Chapter Text
This wasn't really happening.
That was the first thought that went through Michelangelo's head, because 'how was this happening?' After six years. Six long, pain suffused years of being trapped in this wretched, godforsaken dimension, and there they were, standing right in front of him, various questions and exclamations pouring from each of their beaks.
"Mikey!" "You're okay!" "Where have you been?" "We were worried about you!" "Is that a Kraang skull?!"
Despite the genuine concern and relief in their voices, all Mikey felt at the sight of them was anger, and a lump formed in his throat as he took off his Kraang hat. They looked exactly the same. Exactly the same. Nothing had changed, they hadn't grown, had no new scars or gear, and they still looked just like they had when they were all teens.
Mikey had changed. He changed a lot. He had grown by about two or three inches, making him slightly taller than Raph and Leo. There was a generous amount of hair on his head, black, unruly and dirty hair that he had recently cut with his kusarigama blade to just beneath his chin. He had a large amount of newer scars since arriving in Dimension X, the most prominent being the jagged lichtenberg scars creeping up his neck onto the left of his face and the large, still healing crack on his shell. He looked slightly older too, which was a given, Mikey supposed.
His brother's luckily couldnt see the crack in his shell, because of the raggedy, purple hooded cloak he had acquired at a Kraang base he raided not so long after he had arrived in the dimension. But they saw his face, and the front of his body, and his hair, and immediately froze.
"Well, if you were so worried, then what took you so long?!" Mikey yelled once they quieted down. 'Good. They should be quiet.' Mikey thought. "I've been here for years!" And now his brothers looked shocked. And wasn't that just great. "Years?" Leonardo muttered, as Donatello burrowed his hypothetical brows and stepped closer to Mikey, inspecting him. Raph spoke up next, "But we went through the portal like, fifteen seconds behind you?" He had made it out as a question, but Mikey knew it wasn't.
"Hah, right." Mikey chortled sarcastically. "I'm supposed to believe that, huh? I'm not stupid." The last part was muttered with a sort of resentment that nobody seemed to pick up on. Raph scoffed, before Donnie spoke. "Where did all of these scars come from? Why do you have hair? What do you mean when you say 'years'? Can I study your Kraang hat when we get back to the lair?" Mikey perked up at that.
"The lair?" He questioned, excitement and relief flooding through him, replacing all of the anger he felt a moment sgo. "We-we can go home? You're really bringing me home?" Donnie and Leo exchanged a glance at his words.
"Yeah, after we find Leatherhead," Leo said, stepping towards Mikey and Donnie. "You said you've been here a while, and we will be talking about that later, but for now, do you have any idea where Leatherhead might be?" Mikey nodded to Leo's question, but spoke before any of his brothers could ask exactly where.
"I haven't been able to get in though, it's really heavily guarded," He paused for a moment before continuing. "There's hundreds, maybe thousands of Kraang troops inside, and they have tanks and weapons and all kinds of defences. Not to mention Traag and Granitor.." Mikey groaned at the thought of the stone warriors. "They always seem to show up right when I get there, and they're almost impossible to get through on my own. I haven't gotten past the Kraang army yet, but.. " He looked around at his brothers.
"You- you guys can help! I know all the ins and outs of that place, I'll tell you where to go, but you guys need to listen to me, okay?" Mikey asked, hoping with everything in him that they would trust him. Raph looked sceptical, and Leo didn't seem like he wanted to give up his position as leader, even just for a little while. Donnie was the only one who seemed to consider his ability.
"Please, you guys need to trust me," Mikey assured. " I-I need you to trust me. We need to get Leatherhead, and we need to go home. I'm the only one here who knows anything about this place, so I'm kinda your only option." He handed out a grapplepillar to each of his brothers before turning towards the direction of the the Kraang detention centre. "Like this," he said, squeezing the grapplepillars body so that it's tongue shot out and latched onto a nearby island.
He turned back after he landed to see if his brothers had agreed to his plan, and fortunately they had. "How'd you know how these bug things work?" Raph spoke, amazement slipping out through his bad-boy facade. Mikey felt pride well up in his chest at the thought that he could do something that his older brothers couldnt. 'Are they older?' He thought, though it didn't fully register to him.
"Just seemed kinda obvious," Mikey grinned. "Mikey, you're, like, a genius here," Mikey beamed at the praise from his brother in red. It wasn't exactly something he had heard in a while. "Hey, in crazy backward land, crazy backward dude is king," He held up his grapplepillar. "They're 'tasty' too," he said, finger quotes justified as he flipped the bug around and squeezed out some of its juice into the floor. The disgusted looks on his brothers faces made Mikey laugh.
"They're the only things to eat here that don't cause immediate and immense pain," He explained. "You either get used to it," he turned his back to his brothers, preparing to swing to the next island. "Or you become malnourished and get captured by the Kraang. The choice is yours," With that, he squeezed the grapplepillar and swung to the island that lead to the detention centre where Leatherhead was being held. Behind him, His brother's shared a look of concern, or maybe confusion, before they followed after Mikey.
After maybe 20 minutes of travel, the turtles reached the detention centre. Mikey went to check the place out, leaving Leo, Raph and Donnie to their own devices. "Something's up with him," Raph declared, and Leo nodded. "But what is up with him?" He muttered. Donnie walked up to them from where he was inspecting the crystal trees. "Something most likely happened to him in the time he spent here," He suggested. "When we find Leatherhead, I'm going to ask him how long he's been here to deduce how big of a temporal differential there really is," He took out his T-Phone, checking for a signal and groaning in dismay when he got no connection.
"Mikey seems to only know that it's been years for him, and Leatherhead has been here for far longer. If a mere fifteen seconds was years...." Donnie trailed off, fiddling with his T-Phone to try and get a signal. "Great." Raph groaned, sarcasm lacing his voice. "Now Mikey's your test subject, wonderful," He grabbed Donnie's T-Phone and threw it to Leo. "Did you forget about the impending invasion that is currently heading out way!?" Before Donnie could respond, Mikey returned from his stake out, hanging upside down on a tree branch.
"Dudes, quit your squabbling," Mikey said, his voice hushed as to not be heard by the Kraang. "I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news," he declared, swinging down from the free and joining his brothers. They looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "Well, what's the good news?" Leo asked, prompting his brother to speak. "There's thousands of Kraang droids in there," He said enthusiastically. "I said good news," Leo sighed.
"I know," Mikey said. "That's the bad news," He pointed behind him, where the rock warrior Traag was approaching. Beside him was another rock warrior, who looked completely like Traag other than being pink and having blue eyes. "I got this, just stay put!" Mikey exclaimed, running towards the rock warriors. "Donnie, go right! Raph go left! Move!" Leo commanded, and the three remaining turtles ran forward to attack alongside Mikey.
Leo climbed on top of Granitor, evading his and Traag's attacks. He successfully knocked Granitor down after a particularly strong kick, but was then harshly grabbed by the remaining giant. "Hey, Traag! Put him down! Now!" He heard Mikey yell, before he saw an onslaught of what Mikey called his 'Bang rocks' hurled and exploded against Traag's arm. He dropped from the stone warrior's grip, and landed next to his brothers.
"I told you, I've got this!" Mikey hissed, charging towards Traag to finish him off. "He's so.." "Un-Mikey-ish?" " Exactly," The three watched as Mikey fought off Traag and the recently recovered Granitor with his bang rocks, ready to jump in at any moment. Just as Mikey was about to knock the two giants over the edge of the island, Traag roared, louder than he had until now, and swatted Mikey out of the air as if he were but an insect. Mikey's startled yell abruptly cut out as his shell hit a tree and he dropped to the ground.
Raph yelled Mikey's name, and he and Donnie ran towards where he hit the crystal tree. Leo hurriedly collected some of the bang rocks that Mikey had dropped and threw them all at the rock warrior's faces, knocking them back into the abyss, before he ran to his brothers. Mikey was out cold, Raph was panicking and Donnie was assessing Mikey's injuries. "He hit the tree with his shell, check his shell!" Leo yelled, sliding to a stop in front of them.
Donnie nodded, making a sound of agreement, and told Raph to help him flip Mikey onto his plastron. Leo took out his T-Phone and gently opened Mikey's eyes to check for any signs of a concussion with the torch, and fortunately, there was none. He looked back up just as Donnie entangled Mikey's cloak from where it was trapped under the orange clad turtle. He glanced up at Leo and Raph for a moment, a bit of fear seeping through his carefully crafted mask. Leo nodded at him, and Raph averted his gaze. Donnie gently grasped the edge of Mikey's cloak.
After a moment's hesitation, he pulled it back, and his heart dropped.