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Chapter Text

In a world of black and white, four half-turtle half-human mutant brothers leap across a roof to look for any danger that threatens their city. Four loud bangs in opposite directions has them stopping in their tracks and looking to their leader for directions.

The one with the katanas motions for the four of them to split up and find out what caused the bangs. Without waiting, the leader with his katanas jumps off the roof and heads north. The one with the bo staff heads west while the third brother goes off towards the east.

The last brother, the one that wields nun chucks heads over to the last spot towards the south. He drops down a fire escape and lands on the ground with hardly a thump. He sticks to the shadows of the alleyway as he creeps towards his destination. With a bated breath, he peeks around the corner and sees nothing there. Pulling more out of the inky shadows, he narrows his white eyes to look around but comes up empty.

“Michelangelo Prime,” a voice purrs behind him, making the brother whip around with his weapons at the ready in front of him. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Who are you?” Michelangelo demands, spinning his nun chucks as his side if he needs to attack.

The figure in front of him is strangely colored in this black and white world. A cloak covers all of their features and shadows their face to block the opposite party from seeing it. The cloak shifts in the air as the figure floats above him.

“Do not worry about that,” the figure says to him as it lowers to the ground and approaches him. With a sound of a snapping of fingers, Michelangelo’s body is frozen and his weapons fall limp at his side. “You have something I need.”

“My brothers are gonna get’cha if you take me anywhere,” Michelangelo growls as the figure gets closer.

“I’ll return you to them in due time,” the figure hums as it lazily floats around the still figure. One of the nun chucks slips through still fingers to clatter against the pavement below. “There are still other pieces to collect so you are going to have to be put in storage for a bit.”

The figure lets out a sound of snapping fingers again and a glowing portal opens up behind it. Michelangelo’s eyes widen when he sees golden glowing eyes shine through the shadows of the hood and a three fingered hand emerge from the cloak. The figure raises its hand, letting golden chains break through the portal to wrap around the turtle’s body.

“Now, let’s this show on the road,” the figure grins beneath its hood as it pulls it’s hand down, ripping Michelangelo from his spot and pulled through the portal with hardly a breath in-between.

The figure hums as it stares out at the black and white world, taking in the lack of color. It didn’t understand how one could live that way but then again, it was used to the vibrant colors of its own dimension. With a turn of a swish of the cloak, the figure floats into the portal and disappears from that dimension. The portal blinks out of existence quietly as if it was never there to begin with.

There is a silent breeze that floats through the empty alleyway before the sound of three voices echo over.

“What is taking Michelangelo so long?” one of voices grumbles.

“Calm down, Raphael,” a different voice sighs.

“He could have gotten sidetracked by something,” the last voice answers. “He could have found another cat to try and take home with us.”

“Yeah, like Donatello said,” the previous voice agrees.

The three figures turn the corner to reveal themselves to be the three older brothers that Michelangelo was leaping across the roofs with earlier. They peek into the darkness and the one with the swords gasps when he spots the lonely pair of nun chucks laying on the ground. He steps over and reaches down with a shaky hand to pick up his brother’s weapon.

“Leonardo…please tell me that’s not Michelangelo’s,” Raphael begs.

Leonardo grits his teeth as he clenches his brother’s nun chucks tightly in his hands. He looks around for any sign of struggle or anything to clue him in on what is going on. Seeing nothing, he shakes his head and stomps over to the remaining two brothers. As he turns, he catches a glimmer of something that didn’t belong in their world of black and white.

A small handful of golden sparkles that were blowing away on the wind.

“…Donatello, Raphael,” Leonardo snaps without taking his eyes off the colorful sparkles. “You see this, too?”

“Yes,” Donatello nods as he also looks at the misplaced splash of color in their dimension. “That doesn’t belong in our world.”

“I think we have dimension jumpers again,” Leonardo growls. “And I believe they took our brother.”

“Aw, hell,” Raphael grumbles. “I’m gonna kill the bastard that dared to mess with one of our own.”

Chapter Text

Universe 2018

“Mikey, did you eat my last pack of pop tarts?!” Leo’s voice echoes through the lair.

Mikey and Donnie looks up from the chess game they were playing (and Donnie had no clue how Mikey was winning) to look at the entrance of the lab. Donnie turns his head to look at his youngest brother who had a sheepish expression on his face. He raised a drawn eyebrow and crossed his arms as he regarded his brother.

“I don’t know why you always eat the last pack of Leo’s pop tarts,” Donnie sighed and shook his head. “You know he puts a bounty on your head every time you do it.”

“I’m a growing boy that needs food,” Mikey smirked. “And messing with Leo is just so fun.”

“I concur with that,” Donnie shrugged and looked down at the chess board that seemed to have less pieces than before. In fact, when he looked around, he couldn’t see any of the captured pieces around them. “Hey, where did all the chess pieces go?”

“MIKEY!” Leo yells as he gets closer.

Mikey ‘eeps’ before jumping off his chair and diving bombing under a table with a tarp over it. As the tarp settles back down, Donnie can see the box turtle utilizing his species specialty and tucking himself fully into his shell.

“Where’s that little shit?” Leo growls as he stalks into Donnie’s lab.

“Hello to you as well, ‘Nardo,” Donnie responded with a roll of his eyes. “I have no clue where our baby brother is.”

Leo looked at Donnie, down at the chess board and back to Donnie’s face. “Mikey’s been eating your chess pieces.”

“He’s under the table.” Donnie pointed out Mikey’s hiding spot immediately as the culprit of the missing pieces was revealed.

“Donnie, you traitor!” Mikey cried out from under the table as Leo stomped over and pulled the cover up.

“C’mere you little food stealer!” Leo yelled as he reached under the table to pull out Mikey in his shell. Holding the shell in the air, Leo gave it a shake. “Come out here and meet your doom like a man!”

“I’m a turtle!” Mikey’s muffled voice yelled back.

“Then come out and meet your doom like a turtle!” Leo corrected his statement.

“You’ll never take me alive!” Mikey cackled from inside his shell.

Donnie sighs as he watches his younger brothers argue over a trivial thing. He starts collecting the remaining chess pieces and thinks about if they are going to have to make Mikey puke up all the pieces he ate. The purple twin is brought out of his musing when a strangled gasp comes out of Mikey’s shell, making him whip his head around.

Leo looks down at Mikey’s shell in his hands with a concerned face as he heard the same noise. “Mikey? You okay in there? What’s going on?” Leo demands as he stops shaking the shell.

Mikey, still in his shell, falls to the ground with a loud thunk as he seemingly loses tangibility in Leo’s hold. “Mikey!” Leo cries out at he falls to his knees at his brother’s side and lays a hand on the shell’s plastron. His hand doesn’t go through this time but there is a yellow glimmer to Mikey’s shell that wasn’t there before.

Donnie stumbles over and scans Mikey, trying to figure out what is wrong. Loud stomps head over to the lab and Raph barrels right in. “I heard yelling! What happened?!” Raph demands in his big brother voice.

“I—I don’t know,” Leo stutters as he tries peeking into the opening at the top of Mikey’s shell. All he can see is two glowing eyes staring up at nothing accompanied by Mikey’s markings lighting up with power. “I was holding Mikey and all of a sudden he could go through walls like Danny Phantom.”

“There’s something up with his powers,” Donnie tells his brothers as he lowers his goggles. Ever since the invasion a year ago, Donnie had made sure to keep a close eye on Mikey’s mystic progression in case he pushed himself too far. Draxum was offended that his second oldest creation would think that he would let his youngest (and favorite) creation get hurt in training under his watch. “There’s some type of weird feedback running through him.”

“But he wasn’t using his powers,” Leo points out. “You were just with him and I know I didn’t see him using them when I came in.”

“You’re right,” Donnie nods his head as he lifts his goggles and types something into his wrist pad. “As far as I know, Mikey hasn’t used his powers at all since this morning for help with breakfast.”

The glimmer dies down and Mikey shoots out of his shell with a gasp, turning on his side and coughs. Leo jumps into action and starts rubbing Mikey’s carapace. “Woah, Mikey. It’s okay. Just breathe,” Leo says soothingly to Mikey. “You’ll be alright.”

“Why”—cough— “did you”—cough— “drop me?” Mikey asks between coughs with narrowed eyes.

“You dropped Mikey?!” Raph exclaims in shock.

“Not important right now,” Leo mutters.

“It kind of is,” Donnie counters. “The reason you dropped him was because of that mystic feedback.” Donnie turns to Mikey as Leo helps him sit up with a grimace on his brother’s face. “What was that Mikey?”

“What was what?” Mikey asks with a tilt of his head. “One moment I’m being held in the air and the next I’m on the ground with all of you surrounding me,” Mikey says with a final cough.

“Hmm…interesting,” Donnie hums as he strokes his chin.

“Are you okay there, big man?” Raph asks as he leans forward to rubs Mikey’s head.

“My shell hurts,” Mikey groans as he reaches back to rub the spot where he was dropped.

“That is generally the side effect of being dropped,” Donnie deadpanned as he looked at Leo.

“I wasn’t expecting Mikey to go all ghost on me!” Leo exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air.

“Hmm… that sounds like a cool power to have,” Mikey muses as he pulls himself up to stand.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Leo points at him with an accusatory face. “We don’t need you using your powers for more pranks or stealing more of my pop tarts.” Leo blinks to himself before his earlier anger comes back. “Wait a second – Mikey, I know you ate my pop tarts!”

“Oh, umm,” Mikey sweats as he looks around the room. “What’d you know, I think I hear dad calling for me. Coming dad!” Mikey calls out before ducking under Leo’s arm and around Raph to run out of the room.”

“Why you—!” Leo exclaims as he goes running after Mikey.

“Well, it looks like whatever happened isn’t bothering Mikey anymore,” Raph comments as he crosses his arms.

“It seems so,” Donnie nods as he looks down at the recorded readings on his wrist pad. “It was still very odd. I think I’m going to talk to Draxum about it the next time we see him.”

“Probably a good idea,” Raph agrees as his eyes track the back-and-forth movement of Mikey being chased by Leo.

“Oh, brother dearest,” Donnie pipes up, making Raph look over at him. “There’s probably a good half a set of chess pieces currently in Mikey’s stomach.”

Raph blinks to himself for a moment before throwing his head back and groaning. “Not again,” Raph says to himself as he pinches his nose ridge and stomps out of the lab. “Mikey, c’mere so I can hold you upside down until you puke!”

“No way!” Mikey screeches as he jumps up higher to avoid his brothers.

Donnie watches the scene play out before turning away with a frown. He looks down at the readings in concern. They were showing high usage levels of the mystic arts to the extent that it was backlashing on the user.

Donnie looks back to where Mikey is hanging by a light to avoid his two brothers and lowers his goggles. He zooms in on the crack-like scars decorating his little brother’s arms from when he ripped the space-time continuum open to bring Leo home from the prison dimension.

The scars didn’t glow like they did when Mikey was using his powers nor did they glow during any of the time Donnie spent with Mikey since breakfast.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Donnie mutters to himself as he raises his goggles.

Donnie is cut off from his thoughts when Mikey barges back into the lab, straight past Donnie and goes for the chess set. While keeping complete eye contact with Donnie, Mikey reaches down and picks up one of the white pawns. There is not a moment of hesitation before he stuffs it in his mouth and swallows it with a shit eating grin.

“Dammit, Mikey!” Donnie groans as he starts chasing after his brother. “Stop eating my chess pieces!”

“He ate another?!” Raph yells from the living room. “Oh, you’re gonna get it now, Mikey!”

Mikey cackles before he sprints out of the lab like the devil was on his heel. Though, the expression isn’t far off with three over-protective brothers chasing after him.

Many hours later, deep into the night after a long chase that ended with the older brothers calling a truce with the youngest, they all slip from the real world into dreamland as their bodies beg for rest.

Except for one brother.

Mikey pokes his head out of his train car room to make sure everyone was asleep. Straining his ears, he listened for the deep snores of Raph to signify that his oldest brother was deep asleep. There was no low buzzing that indicates Donnie is staying up late to work on another project.

Letting some of his powers flow, Mikey floats in the air to avoid making any steps that would wake up anyone. Mikey flies over to the entrance of Donnie’s lab and peeks in to see his brother laid out on his bed and snoring. Mikey smiles at seeing his brother sleeping at the same time of the others for once.

Mikey makes one more stop over to Leo’s train car, making sure to quiet his breathing as Leo could detect anyone’s presence when he was still falling asleep. Donnie concluded that it was a side effect of the trauma that Leo went through at the hands of kraang prime. So, Mikey took extra measures to ensure that he was the quietest he could be as he checked that Leo was asleep.

Leo was laying on his side with a stuffed unicorn clutched to his plastron and a trail of drool crawling out the side of his open mouth. His blanket was kicked off and he shivered in his sleep. Mikey let a small smile cross his face as he lifted a shaky hand to call his magic to the surface and use it to pick up Leo’s blanket and cover him back up with it. Leo let out a pleased chirp in his sleep when cold stopped attacking him.

Seeing that all of his brothers were indeed deep asleep, Mikey flew back to his room and used his powers to muffle the sound of his door closing. He raised another hand to summon his cloak off the hook it rested on to wrap around his body. It clasped around his throat with a soft whisper of moving fabric and the hood lifted itself onto Mikey’s head with a swish.

Mikey moves his legs to sit crossed-legged on them in the air as he rests his hands on his knees. He closes his eyes as he starts to concentrate. Golden light slips out from underneath his eyelids as his markings start to glow. A portal swirls to life in front of him but the center of it stays bright white as Mikey grunts, his face forming a frown.

“Where are you?” Mikey whispers into the silence of his room.

With a jolt, Mikey opens his glowing eyes to see the portal forming an image to replace the white in the middle of it. There, in the center of a darker toned world, is a tall mutant turtle that matches three others with him. They all wear different masks of red, blue, purple, and orange but the orange one is the turtle that Mikey is focused on.

The turtles jump from roof to roof as they look for crime to fight. The orange one cracks a joke that makes the three other turtles groan in exasperation. The red banded one reaches over to grab the orange one’s head and he runs off with a screech and giggle to avoid his aggressive-inclined older brother.

“There,” Mikey smiles to himself as he lowers his hands and floats forward. He taps a scarred finger against the surface of the portal, letting it ripple before he sinks his hand into it. “I found you, Splinterson Michelangelo.” With hardly a sound, Mikey slips into the portal and it closes behind him.

No one is none the wiser in the Hamato clan household as their youngest slips into another dimension.

Chapter Text

Universe 2003

“I’m telling you guys, I feel like someone is watching me,” Mikey whined as he hopped across the space between two building.

“An’ I’m telling ya that its all in ya head,” Raph grunted as he came up and smack Mikey upside the head. “None of us are feelin’ what you’re feelin’.”

“Hate to agree with Raph on this one,” Leo sighed. “But there is nothing around us.” Leo crosses his arms as he peers out into the night that surrounds them.

“But there is something,” Mikey whined and threw his head back. “My two-time battle nexus champion instincts are telling me that something dangerous is watching.”

“Oh, give it a rest with that nexus champ stuff,” Raph growled as he stalked away from Mikey before he throttled him.

“I’m not picking up anything on my scanners,” Donnie says to help diffuse the situation as he holds his scanner in his hands. “You’re probably just jumpy after that last battle with the purple dragons.”

“I don’t see why it kills any of you to believe me,” Mikey mutters as he kicks a loose rock on the roof.

“We don’t not believe in you,” Leo says as he pats Mikey on the shoulder. “You have great instincts but there are times where your imagination can get the best of you.” Taking a step back, Leo approaches the edge of the roof with a look over his shoulder. “Now, let’s get back to the lair before it gets too late.”

Leo and Donnie jumps off silently from the roof into the alleyway below. Raph is about to jump off when he turns back to Mikey who is still standing in the same spot, looking off to a certain spot. He is rubbing his right elbow with his left hand, his stance clearly showing how uncomfortable he was.

Raph sighs harshly before coming up next to his brother, giving him a large and hard slap to the shell. Mikey is shocked out of his unease by his brother next to him that gives the orange turtle a sympathetic look.

“Look,” Raph sighs. “If its bothering ya that much, then stick close ta me and nothin’ will bother ya.”

Mikey stares at him for a few seconds before a large grin takes over his face. “Aww, thanks Raphie,” Mikey smiles as he takes a step to avoid the swipe Raph made at him.

“I told ya not ta call me that,” Raph growls as he chase after his younger brother.

“But it’s so fun to,” Mikey laughed as he took a step closer to the edge.

“It won’t be so fun for ya when I beat ya head in,” Raph growls as he crouches on the edge of the roof to prepare himself to jump down.

“You love me too much to do that,” Mikey counters as he takes one last look over at the spot. The presence he felt watching him had left and it made him wonder if it was all in his head to begin with.

“Who said that?” Raph rolled his eyes as he jumped down quickly to join Leo and Donnie at the bottom. The three oldest brothers look up to see Mikey still on the edge of the roof. “C’mon down so we can get home already.”

Mikey looks away and down at his brothers with a nod. “I’m coming, just hold your—WOAH!”

Leo, Donnie, and Raph watch with wide eyes as a bundle of golden chains come from behind Mikey to wrap him up tightly. The chains are pulling him back to the roof but the three brothers are already scaling the building they just jumped off to run to Mikey’s rescue. They all make it over the edge of the roof to see Mikey being held in the air by the chains with a cloaked figure floating in the air next to him.

“Give me back my brother!” Raph yells as he pulls out his sai to attack the figure that dared take their brother from them. At his sides, Leo pulls out his twin katanas while Donnie has his bo staff ready at his side.

The figure turns towards them and all they can see is a pair of glowing golden eyes staring at them from the darkness of the hood. The figure tilts its head as it slowly turns its cloaked body more towards them.

“Get me out of here, bros!” Mikey cries out of the chains that holds him with his arms pinned to his plastron.

“Just hang on, Mikey!” Donnie yells out towards his orange brother. “We’ll get you out of there!”

“No, you won’t,” the figure speaks and Donatello is confused by the young sounding voice. “You are no match for me so I would recommend all of you to back down before I have to do something drastic.”

“Big words for such a little guy,” Raph snarls as he holds his sai up.

“Give us back Mikey and we will consider letting you out of here in one piece,” Leo growls as he tightens his grip on his katanas. “That is – if we can stop Raph.”

“You can try,” the figure says as he tilts his head. “But I must warn you again; I am very powerful.”

“Enough of this!” Raph roars before he rushes away from Leo and Donnie to attack the figure.

The figure simply raises a hand out of the depths of the cloak and holds it in front of him. Raph doesn’t have attention to the hand as he leaps and aims his weapon at the head of the figure before he freezes.

Literally, he freezes right there in the air. His body is stuck in its position in the air, not moving an inch. There is a thin layer of golden dust covering his body that wasn’t there before.

“Raph!” Leo and Donnie yell as they start running over to the fight. Out of the corner of his eye, Raph can see his two other brothers stop in their tracks as more golden chains spear out of the ground to wrap around them and hold them in place.

Raph turns his eyes back to the figure in front of him and flinches when he sees a three fingered green hand that looks a lot like his own. The strange part, though, is the crack like scars that decorate it and they glow the same golden light at the chains. The hand lifts in the air to snap and a golden portal rips open in the air behind Mikey.

“Bros! This doesn’t look good!” Mikey yells as he squirms in his chains.

“Stop!” Leo yells as he pulls as his own chains. “Take me instead! Don’t take Mikey!”

“Sorry, but you won’t do,” the figure shakes his head, his eyes closing momentarily. “You don’t have the piece that is necessary for the wish like Michelangelo does.”

“What wish?” Donnie presses as he struggles against his chains. They don’t allow him to angle his wrist to grab a hidden blade to try and saw his way out.

“That is not important at the moment,” the figure sighs as he waves his hand. Mikey screams as he is pulled towards the portal.

“MIKEY!” Leo, Donnie, and Raph screamed out their brother’s name as his screams are suddenly cut off as he disappears completely through the portal.

“Calm down,” the figure tells them as he starts floating towards the portal their brother just disappeared through. “I will return him when everything is over.”

“I’m gonna kill ya,” Raph hisses as he forces all the venom he can into his voice. “Hurt him at all and consider ya’self to be dead.”

“Get in line,” the figure smirks before slipping into the portal. It shrinks before disappearing all together. As soon as it’s gone, all three remaining brothers are released from their holds. Leo and Donnie stumble forward as Raph drops out of the air like a stone.

Raph rolls to break his fall but doesn’t get up. He stares at the ground with a snarl before raising his hand to punch the ground. “Damn it!” Raph roars. He raises his fist again to punch the ground but it stopped by a hand grabbing it. Whirling around, he looks at the downcast eyes of his brother.

“Don’t do that, Raph,” Leo sighs as pulls his hand away. “Now’s not the time. We have to figure out who took Mikey and where to.”

“It was another turtle,” Raph grunts.

“What?” Leo and Donnie blink in surprise.

“I saw his hand,” Raph tells his brothers as he pulls himself to stand up. “It was green and three fingered like ours.”

“Interesting,” Donnie hums to himself as he rubs his chin. “Did you notice how young his voice sounded?”

“Sounded like someone too young to be stealing brothers,” Raph growls.

“Calm yourself, Raph,” Leo tells him gently before turning to Donnie. “What was the portal thing? Or those chains? It wasn’t natural the way he was able to command them.”

“It’s a work-in-progress theory but I think…,” Donnie trails off as he works through various things in his head.

“Think what?” Raph demanded as he stomped towards his brother.

“I think we are dealing with turtles of other dimensions again,” Donnie tells them as he drops his hand from his face.

“Like those silly little turtles that kept yelling turtle power?” Raph scoffed.

“Kind of,” Donnie continues on. “But the dimension this turtle is from is far more dangerous and powerful compared to that one.”

“But why would he need Mikey?” Leo asks as he stresses over the fact that one of his brothers was taken when he was literally right there near him. “What does he have that none of us do?”

“I…don’t know,” Donnie mutters as he drops his shoulders.

“Do you still have that dimension hopper thingy?” Raph demands as he starts walking towards the edge of the roof.

“Yeah but I need to fix it,” Donnie answers as he follows after his brother.

“Make that your priority, Donnie,” Leo tells him as he brings up the rear of his remaining brothers. He takes one last look at the roof where Mikey had told him that someone was watching him and they all brushed him off. “We need to bring Mikey home.”

The three brothers leave the roof for a second time and this time, they are down a brother.

Universe 2020

“Hello there, Michelangelo,” a voice cheerfully greets.

Michelangelo opens his tired eyes to stare up at the cloaked figure standing bent over his broken body. Glowing golden eyes look down at him in mirth while the rest of figure’s face was covered in shadows. He lays in the mud after finally defeating Oroku Hirito. He was broken and battered but he was content as he knew that he would be joining his family soon.

So, he was pretty ticked off at this cloaked figure bothering him in his final moments in the living world.

“You look pretty close to death’s door there, huh, big guy,” the figure tells him and Michelangelo can hear the smile in his voice. “Let me fix that for you.” A three fingered scarred green hand peeks out of the cloak to snap his fingers and Michelangelo feels a rush of energy rush through him. Before his eyes, his injuries close themselves and he can feel his blood being replenished inside of him. “All better!” the figure chirps happily.

Michelangelo grits his teeth as he surge upwards to punch the figure. The punch misses as the figure moves and Michelangelo is left there seething. “What the fuck?! I was just about to finally join my family and you ruined it!”

“Someone’s full of teenage angst,” the figure tsk’ed.

“I’m far from a teenager at this point,” Michelangelo growls as he stomps towards the cloaked figure. He throws a punch but the figure deftly moves out of the way to dodge it. “I want to be with my family! Is that so much to ask for?!”

“But what if I could bring them back to you?” the figure purrs and Michelangelo freezes, dropping his clenched hand down to his side.

“What are you talking about?” Michelangelo hissed at the figure that prevented his death.

“You see, I am very powerful,” the figure smirks as he saunters around Michelangelo in a large circle, his other scarred hand coming out of the cloak to spin both out at his side. As he spun, wisps of golden energy peeled off his hands to leave a trail lingering in the air. “I have powers that can bring back someone’s lost loved ones; most specifically my loved ones.” The figure stops spinning to stare down Michelangelo, making a shiver run down his spine from the glowing eyes in the darkness. “But, I need help.”

“Help with what?” Michelangelo grunts as he crosses his thick with muscle arms across his scratched and cracked plastron.

“There are certain key figures that contain the parts I need to complete the spell,” the figure explains. “It would be easier to have someone on my side when I have to extract the key figures from their little groups.”

“So, you want me to be your bouncer while you kidnap people?!” Michelangelo grits out in anger.

“Pretty much,” the cloaked figure shrugged.

“That is fucked up!” Michelangelo yells.

“I am prepared to get my hands dirty,” the figure tells him in a dead voice, his glowing eyes narrowing in the darkness of the hood. “I have committed my fair share of sins and I believe you have too.”

The past Michelangelo would have fought that statement but the current version of him can only stare numbly at the figure as he nods slightly. He opens his mouth, closes it, wets his lips, and opens his mouth again as he finds his words. “…what’s in it for me?”

A flash of light shifts across the battlefield to shine across the figure’s face and Michelangelo can see the large feral smile across his green skinned face. The figure’s hands come to hover at the middle of where his chest would be and Michelangelo can see a swirl of golden sparkles collect in them. They form the image of Michelangelo’s dead brothers, father, and friend.

“You help me get my loved ones back and I will bring yours back to you,” the figure tells him, knowing that Michelangelo eyes are locked straight on the people he was projecting with his powers. He closes his hands and the image disappears in a small puff of sparkles, making Michelangelo blink at the sudden change. The figure holds out his hand as if he was asking for a handshake. “Now, will you join me?”

“Mikey!” a voice yells from across the battle field.

The old diamond back terrapin looks over to see his longtime family friend, April O’Neil, and her daughter, Casey Marie Jones, running towards him with matching faces of relief and concern. Michelangelo regards them for a moment that seem to stretch out for forever as a million thoughts run across his mind.

What if this strange cloaked figure was lying?

What if he was just being used?

Would his brothers actually be returned to him?

Then Michelangelo thought of April and Casey Marie. How April grieved because of Casey senior’s death. How Casey Marie never got the chance to grow up with and have a father. How their little family was just the three of them and Michelangelo was prepared to leave them behind to join the others in the afterlife.

Michelangelo looked back at the figure that patiently waited there with his hand out, still waiting for the turtle’s answer. He gritted his teeth before making the few long strides between him and the figure and grabbed the hand offered to him. “I’m in,” Michelangelo told him.

“Mikey!” April calls again.

“Excellent,” the figure grins again but this time, it is much larger. “You won’t regret it.”

Without letting go, the figure uses his other hand to snap and a portal opens up underneath of them. Michelangelo marvels at the display of magic that didn’t exist in this world.

“Mikey! What are you doing?!” April screams as she gets closer. Michelangelo can see the fear and alarm growing on her face. Casey Marie is a step behind her mother and all her face can show is confusion.

“Sorry, April,” Michelangelo smiles at the woman he and his family always considered one of their own. “I’ve got another mission for now.”

“Michelangelo!” April screams as she throws a hand out to try and catch her last turtle brother.

“Time to go,” the figure whispers.

Swiftly, Michelangelo is pulled down into the portal and his last sight of his world is the sight of April running towards him with a hand thrown out to grab him and tears spilling from the corner of her eyes. Casey Marie is copying her mother with her hands thrown out as if she was trying to grab as well. The portal closes above his head as the two of them fall down a long dark tunnel.

Within seconds, light appears from underneath of them and they are deposited in a large chamber-like room. It is lined with candle that cast moving lights all over the walls to reflect across a few orange crystals floating against the wall.

“So, do you have any nicknames besides Mikey?” the figure asks as he floats away to a table on the other side of the room.

“Uhh,” Michelangelo drawls as he thinks about what he’s been called in the past. There were other names but they were either other versions of Michelangelo or special names that his family called him.

And those names were reserved solely for them.

“I’ve been called ‘the last ronin’ a few times,” Michelangelo shrugs.

“Edgy,” the figure giggles. “I like it. I’m gonna call you Ronin.”

“Why do I need another name?” Ronin asks as he crosses his arms. He liked his name; it was given to him by his father so he considered it to be one of his treasures.

“Well things are going to get confusing with so many Michelangelo’s in the same place,” the figure laughs as he turns to look at Ronin dead on, making the turtle shiver again.

“’So many Michelangelo’s’…what does that mean?” Ronin asks in growing suspicion.

“Take a look behind you,” the figure directs with a nod of his head.

Ronin turns towards the direction of the nod and notices that it is towards the orange crystals. As he looks at them, Ronin can tell that there is something being held in each of them. He gets closer and squints as he tries looking inside of them.

Curse getting old and his worsening eyesight.

When his eyes finally focus on what’s inside of the crystals, he gasps and jolts back. He looks back at the figure who was finally lowering his hood, making Ronin pale.

“Let me introduce myself,” the figure, now revealed to be another mutant turtle, smirks at the old terrapin as he makes a grand flourish with his cloak. “My name is Michelangelo,” the turtle stands up straight and his golden eyes flash dangerously.

“And…who are they?” Ronin asks as he points at the figures frozen inside of the crystals.

“They are also Michelangelo’s,” Michelangelo smiles menacingly as he stalks through the air towards Ronin. Ronin takes a few steps back from the magic user and Michelangelo continues to float over until he stops in front of one of the crystals. Each of the few crystals lining the walls contains different variations of the same turtle that chooses orange to be his color.

Ronin gulps as he feels the blood drain from his face at the deranged look on the other turtle’s face.

“Let me tell you the details of our little mission,” Michelangelo grins savagely, letting his glowing eyes grow brighter.

Ronin was starting to think this was a terrible idea.

But his desire to have his brothers back outweighed any guilt he could have by being an accessory to mass kidnapping.

Chapter Text

Universe 2018

“Leo!”

That’s all the warning that the red eared slider got before nature’s bowling ball (a.k.a. one Hamato Michelangelo) launched himself straight onto his dozing brother. Leo’s grunts as his little brother’s weight lands straight on him and forces all the air out of his lungs. He wheezes and ignores how Mikey looks down at him in concern.

“You okay there, Lee?” Mikey asks him as he leans down to inspect his brother’s face.

“I will be when you and your fat butt gets off of me,” Leo wheezes.

“Oh, oops,” Mikey giggles as he rolls himself off of Leo and onto his bed. “My bad.”

“‘Oops’ my ass,” Leo grunts as he sits up and lets his lungs fill themselves up with precious air again. “You know how much force you carry when you cannonball on one of us.”

“Oh relax,” Mikey drawls as he perches his chin in his scarred hands and kicks his feet in the air behind him. “I’m the smallest out of all of us so it’s not that bad and I’m pretty sure we would actually die if Raph decided to cannon ball on us.”

“You have a point there, Mikester,” Leo grimaces as he turns his body to throw his legs over the edge of his bed. He raises his arms high in the air and groans when there is a loud pop from his shoulders. “Did you need something that would require such a rude awakening?”

“Oh, yeah,” Mikey brightens as he spins himself to get up and jump off the bed. “I need your help with an art piece.”

“Oh?” Leo perks up. “What’s the occasion?”

“I need help get a certain pose,” Mikey shrugs as he lifts his hands to interlock behind his head. “You have the proportions I am looking for and if you help me, I’ll make your favorite dinner.”

“I would have helped even without the reward of dinner,” Leo grins as he throws an arm around Mikey’s shoulders. “Though, I wouldn’t mind being treated to a ‘Michelangelo certified razzmatazz’ dinner.”

“Thanks Leo!” Mikey cheers as he throws his arms around his brother in a big hug. He steps away excitedly as he looks from Leo’s bedroom door and his brother. “We can get started after lunch! I have to figure out the colors I want to use and get the area prepped.”

“Just let me know when and I’ll be there,” Leo salutes Mikey as the box turtle leaves. Being left alone in his room, Leo yawns widely and does his morning stretches. It was earlier than he would usually like to be up but since he was already up, he might as well start his day.

Leo left his room and sauntered over to the kitchen where he could smell the residual scent of fresh baked breakfast goods. He spotted Donnie as he entered, his older twin nursing a cup of coffee from his favorite purple mug with two plain muffins on a plate next to him. The two twins nodded at each other as Leo reached up to grab his own blue mug to steep some tea in.

Leo reached over to the tea kettle that already had some boiled water in it (probably from Mikey as an apology gift he made prior to dive bombing his brother) and poured it into the mug. He grabbed the tea bag he felt like having that morning and dipped it in the water. While it steeped, he looked over at the stove and from the muffin tin, he grabbed two blueberry muffins made specifically for him.

Mikey always made sure to take into account his brothers’ favorite items and individual taste buds when cooking. Leo made a mental note to make sure to thank Mikey for being so considerate in his cooking for them.

“Mornin’,” Raph yawns as he stumbles sleepily into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Leo said back as Donnie hummed into his coffee. Leo reached over to grab the small army of strawberry muffins that were required to fill his alligator snapping turtle older brother’s stomach.

“Thanks Leo,” Raph grinned as he grabbed the plate from his brother. “Its not a bad thing but what are you doing up already? We have an hour until you’re usually up.”

“That would be because of one little orange turtle,” Leo answers as he pulls the tea bag out of the mug and throws it away. He takes a sip of his tea and hums in delight as the drink perks him. “He got excited about an art piece and he woke me up to ask for my help with it.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Donnie comments as he lowers his mug to grab one of his muffins. “I remember the last time he asked for my help, he came busting into my lab at 3 am.”

“And I’m going to take a wild guess that you were already awake?” Raph sighs, standing up to walk over to the fridge. He opened it and pulled out a carton of apple juice that was reserved solely for Raph to drink straight out of.

“You would be correct,” Donnie smirks as he takes a bite of his muffin. “I was in the middle of a very important update to one of my battle shells.”

“You really need to get more sleep,” Leo says as he points a finger at his twin, pieces of muffin still in his mouth.

“The pot says to the kettle,” Donnie rolls his eyes, also with pieces of muffin in his mouth.

Leo rolls his eyes back at his twin and they all lapse into silence as they peacefully enjoy their breakfast. Judging by the lack of Mikey’s chocolate chip muffins and their empty spots in the tray, Leo can guess that his little brother already ate his own breakfast. He finishes his muffins in a leisurely time and gulps down the last bit of his tea. Leo stands up to throw his trash away and put his dishes in the sink.

Leo waves to his brothers as he leave the kitchen and they wave back at him. With his belly full and the tea waking him up for the day, Leo heads over to the dojo to get some practice in. He had really stepped up in his leadership role since the kraang and had made it a point to keep himself in peak condition.

He walks past Mikey’s art studio and pauses for a moment to peek in. Leo can see Mikey standing over at his desk with all his paint color and notices the frown on his face as he ponders what color palette he was going to use for his next art piece. Leo shakes his head fondly at the sight and continues on his way.

He had to get his practice in before he became a living pose reference for his little brother.

Universe 2007

“Where is he?” Raph grumbles as he paces back-and-forth on the roof in the dark of the night.

“Give him a moment,” Leo sighs as he leans against a brick wall.

“Yeah, he could have gotten caught up with one of his gigs,” Donnie pipes in as he fiddles with his turtle phone in his hand.

“But twenty minutes late?” Raph stresses.

“You know…Raph is right,” Leo says as he pushes himself off the wall. “Mikey can be late at times but never this late.” Leo turns to Donnie who is frowning at the thought that his two other brothers pointed out. “Don, can you pull up the tracking for Mikey’s van?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Donnie nods at he types away at his phone. There is quiet for a few seconds before a sharp ding comes out of the phone. “This way.” Donnie leaps off the roof and Raph and Leo follow after the purple brother. They take multiple turns and cross an entire two city blocks before they find the van parked quietly in a random alleyway.

And no Mikey in sight.

“This is strange,” Raph mutters as he creeps towards the van.

“I don’t like this,” Leo whispers as he crouches and makes his way towards the back of the vehicle. He frowns when he sees the back doors wide open with that dumb turtle head staring goofily at him. “Where is Mikey? He’s not this irresponsible.”

“Leo…,” Donnie calls out for him, making Leo turn to where Donnie is crouching down behind a garbage can. He reaches behind it with a shaky hand and Leo pales when he sees the familiar sight of Mikey’s nun chucks.

“This isn’t normal,” Raph growls as he stomps around the sight and looks around, as if Mikey is hiding and about to jump out and prank them. “Mikey’s stuff is here but there is no Mikey.”

“No, this isn’t normal,” Donnie agrees. He brushes off one of the wood handles of the weapon and blinks when a cloud of golden sparkles fall of it. “Why would there be sparkles on Mikey’s nun chucks? He knows he was banned by Master Splinter from using it ever since he glitter bombed the lair.”

“I’m still finding that stuff in my shell,” Raph grumbles.

A loud noise that sounds like a really big piece of fabric being ripped echoes behind them. Leo rushes forward to stand in front of Donnie with his swords at the ready as they watch a giant white swirling portal comes to life in front of them. All three of the turtle brothers are confused when the portal shows three other taller turtle brothers staring at them.

They step out and all six of the turtles blink at their counterparts wearing their same colors.

And they all notice the distinct lack of a hyper orange banded turtle.

“What’s this?” Raph growls as he pulls out his sai to point at the new turtles. “Some kind of new trick by the shredder?”

“No trick,” the taller blue banded turtle raises his hands in a show of no harm.

“We’re from another dimension,” the taller purple banded brother continues on. “Specifically, we’re from universe 2003 while this one, the one you three belong to, is universe 2007.”

“An’ I see that ya guys are also missin’ a Mikey,” the other red turtle growls.

“Calm down, Raph,” the taller Leo sighs at his brother.

“What do you mean ‘also missing a Mikey’?” Leo asks.

“Just like he said,” the taller Raph groans as he takes a look at the lonely pair of nun chucks in this universe’s Donnie’s hand. “Someone came and took our Mikey.”

“And they took your’s, too,” the taller Donnie concludes. “It looks like we were too late.”

“Who took our brother?” Raph roars as he stomped towards the new turtles. “I’ll kill ‘em.”

“Once a Raph, always a Raph,” taller Leo mutters under his breath before addressing the group. “We don’t know who took the Mikey’s. But…we do know it was another turtle from a different dimension.”

“What type of turtle who kidnap one of our own?” Leo asks with narrowed eye. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“We know,” other Donnie nods. “But we know what we saw and we saw a three fingered green hand from the cloak that took our Mikey.”

The three turtles belonging to this universe look down at their own hands and can’t fight the point that only one of their kind has that type of hand. Leo grips his hand tightly before locking eyes with the taller Leo. “What do we do?”

“How much experience do you guys have with dimension hoppers?” taller Leo grins as he crosses his arms.

“I would like to point out that this group of turtles is not surprised by the fact that the multiverse is real,” taller Donnie commented.

“You get used to it when you have to send 13 different monsters back to their own worlds,” Donnie shrugs.

“…good to know that all of us have some type of weird shit we’ve had to go through,” taller Raph laughs loudly.

“Okay,” Donnie claps his hands, taking over the role at the point guy as he is the most experienced with working with the machines to jump across dimensions. “Here’s what we are going to do…”

Universe 2018

Mikey gasps as he drops his paint brushes, his body losing tangibility again.

Leo looks over and immediately drops his swords that he was posing with to run to Mikey’s aid. His hands go right through his brother as his eyes and markings light up with power. Trailing his eyes down, he frowns when he sees the scars not glowing like they should be when Mikey is using his powers.

“Donnie! Raph!” Leo calls out at Mikey is completely frozen during this episode. “It’s happening again!”

Donnie and Raph rush over to see Mikey still in his frozen state. Donnie immediately lowers his goggles to take a reading while Raph hovers his hands around Mikey’s body like he wants to help but isn’t sure what to do. Donnie frowns as he looks at the readings and taps the side of his goggles.

“It’s that mystic feedback again,” Donnie answers as he taps again, taking a picture of Mikey’s state. “This isn’t normal at all.”

“I don’t like this,” Leo mutters as he looks Mikey over.

Mikey gasps again as he shudders out of his frozen state and collapses to the ground on his knees. Raph catches him before he can pitch forward and rubs his back as he coughs. Leo turns to Donnie and they have a silent conversation between the two of them.

It’s time to call Draxum.

Chapter Text

Universe 2003

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Leo asks as he peers at the two purple banded turtles tinkering with a strange looking machine. It was a device as long as his forearm that looked a lot like the thing they used when they met the silly versions of themselves.

“I told you, Leo,” his Donnie told him with a roll of his eyes. “I will not be sure until we test it.”

“What’s it suppose ta do anyways?” Raph grunts as he arm wrestles with the shorter version of himself. Despite being shorter, this turtle had some serious strength behind him.

“It’s going to be able to let us jump from dimension to dimension while also tracking which ones have already lost their Mikey,” other Donnie explained as he tightened a screw. He got up and went over to the computer where he pulled up a window. On it was various circle spread out with a few filled red and the rest filled with gray. “The red circles are the universes where we have confirmed that their Mikey is gone. The grays are all the ones we have to check still.”

“What if we find one with a Mikey?” other Leo asked as he peered around his brother’s shoulder.

“Then they would be filled with green,” other Donnie explained as he typed some more things. “Don, are things ready to go on your end?”

“Ready when you are,” Don said as he pressed a button on it.

“Here we go then,” other Donnie gulped as he typed a command in. Both Raph’s stopped their arm wrestling to join the group around the computer. There are a few tense moments of waiting as the computer loads.

They are rewarded when a number of the gray circles turn a blaring red. “Dammit!” Raph yells as he turns around and kicks a bucket. “That bastard is moving fast.”

“Too fast,” Leo frowns. “How can he be able to nab this many Mikey’s so fast?”

“I feel like he has someone helping him,” other Leo chimes in. He looks at the screen where there are only a few green circles left but what catches his eye is a tiny still grayed out circle hidden amongst the others. “What about this dimension?” other Leo asks as he points towards it.

Both the Donnie’s squint at the circle and press some buttons on the console to bring it to the front. “Huh,” Donnie breathes as he takes a step back. “There’s a dimension that doesn’t allow us to look into it.”

“Could that mean it’s the same one that took all the Mikey’s?” other Raph presses.

“It makes sense if they don’ wan’ us ta see who’s in there,” Raph grunts.

“Don’t jump to conclusions yet,” Donnie tells them. “It could be that this dimension has some type of interference that blocks outsiders looking in.”

“I say we go check it out,” Raph declares as he makes his way towards the portal generator.

“I agree with Raph,” Leo says before turning to the turtles from dimension 2007. “I think you three should go back to your own world for now.”

“What the hell?” other Raph explodes. “There’s no way we are going to sit back and wait while our brother is missing!”

“I never said for you to wait and do nothing,” Leo calmly tells them.

Other Leo narrows his eyes at the taller blue themed turtle. “What are you getting at?”

“Whoever is out there taking all the Mikey’s probably doesn’t know that the rest of us are able to get in contact with each other,” Leo explains as he reaches behind him to pull out a smaller version of the portal generator. “When the time comes, I believe we should have the surprise factor of bringing all us Leo’s, Donnie’s, and Raph’s to the fight.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” other Donnie mutters to his Leo.

Other Leo frowns before groaning and reaching his hand out for the device. “I don’t like it but I’m willing to go along.”

“Leo!” other Raph hisses.

“Raph!” other Leo hisses back.

They stare at each other for a moment, something being said silently between them before Raph growls and looks down at the ground in defeat. Other Donnie reaches over to pat his brother on the shell.

Other Leo turns back to bow towards the taller turtles curtly. “Please do not hesitate to call us if something happens,” he tells them. “We are willing to go anywhere to bring Mikey back to us.”

“We will,” Leo says as he bows back to them.

The turtles from universe 2007 get in close together and their Leo presses the button on his little device. A white portal opens up underneath them and they drop through, leaving universe 2003. Leo’s shoulders slump as he looks back at the screen displaying all the universes where the Mikey’s have been taken. They are heavily outweighing the circles showing green.

There are only 6 green circles and that one grayed circle among the sea of red.

Leo hisses sharply under his breath when one of the green circles fades away to red. “He got another Mikey,” Leo says as he points towards the circle that changed before his eyes. “I say we go now before he strikes again.”

“I’m gonna have to agree with ya for once, fearless,” Raph grins as he punch his right hand into his open left.

“Gather close then,” Donnie tells them as he gets the dimension jumper ready in his hands. “Let’s go find out what’s going on in that unknown dimension.”

Donnie presses the button on his device, opening another white portal that they fall through. It closes after they leave to bathe the lair in silence.

Up in Splinter’s room, he meditates as he thinks about all he heard from his three sons and their counterparts. He lifts his hands in front of him to send a prayer to the ancestors.

‘Please let mine and my counterpart’s Michelangelo’s get returned safely,’ he prays.

Universe 2018

“I’m telling you guys I’m fine now,” Mikey pouts with crossed arms as he sits on an examination table in Draxum’s lab.

“You’ve had the same episode two times in three days, Mikey,” Leo tells his little brother. “This is not normal.”

“We just want to be safe than sorry, big guy,” Raph says to Mikey as he stands out of the way of the three-member medical team of the Hamato clan.

“They are correct, Michelangelo,” Draxum says as he holds a glowing hand above Mikey’s head. “You should not be experiencing mystic feedback when you have not used your powers.”

“It might be a delayed reaction to me using it earlier in the day,” Mike tries to reason as he shrugs his arms. “I am feeling fine.”

“Say that again when you are freezing up and losing tangibility on the physical plane,” Donnie dryly says as he shows Draxum the readings he took before.

“I really don’t like the sound of that,” Draxum frowns as he pulls his hand away. “I cannot seem to find what is ailing Michelangelo.” Their creator turns to address his three oldest creations. “I would like one of you to be at Michelangelo’s side at all times until we can find the cause of these episodes.”

“Aw, noooooo,” Mikey groans dramatically. “I need some alone time, too, you know!”

“I think you lose those privileges when your own powers are attacking you when you aren’t using them,” Leo counters with a raised eye ridge. “Why? Got something to hide?”

“I’m sure you don’t want someone watching you when you have to use the bathroom,” Mikey responds with a tongue stuck out at his brother. “I still don’t like having someone breathing down my next every moment.”

“Fine, a compromise,” Donnie sighs as he places his hands together. “If this happens one more time – just one more – then you can kiss all your private time goodbye until we can figure out what is wrong with your powers.”

“If you think that is the right course of action, then I am inclined to agree with you,” Draxum nods. “But I do want to be advised the moment it happens again so that I can see it for myself.”

“You got it, Draxxy,” Leo winks at his creator, making the yokai roll his eyes.

“Let’s get home,” Raph tells them as he claps his hands. “It’s been a long day for all of us and I think it would help Mikey to get some rest.”

Mikey jumps off the table to climb up Raph’s spiky shell, finding his usual perch on his oldest brother’s shoulders. It was one of the many perks of being the youngest and smallest turtle of the bunch.

Leo takes his swords off his back and swipes them through the air to create a blue toned portal back home. Raph steps through first with Mikey hanging on him and Donnie follows after them. Leo is about to step through when Draxum tells him, “please remind Lou that I will be over this weekend for him to show me that new film.”

“Uhh…okay,” Leo nods before fully stepping through his portal. With the portal closed and Draxum’s eyes no longer him, Draxum lets out a shiver. “I don’t know why dad had to start dating Draxum.”

“Because they like each other!” Mikey chirps from his perch as he starts climbing down. “Isn’t it so great to have our two dads getting along?!”

“Only you think that, Mikester,” Leo sighs as he stretches his arms out. “I don’t know about you guys but I’m going to bed now. G’night all.”

“Night,” a chorus of voices ring out as they all separate to go their separate bedrooms.

Mikey brushes his teeth, takes off his mask and changes into his pajamas. He goes to everyone’s room to give them a hug before heading off to his hammock for the night. He listens as his three older brothers sneak a peek into his room to make sure he was okay. He lays there silently and cuddles his pillow to his plastron, all nice and warm in his blanket.

And when he hears three snores echoing out of three rooms, he lets his wide-awake eyes open right up.

Without a sound, Mikey floats out of his bed to let his blanket fall down quietly. With a snap of his fingers, his pajamas disappear in a show of golden sparkles and his orange mask floats off its stop on his bedside table over to his hands. Mikey raises his hands to tie his mask behind his head in a bow. Turning towards his door, he uses his powers to close it silently and conjures a spell that would make anyone that approaches his closed off room turn away and carry on with their task.

With that in place, Mikey snaps his fingers again to bring his cloak over to his shoulders. It settles nicely on him and Mikey reaches up with scarred fingers to tighten the knot at his neck.

“Alright,” Mikey says as he closes his eyes and inhales deeply. He exhales and lets his eyes open, the glow coming from them lighting up the room. His markings follow along and finally his scars light up with power. “Let’s get to work.”

He folds his legs up under him like before and places his hands on his knees. Closing his eyes, he searches through the dimensions around him for another Michelangelo. He groans quietly to himself as it gets harder and harder to find a dimension containing one of his counterparts. But, he had to do this while he was still able to be left alone.

His brothers couldn’t find out about this.

Not yet.

Finally, after a few grueling minutes of finding nothing, he feels a pull on his core. Opening his eyes, Mikey grins at the sight of a glowing portal that displays orange themed turtle riding his skateboard down a sewer pipe. Mikey lets his legs fall out of their crossed position and floats over to the portal. He pokes a finger at it, letting it ripple before sinking his entire hand in.

“Let’s go grab you before it’s too late,” Mikey whispers to himself as he disappears into the portal. It closes behind him and engulfs the room back into the darkness of nighttime.

And no one in the lair was none the wiser of their youngest member disappearing to another dimension to kidnap one of his counterparts.

Chapter Text

Universe 1987

Ronin frowned down at the alleyway he was watching.

This world was bright – too bright – compared to his own. It seemed like it was not as technologically advanced and if he had to guess, they were still somewhere between the 1980’s and 1990’s. He had read about it in old books but it was a memory from long ago at this point. Ronin hadn’t believed that there were universes out there that had such a time difference from his own.

Until he met the Mikey from the caveman time period dimension and his disbelief went flying out the window.

Ronin looked out at the cityscape in boredom as he waited for his target to appear. Michelangelo had said he was going to be luring out this dimension’s Mikey once he arrived but he was taking forever. The magic using orange themed turtle had sent Ronin ahead of him while he put away the Mikey they had taken right before this one.

From what Ronin was told, that Mikey was from universe 2011. He had given a fight to the best of his abilities but he was still no match for the ronin and a magic user. They had managed to take away that Mikey before that dimension’s Leo, Donnie, and Raph had figured out anything was wrong.

“You shouldn’t be doing this, Mikey,” Leo’s ghostly voice said from behind him.

“I know,” Ronin nodded in agreement but didn’t turn. He hadn’t heard from his dead brothers in a while so this was a surprise. It used to startle him when they just appeared but he had gotten used to it.

“Then why?” Raph’s gruff voice demanded. Ronin took a small moment to pretend that he was back in the past and his brothers were interrogating him on a prank he pulled on all of them. The only things that were different was that he was in a different universe, he was a lot older and jaded, and his entire family beside April and her daughter were dead.

Actually…that’s a lot of differences.

“To bring all of you back, duh,” Ronin answered with a roll of his eyes. “Thought that was pretty clear.”

“We don’t want you to do this,” Donnie pleaded with his younger brother. “We want you to move on and live your life.”

“And I want to live my life with all of you,” Ronin growled lowly, clenching his fist around the bright red bricks of the roof’s outcropping he was leaning on. “I am doing this for all of us.”

“By getting your hands dirty?” Raph snarled.

“You wouldn’t even be able to tell with all the dirt already on them,” Ronin scoffed. “All of you left me behind to finish our mission alone.”

“What about all the other versions of us that is having their Mikey’s taken?” Leo pushed, coming around to put himself in Ronin’s sight. “Are you either of you thinking about how they are feeling about their baby brother? Do either of you even care?”

“They’ll get them back,” Ronin rebutted, turning his head to look at the ghostly see-through form of his dead oldest brother. “The boss Michelangelo said that they’ll get returned when everything is over.”

“How do you know he’s not lying?” Donnie pointed out, coming to Ronin’s other side. “He could just as well be using you to get what he wants.”

“Then it’s a mutual relationship,” Ronin huffs as he turns his head to ignore his brother. “I’m only in this to get all of you back. I don’t care about anything else.”

“There’s gotta be a catch or something,” Raph pushes. He comes up to stand behind Ronin and stays out of his eyesight. His older red loving brother always was the most cynical of the brothers when it came to new people.

“There’s no way he can bring back all these dead people and not have something type of drawback from it,” Donnie muses. The genius of the group was trying to think this through from different angles like his brain demanded him to do.

“There’s something he’s not telling you, Mikey,” Leo sighs softly. “We don’t want you getting mixed up with someone bad just for our sake.” The leader in blue always had a soft spot for the youngest of the brothers. He always tried to spar Ronin of the worst things to the best of his ability and would put himself in the line of fire to protect him.

But he wasn’t there anymore.

They all left Ronin behind in the land of the living to suffer all by himself.

“Shut up!” Ronin yells, turning to face the disapproving faces of his dead brothers. Raph stands with his arms crossed while Donnie is holding one elbow with the opposite hand. Leo stands with his arms tensed at his side like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. “I don’t care if you don’t want it! I want it!” Ronin slams a large hand on his damaged plastron and snarls at his brothers. “I am going to be selfish this time! I want my family back and if working with this crazy version of myself will do it, then I don’t care how far I have to go!”

“We never wanted this for you,” Leo whispers and reaches a ghostly hand towards Ronin who dodges it with a frown. Leo brings his hand back with a sadden look that made Ronin’s gut clench.

“Too bad,” Ronin growls as he turns away and looks back down at the alleyway. He can see the manhole moving and a familiar orange banded turtle peeks his head out. Looks like he wasn’t going to have to wait for his magic using counterpart to lure out this dimension’s Mikey out after all. Stepping up on the edge of the roof, he crouches down in a reminiscent pose of a gargoyle on the edge of a cathedral. “I’m going to bring dad, Casey, and all of you back to life and we are going to get our happily ever after.”

Ronin doesn’t wait for a response from the three apparitions that he still couldn’t figure out if they were the actual spirits of his dead brothers or a hallucination his mind came up with to cope with their deaths. He feels the air rush by him as he approaches the ground. Preparing his legs, Ronin lands in a superhero landing, wanting to give off an air of intensity. The ground sinks below him a fraction as the force from his large frame hits it.

His knees were going to be yelling at him later for that.

He pulls himself up to his full height slowly to bring the most amount of bone-chilling fear to the turtle in front of him. He’s found it to be easier to instill the fear of god into his counterparts to throw them off balance. Ronin had no clue how this smaller turtle’s fighting ability was so he need to throw the Mikey off his game as soon as possible.

It was easy to fight a Mikey when you thought like a Mikey to begin with.

This universe’s Michelangelo looked up at the new and brooding turtle with wide eyes as he was half out of the manhole. “Woah, dudes, talk about seeing double,” he goofily laughed.

Ronin did not laugh. He looked down at the shorter and rounded turtle with a blank look. Ronin reached down and grabbed the smaller version of himself with a large hand and held him up in the air. The smaller Mikey struggles with a growing panic in his voice.

“Did I make someone upset or something, dude?” the smaller Mikey asks in a way to try and cover up the way he was getting scared.

“On the contrary,” Ronin muses to his counterpart who freezes at his gravelly voice, “we are very happy to see you.”

Ronin swings the arm holding his counterpart out to the side and slams the turtle’s head on the concrete. The Mikey of this dimensions slumps as he is knock unconscious. Ronin lifts the turtle to hang him over his shoulder to free up his hand.

“Wow, you didn’t even need me,” Michelangelo giggles from behind him.

“Took you long enough,” Ronin grunted.

“I had something to take care of at the homebase before coming here,” Michelangelo said with a light tone of his voice. “I thought you would enjoy travelling to a new dimension and taking in the sights.”

Ronin sighs to himself before turning to the boss Mikey of the operation. “I would rather be in and out,” Ronin grunts as he adjusts the turtle on his shoulder. “This dimension is too bright for my tastes and is giving me a headache.”

“You wouldn’t like to see mine then,” Michelangelo grins and twists in the air, letting his cloak flutter as it followed him. “It’s not as intense as this one but it is still pretty colorful. It’s honestly so beautiful, especially at night with all the lights.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Ronin rolled his eyes. There was something strange with Michelangelo in the way he could switch between being sweet and goofy to crazed and serious.  “Can we get out here?”

“Your wish is my command,” Michelangelo teases with a dramatic bow. The cloaked Mikey turns to face the empty space behind him and pokes a scarred three-fingered green hand out of his cloak. He snaps his shaky hand and a glowing orange portal swirls to life in front of them.

“Can I ask you something?” Ronin pipes up all of a sudden. There had been something on the aged turtle’s mind for a while but never knew when to ask.

“Yes?” Michelangelo answers back with a lazy smile. Glowing orange twinkled in the bright colors of this dimension’s New York City to make them almost neon is display.

“How come you don’t wear a mask?” Ronin asks as he raises a hand to point to his own dirtied mask. Even when he was wearing all black in his pursuit of revenge, he still wore one. He’s noticed that all the Michelangelo’s across the dimensions that they have come across all wore a mask in some shape or form.

“Reasons,” Michelangelo shrugs as he slowly floats towards the patiently waiting portal. “Let’s just say that I didn’t need it anymore.”

“That’s strange,” Ronin frowned.

“Not much stranger than all the weird shit our different dimensions have thrown at us.”

“That’s true,” Ronin shrugged. He let his question fall as he knew he wasn’t going to get the real answer anytime soon.

Ronin lifted his leg to step into the portal and let orange filled his vision as he is transported to a different dimension.

Chapter Text

Universe ???

“You seem to getting quite a collection of us,” Ronin commented as he carried a smaller version of himself over his shoulder.

“We need all of them to make our wishes come true,” Michelangelo hums floats next to the aged turtle. He holds a scarred hand in the air and the turtle from universe 1987 is lifted into the air off of Ronin’s shoulder. He is then frozen into an orange crystal between the Michelangelo’s from universes 2007 and 1990. The black and white Michelangelo from universe 1984 a few crystals down has a grimace frozen on his face in the crystal. Numerous Michelangelo’s from various dimensions line the wall, some floating above others. It was a large increase from when Ronin first joined the magic user.

“How many more are left?” Ronin asks as he takes in the sheer number of his counterparts there were.

“Not many more,” Michelangelo hums as he floats back and turns to look at the universe map displayed in the middle of the room. It looks like a swirling galaxy but there are spots in it to show if a certain universe contains a Michelangelo or not. “The interesting part is the few variations of ourselves disappearing before I can get to them.”

“Does it matter if they are collected as well?” Ronin grunts. “We’ve gotten such a large collection already.”

“Of course, it matters!” Michelangelo booms as he turns to the diamond back terrapin. “Those few that are missing are among the handful of Michelangelo’s that stand out in their power prowess. We need all the power we can get to fulfill both of our wishes! They are like super generators compared to these regular batteries!”

“Then where are they?” Ronin asks with a lifted eye ridge, his dark with dirt orange mask shifting on his face. “Turtles that powerful don’t just disappear, especially from magic like yours from what I’ve seen.”

“That’s what I’m wondering, too,” Michelangelo hums as he looks closer at the remaining Michelangelo’s.

It certainly was strange.

Michelangelo shrugged to himself as he chose one of the universes that had what he needed. “Alright Ronin,” he called over. “Let’s go grab one more and then we can stop for the day.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Ronin yawns widely, stretching his arms out of his side.

Michelangelo raised a scarred hand and spun it to open an orange toned portal to another dimension. Despite his efforts, a large feral smile made its way across his face.

It was time to go hunting again.

Universe 2012

Leo was in the dojo practicing his katas. Last he saw, Mikey was in the living room enjoying one of his new comics. Raph was cleaning his room and Donnie was working on something in his lab. April and Casey were out doing human stuff and weren’t due to come back to the lair until much later. With everyone doing their own things, Leo felt himself slip into his training with the swishes of air cut by his swords being his background noise.

So, he jumps a foot in the air when he hears a screech from the living room.

He sheathes his swords on the back of his shell and throws the doors open to see a visitor standing in front of his youngest brother laid out on the floor in surprise.

“Hi there, Leo,” Renet waves at him happily. “Good to see you!”

“I heard a yell!” Raph yells as he stomps into the room with Donnie running out of his lab. They spot the time master apprentice in their home and let the tension bleed out of their shoulders. “Oh, it’s just Renet.”

“Nice to see you as well, Raph,” Renet giggles.

“Not that it’s bad to see you,” Donnie says as he reaches down to help Mikey off the floor. “But what are you doing here? Do we need to stop another invasion or something?”

“Or something,” Renet answers cryptically as she turns around and holds her scepter out in front of her.

“You want to explain more there, dudette?” Mikey asks as he brushes off his behind. He was in the middle of reading a comic where different versions of the same guy from different dimensions were being gathered for some reason. He was interrupted before he could find out why.

“Not at the moment,” Renet hums as she crouches into a defensive pose. “I would recommend protecting Michelangelo though,” she tells them.

All of them jolt at the advice, all scared at the indication that something was coming for the orange turtle. Leo leaps across the room to stand in front of Mikey towards where Renet was facing and drew his swords out. Raph and Donnie took up positions on either side of Mikey with Donnie holding Mikey close to him by his shoulders. Mikey just blinks to himself in confusion at the thought of someone coming for him.

A portal opens in the lair in front of Renet and she gets lower in her crouch with a determined expression on her face. Leo, Donnie, and Raph raises their weapons higher. Donnie pushes Mikey a bit more behind him to try and cover him with his taller frame.

Three figures fall out of the portal and everyone straightens in surprise at the sight of three taller mutant ninja turtles being deposited in their dimension. Renet raises herself out of her defensive stance but doesn’t lower her scepter. She actually points it at them with a face of confusion and authority.

“Who are you and why are you in this dimension?” she demands from them.

“We mean no harm,” the blue banded turtle raises his hands to show he wasn’t a danger to them and elbows the two other turtles. The red one grumbles before he does it while the purple one follows along easily. “We’ve come to check out this dimension as a result of something happening in ours.”

“Woah, dudes,” Mikey marvels as he peeks out from his brothers and makes the other turtles look at him in shock and surprise. “We got more other versions of us.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to get anymore versions of us after those weird turtles came over here,” Leo comments as he puts his swords away. Seeing their leader put his weapon away, Donnie and Raph also put theirs away but don’t let up on their guard in front of Mikey.

“That’s what supposed to happen,” Renet answers. “My boss and I locked down this dimension to prevent any baddies from other places harming this dimension’s protectors.”

“She means us!” Mikey interjects happily.

“Not the time, Mikey,” Donnie mutters to his brother.

“And who are you?” the taller purple banded turtle asks.

“I am Renet,” she grins slyly as she keeps her scepter out in front of her. “Assistant time master in training.”

“Woah, didn’t expect to find another Renet here,” the purple banded turtle says.

“There’s a me in your universe?!” Renet squeals happily, dropping her scepter to her side.

“Yup,” the red turtle nodded. “Us n’ her are friends.”

“I’m going to take a wild shot in the dark and guess that you three are our counterparts,” Donnie says with a roll of his eyes.

“I’m guessing the masks gave it away,” the purple banded turtle also rolled his eyes. “I’m Donatello but I guess you could tell that already. Call me Don to not get us confused.”

“I’m Leonardo,” the taller blue turtle bowed in a way that reminded this dimension’s turtles of their own Leo. “I am not sure what you should call me to not get us confused though.”

“Call ‘em fearless,” the red banded taller turtle smirks as he slaps his brother on the shoulder. “Since he’s such a fearless leader.”

“Shut it, Raph,” Fearless growls at his brother.

“Hey, it’s what I call you, Leo,” Raph laughs out loud.

“I guess some things are the same even in different dimensions,” the other Raph grins and crosses his arms. “Saved the best for last but I’m Raph if ya can’t tell. You can call me Ra.”

Mikey, barely holding back his excitement from meeting more versions of his brothers, bursts away from his brothers even though Donnie reaches out to him with an exclamation. “Where’s the other me?!” Mikey demands excitedly. His short mask tails bounce up-and-down as his excitement can’t be contained.

Fearless, Don, and Ra look at each other and back at the little Mikey with sad eyes. This little Mikey reminded them so much of their own. It had only been a few days since their orange brother was taken right in front of them but it felt like forever. “We…don’t know,” Fearless admits with a fall of his shoulders.

“What do you mean by that?” Leo asks with a frown. Something about this didn’t feel good.

“Someone came into our dimension and turtle-napped our Mikey,” Don explains as he takes a step closer towards Mikey who looks at him with an expression of awe.

Leo surges forward to grab his brother and pull him behind his back. “And what does this have to deal with our Mikey?”

“That same someone that took our Mikey is taking all the Mikey’s,” Don stresses as he wrings his hands together. “We’ve already met another dimension that theirs was taken and when we checked a dimension map, very few had their Mikey still. This dimension was grayed out still so we came to investigate and find out why.”

“That would be me,” Renet piped up as she raised her scepter above her head. “Part of a dimensional lockdown is preventing a dimensional map from showing who is in it. Since we cannot completely shut it down, this is the major function of it.”

“How many Mikey’s are left?” Donnie asks as he approaches the group of new turtles.

Don pulls out his device and displays the map. He grimaces when he sees the number of green circles had gone down again. “Five,” Don answers with a somber voice. “Not including you since you guys are this little gray circle here.” Donnie points towards their universal marker that is hidden behind a wall of red circles.

“Why are we so small?” Raph huffs.

“Again, that would be me,” Renet says. “We are able to hide your marker behind other dimensions to bring less attention to it.”

“Shit,” Don curses, bringing everyone’s attention back to him. He points to a red circle on the map. “There are now four dimensions left that have a Mikey.”

“This is very concerning,” Renet mumbles to herself. She points her scepter behind her and opens one of her portals. “I have to go have a talk with Lord Simultaneous. Don’t kill each other! Okay, have fun! Bye!” Renet waves as she leaves through her portal and it closes behind her.

“…is she like that in your dimension also?” Raph asks with a nod towards his counterpart.

“She’s another constant, it seems like,” Ra grins.

“What should we do?” Donnie demands from his counterpart as he looks over at Mikey who is staring at the dimensional map. The purple brother can only guess what is running through his younger brother’s head.

“As long as they keep this dimension locked down, then that guy shouldn’t know you still have a Mikey here,” Don answers.

“Who is this guy you keep talking about?” Raph demands. “I’ll beat their face in if they try and take Mikey from us.”

“It’s another one of us,” Ra answers with a cold look. “I saw ‘em right before they took our Mikey and I saw a green three-fingered hand that looks a lot like all of ours.” Everyone looks down at their hands that resemble each other. “Though, no one we’ve met yet has had the same hands yet.”

“I have an idea,” Fearless spoke up, gaining everyone’s attention. “I say we use this dimension as a hiding spot for the remaining Mikeys to prevent them from being taken. Then we can travel to other dimensions to find the turtle that’s been taking them all.”

“Doesn’t that place our Mikey in danger?” Donnie asks with narrowed eyes. He comes to stand in front of Mikey with Leo to create a barrier.

“As long as that turtle doesn’t find out, it should be safe,” Don answers carefully. “Ra saw this turtle’s hand clearly so he will be able to tell us the moment he recognizes it.”

“An’ I am definitely not forgetting it for a very long time,” Ra growls.

Leo looks over at Mikey who hasn’t said anything in a while. Mikey’s eyes are focused directly on the map that shows all the dimensions where his counterparts had been stolen from their brothers. Leo looks up at Donnie who has an unreadable expression to everyone but Leo and over to Raph who looks angry. Taking a deep breathe, Leo squared his shoulders and looked up at the turtles from another dimension.

“We’re in,” Leo told them.

Chapter Text

Universe 2016

“C’mon guys,” Leo grins as they run through the walkways high up in the basketball arena. “You know the drill: let’s get that box from Mikey.”

“Aww, c’mon dudes!” Mikey groans as his brothers take the pizza box away from him.

“You know you’d eat it all if we didn’t stop ya,” Raph grunts as he takes the box and tosses it over to Donnie.

“I would never!” Mikey places a hand on his plastron dramatically and blinked his eyes innocently.

“It’s happened three times in the past two months,” Donnie deadpans as he tosses the box over to Leo.

“I have no memory of that,” Mikey says as he crosses his arms and looks off to the side. As he crosses his arms, he feels something missing on his person. He pats his sides and feels he is missing a pair of his nun chucks. “Aww, shell dudes,” Mikey groans as he slows down his pace.

“What is it?” Leo asks as he slows down, too.

“I lost a pair of my chucks,” Mikey answers as he looks behind him. “They must have slipped out on the roof somewhere. You guys go ahead and I’ll catch up.”

“I’ll go with you,” Leo states as he starts backtracking towards his brother.

“You don’t have to do that, bro,” Mikey smiles as he interlocks his hands behind his head. “Go enjoy the game.”

“No,” Leo shakes his head. “No one goes alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” Mikey groans dramatically. “I’ll be in and out in like two minutes; three tops.”

“Just let’em go,” Raph grunts as he stands near the edge of their viewing space of the basketball game. “He’s a big boy that can handle himself.”

“The game is gonna start without us,” Donnie adds as he looks down at the court.

Leo harshly sighs and reaches up to rub his head. He takes a moment to think before pointing a finger at his brother. “Three minutes,” Leo orders. “That’s all you got before I come check on you.”

“You got it, Leo,” Mikey winks with a snap of his fingers. “I’m like a rabbit. In and out with a hop.”

“You’re a turtle, dufus,” Raph rolled his eyes.

“Clocks ticking, Mikey,” Leo reminded him with a tap to his naked wrist.

Mikey yelps turning and making his way back from where they came. Raph and Donnie jump down to watch the game in the jumbotron but Leo stays where he is. He keeps an eye for where Mikey would be returning as he taps his foot.

“You gotta let up at some point, Leo,” Raph says from below him. “He might be a scatterbrain but he was trained by Master Splinter just like the rest of us. He knows how to protect himself if anything happens.”

“Nothing better happen,” Leo growls, not moving his eyes. Below him, he can hear the sound of the game starting. “We defeated the shredder and the kraang so there’s should be anyone to mess with us.”

“Then what are you so worried about?” Donnie sighs as he grabs a slice of pizza.

“I’m not sure,” Leo admits. “But there is something gnawing at me the last few days.”

“You sure you’re not constipated?” Raph asks which Leo shoots him a dirty look for. “What?! It’s a valid question!”

“No, I’m not constipated,” Leo harshly sighs as he pinches his nose bridge. “Dee, how long has Mikey been gone?”

Donnie looks down at his wrist and hums as he takes a bite of his pizza. “Three minute and twenty-four seconds.”

“I’m going to go grab him,” Leo tells him as he starts leaving.

Leo thinks he hears Donnie and Raph say something as he leaves but he doesn’t pay attention. He picks up speed as he climbs up the entrance to roof, his gut telling him something was wrong.

He was proven right when he finds a floating cloaked figure holding out a green three-fingered scarred hand towards his brother who stares at it god-smacked. Leo gapes at the sight for a second before he is pulling his swords of their sheathes and rushes towards the figure. “Mikey!”

Mikey looks over with a surprised look and something uncertain flashing in his eyes. The figure turns towards him to let Leo see a pair of glowing orange eyes in the darkness of the hood. Another hand comes out of the cloak and snaps his fingers at the leader of the brothers. Golden chains burst out of the ground to wrap around Leo’s limbs, holding him in place. The figure turns back towards Mikey and his brother looks down at the hand held out to him.

“Will you come with me?” the figure with a young sounding voice asks.

“Mikey! What is going on?!” Leo yells towards his brother.

Mikey looks back-and-forth from his struggling brother in the chains and the scarred hand in front of him. Leo watches as Mikey closes his eyes and gulps…before raising his hand to place in the offered smaller hand. The cloaked figure’s hand tightens around his brother’s.

“Get your hands off my brother!” Raph’s tell-tale roar comes from behind Leo.

Two large turtles go barreling past Leo to try and attack the cloaked figure. Leo can see the figure slump as if he sighed in aggitation before he snaps the hand not holding Mikey’s hand again. More chains come out to grab at Leo’s younger brothers. Donnie is caught quickly but Raph bulldozes straight through them.

Leo sees the figure’s glowing eyes narrow in displeasure as he snaps again to summon more chains to contain the muscle of the group. Raph growls as more chains come out and roars when he is finally pinned down by three times as many glowing chains than his two other brothers.

“Mikey, who is this?!” Donnie demands as he pulls against his chains. He sharply nods to make his goggles lowers on his face. “What’s going on?!”

Mikey looks downcast for a moment before turning to his brothers with a sad smile. “Uh, bros, it seems like I have to go somewhere for a bit,” he tells them.

“Remember what we said about stranger danger!” Donnie yells at his brother.

“He’s not really a stranger though,” Mikey mutters to himself but they all can hear it.

“Do not worry,” the figure tells the brothers as he waves his hand and a glowing orange portal opens behind him. “I will bring him back when everything is done.”

“You’re not taking him anywhere!” Leo roars, straining his muscles to break free and failing. “Mikey, get away from him!”

“Sorry dudes,’ Mikey shakes his head as he steps towards the portal with the cloaked figure. “He needs my special Michelangelo patented charm,” Mikey chuckles lightly to try to diffuse the situation which doesn’t work.

“Mikey!” they all yell at they pull against their chains.

“See you bros later,” Mikey salute as he disappears through the portal with the cloaked figure. It closes behind them and the chains disappears at the same time.

Leo, Donnie, and Raph all fall forward from the force they were pulling at the chains when they disappeared. Leo catches himself at the last moment while Donnie falls straight on his face. Raph falls to his knees before pushing himself up to run to the spot where the portal was. He turns and roars, kicking the brick outcropping of the roof which breaks it.

Leo bends over to help Donnie off the ground and his genius brother nods in thanks. With Donnie off the ground, Leo takes a deep breath before stepping over to his rage filled brother.

“Raph—” Leo starts.

“What was that?!” Raph demands as he whirls on Leo. “All Don ‘n I know is that we are watching the game and then we hear you scream out Mikey’s name! We come out to find you wrapped up in those chains and some freaky guy got our brother!”

“I don’t know!” Leo grunts at his brother. “I came up and found that guy offering his hand out to Mikey and he took it on his own accord!” Leo throws his hands in the air as he paces around. “Something happened while Mikey was alone and we don’t know what because I listened to you and let Mikey got off on his own! I should never had listened to you,” Leo hisses as he pushes Raph’s shoulder.

“Are you saying it’s my fault?” Raph growls as he pushes Leo back. “Big words coming from the guy that got trapped first.”

“Stop fighting, you two,” Donnie groans as he gets in between his brothers. “We’ve got more important things than your two’s power struggle.”

“Do you have something?” Leo asks. Donnie nods and displays a holographic screen showing the figure and some readings on the side. “What are we dealing with?”

“It looks like we are dealing with other dimensions again,” Donnie answers as he places his fingers on the screen and pulled them apart to zoom in on the figure. It showed the hand holding Mikey’s, making Raph lean in and squint at it.

“Hey, that’s one of our hands,” Raph points out.

“That it is,” Donnie nods.

The sound of ripping echoes behind them and the three brothers whip around to see another portal, this time white, opening behind them. They all pull their weapons out and aimed at the portal for whatever comes out of it.

Three more turtles, all identical aside from their mask colors, come jumping out and immediately spot the turtles in front of them. The new red masked turtle curses and kicks a loose rock on the roof.

“Dammit! We were too late again!” the red turtle yells.

“Who are you?” Leo demands with his swords pointed at the group. “Are you with the turtle that took Mikey?”

“We’re you from another dimension,” the purple turtle says as he points towards him. “I’m Donatello but you can call me Don. That’s Leo,” Don says as he points at his narrowed eyed blue brother. “You can call him fearless to avoid confusion with names. And that is Raph,” he says as he points at the red brother. “You can call him Ra.”

“Then where’s your Mikey?” Raph demands.

“He was taken,” Fearless answers, looking at the trio of turtles in front of him. “And I’m going to take a guess that it was the same guy that just took your Mikey.”

“You know who has our brother,” Leo states.

“We know it’s another turtle and that he’s young,” Ra tells him. “I saw his hands ‘n you can’t mistake one of our hands.”

“I would like to point out that Mikey went with him willingly,” Donnie says as he pulls up the projection of the figure again. It shows their Mikey with his hand in the cloaked figure’s hand.

“What?” Fearless blinks in confusion. “Our Mikey was taken forcefully.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Don mutters to himself. “Why would he be different in the ways he takes Mikey’s?”

“None of this makes sense!” Ra roars as he stomps a foot. “It doesn’t make sense that something is taking all of the Mikey’s in the multiverse!”

“I’m surprised you guys are more amazed about the fact that the multiverse exists,” Don says to Donnie.

Donnie takes a moment to think and Don can swear he can see the loading screen in his counterpart’s head. Donnie’s mouth drops open and he raises his hands to grab his head. “Great Galileo! The multiverse is real!”

“There it is,” Don chuckles softly to himself. “You’re the first universe that’s had that reaction so far.”

“You’ve been to other dimensions?” Leo asks, catching onto that fact.

“Yes,” Fearless nods. “All the ones we’ve been to had already had their Mikey taken except for one. They have a very special friend high up that is able to make their dimension from unable from being found right away.”

“Then we need to go there and get ready for when this bastard strikes again,” Raph growls as he punches his left fist into his right hand.

“I think it would better for you three to stay here until we give you the battle signal,” Fearless says.

“No way,” Leo shakes his head. “This turtle took our brother. That means war.”

“You aren’t leaving us behind,” Raph growls.

“I have his energy readings,” Donnie pipes in helpfully. “I can set up a sensor for when he gets close to us again.”

Fearless, Don, and Ra look at each other in silent conversation before they nod. Fearless holds his hand out to Leo. “Alright, let’s get going then.”

Leo reaches forward to grab Fearless’s hand. Don presses a button on his device and another portal opens up underneath them, swallowing all six turtles up to take them to a different dimension.

Hours later, court officials would be confused when a box of cold pizza falls out of the jumbotron.

Chapter Text

Universe 2018

Mikey gasps as he crashes onto the ground of his room.

He holds a scarred hand over his mouth to muffle his groans as the feeling of lightening shoots across his body. His markings light up and there is no doubt that his eyes are following along as well. His cloak provides a bare minimum of comfort for his body against the rough ground of his bedroom.

Peeling his eyes open, Mikey shakily raises his other hand to watch as his body loses tangibility again and he can see the ceiling of his bedroom through it. Tears threatening to escape gather in his eyes and distort his vision. Carefully turning his hand towards him, Mikey bends his fingers before slamming them on the clasp of his cloak, sending a small blast of energy into his plastron.

Mikey gasps again as his powers are sealed, preventing any more of it from being drained from him. Everything becomes clearer as pain fueled tears sink back into his eyes and he stops glowing. His cloak transforms in a shift of energy into a copy of his favorite hoodie that was just slightly big on him. Pushing himself up on shaky arms, Mikey grabs onto his hammock to stand himself up.

His legs shake underneath him and Mikey barely falls into his hammock before they give out. An arm is sluggishly raised to be thrown over his eyes and cover his face. The feeling of fabric on fabric has him pulling away and realizing he still has his mask on. Mikey grabs his mask with two fingers and throws it in the air, letting it fall on the ground wherever it landed.

His arm flops back down and he uses just enough of his energy to roll over and pull his blanket up on himself. Mikey looks over to his clock in the corner of his room to see that he still has a few hours until he is expected to usually wake up.

He sighs in relief at the thought of getting some rest and hopes that it would be enough to recuperate his energy levels.

Mikey didn’t know how much longer he would be able to survive with his plummeting power levels.

It was getting hard playing dumb with his brothers, especially Draxum who could see through his lies when it came to use the mystic arts. It was only a matter of time until they figured out what was going on. Mikey’s brothers had only seen two of his episodes but there had been quite a few more. He had been lucky that the two instances his brothers saw weren’t the times where his body was almost completely gone.

Mikey turned his head to look at the mirror in his room. In his reflection, he could see himself and for a second, his eyes lit up in a golden glow. He blinked and then they were gone. Frowning, Mikey turned over in his hammock and lifted his blanket over his head.

He needed to get this wish stuff finished before he faded away completely.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Mikey?” Leo asked as he bent over and looked Mikey in the eye. The hood of Leo’s trademarked blue hoodie casted a shadow over his face in the basketball court they were using but Mikey could see his brother just fine.

“I’ll be fine,” Mikey yawned as he pushed his brother away from him. He reached up to rub at his eyes with the cuff of his hoodie. It was just enough oversized that it covered his once-upon-a-time stable hands when relaxed at his sides. When he would tuck himself into his shell, it would cover him completely and leave him a cocoon of warmth. “Just didn’t feel like I got a good night of sleep,” Mikey lied.

“We can always reschedule, Master Michelangelo,” Casey told the orange themed turtle as he tucks the basketball against his side.

Mikey huffs and reaches forward to flick Casey on the forehead, making the boy yelp. “I told you to call me Mikey.”

“Sorry Mas—Mikey,” Casey apologized, correcting himself quickly when he saw the stink eye Mikey was giving him. “I get the two of you confused more now with how fast you are progressing with your training.”

“I bet Mikey was the coolest in the future,” Leo grinned, looking down at his brother as he hypes him up.

“Ugh, Leo,” Mikey groaned as he felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

“Oh, the coolest!” Casey beams as he gushes about the mystic master in his timeline. “Master Michelangelo was a force all his own on the battlefield! He could summon unbelievable lengths of mystic chains across entire battlefields to decimate kraang zombies with a flick of his wrist! He was an actual living legend!”

Leo regarded Mikey with a side eye as he tried imagining his peace-loving brother being such a force of nature. Mikey turned towards his brother and gave him a wink with a smirk.

“Oh!” Casey brightened as he remembered other things. “Master Michelangelo had powers that could heal people, teleport them, freeze anyone in their spots, and control so many things! Did I ever tell you that Master Michelangelo almost never touched his feet to the ground?!”

“I was always flying?” Mikey asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah!” Casey nodded. “Whenever you placed your feet on the ground, that’s when we knew you were getting serious!”

“I wonder if we should get you to learn how to heal people,” Leo pondered as he rubbed his chin.

“Be careful with that,” Casey warned as his happy demeanor dropped. “Too much extreme power usage aged you a lot faster and healing was the most draining of your powers.”

“Seriously?” Mikey scowled.

“Seriously,” Casey nodded. “It was banned by Master Leonardo unless completely dire situations.”

“And this Leo is banning it too,” Leo told him with complete seriousness and determination on his. “As your leader and your big brother.”

“Cowabummer,” Mikey pouted as he looked down at his feet.

Leo reached out to lay a hand on Mikey’s shoulder, having him look up. “I’m not saying that you can’t handle it, little brother,” Leo grinned. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you when there are other ways to heal someone. Like, let’s make Draxum actually prove his mystic alchemist title for once.”

Mikey let a smile take over his face and rolled his eyes. He leaned forward to grab Leo around his middle in a hug which the blue themed brother was quick to return. “It’s okay Leo. I promise I’ll be careful with my powers. I know how far I can push myself and when to stop.”

“I sure hope so,” Leo huffed as he pulled away from the hug. “You’re only been practicing with Draxum for half a year at this point and I am still worried that you are progressing too fast.”

“That’s probably because of his natural talent for it,” Casey piped up. “Baron Draxum and Master Donatello always said that since Master Michelangelo had the most natural talent for the mystic arts, he flew through the training books faster than almost every mystic warrior can.”

Leo looked back at Mikey who was looking away sheepishly. “Mikey…” Leo said with a warning tone. “…how many books have you already gone through?”

Leo and Casey could see the sweat drops forming on Mikey’s brow as he looked anywhere but his brother.

“Mikey…” Leo growled lowly again.

“Oh…I don’t know,” Mikey chuckled as reached up to rub the back of his head through the fabric of his hood. “I’m not really a math guy. That’s more Don Don’s department.”

“I don’t like how you are avoiding the question,” Leo pointed a finger at his brother with narrowed eyes.

“Avoiding the question?” Mikey echoed make with a high-pitched voice. “I would neeevvvveeeerrrr. Hah ha……”

“CASSANDRA JONES!” a cackle was the only warning Leo got before a force of nature (a.k.a. one Cassandra Jones) launched herself at Leo’s back in a sneak attack.

Leo was forced to the ground with a rush of air escaping his lungs. Cassandra stood above him with her fists planted on her hips while she laughed at him. April approached the group at a leisurely pace compared to her companion that bolted when she saw that Leo’s back was turned. Casey bent down to help Leo off of the ground while Mikey deflated in relief at the distraction.

Leo groaned as he picked himself up and stretch his back out. “Did you have to tackle me like that, Cass?”

“You’re back was turned and your defenses were down,” Cass told him with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow…before letting a large smirk take over her face. “Of course, I had to.” She dropped her arms to clap her hands together once. “Now, let’s show junior here how to play some basketball.”

“I’m going to go set up shop on the bleachers,” April told them as she pointed towards her chosen seat. “I got a paper to work on and I’d rather use my deadline extension pass for the next world ending crisis.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Leo scowled at her as he nudged her with his elbow. She stuck her tongue out in retaliation and being the mature 17-year-old he was, Leo stuck his tongue back out at her. He turned towards Mikey and pointed a finger at the box turtle, making him straighten up. “Don’t think you’re off the hook on that question just yet. I’m gonna get that answer out of you at some point.”

With a shrug and a lop-sided smile, Mikey brushed past his brother to intertwine his arm with Cassandra’s. “I’m on Cass’s team!”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Cassandra cheered, raising her hand for Mikey to high-five (or high-three in Mikey’s case). “Murder machine duo for the win!”

“Tell me again why you guys call yourself that whenever you team up?” April asked from her spot on the bleachers.

“Ah, that would be because of me,” Casey held up a hand to answer the question. “I was telling stories from my time and I mentioned that mom and Master Michelangelo had the highest kill counts in the entire resistance; confirmed and speculated.”

“Who had the highest between the two of them?” Leo asked as he took the basketball from Casey.

“Master Michelangelo,” Casey answered with no hesitance.

“Which is why I want murder machine here on my team always,” Cass grinned as she and Mikey took up their spots on the court.

“Glad to hear that,” Mikey grinned back as he crouched down to get ready.

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo rolled his eyes as he pulled Casey over to where they were starting. “The future felons’ duo is ready to throw down whenever.”

“Oooh, that’s a good name too,” Mikey chirped.

“Ah, shaddup,” Leo good-naturedly scolded him as he bounced the basketball. “Let’s show future boy here the joys of basketball.”

Universe 2012

“Woah,” Mikey marveled at the new turtles from universe 2016. “You guys are even taller.” Mikey peeks over at Raph with a shit-eating grin. “Wow, Raphie, you are the shortest Raph yet.”

“Why you—!” Raph growls as he stalks towards Mikey, making the sole orange themed turtle squeal and run away. “And what have I said about calling me that dumb nickname?!”

“I bet you’ll be the shortest of all the Raph’s!” Mikey cackled as he used the new turtles as barrier between him and his brother.

“I’m gonna bust your head in, Mikey!” Raph growled. Mikey just laughed harder as he jumped onto a table and leapt across the room trying avoid his Raph.

Leo turns away from his brothers with a sigh and held a hand out to the new turtles in their dimension. “Hello,” Leo nodded towards them, but mostly aimed at the blue leader looking down at him. “I am the Leo of this universe, nice to meet you.”

“Uh…nice to meet you too,” 2016 Leo hesitantly shook his smaller counterpart’s hand. “I am the Leonardo of my universe, obviously…I am not sure what we should call myself to not confuse us.”

“Fearless is already taken,” Ra laughs from the side. “I vote we call ‘em Leader.”

“I like that,” 2016 Raph grins, holding a hand to fist bump against his counterpart.

“Hey!” 2016 Leo pouts.

“Alright then, Leader,” Leo nods at the blue themed turtle and can’t help the teasing smirk on his face when Leader turns.

“Not you, too,” Leader groaned dramatically.

“What about you two?” Leo directs the question at Leader’s versions of his brothers.

“Ooh! Ooh! I got it!” Mikey busts in, throwing his arms over Leo’s shoulders and making him stumble. Mikey points over towards the tall Raph and grins. “I vote we call him Wrath,” Mikey moved his finger over to the other Donnie, “and call that Donnie Genius.”

“Sorry about him,” Leo apologized as he started peeling Mikey off his shoulders. “He likes to give everyone his meets new names; villains mostly.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Genius shrugged with a soft smile on his face. “I quite like the new nickname.”

“So do I,” Wrath grinned viciously. “It’s what I’m gonna show the bastard that took our Mikey.”

“What’s your Mikey like?” Mikey asked with wide eyes at the turtles in front of him.

Leader, Wrath, and Genius looked at each other before Leo turned towards the shorter boy with a soft grin. “Well, I would say you and our Mikey are a lot alike.”

“Seems like a common trend among the universes,” Don told them as he stepped away from the dimensional map. “We haven’t found one where he was completely different – well, except the prime universe but we were all different there.”

“They made Raph seem like a beam of light,” Fearless chuckled.

“Excuse you; I’m a ray of fucking sunshine,” Ra deadpanned but only a few seconds he started laughing.

“As riveting it is to talk about the Raph’s cheerful personality,” Donnie interrupted with a roll of his eyes, “can we get to figuring out what to do now?” He pointed at the dimensional map that only showed three universes with a Mikey.

“I guess we should choose one and jump there now,” Fearless told the group. “It’s only a matter of time until that rouge turtle strikes again.”

“We have an idea,” Donnie said, motioning to himself and Don. Both purple masked turtles were joined by Genius and all of them started attacking the various keyboards spread out over a large computer screen filled wall. “Instead of having a group of us jump over there, why don’t we pull them into this dimension?”

“That would make it easier than making two trips to return here,” Leo mused. “How long would something like that take to set up?”

“About fifteen minutes,” Genius answered. “It will be aimed at the Mikey of that universe and we can always go back and grab our counterparts when we have confirmed that their Mikey is safe and hidden here.”

“So, I can finally meet one of my other counterparts?!” Mikey asked excitedly.

Leo frowned as he thought and then turned to his counterparts. Fearless and Leader nodded at him and Leo could feel his resolve strengthen. “Alright,” Leo told the Donnie’s as he threw a hand out at his side. “Bring their Mikey here.”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” a girl’s voice yelled.

All 10 turtles turned to see this universe’s April O’Neil and Casey Jones staring in shock. Donnie let himself sigh softly in admiration of his crush while April stomped up towards Leo. The blue banded leader of this dimension held his hands up in surrender as he could feel the rage coming off the girl.

“Leo! Why didn’t you tell me that we have dimensional visitors again?!” April demanded while Casey went up to Wrath.

“Well, you see—uhh—umm…” Leo tried to find the words for his excuse but he couldn’t.

“I see all April’s are always feisty,” Ra snickered to himself.

“Hey, Raph!” Casey called over to his friend. “How come you’re so much shorter than the rest of you?!”

“Not you, too,” Raph groaned from his spot next to Mikey.

“Wait,” April interjected as she looked around. “How come there are no other Mikey’s?” The room grew uncomfortably quiet and the two humans looked around in confusion. “Did I say something wrong?”

Leo sighed as his shoulders slumped. “We have a bit of a situation…”

Chapter Text

Universe 2018

Mikey cheered as Cassandra shot the ball and sunk it into the net.

“Another point for the murder machines!” Cass cackled. She and Mikey fist bumped as Mikey bent over to catch his breath. April just shook her head in mirth at the name for the team coming up again.

“Sorry sensei,” Casey pouted at Leo’s side. “I didn’t realize mom could shoot from that far away.”

“It’s alright, CJ,” Leo reached a hand over to ruffle Casey long hair. “It’s your first time playing. You’re bound to not know all the rules right away. Also, I told you to call me Leo.”

“Okay…Leo,” Casey grinned as he turned back towards the opposite team. He frowned as he looked at the orange clothed turtle. “Mas—Mikey, are you feeling okay?” Casey asked.

Leo turned his head towards his brother and immediately felt the joyous atmosphere of the game start slipping away. Mikey was still struggling to catch his breath and was bent over with his hands on his knees. Beads of sweat dripped down his face and there was a certain paleness to him.

“Mikey?” Leo called over as he started approaching his brother. Cassandra hovered a hand in the air next to the boy with her face showing that she didn’t know what to do. April put her notebook that she was using for her paper back in her bag and was watching with a careful eye. Mikey lifted his head to respond to his brother but felt the air freeze in his lungs as his eyes and marking started glowing.

Like a stone, Mikey dropped to the ground as a layer of golden energy covered him. His teeth is gritted in pain as he wheezes between them. “Mikey!” Leo calls out as he dives to Mikey side and tries to grab him. Leo’s hands go through Mikey like he isn’t there and he is horrified to see Mikey fading away completely in some parts.

“What’s going on?!” April demanded as she joined her brothers.

“He’s going through an energy depletion,” Casey explained with a hard look in his eye before whirling to Leo. “Why didn’t you tell us?!”

“You know what this is?!” Leo shot back as he looked from Casey back to Mikey. “This is the third time we’ve seen it happen but we thought it was just a backlash or something!”

“It is a backlash!” Casey told him. “It happens when he uses so much power that his core replenishes it by taking the energy back straight from his body.”

“Is it hurting him?” Cassandra asks.

“Very much,” Casey responds with a strange sort of detachment to his voice. “Master Michelangelo would go through these after huge battles where he expended too much power. And from the looks of it, this is not the third time this has happened.”

“What?!” Leo exclaimed in shock and anger.

“This is far too advanced for the amount you said,” Casey explains. “He must have hidden the other times from you.”

Mikey gasps sharply as the episode ends and he collapses in on himself on the ground. He curls in on himself as residual shocks of pain run through his body.

“Mikey!” Leo cries as he bends over to help prop his brother up on himself. “On a scale of one to ten, how are you feeling right now? And I swear if you lie to me or try to downplay it, I will carry you everywhere until you fess up.”

Mikey coughs a few times before blearily blinking up at Leo. “…a solid 4, possibly 3.5,” Mikey croaked.

Leo grimaced at the answer. He reaches up to rub a hand against Mikey’s head, making his brother purr in content at the comfort. “Why didn’t you tell us that this has been going on for so long?”

“I didn’t want to worry you guys,” Mikey mutters as he buries his face into the front of Leo’s hoodie.

“We’re always going to worry about you,” April cooed to him as she rubbed his carapace.

“We should get him home,” Cass told the group. She looked around in case there was anyone watching them.

“I agree,” Leo nodded as he went to stand up and get his swords out of the large duffel bag they brought to hide their weapons in. As he stood up, he felt a weak tug at his sleeve and he looked down to see Mikey grabbing onto him. “Something wrong there, Mikester?”

“…is that offer to carry me still on the table?” Mikey murmured with heavy eyes. “I’m feeling really tired.”

Leo hid his grimace behind a small smile as he rubbed his brother’s head again. “Of course, little bro. Let me get the portal open and then I can carry you around.” Mikey nodded slightly and was transferred over to April. She clutched him tight to her chest, rubbing his arms through the fabric of his hoodie. Casey jogged over to grab April’s stuff and Cassandra grabbed the basketball.

Leo came back over with the duffel bag and pulled out his swords. With a move that felt second nature at this point, Leo slashed his swords through the air and opened a blue portal. He passed his swords over to Casey and reached down to pick up Mikey. With tired eyes, Mikey blinked up at his brother before completely tucking himself away in his shell hidden by his hoodie.

With another move that was even more natural feeling than opening the portal, Leo picked up his brother and secured him in his arms. The humans let him through the portal first before following right after him.

They were deposited on the other side in the living room of the lair. “Draxum!” Leo yelled into his home, knowing that their creator was home for an at home movie date with his father. “We got a situation!”

Draxum was quick to leave the TV room with Splinter hot on his feet and he paled when he saw it was about Mikey. Raph was a second behind as Donnie peeked out of his lab and cursed. “Did it happen again?” Draxum asked as he peeked into the hoodie to try and spot Mikey in his shell.

“Yeah, and apparently it’s been happening a lot more than we were aware of,” Leo growled lightly, trying to tell himself not to get mad. Raph and Donnie got close to him as they tried inspecting Mikey even though he was completely hidden in his hoodie. The human hovered just a small distance away as they were too worried about Mikey to give more space.

Leo felt himself tuning out the others as Casey explained what was going on in favor of looking down at Mikey. He couldn’t see much in the darkness the hoodie provided but he could see the barest of light reflecting off the roundness of Mikey’s head. Leo could hear Mikey’s soft breathing and it told him that at least his brother wasn’t in pain while he was sleeping.

And because he was looking straight down, he could see the moment when a bright white portal opened up underneath of him and the surrounding group.

“Uh…guys?” was all Leo was able to squeak out before they all fell through with varying yells of surprise.

Universe 2012

“How long until he arrives?” Mikey asks as he bounces around the lair, gazing at the swirling white portal in the middle of the dimensional portal generator.

“Any moment now,” Donnie mutters as he keeps an eye on the readings to see when the new Mikey would be coming through.

“Mikey, c’mere and hide before I have to tie you down,” Raph grunts as he grabs Mikey and pulls him over to his bedroom.

“But I want to see the new turtles,” Mikey complains as Raph pushes him into the bedroom.

“And we’d rather you be safe and here in case something happens,” Leo tells him as he pops up on the other side of Raph. “We’ll let you know as soon as we know everything is safe; but for now, please just listen to us.”

Mikey looked at him for a moment before letting out a long groan. “Fiiiiiiiine, but I’m not going to like it,” Mikey pouted.

“We know,” Leo grinned softly as he patted Mikey’s head. “Now get in there.” With one last push, Mikey was in his room and they closed the door. Raph took up sentry in front of it and didn’t mention anything when Ra joined him.

“I bet the next Raph is still going to be taller than you!” Mikey cackled behind the door.

“Shut it, Mikey!” Raph growled.

“I got a reading!” Genius called over. “Someone is coming through the portal.”

“Multiple someones,” Don added.

“Be prepared,” Fearless called out to the group. “We don’t know who all is coming through the portal!”

Everyone was tense for a second before the portal pulsed once…twice…and then eight people were deposited on the other side. They fell on each other in a dog pile with a lean turtle wearing a blue hoodie and holding something orange in his arms landed on top.

The Leo of that universe, they were guessing by the blue themed clothing, didn’t hesitate for a second before he was jolting to his feet. “Don!” the Leo yelled as he threw the orange bundle from his arms to the other turtle. The Donnie of that universe reached up to grab the bundle and tucked it tight against his plastron with bared teeth.

The Leo twitched his hands and the other turtles watching were in shocked awe when two katanas were teleported to his hands in a flash of blue.

They were in less awe when the Leo immediately shot forward to clash against this universe’s Leo, who had luckily pulled his swords out in time. The new Leo narrowed his eyes before backing away a step and throwing his sword behind his opponent to disappear in a flash of light.

Another clash of swords rang out as Fearless pulled out his own weapons and blocked the attack at Leo’s back. “Stop fighting,” Fearless grunted against the force he had to block with.

“Yeah right,” the new Leo huffed before swiping his sword behind him to open a blue portal and jump through. He lands back in front of his group as they get into their own battle stances in front of the new Donnie who is holding the orange bundle protectively. The new Raph stayed low to the ground in front of the humans and they could all see how spiky he was. The new Leo pointed one of his swords out in front of him with a snarl. “Who are all of you and why do you look like us? Why did you take us?”

“We mean no harm,” Leader told him with his hands held up in placidity. “How about we all put our swords away and we can discuss everything.” Leader turned to the other two leaders and shot them a look.

Leo and Fearless gave him the stink eye before slowing sheathing their swords. The new Leo narrowed his eyes before following along but not dropping his stance. He took a step backwards and took the bundle from the new Donnie who took up Leo’s previous spot.

“Donnie?” new Leo inquired, clutching the bundle tightly.

“On it,” new Donnie hummed as he lowered his goggles and took readings of everything. “Ah, it seems we are in another universe and these are various counterparts of ours,” new Donnie explained as he raised his goggles.

“Well, that was quick,” Ra muttered to Raph.

“We didn’t mean to bring all of you here,” Don explained as he typed somethings into the computer to shut down the portal for now. “We were just trying to get your Mikey but it seems like it failed.”

“Oh!” new Leo perked up. “That’s why the portal opened up right under me!”

“Why do you say that?” Leo asked puzzled. “Are you saying that you’re the Mikey in your dimension?”

“That’s so weird,” Wrath leaned over to mutter to Casey.

“No,” new Leo rolled his eyes and then gestured to the bundle in his hands. “Mikey is right here. He was feeling not good and really tired so I told him that I would carry him.”

“I have so many questions,” Donnie buzzed as he looked at the group. “Like, who is this tall dude?” he said while gesturing to Draxum. “And why is your Splinter so short?” Splinter sputtered in indignation at the question while Draxum tried to hold his laughter next to him.

“Let’s start over,” Leo said as he gestured to himself. “I’m Leo and welcome to my universe. We brought your Mikey here to protect him.”

“Protect him?” the new Donnie, Leo, and Raph all asked at the same time before hunkering down farther. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Something is taking all the Mikey’s across the multiverse,” Don explained as he pulled up the dimensional map. It showed only two green dots now with the new Mikey being taken from his universe.

“Tell me everything,” new Leo demanded.

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

With the sense of danger gone, everyone settled in a big circle to explain the situation. The current universe’s Mikey was released from his room with big eyes at the new group. His attention was more on his counterpart that was sleeping in his shell. Raph stayed close by as he tried covering up his nervous energy by pretending that Mikey needed someone to reign him in.

“I don’t understand why someone would be taking all the Mikey’s,” new Leo, dubbed Blue during the talk, frowns as he looks down at his sleeping brother resting in his shell. He rubs a hand against the fabric covering his carapace.

“I do know that they aren’t getting our Mikey,” new Donnie, dubbed Purple, growls as he types something on his wrist screen. “Over my dead body.”

“Someone’s edgy,” Ra chuckled. He turns to his counterpart that was dubbed Red. “How come you haven’t stood up yet?”

“Oh, um…” Red hummed nervously as he tapped his fingers together. He looked over at his brothers who nodded at him with a smirk. With a sigh, Red pulled himself up and displayed his full 7’3” stature that towered over everyone.

Mikey looked up at Red’s stature before look at his Raph with a shit eating grin. “Damn bro, I called it, didn’t I?”

“I’m gonna kill ya, Mikey!” Raph growled before he started chasing the orange themed brother around the room.

“Big bro here really does make everyone look short,” Blue chuckled as he patted Red’s arm. His comment made everyone stop and look at him in shock. “What?” Blue questioned. “Is there something on my face?”

“Big…bro?” Leo slowly asked. “Are you saying big as in his size?”

“No,” Purple answered with a roll of his eyes. “Red is the oldest, eyeroll.”

“No way!” Ra, Wrath, and Raph yelled in jealously.

“Not only is he the tallest in his universe, but he’s also the oldest,” Raph groans. “Next you’re gonna tell me that he’s leader.”

“Raph used to be,” Red answered. “But it was given to Blue when he proved he was ready for it.”

“Our quartet would have been busted long ago if Raph was in charge,” Donnie snickered to Mikey, making the orange themed turtle giggle quietly.

“This isn’t fair!” Ra yelled out in anger.

“I gotta agree with ya on that,” Wrath muttered.

“So, what’s the age order?” Donnie asked.

“Well, I’m the oldest,” Red started.

“Me and Blue are twins but I’m the older of us,” Purple continued.

“And Orange here is the youngest,” Blue finished as he gestured to his Mikey in his arms.

“A Leo is the second youngest?!” Don asked in awe. “Now that’s something you don’t see in other universes.”

“It’s not that weird,” Blue shrugged.

“What I think is weird is that Orange hasn’t come out of his shell yet,” Genius pointed out.

“He’s just napping right now,” Blue shrugged. “He feels more comfortable in his shell at times.”

“Can we wake him up?” Mikey asks as he tries peering in the hoodie.

“Sure,” Blue said nonchalantly. “That is if you want to awaken the beast like Honey-senpai.”

“Honey-senpai?” Ra echoed in confusion. “Who da fuck is that?”

“You mean like from ouran high school host club?” Mikey frowned to himself.

“Exactly!” Blue exclaimed with a point. He looked over at the turtles from universe 2003. “You guys don’t have OHSHC?”

“No,” Fearless shakes his head.

“We have it,” Genius raised his hand to answer.

“Since when do you know what that is?” Wrath asked his brother.

“Me and Mike watch it,” Genius shrugged.

“I watch it with April on the weekends,” Mikey grins as he crosses his legs and rocks back-and-forth.

“Wait, since when has that been a thing?” Donnie sputtered. He had never heard of his little brother spending time with his crush without him before this.

“For a while now,” Mikey said as he tapped his chin in thought. “We watch different anime together but we always wrap things up with an episode of OHSHC.”

“I feel like our Mikey would probably like to watch it,” Fearless mused out loud.

“I can give him one of our extra copies,” Mikey beamed happily. “We have a few sets of them.”

“Where did you get multiple versions of the same show?” Leo narrowed his eyes at his youngest brother.

“Oh…you know,” Mikey turned his head away as he tried blowing past the question. “Anyways!” Mikey clapped his hands together.

“I still don’t understand why waking up the kid would be a bad thing,” Wrath said.

“Because he is a feral little demon when his nap is interrupted,” Mikey told his red brother’s counterpart.

“That about sums it up,” Red agreed.

“Damn, he must be pretty bad if the gentle giant here is agreeing,” Ra said.

“You see this notch on my ear?” Splinter said from across the room as he listened to the conversations around him. “It was from Orange biting me when I woke him up from a nap when he was a toddler.”

“Wait, I always thought that was from me since I was the biter as a baby,” Red gawked.

“Nope, it was my dear orange,” Splinter told the group. “He can be particularly vicious when he wants to be.”

“Can we go back to the fact that he is still in his shell,” Genius pointed out. “I know that we can go in our shell for short periods but I’ve never seen us be able to stay in as long as he can.”

“It’s his species specialty,” Purple remarked with a wave of his hand. “And he’s in there because he hasn’t been feeling good for a while and it’s caught up to him a bit ago.”

“His species?” Donnie blinked. “Are you guys not the same species?”

“No,” Purple blinked back in surprise. “Are all of you the same?”

“We are, at least in our respective universes,” Fearless answered. “It’s odd that you would all be different.”

“I purposely created them different species to best utilize them in the field,” Draxum told the group with an air of superiority. “It would be a waste of their talents to have a team of all the same abilities.”

“You created ‘em?” Ra asked. “So, they weren’t accidents?”

“Who even are ya?” Raph added on.

“I am Baron Draxum,” Draxum said. “I am guessing that I am not a being that is present in your worlds. I am the creator of the turtles to fight against the humans for yokai-kind, which I am reformed from that line of thinking thanks to Michelangelo.”

“Were you guys all accidents?” Blue laughed.

“Uh, yeah,” Leader told him as he rubbed the back of his head. “We were kind of planned but we were doused with more mutagen than planned and turned into this.”

“We were complete accidents,” Donnie said.

“Same for us,” Fearless added.

“Wow, crazy,” Blue awed. “We were created to be living weapons.”

“…the more I hear about your universe, the more I am concerned,” Leo sighed. “I am still wondering how you were able to teleport around.”

“Because that’s my power,” Blue blinked and tilted his head. “Do you guys also not have powers?”

“I had lightning powers for a bit!” Mikey answers with a wave of his arm. “I also technically died for a bit but, eh, details.” Mikey finished with a shrug which Raph punched him in the arm for.

“What did we say about down-playing your feelings?” Raph growled.

“That it’s unhealthy and makes you guys sad,” Mikey pouted. “Sorry Raphie.”

“Stop calling me that,” Raph growled lowly.

“Okay…Raphie,” Mikey grinned before hiding behind Leader’s large frame from his brother.

“One of these days, I swear I’m gonna getcha,” Raph grunted.

“Back to the topic,” Don coughed. “We have a chi-enhanced form but I wouldn’t call them powers we can use at the drop of a hat.”

“Wow.” Blue reached up to scratch his head. “It’s weird to think we are the only ones to have powers.”

“So, what’s everyone’s powers?” Mikey asked as he bounced out from behind Leader and avoided a swipe from Raph.

“Well, you know about my portals and being able to teleport with my swords,” Blue says.

“Raph can create a big red form,” Red said.

“He means he can create an astral projection of himself that he can use to fight,” Purple corrected what his brother said. “I can create any machine or mechanical weapon I want.”

“Fascinating,” Donnie said with stars in his eyes. “I would like to see that later.”

“Of course,” Purple smiled.

“What about Orange?” Leo asked as he leaned forward to try and get a look at the turtle that has yet to make an appearance.

“Oh, he’s the best out of all of us,” Blue beamed with pride. “He was the first to figure out his mystic weapon and in the future, he’s the greatest mystic warrior of all time. Mikester here can generate fire and toss skyscrapers when push comes to shove.”

“Bullshit,” Wrath rolled his eyes. “Now you’re just being a doting older brother.”

“Nuh-uh,” Blue shook his head. “He can do that using his—”

“NO FUCKING WAY!” the Casey of this universe yelled, interrupting Blue and making everyone looking at him.

“You good there, Hothead?” Raph called over.

“Yeah,” Casey laughed and then gestured towards Cassandra. “I just found out that my counterpart is a girl. You owe me $20!” Raph groaned as he mutters about losing a stupid bet.

“Then who are you?” Mikey pointed at the human boy that came from the other universe.

“Oh!” CJ perked up. “I’m Casey Jones Jr., named after my mom’s nickname.”

“Who’s your mom?” Fearless asked. “Someone we know?”

“That would be me!” Cassandra beamed, throwing an arm over CJ’s shoulder to bring him in close. “Don’t you see the family resemblance?!”

“…I have even more questions,” Donnie whispered.

“Junior there is from the future,” Blue explained with a soft chuckle. “He was sent back by mine and Mikey’s future version to save the world from the k—kraang.” Blue stuttered over the last word and Purple reached over to rub his twin’s back.

“What? The kraang?” Raph echoed with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, they’re pretty annoying but they were never destroying the world bad.”

“Then I guess that’s another difference between our universes,” Blue responded darkly. There was something flashing in his eyes that told everyone to not push farther.

“I’m still wondering why you guys aren’t freaking out more about the multiverse being real,” Genius said before turning to Purple. “Especially you since you are a Donatello.”

“Oh, I already knew,” Purple smirked as he leaned back to prop himself up on his hands.

Blue straightened up and turned to stare at his twin. “Since when and why did you never mention it to us?”

“For a while now,” Purple waved a hand. “Probably a good three years and I wanted to see how you guys would react when you found out.”

“How did you already know?” Donnie asked in wonder. “I didn’t know until the turtles from universe 1987 showed up.”

“With some research,” Purple shrugged before smirking at Donnie. “It’s quite easy to breach the universal rifts between worlds with the right technology. Or would I be wrong, MetalHead12?”

Everyone watched in confusion as Donnie thought for a moment before shooting to his feet with a finger pointed at Purple. “You’re BootyyyShaker9000!”

“Guilty as charged,” Purple laughed as he held his hands up.

“I am so confused right now,” Genius muttered to Don.

“Me too,” Don muttered back.

“Don’t be, Donnie’s,” Purple smirked at them. “Or should I say Dr. Don88 and PurpleKing99.”

Both Don and Genius let their mouths drop open as they copied Donnie with pointing their fingers at Purple. “You’re that opponent I always get in stalemates with!” Don yelled.

“That I am!” Purple laughed out loud and rocked forward with his hands on his ankles.

“Speaking for all the non-Donnie’s, we are still very confused over here,” Fearless told the purple banded turtles.

“Ah, just a little breaching the multiverse to find other Donatello’s and challenging them to online chess matches to prove I’m the better version out of all of us,” Purple explained nonchalantly.

“What the hell ‘Tello?!” Blue sputters at his twin. “You’re breaking the rules of the universe and didn’t think to tell anyone?!”

“Puh-lease spare me this,” Purple rolled his eyes. “Mikey ripped a hole between universes to bring you home and you didn’t say anything then.”

“That’s not the same and you know it,” Blue hissed.

“Okay!” Red clapped his hands and got in-between the growing hostile pair of twins. “I think that’s enough of that. How about we all go talk to our other selves and learn more about each other?”

“Fine with me,” Purple shrugged before standing up and approaching his counterparts. “I would like to talk to someone that’s on my intellectual level.”

“How about you go find someone with the same size of your ego?” Blue called after him.

“I would say the same to you but there is no one that has such an inflated ego like you, dear brother,” Donnie growled back with a flicker of his wrist.

“One of these days, I swear I’m gonna—”

“And now us Leonardo’s are going to compare our fighting styles,” Fearless interrupted before another fight could break out.

“I will stay here and continue my pleasant talk with the April of this universe,” Splinter called over from the corner where he and the two April’s were conversing. “Draxum will stay with me.”

“What about me and other Mikey?” Mikey asked as he crouched next to the orange bundle still in Blue’s arms.

“You’re gonna stay with me and the other Raph’s,” Red answered with a large smile on his face with his snaggle tooth poking out. “I want to hear more about the other version of my little brother.”

Red could see out of the corner of his eye how all the other Raph’s relaxed at his statement. He wasn’t as smart of his purple themed brother but he did know how all Raph’s felt about their Mikey’s. While he was much more affectionate compared to his counterparts, Red knew that they all held a deep bond with their Mikey’s and it was disturbing them greatly to not know where they were. The Raph of this universe had made it point to not let his Mikey out of his sight for more than a few seconds before a panicked gleam took over his eyes.

Blue handed Orange over to Red and stood up to follow after the other Leo’s. They all went to the dojo while the Donnie’s stayed near the universe portal generator in Donnie’s lab. The Raph’s plus the two Mikey’s headed out to the main living room.

Mikey leapt over a couch with a giggle before grabbing a small tower of blankets. He trotted up to Red and presented them with a sheepish smile. “You said that other me wasn’t feeling so hot so I figure have a bunch of blankets would help him out. I know it does for me,” Mikey told him as he started looking away embarrassed. He perked up unexpectedly when he felt a large hand rubbing his head.

“Mike would appreciate that very much,” Red told him with a large smile. He sat down with a small thud and started arranging the blankets with one hand. Mikey was quick to drop to his knees and help make a small nest out of blankets for his counterpart.

The other Raph’s joined them in a loose circle and watched as this universe’s Mikey helped out his other version. Wrath and Ra felt a pang in their heart as they know that their own Mikey’s would help out just the same and it was physically hurting them to not know where they were.

With the blanket nest set up, Orange was placed in it and Red laid a gentle hand on top of it. Mikey sat in the spot between the tucked away box turtle and his own Raph, watching anxiously for any sign that his other self would be waking up.

“Alright, I gotta ask.” Ra was the first to speak and made the other three Raphael’s look at him. Ra pointed at Red with a completely serious face. “How much can ya bench?”

Raph and Wrath nodded their head in agreement as this was a very important question that had been on their mind for a while.

And Red just let a proud smirk take over his face.

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

“I still can’t believe it was you in that chess game,” Donnie mumbled with a screwdriver hanging between his teeth. “Like, who breaks the multiverse just to prove he’s the smartest?”

“Me, obviously,” Purple grinned dramatically with a low bow. “I was bored after beating our Shredder, and the fighting between my Raph and Leo wasn’t helping.”

“Sounds about right for those two to be fighting,” Don huffs humorously. He reached over to grab a spare rag to wipe some grease off his elbow. “What were they fighting about?”

“About Blue not taking the leader position seriously,” Purple explained as he hopped up on a table to sit down. “It was brought on by dad unexpectedly deciding that he would be leader instead.”

“I still think it’s so strange for a Raph being leader to begin with,” Genius said as he pulled up a holographic projection to tap at.

“He’s our big brother,” Purple shrugged. “We always listened to him growing up so it wasn’t that strange for him to be our leader once we started fighting our villains.”

“Again, still weird for a Raph to be the oldest,” Donnie said. “He’s second oldest here but Leo has always been the big brother of our group.”

“Well, it’s weird for us to not have Red be the big brother,” Purple countered. “He’s always the one that’s been there for us when we’ve skinned our knees and to cuddle with when we had nightmares.”

“A Raph cuddling? Yeah right,” Genius rolled his eyes.

Purple looked at the other three Donnie’s and a thought occurs to him. “Oh, our dimensions are very different, aren’t they? For us, Raph is our sweet stuffed animal loving big brother and Leo is the easy-going jokester.”

“I wonder why your dimension is so different,” Don muses. “You guys are breaking a lot of the norms we have seen across the dimensions.”

“Just makes us different and better,” Purple teases with a large smirk. “Just like how I am the best Donatello.”

“Just because you rigged a chess match across dimensions does not make you the better Donatello,” Donnie grumbles.

“Doesn’t it?” Purple cocked his head to the side. “I am clearly the smartest out of us all and my ninpo gives me an advantage to create anything I want to.”

“You are not the smartest,” Donnie grunts. “I would say you are the most egotistical though.”

“It’s not when I am correct, which I am,” Purple smiles proudly.

“Can you show us an example of your powers?” Genius butted in before Donnie could blow a gasket. “You said you could create any machine or weapon you wanted.”

“That is true,” Purple nodded and held his hand out flat with his palm up. A bright group of lightening licked off his fingers into the air to collect into a form of clear purple energy. Within second, a complete rocket launcher was falling out of the air and hefted up on Purple’s shoulder. “See? As long as I know the blueprints of it, I can create anything; and I know everything,” Purple said with a glimmer of mischievous in his eyes.

Donnie, Don, and Genius looked at the newly constructed purple rocket launcher with stars in their eyes. “Is it functional?” Don demanded seriously.

Purple hummed before turning to Donnie. “You got somewhere for me to test it?”

“Yes!” Donnie agreed quickly and started leading Purple to a corner of the room. Purple was preparing to fire with the rocket launcher perched on his shoulder when a blue toned portal opened at his side.

“Donnie!” Blue hissed with narrowed eyes. “I knew I felt you up to something!”

“Tsk, always ruining my fun,” Purple growled as he lowered the rocket launcher.

“Donnie, I told you no setting off explosions in the lab after the last incident,” Leo sternly scolded his brother.

“I have said the same thing to my Donnie,” Fearless said out loud.

“And me to mine,” Leader said as he eyed his purple themed brother.

“But Leo,” Donnie drew out his whine. “This is in the pursuit of science.”

“I don’t care,” Leo narrowed his eyes at Donnie. He turned and pointed a finger at Purple. “No explosions in the lair.”

Purple turned his head and pouted. “Do what he says. This is his home,” Blue told his twin. Purple let out a loud groan before releasing the rocket launcher and disappearing into the air in a million little translucent purple boxes.

“You Leo’s are no fun,” Purple groaned.

“We prefer to not have our home blown up for the fourth time that week,” Blue scolded before letting his portal close.

“Always ruining my fun,” Purple mutters as he scuffed his foot against the ground.

“Hey, I got a question from earlier,” Genius piped up from his spot.

“Yeah?” Purple called back to his counterpart. “What’s up?”

“You said you defeated your Shredder, right?”

“We did,” Purple nodded and his eyes gained a fuzziness as if he wasn’t really there. “It was not something I would like to do again.”

“How did you do it?” Don asked. “You all seem so young and it took us quite a while to beat ours.”

“It’s a long story,” Purple sighs as he pads over back to the table he was sitting at it. He hopped up in a fluid motion and brought his legs up to prop his head up on his elbow. “You probably understand with him being a demonic suit of armor that was controlling your many many great something grandfather's soul and all that.”

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds before Purple sighed again. “I’m going to guess this is another difference of our dimensions and yours wasn’t a demon.”

“Yup,” Genius answered, making sure to pop the ‘p’.

“Ours was—" Don started to explain when there was a loud crash from the living room where all the Raph’s and Mikey’s were. From inside the lab, all they could hear was a raised Raph’s voice. The Donnie’s couldn’t be sure if it was something good or bad but with a Raph, you could never be sure.

“We should probably go check that out,” Don mutters before all the Donnie’s go racing out of the lab.

“Wow, this is a really nice dojo,” Blue awed over the training room for this dimension. Leo beamed in pride at the tree his father and sensei spent long hours taking care of to survive living deep underground in the sewers. Fearless and Leader also looked over the room appreciatively, mostly eyeing the tree. “Hey, what’s that?”

Leo looks over to where Blue is pointing and his heart sinks a bit when he sees it is his Splinter’s altar. Blue notices the shift in emotion immediately and comes over to lay a hand on his counterpart’s shoulder. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”

“No,” Leo glumly shakes his head. “It’s alright.” Leo moves forward to kneel in front of the altar and lights an incense. “This is our father’s altar.”

“Your Master Splinter…is dead?” Fearless whispers in shock.

“Yeah,” Leo nods solemnly. “Shredder got to him and stabbed him in his stomach before throwing him off a roof. He was already gone by the time we got to him.”

“I am very sorry for your loss,” Leader says as he kneels next to Leo. He claps his hands together and bows his head in prayer. After a small moment, he raises his head and lowers his hands back down. “I do not know what me and my brothers would do if we lost our father.”

“Us either,” Fearless says as he joins the group in front of the altar. Blue quietly kneel next to Leo and bows his head in silence. “There was a bit of time where he was lost in cyberspace but he still came home afterwards.”

“…we are coming back to that cyberspace thing later,” Blue chuckles as the other two Leo’s blink in surprise.

All the Leo’s lapse into silence as they offer a prayer up to this universe’s deceased Master Splinter and gaze upon the tree in the dojo. The only sound in the room is four different breathings and stray whispers of conversation coming from the Raph’s in the other room.

“…I miss him,” Leo whispers. Blue, Fearless, and Leader look at him in pity as they know how they would feel if they lost their father. “I wish there was something I could do to bring him back. I would do or give anything to let our sensei live again.”

“Don’t say that,” Blue says sharply.

“What?” Leo asks in surprise and growing anger. “Do you think it’s a good thing that my father is dead?” Leo poses the question as a challenge and was ready for a fight if it was answered wrong.

“No, not at all,” Blue shakes his head before looking up at the tree in front of them. “I am saying that you shouldn’t say that you would give anything to bring him back.” Blue turns to pin Leo down with a hard look. “What if the trade was one of your brothers dying? What would your father think then?”

Leo opens his mouth and his voice freezes in his throat as he gapes at his counterpart. He had…never thought it like that before. He knew his father would be torn apart over the fact that one of his sons died for his sake. “I…you’re right,” Leo whispers as his shoulders slump inwards. “I would give anything besides my little brothers to have him back.”

“They really are our most important people,” Fearless smiles to himself.

“And our most annoying,” Leader laughs. “I love them but man, they can be some of the headache inducing assholes I have ever met.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Blue laughs. He stops his laughing as all of them get a simultaneous shiver. “Ugh, you guys feel that?”

“The Donnie-is-about-to-blow-something-up-on-purpose-in-his-lab-again shiver?” Leo groans. Three matching nods answer his question. “Yeah, I guess that’s another universal constant.”

“Let me check on them,” Blue mutters as he stands up and takes a step away. “I have a feeling that it’s my Donnie.” He pulls his swords out and swings them to open a portal to the lab where all the Donnie’s are. They are privy to the sight of Purple getting ready to shoot a rocket launcher perched on his shoulder.

One scolding of the Donnie’s later, Blue was closing his portal with a sigh. He sheathed his swords on his back and dragged his hands down his face. “Sorry about that,” Blue apologized. “Purple can get trigger happy when others want to see his inventions.”

“I feel like it was my Donnie that goaded his on,” Leader sheepishly raised his hand. “Genius is a lot like yours and wanting to blow things up.”

“Don has learned self-control in that aspect,” Fearless sighed and crossed his arms. “Master Splinter gave him enough scolding’s growing up and it finally took effect when we were 12 to stop blowing up the lair on purpose.”

“Donnie tries to not blow anything up…” Leo trails off. “…at least more than three times a month.”

“All of you guys are so lucky,” Blue groans as flops backwards to lay like a starfish on the dojo floor. “Purple blows something up at least four times a week to the point that we are desensitized to it.”

“Didn’t your Splinter try to stop him?” Leo asks.

“He tried,” Blue sighed again. “But there is only so much scolding you can do before you give up yourself.”

“Your poor Master Splinter,” Fearless laughed.

“You lot sound like a migraine,” Leader laughed.

“Hey! I’ll have you know—”

“WHY YOU LITTLE FUCKER!!!” Ra roars from the other room.

Blue looks up at the closed dojo doors in confusion at the interruption. Fearless jumps to in feet in concern with the rest of the Leo’s falling close behind.

“That was my Raph,” Fearless mutters as he stalks towards the doors. “This can’t be good.”

“Really?! That much?!” Raph gawks in amazement.

“That’s my usual,” Red shrugged and rubbed a hand against Orange’s clothe covered carapace. “When I want to push myself, Raph will add more onto it.”

“I can barely lift half of that and you act like it is nothing,” Ra grunts as he falls backwards dramatically. “This ain’t fair.”

“I may not be able to do that much but I am decently close,” Wrath shrugs. “I can be your spotter if you want to work out here.”

“Ugh, this is boring!” Mikey groans from his spot next to his Raph. “All you guys are talking about is lifting weights!”

“Because it’s what we like, you knucklehead,” Raph tells Mikey as he grabs his head and puts him in a headlock in his arms.

“But that’s boring,” Mikey whines as he pulls himself away. He crawls over to his counterpart and kneels in front of the blanket nest to try and peek in the shell. “I want the other me to come out already and compare skateboarding moves already.”

“Sorry about that wait, bud,” Red sheepishly tells Mikey. “He’s been having some problems with his powers and it really took it out of him.”

“I thought Blue said that he was the best with his powers,” Ra pointed out. “How come he’s having problems when he supposed ta be the best out of all of ya?”

“We’re not quite sure,” Red shrugged. “He’s been training with Draxum since the invasion but that was only a year ago.”

“It’s still so weird to think that you four were created to be weapons,” Wrath muses. “Like, we were kind of on purpose but that was only to be test subjects before our April broke us and sensei out.”

“We didn’t know until about three years ago, so it’s not all the weird to us,” Red shrugs.

“Is little me strong?” Mikey asks Red. “You mentioned him throwing a building.”

“Yeah!” Red beams with pride. “Besides the skyscraper, he’s thrown a cargo ship, a bus, and a fuel truck too by this point.”

“Little man’s got some power behind him,” Ra grins. “I wanna arm wrestle him.”

“Yeah, no,” Red shakes his head. “Orange’s hands still recovering from bringing Leo home from the prison dimension.”

“I thought you said that was a year ago,” Mikey tilted his head to the side.

“I did,” Red nodded. “Purple said something like he’s got extreme nerve damage an’ that it’s taking a long while to heal all the way.”

“Poor little guy,” Raph grimaces. “I can’t imagine not being able to use my hands for so long.”

“’m not little,” a tired raspy voice echoes out of the shell.

Mikey perks up immediately and claps his hands together. “He’s waking up!”

“Hey there, little brother,” Red whispers patiently to Orange. “How about you come out and meet our new friends?”

Raph pulls his Mikey back from the emerging turtle to try and not startle him. They all watch as a dark green head slowly peeks out before his limbs follow. The orange hoodie is big on the new Mikey and it covers his hands with some extra fabric hanging limp at the end. A sleeve covered hand reaches up to rub his eye as he yawns.

Wrath stands up from the circle and pads quickly into the kitchen. He rifles around in the refrigerator before finding what he wants. By the time he is going back to the all the other Raph’s plus Mikey’s, the new Mikey is snuggling in close against Red’s front.

“Here, some water,” Wrath says as he hands over a bottle of water. “I heard how raspy his voice was earlier.” With his hand free, he goes back to his spot sitting between Raph and Ra.

“Thanks,” Raph smiles to his counterpart. Red holds the bottle up to Orange’s lips and the little turtle groans as he pulls away from his brother. He takes the bottle from his brother but doesn’t bother to pull his hands out of the long sleeves that cover them. They watch as Orange opens his eyes just enough to look up at his brother's face and takes a sip of the water.

And once he’s had one sip and it’s not a second take that he is taking more and more. Orange probably didn’t realize how thirsty he was until he was practically trying to drown himself with the water.

“Woah, you’re not that much smaller than me,” Mikey says from behind his other version.

Orange turns lazily around to see who this new person is and promptly spits his water out all over his counterpart in surprise.

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

When Mikey woke up, it was to the sound of someone calling him little.

“’m not little,” he had rasped out from inside his shell. Though, he wasn’t quite sure who had said it as he never heard that voice before.

“He’s waking up!” an excited voice cheers out near him.

“Hey there, little brother,” Red’s soft voice whispers to him. “How about you come out and meet our new friends?”

New people?

Mikey frowns to himself as he peels his eyes open a sliver. He basks in the darkness being in his shell with a hoodie on bathes him in for a moment before poking his head out. He takes in the sight of his brother and decides that these new people can wait. Mikey throws his arms out and snuggles close to his beloved oldest brother.

“Here, some water,” someone says near him. “I heard how raspy his voice was earlier.”

“Thanks,” Red says to the person. Mikey feels a bottle of water pressed against his lips and he groans as he pulls back. He takes the bottle from his brother but doesn’t bother to pull his hands out of the long sleeves that cover them. Mikey opens his eyes just enough to look up at his brothers face and takes a sip of the water.

And once he’s had one sip, soon he is taking more and more. He didn’t realize how thirsty he was until he was practically trying to drown himself with the water.

“Woah, you’re not that much smaller than me,” the same excited voice from before says from behind him.

Mikey turns lazily around to see who this new person is and promptly spits his water out all over them in surprise.

Another Mikey.

“HAH! That’s the type of reaction we expected from ya guys!” Ra laughs loudly from across the circle of Raph’s. Mikey looks around at all of them with wide eyes before turning back to his counterpart.

“Aww, dude, not cool,” the other Mikey pouted.

“Maybe it was your ugly mug that scared him,” a short Raph laughs from the other side of this new Mikey.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” the other Mikey smiles as he smiles at Mikey. Wrath and his own Raph watch in amusement as the two Mikey’s see each other for the first time. “Let me introduce myself. I am Mikey and this is my universe. They are hiding the two of us in here since my best girl Renet set up a special barrier that prevents others from knowing that we are in here. There’s some strange turtle out there that is kidnapping all of us Mikey’s for some reason. It’s really strange,” the other Mikey explains and finishes wiping the water from his face.

Mikey just gapes in surprise at the turtle.

He was so sure that he had never seen this version of himself when he looked across the multiverse and now he knew why.

“Uh, dude,” the other Mikey blinks expectedly at him. “You gonna say something or what?”

Mikey was still frozen and the water bottle slipped out of his ground to bounce on the ground under him. The water splashed against his ankle and the coldness of it was enough to shock him out of his stupor. He jumped to his feet and reached his hand out of his sleeve to grab one of the other Mikey’s wrist. “You have to come with me,” Mikey told his other self.

Across the circle, both Wrath and Ra straightened and lost their happy demeanor. Ra’s eyes immediately zero in on the golden color scars on Mikey’s hands. Red and short Raph immediately picked up on it and looked at their counterparts in worry.

“Please, we don’t have much time,” Mikey pleaded.

“Get away from him!” Ra growled as he pounced across the circle and pulled this dimension’s Mikey away from him. Wrath came up to stand in front like a shield with his teeth bared. Short Raph stood up in confusion but immediately went to his Mikey’s side as his protective instincts kicked in. His Raph looked back and forth in confusion in the few seconds of hostility that replaced the enjoyment they were all having.

Mikey sneered and jumped backwards to avoid Wrath’s hand swiping out for him. He let some power flow into his hand and slammed it in to the middle of his hoodie. In a wave of orange energy, his orange hoodie was transformed back into its original cloak that fluttered in the air as he started floating. His eyes, markings, and scars started glowing as he called upon his powers and summoned mystic golden chains to materialize into this dimension.

“Mikey?” Red asked in concern and shock. “What’s going on?”

“WHY YOU LITTLE FUCKER!!!” Ra roars from his position of protecting other Mikey. He pulls his sai out to point at the mystic using turtle. “IT WAS YOU! YOU TOOK OUR BROTHER!”

“Mikey, it was you?” Red whispered in horror.

Mikey clenched his eyes shut tightly for a hot second, letting his shame of disappointing his brother wash over him before opening them back up. When they were reopened, all signs of shame were gone and hard determination shaped his eyes. “Sorry about this, Raphie,” Mikey said in a calm voice. Dead emotion eyes shifted over to take in the tense posture of his brother. He ignored how all the Leo’s and Donnie’s entered the room with a mix of shock and horror filled faces. “I really did try to keep all of you out of this for as long as possible.”

“Where’s my brother?!” Wrath yelled as he bulldozed his way towards the floating turtle.

Mikey sneered and rolled his eyes, a hand coming up to command his chains to stop the turtle hurtling towards him. Wrath is grabbed and stopped in his track but Ra uses that moment to strike. Mikey swung his other hand out to send a blast of energy out to throw his across the room. Small Raph pushes Mikey back as he raises his sai up in front of him in a reverse grip.

Mikey holds his hand out towards his counterpart. “You need to come with me.”

“He’s not going anywhere!” Leo yells as he swings his sword down in the air where Mikey had just barely pulled his hand back. In a quick move, he swings his swords in a wide arc that is only stopped as Mikey raises a finger to bring a chain up to block it. He bends the finger and the chains wraps around the swords. Mikey spins his finger in a circle and the swords are ripped out of Leo’s hold.

Leo grits his teeth and back flips to stand guard in front with short Raph, pulling a set of kunai out of his belt to hold in his hands. Fearless and Leader jumped in the air to land a combined attack at Mikey’s blind back.

Mikey exhales sharply before raising both hands in the air. Fearless and Leader freeze in the air right before they make contact with gasps of surprise. Mikey swings his hands to cross in front of him and the two Leo’s that tried attacking him are slammed into each other. They groan in pain as Mikey uncrosses his arms and they are sent flying to opposite sides of the room.

Don pulls out his bo staff and spins it to get some force behind it to smash at Mikey. The mystic using turtle simply reaches up and grabs the wooden stick and lets some of his power flow out of his hand. Don is forced to let go of his weapon as it goes up in flames and floats to the ground in a pile of ash.

With his hands free, he tries to do a three-part punch technique. Mikey growls and holds up a clenched hand, opening it to reveal a handful of golden sparkles and blows it at the turtle. Don sputters as the powder covers all of him. While he is distracted, Mikey raises his hands like he was controlling a puppet and Don’s body goes rigid.

“What’d you do to my brother?!” Ra demands as he jumps back into the fray at Mikey’s side.

Mikey swings himself to the side with his hands out in front of him and Don moves in front. Mikey moves his fingers around to make Don drop into a defensive stance. The purple banded turtle from universe 2003 blocks all of his red brother’s attacks before grabbing his arm and bicep and throwing him over his shoulder.

“What are you doin’ Don?!” Ra yelled as he picked himself off the ground.

“It’s not me,” Don tried to explain with heavy shock in his voice. All eyes turned towards the puppeteer behind him that regarded all of them with glowing eyes.

“Mikey, why?” his Leo gasped. His Donnie and Raph stand next to him with matching faces of betrayal. The commotion had finally brought the April’s, the Casey’s, Splinter and Draxum from where they were conversing in the other room. CJ’s face shows something that tells them that is recognizing the display of power. Splinter holds a hand out as if he could grab his son but Draxum holds him back.

Mikey shakes his head silently before raising his hands higher to put Don into a fighting position. “I’m sorry, Lee Lee; but this is something that needs to be done before it is too late.”

“Before what is too late?” this Dimension’s Donnie demands as he and Genius come to stand in front of the group with their own bo staffs at the ready.

“There is no time to explain,” Mikey coldly tells them.

“Then make time,” Donnie growls as he uses the length of the bo staff to try and stab at Mikey. Mikey raises a hand to have Don intercept it and steal it from his counterpart. Pushing his other hand out, Mikey commands Don to spin the staff and block the blow that Genius tried to land thinking that Mikey was distracted.

Twisting his hands, Don is made to stab one end of the bo staff in the ground and spinning around it to kick both Genius and Donnie back onto the ground.

“Hey, that trick finally worked!” Don muttered brightly to himself.

“Stop this right now, Michelangelo,” Draxum demands as he summons his vines to come up and wrap around Mikey. The spell is broken that keeps Don under his control and Wrath tied down by the chains. Don jumps away towards his brothers while Genius and Leader help Wrath off the ground.

“You…need…to stay…out of…my way,” Mikey growls as he struggles against the vines holding him.

“My son, what is going on?” Splinter asks as he approaches his captured son.

“What’s goin’ on is that yer Mikey is takin’ all his counterparts,” Ra growled from where he is checking Don over to make sure he is alright from his body-jacking.

“You don’t…know what…you’re talking about,” Mikey hisses and his versions of his brothers are shocked at the amount of venom in his voice.

“Then tell us,” Blue pleaded with his little brother. “This isn’t like you.”

“There…is…no…TIME!” Mikey roars at then, sending a blast of energy through the vines to set them ablaze. Draxum growls lowly but is unable to summon more vines before Mikey swings a hand out to his creator’s direction to trap him in a box of orange energy. Draxum bangs on the wall and holds out his own hand to use his powers. Everyone sees his face drops when nothing happens. Mikey sets his eyes back on his counterpart who is peeking out from the barrier the other turtles made in front of him. “I swear I will explain everything to you later but we need to get out of here before it is too late.”

“Like I said, he’s not going anywhere with you,” Leo growled as he threw one of the kunai at Mikey.

In one fluid motion, Mikey grabs the kunai out of the air, spins in the air, and throws it back at Leo to leave a thin cut across his cheek. A line of red blood comes to the surface to trail thinly down his cheek.

“He doesn’t have a choice,” Mikey glowered down at the turtles in front of him. “He either comes with me the easy way or the hard way.”

Mikey floats forward a step before stopping again for the new line of defenders in front of him.

His own brothers.

Blue has his swords out at the ready, pointed at his own little brother and everyone could see on his face that he was deeply affected by this. Purple has his own face set in grim determination as his tech bo is pulled out of his slot on the battle shell and extended to its full length. Red had his sai pulled out in each other his hands but his face shows that he is two steps away from crying.

“I am giving you one chance,” Mikey coldly growls at them. “Move.”

“No can do, hermano,” Blue tells him. “We can’t let you going around taking other dimension’s Mikey’s.”

“I would advise that you take your Mikey somewhere safe while we deal with ours,” Purple calls back to this universe’s turtles that were protecting their Mikey. “Somewhere far.”

“Do you want me to try and get in his head?” this universe’s April asks as she and Mikey’s April join the battle. Mikey’s April comes to stand in front with her ninpo’s green bat summoned into her hands. Cassandra and CJ take up positions behind Mikey with their hockey stick shaped weapons.

“No one is allowed in my head,” Mikey growls sharply at the red-headed April. His glowing eyes send a shiver down her spine. “And no one is going anywhere.”

Mikey swiftly raises both scarred hands in front of him and claps them together. The lair rumbles softly as each exit is blocked off by an array of chains, resembling the bars on a jail cell. “Oh, you little fucker,” Ra snarls. “I’m gonna beat the green off of ya.”

“Don’t you remember what I said to you before?” Mikey asks with a smirk as he tilts his head. “You can try but I am very powerful.”

“That’s it!” Ra roars as he tenses his arms. “I’m gonna kill ya!”

“Stop!” Red demands as he throws an arm to the side to stop Ra. “We’ll handle Mikey. Just protect the other Mikey.”

“It’s no use,” Mikey coldly tells the group. “You can’t beat me.”

“Looks like our little brother has gotten quite cocky,” Blue muses to his twin.

“He probably picked it up from you,” Purple says back as he tightens his grip on his tech bo.

“Enough talking already!” the Casey of this dimension groans as he runs up. “Goongala!” he yells as he swings his hockey stick down. Mikey just rolls his eyes before throwing a hand out to make Casey freeze right there in the air.

“Eh?” Casey blinks before Mikey swings his arm and throws the human boy clear across the room. He hits the wall hard and Raph pales at the crumbled sight of his best friend.

That prompts everyone into action as Blue slices a portal to life under his feet. He disappears into it as Purple shoots forward to stab at Mikey with the blunt end of his tech bo. The mother-and-son duo jump at the same time at Mikey’s back to try and land a blow on his carapace. Red punches his fists together to summon his astral form on them.

April takes a step forward and swings her bat at her baby brother. Mikey simply raises a hand to block it like Leo’s sword earlier, wrapping the chain around the weapon but this time he spins to avoid the stab of the tech bo and uses the bat to block the twin attack from the Cassandra and CJ.

The mother-and-future-son duo pull back their attack in fear of hurting April which gives Mikey the opening he wants. He twists one of his hands to bring two lengths of chains into existence to wrap around them. Mikey swings his hand out to the side to send the Casey’s flying across the room, catching April in their path.

Feeling something coming for his face, Mikey bends backwards to avoid an attack by Splinter’s tail. “I do not want to hurt you, my sunshine orange,” Splinter says to his youngest son. “But I will stop you if I have to.”

“Funny you say that,” Mikey chuckles humorously as he summons more chains to trap his father and throw him into the same box that Draxum was trapped in. “I could say the very same thing.”

“Not on my watch,” Blue’s voice declares as he falls through a portal above Mikey and lands on his back. Mikey grunts as he tries throwing a hand back but gasps when Blue uses the hilt of one of his swords to jabs at a pressure point. Mikey’s left arm falls down to his side uselessly.

Blue jumps off backwards and lands in a crouch on the ground, using it to propel him forward. He stabs his swords forward purposely to make Mikey dodge backwards right into Purple line of attack.

Purple shoots a net out of his tech bo with specialized weights lining it to trap Mikey down on the floor. Raph uses his astral projection arms to hold Mikey down but leaves his head out. Mikey hisses and spits in his trapped spot under his Raph’s hold.

“Oh, Mikey,” Red sighs sadly.

“Oi! Red!” Blue calls over to this dimension’s April. “Can you come see what’s going on in our little brother’s head?”

“Got it,” this universe’s April nods as she peels away from the group of turtles protecting other Mikey and kneels in front of the thrashing boy.

“No! Don’t!” Mikey cries out in alarm. They can see his eyes widen and the pupils shrink in fear as he tries pulls his head back into his shell. Red has his astral holding Mikey down in such a way that his head is unable to hide away. “You’ll let him know!”

“Who’s him?” Leo demands as he steps forward holding his other kunai in a backwards hold. If he wasn’t scared of the magic user making a move with his back turned, he would have grabbed his swords a while ago.

“We’re about to find out,” Raph growls as he adjusts his grip on his sai.

“Mikey, come with me,” Donnie demands as he starts pulling on his brother’s hand.

“But—” this dimension’s Mikey starts to protest.

“Not the time, little man,” Fearless tells him. “We gotta protect you from yourself.”

The April from this dimension brings glowing hands on either side of the thrashing Mikey’s head. He freezes in his movement as his mouth opens in a wordless scream and his eyes dim in their glow. Mikey’s body goes through another feedback episode and his body lights up in golden energy as it loses transparency. This attack only lasts a few seconds but it was still enough to send a shiver down the spines of his family. April’s own eyes start orange glowing a fraction before she winces and grabs at her own head.

“April?!” Leo calls out in alarm as he breaks away to grab her before she can fall to the ground. Donnie watches as he wishes to go to his crush as well but his protectiveness for his younger brother overrides it. “What’s going on?!”

“I told you…” Mikey growls lowly and the pressure in the lair grows heavy with raw power. “TO STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!” Mikey roars and everyone but the other Mikey is sent flying backwards from the force of power.

Mikey lifts a glowing bright hand in the air before slamming it harshly on the ground. Another wall of chains spring out to spear into the ceiling to create a circular barrier around the two Mikey’s.

Leo and Leader are the first to recover and they grab at the chains. Both of them pull their hands back in pain as the chains burn them. All the turtles stand up and grab their weapons to try and hack at the wall of chains. Blue raises his swords to open a portal into the barrier and gasps when he finds himself stuck.

He looks over to see his Mikey looking at him with a sad expression with a hand raised out towards him. A handful of golden chains trap him in his position of his swords raised above his head, leaving them stuck in his hands. With no way to throw his swords or having them somewhere else, Blue is unable to use his powers and teleport away.

Red punches at the wall of chains but they do not budge under his attacks. Purple summons a mystic chainsaw to try and breakthrough but it breaks under the sheer hardness of the chains. All of the turtles other side try their best but they can’t beat the unbreakable barrier that Mikey created with his chains.

Finally alone, Mikey pants and turns to his counterpart. Other Mikey flinches when he sees his other self stepping towards him on wobbly legs. With a strong push, Mikey kicks himself into the air to float as his legs are too weak to carry him further.

“Stay away from him!” Raph cries out in anger and alarm. He resorts to straight punching the barrier of chains, not caring as his knuckles splint open and blister from the heat.

“Take me instead!” Leo demands. He finally grabs one of his swords and frantically chops at the chains. They do not budge but that does not stop the desperation exuding from him.

“Please, don’t do this!” Donnie pleads as he uses Leo’s other sword to copy him. He was always the rational brother of the four but all that rationality was thrown out the window seeing the very real possibility of their brother being taken right in front of them.

“Please, you have to come with me before he arrives. There isn’t much time,” Mikey pleaded with other self. A scarred shaky hand was held out towards the other turtle. “I can’t explain everything here. You just have to trust me as a Mikey.”

The Mikey belonging to this dimension bit his lip and he weighed his decisions. He looked back at his brothers and their counterparts fighting against the chains separating them from the Mikey’s. The other Mikey looks back, squares his shoulders, and lifts his chin in determination.

“Before who arrives?” the other Mikey asks with a voice that carries throughout the lair.

“Oh, that would be me,” a new voice purrs echoes hauntingly around the lair. It startles everyone and they stop fighting against the chains to look around for the new voice. CJ freezes in shock and horror as he recognizes it.

“Oh fuck,” Mikey curses as he pales.

Cracks form in the air to the side of Mikey before a hole to this dimension is punched open. Mikey goes flying and slams in the wall with a loud yell as the chains holding the brothers back dissipated from the surprise. The Mikey of this dimension is thrown backwards and is caught by short Raph. He is tucked behind his red banded brother who growls at the new invader.

A cloaked figure smoothly flies out of the cracked hole in the dimension with a large framed orange banded turtle stomping out after him. Two cracked scarred three-fingered green hands peek out of the cloak and reach up to pull the hood down. A green head with no mask is revealed as the new figure smirks at the group. CJ lets out a strangled sob when one of the people that raised him and he thought was dead reappears in front of him.

“Master Michelangelo?” CJ sobs softly.

“Hey there, Junior,” Michelangelo smiles softly. “Good to see you again, kid.”

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

“Hey there, Junior,” Michelangelo smiles softly. “Good to see you again, kid.”

“You’re…alive?” CJ gasped as he took a hesitant step towards one of his surrogate fathers before sprinting over. He fell into Master Michelangelo’s open arms with a smile and tears flowing down his cheeks. The older turtle rubbed CJ’s head while he hugged him back before pulling back.

“Who da hell is this?” Ra growled from his spot. This aged turtle in front of them looked a lot like the Mikey of universe 2018 but there were a few differences. The first being how much older this turtle looked, with thinning gray hair on the sides of his maskless head. There were more yellow-orange markings adoring his body compared to Mikey and there was an air of power to him that sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

Golden crack-like scars ran over his arms just like the young Mikey but in a different pattern that was noticeable once the two of them were together. There was a soft, easy-going smile on his face but it lacked something to it that Ra couldn’t place his finger on.

“This is the future version of Mikey in my timeline,” CJ grinned at the group behind him. “He stopped so many kraang and used his powers to send me back to the past to prevent my future from happening!”

“So…is this Mikey the good guy?” Fearless asked.

“Of course!” CJ nodded his head with energy. “One of the best!”

All the turtles from universe 2018 looked between the two versions of their little brother. They didn’t know what was going on and they were starting to fear what was going to happen next.

“Get away from him, CJ,” Mikey panted as he pulled himself off the wall he was sent flying into. Bits of dust and debris fell from his shoulder and tumbled down the fabric of his cloak.

“Ah, there you are,” Master Michelangelo smiled as he started floating towards his younger self. “You’ve caused such a commotion by taking the key pieces off the board.”

“I can’t let you complete that spell,” Mikey sneered at his older self, holding his left shoulder with his right hand. “You and I both know what will happen if you make that wish.”

Master Michelangelo simply hummed as he got closer to the winded younger turtle in front of him. Glowing golden eyes stared down him before a hand whipped out of the cloak and smacked Mikey across the room. He landed at Ronin’s feet and with no hesitance, Ronin lifted his foot and stomped it down on Mikey plastron. A cough of blood splattered across his front as his breathing was taken from him again.

“Hey! Get off my brother!” Blue yelled as he charged in.

“You are not a part of this,” Master Michelangelo told him in an emotionless voice. He raised a scarred hand and sent a blast of energy at all the turtles watching. It sent them into the lair walls behind them and kept them trapped there.

“Master…Michelangelo?” CJ whispered. His previous happy disposition was lost and replaced with a tense and protective stance. “What’s going on?”

“I’m granting our wish, Junior,” Master Michelangelo smiled widely at him. Glowing eyes took a manic tone to them as his smile became giddy. With a twirl of a finger on his other hand, CJ and all the humans in the room plus Splinter and Draxum were forced into another golden box. The Casey’s all punched at the wall but they were trapped. “I’m bringing our family back. But first…” the aged turtle turned to menacingly stare down at the turtle pinned to the ground, “I have to take care of a few loose ends.”

“Hey! Don’t touch him!” a voice yells with a piece of the lair’s concrete wall hitting Master Michelangelo in the head. The mystic master turned and hummed in delight at this dimension’s Mikey staring him down.

“Mikey, hide!” Raph yelled at his brother.

“Oh, you’re already here!” Master Michelangelo clapped. A small trail of blood snailed its way down the aged turtles head from where he was struck but with a quick snap of his fingers, the wound disappeared. “That makes things so much easier for us!”

“Run! You have to run!” Mikey screamed at his counterpart. Ronin glanced down and pressed harder on the little turtle to make him gasp. There was a creaking resounding from Mikey’s shell that was making everyone tense.

“Get off him!” Fearless yelled at the large turtle. “You’re going to kill him!”

“No, he won’t,” Master Michelangelo shook his head in exasperation. “It would be a hinderance to the plan if young me died.” The mystic master started floating towards the other Mikey who sunk deeper into a fighting stance.

“Get outta here!” Wrath yelled at this universe’s Mikey. “He’s after ya kid!”

“There’s nowhere to run from me,” Master Michelangelo smiled and it sent a shiver down everyone’s shell. “The only thing preventing me from finding you was the barrier placed around this dimension. It was so annoying to not be able to access my younger self’s mind after he locked me out. I must thank whoever it was that dived into his mind and opened it up for me to find again.”

Over in the corner of the mystic box she was trapped in, April paled and realized why the small magic Mikey was so adamant that no one goes in his mind.

“Now, we are one step closer to our goal,” Master Michelangelo smirked down at the turtle as he held his hands out towards him. Tendrils of glowing chains snaked in the air, waiting to strike and capture the turtle in front of their master.

“Anytime now, you two!” Mikey screamed into the space of the lair.

“Who—” Leader started to ask.

The turtle holding Mikey down was tackled off him as another orange banded turtle near his height made his presence known. “Aw man, you messed up my superhero entrance.”

“Mikey?” Wrath gasped in shock.

“In the flesh, bro,” the Mikey from universe 2016 smirked at his brother. “Call me Party when we’re around other Mikey’s.”

“And call me Mike,” the Mikey from universe 2003 cackled as he swooped in and grabbed the Mikey from this universe. He swung him on his shoulder and dodged the chains controlled by Master Michelangelo. “I vote we call this one Michael or else we’re gonna get way confused.”

“Mikey, you’re safe?” Don asked in relief at his brother.

“I will be when we’re outta here,” Mike smiled at his brother and did a front flip to the best of his ability with Michael on his shoulder. “Boss, we ready to go?!” Mike called over to Mikey as he pulled himself off the ground. He wiped the blood off his chin with a grimace and used his powers to float in the air.

“You’re leaving?!” Wrath yelled.

“You’re not taking our Mikey anywhere without us!” Donnie roared in anger. Everyone pushed harder against the force holding them down as for the first time, all four quartets of turtles were together.

“Sorry, bros and other bros, but it ain’t safe here,” Party grunted as he traded blows with the other large turtle.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Master Michelangelo patiently told them as he raised a hand out. Multiple chains speared out of the ground to grab Mike and Michael to freeze them in their spots. “Especially when the power generators I needed are brought right to me.”

New chains erupted out of the ground and wrapped around Master Michelangelo. They spun around and slammed him into the ground, disrupting his concentration to release all the turtles that he trapped. They all fell to the ground with thuds and were quick to jump to their feet. Mikey let a shaky hand fall as he panted at the attack he sent his older self. “I’ll distract him. You three get out of here!” Mikey commanded as he flew in for an attack.

Master Michelangelo growled as he ripped himself out of the chains holding him down. Mikey flew in at that moment and tackled his older self through the air and through the solid concrete wall behind them. Rumbles sounded from the other room as the two versions of the same turtle fought it out.

Wrath, Red, Leader, and Genius rushed over to help Party fight the other large turtle that came with Master Michelangelo. Blue and Purple ran over to the hole where the two magic Mikey’s were duking it out.

Don was the first to pull himself out of his stupor and sprinted the short distance to his Mikey. Mike blinked to himself as a strong pair of arms were thrown around him and a few tears fell on your shoulder. “We were so worried,” Don whispered into his brother’s shoulder.

Mike hesitated before bringing his free hand up to hug his older brother back. Feeling a tug on the turtle tossed over his shoulder, he looked back to see the Raph related to this universe’s Mikey pull on Michael’s hand. Mike narrowed his eyes before swiftly pulling away from the hug and pointedly ignored the hand that trailed after him from his broken-hearted brother. “Mike?” Don whispered.

Mike just shook his head and adjusted Michael on his shoulder, who had started banging on his shell. Mike simply reaches up and around to press a pressure point on this universe’s Mikey to send him to slumberland. Short Leo and Donnie let out a little gasp at the sight while short Raph grits his teeth and snarls ferociously.

“We need to take him with us,” Mike told the two groups of older brother turtles in front of him. The shorter turtles all snarled and took out their weapons at the statement. “It’s not safe to let the old man Michelangelo take him.”

“You’re…leaving us again?” Fearless gaped, his white eyes wide with hurt. “But, you’re finally back with us.” A step forward with his hands out almost had Mike break his resolve and run into his oldest brother’s arm.

A loud crash sounded next to them and they all ducked as Master Michelangelo and Mikey went tumbling through another wall. Mikey threw a fisted hand behind him and they all watched as space shattered and another gateway to a different universe was opened. Mikey reached forward to grab edges of Master Michelangelo’s cloak and bent over backwards to throw him into the new opening. Right when the aged turtle left his hands, a string of chains snaked out of the opening and wrapped around the younger turtle’s middle to pull him in as well.

And just like that, his resolve as harden to be as strong as steel.

“Party! We got to go!” Mike yelled at his large counterpart.

“I’m trying here!” Party yelled back as he took a right hook to the face. Leader swooped in to stab the other turtle but he simply turned and avoided the weapon. “Kind of hard when we got the Winter Soldier over here!”

“You’re not taking our Mikey from us,” Leo growled at this taller version of Mikey and pointed his sword at him.

“Sorry, but you don’t have a say in it,” Mike told him in a hard voice and looked away at the shocked looks on his own brother’s faces. “Little me here is going with one version of the magic Mikey’s one way or another and I think we would all prefer little boss.”

“Is anyone going to explain what is going on?!” Ra yelled as he stomped over to his brother. “First we see ya get forcefully taken by that little orange and now you’re on his side?! What the fuck?!” Ra reached out to grab Mike’s arm and the next thing he knows, he is being thrown across the room to land on Don. Ra looks up to see the cold eyes of Mike as he lowers his arm from throwing Ra clear across the room. “…Mike?” Ra whispers.

“There will be time for explanations,” Mike tells them. He dodges to the left as a bo staff from this universe’s Donnie tries to strike him in the back of the head. “But not now.” Another dodged to the right gives him access to the katana thrusted at him by little Leo. He knocks it out of its owner’s hand and karate chops the back of the leader in blue’s neck to knock him out. “For now, we need to get out of here before psycho Michelangelo reappears.”

“Too late,” Master Michelangelo purrs behind him.

“Fuck,” Mike groans as he is bodily thrown across the room to give the wall another hole.

Mike and Party had been waiting around in their hideout when an orange tinted portal opened up right next to them. They both knew what was going on and jumped right in, blending into the shadows of the lair they landed in right away. They watched as Mikey fought against everyone, their hearts clenching at seeing their own brothers again. Both of them had left on no great terms and they wanted to do anything to quell their older brothers’ worries.

They lowered into their spots when Michelangelo and his enforcer arrived, not wanting to give away their presence. No one but Mikey knew that they were there and they preferred to keep it that way.

Though, they really wished they could at least talk to their brothers and explain what was going on.

“Anytime now, you two!”

But first they had a mission to complete.

After Party knocked the large turtle off of Mikey, he tuned out most of the conversation between everyone else. The turtle he had bulldozed had set his eyes on the opponent that was about a whole foot shorter than him.

The opponent being himself, of course.

“What do I call ya, dude?” Party smiled as he raised his fists in front of him.

“…Ronin,” the other turtle grunted as he raised his own fists.

“Edgy,” Party grinned as he crossed his arms in front of him and blocked a hard-hitting punch from Ronin. “I like it.”

“Ugh, you’re just like boss,” Ronin grunted as he threw his elbow at Party’s throat.

“Well, we’re all Michelangelo’s,” Party laughed as he did a quick spin and threw his own punch at Ronin’s face. Ronin frowned as he raised a hand and caught the fist easily. “Woah, dude, you are really diving into the edgy persona, aren’t ya?”

Ronin rolled his eyes before pulling on the fist to bring Party in closer and punch him in the gut. Party gagged as he pulled away and wiped the line of salvia running down his chin.

“You’re leaving?!” Party heard his red banded brother yell. Party pulled back and wiped the drool off of his chin.

“You’re not taking our Mikey anywhere without us!” the Donnie of this dimension roared in anger. Taking a step back, Party avoided a punch aimed at his face.

“Sorry, bros and other bros, but it ain’t safe here,” Party grunted as he traded blows with Ronin.

Party went back to ignoring what else was happening in the room as Ronin made it known that the two of them were still fighting. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered Mikey sending Master Michelangelo through a wall and the fighting on the other side of it. Party took a step back and felt himself start falling over as he tripped over an edge.

‘Well, there goes my charming smile,’ Party thought to himself as he saw a heavy fist coming straight for his face.

“Only I’m allowed to hit my brother!” Wrath roared as he stomped over and tackled Ronin off to the side before he his fist could make contact.

Party felt his descent stopped as two pair of green arms catch him. Peering up, he spotted the relieved faces of Leader and Genius staring down at him. “Man, I’m so glad you guys came before he punched in my teeth,” Party grinned up at his brothers.

“Oh, Mikey,” Leader breathed as he pulled his youngest brother in close. Genius pulled away and stood in front of the duo. Party peeked out to see Wrath jumping back from a straight left punch and the giant Raph he saw when he snuck into the room holding up glowing red arms to block a high kick.

“How about you mess with someone your own size?!” Wrath smirked at Ronin. “Oh wait,” he grinned savagely, “that’s me.” Wrath rushed in with a yell and grappled Ronin around his middle, making the aged turtle hiss in anger.

Ronin lifted an arm high in the air and dropped a sharp elbow straight down on the back of Wrath’s head. Party’s big brother dropped in a slumped heap; his consciousness taken from him.

“Raph!” Genius exclaimed as he rushed in with his bo staff pulled out. He tried to knock the turtle that he towered over by a whole two inches but the sheer weight of Ronin’s size prevented him from his feet being swept out from under him. Ronin growled and rolled his eyes as a hand struck out and grabbed Genius by the throat.

Genius started gagging and pulling at the hand clenching around his throat as he was lifted higher in the air and his feet dangled. Leader gasped at the sight and was about to pull away from Party to help his tech-inclined brother when Red jumped it and bodily pulled Genius away. Red swatted Ronin away like a fly, making him skid yards back with the only thing preventing him from eating concrete was his arms he threw up to protect himself at the last moment.

Red handed a coughing Genius over to Leader who started fretting over his brother. He looked between his two downed brothers, the little brother he was supposed to be protecting, and the pissed off Ronin in front of him.

“Keep an eye on them, big bro,” Party grinned as he pulled himself out from his spot behind Leader and raised his fists in front of him, punching them each once in the air to pump himself up. “This is a Mikey vs. Mikey fight.”

“No, Mikey!” Leader exclaimed as he threw a hand out to try and catch his orange banded brother. His fingers just brushed against the edge of Party’s shell before his brother leapt away.

Party launched into the air and attacked Ronin with a spinning kick. Ronin wasn’t able to block the second foot from connecting with his neck and fell to the side. Red lifted glowing red arms in the arm to slam down on the rouge Michelangelo but Ronin rolled on the ground out of the way. With a blur of moving hands, Ronin pulled out a pair of heavy nun chucks. He spun them quickly to gain momentum and let the loose side strike Red in the temple.

Red fell down with a groan as his vision blacked out and his hearing fell away into a single long drawn ringing.

Ronin tried to knock Party out, too, but growing up using that same weapon aided Party to disarm his opponent. The nun chucks went flying and thudded against the floor. Ronin glared and clenched his fists tight to go back to regular old fist-fighting.

Party was equally ready and narrowed his eyes at his counterpart.

“Party! We got to go!” Party heard Mike yell.

“I’m trying here!” Party yelled back, which Ronin took as an opening to send a solid right hook to Party’s face. Seeing his brother get hit, Leader swooped in to stab the other turtle but he simply turned and avoided the weapon. “Kind of hard when we got the Winter Soldier over here!”

“Winter Soldier?” Leader huffed as he spun around to strike at Ronin, who raised his own broken katana to block it. “Really? Why him?”

“He’s edgy,” Party shrugged as he jumped back to avoid a leg sweep. “Just like Mr. edgy Ronin here.”

“Enough talking,” Ronin growled as he reached forward to grab Leader’s straps. “I want my family back and nothing is getting in the way of that.” He groaned under the weight but Ronin was able to turn and bodily throw Leader across the room. Party took the chance to run up and jump onto Ronin’s carapace and wrap arms around his neck in a chokehold. Ronin gagged at the lack of air and tried to pry the thick muscly arms off. Party gritted his teeth against the pain but held on tight.

Party can feel Ronin losing the fight in his arms and was considering celebrating his victory in his mind when a tendril of mystic chains wraps around his own neck.

“Aw, fuck,” Party groans as he is bodily thrown across the room through the same hole in the wall Mike was just sent through.

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

“I’ll distract him. You three get out of here!” Mikey commanded as he flew in for an attack.

Master Michelangelo growled as he ripped himself out of the chains holding him down. Mikey flew in at that moment and tackled his older self through the air and through the solid concrete wall behind them.

Mikey grunted as Michelangelo grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the ground below. The younger of the two same turtles slammed an open palm flat on the ground to let chains erupt out of the ground and toss Michelangelo into the ceiling. Dust fell down on Mikey’s face as he kicked his feet up and used his hands to push him up.

Mikey moved out of the way just in time for Michelangelo to jam a foot straight down where Mikey’s sternum used to be. With a quick twist, Mikey’s cloak billowed out around him as he thrusts his scarred hands forward to send a torrent of glowing chains at his older self. Michelangelo copied and the two warring forces of chains tangled amongst each other.

Mikey gasped as another feedback episode ran through his body and he fell to a knee. Michelangelo smirked as his chains easily overpowered the opposition’s and they disappeared in a poof of golden sparkles. On the ground, Mikey was writhing in pain as his body’s very lifeforce was being taken from him to replenish his mystic core’s energy.

“I must say, it’s so beneficial to have a power bank to draw energy from,” Michelangelo said as he drifted closer and let his hand glow. With power running through it, he was able to reach down and grab Mikey’s around the neck to lift him in the air. “If only you stopped using your power so much then you wouldn’t go through this much pain.”

“It’s my powers,” Mikey snarled through the pain. “Why shouldn’t I be allowed to use it?”

“You can,” Michelangelo hummed in agreement. “But you know how much dimension travel requires and you also knew that I was pulling on our core for power.”

“It’s my core!” Mikey yelled and wheezed as Michelangelo tightened his grip.

“It’s our core now,” Michelangelo hissed lowly, his glowing eyes flashing brighter. “I don’t know why we have to share ever since I was brought to your timeline but now we have to make do with it. And to make that happen, you need to cooperate with me.”

“Fuck…you,” Mikey spat out.

Michelangelo narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip even more. Mikey tried to suck in any air and failed due to the scarred green three-fingered hand around his throat. Michelangelo raised his other hand in the air and let it glow with power. “If you are not going to help, then you must be taken off the board for now.”

“Let our baby brother go!” Blue yelled as he and Purple rushed in and jammed their weapons in Michelangelo’s face. The aged turtle was able to avoid the sharp point of Blue’s blade but fell victim to pointy end of Purple’s bo staff. His body followed in an arc as he sailed through the air and dropped Mikey. Blue reached forward and tried to grab Mikey but failed when his little brother’s body still lacked tangibility.

Mikey fell into a heap on the ground as he coughed, trying to get air back into his parched lungs. Blue fell to his knees next to him with hands hovering in the air as Purple stood guard in front of them. Michelangelo was picking himself up from where he landed with a snarl on his face. He wiped away the cut on his cheek, spreading the blood.

“Now, that wasn’t very nice, Don Don,” Michelangelo sneered.

“I’m not your brother,” Donnie hissed, gripping his tech bo tighter. “And you need to leave ours alone.”

“I will once everything is over,” Michelangelo replied as his hands hovered in the air, making himself rise. “And it would go a lot faster if my younger self would stop interfering.”

“Once you stop this madness!” Mikey yelled over the pain of the feedback. With one last hard flicker, his body came back to himself and Blue was finally able to place a hand on his brother’s shell.

“It’s not madness,” Michelangelo sighed as his eyes dimmed a fraction.

“Then what is it?” Blue questioned, helping Mikey to stand back up.

“Justice!” Michelangelo laughed manically as his eyes grew brighter than before. He thrusted a hand forward, sending a torrent of chains forward. Blue pushed Mikey out of the way in time before he and Purple were overrun with chains. It wrapped around them until they were little more than golden chain cocoons.

“Let them go!” Mikey roared as he flew forward and tackled Michelangelo back through another gray concrete wall. Dust and debris flew around them as Mikey threw a fisted hand behind him, pushing his powers forward to break the wall between dimensions. It wasn’t pretty or accurate work like with his portals but it did the job as a hole was cracked open in the open air to show another dimension on the other side.

Reaching forward, Mikey grabbed the edges of his older counterpart’s matching cloak and bent over backwards to bodily throw him in the other dimension. He didn’t get a moment to stand back up as a new tendril of chains shot out and grabbed him around the middle. It pulled him in and he was greeted with a new lair.

In the corner of his eye, as he was flying through the air, he saw a taller mutant rat that he suspected to be this dimension’s version of his father. He had an arm thrown out to the side in front of another red-headed girl that he figured was April. A muscly dude in a tank top and hockey mask had a reinforced hockey stick held out in front of him…probably a Casey.

Mikey didn’t get too much time to look them over as he was thrown into a wall, his shell protesting at the abuse. He was just barely able to sit up as a blast of pure energy was sent into him, cracking the wall behind him. Another cough of blood was released from his mouth, splattering out around the floor in front of him.

“He’s killing the little guy!” the new April gasped.

Mikey peeled his eyes open to see her ducking under Splinter’s arm and avoiding the Casey’s grab as she ran towards him. The Casey yelled in alarm at her as the April jumped right into the fray, her face set in determination. There was no fear in her eyes as Michelangelo turned towards her and raised a glowing hand her way.

“No!” Mikey screamed as he punched a fist into the air, sending his own blast of energy at the mystic master. It caught him in the side, sending him careening back through the portal back into the previous dimension. The attack Michelangelo was about to release at the April went wide as it was released, making a corner of the large lair’s walls explode in a dusty mess.

Mikey gasped in pain as another feedback episode ran through him, his head thrown back as his mouth opened in a soundless scream. The episodes were becoming too frequent and the pain was rising to new levels. He had to finish this quickly or else he really feared what was going to become of him.

He gave himself a moment to let the episode die down, seeing as he couldn’t really do anything during it. When it finally died down enough for his body to regain tangibility, he opened his eyes to see the April kneeling in front of him. There was a hand held out towards him but the hand wrapped around her wrist stopped her from touching him. She was glaring at the Casey before she wretched her hand away, placing it on Mikey’s knee.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked him, ignoring the way the Casey was running his hands through his long hair in an aggravated motion.

There was a crashing noise behind them, making all four of them look back towards the sharp-edged portal. Splinter narrowed his eyes when he saw his Mikey get thrown across the room into the concrete walls.

“I will be when this is all over,” Mikey groans as he pulls himself up. He stumbles for a second, Splinter catching him under the arms before steadying him. “Thanks, other dad,” Mikey grinned.

“Wait, is that Raph?” the Casey murmured as he narrowed his eyes as Ra ran into view to try and punch Michelangelo. A strand of golden chains wrapped around his arm, before throwing Ra through the same hole Mike went through.

“Stay here,” Mikey commanded as he pulled more on his nearing empty core to fly in the air. “It’s not safe as long as older me is there.”

“Older you?” the Casey echoed in confusion, a heavy accent coloring his voice. “What the hell is going on?!”

Mikey ignores him as he sails through the air, tackling Michelangelo right before he grabs an unconscious Michael. Party is getting up from where a disappearing length of chains around his neck threw him into a kitchen. Ronin is stomping towards Party and Mikey throws a hand out to throw a golden forcefield up. Ronin growls and punches it, his fist bouncing right off.

Michelangelo slams an elbow in the back of Mikey’s head, making his vision white out for a second but he doesn’t let go of his older counterpart. The mystic master hisses before spinning the two of the around, slamming Mikey into a wall. Mikey finally lets go, rubbing his side and turns his head to see Blue and Purple climbing out of the hole to the room they were trapped in. Seeing the two of the them free, Mikey figures out that he must have disrupted Michelangelo’s magic enough to make their prison of chains disappear.

“You are getting on my last nerve, kid,” Michelangelo spits as he raises a hand high in the air. It glows brightly, the scars illuminating, before he slams his hand down in the air and Mikey can only gag as gravity increases on him. A circle is depressed into the ground around him, showing the area where gravity was being manipulated.

Mikey doesn’t know how long he lays there feeling like he is being crushed by a building. It’s a pain like never before as he can’t move, he can’t speak; can’t even breathe.

He couldn’t do anything but watch and listen to all the chaos.

There’s yelling all around him and he watches as Michelangelo’s other hand moves around to fend off the brothers trying to stop him.

He had to get out of here before it goes too far. Mikey doesn’t trust his counterpart to not hurt the Leo’s, Donnie’s, and Raph’s in his pursuit in his mission. But how was he supposed to get out of this new prison?

…apparently the answer was one buff turtle from universe 2016.

Party shot forward while Michelangelo was distracted with fending off the 2018 brothers to grab the back of his cloak and give it a sharp tug. Michelangelo gagged as the fabric pulled on his throat, reaching up to grab it which released Mikey.

Mikey was catching his breath as Michelangelo turned around towards Party with a snarl.

“Sorry, evil boss,” Party smirked. “Can’t have you defeating our boss.” He pulled out his nun chucks and spun them around as Michelangelo ripped his cloak out of his hold. Ronin was picking himself off the ground with a hand holding a large lump on the side of his head in the kitchen.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Michelangelo sneered. “Perhaps we don’t need every Mikey in the multiverse unharmed.”

Mikey caught onto his words a second too late…a fraction of a second too late. He threw his hand out to intervene with what his older self was about to do but was just a hair too late.

And the screams of the turtles from universe 2016 rang out for their brother as bright golden mystics chains pierced right through the youngest of the four brothers.

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

“Mikey!” Leader, Genius, and Wrath screamed as Party fell to one of his knees, hands hovering over the chain that pierced through the lower left side of his plastron and out of his carapace. He had the reflexes to redirect the other chains heading towards him with his nun chucks to only graze him but this one chain got past him. There was another length that went through his right shoulder but it was lower on the priority scale than the one going through his stomach.

He gasped as the two chains were ripped out, leaving a large splatter of blood on the floor. Party tilted to the side, heading straight for the ground but Fearless caught him before he could hit the ground.

“Darn, I missed,” Michelangelo sighed. “Let me try that again.”

“I’m going to kill you!” Wrath screamed as he shot forward with his sai. Every time he tried to stab the aged turtle, Michelangelo just dodged to the side with a bored expression. Holding a scarred hand up, he flicked the air in front of him which caused Wrath to go sailing backwards over his Fearless and Genius as they fretted over Party.

Mikey sharply turned around and punched the air behind him, shattering open another hole to another universe. Thrusting his hands out in front of him, golden chains rushed out of the shadows of his cloak to wrap around Michelangelo, trapping his arms to his plastron. Mikey spun around in a circle to gain momentum and released the mystic master to toss him into the new universal hole.

A brown-haired girl jumped back from the hole just in time for Michelangelo to go sailing into it. Mikey flew after him and kicked a foot out to catch the aged turtle in the stomach and slam him into the dark lair. There were was a tall man pulling the brown-haired girl back as another mutant rat slid into a defensive position in front of the two humans.

Mikey and Michelangelo traded punches and kicks in favor of using their magic as they tumbled around each other. The turtles from universe 2016 looked up and into the cracked hole in the universal barriers between worlds.

“Hey, that’s our universe!” Wrath called as he peeked into the hole.

“Raphael?!” the new Splinter called. “Where have all of you been?! We’ve been so worried!”

“Long story,” Leader grunted as he lifted Party up. Genius pulled a rag out of belt and held it to the wound in Party’s side, making the orange wearing turtle hiss in pain. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about. Let’s get home while we still have the chance.”

“What happened to Mikey?” April fretted as she stepped closer to her surrogate turtle brothers.

Fearless wasn’t able to answer as Mikey went flying through the air, carapace first, like a bowling ball into the 2016 turtles, knocking them back into universe 2012. April called after her turtles and rushed over to the hole, mouth dropping in surprise at all the other versions of the brothers in the room. She looked across the room and locked eyes with another woman peeking out of another hole, something resonating between the two of them.

“You’re not getting away from me that easily,” an older voice growled behind her. April turned around to see the aged turtle from earlier drift past her, his cloak billowing behind him as his eyes glowed brightly.

Michelangelo swirled his hands together, a small ball of orange energy sparking to life in his hands. Licks of electricity pulled up from his hands, adding fuel to the growing brighter ball.

Mikey was pulling himself out of the pile of large turtles, making sure to be gentle with Party who groaned at the pain. Looking up, he saw the mass of energy being pulled out and paled. “Shit!” he cursed before jumping into the air and creating his own ball of energy.

“Something’s going on,” Donnie murmured to Don as he and Raph protected the two down brothers of their group.

“And whatever it is, it’s not going to be good,” Don muttered back, watching from the corner of his eyes where Fearless was helping Ra and Mike out of the hole they were thrown into.

“I think this is our cue to hunker down,” Purple said as he pulled Blue behind him, swinging his tech bo in front of him to conjure a purple shield in front of all of them.

In the hands of both mystic Mikey’s, their rolling orbs of energy were pulsating with raw power, growing into the size of a softball with the center being a bright white. At the same time, they each pulled back with their right hands, thrusting the balls in front of them at their opponent.

The two balls made contact, hovering in the air as they fought against each other with bright light assaulting the eyes of everyone that gazed upon the sight. The air became heavy as each mystic user created an attack that would have bulldozed down anyone else that wasn’t themselves.

All the conscious members of the room watched as the orbs first fought against each other before swirling around each other. A large ball was formed, glitching at the sides as the magic powering it was at the same time different but all the same.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Michelangelo awed as he pulled his hand back away from growing unstable ball of raw power.

“This is your fault,” Mikey hissed as he threw his hands upwards, digging his hands into the very fabric of the universe. He pulled his hands to the side, ripping another hole to a different universe. This one was colorful with a bright white moon light’s shining down into the dark lair.

Mikey grabbed the ball as it started to compress onto itself, yelling as his hands burned at the touch of it and threw it upwards into the new hole. It flew high into the air, higher and higher, before shrinking to the size of a marble.

“Brace yourself!” Mikey called out as he tugged the edge of his cloak in front of him as a shield.

A shockwave of heavy force exploded as the ball released its energy, forcing everyone not hunkered down onto the ground. Donnie and Raph laid themselves over Leo and Michael in an effort to protect them. Mike had his arms held in an X over his face as he kneeled on the ground, his three brothers blown back by the force to slam against the wall.

Wrath and Leader positioned themselves with their shells aimed towards the force, interlocking each other with an arm over the other’s shoulder. They made themselves become a living barrier in front of Genius clutching Party close to him, the injured turtle becoming paler as time went by.

Ronin hid behind the kitchen island, shielding his head with his arms as the glassware around him broke and rained down. Blue had opened a portal under him to bring Red over to where he was hiding behind Purple’s shield with him. Red was still trying to get his vision and hearing under control from when Ronin hit in the side of the head, a trail of blood leaking down the side of his head.

The humans, Splinter and Draxum hid behind a barrage of vines that the alchemist warrior summoned to protect them. Their mystic barrier had disappeared right when Michelangelo was drawing on his powers to create the power orb, giving the yokai just enough time to create a shield for all of them.

The Aprils, Caseys, and Splinters from universes 2016 and 2003 were pushed back from where they were watching through the holes in the universal barrier. April and Casey from universe 2003 were pushed behind Splinter as he used his body as a shield. The trio from universe 2016 hid behind a pillar in their lair, trying to avoid the debris flying around from the shockwave force.

As quickly as it came, it left, leaving a deafening silence in its wake…

…which Mikey used as his opening.

With a grunt, Mikey threw his cloak behind him and pushed both hands out to send a multitude of mystic chains at his older counterpart. Michelangelo growled as they snaked around him, trapping his arms to his plastron and even tied his fingers down so he couldn’t snap. They pulled him down to the ground, anchoring him down to the ground that he always floated above.

The Splinters, Caseys and Aprils took this chance to rush out of their spots and to their group of turtles. They all skidded towards their boys, fretting over them as they struggled to stand against their pains.

Michael started waking up at this point, listening to the yells and hisses of anger from the mystic master from being trapped. He looked up as Donnie and Raph got off of him and Leo, asking in frantic voices if he was okay.

He ignored them though as he watched Mikey twist his hands and arms around in the air, sending more and more chains to hold back the raging bull of a turtle. It was impossible to count the number of chains tying Michelangelo down but they were finally holding him down.

Twisting around, Mikey threw another bundle of chains out to stop Ronin from leaving the kitchen. They held him in the air, the chains quivering against the force of Ronin pulling on them but not breaking.

The family from universe 2018 watched in awe at the impressive display of mystic arts that Mikey was showing them. Draxum was frowning as he knows he didn’t teach his youngest son those techniques. There was no way for him to know how to do all of that but here he was, showing them moves that he should be years - or even decades - away from mastering.

“Mike, now!” Mikey yelled as he turned to an empty space next to him and held his hands out, his markings and scars on his burnt hands glowing as he collected more of his nearly gone power.

Mike jumped away from his brothers in a flash, ignoring their exclamations of shock as he pulls on his chi-enhanced form to move faster. As quick as a flash, he breaks into the circle of turtles from universe 2016. Wrath growls at the interloper, knowing what he is planning on doing, and throws a heavy fist out.

Using his opponent’s size and weight against him, Mike grabs Wrath’s arm and tosses him over his shoulder in the same manner he threw Ra earlier. Wrath goes flying and hits the top part of the hole in the concrete wall. He falls to the ground and groans as it makes new large pieces of heavy concrete fall on him, practically burying him.

“Wrath!” Leader and Genius cry out before they are wretched away from Party and thrown the sides of where Wrath is buried.

The two cool toned brothers look to see Mike bending down to pick up Party, much to their horror. “No!” Leader calls out. Next to him, Wrath grunts as he tries to pull himself out; Genius trying to quickly pull the large concrete pieces off of their strength-endowed brother. Gritting his teeth, Leader bends down to hurry the process up and bring their tank back to action. Their Casey and April try to help but their human strength adds barely anything to the group effort.

Using his speed again, Mike disappears like a breeze and reappears next to the turtles from this dimension. They squawk in surprise as Mike uses his leg to pick Michael up by the middle and spins before tossing him away from his brothers. He disappears again with Party as Raph throws a sai equipped hand straight into the air where his neck would be.

Michael looks up from where he was tossed to see himself at the floating feet of the younger version of the mystic master.

“You have to make your choice right now!” Mikey yelled, his newly burnt, glowing scarred hand held out towards Michael. “Me or him?!”

Michael looked back at the raging older turtle as he fought against the prison of chains holding him back. He looked over to his brothers as Leo came to from where they were coming out of their dazed conditions, blinking in confusion to himself. There was a look of dread coming over their faces as they saw the scene of Mikey holding his hand out towards Michael.

Gulping, Michael turned back towards Mikey and placed his hands in the scarred green ones that belonged to his counterpart.

“Mikey, no!” Leo screamed as he pulled himself up to unsteady feet.

“Boss, we have to go, now!” Mike yelled with Party’s arm slung over him, reappearing next to the two shorter Mikeys. Party’s other arm was applying pressure to the gaping wound in his side that let blood leak out all over him.

Mikey threw his open hand to the side, letting the bright glow in his scars release as a new orange tinted portal opened up next to him. He let go of Michael’s hand and directed Mike to carry Party in.

“Mikey, come back!” Fearless yelled from where his Splinter is helping him up. April and Casey are helping Don and Ra up respectfully, the two brothers ignoring the pain all over their body as Mike slips away from them once again…but this time by choice.

“Bring ‘em back!” Wrath screams as he holds a hand out towards his injured brother that is carried into a portal too far away from him. He is almost free from the concrete that Leader and Genius were moving quickly to finish prying off. They are conflicted by the brother being crushed and the brother being taken away from them. “Don’t take our brother from us again!”

Michael bit his lip as he stepped into the portal. He didn’t dare look back at the screams from his brothers to come back.

Mikey gritted his teeth as he drifted into the portal, straining to hold it open and trap his older counterpart in his cage of mystic chains.

“Mikey! You get back here right now!” Blue yelled as he ran towards the portal, finally getting over the daze that the shockwave had pulled all three older brothers into.

Mikey took one last look back as he fully entered the portal. Blue had a hand stretched out in front of him to try and catch his younger brother before he could disappear.

Too bad Mikey wasn’t going to let himself get caught.

“Sorry, Lee Lee,” Mikey muttered as he relaxed his hands, letting the glow in his eyes die out. “I have to go.”

“Mikey!”

And with that, the orange portal swirled shut with a hiss, leaving behind a faint wisp to run through Blue’s hand as he just barely missed the portal.

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

Blue felt the whisp of energy breeze through his fingers as he just barely misses the portal that took the four Mikey’s away.

He didn’t understand what was going on. First, Mikey was going through a strange mystic feedback that had been apparently going on longer than any of the brothers realized. Then, they are whisked away to another dimension with three other versions of themselves except for Mikey because someone had been kidnapping all the Mikeys.

Next, it is revealed that it was his very own Mikey.

But then they find out there is another version of their Mikey that was apparently the evil guy in this situation – the very same one that sent CJ back to the past to save the world.

And now, his version of his baby brother was gone, taking the Mikey of the dimension they were pulled into.

There was a lot of information missing and it was aggravating him.

“THAT FUCKING BRAT!”

But first, they would have to deal with the aged mystic turtle that was left behind with them.

Turning around and pulling his swords out, Leo stood his ground in front of Michelangelo as the chains holding him down melted away as their master left the dimension. All around him, half of the group surrounded the mystic master and the other half around Ronin as he dropped to the ground. They each had a weapon held in front of them, their sorrow of their Mikey’s leaving turning into rage at the one who started the entire mess. All the humans were pushing behind the Splinters and the sole Draxum as they all knew they were no match for this version of a Mikey.

“I’m going to make him suffer the next I see him,” Michelangelo growled as his marking gained their glow again, floating into the air. “That is a promise.”

“Master Michelangelo, what are you doing?” CJ asked with concern in his voice as he stepped forward. “This isn’t like you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong Junior,” Michelangelo said with a dark look in his eyes. “I’ve always been like this but I had my family to fall back on. With them gone, my self-control is gone.”

“But you can’t go around hurting other people!” CJ pleaded. “This isn’t what Master Leonardo would have wanted!”

“I know,” Michelangelo nodded along sagely as he looked down at his scared hands before clenching them and looking back up at the boy he helped raise. “But this is what I want. I am bringing back our family, one way or another.”

CJ went to talk again but was pulled back by Draxum, his eyes narrowing at the sudden increase in mystical pressure emanating from the aged turtle.

“I see I put too much faith in thinking that all of you were stuck in your own dimensions,” Michelangelo hummed as he lazily spun around in a circle, looking over each of the turtles staring him and Ronin down. “You all work too well together…let’s change that,” he grinned as he raised his hands palm up in front of him.

Two small balls of energy collected in his hands and he swiftly clapped them together. There was a bright light, so bright that they all were blinded and there was a shift of wind pushing against all of them.

Blue tried to push forward, trying to fight against the future version of his precious baby brother but something tugged his conscious away from him. An odd sort of pressure pushed him down but there was no ground to meet him as he blacked out.

Universe 2003

“Hey, wake up.”

Blue groaned at the voice invading his dreamless slumber. A foot nudged in the side, making him throw a hand out to push against the perpetrator. “Go ‘way, ‘Tello,” Blue mumbled.

“I ain’t your Donnie,” the voice growled with another kick in his side. “Wake up already.”

“Raph! Don’t be so rough with him!” a voice corrected.

Blue peeled his eyes open to see a place he was unfamiliar with. The ceiling was tall and the entire room was spacious. It was bright but wasn’t as colorful as his home back in his dimension…and this definitely wasn’t the lair he was just in.

Shooting up, Blue looked around him and took in the occupants with him.

And not one of his family members were there.

A red-headed woman was scolding a peeved Ra with a muscular black-haired man laughing at the dressing down the red-themed turtle was getting. She turned around and pulled the man down by his ear, adding him to the scolding, making Ra smirk. Looking to the side, Donnie was hesitantly accepting a hand from a new mutant rat to help him off the ground.

Feeling something fluffy rub on his leg, Blue looked down to see an orange cat blinking up at him. Its chest, stomach, and the tip of the tail were all white to go with its white mittens. Sharp green eyes stared at him among the fur that was the same color his baby brother loved.

“Aww, aren’t you cute,” Blue grinned as he reached down and rubbed the cat’s chin, making it purr. “Raph would’ve love to meet you.”

“That is Klunk,” the mutant rat said, nodding towards the boy as he held a hand out. Blue took the offered hand and stood up. “He is my Michelangelo’s pet.”

“I’m guessing you’re a different version of my dad,” Blue said as he interlocked his hands behind his head, getting a nod of confirmation in return. “Mikey and Raph would love to have a cat but pops has a clear ban on pets besides Piebald.”

“Most unfortunate,” the new Splinter shook his head. “Though, I do not know who this Piebald is.”

“She’s our adopted mutant fish sister,” Blue smiled. “She really freaked us out when we first met us but looking back, it was really funny.”

“Sounds like a story for you tell me at some point,” Splinter mused. “For now, let’s figure out what is going.”

“I’ll tell you what is going on,” Ra growled, stomping over to poke a finger into Blue’s plastron. “This one’s little shit of a brother started this giant mess.”

“Don’t talk about Mikey that way,” Blue hissed, his hackles rising immediately. “You don’t know anything about him.”

“I do know that it’s his fault that all the Mikey’s are gone!”

“That was his future version that we thought was dead!”

“Maybe he should have stayed dead then!”

Blue opened his mouth but froze, a strangled whine coming out of his throat. Images of Mikey screaming in pain as his powers run out of control after forcing a portal between dimension open with his bare hands running in his mind. Donnie having to hold their writhing brother down as Draxum pulls the raw energy out, Raph holding Leo close and trying to block out the noise as tears run both down their faces. Golden flakes floating by their heads in the med bay and having to push down the feeling to vomit at the knowledge that those flecks were pieces of his own brother.

Knowing that his baby brother almost died bringing him home.

“Raphael!” Splinter sharply interjected, slamming the end of his cane against the ground. Donnie flinched at the sudden noise, memories of his own Splinter scolding his own Raph the same way springing up. “That is enough! This arguing will help no one!”

“But Sensei—!”

“No buts,” Splinter narrowed his eyes. “We have guests so we are going to treat them with courtesy. Is that clear?”

“Yes sensei,” Ra muttered, crossing his arms in anger.

The red-headed woman comes up to Blue and lighting places her hand on his forearm. “Hey there, I’m April and that’s Casey,” she introduced herself and motioning over to the man clapping Ra on the shoulder. “Based on your mask and swords, I’m going to take a wild guess and say you are a Leonardo.” Blue just mutely nods, his fists tightly clenched as his throat stays closed at the memories. “You’ll just have to ignore Raph. He’s just worried and that can tend to him lashing out.”

“Hey!”

“You do, bro,” Casey tells his friend.

“Don’t take his words to heart,” she tells him, rubbing the hand up and down his arm. “Sometimes he doesn’t realize how harsh he is.”

“Are you okay?” Donnie asks as he approaches, his anger at Blue’s Mikey evaporating at the reaction Blue was showing at Ra’s words.

“…he almost did die,” Blue whispers, bringing one of his hands up to rub roughly at his eyes. “Saving me from the kraang.”

“Ah, shit,” Ra mumbled over in his spot.

“You and your big mouth,” Casey muttered, punching Ra in the shoulder.

“Is he okay now?” Donnie asked, taking a step closer to Blue.

“More or less,” Blue shrugged. “He still has some mobility problems in his hands from the nerve damage but he won’t admit it until he’s pushed his hands to far.”

“Sounds like something Mike would do,” Ra grumbled. Exhaling harshly and rubbing a hand on the back of his head, Ra approached the distressed counterpart of his older brother. “I’m sorry about what I said.”

April looked over at him and cleared her throat, motioning with her hand to go on.

“Are you serious?” Ra growled softly.

“Raphael,” Splinter growled back.

“Ugh, fine,” Ra groaned and turned back towards the turtle that was slowly relaxing. “I’m sorry for saying everything is your brother’s fault. He couldn’t have predicted his future version coming back and being a psychopath.”

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted that,” Donnie laughed.

“No, that is something we wouldn’t have thought to think of,” Blue grinned softly. “Even with all the weird things we’ve seen.”

“Oh man, don’t get me started on all the shit I’ve gone through because of these guys,” Casey snickered, throwing an arm over Ra’s shoulder.

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy it,” Ra grunted, shoving Casey off of him.

“Speaking of weird, where are we?” Donnie asked as he looked around. “This doesn’t look like my dimension anymore.”

“This is my home turf!” Ra grinned as he threw his arms out in a grand gesture. “Welcome to universe 2003!”

Universe ???

“Put him down in that chair!” Mikey directed as the four of them entered their hiding spot.

Michael looked around and took in everything as the three other orange-themed turtles bustled moved towards the aforementioned chair. Party groaned as he dropped into it, his hand falling away slightly from the wound in his side; his wound in his shoulder sluggishly dripping blood down his arm.

The mystic-master-in-training dropped to his side and held his hands up to the major wound, letting them glow. Space distorted around the edges of him as he flickered in-and-out of existence with an orange sheen. He gritted his teeth as he waited for it to pass before applying his magic on the wound.

“You don’t got to do that, boss,” Party mumbled as he looked down. “I know you don’t got all that much power and this is just going to make it worse.”

“Oh, shut up,” Mikey rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I dragged you into this mess; it only makes sense for me to patch you up.”

“Is anyone going to explain what is going on?” Michael shyly asked as he took a step forward.

“Of course, we are,” Mike smiled as he came back with a first-aid kit in his hands. “Just let us patch up these two before we move on.”

“I don’t need patching up,” Mikey frowned.

“Yeah, okay,” Mike raised an eye ridge. “Say that again when you don’t have burns on both hands and blood dripping on the floor.”

Mikey looked down to see, indeed, there was droplets of his blood leaking out onto the floor from his re-opened scars. His hands were shaking from the pain of the burns on his hands that was making itself known as his adrenaline faded away.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” Mike shook his head and pulled out what he needed from the kit.

There was silence for a few moments as Mikey finished treating Party’s side, his shoulder being taken care of by Mike. Unfortunately, the magic user didn’t have enough power for both wounds so he could only focus on the life-threatening one at the time.

With it closed and the pieces of shell that were broken on both sides now fixed, Mikey let out a shaky breath and dropped backwards to flop on his carapace; his arms splaying out on the ground next to him. “I am so tired,” Mikey groaned.

“That’s what happens when you go toe-to-toe with all our brothers and then your crazy older self,” Party smirked as he poked at the newly healed wound. Mike came over and helped him ease his injured arm into a sling to get some pressure off his shoulder. “Man, we really need to get some powers in my universe.”

“They really are awesome,” Mike nodded sagely. He stepped away and rummaged around in the first-aid kit.

“You’re making me miss my lightning powers,” Michael pouted as he looked down at his hands palm up in front of him.

“I can probably give them back to you, if you really want,” Mikey offered.

“Really?!” Michael beamed brightly, his tail wagging happily.

“Not right now,” Mike interrupted, sitting down next to Mikey on his left side to grab his hand and start treating it. Mikey hissed as antiseptic was applied but didn’t pull his hand away. “You’re too much of a mess right now to even think about that. Did you make sure to lock your powers back down so big you can’t take them?”

“Oh, thanks for reminding me,” Mikey said. He lifted his hand in the air above him and let it glow again. He bends his fingers and slams them into his plastron, sending a burst of energy through his plastron. A gasp escapes his lips as his powers are sealed up again to collect in his reserves but not allowing them to be touched. His cloak shifts back to his orange hoodie in a shimmer of golden sparkles. “There we go,” Mikey weakly wheezes as he holds up a shaky thumbs-up.

“I’ll get you some water,” Party said as he got up from his chair and headed towards the kitchen in the corner of the room that Michael was just noticing.

“I would appreciate that,” Mikey croaked from the floor.

“Don’t you think we should get you off the floor?” Michael asked with a raised eye ridge.

“Too tired,” Mikey shook his head. “No energy left to move.”

“Fair.”

“Here you go,” Party said as he handed over an athletic water bottle. With his hand that was not being treated, Mikey grabbed it and raised it to his lips, taking in large sips of cool water.

“You are a godsend,” Mikey sighed as he took the bottle away from his mouth and placed it down by his side.

“Said that one that probably just saved me from bleeding out,” Party laughed.

“Again, that’s my fault for dragging you into this mess,” Mikey responded as Mike switched sides and started working on Mikey’s other hand. His left hand was now covered in a layer of white bandages that covered re-opened golden scars and newly acquired burns.

“Can we go over that now?” Michael asked, pulling over another chair. “Like who the heck was that Psychoangelo and the large dude with him?”

“Psychoangelo?” all three other Mikey’s snickered.

“Uh, yeah,” Michael rolled his eyes. “I gave him a name. It’s like my thing. Uh…no offence dude.”

“No complaining over here,” Mikey laughed. “It really describes him.” Mikey sat up with a groan at the exertion as Mike finished treating his right hand. Mike helped him sit up all the way and then to stand up when Mikey’s legs refused to answer to him. “Let’s move over to the couch. There’s quite a bit to this story and I’d rather be somewhere comfy so I can pass the fuck out right afterwards.”

“Man, I know that feeling,” Michael groaned as he followed to the center area with the other. He dropped down onto a cushiony couch as Mikey fell into a dull orange bean-bag chair across him.

“Don’t we all?” Mike joined the groan. Mike sat on the edge of the cough near Mikey as Party took a seat next to Michael. He was seated more towards the other end of the couch so he could put his arm on the arm rest.

“I swear after we defeated our Shredder and got home, me and my bros slept for a solid fourteen hours each,” Party chuckled.

“Alright,” Mikey sighed as he adjusted his seat in the bean-bag, trying to ease off the pressure of his abused shell from when Ronin stomped on him. “Where do you want to start?”

“I guess the beginning,” Michael shrugged. “Like, why is this happening and what does he wanted with all of us?”

“And that is the million-dollar question,” Mike smiled softly as he shook his pointer finger in the air.

“Then here is the million-dollar answer,” Mikey sighed as he finally found a comfortable spot in his chair.

Chapter Text

Universe 2018

“I guess we could count us lucky that we ended up in my dimension,” Purple commented as he used one of his robotic arms to hold a juice box up to his lips. He took a long sip from the straw as he typed away at his computer, the light reflecting off lens of his goggles pulled down on his face. “It’ll be so must faster for a dimensional gate generator with my knowledge with my inventions.”

“How long is this going to take?” Wrath grunted as he leaned against the entrance to Purple’s lab and crossed his arms.

“Faster than what you’re Donnie’s can do,” Purple laughed to himself.

“You are really full of yourself, aren’t you?” Casey frowned.

“Casey, stop it,” April hissed as she nudged him in the arm. “You’re being antagonistic.”

“He’s not wrong though,” Draxum deadpanned from where he was drawing rune in the air with a glowing finger. “Donatello is very much full of himself most of the time.”

“Scoff,” Donnie rolled his eyes and pulled away from his computer, one of his battle shell robot arms reaching up to push his goggles up on top of his head. “I’ll have you remember that I was the one to figure out cross-dimensional communication before any of you or my counterparts. My intelligence is clearly superior to anyone.”

“I don’t care if you’re the smartest Donnie or not, I want to get back to the others already,” Leo growled from where he was pacing. “We have no clue what’s happening to our Mikey’s while we are just sitting around here!”

“They’re probably fine,” Purple waved the concern away and turned back to his computer.

“Says you,” Wrath rolled his eyes. “Your Mikey was the root of the problem.”

“Excuse me?” Purple hissed lowly, turning towards Wrath with glowing eyes. “You want to repeat that?”

“I said,” Wrath growled as he pushed off the wall and started stomping towards the shorter turtle. “It’s your Mikey’s fault this is going on.”

Purple’s eyes narrowed and in a flash, he was jumping out of his chair to grab his tech bo and jabbing it into Wrath’s face. The red themed turtle took a step back to avoid the attack which Purple used to spin his weapon and summoned a trident attachment to the end of it. He threw a leg out to trip Wrath and the large turtle fell backwards, looking up to see three sharp tongs held inches from his throat.

“Donatello!” Draxum scolded. “Stop fighting the others this instant!”

“He started it,” Purple hissed, his eyes two pools of acidic violet.

“I do not care,” Draxum scowled, looking at how the new Leonardo held his swords out at Purple’s neck with the two humans looking ready to jump in if they needed to. “Fighting like this is just going to slow down production.”

Purple tsk’ed and drew his weapon away, letting the trident head disappear in a cloud of purple light. Leo relaxed his swords and placed them back in their sheathes but didn’t take his eyes off the purple turtle.

“If you’re just going to trash talk the best person I know and will ever meet, then get out of my lab,” Purple hissed without looking back.

“How can he be all that great if he was the one going around kidnapping our brothers?” Wrath growled.

“He was saving them!” Purple exploded as he slammed his hands on his desk and whirled his head towards his oldest brother’s counterpart. “That older version of Mikey was trying to kidnap all of them for some bad spell and my brother was saving your brothers!”

“Does saving count getting my brother impaled by chains?” Wrath snarled. “Because I don’t remember seeing that in the dictionary.” The buff turtle threw an arm out to the side to gesture to the air. “My brother is out there bleeding out and I am stuck here!”

“Mikey has most likely already healed him,” Purple narrowed his eyes. “Because my brother would rather put himself in more pain healing someone else than worry about his own wounds like the burns on his hands.”

“Yeah…that sounds like something a Mikey would do,” April murmured quietly but it was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Wrath clenched his fist, looking away, before stomping out of the lab. Casey chased after him, feeling that this Raph was close enough to his own that he would be able to help him. Purple dropped back into his chair and raised a hand to cover his eyes.

Leo felt a nudge against his arm, looking to his side to see April eyeing him and gesturing with her head towards Purple. He shook his head and frowned, April responding by pinching him in the arm. The leader in blue pulled away, rubbing his arm, and scowling at his fellow clan member. She started pushing him towards the resident genius, her face set in determination.

“Fine, stop pushing me,” Leo hissed quietly to April. He pulled away and ignored the triumph look on April face. Approaching Purple, he fiddled with his fingers as he found the right words to say. “Hey…are you okay?”

“What do you think?” Purple set out a long-suffering and pulled his hand away, looking up at the ceiling of his lab. “My baby brother is apparently trying to prevent some evil lunatic version of himself from destroying the multiverse and had been keeping it a secret from us for who knows how long.”

“And let’s not forget the part where we are all now separated from our brothers,” Leo hummed as he leaned against Purple’s desk.

“Oh gee, thanks for the reminder,” Purple rolled his eyes.

“It could be worse though,” Leo added.

“Dammit, you just had to say the forbidden sentence,” Purple grumbled before sighing. “Since you’ve already said it, pray tell, what could be worse than this?”

“All of our brothers could already be taken by the evil Mikey,” Leo says with a small smile towards his brother’s counterpart. “Now that some time has passed and I know some more information on what is going on, I think the best thing I could have for my Mikey is go to with your brother rather than the old version of him.”

“I guess that is a plus,” Purple sighed. “…I am in existential pain not knowing what is going on.”

“I feel like all the Donnie’s probably feel the same way,” Leo chuckled. If it was any of his brothers, he would have patted them on the shoulder but something about this Donnie told him that wasn’t a good idea. “I’m sure you guys will figure it out soon enough.”

“But soon enough is not soon enough,” Purple gritted his teeth. “You don’t understand – Mikey’s powers are destructive when overused.”

“Do you mean that the other Mikey’s are in trouble?” Leo raised an eye ridge, a quelling of panic rising inside of them.

“Let me re-word that,” Purple said. “They are self-destructive.”

“Is he in danger?” Leo gulped.

“Very likely,” Purple nodded grimly. “It took me, Draxum and our father to keep him in this world after he opened the portal to save our Leo. According to Junior, his Mikey shattered and broke apart into nothing opening the portal that sent him back to our timeline…it killed him.”

“So how is your Mikey still around?”

“He had me and Raph to help with the mystic payload when he ripped open the fabric of reality. I didn’t notice it at the time but his arms had already started cracking by the time we got to him…you saw the scars on his hands and arms.”

“I did,” Leo nodded numbly as he remembered the glowing golden scars against the green.

“Afterwards, when we got home, he had an extreme adverse reaction to the amount of mystic energy he used. I had to hold him down as Dad #2 over there forcefully pulled out the raging power out of him,” Purple explained. “That’s when we finally saw the full extent of the damage Mikey’s powers inflict on him.”

“That’s horrible,” Leo whispered. He couldn’t imagine holding his own brother down as his own powers fought against him, powerless to help.

“It really was,” Purple murmured. “I still can hear his screams in my nightmares…which is why I am worried about what Mikey could be going through now, especially with the feedback episodes.”

“You hide your worry pretty well,” Leo looked him over. “It took Wrath pulling the fight out of you to show your true colors.”

“It’s easier to put up a façade than let others know my true thoughts,” Purple huffed. “I learned that from my dear twin,” the purple turtle looked his brother’s counterpart up and down, “which I feel like it is something you two probably share.”

“I’d rather not get into my problems,” Leo said lowly, a glimmer in his eyes. “We don’t have the time for that.”

“Probably,” Purple shrugged as he leaned forward and started typing on his keyboard again. “Just wait until this mess is over and Dr. Feelings gets a whiff of your emotional constipation.”

“Like you are any better,” Leo rolled his eyes. “Wait…who’s Dr. Feelings?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out,” Purple smirked, his eyes tilting up in mirth. “It’s more fun to watch the victim get surprised by him.”

“Ominous,” Leo shivered. He looked up at the ceiling as he listened to Purple type, a thought on his mind that he couldn’t figure out.

“Penny for your thought?” Purple said without looking up from his screen. “If not, I would work better if you were not hovering at my side – no offence.”

“None taken, my Donnie is the same,” Leo answered. “And yeah…there’s something you said that doesn’t make sense.”

“Which was what?” Purple looked up from his screen but didn’t stop typing.

“You said that the older Mikey died sending your Casey back from the future to now,” Leo pointed out.

“I did,” Purple nodded.

“Then how was he here?”

“That is the question,” Purple stopped typing and crosses his arms. “And the answer is hiding out there somewhere.”

Universe ????

“It started a few weeks ago,” Mikey sighs in his spot burrowed into his bean bag chair before squinting at the ceiling. “Actually, scratch that, I guess I noticed sometime a few months after our fight against the kraang.” Holding his bandaged hands in the air, Mikey regarded them with a long look. “I noticed my mystic reserves were emptier than they should have been but I chalked it up to messing up my mojo after ripping open the portal that brought Leo home.”

“His Leo got stuck in the prison dimension in an effort to seal away the kraang for good,” Mike supplied helpfully. Michael shivered at the thought of a kraang filled dimension, being trapped there for who knows how long…he’s had experience with that.

“Yeah, that,” Mikey dropped his hands and exhaled. “My hands were acting up a lot and I asked second dad—”

“The goatman,” Party interjected.

“—what was going on and he said that it was probably too much for my body and that it was probably just going to take a while for me to heal all the way. So…I just let it slip my mind,” Mikey shrugged. “I just got used to the feeling and over time it just got pushed farther back in my mind.”

“So, are you healed now?” Michael leaned forward and took a look at the bandaged arms. “Well, I guess the better question is were.”

“Eh,” Mikey shrugged again. “There was some nerve damage that seemed to want an extended stay but the scars healed up nicely. They even glow like my markings and eyes when I was using my powers.”

“I noticed that,” Michael awed. “Wicked cool.”

“We’re getting off topic here,” Mike pointed out.

“Oh yeah,” Mikey blinked owlishly. “Well, a couple weeks ago, I was getting a bunch of dreams that didn’t make sense to me. It took me a solid 5 days before I realized that they were memories and not dreams. I found out when our Casey showed us some pictures of his timeline that his mask recorded for him and my dreams looked exactly like his pictures.”

“Was it Psychoangelo’s memories?” Michael asked.

“Got it in one,” Mikey snapped in confirmation and then immediately whined in pain from his wounds. “Anyways, yeah, somehow I was getting my older self’s memories so I decided to do a little digging one night after all my brothers went to sleep. I snuck out to a quiet place and entered a meditative state to go deeper into myself. That’s when I found out—ARGH!!” Mikey was cut off into a scream as his back arched, another feedback episode running through him.

“Dammit,” Mikey cursed as he shot up and kneeled next to Mikey. “Party! Get one of the suppressants!” Michael just watched in shock as Mikey’s body flickered in and out of existence in a sheen of translucent orange. His screams took an echo tone to them as parts of his body seem to disappear completely and not come back.

“Already on it!” Party called over as he rushed over to a box mounted on the wall. Pulling it off, he opened it and pulled out a small orange crystal the size of his palm and rushed over. Party placed the crystal in to the middle of Mikey’s chest and they all watched as it lit up with light before evaporating into a stream of golden sparkles. They swirled in the air before sinking into Mikey’s glitching skin.

There was a few tense moments before Mikey’s complete body came back to existence and stayed that way. His multi-layered scream finally petered off, gasping breaths making his plastron rise and fall rapidly. Hands clenched into the bean bag underneath of him finally relaxed, prying off jarringly.

“You good, boss?” Party asked, his eyes taking in Mikey’s state.

“It felt like I got hit by a truck,” Mikey rasped, his eyes blinking rapidly. “10/10 would not recommend.”

“What was that?” Michael breathed out shakily at what he saw.

“The crystal?” Party echoed his own question back to which Michael nodded. “It’s pretty much like getting an extra heart in a game.”

“Whenever I get too low on my mystic energy and the feedback is too bad, I can use one of the crystals to give me a boost enough to not disappear from the universe,” Mikey huffed.

“Why not use a whole bunch to help you fight against Psychoangelo?” Michael asked.

“Because we have a limited supply,” Mike frowned. “After they’re gone, they’re gone and we don’t have the ability to make any extras right now with evil boss taking all the power he can.”

“And how many are left?” Michael gulped.

“Three,” Party answers quietly.

“Ugh, this sucks,” Mikey groaned.

“I think that’s enough of you for now,” Mike clapped his hands once. “You need to rest and recover from all you did today.”

“But I’m supposed to explain everything,” Mikey whined as Mike bent down and picked up the smallest turtle easily.

“We can take over with what we know,” Party offered.

“I think you need to sleep, dude,” Michael added. “You look two steps away from keeling over.”

“Make that a step,” Mike snickered as he head towards a door on the opposite wall near the kitchen.

“All of you are rude,” Mikey drawled.

“That makes you rude too then,” Party laughed.

There was no response as Mike entered the room, leaving Party and Michael alone. “Is he going to be okay?” Michael muttered to Party, side-eyeing him. “Tell me the truth.”

“…I don’t know,” Party answered quietly. “Mike’s the one that knows the most and he’s been pretty tight lipped about it.”

“But why would he go through all this trouble to save us when it’s just hurting him?” Michael stressed.

“You’re a Mikey,” Party smirked. “You know the answer to that question.”

“I…I do,” Michael murmured as he looked down at his hands. “I just don’t like seeing someone in so much pain.”

Mike came out of the room then, closing the door all but a crack as he left. He padded over the to two other turtles at the couch and took his seat again. “He’s asleep now,” Mikey whispered. “Today really messed him up but the good thing is that it means the evil boss is also messed up for the time being.”

“What do you mean?” Michael tilted his head to the side. “Can’t he go around and kidnap the last two Mikey’s while we are wherever we are?”

“No can do,” Mike shook his head and leaned back, interlocking his fingers behind his head. “He’s too reliant on his younger self for that.”

“How?”

“I can’t explain it as well as Magic Mikey can,” Mike hummed as he looked up at the tall ceiling of the room they were in. “But pretty much, his magical battery is powering both him and Psychoangelo. Since he sealed it off to fill back up, neither of them can use it. So, the old man can’t use more power than what had left in his reserves until Mikey opens it back up.”

“So, are we having a breather?”

“For now,” Mike nodded.

“Better enjoy it while you can,” Party grinned and threw his uninjured arm over Michael’s shoulders. “I got a feeling that after this, it’s going to get all types of crazy again.”

“In the meantime,” Mike got back up and stretch his arms high in the air with a groan, “let’s go show you your room for now. It’s not fancy but it gets the job done. I know we said we would explain but I am absolutely beat after today.”

“I’m ready to hit the sack for a solid twelve hours after fighting that Winter Soldier version of us,” Party grimaced, rubbing his bruised cheek from when Ronin got a sucker-punch in.

“And it wasn’t from being skewered on some magic chains?” Mike snorted as he led the newest Mikey of their group to another door.

“Nah,” Party smirked and waved a hand. “That wasn’t that bad. It was over and done within a minute. Fighting Ronin felt like I was fighting for days against an enraged Raph.”

“You were literally bleeding out on the floor and your brothers in my world,” Michael deadpanned.

“Again, not that bad,” Party shrugged as he broke off towards a different door. “Night,” he waved as he entered the room and closed the door as the other two bid him sweet dreams.

“You think he would be more concerned about almost dying,” Michael whispered.

“You’re a Mikey,” Mike looked down at him. “You want to try that sentence again?”

“…shut up,” Michael murmured as looked anywhere but at Mike’s face.

“C’mon, you’re the next door,” Mike gestured, a smirk on his face.

“It’s like you were expecting me,” Michael raised an eye ridge.

“Not expecting as much as really hoping that we would get to you first,” Mike shrugged as he opened the door for Michael. “Just be happy that Magic Mikey decided to offer you the choice at first instead of whisking you away in front of your brothers in chains.”

“Wait what?” Michael blinked as he entered the plain room. It had a cushy bed in one corner and a desk with a chair in another corner. There were a few comics on the desk as well as drawing supplies. “Did that happen to you?”

“Yeah,” Mike huffed with a roll of his eyes. “I told him that doing that would give people the wrong impression so he made sure to give you and Party the choice. If there was more time, he would have given an abbreviated version of what was going on before offering you the choice.”

“Was there really a choice?” Michael hummed as he sat on his bed. “It doesn’t seem like there was really one in the first place.”

“Sure there was,” Mike smirked as he leaned against the doorframe. “Either be on the side that is trying to stop what Psychoangelo has planned or be trapped in a prison with all the other Mikey’s he already stolen.”

“Tough choice,” Michael drooped in an emotionless voice.

“We’ll explain more tomorrow once we’ve all gotten some rest,” Mike said as he pushed off the door frame and grabbed the doorknob. He hesitated for a moment, a storm of thought behind his eyes.

“You good dude?” Michael asked him.

“…I promise we are the good guys,” Mike says to him. “This is the better of the two options.”

“…I know,” Michael murmured. “But…thanks.”

“No problem,” Mike inclined his head as he started closing the door. “If you have any problems, me and Party are in our rooms or main area. Try to not wake up little Mikey unless it’s an emergency. He…really needs his rest.”

With that Mike closed the door, leaving Michael alone in his room. Drawing his knees up, the youngest turtle from universe 2012 hugs his legs close. He remembers the last looks on his brothers’ faces before left through the portal. They looked so heartbroken at his choice in leaving with the other Mikey’s.

But…even without getting the full truth yet…Michael felt that this was the right option.

That going with Psychoangelo would have been very bad.

For now…he was going to try get whatever little sleep his mind would reward him with while trying to ignore the way his brothers’ faces kept calling out for him to come back to them.

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

“If your brat of a Mikey didn’t come here, then my Mikey would still be here,” Raph growled dangerously.

“If you guys just left us be, then you wouldn’t have had anything to worry about,” Cassandra growled back, her eyes narrowed in anger. “You brought this upon yourself when you pulled us from our dimension.”

“Alright, that is enough!” O’Neil interjected as she stepped in between the two hot headed fighters and physically pushed them apart. “You will not get anywhere with this fighting!”

“Stay out of this,” Raph hissed, pulling his sai out to spin around. “What do you even know?”

Raph flinched back when a glowing baseball ball appeared at the front of his face, held there by an aggravated O’Neil. “I would watch your words if I was you,” she warned, the light reflecting off her glasses. “I’m not afraid to use this at all and I have a damn good aim.”

“…can we trade you for our April?” Raph whispered quietly as O’Neil lowered her mystic bat, letting it disappear in whisps of green.

“Sorry but I’m a ’18 exclusive,” O’Neil smirked. She blinked and looked around, tilting her head to the side. “Hey, do you hear meowing?”

“Oh, Ick!” Raph exclaimed as he jumped away from the living room depression and ran over to the kitchen where Fearless was brewing some tea.

“Ick?” Fearless echoed.

“My Mikey’s cat,” Raph answered as he opened the freezer and pulled out a large bowl where a cat made of ice cream was meowing sadly. “Poor thing was probably scared from all the loud noises and banging.”

“And…it’s ice cream?”

“Ate some ice cream and then got mutated,” Raph shrugged as he placed Ick’s bowl on the counter. “Hey there, girl,” Raph cooed as he scratched under her chin, making the ice cream cat purr. “That must have been scary.”

“Aww, look how cute!” O’Neil popped up next to Raph and cooed at the cat. “I can’t believe you had this little cutie hiding away this entire time!” Reaching a finger forward, O’Neil let Ick sniff her finger before rubbing her cool head against the hand.

“Of course, you won her over,” Raph rolled his eyes. “She’s a sucker for anyone that compliments her.”

“I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t compliment such a beautiful girl,” O’Neil gushed, petting the kitty.

“It’s interesting that your Mikey has a cat,” Fearless smiled.

“Why?” Raph challenged. “Got something against them?”

“Not at all,” Fearless held his hands up in a show of no threat. “I just wonder if it’s a Mikey thing because mine also has one – a little orange tabby named Klunk.”

“Kluck?”

“Klunk,” Fearless nodded seriously.

“…god, Mikey’s are so weird,” Raph sighed harshly as he rubbed his head. He looked over at the cat that was completely enraptured with the new version of April so he figured she was in good hands. “Hey, anyone seen where the short Master Splinter went?”

“Last I saw, Splints was headed into your dojo,” O’Neil answered with a thumb pointing over to the closed dojo doors.

“Thanks,” Raph grunted as he turned away from the kitchen to head to the lair’s dojo. He could see Fearless hesitantly hold a hand out towards the ice cream cat and his shoulders relaxing with joy when the cat accepted his pets. Cassandra was standing towards the edge of the kitchen, eyeing the cat like she wanted to pet it as well.

Opening the sliding door to the dojo, Raph peeked into see the new Splinter kneeling on the ground in front of his father’s alter with his hands held up in prayer and his eyes closed.

“Hello there, young one,” Splinter greeted with his eyes still closed as Raph hovered near the edge.

“Uh…hi…Master Splinter,” Raph murmured.

“Please, call me Splinter,” the mutant rat finally opened his eyes and waved a hand at the boy. “Master Splinter is reserved for when I am training my boys and as you can see, there is no training going on right now.”

“Urgh—okay,” Raph muttered, looking around the room that he spent so much time growing up with his father teaching him and now he was in the very same room with an all too familiar but different version of his father.

And his brothers plus Casey and April were still missing.

“You seem troubled, Raphael,” Splinter hummed.

“You could say that,” Raph grumbled, nudging his foot into the ground.

“Come, sit with me,” Splinter offered with a wave of his hand. Raph hesitated, weighing his option before giving in and taking a seat next to the ninja master. “Excellent, now, how about you tell me what is going on in that head of yours?”

“There’s nothing that you can do to help.” Raph looked to the side, avoiding Splinter’s gaze.

“I feel that you are wrong about that, Raphael.”

“What do you know?” Raph growled, whipping his head towards Splinter. “You’re not my dad.”

“…I may not be your father here but I am in another life and I want to help you,” Splinter softly said.

“Don’t do that,” Raph breathed angrily.

“Don’t do what?” Splinter regarded him with a long look.

“Talk like dad,” Raph gulped, blinking back tears from his eyes.

“Then how am I supposed to talk?”

“Like—like a stranger!” Raph huffed, throwing his hands in the air. “You are supposed to be a different version of him like us and your sons! That’s how it’s supposed to be!”

“I see,” Splinter nodded to himself, stroking his beard. Raph bit his lip and looked away, gripping his knee pads tightly. “I will say…I am not the same as your father. That is true,” Splinter stood up on his short legs and approached the distraught turtle to cradle his face in his hands and turned his head to look at the mutant rat, “but in the same way, I am very much like your father. In the same ways that I know he loves and is as proud of his little turtles as I am with mine.”

Raph’s eyes misted up immediately, emotions he doesn’t like to handle welling up inside of him. “Stop it,” Raph sniffled as he pulled his face out of Splinter’s hands.

“I see there is a lot of pain in you, young one,” Splinter turned Raph’s face to look him in the eye. “It is not good to keep that locked up within yourself.”

“What am I supposed to do? Share my feelings with my brothers?” Raph rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. I am supposed to be the strong brother. How will they look at me the same way when they watch me have a breakdown?”

“They will look at you the same way they always have,” Splinter smiled. “It does not make you weak to have feelings.”

Raph’s throat closed up, his breath hitching. “Stop it,” Raph rasped.

“My sons have been through more than ones as young of them should have to go through,” Splinter continued on. “And I am willing to bet my best robe that all of you have gone through things that would make my toes curl is concern and heartbreak.”

“Stop it,” Raph breathed wetly.

“Those trials have proven that you are strong – oh, so very strong,” Splinter soldiered on, seeing that he was getting somewhere. “So do not continue testing yourself by hiding away what makes you a person.”

“Stop it,” Raph gasped, his tears finally coming out. He brought his hands up and hide his face.

“There it is,” Splinter softly smiled, pulling the boy close to him. “There, there…let it out.” Splinter rubbed the turtle’s shell like he would for his boys, silently noting the different feel to it.

Splinter didn’t say anything else as Raph finally let out the emotions that he’s pushed down for far too long. The two of them basked in the silence broken up by Raph’s sobs for a while, no one daring to come in. Finally, after a time so short but so long, Raph calmed down. He rubbed his red-rimmed eyes with a grimace, sniffling back snot.

“Here you go, my boy,” Splinter said as he offered a tissue.

“Thanks,” Raph grumbled as he took it and blew his nose. “Ugh, I feel all gross now.”

“But how do you feel emotionally?” Splinter raised an eyebrow.

“…better,” Raph muttered, looking angrily away. “Damn, I hate to admit it. Mikey is never going to let it go if he finds out.”

“Be lucky it was not my Michelangelo who found out,” Splinter chuckled to himself. “His therapist personality is quite an interesting one to meet.”

“…I’m sorry about what I said about your Mikey,” Raph apologized softly. “I know I wouldn’t like it if someone talked about mine that way.”

“Apology accepted,” Splinter inclined his head. “I know you are lashing out from worry for your family.”

“I feel like you are too calm about all this.”

“Oh no, I am panicking very much on the inside,” Splinter laughed loudly. “But it would do no good to anyone to see me like that.” Taking Raph’s hand, he pulled the boy up to standing. “Now, how about you introduce me to that little turtle waiting for you in the other room.”

“How do you know about Chompy?!” Raph’s eyes went wide in shock as he knows he didn’t mention the little alien turtle that he was raising.

“I am a master ninja,” Splinter playfully hummed.

“Ugh, you’re being all mysterious like dad,” Raph groaned as he opened the dojo doors. He could see O’Neil cooing over Ick in her bowl and Cassandra was helping Fearless clean up some around the lair. Based on the noises he could hear coming from Donnie’s lab, it was safe to say that Genius was in there building something to fix the dimensional gate generator that had unfortunately not survived the fight with Michelangelo and Ronin.

“It’s just a part of our charm,” Splinter snickered to himself.

“My Master Splinter is just like that too,” Fearless piped up from he placed a large piece of concrete off to the side. “I swear they do it to mess with us.”

“We will never tell,” Splinter smirked before clapping once. “Enough of that for now – I want to meet the little turtle already.”

“Alright, let me go grab him,” Raph grumbled, ignoring O’Neil’s question of what turtle. He popped into his room and immediately went over to the corner he converted into Chompy’s space. The little purple alien turtle trilled up at him, his large eyes filled with concern. “Hey there, Chomp,” Raph smiled his special smile reserved solely for animals. He reached down and pulled out his pet, nuzzling their noses together. “Sorry about all that noise and chaos earlier. A lot of stuff happened.”

Chompy chirped at him, snapping his jaw twice.

“Tell me about it,” Raph rolled his eyes playfully. “I got some people that would love to meet you though. How about we go introduce you?”

A happy trill came out of the little turtle, his tail wagging.

“Of course, you would,” Raph laughed. “You’re as sociable as Mikey.”

Speaking of his Mikey, Raph felt his mood drop a fraction as his shoulders drooped. It hurt to not know where his youngest brother was – scratch that, it hurt to not know where any of his brothers were. Though, according to Genius, it was assumable that all the turtles had been split up across the four dimensions connected to each other at the time which gave them a shaky guide on where to go.

It was only a matter of time until the four Donnie’s figured out a way to connect to each other again so Raph had resigned himself to waiting around with different versions of all his family members until it was time.

Well…except Mikey.

He knows that it was probably safer that his brother went with his little counterpart versus the crazy psychopathic older one. But it still hurt to see his Mikey go off into the portal without a look back at them.

It hurt even more with the knowledge that, for the first time as far as Raph could remember, he was not the safest place Mikey could be with.

Universe ???

“That brat!” Michelangelo screamed as he threw a cup across the room. His shoulders heaved with his angry breaths, his face red. “I’m going to wring his neck the next time I see him!”

“And I’m going to knock that cocky brat I fought down a peg or two,” Ronin growled. He held an ice pack to the lump on his head and turned towards the mystic master. “What are we going to do, boss?”

“I don’t have enough power to grab another Michelangelo since little me shut down his powers,” Michelangelo grumbled, crossing his legs in the air to rest an arm on a knee with a chin propped up in his hand. “The only thing we can do right now is wait for the moment he decides to open them back up for us to strike.”

“Who are we striking first?” Ronin asked as he walked up to the dimensional map. There were two bright green circles among the sea of red to show how widespread their plan had become.

“There’s two of us,” Michelangelo grinned. “So why not both at the same time?”

“If it makes my family come back faster, then I don’t care what we do,” Ronin nods.

Michelangelo turns away then, his cloak whishing in the air behind him. There was still dried blood splattered across the bottom of it that the mystic master either ignored or didn’t care about. Edged of the fabric were starting to fray after the fight with his younger self, making Michelangelo growl in annoyance at the state of his favorite article of clothing.

“Hey, boss?” Ronin called over.

“Yeah?” Michelangelo turned his head of his shoulder to look at his partner-in-crime.

“Be straight with me…” Ronin looked at him with a hard look. “Are you just using me or am I actually going to get my brothers back?”

Michelangelo threw his head back and laughed, turning fully towards Ronin. The aged and jaded turtle stood his ground, keeping his fists clenched at his side. Michelangelo raised a hand and patted Ronin’s shoulder, wiping laughter tears from his eyes. “Oh, Ronin,” Michelangelo giggled. “If I was going to back-stab you, I would have told you from day one. I do not like liars and I certainly don’t enjoy speaking them myself.”

“Alright,” Ronin nodded. “I just wanted to make sure.” He turned away and started to head to the room that he used in this mysterious space Michelangelo used to hide them and the Mikey’s they had stolen. He had just placed his hand on the door knob when he heard his name being called. “Yeah?” Ronin called back.

Michelangelo smiled dangerously at the ronin, the shadows reflecting off half his face to let one eye’s pupil glow in the darkness. The other half of his face shone in a soft orange light as the candle lights reflected off one of the orange crystal prisons floating next to the magic turtle as he hovered in the air.

“Remember, I promised that I will bring your family back to the land of living,” Michelangelo said. “And I keep my promises.”

Ronin nodded, not saying anything else as he enters his room and closes the door to go to sleep after that fight.

And because of that, he didn’t hear Michelangelo’s next words.

“But I can’t promise what state you will be in when they come back.”

Chapter Text

Universe 2016

“Woah, he’s even taller than Donnie,” Casey marveled at the sheer size of Red. The lair was modified with the turtles that occupied it heights in mind but they never expected a 7’3” mutant snapping turtle from another dimension paying a visit.

“I can hunch down if that’s a problem,” Red offered, poking his fingers together.

“No honey, you’re alright,” April smiled at the red themed turtle before turning and punching Casey in the arm. “Don’t make him feel bad about himself, you jerk,” she hissed at her human friend.

“Ow,” Casey hissed back at her as he rubbed his arm. “I’m just saying what’s on everyone’s minds.”

“I don’t mind really,” Red held his hands up in the air in front of him as he smiled. “I know I am taller than people are used to.”

“You’re going to get taller,” CJ piped up from where he was conversing quietly with the Master Splinter of this universe.

“Wait—what?” Red paled as he whipped his head towards the newest member of the Hamato clan. “How much taller am I going to get?! Why have you never mentioned it before?!”

“It never came up before,” CJ shrugged. “And I don’t know what your max height is since you died before you stopped growing.”

“How can he be here if you said he died?” Don raised an eye ridge from where he was looking over Genius’s tech set-up.

“I’m from a timeline in the future where the kraang took over the world,” CJ answered, rubbing Red’s arm in comfort as it was mentioned again that he died earlier than everyone else.

“You’re from the future?” Casey’s mouth dropped open.

“That he is,” Red grinned as he lifted CJ up on his wide shoulder to perch up there. “Junior here helped save the world to prevent his future from happening.” Casey shook his head in disbelief and brought a can of soda to his lips to drink from.

“I know you are a Raph,” April pointed towards Red and then turned to Don who gave a short wave in acknowledgement, “and you are a Donnie,” she then turned towards the boy on Red’s shoulder, “but are you supposed to be one of our counterparts?”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t introduce myself,” CJ perked up and jumped off Red’s shoulder. He pulled the glove on his right hand off before offering it in greeting. “Hi, I’m Casey Jones Junior.”

Casey spit out a spray of soda from his mouth in shock, coughing as he bent over to catch his breath.

“Did I say something wrong?” CJ fretted as he looked towards the coughing man. April took his hand to shake it, her smile wide.

“Not at all,” April shook her head. She turned towards the human male and gestured with her head to come over. “C’mon, Jones and meet your counterpart face-to-face.”

“You’re a Casey?” CJ squealed in joy, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “That’s so cool!”

“Damn, I probably should have seen that coming,” Casey coughed as he reached over and took CJ’s hand. “Nice to meet another me.”

“Wait…our guest here said he is Casey Jones Junior,” Splinter pointed out.

Don and Leader snickered from their spots, knowing what was coming.

“Ah, right, his counterpart is probably Casey Senior,” Red said with a lightbulb clicking on in his head.

“I’m guessing this Casey Senior is your dad?” Casey asked the boy.

“Nun-uh,” CJ shook his head. “Mom said it was already the perfect name so there was no point trying to come up with another one.”

“I’m still confused on who senior is then,” Casey raised an eyebrow.

“Mom, duh.”

April bent over in laughter, holding her stomach in mirth at the expression on Casey’s face. Leader slid up next to him and leaned a muscly arm on the man. “You got something you’re keeping from us, eh, Jones?”

“Shaddup,” Casey muttered, pushing the laughing turtle away.

“I don’t see the problem,” CJ blinked up at everyone. “There are a lot of different universes so there was bound to be one where one of you was a woman.”

“And there’s no problem with your mom being who she is,” April said as she finished laughing, wiping away a laughter tear. “We were just caught off guard.”

“You guys are taking the news of the multiverse very well,” Don said from where he was emerging from Genius’s workspace.

“I think I am becoming de-sensitized to all the weird shit I’ve seen since meeting the turtle,” April tiredly grinned with a thumbs up to accompany her I’m-just-going-to-have-my-freakout-later eyes.

“I’m still new to the group but after the almost alien invasion, I’ve been preparing for an even weirder thing to happen,” Casey shrugged.

“It’s like a curse for us,” Don laughed. “In all the dimensions I’ve met, we’ve all had some different types of crazy happen to us.”

“Speaking of other us,” Leader interrupted. “Do you think we can make another gateway to connect us back to the others?”

“Definitely,” Don nodded. “I just need some time to find all the things I need for it and build it. Luckily, it seems like pretty much everything I need is stashed away in Genius’s lab.”

“Genius?” Master Splinter chuckled softly.

“We needed ways to differentiate ourselves when we all have the same name and the Mikey from universe 2012 dubbed that to be Donnie’s nickname,” Leader explained.

“And what names were you, Michelangelo and Raphael given?” Master Splinter asked with a mirth filled smile.

“Raph was being called Wrath,” Leader answered before turning away and murmuring, “and they called me Leader.”

“Fearless was taken already,” Don jumped in with a shit-eating grin.

“Don,” Leader groaned as Casey and April snickered behind their hands. “Why’d you have to tell them?”

“They were going to find out anyways when I called for you,” Don shrugged with a smirk.

“I am still waiting on Michelangelo’s nickname,” Master Splinter hummed, frowning when he saw the pinched look on all the turtle’s and CJ’s faces. “What is wrong?”

“Father…there’s something we have to tell you,” Leader cleared his throat and lowered himself to look his father in the eye.

CJ excuses himself from the room when the topic of Master Michelangelo comes up in the story. Red watches the boy go before he stands up and leaves, too, already knowing how this story was going to end. CJ didn’t go that far so within a minute; Red found the boy from the future tucked into a ball against one of the connecting sewer walls. Red doesn’t say anything, just leans his carapace against the same wall to slide down, wincing internally when he hears new scratches being imprinted into the wall from his spikes.

Red reached a large hand over, rubbing CJ’s head which ruffled his long black hair. Junior didn’t give any indication that he disliked it so Red didn’t pull his hand away. After a few moments, CJ scooted closer to Red’s side as if he was trying to hide himself from the world.

“I don’t know what to think right now,” CJ murmured.

Let the record state that while Red is nowhere near as smart as his genius younger brother, he is not stupid. And right now – he knows exactly what the time traveler is referring to.

“What to give big Raph here a peek into your mind?” Red offered.

CJ harshly blew air out between his lips, looking up at the dark and damp ceiling of the tunnel they were in. “I feel…betrayed? Angry? Stupid? I don’t know but I feel like everything I know is being turned on its head and I can’t do anything about it. Master Michelangelo was always so peaceful and caring but now…he’s like a stranger wearing the face of one of my family members.”

Junior stood up hastily, pulling himself away from Red’s hold to pace anxiously in front of him. “He was alive this whole time and didn’t say anything to me! He let me think that I was the last one of us for all this time!” CJ threw his hands in the air, bringing them back down to ruffle at his head in agitation. “And now he has this insane plan that we know nothing about to bring back everyone that is hurting Mikey and every other Mikey out there! Like, how messed up is that?!”

Seeing a stray can near his foot, CJ brought his leg back and kicked it further down at the tunnel as hard as he could. “I want to see them again but not like this! Master Leonardo and the others would never have wanted to be brought back this way but Master Michelangelo is ignoring all of that! I get the feeling of wanting to be greedy and have them back but this is not the way!”

“Then what is the way?” Red asks patiently.

“There isn’t one!” CJ explodes. “Look, I get it: I want the others back so fucking much that is hurts but they are gone! They all sacrificed each of themselves for a reason and bringing them back this way is practically spitting on everything they did!”

“But what if he is successful? What if he is able to bring all of them back?”

“I…don’t know,” CJ grimaced. “I guess then I will be super fucking estatic because who wouldn’t be to have their dead family brought back to them. But…I feel like there is going to be something big that has to be paid in return to bring them all back to life.”

“Okay, then Junior,” Red nodded his head and regarded the human with a look at CJ couldn’t quite decipher. “If he gives you the chance, will you join him? Will you fight with us to stop him and destroy the chance of seeing the future us ever again or will you join him in hope that everything will work out?”

“I—” CJ jumped to answer but found his voice catching itself in his throat. His mouth opened and closed uselessly, his hands coming up to grab the fabric of his shirt covering his heart.

Because…he knew the right answer.

He knew it as clear as day.

But…there was a part of him that wanted take say the wrong answer…

…because he was just a boy that wanted his family back.

Red didn’t say anything as he stood up and approached Junior, reaching a hand out to bring him into a hug. Tears let themselves fall from the corner of his eyes as sobs bubbled up out of his throat. “He raised me,” CJ sobbed.

“I know,” Red murmured, rubbing a large hand up-and-down CJ’s back.

“But that’s not him,” CJ continued, broken up between sniffles and sobs. “That can’t be him.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but Mikey has always been the greatest of us all at masking his true feelings,” Red sighed. “He can be a hell of an actor when he needs to be.”

“Then was all of it a lie? Did he ever think of me like family like I did with him?”

“No, I’m sure you mean to him as much as you think of him as family,” Red soothed. “And…I’m sure not everything was a lie.”

“Then what was true and what was him just pretending?” CJ demanded, burying his face in Red’s plastron.

“I don’t know, kid,” Red whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

And that would be the question that would plague CJ for a long time.

Universe ???

Mike hummed a jingle to a commercial he couldn’t remember anymore as he made some food in the kitchen of their hideout. He had woken up first out of the four Mikey’s and figured that the other three would be starving when they woke up – especially Mikey with all the energy he expended and Party with the sheer size of the dude.

Flipping a pancake over, Mike paused in his cooking for a moment to cast a look over at the doorway to Mikey’s room. He was getting really worried about the state of the little turtle was working himself into.

Being the first Mikey taken by him, Mike had the pleasure of being told everything – especially considering the fact he was taken without an option like the others did. Mikey had explained later that Psychoangelo was going to be coming for him very soon given his abilities compared to other counterparts of his and he had to get him into hiding very quickly.

The kid had been pretty apologetic afterwards, especially when Mike had immediately tried to fight against the box turtle once he was released from the chains. He had sat down and explained everything, making Mike’s mouth drop open in shock at what Psychoangelo had planned.

Mike had made Mikey promise to offer Party the choice when he went to get him unless Psychoangelo was a dire threat. He had been anxiously waiting by himself in the hideout when a bright orange portal had opened up and brought in the new buff turtle. Mikey had given Party the basic information back in his dimension and he had explained the rest once he was safe in their hideout.

Now, it was time to tell the newest Mikey what was going on.

Looking away from the door, Mike went back to preparing breakfast. He had made a large spread of pancakes, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, eggs, and toast. As much as he wanted to make pizza for breakfast, his father had always stressed the importance of a nourishing breakfast after a hard day. With that in mind, Mike had rolled up his figurative sleeves and set to work.

The oven beeped, telling Mike that the bacon was ready to come out. Tugging on an oven mitt, Mike opened the oven to grab the multiple trays of bacon. A tasty smelling rush of air blew into his face and spread throughout the hideout. Within seconds, Mike could hear two pairs of feet step out of bed and then a twin set of doors opening.

Michael came bouncing out with an excited look on his face and Party stretched his uninjured arm above his head and yawned. His mask was pushed up on his forehead while he blinked his hazy eyes to clear them. “Ya made us food, dude?” Party yawned with a smile. “Wicked sick.”

“Figured we need a good meal after yesterday,” Mike answered as he loaded the bacon onto a serving tray and carried it over to a large dining table. The rest of the food was already laid out and waiting to be served. “Take a seat while I go see if little Mikey is up for eating.”

“I’m always up for a good breakfast,” Mikey yawned an exited his own bedroom, his mask hanging around his neck.

“Good to see you still alive, boss!” Party grinned as he held up a glass of orange juice in cheers.

“Don’t go writing me off just yet,” Mikey grumbled as he heavily sat down in a seat and flopped his head against the table. “Though, I think we are getting to that point pretty soon.”

“Not funny,” Mike sighed as he sat down in his own seat and started grabbing food to load his plate up. “How are your hands holding up?”

“Better than yesterday, I think,” Mikey’s voice came out muffled as he smooshed his face into the table. “Did you guys finish explaining everything to Michael yesterday?”

“Nope,” Party responded with a pop of the ‘p’. “We decided to hit the hay shortly after you.”

“Aw guys,” Mikey groaned as he lifted his face off the table and scowled at the two tallest orange wearing turtles. “He’s probably still confused on everything.”

“I would like to pipe in and say that I am,” Michael interjected as he poured syrup on his pancakes.

“Where did we leave off?” Mike asked as he stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth.

“You snuck off and mediated,” Michael supplied as he started cutting up his pancakes.

“Ah right,” Mikey sighed as he poured himself some chocolate milk. “So, there I was, mediating and going through my mind to find out why I was getting all of Psychoangelo’s memories and that’s when I found out that our minds were connected through a mystic link.”

“What?!” Michael sputtered. “Does that mean he knows where we are right now?!”

“Nah,” Mikey shook and his head and took a sip of his drink. “I put a special barrier up here that prevents him from entering my mind or finding any of you three. I’m pretty sure he did the exact same thing since I can’t find him where he’s hiding or all the other Mikey’s he has taken.”

Michael breathed out a sigh of relief. “Man, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“You’ll be fine,” Party snickered. “Save the heart attack card for when you have to fight against Psychoangelo or that enforcer of his.”

“I felt like I was about to shit a brick when he found us back there,” Mikey sighed. “Like dude, literally, why did he have to show up like that?”

“The dramatic effect,” Party grinned. “You act like all us Mikey’s aren’t some of the biggest drama queens ever.”

“I think my Leo might have me beat,” Mikey hummed.

“Back to the story,” Mike cleared his throat.

Mikey swallowed the piece of buttered toast in his mouth before continuing. “So, I was pretty shocked to find out we were connected but I thought I was going insane or something when he showed up…”

Chapter Text

Universe 2018

“I see you found me already,” an aged voice whispered into the air.

Mikey’s eyes flew open when a loud cracking noise broke the silence of the rom behind him. The very space was cracking like broken glass – like when he ripped open the portal to save Leo – with golden light spilling out. He took a step back…another…and then another as the cracks spread farther as if someone was breaking it from the other side.

A singular small piece fell out in the middle, giving sight to a glowing eye staring at Mikey with the edge tilted up in mirth. “Hello there, Michelangelo,” the voice greeted before the cracked wall exploded outwards. Mikey held his hands in front of him to protect his face but after numerous moments of not feeling any pain, he looked up to see the sharp pieces floating in the air in front of him.

They bobbed in the air as a cloaked figure floated through the sharp-edged hole in the dimensional fabric of the world, taking care to not catch himself on the protruding edges of the hole he created. The figure lowered a scarred hand that glowed golden with power, letting the pieces fall to the ground in between them.

Mikey knew this person.

“Am I tripping out on a gas leak or something?” Mikey murmured as he rubbed his eyes and saw that the figure was still there.

“Not at all,” the figure laughed as two hands peeked out of the cloak to pull his hood down to reveal a much older version of himself with thinning hair on either side of his head and no orange mask adorning his face. “I was honestly not expecting you to find me so soon, if at all. May I know how you were able to do it?”

“I…got your memories in my dreams,” Mikey answered with an awe-struck expression. “I didn’t realize that they were yours until Casey showed us some pictures from his time.”

“Ah, I didn’t plan for that,” Master Michelangelo hummed before shrugging. “Oh well.”

“You’re alive,” Mikey pointed out, holding his own scarred hand towards his older self.

“That I am,” Michelangelo nodded and folded his hands together patiently.

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“That I am,” Michelangelo nodded again.

“I don’t understand,” Mikey dumbly admitted.

“Don’t worry, I know it is confusing,” Michelangelo smiled and waved the boy closer to him. “Come, I will explain.” Mikey silently approached his floating counterpart, hopping into the air to float cross-legged next to him. Michelangelo raised an eye ridge at the display of power. “I didn’t realize that you could already do that with perfection.”

“Since I’ve been getting your memories, I’ve been able to do what you are able to do,” Mikey said with a sheepish smile. “It’s feels like I am getting the best cheat codes ever.”

Michelangelo threw his head back and laughed into the air at the anecdote. “Oh, I would have loved to have that available to me when I was your age.” Wiping away a laughter tear and placing his hands on his bent knees, the mystic master looked at the mystic-master-in-training. “Now, let me explain what’s going on.”

“Please do,” Mikey nodded in anticipation.

Swirling his hands in the air, Michelangelo released handfuls of golden sparkles in the air that shifted around to form a scene. It displayed the aged turtle standing on the ground with his arms outstretched in front of him as a portal tried to come to life in front of him. Behind him was an injured Master Leonardo who was relaying to CJ was to do to prevent their timeline from happening.

“I am assuming you can guess what this scene is,” Michelangelo hummed quietly. He watched Master Leonardo growled out Master Michelangelo’s name as they were surrounded by kraang monsters. Casey stuck his hand out to call the aged box turtle’s name as he sent the boy a wink before letting out a yell to push the last bit of energy needed to open the time gateway.

“Yeah,” Mikey mumbled an answer as he watched the time portal rip open; Michelangelo’s body breaking apart into golden ash that floated away on the wind. “I do.”

“Then you will see what comes next,” Michelangelo grinned as he pointed to a certain part of the scene. The younger of the two purposely ignored the laser beam that speared down towards the ground to evaporate the older version of his blue wearing brother and dragged his eyes to where the aged box turtle was pointing. Mikey’s eyes widen as he watched the fading golden ash that was previously floating away on the wind get pulled in a different direction…towards the glowing time gateway.

Mikey’s mouth dropped open as he watched the ash travel through the gateway tunnel, glowing brighter as it left its dead world to be welcomed into a much more alive one. It settled into a pile on a random rooftop, ignored by everything in the vibrant world. Yellow electricity started sparking up around the pile, with it first barely there until it grew in intensity as the pile of ash started to twirl up in the air in a mini tornado. Raw mystic energy was pulled directly from the air, feeding into the tornado to let it grow brighter.

Once it reached an eye blinding brightness, it morphed into a familiar figure that dropped onto their knees on the ground and started coughing. Master Michelangelo held a shaky scarred hand to his throat as he practically coughed a lung up. Once the coughing fit was over, he opened his eyes and gasped when he saw where he was.

Or one could say when he was.

Pulling on the weak amount of power afforded to him, Michelangelo floated into the air to overlook the world he thought he would never see again. He turned towards a bridge in the distance, remembering what his younger self would be doing at that exact moment.

A wave of dizziness ran over him, making him hold a pale hand to his clammy forehead. Seeing that he was not yet recovered, Michelangelo grunted as he held up a finger in the air. Drawing a rune in the air, a small portal opened up for him that he slipped into. The other side of the portal was dark but with a snap of his fingers, multiple candles lit up to illuminate the large space. In a room off to the side, a bed awaited Michelangelo. The aged turtle flopped straight down onto it; his eyes fluttering shut as his body demanded rest.

The re-created scene fell away as Master Michelangelo dropped his hands, “And that is how I ended up here.”

“It was an accident,” Mikey breathed quietly as the room they were in fell into darkness without the golden sparkles to light it up.

“That it was,” Michelangelo nodded. “I was prepared to die when Leo told me to open the time gateway. Imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes on the moral plane again - especially in the past.”

“I can’t believe it,” Mikey marveled as he fidgeted his hands together. “So…did you sleep through our invasion then?”

“I did,” Michelangelo winced. “Sorry kid.”

“It’s fine,” Mikey waved a hand. “You weren’t supposed to be here anyway and we won in the end.”

“Which am I immensely thankful for,” Master Michelangelo smiled. “Though, I wonder what it would be like to have two of us available to fight against the Kraang.”

“I guess then we would up your kill count,” Mikey teased.

“Ugh, Junior told you about that?” Michelangelo stuck a tongue out in distaste. “I only did what I had to.”

A thought sparked in Mikey’s eyes, making him fly closer to his older self and clasp their scarred hands together. “You can teach me everything you learned! There’s only so much I can learn from second-hand memories.”

Michelangelo gave Mikey a nostalgic smile at the sheer childhood innocence he still possessed, raising a hand to rub the younger turtle’s head. “Sure thing, kiddo,” Michelangelo told him, “but I have something I need to do first.”

“Something to do?” Mikey tilted his head to the side before thumping a fisted hand into his other flat one. “Oh! Like telling Junior that you’re still alive! C’mon!” Mikey grabbed Michelangelo hand, pulling on him. “We can go tell him right now! He’s going to be so happy!”

Michelangelo anchored himself in the air, making Mikey turn around confused at the apologizing expression on the older turtle’s face. “Sorry, but that’s not it. I got something much more important.”

“More important than telling the only surviving person of his timeline that one of his family members is still alive?” Mikey frowned. “I don’t think anything else is more important.”

“Oh, trust me,” Michelangelo started chuckling to himself. “Junior is going to like this surprise so much more when I complete it.”

“…I don’t know if I like where this is going,” Mikey murmured as he drew his hand away.

“I was given another chance, young one,” Michelangelo smiled but there was something not right to it. It looked crazed and sent a shiver down Mikey’s spine. “I am not going to waste this opportunity awarded to me by whatever god out there that decided to pity me.”

“What opportunity?” Mikey asked, his hackles raised.

Michelangelo twirled in the air, his cloak swishing as he threw his hands out to the sides of him. “I’m going to bring my family back to life!” Michelangelo cackled in joy.

Mikey furrowed his hairless brow as he recalled the information he read in the restricted books of Draxum’s library that he read when he snuck in. “You…can’t do that,” Mikey stated slowly. “Unless you caught their souls before they left the mortal plane or they are still clinging around,” activating his spiritual eyes that glowed orange with a blue pupil to look around for spirits, “and I can see that they aren’t, it is too late to bring them back.” Mikey let his spiritual eyes fade away with a blink as he regarded the smiling turtle in front of him. “It was their destiny to die and you can’t just re-write that.”

“Who says I can’t?” Michelangelo laughed with a hard look in his eyes. “I just need enough power.”

“Are you going to try and use my power?” Mikey tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know if I have enough for that.”

“You probably haven’t noticed yet but we are using the same core vein kid,” Michelangelo sighed. He lifted up a hand palm-up to illuminate an orange string that found its way into the middle of Mikey’s chest. “That’s probably the reason you’ve been able to get my memories.” Michelangelo closed his hand to let the string disappear, Mikey grabbing noncommittedly at empty air.

“Is that why I was taking so long to heal?!”

“Sorry, kid,” Michelangelo apologized and actually looked apologetic for that. “But, yes, between the two of us, there is not enough power for such a wish.”

“You could use the world cauldron but there still isn’t enough power available to bring back all of our family back from destiny’s death list,” Mikey’s frowned deepened. “According to the books, multiple sacrifices are needed for just one normal person – I can’t think about how much you will need for the amount of powerful people you are trying to bring back.”

“That’s what tripped me up, too,” Michelangelo giggled to himself, shifting his eyes over to the side with a glimmer in them. “But then, I got nostalgic and decided to sneak into the lair to pay your brothers a visit.”

“You snuck in? Where was I?” Mikey is sure that he would have been able to pick up another mystic being sneaking their way in his home.

“Out with Leo and Casey,” Michelangelo waved a hand. “I was mostly looking for Donnie and Raph anyways so it was still a win in my books. But…the thing that caught my attention was what our dear purple brother was doing.”

“Donnie?” Mikey blinked. “What was he doing?”

“He had a few chess games up on his computer that he was playing in real time,” Michelangelo hummed an answer.

“Chess? That’s it?” Mikey groaned. “That’s so boring.”

“No, this was a very special piece of information to find out,” Michelangelo laughed. “Because he was boasting to himself about all his opponents were himself in other universes!”

Mikey’s mouth dropped open, the cogs in his mind turning as he started piecing everything together. “You’re…you’re going to take the energy from other universes?!” Mikey squeaked.

“Precisely!” Michelangelo snapped his fingers with a feral grin. “All I need to do is take our counterparts and use them as the sacrifices to bring my family back!”

“You can’t do that!” Mikey exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “You can’t kill a multiverse of Michelangelo’s just to fix one family! Don’t you understand how much you will throw everything off balance?!”

“I never said kill,” Michelangelo rolled his eyes. “I am just going to take the one common thing among us all that drives us and channel that into me to perform the wish.”

Mikey narrowed his eyes as he pulled his lips back into a snarl as he knew exactly what part of all the Mikey's was going to be taken. “That is still basically killing them! You’re going to leave behind empty husks that will break their families down!”

“It’s fine,” Michelangelo told his younger self.

“How?!” Mikey demanded.

“Because it is justice!” Michelangelo roared, throwing his hands out to the side to let a small shockwave be released in answer to his anger. Mikey goes flying backwards, holding his arms over his face as his carapace took the brunt of the hit. He groaned as he looked up at his older self that glared down at him with glowing eyes. “My brothers gave everything to save the world and look what the world repaid them with! I peeked in other universes and they get to be happy and whole! Why can’t I have that with my family?!” Michelangelo demanded as he slapped a hand to his plastron.

“That was their destiny in this universe!” Mikey yelled back. “I’m sorry; I really am but you can’t go around ripping apart other versions of our family just to bring yours back! What would our brothers think?!”

“This isn’t about what they think,” Michelangelo hissed lowly. “This is what I think and I think that no matter what, me and my family are getting our second chance.” Michelangelo lifted a glowing hand in the air, clenching it to increase gravity on the younger turtle on the ground. Mikey let out a choked gasp as he was stuck in his spot as if the weight of the world was pushing down on him. “I am giving you this warning just once as you are me, but stay out of my way. I will not go easy on you next time if I find out you are trying to hinder me.”

Just like that, gravity was restored and Mikey was coughing on the ground as he got his breathing back. Golden light shined on his face as another portal opened up, Master Michelangelo floating into it without another look back. The portal winked out of existence, leaving Mikey sitting there by himself as the events that just occurred ran over his mind.

After a few silent minutes, Mikey scrambled up to his feet with his hands grabbing the sides of his head. He paced back-and-forth as he thinks about the fact that the multiverse (which he was going to have a freakout about later now that he knows all those movies were correct) was about to be unraveled to bring one back family of turtles.

Mikey looked up and out a hole in the abandoned building he chose to sneak to that night. He could see the glowing lights of his beautiful city and home. There were so many people in his city – in his world – that relied on the turtles to save them even if they didn’t know it.

Then his thoughts turned towards his brothers and his small family. They gave so much to save the world and were still recovering. Leo had just finally started to sleep through the night by himself and Raph’s eyesight was not bothering him as much anymore. Donnie’s shell finally healed after weeks and weeks of him hiding his injuries behind his battle shell.

No…he couldn’t involve them in this.

He had to do this by himself.

Gritting his teeth together, Mikey pulled on his powers to float cross-legged in the air. He drew a magic circle in front of him, one that would allow him to pull on all the memories from his connection to Master Michelangelo.

If he was going to fight fire, then he needed to become that fire.

Universe ???

“Woah, that was a lot,” Michael breathed with wide eyes.

“Crazy, right?” Party laughed as he placed his dishes in the sink.

“There are a couple things somethings I am still confused about,” Michael frowned.

“Did I miss something?” Mikey blinked as he ripped a piece of roll off with his teeth. “Lay it on me.”

“What’s this about a world cauldron and a core vein?”

“Oh, those,” Mikey said as he swallowed the bread. “Those two are things exclusive to my universe with our mystic stuff. The world cauldron is what supplies every mystic being the energy to use their powers. Imagine a giant fountain that is filled with raw magic power. It's something known to all mystic masters but it's not something you can actually go out and find. The core vein is the thing that connects all of us mystic beings to it; energy is delivered to our cores from that vein.”

“So, since Psychoangelo came back, both of you are connected to the same vein?” Michael tilted his head to the side as the cogs in his brains turned.

“Yup,” Mikey nodded as he buttered the roll in his hand. ““Psychoangelo didn’t even know why using the same vein would transfer his memories over so it’s probably some type of glitch in the universe. Who knows - it could have been some omniscient god out there that doesn't want the multiverse to collapse,” Mikey shrugged.

 "So, wait, do you have all his memories now?"

"All that matter," Mikey says cryptically, looking down at the buttered roll. "Everything that Psychoangelo is able to do mystically, I can do also. The problem is that he has real life practice with everything and I am only going off of second-hand memories."

“This…is a lot,” Michael groaned as he rubbed the headache starting to form.

“What was the other thing that is confusing you?” Party asked.

“You said that he needed the one common thing that drives all us Mikey’s,” Michael answered. “What is it?”

“Oh, you didn’t realize,” Mike stated as he leaned back in his chair.

“Was it really that obvious?”

“Listen – pop quiz for you,” Party grinned with a hand placed on his Michael’s shoulder. “What is a Leo’s role in the group?”

“He’s the leader,” Michael answered instantly.

“What does a Donnie do?” Mike continued.

“He’s the brains.”

“And Raph?” Party bounced back in.

“The brawn.”

“So, where do we fit in with this group?” Mike interlocked his fingers together and leaned forward, perching his chin on his hands.

“I…don’t know,” Michael answered.

“C’mon, you that big brain of yours that you like to downplay,” Party patted him on the shoulder as he told the shorter turtle. “We’re the ones that remind our bros to stop being all dark and broody and actually make them talk about their problems. We’re the ones that reminds them things will get better. We’re the ones that force them not be sucked into the darkness of all the shit that we’ve seen.”

Michael opened his mouth…and then let it shut with a clack with a whine coming out of his throat.

“He’s coming for the very thing that makes Michelangelo’s themselves,” Mikey hummed as he looked down at his hands.

“Our hearts, kid,” Mike sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “He’s coming for our hearts.”

Chapter Text

Universe 2003

April entered the lair just in time to hear the fire alarm her Donnie installed going off. Looking over at her husband, the two of them rushed in fearing the worst. They busted through the opening of the lair to see smoke billowing out of the kitchen.

“When I said you could cook, I didn’t mean burn down our kitchen!” Ra’s loud yells echoed out.

April raised an eyebrow and slowed her steps as she approached the kitchen. Pulling her shirt up to cover her nose, she peeked in to see Blue frantically waving a towel at the smoke while Ra dumped something burnt onto a pan into the running water of the sink. Casey used his height to look over her head and laughed at the scene.

“Looks like little Blue here has the same cooking abilities as our Leo,” Casey grinned.

“Our Leo has been banned from cooking after he melted Mikey’s favorite sauce pan,” Donnie says as he pops in out of nowhere to peek in on the other side of the doorframe.

“Mikey banned me after the time I turned on the faucet and fire came out instead of water,” Blue grumbled as the smoke finally started to lessen.

“How the hell did you do that?!” Casey cackled.

“I don’t know!” Blue moaned in defeat. “I literally just went to fill a pot with water and BOOM! Flames!”

"You knew you're a disaster in the kitchen and still tried to cook?!" Ra growled in agitation.

"I thought that it would be different here," Blue whined as his shoulders slumped.

“So, you got the ‘Leo Kitchen Curse’,” Donnie nodded. “Good to know.”

“Go somewhere other than the kitchen,” Ra grumbled. “I’ll make something.”

“No, you won’t,” Master Splinter interjected as he walked into the kitchen. “I would rather not have the alarms go off a second time.”

“Oh, burn!” Blue snickered.

“Shaddup,” Ra blushed in embarrassment.

“Do not fret, my son,” Splinter patted his red banded son on the arm, stepping around him to take over cooking. “You are still better than Leonardo in the kitchen.”

“Take that,” Ra stuck his tongue out.

“That’s a compliment but not by much,” Donnie quipped.

Universe 2018

“Leo, I swear to god, if you’re in the kitchen right now—!” Casey’s yell echoed out into the lair mere seconds before the fire alarm went off.

“I just wanted to make some toast!” Leo’s voice tried to defend himself.

“You know you have the ‘Leo Kitchen Curse’!”

“I still think that is not real!”

“Then what about the on-going war with you and all the toasters you have tried to use?!”

“Those are all coincidences!”

“Coincidence, my ass!”

Draxum pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened to the back-and-forth bickering between the dimensional visitors. He felt a pat on his arm and looked down to see the red headed April from the same dimension of the two bickering. “Sorry about them,” April apologized. “They can be pretty rowdy, no matter how much Leo pretends he’s not as bad as the rest of them.”

“It is alright, my dear,” Draxum sighed exhaustingly. “I am used to this type of behavior. My boys are the reason for every single one of my gray hairs. Every. Single. One.”

“Wrath! Carry him out before he burns down the kitchen!” Casey’s voice yelled.

“Hey—stop it! Put me down!” Leo’s indignant groan rang out.

“I’m trying to not eat charcoal today,” Wrath grunted.

“Let’s hope Mikey doesn’t see what you’ve done to his kitchen,” Purple’s dry voice said among the chaos in the kitchen. “Or else you’re going to be meeting Dr. Delicate Touch real soon.”

“Who the hell is Dr. Delicate Touch?!”

“If you’re unlucky, then you’ll meet him at some point.”

“We’re fucked then with our turtle luck,” Wrath grumbled.

“That’s not a real thing!” Leo defended.

“It really is, my dude,” Casey sighed.

Draxum dropped his hands into his face as he sighed again. “I thought having four turtles was a handful…I never expected to have to deal with three other versions of them.”

“Be lucky you never met the ’87 crew,” April grinned, patting Draxum on the knee. “They even drove our Mikey up a wall.”

“Now that is a scary thought,” Draxum chuckled to himself. He reached down to grab an extra tea cup and offered it to April. She took it with a smile and the goatman yokai filled her cup up. “Since we are just waiting around right now, would you like to hear embarrassing stories about my boys?” Draxum asked with a mischievous grin.

April’s eyes shifted into mischievous as well and her lips pulled up into a smirk. “Only if I can tell you some about my boys.”

“Deal,” Draxum laughed, holding his cup up to tap against April’s as they ignored the chaos from the background as the toaster Leo simply looked at caught fire.

Universe 2012

“Hold it right there!” Raph yelled as Fearless sneaking into the kitchen.

Fearless’ shoulders drooped as he was caught. “Aww c’mon, I doubt the ‘Leo Kitchen Curse’ is actually real,” Fearless groaned. “I just wanted to make some toast.”

“I don’t trust any Leo’s in the kitchen after ours destroyed no less than seven toasters,” Ra crossed his arms and stared down the taller turtle.

“I can cook,” O’Neil offered as she rolled up her sleeves. “I can make a mean spread though I am nothing compared to my Mikey.”

“Murder machine really is quite an excellent chef,” Cassandra nodded in agreement.

“…do I want to know why his nickname is murder machine?” Genius asked with a raised eye ridge as he left Donnie’s lab with his holographic display pulled up in front of him.

“Because he can be one if chooses to, duh,” Cassandra rolled his eyes.

Raph inhaled deeply; his hands flat against each other in front of his mouth before pointing them forward. “I am going to choose to ignore that statement for now considering he is the big bad guy in this situation and go back to the fact that Leo’s are terrible in the kitchen.”

“Hey!” Fearless grumbled.

“Don’t take it personally, big blue,” Splinter smirked as he hopped up on the taller version of his son from a different dimension. “My son is barred from entering the kitchen every major holiday or else he faces the wrath of my little orange.”

“Remember the Easter when he sneezed and the rolls in the oven blew up?” April laughed out loud.

“I distinctly remember how Orange chased Blue around with a wooden ladle for two hours,” Splinter snickered.

“Did Orange finally give up?” Genius asked.

“No,” Splinter shook his head before his smirk grew larger. “Blue tripped.”

“Oh…” Fearless trailed off as he could imagine what happened. “…I am starting to see why he is called murder machine.”

“I told you!” Cassandra cackled as she held a drink up in cheers.

Universe 2016

“Would anyone like some tea?” Leader offered as he kneeled in front of a low table in a corner of the sitting room.

“You can make tea?” Don asked with his sitting at the table answering for him.

“It’s the only thing I’m allowed to do in the kitchen,” Leader chuckled softly as he poured some tea into a cup and slid it over to the alternate version of his purple loving brother. “My Mikey has made it very clear that I am not allowed to do anything else.”

“Let me guess – you’re a mess in kitchen?” Red smirked as he took a seat on one side of the table, hunching in to make himself fit better.

“How’d you know?” Leader sighed as he poured another cup. He passed it over to the alligator snapping turtle mutant and the cup looked like it belonged to a doll in his hands.

“My Leo is banned from the kitchen unless he is making tea, like you, or getting a bottle of water,” Red answered with a nod in thanks. "There is a special counter at the front of our kitchen where he allowed to make his tea only after he tried using the main stove and tea bag caught fire after he opened the packet. Ever since his special counter was made, our 'Leo caused a fire in the kitchen' incidents became much less common."

“My Leo tries to cook and every time, it is a failure,” Don laughed. “Though, tea is the one thing he is the best at it.”

“Leo, why’d you give him such a small cup?” April frowned as she took a look at Red struggling with the small tea cup.

“It’s no worry, really,” Red fretted as he tried to hold the cup in his hand. April ignored him as she ducked out of the room towards Genius' lab.

“This Raph is so different,” Casey marveled at the large turtle as he pulled a chair up to sit behind Don. “Ours is so gruff and angry.”

“I can be angry,” Red frowned. “I just don’t like to be.”

“And that is perfectly fine,” Splinter inclined in his head in thanks as Fearless handed over a pre-poured cup as he took the last open spot at the table. “Anger can be something that is a part of you but it does not have to control you.”

“Someone needs to remind my Raph of that,” Don murmured.

“Here you go, love,” April said as she returned and placed an extra-extra-large mug on the table. “I bought this as a joke for Donnie but it seems like it has a use now.”

“Thank you,” Red deflated with relief as he put down the tea cup that he finished in one gulp to grab the mug that looked normal sized in his hands. Leader leaned forward and poured the rest of the tea in before standing up to brew another pot. “Sometimes it can be so hard to find things that are Raph-sized,” Red pouted.

“It’s a good thing that we have Master Donatello to make things tailored to your size,” CJ piped up as he scooched himself in the space between Don and Red. Don moved himself over to give the human more space to be comfortable, knowing how the two members from universe 2018 made sure to not be far apart from each other for too long. "Aww, dang it, I called him the wrong name again," Casey pouted as his brain registered what he said.

“Master Donatello?” Don asked with a smirk. “Don’t let Purple hear that or else it will go to his head.”

“Oh, he already knows,” CJ told the purple wearing tech genius. “He is always reminding me to call him Donnie when I forget.”

“How come he doesn’t like it?” April asked as sat down in the seat Casey offered before he stepped away to grab another chair.

“Because that’s what I called his future self,” CJ answered. “Sometimes I get confused and call everyone what I called them in my timeline.”

“Sounds confusing,” Leader murmured as he came back to the table with a fresh pot of tea.

“It can be,” CJ shrugged. “But I am learning how to separate the turtles I grew up with and the ones I am with now – especially when I call them by different names.”

“I cannot imagine what it is like to be thrown into a different timeline,” Splinter hummed as he took a sip of his tea. “You are very strong to be adjusting so well.”

“Thank you,” CJ blushed, looking down as rubbing his head to hide his red face. “It’s nice to see so many similarities between the current version of the turtles and their future selves.”

“Oh yeah?” Casey grinned as he came back with a chair for himself. “Like what?”

“Well, for one,” CJ started and then looked over at Leader with a playful smirk, “Leo’s lack of skill in the kitchen is as prevalent now as it was in the future.” Everyone laughed at that, even Leader even though his cheeks blushed in embarrassment at the recall of information that he is terrible in the kitchen.

“There was one time when Leo tried to ‘help’ Mikey chop up some vegetables and as soon as he picked up the knife, the vegetables caught on fire,” Red told the group, laughter coming out as soon as he finished the sentence.

“Oh, I’m glad I’m not that bad,” Leader chuckled as he wiped laughter tear away.

“You take that back right now!” April roared with laughter, pointing a finger at him. “Don’t you remember when you covered my kitchen in blended fruit trying to make a smoothie because you forgot to put the cover on it?!”

“Seriously, Leo?” Casey snickered, joined the by the other participants in the room.

“I didn’t know, okay!” Leader groaned as he dropped his head onto the table and covered it with his hands. “I never used one before!”

“Then what about the time left a fork in a bowl of soup you tried to heat up in the microwave?” Splinter asked with a raised eyebrow, sipping his tea with an accusing side eye.

“Dad, not you too,” Leader bemoaned in embarrassment as his face deepened in red with his blush.

“If you think that is bad, I got more stories,” Red grinned in mischievous playfulness.

“Me too,” CJ raised his hand in excitement. “Like how Master Michelangelo chased Master Leonardo around for two hours after he picked up a pan and it caught fire without him doing anything else!”

“Did Master Michelangelo give up in the end?” April laughed.

“No,” CJ shook his head as his lips pulled up in a smirk. “Master Leonardo tripped.”

“Oh god,” Red roared with laughter. “That’s sounds exactly like a certain Easter from a few years back!”

“I’ll go make some more tea,” Leader grumbled as he headed towards the kitchen. “It sounds like we are going to be here for a while.”

“And snacks too, my son!” Splinter called after him, laughing at whatever Don said about his Leo.

Leader just shook his head as he entered the kitchen in defeat.

‘Damn it, Leo’s,’ Leader sighed in his mind. ‘Why did we all have to be bad in the kitchen?’

Universe ???

Mikey felt himself shudder again and frowned as something poked at the back of his mind.

“Uhh…you good there, boss?” Party asked as he put his comic down. “That’s the third shudder in the last five minutes.”

“I feel like something is wrong,” Mikey muttered, scratching the side of his face.

“Is it Psychoangelo?!” Michael exclaimed from where he and Mike were sparing in the empty middle of the hideout.

“Not that,” Mikey waved the concern away. “He can’t do anything until I unlock my mystic core and I still haven’t done that.”

“Then what is it?” Mike raised an eye ridge as he dodged to the side from a punch aimed at his shoulder.

“I feel like someone is messing up my kitchen,” Mikey admitted with narrowed eyes, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his bean bag chair.

“You too?!” Michael gasped, his hands flailing in the air in excitement. “I can always tell when one of my bros is trying to cook in the kitchen and are starting a fire instead!” Planting his hands on his hips, he grimaced. “My ‘Someone-is-messing-up-my-kitchen’ sense has been kicking me in the butt for a while now.”

“Is this another similarity between us?” Mike laughed. “Because I totally have that too and it’s been telling me that my kitchen is currently on fire.”

“It’s probably the Leo’s trying to take charge and cook as it is ‘the leader’s responsibility to provide while the cook is absent’,” Mikey said with the last part dropping to a low tone to imitate the Leo’s.

“Do you have it, too, Party?” Michael looked over at the tallest Michelangelo among the group.

“Oh yeah,” Party smirked. “But my Leo learned that the only thing he is allowed to make in the kitchen is tea after the mac & cheese incident.”

“It can’t be any worse than my Leo destroying every toaster he tries to use,” Michael laughed.

“My Leo is only allowed to cook when all of us are out of commission and even then, we will still order out than have him cook,” Mike said.

“My Leo once set an un-cracked egg on fire just by looking at it,” Mikey said in a soul-deep weariness.

Michael and Party immediately fell to the ground with laughter, imaging the same thing happening to their own oldest brothers.

“…okay, I think you win,” Mike snickered.

“How does one even do that?” Michael said after almost dying of laughter.

“I don’t know!” Mikey exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air above him. “I watched it happen and he wasn’t even near it! He just walked in, looked at the egg on the counter, and it burst into flames!”

“I’m telling you, it’s the ‘Leo Kitchen Curse’,” Michael nodded sagely. “I think all Leo’s across the multiverse are cursed.”

“Not the strangest thing I’ve ever heard,” Mike shrugged.

“I swear if anyone’s messed up my kitchen, I’m sicking Dr. Delicate Touch on them,” Mikey growled.

And universes away, the Leo from universe 2012 felt a shiver run down the back of his shell like someone just threatened him behind his back.

BONUS SCENE:

Universe ???

“You good, boss?” Ronin looked as the aged mystic master that was frowning to himself.

“I feel like there are multiple Leo’s out there destroying kitchens,” Michelangelo murmured.

“Ugh, my Leo was terrible in the kitchen,” Ronin stuck his tongue out. “He once tried to make popcorn in the microwave and it blew up before he turned it on.”

‘I’m really not that bad,’ Leo’s ghostly figure stated as he crossed his arms and frowned in the corner of Ronin’s eye.

“Don’t try and fight it, Leo,” Raph’s ghost snickered. “There’s a reason why dad never allowed you to make anything other than tea.”

“Traitors,” Leo grumbled.

“Don’t try and deny it,” Donnie’s ghost snorted.

Ronin ignored his the apparitions of his brothers to not seem crazy in front of the magic using Mikey, leaving the room to head over to the punching bag in the other room.

And he didn’t see how Master Michelangelo looked at his retreating form with golden eyes and blue pupils…staring directly at the three ghostly forms of Ronin’s dead older brothers.

Chapter Text

Universe ???

“Alright, tell me how that feels?” Mike asked as he watched Party gingerly move his arm around, the taken off sling in his hands.

“Better than before,” Party answers as he stretches his arm out to the side carefully. “Thank fuck for mutant healing.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Mikey rose a glass of juice in cheers. His hand were still bandaged but his re-opened scars were healing nicely along with his new burns.

“Are you feeling better?” Michael asked from where he was leaning over the back edge of the couch. Mike turned away to place the sling away in their large medical kit and closed it up.

“I guess as good as I’m going to get,” Mikey shrugged. After almost a week in the hideout together, Mikey’s mystic reserves had filled back up with no one to draw upon them. “There’s only so long we can hide away.”

“So, are we jumping back into the fight?” Mike frowned with a cross of his arms. The bruises he got during the fight were almost gone with just a yellow tinge to his skin that told anyone they were even there to begin with.

“No fight, not yet,” Mikey shook his head. “There are still two Mikey’s out there that are in danger from Psychoangelo. We have to rescue them before they are taken.”

“Are they going to want to come with us?” Michael tilted his head to the side, his feet kicking in the air behind him.

“Who knows?” Mikey shrugged. “Just because you three decided to come isn’t a guarantee.”

“I would like to point out that I had no choice,” Mike raised a hand.

“I said I was sorry,” Mikey groaned.

“I know,” Mike smirked. “I just wanted to bring it up again.”

“So, when are we doing this?” Party asked, poking the healing wound on his arm.

“Tomorrow,” Mikey nodded resolutely. “I do not want to put it off for too long and cause our brothers more distress.”

“Do you think they’re okay?” Michael murmured, his entire being sagging in sadness.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Mikey grinned to try and lift Michael's spirits.

“Probably mad as fuck, though,” Party interjected.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Mike sighed with slumped shoulders.

Universe 2003

Blue grimaced as he rubbed at a spot in the middle of his plastron.

“You okay, young Blue?” Master Splinter as he hummed, sipping his tea.

“My chest feels a bit tight,” Blue answered.

“Are you having an asthma attack?” April fretted as she started looking the blue wearing turtle over.

“Nah, that’s ‘Tello’s department,” Blue waved a hand. “Just seems like my mystic core isn’t filling itself back up like it should.”

“You’re what now?” Casey raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Mystic core,” Blue rolled his eyes. “It’s how I can use my powers.”

“Since when do you have powers?” Casey’s eyes boggled out in awe.

“Since always?” Blue eyed the human man before a light bulb went off above him. “Oh! You weren’t there for most of the fight and didn’t get to see me in action.” Reaching for his swords, he was surprised to find empty air. He looked over to see Ra holding his twin katanas in his own hands.

“Yeah, no,” Ra frowned. “If you’re powers aren’t fixin’ themselves, then we shouldn’t have ya do it more.”

“My son does have a point,” Splinter agreed, turning towards the pouting red-eared slider. “We do not know how long you are going to be here and we do not want you to be in pain.”

“Speaking of that,” Ra hummed and looked over at Donnie, “any update on the gateway?” Blue twitched his fingers, calling his swords back to his hands and smirked at the two squawks of surprise from both Ra and Casey. April just rolled her eyes and shook her head, muttering something about ‘boys and not listening to reason.’ Splinter gave Blue a stink eye and the turtle had the decency to look the least bit ashamed.

“90% done,” Donnie answered, not looking up from where he was typing away at a borrowed computer. “Luckily other me had his computer unlocked and I could find all the blueprints and code that I needed.”

“Then what’s taking so long?”

“It takes time to machine new parts,” Donnie frowned. “And your Master Splinter won’t allow me to pull another all-nighter.”

“I will not allow a son of mine to put his health on the back burner,” Splinter nodded to yourself.

“But I’m not your’s,” Donnie pointed out. “Your Donnie is out there with the others.”

“That does not matter to me,” Splinter smiled and reached over to pat Donnie on the arm. “This dimension, that dimension, it does not matter. You are my son in all lives.”

Donnie’s eyes got misty as he sniffled, turning his face to hide the tears that were welling up. April padded quietly over to give him a hug, Donnie burying his face to hide his silent crying that his shaking shoulders gave away.

“Ah, pa, ya made ‘em cry,” Ra whispered to Splinter.

“Good,” Splinter nodded his head. “He needed it.”

Universe ???

Michelangelo hummed as he flew around to each giant orange crystal to inspect the frozen Mikey in each one. He was currently stopped in front of the orange loving turtle from universe 2007, taking in the differences between himself and the other turtle.

“How much longer, boss?” Ronin grumbled from below, his arms crossed over his chest as he looks up. “It’s been almost a week already.”

“Patience, my partner in crime,” Michelangelo smiled. “Little me and myself used a lot up of the battery so it needs some time to recharge before we both start pulling at it again.”

“I’m getting tired waiting around,” Ronin huffed. “And what are we going to do about the sheer number of others we have to fight?”

“That’s is a good point,” Michelangelo pondered, tapping his chin in thought. His eyes dragged over the turtle in front of him before a large smile took over his face. He floated downwards towards Ronin, flicking a finger of his shoulder to drag two crystals with him. “I guess we’ll have to add a couple more members to our side then.”

Ronin looked at the two crystals in front of him, regarding the two Mikey’s frozen in side of them. They weren’t tall or built like him or the turtle he fought against but he knew these two could handle themselves in a fight.

Michelangelo placed a hand on each crystal, letting black leak in to swirl around the turtle’s heads. They both jerked inside of their prisons, as if they were in physical pain. The one on the right opened his mouth is a soundless scream while the one of the left writhed in pain.

And then it stopped…their eyes flashing open to reveal a dark red to shine among the translucent orange of their prisons.

“There we go,” Michelangelo clapped, the crystals cracking before breaking apart. Both Mikey’s fell to a crouch before rising slowly. “That’ll even the playing field so more.”

And something cold like ice ran down Ronin’s spine at the thought he could have been a puppet like this if he didn’t agree to join.

Universe 2018

“Do you have an idea when you’ll be done?” Casey asked as he spun around in one of Purple’s spare chairs.

“It would be faster if you didn’t pester me so much,” Purple answered with a robotic arm reaching out to stop the chair’s spinning.

“But I’m bored,” Casey bemoaned. “We’ve been here for almost a week now and I thought there would be more action with this entire mess.”

“Don’t jinx us, Casey Jones,” April growled from where she and Draxum were playing a game of chess. She moved a pawn forward to block another pawn of his from moving.

“Ohh, full name,” Wrath smirked as he did another rep on Red’s bench press that he pulled in from the dojo. “Someone’s in trouble.”

“May I ask why all of you are in my lab?” Purple sighed as he typed a new line of code in.

“Makes things easier to have all of us together when you get the portal up and running,” Leo answered from where he was watching the chess game with a mug of tea in his hands. “And we don’t want to mess too many things up in your universe.”

“I doubt you can make things messier than they are now,” Purple snorted.

“Hey, how come half the pieces don’t match?” Casey pointed out as he rolled over to the game between Draxum and April.

“That’s because my baby brother is a little shit that eats chess pieces whenever my back is turned,” Purple heaved a heavy sigh.

“And the reason is…?” Wrath asked with a grunt as he lifted the heavy barbells above his head.

“For the hell of it,” Purple shrugged. “He’s a menace.”

“That he is,” Draxum hummed as he moved his knight to take April’s bishop. “I can’t tell you how many times he’s busted down my apartment door with smoothies because he could somehow sense I was the slightest bit bored.”

“The more I hear about this kid, the more I want to meet him for myself,” Casey said aloud as he spun around. “Like, actually meet him when he’s not trying to prevent his psychopath older self from doing something.”

“Same here,” Wrath grunted.

“I thought you were the one that was anti-Mikey?” April raised an eyebrow.

“That was before I got to know about this kid,” Wrath murmured as he hung his weight back onto their stand and sat up with a sigh. “I think I jumped to conclusions and he’s actually not all that bad.”

April grinned to herself at the admittance, knowing how hard it was for a Raph to admit he was wrong about something. She moved her rook to steal Draxum’s knight.

“Happy to hear that you are on the pro-Mikey bandwagon,” Purple snorted.

“Speaking of Mikey’s, wasn’t there two Mikey’s still left in their dimension?” Casey pointed out, leaning back in his chair. “Are we going to try and take them like with little Mikey?”

Purple’s hands froze mid-way in typing, his shoulders rising. “What…did you say?”

“There’s two Mikey’s still out there?” Casey repeated confusingly. “What about it?”

“How do you know that?” Purple stood up sharply and whipped his head towards the human boy.

“The dimensional map from the turtles in universe 2003 could show all the universes in the multiverse and which still had their Mikey’s,” Leo answered carefully.

“And you didn’t think to tell me that earlier?!” Purple exclaimed, grabbing his head as his brain processed the new information.

“I guess we forgot in the chaos,” Wrath shrugged. “What does it matter?”

“Because we can use that to track where my Mikey and Master Michelangelo are going to strike and where they could be hiding!” Purple paced in front of his computer. “This changes everything!”

“I doubt young Michelangelo and Master Michelangelo are staying in a regular universe where they can be tracked,” Draxum frowned, crossing his arms at the position April had his king in on the board. “They probably used a pocket dimension.”

“A pocket dimension?” Wrath blinked in confusion. “How’s that different from what we are looking at?”

“Pardon my lacking knowledge as this is a new development in science here so most of this is speculation,” Draxum cleared his throat as he tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe, “but I believe both Michelangelo’s created a pocket dimension to hide away in.”

“Then where are these dimensions?” Leo frowned. “Can we find them on the map?” April moved her queen to place Draxum’s king in check.

“Probably not,” Draxum shook his head. “Pocket dimensions are not their own universes and are reliant on the universe they were created in. They also seem to have the capabilities on completely hiding themselves away based on the pocket dimensions we have here in this universe.” Moving his king a spot over, he realized too late that he trapped himself.

“Wait a second,” April gasped, looking up at Draxum. “Can your mystic powers stuff recover itself while in another universe?”

“I don’t believe so,” Draxum answered, stroking his chin in thought. “Mystic powers are something that seem to be exclusive to this universe so whatever amount is in one’s core when they travel universes is all that they have to work with. They need to return to this universe to recharge before venturing out again.” Seeing that his king could no longer run away, he knocked it over to show that he lost.

“What are you getting at, Red?” Casey asked.

“You said that little Mikey’s powers are destructive when used too much,” April pointed towards Purple, who nodded slowly as his brain worked overtime to find the dots that April was connecting. “Which means his magic battery is practically empty right now based on what we saw with those feedback episodes.”

“Yes…” Purple said slowly. “It needs to recharge before he can do any big attacks or spells again.”

"And you said that the pocket dimensions are dependent on their universes, meaning they are a part of said universe, correct?" April directed towards Draxum. He nodded quietly and she watched as Draxum's mouth drops open as he catches onto her line of thought. “So, both of them have to be hiding somewhere they can recover mystic energy and that means…” April’s eyes grew large, “that all the Mikey’s are in this universe.”

Chapter Text

Universe 2012

“A few more minutes and we should be able to jump universes again,” Genius said aloud to the occupants in the lair.

“Thank god,” Raph huffed, scratching a finger against Chompy’s stomach to make the little alien turtle chirp in joy.

“You act like you don’t enjoy our company,” O’Neil raised an eyebrow from where she was petting Ick.

“I don’t,” Raph smirked. “I’d rather have my group back already.”

“Ignore him,” Fearless rolled his eyes. “That’s Raph talk for he is missing and worried about his family.”

“Wh-what?!” Raph roared in embarrassment. “Shut up!”

“This is why I like our Raph so much,” Cassandra sighed. “He says what’s on his mind.”

“That’s because my son knows his stink will come out if he tries to lie,” Splinter hummed as he sipped some tea.

“Must be a blessing to have an emotionally available Raph,” Fearless laughed out loud.

“I’m telling your Raph that you said that the next time I see him,” Raph threatened.

“Make you tell him I was also flipping him off,” Fearless responded with both hands holding his middle finger up.

“How scandalous,” O’Neil laughed loudly.

“He deserves it,” Fearless shrugged with playfulness brewing in his eyes. “Not the worst we’ve said to each other.”

“One time, Blue tried to convince Purple that he was adopted,” Splinter said to the group. “And then Blue said Purple was the adopted one. The next thing I know, I have two crying young turtles demanding to know if they were really adopted or not.”

“But we are adopted,” Raph frowned.

“Seriously?” Cassandra asked with unbelieving look on her face.

“Me and my brothers too,” Fearless nodded his head in agreement.

“Interesting,” Splinter stroked his beard. “My boys are my actual biological children since Draxum infused my DNA into them.”

“…the more I hear about your guys, the more questions I get,” Raph groaned aloud. “Like you guys took the word ‘different’ and really went wild with it.”

“Not interrupt this thrilling conversation on our universal difference,” Genius cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, “but the portal is ready to go.”

“Hell yeah!” Cassandra cheered.

“Let me get Chompy and Ick settled before we go,” Raph said, jogging away to his room with Chompy snapping his jaw in the air at the group.

“I’ll handle the pretty girl,” O’Neil smiled as she gave the ice cream cat one last scratch under chin.

“Does everyone have what they need?” Fearless called out, nodding when there were multiple answers of yes. Raph came out of his room with his hands now free and thanked O’Neil for taking care of Ick for him. “Genius?”

“Yeah, Fearless?” Genius hummed, making sure any last-minute adjustments to the portal were taken care of.

“Let’s see what this bad boy can do.”

Universe 2016

“You can really lift that much?” Casey’s eyes boggled out of his head.

“That’s just for my warm up,” Red tilted his head to the side. “If I really want to get a work out in, I have to lift more than that.”

“That’s…literally insane,” Casey gaped.

“It isn’t that much more than our Raph can lift,” Leader pointed out.

“Yeah, and I am still amazed every time I see the bar bending under the weights he has on it,” Casey shot back.

“Not to break the bro fest,” April rolled her eyes, “but Don says that he’s about ready to open the portal.”

“Finally,” Leader sighed in relief.

“You act like we didn’t have a great time with our new friends,” April crossed her arms.

“I had a great time!” CJ beamed. “I want to come over again at some point!”

“Oh, we would love to have you over any time,” April cooed and nudged CJ’s shoulder. “Bring your mom next time, too, so we can meet her.”

“I would like to meet my counterpart,” Casey nodded.

“Don’t act like you guys aren’t coming with us,” Don smirked. “We need someone to keep an eye on our April and make sure she doesn’t rush in during any fights.”

“Are you saying that us April’s are weak?” April narrowed her eyes in threat at the purple loving turtle.

“Not at all,” Don waved his hands in an effort to diffuse the situation, before he realized something. “Wait, did I never mention that she’s pregnant?”

“She’s pregnant?!” multiple voices rang out, some in excitement and some in wonder.

“Who’s the father?” Splinter asked.

“Her husband, our Casey Jones,” Don smiled. “She’s pretty early so she’s not showing yet but with the crazy things we do, we want to keep her out of it.”

Casey looked over at April, his eyebrows raised. “Don’t even think about it, Jones,” April deadpanned. Casey just held his hands up and laughed.

“With that being said…” Don cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, “we ready to go?”

Universe 2003

“And with a flick of a switch,” Donnie reached over to do exactly as he said, “we have a dimensional portal now online.”

Blue clapped as he watched green with yellow flecks portal come to life in the corner of Don’s lab. Ra rolled his eyes at the dramatics while April pushed him for being unsupportive.

“Are ya sure this is gonna work?” Ra asked, scowling at April and flinching when she threatened to pull him down by his mask tails.

“Only one way to find out,” Donnie shrugged. He leaned over to grab an apple and proceeded to throw it into the portal. There was a flash as the fruit was swallowed…followed by someone exclaiming in pain.

Leo’s head peeked in with a frown before he brightened up to see his own Donnie perking up at the sight of him. “Donnie!” Leo cheered, running to give his taller younger brother a big hug. “I was so worried!”

“Are you okay?” Donnie fretted, looking Leo over.

“We’re fine,” Leo waved the concern away. “I’m in Purple’s dimension and we were wondering where the apple that hit Casey came from.” Donnie snickered at the information that his test hit his friend/rival.

“Is ‘Tello okay?” Blue demanded, coming forward.

“He’s fine for the most part,” Leo answered, looking everyone in this universe over. “But…we’ve come across a new development.”

“What development?” Ra crossed his arms and raised an eye ridge.

Leo bit his lip, debating on revealing the information here or not. He gave up and let his shoulders square up in seriousness. “We’ve discovered what universe all the Mikey’s are being hidden in.”

And that was all that had to be said to get everyone rushing through the portal to enter universe 2018.

Universe 2018

 “Welcome home,” Purple greeted his twin without turning away from his computer. Blue had to duck down as a large piece of metal carried by one of Purple’s drones went flying past his head.

“Tell me you aren’t joking,” Blue demanded as he exited the portal, taking a deep refreshing breath as he felt his core starting to fill itself back up. There were cheers of reunion behind him in the main room but the leader of this universe couldn’t take the moment to enjoy it. Leo had quickly told them his Blue’s very own universe was the one currently housing all the Mikey’s that were taken and it was boggling his mind.

“I may be the funniest of us all, but I would never joke about something as important as this,” Purple rolled his eyes as he spun around in his chair. He stood up and strode right past Blue to head towards his work bench. “I am reworking our dimensional gate generator into something that will bring us to Mikey whenever we pick him on the scanners.”

“But we don’t know how to track him,” Blue pointed out, following after purple. Something on Purple’s screen drew his eye, showing a small Chibi rendition of his, Purple’s and Draxum’s heads in their iconic colors in the same area. Both of the Casey’s, Splinter’s, April’s, Raph’s, and Mikey’s were in a box off to the side showing that they were unable to be located, making Blue remember something that he brushed off to the side during the invasion. “…the trackers,” Blue whispered.

“Exactly,” Purple nodded. “If I rework this device correctly, I can use the tracker on Mikey to show up exactly what pocket dimension he is hiding in.”

“Then what do you need me to do?” Blue asked with a serious and determined tone. He was ready to do anything his twin told him that would bring them back to their younger brother and hopefully be able to knock some common sense into him.

“Be ready to open a portal at any moment,” Purple answered as he turned sharply in his seat and reached up to grab a small device the size of a business card. He tossed it behind him at Blue and the red-eared slider reached a hand up to catch it. As soon as his hand made contact, it started unfolding and slithered down to become a thick metallic bracelet on his wrist. Small lines of purple circuitry decaled the side of it, flashing as it came online to connect to Purple’s computer. “I’ve made a smaller version of the portal generator that should be able to connect to your mystics. When it detects Mikey’s mystic signature, it will alert us and when you create a portal it will take over to bring us right to our runaway little brother.”

“So, can I use this right now?” Leo asked as he looked at the bracelet from all angles.

“Not yet, unfortunately,” Purple sighed. “Since I have no lead at all on where Mikey’s mystic signature is, we have to wait until he pops out of his hiding spot and then we can go hunt him down.”

“You make him sound like a fugitive,” Blue snorted.

“He will be once we bring him home,” Purple rolled his eyes. “I am making an executive order as big brother and grounding him until he is 25.”

“I’ll back you up with that,” Blue grinned, crossing his arms. “As leader and another big brother. I bet Raphie will be right there at your side agreeing.”

“Speaking of our big brother,” Purple hummed as he turned around in his chair to look at his younger twin,” where is he and Junior?”

Universe 2007

“I don’t like this,” Raph grumbled as he tapped his foot rapidly against the rooftop underneath him. He and his two remaining siblings were trying to get some semblance of normalcy and to get their minds off of how long it has been since they saw their counterparts from universe 2003 by doing a patrol of the city. All they’ve found so far is a couple purple dragon punks, an attempted carjacking and lots of pigeons flying away from them.

“We don’t either, Raph,” Leo sighed harshly. The lair had been painstakingly quiet the past two weeks and it has done nothing to alleviate anyone’s concerns. April was calling three times a day for an update in addition to coming over every night with Casey. Master Splinter was praying to all the gods and ancestors that would listen to his pleas to bring his youngest son home. “But we said that we would wait until they came back to bring us in to fight.”

“But what if we are just sitting here twiddling our thumbs while Mikey is out there in some awful place?” Raph seethed. “We should never have agreed to come back here! We should have demanded to stay at their sides!”

“Or maybe we would have been more in the way than a help,” Donnie countered, hunched over where he was sitting on the edge of the roof. Something bright in the distance caught his eye a few blocks over, making him sit up. “Wait a second, what is that?”

His words had Raph and Leo trotting over, squinting their eyes at the bright white light. Without another word between them, the trio jumped across the space to race towards the light. They were two buildings away when multiple voices hit their ears.

“I think I got the universe wrong,” a familiar voice groaned. “Though I think I’ve been here before.”

“So, this one is a bust?” someone else asked.

“Not necessarily,” the familiar voice hummed. “The local turtles should be showing up soon.” That was the moment the trio crossed the final gap between the buildings and skidded around the rooftop shed to the see the Donatello from universe 2003 with a tall blue banded turtle that looked them over. “Ah, I see I was right about recognizing this place,” Don grinned.

“You’re back!” the shorter Donnie exclaimed. “But…you’re missing your brothers.”

“And you got another Leo,” Leo looked his taller counterpart up-and-down just like Leader was eyeing him.

“Yeah…” Don trailed off as he averted his eyes. “Some things kind of went off the rails about a week ago.”

“Let me guess: we still don’t have a clue on who took the Mikey’s?” Raph sighed harshly and crossed his arms.

“Oh, no, we do,” Don answered with a sheepish grimace. “It’s…kind of a crazy story.”

Leo opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again before just dropping his face into his hands and groaning. “That’s it. I’m taking a page out of Raph’s book and telling you that we are coming along this time.”

“That’s fair,” Leader shrugged his shoulders. “It’s better to have more to our numbers the next time we fight Master Michelangelo and his bouncer.”

“Master who?!” Donnie screeched.

“C’mon,” Don waved a hand towards the portal that swirled quietly in the air behind the two turtles that did not belong to this universe. “We’ve got some explaining to do.”

BONUS SCENE:

Universe 2018 - Pocket Dimension B

"You called for me?" Michael asked as he entered Mikey's room. The budding mystic master to be sat on his bed in a mediation and opened his eyes with a smile in greeting when his counterpart entered.

"Yeah, thanks for coming," Mikey said with a smile as he waved Michael in. "I have something for you."

"For me?" Michael chirped in joy as he bounced over, his little tail wagging in anticipation.

"Yup," Mikey answered as he stood up from the bed. He padded over to his desk and riffled through a small pile of papers before pulling one the size of his hand out. Michael could see a circle with various symbols drawn on it before Mikey turned back towards him with a smile. He gently pushed Michael down into the desk chair as he let his hands glow the slightest bit, making the paper float in the air.

"Umm...I thought you weren't supposed to be using your powers right now?" Michael frowned.

"Don't worry," Mikey waved the concern away as he used his other hand to draw the paper to the middle of him to float between both hands. "I may not have access to my core right now but I do have some leftover power left in me right now. I just can't draw on new power with it locked up. My body is fine right now as the reserves are filling back up."

"Oh, ok," Michael nodded as he watched the paper morph into a ball of light. It gave a soft yellow light that made Michael want to reach up and poke it. "So, what are we doing?"

Mikey grinned as he cupped his hands around the light and push it into Michael's plastron. "I'm giving something back to you."

Michael squinted his eyes in confusion that quickly went away when he felt the familiar flicker of electricity spark out of his fingers.

Chapter Text

Universe 2011

Jennika took a deep breath of fresh air, holding her pose on the rooftop she chose as her practice space for that evening. She loved her clan, she really did, but sometimes she needed a break from the four boys. Alopex was off on some type of retreat with her students so it left Jennika alone with the four brothers.

Again, she loved them, but having four surrogate younger brothers could be grating on anyone’s nerves.

Which brought her to now as she snuck away to get some kata practice in. Last she saw, Leo was mediating in his room and Raph was feeding Pepperoni. Donnie was in his workshop working on some device that she tuned out the long-winded explanation of. Mikey was out visiting Woody and was due to return back in an hour.

So, she was going to enjoy the peace she had for the time being before she was dragged into whatever high-risk scenario she was dragged into again. The breeze brushed against her yellow mask to flutter the tails against her neck. It was a beautiful day in the city with the wind blowing just enough to cool her from the warm rays of the sun.

It was peaceful…

…until a loud ripping noise behind her had Jennika jumping nearly three feet in the air. Whipping around, her mouth fell open when she saw what looked like the very air was cracking apart. It got to the size of her fist before glowing brightly and swirling to become a small portal. It grew larger until it was taller than the mutant turtle, her eyes reflecting the bright light. Jennika pulled out her claws from where they waited on her back, equipping them to be prepared for whatever was going to come through.

A green three fingered hand peeking out of the portal had Jennika pulling herself up straighter. There weren’t many that had the same hands as her, and as far as she knew, all of them were accounted for. There was no reason for any of them to be coming out of a strange portal in the two hours she had been away from them.

Her eyes narrowed when the hand extended to an arm which traveled to a shoulder that revealed another turtle exiting the swirling white. A blue banded turtle with a pair of katanas on his back blinked at the shorter turtle in front of him with a yellow mask.

“Um….hello?” the new turtle greeted hesitantly, with a slight wave. “My name is Leonardo but you can call me Fearless.”

“That covers who you are,” Jennika said with narrowed eyes. “But that doesn’t answer why you are here.”

“Look here – ummm….”

“Jennika.”

“Jennika,” Fearless nodded. “I’m going to be honest; it was a total accident. I was trying to get somewhere else but I think we entered the wrong coordinates.”

“What’s taking so long?” someone groaned from inside the portal. A new turtle poked his head out and Jennika guessed he was a Raph by the rough-edged red mask tied around his face. His mouth dropped open at the sight of her, making the yellowed banded mutant turtle snort. “Oh…that would explain things.”

“How many more of you are there?” Jennika rolled her eyes as she put her claws away. She figured they were not a threat from the way they held themselves, especially how the new Raph looked around in wonder as he exited the portal.

“Too many,” Fearless sighed.

“Well, I guess I have to be a good example to the boys and invite you guys over,” Jennika offered. “Can’t having them showing me up in the manners department.”

“So, wait, you aren’t a girl version of one of us?” Raph blinked in surprise as he assumed Jennika was a girl version of a Mikey based on the color of her mask.

“Of course not,” Jennika rolled her eyes again. “I’m the newest to the bunch from when Leo donated some blood and the mutagen in his blood changed me.”

“Crazy,” Raph whispered in surprise.

“You’re taking the multiverse being real pretty well,” Fearless pointed out with an amused look.

“I’ve seen too much shit in my life to be that surprised,” Jennika deadpanned.

“That’s far,” Raph shrugged.

“Go grab the rest of you and I’ll bring you all to the dojo,” Jennika instructed with the wave of a hand, the other coming up to rest on her hip. “Donnie is going to be stoked to hear the multiverse is real. Mikey is probably going to be bouncing off the walls.” The yellow banded turtle furrowed her brow when she watched the two alternate turtle in front of her stiffen at her words. “Did I say something wrong?”

“You have a Mikey still?” Fearless asked, taking a step forward.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jennika frowned, chills running down her spine. “Of course, we have a Mikey. He’s off at his friend’s place right now.”

Fearless turned towards Raph, both of their eyes wide. “Neither of them have struck here yet,” Raph gasped.

“This changes things,” Fearless said in something of a mix of excitement and concern.

“Excuse me, but who are you talking about?” Jennika interrupted with a cross of her arms.

Fearless looked at Raph, who gave each other a nod in agreement. Raph turned and stepped back into the portal while Fearless squared his shoulder and turned back towards Jennika. “There are some things that you have to know. Keep an open mind, there’s a lot to it.”

“Tell me everything,” Jennika told him with a protectiveness in her voice that he recognized. “If something is coming for one of my little brothers, there’s no way I’m sitting on the sidelines waiting for it to strike.”

Universe 2018 – Pocket Dimension A

Master Michelangelo exhaled a soft breath as he mediated in the air. All around him was the orange crystal prisons that floated demurely like silent sentries. The candle lights reflected off so many different surfaces that it was honestly beautiful and the aged turtle almost felt the urge to paint the sight.

But something was catching his attention.

“I know you three are there,” Master Michelangelo hummed into the air. Beneath his lids, he activated his spirit eyes so that when he opened them, he was met with the sight of the ghosts of three angry older brothers. He gave them an easy smile and moved his hands from where they were perched on his knees to interlock them together. “My, what angry turtles we have here.”

“So, I was right when I thought you were looking straight at us,” Donnie frowned.

“It was harder to not notice you three,” Michelangelo mused, his blue pupils shining among the orange surrounding them. “Though, this is the first time you have tried speaking to me. May I ask the reason why?”

“You know why,” Raph growled. “We don’t trust you.”

“When have I ever gave you the need to not trust me?” Michelangelo fluttered his eyes in a way to appear innocent before snorting a laugh.

“Does all the kidnapped Mikey’s around us not ring a bell?” Leo snarled as he waved a ghostly hand at the crystals surrounding them.

“Let’s not forget that your very own brother helped me collect them,” Michelangelo smirked.

“Because you tricked him,” Raph poked a finger at Michelangelo’s plastron which went straight through.

“I never did such a thing,” Michelangelo corrected, shaking his head. “I told him from the beginning what he was getting into by joining me. He had no qualms then and I doubt he has gained any by this point.”

“You are promising him something that you can’t do,” Donnie fought back.

“I am not a liar,” Michelangelo narrowed his eyes at his purple themed brother’s dead counterpart. “I told him that I would bring back his family if he helped and I am going to honor that promise.”

“There’s no way to bring us back,” Leo tried to reason. “We are dead. We want him to keep living and not worry about three older brothers that went and got themselves killed.”

“But he does not want to do that without you,” Michelangelo pointed out, tilting his head to the side. “I am surprised that you would be arguing against coming back to life when he is working so hard towards that goal.”

“We never wanted him to stoop to such levels for us,” Donnie answered with a sad glint in his eyes. “We don’t want him to dirty his hands so much just to bring him back his idiot older brothers. He should be out there enjoying his life with April and her daughter.”

“He would be with you three if I hadn’t interrupted,” Michelangelo rolled his eyes. “He was knocking on death’s door and that door was about to open when I jumped in and held the handle shut. Your April and her daughter would have gotten to him too late, and he would have been dead.”

“And I thank you for saving him,” Leo sighed in a weariness he should never have. “But that’s as far as I want you to interact with him. I don’t want him to continue whatever this crusade is.”

“That’s his choice,” Michelangelo said simply to the oldest turtle of the ghost trio. “He can back out whenever he wants but then he wouldn’t get his reward for helping me.”

“You’re holding us over his head,” Raph snarled dangerously. His three fingered hands twitched at his sides that told the mystic master the red banded ghost would be grabbing his sai if he were still alive.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Michelangelo shrugged in a non-caring way. “I gave your brother a promise and I intend to honor it only if he keeps up his end of the deal.”

“When you bring us back, I am going to beat the green off of you!” Raph yelled.

“You can try,” Michelangelo smiled with a dangerous flash of his eyes. “But remember, I am the most powerful of all the Mikey’s in the multiverse. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Michelangelo closed his eyes to let his spirit eyes deactivate, “I really must get back to my preparations.”

Master Michelangelo opened his eyes and didn’t see the ghosts any longer. He felt that they were lurking nearby but he chose to ignore them. The ghosts could only be seen or heard when he had his spirit eyes activated but their very presences alerted him to their earlier approach. Recognizing a nearby spirit was something that took training and time. One could understand the theory behind it all they wanted, but without the actual practice of it, the knowledge was useless.

And Michelangelo got plenty of practice during the apocalypse.

Master Michelangelo floated over towards his dimensional map to peek at the last two universes that contained a Mikey. There was a 50/50 shot that whichever he chose was going to have his younger self jumping in as well. Peeking over his shoulder, he saw the two Mikey’s standing at attention in front of the wall of crystals. Standing at parade rest, both had their heads inclined with their eyes closed from when Michelangelo instructed them to rest.

Turning his eyes to the side, he saw Ronin’s closed door of his room from where he was napping. Both of them could feel that any moment now was going to be the start of the next stint in this adventure and they both needed to be ready. Ronin was taking the time to sleep as he was expecting to have to go a couple rounds with various people the next they clashed with little Mikey’s forces.

Michelangelo looked back at the dimensional map with a large feral smile taking over his face.

It was almost time.

Just a little more and he was getting his family back.

Universe 2018 – Pocket Dimension B

Mikey tapped a finger against the blanket beneath him as he sat on his temporary bed. Trepidation ran through him, making his blood run cold in his veins. He had no clue how fast things were going to be moving once he reopened access to his mystic core.

He laid a hand on the center of his plastron, grimacing at he felt inside himself for his core. There was truth to when he told the others that Psychoangelo was coming for their hearts to complete the spell…he just didn’t tell them what that meant in his case.

That’s a lie.

Mike knew the truth but the two of them refrained from telling the others.

See…Mikey’s mystic core is his heart.

His emotions powered his mystic core, letting him perform feats of nature that shouldn’t be possible. Draxum had found it out at the beginning of Mikey’s training as he wanted to find out how the young turtle could have access to something that shouldn’t be possible for Mikey to do. The reason why someone like himself who had never had proper training channeling his powers was able to rip a hole between dimensions was because of his heart and core being one in the same.

The absolute desire to bring his brother back home from the prison dimension let Mikey dive deeper into his mystic core than someone at his level should. The stronger he felt, the more love he poured into his desire, the more his powers answered to him to bring Leo back.

It was a defect, for lack of a better word, from when his very soul was being created in the world cauldron. Draxum told him he had to be careful with his core as too much damage to it would slowly destroy what made him himself.

And Mikey was getting close.

He could feel parts of his core cracking along the edges, threatening to break away and take parts of him away with it. Mikey needed to end this battle with his older self before he broke the multiverse and killed the budding mystic master.

A knocking at his door as Mikey looking up from where he was glaring a hole into the floor. “We’re ready out here boss when you are,” Party’s voice said through the door.

Mikey took in a deep breath and let it before he stood up from his bed. His cloak waited on the back of his desk chair. Reaching a slightly shaky scarred hand over to grab it, he swung in it the air to circle around him before tying it around his throat. He gave it a final pat as the material settled down around him, trying to give himself a final internal pep talk before the big moment.

The wheels of fate that he paused were about to start turning again.

And it all relied on what he was about to do.

Chapter Text

Universe 2018 – Pocket Dimension B

“Remember, as soon as I open this back up, we are moving,” Mikey told the other orange banded turtles around him. Party punched one hand into the other and Mike fiddled with his nun chucks before patting the weapon on his carapace to make sure it was secured. Michael gulped and nodded his head, ready for whatever was going to be happening next. “Psychoangelo is going to realize the moment the core is opened back up so it’s a race.”

“I’m pretty good in a race,” Mike smirked as his chi enhanced form marking lit up against his green skin.

“Don’t count me out,” Michael snickered. Flashes of blue electricity sparking from the corner of his eyes.

“We’re ready, Boss,” Party grinned, punching one hand into the other. “Open ‘em back up.”

Mikey nodded, letting one of his hands raise in the air with the palm glowing. There was a second of stillness before Mikey slammed it into his plastron and twisted, undoing the seal on his mystic core. His eyes immediately lit up with energy as his mystic powers flowed out of his core again. He could feel a tendril of it leading away to disappear completely which told him that his older self would be finding out any moment now that the powers were flowing again.

Turning sharply on his heel, Mikey stuck his glowing hands out in front of himself. He closed his eyes as he focused on the multiverse to zero in on one of the two universes with a Mikey. Energy could be felt be pulled from his finger tips as it collected in the air to form a portal. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of an orange swirled portal waiting for him.

Mikey lowered his hands as he floated in the air and snapped his fingers, his magic raising his hood on his head. “Alright Mikey’s,” he grinned as he felt the three next to him prepare to jump through the new portal, “let’s get to work.”

Universe 2018 – Pocket Dimension A

Master Michelangelo whooped in glee as he felt the line of mystic energy start flowing into his being again. His markings lit up with fresh power as he let his eyes glow, feeling it collect under his skin. It felt like taking a fresh breath of air after breathing under a blanket for who knows how long.

“Is it time?” Ronin asked from the side. The other two Mikey’s stepped up by Ronin’s side with blank eyes and a stiffness to their limbs that didn’t look natural.

“It is time,” Master Michelangelo smirked as he pushed his hands in front of him. Focusing on one of the two universes with a Mikey, he watched at the orange portal swirled to life in front of him. It gave way to the view of a Mikey heading home with a pizza box in his hands and his whistles bouncing off some alley walls.

“That him?” Ronin gestured with his chin towards the new Mikey.

“That’s him,” Mikey grinned. “Alright Mikey’s,” around the mystic master, the three Mikey’s tensed as they readied themselves, “let’s get to work.”

Universe 2018

A loud alarm rang through the air of the lair. Blue launched himself off the couch where he was explaining his powers to Casey and ran straight towards the lab. He tripped and caught himself at the last moment as he entered, watching as Purple stood at his desk and furiously typed at his keyboard. Crazy eyes shifted towards Blue with a large grin adorning his face.

“We’ve got mystic activity!” Purple cheered.

“Everyone get ready!” Blue called out into the lair, hearing clanging from all over as the various turtles from different universes got their weapons prepped. “We’re jumping back into the fight now!”

Blue pulled his swords off his back and saw out of the corner of his eyes as everyone crowded around the entrance. If it were any other moment, Purple would have been pissed to have so many people entering his safe area.

But this was the moment they were going to find all their Mikey’s again and he couldn’t find it in himself to give two shits.

Blue slashed his swords in the air, ignoring how Case awed at the display in power. The device on his wrist gave a loud beep and Blue could feel his control over the portal ended up being taken from him. The portal shifted from its blue tone to something more on the purple scale. The bracelet gave one more loud beep with a green light turning on to let him know that the portal has reached its destination.

“Let’s go,” Blue commanded as he rushed forward, not waiting for the others to join him at his side.

He was going to drag his little brother back home kicking and screaming if he had to.

Universe 2016

“This is crazy,” the Donnie from universe 2007 now dubbed Tech sputtered. “A magic and time travelling evil older version of a Mikey kidnapping all the Mikey’s? And that very same Mikey’s younger current self is stealing other Mikey’s to stop some type of plan? This is all insane.”

“Now you are understanding what we’ve been thinking,” Leader sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“Then who has our Mikey?” Watcher, the universe 2007’s Raph, demanded. “You said there are two potential places he could be. Is he with the good or bad version?”

Don, Leader, and Red shared a look that did not sit with well with the 2007 crew. “Well?” Jungle, the Leo of the 2007 remaining trio, prompted.

“We are pretty sure that he is with the bad older Mikey,” Don answered with a resigned expression. “He’s seemed to grab all but three of the Mikey’s…well, besides the two universes that still have a Mikey.”

“Then why don’t we go to one of those universes and wait them out?” Tech asked as he looked over the portal generator.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Leader hummed. “We were trying to meet with the others again but this could be better.”

“There’s a good chance we could be entering the universe with the bad Mikey,” CJ pointed out from his perch on Red’s shoulders.

“So what?” Watcher shrugged with an unbothered expression. “We’ve dealt with four ancient generals that tried to take over the world and the Shredder. This is going to be nothing compared to that.”

“I hope you remember those exact words,” Jones groaned. “I feel like you just jinxed us to hell with that.”

“Our whole existence is one big jinx,” Jungle laughed.

“I can get a portal up in a few minutes,” Don informed the group. “But you have to choose where we are going. I don’t like the idea of splitting us again so we are going to get only one portal.”

Leader looked at Red and Jungle, “you two got any recommendations?”

“I don’t mind either,” Jungle shrugged. “Especially considering we don’t know who’s in either.”

“Ditto on my end,” Red answered.

“Alright then,” Leader nodded and looked towards Don. “Send us into the first one.”

Universe 2011

“No way,” the Leo of this universe who was dubbed Jonin shook his head. “I will not allow you to use my brother as bait to draw out this crazy version of himself.”

“It’s not so much as bait as just having him out and about,” Fearless corrected with a sheepish look, turning his eyes towards the residential Mikey, who they decided to called Mikester, watching from the corner of the room. The Raph of this universe, Rafa, and the Donnie, Donald, were standing in front of him with narrowed eyes aimed at the tall blue themed turtle. Jennika had her arms crossed over his plastron on the couch with an April and Casey standing behind her. “No matter what you do, Master Michelangelo is going to show up and try to take your Mikey.”

“But why does he need someone like me?” Mikester piped up. “I don’t have powers or anything like the other versions of me you mentioned.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Genius shook his head. “He needs all the Mikey’s in the multiverse since you all have something he needs to perform a wish.”

“What’s this wish you keep talking about?” Rafa grumbled.

“From what we’ve gathered, he is trying to bring back his version of us,” Genius answered.

“He’s from a future where the kraang invaded and won,” O’Neil continued with sad tinged eyes. “The only one to survive was Junior, Cass’s son, and he was sent back to prevent that timeline from happening.”

“Your world sounds crazy,” Mikester remarked.

“It can be,” O’Neil shrugged.

“But that’s what makes it fun,” Cassandra smirked.

“No matter who or where this old Mikey is from, he’s not getting ours,” Donald frowned.

“I don’t think you have a choice,” Raph said with a roll of his eyes.

“What’d you say?” Rafa growled, stomping over to Raph. The turtle from universe 2012 narrowed his eyes and stomped right back towards his counterpart. “Was that a threat?”

“Raph, stop it,” Fearless hissed. “Stop trying to fight your counterparts all the time.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Raph hissed back. “You may be a Leo but you aren’t mine.”

“No, but if you don’t listen, I’m getting O’Neil to whoop your ass,” Fearless threaten with a point toward O’Neil as she held a glowing green mystic bat in her hands. She had an eager smile on her face that made Raph step back in defeat. Seeing that Raph was not going to try and punch his counterpart, Fearless sighed and turned towards the shorter group of four turtles. “Please don’t take what Raph said too harshly.”

“Kind of hard to when he makes it sound like losing our Mikey is a set-in stone event,” Rafa growled.

“It kind of is,” Genius remarked in a way that all Donnie’s seemed to do. “Based on what we’ve seen, Master Michelangelo is not going to stop until he has every Mikey in the multiverse and he will plow down everyone in his way. We even saw him attack little Mikey with intentions to maim for preventing him getting to Michael.”

“Let’s not forget that little Mikey is out there also trying to get the counterparts before Master Michelangelo can,” Fearless added.

“So, we got two evil magic Mikey’s to worry about? Great,” Rafa rolled his eyes angrily.

“Murder machine isn’t evil,” Cassandra growled back, her fists clenched tightly.

“Like you’re really helping his case with that nickname,” Rafa shot back.

“Look here, muscle head,” Cassandra stomped over and poked a finger into Rafa’s plastron, “my little brother is out there trying to stop something from hurting all the Mikey’s and I do not appreciate someone bad mouthing him. Go ahead and say what you want about Master Michelangelo but no can is going to talk bad about the other half of the future felons duo.”

“Again, the nickname isn’t helping.”

“And who is the other person?” the April of this universe raised an eyebrow.

“Me, duh,” Cassandra snarled into Rafa’s face. “Take that as you want.”

“Enough, Cassandra,” Splinter’s voice cut in, making the ex-foot soldier take a step back automatically.

“But, Master—”

“I said enough,” Splinter reiterated with a sharp gleam in his eyes. “This is their home and we will not be bad guests.”

Rafa looked over to where Jennika was inspecting her nails on the couch. “Not even going to try and step in?” he aimed at the yellow wearing turtle.

“Not at all,” Jennika hummed. “You got yourself into that one with your anger, you can get yourself out.”

“Thanks for the help,” Rafa grumbled.

“Back to the topic at hand,” Jonin cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, “is there any way to protect Mikester from whatever is coming?” His question was answered with varying expressions of unease that did not bode well for him.

“We…can try,” Fearless answered carefully. “But we are currently oh-for-five or something like that right now.”

“Even with all of us there, my Mikey was taken right from us,” Raph mumbled sadly with a slouch of his shoulders.

“To be more precise, he chose to go with little Mikey in opposition of being taken by Master Michelangelo,” Genius corrected.

“Gee, thanks for that,” Raph rolled his eyes.

“So, is that it?” Mikester murmured from behind Donald with his eyes locked towards the ground. “I’m going to have to go one way or another?”

“Not if we can help it,” Jonin declared with a pat of a hand on Mikester’s shoulder, making the orange banded turtle look up at his brother. “They’re going to have to go through all four of us to get to you.”

“Don’t count us out,” Casey piped with from next to April. “Make that seven.”

“And us,” Splinter chimed in. “We did not come all this way just to see another Michelangelo taken in front of our eyes.”

“…he’s different than our Splinter,” Donald murmured to Rafa.

“I think that’s a good thing all things considered,” Rafa murmured back.

“So, what’s the game plan?” Jennika asked as she stood up and stretched her arms above her head. “We don’t have any special powers but we can hold our own in a fight.”

“Yeah, I’m not taking this lying down,” Rafa grunted as he punched one hand into the other.

“Glad to hear it,” Fearless smirked. He stepped forward and held a three fingered hand out towards his shorter counterpart. “Let’s try this again: hello, I am Leonardo and we’ve come to help.”

Jonin reached up and grasped Fearless’ hand tightly with his own smirk. “Hello Leonardo, my name is Leonardo and we are glad for the help.”

(In the background, Jennika rolled her eyes and whispered ‘dorks’ under her breath, making O’Neil and April snicker.)

Chapter Text

Universe 32019

“You sure this is the right place?” Party asked as he looked around.

“Let’s hope so,” Mikey murmured as he floated in the air, looking around at everything around him. This world was pretty bright but nothing compared to his own home. He hadn’t found one that compared to his yet and it seemed like there wasn’t going to be one based on the dwindling choices.

Party skipped over to the opening of the alleyway and peeked out. They had arrived in an area that wasn’t too populated so there wasn’t that much of a worry of someone passing by and looking down the alleyway to see two mutant turtles.

Though, Mikey’s glowing eyes hidden in the shadows of his cloak might make anyone shiver in fear.

“Where do we start looking for ‘em?” Party looked around as if he could look through the walls of the alleyway that blocked most of their view of the nighttime city.

“Where else?” Mikey rolled his eyes and floated over to the manhole cover a few feet away. “They’re probably at home.” A shudder ran down Mikey’s spine, making him look out into the distance as a small orange light lit up a distant rooftop. “Shit.”

“Is he here, boss?” Party narrowed his eyes at the fading light.

“Unfortunately, looks like he is,” Mikey grimaced.

“Time for round two,” Party smirked, punching one hand into another.

“Thank god,” Ronin breathed. “Another not bright world.”

“I don’t see the big problem,” Master Michelangelo hummed as he exited the portal to take in the city. They were on a rooftop that over looked the city and the aged turtle took the moment to breath in the smell of the city. It reminded him of his childhood home but it missed the accents that his universe had.

“I just don’t like it,” Ronin grunted. “Hiroto made most of the world dark and it’s what I got used to.”

“You need to loosen up, you old man,” Michelangelo rolled his eyes.

“You’re the old one here,” Ronin huffed.

“I’m only like 5 years older than you!”

“That is bullshit,” Ronin laughed, pointing a finger in Michelangelo’s direction. “You look like you are somewhere in your 70’s if I am being generous.”

“Well, excuse me for not aging nicely in the apocalypse,” Michelangelo pouted.

“There’s no way you’re only almost 40 years old,” Ronin shook his head.

“Yes way! The extreme usage of my powers aged me so much but I really am not that much older than you!”

“Suuuuuure,” Ronin drew his word out sarcastically. “Whatever you say, old man.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ronin realized that the two of them had a bit of their old happy-go-lucky personalities shining through their tough exterior. The two of them had always acted like co-workers at best but this conversation was friendlier than they’ve had in the entire time they’ve been together.

Whatever…he had more important things to take care of.

“What should we do now, old man?” Ronin asked, adding a smirk onto his face at the end.

Michelangelo huffed at the jab and crossed his arms. He looked off into the city as he hummed, thinking on what to do. “Do you want to wait until he come out on their own or go hunt ‘em down?”

“Ugh, both sound like a lot of either waiting or work,” Ronin groaned.

“There’s another option,” Michelangelo mused, with a flick of his eyes to the two Mikey’s standing at attention off to the side. Ronin looked over at them and let a dark smile take over his face.

“Oh, yeah, that one sounds good.”

“Well said, my partner-in-crime,” Michelangelo chuckled. With a snap of his fingers, the two controlled Mikey’s eyes flashed brighter as their bodies moved forward without another word. They leapt off the roof they were on and disappeared into the alleyway below. “Let the dogs tire the prey out for the hunters,” the aged mystic master smirked darkly. Michelangelo turned around to look at a rooftop off in the distance. “We’ve got other things to worry about.”

Leader’s feet hit the ground with a muffled thump as he jumped out of the portal. He looked around the dark alleyway he deposited into as the others climbed out behind him. It was decided that Jones and Fox were going to stay behind in their home universe for the time being with Master as they had no clue they would be walking into. There was a lot of fighting, especially after they pointed out that CJ was still going.

It was reasoned that Junior should go in case they stumbled upon Master Michelangelo in hopes that the boy could reason with him. Leader looked over at the boy perched on Red’s shoulders, looking at everything with a hesitant eye that the leader in blue knew was something the boy learned in his time during the apocalypse.

“Looks like our home a bit,” Tech mused as he looked around. “The lights seem brighter though.”

“Not as bright as mine,” Red said.

“It’ll be hard to top ours,” CJ smiled.

“So, where do we start?” Watcher grunted from where he leaned against a brick wall.

A loud screeching sound, like metal on metal, had all of the turtles plus CJ covering their ears. Looking up, Junior froze at the sight of Mikey sailing through the air with a wall of chains held up in front of him like a shield. On the other side of the chain shield was Master Michelangelo attaching with a multitude of chains pointed into a spear, a maniacal smile on his face.

“Shit, they’re already here,” Jungle cursed.

“What do we do?” Don asked Leader. They all looked towards the taller blue banded turtle as he became the de facto leader of the group.

Leader watched for a second before the two battling Mikey’s went soaring out of view. He looked around before scaling up the building to get to the roof. The others could be heard following him as he jumped over the edge, landing in a crouch of the roof. His eyes looked around, spotting another fight off in the distance between two buff turtles duking it out.

There was an extra beat of thinking as Leader stood up, taking in the three options.

“Red, CJ, go help little Mikey and see if you can get Master Michelangelo to stop this mess,” Leader commanded, pointing towards the figures flying around in the sky. He didn’t want to risk sending the others without powers into that type of fight; so, he was going to send the only two used to it.

“Got it,” Red and CJ nodded before shooting off.

Turning to the other, he pointed towards the trio from the same universe. “Jungle, Watcher, Tech, go try and find the local Mikey before they can get to him. Bring his brothers if you have to but get him someplace safe.”

The three nodded swiftly before hurrying over the edge of the roof. They rushed towards a manhole cover and disappeared down it, knowing the local turtles were probably in their home in the sewers.

“What about us?” Don asked. His finger tapped at his thighs in anticipation, seeing there was a lot more action than he was expecting the moment they entered the new universe.

Leader waved a finger to have Don follow him, the two cooled toned turtles leaping from one roof to another. “We’re going to go give back-up to the good Mikey of the melee fighters.”

“You just want to see your Mikey again,” Don deadpanned.

Leader had the decency to look the tiniest bit embarrassed before he cleared his throat. “It was the best option from what I could see. It just so happened that my Mikey is the one fighting Ronin.”

“Whatever you say,” Don rolled his eyes. He got his bo staff out in preparation of making the last jump that would bring them into the fight.

From what the two could see, Party’s head whipped to the side as Ronin landed a solid right punch. There was a line of spit with a bit of blood spitting out of Party’s mouth which made Leader’s big brother instincts flare up. Party took the punch in stride, though, and used the momentum to spin around and land his own punch back into Ronin’s face.

Leader took a running leap; his swords being pulled out of their sheathes as he descended on Ronin. Party looked at the new fighter and his eyes softened a fraction when he saw who it was. Unfortunately, Ronin noticed it immediately and pulled out his own broken sword to block off the attack.

He couldn’t block the jab from Don’s bo staff though.

Ronin gagged as the end of the bo staff made a home in his throat, making him back up and hold his aching throat.

“Good to see you, bro,” Party grinned despite his aching cheek. He didn’t lower his wrapped fists but Leader relaxed a fraction when he saw that last seen injured brother was fine now. There was the barest of color differentiation from where he was pieced through his shell and a healing scar of his arm. Party spit a glob off to the side and Leader chose to ignore how red it was.

“I am glad to say the same,” Leader breathed, his two swords held out in front of him as Ronin growled. “Though, I wish this and last time weren’t during a fight with your counterpart.”

“Speaking of counterparts, care to share where my Mikey is?” Don asked, twirling his bo staff to rest against his side ready to attack.

“Mike?” Party chirped before shaking his head. “Sorry, can’t.”

“That’s not fair,” Don grumbled.

“It’ll give away the plan,” Party whispered just loud enough for Don and Leader to hear.

“What plan?” Don and Leader blinked in unison.

“No time for that, big bro and other big bro,” Party sobered up as Ronin finally recovered and grew out a sai from his side. “I think Winter Soldier over there is about to rage on us.”

“You’re going to regret the day you got in my way,” Ronin hissed.

“Someone’s edgy,” Party teased.

“We should be getting close,” Tech announced to his brothers. “The layout of this universe is pretty close to ours which is honestly fascinating considering all the differences we’ve seen and the—”

“Donnie,” Jungle interrupted. “Not the time.”

“Sorry,” Tech winced.

“I wonder how we’ll convince the local us to give up their Mikey,” Watcher said as they ran down the tunnels. It wasn’t noticeable unless you really looked at it but with their advanced mutant eyesight, Watcher could see the walls scratched in a way that showed how many times they were used as a skating path.

“They probably aren’t going to,” Jungle answered, jumping over a small stream of water between two tunnels. “Either we have to convince them to come with or take their Mikey by force.”

“Aren’t we as bad as that crazy old magic dude then?” Raph frowned.

“In their eyes, probably,” Jungle nodded. “But if this stops something bad happening to our Mikey, then I will make the alter us see reason.”

Tech stopped in his place as he passed by a certain tunnel opening. He narrowed his eyes before bolting down it without another word to his brothers. Watcher’s feet skidded at his sharp turn, following after Tech with Jungle on his heels. “You find something, Don?” Watcher called after Tech.

Tech didn’t answer as he exited the end of the tunnel into a large room. Spinning around and grabbing his staff from his back at the same time, Tech struck out and the two remaining brothers entered just in time to see the other end of the staff strike a turtle in the side. The turtle went flying before spinning in the air to land demurely on the ground in the shadows with only their glowing red eyes giving their position. Behind the new turtle was the three taller turtles trying to hide a Mikey behind their back from the other orange-banded turtle in front of them.

“Shit, they’re already here,” Watcher cursed, pulling his sai out.

“Wait,” Jungle threw his arm out before his Raph could attack, his eyes wide. “Is that…?”

The sound of chains clinging against each other hit their ears as the turtle in front of them stepped out of the shadows. Watcher nearly dropped his sai as he recognized the turtle in front of them.

“Mikey?” Watcher squeaked out having seen his brother for the first time in a while.

But his brother did not respond. There was no indication that his Mikey could even hear him. The two Mikey’s with glowing eyes looked at each for a second and nodded, both of them spinning their nun chucks as they advanced on their targets.

Watcher gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his sai. His Mikey’s body might be there but his mind wasn’t. Whoever it was in front of him, he had to think of him as another opponent or else they were going to lose this Mikey civil war. He spun his sai to be held in a reverse grip in front of his face growling.

Jungle and Tech readied their weapons, their faces hard as they settled into the same decision as their red banded brother. Their Mikey didn’t stop his approach, his nun chucks being spun faster.

“Mikey, I am going to apologize now for what we are about to do,” Jungle inclined in head in apology before shooting forward to start their reunion fight.

Chapter Text

Universe 2011

“Calm down, Raph,” Jennika sighed.

“I don’t like this,” Rafa growled, pacing back-and-forth on the rooftop he was hiding on with the yellow wearing turtle. “We should have said no to this crazy plan of theirs.”

“I don’t like it either,” Jennika admitted as she inspected her claws. “But this is better than the alternative based on what they’ve told us.”

Rafa didn’t say anything as he stomped towards the edge of the building and looked out across the rooftops around him. All of them had decided to split up as they watched where Mikester was skate boarding with Jonin. The leader in blue only agreed to the plan if he was right there next to orange wearing brother.

O’Neil, Cassandra, and Lou were with the local April and Casey to protect them from both of the mystic Mikey’s if they were to appear. Genius was perched on another rooftop with Donald, most likely geeking out over technology. Raph and Fearless were on the opposite rooftop, looking over everything.

There was something that shifted in the air that didn’t settle right with him. Peering over, he saw Jennika frowned and look around as she felt it too. Equipping her ninja claws, the female ninja turtle made her steps quiet as she joined Rafa at the edge of the roof. Narrowing her eyes, she looked down at Mikester and Jonin to see that they were still where they were supposed to be.

Nothing was out of the ordinary, besides the multiversal threat against Mikey. Each of the pairs were watching vigilantly, nothing getting past the six of them on watch. The birds were flying overhead, the sounds of the city filtering through their ears. The sun was pleasant against their skins, making them warm up with the breeze brushing against them softly.

Nothing could explain to either of them the weird feeling in the air.

Not even the lick of electricity jolting down an electrical cable.

Universe 32019

Blue was immediately greeted by the sound of fighting the moment he jumped out of his portal. He looked up to see Red throwing up one of his astral projection arms to block a siege of glowing chains spearing towards the rooftop he was on. A different barrage of chains were sent out as Mikey bolted off the roof to zoom towards his cloaked older self.

On a different rooftop, Leader and Don could be seen fighting alongside Party against an aggravated Ronin. Leader held his swords as Ronin stabbed forward with a half broken sai, his other leg coming up to catch Don in the side. Party tried to get a hit in but Ronin used the broken katana in his other hand to push Party back.

Without a second thought, Blue turned around and pushed April, Casey, Riri, Case, and Master back into the portal. There were cries of surprise and agitation as they fell through before Blue swiped his sword and closed the portal.

“What was that?” Ra growled.

“This fight is too much for them,” Blue answered back with a hard look. “They are out for blood and as much as I want to say they can handle themselves, I am really scared what a fight against the two bad Mikey’s could do.”

“I agree,” Leo chimed in, pulling his swords out. “Magic and homicidal Michelangelo’s aren’t something they ready for.”

“I doubt we are either,” Wrath grumbled.

“I’ll go assist my boys,” Draxum said in a loud voice, throwing a few pellets on the ground that erupted into tall vines to carry him into the sky.

“Thanks for waiting for instructions, Draxxy,” Blue rolled his eyes. “Leo, Donnie, Wrath, Ra, go help the non-magic fighters.”

“Got it,” they nodded before scaling the roofs. There was an extra pep in Wrath’s eyes when he saw Party and Leader already up there.

“Ready ‘Nardo?” Purple grinned, getting his tech bo out. His purple markings on his shoulders and thighs lit up with power, showing Blue how ready he was for this fight.

“Let’s go show them what happens when you mess with the Mad Dogz,” Blue grinned back, opening a portal to lead them to the roof.

“Cowabunga,” Party cheered as he spun around and kicked Ronin in the face. Taking the hit, Ronin grabbed Party’s leg and threw him over his shoulder towards the edge of the roof. “Aw shit,” Party groaned as he went flying over.

“Mikey!” Leader cried out.

Party fell all over three feet before two hands grabbing his ankles to stopped his descent. He looked up to see Wrath and Ra holding him, breathing out breathes of relief.

“Man, am I glad to see you guys right now,” Party grinned.

Ra let go of the leg he was holding and Wrath swung the leg he had to get Party right side up. Party grabbed onto the wall and hoisted himself back up, much to the relief of Leader who was fighting with Ronin.

“Boss!” Ronin called out, jumping back from his opponent and eyed the growing opposition. “I need back-up!”

“As you wish!” Master Michelangelo called back; a scarred hand thrown out to open two portals on either side of Ronin.

They all watched as two new Mikey’s pulled themselves out of the portal with glowing red eyes. Their arms hung in front of them like a zombie but they looked like they were ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

“Prime, 161, fight them off while I get loud and obnoxiousness there,” Ronin ordered. The black-and-white turtle and comic accented looking turtles stood up straight. They each pulled out a set of nun chucks and sped forward without a word, Leo and Don barely stopping the attacks they intercepted.

Another portal opened up in front of Ronin and a new Mikey entered the fight. His mask tails were short and he was pudgier compared to the other Mikey’s. “87, help distract them,” Ronin grunted, rushing forwards towards Party.

“I got Winter Soldier,” Party announced, pulling his nun chucks.

“Mikey, wait—!” Leader yelled that turned into a growl when 161 stepped forward to attack. Wrath jumped in to help Leader, the two of them falling into a pattern of fighting side-by-side from years of practice.

Donnie rushed in to help Leo fight against 87, their bodies flinching when they recognized this Mikey from their first cross-universal adventure. Gone was the goofiness from the pizza-loving surfer-like turtle, replaced with a coldness that gave both of them the shivers.

Don and Ra reunited with a high five as they readied their weapons to fight against Prime. They remembered this Mikey from their own cross-universal adventure but they weren’t able to discern his abilities from their short interaction. They were going into this fight totally blind and they really hoped that they weren’t underestimating their opponent.

“Just you and me again, kid,” Ronin grinned viscously. He took out his own nun chucks and the two Mikey’s sized each other up with lazy swings of their weapons.

“Whatever you say, old man,” Party copied Ronin’s expression. “I’ve been waiting for another rematch against you.” The two orange banded turtles walked slowly in a circle around each other, ignoring the pairs of brothers from the same universes fighting against a Mikey.

“You know, if Boss had gotten to you first, I think we would have been friends,” Ronin mused, his muscles tight with tension.

“Friends,” Party rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. You think I would help the bad guys?”

“We are not inherently bad,” Ronin said. “We just both have something we want and we are willing to do bad things to get it.”

“What is it you want then?” Party narrowed his eyes, stopping the spin of one pair of nun chucks to tuck under his arm in a ready position.

“I want my family back,” Ronin answered, his eyes softening in the corners. “My brothers, my father and Casey. Their lives were taken from them and Boss is offering to bring them back.”

“I feel like there is some type of fine print there that you didn’t read,” Party joked.

“Probably,” Ronin shrugged uncaringly. “I have come to peace with that if that means my family gets their second chance again. Casey’s daughter should get the chance to meet her father.”

Party bit his lip, not having a retort to that. He knew that Ronin’s universe was not a kind one based on the state of the turtle.

Ronin lowered his weapons, straightening up and holding a hand with one end of a pair of nun chucks held in it towards Party. “I will give you one last chance: join us. I bet there is a wish that you have and I am sure Boss would grant yours too.”

For a second, Party paused.

Because in the back of his mind…he did have a wish that he almost forgot about. He wanted to be human so bad, wanting to go above on the surface and enjoy the life he only ever got to watch from the sidelines. He wanted to be regarded as a peer and not a monster.

“Donnie! From the side!” Leo’s voice yelled out to his Donnie. Party risked a peek at the alternative version his older brothers and saw them trying a two-man attack on 87. This brightly colored turtle looked like one that should be goofy and silly but that was wiped all away by Psychoangleo’s control over him.

Party knew when Ronin saw his resolve strengthen and let his narrowed eyes answer for him. Off to the side, the sounds of Leader and Wrath fighting against 161 hit his ears, their efforts to help him warming his heart. He couldn’t betray his brothers and the others like that. They worked so hard to fight for him so he was going to fight to make sure he stayed.

Ronin lowered his arm, his face screwing up into something angry. “Well…can’t say I didn’t offer,” Ronin sighed and shook his head. He moved his hands to spin his weapons again, letting them pick up momentum.

As if there was the starting sound of a gun at a track meet, Party and Ronin shoot forward to start their second fight.

Ra grunted at the nun chuck that hit his arm. It was either that or his face so he really couldn’t complain about his arm getting a wave of tingles down it at the hit. Don twirled his bo staff and knocked Prime in the head.

Prime’s head whipped to the side but his body did not follow along. With the bo staff pressed against his face, Prime turned his head to regard the two turtles he was fighting with a cold look.

“Ah, shit,” Don cursed softly.

Prime spun around on his heel, an outstretched kick catching Don in the side to send him flying into Ra. In response to the force of a mutant turtle barreling into him, Ra lost his balance and the two of them went tumbling over the edge of the building.

By a stroke of luck not usually awarded to them, Ra and Don landed on top of a store awning which broke their fall before they bounced out onto the pavement below with an alleyway next to them. It still hurt but it was like how it would have been to fall straight from the roof to the hard concrete.

A thump near their heads had both brother pulling themselves up in a flash with their weapons brandished. Prime stalked towards them like a predator towards its wounded prey, like he knew he was about to win.

“Watch out!”

From the alleyway, three turtles came running out with a taller orange banded one in front of them. Ra recognized them as the brothers from universe 2007 but he had no clue who this new Mikey was. Based on the confused expression on his face and non-glowing eyes, he decided that this was the local Mikey.

He didn’t get that much time to think as something hard and sharp hit in the back and it was only thanks to his strong carapace that it didn’t pierce right through him. There was enough force though to send him a few feet forward to sprawl out on the ground.

Ra growled and lifted his head towards the figure that just attacked him. The weapon that hit him in the back looked like something mixed between a nun chuck and a blade but not a kusarigama; and he watched as it retracted back to the owner’s hand like a yoyo would on its string. The growl froze in his throat as he took in the appearance of said figure.

“Is that a fuckin’ power ranger?”

Chapter Text

Universe 2011

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Raph sighed to Fearless. They had been out for a while and they could tell Mikester was getting tired pretending to be not on high alert.

“Not at all,” Fearless shook his head with a groan. “I’m not used to this magic stuff and it’s messing with me.”

“Don’t you have some magic yourself?” Raph asked with a raise of an eye ridge.

“I wouldn’t call our Chi enhancements magic,” Fearless rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

“What can you do with it?”

“ I can do a bunch of spiritual stuff and turn into a dragon.”

“Sounds like magic to me.”

Fearless laughed and pushed Raph in the shoulder, his teasing reminding the leader in blue a lot about his own brother. He had been away from his brothers for a while now and it was making him worry about how they were all doing.

“Aww, you were able to make Leo laugh,” a familiar voice gleefully clapped behind the two. With a flinch, the two turtles whipped around and were greeted by the sight of Mike leaning against the rooftop shed with his chi enhanced form markings lit up against his skin.

“Mikey!” Fearless cheered, running forward to wrap Mike up in a big hug. “I missed you!”

“I missed you, too, big bro,” Mike laughed as Fearless spun him around in a circle. With all the noise they were making, the other two pairs of turtles’ attention were caught and they jumped across the rooftops to see what was going on.

“Woah, another Mikey,” Donald whistled. “Can I ask you some questions to compare your’s and my Mikey’s differences?”

“Donald,” Jennika patted Donald on the shoulder and shook her head, “not the time.”

“Sorry,” Donald winced.

“I would like to introduce you guys to my Mikey,” Fearless smiled, motioning to Mike. “Mikey, this is our counterparts and Jennika.”

“’Sup alternate dudes and dudette,” Mike greeted with a wave of his hand.

“Are you okay?” Fearless demanded, looking Mike over and distinctly took note that Mike hadn’t released his chi enhanced form. With a blink of surprise, he noticed Inazuma, the three sectioned staff Mike received from the Ninja Tribunal, strapped on his brother’s back.

“I’m fine,” Mike rolled his eyes. He stepped away and intertwined his fingers behind his head in a lazy posture. “Little Boss takes care of us plenty well. Got our own rooms and a pretty nice kitchen.”

“Little Boss?” Rafa echoed in confusion.

“Yeah, he was taken by the good Mikey, who is the younger version of the magic Mikey’s,” Genius pointed out, bouncing on the balls of his feet lightly. “If I may, where is my Mikey?”

“He’s around,” Mike answered cryptically.

“And mine?” Raph demanded.

“Somewhere,” Mike shrugged, inspecting his nails.

“Wait,” Donald interrupted before anyone else could ask a question. “If you’re a part of this already, where is this magic Mikey we’ve been hearing about?”

“He’s not in this universe if that’s what you’re getting at,” Mike grinned, kicking a loose rock in front of him. “He had something else to take care of.”

“Then how are you here?” Genius asked.

“Why are you here?” Fearless asked with a narrowing of his eyes. Something didn’t feel right to him and he felt like his brother was a part of it. The way Mike was purposely being vague about answering the questions made something click inside of Fearless’s head.

“Oh, me?” Mike blinked innocently, a hand placed on his plastron, before breaking out into a grin. “I’m just the distraction.”

“What—”

“HELP!”

Everyone’s blood chilled at Jonin’s cry for aid. Ignoring Mike, they all ran to the edge of the building and looked down to see Jonin twitching on the ground with a new Mikey retracting a hand away from the downed Leo. Mikester stood off to the side with his mouth dropped open, his hands shaking in front of him. The new Mikey had shock jolts of electricity flicking off the end of his fingers, his eyes lit up in a bright blue.

“Mikey!” Raph yelled out, jumping down the fire escape next to him to get down to the ground as soon as possible. He was going to reach out to leap at Michael when he was slammed into the ground by something hard. Looking up from where the dirt settled around him, he could see Mike standing there with his Inazuma held ready in his hands and crouched down on the ground as if ready to strike again. “What the hell?!”

“Sorry, little Raph but I can’t let you get in the way,” Mike shook his head with a tinge of apology in his eyes.

“Are these the Mikey’s we have to be careful of?” Mikester gulped, taking a step back.

“Nah dude,” Michael shook his head, appearing in a flash of electricity next to Mikester as he leaned against his counterpart shoulders with his arm. Mikester flinched and looked at the turtle that quite literally just appeared at his side. “We’re the good guys. The bad thing, though, is that we are on a time crunch before the bad guys show up so we need to make sure our brothers don’t interrupt.”

“Mikey!” Raph growled, accepting the help from Fearless to stand up.

“You two aren’t doing a good job proving you’re at the good guys,” Mikester grumbled.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” Michael pouted, zipping away to handstand on the top of the skate ramp. “We’ll answer any questions you have if that helps but I really got to remind you that we are on a time crunch.”

“You aren’t taking our brother anywhere,” Rafa growled, stomping forward. There was a moment of weightlessness as he was lifted into the air and thrown backwards only to be caught by Donald and Jennika.

“You guys really have to stop being so protective,” Mike sighed from where he completed his turn, Inazuma wrapped around his body with each hand holding an end crossed in front of him. “I get that we are the youngest and that you want to protect us but this is Mikey matter.”

“Don’t you remember what I said before, little brother?” Fearless calmy asked, bringing his swords out in front of him. “If one of us go down, we all go down.”

Mike chuckles to himself for a second, remembering the first time those words were said to him. Pushing a leg out in front of him and leaning back, Fearless watched the muscles in Mike’s arm twitch. “I’m giving you a warning now, big brother: don’t make us fight you.”

“Let us help you, Mikey.” Fearless’s eyes begged his brother to let them in. “All of you.”

“It’s not up to me,” Mike shook his head.

“It’s up to the little Mikey,” Michael chimed in, zapping over to stand in front of Fearless with his feet together and hands folded together behind his back. “Psychoangelo isn’t going to stop until he gets what he wants and we have to prevent him from completing the wish.”

“Psychoangelo?” Jennika echoed in question.

Michael zapped over right as Fearless tried reaching out to grab him to hang himself on Jennika’s back with his arms draped over her shoulders. “That’s what us good Mikey’s are calling the big bad Michelangelo,” Michael giggled into Jennika’s ear, making her yelp and spin backwards to attack. She was much too slow for the electrified banded turtle who jolted over again to throw an arm over Mikester’s shoulder.

“Is he going to hurt my family?” Mikester asked, his eyes locked with Michael.

“He will if they get in his way,” Michael nodded solemnly. “But he is mostly aimed for us.”

“What does he want with you all?” Donald asked, his bo staff gripped tightly in his hands. He looked between the two shorter Mikey’s and the taller Mikey facing off with his own universal brother. It looked like they were one finger twitch away from fighting but it also seemed like they were trying to put it off for as long as possible.

“He needs the thing that makes us what we are,” Mike answered. His markings pulsed with barely contained energy as they asked to be used. “One giant sacrifice of all the Mikey’s in existence of the multiverse to bring back his own dead family.”

“That’s…insane,” Jonin breathed.

“That it is,” Michael nodded. Pulling Mikester closer to him, he asked, “so are you going to come with us or wait around for big and crazy to come and grab you?”

“I—” Mikester started to say.

“Don’t go with ‘em, Mikey!” Rafa yelled. He tried to run forward past Mike. Said turtle was like a loaded spring with how ready he was for an attack. In a blur of green spotted with orange, Rafa was thrown backwards to groan into the ground.

Fearless jumped forward to try and knock the weapon out of his brother’s hands. Mike blocked the move and with one hand holding one end, he swung Inazuma across the ground to knock Fearless’ feet out from under him. Fearless didn’t let it slow him down as he rolled backwards to crouch on his feet and leap forward. Mike caught the katanas to wrap them up in his three-sectioned staff, the two brothers’ faces inches from each other as they push against the other.

“You’ve gotten better,” Fearless commented.

“Maybe it’s just you getting worse,” Mike teased.

“Brat,” Fearless rolled his eyes.

“Mikey, you better get over here before I beat the green off of ya,” Raph growled.

“Ooh, someone’s testy,” Michael laughed before zapping over to bounce on his toes in front of his Raph. “Need something?”

“I need—” Raph reached forward to grab Michael but he zapped behind Raph before he was grabbed. “—you to—” Michael zapped away again as Raph tried reaching for him. “—to come home.” With one last reach, Michael let himself be grabbed and pulled into a tight hug against Raph’s front. “We are so worried about you.”

“I’m okay, Raphie,” Michael grinned sadly, patting Raph on the back before zapping away to perch on Genius’ shoulders to the surprise of the purple loving turtle and the sadness of his own Raph. “You should really worry about our Leo and Donnie more. They are the ones always getting into trouble.”

“I’m not your Donnie but I feel like that it a lie,” Genius laughed. He tried half-heartedly reaching up to grab Michael but the little turtle disappeared again in a flash of electricity. “It’s honestly fascinating how you are able to do that.”

“Right?” Michael grinned from where he crouched on the ground between Mike and Fearless, watching the two of them fight in the equivalent of an arm-wrestling match. His elbows were balanced on his knee to let his hands hold his head up. “So, are we gonna head out soon or what?”

“Depends on what new guy over there says,” Mike grunted, ignoring the way Fearless narrowed his eyes in displeasure.

“What do you say then?” Michael bounced up and trotted over to Mikester with a hand held out. “You coming or what?”

Mikester looked down at Michael’s hand before hesitantly putting his own three fingered hand into the other. “I really hope I’m making the right decision,” Mikester mumbled to himself.

“Mikey, no!” Rafa called out, this time making it past Mike who was stilled wrapped up with Fearless. Raph took his chance to shoot forward as well, trying to get to his own Mikey.

“Tag out, Mike!” Michael called over his shoulder before he disappeared and was replaced with Mike. Fearless stumbled forward and gripped his fists closed on the space where his katana hilts used to be. “Wow, these are so cool!” Michael exclaimed from behind Fearless with the stolen weapon.

Mike now stood in front of Mikester and threw the turtle over his shoulder just in time to dodge a flying kick from Rafa. Jennika appeared out of nowhere with her claws aiming for Mike’s arm, the older turtle disappearing in a gust of wind. She fell forward from the force, rolling to ground before quickly picking herself up.

“Give those back,” Fearless growled, spinning around with a fist aimed at Michael. His fist met empty air as Michael zapped away again, appearing on top of the skate ramp again. He was posed with his legs shoulder width apart and one of his arms straight out to point one of the swords out.

“Look at me, I’m a Leo,” Michael laughed.

“Not the time, Mikey,” Raph growled, changing his pathway to head towards Michael.

“It’s always time to tease a Leo,” Michael laughed, bending over backwards in time for Donald and Genius to try a two-manned mirror attack at Michael. Placing his hands that still held the swords on the ground, he kicked up to catch both of them in the chin as he cartwheeled backwards.

“I’m ready to go when you are,” Mike sighed from the opposite side of the skate ramp, Mikester now standing to the side of him. In his hand, he had a small ball of orange light the size of his palm. Random runes that neither of the Donnie’s could decipher floated by on the surface at times.

“Aww, already?” Michael pouted, eyeing his Raph as he tried grabbing him but failing as he zapped over next to Mike.

“You were the one that was just rushing me to go,” Mike rolled his eyes shook his head. “And you know we can’t risk Psychoangelo finding us.”

“That’s fair,” Michael wilted. He tossed the katanas towards Fearless who caught them by the hilts in the air. “All that hard work would go up in a poof of smoke…like this.” At that moment, Michael threw down an egg that when it made contact with the ground, a plume of purple smoke enveloped them. When it cleared, the three Mikey’s were gone.

“Dammit!” Raph yelled, kicking a rock on the ground in front of him. With the combination of the smoke bomb, Michael’s electro teleportation and Mike’s chi enhanced speed, the three orange banded turtles were long gone.

Jonin’s hackled raised immediately, turning on Fearless with an angry expression. “You said that our Mikey would be safe!”

“To be fair, he is,” Genius interjected, tapping something on his holographic projection.

“You’re not helping!” Rafa growled.

“Am I not?” Genius blinked before turning towards Raph. “Did you plant the device like I asked?”

“Yeah, but I still have no clue what it is,” Raph nodded.

Genius hummed in delight, tapping on the screen with renewed vigor. Jennika nudged Donald’s arm and raised an eye ridge to ask what was going on. Donald shrugged his shoulders, not having a clue what his counterpart was doing.

“Got something to share, Genius?” Fearless asked, sheathing his swords.

“Hmm? Oh!” Genius looked up and nodded. He swiped his hands to turn the screen, showing the other turtles his side of the projection to show a circle with a blinking orange dot. “I got Raph to put a tracker on his Mikey. It should work between universes so I’ll be able to see where they are hiding.”

Donald’s eyes shown with awe, his mouth dropping open with Jonin’s. “You have got to show me how you did that at some point!” Donald begged.

“In due time,” Genius nodded. “Now all we gotta do is wait for them to jump and we can go chase them down.” On the screen, it showed the tracker disappearing and then a new window popped up with all but one dot colored red. One of the red circles blinked orange, showing that the three Mikey’s travelled into it. “There we go!”

“That’s it?” Raph blinked. “It feels so anticlimactic.”

“When can we go, Genius?” Fearless asked.

“Based on the fact that the entire universe is not light up green, I am willing to bet that they are in a pocket dimension which will take some more work to figure out,” Genius said aloud to the group. “I can rig the universal portal generator to bring to the exact pocket dimension if you give me a bit of time.”

“How much?” Jonin asked.

“Two hours,” Genius answered. “Probably less if Donald helps me.”

“Oh, hell yes,” Donald nodded, trotting over to Genius. They immediately launched into conversation with words that none of them understood.

“What do we do then?” Jennika asked Fearless and Jonin.

“Gather the rest of my crew,” Fearless answered with a cross of his arms. “Those three are from the same universe as the two magic boss Mikey’s so they’ll know how to handle themselves in a fight. I don’t know if you want to do the same for yours,” Fearless said to Jonin.

Jonin shook his head in declination. “I am not risking our April and Casey in this. They are used to mutants, not magic.”

“That’s fair,” Fearless shrugged. “Let’s go back to your place so you four can grab anything you think you’ll need in this fight.”

Jennika, Rafa and Jonin nodded, leading the way back to their lair. Genius and Donald followed after them, leaving Fearless and Raph in the back of the group. They were quiet for a few moments before Raph nudged Fearless’ arm. “You good?”

“Maybe,” Fearless answered non-committedly. “Not really sure.”

“Me too,” Raph murmured quietly. “…why won’t they let us help them?”

Fearless knew what he was referring to. Both of them were the brothers that had their Mikey come to this universe and had been actively fought against. It didn’t make sense to the older brothers, going against everything they gone through their entire lives with their Mikey’s.

“…maybe they want to protect us somehow,” Fearless sighed softly. “From what? I’m not sure.”

“Maybe that Psychoangelo guy,” Raph offered.

“What’s with that name anyways?”

“Ah, that’s my Mikey,” Raph chuckled. “He’s always giving the bad guys some type of name and he gets mad when someone else beats him to the punch.”

“Sounds like a very Mikey thing to do,” Fearless chuckled back.

Next to him, he could feel Raph wilt a bit. “I miss him,” Raph confessed quietly. “I miss all my brothers but there is something more about Mikey considering this entire mess.”

“I know,” Fearless whispered. He raised a hand to pat against Raph’s shoulder. “I know.”

Chapter Text

Universe 32019

How would Mikey rate at being thrown though a brick building?

0/10

Would not recommend.

Mikey felt a groan slip past his lips as the broken bricks and concrete settle around him. Master Michelangelo wasn’t holding his punches back at all in this fight and Mikey wrote it up to the crazed mystic master getting close to achieving his goal.

The one good thing at this fight that somehow his oldest brother had jumped into the fight in time to fend off the older version of himself. Mikey’s mouth had dropped open to see a large red astral projection of Red’s arm shoot in front of him to block a barrage of golden chains from skewering him. With a peek over his shoulder, he saw Leader and Don aiding Party against Ronin.

“Mikey!” Red’s voice called out. Mikey turned his head back to see his oldest brother rushing towards him with his arms outstretched. Without thinking, Mikey reached his owns arm out and was engulfed into a strong hug that he didn’t realize he had been aching for. “Oh, Raph’s been so worried.”

“What are you doing here?” Mikey dryly sobbed between a laugh. For a moment…a single moment…he was going to drop his hard façade. He was going to relish being back with his big brother that he’s had to keep secrets from and pretend that he’s not in mortal danger from the older version of himself.

“Don got us here,” Red beamed, pulling away to look Mikey over. “Raph is so happy we chose the universe with you.”

“How touching,” a dark voice purred behind them. Glowing narrowed eyes shown in the darkness of Master Michelangelo’s hood as he hovered in the opening of the building.

And like that…the moment was over.

Mikey spun himself around Red to throw up a shield of golden chains in time for tangle around the chains sent at the two of them. He went flying out of the hole his body had made earlier to sail through the air towards his counterpart. Below him there was distant screaming of civilians as debris went flying. He wanted to feel bad about scaring them but there were much bigger things that had his attention.

“I really wish you would just give up already,” Master Michelangelo sighed, swiping an arm in the air to send a wave of chains towards Mikey. “It would make things so much easier.”

“Well, we can’t always get what we want,” Mikey shot back, raising his arms in front of his face to send his own wave of chains back. The two opposing attacks tangled up in each other before disappearing completely.

“No,” Master Michelangelo hummed in agreement, his eyes flashing brighter dangerously. “But I will get what I want no matter what I have to sacrifice for it.” With a snap of both his hands, two magic circles appeared on either side of Mikey. He flinched when he recognized them and scowled when he realized that he was also trapped in a force field bubble.

“Bastard,” Mikey hissed.

“I’ve been called worse,” Michelangelo shrugged with a sly smile, snapping his fingers again to activate the spell.

Mikey closed his eyes as he prepared for the wave of pain to be released onto him.

He was thoroughly surprised when he felt a hand on the back of his cloak pulling him backwards. With eyes cracking a sliver open, he caught the sight of a blue tunnel with the falling away end lighting up in the attack that was supposed to hit him before he was pulled back into the real world. He landed on someone who quickly wrapped their stripped arms around his body.

“Gotcha, little brother!” Blue’s voice beamed. Mikey tilts his head up to see Blue’s smiling face, his markings losing their glow as the blue portal in front of them closed.

“Leo?” Mikey chirped.

“The one and only,” Blue laughed.

“That’s technically incorrect,” Purple’s dry voice said from the side. He had his bo staff ready with a large sledge hammer attachment made of his mystic energy on one end of it. “Based on the numerous universes we have met and the knowledge that there are many more out there, you are definitely not the only Leo.”

“So rude,” Blue stuck his tongue out at Purple. “Would it make you happier to correct myself and say I am the only Leo like me?”

“Most definitely,” Purple teased. “But based on the limitless potentials of the multiverse, that might actually be wrong, too.”

“Jerk,” Blue rolled his eyes.

“Dumb dumb,” Purple shot back.

“Donnie?” Mikey whispered.

“Hey there, Mikey,” Purple inclined his head in greeting. “I hope you know that you are grounded for life when this is over.”

“What?!” Mikey screeched and tried to stand up, only to be brought back down as Blue tightened his hold.

“We are never letting you out of our sight again after this whole mess,” Blue explained, standing the two of them up.

“That’s unfair,” Mikey whined.

“I think what is more unfair is how you kept this from us,” Blue frowned, raising a hand to flick Mikey between the eyes. The box turtle yelped and raised his hands to cover the attacked spot. “What happened to all of us working together against all the bad guys?”

“Leo’s right, little guy,” Red said as he entered where all the rest of them were. In the corner of Mikey’s eye, he could see Draxum assisting CJ in the room that Mikey still didn’t where he was. “You used to always come to us when you had problems. What changed?”

“I didn’t want to bother you guys,” Mikey confessed with a forlorn expression. “How was I supposed to tell you that we had to go into another fight when all of you had just barely healed from the last one? Oh, and let’s not forget that it’s an evil older version of myself,” Mikey rolled his eyes in self-depreciation at the end.

“Exactly like that,” Purple groaned and pinched the space between his eyes. “You always try to take on too much problems on your own. I thought we went over this.”

“I’m not going to let you guys hurt yourselves just because I’m going to war with myself,” Mikey frowned, finally pulling away from Blue. “I can handle this.”

“Yeah, you’re doing a real convincing job,” Blue rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mikey narrowed his eyes accusatorily at his older brother.

“What my third creation is trying to say,” Draxum interrupted with a clearing of his throat, “is that we are worried about your wellbeing.” With a jerk of his chin towards Mikey’s hands, said turtle hid the hands wrapped in bandages that covered the re-opened scars and burns in the folds of his cloak. “You are going to burn yourself out at this rate. I am not sure how much more of this mystical stress your core can take.”

“Which is why we are making the executive decision as your brothers and are going to act as your bodyguards,” Red grinned, pointing a thumb into his plastron.

“Wha—what?” Mikey sputtered. “But—but you can’t—”

“Says who?” Blue huffed, nudging his shoulder into Mikey’s. “We’re the Mad Dogz. We can do whatever we want.” He reached down and into Mikey’s cloak to grab Mikey’s hand in a hold that conveyed love and confidence.

“I do concur with Leo,” Purple nodded and grinned, spinning his staff behind him for a second before resting it against his shoulder. “With all of us, there’s nothing that we won’t be able to beat – even a crazy future version of you.”

“Maybe I can talk to him and try to calm him down,” CJ offered, a soft smile on his face. “He was the most diplomatic amongst the survivors in my timeline.”

“Or Raph can just straight beat him up,” Red grinned viciously, punching one hand into the other to send red sparks into the air. “My fists are ready to do some talking.”

“I think the other Raph’s are going to join you on that,” Purple snickered. “There’s going to be nothing left after you lot are done with him.”

“Ex-foot soldier and Ms. O’Neil are going be very upset having missed out on giving Master Michelangelo a piece of their mind,” Draxum hummed, playing with the seed starters of his vines in his hand.

“You guys,” Mikey breathed softly, his chest warming up at the support he was getting.

“Ugh, it’s so sweet that it makes you feel sick,” Master Michelangelo’s voice echoed hauntingly in the room.

Mikey had no time to react, only his eyes shrinking to pinpricks as he watched a length of mystic chains exit out the junction between his neck and shoulder on his left side; his entire body jerking forward from the force of being impaled from behind. The orange-gold chains were painted a rich red, splatters of it decorating the cheek of Blue that was closest to the spot.

It was almost like slow-motion as Mikey watched the blood-stained chain turn around and wrap around his neck, pulling him backwards. Blue was just turning around with the tails of his blue mask floating in an arc around him, eyes wide and his mouth dropping open in a scream as he watched his younger brother with his hand being pulled out of their grip. Purple pulled his sledge hammer attached staff off his shoulder to step forward, reaching a hand out to try and grab Mikey’s open hand.

Draxum had thrown the mystic seed starters in his hand down onto the ground and Mikey could see the beginning tips of the vines poking out of the floor. CJ’s mouth dropped in horror, jumping off his perch of debris to sprint forward. Red’s outstretched hand was sparking with red energy as he started to summon a part of his astral form, his face the picture of scared as he watched the still falling blood spraying in the air.

And like that, time resumed its usual speed as Mikey was pulled backwards to slam into wall after hard wall. Mikey didn’t know what was worse: the pain of the pulling chain that was hooked into him like a fish or his head slamming into each wall before it broke. He didn’t know how long until the final wall hit him before he was thrown into open air.

Another moment of time slowing down had Mikey looking down at the buildings around him. Party was fighting Ronin in a tornado of fast moves accompanied with strikes of their nun chucks. Dark bruises were blooming on each fighter but neither of them looked to be lagging behind.

Don and Ra were facing against a power ranger looking turtle, the armor a bright yellow, who he had to guess was the Mikey from universe 122019. Next to him was who he recognized as Prime, the black-and-white Michelangelo from universe 01.

The versions of his brothers from universe 2007 were protecting the local Mikey behind their backs, with the local version of the brothers bursting out of the open manhole in a rage of protectiveness. They were quick to jump away when the missing turtle of universe 2007 shot out after them, his nun chucks raised in preparation of fighting.

On the roof of the building the group were in front of, Leo and Donnie were seen fighting against the Mikey from universe 1987 while Leader and Wrath fought against the Mikey from universe 20161. All the new Mikey, except the local one, were slack faced with glowing red narrowed eyes. They seemed not tired or winded from their fight, moving in precise and controlled movements that did not belong to a Michelangelo.

This…this was madness.

All these Mikey’s having to fight against their real and alternative versions of their brothers because of one turtle.

Because of his older self.

Because of him.

Mikey dragged his eyes upwards, taking in the sight of Master Michelangelo silhouetted by the moon high in the sky. The chain that pierced through himself was pointed towards him by said mystic master, his eyes glowing maniacally in the darkness of his hood. Mikey watched as his eyes tilted up at the edges in mirth, before he swung his hands around in the air.

Time must really not have Mikey in his good books today because that was when the slow motion he had been going through ended and he was swung through the air. He groaned as his body pulled against the length of chains through his body but he couldn’t take in any new air as the chain tightened around his throat. Master Michelangelo kept spinning him around in the air like toy and with great effort, Mikey raised his right hand to grab at the mystic chain.

Sending a burst of energy into it, he destroyed a few links but it was enough to release Mikey. He went sailing through the air to land at the roof where Party and Ronin were fighting. Mikey landed to the side of them, bouncing across the rooftop multiple times, leaving large splatters of blood in his path, before the short brick wall lining the top stopped him.

Taking a moment, Mikey breathed in deep breathes of fresh air and tried to bite back the tears of pain pricking at his eyes. Blood starting flowing into his mouth, infusing his breathing with a wetness that made his lungs protest. The sounds of worry from non-Michelangelo turtles and Party rang in his ear, yelling in concern. The top half of the building that Mikey guessed he had just been in exploded as Red’s full astral form was summoned.

Red raised a hand in the air, swatting Master Michelangelo away like a fly before scanning the area for his taken brother.

“Woah, that’s a big Raph,” Leader awed.

“That’s not even as big as he can get,” Mikey wheezed, deciding his breather was over. He needed to get up before Ronin or one of the other Mikey’s under Psychoangelo’s control decided to take advantage of his weakened state. There was a clump of wetness that came up Mikey’s throat. He coughed to the side to expel a lump of spit with chunks of blood in it.

“Woah, little Boss, stay down,” Party begged, his eyes shining with worry. Even Ronin wasn’t taking advantage of Party’s distracted state as he looked over the young turtle.

“Can’t do that,” Mikey panted, lines of blood dripping out the corner of his mouth. “Psychoangelo isn’t going to stop because I got a paper cut.” He tried using his hands to push him up but his left arm gave out under the weight of pain inflicted on it. His legs were just able to hold him as he wobbled from side to side.

“You’ve been impaled!” Wrath screeched, dodging to the side as 161 tried to knock him out with a heavy hit of nun chucks.

“Eh, same thing,” Mikey tried shrugged and immediately regretted it as waves of pain hit him so hard he felt like he was going to throw up. His feet gave out from underneath him and Mikey could not do anything as his body headed straight back down towards the ground.

At the last moment, someone grabbed him by the shoulder. Mikey gave out a cry of pain at the movement and the sound of Party’s voice whispered an apology to him. Looking back up, Mikey could see Ronin standing a bit away, an uneasy look on his face. Two large bodies stepped in front of the duo and Mikey could see Leader and Wrath shielding the two Mikey’s. Leader had his swords held at the ready in front of him and Wrath had his sai held in a reverse grip in crossed in front of him. 161 stood at Ronin’s side, waiting for instructions on what to do.

Party shifted Mikey to be leaning against him on his good side. “Hey, we match now,” Mikey muttered. Party looked down at the new wound on Mikey and rolled his eyes playfully. His open hand reached up to scratch at his newly healed impalement wound on his own shoulder.

“Of course we do, little dude,” Party grinned. “We’re Mikey’s.”

“Mikey!” Blue scared voice screeched out.

“There’s my Leo,” Mikey mumbled, his skin visibly paler.

A bright blue portal opened up to the side of the group and Blue came tumbling out in a frenzy, splatters of blood on his cheek still. Wild eyes pinpointed Mikey and he rushed forward to pull his brother into his arms. “Oh my god, Mikey,” Blue breathed.

“I’ll be fine,” Mikey mumbled, leaning heavily on Blue. “Just give me a moment.”

“No!” Blue exclaimed, his voice a mix of angry, concerned, and scared. “This is what I was talking about! You are not fine! Stop trying to handle things by yourself and let us help!”

“I would listen to him,” Leader chimed in. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as 161 took a step closer to the group. “You are in no shape to fight.”

“Not like any of you can actually fight Psychoangelo,” Mikey fought back, trying to stand up and failing.

“And you can’t either,” Draxum’s low voice said as he was lifted over the edge of the roof by his vines with CJ. Off in the distance, Red’s full astral form was fighting against Psychoangelo and flashes of purple light showed Purple was there as well. “Look at your injuries.”

“Then heal me,” Mikey snapped.

“Michelangelo,” Draxum sighed.

“Either heal me or I will heal myself,” Mikey narrowed his eyes, holding a glowing right hand to get his point across.

“Stop it,” Blue hissed.

“I can’t,” Mikey grunted, pulling away. He finally got his legs stable enough to hold himself up, only using Blue’s arm as a crutch in case he falls again. “None of you truly understand what is going on.”

“Then tell us!” Wrath growled, stomping a foot towards 161. “We’ve been kept in the goddamn dark so too long and it’s really pissing me off!”

Mikey weighed his options, bouncing them around in his head as he watched his two oldest brothers avoid an attach from Psychoangelo. “I promise that I will bring you guys with us into my hide out and explain everything there when this fight is over.”

“Little shit,” Wrath rolled his eyes. “Bartering while in the middle of a battle and actively dying.”

“Not dying,” Mikey hummed, taking in the defeated slouch of Draxum’s shoulders. “Just losing a lot of blood.”

“Two inches to the left and you would be dead, my creation,” Draxum sighed, crouching next to Mikey and letting his hands glow in a purple light. He placed them over the gaping hole next to Mikey’s neck and there was a calm wave of healing that ran through him, making the box turtle sigh in contentment.

“There, you’re getting your healing,” Wrath said. “Don’t forget your promise.”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

“Everything settled over there?” Ronin growled. “I would like to get back to the fight now.”

“So pushy,” Party teased. He stepped forward to stand in line with two of his brothers, his nun chucks held loosely but ready in his hands. Bouncing on his toes, a smirk came over his face. “We ready bros?”

“Always,” Wrath snarled, rushing forward.

Leader and Party joined him, the fights resuming.

Chapter Text

Universe 32019

“I forgot how cute the two of you used to be when you were younger,” Master Michelangelo laughed, spinning in the air to avoid Red’s swipe and Purple’s missiles. “Constant war against the kraang really wears on someone. You should have seen the Raph-chasm that Leo got.”

“Stop talking,” Purple growled. Spinning his staff in front of him, he conjured a barrage of heat seeking missiles made of mystic energy behind him. He pointed the staff in front of him, aiming at the mystic master. “You hurt my brothers. You are dead meat.”

“But I am your brother,” Michelangelo smiled mischievously.

“No,” Purple shook his head with angry eyes. “You are a parasite, on the entire multiverse.” With that, Purple released the missiles watched as they sailed through the air towards their target.

Master Michelangelo raised a hand in the air, various small portals opening in front of each missile to swallow them up. The portals closed, taking all of the missiles and Donnie tensed as he expected them to come flying back at him at any moment from any direction. Master Michelangelo’s other hand moved to summon more chains, wrapping the soft-shelled turtle up high in the air. “That’s not very nice of you to say,” Michelangelo scolded with a wagging finger in the soft shell’s face like he would to a child.

“Bite me,” Purple growled, snapping his teeth at the finger. Master Michelangelo had just barely pulled his finger back, an amused expression on his face.

“There’s the Donnie I’m used to,” Michelangelo threw his head back and laughed. “You’re as feisty as the older version of you. I can’t wait to see him again. You’re going to love my Donnie; I am just imagining all the fun we are going to have with you two bouncing ideas off of each other.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Purple narrowed his eyes. “I did some research with Draxum and we found how much power is needed to bring back the future version of us. There’s no way you are going to have the power needed to complete it.”

“That’s where you are wrong,” Michelangelo shook his finger in front of him. “By a sacrificing the key part of all the Michelangelo’s in the multiverse, I will have just enough power to complete the spell.”

“You have got to know that none of us would want you to do this,” Purple tried to reason. “This is absolutely crazy.”

“Yeah, crazy smart,” Master Michelangelo rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand why everyone keeps telling me that my family wouldn’t want me to do this.”

“Because we are your family!” Purple exclaimed, straining against the chains wrapped against him.

“No, you aren’t,” Michelangelo shook his head. “My family is the ones that went through the kraang invasion and didn’t come out alive on the other side of it. You may be them but you do not have their experiences – you do not understand.”

“We still have their feelings,” Purple stressed. “I am positive that the me right now has the same feelings as future me about this mess and they are that he wouldn’t want you to do this!”

“You might be right,” Michelangelo shrugged, his glowing eyes flashing brighter. “But we won’t actually know until I bring them back.” The mystic master raised his hand to deliver a blow but a giant red arm reached up to pluck Purple out from the sky.

“You better not be fighting without Raph,” Red grinned, pulling Purple close to him and watched as the broken mystic chains fade away.

“Hello there, dearest older brother,” Michelangelo laughed, waving a hand at the alligator snapping turtle. “I must say, I am looking forward to seeing how you look at my age considering you never made it past twenty-two.”

“Raph ain’t gonna let you finish this spell,” Red grunted, releasing Purple. The tech inclined turtle deployed the hover part of his battle shell, going back into the air.

“You don’t have a choice,” Michelangelo smirked, his hands came up to the sides of him. A bright yellow glowed from his scars that morphed into a dark red and the clouds above started to swirl into a circle. “Don’t make me pull out the big guns.”

“Then we’ll just have to have bigger guns,” Blue joked as he popped out of a portal behind Michelangelo. He perched himself up on the mystic master’s shoulders, much to Michelangelo’s annoyance. “You aren’t special just because you are old.”

“I’m not that old!” Michelangelo pouted, reaching up to grab at Blue but missed as Blue leaped backwards into a new light blue portal. He popped out of a different portal on top of Red to perch on his astral form.

“You are to us,” Mikey grinned, sneaking up behind Michelangelo with a newly healed shoulder. His throat was still bruised but it was better compared to how he was coughing up blood before. Mikey stuck his hands out to grab Michelangelo by the back of his cloak and zoomed up higher in the air.

Michelangelo growled and tried to spin around but Mikey moved with him. “Brat,” Michelangelo hissed.

“Jerk,” Mikey shot back, throwing Michelangelo backwards over his shoulder. “That wasn’t very nice to run your chain through me.”

“I’m not nice,” Michelangelo growled, his eyes glowing a burnt orange.

“Could say that again,” Mikey rolled his eyes.

Michelangelo was about to strike when he looked down to see something that perked his interest. The corners of his lips curled up in a vicious smirk before he regarded his younger self with a sickly-sweet smile. “As much as I would like to show you who is the true boss around here, it seems like my prize is waiting for me.”

Michelangelo dived bombed, hearing Mikey curse behind him as the younger turtle caught onto what was going on. There on the ground being guarded by two versions of the older brothers was the local Mikey that was staring up at the two mystic Mikey’s. He ignored the controlled versions of his alternative selves as the six brothers fought them off. The power ranger Mikey was making the most progress, being the closest to the group.

“Uh, dudes, we got incoming,” the local Mikey could be heard saying. The others looked up to see Master Michelangelo flying down at them. He was about to summon some chains to grab this universe’s Mikey but was interrupted when Mikey body slammed into him.

“Don’t touch him,” Mikey hissed, hovering in front of the group. He summoned his own chains to rise from the ground like tentacles to snap against any opponent that tried to approach.

“Doesn’t this look a lot like that one scene with Katara in The Last Airbender?” Local Mikey chirped.

“Not the time,” the local Raph grunted.

Mikey would say this was the weirdest but coolest day he’s had in a while.

And that includes meeting Batman and fighting against the caped crusader’s mutated villains. He knew how to fight against physically altered villains that wanted to tear his throat out.

But this?

Magic versions of himself fighting against each other with other alter versions trying to turtle-nap him?

Weird.

And dangerous.

But oh, so cool.

The old magic Mikey had slammed into the wall of evil Mikey’s and got all tangled up with the power ranger looking one before he extracted himself with an annoyed look. The ranger Mikey stood up without a compliant, just waiting instructions on what to do.

“I wonder what Batman would do here,” Mikey mumbled under his breath.

“Mikey, stay behind me,” his Leo commanded, pushing the orange banded turtle behind him. He had one sword aimed at the red-eyed Mikey’s and the other at the alter versions of the older brothers. “We don’t know what these turtles want with you.”

“We are trying to save him,” Watcher rolled his eyes, spinning his sai in his hands. “The old Mikey over there is the bad guy.”

“How do we know you aren’t on his side and just trying to trick us?” Raph growled.

“Do we look like we have glowing red eyes?” Jungle groaned. He threw his hands to the side to point at the three controlled Mikey’s. “You see that Mikey in the middle? He’s our Mikey and we are trying to prevent what happened to him from happening to yours.”

“It would be more helpful if I could take you to my hideout and explain things there,” the short magic Mikey piped in, moving his hands like a puppeteer to control the chains.

“Oh, hell no,” Leo shook his head. “You aren’t taking our brother away without us.”

“I never said I wouldn’t bring you guys,” mystic Mikey rolled his eyes. “It’ll be easier to take all of you and explains things together.”

“I like that idea,” Leo nodded, his face set in grim determination.

“I don’t,” the old magic Mikey narrowed his eyes, raising his hands. “I need this piece of puzzle and you aren’t going to stop me.”

“Other bros,” young magic Mikey whispered to the group. “Take him and run. I’ll weaken him enough to open a portal without the threat of him chasing after us.” With that being said, the young turtle shot forward, glowing hand grabbing onto Psychoangelo.

Psychoangelo sneered and twisted around to dislodge the hand. Mikey kept his hand tight, raising his other glowing hand to send of blast of energy into his older self’s face. The aged turtle’s head snapped back, smoke coming off of his face. Not waiting, Mikey grabbed a hold of Psychoangelo’s cloak and spun around before throwing him into a nearby brick wall.

The ranger Mikey ran forward, his weapon shooting forward to try and stab Mikey in the face. Mikey dodged, grabbed the long chain of the bladed nun chucks, and threw it over his shoulder like he did with the freight ship back in the fight with the Shredder. Ranger Mikey was pulled off of his feet and thrown into the air behind the large group of turtles.

Seeing the yellow power ranger Mikey tumble to the ground behind the local Mikey, the young mystic user turned his attention back to Psychoangelo. He felt it was safe to turn his attention away from the ranger Mikey as there were two sets of older brothers there to help protect the local Mikey. Watching him, Mikey narrowed his eyes, confused as he noticed how stiffly his counterpart moved.

Shooting forward, Mikey grabbed Master Michelangelo up the front of his cloak to raise him in the air. He readied a glowing hand at his side, mystic chains snaking out of the inside of his cloak to hang in the air threateningly at his older self. “What are you planning? You’ve never been this easy to knock down.”

“You are so predictable,” Psychoangelo’s voice laughed from behind the group. “You really did make this all too easy.”

Mikey paled as he watched the aged turtle in his hands had his appearance melt away to show the true power ranger Mikey in his hands. Glowing eyes peering out of the helmet narrowed as he stabbed him in the shoulder with his weapon, right on his patched wound, Mikey letting go on the cloak.

As he fell to the ground, the mystic-master-in-training looked over to see a now cloakless Psychoangelo smirking from behind the local Mikey; the last remains of his disguise falling off like a glop of sludge. With a snap of his fingers, a shockwave of electricity rolled off of him to push back both trios of older brothers. They fell to the ground, static electricity zapping off of them as the turtles were frozen from paralysis on the ground.

Two scarred hands framed either side of his target’s head, a layer of mystic energy coming to life on his palms. A dark looked crossed Master Michelangelo’s face, his glowing eyes a dark orange.

“Bros?” the local Mikey squeaked, his eyes wide with fear. “Help?”

And with that, the old magic mutant turtle sent a blast of energy into orange banded turtle’s head, his scream echoing around between the buildings.

Chapter Text

Universe 32019

Mikey cursed softly to himself when he saw this universe’s Mikey’s eyes light up in a bright red.

He had known he was too late the moment he saw Master Michelangelo grab the local Mikey on both sides of his head with glowing hands. It was easy to take over control of someone’s mind once you got both hands on them and that seemed to be the case for the unfortunate Mikey.

“Mikey?” the local Donnie breathed.

The local Mikey did not give a response, only taking a step closer to Master Michelangelo with the other controlled Mikey’s following his lead.

“Oh, Ronin,” Michelangelo called out sweetly. “Our job is done here. We can go home now.”

“Thank fuck,” Ronin called back. He dropped down from the roof in a pose that Mikey always see superheroes do in the movies. Two other Mikey’s joined him at his sides and Mikey watched as he watched eight of his alternative self line up against him. Power ranger Mikey untied the cloak around his shoulders and passed it over to Master Michelangelo. With a flick of his wrist, the cloak fluttered in the air to settle on his shoulders and tied itself before settling down.

Both Mikey and Master Michelangelo floated in the air in front of each other, all of 10 feet separating them.

Slightly behind on Mikey’s side, the small army of Leo’s, Donnie’s and Raph’s lined up, weapons brandished. Party stepped ahead to stand in line with Mikey, swinging his nun chucks with eyes narrowed at a smug Ronin. Blue, Red and Purple joined Mikey’s line, eyes narrowed at the opposition made up of Mikey’s.

“Seems like you won this one,” Mikey said cooly. He tried ignoring the pain that was demanding attention coming from his re-opened wound, not wanting to give his older self the satisfaction. The stain on his cloak was growing large and he decidedly chose not to look at the hole itself or else he fears he would lose his lunch. His hands, hidden by his cloak, glitched slightly which gave Mikey the warning that he needed to retreat very soon.

“You act like I haven’t won most of our little races,” Michelangelo giggled, motioning to his collection of Mikey’s. “There’s only one left.”

“You’re not going to win the next one,” Mikey smirked.

“And why do you say that?” Michelangelo challenged; an eye ridge raised.

“Because I already won it,” Mikey revealed. He watched Master Michelangelo face turn from confusion to rage when he finally noticed that his young self’s side was missing two Mikey’s that everyone knew he had.

Not waiting for a retaliation, Mikey opened an orange portal below the group and they all plunged down into it. Mikey flew down and closed it after him, his final view of universe 32019 being an angry Master Michelangelo with a hand reaching out towards him.

BONUS SCENE:

Bruce hummed to himself as he watched the clash play out ending with both forces of mutant turtles retreating into their own portals. Destruction from their fight littered the street and cops pulled up with their lights flashing.

“Is something wrong, Master Bruce?” Alfred asked, setting a cup of tea down at Bruce’s side.

“Something happened to the turtles,” Bruce answered, picking the tea cup up.

“Are they in danger?”

“It seems so.”

“Then we have to help them!” Damien’s voice yelled across the cave as he swooped down from where he was hiding on the T-rex’s head. “They helped us and now we have to return the favor!”

“You aren’t wrong but I don’t think we can this time,” Bruce said, reversing the video to show all of the turtles being pulled into two different portals. “I doubt they are even in this universe anymore and we would have no clue where to even start.”

“I hope they’re okay,” Barabara said, looking over her own laptop in the corner. “I’m getting reports on foot soldiers raising some problems.”

“Then while they are gone, we will look after New York City for them,” Bruce decided, pulling his phone out. “I will get Nightwing and Red Robin to watch Gotham for us.”

“Shall I prepare the Batplane?” Alfred asked.

“That would be great,” Bruce nodded. “Damien, Barbara, grab what you need. You’ll both be coming with me.”

“Hell yeah!” Damien cheered, dashing out and up the stairs to pack a bag. Barbara followed after him at a slower pace, calling her father to tell him a lie of going on an internship that she forgot to tell him about.

“Master Bruce, if I may, do you think they are okay?” Alfred whispered, careful of Damien possibly hiding again to eavesdrop.

“Honestly?” Bruce sighed and leaned back in his chair. With a click on his keyboard, he brought up the image of the Michelangelo he was used to staring his own brothers down with emotionless red eyes. All of the cheerful turtle that he had the pleasure of working with was gone, replaced with a coldness that didn’t fit him. “I am hoping so but I am having my doubts.”

“Oh, those poor boys,” Alfred tsked, his eyes narrowing at the image of the cloaked older turtles sending the shocks into Michelangelo’s head. It was strange looking at the other images of the other alternative versions, ranging in size and form.

Bruce dragged his eyes over to the five turtles that could seem to use magic. The giant astral red form that dictated a Raphael. The purple hued advanced machinery that manifested out of thin air screamed a Donatello. Blue portals that were opened with a swipe of a sword said they belong to a Leonardo. The two remaining turtles that controlled glowing orange chains and wore the same cloaks, only differing in their ages and if they wore a mask, announced the last remaining brother: Michelangelo.

“Whatever or whoever they are fighting again, I hope they win.”

Universe 2018 – Pocket Dimension B

Michael looked up when he saw the orange tinted portal open up in the middle of the room. Mike stopped explaining things to Mikester as he waited to see who would be coming through.

They didn’t expect 13 different turtles and two non-turtles fall through to landing in a big heap. There was a moment while they were all groaning and trying to pull themselves out of the pile before Mikey fell through on the side of the group and didn’t get up.

“Boss!” Mike cried out, rushing to his feet. Ra and Don looked up sharply at his voice, their mouths dropping open as they see their version of Mikey again. “Get the suppressants!” he ordered, rolling Mikey onto his back. “We can use them as a boost to his healing abilities!”

“What’s going on?” Mikester asked, his eyes wide with fear.

“Stay here, dude,” Michael murmured, zipping away in a bolt of electricity to the first aid kit. He ripped the entire thing off the wall and zapped over to kneel at Mikey’s side. The box turtle was pale and there was a puddle of blood collecting on the ground underneath him.

“Let me help,” Draxum demanded, kneeling next to his creation. He let his hands glow again to heal Mikey, taking more time and care as there wasn’t a threat of a psycho mystic wielder lurking around nearby.

Blue took up a spot next to Mike and started checking over Mikey. His skin was pale and clammy, his breaths coming out in fast pants. At that moment, his body went through a feedback episode but he had no energy to scream. This one wasn’t as severe as past feedback episodes but it still scared the others to see it.

“Watch out,” Mike said before he took two of the crystals and held them against Mikey’s plastron. They lit up with bright light before evaporating into golden sparkles that sunk into their host. Mikey let out a deep sigh of relief as his mystic reserves were filled back up.

Michael held the third crystal in hand, seeing if they were going to need it. With the color returning to Mikey’s green skin, the alternative turtle figured they wouldn’t need it. He deposited it into his belt pouch, figuring that if they needed it, it would be faster to have it on his person already.

Mikey lifted up his right hand and placed it on top of Draxum’s, sending in his own burst of healing energy into his wound. He was slapped away by Draxum who frowned down at his son. “No, Michelangelo, save your strength. I can handle this by myself.”

“Nice to see you care so much, Draxxy,” Mikey crocked, cracking an eye up at the yokai.

“Is he going to be okay?” Leo called over, taking in the sight.

“Somehow,” Mikey held up a shaky thumbs up. “I am going to take a year long nap after this is all over.”

“Dude, me too,” Party sighed, letting his shoulders sag.

Michael zapped over to lean against Party. “Boss looks like he could go for even longer,” he teased. “We might have to call you sleeping beauty at this rate.”

“Hey,” Mikey protested weakly, with a shaky finger raised in the air.

“Mikey!” Leo and Donnie cried out as their frozen spell broke, body slamming Michael in a tackle hug. Michael only had time to yelp as he was dragged to the ground, being held in the middle of a tight hug.

Mike snickers as he watched the reunion before he is lifted to standing up by his shell and pulled into a strong hug. “C’mere, you knucklehead,” Ra growls playfully with Don joining the hug. Mike laughs and returns the hug tenfold, squeezing his two older brothers closer.

“Hey, where’s my love?” Party laughed looking at his two present brothers. Wrath rolled his eyes and punched him lightly in the arm, ignoring how Leader chuckled and pulled Party in for a hug.

“Aww, ain’t this a nice reunion?” Mikey wheezed laughed, breaking off into a round of coughs.

“It’ll be nice when we get our Mikey’s back,” Jungle pouted. Mikey took in the sight of the 2007 and 32019 crews looking longingly at the three reunions going on. Even though the newest trio just lost their Mikey all of five minutes ago, it still stung them. The trio from universe 2007 were even more hurt considering the fact that they had just found their Mikey and were left with no choice but to fight him.

“Soon, I promise,” Mikey vowed to the group. “This mess will be over and you all will have your Mikey’s back or won’t have to worry about them being taken.”

“Big words for someone currently being brought back from the dead,” Ra teased with a raised eye ridge. “I feel like I could sneeze at you and you would keel over.”

“Hey, not funny,” Red scolded from the side so he wouldn’t take up too much room.

“Oh dear, Ra,” Mikey smirked. “You seem to keep forgetting my words: you can try but I am very powerful.”

“Ya little shit,” Ra rolled his eyes.