Mikey entered the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator. Raph was at the sink, rinsing and sorting beans. “Don’t touch that ham,” he warned. “I’m putting the beans to soak tonight and I will need the ham when I cook them tomorrow.”
“Can I have a little?” Mikey asked.
“No,” came Raph’s immediate answer. “You don’t know how to show restraint. I let you start picking on that thing and the next thing we know, all that’s left is the bone.” He turned to glare at Mikey. “Don’t touch it.”
“Fine,” Mikey sighed, closing the refrigerator. “I’ll make myself some ramen.” He filled a pot with some water and set it on the range. “So, I heard you got to see some of the other dimensions.”
“I did,” Raph nodded. “It was a little uncomfortable.”
“Yeah,” Mikey chuckled. “Leatherhead told me about the one where you and Don were doing it.” Raph only grunted in response and shook his head. Mikey added the noodles and the flavor packets to the boiling water. “I kinda wanna see a few for myself.”
“You’ll have to wait for Donny to get back home.” Raph replied and Mikey could hear the bitterness in his voice. It was no secret that Raph hated the fact that Leatherhead had taken Don to the Foot Clan for treatment, and hated it even more that Leatherhead took Snow with them. They had been gone for almost two weeks and Raph’s anger over it grew every day.
Mikey didn’t want to let Raph linger on the thought for long. So he chose to shock him out of it. “Do I,” Mikey grinned, causing Raph to look at him. He didn’t know where he was going with it but at least Raph didn’t look angry.
Raph’s eye narrowed. “Yeah you do. Only Donny knows how to work that thing.”
“We’ll see. But first I wanna eat my lunch.” Mikey took the pot off the burner and headed into the dining cart to eat his lunch. He needed the time to think it all through. It wasn’t long before Raph followed him and sat down at the table across from Mikey.
“What did you mean by, ‘we’ll see’?” Raph asked, looking Mikey in the eye. Raph took the bait now all Mikey had to do was keep him entertained.
“I’m just gonna turn it on,” Mikey answered with a shrug. “And then start pushing a few buttons to see what happens.” He honestly hadn’t considered doing it before that moment but now that he had thought about it, he really wanted to. It left him wondering why he hadn’t thought of it before.
Raph let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. “What, you wanna get lost in another dimension?”
Mikey snorted, “There is a big piece of plastic covering the portal. There is no way I’m gonna get sucked in.”
“Famous last words,” Raph quipped.
“Do you wanna come with me?” Mikey asked, flashing his best smile.
Raph shrugged, “Yeah sure. But only so I can watch you and tell Don what you did so he can figure out a way to save you when you get stuck in another world.”
Mikey slurped up the rest of his noodles then said through a full mouth, “That was a great show.”
Raph rubbed the bridge of his beak, “You’re thinking of A Different World.”
Mikey stood up with the pot in his hands, “You sure there wasn’t a show called Another World?”
“Not that we watched,” Raph said as he stood up. “You’re thinking about the show that took place in a college and was, like, a spinoff of The Cosby Show, right?”
“Yeah,” Mikey nodded.
“That’s A Different World.”
“Oh,” Mikey headed over to the door that led back into the kitchen. “I liked that show.” He entered the kitchen, cleaned the pot and then set it out to dry. He started to head to his room but then remembered that he wanted to mess with Don’s portal and turned around.
Raph was waiting for him just outside the dining cart, “You almost forgot didn’t you.”
“You distracted me with all that talk about TV shows,” Mikey replied with his chin up as he passed by Raph on his way to the stairs. “You’re plan didn’t work.”
“I didn’t have a plan,” Raph scoffed. “You were the one who started talking about TV shows.”
“Whatever,” Mikey shrugged, taking the stairs two at a time. “We’ve got something better than TV waiting for us in Donny’s lab.”
“Only if you can figure out how to make it work,” Raph called up after him as he followed behind.
Once they were in Don’s lab, Mikey headed straight for the portal device. “All I gotta do is turn it on. Right?” He sat down and looked up at Raph, who only shrugged in response. Mikey pressed a few buttons before he found the one that had the machine coming to life. A smile spread across Mikey’s face as he looked over at the portal.
Raph walked over to stand in front of the portal with his arms crossed. They were watching one of Donny’s counterparts. Not a lot was happening. It looked like Donny was fixing a computer. It would have been a boring sight if it wasn’t for the way that Donatello looked. He looked nothing like the Donatello from their world. He was tall and slender but still strong with gear strapped to his back and glasses.
Raph and Mikey stood there watching him, fascinated by the way he looked and hoped that one of the others would soon make an appearance. It wasn’t long before that world’s Raph walked in. Mikey’s eyes went wide. “Dude, you are huge in that world.”
“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” Raph mumbled. He gestured to his counterpart, “What’s with the headband? And the toothpick? And the loincloth?”
“I think he looks cool,” Mikey said in awe.
“You would,” Raph grunted then looked at Mikey. “See if you can figure out how to change the channel.”
With a nod, Mikey headed back over to the control panel and started pressing buttons. “Let’s see what this does.” The image in the portal shifted and they saw another Donatello. “It looks like the device is keyed in to find all the Donatellos in the multiverse.”
“That’s fine,” Raph shrugged and turned back to the portal.
This Donatello looked like their Donny and the world didn’t look much different. They watched for a few moments before Mikey got bored with it and pressed the button to switch to a new world. Nothing was really happening from world to world. Most of the Donatellos were working in their labs, a few were having sex, and one was in the middle of a fight. They stayed on that one for a while to see the action but once it was finished, they moved on.
“This isn’t as fun as I thought it would be,” Mikey sighed as he pressed the button again. He was about to give up and turn the device off but something about the world they were looking in on didn’t seem right. He walked up to the portal and looked through. Donatello was lying on the floor with robot versions of his brothers moving around the lair.
A wave of dread washed over Mikey and he looked up at Raph. “Why are his brothers robots?”
“He looks like he has given up on life,” Raph answered. “I wonder what happened. He’s just lying there.”
Mikey looked at the scene through the portal. The Mikey robot placed a plate of food down next to Donatello who didn’t even acknowledge it. Mikey felt his heart sink, “He’s dying.” Stepping back from the portal, Mikey started to look around the room. “We gotta get him out of there.”
Raph turned from the portal and looked at Mikey, “What?”
“We gotta get him out of there,” Mikey repeated. “We can’t let him die.”
“Mikey, we don’t know how this thing works,” Raph pointed out and grabbed Mikey by the shoulder. “Mikey, stop. You can’t save him.”
Mikey pulled from Raph’s grip, “No! I’m going to try.”
“What if you get stuck in there?” Raph asked as Mikey found the power drill. “This is crazy!”
“At least he won’t be alone anymore,” Mikey answered. “If I can’t get back through, just turn off the portal and tell Don what I did when he gets back. I’m sure he will be able to save me.” Mikey worked as quickly as he could to remove the bolts holding the Plexiglas in place. Once he had it removed, he stood in front of the portal and looked back a Raph. “Maybe if you stick your hand through the portal, I’ll be able to grab it and you can pull me back through.”
“It can’t be that simple. What if I can’t,” Raph asked, trying to hold back his tears. He grabbed hold of Mikey. “We can’t lose you, Mikey.”
“I have faith that Donny will be able to get me back,” Mikey smiled. He pointed to the Donatello on the other side of the portal. “He needs someone now.” With that, Mikey pulled his arm out of Raph’s grip and stepped through the portal.
The first thing that hit him was the smell. Rotten food sat in the kitchen and Donatello looked like he hadn’t bathed in days. Mikey walked up to Donatello and knelt down next to him. He placed his hand on Don’s shoulder, causing him to jump. “I’m gonna get you out of here,” Mikey soothed.
Donatello’s glazed over eyes moved to look up at Mikey and he said in a thick voice, “Am I dead?”
“No,” Mikey whispered. He moved to pick Donatello up and that was when he discovered the items clutched in his hands. Mikey made sure to collect the picture and Tessen as well when he lifted Donatello. He saw a bo staff leaning against the wall and walked over to collect that as well. It was awkward but Mikey managed to carry it all.
Looking back in the direction of where he had come through the portal, Mikey shouted. “I’m ready.”
Raph’s hand appeared out of nowhere and Mikey rushed towards it. As soon as Mikey was close enough, Raph grabbed him and started to pull. Mikey’s heart pounded in his chest as he moved forward. A wave of relief washed over him as he felt the tingle of the portal. In a blink he was through.
Raph looked down at the other world’s Donatello. “He looks in bad shape.”
“I’m taking him to Master Splinter,” Mikey said and headed out of the lab. “You call April,” he called back to Raph. “She’s the closest thing we have to a doctor right now.”
Mikey passed Leo on his way to the dojo and the leader of their clan stopped mid step as he processed what he had seen. “Was that Donny?” he asked as he turned to follow Mikey.
“He’s a Donny from another world,” Mikey answered without stopping. “He was alone and dying.”
“How did you get him through the portal?”
“I’ll explain later,” Mikey shot back as he entered the dojo. “Master Splinter!” he called out and placed Donatello on a mat.
Donatello looked around the room in weak confusion. “Where am I?”
“I brought you through a portal into my world,” Mikey explained.
“Oh,” Donatello replied, looking at Mikey. “That would explain why you look different.”
“You’re gonna be okay now,” Mikey said with a rush of emotion. “You’re not alone anymore.”
Donatello started to cry. Raspy sobs shook his body and he held the items closer to his chest. Mikey hoped that was a good sign. That meant that he hadn’t fully shut down. “I don’t deserve to be alive,” Donatello sobbed, and curled into a ball.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Mikey soothed as Splinter came out of his room.
“What is going on,” Splinter demanded.
Raph rushed into the dojo, “I called April. She’s on her way. She said that if it looks bad enough she is going to drive him to Foot headquarters for treatment. She said she would call Karai. I didn’t even know she had Karai’s number. Are they friends now?”
Splinter rushed over and knelt down next to Mikey. “Who is this?”
“Donatello from another dimension,” Mikey answered. “He was alone and dying on the floor. I couldn’t just leave him there. I rushed through the portal and Raph was able to get us out by sticking his hand through.”
“You are lucky that worked,” Splinter chided him. “You could have been lost to us.”
“But at least he wouldn’t have been alone anymore,” Mikey said, pointing to Donatello. “We gotta help him.”
Splinter sighed and rested his hand on Donatello’s head. “He has suffered great loss. I can sense his anguish.” He caressed Donatello’s cheek. “I know you are hurting but even though you have lost a great deal, all is not lost. You can still lead a full life. We are here to help you heal, if you let us. Whatever happens, you are not going to be alone.”
While Splinter spoke to Donatello, Mikey looked him over. He was different than they were. His hands were bigger than Mikey’s and he had bridges across his sides, connecting his plastron to his carapace. His feet were wide with three toes and his head was a little rounder. There was no chance that this Donatello would be mistaken for their Donatello.
They all sat in silence while Donatello continued to cry. Splinter stayed by his side offering a comforting touch. By the time April and Casey arrived, Donatello had settled down and was once again staring off at nothing.
April walked around Donatello and sat on the opposite side as Splinter. After looking Donatello over, she started digging though her bag. “I don’t even want to know how you managed to find another Donatello. You would think that after seeing you guys turn into dragons and travel through time that there would be nothing left to surprise me. I was mistaken.”
“Do you think he is going to be okay?” Leo asked.
April glanced up at him and pulled some supplies from her bag. “Physically, all he needs is some fluids and food. Mentally, I’m not so sure. I’m inserting an IV to help his body heal. The rest is up to him.”
Mikey reached down and grabbed hold of Donatello’s hand. “Please, don’t give up.”
