Chapter Text
One of the first things that Casey noticed about the past was how bright and loud it was. There were just so many people here, walking around like nothing was wrong. It was unnerving in a strange way. “Wow…” He couldn’t help but whisper in awe at the sight of the city.
A bit unsure of where he should go from here, Casey jumped off the roof he was perching on and began weaving his way through alleyways. Taking out the picture that Master Leonardo had drawn the key on, staring at it wondering how on earth he was going to find it with so much ground to cover. Soon shoving the photo back into his pocket in order to climb up a taller building to get a better view of the city.
He had only been through the portal for less than a couple of hours and he had already seen so much that his sensei talked about. The huge upright buildings, the mass crowds making enough noise to give him a headache, the neon signs with lights so bright they burned his eyes, and air that didn’t smell like burnt flesh but smelt odd to him. The whole situation was incredibly overwhelming. He just wanted to get the key and finish his mission but he couldn't deny the curiosity of seeing what else there was out there. When you grew up in an age where making a sound was pretty much a death sentence, the constant noise was quite distracting.
I’ve got to figure out a way to find the key before anyone else does.
Even though he was exhausted, Casey tried to think of what to do now that he was here, trying to drown out the sounds of cars and people. Taking a deep breath he focused on taking one step at a time as he walked down the street. The streets were packed full of people all heading in different directions. The buildings looked new and sleek compared to the rundown, demolished ones he knew from his time. Looking out across the city, Casey could see skyscrapers reaching higher and higher into the sky, the sun just barely starting to peek out between the cracks of the structures. The view was both breathtaking and terrifying at the same time. Since the sun was something he had never seen before, he couldn’t help but continue to stare. Casey managed to pull his eyes away from the sight after watching for more than he thought was needed, suppressing a yawn right after.
It was hard enough trying not to trip over his own feet when he felt so tired, never mind trying to navigate a place he had no clue on how to get around without being seen. Some of the streets held some hint of familiarity, remembering some storefronts that he may remember from raiding them for supplies in the future. But despite all that he still felt lost in what seemed like a maze to him. The fact that he hadn’t slept in a few days probably didn’t help his thought process much either.
The teen could see the sun rising in the distance, the rays of light appearing behind the buildings and trees were slowly lightly up the city in a golden glow. Casey felt like his body was slowly shutting down. He took another glance down at the photo in his hand. Taking a moment to stare at the sight he had missed out on his entire life, he quickly went to find cover in an abandoned building so he wouldn’t be seen out in the open.
He sat himself on the cold floor and laid the photo out before him. Keeping his head tilted to the side, he studied the image carefully as if it would tell him what to do. The photo was at least comforting in a way. The smiling faces without a care in the world reminded him that there was a chance to change things.
His eyes landed on Commander O’ Neil in the picture. She was human. She was probably out in the open on the surface all the time. He could find her and trail her to wherever the turtle's hideout was and find out how to stop them from losing the key in the first place. Holding the photo closer to his face, Casey used his mask to scan it for smaller details. The name of a college on her hoodie was a good place to start his search.
It seemed like a good plan. Casey didn’t want to outright go to the turtles, who knows what that would do to the timeline. Then there was the fact that they might not even believe him or what he had to tell them. He may know what they were like in the future but so much could’ve happened between now and then.
Not that he would admit it but he was honestly kind of nervous to face them more than anything.
Casey used his mask to map out a way to the university she was attending. He thought hard about what he should do next, the college was located a fair distance outside the city walls. If he left now, he would have to walk through the streets until he reached the edge of town. It was bright outside and his armor wasn't exactly inconspicuous.
Casey slumped against the wall of the old building and decided he might as well rest before tracking down his commander once it was dark enough that he could blend in with the shadows while he searched for any sign of her location. The feeling of pure exhaustion hit him suddenly like a ton of bricks. After getting his bearings, he stood up and stretched before he started looking around for somewhere safe to spend the night. Finding a small hole in the brick wall of the building, he crawled inside and curled up into a tight ball. Making sure to have his hockey stick in arms reach just in case.
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The weight of his sensei leaning on him didn’t stop Casey from running through the carnage of the fallen resistance. Sounds of Kraang monsters chasing them were nothing but white noise to the teen as he half dragged Leonardo up the steep incline by his one good arm. “Don’t worry sensei, we're almost there.” He reassured the turtle when he let out a grunt of pain. The older’s torso was bleeding at an alarming rate and from what Casey could see, Michelangelo was the only one left besides them and a few stragglers. Upon reaching the top, Casey collapsed in exhaustion, chest burning from the heat paired with the dust and ash in the air around him. The voices of the red eared slider and box turtle floated around him but he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the ringing in his ear. He was pulled out of his daze when Leonardo gripped his shoulder and made eye contact with him. “Casey I need you to listen carefully, Michelangelo is going to send back in time a few days before the key was stolen ok? This,” He took out a picture of him and his siblings and flipped it over to draw a crude picture of a cylinder shape with carving and markings, “is the key that opened the portal. You need to find the key and stop the Kraang, understand?” He said seriously, giving the photo to Casey. “W-wait what!?” He exclaimed, looking between the two turtles frantically. He watched as Michelangelo began intricately moving his hands, bright orange light surrounded him as golden-orange cracks worked their way up his arms. Skin slowly flaking away, Michelangelo was soon nothing but dust blowing in the wind. Casey wasn’t even given time to grieve before he was pretty much thrown into the portal by Leo. The last thing Casey saw of the turtle was him getting blown to bits by a red laser.
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Casey woke up with a jolt, hitting his head on the roof of the nook he was trying to sleep in. His mouth felt dry and tasted of metal. Reaching up to feel his face, he noticed that he had been sleeping with his mask on. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was still in the same place and that he had fallen asleep at.
Shuffling out of the small cranny he had shoved himself in, Casey stretched and groaned before wrapping his arms around himself and shivered. It felt so much colder in New York at this point in time. Then again there weren’t any Kraang constantly setting things on fire to cause destruction along with the sun setting and failing to warm the streets with it's heat.
Leaving through a broken window frame, Casey started the route for the first location he was going to search. Jumping along rooftops, he tried to wrap his cape tightly around himself in an attempt to stay warm in the crisp night. So distracted by the temperature and wanting to get to his destination as quickly as possible, he failed to see a manhole cover shift before opening, a group of figures discreetly entering the alleyway as he rushed to get to the college before dawn.