"Stockman!"

Shredder strolled into the laboratory, indignantly. The huge vast of greenish blue mutagen sat right in the middle, glowing through the lab which cast a shadow over the man who slouched over his desk. Shredder stared at the man, letting a few seconds trickle before approaching him.

It wasn't until he was near inches to him that Stockman nearly jumped out his seat, not realizing his own boss was even in his lab. He hated when he tuned in on his work, Shredder and his henchmen always spook up on him on any time.

"Oh, Master Shredder, pardon me I was – "

"Have you finished?" Shredder asked, cutting the man off as he didn't care what excuse he used for not hearing him. Stockman immediately fumbled in place; his eyes glazed in fear. Shredder didn't care, though; he wanted the device now.

"Uh—yes yes, sir. Well, I still need to test it." Baxter was all over the place. He didn't know his master would ask for the device so early on when there were still bugs to fix. He was still understanding Krang tech, and for Shredder to ask something in such high demand—that he didn't even know what for—baffled him.

Shredder watched as Baxter grabbed the device. The triangle shape appliance would lead him to success.

"Here you go, Master." Baxter handed it to him and did a quick bow, clearing his throat. "It is flawed, but I got most of the bugs out."

By bugs he means it broke because the turtles damaged it when Krang tried to take over New York. And since their deal with the Krang no longer existed–the aliens down and defeated—his next best thing was to have Stockman fix it.

Shredder stared at the device, and Stockman felt like a pile of goo, unable to read the man's emotions. The quiet atmosphere made him want to scream. His master was pleased or quite the opposite of that.

"What's wrong with it?" He asked, monotone, which Baxter hated because he wasn't sure if that tone was disappointment or curiosity.

"Well," Baxter glanced away for a quick second, "it is timed, meaning if you go to the past or future, you can only be there for 10 minutes, I think it's stuck so I can't change it for now. Also, it might send you to a location you didn't want, but I am trying to – "

"Enough." Shredder demanded, and Stockman held his breath. After a second, he spoke.

"Sir," Stockman entangled his fingers together, making eye contact before looking at the ground. "Any reason you wanted to fix the time traveling device?" He asked, his voice small as if he said the wrong thing; he would get killed. Or wait, he would, which is why Stockman held off this conversation for the past three days, but curiosity was killing him, and Shredder was a smart man and had ideas like no other.

"Because Stockman," He pressed on the device, punching in coordinates as the Krang has taught him and he let it go as the device hummed and flew in the air with the pink portal opening and revealing nothing but static. "Hamato Yoshi been dead for months, but the turtles grew stronger. I need to get rid of one of them, let their team fall so I can take over New York." His voice grew colder with each word, and Baxter was trying to wrap his head around this. To go back in time and kill them, but only one of them?

"It's a great plan, Master." Baxter said, kissing his ass as always, but he was even more curious which turtle will fall to their demise. "Who will it be?"

Shredder stared at the portal, watching the pastel pink disappear and come back, proving that Stockman's device was still flawed, but he was growing impatient. He turned to Stockman; a gleeful smile hidden behind his helmet. In a low tone he said, "Donatello."

Stockman stared; bug eyed. Out of all of them, he least expected the purple one. He scratched his head, feeling like he was out of breath. He thought his target would be Leonardo or Raphael, maybe even Michelangelo.

"Master – "

"He is the brains behind the brawns, the one who calculate and know everything. Our last fight, he pulled their team together when Leonardo failed to do so. He grows strong, mentally, and needs to be taken down."

Baxter watched as his master went into the portal, mouth agape in awe and disbelief.

Coming out of the portal, Shredder looked in disgust that he was in the sewers. He knew the turtles lived down here, but his Foot bots and henchmen never could find their hideout. And if his calculations were correct, the turtles should be children, young and stupid. Playing in the sewers like no enemy exist, and so Shredder was hoping he made the right call.

Walking through the tunnels, searching for their home, he knew he had only 10 minutes; it was crucial if even a mere minute was being wasted; he had to act quick.

If Shredder were to play the lottery, he would win, because in a distance with trained ears, he heard a loud, high pitch voice; "Raaaphie?" It echoed, but Shredder knew he was in the tunnel to his left. It was out of sheer luck; he heard the exact turtle he was looking for. With growing excitement, he stomped on a puddle in front of him, hoping to catch the boy's attention to be his dear brother.

And it worked, he was hearing rushed footsteps coming his way and Shredder turned around, waiting, and hoping.

The footsteps skidded to a stop. And he heard the boy gasp, before scrambling to the wall. He had to act quick.

"Donatello." His voice boomed, strong and confident, and even if he didn't have trained eyes, anyone can see the boy attempting to hide in the shadows. Oh, to be a child, oblivious.

Saki stepped forward, closer to the boy. He had to gain his trust; it didn't have to an everlasting one, but something that won't let the terrapin run away and call his father.

The boy was trying to make a run for it, slowly but surely, so Shredder acted quick. "Donatello, I am your father's friend." He made his voice overly sweet, something he only done with his daughter when she was a small child. "Are you lost?"

And at this—watching the turtle approach him with glossy eyes and a small feeling of trust—he had the turtle right in his hands.

"So, maybe this isn't the best idea." Leo murmured to himself, rubbing his palm to his forehead. They were running out of resources, ideas, and time. "But we don't have much of a choice."

"Hey, I mean, better than mine, right?" Raph half jokingly said, and looked at his brother's face, disappointment lining on his forehead. "Hey hey, don't you worry," he wrapped an arm around over Leo's shoulder, "if this doesn't work, Renet can always take us back again. Right, Renet?"

He watched as the trainee sat cross-legged and fiddled with her scepter. The glowing red was more of a pale pink, meaning it was cooling down.

"Uh—yeah!" She said, only half listening to Raph. But her nose scrunched up when she realized Raph was comforting his brother instead of arguing. It was rare to see those two get along with plans, and for Raph to agree with his plan? Renet groaned lowly, she knew they had to fix this ASAP.

Thankfully, Raph let go of Leo—'cause she was already a little freaked out about how different they were—and walked to Mikey.

"Mike, any updates?" Raph asked, Leo put him on watch for the Shredder, that bozo should come soon.

"Nah bros, Donnie's still wandering around, I guess. He should come soon. This is the place where he gets–" His shoulders visibly tense, and for a second he lost his wording. Despite Raph trying to comfort Leo with his plans. Mike knew it was a hasty idea, but as Leo said, they don't have much of a choice, and as his brother being leader, Mikey was every step behind him, following commands as always, or least tried. "–Anyway," Mike said, clicking his tongue in thought, "who's getting Donnie out of here before we fight?"

"You." Both Raph and Leo said simultaneously.

"Me?!" He said in a shriek, and covered his mouth, "you don't want me to fight?" He whispered rather harshly, glaring mostly at Leo

"It's not that Mikey." Leo paused, stabbing his tongue against his cheek, Mikey was the most sensitive out of the three of them, and he knew his wording had to be outright perfect. "it's just Donnie's close to the Shredder, and we need someone with fast reflexes to get him out of there, and you're the best we got."

"Yeah," Mikey's voice lowered; "I guess you're right." Mike nodded, "I am the fastest out of you two. Ha! Ha!" He exaggerated, bouncing on the balls of his feet, wanting to use his bragging rights at every chance he can get, but he froze in what seemed like mid-air.

In a distance there was a small yell, barely they could hear, "… You're not my friend!" And it felt like everything came crashing down.

"It's not in these tunnels, brah." Mikey said, hands suddenly clammy and head jerking in every direction to know where the two were coming from.

"Renet, stay at least 30 feet from us, for your own safety." Leo suddenly said, watching at their friend nod and then turned at his two younger brothers. "Let's move." Leo waved at the two, eyes delving into the deep shade of white as they heard the faint conversation coming from the West side of the tunnels. It wasn't too far, but if they didn't hurry…

"No tricks," they heard, the pause making their stomach do flips because that voice of their nemesis, it was so sickly sweet and fake that anyone could have known he was lying miles away. But it was towards a child - their brother - whose mind was filled with innocence and trust that have built between the two in such a short time that made them all sick to their stomachs. "We are all friends here."

Out of nowhere, Mikey slid underneath the Shredder and scooped Donnie up before taking a mad dash out of the tunnel.

"What the—you fool!" Shredder turned to an incoming Sai and blocked it with his gauntlet. His muscle tense as he was able to push the Sai out of Raphael's hand. It spun to the ground, and Raphael looked at him with undeniable anger.

"You monster!" Raph yelled, coarse and raw, raising his other Sai to attack, but Leonardo swooped in and blocked the incoming gauntlet towards his brother.

He swept his feet back, sword pointed at Saki.

"Monster?" Shredder said, almost in defensive and hurt. "I was doing you three a favor, and it sure seemed my planned work for you to have followed me here." Despite the mask, they knew he was smiling, they knew that his plans may as well been calculated and cruel. He planned to kill their brother for—for what?

"You serve no honor, Saki." Leo deepened his voice, his eyes never leaving Shredder's, as if he scared if he blinked, he would attack.

"You don't get to decide what I serve, child." Half of Saki's body illumined in a pastel pink color and turned to see the portal mere inches away from him. Time was up, and he had to go.

Realization hit Raphael; this monster would not leave without a fight.

"Oh, no you don't!" Raph yelled, realizing what Shredder was doing as he entered the portal halfway before being shoved in with Raphael.

"Raph!" Leo yelled before he can follow them, the portal closed, leaving specks of pink dust.

It surprised Mikey at how quiet Donnie was. He literally balled up into his arms, as Mike continued to run through the sewers, hearing Donnie's heartbeat and his own beat so loud it might as well echo through the sewers.

After what felt like minutes, but probably were just a few seconds after he snatched Donnie from Shredder, the boy poked his head up. And Mikey glanced down, sad, confused brown eyes pooling in tears with confident blue ones.

"I know you." Donnie spoke, and Mikey's heartbeat even faster.

"No–no you don't." Was all he can say, and Donnie gave a quick laugh.

"Yeah! You're my brother. But older?" He hugged his bicep as Mike ran faster. He didn't know his identity would get revealed so quickly by a five-year-old. But the first time Donnie was… killed, he identified Raph. Maybe it was his mask?

He approached the lair, well stayed a 100 feet away from it so his brothers and dad don't identify him either. He gently put the child down and went on his knee to make eye contact with him.

"Okay, you got me." Mike gave him a goofy grin, trying to make the child feel relaxed and earn his trust. "I came 'cause that mean man could have hurt you, but now you're safe!"

At that Donnie's face paled, and Mikey gave him a slight pout. "I know, I know, but listen buddy, what happened today never happened, okay? Don't tell your brothers or father. Can you promise me that?" Donnie feverishly nodded, and Mike gave him a quick pat on the shell. "Okay, I'll see you soon then." Mike gave him a wink and disappeared in the shadows.

Donnie watched him go, and then stared at the slice on his palm, tilting his head, trying to wrap his mind around what just happened.

Mike cautiously went to the tunnel his brothers were supposedly fighting Shredder but met only Leo and Renet.

"Leo!" Mike caught up to his brother, who was discussing something with Renet, and cut him off, "where's Raph, and the Shredder?" His gut twisted in unsureness, and he couldn't hear them fighting from a distance, so he simply was confused. He was only gone for less than five minutes. And top of that, he wanted to ask about what just happened with Donnie and him, but he pushed it to the side for now.

"Shredder somehow opened the portal, and Raph followed him in him." Leo stoically said and watched as Renet bent down and rubbed her finger over the fallen pink dust.

"Hmm, I wonder…" She whispered, pulling her staff, and collecting the dust from the ground with it.

In a few seconds the staff was now a dark blue, but Renet could still use it according to her. "Ah ha!" Renet lifted her staff, reading whatever language it was.

"What?" Both Leo and Mike said, coming closer to her.

"Shredder may be all smart, but his portal left dust!"

"So…?" Leo gave her a confused look, followed by Mikey, who scratched his head.

"Well, it gave me the exact coordinates of where the two went, but we have to hurry, it seems as Shredder's portals timed, and we can't miss them or we will never know if they'll change to a different location." She said in a rushed tone, and before Leo can ask her to open the portal, she already did and the three jumped in.

He crashed on the pavement on his shell, quickly pulling out his Sais to block the incoming gauntlet. Raph exhaled a little too loudly. This man would not give him any breaks, was he? He didn't even know where they were; it was just some dark alley in hopefully New York.

Raph tried to look at his surroundings, such as Splinter has always taught them, and only saw a dumpster filled with trash bags. And the black stairwells from the apartment towards his right. But Raph didn't have the time to scan everywhere when he had his arch nemesis trying to kill him.

The sound of metal clashed again, before Raph rolled out of the way and quickly went on his feet. Man, Shredder was tiring, and Leo wasn't here to play hero.

"Shredder!" Raph roared out, attacking his opponent as his Sai hit his armor. They've only fought Shredder less than a handful of times and were beat each time. But Raph's goal was to take Shredder down, which was asking for a lot since they never beat him.

"Child, you are no match for me." Shredder said, blocking the Sai, and pulled it out of Raphael's hand.

Raphael put his guard down for one second, and in that second Shredder used that advantage to kick him, hard enough for him he flew, hitting the dumpster with his shell.

Raph gave out a huff as his body fell onto the asphalt. He looked up to see the Shredder towering over him and closed his eyes as Shredder raised the gauntlet to kill him.

If only his brothers were here…

A clang of metal made Raph open his eyes and see Leo blocking the gauntlet mere inches from him.

Raph sighed in relief, seeing Mikey wield his nun-chucks, and Renet in the back watching it all go down.

"Missed me?" Leo asked, pulling his sword up to deflect Shredder's weapon.

"Shut up." Raph said and rolled over to his feet.

Quickly, there was getting down one by one. Mikey's nun-chuck wrapped around the gauntlet to stop Shredder from hurting his bros', but the man didn't falter, instead pulled said nun-chuck and Michelangelo careening to the ground. Mike gave a rattled breath, having his breath knocked out.

Leo came in, like a knight in shining armor, and blocked the gauntlet from hurting his youngest brother. But he outmatched him, and Shredder brought his gauntlet to the turtle's arm. Before Leo can even process anything, the man balled up his fists and hit him under the jaw. Leo stepped back, dazed, but Shredder's not done.

He strikes again, this time to his head, and Leo lowered his guard, giving a quick glance to Raph in defeat. Already he was getting battered and bruised, before falling to his knees.

"Inexperienced fools." He stabbed Mikey's arm, before kicking the boy's shell away from him. Saki looked at Raph, clenching tightly to his Sais. He was right, Raph hated to admit, they barely fought with the Shredder, and he had years of experience than some 16-year-old turtles.

He was doing this for his brother, though; he watched in the corner of his eye as Leo mustered up the power to go help Mikey and he twisted his body quickly to avoid getting stabbed. But Shredder was quicker and grabbed his arm and pulled it out of his socket. Raph cried out, sinking to his knees hastily as Leo.

"Raph!" His brothers were slowly going down, and despite feeling the bruising on his face and arms and just his whole-body sore. Leo had to continue fighting, Shredder's not backing down.

Renet was watching the whole thing go down, and despite having a fiery attitude, she knew trying to join in and fight was a stupid idea. She would be down quicker than the three were, but she was running out of options.

She may be a time sorcerer, and does not know how to beat the Shredder, but maybe she can use that as an advantage. She watched as Raph's socket popped and closed her eyes from the pop sound. Her face paled, she never seen her friends defeated, and watching them wasn't making her feel any better; she wasn't contributing and only watched everything from behind.

Leo was going at him, but something pink sparked behind the Shredder, and her eyes grew double. He was leaving again, and her friends were in no condition to fight him.

She watched as Shredder grabbed Leo by his neck, and adrenaline kicked in because one second, she was watching it go down, and the next she was running towards the group.

She welded her staff, not even realizing she was shouting or what she was saying as she slammed the staff to the ground that the asphalt shook. A portal popped up in front of Shredder's, and with adrenalin still pumping, she hit him with her staff, which made him release Leo.

"Who are you?" He roared, confused, but wouldn't show that to the girl.

"I'm," she tried to hit him again, make him fall into the portal, but he blocked her staff; "Renet." Her voice shrunk, her worst fear coming true.

Leo staggered to his feet, not having time to collect himself as he jumped, kick Shredder to the portal. The portal shut immediately, only hearing a quick yell from the man, and Renet turned to hug Leo.

"Are you guys okay?" She cried out as Leo rubbed his neck, sorely.

"Ugh. Yeah." Raph said, holding his arm towards his chest like it was an invisible sling. "I just need to pop my shoulder back."

"We can do that in the lair." Leo's said hoarsely, coughing to get rid of the feeling in his throat. "How bout you Mike?"

"I'm fine, bros." They all looked at Mikey, holding onto his arm with his wrist band pressing on his bicep like a bandage.

"How did you do that, Renet?" He asked, slowly getting up so dizziness won't hit him. "Where did you sent him?"

"I—I don't know what came over me, honestly." She rubbed the back of her helmet shyly. "And I'm not sure where I sent him, but I hope it's far from here." She chuckled and helped Raph get up.

"Well, I guess we're done with him." Leo replied nonchalantly. He hugged his brothers' thankful that they were okay. "We should go back to the lair and get you guys patched up."

They all nodded, Raph holding his arm tenderly and Renet looked at Leo. "I'll stay once I know everything's back to normal, and then I'll have to go back to report this to Lord Simultaneous that everything's okay again."

"Right, that's fine. Let's go." Leo said, and he opened the manhole to go through the sewer, and see if the timeline was back to normal, at least for Renet's standard.

A/N: Ahh! This is so far my longest chapter yet! I was debating to extend another scene, but instead I plan to put it all in next chapter! I do hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and give me mercy since fight scenes are not for me, haha. Also I do hope you guys are safe during this Pandemic :(! I love you all, and know we can get through this!