Chapter Text
Kaiya trekked towards the center of the sinkhole where the keyhole was. Sister Krang said it would be there, and to use it. Once she got close, she slowed down and stopped in the center of the site. It was secure in her hand, the Key. She held it and just looked at it.
Inside her trapped mind, Kaiya desperately tried to fight the mind control. Desperately attempting to regain control of her body and senses. But she felt chains pull against her, thwarting her efforts. “No. Don’t do this. You can’t set him free! You can’t! STOP! Please! I can’t watch more of them die! You have the blood of thousands on your hands already! STOP!”
Her please were left unnoticed. She watched in horror as Sureiya, her Krang form put the Key into its place. “No! NOOOOOO!”
With the Key in it’s place, the menacing carvings glow. And an explosion of energy sends a shockwave through the area as a beam of light shoots into the skies. Ripping the sky open, revealing a gapping black hole above the Technodrome. Then…she sees him. Krang Prime falling through the tear, landing on the ship.
“N-no…” She wished she could fall to her knees in despair, but she couldn’t. She felt she could cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. “I did this…I should not have concealed my past for so long. And now, they’re-”
A voice in her mind interrupted her. Commanding and sinister.
‘Sureiya. Guard the Key. Kill anyone who seeks to steal from us again. Disobey, and you will be crushed like the Yokai. Beneath rock and ruin.’
‘Yes master.’
Kaiya cringed at hearing her own voice morphed and garbled respond. She cried out, fighting the prison of her own mind. “No! Don’t do it! Take it off! Take it off! Please! I have to find my family! P-please…Karai…I can’t fix this…”
—
Casey starred up at Leonardo. Unable to believe his eyes. The whole world went silent, other than the sound of his exerting breaths. “…Sensei?…”
“Come on! We gotta get outta here! Ragh!” Leonardo roared as he pulled Casey up. Throwing him safely onto the pavement. He grunted, pulling himself up to safety before hoisting Casey onto his shell and began to sprint. “Ack! Sensei!”
“Hang on, Case!” Leonardo dodged falling debris, narrowly avoiding falling buildings. “What in the heck happened here?!”
Casey couldn’t respond, still in shock from the sudden turn of events, and could do nothing but hang on for dear life. Despite the chaos, Casey studied his master to see if he was real. Leonardo’s scarred shell, his ragged blue cloak and mask, noticeably a slightly different shade of blue than Leo’s mask. His more faded coloring, the battle worn robot arm. It was really him, it was really his master. His sensei. But…how?
—
Leonardo sprinted effortlessly through the streets. Barely avoiding shattered glass from the collapsing buildings. Using his arm as a shield from falling debris, slashing through street barriers to keep going. Suddenly, he yelped and jumped back as a large Krang monster exploded from beneath the pavement.
“WHAT?! They’re here?!”
Leonardo stared in shock as he stared at the amalgamation towered over him.
‘The Krang are here in this timeline? But how? I sent Casey to stop them! Why isn’t he with…wait, is my family still here? Alive?! Oh crap-’
A massive tentacle interrupts his thoughts. Forcing him to dodge the behemoth. “Casey?! You have some explaining to do!” He shouted, slicing through the tentacle like butter. The beast roared in pain, countering his attack with trying to stomp him until he’s flat. “Agh!” Leo pushed back with his metal arm, anchoring his feet into the ground. “Not good! Ragh!” He flips his katana around, stabbing the foot threatening to crush him. Them monstrosity fell back, letting out a cry of pain. Leonardo looked down at his sword. “A bio-transformer?! Ah!” Leonardo flew back, trying to land on his feet after a hit to the gut. He screeched to a halt, gripping a lamp post as an anchor.
Casey jumped off Leonardo’s shell before he got crushed as his sensei made impact with a concrete wall. “Sensei!”
“Agh! I got it!” Leonardo scanned the area, looking for an escape route. Feeling the ground beneath him, he notices the whole block around them is sinking, and nearby was an unaffected cliff edge. With no way up. But, Leonardo wasn’t about to let that stop him.
“SENSEI!”
The Krang monster reared up roaring. Leonardo clamped his metal fingers around the base of the light post, yanking it off its base to hold like a spear. With a roar of his own, he aimed, and threw that post like a javelin. Grinning as it pierced right through the head of the beast. Casey stood frozen, shocked at what his master did. Leonardo lifted him onto his shell again. “Hang on!”
Leonardo wall jumped onto the building, and leapt of, heading straight towards the Krang. Using every bit of his strength to push it over, forming a ramp to the cliff edge. “That’s our escape! Come on!” Leonardo sprinted up the creature, reaching his goal. But he kept going. He wouldn’t stop until he got Casey to safety. The seething pain in his side protested. But it didn’t matter. He was still here, still alive.
—
Leonardo finally stopped in a location just outside the city looking into the newly formed crater. His breath shook, fist clenching as he saw the Krang ship floating in the sky. Specs of monsters crawling through the cracks. Rage welled up in his heart. He thought this could be prevented. He thought Casey prevented the invasion. But before his eyes, the same nightmare. The same horizon of ruin he had known for 22 years. Near the same as it was before. Only…in a different time. He felt Casey slide off his shell, landing on the ground behind him with a thud. He wanted answers, why his…no…their home was destroyed as it was before.
“Casey.”
His chest heaved as a sigh escaped him. Struggling to catch his breath. “What is happening? Did we send you to the wrong time? I don’t understand…Mikey died to save our world! To save our brothers! And here it is! Just as screwed as before. And how did I get here? Was there a fluke in the space time continuum or something? I should be dead! And…where’s my brothers? Why aren’t you with them? And…where’s the key? We’ve gotta find it before-!”
A small sob behind him stopped him short in his struggle to understand what was happening. He could hear Casey’s shaky breathing, a little muffled by the mask, but he knew that sound. A sound he rarely heard, but a sound that broke his heart nonetheless. He slowly turned around, facing his student. “Casey?”
Casey visibly shook. Trying to hold in the urge to run and hug his Sensei. He felt like he would shatter once he did. Listening to his confusion and pain in his voice. After a moment of silence, he lifted his mask, showing his tear-stained face. He could barely speak. “…Sensei…?”
Leonardo gulped silently, seeing something he didn’t expect. His student was older than he remembered. Not by much, but he could tell. How was this possible? He just sent him to the past! He should be the same! But he’s not. A few scratches on his armor that he didn’t recognize, clean shaven, a little more muscle, and he was clean. Even the stripes on his mask had been freshened up with new paint. But what was most different was what he saw in his eyes. His student was grieving him? Even though he was here? He relaxed his shoulders, opened his arms from being crossed on his chest,
“Casey? Are you okay? What’s going-?!” He stopped mid sentence.
Casey had dropped his hockey stick and ran towards him, hugging him so hard he tackled Leonardo to sitting on the ground. “Sensei!”
“Casey! What’s gotten into you?”
“I-I…” He cried. His emotions wouldn’t let him speak any more. He could only hold onto his master, ensuring he was real and not some figment of his imagination. But he was real. This was his Sensei. His Sensei who raised him. He didn’t care how, but he was real.
“Uhh…” Leonardo felt confused beyond measure. He’d never seen Casey this emotional. Except when…oh. That’s why he’s acting like this. He thought I was…
He looked around, ensuring that they were safe for the moment. His war driven instincts and taking over to analyze for threats. When he saw they were safe, he looked down at Casey and hugged him back. Scooped him up and held him against his plastron. Letting him cry. Trying to shield him with his arms. “It’s okay, Case. I’m here now. I’m alive, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you.”
Leonardo shed a tear as he felt his student shaking with emotion. And all he could do in that moment was ground him.
“Sensei…I-I failed you…you gave me a mission…I did it…but they came back again…”
Leonardo’s heart shattered. He shook his head, speaking up before Casey could berate himself further. “I’m sorry Casey. I shouldn’t have hurt you like that. Scared you. But, I’m so proud of you. You hear me? I’m proud of you. Wait, what do you mean by ‘I did it’ and ‘they came back again?’”
Leonardo stopped. Feeling the ground suddenly shiver beneath them. He took his left hand and felt the ground. Wondering what caused it considering the city stopped collapsing. He looked towards the crater, and his heart stopped. A pink beam of light shot towards the sky, ripping open the sky. His mind remembering the horrors of what he saw as a teen. The same sight, bringing the Technodrome from the Prison Dimension. “No! Wait, the Technodrome is already here? Why is the portal opening?!”
“Oh no…NO!” Casey got up and ran towards the cliff.
“Casey! What’s going on?!”
“They’re setting him free!”
“Who?”
A chill ran down Casey’s spine. “We’ve gotta find Sensei- I mean…Leo and the others!”
Leonardo grasped Casey’s wrist, stopping him from running. “Wait, past me, my brothers…are all still alive?! Hrk!” Leonardo grasped his side.
“Sensei! Wait, you’re still wounded! Leo! Leo come in! LEO!”
“Casey? What’s…?!” Leonardo spots a giant purple ship shaped like a turtle. “That looks like…”