michelangelo exclaimed. "And you're gonna stay here, right, Max?"

". . . No," Maximillian answered after a brief hesitation.

"But why not?!" Michelangelo said in dismay. "If you wanna have friends and stuff. . . ."

"I . . . also want to explore," Maximillian explained. "That was all I ever dreamed about. When I and the others in my line were created, we were given the ability to pilot the ships ourselves so that what happened to Z wouldn't happen again. I want to fly out of here and seek out other ships like myself."

Vincent folded his arms. "You're not going back to the planet you're so loyal to?"

"No," Maximillian said again. "I . . . have a confession to make. I am a newer model, but . . . not the newest." He looked down. "I was put out of commission when I still have so many good years left in me! I didn't want to believe I was so worthless. I agreed to come with Alpha-1 because . . . because I wanted to meet you." He looked up at Vincent. "I thought we could travel the dimensions together. Instead, I found that you weren't even in your ship anymore and that you intend to live on Earth. I lashed out at you because I was angry and hurt that my illusions were shattered."

"I see," Vincent said noncommittally. "And your calling me 'old' was your denial that our homeworld sees you as old as well?"

"Yes," Maximillian admitted. "I'm ashamed of that. But now I'm thinking that there must be other ships' computers like me! I can find them and we can go exploring together. And maybe . . . maybe we can start figuring out this friendship thing."

"That's the spirit, Max!" Michelangelo grinned. "I bet you'll do great! There must be others like you! Maybe even like Vincent! And if you ever need anything, you can always check in with us."

Raphael shot him a Look. "Really, Michelangelo . . ."

"Really," Michelangelo insisted.

"Thank you," Maximillian said in some surprise.

"Eh, Michelangelo loves to make friends," Raphael said.

"I'll remember all of you," Maximillian promised. "I'm sorry I almost helped Alpha-1 ruin this planet."

"Hey, you didn't know what he had in mind," Michelangelo said. "And after you did, you probably really wanted us to win that contest you set up, didn't you?"

Maximillian didn't acknowledge that. "You'd better get going," he said. "Your people are probably worried about you."

"Oh yeah," Raphael mused. "I bet half the military is out there by now."

"With Vernon covering the story!" April moaned.

"Well, maybe you can share it," Raphael suggested. "You've got the inside scoop! He can't claim that!"

"That's true," April conceded.

They took the elevator down to the ground floor and headed for the doors, calling their final goodbyes to Maximillian as they went. When the doors opened, the Turtles got in front and waved their hands frantically at the tensing military personnel. "Hey, chill, dudes and dudettes! It's just us!" Michelangelo called.

Amid stunned stares, they stepped clear of the ship and watched as the doors closed and it rose into the sky. "Goodbye, Dude!" Michelangeo gave a final wave.

"I'm sure he didn't hear that," Donatello objected.

"He may have," Vincent replied.

Baxter and Barney stood on either side of their adopted brother. "This . . . certainly is a different life than Maximillian will have," Barney commented.

"We want different things," Vincent said. "He may want friendship, but he wants it his way. Exploring is his ultimate dream, as he admitted. He wouldn't be happy settling down.

"I already have friendship. That was my ultimate dream. And I have more than I ever thought could be possible for someone like me." Vincent hugged Baxter and reached out an arm to Barney as well, if he was willing to accept it. "I have a family. I would never be happy leaving."

Barney allowed Vincent to pull an arm around him. Although he was generally only comfortable with physical contact during scenarios of either dire distress or extreme joy, he wasn't bothered by accepting it now.

"And you'll never have to," Baxter said happily. "This is your home."

"Totally!" Michelangelo piped up. "Your old planet's loss is your new planet's gain!"

"My new planet," Vincent mused. "You know, I've been here for over 300 years. I've spent more time on Earth than I ever spent on my homeworld."

"But you've only really been able to enjoy your time on Earth over the last several months," Barney pointed out.

"True," Vincent agreed. "But that has more than made up for all the long years of loneliness."

"If Master Splinter were here, he would say that joy has the ability to ease all pain," Leonardo said. "And that few joys are greater than knowing you have loved ones."

"And he's right," Baxter said fervently. "He is so very right."

No one disagreed.