Minyadagniriel
Come Again?
Winter 2026 October
"It came! It came! It's finally here!"
Mikey was startled out of his sleep and rolled off the couch, "What? What's here princess?"
Ava danced around the couch waving a large envelope in the air and stripping off her heavy snow pants, "It's my diploma! It took them long to send it though, I graduated months ago." She ripped open the cardboard covering and carefully pulled out a smaller manila envelope. "Here it is!" she said excitedly as she removed the official document, stamped and signed by New York City's department of education.
"Oh wow! Nice!" Mikey said, "It's too bad we couldn't go to an actual graduation for you. But I'll bake you a nice cake, okay?"
"Awe uncle Mikey, you don't have to…" Ava blushed, "I would have loved to have walked with other students…oh well." She knew her 'interesting' appearance would have frightened them…blue skin and all. A heavy set of clothes could only hide so much and her trip to the post office box topside was already risky.
"Well, we'll just have to have our own ceremony won't we?" Mikey then picked Ava up and squeezed her in a tight bear hug.
Her voice was cracking and weakened by the loving gesture, "Uncle Mikey…you're…squishing me!" She then slipped out of his grasp and handed him the document so he could look at it, "I guess college is next…"
"What's that about college?" Don said, poking his head out of the lab door.
"My diploma finally arrived," she replied.
"Oh really, congratulations little ninja," Don said proudly, "All those years of schooling paid off. Almost fifteen years old, valedictorian, and you have scholarship inquiries."
"Yeah, but I don't know if I'm ready for college yet. I was thinking about taking some time off from school and maybe start next fall instead of the spring semester."
"Don't take too much time off. A lot of students do that and they never go back," Don said.
"Well, it'll be enough time to get my scholarships together and choose a major at least."
Mikey handed her back the diploma and she put it back in the envelope, "I should show this to dad."
"Go for it, Leo will be glad to see it," Mikey said and he gently pushed Ava towards the dojo, "You know where he is…"
"As always." Ava walked over to the dojo and quietly slid open the door. She removed her wet socks, still cold from being out in the snow. She stepped onto the mats and in silence walked to the center of the room where Leo was seated and deep in meditation. She knelt down a few feet in front of him and waited patiently. He was highly dedicated to the act of meditation; nothing could bring him out of his state of calm…unless it was an emergency.
Nearly twenty minutes had gone by and Leo finally opened his eyes, seeing Ava seated before him. He nodded to her.
Knowing that to be her father's signal for her to speak, she placed her hands on the floor and bowed to him, "Daddy…I finally received my diploma," she said and held the envelope out to him.
Leo took the envelope and pulled out the papers inside. He read over the documents, "I'm so proud of you Ava. Nothing makes me happier than knowing my daughter is a successful young student, school and martial arts-wise. Your grandfather would have been proud also."
She sighed, "Thanks daddy. I wish grandpa could have seen this too…"
Despair briefly washed over Leo as he had flashbacks of his father. He took it very hard when the old rat passed away last year. It seemed the ninja master knew he was going to die just days before it actually happened and made sure to leave his final wishes. Leo became head of the family and granted the rank of ninja master. He accepted the responsibility and it seemed like his brothers were comfortable with the idea as well… even Raph. Splinter passed away peacefully of old age.
Trying to lighten the mood Leo smiled and handed back the package, "Have you decided anything about college yet?"
"Not yet. It's going to be tough to find a school. There aren't very many interesting online colleges to choose from. I wish I could go to a university," she said sadly.
"Maybe someday our 'type' will be able to attend." Leo knew what the future held, but he didn't want to reveal it to Ava just yet. Aliens did go to college in the 2100s.
During meditation, Leo had contemplated telling Ava the entire story of her real parents. She only knew that she was adopted and thought her blue skin was a result of a medical malady. She figured people feared her because of it, causing her to have a pretty sheltered life in the sewers with the turtles. Ava only asked about it once when she was seven…about the same time she asked questions about the 'birds and the bees' and Leo promptly sent her to Donny for explanations. None of the turtles wanted to tell her until she was older about the ongoing war and her parent's deaths.
Leo held his tongue, he would tell her in the near future. Right now was a special day for her and he didn't want to ruin it. "Why don't we have quick session?"
"Okay," she agreed and stood up, "I'll get my sword."
That evening…
"Oh man, daddy practically drove me into the ground. I don't think I'll ever beat him in a match," Ava whined and bit into her apple pie. "This is really good uncle Mikey."
"Thanks, I figured it was the least I could do after the cake exploded in the oven. That's never happened to me before so don't tell anyone. I must have skipped an ingredient."
"You're still a good chef," she said.
"Thanks! And don't worry about your dad; he's always been a tough opponent. I've only taken him out a few times in my entire life and usually he was sick or very tired. So I guess technically I've never beaten him fairly…heh! I think Raph's the only one who's actually given Leo a run for his money."
"Maybe I should get advice from him then," Ava said thoughtfully.
"I don't know if you wanna go there. Raph's a crazy tough teacher; you should know that by now."
"Maybe tough love is what I need…"
As if on cue, Raph appeared in the kitchen, "I heard my name, sup?"
"Oh nothing important…" Mikey quickly spat out, looking a bit sheepish. He was waving his hands at Raph.
One of Raph's brows rose, "Oh really…nothin' bout me bein' a crazy teacher I hope…" He eyed Mikey suspiciously.
"Um…heh…" Mikey slouched lower in his chair, "Just trying to make a point."
Raph approached his little brother, "Do I gotta break a limb to get it out of ya?"
Ava quickly interfered, "Uncle Raph, have some pie! Mikey made it to celebrate getting my diploma!"
Raph glanced at his niece and the plate she held with a slice of pie resting upon it, "As tempting as that is, shorty, I'm gonna pass for the moment in favor of plowing Mikey into the concrete."
"But it's so good!" Mikey tried to avert Raph's attention to the pie again.
Her uncle moved in on Mikey about ready to give him a good wallop.
"Uncle Raph, Mikey didn't mean anything by it! I was just saying how difficult it was to beat my dad one on one. Uncle Mikey said you're the only one who could match dad blade to blade!"
Raph lowered his balled up fist, "Oh…heh, yeah. I got to Leo plenty of times. Pissed him off. So what's the idea of me bein' a crazy teacher?"
"Well, I just suggested getting pointers from you," Ava admitted, "I don't really believe you're crazy."
Raph calmed himself and took the slice of pie from her, "Pointers huh? I can give ya some…" He grabbed himself a fork and sat down with them at the table, "For starters, Leo's got a thing for lecturing an enemy during combat. If ya can catch him in a monologue you may have a shot. I always throw insults at him. He breaks eventually."
"I don't think I can say stuff like that my father."
"Then ya ain't never gonna beat him. It takes a while, but riling him up until he loses focus works for me." Raph ate a spoonful of the treat, "Nice job bro, I'll forgive ya for the stupid comment since this pie is so good."
"How generous," Mikey said sarcastically.
Ava finished her piece and brought her plate to the sink, "Maybe I'll just put in some more old fashioned hard work."
"Leo will appreciate you for that. None of us ever put in extra effort unless master Splinter forced us to," Mikey said a little too cheerfully.
After she finished chatting in the kitchen, Ava collected another slice of pie to give to uncle Don since he was working again. It seemed that all he ever did was work on that time window thingy. She couldn't understand his obsessions with time travel and didn't believe in it herself. Still, she never criticized him about it…maybe she could ask him why he's so intent on fixing that weird machine.
She knocked on the lab door and waited to be let in.
The door creaked open, "Oh hey Ava, what's up?" Donny asked, half of his face covered in soot.
"I just wanted to bring you this," she said and held up the pie.
Don graciously took the plate, "Thanks. Mikey make this?"
"Yeah."
Donny walked back into the lab, followed by Ava.
He noticed she followed him inside, "Is there something bothering you?"
"Not really bothering me, just kind of curious about something." She glanced at the large machine in the back of the lab, "Why are you building a time window?"
"It's been a project I've had since before you were born. I suppose I want to create something extravagant…kind of like the great scientists from the last century. Like the steam turbine generator by Charles G. Curtis and the air conditioner by Alfred Wolff. I'd like to make my mark in history," he lied and took a bite of the pie.
"Oh…well once you finish it, do you plan to travel?"
"Who would I be to not try out my inventions?" he grinned.
"Can I go with you?" she begged, "I want to see places other than New York."
"Maybe. It's just a matter of being very careful with time. We don't want to disrupt the space-time continuum. Who knows what kind of damage can be done." He then placed his half eaten pie down on the desk and he picked up a pair of goggles. "I've got to continue my work. If you're gonna hang out in here, steer clear of the welding equipment. I already had one accident with Mikey today."
"Will do."
Don truly enjoyed Ava's company in the lab, just like when she was a little girl. She would get into things and slow his work progress back then. Now she was really interested in his inventions and assisted him when he asked. He even allowed her to reprogram some of the chips in the time window.
"It's getting pretty late, close to midnight," Don said, catching a glimpse of her yawning, "You should head off to bed missy."
"Yeah I probably should if I'm going to get up extra early for training tomorrow."
Don smiled, "You work almost as hard as your father, have a good…"
But Don never the sentence…
As he was about to start testing the window, it flickered and flashed, nearly blinding the two of them. Ava stumbled into a pile of boxes while Don collapsed to the floor, rubbing his eyes vigorously.
"Shit…" Don cursed, "That wasn't supposed to happen." He saw spots before his eyes as they were readjusting. The window was producing an image of what looked like white noise.
Ava climbed off of the now smashed boxes, "Uncle Don…did it work? Maybe you really did it!"
"Maybe, it's strange though. It didn't look like this before…"
"Before? What do you mean?"
Don mentally slapped himself for letting that slip and he continued examining the image. It eventually became that familiar swirling vortex he'd seen years ago. "Oh my god…Ava, get out of the way!" Don ran away from the portal and grabbed his niece around the waist, intending to get both of them out of the lab.
The portal flashed again and sent a stream of energy into the lab, throwing Don and Ava against a wall. Luckily Don's shell took most of the impact.
"What's going on?" Ava cried in a panic.
"I'm not sure, this is new for me," Don said and he tucked his niece behind him as he stare at the window. An object was beginning to form within the spirals…something…or someone was coming through.
Objects around the lab were sent flying, glass was broken, tools were strewn about, and the energy intensified. Don was being pushed backwards, nearly squashing Ava. He raised his hand up to block out some of the bright rays accompanying the traveler.
There was another great flash and then the energy finally stopped pouring out of the window. Several of the lab's lights had shorted out, leaving a dim afterglow, but Donny could still see. He rubbed his eyes once again and turned his attention to the portal…there was a traveler alright…
It was an oversized cat…very dark green skin, orange stripes, bright red hair running along the neck and down its tail. It was a druid! The animal suddenly sniffed in his direction, growled and leapt at Don with its claws bare.
"Shit!" Don screamed and he picked up Ava and jumped out of the way. He narrowly avoided the attack. With the animal still on his tail, Don picked up a chunk of heavy sheet metal and used it as a shield against those terrifying talons. The druid pushed against the shield with all its might, forcing Don up against the wall. Ava was huddled down on the floor, confused and fearful for her uncle.
"Ava run! Run and get the others!" Don demanded, still pushing back against the druid's weight.
Ava took off towards the door, leaving him behind to fight.
Don forced the cat away and found some his tools scattered around his feet. He quickly picked up a large industrial wrench and swung it at the animal. The wrench met with the cat's torso as it lunged itself at Don again.
"Shit you're aggressive…you remind me of my brother Raph!"
He faced off with the animal alone for only a few minutes until his brothers rushed into the lab. Ava remained in the doorway, watching as her father and uncles came to Don's rescue.
"Oh fuck Ava…I actually didn't wanna believe ya!" Raph shouted and he rushed in to help Don, who was pinned once again on the floor. He jumped in the air and sent a kick into the druid's side, sending it flying into Don's desk. Paperwork and schematics flew everywhere. "Donny, leave this thing ta me! I handled one before…" Raph said and he dodged a clawed attack. "One of ya get me a rope or somethin'!"
Leo sped over to Don and helped him up, "Are you injured?"
"Just minor bumps and bruises," Don replied, "Can Raph really handle that thing alone?"
"He knows how to fight them better than we do. Did it come from the time window?"
"Yeah, apparently the machine is up and running from the future side. The question is, 'Did Bishop send this creature or is there a third window?'"
"Bishop?" Ava questioned Mikey as he stood in front of her, trying to keep her from entering and getting hurt.
"Um…" Mikey said, not knowing what to tell the confused teen.
As Leo escorted Don to the other side of the lab, Raph continued to fight with the creature. Both opponents were leaping all around the lab. The cat scratched and tore away at everything it touched trying to get to the turtle. It let out a guttural roar as it managed to land on Raph and sent its back claws into his thigh.
Raph let out a howl and screamed to his brothers, "Get me my sais, I'm gonna destroy this bastard!"
Just as Mikey was about to hightail it out of the lab to fulfill Raph's request, the time window flashed again, startling everyone except the two combatants rolling around on the floor pounding away at each other.
"Something else is coming through!" Don shouted.
Luckily Leo had one of his swords with him and he drew it, waiting to see what would happen…
The window flickered and spiraled…a figure began to appear. It leapt out of the window and landed gracefully on the ground.
"Oh shit…" Mikey said, "Pardon my French…not another one!"
Oh yes…another druid. This one was the exact same coloration as the first druid that appeared except it was more streamlined and far less shaggy in the mane. It also had a small pouch dangling from its neck. This one just stood in its place, looking at its surroundings.
"Why is it not attacking?" Don asked.
"I don't know, but we have to help Raph!" Leo said and he lunged towards the two fighters, raising his sword up in the air, getting ready to kill the attacking beast.
"Stop!" shouted a very feminine voice that did not belong to Ava.
Leo was about to bring down his sword when he noticed that the attacking druid paused, still leaning over Raphael, its claws still very visible.
"Did that second cat just talk?" Ava asked, stunned.
"Yep," Mikey replied.
All movement in the lab stopped except for the second druid and apparently it was a female.
"Kain, please," she cried, "Don't you realize who you're attacking?"
The larger druid called Kain sniffed at Raphael briefly and backed away, stepping slowly until he was align with the smaller druid, "It can't be…" he said, "Kalani, this isn't possible."
"But it is."
The turtles and Ava stared at the two druids, all confused until Leo stepped forward, sword still drawn, "Who are you and what do you want? Be careful of how you answer," he warned.
The female druid, Kalani cautiously walked up to Leo and sat down on her haunches, "My name is Kalani and this is my twin brother Kain. We're both druids of the Octavian star system. My brother is a warrior sent to seek out humans and safely transport them to New New York for repopulating."
"I don't get it," Mikey stated.
"We've been using a time window invented by the late Cody Jones to counter the devastation caused by a human by the name of Bishop."
Don swallowed, "We're familiar with the crisis. I've been working to complete the time window from this year. My brothers and I have…"
"I'm aware of your story. Actually, the mutants and aliens of the rebellion told us stories of your feats," Kalani interrupted.
Raph struggled to get to his feet. He was pressing a hand to the wound on his thigh, "What the fuck did he attack for then?" he said angrily towards Kain.
Kain growled, "I smelled a human and saw that other turtle standing between us. My job is to secure the human and kill its captor!"
"Oh well we'll have you know that Ava is not a prisoner and she is not a human either, well at least half of her isn't," Don said, mentally kicking himself. Ava didn't know any of this and surely will have a million questions. He looked at his niece; she was starting to look worried.
"What is going on daddy?" Ava asked.
Leo sighed, "It's a very long story…" he said without looking back at her.
"We have to bring her back with us. The future is in dire need of…" Kalani started.
"Ya ain't takin' her!" Raph shouted and he was about to rush in to attack once again.
"Please don't be so rash!" Kalani cried.
"Shut the fuck up!" Raph screamed and he lunged at the two cats.
Leo was about to stop Raph, but was stopped in his tracks when Kalani transformed herself into her humanoid form. The lab was silent…
Kalani looked very much like…
"Odessa…" Raph murmured to himself. He glanced over the druid. Her skin was darker than Odessa's, but she had the same facial structure and body, save for the golden plastron running up her front. Yes…plastron. It looked like the girl was wearing body armor.
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to reveal myself to you right away, but it looks like I'll have to go this route," she said, "Kain, you too…" She flicked her tail at him.
Kain sighed with annoyance, "Fine…" and he slowly transformed himself as well. He was a much larger druid than his sister with a very stocky yet strong build. He also had a golden plastron lining his front.
"Kalani, you look just like a druid we know. Odessa…are you guys related?" Mikey asked and he watched as she opened the little pouch that dangled from her neck. She pulled out what looked like a photo and she held it out to Raph, whom was reluctant to take it at first but he eventually did.
"Yes, Odessa is our mother…and this may or may not come as a shock to you, but the turtle in this photograph is our father…"
"What?" Leo and Mikey exclaimed in unison.
Raph and Donny just glanced at each other nervously.
"Let me see that picture!" Mikey cried and he ran up to Raph to look over his shoulder, "Raph, that's you!"
Leo took the photograph from Raph and glanced at it. It was an image of Cody and Raph together from 2105. It was taken just a few months after they arrived in the future. Cody looked so happy at that time. "Wait…wait…this has to be some sort of mistake."
"I don't think so Leo," Don said, "These two do share a certain resemblance to Raph, especially Kain. Same green skin color, same color plastron…Kain has your exact build bro." He glanced back and forth between 'father and son', "Yup, your build all right Raph and these two have your eye color. But we can be certain with a blood test."
"Blood test?" Kalani repeated.
"Yes. Would you allow me to extract some? It won't take but a minute."
The siblings both agreed, if it would help strengthen their trust with the turtles.
Don sifted his way through junk that littered the floor in order to get to his supply cabinet and dug through the drawers looking for sterile needles and other supplies. Raph joined his brother at the cabinet and started whispering to him.
"I thought ya said the chances for the embryos to survive were slim ta none on the girl's charts."
Don sighed, "That's what I assumed. Bishop's serum was so erratic that it killed a portion of the women. Odessa is an alien; she must have had some sort of resilience to its mutation. There are a lot of questions that need answering and I'm going to do everything in my power to get them."
To be continued…