The brothers stared in horror at the grotesque transformation Zodia had experienced. With tears in his eyes, Mikey shouted at the Kraang leader, "What did you do to our friend?!"

"Improved her" the Kraang sneered in reponse, causing Leo to growl in anger while Raphael glared at the alien, gritting his teeth in rage. The two brothers discreetly reached for their weapons as the others stared in horror. Just as the blue ninja was about to step forward to take up a fighting stance, the ground beneath him began to cave in, forcing Leo to jump back to avoid falling. There was a loud sound from below before the female Kraang from before broke through the floor with a triumphant cackle. With her was the mutated subway car and two other Kraang mutants.

Slimy dragon-like creatures like the ones they'd fought before came pouring from the gaping hole that led down to the subway tunnels, and from all around, mutated humans began appearing with snarls and growls, ready to fight. Zodia, now mutated, brought the key over and handed it to the Kraang leader who smiled deviously, "Thank you for this, we will be putting it to good use." He turned toward the brothers with a dark chuckle, "And thank you, turtles, for introducing me to this lovely navigator you once called 'friend'- her starseed heritage will prove very useful in expanding the Kraang empire." The leader then turned to mutated Zodia, "Come, navigator. The world awaits destruction." There was a pause before he turned back to the turtles, "Oh- and one more thing" The Kraang leader then reached a tentacle toward Raphael so fast that the red ninja began mutating before they could even register what had happened, "Come, soldier, navigator- we have work to do."

"Tear them apart!" commanded the female Kraang as she jumped down from her position on the mutated subway car. With a roar, the crowd of Kraang mutants began to charge. April quickly grabbed her backpack, snatching the bat out of it and tossing the bag into the air before batting it at the mutants. She turned to the turtles with urgency, "We've gotta move." Casey had to drag Leo away as the blue ninja stared in horror at the fleshy doors closing behind his brother and friend. Master Splinter moved quickly to create a diversion with a smoke bomb, allowing the remainder of the group to escape safely.

Zodia's POV

Zodia and Raph followed behind the Kraang leaders as though they were zombies- mindless and dutiful. Zodia felt as though she were seeing through someone else's eyes, trying her hardest to regain control as the Kraang placed the key to open the portal. Within her mind, Zodia screamed and cried desperately, but her body would no longer listen to her mind.

Turtle's POV

The group watched in devastated horror as a portal opened above Metro Tower, allowing a massive ship that looked like a grotesque squid made of both flesh and technology to move through it into their dimension. As drones and creatures began razing New York City, Leo fell to his knees, Mikey next to him cried, "What do we do now?!"

Splinter spoke in a grave tone, looking at the ground, "I fear we are lost. The Kraang are too powerful."

"Maybe we can change the future some other way," Mikey suggested desperately.

Casey spoke next, his tone frustrated and grave, "Guys, it's time to face the facts- you can't change the future."

"Says who?" Mikey questioned angrily, his fists clenching at his sides.

"Says the grandfather paradox," Donnie snapped, raising a finger for each example, "Says physical determinism, says the space time continuum! Look, I didn't want it to be true, but..." He sighs heavily, looking away as he finishes, "science..."

"That's it!" Leo cut in with a wide, almost manic grin, pointing at the purple ninja, "Donnie's wrong!"

"The world is ending," Donnie replies with clear sarcasm, "And yet the barbs continue."

"Don't you remember?" Leo asks as he steps toward the rest of the group, "We already did change the future!" He turned to Casey, "Zodia didn't exist in your timeline, Raph never got kidnapped and turned into a Kraang zombie, either. Right, Casey?"

"You're right- none of that happened in my time," Casey confirmed as he began to realize what Leo was getting at.

"That means we did change the future," Leo continues with hopeful excitement, "We're just in a different ... uhh-"

"Bifurcated time branch," Donnie completes the sentence for him.

"Yes, yes, yes," Leo points at his brother, "That nerd thing! You know what that means, right?" He looks around at the group, "We still have hope!"

"A ninja's greatest weapon," Casey agrees with breathless recognition.

"Hey, I like that," Leo quips before speaking genuinely to his friends and family, "Look, I'm done thinking I have all the answers. I don't know how to beat the Kraang, but I do know our future isn't written until we write it as a team. So what do we got?"

"Maybe..." April thinks to herself for a moment before speaking urgently with hope, "Maybe we don't have to beat them! Can't we just send them back to the prison dimension?"

"There's an idea!" the blue ninja exclaims, touching his chin as he turns to his brother, "Donnie, what do those big beautiful eyebrows have to say?"

Donnie pinches his chin in contemplation, "If we got control of their ship, we could send it back through the portal."

"Yes, yes!" Leo was getting more excited and hopeful by the second, "Now we're cooking- who else?"

"If someone on the ground could get to that key," Casey began hopefully.

Splinter finished his sentence, "We can close the doorway."

"And then bye-bye Kraang forever, baby," Mikey pumped a fist in the air excitedly.

"Exactly," Leo nods firmly, his chin on his knuckles as he turns to his soft shelled brother, "What do ya say, Donnie- you ready to fly a spaceship?"

Donnie's expression became a mixture of determination and excitement as he responds, "Literally the greatest question I have ever been asked."

"Alright, team," Leo announces with his hands on his hips, "Looks like we have a plan- let's go save the world!"

Mikey steps forward, a look of sadness returning to his childish amphibian features, "Wait- but... what about Raph? A-and Zo?"

The blue ninja firmly grasped Mikey's shoulder, "Those two hardheads might be covered in goo and half alien, but Raph is still our brother, and Zodia is still our friend- and I'm not giving up on them. I'm not leaving them behind."