Chapter Text
This was supposed to be a simple mission. For a couple of weeks, the Team had been tracking a string of robberies from antique stores and museums. Old stone relics were being stolen by a range of thugs from both the surface and the Hidden City. Every one of the thieves they caught said they were paid to do the job. The man that hired them was described as a “Man in Black” type. He wore a dark suit, had dark hair, and wore sunglasses at night. The thieves that were feeling particularly helpful added that he looked to be in his 40s and might have been working off the record. Everyone was convinced he was a government agent of some kind.
This was the first big case the Hamatos had in a year. After the Krang Invasion the whole city had enough chaos. Even Big Mama was helping in her own convoluted way. It had been a quiet and solemn recovery. Leo felt it the most. He needed this mission more than the others. Something had him on edge as the people of New York put the pieces back together. He was sure this string of robberies was the shoe he had been waiting to drop.
The Team found another museum that was the next target. They split up to cover more ground. Cassandra, Raph, and Donnie took the west wing. The three of them had become close while Leo wasn’t looking. He figured it was C.J.’s chaotic but enthusiastic energy that won them both over.
J.J. (Jones Junior), Mikey, and Leo went to the east wing. Casey was “Leo’s Human,” as the others like to joke. They had stuck close to each other after the invasion. Leo found it easier to talk to Casey about his worries when it came to being a leader. Sometimes he’d ask Casey for stories about his older self. Even if he never became the “Master Leonardo” that Casey knew, it was comforting to know he had the potential.
April and Splinter were on the roof. There was no reason for their team-up. They just worked well together and had a thing for fighting people on rooftops. It was like their not-so-secret hobby.
Leo thought he was lucky. The thief ended up in the east wing. They caught the man easily. A little too easily…
“Wait!” The man begged as Mikey dragged him across the room with his chains. “Hold on! Hold on! I’m on your side!” It was a familiar sounding plea. Leo and Casey gave each other knowing smirks before addressing their prisoner.
“Ha! What? Are you from the future too?” Leo laughed, but the genuine shock on the man’s face gave him pause. “Uh… wait… Are you?”
The man grimaced. He tried to push his sunglasses back over his eyes with his shoulder.
“It’s… a long story, but that’s the gist of it.” He sighed. The man before them fit the description they were given by the other thieves that the Team caught. He wore a dark suit, had dark hair, sunglasses at night, and looked to be an older man. Not as old as Master Splinter but older than the rest of the Team. “Huh. It all makes sense now… I must have traveled to the past… but I can work with this. You’re Leonardo, right?” Hearing his name from a stranger sent a shiver down Leo’s spine. “And… you’re… M-Michelangelo…?” He sounded unsure when he addressed Mikey. Somehow that made Leo more uncomfortable. This man knew Leo well enough to sound confident about it but didn’t know Mikey. Why? “I would have come to you right away if I had known. I need your help! The world needs you!”
This was it. The other shoe.
“Alright. Let’s say we believe you. What’s wrong with the future this time?” Leo crossed his arms.
“In a few more years… there will be a… terrible accident. It will tear this city apart,” The man shook his head as if he was trying to force away the memory. “My name is Agent Bishop.” He stood up, still bound in chains. “I’m a member of the Earth Protection Force. We’re a government agency built to protect the world from threats like the Krang. I came to the past… to gather pieces of a machine. And I think I found the last piece. Please! I have no way to prove my sincerity, but if you trust me, if you help me… you’ll be saving millions… You’ll be heroes… Leonardo. You’ll be a legend.” The man, now known as Agent Bishop, looked down at Leo with the same sparkle of admiration that Casey had at times.
“Do we believe this guy?” Mikey tilted his head. He let the man out of the chain, letting his nunchakus return to their natural forms.
“I…” Leo started to say but then the other shoe dropped.
Blood eats up all senses.
Once you smell it, you can taste it. Once it’s in your lungs and mouth, your eyes must find the source of it. You start looking frantically, and when you find it you’re either gently drawn in or violently repelled away. Your thoughts start racing. Is it my blood? Is it someone I know?
Despite it all, Leo had never seen so much blood before. Not in his entire exciting life. Before Leo could finish his thought… Before he could do anything at all… A shadow dropped behind Agent Bishop with a heavy thud. It was right next to Mikey. Right in front of Leo and Case. So close. So quiet.
A grinning shikami mask under a hood attacked before anyone had a chance to think. With a flash, a blade sliced through its target, followed by the sounds of choking on something wet. The end of the katana stuck out of Agent Bishop’s chest. His sunglasses fell from his face as it contorted in shock and pain. Mikey screamed and jumped back, scrambling to hide behind Leo and Casey.
The shadow towered over all of them. He wore a keikogi that none of the boys recognized. Over his gi he wore a dark grey haori. His hood was a long blue scarf he wore loosely around his head and shoulders. He had some armor on his forearms and lower legs. Not including the three sharp prongs on the arm guards and the katana now occupying a man’s chest, Leon counted at least five other blades visible on the assailant.
A tanto horizontal across the lower back.
Another on his hip.
Two wakizashi crossed on his back.
And a katana on the other hip.
Outside of the splash of blue, the strange ninja wore all muted greys and had no distinguishing symbols on his clothes. He wasn’t Foot Clan, at the very least.
Even though he was carrying all these metal weapons, he moved so silently that no one noticed him following them through the rafters above. When he dropped down behind Bishop, right next to Mikey, the entire display room seemed to have the air sucked out of it. Outside of the initial sounds of shock the only thing that could be heard was the sickening squish of metal ripping through muscle and skin. For an agonizing second, all they could do was stare. Casey let out a soft gasp. Mikey made a sound that was meant to be Leo's name, but it collapsed into a gulping sob. All words were drowned out by the pained gagging and sputtering from the man in the dark suit. The ninja placed a hand on Bishop's shoulder and twisted the blade. Casey instinctively stepped forward.
"NO, DON'T!" He cried, but it was far too late. The ninja pulled the blade upward, slicing through Agent Bishop's chest to the base of his neck. With a clean swish, the katana broke free from his collar bone. The shadowy ninja in the shikami mask did a quick flourish before wiping the blade on the back of Bishop's jacket, then he let the body fall as if he was dropping a piece of trash.
Leo, Casey, and Mikey all just stared in horrified silence. All they could see was the gore, bits of bone and meat in an ever-growing pool of red. Coppery acid filled their lungs.
Then… the murderous ninja spoke. His voice seemed enhanced by his mask instead of stifled. It rang out so clearly and light.
"Go home, chiquitos. You don't want this fight."
Casey’s blood turned to ice water. That voice… that voice…
"Hey, you guys good?" April's voice crackled over their comms.
"Yeah! Whatever happened to checking in, huh, fearless leader? Didja forget?" Donnie complained.
There was a small huff from the ninja. A laugh? But he turned away from the boys and ignored them for his prize.
"There you are." The ninja used the kashira of one of his tanto to break the glass, setting off the museum's alarms. He reached in and pulled out some sort of box carved from stone. It had strange markings etched on each side, but there was little time to absorb this information. When the glass broke the three boys snapped out of their panicked trances.
"APRIL! DONATELLO! EVERYONE! WE NEED BACK UP NOW!" Casey shouted into his comms.
Leo didn't remember moving, but somehow, he closed the gap between himself and the thief. With barely a glance, the taller man blocked Leo's attack with one arm, catching Leo's blade under one of the metal prongs on his guard. Casually, the ninja put the cube in a pouch on a leather belt he wore and let out an incredibly tired sigh.
"Alright…." The thief nodded to himself, then shook his head as if he was disappointed.
Leo blinked and was sent flying.
"LEO!" Mikey cried, "That's it! Get ready to get your butt kicked!"
The killer just tilted his head. His shikami mask made it seem like he was laughing at the younger ninja. Mikey launched into the offense with all the razzma he could tazz. Spinning, kicking, magic chains, fire. Everything he could think of. The stranger let a chuckle escape from beneath his mask. It gave Mikey goosebumps. The older ninja easily dodged all of Mikey’s attacks and blocked Leo’s once he rejoined the fray. He seemed to be playing things cool with his young opponents, just feeling the rhythm the Hamato brothers were setting. Things didn’t change even when Casey joined the fight. The shadow could keep track of them all, forcing them to hold back or risk hitting each other instead of their deadly target.
He was so strong! Yokai or mutant strong! But there hadn’t been any new mutants in ages, and none of the boys could think of anyone that could fight like this. Draxum had given his word that he was keeping the mystic science to noninvasively weird. No more experiments on people (without their permission). It took a lot of strength from both the sword and the wielder to cut a person in half. Leo hated himself for knowing that. He hated the fact that with every parry the thief was able to knock him and his little brothers off their feet, just enough to keep getting away but never enough to hurt them. If Leo was thinking straight, he would have found that odd, but he wasn’t thinking. He was following a feeling. A feeling of dread. Something about the smug ease that his opponent moved with made Leo feel like they were being toyed with. He felt the desperate fire of someone fighting for his life well up in his chest. Another part of him tried to fight against the instinct.
Get the others!
Maybe he’s not dead! You didn’t even check!
You need help! What are you doing?
As if to answer Leo’s internal pleas, a zipline shot out over his head. It took the shadow off guard too. The claw from Casey’s grappling hook barely missed his face, making a threatening buzz as it brushed the side of the shikami mask. The hook lodged itself into a pillar on the far side of the room. Mikey and Leo didn’t let the opponent recover his bearings. They pushed harder, attacking together. Casey jumped and let the pull of the zipline propel his kick. The ninja sidestepped Casey, forcing the young man to plant his feet against the pillar. The speed he was traveling made the landing rocked through Casey’s legs. Painful, but he didn’t have time to cry about it.
‘Keep fighting, Jones!’ He shouted at himself, pushing down the pain and wrenching the grappling hook free from the pilar.
Mikey swept in from the left and Leo from the right. They were trying to catch the ninja in Mikey’s mystical nunchaku chains. Leo forced him to weave through the chains, ducking and dodging the wild pattern of attack. They still landed nothing but glancing blows on the killer. Leo started using his portals, but the thief seemed to predict exactly where Leo was going to appear next. In one harrowing display, the thief snatched Leo out of the air as he was coming through a portal overhead. The young Slider was flung around and slammed into the ground with such force he thought he cracked something for a second. The last time he was hit this hard was during a massive alien invasion. The shikami glared down at him, raising a foot to stomp down on his head, but his attention snapped to a massive red energy hand sweeping him off Leo.
“Raph!” Mikey cheered as their big brother came running in. The ninja landed on his back, but rolled with the momentum and was back on his feet quickly. He hesitated. The shadow was finally offbeat, and the Team didn’t let him get control again. Cass and Donnie jumped over Raph and started their attack. The ninja was still able to counter, block, and evade, but there was something a bit shakier about it now. Were they starting to overwhelm him?
Leo let a seething fire carry him forward. He rolled under his family and into the thief. Crouching, he swung upward with his katana. The blade cut through fabric and leather. The belt the thief was wearing slipped free and the cube tumbled out. Mikey, Casey, Leo, and the thief all immediately lunged for the artifact as Splinter and April barged into the room. Leo thought he heard his father call out to him, but everything went dark…
And quiet...
For a moment Leo thought he had lost consciousness. He felt winded and weightless, an achingly familiar sensation.
Leo-
He thought his eyes were open, but everything was still dark. What happened to him? What happened to his family?
Leo! Please! You have to focus!
That wasn’t his voice. Leo realized with a jolt that it was Mikey. Or… something like Mikey… but he sounded so serious. The voice echoed in his head. Leo tried to shout back, but nothing came out. Just a gasp.
You’re falling!
The disembodied Michelangelo warned. Leo felt something pull at the back of his shell.
‘I’m falling?’ Leo thought. It didn’t feel like falling. It felt like… drifting. Drifting through stoic oblivion… like the prison dimension…
Yes! You’re falling! Focus!
The Mikey voice sounded further away now. It carried an uncharacteristic sternness that Leo wasn’t used to from his little brother.
‘I’m falling…’ Leo repeated, turning the words over in his mind and examining every inch of meaning.
“I’M FALLING!?!?” Leo’s voice rang out like a roar, chasing away the darkness. He was in a sea of stars. He could hear Michelangelo and Casey again too! They were both screaming! Leo tried to look for them, but this only sent him spinning wildly. He eventually stopped, and tried to look for his brothers again, this time more carefully. Was it just Casey and Mikey? The others weren’t here too? The sensation of getting pulled weightlessly through nothingness was haunting. Leo felt himself flip back to the Prison Dimension. Flashes of Krang Prime made his lungs seize.
‘Not now! Notnownotnownotnow!’ Leo closed his eyes and pushed the memories back as best as he could.
“CASEY! MIKEY!” He cried out. There was a bit too much desperation in his voice for his liking, but he just wanted them to hear him. He opened his eyes again and his thoughts dimmed. There were 3 things that occurred to Leo at once. First, he was holding on to the cube. That’s good! Second, he lost one of his katanas. That’s bad… Third, he forgot there was one other person he should have been keeping track of, and that someone heard him. That someone was hurtling towards him like a bullet. The shikami mask seemed to smile wider as the mysterious thief closed the distance. Before Leo could shout out again the two ninjas collided with each other. Leo felt like a truck hit him! Instinctively, he held tighter to his surviving blade but his grip on the cube crumbled. The shikami grabbed Leo by the plastron and sent him careening off into space with a spinning throw. He then went gliding off like he had an idea of what he was doing in this odd place.
“LEONARDO!” Casey had just got to Mikey when Leo appeared out of nowhere. He was flying wildly towards them, much faster than Casey or Mikey were ready for. They crashed into each other, breaking Casey’s grip on Mikey but both just latched onto Leo.
“LEO!” Mikey sobbed.
“Leonardo! Are you okay!?” Casey pressed.
“You guys get the number of that truck…?” Leo groaned.
“What truck?” Mikey frowned. Leo pointed upward and the two younger boys followed his gesture. The thief sailed past, giving them a quick salute before disappearing into a cloud of glittering stardust.
“WHA- WHAT’S HAPPENING!?” Mikey shrieked. “Are we in SPACE!? WAS THAT THE GUY KICKING OUR SHELLS!?”
“I don’t know! MAYBE! YES!?” Leo shouted back.
“Guys! Look!” Casey pointed down, or well… he pointed behind the trio where whatever forces had a hold of them was propelling them towards. A light started to shine through a swirling cascade of colorful smoke. The 3 teenagers screamed as the light enveloped them and everything around them. It was too bright!
Just as suddenly as the light had appeared, the trio found themselves dumped on the ground with a tremendous thunderclap ringing through the air.
“Ow…” Leo said flatly, being the one everyone else landed on. Usually this was Raph’s job. Being the oldest and biggest was tough work… Casey managed to untangle himself from the mess first. He scrambled to pick up the chainsaw hockey stick he dropped and got ready to defend himself and his friends. He let out a soft gasp as he stared out into the horizon. The other two were pushing and kicking each other while trying to get to their feet. Once free from each other, they followed Casey’s gaze.
“Guys…” Casey breathed.
Outstretched before them was a luminous sea with iridescent blue water. Across the water, miles away, was a roaring waterfall that stretched as far as the boys could see. The sky was pink and heavy orange clouds casting grey shadows as they crossed the sun. Pieces of debris drifted in the air. There was still a sense of buoyancy even though they weren’t floating through space anymore. It looked like they were just heavy enough to stay on land, though pebbles and other small broken bits floated by with ease. There was little plant life around them, just yellow sprigs of grass and barren trees with red bark. Casey looked down and saw they had landed on a small incline leading down to the beach. The yellow-white sand looked surprisingly clean, untouched by tourists. Casey looked back up at the endless waterfall with renewed awe.
It was beautiful. It was terrifying.
“Woah…” Mikey took a step closer to the edge of the incline. “What… is this place…? Are we… did we find another portal to the Hidden City?” Mikey gawked, climbing up on Leo’s shoulders to get a better look at things.
“But… we can see the sky...” Casey lifted a hand to the clouds. He raised his hockey mask as well. He wanted to see the landscape with his own eyes. None of the reading made sense anyway. Navigation said the trio were still in New York, but everything else was wildly different. Mystic pressure was off the charts! Pollution levels were abnormally low. And if they were in the Hidden City his gear wouldn’t be able to locate their coordinates at all.
The boys were so busy taking in the sights, they didn’t bother to turn around and look inland. A quiet shadow had crept up behind them. He yelled at the top of his lungs, sending a current of fright through the 3 boys. Mikey jerked so badly he set both Leo and himself off balance. Leo grabbed Casey as he tilted over the side of the incline, and they all went toppling to the beach in another pile. This time Leo was the first to his feet and ready for a fight.
“OW! WHAT THE HECK!?” He bellowed up the short curve. At the top stood their murderous ninja thief. He was still wearing his mask, but his laugh rang out light, clear, and genuine. Casey and Mikey popped up at the ready once they heard the stranger’s amusement. Casey plunged back into the ice at the sound. It was something he ached for on bad nights.
‘No… way… It can’t be… Is it really…’ Casey held the though in.
“You better run, chiquitos,” The smirk was thick in the ninja’s voice. “You don’t want to be Krang food, right?” He held up the artifact from the museum in one hand and gave it a little taunting shake before stepping back out of view.
“HEY!” Leo patted himself down as if he had pockets to check. The cube! He had almost forgotten it! And now the thief has it again!
“The Krang!? They’re here!? NOW!?” Casey recoiled instinctively. Mikey had to catch him before he backed up into the water.
“Woah, Case! Easy!” Mikey held onto Casey’s arms firmly. Leo only spared them a glance before cutting a portal up to the top of the incline. He jumped out of the portal with a mighty battle cry, but no one was there. The thief had vanished. The young turtle spun around to check every angle but there was nothing. It was just flat, dry land for at least a hundred yards or more. The thief was truly gone.
“Leo!” Mikey called.
Leo looked down from the incline at his brothers. He got caught-up in the moment again. He almost left his team behind. Again. This adventure had just begun, and Leo was messing up.
“Hold on a sec!” Leo called back. He didn't have to portal down. The jump was a little steep but short. He landed gracefully between Mikey and Casey.
“Was that the guy?” Casey frowned. He was trying to hide it, but the young man was shaken to the core. Mikey could tell how badly his new little brother was feeling, so he clung to Casey’s arm to protect him. Leo wasn’t sure why Casey was so spooked, but he put on his bravest face to reassure the other boy.
“Yeah, it looks like our cube thief is here with us.” Leo tried to smile.
“Didn’t we just watch him KILL another dude!?” Mikey cried. Leo just gave him an exasperated glare.
“Where… is… here…?” Casey gestured vaguely at the sea. The iridescent colors swirled and shimmered with every wave. It was almost serene, but stranger than anything Casey was accustomed to. Leo looked at the water then the incline behind them.
“Okay,” He finally said, putting on his usual relaxed grin. “There’s gotta be a town or something around here. The thief-”
“And Murderer!” Mikey interrupted, shaking Casey.
“Yeah, that too…” Leo reluctantly acknowledged. That wasn’t an aspect of the situation he was ready to unpack yet. “He needs a place to lay low, right? First, we get outta here! Second, we catch the thief! Then we make him send us home!”
“H-how?” Casey ventured.
“I’m… Still working on the details.” Leo admitted with a nervous grin and a shrug.
“This sounds like a Raph Plan…” Mikey pouted.
“I don’t have a lot to go off of here! Sue me!” Leo threw his hands up in defeat.
“The thief…? He really got away?” Casey’s voice was still small and nervous. Leo’s guts churned with guilt.
“I mean, well, yeah? BUT we’ll find him! Don’t worry!” Leo rubbed the back of his neck, rocked back on his heels, smiled, and hoped that he didn’t look as helpless as he felt.
“Do you… do you think we’re in the future…?” Casey was too focused on the idea, he missed the worry falling over Leo’s face. Casey had a suspicion, a hope even, on who the thief was. He didn’t want to share it yet. Not yet. “T-this doesn’t look like my time, but what if… what if this is what the future looks like now? Since we changed the past!”
“What!?” Mike and Leo both exclaimed. They looked at each other then back at Casey.
“You really think that murder ninja dude sent us to the future?” Mikey jabbed a thumb in the direction of the incline.
“Maybe? I… I don’t know! None of this was here in my time! B-but there’s no way this is New York 2021! I can’t tell where we are, and Master Donatello’s tech isn’t making sense!” Casey turned back to the endless waterfalls.
“When does Don and is tech ever make sense?” Leo tried to lighten the mood.
“This isn’t a joke…” Casey gave Leo a stern look before turning back to the water. “All of my equipment still works, I think. But look at this place! There’s so much water…. And the mystic energy here is off the charts!”
“So, this is all magic?” Mikey swung his arms wildly over his head as some pebbles floated by.
“Listen,” Leo marched over to Casey and put a hand on his shoulder. “Future, past, Hidden City, or not… we need to get out of here first. We’ve been standing here letting our guy,”
“The crazy killer dude!” Mikey interjected while poking his head between the two older boys. Leo grimaced and pushed Mikey away.
“Yes! We get it! Thank you!” After removing Mikey from his personal space Leo turned back to Casey. “We let him get a head start. We have a mission. What’s the mission?”
“Find the thief and catch him…?” Casey recited.
“And get home!” Leo added with a pat on Casey’s shoulder. “See? I’m taking this seriously!”
As Leo spoke a low growl rumbled out of the water. Casey turned to look, while Leo and Mikey peeked around him. A slobbering beast came shambling out of the water. It shook its haunches and let its long, ropey tongue lull out of its thin snout. It had too many eyes dotted int strange places around what appeared to be a curving head. Its dark purple body rippled at the sight of the them. Casey’s heart leapt into his throat.
A Krang Hound…
“No…” Casey was about to grab the Hamatos and run, but more growling made him stop. More came out of the water with their tongues dragging across the sand. Each new hound was brought their own twisted anatomy. Some had very human arms jutting out of their bodies at odd angles. Others had extra mouths that desperately gulped air, as if someone was inside the purple mass of flesh trying not to get crushed between the muscle. Some of the extra eyes looked full of fear instead of the cold hunger that others regarded the trio of teenagers on the beach with. Casey felt sick. His hands shot to his mouth. If he wasn’t going to throw up, he knew he was going to scream.
“Okay! Time to go!” Leo cut a portal and shoved his brothers through. He only heard the hounds start to run after them before the portal closed behind them.
“This can’t be happening… This can’t be happening!” Casey finally cracked. He stopped just short of pulling his hair out of panic. Leo dragged Casey back to his feet.
“We don’t know what’s happening! Let’s not jump to conclusions!” Leo tried to joke. Mikey pushed Leo out of the way.
“Hey, Casey! Breathe with me?” Dr. Feelings took over, helping Casey with some mindful breathing. While Mikey calmed Casey, Leo took in their new surroundings. It looked like Leo teleported to some sort of thick jungle. The trees here had black bark, but they didn’t look burned. Their branches stretched to the sky in knots. The leaves on their twisted fingers were large and deep green. The canopy was so high and thick they blotted out the sun.
“You okay, Case?” Leo looked at his brother with genuine concern. Casey nodded, still watching how he was breathing. “Okay… let’s try this again.”
“Where are we now?” Mikey interrupted again.
“Uh…” Leo steepled his fingers together. “Jones?” Casey paused for a moment before putting his mask back on. He was quiet for a moment longer before his voice came through with a flat answer.
“Philadelphia.”
“I’m sorry,” Leo laughed. “Say what now?”
“We’re in Philadelphia.” Casey repeated. When he lifted his mask again his face looked tired and annoyed.
“How is your GPS still working?” Mikey went to grab Casey’s mask to see for himself but was gently brushed away by the young human.
The reprieve was disturbed by growling once again. The 3 boys jumped to stand back-to-back with weapons ready. They didn’t have to wait long. Something rushed out of the brush. It looked like a panther but bigger and with a horn growing out of its head. It leapt out at the boys, but Mikey was ready. He swung his nunchaku wide, letting the mystic chain whip the beast up into the air. The creature went flying through the canopy with a frightened yowl.
“Bad kitty!” Mikey pointed after it. They couldn’t rest yet though, as rustling alerted them that more creatures were on the way.
“Enough of this! We’re going home!” Leo snarled. He sliced another portal open and shoved everyone through. Leo meant to teleport them to the Lair. If this was still the United States than the lair had to still be around too. That’s what he was thinking at least, but what he found on the other end of his portal wasn’t his comfy bed in the abandoned subway.
When the trio ran through the portal, they were immediately swept off their feet by raging, howling winds. The world was spinning around them as they skidded down a broken street. Mikey caught on to a stop sign, then caught Casey by the foot before he went sailing past. Casey, in turn, caught Leo by the wrist. They watched as the familiar streets above their home were torn apart and reformed into new shapes by a cascading wave of energy. It radiated out in pulses from a spiraling pink orb hovering over a demolished building. The orb shrank and expanded with the pulses, like a heartbeat. The Hamato trio could feel it pound through their own chests. The orb turned an unseen eye towards the boys and the wind began to pick up more. Leo’s markings started to glow… then burn. He let out a hiss but held onto Casey tightly. Mikey’s marks and eyes started to glow too, but he felt more than an uncomfortable roasting. He let out a scream. It felt like someone was slowly pressing drills against every bone in his body.
“Leonardo!” Casey could feel Mikey’s grip loosening.
“Hold on!” Leo frantically cut a circle in the air, but the portal just sputtered out. Again and again, he cut a portal only to have it snuffed out like a candle. “I got this!” Leo tried again and again. “I got this!”
“AH! I-I… CAN’T! IT HURTS!!” A white-hot pain seared through Mikey’s spine and for a brief second he blacked out. He lost his grip on the stop sign.
“MIKEY!!!” Leo cried as his brother went limp. All 3 of them started to fly down the street, heading towards the orb. “Come on, Leonardo! Stop being a wuss and save your team!” Leo shouted at himself. He concentrated, markings glowing brighter, and cut one last portal. It opened long enough for the trio to get pulled through. They landed on hard, dry earth. There were yellow springs of shriveled grass around them and bare trees with red bark.
“Ugh… ow… What… hit me?” Mikey slowly sat up.
“MIGUEL!” Leo wrapped his little brother in the biggest hug he could muster. “Are you okay!?”
“Y-yeah, yeah… I think so…” Mikey laughed.
“Uh… guys?” Casey tapped Leo’s shoulder. Leo and Mikey looked around and found they were surrounded by some equally surprised Krang hounds.
“Aw, come on!” Leo groaned.
The next few minutes were spent running, screaming, and fighting alien mutant dogs. They managed to run into the more wooded area and found a tiny cave to duck into in the craggy face of another flat cliff side. They all held their breath as the hounds ran past them blindly. Once it was quiet again the kids all sighed with relief. They were all thinking the same thing. What was this place?
If this was the future, why was it so messed up?
Leo closed his eyes and pushed the feral voices of anxiety back down into their box. He’ll deal with that later. He needs to save his family now.
Mikey was reeling. Fear, exhilaration, pain, and curiosity drummed through his mind. He wanted to know more. This place was awful! This place was amazing!
Casey had white noise crackling in his ears. The pure panic had caught up with him again. He had nightmares about this. Leo being stuck in the Prison Dimension, forever at the mercy of Krang Prime. Sometimes he was just… “home.” Casey would sit up where Master Leonardo tossed him through the portal, but he never made it through. His sensei… his family… everyone he knew were ash… He’d look up and see the Krang army coming for him, and realized he was next. The worst dream was this. This right now. His friends being forced to live the life he used to. Casey had no regrets about his life, even if he missed the older Hamatos dearly. He knew they would be proud of him. The younger Hamatos made sure of that. He still found it cruel to strip the comforts of the past from them. They deserved the relative peace they had in their time. Running from the Krang? Hiding in caves and holding their breaths? Praying that they’re not found by an enemy who cared nothing for them? This was unspeakably cruel…
What made matters worse for Casey was that, despite it all, he missed this. This felt normal. Going to school, worrying about getting a job, trying to make human friends? Horrible! Terrible! Nerve-wrecking on the best of days! This? This desperate need to protect Leo and Mikey and knowing just enough to keep them all alive, this felt right. It made him want to claw his eyes out to spite himself.
“Okay…” Mikey was the first to speak. “For real this time! What is going ON!?”
“I… uh…” Leo’s voice was uncharacteristically soft when he tried to answer. The words failed him though, and he ended up just shaking his head. Casey wrapped his arms around himself and remained silent. Mikey looked between Leo and Casey, seeing they were both in distress. The young box turtle whimpered. He wasn’t sure what he could do to help them. Leo heard Mikey’s whine and forced a smile. “Don’t worry, little brother. I got this! That was… just a lot to take in! You know?” Part of that was a lie. Leo had no idea where to even start. He was going to fake it until he made it though. “The plan’s still the same. Okay?” He looked at Casey, but it looked like the other teen was only half listening. “We could use Donnie’s big brain right about now. Don’t tell him I said that. He’s already got a huge ego.” Leo pointed at Mikey.
“Imma tell him.” Mikey perked up. He was happy to join any of Leo’s games. Casey remained silent. He just stared at the ground and continued hugging himself.
“Hey… Jonesy? You good, buddy?” Leo snapped his fingers.
“Huh!?” Casey snapped out of the fog he wandered off into.
“There you are.” Leo’s easy smile shone through again.
“You okay, J.J.?” Mikey slowly reached out to touch Casey’s arm.
“No, but we don’t have time to worry about that.” Casey gently brushed Mikey’s hand away again. “We should check our surroundings.” He stuck his head out of the shallow cave then gingerly squeezed out before the other two. “If this isn’t the present and this isn’t the future, maybe we’re in another world?”
“Thaaat,” Leo gave Mikey and unsure look before following Casey out. “Makes sense… I think?”
“Do you hear that!? I think those dog things are still around!” Mikey peeked his head out but spooked himself and retreated into his shell. Leo caught him before he hit the ground. There was nothing there. The area was clear.
“We should keep moving…” Casey signed. Leo nodded and started leading the group onward.
They did see the hounds a couple of more times, but they were easy to evade. They weren’t as smart as Casey remembered. They seemed to solely go by sight and ran around aimlessly with no sense of pack tactics. They were persistent though. It was exhausting to keep hiding from the beasts.
“We can’t keep this up…” Casey wheezed. They had been spotted and chased to a river. They lost the Krang Hounds, but they also lost any sense of direction they had too.
“Yeah, this is getting ridiculous.” Leo panted. He looked around to see if there was a safe place for them to rest. They had followed the river to a lake or large pond. A significantly smaller waterfall fed into it. It would have been a great swimming hole if it wasn’t for the alien mutant dogs constantly stalking around the area. The red-bark trees had tiny yellow leaves growing on their branches. “We should take 5. I’ll keep a look out.”
“Ooo! We can hide in there!” Mike pointed at the falls and clapped happily. “There’s always a secret cave behind waterfalls! It’s in, like, every Jupiter Jim movie ever! Even the remakes! Come on!”
“Is that the guy you told me about? The one that kidnapped you and turned you into statues for his movie collection?” Casey asked in a hushed voice.
“Wow, I told you a lot of stuff, huh?” Leo shoved his hands under his armpits and rocked nervously. Mikey sprinted off and picked his way across the rocks to behind the waterfall.
“… I thought you guys said movies weren’t… you know? Real?” Casey crossed his arms.
“They’re not.” Leo gave Casey an exhausted smirk. After a few seconds of waiting to see if Mikey floats back down to them, the two older boys followed Mikey behind the falls. Sure enough, there was a cave. Casey turned on the flashlight function in his mask and the two looked around. It looked like someone, or something, manually hollowed out the cliff. The walls were smooth and chiseled. The opening was several meters wide. Someone could drive through here easily. Casey thought it looked like the underground bases he grew up in.
“Told ya!” Mikey sprang out of the darkness. Casey reared back but managed to stop himself from throwing a punch. “There’s a whole creepy cave system down there!”
“Creepy isn’t good!” Leo gave a nervous chuckle. They all explored the place anyway. What else could they do? They were tired and the water hid their scent or noise they made. Casey kept his hockey stick at the ready while Mikey bounced along the path, dragging Leo behind him. Leo and Mikey joked the entire time as they walked deeper into the cave. It was a marvel that the two always found the fun in things, even when it all seemed dire. Casey did his best to stay vigilant, but often got pulled into their hijinks.
It didn’t that that long for the kids to reach the end of the cave. They had followed the tunnel to an even larger chamber. There were several firepits, tables, and plastic storage cases scattered around. There was an RV parked along one of the walls with a rounded car or buggy attached to the back. Both vehicles looked huge and well-armored. The chamber’s high walls had lights installed into them and a generate could be heard, but not seen. One of the firepits had a fire going, meaning there had to be ventilation since there wasn’t any smoke building up. What shocked the trio the most was the person sitting by the fire. In the middle of the room sat a 6-foot-tall mutant turtle with a spikey shell with a very familiar face.
“RAPH!?”