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Leo
The second accident was less of a surprise as it was a reprieve. Unlike last time, Leo had a clear grasp on the events that lead to this particular dimension hopping. A typical patrol that led to them literally running past Bishop in one of his massive government-issued trucks. They followed of course, anything concerning Bishop always ends up biting them in the ass one way or another. It was meant to just be informational, follow the truck, find the hideout then fall back and regroup, but fate or good old turtle luck had other ideas. The reconnaissance quickly turned into a firefight, which morphed into an assault on the truck, and what they found inside was…..unexpected. It looked like the portals the Utroms use but different. Warped. Its purpose didn’t stay a mystery for long when the thing lit up like a Christmas tree and the next moment Leo and his brothers found themselves on a roof instead of a truck.
“What?”
“A fucking portal? What the hell is Bishop doin’ with a portal?”
Leo looks around and catches sight of familiar warm colors and sloping architecture. “Scratch that,” he says. “A dimensional portal.” Fuck.
He watches the realization spread amongst his brothers and Mikey’s face lights up. “Awesome! I wonder what mini uses have been up to?”
“Great, these kids again.”
“Well, at least it’s familiar,” Donnie says. He flips his cell shell open, fingers moving quickly. “Luckily-uh Don and I created specific codes to alert the other if this ever happened again.” The turtle makes one last click before closing the cell, “And sent. Now, all we have to do is wait for a response.”
“Why bother?” Raph throws a thumb over his shoulder. “We already know where these bozos stay. We can just meet them there.”
Leo sheathes his swords. “They could’ve moved Raph. God knows we never stay in the same lair for long once all…..this started up.”
“Please.”
Donnie’s phone goes off. “Hey! Yeah, it’s us, crazy that this happened- oh where are we?” Donnie raises a brow ridge, “Uh-looks like we’re on 34th, across from the museum-oh great! Sure, bye.” Donnie closes the phone, “Hmm that was… weird.”
Leo frowns, “weird how?”
“Just weird. Abrupt.” Donnie says, “Anyway, he said Le-Leon will be here in a minute to portal us to the lair.”
Raph groans, “Fantastic.”
“C’mon Raph!” Mikey sings, “I love that guy! No offense, Leo.”
“None taken,” Leo says but he feels his face twitch into a smile. He knew Mikey missed this place. All the colors and jaunts to the Hidden City with their younger counterparts. Once the Donnie’s figure out how long they’re staying, maybe they can use this as a vacation of sorts. Very rarely do they portal hop and get to take a breather.
A blue light opens and widens to their left and Leo blinks up at the quick response. Leon must have been practicing.
The slider falls from the portal and lands nimbly on his feet. “Chello cousins! What brings you to our side of the tracks?”
Leo blinks. Leon looks……different. The black bands are new, and kind of cool if he’s being honest, but there’s something about him that’s throwing him off.
“Whoa!” Mikey says, “Cool entrance! And are you rocking twin katana’s now?”
Leon shifts into a more familiar and cockier stance. “Why, you mean these beauties?” He pulls out the other sword, throws one into the air, and sinks the other into the thick material of the roof, then flickers out of existence.
It takes a moment for Leo to follow the path of blue lightning to see Leon pop to the sword he threw before popping back to the one still on the roof. The turtle grins, “We've had a bit of an upgrade.”
“WICKED!!!” Mikey shouts. “Guys we’ve GOT to get mystic weapons while we’re here! Like, could you imagine!”
“Whatever,” Raph grumbles but Leo can tell he’s impressed. Hell, Leo’s impressed. Upgrade is definitely an understatement. “Let’s get outta here.”
“Of course,” Leon says. “Gather around gentle-turtles and prepare for landing.”
Leon swings his sword, and a circle of blue opens beneath them. Leos never traveled by Leon’s portals before and it’s a trippy experience. Like a mix of falling and flying, if the world were an electric blue. The world opens up to more familiar textures and they all land on quietly on their feet.
He looks around to be met with another surprise. The turtles have moved and it’s not as colorful as the last one. They’ve made this abandoned subway terminal feel homie at least. He sees touches of Michael's graffiti everywhere he looks and touches of construction. Hm.
“So,” Donnie says, stepping forward. “New lair?”
Leon nods. “New lair. Shreddy demolished the last one.”
“SHREDDER!”
Leon rolls his eyes. “Ok guys, inside voices, and yes.” Leon turns and starts pulling off his leg wraps, “the Shredder, but don’t worry, he’s gone.”
Leo goes to say something but stops. Now that he’s really looking at Leon, the turtle is roughed up. Scratches and chips to his plastron, scars running done his limbs, and faint bruising around his neck. He wonders what happened. If seems recent.
An orange blur springs from the left and slams into all of them. “You guys are really here! I almost didn’t believe it when Don said you called.”
Mikey laughs and pulls the smaller turtle into a hug. “Believe it mini-me. Hopefully, we get a few days here. I never got to try that theme park in the Hidden City.”
Michael grins, “Me neither! No one will go with me, and” the turtle rubs his head sheepishly, “they won’t let me go by myself.”
“You know Raph doesn’t do mystic games.”
Leo watches as Raphael turns the corner and his mouth drops.
“Whoa,” Raph says. “What the hell happened to your shell?”
And your eye, Leo thinks. If Leon looked rough, then Raphael looks exhausted. There’s a clear chunk of shell and plastron missing and a thick, jagged wound running across his shoulder. His face doesn’t look great either. Leo takes another look at Michael and can see what he missed earlier. Faint lightning-like scars run from his fingers up the whole length of his arms.
What the shell?
Raphael tenses at the question and Leon turns away. “Oh-well this happened during the Kraang invasion.”
“Kraang?” Donnie asks.
“Yeah, it was crazy!” Michael jumps in. “It was only three of them, but wow! They were crazy strong.”
“Must have been,” Raph says. “This me is built like a fucking tank.”
“Hey, let's loosen up on the cursing,” Leon says. “We have young ears here.”
Raph laughs, “You’re kidding right?”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Leon” Mikey says. “We’ve tried everything! Even soap!”
Donnie grins, “Yeah, it can’t be done.”
“Whatever.”
Michaels sticks his tongue out. “Don’t worry about Leon. I’m not a baby.”
“Whatever you say, little brother.”
“While you guys were yapping it up,” Don calls. “I’ve already figured out how long you’ll be here. Our casa is su casa for the next 72 hours.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Donnie says, “do you think I can look at your tech while I’m here?”
Donald puffs up, “Why of course. I must say I’ve been really inspired. Why I’m even surprised at some of the things coming out of my lab.”
Michael jumps in between them. “Oh! Oh! This is perfect! I can send them home!”
“No, Michael.”
“C’mon Raphael! This is the perfect time to-.”
“Hey,” Leon says and suddenly it’s like looking in a mirror. The kid’s voice is stern with a tone that cuts like steel. “Raphael and I said no mystic hands. No arguments.”
Michael grumbles, “What’s the point of being the greatest mystic warrior if you don’t even let me practice.”
“Michael.”
“Fine, fine,” Michael sighs. “No mystic hands.” The turtle brightens back up, “C’mon, I’ll show you some of Dad’s movies!”
Mikey squeals, “Movies!?!”
“Yeah! We didn’t show you any of his Lou Jitsu movies last time! Help me set up!”
The two of them set off deeper into the lair and Leo feels himself smiling again. He can’t lie, he’s been dying to see one since they were told that this Splinter was an action movie star. Maybe they can take a copy for their own Master.
“Let’s do that first and then I’ll show you my lab,” Don says. “Come with me. I’ll make the popcorn while you tell me how you guys got here this time.”
“Oh, ok.” Donnie sends them a wave, “See you guys in a bit.”
Leo watches his brother go before sliding closer toward Raph. Their counterparts are still in the room, but they’re whispering about something.
“They’re different.”
Raph snorts, “No shit, Fearless. What gave it away? The scars or the overbearing mother hen schtick.”
Leo keeps his eyes on the hole in Raphael's shell, “that invasion must have been something.”
Raph crosses his arms, “Yeah. Life changing.” Raph tenses, "It reminds of you, you know."
Yeah, it does. After the injury and the betrayal, it took a long time for him to get off the edge. Every day felt like a fight for his and his brother's lives. He's just glad that they put up with his attitude for as long as they did. This though feels different. The maturity in Leon, the overprotectiveness of Mikey, and even Don's abrupt attitude feel like a-a tonal shift.
"Do you think they'd tell us?" Raph mumbles, "If we asked."
"Well, we have 72 hours to find out."
And they will. If anyone knows how to deal with life-changing events it's them. They'll help any way they can. The Hamato clan sticks together, no matter the dimension.