Hello again, my dear readers! I was so excited to post this chapter since it's the longest so far, I never thought I would write this much, and it took me several days to get it right since there were parts that weren't convincing me. I'm currently working on the third chapter, but after writing the second one, it occurred to me to write a fourth chapter with an alternate ending because I liked the idea and didn't want to discard it, hehe.

Now without further ado, read and enjoy!

2

Memories of a Past Future

He opened his eyes and found himself running. His body was feeling so heavy and could barely keep his eyes open, but the quick glimpse he got of his right arm was enough to get them to finally open. He couldn't feel his right arm now that he had regained his senses, but apparently he had something replacing it, something that looked a lot like Raph's arm, but made out of metal.

Weird, Leo thought. But there was something else, something on that arm that made him have chills running down his spine.

Blood.

There was blood dripping from under his metal arm. Now that he thought about it, the middle section of his plastron hurt like hell. He somehow recalled being stabbed, although he didn't think that memory belonged to him.

He wanted to stop to get a better look at his surroundings, but he couldn't. It was as if his body wasn't responding, like when you're dreaming and cannot control what you're doing in the dream.

"Hold on, Master Leonardo!"

There it was. A familiar voice he was not expecting to hear, and somehow, he knew he was going to hear. Leo turned his head to find Casey with his mask on, running and holding him tight. His young protégé was helping him stand on his feet and run away from all the chaos around and from whatever had stabbed him.

Gosh, it hurts like shell, thought the slider while holding his wound tightly. Slowly regaining his senses, Leo spotted a few things he was sure he didn't have before: a pair of fancy pants, knee pads, a belt with the Mad Dogz logo in it, a blue cape around his neck, several scars on his plastron, and he could also feel his right eye was a little swollen. If he wasn't bleeding to death, he would've thought the cape was very cool since he had always wanted a cape or a scarf. He had taken quite a beating back there before Casey came to his rescue. At least he knew he could always count on the kid.

Everything was so confusing and yet it all made sense. Leo couldn't distinguish which were his actual thoughts and which ones were not. There were moments where he didn't know where he was and then it looked like he knew and always had known.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his chest: a large mutant creature had come out of nowhere and repented against him, scratching his plastron and leaving two large scars on his chest. Both he and Casey fell backwards from the sudden attack. Leo felt like he was about to pass out, but he knew he couldn't because he needed to protect Casey. The old slider tried to get on his feet, but collapsed again, holding his plastron with both arms.

"Sensei!" Casey shouted. Before he could help Leo, the creature threw itself at him, jaws wide open.

From their right, an orange lightning bolt hit the creature straight on its side, making it crash with a nearby rock. Leo opened his eyes on time to see mystic levitating chains in front of him, and in the middle, a very old Mikey appeared. He used his magic to strike the creature again until it ran away.

"Right on time, Mikey," Leo greeted from the ground. The box turtle turned to look at him in the eye with concern, "It is time, brother."

Michelangelo only nodded and then proceeded to cast a spell in front of him. Before their eyes, an orange portal started to open.

"But sensei, are you sure about this?" Casey asked without taking his eyes from his master's wounds, "You're losing too much blood."

"We cannot wait any longer. It has to be no-" before he could finish, Leo fell on his knees after trying to get on his feet a second time. The pain was unbearable and it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"Oh no!" Casey barely managed to catch his sensei. He knew his condition was critical and he needed a healer, "Master Michelangelo-!"

"No! He needs to save his energy to keep the portal open," Leonardo stopped his young apprentice, taking a deep breath, "It'll send you to the day before everything started."

"Wait, me?" Casey couldn't believe what he just heard. Leo gestured to him to come closer; he was leaning on his katana to keep himself from falling. A glimpse of red and purple fabric tied to the handle caught his eye, but he didn't have time to think about that now.

"Listen, I'm not gonna make it and you know it. It has to be you."

Casey was speechless. He was so confused and scared and he wanted to reply, but he simply couldn't articulate a word. His mind was still trying to process the information.

"You went over the plan with me, so you know what you have to do: find the key, stop the Krang."

"But what if I can't do it?" The young apprentice replied. Fear was evident in his voice, "I'm nothing like you, what if I mess it up?"

Leo had seen that face before: it was the face of a young warrior who was so afraid of failing and disappointing everyone that he forgot about his own worth. The elder turtle put his prosthetic hand on his student's shoulder. Casey looked up with watery eyes and found the comforting look of his master.

"Trust yourself the same way I trust you."

Casey's eyes lit up. His sensei really trusted him so much to entrust him with such an important mission. He couldn't fail him.

"I won't let you down, sensei," he nodded, determined.

"I know you'll succeed, kid. After all, you're my best student, and I'm not saying it just because you're the only one."

Casey couldn't help but giggle at his sensei's comment. It was good to see he still retained his sense of humor despite being in a life-and-death situation.

The young warrior helped his master to his feet. Michelangelo had just finished casting the spell. Now before their eyes was the reason he had been studying mystic arts all these years, the fruit of his labor: a time portal.

Leo looked at the portal with pride in his eyes and a new light of hope. On the other hand, Casey just took a deep breath so he could calm down. He was still scared. Leonardo noticed this, so he turned to look into his eyes.

"Hey? It'll be okay."

Casey admired his sensei so much: his bravery, his cleverness, and his ability to stay calm in complicated situations. Leo was like a father to him. He had trained him to be a great warrior. Now it was time to prove it.

"Here," Leo took out something from his pouch and handed it over to Casey: it was an old picture of him and his family when they were younger, "It'll help you to find them and to prove them you're telling the truth."

Casey looked down at the smiling turtles in the picture: they looked so young, so happy and full of hope. He never met Raph or Donnie in person, he knew about them through stories his master told him, so he was excited to meet their younger versions. He was so focused on the photo that he didn't see the other two mutant creatures coming from the sides.

But Leo did.

"And Casey?" Leo put his prosthetic hand over the kid's shoulder while he tightened his grip on his sword handle with his left hand, "When you see my brothers, tell them I love them."

"Wha-?" Casey didn't have enough time to react.

It all happened so fast.

Without a warning, Leo used all his remaining strength to throw Casey to the portal. The kid was surprised and horrified when he saw both mutant creatures throw themselves at his master. Casey's eyes got filled with tears while he stretched out his hand to try to reach out to his mentor, but the portal was too strong and began to drag him further and further.

At the other side of the portal, Leo didn't even dare to turn to see Casey. He didn't want the kid to see what was going to happen, and he didn't want to see the hurt expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Michelangelo was struggling to keep the portal open until Casey had disappeared from view. He was too tired.

Both remaining brothers shared a look and closed his eyes, accepting their fates.

Goodbye, Casey.

Leo could feel the claws and teeth of the creatures sink into his skin, feeling the warm blood pouring from the open gashes. He could feel his legs buckling beneath him and the hurt look of Casey while being sucked by the portal. The last thing he heard before being consumed by oblivion was the helpless cry of his protégé disappearing through the portal:

"SENSEI!"

Leo opened his eyes again, slowly; Casey's helpless cry echoed in his head. The first thing he noticed was that there was no loud noise around him, and the sky didn't look red, but blue. He tried to get up, but he couldn't find the strength to move. Everything hurt. It was at that moment that he realized he had felt cold stone beneath him with both of his hands, so he took a look at his right arm. There was no metal arm anymore, just his yellow-striped arm, and it was complete. There were no stab wounds nor scars on his plastron either, only the scratches from his fight with Krang Prime.

Leo didn't know if what he saw was a dream or a memory, it felt so real and yet so surreal at the same time. Whatever it was, he started to think that it probably was something that his future self already lived, since it looked pretty similar to the story Casey told them the day they found him, but seen by his own point of view. How was it possible? He had passed out and woken up in the body of his future self, and relived everything he had to go through to send Casey safe and sound to the past.

The slider tried to get up again with no success. Everything hurt and he didn't know why. He was supposed to be dead, a fall like that should've killed him, how come he was still alive?

"Hey, blue one!" Called a voice coming from his left. It was a deep and very familiar voice he wasn't expecting to hear, at least not here.

Leo blinked several times to adjust his vision until he finally discerned a silhouette. He would recognize those caprid ears anywhere.

"Draxum?"

"Good, at least you can talk," said the yōkai, relieved, "Try not to move. You're badly hurt."

Leo took his left hand to his head; that was when he noticed his arm. Draxum had used a piece of his clothes and one of his roots to bandage the wound made by Krang Prime. The slider finally took a good look at his surroundings and saw a lot of rubble around him and boxes in the background; the ceiling had a huge hole right above his head.

"You were lucky I was around," Draxum started explaining with concern in his voice, "I was hiding from the infected when I saw you falling from the sky. Since none of your brothers seemed to be around, I decided to act fast; I used my roots to catch you and get you to safety, it was one of them which caused that hole you see there."

"Once you were safe, I got inside this place and tended to your wounds the best I could. You were in pretty rough shape, turtle, what caused those injuries?"

"I tried to protect my brothers by fighting Krang Prime alone, but I failed," Leo answered, frustrated and sad, "I was a fool."

Draxum just nodded.

"Yup, it was pretty foolish of you to go by yourself. You could've died."

"I know. It's just-" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. The adrenaline was wearing off, "It's just I thought… I wanted to keep my brothers safe. They've been through enough suffering.

"I think they must be suffering right now not knowing where you are," Draxum replied, "They all must be worried sick."

Leo felt guilty and stupid.

"I don't even know if they're still alive."

"I bet they are, they're tuff warriors! I made you like that, remember?"

"Well, I think you made a mistake with me."

Draxum didn't look offended, but worried.

"Impossible! You have Hamato blood running through your veins, blood of a clan of warriors that never give up. I may have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but creating you and your brothers wasn't one of them. In fact, I think it was my most successful experiment."

Leo stayed silent, thoughtful. What Draxum was saying made sense: he was a Hamato, and so were his brothers. He knew what they were capable of, he trusted them with his life, but he had forgotten to trust himself. Fighting the pain, the slider managed to get into a sitting position.

"Thank you, Barry," Leo said, sincerely. It was actually poethic: the same yōkai who tried to kill him years ago by throwing him off the roof just saved him from a deadly fall. Suddenly he remembered that weird dream he had. Maybe Draxum could tell him what it was.

"Hey? While I was out I had this really weird dream or something. I woke up in the body of my future self! And I was seeing everything through his, well, mine-, you know, his eyes. But everything felt so real, and it somehow felt like a déjà vu."

Draxum listened carefully to Leo's story, analyzing every single detail of it.

"It looks like you had some kind of inside-out-of-body experience."

"An inside-what?"

"It means while your body was still here, your spirit traveled through time and space and ended up in the body of your future self, probably caused by the mystic waves of the interdimensional rift made by the Krang."

Leo was clearly confused, but he tried to hide it by just nodding at Draxum's words.

"From what you tell me, it looks like you relived the last moments of your future self, and since you were a foreign spirit that also melded with that of your future self, you could see and hear what he was doing, and think his thoughts as well, but not interfere."

So I really died in the future, Leo thought, horrified. He relived the pain, the fear, and saw every single memory of his future self; he relived and felt the painful agony and regret of Future Leo during his last moments.

That's when he remembered them.

The fabric… No. The masks.

He just remembered seeing them tied to the handle of his damaged sword. A wave of future memories invaded his mind, fused with the memory of what Casey told them before. That's when he remembered.

Raph, Donnie…

They were dead.

They died in the future because of him.

It was his fault.

My fault, my fault…

How could he have forgotten?

The pictures were too vivid. He was there. He couldn't protect them. He couldn't save them. All because he wasn't a good leader.

Leader, leader, leader…

I can't protect anyone. I failed them.

And Mikey had died too after creating the time portal.

My fault, my fault, my fault…

He was no leader. A good leader wouldn't have let his own brothers die. A good leader wouldn't have lost to Krang Prime. A good leader wouldn't have let his own brothers die in the hands of Krang.

I failed, I failed, I failed…

Leo's hope vanished in an instant. It was likely that his brothers were already dead.

All because of him.

They're gone.

They're gone and it's all my fault.

The slider started to hyperventilate, nails were sticking into his thighs. His eyes were now filled with tears. Draxum noticed this and was about to ask him what was wrong, when suddenly they heard a crash outside from a distance. It was the infected by the Krang, at least a dozen, and they were getting dangerously close to the warehouse…

"They're outside!" Draxum shouted, distressed. He knew he had to keep Leo safe until his family would come for him, but if he stayed here, they would be an easy target, especially Leo, who was still pretty weak. He couldn't move him either or his injuries would get worse. He had to make a choice.

"I'll lure them away," he said, determined, "You stay here. I'm sure your family will find you soon." Before leaving, Draxum handed Leo over the photo. He had taken it and kept it safe while tending to the slider's wounds. The older yōkai smiled at him, "You've always been a brave warrior."

With a battle cry, Draxum raced out of the warehouse to distract the infected. Leo could only hear from a distance how the alchemist warrior fought the creatures, and judging by his cries of pain, he had already been infected as well.

Indeed, Draxum managed to lure them away from the warehouse, immobilizing and throwing several of them with his roots, but one of them caught the yōkai out of guard and infected him. Before the Krang could take full control of him, Draxum used a giant root to get himself and the remaining infected as possible from Leo. The turtle had to survive, no matter what.

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Leo was desperately trying to get on his feet. He couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of him.

"Draxum! ARGH!" The sudden movement had worsened Leo's injuries. So, bending in pain, he collapsed.

Now the slider was lying sprawled on the cold floor, dead to the world, completely alone. His grip on the photo had gone slack, letting it slip between his fingers.

This was it, he was dying. He was going to die knowing he had failed everyone. That he had failed his family, his brothers. He would never see them again.

Before finally losing consciousness, Leo thought he heard a couple of muffled familiar voices. They sounded so close and yet, so distant.

"Guys! Over here! We found him"

Donnie?

He heard footsteps, then a loud crash coming from the entrance.

"Leo?"

Mikey?

"LEO!"

They're… alive.

That was his last thought.

Baron Draxum Ex Machina! Originally I planned that Leo simply survived the fall just because, but that didn't make any sense since a fall like that should've definitely killed him. I also thought on involving a Future Mikey from another timeline, but that would've made things a lot easier, and I wanted this chapter to be extra angsty (also I needed a way to explain what happened to Leo during the first part of the chapter and who better to explain it than Draxum?). Anyway, I think I'll use the Future Mikey idea as an alternate ending, if you're interested in reading it.

Be ready for the next and final chapter of the story! Thank you for reading, see you next time ;)