Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  Three.


 Two.

One.

“You’re up, Magic Hands Mikey!”

  Michelangelo smiled at the nickname, planting his feet and focusing the crackling mystic energy around him into a ball. He felt the burns on his arms brightening and heating up, but he gritted his teeth and held his hands in front of him. The ball moved with them, becoming submerged in the neon blue rift Leo had created. It stretched as he straightened his burning arms. He nearly cried out in pain, but he bit his tongue and molded his rift to the exact shape of his brother’s.


“You okay, Mikey?”
  Raph’s voice rang clear and concerned through the mess of noises and created a sort of calm blanket around the small turtle’s brain. He turned his head and nodded confidently, keeping his hands in position.

  It took a few moments, but something looked like it was on the other side. It looked like a dark pond, surrounded by a beautiful, sparkly nebula of oranges and yellows and greens.


“Interdimensional portal test three initiated. Results?” Donnie’s cold, analytical voice called.


“There’s something on the other side.” Leo replied unhelpfully.


  There was a sigh. “What exactly is on the other side?”


“It looks like space, but with water!” Raph responded eagerly.


“Very colorful.” Leo added. “Mostly oranges and greens.”


“Oranges and greens… water… got it.” Donnie noted. Mikey started to feel movement on the other side, his heartbeat shifting to keep up with the heavy falls of five sets of feet. “Guys?” he asked, voice raspy. “There’s several somethings over there…”
  Raph’s eyes widened as he sprang to his sibling’s side, standing over him protectively. Not wanting to cause concern, the orange-clad turtle smiled.
 “Don’t worry, Raph. I don’t think they’re coming through.” He jumped as an icy feeling spread from his shoulders to his arms, but a pat on the head let him know that it was only Donnie using a cold pack to help with the burns.

  Leo’s eyes narrowed. “I think that’s enough for today, Mikes.”


“No, no. I can do a little more.” he insisted, forcing a smile onto his face.

“Nardo’s right, for once.” Donnie agreed. “Put your arms down, little bro.”


“I don’t need to-”
  

  Voices started to echo through the nebulous void, though their words were unclear.


“…Can’t hold.. portal.. longer!” A second of silence. “King!” 
A second, more distant voice sounded annoyed. “King! You promised… me! …Pinky-swore!”


  The brothers looked at each other, each more perplexed than the next. The voices vanished behind the whispers of the stars, then they returned, louder and closer.


 “We gotta stick together!” 


The third voice sounded solemn and sad, almost childlike in a way.


“I’m sorry, not this time. But I can keep you safe.”


“No!” 


The whispers returned again, but this time, Mikey felt a surge of dimensional energy coursing through his veins.
“Stand back!” he yelled. “Something’s coming through!”

Impact.


Flash of light.


Five more presences in the small alleyway.


Being dragged back into the shadows by someone. Probably Raph. 

  As the portal snapped shut, Mikey felt his head grow significantly fuzzier as Leo and his red-dressed brother raised their weapons, ready to fight whatever had come through. All he could hear were the desperate and shell-shocked sounds of… humans?
  The brothers stayed silent and watchful as the five beings caught their bearings and surveyed their surroundings. All of them looked tired, battered, and somber as the rain started to patter the streets of New York.

  An average sized human in a varsity jacket reached for where the portal had been, to no avail. She broke down into quiet sobs while another human put a hand on her shoulder. The third human looked around, spotting the three pairs of glowing eyes in the dark shade of the buildings.
 “Guys?” he whispered, not taking his eyes off the three figures. “There’s something else here.”

  The other humans turned to see Raph, Leo, and Donnie, powers on standby but visibly active. The trio were standing over their little brother protectively, waiting for the human group to make a move.
  The first human girl stood up and slowly approached them, hands completely visible. “We don’t mean you any harm.” she said, quietly and slowly, a tinge of sorrow in her voice. “I’m Luz.”


  Leo stepped out first, followed by Donnie. Their weapons stayed out as they cautiously met the human halfway. Luz gasped when they came into the light, revealing their green skin, shells, and unusual markings.
 “You’re turtles!”
   The third human sprinted in front of Luz and pushed her back protectively.

“Stay back, Luz.” he warned. “They have weapons.”


“I can see that, Hunter.” she murmured.
  “How many of you are there?” the purple twin asked, staff by his side as he surveyed the scene before him.


“Just the five of us.”


“Were you followed?”


  She paused to look back at the others.


“…I sure hope not.”

Wake up. 


Wake up, little man.


 … 


He’s not responding. 


Check his pulse. 


It’s kinda weak…

We need to get him home as soon as possible, then.

  Mikey slowly blinked as raindrops pattered across his face. He lifted his head to see Raph directly above him, and reached up to grab the larger turtle’s arm for support.
 “I’m up.” he whispered shakily, wincing when the tiny drops hit his burns.


“Are you all turtles?” Luz asked curiously, peering past the twins and meeting eyes with Mikey, who gasped and clung to Raph for support.
  After a second of evaluating the humans, he cleared his throat.


 “They’re hurt.” he pronounced. “We’re taking them home.”


  Donnie looked at Mikey, then Raph, then Leo. “Should we…?” he whispered. “We don’t know if they’re diseased, or if they’ll expose us…”


  The large, spiky turtle shrugged. “Dad made you the leader for a reason, Leo.” he said quietly. “What do you say?”


  Leo thought for a moment while the humans eyed their surroundings before looking Luz in the eyes.
“Do you have anyone here that you can go to?” he asked.


  She smiled sadly and said, “We don’t even know where here is.”

  Leo sheathed his swords. “Then you’re coming with us.”

Chapter Text

  The next ten minutes were a blur for Hunter.

  Stumbling through a portal door to escape a child-shaped deity was one thing. Actually ending up in the human realm was quite another. Still in shock from seeing Belos splattered on a wall, he had barely registered anything but the rain and the noise until Willow rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey.”

  She smiled gently, in spite of the rain, in spite of everything they had just escaped. And her smile made him feel just a tiny bit warmer in his cold wooden body.

  Wow. He was made of wood. But he didn’t feel like wood. He felt as… meat sack-ish… as everyone else.

“Hunter?”

  Luz’s voice shook him out of his short reverie, bringing him back to the rain and the four massive lizards.

“The turtles are taking us to their home.” she explained gently, helping him regain his bearings.

  He felt Flapjack wriggling around in his pocket, so he reached down and rested a hand on the tiny bird to calm him.

“Are you sure you trust them?” he whispered, eyeing the blue one’s swords with a very healthy amount of suspicion.

  Luz smiled tiredly. “They’re offering us shelter, Hunter. Let’s go before they change their minds.”

  As they climbed down the ladder and trudged through the sewers, he couldn’t help but think that the purple one was… watching him. He looked over his shoulder, and they were wearing red-and-blue goggles, studying every angle and contour of his body. He shifted uncomfortably, turning his head back around to focus on the path ahead.

  After around five minutes of walking, the red turtle pushed a heavy-looking grate open and gestured for everyone to step through. Murmuring quietly, the witches went first, staying together as best they could.

  The turtles’ home looked like an underground bunker made to be… comfortable. From his position, Hunter could see a tunnel populated by boxy rooms on wheels, a curtained-off but brightly lit kitchen, and two other rooms of undeterminable nature. Luz looked absolutely starstruck; maybe she had never seen a place like this either.

“New people, make yourself at home.” the blue turtle announced from his position near the front of the group. “Feel free to explore. I’m Leonardo, but everyone calls me Leo.”

“Or Nardo.” the purple turtle added smoothly.

“Or Leon!” the small orange turtle called from the red one’s arms.

“I think Neon Leon was one of your more creative nicknames.” the big red turtle added, smiling gently. “I’m Raph, by the way.”

  The orange turtle clambered onto Raph’s shell to get a better view, carefully avoiding the points of the spikes.

“I’m Mikey!” he announced cheerfully.

  The purple turtle looked up from their phone, a bored look in their eyes. “Oh, we’re doing introductions? I’m Donatello.”

  Leo elbowed them. “We just call them Donnie to save time.”

  “Anyways..” Donnie grumbled. “I’ll be doing some routine testing on you, for health reasons. We need to make sure you’re not carrying anything.”

  Luz nodded, standing protectively in front of her friends. “You can do me first.”

  After they cast a wondering glance back at Hunter, they nodded and gestured for her to follow them to one of the box rooms. The rest of the turtles dispersed, with Leo heading to the kitchen, and Raph carrying Mikey to one of the indeterminate rooms.

  While Amity followed Donnie and Luz, the rest of the witches gathered in a corner.

  Gus started shaking, tears welling in his eyes. All Hunter could do was hold him as he cried quietly, and under his breath he inhaled sharply. He remembered that Gus was much younger than he acted, and the older boy’s heart ached for him.

  Willow leaned against Hunter, and her warmth felt nice on his tired, scarred back. As Gus grew quieter, the buzzing quiet let the scarred boy’s thoughts take hold.

  Leo looks like he wants to come over and talk.

  He should leave well enough alone.

  Do I even have thoughts? Am I just talking to myself?

  I’m just a wooden clone of someone better than me. I don’t… deserve… to be treated like anything else.

 Luz and Amity emerged from the purple-lit room as Donnie poked their head out.

“Next!”

  Hunter rubbed his arm as he transferred Gus to Willow and stood up. He exhaled, then steeled himself. This was an unfamiliar place, and the scaled creatures could have hidden intentions.

  He followed Donnie into a sparsely decorated lab, one which was outfitted with a multitude of shiny equipment and active screens. They gestured for him to sit down in an office chair, so he did, albeit apprehensively and in a way where he could bolt if he needed to.

  “Name?” they asked curtly, holding a screen in one hand while four mechanical arms sprouted from their shell to grab various tools.

“Hunter.”

“Any last name, or just that?”

  It took a second for him to think of an answer.

“I… don’t know.”

“That’s okay. I can update your file when you figure it out.” They sighed, then picked up a scalpel. “I take it from your pointed ears that you’re a witch as well?”

  Hunter’s hair stood on edge as he thought of an answer for the intellectual standing before him. How would he explain that he was a carbon copy of a dead guy’s brother? If he told them, how would they react? Would they bombard him with questions, or would they try to cut him open? As they came closer with the blade, he started to think that maybe this wasn’t just a ‘routine test.’

  Shakily, he gulped down his fears and made eye contact with Donnie.

“It’s very complicated.”

  They paused, then put the scalpel down to flick their goggles down over their eyes.

“I’m seeing multiple foreign agents in your system, but most of them aren’t mystic. Follow me, please.”

  He stood up as they guided him deeper into the chamber, trembling more than he should have been. He used to be in the Emperor’s Coven! Why was he afraid of this… thing?

  They gestured to a metal table with some protected cushions on it, and he eyed the exit nervously.

“Lie down for me, Hunter. I need to do some scans. Feel free to hug one of the plushies.”

  Cautiously, he laid down and rested his head on a tricolored pillow and wrapped his arms around a very squishy, rotund gray wolf plush. Flapjack, sensing his nerves, hopped out of his pocket and rested on his head.

“Cute bird.” Donnie muttered without any noticeable feeling in their voice. “I’m starting the scan, so try not to move.”

  A few moments later, they made an odd harrumphing noise.

“What is it?” he asked, squeezing the wolf to his chest.

“Your friend wasn’t made of wood.” they observed coldly, sending panic through Hunter’s body. They were almost certainly going to cut him open now-

“I’m also seeing some pretty heavy scarring… if I may be so bold, what was your life like growing up?”

  Oh.

“Well- uh-” He gulped down a little ball of emotions. “Until I was seven, I grew up with my uncle. After that, I was sent to train with the Coven Scouts.”

  The turtle clicked their tongue. “That must have been incredibly traumatic for you. And I don’t say that sarcastically. Going from a low-stress environment to what I’m assuming was a highly stressful one can take a huge toll on you.”

  Hunter laughed bitterly. “I wouldn’t call my early life low-stress. I had to constantly please the Emperor- my uncle- and if I didn’t…”

“Interesting.” they murmured. “So you’re, what, a duke? A prince?”

“Nope. I was raised to be the Golden Guard, and to pretty much everyone, that was the highest honor you could ever achieve.”

  Flapjack chirruped in his ear, as if to say, You don’t have to keep talking if you don’t want to.

  He shook his head and whispered, “I’ll keep going. I think something’s working in my brain that didn’t really before.”

  Donnie coughed. “Going back to what we were speaking about… if you don’t mind my asking, what took a chunk out of your ear?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” he started. “All I can remember is that I was five, I had massively screwed something up, and it hurt for weeks.”

  For a moment, the turtle was stunned silent, then they regained their composure.

“Who in their right mind would harm a five-year-old, even one who had made a mistake?”

  “I don’t remember. Maybe if I talk about more stuff it’ll come back to me?”

  They hesitated, then nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “I remember that I got this from my uncle.” He pointed to the scar on the side of his face. “Everything else came from training and fighting.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking,” Donnie prodded, “why exactly are you made of wood?”

  Hunter froze, trying to think of something to say. Should he tell them the truth? Or should he make something up?

“I- that’s not exactly what I would call a comfortable subject.” he choked out through the intense surge of feels trying to rise in his throat. “Sorry.”

“I understand. My apologies. Going back to your ear… it looks like something made a messy incision that never properly healed. Maybe a knife was thrown at your head?”

  He shook his head, but a scene started to unfold in his mind; something he hadn’t remembered until now..

A tiny, scared Hunter is guided to Belos by a firm, unkind hand.

“Tell the Emperor what you did, child.”

He shuffles forward, feeling his uncle’s cold gaze bore a hole through his skull. He feels one knee drop to the floor as he bows his head.

“I-I’s sorry, sir. I found the old Golden Guard’s room…”

He feels Belos’ eyes leave him for a moment.

“Leave us.”

The scout ducks out of the room, and the feeling comes back, more intense than ever.

“What did you see in that room, child?” his gruff voice inquires.

“W-well, I saw pictures. And boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. But the pictures, sir…”

He feels an armored hand touch his cheek.

“What of them, Hunter?”

He shuffles his feet. “Well, sir- they look like me.”

“Exactly?”

“Pretty much.”

There was a moment of silence, then a flash of shadow. A second later, he reached up to his ear, but it felt… warm. He brought his hand back down, and it was covered in red.

“You are to stay away from that room until further notice. Do I make myself clear?”

He nods shakily, biting down a sob as the pain sets in.

  Donnie’s pen stops scratching as tears start to spill from Hunter’s eyes.

“I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t have prodded.”

  He shook his head. “No- no, it’s fine. It’s just…”

  They set down their notebook and studied him. “Are you afraid of what else you might find out?”

  He nods, swallowing a sob. The turtle cleared their throat uncomfortably, side-eyeing the door.

“You can go now.” they murmur. “No doubt your friends will be wondering where you’ve gone.”

  As Hunter leaves the lab still clutching the plush, his head goes fuzzy. How did he get here? Why is everything so dark…?

  He stumbles back, and right into Willow’s arms as she giggles and lets him fall into her warmth.

  He knows he’s safe with her.