Author's Notes: I wasn't going to have another fight with Shredder; but I decided it wasn't the old 'toon unless April needs a rescue, so let the 80's inspired madness ensue!
The Lair: 1987 Cartoonverse
Michelangelo stared at the wall where the portal stood, his jaw slightly open. "Where's Raphael?" It was the question nobody wanted to hear.
"I think he fell through the portal." Leonardo replied, gingerly touching the control panel to see if it would flicker back to life. The portal stared back at him, aggravatingly inert.
Donatello shook his head, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "That's not possible, the portal's broken. I haven't been able to fix it yet."
"But you saw it flicker to life, Dude." The orange clad turtle kept searching behind the portal and in the other rooms of the lair in hopes that his older brother might magically turn up.
"I did, but there had to be something more to it." The inventor mused, starting to pace. "I don't think it started to glow until Shredder took over the broadcast."
"Maybe one of Shredder's machines…" Michelangelo started, cutting himself off as Leonardo's communicator went off.
"Shh, it's April." The leader waved his hand, making his brothers fall silent. "Go ahead, April."
Guys, did you see the broadcast? Her voice sounded somewhat panicked.
"We sure did, Dudette." Michelangelo started.
"He ended up projecting Bebop and Rocksteady into our lair." Leonardo finished. "Is he still in the broadcasting area?"
Yes, and he's mad that the broadcast was shut down, so he's taking hostages! She sounded breathless on the other end, as if she was running. You guys need to get here, quick!
"Are you alright, April?" the leader's voice was concerned, and his brothers started to lean in over his shoulders. The communicator signal crackled and went dead. "April!" Looking to his brothers he snapped his communicator shut. "Come on, we have to get Channel 48 right away!"
"What about Raphael, dude?" Michelangelo asked with a worried look on his face.
Donatello picked up the keys to the Turtle Van and handed them to Leonardo. "Whatever device Shredder used to affect the broadcast and open the portal has to be connected in the broadcast room. We have to go there and find it anyways." He reasoned heading out.
"Don't worry, Michelangelo, we'll find him." To punctuate his statement Leonardo knelt, picked up Raphael's dropped sais and tucked them in his belt.
xXx
The Lair: 2003 Cartoonverse
There were an awful lot of decaying bricks in the wall. Over 90 bricks per row. It wasn't much but it was something to do, and Raphael found he had to do something other than worry about this very uncomfortable situation. After picking the bookshelf up and putting all the books away everything had lapsed into a sullen silence. For a while he had tried to amuse himself by pasting sarcastic grins on his face, just to see how his brothers (could he even call them that?) would react. But it just ended with Mikey chuckling, which made Raph stand up, glare and pull out his sais again, which threw all three of them into another sullen silence.
When the clock struck four, all three of them jumped slightly. Raph was the only one to immediately recover, resuming his glare like a cat resumes licking their coat when they fall off of a ledge. Mikey stood up. "Your turn to swap with Don." He said to his older brother.
"You go. I'll stay here." Raph replied evenly.
The young turtle scratched his head right above his headband. "But you already took two shifts in a row."
His brother waved him off with one hand. "It's almost four, you should be startin' dinner."
He stayed still for a few moments before nodding. Things were too weird for him to try to argue this. "Ok." He replied simply, turning to head off for the kitchen. It left both red clad turtles to sit and stare at one another.
Raphael sighed, looking down at the blood that was crusted over on his hand. He couldn't remember the last time any of his brothers had intentionally hurt one another; it was that more than anything that made the reality of the situation sink in. After a minute or two of silence he couldn't stand it anymore.
"So what now?"
The question made Raph look up from his reverie and frown. "What do you mean 'what now?'"
"Are we just going to sit here all night?" he asked, fidgeting slightly.
His hotheaded counterpart gave him a very even stare. "Maybe."
"Can I move at all?" Raphael asked in the light tone he used when he was trying to test people's boundaries.
"No."
"Not even if I have to pee?"
His witty comment was rewarded with another glower. "No."
The two turtles sunk into another minute of painful silence.
Despite his better judgment, Raphael felt the overwhelming urge to break the silence once again. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a stunning conversationalist?"
Raph rolled his eyes. "Has anyone ever told you that you'll be dragged out of here in a bodybag if you don't shut up?"
"I see." Raphael paused, and stubbornly the next words slipped out. "Are you a temperamental bully with all of you brothers or are you doing this especially for me?" About two seconds after he said it he realized how much he dearly wished he hadn't.
Snapping his head around, Raph's next words were in a hot-tempered bellow. "I thought I told you to SHUT UP!"
---
Mikey kept his head down, pointedly ignoring any conversation coming from the library as he met up with Don on his way to the kitchen.
"Where's Raph? I though I was trading off with him?" Don asked, passing his youngest brother, carrying a wet dishtowel.
Mike shrugged, his eyes going slightly wider. "He told me to go start dinner." Pausing a beat he added, "I think he's pretty pissed off."
The elder turtle sighed, with an expression of 'tell me what else is new' crossing his face. "I suppose he's taking this all personally."
"What's to take personally about it?"
"Well, Mike, how would you react if a duplicate of you appeared in the lair?" Don asked, with a seriousness Mike usually expected from Leo.
Folding his arms in front of his plastron he scratched his head for a while. "I dunno. I'd probably be happy 'cause I'd have someone to play video games with."
His elder brother allowed himself a small smile. "I suppose you would. But think of how you'd feel if the other you didn't want to play video games. Or worse, if that other was trained to attack you"
Mike bit his upper lip slightly. "I'd be totally bummed."
"I thought I told you to SHUT UP!" Raph's irritated voice raised up through the main room. Mike gave a half smile.
"Better go break them apart." He grinned a little at Donnie.
"Why is that my job?" Don asked, despite the fact that he was already halfway towards the library.
"Because you're so good at it!" Mikey punctuated the statement with his most brilliant adoring little brother gaze and Don had to give a halfhearted smile.
Turning to the tense air in the library he called out sharply, "Hey, Raph, don't kill yourself!"
xXx
Channel 48 Live Broadcast Stage: 1987 Cartoonverse
Rushing in through the back door, Leonardo paused, looking over the apparently deserted soundstage. Directly behind him Michelangelo perked his head to one side. "Do you hear something, dude?"
"Shh… I think it's…" as Leo started his sentence all three turtles looked up to the lighting grid of the soundstage where a very familiar yellow-clad form was tied up and gagged.
"April!" all three of them chorused. Shredder's villainous chortle came from behind the curtain. Dramatically he threw it aside and stepped out to gloat.
"I knew you would come here, Turtles! Now prepare to meet your doom!" He waited for a second, clenching his fist.
The three brothers frowned for a second when the inevitable one liner their missing brother would provide simply didn't happen. Laughing once again, Shredder pointed at them, "Rocksteady, Bebop get them!" The two mutants came charging out from behind the stage guns blazing, causing all three turtles to jump in opposite directions to avoid the sudden rain of red laser light.
"We gotta find some way to get them back to Dimension X!" Leonardo shouted, leaping towards Rocksteady and planting a kick in his side.
"There's no open portal!" Donatello protested. The large speaker column he was standing beside suddenly exploded, and he ducked, narrowly avoiding Bebop's next few bolts. Coming to his aid, Michelangelo swung up with one nunchuk, clobbering the end of the gun.
"Hey!" the overgrown warthog protested as his gun went clattering to the floor. Michelangelo went so far to stick his tongue out at the beast before Bebop picked up a lighting boom and swung at the turtle in orange like he was swinging a baseball bat at a ball. It sent Michelangelo flying backwards into Donatello, and both of them skidded to the far end of the stage.
At the other end, Leonardo was having troubles of his own. "This isn't working!" he huffed as Rocksteady threw a box full of microphones at him. Slipping on the microphones, he grimaced while the mutant Rhinocerous chuckled.
"You're right it ain't working! We're smashin' yous to a pulp!" he crowed at Leonardo's shell as the blue clad turtle crashed into one of the curtains.
At the far end of the stage Michelangelo groaned. Donatello looked up in surprise to see several people in the corner, tied up and gagged. Included in the bunch of frightened workers were Vernon, the Clarke City Dancers, and Dr. Frankengerman. "Doctor von Frankengerman!" the brainy turtle exclaimed, running over to cut him loose.
"Vhat is going on here?" the older man rubbed his head as Donatello helped him to his feet. "Vhat are all you… creatures?"
The mutant terrapin shook his head, steering the doctor towards the control equipment. "I don't have time to explain that now, doctor. I need you to show me where your Complete Immersion Reality Television device is. I think the people who tied you up may have sabotaged it!" He dragged the man to the controls, and the two started looking for Shredder's device.
Meanwhile, Michelangelo had jumped back into the fray. He was circling Bebop, keeping a careful distance from the swinging pole. Leonardo was back on his feet, dodging boxes of supplies. "We gotta find a way to stop them!" the youngest brother protested.
Leonardo bit hit lip, and taking his katana, he sliced to rope from one of the sandbags hanging backstage. In perfect comedic form the heavy bag fell, clonking Rocksteady directly on the head. The mutant rhino complained and rubbed his head, and he could hear Michelangelo cheer in the background "All right, dude!"
Everybody, including Shredder, snapped their heads up towards the control panels as the same static humming that preceded the television broadcast filtered through the air. Directly behind the chromed-domed villain a glowing circular portal opened up. Behind the controls, Donatello jumped out, grinning, and handing off a strange looking silver box to Dr. Frankengerman.
Leonardo grinned, leaping up into the grid for the stage. With a few short cuts, he loosed one of the curtains, sending the heavy black drapery over both evil mutants. "Who turned out da lights?" one of them asked as Bebop and Rocksteady turned into a writhing mass of limbs and fabric. Donatello took that as his cue, running towards both and planting a jumping kick into the mass. The curtain rolled backwards, with a muttered "Aw, no!" and disappeared into the portal.
Looking at Shredder and then back at his youngest brother Leonardo called "Now, Michelangelo!" The orange clad turtle was up on the balcony, holding the freshly cut rope from the sandbag. He grabbed it, swinging Tarzan-style, and yelling "Cow-aaa-bunnn-gaaaa!" in his best jungle impression. His swing brought him feet-first into Shredder's chest and the villain went flying backwards into the portal as well. Donatello rushed over and disconnected a wire from the small box, causing the glowing doorway to vanish before any of their nemeses could return.
Leonardo climbed up to carefully cut April down as Michelangelo went to untie the rest of the cast and crew. Donatello stood beside Dr. Frankengerman who was turning the strange silver box over in his hands. "This is not part of my original invention. I do not know vhat it is."
"Do you think I could take it?" Donatello asked, nodding his thanks when the professor passed the device over.
"Are you ok, April?" Michelangelo walked over to her as Vernon rolled his eyes.
Back on her feet, April was dusting herself off as she nodded a yes. "I can't thank you guys enough! What was Shredder doing here anyways?"
"I don't know, but I think he was trying to use the broadcast to power the Technodrome with this alien device." The purple clad turtle replied, bringing the small box over.
"Do you think we'll be able to use that device to find Raphael?" the eldest brother asked.
April turned, looking concerned. "Where's Raphael?"
"We don't know." Michelangelo's voice was morose.
"I think if I can wire this device through our TV, I can get the same effect on the portal as the broadcast had." The inventor replied, thoughtfully.
Leonardo nodded and gestured towards the Turtle Van. "Then we had better get going."
"I'm coming with you guys." April said, hot on their heels.
"What about me?" Vernon whined.
Turning, the reporter fixed him with a steady look. "Vernon, someone has to take the tape back to the station."
The cameraman huffed as April and the Turtles disappeared. "Why do I always get the boring jobs?"
xXx
The Lair: 2003 Cartoonverse
From the moment they walked in, Leo and his sensei could smell the makings of a gourmet meal. "It looks like Mikey has really gone overboard tonight…I wonder why?" the teenager mused.
The wise rat paused at the entryway to the lair, looking at his eldest son. "Use your intuition, my son. What makes your brother throw himself into his work?"
If Leo hadn't spent the entire afternoon with his master in quiet reflection his first thought might have been 'nothing makes Mikey work hard.' Not that it was the kind of response he would have ever given Master Splinter. But he felt calm and centered this evening and took a few moments to think of an honest answer. "Mikey likes to cook, and he usually really throws himself at it when he's planning something special… or he's really nervous." His brows suddenly knit in realization that there was no holiday anywhere near this date, and took off for the kitchen. Master Splinter gave a small smile of amusement before following his son.
Entering the kitchen Leo's jaw dropped. It looked like a dessert shop has exploded in their kitchen, baking pans and cookies were everywhere. The oldest turtle took in a deep breath and tried to sound nonchalant. "Hey, Mikey, what's going on?"
The youngest turned, sending spatters of batter flinging around the counter. "Leo! I'm so glad you're back you wouldn't believe what happened today!" His voice was heavy with both relief and nervousness so the words came out in a nearly unintelligible jumble.
The blue clad turtle perked a brow as his sensei walked up behind him. Taking a very deep breath he tried again. "Ok, Mike, what happened today?"
"Ok, so there was this crash in the library and I thought that Raph had thrown something but he didn't and when we all checked it out Raph found a copy of himself and now there are two Raphaels and they don't like each other!" Finally at the end Mikey stopped for a breath.
Leo turned to Master Splinter, his face creased in an expression of extreme confusion. "Mikey, that doesn't make any sense…" he started, but broke off when his father held up a paw.
Walking forward, Splinter spoke in a soft, calm voice. "Try explaining again, my Son. Take a breath and take your time." He placed his paw on Mike's shoulder for reassurance.
Downing an entire glass of water, the youngest turtle tried again. "Ok, there was this crash in the library. Don and Raph and I all went to check it out, and when we got there we found that the bookshelf was turned over. Raph saw something moving and when he checked it out we found a…" he swallowed "Another ninja turtle! He says he's Raphael!"
"Mikey, if this is a joke," his elder brother warned, furrowing his brow.
"It's not a joke! Go check in the library for yourself!"
Master Splinter held up his paw again, and beckoned for Leo to follow him. "Michelangelo, I think it best that you stay here and… finish your baking." He gestured to the growing mess. "Your brother and I will check out what you found in the library."
The youngest breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to the macaroons.
Leo's jaw dropped the second he entered the doorway to the library. He blinked and even found himself poking his head out to double check that Mikey was still in the kitchen. He did a head count, several times. Five. Taking a deep breath he turned to the odd turtle out. "Who are you?"
"Raphael." His voice has long since lost its natural wit. He sounded both tired and alone.
"He says he's from some other dimension. Donnie thinks he's a clone sent here by one of our enemies." Raph added dryly.
"I don't really know, but I can run some tests this evening." The purple clad turtle finished.
Master Splinter stepped forward, his ears twitching. Looking straight at the smaller Raphael his voice was even and soft. "Please, tell me where you come from."
Raphael gave a short sigh. He could never seem to word these things right. "I'm from New York, pretty much the exact same place as here; but not here obviously. Shredder tried using some, uh, alien technology I think. He transported his goons into our lair, and it opened a portal. Somehow in the fight I got knocked through and I ended up here."
The old rat's eyes never left the new turtle's face. Behind him, furrows appeared on Leo's forehead as he thought the whole thing over. "How did this dimensional portal work?"
"I don't know. I'm not Donatello." The red-clad turtle sounded exasperated.
"Wait, you've got a Donatello too?" Raph asked, his brow creasing.
"Yes." His counterpart gave a little nod. "And a Leonardo, a Michelangelo, a Master Splinter, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree…"
Raph stood, hooking his sais in his belt, giving on last irritated glare to his mirror-image. "I've had enough of this!" Turning he directed his pent up frustration on his usual target. "How about I let you take over, fearless leader."
His elder brother frowned at him. "Where are you going?"
"Out." He replied crossly, marching into the kitchen.
Master Splinter stood in the middle of it all, watching everything with a keen expression and a very calm demeanor. He placed a paw on his eldest son's shoulder to prevent him from following his hotheaded sibling. "Let him go, my son." Turning back Raph's counterpart was just sitting there with his head in his hand.
Leo had the same expression on his face that he got when thing felt like they were slipping out of control. His voice was soft and tight. "What do we do now, Master?"
His sensei gave him a reassuring smile. "I will speak with out newcomer." He paused and looked at both remaining brothers. "Go eat dinner. Afterwards Donatello can run his tests and you can help your brother clean up the kitchen."
They both headed for the doorway, nodding. "Hai, Master." They spoke almost in unison before disappearing into the kitchen.
The elder rat settled himself in a chair across from Raphael and watched the young turtle keenly. Despite the strangeness of his story he could find any indication of falseness in his eyes. His voice was gentle when he spoke next. "You are really not from this world, are you?"
Raphael looked up for perhaps the first time since he hit the bookshelf, with hope in his eyes.