Tmnt again!

When I read it, this part specifically jumped out at me. I knew I wanted to draw either before or after he got hit, and I wanted to be messy with colors and shapes.

I briefly thought about writing, but I wanted to play to my strengths haha 😅 but I had many ideas about who could be behind this >:] in my mind it’s either multiple government people or someone very large, like Slash… I didn’t wanna draw Slash though -_-

so I kept it kinda vague,, large, humanoid shape.

there’s stuff I wish I’d done differently, but overall I’m happy with this, I don’t draw in comic format often

honestly I spent a little while giving Leo a silly contact photo before I zoomed out and realized it’s not,, very visible 😔

his silly 0.5 to lighten the mood heheh

(Leo probably has an equally silly one of Donnie of course)

Leo told him that it was probably a stray. Mikey insisted that Donnie was hearing things. Raph told him to leave it alone, so they didn't get dragged out of an easy patrol. They all told him, in no uncertain terms, to drop the subject before moving on to their 'important matters.'

The prickle on the back of Donnie's neck told him otherwise. His instincts disagreed firmly with his brothers' assessment. He couldn't get the prospect of being watched out of his head. It was driving him crazy to have an unanswered mystery poking at him.

He needed to know for sure.

So as soon as he saw the barest flick of movement in his peripheral, he'd jumped after it. His brothers were in the midst of a heated debate over the pros and cons of characters, heading into the alleyway below. All they wanted was to head back to the lair.

He didn't have time to drag their shells into gear.

He sprinted with his bo in hand, making it to the shadow's destination.

It had been too far out. There was nothing left to see.

He wasn't going to give up that easy.

Donnie briefly glanced back. His brothers hadn't followed. It would probably take them a few minutes to clue in and longer to catch up.

A moment of deliberation before he calls Leo. He lets it ring, hanging up as soon as his older brother picks up the t-phone. Now they know he's gone, and they have the means to track him.

He wouldn't engage. He'd just take a look. See what they might be dealing with so he can relay the information. Buy his brothers whatever time they need to get their shells over to him.

If it is only a stray, he goes back with his answer.

Then they all go back to the lair a little later, and they have a story to tell Splinter to drill in how responsible they are. No harm, no foul.

He moves silently along the fire escape, hopping to the ground. He stays in the shadows, waiting for any signs of where to go next.

He doesn't hear any more suspicious sounds, but the back door to the building to his right is cracked open. Barely enough to be notable, like someone could have run through, and it didn't close all the way when they shut it behind them.

It's a weak hypothesis. He'd need more proof than that.

He moves towards the door, sticking his bo through and opening it from a distance. He remains pressed against the wall, waiting for some kind of reaction from inside. Nothing at all.

He's beginning to feel a bit silly, walking up to peek inside the building. It looks abandoned. He has no reason to assume it isn't.

Maybe whoever it was had been spooked and already got away.

Maybe no one was there at all.

He forges on. He does a brief scan of the inside of the building using the light from the windows above, adrenaline dying into minor annoyance at the fact that his brothers hadn't joined him by now. He doesn't particularly want to hear their snide comments, but it's concerning that they all must have forgotten how to use the GPS.

Again.

Donnie needs to be the one to find them, then.

Hopefully they haven't gone far.

He pulls out his t-phone to check.

Something large and heavy slams into the side of his skull. He drops onto the dusty floor, choking and swatting when a cloud of it flies up into his lungs and eyes. He hears the t-phone go flying at the same time that the object gets tossed to the side, barely recovering his other senses as something grabs the side of his head and jabs into his neck.

He cries out as he feels the injection go in, shocked when the invading presence removes itself from his vicinity just as fast.

His hand goes up and cups the injection sight, mind rapidly trying to catch up with the turn of events.

He needs to get up. He needs to get out.

His head is pounding as he attempts to rise, only for his vision to violently swim and his suddenly weakened muscles to fail him. He lands hard, reaching out, but he can't spot his staff. He thinks someone is talking, but the mix of the unknown drug and his new splitting headache is blurring the words beyond recognition.

He hears the familiar tune of the t-phone.

It knocks something into gear, and he manages to get onto all fours.

It's kicked away from him, a blurred mass of green flying into one of the spots of light before stopping. It's still ringing.

He's knocked onto his carapace, forced to stare up at the roof. He's finding it hard to breathe, desperate to believe that it's because of his crushing panic. Everything goes silent.

His skull is thick with fog, and he's having trouble clinging to reality. He tries to make out who's standing over him, but all he gets in return is a disorienting nausea. He focuses on breathing.

The t-phone rings cheerily, hazy and distant.

He flails the hand and Leo cackles before Donatello suddenly turns on him with a vengeful air. It occurs to him that he might want to move. He's too late.

Grabbing him by the back of his carapace, Donatello manages to get a swift enough hold to throw him to the ground. With vengeance, he then wipes the spit-infested palm over his arm.

"EYY!" He kicks and shoves until he's flailing on his side. He rubs his scales against the rocks to get some off. "What's wrong with you?!"

"You started it!" Donatello wipes his hand on his plastron. "So gross- I need hand sanitizer."

"I need body sanitizer! You ruined my whole body!"

"Firstly, that's called body wash. Secondly, that was not your whole body. Thirdly, it's your spit! I just gave it back!"

"That is not how that's supposed to work!"

"Maybe not where you come from." Donatello crosses his arms and smirks. "But where I come from, that's called payback."

"Oh-ho, I'll show you payback-!"

His plan was to tackle the turtle and spit a nice glob of revenge spit onto his forehead. He ends up getting about halfway to his feet before his shell twinges with a nice, agonizing flash of pain that sends him to his knees. A moment later, Donatello is at his side, a hand on his shoulder as he tries to get a look at his face. "Leon? What happened?"

"My shell happened," His smile feels more like a grimace. "We haven't been getting along too well since I let a giant alien robot beat it into the ground."

"I'm with your shell on this one," Donatello runs a hand over it. Leon shudders at the touch, uncomfortable with the fingertips over the cracks. He feels like the wrong amount of pressure will have him coming apart like those rock-egg-caterpillars. "This is something a simple apology won't fix. Thankfully, the cracks don't go too deep. As long as you don't repeat the same mistake, they shouldn't get worse."

"How about getting better?"

"In these conditions with possible internal injuries?" His tone is dry. "I'd be glad you're not hacking up blood. Pain is manageable, organ failure isn't."

"Pain is manageable with pills," He mutters, miserably. "Of which we have none."

"Pain is a nerve response. As long as you're in pain, it means things aren't as bad as they could be. Which is always the good outcome."

He tucks himself under Leo's arm to help him to his feet. Leo squints at him. "Does that nonsense logic actually work for you?"

"Sometimes," Donatello smiles sheepishly. "It's more of a mindset thing. When things aren't as bad as they could be, that means they can get better."

"Sounds like a bumper sticker."

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, it's my aspiring career choice. Bumper sticker designer. I'm chocked full of inspirational quotes."

"And sarcasm."

"Get up. We have ground to cover."

"Uh, no?" Leo tugs away from him. Donatello looks genuinely surprised. "Why not? You didn't waste all your power again, did you?"

"My ninpo's fine," He drops his weight, and Donatello crouches with him. "But I can't help but notice that we have a perfectly good hideout and one of us has yet to sleep in it."

"I already sle-"

"No." Leo slaps up at the bottom of his chin so he stops talking. "That doesn't count. Basically a coma. And I'm not going anywhere until you take your turn."

Touching the area he barely hit, Donatello whines, "But I did!"

"Agree-" He crosses his arm. "-to disagree."

"Why does everything need to be difficult with you?!"

"It's one of my greatest strengths," He juts out his chin smugly. "Now, how about you make this easy on the both of us-"

"Hold it right there," Donnie shoots back. "You do not have the upper hand here. We both know that if I get up and walk away, you're perfectly capable of stalking after me."

"I don't know about-"

"So if you would rather walk, that's fine with me." He stands up, looking down with a judgemental eye ridge raised, smirk at the corner of his mouth as Leo gawks. "But I don't have any interest in playing your games."

"I can poof you back here!" He waves his arms furiously. "I will!"

"Then do it! Oh wait!" The smug look grows. "It's not something you can do on command, is it?"

"Is too!"

"Good then. Now's your chance!"

"I'm injured!" Leo whines as he strolls away. "You're really going to leave me here?!"

"Either walk or teleport!" He keeps going. He even has the audacity not to look back. "Doesn't hurt me either way!"

Leo watches as he reaches the end of the island and jumps off of it. This time he does look back once he reaches the other side, offering a sly little bow, and then he keeps walking.

Leo's puffs his cheeks in fury, exhaling the air in a growl, refusing to give in to the obvious ploy. Donatello wins if Leo caves like his ninpo is urging him too and pops to his side. He ignores the growing urge as his companion becomes smaller and smaller in the distance, even though he's going to reach a point where Leo can't see him anymore, and even if his ninpo is pulsing with continuous reassurances, he's not going to be sure that he's okay if he can't see him.

But Leo can't go to his side to find out, because that would mean that he wins, and if he wins, then Leo loses, and Leo never loses, even when it seems like he does. No. Leonardo Splinterson is no loser.

Leo brings both his hands to his chest. He can do this.

He certainly tries to, but no matter what he does, he can't reach that feeling. The one that burned in his chest when Prime took Donatello away, or the smaller one that lit up when he'd taken himself to one of the islands below a falling Donatello and brought him safely down. He doesn't understand why he can't do this on command. He needs to be able to do it on command. He doesn't have the time for weeks and weeks of practice that led to him being able to teleport with his swords- he needs to be able to do this now.

He needs to be able to do this, or his continued string of failures will be the reason that he loses the only other person that he has left.

His heart skips a beat. His ninpo pulsates.

Abruptly, Leo can feel it. A dizzying rush of relief. Of pride.

Got him now.

He reaches for the sensation and tugs.

A thud has his heart racing and then- "Oh, SEWER APPLES!"

Leo opens his eyes, bringing a grin to his face. "Told you."

"I thought you couldn't do it on command?!"

"You thought wrong." He swishes his mask tails over his shoulder at the frustrated scowl. The pounding of his heart loses steam. "No, I thought right and you figured out how to prove me wrong."

"Tomato potato."

"Those are two different vegetables."

"I think a tomato's a fruit, actually."

"Leon!"

He flutters his eyelashes. "Yes?"

"Why are you fighting me on this?! I thought we were on the same page!"

"And what page would that be?"

"You said my focus wasn't on survival enough so I changed direction! Now we've ate some! And we're not going to be able to eat more until we find another island with rockerpillars who don't know our tricks!"

"Is this reaaally about rockerpillars or is this about finding your back door home?"

A huff. "I don't see your point since those goals can effectively work in tandem with one another."

"I've made my point clear. I'm not going anywhere until you take a nap."

"I don't need one."

"Did you chill at all when I was down?"

"I didn't have time! I had a plan to reconfigure!"

"Now you have time."

"No I don't!"

"Oh, but you do."

He throws his hands over his face and groans loudly into them.

"You can sleep there if you want. Or we could go back to the cave. Either works for me."

"I don't have time for this."

They're at a standstill. Leo's haunty air falters a bit when he realizes that the turtle has no immediate desire to comply in the slightest, staring miserably into the distance after his hands lower.

He's going to need another approach.

He drags himself to his feet and walks over to his companion.

Donatello rekindles some of his glower as Leo crouches and sticks a hand on his chest. They transport back into the cave. He stares down as the bitter turtle complains, "You shouldn't be wasting your ninpo like this."

"Says the turtle who told me to use it not five minutes ago." He sticks a finger on his forehead above his beak. Donatello's eyes follow it, making him look somewhat cross-eyed. "Now, as far as we know, you're a Donnie and I'm a Leo, which means between the two of us, one turtle is supposed to be the leader, and the other isn't. Logically."

He gives him a knowing look, dramatically pausing for added effect.

Donatello squints up at him, confirming. "…Right."

"So I'm the one who gets to make the plans." He informs superiorly. "And my plan involves us both leaving this dank cave. But first step's first, and you need to sleep. And not a comatose one. A normal, everyday nap."

"On a rock floor."

He can't help the slanted smirk, "I did it. You can too."

Donatello looks at the wall, gears turning, before looking back. "But afterward, we get to keep moving? You won't give me a hard time?"

"It's my plan." Leo dismisses as he stands up. "Why would I give my genius a hard time?"

"You're the genius," He repeats sardonically. "Sure."

Leo goes to the end of the cave to give him some room. He sits on the very edge, overlooking the long drop beneath them. Donatello shifts several times behind his carapace, probably trying to get as comfortable as one can be on a rock bed.

Hopefully some rest will help the limp he's failing miserably to hide.

Leo won't put up a big fuss about it now, but after this win, he'll see if he can get more and get yet another stubborn Donatello to let him see how the wound on his leg is doing.

He's not going to stop trying to keep moving. Leo can't afford for his ninpo to become their only source of travel. He's not an infinite pool. He doesn't think so, at least. He can tell the connection is different than it was with his brothers, and if Donatello won't let him connect again, if he's right about it being able to run out…

His ninpo stirs unhappily, sparking blue around his fingers.

Neither of them wants to go back to that emptiness.

He closes his eyes and his fist.

If he has to break the agreement, he will. But not now.

Now, he needs to come up with a plan to keep Donatello satisfied.

He can't trust him to stick around for the sake of it. Leo needs to be around in case anything happens. Donatello doesn't understand- the connection must feel different for him, somehow. Or maybe he's too new to this. He doesn't know what it's like to be without it.

Leo can't go through that again.

He won't let any version of Donnie go through it either.

To add onto that, Donatello's too concerned about what they left behind. He doesn't understand that they're both all they have left.

Leo has to give him another reason to stay close, play into his needs so he won't feel like he has to fight him. Eventually, Donatello is going to come to terms with their situation. Even if it takes a while, Leo needs to buy him some time. He has to come around. He has too.

Leo just needs the right plan.

A foolproof one to keep him from getting away again.

"Are you sure you want to be walking?"

"That's the last thing I want to be doing," He smirks as he grabs his elbow, stretching an arm behind his head as much as he can without intolerable pain. "But unless you've got a silk sheet bed and a masseuse hiding in that belt of yours, I'd like to get back to a dimension that allows safe sixteen-hour naps with maximum comfort available."

"I wish," Donatello grumbles as he rubs the last of a visibly poor sleep from his eyes. He doesn't look very rested, but either he was a master of lying still and breathing evenly for periods of time, or he'd gotten some level of sleep in. "But I'm glad you've decided to get on board with the idea now. Wish you'd done that hours ago."

"What's not to be on board with?" Leon responds smoothly, rolling the shoulder that is choosing the worst time to go stiff on him. "Still think it's a long shot, be-tee-dubs. But it's better than sitting around here twiddling our thumbs."

Staying in one place is the best way to get found. Leo doubts there's anything in this place that they want to find them.

"You'll never make the shot if you don't take it."

"Oooh, more bumper stickers? You're on a roll."

He gets a mild deadpan, and he shoots a wink with a finger gun. "So we gonna get this 5K started, or what?"

"So what do I call you?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do I call you?" Leo insists, doing a little twirl on one leg only because he knows that the turtle walking behind him will panic at the sight. They're walking across a long, very thin expanse of rocks between two connecting islands. He's more concerned about how Donatello is handling it with his bad leg. "Can't be Donnie. That's my Donnie's. It'll get too confusing."

"I don't know," He's frowning, standing up from the panicked crouch that he hurries into every time he thinks Leo's going to fall. "Don?"

"Nah, I'll still think of him. He's got a lot of nicknames, actually. All deserved. Maybe I'll stick with Donatello. Cool with that, Donatello?"

"Donatello is Master Splinter's name for me." Donatello has his arms out, scowling when Leo spins to walk backwards. "If we're being picky, I'd rather you didn't."

"Who's being picky?"

"Could you turn around?"

"Why? I haven't fallen yet."

"Your inclusion of yet tells me you know why."

"Psaw, I've got this. Don't sweat it, big Don."

"Big Don?!"

Apparently, that's a no-go. "'Cause you're so tall!"

He resumes walking forward. Big Don whines, "I don't want to be reduced to my height!"

"I don't think reduced is the right word here, Big Don."

Evidently, Big Don disagrees, because he stomps down so hard that he unbalances himself, slips off the side, and falls with a screech. Leo jumps after him and teleports them safely to the other side.

"I like Dee-Dee." Leo says through the hand on his mouth. Dee-Dee hisses for him to be quiet as a creature covered entirely in spikes and Krang mass slowly moves across the top of the rock in the distance. It's headed for its small herd. Leo impatiently waits for them to disappear so the hand will leave before eagerly repeating, "I like Dee-Dee."

"You sound like you're addressing a toddler."

"Noooooo."

"Donnie is fine, Leon."

"It is not! I will find something that suits you!"

"Lower your-"

A spike creature rolls in front of them and then pops out of the ball with a tongue-tentacled, sharp-teethed, inhuman, furious shriek.

They scream and scramble to their feet, darting in the opposite direction. Either the sound or their movement attracts the rest.

The pack follows after like sicced dogs.

They don't stop moving until they lose them.

"We have to keep going," Dee-Dee says nervously. "If Krang somehow saw what any of those creatures were seeing, then he'd know where we are. We have to keep making distance."

"Hey, I'm not even a lick tired. I could do this all day." Leo dismisses as he catches his breath. "Just thought if yoou want to rest that leg of yours…"

"My leg is fine," He scans the distance. Leo knows that's a blatant lie. He's been slowing them down long before their spiky creature encounter. Not that he cares all that much about how much ground they travel. It's Dee-Dee who thinks there's something out there to find. "It'll be a lot worse if we run into the Krang again."

He's not wrong about that.

Leo straightens his posture. "So which way now, boss?"

"I was hoping we'd find something by now," He admits as his tone drops closer to a whisper. "A ship, a hide-out, a mystic totem- anything."

"Doesn't seem like the Krang took very good care of anything in here." Leo admits, glad that he has some idea of what they're supposed to be looking for. "This place is a dump. Bet they didn't find it this way. Bet they stuck the Krang in here and they just-" He mimics an explosion that turns into more explosions with his hands. "I can't believe that guy was all mehmehmeh I'm a gift to the world mehmehmeh. If he can't take care of this dimension place, why would anyone want him hanging in theirs?"

Dee-Dee seems to be considering something, "…'Find it?' I thought you said they were trapped here."

"They were." He agrees. "But, you know, the guys who made the key must have found this place somehow."

"Wait- wait- wait-" Dee-Dee pats the air with one hand with each word as he faces him. "You mean this place wasn't made through mystics?"

"Could have been," Leo turns his hands around each other in explanation. "Or, you know, made into a prison. By super sorcery guys or whatever. I think. I dunno."

"So it already existed?" Dee-Dee presses. "But they just… altered it? Because I could have sworn you said…" He trails off, and Leo scoffs, "I say a lot of things, okay? Best results usually come from not listening to me. Ask any of my brothers."

"But you're the only source of information that I have!" Dee-Dee insists, voice pitching near the end. "I need you to be straight with me, Leon! We are not going to have a repeat of the vines!"

Leo crosses his arms at the uncomfortable reminder, throwing his head to the side, voice dry and uncaring. "Jeez, anyone ever teach you not to hold a grudge?"

"A gru-?!" A foot stomp. "Look, all the information that you have could be detrimental to getting us out of here. If you're mixing it up or holding back, I have no way to source check. I can't afford to trust your word and have it bite me in the shell. You need to take this seriously."

"No, what I need is for everyone to stop telling me I don't take things seriously." Every inch of his body suddenly feels bristled and tense. "Pop told us the story one time! I can't remember everything everyone's ever told me." He leans forward mockingly. "I'm not the neeerrd."

"It's about communication!" Dee-Dee touches his chest insistently. "I know what you know and vice versa! It doesn't matter how small, meaningless, or unimportant- it matters and I need to know!"

"I can't tell you everything." Leo points out coolly. "I mean, I could, but you'd get pretty tired of me describing every rock I see in here."

"That's not-" He makes a seething, growling sound, slapping a hand against his forehead. "Forget it. Forget it! At this point, I'd be better off figuring this out on my own!"

Panic surges to his throat. "On your- but we're a team!"

"Really? Then why is only one of us acting LIKE IT?!"

Leo turns away so he doesn't have to meet the fury in the stare, keeping him in his peripheral vision. This isn't working.

He's losing him already.

He's losing him, and he's not even entirely certain why.

Because he's not spilling his guts? He can't tell him everything. If he knew everything- everything that he did, everything he caused- no way he'd want to stick with him. If his team couldn't even trust him not to end the world, why should anyone else expect anything less of him?

Think, think, think. He needs to reevaluate.

What does he know?

His original assumption had been wrong. This was a Donatello, one who didn't come from his world and didn't have a stalker's insight into him or his family. He's been proceeding like he has- but that's the wrong call. Mayhaps that's why he keeps running into a wall?

Okay, reorienting then. This Donatello? Clueless. Best source of information came from a brother who isn't here and… him. Donatellos run on their facts. Explanations are their safety net. They need to make one, and he has nothing else to use- so... he's looking to Leo for the facts. He thinks Leo has the facts.

To him, everything Leo says could be fact.

And he has no way to find out otherwise.

Main problem: Leo'd severely messed up already, being so upfront about his suspicions. He'd given himself a bad reputation.

But he can fix this. He just has to change the perspective.

Reoriented. A Donatello needs to feel like he has a safety net. He needs his data points. And... Leo doesn't need to tell him everything.

All he needs to do is give Dee-Dee the right data to focus on.

If he can't mold a better reputation, he might as well resign from his status as a world-class face man. Dee-Dee is looking for a little give, so Leo'll give a little. Easy peasy.

"-really don't think I'm asking for that much from-"

"You know what I think?" He whirls back around, hands on his hips. "I think you are exactly right, mi amigo. You gotta be able to trust me."

He strolls up to him, taking in the startled expression and breaking into his personal bubble to alter his focus. He steps back as Leo smiles, leaning forward, head tilted, "So from here on out, complete sharing. I'm an open book. Anything you need to know, and I'm your man!"

He rocks his body back onto his heels. Dee-Dee blinks a few times, catching up, before he asks, "Is this... Is this real?"

"Sure it is," He smiles, hands cupped in front of him, picture of innocence. "We're both in this very messed-up boat together, right? No point in lying to each other. That's how turtles die. And I don't want to die, do you?"

"Well- No, obviously I-i don't-" He awkwardly tries to find his footing, "uh- um, I mean, thank you. I think. Glad you're- thinking clearly- It's… Quite a turnaround-"

"Hey, I thought about it and, for once, I wasn't right. Crazy world! Besiiides, a guy's gotta have the maturity to admit he was wrong. And I... was so in the wrong." He bows his head, hands over his heart, counting slowly to seven before snapping his fingers to come back to life. "So! You want to know about the Krang."

He turns him around to push him to continue forward. They really shouldn't be standing still when the Krang is on the prowl.

Dee-Dee stiffens, but curious eyes are studying him, less concerned by the sudden manhandling. "I don't know much but I do know what dad and future kid have told me and it's not a pretty-"

"Future kid?"

Leo grins, "Excellent place to start! Okay, so get this-"

"I still can't believe that it got so bad that they had to send someone all the way from the future just to stop it." Dee-Dee muses as they carefully move around the spikes plunging out from the ground across the island. They're curved, branching from the bottom, not quite dangerous enough to take out an eye, but sharp enough to snag the skin off their legs if they move too fast.

Leo stops moving to gesture around them, "Is it really so crazy to imagine?"

"I didn't say it was crazy…" Dee-Dee grumbles as he cautiously maneuvers around a thick patch. "Our Kraang were bad, but at least their dimension seemed well-maintained… This Dimension X didn't stand a chance…"

"Run that by me again?"

"It's a private dimension that may have existed before the Krang were trapped in it and these sorcerers had to somehow wrangle all the invading Krang into it." Dee-Dee responds knowingly, "So either they had an insane transportation trick up their sleeves that your Splinter should've informed you of before letting you go off and take them on, or most of the Kraang were already in here, and the sorcerers managed to transfigure it into a prison and lock the door before they had a chance to get back out."

"So this was like… their home?"

"Your Splinter said that they wanted to enslave the masses right?" Dee-Dee says it so nonchalantly that Leon pauses mid-step to squint at him. "Our New York got enslaved when the Kraang mutated the people and took them all to their Dimension X so they could claim the city and rewrite the planetary-"

"Ah-ah-wait-" Leo says as his arms flail to keep him balanced. Was Dee-Dee's world one where they won? "When Krang mutated New York and took them to Dimension X?!"

"Yeah, but we fixed it." Dee-Dee reaches the edge, tilting his head to judge the distance of their next jump. "And if your Krang are anything like our Kraang, then they probably had something similar in mind for you. Bring you back to the home base while they do whatever they want with your planet. A home base, which I'm guessing was here."

Leo's moving fast to catch up with him, tripping on nothing after he passes the last spike, and ramming into Dee-Dee's carapace. His companion gives him a raised eye ridge in return.

He uses the position for support, catching his breath and leaning against it. "You're- telling me- they got you guys?!"

"Well, not us." Dee-Dee dismisses. "We evacuated New York and went up to North Hampton to recuperate after…"

He pauses for a long moment, and Leo peeks up to get a look at his sad eyes, before they glance back to him. He shrugs him off and steps forward, grabbing Leon's arm and then leaping them to the other side.

Leo could recognize that hazy look anywhere. Even when he was a toddler, unable to put a name to it, he knew it meant something was hurting inside.

He decides not to press the matter.

It seems like Dee-Dee only uses their breaks as an excuse to make himself miserable. All he ever does is flick through photos.

Leo holds his phone and stares at the app.

He turns it off.

Dee-Dee asks, "How did the Foot get the key?"

Leo's gut drops, but his face is passive. "Come again?"

He turns off the shelled phone and looks over. "That part about it getting stolen. One thing isn't adding up. I thought the mutants stole it. How did the Foot get their hands on it? Are they affiliated?"

"Oh- that. That's uh, it's not really important?"

"So you know how it happened, then."

"What? No."

His eyes darken. "Leon."

Leon cringes. He needs to get himself together. "There was a, um. Incident. Not worth taking about."

"Sharing, remember?"

Damage control! Think! "Okay, okay, there was a-a fumble. With it. It got away from us. And to them."

"A fumble?"

"There was- There was supposed to be an intercept and Raph- didn't catch it. They did. He... Lost the key. Raph did."

"Oh," Dee-Dee says quietly. "No wonder he jumped in front of you. He must've felt so guilty. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for him to agree to let you go through the portal after-" 

It has more bite than he wants it to. "Can we not talk about this."

His eyes round in surprise before softening remorsefully. He nods, ashamed, "We- Yeah. Obviously. My bad. I shouldn't of- you're right. I'm sorry. I won't ask again." 

Leo scrubs at his burning, hazy eyes. 

Dee-Dee keeps his word.

"How come you keep saying Krang weird?"

Leo swings from one strange, wavy piece of rock to another. The funky gravity helps an immense amount, but every swing is one wrong torso twist from stabbing pain. As he found out the hard way. Close enough to hear, Dee-Dee leapfrogs nearby, moving through the air as he gives him a strange look.

"I'm not saying it weird."

"Yes you are- you keep saying, like, Kraaing."

"You mean Kraang?"

"Yes! That! Why is it accented?"

"It's not accented. That's what my Kraang are called. Kraang."

"It's Krang."

"No, your Krang are Krang. My Kraang are Kraang."

"Legit I cannot tell if you are messing with me right now…"

"If I have to make eye contact with one more skull, I might lose it," Dee-Dee shudders as he abruptly trains his eyes downwards. Leon peeks around him, musing, "Maybe these are all the bones an' stuff of all the aliens they brought back here."

"That's terrible," Dee-Dee snaps, "All of this is terrible."

"What?" He smirks, putting his thumb and pointer finger in an L shape and pretending to admire their surroundings. "Scenery not working for you? I think the grey really brings out the ominous-death-vibe that I beat they were going for."

Dee-Dee puts his hand down and tosses another few Rockapillar pieces into his mouth. "We need to locate a water source."

"Was thinkin' the same thing." Leo agrees intelligently. "But I don't know much about huntin' for water sources. Even New Jersey had tap water."

"The most I know about collecting water involves dirt or rainwater. I haven't done much research on purely rock landscapes… And, Mikey never mentioned water sources. I saw him drink once, but it was, um…" His face screws up in a way that has Leo incredibly tempted to pry. "It wasn't water. And there don't seem to be any of those here, so that leaves us with…"

"The vines," Leo rolls the rockapillar ball around his fingers. "They were slimy and stuff. They gotta be getting wetted from somewhere."

"If that is a word, it really shouldn't be. Besides, I'm not going back down there to find out how."

"Samesees."

"The vines were…" He leans forward, brows furrowed. "…mmm, they came from inside the rocks. Do you think there's somehow water stored in there?"

"Caves are pretty wet places."

"I don't want to go exploring a cave after that whole tunnel experience."

"Might be the only way."

"I was afraid you'd say that…"

They had spent a solid amount of time avoiding caves until that point, but this time it's Leo that goes striding in and Dee-Dee who follows reluctantly after. He really, truly, deeply did not want to be in this dark, possibly never-ending, maybe trauma-infested dark mouth of rock, but his companion seemed to need a bit of hand-holding on this one, and Leo was nothing if not excellent at taking leaps of faith so others don't have too.

His phone light is very firmly on because there's no way he'd be risking it without a handy-dandy light source, and it takes a couple minutes, but eventually his companion inches closer to match their steps.

"We feeling any better about Dee-Dee?" Leo asks brightly, keeping his voice reasonably low. Dee-Dee shoots him a tired look. If his throat and head didn't ache so much, Leo might be insistent upon a nap break. Sad to say, drinking is a relatively life-or-death pressing need. "Are you really still on this?"

"Everyone needs a name."

"I have one."

He makes a so-so motion. "Eh,"

"Making me prefer it when you thought I was lying."

"I am all for going back to Donatello."

"I don't like the way it sounds out of your mouth," Donatello crosses his arms, muttering. "Sounds wrong."

"Oh?" He accuses with a narrowed stare. "And what's so wrong with the way I speak?"

"Nothing, just the way you say my name." Donatello sighs. "Master Splinter…" There's a brief pause. "I'd rather you didn't, okay? I thought you wanted my vote on this."

"Would be nice if you offered me a little something to work with here…"

Leo can tell that they both hear the sound at the same time because of how still Dee-Dee goes beside him. They exchange a brief look, and Leon's blade comes out at the panic in his eyes, lowering it to his side. He keeps the swirling ninpo inside so the light show will be at a minimum and says, "Stay here."

"What?" Dee-Dee hisses. "No, I'm coming with you."

"You're the one Krang wants. If that's him-"

"I'm not leaving you alone with that creep if it is him."

There's a stare-down of locked jaws and stubborn glares before Leo slumps his shoulders with a dramatic, air-through-teeth sigh. "I'll let you come but you better not make me have to save you again."

"You have not saved me that many times."

"Oh, I've so got you outnumbered in the saving department."

"It's not a competition." Dee-Dee fires in return, but Leo notices that he doesn't start moving until he does first. Either because he's plotting to use Leo as the mutant sacrifice, which is totally a Donnie thing to do, or this has something to do with that whole 'aren't you the leader' panic that happened back with the vines. Which would explain why he waited around to argue instead of ignoring him entirely to do what he thought was best, which would be more of a Donnie thing to do. Strange.

Leo dims the light a considerable amount and then they peek around the corner. They get a glimpse of a large, blue scaly tail before it disappears into the massive hole after the body.

Leo looks up. Dee-Dee looks down.

"Not this cave."

"Definitely not."

Leo transports them to the opening.

The investigate a few more caves, but most of them either have drop points that neither of them feel like going into after the last one, or they are crawling with creatures with glowing eyes. Leo's running theory is that they hide so they don't risk stumbling into any Krang's blood-red spotlight, and if the turtle's rambling is anything to go on, Dee-Dee's thinking along the same lines. It's hard to tell when every normal sentence is interrupted by a big word. What is a tapetum lucidum and why does it sound like the most made-up word ever? It can't possibly be English. Or Spanish. Could it?

"Tu hablas español?"

"No."

"I'm getting mixed messages…"

"I've saved a couple Spanish speakers in my time. I know a few phrases. But overall, no, I can't speak the language."

"So you only speak English?"

"English, some Japanese, but Leo's the only one remotely fluent in that. Master Splinter wanted us to be more in tune with our heritage, but when you're surrounded by the American culture and you can't interact with the Asian community above, you pick up on more things from the tv and the books you read. I think Master Splinter was happy enough that we moved from turtle communication to one that he understood that he didn't try to force us to adapt."

"So how long's that been going on?"

"Me speaking English?"

"Already moved on. Every time you talk about your dad you call him 'Master Splinter.'" He gives them air quotes with his fingers. "What's that about?"

"Nothing? What do you call yours?"

"Dad- Daddy-o- Pops-" Dee-Dee gives him a baffled look, like somehow all of those perfectly usual paternal names were somehow abnormal. "Maybe Splints-mister-supreme on a really chill day. But Master Splinter? That's, like..." He trails off, thinking about black and red cloth and torn posters. "He makes you call him that?"

"No." Dee-Dee scoffs as he runs fingers along the wall. "It's a sign of respect for our Sensei. Duh. Not surprised that you wouldn't know the meaning of such a word."

Leo ignores the jab, "Have you ever called him dad?"

"No." Dee-Dee shrugs. "Papa, sure, when I was younger. Maybe Father, once or twice. I don't really count."

He pushes on, because his confusion is valid, and Dee-Dee's might need someone trained in the physiological field to sort through. "Why not?"

Dee-Dee faces him, bewildered. Or maybe it's the flashlight that he made direct eye contact with scrunching his face. He looks away, rubbing his eyes, "Why don't I count?"

"Why is he your master and not your dad."

"He's both." Dee-Dee blinks a few times. "He's my teacher and my father. He gave us our chance at life and then taught us how to survive." That time, it was definitely a disgruntled look aimed at him. "And I don't like what you're implying."

Leo put his hands up. "Not implying anything. Not me."

"Don't you consider your Splinter to be your Sensei?"

"He's... Not really a Sensei type?"

"He didn't teach you the art of your clan?"

"He did once. Kinda stripped us of everything that made us an awesomely amazing ninja team, so we dropped that. We stick to the movies now."

"Movies?"

"Lou Jitsu movies. It's where we learned our best moves."

"...And that... Makes sense. To me."

"Comes with the territory of being living weapons."

"You consider yourself to be living weapons?"

"It's what goat man made us for."

"…I have so many questions."

"Good. My turn for story time! Once upon a time- see how easy that is?- there were four tiny adorable innocent little turtles-"

They've ditched another cave as Leo finishes his totally completely indubitably one hundo percent accurate story.

He walks backwards, fingers entwined behind his head, as Dee-Dee cups his chin contemplatively. "So let me get this straight. He kidnapped Splinter to use his DNA to make mutant warriors. Splinter broke out. Took you up to the city, and then down to the sewers. And just... Let you live as outcasts for years? While an entire city of- Yokai beings lived within his easy portal reach?"

"He kept us up on the surface to keep us away from the crazy evil warring warrior."

"So to keep you safe from the single mad scientist that lived in the Yokai world, he let you run amok in the surface world where hundreds more scientists would be more than willing to rip you apart merely for existing if they ever laid sights on you."

"But they didn't."

"But-!" Dee-Dee knocks his fist against his lips, looking down to the ground. He looks up. "There was a whole world. Where you could have been normal. For so many years. You could have been normal. Free to live like a person. Isn't that- doesn't that bother you?"

"Uh, no?" He gestures to himself. "This whole situation never bothered me. Humans are easy to fool. And we break into all kinds of places at night. Skip the lines and the expensive checks. We don't even spend that much time in the Hidden City anyways."

"You DON'T?!"

It's Leo's turn to look baffled. "What? You thought we'd have- like- moved there?"

"It's- you- you'd finally-" He laughs, high, running a hand over his head. "It's a place that'd accept you. You could go to school! Get a job!"

"Why would I want to do either of those things?"

"Go to the mall! A library! A movie theater! Museums and arcades and restaurants- how can you not understand. Don't you see how lucky you are?"

"I do all those things. Did all those things." Leo swallows thickly. "Just, you know, mostly after dark when nobody's around. Being a mutant is way more fun. No one cares what you do or where you go- besides, New York is my home. Why would I want to leave?"

The shaky smile has dropped, and the two turtles stare at one another.

Dee-Dee's shoulders droop. He brushes past Leo without a word.

He follows after, "You gonna tell me what that's about?"

"We should focus on our mission."

"I don't want you to be pouty the whole time."

"I am not pouty."

"Grumbly, then."

"I'm fine!"

"Whatever the opposite of that is, it's you."

"Why would I be out of sorts when you've so clearly explained why you've shirked all the amazing opportunities that life has given you? Why would I be upset to discover that you're able to fit in and live a perfectly normal life and that's somehow not good enough for you? Why would I be mad about that?! Why would anyone be mad about that?! Huh?! You! Tell! ME!"

Dee-Dee suddenly turns on him to jab a finger into his plastron and leer over him with a viscous storm in his eyes. Leon leans backward awkwardly, tapping two fingers together, "Oohhkay, I'm getting the feeling there might be some jealousy here…"

"Jealousy?! I'm not jealous. I've never been jealous. I wouldn't even know how to be jealous!" He locks his arms to his sides and begins a stomping warpath away. "Jealousy! Please! Like I'd have to be jealous to realize how inept that reasoning is!"

"If you're going to insult me, you should at least use words I know."

"I would but- need I remind you- I don't know you!"

"Hey! You might not be from my dimension, but right now, you know more about me than I know about you!" Leo shoots back before pausing his gait to stop in place and clap his hands together. "Oh! That's a great idea we had together, you and I!" He transports in front of him, grinning wider when faced with the scowl. "Instead of being mad at me, you should tell me more about yourself! You like storytelling. And we established that you were good at it."

"We established that you thought I was a good liar."

"Because of how good your skills were. You have, like, such a distinct memory." He's shoved to the side, but Leo quickly wipes away the frown that tries to tug at his mouth. "Oh, come ooooon, Dee-Dee, what's th-"

"Don't call me that."

"What's the big deal? What's the harm?"

"I'm not in the mood."

"You might feel better."

"The only thing that would make me feel better is if you stopped talking."

"I wouldn't be talking if you were the one doing it with your marvelous, amazing, almost-as-talented-as-me abilitiiies." He sing-songs at the end and leans forward with a palm against a flat rock, putting on his most innocent, earnest grin as his companion stops to stare at him.

Dee-Dee pinches between his eyes and then throws out his arm, "Okay, but only because the sharing of information should be mutual and you have been complying with me."

"You bet I have." He hops over it and catches up. "Compliant and honest, that's me."

"I don't even know what I'd…" He goes quiet a moment. "My backstory doesn't contain any mad scientists or battle arenas…"

"I forgive you," Leo pats his arm solemnly. "But you are a mutant turtle, so you can't be all boring."

"I never said we were boring…" More thought and then he puts a finger up, "I'll start from the beginning, tell it how Master Splinter has always told us. A lot, actually. It actually got a bit repetitive sometimes, but it made Mikey happy and Splinter always describes it one of the best things that happened to him, which I think is an exaggeration considering how horrible the mutating process had to have been, not to mention the years of hi-"

"Mi amigo," Leo snaps in his face. "Get that train back on track. Backstory time!"

"The train was on track."

"Uh huh."

"Continuing while ignoring that- my brothers and I started out as your average baby turtles when he adopted us from…"

There's a massive structure in front of them, possibly the remnants of one piece of sky debris colliding with the island that they're on now. The random light source behind it casts a shadow over the whole place, and Leo would still very much like to know what those are, but no matter how far they move, they never seem to get any closer to them.

They either have to climb or transport to the other side to keep moving.

He's not very concerned with their travel path at the moment.

"He really kept you down there for fifteen years?"

"More like fourteen years, but that's irrelevant. We spent every second when we were tots being hunted. Why would he want to take that chance heading back up?"

"But, like, he could have waited a little bit and tried again!"

"It was too risky. The surface world isn't exactly a safe environment for four mutant monstrosities to go running around the city streets. Our first day on the surface, we watched a kidnapping go down. New York is overall not a safe place for people, not to mention mutants."

"That's why you hide out! You know, blend in, one with the shadows, become a human folk right under their nose. We've been going up to the surface for as as long as I can remember. Dad took us up as soon as we could walk!"

"Is your Splinter insane?"

"Is yours?"

"You can't talk about Master Splinter that way!"

"I can talk about your 'Master' however I please, Don-eh-teyo."

"I think I'm supposed to be offended, Blue-" "GASP?!" "-but not all of us were genetically engineered to be warriors. At least my Sensei put in the time and effort to train us instead of sitting us down in front of the television."

"Oh, there's no way you're comparing your prison warden to the man who actually cared to let his children experience the world!"

"That's what you call caring?!"

"Yeah! It is! Now how about you back all the way off my far superior dad?"

"Then you quit disrespecting my Sensei!"

"You first!"

"No you!"

"Fine!" "Fine!" "Double Fine!" "Tripple Fine!" "Quadruple Fine!" "Infinity FINE!"

They glare at one another, fists clenched at their sides, glares locked. Abruptly, they both break off to swerve and stomp away, carapaces facing, arms crossed.

For a while, the only sound is their heavy breaths.

"Well…"

The anger washes away. A fist closes around Leo's lungs.

"As entertaining as that was to watch, it's time I interject."

They look up to where Krang Prime perches at the top of the structure, armor clawing into the rocks, metallic tails swishing at his side. There's a boulder being tossed up and down in one of his hands as the pool of red light claims their area of shadow.

He grins like a man who's already won.