Emergency Exit

Rise verse

Leonardo had to say, time went faster than he would have thought. Raph proved to be a great training partner, one who loved training almost as much as Leonardo himself - that was, way more than his own brothers.

Not that he didn't miss his family. It was worrying that his counterpart hadn't found his way home. Now Leonardo was relying on Donatello and Donnie to somehow build a transdimensional portal that would fix things.

He knew it was a lot to ask for.

To keep his inner turmoil under control, he meditated even more than usual. At first it had surprised Donnie and Raph, but now they were used to it. Obviously it wasn't a common activity for them or their father.

This Splinter was still a mystery to Leonardo. Once, when Leonardo had been training by himself, he had found the rat gazing at him, an aura of sadness surrounding his round body. Leonardo's surprise must have been visible, because Splinter had shrugged.

"You remind me of my grandfather," the old rat had grumbled.

Leonardo hadn't dared to ask whether it was a good thing or not, and Splinter had left with a sigh. A few seconds later, Leonardo had heard the distinctive music of Splinter's favorite commercials.

He hadn't told anyone. Neither Raph nor Donnie spoke about their father's past and Leonardo didn't want to be intrusive.

The rest of Leonardo's time was spent reading the many comic books in the lair, or playing videogames with Mikey and Donnie, or scouting the city with their hosts and April and trying to gather as many new cheese flavors as he could for his father.

In this as in so many things in his life, patience was key.

2003 verse

Leo's attempts at glory were going to be the end of them all.

At least that was what Raphael kept repeating, and Donatello had to say his brother made a compelling point.

Raphael was at the end of his rope, it was obvious to Donatello. So far Leo had tried challenging Hun thrice, with plans going from ill-advised to completely insane, and Raphael had begged Donatello in his non-begging Raphael way to send Leo back to the universe he belonged before something truly dramatic happened, like Leo deciding to go for the Foot and Shredder.

Donatello has said no to Raphael's request about sedating Leo, and convinced Raphael to help him build the portal instead.

His brother was good at mechanics, and mechanics was good for him.

Donatello also kept communicating with Mikey's kusari-fundo. He needed to understand how mystical magic could be used to travel across the universes in order to replicate what Leonardo's weapon did. The fire demon inhabiting Mikey's weapon was remarkably unhelpful, though. Donatello suspected it had zero knowledge of science, mystical or not, and hid his ignorance behind rude statements.

So all in all, it was business as usual for Donatello.

In the meantime, Mikey had completed his fresco. It was a true masterpiece, and Donatello couldn't wait to see Leonardo and Michelangelo's faces when they would see themselves painted on the ceiling of their home.

For this purpose, he kept working as hard as he could and hoping for a breakthrough.

Leo wasn't in the best of moods as he went in circles inside this foreign lair.

His last plans had been brilliant. Especially the very last one, where he had disguised as a glorious old lady and managed to get close enough to Hun for landing a punch in his face.

What had come next was less glorious, but Leo was still alive, right?

That in itself was an exploit that his cursed sword should have appreciated more.

However, after his last attempt Mikey had very nicely but very clearly stated that although he loved his brother dearly and would support any of Leo's initiatives, he felt that this was going a bit too much out of control and maybe Leo could take a break before Mikey lost his sanity.

Pretty please.

This was the reason why Leo went in circles inside the lair instead of trying his next masterful plan.

Leo sighed. Maybe a run into the sewers would help his gloomy mood.

He was heading for the elevator when he found himself face to face with Raphael.

"Where are you going?" the red-masked turtle asked.

His whole body language screamed 'Don't mess with me.' In other circumstances Leo wouldn't have cared, but he felt really down these days.

"I'm only going for a walk," he said in a stiff tone. "Can't a turtle go for a walk once in a while?"

Raphael's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you're just going for a walk?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "So what, now you're my babysitter or something?"

When Raphael didn't answer, Leo frowned. "Oh come on!"

"I'm just saying," Raphael said, blushing a little for some reason, "I wanted to relax today. No rescue missions."

Donatello and Mikey had stopped their respective activities and were watching them with curiosity. The only one missing was Splinter, who must be resting in his room after the day's teaching.

As if on cue, Splinter left his room to watch the scene too.

Leo cringed inside.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to find trouble in your sewers. Unless you have giant wild alligators or something." Leo chuckled at this ridiculous thought.

"Actually…" Donatello began.

But Raphael cut him off. "How about you go meditate instead? Uh?" he asked Leo with some hope.

Leo raised incredulous eye ridges. "Me? Why would I do that? It's boring."

Raphael shook his head. "Not at all! It's a very ancient and very powerful art. You should try it."

Donatello joined his fingers. "Can you repeat this? I want to record it for Leo's next birthday."

Raphael glared at his brother. "No."

Leo watched them, a bit puzzled. Then he shrugged. It was none of his business. "Okay, nice conversation. I'll see you later. Bye!"

Raphael didn't move an inch, and Leo wondered if he was supposed to challenge him to pass.

Would it count as an exploit for his sword?

Splinter intervened before Leo could make up his mind on this important matter.

"I wanted to go for a walk too. Leonardo, maybe you'll do me the kindness to go with me?"

As surprised as he was by the request - and by the fact an adult was calling him by his name - Leo didn't want to risk insulting his guest by saying no. "Uh, sure."

Raphael reluctantly got out of the way. If invisible clouds of disapproval had a name, Leo knew what it was.

The blue-masked turtle was relieved to leave the lair.

Both he and Splinter walked in silence for a while, and at first it was relaxing.

When silence stretched and stretched, though, it became awkward. Leo had no idea what he was supposed to do. Was Splinter happy to just walk beside him? Was it how adults worked?

In the end, the turtle couldn't stand it any longer and decided to start a conversation.

"So what's the weather like today?"

He almost slapped himself at the ridiculousness of his question, but everything was better than silence.

And he didn't know what else to say to that stranger.

"It must be raining outside," Splinter said calmly, pointing at the pipes above them. "They're noisier than usual."

Leo nodded and waited for Splinter to ask him a question - that was the way conversations were supposed to work - but Splinter didn't.

They were back to the start.

An idea, Leo needed an idea before he died of awkwardness.

His brain supplied one and it was in his mouth before he could think better of it.

"Alright, what about a truth and dare game?"

Splinter raised an eyebrow. "Truth and dare?"

Too late to reconsider. Leo gave Splinter his brightest grin.

"It's a game. A fun game. At least when I play it with my brothers. Not to say that you're not fun to play with. You probably are. Are you?"

Now he was rambling. Great.

"I guess we will find out," Splinter said, amused. "What are the rules?"

"Oh, they're easy. You choose truth or dare. If it's truth I'm asking you a question and you must answer trustfully. If it's dare I'm challenging you to do something and you must do it or lose the game. Then it's my turn to choose."

Splinter seemed to consider that. "Truth."

"Alright. Is Raphael always that obnoxious?"

Splinter smoothed his beard. "I wouldn't say he's obnoxious. I would say he's off-balance. Not unlike you."

Leo ignored the remark. Adults weren't supposed to notice those things anyways. "My turn. I choose truth."

"Do you think my sons play that game too? Especially the dare part."

Leo considered this. "It's likely. After all, it's half the fun! Like I would never have thrown myself off a fifty-story building without that game, right? And I would have missed so much!"

Splinter's fingers tightened on his cane just a little.

"Your turn," Leo pointed out.

"Truth," Splinter said, very calmly.

"Ha! I have a good one. Let's say someone wanted to get back at Raphael for… reasons, like him being annoying or something. What would upset him more? Hiding his food? Stealing his weapons? Putting itching powder in his bed? Theoretically speaking, that is."

"I see," Splinter muttered.

"You have to tell the truth," Leo reminded him, just in case.

"Well, I think that preventing him from being with his brothers would be the most efficient way to upset him."

Leo froze for a second as guilt overwhelmed him. "Okay, you win. I don't think I want to play anymore. Maybe we could go back to the lair?"

"I've answered two questions and you only answered one," Splinter objected. "It seems unfair."

"Right. Then I say dare, and then we call it a tie."

Leo had enough truth for the day. And besides, he knew the responsible adult who trained his sons every day wouldn't ask him to do anything dangerous.

"Ask for my sons' help next time you want to go on a mission," Splinter said softly.

Leo grimaced. "Can we say I lost the game instead?"

Splinter raised an eyebrow. Leo threw up his arms.

"Fine! I will. But only once."

"It's all I'm asking." Splinter smiled, as if he knew something Leo didn't.

But there was something Leo had learnt today: don't play truth and dare with adults.

No fun.

Rise verse

Donnie watched his hard work with great satisfaction.

The wires and tubes and flashing lights composed an artful pattern Mikey would have been proud of.

Under a glass cloche next to it, Raph's weapons awaited their impending doom.

Donnie pulled the lever.

Sparkles and loud noises filled the room. Donnie waited proudly for the portal to activate.

Smoke filled his lab, and still Donnie waited.

Now everything was silent. Ever so slowly, Donnie's shoulders sagged.

It appeared that his experiment was a failure.

Like the one before, and the one before the one before, and the one before the one before the one before.

Disturbing feelings like sadness and concern tried to invade the sanctuary of Donnie's mind.

He repelled them. Was Leo giving up in this other universe? Of course not. Donnie wasn't going to give up either.

A knock at the door provided a welcome distraction.

"Come in!"

It was Leonardo. He looked concerned, as if smoke and loud noises were a reason to be concerned.

"Everything alright, Donnie?"

"My inventions never backfire," Donnie said, straightening up automatically. "This is only a minor setback."

He waited for Leonardo to rub it in his face, but Leonardo didn't.

"Do you want to tell me about your work?" he said instead.

The offer took Donnie aback. "Tell you? About my work? My inventions? My genius?"

Leonardo smiled and sat on a miraculously spared chair. "I'm listening."

Donnie's eyes filled with tears. "Of your own volition, you come here to listen to me?" He joined his hands. "The universe has finally answered my prayers."

Leonardo pointed at Donnie's attempt at a transdimensional portal. "So what is this about?"

And Donnie told him, in long-winded sentences he usually kept for himself.

Leonardo was a great listener. He inserted 'Oh' and 'Hmm' and 'I see' and 'Amazing' into all the appropriate places.

Donnie talked and talked, explaining what he did and why in theory it should work and how it didn't, in reality, work, to such an extent that he finally realized what was wrong.

He stopped mid-sentence and turned to his machine. There. It was so obvious.

Slowly, delicately, he disconnected a wire. Slowly, delicately, he reconnected it somewhere else.

Sparkles, loud noises and finally a bright blue light filled his lab.

"I did it! I'm the best!" Donnie shouted. He glanced at Leonardo. "I mean, of course I'm the best. Of course," he added.

Leonardo smiled. "Congratulations, Donnie."

Donnie bowed gracefully, like the winner he was. "Thank you."

A few moments later, all four turtles stood in Donnie's lab. Donnie showed them proudly his great invention: the transdimensional portal.

Its design was simple. Wires framed a 144-sided polygon of bright blue light. It was wide enough that Raph could jump through.

It was also linked to the glass cloche which sheltered Raph's weapons, its compass and energy source.

"Where does it go?" Michelangelo asked, looking at the portal with some mistrust.

Donnie cleared his throat. "I'd say somewhere closer to our brothers."

"You're not sure?" Michelangelo grimaced.

Donnie crossed his arms. "Your lack of confidence is offensive. It's a portal. You wanted a portal, right?"

Michelangelo muttered that no, not exactly. He would rather have a portal leading them home than any portal at all, but Donnie ignored that.

Raph wasn't admiring the portal properly either. He was looking at his weapons with a worried expression.

"Donnie, what are you doing with them?"

"Nothing! Nothing, my dear brother. Also, we have about thirty seconds left before they self-destruct and the portal closes."

"WHAT?" Raph yelled.

"Twenty-seven."

"I say it's worth a try," Leonardo said.

"Twenty-four."

"Sure, you go and tell me." Michelangelo tried to walk away, but Leonardo grabbed his arm.

"Nineteen."

"Thanks for everything, Donnie," Leonardo said, and he and Michelangelo jumped inside the portal.

"Fourteen."

Raph, who had been sweating bullets since Donnie had talked about decision-making, snapped out of his indecisiveness.

"Let's go find our brothers!"

And he jumped inside the portal, quickly followed by Donnie.

In the deserted lab, a blue 144-sided polygon was shining. A bulky arm suddenly emerged from it and snatched the nearby weapons from under their glass cloche.

The light shaping the portal went out.

In the living room, Splinter sighed. Finally some peace and quiet.

2003 verse

Donatello couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him, the portal he had been working on for days - and that he had moved from the garage to the main room of the lair once the structural work had been done - had come to life.

It was shining a bright blue.

"Guys!"

Raphael, Mikey, Leo and Splinter - who had just come back from the sewers - gathered around him.

"I think it's working! It found a mystical signal!" Donatello could barely contain his excitement.

"Don, are you sure this thing leads to Mikey and Leo?" Raphael asked.

"Well, of course not. But it's our best chance."

"So comforting," Raphael muttered.

"I'm giving it a try!" Leo exclaimed. Right before he jumped inside the light, though, he glanced at Splinter. "And I'll be happy if you decide to help me on this mission to find my brothers again," he said solemnly to Raphael and Donatello.

Then he joined hands with Mikey and both of them jumped together.

Donatello tilted his head towards Raphael.

"Fine!" His brother threw up his arms. "If that's what it takes."

Donatello grinned in excitement.

Brothers to find. A brand new universe to explore.

He wouldn't miss it for the world.

As his sons disappeared inside the blue portal Donatello had created, Splinter's shoulders sagged.

He wasn't even surprised when the light died out.

Now all four of his sons were missing, and all he could do was wait and trust them to come home safely.