Chapter Text
Leonardo
I heard Donnie call us to the lab. When I got there Mikey and Raph were already here. They didn't seem to understand anything Donnie was saying, so I went over and asked him what's going on.
"The Kraang, they're going to transport mutagen from dimension X to the TCRI," he replied.
"When?" Raph asked.
"Tonight, it will be a large shipment, it will have a lot of security."
"Go get ready, we'll leave as soon as it starts to get dark," I ordered.
We left Donnie's lab to go prepare our weapons, I don't know why but I have a bad feeling about this mission, I hope everything goes well. It was a few hours before we were able to get out. I checked that everyone was ready, April and Casey had arrived a few hours ago and when we were all ready we surfaced straight to the TCRI. We already have the plan made, Mikey would make a distraction several floors below so that way their forces could be concentrated elsewhere, while the rest of us would take care of the security that remained on the floor while Donnie closes the portal. We had done it in the past, over and over, and over again.
"Everyone ready?" I asked and they all nodded or affirmed in response.
I don't like leaving Mikey alone in the distraction but he's without a doubt the most agile and fastest of all of us by far, and anyone left with him would be left behind and be more of a burden than a help. We wished him luck and we watched as he entered the TCRI to start the distraction.
It had barely been about five minutes since he entered when we heard a loud alarm go off. We wait another few minutes to enter the penultimate floor and carry out the plan.
We entered in silence, I could still see how some Kraang boarded the elevator to come down to help with the emergency that Mikey had created many floors below.
There are few Kraang left in this area so we started with the plan, Donnie ran straight to sabotage the portal while the rest of us deal with the few remaining Kraang. Although few are still a nuisance, April stayed close to Donnie, fending off the approaching Kraang with her powers.
Raph and Casey are practically on the other side of the portal, trying to get the Kraang to go after them, I stayed in the middle alone preventing some of the Kraang from going to my brothers.
It was difficult, but everything is going according to plan, that was until I heard some footsteps, of something that seemed to be very big, coming from behind where the gate was, just like a door opening.
"Donnie, finish that now!" I yelled desperately, I want to get out of here before whatever came out of that door could hurt any of my brothers or friends.
"Almost there Leo! I just need a minute!" He answered.
I ran towards both.
“We don't have a minute, Donnie."
I didn't care if we had already completed the mission or not, I just know that we had to leave as soon as possible. Right after we moved a few meters, a laser hit right where Donnie was, it would have killed him if it was still there.
I looked up and saw an improved version of the Turtle-Mecca. He started shooting his weapons at us but we were able to dodge them in time, we arrived with Casey and Raph who barely seemed to have noticed the giant robot that was shooting lasers left and right.
"Let's go!" I said, I saw that Raph was about to renege but she stopped.
He yelled at us to get out of the way, we dove to the side just in time to avoid being knocked out by lightning, this lightning hit the wall creating a hole in it. He wouldn't let us out, normally the Kraang's automatic robots are slow, and not as intelligent as one might think but this one was nothing like the others.
We all moved to avoid the attacks, at a specific moment one of the rays hit something that was flammable and exploded, the floor began to catch fire.
A risky plan came to my mind, there was no way we were going to get out of the building on this floor, not now.
"We have to go down," I told them at a time when we were back together.
They looked at each other, knowing it was a risky plan but knowing there was no other way out.
We pried open the elevator doors and started down, because the Kraang idiots didn't think of making emergency stairs.
We went down the stairs climbing the walls but I quickly realized that we needed to be faster. One of the missiles he launched exploded again, and the fire almost reached our heads, if we wanted to get out of here we would have to go down much faster.
We took some things that we were carrying and we protected our hands and feet as best we could and we slipped down the wire that is in the middle. Clearly I didn't do it right because I felt like a part of my hand was burning.
I heard a loud crash above us, and when I looked up I saw how that thing was trying to enter through the elevator shaft, it couldn't get more than half of its body in because of its size, but it was enough for one of its arms to enter. I saw how he pointed at us,
"Get into a flat! We have to get out of here!" I yelled.
They all looked up and saw what I saw, I helped Raph to open the door to the flat, they all got in, Raph and I were just about to go in when the explosion that was generated pushed us inside the flat, although I guess that helped.
The doors closed and we saw that we had descended fifty floors. I kept hearing the explosions.
"We have to get out of here," I said more calmly.
I heard another explosion but this one was much louder. And I felt how the floor moved, little debris fell on us
"An earthquake?" April asked.
"No. The structure of the building must have weakened, we have to get out of here fast,” Donnie replied.
We started running towards one of the windows, at this point it was easy to get out safely. In the middle of the way Casey tripped over a concrete beam that fell. Raph stopped and helped him, out of inertia I also stopped while Donnie and April kept going. I helped Raph lift Casey up but by the time we wanted to move forward a large piece of debris fell in front of us. We diverted, I tried to go around it but it would be impossible so we went out on the other side of the building,
Raph and I took the hooks Donnie made for us to swing between buildings, the windows were broken before we got there so it wasn't a problem. We were just getting set to throw the grappling hooks when something officially exploded and the floors above us began to collapse.
I felt a push and the next thing I knew we were falling off the TCRI, I saw a hook come out behind me and catch on one of the floors, Rapha grabbed Casey and I by the arm to stop us from falling any further. I fired my hook too, which grabbed several floors below, almost at ground level, just in time because Raph's hook couldn't hold the weight of the three of us.
When mine gave way under the weight we were practically three floors up, just enough to land safely.
Once on the floor I took a moment to catch my breath, it didn't last long, I saw a light in front of me. Not one, many lights.
When I opened my eyes, dozens of people were taking photos with their phones in front of me. Small debris kept falling from above but no one seemed to care. Raph and Casey are equally shocked, I grab their arms and pull them to start running. We entered the first sewer we found.
We look at each other with a worried face, for us and for the others, we're not even sure they were able to get out of the building. We walked a few blocks and surfaced to make sure they were safe.
As soon as we got up on the roof of the building Mikey jumped on us and hugged all three of us.
"Oh my God I was so worried, I didn't know if you had made it out," he said almost in tears.
"We're good Mikey, calm down," Rapha said.
"Donnie and April, they are okay?" Casey asked.
"I saw them leave. The humans were there when they came out, they ran but among so many people I didn't know where. I have not found them."
Just when he finished saying that we heard voices behind us, it was Donnie and April who were calling us. They came with us and hugged us. They began to explain everything that happened still in shock.
We all watch the commotion that is created outside the TCRI, policemen, firefighters and a lot of people are out there.
We walk home through the sewers, I know neither of them can believe what just happened. If I'm honest, I don't want to end up in the sewer, I'd rather stay forever in this moment where I don't have to face what just happened, neither past not future, just a slip where nothing else mattered but the road to home.
But at some point we will have to arrive and that moment was not far away, when we arrived Splinter was waiting for us in the hall.
"My sons, what happened? They're all over the news and radio stations,” he told us, and I heard no anger in his voice, just concern
We sat down to explain in detail everything that had happened. When we were done he took control of the television and turned it right on the news channel.
There we were, Donnie and April, Rapha, Casey and me.
"Mutants in New York, after the fall of a building belonging to the same owners of the TCRI, it was possible to observe how three humanoid turtles came out of this same building accompanied by two teenagers who a moment ago were recognized as April O'neil and Casey Jones, who are speculated to be prisoners of these mutants. The NYPD captain assures us that his priority now is to capture said mutants, and the city of New York together with the United States government offer a reward for any information on the whereabouts of these mutants. Always remembering that they do not try to capture them by themselves, since they are considered dangerous. For now we do not have more information but we will keep you updated on Channel 6 "
That is what they repeated on each of the news channels, certain variations but all with the same essence.
"What are we going to do?" Mikey asked, and I knew he was afraid.
"We won't go out, there will be no patrols, no missions, no outings until things calm down," I replied.
"We can't do that, Leonardo, Destroyer is still out there and he won't rest just because they're looking for us, he'll take advantage of that and then it will be twice or triple as difficult to defeat him," he yelled at me angrily.
"Well, we won't be able to defeat him if they capture us, Rafael!"
In the end, they all agreed with me. We left quickly for provisions, because we were still in the hours in which the search was organized, after that it would be impossible to leave. April and Casey went to their houses for some of the necessary things, they would stay with us to avoid exposing their families and them more. Because we didn't know how far they would go to get our location out of them.
It was a tense couple of days, no one wanted to be trapped down here, and with fear and uncertainty added up, well, it wasn't a good combination at all. But to put it in a certain way, we were handling the confinement well.
It had already been a week since the incident. And it doesn't look like things are going to calm down anytime soon. A whole week and this is still the most controversial news of the moment.
I start to stress about the matter, in New York the news goes fast but not this one.
"The mutanimals are coming!" he warned us.
They arrived a few minutes after Donnie's warning, they look tired and a little hurt, with scratches and things that seem to be superficial.
"What happened to you?" Mikey asked, walking over Leatherhead and checking him out.
Slash began to explain how they had ended up like this, it turns out that they had found out about a shipment of weapons that would arrive at Shredder, they decided not to tell us anything because they knew about the situation. They stopped handing over the weapons but did not realize that there were police and soldiers around them who began to attack them, trying to catch them.
Once they finished telling us what happened, we led them to the laboratory so that Donnie and I could heal them, luckily Slash and Leatherhead's skin is quite thick and they hardly seem to have scratches.
They were lucky to have come out unscathed like this.
"They're hunting all mutants, not just us," Donnie commented, making clear what we all knew but what no one wanted to accept.
"The city is no longer safe for us," I said.
They all agreed with me, and we were silent.
"We have to get out of town," Splinter said as he entered the lab.
I looked at him surprised, that of all the people in the room he was the one who suggested it.
"But Sensei," Rapha started to say but Splinter didn't let him finish.
"I know, it's radical, but my sons, you are in danger, we all are and the only thing that matters to me now is to keep them as safe as possible, and for now any mutant that is in the city is in danger," he finished saying.
"He's right, we have to go before things get even worse," Rockwell said.
Donnie began to review the best time to go out.
"At night, during the shift change," he said.
"Then we'll leave tonight," Splinter finished.
We all left the laboratory, I went to my room to put away some of my things that wouldn't take up much space but I can't. I feel unable to do anything. I saw the clock that I have in my room, there are still several hours to go, so I went to the dojo to meditate to try to calm down and clear my mind.
When I got there I saw that Splinter is in his room, I walked in slowly and sat in front of the tree. I closed my eyes and tried to meditate but even that I couldn't do. I started to feel very frustrated, I felt something wet in my eyes and I realized that I started to cry, it only made me feel worse.
A hand touched my shoulder and I knew it was Splinter, but I don't want to open my eyes, because I kept crying. He approached me and leaned on his chest, like when I was a child and I kept crying even more, unable to stop, I didn't even know exactly why, just that the tears kept coming.
"Everything will be fine, my son," he said in a soft tone.
"I'm sorry Sensei" I said wiping my tears away.
"Don't apologize my son, with what is happening I'm surprised that it didn't happen before."
I looked at him confused.
"Leonardo, you and your brothers have done incredible things, you have saved New York and the world, but that does not take away the fact that they are children, adolescents. You are very strong Leonardo but you have to learn to let yourself feel something," he put his hand on my chest. "And everything you're feeling right now is perfectly normal."
He withdrew his hand slowly, got up, and left.
I stayed there for a few more minutes, doing nothing, just assimilating what he said and when I was ready I got up and went to my room to put away a few things.
When I went out again, we were almost three hours away from leaving, I put my things in the Party Wagon and started to bring up the food and water that we would take. Shortly after my brothers and the others arrived and did the same.
Things are ready and now all that remains is to wait.
I left the last few things behind when I heard an alarm coming from Donnie's computer. I went over to see what it was, Donnie came running and saw the computer even before I did.
"They're military, they must have followed the mutanimals," he said worriedly. "We can't wait, we have to get out right now."
He ran out of the lab to warn the others. I also went out, when I was about to cross the laboratory door I heard a small explosion, and I see how smoke begins to cover the entire sewer.
Everyone else left from different parts of the lair and entered the lab.
"Smoke is safe, it's just to take away our visibility," Donnie mentioned when we saw how he entered the laboratory under the door.
We ran to the cars and started to get in, Mikey, April, Raph and Casey started to get in one by one, together when Mondo Gecko is barely stepping foot in the car a voice is heard on the other side of the sewer.
"Surrender yourselves and no one has to get hurt," the voice said, clearly speaking through a megaphone.
"Keep going up," Splinter whispered to Donnie and me, and we both listened.
We moved very slowly so we could get on the vehicles. I was supposed to drive the turtlemobile so I started to walk in his direction, but Splinter took me by the shoulders, indicating that I should get in the car where everyone was. I looked at him without understanding what he was doing but I still did what he told me. Once up I turned to see the others, none of them understood what was happening.
I saw that Rockwell looked at Slash, Skinhead and Splinter, he shook his head, I suddenly understood. Rockwell knew that all of them were too many. They weren't planning on leaving, they would stop long enough for us to do so.
All went silent.
"You have the count of three to surrender peacefully," the voice said.
"One."
I signaled to those who were still outside to get the authors up and to be able to follow the plan.
"Two."
No one paid attention, in the distance I could hear how they loaded their weapons, Splinter approached and carefully closed the door just as Raph and I intended to go down.
Casey stepped on the accelerator before I got to three, and we started to pull away real fast. We heard gunshots and saw how the others disappeared in the smoke.
"No, no, no," Raph repeated over and over again, it seems that she wanted to get out of the car but Mikey prevented her.
We left through the secret door that Donnie had created. We had a total of almost ten minutes head start before they sent out each patrol to search for us, luckily they hadn't seen what we had gone on, and the Party Wagon can easily pass for a normal car, especially with Casey and April in the lead.
The rest of us covered ourselves with blankets we'd put up specifically for that purpose and waited for Casey to signal that we were out and he was safe.
I tried not to think about anything, absolutely nothing because anything would end in tears. And without Splinter with us my brothers would need me, but it would only be for a little while, because Splinter is going to be fine, he's always fine, and at the end of this we'd be back with him.
I repeated the same thing to myself until I fell asleep. My brothers woke me up shortly after leaving the city, I could still see the buildings in the distance.
It's funny how things tend to go wrong, everything can collapse in just a second, literally and figuratively. It only took a second for our life to change forever.