Chapter Text
Raph was not having a good day.
They hadn’t had a lot of good days since the invasion, as a family. But this one was really testing the boundaries of what Raph was willing to put up with from the universe.
The only comfort he had was that it was probably the same shitty day his brothers were having.
His whole world was currently compressed down to a narrow tunnel of light and motion, surrounded by a sound as if the light itself was screaming, rattling the delicate terrapin sensory organs of Raph’s face. It was like someone was hitting him repeatedly in the snout with a baseball bat, the complete lack of an up or down adding to the horrific feelings of nausea and the splitting pain in his head and neck.
Already disoriented, he’d tried drawing into his shell, but even that hadn’t helped- without the sight of the pulsing light and bubbles of space and color flying past his eyes, almost too fast to track, he’d almost upchucked from vertigo. And throwing up in your shell was not something he or his brothers were eager to repeat after the Rat Flu season of 2015.
There wasn’t any real passing of time that he could measure, besides how sore his throat was, or how much his head and joints hurt. His skin even hurt, completely dried by this- thankfully not airless- dimensional passage. The cold caused a thin scattering of rime across his shell and the tougher hide across his forearms and calves, and the heat sapping crackle of it made Raph too lethargic and sleepy to panic like he probably should be doing.
He’d been alone in this tunnel for… A while.
He tried not to let that thought bother him, reminding himself with a thrum of nervousness that made it past his lethargy, that his brothers were just as tough and capable as he was. Even Donnie and Mikey, for all they were a soft shell and the baby of the family respectively. In fact, if Raph were being honest (and Leo wasn't the one asking), in terms of pure strength Mikey came in a surprising second only to himself, despite being the shortest.
Little man could throw a punch that would send even Raph back a few steps if he wasn’t ready for it. Combined with his wild, unpredictable speed and use of his surroundings, he was the hardest to pin down in a fight next to Leo, if only because Leo could teleport.
All of this to say, even though his brothers were all capable, and even though he had enough to worry about, Raph couldn’t wrestle his glacially slow thoughts from worry about his brothers.
Last he’d seen them they’d been knocked back right next to him, going through the same glowing pink portal crackling with energy. Raph had gone in shell first, arcs of lightning crackling between the spikes of his shell and arms, and his sai zinging powerfully enough that he’d almost burnt his calloused palms and released them into the swirling void. The wash of energy as he’d gone through had been muted by keratin until his head had reached the portal, and then it was just swirling pressure and chaos.
And his brothers, who had been within arms reach as they’d gone flying backwards, were gone.
However long it had been, they hadn’t made a reappearance. Past the crackle of ice and the sleepy track of his thoughts, Raph could feel a building fear reminiscent of a pressure cooker behind the flex of his plastron, so powerful it felt like a golf ball in his chest.
(Familiar from that time he, yes, ate a golf ball. If they didn’t want to be eaten they shouldn’t look like eggs Mikey.)
They’re fine, Raph told himself, for the millionth time, drawing his knees up close to himself, in lieu of drawing into the warmer confines of his shell. Their plastrons had a flexibility most turtles didn’t have, allowing them to shift and bend. Not much, but enough that they could at least bend far enough to touch their toes. Yoga masters they were not, but much of their bones and joints had a certain give to them that he’d assumed had been part of the careful super-soldier design they were mapped from.
They’re fine, they’re safe. You are not alone. You are not alone. You-
Raph was deposited from the tunnel.
It happened so quickly he almost didn’t have time to unloop his legs; the world rocketed up towards him in a spinning, blur of blue gray green blue white, brief flashes of puffy white clouds in a gray-blue sky and a slate gray skyline scattered with glittering glass and steel and brick.
He didn’t scream, wind whipping by almost too fast for his voice to make it out of his beak before it was snatched away; but he did gather his ninpo around himself in a crackling shell of crimson that turned him into a hurtling comet, the air roaring too loud for him to even make out any sound past the rattling of his tympanum.
He fell maybe six or seven hundred feet before reaching the roofline, nothing compared to the half mile he’d fallen with Mikey and Donnie wrapped in his arms during the Invasion. But his speed was immense, and when he finally touched down, it was.
Rough.
If he’d had more time, or knew what was happening, he might have landed better. But as it was, Raph couldn’t rocket around like Donnie, teleport like Leo, or swing himself like Mikey.
If Raph was falling, he fell hard. And counted on his brothers to catch him.
His glowing red ninpo scattered apart at first impact, a fraction of it tearing off on the upper corner of a roof and sending him into a sickening spin, cool air rushing into the rent left in his red projection’s left arm and shoulder. He mimicked the curl he’d used during the Invasion (without his brothers safely tucked into his arms and god he missed them), and half drew his head in his shell.
That was probably all that saved him from a broken neck when the spin sent him smashing against the face of an old brick building, and bouncing off to hit the pavement with a head-rattling crunch.
The impact was pretty hard to remember past the sound, and it happened so fast Raph didn’t have time to track anything besides feeling the impact, the scraping, and the sheer concussive force that was similar to getting flicked by Krang Prime under the Technodrome.
Raph had never been hit by a semi-truck, so didn’t really have anything else to compare it to. He imagined it was similar.
The pavement rose crumbling up around him as he finally coughed out a breath and wheezed air back in, working on re-inflating his lungs where they’d been knocked clean of air. Raph started to feel steel piping and drainage cradling against his back as he slowly recovered his breath, silt and dust and smoke drifting up around him from the impact site and clogging his nose and mouth. A lot of snot and spit came out of his wheezing snout, and he lifted a tattered, tape wrapped arm enough to swipe uselessly at it, mostly just making more of a mess. Going through pavement wasn’t new, but it definitely wasn’t preferred.
Him and his brothers had all gotten stronger in the past few years. Raph knew he could take hits now that he never could have imagined when he was fifteen, back when just getting hit by one of the Foot Lieutenants could knock him back and out of a fight. He’d thought he was tough, because he was stronger than a human, stronger than his brothers even, and- in his secret heart, that he tried not to look too close at- stronger than his Pops.
The hits he’d taken from the Krang could shatter cars and level buildings. Had leveled buildings.
All Raph had gotten from that blow was a cracked radius and a hairline wrist fracture.
(Prime and his siblings had made up for it later though, through a war of attrition. Taking one hit from Krang Prime was one thing. Taking a dozen? Raph had not been in the best shape when they’d limped home. None of them were.)
From his new stationary position Raph’s tympanum were ringing; eyes blurry, dry, and no doubt half frozen from the dimensional travel. Mist was rising off of him like a spaceship on re-entry, the warm summer air slowly thawing him out and making his skin crackle as he shifted blearily, displacing shards of black asphalt and back-filled gravel.
“... Ouch.”
Raph stilled himself, and let the slithering sounds of rubble settle while he gathered his thoughts, and checked carefully for anything broken. He twitched slowly and methodically, limb by limb to check for numbness or shooting pain.
He could tell immediately by the lack of agony that his shell was miraculously intact, even after the adrenaline had subsided. It was sore, as was his shoulder and left arm where he’d clipped the building hard enough to feel it through the projection, but intact. No broken bones, maybe some bruises, and-
Raph shifted, and winced, reaching down with one clawed hand to rip a tangle of municipal steel off of his left leg.
Possibly a sprained ankle.
His cargo pants were intact, thank pizza supreme in the sky. He was too old to be running around half naked, and getting stuff tailored for his tail was a pain.
The crater he was in went down a considerable way, before Raph’s descent was halted by what he suspected was the city’s plumbing network. As the smoke and mist cleared and Raph rolled gingerly to unsteady feet, he saw the tail end of a car barely teetering on the edge of the crater, occupants long since fled and tail lights glittering with broken glass like an empty tooth socket.
Noise started filtering in as he struggled for balance, his feet sinking into what was starting to become icy-cold sludge from whatever water main he’d no doubt just released from his bruised leg. Screams were coming from above, as well as horns honking, a wall of voices and noise and telephones and-
Raph’s heart started pounding hard enough that he felt sick, hands starting to shake where they were clawed deep into the side of the crater. They clenched, furrows opening like wounds in the concrete.
This was every single nightmare he’d had since he was little. Since he was barely old enough to lift himself up to a storm drain, and peer out at the forest of shoes and garbage and pant legs, that was all he saw of New York city until he and his brothers were in their teens.
He was out.
He was out in public.
The sun was up, he was in a city, he didn’t even know what city or what dimension, but he was about to get seen very publicly unless he got the fuck out of here-
All the ninja training in the world couldn’t prepare him to make it out of a ring of filming humans without getting spotted, so he didn’t even try. He simply braced himself for running (doubtful, his legs felt like jelly, and his ankle was throbbing), and clawed his way up to street level, grunting with exertion as his limbs thawed out and his scales warmed up.
It was… Worse than he thought.
Raph broke the surface of the street, shaking from a combination of fear and pain, his tail dragging and limp. His hide was streaked in grime and dust, broken up by clean sharp lines of blood where he’d gained superficial scratches and cuts. His mask was singed and tattered where the tails draped over his shoulder, fluttering from the gusts of breath that came from his panting jaws, and his hand wraps weren’t much better.
There were humans everywhere.
Raph’s heart was still hammering, his breath coming faster as he bundled himself down, trying to look smaller when faced with the wall of noise that was the dozens of humans surrounding him and the pit he’d crawled out of. He’d honestly rarely seen a city street this crowded; and even then it had been the Hidden City, where he was one of the least unusual things in view.
His slightest move sent ripples of action in the crowd, and he was having trouble orienting himself with the noise, turning on the spot to figure out where to even start extricating himself from this situation.
Some humans were fearfully crouched behind cars, choosing to stay put with that familiar world-weary city attitude that made Raph suspect he wasn’t as far from home as he thought. But many more were streaming away between trapped cars, newspaper stands, and the packed crowds of bystanders that had simply retreated far enough to grimly pull out their phones and start filming.
There were so many people remaining, the glint of their phones pointed towards him, and Raph staggered uncertainly to the side, clearing the crater and looking wildly around for- a sewer grate, an alley, anything-
“What is it? ”
“Oh my god it’s another invasion who’s called 9-1-1-”
“It’s a mutant I thought those freaks were moved upstate-”
“Fucking christ, it’s moving this way, fucking move-”
Okay. Okay. Don’t panic.
Already Raph could feel the narrowing in of his mind, the absence of logic closing in as his heart continued pounding, and his tail began to lash without his input. Savage Raph was scratching at the boundaries of his self control, and he tightened his grip on it punishingly. He could not lose control.
He had to find his brothers.
He had to find them because… Because. Because, he was alone-
A nervous rumble escaped Raph’s throat as he moved quickly now, to the side towards one of the only open alleys he could see within a hundred feet. He was still staggering, disoriented and dizzy, and he had to concentrate to get past a crookedly parked taxi. The owner was solemnly and calmly rolling his window up manually from below the sight of the window as Raph passed.
People screamed and scattered at his approach, too loud to hear his nervous platitudes and reassurances that he wasn’t going to hurt anyone, excuse me, ma’am please stop screaming just let me pass you-
“Freeze! Stop, stop, stop- ”
Something about the authority in the voice went straight to Raph’s hindbrain and he did indeed stop, looking up and blinking at who was shouting at him. He had to try to get his vision to stop spinning long enough to make it out, putting a hand out to catch himself on a car as the effort left him blinking dizzily.
The sight he finally got had him hunching down again, his throat shaking with a scared rumble at the sight of a gun.
The police officer behind it looked resigned and nervous, feet braced and his body partially hidden behind a random car door he had torn open, the actual police car abandoned far behind with the lights still flashing. No doubt when the jam of traffic had proven impossible to drive through, even with sirens wailing. The street was almost clear now, most of the pedestrians and drivers a safe distance away, peering from behind cars and filming from behind newspaper stands and waste baskets.
This was- excuse his language- a fucking nightmare.
“Do you understand english?” The officer yelled over, surprisingly clear and slow, and when Raph nodded shakily, continued, “I need you to get down on the ground. You’re going to be put under arrest. You’re going to put your hands-”
“N-No, listen-” Raph started, moving a step.
It wasn’t even towards the guy, more a sideways nervous shuffle away from the car, but the nose of the gun still came up and the officer crouched partly behind the door. “Do not move!”
Raph flinched, shaking. He didn’t know what damage a bullet would do to him. He didn’t think it was a lot, but something about looking down the barrel of a gun had him terrified. They faced guns all the time, had faced guns right before this whole portal bullshit had happened- but it was different now for some reason. Raph was confused and alone, and if he got shot there was no brothers or April or Pops to make it better. “O-Okay! Okay, I won’t move, but officer, listen -”
“I’ll listen to all you want guy, okay? But you need to sit down and put your hands behind your head.” The officer said slowly, and Raph couldn’t make out his badge, couldn’t make out a nameplate, but he did see ‘NYPD ’ on the sleeve of his thick dark coat. A clue. Raph was a good New York boy, no matter what April said. They knew who the green torch lady was now, thank you, and Raph also knew who the New York Police Department was.
God this was happening all over again. Raph was so scared he thought he was going to throw up, remembering the police in the Hidden City. How they wouldn’t listen, everyone just looked at him, and they thought… They thought he…
And Savage Raph was roaring in his head, saying, go, move, go, they’re going to hurt you, they’re going to catch you, you need to hurt them first, you need to bite and rend and smash-
There were so many phones pointed at him, everyone could see him, and if he got arrested he wasn’t even a legal citizen they could do what they wanted with him and he doubted it was going to be ‘put into foster care and taken care of’, it was going to be killed if he was lucky-
“Listen I, I can’t go with you, I’m sorry, I uh.” Raph put his hands up, one hand clutching at his chest to soothe the rapid heartbeat there, and the other shakily moving to touch his scarred eye in a nervous gesture. “Officer I’m sorry, I can’t, I have to go-'' Don't say find your brothers , “I have to go, I’m uh. I’m lost, heh, clearly-” The laugh was watery, and Raph’s vision was too blurry to make out the cops face. “I’m sorry about uh, your street and the. Car? I can’t fix that, I don’t know-”
A few things happened very quickly.
First, the officer’s face softened slightly. Raph could tell, because the arm with the gun went down, although he didn’t come out from behind the car door. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe he was saying something, but there was a humming ring in Raph’s ears that couldn’t make it out.
Second thing to happen, was Raph heard something very big, and very loud land behind him.
He turned and stumbled, almost falling, and found himself facing…
A robot.
An actual life size robot.
It was crimson and gold, sleeker than he’d expect and about the same height as Raph himself, maybe a little shorter. The eyes glowed a clear sterile blue, the gloves and feet giving off a faint hum that made Raph’s whole face prickle uncomfortably, the organs that he and Donnie shared as hunting turtles making him wince, and touch his face gingerly.
The robot must have- have landed, because Raph hadn’t heard it walk up, and probably hadn’t heard it approach by air because of his pulse hammering in his throat and tympanum. It was also coming to full height as he watched, as if it had compensated for a drop. It was only maybe ten feet away from Raph, on the impressively large New York City sidewalk, stationed between him and the closest alley.
Raph felt his heart sink.
Just as he was looking desperately around to see where the next closest avenue of escape was, a robotic hand came up to face Raph, a bright blue circle set in the palm and the sub-audible whine increasing as whatever weapon was embedded in it charged. Raph had heard Donnie’s weapons do similar, as well as some of the stuff the Krang had trotted out during the invasion. It was advanced, whatever it was, and Raph put his hands up uncertainly.
Just the thought of the Krang, of what they’d done, of being caught made his whole skin break out in a sweat under the cake of dust and dirt he was covered in, eyes narrowing to pinpricks in fear at the thought of-
Of-
“Everyone stay calm, take it easy, yeah yeah, keep evacuating- Alright, thanks bunches officer, great job, we got it from here.” The robot was saying, some distant and rapidly retreating part of Raph noted. The robot’s head turned slightly to peer over Raph’s shoulder, probably to address the cop, but Raph couldn’t turn to look and see the cops reaction, his muscles frozen and not willing to look away. Not with his vision tunneled down to the size of a dime, the ringing in his ears growing louder than it had been on reentry to this place, joints locked and frozen in fear.
“Alright Big Green, this isn’t quite first contact, sorry to burst your bubble. Can’t take you to our leader, but SHIELD will be the next best thing, promise. Well, actually not really, they suck, but I have a lunch date in a half hour so I’ll just drop you off at the carpool- ”
The third thing to happen was Raph realized he was alone.
He was alone, and this robot was going to take him away, and he wouldn’t be able to find his brothers.
Everything went dark, and quiet, and Raph felt something snap like overstretched rubber as Savage Raph took over.