Super Pi90katana has returned! Hmm… that's a bit of a mouthful. Oh well. As much as I love it, I'm not cut out for the superhero business. No special abilities, and I don't know any form of martial arts other than tickle torture.

I'm a good writer though! At least, I think I am… Hard to tell. While it should be, TMNT fiction isn't the most widely known and preferred genre.

Well, I suppose I should get cracking on this chapter. Hope you like!

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: I'd tell you that I owned the TMNT just for your reaction, but I fear the lawsuit that would inevitably follow.

&&&&&

New York City. November 25, 2306 AD. 8:57 PM.

Rubbing the sides of his head, Mikey grimaced at the ringing in his ears. Thankfully, as the blue light began to fade away, so did the noise. It was only then that the orange-clad turtle took notice of what was around him.

Besides the presence of his brothers, nothing seemed right. The alley they'd been in was littered with rusty metal bars and rotted planks of wood. While New York could at times seem dirty, it had never been quite this filthy.

His brothers seemed to be thinking about this too. Raph turned away from them to look out into the street. It was also littered with debris, as well as the remains of cars; some parked at odd angles at the curb, others simply in the street. All looked like junkyard material, old, seriously used, and weatherworn.

"What'd we miss?" Raph asked in a low voice. The world seemed so dead quiet that it seemed to echo.

Stepping out of the alley partially, they took a look around. Mike frowned. "What the shell happened?"

Don put his hand on the corner of one of the nearby buildings. It was crumbly; part of the outer layer just fell apart in his hands. "I have no idea, Mikey."

Suddenly, a loud, screeching sound began, originating from each of their Shell Cells. The electronic gibberish hurt Mikey's ears; he grabbed his cell and tried to find a button to make it stop, while Don did the same, although with a bit more knowledge of the situation. Raph, also annoyed, instead chose to crush his.

Though Mike could never dispute his purple-clad brother's intelligence, he had to admit, sometimes, Raph's way of doing things was much more simple.

Glaring at the turtle in red, Don was about to go back to his own Shell Cell when it completely died out, as did his and Leo's. Frown deepening, he messed around with it for a few more seconds before giving up. "So much for the Shell Cells. The batteries are drained." Holding the gadget and his weapon in one hand, he put the other to his chin. "Strange…"

With his back to them, Leo scanned the alleyway, placing his useless cell back in his belt. They too turned back when he spoke. "Where'd that light go? Do you think it had anything to do with this?" he asked, gesturing to the peculiar world around them.

Bo staff still in his hands, Donny stared at it for a moment before putting it and the Shell Cell away. "It's possible. Right now, we don't have any information to rule that prospect out." He paused. "Then again, we don't have any information at all."

Fingering his sais for a moment, Raph stuck his arms at his sides. "So let's try and figure out what's goin' on here."

Out of the alleyway, into the street. Mikey took in every thing around him; it was all different. Seconds before, it'd been a beautiful night. The stars were shining brightly; only a slight chill of the November wind was evident.

Now, there were no stars at all. The air was clear of any smells or temperature changes, but the sky was a dark and smoky gray. Everything on Earth looked as if it had been painted over in sepia. The flower shop across the street was dark, the windows broken. Crossing over to it, Mikey could only see the remnants of two or three bouquets. The stems were withered, blackened like char, as were the petals.

More fragile than they had ever been in their beauty, they dilapidated at his touch as the building had when Donny had handled it.

He turned to find Leo behind him. "Something's not right here." He said to himself, staring down at the dead plant in his younger brother's palm.

They went on a little longer, speed gaining as they continued. So far, they hadn't seen another sign of life at all, no bugs, rats, or even a stray pet.

At one point, they passed Second Time Around. Only April's antique shop wasn't there. In its place was a small clothing store. Most of the items littered the floor, moth-eaten.

The styles were unfamiliar to him.

He watched as Donatello continued to look at the store. He could almost see the wheels turning in the purple-banded turtle's head.

As they went on further, the buildings themselves seemed to have gradually corroded away. Eventually, the landscape was essentially bare. Only small brickwork and chunks of sidewalk marked where the structures had been. Other debris still cluttered the area.

Just as Mikey was thinking of how much he'd give to see just one living thing here, they noticed that one place still remained, far in the distance. The fact that it could be made out told Mikey it was rather big. It looked like a house. Perhaps it was a mansion, though Mike couldn't remember seeing a mansion so close by in New York City.

The place was, like everything else, darkened, but it looked to be in good condition; better than anything else here. But it gave off an eerie feeling.

Mikey gulped. "Dude, I so don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

&&&&&

By the time they were five minutes from the building, Don had recognized it. The news program from earlier still fresh in his mind, the purple-clad turtle compared the sketch of the mansion they were building for the celebrity to the construction before them. Besides a few very minor details, they were a perfect match.

Ever since he and his brothers had passed the location where April's shop had once been, Donny had been considering the possibility of time-travel. The experience wasn't, after all, anything new to the young ninjas.

It was still exciting, however. Though the dismal appearance of the world around him dampened that feeling, it hadn't quite yet reached Don's curiosity.

Time-travel was also certainly a lot better than his other idea, one he didn't like as much. Alternate universes. Between the four of them, Don and his brothers had journeyed to many such worlds. Much so, Donny preferred the dimension ruled by giant insects than the one he'd endured alone, for as short of a time as it may have been, when he and his family had been separated across time and space by Ultimate Draco.

That experience had left its share of emotional scars. Most of the time, like humans did with clothing, Don hid his own wounds in his inventions, in the joy of being with his family.

It usually worked quite well. Often, he forgot the scars were even there. But then there were times when the wounds itched and acted up; then he would remember…

Therefore, time-travel was more eagerly accepted, even if the alternate universe he'd traveled to had also been set in the future. He had less bad memories of time-travel than he had of other dimensions.

But that could change any time now.

Donny was pulled out of his thoughts by their arrival at the mansion. Avoiding the front entrance, they headed to the right, behind some near dead bushes, and bordered a window placed there, two to one side.

Leo, along with Raph, were keeping an eye out. Don honestly didn't think it was necessary, this entire place seemed desolated. But hey, with their experience, they'd long ago learned things weren't always as they seemed.

"Mikey," the blue-banded turtle asked, "do you see anything in there?"

The orange-clad turtle peered in for a long while. "Dude," he finally said, "it's pitch black."

Obviously following Don's earlier line of thought, but dismissing the latter part, much to Leo's disappointment, Raph moved to the front of the window, pushing Mikey aside a little. "Lemme take a look." After several moments, he too gave up. "I think they followed the example of whoever used to run Mike's brain. Everything's cleared out."

Mikey probably would've done more than stick his tongue out at this comment if Don hadn't reminded him of the need to be quiet, at least for now.

Still keeping watch, Leo frowned. "It's a mansion. Who says they're using every room?"

Agreeing with his brother, Donny nodded. "A lot of people with big places like these have tons of room, but little people. A lot of space goes unused."

Mike brightened at that. "So… you're sayin' someone might still live here?"

Immediately, Don knew he'd made a mistake. Mikey was a hopeful being, one that needed to be surrounded by life. This place was obviously getting to him. As a ninja, Mike undoubtedly knew of death and how to handle it, but that had never stopped him from placing a much higher value on life.

Before they knew it, their younger brother had made his way to the front entrance. Leo set off after him, calling him back, but Mike just grinned and knocked.

"Michelangelo…" Leo hissed warningly.

When he didn't get a response from the knock, Don noticed the immediate change of mood in his brother. His posture slumped a little in disappointment. With quite a bit less enthusiasm, Mike carefully tried the doorknob.

It wasn't locked.

Leaving the front door open, the turtle slowly entered the darkened home. After a sigh, Leo cursed him under his breath before following. Don noticed how his eldest brother also made sure not to separate himself to far from him and Raph.

Said brother too began to enter. Before he got too far away, however, Don grabbed him by the shoulder. He examined the building before speaking. It just looked so… eerie, for lack of a better word.

As big of a horror movie fan Mike was, Donny was surprised that he hadn't felt this as well. Then again, his little brother's optimism got the better hold of him often.

Looking back down at Raph, Don didn't release his grip. "I don't know if we should be going in there. I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Nodding, Raph put his hand over Don's, removing it from his shoulder. "Me too."

&&&&&

After they found out what was going on, Leo swore that he was going to personally kick Mike's shell all the way to New Jersey.

This house gave him the creeps. Not far from the entrance they'd come through was a furnished parlor, unlit. It didn't look like it had been used in years. While his youngest brother examined the strange looking furniture, Leo walked over to the fireplace, rubbing one green finger over the wooden mantle above it.

The layer of dust was one or two centimeters thick.

Turning back around, Leo looked at his brother. Mikey's face was uneasy. The orange-clad turtle smiled shakily at him. "Personally, I'd fire the cleaning ladies." He tried to joke.

Knowing how he felt, he gave him a stern look. "We shouldn't be in here, Mikey."

"But what if someone's alive? Don't you wanna know what's going on here?"

Sighing, Leo grit his teeth. "We can't-"

He was interrupted by his red-clad brother. "What the shell is this?"

Mikey walked out of the parlor to see what was happening. Reluctantly, Leo followed, shaking his head.

Donny and Raph had gone just a little past the parlor and into a hallway. At the end of it, behind a door partly closed, a soft blue light was flashing, one beat every ten seconds.

The four of them hesitated, unsure of whether to move. Mikey fidgeted, but no one moved back out of the house.

They were curious.

Recalling that curiosity killed the cat, Leo nevertheless knew that, despite better judgment, they weren't going to leave until they had some answers. Taking in a deep and silent breath, he moved ahead of his brothers and down the hallway. He heard Raph follow him, Mike and Donny too soon after.

Pausing by the doorframe, Leo cautiously pushed the door all the way in.

It revealed an empty room with wood floors. Leo looked around, searching for the blue light's source. He couldn't find one.

Instinct was telling him to get the hell out now. However, where were they going to go? The world here was a desolate waste. There was no place to stay, no one to explain what was happening.

They knew nothing. Leo hated knowing nothing. It left him hesitant, unprepared for an enemy that might know it all.

&&&&&

At the moment, Raphael felt he was living in a page ripped out of the beginning of a lame science-fiction novel. So far, they had searched six or seven rooms of the mansion and had located only miniscule signs of life.

Still, they were enough to send questioning shivers down his spine, especially with the mysterious light that pulsed on and off in the background.

The deeper into the house they came, the more utilized the rooms appeared. Right now, they were in what was probably one of several luxurious bathrooms. Besides a crack in a cloudy mirror, nothing was out of place. There were only the slightest traces of dust.

But the place reeked of an abominable, and somewhat familiar, smell. Not a normal bathroom odor though. It was something else…

Leaving the bathroom, his brothers also having detected the horrible smell, they eventually came into contact with a swinging door. Carefully pushing it open, Donatello checked out what was on the other side before approving it clear and they all went in.

This room was a kitchen, with yet another door in the back of it, to the right. The wallpaper, decorated with various fruits, was a little dingy; in some places, it was torn, looking like it had been clawed by a large cat.

For some reason, Donny went into the tall, metal refrigerator to their left. Opening it, he began rummaging around in what little contents were in it.

"What are ya doin'?" Raph asked him, standing by Mikey, who was fingering a package of potato chips that Don had placed on the nearby counter. The weirdest thing wasn't that someone had refrigerated the- he'd never seen the brand name the chips were labeled with.

Putting the only other few items back in the fridge, Don stood up, shaking his head to himself. "I was trying to find something with an expiration date. I'm starting to think that we aren't in our own time period anymore."

Leo nodded, before pointing to Mikey. "Why don't you check the chips?"

Blinking, Mikey looked at the little bag in his hands. "For what?" he asked, confused.

Eyes lighting up as he understood, Don snatched the potato chips. "Copyright. There should be a copyright date on here somewhere…" He trailed off, searching for the date.

The purple-clad turtle tapped the bag. "Here it is-" he paused, "Wow."

"What?" Raph asked.

Don shook his head again. "We've certainly come a long way." He handed the bag to Raph.

Taking it questioningly, the temperamental turtle read aloud what he saw in disbelief. "Twenty-one eighty-five?"

Suddenly, the other door ahead of them opened. Immediately moving into a defensive position, Raph at first didn't think they were going to be able to handle what stood before them, the whitish-blue light that he'd almost forgotten made it look like a ghost.

But when the light flashed off again, he realized what stood before them was living, even if it looked like it could croak at any minute. It was an old man; his age seemed to be beyond his nineties.

The old man had lime green eyes and stringy white hair on the sides of his head that ran down just below his ear lobes. His bony figure reminded Raph of the man who owned the insane asylum in Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast. The man wore a black suit that looked a size to big, the jacket unbuttoned, revealing a cream-colored shirt.

From the door, he studied them, strangely not seeming surprised by their appearance. "Who're you?" He finally asked in a hesitant voice. His language skills sounded poor. He narrowed his eyes. "Why haf you invaded my home?"

To his left, his swords drawn, Raph watched Leo carefully. The leader bit his lip, finally lowering his katanas, if only the tiniest bit. The rest of them had relaxed only moments before him. Honestly, Raph doubted that this man here had the strength to kill a spider.

Leo looked at him carefully. "I'm sorry, sir. We were just trying to find some answers. My brothers and I don't mean you any harm."

Nodding, the man opened the door another fraction of an inch. "Ans'ers to what?"

Don thought about it. "How we got here, where we are, - when. So far, I think the only thing we know is that this place isn't our time period."

Putting one nunchuck away, Mikey tilted his head a little, examining the city that could be seen through a dusty window. "Dude, what happened here?"

Frowning, the man wrinkled his brow. "Ya don't know?" They shook their heads. "Then you mus' be from a dif'ren' time period entir'ly."

Leo raised an eye ridge. "Excuse me, but you don't seem to be shocked by our appearance-"

He waved a long, bony hand. "No, no. Belief me, I've seen stranger t'ings." He paused. "You don't seem like the en'my. Come, follow me." He beckoned with his hand, disappearing behind the door.

The four turtles exchanged glances. Leo looked at them firmly. Raph could tell he didn't want to stay. Before he could say something however, Mikey spoke. "He seems nice enough."

Raph snorted. "What the heck's wrong with his voice?"

Mikey laughed. "It's barely different than yours!"

Before Raph could pulverize him, Don raised a hand to his chin. "Language drift." He answered. "It's like comparing how people spoke back in the seventeen hundreds to our time. As it moves on, it eliminates certain letters and pronunciations. Our slang might seem like proper English to him."

Sighing, Leo sheathed one of his katanas. "Which probably means we've gone a lot farther than we thought."

Raph folded his arms over his chest. "I say we go in, get some answers."

Jaw clenched, Leo turned to him. "I don't think-"

"Ah, take a chill pill, Leo." Raph interrupted him. "How much damage do ya think he can possibly do?"

"A bullet's small, Raph," Donny pointed out, "but it's been known to kill people."

Raph had to admit, he had him there. Nevertheless, after only a few more seconds of discussion, they went in.

The room beyond the door turned out to be a living room. There were three armchairs, one being occupied by the old man, and a small couch. "I tho't maybe you'd lef'."

Shaking his head, Mikey took a seat on the dark purple sofa while Raph took one of the other chairs, the one farthest from the man. Donny and Leo chose to stand.

Glancing up at the ceiling, Raph tried to find where that stupid light was coming from again. No such luck, once again.

Placing his hands on his legs, the man spoke. "Sorry, it's been a while since I've ent'rtained." He nodded. "My name's Nigel Callis."

The four introduced themselves. Raph flexed his fingers impatiently. "So? Are ya gonna tell us what happened or not?"

"Yeah, of course." Callis said tiredly. "But not tonigh'; it's late. Will ya stay?" He asked. "I haf many extra bedrooms."

Not really liking this, Raph stood up. "Late? What time is it?"

Callis glanced at a small clock sitting on a table by his side. "Nea'ly ten th'rty."

He calls that late? But then, Raph remembered that older people ran on a different time schedule than teenagers.

Mikey smiled. "Um, well, that sounds cool with me-"

"Mikey!" Leo interrupted sternly.

"What?" the youngest brother asked.

"I don't think that's such a-"

Callis stood. "No trouble at all. Stay!" He said pleasantly. Before another answer could be given, Callis raised his hand over his chest. "Oh, 'scuse my manners. Would ya like somethin' to drink?" Slowly, he walked over to the swinging kitchen door. "Long ago, I had many s'rvan's, but then, well…" He trailed off. "I f'tch Ella for ya."

Leaving the room, the man disappeared, calling for his servant behind the walls. Leo looked like he was about to say something when they heard a faint barking sound, or at least Raph thought he had. It'd been so soft, it was hard to tell.

But he didn't seem to be the only one to have heard it. Mikey cocked his head before looking at his brothers. "Was that a dog?"

They shrugged, then, the door opened once more. In came Callis, smiling and walking slowly back to his chair, followed by a woman who looked to be in her forties. Her long, salt and pepper hair was tied in a ponytail. Standing at about five and a half feet, she was very thin, not as much as Callis, but nearly so. Her skin showed that she had not seen the sun in a while; it was a gray porcelain, with just the smallest number of wrinkles.

Yet her eyes were bright; they seemed to contradict everything else that her appearance had already spoken. Strangely enough, they were the same shade of green as her master's.

Lips tight, Ella didn't smile as she brought a tray of beverages over to them, along with four, tinted brown glass cups. She walked over to Leo first, bowing her head as a greeting before gracefully indicating the drinks with her free hand like one of the prize models off of The Price is Right. "We haf wat'r, milk, and," she pointed to a glass pitcher, "this is the last of our s'das. Wh't would ya like?"

Calmly, Leo shook his head. "No thanks. I'm not all that thirsty."

Bowing once more, she moved on, speaking to everyone else in that strange tongue that Nigel Callis spoke in. At least it wasn't so bad that they couldn't understand. Not to quick to trust everything that was going on here, Raph waited until Callis had chosen his beverage before choosing the same one. He figured that he wouldn't poison himself just to get rid of them, if he were an enemy.

Mikey and Donatello did as Raph, probably thinking the same thing. Callis downed his little drink in less than a minute before yawning. Taking his cup, Ella bowed once more before leaving the room.

Brushing some dust off his pants, Callis stood. "So, have ya d'cided?" he looked sad once more. "I'm sorry to tell ya, but this 's the l'st f'ncti'nal place in New York."

The four of them exchanged glances once more. From what they had seen back outside, this was so far true.

Though they tried to change the subject a few times, using everything from the odd sky to introductions, they were eventually talked into staying.

&&&&&

One of Callis' other two servants, a man he called Carl, led them to their room. Despite the fact that they'd been persuaded to stay the night, they, Mikey in particular, had insisted that they at least share the same room.

Donny had to smile at that. Perhaps he'd been wrong in thinking that his little brother had forgotten one of the many rules of conduct when you found yourself in what could easily turn out to be a haunted mansion.

Carl, a tall man in a pressed black suit with a buzz cut and heavy eyelids, stopped at a door and opened it. "Your room." He said, smoothly gesturing to it with his left arm. "Mast'r Callis hopes ya will enjoy your stay." Bowing deeply, Carl walked away.

They watched him go before entering their quarters. The room was a shade of plum, with four beds sitting side by side, arranged motel style, with a little table and two stools in one corner and an adjoining bathroom to the right, though it did not smell pretty. There was even a TV, though, to Mikey's immense disappointment, it no longer worked.

Raph stood by a window. "I think maybe that Callis guy's clock was off." He pointed to the sky, which was still the same smoky gray as it was when they'd been out there. It looked like a typical rainy day.

Only without a single cloud or rain drop.

Walking over to the window, checking out the sky over Raph's shoulder, Don shrugged. A lot's happened since our time, obviously. Something might have caused a change in atmosphere."

"Whatever." Raph said, walking over to the nearest bed, the last one on the left. Leo, who had already claimed his, was sitting on the bed nearest the door, which was the last one on the right. He watched the door carefully.

Seeing that Mikey had picked the bed by Raph, flopping on it with a childlike glee, Don chose the last remaining bed. "Should one of us stay awake? You know, just in case?" He asked.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. But let's do it in shifts. I don't want anyone to be exhausted tomorrow."

A snore erupted from Mikey's bed. It was pretty obvious to tell he was just faking it, but Leo just rolled his eyes. "That's okay." He said. "Let him go to sleep. He can just start his watch at three."

Immediately sitting up, Mikey stuck out his tongue. "That's so not fair, bro. You know I hate waking up early."

Raph laughed. "It's plenty fair!"

"Oh yeah?" Mikey said. "Well then I guess you won't mind if I get you up at five!"

Never having been a morning person, Raph obviously didn't like this. "You better not-"

Leo interrupted them. "That actually sounds good." He saluted him with a smile. "Night, Raph."

Growling, Raph flopped down on the pillow. Don turned to Leo. "I can take the first watch."

Turning to the door once more, Leo eventually nodded. "Okay. Wake me at one, all right?"

"Sure." Don said. "Night, bro."

"Night." Leo mumbled, settling down onto his bed.

Bringing his knees up to his plastron, Donatello sat up on his own bed, eyes on the door, ears aware of everything in the room, and what he could hear beyond. Within ten minutes, they had picked up the loud snores of Michelangelo, real this time, followed by the deafening ones of Raphael about five minutes after that. Leo, the one light sleeper of the four, lay in silence until he finally fell asleep half way into Donny's shift.

The purple-clad turtle considered letting him sleep a little longer, knowing that Leo would insist on taking a full two hour watch anyways, and eventually decided to do so. A good night's rest served Leo well, as much as it tried to elude him.

Honestly, Don didn't know what they'd do if Raphael had as bad of a problem sleeping.

Waiting until one thirty, Donny turned to his left, swinging his legs off the bed, and leaned over to wake Leo.

That was when he saw something in the corner. Though his eyes had by now adjusted, the crooks of the walls in this room were pitch black. It made the pair of eyes that floated only inches above the floor glow with such intensity, it made the blood in Don's veins run cold.

Well, as cold as they could possibly get, considering he was already cold-blooded.

The two eyes were animal-like, shining like a cat's does at night. But the second Don blinked, they were gone.

Not even realizing he'd been holding his breath, Don released a puff of air slowly, keeping his eyes on that spot in the dark. After a few moments, he resumed his task of waking his brother.

It didn't take much. Two taps on the shoulder, and Leo was awake. He sat up in his bed, yawning once quietly. "What time is it?"

Checking his watch, Don sighed. "One thirty-five."

"I thought my shift started at one."

Don nodded. "It took you a while to drift off. I thought I'd let you sleep."

In the dark, Leo looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself, shaking his head. "Okay."

Lying down on his bed, Don folded his hands over his chest. "I haven't heard anything, and nothing's come through the doors…"

Leo turned to him. "But…?"

Taking in a deep breath, Don continued quietly. "But… I think I saw something just a few minutes ago," he pointed at the dark corner; "over there. You might wanna keep an eye on it."

Nodding, Leo looked at the place Don was pointing at before turning back to him. "What was it?"

Donny shrugged. "I'm not sure." He paused. "But it had eyes."

Immediately, Leo's posture straightened. "Eyes?" Donny could sense the apprehension growing in his brother as he looked around the room. "Do you think there might be someone in here?" he whispered.

Shrugging once more, Don rolled over onto his side. "It's a possibility."

The two were silent for a while. Finally, Leo sighed. "All right, I'll watch for it." Turning to Donny, his smile, forced, he was sure, was barely visible in the darkened room. "Go to sleep, bro."

"'Kay." Donny said, nodding his head, closing his eyes. It took a little bit for him to fall asleep, but when he did, he wished he hadn't. The dreams weren't so bad; not the kind that made you wet yourself, thank God.

But the eyes that followed him were enough to creep him out of a well-needed siesta.

&&&&&

Now there was a long chapter! (pats self on the back before wincing at a pop) Ow! Damn these short arms!

Sorry if Callis', or his servant's, for that matter, language was confusing. It certainly drove me nuts as I was writing it! Not because I couldn't read it, but because of the stinky red lines that appear under misspelled words. Man, are they annoying!

So, we have another chapter down, and nine, terrifying more to go! Won't this be fun!

Now, as you know, I must ask: Please review!