Chapter Text
“Last one to the water tower gotta clean Mikey’s room for a week!” Leo’s voice rang through the crisp night air, cocky and grinning as ever.
Donnie groaned mid-flight, jetpack humming beneath him. “You mean your room. Mikey’s looks like a crime scene from a glitter explosion. I’m not risking my dignity for that.”
Leo laughed from somewhere above, flipping through a portal and landing on the water tower with effortless grace. “C’mon, Dee. Live a little! By the way I won!”
Donnie rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the twitch of a smile. The city glittered below them like a sea of lights. For a moment, it felt simple again. Quiet. Normal. Just two brothers…two twins patrolling a city that never really slept.
Then came the shimmer of unnatural magic.
A cloud of purple smoke swirled into existence on the next rooftop over, glittering with golden sparkles. The air warped. And just like that, Hypno-Potamus materialized with a flourish, cane spinning dramatically in his chubby hand.
“Ah! What a delicious coincidence! My two least favorite turtle teens,” he purred, twirling his mustache.
Leo groaned. “Ugh, not tonight, man.”
“We’re off duty,” Donnie added, already bringing his bo staff to life with a pulse of purple energy.
“Oh, but I’m on, darlings!” Hypno winked and swung his cane. A wave of magical light burst from the gem at the tip, spiraling toward them.
Leo darted forward, slashing through it with his katanas. Donnie rocketed into the sky, firing a pulse blast that disrupted the spell midair.
“Split formation!” Leo called.
“Already on it,” Donnie replied, taking to the higher vantage point while Leo danced between buildings below.
Hypno teleported—disappearing and reappearing every few seconds. They kept up, but just barely. They were dodging curses, illusions, and energy blasts. Rooftop to rooftop, the chase led them across the city until Hypno finally made his grand stand on the George Washington Bridge.
The wind was stronger here, whistling through the cables. Hypno hovered at the center, flanked by illusions of himself that shimmered in and out of reality.
“This ends now,” Donnie said, breath heavy as he landed beside Leo.
“I was literally just thinking that,” Leo grinned, katanas crackling with mystic energy.
The battle exploded in a blur of movement. Leo was a blue streak, warping and dodging, his blades slicing through Hypno’s illusions. Donnie hovered above, launching suppression pulses and calculating every angle, every teleportation pattern.
But Hypno was faster than they’d anticipated.
Donnie’s systems began to overheat. His muscles ached. Leo was visibly flagging, his breathing labored, reaction time slowing.
Then it happened.
Donnie caught a flicker of movement—a real one—not an illusion.
“LEO! ON YOUR LEFT!”
Leo turned too late.
Hypno’s cane smashed into Leo’s side with a sickening crack. His body folded from the force. Blood spattered the concrete.
Leo staggered, eyes wide with pain—and then his foot slipped on the rain-slick beam.
Donnie’s scream split the night as he extended a hand towards his twin.
“LEO!”
Unfortunately, Donnie wasn’t fast enough
Leo’s arms pinwheeled for a desperate second—then he was falling.
The sound of his twin’s body hitting the water echoed like a gunshot in Donnie’s ears.
Without thinking, Donnie moved to jump—only for Hypno to lunge at him again.
Rage flooded through him. Cold, burning rage.
Donnie snapped.
He surged forward, bo staff flashing, movements sharp and brutal. Hypno tried to blink away—but Donnie anticipated it, slamming him mid-teleport and sending him careening into a support beam.
His battle shell sparked violently. Systems overloaded. Alarms screamed in his ear
Donnie didn’t care.
He tore the shell off, letting it crash to the bridge as he sprinted to the edge.
Without hesitation, he jumped.
The water hit like concrete.
Cold. Heavy. Suffocating.
But all Donnie could think was: Find him. Find Leo.
Darkness swallowed everything below. He opened his eyes underwater, scanning wildly. His chest burned.
Come on, Leo, where are you…?
Then—blue.
Leo floated just ahead, blood mixing into the river like ink, arms limp, head bobbing.
Donnie’s heart cracked.
‘Thank the good Lord above Nardo and I are the most aquatic turtles’ Donnie thought to himself as he propelled himself towards his twin
The thought of his twin drowning made him kicked harder, fingers outstretched. He grabbed the back of Leo’s carapace, hauling him upward with everything he had.
They broke the surface. Donnie gasped and started coughing.
Leo didn’t. In fact, Leo was unresponsive
Panic gripped him.
They were drifting down the river. The city lights were far. Too far.
They were moving away from New York City
He looked around. Shallow water. Get him to shore—now.
Donnie dragged Leo toward the muddy bank, stumbling to his knees as he pulled his twin onto the shore.
His twin who appeared to not be breathing
“Leo?” he said, gently shaking him. “Come on, come on—wake up, please—”
No response.
Donnie’s hand shook as he pressed it to Leo’s chest.
No heartbeat.
He desperately placed his fingers against Leo’s wrist
No pulse
“No. No, no—no, Leo, please—don’t do this. Not again.”
Tears burned his eyes as he started compressions, his hands pressing down rhythmically, mechanically, desperately.
“Breathe, dammit! You always get up! You always—!”
He paused, gave Leo two breaths, then resumed.
“You can’t leave me. Not like this. Not again— I just got you back. You promised, Leo—!”
He choked on a sob, slamming his palms against Leo’s chest with renewed force. “You promised you’d never make me watch you die again!”
He gave another breath. More compressions. The world narrowed to the sound of his fists hitting Leo’s plastron and the ache in his chest.
“I can’t lose you again Leo. I need you. I-I need my twin” Donnie sobbed as his compressions became weaker “Please come back to me”
And then—
A gasp.
Leo jerked, coughing violently, water spewing from his mouth. He clutched his ribs, wheezing and gagging as Donnie scrambled to hold him upright.
“Leo?!”
“D-Don?” Leo croaked, voice barely there. “Wh…what happened?”
Donnie yanked him into a crushing hug, sobbing openly into his shoulder.
“You absolute—moron,” he choked. “You scared the shell out of me.”
Leo coughed again, leaning weakly against him. “M’bad.”
They stayed like that for a long minute, just breathing. Two halves of the same whole feeling each other heartbeats.
Eventually, Leo shifted with a groan. “Where… are we?”
Donnie looked around, squinting at the skyline. “Far,” he muttered. “Way too far. We got carried by the current. I think we’re in New Jersey.”
Leo slumped dramatically into Donnie’s side. “Oh, come on…”
Donnie managed a watery laugh, relief still soaking his bones.
But then, sobered, he asked, “Can you portal us home?”
Leo shook his head slowly. “Katanas are gone. And I’m… tapped out. Nothing left.”
Donnie frowned. “My battle shell is back on the bridge. I toss it when I dived in after you, so looks like we are not flying home”
They stared at each other for a beat.
Then Leo gave a tired grin. “Guess we’re walking.”
Donnie sighed, but nodded. He helped Leo up, slinging one of his arms over his shoulder.
Their hands found each other’s instinctively, interlocking.
“Let’s go home,” Donnie said softly.
And they walked.