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May 24

Hyacinth Haze: An arm for an Arm; a Life for the Sake of 100

[The Year is 2027]

Donnie lay in the resistance med bay, injured, after a successful mission. Mikey was by his side, but Leo had yet to return from a mission of his own.

~~~

His senses creeped back into his body. His hand brushed across the thin sheets underneath him—a sharp pain ignited across his body.

His body tensed, his breath hitched, eyes squeezed shut, hand balled into a white knuckled grip, his fingers dug into his palm, his hand stung, the warm presence of blood began to cling to his fingers.

The pain felt like a fire blazing across his body. It consumed the arm on his left. It was lightning striking over and over. It ripped apart every muscle without remorse. His face became hot with quick tears forming around his eyes as he gasped for air.

Suddenly there were people rushing around him. A blunder of voices all shouting unheard demands.

He released his fist and grabbed at the pain. His hand was met with bandages that he desperately began tearing at, but before he could rip them off, something stopped his arm. Without the strength to resist, his arm gave way, slamming into the hospital bed with bruising force —The immediate pain sent Donnie bolting up, eyes shooting open. Tears fell and a horrible scream tore through him. Whatever had forced his arm against the bed stumbled back as if it too could feel the fire beneath his skin. With his arm free again, he clutched his stomach, doubled over in pain while his chest heaved for air. Several more figures forced him back down against the hospital bed, holding him down as he thrashed.

The tears blurred his vision, but he could see something coming toward his face. It looked as if it was some sort of mask; regardless, he struggled and thrashed to get away from the incoming device. The grips on his arms and legs tightened. They continued to yell. Screaming at him to do something. He couldn’t think. His head burned. The contraption came closer and he jerked his head into the metal frame of the bed. A figure quickly grabbed his head and positioned it toward the contraption. He tried everything to resist, to stall, to keep it from his face for another second.

It lurched forward and pressed against his snout. In an instant the pungent smell of chemicals began burning his nostrils. The figure looming over him fought to keep the mask over his snout as he tried to shake it off.

He didn’t feel anyone holding his left arm, the one that felt like it was engulfed in raging flames, so he tried to pull the mask off with it, but… nothing happened. He tried and tried, but it was a fruitless effort. The edges of his vision began to fade. The pain dulled. His efforts slowed. His limbs felt heavy—he couldn’t move. He glanced down at his arm to find the reason it didn’t cooperate but saw nothing. It may have been his blurry vision or the drowsy feeling pressing on his mind, but he saw nothing, just the scratchy fabric where his arm should have been resting. Before he could make sense of it, the burning chemicals in his nostrils became more potent, and with it the world felt distant. His eyes drooped from their own crushing weight, the tears slowed to nothing more than a trickle, and finally the darkness washed over him.

For a while, he sat within the numb state he found himself in. Not even his thoughts were present to keep him company. It was an infinite stretch of nothingness. A heavy fog dulling his senses. There were no figures looming over him, no shouting, no pain. It was just… nothing.

Then, like a tsunami crashing into him, the questions flooded in.

What happened? Why am I here? Where am I? Why do I feel like this? How did this happen? Where am I? What happened? What happened? WHAT HAPPENED??? WHAT DID I DO??

The waves roared in his ears, searching, begging for answers. His body remained unresponsive. He was so tired. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t stop the crashing waves.

The questions were loud. It was peaceful before they came. if he answered them… would the flood dry? Would the roaring waves still?

What was before the numbness?

He was surrounded. They had captured him. He had fought against the figures, but they held him down. They overpowered him; he failed.

The answer only stirred a storm overhead. The rushing winds only made the waves more present.

But if they won then why is it peaceful? Were they good? Were they trying to help? Were you fighting the ones trying to help? Why would you do that?!

He shut his eyes in an attempt to block out the waves crashing against him and the howling storm above.

Focus on the questions that can be answered.

What about before. Before the pain. Before the …confusing… figures.

…Think. Think. Try to think. Before… what happened before. Why was everything so hard? Why couldn’t he think? Why couldn’t he remember?

Words repeated. He tried to remember. His thoughts looped. Fixated on the before.

He wanted to scream. Everything was loud. So loud. His thoughts roared with the wind and repeated with the crashing waves. How was he expected to think like this?

Stop. Shut up. Think.

What happened before… Before. What happened before. What happened. Why was he here —where was here?— focus. Think. Mission. What? Mission… something to do with a mission…

He was on a mission.

Okay. He was a on a mission. What… what happened on the mission?

The storm raged. He heard, distant and quieted by his cluttered mind, a whisper. It nothing more than a breath, too faint to grasp. What was it saying? He focused on the sound. It became clearer, more defined. Then louder. And louder. Its voice rose above the storm— “YOU RUINED EVERYTHING. YOU DID THIS. ITS YOUR FAULT.”

The voice was his own. It screamed with a hatred unlike anything he had heard before. Even the waves stilled at the echo of this scream, like they feared being the subject of its wrath. The echo faded back and waves crashed more ferociously than they ever had. They bashed into each other with anger of the voice. The air wreaked of a bitter saltiness as it fueled the waves.

Donnie lay, trembling in the midst of the hurricane in his mind. The wind, the waters, they faded into white noise; all he could hear was the horrid echo of his own twisted voice. Worse than any thunder; it was tearing his mind apart.

If he could understand the reason behind it, he could fix it. He could bring back the nothingness that encompassed him before, and if not he could at least welcome back the storm.

Go to the source. The mission. What happened during the mission. What did he do during the mission?

[6 hours prior]

Donnie and Raph sat across from each other in their transport unit. The only sound coming from the tires that traversed the earth’s rough terrain. Usually there would be other soldiers with them, but due to Raph’s size they settled on just the two of them alongside their driver in this unit.

Some may have relished in the peace of the quiet car, but not Donnie.

As he had been forced to change his mindset for survival, the quiet became associated with fear. A bustling city too scared to breathe. Each jagged breath echoing like a scream— Donnie shuddered.

Raph, however, didn’t seem to notice. He watched as the ruins of New York passed by his window.

Donnie summoned a holo screen, brightening the car with his signature violet light. He allowed his mind to focus on the electronic hum, the faint sounds of the keyboard, and the whir of switching between screens.

“Hey Don?”

“Hm?” Donnie responded with his focus still on his screen.

“Ya think we can fix this?” He asked.

With the firm swipe of a finger, Donnie’s screen dissolved into a cluster of fading pixels. Donnie shut his eyes and held his head high with a hand pressed to his plastron; he dramatically exclaimed, “Scoff! Do you forget who you’re talking to dear brother? I can fix anything,” Donnie peered an eye open and looked at Raph, “but, uh… to clarify, what exactly do you need your genius brother to fix?”

Raph let out a small chuckle at his brother’s dramatics, but his tone didn’t match. As he spoke his eyes focused just beside Donnie, not quite meeting his eyes. His voice was grounded yet his thoughts were distant, “I mean… what the Krang did, the earth, everything.”

“Oh…” the dramatics and flare left Donnie as he turned his head to glance at what had caught Raph’s eye.

He was met with the passing view outside the window. It was nothing new, merely a depressing reminder of the facts they all grew to learn. The Krang had decimated their planet. Nearly all signs of life were gone. The once colorful, busy city now collapsed and abandoned, most intact buildings were covered in horrid Krang matter, even the sky overhead was changed from its beautiful blue to a sickly red. He turned back to Raph and tired to give his honest answer, “…I don’t kn—“

“Who is Raph kidding? You’ll figure it out, Don. Like you said, you can fix anything, right?” Raph’s smile was shy, yet sincere and confident.

Donnie’s eyes dropped to the floor, “…Right.”

Donnie brought back a holo screen with a small flick. His downcast eyes scanned the screen as he looked for the correct tab; once he found it, he typed “Fix planet” into the ‘Brainstorm Soon’ list. His foot tapped repeatedly against the cold metal ground while his eyes darted back and forth across the ever-growing list.

The speaker in the unit buzzed with a muffled static —“I need to fix that speaker,” Donnie mentally noted— for a moment, forcing their attention toward it. “We are approaching the site, prepare for departure,” the driver on the other side announced.

The “site” the soldier was referring to was an abandoned building with about a hundred civilians trapped inside. The distress signal was simply coordinates and a short message asking for help. After Donnie tracked the coordinates and assessed the situation with a drone, he saw the issue. The group was trapped within the building by Krang matter and fallen debris. All exists were blocked and they had no way of telling from inside if the Krang had left. The struggle that left the building in such a state had also severely damaged the structural stability.

That was Raph’s job, his troop was sent to secure a safe exit for the civilians and bring them back to the base. Donnie was only there because he volunteered to tag along, his reason being so that everyone would stop pestering him about being cooped up in his lab too long. Of course, no one would deny Donnie joining the mission; an extra hand would always be appreciated, especially if that extra hand is wielding his flawless new tech.

As the car came to a stop, a dreadful screech came from the breaks.

Raph took in a sharp inhale, Donnie tensed, and the driver remained silent.

They stayed silent for a long minute before the speaker buzzed to life and, through the crackling static, the driver announced, “No Krang in sight. Waiting for further instruction, we should be departing soon.”

Raph and Donnie took a collective sigh of relief at the news.

“You ready Big Guy?” Donnie asked as he started typing again.

“Yeah, Raph’s ready. Remember the plan?” Raph responded as he secured his arm wraps.

“Why of course,” Donnie said, uninterested.

Donnie caught Raph’s unimpressed raised brow in his peripheral. Donnie sighed as he dismissed his holo screen and elaborated with a dramatic eye roll, “why must you doubt me Brother? We shall stabilize the foundation, get in, grab as many people as possible, and get out before the Krang locate us. We’ve been over this plan at least a hundred times.”

“Just making sure, and Donnie, we’re getting all of those speople. I don’t care if it takes multiple trips, we’re coming back with everyone.”

Donnie’s stare shifted to the floor yet again, finding the metallic surface safer than eye contact with his elder brother, “mhm.”

How many times was Raph going to insist to save everyone? Obviously that was the goal, but they’re in an apocalypse, a dead wasteland, a decimated planet under constant threat, an everlasting war zone, there’s no guarantee they can save anyone. They’ve all had that message painfully ingrained into their memory the past seven or so years since the Krang’s arrival, yet Raph kept clinging to his delusional hope that everyone would be fine. It was the source of far too many disagreements and late night arguments between the two of them.

Instead of trying to bring Raph to the cold facts of reality for the thousandth time, he kept his head low and with a flicker of his ninpo a gas mask emitting a faint glow covered his face.

“Site cleared for departure. Lowering ramp,” the drivers voice crackled.

The back of their car unhinged and slowly lowered, creating the ramp. Donnie could feel Raph’s eyes on him. He flipped his goggles over his eyes and stood up straight, “On your lead.” Raph nodded and took the first step off the ramp, Donnie followed behind.

The ground was hard and dry beneath their feet. There was an ankle-high dust cloud stirred up with each step. The air was thick with ash and the stench of death. Even with the gas mask he could still feel the film of grime coating his mouth.

Donnie, Raph, and the EPF soldier that drove them walked around the corner of the car where three other groups approached. Each group traveled in a car of their own, with an extra car for soon-to-be rescued civilians.

All the soldiers gathered by Raph and waited for orders. Raph began to explain the plan again, although this time Donnie paid no attention to his little summary and pep talk; Donnie chose to do something far more productive with the otherwise wasted time. He put up his ragged hood and maneuvered his way through the soldiers without a soul batting an eye. Once he was out of sight he made his way to the collapsing building.

Donnie darted around the perimeter of the site with his Battleshell planting his latest piece of tech every few yards. His latest invention was a small circular device that settled into the dirt, when successfully planted it could connect with any others nearby and create a large radius that would detect any Krang activity. Upon sensing the Krang it would immediately send a message with the Krang’s whereabouts and ETA directly to Donnie’s wrist tech. Upon Leo’s request, rooted in doubt that Donnie would miss such a notification, it sends an alarm if the Krang are nearly at the location.

Once Donnie had planted all of the sensors, he regrouped with Raph and the troops. By the time he had arrived Raph was done with his talk and just started delivering orders. Donnie kept a little bit of distance from the crowd and monitored the resistance’s security while he waited.

Raph ordered a batch of soldiers to stay at the entrances to escort the people to the transport units, another group to scale the first of the five floors and look for any civilians, and the rest of the batches to do the same on each floor. Raph and Donnie’s purpose was to secure the building from the inside and to fight off any stray Krang hounds that wandered close to the site. The Krang don’t often leave survivors, it was a sure thing that they would be back, so they had to act quick.

Everyone began clearing the entrances and filling out their orders. As the troops left, Raph approached the building with Donnie in suit. Raph’s glare could strike fear into any troop, soldier, or commander. Said glare was resting on Donnie’s ragged hood as they approached the building. He could feel the shudder crawl up his spine and his eyes darted in every direction besides that of his brother’s.

“What was that, Donnie!?” Raph whisper shouted as his eyes tore from his younger brother, who was practically shrinking under the gaze, “We work as a team. You can’t just disappear like that! And what about the group of 3 rule that You made? Why do you keep doing this!?”

Donnie had seen his fair share of heated arguments (especially between Raph and Leo), he’d been the recipient more times as of late than he’d like to admit, but it didn’t stop the slight flinch at his brothers words. But even then, he couldn’t help but mimic the irrational response of his one and only twin, “Relax, Raph, it’s fine. Plus, what I did was more useful than listening to your boring little pep talk I’ve heard a thousand times.”

“Just ‘cuz you’re bored doesn’t mean you can run off like that. What would’ve happened if there was a Krang hound?”

With the opportunity to talk about his tech he twisted around and met Raph’s stare with his arms spread wide in a sudden found excitement, “That’s exactly my point Raphala! With my tech that I planted, while you were frankly boring the troop to death, I would have known the exact location of the Krang hound before it could even sniff me out! And in the impossible instance where my tech were to fail… do you really think I could be taken out by a single Krang hound?” His cocky grin and raised sharpie eyebrow deflated when he took in Raph’s expression. It was… it was a mix of emotions swirled together in an expression Donnie couldn’t decipher.

“Donnie, I just don’t want you to get hurt when Raph’s not there to protect you. I can’t protect my troop and watch over you at the same time, and I shouldn’t have to because you should be with the troop! Also my talks are not boring they are inspiring!” Raph took a deep breath and unclenched his fists, “I know you can take care of yourself, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to run off, and what if something did happen? I- I just need you to be here. I need to know I can rely on you. You need to be more responsible! …I know you understand, how dangerous this whole thing is, so— so I just don’t get it! Why do you act so reckless and- and- over confident when you know the stakes better than anybody!?” Raph let out a heavy sigh and started again, calmer, “Raph’s the leader. Raph’s the one that’s gotta look out for you guys. It ain’t easy when the three of ya are runnin’ off all the time. If you could just- if you could help Raph out by letting me know I don’t need to worry about you. By being a little more responsible, not running off, not ignoring my orders, not goofing around…” his words trailed off into an illegible whisper.

‘Ah, disappointment,’ Donnie internally noted the emotion, but he didn’t respond. His mouth was pushed into a hard line. He ran through all the different ways to respond in his head but his mouth stayed pressed. He wanted to respond. He did. He really really did, but nothing sounded right in his head. What if he made it worse? The tension was already thick and awkward. It felt like he was plodding through mud. It was fine, he could just respond…later. After the mission. After he figured out the best response.

The rest of the walk was brisk with the silence hanging between them. Once they entered the building, Donnie separated from Raph with the half-excuse of needing to check the foundations. He activated a few stabilizing devices that he crafted for missions such as this one.

He placed a few on every floor before meeting back with Raph on the main floor where he was helping usher people out of the building with the troop.

All was well for a total of 15 minutes.

As Donnie ran throughout the first floor double- triple- quadruple checking his tech and tending to the injured Yokai and humans being brought down flights of stairs, he heard an irritating beeping coming from within the building. He tried to ignore it, but it was increasingly difficult to focus with the sound practically in his ear.

He was tying a laughable makeshift splint on a young Yokai when he snapped his attention out towards the other troops and whisper shouted, “Would somebody turn that stupid alarm off!?”

The group of EPF soldiers didn’t acknowledge the demand, except one of them who innocently raised his arms in surrender.

Donnie let out a quiet growl of frustration—

The Yokai he was treating spoke up, “S— sir? I think it’s coming from you…”

Donnie’s face went flush with embarrassment as he stammered, “Oh, haha that’s me! My bad…” he looked closer at the alarm going off and— his pupils shrank to pin pricks as the red light flashed on his wrist. He must’ve missed the notification in the rush. He could feel his heartbeat quicken. His head shot toward Raph, “Raph! Krang are closing in quick, get whoever you can we’ve got to leave!”

This is fine.

No it’s not. It really, is in fact, not fine.

Raph looked around at the civilians still inside. They had gotten nearly half of them out. Raph immediately began furiously shouting orders at his troop, demanding they rush out as many as they can.

Within seconds the whole building was filled with the sound of panicked cries, frantic running, and soldiers forcing confused citizens to the exit.

Donnie’s hands were trembling and his heart was pounding in his head. He handed off the Yokai he was helping to a passing soldier already escorting a few others out.

“Donnie! What’s the status of the building?”

Donnie tried to check on his wrist tech but his dum-dum hands wouldn’t stay still. He got it up after some struggle and answered in the calmest voice he could manage, “Stability is currently at 59%.”

“How much time do we have?” Raph questioned further. Donnie could smell the fear stink trailing off his big brother, but he didn’t notice the shake in his brother’s firsts or the panic behind his eyes.

“Approximately 2 minutes before the Krang reach our location.”

Raph looked at the remaining people in the building and clenched his fists. They couldn’t save them all in only 2 minutes; they needed more time.

“Any way you can stall them?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Donnie looked up from his tech and made eye contact with Raph, “We can’t save them all. Raph, we have to leave! We’re sitting ducks right now! If the Krang find us—“

“We are not leaving anyone.” There was a fierce growl behind his brother’s words. Firm. Stable. A load bearing pillar unshaken by the earthquake. That’s why he led the Resistance. He was unbreakable.

“Raph, I know you want to be a hero, but you can’t! If you somehow think you can fight off the Krang you’re more delusional than- than Leo!” Donnie staggered through his words, hoping and pleading for his brother to stop being so stubborn and reckless and just listen.

“Raph ain’t gonna fight ‘em off, just gotta stall ‘em. Stop using that big, paranoid head of your’s and help me, won’t you?”

“I am not paranoid; I’m just sane!” Donnie thought out as many outcomes as he could imagine and decided, “Agh! Fine! I’ll help you with your dum-dum plan because I’m not gonna be the reason you get your, stupid, selfless idiot, dum-dum self killed!!” He stood up beside Raph, summoning a Ninpo construct of his Boa staff. Raph responded with a smirk and a conjuration of his own scarlet Ninpo around both his fists.

A flash of red —The Krang had arrived.

The earth shook, screams filled the air, an empty transport car was caught in the explosion of the Krang’s laser.

Raph and Donnie pushed past soldiers and citizens alike to reach the outside of the building. They looked in horror at the swarm of Krang hounds and mechs, leading the charge, a tier 4 Krang mech. The only Krang more deadly were the Krang 2, 3, and Prime himself.

The Krang mech’s laser charged for the second time with a blinding red glow, “Donnie! The building,” Raph shouted.

Donnie snapped into action. Blue prints racing through his mind physically manifesting as massive rectangular shields covering the eastern most wall of the building; before it was complete, the laser struck. His Ninpo was sturdy enough to partially protect the building, but the shield shattered into hundreds of purple embers littering the air. Large pieces of concrete, shards of glass, and other debris rained down from the sky as the building began to crumble.

In the blink of an eye there were dozens of bright violet shields overhead of the cars, soldiers, and citizens deflecting the falling debris.

Raph lunged forward, enlarging himself in an enormous display of Ninpo, and pushed the mech back. Another laser shot through the air and broke through the head of Raph’s construct, but it was quickly repaired. In the cross fire the laser ripped through the top floor of the building sending larger debris crashing into the shields below.

Donnie maintained the shields as he focused his power onto the collapsing building. Every crack in the wall, every unstable pillar, every gap, all at once being filled with his solid Ninpo. The five story building was wholly covered by the bright violet glow. A horrible pain erupted in Donnie’s head at the burst of energy, but it didn’t deter him.

The EPF soldiers gunfire shot down the closing in Krang hounds but their guns alone weren’t enough to keep them at bay. As Raph wrestled the mech, he split his Ninpo into dozens of extra constructs, all equal in size to his current form. The extra clones drained his Ninpo, strength, and focus, as they pummeled Krang hounds into the dirt and removed debris out of the way of the troops.

Raph felt a sharp, fiery pain in his hands. He glanced at them as he slammed a white knuckled fist into the head of the mech, and when he did, he saw a glow unlike anything he’d seen before. Seeping through his skin, red light, brighter than his Ninpo, shone through small cracks splitting open all over his hands. The moment of hesitation was enough for the Krang to take control and pin him to the ground.

“Raph!!” Donnie yelled after his brother. He looked through the thick cloud of dust and saw the glow of crimson shining through. Whether it was from the Krang or his brother he didn’t know. His concentration flickered, and along with it, his Ninpo. Donnie turned back to the building, more cracks were splitting down the sides that were instantaneously filled with purple. The shields faltered, he created more. The seething pain in his head made it harder to focus on so many Ninpo constructions at once, but he ignored it all to rush to Raph’s side.

Donnie charged forward into the cloud of dust, and as he did he refocused his Ninpo from his mask into a massive drill attached to his Boa staff. With a step and a jump, his Battleshell unfolded into two jets that propelled him off the ground. He rose above the Krang pinning Raph and yelled out as he cut through the air with his drill, “ARRIVEDERCI!!!”. His drill pierced the Krang mech’s cold metal arm into the dirt, then, with a powerful punch from Raph, the mech was ripped from its pierced arm and sent crashing into the ground.

Raph jumped to his feet and Donnie promptly perched on the construct’s shoulder and asked, “So, on a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your rescue?”

Raph’s attention was fixed on the prone Krang mech in front of him. The Krang stumbled as it tried to right itself without an arm. After a blow like that it wasn’t likely the Krang would be able to recover for a few more minutes. It bought them time. “Not the time Donnie,” he said through panting breaths, “what’s the state of the building?”

Donnie’s head pounded against his skull. He dismissed his drill and focused on the shields and crumbling building behind them. “Not great,” he reported, “my concentration is split between too many constructs. I can’t—“ his migraine throbbed, “I can’t keep this up much longer. Raph, we need to hurry.”

Raph gave a curt nod in response. He took a deep breath split into another construct, one that would keep the downed Krang busy. He felt the burn in his hands grow stronger. He didn’t have time to think about it. Donnie was struggling, the building was falling apart, and people were still being escorted to cars. No time to think. He turned his back to the Krang and lunged into a sprint toward the building. While he ran he couldn’t help but glance at the glowing cracks, but once he did he was filled with even more fear. The thin web of lines that previously laced his hand were now wider and brighter; the light rapidly pulsing with the beat of his heart. The cracks had already spread to his elbows and were still slowly creeping up to his forearm. His attention snapped toward Donnie, desperately scanning his little brother’s arms for anything similar. It was on him too. It was only thin lines on his fingers, but it was there.

Through the dust the scene unfolded, there were five low tier Krang mechs total. Two of which were beyond repair, one was pinned down by two of raph’s constructs, another shot a laser, destroying raph and Donnie’s constructs alike, and the final one plunged a claw into the chest of a construct as they approached. As it dissipated two more clones split off. On the ground one car was nearly swarmed by hounds and another was on the move with several survivors. The last cars had a stream of people flooding into them as soldiers gunned down incoming hounds. the Krang were closing in and Raph’s clones, perhaps 15 total, were all occupied. The cacophony of the scene all seemed to fall silent as Raph heard the Krang’s laser from behind. All he could manage was to throw Donnie off his shoulder as the laser cut through his hollow body.

In an instant Donnie was whirling through the air. His jets activated but he couldn’t right himself fast enough. His body twisted and turned like a cat trying to land on its feet. The last thing he saw was his brother encapsulated by a dreadful red, then, of course, the ground.

It must’ve have only been a minute that he was out, but it was far too long nonetheless. Donnie awoke on the packed dirt. Blood clung to his scraped arms. He felt a dull throb across body. The world was silent. He peeled his eyes open, but his vision was muddled. Blurs of purple rained from the spinning sky above. His hearing returned in the form of ear-splitting screams and screeching metal. He focused his eyes and took in the disaster unfolding. There were twice as many of raph’s constructs now. They were scattered about, some had pinned the tier 4 Krang to the ground, others wrestled the remaining mechs, the remaining huddled over the transport cars. As Donnie’s eyes traced the violet stars falling from the sky clarity struck like a meteor. He had blacked out, and all his Ninpo had fled with his consciousness. His shaky pupils settled on the image of Atlas before him with the world on his shoulders. Except instead of Atlas it was his oldest brother, and instead of the world on his shoulders it was the collapsed building. Raph was the only thing keeping it from crushing every survivor, soldier, and way of escape. He was faltering. He was spread too thin. He needed help and fast. Adrenaline alone kept Donnie moving. He stumbled to his feet and launched into flight. His rockets were damaged but they would propel him just enough to get to Raph. As his brother came into view his heart nearly stopped. Raph was glowing. Not his construct, him. His body was splitting apart in shining ravines across his skin. The cracks had nearly reached his shoulder. Flakes of crimson light flew by Donnie as he landed on the shoulder between Raph and the building.

“Donnie, what are you doing!? Get out of here!” Raph shouted through gritted teeth.

Donnie couldn’t muster the words. His eyes darted across his brother’s crumbling form. He didn’t know what to do. The sight of his rock, his pillar of a brother being ripped apart by the seems shook him to the core. He had to act.

It was an impulse. Something deep inside him swelled. His body released a surge of energy. Electricity crawled through his veins pulsating with a brilliant swirl of Crimson and Violet as it penetrated the construct. It traveled through Donnie’s fingertips and settled in the cracks of Raph’s skin. Raph’s eyes brightened as his Ninpo intertwined with that of his brother’s into something stronger.

The words “Anatawa Hitorijanai” echoed through a shared link between the brothers.

It was powerful. It was excruciating. It was exhilarating. It was exhausting. It was anxiety and relief all at the same time. But whatever it was, it gave Raph the strength to hold on. He began to push back the building further. His constructs overpowered the leftover mechs. It was what they needed.

Donnie opened his eyes. He could feel the strain pulling from Raph and settling on himself as they shared the literal weight of the situation.

At that moment, only one mistake was made. Donnie looked down.

His eyes landed on the blinding sight of his arm, chipped and falling away in shards of purple. His body tightened. He trailed the light up his arm as it thinned into slivers of violet inching up to his neck. Every line carried the sting of lightning through his body. He felt his arm being pulled apart as each piece peeled away. His breath quickened. He pulled his neck back trying to distance himself from the cracks as they creeped up his jaw.

Another impulse, this one of a far less helpful variety.

He let go.

He wasn’t thinking. He was scared. He was desperate to make it stop. And, for a brief moment it did, but it brought no relief. Once he let go, all the power he had given Raph and all the strain he had taken upon himself was poured back into his brother without restraint. The cracks swallowed him whole. The look on his brother’s face burned in his retinas. It was a twisted mix of fear, anguish, and betrayal. His oldest brother never seemed so small; so utterly helpless.

Then he was gone. An explosion of neon light —and Donnie was falling.

The building was plummeting after him with no one left to take it upon their shoulders. All around him were the crimson remains of Ninpo. He reached for them, hoping, begging to feel his presence. His hand extended toward the building falling after him, and he saw his arm still engulfed in that dreadful purple glow. He stretched his fingers in an attempt to grasp a passing spark. The spark flitted through his fingers, and as it did, his own Ninpo tore away to follow. In another universe, the swirl of colors may have been beautiful.

[present]

The memories filled his mind like the thick fog of a winter morning— or perhaps more like a suffocating plume of smoke.

He sat in the polluted mindscape; his brain looping like a broken record. A flash of his crimson brother’s face. The mangled voice screaming in the storm. Neon ash falling from the sky. Over and over.

His face burned, absently a stream of water trickled down his cheek. Must be the smoke.

It felt like an eternity he sat like that, but, as all things do, it came to an end. The record faded to static. His senses dulled. The air cleared. His eyes continued to leak. Then there was nothing. He had returned to the numbness of before. In the calm expanse, he found rest. He protested a moment, but his body insisted.

…

Consciousness rolled over him slowly. It came and went as it pleased. A lethargic movement here and there, the sound of a voice, and the pull of exhaustion bringing him back.

Finally, he opened his eyes. His pupils dilated as the harsh lights of the medbay greeted him. The world washed over him. The scratchy sheet beneath him, the steady rhythm of a heart monitor, the smell of latex, all of it filtered into his perception.

Donnie’s eyes wandered until they landed on the form beside him. A hand lazily sat underneath the box turtle’s head, just barely keeping it from colliding with the uncomfortable bedding. Drool dribbled across his chin, his shaggy hair falling over his eyes despite the protests of his orange bandana. Donnie shifted. Mikey stirred.

The orange-clad turtle, springy as always, shot to his feet at the sight of his open-eyed brother. His hair settled around his face and Donnie saw the rollercoaster through Mikey’s eyes. First there was excitement, his eyes lit up and he reached toward his brother. Then there was hesitation, fear. His mouth parted but no words followed the path. His hand clasped his gaping mouth. Now his eyes shined with tears. His voice wobbled as he attempted to speak, but again, no words were formed. Instead, Donnie spread out his arms in an invitation. Mikey accepted the hug in a heartbeat. No words were spoken, yet understanding lay thick in the air. Mikey knew what happened, and Donnie simply squeezed tighter when he felt only one of his arms against Mikey’s shell.

————————

Wow. Finally posting it. Well, if you’ve made it this far, tell me your thoughts!! Life kinda crazy, so I didn’t add back all the removed italics and such. Apologies if that makes it a tad harder to understand…

An aftermath-ish comic will be posted hopefully soon as well. I finished it forever ago and have been waiting to post it >:]

#letter from my future self #Rottmnt #rottmnt fic #Rottmnt future #rottmnt brains and brawn #Rottmnt Donnie #Rottmnt Raph #Rottmnt future Donnie #Rottmnt future Raph #rise of the tmnt #M3B writes

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