Chapter Text
Things have been rather quiet in New York
They’ve been quiet for more than a year now, sure there’s some purple dragons activity here and there, some muggings, bank robberies, but overall nothing too life threatening, too dangerous, with vile consequences.
It's been like that ever since shredder was gone, the biggest threat to their life and family, aside from the kraang who they believed are already being dealt with, according to Bishop, the utroms are starting to gain more control over dimension X, more kraang are breaking free from the hive-mind and the aliens are, according to what the council announced, not their responsibility anymore, the utroms will take it from here.
So yeah, things have been peaceful, the turtles finally got to kick back and relax and, well, live their lives carefree.
Well, as carefree as a year can get.
Donnie didn’t even finish working on the upgrades on metalhead before the kraang communication orb, which sat in inactivity for more than a year collecting dust in the lab, sparked into life, with pink dots surrounding the whole thing.
Immediately alerted, he snatches the sphere examining it.
This better not imply the thing he's thinking about, they’re done, they’re tired of this, he prays and hopes that he’s wrong, that this is a mistake, a glitch even, but the problem is, Hamato Donatello is never wrong.
—-
“What do you mean the kraang are back!?”
“It means what it means raph”
“Are you sure about this Donnie? Maybe the thing made a mistake or something?” Leo asked his younger brother.
“I'm sure leo, i decoded the message, and it's pretty bad” Donnie answered with a sigh and a grim expression, “turns out kraang prime is still seeking out revenge, and this time i mean revenge, i will assume since us earthlings foiled their plans way too many times they gave up on the dimension X 2.0 plan” he explained before following by the ice breaking news, “the message entails a plan with a mutagen bomb that will be hitting earth, and this time its not with the intention of an invasion no, they truly want to destroy the planet”.
The room fell in silence as the new information swam in the air, the three brothers trying to process what they just heard.
“But, what about the Utroms?” Mikey asked, “Bishop said that they’re taking care of the whole kraang situation”
“I contacted Bishop and the council” Donnie answered “I have yet to receive a response, maybe they’re busy with taking back dimension X and all”.
“What will we do then?” Mikey questioned again.
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do! We’re gonna bust into Kraang's stupid hideout and bust their robotic heads, that’s what we’ll do”.
“We cant just move like that Raph, you never know what the kraang got up their sleeve” Donnie countered
“So what!? Are we just supposed to sit here, our thumbs up our noses waiting for a response that might come way too late!? We dont even know when this bomb will set off- IT COULD BE TONIGHT!”
“Calm down raph!” Leo requested placing his hand on his brother’s shoulder “it’ll be alright, i doubt that the bomb is setting off tonight, given how the message was only sent earlier, and knowing the kraang, it’ll take a bit”
“They did take four months to fill the bomb last time remember? We still have room to breath!” Mikey added optimistically like always, trying to lighten up his brother’s mood a little bit.
It seemed to work a bit at calming him down.
“Right… right, right, im sorry”
“It’s alright raph”
“Thanks… it’s just, i guess I’m tired you know? It’s only been a year!”
“Yeah, I know very well what you mean Raph, we’re all tired here” Leo agreed.
“Even me!” Mikey added, “and that’s saying something bros”
“So, what’ll be the plan Leo? We wait for bishop to respond or we do something first?” Donnie inquired.
Leo thought for a second, “Donnie can you trace back where the message came from and where it’s going?”
“Piece of cake”
“Okay good, raph do we still have the space gear from fugitoid?”
“That we do fearless”
“Alright, so here’s the plan, we don’t make any big moves yet, however tonight we head out to kraang’s hiding spot-“
“Now we’re talking!” Raphael cut Leo off which gained him a pout from his big brother.
“For inspection purposes only, Raph” he finished
“Oh what now?”
“Like I Said, no big moves yet, but we can never be too careful, it’ll be a stealth mission, we head in, gain more information on the matter and head out, we only expose ourselves if necessary” Leo explained.
“And the weapons?” Mikey questioned.
“Like i Said, you can never be too careful, if we’re needed to act right then and there, we’ll need as much power as we can get, and the space gear can be quite helpful” Leo answered finishing with a mumble, “still don’t know why we don’t use it more often on big missions”
“Ok so, we don’t bust some heads unless necessary?” Raph questioned earning him a nod from his brother, “cool i guess”
“I got it!” Donnie announced drawing all their attentions to him, “the message I mean, I know where it came from”
“Amazing Donnie!” Leo praised
“Woah that was quick” raph commented
“Well what are we waiting for dudes! It’s time to do some ninja-ing tonight!” Mikey exclaimed before departing from the rest, the three brothers nodded to each other before splitting up to do their own things.
—-
“Mikey was packing that Pizza necessary? It’s literally an in and out mission” Donnie complained earning him an offended gasp from the youngest turtle.
“Donnie, you of all people should know better! Who says we might not get stuck in dimension X, we gotta be prepared!”
“Will you two cut it out?” Leo ended their bickering, “Donnie how far are we still?”
“Actually Leo, we’re here” Donnie said pointing to a warehouse in the distance which got raph scoffing.
“A warehouse? Seriously, can the kraang get creative for once? This is starting to get sad”
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks bro, it’s just how the kraang are, stupid” Mikey said.
“At least that’s something you both have in common” Raph teased his little brother with a smack to the head.
“Ow! Hey! Says the one who was a literal kraang at some point”
“We do not speak of the kraang mindswap”
“And what if we do” Mikey replied with a shit eating grin sticking his tongue at the end.
“Why I oughta’-“
“Guys! The mission?” Leo reminded the two, cutting their banter short.
The two immediately stopped, not without raph getting a last hit, Mikey will remember that, spotting a kraang droid they immediately followed, sticking to the shadows and sneaking into the place without a noise or anyone noticing.
Yup, seems like any other warehouse, that is until the kraangdroid pulled out some sort of lever and pushed it down, a platform appeared and that was their cue to jump on it.
The kraang droid didn’t stand a chance, and no noise was heard, down underground they stuck to the shadows, sneaking from corner to corner. According to Donnie all they need to do is find the core of this place, that's normally where they keep most of the information they hold.
It should be an easy mission, in and out just like they agreed.
—-
Nothing about this was easy, at this point this is their life, they should’ve known better.
Cornered and outnumbered they ended up retreating to one of the chambers and closing the door, Leo and Raph holding it shut while Donnie tried figuring their way out using the computers with the help of mikey.
“Any luck Donnie!? I dont think we’ll be able to hold this shut any longer!”
“I’m typing as fast as I can Leo!” Donnie exclaimed in response, “Mikey, any luck on your side?”
“Nah bro, we’re cornered”
Shit, why can’t anything go their way for once, they really should’ve brought backup now that he thought about it, April’s powers would’ve been a great help at pushing the droids away, or Casey could’ve been a sacrifice- the mutanimals could’ve been helpful too, anything honestly, but no, they had to go on their own.
Donnie’s train of thoughts was cut short by Mikey demanding their attention.
“ Guys there’s no way out of this situation but this!” He announced holding one of those trans-dimensional portal generators.
“Where does that lead?”
“Probably to that long hallway of portals, remember the one?”
“How are you sure it’s not gonna drop us in dimension X or something?”
“Dude trust me, it’s savage Mikey speaking here” Mikey affirmed, he had spent time in dimension X to know what differentiate portal generators from others.
“GUYS! WE CANT HOLD THIS BACK ANY LONGER-“ Raph screamed before the doors jolted open and the droids surrounded them.
Well it doesn’t look like they had a choice, mikey pressed the button before throwing the device on the ground opening the triangle shaped pink portal, instantly the four brothers went through it winding up in the same hallway they fell in years ago.
They weren’t given any time to breathe some air as the kraang followed behind, alright now they have more space, it should be easy, right?
The biodroids could disagree, man they hated this gorilla looking model of their suits, fighting was proven futile as the biodroids outnumbered them.
Retreating and dodging while trying to throw their own kicks, one of the kraang grabbed Raphael by the leg, chucking him at Donatello who in turn fell back due to the impact, and next thing you know they crossed through one of the portals.
“RAPH, DONNIE, Mikey! Fall back, we must go after them!”
“Ay ay Captain” was Mikey’s response, throwing a smoke bomb at the ground giving them a good diversion to jump in the portal without kraang noticing where they went.
Falling through the portal they can feel reality shifting, their laws of physics warping, things get stiffer and more rough.
And they land with an “oof”
“Ough my head” Leo groans rubbing the back of his head as he straightens up.
“Mikey?”
“Right here big bro, I just need a bit of floor time after that fall”
“Raph, Donnie!?”
“Over here fearless”
“Oh good” Leo sighs in relief at knowing that his family is all here and together so he can keep an eye on them.
After locating all of his brothers Leo starts scanning the area, this dimension looked weird, heck it felt weird, looking at his body he can tell that he’s in a two dimensional environment, however it’s not like the one they visited with their counterparts, that one felt more light and fluid, this one feels… heavy, stiff, it’s really hard to put it through words, it’s just different and entirely new to him.
“Sooooo anybody got any idea about our whereabouts?” Raphael asked, getting up and dusting himself.
“I’d say a different dimension” Donnie answered.
“I know we’re in a different dimension brainiac, I mean what different dimension?”
“Oh I’m sorry, let me dial up the dimensional guide and ask them!”
“There’s no time for this bickering guys” Leo announced, “we need to get home, Mikey is the portal generator still with you?” He asked.
“Sorry bro, I didn’t get the chance to grab it after we went through” Mikey answered with unfortunate news.
“Oh come on, you mean we’re stuck here? In this dark and gloomy universe?” Raph complained, “plus not mentioning the weird stiffness to it”.
“I think I’ve been to a place like this before actually” Donnie remarked, “remember that one time our counterpart’s kraang tried to erase our dimension via destroying the prime universe?”
“Yeah?”
“Well when I went to the prime universe to disable the bomb, it felt a lot like this” Donnie continued, “so if my theory is correct-“
“We’re in the prime turtles universe! Dude, that is so cool! We’ll get to meet our predecessors” Mikey exclaimed, cutting his brother off while he shook Donnie around, “they’re like our grand grand grand grand grandparents dawg!”
“I don’t think that’s how it works Mikey” Leo informed, “but if Donnie’s theory is correct then we need to seek them out, maybe they can help us with this situation”
“Hopefully they don’t scream ‘turtle power’ all the time” Raph commented.
“Whatever they shout, we’re gonna have to tolerate it if we wanna get home”
“Man can’t wait to meet super edgy serious me, that’ll be awesome!” Mikey cheered.
And so their journey began in a new dimension, trying to pick up on any clues as to where they are, they quickly figured out that this is ew York, so the other turtles, if they exist, had to be around, unless they live in another city which was deemed highly unlikely by Donnie.
Exploring the city and sticking to the shadows, a lot of things seemed to unravel to them, as it seems like the city was ruled by the police, it had a very dark gloomy feel to it, and as much as they called their own New York a ‘dead city’ this one takes the cake, sure there’s people that roam the city, but it’s still more eery than their city.
But hey they had flying cars, that’s pretty cool.
The search started to seem hopeless at the moment, and as commotion started building up somewhere in the city, they decided that backing away to an alleyway is a better choice.
But suddenly in the dark as they walk, Mikey trips over something and falls.
“Mikey! You okay?” Raph runs to his aid lifting him up from the ground.
“I’m good, I’m good, man peopl really need to start picking up their garbage” Mikey complained.
“I’m afraid it’s not garbage Mikey” Donnie spoke from behind taking a closer look at the thing urging the others to do the same.
“Is that-“
“A robotic body?”
Mikey and raph spoke, completing each other’s sentences.
“A decapitated one, the head is missing” Donnie informed.
“Do you think that this is their kraang’s bodysuit?” Raph questioned.
“It could-“
“I don’t think it’s a kraang Donnie” Leo cut his brother in purple off before turning around holding an object in his hand, under close inspection they realise what he’s holding.
The head of the robot, but there’s something wrong
“It’s not a robot…” Mikey said under his breath.
“There’s a human in there, that’s a decapitated head of an actual human being…” Donnie confirmed
It took a bit but the realization sinks and Raph is immediately repulsed.
“HOLY SHIT LEO WHY WOULD YOU PICK THAT UP- PUT IT DOWN”
With that Leo realizes he’s still holding the head so he immediately drops it on the floor.
After regaining his composure, Leo announced his new order.
“Alright team, this universe is pretty weird to us” he said before kicking the head away from his feet, “and, we have no idea what kind of dangers are really out there… I think it’s about time we took a safer route for us”.
Looking around he spots something on the ground and walk to it, he crouches near it and everyone realizes that it’s a manhole cover, which means that their definitely using the sewers next.
However as Leo went down to lift it up Donnie screamed.
“NO WAIT DON’T!”
Leo retracted his hand instinctively before turning around to look at Donnie worriedly, and so did the others.
“Look, there’s a device on the manhole cover” he explained and everyone took a double check starting at the lid, and there it was, Leo backed away from it.
“What do you think it is D?” Mikey asked.
“You never know until you check, it could be a bomb, but judging from the speaker attached to it I’d say a warning siren?”
“Ok wow, looks like this New York doesn’t take too kindly to their mutant turtles huh” Raph added, “do you think you can disable that Don? Every second I’m spending up here feels like I’m gonna be stabbed any second”
“Already done” Donnie said, holding the alarm in his hand, smiling at his brothers.
“Okay that was quick” Mikey commented.
“We’ll it wasn’t that hard, all what I had to do was open and rewire the- aaaand they’re already off” Donnie said with an exasperated tone to his voice after he noticed his brothers already went into the sewers before he finished his ramble, “I don’t know why I bother anymore”
With that Donnie jumped down closing the cover behind him before he landed with a jump finding his brothers waiting for him.
“So what’s the move now Leo?” He asked.
“Well, we could try and find their lair” his brother in blue answered, “it’s not like searching topside did us any good, and if they are anything like us then the sewers are our next best option”
“But we’re not one hundred percent sure that this is the prime universe Leo, like I said, it was a theory” his genius brother countered.
“Well it’s not like we have much options do we?”
The purple clad turtle thought for a second then nodded, and with that they were off starting their second search for the day began, turns out this New York’s sewer system was pretty complex compared to theirs, so many closed off entrances, and that’s without mentioning the booby traps everywhere.
Man this New York seriously didn’t take too kindly to their mutant turtles huh.
Speaking of them, they also knew how to hide their lair pretty well, this search started to look more impossible with every passing second.
“Ugh, this is hopeless” Raphael groaned, “we’ll never find their lair”
“Maybe D was right, maybe this isn’t the prime dimension” Mikey added with a sad disappointed voice, he really wanted to meet their predecessors, he wondered if their Mikey liked jelly bean pizza like him.
“Come on guys, have a little bit of faith, you know what sensei says, hope is the a ninja’s strongest weapon” Leo tried to reassure his little brothers, but it didn’t seem to work.
“Well that weapon ain’t working it’s spark, that’s for sure” Donnie said.
“Leo we’ve been wondering down here for whatever time passed, and New York can be mutated any second, it’s high time we started trynna figure this out without the help of some stupid counter-“ Raph ranted but immediately got cut by his brother who put a finger on his mouth shushing him.
“Hey, don’t you shush me!” Raph exclaimed, removing his brother’s finger from his mouth.
“No raph I’m serious, shush” Leo whispered, “do you guys hear that?”
The sewers were quiet with a bit of noises from water drops and rats squeezing.
“I don’t hear any-“
Suddenly Raph got cut off by someone talking from a distance.
“Quite! No more talking” a deep voice can be heard saying that from far away.
The brothers looked at one another before nodding to each other and slowly approaching the noise, sticking to the shadows and being as stealthy as possible, they can’t risk anything dangerous going after them.
Rounding up the corner, Leo took a peak and immediately stopped which caused his brothers to bump into him.
“Why’d you stop-“ the next words raph was about to say caught in his throat seeing the horror filled expression Leo was wearing, following his brother’s gaze, he also froze in shock, and he can tell their other brothers saw it too considering the way they gasped.
In front of them was a big turtle mutant just like them, wearing a black mask and black pants, laying on the ground passed out completely swimming in a puddle of his own blood, they can see the Color fading from his face.
Silence overtook the place before Mikey spoke.
“Ah sewers apples…”