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tmnt-obsessed-ace · 2 years ago

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When The World Crumbles: Chapter 15, A Father From Another World

The water fight had been an ok distraction. For a few minutes everyone could pretend that nothing was wrong, everything was fine. And the horrible truth that had been revealed in the Turtle Tank was simply a bad dream.

Just a few minutes to pretend that the thick black tendrils weren't coiled around their throats like a hangman's noose. Threatening to strangle them to death.

But unfortunately all the water balloons were spent, the water guns emptied and the tires of the tank were still needing patching.

The metaphorical tendrils drew tighter as the brothers were made aware of their presence once again, sitting around and waiting for the tank to be fixed.

Which brings them to their current situation, sitting in a back alley with towels draped over their shoulders while the last tire was being patched.

Donatello was holding his younger brother, Raphael and Leonardo on either side of him. Mikey was helping Donnie patch the tire while Raph was on watch duty to make sure no one would see them.

A soft hiss from Raphael came from his left.

"Fucking stop!" The red clad turtle said through gritted teeth though there was no force to his words. Leo rolled his eyes, continuing his work. Some of the stitches came undone, the bandages and Michelangelo's cast got soaked so they also had to be changed though the cast would be changed at the lair.

"I'm almost done so shut up." Leo retorted, ignoring the huff the older turtle sent him. Donatello frowned a bit, grabbing one of his older brother's hands and squeezing it tight.

"So now what?" Michelangelo asked quietly. "How are we going to get back home?"

That was a good question. The recon mission at the sawmill provided nothing but a few new injuries, not to mention a sense of dread that was supposed to die with the Super Shredder.

Because the Footclan was still at large in this dimension. The biggest threat to their lives is still here.

That means…oh god that means that the Shredder is still at large. Just thinking about that made Donatello want to throw up.

It took four years to take that monster down, to finally put an end to a centuries long feud.

He didn't want to go through that again.

He didn't want to bury any more family.

"Donnie?" Leonardo asked, nudging the purple clad turtle. Russet eyes met ocean blue ones, though now they looked so dull like the hue was being sucked out.

When Donatello made a slightly confused noise, Leonardo sighed softly. "We still have to search for possible Kraang hideouts here. But it will have to be tonight." The oldest was squinting against the bright sun. Since when is it ever this sunny in New York City?

"Yeah the damn sun is giving me a headache!" Raphael chimed in, voice strained as Leo worked.

"With the sheer amount of locations we have to search, it's actually better to start as soon as possible." The laptop was pulled out of Donatello's bag and set down on the concrete. The new screen put in just last night was cracked and it was only twenty percent charged.

With a rapid typing of the keys, a file was pulled up on the monitor, an insanely long list of locations and coordinates that made all four turtles cringe tiredly at the sight.

"Woah boy that is insane-it's still going!" Leo shouted as Donatello kept scrolling.

The slider's jaw was hanging open as he stared at the list. Over half of the locations had some kind of caption.

Destroyed. Abandoned. Seized by U.C. Seized by E.P.F etc.

"Ok we'll search them all, see if the Kraang really exist in this dimension or not." Leonardo stated, oh that would be so much fun.

Frantically running from location to location, searching for the Kraang with almost no time to even think about resting.

Again.

"Here we go again…" Michelangelo mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his non casted hand.

"There's no way we're searching all of those locations right? Because that would be straight up torture and surely unneccesary right?" Leo asked as he started fixing a reopened gash on Michelangelo's bicep.

The four older turtles leveled him an exhausted stare, making him straight up cringe.

"We need to be sure." Leo only groaned at that.

"Now you know what we were doing for the past week before we got here." Was Leonardo's response.

His younger counterpart groaned even harder.

"No wonder you guys look like fucking zombies!"

"We could help go through the list!" Raph chimed in, towering over the five turtles.

At least his shadow was blocking out the sun.

"We could what now?" Leo was swiftly ignored.

That would actually be beneficial, these turtles actually know the layout of this New York City. And while it was similar to their own version of the city, it was also vastly different in terms of layout.

And the brightness was cranked up to a hundred.

"Raph look how long this list is! This will take days!" The snapper scrolled through the list, his expression changing from confusion to growing horror. He pushed it aside, trying to keep a smile up.

"No big deal!"

To say Leo gasped would be an understatement. It sounded like all the air was pulled from his lungs with a straw. The five other turtles stared at him in concern.

He snatched the laptop, sprinting over to Donnie and Mikey.

"Anyways your help would be very much appreciated, we'll be able to cover more ground and spend less time lost." Raph smiled brightly, snaggletooth shining in the sun.

"We should split up," All eyes turned towards Leonardo, his three brothers already glaring daggers at him.

"Like that worked so well last time!" Rapahel held up Michelangelo's casted arm, lightly shaking the limb to prove his point.

"Raphael and I will go with the Mad Dogs and scout out the possible locations while you two can go back to their lair."

The red clad turtle in question leaned over his two younger brothers.

He then roughly flicked Leonardo in the forehead.

"Leo, you and Donnie are going back to the lair, Mikey and I will go scouting." The two elder brothers glared at each other.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Leonardo crossed his arms while the younger duo got out of the crossfire.

"And why's that Raph? I can understand why Donnie's been benched. He got shot with an arrow but I'm fine!"

Another flick to the forehead.

"Oh not this bullshit again! Your knee got dislocated! It hasn't been dislocated since the we were at the fucking farmhouse! You are not walking on it anymore for a fucking while."

Leonardo only huffed.

Raphael growled.

"You can be a real pain in the ass sometimes you know that?"

"The feeling's mutual."

The duo glared harder at each other, refusing to back down. You could almost smell the tension growing in the air.

After a few seconds large hands pushed the two apart.

"Easy now! Look Lee, little Raph is right."

"Little what now?"

Donatello and Michelangelo both snickered at the nickname, oh how they would abuse it later.

"You really should take it easy for a few days, let the leg heal up!"

"If you tear your stitches again I'm replacing them with staples!" Leo yelled, causing the eldest to flinch. He glanced at Donatello, who shrugged with an evil grin on his face. The purple clad turtle was no stranger to using such a threat.

"Look unless you want to damage your knee to the point of possible amputation, a few days of rest isn't going to kill you." Donatello stated, ignoring how his eldest brother flinched at the word amputation.

"Plus six turtles is already a lot!" Michelangelo added, pouring on the puppy eyes, his eldest brother's gaze softened. "Can't exactly be all that stealthy with six, let alone eight!"

Leonardo frowned, he seemed to be considering the options.

Oh Donatello would hope that he would just listen instead of being stubborn. Repeatedly damaging his knee is only hurting him. Besides, it's not like Raphael and Michelangelo would be going on their own.

"Alright Donnie and I will stay at the lair." He said quietly as all the tension in the air dissolved.

"We can discuss plans back home in the lair, let's leave now!" Donnie called out, climbing into the Turtle Tank.

Everyone else followed except for Donatello and Leonardo.

"It's only temporary Leo, besides we should probably start investigating that weird trance you were in." The leader in blue nodded, dread clear in those tired eyes.

Donatello offered his brother a hand, letting him lean against him. Together they walked to the turtle tank, time to head back to the lair.

It's only lunchtime and this day can't possibly get any worse.

Right?

"They just left?" April shouted through the cell phone. Splinter cringed at the volume, April was thankfully not in class at the moment.

"I don't know what happened! They just stormed off!" The rat had a guess as to what happened.

God he hoped he was wrong.

But those haunted looks in teary eyes, the fear, the anger, the grief.

Oh how Splinter was familiar with that look. It was hard to forget when it had also been etched onto his face for so many years.

It would glare at him from the reflection of the mirror, hazy from crying, one time shattered and dripping blood.

The same look he had after his mother…

He shook away the thought, surely that was not the case. Surely the alternate versions of his children hadn't lost someone…

He could take a guess at who that someone was and it hurt.

Alternate versions of his children…

He knew eventually it would happen, but hopefully it would be when his boys were all grown up, when they no longer needed him.

But their alternates looked so young, yet somehow twenty years older.

"You still there Splints?" April asked, snapping the rat out of his thoughts.

"Yes! Yes, I'm still here, April. I just got lost in thought." He glanced at the thin cracked hole in the far wall from Leo's katana when it apparently went nuts.

The ruined blackboard had been moved to the trash while the portal projector stood untouched, a horrible burnt smell still coming from the metal.

"I tried calling them but all I got was a text from Mikey."

"What did he say?"

"It was just a photo of Donnie looking extremely ticked off."

Splinter huffed out a tired laugh, there was hardly any amusement behind it.

"I just hope Purple didn't kill Blue while they were gone."

"Well it seems like Leo is a dead boy walking. And if anyone can hold a grudge longer than him it's Donnie."

Splinter didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing that he wouldn't have to witness the fall out.

"Hey Splints I gotta get back to class, I'll swing by at around 3:30 pm ok?"

"Of course April, I'll call you if the boys come home!"

"See you then!" April hung up, leaving the old rat alone with his thoughts.

And the photos strewn out all over the floor.

He frowned, what a mess. One by one he picked up the photos, all taken over the years of raising his boys.

He picked all the photos of Leo.

All of the photos had something in common.

In every single one, even the massively faded ones from when his baby blue was just a tiny infant, his eyes were green.

They were always green. Noticeably green, especially compared to his brothers who all had brown eyes.

The green eyes that shined against his red stripes.

So why had they flashed blue?

Splinter looked at the last photo, one repaired with a piece of tape and the dried blood cleaned off as much as possible.

The photo of his children's alternates' 18th birthday.

He stared at the photo, specifically at the blue banded turtle. The one with dark blue eyes.

Alternate baby blue…

There was rumbling coming from the garage as the Turtle Tank pulled up. Splinter put his photos back into the scrapbook and the other photo back in the kitchen.

Then he scrambled to the garage, the sight of the Turtle Tank making his shoulders sag in relief.

The first to step out of the tank was Orange, who upon seeing Splinter's face instantly cringed.

"Mikey? Is everything all right?" Said box turtle gulped, ducking his head back into the tank.

He whispered something into the tank, his body slightly trembling. He soon moved away from the tank, whining softly.

Ok so something happened out there.

Next came Blue, a miserable look on his face. His eyes were back to bright green.

"Oh hey pops." He said tiredly, voice sounding so drained.

"Blue what happened?"

"It's…oh boy how do I explain this?"

Just as he said that, the four new turtles all left the Turtle Tank. They all looked down at Splinter, eyes weary and bodies shaking.

Resisting the urge to scoop these children into a hug was beyond difficult.

The blue clad turtle stepped forward, obviously trying to put as little weight as possible onto his right leg.

"Master Splinter." He began, words clipped and all too forced. "I would like to apologize for our earlier encounter-"

"It's alright Big Blue, no hard feelings, it was a rough morning I'm sure." The older looked a tad bit stunned at the nickname but seemed relieved that he wouldn't have to continue.

"You four," Splinter gestured to the four of them, who seemed to be doing everything in their power to avoid looking at him. "Are more than welcome here until we can get you back home my sons." The four turtles flinched.

They flinched, like they saw a ghost. That same haunted look returned in full force, eyes already watering again.

Dear god what happened to these children?

"Right, well we should have some lunch and then get going!" Red chimed in as the four older turtles quickly got away from Splinter. He ignored the already faint sniffling for the moment.

Wait, get going?

"But you just came home!"

"And we have about a bajillion places to search to see if the Kraang exist here!" Splinter gasped, his heart jumping to his throat.

The Krang…here? They escaped the prison dimension?

No…god no the Shredder was almost too much but the Krang? The boys weren't ready! Even with their ninpō…

When he looked up his sons were gone, their voices echoing faintly from the kitchen.

The old rat scurried over, before stopping in front of the door. Shocked gasps echoed from beyond the metal.

"-why didn't you say anything?" One of the new turtles asked, barely contained fury clear even muffled by the door.

"Because it's not a big deal!" Baby Blue replied.

"Uh yeah it's a big deal! Leo, you said your katanas were acting up all week!" Red hissed. "You've been having nightmares all week!"

"Leon, you can't keep secrets like this from your family!" Big Blue said sternly. There were very obvious mumbles of disagreement from presumably his own brothers.

"Hypocrite."

"Excuse me?"

"Pot calling the kettle black as the saying goes."

"Way to tell on yourself Leo."

"So what?" Oh Blue you done it now. The kitchen erupted into furious yelling, all directed at the slider.

"Dude what the fuck?"

"Zip it shortstack, I got the whole katana thing under control!"

"Are they still vibrating?"

"Huh?"

"Are your katanas still vibrating?" There was a pause, a faint shing of the blades being unsheathed.

"...no…No! Of course not!" A soft buzzing sound could be heard from inside the kitchen. Splinter's eyes widened before he groaned. If he could hear it from beyond the metal door it must be extremely loud in the kitchen.

"LEO!" "LEON!" All seven voices shouted in sync.

"So it's vibrating a little. No biggie!"

"Ok that's it! You sir need to learn that every dum dum action you take has fucking consequences!" A hum followed by the familiar pulsing of Purple's ninpō made Splinter cringe. Guess he will have to clean up a body.

"This looks like a job for Dr. Delicate Touch!" Orange declared. Blue all but screamed, the kitchen door flying open as the slider scrambled out of the kitchen, Purple and Orange chasing after him, weapons drawn and ninpō flaring.

"Michelangelo gets to write my obituary!" Blue yelled as he sprinted through the lair, Orange and Purple laughing maniacally as they gave chase.

Splinter glanced into the kitchen, Red had his head buried into his hands, groaning at his younger brothers.

Two of the older turtles, Short Red and Big Orange were wheezing from laughter. The former was even banging his fists on the table.

Meanwhile the other two, Big Blue and Big Purple were bickering to each other, voices in a hushed whisper.

"I take it Baby Blue was lying through his teeth again." Splinter said with a tired sigh. The five turtles went silent, staring at him.

Red gulped, not so subtly glancing at the four older turtles with a worried expression. He leaned over to his counterpart, whispering something Splinter could not hear.

No one spoke, the room thick with tension once again. Splinter frowned at the older turtles, eyes tracing over the bandaged wounds, every scar old and new. The visible bags under exhausted eyes.

His heart ached for these children.

Eventually it was Big Orange that spoke first.

"Dudes, is it just me or does he sound like Tigerclaw?" He asked tiredly. Tigerclaw? As in the move?

"What?" Splinter squawked.

"Wait wha-oh he actually does." Big Purple replied, staring at Splinter with wide russet eyes.

"Who's Tigerclaw?" Red asked.

"A mutant tiger that was the Shredder's top henchman." Raphael said before glancing at Splinter. "Fuck I can't unhear that now."

"The Shredder had a mutant tiger as a henchman! Ok that is kind of cool!" That mental image was both insanely terrifying and one of the most badass sounding things Splinter ever heard.

"Not so cool when he helped beat me into a three month coma." Big Blue muttered far too casually, left foot tapping rapidly against the kitchen floor.

Both Red and Splinter's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"W-what?" Suddenly there was a crash, followed shortly by a drawn out screech from Baby Blue. Red groaned, quickly excusing himself from the kitchen to deal with them.

Leaving the rat alone with alternate versions of his sons.

The four scooted closer together, yet again avoiding Splinter's gaze.

It was obvious what the problem was.

That didn't make it hurt any less.

"I…I am no longer alive in your world am I?" He dared to ask, voice gentle with these poor children.

Four nods in perfect sync, eight eyes shining with tears.

"Oh my sons…" Splinter trailed off as he approached.

That was it, the floodgates have been opened. Big Orange hiccupped out a sob, burying his face into his hands as more bubbled up. Short Red pulled him close, rubbing his shell with his hand while he tried not to cry.

"Papa…" Big Orange choked out, shattering Splinter's heart into millions of pieces.

Big Purple whimpered, leaning against Short Raph while Big Blue had an arm protectively over his shoulders, furiously rubbing his eyes dry.

"It was two months ago, but we're doing ok." The lie was so obvious. A pitiful attempt at sparing his younger brothers some dignity. After all, they were crying in front of a stranger.

Even if that stranger was a version of their recently deceased father.

"I know how horrible it is to lose a parent when you're so young." Splinter hopped up onto the counter so he was eye level with the four. "My mother died when I was just a young boy."

He cupped two of the turtles cheeks, Short Red and Big Purple. They were the closest to him and unfortunately he only had two arms.

"Losing someone you love. It hurts, it hurts for a long time. But eventually the pain will fade. It never really goes away, it will always be there but not as much as it is now." His hands shifted to cup Big Orange and Big Blue's cheeks, though Splinter had to shift around a bit to make that possible.

"I know there's nothing I can do to bring your father back, but if I can help lessen that pain I will because you are still my sons, no matter what world you come from." Eight arms wrapped around Splinter, the chairs scooted around so he was squished between the four turtles.

All four were sobbing into Splinter's robe, shaking like leaves in a storm. He smiled sadly, somehow getting his arms free to rub their shells. He was vaguely aware of one of them whining "papa" over and over. That just broke the rat's heart.

He just let them stay like that for a long time, even though he could barely breathe with how hard he was being squished.

These poor boys need it, need their father, and if Splinter has to lose circulation in most of his body and get squished into a pancake to give them that comfort then so be it.

Although, Splinter never expected that he would become a father of ten.

An hour later, the four warm colored turtles all left.

Leo had been grounded from missions until the issue with his katanas was actually fixed, with Donnie also staying behind in his lab.

The lair was much quieter, given that three of the four problem children were gone and Leo was pouting. Well that's what you get when you lie your ass off.

Donatello had claimed the beanbag next to Leo, currently typing a mile a minute on his laptop while the slider beside him continued to make obnoxious popping sounds with his mouth.

Like he's been doing for the past half hour.

Leonardo glanced at the two, given how much Donatello's eye was twitching it was only a matter of when he would snap.

The eldest turtle quietly chuckled, leaning back into his own beanbag. He looked up at this Splinter, who was fast asleep in his armchair in front of the TV, covered in cake crumbs, having long since passed out while watching some show Leonardo didn't really care about.

So different from his father.

Short, portly, far messier, and far more relaxed if his insistence that Leonardo not call him Sensei outside of training.

Leonardo would respect his wishes but couldn't help but wonder why? He and his brothers always referred to their father by Sensei, maybe a bit more than necessary but regardless it was a sign of respect.

He was so incredibly different from Leonardo's sensei, his father, that if he wasn't a mutant rat Leonardo would assume they were different people.

That was only one of the many differences between this dimension and home that tugged at the blue clad's turtle's heartstrings.

And the similarities hurt even more, like Splinter's gentle gaze that was filled with love for sons so far from home.

Even when they would eventually go home, their Sensei, their father would not be there. Not anymore.

Leonardo sighed and sunk back into the beanbag, turning his attention to his aching right knee.

The bruise was straight up mocking him at this point.

Sure it got dislocated but the joint had been reset, there was no need to bench him over this!

He shifted a bit, wincing as the joint said no. Fuck you for even trying.

Logically it made sense that he would be left behind. He could barely walk, let alone jump from rooftop to rooftop. And the turtle glider was still broken.

Still didn't make it any less unfair.

He should be out there with them, fighting alongside his family, protecting them from danger.

He has no problem risking his own life but risking the lives of his brothers?

The thoughts were shook away, Raphael and Michelangelo were more than capable of defending themselves. Plus Mikey and Raph were with them. Leonardo had seen them fight against Meatsweats, they were exceptional ninjas with actual magic powers!

The four of them would be fine.

There was a muffled squeak from a certain red eared slider. When Leonardo looked over he had to stifle a laugh.

His younger counterpart had a pillow squished over his head on the floor, the purple clad turtle's laptop sitting on top of it while he typed as if he wasn't using Leo's head as a mini table.

"Leelee help." Said slider whined pitifully.

"You're fine." Leo wriggled in response, though he couldn't do much.

"Is this all I am to you? A table? This is so not fair!"

Leonardo couldn't help but laugh, while his brother didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"You laugh? I've been completely dehumanized and you laugh?"

Leonardo only laughed harder, he could practically hear his counterpart pouting underneath the pillow.

Just then something metal tapped Leonardo on the shoulder. He looked up to see the culprit was one of Donnie's metal pincers in his battle shell. He was holding some kind of devices in his hands.

"Lee, Don and dum dum-"

"Hey!"

"Would you three please come to the lab? I have some tests to run." Donnie said, voice laced with both excitement and clear anxiety.

"Tests?"

"Are you gonna stick a needle in me?" Leo asked, muffled from the pillow.

"Perhaps…" Well that was reassuring. "Maybe for a blood sample." There was a pop, followed shortly by a squawk from Donatello. Leonardo looked over, the slider had retracted his head and limbs into his shell, the laptop and pillow nearly falling to the floor.

Leonardo rolled his eyes, attempting to stand up when his leg ached with protest. Oh…right.

"Are you alright-" Leonardo cut Donnie off with a wave of his hand, straightening his leg out and taking a breath.

He forced his mind to clear into nothingness. No fear, no thoughts. Only energy swirling around in the void.

Energy to be repurposed.

Exhale…

Inhale again.

Hands held up, locking into the first pose.

"Rin." He began, the energy, his energy, swirling around for him to command. "Kyo."

"Uh what are you doing?" A voice, Leo's, vaguely asked. It was pushed aside.

"Big Blue?"

"Toh. Sha."

The energy, warm and pulsating like a heartbeat flickered softly around the turtle.

"Kai. Retsu." A glowing white aura surrounded Leonardo, his hands vibrating with the power. Warm…safe…all the wounds over his body went numb for a second.

"Jin." Both hands cupped his right knee, focusing the energy into the joint. The nerves went rigid, the shock making Leonardo tremble.

"Zen" The blue clad turtle concluded. After a second the nerves relaxed, all the pain wisping away into nothingness. He opened his eyes, vision spotty and swirling from vertigo.

He rapidly blinked away the spots, ignoring the light tingling in his hands.

When his vision cleared, Leo Donnie and Master Splinter were all staring at him like he grew a second head. Donatello only shrugged, handing his older brother the cane.

"You are still using this." Leonardo rolled his eyes but took the cane regardless. It really did help, especially when the pain would come back later.

"What…dude what the fuck was that?" Leo gasped as the older blue clad turtle stood up, the cane helpful support.

Splinter was staring at him with wide eyes, a flabbergasted look on the old rat's face.

Donnie grabbed one of Leonardo's hands, carefully examining it under his blue and red goggles.

"It's called the Healing Hands." Leonardo finally said, still feeling a little woozy. He looked over at Donnie, might as well get this over with. "You said you had tests to run?" The softshell nodded, dumbfounded.

"Right! Right of course. Let's just file that away under 'magic that is far inferior to science' for now we have so many experiments to do! Come!" One of the metal pincers grabbed Leo by the ankle, dragging him across the floor as his twin walked to the lab while the slider only pouted.

However when he locked eyes with Leonardo, his expression turned to shock, green eyes wide as he was dragged off to the lab.

Right that was weird.

"Come on let's go Dee." Leonardo said softly, before noticing that his brother's eyes were wide too.

"It happened to you as well?" Splinter asked, staring at the blue clad turtle.

"What?" Donatello grabbed a small compact mirror from the bean bag, judging by the sky blue color it probably belonged to his counterpart. It was opened and held up to the older turtle's face.

The blue clad turtle's heart rate spiked when he saw what had everyone shocked.

His eyes were green.

Well ok not really bright green like Raphael or Leo, more like a dark greenish teal color.

They were still noticeably greener than they were supposed to be.

"Right before Leo left to go get you all, his eyes were…blue just like yours." Splinster said quietly.

Leonardo blinked a few times, after the fourth time the green was mostly gone leaving only a teal tint behind.

He looked up at Donatello, closing the compact mirror.

"We should get to the lab before little Dee gets impatient." His brother nodded wordlessly as they both went to the lab. They could hear Splinter saying something but to Leonardo's ears it was all muffled by the hurricane of thoughts rushing through his head.

His eyes were green! His eyes have never been green before in his life! Ever!

Green…

Leo's eyes were Blue.

They were switching eye colors? What was happening?

Leonardo sighed, maybe they would find answers in Donnie's lab.

Little did anyone know that the simple little experiment would go oh so horribly wrong.

#tmnt 2012 #rottmnt #crossover #tmnt crossover #this chapter was supposed to be short #it is 5000 words exactly #fuck

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