Chapter Text
A small town in the state of New York was abandoned.
The afternoon sun set a warm glow to ransacked stores, glinting off dirty and broken windows. The unkept streets were littered with weeds and faded papers of missing persons, and the utter lack of life left the ghost town a rather unsettling spell powered by that burning ball in the sky.
On billboards hung reminiscent flashes of what life could’ve been once upon a time. Ballet signups, car rental advertisements, new items that would soon come to McDonalds but clearly never did.
It would be easy to imagine a people that had been happy. Families going to dinner at the local restaurant down the street, Couples exploring the thrift shop to the left.
But now the place was barren, an empty shell, a mere reflection of a civilization that disappeared.
Something had happened here. Something catastrophic.
Nobody had been left.
. . .Or maybe ‘nobody’ wasn’t entirely accurate.
The pass of a shadow could be seen through the window of the local pharmacy. Despite the swift bolt down the isles, the wrapped soles of the creature rendered his footfalls soundless.
He was a peculiar looking thing, humanoid in shape, but alien in every other feature. A slim and form fitting shell clutched to his back, his limbs and face round and pudgy as he was merely a small child. Reptilian though his skin made him seem, a tuft of white blonde fur stuck up from the top of his head where someone had tried and failed to tame it.
The child came to a careful stop in front of a rather normal human boy.
His small fingers — four of them — tugging at the older’s beige sweatshirt. The palm of his right hand shaped in the letter ‘C’ hit the tip of his left pointer finger before he made a quick ‘V’ and moved it away from his eyes.
<<Junior, look!>>
The raven haired boy looked down at the other, and the child held up the toy spaceship he had previously set at his feet to sign, still dressed in plastic packaging.
Junior picked up the package, looking back up as his little brother signed: <<How we’ll get away.>>
Junior smiled, huffing softly as if wanting to laugh. He set down the toy on one of the shelves and tapped his head before moving his hand up with the letter ‘y’.
<<Very creative, Yume.>>
Yume beamed, wiggling where he stood before grabbing the spaceship from the shelf and running off to some other part of the building.
Casey Junior watched as he rounded the corner and out of view before adjusting the hearing aid in his ear and taking a few rolls of gauze from the shelf.
He made his way down the tiled isles, careful not to accidentally step on any fallen autumn leaves that had blown inside from the open doorway.
Within moments the teen found himself at the check out counter, where his dad, Leonardo, and little sister Emi were sitting.
Emi had gotten sick a couple days earlier. While the initial nausea and dizziness had been brushed off as a small bug, the persistent fever was worrisome, a big factor as to why they’d taken the day trip into town.
That and Uncle Donatello had insisted on needing to get some things from the repair store.
Emi definitely looked the ill part, white fur puffed out from under her clothes and around her shell, floppy ears framing her face alongside moist bangs.
Junior waited while the red eared slider sifted through pill bottles and medical prescriptions. His movements were slow and methodical, kneeling down to read the labels while sliding unwanted medicines to the side, careful not to make a sound.
His free hand rested on Emi’s knee, who was propped up against the back wall, wrapped in a warm coat two sizes too big. Leo’s coat.
He rubbed soothing circles with his thumb, an absentminded gesture he probably didn’t even realize he was doing.
Finally, Leo pulled away to untwist the cap to a bottle labeled with a long name none of them could properly pronounce. Meticulously, he picked out two colored pills before handing them to Emi, reaching for a water bottle next to help her swallow.
It was in that motion, turning around to open his backpack, that he noticed Junior.
The slider paused, one end of his blue winter scarf slipping off his bare shoulder. His fingers hovered over the zipper as Junior gestured to the gauze, signing, <<We needed more of this, right?>>
Leo smiled, nodding once before raising his hands. <<Thank you.>>
The air seemed to bend around the hardly audible buzz of Leo unzipping the bag. He handed an uncapped water bottle to Emi, then reached up to take the supplies off the counter and gently set it inside the bag.
A shadow crossed over the counter then, blocking out the low hanging light of the sun. Leo hardly glanced up as Junior felt a tap on his shoulder.
Towering over him was his uncle Dee, pulling down his facemask as he gave a small, emotionless wave. His expression always stayed neutral, but the fact that he uncovered it to communicate was a thoughtful gesture nonetheless.
He held up a pair of brand new, army green pliers, holding it out to his nephew. <<I found these. Would you like them?>>
Junior grinned from ear to ear, almost giddily taking the gift into his hands. He hugged his uncle from the side, and though the softshell most definitely rolled his eyes, the quiet vibrations of the churr in his chest gave his content heart away.
Leo stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants.
<<Hope you found what you were looking for, Don-tron.>> He always made a point of signing out the whole nickname, <<It’s gonna be dark soon, so let’s make like a tree and ‘leaf’.>>
Donnie glared. Leo blinked innocently.
Without a word, Donnie pulled a navy blue hoodie from his satchel bag and tossed it at Leo’s chest. The price tag was still attached. <<Put it on.>>
Leonardo huffed, but the amused glint in his eyes was still present as he slipped the hoodie over his head. The front had white lettering that read ‘Keepin It Reel’ with the silhouette of a fish on a hook. Apparently there was a fishing store nearby.
The slider did a little spin to show off the new apparel, and Casey gave a thumbs up in approval.
Then the atmosphere chilled.
Donatello glanced over his shoulder and went stiff as a board. Leo’s eyes looked only a moment of playful confusion toward his twin before his gaze landed on something behind Casey. His smile immediately dropped.
The boy’s heart rate immediately spiked, as past experiences had prepared him for the worst — but when he turned around, he found a wide eyed Yume looking back and forth between the two adults.
In his hands, he had managed to free the toy spaceship from its packaging.
Slowly, Leonardo raised his hands to the young child. <<Stop.>>
His son didn’t dare move, knowing the expression on the older turtle’s face well, and that whatever was going on was serious.
Without so much as turning a centimeter of a degree away from Yume’s direction, Leo stepped out from behind the counter. His hands were still raised. As he walked past, Donatello put a firm hand on Casey Jr’s shoulder to steer him back into the softshell’s chest, and the boy couldn’t quite swallow down the unease in his stomach.
Gently, Leo knelt down in front of his boy. He carefully took the toy from Yume’s arms, turning it upside down to find the panel underneath. He opened it with a ginger sort of care, easing out the two double A batteries nestled inside at a painstaking pace.
Only once they were out and set on the counter did the Slider finally release the breath he had been holding.
Yume’s brow was furrowed, confused and a little sad that his toy couldn’t risk being able to turn on. Leo ran his hands up the kid’s arms before holding the back of his skull to give his forehead a quick peck.
<<I’m sorry,>> he signed, tilting Yume’s chin up to make sure he was watching, <<Too loud.>>
Yume still pouted a bit, eyes falling to the ground. He was young and despite his vague understanding of the seriousness of the situation, was still disappointed. His father knew this.
Leo’s eyes lingered a moment longer before exhaling through his nose. The corner of his mouth twitched in an apologetically fond sort of way before setting the toy next to the batteries and patting the child’s shoulder. Once again, he was standing.
//
Donatello was tasked with carrying the majority of the supplies. He had his satchel, along with a second backpack and two additional cloth bags, one in each hand.
It was a collection of odd trinkets, from miscellaneous tools and hardware items to extra blankets and clothing to keep warm once the weather began to cool. There were also farming tools, plant food, the likes for Donnie’s exploration in botany (all in the name of developing a more reliable food source, though they all knew he really just wanted to play mad scientist since he couldn’t rely on his tech as much anymore.)
Meanwhile Leo’s pack held the medical supplies, and in his arms was Emi sleepily dozing off.
The twins led the small party out of the pharmacy, but Junior hesitated when Yume didn’t immediately follow suit.
The boy was still staring at his now empty space ship laying abandoned on the counter, and Casey couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity.
His mind started to turn some gears. His uncle had taught him some basic technician and mechanic knowledge. And even if he couldn’t figure out himself how to switch off the sound features, he could at the very least go to Donnie for some help.
It was a simple matter of clipping the right wire. There was no harm in allowing his little brother to keep the toy.
Casey Jr. retraced his steps, tapping the top of Yume’s head to get his attention.
The older boy took the spacecraft from where it lay and handed it back to Yume, and grinned as that joyful sparkle returned to the small yokai-mutant’s eyes. He held a finger to his lips.
It was their little secret.
Casey didn’t notice as he turned away how Yume glanced at the batteries still sitting on the counter.
He couldn’t hear the whisper of a clack as Yume put the batteries in his pocket.
//
At the edge of town, the woods surrounding it threatened to creep in, just over the border between civilization and wilderness from lack of upkeep.
The family followed the road for a short while, Leonardo and Donatello both keeping their eyes and ears strained for any sort of movement or clicks.
Eventually, they veered off to the side where a wide dirt path parted through the sea of green. Along this path was a trail of white sand, aiding in muffling the footfalls of the little party, as well as protecting bare feet from the biting foliage.
Leo made a show of taking his first steps onto the beach-adjacent path, cautious yet over exaggerated. He glanced over his shoulder with a broad grin that made his eyes bright and lively, though his twin only met the expression with a disapprovingly raised brow. Leon’s shoulders shook from a silent laugh.
He turned his attention back to the sand up front.
As they traveled through the woods, Casey’s eyes wandered over his surroundings. The low hanging branches swayed gently in the breeze, heavy from the full load of leaves mere days away from dumping — they’d have to clear them away from their sand trail.
Vines and moss were spreading up tree bark and over the tops of boulders and stones.
Casey liked this time of year. When the world seemed to yawn and grow sleepy, preparing itself for a long rest through the cold winter months.
It was the most peaceful his world had been since any of this had started. The first month had been chaotic, a terrible nightmare where nobody really knew how to survive and scrambled for any semblance of safety. But now they’d finally begun to settle into a new norm, a new way of living.
For a moment, Casey Jr. allowed himself to relax. No, safe wasn’t the right word for this, it never really would be anymore. But it was closely beginning to resemble comfortable.
The path merged with a separate dirt road, meeting in the middle to cross a bridge hanging over long forgotten train tracks. Where the trains had once come from, and where they rested now was uncertain. It was a phantom of a memory now.
The metal beams framing the overpass loomed in a quiet steadiness, like eternal giants that would overlook the valley for generations to come.
Somewhere in the distance, a bird tweeted, and Leonardo looked up to the sky on instinct.
He took a deep breath, taking in the fresh, New York country air.
There were things he missed about the city, sure. But nature stood its own ground when it came to the stunning beauty.
Beauty that cracked like glass when an echoing blare shot through the silence.
It was as if time itself had come to a stuttering stop. The slider’s heart had frozen to a chunk of ice that only seemed to expand as he turned around, restricting his lungs.
There was Yume, at the foot of the bridge. The lights of his spacecraft blinked like some sick Christmas ornament, a dizzying, disgustingly melodious barrage of sound effects slipping from its built-in speaker.
Leo couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t. . .
. . . . .No.
. . .no. .no no no—
Donatello reacted faster than his twin did.
The moment the scientist heard the melody, he dropped the bags in his hands with a muffled clatter, bolting back down the overpass as fast as his legs could carry him.
Casey hardly noticed as his uncle brushed past him at lightning speed, too overcome with a horrified malady. For him, there was no singing machine, but the stabbing light show was inference enough.
Donnie ripped the swinging satchel off his shoulders, quickly forgotten on the ground that soon distanced itself the farther and harder he ran.
He had to reach that toy. Turn the blasted thing off before it was too late—
His heart was pounding in his chest, hammering so strong against his ribs that he was sure they were going to crack.
The current of blood that rushed through his ears wasn’t loud enough to block out the snapping of trees and crashing force pummeling towards them through the forest at an alarming speed.
If anything, it encouraged the softshell to move faster.
Leo on the other hand was rooted to the spot, clutching Emi tightly to his chest that was sure to bruise had she not been wearing so many layers.
His throat was constricted, his mind begged his legs to move. He was a faster sprinter than Donnie, he could get there quicker, please, anyone but his little boy—
But he wouldn’t move.
Donnie could see it in his peripheral vision now, the glint of something big and slimy and terrifyingly powerful. He gritted his teeth, yanking his mask down to help him get more air.
His eyes were blown wide, downright feral as he tried to reach Yume, whose back was turned while his raised arm helped the ship of death glide through the air.
Ten yards became nine yards, which shrunk to five yards, nine feet and four inches, and then—
A sickening thunk.
. . .
. . . . .
. . .Leonardo shut his eyes, swallowing thickly the sob he hid in Emi’s shoulder as he sank to his knees.
Donatello came to a stumbling, numbing halt.
All Casey Jones Jr. could do was stare, eyes wet and impossibly wide at the empty space where his brother had just stood.
All that remained was the toy spacecraft, its panel snapped off from the force of hitting the ground.
One of the batteries had dislodged, settled in a small pool of blood.
Yume was gone.
Once again casting them in the brutal sound of silence.