Greetings Cyberfriend!
As par for the TMNT life course, we’ve been busy busy busy! The past few weeks have felt like… well, many weeks of the past! Several old friends and foes have reappeared these past 2 months… not always for the best!
After taking a few weeks of vacation, I decided that it was time to get back to work on my Chronoshift wand… a device that is closely related to the Time Sceptre that Renet used to zap us around time and space a few years ago. I must admit that this is technology that utterly baffles me more often than not, but I think I’m getting a better comprehension for the physics involved with the device. I know that I’ll eventually figure it out… since I’ve met the future me on several occasions, and I told me so (which is a pretty weird experience, let me tell ya!)
So, as I was trying to generate a small interdimensional “poke” or “rift” (which I hoped would have no ill effect on anything), I accidently made a hole through the time/space continuum that was large enough for something to get through. I think this was a result of a brief power surge created by some unforseen static electricity created by a poorly shielded adapter to the gigagenerator. The surge was microscopic in levels, but the generator supercharges energy so dramatically that a miniature spike of power created a massive boost. I probably should have used a different material for the adapter… perhaps if I could cast some sort of porcelain acrimite, I might be able to avoid the electrical problems. Hmmm… perhaps I should go through what’s left of the equipment that we salvaged from the Utroms to see if I can find the material as a reference point. There are real similarities between the Triceraton Transmat and the theories behind time travel. Maybe there’s something there that I’ve overlooked in the past. The Triceratons used a material consisting of super-dense carbon, which is unavailable on Earth… perhaps this material could serve as a catalyst for my new adapter… hmmmm…
Oops!!! I’m losing my chain of thought here! I’m sorry! That tends to happen when I start thinking about my experiments! Where was I? Oh yes! The rift allowed someone to cross their dimension into ours… and as Fate would have it… it was Renet herself! I took this as a very positive sign, that was until I saw what was chasing her! It was a whole squadron of Triceratons, with laser rifles and grim visages (not that they are capable of any other)! There was no way to seal the rift in time to stop all of the evil aliens from getting through, but I did hit the “kill switch” in time to prevent most of them from making the hop. When the energy field subsided, Renet and I were staring 3 Triceraton warriors in the eye… uh oh!
They demanded that Renet turn over the Sacred Sands of Time Sceptre, which she had apparently “borrowed” from her overseer, Lord Simultaneous, once again. I reminded her what had happened the last time that she did this… and she reminded me that this time the consequences seemed more dire (she had a point! I was in my lab gear, with no means of defense within easy reach… and those Triceraton warriors looked angry and had itchy trigger fingers). Renet is a nice lady, but she isn’t especially gifted with forethought… but faced with handing over the Sceptre, she chose what was perhaps the best thing to do in this situation… she activated it!
Renet invoked the device to send us back to Earth in the year 65,000,000 BC. Apparently Renet is a fan of “Jurassic Park”! As the Fates would have it, the five of us were transported back in time right into the midst of a titanic battle of beasts! An entire herd of real live (and smelly!) triceratops were being attacked by a large group of tyrannosaurs (which, unbelievably… smelled even worse! This is coming from a guy who lives in the sewers to boot!) I assure you that the tyrannosaurs were hunting the triceratops! There have been recent theories that the T Rex was not a hunter, but actually a large scavenger… but these guys were not sitting idly by, waiting for the triceratops to die of old age… they were doing their best to inflict some serious unnatural causes on the shorter dinos!
The smell of blood and battle momentarily distracted all of us, but particularly the Triceratons themselves. I suppose that this group was not very familiar with what their potential ancestors looked like, so the sight was awe-inspiring for them. Even more so, some type of “pack metality” must have kicked in, because the warriors started blasting the T Rexes to protect their “kinsmen”! Renet wanted to use the Sceptre to escape while this was happening, but I told her that we couldn’t possibly leave them stranded here on Earth in this era, as no one could know what consequences it might bring. This was followed by a brief and annoying argument about the anomalous aspects of time travel (“Maybe we’re supposed to leave them here!” “No we’re not!” kind of stuff). As we argued, we were bushwhacked by yet another dino! A small pterodactyl decided that we looked like easy prey, so it swooped down and made its attack. Fortunately, it squawked and hissed as it made its descent, so we had warning (otherwise, we would have been totally eaten!) It was heading right for Renet! I managed to dive and cover her just as the beast’s huge “beak” bit into my shell (which luckily enough, survived the assault with little more than a few scratches). However, as I hit Renet, she lost hold of the Sceptre, and it flew into the air… and of course the blasted ptery caught it!
As the creature started gaining altitude, taking with it our only hopes for returning home, I knew I had to act fast! One of the Triceraton warriors was about 10 yards from us, blasting away at the T Rexes… who were holding up unusually well against the lasers. I guess their small brains don’t allow them to feel much pain… or at least they don’t have the capacity to worry about it! One of the Triceratons wasn’t so lucky, as I noticed a lone laser rifle and a chewed up boot about 5 yards beyond the firing warrior. We needed this gun to fire at the ptery, either in hopes that he’d drop the Sceptre or to (regretably) shoot it down from the sky.
So I made like a ninja and vaulted over the firing Triceraton and did a shoulder roll to reach the fallen laser rifle. This got the attention of both an agile T Rex and the Triceraton warrior, who turned his gun my way. I had the rifle, but I had no time to aim and fire on either of my adversaries! The warrior had me dead in his sights, and the tyrannosaur was closing in too fast from behind for me to get a shot off… just as I was thinking it was all over for me, the Triceraton fired a shot into the T Rex! The beast didn’t slow its attack… but it did change targets! It went after the warrior! In one swift leap it was on him! He cried out “Save my brother!” and then he was killed! It was horrible!
Just then Renet screamed that the ptery was getting away! Remembering my mission, I took aim and shot the creature in the behind. It squawked and the Sceptre fell from its mouth! I yelled to Renet to retrieve it as I turned to face the smaller T Rex, which was wobbling very badly… apparently the last shot from the Triceraton had injured it severely, as before I could make my mind up whether or not to fire at it, it fell over in a heap. I heard the final Triceraton call out for help, and turned to find him cornered by two very large tyrannosaurs! He had stopped firing for some reason… I think he was in shock (as was I, no doubt!) I took aim and blasted one of the Rexes in the eye, and both turned on me. The eye shot had worked, as I could tell it had blinded the monster. I quickly fired again into the beast’s other eye as the second beast ran towards me. What I hadn’t counted on was their sense of smell, as the blind one turned and attacked the warrior! He tried to leap aside, but his leg was caught briefly in those massive jaws and crushed. With the warrior down, the blind T Rex turned my way… but I had other problems! The other tyrannosaur was bearing down on me! Just as it prepared to leap on me and squish me like a bug, a rogue triceratops came bolting out of the jungle and stabbed its huge horns into the unprotected belly of the T Rex! The attack had caught it totally by surprise, and it had suffered injuries serious enough to kill it!
The triceratops kicked dirt around and pushed the Rex carcass with its mighty horns, but the tyrannosaur was definitely dead. The triceratops then eyed the blind T Rex, which was sniffing the air uneasily and slowing for a retreat… to no avail! The big triceratops called out and then at least a full half dozen full grown triceratops exploded out of the jungle and smashed into the Rex from all directions! The tyrannosaur didn’t have a chance to escape, and was quickly defeated by those that it once hunted! It was a terrible but awesome sight to see!
Renet came up behind me with the Sceptre. Once again she insisted that we leave, but I told her we had to save the Ticeraton warrior, as his brother had surely saved my life. Why he did this, I have no idea… probably he wanted to see that T Rex dead… but I’m not so sure. This will baffle me for the rest fo my life!
As we turned to check on the injured warrior’s condition, we saw quite an unusual sight! Several smaller triceratops had gathered around him and were licking his wounds. The alien warrior was out cold… and we weren’t sure what we should do. Then, the big ‘tops who had killed the huge Rex gronked again, and the female dinos walked away from the Triceraton. I swear that this next part is true, despite how absurd that it sounds! Then the large ‘tops motioned his head towards the fallen warrior, as if to tell us it was alright to take him now. The dinos eyes resonated with a keen intelligence… I’m sure that it was very sentient! Absolutely positive!!!
We walked cautiously over to the the fallen Triceraton… on the way we passed the corpses of 5 tyrannosaurs and 3 triceratops. We heard the shrieks and cries of the scavengers, already on their way to get what meat that they could. There was a group of 3 little ‘tops standing by a fallen animal that must have been their mother… this was heart-breaking… but there was nothing that we could do now. As we reached the Triceraton, the big ‘tops called out again and his troops made their way into the jungle… the 3 little ones falling in behind their leader. Just as the big one was disappearing into the forest as rear guard for his clan, he turned to look back at us… and I swear once again… he nodded!
I quickly assessed that the Triceratons damage wasn’t life threatening, but he certainly needed medical attention… the saliva of the ‘tops may help his wounds, or it might cause a terrible infection… either way, the leg was in bad shape and needed to be looked after in a hospital. I told Renet that she’d have to use the Sceptre to take us to a Triceraton warship, where the warrior could get the help that he needed. He’d surely lose the leg if we took him back to the sewer… I don’t have the equipment needed to perform surgery on an alien (mutants I can handle, but not aliens!)
Needless to say, Renet was very unhappy about this! “They’ve, like, been hunting me! I’m not gonna help him! Like, no way!” Believe it or not, this is how she talks…
Anyway, I told her again that I was honor bound to save this Triceraton, and that’s what we had to do, otherwise I would be ashamed. I asked her very nicely (i.e. begged) to help me, and she finally agreed. She used the magic words to invoke the Sceptre’s unbelievable powers, and we were standing in the sick bay of a Tirceraton warship. The doctor about fell over when he saw us, but he quickly composed himself. He actually recognized me somehow… I guess the TMNT have a bit of a rep with the Triceratons. At first he was going to call the guards, but I quickly explained the story. When he inspected the hurt warrior, he disclosed that he was not a member of the official Triceraton Armed Force, but rather a mercenary. His theory was that the Triceratons that we encountered were hired by someone unknown to get the Sceptre from Renet… he said that the Triceratons have no use for the rod, as the Transmat provides them with all the power that they need. I didn’t believe him, but I wasn’t going to argue with him on a Triceraton warship!
My duty fulfilled, Renet and I departed as quickly as possible! She brought me home, and since then, I have not worked on my Time Wand since! She thanked me for the help… although now I’m not too sure if my device had opened that rift or if Renet had used her Sceptre to do it. Hmmm. As happened last time, Lord Simultaneous turned up and scolded Renet, and the pair were gone in a flash of cosmic energy. I hope she doesn’t get into too much trouble. Simultaneous is a loud mouth, but he seems to be a nice being.
For now, I’ll have to assume that my Time Wand is working to some degree, but obviously more tests are needed. But first, I have to ensure that the device is safe! Maybe now that I’ve thought about the adapter components I’ll get back to work on it. I’ll bet that if I could just find enough of that super-dense carbonite, I can not only shield the adapter properly, but perhaps even boost the gigagenerators abilities… maybe if I… well… time to get back to work! Take care!
And remember this… you can’t always believe everything that you read in books! Particularly where dinosaurs are concerned!!!
Your friend,
Donatello
