Author's note: I actually like this chapter and have immense fun writing it. The Fireflies symbol can be seen in the Last of Us 2 trailer. University of Eastern Colorado doesn't exist in reality. No, I didn't make it up, Naughty Dog did it first.
"Leo, look!"
His older brother craned his neck to look at the green traffic sign above their heads. The poor green sign was barely hung on large metal pole. The white letters and the arrow sign shone brightly under the sun even if it started to fade. It wrote 'Denver', the capital city of Colorado.
His heart raced, his lips curled into a smile. Finally, finally, they reached the destination. Even if it was just another city but he had hoped they could go back home. It had been a rough journey and he thought they spent too much time being here. It was like, what, two months? Three months? Honestly, he had lost a track of time since they left the radio tower. With the discovery of Kraang's secret lab and Mikey's immunity, he totally had been too busy to notice how much time flew by.
But when Leo lifted his hood and narrowed his eyes to get a better look, he saw a familiar white spray paint near a 'D'.
"Woo! Colorado, here we come!" Mikey waved his hands with excitement, the gray cloak that was once Leo's flapped around his shell, then he pointed at the insect symbol on the sign. "Is that a dragonfly?"
Leo, who saw this symbol at the factory before, slowly shook his head. He was about to open his mouth to answer when Mikey grabbed the sides of his own head with both hands, gasping audibly.
That was where his dear old friend named anxiety kicked in.
"What is it? Are you okay? Did you get hurt somewhere?" His eyes widened and quickly moved to stand near Mikey who was still staring at the symbol.
"Yes, no, I just feel it. Oh god…"
Leo began to panic. What if the zombie disease was slowly eating him from the inside and just starting the effect now? He couldn't let it happen. They were so close to Colorado, so close to home. He didn't want to lose him now. After Mikey was bitten, he wished he had another pair of eyes just to keep him in his sight all the time. He was sure Mikey noticed his overprotective habit but being the little brother he was probably used to be taken care of. Leo needed his brothers, in one way or another. He couldn't do this alone, not again. He could practically hear Raph's harsh tone cursing at him, telling him to do something to help their little brother.
"Mikey…" Leo touched his little brother's shoulder, unsure of what to do. The leader like him couldn't fight disease, an invincible enemy...
"I feel…." After a tortured minute or more of silence, Mikey snapped his bright blue eyes open, mouth hung down a little, then he almost made Leo jump by turning to look at him abruptly and babbling whatever made sense to him and only him. "...genius, man. Not D-genius level but Mikey genius. No, no, it's better than that. It's the geniusness of different dimension. I'm a genius again!"
"Umm…" That was all he could manage.
"That," Mikey turned to the sign with a grin. "is not a dragonfly. Not an oversized butterfly. It's a firefly! A giant firefly on the road sign. So that means we're close to their base!"
Trying to process the new level of geniusness(?), Leo blinked, then he bowed slightly and sighed with relief. At least Mikey wasn't going to turn. Still a goofball, but a fine goofball. "Yeah, I think so."
"Let's hurry! Come on come on come on I can't wait to see our long lost enemy!"
Leo chuckled before continue walking on the deserted road, leaving the sign behind.
Suddenly Mikey's voice broke the silence. "You know, I thought it's a butterfly for a second."
"Hmm?" Leo tilted his head, curious. "It does look like a butterfly a bit, but the wings are too small."
"Hmm, yeah."
Mikey looked back at the sign. A butterfly. He remembered something about butterfly when they were a little. Yes, the first butterfly in the sewers.
Four brothers rarely fought.
Correction. Four of them barely fought against each other at the same time. It was like taking turn, like Raph and him sometimes fighting over new toys or he annoyed Raph enough to get him riled up and chased after him around the lair. Leo and Raph, on the other hand, usually fought until one of them bleed. Donnie once said it was unhealthy. A quarrel was bad, even Master Splinter said so. When Raph was chasing him, Mikey tried his best not to get caught so he won't get hurt like Leo. Really, who was in the right mind to be in front of Raph's punch, that was suicide!
Anyway, four of them rarely fought at the same time. Usually, it was Raph-Mikey, Raph-Leo, and sometimes Leo-Mikey. Well, he had to admit he was good at pissing anyone off. With Raph, it felt like playing around, running and threatening. With Leo, it was like facing a rainstorm with a broken umbrella. It was scary, yes, so he didn't annoy big brother much. With Donnie? Nah, Donnie never angry at him. Maybe he could scold him for messing with his equipment but that was it. Donnie never hit him, which was great. He liked Donnie the best and hung out with him most of the time. When two brothers were in the conflict, the rest would step aside and let they vented out until they calm down. They didn't take side because that would be unfair. They didn't gang up on one brother.
But it was inevitable since they were living together since birth. He remembered when they were ten. Leo started it with Donnie. An unusual pair because both of them rarely fight. They shared calm, quiet manners, and, if he might add, a little bit of sci-fi nerd. But a small talk after they ran in the sewers led into a big argument. Raph and he looked at each other and decided to go to the lab to see what was going on.
In Leo's hands was a small silver cage. The cage was Donnie's, everybody knew it, but Leo held it away from Donnie who glared heatedly at their big brother.
"Give it back! You can't do this!"
Mikey never heard Donnie's voice full of anger like this before. It startled him.
"Yes I can! I won't let you kill it!"
"What the heck is going on?" Raph crossed his arms. Donnie turned to him for a minute, sighing.
"I found a flying insect I've never seen before in the sewer so I brought it back to the lab to find out what is it. But Leo doesn't let me."
"Insect?" Raph quirked his eye ridge. He began to think it was a bad idea to get involved, but he couldn't go back now since Mikey was pushing on his shell.
Leo countered. "Because you're going to kill it. It's wrong and you know it."
"But I'm not going to kill it just for fun. It's about science experiments."
"It's still wrong to take a life. Master Splinter taught us, remember?"
Tears built up in his eyes threatening to break loose. His fist clenched like his anger was bottling up. With trembling lips, Donnie raised his voice again. "For god's sake, it's just a bug! We have a million bugs in the sewer. Using one of them for experiment won't hurt its entire species! Raph kills cockroaches all the time. Why don't you get on his shell too?"
Mikey flinched at Donnie's tone. This was wrong, seeing his favorite brother shouted at Leo like this. He took a peek behind Raph's shell. Leo didn't yell back as he tried to reason with Donnie again.
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Donnie. I thought you know better than that."
Suddenly Raph moved to stand between them. Mikey kinda followed him since he wanted to make himself as small as possible behind Raph's back. The red-banded turtle frown at Leo, wanting this nonsense to end soon. "Loosen a bit, will ya? Donnie's right. It's just a bug."
Leo didn't back down. He sounded hurt that Raph didn't take his side. "So you encourage him to kill, just like you?"
"Hey! It's just a ground-crawling bug. What the shell is your problem? What's so great about this bug in that cage?"
"It has wings! See? It's special. Not like any bug you've killed. And it's wrong to purposely kill something we don't even know." Leo shoved the cage into Raph's face, making him scoot back a bit because, well, it was a bug. And with wings or not, Raph hated them. Mikey took a close look at it. Yes, it had wings, beautiful wings if he might add. There were orange, red, and black colors on their thin paper-like wings. Nothing was like cockroach's wings. Those were nasty. This bug looked harmless, though. He began to see how special it was.
This beautiful creature shouldn't be in the sewers.
"But I told you I didn't kill for fun. I want to study it. Why don't you understand!?" Donnie practically screamed with frustration. Before Leo could reply back, the lab door open wide and Splinter came in.
"What is going on in here?"
Raph glared at his older brother. "Master Splinter, it's Leo. He's being idiot."
"Hey!" the blue-banded ninja glared back, holding the small cage protectively. He lifted his head and showed their father the cage. "Donnie caught the flying bug and tried to kill it. I stop him because killing is wrong."
"Well you're the one who's wrong. You're being unreasonable! I hate you!"
Everybody flinched at the harsh words, even Raph. Because their pacifist brother just shouted and stomped off the lab. Mikey caught a glimpse of tears falling from the edge of his eyes. He wanted to follow him, but he stood rooted to the spot with a shock. Why did they fight anyway?
This time Leo looked deeply hurt, disappointed. "Donnie!"
He called after the scientist, but Donnie simply answered by slamming his bedroom's door. Master Splinter looked at the bedroom and then Leo, observing both of them quietly. "Leonardo, please come with me."
"Ooh you're in trouble," Raph mumbled smugly and earned a dirty look from Leo.
Mikey didn't understand all of it. Raph killed bugs all the time because he hated them. He made it clear that he really hated them. But Donnie hated bugs too? He just yelled that he hated Leo, not bugs. But it was terrible anyway because he hated Leo. Why did they have to fight?
He watched Leo followed Master Splinter to the dojo, head down. It was like he was desperate anyone to agree with him, sadly there was none.
"Do you hear what I hear?" Mikey asked him out of the blue, cupping his ear slit with his hand. Leo was about to shake his head when his ears caught a sound of engine rumbling.
"Is that…?" Leo widened his eyes and quickly turned back to see some sort of vehicle on the road. At that speed, the car would reach them soon. He grabbed Mikey's cloak and pulled him behind the trees. Mikey protested loudly.
"Can't we get a hitchhiking?"
"No!"
"Aww..."
They waited until the truck was in their sight. Leo covered both of them with his new black cloak he found a few days ago. Since he gave the old one to Mikey, he sewed the rags together to make a new cloak for them to conceal his appearance from the humans. Leo observed the running truck with sharp eyes. There was a man driving the truck with one woman and small girl on the seats. As it moved passed them, Leo assumed they were a family as the hunters never took a child with them.
"You should've let me, bro. They have a lot of space for us. And they're heading to Colorado too" Mikey complained but Leo ignored him like always.
"I thought they're hunters because we haven't seen a running car in ages. It's better to hide than exposing ourselves."
"Yeah, yeah. I think we can still catch up with them when we reach the city." Mikey got to his feet and began to jog on the road. "Go ninja go ninja go! Let's go!"
But when they got the first view of the city, they didn't expect to see what was left of Colorado.
"Sit down, my son."
Leo expected a long list of questions of why he bullied Donnie. He still believed that he didn't do anything wrong, though. Donnie was too obsessed with experiments that he may forget what was the right thing to do. Leo had to explain his reasons to him again. His gaze fixed in the cage in his lap. The butterfly flapped its wings weakly. Leo remembered Donnie helped it from the spider's web. Everything was fine until Donnie said he wanted to study it by dissecting its wings.
That was unacceptable.
"Please tell me what happened between you and Donatello. As I recall, both of you have never been in the fight before." Splinter asked him, full of patience as always.
"Sensei… May I ask you something?" He gripped on the cage, the small butterfly flapped a few times and remained on the bottom of the cage. "Other day you told me killing the innocent is wrong..."
"I did. A mindless killer is dangerous. However, I do not think Donatello has achieved that dangerous mind. There must be a reason why he wants to kill it."
"He told me he wanted to study it."
"Ah, I see." His father nodded in understanding. "Donatello has a great mind. He always interests in science. I believe that was the reason that you disagree with."
Leo fell into silence. He was hoping Donnie would understand him, but he was wrong. Splinter poured the tea for both of them before holding the teacup, enjoying the smell. He looked too calm for someone who was about to lecture their own child.
"I was hoping this can be a topic for another day, but perhaps it is better for you to understand it. I have seen you mature through years and this is the time to take you to another level."
Leo just kept staring at him, perplexed. Splinter looked at him in the eyes and spoke.
"You cannot see the world in black and white. The ability to take a life is indeed dangerous skill, but you have a choice to use it. Kill for your own selfish goal or for protecting the one you love. Sometimes you have to kill someone in order to survive. It is bound to happen with the life we currently have."
"But… I don't want to..." Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Am I a coward?"
"Leonardo," Splinter's voice soothed him. "You have a kind spirit which I always admire. It does not mean you are coward. Someday it will become your strongest weapon."
Although with his gentle voice, the next words hit Leo like a train.
"But one could not stay ignorance. Even if you do not want to kill, someday your enemies might slay your brothers and you would fail to prevent them."
Leo cringed. The word 'fail' had more impact on his heart than he imagined.
"Then… what I think is wrong? Should I let Donnie kill it?" Leo shook his head. "But it didn't do anything to us!"
"I cannot answer that for you. For you must know why you have to kill, you must know why you cannot do so. Every life on earth have equal value, but the meaning of their life is different. For me, I can only share my thought about what I think of you."
Master Splinter placed the teacup back on the small table and reached out to touch his shoulder. "Nothing is more important than you, Leonardo. I value your life above mine."
"Sensei…"
"I am not hesitated to kill the threats when your life depends on it. All of you. I admit I am willing to kill to protect you. If that butterfly harms any of you, I will finish it immediately without regrets. Its life has no meaning compared to yours." As Splinter leaned back, he asked Leo. "Do you think what I'm going to do is wrong?
His body shook slightly, he kept staring at the floormat. "...I don't know."
"When the time has come, aim to kill, my son." Splinter's voice was undemanding, yet strong and firm. "It is the reason why I teach you ninjutsu. I do not want you to become a killer, but I want you to be able to protect yourself from enemies. We take no pleasure in killing. That is different."
Letting the words sink in, Leo slowly nodded. He tried to understand his father, yet it was difficult. His heart clenched as he thought about slicing someone with the katana. It felt wrong, nonetheless.
"Take your time to consider it. You do not have to choose what to believe right now. I only wish to give you a piece of advice. The choice is yours, Leonardo." Splinter began to get up. Leo hastily followed him. "Now, I think it is time to go to your brothers."
"Holy chalupa!"
There were smokes everywhere. The sound of gunshots could be heard somewhere behind the buildings. The entire city was on fire.
Mikey clung on his arm and looked at the debris around them. "Umm, I thought Fireflies and Kraang won over the military? It looks like the city's at war."
Leo pressed his lips. "Maybe two tigers cannot live on one mountain."
"Huh?"
Leo sighed, eyes closed. "It's an idiom. I don't think Kraang's generous enough to share the city with Fireflies."
Another bomb set off somewhere on the right side made both of them flinched. Staying on the road seemed not safe anymore, so Leo dragged his little brother to the nearest building and motioned him to use the grappling hook to get on the rooftop. Up there, they could see the smokes from the center of the city.
"How can we find the Kraang in this mess? The family in the truck too! Oh no, do you think they know about this?" Mikey widened his eyes when he realized they hadn't seen the truck anywhere. Leo looked worried, too.
"I don't know..."
The scream of the woman broke the spell. Someone was shooting in the next building, following by the cry from a human girl. Leo met Mikey's eyes before nodding. They jumped from the rooftop to see what happened down there.
Mikey spluttered when he saw the same old truck in the alley. "That-that-"
There were six hunters, two of them dragging the man out of the truck, the other aiming the gun at the girl. In front of the man lied the woman's body, already dead.
The twin katana suddenly rang, Leo was ready to leap out of the rooftop, but Mikey was faster. He grabbed his big brother's waist tightly, making him fall backward.
The two shots echoed through the alley as the cry of the girl cut off. Leo gasped. They didn't need to see what happened down there. They couldn't save them. Trying to get up, Leo rolled off and frowned at Mikey who was still lying.
"Mikey! What are you doing? Why did you stop me?!"
"I-I-"
Feeling out of breath, he was overwhelmed by the feelings of guilty and scared after he realized that he just let them die.
What happened to me? What have I done? I just… I don't want them to kill you too.
Alarmed by his own thoughts, Mikey could only curl into a ball, body shaking with wide eyes. A moment ago he was worried about the unknown family but now he didn't care about them anymore. Why he became heartless? Suddenly he was traumatized by the near-death experience from the past month that he was bitten and was about to turn into the infected. He almost died, leaving his own brother behind. He was afraid he would lose himself, and Leo. Mikey didn't want his big brother to leave his side and his body acted before he could think.
"I'm-" sorry? But he felt relieved that Leo wasn't down there. I just let them die. I just let them die. I just-
"Mikey," Leo's voice was full of patience. Maybe he could read Mikey's mind? Mikey gulped, shutting his eyes. Leo coaxed him to sit up, and next moment he was in his embrace. "Mikey, Look at me. It's okay, I'm here."
Leo guided his head to his shoulder with a gentle touch. He burst into tears, wrapping his arms around his big brother. "I'm sorry… I don't know what happens to me. I just-just-"
Hate this dimension. So much...
"Shh... Don't worry. We'll find the Kraang."
"I'm impressed. You started the biggest family drama without me."
Raph was waiting for him in front of their bedrooms, grinning. Leo growled at him.
"Unlike you, I'm not looking for a fight every time I open my mouth. I only did what I think is right."
"Like making Donnie cries?"
Leo turned away guiltily. He couldn't deny the fact that he was the one who started the fight. Raph stabbed in his plaston with thick finger.
"What the shell is wrong with you? You say I'm a bully but look at you, keep it up and you'll be the expert at this."
Leo narrowed his eyes. The same anger was boiling up again. "So you're taking his side?"
Raph threw his hands in the air. "I take nobody's side, Fearless. You want a piece of my thought? Fine. I'll kill that bug, but not because I want to experiment on it, I just hate bug. Period." To emphasize his point, Raph pointed at the silver cage in his hands, accusing him with fierce eyes. "Get down from your high horse. Don't force us to think like you all the time. We have our own reasons to do things. You just have to put faith on us."
Leo was unable to reply for a few moments. He swallowed hard, thinking about what Master Splinter told him.
"Raph…. I…" He hesitated. Raph was still glaring at him. "If it's a dangerous bug, what would you do?"
"Easy. Wipe its existence off."
"But if it's not. What if you just misunderstand? Would you kill an innocent life?"
Leo sounded almost pleading. Raph rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. This was one of those days that he didn't get Leo's logic.
"I don't know what you're trying to say. It's just a single weird bug with fancy wings. But if I have to choose between it and Don, I'd choose Don over anything. And I mean it."
Leo's shoulders sagged like he finally yielded. Raph sighed, he wanted this drama to end already so he nudged Leo.
"You done moping? There's another turtle waiting for your apology."
"So it means… I was wrong… to save a life?"
"Goddamnit. Is that even more important than saving your own brother's ass?"
"Raph…"
"Get your shit together," Raph smirked and punched his shoulder. "If you make Don cries again, I'm so going to punch you to next Tuesday."
Mikey was quiet for a few hours.
They scouted the city as fast as possible as Leo wanted to survey the buildings before the sunset. He always took caution when he entered the new area. No mistake was allowed. Leo glanced back at his younger brother. If anything happened again he was afraid that Mikey would break.
Mikey was just happy to reach Denver, but he became distressed after the tragedy of the human family. He hadn't seen the depressed side of him much on Earth. This was what he feared before. This alternate dimension started to create effects on them. He had to find the way back home as fast as possible.
"Leo..."
Leo quickly skidded to a halt. "Yes?"
"I, uh, not sure what to say but uh, called it gut reaction, but..." Mikey looked nervous so Leo waited for him to finish. "I think the Kraang's in there."
'There' was the two-story building in front of them. The air was so thick that he could notice yellow fog coming out from the broken window. Even if it looked risky, he trusted Mikey's instinct more than his. Leo looked at the building thoughtfully before he nodded. "Okay, get your filtration unit. We're going in."
He felt Mikey grabbed his wrist at lightning speed.
"Are we going in? Really?"
Both of them knew last time didn't go well. Mikey looked at him with a pleading in his eyes. Leo mustered his confidence and forced a smile.
"We'll be fine. We'll be careful."
Reluctantly, Mikey nodded and got the breathing unit out, snapping his pupils into cold white eyes. If it was another situation, Leo would've teased him about becoming uncharacteristically focus. Leo chased that thought out of his head, he needed to focus too.
His hand reached to the door mid-air when he heard the commotion inside. Someone was running. The sound of heavy metal cases crashing the floor made them flinch.
"Do not escape! GAH!" The familiar voice was muffled behind the iron door. "This is not possible! The one that is known as the subject is escaped from Kraang."
"Umm, do you hear what I hear?"
"Yes, Mikey. Our friend is up there." Leo turned to look at Mikey for a brief moment then pulled the door opened and ran after the source of the voice. "That way!"
Looking around quickly, he found no clickers here. The passage was clear so they ran to the second floor. Someone was trapped under the metal bookcases, unable to move. That body tried to get up but his legs were under the bookcases. A few shards of glass mark lied beside him. Leo heard that man wheezed loudly as if he was suffocated.
He waited a few minutes to make sure this Kraang was alone before making his presence known by stepping out of the shadows. This was the first living Kraang they ever met, actually, he might not live for long judging by the fact that he was breathing the spores. The Kraang's human droid was firmly trapped under the cases, the glass that covered his stomach was shattered, allowing them to see the pink brain-like alien inside. The strange blood oozed from his small pink body. The Kraang gasped at them.
"It is a wonder that the Kraang is found by the turtles in this dimension."
"What…?" Leo was genuinely surprised to see the Kraang hurt. "What happened to you?"
Mikey poked his head behind Leo's shell. "Umm, should we call it brain damage or bleeding torso?"
"The concern of the unfortunate state of Kraang is unnecessary. Kraang is more curious as to why the ones called the turtles are here. It is forbidden for the ones who called themselves the turtles to be here."
"Aww. How I miss the sound of the one who called themselves a pinky brainy."
"Mikey, stop." Leo chided, wanting to get information first. "We heard the noise. Did you fight with someone before we come?"
"Kraang does not have to answer the one called the turtles as it is unnecessary. Kraang will be soon ceased to exist after a few hours."
"What!?" Mikey squeaked.
Leo frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
"The spores in the air has been inhaled by Kraang since the mask is broken. Kraang will be turned into Runner soon, while the subject… who is escaped from Kraang is already protected from the infection and will be gone safely from this place. Kraang is not amused."
"What subject?"
"Kraang will remind the one called the turtles again that it is not a duty of the Kraang to answer."
Mikey rubbed his head. Staying in the yellow fog and hearing the Kraang's speech didn't make his condition better. "I don't know what causes a headache, the way you're speaking or these yellow spores."
"Tell us how to go back to Earth," Leo said with the authoritative voice, but the Kraang just laughed.
"Kraang sees that there are only two turtles here. Does it mean the one called the turtles are separated in this dimension?"
Leo narrowed his eyes, trying not to take a bait. "None of your business. Tell us how to get home."
He tossed the broken portal device he got from the factory on the floor in front of Kraang's droid. The Kraang bent his head a bit but suddenly he coughed.
Mikey began to concern about their enemy. Because, well, he could be a ticket home. "Hey, pinky, are you okay?"
"The anatomy of Kraang is different from humans. It is likely that Kraang will be turned faster than infected human." When the coughs subsided, the Kraang stared at them. "That portal… will not work in this dimension."
"Then tell us what we want to know and I'll let you go."
Kraang laughed again.
"There is… no hope… for Kraang. Kraang will be turned soon."
"Is there anything we can help?"
"Mikey!"
"Sorry! I-I just..."
I just don't want to see anyone suffers like me… Mikey swallowed hard. The Kraang stared at him quietly as if to study him. Finally, he spoke again.
"Kraang will tell what turtles want to know If… If turtles will do as Kraang requests."
Leo turned to face him again and contemplated the Kraang's condition. He was no longer a threat. So Leo nodded. "Deal."
Kraang shifted a bit to get comfortable on the floor before he began. "The normal portal device is not working in this strange dimension. The special materials are needed to create the portal back to Earth… mutagen, one powercell, and the Kraang mixer are needed to combine together to create the liquid portal."
"I knew it!" Mikey yelled, earning a glare from Leo. "...sorry."
"Kraang was contacted by the Kraang several months ago that the liquid portal would be opened and the subject was meant to go to Earth with Kraang as the prisoner. But the contact to Kraang was lost. Something was wrong. The liquid portal didn't open for Kraang but for turtles to fall into this dimension."
"Well, uhh, it's kinda our fault." Mikey scratched his temple sheepishly.
Kraang huffed but didn't say anything about that matter. "Since the time flow in this dimension is faster than the time flow on Earth, Kraang needed to wait for next six months for the portal. Kraang was waiting for the portal to open again, but the subject grew stronger and with the help from Fireflies, the subject was released."
Leo was curious. "What is the subject you said earlier?"
"Kraang has been assigned to escort the subject back to Earth. The information of the subject is classified."
"Okay... So what happened to the city? We heard that Fireflies and you drove the army away, but it looks like the hunters are all over this city."
"Kraang is betrayed by Fireflies." The Kraang clenched his fist with anger. "Fireflies helped the Kraang to collect the subjects and did the experiments for us. But when our goal is learned by Fireflies, they decided that we have different objectives so they destroyed our labs and infected the Kraangs with the original fungus."
The Kraang sighed defeatedly, lowering his android head. "Kraang was on the mission to escort the subject to Earth so the subject was brought here, but Kraang failed to capture him. Kraang was lured by the subject into the yellow fog. The mark was destroyed, and Kraang is trapped under the cases. There is no escape."
Mikey whimpered behind his shell while Leo stayed unfazed. "We know Fireflies want to find a cure and we saw your old lab. So what are you trying to do here?"
Kraang was quiet for a moment. "Kraang would like to say in human's term that 'it's a long story' and Kraang does not think the remained time is sufficient. Kraang will say the ones called turtles who seek for the answer should go to the University of Eastern Colorado to find the truth by themselves. It is one of Kraang's secret labs and may be safe from Fireflies."
Leo frowned. The back of his mind said it could be a trap, but it was the best shot they could get from the dying Kraang. "Okay, I think that's all." He sheathed the katana and got down on one knee. "We have a deal, Kraang. Tell me what you want. We can help you get out of this but I don't think your legs will work properly."
"Kraang do not wish to escape from here since it is the last moment of Kraang."
Leo quirked his eye ridge. "You give up easily?"
"Negative, turtles. The reality is accepted by Kraang since Kraang breathes the spores already. The Kraang will-will-"
The Kraang coughed and wheezed again. It seemed that he reached his limit.
"This is... the last request made by... Kraang," The synthesized voice began to fade as the last request slipped from his mouth. "Kraang wants to be killed... by the turtles."
"Hey, umm. May I come in?"
Leo waited anxiously in front of Donnie's room and not dared to touch the doorknob until he heard a muffled "yes".
The scientist mostly stayed in the lab so his room was mostly empty, just a place to sleep. Donnie was sitting on the bed with tired eyes. He was no longer crying which was good. Leo walked in and closed the door, his hands kept fidgeting on the cage.
"So, umm, I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you angry."
Somewhat embarrassed, Donnie stared at the floor. "It's okay. I take some time to think about it. Now I understand your point of view. I mean, it could be the last one in its species so I have to be careful about it. I should start by searching for more information first-"
"Donnie," Leo sighed.
"Right, umm, okay."
"I believe in you." Leo cut in before Donnie had a chance to say anything. With heavy heart, he set the cage on the table. The insect called butterfly (how butter can fly? He wondered) moved a little before staying still. "I'll leave it here to let you decide what to do next."
"Umm, Leo?" Donnie called him before he could walkout. Leo turned to him and found that the purple banded turtle was extremely nervous. "I'm-I'm sorry too. I didn't mean it. All of it. And I kind of understand why you want to save it. It's innocent, just a small, harmless bug. But I'm not going to kill every bug in the sight. I don't like doing that either, harming a life, I mean."
Leo thought about what Master Splinter said and the corner of his lips tugged up.
"I know. You have your reasons." Leo sighed again and turned away. "I just… need more time to think."
"What?"
They stared at their sworn enemy with a shock expression. Mikey even picked his ear slit to make sure he didn't mishear the last request.
"Is the one called the turtle deaf? The request has been made by Kraang. The promise made by turtles should be employed."
Leo stammered. "But… but..."
"Kraang does not have… time… left..." He coughed loudly. His lemon green eyes were dropping. "Kraang… does not… like this world… Kraang… does not like… those infected… and Kraang does not want to... become one of them..."
Mikey froze. Because the Kraang felt the same as him and just said it out loud. They kept staring at the Kraang, unable to do anything until the Kraang spoke quietly.
"Please…"
Leo squeezed his eyes shut.
You must know why you have to kill.
"Mikey, step back."
Leo already drew out the katana. Mikey was too shocked to stop him. "What? Are you-?"
"Yes."
"But it's-"
"I have to, even though I don't want to. Just get behind me."
It was Leo's order. Leader's order. Mikey slowly nodded and turned to give a sympathetic look to the Kraang one last time. The Kraang met his gaze and tilted his head slightly.
"The one called the turtles is appreciated by Kraang."
Mikey turned his head away, but he stayed this time. He wouldn't run away no matter how gruesome it was, he knew Leo suffered more than him. He saw what happened when Leo's concentration was off before and didn't want it to happen again. Leo admitted that he didn't like killing, let alone getting used to killing. So he wouldn't let Leo facing it alone.
Leo swung the blade with perfect precision, no hesitations. Mikey stayed beside him the whole time.
"Umm, hey."
It was late evening that Mikey approached his older brother who had been sitting in front of blank TV screen for more than half an hour. The lair was so quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat. He hated this, he had to fix it somehow. Leo merely glanced at him. "Not you too, huh? Come to tell me I was wrong?"
"I'm not here to side with them if that's what you think." Mikey tried to act casually as if the whole drama didn't make everyone avoiding Leo. Donnie was back in the lab, Raph was somewhere in the dojo, and he thought Master Splinter was out for evening walk. Raph told him Leo needed some space, but he didn't think so. This was the perfect timing to reach out to Leo. He made himself comfortable on the sofa next to Leo. "Geez, bro. I don't even know half of this. I mean, I don't know what and why you argued with Donnie."
Averting his eyes, Leo asked him. "Then why do you come to me?"
"Because, uh, Raph's with Donnie. Even father seems to agree with them so I don't want to side with them. I can do math, bro. Two turtles should be on both sides just to be fair."
Leo snorted. "This is not about being fair. It's about what is right."
Mikey shrugged. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you can count on me taking your side. Always."
Leo was quiet for a moment before asking timidly. "Always?"
That was when Mikey knew he did the right thing. Heh, Leo just said it was about what was right, so this was perfect. He grinned and held up his hand. "Turtle's honor, bro."
Mikey just sat next to him, his feet kicking back and forth lightly, enjoying his company even if Leo was just hugging himself, shutting the rest of the world out. But he let Mikey stay, grinning like a fool and turned on the TV. There was nothing more than Leo could ask.
