#and then they’ll end up somewhere else through portal shenanigans. A fandom staple.

[daboyau]

the potential start to a crossover i’ve been kicking around in my head. Here, have it. @boots-with-the-fur-club

Leo, for all of his bluster and showboating, has always been smart. The kind of smart that’s a little bit scary at times, because he’s so good at hiding it behind big grins and bad puns and silly shenanigans. He’s already calculated the outcome of this fight. It’s obvious in the way he smiles at them, body going lax, expression softening even as he begins to curl into himself more, already anticipating the pain that is coming. 

The Krang’s massive metal talon wraps around his leg, engulfing it easily. Mikey sees Leo’s face go pale with the pain, but somehow he still keeps that smile in place, gazing at them like he’s hoping for one final memory to hold tight inside the prison dimension. The portal wavers, sparking gold as the pain of his brother’s resignation to his own torment makes Mikey’s heart clench and ache inside his chest. Raph’s hand tightens even as Leo tries to withdraw. The red of his construct is beginning to waver, but he still holds on. Mikey can hear his teeth grinding with the effort.

The sounds that Leo makes, soft and scared and hurting, as Krang tries to pull him deeper into the prison dimension will haunt Mikey’s nightmares. Blood is pooling around Leo’s leg where those metal claws dig in deep, hanging suspended around them, only disturbed when Krang yanks again. 

Leo’s shoulder dislocates, and he swallows down a cry. Raph sobs, and his construct wavers again even as its giant fist tightens its hold enough to bruise Leo’s already battered body. Krang is laughing, the sound like metal curling beneath desperately grasping fingernails. He thinks he’s already won. 

“It’s okay,” Leo mouths, eyes tracing their features. Blood has been kicked up, floating like wings behind him. “Just let go.” 

The gold sparks again, waves of burning fire up and down his arms, tiny tendrils of mystic energy creeping past his brothers’ hands to sink its way into his shoulders and neck. He sees the blood shine ruby red as it reflects the glow. Mikey grits his teeth. He sees Krang smile, and he feels the burning begin to creep up his cheeks. He wants Krang to burn, too. 

“You! Can’t! Have him!” he screams, voice raw and aching. He tastes blood as it bubbles up from his throat, dancing at the back of his tongue. Raph’s hand tightens on his shoulder. Donnie leans a little further into his side. 

Leo stares back at them, wide eyed. He’s not smiling anymore. 

They push forward, together, in one final desperate reach for Leo. Krang howls as Donnie’s drill nails him in his stupid, chewed bubblegum face. His grip loosens, just enough to pull Leo further towards them. He leaves a trail of blood in his wake.

It no longer reflects the sparks of gold. 

Gravity isn’t working anymore.

Mikey’s blood runs cold when he realizes what he’s allowed to happen. 

They float together in the nether, Leo clutched tightly between them. His mask tails tickle Mikey’s nose as they float lazily above his head. 

“The portal,” he breathes, eyes wide as he pushes himself a little further from their huddle. He doesn’t let go of Leo’s hand as he searches, eyes desperately scanning the dark void that surrounds them for a glimpse of golden light.

Krang is screaming, rage and exhaustion from the long fight the only thing keeping him from simply swatting aside the barrage that Donnie is manifesting to keep him at bay for just a little longer. Donnie’s face is shadowed and his teeth bared, silent rage giving him the strength he needs to hold Krang back despite the exhaustion that Mikey knows they all feel deep down in every torn muscle and broken bone. That won’t last forever, though. Already, he can see the purple of his mask darkening with sweat. His scales are beginning to look washed out. Blood from those sharp, jagged lines that are all Mikey’s faultcutting their way up his right arm has begun to leak slowly into the still air around them. The purple glow is beginning to dim. 

“We have to go,” Mikey squeaks, trembling fingers clutching at Raph’s arm. His voice is hoarse, hardly able to push the words past the blood in his throat. 

“We need to fight,” Raph snarls, watching Krang howl and slash at Donnie’s creations with a fury that makes Mikey’s breath catch in his throat. He recognizes this rage. He’d seen it reflected on Leo’s face just hours before. “We have to make him pay.” 

Mikey shakes his head, wide eyed, frantic. He squeezes harder, silently pleading. Donnie watches them from the corner of his eye. A bead of sweat traces its slow way down his cheek. It doesn’t fall as it reaches his jaw and breaks away, instead floating upwards to join the blood pooling slowly above their heads. 

“We can’t!” Mikey rasps, the words hardly audible above the sounds of metal grinding against mystic metal. Raph snarls, and for one horrible second all he can see is pink tendrils and murderous intent instead of his big brother, and Mikey can’t help but flinch back. 

“No.” They all startle and watch, wide eyed, as Leo struggle to twist himself enough to almost sit up in Raph’s arms. Mikey whimpers as the motion reveals the extent of the damage Krang has dealt in such a short amount of time. “We need to go. Hide. Heal enough…and then get out of here. Go home.” 

His voice is wheezy and weak. Blood leaks from his lips as he speaks, clinging to his teeth and lips like teardrops to lashes. Mikey’s seen enough medical dramas that he’s pretty sure that’s a really bad sign.

Raph’s eyes flicker back towards Krang. Furious. Murderous. But then they shift to look at Donnie’s gritted teeth as he struggles to continue his attack. Towards Mikey’s wild eyed terror and trembling hands. At Leo’s desperate expression, mostly hidden by blood and a bruise swollen face. He hadn’t looked that scared when he was facing a reality where it was just him in the prison dimension alone. Raph’s gaze softens. He nods. 

Donnie nods back, one hand thrown out towards Krang, the other still resting on Leo’s bloodied shoulder like he’s afraid that his brother will disappear if he lets go for even an instant. Mikey feels the same way, and if he wasn’t scared of hurting Leo worse, he would tighten his grip on his hand. 

“Fireworks show?” Raph asks, meeting Mikey’s eye with a grin that is fighting to be reassuring. He swallows hard, and he reaches deep, searching his core for the final tiny drops of ninpo he has left after creating the portal and holding it open for so long. He smiles back, wobbly and painful as it stretches the open wounds that same ninpo had left on his cheeks. 

“Let’s light it up!” 

For one glorious minute, the grey of the prison dimension is overtaken by an explosion of color and light, orange and purple and red all dancing together in a display that only has one purpose.

Distraction. 

They flee as Krang howls and thrashes, trying to find them through the blinding light and disorienting swirl of color and patterns. Leo’s watching the sky light up with a small smile, eyes glazed and distant. Mikey’s pretty sure he’s seconds away from passing out. He probably has no idea where he even is right now. 

Probably all he knows is that he’s curled in Raph’s arms, with Mikey and Donnie each holding onto him tightly. He’s surrounded by their colors, their warmth, the subtle whisper of their depleted ninpo. All he knows right now is that he’s safe. 

Mikey intends to make sure he stays that way. He knows that Raph and Donnie feel the same way. 

As they slip deeper into the maze of floating debris, Mikey closes his eyes. He focuses on his breathing, trying to feel for the tiny spark inside his soul. He can almost sense it, and he does his best to fan it back to life. 

His arms are throbbing. The feeling of congealing blood itches against his skin, and he can taste it in his mouth with every breath he frees into the still air of the prison dimension. The empty ache inside his chest, the fullness inside his soul that he’s come to associate with his ninpo, hurts in a way he’s never known before. Not even Krang had been able to hollow him out like this, even when he’d managed to lock that part of them away.

Still, when he opens his eyes again, they spark with a furious, burning light. He is going to get them out of here. No matter what it takes. 

#Rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #they all get to get locked in the prison dimension together #As a treat #and then they’ll end up somewhere else through portal shenanigans. A fandom staple. #Where? Guess. :3 #My writing #Rottmnt shorts