I'll Catch You

Mikey's heart beat loudly in his ears as he dodged the Thing that had jumped from the ceiling.

It was a nightmarish Thing, made of smoke and hair and feathers and barely discernable limbs, black except for patches of blue that sometimes shone under the flashlights.

It was three times Mikey's size, minimum.

He didn't even try to find it a name. There are things that shouldn't be named.

The Thing rolled over and rushed towards Mikey again.

Mikey plunged to the side, still yelling. He would have appreciated the possibility more if he hadn't been so close to having a heart attack. Right now, his priority was to get this Thing away from him, and he tried to do that, throwing the end of one of his makeshift nunchucks towards it.

It should have made for an easy target, but it was as if the weapon went right through smoke. The bullet that Leo fired didn't have more luck; it hit the wall, even though Mikey had no doubt that Leo hadn't missed.

Despite its size, the Thing was fast. Mikey didn't know if it was crawling, or floating, or sliding, but it would already have swallowed him whole if he wasn't so fast. Even so, Mikey was less optimistic than usual. The room was large, but not enough that Mikey could avoid his opponent forever.

He wasn't surprised that it was targeting him out of the four of them. Their enemies always did that, as if the universe itself had decided that Mikey was the ultimate bait.

Mikey jumped on top of one of the cages. The Thing followed. It was eerily silent, which did nothing to soothe Mikey's nerves. The waves of despair rolling out of it made matters worse, threatening to shatter Mikey's focus.

At least the pink genie's presence had receded, enough that Mikey didn't need to worry about his physical moves being blocked. Maybe the curse wasn't allowed to cause direct harm to Mikey.

Donnie's flashlight accidentally blinded him, and Mikey avoided the Thing's appendage on mere instinct.

"Sorry!" Donnie directed his flashlight near Mikey. "Are you alright?"

Mikey couldn't answer, but his focus was elsewhere anyway. He had noticed how the Thing had slightly recoiled when the light beam had moved over it.

Mikey wasn't the only one who had noticed the subtle move.

"It doesn't like light," Leo shouted. "Close your eyes!"

Mikey immediately obeyed. He heard the sound of a small item being thrown and felt the explosion of light behind his eyelids. When he could open his eyes again, he saw that part of the Thing had dissipated–and also that it was already reconstituting itself. He took the opportunity to run on the other side of the room, and was completely unsurprised when after a second, the Thing chased him again.

Raph swore. "It's not going to work!"

"It'll buy us time," Leo said. "We need a plan!"

"Maybe if we sent more light at the same time," Donnie suggested.

"Worth a try." Raph jumped out of the Thing's way.

Leo jumped on the other side, so the Thing was roughly between them. "On my count, and remember to close your eyes. Three, two, one, go!"

Mikey felt the difference in brightness. It was so intense that he actually had to turn his head away. It was a good thing that vision wasn't the only sense he could rely on in a fight.

Raph swore again. "Still not enough. How do we get rid of it?"

"If the lighting system was still working…" Donnie sounded more frustrated than panicked. "But I don't understand how it is supplied. This tech is too alien, I'd need more time."

"Too alien? No kidding." Raph had moved to stand next to Donnie. "Another idea?"

"The hoses," Leo said. He was watching Mikey's moves with something that looked like concern.

Which warmed Mikey's heart as he avoided for the umpteenth time to be sliced, or strangled, or knocked out by the ever-changing despair Thing that was after him.

"Yes?" Raph's voice was dripping with sarcasm, a sure way for him to hide all his other emotions. "Would you mind elaborating?"

"Uh, guys?" Donnie said.

Mikey's level of dread instantly increased by half. He knew that tone, and it never bode well.

"I think we have another problem," Donnie added, confirming Mikey's fears.

It turned out that the Thing had friends. Many, many friends. All the animals that had somehow broken free from their cages were pouring inside the room, rushing towards Mikey and his brothers.

The only good news was that they could be hit. Leo was firing bullet after bullet, each one reaching a target despite the darkness, while Raph was using his bare fists with equal efficiency. As for Donnie, he was frantically searching the room and its Kraang-equivalent of cupboards. The three of them were staying in the circle of Leo and Donnie's flashlights. They were out of flash grenades, so distracting the Thing fell on Mikey alone.

Mikey was both avoiding said Thing and fighting with the giant bird that Donnie had called a dodo. It had caught one of Mikey's nunchucks in its beak, and was holding onto it. Mikey tried to use his other nunchick to knock him out, but a combination of the Thing rushing from behind and an atrocious stench spreading in the room forced him to let go of his weapon.

"What's this?" Raph yelled, clearly disgusted.

Mikey was just as curious, and he ran on the cages over Donnie to have a look at it.

"I think it's food." Donnie was talking as if he was pinching his nose. "Rotten food. Maybe it was destined to the animals before they found a way to give them nutrients through this blue liquid. You see, physical bodies need to…"

"Donnie, not the time for a biology lesson," Raph shouted.

"Right." Donnie hurriedly closed the cupboard and opened another one.

Mikey didn't want to criticize Donnie, but he had his doubts about his brother's analysis. He knew what food looked and smelled like, and the contents of this cupboard were nowhere near it.

"And here, I think these are oxygen masks." Donnie took one, oblivious of the fact that a wolf was jumping on him, and would have managed to break Donnie's neck if not for a well-placed Raph punch. "They are of different sizes. Maybe at the start, the liquid couldn't bring oxygen to the animals either." He took a deep breath. "This is amazing. These aliens must have had an experimental protocol, just like we do!"

"Are the masks still working?" Leo asked.

At the same time, Mikey snatched one and put it on. The stench immediately lessened.

"I think so," Raph said, watching Mikey closely. "Give me one."

Leo also extended his arm, and Donnie gave them both an oxygen mask before choosing one for himself.

"Much, much better." Raph's tone sounded more grim than really grateful, but Mikey wasn't going to blame him considering the circumstances.

He actually thought that his brothers were doing great. He didn't know whether they truly were or whether they were hiding the fact that, like Mikey, they were one split moment away from falling into madness.

In the next second, two things happened at once. First, Mikey realized that while he was adjusting his oxygen mask, a rabbit with way too sharp canines had sneaked up on him. And second, a sai was fleeing right towards it, preventing it from actually biting Mikey's leg.

As he ran away from his brothers so the Thing wouldn't be tempted to attack them instead of him, he looked at Raph.

His brother was smiling apologetically at him. "Sorry for borrowing this without asking. I saw you were in trouble and while I love punching, it's not good for longer attack ranges."

You don't need to apologize, Mikey wanted to tell him. Thank you, bro.

"Nice aim," Leo said. "Have you used such weapons before?"

"I… I took lessons when I was younger." Raph sounded confused, as if he had just remembered the memory.

Was the pink genie rewriting his brothers' fake past as events went?

"You could have said so sooner."

"I had forgotten!" Raph yelled at Leo, as if it was Leo's fault.

But it wasn't the right time for explanations. Mikey threw the second sai he was carrying at Raph, who caught if as if he had done this all his life.

Mikey hoped that his brother would realize that something was off, that a few forgotten lessons couldn't give that level of skill.

Leo didn't seem to mind Raph's yelling. He pointed at the device in the center of the room. "I think at least part of the energy these things use are harvested through these hoses. Maybe you could try switching off this device. The hard way."

Raph grinned. "Who knew you could say such nice things?"

"I found pliers," Donnie interjected. "Or close enough. I'll help you."

Mikey refused to think about what the Kraang had been using pliers for, and focused on his own fight. The Thing seemed tireless. Mikey was very enduring, but at some point he would have to pause.

He really hoped Leo's hunch was correct.

Raph and Donnie started busying themselves with destroying the device while Leo was covering them. Despite the sheer destructive power they both held, the device held steady.

"We need something larger and sharper to cut through the hoses," Donnie shouted. "These pliers are too small."

Raph pointed at Mikey. "The swords?"

Mikey didn't need to be told twice. He threw both katanas next to Raph, planting them in the device. They didn't even scratch it, sadly. Raph took one and Donnie the other, and they both started to cut the hoses.

The Thing screeched. The sound seemed to come from a place beyond time and space, and Mikey recoiled. The Thing started to move faster.

At least it's working, Mikey consoled himself as he started running in faster circles. He had goosebumps being so close to it, but it was better than it attacking his brothers.

He glanced at the device. Several hoses were already cut, Raph and Donnie using the katanas like saws, and Mikey glanced at Leo to see if he was objecting to this treatment.

But Leo clearly had other things on his mind.

"I'm out of ammunition," he said, as calmly as if he was asking Mikey to avoid letting his things lying all over the lair's floor right before Splinter was due to inspect their cleaning work.

So a deceptive sort of calm.

At the same time, an alligator snatched away part of Mikey's remaining nunchuck. He had made them as sturdy as he could, but clearly it wasn't enough considering the circumstances.

He grabbed Donnie's bō staff, hoping that his brother wouldn't mind, and triggered the hidden blade inside to try and give a hand to his brothers each time he jumped around a hose.

"We're going as fast as we can!" Raph yelled with an I-might-be-starting-to-panic voice.

"I'll help," Leo said. "Give me that and step back."

Raph gave him the katana he was holding without protest. Maybe it was Leo's no-nonsense tone, or maybe it was the warthog that was currently chasing after Leo.

Leo took the weapon and jumped, leaving the warthog to be Raph's problem. In one swift move, he sliced the remaining hoses.

Raph didn't stop hitting his warthog, but he did spare a glance at Leo. "Nice. You didn't say you could use these either."

"It was part of my training." Leo's feet hit the ground and he turned around to look at Mikey.

And at the Thing that was vanishing into thin air. Only then did Mikey realize the full extent of the pressure the Thing had been applying to his very being. It was like all the hope in the world was reachable again, like things could go right after all.

And then the room started to pitch.

Mikey was happy he wore an oxygen mask, because as soon as the Thing had vanished, the fallen animals had started to emit an overwhelming smell of decay. The remaining living animals were fighting with renewed fury, which would have worried Mikey more if all of his considerable worrying capabilities weren't focused on the fact the room they were in seemed about to self-destruct.

They needed to find an exit, and fast.

The entrance they had used had already collapsed, but there was a door on the other side of the room that might lead them out of here. If they managed to reach it in time. If the rest of the Kraang laboratory wasn't also self-destructing. If they weren't eaten, or bitten, or strangled, or pecked to death in the process.

Mikey needed to stop thinking about ifs.

Leo and Raph were doing a great job clearing a path, but Donnie had trouble with the katana he was holding. He was waving it around with some skill, enough to avoid hurting his brothers with it, but Mikey could see the moment when he would hit something the wrong way and let go of the weapon.

And when it happened, Donnie stood weaponless in front of the hostile crowd until he took the pliers he had found earlier and brandished them, his features set in a mask of sheer determination.

The sight of him facing the hostile crowd of beasts with this tiny item was unbearable to Mikey.

He landed next to Donnie and placed the bō staff in his hand. Donnie looked at him in surprise.

"What are you going to use?" he asked, as if he didn't think Mikey had thought this through.

I have a shell, Mikey tried to say. I can take more hits than you.

Donnie experimentally tried to move the weapon. If the expression on his face was any indication, he didn't expect it to react so smoothly to his touch.

A tiger tried to jump down his throat, and Donnie knocked him down with one well-placed hit.

"You're a scientist full of surprises," Raph panted.

Mikey realized that his currently human brothers were tiring. He redoubled his efforts in helping to carve a path. There was something thrilling about fighting side to side with his brothers handling their weapons of choice, and he hoped he would get to enjoy it for longer than the next thirty seconds.

He barely dodged a maw full of teeth as he stepped aside to avoid being knocked out by a piece of the ceiling. The floor had become slippery, from the blue liquid that leaked from the breaking cages and from other things he didn't want to think about. He was really missing his nunchucks right now. The true ones, the ones he had lost when Donnie had captured him. The ones that were…

…flying right at him, apparently.

Mikey caught the weapons, his mind temporarily blank. They felt real, not like hallucinations would.

"They're yours, right?" Leo said, capturing Mikey's attention. "I guess it wouldn't be fair for you to be the only one without a weapon."

Mikey realized that Leo must have taken them from Donnie's laboratory. He didn't know why, or what Leo had initially intended to do with them.

It didn't matter now. Mikey was starting to feel whole again, and his tiredness vanished as he kept fighting with everything he had.

He would have felt guiltier about the slaughter if he didn't feel in his bones that these animals were way past saving, that all he could do for them now was giving them a quick death.

A large part of the ceiling collapsed right in front of them, cutting their way to the exit. Mikey jumped over the pieces, using his kusarigama to fly over the fighting scene. Away from the flashlights, it was hard to see if the exit was still standing. He had to come closer.

The blast of an explosion deep below him sent him flying. He collided with the wall rather ungracefully.

He didn't know what had happened, but it didn't bode well for the state of the rest of the Kraang laboratory.

Mikey suddenly hoped that the Kraang hadn't been storing mutagen somewhere. The last thing he needed was for his brothers to be touched by a drop of mutagen and mutate again. He didn't want to think about all the combinations that could exist considering they had been in contact with half the animal kingdom of the Earth, but his vivid imagination still provided the pictures.

Mikey groaned and stood up, trying to find grips on the wall to help. As he did so, he accidentally opened one of the cupboards Donnie had been investigating. Instead of supposed rotten food or oxygen masks or pliers, however, a pink triangle appeared behind the door.

Mikey immediately identified it as both a Kraang trans-dimensional portal and the best exit currently available. He turned around and waved at his brothers, hoping one of them would see him.

Then he realized that he was in the shadows, and unless Leo or Donnie's flashlight found him, they weren't going to see him.

So he made his way back to them as quick as he could. The ceiling was collapsing steadily now, and it was becoming harder to recognize the room's layout.

He immediately realized that something had gone wrong in his very short absence. Raph was limping and Donnie was supporting him the best he could while still fighting the few remaining animals.

And Leo was nowhere to be seen.

And Raph and Donnie both had flashlights, which meant Leo had none.

And Donnie was wearing Leo's backpack.

Raph looked at Mikey, his face pinched with pain. "Leo stayed behind. He said he would buy us time. The explosion… It made the animals even crazier, and then there was a pack of wild dogs, and…"

Mikey nodded, as if he understood what Raph was saying.

As if it existed a reality where what Raph was saying could make sense.

Donnie lowered his head, and it was worse than Raph's words.

Mikey wondered whether he would have recognized the light in Leo's eyes, had he been there when his brother had made his decision. He had witnessed him sacrifice himself before, he knew what to look for.

Absent-mindedly, Mikey made quick work of the animals that were still standing. Then he took Raph's flashlight and pointed towards the pink triangle that marked their salvation. Raph nodded his understanding, and both he and Donnie started going this way.

And Mikey didn't follow them. He sat cross-legged on the ground, in this alien place falling to pieces, amongst the destruction and the death and the ruined remnants of one of the Kraang's most ill-advised experiments, and he closed his eyes.

Mikey had never been good at meditating, never liked staying quiet and silent to focus his inner strength. But he hadn't spent the last half an hour fighting his fears and a Thing to leave this place without all of his brothers, and this was the quickest way he could think of to find his missing brother. So close to him, always in his heart, it was a matter of seconds before he found the thread of Leo's spirit.

It was thin and shrouded in pink smoke, and it vanished as soon as Mikey focused on it, but it was enough.

Mikey knew where to go.

He found his brother behind a fallen piece of the ceiling, where Leo was sitting in the middle of sliced corpses. He had both his katanas with him, which meant that he must have picked the second one after Donnie had lost it.

His leg was stuck under part of the ceiling piece, and he was trying to lift it when Mikey landed next to him.

Leo stopped for a second and stared at Mikey. In the dim light, shadows that Mikey didn't recognize were dancing in his eyes.

Mikey knelt next to Leo and started lifting the ceiling piece. With their combined efforts, it yielded, freeing Leo's leg.

"Thank you," Leo said. He sounded tired, both physically and spiritually.

Mikey tried to smile. He couldn't, but he didn't know if it was because the pink genie wouldn't let him or because he didn't really want to smile at Leo, he wanted to yell at him. Or hug him. Or both.

Although he could hug him, because it would be the quickest way to bring him back to the others.

Mikey's arm barely trembled as he coiled it around Leo's waist. He used his kusarigama to fly them towards the exit.

Towards life.

They reached Donnie and Raph right in front of the portal. Both of them were looking at it with suspicion, but Mikey didn't lose time explaining. Still holding Leo close, he pushed both of them in front of him.

They all made contact with the colored surface at the same time, and it sucked them out of this world and onto another.