Chapter Text
It is no use to be dead, Karai realizes this.
The city lays in ruins, debris all over the shattered earth. She stares at the darkened sky, red as the hottest fires. The smell of death permeating through the air. Invasive. Foreign. Unnatural.
It doesn’t smell of anything that came from the Earth. It smelt rancid, very similar to an unwarranted mixture of puke and rotting flesh.
Something behind her spiked, a wave of energy hitting her. She turns, and sees her youngest grandchild. A bright determination shining in his eyes as orange chains pierced through the corrupted hounds. Their howls of pain echoing in her ears.
It was unpleasant to listen－eerily similar to a dying dog.
She supposes that it should be, as those things used to be something else. Something that she could recognize, but was transformed beyond recognition, twisted to the monsters' liking.
The hounds go down with one last cry, their bodies twitching before finally stilling. And yet it doesn’t stop; more and more hounds jumped from above and from beneath the debris, their speed unnaturally amplified. Bones shifting as they pounced.
Karai watches, unable to do anything else.
Michelangelo. Her youngest grandchild. The youngest of four.
She looks at him now, witnessing his strength, witnessing his unwavering determination despite the futility of it all. His chains rattled, specks of blood staining it.
He had reached so far, beyond her in almost every sense possible. Only matched with his siblings.
A never-ending burst of pride surged within her, enveloping every single pore of her body with a force that makes her feel warm.
Karai is so proud of them all.
And speaking of her grandchildren…
A blue spark lights up far in the distance, a flash of green darting across the air in haphazard lines. Trails of white-blue momentarily lighting up the red sky.
Leonardo.
Karai stares, watching as the Krang droid falls down with a loud rumble that shook the ground. A flash of blue striking it down. She couldn’t really see him from here, but the strong pulse of his ninpo shimmering in glee is enough of an answer for her.
Then a resounding boom echoes from her right, stealing her focus. She turns.
Large looming figures stood far in the north, singular red eyes gleaming ominously. Their steps heavy with purpose. Reinforcements.
That cannot be good.
Murmuring an apology to Michelangelo, Karai dashes to where her second youngest grandchild is.
Karai sees nothing but a blur.
Leonardo moved too fast for her to catch up, his figure seemingly teleporting from one place to another with ease. The krang screamed, using its tendrils in an effort to catch him. Multiple sets of narrowed yellow eyes fixed at him as he dodges them all.
Karai watches, assessing his energy, almost feeling it shift with each second in line with his movement.
Each of her grandchildren had their own kind of energy: Raphael’s was firm and unyielding, a sense of protectiveness lying underneath. Venus’s was late in its awakening, a slow bloom that did nothing to hide the ferocity of her strength. Donatello’s was always shifting, just like his weaponry. Always willing to adapt and had the foresight unrivaled by any other Karai had seen. Michelangelo is the easiest to identify－vibrant with the force of a thousand suns, always full of spontaneous energy. Leonardo’s, despite his brash personality, is always calm, only stirring to action when it sensed something was amiss.
She looks at the back, beyond Leonardo. Staring at the young man fighting off the hounds in an attempt to keep them away from his mentor.
Casey Jones. The newest member of the family.
He was a peculiar one, Karai thinks. Although the subsequent apocalypse may have played a part in the boy’s perilous social development. Still, she was impressed. Very rarely did anyone could stand toe-to-toe to her grandchildren’s strength, but Casey’s closing that gap with the stubborness he had inherited from his late adoptive mother.
The ground shook, the robotic bodies of the krang inching closer and closer, decimating anything in their path.
Her stomach churns at the sight of them, their silhouette reminding her of someone else entirely.
Then Leonardo falls, landing just right next to Casey, a hand cradling at the lower part of his plastron. She could see a thin trickle of red slipping from between his fingers. Leonardo and Casey talked then, the conversation heavily muffled by the screeching that surrounded them all. She couldn't hear them at all.
Bright light exploded in her eyes, the loud clanking of chains caught in her ears as Michelangelo arrives. His presence literally lighting up the space.
He then turns to Leonardo, his gaze full of concern. Leonardo smiles back, although slightly hindered by the wince he tried to hide. Casey held him up, still looking at him with concern. His grip tight on his organic shoulder. Leonardo exhales a breath, directing his gaze to Michelangelo.
It was there that Karai felt an awful turning sensation just resting at her shoulders. Tingly and off.
They exchanged words, but she can see it: can see the resignation in Leonardo’s entire face; can see the shock in Michelangelo’s eyes before it was replaced with acceptance. Slowly, he lowers himself on the ground, his cape billowing from behind him. The sight was enough for Casey to start fretting, only to be silenced with one look coming from Leonardo.
She sees the terror slightly shaking Michelangelo’s fingers, buried underneath stained bandages.
He distances himself from the two, summoning his energy as he begins.
The air shifts, following Michelangelo’s movements as he moves, his steps as if rehearsed just for this moment. Dust swirled all around him, a gentle golden glow covering his fingertips. A tinge of pain gleaming from his eyes. Small, golden flakes chipping away from his elbow. Karai finds it graceful as much as she found it petrifying to witness.
Karai’s breath catches, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knows what’s going to happen and yet…
She doesn’t want her grandchildren to die.
She looks at her remaining family, sees the wrinkles and scars marring their bodies－sees the grief buried deep in Leonardo’s shoulders as his gaze never left his younger brother. Casey for the most part looks confused, switching his attention between the two turtles. His lips pulled shut.
They look so exhausted, ragged down by horrors beyond her comprehension.
Her eyes burn. She mourns for them. Mourns for their loss. Mourns for the world twisted to an unrecognizable horror. Mourns for her family whose lives had been taken too early.
Raphael. Donatello. Venus. Yoshi. Cassandra. April. All of them taken by the krang.
Karai hears it before they do.
A crack splinters the space, large golden webs crisscrossing over each other as it expanded. Michelangelo grunts, his gaze deliberately not looking at his arms. Bursts of energy sweeping over the empty field. As he finishes one last turn, Karai intervenes.
There is no need Michelangelo. Her grandson turns at her voice, momentarily distracted. He looks straight past her, twisting his head around. His eyes wide open, ignoring the undoubtedly painful tremors on his arms. You did well.
The portal lies uncompleted, a fissure across empty space. Large enough to fit only one person.
She smiles, despite knowing that he had no means to actually seeing her. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Karai lets her energy flow into him, the portal shifts, its golden color changing to a greenish glow.
Both Leonardo and Casey let out sounds of shock, the former instinctively running towards his younger brother. Michelangelo yelps, stumbling back at the sight of green cracks splintering his arms and hands. His expression pained.
Karai closes her eyes, redirecting her own energy and a small circle appears just beneath Leonardo and Casey. She raises her arms, widening its size and opens her eyes just in time to see both of them fall into the portal.
The portal Michelangelo had made moments prior splits itself open, swallowing him whole as it closes itself shut.
Karai watches it happen with a tilt of her lips, her family disappearing from her view.