Forward And Back Again
Hope Spot
"Raph, are you okay?" asked Renet.
Raph sat down in the abandoned alley, mumbling something.
"Listen, I know things look bad," Renet told him. "But just sit tight, I'm going to go get us some supplies, okay?"
"My family… they're gone," Raph mumbled.
"Raph, listen," Renet told him. "I'm sorry about what happened but…"
Renet put her hand on his head.
"You feel like you're burning up," Renet realized. "Look, just wait here and I'll be back after I get some water and other supplies."
Renet grabbed the abandoned hair dye she found in the alley and sprayed her own hair, turning it into a shade of green.
"Not my style but it'll have to do for now," Renet frowned, looking at herself.
"I'll be back with supplies soon," Renet promised. "Just wait for me, okay?"
Raph only grumbled something indiscernible as he sat next to the dumpster which hid him from view for the most part.
Renet crossed her fingers, hoping Raph would stay put while she got them water and other medical supplies.
As soon as she was gone, Raphael looked around. In his delirious state, he saw nothing but bright lights, aliens walking around, and plenty of saloons to drink away his woes.
"I need a freakin' drink," Raph got up, stumbling about until he was finally able to stand up straight and walk.
oooo
"Can I come in?" Zixx knocked at the door.
"Enter," Ch'rell told him.
"So what're you guys doing here?" asked Torbin Zixx.
The TriShreddatron was in the meeting room watching a screen. In the room were a few other members of his entourage, including Viral, Darius Dun, Jammerhead, and Triple Threat.
"Is this meeting time?" asked Zixx. "Because if I'm going to be the puppet ruler, then I should at least have some idea what's going on… am I right?"
"You can do one thing for us," Ch'rell ordered.
"What is that?" asked Zixx.
"Sit down and watch," the Utrom Shredder told him.
"Yes boss," Torbin Zixx did as he was told.
He looked up at the screen.
"You could consider this a war room meeting," Darius Dun told Zixx.
Zixx looked at the screen. There were multiple scenes playing. First, he saw the Turtles fighting and killing the Shredder on a rooftop in black and white. The next scene showed them battling a mutated rhino and warthog, except both teams of Ninja Turtles looked very different.
"Hmm," Torbin Zixx narrowed his eyes.
Another scene popped up showing a different team of Ninja Turtles taking on a mutated fish with mechanical legs and some sort of monstrous dog creature.
"These aren't the Turtles we know, are they?" Zixx finally asked.
"Precisely, they are not," the Utrom Shredder confirmed. "There is an entire multiverse of accursed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles out there."
"Sheesh, how many of those bozos are there?" asked the now-repaired Jammerhead.
"Too many to count," the Shredder told them. "And what's worse… their worlds multiply. Since my last foray into viewing the multiverse, the number of worlds has since increased."
"So the Turtles are the center of the multiverse?" asked Torbin Zixx. "Do I exist in those other worlds?"
"You only exist in one other universe," Viral informed him. "And for now, that is your limit."
"Seriously?" Torbin Zixx looked disappointed.
"You simply aren't very important in the grand scheme of things," Viral told him with brutal honesty. "But there are a few constants across the multiverse."
Torbin Zixx grimaced at hearing he wasn't a very important figure.
"In every universe there exists a Shredder for the Turtles to stand in the way of," Ch'rell told them. "It's almost as if it's a cursed destiny for the Shredder to be defeated by those reptiles."
"Sheesh, want fries with that ego?" Zixx muttered quietly.
"What was that?" Shredder stared at him.
"Nothing," Zixx replied.
"Not only that but it gets worse," Viral informed them. "Observe. This is footage from one of the latest universes that was more recently borne."
Viral pressed down on the button, revealing a screen of four mystically empowered Turtles battling against a demonic, rampaging Shredder who was able to cause the kind of damage beyond what normal incarnations of the Shredder were capable of.
"There was once a time when the Foot Mystics served me," the TriShreddatron observed the scene. "They gave me one valuable piece of advice during their service. I was informed to never pick a fight against the original Oroku Saki, the Demon Shredder. Never have I personally witnessed the Tengu Shredder's power but I can sense in this mindless beast the power wielded by my ancient predecessor."
"The Turtles in that universe have vanquished the demonic Shredder," Viral informed him.
"That's even better," Ch'rell smiled. "I look forward to conquering that universe soon and bringing it to its knees."
"That's highly unadvisable," Viral told him.
"Why is that?" the TriShreddatron frowned.
"The Shredder of that world may be dead," Viral informed him. "But Krang One is not."
"Krang One?" the Utrom Shredder raised a side eye.
From his tone of voice, it was clear Ch'rell considered Krang nothing but a blithering idiot.
"Observe my lord," Viral pressed down on a button.
Viral showed them another clip of the Turtles fighting Krang One. As the battle progressed, the look of scorn on Ch'rell's face soon vanished as he saw the overwhelming power Krang One possessed, making short work of the Turtles even with their extreme powers.
"Power reading is through the roof," Jammerhead nodded, noting what his scanner was picking up through the screen. "This dude's a straight up monster!"
"Krang One is still alive," Viral told him. "It would be ill advised for you to fight him, even with the powers of Lord Simultaneous you've gained."
As Darius looked at Ch'rell, he thought he saw a look of fear etched across the Utrom's face.
"Perhaps we will leave this world for the time being," Ch'rell finally decided. "It would be best for me to first conquer the other universes before I can RISE to the challenge of Krang One."
oooo
"Raph?" Renet looked around.
In the alley where she briefly had to leave Raph, the Turtle was no longer there.
"Oh no, where could he have gone?" she looked around.
"Think Renet, think," she told herself. "If I were an angry, upset mutant turtle who just lost his family, where would I go?"
She looked around the section of the city they were in. So far, there was no one wearing the robes that Raph was wearing.
Looking around, she saw one bar that was open titled "The Blue Tortuga" with a picture of a blue turtle on it. And as there was no sign of Raph anywhere, she decided it was worth a shot at least looking in there first.
"Don't do anything you'll regret Raphael," Renet bit her lip nervously as she went to look for him.
oooo
"Oh man, that meeting went on longer than I wanted it to," Torbin Zixx entered into his royal chambers.
"Hey Torb, how'd it go?" asked one of his female alien paramours.
"Too long," Zixx told her. "It should have been over an hour ago. Non-stop talk about war, politics, and the multiverse…"
"You ready to unwind?" one of his human companions asked.
"Am I ever," Torbin Zixx agreed. "Now let's get down to it and—"
A knock was heard at the door.
Zixx groaned and opened it up to see Darius Dun, the Governor-General.
"Ahem, since the power structure now is clear and the one I'll really be answering to is none other than the Shredder," Dun told him with a sneer. "I have a few things for you."
"Yeah, what would that be?" asked Zixx, raising an eyebrow.
"Here is your schedule for the next day," Darius Dun told him, handing Zixx a piece of paper.
"What?!" Torbin Zixx's eyes widened. "This is insane! This is going to run me ragged!"
"Oh, I suppose you'll want to undo this like you could throw your weight around in the past," Darius smiled. "But things have changed. And we all know who's really the one in charge from now on."
He took a moment to soak in the angry expression on Zixx's face.
"And it's certainly not you, Emperor Zixx."
Darius Dun walked off, chuckling.
"Do get a good night's sleep, your majesty," he told the puppet monarch.
"One of these days, fatso," Torbin Zixx frowned, not liking the new brazen attitude Darius Dun was displaying towards him now that it was firmly established the TriShreddatron was really the one in charge.
oooo
"That's for laying hands on me, creep!" Renet knocked out the one of the remaining gang members who attacked her with a kick to his chin.
The final cyber-punk of that gang charged at her. Using his own momentum against him, Renet grabbed him and flipped his back onto a table, destroying it along with all the booze on there.
She looked around inside the Blue Tortuga bar. A gang of cyber-punk hoodlums thought it was a good idea to grab her by the arm and hit on her. And now, they were all unconscious.
To the side, Renet heard some slow clapping.
"Good job, Renet," Raph smiled.
The Turtle was clearly inebriated, something he normally wouldn't engage in. Though after witnessing his family get disintegrated before his eyes, it was understandable that Raphael didn't really have many inhibitions left.
"Raph, where were you?!" Renet demanded.
"Well, you know," Raphael hiccupped. "I thought about jumping in when that guy grabbed you but you beat up his gang so good I thought… why not sit back and enjoy with a drink on the side?"
"No, I meant why did you come to this bar?" asked Renet again.
"Oh, you know," Raph slurred. "I had to watch my entire family DIE right before my eyes. So why shouldn't I drink away my sorrows?"
"Two reasons," Renet grabbed Raphael and shook him to clear his head. "First, drinking never makes a problem go away! It just gives you a hangover the next day and your problems are still there!"
"Hey! Hands off!" Raph protested as Renet shook him to try to clear as much cobwebs in his head as she could.
"And second of all, your family isn't dead," Renet told him. "They're still alive."
For a moment, a sobering look crossed Raphael's face.
"What did you just say?"
"They're still alive and I can bring them back," Renet told him. "But to do that, I'll need the Time Scepter."
"You can do that?" Raph's look of despair was replaced by a look of hope.
"I can," Renet promised. "Oh yeah, and I also need you to sober up and get it together!"
To be continued.