Chapter 5: All Seems Lost

Splinter had waited until dark fall to go up to the surface. His concerns about the Shredder was making him worried. It wasn't hard to find Shredder's tower, it was the tallest building in New York. But infiltrating his enemy's domain wasn't going to be an easy task, he knew. There was going to be Foot Ninjas, Shredders Elite Guard, advanced weaponry, and who knows what else.

He had been following a group of Foot ninjas to Shredder's tower. He had not been spotted yet, and Splinter wanted to make sure it stayed that way being keeping hidden by the shadows. This wasn't going to be an attack, it was still much to early to try and free New York from Shredder's grasp. This was an 'observe and analyze your foe for weakness' mission.

He had a katana secretly hidden in his robe in case he was going to be forced to attack or defend himself. His personal grudge from what the Shredder had done to him and Yoshi all those years ago was still a fresh, burning hatred.

"No," Splinter reminded himself. "Today is not the day to avenge my beloved Master Yoshi."

As Splinter came close to Shredder's tower, he noticed there were guards blocking the gate. The group of ninjas Splinter had been following were allowed through without question. He also noticed the guards were armed.

"I must find another way in." Splinter moved quickly, but silently around the side of the gate to a much less guarded area. He could scale the wall from here and there were no guards, at least for now. He reached into his robe and pulled out a grappling hook. He heard voices and waited for the patrolling guards to pass.

Once the guards left with no indication that they had sensed Splinter nearby, he quickly moved from the shadows to pressing himself against the wall. He tossed the grappling hook over the top of the wall and began climbing. Once on the other side, he stayed in the shadows once again. Now came the really hard part; getting inside the building without being spotted.

He noticed a group of Foot ninjas lied up in a row as if awaiting orders. Splinter soon understood why. A limousine pulled up to the gate and Saki appeared. The Ninjas saluted as their master passed them.

"Shredder...," Splinter growled silently. Saki stopped and glanced in Splinter's direction, which the rat made no indication that he was there. Saki had a funny feeling that someone was in the shadows.

Much to his dismay, Splinter knew he was going to have to retreat for now. He wasn't going to get any insight in the Shredder's weakness tonight, it seemed. He knew Saki had sensed him near.

"Foot Ninja, spread out and search. We have an intruder!" Saki ordered. Time to go!

Splinter made a run for it as the Foot began chasing and shooting after him. He'll have to lose them before returning to the sewers.

Donnie was still hard at work on the orb back in 2105. The sun had gone down and they were still no where close in discovering Michelangelo's whereabouts. No one could think about sleeping.

Leo was glaring out the window in silence. Splinter approached and placed a hand on his oldest son's shoulder.

"Are you alright, my son?"

"I just can't stop thinking about Mikey."

"I too am worried about Michelangelo," Splinter nodded. "I have been trying to reach him for hours by telepathy. He does not respond to my calls."

That didn't comfort Leonardo. If Splinter couldn't reach his brother, then that could only mean that he wasn't on earth, or at least in sync with inner thought.

"I've been trying to figure out by what he meant when he said he wanted to 'change his destiny'. What could he have possibly been thinking?"

"Have patience, Leonardo," Splinter advised. "I'm sure all will be explained soon enough."

Raph was getting annoyed and looked as if he wanted to punch something.

"It's been hours, why hasn't he come back?!" he kicked at a trash can, much to Serling's annoyance.

"Do try to keep this place in one piece. I've been trying to keep it clean since...well, since you all showed up."

Raph looked as if he might yell at Serling, but Cody stood in between the two. "Guys, fighting isn't going to help Michelangelo."

"Well, I'm not staying here any longer!" Raph growled. "I'm going out to look for him again."

He turned towards the door but then he felt dizzy. Was it from the stress and worry?

"Raph!" Leo yelled. "Your arm!"

Raph looked down at his arm and it disappeared before reappearing again. "What the shell?!"

Raph wasn't the only one, Donnie and Leo started experiencing disappearing and reappearing limbs as well!

"What is going on?" Splinter asked no one in particular. It took a minute before their limbs reappeared. Splinter appeared to have been unaffected by the experience.

"Donnie, any ideas about what just happened to us?" Leo asked the tech turtle.

"I have been continuing my research on the orb Mikey had and I was right; it is a teleportation device of some kind." He had his eyes glued to the screen as he explained. "But it's make up is something very few have ever seen. It's not just a teleportation device, it has the ability to change time as well."

"Change time?" Cody asked. "I heard about those, but I never actually believed they existed."

"What I want to know is where Mikey found such an object," Raph frowned as he crossed his arms.

"Time changing orbs are actually illegal," Donnie told them. "The reason is because they can damage time, causing time collapses. If Mikey was teleported to another time or dimension, then he probably won't last long wherever he is."

"Your theory is close, Donatello, but yet still far from the truth," came a voice. Everyone turned around to see Zixx leaning against the door frame. The bounty hunter smirked and waved. "Hey."

"Zixx! How did you get inside the penthouse past the defenses?" Leo asked.

"I have my way," Zixx told him. Raphael cracked his knuckles.

"I'm going to enjoy this. Finally something to hit!" with a yell, he tried to kick Zixx off balance, but he went through his body. "I hate it when you do that!"

"I do not wish to waste time on you turtles," Zixx told them. "Not that it matters since you're all going to disappear soon enough."

"What are you talking about?" Donatello glared, rushing to Cody's side to protect him. The red head had heard of the bounty hunter from the turtles, but this was the first time he has ever seen him.

"Your theory about what the orb is is only half the truth. Michelangelo was indeed transported to another dimension of sorts, but he's not the one who is in danger. The person who uses it will be unaffected by their desires of change. Only what he wishes to change will change, and it will eventually become permanent as long as he's in that alternate dimension."

"What did Mikey change, Zixx? Answer me!" Leo demanded as he pointed his swords at the man. Zixx brushed the swords away lightly.

"I mean that Michelangelo has traveled to another dimension to change his role in life. He's no longer the younger brother and you three are all disappearing because of his actions. Soon you will cease to exist. His desires to become the eldest has caused a time collapse that only he can fix."

Everyone was shocked by this news, but Donnie shook his head.

"No, you're lying, Zixx. Just like you always do!"

"I assure you that this time I am telling you the truth. Michelangelo's world will become a reality, you three will be erased from history, and I will no longer have to deal with you."

"But why wasn't I effected by Michelangelo's actions?" Splinter questioned.

"Probably because you are not what he hopes to change," Zixx told him. He turned to face Donatello again and held out his hand. "Now hand me the orb. Once you turtles are gone from history, I can become rich and sell the orb."

"We're not giving you anything!" Raph told him sharply. "You're going to bring him back!"

Zixx sighed and shook his head. "I have nothing to do with your brother's actions. I may have given him the orb, but he's the one who caused this, not I."

"Then how do we stop it?" Leo asked, equally annoyed as his brothers.

"You cannot stop it. Only Michelangelo can, and I don't think he's very eager to come home."

His smile faded into a serious frown. "Now hand over the orb."

"We'll never give you anything!" Raphael yelled as he tried attacking Zixx again. His punches were only going through Zixx's body again. Zixx was able to punch him, though.

"It's pointless! I'm not leaving without that orb!" he kicked Raphael and the turtle hit the wall. He wiped away blood that began to flow down the corners of his mouth.

"That's it, I'm done playing nice!"

The three turtles began their attack, but Zixx was easily dodging their attacks. He pushed his way past them and towards the computer to grab the orb.

"Stop!" Cody threatened, gripping the orb in his hands. "Or I'll smash this orb to pieces and you'll never get what you want!"

"Thant's not going to work, boy!" Zixx told him with a smirk. "You can't destroy it so easily, and even if you did you wouldn't get your friend back."

Cody lowered the orb, his hopes of threatening Zixx sinking. Donatello managed to catch Zixx by surprise and struck him in the back, knocking him to the ground.

Zixx was less than enthusiastic with the bo-staff pointed at his face.

"You're going to help us find a way to communicate with Mikey long enough to warn him about the orb's effects!"

"And if I don't?"

"Then you'll be handed over to the police and never get the money you want!"

Zixx was silent as the turtles surrounded him. He nodded.

"Very well. I'll help you find a way to speak to him, but it won't make much of a difference."