Chapter 2: Two Dimensions Each Short One Turtle
"Donnie..?" Mikey asked hesitantly as he opened his eyes. "Is it over?"
"I..I think it is Mikey" Donnie asked, looking around the room. To his observation everything looked about the same. A little messy, stools had fallen over in the madness along with some papers but other than that it looked like the same lab he'd spent hours a day in.
"Something must have interfered." Donnie mused to himself. "Raph you can get off the floor, it's over now." Donnie commented to his red clad brother he noticed crouching under the desk. Hugh when did that happen? Donnie wondered absently, we were all huddled together after Leo grabbed us.
"Yo genius, I'm right here." Donnie turned around to come face to face with a very confused red clad turtle.
"If that's true, who is that?" Mikey asked as an identical red clad turtle stood up from behind the desk, followed in tow by a very familiar orange and purple clad figure.
A crunchy silence fell over the room.
"They look just like us," Mikey from the other dimension whispered excitedly.
"That's because they are us, sort of." Mikey's brother Donnie commented.
"Yeah we get that Donnie, but why do they look so much like us?" Raph asked. The red clad turtle had just gotten used to the fact of cross-dimensions but even their past conter-parts had some noticeable differences from them and he could tell them apart from his brothers. But not with these turtles-it was like looking in the mirror. The similarities were astounding right down to Donnie's tooth gap. The only noticeable difference was that each of these turtles wore a blue band around their arm.
"It's because our two dimensions are nearly mirrors of each other." The Donnie from this universe answered, his voice ice.
Mikey frowned, confused by the hostility of their hosts.
The Donnie of the other universe winced at his counterpart's tone, understanding immediately why they were cross. If they had known they were a 'near mirror' universe then they knew what the one glaring difference was already. It was bound to be a sensitive subject for everyone.
"Hello" he smiled, stepping toward his counter-parts. "Well that was unexpected." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm sure you're also aware that this was unplanned. I would venture a guess that you were doing the same type of investigation I was on mirror dimensions when our two machines linked and brought us here. I would assume that the same type of process that brought us here would return us."
"That would be logical." his counterpart nodded.
"Wait, hold on. One Donnie's dictionary talk is enough for a turtle..two is way too much. Slow down you two!" The Mikey who had just been transported was waving his hands dramatically. "Sooo we are just going to move past the fact that we were just transported to another dimension and that this other dimension is like a twin of our world!"
"A Near Mirror, not totally twins" the Mikey of this world corrected his arms crossed defensively over his chest. The turtles of the other universe had to pause at the note of detachment their counterparts were showing.
Stepping forward Master Splinter cleared his throat. "Welcome, excuse my sons, you must understand that the last time we had transdimensional visitors, there was..a lot to process. You are of course welcome and our honored guests until we can help find a solution to bring you home."
The turtles from another universe started shocked, their breaths catching in their throats. Unable to tear their eyes away from the father they feared they would never see again in the flesh. Although in their hearts the turtles knew that this Splinter wasn't their Splinter, seeing their father once more brought tears to their eyes and warmed their hearts.
"Thank you Master Splinter" Donnie from the other world answered with a bow, his voice cracking slightly with emotion.
"Yeah of course" suddenly remembering his manners the Mikey of this world smiled. "I hope you like Pizza it's getting close to dinner hour. I'll make an order and we'll celebrate. It's not everyday we get visitors" the freckled ninja was quick to put the uncomfortableness behind him. Yes, he was bitter that they didn't have a Leo but it wasn't something he would take out on these brothers. He may be hurt but he was far from petty and definitely not mean. Already he was hopping into host mode.
"Before we go any further, we better establish nick-names" the Mikey of this world suggested.
"An excellent suggestion!" Mikey of the other world agreed with an identical smile.
"Well, I wouldn't agree that it's the first order of business, but definitely necessary" Donnie of this world responded letting out a sigh. The three brothers were slowly letting down their defenses.
"It definitely would make things easier" the Raph of this world agreed.
"Alright, sooo Nicknames" Mikey beamed!
"Well when our counterparts visited our world, we called them by their full names and we went by our nicknames!" Mikey of the other world suggested. "It's only fair that homefield would get the advantage of nicknames."
"It is the logical course of action," the Mikey of this world agreed.
"It is the same tactic we used the last time we had counterparts visit," the Donnie of this world responded.
The brothers of the other dimension exchanged glances recognizing the unease in the comment, obviously there was a story there. Something must have happened the last time these turtles had cross-dimensional visitors and from the stilled comments it wasn't exactly a pleasant story.
"Okay so it's settled" the Mikey of this world continued. "All turtles from this dimension will go by nicknames and all turtles from visiting dimension will go by their full names all those in favor say 'eye"
"Eye" came the coursed answer.
"Aww" Michelangelo groaned. "No introductions"
"Michelangelo, we know everyone already," Donetello sighed.
"Alright now that that's settled, let me do a quick cursory check-up to make sure everything is alright. I'm sure it is but when it comes to safety you can never be too safe." Donnie commented as he remaged around for his first aid kit.
Raphael let out a snicker. "Oh, I can't be too sure about that. Ol' Mr. Safety surely takes things to a whole new level." Turning to jab his brother the red clad turtle let his eyes drift around the room searching for the turtle in question and finding the room benefit of Leonardo's from both dimensions.
Not catching on to his brother's growing apprehension Michelangelo continued the jest. "Oh you can say that again. Remember the time Leo threatened to make me wear a helmet on patrol."
The three brothers from this dimension stiffened at the mention of the counterpart they were without.
"Well personally I agree with Leo" Donetello continued, "safety is always paramount and shouldn't be taken lightly, especially given our life circumstances."
"Uhh Donnie" Rapheal interrupted.
"Full names Rapheal" Michelangelo corrected.
"What?" the genius asked, turning to his brother.
"Where's Leo?" the red clad turtle asked his apprehension, quickly growing into agitation on its path toward panic.
At the question all occupants eyes shot up suddenly on edge as they all took in one blatantly overlooked fact. There was no Leonardo in the room.
The brothers from this world exchanged a worried and knowing glance dread sinking into their hearts.
"Leo" Michelangelo called out as the orange clad turtle set off to look for his brother closely followed by his counterpart.
Master Splinter closed his eyes as he took a centering breath, his hand unconsciously clutching his heart.
"He isn't here" Mikey answered as the turtle whirled in the room. There were only so many places to look and it was clearly obvious that all the rooms but the lab were vacant. Well except for the rooms a frightened Michelangelo was still tearing through on a now frantic search.
"But he's got to be here. He's got to!" came Michelango's terrified voice from the living room.
Mikey took a breath as he faced the turtles in the lab, shaking his head.
"Maybe he's with your Leo." Raphael theorized, pacing the room. "Maybe the device or whatever beams the person to where their counterparts are." Raphael's green eyes were narrowed in thought as he clenched and unclenched his fists fighting to stay calm.
Donetello took a deep breath; highly impressed with his brother's reasoning but also dreading what that theory could mean.
"That is a very intelligent theory Rapheal" Master Splinter commented but his eyes reflected pain instead of pride.
"So Leo is with your Leo?" Michelangelo asked, letting out a relieved breath; having paused in his frantic search of the obviously empty lair long enough to hear Raphael's theory.
"According to the original design of the device Rapheal's theory has real substance." Donnie let out a sigh, fingering the bridge of his nose; wincing internally at the horror of this situation. "The device was originally a transportation device as the one in your reality was; but it was reallocated into a sorting device but much of the original coding remained the same so..in short yes. In cases where an individual is beamed to a universe that is not their own it is logical to assume they went to the location of their counterpart."
Raph and Mikey let out a relieved sigh. Donetello covered his face.
"Okay, so we just need to call your Leo," Michelangelo suggested. "Though if he suddenly has a second person with him, I'm guessing he's probably on his way home now."
"Rapheal, Donetello, Michelangelo you may want to sit down" Master Splinter suggested, his heart pained.
"Why?" Michelangelo asked his apprehension growing once more.
"Rapheal your theory is the most logical explanation of why your Leonardo didn't beam to this location as you three did," Donnie let out a sigh "which is why I can easily deduce that he's not in this dimension."
"What do you mean?" Raphael asked a growl growing in his chest. "Where is my brother?!" Raphael demanded turning on the turtles of this world with accusation.
"I have a few theories but none of those theories land him here."
"What! Why?" Raphael demanded.
"We don't have a Leo" Mikey's voice was hollow.
It was as if those five words were equatable to dynamite with the effect they had on the small family.
"What?" Michelangelo asked with a hiccup, his blue eyes filled with tears.
"What do you mean you don't have a Leo?" Raphael demanded.
"It means that we don't have a Leo." Raph responded, his arms crossed. "We've always been three. We figured it out when we met our counterparts last time. We didn't even know that we were missing anything..that things were supposed to be any different..it's always been us three.." Raph's voice broke off as he looked away, his green eyes glistening.
"Wait! You don't have a Leo!" Mikey repeated, absolutely heartbroken.
"Wait, you said you realized this when you met your counterparts meaning you met their Leo. If a Leo was able to transport here before, why not now?!" Raphael demanded.
"Because you are our mirror reality!" Donnie yelled back his brown eyes wide, his hands shaking. The genius turtle was at his wits end and was not equipped to deal with the emotional or mental strain the situation had brought.
Standing Rapheal began to pace, angrily kicking the stool he was sitting on out of the way. "Shell" the baller grabbed his head pacing.
"Now before we get hysterical" Donetello's eyes were darting back and forth as he spoke most likely running through all the possible scenarios. "Let's think about this logically and calmly. The genius started a pacing trail of his own. Because Leo could not be transported to this dimension the odds of probability are that he is still in our dimension."
"Yeah, probably as freaked out as we are," Michelangelo jokes, whipping at his eyes. "I can see it now. Ol' Mother Hen Leo running around the lair like a chicken looking for her chicks."
Raphael let out a half hearted snicker as the red banded turtle fought to calm back down.
"Okay, okay, so Leo's back at home." Raphael asked.
"Most likely" Donetello responded.
The red banded turtle caught the second meaning in the comment."What's the other possibility Don?" Raphael growled.
"That he was transported just like us but with nowhere to go he's stuck in limbo between the two dimensions."
"I can de-validate that possibility" Donnie interjected. "I'm detecting no biogenetic energy in the transdimensional scanner."
"Great so our brother is not energy stuck between two dimensions, that's just great!" Raphael growled, resuming his pacing.
"Rapheal" , Donetello commented.
"No. he has a point." Raph interjected. "If the best we got for good news right now is that your brother is not energy floating out in space or whatever then I'd say he's validated in some angry ranting."
With a sigh the oldest brother of the three turtles from this world stood up. "Come-on guys, let's give them some privacy."
Not needing to be told twice the family from this world retreated.
Raph let out a sigh, although these turtles were not his family his heart went out to them. When his counterpart was ranting he had felt an empathetic jab to the heart. He remembered the pain he felt when he realized he'd lost a brother before ever getting to know him, he could only imagine what his counterparts were feeling right now.
"Let's give them some time my sons, this is quite a lot to take in." Master Splinter commented, giving his genius son a pat on the shoulder.
"No kidding" Mikey mumbled, giving himself a hug. "I hope they are going to be okay."
"They are going to need some time Mikey" Donnie let out a sigh giving his brother a comforting squeeze.
"Mikey" Master Splinter hesitated so used to using his son's full names. "Why don't you round up some spare blankets for our guests, they can stay in the spare room."
"Sure thing Dad."
"Tonight we rest." Warm eyes rested on the genius. "We will begin the process of figuring this mess out tomorrow."
"Where am I?" the blue clad turtle asked as he hesitantly sat up rubbing the back of his head. The last thing the young leader remembered was the buzzing of the transdimensional device and holding his brothers close.
My brothers.
Instantly the young turtle was on his feat looking around his dark surroundings for the rest of his team. If I was transported here they must have been as well. Leo reasoned but he couldn't help but wonder where in fact was 'here.' He appeared to be in a forest of some type. The undergrowth was luscious and thick and the smell of rain was fresh in the air. It was also dark out, most likely close to midnight and the sounds of the forest reflected this as well.
Pine? It smelled like pine, and not far away Leo could make out the faint babbling of a brooke.
"Mikey, Raph, Donnie" Leo called out quietly at first as he assessed his surroundings unsure if there were any people nearby he needed to remain undetected by, but given that he was in what appeared to be a forest he doubted it. Louder this time "Raph, Donnie, Mikey!" He began moving around the forest as he searched, continuing to call their names.
Using the environment to his advantage the ninja easily scaled a tree for a higher vantage point. For a moment the blue clad turtle let himself be taken away by the truly breathtaking vision before him. Stars, not like you would ever see in New York with the smog as thick as it is. No, here like speckles across the night sky, the blanketed the black tapestry in sparkling glory. Illuminated only by the night sky Leo could make out the tips of the trees around him, as well as the majesty of far off mountains looming into the sky proudly. It was truly a paradise.
Brought out of his trance by the sound of rustling leaves the ninja was seconds too slow to catch sight of what had caused the commotion. Suddenly feeling watched and without a sign of his brothers the leader began scaling down the tree deciding to head back to where he had woken up, hoping to garnish some more clues on his brothers whereabouts.
It was clear to the observant eye that his brothers had not been transported to the same place. As heart clenching as the mere notion was, the leader had to face the plain facts that his brothers were not immediately close by. He needed to scout further out in hopes that they were not transported too far from his original location.
Although the forest around him was as quiet as before, years of a ninja told him that he was not alone. Reaching for the kattana behind his back the ninja prepared to meet his unknown observer head on, but before he could grab the handle of his weapon the touch of cold steel under his chin told the young warrior his instincts were second to slow.
"Hands up" came a chillingly familiar voice.
Hands above his head, Leo turned his head to meet a pair of sapphire blue eyes identical to his own.
"No-one just appears out of nowhere." Sapphire eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. So answer me. Who are you and where did you come from?" "and why" the voice cracked with heavy emotion. "Are you wearing my face?"