Chapter Text
Something was wrong.
Counterpoint, many things were wrong in this situation, Donatello mused.
For one, every single nerve in his teenage mutant turtle anatomy felt like it had been deep-fried in a raging hellfire, an unexpected yet unsurprising consequence of being violently ripped from the grasp of an alien ship.
His separation from the Technodrome was not a peaceful one. To go from one sensory nightmare to another except with eyes and teeth was awful enough. And yet, it’s not his rapidly growing fear of boneless appendages, inability to hold a single cohesive thought in his likely concussed head, the intensely aggravating pain that overwhelmed him from head to toe, or incoming panic attack that indicated to him something was seriously wrong, no.
It was the fact that the eyes he looked through were currently making direct eye contact with himself, a reasonable indication that the eyes he was looking through were most definitely not his own.
Furthermore, judging by context clues and the overwhelming wave of bloodlust that flooded the crevices of his mind, he comes to the unfortunate conclusion that the eyes he was currently looking with belonged to the Krang.
God, why did it have to be the fleshy tentacle monster?
“Donnie! Mikey!”
Don’s head turns to Leo in surprise. Ignoring his terror and the trippiness of seeing his head turn with no change in his actual viewpoint, he takes a better look at his surroundings. While Leader Krang sat on a throne, his body and Mikey’s hung tied by the Drome’s tentacles– they were way too close to Krang for an attempted escape to be plausible. Leo stared straight at him (his body, at least) and Mikey in horror, slightly battered and blocked by-
SLAM.
Leo topples to the ground with a groan.
..Raph.
His stomach lurched as Raph’s monstrous form stalked toward Leo, who refused to raise his sword at him. Don couldn’t help but struggle in an attempt to reach for them– bile filled his throat, and he had to squeeze his sightless eyes shut when his efforts only resulted in the tentacles tightening further. Donatello wanted to scream something, anything, to rip them out of this nightmare, to tell Leo to run away and save himself.
But nothing came out.
Well, he supposes that’s what the face man's for, huh?
Leo had an expression on his face that Don couldn’t recognize while he spoke. Though he was never all that good at interpreting facial expressions, something about his look felt different. New.
He hoped that was a good thing. It was hard to tell.
His twin brother’s voice was raw with emotion, tinted with this sense of vulnerability, a rare sight for the both of them. Don felt stunned as he made his confessions– his confusion, his fear. His realizations. Donatello himself teared up at the mention of family. And yet, despite its vulnerability, Leo’s words held so much conviction. Even in the face of death, his brother never failed to share his Leo-patented courage.
Even while his voice got choked out as Raph grappled a claw around their red-eared brother’s neck, it never lost his determination.
No amount of determination, however, could keep Don’s heart from pumping at the sight of Raph- his sweet, lovable big brother- reeling his other claw for one final blow.
It ached as Leo gave one long-awaited apology, closing his eyes and waiting for what comes next.
Mikey sobbed. The Krang smirked. Don could only hold his breath.
…
Raph hesitates.
“..Leo?”
Leo’s eyes go wide and fire up the moment their big brother muttered his name. “Yes!” he exclaims.
Oh thank Galileo.
Vines wrap themselves around Leo’s form, the teen in question crying out in pain.
Or not.
Leo didn’t let the vines stop him though. Fighting against the tentacles, he calls out to him and their youngest. “Mikey, Donnie, we can fight this! Raph’s doing it for us, so we’re doing it for him!”
As newfound determination and energy made their way through his body, he notes that Leo truly did make for an amazing leader.
Donnie grips his fists, adrenaline and mystic aura numbing the shakes and pains. He could feel his heart pumping in sync with the others, and the fire between them grew stronger and stronger.
A wave of anger pulses toward the teen but is deflected by his mystic energy. Leader Krang stands from his throne, and Don’s momentarily thrown off by the sudden change in perspective.
“It’s pointless to resist the Krang,” it says rather pointlessly, Don notes. “Give up, you will be consumed like everyone else on this pathetic planet!”
In spite of the inhuman flesh that clung to the edges of his mouth, Donatello scoffs.
Leo glares back. “Fat chance. We’re not like everyone else on this planet.” Their Hamato blood stirs, their thoughts perfectly aligning with the other. “We are..”
“The Teenage..”
“Mutant..” Donnie croaks out.
“Ninja..”
“Turtles!” Leo finishes off.
Screw the odds, this pink bastard’s going down.
With newfound comradery, the four break out of their restraints. In perfect sync, Don watches as Leo’s portal gave way to Raph’s sai strike, which gave way to Mikey’s chains. As disorienting as it is to have your mind linked to an alien monster, he grins at every wave of pain the Krang felt.
And now, it was his turn.
“Geolocation algorithm my love, it is your time to shine,” Donnie mutters to himself with a smirk. Though he may not have his vision, for a bright mind like himself the Krang’s worked just fine- pinpointing the enemy’s exact coordinates, he unleashes his own mystic attack:
Big. Fucking. Guns.
GOD, he loved technology.
The Krang crashes to the ground, eyes shut and blocking both of their vision, and Don lets out a brief breath. He senses his brothers landing by his side– Leo chuckles. “If this isn’t the poster shot, someone’s getting fired,” he notes.
Don tenses as the Krang’s eyes opened once more. Their attacks definitely made contact with the alien beast, and yet it didn’t seem to be bothered at all. Forming a new battle shell and readying his staff, he gives a quick warning to his brothers. “Okay so one thing- actually, two things. I can’t exactly see through my eyes right now, I’ve been sort of looking through the Krang’s eyes for like the past 10-ish minutes-”
Mikey lets out a concerned yelp.
“I theorize- this is the second thing- that hijacking the ship connected me to the Technodrome and some sort of Krang hive mind, and thus the ‘Krang vision,’ objectively inferior to my albeit contact-assisted Donnie vision,” he says, the latter piece of his sentence muttered under his breath.
He could feel Leo’s stare, his twin letting out an aggrieved “..What.”
Raph sputters, just a little behind. “Uh, repeat that for me?” he yells, louder than usual. “I think my hearings a bit fu- hollup you hijacked the Technodrome ??”
“Haha I know right I’m amazing. Might be a later problem buuut anyways that isn’t our main concern at the moment.” Don sweats when the Krang moves from its location, and oh sweet Lord he can’t tell where it is-
“And what pray tell, is that?” Leo asks.
“Alright so three things- my mind’s not working right now- but uh you know-”
A loud boom resonates behind the four.
“We are not done yet.” The Kraang says, anger evident.
“.. Yeah that.”
Don gulps and twists his body around to the looming Krang. He imagines this was similar to what the Shredder saw before he tore his claw through Don’s shell– both metal and flesh. He shudders at the memory, the similarities uncanny.
It’s fine though- this moment’s different. His brothers are back together, Leo and Raph aren’t fighting anymore, they all got their powers back, and sure he wasn’t in the best shape, but the underdog’s counterattack always leads to an overwhelming victory, regardless of the odds.
They staged an all-out attack, ready to take him out with one big swoop.
They were going to be fine, it always went fine.
..So why was this time different?
Donatello’s heart stops as the Krang lifts a single hand towards their descending figures; upon further thought, he realizes that the monster didn’t exude a single indication of pain or harm from their onslaught. They were giving all they had, and yet…
Fingers snap.
..Fuck.
The slight relief he had received from his mystic ninpo vanished the moment Don made contact with floating ground. Pain shot throughout his entire body, the sheer force breaking his ribs and wrenching the breath out of his lungs– unfortunately, mystic battle shells weren’t nearly as efficient in absorbing impact as titanium.
His head whirled. He forces himself up, he didn’t have time to rest, not when-
He’s hit with the sight of him and Mikey. His next target.
“Mikey!”
Though he managed to stumble in front of his little brother’s way, he wasn’t nearly as fast in creating a force field.
Second time’s the charm, yeah?
Not really.
Everything went dark- he only comes to as the three mutants crashed onto the asphalt.
Raph’s voice rings in his ears. “Where are we? Staten Island?” he mutters.
Donnie groans, face-planted on the ground.
His entire body screamed in agony, joining the symphony of wails that pummeled his head since the Technodrome. The temptation to stay as positioned was strong– alas, there was still an active threat, and thus he must push through. He pulls himself up for what felt like the millionth time today and rubs at the burning sensation on his pupils. “S-So, how would everyone rate that rescue experience? Unsatisfied? Very unsatisfied?” He blinks his eyes open during his data collection process, batting away at the wandering black spots. “Wish Donnie would.. have…” Don trails off.
Raph sighs. “Donnie. Leo’s still-”
“-Up there,” Don finishes. Panic rose from his gut. “I... I see him.”
Silence and dread dawned upon the three brothers as Donnie saw his twin shakily stand from his position, completely and utterly alone.
Donnie rapidly tapped at his wrist, opening comms to Leo’s location. “Nardo, I don’t know what you’re planning, but whatever it is, it won’t work. He’s too strong- you’re just going to get yourself killed!”
He kept calling his name, but Leo made no move to answer. The Krang made its advance toward Leo, who upon closer inspection had that same odd expression again... The lump in his stomach grew.
Leo finally gets onto comms. “Casey. Casey, come in,” he says, ignoring his twin’s pleas.
Donnie stills at Leo’s tone. There was a hint of resolve in it; it was a tone he always used whenever he had another ludicrous yet uniquely genius plan, but it sounded… off. Judging by Mikey’s weak “Leo?”, he heard it as well.
The few working gears in his brain shifted as Casey indicated his position at the key gate. What could Leo possibly do? They fought the beast with all they had and it barely even left a scratch– the Krang overpowered them by a mile. Though he was certain the portal would destroy the Technodrome, he couldn’t think of a single way Leo could take the Krang down singlehandedly .
..Unless that wasn’t what Leo intended on doing.
Don thinks back to Leo’s expression and the way he closed his eyes amidst Raph’s grasp.
Nardo’s voice echoes through the intercom. “Casey, listen to me. When I get to the other side, you close that door.”
Blood runs cold.
His hearing goes fuzzy as Casey and Raph yelled in protest, Leo and their words coming out as static. He willed himself to move, but it was like the tentacles were on him again and tightening themselves and cutting his lung’s circulation and this dum dum was fighting the Krang all alone and going to kill himself and
He lets out a strangled scream as the Krang runs Leo to the ground. “ LEO!!!” he exclaimed.
Mikey mutters in concern beside Don but Don ignores him. “We need to get back up there, we- we need to–ggh.” He forces himself up and grasps the air in front of him. Leo was in danger, he needed them. He needed him. Someone- his jumbled nerves prevented him from figuring out who- held him back– he could only fruitlessly struggle in their grip.
Casey’s words fade back into his ears, the boy’s pleas aligning with his own. “Leo, please! I can’t lose you again.” Donnie watches as a sad look reigned on Leo’s face, his twin pausing before speaking in the intercom. “Hey, future me would be real proud of you,” he says. “I’m proud of you.”
The Kraang’s words get picked up through Leo’s intercom. Donnie’s helpless to the sight before him, the Kraang shoving Leo further into the ground the more he speaks. “Weak words, weak actions,” he declares. “I have forever known what you fail to understand. Strength always prevails.”
Leo, in all his foolishly stupid glory, makes one last comeback.
“What you fail to understand is I missed on purpose.”
Don’s vision goes bright as Leo stabs his sword into the Kraang and teleports them through the portal. Though the Kraang’s screams were unintelligible, Leo’s were: “Casey, close the portal now!”
The Kraang widens his eyes and turns towards the portal at his words. He tries to move toward the portal but is stopped by Leo, who wrapped his arms around the Kraang. It pummels its fists into Leo’s head– Don flinches at the sound of metal cracking bone.
His heart palpitated. He struggled and yelled, but now both Mikey and Raph were on him– he was stuck. This couldn’t be the end, it couldn’t. With one last shove, he was able to release himself from his two brothers’ grasp, and he stumbled forward as fast as he could.
But it was too late, wasn’t it?
“Casey, please!”
Donnie and the Krang could only watch as the portal enclosed itself around, the Technodrome, ready to take it down with it. He glanced at Leonardo from the corner of the Krang’s eye.
Leo’s tired look of acceptance was the last thing he saw before his whole world went white.
Don flinches at the sudden transition in brightness, followed by the blast wave of the explosion. Once the wind died down, he pried his eyes open, where he was greeted with...
With…
Raph called from beside him, terror and denial evident in his voice. “Donnie! Donnie, do you... Do you see him?”
“I-..” Donatello’s voice chokes up. He inhales shaky breaths, attempting to calm down and get words out. “No, I... I can’t s-see him.”
He couldn’t see anything at all.
Raph goes silent. Don doesn’t notice. No matter what direction he looked, all he could see was complete darkness. No Raph, no Krang, no New York City, no stupid Staten Island, and..
No Leo.
Trembling hands tap at his intercom, desperate to hear Leo’s voice again. This can’t be happening. “I can’t... Leo? Nardo you- dum dum, come in.”
Static.
“This... This isn’t some time to be playing a joke, Leo! Come on!”
Someone picks up. It isn’t Leo. “He’s gone, Donnie,” April said. “Let it go.”
He slams his fist in frustration. He ignores the jet of pain. “No! He's not.. He, he can’t. He can’t…”
Don stills as something wet blots his face. Unlike the warm, dried blood caking his skin, the trickling liquid was cold. He slowly raises a hand to his cheek.
Oh.
He was crying.
Leo was...
Don stares off into the neverending void of black.
“..He’s gone,” he states numbly. He doesn’t notice the sound of Raph collapsing to the ground, choking on his tears. For a moment, he doesn’t notice the growing orange aura coming from the direction of Mikey’s sobs and grunts, breaking the bleak darkness.
Everything was wrong.