Chapter One: Sinkin
He coughed and gagged, as he felt the air rush out of his lungs. He struggled to stay upright, staggering around as he tried to look around; instead he fell to his knees as a wave of nausea-inducing dizziness washed over him. His body wouldn't stop shaking. All around him it felt like the world was spinning; forcing him to do the only thing he could, which was to grip the ground under his fingers and wait for the spinning to stop. He could hear sounds all around him; cars honking, people talking, planes flying overhead. Lights blasted at him, bathing him in their illumination, blinding him, pressing down on him.
But no one was screaming or trying to kill him, so he was pretty sure no one was able to see him. Clamping his eyes shut Leon felt his stomach lurch sickeningly. A moment later his sides heaved as the entire contents of his stomach erupted from his mouth, as he became violently sick.
Even as he knelt there, clutching to the rooftop throwing his guts up he forced himself to keep breathing. All the while doing his best not to inhale any of the foul sludge that was coming from his mouth in waves.
Tears trickled down the sides of his face and he continued to vomit. His throat burned and ached, his stomach felt horribly empty all of a sudden, and his head felt like it was going to split open. All of these things coming together and combining to make him feel even worse than he already did.
His stomach gave one final lurch before the nausea left him allowing him to stop vomiting. Coughing and gasping he struggled to crawl away from the foul smelling puddle he'd created. Whimpering as he felt bits of the vile substance clinging to the skin on his hands and knees.
What was going on? One moment he'd been…….
He racked his brains. What had he been doing before this? But his thoughts were cut off as another wave of nausea washed over him. Whimpering he reached out, grabbing into a small pipe that was sticking out of the roof he was on. The moment his fingers touched the metal he felt a little bit better. It felt good to hold onto something solid as the world around him continued to spin and shake, making him feel like he was stuck in some kind of washing machine.
He forced himself to breath, inhaling lungfuls of air as he pushed his face so it was pressed against his wrists. He whimpered and moaned as wave after wave of furious shudders and trembled wracked his body.
And then all at once it stopped. The world stopped spinning, he stopped shaking, even the pounding pain in his head vanished, leaving him alone holding desperately to the pipe.
Panting softly Leon released the pipe he'd been holding onto. Slowly he moved, using the pipe as a kind of cane as he struggled to get to his feet. for the most part his body had stopped shaking, although every so often a tremor would still run up his legs making him clutch the pipe as though it were his lifeline.
Once he was fully upright he opened his eyes. He was on a rooftop and if the buildings around him were any indication…..
Frowning, Leon found he did not recognize any of the nearby buildings. He and his brothers had patrolled most of the city, so the sight of unfamiliar buildings was slightly alarming to him.
He bit his lip, doing his best to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't help him right now. It would only make things worse.
Still clinging to the pipe Leon slowly looked around, scanning the nearby buildings for any indication of where he was. His eyes narrowed as he found something he recognized, a billboard for an Asian noodle house. He'd seen the billboard before in the Chinatown district; which meant that's where he was now.
Closing his eyes for a moment Leonardo went over his mental map of the city. If he was in chinatown then the nearest manhole cover was just off…….23rd and Kel; in a back alley.
Nodding to himself Leon opened his eyes before taking a few hesitant steps. He was glad the world had stopped spinning. Once he was sure he wouldn't collapse he moved, heading towards the edge of the building before readying himself to make the jump to the next building.
He did as Splinter had taught him so many years ago. Take a deep breath, start to run, inhale before you push off, and…..
The moment his feet left the roof he knew something was off. Sailing through the air Leon found that he'd pushed off the roof with too much force. Instead of landing in the middle of the roof, he sailed over his intended target, a few scant feet from the edge.
Biting his lip Leon went over his movement in his head. He hadn't meant to push off with such force. In fact if he was honest he'd pushed off with less force than he usually did. Why then had he passed his targeted landing zone?
After several moments he made up his mind, perhaps traveling by rooftop was too dangerous right now. Moving to the other side of the rooftop Leon swung up and over before clambering down the fire escape and into the back street behind the building.
Moving through the shadows Leon found himself glad that he did not have to travel very far to find the manhole cover he was looking for. As it was, it took him half an hour of running through alleys and back streets before he reached the alley he wanted to be in.
Stepping into the alley Leon began to look for the manhole cover. He remembered it was towards the middle of the alleyway, next to a large green dumpster. However after several moments of searching a frown spread across his face as he discovered that there was no manhole.
Nervously he rubbed his arm. He was sure there was one here. He and his brothers had used it on several occasions. One time he'd even hit his head as he'd jumped into the hole. Yet now the manhole was gone, having seemingly vanished into thin air.
Taking several deep breaths he moved, forcing himself to go slow and research the alley. But it made no difference; try as he might he simply could not find the cover or the manhole. Even when he was sure he was standing on the exact spot where the hole should be.
He felt his stomach flip nervously as a small pang of panic rippled through his body. He needed to get underground. The longer he stayed on the surface the greater his chances were of being seen or caught. He reached out, gripping the sides of a nearby dumpster to keep himself from freaking out.
He did as Donnie had once told him, taking in several deep breaths, holding them for a few seconds before letting them go; doing his best to ignore the truly horrific smell that was coming from the dumpster he was holding on to.
But the breathing worked and soon he felt the panic wash away, leaving him with a kind of calm nervousness. Obviously the city had paved over the manhole. Nodding to himself, Leon decided that MUST have been what had happened; which meant he needed to move on. The next nearest manhole was at 18th and Conk; only a few blocks away.
Leaving the alley, Leon did his best to stick to the shadows as he slowly made his way towards the next manhole. Vaguely he wished he could travel by rooftops, which certainly would have been faster. But almost at once he dismissed the idea.
A small sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he spotted the manhole he was looking for. Rushing towards the cover, Leon grunted as he struggled to lift the large cast iron lid that covered the entrance to the tunnels. Normally Raphael or Donatello would lift up the covers to get them access; but without them around it was up to him.
After several moments of heaving and struggling he managed to pry the metal cover up before pushing it aside and letting it hit the ground with a loud 'clang'.
Panting Leonardo reached up, wiping away the small beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead before swinging around and lowering himself into the sewer hole. Reaching out to grip the manhole cover he'd worked so hard to pry free, Leo let go of the edge of the hole and used his body weight to pull the cover back over the hole before dropping down into the sewers below.
Splashing down into the tunnels, Leon let out a small sigh of relief. Down here in the sewers he was less likely to be seen, which meant he didn't have to spend so much time skulking and hiding in the shadows. As he moved through the sewers however Leon could not help but feel as though something was wrong.
For one the sewers felt…….different. Yes there had always been walkways on either side of the tunnels but…..when had they gotten so big? Not only that but half a dozen times he expected to find a tunnel branching out from the main line only to find a solid wall.
Frowning Leon continued on his way; his frown increasing as he found that there appeared to be a dozen or so new tunnels he'd never seen before in places where there had been none only days ago.
Even with this sudden bizarre transformation of the sewer system it took Leon only an hour to find the wall that Donnie had rigged up to hide the lair. Pausing for a moment Leon rubbed his eyes.
He felt lightheaded, something about all these sudden changes was disconcerting to him. It threw him off, made him feel as though his world had been spun around and flipped upside down. Shaking his head he pushed past the confusion. Reaching out Leo pushed against the brick that activated the machines which would release the door and allow him to enter the lair.
Except that the brick didn't move. Frowning Leon pushed harder. He knew that sometimes the brick got stuck. And yet even with the increased pressure he was putting on it, the brick wasn't moving. Pushing with all his strength he let out a slightly panicked whimper as he found the brick did not move.
What was going on? First the surface felt wrong, then the sewers had been wrong, and now……
Another whimper escaped from him as he desperately began to hit the brick. "come on…..come on……please……come on….."
But it was no use, no matter how hard he struck the brick it never moved. Panic rippled through his body. Everything was wrong, something had happened to him, and now everything was wrong. Grabbing his odachi, Leon lashed out, striking the brick repeatedly; filling the air around him with the sound of the metal hilt hitting the hard stone.
He began to plead with the wall, tears trickling down the sides of his face as he prayed that the next time his weapon hit the brick it would activate and reveal the entrance to the lair. But his prayers went unanswered. His muscles ached, forcing him to stop his desperate pounding, as he instead slowly sunk to the ground.
He bit his lip, struggling to keep the waves of despair and panic that were welling up in his stomach and chest in check. This was wrong, this was all wrong he was sure he was in the right place, he was certain this was the wall that the lair was behind.
Reaching up, Leonardo covered his eyes, allowing for only a few seconds the feelings of helplessness and panic to wash over him. The tears became stronger, rushing down the sides of his face as his shoulders began to shake. What was going on?
Somehow things had changed. Everything felt different and wrong. Yet no matter how hard he tried he could not seem to remember how things had gotten this way. He struggled to think, to remember what had happened. He was Leonardo. Leonardo Hamato...third eldest of Yoshi Hamato. He had three brothers, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo. They were all ninjas in training… or somewhat in training at least. Yes that much he remembered.
Forcing himself to take several deep breaths Leo nodded to himself. He could remember the years of training they had all gone through...even if they were just by watching movies and practicing the moves. Racking his brain, Leo did his best to pull up the most recent memory he could think of.
He…….he'd been……..in the lair…he'd finished getting the pizza from Sr. Hueso's and had called his brothers down for dinner…but Donnie hadn't come to eat. He had fixed Donnie a plate of pizza and brought it to him in his lab.
Leo's brow furrowed as he struggled to remember more. Donnie had hunched over his computer, working so hard that he hadn't even heard Leon come in. He'd…….called out to him, told him it was time for a break so he could eat. But……Donnie had brushed it off, he was close to some kind of breakthrough with……..something. Leon really didn't understand most of what his twin was staring at that moment.
The memory was becoming fuzzy now. He remembered setting the plate of pizza down and asking Donnie to please take a break. But……..but Donnie had told him to go away. That……that someone like Leo could never understand how important what Donnie was working on was. He was too slow..the goofball of the family...hehe even his baby brother would get it.
Leo bit his lip as Donnie's hurtful words echoed in his mind. He was used to the small jabs and put-downs he got from his brothers. He'd grown up as the third eldest brother, the unwanted middle son, so he was used to his brothers getting annoyed with him, even his younger brother berating and getting annoyed with him. But that did not make their offhanded comments and remarks hurt any less….not that he'd show that.
Leo shook his head and sighed. This wasn't helping. He needed to think logically and avoid getting worked up.
Taking several deep breaths Leo did his best to bring his emotions back under control. Now was not the time to panic. Sniffing softly Leo wiped away the tears that still clung to his face. As he did so something caught his eye, a tubing of wires that ran along the bottom of the wall. On its own this was nothing new, tubing like this often housed electrical cables, phone lines, and other important wiring that helped the subway system to function properly.
But what drew his attention was a section of the tubing that had been replaced recently with a section of tubing that branched out, where someone had spliced into the cables.
Leon felt a jolt of hope ripple through his body. Years ago he'd helped carry tools and materials as Donnie had gone around and used such techniques to siphon power from the City's power grid in order to power the lair. He reached out, gently touching the pipe as if to make sure it was real. Another jolt of hope rippled through him as his fingers connected with the cool plastic.
He began to move, following the tubing down the tunnel and around several twists and turns. As he did so he found more bits of wire and tubing that had been spliced, only helping to strengthen his hope that he was going in the right direction. Turning a corner, Leon skidded to a halt as he found the wire and tubes he was following snaked up the wall before vanishing into a junction box.
Taking a deep breath Leo did his best to keep his hands from shaking as he reached out to touch and open the junction box. As the metal door swung open, Leon found himself looking at a dozen or so circuit breakers and switches, each of them clearly labeled as gas, power, water.
But it was one switch in particular that drew his attention. This switch was at the bottom of the breaker box, and unlike the other switches was not labeled with words but instead a small doodle.
Leo reached out, running his fingers along the crude drawing of a turtle. If he didn't know better he would have guessed it was something he would have drawn when he'd been younger. The squiggly lines certainly made it look like some of the artwork little brother would have done when he'd been a baby.
Biting his lip Leo closed his eyes and said a small prayer before flipping the switch. A moment later the sound of some kind of engine reached his ears. Stepping back Leo watched amazed as a section of the wall next to the junction box slowly began to recede, revealing a doorway that led to a hidden passageway behind the wall.
Taking a deep breath Leo stepped through the doorway. The moment he was on the other side the motor kicked on again, sliding the section of wall back into place, sealing him in the tunnel. Swallowing nervously Leo began to move, following the dimly lit tunnel he was in. vaguely he was thankful for the set of rope lights that lined the roof of the tunnel, the light might not have been super bright, but in some way it was comforting to him.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, Leon's eyes widened as he stepped out into a large round open space. In front of him he could see where someone had set up a kind of living room, complete with a couch, some chairs, and a dozen or so TVs all stacked on top of each other.
To his right a kitchen had been set up, and to his left some kind of gym with a dozen or so weights and a punching bag that hung from the balcony of the second floor. Along each wall a dozen or so doorways led off into other rooms.
"H….hello?" Leon's voice shook slightly as he called out, the sound of his words echoing back at him making him wince slightly. After several moments without a reply he tried again. "Is…..is anyone he-"
But the rest of his words were cut off as a unmistakable sound of breaking glass cut through the relative silence of the room. Flinching Leo spun in the direction the sound had come from.
There, standing in one of the doorways that lined the walls……..
Leon felt a wave of relief wash over him as he found Donatello standing in one of the doorways staring at him. Smiling weakly, Leon spoke to his brother. "Donald…..what's going on? Why is everything different?"
Donnie didn't speak, instead only stood the doorway as if frozen in place. at his feet were the remains of the plate and bowl he'd been carrying. Donnie's eyes were wide as he continued to stare at Leon who shifted slightly.
"Umm………earth to Don? Twinzy? What's wrong?" He watched his brother, noting Donnie's hands were shaking slightly. Taking a small step towards his purple brother, Leon opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off as a new voice met his ears.
"Donnie what was………that?"
Turning Leon found that Mikey had emerged from another room. Like Donnie, Mikey had also frozen in his doorway, his eyes having gone wide as he stared at Leon who began to feel slightly uncomfortable under his brothers' combined staring.
"Uhhhhh…….guys? What's going on? You look like you've seen a ghost?"
"L….L……Leo?"
Turning towards the sound of the new voice Leon found that Raph had appeared. However unlike Donnie and Mike, Raph was not frozen in place but moving. Slowly staggering towards him as though in a daze before…..
Leon staggered slightly as Raph grabbed him, wrapping his arm around Leon's shoulders before pulling him into a shaky hug. Instantly Leon could tell something was wrong. He'd seen Raph upset before, normally after he and Leon got into a particularly vicious argument; but he'd never seen his brother like THIS.
He'd never seen Raph's entire body shake and tremble. Never felt his brother hug him so tightly that it almost hurt. Never seen his other brothers at such a loss that they simply froze where they were, unable to speak or move.
"Ra…Raph……what's wrong?" Raph pulled back to stare at him as though stunned by his question. Seizing the chance Leon spoke again. He knew that if he did not apologize for making his brothers worry they would all become mad at him. "I'm……I'm sorry I was gone for so long. I…….I…..don't know what happened. I….I remember bringing Donnie some pizza and then-"
"You died."
Leon froze as the words left Raph's mouth. It was his turn to stare, his eyes going wide as Raph pulled him into another tight hug. His mind struggled to understand what Raph had said. He'd...died? "Ra…Raph? What...what do you mean?"
Again Raph pulled away, looking at him for a few moments before speaking again. As he did so Leon found that Raph's voice quivered and shook and was abnormally hoarse. "You…….you died. The foot…….they discovered our lair…….they……..you were fighting with Hun. You….said you had a plan……..and you……..you……"
Leon watched as tears began to slide down the sides of Raph's face. "You lured Hun into Donnie's lab and………..then you blew the lab up….with you still inside."
Slowly Leon shook his head. "Raph……..that's not possible. I don't know ANYONE named Hun. And I don't ever remember the foot invading the lair. The last thing I remember was……..bringing Donnie pizza……and him getting mad at me cause I was interrupting his work..."
Reaching out Leon touched his brother's shoulder in an attempt to calm Raph, who continued to stare and gawk at him. Gripping Raph's shoulder as tightly as he could, Leon spoke. "Raph….what's going on? Why is everything different?"
But Raph continued to slowly shake his head at Leon. "But….we……we found your body……we…..we buried you. There's……….it……….you died."
Leon growled. Something was wrong, why wasn't Raph making any sense? "RAPH I'M NOT DEAD. I'M STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU. PLEASE…….WHAT IS GOING ON?"
A moment later Raph staggered away from him, backing up and acting as if Leon had suddenly sprouted a second head all the while muttering, "You died."
Biting his lip Leon felt his hands shake as he turned to look at Donnie who had managed to take a step towards him. He watched as slowly Donnie took another step, then another, and another until……. "L….Leo…….is……is it really……you?"
Slowly Donnie reached out, his hand coming to brush against Leon's shoulder. Biting his lip Leo spoke. "D….Don……I…….I'm sorry I bothered you while you were working. Please...make them stop saying i'm dead...please..i-"
But his words came to an abrupt end as Donnie pulled him into a tight hug just as Raph had done. Leon gasped, as Donnie's grip sent small lashes of pain through his ribs and spine. "D….d…..Donald……too tight……"
A moment later Donnie released him, stepping back to stare at him for a moment before speaking. "We…..we watched you die Lee."
Leon growled. This all had to be some kind of joke. Some way for his brothers to get back at him for always bugging them and being in their way. Taking a step forward Leon spoke in an angry tone. "STOP SAYING THAT. IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE. I'M NOT DEAD. SO JUST DROP THE JOKE GUYS……please...it's not funny anymore."
"It's no joke my son."
Spinning around Leon's eyes widened as he found his father standing behind him. As he opened his mouth to speak, Leon froze. When did Pop's hair become so gray...or grayer? "D…d….Dad….what…..what are you talking about?"
He watched as his pops continued to look at him for a moment before speaking again. "You sacrificed yourself to kill Hun and save the rest of your family. I……we all saw it happen."
Leon took a small step backwards. He could feel his heart rate increasing. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. His mind refused to work, refused to understand what his brothers and father were saying; that he was…….had
"N…..no……no…….no this isn't right. I'm not dead. I'M NOT DEAD!" He yelled the last words at his family, who all recoiled at the sound of his shrill voice. "STOP IT GUYS. IT'S NOT FUNNY. PLEASE. LOOK I'M SORRY I ALWAYS BUG AND ANNOY YOU GUYS. BUT PLEASE……THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE. THIS…….it's...I'm not…….."
The world was spinning again, everything felt like it was pressing down on him. He swayed unsteadily from side to shade, his vision blurring and swimming as he struggled to stay upright. He tried to turn and look at Raph. "Pl...please...Raph..."
He tried to move, to take a step towards his oldest brother. He felt the world spin violently and suddenly he was falling, the floor rushing up to meet him.
"MY SON!"
He felt a pair of arms grab his shoulder, keeping him from hitting the floor. fog was filling his brain, making him feel confused and stupid. Vaguely he was aware that he was speaking. "Wrong...everything is...wrong...it's all...wrong."
Around him he could hear voices, his brothers speaking; but try as he might he could not understand what they were saying. each of their voices sounded as though they were not only underwear but talking from far away.
Black spots began to appear in his field of vision slowly growing until he could see nothing but ink dark blackness.
"Everything...is...wrong."