AUTHOR'S (well, more publisher in this case) NOTES: So, here's a mini-series that my colaborator thought of that will be written as I continue work on the next two Spotlights and Ch 3 of Dark Phoenix. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I am.
DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.
Infinity League: No Road Home
Chapter 1: Time is Relative
Michelangelo was bored.
His brothers had all been called away for different missions. Leo had been sent on a mission to spy on Cobra's latest activities, Raph and Casey was assisting in clean up duties in Mexcio City after a fight between Kumonga and Anguirus left it in ruin and Donnie was helping Professor Utonium and Dr. Wakeman with an experiment that required them to be off the tower in order to keep damage to a minimal. April had just gotten off duty an hour ago and was headed back for some rest, thus leaving the youngest of the four turtles alone in the Tower.
Well, alone wasn't exactly the right word Mikey would use, for there were a few heroes still roaming around the orbital station. It had been one of those times when the Infinity League had been stretched thin and only a handful of heroes were left to keep watch during the wee hours of the night.
Since the Turtles had joined the League, they had been welcome with open arms. Not just by their metahuman peers, but also by the world at large. While his brothers were hesitant of stepping out of the shadows and into the public, Mikey was more than ecstatic to be out in the open. Granted, it was difficult at first for people to accept the four brothers as heroes, but, after a while, they were hailed as the heroes they always knew they were. But today, the young ninja didn't feel like a hero. More like a bored teenager with nothing to do but lay on the bed in his quarters and toss smoke bombs at the wall.
Just then, the young mutant heard a knock at his door. Curious, he went to open it and found a rather irate looking Ulrich looking back at him wile holding a bucket in his hand.
"Yo, what up, Ulrich?" Mikey greeted.
"I was helping Soos with cleaning out the old cold storage unit and I found something that belongs to you," the swordsman stated.
He lifted the bucket up for Mikey to see. Moments later, a small, cat-shaped head poked its head out of the bucket and meowed at the teen turtle. This was Mikey's mutant pet, Ice Cream Kitty.
"How many times do you have to be told to keep your stupid ice cream cat out of the Tower?!" Ulrich demanded.
"Hey, that could be anyone's mutated dessert kitty!" Mikey defended. "...But yeah, she's mine."
"Send it back home now, Mikey!" Ulrich ordered as he roughly shoved the bucket into the turtle's hands.
"Hey, why are you getting bent all out of shape over this?" the ninja turtle demanded. "Odd brings Kiwi up here all the time and you don't bust him for that!"
"That's because Odd keeps him in his room and not in a place where people put their food," his teammate replied sharply.
"Oh, come on Ulrich, she wasn't hurting anything," Mikey said. "She get's lonely when I'm not at home."
"Get it off this Tower, now, or so help me I will shoot that thing out of an airlock!" Ulrich warned.
"Not if I stick you in one first!" Mikey shot back.
The two heroes stared one another down for what seemed like forever, ready to pounce on one another if given the chance. Thankfully, a voice called out to the two teen heroes before either one could throw a punch.
"Whoa, looks like I got here just in time," Penn said as he approached his teammates. "You two look like you could blow off some steam. Well, it just so happens that we're having a little sparring match with the new recruit in the training room."
The two stared each other down for a few more moments before finally backing off.
"Yeah, I could use something to hit," Ulrich said as he backed off.
With that, the swordsman headed off in the direction of the training room, leaving the Ninja Turtle with a feeling of anger and confusion in the pit of his stomach.
"Jeez, what crawled up his butt?" he asked.
"He and Yumi had another fight today," Penn replied.
Mikey wasn't surprised by that reason as to why Ulrich was in such a bad mood. While the two were good as teammates, they were pretty toxic for one another as lovers. Both Ulrich and Yumi had a tendency to be a bit possessive with one another, and that meant they could get jealous of anyone who they talked to that wasn't them. Whenever they fought, they didn't care where they did so, whether that be in the mess hall, the training room or even in the middle of a mission briefing. The couple would constantly break up only to get back together a few days later before repeating the process all over again.
"It was bad," the ginger continued. "Like, Duke had to step in and split them up."
"Dude, that's messed up," Mikey noted. "Like, why do they keep doing this to one another?"
"It's hard to say," Penn admitted. "I guess sometimes broken people think they can fix each other, but instead only break one another further."
"Whoa, that's deep," the turtle noted. "I'm glad you and Sashi have a stable relationship."
"Oh, yeah...totally," Penn answered slowly, not wanting to acknowledge his and Sashi's mental drama at the moment. [1] "Come on, let's see what the new girl can do."
The two heroes followed Ulrich into the training room, all the while Mikey carried his mutant pet in the bucket Ulrich had put him in. When they entered the training room, they found the rest of the remaining heroes that were left on the tower watching the new recruit fighting Marco. The heroes in question were Queen Bee, Stanford Pines, Peridot, Buttercup, Brooklyn, Jet Jaguar, the Blue Ranger, Gaz and the G.I. Joe medic, Doc, all of whom were watching the sparring match between Marco and his opponent. (with the exception of Gaz, who was paying more attention to her Game Slave 2)
The other fighter was the new recruit by the name of Chun-Li. An Interpol agent who, along with her squad-mates, Guile and Cammy White, had recently been recruited into the Infinity League by Kim Possible. The reasoning behind this was not just because of there excellent fighting prowess, but also because of their knowledge of Shadaloo, which had been become a growing threat to the Infinity League as of late.
Currently, Marco was on the defensive as he tried to block and evade the series of lightning fast kicks that Chun-Li was throwing his way. Finally, after trying to hold his own for as long as he did, a single kick managed to slip past his defenses and sent the young man flying backwards into a wall. Even with the body armor Marco was wearing, the young martial artist could still feel the impact from the Interpol agent's foot against his chest. After hitting the wall, the young man slid down before laying on the ground, gasping for air.
"Daaaammmmnnn!" Penn said in shock while Doc ran over to Marco's side. "You okay, dude?"
"I think my heart stopped beating for five seconds," Marco replied, still reeling from the hit as the Joe's medic helped him up before looking over to Chun-Li. "Uh, good match."
"Feel free to fight me any time," the agent commented, bowing in respect.
She then looked at the rest the team.
"Would anyone else like to train with me?" she asked.
Buttercup was about to put her hand up before Brooklyn quickly put it down for it. The last time the pint-sized powerhouse sparred with anyone was Grimlock, and the two ending up causing severe damage to the fourth floor of Skyward Tower. It was then that Ulrich stepped forward, much to the surprise of the others.
"I'll take that offer," he stated with smirk.
The two combatants bowed in respect to on another before each taking a battle stance. They stayed in their respective poses for several silent, tense moments before the two fighters rushed at one another. Ulrich made the first attack by throwing a punch, but Chun-Li easily blocked it and brought her knee up to strike the younger fighter in the gut, nearly knocking the wind out of Ulrich's body in the process. The swordsman retaliated by attempting to deliver a roundhouse kick, but Chun-Li effortlessly ducked under the kick before bringing her her foot in a vertical motion and uppercutting the teen in the jaw, sending him flying into the air before falling hard on his back.
In a matter of seconds, the fight was over, or so one would think. With an angry growl, Ulrich ignored the pain in his chest and jumped back to his feet, drawing his katanas as he did.
"Ulrich, no!" Ford shouted.
"It's alright, Ford," Chun-Li assured calmly. "Let him come."
No sooner had she said that did Ulrich lunge toward her with his swords at the ready. Chun-Li again effortlessly evaded the teen's attacks, dodging the relentless swipes of Ulrich's swords. The other heroes watched in stunned awe as the Interpol agent continued to dodge the swordsman's blades. It was almost as if she was dancing away from the attacks, but the true martial artists among them, such as Mikey, Marco and Penn, knew what the woman's real battle strategy was: She was waiting for the perfect opening to strike. Those who had sparred with Ulrich in the past knew that he was a force to be reckoned with, but today was different. He wasn't the great fighter he was known to be, for his anger over losing the first round, coupled with his fight with Yumi, had made him wild and unbalanced. In other words: he had already lost this fight before it started.
Chun-Li then did several back flips away from Ulrich, who used his super speed to get right back in front of her. This time, when he slashed out with one of his swords, he managed to leave a small cut on the side of the agent's dress. The first hit the made on her person. Feeling brave from the light hit, Ulrich charged in blindly, but before he could make another move, Chun-Li suddenly reached out with her hands and pressed them up against Ulrich's torso.
"Kikoken!" she cried out.
Suddenly, a small blue ball of energy came out of the woman's hands and sent Ulrich flying back several feet from his opponent and sliding across the ground before finally coming to a stop when his head hit the wall. Ulrich forced himself to stand up again to try another attack, but just as he raised his sword again, he felt the vice like grip of someone's hand on his wrist. He turned to see who had grabbed him and saw that it was Jet Jaguar, who waved his finger in shame at the teen as he did.
"That's enough, Ulrich," Ford declared. "The fight's over."
"...Fine," the swordsman grunted as he shook out of the robot's grip.
"You let your anger cloud your judgement," Chun-Li informed the teen. "If I was fighting for real, I could've killed you."
"Duly noted," Ulrich shrugged off. "But if this was a real fight-"
"You would've been arrested for murder," Ford cut him off. "What were you even thinking?! Chun-Li is one of us, and you just attacked her!"
"You better lay off, Ford," Ulrich warned.
"Or what?" Buttercup asked sharply. "You gonna try something with all of us in this room?"
"Just chill, bro," Mikey advised. "We're all friends here."
Before Ulrich could say anything else, a bright blue flash of light engulfed the room, nearly blinding everyone in the process. When the light faded away, a blue portal stood in the middle of the room. Everyone instantly took up a position and surrounded the strange portal, all the while wondering how it managed to enter Skyward Tower in the first place. The league's orbital base was safeguarded from any sort of dimensional incursions due to the multiple barriers, shields and even magic spells and incantations that surrounded it in order to prevent any and all forms of trans-dimensional intrusions into the base.
"Shelia, we have a problem!" the Blue Ranger said into his communicator. "We need you down here, now!"
In an instant, the tower's A.I. made her appearance in the training room. Upon 'seeing' the portal, Shelia was equally surprised to see it here as well.
"What in the world is that?!" she exclaimed.
"That's what you need to tell us!" Ford demanded. "We need you to scan it and figure out where this came from!"
As ordered, Shelia began to run a scan on the portal before giving them an answer.
"I'm detecting a massive amount of temporal energy," Sheila explained.
"Wait, temporal?" Penn asked. "You mean that this is a kind of time vortex?"
"I'm about 97.8% certain of it," the A.I affirmed. "And it's unstable."
"Everybody, back up!" the Blue Ranger told the others. "We don't want to get sucked in!"
"I'm more worried about what might come out of it," Doc noted.
Suddenly, a figure spewed out from the portal, making everyone collectively jump back in response. The newcomer was a woman dressed in a blue suit with strange gems on the chest piece and long blue cape. She wore an equally strange helmet atop her head that almost had the appearance of a clock and carried a strange, hourglass-shaped staff in her hands. Just as the others had readied for a fight, Mikey instantly knew who this newcomer was.
"Renet?" he asked as he approached the woman. "Is that you?"
"Michelangelo?" the girl replied before hugging the mutant turtle. "I'm so glad to see you again!"
"...So, I take it you two know each other then?" Peridot asked.
"She's a friend of mine," Mikey explained. "She's a super awesome and super cute time traveler!"
"Oh, great..." Ulrich groaned. "Time travel."
"Thank God I finally found you, Mikey," the time traveler said. "I need your help."
"What's wrong?" the Ninja Turtle questioned.
"It's Savanti." Renet answered. "He's back."
"Sava-who now?" Queen Bee inquired.
"Ugly demon-looking dude," the Ninja Turtle answered before looking back at Renet. "What happened, Renet?"
"Savantini is after Time Baby's Chrono-Essence," Renet explained.
"Wait, Time Baby?" Ulrich said before looking over to Ford. "Isn't he that guy who ran the Time Agency?"
"He was until Bill killed him," the scientist replied.
Time Baby was a being from the distant future who controlled the Time Agency. An organization that was meant to keep the timeline intact so that Time Baby could rule the future. However, the time-controlling infant was slain by Bill Cipher when he attempted to stop the demon from expanding his Weirdmageddon across the universe.
"Ugh, why are there so many time traveling groups?!" Buttercup groaned in frustration.
"Because time is constantly in a flux," Renet answered. "People assume that time is like a straight line when, really, it's like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff. So, much like your world's governments, multiple agencies and groups exist in order to keep the balance within the timestream. Then, there are those, like Clockwork, who oversee all of time and safeguard certain fixed points from being altered."
"Ok, back up a sec. You sad something about Chrono-Essence," Marco noted. "What the hell is that?"
"It's the temporal remains of Time Baby," Renet said. "After Bill killed him, his energy was scattered throughout the timestream. His Chrono-Essence was like his life blood and the source of his power."
"And if this Savanti guy gets it, he'll wreck the timestream, right?" Brooklyn gathered.
"Big time," the time mistress confirmed. "Time Baby was one of the most powerful Time Masters in history, right behind Clockwork and Vector Prime. If Savanti finds all the traces of his Chrono-Essence, he could do some serious damage."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go kick his butt!" Mikey declared.
"It's not that simple, Michelangelo," Ford interjected. "We can't just up an leave the Tower. What if there's a crisis and the League needs us?"
"If we don't stop Savanti, there might not even be an Infinity League," Mikey countered. "Trust me, dudes, this guy is dangerous, and if we don't stop him, then he could seriously wreck everything!"
"I'm with Mikey on this," Brooklyn agreed. "I say we get this guy before he tries anything."
"Now that's what I'm talking about," Buttercup responded.
"But it's not just Savanti we have to worry about. It's us, too," Ford furthered. "If we're not careful, then we could do just as much damage to history as he could."
"Ford does have a point," Peridot added. "A single misstep on even the smallest bug could, in theory, alter the very fabric of time."
"It's a risk we'll have to take," Doc spoke up. "Yes, it's dangerous to do this, but if we don't do anything, then this Savanti guy will win regardless."
Doc did have a point. Time Travel was dangerous in of itself, but, if they merely ignored this threat, then Savanti would do untold damage to all of time and space. It was then that that the League members made their decision.
"Let's do it," Penn said on behalf of everyone else.
With that, the League members quickly prepped themselves for their mission. Penn went to go put his suit on while Ulrich put on his mask that covered his mouth. Ford, Doc, Peridot and the Blue Ranger gathered up whatever scientific tools they would need for the trip. Meanwhile, Mikey put his pet back in the cold storage unit. The other members, such as Chun-Li, Jet Jaguar and Marco, were steadying themselves for what was to come. Then there were others, like Gaz, who merely brushed off the whole experience as just another Tuesday on the Tower. Finally, once everyone was ready, Renet handed the group a strange, clock-shaped radar and vials.
"These will help you track of and contain the Chrono-Essence once you find it," Renet explained. "I've managed to locate all the points in time where they're hidden in. I'll stay behind to keep the time portal open and stay in contact with all of you."
"And I'll keep the rest of the League informed of what's going on in case someone comes back to the tower" Sheila added.
The assembled group of heroes looked at the portal before them. They then all took one last at one another before stepping into the the portal and being whisked away by the very sands of time.
[1] - To have a better understanding of the hardships of what Penn is currently going through, read the seventh Infinity Verse Spotlight centered around Jazz Fenton titled "Sanctuary."