Chapter three:
They all walk along for a good while only to be stopped when they come across a crumbling area. They see a tree that has a little of it hanging over the edge.
The tree is still standing as the rest of it is still on solid ground.
Suddenly movement catches their eyes as they look up only to see a portal opening.
The portal is in the air facing the top of the tree.
Suddenly a Donatello, who looks like he came from a similar world as Leonardo and Raphael, falls from the portal landing in the upper tree branches.
The ground starts to crack around the tree as the portal closes.
Donatello's eyes snap open as he clings to the branches when the tree begins to shift.
"Jump!" Leo calls out causing Donatello to notice the group staring up at him.
Donatello let's go of the tree's branches and leaps towards solid ground just as the tree falls into the abyss.
Raphael moves and catches Donatello as the ground he was about to land on crumbles.
The group hurry away from the edge and are relieved that the crumbling stops for now.
Raphael puts Donatello down letting him stand on his own.
Donatello looks to those that are there then his eyes stop on Leonardo. His eyes gaining a shocked and hopeful look. "Leo? I was scared we lost you forever when you just disappeared months ago!" He rushes over hugging Leonardo who is a little confused at the mention of months. "We were so worried since you went out and just never came back even though you promised you would."
Raph glances to Leo as he sees the other glance away for a moment.
Leo turns back to Raph, apologetic for not coming back the day he was supposed to all that time ago.
Raph offers him a smile. "At least you did come back." He whispers and nudges Leo who smiles gratefully.
They turn back to Leonardo and Donatello as Leonardo hugs him, clearly wanting to comfort him.
"Um. Im not your Leo. But I'm sorry that yours is missing." At Leonardo's words Donatello moves back and scans him with his gaze.
Leo moves forward gaining Donatello's surprised attention. "This world is pulling in others from different worlds. I do not know if your Leo is here or not. Though there is a possibility."
Donatello's eyes round with understanding, and he shifts his feet as if disappointed he didn't realize it. "Right." He then blinks and glances to the edge. "What is going on here?"
"From what we've been able to find out this world is destroying itself." Leo also glances to the edge. "The ground is crumbling all around. Closing in towards the middle of what's left. Anyone who lived here disappeared into nothing as the world was dying." He raises the dairy then pauses as it just falls to dust. He knows it was perfectly solid not that long ago. "And it seems that nothing in this world is safe from destroying itself."
The others notice what happened as Leo brushes the dust off of his hands. They are a bit worried that they might end up dying here.
"Maybe because this world is collapsing then it is shaking the walls between it and other worlds. Momentarily making them thinner to allow openings to appear." Donatello suggests a theory. "Maybe that's why portals are randomly opening and dumping anyone near it into here." He explains his theory.
Leonardo's eyes suddenly gain a shine to them. "Wait!" His voice gains the attention of the others that are there as they turn to him. "We have a Donnie here now!" He meets the eyes of Donatello and glances to the goggles on the top of his head. "Can't you use those goggles to scan this place? Even if it's a possible portal to another world that is safer than here, at least it's out of here. That's what we're thinking of as a starting point. Since there doesn't seem to be anywhere that we can find that can help us out of here."
Donatello nods his head and puts the goggles over his eyes. "Of course. Just give me a second." He walks away from the group and looks around using his goggles to scan the land.
The others wait with hope that Donatello can find something.
Donatello suddenly stops and focuses on one direction. "There was a momentary spike in energy that way." He points in the direction. "I think a portal may have opened up there."
"Then others might have been dumped here!" Michelangelo gasps to which the others share looks of worry.
"We'll go and investigate." Leo commands moving to take the lead. He turns to Donatello. "One of us will help lead you so you're not left behind. But you need to keep looking around. Try to find anything that might indicate a portal about to open. Hopefully one we can hurry to and jump through before it closes."
Donatello nods in understanding.
Raphael and Leonardo move to help the one who looks like their brother but isn't.
Leo takes the lead as they head towards the direction Donatello pointed out. He wonders if someone really did end up in this world again. He wonders who it could be this time around. He slightly turns as Raph comes up beside him.
Raph glances to Leo meeting his eyes. He seems to be most comfortable around the one from the same world as him.
The two turn back to where they are going.
They slow as they hear something up ahead. They move behind a tree to check it out as the others join.
Just in case the portal brought an enemy through to this world.
Standing up ahead is a Splinter leaning on a stick like cane. He looks a little older than Leo knows his worlds Splinter is. He does seem to be able to move around fine as he takes in the area.
The group come out and head towards the Splinter who turns to them. They stop by him as he takes in the group.
"I see. I can tell you all are from different worlds." Splinter lets his eyes meet with Leo who nods his head. He seems to understand based on who they have in their group.
Plus how different they are.
"Yeah. We are. We were brought to this world by portals that opened by us. We are trying to find a portal to get out of here." Leo explains as Splinter listens to him. "This world is crumbling away. Even the land is falling apart."
"I see. Then we need to hurry. Before the land tries to take us with it." Splinter confirms then turns as he sees the others turn to Donatello.
Donatello is scanning the area for any signs of potential portals opening up.
They all wait to see if he picks up anything.
Splinter looks to Leo gaining his attention. "Do you know what happened to this world?"
"The only information we were able to get was from a diary in some ruins we found. That the world just started dying. That people just vanished. Now the world is crumbling away into an abyss. This Donnie." Leo gestures to the Donatello of the group. "Theorizes that the portals are opening up, is because the unstableness of the world causes the walls between worlds to weaken."
"I do believe that makes sense." Splinter nods his head and glances around. "The poor citizens of this world. Having to watch their world die and those they knew to disappear." He sighs softly a little sadly. "However we likely cannot help or save this world. I doubt anything can bring it back to how it once was. I agree with the plan you all have come up with. To get out of here as soon as possible."
Leo is glad to hear this from a Splinter even if it isn't his worlds Splinter. He turns back to Donatello to see if he's found anything yet.
Donatello is checking another direction now.
"Well while we wait I must admit it is good to see you doing well." Splinters words causes Leo to turn back to him. "Even though you aren't the one from my world you look like him. He and Raphael decided to live at the farm house."
"That's interesting. Things are so different in what I've heard of the worlds." Leo glances to Raph who comes over to him then glances to the others.
The others are doing their own thing while waiting for Donatello to finish.
"That Donnie says that his Leo is missing." Leo then glances to the Raphael and Leonardo to which now Leonardo is sitting on Raphael's shoulders. He guesses that they just feel more comfortable with each other since they came from the same world. "They haven't shared much about their world." His gaze lands on Michelangelo who shifts his feet not sure what to do with himself. "That Mikey says that his Leo and Raph ran away." He realizes that a lot of those that have left them in the other worlds are versions of himself. He turns feeling a hand on his arm.
It is Splinter who seems to have picked up what Leo was thinking. "You cannot control what happens in other worlds. There is probably many worlds where even the others have long been missing as well." He offers as words of comfort which does help Leo feel better.
Leo knows he's right. He surely has only met those from the worlds where versions of himself are gone. He isn't sure if it is intentional or not. He briefly catches a small mention between Leonardo and Raphael, about how their weapons act like regular weapons here. He doesn't really know what they mean though he supposes anything is possible in other worlds. So he guesses maybe those two's weapons do more than just be weapons... At least in their home world... He shouldn't be surprised that if their weapons do more then it won't work in a dying world.
Suddenly they all turn hearing hurried footsteps.
Someone skids to a stop kicking up some dust blocking them from view. When it settles it is revealed to be another Donnie. He looks closer to the Donnie Leo and Raph are used to. He has a tooth missing but doesn't seem to care. He looks over the group in surprise then he seems to understand. "Oh. You guys are from other worlds."
They nod in confirmation to this.
Leo decides he'll call this Donnie by the name Don just so they don't get confused. He's been trying to keep their names a little different in his head so he knows who is who.
Don's eyes land upon Michelangelo and they light up. "It's you!" He stops himself at seeing confusion on Michelangelo's face, and the light fades. "Right. Sorry. You're not from my world."
"Your Mikey is missing?" Leo perks up more glad it isn't a version of himself.
Don nods his head. "Yeah. We've been trying to find him but we don't have any success. When I got taken here I thought maybe this was where he had disappeared to. So I went looking for him. I've only been able to find you all."
"Well we cannot say for sure if your Michelangelo is here." Splinter moves forward causing Don's eyes to widen.
"Splinter!" Don's excitement returns. "It is so good to see you! Or at least a version of you. In my world you're dead."
"I am sorry to hear that." Splinter offers a comforting look to Don who looks grateful.
"I think I found something!" Donatello mentions loudly gaining everyone's attention. "There's a signal that way. It's weak and I only picked it up for a second. But it's the only signal I've been able to pick up."
"Lead the way." Splinter tells Donatello who takes the lead.
"Allow me to carry you sensei. So you can keep up." Leo offers to Splinter who nods gratefully.
"I am not as quick as I used to be." Splinter mentions and lets Leo gently pick him up.
With Raph still at his side, as if just wanting to stay around his worlds Leo, they follow Donatello.
