Chapter Text
He was a ninja. He was a gymnast. He was a hyperactive dork with ADHD (and autism). There was no doubt he’d had his fair share of falling off things.
"It’s not the fall that kills you, Orange. It’s the landing." His father drilled those words into his head since he noticed Mikey’s growing interest in gymnastics. He began to repeat this phrase more and more as the years went by, as Mikey’s stunts grew in difficulty. And it was only after a particular bad landing which ended in a broken leg that he began taking it seriously.
Since that incident, Mikey had become pretty quick to break his fall, even if just a little bit. Anything to slow it down, anything to brace for impact. He had developed good reflexes, thankfully.
And even in a scenario like this, where he has no idea how he ended up in midair in an unfamiliar city, he was a quick thinker.
Break the fall! He urged himself. Do something, you moron! Leo’s not here to teleport you to safety, Donnie and Raph can’t catch you! Do something right now!
The ground was coming at him much too fast. He was going to die if he didn’t do something right this second! He reached for his weapon, his kusari-fundo, and was barely able to tie it around an apartment’s balcony.
The force of gravity slammed down on him as his plummet abruptly stopped. Gasping and choking on sobs, his grip started to slip. He still wasn’t close enough to the ground to remain unharmed. No doubt, a fall from this height would give him a pretty bad concussion at least, maybe a broken bone or two.
Tears streaming down his face, he tried to pull himself up— only to slip further. Gravity dragged him down, sapping him of all his strength. Not only his upper body, he couldn’t even swing his legs to hop into the balcony right below. With nothing left to do, he tried to stifle his sobs, doing his best to brace for the unavoidable pain.
Five seconds.
He held on for five more seconds.
A sob caught in his throat as his head slammed into the pavement below.
He swore he blacked out for at least a few minutes.
The sharp, high-pitched ringing echoing in his ears was unbearable.
Something wet surrounded his head, streaming from the top of his head. It was sticky and warm. Blood?
His left arm was numb, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Maybe it was a good thing, since the rest of his body wailed in agony.
The puddle around his head was growing as the seconds ticked on.
He really should call for help. Where the hell were his brothers? What even was this place? He couldn’t move, and he couldn’t even speak to cry for help. Humans finding him be damned, he was going to die if nobody—
“Mikey!”
He gasped as a voice broke through the painful ringing.
Whoever-it-was almost sounded like Raph, but not quite. This guy’s voice was too rough, too aggressive. Even when sounding concerned, Mikey could just tell this guy had a nasty temper.
“Holy shit! Hang on, don’t move. I’m going to call Donnie. You’ll, uh... you’ll be okay.” He paused awkwardly, a shadow of another turtle mutant blocking his vision.
“How d’you know my br’ther?” Mikey slurred, feeling as if his tongue weighed a hundred pounds. Who was this guy? How did he know Donnie? Was this a trap? Or maybe he was being honest, maybe he was going to help him! He was always wary of strangers, but maybe this guy wasn’t so bad?
“Huh?!” The other mutant gasped, genuinely caught off-guard. “I am your brother, Mikey. Donnie’s my brother too.”
Or, maybe not. Maybe this guy was a lunatic. “No, you’re not! Who are you?” Tears filled his eyes before he could push them down. “Where am I? What’s going on? Where are my brothers?!” He was sure he’d become hysterical at this point (if he wasn’t already), but could you really blame him?
“Raph! You found him?! Oh my god— that’s... that’s a lot of blood!” This voice sounded like Leo’s, though it lacked his big brother’s iconic dramatic flair.
“No shit, Sherlock.” The angry Raph imposter snapped. “I didn’t want to move him.”
“Good,” A third voice piped up, sounding a bit like a distorted version of Donnie. “His neck might be injured. Let me check.”
“Well, neck or not, his head’s definitely messed up, Donnie. He doesn’t recognize me.”
“What?!”
“Yeah, it’s—”
The Raph and Leo imposters’ voices tuned out as Donnie’s lookalike leaned over him.
“Hey,” He kept his voice hushed, thankfully. “I know you’re scared. Try to relax, okay? I just need to make sure your neck’s not fractured, Mikey.”
“Who are you people?” He felt pathetic with how his voice cracked.
“...Damn, this is worse than I thought.” Imposter Donatello tsked, ignoring his question. His fingers barely brushed against Mikey’s skull, eliciting a pained gasp. Ignoring that, imposter Donnie moved down to his neck. It was sore, obviously, though luckily there were no fractures. “You’re lucky. You could’ve snapped your neck. What even happened? We were ordered to stay at home!”
“I... was going to die.” He gasped as it finally sunk it. “If I didn’t reach that balcony, I would’ve-!”
“Hey, hey, you’re fine.” Not-Donnie shushed him. “I’m going to pick you up, okay? It’s going to hurt. I’m sorry, I’m only doing this to bring you back home. Just breathe.”
Mikey whimpered, skin crawling as this stranger scooped him up. He could feel the hums and jolts of his mystic power surging, yet it died out before it could burst. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, when these imposter-brothers lowered him slowly into the unfamiliar sewers, he head lightly knocked against the brick wall. It usually wouldn’t have hurt, unless you have a split-open head and a bad concussion like he did. Eyes rolling into the back of his head, he went limp, losing himself in the fog of his own mind.
—————
“What even happened?”
“I don’t know! I went to check on him, and he was gone!”
“He could’ve died out there, Raph!”
“I know! I know, okay?! It’s not my fault he can suddenly teleport. I swear, I went to get my t-phone and he’s gone."
“You were supposed to be watching him!”
“I was watching him!”
“...Can you guys shut up?” Mikey mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes.
Immediately, the two bickering voices fell silent.
“You’re up?” Fake Leo asked, holding his hand.
He sluggishly pulled his hand out of his grip, shuddering. Why was he acting so familiar with him? It creeped him out. “Yeah, thanks to you two. Thanks a lot.” He grumbled.
“...Sorry.” Leo muttered sheepishly.
Raph’s imposter stayed quiet.
Mikey could tell, even with his eyes closed, that they were glaring at each other. He could feel the tension in the air. That was another reason they couldn’t be his brothers. His brothers were never like this, even when their petty fights got more intense than necessary. “Who are you? And don’t lie this time, please.” He slowly opened his eyes, wincing even with the room being in almost pitch black darkness.
He saw fake-Leo look back at fake-Raph almost fearfully.
Helplessly, fake-Raphael shrugged. “Maybe if we throw him off another building he’ll go back to normal?”
“That’s not funny, Raph!” Leo snapped, reaching for Mikey hand again.
He made a face, but didn’t pull away this time. Not yet, at least.
Leo squeezed his hand gently, staring at him with a complex expression. “Okay, listen. You’re confused right now, I know. We’re your older brothers. I’m Leo, that’s Raph, and he’s not here but the other one is Donnie. I don’t know how you got up there, but you fell off a building. You’ve got a concussion, your left arm’s broken, and you might have amnesia. Maybe. It could just be for now, head injuries disorient everyone at first. Donnie says you’ll be better by next month, hopefully.”
“Are you serious?” Mikey couldn’t help but scoff. He pulled his hand back, disgusted with the mutant in front of him. “If this is your attempt at kidnapping, and at gaslighting, you’re doing a terrible job.” He snarled through gritted teeth. Maybe he would’ve tried a friendly approach in any other scenario, he just couldn’t be bothered right now.
“We’re not-!”
“Shut up!” Mikey snapped, slapping Leo’s hand when he reached for his again. “I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but please let me go home now!”
“Mikey, you are home.” Imposter Raph added in, clearly at a loss with what to do. “I’m going to get master Splinter. Leo, try to calm him down.”
Turns out, all he needed to calm down was for fake Leo to stop grabbing him, and shut the hell up.
His breathing steadied itself after a couple moments. “Where’s my phone?” Mikey rubbed at his watery eyes with his not-broken arm.
“Your t-phone? I think Donnie has it.”
“No! What the hell is a t-phone? I mean my cellphone!”
“I... don’t know what you mean.” Fake Leo blinked. “All we have are our custom turtle-phones that Donnie made for us.”
Grunting, Mikey reaches into his shell with his good arm. He pulled out his phone, turning it over. It was cracked beyond repair, and it wouldn’t turn on. Great. Just his luck. “You think your genius brother could fix this?” He waved it in front of Leo.
“Where did you get that?” Leo gasped. “That’s a human phone!”
“Forget about that. Can fake Donnie fix this or not?”
“Fake Donnie...?” Leo shook his head quickly, clearing his thoughts. “I think so, but Splinter won’t approve of having human technology! You know this, Mikey, c’mon.” He spoke as if chastising a child.
“Fine.” He turned his phone over, taking out his SIM card. “Throw it out then.” He tossed the useless device aside, sighing. Slipping the SIM card into the safety of his shell, he sighed. He wondered if this ‘turtle-phone’ could work with his SIM card. The room was spinning, yet he chose to ignore it. He wasn’t passing out again until he got some proper answers.
“Um,” Leo tapped his foot against the pavement below. “I noticed you drew on your plastron. When did that happen?”
“...Huh?” What was this guy talking about? “I painted my plastron years ago, what’re you on about?”
Leo’s shoulders slumped, clearly at a loss. “I don’t like this.” He muttered, mostly to himself. “You were supposed to stay home. This never would’ve happened if you stayed home! You know there are Kraang out there, what were you thinking?!”
“Kraang?” Mikey whispered, heartbeat picking up speed. “That’s not funny, Leo.” He laughed deliriously, eye twitching. “We defeated the Kraang, don’t joke about that stuff.”
“Mikey...” Leo’s tapping foot sped up. Sighing, his fidgeting suddenly stopped. “Listen, Mikey. I’m the leader of this team. I’m supposed to keep everyone safe. What you did was stupid and dangerous. You can’t just do whatever you want when you feel like it!”
“...You’re the leader?” He squinted at Leo. He knew his Raph and Leo kinda took turns being leader nowadays, but this guy was being all cocky about it, like he was the only one in charge. “What about Raph?”
“What about Raph?” Leo asked, exasperated.
“Raph’s the leader too, y’know.” He reminded. “If you’re going to play this kidnapping and gaslighting game, at least get your parts right.” He snickered, wondering what was wrong with these guys’ brains.
“What’re you talking about?” Leo scoffed, offended. “Raph’s not the leader!”
“He is.”
“He’s not!”
Was this a touchy subject? Eh, who cares? Not his problem. “You’re not fit to be leader. Not alone, anyways.”
“Okay, you know what?” Leo got up. “You’re confused and delirious, and I’m tired.”
“Still doesn’t change Raph’s our leader.”
“I’m the what now?”
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Mikey would’ve rolled his eyes if he could’ve.
“He’s being stupid.” Leo bit out, his previous patient demeanour diminished.
He was sure to make a mental note of Leo being ‘unfit for leader position’ was a touchy subject here.
“It’s Mikey we’re talking about, he’s always stupid.” Raph explained, sending the orange-coordinated turtle a glare.
Ouch. That shouldn’t hurt, but it did. “I’m not stupid, dumbass. I was complimenting you— or, trying to. I would’ve complimented you if you were actually my brother.”
Raph and Leo shared a glance.
“Where’s Sensei?” Leo rubbed at his temples tiredly. “He should know what to do.”
“He was talking it over with Donnie. He’ll be here any second to see the situation for himself.” Raph explained, returning to his former spot of leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
There was nothing to do except wait for “Splinter” to enter.
Michelangelo was half-tempted to duck into his shell and hide until he woke up from this nightmare. He didn’t have his weapon with him. His mystic powers were fried, needing time to recharge. He was pretty much helpless. Sure, he had his gymnastics and knew hand-to-hand combat, some self defence. It’s just that it was hard to believe in himself when the room was spinning and he struggled to even lift his head.
“I’ve heard from your brothers that you’ve been disoriented, Michelangelo.”
Michelangelo, is what this imposter called him. Not ‘Orange.’ He squinted at the rat man who was trying to impersonate his father. For one, he was way too tall. Second, he held himself in a respectable manner, a sense of power practically radiated off of him. Third, he looked completely different. They weren’t the same, asides from both being rat mutants.
Instinctively, he flinched away when fake-Splinter reached to feel around his head.
Splinter paused, not moving any closer. “There’s no recognition in your eyes.” He murmured softly, mainly to himself. “Perhaps your memories have been affected.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Then again, it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since the injury occurred. We’ll give it time. For now, please don’t be frightened. I merely want to see the injury for myself.”
Shutting his eyes tightly, trembling the entire time, he had no choice but to let this stranger examine him.
Luckily, Splinter was gentle, and finished inspecting rather quickly. “How far did you fall?”
“The building he was next to was over six stories, Master.” Leo explained dutifully. “However, he managed to catch himself on a balcony with some sort of chain weapon? He lessened the damage of the fall. He saved his own life.”
“Chain weapon?” Splinter raised his eyebrows.
“It wasn’t like his nunchucks, it was something else. I’ve never seen this one before.” Raph added on.
“May I see it?” Splinter requested.
Raph left, supposedly to retrieve Mikey’s mystic weapon.
Mikey wasn’t really paying attention anymore. He zoned out, ignoring the way Splinter and Leo both stared into his soul.
He tried recalling what could’ve happened. Last he remembered, he was with his brothers. They were trying to cheer Raphael up, who’d developed a fever after that whole stressful battle with the Kraang. Pops said it was probably just an aftermath of the Kraang infection. It was so worrying, that fever was bad, and his red-coordinated big brother was absolutely miserable. They’d been playing Just Dance, purposefully messing up, or going over the top (in Leo’s case). Leo went to fall into his arms, like some sort of trust fall, just as Just Dance’s Time Warp choreography instructed. There was a blinding flash of light, scorching smoke, and then he was hurdling towards the ground.
Could it have been—?
Shit.
That was it, wasn’t it?
Mikey’s powers went off at random, triggering a chain reaction with Leo’s own abilities.
That must’ve caused a portal to open up, but to where?
Leo opened portals. Mikey could time travel (or, at least, he could according to Casey). So what would it mean when those abilities combined???
...Dimension travel.
He’d crossed realities!
He’d heard Donnie ramble to him about it plenty of times before. They were all just theories, no solid proof. Even if he didn’t understand any of it, he’d listen whenever it was mentioned, wanting to spend time with his second-favourite brother.
And now? Now he was trapped— at least until his powers recharged (though that was relying on if he could get them to work properly), or until his brothers figured out a way to get him home.
He stared at “fake” Leo. He wasn’t really a fake. He really was Leo, just an alternative version of him. Same with all the others.
And for now, Mikey would have to play along. For the next few days, he should pretend to have amnesia. After that, he could play along. He’d be called crazy if he told them about mystic powers and alternate worlds, since that clearly didn’t exist here.
Raph entered, handing Mikey’s weapon to Splinter.
Splinter inspected it, eyes widening just slightly. “This is a kusari-fundo. Michelangelo, where did you get one of these? We’ve never owned any like this before.”
He blinked. What was he supposed to say? Raph mentioned something about nunchucks. Mikey used to have nunchucks too, before they all got new weapons. “I don’t- I don’t know?” He admitted helplessly, tears welling up in his eyes. He was crying now- not on purpose- but he could use this to advantage! If he knew one thing about being the youngest, it was that he was a professional at milking injuries to get what he wanted. (That may seem like manipulation to others, but other younger siblings would get it.) “I don’t know!” He repeated, raising his voice. “I don’t know what’s happening!”
“Hey, Mikey, it’s okay!” Leo was the first to rush forward, grabbing Mikey’s hand again.
It took all his self control not to pull away. This was supposed to be his brother. Maybe he wasn’t so bad? He was just so different from the Leo he knew...
“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Don’t cry, okay? It’ll hurt your head.” Leo shushed him, taking over the mother-hen role. “We’ll figure this out together!”
At least that was a bit familiar? His Leo was the group assigned medic. Though, he didn’t really act like a mother-hen? It was more like a `I’m going to make you laugh so much that you’ll forget about how much pain you’re in!’ kind of way.
Thinking about his real brother made those tears fall harder. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t faking anymore, but these guys didn’t notice the difference anyways. He slumped against Leo’s side, whimpering.
Splinter rubbed his back soothingly. “You should try and get some rest, Michelangelo. I swear you’ll be okay, we’ll help you figure this out.”
An unspoken conversation passed among Splinter and the other two.
“I’ll stay with him.” Raph grunted at last, breaking their silence.
Oh. Were they talking about assigning him a babysitter? Ugh.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Leo wondered skeptically. “You’re not really, uh, helpful in these situations. No offence.”
“Shut up.” Raph grumbled lightheartedly. “I’ll be gentle, or whatever.”
“All right. Come fetch me if things get out of control.” And with that, Splinter took his leave.
Leo lingered a bit longer, hugging Mikey for a moment more. He pulled away, following after his father.
He blinked at Raph tearfully. Should he be scared? Out of all of them, Raph was the most different here. He wasn’t sure what to expect, other than for this dude to be a prick.
Surprisingly, after a few seconds of staring dejectedly at his ‘older brother’, Raph sighed, shoulders slumping. His stern expression softened considerably. “Go to bed, Mikey. Like Master said, we’ll figure this out together. And once you’re back to normal, I’ll kick your ass for worrying all of us.”
That was almost comforting? Not really, but he could pretend it was.
Compliantly, he rolled onto his side, wrapping this scratchy blanket tightly around himself. He faced away from Raphael, listening as his ‘brother’ laid on another bed within the med-bay.
Closing his eyes, Mikey exhaled tiredly. He hoped his real brothers were alright. He hoped Raph was feeling better. He hoped Donnie wasn’t too stressed. And he hoped Leo wasn’t blaming himself for all of this.