2


"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment."

-Lao Tzu-


What happened?

A low moan escaped his throat as he tried to open his eyes. He expected the light to burn his eyes, but instead of that, the darkness filled his vision. For a minute, he panicked. Did he go blind? He jolted up to a sitting position, but he quickly regretted it when the pain raced through his body. He jerked his hand to his left side, and he felt as the blood flowed over his fingers.

"What the...?" his hoarse voice came as a whisper. He lifted his gaze and blinked a few times. Suddenly, he noticed some boxes surrounding him. He sighed in relief. He wasn't blind! A large gray drapery hid the broken window. Leo crawled to the closest box, and with the help of it, he stood up. This action was painful, and he hissed, while he was trying to steady himself. He stepped to the wall and walked towards the window. When he reached it, he drew the curtain and looked out. He could see well, though the Sun was hidden behind the dark orange clouds. It was like the air got infected by a deadly disease.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud. He bent his eye ridges, and with the wall's support, he walked to the wooden door. As he stepped in front of it, he took a deep breath, and with a shift move, he pushed the door open. As soon as he left the old building, and the strange light touched his body, he took a closer look at his wound. He was relieved to see that it wasn't as bad as he thought at first. But it needed treatment. By who? He had no idea where he was, and he had to admit, he wasn't the best doctor in the world. But he couldn't let it go worse, he had to prevent the infection, if it wasn't too late. But how? With what?

He felt dizzy. It was a long day, definitely. Although, he didn't even remember what had happened. After a few footfalls, he fell onto his knees. A little rest won't hurt, he thought.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Leo jumped up, startled, and fell onto his shell. Ouch! He didn't have time to cry over his pain and discomfort, he had to get away. Immediately!

Suddenly, a figure ran to him, grabbed his left arm, and dragged him behind the building. He opened a trapdoor on the ground and pushed Leo in. The stranger followed him down on the ladder. The door was closed, and the two creatures stood in the middle of the... well, Leo didn't know. It was dark again.

BOOM!

The floor shook a little.

"They will go away soon," a deep voice said.

"Who are they?" Leo asked quietly.

"Soldiers," he sighed.

"Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"But still... you saved me."

"Well... you can call me Tequila," his voice was full of resignation and hidden sadness. "If you want."

"Okkkaayyy," Leo started uncertainly. "I'm-"

"Shh!" Tequila hushed him as he focused on the sounds.

A few minutes later, Leo dared to ask. "So... can we turn on the lights or something?"

"Oh, I totally forgot about that," he replied a little bit surprised.

"How? You open your eyes and see the darkness. How could you forget that it's dark here?" Leo asked wonderingly.

"I open my eyes and see the darkness, as you said. This is what I see every day," he answered bitterly.

"You, you mean...?"

"I'm blind, yes."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," he thought for a moment. "Are you a mutant?"

Leo jerked his head towards the direction he thought Tequila was. "Y-yes."

"You don't have to be afraid. I am one too. Judging by your smell and skin, you are a reptile, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm a mutant turtle," Leo answered, proudly.

"Turtle, huh," Tequila huffed.

"What, What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Tequila didn't answer. He was listening to something else. For a minute, silence settled over them.

"Let's go," he said and started to climb up the ladder. Leo followed him closely, he didn't want to get lost. Soon, the trapdoor was opened again, and the bigger man jumped out and pulled the smaller one out. "They are gone."

Leo looked up and down at him. He was tall like really tall. Leo didn't even reach his shoulders, though it wasn't too far from Leo's head, still, Leo's neck cracked when he looked at his face. What caught his attention first was the huge and deep scars all over his head. He cringed when he thought about how he could got them. Tequila was wearing black glasses. They were between the sunglasses and the goggles. He had a long, black pea coat. Leo noticed the swords hanging on his side. Then, he remembered. Where were his swords? They weren't on his shell, and he didn't see them after he woke up. Where did he leave them?

He brushed the thought off, he can find them later. He looked at the man again. He had green skin, scales, and no hair. Tequila was a reptile too, it wasn't a question. But what kind of reptile? He didn't have a tail, or if he did, it wasn't long. He couldn't see his chest because of the coat, and his hands were hidden in his pockets.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked suddenly. Leo was uprooted from his thoughts, and a little "huh?" came out of his mouth. "Am I this beautiful?" his sarcastic voice ended with a sardonic chuckle.

"No. I mean not that you're ugly, but not that you are beautiful, I mean, you look good, no, I didn't mean it that way, don't get me wrong, I'm not gay, just, um," Leo gabbled nervously.

"It's okay, kid, I was just joking," Tequila let small laughter to escape. "Anyway, you are too young for me," he smirked, then turned around. "Follow me," he continued in a serious tone. "You need some fixing."

While Tequila was heading somewhere, at a rapid pace, Leo was trying to keep up. When he managed to reach him, he asked.

"Where are we going?"

"To my hideout," he said and turned left. As Leo looked around, he could see that there was nobody on the streets. It was daylight, and he could walk around with another mutant, and nobody was there to be shocked. What the shell?

"So, do you trust me?"

"I don't trust you," he turned right. "But it would be a shame if you bleed to death at this young age."

Soon, they arrived at an empty building. Tequila conducted Leo to a door that hid the stairs, which was leading them down. As their feet touched the ground, Tequila turned the lights on for Leo. They were in a quite big room. There was a couch, in front of it was a coffee table, and next to the table, a bigger desk. On it was a small TV, and a radio. Next to the 'living room' was the 'kitchen', a table, three chairs, oven, sink, and a few shelves with plates and glasses. Nearby was the miniature fridge. Leo followed Tequila to the double door, which was after the kitchen. The older opened it and let Leo in. This room was bigger than the first one. It was some kind of lab. As he looked around, he noticed things that he'd seen before in Donnie's lab. Though it was a cool lab, it wasn't as cool as Donnie's. There were two beds in the room. One of them was a cot, and the other one was normal. Behind the normal bed was an empty space.

"Why is it there empty?" Leo asked.

"I needed a place to train. It's not big, but more than nothing," he said. "Now, get on the cot."

Leo did as he was told, and Tequila sat in front of him on a chair, cleaned and stitched up his wound, then bandaged it.

"Sorry, I don't have painkillers now."

"It's okay, I don't need them," Leo reassured him.

"Playing the tough guy, huh?" Tequila smirked, then stood up. "Now rest, kid," and with that, he left the lab. Leo lay down and stared at the ceiling.

"How did I get here?" he wondered aloud, still quietly. "Why can't I remember? Perhaps I hit my head," he rubbed the back of his head and felt a little bump on it, but it was barely noticeable. "Why didn't I noticed this? Well... I didn't really have time to check myself everywhere."


After some time, Tequila entered the lab to check on Leo.

"Are you awake, kid?"

"Yes," Leo said and sat up. His wound was bothering him, but it was bearable.

"Come out, there's some sushi on the table, waiting for you."

Sushi. Oh, he didn't even know when the last time was when he ate sushi. His brothers weren't fond of it.

After he finished, the older asked if he liked it. Leo nodded with his mouth full. Tequila stepped towards him when he got no reply.

"Kid?"

Leo jerked his head up, and for a minute he was surprised, but then, he realized, that the nodding wasn't the best answer.

"Ah, yes, I love it. I'm sorry, but I forgot that you're y'know, and I nodded," he ducked his head a little.

"Don't be afraid of the b-word. You can say that I'm blind. Anyway, I'm glad you like it because I have plenty of them in the fridge."

"In the fridge? I thought it's not good to keep sushi in it for long."

"Indeed. But I don't have any other choice. It's a miracle to get some food," Tequila unbuttoned his coat and pulled it away from his chest. It immediately caught Leo's attention. A plastron! Tequila's a turtle! He was happy about it, but the nasty, wide, and long scars made him wince. He tried to focus on the fact, that he's a turtle, not on the several scars he had.

"Are you a turtle, too?" Leo asked excitedly.

"Yes..." he sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me? That's great! I didn't know there were other turtles too!" Leo spoke grinning.

"Neither did I," Leo smile faded when he heard the older one's sad voice. Suddenly, a question popped into his mind that he'd been curious about.

"I wanted to ask before... what is this place? What happened here?" Leo asked while he was walking towards the sink.

"You don't know?" Tequila asked surprisedly. "Is it your first time on the surface?"

"No, no. I just don't know this place. I don't even know how I got here," Leo put his plate into the sink, then went back to his seat.

"You don't remember?"

"No. I hit my head, I think."

"So, you don't remember who hurt you?"

"No."

Tequila hummed. After that, silence filled the air. Leo waited for a response, an explanation, something. He was a little bit nervous, he wasn't sure what to expect. Did he even want to learn what was going on?

"Well, you are in New York," he started, and Leo's gasp interrupted him. "What? First time in New York?"

"No," he answered firmly. "I live in New York. I've always lived in New York. But this city... this can't be New York. New York isn't a dead city."

"But it is, kid. I don't know which New York you know, but this is not that. Once, it was a great place, full of people, happiness, waves of laughter, families. Of course, there was crime too, but life wasn't bad back then. Not at all."

"Where are the people now?"

"They are brainwashed and serving the devil himself. Who managed to escape, the few of the population, are hiding."

"The devil?"

"Alias Oroku Saki. Or the Shredder," he spat angrily.

"The Shredder?! What? He took over the world or what?" Leo jumped up and demanded with widened eyes.

"Yes, but yo-"

"How? How did this happen?"

"The Kraangs helped him."

"When did this all happen?" he grabbed his head.

"Around thirty years ago."

"Thirty...? What? But..." he began to shook his head. "It can't be."

Leo jumped up and began to walk in circles in the 'living room'.

"What's wrong?" Tequila asked. What has gotten into this kid? he thought wonderingly.

"I have a sneaking suspicion," he said nervously. "Do you know Karai?"

"Of course. Everybody knows her. She's the Shredder's daughter."

"What? She isn't!"

"She is."

Leo's eyes widened in horror. If it was true, then it meant only one thing. The hunch was right, but he couldn't believe it. He just couldn't! Was he... was he in another dimension?


.-I don't own the turtles or the other characters from the cartoon-.

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