Chapter Text
It had all happened so fast. One minute he was berating Casey for getting distracted during their lookout job, the next the Kraang had officially begun their invasion. Of course, Raph was one of the very few people in New York to have known about the Kraang’s plan to invade beforehand. He just wished that had made him more prepared for when it actually happened.
To his credit, they had prepared… in a way. They were preparing to prepare, but when confronted with the scene of triangular portals spitting out Kraang left and right, Raph wasn’t proud to admit that he panicked a little. Upon being faced with the portals, Raph and Casey immediately made their way back toward the lair. They stopped to fight a few Kraang here and there, dodging and weaving through the chaos while trying to keep wayward citizens safe. As they were making a break for it, a Kraang portal spawned overhead, giving birth to a Kraang ship that just barely missed detecting the two of them. Covered by a rooftop building entrance, the two of them took a minute to catch their breath. Raph’s T-phone buzzed for the billionth time that evening. As he reached for it, Casey snatched it from his belt before he could grab it.
“Casey! What the hell is wrong with you!? That’s probably the guys!” Raph yelled, chasing after his T-phone as Casey held it deliberately out of reach.
Casey batted him away with his stray arm. “I know, dude! I lost my phone, I just wanna see if they’ve got April with them!”
“You could’ve just asked me to ask them instead of stealing my shit, especially during a time like this!” Raph bit back, but even then, he stopped reaching for his T-phone. Casey had to understand the severity of the situation to some degree, and there was no way he wouldn’t relay any important information to Raph. Besides, a deep, buried part of him understood that Casey was nervous and looking for an outlet he could control.
Raph huffed a breath as he let Casey commander his phone for a while. Until, just as suddenly as this whole fiasco had begun, a portal opened in front of their rooftop hideaway. Raph gaped as what could only be described as an army of Kraang marched onto the roof, taking their aim at the nearest targets. On instinct, he shoved Casey toward his right and out of the line of fire as he dodged the laser torrent by ducking left.
Raph risked a glance down toward the streets to find zero fire escapes and a trashcan in the alley. Well, he wouldn’t complain. He liked kicking the Kraang’s ass anyway. Charging forward with a determined yell, Raph plunged into battle, disarming and stabbing Kraang left and right. Distantly, he could hear Casey follow his lead as he fought against the Kraang on the other side of the building. Raph zeroed in on his targets, ripping one Kraang out of its robotic body, twisting the head off of another with his sai, and flipping a third one over his shoulder and onto the streets below. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, and as scary as this whole invasion was, it was easy for Raph to get lost in the heat of battle. Raph forced two Kraang’s arms to face each other as they fired, inadvertently shooting their allies.
Eventually, his vigor started to fade. They just kept coming. The portal continued to spit out Kraang solider after Kraang solider and Raph’s labored breathing and sweat-soaked mask could attest to the workout he was getting. Ever so slightly, his movements slowed as his muscles began screaming in protest at the continued workload. Raph could barely take a breath without a Kraang trying to shoot him. Speaking of which, he ducked just in time to avoid getting shot in his midsection, but not fast enough to avoid the blow to his shoulder. Raph bit his tongue, copper seeping through his front teeth as he fought to keep his composure. Pain seared through his shoulder, radiating down his back and through his arm. He fought the instinct to shut his eyes against the pain, gripping his arm for a split second as he adjusted. The Kraang took that as their chance, and before he knew it, Raph was being kicked off the ledge of the building, gasping as he fell through the air.
Raph could hear his shell make impact with the contents of the trash can before he could even begin to register the pain. A trash bag exploded underneath him as the lid of the can slammed shut with the force of his entrance. All at once, his entire body radiated from the shock of his fall and he groaned in pain. The smell of rotten food and whatever other gross shit was surrounding him accompanied the throbbing in his extremities in a nauseating way. Raph fought valiantly not to vomit as he rode out the worst of the agony flooding his nervous system.
After a few moments of deep breathing and fighting back tears, he forced himself to sit up despite his body’s screaming protests. As he shoved the lid open, a thought shot across his mind like a bullet as he realized Casey was still up there. Raph jumped to his feet, cringing at the feeling. With renewed energy, he ran (or maybe jogged) toward the other side of the building.
“Casey!” He screamed up and into the alley. “Are you okay?”
No reply.
Raph used the cascading window ledges to hike his way back up the building. When he was finally able to peer over the edge of the roof, he saw nothing but Kraang marching back and forth from the portal. No Casey in sight. There was no way in hell that Raph was leaving without Casey.
“Casey! Where are you!?” He tried again.
All of the Kraang occupying the roof turned toward him at once and Raph felt the blood drain from his face. He ducked to avoid their fire and quickly shimmied his way back down toward the pavement. He ran away from the building, letting his feet take him anywhere but there. Raph’s limbs burned with exertion and injuries he didn’t have the time to place as his wounded shoulder ached, but he knew he couldn’t stop running. He really hoped Casey was alright, but Raph had no idea where his friend was, he was hurt, and he needed to find his brothers and regroup.
Shaking his head to refocus himself on the present, Raph ducked down an alleyway to avoid being seen by a group of Kraang. He watched in horror and fascination as they dumped their perfected mutagen on the surrounding people and landscape. He was watching his home turn into dimension X in real-time while all he did was cower in a back alley.
Right, he needed a plan. On instinct, he reached for his T-phone and freaked out a little before he remembered that Casey had stolen it from him. Raph let himself relax marginally at the revelation. If nothing else, at least Casey had a direct means of communicating with his brothers. They’d be able to help him if he needed it. Unfortunately, this meant that Raph was the one cut from contact, which was a less relieving discovery. He considered his options. There were a couple of places he could check to find his family, but the most promising were the streets near the lair. No doubt his brothers were out fighting against the invasion, or maybe Donnie and Leo were brainstorming in the lab. Either way, Raph figured the general area around the lair was his best bet.
Feeling a bit better with a destination in mind and having given his body a brief reprieve from the torment of fighting, Raph faded into the shadows as he made his way back toward the lair. Once he had a task to focus on, it was relatively easy for him to get there. If you’re willing to ignore the few times he jostled an injured part of himself and had to spend the next thirty or so seconds blinking back tears. But really, all things considered, Raph could have been doing worse. And then it dawned on him that the worst-case scenario was that his family had already been captured—or worse—by the Kraang, leaving him alone to take on an empire of aliens. Which, given that Raph had yet to see any of his brothers or his sensei, was very much a possibility in the present moment. He took a shaky breath and quickly reminded himself that his brothers were perfectly capable of surviving without him for however long he had been gone. How long had he been gone for, at this point? Raph worried his lip between his teeth. He’d better get back fast, just in case.
Raph sped up as he turned down the street to his right. He was so close to the lair, a couple of blocks and a manhole cover from now and he’d be home. He rushed past the local restaurants, people screaming in terror, and the magic shop along his well-loved route. Distantly, he could hear an argument that caused him to pause mid-left turn.
“Stop hiding behind your footbots! Face me, Shredder!”
“You are beneath me, turtle.”
Oh, Raph knew that voice. He knew both of those voices.
Without missing a beat, Raph sprinted toward the sound of his brother. His brother, who had seemingly picked a fight with The Shredder during a fucking alien invasion. Could he have chosen a worse time to do that? Raph was going to throttle Leo himself once this whole thing was over.
He let the sounds of shouting and sword against metal lead him. As he perched atop a fenced-in alleyway, a construction site entered Raph’s field of vision. In that construction site, Raph could see Leo, clear as day, fighting some footbots while Shredder and his goons loomed in the background. Even from a distance, Leo looked rough. Apparently, he’d been doing this for a while. Raph could sympathize, he figured he didn’t look as bad as Leo, but fighting a never-ending Kraang army had certainly not been a cakewalk.
Raph watched in horror as a downed footbot used the last of its energy to trip Leo off of the platform, causing him to roll all the way down into the water at the bottom.
“Leo!” Raph yelled, jumping off of the fence and racing toward his brother.
He could feel Shredder’s eyes on him as he threw the gate open, but Raph was solely focused on Leo. As he descended the bank, Leo emerged, gasping and soaked in the frigid water. He rolled onto his shell, eyes closed as steam coiled off of him from the cold water contact.
“Leo, You’re okay!” Raph exclaimed.
Just as Leo had peered his head up in interest, Raph tackled him in a hug. Both of them winced at the contact.
“Sorry,” Raph muttered, lifting himself back up.
Leo ignored him, smiling. “Raph, you’re here!” A flash of fear crossed his face and his expression darkened. “You’re here! You’ve gotta go, the Shredder is—!”
“Not fond of this reunion.” Shredder chimed in from his position towering above them. He turned toward his goons. “Now, you may finish them.”
And just like that, Tiger Claw, Fishface, and Rahzar pounced, itching for a fight. Tiger Claw attacked Raph as the other two took on Leo. There wasn’t much room for quality thought with his adversary trying to gut him, but Raph had enough self-preservation to realize that they probably weren’t making it out of this. At least, not easily, but when had Raph ever gone for the easy way out? He dodged when Tiger Claw aimed a blow at his midsection.
“Raph!”
He could hear Leo’s voice coming from somewhere on his left, but he couldn’t risk taking his eyes off of Tiger Claw.
“You’ve gotta go! You have to—” Leo’s sentence cut off as he groaned.
Raph took a chance and glanced back at his brother, just for a second, just to make sure he wasn’t actively dying. Raph was less than pleased to see Leo keeled over initially, but to his credit, his brother immediately stood back up and pounced on top of Rahzar. Belatedly, Raph realized Leo had lost both of his swords and was fighting weaponless. He was a little impressed that Leo had made it this far.
His train of thought was abruptly cut short when Tiger Claw slashed at his already wounded shoulder with his claws.
“Eyes on me, boy.” Tiger Claw growled, deep and condescending beside his ear.
Raph hissed in pain, pushing the overgrown cat off of him as he refocused on his own fight. He took a ragged breath, using that split second to compartmentalize the hurt. Tiger Claw was not to be underestimated, Raph knew that. He could feel the blood roll down his arm as he attempted to pin Tiger Claw with his sai.
“You need to warn the others! About Shredder, about the Kraang, they need to be prepared!” Leo continued, pausing now and then as he struggled to fill his lungs with enough oxygen. “I can handle this on my own.”
“Really?” Raph couldn’t have held back his scoff even if he wanted to. “You think I’m leaving you here? To die? You’re insane!”
Tiger Claw had gotten the upper hand and was now trying to reach for his gun, which Raph could not let happen.
“That’s not a request, I’m ordering you to leave!” Leo yelled back as Raph heard a crashing noise from behind him. Raph kicked Tiger Claw’s gun into the icy depths of the water. Tiger Claw barred his teeth and growled and Raph tried hard not to provoke him further with an insult.
“Well, I’m not leaving! I don’t give a fuck what you say, I’m not letting you kill yourself!” Raph spat back. He couldn’t avoid the anger welling rapidly inside him. The Kraang, the Foot, Leo’s stubbornness and martyrdom, it was just too much, and Raph could feel himself starting to lose control. Luckily, the perfect outlet was right in front of him, begging to get the snot kicked out of him.
“You’d be a fool to think either of you can make it out of this alive.” Tiger Claw laughed haughtily as Raph seethed. Tiger Claw raised a leg to kick him, but Raph swept his leg out, unbalancing his adversary. Raph watched with nothing short of glee as he fell into the freezing water.
“This isn’t about either of us,” Leo countered.
While Tiger Claw was down, Raph took the opportunity to help out his brother, pulling Fishface away and into a separate battle. He yanked on his orange breathing rig and Fishface made a god-awful screeching sound that Raph was itching to hear again. He spared Leo a glance, only to find his brother gazing at him with the most desperate and somber look Raph had ever seen.
“It’s about keeping Mikey and Donnie safe!” He stressed, sidestepping a swipe from Rahzar.
And damnit, if Leo didn’t know how to corral Raph into following his orders. He could feel his expression break as he fought to keep his reaction at bay. Leo was presenting his statement as if it were noble of him to be thinking of their brothers. Raph thought there was nothing noble about what he was being asked to do. It was a lose-lose, Raph would be kicking himself if anything happened to any of them, but Leo was giving him a choice. Or rather, forcing him to choose Mikey and Donnie. That’s what Leo was clearly hoping would happen, but Raph wasn’t stupid. He could see the condition Leo was in with his own two eyes, and it wasn’t good. He was tired of Leo devaluing himself and putting that stress on him. If he wanted to be self-sacrificial, he was going to have to figure that out without Raph.
“Leo, you need me. You can’t ask me to do that. It's not fair!” Raph protested, voice breaking as he spoke. He didn’t get to say everything he wanted to, not really, not with their limited time. He would give Leo an earful later when he was safe and Raph could unload his grief in full.
“I’m doing this for you. Go, now!” Leo yelled, pushing Raph to the side as he tackled Tiger Claw, who had apparently been attempting to ambush him.
Raph didn’t respond. He stabbed his sai into the sides of Fishface’s breathing rig, ripping it away from him as he kicked his floundering body into the water. Somehow, Leo had bested Rahzar when he wasn’t looking, so it seemed as if Tiger Claw was the only remaining threat. With Tiger Claw locked in battle with Leo, now would be his best chance at escape. Raph took a steadying breath, wincing when he rolled his wounded shoulder too harshly, and rushed into the fight without a second thought.
Raph spun his sai before slamming the blunt end down on Tiger Claw’s temple. He roared, furious, reaching for something on his belt. Leo didn’t wait to find out what, he punched Tiger Claw in the face as Raph moved to trip him for the second time that night. As Tiger Claw lay sprawled on the boardwalk, it was clear that they had won. Everything fell silent save for their frantic breathing.
“You didn’t leave,” Leo muttered, so quiet in comparison to the mid-fight screaming they had been conversing in prior.
Raph went to playfully shove his shoulder but thought better of it. Best not to be too rough, he wasn’t sure where Leo had been injured the most. “Of course I didn’t, you asshole.”
Leo’s lips pressed into a thin smile.
And then, Raph didn’t even have time to process before he heard Shredder’s claws unsheathing and the resounding noise as he struck Leo down. Leo fell fast and hard, dropping shell–first onto the boardwalk like a sack of bricks.
“Leo!” Raph screamed, sliding down to his knees as he cradled his brother. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving. Raph shook him and yelled his name but he just wasn’t responding. He tried to catalog his injuries as best as he could within a split second to gauge his health, but it just wasn’t possible. He was battered and bruised in a way Raph had never seen on any of them before. The most glaring issues were the slash marks across his plastron, but this said nothing about their depth or any internal damage Leo might have. Raph was severely out of his element, he had no idea what to do.
“Pathetic.” A harrowing voice sneered as he hovered over the both of them.
Suddenly, Leo’s T-phone started ringing. Raph reached for it, but the Shredder was faster. Before he even had the chance to turn it on Raph was yelling, “T-Phone self-destruct!”
A small plume of smoke rose from the device as it fritzed and burned in Shredder’s hand. The overlord growled, crushing the phone into pieces.
“You two!” He barked, pointing at Rahzar and Tiger Claw. “Get up. Come take care of this leftover turtle. I will see to finding the location of the rest of them.”
Shredder turned and walked back up the bank as Rahzar and Tiger Claw pulled themselves together and began stalking toward Raph and Leo. He needed to think fast, Leo was completely incapacitated and Raph knew he wouldn’t be able to handle another fight without quickly following in Leo’s footsteps. He had nothing on him aside from his sai, so in a frantic last-ditch effort, he searched through Leo’s belt. Someone, somewhere had to be looking out for him, because in a miraculous turn of events, Leo harbored a single smoke bomb egg. Raph had never in his life felt as much relief as he had in that moment. He hitched Leo’s arm around his good shoulder and ran with as much strength as he could muster.
Rahzar and Tiger Claw caught on to this quickly and immediately gave chase after them. Just when it looked like they might be captured, Raph smirked and threw the smoke bomb at his feet. A barrage of smoke curled around them as Raph sunk into the shadows, moving as swiftly and silently as he could while bearing the weight of his older brother.
Back on the streets, Raph searched for the nearest manhole cover. He needed to get Leo back to the lair for some serious medical attention while remaining discreet enough to avoid the Shredder’s watchful gaze. He finally spotted one, but it was in the middle of a street with Kraang on both ends. Raph tapped his finger against his plastron as he weighed his options. He needed to act fast, and although the Kraang were a risk, if he could make it into the sewers before being spotted, it would have been worth it.
He sighed and took a second to hype himself up before diving into the street. Of course, the Kraang noticed and took fire, but not before Raph had removed the sewer lid. Carrying Leo on his back and doing his best to avoid the Kraang’s shots, Raph slid down into the sewers.
As he reached to pull the covering back over the entrance, a laser hit the back of his hand. Raph cried out and accidentally released his hold on the descending ladder, which caused him to crash to the floor of the sewer. Raph’s ears rang and his vision blurred as he tried desperately to reorient himself. Every part of him was hurting and he wanted nothing more than to lie there and never get back up. He groaned, rolling himself into a sitting position when a spike of panic ran down his shell as he realized he had dropped Leo.
Raph shot up to his feet, turning around to find Leo lying completely still a few feet behind him. He dipped down to examine his brother, heart beating wildly in his chest as he fought against his double vision to get a clearer look. Leo had a pulse and he was breathing, albeit strained and shallow, Raph would take what he could get. He sighed in relief, taking a second to catch his breath as he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
How had Leo even gotten caught up with Shredder to begin with? Just what the hell had happened while he had been gone? Donnie, Mikey, and Splinter were nowhere to be found, not to mention April, and especially Casey who Raph had potentially left to die. Could this have been any messier? Leo was half dead and getting there, and Raph was only a few steps behind him. If only they had all been together when things went down, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. It was safe to say Raph wasn’t leaving Leo’s side for at least a month after this, if they were able to make it out alive.
“...’aph?” A subtle, raspy mimic of a voice called.
Raph’s eyes shot open to find Leo gazing at him with half-lidded eyes and a faded expression. Raph was just happy to see his irises.
“Leo. Oh my god, don’t scare me like that ever again. Christ.” Raph exhaled, leaning next to his brother. “I thought you were a goner for sure.”
Leo’s eyes rolled back and Raph pitched forward to shake him back awake.
“Hey, hey, I didn’t mean that! You’re fine! You’re fine, everything’s fine, stay with me, okay?” Raph pleaded, his voice shaking in a way that betrayed his statement.
“‘M okay,” Leo mumbled. “Not leavin’.”
Raph nodded. “Yeah, exactly. We need to get out of here. I’m gonna lift you. Tell me if anything hurts, okay?”
Leo didn’t respond.
“Leo, Leo, hey, let me know if anything hurts?” He swallowed the rising lump in his throat. Leo needed him, he couldn’t fail now.
Leo mumbled something that Raph couldn’t comprehend and he chose to take that as an affirmative. He lifted Leo up, stumbling a little as he went, and slung his arm back over his good shoulder. Initially, Leo hissed with every step they took, but after making it a few feet he had gone quiet. The only reason Raph didn’t freak out about that was because he could feel Leo’s breathing on his neck and his heart beating through his wrist. He tried to talk to Leo and keep him awake, but he didn’t want to jostle him too much anymore because it was clear he was in critical condition. Raph had to focus on getting to the lair and getting Leo medical attention, everything else could wait.
In his disoriented and weakened state, it was difficult for Raph to discern the direction back toward the lair. He frequently found himself second-guessing whether to go left or right, or whether or not he had already passed that tunnel or seen that crushed soda can before. At one point, when he was trying to decide if a particular crack in the wall meant he should turn around or keep going, he heard a voice somewhere deeper in the sewers behind him.
“They’re close. I can smell turtle nearby.”
“They can’t have gone far, they were practically dead on their feet anyway.”
“They’re about to be dead for real when I catch them.”
“If the blue one isn’t dead already.”
Chuckling echoed throughout the sewer walls and Adrenaline filled Raph’s veins as he realized who the two voices belonged to. Rahzar and Tiger Claw had apparently followed them into the sewers. Heedless of his direction, Raph sped up as much as he could in an attempt to evade their capture. He knew they’d be dead meat once caught. If need be, Raph considered hiding Leo somewhere safe and drawing the attention of their enemies. Unfortunately, this would mean Leo would be alone and unattended, but that was marginally better than being trapped with Raph in Shredder’s clutches. Raph’s stomach turned at the thought of Leo in Shredder’s vicinity in his current state. He strengthened his resolve, clutching Leo’s broken body closer to his. The Shredder and his goons couldn’t even have Leo over Raph’s dead body, he was going to be fine.
In his frenzied state, Raph failed to realize the one-way waterfall approaching until he almost careened straight into the water below. He felt his heart stop as he quickly pulled himself back from the ledge. Fuck, that was close. He turned to make his way back from where he had come from, only to realize he could hear Rahzar’s footsteps. They were closing in, Raph realized as his heart rammed in his chest. The tunnel was long, the Foot were almost here, he had no way out, and both Leo and him were toast. He briefly considered just jumping down the waterfall, but he wasn’t sure if Leo would be able to handle that in his condition. He could feel his limbs tremble slightly with the weight of both his brother and the predicament they were in.
He felt Leo draw his arm back from around his shell. Raph watched in awe as his brother shifted his weight to lean against the wall like he was in any condition to be doing that. Raph was surprised he hadn’t immediately keeled over at the attempt.
“Leo, c’mon, you can’t—”
“Sorry.” He managed, voice still muted and raspy.
Raph didn’t even have time to process what was said before Leo had pushed him down into the waterfall. A choked noise escaped him as he fell, shock wracking his body as he tried desperately to catch up with what had happened. All too soon, he could feel his shell crash into the water as he made impact. He wasn’t sure how far the drop had been, but it was enough to leave the impact reverberating throughout his entire body. His vision dimmed as his limbs lay limp and sore around him. His wounded shoulder screamed in agony as he fought against the fogginess overtaking his mind.
Finally, his brain seemed to catch up as his body started sinking deeper. Raph used the last ounce of his strength to swim upward, gasping when he broke the surface and heaving deeply as he fought for air. He frantically wiped the water out of his eyes to see Leo at the top of the waterfall. Another blink or two and Rahzar and Tiger Claw entered his vision, the two towering over his hurt brother. Raph tried to scream, to shout at them and gain their attention, but his voice just wasn’t working. The most he could muster was a pathetic, wispy attempt at yelling in protest.
“Hurry up. Grab him and let’s get out of here. The Shredder says the others have been found hiding at the girl’s apartment.” Tiger Claw ordered as Rahzar threw Leo over his shoulder, heedless of his brother’s injuries.
“Your brother was smart to leave you here, but we’re going to find him all the same.” Rahzar chuckled, tailing behind Tiger Claw as the two disappeared from Raph’s limited field of vision and into the sewers.
Raph swam to the sideline of the tunnel, hoisting himself up and onto the platform and immediately collapsing into a pile of useless limbs. After a few moments of catching his breath and reeling from the events that had transpired, he uncoiled himself and stretched his extremities flat against the sewer floor. He was going to murder the Foot and then he was going to murder Leo for throwing him into a waterfall and ditching him. Some brother he was. Raph felt a warm wetness descend his cheek and decided it was water.
He let himself take a few minutes to breathe and collect himself before sitting upright. Raph was far, far from peak condition, and he truly wanted nothing more than to sink deep into the water and never resurface, but his brothers were still out there. The Kraang were still invading, the Shredder had Leo, and the Foot were going after his family. He had never hated the Foot more than he had in that moment, but they had given him one thing. A new objective: Go to April’s apartment, save his brothers.
Raph cringed after putting too much weight on his injured hand. Using the wall as an aid, he stood up fully, resolve hardened as he envisioned his plan. It wouldn’t be easy, but Raph was going to protect his family and friends if it was the last thing he did. Whatever it took. Slowly but surely, he put one foot in front of the other and began marching toward his new goal.