Chapter Text
As a rule, Raia did not like being underground. The scents were unfamiliar and nausea inducing, the noise of the trains was unbearable at times, and there were more problems underground than there had been on the surface.
But the colonyspace was now covered in pink ooze disgustingness, and she had only a handful of colonymates left from what had once been a group over forty strong. As the biggest one, she had to bring the kittens and juveniles to safety. And that had meant the train tunnels.
If nothing else, there were plenty of rats down here to eat, but she was... well. Being half human made some things easier, like protecting her family. Hunting rats? Not so much! Not to mention all the gunk that was collecting in her tail and hair from their so-far three day excursion underground.
Sister, we're tired, one of the kittens mewled piteously. And hungry.
“I know,” Raia murmured, feeling the pinch of guilt. “I'm hungry too.”
The first day hadn't been so bad. People had dropped everything as they'd run from the rotting-meat-pink-goop-stuff, and that had included food that she'd been quick to snatch up as they'd run past it. But she had long since eschewed anything resembling clothing with pockets—her fur covered her more than enough to be modest, thanks—so they'd been limited by what she could carry. And frankly, her hands had been more full with the kittens while the juveniles had sprinted along next to her down the track and into the dank darkness.
They had been walking the dark tunnels since then, with her failing to catch rats—which, frankly, unhygenic, if a natural food—and them finding rusty tasting water more by luck than anything else.
In short, Raia was exhausted. But they had to keep moving. That terrifying goop could come for them at any moment...
She stopped at the bottom of a set of subway stairs, and decided to sit for a moment, stretching back along the cement to try and get the itchy feeling out of her back fur. If she got fleas from being down here, there was no enough flea powder in the world ...
Sister, sister, we smell rat!
Raia cracked open one eye in the dim gloom and tried not to sigh. Biggest, oldest, she was all they had for a hunter to give them food. The juveniles had only just begun learning, the kittens not at all. Maybe this rat would be big and slow. Maybe there would be more than one big slow rat, and they would each get enough to share.
“Okay,” she murmured, reaching out to stroke soft fur and scratch under chins just so. “You lot.... that corner. Stay put, and I'll try to catch this rat.”
One of us could go with you, offered Flute. Help you trap the rat!
“If I'm too big to catch a rat on my own, you're too small,” she pointed out dryly. “Also, I need you three to look after the kittens.”
There was mewling protest from kittens and juveniles alike, but Raia just waited them out.
“We're all we've got,” she said softly. “I'll bring you back something. Just wait here.”
She heaved herself to her feet and shook herself out, waiting patiently until the kittens and juveniles—not her siblings, but still her family—went into the dark, dry corner she had pointed out. Eyes gleamed in the darkness, and Raia felt comforted by their attention on her, even as she turned and started slowly crawling up the stairs.
Not for the first time she wondered at the strange glowing bug that had made her like this. What even was she now? Not human, or at least, not entirely human any more.
Well. Better than the abused girl she'd been. Maybe.
Raia peered over the top stair to see the abandoned station spread before her. Subway cars rested on the line, but unlike other stations she'd passed, this one had the smell of use about it. Not necessarily traditional use, but she recognized the scent of pizza, and the taste of ozone on her tongue that spoke of working electricity. One subway car shed a dim, diffuse light, and the whole area had the signs of someone having hastily, and recently, moved in. There was, underneath the strange scents, something almost familiar. Reptilian...
A heavy, tired sigh caught her attention, and she flicked her gaze in its direction. Almost lost to the shadows was the biggest rat she'd ever seen. And it was...
Raia blinked, and shook her head hard enough that her ears flipped inside out for a few moments. But when she looked again, the sight had not changed. The rat was not just huge, it was bipedal! Was it someone like her?
...did she care enough to actually find out?
Hamato Yoshi, AKA Lou Jitsu, AKA, Master Splinter, was not having a good week. The Krang had been even worse than The Shredder, and his boys, his four brave, stupid boys, hadn't even had the same backup. Their ninpo had been locked away until the very end by the Krang, there had been no sign of Draxum, and Cassandra had been occupied elsewhere dealing with other creations of the Krang.
He shuddered a little to think what could have happened to that slightly crazy, but still sweet young woman if she had been less... herself.
And now his boys were packed into the medbay car of their new lair, with a variety of injuries, and he still couldn't get ahole of that idiot warrior alchemist! Three days! Three! The Krang attack had been all over the news, and even if the footage of his boys saving the world had been shaky, there had been no denying that they were anything but different.
He stared out into the cool darkness of the abandoned tunnel and let out another tired sigh. His sons were brave, reckless fools, and he loved them so much. But some of their injuries—Michelangelo's specifically—were more mystic than mundane, and he needed Draxum's help, as much as he hated to admit to it.
With a frustrated grunt, Splinter pulled out his phone and opened the contacts menu.
“Where the hell are you, you idiot warrior alchemist?” he muttered, hitting the call button and putting the phone up to one ear. “It's been three-”
His complaint was cut off as something hit him from the side, hard. He let out a most undignified sound as his phone went flying, clattering off somewhere in the darkness, then a louder yelp of pain as his attacker bit him on the shoulder. Hard.
But he wasn't a ninja for nothing; getting his attacker off him was child's play! Even as he hit the ground, he was already squirming out of the grip of furry arms; he slid one hand up and slammed it on the face of the creature biting him, forcing them to let go from both surprise and pain. That let him twist around and put feet and tail into action, throwing them back across the concrete.
He could feel the blood running down his arm from where his attacker had bitten him, and he had picked up a familiar smell that all mutants seemed to carry; the scent of diluted and twisted Empyreon. This was one of Draxum's creations then. Or had been? The yokai was supposed to be more or less redeemed, but that didn't necessarily mean much when he was told stories by April and Mikey of continued mystic use in front of humans...
Mingled with the smell of the Empyreon, was the scent of cat, and that was the real problem. He was, after all, a man mutated with a rat. And cats ate rats.
“Master Splinter!”
The medbay door didn't quite slam open—Future Boy was trying to be considerate of his sons, as was expected after such a difficult fight—but the rapid shift of them caught the attention of the cat mutant who let out a frustrated growling noise. There was still much human in that voice, but Splinter could see the lashing tail—mostly in the way the shadows moved behind it—and heard the scratch of claws on concrete.
“Hit the lights!” he ordered, as Casey Jr. stepped forward. “We need to see who we're dealing with!”
The shadows would benefit him, sure, but he didn't want any accidental hits from that hockey stick-saw. Fortunately, Casey Jr. was used to listening to orders, even if not necessarily from him. He didn't waver, only turned and darted across the empty space where Purple—Donatello, he had to call them by name, curse it. They were only teenagers, but they had matured too much to really be children—had put a fuse box.
He could see the way the shadows rippled around the cat mutant; she was preparing to lunge at him again... but this time, he was not so unawares. His shoulder was injured, but that didn't mean he was helpless.
He settled into a defensive stance as the mutant came at him again, taking absent note that whoever they were, they had no real form for fighting. They seemed to be relying more on the cat instincts, but the body was too big for that. He was able to throw them easily enough, pivoting to never let them see her back.
Like all cats, this one landed on their feet, growling and chattering like one who'd seen their next meal. Well, he was formerly Liu Jitsu, the greatest action movie star! He was not going to be anyone's next meal!
The floodlights went up without warning, and he hissed a few choice words in Japanese as he shaded his eyes, but the cat mutant was caught off guard in the exact same way. With the light he could see the tortoiseshell patterns in the fur, the tail that was used for balance... and the way the dirt from the subway tracks clung to her, the way her eyes glinted with frustration... and hunger.
He also heard the way Future Boy dropped his weapon.
The clatter got the cat mutant's attention, and they shifted, clearly trying to figure out whether she wanted to sate her hunger, or run from a threat. Splinter rather hoped they'd run; his shoulder ached, and he didn't even want to think about what she might have on her teeth...
“...Captain Fireclaw?”
Splinted blinked and turned to look at Casey Jr. who looked a bit like he'd been punched in the head. He knew that look. When April had first brought Future Boy to them, he'd looked at his sons like he couldn't believe he was seeing them again.
So, here was another person connected to that poor, doomed timeline. Had they also been close to his sons? Would Casey Jr. tell him?
“Ohmegosh!”
Splinter flinched again and groaned; Mikey was the one technically least injured, and therefore the one actually awake, and he'd clearly come to see what was going on. Well, all right, he was standing on the doorway to the medbay, staring in surprise at the cat mutant, but still.
On the one hand, the cat mutant flinched back again, and now they were looking stressed instead of fight ready. On the other...
A low growl cut the strained, confused silence. Not one from a throat. One from a stomach.
“Casey, go into the kitchen!” Mikey said instantly. “We've got cans of tuna and other cat food, and that should distract her!”
The word 'tuna' had at least gotten her attention shifted onto Michelangelo, and Splinted flinched a little as the mutant turned towards his son. He saw her nose twitch, and saw the way Mikey beamed.
“I told Raph there was a mutant hanging around that feral colony,” he cheered, if... quietly, stepping carefully out of the medbay. Splinted wanted to shout at him to get back inside, to avoid aggravating his injuries... but Mikey didn't look at him, not even once. “You're from near Metro Tower, right? I'm Mikey! Leo and I were the ones bringing all that spare food. Did you come looking for us to see if we had any? We totally have a stockpile for you and your colony!”
“....what is going on?” Splinter asked, feeling more bewildered than concerned now.
Mikey at least had the grace to look sheepish as Casey Jr. came hurrying back, cans in a bag, and one in hand. Tuna, byt the smell of it, which got the cat mutant's attention immediately.
“Donnie kept getting reports of something creepy hanging around one of the feral tnr colonies,” Mikey explained as Future Boy very very carefully started edging closer to 'Captain Fireclaw'. Fireclaw growled at him, fur puffing up in a threatening manner, but Casey seemed unafraid of this reaction. He didn't stop, didn't speed up, didn't throw the bag like anyone panicking might... It made Splinter more curious than before to know what he knew. “So we thought we'd, yanno, make sure it wasn't someone else planning to pull a villain act on us with... iunno, hundreds of cats and stuff. Mostly we just brought cat food and watched them. Never really saw her more than a couple times...”
“...I see...”
“I am so glad you made it away from there un... ungooped,” Mikey said, turning back to the cat mutant who had actually edged backwards as Casey Jr. approached. “Man. Oh. Uh.. is... was it just you that made it? Is that why you're down here?”
Casey jr. stopped and set the bag down, and the can, then slowly backed up, not quite looking at her. Splinter watched though, shoulder throbbing, as this Fireclaw looked from the food, to them, ears and tail betraying the anxiety.
“Promise, it's just good food for you and whoever else you saved,” Casey Jr. said, sincerity in his tone. “Much better than rat.”
Splinter wanted to be offended, but frankly, if it kept her from eating him, he'd take the slight and be done with it.
“It's okay,” Mikey encouraged. “Promise, it's all for you and your colony.”
“....mostly gone,” and the words were low as she shuffled closer to the bag. “Home gone.”
Mikey's smile immediately dropped, and Future boy's flinch said more than words.
“Oh...” Mikey hesitated, looking at Splinter.
Splinter groaned. He knew that look. He was about to ask an impossible favor... and right now, Splinter couldn't say no to any of his sons. After a moment he sighed, and nodded, then flinched as Mikey crossed the intervening space to wrap him up in a tight hug.
“You're the greatest, Dad!” he cheered. “We can fix up one of these spare subway cars and totally give you the space!”
The bewildered look was back, even as she reached the bag, and the can. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that Splinter could hear her stomach, she didn't stick her face into the open can. She sniffed it, cautiously, then picked it, and the bag up.
“...no.”
And despite the bright lights, despite knowing all the exits from the abandoned station, when she bolted beyond the spread of the light, Splinter lost her almost immediately to the darkness.
“...should I... turn off the lights now?” Casey Jr. asked after a long minute.
“Might as well,” and Splinter sighed a little as Mikey let him go, the youngest turtle looking in the direction Fireclaw had gone. “No point in alarming the others...”
The click of the power junction box was accompanied by the return of shadowy darkness, and Splinter sighed a little, then patted Mikey on the arm.
“Let us go back into the bay,” he suggested. “You can tell me about the colony in there.”
Raia hadn't gone far; when she'd rushed past her colonymates, they'd come racing after her, down the dark tunnel until she'd slowed to a stop, heart and head pounding. Sprinting on an empty stomach was never a smart idea, and it had been hard to avoid scarfing all the tuna down for herself...
But once they were a reasonable distance away, she slowed, then stopped, setting down the bag of clattering cans... and the tuna for her siblings. There were happy mewls for the food, and she was quick to dig into the bag and open more of the cans so that they could eat their fill after so long without.
It should have surprised her, but it didn't, to see that the masked human had also put in bottle of clean water. She didn't necessarily drain it, but she drank half the first one herself, and then used the cans they'd emptied of food to give her colonymates the proper water they'd been needing.
She hadn't really thought much about the strange beings who came to the colony at night, leaving cat food and human food. She'd just figured them for insomniac cat lovers, and while she'd certainly watched them, none of them had caused her colonymates harm, so she had never felt the need to interfere. Granted, she also hadn't felt the need to go meet them either, but she knew she'd been spotted a few times...
She leaned her head back against the grimy tunnel wall as she considered her options. The turtleman, Mikey... he'd said they'd 'fix up' one of their subway cars for her. Did that include her colonymates? The ratman he'd called 'dad'—he'd tasted terrible, but she'd been too hungry to care—had seemed not fond of the idea, and she didn't need to deal with another 'adult' male who would only try to make her life miserable.
But they needed shelter. Her fur was getting matted, and she would kill for a bath. A real bath, not a cat-bath. And they had just.. given her the food and water. Much much more than if they'd thought she was alone...
Big sister is confused? Came the sleepy mewl of Cuddlebug... who was living up to his name, sprawling over her lap the way he was.
“Very,” she muttered. “The rat was... like me. And there was a turtle, also like me. And a human. Not like me, but not like other humans.”
Other humans had reacted to seeing her generally with fear... but to be fair, that was mostly because she'd landed on them for trying to hurt her colonymates. She knew the looks and scents of the people in coats that took the cats to the vet for caretaking, knew better than to attack them, but any other New York assholes who thought to harass her home and family...
Well.
The masked human though, he'd reacted weird. Called her... what was it. Captain Fireclaw?
Raia looked down at her hands for a moment; the fur was short and downy on the back, nonexistent on her palms, then at her claws; she was a mix of human and cat, so her claws didn't retract, but she had never done anything with them that involved fire. And captain... that was a military rank, wasn't it? She was no captain...
Go back?
The kittens and juveniles, stomachs full finally, were curling up around her, purring and kneading. The question had come from Paintbrush, and Raia huffed a little, her tail thumping into the dust and dirt.
“...don't know. Maybe. If they give more food.”
She had to provide for them somehow. Maybe it was a trick? But. Maybe it wasn't. Mieky had looked sincere. The masked human, when he'd flipped up his mask to look at her, had gone from shocked, to awed, to sad.
The masked human knew something.
Maybe, if the food was given without questions.... maybe she would think about that offer.
“You were attacked by a cat mutant, and you didn't call me?” April demanded, feeling a little outraged. “Mayhem and I coulda poofed on over, no sweat and shown her a thing or two!”
Poofing was actually the only reason April was even down there; the military and government forces were still out en masse, enforcing curfews, and confiscating phones or cameras as people tried to collect evidence of the aftermath of the attack, just to prove that some really wild shit had gone down in New York City. A curfew had been installed, especially in the areas around Metro Tower—because humans were, in fact, stupid, and wanted to bring home pieces of that disgusting goop—making it harder for her to get down to see her brothers. Thank God, she had Mayhem. She'd have gone utterly mental not being able to come check on them and make sure their supplies were topped off.
Splinter just looked tired. And sore; that bite on his shoulder was nasty, despite the robe protecting him.
“I was attempting to call Draxum again. I do not suppose he has returned to being your upstairs neighbor?”
“No sign yet,” she admitted with a frown. “Though I did find a note that said he was going down for a trip, so maybe he's in the Hidden City? You know reception down there is wack.”
“...the Hidden City initially put itself on lockdown in my time,” CJ offered tentatively. “According to Master Raphael, it wasn't until they realized that the Krang were going to subjugate the whole world that they decided to act.”
“Sounds like every government in the history of ever,” April muttered, shaking her head. “So they're probably still on lockdown. I've checked a few of the portal spots around the city, and you can't even get into Hueso's place...”
“Well, it can't be helped,” Splinter shook his head slightly. “Either she will come back, or she won't.”
“...lemme guess, Mikey really wants her to come back,” April said with a wry smile.
“Of course he does,” and Splintter huffed a little. “I imagine they would all campaign for it, if they were awake...”
The mood went somber then, and April glanced across the way from Mikey's kitchen-in-progress to the subway car they'd turned into their new medbay. Leo had been beat all to hell while trapped in the prison dimension with Krang Prime. Donnie was suffering problems after interfacing with the Technodrome. Raph had been a Krang zombie, and he was one of the few who'd actually come back from it. And none of them really understood Mikey's mystic injuries.
Really, the fact that three of them were hopped up on pain meds, sleeping more than anything else, was not a surprise. At this point, the only surprise was that Mikey wasn't in the kitchen with them, trying to make up food for when they woke up. Or even making food to tempt this weird cat mutant that he plainly wanted to be friends with.
“Future Boy,” and April jolted a little at the commanding tone in Splinter's voice. “You called her Captain Fireclaw. Why?”
CJ flushed and looked away, scuffing his feet on the ground.
“Because that's who she was in the Resistance. Captain Raia Fireclaw,” he admitted quietly. “I don't...”
“Hey,” and April reached over to put a hand on his shoulder. “It's cool, CJ. You don't have to tell us the details.”
She cut a glare at Splinter, who rapidly closed his mouth on the protest she had known he was going to make. Talk of Casey Jr.'s future always upset the kid, and she wasn't going to let that happen on her watch.
“No, I... I think it might help,” he said after a moment, giving her a somewhat sad, shy smile. “I won't say she was the best of us, but she was... she was up there.”
April looked at him for a long moment, then plopped herself down in a chair, Mayhem promptly jumping onto her lap. Casey Jr. hesitated a moment more, then sat in a chair of his own, loosely clasping his hands in front of him as Splinted lifted his robe back into place.
“She was... fierce,” he said after a moment. “Master Leonardo always said that Master Donatello picked two of the scariest people to be his partners, and she was one of them. She was... fast, and she was fierce, and if you told her that this was the line in the earth, she held it with everything she had. Master... Master Donatello told me once, that when she first came to the Resistance, she didn't let people get close to her. She snarled and growled at everyone, only told him she wanted metal claws and a position at the front to shred the Krang, and... and she scared a lot of people at first. It... It was Commander O'Neil who worked the story out of her, in bits and pieces. How the Krang's infection had destroyed her colony, how she'd been hurt before that, how she'd been forced to abandon her colonymates to their fate when it became clear she couldn't do anything...”
April's heart hurt as Casey spoke quietly; they had averted that future here, at least, but that didn't mean things could necessarily ever be normal again...
“But... well, by the time I came around, she was also soft. She would... she'd take shifts in the medic tent, letting people pet or hold her tail for comfort, she'd change bandages and tell stories of life before the Krang to people who were scared and losing hope,” Casey half-smiled, sadly. “She was one of the best people in the resistance to talk to when you were losing faith that we could win. Losing her...”
His hands clenched, and he reached up to dash some tears from his eyes. April hugged Mayhem, even as she leaned forward.
“It broke something in Master Donatello when it happened,” he said quietly. “She still used his tech, even after she got training in mystic powers. He was so annoyed that she used magic, but she always said having more than one thing in her arsenal was what kept her alive. They never really saw eye to eye on it-”
“Ain't that a familiar feeling,” April said with a small snort. “Donnie got us both banned from Witch Town, and I am still mad about that.”
It got a small snort of amusement from Splinter, and a wry smile from CJ, lightening the mood a little.
“It really was the one thing guaranteed to get them fighting,” he said, but there was... amused reminiscence this time, not pained. “But it was never very serious. It was like... it was like a habit, you know? Fighting about something just to clear the air and ease the tension. Especially when everyone else joined in, or took bets on who'd hold out the longest in the fight.”
April snickered a little. That definitely sounded like Donnie. He hated being wrong about anything, and even if he'd acknowledged his prejudice against mystic stuff, he still got majorly cranky when anything more mystic than her bat came into play.
“Her mystic powers were impressive though,” and Casey shook his head a little. “It... it was a little like combining Master Michelangelo's and Master Raphael's ninpo attacks. Fire and strength and reach. I think that's part of why Master Donatello accepted it in the end, was because it let her fight as much at a distance as at close range.”
That made April nod. Donnie was super protective of the people he cared about. She still had that dumb Donnie-blocker on her phone because he worried about her, and she wouldn't be even slightly shocked to find out he was tracking her in some manner. She was family. Maybe... a little more.
She pushed that thought away, filing it under 'think about later-later', as CJ sighed.
“It's going to be different,” he admitted, shaking his head a bit. “But I think if we leave food for her, and try to be friendly, she'd agree to stay. She didn't... she didn't have anything when she came to the Resistance.”
“Okay. But she can't just be eating tuna all the time,” April said authoritatively. “And god knows what's in those cans of catfood that's probably bad for her human parts. I'll bring down more supplies for the kitchen and see if we can't lure her into trusting us that way.”
“That should work,” and CJ nodded, straightening a bit and looking undeniably relieved. “Direct confrontations with her were never the best, but coming at her from the side usually worked. I mean... in conversations. In a fight, you mostly just had to run.”
“...sounds like my kinda gal,” April said after a thoughtful moment. “Aside from the whole, trying to eat Splints here situation.”
“Rats are good eating,” he said pompously.
“Yeah yeah. C'mon, let's go check up on the boys in the medbay. Make sure Mikey's not getting anyone awake too worked up over the cat mutant that tried to eat you and stuff.”
Knowing Mikey, he had probably missed that, but it was better to head of something like that before it go blown out of proportion....
Big sister eat?
Raia opened her eyes as Flute's cold nose brushed against her cheek and groaned a little. Canned cat food was definitely not for her, as she still had a primarily human digestive system—a fact learned rapidly and with much regret not long after she'd been changed like this—but she'd given them the tuna as well, which she should have probably eaten herself.
“m'all right,” she mumbled, sitting up slowly.
Big sister not all right, came the huff of Magic. Big sister eat!
“You need the food more,” she replied, reaching out and gently pushing Magic's head down. “I can... I can handle it.”
She'd run far enough down the tunnel that they wouldn't be easily found, but only guzzling water after that, not eating... well, it hadn't been a smart choice. Sleeping had been all but inevitable after, with the purring bodies of her colonymates around and on her, but that didn't actually solve the gnawing hunger in her belly.
Big sister eat big rat?
“Big rat tasted terrible,” she muttered. “Meat gone bad.”
They all knew better than to eat rotted meat, at least, and there were many kitten sounds of understanding.
Big sister eat soon?
She wasn't really going to have a choice, was she? She needed to eat so that she'd have the strength to make sure her colonymates stayed safe and protected.
“Soon,” she agreed.
The question was how soon. Could she really trust the turtleman with the orange headband? Or the humans who called her that strange name? And she had been trying to eat the ratman, so who knew how welcoming he would be...
Play! Chirped Paintbrush, pouncing on one of his siblings. I getchu!
Raia had to smile as she watched the kittens tumble about, fully of a proper amount of energy for the first time since the pink goop disaster.
The turtleman had seemed to know something about that. Maybe if she went back, she could get some answers? It couldn't be worse than being here, could it?
Her tail thumped on the ground as she thought, and the kittens turned their attention from each other to that, a familiar game that she knew how to play. Cuddlebug crawled up onto her shoulders, sticking his nose in her ear and purring at her, while Magic and Flute practiced their stalking a little farther down the disused track.
She had to protect them.
They were all she had left.
“You have no idea how much arguing I had to do with the Council of Heads to get back here,” Draxum groused as he peered at the mystic injuries on Mikey's arms. “They're going to keep the doors mostly sealed except for scheduled portals to evacuate yokai, and they're trying to convince everyone who lives and works up here that they should all return to the Hidden City.”
“But you're not gonna, right?” Mikey asked hopefully, wincing a little as Draxum pressed one of the cracks. “You're gonna stay up here with us and... and keep being the scary lunchroom dude?”
Draxum scoffed a little, and Mikey beamed. It had taken him hard work to get Draxum the job, and the apartment in April's building, not to mention starting the whole redempting arc he'd thought Draxum needed, but he understood the yokai better now. He was, after all, another Dad to him!
Just a grumpier one than Splinter.
“If I had a choice, I'd bring you all back to the Hidden City with me,” he muttered, turning Mikey's arm with care. “Your brothers could benefit from seeing the healers at Witch Town-”
“Donnie's been banned,” April reminded him from where she was checking IV lines.
“They would make an exception. Or we could bring one to us,” Draxum huffed at her. “The point is that they need better care, and the humans right now are more likely to-”
“I know, I know,” April sighed a little. “Believe me. I know.”
Mikey blinked at them, then decided he didn't want to know. He didn't even really want to guess, not what the Krang attack so recent...
“Right now, they can't even give consent for that,” and Draxum's huff was even more annoyed. “And I don't know a witch-healer yet who'd work on an unconscious patient without permission. If not from them, than from a parent...”
“Yeah, we've sort of got that law too,” April said, briefly resting her hand on Donnie's head. “We call it Power of Attorney. Though when you're a kid, that's automatically your parent's choice, if you're unable to give consent and the like.”
Draxum's expression was... eloquent, as Donnie would have said. It said a lot without saying a thing, and Mikey found that he kind of had to agree. Splinter was a good dad, who tried really really hard at times, but no way would he okay a bunch of mystic strangers looking them over. Heck, he'd probably veto a trip to the Hidden City in general, if they weren't going to be able to get home whenever they wanted.
“You're our dad too?” Mikey tried.
That got snorts from Draxum and April both.
“Mikey, you know perfectly well that Splints would throw the biggest fit if Barry here went and made that kinda decision without askin,” April pointed out.
“Yeah, I know... I just...”
Mikey looked over at his brothers. Raph, too big for the standard hospital bed, with his eye weeping and the skin of the Krangified arm all dark from bruising. Donnie, with his bandaged shell that had holes in it thanks to that creepy ship. And Leo... Leo who'd almost been lost to them forever, who'd been terribly injured by the Krang Prime dude that they'd all wondered if he was gonna survive that first night.
Draxum's sigh was accompanied by a somewhat rough tissue swipe over his face, and Mikey blinked a few times before reaching up and wiping at his teary eyes.
“Look, I can talk to Liu and see if he'll let me bring in a witch healer or two to look after them,” he grumbled. “But don't get your hopes up too high.”
Mikey sniffled, and smiled.
“Thanks Barry.”
“Yeah yeah yeah.”
Mikey smiled a little more, choking back the tears. He had to show them a fine, smiling face, after all. He was the least injured, and they would need that from him!
Draxum released Mikey's arm after a minute more and frowned a little.
“You are going to need training,” he said finally. “But we're not going to start that for a few weeks. In the meantime, your human burn creams should help the healing more than anything else. No mystic powers until I say so, understood?”
“Awwwwww, but-”
Draxum glared at him, and under the anger, Mikey could see the worry and anxiety. Draxum was as bad with feelings as Donnie was, honestly. Didn't stop him from retreating a bit in his shell; people being mad at him was scary!
“Okay,” he said more meekly. “No mystic stuff til you say so, got it!”
“Good. O'Neil, make sure he doesn't do anything reckless.”
April snorted a little, and Mikey looked over to see her shaking her head as Draxum stepped out of the medbay. He offered her a rueful smile, and she pointed at him sternly.
“No mystic Mikey,” she warned, but there was a smile in her eyes, relief in her posture. “But hey, maybe we can figure out what kinda food might tempt a catgirl into coming back and thinking this is a safe spot.”
“Yeah!”
“A mystic healer?” Splinter couldn't help but be offended. “You would offer my boys up to the crackpots of Witch Town???”
“Our boys need more medical help than you, or I, can give them,” Draxum shot back, clearly frustrated. “Michelangelo opened a dimensional portal with his hands, Liu Jitsu. Do you know how dangerous that is? Your future child seems to understand the dangers!”
Future Boy did, indeed, seem to be quite pale.
“...Casey?” Splinter asked quietly.
“It's... Master Michelangelo. His time portal...”
“Time p-”
Splinter waved sharply at Draxum, and for once, the annoying yokai listened. He didn't need the goat-hoofed idiot yelling at Casey Jr. and making things worse.
“The time portal... it took everything he had,” And Casey's eyes were filled with tears again, though none fell. “He made it, and then... there was nothing left of him.”
Splinter flinched at the idea that his youngest, artistic child would give his life to send this one child to save another version of them. Not that he doubted Mikey would...
“This is witch stuff,” Draxum said flatly. “Witch use wands as their focus, yes, but they also use their hands. Most witch-healers use both, and we need someone to make sure that there's none of that... Krang goop left over in them.”
Splinter gritted his teeth... then sagged, rubbing his face with his good hand. He hated it when Draxum made a good point.
“You really can't do it?”
“I am not, despite Michel's insistence, a mystic master,” Draxum admitted... though Splinter could see it pained him to do so. “I am a warrior alchemist. I can make medicines, but they need mystic help.”
“....all right. Fine,” Splinter sighed again, giving in with bad grace. “But make sure they're witches you can actually trust not to hate on Purple!”
Draxum just snorted, and waved a portal into existence, stepping through it and letting it close with a snap.
“That guy has no idea how to be reassuring,” Splinter grumbled.
To his surprise, Casey Jr. laughed, if softly.
“Yeah... Nice to see it's a normal trait here too...”