Mutants and Miracles (Editor's Cut)

by Zarius

The adventure of the Fab Fred Wolf four continue, in these episodic, and interlinked, instalments that carry on where the 2009 movie Turtles Forever left off!

12. How It All Began

High atop the rooftops of the hazy New York Skyine, four brothers known collectively as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, were facing a pressing problem as one of their number sought to alleviate the boredom of an evening surveillance mission.

"I'm being totally straight with you bro" Michelangelo said with a hint of apprehension.

"It's THIS size" he continued, forming a small circle with the tips of his fingers.

"That's impossible" his brother Leonardo replied. "I could run a few tests on it" Donatello suggested

"Don't you DARE" Leonardo said, cutting him off.

"You're lucky she's interested in something that small. Most women I know can't go a month without large quantities" Raphael added with his usual brand of cynical wit.

"If only she'd ASK me" Michelangelo continued, "I could take precautions…prep myself up for the intake"

"But you know the first place to look for….THOSE particular methods" Donatello added.

"I'm totally street dude" Michelangelo insisted, "You'd be surprised at what I know about those places"

"But if she INSISTS on the size, why would you want to disappoint her?" Leonardo probed

The door to the rooftop opened, and in walked the Turtles sensei, Master Splinter.

"Is something the matter my students?" Splinter asked, sensing the discord.

Raphael swiftly elbowed Michelangelo. "Why don't you stick it out short man?" he said

"What is the matter Michelangelo?" Splinter asked of his student. Michelangelo rocked back and forth apprehensively, before finally revealing all to his master.

"This" he said, producing a small slice of Pizza from his shell.

"Pizza?" Splinter asked in befuddlement.

"Michelangelo's a little down because his usual size of pizzas have been cut down by the local pizzeria" Donatello explained, "Something to do with 'National Dieting Week'.

He learned April wanted to try it as part of a story on how good it is to eat less"

"April agreed to a dinner date in exchange for us giving anonymous interviews about the corrupt Foot Clan. " Leonardo added.

"Mikey drew the short straw so he's up for the interview and he thought he'd give April something for her story too, as well as something for his stomach"

"I just don't think it's big enough for me and April to share" Michelangelo said, still awash with concern, "She might get a little funny about it"

"Worry not my student" Splinter advised, "In April's case, the size of your heart outweighs any morsel. I am sure she will understand that you had the best of intentions"

Michelangelo felt a little better about his situation, but just a little.

And then something else came over him.

Not hesitation, nor unease, but Déjà vu.

"Whoa guys, there it is again" he said.

"What's come around again?" asked Leonardo.

"The feeling we've gone down this maze before" said Michelangelo.

"Come to think of it, I do feel like we're climbing up the same steps...this feels like ages ago" replied Donatello.

"Fragments of each passing day rely so much on routine, the cycle of repetition can sometimes cast a strong shadow over the fresh purpose of the day" Splinter advised.

"Maybe ol' Mike here is counting up all the days from after he shares a pizza" Raphael remarked, nudging Michelangelo on the shoulder, "Before you know it, it'll be the toothbrush"

"Geez, why do I feel even that sounds so right?" muttered Michelangelo.

"I just hope we learn where this Technodrome, or whatever Oroku Saki calls his base of operations, is. We barely survived the flooding of an entire building just learning the very name of it" Leonardo said, looking out at an apartment building a few inches north of where they were stationed.

Raphael tried to reassure him all would be well.

"Relax, this Saki creep isn't going to get the drop on us. We've prepared all our lives to deal with whatever kind of foot gets stuck up this city's toosh.

That's why we're keeping an eye on April's apartment. She can rest her weary eyes knowing us four Turtles are watching her like...well, I'd say hawks, but I like tooting the Turtle horn 'cause that's what we are"

A ferocious bang suddenly made everyone turn in the vicinity of the apartment complex, a large torrent of fire burst forth from the building.

"Turtles, to action" commanded Leonardo without hesitation.

"Hang on April" uttered Splinter as his four adopted children sprang into action and leapt from the edge of the rooftop and leapt with precision care, somersaulting in mid-air and rolling on the base of the rooftop of the lower building.

Once they found their footing, the Turtles kicked open the door of the fire escape with determined ferocity and stepped inside the building, armed for combat and ready for anything.

They entered a complex ablaze.

Raging fires coursed through the corridors, and marching up and down them were foes most familiar to the Turtles.

"Those are the Shredder's foot soldiers" observed Donatello as the rampaging robots in purple hoods caught sight of them.

Donatello realized hesitation was no option as the Soldier advanced.

"Attack" he bellowed, and gave the soldier a swift stab to the chest with his Bo staff followed by a leaping kick to the sternum that sent the robot careering into a wall and exploding.

A second Foot Soldier dived in after Donatello and kicked him to the curb. Leonardo made the save for his brother, stabbing the soldier with his blade, grabbing it by the collar, and hoisting it across the corridors.

Doors burst open and more Foot Soldiers appeared. One of them reached out and grabbed Donatello from behind. Raphael and Michelangelo grappled with his assailant, attempting to get him to release the hold, while Leonardo fended off another advancing soldier who was in possession of shurikens.

He successfully deflected some of them as they were launched in the hapless Donatello's direction.

Donatello managed to slip out of the Soldier's grip as Michelangelo and Raphael continued to barrage it with blow after blow, and a swift somersault, his Bo staff twirling like a cyclone, was enough to finish the soldier off and it exploded.

The Turtles made their way past a flight of stairs, and very narrowly avoided being squashed by several large bowling balls.

"Us famous four nearly became a perfect ten for others" remarked Raphael as they advanced further down the treacherous corridor.

More Soldiers burst out from the apartment doors, each room seemed to be alight, and there were no signs of the other tenants.

"Any idea what could have happened to everyone else in this apartment?" asked Leonardo.

"You'd think the central heating in here would be their first warning to clear out" replied Raphael.

The Turtles battled their way past the apartment raiders and strolled past elevators, which also contained Foot Soldiers.

Each platoon they encountered seemed to be akin to sleeping giants...activated at first notification of their presence in their company.

The Turtles were ready for them, the battle was joined once more, but this time something else was quick to surface from beneath the floor and menace them.

A grey robot riding on one wheel opened a tiny compartment in its chest and threw out a grappling hook that wrapped itself around Leonardo, and gave it a powerful electric shock.

"Don't make any trouble for yourself" the robot replied.

"Wow, talk about the long arm of the lawless" remarked Michelangelo.

"Careful Raph, that thing packs a punch" Leonardo cautioned as Raphael approached it.

The robot whipped out a strand of tentacle like whips for hands and sped towards the Turtle, Raphael took a few hits, but kept it together. The robot's chest compartment opened again and a laser beam emitted from a tiny gun it produced.

The blast grazed Raphael's shoulder, this was enough to irk him, and he approached the droid with a decisive kick and two punches to the top of its domed head. A few more hits and the droid ultimately succumbed to the damage and vanished in a small explosion.

The Turtles heard a scream coming from the final apartment room just ahead of them. It was the unmistakable voice of April O'Neil.

They entered the room, and found April backed into a corner being menaced by more Foot Soldiers, and a blazing inferno encircling her, cutting her off from the fire escape nearby.

"Hold on sweetheart, the Calvary's coming" Michelangelo replied.

"Hey, nobody only a few hours known to me gets to call me sweetheart , you need to learn some rules of engagement before a professional date mister" said April

"Yeah, I guess...don't ask me why I'm getting this feeling from, it's like years have passed for me in all that time" he said.

"He's been reading way too much of that sliding time scale junk in the comic books" remarked Raphael.

More Foot Soldiers advanced on the Turtles, some of them carrying blades and flame throwers. They also met a swift end courtesy of the speed and skill of their amphibian adversaries.

Just when it looked like the coast was clear, a rumbling sound emitted from the center of the room, and a massive tunneling device rose up from the floor. The door to the machine slid open, and out stepped, armed with a laser rifle, a hulking horned abomination the likes of which the Turtles should by all rights had never seen the like of, but every unfathomable instinct in their bodies was telling them they had seen in many a lifetime.

They just weren't sure when and where.

"The name's Rocksteady, up here, I'm God, so say your prayers Toitles" uttered the horned horror.

The man beast came charging at the Turtles, who leapt over him only to find themselves cornered on the other side of the room nearest to the fire escape.

He continued to charge towards April, but she narrowly managed to avoid him. Her predicament motivated Donatello to hurtle himself towards the rampaging rhino, only for him to swiftly kick him in the gut and send him careering to the floor.

Donatello got back up and went for a second attempt, only to be met with the same results as before.

Leonardo decided it was his turn, and thrust a kick knee deep into the pit of the Rhino's stomach, which seemed to briefly fell him.

Leonardo approached him, but it soon became apparent the monster was biding his time, feigning a state of helplessness so as to lure Leonardo into a false sense of security so he could pull out his laser rifle and take a few shots at him. Donatello caught a glimpse of the intent and swiftly pulled Leonardo out of harm's way.

"You shell backed hacks aren't getting out of my line of fire this time" Rocksteady yelled, charging towards Raphael and Michelangelo and firing his weapon at the same time, at one point spinning around like a twister, hoping the cyclone of lethal firepower would shower down and score an impactful hit on his enemies.

But for the Turtles, there were two constants in this battle, their reflexes, and their inquiring minds.

"This time?" Raphael asked.

"Yeah, he's acting like we've met before," said Leonardo.

Rocksteady laughed.

"Wow, the boss' latest parlor trick worked, welcome to the real world Toitles, is this how you thought it would be?"

"This guy needs to be brought out of la la land" said Donatello.

"Yeah, unlike that movie, there's no Oscar nomination for how funny this clown's acting is," said Michelangelo.

The Turtles encircled the Rhino, being cautious of the weapon in his hand, the raging blaze of fire surrounding them, and the helpless April.

"Keep her calm Mikey" said Leonardo.

"Hey babe, don't worry about anything, just think about something nice to eat, a favorite movie to sit down and watch"

"What'd you suggest? St. Elmo's Fire?" joked April.

Michelangelo felt an uplifting surge of emotion at the joke, something was stirring in his soul. April could feel the same, and suddenly, in a room brimming with heat, tension and chemistry fused together and formed tears in one another's eyes.

"This is so weird, it's like sharing that one joke is causing me to come to pieces...almost like I've found something not long missing" said April.

"Come at me Toitles" snapped Rocksteady as he picked his prey, heading towards April and Michelangelo, his finger on the pulse of the weapon.

The courageous Turtle held his ground as Rocksteady tried to smack him with the back end of the rifle, throwing a few strikes of the nun chucks he held a tight grip on into Rocksteady's legs, opening him up for attacks from the other Turtles as they poured down blow after blow on his tough hide, trying to keep him down.

Rocksteady persisted nevertheless, managing to turn his weapon on again, the Turtles immediately scattered in all direction as he got up and blitzed the entire room with a barrage of firepower.

"Get him close to the window" Leonardo instructed. The Turtles proceeded to lure Rocksteady to the left side of the complex, closer to where he had parked his transport module. Having cornered him, they did their best to bombard him with blows from their weapons until he bizarrely began to glow a bright mix of orange and red.

"Aw no, I'm losing my grip in this mad matrix" he said.

"What is he yapping about?" asked Raphael.

"Whatever is happening, it doesn't seem to be good for him" noted Donatello.

"Then we'd best pour it on" said Leonardo, and the Turtles recommenced their attack.

Eventually, Michelangelo was able to seize the laser rifle, which Raphael promptly split in two with his sais.

Without his weapon, Rocksteady was helpless as the Turtles continued the attack. Finally, his body could take no more, he slipped into unconsciousness and to the surprise of the Turtles and April, his body dematerialized, as if he had never existed.

"This day is getting too weird" said Michelangelo.

"He acted like he knew us, said this was the real world, but things got too unreal for him it seems" said Donatello.

"Something's up guys, I've got a weird feeling this is not the end"

"Indeed it isn't, this is now how it all began" said a cold and ominous voice calling from deep inside the transport module.

"That voice, it's the same one we heard at that company we rescued April from, the one telling the Foot Soldiers to come to the Technodrome"

"It can only be Oroku Saki...the Shredder in the flesh" said Leonardo.

"Come out and tango" said Michelangelo

From out of the shadows stepped forth Shredder, but his sights were not set on his amphibian adversaries.

Not this time.

He caught sight of April, leaped over the other Turtles, grabbed her, and then, with one swift jump, smashed through the window on the left side of the building, the other Turtles jumping out after him.

"Come on, after that creep" said Leonardo.

"Try all you might, this time I hold your world in the palm of my hand" cackled Shredder, April putting up a valiant struggle, but unable to release herself from his grip.

"It's like sleep deprivation isn't it?" Donatello said as the Turtles pushed their way through the streets of New York, now bustling with the activities of merciless Foot Soldiers covering for Shredder as he managed to give the Turtles the slip.

"What is?" Leonardo replied.

"What we're experiencing. Not knowing if it's a dream or not" Donatello continued, taking out two of the Soldiers with swift kicks and thrusts of his Bo Staff.

"I can feel my face getting hit, wouldn't you call that a reality slap?" Raphael remarked as he took a physical beating from a well timed Foot's fist.

"Not to mention reality gave me a real kicking just now" Michelangelo added as he found himself pinned down by his shell and beaten down by a huddled crowd of Foot before being bailed out by his brothers.

"But think about it, in a state of deliriousness, you're not quite sure what is happening, scenarios play out in your head insisting you act a certain way. I read about this kind of thing happening in magazines" Donatello continued as he picked Michelangelo up.

"Oh yeah? Was it between the pages about Elvis and a couple of grey aliens having dinner with JFK?" Raphael said.

"No, it was in proper scientific journals" Donatello added.

He looked around, almost desperately searching for a sample to explain his theory.

Then, almost to his convenience, as if he willed the example into existence, he found something. Two unopened bottles. He picked them both up and read the labels.

"Look" he said.

"It's Ketchup" Leonardo said.

"No, it's Catsup" Donatello replied.

"No, Ketchup. It says it on the label right there" Raphael pointed.

"No, it reads Catsup, look again"

"Are you feeling alright Don?" Leonardo asked.

"I'm more than alright, I'm putting the pieces back together" Donatello replied.

"I'm not following" Leonardo continued

"Yeah, and I'm normally not the following type to begin with"

"Hey, I follow anything to do with food, you got any unopened Pizza boxes on this street corner to go with that Ketchup?"

"You say tomato, I say tomato, reality is what we make of it. The more you put your soul and energy into what you accept what's in front of you, the more chance there is of the world conforming to your expectations.

You see Catsup where I see Ketchup because you're given a choice. Literal in this case, but I'm talking on a metaphysical level"

The Foot Soldiers swarmed over the Turtles through the streets, distracting them from fully grasping Donatello's theory and drawing them back into open conflict.

After dealing with more of the hoards, the Turtles pushed forward, eager to keep up with where April was being taken.

They reached a derelict part of town, where a broken and beaten taxi cab overlooked a power plant with the words ''KEEP OUT'' spray-painted over it.

A manhole cover beside it suddenly opened and more Foot Soldiers poured out, eager to menace.

Raphael took the manhole cover and tossed it like a Frisbee, decapitating several of the soldiers in a row as they filed out.

"If you're saying we have a choice of which reality to take, then surely what we want would manifest immediately" Raphael said.

"Unless it only works if we fight our way through the scenario, becoming more aware of its trappings...we're like the Rubik Cube puzzle that fights back" Leonardo replied.

"So we have to put up a struggle? I could do with a mental and physical workout" said Raphael.

"You're dead Shell Brain" came a heckle from atop a nearby rooftop as a mass of a mutant leaped down and descended on the Turtles armed with a laser.

"Walloping warthog, look at the size of him" said Michelangelo as Bebop made his presence felt.

Michelangelo suddenly grabbed his head as a numbing pain coursed through him.

"Mikey, what's wrong?" said Leonardo.

"I've got a mondo migraine dude, like something is trying to dig out some memory I've never had"

"It must be the current reality trying to edit out something important...remember how you were reacting to something with April earlier, something you couldn't place" said Donatello.

"Think Mikey, think back to what that felt, that's doubtlessly what this paradigm is trying to shift...think to how it happened. Think back...to how it all began"

"Tell me how your day went, you can start from the beginning if you like" Irma spoke as she offered a dazed and confused Michelangelo a soothing hot mug of tea.

"My head doesn't feel too gnarly Irma" Michelangelo responded, trying to pinpoint his exact location. He felt he had been ripped away from something...an important place to be, he felt like he was late for an appointment.

"That's why you're here" came another voice, this time belonging to Raphael.

"Yeah, I guess" Michelangelo continued.

His whereabouts became more clear to him. He'd started off lying down on a scarlet red couch in the midst of a field of white, but now it was solidifying into the living quarters of the Turtle's sewer lair.

He was surrounded by familiar faces, of friends and family, but something felt off about them.

"So how was it? The day?" Donatello insisted.

"We took down a rhino" Michelangelo began

"Animal cruelty" Raphael replied.

"Hey, they were threatening people on the street" Michelangelo continued, "You were there, you know"

"And how did you deal with him?" Raphael asked.

"Old family secret" Michelangelo responded

"You can share it" Irma replied.

"Don't need to do I?" said Michelangelo.

The group huddled closer together, encircling the Turtle, their faces were a little more solemn, less kinder.

Michelangelo sighed, and took out his nun-chucks.

"Just as I thought...can't share the family secrets, 'cause you guys aren't family, you'd know exactly what I was talking about"

"He's using weapons" said Raphael.

"That is most unwise" uttered Master Splinter as he too entered the room with Leonardo at his side.

"Why? The real radical rat of our pack taught us how to fight with these" replied Michelangelo as he twirled the nun-chucks in his hand, ready to make a move at the slightest provocative motion from those surrounding him.

"This is not how it all began" the group said in unison, their bodies turning to transparent glass.

"You want me to spill how it all came to be? You seem to have a clear image of that, you looking for something else?" said Michelangelo.

"Where did you go next?" demanded Donatello.

"You still want to ask questions?" Michelangelo asked

"Home" Leonardo joined in

"While all the chaos was unfolding in the city?" Splinter responded.

"It was totally happening down where we crash too" Michelangelo replied

"The fight?" said Leonardo.

Michelangelo headed towards the kitchen to microwave some pizza. If this was to be an interrogation, he would engage it on a weak stomach.

He sat down at the table and gazed with mouth-watering relish at the concoction, a meatball pizza Plata with added chicken strips.

He was in seventh heaven.

The aroma generated by the pizza was enticing, and it lured even those posing as Michelangelo's loved ones to march forth, mesmerized by the smell

"What does it smell like?" said Irma.

"You don't know?" Michelangelo asked, then realized what these people were made of.

"Ah right, you don't have real organs, so you can't smell. Bet you can't taste either, all the more for me" he replied gleefully, but then his mind turned to other matters as he realized someone was missing from this ensemble.

"Hey, where's April?" he asked

"Help me to understand, I can't handle this" Irma uttered.

"That's what she said" Michelangelo cracked.

"Who?" asked Irma.

"My secret"

"Your secret is a woman?" Splinter replied.

"It always starts with a woman" Michelangelo replied.

With those words uttered, Michelangelo found himself back on the backstreets of New York, next to the dismembered Taxi cab, he find the Turtles, the real Turtles, thrusting their kicks deep into their warthog adversaries gut. Like with the rhinoceros before him, he gradually turned red and finally faded from sight completely.

"Reality's edited him out just like it did his buddy, we need to find a way of tracing where they disappear to" Leonardo replied.

"Mikey, did you do as I instructed when you blanked out?" asked Donatello.

"I thought, and fought, long and hard...at least I feel like I did...but I think I touched on something, a feeling from the old reality"

"What feeling?" asked Donatello

"Love dude" said Michelangelo.

"Oh for Pete's sake, that's 'how it all began'...with love? What is this? Daytime Hallmark?" said Raphael, groaning.

"We'll focus on what this means later, right now we've got to head underground and replenish our energies" Leonardo replied, heading towards a nearby manhole cover. He lifted the lid and descended down the ladder. The remainder of the Turtles followed him

"Who turned the lights out?" joked Donatello, the last to join, as he entered the pitch black sewers.

Krang took a look beyond the peak of the mountain, put his goggles on, and breathed deeply.

He could see the wisps of clear cold air dance around the mountain top like graceful silk. He could hear the humming of several birds in flight, and he could feel the artificial nerves of his robot body give him a tingle as he pressed his knees down on the skies and prepared to venture off of the slope

"Release" uttered a voice from behind him.

Krang obliged. He did not look back.

Down the mountain he came, the wind slamming into him like a brick, the adrenaline provoking a yell from the brain that was held tight to the chest by a long velvet scarf. Krang could still through his body's upper eyelids, but his true body could only experience the buffeting.

As he came to the end of his slope, he instructed his body to make a ferocious left turn, causing hefty pillars of snow to spill over and hit people in the stands watching them.

They would not protest, 'least they suffer for it at the hands of the Rock Soldiers holding them at gunpoint. They were there as spectators, to take the abuse, and then to cheerlead to the best of their ability.

Shreeka soon joined Krang, completing her own treacherous trek down the slope, and likewise swarming the spectators with snow after a malicious left turn catapulted the snow their way.

"Trying to one up me after I conquered the fabled Sphere?" said Krang, pointing to the mountain the pair had skied down.

"They say it takes a legend to conquer a myth" remarked Shreeka.

"You're only a legend in your own lunchtime" Krang joked, approaching Shreeka and giving her a tickle.

"Is that your way of telling me to make you a sandwich?" said Shreeka, taking the scarf off of Krang's chest and playing with it.

One of the spectators, a little girl with lush brown hair and pink mittens, broke away from the stands and approached Krang.

"Excuse me sir, could you give me an autograph?" asked the girl, holding a pen and notepad to Krang.

"Scram kid" Krang yelled.

"It won't take much time sir, please, time is precious to us" said the kid.

"Oh give her a thrill Krang" said Shreeka, elbowing Krang and demanding he show some manners.

"Fine, who do I make it out to?" Krang said.

"My name is unimportant, yours is" the girl replied.

Krang was slightly confused.

"You want me to make it out to myself?" he said.

"This is your world, you should always print your name on the label" said the girl.

"Child, where are your parents?" Shreeka asked.

"I am only me" the child replied.

Shreeka pondered the riddle, and then came to a swift conclusion.

"If I had to hazard a guess, you're a part of the Macguffin Krang used to warp reality to what it is now"

The child nodded.

"The device we used has a sentient element?" Krang said.

"Of course, reality can only be built the way it is by having an intimate understanding of what people care for, how they react, how they think, only a living mind can accomplish that" Shreeka explained.

"So what would you need with me signing myself an autograph?" Krang replied.

"It's a promise you must make, you must swear to yourself that you won't let your creation fall apart, it already is. Promise yourself this isn't all for nothing, that it can last"

Krang looked again at the notepad, he started combing over it, finding statistics, charts, and decreasing percentages.

"This is a crash report" he realized.

"She's like anti-virus software, it's up to you to install the means of countering what is wrong with the program, with our current state of reality" Shreeka realized.

"There's only one aggressive element that could unravel what we have...or rather four aggressive elements" Krang noted, recognizing the stain of the Turtles anywhere.

"The half-baked heroes must be somehow realizing nothing is as it should be, I'd love to pry their shells right off their backs to ensure they get off ours" an enraged Shreeka threatened.

"We must contact Shredder, let him know that his petty games are beginning to ignite the spark of remembrance...if he's not careful, we could lose our grip on this universe"

"Reality is what we have made it, and we will not rest until it is all we will ever make" Shreeka vowed.

Krang looked upon the girl and gave her an instruction.

"Go, you have my promise, what do you need? Ask anything and you shall receive it, so long as it helps to solve our mutual problem"

"I need understanding...they told me how it all began...with love. I ask of this of you...how does love begin...how does it end?"

Krang and Shreeka looked at one another with puzzled expressions.

"Why are you asking us this?" he said.

The little girl beamed.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Baxter Stockman tugged the edge of his collar gently as he waited outside the white void that served as a waiting room, waiting for the green light to come on and permit him entry.

He took a look at the Mouser he was cradling in his hand.

"Bring yourselves online, come on, come on" he whispered to it, like a mother encouraging a child.

Every so often, it's legs would twitch, and it's jaws would snap open and shut, then it would grow silent again.

"Come on, you're embarrassing me" he said, giving it's metal head a tiny stroke.

He looked over at the monitors surrounding the void, images of the Turtles valiantly fending off a mix of mousers and foot soldiers deep in the sewer network of New York City, each coming at them in pocket legions of four to six maximum. Each of them were dispersed by the Turtles and their lightning quick reflexes, their lethal weapons, and their unparalleled resolve.

"If this is why you won't let me in, you're missing out on a great opportunity" Baxter softly spoke to seemingly no one in particular.

"I admit-I admit the latest models aren't quite matching my expectations, or rather, your expectations, but all it takes is an improvement on the original formula. This model I carry here, the source of the imperfection, patient zero as it were.

It-it doesn't know how to counter the enemy's tactics, it's slipped into a coma formulating strategies.

I-I've been trying to get it to function again, get it to reroute it's replenished software into the hive network it shares with the others...get them to think ahead of the enemy's evolution in combat instead of relying on every trick from before they encountered them...

...I can use the resources on the other side to improve it, correct it's programming, I can make it think more coherently"

The green light switched on and the void ignited into a crimson red color, Baxter walked in and found himself in a small office.

At the center of the room was a couch and a table with two glasses filled to the tip with apple cider. A gruff man with a hardened look and build greeted Baxter on the couch.

"Marv Taggart, the only man to supply the funds for my mouser program, as I live and breathe" Baxter replied.

"Yes, well, we couldn't leave those parts out could we? Mind you, if we did, you wouldn't be so much of a nuisance to deal with" Taggart replied.

"Excuse me?" said Baxter.

"You're alive, you breath, it's the least we can do..you're so far out there, we can't nab you" Taggart continued, taking the cider and downing a small percentage of it.

"What are you talking about?" Baxter replied.

"You were three-fold, were you not?" said Taggart as he took another sip.

"I was-I was just waiting outside" said Baxter, the mouser in his hand twitching ever so slightly again.

"Yeah, yeah I wouldn't have minded a piece of that...three flies, all divided from the one individual...different dynamics to each too, a family unit, you must have had lots of kids on your mind back in the days you looked like this" said Taggart.

"Well, I did have some affection for your daughter" said Baxter, smiling as the mouser he cradled stirred before Taggart's eyes.

"May I see?" Taggart said, his arms outstretched.

Baxter obliged, and gave the mouser to him. Taggart looked at the mouser with a transfixed gaze charged with wonder and possibility.

The mood, however, changed, and Taggart began applying pressure on the mouser's head.

"Yeah, affection for you was addiction, and it blinded you to the real cost of these things" he said.

To Baxter's horror, the mouser's head was crushed.

"What have you done? The Mouser hub, the network, it can't-won't-upgrade now" said Baxter, whimpering as he picked up the pieces.

"What you did was cause the true Marv Taggart to cut corners where they didn't need to be cut, all to spite you for lusting after his only child, making her feel uncomfortable" Taggart, or rather what had taken Taggart's form, bellowed.

"I-I just wanted her to say something to me, praise me for my genius, give me something to work towards" said Baxter, almost reduced to tears.

"That's why you had to be plucked from the cuckoo's nest, how it all began didn't depend on the Turtles did it you great jelly...it had everything to do with possessing what you couldn't, you had nothing to work towards except your own glory and forcing people to accept only that glory" Taggart continued, taking the second glass of apple cider and pouring it down the back of Baxter's neck.

"Please, I'll do anything, just let me prove I can make my mousers function the way you expected them to"

"Don't worry, you can still prove to us that it all began with a position, what you aspired to be since you were a lad...a leader in the field...only we're thinking of a very different field" said Taggart, snapping his fingers.

Two men in SWAT gear came out, carting along a rocket-shaped module with an empty control seat.

"Would you like to be there with them? When the end comes?" Taggart continued.

"You think it all began with me wanting to be the one bellowing orders?" said a sniveling Baxter, steadily rubbing his watered eyes.

"It's a theory I'd very much like to replace an irritating fact that's presently offending me...obviously I can't get the original Baxter to go along with it, he's buzzing about in another dimension out of the reach of the reality tampering, but you? You're an off-shoot, an echo of the person he was...all we could do when working out the temporal kinks so everyone had a place in the new order. I chose to keep you in reserve in case the Turtles advanced"

"They'll get the job done, I guarantee it" Baxter said.

"Yes, yes they will, because you will" said Taggart, nodding to the two men to strap Baxter into the module and apply a tiny cerebral inhibitor to him so he would not be so resistance or make rebellious power plays.

"I'm going to bring my theory to order, no more crash reports, this time the Turtles crash, or you and your more advanced mousers will burn"

With a snap of his fingers, the module vanished. Taggart opened up an observation window, and watched as the battle between Baxter and the Turtles commenced.

The battle with 'Baxter' ripped through most of the sewer system. Walls came crashing down as the Turtles threw mouser after mouser poured out from the pod craft against several walls, triggering tiny explosions.

The mousers also served as a protective shield, preventing the Turtles from getting closer to the craft so they could inflict damage.

Leonardo cut through some of the mousers forming the shield, but Baxter and his craft quickly supplied fresh robots to complete the circle just as the Turtles thought they could get inside of it and work their way upwards.

"This is the definition of insanity, we keep trying the same strategy and all we get are the same results" said Raphael frustratingly.

"We've got to aim just a little higher, don't concentrate on the mousers, go for the root of the problem" said Leonardo, running towards Michelangelo, raising one foot to lean on his shoulder and leapt high in the air to take a shot at Baxter within the module. A sparkling orange flash lit up as his sword struck through the machine.

"There, every time he lowers altitude, give the upper half a good kicking" said Leonardo.

The Turtles polished off the latest contingent of mousers being sent forth from the module, and just as a fresh batch was prepared, with Baxter lowering the pod so as to distribute them, the Turtles ceased their chance and kicked and landed blows on the central dome as it did so.

This combined attack seem to send it into a frenzy, and it began glowing orange more brightly, just as Rocksteady had before in his own encounter with the amphibians.

"Taggart, help me" Baxter screamed at the communications screen as tiny explosions erupted within his cockpit.

To his horror, Taggart's features blurred and changed to that of a small five year old redheaded girl.

"I'm sorry, Taggart's not here anymore, you can call me Shadow" the little girl said, and turned off the communications screen.

Baxter screamed as his pod exploded.

The Turtles high-fived each other in triumph and moved in closer to inspect the wreckage.

They found Baxter, charred and quivering, flicking in and out of existence. He beckoned Donatello closer and whispered something in his ear.

After hearing what Baxter had to say, Donatello closed Baxter's eyes as he finally slipped away. His body flickered orange one last time, and phased out of existence.

"What did he say?" asked Michelangelo.

"He said something about his master pushing a theory into the narrative and replacing one that already existed" replied Donatello.

"Which makes about as much sense as dada" said Raphael.

"You think it has something to do with replacing the theories you've come up with?" said Leonardo

"Exactly, think of it in the way people view comic book narratives...sometimes you don't like where that story's heading, so you change it in your head, it's called head canon"

"I'd rather I be shot out of someone's head cannon" remarked Raphael.

"Come on, we'd best check if Master Splinter's OK back at the lair, we also need to replenish our energies, we can't keep this up forever, we'll suffer fatigue" said Leonardo.

The Turtles made their way back to their lair where they found it wrecked and ransacked.

There was no sign of Splinter.

The television, slightly dented, was still on, and a marked VHS tape sat next to the VCR.

Michelangelo read the label.

"For you four" he said.

The Turtles switched on the television and found a captive April, bound and gagged, surrounded by Shredder, Rocksteady and Bebop.

Michelangelo clenched his fist in anger as his temperature rose in a boiling rage at the sight of April helpless.

It was a sensation he couldn't quite place, but his mind raced back to the prior conversations the Turtles had about the state of reality, and things became quite clear.

Only one emotion, one reality, could make him feel as incensed as he was now, and the part of him that grasped this truth vowed in that one instance to do everything in his power to put this all right.

The Turtles listened in to their enemy as he made his intentions clear.

"Greetings you arrogant amphibians, I speak to you now from the city's now even more derelict warehouse storage district.

By now I'm sure you've spent every ounce of energy putting your best work into valiantly attempting to dismantle my army and save the world, but I'm afraid it's all been for nothing.

So long as I have the Technodrome and the resources of Dimension X at my disposal, you cannot hope to succeed. Within five standard hours, I will unleash the full might of my favorite dimension on this wretched planet and its conquest will be complete.

You have two choices, stop me, or save not only your lady reporter friend, but also your mentor Splinter, and just as there is no rest for the wicked, so too shall there be no rest for you" taunted.

"Come and get 'er Turtles, we'll be waiting" said Rocksteady.

The VHS message came to an end, leaving the Turtles reeling emotionally.

"How can we keep this up? We'll be spent before we even reach either of them" said Raphael.

"And they didn't even give us a hint of Splinter's own location" said Leonardo.

"We got to pull it together buds, there's no telling what they'll do to her, but I know what I'll do to them and that's what got me pumped" said Michelangelo, eager to get on with things.

Donatello pondered things, and came to some surprising conclusions.

"I think if we put our minds to it, we can give ourselves a big advantage. Reality is what we make of it, if we concentrate really hard, mediate a bit, we can erect some kind of aura around our existing paradigms and allow us to power through our exhaustion"

"In other words, put enough coins in the slot and we won't have to sweat the strain of this living arcade game?" Raphael remarked.

"Ok Turtles, what we're about to endure is going to leave a mark, so let's make sure we give everything in our path a lasting scar from our special blend of reality" said Leonardo.

Having spent as much time as they could afford mediating, the Turtles travelled along the sewer network towards the manholes that led directly up to the warehouse district.

They could hear the marching feet of many foot soldiers above them.

"Deep breath, brave heart" Leonardo said.

With a sharp intake of breath, the Turtles popped open the manhole and threw themselves into the fire.

The Foot soldiers came at them with swords and daggers, some managed to impact a few of the green machine, which sent them reeling back, but they were able to press onwards and take the fight back to them, managing to score direct hits which obliterated their opponents.

They pushed ahead, the mediation and grasp of this reality's mechanics giving them the additional strength, speed and stamina to shake up the sensation of exhaustion that would overtake anyone at this crucial moment.

Other Foot soldiers turned up on the scene, this time holding large electrically charged javelins, which they threw at their opponents.

Donatello deflected a couple of them with his Bo Staff, but one impaled Raphael on the shoulder, and gave him a few searing volts.

To the Turtles' horror, they saw Raph gradually begin to fade out of existence, only to quickly reappear, no sign of marks on his body and his shoulder was clear with no sign of the javelin.

"You look like you just came out of the shower and not the wringer" Donatello remarked.

"You had us worried there" said Leonardo.

"Yeah, it looked like was game over but you've been given extra life" Michelangelo responded.

"Raph, what did you see on the other hand when you vanished? It's crucial we know" said Donatello as he swept a few Foot Soldiers off of their feet and tore his Bo staff across all of their heads as they gradually rose up, decapitating several of them in succession.

"Could your curiosity about the great beyond wait until we're a little beyond these footloose losers?" said Raphael as he resumed the battle.

The doors of a large black security van opened and more Foot Soldiers spilled out, each brandishing more javelins and daggers.

Donatello spotted a large tub of engine oil perched next to the van, he instinctively took out a pocket lighter from the back of his shell, lit it up, attached it to the front of his Bo staff and gave the container a large whack, spilling its contents out on to the floor and instantly igniting it.

The vat exploded, taking out the van and several of the Foot Soldiers along with it.

"Bedaubing, bedauboom" remarked Raphael.

"Now that we've given ourselves a little breathing room, it's time you told us what you can about the other side" Donatello asked.

"Well it sure wasn't greener" Raphael replied.

Meanwhile, April O'Neil was trying to wriggle free of the tight rope that bound her hands and feet. Rocksteady and Bebop were taking turns watching over her as well as keeping a sharp eye out for signs of the intrusive Turtles.

She was having little success in breaking free.

"I've got a good mind to call for help" said April as she twisted her body around, trying to rub her bonds against a concrete pillar to the right of her.

"I told you we should have tied her to a chair" said Rocksteady.

"Taping your mouth shut would have sufficed also" came a light and gentle feminine voice from behind them.

April turned around, it appeared only she could hear this.

There, standing before her, was a little girl in a velvet frock with light tap-dancing shoes, clutching a small plush doll in the shape of a Turtle.

"Where on earth did you spring from?" April said.

"Certainly from nowhere on Earth" said the girl.

"You shouldn't be here sweetie, it's too dangerous, scamper" April insisted.

"Who are you talking to?" said Bebop.

"Yeah, pipe down, you'll attract the attention of them toitles" said Bebop.

"You guys don't see a little girl standing right there?" April asked.

"Great, those ropes are cutting off the oxygen to her pretty mind" said Rocksteady.

April ignored their comments and focused on the mystery before her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"This is why they should have gagged you, we can't have a private conversation if all you're going to do is react aloud to everything I'm saying" the girl said, expressing slight annoyance.

"I don't follow, do you want me to whisper?" said April, curious as to how she could proceed.

"Whisper with that pretty mind of yours" the girl replied, poking April in the forehead.

April smiled.

"I get it, you can read my mind, and you're like something out of a Steven King novel" she said.

"What do you remember?" the girl said, still speaking aloud, but to little reaction from April's captors.

"How far back do you want me to go?" said April.

"Past this life if you can" the girl requested.

"Past this life? Are you into reincarnation or something? Was your dad a Buddhist?" asked April.

"You could say that, I have forged new lives from old. Strange, yet familiar, but I need to know how this all began for you, this journey you're on. I made you forget something, and I'm debating whether or not I should put it all back the way that it was"

"And what if I can't reflect the way you want to?" said April, again attempting to break loose of her bonds with an almighty tug of the ropes bounding her hands.

She felt cornered by both the girl and her captors. Somehow she instinctively knew the girl was just as dangerous as Bebop and Rocksteady were, only in a different way.

She didn't know why she had just asked that last question to the girl, all she knew was thinking past what she knew would prove difficult. She was more puzzled as to why a part of her assumed reflecting on a previous life ought to be an easy feat.

Almost as if what lay beyond her current life had been fairly recent.

"If you can't reflect, if you can't look through your previous choices, you'll leave me with no choice at all" the girl said, saddened.

Back at the Technodrome, Shredder stood in awe as the dimensional portal flickered into life, sending forth further reinforcements from Dimension X.

General Tragg approached him with paperwork containing schematics for the portal.

"The modifications will be made as soon as the fifteenth legion have passed through, are you certain you can position the battery in time for the experiment?" Tragg asked.

"The battery is proving a difficult task, but it's manageable, very soon I will have its secrets at my disposal, and when I do, there will be so much more of me around, those who oppose me will find it difficult to easily dispose of the name and face of the Shredder"

As the Turtles made their way over to her location, April did her best to do the young girl's bidding and pushed through the barriers placed in her mind that divided one reality from another.

It was a herculean task, but she was strong in will, she was a determined spirit.

Observing her was Rocksteady and Bebop, who were irritated.

"What's with the babe talking to herself?" Bebop asked.

"Sounds like she's cracking up all cooped up in here; maybe we should give her some fresh air"

"You still got feelings for her or something?" Bebop asked

"Hey, that was all love potions" snapped Rocksteady.

April drowned out the chatter to concentrate on what she could see beyond what was around her.

"What do you see?" the girl asked.

"I see someone sleeping, I can't quite place the face, but he's exhausted, drained, he's been through a lot today, he and...his...brothers...yes, yes his brothers, I'm sure this is a family I'm surrounded by. I'm reading those bedtime stories, something so simple, I feel responsible for them, and at first it feels like mothering, but...no, it's something else"

"Did you know then?" The girl said,

"I-I must have, oh but I suppressed it, I didn't want to be considered a freak by my peers, I thought I'd lose my job, my reputation, prior to this I had a gig in daycare, I didn't know what the parents of all those kids would have thought of me. I told myself it couldn't work, it mustn't work, but...but..."

"...But one of them was that important to you, wasn't he? What was his name? How did it all begin?"

"With...with...him, with..."

And then it happened, reality for April O'Neil snapped right back into place with the utterance of one name.

"MICHELANGELO" she said.

"April, I heard April" Mikey said as the Turtles reached a garage door to the right of them.

"Why did she yell for you specifically?" Leonardo said

"Hey, that sounded like she was longing for you" noted Donatello.

Michelangelo honed in on April's cry for help and pinpointed where she was

"There, she's in there guys" he said, pointing to the garage up ahead.

The Turtles raced towards it, only for the door to open and for Rocksteady and Bebop to emerge.

Bebop fired his weapon, a string of circular sonic vibrations projected out of it, slamming into the Turtles, Leonardo leapt out of the way of them and dropped Bebop with a swift kick, he got up again and rammed Leonardo as Rocksteady began firing wildly into the air with his own gun trying to strike a hit on the Turtles as they leapt about the place.

Rocksteady and Bebop regrouped and combined their firepower, rattling the Turtles as they came down from another leap.

"Keep scattering, that way they won't be able to pin us down except on moments of sheer luck" instructed Leonardo.

"All it takes is one lucky hit, we have to hit the jackpot first" said Raphael.

After a few more well coordinated leaps and kicks, Donatello noticed Bebop was glowing bright red.

"I think Bebop's literally losing his grip on the world around him"

Leonardo took a few swings at Rocksteady too and he too began glowing a sort of crimson orange, just like before at April's apartment.

Eventually, the battle wore down Bebop to such a degree it faded from existence, or at the very least this plain of existence, in short order, leaving Rocksteady all on his own.

With only one of the mutants left, the Turtles pulled it together and, near exhaustion, relentlessly pushed on with their assault until Rocksteady too was bested, thrown to the ground, and vanished from view.

"Let's hope wherever they ended up, they stay there this time" remarked Leonardo.

Michelangelo rushed over to April and untied her; April wrapped her arms around him loving and kissed the top of his forehead.

"How could I ever have forgotten how good that feels?" she said.

The Turtles looked at April dumb-struck, all except Michelangelo, who reacted like he was in seventh heaven.

"Wow, that's even warmer than the pizza I made for that kid Joey when he was in a jam, guess you know everything now babe?"

"Every detail, including how late we are for our wedding"

"Wedding? Alright, now I know I prefer this reality to whatever awaits us at the other end of this, at least this one doesn't scare me" said Raphael.

"Wow, I've never seen April look so radiant" remarked Donatello.

"If this is where it all begins again babe, I'm good to go" said Michelangelo.

"I heard Rocksteady and Bebop discuss a hidden factory where Shredder's been developing weapons" April said.

"Then let's get to that secret factory" said Leonardo.

"We don't even know where it is" Raphael noted

"I memorized the coordinates when Shredder let them slip during his conversation with the two"

"You better head back over to Channel Six and cover this story April" suggested Leonardo.

"Guys, you need me on this, I'm coming too. I know everything you know now, this isn't even our reality, what's the point of heading back to warn people it's the end of the world when chances are it'll end if you guys succeed anyway?"

"If the factory is miles away, I don't think my toes could handle another trek" said Raphael.

The Turtle Van suddenly drove up, the doors automatically opening.

"Hey, who summoned the van?" said Leonardo.

April looked up at the sky; she could picture a face forming in the clouds above her.

"You're very welcome April" the little girl replied.

Within the Technodrome, Shreeka observed the activities of the Turtles as they made their way across the open highway.

Krang soon entered the room,

"Status?" he said.

"They're on the road, heading to the factory" Shreeka confirmed

She noticed Krang had a mischievous smirk etched across his face, he was pleased with something.

"What's the good news?" she asked.

"The fifteenth legion is ready to pass through" Krang announced proudly.

"Then you shall sweep what little resistance that is left away" said Shreeka

Krang breezed past her and observed the antics on the motorway, two of the Turtles were atop the roof of their van swatting away several Foot Soldiers that were attempting to board the vehicle. Those that succeeded were swiftly kicked and thrown into the waters below the bridge, where they exploded on impact with the water.

"I thought I'd locked up their entire inventory in warehouses, I padlocked every door, how did they get their mitts on that van?" Krang asked.

"Someone is assisting them" said Shreeka.

"Who could possibly be on their side? Their whole history helping out humans was erased with the reality reboot" said Krang.

"I've been scanning the cerebral bio-rhythms of the human reporter the Turtles liberated, her mind is steadily recollecting every trace of history from before the reboot was initiated, something paved the way forward for that"

"Impossible, there is but only one being capable of such a feat, and she's on our side"

"In all fairness Krang, I've had a hunch for a while that she hasn't been on anyone's side, this is a game to her, and she's changing the rules to make it more interesting"

"Have her brought to me at once" Krang responded.

Shreeka dispatched a few rock soldiers to the room of their intended target, but they found it vacant.

Shredder stepped into the room to start up a conversation.

"Ah Shreeka, Krang, I see you still have an insidiously amphibious problem to deal with"

"I don't have time to deal with you Saki; I have a legion in Dimension X awaiting my command"

"By all means give the command. My experiment depends on the success of the transfer"

"You finally have a functioning battery?" Shreeka asked.

"I replaced it with something far more lively, and delicate, if you would follow me" Shredder responded, taking the two of them to the chamber housing the dimensional portal.

To Krang's shock, Shredder presented to them the tiny girl, the nucleus of the reality reboot, the weapon they had used to shift the paradigms to their liking, chained up to the portal.

"I used what juice I had in the previous battery to convert the portal into a faraday cage for our little friend here, I homed in on her energy signal and transferred her to the centre of the portal, she won't cause much trouble for us now, except for the Turtles, and the world"

"Saki, you've outdone yourself, I'll see to it you have dibs on this accursed planet once we're done conquering it" Krang replied gleefully.

Celebrate while you can, yours is a party I'm most eager to poop on thought Shredder treacherously, For when the child's power has fulfilled my needs, your game will be most assuredly up. There can only be room for one absolute in this conquered realm, and that absolute shall be The Shredder.

For the weaver of this reality, Shredder's claimed prize, now was the time for punishment.

There she was, shackled to a strand of metallic webbing spun together and attached to a platform hovering just above the pull of the Technodrome's dimensional portal as it's g-forces pinned the individual at the centre of the web to wall.

"Comfortable my dear?" Shreeka said with spite, approaching the infant girl and stroking the edge of her chin with her prickly fingernails.

Her captive didn't utter a word in response.

"The silent treatment? If you think that'll do you any good, you don't know me as well as you think you do, I'm not some fairy godmother, I'm a most wicked type of witch, and in my profession, the best thing a child can do in our presence is do as they are told, and I will tell you now to speak!"

The girl that had given Krang and Shreeka dominion over reality shook her head; she would continue to resist all calls for her to break her silence.

The child reflected on what had been her form before. The days where she was a prize to be won, a gift to be bestowed.

The gift of knowledge, a most inquisitive entity curious about the universe, what shapes it, why it channels it's every decision through love and hate, through right and wrong, good and evil in their purest forms.

She had changed the game, changed the very skin of reality, to answer that question, and then, she would let go, return to her inanimate form, having tasted a world and been content to spend another lifetime absorbed in nothing but the memory.

But those in possession of her did not want things to reverse...and why should it, they ask?

For life, evolution and continuous change of the landscape around them was key to it all. This was how it all began.

Shreeka fawned over some pearls Krang had given her, studying her reflection in a miniscule mirror made up of studded diamonds.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

Her captive had yet to speak.

Shreeka slapped her across the face, demanding the silence be broken.

"Don't you want to know any longer? How this all begins? Or perhaps you're wondering what truly begins for you going forward? I can promise one thing, it will start with a scream. Your scream"

She left the room, soon it would be time.

Time for the sharp shimmering energies of the dimensional portal to tear through the fragile form of the individual tethered to it, and channel her power to Krang's suiting.

She was, however, about to receive one other visitor.

Now was the turn of Oroku Saki, approaching her with confidence and a soft touch, picking her chin up and tilting her head so her eyes matched with his.

And then he pinched her right cheek fiercely, as if checking to see if she would react to real pain.

Perhaps he was trying to fulfill Shreeka's prophecy to the girl, who was only now beginning to show fear.

She would show fear now because it had become all too clear Saki possessed something Krang did not past his intended endgame.

Saki had a long-term plan for the universe, and what frightened her the most was that it was for reality not as it presently stood.

He intended to begin an altogether different phase, one he could control, one where he was there so much more of it. So much more of him.

He pinched her cheek so viciously that he was able to squeeze a little of her blood out of it, it trickled down the edge of his fingertips.

He gathered the stream to form a pool into the palm of his hands and squeezed it tightly, compressing the pool into a diamond.

Now he was ready.

As he walked away, the reality weaver felt absolute defeat wash over her.

What could she do?

She was but a pale shadow.

And then it hit her.

She was but a shadow, but she was also the substance.

Time was still at her mercy.

This was a game to her, and she had allowed it to control her for too long.

Now she was tired of the endless side-scrolling, tired of all the second chances.

Now there was but one chance.

She had but one coin to play, and she would insert it directly into the heart of the battle, where the war needed to be won.

Her chosen warriors would fly fast, fight hard, and be swifter than ever before.

There was only one way forward.

Fast forward.

A speed run.

Donatello had to have picked the short straw.

Battling the wave of foot soldiers across the motorway, exhausted, and on the brink of collapse, he wondered just how long he could keep his enemies at bay, all to give the remainder of his brothers and their friend April a clearer path towards the factory where their sensei was being held prisoner.

He had insisted the others stay in the van, continue to power through the seemingly limitless legions that were descending upon them, while he kept the roads clear for them, using all the skills he could

Back in the Turtle van, Michelangelo leaned over April's shoulder as she tinkered with her Turtle-com

"Who're you dialing?" he asked, playfully whimsically with April's hair.

April clasped his left hand with her own and gently caressed it.

"Irma, I need to know how she's holding up

"She doesn't have a Turtle com in this topsy turvey world" Michelangelo reminded her

"I know, but Don taught me a few tricks with this, it can also hack into phone communications"

"Where'd Don learn to do that? News of the World?" Raphael remarked.

April succeeded and patched through to Irma's phone at her apartment.

"Come on Irma, pick up" April pleaded.

Finally, the phone answered.

"Hey there" she said.

"Irma, what a relief, just what are you up to?" April said.

"I just got out of the shower, had to hold up in there a bit, some crazy things are happening towards the south of the city. Hope you're not caught up in any of it"

"Irma, it's important you stay exactly where you are. At home"

"Not a chance April, you need me out there. Besides, I haven't went for my groceries"

"Come on lady, now is not the time to go stir crazy...hey, I made time to rhyme"

"Who's that I hear?" Irma asked as Michelangelo broke his silence.

"Nothing, just my fiancé"

"You never told me you were getting married. Who is the lucky lug? And why did you never introduce me to him? Unless you were worried I steal him...oops, don't tell him I just dropped my towel"

"In another life, believe me Irma, you'd be the first to know" April said.

"Another life? There's only the one kind of that, live for the now, now what might be"

"What might be is entirely what factors into the current story I'm pursuing"

"The only one who cares enough about you is outside getting his tail kicked"

"I have a stalker? Oh I live for that kind of danger" Irma said with glee, chuckling innocently.

"Gotta go Irma, you take good care of yourself, you hear?"

"Why are you phrasing that in the form of a goodbye? You are coming back from this aren't you?"

"It depends on how things are by the end of this I guess" April admitted.

"Well, no matter what happens, you hold on to whoever the lucky guy in your life is, and don't forget who'd make the best bridesmaid"

"I will Irma, love you" April said, and cut off the Turtle-com.

"Do you think now's a good time to go out there and actually help Don?" asked Raphael.

A swift chill in the air suddenly blew across the van, they couldn't quite get a fix on what was causing the draft, only a portion of their being found it odd, alien and otherworldly.

Everything was now in full acceleration; it was hard to keep their thoughts together as the events of the day ahead played out in rapid fashion.

They saw Donatello make his way back into the van, exhausted from battle, saying things that bordered on the incomprehensible...some of the fault of the exhaustion, most of it the fault of the acceleration.

The Turtle van made a turn and crashed through the bridge, hurtling towards the river below. Leonardo wisely opened the roof of the van up and he, his brothers, and April

What would have been an arduous couple of hours had been accomplished in mere minutes, as swift and as sudden as a blistering lightning strike.

After everyone inside the van managed to open the roof and swam to safety, April spent those hours turned minutes drying off. Her yellow jumpsuit and boots draped over a tree. She soaked in the sun in the lap of the Turtle she loved, which was beginning to resent the almost instantaneous passage of time, now robbing him of precious moment of tranquility with his beloved.

The search for Splinter resumed in short order, a swift glimpse of their mentor being carried away by mousers across the perimeter of the industrial factory situated on the edge of the river bank where the Turtle Van had crashed.

"They must have caught word we were on our way over here, they're trying to move him off site" Leonardo spoke, sharpening the edge of his blade and hurriedly positioning himself to advance and make the kill on the mousers.

"Wait, something doesn't feel right" said Raphael, his instincts telling him there was an ambush potentially laying in wait.

No, not just instinct.

Reality.

"I concur with Raph, every tingle in my tummy is telling us to just let the mousers pass"

"But what if they're intending to dispose of him? And why am I speaking in fluent chipmunk?" Leonardo asked before realizing how high pitched and faster he was sounding.

"I don't know, it just feels like that's what reality's telling me to do"

"Then why go with what it says? We all have free will, we all know this isn't how we should live our lives"

Donatello was swift in agreement.

"Leo's right Raph, this world is just somebody's plaything, this reality began as someone's curiosity that's now been greatly subverted, we have to change how we play this game. It might not be accurate to the walk through, but from all we're currently experiencing, we're being told to complete the story more in record time. Cheating the system in order to break it may just be how we reach its climax"

Donatello approached Leonardo and placed his hand on his shoulder in a gesture of confidence in Leo's strategy.

"Go ahead Leo, make your move. It might clue us in to how this all works" Donatello insisted.

"They'll be on us in seconds" Raph snapped.

"Leo will make even shorter work in all that time, trust me"

Leonardo felt a rush of almost electric adrenaline course through him as he darted behind the bushes before making a decisive leap and crashing down with his blades finding their mark, digging deep into the heads of the mousers carrying Splinter.

Suddenly, the Turtles surroundings briefly began to glitch, and the foot soldiers patrolling the station suddenly made an appearance, but were suspended in motion, glowing bright shades of blazing orange, before fading from view.

"It worked Leo, by not hesitating and moving at a slower rate

"Something is giving us a nudge, an opportunity to no longer play this game by its own rules"

"He's coming around" April said as Splinter stirred back into conscious thought.

"My students, what has occurred?"

"Never mind that Sensei, we've got to head back to the lair and plan our next move"

"How are we going to do that? Hail a cab?" asked Raphael, pointing to the totaled Turtle Van.

Observing the Turtles from within the Techondrome, Krang was throwing a fit.

"Those blasted Turtles will be made to pay for disrupting our little play-through"

"Aren't they all such clever boys?" boasted his prisoner, a firm smile forming as she let the teasing words slip from her ruby lips.

"You have been throwing your toys out of the pram far too often lately. You might as well sit back and watch as the biggest one rolls out next"

"As is intended"

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I too am playing by your rules now?"

"At this point, only those who have followed the rules are allowed to break them"

The Turtles made their way towards a vast series of tunnels located just outside of the city.

Their speed had greatly diminished, and they could not catch any kind of gust in the early evening breeze. They also noticed that the birds had frozen in mid-flight.

"It's like everything's on pause" Donatello realized.

A large rumbling could be heard coming from the tunnels

"Calm before the crash guys" said Raphael, removing his sais from his belt and positioning himself for combat. The rest of the Turtles did the same.

The rumblings grew louder, a major tremor shook the surrounding area as a humongous, towering and all too terrifyingly familiar symbol of troubling terror came into view.

There it was.

The Technodrome.

"We're here"

"In record time"

"Something pushed us to this point, something altogether more powerful and complex"

"The VCR on fast forward?" Raphael asked.

"Yeah, I'd roll with that" Donatello answered.

"Simplest explanations are the best" Raphael quipped.

"Alright Don, punch a hole in that wall" commanded Leo, pointing to the Technodrome's outer structure.

"Hasn't he thrown enough fists for one afternoon?" asked Raph.

"He means we'll use one of my plastic explosives dummy" Donatello replied.

"Thanks for plugging a part of the plot I was missing"

Donatello took a small plastic shell from his belt buckle and pelted it at the towering machine, a small fire erupted and a medium sized hole was created.

"Do they have build that thing out of anything stronger than paper Mache?" observed Raphael.

"Let's go Turtles" Leonardo bellowed, leading the charge into the Technodrome. Splinter waited outside.

"You're not going with them Master Splinter?" April asked.

"I do not envision myself a part of this endgame, you should not be here either, but nevertheless, it is by design you should join them...but know if you go this time, it may be your last"

"Where they go, so does the story" replied April. Splinter nodded, acknowledging he understood on a level April could not yet begin to fathom, until it was too late.

April did not heed this advice, and headed off to join the rest of them, taking her camera with her.

"I'm going to see this through to the end, the world's going to get a good look at my hero Turtle in action" she responded.

And with that, she was gone. Splinter stood his ground.

"It has been a journey child, end it with honor, I stand, as always, with you, in spirit" he said. "The end of the game is in motion, regardless of the journey each of us has made; all of this reality hangs on the whims of others. How can you ever truly know what it is you put in motion is truly up to you?"

Splinter, while distanced, somehow managed to be heard by April as she headed towards the scene of conflict.

"April, what are you doing here? Get behind us" Leonardo said as he caught sight of her.

"Behind every great mutant..." April replied, kissing Michelangelo on the cheek and recording the scenes with her camera.

Rocksteady, who had arrived to reinforce the foot soldiers with Bebop, took one glance and suddenly the current of yesteryear swept him off shore.

"April, sugar-lips, good to see you"

"Why's he still giving you the ol' valentine chops?" Michelangelo asked.

"Even after all this, he still has a little bit of the love potion flowing inside his veins"

"That was years ago"

"You saying love can't linger in all that time? Why have I been putting up with you all these years then?"

"If love lasts this long, how 'bout we take advantage of his lady luck?"

"Smart thinking, oh Rocksteady my horn-dog, come here"

Rocksteady hesitated, but the enticing allure of April's sweet scent and flirtatious mannerisms compelled him to come closer.

"Hey, watch it 'Rock, we've only just been permitted back into the game"

"This ain't a game any longer 'Bop" argued Rocksteady.

April gathered Rocksteady up in her arms and stroked the tip of his horn affectionately, with all the hypnotic suggestions of a Disney era rattlesnake.

"You wouldn't happen to help us secure a direct route to Shredder and Krang's control room could you?"

"Hey, whatever sugar lips wants, sugar lips gets" Rocksteady responded, and led the Turtles and April to the main elevator, which he permitted them to use by handing over his key card.

"What do you make of a fine gesture like this?" Rocksteady asked.

"Like honey to a bee" April said, smiling. She handed the key to Leonardo, who slotted it into the main access port of the controls.

"Going down?" Leonardo asked.

"Shredder and Krang sure are" said Raph.

"This isn't how the games supposed to go" Bebop replied in alarm

"Somehow, I don't think whoever designed this engine wants to keep running it at the same speed" Raphael remarked.

The elevator doors closed

"Now what do we do?" Bebop asked.

"I say we make sure nobody follows them" Rocksteady said, charging up his laser and aiming it straight at the Foot Soldiers.

"What do you say 'Bop? This is all a game at the end of it, nothing's real; nothing matters, might as well side with the angels before the devils play any further with our lives. Not unless you want to side against me?"

"You'll do anything for love, but I won't do that" Bebop remarked, aiming his gun at the soldiers also.

"It's Footsie-trashing time" Rocksteady remarked.

The Turtles reached their desired floor and entered the central control room, where they still had a few soldiers and mousers to contest with.

Along the way, massive boulders were released into the corridor, tumbling towards them.

"Guess we'll have to go through as much of them as we can muster, charge forward Turtles"

And so they did.

Steel blades tore through metal, nun chucks snapped necks, sais slashed through Foot soldier fabric and slashed through the foot soldiers and mousers, who occasionally did get their mits on the heroes in a half shell, electrocuting them with the touch of their very finger tips, and, in the mousers case, special whips that wrapped around them.

"Be weary of your life counters Turtles, the closer we get to this game's source, the clearer I can see them" Leonardo replied.

"You got an instinct for this or something?" Raphael replied, breaking free of a soldier's grip, somersaulting over them and thrusting his Sais deep into its centre, before flipping it over and using it as a battering ram on the others.

"It's like the gaming mechanics are speaking to us, just goes to show how far reaching this source's power is"

The Turtles leapt out of the way of the tumbling boulders as they smashed into the foot soldiers and mousers, they then reached the final electronically barricaded door leading into the room that contained not just the dimensional portal, but the source of the altered state of reality.

But one last obstacle stood before them.

General Tragg, Krang's right hand rock soldier.

"Leave this to me" Donatello said, whipping out his Bo Staff and challenging Tragg to a one on one battle.

Donatello fought with tremendous ferocity, there were instances where he was downed by blasts from Tragg's weapon, rocked into weariness by a few select punches, but nevertheless he pressed on, until Tragg's life gauges were depleted and he departed the game in a violent explosion which also shut down the electronic guard to the entranceway they need.

"Way to rock the boat Don" said Michelangelo in triumph.

"And that's the best line I've heard all day" said Donatello.

"Let's settle this Turtles" said Leonardo.

As they entered, they found the room was strangely vacant.

"Something stinks here, and it's not me after a chili reaper special" said Michelangelo.

"Look guys that may be the source" Donatello said, pointing to the child tethered to the web at the centre of the portal.

Donatello clambered up and detached her.

"You're safe now" he said.

"No, nothing is safe without sacrifice, something must be lost for the day to be won" the child replied.

Krang, accompanied by Shreeka, suddenly sprang out from the portal; blasting the Turtles with laser blasts from his eyes and cackling wickedly.

"You amphibian adolescents will rue the day you ever crossed paths with the almighty Krang"

"He does know it's been years since we were nineteen right?" Raphael asked.

"Let's make sure he never takes any more years off our lives, Turtles fight with honor" Leonardo cried.

The battle was joined, the Turtles landed hit after hit on Krang and he did in turn, resorting even to high thrust kicks which winded the Turtles as they connected with their stomachs.

For Donatello, the fight proved too exhausting, and he began to fade as his life gauge ran dry.

"Oh no, Don" Leonardo said.

"No, please no" April said.

The child blinked and a giant CONTINUE? Appeared before them, complete with a countdown timer.

"Do something, help him" April urged.

"Something must be lost for the day to be won"

"We can't lose him" Leonardo remarked.

April looked at the portal controls.

"Mikey, if we leave that thing running, there's no telling what else will come out, Krang must have been in Dimension X"

"Good point babe, we either shut it down, or shift it away from his home turf"

The child took note of their intentions, and approved.

"You understand, and now so do I, your actions will have consequences, and they must be given a chance to show their hand. He shall live. Insert"

Her eyes glowed and Donatello ceased being transparent.

"I don't understand" Donatello said.

"Do you understand him?" the child replied, pointing to Michelangelo.

"I do, of course, he's my brother"

"Then be his coat of arms" she said.

Donatello rejoined the fight with the remaining Turtles, and their resolve became much stronger, they formed a different strategy, to take high flying kicks directly to Krang's upper body and temple.

It was an exhausting process, but eventually Krang began to glow a bright flickering orange and red as his systems began overloading, he was physically spent trying to target his laser beams on constantly moving targets.

"No, no I am invincible" he cried, he grabbed his head with both hands and squirmed in sheer agony as his body mechanics froze up and then began to explode all around him.

He triggered the emergency eject button and released himself from the centre of his android body as it flew apart in a massive explosion. Shreeka caught him, they fled through the portal.

It was at this point, before April and Michelangelo could carry out their intent to shut down the portal that the Shredder would strike.

Or rather two of them would.

"You incompetent amphibians, as long as the portal possess the child's power, I control the game, I am part of the program, and forever part of yours"

"Double trouble" yelled Raphael.

"How...?" asked Leonardo.

"...It all began? As energy, life is energy, all around us, it allows us to evolve, and to devolve, become something more and so much less. I possess what is more, and now I, we, can reduce you to less and back again, just watch"

Shredder let out a ferocious blast which caught Leonardo and Raphael, reducing them to infant, regular Turtles, before they quickly switched back, their life gauges taking a significant drop.

"I cannot retain their evolutionary state without exhausting their life counters, it will be game over for both unless the portal, the source of the Shredder's current power, is extinguished" the child revealed.

"I've got a plan" said Michelangelo.

"That's new" said April.

"Here's one of the scarier things, it might just work"

Michelangelo kissed April on the cheek and turned towards the portal controls, he turned a few knobs and pulled a few levers, the portal began to shimmer

"No, if I lose the portal's current frequency, the power I siphoned off of the source will be depleted, all I've nothing. You won't take the game away from me Turtle" Shredder responded in anger at the thought of losing his advantage over his enemies, and sent his double to take out Michelangelo.

But the other Shredder was intercepted by Raphael; another devolutionary blast hit him, reducing him again to a regular Turtle, his life gauge barely registering as he was turned back.

Leonardo threw a sai at the first Shredder, he ducked, but it pierced the dimensional portal controls, short circuiting it and causing it to overheat and phase in and out of other dimensions.

"Your fear of mortal harm has become your undoing tin grin" Leonardo boasted.

"No, no" Shredder screamed.

Leonardo wearily fell to his knees, the last of his life gauge exhausted.

"One more blast will send you straight to the pet shop Turtle" Shredder said, sneering, aiming the tip of his fingers at Leonardo's temple, ready to strike.

Suddenly, it happened. A valiant sacrifice play from the strongest soul that had ever befriended, even loved, the Turtles.

"Save me a slice for when I get back" April spoke to Michelangelo as she charged Shredder and pushed him towards the portal.

"Are you loco in the motive? You have no idea where you'll end up" Michelangelo responded.

"Pretty sure I know where it is you'll catch me, on the flip side"

"April, what are you doing? Get back" Leonardo said, barely able to speak with how low his energy was.

"Not without my exclusive" said April, grabbing Shredder's right shoulder as Michelangelo held on to the left. Both began pushing him back towards the portal.

Raphael fixated his gaze on the second Shredder as he limped towards the controls.

"Oh no you don't" Raphael bellowed, grabbing Krang's leg and holding on for as long as he could, buying even more vital time for April and Michelangelo to push Shredder into the wildly erratic portal.

The two lovers locked eyes, knowing this could be the final time they could set sights upon one another.

"What a story this is going to make"

"I couldn't make it without you babe" Michelangelo said

"You think this story will pay for our honeymoon?"

"Depends on how expensive it is babe, where do you picture us going?"

"White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise"

"Well, that isn't so bad"

"No. No, it isn't"

They gave each other a last longing and loving look, before turning back to face Shredder.

They both nodded and, with a final push, sent both him and each other straight through the portal and into the unknown

There was a blinding flash, a thunderous explosion, and pillars of fire shot out of the portal and shot upwards across the walls, setting off further tinier explosions which began reducing the entire portal generator room to molten remains.

"What's happening?" asked Leonardo as the Turtles began to high-tail their way out of the Technodrome.

"Shredder was in the process of phasing out when April and Mikey pushed him into the portal, somehow it created a ray phase shift, it's caused a massive feedback into here"

"In other words, the Technodrome is going up in smoke, and it might just take us with it" Leonardo realized.

"Not unless we move real quickly" Donatello insisted.

Fast as their legs could carry them, the Turtles and Splinter made their way back along their trail of destruction that they had carved out upon entering the mobile fortress and exited via the hole they had created for themselves.

Outside, the Turtles watched as the final defeat of the Technodrome, Shredder, Krang, Shreeka and all who followed their lead, became total as a final rapturous and violent explosion ripped it to shreds, reducing it to ruin. All that remained of the mighty machine where a worn out blazing shell and caterpillar tracks.

"It's over" said Donatello.

"It is all over, the skin of this reality must be shed, am I correct in assuming so my child?" Splinter asked.

"You are wise beyond what you perceive to be real" the young woman spoke, her feet leaving the soil as her wings carried her upwards.

The Turtles all looked at their hands, tiny specks of white light surging around them, before gathering in the wind and detaching from their bodies, circling their eyes.

They found themselves spinning around in quite a dizzying fashion.

"Are...are we changing?" Leonardo asked

"Everything is...for the better I hope" Splinter replied, the change happening to him the most rapidly, his face switching from rodent to human, from Splinter to Yoshi and back again, never quite settling, perhaps never desiring to.

"All will be as it was...before your skies ever turned red"

"Speaking in riddles again" Leonardo said, sighing.

"Just call her kid conundrum" joked Raphael.

"I have learned many things about the love I found in this reality, it was a love shared, and the love you have.

That love is what nourished me through all the abuse, manipulations, and neglect of those that took me into their 'care', the love that came out of me, I realize now, came from the connections you all had with one another. A sense of belonging, and instantaneous acceptance

When you inherit someone else's world and the people in it, they are essentially your adopted children and have just as much of a responsibility to raise them right...this is what I must do, the universe is a child, I am now it's mother, or maybe it's father too. Its multi-faceted sense of identity, its right, it's wrong. I am one with what came before, and will be one with what comes after. I am new, I am old. I am how it will end, and I am how it all began"

"The skies never looked so clear" said Raphael, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Donatello's eyes snapped open, he found he and the Turtles were on the tip of a peer, watching Shedder, Krang, Rocksteady and Bebop clamber into the back of a van and speed off.

"Well guys, they got away again" Michelangelo said.

"Yeah, but without the Technodrome, we won't have to worry about them" said Donatello, before he realized this was something he was so sure he had said before.

"They have Krang's brilliance, Shredder's cunning, and Bebop and Rocksteady's strength, I fear we shall be hearing from them again...soon" cautioned Splinter.

The back of Donatello's head was racing with questions and so very few answers.

Something hadn't just happened to reality, something had happened to time.

This was several years ago. Back when they had just sent the Technodrome into Dimension X for the second time.

This was before Channel Six had been destroyed, before their encounters with Dregg and their alternate Earth selves.

He didn't know how to react, does he tell anyone? How much does everyone remember?

Was it only him?

Was it because he had been the sole Turtle that phased in and out of reality during the fateful final encounter?

Was this reality reset an unwanted, an unneeded second chance for everyone?

How unfair would that be to them if they all found out?

What about Irma?

Would she ever remember what she meant to him?

Or would he have to open up and remind her?

"What a story this'll make" April said, snapping her fingers to summon her news crew.

"I better get on it. See you later tonight?"

"It's a date dudette" Michelangelo replied.

"Just like the rest of my life" April replied.

And that's when Donatello noticed the engagement ring on April's finger.

And he shed a small tear.

He'd been asking the wrong questions.

He now needed to know both what memories and experiences in this life had changed, for good or for ill, and which had remained the exact same.

He hoped he'd be as lucky with Irma as Michelangelo had been with April.

"Will you guys excuse me? I gotta go give Irma a call, there's something I need to tell her, and it can't wait 'till next week, or next year" he said.

After all this time, he'd finally figured out how it always truly begins.

With a ring.

With a smile.

Now he would seize the day.

A day made possible by mutants.

And by miracles.