Rating: Overall story rated T
Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.
Warnings: Overall story contains disturbing imagery such as blood, gore and the like, and disturbing situations.
Summary: The world as they knew it has gone to ruins. The shadows, once their greatest allies, now harbour threats so great it's safer to risk walking in open daylight and Mikey and April will do anything to keep what remains of their family safe; even if it means abandoning home and everything they knew. This story is AU and a collaboration between sampsonknightand Zelgadis55.
Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.
Sekai no Owari
Ch 13
Michelangelo poked his head into Donnie's bedroom to see him studying something on his tablet intently with a sulky Leonardo drawing on the ground nearby. Taken aback by the sight of his brothers so young once more, it was all Mikey could manage to put a cheerful face on. "Hey, bros!"
He received only a mumbled, almost dismissive reply from Donatello but Leonardo jumped up in excitement and ran over to him, trying to grab onto his shell.
"Can we play?" Leo begged desperately.
Mikey smiled sadly, he'd have loved nothing more but he didn't have time right now. However, before he could answer, Leo quickly added. "With those cool toys in your room?"
"No way!" Mikey immediately cried as horror filled him. As confusion and hurt flooded onto his now little brother's face, Mikey tried to explain. "Sorry but they aren't toys, chibi-chan, they're Action Figures," he insisted, crouching down so he was eye level with Leo to show his sincerity.
Donnie simply cast them a sidelong look and tried not to groan at the stupidity of it.
"But, but they are toys..." Leo whimpered looking away, not understanding the difference.
"Most of them are still in their boxes so they can't be played with," Mikey carefully explained, reaching out and rubbing the top of Leonardo's head. When Leo sulkily pulled out of reach, Mikey sighed miserably. "I'm really sorry, Leo but I don't have time right now anyway. If I did, I'd love to play."
"Sure..." Leo flopped to the ground. He grabbed a crayon and viciously scribbled on the already black and red circle drawing.
"Leo..." Mikey began, only to be interrupted by his other brother.
"If you don't have time to play with him right now, then why are you here?" Donnie asked flatly, not bothering to look over at Mikey again.
"Actually, bro, I need your help with something," Mikey replied, still watching Leo sadly. He knew exactly how it felt when no one had time for you or simply didn't want to spend time with you and it hurt. It was something he'd often felt as a child and especially as they grew into teens and found their own separate interests.
And in more recent times when the world turned to shit...
"Of course and that's the only reason you're taking me off of babysitting duty right?" Donnie asked just shy of caustically. "You are taking me off of babysitting duty, aren't you?"
"I'm not a baby!" Leo protested indignantly. "Raphie is!"
"Yes," Mikey sighed despondently, "Raphie sure is a baby..." He stood up straight to look at Donnie. "Yes, Donnie, it's true but it's important. Even at twelve, you're still the best mechanic here. April's pretty good but her speciality isn't mechanics, it's programming and computers."
Donnie's eyes darkened slightly at the reminder of his current situation but he didn't say anything.
"Leo?" Mikey ventured softly.
"Yes," Leo asked sadly, wondering what Mikey was going to tell him to do now. Probably nothing fun...
"Donnie and I have work to do so we're going to take you to hang out with April and Raphie, okay?" Mikey asked kindly.
Slumping at the repetitive word 'work', Leo slowly stood and walked to the door without a word.
-:-
April sat there cross-legged, going through the pages and muttering to herself. Though she did work on the project with Donnie, there was so much he'd done on his own.
The scary part was, his work was beyond her knowledge and the truth was, until now, she didn't realise how advanced it was, even for him.
Part of her wondered if some of his findings were due to the Phoenix's Ashes. Either way, there was no mention of it or of whichever other sources he'd left out, and that meant there were so many holes in the research that it disturbed her deeply. Especially since it was so unlike him.
The problem she had was figuring out what was missing and if she could determine if Leo, Raph and Donnie were still immune after their age reduction.
For all she knew it was a combination of that drug and the accident in the lab that brought the regression on and if not, she fearfully started to wonder if Donnie had other artefacts or tech he hid that helped him to this critical point that may have contributed to their problem.
Sighing, she pinched between her eyes; she'd been working so long that they felt like they were on fire.
This was beyond frustrating and she felt completely lost and the sad part was that it wasn't like she could cajole Donnie to help for this must be more than even he was currently capable of digesting.
Suddenly feeling something tugging her shirt, she looked down at Leo who stood there staring at her in concern as Raph sat not far from her, occupied with an empty shoebox like it was the most fascinating toy he ever played with.
"Yes, Leo?" April asked softly as the five-year-old shifted his feet.
"Will you play with me?" Leo asked with much hope, only to have those grey eyes tear up in disappointment by her reply.
"Sorry Leo, I have too much…"
"Work," Leo grumpily finished her sentence, crossing his arms and looking away, hurt.
"Yes, I do…" April reluctantly admitted, then felt how he was pulling her heartstrings by the sadness rolling over him. "Leo, what's wrong?"
Flashing a look at her, Leonardo's cheeks puffed out in indignation, "You're no different then Donnie and Mikey! They said the same thing too, too busy to play with me! They used to be fun but now everything is work!"
Shocked by how angry the little turtle was, April blinked at Leo as he started to stomp away, kicking the box away from Raphael as he did. Raph lip's trembled and he started to wail.
"Leo, come back here," April called to him, scrambling to her feet. She dumped the files on the couch and picked up Raph to go after the tantrum-throwing child who started to run. "Leonardo!|
Though she had longer legs to chase him down with, it wasn't until they were at the bedrooms that she finally caught him.
At this moment, with her anger and frustration rising and making her blood boil because he wouldn't listen to her, she cut him off as she made a dead stop. He stared up in horror into her fiery eyes.
"That is enough, young man!" she growled, crossing her arms.
Trembling, Leo's eyes widened as he shrank in place, whimpering, "She is sooo scary…. She's pretty, nice… young… Pretty, nice, young…" he suddenly repeated as if he was using it to collect his courage to face her.
Staring at him blankly in shock over his reaction, April took a breath to release the fury within before addressing him. "Why are you saying I'm pretty, nice and young?" she asked as Leonardo continued to tremble. When the small mutant didn't respond, she knelt down to his level, gently placing her hand under his chin so he would look at her.
Shuffling his feet, Leo bit his lip, "That's what Mikey told me… you're scary but to think you're pretty, nice and not old."
"Old…" April huffed, letting her head fall tiredly. "Of course he told you that."
Letting out a sigh, she patted him on the head, "Leo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper like that, it was just... You can't keep running off like that, this place isn't safe for such a young turtle."
"For I'm small and…" he trailed off, sad eyes blinking.
"Leo, what's wrong? You can tell me, I promise not to get mad," April assured him, bouncing Raph on her knee as he cooed in delight, his previous woes forgotten with the attention.
Glancing at Raph then to her, Leo tilted his head, "Why does Raph like you so much? I was so scared of you and Donnie too… but Raphie isn't, he really likes you and only you."
"Well I don't know, maybe he can tell even as a baby that I'm not a bad person," April mused. Then she sat down, crossing her legs with Raph sitting in the middle as he turned to play with her shirt.
Leo watched her hesitantly before moving forward to sit on her other leg, pinching her pants.
"Leo, is that what's bothering you?" She asked gently.
Shaking his head, he bluntly replied, "No."
"So…" She almost chuckled, "that was just a random question, then?"
He shrugged, drawing a circle on her knee over and over again.
"Then will you tell me what's wrong?"
"I'm lonely…" he whimpered. "No one wants to play and my brothers aren't here."
"Leo," April stuttered in surprise, "that is not true. Raph here and Mikey and Donnie are your brothers."
Turning his head towards her, he sniffled, "But we aren't the same age anymore…"
Letting out a sigh, she placed her hand on his head, "Does that really matter? They are still your brothers, they still share the same blood…" biting her lip, the imagery of what was done to her invaded her mind; she'd been trying not to think of it because she wasn't sure what to think. If only Donnie had just come clean to her in the first place, she wouldn't have so many fears and questions now.
Leo canted his head, then suddenly moved forward and wrapped his arms around her as he started to cry, "I'm scared! My dad is dead and my brothers aren't the same anymore!"
"Leo…" April pushed her problems to the side and kissed him gently on the head. "I know this must be frightening but you have to understand that just because they aren't the same anymore it doesn't make them any less your brothers or make them love you any less."
"But Master, he… No one will tell me what is going on! Saying I'm just a kid…"
Bringing him closer with Raph to snuggle into Leo, April spoke to him softly, "Then I guess someone needs to tell you then, huh?"
"You will tell me? Really!" Leo looked at her needily.
Nodding, she did just that, well what he could handle, explaining to him that something happened in the lab and they all became younger, how and why no one knew. She even explained the world was different and she promised to slowly help him understand it but not all at once or it would give him nightmares. In the end, he was satisfied, just happy he wasn't put to the side anymore and thought as just a kid and instead included and treated like a big boy.
"That is all I can say for now, do you understand Leonardo?" April asked warily.
"Yes, April. So my brothers really are my brothers. What about you? Who are you?" he asked.
"Family," she assured him with a loving smile.
"So like my big sister?" Leo brightened up, happy at the idea.
Chuckling she nodded, "Yeah, I guess you can say I am, as you're my little brother."
"Brave brother!" Leo corrected her all proudly.
"Oh sorry," she put her hands out. "My very brave, little brother."
Smiling, Leo, kissed Raph on the head, "Raphie, we have a sister too now!"
Raph squealed, licking Leo on the beak and making him back up quickly in disgust, "EWWW!" he shrieked.
"Well, I think that is your payback for spitting on Donnie's head this morning," April raised an eyebrow as Leo flashed a horrified look at her.
"How did you know that?" he gulped hard.
Smirking, she leaned forward, "I have eyes everywhere so you better be a good boy, Leonardo and not dare to try any of those pranks on me. You hear me?"
Nodding quickly, he stood up, "Yes, sis!" Then he shuffled his feet with that spark of mischief in his eyes. "Do I have to be good with my brothers?"
"Well," April thought about it, "you can pick on Donnie more and definitely Mikey but not Raph, please. I have to deal with him when he is cranky. Also, no more spitting."
Hearing her permission, Leo squeaked in excitement then froze when she looked at him to not get too excited just yet, "However, if things are bad and we tell you to stop or listen, you better do so immediately, okay?"
"I don't understand," Leo quickly said.
"It's okay I will tell you when those moments come but do you promise me that you will listen?"
"Yes," Leo agreed, "Sis… are you too busy to play with me now?"
Smiling April shook her head, "Nah, how we take a break from being adults and go find Mikey's action figures."
-:-
Mikey led Donnie to the emergency exit, having explained about it on the way. Donnie's mood had at least brightened a little at the prospect of solving a mechanical problem and he made a beeline for the offending hatch, beginning to study it and its surroundings as Mikey watched on.
"We need it to work properly for if we need to use it again. April almost drowned last time."
Silent, Donnie rolled his eyes, having already heard on the way here. He opened up the hatch and crawled inside to the still damp area to examine the control panel inside. Soon after, he made his way out, looking over the nearby controls. Finally, he closed the hatch again and just looked at Mikey incredulously.
"What?" Mikey asked, taken aback by the look from his younger brother. While he was used to receiving looks like that from all his brothers, especially Donnie, they weren't normally filled with scorn. At least, they weren't from Donnie.
"How can you expect it to work automatically when there isn't enough power to power the pump?" Donnie asked flatly.
"Seriously?" Mikey asked in shock.
Donnie turned away. "This whole place is running on low power, hadn't you noticed?"
"Of course I noticed. It sucks! You try living without TV or games..." Mikey complained loudly, forgetting that they once did live that way and since they didn't know any differently at the time, they'd been fine. "We can't even keep the fridge on because it takes power from your precious lab. Not that we have anything to store in the fridge anyway..."
Donnie glanced at Mikey, his expression turning deliberately neutral.
Mikey sighed and slumped wearily against the wall. "So, is there anything you can do to direct some power to it? Enough so that it'll work if and when we need it?"
"You managed before with the manual release," Donnie pointed out.
"Not fast enough. What if April's the one that needs it or is also there again?"
Donnie kept silent, thinking on the problem.
"Donnie?" Mikey prodded.
"I'm trying to think. I don't exactly remember this lair, so how am I supposed to be able to answer that?" Donnie retorted, irritated. "I don't even know where the power comes from in this place."
"Do... you rigged up an emergency generator powered by the flow of the water through it," Mikey explained helpfully. "Our home used to be a water treatment plant but the city abandoned it years ago in favour of a new, more modern one they built so since it was long forgotten about, we eventually took it over when we needed a new home."
"Show me," Donnie stated, already heading for the way they entered.
"Not that way," Mikey chuckled, heading for the other exit. "This way's faster."
-:-
"There she is!" Mikey proclaimed proudly, pointing at the generator as if saying 'TADAH!"
Ignoring his melodramatic action, Donnie approached the generator, marvelling at its design and wishing he was capable of such a thing at this point in his life. He'd never had the resources though and neither had he the experience. Examining it though, Donnie realised just how simple the design was, simple, elegant and functional. However, the problem he could see was the flow of the water. It wasn't the fastest and therefore was unable to generate as much power as a facility this size demanded. It was enough to power the lights and the lab but little else. They already had the lights on half power, he'd noticed, making much of the lair quite dim, the exceptions being the lab and the kitchen. Mikey had probably insisted on at least the kitchen being at full power, not just for the sake of cooking, but so as to keep the 'cheeriness' of the room up.
Donnie looked over his shoulder at his brother, studying him. It would be just like Mikey, he realised. Mikey had taken on the role of cooking at an early age, although with the supervision of Master Splinter in the beginning, and had often commented, loudly, on how the kitchen was the 'happiest room in the house'; an idea he picked up from watching family sitcoms on TV. Families were always happy when sharing meals in there.
He, however, knew better. Those shows were fake, designed to elicit a laugh. Somehow, Donnie doubted people really were as happy in the kitchen as they appeared on television but he'd never had the heart to try to explain that to his more innocent brother.
"Do I have something on my face?" Mikey asked curiously, reaching up a hand to wipe at it.
Donnie shook his head wordlessly and turned back to the generator. Those days were gone; the days when he knew Mikey. They'd grown up and then Donnie had regressed. He could tell Mikey was still Mikey but he didn't know him anymore. He knew what he had been like ten years ago but not how he changed since.
And it hurt.
Donnie had always felt different from his brothers and often felt left out or ostracised as a result. He liked to learn and study as much as possible but he also liked to be included in his brothers' fun at times. Trouble was when he did feel the urge, they were already doing their own thing, a game or activity already started and Raph and Leo were never shy in pointing that out. Mikey however, had been different. Mikey would usually argue for them to just start over or include Donnie regardless.
Or he would leave them and come do something with Donnie instead.
Donnie didn't know if it was just the now obvious age difference between them or if Mikey had since changed and no longer enjoyed hanging with him. Either way, since this horrible accident had happened, he was feeling more alone than ever and knew with the amount of catching up he needed to do, he would continue to feel that way regardless of his relationship with his brothers. He shook his head, making himself focus on the task at hand again.
"Do you know if the water flow is always this slow or if it has been slowed somehow? Perhaps dammed up?"
"Huh? Oh, this is fast compared to normal," Mikey replied.
"Do explain," Donnie prompted briskly.
"It's early Summer and it's still fast from winter snow melting and from spring rains. It's only going to slow down more as New York becomes dryer. Although... since this is an underground water source, maybe it won't this year since there are less people using the water," Mikey shrugged, seemingly nonchalantly.
Donnie nodded. "Well, then without extensive study of this facility, I'm not sure I can do anything about diverting power to the emergency door," he explained. "And to do that, I would need time, without having to babysit. I have a lot to relearn."
Mikey nodded, "I get it, bro, but..."
"Do you?"
"Of course!"
"Because, I don't think you do," Donnie replied, shorter than he intended. "Sure, you're probably feeling overwhelmed by what happened to us and like we're a burden, but you don't know what it's like from our perspective, from my perspective. For Leo, it's a confusing time, especially since he's so young it's hard to explain things so he understands them fully. As for me, I'm fully aware that I've lost ten years of my life, of my memories. That's ten years I need to somehow relearn in what? Days? Do I have that long? How long have we even lived in this place? How long did it originally take me to set things up the first time? And you expect me to be able to fix things or change things when I no longer have the knowledge I once did."
"Donnie," Mikey implored, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to or want to push things on you when you're still trying to adjust and cope with... this," he said, motioning to Donnie. "Trouble is, there's no one else. I don't understand this stuff and April, well, she knows some but not all and our situation is really desperate."
"Really," Donnie muttered.
"Have you seen what's out there waiting?" Mikey asked with a shudder.
Remembering the horrifying scene from the previous night, Donnie nodded reluctantly.
"Well, that's all over the city. Worse, it's across most of the continent from what we last heard. We've got no idea how bad it is in other parts of the world and we have to be able to protect ourselves and survive and that means having everything possible working so we can survive and you are still our best chance at that, Donnie," Mikey explained quietly. "You are right about one thing though, bro. I don't want this responsibility and I am feeling overwhelmed by what's happened to you guys but you, Leo and Raph, you aren't burdens. Not now and not ever! You're my brothers."
Not really sure what to feel, yet knowing how he was supposed to, Donnie simply nodded, turning away again. "Give me time, okay? I'll try my best."
"That's all I can ask, little bro," Mikey teased cheekily.
Donnie closed his eyes in exasperation. Yeah, no matter how old he was, Mikey would never fully change.
-:-
Having left Donnie alone to study and having tracked April by her Shell-cell, Mikey found her in Leo's room, fondly watching over a worn-out Leo who was napping while clutching at an old Raptor action figure. His eyes widened. "Is that...? Is that one of my action figures?" he squeaked in horror.
Glancing up she shushed him, placing her finger over her lips, "Don't worry, its a Klunk edition," she said softly.
"Uh-huh," Mikey replied suspiciously.
"Do you really think I would dare to take any out of their boxes?" April smirked devilishly.
"Honestly?" he asked, leaning back against the door frame to take the weight off his still sore foot.
"You can go check if you like," April shrugged, beaming as she wondered if he was going to trust her or run out like a mad turtle that thinks his room is on fire.
"Think I will," he muttered grumpily, "but later." He moved into the room to sit on the floor beside the mattress serving as Leo's bed.
"Much as I hate the idea, we need to talk, Ape."
"Do I want to know… Is there something wrong? Please don't tell me Donnie knows the truth," April gulped, thinking of the worst.
"Nuh, he doesn't, though he is more resentful about all this than I've ever known him to be about anything..." Mikey murmured, fiddling with the edge of the blanket.
"Other than him seeming detached and wanting to blame someone?" April sighed.
Mikey nodded reluctantly. "When we were twelve originally, I remember Donnie had a harder time than the rest of us. He felt like because of his brains he didn't fit in and Raph, in particular, didn't help with that at the time... so I guess him being returned to that phase of his life and all this combined... it's making it worse for him."
"I see. What changed that for him, back then? What was it that helped him out of that phase? Maybe it could help him again to cope with this or at least give us an idea on how to prove to him he isn't alone and he does fit in," April leaned over, leaning her head against Mikey's arm.
Mikey shook his head. "I'm not sure it ever fully changed for him. I mean, I always tried to go that extra mile to include him but... it didn't always work. That was when he started delving deeper and deeper into his books and experiments. Eventually, he was just more comfortable spending hours alone in his lab, though I was always able to drag him out on occasion, especially if it was to get his help playing some elaborate prank on Raph or Leo, or just to watch sci-fi with me."
"Okay, but he wasn't that way when I first met you guys, so something had to have changed," April pointed out.
Mikey thought about it a while before speaking, "Leo was named team leader and started pushing us to join in more for activities outside of training and Raph, well, he wasn't so much for games and stuff anymore anyway, so he became more approachable in general, as well as more of a loner. I guess we just all settled around each other more and then I was the one who became more lonely since everyone was usually off doing their own thing so much," he shrugged. Moments later, he grinned mischievously at April. "I think that's when I really became the prank master I am today because it got everyone interacting more. In a weird way, it brought us all closer together, even if my bros were angry at me."
"Umm, Mikey no offence but I don't think pranking is going to help this time," April had to add, then paused to think about it even as Mikey hummed in agreement. "So basically forcing him to take part more was the key, though not sure how to make that work in this situation, other than letting him into the loop and making sure he is involved, but not as in alone on his own things, but working with us. Not just that but have him present when discussing big decisions on what is going on or that need to be done and making him feel that he has much a say as you and I… Though…" April trailed off biting her lip.
"Though?"
"Though I wonder if one factor in this equation is making this worse than it should have been," April pressed into Mikey's arm more, clutching onto it.
He didn't want to say it, but... "You?" he asked softly.
"Yes," April sat up. "Sorry Mikey, but it's obvious he doesn't like me and doesn't trust me as far as he could throw me. Every moment he is around me, he is either scoffing at me displaying his disgust and disapproval I was there, especially when I'm taking care of Raph, or he's finding any way to lash out at me or blame me or point out how I don't belong here…" April slumped. "Doesn't matter how much I try to ignore it or prove to him I'm not whatever he sees me to be, I continuously fail only to find myself being pushed away from him all the more. It's like letting me in would kill him, would destroy everything he believes in…"
Mikey sighed sadly, knowing how much particularly Donnie's friendship meant to her, "Unfortunately, there's not going to be a quick fix for that. It was drilled into our heads not to trust humans for years and to never let them see us or we'd be captured and put on display or experimented on. Despite that, we were still really curious about them and even snuck up to the surface behind Master Splinter's tail a few times, in the daylight, that is, though we never let them actually see us. At least, they didn't see us without a disguise..." Mikey trailed off for a moment, scratching his chin nonchalantly.
"Donnie was always the most curious about humans though and really doesn't hate them, none of us hated them, it's probably just the fear because you've seen us and are living with us. He'll get used to the idea that you're okay eventually; you've just gotta be patient."
"I want to believe you, Mikey. I really do want to believe that it'll turn out okay in the end but I'm not sure. I don't... I look at him and he isn't my Donnie anymore. I'm not saying I'll stop trying but this time around I can't see it working out. I feel it's only going to get worse."
Mikey shifted slightly and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close in a comforting hug. "I know at twelve he's more distant but he's still Donnie and he's always been a good person. He still is and he'll come around eventually. You'll see."
Nodding slowly, she closed her eyes, "I hope so Mikey… I miss him…"
"So do I," Mikey murmured. "He's my best friend too."
-:-
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