Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Re: Fast Forward
Episode 1
Future Tension
by That Long-Haired Creepy Guy
My name is Donatello, and in my years as a ninja, of the teenage mutant turtle variety, I've learned to expect the unexpected. Most people lead ordinary lives. They go to work, go to church, they have families they help take care of, and they sleep in a comfortable home that they slowly pay for over the course of their long lives.
I have a family too, of sorts. And we even do some of the things that ordinary families do, kind of. Most families have never engaged in a lethal battle with an alien brain while the spaceship built from parts said brain salvaged plummeted toward the Earth. Or got infected by a mutating strain of rogue DNA created by a mad scientist who works for a clandestine branch of the government. Or been whisked away on a boat to Japan to train with immortal ninjutsu masters.
No, I'd imagine these aren't the sort of things 'normal' families did.
But this is my family, and we stick together. However, sometimes, I find myself wondering if my family and I don't attract weirdness. Like what happened earlier today...
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It was supposed to have been a simple, routine training run topside. Even Splinter had agreed that some fresh air would do them a world of good. Mind you, he'd only said this after Mikey and Raph got into a scuffle while he was trying to watch his soap operas.
Nevertheless, even Leo couldn't argue that they'd all be under a great deal of stress lately. Their battle with the Tengu Shredder had been the biggest fight of their lives. All of them were still a little shaken up after almost dying at that monster's hands, so the four of them had gone up to the surface to have a little fun, and leave their father alone to the dull drama of whether Stephanie would leave Jacques for Marcus a third time.
Then Casey had called, having heard rumors of a shipment of illegal arms coming through town on the docks. He had wanted to go himself, but was on a date with April. The guys understood, of course, and volunteered to check things out.
That was when they discovered the shipment was leftover Triceraton salvage that the Utrom Shredder had somehow missed. And that the deal was being fronted by the Purple Dragons.
From there, things got a little confusing.
Raph, naturally, wanted to go in and bust some heads. Leo, however, decided to get a closer look so Don could figure out just what they were dealing with. If the Purple Dragons had alien weaponry on their hands, he had pointed out, there was no way they'd just sell it to someone else. Even if the buyer was paying top dollar, the Purple Dragons wouldn't have let it pass out of their hands unless it was some sort of trap.
Leo just had to be right.
The crates were filled with Triceraton weaponry, but it was all explosives, and they'd been pre-armed to go off in a few minutes. The thug Hun was trying to pass the weapons off on to turned out to be Ruffington.
"We should just have Don set this stuff off and grease both slimeballs," Raph snarled, watching from the shadows.
"That's not how we do it," Leo contradicted. "Besides, this much heavy explosive would take out at least a city block, and this part of the dock is old. A fire is sure to break out. Half the city could get torched."
"More like most of Manhattan," Don whispered, punching a few buttons on his Turtle Vision goggles. "I don't know what Hun was thinking. These aren't toys he's using to take his competition out with. The Purple Dragons must not know what they're playing with."
"They can play with these, for all I care," hissed Raph, giving his trademark sais an expert twirl. "Enough of playing hide and seek, Leo. I'm ready to break a few spines."
Across the warehouse gap, Hun was standing next to a man Leo recognized as Ruffington. The look on Hun's face was priceless, like a cat who had just ate the cream.
"Okay," Leo relented. "On my ready."
Donnie drew out his bo, while Mikey gleefully spun his nunchaku.
"Go!"
They'd taken on the Purple Dragons so many times before, it was almost like playing connect the dots. Raph plowed through several armed with your basic chains and switchblades, using a couple of empty crates to cave their skulls in with. Leo sliced up two of his own, mindful to keep the wounds shallow, and prayed his hot-headed brother remembered that some of those crates contained heavy explosives.
Ruffington was already being escorted out by two of his bodyguards. Donnie saw this, and vaulted over the heads of the man's armed guards, landed on his feet in front of the mob boss.
"Sorry," he apologized cheekily, disarming both bodyguards with his bo. "Check-out time was at eleven this morning."
"Feel free to lodge a complaint with management at the front desk, though," Mikey chimed in, leaping down from the rafters to plant a solid kick with his feet to the heads of both men.
"And don't forget to turn in your room key," Donnie finished, tripping Ruffington up as he tried to make a break for it.
"We hope you've enjoyed your stay at the Purple Dragon Dilapidated Warehouse," Leo called out, getting in a few licks of his own as the last Purple Dragon goon collapsed with his pants down around his ankles.
"You meddlesome freaks!" Hun roared. "I should've finished you years ago."
"Wake up call, Hun," Raph jeered, commandeering a forklift, and steering it in the big man's direction. "You didn't finish us because you can't. Now how about letting the cleaning crew do it's job!"
"Sheesh, Raph," Donnie teased, leaping up the side of the forklift as it plowed past. "Couldn't you have come up with something better than that?"
"Yeah," Mikey added, latching on to the opposite side. "Maybe we should get you a subscription to Daily Purple Dragon Insults. I hear it's guaranteed to provide the average grouch with twenty percent more sarcasm in their quips."
"Stay focused, guys," Leo warned, leaping down on top of the machine . "We need to get these explosives out of here before we're all blown clear out of our shells."
"Leave it to me, bro," Raph declared.
Hun snarled as Raph steered the forklift toward the crates he'd been planning to pass off onto Ruffington. "Get away from there!" he cried out, breaking into a run. "You'll blast us to kingdom come!"
"What?" Ruffington shouted, looking around.
"Yeah, Ruffington," Mikey shouted, as the lift picked up the heavy load of crates. "Hun was planning on double-crossing you. Hey, Hun! Hope you're not too mad that we blew your dirty little secret."
Hun turned as he heard the click of a gun. Ruffington had pulled out his Browning from the holster he kept hidden in his suit, and was aiming for Hun's head.
"Oh, crud," Hun groaned.
Ruffington fired. Hun ducked, the bullet missing him by an inch or so, striking a gas line on the far wall instead.
"Oh crud!" Ruffington echoed.
Flames erupted out from the wall as the spark from the bullet ignited the gas, turning the warehouse into a raging inferno.
"So much for not starting a fire," Donnie noted, holding on for dear life as the forklift swerved sharply to avoid the rushing flames reaching for it.
"No kidding," Mikey added. "Can I please be moved to the non-smoking section of the warehouse?"
"Raph, keep her steady!" Leo ordered as the forklift swerved again.
"You try handling this thing," Raph bit back. "What are we supposed to do with this cargo now that the whole place is a smoke house, huh?"
"Aim it for the water front," Donnie suggested, coughing.
Raph turned in the direction that Donnie pointed, only to have Hun leap out of the flames a second later.
"You freaks!" he screamed, reaching through the broken window for Raph's throat. "Look what you've done. You're going to get us all killed!"
"Hey, we ain't the one who decided to pass off a bunch of live Triceraton bombs as guns to a crime boss," Raph said defensively.
"Raph!" Leo cried out.
Hun reared back, preparing to land a blow directly onto Raph's face. The forklift gave a very violent shudder, then, and was suddenly gone. Hun and all four brothers fell out of the air, like there hadn't been anything for them to ride on, and landed in a pile.
"Why is he always falling onto me?" Mikey groaned from somewhere underneath Hun's posterior.
"Mikey," Don called out, reaching for his brother's hand.
Mikey moaned as Don helped him out from under Hun's thick lump of a body. Around them, the fire raged out of control.
"What just happened?" Raph wondered, looking around.
"Look!" Leo shouted, pointing just up ahead of them.
The forklift had reappeared, manifesting like a glitch in a bad video file, and flickered for a moment before coming into solid view once more.
"Is that something we've seen before?" Mikey wondered. "Cuz we've seen a lot of weird stuff, and it's getting hard to keep track."
"True," Donnie admitted, not looking away as the forklift lumbered across the burning warehouse floor toward a wall.
"Don, what just happened?" Leo wondered.
"Not sure," the certified intellect of the group replied, waiting to see if the phenomenon would repeat itself. "It was as if there was some type of glitch."
"I hope this isn't more of that magic shit," Raph snarled. "Cuz I've had all I can stand of mystic hoo-ha messing stuff up."
"I don't know how you did that," Hun snarled, getting up. "And I don't care. It's time I put you four out of my misery for good."
The turtles prepared themselves, but in the blink of an eye, Hun had vanished.
"Now what happened?" Raph shouted, as the smoke thickened. "Where did Hun go?"
"Behind us," said Mikey, spotting Hun as he swung through the air at nothing.
"What?" Hun growled. "How did you get behind me?"
"How did you get behind us?" Leo wondered.
The moving forklift, meanwhile, reached the wall. Rather than crashing through it, however, it seemed to phase through it part of the way, before stalling.
"Guys, look!" Don insisted.
The forklift grew fainter and fainter, until it was gone. "How are you doing that?" Hun wondered. "What sort of trick is this?"
"If this is one of your tricks, Hun, it ain't funny," Raph warned, raising both sais.
"There must be some type of bizarre phenomenon going on inside the warehouse," Don warned them. "My Turtle Vision isn't registering anything, but it could be because the equipment doesn't know what to look for."
"Wonderful," said Raph, gripping his weapons in anger. "So now what?"
"Let's get out of here," Leo suggested. "Before something else goes wrong."
"You four aren't going anywhere!" Hun roared, charging toward them again. "Die!"
A light flared between them before Hun could reach the turtles. The flames nearest to it were blown out as a square grew from the inside of the blinding whiteness. Donnie, protected by his Turtle Vision, stared into the window as the effigy of a young boy materialized within the four corners.
"Oh, no!" the boy said, sounding frantic. "This is not good. Something must have gone wrong with the temporal electro-kinesis. I've got to realign the tachyon bridge flow before..."
A wind kicked through the warehouse, snuffing out the flames as the turtles felt themselves being hurled forward into the light. Leo gasped as he spotted a familiar figure whip past them.
"Master Splinter!" he screamed, as their rat sensei tried to reach for them. "Father!"
"Leonardo!" Splinter cried out, fighting to reach his son.
Their bodies were flung in a circle as the empty space they were in churned like the inside of a washing machine. More of the same windows popped open, each one depicting a different scene inside of it. Leo thought he saw the Shredder in one of them, but the image vanished before he could get another look. Michelangelo collided with him, sending both tumbling through the air. Leo reached for his brother, but Mikey vanished upon striking a new window that opened up directly in front of him.
"Mikey!" Leo shouted.
"Leo!" Raph called out, caught in the vortex's grip. "What the hell is going on?"
"Raph," Leo warned, fighting against the current to reach his brother. "Whatever you do, don't let the windows touch you!"
"Wh..."
Raph was cut off as the same window that had taken Mikey swept over him. Leo watched in horror as his brother vanished before his eyes. Looking around, he spotted Donatello farther below trying to reach Master Splinter. Their hands clasped together just as the window that took Raph and Mikey opened up.
"No!" Leo begged. "Not them, too!"
In a flash, they were gone, leaving Leonardo behind. Grief stabbed at his chest as he saw the window rushing toward him.
"If you want me," he snarled, feeling the bitterness at having failed his family swell. "You won't take me without a fight!"
Spinning through the air, Leo brought his blade down in a bisecting swing. The blade disappeared from his hands the moment it touched the square. A second later, he was gone from the vortex, taken by the same force that had stolen his family.
As darkness claimed him, he prayed to whatever gods that were feeling kind today to drop him in the same place as his loved ones.
That, or take him to them in the next life.
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Michelangelo felt his shell rattle as he came to a stop against something hard. "Ow!" he whined, before gravity took over, sending him tumbling shell over heels to the ground.
"Ouch!" he cried out. "Why is it I'm always the one who lands in garbage and on hard surfaces, huh?"
The stars in front of his eyes faded, clearing his head. "Wait, I remember now," he shouted, getting to his feet. "Leo!"
His brother, Leonardo, was nowhere to be found. None of his brothers were there with him, or Master Splinter. Mikey definitely remembered seeing his sensei in that weird, see-through whirlwind before.
"Wait, I know how this goes," said Mikey happily. "A tornado brought me here, so that must mean that I had to follow the yellow brick road to get to the bright, shiny city where..."
Something whizzed past above him, kicking up dirt in it's jet stream. "Hey!" he shouted, shaking his fist. "Sunday flier! Haven't you ever heard of...?"
Mikey's jaw dropped as he saw what had just buzzed him. A strange kind of vehicle was flying off into the distance amid hundreds more just like it. Seconds later, another vehicle, this one black with a hauntingly-familiar symbol stuck to the back, flew overhead a little higher up in it's pursuit of the earlier one.
"Nah," Mikey insisted to himself, as a bad feeling in his stomach gripped him. "Couldn't have been, could it?"
It was then that Mikey began to notice his surroundings. He was standing on some kind of narrow platform high in the air. Glowing escalators carrying patrons of all shapes, sizes, and even colors were just to the right of him. A moving circular sidewalk was stretched around an oval-shaped building to his left. There were buildings all around him, enormous skyscrapers connected by inter-linking passages.
It was then that Mikey realized he was high up in the air. It was also at that point that it occurred to him that he was standing out in public where a whole bunch of people could see him.
In broad daylight, no less.
"Yipe!" he cried, shriveling up as a young girl cocked a curious eyebrow his way, but otherwise paid him little mind. "I think I'm not in Kansas anymore."
Mikey's anxiety didn't last long, as it soon became clear that no one was bothered by his appearance. Now that he thought about it, a couple of the people in the crowd didn't look quite human, either. Most of the pedestrians were wearing some strange type of head gear, like something out of a futuristic science fiction movie. Furthermore, their clothes didn't look normal.
"Did I get zapped into a Space Trek convention or something?" he wondered.
A lady inside the oval building, which, it turned out, was a restaurant, smiled at him and gave a friendly wave.
"Um, hello?" he tried.
The woman just nodded back to him and resumed eating. "Weird," he concluded, putting his hands on his shell. "Where's Donnie when I could use him?"
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"Sorry, Master Splinter," Donatello said sheepishly, getting to his feet.
The two of them had exited the vortex in a tumble, rolling over on top of each other before coming to a stop with Don resting heavily above his father.
"It is quite alright," Splinter assured him kindly, accepting his son's hand up. "Are you injured, Donatello?"
"I don't think so," Don said. "What the shell happened to us? We were fighting Hun inside that warehouse, but how did you get here?"
"I do not know," Splinter admitted, glancing around quickly. "But we cannot afford to be seen here. Whatever has happened, we have been transported out into the open. Someone will surely notice us if we do not move."
"Right," Don agreed, backing away.
The two moved as one into the shadows of some nearby bushes, taking notice of their surroundings as they backed out of sight.
"Master Splinter," Don said softly. "Do you see what I see?"
They had somehow been taken to a park. The time appeared to be dusk, but there were still a few stragglers loitering around. Overall, the crowd didn't look particularly friendly, but for the moment, it was who the crowd consisted of that concerned Don the most.
"Is that a Triceraton?" he asked, pointing to a cluster of trees where the triple-horned hulking alien lurked. "And that one over there almost looks like one of the creatures we saw on D'Hoonnib."
The park itself had a distinct Japanese feel to it. A glowing hologram hanging in mid-air near some kind of street lamp Don had never seen before marked the area. It was written in kanji, with the words spelled out both in hiragana and English below.
"Oroku Park?" Donnie read aloud. "Surely not?"
The park's shady characters were starting to move about more freely as the sun disappeared. "Have we been taken to Japan somehow, sensei?"
"I do not believe so," Splinter said gravely, pointing. "Look."
Don followed the direction of Splinter's pointing finger, and saw immediately what he meant. Off in the distance, looming over the park like some bad omen, was a skyscraper. Something about it looked distinctly familiar, but even if that hadn't been the case, there was no mistaking the three-pronged emblem displayed boldly on the front for the whole world to see.
"The Foot?" Don staggered backwards. "What does it mean?"
"That we are in a great deal of danger," Splinter replied. "I do not know where fate has taken us, but we must leave this place, Donatello, and find your brothers. They will be in great danger, if this is any indication."
Together, the two worked their way silently through the shadows, careful to remain out of sight. The park's visitors had no such qualms, openly speaking to one another now under the cover of dark. From the looks of things, some type of transaction was going on between the aliens. And for the most part, it was aliens who inhabited the place. Don saw one or two humans standing around, some speaking with one another, while others stood out in the open conversing with empty air. Everyone was wearing the same basic head set, modified to suit their physiology. It felt surreal to see so many different species interacting with one another, even after everything he'd witnessed.
"You, there! In the bushes!"
The sound started Don, and he realized too late that he'd let his curiosity get the better of him. In his haste, he'd raised up a little too fast, and let himself get spotted by an angry-looking Triceraton that was currently stomping toward them.
"Make haste," Splinter said, already moving.
Don was fast on his sensei's heels. "No kidding," he gasped, as the Triceraton began catching up. "I wonder what's gotten him all riled up?"
"I do not believe that now is an appropriate time to stop and ask," Splinter replied, taking to the air over several benches.
Don followed his master's lead, leaping over bushes, and through a picnic area that had been set up underneath a pagoda. The Triceraton behind them continued to pursue, stomping over and around every obstacle they attempted to slow him with.
"At least he's being considerate," Donnie mused, as they came up near an open area. "Any other Triceratons we've met would've plowed through this place like a bulldozer."
"My son!" Splinter stopped short as they came up on a clearing. "Look!"
Donatello skid to a stop beside the rat, and looked up in shock at what his sensei was indicating. A statue had been set along a path, bisecting it into a crossroads. The image of a woman standing with her hands clasped together, and bent forward in a respectful bow, gazed down at them.
"Karai?" Donnie couldn't believe it. "That's a statue of Karai!"
"I do not believe it," Splinter gasped. "What is this place?"
"No," Don insisted, shaking his head in denial. "This is just like that future that I was sent to. We failed everyone, Master Splinter. April, Casey... everyone is dead. The Shredder came back and took everything away."
"My son..." Splinter began, hoping to reassure the frantic turtle, but found himself interrupted as the rampaging Triceraton caught up to them.
"There you are," he growled, taking a deep breath through the re-breather patch attached to his throat. "You know, for splicers, you two have a weird way of conducting business. The Johnson told me you might come across as a little eccentric, but this was taking things too far."
"Still," the alien dinosaur mused. "I guess a little jog at night never hurt anyone. So, anyway, what can I get for you?"
Donnie and Splinter glanced at one another. Boldly, the rat stepped forward. "I'm afraid there has been some sort of confusion," Splinter explained. "We are not who you were expecting. We simply arrived here by mistake..."
"Call me Trekkas," the Triceraton said, giving them a finger symbol Donnie assumed was meant to be taken as friendly. "Sorry about the mix-up."
"It is no trouble," Splinter assured him, backing away slightly now. "Forgive us for taking you away from your appointment."
"Yeah, I should probably get back," Trekkas said sheepishly. "Before I go, though, is there anything you guys need? It looks like you haven't touched terra for very long. Neo-Manhattan can be rough for newcomers, especially if you don't know the cyberlines yet."
"Actually," Don began, a little more enthusiastic now. "Would you mind telling us where we are? We seem to have gotten turned around."
"Oh, sure," Trekkas said, pointing a massive finger to a spot behind them. "See that shrine over there? That's a data panel. It can tell you exactly where you need to go. All the panels in Oroku Park are hooked up to the Wired, so any information you want can be accessed from there."
"Awesome," Don gushed. "Thanks!"
The two waited until Trekkas had turned away before heading for the panel, just to be on the safe side.
"This is all very strange," Splinter said, his eyes continuously darting toward the Karai statue not far away.
"No kidding, master," Don said, as a holo-panel appeared in front of the shrine. "That Triceraton wasn't lying, though. This is some kind of remote-access data computer."
"Can it tell us where we are?"
"I think so," Don said, reaching for the tools he kept on his belt. "It seems to be asking for some sort of identification, though. I can probably hack into with a little bit of luck, though."
"Please, hurry," Splinter said, covering Donatello as he worked. "I do not like this place, and we are far too exposed here."
"Yeah," Donatello said, as he began fiddling with the hatch. "But don't you find it strange that there was a Triceraton out in the open? What are aliens doing here? And was it just my imagination, or did that Trekkas guy say something about a 'Neo-Manhattan' before he walked off?"
"All good questions," Splinter agreed. "And hopefully one we will find answers to. I only hope that whatever power brought us here did not send your brothers too far from us. I fear they may be in great danger."
"If Leo made it here," Don assured him, looking over his shoulder. "They'll be fine. He wouldn't let anything happen to them."
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"I can't believe this!" Raph shouted, punching his fist into the wall.
"Keep it down over there," a digitized voice barked back.
Raphael turned, his teeth grinding together, with his bleeding fist raised. "Shut yer yap, pussball, or I'll come over there and carve one out of your greasy body so I can shut it for ya!"
The ball of sludge made a flatulent sound that the hot-headed turtle assumed was supposed to be insulting.
"I can't believe they threw me in this joint," he grumbled, pacing back and forth in the limited space that his prison cell provided. "And what's all this noise about PID codes?"
"You were caught wandering the street without PID codes?" a female catwoman asked from a couple of cells up on the opposite side. "What a skid!"
"Yeah?" Raph challenged, giving her a sharp glare. "Well, I'm not stuck in this crackhouse because I wanted to come here, lady, so why don't you just keep it to yourself."
"Nitro-head," she jabbed back. "No one would be dumb enough to let themselves get arrested if they hadn't gotten PID codes yet."
"And what are PID codes?" Raph was getting sick of hearing about them. "All I tried to do was buy a drink and get some info about where I was. Then the bartender claims I'm running some sort of scam, and tries to toss me out of his joint. Suddenly, these weirdos in robes show up, and start throwing lightning around."
The catwoman made a disapproving purr sound. "You got busted by the LoneStar Mages," she explained, speaking as though he were a child. "Nasty bunch of cops, they are. The bartender must be a contact for somebody, or else they wouldn't have responded so quickly."
"Whatever!" Raphael stomped back to his bunk and sprawled out on it. "And I thought I was confused when I didn't know what was going on."
Just as he was starting to get comfortable, Raph heard a familiar voice echo down the corridor. "It can't be," he muttered, raising up.
"Listen to me." Leonardo's insistent voice fell on deaf ears as he was shoved past Raph's cell into the one next door. "I'm just trying to find my family!"
"Tell it to the judge," the security droid replied calmly, before switching the laser bars on.
"Well, I'll be," Raph said, laughing as he got up. "This has to be the last place I'd ever expect to see you in, Fearless Leader."
"Raph?" Leo looked started. "What are you doing in here?"
"Bein' a bad egg, just like you are, apparently," Raph replied, enjoying himself. "After that window dropped me in this psycho city, I went to a bar to try and figure out what happened. Some magic-wielding cops showed up, and threw me in this joint."
Leo said nothing. "So what's your story?" Raph demanded. "Did you get busted for jaywalking, or something?"
"No," Leo said gravely. "Attempted murder."
Raphael blanched. "You know," he began, waiting for Leo to tell him he was joking. "It's good to see you taking a walk on the wild side and all, but maybe you should start off slow."
"This isn't a joke, Raph," Leo insisted, watching his brother from across the gap separating their cells. "That portal dropped me into the middle of a war zone. Apparently, there was some sort of gang fight going on. They were using weapons like nothing we'd ever encountered before. These police officers dressed up like the Foot showed up to break the fight up."
Leo paused. "It was worse than anything the Purple Dragons had ever done," he said grimly. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I wasn't thinking at that point. It just seemed seemed so unreal."
"Wait just a second," Raph cut in. "Back up. The Foot were the good guys?"
"I know," Leo replied. "Believe me, I'm still not sure how it happened, but one of the gang members dropped his weapon and ran. I picked it up, and just started firing. They were all shooting with laser blasters. One of the Foot cops got in my way, and I just... reacted."
"Shit."
"I know," said Leo, hanging his head. "I overheard them say that the officer would make it, but they're still charging me. I just can't believe the Foot are the law enforcement in this place."
"Wherever this place is," Raph grumbled.
Leo raised up at that. "We're in the future, Raph."
"Say what?"
Leo nodded. "I didn't believe it at first, either. Apparently, this is Neo-Manhattan, a privately-run city-state in the year 2105."
Raph waited. "We're in the future?"
"Hamato Leonardo!" Leo moved back slightly as a holo-screen appeared behind the bars in front of him.
"Hamato Raphael!" said the same person on a screen that materialized before Raph. "The charges brought against you have been dropped, and you are being released into the custody of the sentient care-droid, Serling. Please gather your personal effects and prepare for release-protocol processing."
"Come again?" Raph demanded as both screens vanished. "How the hell does attempted murder get dropped so fast?"
"We'll figure that out later," Leonardo said, looking relieved. "For right now, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. Whoever just helped us, we at least owe our thanks."
"If you say so," Raph replied happily, stepping out as the bars dissipated. "I won't be sorry to leave this place behind."
Raph looked over his shoulder at the catwoman as he and Leonardo walked toward the door at each other's sides. "Catch ya later, cat lady."
"I'm sure we'll meet again," the woman purred, watching Raphael like he were a plump mouse.
The two brothers were escorted out of the containment area by two new androids, neither of which spoke a word as they led Raph and Leo to the front of the station, where their benefactor named Serling was apparently waiting for them.
"This is taking forever," Raph grumbled as he and Leo were put through a set of scanners.
"Bio-levels unknown," the machine beeped warningly. "Genetic cross-referencing unavailable. Species undetermined."
"That would be my fault," a new robot said hurriedly, approaching where the turtles were as several armed droids leveled laser blasters at them. "These two hail from the far-off planet of Shell-Ri La, a small water-based orbital satellite in the Dagoba system. I have instructions to take them to the Offworld Embassy just as soon as we're done here."
One of the droids considered the hulking, silver machine for a moment. "Uncategorized species are not permitted in Neo-Manhattan borders," it reminded. "We are not authorized to release them into your custody unless they pass the genetic scanner."
"Em, perhaps if I spoke with your supervisors, then?" the silver robot offered. "I'm sure he can be persuaded to make another exception on their parts."
"Exception?" Raph turned his head. "You mean to tell me we both got released because somebody bribed these guys?"
"Not now, Raph," Leo warned, holding him back. "At least we're getting out of here."
"This stinks, Leo," Raph insisted, swatting his brother's hands away. "Nobody would go to this much trouble for us unless they wanted something."
"I know," Leo replied insistently. The droids surrounding them kept their weapons armed and at the ready the whole time. "I'm worried too, but Master Splinter and the others are still out there somewhere. We have to find them, and if doing a favor for somebody brings us one step closer, I'm willing to risk it."
Raph scowled, but didn't protest. "Right," he replied unhappily. "But I don't have to like it."
"Neither do I," Leo said.
A moment later, the robots returned. "This is such a relief," the silver one said. "My master will be so grateful for your assistance."
"Just get them out of here before I lose my authority protocol codes," a gruff-looking man barked back.
"At once," replied the silver droid. "Come along, you two. We've not a moment to spare, and there's still work to be done."
Raph held his tongue until they passed through the doors to the outside. "Okay, Buckethead," he growled. "Tell us who you are and how we got here."
"My, you are the impetuous one after all, aren't you?" the robot jeered. "My name is Serling, and this is the year 2105. You were accidentally transported to the city-state of Neo-Manhattan by a temporal anomaly that my master has been attempting to correct. In the meantime, he sent me out to fetch the four of you along with your master, the mutated rat you call Splinter."
"Your master?" Leo asked, while Raph continued to snarl.
"I serve the one and only heir to the vast O'Neil-Jones fortune," Serling said reverently. "The President and CEO of O'Neil Shelltech, Cody O'Neil-Jones."
Leo's jaw dropped. "Cody O'Neil-Jones?"
"You gotta be kidding me," Raph said, pointing a finger at the robot's tin-plated chest. "You mean to tell me that we really are in the future, and April and Casey's kid owns a company?"
"Great-grandson," Serling corrected. "And yes, Master Cody is the direct descendent of the late April O'Neil and Casey Jones, who were your comrades, I believe."
Raph and Leo looked at one another. "Neo-Manhattan became a city-state unto itself some time ago," Serling explained. "Back when there was still a United States of America. Three major corporations fund the city's power, water, maintenance, civil service, and entertainment, one of which is O'Neil Shelltech."
"Thanks for the history lesson," Raph bit back. "But do yourself a favor, and tell us how we got here!"
"My master can explain it better," Serling replied evasively. "Right now, we must hurry if we want to track down the rest of your little group of DNA deviants. As you may have noticed, running around Neo-Manhattan without PID codes is a hazardous and foolhardy thing to do. Getting the two of you out of jail nearly bankrupted one of Master Cody's trust fund accounts. My internal systems shudder to think what it would cost should the rest of you wind up in a similar predicament."
Raph stayed put as Serling began walking along. "Come along, now," he insisted.
"Whatda you think, Leo?" Raph asked.
Leo shrugged. "What choice do we have? It's transportation, and a means of finding the others. Right now, I just want to find Master Splinter and make sure he's alright."
"Same here," Raph agreed, moving now. "But I still think this stinks."
"I assure you," Serling quipped while leading them down a glowing escalator to the lower street level. "The situation is no more foul that you are, not that such a turn of phrase could be considered a compliment."
"How are we going to find the others?" Leo asked, hoping to break up a fight before it started.
"With this," Serling answered, as a flap popped open on his arm. Pressing a button, the robot turned toward the upper end of the street, where something approached.
"My master commissioned it to be built some time ago," the robot explained as the hovering green vehicle slowed to a stop on the curb in front of them. "He calls it the Hovershell."
Even Raph was aghast. "Get in," Serling ordered, opening the passenger hatch. "We really should depart from this place. For whatever the reason, the city chose to locate it's prison in a rather unsavory section of the city. I really don't care to be here longer than necessary."
"Donnie would love this thing," Raph said, giving the Hovershell a once-over before climbing in with his brother. "A giant flying turtle shell is right up his alley."
"Yes," Serling muttered, taking the controls. "I'm afraid Master Cody might have inherited a few of the family's more notorious quirks."
The hatch slammed shut with the push of a button, and Serling quickly seized the controls to activate the hovercraft.
"So," Leo asked, falling back into a seat next to Raph, who suffered the same fate, as Serling rocketed the Hovershell into the air. "Where will we find Master Splinter, Donatello, and Mikey?"
"Yeah," Raph added. "I've been thinkin' about that. If we were all zapped into the future, how come we didn't end up in the same place together?"
"You were never supposed to come here," Serling told them, glancing back. "Time travel research was expressly forbidden by the O'Neil-Oroku charter decades ago. Master Cody never intended to violate his company's own policies. The Time Window was invented merely to observe the past, not bring things from it to this time."
"So, our coming here was an accident?" Leo asked, as the Hovershell swerved hard again.
"Terrific," Raph grumbled.
"I assure you, sending you home has become the Master's top priority," Serling told them, racing under what looked like a traffic light. "Must these ignorant masses constant clog up the express alley?"
"Where is he takin' us?" Raph wondered. "And how are we supposed to get there in one piece?"
"Your comrades fell into what my master calls a tempus fluctuation," Serling explained as the Hovershell leveled out. "Apparently, when you all came through the Time Window, you each arrived at different time points."
"You mean," Leonardo asked worriedly. "They could have been here for months?"
"Or even years," Raph pointed out in a grim tone.
"More like hours," Serling corrected. "According to Master Cody's calculations, the rat and your brother landed together in Oroku Park. We should get there just as they arrive, traffic permitting, of course. As for the other one you call Mikey, he already landed in Uppertown Plaza. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the coordinates, he'd already left the vicinity."
"Great," Raph sneered, as the Hovershell dipped hard downward. "Mikey won't find any trouble while we're out looking for him. No siree!"
{} {} {} {} {}
An alarm from the shrine sounded. Donatello looked up sheepishly at it, before turning to his sensei. "Sorry about that," he said, before connecting two wires together. "This thing has some kind of security system attached to it, but I think I've worked out how it functions."
Sparks flew, and the noise immediately stopped. "This technology is amazing," Don gushed, going back to work. "I've see schematics for things like this, but it has to be at least fifty, or maybe even a hundred years ahead of anything we have."
"Hurry, my son," Splinter said, sniffing the air. "I sense we are not alone here."
"Just a few more wires," Don promised, fiddling with the internal workings again. "And I should have it."
Something clattered along the ground. Don and Splinter looked at the exact same time to find a small flashing sphere skipping along the path toward them. Donnie opened his mouth to call out for his sensei to duck, but found himself cut off as the sphere let out a dazzling flash of white light. Something landed over his shoulders, knocking him to the ground.
When the light dissipated, and Don could see again, he was looking out through the holes of a glowing florescent blue net at several cloaked figures.
"Looks like we got ourselves a couple of baggies tryin' a illegal hack on our turf," one sneered, his voice sounding vaguely metallic.
"Poor choice," a woman said, tsking. "Nobody takes an info dump on the Street Phantom's turf unless we give the thumbs up."
"Let's waste 'em!" the shortest one in the group said eagerly, clenching his hands. "Let's slice, dice, thrash, trash, scrub, delete, and synthesize 'em!"
"Easy, Bitmap," one warned as a tall, eerily thin man with enormous teeth approached the scene with a confident swagger. "It's Jammerhead's call, remember?"
Donatello tried to lift the net off him, but his muscles didn't want to cooperate. "Forget it," the woman told him, giving his shell a kick. "Neuro-synaptic paralyzing nets. Shuts down all all voluntary reflexes. You two baggies aren't going anywhere."
"'Cept maybe to the recycler!" the one called Bitmap added, before breaking down into a cackling fit.
The leader, Jammerhead, swung his fist out and backhanded Bitmap across the face, silencing him. "Warned ya," the male from before said, snorting.
"Sorry, boss!" Bitmap apologized, lowering his head in submission. "Real sorry. Didn't mean no disrespect or nuthin'. Real sorry."
About two seconds passed. "Can we dissect 'em now?" he asked frantically.
"You'll have to forgive Bitmap," Jammerhead said, shaking his head. "He ran afoul of some bad bootlegged Lifestyle software a while back."
"Best thing ever!" Bitmap screamed.
"I'm sorry," Don said, as Splinter tried his best to move the net. "I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding."
"Oh, I'd say there has," Jammerhead replied, leering at them.
A frown crossed his face suddenly, and he leaned forward to get a better look. "No head jacks," he noted, looking Don and Splinter over. "No Wired link-ups or Enviro-Packs, gravity regulators, and translator wrist-comps?"
"They don't even have PID code badges," the woman said.
Jammerhead raised back up sharply, looking alarmed. "They're Nightrunners," he declared. "That's what this is. No off-worlder comes to Neo-Manhattan this unprepared. This must be some kind of sting operation."
"We're being set up!" Bitmap howled.
"Defrag me running," the woman snarled, whipping a strange-looking blaster out from under her cloak. "Where do you think they're coming from?"
"Nothing," the unnamed man said, pressing a finger to his temple. "There's nothing on the security readouts. These two are alone."
"Good." Jammerhead pulled out a glowing katana from a sheath hidden by his cloak. "Then let's take care of these two and get our algorithms filed and cataloged."
"Do it, boss!" Bitmap cheered, jumping up and down gleefully. "Do both of 'em!"
"Donatello," Splinter called out as Jammerhead advanced on them. "Can you move at all?"
"Sorry, sensei," the turtle replied. "Whatever this net is made of, I can't pull it off me."
"Say ya prayers," Jammerhead snarled, raising the blade over his head. "Reptile!"
"Jammerhead, wait!" the man called out, holding a hand up. "I've got something. There's a vehicle registered to O'Neil Shelltech headed this way."
"Shelltech?" Jammerhead lowered the sword and looked around. "What would someone from O'Neil Shelltech be doing in Oroku Park?"
"O'Neil?" Don wondered.
"It seems that this place is full of surprises," Splinter whispered to him. "But for now, we must focus our minds, and get out of here."
"Right."
Donatello closed his eyes, and gathered together his chi. He, like his brothers, had trained for years under Splinter in the art of ninjutsu. When the mind, body, and soul worked in conjunction with one another, the impossible became real. It was just a matter of mind over technology.
Splinter let out an unnatural growl as he began raising up off the ground, the net still hanging over him.
"Stay down," the woman shrieked, kicking the rat in the back.
"Master Splinter," Don shouted, raising up. "Stay away from him!"
Now that his arms were up, he could reach his bo. It even hurt his shell to move, but Don would rather have been impaled than watch Splinter go down in his place. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his bo free, and tossed the net through the air at Jammerhead.
"Frag!" Jammerhead hollered as the net landed over him.
"Jammerhead," the woman called out.
Donatello went for the biggest one near Splinter while, behind him, Jammerhead pressed a button on his wrist comm. Immediately, the cloak he wore glowed, and the Street Phantom's body went blurred like bad video footage. At once, the punk sank into the ground, leaving the net on the ground where he'd been only seconds ago.
"How did he do that?" Donatello wondered, before kicking the Street Phantom away from his father.
"Like this," the woman replied. "Ghost mode, boys."
"Ghost mode! Ghost mode!" Bitmap cried out joyously, depressing the same button on his wrist multiple times. "Ghost mode! I love Ghost mode! Mmmmm, that tickles!"
Donatello took point as the now-intangible Street Phantoms closed in on them. Some leveled blasters at his shell, while others summoned laser rifles out of their cybernetic arms. Donatello spun his staff in a circle as they fired, but the blasts shattered it to pieces.
"Hey!" he cried out angrily. "That was my favorite bo."
"I hope you didn't wake up with your favorite head," the lady said, taking aim. "Because that's getting blown up next."
Splinter tried to help, getting in several excellent kicks, but all they did was pass through the Phantoms' bodies like they were made out of air.
"It's like trying to attack smoke," Don said wearily, his punches having no effect either. "How do we fight something that we can't touch?"
Splinter turned to him, smiling. "By becoming intangible ourselves," he answered. "Follow my lead, Donatello, and be careful."
Splinter ducked and weaved as the nearest Phantom opened fire on him. The rat moved through the air with the skill and ease of an acrobat, each blast coming close, but never quite touching him. Jammerhead rose up out of the ground directly in front of him just as another shot missed, grinning broadly.
"Ya know what?" he growled, as his body became tangible again. "I really never liked rats."
Splinter whipped his tail around in response. "And I," he challenged, as the tip snatched the wrist comm off the man's forearm. "Have never been afraid of ghosts."
With a second flick, Splinter sent the wrist comm through the air toward his son, who was doing an excellent job of avoiding getting hit. The comm smacked Donnie upside the head, getting his attention.
"I get it," Donnie said, scooping the wrist comm up as he back-flipped out of the way of another shot.
Quickly, Don placed the wrist comm on his arm and depressed the same button he'd seen the other Street Phantoms use.
"Stupid reptile," Jammerhead mocked. "That won't work by itself. You've gotta have a phaser cloak on first."
Splinter struck the man straight between the eyes with his walking stick. "Thank you," he said cockily, before snatching Jammerhead's cloak off him. "We might not have worked that out otherwise."
The rest of the Street Phantoms hesitated for a moment before resuming fire. "Don't, you stupid frag-heads," Jammerhead screamed. "You might hit me!"
"I think I've worked it out, master," Don informed, as Splinter worked his way through the blaster fire over to his son.
"Good," Splinter said. "Here, put this on."
The moment the cloak touched Donatello, his body flickered the same way the Phantoms had. "Amazing," he said, overjoyed at such advanced technology. "I'm the first ever Turtle Phantom."
Donatello rushed forward, the blaster fire phasing right through him now. Splinter stayed out of the way as Don punched and kicked his way through the Phantoms, who suddenly found themselves at the mercy of his fists.
"That was for my bo," he declared, sucker punching one in the jaw.
A alarm in the wrist comm went on. Don looked down at it just as the Ghost mode shut itself off. Looking up, he saw Jammerhead standing with a few of his cronies, who had surrounded Master Splinter. All of them were ready to open fire.
"Frag-head," Jammerhead called out. "Any Street Phantom cloak can be turned off by me. Now, don't move a muscle, or your little pet rat will be filled with more holes than virtual swiss cheese."
"Yo, big mouth!"
Everyone looked up as Raphael came flying down through the air at Jammerhead. "Thanks for the tip."
Raph's foot connected with Jammerhead's forehead, knocking him back. Before he could get very far, a quick swipe with his sai cut the main computer on Jammerhead's belt in half. All around them, the Street Phantoms were suddenly tangible again.
"Nice one, Raph," Leonardo praised, landing beside Splinter.
"Guys!" Donnie cried out.
"My sons," Splinter said in relief, as Leo went to town on the Phantoms, kicking each one of them back away from his sensei.
"Let's take care of these clowns so we can get out of here," Raph called out, moving on to help his brother out. "This place gives me the creeps."
"It's called Oroku Park," Don explained, joining in on the fray. "If you can believe that, and has something to do with Karai and the Foot."
"We know," Leo replied casually, slicing away one of the Street Phantom member's arm rifle with his ninjaken. "This park is supposedly under the jurisdiction of the Foot Police."
With a flying kick, Leonardo finished off the last Street Phantom. "I know this is going to sound strange," he said, looking between his master and Donatello. "But this is the year 2105. We were brought here by some kind of accident involving a Time Window. Apparently, April and Casey have a great-grandson who owns a mega-corporation called O'Neil Shelltech that owns part of this city."
"Yeah," Raph chimed in. "The Foot also own a huge chunk of this place, and actually work on the side of the law."
Don's eyes went wide. "That's a lot to take in," he said, before looking to his sensei. "And I'm usually the one who figures this stuff out."
"Ah, you two just got here," Raph replied dismissively. "We've been stuck in this place for hours. The tin can flying that hovercraft said something about us coming here at different points, or something."
Splinter's eyes drifted upward as the Hovershell descended to rest about fifteen feet or so over their heads.
"We still have to locate Mikey," Leo said, putting his swords away.
"Then let us go," Splinter said, as the Hovershell landed. "We can learn more about this place later, as well as thank our mysterious new benefactor."
"Good news," Serling said, as they boarded. "A message came in from Master Cody over the Wired. Apparently, someone posted a holo-vid file of someone in a Retroville arcade. He believes it may be your missing brother."
"Then it's time to kick some shell," Raph said eagerly. "If this is how the future's treatin' us so far, Mikey's gonna need all the help he can get."
{} {} {} {} {}
Retroville was located in the lower part of Uppertown Plaza, meaning Michelangelo hadn't gone far from the coordinates that pinpointed his landing in 2105. Serling parked the Hovershell in a spot near the arcade.
"And do hurry," he instructed. "This hover zone charges by the minute."
"Yeah, whatever," Raph griped, leaping out through the hatch. "Keep your tin-plated pants on, Buckethead. This won't take long."
"Spread out and search the area," Leo instructed once they were all together. "Michelangelo couldn't have gotten far."
"Be ever alert of danger," Splinter warned. "There is no telling what he may have encountered on his own in this place."
Leo decided to check the arcade first. It was the last place Mikey had been spotted, so there were probably clues there to point him in the right direction. Given how many aliens appeared to be inhabiting this city, and the fact that they didn't stand out the same way as they had in their own time, it would probably be better to go in as though he were a vacationing tourist.
Even if the name Shell-Ri La sounded silly to him.
The inside of the arcade was noisy. There were all sorts of machines, emitting lights and noises that actually made Leo hesitate for a moment. Nothing in here looked familiar, but then Leo had to remember that he was a century away from his own time. 'Retro' for this place probably referred to somewhere between twenty and thirty years.
"Excuse me," Leo asked, walking straight up to the human woman behind the counter. "I was wondering if you'd seen my brother. He looks... a lot like me, actually."
Without flinching, the woman pointed toward an area in the far back, where a crowd had gathered en mass. "He's been here for hours," she said. "Highest score on the machine yet."
"What?"
Leo followed the direction she was pointing toward, and slowly nudged his way through the cheering crowd.
"Tripped!" someone called out.
"Breakstylin'," another agreed.
Michelangelo was standing on top of a raised platform. Holographic cubes with symbols encased in them rose up all around him in time to the beats of a song coming from the game machine in front of him. Mikey was flipping, twisting, and turning all over the place, striking each cube as it rose higher up, causing them to disappear. A voice from the machine cheered him on in time with the rest of the crowd. As Mikey finished with a one-handed flip, a hologram projection of a gorgeous human female appeared next to him.
"That was amazing," she gushed. "You're a real professional dancer now."
The crowd seemed to agree. "Thank you! Thank you!" Mikey called out, blowing them kisses. "I'll be here all weekend, or at least until I can find my bros. Now, who wants to see me do another one?"
The crowd went ballistic. "Mikey!" Leo called out above the din. "Mikey!"
"Leo!" Mikey shouted back, overjoyed. "Hey, everyone! Look down there. It's my bro, Leonardo. How about giving him a big hand?"
Everyone applauded, and began chanting Leo's name. "Leo, this place is incredible," Mikey said, jumping down next to his brother once the crowd cleared away enough space for them. "Nobody is the least bit surprised that we're turtles. I actually got to eat in a real restaurant, and didn't even have on a trench coat. The folks here are really friendly. Can we please stay for just a little while longer? Please, pretty please?"
"Mikey," Leo said impatiently, cutting him off. "We have to regroup with the others. Everyone assumed something horrible had happened to you."
"Horrible?" Mikey couldn't have looked more shocked. "I've been having the time of my life. Everything is great here. I never want to leave!"
"Come on," said Leo wearily, grabbing Mikey by the back of his shell. "Let's find the others."
"Goodbye, everyone!" Mikey called out as his fans gave him a final round of applause. "I hope to see you all again soon."
{} {} {} {} {}
"He was doing what?" Raph snarled, reaching out to choke Mikey with his bare hands.
"Easy, bro. I was just having a little fun." Mikey dodged out of the way as the others helped to restrain Raphael. "It's not my fault you couldn't play nice with the locals."
"We've been fighting our shells off since we got here, and all you were doing was jumping around on a stage in front of a cheering audience?"
Splinter smacked Raph lightly with his walking stick. "Enough," he warned, as Raph was forced back into his seat by Serling's driving skills. "The important thing is that we are together again. Let us focus on that, and try to make sense out of everything that has happened."
"I still can't believe this is the future," whispered Don, gazing out at the Neo-Manhattan skyline. "Everything looks so different."
"A hundred years has passed," Leo concurred. "There are Triceratons living on Earth now. I've seen them, and all sorts of other aliens, too."
"And people think we're just another minority group now," Mikey added happily. "Do you think this means we'll get some sort of government benefits package?"
"We've arrived," Serling said, bringing the Hovershell to a rough stop. "I trust you've all thought to smarten yourselves up."
No one bothered to answer as the hatch opened. "Ordinarily," Serling went on, as they exited out into the night. "Master Cody wouldn't be allowed visitors, much less at this hour."
"Sounds like a weird way to treat a big-shot CEO," Raph commented.
All five of them stopped dead in their tracks as their eyes landed on the building Serling had brought them to. The silver robot was brought to a stop forcefully by colliding with Raph's shell.
"Watch it, transistor breath," he warned.
"What is this place?" Leo wondered.
"This," Serling explained, righting himself. "Is Master Cody's newly remodeled private penthouse, known to the city at large as the Kame Dojo."
The house looked like something right out of feudal Japan, except for the fact that someone had shaped it to be a geodesic dome. The upper half had been designed to look like a turtle's shell, while the lower half resembled a Shinto shrine. There was even a torii in front, and a koi pond for decoration.
Looking over the side, Leo saw they were actually resting on top of a massive skyscraper. "Whoa, long way down," Mikey noted, peeking over the side next to him.
"Come," Serling said, passing under the torii calmly. "The master is waiting."
Everything about the inside of the Kame Dojo looked like it came from a museum. The turtles and Splinter gazed around the oversized foyer in wonder as the robot spoke.
"I'm sending word to the master now," Serling informed them. "Please try to refrain from breaking anything."
"Look at this stuff," Don said, pointing to a tapestry hanging on a wall. "This looks like it came from Shredder's lair."
"And this looks like one of Casey's hockey sticks," declared Raph, pointing at the opposite side of the room. "And his mask."
Both had been mounted with reverence. "Isn't that one of those Utrom exoskeleton thingies?" Mikey asked, gesturing to a casing further down.
"Yes," Serling mused, unimpressed. "The O'Neil-Jones family has a reputation for being pack rats."
Serlings eyes darted toward Splinter. "No offense meant."
"Master Splinter," Leo called out, sounding very worried. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this looks like the Sword of Tengu."
Splinter marched over to where Leo stood at once, joined by the others. A curved, ornamental katana was resting on a stand. The blade appeared to be made of the same type of metal, and carried the mark of being from eleventh-century Japan. Someone had made a few modifications to it, however, including a smaller blade sticking out from the underside of the hilt. Despite these changes, it nevertheless bore a remarkable resemblance to the Utrom Shredder's infamous weapon.
"It would appear so," Splinter said, eying the glass casing where the sword was being kept.
"But how?" Mikey wondered. "I thought we destroyed it."
"This world has many mysteries," Splinter replied warily. "And it has been said that knowing too much about one's future can be too great a burden."
"Everyone," Serling called out, interrupting them. "I would like to introduce you all to Master Cody, heir to the O'Neil-Jones corporate empire, and CEO of O'Neil Shelltech."
Everyone turned, and looked in shock as a boy of about eleven descended the stairs. "It's you!" he cried out excitedly, grinning from ear to ear as he ran up to greet them. "It's really you. I can't believe you're all really here!"
Michelangelo was the one who broke the stunned silence. "Okay," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Wasn't expecting that."