Chapter Text
Leo was already having a bad day before he was spit out of a portal into an alternate universe.
Let's back it up.
Leo and his brothers had followed a lead into a warehouse. There was a yokai that kept causing trouble and needed to be stopped. He could create and manipulate portals, so that's how he kept escaping.
When they got there, Leo had tried to portal behind the yokai to surprise him. Turns out he wasn't surprised.
Leo had entered the portal, no problem. The trick was the brief second he was traveling through space.
The portal had turned a bright shade of magenta right before Leo was spat out.
He landed on a rooftop. Not uncommon for him to mess up, but less common now that he was an expert in portaling. He must have been portal jacked by the yokai.
The most odd thing is that wherever he landed did not look like 'his' New York. It looked more like the rip-of version.
Leo needed to get back as soon as possible. He was the Mad Dogs leader. He needed to at least be there. He had really started taking initiative after the Krang and started takinb things more seriously. He wasn't about to change that by not making an effort to get back.
He checked his phone to see if he could figure out where he was. Huh. No signal. Strange. Donnie always bragged how great his technology was, so no way it was a glitch.
Leo began to feel faint. Crap. He didn't want to pass out, he didn't even know the cause, but he seriously felt like he was going to collapse.
Leo's eyes began to flutter and with a groan, he passed out on the lonely rooftop of Not-New-York.
Leo woke later to the sound of people talking.
"Who could he be?"
"I don't know, but it could be an alternate universe situation again."
"Great. Not again."
"Maybe he's an evil clone! Sent here to tell us he doesn't like pizza!"
"Do you really think that?"
'It's always a possibility."
Leo decided he should let them know he was awake, whoever 'they' were.
He groaned when he felt pounding in his head. Great. On top of everything, he had to deal with a migraine.
Wait! Where were his brothers? He needs to help them!
Leo's eyes shot open and he launched into a sitting position, which did not help with the headache. Ow.
Leo saw he was in some sort of medbay. With four cots lining the wall to his right. Cupboards to his left. Medical supplies left out on a counter. How unsanitary, and that was coming from the medic of the family. He supposed this wasn't professional.
He finally noticed the four turtles surrounding him. They looked like his brothers, but not 'his' brothers.
"Um, hi?" Leo said nervously.
The orange one spoke first "Hello, fellow brother. One quick question, to make sure you're not evil." He took a long breath. "Do you like pizza?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Good. Thay solves the problem, guys. He's not an evil clone. You're welcome."
Everyone else looked on the verge of face palming. The red one actually did.
"Right. Anyway, how are you feeling?" the purple one asked.
"Uh, my head hurts a little, but everywhere else is fine. Where am I?" Leo questioned.
"You are in our lair, in the sewers. We found you on a rooftop when we were patroling the city. You were just lying there, so we took you home to make sure you were okay." The purple one smiled, revealing a gap in his teeth.
"Oh. H-have you seem a-any of my brothers? We were fighting someone earlier. I need to make sure they are okay," Leo asked.
"No, we haven't." Purple seemed to hesitate on his next words. "Based on my knowledge, you are possibly from an... alternate universe."
Leo sucked in a breath. How?! Alternate dimensions?! He had his fair share with those already! Had they really underestimated the yokai dude that much? Him and his brothers has gotten so much better at their fighting. They had almost mastered their ninpo, according to Draxum. How had this happened?!
"Hey, dude. Breath. You're okay. Your brothers will be fine. If they are anything like us, they'll pull through." Man, the orange one was really good at that. Leo calmed a little bit.
"Okay, as much as I want to figure this out now, this turtle is in need of medical assistance. So, out!" Purple was good at that, because the rest of them trickled out.
Purple sighed. "Great! Now thay they are out of here I can ask questions that actually matter. If that's okay with you."
"Yeah, that's okay. But I have to ask, do you know why I passed out? It's not a regular occurrence, so somethings up."
"Oh yeah, that. Based on my knowledge, your body didn't know how to deal with the sudden changes of traveling universes, so its solution was to pass out for a few hours. That way it could slowly adapt. You may feel a little light headed for the next couple of hours until it fully adapts.
"So to get this straight. I'm in an alternate universe, were my brothers are all box turtles. I passed out for a couple hours to adapt to the changes. My brothers probably have no idea I'm here. And to top it off, this version of me clearly isn't as handsome."
"Pretty much. Even the last part. I'll have to figure out a way to get you home. I've done it before, but I knew where I was going. It will probably take longer this time because I don't know what universe you are from. You will have to help me figure that out."
"Y-you are w-willing to help m-me? Why?" Leo was confused.
"Even though you are a different version, you are still my brother Leonardo. I don'y need any more reason than that."
Leo felt like crying after that, and that's what he did. The events of the day crashing into him like a tidal wave.
Donnie didn't even hesitate to comfort him. It was nice.
Leo was led to the kichen later by Donnie. They had decided that they would work better if they ate something. Not that Leo thought he could stomach much.
Mikey had made pizza, which looked only mildly repulsive.
Everyone else was already there.
This dimension's Leonardo said, "If you are cleared by Doctor Donatello, we were thinking it would be good if you joined us for our training session. That way we can learn about your fighting style and such, in case we need to fight someone together."
It was a good suggestion. Leo felt the need to move, so this was perfect.
"Yeah, he said as long as I take it easy, I'll be okay."
Leonardo gave him a small smile, while Raph was giving Leo a dirty look. What was his problem? Leo shrugged it off as him not liking the sudden change.
Leo sat down next to Donnie. A habit. He realized how much he missed his Donnie already.
Leo took a bite of his pizza and was surprised to find it tasted really good.
"Wow, Mikey, this tastes good. What did you do to it?" Leo questioned.
"Oh, I added turtle pellets. They're my favorite!"
Leo almost gagged at that, but was ashamed to say it still was really good.
After breakfast, the turtles found themselves in the dojo.
They were just standing around when, who Leo assumed was this worlds Splinter, entered. Man, he was tall!
"Good morning, my sons. Today is a special day because we have a guest. So we will do just some simple sparring." Creepy. He sounded like the Shredder.
Leo shuddered.
"First, Raphael against our guest... uh... what do you want to be addressed as?" Splinter asked.
"Blue is fine."
Splinter nodded. "Into position!"
Leo and Raph got into fighting stances.
"Go!"
Raph ran towards Leo, probably intending to tackle him. What a dumb move. Leo easily side stepped the attack.
Raph somehow didn't expect that and lost his balance. Quickly regaining his footing, he lunged towards him again.
Leo decided to get the fight over with sooner rather than later. He didn't see what Raph was trying to do. He swiftly used Raph's weight and momentum against him and threw him. Raph landed on the floor with a grunt, clearly in shock.
Leo ran over to him and pinned him to the floor. Raph tapped out instantly.
Leo helped him up, and then looked around the room.
Everyone was staring at him with their eyes wide open and their mouths hanging open. It should have been comedic, but Leo felt like he did something wrong.
"W-wh-what?" Leo asked, nerves all over the place.
Mikey was the one to answer. "Nobody has ever taken him out that 'fast' before! That was insane!"
Leo felt himself blush. It wasn't 'that' impressive. It was easy to find his weaknesses, he just used them to his advantage.
Splinter seemed to recover from his shock. "How about you spar against Leonardo now. Raphael seemed to not be a great enough challenge. No offense."
"Some taken," Raph grumbled.
"Okay." Leo responded, unsure.
Leonardo stood up and got into a fighting position.
Leonardo got into a fighting stance. He could take this younger version of himself, easy. Sure, he took down Raph faster than he ever could, but he must've caught him off guard. No way he was 'that' good at fighting. He looked like a child.
Blue wasn't in a fighting position. He seemed to be pretty casual on the outside. On the inside, Leonardo didn't know. He seemed to be pretty good at hiding how he felt.
Blue grinned. Leonardo wished he knew what that meant.
"Go!"
Leonardo swears he saw Leo's eyes glow for a quick second, but before he could do anything, it disappeared.
And so did Blue.
Leonardo was so confused. His mistake. He let his guard down.
Before he knew what was going on, he was on the floor. On top of him... was Blue, and he was grinning like mad.
"I think I win."
"What was that?!" Leonardo screeched.
"That, my friend, was my family's secret weapon, the 'Hamato Ninpo'," Leo replied.
"That was insane!" Mikey exclaimed.
"What's Hamato Ninpo? And how'd you get it?" Donnie questioned.
Leo hesitated. "That's a long story. Let's just say... it's a family thing."
Leo started to walk away. This was just too painful to talk about right now.
"Wha- you can't just ignore our question! Get back here!" Raph looked like he would and could punch Leo.
Leo closed the dojo's door and started to run. He didn't know where he was going. Anywhere but here was fine.
Leo has tears make their way down his face. He really didn't like to think about Karai and the Shredder. Now it was even harder because he was away from his brothers.
Leo found himself somewhere in the sewers after a few minutes of running. He collapsed against the wall and started sobbing.
Leo wished he could see his brothers, just to make sure they were okay. He missed them so much.
He really was nothing without them.
Leo found the lair a couple hours later. His meltdown had lasted an hour or two. He was really drained now.
Leo hoped he could avoid the other turtles. Luck seemed to be on his side just this once, because there was no one in sight.
Leo made his way to the kichen, hoping to get a drink. No way he wasn't dehydrated after crying for so long.
Leo walked into the kichen and started to look for where they kept their mugs.
Once he found them, he looked for the tea. Herbal was all he found. Not his favorite, but okay. Leo was once again reminded that this wasn't his dimension. Otherwise, they would have his favorite.
He made himself a cup and then made his way to Donnie's lab. As much as he didn't want to talk to someone, Donnie was the one who could help him get to his dimension. He desperately wanted to go home. He was missing it more by the second.
Leo opened the lab door to find it empty. Huh. Donnie must be somewhere else.
Leo looked around the lab in curiosity. There were gadgets that looked unfinshed, papers lining the walls of potential projects, tons of scraps, and a shelf full of chemicals. Leo's inner chemist screamed in excitement.
Leo walked around. When he got to Donnie's desk, he saw there was an unfinished chemical equation on it. Leo could solve it. The formula was one he recognised. Well, it wouldn't hurt, right?
Leo sat down and began solving.
Donnie walked into his lab, only to find Blue sitting at his desk.
"What are you doing? You aren't ruining anything, are you?" Donnie asked skeptically.
"N-no. I just saw an unfinished equation and thought I could solve it for you. Here." Leo handed him the paper.
Donnie's face slowly morphed from skepticism to disbelief.
"You actually solved it! Holy mackerel! You did it!" Donnie was shocked beyond comparison. This Leo actually knew science!
"I-I hoped it helped. I promise I didn't intend on doing anything wrong." Blue looked nervous. Weird. He didn't ruin anything. He shouldn't be scared.
"No, Blue. This really helped. Thank you," Donnie reassured him. It made him sad that he needed to. Blue didn't do anything wrong.
"Oh, that's a relief. Everytime I try to help 'Tello, he gets mad and yells at me. I'm glad you didn't." Blue smiled a genuine smile.
Donnie frowned at that. Blue was a 'genius'. His brother shouldn't have done that. If Donnie ever saw his brother, he would have a few choice words to share with him.
"A-anyway, our sister is coming over later for lunch, so prepare for that. She's a bit violent," Donnie warned. "Do you want to work on getting you home in the meantime?"
"Yes! I mean... yeah, I do." Blue seemed to be very eager to get home. He probably missed his brothers like mad. Donnie knows 'he' would.
"Cool! So here's what I was thinking..."
Leo walked to lunch later with Donnie. They had discussed their plans for getting him home and had come to the conclusion that it would take at least a few weeks. He was upset it would take that long, but he knew you can't rush these things. They needed to build a portal device, test it, improve it, test it again, perfect it, and test it one last time to make sure it was okay to send Leo back home.
Donnie looked disappointed it would take that long, but at the same time, he looked excited to study the multiverse with Leo.
Leo, on the other hand, was feeling... a weird mix of emotions. He felt sad he would have to wait to see his brothers, happy because he knew he would see them eventually, and, oddly, he felt... accepted.
It was strange, having a Donatello respect him. Donnie had praised him for his knowledge on chemistry. His Donnie never did that. If anything, his Donnie brought him down because of it.
Thinking back on it, his Donnie was probably jealous. Leo had naturally picked it up, and he did so easily. Easier than it had been for Donnie.
Leo and Donnie made it to the kichen, and he looked around to find there were already a few people there.
Mikey was making sandwiches, while Raph was talking to someone. She had armor on, like she was expecting to be attacked. Red eyeliner, probably to intimidate people. And a buzzcut. All in all, she reminded him of Cassandra.
"Karai, I want you to meet Blue, another dimension's Leonardo," Donnie greeted.
"Greetings, fellow ninja. This world's Leo told me a lot about you. It's always a pleasure to meet someone training in the martial arts," Karai said warmly.
Leo's brain turned to fuzz. Karai?! She's alive in this universe?! It was getting hard to breath. Leo's knees buckled and he slammed onto the floor.
"Woah! Take it easy, man. I'm not that intimidating, am I?" Karai questioned.
"Blue, what's wrong?" Donnie asked, concerned.
"Sh-she i-is K-Karai?" Leo gasped.
"Y-yeah, she is," Donnie answered.
"Dude, you need to breath!" Mikey yelled.
Everything was getting blurry. Was the world tilting, or was that him?
Everyone screaming, "LEO!" was the last he heard.
Leo woke to something cold and wet dripping down his face. Probably water. Leo's eyes fluttered open.
"Raph, you didn't have to do that!" Donnie screeched.
"I didn't have to, but I wanted to."
Leo found himself on the living room couch and everyone surrounding him.
"Personal space much?" Leo complained.
"Sorry," was heard from everyone.
Leo sat up. "Geez, what happened? I don't remember much, only..." Leo trailed off. Oh no. He freaked out and passed out. Every shred of dignity he thought he had was thrown out the window now.
"Nevermind, I remember."
"Hey, buddy, are you okay now?" Karai questioned.
Leo whined and stood up. He didn'y even hesitate to embrace her. Karai quickly returned the gesture. Leo cried.
"I take it your Karai is gone?" Karai asked.
Leo sobbed. He missed her 'so much'.
"Hey, it's okay. You're okay. We're okay. We're all here," Karai soothed.
Leo clutched at her shirt. Desperate for reassurance that she was 'here'.
Everyone else had left them alone. They sat on the couch, still embracing.
After sobbing his eyes out, Leo felt his exhaustion take him to unconsciousness.
When Raph saw Blue cuddling with Karai later, he felt a strong need to protect him. The poor kid had been through so much, he deserved to at least have someone worry about him. Not in a negative way, just in the 'I care deeply about you' way.
From what Raph had gathered, Blue's Karai from his universe died when they faught their Shredder.
Apparently, Blue thought it was his fault. No matter what happened with their Shredder that killed Karai, there was no way it was Blue's fault. If it was anyone's fault, it was the Shredder's.
Raph walked over to Karai, and offered to help move the now sleeping Blue.
After they moved him, Karai spoke. "He's lonely."
Raph did not expect that. "What do you mean?"
"His Karai is gone. He kept muttering to me that he was sorry for what he did."
"Oh..."
Donnie entered the room and made a beeline for the couch.
"Based on my knowledge, his brothers are rather mean to him. They resent his skills, rather than ecouraging him to pursue his interests." Donnie furrowed his brow in thought.
Karai gasped. "That's terrible. No wonder he acted so shy when he first saw me. He has no self esteem. Poor kid." She shook her head.
Raph frowned. "We need to help this kid. Lift his self esteem by complementing him and praising him."
Donnie nodded in agreement. "He seems to be really talented in chemistry. He solved an equation I'd been stuck on for weeks. When I confronted him about it, he got nervous and apologized. Maybe I can ask him for help with some of my other projects. I bet he would like that. It would also help with his confidence."
Karai lit up. "I could hang out with him sometimes. I bet he would like to have a friend outside of you guys, no offense to you, but all you really do is hang out around here."
Raph smiled. "I can help him train a bit. Though I'm not sure how much I can help with how he mopped the floor with me earlier. I'm sure he would love that."
Donnie grinned. "Then it's settled. We'll all help him with his problems." Donnie paused. "I can't wait to help him..." he said fondly.
Raph and Karai both nodded in agreement.
Raph was glad that they had all come to an agreement that this teenager needed help and they were going to help him together.
Leo woke up later to find that Karai had gone somewhere else. Some part of Leo was grateful, because who knows how awkward that would be. Another part was disappointed. Leo still wasn't over the fact that the Karai from his world was gone. Maybe it was unhealthy for him to think like that, but he couldn't help but latch onto this world's Karai.
Leo sat up from the couch and wandered inot the kitchen. There was bound to be someone there.
Leo was proven correct when he saw Mikey. He seemed to be playing a card game with a... cat?
"Hey, what's that?" Leo questioned.
Mikey looked up at him and smiled. "This is skip-bo. Have you never played?"
Leo rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Not the game, the... animal? Pet?"
"That's Ice-cream-kitty. She's mine," Mikey answered.
Leo nodded in umderstanding. It was probably a mutant of some kind. Who knows. Leo knows the kind of trouble they can get into.
"Do you want to play with us? We've just started a new round. We can deal you in," Mikey offered.
Leo smiled a genuine smile after hearing Mikey's kind offer. "Sure. That sounds awesome."
After Leo got situated, Mikey asked, "You know, I've got to ask, what's your deal? Don't take the question the wrong way. I just think you're very different from our Leo. Do you know what made that happen?"
Leo was taken aback at that. What did make them different? He had only had a few brief encounters with this world's Leo. By the looks of it, he seemed to be less childish, and more serious.
"I don't know. What's this Leo's age? Because I'm sixteen. That might make a difference," Leo answered with the best of his abilities.
Mikey just stared at him. "You're sixteen?! Holy chalupa! Our Leo is twenty!"
Leo gulped. "Oh... I guess that's the difference." Leo hated that. He didn't know why, he just did.
Miley was quick to comfort him. "That doesn't change the fact that you're cooler, though. It seems the older you get, the less cool you are. Now, that might not be true for everyone, but it definitely is for Leo."
"Don't let Leo hear you say that. He might make you do extra training," Leo joked in response.
Mikey laughed. "You might be right."
They continued to play in comfortable silence for the rest of their game. Minus the occasional trash-talk.