Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leo learned early on that time worked VERY differently in the Prison Dimension. After the blast he’d just floated in a straight path, it was honestly impressive he didn’t drift into anything those first hours.

That was a solid while ago. He’s been flung every which way by the Kraang for his stay within this weird space. Everytime he crashed into something it would just alert the accursed thing to his location once more, and the cycle would continue. It would hear him, it would come to his location, it would take its anger out on him, then he’d be flung aggressively in a single direction til he hit something again.

He has no clue how long it’s been honestly.

There wasn’t anything to do in the prison dimension, like at all. Not that he could do anything right now, with the sheer amount of pain he was in. Still, it’d be nicer to have something to take his mind off the surroundings.

…

So, recap! He's been drifting in the prison dimension for who knows how long with only himself as entertainment. And in his professional opinion that's sort of a recipe for disaster.

Everything around was dull and gray, and everywhere he looked was just more Kraang stuff. Were the Kraang in those giant suits even dead? Were they just so bored, trapped in eternal suffering, that they couldn’t even bring themselves to resemble something living? How long would it take for him to end up just like them?-

Not only is time weird in here, but everything else seems to be as well. It smells like nothing, but it also doesn’t? It’s some kind of smell he can’t seem to put his finger on no matter how hard he thinks about it. Best description he’s got right now has to do with all the rot and metal around, but it’s not actually that. It’s different, it’s not like anything in New York or The Hidden City or even all the places he’s portalled to. Oh well, if he can’t find a word for it better to not dwell, what’s next?

It would be better to not think hard at all, his mind was cloudy enough either way. He was probably concussed but who cares right?

Everything hurts.

E V E R Y T H I N G H U R T S-

So, what comes after smell? Taste? It doesn’t really taste like anything besides blood. If he tried hard enough he could probably say it tastes like blood and whatever it smells like, but he doesn’t really need to try anymore.

Trying never seemed to do anyone, not even himself, good so why bother? It would only lead to more pain and he’s in enough as is.

Not that it would make up for what he’s done anyways.

He deserves this.

So after taste is probably sight right? Not that there’s any real order he’s going in but the point for the sake of continuity he’s trying.

Well, he’s already gone over what’s there to see anyways right? Shit, he didn’t think about that

Either way, what he can see is a whole hell of a lot of gray and the potentially not dead stuff of the Kraang that had been left in here. It’s good that all of these ones decided to be dead before the portal opened, the damage could have been so much worse.

(It was so much worse, didn’t Casey say that? He kept telling us about how ruined his world was, what would have happened if all the Kraang were still alive?-)

Best not to follow that train of thought! Anyways where were we? Oh right, sight! What comes after that? Uhmmm, oh! Touch! That one

He could feel all the pain he’s in for starters, it was certainly making this whole thing a lot harder to keep track of. Sure he deserves it, but Mikey always said something about listing off your senses when things got….??? How did he put it again? Something about stimulation???? Wait he’s getting off track-

Aside from the pain, he could feel his gear still on him, even all the cracks in the buckles ( just like all the cracks in his plasteron-). Oh! And the most important thing he could feel was the photo still in his hands! It was pretty crinkled by now but it’s the only thing he had to see his family again-

He’d never get to see them again would he?

. . .

No, no no, nope! Not spiraling down that thought process again! We’ve gone through that song and dance one too many times in here! It never leads to anything except what it leads to and it’s, frankly, getting pretty boring! So we can’t go there again.

(Oh god, he’ll never get to see them again. He’ll never get to see Mikey’s joy at knowing we liked something he made for us, he’ll never get to annoy Raph about his mother henning again, he’ll never get to sit through another one of Dee’s weird presentations about stuff he thinks we don’t know, He’ll never get to see splinter, Or April, or Casey-)

So, what was the final sense again? He should really know this by now, how else is he gonna keep his best medic title?- Ah, that’s right! It was hearing!

He hears the sounds of the Kraang searching for him again.

He hears the yelling and the destruction.

He hears-

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

It’s been a while since the Kraang last took its anger out on him. Leo is looking a little different this time round! Some things aren’t exactly bending in the right way they should!

He probably needs to fix that doesn’t he? How else is he gonna retain his title of best looking turtle brother? ( it’s not a real one, he’d never be good enough for a title like that )

Oh well, he can take care of that later, preferably when he gains the energy to do something besides thinking (it will never come, there’s no need to try for that title anyways. There would be no point in trying now, when he’s already well past the point of return).

Sometimes when he’s drifting he runs into what he can only describe as ‘pockets of weird smells and space distortion’. It’s about exactly what it sounds like, which probably means he should work on his naming skills. Just another thing he sucks at.

(After all, he’ll never amount to anything, nothing he could ever do can make up for the damage he’s done, it would be better if he just-)

But! It’s not about him! So, it’s not like that’s something anyone will ever need from him. Not like they could ever need him, or even see him again-

There is no way he’s ever getting out of here after all.

If nobody’s come for him yet, it means they couldn’t, it means they didn’t want to, it means he isn’t worth the effort.

Anyways, what was he saying again?

Oh well, not like it matters.

He never mattered.

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

Lately, he’s been feeling worse than he usually does. Which is super weird because usually he’s in a perpetual stasis of the worst feeling of his life.

Hey! Big words!!! Maybe the concussion is going down after all!

That’s not important.

Back to the topic at hand, it feels like there’s something in him that wasn’t there before, something wrong. Or, maybe he’s starting to be perceived as ‘right’ to his surroundings? He does look a bit different now after all.

Not like he’s aged or anything, again, perpetual stasis, but more that he’s,,,,, assimilating to his surroundings? Donnie would understand it so much better.

Or not, he could just go theory crazy and get hooked on something to experiment on.

(Fuck, he will never get to see any of them again)

Oh well, not much Leo can do about it, so he’ll just focus on something different.

(He can’t, he can’t stop thinking about the Wrongness he’s feeling, it’s awful, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting)

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

Kraang prime has come by a lot more often lately, wonder why that is?

Maybe it’s finally sinking in that it’s stuck in here for eternity once again. That there is no other escape route, that there is only the prison dimension and nothing else.

Good.

It should have to feel that pain.

It has done nothing to deserve anything else.

It deserves to rot in here even more than Leo does, which is saying something because Leo absolutely deserves this.

They can be stuck in this hell together, they have never deserved anything more.

It has never deserved anything more.

Leo has never deserved anything more.

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

It feels like it’s been months in this hell, doing nothing but floating aimlessly and getting beaten till he loses consciousness. And he guesses thinking but does that really count as doing something when it doesn’t even take energy?

Logically it probably hasn’t been very long, but it certainly seems like it.

The feeling of wrongness has gone down, a steady decline in the intensity it had been when it invaded him. Maybe it’s finally merging with him, becoming a reminder that he can never get rid of. Infecting him with this place’s,,,, everything.

Everything in this place is wrong. It’s so dull, nothing like New York, The Hidden City, or even New Jersey.

(Everything wrong is the world comes from New Jersey, everything but the Kraang. They come from somewhere impossible to imagine, at least that’s what Kraang Prime has ‘said’. As if it could ever communicate through anything other than screaming or snide comments)

It’s just,,, wrong. All of it.

He wishes he could go home.

He doesn’t deserve to go home.

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

Sometimes, he imagines what would happen if he never sabotaged Raph’s attempt to get the key.

He shouldn't have been that petty.

So what if he was annoyed Raph kept backseat driving? That doesn’t mean you sabotage the mission!!! How stupid could he have been?

Raph was just trying to help, he was doing what he was supposed to! Why couldnt Leo just suck it up and deal with it? It would have been way more responsible than causing the apocalypse as an indirect method of getting back at Raph.

Stupid, Leo is such an idiot.

His feelings don't matter. It doesn't matter how much Raph was imposing on him. It doesn't matter how he kept invading leos space when he was trying to cool down. It doesn't matter how he kept disregarding Leo's plans, and his way of training. Raph was just trying to make him a better leader, so he wouldn't endanger them all.

It was Leo's responsibility to keep them safe.

And he couldn't even do that right could he?

Leo is an awful leader.

Leo is an awful brother.

They’re better off without him.

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

Something he's learned as of late is that the prison dimension itself has hallucinogenic properties. It sounds weird as hell, but to be fair this place fits that description to a tee so it cancels out.

The realization, or maybe just the idea, has come to make him wonder what else the space itself can impose on its victims.

Not that he deserves to be called that, this is exactly what he had coming to him. It's like calling criminals the victims of their wardens, and most of the time they don’t even interact. At least, he thinks? WHATEVER, this analogy keeps falling apart the more he thinks about it

Usually, he wouldn't be able to tell that the hallucinations were not something his brain would conjure up, but these ones felt different. They were different.

They were awful.

He’d rather not think about them anymore.

Either way, he's been thinking about them alot lately, very much against his will he might add.

So to avoid thinking, he's been focusing on the weird feelings they leave behind.

About how wrong they felt.

Everything about this place is wrong.

He's a part of it now.

Anyways, he's been trying to think about just what made them feel so off, but most things he thought of just didn't stick right with him.

So, he decided to run with the idea that felt the most sticky compared to the others when he was tossing them around in his brain. That the hallucinations were simply a part of the Prison Dimension as a whole.

It's easier than thinking that they could just be things his mind made up instead. That this is just another sick way of torturing himself for everything he's done.

(He knows that it doesn't actually matter where the hallucinations come from, just that they didn't happen. They didn't happen because he's no longer there to be the catalyst for everything bad his family experienced. He doesn't deserve to see them again, they are better off without him.)

Decisions final, the hallucinations are definitely just another fucked up thing wrong with this dimension.

˚✧₊⁎❝᷀ົཽ≀ˍ̮ ❝᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚

He doesn't fight back when the Kraang comes by, not anymore. He hasnt been for a while.

What's the point of fighting back anyways? He'll just lose once again, and it will hurt even worse when he does.

(Everything he does is futile, all he does is make things worse by prolonging the whole thing. No matter what he does he always makes things worse, if he just stopped fighting back the Kraang wouldn't have been freed in the first place.

He's such an idiot.)

It seems like his lack of willpower actually just infuriates Kraang Prime even more. This is the thing that kept him from world domination? What a joke.

The real joke here is the both of them. It's just as pathetic as Leo is in that regard.

It should have never amounted to anything, but it still left the same amount of damage as Leo in the end.

There's no other place they should be.

There is no other fate that awaits the both of them.

Getting pretty philosophical there huh? Score! Another sign the concussion is wearing off.

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

If he hadn't been so immature, this whole thing would have never happened.

Just suck it up Leo, it's not that hard is it?? Your feelings dont matter!! you've been told it a million times!!!

Why was it so hard to finally understand?

He is nothing.

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

Sometimes he thinks about what his family is doing with their lives. Hopefully they moved on quickly, he doesn't deserve to be mourned.

How much time has passed for them? Has it been months? Years? Has any time passed at all?

What if they've all grown up by now? What would they look like? What would they be pursuing? Would they even have careers? Are they dead?.

He’ll never get to know.

The thought terrifies him.

る(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)る

Leo knows it was stupid , he knows. But he just Couldn’t take it! How would they feel if he disregarded all their ideas and boundaries to tell them the same thing over and over and over???

It’s always “Leo your being immature” “Leo can you get it together” “Leo stop being childish and just follow the plans” “Leo can you get it through your thick skull already? You don’t matter to us, and you never will”

Okay well, maybe that last one was exaggerated but that’s basically what they were going for.

Why can’t they just understand?? He’s TRYING to follow their plans! It’s not his fault by the time they come up with one he’s already acting on stage 1 of his!! It was simple, why couldn’t they see all the openings?

And then when he DOES take the lead they all act like he’s being stupid and he can’t do anything right so they have to come in and cover for him!! But why can’t they get it? They don’t NEED TO. he HAD it under control, he knew what he was doing!! Is he so untrustworthy that they can’t even let him lead on simple missions?

Clearly, that’s exactly what he is.

Poor little Leo, always the one in the right, it’s not his fault they can’t understand his plans!

It’s neverr his fault!

What a joke.

They had every right to be mad at him, he didn’t listen, he rushed in without thinking about what they were doing. He rushed in. When he should’ve been slowing down and thinking with his team. He was too distracted and they were all in their own predicaments. He should have had it covered.

Leadership, who knew that when you try to do something right you're actually just doing the exact opposite of what they want?

What a joke! As if HE could ever do something right.

He knows he’s not making much sense right now, but hey not like anyone will ever hear him again anyways.

At least trying to be petty helps pass the time

Even when he's not actually in the right for it

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

Leo doesnt think he was like this when he was still with his brothers. He can't
remember exactly how he was though.

Maybe when they were together he actually felt like a person, maybe they were the thing holding him together even if they didn’t know it. Maybe he was a side character in their blinding light, there as a support to make the others look better. He might have been a staple in the group, he might have been nothing more than an extra pair of hands.

Maybe he might’ve had good ideas for their plans, but the more he thinks about it the more that doesn’t sound right. It was always Dee who shined brighter than any star in the logical fields. A radiance, but not one that hurt those around, one that instead helped them and showed care in his own way.

Maybe he was someone people could come to knowing he’d be strong enough to take anything they threw at him. That almost sounds right, but it seems too positive for someone like him. Raph was always the reliable one, he was the man you could trust to get things done. The method didn’t matter, he was just that cool of a guy. Leo can’t relate to that, taking all they threw was the least he could do and he couldn’t even do it well. A worse version of what Raph was in every way.

Maybe he was more optimistic, looking for a bright side even in the worst situations. Trying to keep moral even at the lowest, but that might just be his memories getting
mixed around. Mikey was the one who always saw the light in the tunnel, no matter how far the light was he could see it. Leo couldn’t relate to that. After all, what is there to be optimistic about anymore? There's nothing left to bring out any ‘bright side’ he could see here.

It was pretty dark afterall.

That one was just lazy, he could make better jokes than that, couldnt he?

…

Well, maybe he couldnt.

Not like anyone will ever hear them anymore, so what's the point in trying to be better?

A failure in every sense of the word, he couldn’t even try at the one thing he was supposed to do.

(⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

Leo’s come to realize that everytime one of the Kraangs beatings get too rough something,,,,, weird has been happening in the mind numbing time afterwards. It’s not instantaneous (yet another big word! Look at him go), but it always happens after he passes out from the torture sessions.

He can’t really describe it. It’s like a weird version of healing?

Like, he’s being healed insanely fast in a short amount of time, but the pain and scars weren’t actually taken care of in the process. So he wouldn’t die, but he keeps all the signs of death.

He doesn’t like it.

Not only does it seem like something far too nice of this dimension to do, but it feels like it’s not something that he’s meant to be grateful for. Like, free healing for the price of some pain he’s more acquainted with? That’s far too gracious of this place. It looks too good on paper.

It’s suspicious.

Not to mention how wrong he feels after he wakes up from it.

If he had to describe it, it’s like the fucked up version of almost death. Having to keep all the physical reminders but not being able to pass on and get it over with already.

He tried asking Kraang Prime about it during one of his routine smack downs, well, “tried” isn’t really the word for it. More like the question was on his mind and it just so happened to give him a vague answer about it. The interaction goes somewhere along the lines of

“ Oh, it seems even inferior races are saddled with this dimension's shortcomings. How intriguing, I’d give you about a month before it claims you for itself”

“ Wha-“

And it throws him into a wall.

So, vague and unhelpful as always but it justified Leo’s suspicions. He’s been theory crafting for a while now and he still isn’t sure about it but he thinks he’s gotten somewhere.

There’s something about this place that infects anyone in it, kinda like the Kraang does so they absolutely had it coming. He’s a bit miffed that it doesn’t just apply to them, but he’s in here and he’s as deserving of this as they are so it all checks out.

That's really all he’s been able to piece together though. Aside from his feelings, he can’t figure out how to put all this into a coherent idea that doesn’t sit at least a little off.

He really should’ve paid more attention to all those seminars, they probably went over something about theory crafting.

Oh well
Σ੧(❛□❛✿)

As two entities who despise each other with all their being, and as the only people in this hell forsaken dimension, it’s only natural Leo and the Kraang would start interacting more.

First it started with casual conversation throughout Leo’s torture sessions, because what else could he do? He’d been writhing in pain during these for so long it was getting boring.

Of course, neither of their hatred for each other has lessened, the beatings are still regular and just as brutal as the last.

But they aren’t the only interactions now, sometimes the Kraang will take him sightseeing too. Problem is the only sights to see around here are destroyed Kraang tech, so it’s actually just Prime dragging Leo around so it can boast.

It even starts referring to itself as the “superior race” in those conversations, as if it could ever even strive to be less than a parasite.

٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

You'd think he'd be used to the shit gravity fluctuations by now, but he most certainly is not.

It's not like it's something you can just get used to! It's really weird being flung around by straight up rocks. But sadly he'll have to make do.

Not like floating around is much better, but it certainly beats having to actually move. The pain would be too much for his brain right now regardless.

Then, there was something weird.

It's …. Light? Bright, blinding orange light. Unlike the dull far off light of the fake stars, or the explosion residue, not even the red light of Kraang mechanical eyes.

No, this light was right in front of him. Not as close as the previously mentioned ball of red light that is lodged in the mask of Kraang primes mech, but definitely brighter than it.

And then

He sees faces

They are familiar faces, he knows this. Faces he's seen for as long as he can remember.

But he can't remember

And

This realization doesn't even phase him.

He sees these faces he knows he should have names to attach to, and nothing comes to mind. He can't just stare at them stupidly though, he has to play this off.

Say something, anything to distract them from the fact that he has no clue how they are. Intrinsically, he knows he can't let them know about this, about anything that's happened here actually. Not the beatings, not the weird feeling, not the memory issues, don't let them know don't let them know dontletthemknow

“Took you guys long enough”

Their faces break with relief at the phrase, so that must be a sign he said the right thing! They don't know they won’t know-

He reaches out, and they reciprocate the gesture. but suddenly he hears it behind him. No no nononono he cant let them see he can't let them know he can't leave them!

It's going to drag him back down, back to his new reality in this hell hole. It'll make him watch their faces as they are forced to witness his foul reality, that Kraang can do whatever he wants with him and they’ll have to let him go. That it could just as easily come for them next, that they should just shut the hole and leave him to die. It's for the best, it’s for the best.

But it doesn't reach him.

No, they grab him, and they pull him towards the light leaving it in the darkness. They shouldn't be trying so hard to save him, the darkness is where he deserves to be after all. Hell just corrupt the light, he'll make it as bad as him and they don't deserve that. They should just leave him to die with the Kraang.

Then,

He's not in the darkness anymore.

Chapter Text

He looks up and sees that the light is no longer there, but somehow it's still just as bright and colorful. It's been a while since he's seen anything beyond the gray that's engulfed his world for all these-

How long has it been? Ah- it doesn't really matter at this point.

They're saying something to him. He thinks that the place they've landed on is vaguely familiar.

Quick! Think fast! Where is this?? He can't take too long to answer or they'll get worried and- Wait! Wait…

“Ewww, are we on Staten island?”

He must have guessed correctly (crazy that of all things he can remember locations, damn Jersey,,) because the big red one says something and then-

They're hugging him. It's been so long since his last felt a gentle touch, he doesn't know how to respond to this. So he doesn't. It works for a while as they're all too consumed with their own feelings, but eventually the purple masked one breaks away and speaks.

“Wait! Leo, what's your physical status?? Is anything broken, any opens wounds??”

That's a good question actually, he'd thought he'd been pretty banged up in the PD but right now he can't seem to feel anything wrong. Whether that's because there are no injuries or if he's just so used to the sensation of being processed he has no clue. So that's vaguely what he tells them.

“Nothing that I can feel! But I know that wont soothe ya so feel free to look around just in case, kay?”

The purple banded turtle seems to take that for an answer, and performs what looks to be a routine checkup.

“Well, I don't see anything immediately life-threatening. Although, fact that you seem a little,,, grey-er than usual is Very concerning. So! Just in case, we'll do some scans when we get back to the lair”

The orange? One springs up at that. “OH ME GOSH, THE LAIR! Oh, I hope nothing's broken, didn't April and pops say the Sister Kraang chased them out of there?”

“Solid thinking Michael” oh! A name!! He should hang onto that.

“Speaking of dad and April, we should probably tell them we got Leo,” says the red one. He wonders what the other two names are, or who this dad and april are.

They go back and forth a while longer, but ultimately decide the red one should contact the two who were listed. Red mask is also given a list of things to ask the two about when he coms over. Something about a tank, and the apocalypse? Man there must be a lot missing from his memory if even that doesn’t ring a bell.

After the initial yelling heard over the small wrist device, which Leo notices looks a lot like the one he lost somewhere between the beginning of the personal hell he lived over the last,,,, time frame, the red one hangs up and waits for the others to arrive. He figures the voices that can be heard from the device are this supposed ‘pops’ and ‘ April’ but there’s a third one he can’t put a title on. All the voices are loud, and doing nothing good to his head at the moment but the pain can easily be put off at the moment. After all, this is the first kind interaction he’s had in a long time and he doesn’t want to miss a single part of it.

That’s a little hard to do when he’s about to pass out, however.

They try to have him stand up so they can move to a more comfortable waiting spot, presumably for the voices to come collect them. As they shove Leo up to join them it quickly becomes apparent that it will be no easy feat to get the turtle to move. He hasn’t had to really support his own weight in a while, he gave up running and fighting back against the Kraang a while ago. He wouldn’t really have moved much in his time within the Prison Dimension if it weren’t for the continuous inertia that carried him most places. It’s not like he tried to see the sights there, but it was sort of interesting nonetheless.

Ah- less about the PD, more about how he’s not used to the gravity here. It’s kind of suffocating actually, turns out you really can feel how big the earth is when you turn off the gravity for a while. Maybe one of the big Kraang corpses would’ve had this much of a pull, but he never tried (nor wanted to) to get close enough to find out.

Even the act of moving an arm felt like too much to deal with, let alone walking over to a more comfortable area.

The three colored… turtles? Turtles! The three colored turtles seemed to pick up on that factoid, much to Leo’s chagrin. So they all got comfy around him instead, the orange one opting to support Leon’s head on their leg. His leg? Maybe.

Suddenly a large, circular.. tank drove right up to them and stopped so abruptly it flung up into the air before crashing back down. The vibration shook Leo badly, but he suppressed it like a champ.

Then, a very short rat man flung himself out of the vehicle, right at him.

“MY SONS”

Yet another aggressive family hug occurs, with a girl who he assumes to be April quickly running over right after the rat man. Then, another kid comes jogging out of the tank, one who he does not recognize whatsoever, but yet again feels like he should. All of these people must be important to him, surely they are, if this is the reaction seeing him again has on them.

So why can’t he remember?

How could he dare to forget these people, when it’s clear they love him so much? What kind of selfish, ungrateful, disgusting-

Suddenly, they’re all getting shoved into the vehicle, at an astonishing rate might he add. It’s weird seeing things move so quickly when most of his memory has been spent in an agonizingly slow crawl of time.

The black haired kid (who actually might be older than him now that he’s thinking about it-) starts interrogating the other turtles about any injuries they might have.

That’s a good question actually, it does look like the other three have gone through hell. They all have some kind of magical glowing crackly pattern on their arms, with the orange one having it on both while the other two only have it in one. Coincidentally the opposite arms too. They’re matching! Cute.

Wait- no, not cute those are probably injuries- THOSE ARE INJURIES OH SHIT. Isn’t he supposed to be like, a doctor or something?? Oh no, what if he was their designated doctor?? He’s not helping them at all! He hasn’t since he set foot out that glowing portal oh no.

What if his lack of comment on their injuries has only made him more suspicious? Shit it totally has, what should he do they’re injured and he hasn’t even noticed this whole time fuck fuck fuck-

Oh, and now the boy is infront of him. Uh, quick- act normal act casual if they haven’t said anything about his lack of inquiry yet then maybe he can still salvage this-

“Master Leonardo, I know you think you can cover your injuries by yourself but please be honest with me. Are you injured anywhere? And don’t try hiding anything.”

Fuccckkkk, he for realsies has no clue if he is or isn’t. That should be a fine answer right?? But wait what if they do find something and they ask and they’ll want to know about what happened in there and he can’t let them know.

“I’m all good kid, just a few bangs and bruises but nothing that can’t be taken care of by myself.”

“Are you sure sensei? The Kraang are insanely powerful, there’s no way your not at least somewhat mortally wounded.”

Coincidentally, at this very moment, a giant crack in his shell decided to make itself known. Just when he thought he could get away Scot free.

٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

Pain pain painpainpainpainpain.

He doesn’t know how his brain blocked this out for so long, but seems it decided the perfect time to make his injuries apparent was RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE CREW.

THAT'S RIGHT, they were all looking at him during the interaction with the boy. So they had a front row seat to Leo’s onslaught of pain getting dumped back into his senses. He couldn’t even school his expression fast enough to appear fine.

Just his fucking luck.

Obviously they’d ask about it too, but he was so out of it there was no response to be given. Naturally this only freaked them out even more, as they frantically started searching him for injuries. They found it, as it’s not easy to cover up a large crack in the shell on a moment's notice.

Now, he’s stuck in the medbay. He watched as everyone else got to leave, even though they were equally in a state of disrepair. Everyone Except Donnie that is.

He also tried hiding shell damage, but it’s not easy when blood starts pouring out of your protective cover over it.

From what he gathered it was pretty serious too, something about nerve endings getting exposed due to some kind of control panel? He was kind of out of it during the explanation, and it was done in hushed tones anyways.

Leo doesn’t see why the red one wouldn’t also be confined to this room. He doesn’t know when that hole was made but it looks pretty recent, and if everyone’s getting stuck in here for shell damage might as well not exclude. They can be a party! A damaged shell party… it sounds worse the more he thinks about it.

ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Eventually the boy comes back in, dragging a strange looking device with screens attached to it. The machine is fully purple, it’s definitely anyone’s guess as to who might have made it. Slowly, as to not potentially damage it, the boy walks the machine over to the other occupant of this room.

“Is this the right one, Donnie?”

AHA! Yet another name to latch onto, he might just be able to pull this off if they keep giving him this information so readily.

“Yes! I’m going to assume you don’t know how these things work. Thus, prepare yourself by grabbing a notebook and make sure you understand everything I’m informing you of. Got it?” “Uhm, actually I-” “ Good! Now, the first part we’ll go over is the” Leo tunes him out at that point.

The explanation is needlessly long and insanely boring. When Donnie said he’d cover every part of the machine he meant it. It was honestly impressive he could even get that long winded with all the injuries.

When the lecture finally over it feels like a day has gone by, though realistically probably only been a few hours.

“And that’s everything you need to know about the scanner! Any questions? Oh! And treat my machinery with respect and care or you will live to regret it. It doesn’t matter what state I may be in physically, if you so much as bang it against a wall I will crawl over there and enact my revenge Casey, is that clear?”

“Sir yes sir!” Casey (another name, another win for Neon Leon!) squeaks out.

Then, he carefully wheels the device over to Leo’s bedside. Even though he knows it was gonna happen eventually the pace at which things are moving still takes him off guard. Casey then, referencing the notepad he actually did pick up and write on during Donnie’s speech, orients Leo into the proper position for the scan.

It's not something he’s had to experience before, or at least anywhere in his known memory. There’s a good chance this has happened before and he just forgot, but that’s neither here nor there.

After a few minutes the black haired boy examines the screens attached to the strange scanning device. Apparently the results aren’t what he wants, because he makes a face at the screen.

“Huh, Master Donatello, is there anything that might interfere with the scan that you might know of? Like metal or?”

Donatello? Huh, wait which name is real? Are none of the names he’s picked up so far right? Did he used to call them something else? Is it a nickname or a Nicholasname? Fuck he didn’t take into account informalities-

“No, why do you ask? I’ve specifically engineered all my scanners to not be bothered by such needless disruptions. They should all provide exemplary, high definition scans regardless of species or objects the person is carrying.”

“Well, there’s this strange staticy overlap on Sensei’s scan. It’s completely skewing the image.”

“Perhaps you did it wrong? I don’t know how you managed it but that’s the only explanation I can think of. After all, there’s no way my machine isn’t working correctly.”

There’s a distinct pause in conversation at that comment.

“You know, not for any particular reason, but maybe you should go find one of the other scanners within my lab.”

Casey is slightly confused, but takes the panic in stride and does as Donnie instructs. He undoes all the previous machine setting up and wheels it out of the room, leaving Leo to listen to the purple masked turtles ramblings under his breath.

٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

Turns out, despite Donatello's panic, the problem was not with the machines. That didn’t mean they figured out what the problem was exactly, but that it didn’t matter which scanners they used, nor who used them, all scans would come back with a weird filter.

They found this out by; a) stealing medical grade X-ray scanners from hidden city hospitals, and B) forcing Draxum to bring one of his own and try it on Leo.

That was not a fun experience! The Sheepman’s pinkness brought back some foul memories, it’s okay though! He only mildly panicked, and instead took to dissociating for the whole procedure.

He’s doing just fine that you very much!

Anyways, since the scans were a no go they didn’t really have any valid way to see if there were any broken bones on Leo. Aside from a physical exam but even that has its shortcomings given the, you know, shell covering all his internal organs.

Thus, he has been exiled and deemed to stay on this bed until they can figure out what’s wrong with the signals, or whatever is causing the static. It’s not the worst fate, he’s had to figure out how to assuage his boredom for most of his waking moments he can remember anyhow. Plus! The Kraangs not here, so he has no need to be stressed about it coming to find him at any minute.

He thinks.

He hopes.

The others do give him things to occupy his mind whenever one of their medbay shifts is switched out. The shifts are both to keep an eye on the two on bedrest, and they serve to get their own personal treatments.

The ones that haven’t come to visit so far are the two other turtles that dragged him out of hell. The most likely reason for that is they conked out immediately upon return and have been either recovering or getting treated for their own wounds. Or Perhaps the reason they are not in the medical room is that their own ones are simply too comfortable, and they requested to stay there instead.

Good for those two, can’t say the beds here are all that comfortable. Despite being leagues better than anything the Prison Dimension could provide, he just can’t relax. The ever present tugging of gravity trying to drag him down through the floor does not help. Maybe if it were just a little less he could get some proper rest in this place, but sadly the earth won’t bend to his whims.

٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

It was a normal day in the medbay, as he figured out it was called. Familiar faces rotated their shifts sitting around and watching over the two turtles. Each person had decided they wanted their own designated overseeing area, so there were many different chairs set in corners around the room.

Leo was drifting in and out of consciousness, deciding sleep was an easy way to pass the time. He’d done this many times before in The PD (as he’s decided to abbreviate it). When the wrongness started becoming too much, and the pain was all consuming this was one of the only things to get his mind off it. Not like sleeping would help much, but the weirdness of his dreams was better than mind numbing boredom.

Suddenly, he was being rapidly shook awake by a disheveled April. She was saying something to Draxum, who was staying over while everyone was healing and took to the head medic role.

It didnt register what they were so concerned about until he sat up, look down, and promptly noticed the deep, giant claw marks on his right leg. Wounds that were bleeding out so fiercely it was a wonder he hadn’t died of blood loss yet.

The panic around him was spreading, April rushed out to get help while Draxxy was working on stifling the bleeding. Leo leans down to the wounds, startling Draxum from the work he was attempting. Then, in a strangely calm manner, one a person who had a wound like this would usually never express, Leo found the artery that was pumping blood out of his leg and pinched it.

That would buy the medics time to pile into the medbay, and would give Leo a far better chance of survival in this situation. It was making his hands very slippery, but it’s a far better alternative to death. The hardest part was honestly keeping his hands on it when it’s surrounded by bone and flesh, not to mention the fact that he could pass out at any second. Speaking of, hey is it getting cold in here or is it just him?

Then Casey, the rat man, the two other turtles, and April all rush back in. The whole gangs all here huh? Even Donnie is clambering to get out of bed and come help despite the fact he’s clearly becoming increasingly nauseous at the sight.

There's no way in hell this deep ass cut could be medically treated without hospitalization. Good thing there's an easy way out to this, it's called mystic healing.

He communicates as much to Draxum, the man immediately gets the message and starts to work his mystic magic. The sheep yells something to the rest of the crowd, and then, chaos. The yellow turtle and Casey start pitching in with draxum, the former aiding mystically, and the latter aiding medically. Wow, his vision is starting to get a little blurry here, his legs starting to get really tingly.

The rest of the group has either run around gathering materials for the three, or held Donnie back from trying to help. Seemed like it was a hard challenge too, cause it took the combined efforts of the Red turtle and April to keep him on the cot. Not that he was going down without a fight, Donnie was very clearly wrestling the both of them to get up. WOW, what is with the temperature fluctuations? Why’s it both hot and cold at the same time rn.

It was strange though, if there was so much commotion going on around him, why couldn’t he hear any of it?

Ah, righf. Blood Loss.

He promptly passes out.

ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

That day was a whirlwind of emotions for everyone except leo. When he had woken up they interrogated him about what could have happened to cause an injury like that.

(When he awoke he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders.

“LEO! What happened? Are you okay? Can we get you anything?”

“Wha-“)

The red one was freaking out, fretting over every little thing while the other two stood behind with worried looks on their faces. Seemed like donnie had had mostly recovered in the time he was passed out.

Its been a little while since then and the fam had ramped the whole ‘never let leo out of their sight again’ thing they had going on up to 100. If he tried to get out of bed theyd shove him right back down into it, when he asked to go to the bathroom they carried him there. Hell he couldnt even grab something off a table two feet away without them getting it for him.

Needless to say, they were driving him INSANE.

After having spent what must have been at least a handful of months almost completely isolated from all other living beings, the sharp contrast to always having two people in the same room was jarring. It was almost worse than being starred at by the lifeless eyes of kraang corpses. Almost.

Still, its not like he could fault them for it. Theyre literally just trying to help him! Why does that idea freak him out so bad?

Anyways hes been steadily recovering. Of course, even with all the magic healing in the world, a wound as deep as that was bound to leave a faint scar at least.

What the rest of the fam didn't know was that all his stumbling when he tries to walk is not the result of the leg wound.

Hes having some real trouble readjusting to earth’s gravity. Its so heavy its literally trying to drag him down all the time.

He wont let them know that though. If he did then they'd ask why he's not used to earth's gravity. Then they'd know about it, they'd know he's been gone for so long that he couldn't even remember their names-

Its better they think its just the wound. That with time hell recover.

He needs them to think that he will, they're the only ones that believe it.

_:(´ཀ`」 ∠):

That stupid wound keeps reopening and somehow the brothers think its his fault.

And sure, yea, who elses would it be? Its not like wounds just magically reopen the second you forget about them. But they do, and it is. He hasn't even tried to get up and walk around all day How Would It Reopen.

But of course, they don't buy that for a second. And to be honest if he was in their shoes he wouldn't either.

That doesn't mean he has to like it.

So he makes his discontent with their constant hovering known, loud and clear. To be honest they look like they're surprised he hadn't said anything sooner.

Oh shit, was he supposed to be? Is that why they were treating him so weird?? IS HE ACTING OOC
??? OH FUCK?

Welp, time to stop that identity crisis in its tracks.

The complaining seems to put them at ease, and in turn they actually do back off. It’s a much needed break for Leo, even if he’s having a crisis about his entire demeanor up till this point lowkey.

Welp, them's the breaks pal, and Leo’s absolutely gonna be the one to take advantage of this.

♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪

It’s so dark.

Sure he really should have gotten used to it by now, and honestly in some ways he has, but when he really stops to think about it the thoughts like a freight train. The minute it crosses his mind it’s all but hurled to the front of his attention.

It makes sense honestly, it’s not like the kraang probably need the light. Well, actually they might, given how their suits all come equipped with cool lights and their machinery has them to some extent. But also that could just be for aesthetics, like Donnie and his goofy purple marketing. Not that he’ll ever get to see it again, and to be honest there’s no reason the lights on kraang tech should even be a thing he concerns himself with. But well, here he is, concerning himself with them despite his better judgment.

The darkness makes it really hard to navigate. if it weren’t for the creepy residual lighting that makes itself known through the very fabric of the dimension he’d have no clue where anything is.

Maybe that’s part of what makes it so hard to escape the thing he’s now dubbed Kraang Prime. Seems like a fitting nickname given the whole sitting on a throne and ordering its siblings around like henchmen thing. Gotta vow to literally never call it that to its face though, it’d most likely preen in satisfaction at the acknowledgment of its superiority. Which is something Leo quite literally never wants to see in his life, and also it wouldn’t do anything to stop the torture sessions so it’s not like it’d be worth it.

Leo’s been floating in this darkness for quite a while by now, waiting to make it over to the giant not rock behind him. It looks big enough to be able to find a decent hiding spot on, honestly he’s hoping it’s hollow so he can explore more kraang tech ruins.

You wouldn’t think this messed up version of urban exploration would be Leo’s kind of thing but when in Rome, or when in a creepy isolated alien prison dimension. It’s not the urban exploration thing that wouldn’t be associated with Leo, it’s the insane horror flesh gore aspect that’s not. If anything, urban exploration is right up his alley given the fact he lives in the sewers, how else do you get to know the surroundings of your home.

Anyways he’s just about drifted to the giant not rock but looks like one thing. Almost there,,, almost,,,,,,

Aha! He’s touched down on it. Definitely not a rock tho, the metal this thing is made of is somehow even colder than the PD itself. Time to get to walking! Come on legs just put one foot in front of the other and don’t let the slight floating freak you out!

Man this place is a wreck, he’s been not walking for a bit and the whole thing is honestly pretty dilapidated, but he thinks the surface underneath is hollow so his exploration still has a chance! Just gotta find an entrance, weather real or hole in the side. Just gotta keep his peepers peeled and- there!

A few ‘yards’ away there’s what looks to be a hatch that’s been sitting pried open for quite some time now, if a hatch were as big as the turtle tank. It’s a good thing it’s already basically open! Otherwise he’d probably never get it in the state he’s in, which is neither here nor there. Time to get his exploring on!

He shuffles his way into the hatch, and finds that it leads to quite the simple hallway, something kraang ships usually don’t have as they prefer means a little more,, grotesque. The place still has residential kraang goop though, which is something that’s practically unavoidable on all things in this lousy place. He has to be careful not to touch the things, otherwise it’ll alert Prime to his location. Cause ah, you know, hivemind and all that junk.

He’s as careful as he can be with his footing, don’t touch the globs don’t touch the wall and no matter what happens do not make a sound. Of course with his abysmal luck he manages to fuck up every part of that list.

He doesn't see one of the globs on the floor, trips over it, tries to catch himself on the wall, and promptly yelps when he realizes he leaned on an eye. Fuck.

At that point he’s gotta throw caution out the window and start sprinting for somewhere innocuous, somewhere it wouldn’t find easily, somewhere like ah, i dunno? A kraang janitor’s closet?,,,, Oh fuck he’s so screwed.

He hears it long before he ever sees it, the klang and screech that can only be made by something big tearing off the side metal of some big ass piece of machinery. He is sooooo cooked. And the world seems to agree with that statement because at that moment he hears it and he literally knows this is the epitome of “he’s, right behind me isn’t he”. WHY DOES LIFE HATE HIM,,,,

At this point he’s just gotta face it, so he awkwardly turns around and sees the kraang looming in the doorway. If anything it’s face is a mix of the rage it always is and snide disappointed mockery. Great. This’ll end well.

“Well, couldn’t keep yourself away from me for long, huh?” Dawg you Know that this was not on purpose don’t even-

“If you're so desperate to see me again, why don’t we make this round something that will truly last forever in that feeble mind of yours. Oh, I’ll make sure to enjoy this quite enough for the both of us.”

Uh oh, OHHHH NO, OH NONONONO NO NO NO NO NOPE. NADA, HES GETTING OUT OF HERE, HES GETTING-

Welp, he’s not, infact, getting out of here. chat say your woah. woah woah hey hey stop pulling stop it he needss That Armm STOPPLEASE—
STOP IT STOP IT PLEASE NO HE NNEEDS THAT ARM DONT TAKE IT PLEASE PLEASE DONT TAKE IT—

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

He wakes up screaming.

The ringing in his ears was so loud. He could hear his frantic heart beating in his chest, but not much else. He couldn’t breathe, his entire mind had zeroed in on the one, all consuming singularity his body was experiencing. Pain. Overwhelming, agonizing pain, so much that he wasn’t sure if he existed outside of it.

Splintering all throughout his right arm, so strong it takes all his focus not to pass out again, is the aching, burning, agonizing pain. It felt like it had been weaved throughout every neuron in his arm, each one lit ablaze. It concentrated at his shoulder, jaggedly stretching from where his arm meets his torso. Like every single muscle, and blood vessel and whatever else is in an arm had been pulled, and stretched, and yanked till they couldn't take any more.

He doesn’t even know why his arm feels like this, last he was aware he hadn’t done anything with it aside from holding his phone in front of his face yesterday. Could that really lead to such agony?? He doesn't know why would he-

There's something in front of him. No— someone. They're saying something, trying to get him to focus in them and not the blinding agony he's in oh god-

Oh, they're trying to get his attention. They must be saying something, maybe,,,, nah he cant lip read that well. A, wait is that dee?? Ohh that makes sense he was taking occasional visits in the med bay to monitor leos health stats, as he calls them.

Oh shit he's gonna be sooo concerned when Leo can understand what he's saying. Hell he probably already is judging by the expression on his face. THINK FAST! What lie should he come up with this time to cover for recreational panic attacks immediately upon waking up?? Uh, fuck hes too disoriented to think up a good excuse right now.

Slowly but surely, the pain lessens and his hearing clears. He comes back to a frightened panicked brother worried fretting. Dee for sure knows that he A) couldn't hear him for a good while and B) is not in the state of mind to answer questions, thankfully.

That doesn't mean there was a lack of an attempt though.

“Sooo,,, any will to share what that was all about Nardo?”

“Dee, please. You of all people should know that night screaming is one of my many many hobbies i take up specifically to annoy you all!”

“Yep, sounds about right. You know, despite all your slander of my emotional avoidance, you seem to do it just as much as yours truly”

“Just another twin factor?”

Dee groaned and left, but not before leaving some stuff on the counter. “For your benefit, should you desire” they claimed.

With Leon on his lonesome, all he had to focus on were the thoughts that plagued him. Could it have been a nightmare? Sure there's more than enough reason in his memories to leave him waking up a screaming mess, but he'd like to believe he was rather desensitized to it now. Thrown through a wall? Just another day. Beaten to a pulp? What else is new? All that was awful sure but not enough to render him paralyzed in pain and fear.

Damn, what exactly is missing from his memories?