'Well, this is it.' was what Leonardo thought as he drifted through the gravity-lacking space of the Dimensional Prison.
Leon felt his whole body freeze up at the sight. He remembered this. In fact his family knows this.
Miguel was starting to tear up as Raph pulled him in for a hug in comfort as Donald held Leon by the arm and not letting go but Leon could feel him shaking. April just gritted her teeth as Splinter looked so heart broken.
CJ started to sob and cry softly and Leo just put an arm around him for comfort.
"What... What the shell...?" Raphael gasped in shock. He doesn't know what happened but from the looks of it, the slider was hurt, like bad.
"Oh dudes..." Michelangelo whimpered as he felt sorry for their counterparts.
"This... This is terrible..." O'Neil covered her mouth in shock.
His body ached and hurt, but it felt grounding in a way. Like a physical anchor keeping his mind from floating like how he is floating through the air.
The three Rise brothers were trying not to cry but they couldn't take their eyes off the screen. So this was what Leon had to do to keep... it from escaping...
In his hands, he clutched the worn picture of his family. The one Casey brought with him from the future.
"Leonardo Blue Hamato, you better not die on us...!" Donald hissed pathetically through his tears.
"Hey, it's okay, hermano. I'm still in one piece right?" Leon reassured him but he couldn't help but frown.
Leo watched his younger self solemnly as he kept Casey close. So this was what his past self had to do in order to keep it in the Prison Dimension.
"Um, I hate to add salt to the wound but where is that?" Donatello asked hesitantly as he looked at the Rise family.
"It's called the Prison Dimension. It's where... The Krang were trapped for a thousand years only until recently." Raph said as he held his little brothers close. Their seats changed into a big bean bag.
The picture reminded him why he did this in the first place. A physical reminder that he did the right thing. He had destroyed the world by being reckless.
Leonardo just stayed silent while trying not to clench his hands into fists but how can he? Seeing a younger version of his counterpart in that place just made a cold feeling well up in his gut. It reminded him of his sacrifice to keep the technodrome under water.
Raphael put a hand on his shoulder, knowing what he was thinking. He smiled thankfully towards his hothead brother which he returned.
He had been too arrogant and cocky, and that led to the key being taken and the Kraang coming over to destroy their world. If he had just taken things more seriously like how Raph wanted, this wouldn't have happened. If he had just been better at planning then his brothers wouldn't have gone through all of this pain.
"Leo, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault." Raph said as Leon started to cry.
"B-But it is, Raph... It's my fault! If I just take things more seriously, you wouldn't have been...!" Leon whimpered as he curled up as Raph, Donald and Miguel just held him close.
Donnie and Mickey nearly died multiple times.
That gave the two younger brothers a bad reminder of how the Turtle Tank was almost crushed by those Krang goo.
Donatello and Michelangelo just stared in shock at what would have happened to them if that happened.
Raph was mind-controlled and mutated into a Kraang monster.
Raphael stiffened completely. He felt the urge to scratch his arm due to the memory of being mind controlled by those nasty brain worms. Nasty things.
April and dad fought for their lives and were hunted for having the key.
April and Splinter joined the boys in their hug as April huddled close to her purple brother who was shaking from their whole ordeal.
The entire apocalyptic future that Casey came from.
CJ just looked down as Leo had a silent yet grim look.
All of that could have been avoided if he had gotten the key the first time.
The TMNT 2012 team just watched their counterparts sadly.
If he had done that, then he wouldn't have nearly caused the apocalypse.
If he hadn't lost the key.
If he hadn't tried the key against Raph's orders.
If he hadn't ordered his brothers to infiltrate a Kraang-invested base without a proper plan.
So many things could have gone wrong. So many things could have been worse if they hadn't been lucky.
This just reminded them of the invasion in New York. How they lost their home, how they lost Splinter in the chaos, how Leonardo got permanent throat damage from fighting against the Foot and Oroku Saki, the Shredder.
This? Floating in an endless prison with an enemy trying to kill him? This is the least he could do to make up for his mistakes.
"Anatawa Hitori Janai, Otōto." Raph churred sadly in japanese.
How long had he been floating? Minutes? Hours? He wasn't sure. Pain throbbed all around his body in time with his heartbeat. The tears had dried on his face, leaving a sticky feeling on his cheeks and his eyes burning.
The prison is empty and gray, with remnants of the Kraang's army in pieces around him. Would he survive long here? With no food or water? Would he even survive long enough to worry about those things?
Donatello was about to open his mouth but kept his beak shut. Now's not the time.
The Kraang would hunt him down and kill him.
Leonardo had a bad feeling about the Kraang. Is the kraang of his counterpart's world more dangerous than the ones he and his brothers dealt with?
Maybe it won't be swift. He sounded pissed, beating Leo into a pulp and breaking him further. He might make Leo's last moments pure agony.
Donald had a protective grip on Leon, afraid that he'd disappear again.
Would he last a few days at least? Or would the Kraang be mad enough to only delay his death for a few hours?
He doesn't know. And that scared him. He gripped the photo tighter in his hands, crumpling the paper even more.
He wants his family.
He wants his brothers.
He wants his dad.
He wants someone to just save him.
Tears pricked his eyes again.
"Leo, promise us you won't do that again?" Miguel whimpered as he nuzzled his brother on his plastron.
Leon just sighed and nuzzled the top of his younger brother's head.
"I promise, mi hermano." Leon whispered.
'Though I can't promise that I won't do it again. I might do it again. Just to protect my family.' He thought.
No matter what he had thought while fighting the Kraang- the whole sacrificial martyr act- it wasn't what he wanted. Yes, he chose to sacrifice himself to save the world. But that doesn't mean he is suicidal! He doesn't want to die!
"Sensei, is... Is he gonna be okay?" CJ sniffed as Leo didn't know what to say.
"I don't know, Casey, but I'm sure everything will be okay." He said.
He's trapped in this prison dimension, unable to go home nor escape from this hellscape with his worst enemy. He lost his katanas. He can't portal his way out of here.
That intrigued the TMNT 2012 team. Portal his way out? What did he mean by that?
Nobody can get him without unleashing the Kraang. No one can save him.
But he doesn't want to die here. He's too young! He has so much he wants to do! Places to see! He is too young to die! He hasn't even lived his life to the fullest!
A sob choked him and he clenched his jaw tightly. He can't make a sound. Not while the Kraang is after him. But he wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and cry and let out his grief. Because this is what he was feeling. His chest burns with more than just pain.
Leon just glanced at the screen with a blank look before feeling eyes on him. He looked over to his counterpart looking at him with a sad yet understanding smile? What does that mean? Does his counterpart understand what he felt?
He looked over to his future self and saw him giving the same smile as his counterpart but his face looked like it aged 2 times yet the understanding in their eyes made him smile sadly. Looks like the self sacrifice act runs through every Leonardo. No matter the dimension.
Fear. Anger. Guilt. Sorrow. Grief!
He is grieving for what he lost. He is grieving for his short life.
He won't see his brothers again.
He won't see his family again.
He's alone here. Trapped and alone with no one to save him. He can't save himself without his powers.
"You're not alone, Leo." April said through her tears to give her blue brother a smile which he returned. She's right.
The mention of powers made the TMNT team look at the rise family in curiosity.
Leo blinked. Or can he?
Casey said Mikey had sent him back through time with a mystic portal. He specifically mentioned "magic hands". But their powers are tied to their weapons. He can't make portals without his swords.
"Wait, does that mean you guys have magic powers?" Michelangelo asked in confusion and shock.
The only time they harnessed some type of mystical powers is when they have to defeat Kavaxas.
But could he somehow do it? Somehow open a portal with just his hands?
He wasn't able to do it before.
But maybe- just maybe-
Hope bloomed inside his chest like a flickering candle. He blinked away his tears and straightened up as best he could in a place without gravity. He looks down at the picture in his hands. The smiling faces of his family greeted him. He clenched his hands before taking a deep breath and tucking the picture in his belt.
Leo held out his hands in front of him, taking in the bruises and cuts that littered his arms. His body is so sore that lifting his arms took effort. He wondered if his bones were broken. Some were fractured for sure. That beating was not merciful.
Raph just held Leon close and protectively. He won't let his little brother get hurt. Leader or not, his responsibility as the big brother to protect his brothers comes first.
Still, Leo narrowed his eyes with focus. He gritted his teeth and held his hands out in front of him. He tried to reach into himself, searching for that feeling of opening a portal. His breathing is heavy and made his ribs scream in agony. Still, he tried to focus. He's unlocked his mystic powers before. He's made countless portals before that! It should be easy to reach into himself for his own mystic powers.
"Come on, kid." Leo whispered as he encouraged his younger self.
The TMNT team watched in anticipation. They're silently cheering him on.
Leonardo held his breath. He wanted to help his counterpart on the screen badly as he saw the look on his brothers eyes and saw they wanted to do the same.
Just think of unlocking his powers. Just like the time they saved Raph. Their powers had been locked away but they managed to unlock them. He tried to remember the feeling.
The sheer desperation mixed with determination. That anger- that spite to win against the Kraang. The burst of fire of protective instinct. He could remember the feeling. It was a fire that burst through his body.
"Come on, dude! You can do it!" Michelangelo encouraged the screen Leon.
He tries to remember the feeling of making a portal. The feeling of mystic power flowing down his arms as he cracked open a portal. The brief sensation of falling through a portal he had made. The smell of pure ozone that came with portals along with the sound of tearing through space. He tries to remember those feelings. To latch onto it with the desperation of a dying man.
He might as well be a dying man if the Kraang found him first.
His teeth are clenched so hard in a mix of focus and pain. His breathing is ragged in his own ears. Each breath sent another world of pain through Leo's body, making it harder to focus on the feeling of portal making.
His arms shook. Leo had to stop straining himself before he blacked out from the sheer agony. His injuries were just too painful to ignore. It stopped him from focusing on the feelings he needed to open a portal. Breathing was hard. Moving was harder.
Leo huffed and puffed, clenching his eyes shut to catch his breath and fight against the pain. But that only served to remind him that he was running out of time. With his eyes shut, he could hear the distant sounds of Kraang hunting him down.
The Rise fam felt a cold chill went down their spines at the sound and they prayed to any gods out there to save Leon from the Krang before it's too late!
The metallic joints of his battle armor as he moved through the prison.
'Come on, Nardo! You can do it! I know you can!' Donald thought as everyone watched in anticipation with bated breath.
The crumbling rock as he approached closer. The anger in his tone as he called out for Leo.
Leo shuddered and forced his eyes open. He clenched his jaw and raised his arms again.
'Focus Leo,' he thought. 'Focus. Focus. Open a portal. Open a portal to your brothers. To Raph. To dad. New York. Home.'
Still, no matter how much he strained, thought, and reached inside of himself for his powers, no mystic hands.
A sob lurched inside his chest and he clenched his eyes shut, pushing forming tears past his eyelids.
No no no no no- please.
'Mystic hands. Portal magic. Just something. Anything.'
Still, no familiar 'vwip' of a portal. No mystic magic. No portals.
A desperate sob escaped his mouth and more tears formed in his eyes. He kept his arms out in front of him as he curled into himself as despair clawed its way inside his chest where hope once was. He failed. He can't make a portal without his swords. He can't escape this prison. He's lost. He's trapped. He can't go home.
Miguel started to whimper at the sight of his older brother, helpless and at the mercy of the Krang. He can't watch! He can't watch this but no matter what he tells himself, he can't take his eyes off the screen.
He'll die.
Desperation clawed his chest as he sobbed, his body shaking from both pain and the need to hold in any sound.
He's going to die here.
He doesn't want to die.
Please. Please just anyone.
Someone saved him.
He wishes for someone to save him.
He wishes for someone to help him.
'Why why why why-' He despaired, his body shaking with restrained sobs. 'Please someone- anyone! I'm sorry! Universe- God- whoever is out there- pizza in the sky! Just-! Please someone just save me! I'll be better! I'll do better! I'll be a better brother! I'll be a better leader! I won't play around anymore! I'll take things seriously! No more cocky Leonardo! No more goofing around or not planning ahead or anything like that! I'll do anything-! Just please-! Someone please-!'
O'Neil felt tears in her eyes as Michelangelo was hugging a stuffed toy of Ice Cream Kitty that Sophia gave him.
Leonardo was gripping the armrest of his seat as he looked at the screen helplessly.
Raphael was clenching and unclenching his first to try and keep himself calm. Donatello gripped his arm in anticipation as Jones gulped nervously at the growing tension.
Silence answered him.
His breathing hitched, tears falling down his cheeks.
He's alone.
Floating alone in a gravity-lacking space, waiting for his enemy to catch him and kill him.
He's alone.
'We still have a ninja's greatest weapon, hope.' Casey's voice echoed in his head.
Hope. He wanted to laugh at the irony. He has no hope.
He wonders for a brief moment if future Leo would be proud of him.
Leo smiled sadly. They did save the world but at what cost?
He helped Casey save the world. He made up for his mistake, eventually. Would future Leo be proud of him too? The same way he is proud of Casey?
CJ just sniffed as he remembered Leon's last words.
"Leo, I can't lose you again..."
"Hey, future me would be proud of you. I'm proud of you."
That just made new tears leak in out of the boy's eyes.
With that thought, and the fact that he is in another dimension, is there a possibility another world exists where he wasn't a failure? Where is he actually a good leader? A world where he isn't so cocky and more serious? Would that version of him do better than Leo? Be an actual good leader his brothers deserved?
Probably not. No, both of them would scold him for being such an idiot. He was foolish to lose the key. He was reckless and sent his brothers to the enemy multiple times. He nearly got his brothers, his family, and his friends killed. He nearly sent the world into an apocalypse.
No, they would be very disappointed in him. He doesn't deserve to be saved after what he did.
Despair grew and spread through his body like cold ice.
Still, part of him wishes that he knew what to do. He would do anything to save himself from this. He would do anything to be saved.
He hears something behind him.
Hope slowly filled everyone as they watched in shock, awe and amazement as well disbelief and overwhelming relief.
He slowly turned his head and spotted something orange. Bright orange and crackling.
His eyes widened as he stared at the circular light. A small flicker of something warm cut through the cold ice in his chest.
Mikey?
He turned his body to face the light. He had to squint from how bright the light is against the darkness around him. It was like a star in the night sky. Or light at the end of a dark tunnel.
Miguel started to cry. Not out of sadness but of joy. He remembered this was before he and everyone was brought here.
The bright light cleared up and he could see beyond it. The faces of his brothers stared back at him, eyes wide and expressions a mix of hope and shock. All of them. Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. His brothers. They're fine. They're alive. And they are saving him!
Everyone started to calm down as Leo watched in overwhelmed joy and relief.
Leonardo let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as tears fell from his eyes.
Raphael had a small smile of relief while Michelangelo was full blown bawling his eyes out.
Donatello gave O'Neil a handkerchief with Jones as Leonardo just chuckled softly.
The sight made Leo's own eyes widen further and that hope bloomed into a roaring fire. His eyes lit up blue and sparks trailed down his arms.
He smiled, weak with pain but so full of joy.
"Heh, took you long enough."
"You seriously had time to joke, Nardo?" Donald questioned him but it was filled with fondness as Leon just grinned at him.
Raph reached into the portal with his mystic arm, reaching out toward Leo.
"Holy chalupa..." Donatello gaped. So that's the powers of their counterparts?!
He stretched his hand out to the hand. Raph's mystic hand felt warm against his cold hand, it was almost burning. But at the same time, it was so comforting. Like stepping into a heated room after spending hours outside in the cold.
Everything came rushing. The emotions. The familiar feeling. The hope. The desire to live.
Everything he had felt and struggled to feel came rushing through him like a crashing wave.
It felt like coming home.
Blue sparks trailed down his arms, fueled by the burning hope in his chest.
He hears a horrifying screech behind him and cold engulfed his body once again. He looked down, despite every nerve of his body screaming at him not to. He sees his nightmare.
The Kraang. In all of its metallic, malicious glory.
Miguel let out a cry as Leon froze in fear. You can practically feel the tension and fear in the air as the TMNT Team stared in shock and horror. That's the Krang of that universe?!
It reached out towards Leo and panic rushed through him like an electric shock. All of the negative feelings that he had while floating through the prison shocked his body. It felt like getting an electric shock. It felt like being shot with adrenaline.
All that fear and despair and desperation just came rushing. Thoughts jumbled inside his head, old and new. His desires, his fears, all his wishes, and his sorrow. If the light behind him felt like all the hope in the world, the monster in front of him felt like a nightmare coming to life.
It was like his life was flashing before his eyes alongside the feeling of pure PANIC.
No no no NO!
His body felt like a live wire as blue electricity trailed down his arms. Running on pure survival instinct, desperation, and panic, Leo waved his arm in front of him. All of his thoughts were to send the Kraang away from him. To get rid of the nightmare chasing him threatening to drag him back into darkness after being so close to touching the light. He didn't think, he only reacted.
The Rise family stared in shock by what just happened.
So he was a bit surprised when sparks reached out from his fingers and tore open a blue portal behind Kraang.
He didn't have time to blink before he felt the sensation of being pulled and something purple flying by his head. The purple drill slammed into Kraang and pushed it back into the portal, sending the monster flying away.
"Dude! That's a drill!" Michelangelo exclaimed in shock.
Leo had a faint sensation of Kraang being transported somewhere far in the prison- the other side of it, far far away from him- before he was pulled out of the floating prison.
For a brief moment, his arm- covered in blue electricity- grazed the edge of the portal and it felt like being electrocuted while also having a wrecking ball slam into his head. Or a bullet to the skull. Or a taser to his heart. Or all of it at once.
It was quick and sudden. He doesn't even understand what happened before everything blacked out.
"Leo!" Raph yelled in worry.
"What just happened?!" Miguel yelled in worry.
"Is he okay?!" Donald yelled in a panic.
"Guys, I'm still here and in one piece!" Leon shouted but he couldn't stop the smile that tugged on his lips.
"Hey, Sophia? Isn't that when you kinda kidnapped us?" Donatello asked just as Sophia came back with a flash of light.
"Yup, I did. The next ones will be your future. So calm down, will ya?" She said to the panicking trio who sat down around Leon.
"Hey, theater girl, where are the snacks?" Splinter asked as Sophia just pointed to the table and Splinter went to it and grabbed some popcorn and fizzy orange soda.
Snacks appeared on the laps of everyone and they looked at Sophia in confusion.
"Enjoy." She said before she disappeared again as the next part started.
Story belongs to SkylerSkyHigh on AO3