Ending 1: Not quite so Dark Shadows

Deep in thought, Renet let her eyes wander over the Honda Province in Japan. In places like that, which had always been quiet and peaceful, the changes to planet earth were barely noticeable. Here in the mountains of the eastern country the absence of humans was nothing new. The rising waters never had reached the higher places and to the unknowing watcher nothing seemed different to the time before the Utrom’s arrival.

But Renet was not unknowing. She knew a lot. Often she knew more than she wanted to know. And yet, she still was to learn whether her efforts had had the intended effect. She braced herself before she took the last few steps needed to look over the hill. When she reached the peak, she glanced down and froze.

Was she in the wrong place? No, she had been here just days ago, well, at least in Null-time. Funny. There she had been so anxious what she would encounter inside that building, just to find that there was no building.

“That is, like, sooo ironic,” she declared.

“Irony is a tricky concept, Renet.” The sound of the familiar voice behind her let her breath hitch for a second.

“Lord Simultaneous!” she squeaked, undignified. “What are you doing here?”

Ignoring her question, he mused, “Assuming you are referring to situational irony here, which would need a noticeable divergence between what you expected to find here and what you actually found, I have to wonder: What, Renet, did you expect out here in the middle of nowhere that the actual findings strike you as ironic?”

“Nothing,” she lied - badly.

“Hmm, ‘nothing’ again.” The Lord of Time watched the peaceful valley with an inscrutable expression. “Another tricky concept. One that has captured your interest as it seems.”

She dared not look at him but saw in the corner of her eye that he was studying her. As after a while it became clear that she would not contribute anymore to the already one-sided conversation he said, “If there is nothing you have to do here, we can leave. There is something I want to show you.”

“Okay. Where are we going?”

“New York City.”

Renet frowned. She did not like New York in this period of time. Knowing that she should have learned to deal with this, that as a timestress she should be above this uncomfortable feeling, she still could not help how much it tugged at her heart. Unlike at this almost untouched high located place, in the big cities that had been buzzing with human life day and night nothing was the same since the Utroms had evacuated most members of earth’s most dominant species, almost two decades ago to save them from the consequences of global warming. Manmade buildings and machines that had not been claimed by the rising tides were falling apart, crumbling under the merciless fist of time without the maintenance by the hands of their absent masters. Nature took back what had been her’s all along. Above cities like New York hovered an atmosphere of dread, destruction and deterioration that Renet could not stand. Not that her master left her a choice. She sighed and readied the time scepter.

“Please,” Lord Simultaneous said. “Let me do the honors.”

“Of course, master.” Renet raised a brow but nodded. Her master was powerful enough to manipulate time and space without the scepter so she just lowered it by her side.

Bracing herself for the sight of bleak and unwelcoming ruins of what used to be a never sleeping city, she let herself be drawn into the long whirling time tunnel that opened before the two time masters. She was worried about Donatello’s whereabouts, but as long as Lord Simultaneous was around she could not use the scepter to locate the turtle. Trying not to let her discomfort show, she focused on keeping on a straight face.

Speaking of focus. Lord Simultaneous should have started to adjust the direction since the time tunnel currently lead straight to Brooklyn. She had visited this era a couple of times and she knew that only a few places in New York City were still above sea level. Brooklyn was not one of them. But Lord Simultaneous made no attempt to change his course. What the hell?

“Ehm, master?” she tried to get his attention carefully.

“Yes, child?” His face was serene and despite the fact that he was leading them right into the ocean, he seemed concentrated.

“Maybe you could show me what you want me to see from… I don’t know… Lady Liberty’s head? Or the Empire State building?”

“That would most certainly be possible,” he said calmly. “But I would rather you have an even better view on it.”

“But we are heading for Brooklyn!”

“Very observant, child.”

“So you want to show me something that is underwater?” She started to panic. Only a few seconds were left and she really did not want to become depressed AND wet.

Lord Simultaneous laughed shortly. “Oh Renet! One would think so, wouldn’t one?”

The thought of her master losing his mind was accompanied by the flash of light that indicated the end of the time tunnel. Renet closed her eyes, desperately filled her lungs one more time and held her breath. With puffed cheeks and eyelids tightly pressed together she stood and waited for her clothes to be soaked. Wait? She stood? Why did she not flow? And what was that sound?

Carefully, she opened one eye and found herself on a middle sized warehouse’s roof. She gasped. It was dusk and the orange evening sun threw it’s dying light on the grey stone giants of New York City. This definitely was Brooklyn. But there was no water. Not that the district looked overly inviting but it seemed…inhabitable. Some buildings were in a bad condition, some had crumbled under time’s harsh treatment, but some of the constructions – though dirty and not exactly luxurious – appeared stable enough to live in. And people obviously did, judging by the lights coming from several windows. Also remarkable was the fact that the illumination most certainly was not from candles or fires. This was electric light. And that sound. She could not make out its source, was however sure that some kind of machine was humming somewhere. But…

“How?” she breathed and felt someone tapping her shoulder causing her to turn her eyes from the eastern part of town.

Unsurprisingly, that someone was Lord Simultaneous. He looked at her, his expression still unreadable, and pointed over his shoulder to answer her question.

Then she saw it: Fully illuminated by lights of different colors, protruding towards the sky, proudly withstanding the merciless hands of time – the TCRI building. Several pipes and powerlines running toward a couple of nearby towers lead back to it’s lower floors, some pulsating with a strange sort of energy. The former Utrom main quarter looked like a powerful heart filling the neighboring boroughs with life.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Lord Simultaneous asked even though it was more of a statement than a question. He waved his right hand shortly, teleporting himself and his student down to the streets. He started walking towards the giant building, Renet following him like in a trance.

“But the Utroms left a long time ago, like, decades…,” she stuttered while she took in her surroundings.

“As I hear they allowed a few chosen ones, a couple of trusted allies to use and alter some of their technology. You hear that noise? Giant pumps, to keep the water out. “

“Pumps?”

“Yes. Annoying sound, but rumor has it the dam will be ready soon.”

“Dam?” Renet was half-aware how stupid she sounded by just repeating fragments of her masters sentences. She probably looked the part, too. But she was beyond confused and could not process fast enough.

“Why don’t we take a closer look?” Lord Simultaneous took her hand and fastened his steps moving nearer to the TCRI-building.

From across the streets, Renet spotted a familiar figure. Unmistakably: A green mutant, red mask, two sais in his belt, the tall, muscular body protected by a light leather armor. But…

“Raphael?” Renet asked. The height, the built, the skin color, it must be him, but his eye.

“Funny, isn’t it?” Lord Simultaneous let go of her hand but stepped closer. “I remember this timeline’s Hamato Raphael to sport an elegant eye-patch in this era. I thought he lost his left eye during a fight with…what’s her name?”

“Shadow,” Renet breathed. But not to answer his question even though the answer was correct. Renet saw the slim figure of Shadow Jones peeling from the shadows of a nearby building. Her long hair waving, she ran towards her sensei unheard by the latter. Trained in stealth as well as in combat, she managed to let her feet touch the ground so lightly that even with her current speed she did not make a sound.

Renet was about to intervene despite Lord Simultaneous’ presence. But while she was considering it, Shadow suddenly made herself known.

“Raph, Sensei, wait!” The young woman called out, making Raphael turn around.

“What?” he growled, hands at his weapons’ handles.

“Please!” the girl begged, coming to a halt. “I don’t wanna fight. Just hear me out!”

The elder turtle said nothing, but he relaxed and let his hands fall to his side.

“Please!” Shadow repeated. “I am sorry. I miss you. You guys are all I have left since Casey…”

“Pfff, Casey?” he asked sarcastically. “You ta badass ta call him ‘Dad’ now?”

“I…I…” Taken aback by his reaction, the woman started to stutter. Like Raphael himself she was not too good with words and probably had thought about what she wanted to say and had arranged her words. Her sensei’s mockery had disturbed her prepared speech and thrown her off.

Tears were gathering in her eyes while she tried to get back on track and Raphael’s gaze softened, clearly against his own will.

“What ya did ta Donnie…!” He half-yelled, half-cried. “…that was extreme. Even Leo and I never went at the other like that. If I would not have been there that day…”

“Curious,” Lord Simultaneous reminded Renet of his presence. “I could have sworn, he WAS not there…”

“I am glad you were, Unca Raph!” Shadow – obviously without noticing it - used her childhood nickname for her former teacher.

“Hooray for ‘shellcycle-day’,” he laughed without humor.

“I know that it woulda been real bad. It was instinct, like you taught me.”

“Don’t put that on me, kid!” Raphael snarled. “Ya cannot teach instinct, ya train it at best. And I am pretty sure, I taught ya ta attack enemies not allies…or family.”

“I did not mean it like that. Gawd! I am so bad with words. Just…”

“…like me,” he finished the sentence and nodded.

For a moment they stood in silence. Shadow gazing to the floor, Raphael to the horizon but both watching each other from the corner of their eyes.

“I’ll be here for a few days,” Raphael finally spoke. “Donnie said he needed me for something. Probably gotta carry heavy stuff around.”

Both chuckled.

“There is a small café at the other side of the building. They re-opened a while ago,” he continued. “I will be there for breakfast tomorrow. Mikey, Leo and Donnie, too.”

“I can come?” Shadow asked carefully and when he nodded, she wanted to know, “The others won’t mind?”

“Donnie has forgiven ya. Mikey says that in that case he has no reason ta stay mad and Leo agrees.”

“And you?” Hopefully she searched for his eyes.

“Look, kid...” He scratched the back of his head. “I need more time, okay? Let’s just…You just eat with us tomorrow, we have a chat and maybe…”

“Okay,” she whispered. “Thanks.”

“See ya tomorrow,” he said, making sure his tone was dismissive. It worked and she left, becoming one with the shadows she was named after again.

Raphael sighed, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head.

The sliding door of the TCRI main entrance opened revealing Michelangelo and Leonardo.

“Yo, bro!” Michelangelo squealed and jumped on Raphael’s back, like not a single year separated him from his teenage self.

“Knock it off, goofball!” Raphael complained. “Not in da mood for your antics!”

“We are happy to see you, too, Raph,” Leonardo grinned. “What are you doing here staring at the ruins? Why don’t you come in? Don is probably already waiting.”

“Shadow was here,” Raphael simply said.

“What? Where is she?” Michelangelo became excited.

“’Was here’, knucklehead, as in ‘is no longer here’.” Raphael turned around to enter the building, not waiting up for his brothers who nonetheless followed him as did Renet and Lord Simultaneous.

“You two fought again.” Leonardo did not ask, he stated it.

“Yeah, no, kinda, I don’t know. I allowed her to join us for breakfast tomorrow.”

“You did?” Michelangelo and Leonardo exclaimed, simultaneously raising their brow ridges in surprise.

“If you guys don’t want her there, we just sent her away.”

“No, no! It is fine! You should talk and it would be good if we are there to keep you calm – both of you,” Leonardo said, accompanied by an almost frenzied nodding of Michelangelo’s head.

With a snap of his fingers Lord Simultaneous stopped time.

“It is peculiar. I remember all this differently…” He paused before adding, “…but then again, while wielding god-like powers, I am no god. I can make mistakes, right?”

“Right.” Renet nodded.

“WRONG!” he yelled at her. “I am the Lord of Time, Renet! My memory is flawless. I know all timelines by heart and this is NOT how it is supposed to be!”

“Yes, it is…” Renet whispered beside him, barely for him to hear.

“What?”

“It may not be as it was, but it is how it is supposed to be!” Renet met his eyes with a stubborn expression. “The earth, one of the rare planets inhabitable by like 80% of all species in the galaxy was totally dying and now it is not!”

“Oh, for EARTH’s sake you played around in Donatello’s life, not for his?”

“I…no…but…like…the result still speaks for itself.”

“Renet! Earth dying or not dying may have unpredictable…”

“Thedaimyosson!” Renet coughed.

“Do not use this silly fake-cough on me, girl!”

“Alright!” she said with her new found confidence and crossed her arms. “The daimyo’s son! You totally took a dead megalomaniac and not only brought him back to life, but like turned him into a kid again so he could relive his life!”

“That is a different thing!”

“How so?”

“It was only one person!”

“Donatello is only one person, too!” Renet argued. “You gave this guy like a second lifetime! Who knows how many people’s life he will touch and cause change on a greater scale that way?”

Lord Simultaneous opened his mouth for a rejoinder but closed it again, contemplating her words.

“You… do have a point,” he finally admitted, looking at the ceiling, causing Renet to blink and giving him a surprised look.

“Back then I acted out of a momentarily feeling of sympathy and compassion, not based on rational thought,” he spoke, more to himself than to her. “And after coming to my senses, I could not bring myself to undo it, not when I saw the happiness I brought to the Daimyo and when I thought of the despair I would cause by taking it away."

The time lord turned his gaze away from the ceiling to look at Renet, then at the turtles.

“Alright.” He nodded. “By sheer dumb luck you did not cause any catastrophe but only, let’s say, by an intersubjective standard, preferable results.”

“What?” Renet scratched her head, looking sideward, trying to understand what he said.

“Oh, for the… You did good, alright?” he exclaimed and when she beamed at him, he was fast to add, “But don’t do it again!”

With that he opened a time tunnel, motioning her to follow and they stepped in after restarting time.

“But why your change of heart?” Leonardo asked. “Why did you decide to give Shadow a chance suddenly?”

“Donnie, I…I promised him to try,” Raphael said, walking through the entrance hall towards the elevators. “Ya know we meet every second Thursday ta check on my bike, tune her, upgrade her and stuff like that?”

When his brothers nodded, he continued, “Well, as ya know, after Shadow apologized to him, he forgave her and wanted me ta do the same. And he’s been saying stuff like ‘everybody makes mistakes’, ‘nobody is perfect’, and how honest regret and the wish to better oneself deserves credit, and how forgiveness brings peace ta the forgiven AND the forgiver. He really made me think and when she showed up here, I thought maybe it is a sign, so I will give her a chance.”

“That is very mature, Raph,” Leonardo commended.

“Thanks.” Pushing the elevator, Raphael nodded at his former leader with a smile.

“And Donnie wouldn’t let you off the hook before you promised to talk to her and he’d bury you in fancy words instead of working on your bike?” Michelangelo asked in an innocent tone and with an equally innocent expression on his face.

Raphael turned to him, stared at his brother and blinked. Then he burst out, “Oh my gawd! The Brainiac is so – don’t ya get me wrong: I love him! – … so annoying. And ya guys have the nerve ta call ME stubborn! I mean, the girl coulda killed him and all he cares about is my peace of mind. And he knows so many words and he throws them at me. And he is so calm and nice and understanding and before I know it, I just promise him everything he wants…”

“I always thought I should use my superpowers for good.” A soft voice from behind made everybody turn around.

The sight of a smiling Donatello greeted them. A plain white labcoat covered most of his body, a pair of ridiculous goggles sat on his head, several cables and wires were slung around his upper body and he carried an unidentifiable device in each of his hands.

“What is all that, Don?” Leonardo wanted to know when he and the other brothers rushed to get some of the gear from Donatello to help him.

“It’s…ah…technical.” Donatello shrugged.

“I bet it is,” Michelangelo giggled.

A loud ‘ding’ announced the arrival of the elevator and the four brothers got in.

“Sooo…,” Donatello said to Raphael, when they had all gathered inside. “You love me, hm?”

“Shut the fuck up, genius!” Raphael snapped while his brothers chuckled but could not help a little warm smile himself.

With another friendly ‘ding’ the elevator door closed.

The End (1)