Forward And Back Again

Ripples

In the morning, as Torbin Zixx woke up, the first thing he did was open up a communication line with the device mounted on his wrist.

"The trans-chrono communicator should work now," Zixx muttered sleepily.

Soon, a direct line was established, with someone far into the future. Before long, a Triceraton crime boss appeared in the form of a hologram.

"Zixx, you get it done?" asked Boss Zukko.

"I can't talk for long," Zixx told him quietly. "But yes. The mission's complete. Once I return, we can see the ripple effects take place."

"I'm counting you, Torbin Zixx," Zukko told him. "Do not disappoint me."

"Don't worry," Zixx reassured him. "Everything was done to your specifications."

With that, Zixx cut the connection. He didn't want the conversation to last too long, lest one of the Turtles walks in on him. Silently, Zixx kept his ears open but didn't hear much movement in the area, which put him more at ease.

At once, the silence was broken.

"Mikey! Hands off my drinks!"

It was Raphael and Michelangelo in another one of their feuds. Zixx heard some angry shouting and a crash. The intergalactic mercenary put on his mask and went outside to see Raphael angrily wrestling against his younger brother on the floor.

"I can play keep away all morning, Raph!" Mikey told him, grinning as Raphael kept reaching for his energy drink but failing to grasp it from his brother.

"Is everything good?" asked Zixx.

"It will be once Mikey realizes he needs to keep his hands to himself!" Raph cried.

Cleverly, Mikey flipped Raph off of him.

"Face it bro," Mikey told him. "I can do this all day!"

Suddenly, Michelangelo realized the drink was no longer in his hands.

"What?!" Mikey was stunned.

Torbin Zixx handed the drink back to Raphael.

"Thanks Zixx," Raph sighed in relief, opening the drink.

"Ready to admit I'm the grand champ of keep-away now?" asked Mikey.

"Mikey, if you weren't my brother, I'd knock your lights out for pulling your same damn stunt every morning!" Raph growled.

"So is Donatello ready to send me back?" asked Zixx.

"He would be," Raph replied. "But typically Donnie wakes up a little later than the two of us. He's got you covered."

oooo

"Lloyd?" a pretty blonde woman turned around to see her date arrive on time.

Lloyd Zeiss walked towards her with a smile as the two kissed.

"You ready for this, Julia?" asked Lloyd.

"All these years you've never been interested in horse races," Julia told him. "Why now?"

"I dunno," Lloyd felt the record book Torbin Zixx had handed him in his suit. "I feel like today's going to be my lucky day."

The two of them walked towards the stadium and showed their passes. Soon, they were seated and Julia was none the wiser as to Lloyd's double life.

In truth, Julia knew nothing about Camila. She had no idea she was engaging in adultery and that made it all the sweeter for Zeiss, knowing he could get away with his behavior as long as he played it cool.

"Oh right, I'll be back," Zeiss suddenly remembered.

He went up to one of the employees working at the booth.

"I have my bet right here," Lloyd told the man, handing him a slip he had filled out earlier.

"You're betting on Sunflower?" the employee asked. "That's a first!"

"Let's just say a guardian angel suggested I bet on the dark horse," Lloyd grinned.

"Alright, suit yourself," the employee looked skeptical but put in Lloyd's bet regardless.

oooo

"Are you ready for this, Zixx?" asked Donatello.

The Turtles and Splinter gathered together with Torbin Zixx who stood before the Time Window.

"Gotta say, I'm gonna miss you guys," Zixx said with a voice that sounded sincere.

"We appreciate your help for all the days you fought alongside us," Leo told him.

"Yeah, Raph would've really gotten his shell handed to him by Mr. Touch if you didn't come along!" Mikey pointed out playfully.

"Mikey!" Raph growled. "Don't make me smack you!"

"That's what you get for playing video games all night!" Mikey told his brother tauntingly.

"Step right up," Donatello beckoned Zixx to the pad on the Time Window for him to stand on.

"Well guys, it's been an honor," Zixx told them. "Just remember. Times flies when you're having fun. And these past few days, I've really had fun with you guys."

"Feeling's mutual," Raph told him. "Take care of yourself."

At once, Donatello turned on the time machine.

"Time to send you home," Donnie told him.

Torbin Zixx gave the four Turtles and Splinter a wave with his hand in acknowledgement as a bright light surrounded him. Before long, Zixx was gone, sent back to his own time era.

"Finally, he's out of our hair," Leo admitted, sighing. "I'm not sure how much longer I could've put up with him!"

"Tiptoeing around in our own home wasn't my idea of fun either," Donatello admitted. "But there was just so much about ourselves that we couldn't afford to share with Zixx."

"I am surprised I was able to lie so well," Splinter shook his head. "Coming up with some of the stories I did on the fly took effort and creativity. All so Torbin Zixx would not be able to learn of our true origins."

"Do you guys really suppose Zixx was trapped back in our time?" asked Mikey. "Or was this just another one of his scams?"

"I'm not even sure," Donatello admitted. "So far nothing seems to have changed."

"And nothing bad seems to be happening to us right now," Leo looked around. "Usually when Zixx pulls our strings, bad things happen almost immediately."

The Turtles and Splinter looked around their home, thoroughly examining it. After a few minutes had passed, they were not able to discover anything incriminating Torbin Zixx had left behind for them.

"Well, all's clear," Mikey scratched his head.

"And just as well," Splinter told them. "I have a horse race I wish to watch today. Excuse me, my sons."

Master Splinter walked off to the couch and turned on the television to the program he wanted to watch.

"I… I guess Zixx was telling the truth after all," Leo acknowledged.

"No bombs, no messes," Donatello told everyone after his search. "Zixx apparently didn't leave anything behind to make our lives difficult."

"Maybe the guy has changed," Raph considered out loud.

"Possibly, but I'm still glad I didn't share with him my biggest secret yet," Donatello told them.

"And that would be?" asked Leo.

"Glad you asked," Donatello told them. "I've been working on something these past few months and it could revolutionize things for us."

"You created a device to make Raph a calm, well-adjusted person?" asked Mikey.

Immediately, Raph smacked Mikey from behind.

"Ow!" Mikey complained.

"Bozo," Raph told him.

"Nah, I made a trans-chrono communicator," Donatello told them. "Before we left the future, Cody and I discussed it. But I wasn't able to get it completed until now because of all the other adventures we've been on since."

"What does it do?" asked Leo.

"With this, we can communicate with Cody from our time to his," Donatello told them. "It's kind of like a time window but a phone version of it."

"That's pretty amazing," Mikey admitted.

"We can only do it once a year though," Donatello told them. "We don't want to find out too much about the future at this point and Cody would probably agree to that."

"Like an annual family meeting," Raph noted.

"It goes without saying," Donnie told them. "But I couldn't mention this invention at all when Torbin Zixx was here."

"Yeah, who knows what that creep would do," Mikey pointed out.

"Steal it probably," Leo grinned.

"So you guys ready to give this a spin?" asked Donatello.

oooo

"So you're back," Boss Zukko crossed both arms.

Torbin Zixx entered into the futuristic building back in his own time. The Triceraton guards all around the crime lord glared at him menacingly.

"I did what you asked," Zixx told him. "But I'm not feeling the change yet."

"All in due time, Zixx," Zukko got up.

The Triceraton crime boss now had a mechanical horn on top of his broken horn to replace what he had once lost. He was a bit more armored up than before, with two cybernetic arms that had replaced his formerly organic arms.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you, Boss Zukko?" asked Zixx. "You look like you've really been through a rough time."

"It was an asteroid storm," Zukko told him. "Months ago, I was caught in the middle of it and received grave injuries. Physically, I am not what I once was… but my mind is still sharp enough to run my operations."

"Hey, mind over matter, right?" asked Zixx. "That's all that matters!"

"Indeed," Zukko sat down.

"So what do you say to a toast?" asked Torbin Zixx.

"Yes, I believe that would be appropriate," Zukko took out a timer that was counting down. "Come, let us drink to our impending victory before the future changes for our benefit."

oooo

Before long, Donatello's trans-chrono communicator opened up, revealing a portal which showed a familiar sight to the Turtles.

"Guys?" Cody's face peered into the screen. "Is it you again?"

"Cody, it's good to see you again," Leo told him.

"I followed all your instructions and got it to work finally," Donatello told him. "Sorry it took me a while. It turned out we still had a few more high stakes adventures, like bringing back Master Splinter's data bits across cyber-space and having to save the multiverse against the Utrom Shredder."

"Hey, how's the future doing?" asked Raph. "Not that we need too many spoilers."

"Great," Cody told them. "All the rogues you guys locked up are still locked up. Things have been pretty quiet and peaceful lately."

"Any cool news we should know?" asked Mikey.

"Well," Cody scratched his head. "I did ask Starlee to the prom and she said yes."

"Whoa," said Raph as he and the other Turtles listened intently. "Cody really took it up a notch."

oooo

In the stands, Lloyd Zeiss looked on nervously as the horses continued their run.

"Lloyd, you okay honey?" asked Julia.

"Not now," Lloyd told her dismissively. "My focus is on those fillies out there, not the filly next to me."

Julia was a bit taken back by Lloyd's rudeness.

"Sheesh Lloyd, what's your problem?" demanded Julia.

"When I say not now, I mean it," Lloyd glanced at her sideways. "I got a lot riding on this race!"

Lloyd was paying so much attention to the race out in the tracks that he did not pay attention to a young boy walking up the stands with a fruit punch drink. The boy accidentally slipped on a piece of hotdog that had dropped to the floor and fell, catching himself with one hand before he could fall on his face and seriously injure himself.

However, the drink in his other hand fell out and spilled on Lloyd's leg and shoe.

Lloyd looked down, realizing what had just happened and what was the source of the spill.

"I'm sorry mister," the young boy told him. "I'll get some paper towels and—"

"You little brat!" Lloyd growled, grabbing the boy and lifting him up.

"Lloyd!" Julia cried.

"What's going on out here?!" a security guard came over, demanding to know the situation.

"You spilled this on me on purpose, didn't you?" Lloyd demanded.

"No, I swear!" the boy cried.

"Listen pal, you don't get to just lay hands on whoever you want," the security guard grabbed Lloyd by the hand. "Put down the boy. I'm escorting you out of here."

At that moment, the dark horse of the race finally made it past the finish line, beating all the other horses.

"THE WINNER OF THE RACE AND NEW CHAMPION… SUNFLOWER!" the announcer said over the loudspeaker.

"See that?" Lloyd smiled, putting the boy down and taking out his betting receipt for the security guard to see. "You can't throw out a winner, can you?"

After examining the receipt, the security guard looked like he wanted to object but the situation with Lloyd made it much more difficult for him to act out, especially considering Zeiss was the one who won the bet on the race.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening," the security guard escorted the boy away from Lloyd, shaking his head.

Lloyd could hardly believe his luck, looking down at the book he had in his pamphlets. With it, he would most certainly make a killing on horse races. And it was all thanks to that one guy who said he was a guardian angel.

oooo

"You okay Cody?" asked Raph.

Cody was beginning to look a little hot under the collar. A few feet away was the TV that Master Splinter was watching. A new winner of the local horse race had just been named, a dark horse name "Sunflower".

"Guys… I don't feel so good all of a sudden," Cody dropped to both knees.

"Cody!" Leo cried.

Immediately Master Splinter leaped off the sofa he was on and rushed to the scene.

"What is going on here?" Master Splinter asked. "Are you alright, Cody?"

Cody looked up at them.

"I… I don't think I'm going to make it," Cody managed to look up at the Turtles and Splinter with a sad look, realizing he was experiencing something that was no mere illness.

At once, Cody's body glowed as the molecules and particles on his body began breaking apart right in front of his friends.

"Cody, no!" Donatello cried.

Soon, Cody was no more. And the bright futuristic room and buildings in the window had changed. The O'Neil Tech building was now gone and in place of the future that they had once experienced, they now saw a dark futuristic dystopia with red skies in the background.

"W-What just happened?" Raphael was shocked.

"How… how could this have happened?" Donatello examined his contraption. "I did all the calculations. There was no humanly way establishing contact with Cody could've changed the future."

By that point, the TV was still running. A TV reporter stood by a blonde man in a business suit to celebrate his win.

"And our sole winner of the betting this year is Mr. Lloyd Zeiss," the reporter announced. "So Mr. Zeiss, how do you feel about your first time luck?"

"Well," Lloyd Zeiss told the reporter on television. "It was a stroke of luck for my first time but let's just say I have a guardian angel watching out for me."

Raphael turned towards the TV, recognizing exactly who Lloyd Zeiss was. And moreover, he immediately knew what… or who Zeiss was talking about when he mentioned his personal "guardian angel".

"Zixx!" Raph growled angrily. "Torbin Zixx did this!"

To be continued.