Jeez! Just when I get back on schedule, I'm sent to a place with no Internet access and am thrown off again! At least I'm not too late. You guys don't mind two days, do you?

Well, here we have the second to the last installment of Pulse! Now, I have to come up with another story! I'm running out of ideas! Well, really, I'm only running out of plot lines. Got several good ideas for stories- they just happen to lead nowhere.

Anyways, let's get this baby going. Hope you enjoy!

Oh yeah! Here, the guys have been gone from their time period for about two days now. Fifteen and a half hours have passed since the last chapter and now.

Beta read by Janajyo.

Disclaimer: If I owned the TMNT, do you think I'd be writing these stories? No! I'd be writing the scripts of these stories for the cartoon, which would then be shunned for children under the age of twelve.

&&&&&

New York City. November 27, 2006 AD. 9:08 PM.

It was warm. That was the first thing Raphael's senses confirmed. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so. As a matter of fact, it waspleasant; soothing. And quiet. His head was supported by something soft- a pillow, perhaps? After shifting his head slightly, he was able to tell that that was exactly what it was.

He heard hushed voices not too far away. The red-clad turtle couldn't make out what was being said, but it no way did it appear threatening.

In seconds, he was recalling what had happened. The future. The mansion. The Ardors.
Jolted awake, Raph opened his eyes, but was rewarded with nothing abominable. No darkness; no pulsing blue light; no monstrous aliens attempting to feed off him or his brothers.

There was a ceiling overhead lit up by a lamp in the corner, aglow in soft, golden tones. It took him a few seconds, but Raph was eventually able to recognize the place. This was April O'Neil's apartment. He was laying on the couch in her living room.

How'd he get back to the twenty-first century? And where were his brothers?
In his confusion, he'd missed something. A second, and far more thorough, scan of the room, however, quickly revealed a familiar face. To Raph's right, sitting beside the couch, was a large crocodile.

"It is good to see you awake, my friend." The mutant said.

"Leatherhead?" Raph blinked. "What're you doin' here? What the hell's going on?"

Leatherhead smiled, but it wasn't the biggest he'd seen from the croc, who didn't smile much in the first place. To put it simply, it seemed forced. "We were hoping you could tell us that, Raphael." He said. "As for your first question, I came once I was contacted, not too long after Casey found you in that alleyway."

"My brot-" Raph was cut off for at that second, a certain redhead walked in.

"Raph!" April exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you awake!" She hugged him. "It's been hours."
The dark green turtle frowned. "I'm happy I'm up too, but can ya tell me what the heck happened?"
April took a step back. "Oh. Of course. Well, to start, you guys have been missing for about two days now." She explained, looking confused. "The night you disappeared, right after helping me move that cabinet downstairs, Splinter called over, worried something had gone wrong. I told him you guys probably stopped for ice cream; you'd talked about it, anyways. But you didn't come home that night, or the next morning. We set out looking for you but… there was nothing." She shook her head. "But early this morning, just when we were about to quit the search until tonight, Casey was driving around that Baskin Robbins not too far from the store. He found you guys in an alley, unconscious."

Nodding, Leatherhead continued for her. "Because of the time, he brought you here, so you wouldn't be seen. Then, Master Splinter and I were called."

His appreciation couldn't be expressed to Leatherhead at this point in time. God knew how difficult it had to be for their friend to get out of the sewers and to April's apartment unseen, through the backdoor, even.

He'd thank him later. At the moment, there were more pressing matters on his plate. "What about my brothers? They okay?" He asked getting to his feet.

It was a little sore… but it didn't really hurt. Not like a busted limb should hurt.

Shocked, Raph looked at his legs. Both were fine. Confused, he checked the rest of his body but found none of the claw marks or punctures he'd sustained in Callis' mansion. "…What the hell?"

Obviously concerned, April stood, joining Leatherhead, who was already up. She gently touched Raph's shoulder. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I-" Raph tried to tell them; "I was wounded. My leg was broken." He noticed his two friends exchange glances. "What?"

Leatherhead was the one to answer. "Donatello woke up about twenty minutes ago. He complained of injuries as well, ones we couldn't find. He also told us of… of a place in the future."

"He's telling the truth!" Raph exploded. "Don tell ya about the Ardors? The shit they did in that mansion? It's all true." Seeing their quizzical looks, he went on. "My leg was busted, and so was Mike's arm. Don had a concussion and Leo had this huge wound in his shoulder. He got bit, couldn't move his arm." He saw another strange look, this time from April alone. "What?" He asked again.

April bit her lip. "Well… when Casey brought you guys here, there was this small gash in Leo's right shoulder. Two of them, actually. They were kinda shaped like teeth marks and looked pretty bad-" Raph opened his mouth, but the woman spoke again; "But Raph, it's gone now." Seeing his look of bewilderment, she continued. "By the time we'd cleared the blood away, the wound had disappeared."

"How the hell could that happen?" Shaking his head, he decided that this had to be one of the most confusing days of his life. "Where are my bros? I gotta talk to them."

Leatherhead nodded. "Leonardo and Michelangelo still have not awoken. We have them in April's room, where Casey is keeping an eye on them. Donatello is with Master Splinter in the kitchen."
Before he'd finished speaking, the ninja was heading in that direction.

But despite the peculiarity and seriousness of the situation, Raph was able to think of one thing that made him grin. Casey in April's room? Wonder how the heck that bonehead won that argument.

&&&&&

Mind clear now, Donny was nevertheless, in a span of a few minutes, drastically confused once more. Splinter had been kind enough to make him a cup of coffee, the rat himself choosing to have tea, while the purple-banded turtle tried to explain what had happened to the four of them in the past two days.

And why there wasn't a scratch of evidence of it, other than Leo's Houdini wound, seen only by April and Casey.

Don didn't even believe half of the theories he was coming up with. The silence was worse, however, so he kept talking, wondering how long it would take after all four of them were awake to get a lecture, if they were to get one.

He was suspecting they would.

A familiar voice sounded behind him. "Not that I'm not glad, but Don- can you tell me why my leg ain't broken anymore?"

Looking at Raph, the teen popped his neck. "I suppose we'll never be positively sure. The most likely theory, however, is that we changed the timeline when we sent that message and stopped the Ardors from invading Earth. Have you told them about that?" He asked his brother, referring to their companions. "They won't believe me."

Splinter set his cup down on the table. "It is not that we do not believe you, Donatello. The story just seems unbelievable- too horrible." He clarified. "Raphael," he began, looking at the turtle in red; "you recall the same experience?"

Nodding, Raph told their sensei the same thing, almost just exactly as Don had.

As he was finishing, Casey yelled out. "Hey! Mike's up!" There was a bit of a silence, than the man added sheepishly, "Oh, uh, Leo's up now, too."

In April's small room, Michelangelo had the luxury of the bed. Leo had a small cot near the window.
On the floor, a towel showed a few splotches of blood, not very big in size.

However, unless someone had died recently in that alley they'd been found in, Don could practically guarantee that that blood belonged to his brother.

&&&&&

Paying little attention to what was being said, Leo just sat on his cot, occasionally rolling his shoulder blade; moving his arm. Each time, it hurt less, up until the point that all it felt like was a numb, tingly sensation.

It was so strange, yet so wonderful. In the mansion, he'd wondered if he'd be able to hold a sword again. But when they'd escaped to the year twenty-two-hundred, amidst that light not so long ago, Leo had known that he would never be able to do so again. There, it had been so bloody, it looked like…

The wound had been deeper than he'd thought.

But now, the blue-clad turtle had full use of it again. Despite how odd the situation was, it was all he could manage not to jump for joy.

And if his wound had been healed so, his brothers had to be fine too. Even though he'd failed them so badly, now, they were also well again.

If God kept track of each and every one of his of his thank-yous, Leo hoped he had a pen and paper ready.

Tuning back into the conversation, a sullen look on his face, the turtle realized that the conversation had shifted to his old wound. Apparently, it had been present when Casey had found them.
Leo glanced at the towel on the floor. He hadn't missed that when he'd awoken.

Thoughtfully, April took a step forward. "Leo? Can you show me exactly where your injury was? As close as you can pinpoint it, anyways."

For a moment, he could do nothing but stare. Part of Leo felt like this was a dream- too good to be true.

Besides, Ardors could shape-shift; he'd learned that the hard way. And April had green eyes.
However, she was the only person in the room who did have that color of eyes. Slowly, trust growing gradually, the blue-banded turtle nodded, turned, and lifted his hand to the backside of his right shoulder, drawing a basic outline of the bite.

If he couldn't trust this good friend he'd known for so long, he couldn't trust anybody.

Casey Jones had moved forward besides the redhead, both of them watching Leo closely. The man shook his head. "Okay, now that's just too weird."

April nodded in agreement. "Near as I can recall, that's right where we saw it- same size and everything."

Mikey sat on the edge of the bed, playing with his arm as Leo had. "But wait- how is that even possible?" He asked. "I mean, unless we recently developed some sort of healing ability, which would earn no complaints from me, how could that have happened so quick? 'Cause I'm finding that first idea kinda impossible."

"Well," Leatherhead, who stood near the doorway, began, "if you stopped an event that had direct consequences in the future you visited from happening, as Donatello believes, you would have stopped those who dealt out your injuries from ever harming you. However, there is a very high chance that you're doing so would erase the memories from your mind."

Cocking his head, Casey looked utterly confused. Raph grinned at him. "All this thinkin' giving you a headache, Case?"

The human shook his head. "You have no idea."

Donny explained. "It's simple, really. Basically, what LH is saying is that since we stopped the Ardors from coming, we stopped Callis from attempting to send a message, thus the accidental teleporter he made; that sent us to the future. What we remember supposedly never happened."

There was silence for a moment. Then, Mikey leaned forward. "So… why do we?"

Folding her arms, April look at him. "That's the thing we can't explain. We may never know."
Quietly, Leo watched her, eventually shifting his gaze to Casey, then Leatherhead, then Master Splinter.

They seemed so… hesitant. And why shouldn't they be? Leo thought. The only evidence we have is a since perfectly healed wound and our word.

His heart sunk a little at that. Our word- shouldn't that be enough?

Before he realized he'd opened his mouth, the ninja found himself speaking. "You do believe us, don't you, Sensei?"

Splinter nodded. "Yes, my son. I do." He paused. "Though I may not understand everything involved in this strange occurrence, I do know that the mind is far more powerful than we give it credit for."

Casey scratched his head, clearly confused. "Uh, weren't we talkin' about time travel and junk?"
The rat raised a hairy hand. "Allow me to continue, Mr. Jones. For example, a man's dream does not take place in reality, does it? Yet, he recalls it when he awakens the next morning."

Shaking his head, Raph came forward. "But it wasn't a dream!" He yelled. "It really happened!"

Nodding in understanding, Don looked at their red-clad brother. "I don't think that's what he means, Raph. Just because the Ardors didn't come doesn't mean we don't know what would've happened if we hadn't stopped them- what would've happened to us."

One finger on her chin, April joined Donny in theorizing. "Quantum mechanics." She said. "One situation where these aliens came, another where they didn't."

Mikey shook his head. "My brain hurts."

Smiling for real this time, teeth showing, Leatherhead chuckled. "'Nobody understands quantum theory.'" He quoted.

The only person who didn't share a look of confusion at that statement, besides April and Don, of course, was Leo himself.

The eldest turtle loved to read. Richard Feynman, the man who'd said that, hadn't been kidding. And Leo would only make it worse by adding his thoughts about that theory, few as they were.

Absent-mindedly, he felt along his side, than his legs; fingertips discovering none of the previous wounds. "The important thing is that we're all alive." He voiced aloud, looking at the ground. "How doesn't matter much to me, as long as we're okay."

No one said anything for a while. Finally, Leatherhead cleared his throat. "Well, if you're all fine and healthy, I suppose I should be getting back to my home." The croc bowed his head, then left after they'd said their goodbyes.

Smiling, April put a hand on Casey's shoulder. "We better let you guys rest. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to, but Mike," she said, pointing a finger at him; "I'm gonna have to boot you off the bed."

"But-"

"I'll make you up a place to sleep in the living room." She interrupted, giving him no time to protest. "I have a few sleeping bags, and there's the couch, the cot, and I recently got an air mattress."

Splinter bowed. "You are too kind, Ms. O'Neil."

Grinning again, she pulled Casey into the hall. "Think nothing of it. Now, how about I go get something cooking? You guys look like you haven't eaten in a while." With that, she was off.

Her comment induced a fierce growl from Leo's stomach. He could practically hear three other one's joining it. It made him realize that the last thing they'd actually eaten was that small piece of bread and bacon yesterday morning in Callis' mansion.

Yeah, that had been a while.

With April gone, Splinter turned to them. He sighed. "Am I to understand that this all happened because of an ice cream run?"

If Leo could've turned invisible then, he would've.

He heard Donny moan. "Fifteen minutes. Less than fifteen minutes."

Not sure what his brother was talking about, the blue-clad turtle decided he didn't want to know.
&&&&&

One more chapter to go! I hope you enjoyed this one!

Please review!