-2012 dimension-

Karai felt like punching someone, standing in the middle of top floor of TCRI and watching helplessly as the progress bar remained on seventy-two percent for nearly a half hour, while the video coverage of Shredder showed her father being taken out by Splinter. The rat was standing over him, probably contemplating killing him.

If she couldn't get to Turtle Prime soon, her father would surely be dead. Even if he survived Splinter, there was no way he could continue through the multi-verse as injured as he was with a huge group of turtles after him.

Karai suspected the reason the progress of analyzing the source DNA was going so slow because, even against her wishes, the Kraang had been sending more and more of their kind over to the Dimensional Portal to find the 2003 dimension where the Technodrome resided. The Technodrome, currently housing Shredder87 and his two henchmen, frail old Splinter87, April87, and Krang (the alien blob was happily conjuring chaos in the street, sending out weapons and Foot soldiers as the sun rose in blazing hues of red and yellow behind him.) It was probably all a distraction so no one would notice Shredder12 in the sewers, but now that tanks and all sorts of heavy weaponry was showing up, the alien really did have to defend himself.

Of course, none of the Kraang had successfully reached the 2003 dimension yet, as something was out there in the Dimensional Gateway, blocking them.

The Kraang, as well as Karai, had no idea that the blockage was that of a very determined Splinter96 and his pupil, Kinzo.

-Dimensional Gateway-

Splinter96 knocked a Kraang droid to the ground, smashing circuits and the alien inside. The gun flew out of it's hand, the dark black metal standing out against the dreary background of the Dimensional Gateway, and Kinzo leapt up and caught it, shooting down all the remaining Kraang around him.

Splinter96, seeing that the droid he'd been fighting was finished, completely shifted into his usual old, frail rat guise, hiding the warrior he was again. He hobbled over to Kinzo, who was wiping the sweat off of his face inside a circle of destroyed robots. "You have done well, my student."

Kinzo looked fondly at his former master, who had disappeared from his life quite a while ago only to return as a rat. He'd missed him. Bowing respectfully, he said, "Because of you, master." He started to walk away, motioning for Splinter to follow along. The came to the last living Kraang, stuck in a suit with limbs beaten and some destroyed, and the chest smashed in so the alien couldn't pop out. Not that it could anyway, the alien looked to be hanging onto his last thread of life.

"What are you hear for?" Kinzo asked, his words sharp.

"The Technodrome - " The Kraang's voice faltered, his pink eyelids sliding down to cover his blazing green eyes. Dead.

"The Technodrome? What could that be? Where?" Splinter96 asked. He wished the alien had stayed alive long enough to finish what he'd been about to say. Whatever the Technodrome was, the Kraang wanted to find it - either to conquer it or destroy it.

Or reclaim it.

-2012 dimension-

Donatello12 was confused as he examined the Inter-Dimensional Portal Stick in his hands. He flicked it on, seeing a flickering image of the streets of the 1990 dimension. This bewildered him. "How did you ever make this? This is extremely advanced technology, almost Kraang-level."

Donatello87 shrugged. "He and I" - he gestured to his friend Donatello03 - "made it together. We brought what we both knew and combined it and it came out like that."

"Yeah," said Donatello03, smiling friendily. "Those dent marks you see on the bottom? That's where he hit it with a wrench. He was such a great help." He winked at Donatello87 and Donatello12 could sense the strong friendship between them, forged a month ago.

"Really?" Donatello07 asked, leaning over Donatello12 to look at the device. "Only two Donnies made this? Imagine what updates we could do to it now! Nine Donatellos!" He had a faraway look in his eyes, imagining all the updates he could do.

"We only have a couple hours, tops," interjected Donatello12. "Remember? We've got to find Shredder soon. We'd probably already be looking again if the Leonardos would stop arguing, but I think we shouldn't be just out there following Shredder's path. We need a plan. So...anyway, I say we fix the particle emission tracker first, because that will be really useful. If we have time later, we can put on more updates." He was still avoiding eye contact with the other Donatellos, as he was still hurt from their teasing even though they'd apologized.

"Who made you leader?" Donatello96 huffed. He instantly regretted being rude to Donatello12 yet again. "Sorry."

"Never said I was," Donatello12 said stiffly, pulling out a wrench. "But we need some direction in this team." He began to work away on the device, not really doing more than examining the machine's inner workings. He didn't say anymore.

Leonardo12 sat side by side with Leonardo87, watching the debate - more of a fight with deep-cutting weapons made of words - between the rest of the Leonardos. Leo C was leaning in close to Leonardo89's face, shouting himself hoarse.

Leonardo89 fought back, his voice seething. "I am as much a member as this team as you! Even more! You have done nothing for this team! Nothing!"

Leo C slammed his fist on the table, leaning in closer. "And what have you done?" He looked ready to pounce, before Leonardo96 shoved him back.

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Leonardo03 groaned, dropping into his chair, head in his hands. He saw Leonardo12 and Leonardo87 watching from the pit of the Lair and went to join them, the three of them sitting in a straight, silent line like three best friends watching the sunset.

And maybe the chaos between the Leonardos - and subsequently, all of the turtles - was like watching the sunset on the little glimpse of hope the group had.

Finally, as the fight between the Leonardos in the kitchen went from words to pushing then to shoving, Leonardo12 heaved a sigh. "Come on, let's go find some turtles. We can go to the Dimensional Gateway while they fight. At least we'll be getting something done."

Leonardo03 and Leonardo87 nodded, following Leonardo12.

-2003 dimension-

Splinter03 stood tall over Shredder12, who was still unconscious. He had the opportunity, he had the reasons, but he couldn't bring himself to kill Shredder at the moment. The man who had tormented so many dimensions and injured anyone in his path, but Splinter couldn't bring himself to do it. There was no honor in killing a man while he was down. But if he didn't, there would be no end to this until Shredder fell at the hands of someone else or made it to Turtle Prime.

Splinter looked to Casey, lying on his stomache between the couch and the television - his weapons scattered around him - barely beginning to stir. April had fought as best she could, with a long scar across her stomache to prove it, and had fainted yet again shortly after saving Splinter from Shredder.

Then he looked back at Shredder12. He hoped he decided what to do before Shredder woke up.

The Technodrome shuddered violently as tank after tank shot at it. Bebop fell to the ground and Splinter87 skittered from his grasp, getting no where before Rocksteady grabbed him. "Got'cha!"

Krang looked like he was having a mixture of the time of his life and the worst day ever. He screamed and shouted everytime a tank or another weapon put a dent in his precious Technodrome, but was smiling as he let loose every weapon he had, giggling as they hit their mark. Foot soldiers ran amock in the streets, and missiles fired from the Technodrome every few seconds. The streets were chaotic - fire and destroyed cars - and even the most stubborn New Yorkers on their way to work had fled the scene by now.

The tanks were having little effect on the Technodrome, besides denting and shaking it. It was such a sturdy contraption - even though it didn't look the part - that the only way to defeat it was to sneak inside and take care of the person in control, as the 1987 turtles had done time and time before.

April screamed yet again from her position so high up. "Help, turtles!" Her cries were in vain. She had been up there for hours - so long she had lost circulation in her arms where the ropes tightly binded her - but no one cared to take her down - or drop her down. Shredder87 covered his ears as she shrieked yet again as the Technodrome jolted. He began to walk away, turning to Krang and calling out,"I'm going to go find the other Shredder. He shouldn't have been gone this long!"

"You should have gone with him in the first place!" Krang snapped. "The less dimensions he destroys, the better. It will only give him more motivation to destroy Turtle Prime. Go hurry up and find him!"

Shredder87 looked up to the monitor, at all the destruction. "The less dimensions he destroys, the better? Speak for yourself." As Krang began to shout at him, Shredder87 chuckled and walked away. Bebop ran after him, leaving his friend Rocksteady to keep a hold on Splinter. "Hey, wait up, boss!"

"Find Shredder quickly," Krang said,"He can't destroy anyone in this dimension, got it? It might have repercussions on the multi-verse even if it's not Turtle Prime. And I can't hold out much longer. I'm running out of weapons (if only you bought me more when I asked you too, you moron!). And just look at all the dents outside!"

Shredder87 and Bebop climbed into a transport module and opened a latch in the floor beneath them so they could burrow into the ground straight beneath the Techodrome without being seen by anyone outside. The came down into the sewers, going at top speed. Even if they didn't know where the Lair was, they'd find Shredder12 soon enough, hopefully.

It was only luck so far that had kept the 2009 Turtles in Time: Re-Shelled turtles from being discovered huddled on the side of the Technodrome. They had found one of the panels on the walls had opened up and they were now huddled in there, plotting their revenge as the world shook around them. A lot of what had been said by Shredder87 and Krang inside, they had heard, because they were huddled in the paneling of the walls and the two had been shouting loudly.

"The multi-verse?" asked Donatello09 curiously. "What is that?" Leonardo09 quickly shooshed him. They listened closer, trying to wrap their mind around the multi-verse, and hopefully fit it into their revenge plot against Shredder87 and Shredder12. The conversation between Shredder87 and Krang stopped when Shredder left with his henchmen, leaving the 2009 turtles to ponder over everything they'd heard.

-2007 dimension-

Splinter07 grimaced seeing his sons struggle through pain, from actual injuries they had and invisible ones. Leonardo07 had told him all about the mysterious new turtles and the Shredder, and the way Leonardo believed the turtles had lead Shredder to this dimension, thus causing Raphael07's horrible injury on his leg. An injury that would take weeks - at least - to heal from.

"My son," Splinter said slowly and calmy in his gravelly deep voice. "There is something you haven't told me. Why did those turtles come to our dimension?"

Leonardo07 looked surprised by the question, and he realized he didn't exactly know the answer. He struggled to answer his sensei. "I think...they were trying to escape t-that Shredder, leading him into an innocent dimension. They were cowards, ready to hide behind me and my brothers. What happened to Raphael is their fault!"

Splinter07 sighed. Leonardo07 passionately believed those turtles had caused Raphael's injury. Under his breath, Splinter muttered,"Blaming an incident on those you have no knowledge of is a double-edged sword. It takes the guilt from you and puts it on a stranger, but they don't always appreciate that."

"What was that, sensei?" Leonardo07 asked. Splinter considered repeating what he'd said louder, but just shook his head. It would only rile up Leonardo more. He walked away, closing his eyes sadly as he heard Raphael - half asleep - groan. He turned around to see Leonardo07 - his eyes a mixture of hurt anger and ocean deep sadness - whisper,"It'll be all right, Raph. If those cowards ever turn up again, I'll get them back..."

Splinter07 began to say something, wondering if he should have told Leonardo07. "Leo..." His voice was only a whisper.

"...I promise," Leonardo07 finished quietly. The way Leonardo looked at Raphael's reddened bandages with those hurt, angry, sad eyes told Splinter07 that Shredder had hurt more than one of his sons, in more than one way.

-2003 dimension-

Bebop's face was pressed close to the module window, fogging the glass, as he as Shredder87 drove through the sewers, searching for the Lair where Shredder12 was.

"Not much a view, eh, boss?" Bebop snickered.

"Be quiet, you ignoramus."

They drove for a few minutes in silence, going at top speed.

-The Dimensional Gateway-

Another attack force of Kraang had charged their way into the Dimensional Gateway from the 2012 dimension, and it was only by a miracle and a little help that Kinzo and Splinter96 had defeated them this time. They were tired now, and had begun to use their resources, pushing the Kraang into unfriendly-looking dimensions that they never returned from.

The Kraang were heading to the 2003 dimension, but why?

Kinzo had cornered the last Kraang against the invisible wall, and this time it wouldn't die mid-sentence. "Why do you need to go to that dimension, you alien creep?"

"Kraang does not need to inform this human of the circumstances of which the Kraang are in."

"Tell me!" Kinzo shouted, pulling the robot's arm clean off. He waved it in front of the alien's green eyes. "If you don't talk, the next thing I destroy will not be your arm." It was a bluff, but the Kraang bought it.

"The Technodrome of the Kraang is in the dimension. The Technodrome was stolen from the Kraang many earth-units known as years ago."

Kinzo slapped his forehead with the robotic hand of the Kraang he was still holding. "I wish you would talk normal! My English is bad enough as it is."

Splinter96 stepped forward. "Kinzo-san, let me handle this." He turned to the Kraang. "Who stole the Technodrome? Why do you need it?"

"A rebel stole the Technodrome from the Kraang. The rebel was once known as a general and an advanced scientist but the defeat in what is known as a crucial battle lost the general what is known as his position. Kraang planned to banish the general but the general who was no longer a general escaped Dimension X in the Technodrome, the most important war device of the Kraang. The Kraang never saw the general again. The Technodrome was what was known as a success that couldn't be repeated as it would cost too much and take too much time for the Kraang to rebuild. The general was the Kraang who constructed most of the Technodrome, so without the general reconstructing the Technodrome would be what is known as very difficult. Kraang needs the Technodrome back in order to conquer the planet known as Earth."

"Who was the general?" Splinter asked.

"The general who is no longer a general was known as only Krang."

"Kraang?" Kinzo scrutinized. "That's the name of your entire race!"

"No, just Krang. Different spelling," the Kraang said, annoyed. "Krang having a name similar to that of the race of Kraang signified the importance of Krang."

Kinzo turned to Splinter96. "Master, why would the Technodrome be in that dimension? Is it where that Krang guy has been hiding all these years?"

Splinter shook his head slowly. "I do not believe so. The turtles told me of a giant metal ship that attacked that very dimension last month, and the ship sounds very familiar to this 'Technodrome'. A Shredder was also responsible for that attack, so the Technodrome being in that dimension again could mean that it is the dimension the Shredder is in. The Technodrome could have been taken over again."

Kinzo's eyes widened. "That's got to be it!" He began to run down the length of the Dimensional Gateway. "We've got to tell the turtles!"

Splinter96 looked down at the Kraang droid below him. The alien, looking scared and helpless, had given the information they needed. There was no more use for him. Splinter96 finished the alien off before running after Kinzo.

Kinzo looked around at all the dimensions that surrounded him. He tried to remember which one the two Leonardos and all the turtles that had saved them exited the Dimensional Gateway into. "Master, which dimension are the turtles in?"

Splinter96 had caught up to Kinzo, scrutinizing the dimensions surrounding him. He closed his eyes, concentrating, meditating. After a minute or so, he opened his eyes, pointing at the 2012 dimension. "That one."

Kinzo turned to Splinter96, thanking him. "Master, stay here, please. I will go inform the turtles of Shredder's location." Before Splinter could even respond, Kinzo dashed into the 2012 dimension.

-2003 dimension-

Churning through the sewers, Shredder87 thought he heard something. He shushed Bebop, who was asking what all the buttons on the control panel did. Shredder87 concentrated and listened, and soon enough, he heard it again.

Groans, loud and deep, echoing throughout the sewers. They couldn't be anyone's but Shredder12's. "We're close!" He sped in the direction they came from.

-2012 dimension-

Leonardo12 stood, arms folded, examining the turtles around him. He'd gathered all the turtles into the main room of the Lair, with him, Leonardo87, and Leonardo03 standing before them. The rest of the the Leonardos, sitting in with the huge group of the turtles and still riled up after the debate, looked angry to see the three Leonardos taking a leader position at the moment.

Leonardo12 and his two comrades were trying to decide who to go into the Dimensional Gateway with to recruit, but hadn't yet told the group that's what they were doing. A smaller group would probably be more stealthy and go unnoticed by the Kraang when in the Gateway, so probably not everyone could go. Leonardo03 looked at the Donatellos, sitting in the back and still toiling non-stop over the Inter-Dimensional Portal Stick and the Gravity Gauntlet, to the Michelangelos - disheveled and exhilerated from partying - to the Raphaels - sweaty and tired from beating the practice dummy to a pulp and sparring. Donatello89 had been told to stay in the lab, as someone still needed to take care of the injured turtles, which had dwindled down to just Raphael89 and Mikey C.

Leonardo87 was just about to point to Donatello07, to pick him to come to the Dimensional Gateway, when an echoing voice came from the tunnels, causing everyone to turn. "Turtles! Turtles!" The voice was followed by curse words, said in Japanese.

"That's Kinzo-san!" the 1996 anime turtles shouted, instantly recognizing the voice. They scrambled to their feet, shouting. "In here, Kinzo-san! Follow the sounds of our voices! Hayaku!"

Raphael96 ran into the tunnels, and a couple minutes later came back into the Lair with Kinzo at his side. The ninja looked exhausted and beaten up. "What's wrong, Kinzo?" Leonardo96 asked concernedly. "Why are you in this dimension?"

"Splinter and I have found the location of the Shredder, I'm sure of it." Kinzo seemed to come alive with renewed energy, glad he'd found the turtles.

"Where?" Donatello03 suddenly looked up from the Inter-Dimensional Portal Stick. "Where is he?"

Kinzo looked remorsefully at Donatello03, as if what he was about to say broke his heart. "I'm sorry, Donatello-san. The Shredder is in your dimension."

Donatello03 didn't reply, hopelessness flooding into his thoughts. Donatello87, his brother and new best friend - sitting next to him - gave Donatello03 a sympathetic look.

"No!" Leonardo03 shouted, as soon as he comprehended the meaning of Kinzo's words. His thoughts instantly flashed to Splinter03, injured and tired, being protected by Casey Jones and April. The Shredder would be able to take those two out in an instant. He pushed his way through the crowd, grabbing the Portal Stick from a shell-shocked Donatello03. "We've got to save Splinter!" He was panicked, his composition of a leader lost in the blink of an eye.

"Yeah!" Raphael03 agreed, jumping up and joining Leonardo03. "No one messes with our master!" Soon Michelangelo03 joined his brothers at their sides.

Donatello03 stood up and began to fiddle with the Portal Stick, zooming through dimensions until they found the 2003 one. They were shocked to see the Technodrome terrorizing downtown New York in the middle of an intersection. This was so similar to the way the Technodrome had partially destroyed the city only a month ago, and the turtles tried to push that thought from their mind. Leonardo03 looked to his brothers, swallowed his fear, and then took a step forward, taking the leadership role his brothers needed now. The four turtles stepped through the portal, not noticing every turtle in the Lair - as well as two Splinters, two Caseys, and April12 - following in their wake, still and ready to fight for Splinter03 and his protectors. They were family, warriors going into battle.

Kinzo sighed, watching his friends go. More than anything, he wanted to fight alongside them, but he decided to go back to the Dimensional Gateway, as Splinter96 would need him if more Kraang tried to infiltrate the 2003 dimension again. He found Donatello89 in the lab, who let him go through the Portable Portal. Mikey C and Raphael89 were the only injured turtles in the lab, as the others were all healed to some extent, ready to fight even if they couldn't do much.

"Good luck, turtles," Kinzo muttered as he stepped through the portal.

-2003 dimension-

In the Lair, Splinter03, leaning heavily on his staff due to his injured foot, looked wearily at the Shredder sprawled out before him. Splinter was considering his options, but he didn't have much time. Shredder12 was beginning to stir, growling and groaning. Should he kill the Shredder? It wasn't even his Shredder to fight. What would happen to the dimension this Shredder came from if he was killed, if anything?

"You fool," moaned the Shredder, his voice coarse and slow like it was all he could do to even talk. "Even when you have the chance, you can't stomache killing. Apparently, it's a constant in the multi-verse. A weak-willed rat, hiding, training others to fight for him."

"That is a lie!" Splinter retorted, backing away.

"Then kill me. Prove it's a lie." Splinter could just imagine the condenscending grin spread across Shredder's face beyond the metal mask. Shredder struggled to his knees, still too weak to put up a fight.

Splinter, angered, was now considering killing the Shredder much more. He tried to control his emotions, letting logic rather than anger control him. He still wondered if there would be repercussions if Shredder12 died out of his own dimension. Was Splinter just being paranoid? Would he even be able to kill Shredder, or would he too weak - mentally, or physically? Splinter03 became so caught up his thoughts, he didn't notice Shredder forcing himself to his knees, his ruined eyes dancing with malice as they watched Splinter.

A chuckle came from the Shredder, deep and guttural, and at first Splinter thought it was a rumble beneath the earth making the sound. "Weak," Shredder spat. There was silence, Shredder12 pulling himself to his feet. Splinter was on the edge, should he kill or shouldn't he?

Through the silence, there came a noise. It quickly became louder, a mechanical, whirring noise. Splinter03 couldn't recognize it, but Shredder's one good eye lit up with recognition. It was the transport module. "Do you hear that, you old rat? Someone is coming for me. This is your last chance to finish me." Shredder was still too weak and dizzy to do anything, Splinter still had time. He was challenging Splinter, daring him, and in his mind he knew Splinter wouldn't act.

Splinter finally decided to kill the Shredder. He lunged across the room, landing atop the Shredder. He pulled his staff over the villain's head and tugged it against the his throat, constricting his air passage. Shredder was shocked by the rat's sudden burst of energy, caught in a split-second gap where his brain failed to react. The few moments before the transport module sped into the room, crashing straight into Splinter03 and Shredder12, knocking them down and sending Splinter sliding.

Shredder12 quickly jumped to his feet, wanting to kill Splinter03 before getting into the module. Shredder87 threw open the door. "Get in, Oroku Saki!" He chased after Shredder12, pulling him away from Splinter03. "Get in!"

"Whose side are you on?" Shredder12 shouted, still struggling towards Splinter. "Do you not remember what this rat did to Tang Shen?" Suddenly, not far off, Casey Jones began to wake, forcing his hand around his hockey stick.

"I don't know who Tang Shen is, but if Splinter did anything to her, it was the Splinter from your dimension!" Shredder87 shouted, doing his best to hold Shredder12 back. "This Splinter never did anything to you. I can't let you destroy him, or anyone in the multi-verse!"

"Get back, Shred-head!" Casey Jones growled, using the couch as support to stand up. "Stay away from Splinter!" Casey Jones looked to see Splinter03 still on the ground, the hit from the module having injured him even further, the side of his robe staining red. Shredder12's armor had protected him from the blow.

"I am not afraid of any of you! Not even you, you pathetic excuse for a Shredder!" Shredder12 whipped around, sending Shredder87 flying. Bebop leapt out of the module, wishing he'd brough a gun, and charged Shredder12 head-on. Shredder12 didn't expect that, and Bebop sent him skidding, sent off of his path towards Splinter03.

"Never thought I'd be helpin' da good guys," Bebop said, snorting in amusement, as he tried to push back Shredder12 even further, before Shredder12 kicked him away.

Shredder12 met Casey jones only a few feet away from frail Splinter03, and the vigilante lunged towards Shredder, holding out his hockey stick. Shredder12 grabbed the hockey stick with both hands, thrusting it away from himself, with Casey letting go just in time to keep his position in front of Shredder. But before he could do anything, Shredder12 swung his bladed arm towards him. Shredder87 came out nowhere, pushing Casey out of the way. Shredder12's blades bounced off of Shredder87's metal helmet.

"You dare interfere with the Shredder?" Shredder12 seethed, staring down his counterpart.

"Don't act so high and mighty," Shredder87 scoffed. With a silver flash, he charged towards Shredder12, shoving him towards the module with surprising strength. Shredder12's feet slid across the floor as he fought to regain ground, losing his path towards Splinter. Away from the tussle between the Shredders, Casey Jones was checking Splinter03's health, examining the blood on his robe with a grimace. April was finally waking up, her green eyes fluttering, a dazed expression on her face as if she didn't even see the chaos swirling around her. She had a thin gash running across her stomache, from Shredder's blades, which, luckily, hadn't pierced her skin enough for the injury to be serious.

Shredder87 was now trying to force his counterpart into the module, but Shredder12's hands had a death grip on the sides of the vehicle's open door. Bebop was prying the hands off as fast as he could, grunting with the effort.

"Casey," moaned Splinter03 on the floor. "Go fight Shredder. I'll be fine for the moment."

Casey Jones nodded stiffly, pulling his hockey mask down over his face. He charged Shredder12, shouting "Goongalla!" He hit the villain straight on, sending him tumbling into the module. Shredder87 and Bebop hopped in after him. Shredder87 leaned out the open door, "Sorry for the inconvenience." He pulled the door shut and sped away in the module.

"Yeah, you'd better be," shouted Casey Jones as the transport sped off. He lifted his mask over his face and walked over to April. He carried her onto the couch before going over to Splinter yet again. "You okay?"

"I will be, eventually," Splinter03 said, clutching his stomache. He sounded miserable, but not because of the pain.

A few minutes later, Casey was taking care of Splinter03's new wound, and April was resting, staring glumly at the ceiling with unfocused eyes. A soap opera was playing on the television in a vain attempt to make everything seem normal, but not even Splinter payed it any attention. His mind was on more important subjects. He silently wondered where his sons and the other turtles were, as they had obviously lost track of Shredder12, allowing him to infiltrate the 2003 dimension. Splinter hoped that none of the turtles were hurt, or worse.

Casey began to speak. "You'll be okay, Spli -"

A loud voice rang through the sewers, stopping Casey mid-sentence. "Master Splinter!" Splinter03 sat up, instantly recognized Leonardo03's voice. Soon after, Michelangelo03 called, and suddenly there was a burst of loud talking in the tunnels, mingled voices of turtles Splinter vaguely recognized and new ones.

"My sons!" Splinter03 shouted back. April took her empty green eyes off the ceiling to see a huge crowd of turtles stride into the room, led bravely by Leonardo03. As soon as Leonardo03 and his dimensional brothers saw their father, bruised and broken, they ran to him. Their expressions were that of relief. They hadn't expected to find their father alive.

Leonardo03 bowed respectfully to his master, before Michelangelo03 pulled him into the group hug. Some of the turtles of other dimensions joined in, a little awkwardly.

As they all broke apart, Raphael03 nervously ran his fingers across the bandage on his left hand. "What happened, Masta' Splinter?" He looked like he had wanted to say more, but couldn't find the words.

Splinter looked down shamely, avoiding eye contact. "I failed...I was weak. Shredder was there, unconscious, but I could not kill him. I am a coward." His gaze remained on the floor, as if had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the room.

Donatello03's mouth dropped open. He'd never heard his master talk like this. Splinter03 was always helpful, hopeful, and motivational. Donatello instantly knew that it had been the Shredder who had turned Splinter on himself, infiltrated his mind. Donatello03 knelt down, remaining calm and compassionate. "No you aren't, Master. You never were. If you were a coward, you would have left me and my brothers long ago, when you realized Utrom Shredder wanted us dead, and you, too." Splinter smiled, and Donatello03 finished off his small speech. "If anything, you're the bravest person I've ever known - sorry, Leo." The purple-masked turtle smiled apologetically at his older brother.

Splinter03 sighed. "Thank you, my son." He looked into the huge crowd, and saw two other Splinters - Splinter C and Splinter12 - smiling at him.

Now Leonardo13 walked to the front of the crowd, letting his white eyes meet Splinter03's compassionate black ones. He knelt down to be level with the rat. "Master Splinter, we would really appreciate it if you perhaps tell us how Shredder ran off? Why did he leave you? It could somehow help us find him."

"He didn't leave willingly." Splinter03 let a small, wry smile spread across his face. He took a breath and began to tell the huge group of turtles about his encounter with Shredder and how Shredder87 had come to pull his counterpart away. The turtles listened in awe.

-2012 dimension-

Across so many dimensions, in a tower that soared over New York City like an imposing giant, a girl with a very strange yellow and black hairstyle and an outfit of metal armor, had just become very, very happy. The monitor in front of her, bigger than the giant television from the main part of the city, displaying a progress bar.

And the line of progress, a solid rectangle of pink, had just inched its way to ninety-percent. Karai's already strong smile widened even more. If she was lucky, the entire multi-verse would fall at her feet before the sun set on another day.

And her first thought was, Father will be so proud. She'd been wanting a chance to show him her power for quite a while now, to make him realize his mistake of replacing her with Tigerclaw in the second-in-command position. And maybe destroying Shredder's most hated enemy would bring her closer to a father who had always been so distant and cold.

So caught up in her thoughts, Karai didn't notice the Kraang whispering behind her back.

-2003 dimension-

Shredder12 fought with all the power he had left against the walls of the transport module as it spead upwards towards the Technodrome, but Bebop did a good job at holding him down as Shredder87 steered.

Nevertheless, the interior walls of the transport were covered with gashes, open wounds in the metal from Shredder's spikes. Bebop had been cut on the arm, but barely seemed to notice.

"What have you done?" Shredder12 shouted, so often the screaming, scorning words embedded themselves strong in Shredder87's mind.

Shredder87 took his gaze off the wheel just long enough to turn to Shredder12 and say,"You have not been in the position I have been. You don't understand what could happen to the multi-verse if you succeed, even though everyone has tried to get it through your thick head! As much as I don't like it, I have to protect the multi-verse. Terrorize your own dimension."

They reached the Technodrome, and Shredder87 and Bebop pulled a weak and sputtering Shredder12 and forced him to his knees in the monitoring room. Directly in front of Krang. "Krang," said Shredder87,"We've captured him. We've got to go now. No doubt all this commotion is going to attract the turtles somehow."

"It's about time!" Krang shouted. "Have you seen what those horrible tanks did to my Technodrome? I made sure they paid for it." He slammed his robotic fist on a button and pulled a lever, opening a portal to escape into. Everyone in the monitor room watched Krang - even April, whose persistent screams had become nothing but background noise - not knowing what he was. Where he had been in life before meeting Shredder87.

The missing general.

Thank you for reading this chapter so much! Please remember to review. Let me know what is going right and what is going wrong with this story.

In the original TMNT cartoon, the first season explains that Krang was banished from Dimension X, but it is never said why. Throughout the cartoon's life, it has shown or mentioned that Krang has an army of Rock Soldiers from Dimension X still obeying his orders, that he has conquered multiple worlds before trying to do so with Earth, that he had been a scientist in his dimension, and that in Dimension X there were other brain-like aliens like him. I decided to take the vagueness of Krang from the original cartoon and put a spin on it. In this story, I decided, that while all the turtles are split apart in dimensions, there is only one Dimension X. Any TMNT iteration that faces Krang, Kraang, Neutrinos, or anything in Dimension X origin - it all came from the same place. The original cartoon showed that parts of Dimension X can be extremely different than others (ex: the Neutrino Kingdom, the "Icky Part" where the Technodrome landed when Krang and Shredder tried to return to Dimension X).