Blue Like Ice - NerdyBoiYeet (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Can't you take anything seriously!?” Raph demanded, voice thundering through the new lair.

“I am taking this seriously!” Leo yelled back, “I didn't want to be leader! Sorry for not being perfect immediately!”

“I'm not saying for you to be perfect!” Raph snapped angrily, “Just to actually take it seriously!”

“I AM!” Leo yelled.

The two were currently arguing in the kitchen, it had become the new nightly routine. Leo would walk past him after a mission and Raph would lecture him on anything and everything he did wrong, which would inevitably lead to a massive argument.

“No you're not!” Raph said angrily, poking Leo in the chest as he glared down at him, “You're laughing and joking during everything!”

“I've said this a million times!” Leo yelled, smacking Raph's hand away, “JOKING. IS. HOW. I. COPE!”

“LEARN A NEW COPING MECHANISM THEN!” Raph yelled, truly angry now.

“ENOUGH!” A voice yelled, cutting through their argument.

The two turned to see a furious Mikey standing in the doorway, an equally angry Donnie beside him.

“You two have been arguing nonstop!” Mikey said angrily, “This mission went well tonight, so Raph, lay off him! And Leo, stop getting so angry when Raph's trying to help!”

“Help!?” Leo said incredulously, “He's just been yelling at me for not acting like him!”

“I’m not trying to do that!” Raph yelled angrily, “I'm trying to get you to take this seriously!”

“Raph stop!” Mikey ordered, but it was too late.

“I do take things seriously!” Leo argued.

“Clearly not!”

“Raph-!” Donnie snapped, but like Mikey, it was too late.

“Oh so you suddenly know what I'm thinking, huh!? I DO take stuff seriously!” Leo hissed.

“Obviously you don't!” Raph yelled, and then something he would regret, “You're not fit to be the leader! Hell- you shouldn't be on this team! We'd be way better off without you!”

Silence.

Mikey and Donnie stared in horror at Raph, who glared until he gasped, words processing.

“Leo-”

“No.” Leo said darkly, turning away with his head down.

“I didn't mean it!” Raph cried, grabbing Leo's shoulder.

“Just leave me alone for now, okay?” Leo said quietly, and they all knew he was doing everything he could to not break down crying.

“Okay. . .”

With that, Leo rushed from the room.

“I'll go after him,” Donnie said, hurrying after him. Mikey turned to Raph with a sickeningly sweet smile.

“Mikey-”

“Mikey is currently not here at the moment.” Mikey said darkly, “Instead, Dr. Delicate Touch is here to talk.”

. . . . . . .

“‘Nardo!?” Donnie called, flying over the tops of buildings. His tracker had said he'd left suddenly (definitely a portal) and now it was somewhere nearby.

No answer.

“Where are you dumb-dumb?” Donnie grumbled worriedly to himself. His wrist band beeped, saying he was right over it, sending relief flooding through him. He flew down to the top of a building. No one was in sight.

Then he saw a flash of red.

He didn't.

But he did. Leo's tracker was mixed in with the many pebbles on the rooftop, a bit of fresh blood on the ground too.

“He ripped his tracker out!” Donnie yelled aloud to himself, “That dumb-dumb! It was two inches below the skin!”

As expected, Leo didn't appear.

“‘Nardo?” Donnie called, “C'mon man, where are you!?”

There was no answer.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

“There's no sign of him anywhere!” Donnie said worriedly, meeting up with Raph and Mikey on a rooftop. They had all met up because there was no trace of Leo.

“Let's calm down,” Mikey said placatingly, despite the rising fear and panic in his eyes, “I'm sure he's around here somewhere, he probably just needs time alone!”

“He needs 3 hours alone?” Donnie questioned with a glare, “He never goes off alone!”

The two stayed silent at that, because it was true. Ever since Leo had been little. “I need time alone!” Leo would yell, then immediately grab Donnie's arm and drag him away with him.

“What do we do then?” Mikey asked, looking up at Raph.

Raph sighed guiltily, “I guess we wait. . .”

Four hours.

Five hours.

Six hours.

“It's about to be seven hours now,” Donnie spoke up quietly, glancing up from his phone. They could see he'd sent Leo hundreds of messages.

“Maybe we should wait another hour and then look around.” Raph said quietly, since Mikey was leaning on his side about to fall asleep.

“Okay,”

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Leo walked through the rain, sighing in content as the water ran down his scales. Being an aquatic turtle sure had its perks.

He'd been walking around on his own for a while, the rain starting after around 5 hours or so. He was planning on heading home. He stopped, about to turn around and start the trek back.

Leonardo.

“Huh?” He turned around, looking around the rooftops; no one.

Leonardo.

“Hey, whoever this is- it's not funny!” Leo called, “Believe me, I am funny.”

No response.

“Maybe I've been out too long,” Leo mumbled to himself, beginning to walk away but pausing.

Is shredder really gone?

The thought came out of nowhere. It had been six months since they'd defeated Shredder but he'd never thought of that before. So why had he thought of it?

The shard.

Leo grimaced thinking about it. No one in his family knew, only he did.

He remembered frantically attempting to piece the teapot back together, the amazement when he held it out, fully intact.

Except for one spot.

He remembered Mikey pushing their Jupiter Jim action figure into the opening, all of them sighing in relief.

That was when a blinding pain shot through his foot, and he screamed, falling over. It felt as if something stabbed into his flesh and buried itself there.

“What's wrong!?” Multiple voices chorused at once worriedly. Splinter had carefully lifted him as he cried, “Something just stabbed me!” tears streaming down his face.

“There's blood but no cut,” Splinter said, mystified, “Perhaps the cut wasn't too severe. I'll bandage it just in case.”

Once he'd left, all his brothers had glared at him.

“Are you trying to get us caught!?”

“You shouldn't lie, Lee-Lee!”

“There wasn't even a cut, you liar!”

Leo remembered how horrified he'd felt. Because he had stepped on the shard! He really did! But no one believed him.

Maybe I did lie. . .? He had thought to himself, and that was what he had told himself ever since then.

Even when dark thoughts came to him.

Thoughts of winning, no matter who he had to hurt.

Thoughts of getting himself killed- he was only worthy if he sacrificed himself.

T̵̢̻̗̦͙̲̟̩͓̦͚͔͙̠́h̵̡̛̹͔̺́̍ȏ̶͓̰̈́͛́́̈́̿̓̊̇̽͘͝͠ù̸͈̎̈́̉̏͆̒͋͌͒ģ̶̫̹͓̩̙͓̫̱͋̾͠ͅh̴̛̖͈͇̱̜̬̺͔͔̱̫̏̊͑̊̔̾̀͒̐̚͠͠͝t̵̡̻̤̟͚̫̃̽̏̔̑͛̄̆͝s̸̨̡͓͇̭̹͓̬̖̖̗̫͆ͅ ̴̧̼̗̦͖̤͉͕̫̭͔̰̦̄͂̄̋̅̋̋̑̽̀̓͂̂͝o̸̭̪͐͗̃̊̉̓̿̈̑͆́̈́̀͠f̶̨̧̛̼̫͉̪͚̥͓̺͇̰͗͒͗̎́̑̿̉̽̊̚͘͘ ̶̡̧̺̭̥̮̭̰̥̜̺̱̀̅̆́͑́͗̽͛̍͒̍͊̕͜͝ͅa̵̲͇̙̞͓̠͚̳͛̏͛͊̔̿͑́́̀́͛ͅ ̸̟͓̱̟͎̠̮͖̥̳͙͖̀̅̌͋̾̎̽͌̕̚͘͝ķ̵̛̯͇͍͙̝̤͙͇͐̑̽̏͊̏͑̓̈́̇͑̓͘̚ȩ̷̡̢͉͕͕͎͗̅́͑̉̀͑̎̑͝͝y̵̨̲̤̓̀̆̏̇͜͠͝͝

Leo shook his head, but glanced in the direction of where they fought Shredder.

I'll check. Just to be sure.

. . . .

As expected, there was nothing there.

“Just like I thought,” Leo said with a smirk, “We're just too good.”

He turned to leave when he heard it again.

Leonardo.

“Okay, seriously, whoever is doing that can you, like, stop?” Leo yelled, looking around. Then he saw it. A faint magenta light.

“What the. . .?”

He walked over to it, finding that the closer he got, the more something in him screamed to find it.

The glow became stronger, and finally Leo saw what it was.

A shard of the shredder armor.

Identical to the one he stepped on.

Leo gasped, falling back and landing hard on his rear, “Wha-!? That's impossible!”

The shard continued to glow a bright magenta, and Leo gingerly got closer to it. He reached out, touching it.

In an instant, his vision flooded with white and he gasped, finding himself floating in a strange, dark void.

Oh f*ck. . . .

“Hello?” He called, looking around. Nothing. Not a soul in sight.

“What is this place?”

“Merely a glimpse of what I've endured for a thousand years.”

Leo whirled around, “Who's there!?”

He couldn't see anyone.

“You know why you're here, don't you?”

“Uh, no,” Leo said, crossing his arms, “Maybe I shouldn't touch glowy things like Donnie says. . .are you a witch or something?”

That earned him laughter- from three different voices.

“Oh great, there's more of you.” Leo grumbled to himself, “Hey, you got any clue how to get out of here?”

“Believe me.” A spiteful sounding voice hissed, “We would've been out centuries ago if we did.”

“Calm yourself, sister.”

“Sister? Are you guys siblings or something?” Leo asked, looking around, “I got brothers too.”

“I suppose you could call us that. Although we are much more.”

“One in the same.” All three voices chorused at once.

“Freaky,” Leo said, but laughed slightly, “Uh, anywhizzle, so I'm just kinda trapped here? Also, why can't I see you guys? Did I go blind?”

“Shall we reveal ourselves?” The sister asked, sounding gleeful, but it had a strange, dark undertone.

“Only I will,”

Leo's vision flooded white again, but this time he was in an endless white void.

“What the- oh.” Leo said, turning around and taking in the sight of what he could only describe as if bubblegum came to life.

“Hello.”

“That’s why you weren't showing yourself,” Leo said, fighting to keep a neutral expression- he didn't want to be rude! But he looked so freaky!

“Indeed. Yet you seem to not fear me. Interesting. Only slight disgust.” The strange creature mused, “Do you wish to know why you're here?”

“Uh, duh,” Leo said with a huff, “Finally some actual answers!”

“Well, first you must know what we are. We are the Kraang.”

“The what?”

“The Kraang.” The creature, now known as Kraang stressed, “Superior creatures that were locked away centuries ago. Now only three of us remain, myself, my sister, and my brother.”

“Oh. . .” Leo said quietly, feeling empathetic, he remembered the way people screamed when they saw him and Donnie as tots, “Why were you locked away?”

“For our power. A power you now possess.” Kraang said with a sinister smile, one that made Leo shudder.

“What?”

“The dark armor. I created it.”

“WHAT!? YOU'RE THE THING GRAM-GRAM TOLD US ABOUT!?” Leo exclaimed, stunned, “But the armor is evil! Why did you make it!?”

“Calm yourself. I made that armor special,” Kraang said, walking closer, and making Leo really take in the way he looked, he held up a tentacle as if waving a hand casually, “It follows the will and intentions of the wearer.”

“What?” Leo whispered quietly, stunned, “But- that's. He's my- that's Gram-Gram’s Dad! He's not evil!”

“And neither is a suit of armor. Or a sword. It follows the will of the holder,” Kraang said, staring hard at Leonardo, “A piece of the armor is infused with you as well. Are you evil?”

“Of course not!” Leo hissed, his mind swirling, “I- this. . .this is a lot to take in.” He sat down, well, more like floated, crossing his arms as he thought.

“I understand. We thought the same when we were locked away for the creation of the armor.” Kraang sympathized, setting a tentacle down on Leo's shoulder, making him shudder slightly at the slimy texture.

“. . .Are you guys still there?” Leo asked, getting a nod in return, “Where even are you?”

“In a place called the prison dimension. It's, as named, a separate dimension where we're being held.” Kraang said, a sorrowful look on his face, “We're the last ones left, all the others perished while we've been trapped there.”

“I'm sorry,” Leo said sympathetically, a sad look on his face, “Is there any way out?”

“There is, and you know it as well,” Kraang said, gesturing towards Leo's leg with a tentacle, “I've attempted to communicate with you through the armor shard over the years.”

“What!? Really!?” Leo exclaimed, jaw dropping.

“Yes,” Kraang said with a chuckle, “I’ve seen some of your battles, suggested plans or actions. I'm sure you've had a thought or two about a ‘key’,”

“I have! It really was you!” Leo exclaimed, jumping up, “That's so cool!”

“Indeed,” Kraang said with a smile, “Now then, this key is an ancient artifact. Simply use the key to open up the portal and my family and I will be free.”

“I wanna help, but I dunno how to find it,” Leo admitted, a frown on his face.

“For that, we're giving you a gift.” Kraang said with a smile, “You must focus on the shard within you. Feel its connection- and embrace it.”

“Okay,” Leo said, closing his eyes and concentrating. A cold, dark feeling emanated from his chest, and he winced as he reached out to it.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

THERE.

“WOAH!” Leo yelled, as he felt something connect to his Ninpo, his eyes flashed a bright magenta before fading to an ice blue.

He felt power rush through him, a surge of unstoppable energy, of incredible strength.

“What is this?” Leo asked as blue electricity crackled around him, as frost danced around his hands as he stared at them.

“That is your gift.”

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

“It's such a cold feeling,” Leo admitted, his Ninpo and family’s Ninpo always felt warm.

Kraang nodded, “It appears your gift has come in a new form.”

“Yeah,” Leo said with a grin, sending a blast of frost into the endless void and grinning, “I feel so strong.”

So much stronger.

Much stronger than Raph could ever be.

Then any of them.

Yeah. . . I wouldn't even need the team like this. . .I could beat anyone.

“Are you ready to join us?” Kraang asked, snapping Leo from his thoughts.

“What?” Leo asked, confused.

“The Kraang are a hive mind, we can communicate and share our powers and abilities.” Kraang explained, “With all you've done for us, it is only fair for us to extend our capabilities to you. You'll become a part of us, powerful, strong, you'll never be excluded, you'll be accepted and never alone.”

“That. . .that sounds good,” Leo admitted as Kraang held out a tentacle, expecting a handshake.

But my family. . .?

A family that turns their backs on you time and time again.

A family that abandons you when you have no use.

A family that calls you a liar. A fraud whenever they wish.

A family that you are stronger than.

A family that is weak.

“I-”

. . . . . .

Footsteps echoed on the concrete stairs, making the three quickly jump up.

They rushed to the entrance, relief flooding them as Leo walked in.

“Hey guys,” Leo greeted awkwardly, “Oh-!” He was immediately rushed at by Donnie and Mikey, who hugged him tightly.

“Don't ever do that again!”

“Do you have any clue how worried we were!?”

“Sorry guys,” Leo said with a chuckle, they reminded him of angry parents, “I just. . .needed some space.”

“Right,” Mikey said sadly, then turned to Raph, “I think Raph wants to talk to you.”

“Okay,” Leo said nervously, “Uh, can we talk in my room?”

“Sure,” Raph said, voice cracking. The two walked down one of the tunnels, leaving the other two behind.

“Wanna go eavesdrop?” Donnie immediately asked.

“Duh,”

. . .

“I've just been worried, but Raph shouldn't’ve lashed out at ya ‘cause of it,” Raph said sincerely, “I'm sorry.”

“It's alright, Raph,” They heard Leo said back, “I know it's a lot. But I'll try and do better, I promise. Oh, don't cry! C’mere big guy.”

Mikey risked a glance into Leo's room and smiled at the sight of Raoh engulfing him in a hug.

“I think they're okay,” Mikey whispered to Donnie, who gave him a thumbs up.

The two quickly rushed away, not wanting to be caught by either, and waited in the living room.

“Hey hermanos!” Leo greeted after a bit, strolling into the room with Raph following him, “Anyone up for a movie night?”

“Sure!” Mikey said with a big smile, relieved. Things were alright between the two now. Another point for Dr. DT.

The four quickly set up for a movie night, and relaxed. Before long, they all had fallen asleep.

. . . . .

It was three in the morning according to the ancient clock hanging on the wall.

Mikey sat up, stretching out his arms and looking around groggily. Donnie was stretched out across Raph's plastron. Raph was leaning back against the couch with his head tilted back in a way that Mikey knew was gonna make him wake up sore.

Leo was nowhere in sight. He must've gotten up to get water or something. Speaking of. . .

Mikey got up, moving soundlessly away from his older brothers and walking down the hallway towards the bathroom. The kitchen was closer, but he went that way out of habit.

Once he got there, he filled up the orange cup on the sink, Donnie had insisted on separate cups and everything after Mikey talked about using Raph's toothbrush, and drank.

He set it down, about to leave when something caught his eye. On the edge of the sink, standing out against the bright white porcelain.

Blood.

Mikey's eyes widened and he looked closer, but there was no mistaking it. A smear of blood was on the sink.

Why's there blood here? Did someone get a bloody nose or something?

He glanced around the room, most of the medical supplies were in the medbay, but the cabinet under the sink held a simple first aid kit and several bandages.

He opened the cabinet, surprised to find both the first aid kit and several rolls of bandages gone.

What the. . .? Did someone get hurt bad?

Mikey left the bathroom, walking to the medbay, but no one was in there.

Okay. Missing medical supplies, blood on the sink, and Leo's gone. Is Leo hurt? Or did someone get hurt and he got up to help earlier?

Mikey quickly snuck back to the living room, checking over Raph and Donnie, but there was nothing. Okay. Leo might be hurt. Stay calm. Just gotta find him- you can do it, Mikey!

He went to the hall of subway cars, stopping outside the blue one. A bright blue light was visible from the crack in the bottom of the door; Leo's LED lights.

Mikey grabbed the handle, took a deep breath, and yanked open the door.

Leo was asleep on his bed, laying sprawled out with a blanket tangled around his legs.

Mikey left out a relieved breath, a closer look told him that Leo was fine too.

Must've been from something earlier. Thank goodness!

Mikey stopped to switch off the bright lights and left the room, heart flooded with relief. He walked back to the living room, reclaiming his spot beside Raph.

Everyone's okay.

So why did he feel so uneasy?

. . . . .

“Woah! Are you training!?” Raph exclaimed, watching in awe as Leo was doing some simple pre-training stretches.

Leo groaned, “Why are you acting like we just won the lottery or something!? Yes I'm training!”

“But why?”

Leo grimaced, face turning a bit red.

“Well?” Raph asked, wanting answers. Because Leo never trained! He'd even had negative stars on the Showing Up to Training(™) board!

“‘Cause of what happened the other day,” Leo admitted quietly, “I do need to take things more seriously. . .you helped me see that.”

“Really?” Raph said, stunned. He didn't think Leo was listening during that.

“Yes you idiot!” Leo groaned dramatically, “Now either join me or leave me- you're kinda distracting.”

“Right, right!” Raph said, “Uh, Raph's gonna go for now- good luck with training!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo said with a smirk, giving a small wave as Raph left.

Raph stood outside the dojo, stunned but happy. Looks like he is taking things seriously now.

So why was there a sinking feeling in his stomach?

. . . . .

Donnie groaned, it was two in the morning and he had a massive headache. He got up, wincing as the movement made his stomach roll. Vomitello did not need to make an appearance, thank you very much.

He left his lab, walking to the kitchen and only hitting his head on a door frame once. He smiled slightly at the sight of Leo, who was sipping on a cup of tea and reading something on his phone.

Donnie walked over, reading over his shoulder.

Hypothermia causes and effects.

“Whatcha reading?”

“f*ck!” Leo yelled, jumping about a foot and nearly sending his phone flying across the room, barely keeping a hold on it, “Warn a guy!”

Donnie laughed, “What happened to your, quote, amazing reflexes, end quote?”

“You actually suck,” Leo said dramatically, “After I made you coffee and everything! You still torment me!”

Donnie chuckled, grabbing the purple mug gratefully and taking a large gulp, eyes watering at how hot it was.

“Fun fact- coffee is made with hot water,” Leo began with a smart ass smirk, only to yelp and duck as Donnie hurled a dish rag at him.

After a bit, Leo tossed him a small bottle of ibuprofen and got up, “Off to get some Z's, night dumbass.”

“Night you dumb-dumb,” Donnie said back, flipping him off, “Don't scare the monster under your bed with your ugliness.”

Leo gasped dramatically, “How dare you!? I know you're not saying anything with that forehead!”

“At least I don't have bananas on my arms!”

“My last tennis match took place on your forehead!” Leo trilled as he disappeared down the hallway.

“Get some new material!” Donnie called back, grinning. He leaned back in his seat, taking another sip of the coffee and swallowing the medicine with it. But a frown slowly formed on his face.

What is Leo hiding?

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

“Heading out for a bit,” Leo called, before the telltale crackling of a portal opening was heard and cut off.

“Where's he going?” Mikey asked, jumping up onto Raph's shell.

“I don't know,” Raph said with a small frown, “Maybe seeing Hueso?”

“He said something about stocking up on needles for the med bay,” Donnie said, but he frowned too, “But we have plenty. And he knows that.”

“Maybe he just forgot?” Mikey suggested weakly, but they all knew that wasn't true. It was impossible for Leo to forget anything in his med bay;

“Mikey! The acetaminophen that's 200 milligrams goes in the cabinet- not the drawer!”

“But there's a-seat-a-minute-fin in the drawer already!” Mikey said, struggling to pronounce the word.

“That's 500 milligrams - and you're pronouncing it wrong!”

“Don't you have a tracker on him?” Raph asked, looking over at Donnie.

“I did,” Donnie said with a huff, “But that dumb-dumb removed it. I can check all the cameras in New York though!”

He typed at his wrist band, a loud ping sounding, “Uh oh.”

“What?”

“He's near an alert,” Donnie said, quickly getting up.

“Mad Dogs, roll out!” Raph ordered, “Leo's probably there already, so let's go help him!”

. . . . . . .

They arrived in the area, only to freeze and stare in shock at everything.

There was ice everywhere. Coating parts of buildings, in sharp spears that were buried in the concrete.

“What happened here?” Mikey asked, awestruck.

“Raph’s never seen anything like this,”

“I'm almost certain it was one of those horrible witches,” Donnie theorized, flipping his goggles down, “The ice has a mystic reading.”

“This is freaky- I don't even like the movie Frozen!” Mikey exclaimed, sticking close to Raph as they walked through the alleyway that had somehow become a Winter Wonderland.

“I'm sure it'll all be-” They didn't get to hear Raph finish his sentence because he was sent flying back. He crashed into the side of a building with a yell.

A loud laugh echoed around, making Donnie and Mikey flinch.

“Hey! No one throws Raph!” Mikey yelled, searching for whatever it was that had done it.

A loud thud rang out in front of them, a shadowy figure standing upright from their crouched landing position.

“And what are you gonna do about it?” An icy voice taunted.

“Take you down! Like a boss!” Raph yelled, rushing towards the enemy they could barely see.

A blast of blue sent him flying back again, crashing hard into Mikey and Donnie, who quickly scrambled to get up.

A large patch of frost was on Raph's plastron.

“What the-?”

“Is that ice!?” Donnie questioned.

“What a genius!” The stranger taunted with a laugh, “He can figure things out!”

“Oh please, I'm not the one hiding in the shadows!” Donnie snapped, sending a rocket hurtling towards the voice.

Another blast of blue and a block of ice slid across the ground, slowly coming to a stop near them. In the center was Donnie's rocket.

With the flame still there.

“How the hell-!?” Donnie exclaimed, “What are you!?”

“Oh I'm glad you asked!” The figure finally stepped out of the shadows. They had on a dark blue jacket with a hood covered in white fur covering their head, a mask covered the lower half of their face, only their eyes being visible. The whites of their eyes were a bright, glowing blue and their irises were a glowing yellow with slitted pupils that seemed to pierce into their souls.

They had on gloves with metal endings, extending their claws, and they were wearing black jeans accented with silver chains along with black wrappings on their feet, with similar metal claw extensions like on their hands.

“My name is Blue,” He greeted with a dramatic bow, eyes crinkling in what could only be from a mocking smile.

“Blue?”

“ŁĪҞɆ ĪȻɆ!” He shrieked, voice sounding as if multiple were shrieking the words at once. He lunged towards them with insane speed.

Mikey's chains shot forward, only to be grabbed. He was yanked forward with a yell, crying out as a fist slammed into his plastron, sending him flying into one of the buildings. Donnie quickly flew after him.

“You messed up now!” Raph yelled, red surrounding him as he sprinted at the villain.

“Oh please,” Blue scoffed, a bright blue light shining from his hand. Raph’s fist collided with something solid, hissing as pain shot through his hand and wrist.

A wall of ice separated him from Blue.

“Get the name now!?” Blue asked excitedly with a loud laugh, he lept over the wall, slamming a leg down over the top of Raph's head.

“Ugh-!” Raph exclaimed, leaping back as metal slashed at his arm. Blue was rushing him, claw extensions getting dangerously close to cutting him again.

“Try and keep up!” Blue laughed, only to yell when a blast of purple sent him hurtling away.

“That's how it feels!” Mikey yelled from where he was perched on top of Donnie's battle shell up in the air.

“Ha! Well played! But I don't think it's very fair that you get to fly!” Blue laughed, eyes flashing a bright blue.

“DONNIE!” Raph tried to warn, but a spear of ice crashed into a rotator of Donnie's shell.

“Not good! Not good!” Donnie yelled, beginning to spiral out of control in the air. Mikey deftly kept off his shell, using a chain to grab railing on the building and land safely, quickly snagging Donnie from the air with a chain and yanking him down to land safely.

“You guys ever been ice skating?” Blue asked, stomping hard on the ground and sending a coating of slippery ice everywhere.

Immediately Raph lost his balance and fell with a yelp, while Donnie and Mikey barely managed to stay upright.

Blue slid towards them as if he was wearing ice skates, punching Donnie hard in the face and making him slip and land hard on the ground. Mikey was quicker and able to block it, but skid backwards a few feet before falling hard on the ground.

“I have to admit, this is pretty pathetic. You guys are just little pests!” Blue laughed, “The Blue one fought better!”

“Where's Leo!?” Donnie demanded, attempting to stand but quickly slipping and falling back over in humiliation and frustration.

“He's fine! Probably bleeding out in an alleyway somewhere~! Oh he's blue like me!” Blue mused, “But I really must be going! Gotta find the key! Bye-bye~!”

He disappeared in a bright yellow and blue light, the colors swirling together as he disappeared.

The three laid in silence for a minute before Mikey finally spoke the words they'd all been thinking;

“What the f*ck just happened!?”

. . . . .

“So you guys saw him too?” Leo asked, they'd all met back up in the lair. A bit bruised and sore, but mainly burning with humiliation and anger.

Raph probably had the worst of them, sporting a large burn-like mark on his plastron where the ice had been. Leo had a large bruise on the side of his head and a couple cuts (looked like Blue had been lying about him bleeding out) Mikey had a few bruises on him, and Donnie had a black eye from the punch.

“Yeah,” Raph said with a frown, “He's slippery- Leo do not make that joke!- but we've handled way stronger!”

“I think he just caught us off guard,” Mikey said with a huff, “Shredder was way stronger! There's no way we'd lose to that guy!”

“It was the environment,” Donnie said, tightening his grip on his bō, “He was able to manipulate it to throw us off guard.”

“So he does know strategies,” Leo said with a frown, “But I don't think he's too strong. Did he say anything about what he was doing? Like Hypno or the worm guy?”

“No,” Raph said, but then Mikey snapped his fingers.

“Oh! Something about a key!”

“A key huh?” Leo said with a thoughtful expression, “Oh! What if it's to Big Mama’s vault?”

“That’s a good theory,” Donnie said with a nod, “He seemed like some kind of witch-”

“Really, Donnie?”

“Hush. He's definitely a Yokai, so it's undoubtedly to some mystical thing,” Donnie said with a grimace, he still wasn't fond of magic or mystic, “Otherwise he'd be able to get in anywhere with those powers. And he teleported!”

“Are mystic vaults teleport-proof?” Raph asked.

“There's probably a spell or something that stops them,” Mikey theorized, then a knowing grin spread across his face.

“No! No! Absolutely not!” Leo said in his leader voice.

“We can ask Draxum!” Mikey said excitedly.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

“Ice powers, huh?” Draxum said with a frown after Mikey had explained everything. Only Donnie and Mikey had gone, Leo refusing to see Draxum and Raph choosing to stay to talk (scold) him about it.

“Yep,” Mikey said, popping the p, “He was really fast and he teleported away at the end!”

“Interesting,” Draxum said, “I haven't seen a Yokai with ice abilities in a long time. And he said he was after a key?”

“Yeah,” Donnie said, “Leo thinks he's after big Mama's vault.”

“That's a probable theory,” Draxum admitted begrudgingly, “Although there's a large number of mystical vaults and keys all throughout the hidden city.”

“Great!” Mikey groaned, flopping back onto the couch dramatically.

“I can do research over keys,” Draxum said with a sigh and shake of his head that was too fond to come across as irritated.

“I can set up surveillance in the hidden city,” Donnie said, “And use New York’s cameras to look for him.”

“Good idea!” Mikey said, “Wait, if it's like, a mystic key or whatever, why was he topside?”

“Plenty of things get brought to the surface,” Draxum pointed out, “Take your original weapons for example, he undoubtedly wants to search a less complicated place first before attempting to go to the hidden city.”

“And the police there are less of a pain in the ass,” Donnie added with a frown.

“What's wrong?”

“It just proves Nardo's point further. This guy knows strategies and seems to know stuff about the hidden city,” Donnie said unhappily, “Which will make him more difficult to beat.”

“We beat Shredder though,” Mikey said optimistically, “This guy's got nothing on us!”

“True, we are rad,” Donnie said with a small smile.

. . . . .

“Gotta find a key~!” Leo was singing to himself as he read through some of the books Draxum had gotten Mikey to bring back to the lair.

“If you don't stop singing I'll strangle you.” Donnie deadpanned, irritated.

“Geez, sorry,” Leo huffed.

“Calm down you two,” Raph ordered, looking up from his book. Although he was reading it upside down.

“Maybe the key is to someone's heart!” Leo joked, laughing.

“Leo.”

“Right,” He sighed, flipping a page and then frowning.

“What?”

“‘Mystical energy key’” Leo read from the page, “Is this it?”

“Lemme see!” Donnie yelled, diving across the table and snatching the book. He looked at it closely, it was a green key with fire around it according to the illustration, “‘Has the ability to open portals anywhere. Sometimes refered to as the reality key’”

“That's probably it!” Mikey said happily, tossing his book aside and ignoring Donnie's indignant yell about it being from a library, “Finally we can stop searching!”

“I don't think that's it,” Leo said thoughtfully.

“Why?”

“Can't this guy teleport? Why would he need a way to portal,” Leo pointed out, rather unhelpfully in Raph's opinion.

"True. . .but what if it's somewhere he can teleport to?" Raph said, frowning.

"Mystic stuff is stupid!" Leo complained loudly.

“Exasperated groan! We'll keep searching, but for now I'm planning as if this is what he's after!” Donnie said, setting the book down with care that didn't match his aggravated movements.

. . . . . . .

“Guys! It's that ice dude again!” Raph yelled from across the lair, “Let's move!”

“How do you know?” Mikey called, running to the garage where Raph was waiting at the entrance to the turtle tank.

“I saw on the news- there's a ton of ice in the city! The people are freaking out! HURRY UP DONNIE!” Raph yelled, watching his purple-clad brother hurry in.

“I can't find Leo!” Donnie said, angrily tapping at his wrist band, “I need to get a new tracker for him!”

“We'll go without him, text him to meet us there!” Raph ordered, speeding the tank off towards the outskirts of the city.

“Where even is he?” Mikey asked, frustrated. His portals would be useful at avoiding the ice.

“He went with April,” Raph sighed, “He couldn't’ve know but it's still annoying!”

“He says he'll be here soon,” Donnie said, his phone pinging, “He says not to tell April? Oh- he's worried about the ice and her falling.”

“Why's that?”

“Hypothermia and,” Another ping sounded, “She's more likely to get hurt from slipping than us. That makes sense.”

“He better hurry,” Raph grumbled, speeding up.

. . . . .

They made it in no time. And it became pretty obvious what happened. Ice seemed to travel from parts of the city to the area outside of it.

“Oh,” Mikey whispered quietly, getting the attention of his older brothers.

“What?”

He pointed a shaky hand, making Donnie gag and Raph gasp.

Spears of ice covered with crimson. And at the end of some were people. Impaled through the chest.

“Okay,” Raph said, taking a deep breath, “Okay. This guy's dangerous, guys. We gotta treat him like a high-level threat now.”

Donnie and Mikey gave him shaky nods, both looked like they were about to throw up.

“He's not like Hypno or worm guy or even the foot lieutenant,” Raph said seriously, “He's willing to murder people. We gotta stop him.”

“Got it,” Mikey said shakily, Donnie just gave a weak thumbs up.

“Really? You're that shaken up over a liiiitttleee blood?” An amused voice laughed.

“How can you say that!?” Mikey yelled, chains whipping out beside him and cracking against the ground, fire flaring up from them, “They had families- people that love them!”

“They were weak. If they loved them, they'd have stayed alive,” Blue laughed, his voice echoing around.

“If you're so strong, quit hiding!” Raph yelled accusingly, furious at the death around him, furious that this horrible person existed.

“If you insist!” A bright flash of blue and yellow again, and he appeared a few feet ahead of them.

“f*ck you!” Mikey yelled, running towards him and leaping into the air. He spun his chains around as they shot towards him so he couldn't grab them.

Blue lept back, dodging the high-speed chains with ease. He managed to grab one, sending ice speeding across it and shattering it.

“What!?” Mikey exclaimed, only to yelp when Blue appeared beside him, kicking his shell and sending him crashing to the ground.

“SURPRISE!” Donnie yelled from behind him his bō having a purple Ninpo construct on the end. He slammed it down with a huge amount of force, only to freeze mid air.

Blue was holding it with one hand, standing on what seemed to be thin air.

“Tsk, tsk.” Blue said, shaking a finger like a disappointed parent. He shoved the staff away, making Donnie veer off course and quickly shoot back up into the air to replan.

“HOT SOUUUP!” Raph yelled, a red fist slamming into Blue's side and hurtling him away. He crashed hard onto the ground, quickly righting himself with a blue flash.

“Impressive! You managed to hit me!” Blue cackled, the air around going cold, “But let's make things more interesting!”

Ice spread all across the ground again, but Mikey yelled, “NICE TRY!”

A flaming chain shot out, melting the ice in a large area around the three.

“I'll admit, that surprised me!” Blue admitted, clapping his hand and even jumping a little, “Finally things are getting interesting!”

He shot forward, disappearing in blue light and appearing behind Donnie in the sky.

“Boo!” He chirped, grabbing the purple jetpack on the battle shell and ripping it off.

“DONNIE!”

Donnie yelled as he fell from the sky, but was quickly engulfed by giant red hands. Raph's Ninpo form quickly growing to full size and catching him.

“NO MORE GAMES!” Raph roared, grabbing Blue with a giant hand and throwing him further out. The three rushed after him, markings glowing brightly with power.

“COWABUNGA!” They yelled, all their powers combining as they launched at the enemy.

A purple spear with rockets attached to it surrounded by bright orange fire and chains, being hurled at hundreds of miles per hour by pure glowing red energy.

It blasted towards Blue, who stared up at the weapon hurtling towards him.

A blast of blue energy shot out in all directions, sending the three mutants flying back and falling with the sheer force of it.

A pink glow surrounded the stranger, blue light intermixing with it.

The entire spear was frozen mid air, one of Blue's hands touching the end of the spear, which seemed to be the source of all the ice.

He was surrounded by jagged shards of ice sticking out, and the ground seemed frozen over.

Raph's eyes widened when he saw the ice. They look identical to the metal spears Shredder made come out of the ground.

“Such a pity.” Blue said, his voice sounding as if two were speaking at once.

He turned to face them, his usually blue and yellow eyes now all yellow.

“I wished for this to be a surprise,” he said with a smile they could barely make out from under his mask.

He moved his hand, the giant ice-coated weapon collapsed to the ground with a thundering CRASH so loud it made their ears ring. The Ninpo constructs faded away.

A magenta glow began forming in front of Blue's chest, and he held a hand underneath it.

Donnie gasped, Raph turned pale, but it took Mikey a second to recognize it.

A shard of the dark armor.

“Is this not incredible!?” Blue cackled, “The dark armor- still alive! The power still usable to us.”

“The hell do you mean by ‘us’!?” Donnie yelled, voice carrying in the still, frosty air.

Blue cackled, throwing his head back and doubling over. He's insane!

“A mind made up of more than one! When we find the key, we'll really have fun!” Blue rhymed with an insane laugh, “Oh~! Isn't this wonderful! The Hamatos, all back to try and destroy the armor! But this isn't what you need to fear! But you'll find out when the key is near!”

“WHAT f*ckING KEY!?” Raph yelled, temper snapping from anger and fear. Mikey shivered, noticing Raph's hands clenched into fists trembled.

“It’s a surprise! You're gonna love it!” Blue laughed, voice becoming more like one again, “I just looove surprises! Don't you, pests!?”

“Raph- we gotta get outta here,” Donnie said quietly, his grip on his bō so strong that his hands were shaking.

“Leaving so soon!?” Blue called, eyes filling from bright yellow back to blue, “But you just got here! Why not have some fun?”

“We need to go!” Raph ordered, “NOW!”

“W̵͓̦͔̼̺̣̔̈́̾͋̈́͗̎̓̄̿̈̌̐ḫ̷̰͈̹̜̝̹̤̮͉̜́́̎̄̉̓͐͒͛̓̆̒̌̊͝ä̵͉͖́̃̅͒t̴͙̲͈͇̫̪̠̲̞̤̼͔̰̆̾͛͊́͆̅̉̏̕ͅ'̷̻̲̺̩͗̉̿̆̅̊̂ͅş̶̤̳̣̙͍͈̻̌͌ͅ ̶̡̩͕͈͓͉̪̬̥̯̈́̅͑̐͑̏͆͑̉͘͜ṯ̸̱͔̱̫͔͌͐͒̇̅̽̓͒̚͜ḧ̷͈͚̳̰̹̳̳͚͎̤͉́̃ȩ̸̙͉͎͓̝͈̩͉̳̩͖̳̥͗̑̀̐͊̂̽̋͐͘͝͠͝ ̶͓̺̜̪̗̣͋̋͑͌̑̔̑̄̈͆͜͜͝͝r̸̳͉͈̮̬̲͍̰͖͋͒̔̈̊͌̆́́ͅư̶̧̦͖͎̮̰̦͔͔̲̿̆̑͒̿̅̑̀́̍̊̋̕ͅs̶͖̣͚͇̬̼̟̑̽͑͜͠ͅh̸̛͓̲̯̭͔̯̣̫̬̜̘̞̰̺̑͆̂̐̓͌̈́͋̍̉̕ͅ.̴̡̼͇͎͎̦̲̲̫̠́́̾̐̂͌̅̌̿͘

The whole area began lighting a bright blue.

“RUN!”

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

The lair was in lockdown mode.

With everyone there and informed.

Almost everyone.

“Any signs of him?” Mikey asked for the hundredth (87th according to Donnie) time that evening.

“No,” Donnie said quietly, voice monotone to hide the fear in it.

“Blue will be okay,” Splinter said, making the three brothers cringe.

“Don't call him that,”

“You're right,” Splinter said with a grimace, “Leonardo will be okay, he can portal here when he needs to.”

“But what could he possibly be doing!?” Raph exclaimed, pacing back and forth in front of the couch.

“It's possible he's researching the keys still,” Draxum said, “He asked me about those earlier today.”

“What!? He was with April earlier!” Mikey piped up.

“No he wasn't!” April said from her spot on the couch, “I haven't seen Leo since the last time we all hung out!”

Silence.

“Where is he then?” Mikey asked worriedly, “And why would he lie!?”

For that, no one had an answer.

. . . .

It was almost seven hours later when a bright blue portal appeared in the center of the lair, earning cries of relief.

Nothing happened for a moment, but then Leo stepped through, face scrunched with pain and clutching his side with one hand, leaning heavily on his sword.

“LEO!” Multiple voices cried at once, rushing towards him.

“Easy!” Leo cried with a yelp when April accidentally bumped the arm covering his wounded side, “Heh, I could use a warm welcome after that cold-”

“Do not.” Donnie said darkly.

Raph lifted Leo, wincing at the pained whimper he let out. He brought him to the med bay, setting him down on one of the beds.

“What happened?” Mikey asked worriedly.

“Where have you been?” Splinter added on.

“Okay, okay,” Leo said with a pained hiss when Draxum began cleaning the blood off his side, “Lemme start from the beginning-”

“And do not lie, mister.” April said darkly, “They already know you saw Draxum earlier!”

“Snitch,” Leo said with an angry huff.

“It's not my fault you're an idiot,” Draxum said bluntly, drawing a spontaneous laugh from April and Mikey.

“Okay, so, I went to Draxum's earlier to ask him about the key,” Leo said, “He told me about some book in the mystic library that could have info-”

“You went back there!?”

“Don't interrupt!” Leo ordered, ignoring Raph's question, “Anywhizzle, found the book. Well, next thing I know, it's suddenly freezing!”

Everyone in the room stiffened, not liking where it was going.

“And BAM, Blue bursts in tryna get the book from me! Said something about ‘Finally, we'll have the key!’ kinda weird that he was saying we.. . Maybe he just-”

“Leo, focus.” April said, a deadpan look on her face.

“Right, sorry,” Leo said, hissing when Draxum began putting antiseptic on the small crack on the side of his plastron, “My leg’s cut up too. Think it's partially broken too.”

“I know, I'm taking care of this first,” Draxum said, voice blank but Mikey could hear the underlying worry.

“Well, I thought if I got outta the hidden city he wouldn't follow me, ‘cause Hueso's done that before. So I went topside and he did follow me!” Leo said, shuddering, “I ran for a bit and eventually portaled outta there. Then you guys called so I hid the book and went back.”

“Why did you say you were at April's?” Mikey asked, confused.

“Didn't want you guys to know I went back to that library,” Leo admitted, “And that I was literally across the world. Anywhizzle- ow! Careful, Barry! Anyway, he found me pretty quick cause I got there before you guys did. We fought but he's strong- did this one cheater move where he froze my swords and then tried to stab me.”

“Your side certainly shows that,” Draxum said with a nod, gesturing to Leo's, now bandaged, right side, “But what about your leg?”

“I went to run and I guess he tried to freeze me, but these weird ice things came outta the ground and cut me,” Leo said, paling slightly at the memory, “I just threw my sword and portaled. Passed out from blood loss for a bit-”

“WHAT!?”

“Geez guys!” Leo said with a wince, covering his temples, “Do you wanna hear the rest or not!?”

“Keep going,” Donnie ordered from where he was placing a clip on Leo's finger to track his vitals.

“Woke up to him there and a ton of ice everywhere,” Leo said, looking sick- he must've seen the bodies like they had- “Um, he said, uh, he said more people would die if he didn't get that key. And if I gave him the book, he wouldn't hurt anyone.”

“You didn't!” Raph exclaimed, horrified.

“Of course not!” Leo gasped, hurt that Raph would even think that, “I told him to shove one of his icicles up his ass!”

April snorted, but quickly made her face neutral again at the irritated looks she got.

“What did he do after?”

“That’s how my leg broke,” Leo said with a grimace, “He just kept stomping it. . .”

It fell silent as Draxum set Leo's leg and gave him a bottle with a glowing green liquid, “It will heal the break.”

“Thanks,” Leo said, taking it and drinking, sighing in relief as it healed.

“Now then,” Donnie said darkly, “Tell us what you're leaving out.”

“What?” Several voices gasped, shocked that Donnie would say that. But Leo's guilty look confirmed it.

“Leo, what is he talking about?” April asked worriedly.

Leo sighed, “You are the suckiest twin ever.”

“It's my job,” Donnie said icily, jaw tightening, “That injury doesn't match getting your leg stomped ‘repeatedly’ what happened after you woke up?”

Leo grumbled, “Why did I teach you some medic stuff?”

“Leonardo,” Draxum said, making the blue-masked turtle sigh.

“He did stomp my leg, but. . .” Leo grimaced, drawing his legs up and turning, moving the strap on his back. A crack ran down his shell, drawing several horrified gasps, “He stomped my shell more. . .”

. . . . . .

“You okay?” Mikey asked gently, sitting down beside Raph, who was sitting on his workout bench but not lifting anything.

Considering it was almost four in the morning, he wasn't that surprised.

“It's this whole thing with Blue,” Raph said shakily, “We defeated the Shredder, but now we got an even stronger bad guy that also has part of the armor!”

“I know,” Mikey said sadly, “But let's be positive! All of us know about him now, he's only got a tiny little piece so there's no Shredder to bring back! And he doesn't have whatever key thing he's looking for, and Leo has the book!”

“Heh,” Raph said with a smile, setting a hand on Mikey's head, “That's why we call ya Dr. Positive.”

“You know it,” Mikey said with a smile, but then sighed, “I'm scared too, but we're gonna be okay.”

“I know,”

. . . . .

“What do you think of all this?” Donnie spoke up suddenly, making April glance up from her phone.

“What do you mean?”

“This whole situation,” Donnie said, tossing a hand up, his back was to her, he was making a new tracker for Leo, “With Blue and the shard, and Leo, and whatever key it is.”

“I think it's a lot,” April admitted, “But I'm not worried.”

“Why?”

“Because I know we'll get through this,” April said determinedly, “We get through it all every single time! And now there's more of us.”

Donnie nodded, his eyes looked less dark at least, “Okay.”

“Okay,” April repeated with a nod, “Now c'mon loser, you need rest if you're gonna fight ol’ snowman.”

“Alas-! If only sleep was an option, not a necessity!” Donnie said dramatically, placing the back of his hand against his head in a dramatic pose.

“Yeah, yeah, c'mon,” April said, getting up and dragging Donnie towards his bed by his arm, “I'll be asleep on the couch if ya need me.”

“Night April,”

“Night,”

. . . .

“Hey Drax?” Leo said, making Draxum look up from his book, he'd been forced on Leo watching duty(™) by Splinter.

“What is it?”

“Do you have any ideas about the whole key thing?” Leo asked, looking up at him from across the med bay. Draxum was sitting on the other side with a small light, trying not to disturb the slider from sleeping, although it seemed pointless with his insomnia.

“I have a few theories, none of which are good,” Draxum admitted, closing his book with a silent snapping sound and getting up to sit on the stool beside Leo's bed, “All the keys I've read about are dangerous in their own ways.”

“Yeah,” Leo said with a grimace.

“What key did you find?” Draxum asked, beginning to remove the blood stained bandages to see if Leo even needed new ones, they all healed so fast.

“Something called ‘The Key of Ice and Snow’,” Leo said, “It said it's a key that unlocks insane ice abilities, and it has almost no limits. Except the fire key.”

“That. . .is not ideal,” Draxum said slowly, looked like he didn't need new bandages, he healed even faster than normal, must've been the Yokai medicine, “Where did the book say to find it?”

“Some place in Antarctica,” Leo said, “The book isn't there, cause it said in order to even get to the ice cave, you gotta use the book as a key. Kinda ironic, huh? A key in a key, why do Yokai gotta make things so complicated!?”

“Yes, yes,” Draxum said, although he had to admit Leo was right, “Where is the key?”

“Buried in the Sahara,” Leo said, “Or maybe the Mariana trench, Mt. Everest. Who knows? If you can't tell, I'm saying random stuff in case he can somehow hear.”

“I figured that out,” Draxum said with a sigh, “Being cautious certainly won't hurt. Especially with the armor piece.”

“Yeah,” Leo said, looking uncomfortable, “That's really not good. Oh! Maybe we can talk to Gram-Gram about it, she helped us beat Shredder before, I'm sure she can help us with the offbrand clash ice wizard!” (a/n if you get that reference, you have my respect.)

“The what-?”

“It's not important,” Leo said, waving his hand slightly. It fell silent for a bit, not uncomfortable, just quiet.

“Why didn't you tell your brothers about your shell?” Draxum asked quietly after a bit.

“They just got almost killed and I was gone for hours,” Leo said, “I didn't want them to worry more.”

“Of course they were worried,” Draxum exclaimed.

“Yeah, but I got my ass kicked by this guy twice!” Leo huffed, “And now I'm actually hurt, and you've seen Raph's plastron- we all got lucky.”

Draxum fell silent, because (as shocking as the thought was) Leo was right. This villain was powerful, and he was clearly deranged and experienced.

“That's true,” Draxum said after a while, “But you still need to tell them when you're hurt.”

“Yeah whatever,” Leo said with a huff, rolling on his side to face away from Draxum, “I'm tired. Night.”

Draxum sighed, Leonardo was more stubborn than Mikey trying to make him better, “Very well.”

He stood up, using a vine to flick the lights off. He leaned down, placing a hand on Leo's head and whispering so Leo couldn't hear, “Good night, my son.”

. . . . . . .

“Mornin',” Mikey greeted from the kitchen, having gotten up earlier since there were extra mouths to feed.

“Hey Michael,” Donnie greeted tiredly, grabbing a cup of coffee and quickly drinking it, definitely not burning his tongue in the process. He started brewing a second pot.

“Where's Raph?” Mikey asked, he was almost always up before Donnie.

“Talking with Dad,” Donnie said, stretching, “April's getting ready, Draxum's still asleep and I think Leo is too.”

“Wanna go wake those two up?” Mikey asked, flipping over the omelet he was making.

“Sure,” Donnie said, pouring himself another cup of coffee and pouring a mug for Leo. He carried the two, walking towards the medbay.

He found Draxum inside, asleep on one of the beds.

“Wake up,” Donnie called, making Draxum jolt and look confused before remembering where he was, “Mikey made breakfast, you don't wanna miss it- trust me.”

“Alright,” Draxum said tiredly, the goat Yokai running a hand through his matted, tangled hair.

“Where's Leo?”

“What?” Draxum asked, looking around, “That idiot. He must've gotten up, I told him to rest.”

“Sigh. Of course,” Donnie said, leaving the room and heading to Leo's.

“Oh Lesser twin!” Donnie called, “I've come bearing coffee!”

“I'll be there in a sec,” Leo called back, making Donnie huff.

“Fine, it's on the table,” Donnie said, leaving and going back to the kitchen to set it down. Finding everyone already there, “I'll go grab him.”

He went back, opening the door to Leo's room without knocking, like the good and loving twin he was, he was surprised to find Leo reading a book, scribbling down notes from something.

“What's that?” Donnie asked, making Leo jump.

“Oh hey,” Leo greeted, looking up from the book. It had a picture of some weird cylinder looking thing.

“What's that?” Donnie repeated his question, making Leo grimace.

“I'm gonna tell everyone at breakfast.”

“That's what I'm here to get you for,”

“Euugh boy, we'll see how this goes,” Leo said, closing the book and stowing it underneath his bed, taking his blue notebook with him.

. . . . . .

“Ladies, gentlemen, and Donnie.”

“Hey!”

“I present to you,” Leo said, taking out his notebook and tossing it onto the coffee table, “A possible lead.” He'd waited until after breakfast, gathering everyone in the living room for a ‘Mandatory super-important meeting hosted by Neon Leon'

“What is this?” Donnie asked, immediately grabbing the notebook and looking at the sketch and few notes.

“This is some ancient mystical key,” Leo explained, “I found it in the Mystic Library, it was really far back. I could've even understand some of it, I had to get help.”

“Who helped you?” Draxum asked, reading over the notes.

“Some old fox Yokai,” Leo said with a shrug, “He said it was ancient and that he only knew it cause of some old ruins his family had looked after. Don't worry, he thinks I was just a school kid tryna write an essay about hidden city ruins.”

“The only things it says are extremely dangerous and ‘The day the sky bled red, is when the world shall end’” Donnie said uneasily.

“Yeah,” Leo said, voice cracking slightly, he quickly coughed to clear it, “So far it seems like either this key, or the key of ice and snow I found earlier are what he's after.”

“How do we know this?” Splinter asked.

“All the other keys are common,” Draxum said uneasily, “Or would be simple to get, anyone could have found them by now. But these ones. . .”

“We gotta take this serious,” Raph said, voice hard, “Raph doesn't know what they do, but both seem extremely dangerous.”

“Nothing wrong with a poem about the world ending,” April said weakly, attempting to lift the mood but it didn't work.

“What do we do?” Mikey asked, looking up at Leo.

“Here's what I got planned so far,” Leo said, making pride surge through Raph, he really was taking things seriously, “We get in contact with Gram-Gram because this guy has a piece of the shredder armor. That could be what's making him so strong.”

“Not a bad idea,”

“Then, we see what all she has to say. If there's not much she can do, then we use Donnie's tech to find both keys and separate them completely,” Leo said, “That way neither of them can get taken or used. And if he mentions some other key, or doesn't get angry about these ones, then we find that one and hide it too."

“That's a great plan, Leo!” Raph said earnestly, “Raph's says we should try it!”

“There's a few finer details to work out but overall, it seems solid,” Donnie said with a nod of approval.

“All in favor, raise your hands,” Leo ordered, and not a single hand stayed down, he beamed, “Alright Mad Dogs, let's get to work!”

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

“Anything?” Leo asked, looking over Donnie's shoulder at the massive screen displaying several locations at once.

“Nothing. There's been no sight of him since our last fight,” Donnie said, irritated.

“Maybe he is after that ice key,” Leo said with a frown, “He knows I know where the book is. . .he might be waiting for us.”

“Horrified shudder, that is not a thought I like.” Donnie said with a grimace, “A powerful maniac waiting specifically for us.”

“Keep looking, Dee,” Leo said, “He might not be, just tryna plan for everything.”

“I know,” Donnie sighed, flipping back through cameras.

“Make sure you get some rest in too,” Leo ordered firmly.

“No one asked you.” Donnie said, shutting the doors to his lab and nearly catching Leo's foot.

“Prick,” Leo said, but he couldn't hide the small grin on his face. No doubt his dumbass twin was laughing behind the doors.

Leo left, walking to the med bay and smiling at the sight. Draxum was teaching Raph and Mikey first aid and CPR, it seemed more than necessary now, given their powerful opponent.

“You need to press further for us,” Leo but in, “Our plastrons make the two inch press rule impossible, but if April or Pops ever needed it, that's what you'd do.”

“Thanks Leo!” Mikey called from where he was kneeling beside a CPR dummy.

“I could have informed him of that,” Draxum said matter of factly.

“Sure pal,” Leo said smugly, flouncing away from the medbay and heading to the living room. He flopped down on the couch, picking up the notebook on the coffee stand and frowning.

‘The day the sky bled red, is the day the world shall end’

He shuddered, those words did not sound good at all.

. . . . . . . .

“I GOT AN ALERT!” Donnie yelled, sprinting into the living room, “BLUE IS OUT THERE! HE'S HOLDING SOMETHING! I CAN'T MAKE IT OUT!”

“WE GOTTA MOVE NOW!” Leo ordered, slicing a portal into existence and gesturing for everyone to enter, “You guys cut him off, I'll portal behind him and you all push him through!”

“Got it!”

They all rushed through, finding themselves in a parking lot with ice everywhere. Panicked screams were heard, people running out of the nearby apartment building, while others were stabbed through with ice.

“BLUE!” Raph yelled, doing anything he could to get the maniac's attention away from murdering innocent people.

“WHY HELLO~!” Blue trilled, “I THOUGHT YOU FORGOT LITTLE OL’ ME!”

“Wish we could!” April snarked, gripping the handle if her bat tightly, “Whatcha holding?”

“Just a little surprise,” Blue said with a smile, he glanced down at the blood covered ground from where he stood on a pillar of ice, “I just admit, I do love the color red! Wouldn't it be lovely?”

Blue's voice shrieked with what sounded like multiple, the sound loud, grating, and horrifying, “T̸̼͉͖̃͆̆́O̵͉͇͓̒̏ ̵̙͚̰̓̊͑Ḣ̸͕͔̿͊̾A̸̤̘͗V̸̖̫͙̉E̶̦͔̜͔͗̽͘ ̴̘̪̭̄̓͝Ä̷͈̠́̋ ̴͙͚͖̅̒͂B̷̟͓̺̔̂L̶̢̳͛Ě̸̢͈̥͉̈́͛͘E̵͈̠̬̹̓̃͘D̸̥̯͇̒͗͘͠I̷͓̻͙̔͋N̶͖̲̥͋́̑G̸̡̭͈̏̿ͅ ̷̣̣͖̋̏͌S̸̩̝̑K̷̯͔̤͎̾̀́̕Y̷̝͛́̓͝!?”

The group exchanged helpless and horrified looks. But before they could say anything, a voice rang out.

“HEY dickhe*d!” Leo yelled, standing a bit behind Blue, “GET YOUR OWN COLOR!”

He slashed a massive portal open, making Blue cackle.

“PATHETIC. LITTLE. WRETCH!” Blue shrieked, launching off the ice and flying towards Leo.

“LEO!”

Blue grabbed Leo, gripping the strap over his plastron tightly. Leo swiped his swords at him, but Blue bat them away as if they were mere toys.

He spun around and hurled Leo away, sending him crashing head first into the apartment building, flying through multiple rooms.

“GET HIM IN THAT PORTAL!” Raph yelled, Ninpo forming around him as he ran out towards Blue.

The entire group ran at him, punching and shooting and doing everything they could.

“THIS IS FUN!” Blue laughed, leaping over Raph's fist and dodging a vine from Draxum, he ducked underneath the bright green bat soaring towards his face.

“Uh oh!” Blue giggled as an orange chain hooked around his leg.

He went flying through the air, being sent towards the portal.

“Nice work, Mikey!”

But just as Raph spoke, a blast of blue covered the entire portal. Ice blocked Blue from entering the bright, crackling portal.

They all stared in shock.

“Oopsies!” Blue laughed, grabbing the chain around his ankle and sending ice cracking down it. It shattered into millions of tiny shards, “You really ought to-”

His sentence was cut off by a sword stabbing into the ice next to him. A heavily bleeding Leo staggered out from the apartment, “GET HIM TO THE SWORD!”

“ON IT!” Donnie yelled, blasting off into the sky and shooting towards Blue.

“GET ME UP THERE!” Splinter ordered, a purple vine quickly forming underneath him, sending him towards Blue.

“OOH MORE GUESTS-” Blue cackled, before a tail cracked into the side of his head, “Ooh! That stings a bit!” A wall of ice prevented Donnie's bōh from slamming onto his head.

“NOW!” Raph yelled, seeing Blue trapped with ice over his head, Splinter on one side, and the sword right next to him.

The rest of the group rushed at him, yelling out a loud battle cry.

“HOOOOT SOUUUP!”

A blast of blue electricity shot through the area, and Blue disappeared.

“Did we do it?” Donnie asked, huffing slightly as they backed away from the ice covered portal that slowly closed.

“D̴̛̖̈́i̷̢̻̿̆d̶̯̽ ̸͔͂ỳ̷̲̊ó̸̳̿ū̵̜͘ͅ ̴̺̇f̵̘̩͆̓o̶͎̱͌̕r̸̲̿̿g̵̩͈͌ē̴̳͓̄t̸̮̖͌̐ ̶̬̟̐͝Í̷̲̌ ̶͎͠c̸̢̅a̴̝͝n̴̪̻̂̂ ̶͍͚͗t̷̨̟͌̇ḙ̶̒̌l̴̢̺̋͊ë̶̬p̴̡̿͝ŏ̶͍̲r̶̝̕t̶͔͐?̵̟̒͗͜” A distorted voice asked behind them, making everyone whirl around.

Blue's eyes glowed menacingly, his hand glowing a bright blue, pointed in the direction of Leo.

“The key. For his life.” Blue said with an evil cackle.

“We don't know where it is!” Mikey exclaimed, panicking.

“Tick, tock.”

“DON'T TELL HIM!” Leo yelled.

“I'll kill him.”

“IT'S IN THE SAHARA!” Draxum burst out, “He told me it was there.”

“Thank you, goat man.” Blue said, lowering his hand. He disappeared in a flash, teleporting beside Leo and wrapping a hand around his neck, “LET'S SEE YOU CATCH HIM THIS TIME!”

The two disappeared in a blue and yellow flash.

“LEO!”

The group stood frozen, horrified. But a second later, Leo reappeared at his sword, trembling and hurt badly.

“Leo!”

“He, he took me to a roof and threw me,” Leo stuttered, trembling from fear and shock, “How does he know that?”

With that, he promptly passed out.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Luckily we were able to get–”

“--coulda gotten it.”

“-ill hurt you.”

Leo groaned, feeling groggy but not hurt. He blearily blinked his eyes open, taking in the sight of his roughed up, but otherwise unharmed family.

“Guys!” Leo exclaimed, shooting upright but immediately listing to the side from a massive wave of dizziness.

“Careful!” Raph exclaimed, catching Leo and helping him sit back upright, “Not everything's fully healed yet!”

“Fully healed?” Leo questioned, taking in the sight of no bandages on him, “How?”

“I went to witch town and got some stuff,” April said proudly, elbowing Donnie at the salty look she gave him, “I stocked up on a ton too. It. . .seemed like a good idea after all that.”

“Yeah,” Leo said, frowning, only his head still hurt and he was dizzy; seemed like the concussion was still there.

“Okay,” Splinter said seriously, “No more attacking this thing separately. It's too dangerous.”

It fell silent, multiple people grimacing. They'd gotten lucky. Lucky that Blue was so insane he didn't want to just kill them easily.

“So what do we do then?” Mikey asked, sitting down on the bed beside Leo and leaning against his side, “We can't just let him get away!”

“Well, it seemed like he was focused mostly on Leo,” Donnie said, “Which means he must be after that ice key!”

“Yeah,” Leo said worriedly, “Drax, you said it was in the Sahara, right?”

“I did,”

“Good,” Leo sighed in relief, laying back against the beg and hugging Mikey with one arm, “Its not there, thank pizza supreme!”

The whole group released a collective breath of relief.

“Okay, now we know which key he's after, we can plan properly,” April said with a grin, “Splints, you gotta find a way to contact Karai. Then we can see what she says.”

“I'll do that now,” Splinter said with a nod, hurrying from the room.

“I wanna see her too!” Mikey exclaimed, hurrying after his Dad with Raph doing the same.

“I have some tech to work on in the garage,” Donnie said, “You can join me later, ‘Nardo.”

“Alright,” Leo said with a huff, he hated being bedridden.

“I'm gonna paint your nails,” April said, pointing at Leo, “I'll go grab the kit. You want a manicure too, Barry?”

“No.” Draxum deadpanned, “I'm going to see how much information I can get on this ice key.”

“Good idea,” Leo said, “But I think most of it is in that book I found.”

“I'll see what I can find,” Draxum said, leaving the room.

. . . . . .

“I wonder why she isn't answering,” Raph said sadly.

“It's not like a phone, Red,” Splinter said with a chuckle, “I'm sure she's very busy, she is the head of the family after all, it is not surprising that she didn't answer.”

“That makes sense,” Mikey said, but he still looked disappointed, “Maybe we can try again later.”

“Exactly,”

“I'm gonna see how Barry's doing with the key research,” Mikey said, hopping up from his spot on the floor, “Wanna come too?”

“Sure,” Raph said, but Splinter shook his head.

“Let's go,” Mikey said, skipping out of the room with Raph following with a laugh.

They found Draxum in the living room, reading a book intently and frowning.

“What's up?” Mikey asked, pushing off of Draxum's shoulder to see what he was looking at.

“There's no mention of a key of ice and snow,” Draxum said with a frown, “Not in anything I've been about to find. Yokai history, magic history, even the magic of keys history!”

“Just ask Leo for the book then,” Mikey suggested, “You guys can just go there and see it.”

“True,” Draxum said thoughtfully, “I'll go ask him.”

“I think he's still in the med bay with April,” Raph informed, sitting down on the couch to watch some TV.

He got up, Mikey following after him as they headed to the med bay.

“Hey Leo,” Mikey greeted, smiling at the sight of Leo admiring his freshly painted blue claws.

“Look!” Leo gushed, holding his hands out, “April gets better every time!”

“You're just saying that,” April said with a wave of her hand, emphasizing the shimmering green on her own nails.

“As unimportant as this all is,” Draxum deadpanned, earning three overdramatic scoffs, “I want you to take me to the book.”

“Why?”

“So I can read about this key, and see if there's possibly any seals or masking spells on the book,” Draxum explained, “It will be good if we know what he's after better.”

“True,” Leo said, tapping on his chin thoughtfully, “But it also could be dangerous getting it.”

“You've hidden it,” Draxum pointed out.

“Yeah, but I dunno if it's worth the risk of going to it,” Leo said with a shrug.

Draxum groaned, then said, “Tell you what, if you bring me to it, I'll get you something from the hidden city.”

“Huh? Draxum, you can't just bribe people!” Mikey scolded.

“No, no,” Leo said, a sharp grin spreading across his face, “There is actually something I want. . .”

. . . . .

Donnie sighed, sorting through the mess of boxes in the garage.

“Whoever misplaced the titanium and copper sheets is going to die.” Donnie muttered to himself, opening a different box to search.

A glint caught his eye, making him look over.

What is that?

He reached out, grabbing a thin metal disk. It had a blue stripe going around it and was a dark purplish color.

I don't remember making this

Donnie frowned, flipping it over and looking around at the strange disk. He set it on the ground, about to keep searching when it glowed a bright blue.

“What the-!?” Donnie exclaimed in shock as a bright blue light shone into the air, before taking on a holographic form of Leo.

The hologram was of an injured and bloody Leo, and as Donnie stood to grab it, it spoke, “GET HIM TO THE SWORD!”

What the hell is this?

He grabbed the disk, and the hologram disappeared. He set it back down and it reappeared. Donnie frowned, turning back to the box he'd found it in and seeing another one.

He set that one down beside it, revealing a hologram of Leo slashing open a massive portal, “HEY dickhe*d! GET YOUR OWN COLOR!”

Dread slowly grew stronger and Donnie quickly grabbed his phone, scrolling through recordings.

Their fight the other day. Leo had slashed open a massive portal, “HEY dickhe*d! GET YOUR OWN COLOR!”

And later in the fight, when Leo had staggered out of the rubble, “GET HIM TO THE SWORD!”

Donnie frantically rewinded to the building, pinching to zoom on the video, he finally realized what Blue was holding.

A metal disk with a blue stripe.

“No. . .” Donnie whispered, “This isn't possible. . .”

A loud explosion rang out, making the entire lair shake. Donnie rushed from the garage, sprinting towards the sounds of yelling.

“PUT HIM DOWN!”

“THIS ISN'T YOU!”

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?”

“HOW COULD YOU!?”

“LEO!”

Donnie rushed into the main area, skidding to a stop at the sight. There was a massive collapse where all their rooms and the medbay were, there were massive spears of ice buried throughout the area, frost coated random areas and the air was cold.

But in the center of it all was Blue.

Donnie watched in horror as his twin slowly turned to look at him, the jacket and mask he'd been wearing to hide his face nowhere in sight. Only the black jeans and a sleeveless black shirt that revealed his once yellow stripes that were now dark blue diamonds. Only his blue mask revealing new sets of stripes on his face that matched the color of the now dark blue crescents.

An evil smirk formed on Leo's face, and Donnie realized why. He was holding Draxum up, one arm extended by ice that was morphed into a hand, holding Draxum tightly with his arms pinned to his sides.

“Leo,” Donnie choked out.

“Hello everyone,” Leo greeted, a dark look in his bright blue eyes, “Who's up for a scavenger hunt?”

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

It was silent.

Everyone on Donnie's side of the room was frozen as they took in the situation of destruction and the hostage situation in front of them.

A stalemate.

“Well?” Leo asked, tilting his head slightly, he tightened his hold on Draxum, making him hiss in pain and clench his teeth to keep from crying out.

“What do you mean by. . .a scavenger hunt?” Splinter said slowly, “The rest of the armor is destroyed.”

Leo cackled, throwing his head back, “Oh! You guys are too funny! I already have all the armor I need! A simple shard holds tremendous power! What I want is the key.”

“You already have the book!” Mikey said angrily, trembling. His eyes were filled with tears and a horrifying realization of betrayal.

“Pfft-! You really think I'd stick around you all if that was the key!” Leo laughed, “I want the key I told you about before. Unfortunately, there's very little info on it. No clue where to look.”

“Then how the hell are we supposed to find it!?” April demanded, voice shaky.

“Easy. Use him,” Leo said, pointing at Donnie, who flinched back, “He can make some mystic-key finding device, right?”

“And why would I do that?” Donnie asked in a voice that was way more confident than he was feeling- which was not at all.

“Simple. Make it or he dies.” Leo said threateningly, tightening his grip on Draxum so much that the ice crackled and Draxum let out a cry of pain.

Everyone stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

But apparently Draxum had an idea. A vine launched out of the ground, grabbing the chunk of ice holding him and wrapping around it until and shattered.

He fell to the ground, quickly falling through a portal and appearing beside Mikey, a bit winded and sore but otherwise unharmed.

“Oh! I didn't see that one coming!” Leo congratulated, clapping his hands, “You did good! Do I get a turn now?”

“We gotta get out of here,” April said, “Like now.”

“But things are just getting exciting!” Leo said, mock-hurt, “You really wanna run away from your dear ol’ brother that fast!? I knew I was right!"

“About what!?” Raph asked suspiciously, his entire heart aching with betrayal, fear, and hurt.

“Of course you don't know.” Leo said with a disappointed sigh. The air grew colder.

*We need to go,” Draxum repeated April, a portal opening behind everyone, “Now!”

“Cowards way out?” Leo taunted, “I guess there's no roof to throw me off of!”

A look of hurt spasmed across Draxum's face, before it settled to a cold mask of anger, “Everyone go through, now!”

“But that's too easy! I know,” Leo said, snapping his fingers. In the air, dozens of spears of ice pointed down at them.

“T̵̡̟͎͍̟̠̪͍̹͙̰̜̟̀̀̈́͊͛̓̽͊̿́͒̓͘R̵͍̝͕̉͂̋̅Y̷̢̡̗̝̟͓̪̋̎̾͐̽ͅ ̶̟͉̫͊̈́̉̂̕N̵̨̢̙͔̠̖͒̔͊̌́̕Ǫ̶̢̺̹̰͈̳̖̮̳̟̳̲̂̓̇̾́̾́̏̐̕͝T̴̢̤̖͔̥̹̪̳̼̟̐͝ ̶̭̝̏͑̔͐͐̈́T̵̟͇͐̍̿̓̂̀̊͆̈́Ǫ̴̡̧̖͙͍̮̘͙̼̰̞̐̉̒̓͊̃̌̕̚̚ͅ ̸̼͎̭͚͇̠̬̯͍̯͊̎̀̿̒͊̽̏̇̅͠͝D̵͎̐͛́͛͠I̸̭̬̝̪̹͚͔̠̲̿̋̅͐̌͑͘͘Ȇ̸̝̗͈̮̈́̈̉͊̓͝ ̸̡̱̦̯͍̬͖͔̓̈́͋̍Ơ̸̡̧̥̥̼̻̙̄͆̅̍̕N̵̼͕̰̂͗͘ ̶̼̲͚͙̥̞̭͇̑͐̀͛̐͛̉̚̚Ȳ̷̧̜̦͈̻͉̯̥̺̲̻͇̓̓̃͗́̓̓̀̌̅̕͘͝O̸̘͕͛̅̽̽̐̂͑̽̚U̵͙͍͓̓͌̃̇̅̏̏͂̏̓͠͠Ŗ̸̣͙̩̞̠͓̤̙̰͓̳̖̰̪̑̍ ̵̹̪̼̦͔́̂̂͜͜W̶̡̫͈̫͉̙̦͕͙̱͈̻̘̖̾͊̆̐͐̀̑̾̄̒̔͘̚Ä̶̜́͐̓Y̷̡̱̻͔̪̼̫̲̳͙̝̥͚͕̍̌͂̽̂̉̕͝ ̶̳̣̮͉̖̝̏͋̆̃̇͑̀̃Ơ̸̝̞̩̯̲̜̣̳̭̪̈́́͐̂͌̑̓͆̽̑̚͝Ủ̴̫̩̥͇̽T̸̡̢̮̟̞̱͈͍̫̳̖̼͈͔͌͌͌͊̑̐̊ͅ.̵͓̮̞̱͂́̈́̅̒̒̽͆̓̌̿͘͝ ̷̮̇͌́͋͐̊̽̋͌͒͂̃̌͝”

. . . . . . .

“This is bad,” Draxum said, pacing in front of everyone, “It's only a matter of time before he finds that key.”

“It's only a matter of time before he finds us!” Donnie practically snarled.

Draxum had yanked everyone through the portal just before the ice spears pummeled into the ground. They hadn't escaped completely unscathed, both April and Mikey had gotten cut badly on an arm.

They'd ended up in a farmhouse far outside of New York City, where Draxum had taken care of their injuries.

Everyone was silent, unsure of what to say. Their brother, one of their family members had tried to kill them multiple times now.

They'd been sitting in silence until Draxum had stood and begun to pace.

“I don't know why he's doing this!” April exclaimed, distraught and heartbroken, “Why is he doing this!?”

“Maybe he really is bad,” Raph said, each word coated in agony and hurt.

SMACK!

A rat’s tail smacked hard onto Raph's head, making him yelp. Splinter lept in front of the group, furious.

“One argument face to face convinces you that he's evil!?” Splinter snapped, enraged, “You have seen the dark armor with him!”

“But Pops-”

“No!” Splinter practically yelled, “You all know the armor manipulates the wearer! Karai's own father wanted her and the rest of the family dead! Do you really believe that Blue would want to kill all of you!? He is your brother! Think of all the times he has saved or helped you!”

It went silent as everyone remembered, shame filling them.

“Donnie?” Leo asked quietly, stepping into their shared bedroom, “Are you in here?”

Donnie winced, he had a pounding migraine, and the sound of Leo's voice was grating. He lightly tapped the ground beside him, hoping Leo would get the memo.

The lights to the room flicked off, and then Donnie jolted slightly at the feeling of a hand gently touching his.

“Here,” Leo whispered softly, “I got you medicine and water, it'll help with the pain.”

Donnie obediently took the medicine, although Vomitello nearly made an appearance, he laid down, resting his head in Leo's lap.

Leo gently pet him on the head, stroking his hand gently across his scales, “You can sleep, Donnie. You'll feel better when you wake up.”

. . . .

Mikey hissed in pain, holding his hand under the steaming water. Was it supposed to hurt worse!?

“Hey hermano!” Leo greeted, strolling into the kitchen, glancing over at Mikey before immediately doing a double take, “WHAT THE f*ck!?”

He sprinted over, yanking Mikey's hand out of the water and immediately switching it towards the cool side, he felt the water before thrusting Mikey's hand under the now lukewarm water.

“What!?” Mikey asked, shocked, “That's how you treat burns!”

“You treat them with cool or lukewarm water! Not hot or cold!” Leo exclaimed, “How does it feel? What happened?”

“I burnt it while grabbing the pan from the oven,” Mikey said with a grimace, “It's not that bad.”

The unimpressed look Leo gave him had him backpedaling slightly.

“Okay, it kinda hurts. . .”

“Alright,” Leo said with a sigh, “We're gonna hold this here for 20 minutes, then we're gonna put some aloe on this and give you some Tylenol.”

“Okay,” Mikey agreed, secretly relieved. The burn hurt way more than he was letting on, but now Leo was here to help!

When the twenty minutes had passed, Leo brought him to the bathroom, where he grabbed the aloe cream from under the sink and carefully put it on the large burn on Mikey's palm and wrapped a loose bit of gauze around it.

“Better?” Leo asked with a sincere smile.

“Yeah! Thanks Leon!” Mikey said, hugging his older brother.

“No problem, I'll fix whatever injury you get! I'll even beat up the oven for ya!” Leo said, making Mikey laugh.

. . . .

“Raph?”

Raph sighed quietly, burying his head underneath his pillow. He was completely exhausted. Splinter hadn't left his room for days and he'd been having to take care of his brothers completely alone now.

“Raph?” Mikey repeated, lifting the pillow slightly, “Can you-”

“I think I can do it,” Leo interrupted, rushing into the room, “C'mon, Mikester. I'll help with whatever you need!”

“I wanna color!” The four year old said with a pout.

“Okay! How ‘bout you grab the new box of crayons from me and Donnie's room and I'll color with you!” Leo offered, making Mikey's eyes light up.

Mikey nodded, rushing from the room and making Raph sigh in relief.

“Go to sleep, Raphie,” Leo ordered, pulling his blanket overtop Raph, “I'll take care of it.”

“But-”

“It's only a few hours!” Leo reassured with a smile, “I can do it!”

“Okay. . .” Raph said, immediately drifting off.

Since then, Leo always helped Raph when he got stressed or sick or ‘weird’. He'd find him when he was alone or take care of him when something was wrong.

“f*ck.”

“Indeed,” Splinter said, surprisingly not scolding Donnie for his language, “Do you understand now?”

“We're the worst,” Raph said, completely ashamed of himself.

“No, the armor is made to cut relations,” Splinter said sadly, “Especially in Blue's case, where it looks as though he's doing this willingly.”

“So how do we get rid of that thing?” April asked, “Isn't the shard, like, a part of him?”

“Perhaps you can do what you did for the shredder,” Draxum suggested, snapping his fingers as the idea came to him, “Combining your Ninpo to destroy it!”

“We already tried that though,” Donnie said, gritting his teeth, “He just caught it and destroyed it.”

“What did you do?”

“We made, like, a giant weapon,” Raph explained, “We combined our powers and he caught it like it was nothing! That's when we found out about he shard.”

“Interesting,” Draxum said, hand cupped around his chin, “What did you do with the shredder?”

“We had the entire family combine their powers into this massive spear!” Mikey explained, “And it destroyed him.”

“So Ninpo was used then too?” Draxum asked.

“Yeah,”

“So here's what I suggest,” Draxum said, “You contact your family again and use your power to destroy that shard.”

“Won't that much hurt him?” Raph asked worriedly, remembering the way the dark armor had disintegrated.

“I'm sure Karai knows how to make it not hurt,” April said optimistically, “I think we should try it!”

“Okay,” Donnie said, nodding, he turned to Splinter, “How do you get in contact with them?”

“I know how,” Splinter said, “I just need quiet and focus.”

“Alright,” Mikey said, “So Operation Use Ninpo To Bring Leo Back is a go!”

“Well first we gotta talk to them,” April reminded Mikey, before he could get too over hyped.

“Oh. Operation Get In Contact With Gram-Gram And Then Use Ninpo To Bring Leo Back is a go!” Mikey corrected, making several of them shake their heads.

. . . . .

“So how did you find out about the shard?” April asked, “I remember you saying he showed you it.”

“It was when we used all of our Ninpo,” Donnie said, tapping at his phone and pulling up a video, “See? He blocked the spear and then–”

“Wait,” April frowned, pinching to zoom in on the screen, “Why's that part so glitchy?”

“What?” Donnie asked, turning to look at the screen.

It was what he had watched before, seeing Blue– Leo hold up a hand and freezing their massive weapon.

But he saw what April pointed at.

The footage was extremely glitchy around where Leo's hand was about to touch the spear point. It looked like strange tendrils were coming out of his hand.

“What is that?” Donnie muttered, looking closer, but the video didn't zoom in anymore.

“Look, it's like weird looking tentacle things,” April pointed at the shadowy, glitchy tendrils on the screen.

“I know,” Donnie said, hitting play and watching the glitchiness spread around the spear before the ice covered it, “This is weird.”

The glitchy, barely visible tendrils disappeared when the ice coated the spear.

“Is that a power?”

“I don't know.”

“Can you clear up the video?” April asked worriedly.

“I can, but don't tell the others,” Donnie said hurriedly, “I got a bad feeling.”

“Me too,” April said, “I think it has to do with the key he's after.”

“Me too,” Donnie said, the uneasiness proving his idea further.

Because Leo was after a key. Not them.

And it clearly wasn't whatever key of ice he'd pretended to be after.

He wanted that bleeding sky key. Or whatever it was called.

And he'd already found information on it that they hadn't. . .

Which means he's already ahead of us in finding it!

“Michael!” Donnie called, jumping up and startling April, “We need to modify your operation!”

. . . .

“You sure this is safe?” Raph asked worriedly.

“Yes,” Donnie said, exasperated, “Barry's the only one that can portal. So it's smartest for him to go alone.”

“But-”

“And if he sees Leo, he can portal somewhere else and then back here,” Donnie said, “Remember what Leo said about that key? We have to find it before he can!”

“Okay, okay,” Raph sighed, “Raph just doesn't like splitting up like this. . .”

“We can always call backup,” April pointed out.

“Oh not the foot recruit,” Draxum grimaced, “I'll take my chances alone.”

“If anything happens, call us!” Mikey said, hugging Draxum tightly.

Draxum hesitated, but gave him a quick hug back. They all seemed to understand the danger of this.

“I will,” Draxum said, stepping away from the hug, “I'll go to every place in the hidden city I know that could have information.”

“Be careful,”

“I will,” Draxum said back, giving Mikey a reassuring smile as he went through the portal. It closed behind him, leaving everyone paranoid and worried.

It felt silent for a bit. No one sure what to say. Draxum was gone, and Splinter was attempting to contact Karai.

“C'mon, let's go outside and see this place,” April said, attempting to boost the mood.

They stepped out, immediately gasping.

It was snowing.

It was snowing.

“Oh f*ck,” Donnie said, immediately shoving everyone back inside.

“There's no way this is normal!”

“How did he find us!?”

“My scanners say there's no one here,” Donnie said, flipping down his goggles and searching around.

“But why's it snowing then?” Raph asked, shaking. The others pretended not to notice.

“Hmm, maybe this is a side effect?” Donnie theorized, “It doesn't seem harmful or specific to here.”

He pulled out his phone, tapped at the screen for a minute and then held it out, “Look, it says it's snowing in all of New York! They're calling it a ‘Summer Phenomenon,’”

“But why would Blu-Leo, wanna make it snow everywhere?” Mikey asked, confused.

“I don't know, maybe he's planning a blizzard or something,” Raph said, guiding everyone further inside, “We'll wanna be inside for it or else we'll brumate-”

“Brumation!” Donnie suddenly yelled when they walked in the house, making everyone jump.

“What?”

“Brumation! Leo knows about brumation!” Donnie said, frantically pacing, “I get it now!”

“What!? Can you explain!” Raph snapped, fear coming out as anger, but luckily Donnie didn't get upset.

“Before we found about Blue, I saw Leo looking up effects of hypothermia,” Donnie said, “Now, Leo's medic, right?”

“Yeah?”

“So he knows what our temperatures and everything are,” Donnie was saying hurriedly, a small hologram appearing from his gauntlet, it was of his vitals, “See the temperature? It's about 25 degrees Celsius.”

“Uh. . “

“77 in Fahrenheit,” Donnie said, rolling his eyes slightly, “Most turtles brumate at around 38 to 40, shudder, Fahrenheit,”

“And snow is 32 degrees,” April said with wide eyes, the situation dawning on her.

“Exactly,” Donnie said grimly, “We can withstand snow better than other turtles because of this whole situation.” He gestured at their humanoid forms.

“But if it goes on too long, we usually end up sleeping anyway,” Raph said quietly, “Even if it's just for a few days.”

“This isn't good,” Mikey said worriedly, “He knows we can't leave the city!”

“We could,” Donnie said, “But that would make us further from the hidden city, which is where the key is most likely located. Especially since it's snowing now, he must be trying to keep us inside."

“sh*t.” Mikey said, “Leo's good at plans, huh?”

“Indeed,” Donnie said grimly, “Which means we need a plan too.”

“Step one is making sure you guys don't bromate.”

“Brumate,” Donnie corrected April, “I believe this place has heating, but I can make it stronger too.”

“Alright, but what else can we do?” Mikey asked, frowning.

“There's not much to do until Barry gets back,” Raph said, “Any clue when that's supposed to be?”

“No idea,” Donnie said, gritting his teeth, “With all this mystic stuff there might not be anything to find. Or it'll require extra steps.”

“Why is magic so complicated!?” Mikey complained, pausing for Leo to say something, then a sorrowful look forming on his face as he remembered. The mood in the room dropped even further.

“I'm going to do some research, see if there's anything else. If Leo found something, I'm sure with all my surveillance I can find something as well,” Donnie said, storming out of the room.

“I think I upset him,” Mikey said, guiltily.

“No, I think it's this whole thing,” April reassured, “He’s probably freaked out. And Leo ain't here to help.”

“Yeah,” Mikey sighed, eyes tearing up, “Poor Leo. . .”

“‘Poor Leo?’”

“Remember what Pops said,” Mikey said sadly, “This thing is controlling his mind! He's gotta feel so scared. . .so alone. Remember how sad Gram-Gram's Dad looked when he broke out the armor?”

“We're gonna get him back,” Raph said determinedly, “And I'm sure Leo's okay, he's strong!”

“Leo's gonna be okay,” April reassured, “We're all gonna be okay.”

Mikey nodded, “We just gotta wait on Dad to get back,”

“Exactly,” April said with a nod, “And while we wait, I'm gonna make a call.”

“Who are you calling?”

“Backup.”

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

Draxum frowned, closing yet another book. Nothing.

“There has to be something,” He muttered to himself, searching through the books on the shelf.

He had been searching for hours and still hadn't found a single thing. He huffed, exasperated and on-edge.

He left the ‘K’ section of books and headed towards ‘B’.

Maybe there's something about the bleeding sky.

“Ooh! You might wanna go back to the K’s!” A hauntingly familiar voice trilled.

Draxum whirled around, looking around frantically, ready for a fight.

“Up here!” Leo said, waving from the top of a high up bookshelf.

“What do you want?” Draxum practically growled, vines ready to break through the floors.

“Oh relax~!” Leo laughed, idly balancing an icicle on the tip of his finger, “I just wanna watch!”

“You're not insane,” Draxum said bluntly, “Stop acting like you are.”

“Oh please,” Leo scoffed, rolling his eyes, “You don't know me. Plus, who knows, maybe that roof fall scrambled my brain!”

Draxum grimaced, “Why are you doing this?”

“Ya see, I had a huuuuge eye opener,” Leo said, hanging off the bookshelf upside down and grinning down at Draxum, “And I met this guy that really got me thinking! So, found anything on that key?”

“Who did you meet?” Draxum asked, avoiding the question.

“Silly! I met who the key is for!” Leo exclaimed, making Draxum more confused.

“What does that mean?” Draxum asked, apprehensive. He couldn't trust anything Leo was saying, undoubtedly, the armor was making him act this way.

He remembered his own experience being controlled by the armor. The rush of pure power. The way he was willing to hurt anyone or anything that stood in his way.

“Poor, poor, Draxy,” Leo sighed, sounding like a disappointed parent, “Your big brain must be sooo upset right now!”

“It is,” Draxum deadpanned, “Because you're doing this and the armor is controlling you.”

“The armor-? PFFT!” Leo cackled loudly, laughing so hard he had to wipe away a tear, “Oh Draxum! So smart, yet so stupid! Just a little pest!”

“What-?”

“I met the c̸͕͈̄̂͋̓͂̉͘͝r̷̢̝͕̻͙͙̮̰͉̥̙͎͋̿̒̿̃̆̑͑̇̍̕̚͝ȩ̴̜̟͎̳̫̻̇̍̽̕a̴̢̛̺̬̝̣̥̻͎͕̗̻̥̯̜͔̽̌̒̋̋͗͝t̵̢̘̮̠͚̦͓̙̼̘̱̙̄̉͌͌͊́̊͑̀̏̉͑͘͜ͅō̶̧̧̖̜̩̯̖̞̮̝̪̟̬͆̄̿͐̇̋͛̓̕͠r̵̦̦̝̤͉̞̫̝̪̲̗͐͒̿̓̈́̂̓̃͝͝ of the armor.”

. . . . . . .

“Well?”

“Casey says she's on her way,” April said, putting her phone in her hoodie pocket.

“What!? Cass?” Donnie exclaimed, “Why her!?”

“She was in the foot clan, she says she might know what we're looking for,” April said, crossing her arms and glaring at Donnie, “And she's my friend. Sunita can't come ‘cause it's too dangerous, but Cass can fight. You know that.”

“Exasperated sigh,” Donnie muttered, “Fine. But I will not tolerate any comments of, ‘Lesser twin of the blue one.’”

“It's not that serious,” April said with a smirk, watching Donnie work on upgrading the heating, “How's that going?”

“It's simple,” Donnie said, connecting two wires and making a flood of warmth course through the house, “I couldn't see Leo anywhere on any cameras. He's keeping a disturbingly low profile.”

“That might be his strat,” April frowned, “I'm worried about that other power too.”

“I as well,” Donnie said, piecing the thermostat back together, “But there's not much to do about it unless we fight again.”

“I hope it doesn't come to that,” April said with a grimace.

Donnie's grim expression told her exactly what he thought would happen if they all fought again.

The door to the room slammed open, revealing Splinter.

“Papa, wha-”

“LIVING ROOM, NOW!” Splinter ordered, rushing off to find Mikey and Raph.

Everyone quickly gathered, concerned by their father's franticness.

“Dad, what's wrong?” Raph asked worriedly, “Did Leo-”

“I got into contact with Karai,” Splinter said hurriedly, making everyone stiffen, “She says it's not only a matter of the dark armor-”

“But how? We saw the shard!” Mikey interrupted.

“The shard is giving him some power, primarily all the ice,” Splinter explained, “You remember how Saki had powers involving metal.”

No one could forget the massive metal spears shooting up from the ground. So they nodded.

“Leo even made ice come from the ground that looked like those spear thingies,” Mikey said, shuddering.

Splinter nodded, then continued.

“Well, Blu- Leonardo's are coming in the form of ice,” Splinter explained.

“Wait- so the armor gives different powers to whoever’s wearing it?” April asked, confused.

“It can, but it depends on the will of the wearer after the armor has manipulated them,” Splinter said, “Their previous will determines it, Saki needed power to preserve his clan, and Leonardo's will must require the ice.”

“And ‘Nardo's strategic and slippery,” Donnie muttered to himself, “No wonder it's something complicated.”

Splinter nodded, “Exactly. Saki was strong and desperate, the strongest and most frantically made weapons are of metal. But Leonardo is not so simple, his mind is complex and we only know he's after the key. So the ice must be necessary for that.”

It fell silent, worried glances being shared. Because if it wasn't only about the armor, what could possibly be worse than that?

“Pops, you said it wasn't about the armor,” Raph said after a bit, saying out loud what everyone was thinking.

“It isn't, it's giving him power. But it's not enough to take over his mind,” Splinter said quietly, voice nearly a whisper, “There's only the single shard. It could contact him or try to manipulate him, but it's not strong enough to control him.”

“Then what is?”

“It's what created it,” Splinter said, voice cracking badly, “It has entrapped him within their minds.”

It fell completely silent, so Splinter continued.

“That's why when he speaks, it sounds like multiple voices at once,” He said, eyes welling with tears, “Karai told me she doesn't know much about them. But that the main one, the strongest one, has engraved itself so much into Leonardo's mind that it's nearly impossible to remove. . .”

“How do we help him then?” Mikey asked, voice breaking. He had tears glistening in his eyes.

“She said that with your Ninpo combined, you may be able to reach out to him,” Splinter said, “And activate his own, it should burn out any connection. She also said you should attempt a mind meld, to remind him of who he is and see if that could awaken his Ninpo.’

“How do we do that?”

“Just reach out to him, feel for his power and you'll connect,” Splinter said, “If the meld doesn't work. . . we'll face him head on with our Ninpo combined.”

“This is crazy!” Donnie exclaimed, “If that fails again, one of us could die!”

“Then what do you suppose we do?” Splinter asked darkly, “Leave him to die? Find the key and then have him search for it until he's dead? And then have those things continue to use his body as a puppet until they find it? Have him find the key and doom the world!?”

Donnie glared harshly, hissing, “That's not what I meant!”

“Purple, there's no other choice but to try these or leave Leonardo to die or the world to end.” Splinter said, eyes filled with pain.

It fell silent at that, and Raph spoke up.

“Let's try this meld,” He said determinedly, and held a hand out for Mikey to take.

Mikey took his hand and shut his eyes, and Donnie reluctantly took Raph's other hand, closing his eyes too. April and Splinter backed away as Donnie and Mikey joined hands.

“When Leo and I meld, I try to Imagine what he's thinking. So Imagine where Leo is- trapped, lost, confused,” Raph said quietly.

“Possibly elated or feeling powerful because of the Creator’s manipulations,” Splinter added, and that seemed to be the missing piece.

Raph's eyes slid open a bit, glowing a bright white. Then Donnie's and Mikey's opened, glowing white as well.

“Let's do this.”

. . . .

“What do you mean the creator!?” Draxum demanded, eyes wide.

“Exactly what I sa-” Leo froze suddenly, his eyes becoming bright white, “Wha-!?”

He collapsed, falling back against the top of the bookshelf.

Before Draxum even had a chance to panic, he sat up suddenly and so fast that Draxum flinched back. His eyes were no longer a bright blue, but yellow.

“They've connected to him, brother.” He hissed, voice sounding completely different. Brother!?

He looked around, his yellow, piercing eyes meeting Draxum's.

“Use this one. He will be useful with finding the key's energy.” The strange voice said, and then Leo leapt down from the bookshelf.

Draxum backed away, keeping his eyes on Leo.

Leo didn't say anything, instead set his hand on the bookshelf behind him, he grinned, a wide smug smile that was not his own.

“What are you-”

Draxum jumped high in the air, a vine shooting out from the ground for him to land on. A pink, sticky goo-like substance crashed through the floor in multiple spots, spreading throughout the library.

Screams rang out as it crashed through everything.

“What is this!?” Draxum demanded, staring in horror at it.

“We need an army.” Leo said with a smile, “It's easier if you don't fight it. Although it is still painful.”

A blast of the pink goo launched towards Draxum, and he opened a portal to block it, diving through the other side.

The last thing he saw before diving through was that the pink goo was taking over everything, and it was covered with bright green and yellow eyes.

. . . .

“Leo?” Mikey called, looking around the dark void they were in.

“Let's keep walking, and keep quiet,” Raph ordered, on edge and afraid of being caught by whatever was in Leo's head.

His mind was so dark. So different from the usual vibrant space Raph had grown used to. It made him want to cry. Not even his thoughts were safe from whatever monsters were controlling him.

They began walking, picking a random direction. Nothing changed, no way to tell if they had even moved from the start.

“Maybe we should-” Donnie was beginning, turning back to face his brothers, before crashing into nothing and collapsing.

“You okay?” Raph asked, helping him stand, while Mikey placed a hand on the invisible wall Donnie had hit.

“There's a barrier here,” Mikey said, rapping his knuckles on it.

"I figured that out!" Donnie hissed spitefully, rubbing at his hurt snout, "It must be keeping us out."

“But why?”

Mikey shut his eyes and then they shot open, “I can feel Leo's energy behind it!”

“What?” Donnie asked, “I can't!”

“I can feel you guy's energy and Ninpo all the time,” Mikey explained, “That's Leo behind there, I know it!”

“Well let's smash him out!” Raph said, pulling his fist back as red energy began swirling around his hand.

“Hello pests.”

The three jumped at the voice, whirling around and immediately staring.

“Uh, are you bubblegum?” Mikey asked, staring at the strange, pink alien in front of them.

“How interesting. Leonardo thought the same thing,” The creature mused, an evil smirk on his face. It made them shudder, this was the voice that underlined Leo's whenever he spoke.

It must've been the main one that Karai had warned was closely connected to Leo now.

“First name basis, huh?” Donnie snarked, “Gross. Wanna do us a favor and get the f*ck out my brother's head?”

“Oh please,” The creature scoffed, “Your ‘brother’ is not your brother anymore. He is one of us.”

“And what are you exactly?” Raph demanded, enraged.

“That would make it too easy,” He smirked, “I'm merely here to keep things fair.”

“Fair? What the f*ck does that mean!?” Mikey demanded, spots flaring up a bright orange.

The strange creature didn't answer, instead they watched as strange gills lifted from its sides with a squelching sound that made Donnie gag.

“Goodbye, pests.” He said with a smirk, the gills lifting all the way. Then an ear splitting shriek echoed out, a shockwave of pink crashing through the air and making everything shake.

The three turtles clamped their hands over their tympana as the horrible shrieking echoed out.

It felt as if something was sealed, but they couldn't dwell on it as they felt themselves falling.

Raph lurched forward first, gasping. Donnie and Mikey quickly followed, looking around and taking in April and Splinter's worried faces.

“My sons! Are you alright!?” Splinter asked frantically, checking them over.

“We're fine,” Donnie reassured, “We couldn't get to Leo, this weird pink thing kept us from getting to him.”

“That must be the creator,” April said, frowning as she helped them stand.

“I think so, it-” Mikey was cut off by an orangey-magenta portal opening in the room. Draxum stepped through, looking winded and afraid as it shut behind him.

“Dad!” Mikey cried in relief, immediately hugging Draxum tightly.

“I'm okay,” Draxum reassured quickly, “But something terrible has happened.”

“What?”

“While I was at the library, Leonardo was there,” Draxum explained, eyes haunted, “He taunted me a bit and then his eyes turned white and he collapsed. Then he got up but his eyes were yellow, and his voice was different too.”

“That must've been when we mind melded with him,” Raph said, “Gram-Gram said the strongest of the creators was in his mind.”

“So that must've been the other ones taking over when we went in,” Donnie said, frowning.

“I suppose,” Draxum said, slightly confused, he'd missed everything Splinter had told them, “Well, they said something about using me to find the key. And then this pink stuff was sent everywhere!”

“Wait, pink stuff?” Mikey said, “It looked like bubble gum, right?”

“. . .Yes,” Draxum said slowly, “And it had green and yellow eyes on it.”

“That thing in Leo's mind was pink with yellow eyes!” Raph exclaimed.

“And Leo's eyes have turned yellow before, and pink. And the Shredder’s eyes were pink,” April said.

“This confirms it,” Donnie said grimly, “All these things are connected, and clearly, there's multiple.”

“This isn't good,” Draxum said, “There's no telling what that pink goo does. . .”

“Yeah,” April said, “‘Till then, just treat it like acid.”

“Acid?”

“Don't touch it, don't breathe it in, don't even look at it,” April said, “Maybe those eyes can hypnotize, who knows!? Till then, avoid it at all costs.”

“Fair enough,” Splinter said with a slight chuckle.

A loud pounding rang out, making them jump. They turned to face the door, where the knocking got louder.

“sh*t,” April said, eyes wide.

Raph clenched his fists, Donnie lifted his bō, and Mikey drew his nunchucks from his belt.

Nothing happened.

“What?”

Raph clenched his fists, and a small bit of red sparks spurted out, before fizzling away. Mikey had a few flickers of flame appear before they disappeared. And Donnie had a faint purple glow around his staff before it disappeared into small shapes.

“THAT'S IT!” The stranger outside yelled, before the door slammed open, revealing Cassandra.

“What's going on with all of you?” She demanded as she shut the door, taking in everyone's horrified faces.

“I think I know how he kicked us out of Leo's mind,” Donnie whispered with wide, horrified eyes.

. . . . .

“So lemme get this straight,” Cass said, “The Blue one is being mind controlled to have badass powers but wants to kill you, he has part of the dark armor, you lost your powers, and he's after a key?”

“Yeah,” April said, grimacing.

“That sounds like the Kraang,” Cass said simply, shrugging.

“What?”

“The Kraang,” Cass explained, “Are what made the dark armor, the foot clan worships them.”

“Wait! When I was at the library, Leonardo told me to look back at the K section when I was leaving!” Draxum exclaimed, wide eyed.

“How do you know this?” April asked.

“‘Cause every member of the foot is taught to search for the key and what it looks like,” Cass said, digging through the backpack she'd brought and pulling out a scroll, “We were told the same thing, ‘When the sky bleeds red, the Kraang will have led.’”

“That sounds exactly like the key Leo was researching!” Mikey exclaimed, “But he said, uh. . .what was it, Donnie?”

“‘The day the sky bled red is the day the world shall end’” Donnie quoted.

“Yep,” Cass said, popping the p, “That's the real poem for it. But they tell ya different in the foot so no one gets worried.”

She unraveled the scroll and pointed to a picture, it was of the story of the dark armor.

Although the pink creature looked familiar now.

“That's what we saw in Leo's mind!” Raph cried, pointing at the pink creature.

“Yeah, that's the Kraang,” Cass said with a grimace, “Lieutenant always told us about how strong they are. Strong enough to destroy planets and things.”

“What happened to them?” Splinter asked.

“They were locked away by four powerful warriors,” Cass said, opening a different scroll, “I stole these by the way,”

“Uh, okay?”

“That's the key,” Cass said, pointing to a gray colored cylinder with strange patterns and markings.

“It kinda looks like a face,” Mikey mused, looking closely at it, "Leo's drawing wasn't that detailed though."

“That's what I said!” Cass beamed, “I knew I wasn't the only one!”

“Cass, focus,” April said, although she looked amused.

“Right, right,” She said, “Well, they got the power to control stuff and they're, like, crazzzy strong. And some of the elders of the clan said they could stop powers which made them more danger-”

“WHAT!?” Three voices yelled at once.

“That's what he did to us!” Donnie exclaimed.

“What?”

“When we mind melded with Leo, the Kraang was there!” Mikey explained hurriedly, “And he did this weird scream with these weird gill thingies, and then we got kicked outta his mind!”

“And now our powers aren't working!” Raph said, eyes wide with horror, “Cass, how long does it last for!?”

“I don't know! Only have these scrolls!” Cass said with a huff.

“Why do you even have these?”

A pink flush spread across her face and she mumbled, “So new recruits wouldn't know what the key looked like. . .”

“AWWW, CASEY!” Raph gushed, yanking her into a hug.

“Put me down!” Cass cried as she struggled in the hold, although everyone could tell she wasn't trying. No one could refuse a Raph Hug™

“So now we know what we're up against,” April said with a frown, “Maybe we target the foot clan for more info?”

“How do we do that?” Donnie asked, “No powers. And it's snowing and we have zero winter gear.”

“Hmmm,” April hummed, thinking, “Oh! I've got it!”

“What?”

“Me, Drax, and Splints go!” April suggested, “We can fight, and don't have to worry about bromate.”

“Brumation,” Donnie corrected, “And that's not a good idea.”

“Yeah, what if you get into trouble?” Mikey piped up worriedly.

“Then Drax portals us out,” April said, pointing at him, “While you guys stay here with Casey and she tells you everything about the key.”

“How is that helpful?” Cass asked, from where she was still being hugged.

“Because Donatello can search for the key now that we know what it looks like,” Draxum said, “All the surveillance in New York and the hidden city.”

“True. . .” Donnie said, everyone going quiet as they thought it over.

It was a good plan, but there was one thing. . .

“What if Leo's out there?” Raph asked worriedly.

“Same as before, we bail,” April said simply, “We portal back, and bam. No harm done.”

“This sounds dangerous,” Raph said worriedly.

“All of it is dangerous!” April exclaimed, throwing her hands up, “But if we go in with nothing that's even more dangerous!”

“I say we do it,” Splinter said, and everyone reluctantly agreed.

“Only go for an hour,” Donnie ordered, “If you're gone longer, I'm sending out drones.”

“Fair enough,”

Draxum opened a portal, looked through and then leaned back, “Let's go.”

The three stepped through, April waving goodbye and Splinter lingering for a moment.

“Be safe, my sons.”

“We will,”

“You be safe too, Cassandra,” Splinter ordered, jumping through.

“I will,” Cass said quietly.

The four stood awkwardly for a moment, before Cass walked back over to the scrolls and picked them up.

“Alright. . . can anyone here read japanese?”

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

April swung her bat in her hand, Draxum had portaled to his apartment and then hers. They trudged through the snowy streets, snow flurries cascading around.

“It's too bad this whole thing is evil,” April said, “I love snow.”

No one answered, they were tense.

Eventually, they made it to the telltale graffiti wall of Run of the Mill, and entered the portal.

“Hueso,” April called, ignoring the Yokai staring at Draxum.

“April?” Hueso asked, confused, “Why is-”

“We need to talk, it's important,” April whispered to him, “Somewhere no one can hear.”

“What's wrong?”

“It's about Leo,” She whispered even quieter.

Hueso nodded, then led them towards the back of the restaurant, they walked into his office and he shut and locked the door, before drawing a second, metal door down from the ceiling.

“What's wrong with Pepino?”

April explained everything, with Draxum and Splinter occasionally adding another detail or two.

When she was done, Hueso looked crushed.

“Oh Pepino. . .”

“I know,” April said, “But listen, we know you have contacts and stuff. Is there anyway you can help us find the key?”

“What does it look like?”

April quickly sketched it out and showed him, Hueso nodded.

“I'll see what I can do,”

“Thanks,”

As they turned to leave, Hueso called.

“April, wait,”

“What?”

“Um. . .” Hueso looked weirdly embarrassed, “Do you- do you know if Pepino is in any pain during all this?”

April felt her heart melt, this softie pretends he doesn't love Leo, “I don't think he is, I think it's like he's asleep.”

By the way Splinter stiffened beside her, April knew that wasn't true, but the look of pure relief on Hueso's face made the lie worth it.

“Right, gracias,” Hueso said earnestly.

“No problem,” April smiled, writing down her number on a scrap of paper and handing it to him, “Let us know if you find anything.

As they left, April's phone buzzed.

Mandatory Check in.

🖕

Understood.

April rolled her eyes, they'd been gone for ten minutes.

“Let's see where they're hiding,” April said, and the three began their search.

. . . . . . . . .

“Here ya go,” Mikey said, setting down steaming bowls at the small table.

“Ooh!” Cass exclaimed, looking at the bowl of ramen, she immediately began eating quickly.

“We gotta eat to keep our strength up,” Mikey said, “I'll go get Raph and Dee.”

“I might eat their bowls before you get them!” Cass warned, mouth full which made Mikey laugh.

He walked into the small bedroom Donnie had made his workshop, finding him searching through security feed on his laptop.

“Dee, food,” Mikey said in a don't-try-me voice.

“Of course,” Donnie sighed, getting up and taking the laptop with him.

Mikey smiled, one down and it hadn't been a massive fight.

He walked down the hallway and opened the door to a random room. He peeked in, immediately feeling his heart break.

Raph had his sais clutched tightly in his hands, holding them out as red energy fizzled out into small sparks. Tears were streaming down his face.

“Oh, Raph,” Mikey said sadly, stepping into the room.

Raph whirled around to face him, tears pouring down his face as he let out choked sobs.

“What's wrong?” Mikey asked, holding his arms out.

Raph fell to his knees and yanked Mikey into a hug as his little brother pet him on the head.

“This. . .is all my fault!” Raph sobbed out, sniffling.

“No it's not,” Mikey reassured firmly, hugging Raph tighter.

“It is! If I- if I hadn't made him run away!” Raph sobbed, “None of this woulda happened!”

“It's not your fault, Raph,” Mikey reassured gently, “You didn't know, you were trying to help.”

“But-!”

“No buts,” Mikey said firmly, pulling back to look him in the eyes, “It's not your fault. The Kraang have probably been after Leo for a while, they would've gotten to him even if this didn't happen!”

“But-”

“I believe Micheal said ‘no buts’” Donnie said from the doorway, where he stood with Cass. They had heard him crying and come to investigate.

“Don-”

“It is not your fault,” Donnie said, walking over and putting a hand on Raph's shoulder, “With all the data, statistics, and circ*mstances, I can confirm, this is not on you.”

“But-”

“Red one!” Cass exclaimed, bounding over and engulfing Raph and Mikey in a tight hug, “This is not your fault! It would be like, uh, blaming the orange one for deforestation!”

“What?”

“Statistically impossible,” Cass said with a certain smile, despite the agony in Donnie's eyes at her misuse of probability and statistics and comparisons.

“Okay,” Raph finally said after a bit, hanging his head down and hugging them closer.

“It's not your fault, Raph,” Donnie said, voice soft, “It's no one's except the Kraang. I promise.”

“Okay. . . Raph believes you,” Raph said, and this time it sounded like he meant it.

“C'mon,” Cass said, “There's excellent food awaiting you.”

“Heh, who could say no to that?” Raph asked with a small grin and a chuckle.

The four sat down at the table and began eating, Donnie was looking at his laptop when he frowned.

“What?”

In answer, he turned the screen towards them and turned up the volume.

“With all the sudden snow, there's been a large number of sudden deaths as well,” A news reporter said, “We warn people to be careful of icicles, according to the police departments, a large number of people have been found impaled by them.”

“He knows what he's doing!” Mikey exclaimed, “He's trying to lure us out by killing people! Raph, we can't let him do this!”

“I know,” Raph said grimly.

“But if we go out like this,” Donnie said, holding up a hand and making them watch as his mystic power fizzled into nothingness, “We'll get killed and more people will die because he'll be able to get the key.”

“I know,” Mikey said quietly, clenching his chopsticks tightly.

It fell silent, a grim atmosphere taking over.

. . . . . . . .

“Alright, time to head back,” April frowned. They hadn't found anything, the foot clan was nowhere to be found.

“Hopefully Hueso will find something,” Draxum said, opening a portal and having April step through.

“Oh, asking Hueso for help, huh?” A voice trilled through the empty parking lot they stood in.

“Go, now,” Draxum ordered, shoving Splinter through the portal and rushing through.

They entered the farm house, Splinter and Draxum letting out a sigh of relief.

“You guys okay?”

“Leonardo was there right as we were leaving,” Draxum explained, “But thankfully, nothing happened.”

Mikey let out a sigh of relief, before his expression turned grim, “He's killing people, Dad.”

“I know,” Splinter said quietly, they had seen plenty of proof of that as they walked throughout the city.

No one said anything, there wasn't anything to say.

. . . . . . . .

“Anything?” Donnie asked as April stepped inside through the portal.

“Nothing,” April said, disheartened, “No sign of the key topside or in the hidden city. No sign of Leo either.”

“Is this thing even in New York?” Donnie asked, gripping his coffee mug so tightly that a crack appeared in the handle.

“If it ain't, Leo would've left,” April pointed out, “I'm sure we'll find it soon, we just have to keep looking.”

“. . .right.”

. . . .

It had been a few days since all this had started, when Donnie suddenly gasped while searching through the cameras. His voice immediately began yelling over the communicators.

“GUYS! I FOUND THE KEY!” Donnie yelled, voice echoing through everyone's communicators.

“WHAT!?” Multiple voices yelled back.

“HYPNO HAS IT! HE'S NEAR METRO TOWER, BARRY, PORTAL, NOW!” Donnie yelled, and multiple portals appeared near everyone.

The fear of brumation, which had seemed so major to them before, was completely non-existent in the face of a much bigger threat; the end of the world.

They practically dived through, finding Hypno sprinting towards the foot Lieutenant and Brute.

“HYPNO, STOP!” Raph cried, “THAT THING WILL DESTROY THE WORLD!”

“OH SURE, MATE!” Hypno yelled back, laughing as everyone began sprinting towards them.

Draxum had nearly grabbed him when it happened.

A loud crackling followed by a whoosh and a sickening squelch.

Hypno stood frozen, and blood splattered behind him, hitting Draxum.

A massive piece of ice pierced his abdomen.

“Oh, I'm sorry.” A dark voice said, a blue flash appearing in front of where Hypno was staring with wide, glazed-over eyes, “Did we say you could take this?”

“What's going on!?” The Foot Lieutenant demanded, eyes wide.

Leo snatched the key from Hypno’s hand and kicked him over, making the hippopotamus mutant fall to the side and send more blood splattering.

This was the closest they'd been to Leo in days.

Just a mere four feet away.

And in Leo's hand was the key.

“Leo-” Mikey whispered, eyes wide.

“RACE YOU TO THE TOP!” Leo cackled, disappearing from sight. A flash of blue was faintly seen at the top of Metro tower.

Draxum opened a portal immediately, and they all rushed into it.

Leo stood, drawing patterns and markings on the ground with chalk, he turned to face them, smiling with a smile that wasn't his own.

“Hello.”

“Leonardo, my son, stop this!” Splinter begged.

“How are you going to make me?” Leo said with a smirk, “I know what I did. In fact, I'm certain none of you have any mystic now.”

They all stiffened, unsure of what to do.

“Leo, please,” Raph begged, eyes brimming with tears.

“Ah, there it is!” Leo laughed, “So you care for him now?”

“Where's Leo!?” Donnie demanded, holding his bō so tightly he was worried he'd break it.

“Exactly where he belongs, wretch.” The stranger controlling Leo snarled, “Now leave. Before you end up dead.”

“Yeah, no can do,” April said, holding her bat tightly, “We're not just gonna let you make this thing!”

“Very well.” And in a flash, Leo was gone.

“Oh f*ck,” Mikey gasped, “Donnie, where is he!?”

“I'm looking!” Donnie snapped, a hologram appearing from his gauntlet, “Found him! He's on a boat!? We gotta move, now!”

They rushed to find the boat, Draxum unable to portal to it without knowing the location.

“We have to hurry!” Raph yelled, everyone sprinting. Unable to use mystic to move faster or Leo's portals.

“HE'S OPENING THE PORTAL!” Donnie yelled, seeing Leo placing down the key and a bright pink light shooting out from the security camera he was watching.

A massive blast of energy shot out in all directions, sending the falling snow flurrying and shattering some glass. People screamed and called to one another in shock.

The group froze, stopping dead in their tracks as they watched in horror as a pink, fleshy looking portal opened.

The main Kraang, the one they'd seen in Leo's mind, stepped out.

“Well done, pet,” He said, smirking.

“They're here,” April whispered, horrified.

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

Pink flesh clung to him from all over, leaving him suspended in the air, if there even was air. It honestly seemed like he was in nothingness. Everything dark except for the pink flesh with gleaming green eyes.

Not that he could see it.

His eyes were glazed over with a pink haze. Seeing only what they wanted him to see. What he wanted him to see.

It

Never

Stopped

He just had to live through it. Over and over and over and over and over and over and ǫ̶̯͖̼̦̪̠͖̣͕́̊v̸̳̤̦͓͈̦̙̯̽̌̃͐̉̂͒͗͝͝ê̸͔̲̳̿̽̽̆̊͑̆́̚ṙ̷̗̣͍͕͕͈̝͚̞̪͌̍͑̆̎̆͛̓̏̉̽͂͘͝ͅ

He remembered turning away from the Kraang.

“Sorry, I won't join this weird mind thing,” Leo had said, “But I can get my brothers to help me get you outta that prison.”

“They'll refuse,” Kraang had snarled, making Leo flinch back.

“Then I'll just find it myself-”

“YOU WRETCH!” He snapped, and a tentacle wrapped around Leo's ankle, yanking him to the ground.

“Hey!” Leo exclaimed, then flinched back as the sharp end of a tentacle threatened to pierce his throat.

“You are mine, wretch. The armor is mine. There is no escaping your destiny,” Kraang hissed.

“Uh, my destiny is getting the hell out of here!” Leo snarked, only for his head to be yanked back by another tentacle. Two other Kraang stood there, ‘Two and Three’ his mind named them.

“I warned you, brother.” The sister said, “Let's kill him.”

“No. He is useful to us.” Kraang insisted.

“How!?”

“Simple. He is mine. And I can sense a great power from him, one we can awaken further.” Kraang said with an evil smirk, he turned towards Three, “Do it.”

The third Kraang slithered over, and Leo struggled to move.

“Hey- stop! Get away!” Leo yelled as tentacles slithered over him, he yelled with pain as they burrowed beneath his flesh.

“STOP!” Leo yelled as an agonizing stabbing went through his skin, and he felt the tentacles slide under into his eyes.

As agonizing pain burrowed into his brain, he felt tendrils moving throughout it and burying themselves in it.

“Must you connect so closely?” The sister said, irritated.

“I'll do as I wish.”

As Leo's vision became darker, the last thing he heard was Kraang's loud laughter, and the last thing he saw was a pink haze over his eyes.

Then it all went dark.

A pink light shone through, and Kraang stepped in.

“Well, pest, you've done it,” Kraang said with a smirk. And for the first time in hours? minutes? seconds? days? weeksmonthsyears-?

Leo could see again. Something that wasn't that.

He couldn't even tell if it was real or not anymore.

“. . .done what?” Leo asked slowly, glaring at him.

“Your brothers are dead.”

Leo felt his blood freeze, and then he was straining against the pink goo restraining him, “You're lying! You're a f*cking liar!”

“Oh believe me, I wouldn't lie about this. It was quite impressive. Murdering the magician Yokai and then your ‘brothers’” Kraang laughed.

“YOU'RE LYING!” Leo yelled, nearly shrieking.

“I can prove it to you.” Kraang said, approaching Leo and looking him in the eyes. Leo felt pink flood his vision and then he was able to see.

He watched his hands hurl an icicle through Hypno's chest, then turn and send one through each brother's plastron. Icicles appeared above and pierced them through over and over and blood was splattered everywhere and-!

Leo yanked his head back, letting out a hysterical sob and nearly vomiting.

His brothers were dead! THEY WERE DEAD AND IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT.

“There, there,” Kraang cooed, a tentacle tilting Leo's head up, “You can see them again.”

“How?” Leo asked weakly, the word overrun with sobs as tears streamed down his face. Because without them there was no point to living. No point to anything. He was nothing without them. And he had murdered them.

“By accepting the Kraang.” He said, smiling, “You'll be with your brothers again, forever and always.”

Leo thought for a moment.

He thought of the Kraang's lies and manipulations.

Thought of stabbing his older brother. The brother he looked up to so much. Oh Raph, please no. . .

He thought of how the Kraang had gotten him into this whole situation in the first place.

Thought of the horrified expression in his twin's eyes as he murdered him. His twin, the brother who was always by his side. Donnie. . .

He thought of how his brothers would never have died if it wasn't for the Kraang.

Thought of his baby brother. Lying still in a pool of his own blood. His positive ray of sunshine. Mikey. . .

Leo hung his head down, shutting his eyes, “I'll do it. I'll do whatever you say, whatever you want. Just. . .let me see them again. Please.”

“Of course.” Kraang smiled.

The last thing Leo felt was an agonizing burrowing sensation in his left eye, and then nothing more.

. . . . .

“What do we do?” April asked worriedly, eyes wide.

Raph felt his heart pounding frantically, everyone was turned to him.

Think Raph! Think!

“Raph, I love you my brother, but when you force yourself to think, you make the worst plans!” Leo had said, leaning against the kitchen counter after a horribly gone mission.

“What? How is Raph supposed to plan then!?” He exclaimed, thinking Leo was taunting him.

“Simple, do what I do!”

“And what's that?”

“Go with your gut and then plan based on how people act,” Leo said simply, “Like, uh. . .oh! If I wanted to steal Mikey's favorite pan, how would he react?”

“He'd be super mad and probably hunt you down,” Raph said with a chuckle.

“Exactly! And how would I avoid that?”

“Uh, portal away?”

“Good, but there's plenty more,” Leo said, “I could blame you or Dee, or say Dad tossed it. Or tell him he threw it away. There's tons, just don't overthink it and whatever you come up with first usually works. Remember the salami paper?”

“Yeah,”

“Alright, how do you think a plan like that would go?” Leo asked.

“Uh, I'd probably think they wouldn't fall for it and plan something else.” Raph said sheepishly.

“And there's nothing wrong with that, you gotta make a plan that works for you. Not for me. Plan how you think, not how other people do. Then just add more on how people’ll act or things that could happen.”

“True,” Raph had said with a smile, “Thanks Leo.”

“Anytime, big brother.”

“I got a plan,” Raph said, everyone looking over at him immediately.

“What is it?”

“April, you and Splinter go back to the lair and send out all of Donnie's tech to us,” Raph explained hurriedly, “We don't have our powers, so it'll help a lot.”

“Okay,” April said with a nod, and she and Splinter immediately took off, deftly leaping down from the rooftop.

“Draxum, you portal us to the docks and Donnie’ll use his hover shell to get us to the boat,” Raph said, “You and Cass start getting people away from the water.”

“Raph,” Cass said, using his real name- she was being serious, “The Kraang are insanely strong.”

“I know,” Raph said, “But we've fought without powers before and with sucky powers. I think we can get through to Leo.”

“Are you sure?” Draxum asked, worry evident on his face.

“I am,” Raph said earnestly, and that seemed to be all the convincing his brothers needed.

“Very well. . .” Draxum said slowly, opening a portal to the docks.

They were about to head through, but he stopped them.

“Be careful. . .my sons,” Draxum said, then opened another portal and went through with Cass.

“Let's move,” Raph said, going through and being followed by Donnie and Mikey.

They stepped onto one of the wooden docks and began looking around quickly.

“I'm picking up large mystic readings in the distance!” Donnie said, flipping his goggles down, “Let's go!”

His jets appeared from his shell, and both Mikey and Raph held onto him as they lifted into the air.

After a bit of traveling over the water, they came across a large ship.

“He's in there,” Donnie said quietly, and landed on board. They moved stealthily towards one of the doors, Mikey risked a peek in.

He could see three of the Kraang, the big one that has been in Leo's mind, and two smaller ones.

‘There’s three' he signed, not wanting to risk talking.

Donnie and Raph nodded, and they backed away.

“What should we do?” Donnie whispered.

“We gotta lure Leo out somehow, then one of us can go in and get the key,” Raph said, thinking, “I got it, you guys lure out Leo and then I'll go in and get the key.”

“But Raph, there's three of them,” Mikey whispered worriedly, eyes wide.

“And I'm the biggest one,” Raph said, “I'll get the key and then we can use Dee's escape pods to get outta here.”

“Good idea,” Donnie said, “Okay, but if things get too dangerous, we'll all leave and meet back at the lair.”

“Deal,” Raph said, “Let's do this.”

. . . .

A loud metallic clang rang out, and the three Kraang turned towards the door.

“Someone's here,” Two said, eyes narrowing.

“What do you say we start building up our army on the surface?” Kraang said with a smirk, getting grins back.

The three headed towards the door, but Kraang turned back to face Leo.

“Guard the key.”

Leo nodded, standing in front of it protectively.

The three left, and it fell silent in the room.

sh*t. I thought Leo would go. . .at least this makes it easier to grab.

Raph was already in, having found another door in and had entered the second the three left.

He grimaced at the sight of the portal, it had a strange, fleshy look to it. It turned his stomach a bit.

Gross.

Leo was partially obscured by shadows, and Raph could only see his left side. He held a sword tightly.

In and out.

Raph rushed towards the key, fingers closing around the cold texture when Leo whirled around and sent him flying backwards. He crashed hard into the metal wall of the ship and looked up, slightly dazed.

His eyes widened in horror.

Leo snarled at him, but that wasn't what horrified him. Leo was covered with withering pink flesh, it surrounded his right eye, which was now a bright yellow while his other was a magenta pink. His right side had pink flesh covering it, and his right arm was completely encased with it.

“Leo-” Raph was cut off by Leo stabbing the tentacle arm, that had formed into a sword, into the ground where he'd been standing a moment ago.

“Leo, I know you're in there!” Raph yelled, dodging the slashes Leo made at him with the pink sword.

Leo didn't answer, instead just let out a loud, monstrous snarl and lunged forward again.

Raph raised his sais, narrowly keeping himself from losing his head, “Leo! Come on!”

But Leo didn't react, just continued trying to kill Raph.

I gotta get outta here!

Raph managed to trap the sword in between his sais and hurl Leo across the room. He sprinted forward and yanked the key out, making the portal seal shut.

Leo let out a loud, monstrous roar and lunged at Raph as he slammed his fist on the escape pod button.

Metal surrounded him as it lifted off the ground and he had to watch as Leo attempted to destroy it and the Kraang rushed back into the room.

“GET THE KEY, WRETCH!” Kraang yelled, voice thundering. Leo immediately lunged for the pod, but it blasted off before he could reach it.

Raph huffed for breath, holding the key tightly in his hands as he neared the lair. He stared down at, tears pooling in his eyes.

Oh Leo. . .

. . . . .

“Did you do it?” Donnie asked the second he left his pod, but saw the key in Raph’s hands, “Oh thank pizza supreme.”

“They've done something else to Leo,” Raph choked out, “All that pink stuff was on him! And his eyes were yellow and pink- and he didn't even recognize me!”

Mikey and Donnie exchanged looks of horror, before Mikey shook his head firmly to clear it, “We gotta destroy this thing and then we can go help Leo.”

“Right,” Donnie said, “I have plenty of things to destroy it with in my lab, where Papa and April should be.”

Raph nodded grimly, he could tell none of them liked the idea of putting off on saving Leo.

As they walked towards the lab, April's voice thundered from their communicators.

“LEAVE THE LAIR NOW!” She shrieked, the revving of an engine heard in the background.

“April!? What's going on!?” Raph called, eyes wide and heart pounding.

“THE SISTER KRAANG IS AFTER ME AND SPLINTS- SPEED UP! SHE'S FAST!” April yelled, ordering Splinter to drive faster, “I THINK THEY FOUND THE LAIR!”

“How!?” Mikey cried, then his eyes widened as the realization dawned on him, “They’re in Leo's head!”

A loud metallic shrieking rang out, and the three sprinted away from the train carts, running to one of the escape tunnels.

“MOVE!” Raph yelled, grabbing Mikey and running with him in his arms, while Donnie flew through the air beside him.

They sprinted down the train tracks when a thundering shriek of metal rang out, and a bright light shone behind them.

They turned around, eyes wide and blood running cold.

Because Donnie's train car was heading towards them. It was covered with pink goop and had long pink legs made from it, and a snarling mouth, the entire thing was dotted with bright yellow eyes.

“OH sh*t!” Mikey yelled, “MOVE!”

Raph dove to the side, narrowly missing the massive cart turned creature that slammed forward. It moved quickly, legs skittering across the ground in a horrifying motion. It reminded him of a spider.

“WHAT DO WE DO!?” Donnie cried, panicked. The pink goo was spreading across the walls and connecting to the floor. It reached for them and the bright glowing eyes gleamed menacingly.

Raph slashed through the pink flesh that reached for him, thinking of a plan while Donnie and Mikey dodged it.

Before Raph could speak, the train monster slammed a leg down, sending cracks through the floor and making them fall with a cry, into a strange cavern below in the sewer.

“WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!” Raph bellowed, grabbing Mikey again and getting ready to run. He was yanked back, losing his hold on Mikey and crashing onto the concrete with a yelp.

The pink goo was holding him, and he grabbed his sai and quickly slashed through it.

“MIKEY!” He heard Donnie cry, and then there was a loud crash and a cracking sound.

Raph watched with wide eyes as Mikey gasped.

“Oh no, Donnie! Your softshell! We gotta get you to cover!” Mikey cried, grabbing Donnie's wrist and sprinting away from the train, he hesitated, unsure of where to go.

Donnie grit his teeth, then sprinted for the back of the train and managed to get himself and Mikey into it through the backdoor despite it being a monster.

“Guys!” Raph called, only to yelp and narrowly dodge one of the massive pink legs. He listened in horror as he heard them yelling from inside the train cart.

The ground crumbled around Raph as he kept dodging the pink goop slashing at him.

Then it collapsed completely beneath him, making him fall below and away from his brothers.

And trapped in rubble.

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

Raph was alone.

He frantically tried to climb the debris, only for his handhold to come crashing down and send him crashing to the floor.

His heart pound wildly and his breath came in quick, hyperventilating gasps. He fell down, curling up and hiding his face in his arms, resting his arms on his knees.

He began sobbing, gasping for breath and heaving.

He was alone.

And his brothers were in the train cart that could kill them.

And April and Dad were running from the sister Kraang.

And Cass and Draxum were nowhere to be found.

And Leo was in the Kraang's clutches. And it was all his fault. He was a terrible brother and person and everyone was going to die because of him-!

“Raph!”

Raph looked up, stunned.

Leo stood in front of him, hands on his hips. Well, it was Leo, but at four years old. He was a faint blue color and slightly transparent.

“Leo?” Raph whispered, stunned.

“What are you doing down here!?” The young Leo demanded, “You can get outta here! Don-Don and Mikey are up there!”

“But-” Raph stammered, tears streaming down faster, “You're with those things!”

Leo looked at him sadly, “Oh Raphie. . .don't cry. It's gonna be okay!”

“Sorry,” Raph sniffled, rubbing at his eyes.

“Don't apologize!” Leo scolded, “You can't help crying! You told me that, remember?”

Raph startled slightly, surprised. He was crying because he was weak.

As if reading his thoughts, the little slider crossed his arms and said firmly, “Raphie, you're strong. And we're all proud of you.”

Raph felt his heart swell at the words, eyes widening and filling with more tears.

“But you're here alone and you don't have to be!” Leo said encouragingly, “I know you can get outta here and get back to Dee and Mikey! I know it! And then you guys are gonna be together and save the world like Lou Jitsu!”

“Heh,” Raph said, chuckling wetly, he stood up, clenching his fists, he looked down at the young version of his brother. His eyes sparkled from the tears and his determination, his resolve found again by the simple words.

“Thanks, little bro,” Raph said, smiling down at him.

“You can do it, Raph,” Leo said determinedly, “You're gonna save everyone and our family! We're the tomato clan! Anta what hitto jani!” Leo poorly pronounced their family's words.

“I am,” Raph vowed, a rush of determination filling him, “Like a boss!”

The loud destruction of rubble was heard almost immediately after.

. . . . .

“DONNIE! THE KEY!” Mikey yelled, as a new battle shell was placed on his brother's sensitive back, he pointed frantically at it on the ground.

“Oh sh*t!” Donnie exclaimed, and the two rushed out of the train car, narrowly avoiding the pink fleshy legs. Mikey dove for it, hands nearly clamping over the gray cylinder–

A pink tentacle shot out and grabbed it.

“NO!”

The smallest Kraang, Three, stood there with an evil smirk on his face, holding the key tightly.

He didn't say a word, merely bowed his head slightly. Mikey lunged for him, ready to strangle him with his bare hands, but the monstrous train car slammed a leg in the way and he was gone.

“THEY GOT IT! THEY GOT THE KEY!” Mikey yelled frantically into his communicator.

“MOVE!” Donnie ordered, grabbing him and taking off in the direction the Kraang had disappeared in. The train cart attempted to follow them, but it was too big to get down the tunnel. It let out an infuriated shriek.

“Raph!” Mikey yelled into his communicator.

“I'm here!”

“We're following him! Meet us wherever we end up!” Mikey ordered, then focused on the chase.

“Got it!”

The two followed after him, hoping they could get the key back in time.

. . . . . . .

“We’re at Metro tower,” Mikey said, letting everyone know their location, although it was really only Raph at this point, “That's where he brought it!”

“That's where Leo tried to go before!” Raph warned.

They had heard commotion from April's end, her panicking and then a loud cackle.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?”

“I knew this stuff was nasty!”

On the bright side, it sounded like they were safe and had possibly found a weapon of some kind to use against the sister Kraang.

“I'm almost there,” Raph promised. Donnie began flying up towards the top of the tower, Mikey hanging onto his side as they got further and further into the air.

They didn't make it to the top.

A massive blast of energy burst out, sending them flying back from the shockwave. All around, glass shattered from pink covered buildings and more screams rang out. Snow flurries were sent flying through the air in a swirling frenzy that blocked their vision for a moment.

A blast of bright pink shot into the sky.

And the sky bled red.

Streaks of red ripped across the sky, splitting open the grey snow clouds above.

A massive red haze filled the air as a red, glowing portal split open, tearing a hole through reality and sending more ugly streaks of red through the sky. Like blood poisoning streaking across skin. A yellow haze surrounded the blood red streaks, giving it an even more horrifying appearance.

And then it appeared.

Massive, pink, fleshy tendrils appeared, crawling through the portal and dragging itself through it. And then the rest of the ship came through.

An organic, disgusting mass of writhing pink flesh fused with technology throughout it came through the portal, the sight of it making people stare in horror. All the yellow and green eyes from the pink covered buildings stared at the ship above with glee.

More screams rang out from below.

“That's their ship,” Donnie whispered, horrified.

Loud cackles rang out from the top of the tower.

“What is that thing!?” April cried, voice barely heard over the loud laughter of the sister Kraang.

“Really bad f*cking news,” Mikey said, eyes wide with horror.

. . . . . . . . .

They were on a rooftop. Almost everyone gathered and waiting for a plan, April and Splinter were still evading the sister Kraang, but Draxum and Cass were with the three brothers.

The grim looks on their faces told exactly how many people they'd managed to save. None. Almost all the people had been made into Kraang zombies.

“What do we do!?” Mikey cried, eyes wide with terror.

Multiple voices began talking, attempting to plan or panicking or making up worst case scenarios.

Raph sat on the edge of the rooftop, staring at the horrifying ship in the distance, at the destruction of the city in front of them.

They had to do something. But what? Hopelessness began weighing heavily on his mind. What was there to do? They couldn't–

“Plan how you think, not how other people do.”

“Alright,” Raph said suddenly, making everyone fall silent. He stood up from where he'd been watching the Technodrome with horror, “Here's the plan.”

“What?” Draxum asked, confused, “We don't know anything about this thing!”

“Exactly, so we gotta get to it first,” Raph said, “Here's what we do. Donnie, is there anything you can do about that ship?”

Donnie's eyes lit up, “Of course! There's technology in it, hacking it should be possible! I can possibly steer it back into the portal.”

“Cass, you and Drax find where the key is at and close it when we say. Don't let anyone near it.” Raph ordered, “Especially if Donnie and Mikey can get it so the ship’ll get destroyed or put back in that portal.”

“You got it!” Cass said, grabbing Draxum by the arm and yanking him in the direction of the ship.

“What are you gonna do?” Mikey asked.

“I'm gonna go on the ship with you guys but look for Leo,” Raph said, “I can also distract them from ya so you can control the ship.”

“That's dangerous,” Donnie warned.

“So is this entire plan,” Raph said with a small smile, “Unlike Leo's salami plan.”

“Raph. . .there's no strategy in this plan,” Donnie said slowly, the realization dawning on him, “We're essentially just rushing in.”

“Exactly,” Raph nodded, “I'm planning how I think, and I say, let's smash some Kraang heads in. If they mess with one of us, they mess with all of us.”

“Right,” Mikey said, nodding firmly, “But if either of you get hurt- Dr. DT will trash your rooms.”

. . . . . .

Getting on the Technodrome hadn't been easy, but the worst part was staring at the disgusting, slimy control panel.

“Ugh-!” Donnie gagged, clamping a hand over his mouth as he took in the disgusting sight of the control panel they'd managed to rip Kraang Three out of.

“I know,” Mikey gagged, “It's so gross!”

“Super gross!” Donnie said, struggling to reign in Vomitello. Vomiting on an alien ship during a life or death mission was not something he wanted on his record.

“How do we even control this thing?” Mikey asked, looking at the slimy controls with disgust.

Donnie held his hands out and a massive shudder tore through him as writhing, slimy blue-ish pink flesh crawled up his arms, climbing and spreading over his skin.

“EWWWW! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!” Donnie exclaimed, gagging, but he hadn't taken control of the ship.

The third Kraang let out a loud roar, and Donnie nearly vomited when he realized the quickest way to connect with the ship.

“Donnie-!”

“Take my battle shell off!”

“But!”

The furious roar of Three rang out, making Mikey flinch and look over.

“DO IT!”

Mikey took a deep breath and took off the shell. Donnie spun around, shut his eyes and fell backwards into the withering mass of flesh.

It surrounded him, and Mikey watched in horror as it yanked him below.

“DONNIE!?” He cried, but jolted when Three burst out of the rubble, robotic armor whirring. He ran at him, and Mikey staggered back, heart pounding. He pulled out his nunchucks, but without his mystic powers, it didn't seem like very good odds.

Alien technology vs chains and wood. . .

Is this it?

A massive tentacle shot out of the air, smacking Three and sending him flying into a wall, where the flesh walls of the Technodrome came alive and quickly trapped him.

“Wha-?”

“Over here, brother,” Donnie's voice boomed, and Mikey turned and stared in awe at the massive form of his brother’s head.

“Donnie, how!?” Mikey exclaimed.

“This is what it means to be part of the Technodrome!” Donnie exclaimed, “Oh the power! The intelligence!”

“Dee. . .” Mikey said reproachfully, he did not need Donnie going villain mode now of all times.

“Right, right. Let's move this ship!” Donnie said with a huff, the massive form of his face smiling, “We have a plan to stick to.”

. . . . . .

Raph stared out the massive windows, looking with horrified eyes at the destroyed city below. Fires burned, people were dead, pink covered buildings dotted with green eyes. Kraang possessed people and objects. Snow still covered the ground, although it had stopped falling when the sky split open.

A bright yellow and red glow shone behind him, lighting up the area around him, making Raph jump and whirl around, clutching his sais tightly.

A massive yellow eye stared down at him, and in a massive throne, Kraang Prime sat, smirking at him. Raph felt dread fill him at the sight of the massive mech suit he wore.

“I'm here for my brother,” Raph said, pointing his sai at Kraang.

“Oh, of course,” Kraang sneered, snapping his fingers.

A figure dropped down in an instant, lunging at Raph and beginning to fight.

“Although I think he's rather content to stay with me.”

Raph blocked each hit, lifting his sais to prevent the pink, fleshy sword from stabbing him. Leo was strong like this.

He kept slashing at Raph with the pink sword, moving quickly with each strike. Is this how fast Leo is when he actually tries!?

Eventually, Raph was able to shove Leo to the ground. He fell hard, pushing himself up slightly. Raph moved towards him, raising his sais to strike.

And then he hesitated, taking in the sight of Leo.

This was his brother.

Leo was clutching at his head, looking confused and panting slightly. Then turned and made his sword arm morph back into a massive tentacle, smacking Raph hard and sending him flying back.

Kraang was watching with amusem*nt, when a yellow light cascaded across the walls and he watched the ship begin to move. Back through the portal.

“What-!?” He snapped, looking down. The floor separated, revealing the inner part of the Technodrome. The giant yellow eye stared down.

A bright yellow light shone down on Mikey and the giant Donnie head, making the two look up in horror.

“There you are.”

Black flesh shot down, grabbing Mikey and yanking him up with a scream. The control panel for the Technodrome opened, and black flesh encased Donnie and ripped him from the blue and pink tendrils.

Donnie let out a cry, but was quickly yanked up like Mikey was. The two struggled in the writhing black flesh, fighting to escape as they were pulled up and displayed on either side of the walkway to Prime's throne. Like some kind of sick trophy.

Forced to watch Leo try and kill Raph.

“Guys!” Raph cried, before a pink tendril grabbed him and hurled him backwards again.

“I'm not gonna fight you, Leo!” Raph exclaimed, “We've been fighting for too long!”

Leo snarled, grabbing and lifting Raph up by the throat with the massive tentacle.

“We've been fighting since Dad made you leader,” Raph said, clutching at the tentacle around his throat, “I thought you weren't taking it seriously. I didn't yell because I was mad, I yelled because I was scared.”

“It's terrifying being in control of our family's lives, and I thought you didn't care,” Raph said, eyes brimming with tears, “You didn't goof off because you wanted us hurt, you wanted me to take over as leader again. You were scared too.”

Leo had frozen, eyes locked onto him as he continued, although he didn't loosen his grip, he didn't tighten it either.

“We've always been calling you irresponsible or reckless,” Raph said, and he could see that Mikey was crying too, “But the truth is, you're so smart. You're strategic. You're a good leader, I know you are and I've seen it. You're stronger than this. You can beat him!"

The grip tightened a bit, and Raph grasped at the pink flesh surrounding his throat, whimpering slightly.

“If this is it, I want you to know. . . You're my champion. And I'm proud of you, I’m sorry I never said it before. And, I love you.” Raph said through his tears, laying his heart out bare.

It was completely silent in the throne room, Kraang frowned. He gave a mental nudge to Leo to get on with it, but was shocked at the sudden wave of refusal and fury.

“Ì̸̲̄̈́'̷̺͕͌͌͝ḿ̵͇̜͜ ̴͍͠s̶̯̥̓o̸̰͇͎͝r̶̤̘̐́ͅṙ̷̼͙̳̍y̸͖̲̩̓ ̵̬͉̐,” A distorted, mangled voice said.

And then Raph was dropped, falling to the floor with a thud as Leo let out an inhumane shriek, grabbing at his eye. He clutched at his head, claws digging in as he fought off the furious shrieking in his head.

“Leo! C'mon! We need you!” Raph cried, begging for his brother to come back as he fought against the monster controlling him.

“Raph?” Leo said weakly, staring at Raph with recognition in his eyes.

“Yes!” Raph cried, diving towards his brother but black flesh launched out, yanking him back.

“ENOUGH!” Prime yelled, voice thundering.

“C'MON LEO!” Raph cried, struggling in the black goo holding him, “COME BACK TO US!”

A blast of blue, electric energy shot out from around Leo. Sending static crackling through the air and the smell of ozone. Bits of metal in the air began zapping around, appearing from one spot to another.

“I'm stronger than this! We can beat them!” Leo yelled, voice still horribly distorted, but for the first time in a week, it sounded like his only.

His Ninpo reached out, the crackling electric power surging with a charging feeling.

Mikey began yanking his nunchucks out from the black goo holding him, an orange glow surrounding him. Donnie began struggling, pulling up his staff as purple shone from him.

Raph pulled against the black flesh, a red glow beginning to encase him.

“WHAT!?” Kraang yelled, voice booming.

“My brothers are alive, you f*cking liar.” Leo snarled, and then ripped the infection out from his eye.

A blast of energy shot out from the Technodrome, swirling with orange, red, purple, and blue.