Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Mikey! Mikey, stop, he's gone!"

Raphael grabbed him by the shoulders.

"LEO!"

Mikey growled, begging the tiny orange circle of light to grow bigger. He could see Leo's shell, he was so close! 

Donnie raced in front of him and cupped his cheeks. 

"Michael, look at your arms! It's not working, it's over."

Mikey sobbed, falling to his knees. His arms felt like they were on fire, scales blew away behind him in chunks.

"LEO! Just- just a little more, I can reach him!"

"I'm not losing another brother today." Raph picked Mikey up, grunting softly as he dragged him away from the roof. 

The portal fizzled and disappeared, showing one last glimpse of Leo's bloody face. 

"April's bringing the turtle tank over right now. Angelo, we need to wrap your arms-"

"I don't care! We can't give up on Leo!"

Raph frowned and hugged Mikey closer. He nearly fell out of his arms from the force of Raph's shaking. His voice cracked, barely holding back tears. 

"We're not giving up on him, Mikey, I promise. But this ain't working. Come on, we'll- we'll regroup, find Barry. He's bound to know more than we do about this stuff."

"Leo doesn't have that kind of time! He's all alone with those- those things, he won't survive!"

Donnie's fingernails dug into his arms, refusing to look at his brothers. "Leo's strong. We just need to have faith."

Mikey whined and leaned into Raph's chest, clinging tight. His voice cracked and Raph was struck with the reminder of how young his little brother is.  "Donnie, what if he dies in there?"

Donnie froze for a moment, silent, then sighed.

"Then we bring his body home and give him a proper burial." 

Their communicators buzzed and April's voice rang through. 

"Guys, I'm right under you with the tank. I've got CJ and Splinter, too."

"Thanks, April. Everyone alright on your end?"

"Nothing a couple days rest can't fix. You?"

"Donnie's shell and Mikey's hands need to be looked at."

"What about you, big guy?"

"Nothing that can't wait until we're safe for the night."

Casey's voice chimed in softly in the background, "Sensei…"

Raph tightened his grip on Mikey. "We'll figure something out, we'll bring him home one way or another. Hang tight, we'll be down in a few."

Draxum frowned, kneeling in front of Michelangelo.

"I need to see your wounds."

Mikey crossed his arms and burrowed into his hoodie. "I'm fine, Dad already looked them over."

"Your father is not familiar with mystic injuries. I know you are hurting, Michelangelo, but if your hands are as damaged as I fear, they will only get worse if I don't treat them now."

Mikey sighed and reluctantly held his arms out, looking away.

"Thank you, " Draxum carefully rolled up his sleeves and unwrapped the bandages.  He sighed, examining closely, "The damage is intense, but not quite as bad as I feared. You and your brothers are far too careless with your powers. It's a miracle you're even alive right now."

"I had to, Leo-"

"Leonardo knew exactly what he was risking when he entered that portal. Opening a portal into that place takes mystic strength like you couldn’t imagine. Even I am not strong enough on my own.”

“Then who would be?”

Draxum sighed, re-wrapping Mikey’s arms. “Big Mama may be, but it would be a struggle even for her. I’ll begin researching tomorrow, for now we all need to rest.”

“How long do you think it’d take for you?”

“Three months, at the least.”

“Leo doesn’t have that much time.”

Baron cupped Michelangelo’s cheek, sorrow and pity filling his eyes. “All we can do for now is heal and keep hope. …I’ll be back with food in an hour, just try to breathe.”

With a pat on the head and a squeeze of his shoulder, Draxum once again left Mikey alone. Mikey waited until he heard the clicking of hooves against the tile kitchen floor before standing and grabbing his nun-chucks.



He was gone before anyone noticed, leaving behind a note on a scrap of torn sketchbook paper.

‘Leo never gave up on us, I’m not giving up on him.
I’m sorry.
Love, Michelangelo.’

Chapter Text

Mikey winced as he swang from building to building, using his mystic chains like a grappling hook. His arms felt like they were going to fall off any moment. 

The city held up surprisingly well, but the rebuilding process would definitely be a long one. A surge of pride hit his heart, seeing Cassandra lead her scouts in providing first aid for all the citizens they could find. She really had come so far in the last few months, it was nice to see how she was recovering after a lifetime of Foot Clan influence. Maybe she could help Casey adjust, they looked so similar they could probably pass for family.

"ORANGE TURTLE!"

Aw, nuts.

Mikey sighed and dropped to the ground. 

"Cass, I'm really in a hurry right now."

Cassandra crossed her arms. "Where are the other ones?"

"They're with Draxum, he's patching everyone up and I think they're staying the night there too, the lair's pretty smashed."

"And you're not with them, why?"

Mikey’s eyes darted back to the rooftops, itching to leave. “We lost Leo in the fight, I think I can get him back if I’m fast enough.”


“And the other turtles aren’t joining you? That’s suspiciously out of character.”

“I’ll explain when I can. Look, Casey, I need a favor.”


She raised an eyebrow.

Mikey took a deep breathe “I can’t explain yet, just… I might not be home for a while. Look after my brothers for me, okay?”


“MIchelangelo, you have my word. And I demand a full debriefing in my Instagram DMs by midnight tomorrow!”


Mikey smiled. “Thanks, Cass. I’ll see you when I see you.”


A small girl with warpaint and blood splattered all over her face ran up, carrying a large bag.

“Commander Jones, sir! Squad Delta Squirrel Two requires assistance, sir!”


“I’ll be there in two minutes! Turtle-”


Cassandra turned her head back forward to see Mikey already gone, swinging from roof to roof once again, hurtling himself towards a miraculously still standing Grand Nexus Hotel.


“Be safe, Michael.”

Stepping into the hotel from the chaos outside was a truly bizarre experience. The only explanation for why the place was still in tip top shape was mystic intervention, but nothing he could think of explained the tone shift.

Outside the doors was a war zone, bodies and rubble and blood everywhere. Inside, he could spot yokai toasting with full martini glasses in fancy suits, chatting on as if it were just another tuesday.

They nearly lost everything, lost Leo, and these bastards didn’t even have the decency to look afraid about it. Orange sparks crackled over his ruined arms.

Mikey heard a ding and turned his head to see Big Mama saunter out of the elevator, grinning like a cat spotting a fat canary.


“Oh, Turtleyboo! I don’t believe you have a reservation.”


Mikey rolled his shoulders and did his best to channel Leo’s Devil-May-Care ‘Face Man’ energy, smirking.



“I’m sure you can make an exception for one of the turtles who just saved the entire world, including you.”


Big Mama’s eyes widened, surprised, but quickly it turned to a smirk.



“A bit more sugar than spice today, aren’t we, my little turtle dove? I presume this is not a social call.”


“I’m here to make a deal.”


“All full of surprises today. Very well, then, follow me to my office.”

“Lou, I need to speak with you in the kitchen.”



Splinter’s ear twitched and he turned to face Draxum. He looked as exhausted as Splinter felt, the most damning evidence being that his long hair that Baron seemed to take so much pride in was tangled and dirty, pulled into a messy ponytail that swooshed behind him as he reentered the kitchen.

Splinter stood slowly, wincing as he put weight on his bad leg. He patted Raph’s head as he stepped around him, the massive turtle asleep on the floor, too exhausted from everything to stay awake a moment longer, despite his protests. He wishes he could say his son looked peaceful, but his face made it perfectly clear that his dreams were troubling him just as much as his waking thoughts.


“Mm Papa?” Donnie blinked and raised his head, eyes barely open. Splinter wondered how the softshell was so fragile and yet so strong, laying under Raph in a tight hug that would’ve left Splinter’s joints aching for weeks.


“I’m just going to the kitchen, Purple, no one is leaving.” He cupped Donnie’s cheek and smiled softly.


Donnie nodded and nuzzled into his hand before laying his head back down and closing his eyes. Next to them, Casey sat, back against Raph’s shell, weapon in his lap.


“Future Boy, you should rest, too. It’s safe here, Baron is… a friend.”


“Oh, I know, Master Splinter. In my time, he’s sort of like my father.”


Splinter raised an eyebrow, silently begging him to explain.


“My mom wanted a kid, but she’s a lesbian, so Baron kinda just cloned her.”

Splinter ran a hand down his face. “Cool. Still, you look  exhausted.”



“I’m okay, I’ve only been up 42 hours, I’m fit for guard duty.”


“42 hours is far too long to be awake! There is no need for guards here, and besides, Draxum and I are still awake and Donnie has installed a top notch security system here. Rest your eyes, at least, until food is done.”

Casey gave him a confused yet grateful look and nodded, laying down against Raph’s side and holding onto his massive arm, using it as a pillow.


Apparently Splinter’s streak of adopting every troubled teen with an attitude was still going. He pulled a blanket over the three and went to the kitchen, immediately going to ruffle through the cabinets.



“I hope you have jasmine tea.”


Without looking away from the pot he stirred, Baron summoned a tendril and smacked his hand with it. “Do not interfere with my strict pantry organization.” He brought the tendril up to the cabinet and pulled a jar of leaves down. “The electric kettle is on already.”


Splinter huffed, offended, but went about making his cup.


“I am worried about Michelangelo.”

“I’m worried about all of them.”


“Don’t make this a competition, I care for them all, unfortunately, but the nature of their wounds is much different. Mystic wounds don’t heal with medicine and rest. What he’s done to his arms is incredibly dangerous. Overexerting mystic energy, as an amateur, can be poisonous. I can help, but only if I can keep a close eye on him. There’s nothing I can do until symptoms present themselves.”




Splinter felt the air leave his lungs and he gripped the counter hard enough he could hear the cheap laminate crack under his hands. The fragile wall he had in his mind, holding everything back, crumbled. He already lost his Baby Blue, why wasn’t that enough? Why were his other sons still so hurt? Why was his little Michelangelo in danger? Why couldn’t they go home? Why wasn’t it over? His son sacrificed everything to save them, why didn’t that fix everything? Why was his little boy not home? Why why why why why?




“Lou. Look at me.” Draxum squeezed Splinter’s shoulder firmly, snapping him out of his spiral. Splinter looked up at him with tear filled eyes, shaking. Hot water spilled onto the floor. When did the kettle fall?


“Your sons will be okay. We will bring Leonardo home. We will take care of Michelangelo, whatever happens. But for now, they need you to keep it together. That is the burden a father must bear, to be okay when their children aren’t. Be their rock.”


Splinter clenched his fists at his sides.

“How could I be okay in the middle of all of this?”


“You can’t. But your sons can’t see that, they’re already so lost and hurt, the last thing they need is to worry about you as well.”



Splinter felt the urge to yell, to bite, to hit something. The villains were gone, there was no one left to take out his rage on. No one he could punish for taking away his child.



“What would you know about fatherhood?”


Baron’s ear twitched and he let go of Splinter’s shoulder, going back to stirring the soup. Really, the stirring wasn’t necessary in the slightest, but this wasn’t a conversation he could hold while being idle.

“I had a child once.”



Splinter frowned, tail twitching. “What happened?”


“Humans. I don’t want to go into details now. Perhaps another time, when everything’s better, but for now just know that I understand what you’re going through. And I’m here for you, Lou.”


“Yoshi.”

“Excuse me?”


Splinter sighed, looking away. “My name, my real name, is Hamato Yoshi.”


Baron smiled, seeing the information for the olive branch it was. “Very well, Yoshi. Inform the children that dinner is ready.”

“What do you know about the prison dimension?” Mikey crossed his arms, his face serious.


“The one those nasty little pink slimebuggers crawled out of today? Not much, I’m afraid. I’m aware time doesn’t work the same there and it’s impossible to die in that place.”


“Could you make a portal there?”


Big Mama raised an eyebrow, fingers drumming on the desk.


“Of course, with some work. Why? Didn’t you and your brothers just close it?”


“Leo’s still inside.”


“Oh dear, that is quite the problemadoo, isn’t it? Very well, I can probably have him back in a couple months, maybe less, maybe more. It takes time to make a portal that powerful and stable. And, of course, we can’t let those beasties back here, can we? But… what are you offering in exchange?”



She gave Mikey a predatory smile, looking over her glasses.


“I’ll fight in the battle nexus. Whatever conditions you want, whatever weapons, as long as you want until my brother’s home. You’ve seen what I can do, I know you’re curious.”


“Mmm that is quite a scrumptious offer. Very well, then, I accept.”


She held a hand out. Mikey took it and shook, suddenly gasping. When he pulled away, his palm burned, branded with a mark resembling a spider with six glowing red eyes.


“This is going to be quite the spectacle.”

Chapter Text

“I hope you made peace with your family before you came here, you won’t be leaving until our deal is through.”


Mikey shuddered, rubbing his palm, and nodded.


“I knew what I was getting into before I came. Leo’s worth it, whatever it takes.”


Big Mama hummed and crossed her legs, leaning back in her chair. She snapped her fingers and a staff member came in, holding a tray with two glasses and a pitcher, as well as a glass of something light pink and fizzy.


“Care for some refreshments?”


“I don’t drink.”


Big Mama giggled, taking the glass and swirling it.


“Oh Heavens no, silly billy, nothing alcoholic. I may not have many standards, but encouraging underage alcoholism is not on my to-do list.”


But agreeing to enter a 14 year old in yokai death matches was no problem? Big Mama had weird priorities. Mikey reached for a water glass, but hesitated.


“Oh, fuff. Relax, darling, it’s only water. I need you fighting fit, what good would it do me to poison you now? I need you to be clear headed while we talk business.”


Mikey stared at her a moment longer before pouring himself a glass and downing it. He hadn’t realized until now how raw his throat still was from screaming and crying.


“Now, we definitely need to patch up those arms of yours first.”


“Draxum couldn’t do anything.”


“Draxum doesn’t have my experience, darling. You’ll find there’s a lot of limits he has that don’t apply to me. Hold an arm out.”


He laid his right arm on the desk. Big mama whispered something under her breath and traced a symbol with her finger. In seconds, the damage was almost completely gone.


“Oh wow.” Mikey breathed out in a quiet tone.


She repeated the process on the second arm with a smile. “It will take some time for the rest of the damage to heal, but I have this splendiferous little cream you may use that will help.”


Mikey set the glass down and stretched his arms.


“Thank you, that’s so much better.”


“Right, then. So, tonight, just get acquainted with your room and rest. And tomorrow we’ll begin designing your costume and putting out promotional material. Your first battle will be on Friday. Any questions, dearie?”


“No, ma’am, I don’t think so.”


“Aww what a polite young man you are. What do I call you again?”


“Michelangelo.”


Big Mama’s eyes widened and she cleared her throat. “Right, well, Michelangelo. My assistant will bring you to your room. I’ll see you in the morning.”


She clapped her hands and the assistant emerged out of the shadows, standing behind Mikey with stick straight posture, hands behind her back.


“Don’t let the beddy bugs bite, my Little Angie!”

Splinter walked back into the kitchen with a full soup bowl, looking confused.


Draxum raised an eyebrow, looking up from the dishes he was washing. “Yoshi?”


Splinter frowned, nose twitching. “I don’t remember who I was taking this to. I know I walked into the other room for something, but I can’t figure out what.”


Draxum dried his hands on a dish towel and leaned against the counter.




“It’s been a long day, it makes sense you’d be scatterbrained. I already gave the two turtles and the human boy their bowls.”


Splinter frowned, seeing two bowls already poured on the stove, one for him and one for Draxum.


“I must have made a bowl for Leo.”


Draxum smiled sadly, nodding.


“Perhaps. We can leave it, if you’d like. I’m unsure of your traditions, but in my clan we would leave food offerings for the spirits of the family we lost. Our son is alive, I’m sure, but... it may bring you comfort.”


Splinter couldn’t help the feeling that something deeper was very very wrong.


“Thank you, Baron. Let’s eat.”

Chapter Text

“So… what’s your name?” Mikey asked, struggling to keep up with the masked figure leading him downstairs. He tried to keep the usual bounce and pep in his voice that everyone knew him for, but it sounded fake even to him.



The figure said nothing and gestured to a solid metal door.


“In there?”


She nodded and pointed.


“Huh, three fingers. I guess we match, huh?”


She just stared back at him.


“I’m gonna tell myself you’re smiling under that mask.”


The assistant pointed to her eyes and made a rolling motion with her finger.


Mikey snorted and giggled, “Oh, you’re funny, I like you! Hey, can you not talk? You know, my brother Raph can’t talk sometimes, so me and Donnie came up with a kind of sign language that works with only having three fingers. I can teach you if you want.”


She didn’t seem to react in any way, but Mikey just shrugged it off.


“Come visit tomorrow, I’ll show you how we do the alphabet.” Mikey opened the door and stepped into a cell-like room. His stomach dropped as the gravity of the deal he made suddenly dawned on him. He had hardly set foot into the place and he already felt lonelier than he had in his entire life. “Hey, do you wanna hang-”


The assistant shut the door behind him, tucking Mikey’s phone- wait when did she snitch that? Wow, she was fast!- into a pouch on her hip.


Mikey shook out his hands, a stim he picked up from Donnie, and sat on the cot. It was only slightly more comfortable than it looked.


“You can do this, Mikey. Leo’s counting on you.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, working to ground himself.

Leo would be okay. He had to be.

Leo would like to know what god damned time it is.

There was no sun in the prison dimension and all of his devices had long since broken too much to be any use. The best he could do was guess based on how long his injuries took to heal, and even then, there’s no telling if the prison dimension slowed or accelerated his healing factor. And that only really worked for things like broken arms and stab wounds, not so much on stuff like starving to death and getting reset, or getting ripped out of his shell. Yeah, that one was very much not fun.


Leo yawned and stretched, laying down in a corner of some wrecked half of a ship.


“Man, this place doesn’t even get Saturday morning cartoons. I need to leave a bad yelp review if I ever get out of here.” He reached into his pouch and popped a handful of squishy pink goop into his mouth.


From the other side of the wall, he heard the horrible screeching of metal claws on metal. He smirked and stood, grabbing his sword.


“And the games begin. Good morning, roomie!”

Kraang Prime growled, swinging into the ship. “You have something that belongs to me, turtle.”


Leo hummed and wiggled the toes on his metal foot. “Oh, but don’t I wear it so much better?”


“Your pitiful sense of humor should have died with you.”


“Aw, well that’s just uncalled for. Aaand as much as I love our little chats, I really must be going. Better luck next time!”



Leo winked and snapped, disappearing in a flash of blue sparks.

Chapter Text

Casey did not deal with quiet well. It was easier that morning, all the hustle and bustle of fixing the lair and recovering what they could kept his mind and hands busy.

Now, he sitting on the couch next to versions of his family he didn't know: one of which was gone before he was born, and two that died years ago,  he almost missed the war. He hated himself immediately for having the thought. 

"Hey, Case?" Raph leaned gently against him. Not enough to put any weight on the boy, but just enough to remind him okay he was there. 

Casey hummed in response, but didn't look up. 

"You should change out of those clothes,  we have pajamas for you."

"Mm these are from Master Leonardo. I don't… I don't have anything else left of him. "

Raph nodded. "I kinda figured. Not saying to get rid of them, but we should at least clean them up and get you comfy."

Donnie didn't look away from the screen. He was practically laying on Raph, but reached over and tapped Casey's thigh. "They're Leo's clothes."

Donnie had been near silent all day and his voice showed it. Casey saw the meaning behind the offer. 

"Okay, I'll take them, then. Thank you."

Raph smiled softly. "It'll take a little bit to find a train car for you, but I'm sure Leo wouldn't mind you using his until we bring him home."

Casey felt his heart ping at Raph's certainty that they would be getting Leo back. It wasn't that hope wasn't a thing in his time, but it was certainly hard to come by. Part of him questioned whether Raphael was naive or just in denial. 

"I don't know if I could handle that right now… could I stay on the couch?"

"As long as you need, big man. I'll be right back with those clothes."

Donnie huffed at losing his big pointy pillow and curled up, still not looking away. 

Raph patted Donnie's head and headed off towards Leo's car. It was a familiar walk, but what stumped him was the train car in front of Leo's room that seemed obnoxiously familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why. It was painted orange, but you could hardly tell under all the graffiti and stickers plastered over the paint. 

It didn't belong to him, Donnie, or Leo. Splinter didn't have a car, and while the offer had been made, April refused to take one. What was a random car doing here in front of Leo's room? 

He reached for the handle, but the second he made contact a crushing weight filled his whole body. He nearly fell to his knees,  wave after wave of feelings of dread and fear and loneliness washing over him.  Raph scurried backwards and almost ran to Leo's car. That was an investigation that could wait until he had backup. 

Raph grabbed the fleece unicorn onesie he bought for Leo on his last birthday and hurried back to the living room. 

Surprise surprise, Mikey couldn’t sleep.


It wasn’t for lack of trying, but who could really blame him after everything going on? Mikey ran his hands over his arms. They were still awfully sore, but nothing close to the burn that threatened to consume him earlier. The glowing orange patterns, which seemed to be a permanent addition to his old orange spots, reminded him of glass. Leo would think it was badass if he were here.


He was also fucking pissed at Leo. The Kraang needed to be stopped, obviously, but there had to have been some other way to go about it. It was like that self-sacrificing idiot forgot to think of any other option and just got tunnel vision on the quickest solution. Actually, that’s probably exactly what he did.

Mikey sighed and ran a hand down his face. His brothers were going to be pissed. It felt weird to be glad Big Mama’s security team was as formidable as it was, but he knew his deal would be out the window the second they broke in, trying to rescue him. This plan was ridiculously half-cocked, Leo would never have come up with something this risky if they switched places.


“I really need you right now, Leo.”



Mikey let out a deep breath and placed a hand over his heart, trying to connect to the Hamato ninpo that flowed through him. He knew Leo was alive, he would have felt the connection sever if he wasn’t. That hope would just have to be enough to get him through this. According to Casey, Mikey was the most powerful mystic warrior the world had ever seen. It was time he acted like it.


He closed his eyes and shifted to a meditative stance. One way or another, that blue idiot was coming home.

And then he began to float off of the bed.

Big Mama smiled as her assistant placed the cellphone on her desk.


“Excellent work, my little Maple Leaf. And how is our new guest settling in?”


The masked figure traced a line along each palm and moved her hands out in a motion like making a picture frame with her fingers. A glowing purple rectangle appeared like a mystic holoscreen in front of her, displaying the scene downstairs.


“Ooo, how fantasmic! He’s going to be a real box office smash this weekend, isn’t he?”


The figure simply nodded.


“You’ve done perfectly, my darling. Now, off to bed with you, my darling! I want you bright eyed and bushy tailed for stage two tomorrow.”



The screen changed to an audiowave, following along to a robotic sounding low voice.


“Yes, mother. Goodnight.”


She bowed to Big Mama and left, disappearing into the shadows.



“Oh, they do grow up so fast. Don’t they, my Huggy-Poo?” She traced a claw down the cheek of a framed Lou Jitsu photograph. “If only you weren’t such a fool.”

Chapter Text

Baron growled at the book in front of him, as if he could intimidate the ancient text into suddenly spawning the relevant information. With a huff, he dropped the book onto the ever growing stack of books that had absolutely zero answers for what he’d dubbed The Leo Problem.


“Useless!” He pounded his fist against the table, knocking over his mug of long since cold coffee.


He grabbed the cup before it could fall to the ground and groaned, standing. As hesitant as he was to pause his research, he knew the consequences of letting Donatello see that he’d left a mess in his precious workshop. He gathered what papers and books were in the way of the spill and set them aside, before leaving to the kitchen for a towel.


Donnie stood in front of the coffee maker and hummed, not turning away from it.

“I’ve got a fresh pot brewing now, Draxum.”


“Am I that obvious?”


“You’re the only one here with hooves.” Donnie turned and pointed to the headphones-goggles combo he never took off. “Custom hearing aids, I made them myself. I can pick up sounds most people couldn’t imagine.”



“Incredible.”


Donnie’s eyes lit up, but he played it cool. “Moving past the suspiciously paternal praise. How is your research going?”


“It isn’t. I’ve gone through a dozen books already, none of them were any help. Whoever made the key was using incredibly unorthodox magic. Nothing I’ve ever seen comes close to it.”


“Unorthodox like our ninpo?”


“Possibly. I’ll need to run tests, though. Of course neither of you have ever made a portal with your mystic abilities, so it’s not something I can study easily.”


“Would Leo’s sword help? Casey has it, he hides it under the couch and we pretend not to notice because none of us want to deal with those emotions.”

“You couldn’t have brought that up sooner?”

“Hey, I’m doing my best here! This whole mystic nonsense is your deal, not mine! I’m perfectly content with my science, thank you very much.”


“Why are you so repelled by magic still? You’ve harnessed your own powers and yet you act disgusted by the very abilities that allow you to accomplish incredible feats of power.”


“Because none of it makes any sense! With science, there’s an explanation for everything! If I turn on a lamp, I understand exactly what makes the filament glow, I know that it’s a series circuit, I know where electricity comes from. Every step of the process is explainable! If you want to make a light with magic, you just think about it and wave your hand, maybe say some special words, I can’t wrap my head around that.”


Baron hummed and held out his palm, summoning a little ball of light. Donnie glowered at him.



“And if you switch on a lamp without knowing the science behind it, does the light not turn on? Does not understanding the process mean all of the individual pieces that went into making that happen no longer exist?”



Donnie raised an eyebrow. “I’m not seeing where you’re going with this, but no?”



“Magic doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Just because you can’t see the science behind it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I can teach you, if you’d like that.”


“I, um, I think I would, actually. Thank you, Da- Drax.”



Draxum smiled and grabbed a towel, returning to the lab.

“We are not putting you out there in a hoodie.”


Mikey huffed. He’d been talking to the tailor for almost an hour now and they’d yet to agree on anything.



“Well, I still think it looks cool.”



“You already look like you’re 12, the goal is to make you look intimidating, not like a scared kid.”



Mikey slid his second eyelids over to white his eyes out, so the tailor couldn’t see him rolling them.



“Woah! What the heck is that?”


Mikey blinked and his eyes went back to normal. “It’s called a nictitating membrane, they help protect a turtle’s eyes from water.” He felt a wave of nostalgia for when Donnie would check out dozens of books on turtle biology when they were kids and give them impromptu lessons.


“Can you see like that?”


“Perfectly. You have a thread stuck to your shirt.”


The tailor’s eyes lit up. “Do you think you can keep that up during fights?”



“Sure, no sweat.” Mikey ran his hands over his arms.



“I’m thinking we can play with your whole ninja angle. Flashier, though, of course.”



“Oh, like a shinobi shozoku?” Mikey drew out a simplified version of what he and his brothers wore for their train mission.



“Exactly like that! Well, minus the clan logo, too identifiable. And we’ll have to modernize it a little.”



Mikey sketched out design after design, letting himself get lost in the art.



“Oh, turtleyboo,” Big Mama cooed from behind him. “This is just perfect. I want to see him in this before sundown.”



“Yes, ma’am, Big Mama!”

Leo opened one portal directly in front of him and one directly behind him, reaching through to feel the damage in his shell. It was healing alright, all things considered. He closed both portals and resheathed his swords.


He’d developed a pattern in his time here. One sword he’d keep with him, the other he’d send out as far away as he could, so when Kraang Prime inevitably caught up with him, Leo had a quick getaway. Respawning his swords had been incredibly draining, especially when he was half-way starved to death, but it was the smartest decision he’d ever made. He wondered if his brothers were progressing with their own mystic powers as quick as he was.


Leo looked around, making sure things were safe for the time being, and sat. He focused on his ninpo and held his hands out, trying to channel the energy he’d seen Mikey use in the portal he’d attempted to bring Leo home with. After a few minutes of concentration, he felt a feeling like rushing boiling water flow over his arms and a window opened in front of him, just big enough that he could squeeze a person a little bigger than him through if he tried.



“Guys!” He popped his head through and gasped. Instead of seeing New York, he saw a red sky and a desolate wasteland, crawling with Kraang beasts. “Oh, shit.”



“Casey, I told you to-”


Leo froze as a hulking version of himself came into view.


“Hello, handsome.”


“What the-”  

“LOOK OUT!”


Leo yanked his older self into the prison dimension, just in time to avoid getting hit by a Kraang laser. The portal closed with a woosh behind him.


Leonardo panted, looking around. “If this is Hell, the Mormons made it sound a lot more appealing in the brochures.”


A broken sounding snort came from the boy in front of him, collapsed on the ground and barely breathing.


“Kid??” Leonardo crouched down in front of him, checking for a pulse.


“Mmm ‘m good, gimme a minute.” Leonardo wanted to protest how the guy was already starting to sit up while being obviously wounded, but instead he just stared, shocked. That was definitely a smaller version of him, but fucked up beyond all recognition. Had they lost again? Did he send his student into a different flavor of apocalypse and kill Mikey for nothing?



The younger Leo tightened his mask and rolled his shoulders. “We don’t have long before he comes back. You still got portals?”


Leonardo nodded. “They’re not pretty, but they work.”


“That’s all we need. Just shoot for as far away from here as you can.”

A loud and low growl came from behind them.


“NOW!”



The older Leo grabbed his younger self and they disappeared in a flash of sparks.

Chapter Text

The pair hurtled into the ruins of what was once a department store like a massive green meteor, only screeching to a stop when big Leo reached out and grabbed a bolted down desk with his robotic arm.



Leonardo waited in silence for a moment, expecting a wisecrack out of his younger self, but none came.


“Kid?”


Leo hacked, shaking, and coughed blood onto Leonardo’s robotic arm.


“Leo!”


The smaller turtle groaned and smacked his arm. “I’m good, Big Blue, don’t worry about it. You sound like Raph.”


Blue winced, but pushed past it, pulling out his medkit.


“Oh thank fuck, mine ran out forever ago. Here, let me look at your side.”


“Worry about yourself, first, I’m not the one coughing up blood!”


“Ah, that’s old news. Come on, if you bleed out on me, you’re not doing either of us any good.”


Blue groaned and squinted at Leo.


“Fine, but I’m looking over you next.”


“Deal. …it’s gonna need stitches, I don’t have anything in the way of painkillers.”


“I’m used to that, just make it quick.”


Leo nodded and got to work, struggling to accommodate for his shaking hands and blurry vision. He felt himself starting to sway and cursed under his breath.


“Kid? Leo!”



“Ah, fuck. L- look, hey, big me. I need you to t- take off the metal foot, befo- befo-” Leo was interrupted by a horrible coughing fit, shreds of his lungs tissue mixing in with the blood.


Blue grabbed his arms, pulling the smaller Leo into his lap. Fuck, this kid wasn’t just skinny, he was practically a skeleton.


“LEONARDO, HANG ON!”

Leo whined and curled up. “See you soon, bud.”



Leonardo gasped, eyes filling with tears. He was holding his own corpse.

Chapter Text

Mikey took a deep breath, shaking out his hands. He slid his third eyelids over. The ground shook from the volume of the loudspeaker.

“Good evening, my friends!” Big Mama’s voice boomed through the arena. “Are you all ready for my fantasmagoric show tonight?”

The crowd roared in response. There had to be thousands of yokai out there! Mikey hoped he wouldn’t disappoint.


“I have a new contestant for you all, tonight. Get ready for…”


Mikey tightened his grip on his nunchuks as the platform raised underneath him.


“The Monarch Apollo!”

“Alright, Mikey. Showtime.”

“Whatcha watching, Raphael?” Donnie flopped down on the couch next to his brother and leaned against him, pulling out his phone. Raph thought he should probably have a talk with him about how he hadn’t taken off his battle shell once since they got home, but that was an emotional talk neither of them were ready for.


“Battle Nexus, figured we oughta keep an eye on it, make sure Big Mama’s not doing anything crazy. …also, there’s no wrestling on today and I’m not feeling reruns.”


“Smart. Is this a new fighter? He looks tiny.”


Donnie squinted at the screen, the guy couldn’t have been taller than 5’4 and looked like he weighed 150 soaking wet.


“Yeah, they’re calling him Monarch Apollo.” Raph popped another handful of popcorn in his mouth.


“Presumptuous. Is it just me, or does he look like you took a ninja and dropped him into a skittles factory?”



On the screen, the fighter ducked an attack from the giant frog he was up against and leaped into the air, landing dozens of blows in a matter of seconds with his nunchucks. Before the frog had time to react, he was back to the ground. He slid under the frog and disappeared into the shadows behind him. The stage lights pointed to where he vanished, but revealed nothing there.


“Well, he’s good, whatever he is.” Raph let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it was just big brother instincts going haywire, but he felt like he needed to protect this new fighter.



“HOT SOUP!” 

The camera panned to the rafters, where Apollo jumped down. The chains of his nunchucks stretched out impossibly long around him, forming an outline that looked like butterfly wings around him. He hurtled towards the frog, foot extended. The impact threw up a massive cloud of dirt.


“He’s a Lou Jitsu fan! Archimedes, why does that voice sound so familiar?”

“Maybe we met him at a fan convention?”



When the dust cleared, Apollo was standing over a crater a dozen feet wide, weapons slung casually over his shoulders. The frog was nowhere to be seen, but Raph could hear a groan coming from the hole, so at least he was alive.


“And Monarch Apollo wins his first victory! Thank you all for coming tonight, my friends, our new champion will return next week against the Stone Ronin and a mystery opponent! Tickets for the champion’s gallery are on sale now. Have a splendiferous evening, all!”

Apollo took a bow and threw a smoke bomb from his pouch at the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Donnie felt a tug on his heart, like something he had lost was right in front of him and he just couldn’t reach it. Why did that keep happening?


“You felt that too, Don?”


“Yeah…”


“Must be cuz we miss Leo. We’ll get him home, you know we will.”


“Barry kicked me out of the lab to go eat something.”


Raph hummed, standing up. “And you haven’t yet, have you? Raph’ll whip something up, don’t worry.”


Donnie snorted. “You don’t cook.”


“Yeah, well, you, Leo, and Dad don’t either. Someone’s gotta keep everyone fed. Besides, it’s just a grilled cheese. How can anyone mess up a grilled cheese?”



As it turned out, there are many ways that Raphael specifically can mess up a grilled cheese.

Chapter Text

One of the more unexpected lessons Leonardo learned from spending most of his life in an apocalypse world was how to tell the passing of time based on your own bodily cues. He guessed it had been about a week since Leo had dragged him into the Prison Dimension and immediately (and very inconsiderately) died on him.


Their hiding spot was secure, he hadn’t caught a glimpse of the Kraang since they landed here. Blue was going to kill Leo if he ever woke up for dragging him here. With little else to do but scout for food (no dice) and look out for the Kraang (thankfully also absent), he became intimately familiar with how regenerating worked here. Watching Leo’s new foot form out of thin air made him curious if the same would happen to his arm if he died here, but no way in hell was he letting that happen. It had been a day more or less since Leo regained a pulse and started breathing again. But it would still be a while before he woke up.




“Goood morning, Vietnam!”



Or not.




“You’ve never even seen the movie that quote’s from. Welcome back, by the way. A little more warning would’ve been nice.”


Leo coughed and sat up, stretching.


“Ewww I’ve still got lung bits in my mouth. Gross.”

Blue crossed his arms, a shocked look on his face.

“That can’t possibly be the most pressing thing going on here.”


“Says you, there’s no water to rinse it out with here.” Leo grimaced and spat a few more times before reaching into his belt and pulling out the photograph. He immediately relaxed upon seeing it was safe.


Blue’s eyes widened and he grinned.


“I gave that to Casey! He made it! Is he okay, what happened?”


“Oi, big guy, I was dead like 30 seconds ago. Can we hold off on the interrogation for after breakfast?”

“Oh, uh, yeah fair. I don’t have much, but there’s still some- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT??”




Leo froze, mouth already stuffed full of Kraang guts from his pouch. He responded without swallowing first. “I called him Chad. It’s Kraang meat, don’t worry.”


“Uh, yeah, that doesn’t make anything better.”




“PTSD two: electric boogaloo. You do what you gotta.”


“Well, I was going to offer you some rations, but just for that I’m not sure I should.”


Leo whined and held his hands out. “Nooo wait, please!”

Blue sighed, opening his pouch. “I’m joking, kid. I know it’s not much, but it’s real. This is the last of what I’ve got, though, saved it for you.” He dropped a small bag of nuts and dried fruit into Leo’s hands.

Leo really hoped that whatever look he gave his older counterpart expressed his gratitude well enough because he was shoving it all in his mouth and licking his palms like an animal before ‘thank you’ even crossed his mind.



“I don’t imagine you know how long you’ve been here.”


Leo shook his head. “Maybe a year? This is my fourth time dying here.” He holds up fingers as he lists, “Starvation, decapitation, infection, mystic.”



Blue nearly threw up. “Shit, kid…”



“Yeah… sorry for dragging you in here, kinda went on instinct. I was trying to open a portal home, guess I miscalculated.”



Blue took a deep breath, patting himself on the back for not losing his mind then and there. “If you can make a portal to my time on your own and halfway dead, maybe together we can open one to your time. You good if I ask more questions, now?”



“Fire away, boomer.”


“We were both born in 2004, idiot. Plus I’m only fourty.”


“Sounds like something a boomer would say.”



Blue sighed and rubbed his face. He was well familiar with annoying teens (sorry Casey, love you, but it’s an inevitable part of being 13) but Leo was a whole different level.



“How long was it after the invasion that you landed here?”


“A few hours, I think. Maybe a day at the most. Casey popped up right after I lost the key and from there it was kind of a blur. He’s okay, by the way, or at least he was when I had him close the portal.”


“The po- the portal here?? Oh spirits, they dragged you in here and you had Casey shut you in?!”


“Nobody dragged me here, I jumped and dragged Prime with me. It was the only way I could get him to- Hey, you good? You look like you’re having an aneurysm over there.”



Blue clenched and unclenched his hands, trying and failing to calm down.



“Peachy. I’m trapped in a hell dimension with my suicidal teenaged self and everyone I love is dead, what’s there to freak out about? I’m great.”


Leo frowned and placed a hand on Blue’s knee.



“Hey, Casey’s not. We just gotta make it home, you know our brothers will take you in. We just gotta have each other’s shells and keep it together.”


Blue raised an eyebrow. “That’s weirdly emotionally mature for you.”



“I have my moments. Look, man, I’ve had nothing to do but think since I’ve gotten here. Honestly, I’ve probably worked through stuff that you haven’t. But I do know that I’m not giving up until we get home.”



“I appreciate that, kid, but it’s not my home.”


“Of course it is. You’re me, that makes you family. Come on, if we can let Barry in, we can deal with you.”



Blue smiled softly, taking Leo’s hand and studying it. There were still scars and callouses from years of ninja training, but there was still a softness to it. Boy, did he miss his old 17 step skincare routine.



“I mean, you don’t know what I’ve done, for all you know I’m worse.”


Leo snorted. “Easy, edgelord. One, I trust Casey’s judgement. Two, I know I couldn’t live with myself and you’re still standing. And three, you know Mikey loves a good redemption arc. You wouldn’t deny Mikey a redemption arc, would you?”



Blue’s smile slipped for just a moment, but it was enough.



“Your Mikey didn’t survive making the time portal. Shit, that was like a day ago for you, right?”


“About a week.”

Leo squeezed his hand and moved closer. “Tell me about him.”

Chapter Text

Mikey grimaced, sitting up in bed. His arms were burning again, shaking so hard he almost worried they’d fall off.


It hadn’t been so bad in the week and a half since he’d come to Big Mama, her magic healing worked like, well, magic. But yesterday had been bad. He couldn’t get his mind to stop fixating on the image of Leo, broken and dead. Raph would scold him if he saw the way Mikey threw himself into training until he physically couldn’t take anymore, but Mikey knew exactly who he picked up the unhealthy habit from, so pot meet kettle.


His thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door.


“You can come in!”

The door opened, revealing Big Mama’s Assistant, holding a small bottle.


“Morning.”


She nodded and entered, setting the bottle on the small table. She looked at Mikey’s hands and cocked her head.


“Pushed myself too far yesterday. I’m still good for the fight tonight, don’t worry.”


She nodded and went to leave.



“Wait! Can you, um, can you stay for a little bit?”


She hesitated, but nodded, sitting next to him on the bed. Mikey pulled his sketchbook and a pencil out from underneath the bed, a gift from Big Mama after his first victory.

Mikey handed them to her. “Here, so we can talk.”

She nodded and took it, opening to a blank page.

“So, what’s your name?”


She scribbled, handwriting sharp and precise. ‘Why?’



“Just being friendly.”


She made a soft chittering sound that Mikey grinned at. ‘You can call me Milo.’


“Milo, huh? That’s cute, I like it! How old are you?”


‘I turn 23 in June.’


“Oh wow, you’re pretty young for a bodyguard. I’m 14.”


‘Baby.’


Mikey snorted. “Hey, I can still kick your ass.”


‘I’d love to see you try.’



“Next training session, maybe?”

‘We’ll see. Does your offer to teach me sign language still stand?’


“Of course! Here, hold out your hands like this, follow after me.”

Mikey was severely in over his head and he knew it. The lotion Big Mama provided helped with the pain, but did nothing for the shaking. It took all of three seconds out of the gate for him to drop his axe. (Big Mama said something about not wanting to be too predictable with his fights, lest he become boring too soon. Mikey questioned how exactly a magic rainbow colored ninja mutant with nunchucks that could spawn infinite chains could get boring after two fights, but got no answer.)

He ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding the blade plunged into the ground inches from his cheek. The gargoyle growled and swung again, this time missing on purpose.


“Come on, little guy, you’re in no shape to keep going. Just throw the match and you can go home!”


Apollo hissed and jumped away, disappearing into the shadows. “Sorry, hoss, I’ve got too much riding on this.”


The gargoyle roared and jumped into the air, flapping his wings just enough to hover as he scouted the area for his opponent.

Mikey grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it to his left.


“Gotcha!”


The gargoyle dove towards the sound, realizing he was tricked only too late.


“Heh, sucker. Cowabunga!” Mikey lept and did a backflip in midair, landing on the gargoyle’s back. He wrapped his legs around his enemy’s throat.



“Aww don’t worry, big guy. Just throw the match and you can go home.” Mikey cackled, tightening his grip until the gargoyle fell to the ground. He checked quickly to make sure the guy was still breathing before getting off, pinning him to the ground with one foot as the crowd roared.


“And yet another stunning victory for Monarch Apollo! Let’s give him a round of applause, everyone, what a show!”


Mikey panted, swaying on his feet. He saw Milo from the bullpen, gesturing him over. Mikey bowed and left in a puff of smoke, reappearing next to her.



“You’re sure I have to do this whole meet and greet thing? I feel like I got hit by a train.”


She only nodded, making Mikey sigh.



“Fine, just let me hit the shower first. That dude was rank!”


Milo sighed and grabbed his shoulder, leading him down an unfamiliar hallway.


“Ughhh fine. I hope this is quick.”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Blue?”


Leonardo snorted, raising an eyebrow. “Blue? Really?”


“It was either Blue or we rock-paper-scissors over who gets to be Leon. So, you’re Blue. If it’s good enough for Dad, it’s good enough for me. Except I didn’t just forget your name.”


“He deserves more credit than you give him. Dad may have made his mistakes when we were kids, but he always loved us, even if he didn’t always show it. I promise, it was a nickname. He never forgot.”


Leo hummed, trying not to show how deeply that affected him. “Did he ever get to meet Casey? He’s always wanted grandkids, I can’t believe we’re the ones who gave him one.”


Blue smiled sadly. “He was already close to his seventies when the Kraang drove us into hiding, he didn’t last too long after that. Went down swinging, though. I don’t think we would’ve made it out of there if Dad didn’t sacrifice himself to buy us time.”


“Guess good looks aren’t the only thing that runs in the family.”


“Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook for this dumb stunt you pulled, young man.”


Leo rolled his eyes. “You’d have done the same.”



Blue couldn’t really say he was wrong. “It’s different, though.”


“Why, because you’re older? Because you’re the last one standing?”


“I’m the leader of the resistance, it’s my duty.”



Leo smirked. “And I’m the leader of our team, it was my duty. And before you start whining about my age again, don’t waste your breath. I’m the one that lost the key in the first place. Which also means if you forgive me for that, you gotta forgive yourself.”



Blue sighed, rubbing his eyes. “You know, you’re not doing great for my emotionally unavailable bad boy image.”


“Donnie pulls that line off better, you’re just embarrassing yourself. C’mere, hug time.”


Blue chuckled and scooped up his smaller self in a strong hug. Leo nuzzled into his shoulder. If he closed his eyes, he could almost convince himself he was back home with Raph. Blue wasn’t any better, though. If it weren’t for the lack of hair, Leo could have been Mikey. Poor guy never got over the fact that he was the only brother to not reach 6 foot. Leo started to shake hard, clinging onto Blue like a lifeline. Blue sighed sadly, cradling his head as Leo cried into his shoulder the way he’d done for Casey countless times.


“Blue… I’m scared. What if we really can’t get out of here? Or- or if we can, and everyone’s gone? What if they forget about me? What- what if-” Leo hyperventilated as he spiraled, claws digging into Blue’s arm..



“Hey, now, shh shh shh shh shh, you’re okay, I’ve got you. We’re gonna get out, I’m sure Dad- Drax and our brothers are working around the clock to find a way to bring you home. They won’t give up on you, even when you’re at your lowest and you think they really should, they won’t.”


Leo sniffled. “Why? They don’t need me, they’ve never needed me.”


Blue felt his heart break and he frowned, choosing his words carefully. “Well… Even if that’s true, they don’t have to need you to love you. To want you. And I know you’re too strong to give up now, kid.”


“Heh, yeah, I guess. Battle Nexus Champ and all that.”


“Not just physically, bud. Mentally, spiritually. You’re stronger than you think you are. You wouldn’t still be fighting if you weren’t.”


“You think Dad’s proud of us?”


Blue smiled softly, remembering his father’s last words. “I know he is.”

Chapter Text

Mikey was about 65% convinced that the whole gallery business was some sort of divine punishment for all the ice cubes he refused to stop under the fridge.

He sighed, looking around the room at his fellow fighters. Some of the less sentient beasts were in cages or behind glass. Multiple others were chained to their seats and just looked bored. He’d heard gossip about some of the newer fighters trying to make a run for it, so he supposed it wasn’t that much of a surprise. He himself was sat at a table with a purple cloth draped over it and a glass of water. Mikey was more than a little annoyed that there were no snacks for him, fights always tanked his blood sugar. Maybe he needed to ask Big Mama about keeping a fruit snack stash in his room like he had in the lair.


He looked behind him to Milo.


“How much longer does this last? The thing hasn’t even started yet and I’m bored out of my shell. Plus I’ve still got blood and slime on me and it itches.”


Milo held up two fingers.


“Two… hours?”


She nodded.


“Ughhh fine. I feel like a zoo animal right now.”


Milo shrugged and set a marker-pen in front of him. She signed ‘A-P-O-L-L-O’


“For autographs, right? Why can’t I sign with my real name?”




Milo shrugged and patted his shoulder firmly before leaving, rejoining Big Mama.




Big Mama smiled and addressed the crowd, waving to Mikey with a twiddle of her fingers. “Thank you for coming, my friends, please remember, single file line and two minutes per fighter. Enjoy!”

She unclipped the velvet rope and the audience funneled through. Mikey blinked, whiting out his eyes, and put on his best Lou Jitsu smile. He was tired of it already and no one had even made it to his table yet, maybe they all underestimated what it took to be the face man. He’d have to remember to tell Leo that when he was brought home.



A stuttering snail yokai made it to his table first, holding a sketchbook. Poor thing looked younger than Mikey and she was shaking like a leaf. Mikey hoped it was more from excitement than anxiety.

“H- ho, mister Monarch Apollo.”


“Hey, man. You can just call me M-” Big Mama looked at him from across the room and squinted. “Apollo, you can call me Apollo. Want me to sign that for you?” He uncapped his marker.


“Yes, please! On this one, please, if that’s okay.” She flipped to a page about halfway through the book. It was a drawing of him in costume, perched on a rooftop. His long bandana tail unbraided and floating around his head like hair. On the rest of the page were smaller doodles of him and little stick figures for posing practice.

“Woah, you drew this? That’s amazing! Wow, these shadows are so well blended!” Mikey squealed happily, tracing the lines with his finger.


The snail grinned, sharp teeth on full display. “You really like it?”


“Oh, bud, I love it!” Mikey found a blank part of the page and signed his moniker, doodling a little butterfly on the side of the A. “I’d love to see more, if you-” A bear yokai in a bellhop uniform cleared their throat, standing between tables.



“Next in line.”

Mikey frowned. “Oh, right. Well, um, it was nice meeting you!”



The snail giggled, hugging their sketchbook. “Thank you!” They hurried towards the exit. Did She really only come to the event for his autograph? Mikey felt awful flattered.



Next in line was an older Googlyschmootz, he was dressed nicely and leaning on a cane, Mikey had to lean way down to make eye contact.


“Hi!”


“Hello, young man. You sure put on a nice show tonight.”


“Aww, thanks, I try my best!”


“Tiny thing you are, though. How old are you, kiddo? Too young to be doing all of this, surely.”


MIkey frowned, crossing his arms. “I’m fine. Did you want an autograph.”


The old man nodded, knowing he wouldn’t get through to him and pulled out one of the posters Big Mama had him pose for. “Can you write it out to my daughter, please?”


Mikey put his smile back on, though not quite as genuine, and took it. “What’s her name?”


“Sunita. S-U-N-I-T-A, please. She’s a big fan, her and that big turtle friend of hers were having a sleepover to watch your match tonight. I can’t wait to surprise her with this!”


Mikey felt tears starting to form, and just managed to blink them back before the man could notice. He signed and added a little note to take care of herself and handed the poster back.


“Tell her and Raph I said hi, okay?”


“I will! Wait, how did you know-”




The bear tapped his foot. “Next in line!”




Mikey felt a wave of anxiety wash over him as the next person in line stepped up. She was a snake mutant, well into her forties, a hand in her coat pocket. Mikey gulped and took a drink of water. She had an almost hungry look in her eyes, looking him up and down. Mikey ducked his neck into his shell ever so slightly.


“Hi, ma’am.” He grimaced at how high pitched his voice went.


“Hello, cutie. Oh, you’re even tinier in person.” She put a hand on the edge of the table, leaning in uncomfortably close.


“Oh, uh, yeah. Can’t, um, can’t really change that, sorry.”

She laughed, moving her other hand over his cup. “Nothing to be sorry about, honey.”


“Cool coolcoolcoolcoolcool um, did you want an autograph, ma’am?” He took a sip from his cup, hoping the shaking wasn’t as noticeable as he was afraid it was.


“Oh, I want something, sweet thing, but not that.” She grabbed Mikey’s shoulder and whispered into his ear.



Mikey went pale and kicked her away, hyperventilating so hard he couldn’t hear the sound of her crashing into the wall, leaving a crater. Nor could he hear Big Mama and her crew coming over to handle the situation.



“I’M A KID! I’M JUST A KID, I’M FOURTEEN! I- I DON’T- YOU-”



Big Mama changed to her spider form, rushing to his table. “You lot, take her to my office, I’ll deal with her later.” She blocked Mikey’s view, towering over him. “Turtleyboo, you need to breathe. Here, have some water.”



She picked up the cup, bringing it to him, but before Mikey could take a sip, Milo slapped a hand over it. Big Mama tilted her head.

“What is it?”

Milo pointed at a thin trail of spilled white powder on the table cloth, then to the cup.


Big Mama growled. “She won’t be leaving this hotel alive.” Big Mama cleared her throat and turned to face the rest of the room. “Attention, darlings! We’ve had an itsy bitsy little incident, so we will be shutting the event down early tonight. Talk to the front desk if you have any questions.”


Mikey’s breath began to slow, but before he could be relieved about it, he felt the room begin to spin around him.

“M- Mama?”


Big Mama turned back to face him, finding the boy pulling his arms and legs into his shell, leaving dangling empty sleeves hanging off his sides.


“Oh no. Michelangelo, darling, can you hear me? Turtleyboo? You need to stay awake now. You, fetch the medics. Michael, look at me now.”


Mikey let out a soft whimper. Why did she sound worried? Big Mama never sounded worried, that was weird. He should ask her what was wrong, get ready for a fight, something. Instead he blinked, letting her see his normal eyes in between his slowing blinks. Why was he so exhausted suddenly?


“Night night, Mama.”



Mikey retreated into his shell, the sounds of chaos and panic around him echoing, muffled, until he passed out.

Chapter Text

Donnie balanced two small plates, each holding a cream cheese covered bagel, on top of two steaming mugs, and nudged the door to his lab open with his hip.


“If Raph asks, this is definitely decaf and we both got eight hours of sleep yesterday.”


Baron raised an eyebrow and swiveled around in his chair. “Ah, yes, deceit. My favorite way to start the day.” He checked the time on the nearest computer, squinting to read, and pulled out a small glowing vial from his robe pocket.


Donnie cocked his head, setting the mugs and plates on the desk. “Umm mind explaining the mysterious bottle of magic liquid there, Baron?”


“Testosterone.” Draxum popped the cork and threw it back like a shot of tequila.

“...Dope. Anyways, I think I have a new lead on how to make the portal.”


Draxum gestured for him to explain, taking the bagel. He sniffed it. Seemed edible enough for human food. He covertly looked Donatello over. He was clearly favoring one leg, the other most likely had at least a sprain, there was a subtle shaking to him that never seemed to go away since the first moment he’d seen the turtle after getting the brothers home. What made him most curious was that he still had his battle shell on. Granted, he’d never seen the genius without it, but he’d presumed that in the comfort and safety of his own home, he’d allow himself to relax and take it off. Perhaps Draxum wasn’t quite as trusted as he was led to believe.

“There’s this book by Theodore Grammerstein, A Historic-”


“And accurate accounting of interdimensional doorways, portholes, keys, and gateways.”


Donnie sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “Oh, don’t tell me.”


Baron gestured to that very book, in the growing stack of books that had proved useless.


Donnie made an irritating chittering sound, scratching his arms.


“Purple one, stop that.”


Donnie huffed, crossing his arms. “You’re not my dad.”


Baron frowned, standing and coming closer. “Perhaps not, but I still care for your well-being. You and your brothers were built to be fierce warriors, with regenerative abilities and strength that rivals nearly anything I’ve seen. But that does not make you invulnerable, especially when you neglect yourself. Have you let anyone look at your shell?”


Donnie dug his claws into his arms. “My shell is fine. Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it handled.”


Baron sighed, recalling words from someone he couldn’t put a name to. Someone sweet, and small, and orange. “You may have things handled, but that does not mean you don’t need help. Or don’t deserve it. You are important to us all, Donatello, we don’t wish for you to hurt.”


Donnie shuddered, not making eye contact. “Nardo’s the only one I let touch my shell.”


“Do you trust me to look at it?”


“No.” Baron frowned, hurt. Donnie sighed and elaborated. “Not, um, not yet. It’s too much right now. I’ll let Raph take a look.”




Baron smiled and nodded. “Thank you. Come, we should eat in the kitchen with our family.”

Chapter Text

"So… what's a bay gul? Is it made of birds?"

Splinter snorted, stood on his chair, and messed up Casey's hair, fondly before sitting back down. "It's bread. I think they boil it before they bake it? I'm not the one who watches the cooking shows. No one in this family knows how to cook, really. "

Casey nodded. “Master Leonardo couldn’t cook either. It was mostly Master-” Casey frowned, his head feeling fuzzy, like a great pressure was crushing his brain as he tried to recall the name, or even the face. There was someone there. Someone orange and green, who emanated safety and warmth. Someone important. “Master… Master…”


Splinter tilted his head. “Red? Purple?”

“Oh no, they still couldn’t make water without burning it. Uncle Donnie could cook a rat okay-ish, I guess. No, it was someone else. Shit, why can’t I remember?”

Splinter got up and took Casey’s hand. Casey kneeled down to meet his eye, sniffling. “You’ve been through much, Junior, it messes with one’s head. There are large gaps in my own memory from my Battle Nexus years.”


Casey sniffled, squeezing the hand tight. “They were important to me, whoever they were. I don’t want to lose that, I’ve already lost so many people. I- I know that we changed the future, and they’re gone now. I guess they weren’t real now, but…”

Splinter cupped the boys cheek, looking into his eyes, so full of hope and yet so deeply deeply shadowed in grief. It wasn’t hard to believe that the child would be his son’s student, once he got to know him. How he smiled, little tics and habits he’d picked up from his Master, the way he was so passionate. But even more so in how he hid. How he tried to keep all of his trauma locked up inside so he wouldn’t be a problem for anyone but himself. How he pretended to be fine while he was the furthest thing from it. It tugged at his heart in a painful way.


“They were real. Your feelings are real, Casey, do not doubt that. I have something to show you after breakfast. I think it will help you.”


“Thank you, Grandpa Splinter.”

“Of course, my boy.”

“Michelangelo, can you hear me? Michelangelo!”


“Ma’am, we’re losing him.”

Chapter Text

Raph was fine. That’s what he told himself, at least. Maybe he couldn’t see out of one eye anymore. (And Donnie didn’t need to know about that, thank you very much. He was busy enough trying to figure out how to bring Leo home, he didn’t need to be distracted, trying to build some special prosthetic or mystic goggles or something.)

So he did what he always did when he felt out of control, he trained. Day and night, every waking hour until he collapsed, physically unable to do more, and then he would cook and clean, trying to keep the lair in order. Raph had always been the brawn, not the brain, and the last thing any of them could afford right now was for him to be weak. Raph wasn’t the only one putting on a tough face, Donatello was the furthest thing from fine. Splinter was hardly able to walk around the lair. Draxum was too drained to do much good. And Casey… Casey was just a kid. He’d been through enough already, for the first time in his life, Casey got to just relax and be a kid, and Raph would be damned if he’d let that get taken away from him.

“S-seventen- hngh! Eighteen! Nineteen! Come on, Raph, come on! Hhhngh twenty!” Raph set the weights down, panting, and grabbed his plate, taking a bite of his bagel. If Leo was here, he’d be lecturing him about using food as a reward and how that was a fast track to disordered eating. But Leo wasn’t here, was he? That’s kinda the whole problem.


He set the plate back down and laid back on the bench, taking a breath.


“I’ll be right there, Future Boy. I just need to check something first." Raph tensed, hearing Splinter's voice outside the door. He crammed the rest of the bagel in his mouth. There was no way he was going to let his dad see the way he'd been treating himself, the guy had enough to worry about.

Splinter opened the door with his tail, a tray with a tea kettle, a jar of leaves, and three cups in his hand. He sighed, seeing Raph on the bench. "As I thought."

Raph quickly chewed and gulped down his bagel, giving his best (and entirely unconvincing) everything-is-fine smile.  "Uh, hey pops! What brings you here?"

The rat frowned, setting the tray on a nearby bench. "Raphael." Raph flinched, getting full named by dad was never a good sign. "How long have you been in here today?"

"Just a couple hours, pops, it's all good. Had my breakfast in here, so you don't have to worry about Ol' Raph. Everything's peachy!"

Splinter crossed his arms. "Even if your lying stink did not give you away, your face would. You've been here since you woke up, haven't you? My son, it's nearly noon."

"It is? Oh, um. I'll take a break soon, just wanna finish this set."

Splinter squinted and lightly smacked Raph's head with his tail. "No, you will come with me now. You've spent far too long in here, you need to be with your family."

"Dad, I'm good, honest. I know my limits."

"Knowing your limits and respecting them are very different things. I'm taking Casey to the family altar. I think it would do you good."

Raphael shuddered, and sat up, rubbing his bad eye. "Maybe you're right. I just… it makes it real, doesn't it? Like- like it means accepting that Leo's really…" 

"Oh, my sweet Red." Splinter came up to the bench and cupped Raph's cheek. "You do not have to bear this grief alone. Your family is here. We need you. And before you say it, I do not mean for your strength. We need you , Raph."

Raph sniffled, looking into Splinter's eyes. "I'm scared, Dad. I can't- I don't know what to do. And- and Donnie needs me to be strong, but I-"

Splinter threw his arms around Raph's neck and hugged him tight. Raph froze before melting into the hug, sniffling.

"Donnie needs you to open up and be here. We all do. You're hiding from us, Raphael. Please stop. "

Raph took deep breaths, grounding himself by petting his father's fur.

"I'm sorry, Dad. …I'm ready to go to the altar."

Slowly Splinter let go and held out a hand, smiling softly.


“I’m proud of you, my son.”

Casey held back, watching Splinter lead Raphael through the painted silk curtain that lead to the family’s altar. Master Leonardo had done his best to recreate it in every hideout they’d had, eventually he’d stopped setting them up in a private area for just him and his brothers, saying that the rest of the resistance was mourning his uncles as much as he was. The communal altar grew to take up a whole wall, everyone leaving pictures and trinkets to honor their own fallen.

He’d once hid in the doorway of his late Uncle Donatello’s lab and listened in on a conversation between Leonardo and his mother, a prized bottle of whiskey between them on the desk. Master Leonardo kept his pain closely tied in his chest, especially when it came to his brothers. The fact that even drunk he was telling Cassandra any of this was proof of their closeness.

“I know it’s selfish, Casey, but… I hate sharing them sometimes. I know they were leaders, I know the guys need this, but… that’s my big brother up there, that’s my twin. I already lost them, and when Jacob tried touching Dee’s battle shell, I just- I couldn’t do it. I’m supposed to be stronger than this, I’m supposed to be the one who holds it together for everyone.”


“Well, he only needed like five stitches, could be worse.”


Leonardo glared at her, though it held no real fire. “Thanks, Case, real helpful.”


“You’re welcome. Look, Leo, you know I don’t do this whole… feelings thing. But your anger is valid. You’re hurting, sometimes it comes out where it shouldn’t and people get hurt because of it. That’s just life… but you need to talk about this, stop holding it all in or it’ll blind you. We can’t afford distracted fighters.”


“How do I?

“You know the Orange one needs to talk about it, too. Be there for each other.”


Leonardo snorted. “Mikey. You know his name is Mikey.”


“Obviously, but it bothers him when I pretend not to. What kind of surrogate older sister would I be if I didn’t mess with him?”


Leonardo chuckled and leaned against her. “Thanks, Case.”


“You’re welcome. I’m here, too, you’re not alone, Leo.”

The slight sting of a sword digging into his palm brought him back to the present. He knew it was selfish, keeping Leo’s sword to himself when Leo’s family was grieving him too, honestly he thought they were too accepting of him sometimes.

He took a deep breath and pushed through the curtain, presenting the sword to Splinter.

“I, um… I think we should put it on the altar, Master Splinter. It’s what he would want.”



Raph couldn’t meet his eyes, kneeling on a large dog bed instead of a pillow.


Splinter smiled and nodded, taking it and setting it on the table next to Karai’s picture.



“Come, meditate with us.”


Casey nodded and kneeled next to Raphael. Raph didn’t look up, but took Casey’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.



Maybe together they’d be okay.

“Maple leaf, it’s been days. Someone will get us when he wakes, you need to eat. Our little Monarch is strong, he’ll be alright. Come with me, darling.”

‘Yes, Mother.’

Michelangelo’s heart monitor spiked as they left the room.

Chapter Text

“Eugh… kid, are you sure this is safe to eat?”

Blue hunched over a Kraang corpse, grimacing as he poked it with his sword.


Leo cackled, sliding down a wall and digging through a demolished Kraang console. “Not in the slightest, but it’s marginally better than starving to death.”

Blue huffed and poked it again, looking at his sword. Steeling his nerves, he licked a slimy chunk of the goo off of the blade.

Blue sheathed his sword, gagging. “That is the worst thing I’ve put in my mouth! Ugh, that is just- ugh!”

Leo cackled again, grabbing a handful of goop and cramming it into his mouth, not bothering to swallow before taunting. “Pussy!”

Blue crossed his arms. “Language, young man.”

Leo rolled his eyes and filled his pouch. “It’s been getting harder and harder to find dead Kraang recently, so eat up. I don’t know when we’ll have another chance. And look out for anything we can use for a bag, there’s stuff I want to scavenge here.”

Blue huffed and pinched off some goop, swallowing it down. Donnie had usually been the one with sensory issues around texture, where his own had always been more sound based, but this was a whole new level. It was like too squishy boba except covered in pudding with random chunks of feta cheese mixed in and the whole thing tasted like blood and rot. Once again he was impressed by how well Leo was holding it together.


Leo shrugged. “You’ll get used to it eventually. It’s easier if you just focus on swallowing and don’t let it hit your tongue.”


Leo tapped the wall in front of him experimentally, hearing it groan under the pressure. “Hey, be careful. This place is barely holding together and I’m not strong enough to haul you out if there’s a collapse.” Leo flexed his toes, still getting used to having his real foot back, and climbed back up the wall, listening to the creaks to know where it was and wasn’t safe to put his weight. He pushed a panel off the ceiling and crawled inside, studying the wiring.


Blue watched him carefully, impressed. “Donnie’s gonna be excited when he sees how good you’ve gotten with makeshift engineering. I mean, the Kraang foot prosthetic alone would make him go straight into flappytown.”


“Aww we still call it flappytown, that’s cute. It wasn’t that big a deal honestly. The hard part was amputating it myself with no painkillers.” Leo tossed down some metal paneling and wires.


Blue froze. “I’m sorry, you fucking what now?”


“It got too crushed to save in a fight with good ol KP, had to do what I had to do. Got him back, though, that’s his suit’s foot.”

Blue rubbed a hand down his face, exhausted. Leo snorted.

"What, didn't you amputate your own arm?"

"No. Don, um, Don was still around then. He did it for me."

Leo pushed down the swell of bitter jealousy that rose up in him. This guy got so much more time with his brothers than Leo got, and Leo's the one that fixed everything. Where's the fairness in that?

"Are you almost done up there? I think I heard- oh- woah, what the hell?"

"Blue?" Leo hopped down and hurried over to him, Blue falling to his knees and clutching his head. "Blue?!"

"C- Casey-" Blue's eyes rolled back and he passed out.

"BLUE, HEY!"

A sinister chuckle echoed through the ship, the screeching of metal claws following close after. Glowing yellow eyes peered in through a crack in the hull.

"Aww. Well, isn't this a precious scene?"

Chapter Text

In the month since the Kraang invasion, Splinter had tried many times to meditate, each time lasted shorter than the last. There was no quieting his mind when only two of his three sons were within his reach. He felt Casey settle next to him, not quite touching, but closer than really necessary, once again reminding him of his missing baby blue. Sometimes he wanted to yell at the boy for being too much like his child. Wanted to grab him by his too-boney shoulders and shout ‘You are no replacement! You will never make up for my Leonardo! You will never be him!’.

A five fingered hand landed in his paw, not gripping, but just paused there like a question. Splinter wanted to smack it away. He looked up to see Casey’s shiny hopeful eyes and sighed, smiling softly as he squeezed the hand. For better or worse, Casey was his child now. And like Baron had said, it was his burden to be okay when they weren’t.


He closed his eyes and hummed softly, focusing on the flickering light of the candles through his eyelids and the sounds of two sets of deep breathing.

Casey remembered, fuzzily, the first time he’d learned how to do a ninja mind meld. He’d been young, but not young enough that Raphael was still alive. He supposed it must’ve been Uncle Donnie who taught him, then, because he knew it hadn’t been Master Leonardo. Except for some reason he couldn’t put a face to him in the memory and his voice was… wrong. Casey attributed it to being young.

“But Uncle M̸̛̟̮͇̦̜͈̩i̵̡͉̰̺͎͂̾̇̔͑c̸̣̘͗͗̈́ḧ̷̯̺̥̥́̃͠͝ę̷̨͓͍̠̣̑̿̿̏́͊̕l̷̳͚̫͌͋͌̀͘a̸̼̳̩̺̭̲͉͊͐̌̓͝n̵̲̼͓̯͠g̸̖̖͈̘̰̀̔̾̈́̏̏͘e̶̝͈͋̃ľ̴͉̭̩̥̝̎̉̃̈́͑͠o̴͎̠̾̑͑̿̚, I’m not a Hamato like you guys.”

M̸̛̟̮͇̦̜͈̩i̵̡͉̰̺͎͂̾̇̔͑c̸̣̘͗͗̈́ḧ̷̯̺̥̥́̃͠͝ę̷̨͓͍̠̣̑̿̿̏́͊̕l̷̳͚̫͌͋͌̀͘a̸̼̳̩̺̭̲͉͊͐̌̓͝n̵̲̼͓̯͠g̸̖̖͈̘̰̀̔̾̈́̏̏͘e̶̝͈͋̃ľ̴͉̭̩̥̝̎̉̃̈́͑͠o̴͎̠̾̑͑̿̚ huffed and rolled his eyes, fondly. “How many times do I have to tell you, buddy?

Hamato isn’t about blood, it’s about spirit. You’re one of us, have been since the second we got you. Here, put your hand on my chest, feel for my heartbeat.”

“Master, how am I supposed to feel that through your shell?”

M̸̛̟̮͇̦̜͈̩i̵̡͉̰̺͎͂̾̇̔͑c̸̣̘͗͗̈́ḧ̷̯̺̥̥́̃͠͝ę̷̨͓͍̠̣̑̿̿̏́͊̕l̷̳͚̫͌͋͌̀͘a̸̼̳̩̺̭̲͉͊͐̌̓͝n̵̲̼͓̯͠g̸̖̖͈̘̰̀̔̾̈́̏̏͘e̶̝͈͋̃ľ̴͉̭̩̥̝̎̉̃̈́͑͠o̴͎̠̾̑͑̿̚ flicked between his eyebrows. “No sassing, young man, just trust me. Take your

glove off, close your eyes, and focus.”

Casey huffed, but did as he was told. After a few moments of silent concentration, he felt a soft warmth against his palm.

“Master, I feel something. It’s- it’s warm, like sitting next to a fire!”

M̸̛̟̮͇̦̜͈̩i̵̡͉̰̺͎͂̾̇̔͑c̸̣̘͗͗̈́ḧ̷̯̺̥̥́̃͠͝ę̷̨͓͍̠̣̑̿̿̏́͊̕l̷̳͚̫͌͋͌̀͘a̸̼̳̩̺̭̲͉͊͐̌̓͝n̵̲̼͓̯͠g̸̖̖͈̘̰̀̔̾̈́̏̏͘e̶̝͈͋̃ľ̴͉̭̩̥̝̎̉̃̈́͑͠o̴͎̠̾̑͑̿̚ smiled proudly. “That’s good, Casey, you’re doing great. Keep going, can you feel it move?”

“I can! It’s- woah, it’s like a pulse!” Casey lit up with excitement.

“What you’re feeling is my ninpo, my lifeforce. Concentrate on that feeling. What do you see, what do you hear?”

Casey took a breath. “I see… your mystic chains. Except they’re everywhere, like they’re coming out of your heart and wrapping around the whole base. I hear you laughing, telling me… telling me…”

Casey looked up at M̸̛̟̮͇̦̜͈̩i̵̡͉̰̺͎͂̾̇̔͑c̸̣̘͗͗̈́ḧ̷̯̺̥̥́̃͠͝ę̷̨͓͍̠̣̑̿̿̏́͊̕l̷̳͚̫͌͋͌̀͘a̸̼̳̩̺̭̲͉͊͐̌̓͝n̵̲̼͓̯͠g̸̖̖͈̘̰̀̔̾̈́̏̏͘e̶̝͈͋̃ľ̴͉̭̩̥̝̎̉̃̈́͑͠o̴͎̠̾̑͑̿̚, suddenly realizing his eyes were glowing and his lips weren’t moving.

“Telling you I’m proud of you, Casey Jones. I knew you could do it.”

Wherever Casey was, it was dark, and cold. He could still feel the pillow underneath him, the warmth from the candles, so he knew it was all in his mind. But it felt real, too real, like he was in whatever this place was.

“What is this place? How do-”

“Casey?”

Casey spun with a gasp, heart racing. “Master Leonardo! You’re alive!”

The turtle chuckled, deep and warm. “Leave it to my little Space Case to manage a ninja mind meld across dimensions.” He ruffled his hair, Casey hugging his arm and leaning into the touch.

Casey sniffled, grinning. “Mom told you to stop calling me that.”

“Ahh, you know me, I never listen. Hey, Casey, look at me. I heard what you did, and I want you to know I am so proud of you.”

“But Master, I let Leo sacrifice himself! If- if I was faster, I could’ve-”

Leonardo made a strange whimpering sound and pulled the boy into a crushing hug.

“Shh shh shh, hey now. None of that. You both did what you had to do to stop the Kraang. He’s not mad, I promise. In fact, he’s proud of you.”


Casey whined, tears flowing. “You don’t know that, Master. He’s not you, not yet. He never will be, he’s dead and it’s all my fault!”


“Oh, Casey, no. He’s alive, he’s here! Casey, you need to find Baron. If he and M̴̼̣͖̟̫͋̈́͗͗̾͘i̷̲̼̰͆̔̎́͝k̶̛̳̩̥̭͌̄̔̈́̍ẻ̸̹̙͚͖̈́́͜͜y̶͎̣͐̽͂̀̀͂͜  can open a portal from your side, Leo and I can charge it from here, but it has to be soon! I don’t know how much longer our ninpo can last here.”

“Uncle Barry and Donnie have been trying for a month, Sensei, they haven’t gotten anywhere!”

“They won’t be enough! Casey, you need M̴̼̣͖̟̫͋̈́͗͗̾͘i̷̲̼̰͆̔̎́͝k̶̛̳̩̥̭͌̄̔̈́̍ẻ̸̹̙͚͖̈́́͜͜y̶͎̣͐̽͂̀̀͂͜ he’s our only chance!”


Leonardo’s form started to flicker, Casey felt the solid form in his arms turn to air.

“Sensei! Who’s your only chance? I can’t hear you!”

“You need M̴̼̣͖̟̫͋̈́͗͗̾͘i̷̲̼̰͆̔̎́͝k̶̛̳̩̥̭͌̄̔̈́̍ẻ̸̹̙͚͖̈́́͜͜y̶͎̣͐̽͂̀̀͂͜! Casey, help M̴̼̣͖̟̫͋̈́͗͗̾͘i̷̲̼̰͆̔̎́͝k̶̛̳̩̥̭͌̄̔̈́̍ẻ̸̹̙͚͖̈́́͜͜y̶͎̣͐̽͂̀̀͂͜  !”

“SENSEI, DON’T GO! SENSEI!”

Casey snapped back to reality, panting. His left hand being crushed in a massive green fist.

“Ow! Raph, what- Raph?”

The giant snapper whimpered, tears rolling down his face like waterfalls from closed eyes. “Who’s Mikey?”

Chapter Text

“Raph? Raph, is that you, can you hear me?”

Raphael shuddered, looking around. He recognized it well enough, he was in the Battle Nexus Arena, though he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t really have one set place he went in his mind when he meditated, but this wasn’t one he’d done before.

“Raphie, please, look at me..”

Raphael turned around, facing the voice. He held back a squee.

“Monarch Apollo? I’m your biggest fan! I- wait, what are you doing in my mind-meld?”

Apollo frowned, his form starting to flicker as glowing orange cracks broke out on his fingers and the exposed part of his face.


“Don’t you recognize me, Raphie? Haven’t- haven’t you noticed I’ve been missing?”

Raph’s heart clenched, a pounding pain filling his head.

“How do you know my name? Do you- do you need my help? Is Big Mama doing something to you?”

Apollo fell to his knees, the sounds of a heart monitor echoed through the arena.

“I can’t- Raphie, I can’t hold on! Please don’t forget me! I’ll bring him home, I promise!”

Raph knelt on the ground, moving on instinct to pull the ninja into his arms. How was the fighter that seemed so strong and full of life on tv so small? He was shaking, clinging onto Raph like a lifeline, and all Raph wanted to do was keep him safe. How could he protect this boy when he didn’t even know where he was? Didn’t even know who he was?


“I’ve got you, I can help you. Please, what’s your name?”

“Please, Raphie, Please don’t forget me! It’s me! It’s me, it’s-”


Apollo disappeared from his arms, at the same time as a spidery laugh echoed through Raph’s mind.


“Sorry, turtley-boo.” Big Mama’s voice rang. “You’re getting a tiddle bit too close for comfort. Ta ta, now!”


Everything went black and three pairs of glowing red eyes burned themselves into Raphael’s sight.

He came back to reality with a sob and a strangled scream, falling to his hands and knees. Through the agonizing pain in his head, one thought played over and over on a loop, a name.

Michelangelo.

Chapter Text

Leo growled and summoned his swords to his hands, crouching down in a defensive position over Blue. He looked more animal than man this way.

Kraang rolled his eyes, looking bored, and flicked Leo away effortlessly, sending him crashing into a wall.

“Pity he’s not awake to struggle against me, very rude for our first meeting, don’t you think?” He grabbed the limp massive turtle by his throat and held him up, smirking at Leo. “So kind of you to bring me a new play thing. And to think, I didn’t get you anything.”

Leo hissed, using his swords to help him back to his feet.

“No trash talking this time? Come now, Leonardo, you’re getting boring. Don’t tell me this place has broken you already.” He reached out tentacles, stroking Blue’s face with deceptive tenderness.

“Leave him alone.”


Kraang laughed, not bothering to look at Leo as he dug the tendrils into Blue’s corneas. “In what world would that do anything to stop me?” Blue whined but didn’t fight against the invasion, still unconscious. Kraang’s smirk only grew as he dug through memory after memory. “Oh, this is even more delicious than the red turtle I corrupted last time.”


“I got through to Raph, I’ll break him out of it too.”


“Your brother hated you far less. In fact… I think I’ll let this one talk. So secretive, this one, it’s a wonder he didn’t stab you on sight.”

Blue gasped, making strangled choking sounds as his eyes shot open, a sickeningly familiar pink. Leo tightened his grip on his swords.

Kraang laughed and threw Blue to the ground where he was quickly taken over by pink slime, clinging to every muscle and making the already massive turtle an absolute behemoth.

Leo shuddered. “It’s- it’s gonna be okay, Blue. I’ll save you, I promise!”

Blue let out a sinister sickly laugh, climbing to his feet and towering over Leo.

“What, like you saved our brothers? Saved our world?”

“Blue, cut it out. I mean it!”

“You couldn’t save anyone. You’re the reason my brothers are all dead. You’re the one who ended the world, Leonardo.”


“I don’t want to hurt you!”


Blue cackled, throwing a tentacle out to grab Leo by the throat and hoist him up.

“I wouldn’t be so worried about that if I were you.”

“Red! Raphael, look at me! You’re safe, my son, you’re home.”

Raph sobbed, digging his claws into the fabric of his bandana.

“D- dad?”

“Yes, my son. I’m here, I have you. You’re safe.”

Slowly, Raph’s senses faded back into focus. His fathers paws clutching his cheeks, the bed underneath him, the sounds of Casey crying as silently as he could, the smell of smoke and blood- oh, his blood. Raph let go of his head, feeling suddenly where he’s been digging his claws in.

“I’m scared, dad.”


Splinter’s heart broke just a little more at how soft and shaky his son’s voice was. His big sweet Raphael never admitted fear. Never let anyone, even him, see him weak or vulnerable.And suddenly, even though he was so huge that even knelt down like this he was taller than his father, all Splinter could see was his scared baby boy. Small enough he could still be held in his father’s lap and rocked back to sleep after waking from a nightmare.


“I’m here, Raphael, I’m here. What did you see?”

“I don’t- I don’t know. It’s all fuzzy now, I can’t remember anything. Someone’s hurt, someone who needs me, but I don’t know who they are. They’re so scared, dad.”

Splinter shushed softly, rubbing his knuckles against Raph’s jaw. Raph leaned into the soothing touch, calming.


“My head hurts so bad.”

“Go lay down, Red. I’ll bring you some soup and painkillers,”

Raph smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Hot soup?”

Splinter chuckled, kissing his forehead.

“The Lou Jitsu special, just for you. Now go, rest.”

Raph smiled and got to his feet, leaning on the wall for support.


“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too, Raphael.”




Splinter watched his son leave before turning to face Casey.

“Master Splinter?”

“Yes?”

“Leonardo’s alive. Both of them.”

Chapter Text

The first thing Michelangelo came to notice when he came back to consciousness was a clawed hand rubbing small circles over his knuckles. The second was the beeping of a heart monitor. The third was the feeling of thick heavy straps across his chest, securing him to a thin mattress.

"Mmm Donnie, gotta trim your nails, bro."

The hand paused its motions, then moved to squeeze his hand tight. He heard a button being pressed next to his head.

Mikey groaned and slowly opened his eyes, his head felt stuffed with cotton. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out enough equipment to tell he was in a hospital room. A proper one, not the modified traincar in the lair. 

"Donnie, what's going on? What happened?" He tried to sit up but was stopped by the straps. A hand moved to lay on his plastron before the panic could sink fully in.

Mikey blinked, turning his head to face the figure in the chair next to him.  He relaxed slightly, trying to smile. It wasn't easy, his whole face felt numb.

"Milo?"

She moved the hand on his chest to sign 'D-R-U-G'

Mikey frowned, trying to piece together his memories from when he was last awake and coming up empty.

He sighed and laid his head back down. He felt exhausted and weak, like he'd been hit by a bus and knocked out for weeks. He wasn't sure how long he'd been looking up when he heard the clicking of heels against tile, but his vision had gone clear by the time he saw Big Mama come in.

At first glance, she looked as put together and professional as always, hair immaculately poofed and eyeliner sharp enough to kill. But squinting, Mikey saw the bags under her eyes, the small chips in her manicure, and noticed the scent of tobacco clinging to her coat. Something had her rattled in a way Mikey didn’t even think possible.

“Oh, turtley-boo, you’re finally awake!” Her usually chipper tone wavered a bit, as though she’d been crying. What could possibly have happened that was bad enough to make Big Mama of all people cry? “My little Maple Leaf, you may take your leave.”

Milo squeezed Mikey’s hand, but didn’t budge.

Big Mama raised an eyebrow at the show of disobedience, but sighed, not pushing the matter. “She’s been keeping a near constant vigil over you since the… incident. Honestly, it’s quite the achievement, she doesn’t form attachments easily, much less over contestants.”

Milo made a chittering noise, turning away from her in what Mikey could only guess was embarrassment. 

“What incident? How long have I been here?”

Big Mama frowned, dropping the cheerful unbothered act. “Three weeks. What do you remember?”

“Nothing, it’s like my head’s full of cotton candy.”


Big Mama nodded, not looking surprised, and picked up a clipboard from a table next to the bed.

“You were poisoned. It was powerful mystic stuff, and a dose as large as you were given would normally take down far bigger and stronger Yokai than you. The doctors say you’re only still alive because of whatever healing factor our dear Draxy gave you and your brothers.”


Mikey shuddered and moved to sit, forgetting about the straps.

“Ah! Yes, those. You kept floating in your coma, we had to keep you on the bed. Darling, if you would?”

Milo slashed the restraints with her claws and helped Michelangelo sit up slowly, propping up his back with pillows.


“Who poisoned me?”


“Don’t concern yourself with that, turtley-boo, she’s been taken care of.” Big Mama smirked, the look in her eyes immediately killing Mikey’s desire to ask more questions on the matter.


Mikey nodded, stretching his hands out and frowning at how hard he shook. Big Mama patted Milo’s shoulder and turned to leave.


“Hey, Big Mama?”

She turned, tilting her head.  “Yes?”


“Could you stay? I don’t- I don’t do good with hospitals.”


Big Mama smiled softly. “I suppose I have some time to spare.”

She sat next to Milo with her legs crossed, Mikey got the feeling that it wasn’t a coincidence that there were already two chairs at his bedside.

“I wish Leo were here. Is he back yet?”

“I’m afraid we’re still having trouble locating the right dimension, but we are getting close. I don’t break my deals, you know that.”


“I know, I know… You’re a pretty good person under all the mob boss monastery stuff. Dad wouldn’t have fallen in love with you if you weren’t.” Mikey yawned, rolling onto his side, careful not to mess up the wires.


Big Mama raised an eyebrow, amused.

“I think it’s time you go back to sleep, Michael. I’ll have someone fetch me next time you wake, we’ll go for breakfast.”

Mikey pouted but couldn’t hold in another yawn. “I’m not even tired.”


Milo cupped his face, rubbing her thumb in little circles that immediately had Mikey making soft chirping noises and closing his eyes.


Big Mama not-so-subtly took a picture of the two and stood, pulling the blanket over his shoulders.

“You need to rest if you expect to get better. Milo will stand guard.”


Milo chittered in affirmation and Mikey hummed, letting himself drift back into that warm cozy place.

“Night Milo, night Mama.”


Big Mama chuckled, waiting until he was fully asleep before walking away.

“Sweet dreams, Michelangelo.”

Chapter Text

Cass perched on the corner of the roof of April’s apartment, fidgeting with her piercings. She intercepted a minor robbery, but with the Foot Clan still licking its wounds and New York still rebuilding, it had been infuriatingly quiet lately.

She smiled, hearing footsteps behind her. Despite her ninja training, April refused to give up on her heavy clunky boots that announced her presents to anyone paying even the slightest bit of training.


“Cass, you know I have a door, right? You can just, like, knock. You know, like a normal person?”

“Knocking like a normal person is BENEATH ME!”

April rolled her eyes, used to Cas’ antics. She sat down next to her, taking in the neon lights of the city.

“Did Raph flake on patrol again? I’m worried. I don’t think he’s left the lair since… you know.”

Cass raised an eyebrow. “And you haven’t just tried dragging him out?”


April snorted. “It’s Raph, Man. That’s not physically possible.”

Cass smirked, “For you, maybe. I could do it.”


April hummed and twisted the thread bracelet she hadn’t taken off in years. There was a bloodstain over the orange part that she couldn’t wash out, no matter what she’d tried, and it almost made it look like the red section was just massive like the turtle it represented.


“When’s the last time you went and saw them, Casey?”

Cassandra knocked her heels against each other, thinking. “I joined them on patrol a few weeks before the invasion.”

“Cass that’s almost two months ago.”

“I’m aware. It’s not like I don’t want to see them, it’s just…” Cass frowned, unable to put her feelings to words.

“It’s not the same without Leo, I get it. I’ve only visited a few times since everything went down. I mean, I feel like shit about it, I know they need me, it’s just not right. I can’t stand to see the look in their eyes, so I just… I run, I guess. Like a coward.”



Casey gave April a long look before jumping to her feet with an impressive (and totally not rehearsed to show off to pretty girls shhhh) flip.

“Then it’s settled, we’re going to the lair.”

“I have homework!”

“IRRELEVANT! Follow, O’Neil!” Cassandra left no room for debate, jumping onto the next roof over without warning.


April sighed and ran a hand down her face, heading for the stairs. “Why is she like this?”

“You deserve this and you know it, don’t you? I’m sure our brothers have forgotten you already. I’m sure they’ve replaced you with someone better.”

Blue chucked Leo against the wall, grinning sadistically at the sound of cracking shell. Leo gave a pained groan, but made no move to get up. His grip tightened on the handle of his sword.

“I’m sure Father will be happy to give your place to Casey. Finally, he’ll have a fourth son he can be truly proud of.”

Blue took a step forward, growling. Leo stayed slumped where he was.

“So quiet, it’s unlike you. What happened to our little loudmouth Leo, hmm? Don’t be so dull.”

Blue crouched down in front of him, grabbing Leo by the throat.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I- I’m sorry.”

“Wha-”

Leo thrust his sword forward, slicing Blue’s throat wide open. The horrid pink in his eyes turned back to white, looking at Leo in terror.

“I’ll see you soon, Blue.”

Leo held his own corpse, sobbing until he blacked out.

Chapter Text

“Please, Raphie, Please don’t forget me! It’s me! It’s me, it’s-”

Raph shook his head, starting to stumble.

“Alright, Raph, no freaking out. Donnie can’t afford you freaking out. You’re the big brother, the strong one. Hearing weird voices in your head, no big. We can worry about that later.”

Raph heard a yell as his only warning before he was suddenly knocked over from behind by a triumphant looking Cassandra Jones, an embarrassed April close in tow.

“Red one! Who were you talking to?” She pinned him down with a foot on his shell and poked his head.

“Casey, get off!”

“Ha! Make me, turtle!”

Raph shot April an unimpressed look before standing up with little effort, sending Cass flying.


“Not that I’m not happy to see you guys and all, but could you keep it down a little? My head’s murdering me.”


Cassandra stood and brushed the dirt off of her clothes.

“I will be quiet to the extent I am capable!”


Raph groaned and rubbed a hand down his face.

“You’re way too loud for someone who’s supposed to be a ninja.”


“Says the six foot tall walking school bus!” Cass shifted her stance to goad him into a fight.


April rolled her eyes and smacked Cass’ hand.


“Enough of all that. We’re here to check on the guys, not fight them, remember?”


“I can multitask.”

Raph rolled his eyes and started walking back to his room, ignoring the squabbling.


“Turtle! Come back and face me!”


Raph sighed and turned around.

“Later, okay? I’m not trying to ignore you, I just really can’t do this right now.”


April put a hand on Cass’ shoulder. “Hey, Big Guy, it’s okay. Go get some sleep, you look like shit, We’ll catch up with Donnie and Splintz.”


“Maybe we can do dinner?”


“Sounds like a plan. Come on, Cass, there’s someone you need to meet.”

The first thing Blue saw when he woke up was a metal foot. The second was all the dried blood on it.

“...Kid?”


Leo crouched down and helped him sit up.

“Oh, thank fuck, you’re awake. I was starting to lose it a little bit.”


Blue groaned and rubbed his eyes. “What happened?”

“Oh, you died.” Leo offered, cheerfuly.


“I did what, now?”

Blue pushed himself up with his right arm- still the prosthetic, damn- and looked Leo over.


He could look worse, all things considered, but the kid had definitely been through some shit while he was out. And his foot was gone, again, replaced by the Kraang suit makeshift prosthetic. He was glad Leo talked him into holding onto it, but he really wished the kid would just stop losing his foot like that. And the same one, too. Why was Leo’s right foot specifically cursed?


“What do you remember?”


Blue closed his eyes, concentrating.

“We were scavenging some Kraang ship. Then, I don’t know why, I just passed out.”

“You don’t remember anything after that?”


“Should I?”


“Don’t worry about that, I’m just glad you’re back.”


“Kid, whatever you’re hiding from me, just spill already. I can take it.”


“It’s nothing. The, uh, the ship collapsed. You got crushed, I couldn’t pull you out in time.”


“And that’s the truth?”


“Yeah, that’s the truth. How do you think I lost my foot?”



Blue sighed, getting the distinct feeling he was still missing something. But he let it go for the time being.


“Right. Well, uh, sorry for dying on you.”

“Meh, just makes us even. Think you’re strong enough to try and make a portal home together?”


“I can fake it.”


“Alright, let’s go, then.”

Chapter Text

“Uhhh Mama, quick question?”


Big Mama raised an eyebrow, one perfectly manicured hand still grasping his shoulder, steering the boy back to his room.


“Yes, Turtleyboo?”


“Why is my room filled with cucumbers?”


Mikey was pretty sure he wasn’t going any crazier than he usually was, but frankly he was starting to doubt it. On the floor of his room were piles and piles of cucumbers and cucumber themed pillows, plushies, et cetera. He wondered to himself if that cat vs cucumber video Donnie made of him around a year ago finally went viral.


“Fanmail, darling. Your adoring public was awfully worried about you, I must say. You truly know how to make an impression.”


Mikey looked at her, puzzled as to how that was supposed to answer anything. “I don’t get it, though, why cucumbers?”


“Oh, darling, you really don’t know much about yokai, do you? Turtle yokai are incredibly rare and incredibly powerful. We refer to them as Kappa.”


Mikey tilted his head, taking in the names carved into the vegetables.


“I think I’ve heard of them from Dad’s stories. They grant wishes, right?”


Big Mama let out a sharp laugh. “Oh, absolutely not. I’ll have one of my people get you some books on them, you couldn’t be more wrong. But come, I promised you lunch. There’s a splendiferous little cafe I used to bring your father to in the hidden city.”


Mikey blinked, surprised. “I’m allowed to leave?”


“Darling, you’re my fighter, not my prisoner. As long as I or one of my guards are with you, you may visit the hidden city whenever you please in your free time.”


Mikey thought his room looked suspiciously like a cell for someone who allegedly wasn’t a prisoner, but he let the thought lie. As much as he didn’t trust it, Mikey welcomed the chance to get some fresh air for the first time in he wasn’t even sure how long. Maybe he could even sneak off and call Raph, just to check in.

Glowing blue cracks floated in the air of an abandoned subway car.

Chapter Text

Casey's nose twitched and he cocked his head, listening for something outside.

"Future boy, what's wrong?"

"I thought I heard- MASTER SPLINTER, GET BEHIND ME!"

Casey grabbed his weapon from his waistband where it was hidden in its compact form, pulling Splinter behind him and extending it, blade held out.

Before Splinter could ask for an explanation, Cassandra burst through the door, vibrating with energy. 

"WHO STOLE MY NAME? I DEMAND A DUEL!"

"Mom?!"


Splinter and Cassandra stared at him with identical confused stares.

“MOM?! Master Jitsu, explain!”


“I’m as confused as you are. And you had better fix my door!”


Casey just stared at her in shock, completely lost for words. His weapon fell to the ground.


Cassandra pulled a kunai from her belt and pulled the boy closer by the neck of his shirt, holding it against his neck.

“Explain. Now.”


Casey yelped and threw his hands up, startled.


“Wait, I’m a friend! My name is Casey Jones!”


April poked her head out of the Cassandra shaped hole in the wall.


“Cass, I told you to be cool! This is not being cool! Hey, future boy.”


“Uh, hi Miss O’Neil. Help?”


Cassandra looked between April and the boy and let him go with a dramatic groan.


“I wasn’t actually gonna hurt him.”


April raised an eyebrow.


“...Much.” Cass put the knife back. “She called you future boy. Why?”


Casey took a step back and straightened his shirt. “I mean, uh, I feel like that kinda explains itself.”

Splinter grabbed Casey’s weapon with his tail and set it against the wall, muttering complaints about the noise.


Casey cleared his throat. “I’m from a different timeline where we didn’t defeat the Kraang. Master Leonardo and Master Michelangelo sent me here to find the key before they did. You’re, uh, you’re my mom in that timeline.”


“Hmm… alright, then. Are you hungry?”


“Wait, really? That’s all it took?”



Cass shrugged. “I’ve seen weirder. And Master Jitsu seems to trust you, so-”


“I’ve told you at least five times to just call me Splinter.”


“And Master Jitsu wouldn’t let you in here if you weren’t family, so that’s good enough for me. Now get dressed, we’re going to lunch.”


Casey blinked a few times before shrugging. “Makes sense, I guess. But I am dressed.”


She looked him up and down judgmentally. “Alright, we’re fixing that after lunch. After me.”

She motioned for him to follow and started walking back to the living room.

April grabbed her arm.

“Are you just trying to get him alone so you can interrogate him?”


Cassandra smirked and shook her hand off.

“I would never.”

Chapter Text

Blue rubbed his eye, groaning. The pitiful portal they managed to create fizzled out into nothing. “Sorry, kid, still out of it. I feel like I’ve been gone for, like, a month and a half.”


“That’s oddly specific. Whatever, you’ll be fine. First time dying sucks the worse, you’ll get used to it.”


“I’d rather not be here long enough to get used to it, kid.”


“Yeah, you and me both.”


Leo drummed his hands on his thighs, suddenly looking nervous.

“Kid?”


“What if it doesn’t work?”


Blue hummed, moving to sit against Leo. He wrapped his arm around Leo’s shoulders.


“Well… if it doesn’t work, then we’ll just try again. And again. And again. Until it does… we don’t exactly have another choice.”

“What if we manage to fuck it up so bad I lose you again?”


“Oh, buddy…”


“It was scary! I- I know you came back, I knew you were coming back, but you weren’t here. I’m scared, Blue. I don’t want to be alone again.”


“You won’t be. I promise, Leo, I’m not going anywhere. You’ll never be alone again, I’m sure of it.”


“You better mean that. If you die on me again, I’ll kill you.”


“I’ll keep that in mind, buddy. Alright, kid, deep breath, take my hands.”


Blue took his arm off of Leo and moved to sit in front of him.


“You mean hand?”


“Shhhhhut up.”




Leo chuckled and sat up straighter.


The two held hands and closed their eyes, focusing. Blue’s thin and weak ninpo wrapped around Leo’s, trying to shield it. As if he could keep Leo safe if he only tried hard enough.



A blue crack tore in the space next to them.

Leo gasped. “It’s bigger this time! Blue, we’re doing it!”


“See? Told you we could. Keep pushing, we’ve got this.”


The two gave it their all, panting and shaking by the time it was big enough to see where the portal led.


“Blue, that’s Mikey’s room! Eww look at that moldy pizza. …Actually, no, I’d still eat it.”


“You terrify me.”



The portal started to flicker.


“NONONONONONONONO, PLEASE NO!”




Blue tightened his grip on Leo’s hands.




“Don’t panic! Panicking is only going to make it worse!”



There was a blinding flash and the portal spread wider, ribbons of orange wrapping around the blue.



“Mikey… Come on, we don’t have much time!”



Cackling rang out from behind them and they jumped up in horror, raising their swords.



“We can’t let him get through! I’ll hold him off, go, kid!”




Leo gritted his teeth and moved to stand in front of Blue.




Blue growled and grabbed Leo’s mask tails.


“Leo, don’t you fucking dare.”


Leo gave Blue one last smile before kicking Blue as hard as he could in the chest with his prosthetic foot. The mask tails tore. Leo got one last glimpse of his look of betrayal before Blue’s head hit the wall and he fell to the ground, unconscious.




Then the portal slammed closed.

And Leo was alone again.




“There’s no one to protect you now, little pest.”

Leo took a shaky step back, knowing damn well he didn’t have enough juice left in him to portal away.

“You should be running, turtle.”

Chapter Text

“Order whatever you want, it’s on me.”


Junior tapped his foot, staring at the menu. “What’s a… baja blast?”


Cassandra’s eyes lit up. “Do you want one?”


“Uhhh….”

“Alright, that’s a yes, you don’t have a choice.”

Junior snorted. “Okay, mo- uh ma’am.”


Cassandra sighed. “Just call me Casey.”


“But I’m Casey.”


“Nope, you’re Junior now.”


“Oh, okay.”


Junior fidgeted with his clothes, trying not to stare. Well, not his clothes, Leo’s clothes. They would’ve been a little big on him regardless because of the extra room they needed for his shell, but it was also painfully obvious that the malnutrition wasn’t doing him any favors.

He’d worry about putting on more weight once they got Leo home. It wasn’t a priority, he was fine. The food he had now was absolutely worlds better than what he was familiar with, so he really didn’t get why Grandpa Splinter insisted on apologizing for it all the time.

Casey raised an eyebrow. “Wait, hold on, you’re really not gonna fight me on this?”


Junior shrugged, counting on his fingers as he spoke.

“One, you’re a young version of my mom, that’s a fight I know I’d lose. Two, I got called that my entire life up until, like, a month ago. Three, I really just don’t care. Having anyone actually talk to me long enough to use a name is already a win for me. Four, I am literally so goddamn tired, and fighting you about it sounds like it would take so much energy it legitimately hurts to think about.”

“Holy shit, you are my kid. …Huh, wack. Anyways, since I’m assuming you’ve never been here before and you’re staring at the menu like it’s written in Greek, I’ll just get us the same thing.”

“Nah, I know Greek.”

“Oh shit, for real?”

“No, I’m lying for fun. I haven’t eaten… uh… literally any of this stuff before, but I’ll probably like whatever you pick.”

“Cool cool. You go sit while I order and try not to fall asleep on me, kay?”

“Mmm no promises.”


Junior rubbed his eyes and sat at the first table he saw, immediately laying his head down on it. His long greasy hair splayed out all around him.

“...Well, I can’t not keep him, now. He’s going in my purse, the rat doesn’t deserve him.”


“You know you’re only, like, ten feet away, right? I can hear you. Also you don’t have a purse.”

“Intentional and irrelevant, shush.”


Junior snorted and closed his eyes, taking in the sounds of the other customers talking and moving around. It was soothing. He’d never liked quiet, it was one of the worst parts of living in the lair. There wasn’t laughing, or singing, or whispered arguments over silly irrelevant little things. Quiet in his life always meant that someone had died. Junior wondered how much of the quiet was because Leo wasn’t with them. …He didn’t want to explore that train of thought.

Before he knew it, he woke up to his forehead being poked.

“HACHI MAC- oh, it’s you. Whoops.”


Casey blinked, looking at the knife in her face, unimpressed. Junior gulped and tucked it back into his pocket.

“I thought I told you not to fall asleep on me, dude.”


“Yeah, well, you’re not my mom. Wait-”


Casey snorted and set the tray down.

“I’m just teasing. I just got you a box combo and a large baja blast.”


“Is it supposed to be glowing?”

“Yeah, isn’t it cool? Eat up, I won’t feel right about sparring with you if you weigh as much as a sad cat.”

“Meh, I could take you down.”

“Oh, really? You think so?”


“Have you ever wrestled a kraang hound over a deer carcass?”

“Uh… no?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”


Junior felt a warmth in his heart that he hadn’t felt since he’d landed in this timeline as they bantered back and forth.

It felt like being home again.

Blue woke up alone in an orange train car.

Chapter Text

Raph ran to the source of the sound, hands shaking.

He stopped dead in his tracks, realizing it came from the mysterious orange car, which was now tipped over.

Anxiety filled his stomach and the only thing stopping him from turning tail and booking it was a groan coming from inside. It was deep, deeper than he’d imagined his little brother’s voice could get, but there was no mistaking it.

Leo was in there.

Raph ripped the door off and climbed inside.

That… wasn’t Leo.

But it wasn’t not him, either.

The turtle lying in front of him was tall, even taller than Raph, and scarred from head to toe. He was muscular in a way that was clearly built up from years of hard work and training, but also had little to no fat over it. His eyes were open but they didn’t move. For all that Raph could tell, he was looking at a corpse.

Raph had never been more afraid in his life.

A sword with two bandanas wrapped around its handle laid on the ground next to him.

Raph took a step closer.

“Leo?”

The turtle didn’t respond.

“Please, please be real. Raph can’t handle seeing things again. Come on, Leo, come on. Wake up, little brother.”

Raph whined softly at the lack of response and laid down next to him. At least he could tell that the not-Leo was breathing. The pounding in his head only got worse. Raph whimpered and closed his eyes, trying to breathe through it.

Raph didn’t know how long he spent with his eyes closed just laying there until he heard a sharp breath next to him, and then a hand on his cheek.

“Hey, Le-”

“Where’s Leo?”

“I- huh?”

“Leo! Where’s Leo, he was right- No. No. Nonononono, this can’t be happening! We were supposed to come back together! I promised! He can’t- he can’t-”

Raph whined. “Leo, hey, what’s happening?”

Blue started to hyperventilate. “I’m not- I’m not Leo! You don’t understand! He’s alone again! He’s alone with him !”

“I don’t- I don’t know what you’re saying. Leo, you’re scaring me. Come on, Leo, let’s get you cleaned up, we’ll get you to Dad-”

“Shit, Dad!”

Blue pushed Raph away (well, less of a push and more of a slap. …With the metal hand. He’d apologize for it later.) and bolted, climbing the ceiling-now-wall with ease despite his injuries. 

He kept running, leaving a trail of blood behind him, until he spotted Draxum. He smiled for a few seconds before charging towards him like a rampaging bull.

“What in the-”

“Dad! You need to-”


Blue suddenly fell to the ground face first.

Donnie leaned on his tech bo, looking unamused at the half dozen tranq darts sticking out of the now unconscious turtle’s arm.

“Anyone care to explain to me who the fuck I just shot?”

Mikey couldn’t explain how he knew, but something was wrong. Something was incredibly unbearably wrong.

He stared at his hands, watching the pulsating glow. The cracks had gotten worse. Much worse. Even Big Mama’s special ointment was doing little to help the pain, though he tried not to show it. He had a deal to keep, after all, and he had no intention of finding out the hard way if Big Mama would hold up her end of it if he suddenly found himself unable to fight.

“Turtleyboo, darling, you’ve hardly touched your food. Do you want to break my poor heart?”


Mikey shook his head and smiled, fixing his posture.

“No, Mama, sorry. Just, uh, just got lost in my thoughts.”

“It’s no matter, dear, you’ve been through quite a lot. It’s more than understandable that you’d be a bit fizzlybobbled in the head still.”

Mikey nodded and pushed his fork around the plate. He knew he needed to eat, but the appetite just wasn’t there. He felt bad, too. Not only had Big Mama taken time out of her busy schedule to eat with him, but it was a beautiful dish. If he were feeling like even a shadow of his normal self, he’d be absolutely over the moon over the beautiful layering. Maybe after all this was over, he could seek the chef out for an apprenticeship.

“Big Mama, can I ask you something?”

“Anything, my little champion.”

“Why hasn’t my family come to see me? It’s been over a month.”


Big Mama froze before clearing her throat and wiping her lip delicately with a napkin.

“I’m sure they’re just busy, my dear. The city is all still a bit ramshackled after that nasty Kraang business.”

“Do you think… Do you think they forgot me?”

“Oh, my dear…”

“Do you think they hate me because I couldn’t save Leo?”


Big Mama frowned, fidgeting with her rings.

“No, my little Turtleyboo, I’m positive they don’t. I’m sure there’s… something else stopping them.”

“Can I see them? Please? I won’t run away, I promise, I just wanna make sure they’re okay.”

Big Mama sighed, swirling her glass.

“Give me some time to think about it, darling.”

“Thank you, Mama.”

“Of course, my little star.”


She tried and failed to ignore the festering guilt in her stomach.

Rule number one of being a badass yokai crime boss running a massive gladiatorial spectacle, no getting attached to your fighters.

Damned Hamatos.

Chapter Text

Leo looked down at his leg. The damage was too extensive for the suit to even begin to heal, and the blood loss would probably take him out soon anyways, he needed to at least make the last few hours (if even that) of this cycle count. 

Hunger gnawed at his gut the more the adrenaline wore off.

Leo wondered why he even bothered trying to survive anymore, but he knew the red one would be disappointed in him if he gave up now.

He took off his mask, balled it up, and bit down hard on it, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as the blade came down. 

Leo had breakfast when it woke up a week later. The meat was tougher than he expected, but weirdly good, at least compared to his usual fare. Old dog, new trick.

Raphael’s younger brother dodged another strike, cackling.

“You’re getting rusty, KP!”

“SILENCE, YOU WRETCHED THING!”

“Haha! Missed me, missed me, now you gotta- ew wait, no, ignore that last thing. You’re fucking gross.”

“Stop laughing and die already, you awful creature!”

“Never gonna happen.”

“Hey, guess what. You ugly pi- pink bastard.”

Leo staggered forward, leaning heavily on its swords like crutches. He smirked and wiped the blood from his lip.

“Gas- gaslight.”

“What are you doing?”

“Gatekeep.”

Kraang Prime hissed, displaying his neck frills as a threat.

“Girlboss.”

Leo slammed his swords into the floor and a blinding light consumed them both.

It woke up in agony with only one leg.

“Aw, shit.”

Donatello’s twin grumbled, squinting to try and make out where the panel had come loose on his leg by the light of the buttons on the ship’s console he was hiding out in.

“There’s gotta be an instruction manual for this stupid thing somewhere. ”

“Knock knock, little insect.”

“Oh, will you fuck off !”

Michelangelo’s older brother grinned down at his work. The makeshift tattoo gun he’d fashioned out of salvaged ship pieces didn’t do a clean job, exactly, but it worked well enough. 

He’d always wanted the Hamato crest to be a part of him permanently.

Splinter’s son didn’t remember how old it was supposed to be anymore.

Pest had a family once. At least, he was pretty sure he did. He’d spent so long in his own mind, in his own dreams, he couldn’t be sure anymore what was really there before this place and what he’d made up to escape to.

Pest couldn’t even be sure there was a before this place.

Prime liked to tell Pest many things when he could catch it. But first he had to catch it.

Prime told many lies.

Prime would tell Pest that it was weak, but Pest knew this was not true. Pest had taken a leg from him, Pest had taken an eye, Pest had wounded Prime. That was not a feat the weak could accomplish.

Prime would tell Pest that it was trapped, but Pest could run. Pest could hide. Sometimes when it was very lucky, Pest could get many sleeps before Prime caught it again.

Prime would tell Pest that it was alone.

Pest was only alone when Prime could not find it.

Chapter Text

Splinter leaned heavily on his cane as he navigated the thoroughly wrecked tunnel. His minuscule height made it so much easier. It was concerningly easy to follow the blood to where the familiar yet not turtle had hidden himself away to rest on a bent pipe close to the ceiling that was just barely strong enough to support his weight. 

The tranq must have fully worn off by now, he looked perfectly alert. His eyes didn’t seem cloudy or vacant like they had when he’d woken up, snatching up a few rolls of bandages before tearing off towards the wreckage.

“Leonardo?”

Blue looked down, seeing the man who both was and wasn’t his father. He sighed and leaned his head back.

“The kid called me Blue, if that makes it easier.”

“The kid?”

“Your Leo. The teenager,” Blue rubbed his hand down his face, trying to keep himself composed. He’d braided the tails of Leo’s mask into a bracelet around his prosthetic wrist. “He’s still out there. Whatever you’re imagining that place is like, it’s worse.”

Splinter’s eyes regained a bit of the light that had been missing from them for months.

“He’s alive.”

Blue laughed bitterly.

“He doesn’t get a choice. The Prison Dimension doesn’t let you die. It doesn’t let you rest. You just come back, again and again and again. There’s no food, no water, no passing of time. Just debris, empty space, and… him. And now Leo’s alone with him. Again.”

“How-”


Blue shook his head.

“You don’t want to know. Trust me.”

“He’s my son .”

“I know. Dad, listen to me. Father to father, you don’t want to know.”


Splinter’s ear twitched.

“Future boy?”

Blue’s eyes widened and he got down from his hideaway, crouching down to meet his eyes.

“Casey! He’s here, right? He’s here, he’s okay? Is he-”


Splinter dropped his cane and threw his arms around Blue’s neck. Who let his baby blue get too big to hug? It was just unfair.

Blue froze for a moment before shifting to sit so he could hug his father properly. He couldn’t even remember how young he’d been when he got his very last hug from his dad.

“I missed you so much, Dad.”

“So did I, Blue. More than you know.”

Blue let out a soft whimper and tried not to think about how frail his father seemed in his arms. Without even trying to, the old rat seemed to completely disappear underneath them. If he squeezed even just slightly too tight with his prosthetic, he could seriously get hurt, it was like Leo all over again. And now the kid was so vulnerable and he had absolutely no one to protect him. 

Blue shook his head, trying desperately not to let the grief consume him. He’d be no good to Leo that way.

“We’ll get him back, I swear. We’re not giving up on him, no matter what it takes.”

Splinter patted his plastron and Blue loosened his grip, letting Splinter pull away and helping him back to his feet.

“You should talk to your brother, perhaps you can help him where I cannot. Leo’s absence has been very hard on all of us, but on Donnie especially. Raphael and I are trying, but we cannot get through to him at all.”


Blue frowned and got to his feet, pulling his sword off of the floor and leaning on it.

“Not even Mikey?”

Splinter frowned and tilted his head.

“Who is Mikey?”