Crossing the Rubicon

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT or any of its copyrighted characters.

Chapter 1

"Unidentified flying object in sight, sir," the black ops agent announced.

Agent Bishop looked up in the sky. Surely enough there was an unidentified ship in the air that absolutely did not match the signature of any manmade aircraft.

He and the rest of his men were in the forests of upstate New York late at night. A few hours ago he had gotten word that there was some sort of alien presence in the area and he certainly did not want to squander the opportunity to capitalize on bringing the UFO in for further examination.

"Excellent," Bishop smiled. "You know what to do."

The black ops agent raised his rocket launcher, taking careful aim. Pulling down on the trigger, he opened fire, unleashing an explosive rocket which flew through the sky and exploded on impact with the alien aircraft.

With a sputtering noise, the alien airship dove down towards the ground. Taking careful note, Bishop noticed that a small escape pod exited from the craft and flew towards a different location.

"All of you," Agent Bishop ordered his men. "Go in the direction of the main ship's crash landing and prepare to bring it back to base. I'll pay a visit to the escape pod in the meantime to greet our impromptu guest."

"Yes sir," the other soldiers nodded and went off in the direction of the fallen ship.

Turning around, Agent Bishop took out a tracking device Baxter Stockman had made for him. Sure enough, the small pod appeared on the readings.

In no time at all, Bishop was running through the forests at blazing fast speeds. In the distant past, he was nowhere near capable of such physical feats. However, thanks to the changes he had undergone at the hands of gray aliens a long time ago, he no longer had conventional human limitations to stall him.

Before long, the secretive government agent finally reached the escape pod which had crashed into the forest floor.

"Well well," Bishop walked towards the pod. "What do we have here?"

Bishop stopped as he noticed smoke bursting through the door of the escape pod. It was then that the door finally opened up to reveal the being inside.

"Hello there," Bishop smiled sadistically.

oooo

Deep in the sewers of New York City, Splinter sat in meditation as the rest of the Turtles went about their day to day business. Training had been completed earlier in the day, leaving them free time for the rest of the afternoon.

Raphael was in the corner lifting weights while Michelangelo was reading comic books on the couch and Donatello worked on one of his inventions on another side of the room.

Leonardo, of course, stayed by Splinter's side. He too was deep in meditation.

Splinter…

Master Splinter held his head in mild pain, sensing something greatly out of the ordinary.

"Master Splinter, are you okay?" Leonardo opened his eyes, taking note of what was going on.

"I sense a presence," Splinter got up.

"I felt it as well, sensei," admitted Leo.

Splinter… Turtles… I need your help…

This time it was a distinctively female voice.

"Whoa!" Raphael got up. "What the shell is going on here?"

"I heard it too!" Michelangelo put down his comic book. "We under mystical attack again?"

"No, my sons," Splinter shook his head. "The Foot Mystics have long been destroyed. The voice which cries out to us is in trauma… in pain…"

Please… I beg of you to help us…

"Who are you?" asked Leonardo out loud, unsure of the right way to address the telepathic voice. "And where can we find you?"

I am not certain. All I know is that I was forced from the sky through an explosion.

"Are you… are you an alien?" asked Michelangelo.

You are correct. I am not from your world. My name is Arida and after scanning the mind of the man who took my child, I saw all of you in his memories. I know that you are the only ones who could help me so I was able, with great effort, to reach out to you.

"You're a telepath," Leo frowned. "And this man who took your child… what did he look like?"

"Leo, I get the ugly feeling it's our least favorite MiB agent," Raph crossed both arms.

This being wore a black uniform. He went by the name of Agent Bishop and I fear what he will do to my child after reading his mind.

"Called it," Raph growled.

"Arida," Donatello spoke up. "If I may ask, where are you? The sooner we know your location, the quicker we can go over there and get you to a safe spot."

I… I may be able to show you a mental image of where I'm at.

At once, all four Turtles and Splinter saw the image of where the telepathic alien was at. It was in a forest of some sort, except that there was a road nearby. Donatello narrowed his eyes as he saw a road sign close to where Arida stood.

"Pine Avenue!" Donatello exclaimed. "Let me go run a quick Google search on it and I'll be right back with the location!"

As Donatello ran off towards his laptop, the other three Turtles and Splinter shook their heads to clear the vision from their heads.

"Whoa, that was far out," Michelangelo admitted.

"I'll say," Leonardo agreed.

"Arida," Splinter spoke up. "We will come for you as soon as we can. However, in the meantime, you must promise us that you will hide yourself and not allow yourself to be seen by any of the local inhabitants."

"On this planet, most of the natives haven't reached the point where they'd be more… accepting of those different than themselves," added Leo.

I understand. And I thank you for coming to my aid.

With that, the telepathic transmission ended at which point Donatello came back with his hand-held GPS.

"I have some good news," Donatello told them. "This Pine Avenue is in a town only ten miles away from Casey and April's farm in Upstate New York."

"I'll give Casey and April a call," Raphael agreed, heading off for his cell phone. "We may need their help too."

"So, uh, who here wants to address the five hundred pound gorilla in the room?" Mikey asked. "I mean, besides Raph, that is!"

"I heard that, Mikey!" Raph shouted from halfway across the room.

"What do you mean, Mikey?" asked Leonardo.

"Well, we've already come back from the future," Michelangelo pointed out. "And decades from now, Bishop will become President of the Pan-Galactic Alliance. We know what future Bishop is going to turn into. But the Bishop of right now… he's not going to hesitate to put the kibosh on any of us!"

"I hate to say it, but Mikey's got a point," Donatello admitted, realizing that his brother was full of insight at the oddest of times. "We may as well go on this rescue mission with one hand tied behind our backs. We might hold back when dealing with Bishop because we know we can't alter the future, but he's not going to hold back against any of us. And when it comes to a guy like Bishop, it could spell the difference between life and death."

"That's not going to happen," promised Leonardo. "We won't kill Bishop. But we won't go easy on him either. There are lives at stake here and that mission takes precedence over giving Bishop any professional courtesy."

"I agree," Master Splinter added. "I will also join you on this mission, my sons. As a father, I know I too would not hesitate to try to rescue my children however I can. We must rescue Arida and her child with minimal damage to the future timeline but still do what needs to be done."

At that point, Raphael came back with his cell.

"I just got done talking to Casey and April," Raph confirmed. "They're in."

"Then it is settled, my sons," Splinter took hold of his cane. "We do this together."

As they prepared to head out, Donatello went to pick up his laptop only to see a familiar figure on the camera screen at the front door of their sewer lair.

"Uh, hey guys," Donatello told everyone. "There's something I forgot to mention today."

Quickly, Donatello went over to the main entrance and opened the door to reveal a large mutant crocodile.

"Today Leatherhead and I were meant to work on a joint project," Donatello admitted.

"Greetings Donatello," Leatherhead held a mutagen canister in his hand. "I believe you and I were going to finish our experiment on the mutagenic properties of this ooze?"

It was the same ooze they had gathered during a teamup with some Ninja Turtles counterparts from another universe. It was during that same adventure together that the Utrom Shredder Ch'rell had seemingly been vanquished for good.

"Sorry Leatherhead, something just came up," Donatello admitted.

"What is going on?" asked Leatherhead curiously.

"Well, right now we've just received a distress call from someone," answered Donatello. "If we don't make it in time, they could become victims of Agent Bishop."

"Bishop," Leatherhead's eyes narrowed in anger. "Even now he threatens another life?"

"Unfortunately," Leo nodded his head. "This time a mother and her child."

"What?!" Leatherhead was aghast. "Are there no depths to that man's depravity?"

"Afraid not," Raph replied.

"In that case I insist on coming," Leatherhead told the four Turtles and Splinter. "What happened to me in the past cannot happen to any other soul."

"Agreed," said Leo. "We could be breaking into Bishop's base again so we'll need as much help as we can get."

oooo

An hour later, the Turtles, Splinter, Leatherhead, and both Casey and April had arrived at the location of where the telepathic alien was supposedly at. All of them were aboard the helicopter Donatello had once taken from Agent Bishop and reformatted for the Turtles' own usage.

"Is this the place?" asked Casey.

"It's close," confirmed Donatello. "This open field is near the woods where Pine Avenue is located."

Leo took a look outside. There were no people, only grassy fields and multiple trees a few feet away.

"Alright guys," Leo turned to his brothers. "We go in and out. Find Arida and bring her back to the helicopter as fast as possible."

"She ain't connecting to us anymore with that telepathic voice," Raph noted. "Think she's alright?"

"Let's hope so," said Leonardo. "Alright guys, move out."

April opened the door and let all four Turtles depart from the helicopter.

"Good luck guys," she called out.

Within seconds, the Turtles were running through the forest floor.

"Think Bishop's men got to her?" asked Don.

"Hopefully not," Leo replied as the four traversed the forest, looking for the alien.

"You think she'd have reached out to us by now," Mikey pointed out.

"Yeah, if she's a telepath she should definitely sense that we're near," Don agreed.

"Uh, guys," Raph slowed down. "I think I just found out why she's not calling collect."

The Turtle with the red bandana stopped and pointed to the side. Next to a log was the prone body of the alien who called herself Arida.

She was an amphibious alien with white skin. Blue fins covered her body from her head to her back and even to her arms and legs. She possessed no hair but rather, a humanoid face which seemed to lack a nose. On her back was also a tail lined with the same blue fins on the rest of her body.

Leo walked over and knelt down. He wasn't exactly sure where to feel for a pulse, not knowing if her biology was anything like theirs.

"Hmm, good news is she has a pulse," Leo announced after putting his hand on her neck and her wrist. "Bad news is she's really weak and unconscious."

Leonardo lifted the body of Arida up.

"We'll have to take her to April and Casey's farm," Leo told his brothers.

oooo

"Uhnnn…"

The Turtles, Splinter, Leatherhead, April, and Casey stood next to the bathtub with bated breath as the female alien finally regained consciousness.

"I… I am alive?" Arida looked at her hands.

"Thankfully," Donatello told her. "You skin, which resembles that of most amphibians on Earth, was drying up and putting you in water was the only solution I could come up with on the fly."

"Thank you," she clasped Donatello's hand. "I do come from a world where my kind thrives on water. When we go for too long without water, we do grow weaker."

"First things first," Leo stepped forth. "I know you've just recovered, Arida, but what were you and your son doing on this earth?"

"My son, Urdu, and I were celebrating his day of birth," confessed Arida. "I had though it proper if we were to take a space cruise throughout the galaxy. It was this world in particular which caught my son's attention as we entered into your solar system."

"Yeah, talking about bad timing," Raph frowned. "Right now, earth ain't exactly known for giving out warm receptions to visitors from outer space."

"Unfortunately I learned that lesson too late," Arida admitted. "As soon as our ship was shot down, I put my son in the escape pod. I managed to escape this Agent Bishop's men but by the time I reached the pod, it was too late for my son."

"Trust us," Mikey told her. "For a guy like Bishop, nothing is sacred."

"Thankfully I come from a telepathic race," Arida told them. "I was able to read the mind of Agent Bishop and that is how I was able to find out about all of you."

"It's a good thing too," noted Leo. "We oppose Bishop and all he currently stands for. You're in good company."

"Yeah, you'll be safe in April and Casey's farm," Raph reassured her.

"I'm Casey," the long haired man waved.

"And I'm April," April O'Neill told her. "You can stay here with us while we get your son back."

"Thank you," Arida told them. "And… oh, I had no idea you two were betrothed. My congratulations to both of you!"

"Wait… what?" Casey was taken aback. "But we didn't tell you we were…"

"How did you know we were married?" April was also shocked.

After realizing that the alien in front of them was telepathic once more, April regained her composure a bit.

"Oh right," April realized. "I'd forgotten you said you were telepathic."

"Did I… do something wrong?" Arida asked, taking note of how both Casey and April had their kneejerk reaction.

"No, no," Splinter said to her. "You did nothing wrong. This is only a simple… cultural misunderstanding."

"You see, on our world, something like telepathy is not common," Leonardo explained further. "Prying into someone's mind to read their thoughts can be considered… invasive when it comes to this planet."

"I see," Arida bowed her head to April and Casey. "My apologies… I will not intrude upon your minds again."

"It's important that you keep a mental link open to us mutants," Leonardo told her. "We'll need all the help we can to navigate Bishop's lair and rescue your son."

"Yes, I believe I may be able to help," Arida told them. "Now that some of my strength has been restored, I will try to enter into the mind of my son Urdu in order to see what is going on. Please, Splinter, take my hand. The rest of you, make contact with him in order to see what is going on."

Splinter nodded and took Arida by the hand. The rest of the Turtles put their hands on Splinter's shoulders. In addition, Leatherhead also put a hand on Donatello's shoulder.

Very soon, they peered directly into the mind of her son Urdu and what was going on at the moment.

"Doctor Stockman," Agent Bishop went up to the scientist in the robotic body.

"Yes?" the four legged robotic monstrosity that was now Stockman replied.

"I have something for you," Bishop told him.

"Hmph, looks like you've caught another one," Stockman said dryly. "Shall I put him in one of our containers?"

"See that you do," Bishop agreed. "We begin dissection on this semi-aquatic alien tomorrow."

"Hmm, we'll most likely need you in fresh condition," Stockman mused as Bishop walked away. "I think I know what to do."

Stockman took hold of the young alien and forced him into one of the containers. He walked towards some controls and filled the large container with liquids.

"No!" Arida drew back, letting go of Splinter and severing the psychic connection.

"Master Splinter, I think it's time we left," Leonardo said to his sensei seriously.

"Agreed," Splinter nodded. "Arida, I promise we will do everything we can go return your child to you as safely as possible."

"Please help him," Arida pleaded. "I beg of you."

"We'll do our best," promised Leonardo. "Everybody, gear up. Casey and April, can I count on you to stay here with Arida?"

"You got it, Leo," Casey promised.

"We'll do our best to keep her safe," April said softly.

As the four Turtles, Splinter, and Leatherheaded towards the door, they all heard a low growling sound from the mutant crocodile.

"Something wrong, big guy?" Mikey asked Leatherhead.

"Agent Bishop has always been one who has gone too far in whatever he does," Leatherhead growled. "But his evil acts have gone on for too long."

"Leatherhead?" Donatello looked at his friend concernedly.

"I vow on this day that Bishop will no longer harm anyone ever again," swore Leatherhead. "And if it means I must end him myself, then I will do so gladly!"

Nervously, all four Turtles looked at each other in great consternation, suddenly realizing that the future, along with Cody Jones and the world of peace that Bishop had built later on, was potentially dangling on the narrow precipice of ruin.