The walk back to the cafeteria area was awkward. Mostly because Raph and Leo seemed to be trying to walk and keep the two younger turtles huddled between them at the same time. Even now, sitting down at a table with April and Casey, the two eldest still flanked them, keeping the two squished up next to each other.

Donnie sighed and got up, hard to do dramatically when you were squeezed in the middle but he managed.

"Where are you going?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know, to sign up for another tournament, maybe, I don't know what else to do with myself right now."

Leo stood, "Are you really considering entering another contest after what happened?" Leo asked in that 'I really think you need to reconsider this' tone of his.

"Yes." Donnie said, a little annoyed that he still had to justify himself to his older brother even when they weren't officially related.

"What kind of friend drags his teammate into a thing like that after they nearly got burned alive by a giant cat man?" Raph grouched, standing too.

"Not this one, Mikey is going home." Donnie said firmly.

Mikey's face fell "What? Going home? But I just got here!" He hopped out of his seat and ran over. "Please take me. I know I wasn't much help last time, but I can protect you better next time."

"This isn't about that, this is about you. You're a rookie and I don't want you getting dragged in over your head."

"If you won't take me, "Mikey started, running over and grabbing Leo and Raph before pushing them in front of Donnie, "Then take one of my brothers, They beat me in training every time, they can take care of you the way they do me."

Leo and Raph flinched at that last comment. Nether one really thought they'd done a particularly bang up job of that.

*Crash* "Get back here, you trespasser!"

Their attention was diverted to a blur of fabric running on four legs across the way and a group of security guards clamoring after it.

Leo and Raph exchanged looks "Was that-? Leo started to ask.

They dropped the question in favor of running over to check.

They stopped under a tree and started looking this way and that trying to figure out where the commotion had moved to.

Master Splinter dropped out of the foliage above them and straightened up, a small mouser tucked under his arm.

Donnie felt a rush of panic and threw himself behind a bush, How was he going to explain his appearance to his master?

Though really his first question was how Splinter had gotten past all that high-tec security.

Then he realized his first question should be ' How did he get here in the first place?' then he amended that to ' how did he even know to come?'

"Master Splinter!" The other three turtles exclaimed.

"How did you find us?" Leo asked.

"I used this." Splinter explained, hitting a button on the mouser, it opened its mouth and used it's hologram feature to show a small movie clip of Leo and Raph pausing outside a tunnel, watching a moment then moving into it. The scene changed to the two of them opening the portal and going through. "A large group of these broke into our home, I had to dismantle them to keep them from bringing footage of me back to wherever they came from."

That was worrying, The mousers had gotten into the lair? He didn't think they had trackers built in, so Splinter dismantling should have stopped them from revealing the lair to Baxter.

Well, that was the hope.

He watched the other turtles hug their father and sighed.

April walked up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just need a walk." He said, brushing her off and walking off.

He kicked a can out of his way as he tried to review his findings. A whole day dedicated to rebuilding his lab and what did it get him? He replaced his glider only for it to get shot to heck and gathered some parts that were unlikely to help him much.

All he'd learned was that Tigerclaw and Baxter had followed him, it would have been better if he'd just left the turtles back in the sewer.

Or would it? The mousers had found Splinter there after all, who was to say that the lair was any safer than the streets, Shredder had almost dumped a vat of chemical in there their first time around, who was to say he couldn't get another vat of the stuff after being deposited here. Had the Shredder crossed over too? If his minions made it, then Donnie would have to assume so.

Donnie was starting to come to an unpleasant conclusion, that his next move would have to be capturing Stockman and finding out what he knew.

Leo suddenly materialized beside him nearly causing him to jump out of his shell.

"Donnie." Leo said, "We need to talk."

"We do?" Donnie asked, confused.

"Our home was attacked by a bunch of robots. You know a lot about science going by your shopping list, which makes me think you probably know other people who know robots. And you have enemies, AND you were poking around our sewers."

Donnie knew where he was going with this. "You think those mousers were for me."

"Ah-ha! You do know them!"

"I do, and yes, it is possible that they were looking for me."

"Donnie you need to let me in on what's going on here, if whatever you're involved in is coming to the sewers then it's our problem too."

"Don't worry, Leo, It's not going to happen again, I'll take care of that."

Leo put a hand on Donnie's shoulder. "But who's going to take care of you? We can help. And we take care of our friends."

Donnie was about to answer when they were interrupted.

"Ah, Leo, Donnie, there you two are."

Master Splinter came up to them, effectively bringing their conversation to a halt.

"Yes, Sensi, What is it?" Leo asked respectfully.

"I would like to speak to Donnie for a few moments, please." Master Splinter answered.

"Oh, uh, sure." Leo said, backing away and leaving, glancing back over his shoulder at them as he did so.

"What is it, sir?" Donnie asked, not sure what his old teacher could want with him now.

"I wanted to ask you if you had made any headway in deciphering the mystery of these temporal peculiarities."

"Well, I-." He paused, "You know?"

Splinter smiled, " I do."

Donnie felt a large weight lift, "Oh, You have no idea how glad that makes me."

"Come, " Splinter ordered. "Let us walk, we have much to discuss."

(scene break)

Leo made his way back to his brothers, His spine straightened like an iron rod when he heard his name called.

"Leonardo." Master Splinter called, his voice cracking the air like a whip.

Leo stared at him, uncomprehending.

"Where did you run off to? It's time to go home." Splinter said firmly. The other three turtles flanking him.

Leo started to back away from them.

"Did you hear what I said?" Splinter asked again, it sounded like his patience was starting to slip after the stress of looking for his sons for 18 hours straight after a battle with little robots that were trying to eat his furniture.

Leo turned and ran away.

"Leonardo!" His father called after him, sounding angry. Leo ignored him and kept running.

He ran till he passed the spot where he and Donnie had been talking with the other Splinter, he ran till he spotted the two of them walking up the corkscrew path that climbed the mountain, he ran until he came to the edge of the mountain and ignored the path, clambering up the side of it instead.

He dug his fingers into the hard earth and pressed his feet into the rock, he ignored the cuts and kept climbing until he caught up with them.

"Look over the edge of the tall side and tell me what you see." Splinter said.

Leo climbed over the edge to see Don walking around the bend of the path.

No one would be able to see them there. Why was Splinter trying to get Donnie out of sight? And why were there two of them?

He glanced at Splinter. It looked like his Splinter. He glanced back down.

The other Splinter ran into the clearing with his sons at his heels. He was seething, but his angry look melted off when he looked up to see Leo standing next to his double.

Leo pulled on the double's ears, it felt.. Off. "Sensi? Where are you taking Donnie?"

"I wanted to talk to him alone, please leave, Leonardo."

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Leo looked back down, Splinter seemed angry again.

The double looked at him strangely, then smacked him off the side of the hill with its tail.

The synthetic skin wasn't much to stop the sting of the iron core and it whipped right past his stomach and kept going. Flinging his body away with full force.

His Splinter caught him mid-fall and landed back down gently.

Donnie came back around the bend and glanced around. "Did I just hear Leo?"

The double's tail wrapped around his neck and lifted him off his feet, choking him.

"DONNIE!" Mikey cried in anguish.

Rath grit his teeth and pulled out his Sias.

Donnie drew a rasp into the vacuum in his chest. "Why?"

Tears formed at the edges of his eyes, "why?"

His vision began to spot, and he scrabbled his fingers against the tail around his neck, feeling the metal core under the synthetic fur. His vision came in and out of focus, but he could see the unnatural sheen of the metal teeth and the razor thinness of the claws.

"It's not him."

He poked out the fake tooth he had inserted in the gap in his mouth and bit down, breaking the inner cases and mixing the chemicals together. Knowing he only had a few seconds to stop the reaction from burning his mouth off, he spat it into the fake's face. The acid melted through the fake tooth and burned through the fur on Splinter's face into the metal core underneath, melting it into a dripping goo. The bot screeched like it had been angered and let go of his neck, choosing instead to slam its tail into him.

He flew off the level path and hit the mountainside hard, rolling painfully down it until he scraped to a stop. The bot leaped down after him and tried to slam it's tail on him as it came down. He rolled out of the way and it smashed a large slab of rock out of the mountain, it lifted its giant paw to rip into him.

A large chain wrapped around its paw, pulling it back from its intended target.

"Get away from my friend, Melty face!" Mikey yelled, tugging back on the other end of the chain. Rath joined him in a mighty tug and they almost pulled it off balance.

Letting out a metallic screech of something like hate, the newly christened Melty face yanked its paw back and sliced through the chain. Its motion sensors picked up something approaching its side fast so it turned its head and opened its mouth. Bolts of energy blasted out in small bursts.

Splinter wove through the bolts, dodging them until he came up in close range, then lashed out, somehow managing to slash the machine in half.

The top half landed in its hands, it bent over like a Raptor and let out a screech.

The other half ran as fast as its two legs could take it towards Don.

Leo and Rath jumped in front of him, while Mikey tried to haul the still coughing turtle to his feet and get him to safety.

Rath leaped into the fray, engaging Melty face's bottom half and dodging its whip-like tail.

"We'll Keep you covered, " He called out as Splinter and the top half engaged in combat, "You two, get him out of here."

Leo turned and grabbed Donnie and Mikey's hands, pulling them into a run behind him and leading them toward the tournament grounds through the forest.

The Rat legs stepped out of Rath's attack range and grabbed him by the ankle with its tail. It flung him upward so hard he fell back down in a heap.

The bot went tearing into the woods. Rath pushed himself up and took up pursuit.

It chased them through the woods until it nearly caught up with them. Leonardo caught sight of it and let go of his kin's hands, stepping in front of them he pulled out his Katanas.

The bot got within a few feet of them before Rath lurched out of the shadows and grabbed its tail. Stopping it short.

Since it couldn't whip them it jumped in the air and tried to beat Leo out of the way with rapid-fire kicks.

Leo blocked all of them with his Katanas.

Getting his breath back Donnie stood up and tried to approach it from the side.

Seeing what Donnie was trying to do, Mikey grabbed one of its feet, leaving it dangling in the air.

Leo grabbed the other one, stopping it in its tracks long enough for Donnie to locate it's circuit board and shut it off.

Once they were sure it was safe the other three turtles let go, letting the bot fall lifelessly to the dirt.

Splinter ran up to them, "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yeah. We're ok." Leo said.

"I can assure I will catch up with the villain who thought to use my image to torment my kin and their friends." He seethed.

"Wow." Rath said, "I don't think I've ever seen him this steamed... I kind of like it."

"Allow to check your bruises." Splinter offered, turning to Don. He pulled back in shock.

"My son." He mouthed, flicking his gaze over each of his sons, he ghosted a finger over them counting reflexively.

"Who-"

"This is Donnie- I mean Donatello." Mikey cut in excitedly. "He's my bestest best friend in alllll the world and *ghaaassspp* "I just had the BEST idea ever. Can anyone say sleep over?"

"A what?" Rath asked.

"A sleep over, It's what all the human best besties do, at least on TV. Now that we've finally got a best friend, we've totally got to have a sleepover back at the lair. Pleeeeaaase master Splinter."

"I... Yes, I agree. A sleep over might be just the thing to help us recover from tonight." The old rat said in a daze.

"ALL RIGHT."

Mickey danced a dance of victory. Leo watched Splinter in concern. He'd never seen his father look so worried.

"DOOOOOOON!" Kairos appeared without anyone noticing and ran smack into Donnie crushing him into a hug.

"I was so worried. I saw the fight on my orb at the time palace, but it seems like I got here a few minutes late, are you ok?"

"Um, yeah, I think so."

"How about you and I go somewhere and figure this all out."

"Uh, No. I think I can manage things from my end."

"Don. Who is this creep?" Asked Rath. Something in him felt aggravated by the little man before him. If he hadn't known better he'd think he'd met that one before.

"Uh, this is Kairos, he's a time apprentice, he helps keep the timeline straight."

"So not only do you build machines I can't understand and travel to alien worlds... You also travel through Time? You really are a superhero. I KNEW IT!"

"Uh, not exactly Mikey, though I guess I have gone back in time before. "

"Well aren't you just a special little snowflake." Rath grouched. He still felt aggravated.

"I don't know if you should really be out by yourself Don. I mean, look what's happened already." Kairos said.

Rath shoved Kairos. "Yeah, we did all the saving while you hid in your time palace. Why do we need you again?"

Kairos's lips pursed. "I really think-"

"And I really think that it's fine, I'm ok, really." Donnie insisted.

His mouth tightened even more." Well... If you think so..."

"Don't tell me you're friends with that drama queen?" Raph demanded.

"No, I've only met him twice."

Rath nodded solemnly.

"Alright! Sleepover!" Mikey cheered.

"Donnie!" April called, she and Casey, ran over.

"Where did everybody run to? One second I thought we were getting along and then you guys all ditched us to run into the forest" Casey said.

Feeling emboldened by the appearance of his team, Donnie made a decision.

"Actually, I think I would like to go talk for Kairos for a moment. April, Casey, would you be willing to join us?"

"Sure." they both answered.

Kairos didn't seem pleased by this, but before he could come up with a reason against it, Donnie grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away.

"Alright Talk! What's going on!?"

"Don't be like that. I'm here to help you."

"Help! You came here to help? Then why don't you? I'm completely in the dark here and trying to put things together as I go along. First this thing, the Tigerclaw! " He pointed to the amulet on April's neck.

Kairos looked freaked out. "A Time capsule? How did you get that?"

"I found it in my bag, now if you want to help then EXPLAIN."

"Ok, that is a Time amulet, It can be used to collect some of the anomalies that got scattered out here after the uh, incident."

"What incident? Stop being so damn cryptic."

"I don't know if I should really tell you, I just want to protect you, Don."

"I don't want your protection... Whoever you are, I just want the truth."

"There was a time anomaly in your timeline, The Shredder was attempting to build a time machine. I went to go check it out and wound up in the crossfire in a turtle-foot brawl. I'm afraid the Time scepter was knocked around in the fight, It had far-reaching consequences."

"Like what?"

"It knocked you into another dimension. Now we're all stuck here."

"But... Why are we here then? Did we get knocked here from our original Timeline?" April asked.

"Unimportant, the important thing is that I need to round up the anomalies and repair the time scepter."

"Then you can return us to our timeline?"

"Yeah, But it's not going to be an overnight thing."

"Well, I can't fix the time wand, but maybe I can help you find anomalies, maybe I can build something to scan for them. I'll use the time amulet to show it what to scan for."

"Are you sure you can't help me fix the time scepter?"

"I don't think I can help you there, but I'll do my best to help you catch the anomalies." Donnie said.

The man got an odd look on his face, Donnie couldn't really read it, but he got the sense things weren't going the way the other man had hoped, Donnie would fix the scepter if he could, but he didn't know how.

"HEY NERD! ARE GOING TO PLAY TEAPARTY OVER THERE ALL NIGHT OR CAN WE GO HOME!" Raph yelled.

Donnie sighed, at least something in this dimension was the same.

(scene break)

Leo watched Donnie, Mikey, and the two humans watch TV. Donnie was fiddling with something electronic, Mikey and the human boy were having a popcorn fight.

Then he peeked into the kitchen to watch Master Splinter sit at the table with his head in his hands, he'd never seen him like that before. He felt a presence next to him and knew it was Rath.

"What's eating him?" his brother asked.

" I don't know."

After a minute of indecision, he entered the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Master Splinter? Are you alright."

"No... I can't remember... No, I can."

"Remember... Remember what?"

"The day at the pet store."

"Mutation day?" Rath asked, joining the conversation.

"Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was told that the turtles were being sold as a group because they bite."

Leo smiled. It was probably Rath that gave them that reputation.

"They were put in a white box and I didn't see them-you- again until after... But I did get a glance at them behind the counter before they were boxed... And now that I think about it... I could have sworn there were four turtles there."

"You mean-"

"HE'S OUR BROTHER!?

"Oh man, Mikey is going to freak."

"I wonder where he's been-"

"It is... More complicated than that." Splinter interjected.

That got their attention. "What do you mean?"

"Have you thought about how odd it is? The unlikeliness of another turtle, split from us, but schooled in the same arts, and the name..."

"Donatello? Wait... Isn't that another Italian painter?"

"One of my favorites. I have no doubt that if there was another turtle I would have given that name."

"But... What does that mean?"

"Is this some kind of trap?"

"I do not believe that is possible... And now that I know of his... Acquaintance... Who has such wondrous power as to bend time itself."

"What are you saying?"

"I am not saying anything... But I have to wonder... If he might have asked his friend to erase him from our memories."

"Why would he do that?" They all started and turned to see Mikey standing in the doorway with an empty bowl.

"Doesn't he love us? If he grew up with us he'd have to, he was so sad when Rath was mean to him."

"Way to go Rath." Leo snapped, " He might have changed his mind and decided to come home, and you chased him off!"

Rath cringed.

"Perhaps it was my fault, I restricted you all so much... Perhaps he felt this was the only way to get any freedom from me. I want you all to treat him warmly and make him feel at home, while I... I try to think of some way to approach this... Delicate problem.

Casey swaggered into the kitchen with April on his heels. "What's up with all you goons? you look like a funeral just happened."

April looked more sympathetic. "Are you guys still worried about that roborat Melty face? Don't worry. Donnie'll track its maker down, you can count on him."

"YEEEEEE!" Donnie smashed into the kitchen screaming, the dangling straps of his mask smoldering behind him.

He grabbed a fire extinguisher and bounded over the table back into the TV room.

Casey laughed, "If you can put up with the occasional fire."

April laughed a little too loud and held up two fingers close together. "Only small ones." she promised.

(scene break)

Donnie tossed and turned in his bed. He listened for the sound of Mikey's stilled breathing, and when he was absolutely certain he was the only one awake, he slipped out into the living room where the two humans were supposed to be sleeping, he found them sitting on their knees on the floor whispering to each other.

"You two aren't asleep either, huh?"

"Not really."

"I'm kind of a night owl."

"I keep thinking about this. And I think we could probably go out and find Stockman now."

"Now that's something I want to hear."

"What about the guys?"

"No see. That's the best part. See, we aren't going to tell them."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not sure they can handle it, you know all the stuff Stockman is capable of. We fought it bit by bit the first time, I don't think we could have handled it if we'd had all of his garbage lobbed at us at once."

"What's the big deal? Weren't you guys like born ninjas or something? "Casey asked.

"In a way- but you don't understand, we had to work through a lot of things to get to the point we were when you met us. Leo learned to pull us together as a team better, Mikey learned to focus more, Rath learned to harness his anger instead of letting it control him."

"He did?" Casey snorted, "are you sure?"

"Well, he got better at it. I just don't want to throw them in over their heads is all. Do you think the three of us could handle it?"

"Yeah, we could handle it," April said. "I just... Kind of wish we didn't have to alone is all."

(scene break)

Rath leaned closer. He still couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Are they sneaking out?" Rath jumped and spun to face Leo "Don't do that!" he said in a terse whisper.

"Maybe we should follow them."

Mikey opened his door and rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Why are you two whispering outside my room?"

"We think our guests are sneaking out."

Mikey dropped his hands to his sides "What?"

"There they go, they're leaving." Rath whispered, watching them.

"Well, we have to go get them, what if he decides to not come back." Mikey said in a panic.

"I vote we follow them, If they want to leave at this hour of the night, then they must be sneaking off somewhere... Right?" Leo reasoned.

"You got my vote, let's go." Raph agreed.

They followed the three to Casey's car and hung on the back, careful to keep out of sight.

They were surprised when they wound up in a warehouse district.

Donnie exited the car. "The readings come from here."

"All right, butt kicking time."

"Keep focused Casey." April chided. "This could be dangerous."

"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't make it any less fun."

"Are they part of a gang?" Leo asked.

"Sounds like fun, we should join." Rath retorted.

Leo glared at him, but said nothing as they slide off the car into the shadows.

They waited until the other teens picked a building and entered.

Then they ran up to the door.

Can you hear anything?" Rath asked, his ear smashed against the door frame.

"No." Leo said from the same position.

"Me either. They must have moved farther inside."

Leo pushed the door slightly ajar and peeked in, seeing no one he opened the door and the three brothers slid in.

"This seems bigger than I'd thought it'd be."

"Yeah, and emptier."

"Shh! You want them to notice and try to slip off?"

"Sorry."

Mikey stopped.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"A click. I think It came from one of those crates."

Mikey approached one and jumped up on a small box to reach the top.

"Mikey, stop horsing around, we aren't here for that."

"Hey, now I hear something too."

The box started whirring as Mikey lifted it up, the foot bot inside turned on as he did, the light from its eyes pouring out of the box.

Mikey hastily shut the lid and leaped away.

The lid went flying off and the bot jumped out. All around the warehouse boxes exploded in splinters of wood and flying lids as foot bots broke free.

"Uh, guys? Didn't you say there were only three robots the first time?"

"It looks like somebody's been working overtime." Raph observed.

"Get high." Leo ordered.

The three ascended the towers of crates until they wound up on the balance beams close to the ceiling.

The foot bots came after them and they took advantage of the high ground to take out as many as possible with Shuriken.

The bots started leaping on either side of the turtles, Leo sliced down the ones on one side and Rath took down the others. Mikey stayed in the middle and continued to rain down Shuriken on the ones below.

Mikey saw one of the ones on the ground pick up a crate and throw it, "Get down!" he called, moving out of the way. Rath was being pushed back by bots and couldn't dodge, he was knocked down. "RATH!" Mikey called. A 'humpth' from behind told him that Leo had been knocked off too, he turned to see nothing behind him. "LEO!"

Rath and Leo pivoted in the air maneuvering themselves to land on their feet and roll straight into another attack position.

Mikey felt a swell of panic welling up inside, he was being attacked on both sides with no backup.

He managed well enough at first, then he felt something wet and slimy land on his forehead.

He looked up to see another foot bot clinging to the ceiling above his head. Then a sharp stinging sensation pierced his brain and he lost control.

(end chapter)

Yo, me again with more recs-This time it's 'tab for a cause'. Just type that in and you should find their site. Every time you open a tab after selecting them opens a new tab with a small but not bothersome ads, the ad revenue is used to gain hearts, which you can donate to a charity of your choice(they usually have four or more to choose from), if you upload it you'll be donating three weeks worth of free water in no time. The tab pages are even customizable. It's great, check it out.