Chapter Text
It's firefight and I, I won't run
There's spit and spite all through my blood
For you and me, there's nowhere left to hide
Except you and me, there's no one else alive
- Firefight by Jimmy Eat World
[]
"Leo's still up there."
Donnie looked up. And for a moment, the world stood still.
Then his brain started to move, to predict patterns, to take everything he knew about Hamato Leonardo and come to the blood-chilling conclusion. Or maybe it was the ridiculous notion of 'twin-sense', but either way. Donnie looked up and he knew exactly what Leo was going to do.
"No." Donnie said, stomach dropping to his toes. "No, no, no, no, no no!"
"Donnie -- !" Raph tried to reach out, but it was too late. Donnie's dazed and hurting body was already moving, the battle shell shifting to flight mode and launching directly into the air. He didn't have enough time. He had to be fast.
"Casey. Casey come in." Leo's voice came over the communicator, and Donnie hated that he was right, he hated his stupid twin and his stupid ideas, because he knew what was about to happen.
There was distant shouts from his brothers, but it didn’t matter because they were okay, they were fine and Leo was about to not be. The urgency pushed his ninpo, twisting back his bo and summoning veritable jet engines to propel him towards the portal. There wasn’t enough time. He just needed a little more time.
The G forces battered his body, already aching from his smashed shield and hurtling off a sky scraper. He had a lot of ground to make up. The expanse of it yawned between him and his goal, while Leo was in his ear saying exactly what Donnie thought he'd say. Once I’m on the other side, close the portal.
Donnie was well aware of the thought process that brought Leo to this conclusion. It was the only possible way to save the world. He hated it.
The cackle of Raph over the comm. begging Leo not to do this. If only they could stall him long enough. The Technodrome grew bigger and bigger as he hurtled towards it, but it was still too far.
More strength. More push. Donnie grit his teeth as they rattled ominously in his head. He would never forgive himself if he was too slow. There was no second option here. He couldn't bear to think of a universe where Donnie stood and watched this happen.
Not going to happen. Donnie pushed harder, a streak of purple lighting up the bleak skyline, gaining rapid altitude. Stealing the breath directly from his lungs. The whip of wind that streaked tears from the corners of his eyes. He stretched out a hand, watching as the figure of Leo came into sight. Trapped underneath the claws of a monster.
"What you fail to realize," Leo said, voice crackling over the comm. "I missed on purpose."
When the two of them disappeared, Donnie didn't halt -- if anything he pushed harder. He'd known, from the moment he launched into the air, that he couldn't stop this from happening. Leo was going to save the world by dragging the monster into the prison and shutting the door. Donnie tore through the air, directly towards the portal, aware he had seconds to get in there.
Because if his twin was going to hell, then Donnie was too.
Nothing else registered beyond the scream of wind past his ears, the stretch and pull of overextending his ninpo, tunnel vision towards the mouth of the portal. He just needed to get past the threshold and he'd be --
"Casey! Close the portal now!" Leo's voice came, a million miles away.
Donnie stretched his limits and beyond, desperate, reaching. A flicker of blue and silver passed him and Donnie reflexively snatched one out of the air with a shell arm. Leo's sword. Ahead of him, the Kraang beating the shit out of his brother.
"Casey, please!" The pain in Leo's voice. Donnie passed the threshold.
"Donnie, wait!" Raph cried.
There was no time left for apologies. One final push, just moments before the portal rapidly shut. A snap, and a burst of energy behind Donnie.
He'd made it. All his momentum carried him forward, towards his twin that was saying something stupid that Donnie couldn't even hear because he was so focused on his goal. Leo let go of the Kraang, drifting off into space with a stupid grin on his face and --
Donnie collided with Leo in a tangle of limbs. There was an instinctive cling in return from his twin, before the realization sunk in.
"No." Leo breathed in his ear, immediately shattered. "No, no, no, no, no!"
Every muscle in Donnie's body was shaking like an earthquake from the amount of effort he'd just expended. The explosion caught up to them, sending the twins spiralling away into space and debris.
For one singular moment, Donnie allowed himself a burst of victory. His heart was still thudding a thousand miles an hour in his chest, having been absolutely terrified he wasn't going to make it in time. But he did. And he held onto Leo, his prize.
Then they hit the ground, the sudden tumble bursting them apart. Donnie felt the world spin, rapid and disorientating, before he slammed into something rock and cracking under his impact.
His ears were ringing. Everything kept spinning. But his guard raised, metaphorical hackles rising, as heavy thunderous footsteps approached.
"You ruined everything!" Kraang Prime roared, imposing figure of sharp lithe lines cut through Donnie's vision.
Donnie's heart hadn't been given a moment to slow. He still hadn't even caught up to the shatter of his shield, let alone the agony he'd just pushed through to get there.
"And what was the point of you?" Kraang Prime was looking directly at Donnie, approaching and raising his foot. Donnie had enough a moment to think, shit, before it crashed down on him. Too dazed and disoriented to try and defend himself.
A menacing lean overtop sent crushing pain through all the intersections of Donnie's body. Prime got in his face and hissed, "What did you think this would accomplish other than giving me another toy?"
Donnie loved to give a witty reply. Something smart and scathing and would prove himself a worthy opponent. Unfortunately, he couldn't breathe, so he just spat in the Kraang's face.
Another roar.
"Pests. Both of you." Prime said. He turned towards Leo and froze. Donnie tipped his head but saw nothing. Leo was gone, a crater where he'd landed but nothing else.
"What's this?" Prime hissed, turning around but still not spotting the blue turtle. "You claim duty yet you abandon your kin when I have him trapped after he foolishly tried to save you?"
Donnie leaned back, breathing slow and even, trying to calm his racehorse of a heart. It was beginning to painfully assault his ribcage. He knew Leo had a plan. He always had a plan. Just give him a minute. Just wait.
Prime slammed Donnie back into the rocks, and he'd braced himself enough that only a small pained sound tore from his throat, even when the floor broke through and Donnie plunged into freefall. Only a moment before he cracked into more rocks below, arching up, still trapped under Prime's claws.
The blows rained down with a furious scream, fist then fist then fist. Then for a moment, barely even a milisecond, Prime let go of Donnie to rear back both arms in preparation for what looked like would be a very painful drive into the rocks. In that tiny window of opportunity, a blue portal opened underneath Donnie and swallowed him, shutting just as quickly. Donnie tumbled into Leo's arms.
Immediately, Leo covered Donnie's mouth, muffling any pained sounds from the jostling. He was staring straight ahead in cold terror, sweat down his brow, pupils tiny.
Donnie's logical mind took a moment to backtrack -- Leo taking Prime's moment of distraction to retrieve his sword, which had rolled away from Donnie's shell arm on impact, and hiding until he could retrieve Donnie. But they hadn't gone far, and the danger of being seen was dangerously high.
He waited for Leo to portal them away again, but he just as quickly came to the hurdle: where? It wasn't as if they had any idea of somewhere safe to escape to, other than the obvious idea of trying portal home.
But to try now and possibly open a portal back to Earth while Prime was still a stone's throw away was just asking to let him back where they didn't want him. He tapped Leo's hand once to show he understood and it peeled off his mouth.
Blinking through his rattled disorientation, Donnie shifted up just enough to try and follow Leo's gaze. Kraang Prime's figure was stalking, tail whipping angrily, a roar of pure fury not nearly far enough away.
Donnie's trembling hand reached out and touched Leo's face so he'd turn towards him instead. He mouthed: hide.
There was an utterly paralyzed terror in Leo's gaze. His eyes flickered between Donnie and Prime before he returned, helpless: where?
Yeah, yeah, good question. Ignoring the pain and the weakness throughout his whole body, Donnie evaluated their surroundings. They were crouched behind some debris, but it would not hold up for long, and it was going to be obvious soon enough. They had to get some room between them and Prime so they could regroup.
Leo was wavering, an uncharacteristic amount of indecision. Something almost crushed. Donnie didn't have much strength left, but he always had some for Leo. And for whatever reason Leo was faltering, it was up to his twin to pick up the slack.
Running was pointless. They would never be faster than the Kraang. But they could hide -- this dimension looked huge, it would at least take him a while to find them. Hiding too close nearby was a probably a bad idea, but there weren't a ton of other options that wouldn't result in being seen.
Donnie carefully disentangled them, ignoring the way Leo squeezed harder to try and keep him close. He put on his most serious, firm expression. Pushing down on his own emotions to be exactly what Leo needed in that moment, calm and ready. Even as his hands shook from pain. He had to physically drag Leo's chin to get him looking at Donnie instead of the raging Kraang in the distance, and once he had his attention he began to silently sign.
'Can you portal both of us?' Donnie asked.
'Where?' Leo repeated, the frantic motion of his finger back and forth beside him.
'Can you?' Donnie pushed his fists downward with force, showing the emphasis.
Leo visibly swallowed. He looked back at the Kraang, then back to Donnie with a nod. He added, 'If you need me to.'
They were both exhausted. Leo's chest was heaving for air, though he barely made a sound with it. There was a nasty bruise on the side of his face that had Donnie concerned about potential head injuries. He wanted to ease the terror that wasn't wiping away, even though they were both still alive.
Rosalind Franklin, they were both still alive. Despite the agony racing up and down all his limbs, Donnie couldn't get over how fucking relieved he was to be within arm's reach of his twin. He'd really felt like he was going to lose him. Stupid, selfless idiot. Okay, he was relieved and a bit angry. There was time for that later. They needed to get away.
In a situation where Leo did not know the geography, portalling was restricted to line of sight. If it was their line of sight, then it was Prime's as well. But plummeting through the floor reminded Donnie that there were more than just the surfaces they could see surrounding them. Three-dimensional space. Or the fundamental rule of humans that would hopefully apply here: no one ever looked up.
Donnie cranked his head back and inspected the debris above them, drifting through the infinite space. A bright white star illuminating the area with many more further away. There were pieces of an old alien spaceship above them. It didn't appear to be Kraang, which was good enough for Donnie. He silently pointed up at it.
Leo looked too, rounded eyes taking a moment to flicker over the distant ship, apparently deciding on a spot as he adjusted his grip on his sword. A spark of blue, lighting up his markings, and the portal winked into existence beside them.
Donnie glanced over Leo's shoulder and locked eyes with Kraang Prime, who spotted the gleam of blue and was charging them at top speed. His stomach dropped to his toes, blood going ice cold. He trusted that the portal was going somewhere safe and snatched up Leo's hand and to drag him through.
Leo hadn't turned to see the danger but obviously read it on Donnie's face, whirling around to close the portal as soon as they cleared it. Donnie collapsed, hands scraping in his attempt to catch himself on the metal floor.
"Shit." Leo said, voice rough, and swiftly took a knee beside Donnie. "You okay?"
Donnie heaved for air, limbs pulsing with adrenaline. He looked around, trying to spot any weaknesses. "Is it safe?"
"I don't think there's anywhere around here that's that." Leo said, grim. "But this is mostly enclosed, at least, so he won't spot us right away. Good call."
Donnie flopped back, feeling his heart beat in every inch of his body. The pain had a hysterical edge to it, like it hadn't really happened to him. Some other guy got thudded repeatedly into the rocks. He forced himself to draw air through his nose, slowing the desperate gasps, and looked at his twin through slitted eyes.
"Are you okay?" Donnie asked, because Leo still had that lost-panicked look, fingers fluttering uselessly at his side, mouth parted.
"Am I okay?" Leo repeated, incredulous. "What the hell, Donnie?"
"Ah." Donnie let his head thud back, swallowing his sore throat and finally catching up to what was going on. "So you were trying to die, then."
"What?" Leo said, almost wild with it.
"That's why you're all messed up. Because you were assuming you were going to die but my being here means you suddenly have to try to survive and you weren't ready for it." If Leo had been expecting to come to the other side of portal and survive, he'd have his plan ready. Not this terror-stricken thing crouching beside Donnie looking like the world was ending.
"I -- I literally cannot believe you right now. I -- I am so fucking angry at you." Leo replied.
"Cool." Donnie shut his eyes, already feeling the dust and grit working their way underneath his lids. "Give me a minute, then we can get back to that."
Leo was still, and after a moment he settled down beside Donnie. Despite apparently being furious with him, Leo reached out and held Donnie's wrist, right over his pulse.
"I'm fine." Donnie reported.
"Do you want to start arguing?" Leo bit back, trembling.
Donnie didn't, so he stopped and let Leo take his pulse. He listened to the atmosphere intently, trying to see if he could catch the moment Kraang Prime discovered their new hiding place. There was only an ominous creaking of the alien ship they were hiding in.
It took a few minutes, but both of their ragged breathing stopped filling the space with intensity. Donnie realized the extent of his pain, as the rattling settled and let him feel his own body beyond a wall of effort, that it was riddled with contusions and bruises, mostly centered on his poor ribs when the claws had pinned him down.
"Thanks for getting my sword." Leo said, eventually. His trembling fingers were curled around the grip, turning the blade to inspect his reflection in it, a flash of steeled eyes.
"I'm always picking up after you." Donnie wheezed, pressing his palm hard against the middle of his plastron like it might help the whole breathing thing.
Leo's gaze went disturbingly blank. Donnie instinctively reached for him, tugging on the ends of his mask tails.
"Hey." Donnie said. "Angry at me?"
"Let's get home first, how about." Leo exhaled through his nose, straightening up and smoothly bringing his sword to stance. The listless sway of the alien ship around them, the only light source from the star through the torn apart hallway further down.
Donnie didn't want to be a defeatist, but he was a realist. And he knew this wasn't going to work. He didn't bother holding his breath as Leo lit up his ninpo, working his jaw and sparking as no portal opened, no flash of blue, just the strain of Leo's strength into a limitless nothing.
"There's a wall." Leo reported, eyes closed, speaking past grit teeth from the corner of his mouth.
"Of course there is." Donnie replied, heavy with the weight of it. He hadn't expected this to be easy. He hadn't really expected anything, other than he wasn't going to let Leo suffer alone. His logical brain hadn't shut off for even a second, he'd been completely aware of what he was doing.
"I'm gonna break through the wall like the Kool Aid Man." Leo replied, something hysterical in his voice that ruined the attempt at humour.
"You're going to hurt yourself." Donnie said, tiredly.
"What?" Leo snapped, swinging the sword back down to his side with an audible slice through the air. "You don't want me to try and get home after our family just lost both of us? What the fuck, Donnie?"
"Obviously I want to go home." Donnie kept the annoyance out, staying monotone and staring at the wall instead of the torn-apart way Leo was looking at him. "But I can't imagine it's called a prison dimension because it's easy to leave."
"Then let me keep trying." Leo rearranged his stance, setting his feet apart and holding his sword up with both hands. Donnie knew that he'd have better luck banging his own head against the wall, so he kept his peace, watching Leo try and fail to summon a portal out of the prison dimension. Specifically designed to keep people inside of it.
There was a roar and a thunder of vibrations. Leo froze in place, the markings light dying swift. Something was ravaging the outside of the ship, and there was an open cut into the hallway not far from their position.
Silent and careful, Leo put himself between Donnie and the hallway, crouching and staring with deathly intent eyes.
Sore and exhausted, Donnie did the only thing he could. He shrunk behind his brother and reached out to hold his wrist, if only to give himself a moment's notice if he pounced forward towards their enemy.
Leo was barely breathing. Donnie kept his own shallow, listening to the raging beast push closer then further away from their position. Neither of them relaxed, and flinched when Prime swung around again, tearing a small hole directly above them as he moved past.
Donnie waited for them to be caught. The Kraang moved on, a shake of the whole destroyed ship as he launched off. The ringing silence prevailed, a very distant roar.
Neither of them spoke. Waiting. It was probably at least ten minutes before Leo moved from his position, the only feeling of warmth in Donnie's body where his hand was still clutching his wrist. It felt hauntingly cold when his twin pulled away, straightening up and striding down the hallway to inspect.
Watching Leo walk away from him had his barely-slowed heart started up again. He wasn't so stupid as to actually think that Leo was leaving him right now, however the adrenaline in his system said otherwise.
Leo came back a moment later, face shadowed and horrible, and he said before he even got close, "What was the plan, Donnie? Huh? What was the great fucking plan that you had coming in here?"
"Wow." Donnie replied, sounding the syllable out like he was tasting it, giving Leo an unimpressed look. It must've been safe to talk, if Leo had checked their only exposed exit and saw nothing concerning. "How's the hypocrisy taste, Leon?"
"No, it's not even close to the same." Leo's face twisted, and the desperate anger made him look like a stranger. Leo didn't get pissed off. He would raise an eyebrow, make a bitchy comment, and laugh off whatever was wrong.
"Really? Is that so? Enlighten me. Because I fail to see how your decision is any different than mine." Donnie struggled up, not enjoying arguing while prone, but wincing with pain the moment he tried to leverage an elbow underneath himself.
Immediately Leo flashed with a cocktail of anger and worry and something darker coated like guilt. The sword was sheathed on his back and he said, "Because I was the jailer dragging my prisoner through the door, there was no reason for you to follow! The deed was done. We won."
Donnie crackled a laugh that was cold and not funny in the slightest.
"Stop!" Leo shouted, clawing at his face with both hands.
"Why?" Donnie shook his head. "Being pissed off at me isn't going to put me on the other side of the portal."
"I just don't understand why you, you who never made a decision you didn't extensively plan with a flow-chart, would do something so fucking illogical as this? What does it serve other than making our family lose two brothers instead of one?" Leo ranted, steam practically coming out of his ears, pacing back and forth tightly in the cramped alien hallway.
"Come on, Nardo." Donnie's heart raced harder at Leo's fury directed at him than it had from the actual alien monster trying to actively kill him. "What did you always say? We came into this world together --"
"No!" A nasty snarl broke and Leo slammed his hand against the wall, making the whole place shudder. Everything about his posture screamed danger. He was trembling with it. "Not like this."
"I wasn't going to leave you to die alone." Donnie told him, completely unshaken in his decision, even in the face of Leo's true anger. Mostly because he was pretty annoyed too. "And since you'd decided, quite ridiculously I may add, that you were going to die. Then I was coming too."
Leo turned, shaking hand over his face, and said, a little muffled, "I can't believe you. I can't even think. What the fuck, Donnie? That makes zero sense. Since when do you do things that make zero sense?"
Donnie sighed. Nothing he was going to say would make it better, because in Leo's world the only way this was fine was if he was on this side of portal and Donnie was on the other. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't an option in Donnie's book. Even if it made no sense. Hell, especially if it didn't. All that osmosis from his twin, probably.
An eternity of Leo's shuddering silence. Then he whispered, agonized, "What the hell are we going to do?"
[]
There was a streak of purple in the sky. And Mikey thought -- well, he'd really thought that Donnie was going to swoop in at the last second and the twins were going to prevail and somehow come out on top. There was a reason they weren't allowed to team together in games anymore. The two of them were lethal and showed no mercy, when united they were a force to be reckoned with.
Mikey's heart stuck in his throat and he was so convinced that there was something he was missing -- some secret twin code that said everything was going to work out exactly in their favour, like it always did.
And then the little streak of purple flew directly into the portal. And it closed.
Numbness flooded through his body, head cranked back, staring at where he'd lost his brothers. The aliens were gone and destroyed but this was not a victory. That there was no win that was worth that fact that Donnie had winked out of existence the moment the portal closed. That Leo had dragged a monster set to kill him into a prison and locked the door.
The communicator gave only static. Raph had yelled for Donnie at the last second, when it became clear that Leo having already left the dimension was not going to be a deterrent, but it was too late. The portal was already closing. Both of Mikey's larger than life, untouchable older brothers were gone.
No, Mikey thought as he shook off the numbness and found something trembling and powerful instead, you can't have them. They're mine. They're my big brothers.
And he raised his hands. Clawing at reality, reaching inside himself for that abstract thing called ninpo that Mikey more felt like static electricity, like a snap of citrus gum in his mouth, like nostalgia for something not remembered. Pushing on that well of power, pulling it up and out and yanking at the folds of the universe. He was going to get them back. Even if it took everything he had.
"Mikey..." Raph said, from behind him, voice fucking wrecked. "They're--"
"No!" Mikey shouted over his shoulder. "I'm not giving up on them."
He thought about what it felt like to be carried in his shell under Leo's arm, what it felt like for Donnie to give him that warm-fond smile reserved for his only little brother, how he felt like they could take over the world when he was little and walked with a hand in each of the twins as he swung them over sewer puddles. And he cracked reality with his bare hands.
"Woah." Raph said, awed and scared and running to meet him. "Keep going, Mike!"
As if he needed the encouragement. As if he was going to stop when they needed him. Two huge hands fell on each shoulder, and the sensation of being tucked into bed with his choice of stuffed animal joined his feelings soup that was fuelling his push. His push and push and push. Mikey screamed with the effort, the force of magic peeling his skin and cracking the flesh painfully. Raph squeezed and together they tried to claw back what was theirs.
Reality wavered and pulled but it did not open. It was right on the edge, the precipice, but there was no release. Mikey pushed harder and felt his physical form wash with an unbearable heat. All the blood left his head at once, sending him spiralling and almost unable to stand. He didn't want to give up. The way the world was going dark on the edges said he might not get a choice.
"Mikey." Raph whispered in his ear, pained.
The crack in reality stayed as it was -- just a crack. They did not have the power to rip it open further. Mikey didn't care, he had the strength, it was somewhere. He just needed to -- he needed to --
Efforts redoubled weakened his knees, and Mikey twisted his hands and watched the burn sizzle with the Staten Island air. The crack widened, just a little, then Mikey --
Agony soaked him, a genuine tortured scream as it surprised him with the intensity. All his efforts faltered, because it hurt so much he couldn't concentrate. And Mikey knew that he had the strength inside him to do this, but it would take everything he had. It would kill him.
"Mikey, please." Raph said, tears dripping on his collar, from where he was still holding on, still trying to help, but it was unclear if he was pleading for Mikey to try harder or for Mikey to stop.
It didn't really matter, because the pain was blinding and the too-hot feeling was rushing back and forth urgently, and it wasn't like he meant to collapse.
But caving to the impulse, Mikey released his fierce grip on reality and let the world go grey, secure in the knowledge that Raph would catch him. He had to stop trying because he couldn't die on Raph and he couldn't save the twins if he died now.
His eyes shut and everything disappeared.