Explication

Present

Leo remained prostrate, unable to look away from his weapons. He slid his fingers on the flat of the broken blades.

What had happened? Why were his katana - weapons he took extreme care of - in such a state?

He needed answers, now. Picking the pieces of steel, he stomped out of his room, all stealth forgotten.

Raphael and Michelangelo were still in the living room. Leo stood in front of Raphael and let go of the blades, which fell to the floor with a thunderous noise. Donatello, alerted by the racket, ran out of his lab.

"They were with me, right?" Leo said bitterly.

He didn't miss how Raphael's face was distorted by panic and regret - and was it pain?

"No, Leo… It's not what you think…"

"Not what I think?" Leo almost shouted. He crossed his arms, doing his best to keep calm and not yell his frustration at his brothers. "You think I don't know my own weapons?"

It was obvious that Raphael would have preferred to be anywhere but here. The blamed turtle gave Michelangelo and Donatello a desperate look. Michelangelo jumped behind Donatello while the tallest of the turtles twisted his hands.

"Leo… I think it's better if you don't try to learn anything else…" he tried.

Leo watched him with incredulity. "And you're the one saying this?"

Donatello cleared his throat. "I just wanted to say that… that…" He put his hands behind his back, thinking fast. He needed an idea. What could he come up with? Lying was harder than building machines, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't tell Leo the truth.

What can break katana? Donatello thought.

He suddenly had an illumination. Sai, of course!

Giving Raphael an apologizing glance in advance, Donatello went on. "Raph broke them. You fought each other with more intensity than usual, and, uh… You haven't had time to repair them yet."

Raphael gaped and looked daggers at Donatello.

Leo watched each of them in turn. He lifted an eye ridge. "You really think I'm going to buy this?"

Donatello shrugged. "It was worth a try," he mumbled.

"I think it was an awesome idea, Donnie!" said Michelangelo, still hiding behind his brother.

Raphael still looked like he was going to turn Donatello into a sieve with the sheer power of his glare. Donatello made sure that the couch remained between he and his brother at all times.

Leo ignored them, too busy thinking. What were his brothers hiding from him? It had to be something dramatic.

He thought about his weapons. He had found them wrapped in a black cloth. True, it was a color appreciated by ninja - but it was also a color of mourning.

Could it be…?

With a sudden lump in his throat, Leo expressed the thought that had just dawned on him.

"Something happened to me, didn't it?"

Past

Neither Donnie, nor Raph, nor Mikey made the slightest comment on their way home. Donnie merely mentioned that he had managed to erase the exoskeletons' blueprints with a computer virus. Leonardo had congratulated him, and Donnie had accepted the praise with a shy smile.

Since then, nothing.

As they jumped the turnstiles of their home, Splinter left the dojo to meet them. Leonardo took a deep breath. How was he going to explain to his father what had happened? He had a hard time believing it himself.

He had defeated Shredder… For the second time.

The leader of the Foot was bound to give them no respite. He was going to want not only Splinter's head, but Leonardo's too. What if his past self came back? He was no match for Shredder and wouldn't be for a long time. He would be killed…

What have I done?

"Did everything go well, my sons?"

Splinter's question broke the spell of silence.

"Oooh, you could say that! What a fight!" Raph came closer to Leonardo and patted his shoulder. "Not bad, not bad at all!"

Raph's tone was admittedly a little strangled, but it was also warm and welcoming, and Leonardo gave him a pale smile.

"Who would have guessed?" Donnie said dreamily. "Our future is decidedly full of surprises…"

"Master Splinter, it was incredible!" Mikey exclaimed. "First there were all these Kraang - and Donnie and I destroyed their portal, and Raph and Leo busted up those left, and then Karai arrived! With archers, lots and lots of archers!" Michelangelo extended his arms to show how many archers there had been. "And then Shredder joined her, and…"

"What?" Splinter yelled.

His raised voice shut Mikey up for a whole second.

"And then Leo defeated him," he finished in a whisper.

In the heavy silence that followed, Leonardo did his best to hold his father's gaze. He couldn't decipher the emotions mixed up in it. Surprise? Concern? Incredulity?

"I… It just happened…" he whispered.

"Oh, my son, what have you done?" Splinter sighed. "Come with me. I want you to tell me everything down to the last detail."

Present

Michelangelo was the quickest to react. "Something happened to… what? Oh, Leo, no! Not to you!" he said spontaneously before covering his mouth with his hands in horror.

Raphael and Donatello glared daggers at him.

"Of course nothing happened to you, come on, Leo," Donatello hurried to say. "I mean, apart from the fact that you've disappeared somewhere in the corridors of time."

Leo scrutinized him. This time, he had a feeling Donatello wasn't lying. And now that he was thinking about it, it was stupid. His brothers had been surprised to see him, granted, but not upset like they would have been if Leo hadn't been part of their lives anymore.

Then what?

Michelangelo's words echoed in his head.

Not to you. Not to you. Not to you.

To whom?

Who wasn't there, and should have been? Who was supposed to have left in order to train April, when he could have done it in the dojo?

"No," Leo whispered.

He watched each of his brothers in turn. Raphael froze when he saw Leo's expression. Donatello clenched his fists. And Michelangelo… Leo could read in his eyes such a grief, a sorrow that should never have belonged there, and it was the only confirmation he needed.

His world collapsed.

"Nooooooooooo!"

Past

Leonardo was following his father and brothers to the dojo when the pain overwhelmed him. It was like his whole body was hurting, like each and every one of his cells was crying its grief…

"Leonardo?"

Splinter's voice sounded very, very far away as Leonardo tried to breathe. Deep inside him, he knew what had happened. This devastating sorrow was nothing new to him… Somewhere, some time, a Leo way younger than him had learned the terrible truth. A truth that he was unequipped to meet.

That truth had almost broken Leonardo himself, and he had been much more hardened than his past self at the time…

"Leonardo!"

He felt Splinter's arms wrap around his shoulders to support him.

"I'm okay," he managed to say. "I'm okay."

"What happened, my son?"

Leonardo felt himself unable to hold back his tears.

"He knows," he whispered, more to himself than to his father or his brothers. "Father, I'm so sorry…"

He choked and hid his head in Splinter's robe.

"So, so sorry…"

Beyond Time

"The Time Scepter has a mind of its own." Lord Simultaneous pensively watched the various monitors in the room. Eight turtles, one rat and one absolutely furious armored human were displayed in high definition. "Still, you've once more demonstrated your carelessness."

Renet wished she could disappear inside a tiny, tiny hole. When she had finally listened to Michelangelo's pressing messages, she had hurried to the Time Scepter room only to discover that it was gone. Lord Simultaneous had taken it with him, and she had been forced to wait for his return.

And to tell him everything.

His master's stare pierced her.

"Go and fix this."