BOY do we got something special for you guys today!
Lots of FUN action in this one, plus a little extra drama and... ROMANCE. ¬3¬
As always, humongous thank you to Queequegg and Theherocomplex for being the BEST betas!
EDIT: Because of some awesome reviews, we're happy to say the "mild" in "Mild Rasey" is officially cancelled!
Previously...
The future turtles are here! And they've put them all on the mission to save Karai, by defeating the Shredder once and for all.
It wasn't a cold night, but the air was heavy, bringing with it the rancid smell of still water and bad seafood that made Leo's nose itch. Wisps of mist danced over the river waves, making the lights in the opposite shore look out of focus. Man, he really hoped it wouldn't rain.
Standing by on the same rooftop Raph and Casey had been on days ago, Leo's team watched the suspiciously small group of Purple Dragons busy themselves at the warehouse's front lot. A big figure, half man, half tiger, stood overlooking their work with his arms crossed. Tiger Claw's presence wasn't that big a surprise, but it did complicate matters. Not that matters weren't in themselves all shades of complicated.
Leo sighed, trying not to think of everything at stake tonight, and glanced around him at the other four. April was crouched at his side, eyes on the prize. Dedicated was the word.
Future Leo, on the other hand, took things way too seriously. He knelt to one side, in full brood mode, and hadn't said a single word since they got on that rooftop except to order silence from the Mikey "twins". Once. Future Mikey obeyed instantly and even got younger Mikey to settle down as well. Leo inwardly scoffed. He'd been trying to make this happen for years. Yet he couldn't bring himself to feel admiration. Not for that self-righteous prick.
During the day, the future turtles had settled in the common room pretty much like the Lotus had done. Donnie and Donnie started setting up their tech and being weirdly excited to work together. April and Casey had no choice but to go to school during most of the day. Both showed up in the evening after a much needed nap—not together, as April made a point to emphasize.
And in all those hours, Future Leo had barely spoken to Leo or his brothers—or even Splinter! Which, Leo would think... But no, his future self had remained apart like a hermit while the others hung out, kept himself busy with blueprints, or calmly sharpening his swords. Then, when the time came to go over plans with the team, he all but proclaimed himself general. Not even so much as a "would you mind if I take over your position and make you my secretary." Leo put on the best face he could manage not to rock the boat, even as he expected to be sent for tea and biscuits any minute.
Future Leo divided the group into three teams—mixed up, present with future, as per the twins' requests. Future Leo's team, which included Leo, April, Mikey and Mikey, would take the warehouse. Their task was to intercept the shipment of mutagen. Present Donnie was put in charge of disabling the surveillance system, in the Dragons' harbor office a few blocks down the shore-line, with Raph and Raph, and Casey and Casey. Future Raph, of course, lead this second team. Meanwhile Future Donnie was to stay in the Shellraiser, parked around the corner outside, as backup, coordinating the whole operation from there, while also keeping one eye on the Foot lair for any sign of the Lotus.
Their objective: to keep the last batch of mutagen from reaching Shredder, preferably without being seen, so as not to spoil the surprise.
They'd been waiting on that rooftop for a few hours already—Future Leo wanted to make sure they had a head start, so they arrived before the sun had set. Barely two minutes ago, an unassuming white van pulled through the barrier gate, followed by an old box truck. About fifteen Purple Dragons stepped out of both vehicles, and the operation officially began.
The Dragons started to emerge from the warehouse hauling crates outside with pallet jacks and loading them on the truck. Leo squinted, and swore he could see a dim greenish glow seep out from inside the crates.
There was a light crackle as Future Leo clicked the mic on his shoulder strap. "We have eyes on the mutagen. How's that surveillance hack coming?"
"Making our way to the Purple Dragons' office now. We'll let you know," buzzed Future Raph's voice through the piece in Leo's ear.
As they sat on that bleak rooftop waiting for Team Harbor's all-clear, watching the truck slowly sink under its growing load, Leo couldn't stop thinking about Splinter and Karai. What if they couldn't save them? Or… what if they were never really meant to?
The shipping yard sat eerily still in the dead of night, minimally illuminated. Donnie led the way following a line of huge semis all parked along the perimeter wall. On the other end of the precinct, the river came into view at intervals between the rows and rows of piled up containers and one massive cargo ship.
Donnie was sure grateful for the constant distractions. He'd been so busy all day, he'd barely had any time to ponder about everything the future turtles said—and everything they didn't say—which was alright by him. For once, he didn't want to think. Anyway, it was probably safest he just did whatever Future Donatello told him. He'd already caused enough damage by making Karai leave early.
After two minutes of creeping through darkness, they arrived at their objective: a small office trailer in the middle of a lot under a single lamp post, complete with surveillance camera. A plaque by the door read 'Xiao Tuzi, Inc.' beneath some Chinese writing—a name Donnie recognized as one of the Purple Dragon's fronts. As anticipated, the slivers of light coming through the tiny window confirmed someone was working late.
Donnie went ahead, leaving the rest to wait in shadows. He snuck up to the lamp post, careful to avoid its vaporous cone of light, and climbed it to the top. Legs tightly locked around in hands-free mode, he gingerly opened the back of the surveillance camera attached at the top, exposing its entrails, then reached in his bag of tricks for the device, and hooked it. His little hacking buddy made the tiniest of acknowledging beeps. Easy peasy, video freezy.
Donnie made a signal into the night and jumped down, rolling up to the front of the little office. One second later, both Raphs and both Caseys were behind him as he ducked under the window.
Inside, he could hear two voices yammering animatedly in Mandarin. Donnie peeked through the blinds at a messy low-budget surveillance office, and the two Purple Dragons sitting at a table, playing mahjong and arguing.
He nodded, and Future Raph started picking the lock while the others kept an eye and an ear out. Not five seconds later, the lock clicked. After making sure the Purple Dragons hadn't heard it, Future Raph counted down with his fingers, and on three, both he and Future Casey burst in, and Donnie after them.
There was barely time for any screaming as they swiftly grabbed both men from behind, covering their mouths. Tiles flew in all directions when the game board was knocked off the table by someone's wayward foot.
Donnie darted in, grabbing a roll of duct tape from the table. "Evening, gentlemen! Please, don't get up," he said snarkily, and quickly tied both goons—an older one with a golden tooth, and a younger one, around 16, both sporting their standard-issue Purple Dragon tattoos on their arms—to their respective chairs. Lastly, he blind-folded them, and mentally checked off the not-being-seen bullet in the objectives list.
"You know, it'd be a lot easier if we just killed them."
Donnie scowled at Future Raph's joke—so distasteful—and tossed the roll of tape aside. Future Raph shrugged, and nodded to Present Raph and Casey, who were waiting at the entrance. At his signal they closed the door to keep watch outside.
Their two captives whimpered as Future Raph easily picked up one of them, chair and all, and set him down away from the control panel, facing the wall. He did the same with the other. "Now you two behave and we won't waste you. Probably."
Donnie rolled his eyes before allowing himself a look around the tight space. All the crap filling it made it downright claustrophobic, the atmosphere stuffy with the heat of the electronic devices and one rusty radiator. A few old flat screens on a messy desk, two phones and a maneki neko made the outdated but functional control panel. The rest of the space was fit to burst with file cabinets and shelves, all packed with cardboard boxes and stacks of papers, around another smaller office table equipped with an old computer, and now an upturned mahjong board.
He turned his attention to the surveillance monitors. Donnie could place the exact location of most of these cameras—he and his brothers had fooled them on more than one occasion. The Auman Chemicals factory, the fortune cookie factory, the Dragons' all-purpose cellar where currently a group of them were watching a Chinese drama on TV. There was one right outside the warehouse, where he could see the entrance gate and all the Dragons around the truck, while another one showed them loading crates out of a secret elevator.
"That hidden basement must be built to withstand a nuclear bomb. That would explain why we couldn't detect the mutagen. Purple Dragons finally kicking it up a notch." Donnie chuckled, slightly impressed, then sat in one of the chairs, putting aside a bitten spring roll and a teapot, and started typing.
"Ah, I remember when they were just your friendly neighborhood mafia," Future Raph said, managing to sound both sardonic and melancholy.
"Look, ma, I'm a real triad now!" Future Casey said in a high voice, leaning on the older Dragon's back. The man made a teeny sound through the tape covering his mouth.
The process only took Donnie a minute, and then he pressed the link on his strap to speak. "Tapping into the feed now, Donatello. You should be getting something."
Future Donnie's distorted voice came on his ear piece. "Crystal clear, Donatello. Well done!"
He couldn't help but giddily smile at his older self's words of praise. "Aaaand… recording system disabled. We're good to go!"
"Team Warehouse, you're good to go," he heard Future Donnie proclaim cheerfully.
Older Leo's voice answered, "Roger. We're moving in. Keep your eyes peeled. There's still a chance they're waiting for us."
Be that as it may, things were going smooth as silk so far, and nobody had seen their faces yet. Feeling pretty pleased with himself, Donnie fished out a USB drive and stuck it in, giggling evilly.
Future Raph peeked curiously over his shoulder. "What are you doing now?"
"Just sending the police a little postcard with all of the Purple Dragons' dirty secrets," Donnie replied. The bug was a little something he and Future Donnie had cooked up in a few spare minutes.
"Nice." Future Casey patted Donnie on the shell, and Donnie grinned.
Then the phone rang. The trill filled the tiny space like a bank alarm. They froze, gaping at the machine.
It rang again.
"Sh-should we answer it?" Donnie asked in almost a whisper.
"No," Future Raph replied squarely.
"We have to take it," Donnie said, as the phone rang a third time.
"Don't take it!" Future Raph threatened.
"They might think something's wrong if nobody answers!"
"What if they talk to you in Chinese? Do you speak Chinese?"
"I'll just- I'll fake interference! But we gotta-" The phone rang a fifth time and he panicked. He picked it up as Future Raph face-palmed. Donnie winced, and put the receiver on his cheek. "Wéi?"
A cool, peppy voice answered, "Hello, sir! My name is Raj from MobiStalk, and congratulations! You have been selected to enter our exclusive contest for our newest smart phone-"
"You gotta be shitting me!" Future Casey howled with laughter, slapping the table.
Donnie growled, indignant. "Sir, do you know what time it is?"
But if there ever was a response, he didn't hear it. Future Raph screamed. Donnie swivelled to see him fall to his knees.
"Raph?" Future Casey cried, and before anyone could react, an entire shelf toppled on top of them both, burying them in boxes full of papers which burst open on impact, and in between the rain of documents, Donnie barely saw one of the Dragons: he was running for the door.
Not even stopping to wonder how he got loose, Donnie lunged, scrambling over the mess—and Casey and Raph—to stop him. The Purple Dragon got to the entrance and started yelling into a device—an intercom, Donnie realized in dismay. But the millisecond before he could reach him, something whistled by Donnie's ear. He ducked instinctively.
There was a thwak and the guy's words were cut right off. Donnie lifted his gaze to see him collapse to the floor like a ragdoll, a sai jutting out of his right temple.
The truck was full. The crates had stopped coming, and the warehouse lights were being shut off. They had to hurry.
Following the others, Leo snuck around the entrance booth, exchanging a glance with the camera sitting atop it. Its blinker was on, but now it was just the Donnies watching. Allegedly.
The team fanned out around the scene. Leo hunkered down under the shadow of the van, parked beside the truck. One guy came between both vehicles, going for the truck's passenger seat. Before he could reach the door, Leo lunged and made quick work of him, laying his unconscious body beneath the van, then retreated around the back to find April. She offered a half-smirk as they sat shoulder to shoulder.
From there they spotted Future Leo, way at the other side of the lot, crouching behind some pallets and poised to strike. There appeared to be a pair of legs on the ground behind him. He nodded at Leo, urging him on. April exchanged a malicious wink with him—sabotage—, and she set herself, ready to cover Leo.
Should be easy enough. Simply snatching the keys out of the ignition would buy them at least several minutes. He could cut the transmission fluid, or burst the tires, if it came to it. They could certainly use this truck for transporting the mutagen to a safe place.
He took a deep breath and counted down from three to make a dash for the passenger door. Three, two…
And at 'one', April grabbed his wrist. He turned to her askance, and at her frown he looked over at Tiger Claw. Another Purple Dragon with an ear piece had approached him, muttering nervously, and Leo saw the tiger perk up and immediately survey the lot. Right as he looked this way, Leo ducked his head, pressing himself and April against the side of the van. He didn't see them, he didn't think. But it seemed 'easy enough' was now out the window.
Across the scene, Future Leo looked just as confused, and signalled them to stay hidden and wait.
Something had happened. Tiger Claw seemed suspicious, though at least he didn't show signs of having spotted them. But the Purple Dragons were hustling. One of them made it to the truck, and there was nothing Leo could do. The engine started with a deep rumble, its tailpipe coughing out a nasty black smoke. They didn't have much time.
Donnie gaped at the pool of blood forming under the dead kid. "What have you done!"
The door opened and he reached for his bo, but it was only Casey. "Hey, what-" His words caught as his eyes locked onto the body. "Holy shit!"
Raph poked in next, looking for whatever was causing the hubbub, and froze at the sight.
"That little son of a bitch," grumbled Future Raph from beyond the pile of toppled over files and boxes, plucking a bloody pen out of his calf. A ball-point pen. That was the cause of all this. "He must have alerted his friends."
"Why did you have to—why was that necessary?" Donnie stammered once he'd found his words.
"He was giving the alarm," Future Raph said, tossing the pen aside, as though he shouldn't have to explain anything.
"But— You could've just hit the comm instead of his freaking head! He was just a kid!"
"That kid cut his ties with a pen and then stabbed me with it! He wasn't exactly innocent. Now the mission's compromised. This wouldn't have happened if we'd killed them in the first place!"
Donnie was back to speechless. That joke before—that hadn't been a joke. He was serious—he was unaffected!
"And speaking of which." Future Raph ambled over to the body with barely a noticeable limp, leaned, and yanked his sai out of the kid's head with a sickening squelch. But what turned Donnie's stomach was his absolute indifference. Future Raph wiped his sai on the kid's clothes, then strode back towards the second Purple Dragon lying on his side, still tied to his chair and gawking at his dead colleague.
Future Raph then seized him by his shirt and swung him upright, then pressed the tip of his said against the man's gut. "You can thank your friend for this."
Donnie vaulted, clambering over the toppled shelf, and wiggled himself between the man and the tip of the sai. "Hey, wait! What are you doing, are you nuts?"
"He's seen too much."
"What has he seen? Us? We're not exactly a novelty around these parts!"
Future Raph seemed about to protest when the phone started ringing again. And this time they could be sure they weren't selling anything.
"I think it's time to split," the younger Raph said, frown laced with worry.
Donnie looked up at the monitors to see all the Dragons rising from their soap opera and rushing for the exit, Hun at the head.
"Shit," Future Raph mumbled.
The communicator crackled, then Future Donnie's voice said: "Guys, I'm seeing some serious hustle and bustle. The Purple Dragons are mobilizing. Team Harbor, what's going on on your side?"
Future Raph hadn't moved. Donnie was still pinned, shielding the man from this total psycho.
"We had a little situation," the psycho replied, not taking his eyes off Donnie or the Dragon. "Leo, you better get cracking with that mutagen truck."
Leo's annoyed voice came through in a whisper. "Copy. Get back here. We might need back-up."
"You heard the captain. Step aside, let the grown-ups handle this." Future Raph was talking to Donnie now, and if he hadn't been his brother… No, actually, this wasn't his brother. Raph had his moments, but he would never do something like what this guy wanted to do.
"No!" Donnie said, standing his ground. "This isn't what we do!"
Future Raph groaned. "We don't have time for an ethics debate, little Donnie. Step aside."
Donnie drew his bo. He didn't care that he probably had no chance against this stronger, more experienced Raph that was built like a boulder and apparently had no trouble killing a defenseless hostage.
The psychopathic boulder only looked at him with a half smirk. "Seriously?"
And then, a second later, both Present Raph and Casey had stepped over and stood by Donnie, hands on their weapons.
"Yeah, seriously," said Raph—the good Raph.
"Back off him, man," Casey said as well, and Donnie smiled inwardly in spite of the situation, overcome by a wave of gratitude.
Emboldened by his back-up, he straightened, and stared right in the eyes of the other Raph. The other Raph simply stared back, surprisingly calm.
Future Casey patted Big Raph's arm. "Let's just go, Raphie. We'll give 'em this one, huh?"
Future Raph glowered at them for two more seconds before sheathing the sai. "Let's move. Back to the Shellraiser."
Donnie released a breath, and without much of a choice, he and Raph and Casey started after them.
Before he followed the others out, Donnie's eyes lingered on the dead kid. He felt like he was partly responsible. He should have seen it coming. With one last silent apology, Donnie walked out, ready to break into a run. Instead, he bumped into a shell.
Raph hardly stumbled, didn't protest. He stood there with the others, facing outwards into the yard, where a small platoon of Purple Dragons waited for them, swinging their chains and brandishing their knives.
Future Raph casually whipped out his sai again, grinning. "Alright, let's keep this short and sweet. We gotta get back to the warehouse."
"Aww," Future Casey protested sadly.
And Donnie, certain this would turn into a bloodbath, turned to Future Raph. However before he could say anything, Future Raph turned to shoot him a snarky glance, and commanded, "And just to spare Donnie the stroke, let's all set our lasers to stun. Understood?"
Donnie held Future Raph's gaze for only a second longer, containing a sigh of relief—because he hadn't quite earned a thanks yet—then turned to face the band of Dragons.
The team set themselves to attack, when they were surrounded by the sounds of light tapping on metal. Donnie looked up, and a dozen pairs of neon red eyes stared back. The footbots sat perched on top of the piles of containers and the office roof like a flock of vultures.
"Raph, more forces incoming," came Future Donnie's voice. "Get outta there!"
Purple Dragons were really running now. The truck was ready to leave, and Leo was beginning to panic. Future Donnie's urgent cry over the comm didn't help that.
"Jig is up, Leo! You better get 'truckin''!"
On cue, Leo saw a group of shadows emerge from the dark, right on top of Future Leo and the Mikeys.
Before he could warn them, April cried, "Leo!" She threw herself on him, and in that millisecond, he caught the glint of the blade that had been meant for his neck.
Leo drew his swords and reached from under April just in time to block a second strike. He threw April out of the way as the four-armed bot lunged at him with all its force. Its scythes clanged against Leo's swords, shoving him shell-first into a pile of pallets, which staggered precariously. As two of its arms held him down, another two, armed with radial saws, cranked up to strike.
With one hell of a war cry, April attacked, viciously swinging her tessen at the robot's eyes, and Leo rolled away. The shriek of the saws pierced his ears, and then April yelped, tessen blown right out of her grip. She ducked, rolled and scurried between crates like a weasel.
Leo faltered, torn between helping April or going for the truck now that the bots were all busy with someone else. The yard was abuzz with the sounds of battle. Amidst all the chaos, the truck began moving.
"Get to the mutagen!" Future Leo yelled, slicing a bot in half, and immediately being jumped by two more.
Leo took that as a sign, and bolted for the truck, but a shot rang out, hitting the crates to his right, and he tripped, startled. He could hear the ice crystallize by his ear, and then it started to burn. The shot had grazed his cheek, and he desperately tried to rub it off.
"You are not touching that mutagen, boy!" Tiger Claw's eyes and blasters were on him. Leo jumped to cover, crouching behind the crates as blasts of ice and fire made the wood shudder, and splinter, then burst into flame.
There was a growing grumble: the truck was moving. No!
Miraculously, a wall of pallets collapsed on top of it, blocking its way. But it was no miracle: April emerged behind the mound of splintered wood with righteous violence on her face—before she also had to run for cover from Tiger Claw's relentless shooting.
The blockade had bought them time, but it wouldn't hold for long. A few Dragons were already working to clear the path. Leo considered making a run for it, hoping the shots would miss him if he was quick enough.
Then Leo's own voice roared from yards away, "Tiger Claw!"
Leo heard the tiger growl, and peeked out from behind the flaming pallets to see his future self practically riding the cat like a bronco.
"Stop the truck!" Future Leo yelled, raining strikes on Tiger Claw. "Whatever you do, don't let it get away!"
Mikey and Future Mikey joined in the bucking bull ride, each holding one arm in a lock, as Tiger Claw grunted and roared trying to shake them all off. It was now or never.
Leo kicked off the ground and ran. The truck was almost at the gate, and Leo stretched out his hand towards the passenger door—when he was yet again cut off by a fast-approaching scream—"Whoa-a-a!"—and Mikey landed like a meteor into his path. Leo skipped over him, cursing under his breath at the loss of momentum. At last, with one final adrenaline-fueled push, he lunged, managing to grab a handle on the side of the cabin.
"Wait for me!" Mikey hollered behind him, jumping onto the back.
The truck screeched its way out through the gate and onto the street, Leo and Mikey latched onto it for dear life.
Okay, so that scene back there had been a little messed up. But Casey had to admit, this Raph was badass. Not that Present Raph wasn't—present Raph was the most badass dude/thing in this dimension.
"Go for the wall!" Future Raph, that beast, charged, and Casey couldn't help fixating on the way his quads rippled with each stride. Uhnf, so jealous.
The rest followed, and Casey, blood already pumping with glorious battle rage, rocketed off. As he raked the ground with his wheels, he revelled in the terror in the Purple Dragons' eyes. He could almost hear their asses clenching right before the collide.
Casey sped up to pass the others, set his shoulder and rammed through the first line so hard the bad guys bounced off each other like bowling pins. Eventually his wheels caught on a crotch, its owner howling in pain, and Casey toppled over. But he was happy. The extra bruise on his cheek was totally worth running over someone's balls.
Raph caught up then, roaring, and landed a flying kick on a dude's nose—damn, that got more awesome every time he saw it—then trashed two more on landing before Casey was even on his feet again. They high-fived on top of the pile of moaning bodies.
"No lollygagging! Keep moving!" Future Raph ordered, hopping over the mound, bee-lining for the perimeter wall.
Casey and Raph followed suit, footbots chirping ever closer behind them. They crossed the street, and once again Casey Jones regained first place, beating them to the line of sleeping semis, their stepping stools to the outside. He jumped and clambered on the hood of a big Optimus Prime type, the outside street already visible from up there.
"Aw yeah, we're outta h—!"
Something slammed down in front of him with a deafening clang. The metal bent beneath his feet and he lost his balance, bits of shattered glass bouncing off his mask. Before he could even recognize the thing that attacked him, he'd backflipped off the truck—not on purpose—and stumbled into Donnie, who caught him—probably also not on purpose—before shoving him off to Raph's arms.
Casey righted himself with some help, ready for another attack that never came. Future Raph retreated to join them, as some fifteen footbots oogled back at them from atop the mangled semis like freaking seagulls in a Pixar film.
"They're guarding the wall. They're just here to delay us," Donnie panted.
The comm came on with Leo's voice. "Raph, where are you? We're gonna need that back-up now!"
Something swooshed by Casey's ear, the resulting draft tousling his hair, and he jumped back on instinct. "Dafuq?"
Judging from their slack-jawed gapes, the others had seen it—or felt it—too. The shape soared away into darkness, like some super heavy ghost. Casey raised his head and saw the gigantic 100-foot crane moving right on top of them, turning fast, its metal clickity-clacking dangerously under the strain. The ghost—a massive hook that swung from its end—smashed into a container like a missile, making the whole column tremble, before swinging back down leaving behind a huge dent.
"Haha, that's awesome!" Casey exclaimed. "Good for them!"
"Yeah, uh... Leo? We might be a few more minutes," Future Raph said into the comm.
"Does that mean we get to bust some chiclets?" Future Casey asked through a big hopeful grin.
The group shifted to let the crane hook through again. Future Raph clinked his sai together and cracked his neck. "I guess so."
"Oh my gods, Raphie," Future Casey muttered excitedly. Casey followed his double's wide-eyed gaze and his heart did its own clumsy backflip.
It was Hun. Hun had just showed up at the front of the Purple Dragons line, and he'd brought a few more friends to play. As usual, his presence alone was enough to make those low lives get back up to fight, pissing themselves, even if their necks had been broken.
Future Casey opened his arms, face alight with glee. "Hun! My man!"
Hun looked at him. Or he guessed, as he was wearing his shades even in the low light, deadpan, like a mannequin in one of them super classy mobster suit stores. To the fact that there were two of them, he barely raised an eyebrow.
"Still friends with Hun in the future, are we?" Casey asked his future self, oh so excited.
"How about we focus here, Caseys? Leo said to go back," Donnie urged.
Future Casey ignored him. "Hun and I are lifelong pals! We got this Spideypool kinda love-hate thing going on. Ain't that right, Hunnie?"
Hun answered by dramatically taking off his expensive shades. He breezily handed them to one guy, who ran to place them in the safety of the van.
"Hey, Casey Jones," Casey Jones told Casey. "Wanna go play with our friend? I'll bet we can beat him."
"Hell, yeah, Casey Jones!"
"Whatdya say, cap'n?"
From his face, small Raph was obviously against it, as usual. But surprisingly the bigger Raph next to him only pondered for a second, thank you.
"Alright, we'll take the bots, you two take the Dragons. Just be careful. And when I say we go, we go!" Future Raph called after them, but Casey was already racing Other Casey to Hun, wind whistling through the holes in his mask. It was payback time, and whatever was going on behind them was no longer any of their business.
Hun didn't move except to snap his fingers, and all of his men rushed to stand before him, so eager to be cannon-fodder. Alrighty then!
"Goongala-a-a-a!" they hollered in unison, diving into the fray like the swimming pool, and collided with the first line of losers. Coach always gave him shit for this, but Casey Jones didn't have time for strategy. He was a tornado, tornadoes don't plan, they think on their feet, wild and unpredictable and deadly. That was the Casey Jones style. In the end, the score board usually agreed.
Fighting alongside his clone was the coolest, most instinctive shit ever. Five-hole, tic-tac-toe, whack, smack! Like they'd rehearsed it! On top of that, these Dragons were lamest every time he fought them—he was taking them all out on autopilot, meanwhile thinking of catch phrases for when he had Hun pinned with his teeth to the ground. His hockey team would make a better triad than these noobs.
"Coming through!" Donnie called out, as he came around with a footbot on his face. Without thinking, Casey swung, and the bot's head was left hanging from a single wire.
Donnie, the ungrateful shit, thanked him by grabbing his face and shoving downwards. Okay, it turned out he wasn't just being an asshole: the crane hook was back, zooming past right through where his head had been. One brave Purple Dragon wasn't so lucky, and with a resounding thunk was flung several feet in the air.
"Doesn't seem very practical, tactically speaking," Donnie said with an audible smirk as he got back to his side of the ring.
"It's all just a distraction," Big Raph shouted between grunts and punches and sounds of crunching metal. "Double time, people, we have to get back to that mutagen!" Clinching two guys in his biceps at the same time, he started spinning, using their legs to kick at their own teammates. Casey was so hypnotized by the awesome, he didn't see Hun's fists coming—all five hundred of them.
The punches hit faster than he could feel them. Guy was everywhere—back, face, ribs, stomach, crook of knees. In an instant, his entire body ached like Mufasa in the gorge. Suddenly he was on his ass, about to eat Hun's expensive baby seal leather boot.
He was saved by a projectile recycling bin, which brutally knocked Hun off of Casey.
"Dude, learn to recycle!" Casey's even more awesome clone yelled, and swung at a half-eaten, week-old spring roll lying in the trail of plastic bottles and candy wraps. The spring roll splatting open on Hun's face revived Casey, and suddenly all pain was gone. His phat clone helped him up and they both laughed and pointed at Hun. Growling, face covered in shredded lettuce, Hun handsprung to his feet. But his anger just made it more hilarious.
This time for sure.
Casey and Casey, combined into a deadly and confident double F5, kicked off to a dash, and not even Hun's little kung-fu peacock mating cries could save him now. Casey's sore muscles pulled and his joints creaked, but no differently than in most hockey games. They circled Hun at top speed, and one after the other, they dove, throwing a bat or a hockey stick as they skated past. Even if Hun did manage to slip a few good punches in, Casey could tell dude was having a real hard time. And Casey was loving each second of Hun's desperation. Finally! Making Hun eat his stick!
Whack! Uhh! Blam! Fuck yeah! Every hit felt like victory. He cackled into the night, and the clone seconded it.
"Caseys!" Future Raph called, holding a robot's arm. "Get both of your skinny asses over here now! We're leaving!"
But hell if Casey was gonna stop now, when he was this close to making Hun kneel.
He locked eyes with the other Casey, and they nodded at each other. They picked up speed, swooshing around Hun on opposite sides. Then, at once, they dove, delivering a double hockey stick to the gut and chest.
Hun's back crashed into a container. With a pained grunt, his knees finally gave, and Hun's proud, well-groomed shape melted to the ground.
Casey howled, victorious, and skid to a stop to stand over him. "So I guess that's why they call you the Purple Dragons!"
Future Casey skated up beside him. "Oh, shit, roasted!" He offered a gloved high five which Casey eagerly accepted.
They were so busy gloating at the sight of Hun, defeated and bleeding on the ground, that neither of them saw the giant hook whooshing towards them like a bus, until Casey heard the heavy bonk, and between one startled blink and the next, Future Casey was gone.
Casey turned, following the screams. "Shit!" Seeing Future Casey flying away, he sprung to a race. The hook had caught on the gear on Future Casey's back, and it was dragging him towards the river.
"Casey!" Future Raph called, chasing as well.
Future Casey shook and kicked, hanging like a ham. He'd flown all the way to the pier by the time he got himself loose. Casey saw him soar for a few feet before landing on his skates and stumbling to a stop right at the water's edge.
Finally he regained his footing, looking slightly dazed, but alright. Relieved, Casey and the others stopped running to let out a breathless laugh.
"Look out!"
Donnie's warning was one second too late. The knife came out of nowhere, stabbing Future Casey in the shoulder.
"Casey!" Future Raph bellowed, as Future Casey fell slowly backwards and disappeared beyond the edge of the pier.
"Mikey! Try to get those doors open!"
Leo heard the back doors shake, meanwhile thinking about bursting the tires. If only he could get a good angle... He reached back for his shuriken, and almost got flung off in a sharp turn, losing three shuriken in his struggle to grab on. The Dragons were trying to shake them off, driving in a dangerous slalom.
The passenger door opened suddenly, and the Purple Dragon inside started throwing knife swings and kicks at him. Leo recoiled, and quickly climbed to the roof, deciding to go for the driver. He crawled on his belly while fighting not to slip off the edge, took out his wrist knife and stabbed through the sheet metal roofing. Gripping it for leverage, he set himself, cranked his foot up, and smashed his heel on the driver's window. The glass cracked, the truck lurching and screeching in response. He kicked again.
"It's Casey! Casey fell in the river!" Donnie's voice in his ear distracted him for half a second, but it was enough.
At that moment the driver's door flung open, hitting him and catching his foot, and his grip slipped. He desperately grabbed on to the door frame, and he would've been perfectly capable of holding on, but not so much the door. Another sharp turn later, the hinges gave.
He had time to see Mikey's face of oh shit before he crashed into it, and then he was spinning in the air, and then rolling on the ground, his skin catching on the rough pavement. Eventually he came to a halt, although he couldn't be entirely sure as his whole world kept spinning. He managed to somehow keep his neck up enough to see the truck disappearing around a corner.
"Dammit," he said, meaning to punch the ground, but falling on his cheek again instead. He looked around him and found Mikey some feet behind, attempting to unlodge himself from a totalled mailbox. "You okay, mikey?"
Mikey groaned, rubbing his glute, chin bloody. "That's gonna suck tomorrow."
His entire body screaming in protest, Leo moved to get up, until a sharp pain shot through his right shoulder and he cried out. Yep, that's definitely dislocated. Mikey rushed over and helped him up.
They located one of their ear pieces in the middle of the street. "Guys, we lost the truck," Leo announced into the mic, while holding his aching arm.
Next he heard was Future Leo's frustrated bark. He sounded like he was running, sounds of battle in the background. "Everybody regroup! Head to the docks!"
Raph's heart was pounding, the sight of Casey being stabbed sending a jolt of adrenaline through his body, and his first impulse was to run to the water. But Future Raph charged past him, roaring and bursting through some unlucky leftover Dragons like a deranged bison, before diving off the pier.
Through the corner of his eye he caught a flash of something and he lurched, just in time to dodge a second knife which nailed itself into a container wall. In all the commotion, Raph had almost forgotten about the thrower: Hun, beaten-up, teeth bared, another knife at the ready. A bunch of his henchmen were regrouping behind him.
Donnie yelled, "Retreat! Downstream! Look for big Raph!" and Raph didn't need to hear it twice.
He snatched Casey's hoodie and yanked him to a run following Donnie, ducking out of the crane's way. A metallic thud and a shout at his back told him someone else had eaten it. It brought him some vengeful satisfaction.
They sprinted down the pier, flanked by the tall dark walls of the piled-up containers to one side, and the mountainous shadow of the ship on the other. But before they could leave the ship behind to search the river surface, a van shot up from one of the streets and screeched to a halt before them. Bradford was on the roof, hanging on with his claws. The van shook and tumbled like a rapper's bouncing car.
"Thought we'd find you here, turtles," Bradford gnarled, and with a flick of a talon, he let the lock loose and the back doors flew open.
From inside came a gurgling sound like a clogged drain, and a creature emerged, stomping and spitting. Raph knew instantly, this had to be one of those reject mutants the future turtles had talked about. Huge, deformed, and covered in ugly seeping pustules, like a love child of Hulk and fried ice cream a la Mikey, it certainly looked half-baked.
Bradford laughed. "Kinda glad you came. That way we get to try out our new guard dogs."
Donnie flinching made Raph turn, all in time to see that the Purple Dragons they'd left behind, pissed-off Hun included, had caught up to them, blocking their retreat. They were surrounded.
Raph shot a desperate glance at the river beyond the Foot van. For every second they stood there, Future Casey could be drowning, and for a moment he wondered if they should've just killed the Dragons like Big Raph wanted.
They had no choice. As the half-baked mutant stalked towards them, they prepared for another fight, a growl on Donnie's face as he set himself. Casey slid his mask back down, and smacked the ground with his stick. Raph gripped his sai, letting his fury well inside him, ready to go absolutely batshit at this point.
But before anyone made their first move, came a sound of engines, fast approaching, revving madly, and for a couple of tense seconds he could tell even the Foot wondered whose backup that was...
Until the Shellraiser emerged from the maze of containers like a war angel, ramming into the Foot van. Bradford jumped away as the vehicle smashed into the side of the ship, and the half-baked mutant with it. The Shellraiser canon turned and aimed behind Raph, and he ducked. The ball of compact garbage exploded on the ground, scattering the Dragons.
Bradford growled, as Raph, Donnie and Casey took the opportunity to hop in the Shellraiser, and they sped off downstream along the edge at last, leaving their pursuers behind.
Raph looked out of the open door to check, then called into the cockpit over the noise of the powerful engines, "They're not giving pursuit."
"They have the mutagen, they're not so interested in us," Future Donnie yelled back, hands clutching the wheel. "Do you see Raph or Casey?"
Raph, together with Present Casey and Donnie, started scanning the passing coastline, the lights from the opposite shore glinting off the waves.
"It's too dark! Maybe they got out already?" Casey suggested.
"Keep looking! Raph, Casey, do you copy?" Future Donnie said, his words echoing in Raph's earpiece, unanswered. "Leo, we're heading downstream from the warehouse. No sign of Raph or Casey."
It had begun to drizzle. The drops made it difficult to see clear shapes in the waves. Then, over there... a dark shape, a twinkle reflected in a ripple of water. Raph cried, "I see them! Stop!"
The shellraiser pulled over, and they shot out at once, dashing for the edge.
"Over here!" they yelled towards the water, waving their arms.
Raph could hardly see his older self hauling Future Casey's motionless form towards them, fighting to keep them both afloat.
Present Donnie knelt at the edge, stretching out his bo. "Raphael! Take the staff!"
Future Raph swam harder against the current, close enough now that Raph could hear him grunt from effort. He just grabbed the staff and everybody on land let out an audible breath of relief.
They pulled Future Casey up first. He wasn't moving, and he'd lost most of his gear—Future Raph had probably torn it off. Raph helped Future Donnie lay Casey on the wooden boards while the others pulled up Big Raph, who immediately lunged for his unconscious friend. Future Donnie was checking for vitals—from his expression, inexistent—when he was shoved aside.
"Casey!" Future Raph cried, immediately getting started on CPR.
The rest of the team could only watch in the dreary stillness of night, light rain prickling on the wooden boards, and Future Raph grunting as he rhythmically pressed on Casey's chest.
Future Leo arrived then with Leo, Mikey, Mikey and April, and they joined the ones already there in their anxious pacing and heavy panting.
Raph's heart was in his throat, but Present Casey was especially livid, fingers at his scalp pulling his hair, his own older self drowned and lifeless on the ground. "Dude, this is a little too weird. Not a fan, dude, not a fan." His voice wavered and he fumbled for Raph's forearm, clutching it tight. Raph in turn clasped his hand.
Finally, after a roll of distant thunder, Future Casey's chest heaved and he jerked, a mouthful of water spurting out like a fountain. The group perked up and Future Raph held him on his side as he retched up about two pints' worth of water.
Fuck this, fuck it, Raph breathed to himself, and let Casey envelop him in a frenzied hug of relief.
When the water was all out, Future Raph laid his Casey back to let him rest, then let himself fall back on his butt. All around everybody was in the process of catching their breaths.
"Aw, shiiit," Future Casey moaned, then coughed some more.
"Why do you insist on scaring the living shit out of me all the time, Jones! Why!"
"Raph."
"What!"
"Raph, I'm not sure I'm good yet…" Future Casey panted, voice croaky and eyes still closed. "Think imma need some more of that mouth to mouth."
Future Raph slapped the top of his head. "You moron!" And then he threw himself forward, and smashed his face against Future Casey's.
Everybody froze. The rain might have frozen too. Raph sure couldn't tell anymore. He heard Casey bark a laugh at his side and then he too fell silent. There was nothing funny about it. Raph had already figured out, Future Casey clearly didn't need more mouth to mouth… and that was not mouth to mouth.
"Whoa! Avert your eyes, children!" Future Mikey laughed as Future Donnie's facepalm echoed off the nearby buildings.
This… this had to be some kind of a prank, right? Future Raph was just following Casey up on his weird gay joke.
But not even Casey would go so far for a joke… or so long. By then it had hit present Casey as well, his slack-jawed smile frozen in shock. Those two were all over each other, hands groping and rubbing, mouths battling fiercely in the deepest french kiss Raph had ever seen. What was going on? His eyes watered. They weren't stopping, they weren't even slowing down—fuck, he couldn't look away!
"Aw, you guys! Why didn't you tell us!" Present Mikey said, and from Present Donnie's mouth came an astonished half-laugh, like the cluck of a chicken, and it took Raph a moment to realize Mikey was talking to him and Present Casey, and that all eyes were now on them.
"Gwha-I... What— but I don't…!" He noticed his hand still on Casey's shoulder and he yanked it away, and Casey removed his arm like he was burned, and both hopped three feet away from each other. Casey's expression mirrored his own, round eyes bouncing between him and the others watching, and their other selves tongue-wrestling each other on the ground.
"Casey?" April muttered with a puzzled lip curl, as Donnie looked between her and Casey.
"I'm not gay, Red!" he honked. "Ask all the chicks I've been with!"
"So you're bi!" Mikey proclaimed in glee.
Casey stammered hopelessly.
"Well, so much for discretion." Future Donnie sighed, his last face-palm still in place.
Future Leo just glowered.
"Alright, dudes!" Future Mikey cheered. "Way to screw up so I seem like the responsible one!"
"Sorry Leo, but this asshole scared me!" Future Raph said, sounding like he almost just drowned again, but at least it meant his mouth wasn't on Casey's anymore.
"Hey, if it helps… we're super hot together," Future Casey added with big grin.
Oh God, Raph exclaimed inwardly, as a high pitched noise of distress was all his throat could offer at the moment. Future Raph's hand was still tenderly lain on Future Casey's chest. Raph made a special effort not to look at the crotch, and he still looked, and—yes, oh God, something was wanting to break out of those jeans like a freaking chestbuster, oh God!
"Look, don't make a big deal out of this, okay?" Future Donnie said, stepping in front of Raph and Casey like a cop driving a crowd out of a crime scene. But it was too late. The image was already burned forever in Raph's retinas. "If these two decided to try one day for reasons mysterious, that doesn't have to mean anything for you in this timeline. They're not you, remember?" Then he turned to the... couple. "Now when you two are done sucking each other's spleens out, I'd like to take a look at that wound?"
Future Raph got up all relaxed and casual, allowing Future Donnie to kneel by Future Casey. Reaching in one of his pockets, he took out a big syringe, and the other Donnie joined in.
"You did invent medigel," his voice said, sounding far off in the distance. Raph couldn't care less, as his brain was currently flat-lining. Every one of his neurons was fixated on just one thing: replaying the same clip over and over in his head.
HAPPY PRIDE WEEK! MONTH? HAPPY GAYNESS!
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