Whoops! Sorry for the delay!

We got some nice Casey and Raph tomfoolery in this chapter, as well as a new message from the future, and... Beatrice?

As always, a humongous thank you to our beta readers, Queequegg and Theherocomplex 3


Casey propped his bike against the brick wall behind the dumpster -just in case- and climbed the ladder to the roof.

Already the foul smell of stale water from the docks filled his nostrils, and even the smell of old sweat in his mask couldn't block it. Once he clambered onto the ledge and hopped down to the roof floor, he slid up his mask to let it rest on his head. The chilly night breeze hit his cheeks as he looked across to the opposite ledge.

A figure sat in the dark, surrounded by a cooing, feathery cloud of pigeons and he grinned in mild astonishment. Raphael's gift with animals never ceased to amaze him.

The pigeons flapped around Raph, a lot of them perched on his shell, or his thighs, or on top of his head, and Casey probably would've thought the turtle was big bird feeder if it wasn't for the text he had gotten from him saying exactly where to find him. Casey watched for a bit as Raph caressed the head of the pigeon currently sitting on his fist, the rest looking up at him like puppies, fighting to see who got to be next.

Casey snickered at the picture of serenity and tenderness from one of the most temperamental people he knew—besides himself—and finally started towards him.

"Whoa, Raph, you're like a beefy, mutant, ninja Snow White."

The flock took wing at Casey's voice approaching, his gear rattling noisily with the movement. Raph shot him a glare through the exploding cloud of fluff flapping away in alarm.

"And you're like the beanstalk giant, you big klutz."

"Sing to them, Raph! Maybe they'll come back," Casey joked. From what he'd seen, who's to say it wouldn't actually work?

"You want a shuriken in the ass, Casey?" Raph warned.

"Is that what you told the huntsman?" Casey teased, knowing he was getting dangerously close to Raph's breaking point, which in actuality was nothing but a motivator.

"Will you shut up? It wasn't even funny on the first try!" Raph groaned, rising to his feet with a clear expression of being done with everything, and Casey instinctively took a couple of steps back.

"Alright, alright, easy," he said between laughs.

"Where were you, man? I'm freezing my ass off here."

Casey approached the ledge, steering clear of the ring of bird poop on the ground around Raph. It was amazing, the way Pigeon Lord managed to stay clean with all those birds on him. "Sorry, yo. I had to take a detour after hockey practice. A couple of our players haven't been showing up and coach wanted us to go look for them at home. You remember Billy?"

"The one you told me about that likes to sniff glue?"

"Yeah, that one." Casey snorted. Every story involving Billy so far had been a promise of priceless entertainment. "Well, he hasn't come to practice for weeks. Coach is all stressed out cuz there's a game coming up and we're one player short."

"Maybe he sniffed a little too much glue," Raph said, his mouth screwed up.

Casey drew up his shoulders, honestly baffled. "Well, no one was home and he's not answering his cellphone. Maybe he's in hospital or something."

"Or maybe he bailed. From what you've told me, he's a real douchebag."

Casey nodded lightly, thinking it was a lot like Billy to disappear before a final exam, or a game. He would probably just show up a couple days from now playing dumb, pretending like his phone got stolen or something.

"Coach is gonna flip his shit."

"I'd offer to cover for Billy, but you know..."

"Yeah, you're hopeless at hockey."

The blatant omission of Raph's non-human condition got a little honest chuckle from the turtle, and the kid smiled, pleased with himself.

"So what do we got so far?" he asked as they both sat down on the ledge, letting their feet dangle precariously over the three story fall.

"Zip. I've been watching the place for anything suspicious, but there hasn't been anything since I got here an hour ago," Raph grumbled, motioning towards the inconspicuous warehouse sitting dark and silent near the lamp-lit docks, among a dozen other warehouses just like it.

"How do you know this is the right place?"

"Because, Casey, while you were out getting it on with April yesterday, I was out here busting my ass making sure we didn't lose their trail."

Casey winced sheepishly.

"Much appreciated…" he said in a small voice.

"Anyway, I followed them here last night, they pulled in a truck and started unloading a bunch of crates, then they left. And then I left. That's it."

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

"Aw, man," Casey whined and set his heaviest gear down, psyching himself up to spend at least another hour sitting on the cold rooftop. This ninja stuff could be a real pain in the tailbone sometimes.

Casey had to admire the turtles' endurance in the cold. The clammy, salty air from the bay stuck to their skin and Casey's hoody was soon damp. After sitting still for so long, and despite the turtle's super-human nature -coupled with years of that rough ninja training- a tremor was starting to make its way onto Raph's bare arms. Tiny drops of dew formed on his biceps, which were bunched up like a sailor's knot, looking extremely poke-able. But Casey knew it would take a hell of a lot more than that before Raph resorted to clothing.

After a while in which absolutely nothing happened, a tune made its way into Casey's head, and there was nowhere else for it to go other than out of his mouth. He started humming, and it was only a few seconds before Raph reacted.

"I know you're not singing a princess song, Casey," he said dangerously.

"Sorry, dude, it's stuck in my head for some reason."

"That one's not even from Snow White, it's Cinderella."

"Well, you would know…" Casey said, trying to hold back laughter and doing a piss-poor job of it.

"Can we focus here? I swear, if it starts raining because of you…"

"You saying I'm a bad singer? Are you saying it to my face?" Casey said in mock-defiance, sitting up on his haunches to show Raph his gloved fist.

"If the shoe fits, Casey!" Raph retorted, a devious smile splitting his face.

"That's it, Raph! You just crossed the li-"

"Shh!"

Casey's pounce-ready stance was thrown inwards onto the roof floor by Raph's sledgehammer of an arm as the turtle crouched down behind the ledge, signalling downwards to the silhouette making its way down the road towards the warehouse entrance.

They waited, but the figure reached the entrance and walked right past it to disappear around a corner. Both brothers in arms groaned in disappointment as they sat their butts back down on the cold ledge to wait some more, once again falling into a leaden silence.

For about another twenty minutes the only sounds were of distant police sirens and Casey's heels thumping rhythmically against the brick wall, and even Raph was starting to get a serious case of the wiggles.

"So," Raph said suddenly and Casey turned towards him, only half awake at this point. "How'd it go?"

"Huh?" Casey said in honest confusion.

"Your date," Raph specified, pointedly chewing the last word, and Casey's eyebrows twitched. He hadn't really made up his mind yet on how he would describe that date, and was hoping the subject wouldn't come up so soon. Wishful thinking...

"Oh! Uhh, good. It was good," he said, avoiding Raph's eyes, and he scratched his ear a little pointlessly with his thick hockey mitts.

"Good, huh?" Raph drawled.

Casey realized that "good" had sounded a lot like "so-so", but he wasn't sure why there had to be so much satisfaction on Raph's stupid face.

"Yeah, we watched a movie, won the bug plush at the arcade, had a couple hot dogs… Date stuff, you know?"

"Not really," Raph said curtly, but his voice was tinted with mild amusement.

"Aww, you'll get your chance, Raph. I hear you're very popular with the lady birds," Casey jested, at the risk of getting his brain encrusted with his own nasal bones—which, judging by the murderous glower on Raph's face, was a probability. But that didn't stop Casey from breaking into a new fit of cackles.

It wasn't as funny when Raph recovered for his counter-attack.

"So does this mean you and April are a thing now?" he said, and Casey's laughter slowly trailed off into a nervous giggle as he struggled to keep his smile on his face.

"Wha- a thing like what?" he hedged.

"Is she your girlfriend or something, man!" Raph spat, a bark Casey would say was halfway between entertained and annoyed.

"Pfft, come on, dude! It was our first date! I didn't even get to cop a proper feel—or I kinda did. Well, I tried. It's just a matter of time," Casey said in an air of self-sufficiency, or what was meant to pass for such. "We're pretty much set for a second date already."

Raph gave him an unimpressed roll of his eyes.

"Great."

"Oh, just— Remember not to tell anyone until I say, okay?" Casey plead, forgetting to sound confident, and got a humorless grunt from Raph as sole confirmation before they both went silent again.

And for a bit they sat quietly, listening to the water lapping softly at the wooden docks. A huge ocean liner floated past, moving at a near glacial pace. By the time it was gone and the opposite bank was visible again, Raph's eyes were closed. He almost looked like he was meditating or something. Casey gave an impatient sigh and tipped his head back, neck issuing a muted crack, and then to the sides as he looked around him for any source of entertainment. If he'd been waiting for the bus, his phone would be out by now, but the turtles had a strict rule of no playing on one's phone while out on surveillance. And he didn't want to tempt fate, being this close to the water and knowing Raph's propensity towards flinging the objects that annoyed him.

So naturally it was only a matter of time before the tune inadvertently creeped into Casey's mind, persistent and sticky. The song fell from his brain and onto the back of his tongue and suddenly he was humming it again before he'd even registered that he was. Cinderella.

"Alright, that's it!" Raph exclaimed and Casey sprung backwards in a survival reflex, choking on the song and convinced that he was about to receive the beating of his life. However the turtle only trampled past him over to the fire escape. "We're goin' in!" he said.

"Finally!" Casey cried, sliding his hockey mask back down to cover his face.

"'Cause if I have to hear you sing Disney one more time, I'm going to have to slam your remaining teeth against the wall."

"Geez, Raph. When will you love me the way you love your pigeons?"

Raph granted him a hammerfist on the top of the head before clambering down the ladder.


Leonardo tapped his T-Phone twice, and the device emitted a lazy bop as the chat closed. He stretched to set it down on his floor desk before getting up from the cushion, minding the inkwell. Donnie and April had added him to their conversation and he'd been loosely following it as he practiced his calligraphy until April decided to call it a night. It had been a casual chat about school and TV shows, because they still hadn't told anybody about future Donatello—although Leo knew Donnie was dying to. But he and Donnie had agreed to wait until they knew a little more.

It was a bit before midnight, and Leo deemed this the perfect time to take a break and make himself a bedtime cup of rooibos with valerian for a good night's sleep. The lair was eerily quiet when Raph wasn't around, and so far he hadn't seen or heard Mikey anywhere either. Judging by the light coming from the kitchen, he was probably stuffing his face.

On his way there he caught an unfamiliar shape through the corner of his eye lurking among the pillows, and in a split-second felt the tingling of adrenaline already coursing through his veins. His body was ready for a fight before he even knew why.

But a closer look verified that this thing was not a threat. Whatever it was... Pink and soft-looking, yet definitely not a pillow.

"What the…"

Leo approached the doll and poked it gently with his toe. It didn't look alive, which was something.

"Donnie? Can you come here a moment?"

He heard the soft padding of Donatello's bandaged feet through the lab, and a moment later Donatello himself slid out into the common room holding a steaming mug of coffee and wearing a curious frown. When Leo beckoned him forward he stepped closer to look at whatever had preoccupied Leo.

"What's up?"

"That's up," Leonardo said, pointing at the doll. "Is it safe?"

Donnie approached the thing, brow furrowed in concentration. He gasped, "By Darwin's beard!" and Leo started, surprised by the alarm in his brother's voice.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

"I-I've never encountered anything like this!"

"What?" Leo insisted.

Donnie's voice changed, and Leo watched one corner of his lips tugging upwards ever so slightly.

"It's the ugliest doll I've ever seen," Donnie said, and turned towards Leo, eyes narrowed in a look of derision. "Seriously, this is what you call me for? Come on." He motioned a weary hand at the thing.

Leo shot him an offended glare, annoyed by the unnecessary sass.

"I'm just saying," he explained. "Maybe it's a trap, you know, a bomb or something. We've had weirder things happen to us."

"It's nothing like that, the sensors would've picked it up. It's safe," Donnie assured with a dismissive wave of his hand. Setting the mug aside, he knelt before the couch to get a closer look.

Leo grunted, unconvinced, still watching the thing from a safe distance.

"It's got a bow on it. I don't trust it," he said dramatically, and Donnie replied with an amused chuckle.

"So what is it? It looks like something from Dimension X," Leonardo continued, frowning as Donatello picked it up and turned it around to inspect its belly rimmed with legs.

"It looks like a giant isopod."

"A what?"

"A type of marine crustacean. You know, like a crab, or a prawn."

"Next you'll be telling me people eat these things…"

"This? This is a fake, Leo, you can't eat it. It's made of plush fabric and pillow filling," Donnie deadpanned.

"Wow, hilarious, Donnie. I meant the real ones!" Leo grumbled in mild annoyance and Donnie released a devious snigger.

"Don't get your shell in a twist, Leo, I was kidding," Donnie said, softly patting Leo's leg before standing up with the creature in his hands. The thing was the size of a four-year-old. "I've never heard of people eating these guys, but I wouldn't bet my life on it."

"That is gross," Leo said wrinkling his nose, and yet he couldn't help stretch out a hand to touch it. "Smooth, though."

"Yeah, it's kind of adorable, when you look at it. In its own weird way," Donnie said, giving the big white bow a gentle flick. "Looks huggable…"

Leo's nose wrinkled in disgust. Sure, Donnie would think that; he also liked getting snuggly with his trained spy-roaches and rubbing them on his face.

"Not sure I would go so far," Leo said.

Donatello shrugged, and taking a last once-over at the hideous toy, he brought it to his plastron and squeezed gently.

"How does it feel?" Leo asked, one edge of his mouth quirking upwards at the smile of comfort that had slowly made its way into his brother's expression.

"It's kinda nice. Wanna try?" Donnie offered holding out the isopod, its multiple tiny feet dangling from its bottom. Leonardo pressed his lips hesitantly, but curiosity got the best of him and he ended up taking the hideous thing. Cautiously he held it in his arms and embraced it. The flat belly settled nicely against his plastron and the little legs tickled his sides.

"Not bad," he admitted. "But why would anyone make a giant plush bug? And then put a stupid bow on it?"

Donatello took the bug from Leo and turned it over with a look of concentration. He released a little cry of triumph—the tag was sown near its tail, and Donnie was pulling on it with his fingers.

"Ah-hah! Just as I suspected!" He showed Leo the kanji printed on the tag. "It's made in Japan. Everything makes sense now."

"Oh, man," Leo laughed. "I should've known."

"Well, we know where it's from. But who brought—"

"Beatrice!"

The two brothers turned their heads at Mikey's cry, watching their other brother come running from the kitchen to yank the toy from Donatello's grip.

"What are you doing with Beatrice?" Mikey said, fussing over the thing as if he feared Donnie might have been conducting one of his weird experiments on it.

"Beatrice?" the two dumbstruck turtles said in unison.

"My new pet bug! She was a gift from Raph," Mikey explained once he'd made his thorough inspection of the doll to ensure that she was unharmed, his smile taking over most of his face.

Leo exchanged a look with Donnie. Of course: Mikey. Although he seriously doubted Raph of all people had done such a thing, and for more than one reason.

"And it's a girl," Donnie said in a tender tone of voice, as though gazing down on a new-born child.

Leo scoffed.

"Well, no question there."

"Whoa, whoa!" Mikey exclaimed suddenly, looking offended. "What are you saying, that it's wearing a bow so it's gotta be a girl? You saying boy bugs can't wear bows?"

"Ok, alright! So it's a boy bug named Beatrice?" Leo said, honestly at a loss.

"No! It's a girl!"

"But you said—"

"It's a girl because it's a girl! But not because she's wearing a bow!"

"You gotta admire his nonconformity with social standards," Donnie said with a smile and his arms crossed, as though Mikey was five and riding his bike without training wheels for the first time. Leo agreed to that with a nod.

"So what's she doing here?" he asked, already exhausted with the conversation.

"We were gonna watch Crognard. I left her here to go get us some cheese balls—and Ice Cream Kitty, of course."

Mikey flicked open the cooler he was carrying and they were greeted by Ice Cream Kitty's happy mewl and bright eyes.

"I see. Well, you and Beatrice and Ice Cream Kitty have fun," Leo said, ready to leave,

"Thanks! We will," Mikey said cheerfully, slumping onto the cushions with one arm around Beatrice and the other one around the open cooler. Donnie shook his head around a little chuckle as he leaned to pick up his mug.

About to say goodnight to his other brother as well, Leo stopped mid breath when he heard Donnie's T-Phone chime in a new message. As soon as Donnie took it out to look at the name, he directed a significant glance at Leo.

"It's him," he mouthed, and Leo's heart did a flip. With one last covert glance at Mikey, who looked too absorbed by the things now on screen, they both started towards the lab, and they left their little brother to enjoy the show alone with his two girlfriends.


Donnie and Leo rushed in the lab towards the computer desk, closing the doors behind them so they wouldn't be disturbed, and Crognard's war cries faded to a distant mutter. Donnie strode over to the desk, pressed a key and the screen came to life with the chat window in plain view.

Duzmachines: Donatello? You there?

Donnie's fingers flew over the keyboard. It had only been a day since they last made contact—which was great. He'd been afraid they wouldn't hear from them in a while, and the uncertainty was killing him.

Allofdisnbrainz: I'm here! With Leo! We have so many questions!

In the pause that followed, both Donnie and Leo could hardly sit still, leaning in closer as if they needed to hear what the chat was saying.

"I hope they don't mind being asked some questions. I made a list, as you suggested," Leo said, holding up a paper with twelve-or-so entries.

"Me too!" Donnie squeaked excitedly, holding up his own list. He looked down at their papers, the scribbles occupying most of their surfaces. "We may not have time to ask them all this, though, so I hope you organized them by priority."

"Of course," Leo said, as if that was even a question after Donnie had been so insistent.

The computer pinged, and Donnie gave an exclamation, his hand making wild gesticulations.

"Oh!" he gasped. And then he frowned, a little taken aback by the download bar that had suddenly appeared, overlapping the chat.

"What is that?" Leo asked impatiently.

"It's downloading something."

"I hope it's not a movie torrent or anything, Donnie, because now's not the time."

"It wasn't me!" Donnie griped. "It's them! They're sending us something."

Leo looked confused.

"What the heck could they be sending us? Why aren't they talking to us?"

Donnie leaned over the keyboard adopting a business position and dragged a few files that had already been sent to an appropriate image viewer. He thought maybe he might have needed to convert them to something he could open with his current custom computer's programs, but it seemed future Donatello had already taken care of it. The files opened with no further troubles and Donnie gawked at the contents—entire pages of all numbers and letters and very neat, but very complex drawings.

"They're… blueprints!" Donnie said, scrolling through the files, ecstatic. "For a portal! Future Donatello needs me to build the portal that they're going to use to get through to our universe! Man, these designs are so ingenious," he said with a hint of pride in his voice. "It would've taken me ages to figure this all out. And it probably did; obviously I- he spent a lot of time trying to come up with a way." A soft chuckle of admiration escaped his throat. There was still so much to learn and that pleased him.

"I thought they were gonna use a wormhole."

"Wormholes can be tiny, like the head of a pin," Donatello explained, pretending to hold something of that size between his thumb and forefinger. "The portal will force it open so that it's man-sized, kinda like a speculum."

"If that's what I think it is, ew," Leo said, holding up his hands at Donnie. "But seriously, can't you try to talk to them?"

"I did try, but they're not answering," Donnie said thoughtfully, glancing at the download bar. "It could be that the download is using up all the bandwidth. Maybe when it's done…" The speakers gave a beep then. "Oh. It's done!"

"And?" Leo demanded. Donatello couldn't blame him; the suspense was killing him too. But all that suspense died abruptly when the chat icon turned gray.

"Huh. Connection's lost. But look at this!"

Donnie's disappointment couldn't last for long. Not when there were so many beautiful blueprints to study and put into practice!

"Lost? What- But… That's it?" Donnie heard Leo say beside him. But he could barely bring himself to pay any attention and he continued to ravage the blueprints, even as Leo's head flicked back and forth between him and the screen. These were just too fascinating.

"Oh, man… this is brilliant! Remind me to compliment myself when I see me!"

"Pssh. What a rip-off."

At the words, Donatello turned to shoot Leo a look of offense.

"Rip-off?" he barked in incredulity, and rolled his eyes. "You uncultured nincompoop," he murmured, ignoring Leo's resulting face of indignation as he was too busy scrolling through the pages upon pages of instructions which were making him a giddy, rambling, mess, almost missing Leonardo's next words.

"Anyway, maybe I should leave you and your… things alone for a few moments," his brother said, and the little part of Donnie that caught the disappointment in his voice made him turn to see him pick up his list of unanswered questions with a frustrated swipe and head for the door. He thought about saying something reassuring, but a new ping beat him to it.

When he saw a new message in the chat, he jumped with renewed excitement.

"Oh- Leo! They're back!"

Leonardo was back at his shoulder before he could finish his sentence, leaning in close to the screen beyond the recommended distance to read the words.

"What are they saying?"

Donnie read out loud.

Duzmachines: Hey. Sorry for the early disconnect, but we think it's best if we talk as little as possible unless it's imperative that you know something.

Turns out there is something you should know. Nothing too serious.

But keep an eye out for a Chinese red pendant. If you find one, make sure it's safe.

Donnie turned to look at Leo, wondering if he would know something about that, but he was met by the same questioning look he had. He turned back to the screen to type a question he knew was in both their minds.

Allofdisnbrainz: Safe how? Is it dangerous? Is someone looking for it?

Duzmachines: Maybe. Keep an eye out, that's all.

Allofdisnbrainz: Anything else?

Duzmachines: Not right now.

Now genuinely suspicious of their lack of comment, Donnie actually finished typing the words "are you sure?" before he was interrupted by another message.

Duzmachines: We'll contact you in three days to give you the time and coordinates. I'm pretty sure you don't need the incentive... but it would be advisable that the portal be finished by then.

Oh, yeah: tell Karai not to go anywhere, at least until we get there.

Donnie and Leo exchanged another look, then Donnie rushed in to delete the previous words and type the next question before they could leave them hanging again.

Allofdisnbrainz: Why?

Duzmachines: Just in case. Just making sure she's there too when we arrive. Wouldn't want her to miss it. Meanwhile get everyone up to speed as well!

Talk in a few days.

Over and out!

"Uh-" Donnie croaked, hands reaching out towards the screen as if that could keep them from leaving again. The last few messages had come in such quick succession that Donnie couldn't type a reply fast enough before the signal was lost again.

Surprisingly, this short conversation had produced many more questions than it had answered.

"Karai? What's up with Karai?" Leonardo demanded, as if he trusted Donnie to know something. Anything. But all Donnie could do was shake his head in bewilderment.

"I have no idea," he said, cold concern pooling at the pit of his stomach.

"And what's this thing about a Chinese pendant? Where would this Chinese pendant even come from?"

"I guess we'll just have to… keep an eye out."

They both stared at the words left there by their future selves, who seemed to be going out of their way to leave them confused and worried. Leonardo's voice was small and tentative when he finally spoke.

"Do you think something happens to Karai?"

Donnie tried to suppress the brief little furrow on his brow, but judging by the look his brother was giving him, his concern hadn't been lost on him. Donnie quickly adopted a lighter, more carefree expression.

"Nah. It could be anything, Leo. They would've said something else if it was serious, they would want to make sure," he told him reassuringly, hoping it was as true as he had actually made it sound. It had to be. Why wouldn't they want to tell them if it was something really bad, if only to make sure they did everything they could to prevent it? The thought put his mind a bit more at ease.

"I suppose you're right," Leo conceded, but the fog hadn't completely lifted from his eyes.


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