Chapter 4
The air inside the battle nexus was humid and warm. It swirled thickly in Raph's chest as he breathed, a startling change from the crisp fall day back home. He cast his gaze around the familiar landscape – the tan, dusty ground climbing over itself in rocky mounds to the severe elegance of the Daimyo's palace high above.
The three brothers looked at each other briefly before Don stepped in front and started leading the way to the palace. They had only covered a short bit of ground before the air in front of them warped and twisted, and with a subtle pop, Gyoji materialized in front of them.
"Greetings, turtles." He bowed as best as he could with his legs folded beneath him in a lotus position.
Donatello bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Gyoji. We're sorry for the short notice, but we were wondering if we could see the Daimyo."
The expression on the mask-like face did not change, but something about Gyoji's eyes changed to make him look warmer and more welcoming. "But of course. The Daimyo has sensed your presence in his realm and sent me to bring you to him." Without waiting for a response, the semitransparent being twirled his war paddle. Raph shuffled his feet uneasily as the ground beneath him quivered, glowed, and began to slowly swallow him up. Even though he had been transported by Gyoji before, the sensation of sinking into the earth still made his skin crawl. He held his breath as his head slipped beneath the surface. There was a moment of utter dark and silence, then sight, smell, and hearing returned in a rush as the transport bubble surfaced in the wide entryway of the palace.
The sound of running feet echoed off the stone walls. Raphael tensed when he saw the Daimyo's son bounding toward them with an enthusiastic smile on his face.
"Turtle-sans! Father told me you had come!"
"Hey there!" Mikey grinned as he bowed to the little prince, then reached out to ruffle his hair. Raph swallowed hard and averted his gaze. His brother's face was lit with a sunny expression, but only the few people who truly knew Michelangelo would be able to see the pain in his eyes. The Daimyo's son bowed to Donatello as well, but he faltered a little at Raph's grim expression. Raph ducked his head and bowed curtly to avoid looking at the boy's upturned face.
"But where is Leonardo-san?" the Daimyo's son asked.
"Leo couldn't come this time," Don answered.
The boy's face fell a little in disappointment. "Oh."
Raph kept his face carefully blank. In his mind, it didn't matter that the Daimyo's son was young again and had no memory of his past. This was someone who had once tried to harm his family, and Raph would never trust him. True, he was just a child now...but he had been a child once before and had turned into a killer.
"Follow me," the prince said.
Raph expected that they would be led to the throne room, but instead the prince took them to a sunlit parlor where the Daimyo stood waiting for them. He wasn't wearing his ceremonial mask, and his bearded face was kind as he smiled. "Hello, my friends," he rumbled. "It has been too long since we have last met."
The turtles joined the Daimyo and his son around the low table in the center of the room while an attendant carried tea in. Raphael knelt between his brothers, choking down his tea in silence. His heart was thumping heavily and he felt as if little jolts of static electricity were skittering along his nerves. He was sure his pulse was audible in the quiet room, but the Daimyo didn't seem to notice his tension.
When the last drop of tea was gone and the attendants had left them alone, the Daimyo turned to Donatello. "How has your family been, Donatello-san? I trust that your sensei is well."
Don smiled politely. "He's spending some time with friends, sir."
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Actually, sir, with your permission, we have a request to make of you."
"Of course. How can I help you?"
"We were wondering if you could help us contact Lord Simultaneous," Don answered.
The Daimyo didn't answer right away, blinking at them in astonishment. "I can," he answered slowly, "but why do you need him?"
"My brothers and I have spent quite a bit of time with Renet," Don replied. "She's become a friend, but we don't have any way to contact her."
In spite of the desperate need to try and get Leo back, a chill ran down Raph's spine at the way Don could so easily evade the truth without telling a lie. Raph was sure – well, pretty sure – that he or Mikey would have been able to see through Don's answer-that-wasn't-an-answer...but the Daimyo didn't know Donatello like his family did.
The Daimyo's face relaxed into a smile. "I understand." He clapped his hands, and Gyoji materialized at his side. "Send word to Lord Simultaneous that Hamato Donatello and his brothers wish to speak with Renet." The little man bowed deeply and blinked out.
The Daimyo turned his attention back to the three brothers. "The next Battle Nexus Championship will be in a year. Will we see you return to defend your title, Michelangelo?"
Mikey smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh...I hadn't really thought about it," he said.
Donatello shifted his weight a little to ease the tightness in his leg. The Daimyo's son, seated next to him, peered at the bandage wrapped around his thigh. "What happened to you?" he asked shyly.
Don looked down. "Oh, that? It's nothing serious. I got nicked by a giant human cockroach mutant."
The boy's eyes widened. "A what?"
"Yeah, New York has been having a bit of a mutant problem," Mikey said.
"What's a mutant?"
"I'm a mutant!" Mikey answered with a grin. "Except the ones running around New York definitely aren't as handsome as I am. They're more ugly. Like Raph." He then launched into an energetic retelling of their recent adventures involving New York's mutant outbreak. Even though Raph had rolled his eyes at the teasing, he was grateful for Mikey filling the silence and holding the attention of the Daimyo and his son. He really didn't feel like talking, and it meant that he could sit in silence while waiting for Gyoji to reappear; it also meant that the Daimyo couldn't ask them any more questions.
A sudden flare of light interrupted Mikey's account of Raph nearly getting eaten by a mutant, and when they blinked the sparks from their eyes, Renet was standing in the middle of the room.
"Donny!" she squealed. She bounded across the room and threw her arms around his neck from behind, nearly clocking him in the head with the time scepter.
Gyoji's face was as expressionless as ever, but his eyes looked a bit narrow as he stared at Renet. Raph guessed the little guy was tweaked that he hadn't been able to announce her formally – but he didn't have much time to think about it, because Renet was bouncing towards him. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to catch her or hold her off, but before he had time to decide, she was hugging him so tightly around the neck that she was in danger of strangling him.
"It's so good to see you!" she chirped in his ear.
"Uh – "
But before he could come up with a reply, she'd let go of him and flown at Mikey. He was ready for her, though, lifting her off the ground as she hugged him. "Hi, stranger!" he said with a smile. "Long time no see!"
"Oh, gosh, I know, right? I, like, totally did not expect to see you until – wait, no, I don't think I can tell you that," she stammered. Mikey took advantage of her confusion to disengage himself from her embrace, watching her in amusement as she backpedaled. "Well, there wasn't any guarantee that would happen in the first place," she went on, backhanding the air flippantly. Then she paused. "...Actually, now that I think about it...I don't think it happens after all. Which is weird, because last time I looked through the Orb of Hindsight, I was going to be with you four and we were..." She tilted her head curiously. "Hey, where's Leo?"
"He's back home," Don answered.
"Aww, why didn't he come too?"
A deep growl broke the silence that followed her question as Mikey's stomach rumbled, the sound seeming to echo beneath his plastron. Renet burst out laughing, patting Mikey's shoulder sympathetically. "When's the last time you ate?" she asked, giggling.
"Uh..." Mikey rubbed the back of his head, glancing at his brothers as he tried to remember. "Maybe yesterday?"
He was right, Raph realized. April had made them eat breakfast the day before, but they'd spent the afternoon preparing to bury Leonardo...and Raph hadn't touched food since he'd run from the gravesite the evening before. Apparently his brothers hadn't eaten, either.
"What?" she squeaked incredulously. "Oh, you guys have got to come back with me!" she said, jumping up and down in excitement. "You can get some food and you can see where I live! You've never been there before!"
Don smiled at her enthusiasm. "Sure! Sounds good."
"Really? Oh wow, I thought I'd have to talk you into it. And don't worry, I can totally cook," she said. "I know you might not believe me since the last time we were together all I had was prehistoric fish, but even though I hate dusting, I like making food." She waved the time scepter with a flourish. "Come on!"
The three turtles stood and bowed respectfully to the Daimyo and his son. "Thank you for the tea, and for assisting us," Donatello said.
"It was good to see you," the Daimyo replied with a majestic nod.
The three turtles hardly had time to gather around Renet before the scepter began to glow. Raphael couldn't suppress an anxious shudder, but Don put a steadying hand on his shoulder – and the next moment, they winked out of existence.
They materialized in a wide, brightly lit hallway. "Here we are!" Renet announced, holding her arms out and spinning around in a circle.
In spite of his anxiety and sorrow, Raph couldn't help being impressed by the surroundings. Arching windows looked out on a clear blue sky and the gleaming marble floor was spotless, stretching out of sight to the right and the left.
"What do you guys think?" Renet asked, bouncing a little on her toes.
"Whoa...nice pad!" Mikey said, tilting his head back to look at the gold ceiling high overhead.
"So! You guys hungry?"
The turtles exchanged a brief glance. "Yeah, Renet, we are," Don said, "but...we need to talk to you about something first." He stepped forward and took a deep breath. "We wanted to see you," he said slowly, "but we also needed to come and talk to Lord Simultaneous and we couldn't tell the Daimyo why. Something's happened back at home and we need his help."
The enthusiasm faded a bit from her face as Don spoke. "What's going on?" she asked.
"I think it'd be best if we told Lord Simultaneous," Don said hesitantly. "Will you take us to him?"
She didn't answer for a moment or two, but finally nodded. "Okay. Follow me." She beckoned to them and headed down the hall, the sharp sound of her boots echoing off the marble pillars. She stopped in front of a set of massive golden doors that stretched all the way to the ceiling. Each door looked as if it weighed a thousand pounds, but she placed her palm against the burnished metal and opened the door with a little push.
"Renet! Back already?" Lord Simultaneous looked up, face creasing in a welcoming smile as he caught sight of Raphael and his brothers. "Ah, boys! This is a pleasant surprise." The diminutive man was seated behind a large wooden desk with several maps spread out in front of him. Raph couldn't see them clearly, but he could tell that the maps weren't of any place he was familiar with. The walls of the room were lined with clocks. Some clocks had five or seven hands; some were half-moon shaped, and some had markings that Raph knew to be numbers but couldn't interpret.
Simultaneous rose to his feet and came out from behind the desk. "What brings you here? Besides my impulsive assistant," he added, giving Renet a wry but indulgent smile.
"We actually wanted to talk to you, Lord Simultaneous," Don said, stepping forward. "We...we have a request to make of you."
Simultaneous tilted his head. "Oh?"
Don took a steadying breath. "I don't know how to say this, but our brother, Leonardo, has been killed." He heard Renet's dismayed gasp, but didn't look around. Heart thundering in fear and hope, he dared to voice his request. "Raphael, Michelangelo and I have come to ask that you use the time scepter to bring him back."
There was a long silence. Finally, Simultaneous spoke. "I'm sorry about your brother," he said. "Leonardo was a good kid. I wish I could help you. I really do. But I can't."
Raphael lifted his head. "What do you mean, it can't be done?" he demanded. Hearing Leo – Leo – dismissed as merely "a good kid" made him angrier than the casual refusal of their request. "We've seen what the time scepter can do. You brought back the Daimyo's son and he was nothing more than a pile of ash!"
"You've seen the Daimyo's son," Simultaneous said sharply. "He's not who he was before. That part of him is gone. There's only so much the time scepter can do. The Daimyo has a second chance, but with a new son." The Time Lord sighed heavily, shoulders slumping. "There's a reason I brought him back so young. There's enough of a memory imprint for him to know that the Daimyo is his father, but no more. I don't know if the Daimyo realizes how little of his son remains, but having the boy back, having a second chance, is enough for him and he has never questioned it. He could not have had the same chance with his grown son.
"So yes, the time scepter could restore your brother to life. But he wouldn't be Leonardo. You'd have to choose: do you bring him back as he is? He will know that he is your brother, but he will also know that he will never be who you want him to be – who you need him to be. Or do you bring him back as a child and raise him, all while trying to decide when – or if – to tell him the truth?"
There was a terrible, aching silence. Even without looking at his brothers to gauge their reaction, Raph knew that to make either choice was impossible.
"Then take us back," Don said desperately. "Take us back so we can save him."
Simultaneous' face was full of pity, but stern. "You know that can't be done. It would create two parallel timelines: one where Leonardo lives, and one where he dies. You still would lose your brother, and the risks to your own timeline are too great. Time cannot be split in that way. Parallel timelines are unstable. There is a chance that both timelines could fail. It wouldn't just be the end of the world. It would be the end of existence."
"That's not true!" The ferocity of Donatello's outburst made Raph and Mikey look over at their brother in alarm. Donatello was shaking, knuckles blanched as his hands curled into fists. "Parallel timelines do exist. I've been there, I've seen – !" His words tangled in his throat and he couldn't continue.
Raph could feel Mikey looking at him and his eyes cut over to meet his brother's gaze. They knew what Don was talking about and why he couldn't go on. It had taken several weeks after Draco's attack on the lair before Donatello had been able to bring himself to tell his brothers about what he had experienced in the alternate reality. His tale had left all four of them grave and shaken, and they had not spoken of it since.
"Time flows like a river," Simultaneous said. "Branching into alternate timelines is inevitable, and if it happens naturally, it's stable. But you can't force an alternate timeline. It's like putting a dam in a stream – it'll hold for a while, but someday the dam will break. I don't expect you to understand."
Don didn't answer. He bowed his head, utterly defeated. Raph bristled, angry all over again at the patronizing tone in Simultaneous' voice – as if Donny wouldn't understand – but he felt Mikey's hand on his arm, saw the infinitesimal shake of the orange-banded head...and, with an effort, swallowed back the furious outburst that had risen in his throat.
"There has to be something you can do," Mike said pleadingly.
"I can't." Lord Simultaneous sat down again behind his desk, signaling the end of their conversation. "You may stay here until you are rested, and then Renet will return you to your timeline. She will take you back to the moment you left so your Master will not know you have gone." He sighed sadly. "Boys...sometimes death and loss happens, and nothing can - or should - be done about it. I can't solve every problem or right every wrong. I wouldn't be doing my duty as time lord if I did. But...for what it's worth, I am truly very sorry."
"Come on, guys," Renet said quietly. She put a tentative hand on Don's arm, giving him a little tug towards the door. He didn't resist, but turned and followed her, Mikey and Raph close behind. The golden doors swung closed behind them with an echoing thud. Renet led them down the hall for a short distance before pushing open the door to a wide, sunlit atrium. She gestured for the turtles to enter, then came in behind them and closed the door, slumping dejectedly back against it.
Raph heard Renet sniffling softly but couldn't look up at her. He had tried not to hope, but he couldn't help placing faith in Don's ideas. Donny was almost never wrong. But now the meager, brazen hope he'd kindled to life inside his chest was gone, leaving cold ash behind.
"Renet...we're sorry we didn't tell you," Mikey said. "We just...we thought the fewer people knew, the easier it would be to...to get Leo back," he finished dispiritedly.
"I know," she said in a small voice. She sighed shakily. "What happened?"
Donatello was too despondent to speak, so Raphael took a deep breath and haltingly told Renet what had happened two days before. She listened without interrupting, silent tears trickling down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," she choked out when he was finished. "I don't watch you guys all the time...I didn't know it would happen. If I had..."
"If you had, you couldn't have interfered," Don broke in quietly. "That's not how your job works."
"I know. That doesn't make it any easier," she replied. She did her best to swallow her tears and dry her eyes. "Do...do you guys want anything to eat? Do you want to stay?" she asked hesitantly.
"I don't think so," Don said. "But thanks. We will some other time, though."
She managed a small smile, knowing that his answer was sincere. "Okay." The smile didn't stay, though, as she looked down at the time scepter in her hands. For once, she didn't look excited to do her job.
Raph's whole body thrummed with tension, and he clenched his hands to keep them from shaking. He couldn't believe they just had to give up. He couldn't believe that Leo was lost to them forever. The pressure built inside his chest until the words spilled out of him: "Let us save him."
He spoke softly, but Renet flinched as if he had shouted at her. She looked up sharply, staring at him with red-rimmed eyes. "What?"
Raph's jaw firmed. "You heard me. Take us back. Let us save him. Please." Mikey and Don stared. For Raph, the simple request was akin to begging.
Renet looked stricken. "You know I can't do that. Lord Simultaneous told you about the parallel timelines. You can't just leave time split like that and expect everything to be okay."
Don looked up, eyes suddenly razor-sharp. "You can't 'leave time split'?" he asked.
Renet huffed, a shadow of her sass showing through now that she was getting annoyed. "What did I just say?"
"What if you merged the timelines?" Don asked quietly.
Her blue eyes grew even wider in shock. "Do what now?" she squeaked.
"We go back and save Leo. A parallel timeline is created, but you merge the timelines together to prevent instability. Can you do that?"
"I – I...you are crazy!" she snapped, forgetting her grief in her distress. "A parallel universe is bad enough, but merging a timeline is, like... really bad!"
A fierce light came into Raph's eyes. "So it can be done."
"What do you mean 'bad'?" Don asked.
"Like, timeline destruction bad! Armageddon bad! Death bad!"
Mikey gulped. "Whose death?"
"Yours! Everyone's!" Fear, real fear was in her eyes now. Even as a prisoner of Savanti Romero, the turtles had never seen her look like that. "You don't understand what you're asking me to do. Merging timelines is forbidden. It creates even more instability than a parallel universe. If the source of the instability isn't eliminated, the timeline will destroy itself!"
Don took a deep breath, already guessing the answer but needing her to say it. "And the source of the instability would be...?"
"Duh! You!" She planted her fists on her hips. "No matter where or when people travel through time, they have a temporal resonance that's linked to their home dimension. If I merged the timelines, there would be twin resonances of each of you in the merged timeline because you wouldn't have a home dimension anymore. The dual resonances would repel each other like the same poles of a magnet; it could rip the universe apart!"
Michelangelo ventured, "So in order for the timelines to be stable..."
Her face was as grave as they had ever seen it. "You wouldn't be able to stay there, but you wouldn't have a home dimension to return to. Merging the timelines would destroy you."
The brothers shared a long look. Don beckoned to them with a tilt of his head and they withdrew a few paces, bending their heads together. "What are you thinking?" he asked.
"It's a big risk," Raph said slowly. "And not just for us. We're talkin' about the entire freakin' universe."
Mikey looked scared and sad. "What do you think Leo would do?"
"Weighing his life against trillions of others?" Don shook his head. "And it's not just Earth. It's everyone we've ever known on any planet anywhere. And I don't know if it would affect other worlds like the Daimyo's or Usagi's. Who knows how far-reaching the destruction would go if it didn't work? And..." He sighed. "...he wouldn't want us to die for him."
Raph snorted. "Leo lost his vote when he up and got himself killed."
"Leo would sacrifice himself if it meant saving one of us," Mikey said quietly. His eyes were bright with tears, but he was smiling. Donatello took a long, slow breath, then nodded once, mirroring the smile on his brother's face.
Raph cuffed each brother gently on the back of the head. "Right. Let's get this show on the road, then."
Don looked back at their friend, who had turned her head to stare fixedly out the window. Her fingers were wrapped crushingly tight around the time scepter. "Renet..."
"Oh, shut up!" she snapped tearfully. She didn't look at him. "You know I'm going to do it."
Michelangelo took a shaky breath. "Will we know what we did?" he asked. "I mean...will we remember?"
"No. Everything that happened since Leo died won't have happened. Time will just keep going. You won't remember coming here because you'll never do it. You won't know you've died because you won't have existed. The only place you'll ever have existed is...here."
"So you'll know, won't you?" Mikey asked. When Renet didn't answer, he gave a sad little sigh. "I'm sorry."
"I know," she whispered. She gripped the scepter in both hands, face a mixture of fear and sorrow. "I don't know how long I can hold things steady," she warned them shakily.
"It'll be okay," Don said. He pulled his bo from its sheath and spun it in his hands, giving his brothers a tight smile as they drew their weapons and prepared themselves for a fight. "Keep out of sight, guys," he said. "Mikey, you and I will focus on keeping the Dragons busy. Raph...you get to Leo." Mikey grinned fiercely, twirling his nunchaku before catching the handles under his arms. Raph clenched his hands around the prongs of his sai, face dark and determined.
Renet lifted the scepter and a sphere of brilliant blue-white light engulfed them.
