The Saga of The next Generation
By Red Turtle
Christopher VI:
The Uncle Mikes led our medical team, a very unreal experience, as they seemed almost able to work in unison. Our uncle mike, the older one, whose entrance was truly of a hero, on a winged horse and everything, particularly amazed me.
I barely remember Simon, I may have met him all of five times in my life, and have never talked to him. Currently he's assisting me with Judaism, giving him aspirin for the pain and treating him for shock while I do the actual sewing of the wound.
I never thought that blood could be a comforting thing. But sewing up Judaism's wing with literally a large needle and floss proved to be quite therapeutic. I concentrated on keeping the stitches close and tight, on constantly sterilizing everything and at the same time monitoring his condition. In this way I kept my mind occupied and my hands busy so I wouldn't go crazy.
As I tied the last knot in a true Boy Scout fashion, knowing it had to keep tied for at least a few weeks for him to heal properly, I realized I was no longer squinting in a dim electric glow of the city. The sun had risen, Albright still early. It was hard to tell because of the tall building, but after the last stitch I looked around and confirmed the natural source of light.
It's been several hours since this ordeal began and a wave of exhaustion comes over me. Looking around, half of our team has fallen asleep, the rest wearily keeping guard. Our Uncle Mike gives Judaism's wing a final wash in alcohol and declares the task finished.
My…not sure what to call him, I suppose he's the only Dad now, consults with Endame regarding the time (here or there, I'm not sure).
"Should we rest before attempting this…" he asks, I think, all of us.
"What? How can we rest now?" Uncle Raph or Julian objects. They are so identical here, and I'm too tired to verify which one it is.
"Looks like we already are", Past-uncle Mike points out.
Catholicism is asleep, as is Donatello, William, their little brother and their past Dad. Judaism is wavering; I think pain is the only thing keeping him up.
I feel very much like sleeping myself, if only I could be assured of a totally dreamless state, where I wouldn't think about my family at all. Then I could wake up in a much better state for revenge.
"Well, whatever we do, we can't rest here", Uncle Leo says, and starts to wake everyone up.
"I have thought of a point to take us", Endame announces, "Somewhere where we should be more welcome, and able to rest."
"Sounds good", Uncle Raph (I confirmed, he's slightly bigger than Julian) states, and helps Leo with waking everyone up.
Soon we are all gathered before Endame. The sun is getting higher, I sense some urgency in moving on, and if only off this rooftop so we're not seen. But it seems like it would be hard to move this large of a team around unseen into the sewers. And then we wouldn't really all fit in their liar, so that doesn't make sense anyway. If Endame can transport us somewhere all at once that seems like the best option.
I hope he take us to the land of really soft pillows and no dreams.
I stifle a yawn. Even though others have been actually sleeping, it's almost treasonous to yawn at a time like this, when more than half your family has been destroyed.
"Where will you be taking us?" Our Uncle Mike inquires, "Where else can we go?"
"I can reach one more member of our family, Leonardo's daughter who survives until well into the future. The nexus I can reach her at is over 100 years away from this current time, I believe that there we can at least rest in the world free of danger from Khan or from…society. And perhaps she can join us in our return."
"I thought Katlin was killed", I say, suddenly ballooning with hope. Oh, I was going to hug her so hard, even if it was a future her.
"This is another daughter of Leonardo's", Endrame explained, "One conceived much before your time."
"But Dad didn't have any other kids."
I quickly glanced at past-Dad, as if he could confirm this.
Awkward silence.
Was that a blush on Uncle Leo's face? It's hard to tell with turtles. I could just be imagining it…
"Leo?" Our Uncle Mike exclaims, seeing the blush.
"I…you said this wasn't like… the same time stream or whatever. So its not like I here have any kids in the future, right?."
"You're time streams are forward-moving, that is correct. However your pasts are all the same from this point. Therefore if you have a child now if will be the child you will see in the future, although it may ultimately grow a different way in its own time stream. That is why traveling to the future can be more complicated. You must prepare yourselves for what you will see, and that you can not change or prepare for it."
"You have a kid now?" Past uncle mike asked Leo, as everyone, including me, was still focused on this revelation.
"I…no, I don't, I just, um, I might…"
Stunned silence. My Dad had another kid! He never even told me! And he's so young!
"Look, it was a beautiful act of love, it just happened last night and I didn't expect to have to tell everyone about it", he explained, now definately blushing. His face was turning orange..
More stunned silence. Admittedly, some of us were more stunned than others. I was pretty stunned, but I finally had the discretion to look away and pretend that I wasn't. If I ever have sex, I wouldn't want to then have to tell three generations of my family about it the next day.
"Can we just go?", He asked, herding us towards Endame.
We all began to move. It wasn't like mind-blowing events weren't happening all around us anyway, what difference does one more make.
"I warn you all once more, this is the future. It will be difficult to understand and adjust, but we will not be there long. Now, everyone, hold hands."
We all hold hands, with the two Mikes holding onto Endame and completing the circle.
Swirls of light surround us. I close my eyes at the really dizzying parts.
TBC