Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The air scorched around him as his feet hit the cracked and splitting pavement. The horrifying squelching shrieks came from all sides, corpses desecrated and twisted animalistic with fleshy pink vines forced to move and close in on him. His katanas sliced through the bodies without another thought, tattered twin pieces of orange and red fabric fluttering from the hilt, the stench of rotten blood and Kraang and death barely making him flinch. Had it been a couple decades earlier, however, he likely wouldn't have been able to stomach this mission.

Leonardo grit his teeth as his steps faltered, his left foot catching a piece of debris hard enough to knock his prosthetic leg loose. It was a crude piece of technology compared to what Donnie and Rockwell were truly capable of making, but they hadn't had enough time to do more than the bare minimum, and by the time he'd healed enough to be fitted for it, most of their good materials were already set to be used for more important things. They needed everything they could get for this mission, they couldn't waste material on him.

He struggled to keep his balance as he reached down to grip it by the socket, nearly falling flat on his face. And he would have fallen, had it not been for the figure who ran up to his side and tucked herself under his arm to steady him.

"Careful, sensei!" The robotic voice of his niece filtered through the modified hockey mask she wore, her arm snaking around his carapace. "I've gotcha!"

Leo managed to pop his nub back into the leg socket securely enough to stand, huffing a small laugh as he got himself balanced again. "I dunno what I'd do without you, Cassandra." He lifted his arm away from her shoulders, instead resting his hand on her shoulder and urging her to follow as he began to run again. "How're things looking out there?"

CJ didn't hesitate to sprint alongside him, her head swivelling to survey the battleground. "Not good. April and Rockwell are down, and it looked like Karai wasn't too far from following. Leatherhead managed to get them back to base, but ojīchan said they're in critical condition."

He grit his teeth again, immediately pushing away the swell of grief in his chest. He knew it would fail, he knew this was a shoddy plan. He knew he should've never let CJ convince him to let her be a part of it...

But this was the last try. This was the end, the all or nothing point. If they didn't give it all now, they would never get the chance to again. It was either die fighting, or die lying belly up, waving a white flag of shame, and Leo wasn't about to give up without some bloodshed after nearly twenty years of struggling to survive.

A gurgling screech came from far too close beside him, making him jolt. He swung his katana just in time to slice the pouncing Kraang zombie in half, grabbing CJ under his arm to tug her away from the spray of decomposing gore. More zombies took its place, cornering them until their backs were pressed to a bus sized piece of debris embedded in the ground.

CJ reached back and grabbed the hockey stick out of the holster strapped over her shoulder, reaching for the cord hanging off the side and yanking it. In one swift movement, the chainsaw wired to the blade came alive, quickly cutting down the zombies that came close enough to reach.

"We might not make it out of this ourselves." Leo shouted, his voice barely audible over everything around them. When they had a brief reprieve from the hordes of creatures, he turned and bent to her level, reaching up to her shoulder again. "Listen, CJ. I want you to go back to the base, and I want you to initiate Code: Restart."

He could almost hear her neck crack from how hard she turned to look at him. "What?!" She exclaimed, her hand shooting up to grip his wrist. "But sensei, I'm not-- I'm not ready! I-I can't, I--"

"Yes, you can. I know you can." His voice was firm, interrupting her stammers. He reached into a small pocket hidden within his belt and pulled out a small photograph, one he and his family had taken mere days before everything came crumbling down.

The photograph depicted him and his brothers, April, and Casey, all standing against the side of the farmhouse, wide smiles plastered across all their faces and various pairs of peace signs held up to the backs of heads to form bunny ears. To any outside perspective, it would seem just like any other innocent picture taken of some friends on a calm summer day.

To him, it was a picture of one of the last times he truly saw his family happy. Because just two days after that photo was taken, the key had been located, and the Kraang had finally unleashed their full plan. Doomsday.

He flipped the photo over to reveal a small, but detailed, diagram of the cylindrical key the Kraang had used to unleash Kraang Prime. A drawing Donnie had made when they were first discussing Code: Restart with Renet, in order to give whoever was sent back an idea of what to look for, along with photographic evidence that they were trustworthy, should they ever run into their past selves. It was all thought out, every single outcome and decision weighed and considered into their very last resort.

He tried to ignore the stab of guilt in his heart at the idea that it was his brother's kid he was about to hand the fate of the world to.

"Here. You know the plan." Leonardo shoved the picture into CJ's hands. "Use the Time Scepter, find the key, and stop the Kraang."

"But I-I don't think I can! I'm not-- I don't-- sensei, please!" CJ begged, gripping the ragged paper tightly. "You should go! You're stronger, a-and smarter, and... and everything-er than me!!"

Before Leo could respond, another undead grunt came from too close, making him jolt. He didn't even get the chance to properly straighten, however, before a laser shot straight through the bulk of its pink tendrils, sending the creature careening away as it screamed. A knowing smile crossed his face, his eyes shifting towards the sky.

Donatello swooped down from below, the jets embedded in his robotic feet sending up bits of dirt and dust as he shot another laser from the palm of his hand at the zombie. Strapped to his back, surrounded in its protective time bubble, was the very scepter itself.

"Great timing as always, little brother." Leo managed an almost joking tone, the relief in his voice palpable. "What's going on at ba--"

"They found it." Donnie's impossibly tense voice crackled through the speaker that served as his mouth, his hands already moving to pull the scepter off of his back. "The creatures. It's too late. I was the only one who got away. We need to make a decision, now."

His face hardened. He nodded once before turning to CJ again, shifting to kneel. The scepter was laid on the ground beside them, and a moment later, the sounds of more lasers hitting flesh rang out.

"Uncle Nardo, please... I can't lose you too..." Her voice shuddered and broke as his hand moved to cup the side of her face. He carefully slipped his thumb up and pushed her mask to rest on her head, revealing watery, bright green eyes staring up at him pleadingly. It was almost enough to convince him to take her place.

Almost.

"You deserve the chance at a slightly normal life. I know it'll be scary," He leaned forward and pressed his snout to her forehead, a habit he'd picked up from watching his brother calm his daughter for the few years he got to spend with her. He gently wiped away the tear that rolled down her cheek as he pulled away. "But I know you can do this. Because who are you?"

She sniffled, leaning her reddened cheek into his palm. "Casey Jones..." She mumbled, reaching up to scrub her tears away.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you." Leo made a show of leaning his ear closer to her, the rest of the world fading away for a few moments as Donnie kept them covered and allowed him his last moments with his pupil. He was sure if it weren't for the fact that he was trying to cheer her up, his life would be flashing before his eyes by now.

He felt... oddly okay with the fact that he was about to die. In his defense, he'd felt like he was about to die a lot of times.

CJ huffed a little quietly, lifting her face from his hand. "I'm-- I'm Cassandra Jones Jr."

He couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. "Sorry, one more time? Still couldn't quite catch it."

This time, she sucked in a quick breath, steeling herself with her arms pressed to her sides. "I said-- I'm Cassandra freaking Jones! I am Hamato Cassandra 'CJ' Kiyoshi Arnaldo Rafala Jones Jr., daughter of Casey Jones Sr. and Hamato Raphael!!"

"Hell yeah you are!" Leo reached down and grabbed the time bubble encased around their saving grace, pulling it up to rest on his knee in front of her. "And you, Cassandra Jones, are a kickass kunoichi warrior-in-training, and I know you can pull this off."

She tensed and hesitated for a split second more before carefully reaching down and taking the bubble. Her mouth fell open and closed a few times as she struggled to say anything. "S-sensei, I--"

"We've got company!!" Donnie managed to yelp before a wave of blinding light crashing over them snapped their attentions away. Leo squinted hard, struggling to see through the spotlight. Despite the fact that he knew exactly where-- who the light was coming from, he still looked.

There, just a few blocks away, stood the looming form of Kraang Prime, his gaze fixed directly on the trio. His face twisted into a sick, sadistic smile.

"It's time. Go, go now, CJ." Leo forced himself to his feet, holding his katanas (though he had about as much luck of doing any damage as he would be if he were holding swords made from balloons) at ready as he stepped between the light and her.

"Uncle Nardo, I--"

"Now, Casey!" He shouted over his shoulder. A deafening screech of metal rang through the air as Kraang Prime began stalking towards them, each step cracking more and more of the asphalt under his feet.

CJ scrambled to grab the locked end of the time bubble, typing in the passcode she'd learned to input even in her sleep. In seconds, the protective plasma field surrounding the scepter receded into the small device, and was quickly tossed aside.

Tied to the hilt of the staff was a tiny drawstring bag, housing a single entropy dart that would cement her one way ticket to the time before the world ended. The scepter whirred to life as soon as it hit the open air.

Oh well. It wasn't like any of them were sticking around in this timeline long enough for Lord Simultaneous to track it down.

Leo turned to face her as the glowing portal formed in front of her. "Oh, and Casey?" He called, a small smile crossing his face despite his imminent death.

She froze with her foot raised, the toe of her boot nearly touching the reflective light. Her green eyes met his for the last time, holding a grief far too heavy to belong on a fourteen year old.

"Once the world is saved, do me a favor and grab a slice." He shot her a quick wink before turning and sprinting straight towards Kraang Prime's hulking figure.

Taking that as her cue to leave, CJ quickly flipped her skull-painted mask back over her face and stepped through the portal, the doorway sliding shut and disappearing into thin air behind her.

Just in time for Kraang Prime's laser to reach the ground, vaporizing the last of the resistance before they even had a chance to scream.

The world darkened as the fabric of reality bent and tore around her, sending her hurtling towards something she couldn't see. Her vocal cords burned with her panicked shouts, though no actual noise reached her ears. Impossible to comprehend waves of stimuli flashed in front of her eyes.

Then, as quickly as it had begun, it stopped.

CJ yelped as she was tossed haphazardly to the ground through another glowing doorway, the grass scraping her bits of exposed skin as she rolled a few feet away. As soon as she got her bearings enough to sit up, she crawled over to the Time Scepter and tore the bag off of the hilt, grabbing the entropy dart and shoving it into the staff of the scepter as hard as she could. As soon as it started to emit a low hum, she tossed it as far as she could manage, scrambling away and tucking her head protectively in her arms as she braced for an explosion.

A few seconds later, the dart gave a rather anticlimactic pop, enveloping the scepter with a flash of light a moment before the entire thing shattered and burst. Each shard dissolved into fizzles of golden energy the moment it hit the air, leaving nothing but a few residual crackles of light as evidence that the Time Scepter had even existed in the first place. She carefully pushed herself up until she was sitting, her eyes fixed to the ground.

For a few seconds, she simply stared at the empty patch of grass, pants of air bouncing off of the inside of her mask back at her as she struggled to catch her breath. Slowly, she took in the soft green grass and large, brilliant trees surrounding her. The knot in her chest slowly loosened, her fingers spreading through the green to gently caress the blades. She could only remember seeing living grass one other time in her life.

When she was little, before her dads died, Donnie had been trying to make a new kind of greenhouse that would increase their food supplies. As a test to see how nutrient rich he could get the soil, he grew a simple patch of grass and let it flourish. Her papa had convinced him to let her play in it once he'd had the data he needed, before he uprooted it to make room for the food he needed to plant.

This grass wasn't nearly as soft as the kind her uncle had grown. But it still felt nice and cool against the thin scales that covered her hands and crawled up her wrists.

"I... I did it." CJ breathed, her face shifting into a small grin, then a bigger one, then an outright smile nearly split her face in half. "I-I did it! It worked, it actually worked!"

She fell into a fit of giggles as she flopped backwards and let her limbs fling out in all directions. She started dragging her arms and legs across the grass as she stared up at the blue sky, the blue sky! The sky was actually blue, just like in her fathers' and sensei's stories!

Use the Time Scepter. Find the key. Stop the Kraang.

Leonardo's words rang through her head, reminding her why she was celebrating in the first place.

"Okay, CJ." She muttered to herself, her grass-angel coming to a stop. She pushed herself up and reached into her sleeve, pulling out the tattered photograph she'd been given. "You have a mission. And that mission is to find the key, stop the Kraang, and save the world. No biggie. You've totally got this."

She found herself staring at the reflection of her eyes in her mask's visor, her acid green irises laden with doubt. "... Right?"

Psh, of course she's got it! She's Casey freaking Jones! She can do anything! She can even save the planet by stopping a horrifically powerful alien race that she's been taught to hide from her entire life! Absolutely she could!

... Maybe if she reassured herself enough, she could convince herself to believe it. If sensei believed in her, then she could totally pull it off.

(Her chest grew a bit too tight. Don't think too hard about sensei, CJ, don't think too hard...)

With a newfound sense of urgency, she climbed to her feet and shook the loose grass off of her clothes, reaching up to press a button on the side of her mask. The visor over her eyes slipped away with a small hiss. She held the picture close and narrowed her eyes, scanning every little detail of her family she could make out.

"Okay, first thing's first..." She mumbled, shoving the photo back in her belt pocket as her eyes drifted up to the treetops. "Gotta figure out where exactly I am."

She quickly scanned her surroundings as her visor slipped back into place, getting a general idea of where the trees began to thin. Once she was sure which direction she was going, she disappeared into the forest, melting into the shadows cast by the sunlight just as her sensei had taught her.

Chapter Text

It was late. Much later than she was allowed to be awake. Late enough that if she were caught up at this hour, she would surely get a slap on the wrist and possibly a training punishment in the morning on top of the usual scolding.

Well, in her defense, she hadn't meant to be up this late. She'd had another nightmare, and when she found everyone else she was comfortable being near in the room fast asleep, she'd silently slipped out of the communal room in search of someone who could give her a quick hug and maybe some reassurance. It wasn't her fault she'd stumbled upon one of her uncles' super secret late night meetings.

It also definitely wasn't her fault that she'd stayed hovered near the slightly ajar door and listened in rather than knocking or going back to bed like she should've.

Once again in her defense, she'd heard her name and got curious.

"... All I'm saying is we need to start considering shifting focus in her training in case--"

"I already said no, Leo!" Her dad's voice was barely above a harsh whisper. "You ain't gonna start training my kid to be some sort of savior of the fucking world! I ain't lettin' it happen!"

"That's not what I'm saying, Casey--"

"I mean, it sounds like that's exactly what you're saying to me, bro." Uncle Angelo interrupted, his own voice clipped. It almost made her want to scamper off to bed and forget she'd heard anything. She didn't hear him upset very often.

She didn't like hearing him get upset.

"Mikey--"

"Drop it, Leo. Drop. It. We aren't gonna send Renet on that suicide mission, so we don't need to start training CJ into the ground for some impossible mission she might have in the future."

"It wouldn't be a suicide mission, Mikey. I know the place like the back of my hand, inside and out. I can easily get inside and take a scepter without them even noticing--"

"You're not breaking into the place you went AWOL from, Renet!! Not for something that only gives us a sliver of a chance more to succeed, at the expense of our only niece!!" Mikey snapped, making CJ jump slightly. She scooted away from the door, lifting her hand to bite at her nail as her other fiddled with the ragged nightgown she wore.

"Logically speaking, if anyone were to be involved with time-related plans, we could argue that it should be JJ." Uncle Tello supplied. "I mean, if we can pull this off, then we can send her to a time she'd be able to grow up without the Kraang."

"And grow up to do what, exactly? She's a fucking mutant, Donnie, it's not like she could be lead a very successful life from the sewers. And what the hell do you expect her to do on her own, anyway?! She's fucking seven!"

She had to bite her tongue to avoid giving away her hiding spot by correcting her father that she was, in fact, going to turn eight in just a couple weeks. She hardly qualifies as a seven year old anymore.

"This isn't happening anytime soon." Uncle Nardo let out a heavy sigh. "If we were to make a plan like this, it would be a last resort, and a last resort only. She would be old enough to know what to do by then."

There was a frustrated growl, then the scrape of a chair being pushed roughly. "You better hope it's a last resort, Leonardo, because you can use my daughter for your fucked up plan over my dead body. You better hope I never fucking catch you putting your goddamn martyr complex in her head. Because if you're the reason I lose the last of my fucking family, I'll kill you myself."

There was a beat of silence, then footsteps began making their way towards the door. "Whatever. Meeting's over. I'm going to bed."

CJ jolted and quickly ran off, diving back into her sleeping bag and curling up into a tight ball. She struggled to keep her breathing even enough to seem like she hadn't just ran down the hall as she forced herself to relax, her heart racing in her ears. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep when the footsteps followed her into the communal room and paused beside where she laid.

She could just barely feel the tremble in her father's hand as he brushed her hair away from her forehead. He let out a quiet sigh before pressing a small kiss to her temple, his callouses scratching her skin in a way that eased some of the tension from her shoulders.

He mumbled something she couldn't quite hear as his hand pulled away. Seconds later, she was left alone again.

The quiet snores of the stragglers they'd allowed into their base lulled her back into an uneasy sleep.

"Alright, chick-chicky-chick-chicks! Come and get it!" Mikey called, reaching into the bag tucked under his arm and grabbing a handful of feed. He scattered the food across the ground and reached for another, repeating the process until there was a decent layer of pellets spread across the grass, and the chickens were happily pecking away.

He straightened with a satisfied hum, his sunhat flopping in front of his eyes as he glanced over the small animals surrounding him. Man, it would be so great to be a chicken. No problems, no responsibilities, getting hand fed every day, choosing just to start screaming at the top of their lungs for no reason with no consequences, constant sunlight, no invasion, no fate of New York on their shoulders...

Yeah. Sounds like paradise to him.

Slowly, his gaze shifted to the rest of the farmhouse, his small grin widening into a genuine smile as he caught sight of his brothers, April, and Casey in the front yard training. The only person missing was Donnie, and he was probably locked away in the barn, tinkering around with retromutagen or some fancy machine or something.

Raph and Casey broke off from the group, their small sparring session falling into a wrestling match after they were each disarmed. The turtle didn't hesitate to tackle Jones to the ground and send the both of them rolling across the grass, their fits of laughter loud enough to be audible from the chicken coop. Mikey couldn't help but snort, a knowing look coming across his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

He may not be the smartest mutant, but it didn't take a PhD to notice something forming between them. The flustered looks, the awkward split second separation each time someone walked in and they were a bit too close together, the way their eyes lingered on each other when the other wasn't looking... it was all painfully obvious. It was to the point where even Leo noticed something was up, and that guy wouldn't know the first thing about relationships if the personification of romantic attraction walked up and slapped him in the face.

As excruciating as it was watching them fumble over each other, it had become a bit of an unspoken agreement amongst the other turtles and April to just leave them to figure it out themselves. Mikey had been the first and last to make the mistake of teasing Raph about it when his crush first became obvious.

(His shell still ached at the memory. He was pretty sure he'd cried uncle three times before Raph even entertained the idea of letting him go.)

He was snapped out of his train of thought when something landed mutely on the ground beside him.

Mikey glanced down at the object that hit the dirt a couple feet behind him, watching it bounce lightly across the grass before rolling to a stop next to his heel. He raised an eyebrow ridge as he leaned down to pick it up, narrowing his eyes slightly. "What the..?"

It was an acorn. He flipped it over and inspected each side of it, searching for any sign of it being tampered with. When he didn't find any, he glanced up at the woods surrounding the property, expecting to see some sort of animal straying too close to the coop.

He didn't get much of a chance to search for any evidence of wildlife before another sizeable acorn came flying from somewhere within the trees, once again coming to a stop right in front of him.

"Okayyy..." Guard rising, he slowly reached down to pick it up as well, giving it a quick inspection. It was seemingly completely normal, just like the first one had been. He quietly started making his way to the edge of the woods, his eyes never leaving the treetops as he searched for movement. "If this is supposed to be some sorta attack from the squirrels that keep stealing the chickens' food, then you dudes suck so bad right now. Your aim is totally off, bros!"

By the time he was standing at the first trees lining the edge of the property, he hadn't seen a single sign of anything. That is, until yet another acorn flew out of the leaves, this time bouncing right off the crown of his head. He growled, throwing the first two to the ground.

"Alright, that's it! I'm not afraid of some dumb little squirrels! Do your worst!" He called, slipping his nunchucks out of his belt and holding them in a defensive position. "Come on, you abominations of nature! Show yourselves! I'm gonna go full ninja on your butt!!"

All he got in response was the rustling of leaves as a light breeze drifted through the forest, and--

Was that a giggle?

"Psst."

Mikey's heart leapt into his throat, his head swivelling. That definitely didn't sound like a squirrel...

"Who's there?!" He called, slowly stepping backwards as his eyes shot from left to right.

"Psst, Michelangelo! Over here!"

Okay, definitely not squirrels. Squirrels shouldn't even know how to speak English, let alone say his name.

He jolted, turning just in time to come face to face with an upside down figure as they swung down from a tree and hung from a branch by their knees. He yelped as he jumped backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet.

"Sorry!" They quickly apologized, holding their hands up innocently. "Didn't mean to scare you!"

"What the-- who--"

"Hang on." They held a finger to their mask, holding it up in a shushing motion in front of the messy mouth painted across their mask. "What's the date?"

"Wha--"

"Just tell me!!" They suddenly snapped, their tone a lot less cheery than before. Something about it sent a jolt of adrenaline rushing through Mikey's chest.

"It's-- it's March! March seventeenth, 2013!" He quickly answered.

"Okay, cool cool, seventeenth, 2013... That means..." They trailed off as they began counting on their fingers-- wait a minute...

Mikey's eyes widened as he noticed the three very turtle-like appendages poking out of the fingerless gloves they wore, the emerald green scales spread over their hand tapering off into small patches here and there up their wrists and forearms. Now that he was really looking at them, their legs also didn't look very human, their boots far too big to be for a reasonable human's size. And... was that a tail?

"We have almost two weeks to get the key! Perfect!" The humanoid exclaimed, sounding like they'd completely forgotten that they'd been annoyed enough to snap at him. They reached for the branch they were hanging from and pulled themself up, hopping down to the ground in the same movement. Their cape billowed behind them for a moment as they landed in a kneel, coming to a rest draped over their shoulders.

"Who-- what-- we?? What key?? What's even-- what are you??" Mikey was beyond confused at this point, and frankly, he was starting to get a bit agitated at the lack of answers. "Why do you know my name??"

They straightened and turned to face him, standing just an inch or two taller than him. Their turtle-y hands rose and landed on his shoulders, pulling him closer until his snout nearly touched their mask. He could just barely see their eyes staring holes through his face through the tinted visor.

Finally, they pulled away, holding him at an arm's length. "Because I'm from the future!"

"You're-- you're what?!"

"Yeah!" They let go of his shoulders in favor of striking a dramatic pose, their arm sweeping widely. "I've been sent from the year 2034 with a mission... A mission to save the world! And you're gonna help me!"

Michelangelo's eyes went wide as saucers, his mouth falling open in awe. "You are?? And-- and I am?? Dude!! That's so sweet!!"

"I know, right?! It's awesome!"

"Wait-- how do you know my name, though??" He asked, tilting his head slightly before his face split into another excited grin. "Is this my awesome sci-fi destiny?? Are there legends about us saving the world together, passed down generation to generation?? Do I get a cool cape, too??!"

The cloaked figure snorted and giggled. "Not, uh-- not exactly. That would be so freaking cool, though!" Their shoulders hunched a little as they went a bit sheepish. "But, um... I know your name because..."

Slowly, they reached up and tugged their mask off their face, pushing it back so it sat on top of their messy black hair. Bright green eyes met his, their toothy grin forming dimples in their cheeks. Their face was relatively human-like, dusted with a few freckles and small scars.

They took a deep breath before sticking their hand out. "My name's Hamato Cassandra Jones. I'm your niece!"

For a few seconds, Mikey simply stared at her, the gears in his mind turning as he registered what exactly she was saying. Rather suddenly, his jaw nearly hit the ground, his eyes going impossibly wider. He quickly took her hand and shook it excitedly.

"Dude!! That's so cool!! I've always wanted a nibling!!" He bounced on the balls of his feet, his cheeks aching from how hard he was smiling. "We gotta go tell everyone else, c'mon!!"

CJ barked out a quiet laugh, starting towards the edge of the woods in the direction of the farmhouse. She was stopped a moment later, however, when Mikey reached out and blocked her way with his arm.

"Ah-bup-bup, and where do you think you're going, missy?" He raised an eyebrow ridge at her in mock offense. "As your newly appointed favorite uncle, it is my civic duty to give you as many turtle-back rides as possible! Were already way behind schedule, so chop chop!" He knelt down slightly with his shell turned to her, his hands held out behind him to grab a hold of her legs.

She snorted a little, only hesitating for a second before carefully climbing into his hold. "Whoever said you were my favorite?"

Mikey hefted her up onto her shell, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders. "Eh, I'm the fun one. It's kinda my job to be the favorite." He hummed, heading back the way he came.

"Okay, yeah, fair enough. Hard to argue there." She giggled, her false plastron pressing a bit closer to his carapace as they left the woods.

Mikey's turtle-back rides were just as comforting as they had been when she was a kid.

It took all of CJ's willpower not to completely slump over his shell and take a nap the moment she was held securely. She couldn't. She had a mission to complete. She could take a nap once the world was saved.

Plus, even if she had the time to take a rest, it wasn't like she could just pass out on Mikey's shoulders. This wasn't her Uncle Angelo. This was a teenager, who just happened to be her uncle from two decades before she was born. Not Uncle Angelo. Just Michelangelo.

(Don't think about Uncle Angelo, Cassandra, don't think about Uncle Angelo...)

"Hey guys!" Mikey called to his siblings, snapping her out of her thoughts. She hadn't even realized how close to the farmhouse they'd gotten. "I found a stray! Can we keep her? Pleeeaaase?"

Uncle Nardo and Auntie Apri-- no, Leonardo and April glanced up towards them, their respective weapons lowering as their spar was interrupted.

"You already have a cat, Mikey, you don't need--..." Leo's voice died the moment his eyes landed on CJ, his face immediately falling flat. "... Michelangelo."

"Hm?"

"That..." He huffed out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's a whole person. That's an entire person. No, you cannot keep her."

"Where did you even find her, anyway?" April asked, narrowing her eyes. "The closest city is miles from here, and most of these woods are private property. There shouldn't be anyone just wandering around in there."

"No, dudes, you don't get it! She came here from the future!" Mikey carefully lowered her to the ground, letting her get her feet steady under herself. He stepped out of the way, gesturing her forward. "Go on, tell them!"

CJ sucked in a small breath, steeling herself before she once again stuck her hand out. "Hi, I'm CJ! I came from the future!" She said quickly, grinning widely up at them to mask her anxiety.

Just like Mikey had, Leo and April just stared at her for a bit, blinking at her like she had two heads.

Then, Leo snorted.

"And, uh, you just... believed her, Mikey?" He asked, glancing towards his brother. "Because last I knew, time travel wasn't real."

Her eyebrows furrowed together for a moment before she sighed softly, letting her arm fall. Right. Renet had said she didn't meet them until after the end of the world had begun. This might take a bit more convincing than she realized...

"Well, um..." Mikey started to wring his hands together sheepishly, before he brightened again. "I have proof! Look!"

Suddenly, he was grabbing her wrist, holding her outstretched hand up to their faces.

"... She's a mutant?" April raised an eyebrow, resting a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight to her other foot.

"She's got some turtle biz in her, dude!" He exclaimed. "She's one of us!"

This time, Leo narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, 'one of us--'"

"What the hell's going on over here?"

CJ went tense, her heart jumping into her throat. She knew that voice.

No matter how many years passed, or how much younger it was than the last she remembered of it, there was no mistaking her papa's voice.

She wrenched her wrist out of Mikey's grip as she whipped around, a small gasp forcing its way out of her. Sure enough, walking up to the rest of the group were a pair of young, very much living versions of her parents, in all their greasy teenage glory, a hockey stick clutched in her dad's hand and a pair of sai in her papa's.

An identical pair to the ones she had tucked in her own belt beneath her cape.

"Woah, who's this guy?" Casey came to a stop before her, leaning down slightly to get a better look at her. "Nice mask. Ain't as cool as mine, though."

Before CJ had a chance to speak, he straightened and flipped his own homemade mask over his face.

"Sweet, right? Made it myself." He cackled, swinging his hockey stick up to rest on his shoulder as he stuck his other hand in his pocket.

Raphael jammed an elbow into Casey's side, drawing a pained grunt from him as he doubled over. He lifted his mask away again to glare at the terrapin, growling between grit teeth. April stepped in between them before it could escalate further, jabbing a finger into the sensitive cartilage along the side of Raph's shell. He squeaked rather girlishly, jerking his side away from her.

"She's from the future!" Mikey's hands suddenly slipped under her armpits and lifted her effortlessly off the ground, leaving her feet dangling just a couple inches from the grass. She yelped at the motion, instinctively squirming before resigning to her fate and going limp.

"The hell do you mean, from the fu--"

"And she's our niece!"

Well, that got everyone to finally shut up for a few seconds.

CJ glanced back and forth between the five pairs of eyes trained to her, the familiar urge to curl up and hide creeping up the back of her spine. (Stupid turtle instincts. She didn't even have enough of a shell to even think about retreating into, why did she need that urge?)

The hands holding her up jostled her ever so slightly. "Go on, tell them!"

A sheepish smile formed on her face, her hands moving to fidget anxiously as her gaze dropped to the ground. "Yeah, I, um... I'm your niece, all right. I can-- I can explain more if you-- put me down? Please?"

In an instant, she was on her feet again, a timid Mikey stepping into her line of vision.

"Right, my bad."

"What do you mean you're our niece?" Raphael cut in, stepping closer as he studied CJ's face. He was practically seething with distrust, his grip on his sai tightening.

It was... strange, suddenly being the same height as her father. Especially when the last time she saw him, he could still hold her in one arm and have room to spare. He used to carry her as much as she wanted, reaching down and lifting her up to his cracked plastron every time she came running up to him with her arms outstretched for affection, then continuing his conversation like nothing happened. She could still remember the feeling of his beard tickling her forehead whenever she tucked her face into the crook of his neck, and the soft rumble of his vocal cords against her cheek.

"I mean exactly that." CJ hummed, planting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out just like her dad had taught her.

("As long as you seem confident, no one will be able to get you down, no matter how bad you feel. Because who are you?"

"Cassandra Jones..."

"Oh come on, I know you can do better than that. Now c'mon, who are you?"

"I'm-- I'm Casey freakin' Jones!!"

"Attagirl!!")

"My name is Hamato Cassandra 'CJ' Kiyoshi Arnaldo Rafala Jones Jr.!" She announced. "Daughter of Casey Jones Sr. and Hamato Raphael! And I have been sent from the future to prevent the end of the world with your guys' help!"

Well. She wasn't sure what she was expecting for a reaction, but whatever it was, she definitely didn't think it would be her fathers jerking away from each other like they were each suddenly toxic to the touch.

Her smile fell as she watched a look of pure discomfort and almost disgust plaster across Raphael's face as he stepped back, his eyes darting between the two of them. "There ain't no way we have a fucking kid in the future. There ain't no way." He grumbled, ignoring the 'language' Leo threw his way.

A flash of hurt managed to slip out onto Casey's face before he quickly mirrored Raph's disbelief, his arms coming up to cross over his chest. "Yeah, I'm, uh, not exactly the paternal type, kid. I'm pretty sure you've got the wrong Casey Jones."

CJ's eyebrows furrowed, her chest going a bit tight. "But... that's..." She trailed off for a few seconds before shaking her head, pushing the sinking feeling in her heart away. "It-- it doesn't matter. What matters is that I need your guys' help."

"Yeah, didn't you say something about preventing the end of the world?" Leo crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow ridge.

She nodded a little, reaching into her belt and tugging the photograph out of its hidden pocket. She flipped it over to reveal the diagram of the key, holding it out to show the mutants and humans around her.

"This is the key that released Kraang Prime." She recited, the facts that Uncle Tello had drilled into her head over and over easily rolling off her tongue. "In two weeks, it's gonna be found, and the apocalypse will start. And I need your guys' help to get the key before they do, and stop the Kraang."

"And... where is this key, exactly?" April asked, reaching to take the picture to get a closer look.

"Somewhere in New York." She hummed. "I, uh, don't know exactly where, but-- I'm sure we can hunt it down. Uncle Tello told me his past self would probably be able to find a way to make a tracker for it, or... something."

Raphael reached over and yanked the photograph out of April's hand, holding it up to his face with a small scowl. He flipped it over and scoffed, shoving it back into CJ's grip.

"Yeah, good luck with that, princess." He grunted, shoving past Mikey as he started towards the house. "Let us know how it works out."

CJ's heart fell to the pit of her stomach. "Wait-- you're... you're not gonna help?"

He paused and turned to look over his shoulder. "If you were really from the future, you would know that right now, we can't exactly just waltz back into New York. Not with Leo's injury, and not with the Kraang running around." He growled. "I ain't about to put my family in danger for some bullshit that probably ain't even true."

With that, he stormed off to the porch, pulling the door open and slipping inside the house. CJ stared after him, her mind struggling to keep up with what just happened.

This was somehow the same turtle who used to go out of his way to make sure everyone around him was safe and got the help they needed whenever he got the chance. The same turtle who would help her whenever she needed. The same turtle who would hold her after she had a particularly bad nightmare, and would rock her back to sleep, humming an old lullaby ojīchan used to sing to her. The same turtle who sacrificed himself to save her life.

Yet, at the same time, he felt like a complete and total stranger, not at all the father she once knew. And while logically, she knew it wasn't the same person who raised her, it still felt like an ice pick through the heart watching him brush her aside as an untrustworthy outsider, despite the proof of their relation.

She couldn't even blame him for being defensive. She probably would be too. But it still hurt.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, making her jump as she was pulled from her thoughts. She glanced over and met Mikey's eye, a bit of a reassuring smile on his face.

"He'll come around, little dude. Just give him a bit of time." He hummed.

She forced a small smile, glancing down at the tattered photo. "I hope so... 'Cause we're gonna need as much help as we can get."

"Then tell us more about the future." Leo cut in, stepping a bit closer. "Anything that might help figure out a plan."

She hummed as she lifted her head, setting her shoulders straight. She took a deep breath, focusing back in on the mission.

"My sensei once told me that two weeks from now, on the morning of March thirtieth, the sky opened up, and all hell broke loose..."