Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Severed

Interlude

Reinvent

October 12th; 1994, Mojave Desert

Donatello stared into the crackling fire that provided much needed heat on the chilly desert night. The turtle was cold, not sure if it was really the outside temperature or just the past week catching up to him; chilling his heart and soul. Nearby his brothers conversed with future versions of themselves; a premise that was never easy to adjust to. His future self, him? Well he spoke of the future and how history was supposed to be different. Their friends, the Mutanimals were dead; gunned down by cyborgs for no reason. Another friend, Slash—he too was slain. The alien turtle had sacrificed his life to repel an invasion by the insect queen Maligna.

Even this thought process seemed crazy to Donatello. It made his brain throb, so much he had to remove his purple bandanna and pinch his thumb and forefinger between his eyes to try and relieve the pain; Donatello longed for the good old days of fighting Foot Clan members and street thugs.

"I guess this also means..." Future Donatello was speaking, "...that Slash and the Mutanimals died prematurely. For no reason. I guess."

Candy Fine, the blond haired girlfriend of one of the Mutanimals promptly stood up from the camp and strode off; Donatello could see the fire reflected off the tears in her eyes and he let out a sigh.

Poor Candy. I guess there really isn't any end to mourning... He thought to himself, watching the young woman go into a tent and zip it closed. Donatello debated going over and consoling her, telling her everything was going to be okay. He would be lying. He didn't even know how to console someone; for far too long he had pushed aside emotion and instead focused on scientific fact, inventions. Earlier today he had been examining a ravine, pondering the fractal structure of natural patterns; he had almost missed the damned funeral. Idiot.

"I'm going to go for a walk." Donatello announced as he stood to his feet, picking up his bo staff to use as a walking stick. His future self called out,

"Before you go, can I have a word?"

"Not now." Present day Donatello replied, again pinching the space between his eyes. "Later."

Somewhere a coyote howled, a wail that sent a shiver down Donatello's spine as he walked away from the campsite. A mournful cry that echoed the mood everyone found themselves in. Donatello kicked a stone out of his way, climbing up a nearby rocky structure to perch upon the flat stone above. He crossed his legs as he sat and set his staff to the side; peering below to see the vast desert before him. The full moon illuminated miles of sand, rock and local vegetation; what little of it there was. The turtle debated meditation, maybe try and clear his head of all this. No, he wasn't much good at that. Donatello's brain would never quiet itself, there was always some new invention being planned out or the universe as a whole being contemplated upon. Even now, past his conscious thought he was dwelling on the local wildlife, the scientific names of each. Heloderma suspectum, vulpes macrotis and countless others.

"Mind if I join you?" A voice cut into his thoughts. Donatello looked up to see Oyuki Mashimi standing before him.

Some ninja I am. He thought to himself as the young woman had snuck up on him. "Sure. I guess."

The Japanese girl sat beside Donatello, one hand in her jacket pocket searching for something. After a moment of digging through the vastness of the fabric, Oyuki finally revealed a penny; grabbing Donatello's left hand to place it in his palm. Before the turtle could even question, she already had an answer.

"For your thoughts."

"Clever." Donatello said with a smile, balling his hand up into a fist around the penny. Quickly, his smile faded and he looked out once more the the desert. "This should hurt? Shouldn't it? I mean, I was friends with the Mutanimals; shouldn't I cry or something? Maybe be angry?"

"What do you feel, Don?"

"Nothing." He replied. "Blank, washed out. Like I will wake up tomorrow, eat some beans and franks and we'll be on our way home like nothing ever happened."

"Some people..." Oyuki said as she leaned over and rested her head on Donatello's shoulder, "...are just like that. Far too many people have cried today, so maybe you're the one who can be there for them ya know? A rock, like the one we're sitting on. Strong and stable."

"And how do you feel?" He asked of her.

"Out of place. I didn't really know these friends of yours, so I am kinda just a third wheel. I guess I'm just here to be a rock too."

The scent of Oyuki's hair drifted up Donatello's nose, it was warm and reminded him of jasmine. With her head on his shoulder; he dared to rest his cheek against the top of her head. Much to his surprise she wrapped her thin arms around his waist in a hug, but he did not object. Donatello shivered from the cold and Oyuki looked up at him.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah...just cold blooded." He replied. "Being poikilothermic isn't exactly the easiest way to survive, especially with winters the way they are in New York."

"You're funny sometimes you know that?"

"How so?"

"Well..." Oyuki said, touching the end of Donatello's nose with one finger. "...you're just different than your brothers is all. Raph is a head case, Leo is Mr. Goody-Goody and Mikey..."

"Everyone loves Mikey." Donatello remarked sarcastically.

"Well of course everyone does, he's a big goof with a big heart. But you Mr. Donatello..." She lifted her head and moved over to look into Donatello's eyes, placing her warm hands upon his cheeks. "...you're quiet. You don't need to be rude or a leader or even crack a bunch of jokes to be noticed. Do you know why?"

"Thrill me."

"You get things done. You don't waste time with words. It's why I like you most of all."

"I like you too, Oyuki." Donatello said.

"No, I mean...like, I like-like you."

"And I said I liked you too." Donatello said again, blinking. What was even more puzzling to the turtle was the expression on Oyuki's face; a quizzical sort with furrowed brow and mischievous glint in her eyes. "Oyuki?"

"Shut up." She said before kissing him on the mouth.

At first Donatello didn't have a clue as to what to do with the situation. His mind raced and brought up images of medical text books, especially articles on the human female; then he suddenly forgot which chromosomes Oyuki possessed and instead kissed her back. Her kiss in return was not just a mere peck on the lips shared between friends, instead her tongue found the inside of his mouth and before his brain could say anything about the bacteria that might pass between the two; Donatello found himself on top of the girl as she sprawled out on her back upon the rock under him. Their tongues met over and over again, hands upon each others faces and bodies pressed close together. Oyuki finally stopped the turtle,

"Don..." She pressed her forehead tight against his. "...do you feel anything now?"

What a question to ask him now of all times. How was he to reply?

"I feel like I don't want to stop." His mouth said before his brain told him to; then logic started to take root once more. "Wait...Michelangelo, I thought you and he; you know...?"

"We aren't." Oyuki said as she kissed his neck. "He's my best friend, Don. I am his best friend. This right now, with you; is what I want and I don't want you to stop either..."

What took place over the next hour was something Donatello would never forget, not in his long life as evidenced by his future self. Never did the turtle once contemplate the acts that he and Oyuki engaged in after he slowly undressed her and laid her down upon the blanket she had the forethought of bringing with her; evidence that she had some idea of what she wanted to happen. Underneath the desert moon, Donatello evolved from a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle as Mikey coined; into a man making love to a beautiful young woman. His inexperience didn't phase her, neither did his reptile features. Together they enjoyed every taste, thrust and murmur they each put forth into the night. When at last they were both spent, she first and then only moment later him; they held onto one another and escaped into the land of dreams as stars were born and died in the sky above.

Donatello did not dream, well not that he could recall when his own voice woke him shortly before dawn.

"Now this I certainly don't remember." It was his future self crouched not too far away.

Donatello wiped the sleep from his eyes, Oyuki was still unclothed beneath the blanket they shared and had not stirred.

"Am I to assume I become a peeping tom in the future?" Donatello asked his future incarnate.

"No, but she is the reason you and I need to talk. Oyuki and I never did that in my future, which I am now certain is no longer your future. Quickly, follow me."

Future Donatello stood up and walked away, leaving Donatello to manoeuvre himself from Oyuki's warm embrace in order to follow the aged turtle. He quickly caught up,

"Okay, so what's so important?"

"We...I mean I..." Future Donatello caught himself, "I messed up. Bad. I assumed time travel would be linear, that I could come back and not only save the Mutanimals but also save Earth. I was wrong and now even more people have died because of my short sightedness."

"But it has to be linear." The younger Donatello stated. "If you're here that means that I later create a timeslip generator and go back in time to this point in my future."

"You forget Hugh Everett."

"The many-worlds interpretation...why didn't you think of that before?"

"You should know better than I." Future Donatello remarked as the sky before them slowly started to shift in colour, as day fought away night. "You know how we get when there's an engaging project; especially one such as time travel. You and I have that same single mindedness, a tunnel vision that can not see the possibility of alternate universes for every action and choice we make; be it mundane or otherwise."

"So now that you have come back, and changed the past and future irrevocably; what happens when you finally travel back to your own time?"

"I figure this will be the last time we meet unless the time-slip generator not only allows travel through time but also alternate realities. Even then, I am thinking of dismantling the two devices I have made; the main reason I came to talk to you."

"You don't want me to experiment with time travel, right?" His present self asked.

"Correct. Who knows what damage we could end up doing; a chaos ripple that could conceivably destroy all of reality."

"I'm still wondering how I could be such a damned idiot."

"Just promise me." Future Donatello placed a strong hand upon his younger version's shoulder. "Promise me that no matter what, you will not try to make another time-slip generator; no matter how much your curiosity begs of you. Don't just think of my fumblings either, think of your brothers, Master Splinter. Think now of Oyuki." Donatello was thinking of Oyuki, remembering how her body felt pressed so close to his; how she felt when he entered her, her tangled black hair in his fingers...

"I promise, because you may have not changed your future but you have changed mine. If last night was something you can't remember then I do not want to tarnish that memory for a past version of myself because I did not thoroughly investigate the dangers of jaunting through time."

"Fair enough." Future Donatello released his grip and smiled. "I also want to let you know how jealous I am of what you probably did last night. A hundred years from now I still don't have time for such pleasure."

"Wait, you're not telling me I was a hundred-odd-some-year-old virgin are you?" Future Donatello held his finger and thumb an inch apart, the universal sign for a little bit. "Yeah, definitely no experiments in time travel for me then. Yeesh."

The two of them laughed just as the sun peeked over the horizon, winking warm daylight at the two reptiles.

"I just have one other request."

"Sure, what do you...what do I need to do?" Donatello asked his older self.

"I am not sure what is going to happen now. Though my future has not changed, yours invariably has, just remember to never forget where you are from before you think about where you are going. We..." He stopped himself again, "...I have lost so much over the years and so have your brothers. Never forget them, Donatello. Your brothers love you."

"I know." The present said. "I doubt that's going to change."

"Just heed my words, Donatello. A time will come when that love will be tested, changes in the time line or not. You will find yourself tested, do leave yourself wanting..."

Author's Comments

Yes, this is a main part of the story and some foreshadowing of what is to come.

Why do things seem so random when I write? I guess I am taking inspiration from the Watchmen comics. In the collected versions there are snippits of news articles, backstory, etc.

This is what I am trying to accomplish.

This was actually the very first piece I wrote for this book. For awhile I considered not using it; but upon reading some of the old TMNT: Adventures series I had to write out why the future is not the one seen in the comics that this interlude is based off of.

Time travel is a hell of a thing, so is the many worlds interpretation.

This story takes place during issue #61 of the TMNT: Adventures series, what we did NOT see.