Hello my darling fans! Instead of the usual song and dance, I decided to do a fanfiction on something I had never seen before: the origins of fanfictions. If it gets confusing when more incarnations appear, don't worry, even Donnie has trouble keeping up. Make sure to pay attention to the tenses of the verbs. If they are past tense, such as ran or jumped or swam, then the sentence applies to another world. If they are present tense, as in run or jump or swim, the sentence applies to that current time.

A special dedication to zebralily999 for PM-ing me about this in the first place and putting up with my lateness. I'm really sorry! :)

I start my morning by waking up and promptly falling off a lab table. I'm pretty sure I've given myself a concussion, because even when I stand up and blink the dots away, I see a large number hovering in the air in front of me. I stare at it, blink some more, and shake my head, but the fluorescent number still hangs in the air. It's only when I swat at it that it dissipates into golden dust. "Huh. Okay then." I think as I stumble out of the room, "What's so special about the number 30 anyway?"

I drop into a seat around the kitchen table and stare uncomprehendingly at the omelet Mikey plunks before me, the incident with the 30 pushed out of my mind. "Geez D, you look like you came out of the Walking Dead." Mikey says.

"What'd you do, spend all night writing love poems for April?" Raph teases.

I shoot him a glare, probably not very menacing with the bags I'm sure I have under my eyes, and shout indignantly, "No!" Raph chuckles as if he doesn't believe me. "I pulled an all-nighter working on a batch of retro-mutagen." I explain, rubbing my head as I remember the pain from the fall, "Though I think the fumes might induce hallucinations."

"What? Did you see a leprechaun?" Raph asks.

"No way dude. Leprechauns are real." Mikey decrees.

"No leprechauns, just a floating number or two." I mumble.

"That's not odd for you, Donnie. You see numbers all the time." Leo adds, "It's like your brain is a huge microchip and everything you hear is turned into binary code."

I snort. "If anything, my brain would be a motherboard, not a microchip."

"Whatevs. Eat before it gets cold." Mikey says, shoving the plate towards me.

Master Splinter enters while we eat, holding one hand to his forehead. Immediately you can tell something is amiss.

"Sensei, are you alright?" Leo asks, helping him to his seat.

"I am fine, Leonardo." He answers, waving him away, "I merely sense…something."

"Sense what, Sensei?" Mikey chirps, "Is it the leprechauns? I bet it's the leprechauns. It's probably the leprechauns…"

"Peace Michelangelo!" Splinter exclaims, "There are no leprechauns!"

"Aww." Mikey whimpers.

"I cannot tell exactly what this is." Splinter professes, "It seems to be more of an event than a person or creature, though I detect an unfamiliar spirit tied to this occurrence. Something momentous will happen today, I am sure of it."

"Um…okay." Mikey answers, "I don't know what's so awesome about Sunday though."

"It's probably not the date itself that matters, Mikey." Leo declares.

"Hang on, Mikey might have something there." I say. "I said might!" I add before Mikey can shout triumphantly, "What is the date?"

"It's March 30th, though I don't know how that makes a difference." Leo states.

I suddenly have a pounding headache. 30th? Did he say 30th? The gold number reappears, inlaid into the table, and I groan. "Oh great." I moan, not caring if I sound insane, "Its back."

"Does anyone else see the number 30 on the table?" Raph asks, staring at the glittery numeral.

Leo and Mikey cautiously nod, as if they're scared of the gold digit. "Hai." Master Splinter declares.

"I saw it this morning too." I add, "The floating number I was telling you about."

"Oh great. We're being haunted by the ghost of the number 30." Raph says.

"It's nothing to get worked up about. It goes away if you touch it." To demonstrate, I poke the 0. The number shatters like before, but this time some of the dust swirls up my arm. It twirls lazily above my shoulder, momentarily forming the letters VF. Somehow I immediately know these are someone's initials. I get the feeling that the dust is trying to call me, that if it had hands it would be beckoning, and even stranger, I want to hear it. I have absolutely no clue what it wants to say, if anything at all, but I want to listen to it. Then the sparkles vanish in a poof of gold-and-black smoke, along with the odd feeling.

"Well, it didn't do that before." I say.

After calling April (I was forced to let Leo make the call; if I had done it I would've ended up stuttering for a few minutes and then hanging up) and confirming that there were no Kraang signals involving the number 30, I am shoved into my lab with the task of 'figuring this thing out'. I sigh; I despise when my brothers think that just because I am smart I can do anything.

I bury my griping and pace around the room, brainstorming possible reasons for why the number 30 was stalking us. Motion does stimulate the brain, you know.

To add to my frustration, Casey strolls in the room and says, "Hey Gap-tooth, did ya figure out the mystery of the floating glitter number yet?"

I frown and facepalm. "It's not a 'floating glitter number', idiot."

"Oh yeah? Then what is it?" Casey challenges.

I prepare to launch into a full-scale lecture when April walks into the room and I instantly forgot what I was going to say, why I was angry, and who I was angry at.

"April!" I cheer.

"Hi Don…!" she begins. She freezes mid-sentence and step and stares at the air above me. "Okay, now I see what you were talking about." She decrees.

"What?" I ask.

"Dude, the floating glitter number is flying over your head." Casey says, backing away slightly.

"Hah! The great Casey Jones afraid of sparkly numbers!" I thought triumphantly, "Awesome! If I can find a glittery gold rat I'll be set for life!"

I calmly glance up and sure enough, what I assume is the number 30 hovers above my head, softly raining gold glitter on my head. "Back for a third time, eh?" I ask the number, not expecting a response.

Instead, the dust reallocates into a huge shifting cloud with intermingling black and, it may just have been a trick of my weary mind, but it whispered. It was so soft a noise it could be easily overlooked, but a trained ninja like me would hear it. "Stalling…" it mutters breathily, "Come…dojo…pllllllleeeeeaaasssssee…" The storm slowly turns transparent as it draws out the last word pleadingly.

"Hmm…the number sounds irritated." April states.

"Probably 'cuz it's been talking to him." Casey replies, "That irritates me."

I growl threateningly deep in my throat. "How do you do that?!" Casey exclaims jealously, "Raph's like the master of it."

I stop snarling and facepalm. I walk out of the room with my hand still over my eyes and somehow don't run into anything. That is, until Casey trips me.

My blood boils and my face reddens at his laughter. Still staring at the floor, I steal his ankles out from under him and hear a satisfying crack. I gain the courage to look up when April snickers at his fall. The annoying number 30 glimmers insistently in front of my eyes. "I'm going! I'm going!" I yell, "Geez, if you're in such a hurry why don'tcha just teleport me there?"

Immediately I regret saying that because the number starts oozing topaz, onyx, and amethyst smoke. Within seconds I'm cloaked in pulsating color clouds that I swear have words deep in them. I hear April yelp and feel her fingers brush my shell, but the rest of me is somewhere in Smoke-land. The tri-colored haze thins and I regain sight. The magical number has stood true to its word; I have somehow been teleported to the dojo.

"How did we get here?" April asks behind me.

"I told the number it should just teleport me where it wanted." I answer, warily taking in the room around me, "Apparently it took me up on my suggestion."

"Whoa dude." Mikey mumbles, appearing in a cluster of billows, "I think I was just kidnapped by your floating number, Donnie."

"Why is it mine?!" I ask in annoyance.

"Dunno. YOU found it." He retorts, watching the corner of the dojo cagily as someone else arrives via the Smokeway.

I snort in answer and watch curiously as the clouds part to reveal a, surprise surprise, angry Raphael.

"Donnie, did you sic your pretty little clouds on me?!" he exclaims.

"NO!" I shout, "Why does everyone assume it's mine?!"

"Well, it IS purple." Leo replies from somewhere behind me, "That has your signature all over it."

"I'm not controlling it!" I shriek, "I was being sarcastic and it took me literally!"

"Since we all seem to be here, we may as well discern what this number is doing." Splinter's voice echoes wisely from somewhere in the room.

We all scan the room in an attempt to find him until April covers her mouth to block a high-pitched laugh. I follow her gaze and stifle a giggle. The smoke deposited Sensei in a tree.

I'm sure he would've picked his way down soon, but he didn't have to; the smoke did it for him. It seeped into the room from an unseen vent and choked us in smoldering purple-black-gold vapor. My brothers hack and cough and swat at the stuff, but I just sit calmly and stare at the words dancing through the clouds; I have learned the hard way you can't fight this stuff.

The smoke dissipates slowly and eerily. I don't have to be able to see to know that we weren't in Kansas anymore. Didn't even have to ask Toto.

"Greetings, my friends!" a loud voice cheers, "Happy Thirtieth Anniversary!"

The rest of the colors clear and I can finally see my surroundings, partially nevertheless. There were so many moving parts and pictures, each one ever changing, that it was hard to focus on one section, let alone one picture. All the moving pictures, windows more like, seem to be categorized into long halls, some reaching never-ending distances.

I turn to our host, or more, our hostess. Her form flickers inconsistently, almost as if she is a hologram, which she very well might be. The woman, girl more like, was incredibly tall, about a half-inch above Splinter. She has skin the color of pale caramel and hair the color of dark chocolate. Her dress is a black shifting material with a sweetheart neckline (April explained) that seemed to suggest she's wearing a living thing. The fabric (if fabric is what it can be called) dances with words, strands of letters sliding overtop of and slamming into one another, occasionally shattering a string into single glyphs to be absorbed by other segments. The girl has blurred wings that resembled those of a fallen angel, with black feathers, purple highlights, and a wide reach stretching at least a yard away from her body. Her most distinct feature was the large smoldering molten gold eyes that seem to twinkle and laugh and sob and cry all at the same time.

"Sorry for the abrupt travels, mi amigos, but all I can say is you asked for it!" she laughs, smiling broadly, "Literally!"

Raph gathers his wits and stares down the winged enchantress with a signature death glare. "'Abrupt travels?!' You randomly teleported us with magic smoke!" he shouts, "Who are you?! What is this place?! You better start talking, Goldie."

'Goldie' gazes at Raph for a long time, so long that I'm positive he has angered this mysterious creature and she is debating how to kill us, and then suddenly bursts out laughing. "You're even crankier in person, Raph!" she giggles. Suddenly she retains a stoic demeanors and says, "Anyway, to answer your question, my name is Vannus Fictio. It's Latin. It means…"

"Fan fiction." I interject, remembering the words suddenly.

Those frighteningly plucky eyes turn on me and beam. "Yes! Very good! I never knew you knew Latin, Donatello!" Vannus cheers happily, "And this place is the Morpheus Fandom!"

Raph stares blankly at the peppy girl. "Yeah, that doesn't really answer my question." He declares.

"And how do you know our names?" Leo asks.

"All in good time, Leonardo." Vannus answers, "They're always so confused when they arrive. It takes a lot of explaining." She puts on the face of an overly jubilant tour guide (but with real happiness) and spins with her arms outstretched. "This is the Morpheus Fandom!" she decrees, "Every single story or tale, every single fanfiction or parody, every single saga from every corner of the wide world and the world wide web lead here!"

She points in turn to many of the halls floating above us. "Each fandom, which is a land or world from book and comics and movies and games and that, has its own 'corridor' as I like to call them." She explains, "Some of the lands exist on Earth, like New York for example, and some are elsewhere, like Battle Nexus. Each little portal, or 'sky window', looks into a different fanfiction, an alternative ending, a fantasy fulfilled, a 'what if…?' And each of those little sky windows has littler sky windows that I call 'crystallites' which spout from every decision ever made in that specific fanfiction."

Vannus pauses for a breath and continues right on, "For example, let's take something everyone knows…like…Space Heroes!" Mikey, Raph, and I groan. "Hush hush!" Vannus shouts, "Anyway, when Captain Ryan made the decision to vaporize Celestia, it immediately created a separate crystallite off the original Space Heroes fandom where life goes on if he hadn't vaporized her. And another crystallite is added where Dr. Mindstrong intercepts. It goes on and on. Every possible outcome creates a new crystallite. Even small decisions like whether or not Celestia had breakfast that day create separate crystallites, no matter how unchanged the effect is. Sometimes the difference is so big, it's turned into its own separate sky window!"

I stare at all of the flickering windows. "If each of those has separate crystallites for every decision made, and each of those crystallites sprouts crystallites, and the process just keeps repeating, the amounts of different worlds in the end would be…" I think aloud.

"A lot, I know." Vannus finishes, "Someday I think I'm going to make something that tallies them for me. Just 'cause. So, as you can see, I have an important job…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it. Would you get to the part about how you know us and why we're here?" Raph cut in.

"Let the young lady finish, Raphael." Splinter chides, "I for one am curious about this strange land of dreams."

Vannus beams happily at Splinter and says, "No, I really should be getting to the point, though I'll tell you more about the Morpheus Fandom later if you like." Instantaneously her happy face drops to a serious expression as she turns to Raph. She opens her mouth to speak, and then shuts it and stares at the floor uncomfortably. "This is always the hardest part…" she mutters, "Always so unsettling…even after all this time it's still hard to do…"

"I think we can handle it, Goldie." Raph interjects, "Just spit it out. We can take it."

She snickers and says under her breath, "Yeah, you say that now." Vannus looks up and puts on a face of confidence. "Alright, just spit it out." She declares, "But you have to promise to let me finish. All at once. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

Mikey giggles, "Buts."

Vannus shoots him a look. "We promise, Miss Fictio." Leo states, ever the perfect gentlemen.

She smiles at him and decrees, "No need for formality. Vannus works well to. Vannus-san if you insist." She takes a deep breath and flutters her wings as if to calm herself. "Alright." She declares, "I know this will come as a shock to you, especially you, Donnie, because it will seem impossible, but I speak the truth. You are being watched. Your lives are being broadcasted to humans."

We attempt to interrupt. "Please let me finish!" Vannus begs, "It's really much easier if you get all the info!" Simultaneously we shut up.

She continues, "The Earth that you live on is not the real Earth. Oh, it is real, alright. As real as can be. It's just not…the original. Humans on the original Earth, the true Earth, know your lives as they happen. You see, every once in a while I am given the task of creating a new fandom for these people, as entertainment. Sometimes I will form an entirely new world and give life to entirely new characters, but I don't do that often, since I sort of have to write out their lives continuously. Usually I will take the story of another world's people and use it. And back in 1984, 30 years ago, on this very day, I chose yours."

Vannus pauses to let that sink in. "Since these humans cannot know of my existence and your veracity, I give the ideas to men and women of their society and let them take credit for it." She explains, "Two men, a Peter Laird and a Kevin Eastman, were the ones who learned of you. They took the story, not yours specifically but your predecessors, and ran with it well. And after 30 years in a world of flighty, moody, and fickle people; after enduring many changes, adaptations, and modernizations; after changing hands and nearly dying many times, your legacy is still alive."

She adds one more finishing line. "The sad truth is you are no more real to these people than Space Heroes is to you."

We sit in silence. It's impossible to register what Vannus has said, but judging by the fact that she is a winged gold-eyed girl who can teleport people with colored smoke, I have few reasons not to believe her. It's difficult to accept that even though we've tried so hard to keep our lives secret, there is a whole world that knows about them.

I don't even realize I have spoken until after the fact. Vannus smiles gently, obviously realizing how fragile we are right now, and says, "She will be here in October. That is when she first made an appearance."

"What did I say?" I whisper to Mikey.

"You asked why April isn't here." Mikey answers, "Keep up, man. You're supposed to be the smart one."

"And Casey?" Raph asks.

"April of next year." Vannus answers, "Originally, it was just you guys. And you did just fine."

Leo eyes the girl curiously. "What do you mean 'did just fine'?" he asks.

Vannus grins encouragingly as she had been waiting for him to say that and chirrups, "Oh, you guys were in an instant success! From Day 1 people loved you! Even right now as I speak there are girls out there who would die to meet you, and guys out there who would give to be you. You're the most beloved creatures on that Earth! You're the heroes in a half shell! The true challenge is finding a man, woman, or child who DOESN'T know about you! You're the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"

"Really?!" Mikey asks excitedly.

"Of course! You four are celebrities!" Vannus cries, turning to Splinter, "And who could forget the all-wise-and-powerful Master Splinter?! Half the little boys on that planet wish they had a dad like you! Most every girl wants to be like April, and every guy wants to be like Casey! As I said, you're celebrities! You're stars! You're IDOLS!"

I take a second to revel in the moment. Millions, no, BILLIONS, of people, who accept us? Who like us? Who ADORE us? It's too good to be true; far too good. I believe Vannus when she said that the Morpheus Fandom was a land of fantasies fulfilled, because she had claimed my wildest dreams true. Sadly, as I knew it would have to, the happy façade came crashing down. And, as to be expected, it was at the hands of Raph.

"That's all fine and good, but it doesn't help us in any way, shape, or form." He points out, "We can't exactly go to this place and live happily ever after, can we?"

Vannus huffs sadly and declares with obvious melancholy, "Alas, you are right. I cannot take you to True Earth. I would do so in a heartbeat, given the choice. I would take you and April and Casey and anyone else you wanted me to take and send you on your happy way, but I can't. It goes against the 'powers that be'." She puts a half-smile on her dejected face and adds, "Plus, joke about it all you want, but I don't think you would let me. Your sense of honor and duty is too strong. It is obvious that New York, your New York, is your home, and you love being able to protect it. You know you can't right all the wrong in that city, but you sure will try."

She softly appends, "That's why I chose you guys. I hope the humans of that world could follow your example."

I desperately wanted to stay sad and convince her to take us to 'True Earth', or be mad at her for putting our strife on a TV screen for people to laugh at, but I couldn't. It probably didn't help that her dress was firing off words like 'Forgiveness', 'Guilt', and 'Remorse'. Or that Vannus was giving us huge gold puppy-dog eyes just like the ones we gave Splinter on our fifteenth Mutation Day. I win a flicker of anger at the thought that Vannus (and a whole planet, give or take a few countries) already knows that that happened, but it vanishes. I sigh softly; I don't know why (Okay, I slightly know why) but I can't stay mad at this girl.

Trying for my best exasperated tone, I say, "Can you please just tell us why we're here?"

"Yes yes, I was getting there." Vannus replies with a flick of her hand, "Anyway, it's traditional to bring a group featured in the Morpheus Fandom here for each of their quinquennial anniversaries; explain everything, show them the ropes, let them look at some fanfics people have devised, y'know. And it just happens to be the 30th anniversary of…well, you! Yay!"

I glance around the room and ask, "Where are our 'fanfics'? I don't see them."

Vannus giggles, "They're right in front of you, silly!" She steps to the side and sweeps her hand behind her, gesturing to all the 'sky windows' behind her. "Fourteen thousand one hundred tales on just one site!" she proclaims.

"Whoa." Mikey decrees, "That's a big number."

"A very big number, especially when you include stories posted on other websites, stories not yet written but plotted out, and the crystallites for each." Vannus agrees.

"How do you have time to read, watch?, them all?" Mikey asks.

"Oh, I don't have to watch them all." Vannus declares, "Whenever a crystallite or sky window is made, I instantly know what has happened up to that point. I wouldn't want to watch them constantly; that'd be stalking!"

"Like this isn't?" Leo questions.

Vannus's crimson-gold eyes narrow slightly, and the words on her dress morph from pleasant things such as 'Joy', 'Appreciation', and 'Kindness' to things like 'Disrespect', 'Irritation', and 'Insolence'. "You do realize that I can kill you and your brothers with a single misaimed thought." She states.

Leo slowly nods, and I spot fear in his eyes. Wisely so; this girl seems more dangerous that an angry Raph with a rocket launcher.

The coalescing words on her gown turn perkier as she happily proclaims, "Great! As long as we're on the same page!" Vannus moves into the opening of the hall and beckons. "Come on!" she cheers, "Don't you want to see the sky windows?"

The second Vannus crosses the invisible threshold into our corridor, she disappears from sight. The five of us share a look and on some unspoken consensus cross after her. What I see blows my mind.

As far as I can see and even farther I'm sure are lines of triangular windows (which scarily remind me of the Kraang portals) showing us; running, battling, kissing (these humans must be very strange), and acting like normal people. There are two lines of giant triangles serving as hall walls encasing us, but there is another corridor of sorts sitting horizontally connected to this hall, leaving a walkway to get to the other paths. Yes, we had more than one hall. It makes me proud.

"What's with all the different hallways?" Mikey asks.

"Each corridor is devoted to a different series or type of media." Vannus explains, "For example, all the way to the left is the very first comics. Each corridor onward is dedicated to stories from specific TV show series, movies, comics, and even a few video games. The emptiness to the right is reserved for newer franchises. The entrance always migrates to the current fandom."

She points three fingers, one to the hallway she is in and the other two to the halls left of it. "These are the 2012, or 2k12, corridors." She decrees, "That to the farthest left is for video games, the next one over is for comics, and this one is for the TV show, which is about halfway into its second season." Vannus points a finger at the shaded lane on the right and states, "That corridor is reserved for the upcoming movie."

She twists again and points straight down the hall. "At the end of each corridor is the original. The movie, episodes, or game that the people see." She says, "I always tell people that they won't want to look at those since they already lived it, but they always do anyway."

The entire time Leo's head has been swiveling back and forth, taking in the view, and I can't blame him; it's incredible what Vannus is claiming. "All this is just for us?" he asks, "You govern MORE of these?"

"WAY more. So many more, that the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses are considering adding me to their mythology!" Vannus chirps.

"They can't do that." Raph scoffs, "Can they?"

"Of COURSE they can! If they establish a new minor god or goddess, he or she will make some appearances in old or new myths, however few it may be." Vannus quickly retorts, "The Greeks want to de-Latinize my name a bit, of course. They like Tionemma." She strikes a pose and decrees, "Behold, Tionemma! Goddess of imagination and writing!"

I get a better look at her now that she is standing still. It seems that since the words on her clothing are now confined to one fandom (I've determined the words on her dress are words from the fanfictions she presides over that are tied to her emotions), they are calmer. The words are still zipping diagonally across the fabric, but they aren't breaking into each other anymore. Her wings are clearer, so that you can see the separate feathers and pick out the purple ones from the black ones.

She stops posing and walks over to one of the windows. Her dress shifts yet again, this time showing organized diagonal flowing lines of script. The same groups of words reappear lower and lower on the dress, leading me to believe that if you watched one spot consistently, you would be able to read the entire story.

"Hey, Tee-oh-nem-muh." Mikey asks, enunciating her Grecian name, "What'cha lookin' at?"

"Come see." She answers with a smile. We cautiously gather around the triangle she is peering into and watch the people shift about.

Displayed in the window from a slightly offset aerial view were, obviously, my brothers and I, plus April. Or…Aprils? Slumped across the couch were varieties of the same girl, each in a different color. Oh great. More April clones? I thought we got rid of those!

"This is why I call them 'sky windows'." Vannus comments, "It's like there is a window in the roof of the world, and you're looking through it."

One of the women groaned and shifted. "Guys! Guys! They're getting up!" one of us shouted. I, or…umm…Otherworld I, walked over to the April in yellow and held her hand in mine. "April! How are you feeling? Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I'm okay, Donnie. Why wouldn't I-" all of the girls responded simultaneously. They looked confusedly at each other and began shouting in a panic. "Who are you?! Why do you look like me?! Hey, stop copying me! No, you are!"

All of my brothers, real and Otherworld, giggle uncontrollably. I'm not sure what was entertaining to them about that scene.

One April, donned in red, glared portentously at them, stalked over, and slapped them all across the face. "Hey, you green jerks!" she yelled, "This is no frickin laughing matter, SO SHUT THE HECK UP!" Raph, no wait…Otherworld Raph, returned the girl's stare and opened his mouth to chew her out, but was interrupted by a high-pitched giggle.

"You guys look so funny!" Another April, blue-clothed, chirped. She beamed and disintegrated into laughter, literally rolling on the floor while doing so. We, I mean…Otherworld We, give the giggling girl a confused look.

Yet another girl, a green-clad April, was asleep on her feet and then brought down with the blue April's descent. Green April woke and jumped, her eyes still half-shut. "Heeeey…" she moaned, "What's with all the noise?" She shuffled into a sitting position and promptly dozed off again.

A different April, purple-clad with round glasses, pushed her eyewear up her nose and proclaimed, "This is no time for sleep! We must figure out how we find ourselves in this state. It troubles me…"

Red-clothed April stormed over to her purple-dressed replica and exclaimed angrily, "Well! Who died and made you queen?!" The two immediately dissolve into a heated argument until they are broken apart by loud sobs.

"P…p…please…please stop fighting!" a grey-clad April pleaded hysterically, crying into her hands. The two livid twins backed away from each other. The grey-dressed girl continued weeping until her blue-clad sister came over and patted her on the back.

Our Otherworld selves were shoved into a corner by April, yellow April…yellow Otherworld April…whatever! "Guys, why are there more of me?! What happened?!" she exclaimed.

"Well, you see-" I…Otherworld Me began. Before I, Otherworld Me (it's annoying trying to keep this straight) could continue my, their?, explanation, I, they?...ugh! THEY were practically tackled from behind by a pink-clad April and nuzzled her head into his neck. I blush in perfect sync with my mirror image, which prods my siblings to make kissy noises and tease me worse than usual.

Pink April did not help matters by cooing, "Donnie Boy! Why don't you come over and play with me?" It's quite obvious by now that Otherworld Me is dumbstruck, left to stutter unintelligibly at the hands of the Pinkie Pie masquerading as April. She swung in front of him and pressed close against him, begging, "Come on, cutie…don't you wanna play with me?"

My…his…mine/his…ugh, I give up. Whoever's brain seemingly overloaded as Otherworld Me fell down in a dead faint. I feel both jealous of and sympathetic for myself. "Aww…poor baby…let April take care of you." the pink girl fussed, bending down. She was caught by the ear by the spectacled version of April and dragged away. "You are not helping the situation at hand; you are in fact making it much worse than it needs to be." Purple-decked April stated as she toted her clone away.

"Boys, there is much here to see and little time with which to see it. It is unwise to linger over one thing for so long." Master Splinter, Real-world Master Splinter, says. We all simultaneously jump, but none of us are surprised. Sensei has a bad habit of doing that: staying quiet for the longest time only to randomly comment on something and scare the daylights out of us.

"Your father…um, sensei, I mean…is right." Vannus proclaims, adding a nervous giggle when she attracts our attention with the word 'father', "There's only twelve hours per quinquennial anniversary allotted to a particular group. With all the fandoms over the years, a few important ones have the same anniversary date, so I have to have time to bring them both on their true anniversary. Explanations and et cetera took about two hours total, so you have ten more hours until you go home. So get on!"

"Yeah, I already knew what was going to happen anyway." Mikey declares before strolling over to a separate window.

"I'll believe that when pigs fly." Raph says.

"Oh, then you might want to look over there." Vannus answers, pointing at a suspiciously pink window.

Time seems to both fly and drag on in the Morpheus Fandom. Vannus kills about another fifteen minutes showing us how to access crystallites, change the viewing angle, show past or future scenes from that world, and even create our own worlds. I'm half tempted to devise something where I gain the courage to ask April out on a date, but my brothers would figure it out faster than I could hide it and I would never hear the end. Plus, I didn't have to. It turns out some humans did it for me. Though apparently some humans hate happy endings and true love (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.)

For a while I'm not sure what to look at; the amount is so overwhelming. The eye is drawn to movement, but the whole entire place is bustling with miniature versions of ourselves, all living differently intriguing lives, and I have a deadline with which to take it all in: a meager ten hours. In a world full of motion, is the eye attracted to stillness?

Finally I decide that I will never be able to decide, so I just mill down the left side of the corridor, stopping in front of any window that catches my eye. For a while I watch one involving April forcing us to guess what kind of pie she brought. For an unknown reason (I blame scientific curiosity. And maybe global warming.) I desperately want to know what kind of pie it is, especially since I, or Otherworld I, or Other-Otherworld I? UGH! THIS IS VERY ANNOYING!

Well, whichever version of me was placed in that world guessed it was a chocolate pie and was wrong, even after assessing its contents and everything (obviously this Otherworld version of me was having a stupid day). Raph and Mikey's conjectures were also incorrect, which was quite noticeable considering they guessed coconut cream and an (and I quote) 'upside-down pineapple pumpkin cherry blueberry banana French swirl cinnamon butter pecan pie that is secretly disguised to look like this'. I turn away after April proclaims that it is a 'turtle pie' and we run screaming into my life for doses of disinfectants. I feel sick to the stomach just from watching it and make a mental note to ask April about turtle pie when I get home. Some humans are seriously twisted.

I momentarily become intrigued with a scene where we are interacting with a group of brightly colored mutants that resemble various animals: an orange fox creature with an extra tail, a purple cat-like animal with feathers sticking out the top of her head, a red being with what I can only describe as spike-dreadlocks, and two hedgehogs, one black and red and one who looks like he stole the blue right out of Leo's eyes. Too soon I am pulled away by the deadline nagging me in the back of my head.

Next I float over to a window Leo's been keeping an especially close eye on. He'll dart away for a while, then slowly return to the window and act as if he doesn't realize he's back in the same area again. I watch the sky window when I'm sure he isn't looking. Another Otherworld Leo is lying down on his bed with a laptop I immediately recognize as my own design, wearing headphones. His eyes keep darting toward the area where I figure is door is, as if he's scared to be found. Using what Vannus taught us, I shift the view so that I'm spying over Leo's shoulder and discover why he's watching the door so nervously. He's watching a little girl's unicorn show.

I can barely contain from laughing out loud at the randomness of it. Once I pull my mind out of the hysteria, I realize there must be a reason that whatever human decided my eldest brother should take interest in psychedelic magical horses (unless all humans of True Earth have mental illnesses). Unfolding the millions of little crystallites attached to that window, I scan through them, seeing the repeating appearance of a young blonde girl. Picking one at random, I zoom in on it and watch.

The little blonde girl was hovering over a pale sheet of paper, clutching a blue crayon determinedly. She began to draw energetically all over the sheet, swapping from blue to black to peach. Soon it was clear that she was drawing a picture of Captain Ryan, Leo's idol. Yep, this girl definitely knew Leo.

I choose another crystallite from this world, one with April in it.

"April, can I borrow some letter paper and an envelope from you? I want to write my reply to Mr. Turtle." The little girl asked. I snicker softly; where on Earth did she get the name Mr. Turtle?

The Otherworld April replied, "Of course you can."

"Do you have pink letter paper?" the child asked.

"I'm afraid not, but I think it will be okay if you don't use pink letter paper this time." Otherworld April answered, guiding the little girl to her room. She stood in front of the child, seemingly shielding her from the sliding window in her room. "Just wait here for a moment, okay?" Otherworld April said. The little girl frowned, but stayed where she was.

Seconds later, Leo, Otherworld Leo I mean, entered through the window and asked, "Okay, April, what's so urgent that it can't wait till tomorrow?"

"That!" Otherworld April cheered, presenting the child to Otherworld Leo.

"Madelyn?!" Leo…Otherworld Leo...grr! And just when I thought I had the Otherworld thing down! Anyway, OTHERWORLD Leo asked that, and the little girl who was obviously named Madelyn ran up and hugged him. She squealed happily and squeezed Otherworld Leo tighter than I thought was humanely possible.

Otherworld Leo smiled, placed a hand on the child's back, and stroked her hair. "Thank you." he mouthed to Otherworld April. The redhead beamed happily.

I smile at their infectious happiness and turn away. Maybe not ALL of those humans hate happy endings.

After a while of pouring over the sky windows, I eventually wander my way to the far back. At the very end of the hallway, just like Vannus said there would be, is a sky window double the size of all the others. I meander up to it and casually send the image back in time.

I stop it at some random point and observe as my life unfolds again.

I, really I, just in the past, so not an Otherworld I…or maybe it is an Otherworld I…geez, how the heck does Vannus keep this all straight? Past me peered through a magenta-tinted window and proclaimed, "Don't worry! I'll have you out of there in a second!"

"Okay, giant lizard thing!" Past April answered.

"Turtle, actually." Past me pointed out, "I'm Donatello."

"April." Past April declared.

"Wow. That's a pretty na-" Past me began. I, um…Past I, I guess, was slammed into the window, my, his?, face pressed awkwardly against the glass.

"The lock, Donnie!" Past Leo reprimanded.

"Oh yeah! Right! Sorry!" Past me replied, ducking down to fiddle with the wires of the lock.

I smile softly and send the image spinning back farther. Raph, Past Raph, shot through a door and shut it behind him. A skinless Kraang droid burst through the entrance. Past Raph tore off its arm, shoved it back through the doorway, and slid the limb through the handles. "That'll hold 'em." He declared. He turned to look at us, or…Past us? "What?" he asked in response to our bewildered stares.

"You…are seriously twisted." Leo, uh…Past Leo, proclaimed.

"Thanks!" Past Raph replied cheerily.

I chuckle at our expressions. "Good times…" I say only half-sarcastically.

"Aren't they?" Vannus decrees behind me, making me jump. I struggle not to punch her between those glowing gold eyes as my reflexes dictate I should. "Oh, sorry!" she exclaims, "I didn't mean to startle you! Now that I think about it, it's a very stupid idea to sneak up on a ninja…How did I sneak up on a ninja?"

"Eh…said ninja wasn't paying much attention." I answer.

"Understood. Anyway, I thought you might like to know that there is a half-hour left until you have to go home." Vannus states, "I highly recommend observing some of the other incarnations, if you haven't yet. The changes between the series are remarkable." And with that, she flits away to do whatever magical winged creatures do.

I decide to take Vannus up on her offer and rummage through some of the other 'incarnations' as she called them. I recall the short cartoony versions of ourselves we saw through the Kraang portal and redden slightly when an image of April in that jumpsuit appears in my mind.

Down towards the very left of the corridors I find the cutesy versions of ourselves and am very surprised to find them mingling with humans as if they are normal people. "Hmph. Wouldn't that be nice." I think enviously, strolling away from that corridor.

Somewhere down the line I become interested in another version of us. As opposed to the smaller adaptations I happened upon earlier, whatever human (or rebel angel or goddess or whatever the heck Vannus is) devised this cartoon envisioned us as impossibly tall and muscular, emphasizing the mutant half more than the human half. I roam down the corridor; being freakishly tall is better than being childishly small.

I quickly brush over many of the sky windows, constantly urged forward by a lack of time and an inability to focus, what with the prospect of seeing April, the real April, dangling over my head. I slide past one image just like all the others, then come to a halting stop and retrace my way back to it.

The window portrays the taller version of us, all circled around two young turtles chasing each other. At first I am confused; all four of us are there, plus Splinter, so who are the little ones? Were more turtles hit with mutagen?

One of the turtles stopped where they are and randomly ran toward Splinter, um…Otherworld Splinter. "Ji-Ji!" they exclaimed, holding up their arms excitedly, "Up!"

Otherworld Splinter chuckled and scooped up the terrapin toddler. "Ji-Ji is here, Akanie-chan."

The other young child seemed to notice the absence of his playmate and scrambled over to Otherworld Splinter. "Oh…jee…chan?" they asked slowly, as if not entirely sure what they were saying.

"Yes, yes, very good, Yoshi." Otherworld Splinter cooed to the child as he scooped him up.

"A year old tomorrow." Otherworld Leo said in awe, "I can't believe it."

"I know. A whole year and they still refuse to call me Uncle Mimi!" Otherworld Mikey whined.

As if to emphasize his point, Yoshi chirped, "Uncle Mikey!"

"Mikey!" Akane echoed. She pointed at me, Otherworld me, and shouted, "Uncle Don-Don!"

"Uncle Don-Don!" Yoshi repeated.

Otherworld me sighed and shook his head. "They can speak in full sentences and have the capacity to call Father Ojiichan, yet I am still Uncle Don-Don." I declare, "Why?"

"Because Uncle Don-Don sounds cuter." Otherworld Mikey answered. Otherworld me sighed.

"Ah, I see you have found Hamato Akane and Hamato Yoshi, junior." Vannus proclaims, "Those two are certainly adorable." She watches me for a while before realizing her mistake and exclaiming, "Oh, I did it again, didn't I?! I'm sorry! I don't know why I keep sneaking up on you!"

"Its okay, Vannus." I answer.

She smiles apologetically and states, "It's been twelve hours. Against my will, the Morpheus Fandom is kicking you out. In approximately…three seconds."

"Three seconds?" I ask incredulously. I believe Vannus nods, but I can't tell, because the same tri-colored smoke that brought us here is seeping back into view. In moments, I once again see nothing but the script inside the smoke.

"Goodbye! See you soon! On the next quinquennium!" Vannus shouts through the haze. She continues onward, but her voice fades into oblivion and is replaced by one I know all too well.

"Donnie?" April asks, "Donnie? Are you in there? Y'know, under all the smoke and stuff?"

I open my mouth to answer, but instead start coughing from the thick clouds billowing around me. Even after they clear, I still expel little black-and-purple-and-gold clouds.

My hacking stops when I receive a shell-crushing hug. "Donnie! You're back! You're okay!" April cheers.

I smile and try to force down the blush, unsuccessfully. "Yeah. I'm back." I reply, patting April on the back.

"Hey, what are we? Chopped liver?" Mikey asks. April laughs and attacks him with a hug too.

"Well, that was certainly…fascinating." Master Splinter declares. He looks like he's about to say more, but April hug-tackles him, stopping him.

"Definitely interesting, I'll say that." Leo proclaims. He opens his arms and braces himself, but April still knocks him backward, laughing the whole while.

"Fascinating? Interesting? What place are you talking about? That place was disorienting, and that Venus chick was freaky weird!" Raph exclaims.

"Vannus." I correct.

"Whatever!" Raph decrees. April attempts to hug him but he ducks and she flies past him. "Uh-uh! No hugs!"

"Uh-huh! Yes hugs!" April replies chasing him down and hug-tackling him. "Ha ha! I win!" she cheers. She lets Raph up and asks, "So? Where did the magic smoke kidnap you to?"

"The Morpheus Fandom." Mikey answers.

"Okay…and that is?" April asks.

"A place." Mikey replies.

She blinks and turns to me. "Do you have anything to add to that?" she asks.

I run through all the things I could tell her about. Vannus, the 'sky windows', all the different 'incarnations'; it would take twelve hours just to explain that twelve hours! Suddenly I recall the mental note I made to myself earlier and beg with all earnestness, "Please tell me you don't know how to make turtle pie."

Epilogue

I carefully drag the mouse from one point to another, drawing a white line on the digital blueprint. "Steady…steady…" I mutter to myself. The table jolts simultaneously with the floor and I spear my diagram with a jagged white line. "Dang it!" I shout, slamming the table.

"OW!" Mikey yells, holding his foot as he hops up and down, "Note to self: tables hurt." Raph and I simultaneously snort. Mikey puts his foot down and chirps, "Anyway, guess what!"

"If we don't say 'what', will you go away?" Raph asks.

"No, plus you just said what!" Mikey replies, "It's March 30th, and we're not being hunted by glittery numbers!"

"Woo-hoo." Raph states sarcastically.

"I know, right!" Mikey exclaims.

"Hmph." I say, checking the clock on my laptop, "You're right. It is March 30th. Didn't even realize."

"I wonder how Vannus is doing." Leo decrees, "Maybe she got that whole 'Greek goddess' thing she wanted."

"Maybe." I reply. Out of curiosity, I search 'Vannus Fictio' online. A site called 'Van's Fiction' comes up first. I frown and search 'Vannus'. A Merriam-Webster definition comes up. Excitedly, I click on the hyperlink and read the entry. I blink and quickly hit the back button; I forgot Vannus could mean that. I clear the search bar and stare in frustration at the computer screen. "Hey, what was that Greek name Vannus was talking about?" I ask.

"Tee-oh-nem-muh." Mikey answers.

"Right." I search 'Tionemma'. A Wikipedia article comes up. I hesitate, remembering how Vannus had multiple meanings, then shrug and click on it.

Immediately I grin. "Found it." I decree.

"No way." Raph says.

"Yes way. Listen." I retort, "'Tionemma is regarded as the Greek goddess of imagination. She is said to preside over a place where all dreams, hopes, and myths come true. Some believe that she is the female form of Morpheus, Greek god of dreams.'"

"Huh. Well I'll be." Raph declares.

"There's more." I proclaim, continuing to read from the article. "'Tionemma is a minor goddess, appearing only in newly found myths. She was unveiled less than a year ago, her first appearance being in an ancient Grecian scroll documenting all known gods and goddesses from that time period. Very little is known about Tionemma, due to her recent discovery and small role in Greek mythology. She I often recognized by two distinct symbols: a large golden eye…'" I pause and beam. "'And her sacred animal, the turtle."

All of the fanfictions Donnie notes are personal favorites of mine and belong to their respective authors. If you see an error in my story or would like your story exempted from mine, do not hesitate to let me know. Below are the stories featured, in chronological order. I highly recommend all of them.

AprilX7 by aliengirl13

Turtle Pie by Donnie's Kunoichi

Turtles Meet Trouble by Idalia-Although it does not specifically apply to this crossover or even mention that the 'creatures' are Sonic and company, this crossover is what the idea was based off of.

My Mr Turtle by Andrea O'Down

Blue by Turtle Babe-The scene I use is not actually presented in the story.

I also do not own TMNT, Van's Fiction, Merriam-Webster, Wikipedia, or any other brand names I mentioned but forgot to disclaim.