Chapter Text
Leo watched as his brother’s fell, feeling a small bit of relief when he saw the tell-tale red glow of Raph’s Ninpo forming around them as they plummeted out of the sky toward the city below. They’d be ok, their big brother was there to keep Mikey and Donnie safe. But he was alone. With That.. They must’ve done at least some damage to the Krang in their fight, they had to. Mikey threw a whole God damn building at it for fuck’s sake! But no, Leo could see it over the vast distance they’d managed to get thanks to the Technodrome’s massive, planetary size. No, it was still there. That piercing red gaze searing directly through him, freezing him in place.
Not like he could move much anyway. Leo had taken a hard landing after the Kraang had countered his and his brother’s last attack. He was pretty certain he was concussed, if the pounding in his head was any indication and he could taste blood in his mouth. Not to mention how hard it was becoming to breathe. Leo could still fight though, the plan was still in motion…even if he had to do it on his own now..But how could he? The Kraang looked like it barely had a scratch on it, they’d put everything they’d had into the last move and look where it got them. Still in the same position. There had to be a way to beat the Kraang and keep his brothers safe.
“Sensei, I’m here,” Casey’s voice cuts Leo out of his spiraling thoughts, “And I’ve got eyes on the key!” He exclaims, sounding a little more hopeful than Leo had heard the boy sound since this whole thing started. “Just tell me when you’re home free and I’ll pull the plug!” He can hear him running, Casey must be putting himself in position to fulfill the plan they’d come up with together. Get the Kraang across the portal and close the gate, lock that monster back in its prison dimension where it belongs.
Leo feels his heart drop into his stomach as his eyes snap up at the sound of heavy metal footsteps. The Kraang is coming closer, slowly, like a predator that knows its prey is on its last legs. The bright pink ring of the portal blends into the magenta sky behind it, whatever fumes the Technodrome is spewing out must really be messing with the atmosphere. But it's the red of the Kraang Suit’s eye that pierces through him, and even though he can’t actually see it from this distance, Leo knows that Kraang’s own eyes are boring into him as well.
It's then, Leo realizes, in a small moment of soul shattering horror, that it won’t work. Their plan won’t work. Not like this at least. “Casey, listen to me,” He starts, bringing his wrist communicator close so he can speak hopefully without the Kraang hearing him. Don’t want it to clue into our little game. “When I get to the otherside..You close that door.” he says with the finality of someone who won’t take no for an answer. For this to work, he needs all of them to let him do this.
Casey protests. Of course he does, none of them want this to happen. But Leo needs them to know that this is the only way, “He’s too strong. He’s not gonna stay on the other side unless I keep him there.” Leo explains, he tries to keep his voice steady. He’ll need his confidant facade to convince them that he knows what he’s doing. Sure he’s kinda winging it, but kinda winging it has always kinda been his thing. That’s how he got them into this whole mess right? It makes sense that this is how he fixes it.
He hears Raph join in alongside Casey, “Leo! Please don’t do this!” he begs, and it rips Leo’s heart open to hear his big brother sound so scared. ”Leo!?” Raph calls again, and Leo bites hard on his lip, swallowing the lump in his throat. He lets out a forced chuckle, attempting to play up his nonchalance. “You’re one to talk Big Bro, hero moves are totally your style.”
Leo stands, leaving his communicator line open so he can call to Casey as soon as they’re past the gate. The Kraang is laughing as it stands before him, towering above Leo as he leans on his katana for support in heaving himself up. Everything spins for a second, a dizzying experience with the rip in space taking up most of Leo’s vision. “Out matched and alone, yet you persist. For what? Honor? Redemption? Sacrifice?” It drolls, tossing its arms about theatrically, God this guy is annoying. Leo steels himself, adjusting his stance so he can move in an instant, every nerve sitting on edge just waiting. This has to work.
“All. Meaningless.” The Kraang enunciates each syllable in an attempt to drive its point home. Leo’s having none of it. He flips one of his katana around for a more offensive grip, “We’ll see about that.” He growls, taking a deep breath and tapping into his Ninpo. He feels it surge through him, an ever familiar warmth and tingling fills his limbs with the extra burst of energy he needs to do this. Leo jets forward, the Kraang makes a horrible screeching noise and lunges forward as well to meet him.
Leo dodges the claw coming at him from above, sliding onto his knees and skidding right through the Kraang suit’s legs and creating a portal right in front of him with a quick slice through the air. The Krang rears back over its shoulder to try and follow his movements but that’s exactly what Leo was relying on. His exit portal tears into existence right in front of the Kraang’s face and as it turns, Leo winds back his arm, putting all his strength into whipping his katana straight at the Kraang. It's able to recover from his confusion tactics in time to side step his sword and send it arcing off into the distance behind it.
It's fast, too fast for Leo to keep track of as it grabs his whole body in its metal claws, the sharp edges digging into his arms as it grips him tightly. He’s thrown hard into the surface of the Technodrom, leaving a crater that he bounces out of due to his momentum. He tries to turn over but the Kraang is above him too quickly and slams its foot into him, stomping him into the ground beneath it. White hot pain explodes along his back as he cries out, all the air being forced from his lungs at the pressure on his plastron.
“Leo..Please!” Oh right, the communicator is still open. “I-I can’t lose you again.” Casey’s voice is small, and breaking with how heavy his emotions are weighing on him.
Leo knows that his future self died. And even though he doesn’t have all the details, he knows that Casey loved him. He could hear it every time the kid spoke about his master. His eyes sparkled with admiration even when he was just looking at Leo himself. The greatest ninja who ever lived, huh?
Leo knows what he needs to hear. Hell, it's what Leo himself needed to hear. It was the least he could do. For Casey. “Hey. Future me would be proud of you. I’m proud of you.” Leo says softly. His chest hurts, whether from the weight of his own guilt or the increasing pressure of the Kraang pressing down on him, it was hard to tell.
“Weak words. Weak Actions!” The Kraang presses in harder, forcing pained whimpers out of the red slider. Cracking sounds reverberate in his skull as pain ignites down his spine. “I have forever known what you fail to understand. STRENGTH always prevails!” Each word punctuated by another hard shove further into the ground beneath Leo.
He can’t breathe.
He can’t breathe! Its now or never!
Leo lifts his remaining katana and stabs it as hard as he can into the Kraang suit’s foot, wrapping his arm around one of the claws with a strong grip. “What you fail to understand is-” He channels all of his Ninpo into his sword, the reflection of his markings lighting up glowing against the metal of the suit. One more time! Please! “-I missed on purpose!” His Ninpo flows down the sword and into the suit as Leo tightens his grip on his katana. The smell of ozone fills his nose as lightning crackles around them before they’re both pulled to Leo’s other katana.
The one he’d thrown as far as he could directly into the prison dimension.
He hears the Kraang cry out but he’s so absolutely elated that it actually worked he doesn’t hear exactly what it's saying. That is until it's reaching for him, wrenching his katanas out of his hands and tossing them haphazardly into the abyss behind it. Pain blooms across his face as it strikes him, chasing him through the zero gravity they’ve found themselves in. It's still speaking to him but all Leo can hear is his heart beat thundering against his tympana. It grabs him around the neck and Leo knows its time.
He brings his communicator up. “Casey! Close the portal now!” he commands, hoping, praying that Casey will listen to him. When it doesn’t close right away Leo feels panic rise up in his chest, constricting his breath even more than the Kraang suit’s hand around him. Then he’s tossed aside as the suit tries to make a beeline toward the portal. Leo lunges forward, grabbing onto whatever he can to stop the Kraang’s movement even if just for a second. He finds a hold in, eugh.. Unfortunately the Kraang’s open mouth, grabbing onto the side of its cheek and yanking himself closer to hold on. “LET GO OF ME!” it roars, slamming its fist into Leo’s head and making it collide with the side of the suit.
It hurts, “Casey!” The Kraang hits him again and his vision goes out for a moment as his ears start ringing. It hurts so much! “PLEASE!” Leo begs.
Then, a quick flash of pink flares out from the center of the portal and the air around them ripples with energy. All any of them can do now is watch as the portal snaps tight around the Technodrome, squeezing it until its structural integrity can’t handle it anymore. The resulting explosion is probably the brightest thing Leo’s ever seen. He has to close his eyes as pain erupts behind them.
Definitely concussed. Time for a one liner. “You’ve been portal chopped!” Nailed it.
Leo lets go of the Kraang, he doesn’t need to keep it here anymore, neither of them can ever leave again after all. His family will make sure the Key stays safe and hidden. They’ll keep Earth safe from the devastation that the Kraang caused in the future.
The shockwave from the explosion finally hits them, sending both Leo and the Kraang hurtling even deeper into the prison dimension. Huge metal spires and dead Technodrome litter the space, it's a literal graveyard for what once was an entire army of Kraang. Leo and his brothers could barely handle three, he didn’t want to know what an entire fleet could do.
Leo has no control over his body. His head is pounding and he’s already dizzy so spinning through space is SO not helping that.
Luckily he doesn’t have to suffer that for long. He lands roughly on some sort of surface, tumbling head over heels, each impact reigniting the white hot pain along his shell before he finally comes to a hard stop against some sort of steel girder. He must’ve lost consciousness for a moment because the next thing he knows, the Kraang is upon him again, chuckling maniacally almost, “And now, my wrath shall be reserved for you alone.” the words dripped from its mouth like poison, sending chills down Leo’s spine and a horrible feeling of pure dread set in.
The first hit cracks across his jaw, snapping his head to the side and causing him to see stars. The next are a barrage, each strike making him cry out. “You think you’ve won? YOU WRETCHED LITTLE PEST!” The Kraang shouts as it brings its interlocked fists down onto Leo’s plastron. The ground they’re on gives way at the impact, causing them to fall to another level of whatever structure they’re in and Leo feels his plastron crack when the Kraang lands on top of him.. So that’s why my shell hurts.
As his vision stops swimming, Leo notices the picture in his hand. He doesn’t remember pulling it out but seeing them, seeing his family all smiling and happy. April had just gotten accepted into the local college and they were all so proud of her they just had to take a photo. They hadn’t even gotten it developed yet when Casey showed up, that's why Leo didn’t recognize it at first. But seeing it now, seeing how happy they all were. It brakes his heart, knowing what this was going to do to them. When Raph sacrificed himself to the Kraang, Leo had been so terrified he could barely contain himself, hell he nearly got his other two brothers killed trying to undo another one of his fuck ups. No. This was for the best. He could do this for them, give them the lives they deserved, where they can be happy and go to college and have families of their own. They would understand in time that Leo had made his choice, to right his wrongs and make up for all the hurt he’d caused by letting the key get taken in the first place. And even before that too. His brothers have never needed him like he needed them. And he’s ok with that, it was why he had to be the one to do this.
Leo swallows around the lump in his throat, his eyes stinging as he finally, finally let his tears fall. He’s scared. Scared of the pain, scared of dying alone.
But knowing that his family is safe, he can’t help but smile.
“WIPE THAT GRIN OFF YOUR FACE!” The Kraang roars, slamming his fists into Leo again.
They must’ve been on some type of engine block because the impact causes this Technodrome to explode as well, catapulting Leo through the cold space. He just wants it to be over. Just let it end...please.
Leo clutches the photograph close to his heart, hoping that any residual love from his family can reach across dimensions through this tiny photo and give him just a little bit of comfort in his final moments. He can see the Kraang coming for him again. Its claws reaching out all around and closing in on him. Leo closes his eyes. But instead of the piercing pain he was expecting, he hears the clang of metal and a grunt of effort that definitely doesn’t belong to the Kraang. He’d say it almost sounded like himself, but he can barely move let alone deflect an attack? Leo peels one of his eyes open, god that was getting hard. His vision is blurry and full of black spots but there’s…someone in front of him? But who else is here? He thought there were only Kraang in the prison dimension. Who can actually hold off an attacking Kraang?
Their shape is familiar, it almost reminds Leo of Raph, broad shoulders and a large shell with markings that make Leo’s brain short circuit. It must be some kind of hallucination his brain is playing for him while he dies, it has to be that’s the only explanation that makes sense. There's no other reason his markings would be on the shell in front of him.The figure brandishes a large odachi, color cascading off the hilt that makes Leo’s head spin in shades of red and purple. The Kraang roars but it sounds like it's underwater and black starts to creep in around Leo’s consciousness. The figure looks back over their shoulder at him and he catches a glimpse of blue with red underneath.
Definitely a hallucination.
And Leo lets himself sink into the dark.
–…Moments before Leo engaged with Kraang Prime alone, years into the future…–
“Mikey, we need a time gateway.” Leonardo hates saying it. Hates what he was asking his little brother to do. If there was literally any other way, Leonardo would take it in a heartbeat. But no, as the Kraang close in around them he knows. It has to be now.
His brother’s expression changes, falling from attentive and firm to something much softer, much younger looking for just a moment before settling on understanding and determination. “It’ll take everything I have.” Michelangelo states, Leonardo knows too well what he truly means. “I know, but it's our last chance…our only chance.” he grunts out, the wound in his side sending signals to his body that it needs attention. He shoves it aside, he needs to focus.
Michelangelo nods and moves off, away from Leonardo and Casey, the latter calling after his master in an effort to understand what they were speaking about. Leonardo had never told Casey about this plan. This plan was really never supposed to happen, a fail safe last ditch effort kind of plan. But it had always been the plan to send Casey. The kid had been born into hell on earth and even though he was strong because of it, Leonardo and Michaelangelo had both understood that he should be the one to go back, that he could still be saved.
“Casey, listen.” Leonardo gestures for Casey to join him on the ground, standing is probably a bad idea anyway with all the blood he’s been losing on their trek over here. The air shifts around them, growing unnaturally warm, but not in an oppressive way. Like stepping out into the sun on the first warm day of spring, comforting. Michelangelo’s mystic powers always felt like that, even when he was using it to roast Krang hounds on the battlefield, its heat never harmed those he didn’t want to. But Leonardo can’t pay attention to that now, Casey needs to understand his mission.
Leonardo digs into the pouch on his hip for the photo of his family while he explains in few details how the Kraang first arrived on their world. He stares at the young faces in the photo, April having just been accepted into college, his brothers and father all around her wearing proud smiles…himself looking elated and leaning toward the camera to take up just a little bit more of the frame in a small act of vanity. He swallows around the feeling building in his throat, pushing past the memories and continuing on with his explanation of the Key, sketching out a detailed rendering of it on the back of the photo with a piece of charcoal. Like he could ever forget what it looked like.
“Why are you telling me this?” Casey asks quietly, taking the photo once Leonardo hands it to him.
“Because Mikey is about to send you back to the day that the key was stolen.” Leonardo explains, sitting up a little straighter as Casey voices his confusion. A bright flash of orange light flares up in Leonardo’s peripheral vision but he ignores it, he has to ignore it. It's hard, every fiber of his being is screaming at him to stop Michaelangelo, but he pushes on. “The people who stole that key opened the doorway for the Kraang. You have to find it before that happens. Find the Key, Stop the Kraang.” Leonardo says firmly and concisely. Casey tries to protest but Leonardo snaps, grabbing the boy’s shoulder roughly and demanding he say it back to him. “Find the Key, Stop the Kraang.” He repeats, a little unsure of himself.
Leonardo relaxes a bit and smiles, the blood loss must be getting to him if he feels like he can relax now, but that small light of hope he keeps as embers in his heart just got a little more oxygen.
He pats Casey’s shoulder and the boy grabs his arm to keep it there just a moment longer. “I-I don’t want to lose you.” He stutters out, his eyes brimming with tears he tries to hold back. Leonardo can only sigh, he knew this conversation would come eventually, especially after Donnetello. “Casey, it's not about me-” Leonardo’s cut off by a terrible screech as the pair are doused in crimson light. The Kraang were upon them. Leonard’s grip tightens protectively on Casey’s shoulder as he looks up to see a squad of Kraang Suits towering above them.
He hauls himself to his feet, using his odachi as a support while Casey revs up his hockey saw. There’s too many of them. Leonardo thinks to himself only to feel his stomach drop as more climb over the rubble behind them. “Mikey?” Leonardo calls out, finally glancing over to where his younger brother stood. In front of the box shell is a bright glowing portal, a slice into reality itself with cracks splintering off from the main source. Michelangelo is struggling, Leonardo can see that for himself. He sees his brother redjust his grip on nothing but air as he attempts to tear open the portal more, shouting at the effort it takes. That's when Leonardo can feel it, his brother’s Ninpo reaching out to him one last time, soft and warm in his chest. He lowers his sword as he watches, the same orange cracks in the air now quickly appearing all along Mikey’s limbs and head.
I love you Mikey, I’m right behind you.
Casey shouts, reaching out to Michaelangelo but is stopped when his master turns over his shoulder. He’s smiling, just like he always does in the face of this never ending nightmare. Michelangelo winks and turns back to the portal. With one last pull, Michelangelo rips open the portal completely, his arms flying out to his sides as his mystic powers overload and consume him, bursting into a flash of sunlight. Golden flakes of light fall around them and Leonardo can only stand there as his heart shatters into just as many pieces.
My baby brother. I’m so sorry.
Leonardo steels himself, there’s no time to grieve no matter how much he wants to collapse in on himself. Casey needs to go now. He grabs the boy's shoulder again, a firm grip on the armor piece there. “Casey, when you're done saving the world, do me a favor?” He doesn’t give Casey any time to actually respond as he throws the boy through the portal himself. To be 100% certain that he got through. “Grab a slice!” Leonardo shouts over Casey’s own surprised yell. He can’t look back, there are Kraang hounds on him now and he still needs to look good for his student, last man standing and all that. Leonardo blocks one with his prosthetic, slicing through another one’s jaw that tries to lock its teeth into his leg. The portal is closing and he can feel the heat from the Kraang Suit’s laser. He leaps forward into a roll, the overwhelming beam searing the edges of his scarf as he barely jumps out of the way in time.
As he rolls to his feet, the portal closes.
And everything goes to shit.
The earth beneath them shakes violently and Leonardo has to catch himself from tumbling over, stabbing his odachi into the dirt and clutching his wound momentarily when it protests all the extra movement he’s doing. But his confusion grows. The Earth’s tectonic plates haven’t shifted much in years, not to this extent at least, the Kraang’s terraforming made sure of that. So what caused the tremor? Even the Kraang have paused their assault.
That's when it all starts falling away. All of it, the ground, the Kraang, even the hellish red sky above them seems to be disappearing, going black as the light disintegrates out.
Leonardo feels panic rise in his chest, constricting his lungs as he takes a wild stab at what's happening, growing up a Jupiter Jim fan he’d seen his fair share of crazy sci-fi theories.. The timeline is collapsing. That had to be it. Sending Casey back had worked! But that means this time never happened, it no longer exists in reality so it's being destroyed. Leonardo knows there’s nowhere to run but he runs anyway. His fight or flight instincts landing firmly on flight. He rips his odachi out of the ground and moves to take a step in any direction, anywhere away from here.
But he doesn’t get the chance.
Right under his foot as he places it down, another, much larger, portal opens its gaping black maw beneath him. It's different than Michaelangelo’s, colder and darker with a bright pink light surrounding its border.
Leonardo plummets down into the dark, reaching back up toward the fading light of his dying world. Is this hell? He thinks, Is this what it's like to die? Falling into nothing forever?
He gets his answer relatively quick as he lands hard on something metal. He bounces a bit, the gravity here is much less that of Earth and he has to claw at the ground to get himself to stay still enough to get his bearings. When he’s finally able to look around it's like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over him. Everywhere he can see are ruined Technodrome and Kraang tech. Filling up most of the space with horrifying architecture.
But…they’re all dead? Where is he?
He pushes himself to his feet, looking around some more and gently cradling his side. He should really look at that when he has a chance, first he needs to figure out where he is. Leonardo jumps, propelling himself forward to land on another piece of ruined Technodrome and freezes when he hears crashing and what sounds like someone shouting. The slider frowns, his instincts telling him to move closer, pulling him toward whatever the source of that noise is.
“WIPE THAT GRIN OFF YOUR FACE!” Leonardo’s heartbeat picks up at the roar of anger that’s followed by a massive explosion. One of the Technodrome to his left explodes in a blinding flash of pink and blue. He has to shield his eyes for a moment before looking back over. That’s when he sees it, or them. Someone flying through space like they were just launched through a cannon and out of the wreckage flies a Kraang suit, a design Leonardo knows far too well.
Kraang Prime.
The ultimate leader of the Kraang’s crusade against the galaxy itself. Its sadistic and bloodthirsty nature just as apparent as the Sister but much more calculating and harder to predict. They’d only been able to get close to it once, and it didn’t go well to say the least. The stump of Leonardo’s arm aches at the memory and he subconsciously reaches up to his prosthetic shoulder.
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Krang Prime chuckles lowly to itself as the claws of its suit brush lightly against Leonardo’s arm, the sharp point dragging across the skin just deep enough to draw up little spots of blood. “Such a shame,” It hums, pulling away from Leonardo and standing up to the suit's full height just to look down on the slider. “For being the leader of this planet’s so-called ‘Resistance’,” It mockingly makes air quotes in front of itself, “You’re awfully weak. You rely so much on others, yet here you are, alone.” Kraang Prime draws out the last word, smirking at him before pacing away from where it has Leonardo strung up. “For days now we’ve seen no movement from your troops, no chatter on your little communication system. It's almost like they don’t care that you’ve been captured.” It hums, linking its claws behind its back,
“What good is a useless leader to a failing resistance anyway?”
Leonardo knows what it's trying to do, it's trying to make him doubt, to give up fighting and be taken. He knows it's wrong but its words hit so close to home. He has been captured for days and no rescue. They probably think he’s dead more than likely, which is for the better. No need to waste precious resources and manpower on him, his brothers would do what was smart and leave him to his fate. Still, Leonardo couldn’t fully extinguish that little flame of hope buried deep in his chest, that his big brother would swoop in and wrap him in his protective embrace, just like when they were small and Leonardo could feel safe again.
In an instant Kraang Prime is in his face, its claws coming up under his chin and craning his neck to look up at the pilot in the center of the suit. Krang Prime’s eyes gleam maliciously back at him. “I should just dispose of you now and drop your corpse on top of the first patrol we find.” It growls, gripping Leonardo’s jaw even tighter. Leonardo sneers and spits directly into Kraang Prime’s face. “Get it over with then!” He bites, pulling against his restraints, “Nothin’s worse than smelling your rank ass breath all day.” If he was going out, he’d at least get some pent up resentment out first.
Kraang Prime shoves his face away and Leonard’s neck twinges at the rough movement. But then Kraang Prime is laughing again, wiping its face and smiling menacingly at him. “ Oh you would like that wouldn’t you. Don’t worry, we’re going to have a little fun beforehand.” Its claws extend and clench around Leonardo’s right arm. His breathing picks up, becoming more frantic as he struggles against the suit’s iron grip. “Maybe I’ll send you in pieces~!”
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Leonardo shakes himself out of his memories, there’s no time for any of that now.
Kraang Prime is getting closer to the smaller figure. He needs to get closer too. Leonardo squares himself up before taking a running leap off the edge of the platform he’s on, moving quickly to intercept Kraang Prime. As he does so the figure it's chasing comes more into view and Leonardo’s heart drops into his stomach.
It's….him?
It is him, what other giant mutant turtles exist that wear blue bandanas? But he’s young, so much younger than Leonardo himself, he looks like a teenager. But Kraang Prime is after him? Kraang Prime didn’t even know he personally existed until he was 20.
Kraang Prime reaches out, aiming to grab the younger version of himself in its claws.
Leonardo is moving before he can really process what’s happening, using his odachi to parry the claws away and firmly planting himself between the Kraang and…well himself.
Kraang Prime looks stunned before boiling back into rage. “And now who might you be?” it sneers, looking down its non-existent nose at him. Leonardo twirls his odachi in his hand, letting his brothers’ masks dance in the movement and taking up a defensive stance in this low gravity space. The older slider looks back over his shoulder and his heart clenches. The younger version of himself is beat to all hell. Bleeding gashes on his arms, legs and face, his left knee is completely swollen and his plastron is cracked over his sternum, and that’s just what he can see. This poor kid…
Clenching his jaw, Leonardo turns back to the Kraang with a dangerous look in his eyes. If looks could kill, Kraang Prime would burst into flames on the spot.
“A man with nothing to lose.”
Leonardo tightens his grip on his sword before launching at the Kraang. Kraang Prime roars in indignation and goes to strike him but Leonard is no longer there, using his speed to out maneuver the suit and moving into its blind spot, easily accessible with the low gravity granting him the ability to get higher without as much effort. He rears back and stabs his odachi into the soft spot between the Kraang suit’s shoulder and arm, wrenching it sideways as Kraang Prime screeches in pain. If he can disable the suit, he may have a chance.
Kraang are quick and efficient fighters, but they’re soft and lack any natural armor unlike him and his brothers. That’s how they were able to take out the Brother.
Kraang Prime reaches back to grab at him and rakes its claws across the side of Leonardo’s head, very nearly missing his left eye as they leave bright crimson gashes in their wake. The slider hisses at the pain but doesn’t let up, twisting his sword deeper into the suit's weak spot until the arm finally gives way and comes off, earning another ear splitting screech from the Kraang within. He pulls his odachi back and slices it down like a golfer’s swing, lopping the head of the suit off and sending it careening out into dead space.
Kraang Prime screeches again as the suit malfunctions from the damage. Its long pink tentacles seep out from the pilot’s chassis and it launches itself up at Leonardo, successfully catching him off guard. It wraps an appendage around his neck tight and Leonardo reflexively reaches up to grab at it, trying to get any sort of give for air to get in his lungs. Kraang Prime is laughing, tightening its grip as it digs smaller, needle-like tentacles underneath Leonardo’s skin, the newly opened gashes on his head and face providing perfect access.
Leonardo screams at the invasive feeling, gripping the appendage around his throat tighter with his prosthetic hand.
Not this time, not again.
While Kraang Prime is momentarily distracted trying to probe his brain, Leonardo brings his sword in a sweeping arc up, holding onto the Krang’s tentacle so it can’t pull away at the last second, and slices through the thickest part of the arm. Kraang Prime makes a guttural wailing sound as it flails away from him, allowing Leonardo to pry the detached limb from around his throat, sucking in the oxygen his lung had been becoming desperate for. The little pin prick tentacles under his skin pull at his nerves as he tries to remove them in a rush, ripping them away from his skull and tossing the limb in disgust. The black blood of the Kraang oozes around them in zero gravity, like spots of darkness floating in an even darker abyss. Leonardo has the momentary wherewithal to realize what he’s just done and barks out a manic laugh. “HAH! Arm for an arm, BITCH!” He shouts, cackling at the small bit of revenge he’d been able to inflict. It still has five more.
Leonardo’s triumphant grin drops from his face.
Kraang Prime is nowhere to be seen.
Shit.. Leonardo whips around, trying to spot any sort of color among the ever larger expanse of metal and stone. His eyes scan every structure he can see, the panic in his chest growing by the second.
Shitshitshitshit where is it?
Leonardo lands on the nearest structure to regain his bearings. “Ok, don’t panic,” he says attempting to calm himself down, “Just breathe..” The slider takes a deep breath in through his nose and exhales through his mouth, repeating the process a few times and closing his eyes.
Now….listen.
The space they’re in is deathly quiet, not even the sound of creaking from the destroyed Kraang tech or the sound of them hitting each other could be heard. Everything is still here, even the air is still.
That's when he feels it. A shift in the air, something pushing off of something else and disturbing the stillness of everything. It doesn’t feel organic, it feels….Metallic.
Leonardo’s eyes fly open as his head snaps directly upwards. Where the once abandoned Kraang suit had been was empty space. The air shifts again directly in front of him and his instincts kick in. He lets his knees give out and drops backwards as Kraang Prime, having returned to its damaged suit, careens over him. Leonardo corrects his footing, turning to face the Kraang.
He stumbles, his vision tilting on its axis and he has to catch himself with his odachi to keep from fully falling over. He’s lightheaded, the adrenalin had allowed him to forget about the wound in his side but he was still bleeding and had been for a while. This fight can’t go on much longer.
Kraang Prime is coming at him again, and Leonardo finds himself frozen, staring the Kraang down. The look in its eyes is almost feral, full of rage and hatred. It chills Leonardo to the core. It only clicks in a second too late that he needs to MOVE! He brings his sword up to block but he’s not steady enough on his feet and the slider is sent flying, ping-ponging off of debris and wreckage until he hits something soft midair. Well, soft-er. Leonardo realizes that it's his younger self again so he grabs him, holding the boy close as they spin off into space.
Little Leo whines at the tight hold, oh thank God he’s not dead, and Leonardo looks down to see his own bleary eyes looking back at him. “...am..I dead?” The boy asks, his voice cracked and weak. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out myself.” Leonardo admits, adjusting his grip so he could cradle little Leo in his good arm and use his sword with his other. The Kraang is gone again but Leonardo knows that it's only a matter of time that he’ll be on the defensive again. He was already having a hard enough time alone, but now he needs to defend his younger self as well.
They need a way out.
Warmth spills down Leonardo’s back, filling him with a familiarity that hurts so much he has to bite his tongue to keep himself from sobbing. Mikey. It was his baby brother’s mystic energy. Maybe they really are dead and Mikey has come to guide them to whatever exists after…
The air around them heats up drastically and Leonardo readjusts his grip on his younger self, slipping the handle of his odachi into his left hand so he can use his right to support little Leo while he does. He doesn’t even get the chance to turn around to investigate, he’s grabbed from behind, his nerves tingling like electricity across his skin as a bright red constructed hand wraps fully around his middle. It's an energy he hasn’t felt in a long time but Leonardo doesn’t even notice any tears that escape. His attention is immediately drawn to the shadows in front of them. Without its head, the telltale red glow of the Kraang suit is almost impossible to see but Leonardo has fought these damn things for damn near two decades and he knows how they can blend into this kind of environment.
Kraang Prime roars as he launches himself at them, grabbing Leonardo’s prosthetic and preventing them from being pulled back further. The tension that’s immediately put on his arm is searing, all the connections from the robotic arm to his flesh and blood shoulder are being strained to the absolute limit. He hears his name called out but it doesn’t register who, the only thing he can think is GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!
A neon purple drill head comes spiraling from somewhere behind him and nails Kraang Prime square in the face, pushing it back with just that much more force. Leonardo screams as the connections give way and his prosthetic is ripped from his body.
Taking the last piece of his brother.
His voice tears out of his throat, “RAPH!”
The constructed hand holding him pulls him backwards, away as Kraang Prime gives chase again. But it's not fast enough now. The edges of a portal make their way across Leonardo’s vision as gravity suddenly takes hold. He’s falling, holding tightly to little Leo as they hit the ground.
Stars explode in his vision when Leonardo's head collides with the pavement, leaving him dazed on the ground. He lets his grip go slack and squeezes his eyes shut tightly to try and drive away the urgent need to pass out.
Not yet.
“Ewww, are we in Staten Island?” he hears his younger self joke and Leonardo’s eyes snap open. He sits up too quickly, making his vision swim again. His head is pounding in time with his heart, making him painfully aware of how fast it is. He brings his hand up to cradle his head only to hiss at the stinging sensation on the side. As he pulls his hand away to find blood on his fingers, “L…Leo?” someone next to him says and Leonardo freezes.
He can’t look.
No it's not real, it can’t be.
“Wait, who’s the big guy?” Donnie?
Leonardo turns slightly, out of the corner of his eye he can see them. He can’t get enough air.
His brothers. It's his brothers.
Raph is on his knees cradling little Leo close, looks like he lost consciousness again. Donnie is getting to his feet beside him and Mikey-, Oh Mikey. The box shell is crouching close to Leonardo, holding his hands out as if he was walking up on a stray animal.
He may as well be.
Leonardo scrambles backwards, his breathing picking up as he looks around. The sky looks blasted, like something huge exploded over New York and blew all the surrounding clouds away, revealing the blood red sky above the city. He can see the skyline from here, not broken and nuked out bones of his New York but alive, gleaming across the Hudson, though it doesn’t lack the obvious evidence of Kraang, especially coating Metro tower and the surrounding buildings.
Oh God…the invasion.
He looks back at his brothers with wide eyes, the ringing in his ears getting louder and louder, As he takes in their multiple injuries. Raph’s left eye is milky, there are tear marks over it and part of his shell is broken off, Donnie has bruises everywhere and dried blood on his shoulders and peeking out from where his battle shell connects. And Mikey’s arms are riddled with bleeding cracks going from his very fingertips all the way up his elbows, even still he shakily reaches out for Leonardo, coming closer.
He can’t do this.. He goes to push himself up, he needs to GET UP, putting his prosthetic hand down behind him to do just that only to fall flat when there’s nothing there. His arm is gone.
Raph’s arm is gone.
Leonardo scrambles to his feet and takes off, barely registering the calls of his brothers after him. This can’t be happening. He doesn’t know where he’s going but he doesn’t stop running. Every nerve in his body feels like it's on fire, begging him to stop, to rest, but he can’t.
He pushes forward.
It's not real! IT'S NOT REAL!
The city is in shambles, there’s abandoned military vehicles everywhere but no people, like they’d retreated at some point. The only sign of life around isn’t even technically alive. There are Kraang abominations everywhere, but they’re all dead from being cut off from the hivemind, littering the streets and sidewalks. Leonardo keeps going, his instincts pushing him now more than anything else.
His body chooses his path since his mind isn’t there, following its muscle memory through alleyways and then into the cool sewers below.
When Leonardo finally collapses, he doesn’t know where he is. It's dark and a little damp, but he strangely feels safe. There isn’t a point in fighting when his knees give out under him.
He doesn’t even feel when he hits the floor.