Chapter Text
His current predicament was... less than ideal. Surrounded by Kraang Subordinates on all sides was not on his list for this mission. He was dead sure it wasn’t on his sensei’s list either, given how reluctant he was to agree to this mission, so much so to the point he flat out denied it before Donatello could finish his sentence.
The Kraang were saying something to him, tones low and almost mocking. The boy didn’t care to listen to their words, instead mapping out the best possible escape routes.
He muttered something incomprehensible, his words lost to the point where he didn’t understand the sounds coming from his own mouth. The one this he did know was that he needed to run . Run fast.
Casey sucked in a harsh breath, shifting his weight onto his good leg as he faced one of the Kraang head on. He released his grip on his shoulder, pulling his compressed hockey stick out of his pocket and flicked it down. The improvised weapon snapped to its full length and not a moment later he lunged at the Kraang, kicking off his good foot.
He drove the hockey stick through the Kraang’s eye, yanking it out when the alien stumbled back and fell on its back. He dove off the struggling frame of the Kraang and under a beam shot his way. The boy kicked up some dirt as he started running without being fully upright, using the imbalance of his body to gather speed.
“ GET HIM! ” One of the Kraang screeched, and though Casey didn’t dare look back, he knew they were on his tail. He could practically feel the oversized erasers breathing down his back. He jumped over the swing of one’s mechanical tail, hearing the same Kraang that had screamed reprimand the one that had swung. Saying something that he didn’t care to hear.
He weaved through the messy, decayed terrain, sliding and ducking under fallen debris and scaling up short-cut pillars to gain leverage between him and the alien invaders. The sounds of their footsteps and yelling grew quieter and quieter until he couldn’t hear them anymore. He skid to a stop, grimacing at the pain his ankle and shoulder shot through his leg.
“ Casey? ” Donatello’s voice crackled though his com, shaky and glitchy almost. “ Casey, do you read me? ”
‘ Please, please, please, plea- ’ Don’s desperate, quiet rambling was cut off.
“I... I’m here... I’m alive...” He panted out, “I’m... I-I'm fi-… alive .”
“ Oh thank Pizza Supreme in the sky ! ”
“A... what?”
“ Are you okay? Your heart rate is elevated and you’re panting. ” He ignored the boy’s question.
“I’m okay... I... dislocated my shoulder and I think... I... twisted my ankle.”
Don cursed quietly under his breath. “ I should’ve listened to Leo! This was a horrible idea; Topside is far too dangerous for someone like you to be running around! ” He groaned, muffled voice sounding like he was holding his hands over his beak.
“Hey, it’s okay! You wouldn’t have even known this would happen.”
“ Thats the problem , Case. We should’ve known. We did know! The Kraang weren’t supposed to be in that area, that’s why we sent you. ”
The genius groaned loudly in frustration. “ This is all my fault! If I hadn’t had the idea to let you go topside, you wouldn’t be God knows where running from God knows what ! ” He punctuated the last word by slamming his fist on his desk.
“I-” His attempt at reassuring his uncle was cut before he could finish even one word, instead quickly morphing into a high-pitched squeal as the magenta blur of a bullet from a plasma cannon whizzed past his face mere inches away.
“ Case? Casey what was that? ” Don asked, “ Hey! Answer me! ”
Casey ignored the pleas of his uncle, staring behind him into the empty fog as he started to run... only to bang into the hard, metallic exosuit of a Kraang.
“ Careful, you idiot. ” One of the Kraang, a tall, scarred Kraang, growled to the one he had run into.
“ You stay away from him. ” Don hissed through the coms.
The Kraang he ran into snorted, gripping Casey by his arm- harshly, he might add -when he tried to turn and run. His back was pulled flush against the alien’s chest as he crushed his com completely, the last protests of his uncle crackling out in an instant. The boy thrashed and struggled in the stronger’s hold, kicking its legs with the back of his heels.
“ Hold still! ” The Kraang growled lowly, bringing something up to the boy’s mouth. Said thing clicked around his jaw and nose, claw-like appendages latching themselves to the skin just below and above his ears to hold the metal mask firmly in place. To say it hurt was an understatement. It burned on his skin, digging into it and drawing blood. He bit his tongue to silence any noise of pain or discomfort that was trying to claw its way up his throat. He wouldn’t allow these... monsters any satisfaction, if that’s what they’re even looking for. Kraang Prime sure looked happy as his mom screamed in pain as she was tortured, as she was ripped apart by its hands.
“ The brats bleeding. ” The Kraang holding him said.
The taller hummed in acknowledgement. “ We have to clean him up on the ship, then. Prime wouldn’t be happy if we gave him the boy injured... ” Its thoughts seemed to wander for just a moment before it circled to kneel in front of the human. Not quite eye level, as he still loomed over him, but it was good enough.
Casey looked the Kraang- the actual Kraang within the exosuit –over, soon realizing it to be one of the few Kraang that had attacked Commander O’Neil with the Kraang Sister a few years ago. He still remembers watching from a distance as his aunt fought until she had collapsed and passed out from her injuries. She had taken the Kraang Sister head on and irreversibly damaged her, even with her own blood coating half the battlefield. The scars on this Kraang were no ordinary scars. They were acid scars, from April herself.
His daydream, as morbid as it was, of his aunt was quickly cut short as the Kraang gripped his chin with one hand to tilt it up and his shoulder in the other hand. Casey let nothing but the start of a noise and a hard huff leave his mouth and nose, wincing ever-so-slightly at the pain, though it was mostly fear if the boy was being honest.
The Kraang took notice, watching a bead of sweat run down the side of his forehead.
“ No need to be scared, we’ll take good care of you. ” This did not calm him down, eyes widening as he squirmed in futility. He jerked his chin from the alien’s hold and kicked it in where the groin would be. The Kraang doubled over, hissing in pain. It quickly recovered and growled lowly at him, gripping his chin like a vice and pulling his head towards it with a quick jerk.
Casey glared at it, the bangs of his now messy hair casting shade over his eyes. The Kraang returned the glare with twice as much ire and hatred as the boy had. He doubled down and shot an even more intense glare at the alien, catching it by surprise.
The Kraang eyed him for a moment before a smug, satisfied smile crossed its face accompanied by a low chuckle.
“ I like this one. Got bite to ‘em. ”
Casey jerked away once again, turning his head to the side and staring off into the distance.
“ I’ll admit, human. You’ve piqued my interest. I see now why Prime wants you in specific. ”
He turned in surprise to the Kraang, tilting his head to the side and cocking a brow slightly up in a silent ‘what?’. The alien barked out a laugh. “ As if I’d fully know. ”
Casey groaned internally in annoyance.
“ Tell you what, kid. If you promise not to run off and follow us back to the ship, we won’t restrain you. ” The Kraang used that condescending, light tone one would use on a young child when trying to persuade them.
The boy once again glared at the Kraang, but nodded nonetheless. He had to force himself not to stumble over as his feet once again touched the ground.
…
He didn’t quite expect to see an extravagantly painted and decorated, giant fighter ship. But he also didn’t expect to be gripped tightly by the forearm and led immediately to a... rather lavish holding cell. As lavish as magenta and pink on everything and a nice-looking bed in the corner could be. There were three windows above the bed on the back wall, all in a row. That was about it for the contents of the room. Walls bare, windows barred shut from the outside. It really did feel like a holding cell even if it didn’t look like one.
“ Make yourself comfortable, it’s a few days trip to the technodrome. ” The Kraang, which he realized to be the leader of this squadron of God knows how many Kraang, said. “ I’ll send someone to treat those injuries of yours. ”
Casey rolled his eyes visibly, sitting down on the bed and scooting to the wall. He crossed his legs and leaned his head against the cold, metal surface, exhaling loudly after the door had clicked shut. He sat there for a moment. Staring at the ceiling and not quite thinking of much. He was stuck on a Kraang ship, muzzled, with a dislocated shoulder and a twisted ankle. He didn’t even know where he was, with his communicator broken he had no way to tell.
This... was going to be a long, long ride.