Chapter Text
“Guys, uh, I don't think we should be so close to the edge,” came Leonardo's voice as his brother stood around a strange new hole in the sewer.
“Come on Leo. It's probably perfectly safe. At most it just leads to a deeper tunnel, and we have to swim back home a little late.” Leo looked over to the third oldest brother Donatello who was looking closely at some blue glowing moss on the edges. The youngest, Michelangelo, leaned over the purple mask clad brother, reaching out a hand to poke it.
“Oooh, what's that?” Donatello, startled, jumped a little and caused Mikey to go off balance. Matching yells and suddenly the two were falling, disappearing into the large dark void of a pit.
“Mikey! Donnie,” Leo and his brother Raphael, the oldest called out in union. With a shared look they jumped in after them, joining them in the dark.
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Leo hadn't remembered passing out during the fall, but new thing he knew, he had come to in a bed of golden flowers. He sat up, and lying around him were three… humans? One was larger than the other two, and was wearing a red mask that resembled Raphael's, skin dark as if he had spent a lot of time in the sun. His skin was scarred, his thick and curly hair a dark, nearly black, brown. The second one wore a purple mask, he was lanky with pale skin, light brown hair a mop on his head. And the final one wore an orange mark, blond curls resting on his head, and skin a soft caramel color. It took two seconds for Leo to see his own hand and realize what happened, and for the orange marked Mikey to awaken.
“Wh- Who are you people,” he yelped as he scrambled up, bright baby blue eyes wide.
“Mikey, it's me, Leo,” Leo responded calmly as Donnie and Raph awoke, blinking away the sleep as if they had just taken an afternoon nap instead of falling down a hole.
After a bit more scrambling and panic, Donatello summarized that they must have fallen through some portal an into an alternate dimension where they were human. They were all clad in their mask still, but now wore matching green sweaters with stripes matching their mask in dual lines on them, along with cargo shorts. None of them had their weapons or technology on them, so they weren't quite sure what to do, until Leo spotted a doorway with a large fancy arch.
Had that been there before?
Leo shook his head and called to his brothers, nodding at it. “Other dimension or not, I’m the team leader, and we need to find out what's going on. Follow me.” Leo started towards the door, ignoring the soft flowers as they trickled off into stones under his boot covered feet. Peeking through he saw a light, it shined down on a particular patch of grass, and raised a brow as his brother trailed in after him.
Then suddenly, there was a flower. And it had a face.
“Well you're not from around here, are ya? Howdy! My name is Flowey. Flowey the flower. Welcome to the underground.”
“Dudes. This is so sweet ! That flower can talk!” Mikey pushed pash Raph, ignoring his growl as he grinned at the other.
“Someone will have to show you how things work around here. I guess little ‘ol me will have to do.” Suddenly, a large white box surrounded the four of them, and in front of each of them, a glowing heart had appeared. In front of Raphael, a red one, which Flowey seemed very keen on watching. In front of Leo, a light blue one, in front of Donnie, a purple, and in front of Mikey, a green one. “See those hearts? They are your SOUL, the very culmination of your being. Your SOUL starts off weak but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What’s LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course.”
Leo didn't like the sound of that, and judging my Raph and Donnie's faces, they didn't either. Mikey was currently trying to grab his, but all his hand did was pass harmlessly through it. “Down here, LOVE is shared through. . . Little white. . . ‘friendliness pellets.’ Are you ready? Just think to move your hearts around and try to catch as many as you can!”
Suddenly there were four little pellets flying towards the boys. Leo, Raph, and Donnie all moved, but Mikey hadn't noticed until the pellet hit him. A scratch appeared on his cheek and he yelped, falling back. Behind them a little bar of health with ‘Michelangelo’ above it lowered. It was almost like… A video game! Leo didn't have time to ponder that thought as the flowers face morphed into something much more threatening.
“ You idiots . In this world, it's kill or be killed . And what idiot would pass up an opportunity like this? ” Suddenly the small pellets had surrounded each of them, slowly closing in as the flower cackled. Mikey was still hunched over slightly, clearly in pain. Leo looked around, searching for a way out when suddenly, all the pellets were gone. “Huh?”
They turned and spotted a ball of fire, that slammed into the flower, sending it flying off into the shadows, as a lady, who was also a goat, stepped out into the light. “What a horrible creature, picking on such poor, innocent beings.” Slowly, she turned to face them, eyes gentle and loving as the box flickered out of existence. “Do not be afraid my children, it is I, Toriel. I am the caretaker of the ruins. Come with me.”
She turned and hurried out before they had a chance to question her, even Raphael too stunned to say anything. Leo managed to find his voice first. “A mutant?”
“It would seem so,’ Donatello said thoughtfully. “I say follow her. We'll just need to be prepared in case she sets up traps for us.”
“So after we were nearly killed by an evil flower we're just gonna trust her,” Raph asked in disbelief, looking at Leo. “I can't believe this. We don't even know where we are. Mikey is hurt-”
Leonardo cut him off as he moved over to their rising youngest brother. “Raph, what choice do we have? Currently, we're trapped in, dare I say, a video game. The only way out, is to beat it.”
“A video game? Sweet’” Makey said, looking around. “Well if Leo is right, and I hope he is, then we have to play along. And by video game logic, that means the goat mutant lady is good, and she's going to teach us how to play. You could say, that Toriel, is a tu-Toriel.” He
laughed, blond hair bouncing with his bodies movements.
Leo nodded. “Let's hope he's right, since there doesn't seem to be another way out.” He started forward, past a glaring Raphael and into the next hall.
The walls were purple as they went along, before Raphael paused, staring at a particular spot. “You guys see that?”
“See what Raphael’” asked Leo, looking at the blank wall. “There isn't anything there.”
“What do you mean? There's a star there.” He walked over, reaching out a hand. Once his hand touched a particular spot, he froze, a soft glow filling the hall. The wind seems to pick up and suddenly Mikey's health bar appears, filling back up. Only then does Raphael seem to snap out of it.
“So I'm the only one who can see the save points? Weird.” He stared it down for a few more seconds before shrugging. “Come.on guys. We got a goat lady to catch up to.”