Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hi gramgram.” Mikey says as he sits on the cold grass. “We’re visiting Todd for the weekend!” He said as he smiled at the tought of puppies and lemonade. He looks up to the starry night, and takes out paper and a pencil, starting to draw the constellations he can remember.
“I think you’re one of the constellations now. I’d imagine you being Gemini.” He says as he starts drawing the patterns of Gemini.
“It looks like two people holding hands, I hope thats you and your dad.” Mikey says as he puts his tongue out to be more focused on his drawing.

“Done!” Mikey says after a while, and puts his pencil down. He looks at the drawing, and then to the sky. The drawing looks identical to the Gemini constellation.

“When I die, I hope I can become a cool constellation, like maybe Ursa Major. Of course Gemini’s cool aswell, but there can’t be two Geminis.” Mikey looks down at the grass, realising just how cold it is. The wind is blowing like crazy and the trees are swaying in rhythm. Mikey lays down on his shell on the grass, leaving his drawing underneath him, so the wind won’t blow it away.

“I-I’m sorry I never said thank you. You did so much for us and the Hamato clan. I.. we miss you so much, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.” Mikey says as a lump forms in his throat. He doesn’t want to cry, he’s brave and he’s gone through worse.

“I hope we’ll meet as constellations.” He says after calming down a bit.
“Or maybe you’re reborn as a bird, and we could be birds together roaming through the sky.” Mikey says as he gets the familiar lump in his throat again.
“A-and my dads and your dad could come too, as well as my brothers.” He starts tearing up as he imagines the death of his family.

Silence.

“I’ve been crying a lot, I didn’t even know I could cry so much. Where do all the tears even come from, my brain?” Mikey says and takes off his uncomfortably damp mask. He wipes some of his tears and focuses on his breathing.

“Life’s not fair.” He whispers, and starts crying silently, again.

Time passed and Mikey finally decided to sit up.
He rubs his puffy eyes, and steadies his breathing.
He gets the drawing, that’s kinda dirty from being under Mikey’s shell for such a long time.
He gets his pencil and starts writing on the back of the paper. He knows Leo has insomnia, and Donnie just usually doesn’t want to sleep, so he prefers to write the dark stuff, just incase someone could hear him.

He writes in all lowercase

i don’t want to live. i don’t want to be alive anymore. it’s tiring to do stuff people except you to do. i don’t want to feel anymore. it’s too much.

He leaves the paper on the ground for the wind to blow away, and maybe some animals can make use of it. He’s too tired to move, so he just curls up and falls asleep outside. The cold, and calming wind sings him to sleep.

He’s fast asleep, as Leo quietly comes outside to pick Mikey up, and get him inside. He heard Mikey. Leo sighs as he rubs Mikeys head. “Everything’s gonna be okay little brother.” He said as he curled up next to Mikey, surprisingly falling asleep.

Chapter Text

Mikey looks in the mirror, and touches the bandages on his throat. It doesn’t hurt anymore physically, but Mikey relapsed, cut himself and had to tell Donnie about it. Leo usually helps everyone with the medic stuff, but Donnie was the first Mikey got in mind in the panicked state that he was in.

He decides that it’s time to write in his diary, because this seems like an important moment to remember. He has issues with memory, because of a lot things, but usually it’s because of the Kraang invasion.

He writes in all lowercase

i was sitting on my bed and crying. i don’t even know why or how i was crying. i haven’t cried in so long, i thought i couldn’t anymore.
finally after a while, i wiped my tears and looked at my phone. it said 11.24pm on the locksreen. i said goodnight to my brothers at 10.30pm. i should’ve been sleeping, but i couldn’t. was that how leo feels? anyway, i didn’t really know what to feel. i wasn’t tired, and the tears started going down my cheeks again.

next thing i remember, it was 11.46pm and i was holding a knife to my lower plastron, right where my stomach would be. i poked my torso lightly in hopes i could’ve had enough courage to actually stab myself, but i just couldn’t. at times i tried to stab other parts of my body, like thighs or arms, and the knife went deeper every time, but never enough to draw blood.

when it was 12am, i had a terrible idea. i started slicing my throat with the knife, still not enough to draw blood. but it’s okay, it still hurt and maybe that’s enough for me. i took a mirror and opened the flashlight on my phone. i watched as one of the scars bled weakly.

it was maybe 12.30am, and i was searching for a razor blade i hid in my nightstand a while ago. when i found it, i left the knife on my nightstand, took my mirror, and started slicing quick slices on my throat with the razor. they immediately started bleeding as i got more and more high off of the adrenaline.

it was approximately 12.36am as i took a tight grip on my razor blade. i sliced, and inspected. the wound was bigger than the rest and i sighed.

it was 12.37am and my throat statrted bleeding really heavily. i rush to the bathroom, hoping leo nor donnie wouldn’t be awake.
i tried not to shake as i cleaned my hands and the door handle from blood with water. i looked into the mirror and saw my throat bleeding down on my plastron. it was awful to look at, and i almost vomited.
i took toilet paper and carefully put it on the cut. i hissed and took it off, but immediately put it back. i went back to my room after a while, shaking and trying my best to breathe.

it’s now 8.24am, and i’m writing in my diary. i went to don’s lab sometime at 1am and don put on a white and soft plaster. he said that it didn’t need stitching but maybe glueing when it has healed more. he told me not to take the plaster off, and that i needed to stay with him for the rest of the night. he doesn’t trust me, but it’s okay cuz i don’t trust myself. he gave me propral to help me calm down, and sleep. he also gave me his weighted blanket. i slept on his bed and he goes back to his chair. i fell asleep to the faint keyboard typing.

Chapter Text

It had already been a good 5 minutes of him trying to escape the mutated crabs claws that are currently holding him under the water.
With his ankle bleeding heavily, he couldn’t even try to swim.

When it’s been 10 minutes, Mikey really thinks that he’s gonna die here.
His brothers are busy fighting the other mutant crabs that attacked them.
Mikey remembers Donnie rambling about box turtles and that they can only stay underwater 10-15 minutes tops, and with the crab mutant slowly pulling him deeper and deeper into the water, Mikey starts thinking about what led to this?

Mikey was trying to draw with his now shaky hands wrapped in compression gloves.
Donnie said the gloves might help the shaking, and surprisingly it did!

Mikey was deep in thought, but got alerted when Donnie got a call from April.
He put it on speaker, just in case.

“DEE?? HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEWS??” April yelled, her voice hinting that it’s bad and urgent.

“You are conversing with- wait, what? What happened in the news?” Donnie asked, starting with his catchphrase for anyone who called him, but frowning as he didn’t get to finish it.

“THERE’S HUGE CRABS TRYING TO KILL PEOPLE AT THE BEACH” April yelled again, getting a bit frustrated.

“WHAT??” Donnie yelled back and looked at his brothers, who nodded to him and Donnie nodded back.
“We’ll take care of it.” Donnie said to April, and hung up.

Leo almost immediately went into action and drew his Ōdachi, drawing a circle portal onto the floor with it.
“Please work..” He quietly murmured as he jumped into the portal first.

He landed on a boat, as he yelled “Land safely-ish!!”.
Soon his brothers landed on the same boat and started looking for anything that looked familiar.

“We’re approximately 0.7 kilometres away from shore. Air is 21C°, humidity is 80%, the water is-“ Donnie starts explaining.
“Yeah we get it Dee, let’s just get this over with.” Leo interrupted as he was ready to jump into the water so he could swim to shore.
“Come on, I want to go back to reading comics.” Leo rolled his eyes and mentioned his brothers to be ready to jump also.

But before they could, four mutant-crabs jumped from the water onto the boat.
As Leo went to get the captain and boat-crew to safety, the others started fighting the crabs.

Mikey tried to do fancy tricks with his Kusari-fundo, but ended up tripping on something.
Suddenly he felt sharp pain hit his right ankle, and immediately started punching whatever was on his ankle.

Turns out one of the crabs had trapped his ankle in its claw, not letting go.
To Mikey it felt like a bear trap, but he didn’t even have any time to scream, when the crab wrapped tighter around his ankle and pushed Mikey and itself into the water.

”Turtle overboard!” Raph shouted, as he punched one of the mutants repeatedly in the face.
“It’s okay, he can swim.” Donnie said, and gulped as two crabs now were onto him.
“2v1’s NOT FAIR!” He shouted as he tried to find Leo.

Mikey got dragged deeper as he tried to calm himself.
The crab had a tight grip on his ankle, so maybe he had to rip the claw off of the crab.
He tried his best to think of a plan, but the pain was getting worse and he realised that it was getting very cold too.

Mikey took a shuriken out of his belt and tried to aim at the crabs claw, but it didn’t go far since they were underwater.
Mikey tried to punch, kick and even tickle the crab, but nothing worked.

Now we’re here, where Mikey was at the start.
It’s been approximately 15 minutes and he felt himself getting dragged even deeper.
How is that even possible?? Maybe they should’ve listened to Donnie when he explained the water situation.

If it was even possible anymore, he felt the grip on his ankle tighten, but suddenly it stopped.
Mikey didn’t dare to look down and tried his best to swim up.
Nothing was dragging him deeper anymore, but he started feeling heavier, and he realised that all the air had left his lungs.
He couldn’t swim upwards, he was falling back down again, but slower.
He accidentally breathed water in his nose and tried to cough, but it really wasn’t possible under the water.
He started getting black spots in his vision and tried his best to swim upwards with his arms and one leg.
He couldn’t.
He didn’t know if he even could, but he tried to make air bubbles with his snout to get his brothers to help him.

It almost worked.

With Raph throwing the last punch with his Tonfas, they all sighed.
”What’s with these crabs, i mean how’d they get mutated?? Isn’t Draxum on our side now?” Leo wailed, kicking one of the passed out crabs.
”What should we do with them?” Raph asked Leo, as Leo was about to ask the same thing.
”We could transferm them to Draxum and he could try to de-mutate them or something. Then we figure out what even mutated them.” Donnie said, doing something on his wrist tech.

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, excepting Mikeys voice to butt in from somewhere.

“Hey, where’s Mikey?” Leo asked.
“I don’t- oh wait! He fell in the water!” Raph suddenly remembered.
“How long has it been?” Donnie asked a bit more scared now.
“From what?” Raph asked.
“From when Mikey fell into the water??” Donnie started panicking now.
“I don’t know?? Maybe 15 minutes?” Raph answered, shrugging his shoulders.
“BOX TURTLES CAN BREATHE UNDERWATER FOR ONLY FIFTEEN MINUTES!” Donnie exclaimed loudly, sounding angry.
“Relax bro, he probably swam to the shore.” Leo said as he tried to see if Mikey was waving to them somewhere from the shore.

Donnie started counting the crabs and said “There’s only three.”
“Of what?” Leo asked, still trying to find Mikey.
“The crabs! There were four before!” Donnie said, now panicking even more.
“That’s it, I’m jumping in.” Raph said as he immediately jumped into the water after he finished his sentence.

Donnie put his goggles on and turned on thermal vision.
“I don’t see Mikey anywhere in the water. Either he’s really deep, or he’s not there.” Donnie explained.
Now Leo started fearing the worst too. What if Mikey’s dead, or worse?

“Raph’s going deeper and deeper, i can’t see him anymore on thermal vision.” Donnie said.
“How deep even is the water?” Leo asked, looking at the water with Donnie for any sign of Mikey.
“If you could’ve let me explain earlier, you would know.” Donnie scoffed.
Leo rolled his eyes.
“It’s approximately 4000 meters deep, maybe less maybe more.” Donnie answered.
“Is that bad?” Leo asked.
“If Mikey’s under the water, then yes.”

Raph swam deeper and deeper trying to find any sign of orange or green, not finding anything.
What he did find is a dismembered crab claw, floating upwards.
‘Creepy’ He thought to himself.
He took a second look at the claw and noticed blood on it.
‘That can’t be good’ Raph thought.
He noticed more blood mixed in the water further down.
He dove deeper until he finally saw a bright orange bandanna.
His eyes lit up as he went to Mikey as quickly as he could.
Now noticing that he’s unconscious, and his leg bleeding, he grabbed Mikey and swam up as quickly as he could.
It wasn’t easy, because of Raph’s weight and Mikey’s added weight, but he finally saw the bright surface and swam even quicker.

“I see Raph.” Donnie said.
“Me too.” Leo said aswell.
“Leo make a portal from the water to here.” Donnie said, now seeing Mikey in Raphs arms.
Leo shut his eyes tightly and focused.
He made a portal on the floor, that hopefully led to the water.
“He surfaced!” Donnie exclaimed, as he put his goggles back resting on his head.
Donnie tried to mention Raph to go to the portal that was next to him, and he went.

Raph put Mikey gently on his back and looked for a pulse on his neck, then his wrist.
“No pulse.” Raph said, breathing heavily after all the swimming he did.
“I’ll start compressions, Leo, wrap his leg up.” Donnie said, taking charge.
Raph took off Mikeys bandanna and gave it to Leo.
Leo took it and wrapped it around Mikeys ankle.
Leo took his own bandanna off and put it on the wrapped ankle, pressing down to slow down the bleeding.

When Donnie finished 30 compressions, he breathed 2 times into Mikeys mouth.
Donnie was nearly crying, and Raph could see it.
“Let me.” Raph said as Donnie gave Raph space.
Raph started doing compressions, and breathed into Mikeys mouth 3 times, then checked his pulse.
“Faint pulse, we need to get him home.” Raph said urgently, and Leo immediately drew his Ōdachi and made a portal to the lair.

Raph took Mikey into his arms and went into the portal.
“Hang on lil bro, don’t give up yet.” Raph said quietly into Mikeys ear.

He hurried Mikey into the med cot, and looked for a pulse again.
“Still there.” He said as Donnie and Leo hurried to them.
Donnie nodded and put a ventilator in Mikeys mouth and snout.
Leo checked Mikeys vitals and Raph checked on Mikeys leg.
“Definitely needs stitches.” Raph announced as he kept pressure on the leg.
”Vitals ok. I think he swallowed water though.” Leo said, sighing.
”Should we stitch him now?” Raph asked Leo, since he usually stitched everyone up.
”I-I don’t know..” Leo’s voice cracked. He felt useless.
”I think we should while he’s still unconscious.” Donnie said.
“I’m gonna get the equipment, keep pressure on the wound Raph.” Donnie continued and left to find needles, thread, bandages and maybe some rubbing alcohol.

Raph did as he said and did not let go of Mikeys ankle.
Leo looked at Mikeys vitals closely as he started dissociating.
“Leo? Earth to Leo?” Raph said as he noticed Leo zoning out.
“Oh, sorry.” Leo apologized and continued looking at Mikeys vitals.

“It’s not your fault, you know.” Raph said after a while of unnerving silence.

“..”

“We’ll find out who mutated those crabs and-“ Raph started but didn’t get to finish the sentence.
“The crabs! I forgot to teleport them to Draxum! Will you be alright alone while I do that?” Leo asked Raph, already walking away, getting his Ōdachi.
“Yeah, we’ll be okay.” Raph said as Leo nodded determinedly.
‘Maybe I’m not useless.’ Leo thought as he jumped into the portal he created.
Raph sighed and looked at Mikeys peaceful resting body.

Donnie came with the equipment a while later.
“Where’s Leo? He’s the best at stitching.” Donnie asked as he put the sterile equipment on top of a nearby table.
“He forgot to teleport the crabs to Draxum.” Raph said.
“Okay.. well, you wipe blood while I stitch, okay?” Donnie said as he went on Raphs place.
“Yeah..” Raph answered, slightly concerned about Mikey.
“What if Mikey wakes up during stitching?” He asked.
“Then you comfort him while I finish the stitching.” Donnie said bluntly as he started opening the bandannas on Mikeys ankle.
“This is one big of a wound.” Donnie said as he inspects Mikeys ankle and puts on medical gloves.
“It seems that the crab-mutant broke through the muscle and tore some ligaments. There’s multiple hair fractures but no fully broken bones. But I think he’ll be able to heal just fine and walk again, since we are mutants.” Donnie explained as he started working on stitching.
Raph didn’t really understand any of that but ‘he’ll be able to heal and walk’ caught his attention. He released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Now tap the wound carefully with the towel to remove excess bleeding.” Donnie instructed after the first two stitches.
Raph did as he instructed and earned a pleased hum from Donnie.
He continued to stitch three more stitches and Raph tapped the wound with the towel after each one.

Just as Donnie finished with the stitching, Leo jumped into the room from the roof through a portal he probably created.
“What’s up hermanos?” Leo asked, looking at Mikeys leg.
“Yikes, that looks bad.” Leo said, now more calmly and seriously.
“We’re doing fine. Just finished stitching because SOMEONE left it to me.” Donnie scoffed at Leo and removed his medical gloves.
“When I last checked, I was the brother with the Ōdachi that can make portals.” Leo glared at Donnie.
“Oh and by the way, the fourth crab that got Mikey is still on the loose.” Leo said, maybe a bit too calmly.
“The crab lost one of its claws too.” Raph said.
“Easier to distinguish, I guess.” Leo added.

Donnie finished bandaging up Mikeys leg, and walked out of the cot without saying anything.
“What’s up with him?” Leo asked, as he sat on a chair next to Mikey.
“I think he got a sensory overload. I’m gonna go ask if he needs anything.” Raph said and Leo nodded.
Soon he fell asleep, leaning his head on Mikeys bed.

‘can’t breathe.. need.. to.. get up..’

‘help. . .’

Mikey slowly opens his eyes and tries to adjust to his environment.
Something forces air in and out of him steadily.
He tries to wiggle his toes.
He winces as his ankle starts to hurt.
He also realises he’s being forced to breathe through a ventilator.
He feels the air going in and back out.

It didn’t feel good.

“Hey … ok ….. safe …..”He heard from somewhere.
“….. …. …. … okay?” He heard the same voice ask something, but there was a loud tinnitus in his ears.
Suddenly the ventilator is lifted off of him and he sighs in relief.

He soon realised that Leo was the one talking to him.
“L-eo?” Mikey asks, his voice cracking slightly.
“Shhh.. … don’t need .. talk…” Leo whispers.
Mikey smiles as he feels comforting relief fill his whole body.
“I put .. IV .. your arm.” Leo said, motioning at the IV dripping to his arm.
His ankle isn’t throbbing anymore as his whole body tingles, and then goes numb.

“Mikey!” Raph exclaims as he walks in the room.
“You’re awake!” Raph smiles at him comfortingly.
“Is it hurting?” He asks Mikey.
Mikey just shakes his head, but just as he does that, he feels the urge to throw up, so he does.
“Move … .. his side!” Leo said as Mikey felt Raphs hand turn him.
Now Mikey managed to throw up without choking. Great!

Raph rubs Mikeys shell, trying to comfort him.
Mikey chirps in pain as he throws up again.
Raph and Leo chrip back at Mikey as to telling that everything will be okay.

Finally, Mikey doesn’t feel any urge to throw up anymore and Raph turns him back on his back.
Leo goes out of the room to get cleaning supplies to clean the vomit, and Donnie walks in the room with a glass of water.
He puts a straw in the glass and adjusts the straw so it’s next to Mikeys mouth.
Mikey happily takes the straw in his mouth and gurgles with the water.
”How are you?” Donnie asks after Mikey finished the water.
Mikey holds a shaky thumbs up.
”Any pain, tinnitus, uncomfort, anything?” Donnie asks, looking at the well-placed IV and made a note to self to thank Leo later.
Mikey shakes his head and mumbles ”’m numb”.
”That’s good.” Donnie sighs and pats Mikeys head.

“I’m sorry.” Donnie said after a bit of silence.
Mikey does a frowny face, as to trying to say that it’s not Donnies fault.
“Raph warned me that you were overboard, b-but I just.. didn’t react.” Donnie says, fidgeting with his fingers.
“I should’ve dove in right away, and I’m sorry that I didn’t.” He said and sighed again.

Mikey chirped at him and Donnie chirped back. Raph joined the chirping and so did Leo as he came in with a broom and a bucket.

Everyone started laughing.
“Okay, who started the chirping this time?” Leo asks between laughs.
Donnie pointed at Mikey, who was already asleep.
Leo chuckled and started cleaning the floor.
Raph leaned on Mikeys bed and closed his eyes.
Donnie got another chair and went to sleep on the other side of Mikeys bed.

When Leo finished up cleaning, he took a selfie with all his brothers sleeping and sent it to April before he fell asleep on a third chair, right next to Mikeys legs.
“G’night bros.” He murmured, falling asleep.

Chapter Text

It’s been, what? Maybe two months, and Mikey finally got out of his crutches!
With Leo usually being by his side, he didn’t have any problems with walking.

Draxum told that there apparently was one last oozequito that was able to mutate the crabs.
Draxum also wanted the last crab, but the turtles weren’t able to find it.
Every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday they searched the beach, the shore and sometimes under the water, but couldn’t find anything.

Nobody else had seen it either, or so they thought.
They looked at the news all the time to see if there were any mutated crabs involved, but there never was.
Even Casey and April helped, but with no luck.

“Ready for pizza hermanos??” Leo asked excitedly, as they all walked on the streets.
“Not.” Donnie said bluntly, looking at his phone.
“Come on brooo, you know it’s my turn to choose the flavor, it’s only fair!!” Leo wailed, over-exaggerating his reactions.
“If you want Don, we can buy you your own smaller pizza?” Raph suggested.
“Izzokay, I can take the pineapples off.” Donnie rolled his eyes hearing Leo scoff.
“How’d you guess I’m taking Hawaiian?” Leo asked, looking sarcastically surprised.
“Shut it Nardo.” Donnie warned.
“I knew it!! We have twin telepathy!” Leo tried to hug him but Donnie just straight up punched him on the snout.
“That would not be scientifically possible.” Donnie stated, not looking away from his phone.
“Children, children, please behave!” Mikey said, smiling brightly.
“Yes mama” Leo said jokingly.
“Scoff” Donnie said as Mikey giggled.

Finally, finding the portal for Huesos Pizza, they walked in, immediately smelling that delicious Pizza being baked.
“I missed this so much!” Mikey exclaimed, limping to a nearby table.
“We still went here when you had crutches, Mikey.” Raph chuckled.
“Yeah, but I still missed this!” Mikey giggled back.

“HUESO!! OVER HERE!!” Leo shouted and waved as Donnie put on headphones.
“And what can I get for you, pepinos?” Hueso asked, smiling his usual smile.
“One extra extra large hawaiian, thank you!” Leo said, almost drooling.
“Coming right up.” Hueso flicked his fingers and left to tend another table.

“So having any pains, Mikey?” Raph asked, filling the silence at their table.
“No! I’ve been able to stand in the shower as well!” Mikey chirped.
“Yikes hermano, my ankle’s good but I can’t stand in the shower. You sure you being careful?” Leo asked, and Mikey nodded as soon as possible.
Donnie seemed to go non-verbal during all that, being overstimulated from the smells and sounds. Nobody minded.

“Here you go!” Hueso put a very large pizza under their noses.
“Thanks boneman!” Leo exclaimed and immediately took a slice.
Mikey and Raph soon followed Leos lead.
“You not taking anything?” Mikey asked Donnie.
Donnie didn’t answer, but instead sent a message to their group chat ‘Mad Dogz’.
Leo was too busy enjoying the pizza, but Raph got out his phone and showed Mikey.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” Leo asked, when everyone put their phones down and looked serious.
Donnie showed Leo the message he sent to everyone.
‘someone’s stalking us, 6 o’clock’ he read in his mind.
Leo put his pizza slice down, munching what he had already bit.
He slowly turned his gaze to behind them, and tried to look for anyone suspicious.
He didn’t even see anyone when a tranquilizer was shot on Donnies neck.
Raph and Leo immediately stood up and drew their weapons, and the other customers started pouring out of the diner.
“Show yourself, coward.” Leo said seriously.

Mikey hurried to Donnie just as he passed out.
He took out the dart out of Donnies neck and tried to look for any signs of pain or uncomfort, but it was harder because he was passed out.

“What did you do to my brother.” Leo asked the nothingness, still not seeing anyone.

A big orange figure walked into frame, and the turtles immediately realised who it was.
With only one claw now, the crab seemed really angry.
The crab didn’t even speak when he pulled a gun from somewhere, wait seriously, where was that gun?? And tried to shoot at Mikey, but missed and hit Donnie in the shoulder.
Donnie managed to wince in his sleep as Mikey gasped.
Leo, slightly panicking, immediately attacked the crab with his swords.
He tried to slice his neck in anger, but the crab had such a strong outer shell, that it only left a scratch.
The crab punched Leo in the face with his claw and was ready to slice him, when Raph, with his tonfas, punched the crab in it’s face.
When the crab fell on it’s back, and Raph having an opportunity to kill him, he didn’t.
Instead Leo hurried over to them and portaled the crab over to Draxum, who already knew the crab was coming, since Mikey managed to send a message to him from Donnies wrist tech.

“Leo! Portal us!” Mikey yelled when the fight was over.
Raph went over to grab Donnie as Mikey limped into the portal first, Raph coming in second with Donnie.
Leo closed the portal and went to apologise Hueso, and offered to pay for all the customers food.

“The bullet exited him, so we don’t need to dig it from him.” Mikey explained as Raph put Donnie in the med cot.
“That’s good. Mikey, can you press on the wound with a towel while I go get some water to clean the wound?” Raph asked as he pointed at a towel stack.
Mikey nodded and hummed in agreement.
He took out a black towel and made it into a ball-like shape, and pressed on Donnies shoulder with it.

“I don’t think it went through his bone or anything.” Mikey said as soon as Raph came back.
“Press on the wound a bit longer, I need to call Leo.” Raph said, putting the water cup on a table near the cot.
But just as he was about to reach for his phone, Leo came in through the ceiling with a portal.. again.
“Is Dee ok?” Leo asked, closing the portal after him.
“Most likely yeah, but we need your help. Can you tell if the bullet went through any muscle or something?” Raph asked as Leo walked towards Mikey.
“Let me see.” Leo said as Mikey took the towel off and gave Leo some space.
“Probably nothing serious, just give me water, bandages and plasters ASAP. Oh and Mikey, can you put an IV in his arm and administer some antibiotics.”
Leo explained, as Raph gave him the water and Mikey left to find the IV.
Leo tried to rinse the wound the best he could and accepted Raph’s offering of plasters and bandages.
He put the soft plasters on both sides of his shoulder, and carefully wrapped it with bandages.
“I’m not so sure what to do with shot wounds, but this is okay for now.” Leo said sighing.

Soon Mikey came to put the drip in Donnies arm, but his hands were too shaky, so Leo took lead and put the IV in instead.

Everybody sighed as they looked at the now not bleeding Donnie.
“When he wakes up, he can tell if we did a good job.” Leo chuckled.
”Sounds like a plan.” Mikey giggled along him and went to take a nap next to Donnie.

They did their usual turtle-pile to share their body heat.
Donnie on the center, calmly breathing into Leo’s neck as Mikey cuddled up on Donnies right side and Raph on the left.
Leo went on Donnies legs, but decided it was uncomfortable and cuddled onto Donnies plastron.

”G’nightz..” Leo mumbled.

Chapter Text

“I’m gonna go see April guys!” Mikey cheerfully exclaimed, standing up from an armchair he was sitting at.
“Tell her we said hi!” Raph said, as he continued to beat Leo in Mario Kart.
Mikey giggled when Leo groaned in frustration of being beat yet again.
“I swear Donnie’s doing something telepathically!!” Leo raged as he pointed at a sitting Donnie.
“Scoff. Wanna bet?” Donnie said as he switched places with Raph, taking his controller.
“Oh you’re on.” Leo smirked.

Mikey quickly jumped on a nearby rooftop when he finally got topside.
He inhaled the fresh(er) air, and sighed as he exhaled.
He took out his phone and typed “omw” to April.
When he secured his phone to his belt, he was off.
He jumped and ran and did pirouettes and rolls, and when he finally reached his destination, he stopped, landing safely.

Mikey could barely contain his excitement as he jumped on Aprils balcony.
Just as he was about to walk into the house from a convenient ‘hole’ in the wall, the ‘hole’ stopped him.
He recovered quickly, and tried to walk through it again with more force.
He fell over.

“Has this always been here??” He talked to himself, as he got up and tried to walk through it once again, but was unsuccessful.
“Screw this.” He said and took some steps back to gain power.
He ran towards the ‘hole’ and finally got through!

Mikey saw April, looking shocked and probably saying something, but Mikey couldn’t register anything.

A few minutes ago

April was sitting on her bed, petting Mayhem and scrolling through her phone when she heard a bang from her balcony.
She thought that it could be Mikey, but why would he bang against the window so forcefully?
She had conveniently closed her curtains, so she couldn’t see who was there.
When there was another louder bang, she went into the kitchen to take out a knife, just in case.
Third bang, and she was messaging their group chat, which included the turtles and April.
“something/someone banging on window, scared af”
Just as she sent the message, Mikey flew in and landed on his plastron on the carpet.
April dropped the knife and gasped.
“Mikey!? What happened??” She asked and hurried to Mikey, but he didn’t answer.
She took out her phone and pressed to call Raph.

”Hi April! You okay?” Raph greeted warmly.
”Mikey’s hurt! Portal over here stat!” She said and put the phone down so she could tend to Mikey.
She could hear something muffled through the phone, but she couldn’t make it out as she secured Mikeys head.
”Michael, can you hear me?” She asked, waving her hand on his eyes.
Mikey only smiled as he closed his eyes fully.

“-ox turtles don’t under…… concept…….. lass …….” Were the only things Mikey could register when he got his hearing back.
Everything felt so overwhelming, there was a bright light that Mikey could see through his closed lids, it sounded like someone was arguing and the gaggable smell of sewer water filled his nostrils. Wasn’t he just topside?

“…… didn’t w…….. research …..”

“ ……. glass every…… water and banda……”

Mikey winced as he started gaining his feelings back.
His body felt like it was numb and on fire at the same time.
There was an annoying click everytime Mikey felt weird stinging.

“… ……. …. .-ikey?”

‘Hey, that’s my name!’ He thought.
‘And that’s Aprils voice!’
He tried his best to open his heavy eyelids but he couldn’t.
He was so overstimulated, he just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep.

He suddenly got something over his eyes that darkened the room significantly.
Sunglasses maybe? He smiled at the thought.

“He’s awake! I think?” He heard April say, now much more clearly.
Weird how that worked! Put on sunglasses and get your hearing back, but it is what it is.

“Michael, how would you rate your pain out of ten?” Donnie asked from somewhere farther away.
“You with us buddy?” Raph asked as he put his hand on Mikeys.

Mikey opened his eyes.
“Hi guys” He smiled.
“Oh Mikey don’t ever do that again or I will kill you!!” April cried out as she hugged Mikeys head.
“Stay still a bit more bro, I need to get these shards of glass out of you” Leo’s voice came in from Mikeys right.
“Glass?” Mikey asked confusedly.
“Yea bro” Leo sighed.
“It seems that your species is not aware of glass, and does not understand the concept.
You know what glass is, but when it’s in front of you and you need to pass, your “animal behavior” comes out so to speak.” Donnie explained as he moved farther.
“You kinda just swarmed into my apartment through my window.” April chuckled as she pat Mikeys head, which now has a couple plasters.
”Oh mi gosh April I’m so sorry!!” Mikey said now surprised at the memory fading in his head.
”It’s okay, Dee’ll fix it. Right Dee?” April said, looking at Donnie.
”I will try my best.” He answered.

”There! All plastered up!” Leo exclaimed as he got up from trying to get glass out of Mikeys leg.
”Wow I look like a mummy” Mikey said as he looked at Leos work.
Donnie got closer now that there wasn’t any visible blood.
”Do you need anything? Water, food, painmeds, mr. Teddingto.. ahem.. your teddy?” Donnie asked with slight concern in his voice.
”No I’m fine.” Mikey said as he made an ’awwww’ face.
Donnie hugged Mikey.
Everyone looked a bit surprised.

”Group hug!!” Leo commanded and everyone got into a big ball of warmth and smiles.
”This might be the only opportunity this year.” Leo fake sniffed and Donnie nudged at him.
”I hug you semi-regularly.” Donnie said rolling his eyes.
“Approximately 0.25 hugs every month, so 3 hugs per year.” Donnie calculated in his head.
“Wow yeah that’s very regular.” Leo scoffed.
“That’s why I said semi-regularly Nardo.” Donnie sighed.
“Children, children! Stop arguing!” Raph butted in.
“Donnie can hug us whenever he wants to! Right Mike?” Raph continued as he turned to look at Mikey.

Mikey’s fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Leo tried his best to meditate, like Splinter had told him to, but he just couldn’t concentrate.
He was constantly thinking about useless stuff, when he needed to not to think of it.
‘Is there a multiverse?’
‘Do I have brothers in every universe?’
‘What if the kraang..’

“..rth to Leo?” Mikey snapped his fingers in front of Leo’s snout.
“Huh? Wha happen?” Leo tried his best to imitate that one Mickey Mouse meme.
“Did you just meditate??” Mikey gasped.
“No.” Leo said while shrugging.
“But I did think about the world’s largest fork, I mean how big can a fork be?” Leo continued.
Mikey sighed and chuckled.
“Someday you’ll get there bro.”

three days later

Leo was once again, trying to meditate.
Or maybe in this case, ‘trying’ was the wrong word, because he actually was in deep meditation!
Leo felt and saw all kinds of things.
He couldn’t explain anything about it afterwards.
One thing he did see and could explain, was some kind of alien-yōkai-creature.
He tried his best to explain to Donnie about how it looked and how it felt to see it, but Donnie couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Only one adjective stuck to Donnie’s mind ; cyclopean

two days later

Leo once again was meditating, now getting better and better at it.
What he didn’t know was that his body was unconsciously trying to make a portal with his own ōdachi, all while he was in deep meditation.
Raph had to rip the ōdachi out of Leo’s hands, because Leo was not being careful at all and almost stabbed Donnie.

“Jesus christ.” Raph sighed as he finally threw the ōdachi somewhere far away from Leo.
“Leo, are you with us?” Donnie waved his hand in front of Leo, showing more panic than usual.
“Is he hurt?” Mikey asked, and poked Leo in the cheek.
“Nahhh I’m fine.” Leo said very tiredly.
“Yeah, he’s fine” Donnie agreed and got up.
“What were you thinking?!” Raph asked and got next to Leo.
“What? Oh, I was thinking, what would a penguin and an alligator make if they fused?” Leo smirked.
“What?? No! That’s not..” Raph said as he facepalmed, Donnie rolled his eyes and Mikey chuckled.
“You were literally swinging your ōdachi like crazy! You almost hit Dee!” Raph said, mentioning at Donnie to prove his point.
“What? I-I was just meditating? Or.. well.. trying to?” Leo said furrowing his browbones.
Raph put his hand on Leo’s shoulder.
“Hey man, sorry I yelled at you. It’s okay, nobody got hurt. Just, maybe next time when you meditate, leave your katana in your room?” Raph sighed.
“Yeah.. yeah, apology accepted.” Leo chuckled.
“Did I hurt anyone though?” Leo continued, wanting to be sure.
“We’re okay bro! Don’t worry!” Mikey exclaimed.
“I’m glad.”

A mere day later

Donnie got more and more information from Leo about these alien-yōkai-creatures (or as they call it, ‘Ayō-creatures’)
He has gathered all the information in one big paper.
It read :
Ayō-creatures
- Crab-like claws
- One eye hole in face?
- Purple-y??????
- Robots?

He tried his best to find any similar sightings from the internet, or maybe April, the newly graduated journalist.
Nothing.
Who knew it was so difficult to find some weird hallucinations made by your brother?

Right as Donnie was about to leave to meet up with April for more Ayō-discussions, he heard shouting from the dojo.
He ran there as fast as he could, opened the door in a hurry and barged in looking around.
“Leo’s at it again!!” Mikey yelled from a corner, retreating in his shell.
“Leo snap out of it!” Raph yelled as he once again tried to stop Leo from swinging his katana around.
“Why didn’t he put his katana away before meditating?!” Donnie yelled.
“HE DID!! I don’t know how he got it back!!” Raph yelled back.
“He really needs to take a break from meditating..” Donnie sighed as he took out his tech-bō, put on the ‘tranquilizing’ mode and pointed it at Leo.
He shot and.. missed??
‘Oh come on!! I only have three of these darts ready!’ He thought, scrunching his nose.
He aimed, shot, and.. missed
again!!??
“Donnie, help me!!” Raph yelled, trying to keep Leo still.
“I’m trying!!” Donnie yelled back.
Mikey squaked somewhere in the background, not liking arguments.

Finally, the third and last shot landed right on Leo's shoulder. It didn't even take 5 seconds, and Leo was crumbling on the floor.
Mikey, the smartest in this situation managed to catch Leo's head before it hit the floor.
"Thanks.. Dee.." Raph rasped out in between heavy breathing.
"Yeah, no problem" Donnie answered, going to check on Leo.

two days later

Donnie didn't sleep. Mikey and Raph barely slept. April missed school to come to the lair. Splinter was unsurprisingly unbothered, as he usually is, unless anyone's life is in danger.

"Why hasn't he woken up?" Mikey asked Donnie, hoping for answers.
"I'm trying to figure it out.. it's like he's deep in hibernation, but that doesn't make any sense considering it's late spring.. his brain activity seems normal enough, his heart is beating and none of his organs have failed him yet." Donnie rambled, rubbing his forehead.
He groaned in frustration.
"I don't know what's wrong with him!" He raised his voice, wiping his eyes, not wanting to cry over his stupid dumb brother who wasn't even hurt.
"I think you should take a break Dee.." Mikey sighs. "Maybe get some sleep while you're at it." He continues, looking at the dark eyebags on Donnie's face.

"What if he wakes up? What if something goes wrong?" Donnie rambles, rubbing his temples, staring at Leo's lifeless body laying infront of him on the table.
"Stop Dee. If something happens we'll wake you up, yeah? Raph'll look after him, and me and April will research.. this whole situation." Mikey comforts him, putting his hand on Donnie's shoulder, slightly pushing him towards his bed.
"But.."
"Ah ah" Mikey immediately says, pushing him towards his bed more, helping him take off his battleshell.

Donnie lays on the bed defeatedly, immediately realizing how tired he actually was.
"Thanks Mike.." He mumbled before falling asleep.
Mikey smiles slightly, going back to Dee's lab, where Leo, Raph and April were.

"Dee's asleep!" He exclaims proudly, receiving a dollar from Raph.
"Aw man, I was sure he would refuse" Raph chuckles, before getting serious again.
"So what's the plan?" He asks.
"Mikey, you go search for anything in the Mystic Library. Raph, you keep an eye on Leo, and maybe Donnie as well. I'll go search for anything similar on the net. Is that clear?" April speaks in a commanding tone.
"Yes ma'am!" Both Mikey and Raph salute at her, before doing what they're supposed to.

hours later

"Ugh.. what time.. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED??" Donnie shouts as he walks into the lab.
Raph and Leo are on the ground, unmoving, Mikey is nowhere to be seen, and April is barely conscious, leaning on the wall.

"Dee.. the Yō.. whatever things were.. they're real, they- they beat them up- I- I'm sorry I.." April manages to say, before succumbing to her injuries.
In a flash, Dee was at her side, cradling her as he looked around, trying to analyze what to do next.
There was no apparent injuries on any of them, no-one was bleeding, yet everyone was passed out. He did the only thing he could think of.

"DAD!!"