Let's do the time warp again~

[faceguy]

Who: Leonardo Hamato faceguy and YOU
What: Leo has been aged up... into extra wrinkly adult Leo with added apocalypse vibes
When: Late July/early August
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: Potential for apocalypse talk, body horror, family death, dismemberment

[Master Leonardo, leader of the resistance, wakes up in a place he did not fall asleep - in the softest bed with the silkiest sheets he's felt in, well, ever. And he knows right away that some shenanigans are definitely occurring. This is not his beautiful house time, and this is not his beautiful wife body. He doesn't know everything, but enough foreign memories are there to explain that much.

Somehow he's ended up in the body of his younger self, somewhere that is not his own timeline. Weird, but then, his whole life has been weird from the beginning.

He's feeling pretty calm about it, all things considered. While he may not know exactly what's going on, he knows that this is a place his younger self found safe, and he feels like this situation will resolve itself sooner or later. He'll ask Mikey for theories once he's back, assuming he remembers it.

For now, well... might as well take advantage of a world that isn't on its last leg.]

A: Hot Bean Juice - 33-year-old Leo (Open to anyone with access to Dylan Brock's penthouse)

Does this apartment belong to a movie star or something? Swank-kaaay.

[Leo can't help but stare around in awe as he moves through the penthouse - even pre-apocalypse, he'd never been in a place so nice, outside Big Mama's hotel. Hopefully no one thinks he's an intruder; maybe he should come up with a better cover story than, "Don't worry, I'm just temporarily possessing my teen self's body."

Leo at this age is considerably taller than his younger self, just over six feet. He's broad and muscular, and one arm is missing, though luckily for him his big, bulky robot arm came with him. He carries one sword instead of two, a bright red mask wound tight around the hilt. He's got a good number of scars and a good number of wrinkles, but his smile is easy and relaxed as he moves around.

He heads for the kitchen (once he finds it), and quickly finds exactly what he was hoping for.]

Oh, thank you, Pizza Supreme in the Sky.

[It takes him a moment to figure out the coffee maker, but soon enough he has a mug full of steaming hot coffee, inhaling the scent so hard he nearly snorts it all up his nose.]

I've missed this so much.

[He hopes he remembers this; he wants to lord it over Donnie later.]

B: Bless the Rains Down in Michigan - 33-year-old Leo (OTA)

[Realizing his younger self has been living in Michigan, of all places, had been a bit of a shock, but Leo is nothing if not adaptable. He's figured out how to get around this place quickly enough, utilizing his ninja skills, and has taken some time to explore.

Rain moved in about an hour ago and hasn't let up, and Leo is delighted. No one appreciates how nice it is to just sit and let the rain hit your face until the water dries up and is replaced with acid.

Leo's sitting up on a rooftop currently, his feet dangling over the edge, his face just... turned up toward the sky, letting the rain hit it. His mask and scarf and pants are soaked through, but his eyes are closed and his smile is content.

He's remarkably good at noticing when someone is approaching him, no matter how much or how little noise they're making. He doesn't even look, he just speaks.]

You ever think about how great rain is?

C: And I Feel Fine - 40-year-old Leo (OTA)

C1

[Another slip, another distortion, and an older Leo is here again. From even further into the apocalypse now, his face looks even more haggard, his clothes even more dirty and torn, new scars and new furrows covering his skin and shell. Two masks decorate his sword's hilt now, purple and red intertwined.

He's pretty sure he's dead, or will be soon. His time is over, his world is lost. But he sent Casey back, and he has all the faith in the world that Casey will accomplish the task Leo gave him.

Casey is their hope, after all. And hope is a ninja's greatest weapon.

His family is gone, and it stings, but there's a peace Leo feels, too. He'll be back with them again soon - Dad, Raph, and Donnie, who he's missed for so long, April and Mikey, the fresh and still stinging wounds. But first, seems like his soul is taking another detour.

The lights and crowds of Central City are... a lot for someone who's grown so accustomed to the ruins of civilization, and Leo finds himself getting away from it, eventually stopping in a scraggly, rundown park that it doesn't look like many people like to enter. Not that Leo is too worried about anyone attacking him, and he has enough of his younger self's understanding of the world to know he isn't putting him in any danger by being out in public.

He finds a bench and sits on it, just for awhile, watching the pigeons that hop by, the bugs, the wind in the trees.

Life here isn't perfect, he knows: there's crime, there's death, there's suffering. But there's life too, and isn't that incredible?

He just wishes he could have given his own world that back.

He'll stay seated until someone else comes along - if they look like they want the bench, Leo will move to the side.]

Hey, sorry - didn't mean to take up the whole seat, heh.

C2

[Maybe there's a reason people avoid this park, actually, because while Leo is chilling, he hears a crime in progress - specifically a mugging.

Leo gets up, moving quietly to get closer and take a look. It's a human with a gun, and he's not impressed in the slightest.

Soundlessly, Leo moves behind the mugger... and plucks the gun right out of the guy's hand, clicking the safety and then spinning it around his finger.]

I'll be taking that, thank you!

["Hey!" starts the mugger, but when he turns around and gets a look at Leo... he decides to make a hasty retreat.

Maybe you were the victim, or maybe you're just a bystander - either way, catch Leo smirking at the guy's retreating back.]

Ah, come on - [He glances at the person standing there, winking.] - there's no way this handsome face is that scary.

[[OOC: I'll match you if you'd rather do prose than brackets. Also I don't have room for adult Leo icons so you get teen Leo icons but just imagine the big guy, thanks.

Hit me up if you'd like something more specific!]]

Comments

[faceguy]

Oh yeah? That sounds pretty cool.

[He latches onto that, because… four months for Donnie, and an extra three for little him. That’s a lot of time for them to be apart from their family - even Leo always had Mikey…

They’re together and that’s something. Knowing his brother, Donnie has probably been trying to figure out how to get them home. He can only hope this will all turn out well, since… well, what can he do now?

So he focuses on the positive. He’s gotten good at that.]

That was one thing about my time… No one really had time for prejudices. The lines between humans, mutants, and yokai disappeared in just a few years.

Maybe this world is proof that you don’t need an apocalypse to get there.

[And wouldn’t that be something?]

[purplexing]

[Donnie wishes he felt like he'd been making progress in working things out. And now with recent developments he's not sure what to do but anxiously watch and wait to see just how serious the strange aftermath of the escalation of events in Excelsior really is. It's not really something he looks forward to.]

It's a nice thought anyway. I mean, things are far from perfect and there's still some tension if they see you're clearly not human.

[He tucks his hands into his hoodie pockets, looking around for the first street signs he sees once they're out of the park as he tries to mentally work out where they are and how close any pizza places he knows might be.]

...weathering an apocalypse doesn't sound very ideal though.

I...don't know all the details except for what parts Leo told me and I know it wasn't everything. I figured things were bad but...

[faceguy]

[So they do know a little about it. Which means… either Mikey’s time portal worked, or little Leo is really him from just after the beginning of the invasion. He hopes it’s the former, because he was a real mess during the latter.

And, of course, because he hopes these two have a better future ahead of them than the one he had.]

It was. [Bad, he means. He won’t suffer Donnie with the details, though - losing Dad, losing Raph, losing Cassandra, eventually losing Donnie himself… he doesn’t need to think about any of that.]

But there’s still hope. We sent someone back - my best student, actually. Maybe you got to meet him; his name’s Casey Jones.

[The way he says it sounds like maybe he was a little more than a student to Leo. Congrats, Donnie, you’re an uncle.]

[purplexing]

Not yet. [The way Leo speaks about Casey does make him wonder. It's still a weird thing to think about and all he keeps getting stuck on is the fact that Cassandra had a kid.]

I'm...actually kind of a day behind Leo in terms of current events. The whole invasion thing, it hasn't happened yet for me.

...but Leo told me what happened. And I think you should at least know that they did it.

[It is so hard trying to keep a neutral mask, not when he knows at what cost the outcome came with.]

They stopped the Krang.

[faceguy]

[For a second he just has to stop, right on the sidewalk, and stare at Donnie. He'd been hoping, that Donnie and little him were from a safer time, that his and Mikey's insane plan actually worked, that Casey made it back, safe and sound, but to actually hear it...

They stopped the Krang.

They did it. They really did it. Leo always had faith in Casey, the kid is tougher than nails and never gives up, but still, to hear that they really did do it...]

I can't believe it... The plan actually worked.

[It's incredible! It's amazing! He wants to start running around and singing for joy, and he may very nearly have started if he hadn't caught sight of Donnie's face.

That isn't a happy look. Sure, he's trying to hold it together, but Leo knows his brothers in and out and he knows that Donnie isn't as enthused about this outcome as he is.

And Leo's lived through over two decades of war - he knows what that means.]

...It didn't come for free, though, did it?

[Who did they lose?]

[purplexing]

[Donnie flinches at the question, pointedly avoiding eye contact.

It isn't fair. After everything that happened, they can't even all be together to enjoy it. Why is it always sacrifice? He swallows, shutting his eyes against the threatening blur that starts creeping in at the fringes of his vision.]

Y... He said they were still too strong. So the only way was to lock them up again...

[faceguy]

[They locked them up again...

It makes sense, as a plan. Sounds like they weren't fast enough to stop the Foot Clan from using the key the first time, but if they were able to get it back early enough to stop the portal that let out the Technodrome, or forced it back up somehow... Yes, locking them back up would probably be the easiest way. Fighting them one on one would be too hard, especially if they had their tech.

But he can see how Donnie is avoiding his eyes, how he's starting to look distressed, and he doesn't want to push but he wants to know.

In a long stride he's stepped in front of Donnie, putting only his natural hand on the boy's shoulder (he noticed how he looked at the robot arm earlier).]

Donnie... who locked them up?

[purplexing]

[He shudders under that hand, and even if it isn't the robotic one, it still feels like such a great weight of responsibility. But he can't avoid looking at Leo now, and he already feels those traitorous tears once he does dare open his eyes to look up at him.

This isn't fair!

But he'd understand. Still, it hurts so much to have to say it aloud, as though doing so acknowledges that it's happened, even when Leo's been here, even after the things Donnie's seen. Maybe that's it. A tiny part of him had been denying reality but then there was the nightmare room, and then more recently, seeing Raph half-changed into some monstrous thing.

It's only two words and they seem the hardest things to say, his voice nearly breaking as he finally gets them out.]

You did.

[faceguy]

[He did.

That explains a lot, doesn't it?

They stopped the war, but it was never going to come without cost. With them, there's always a sacrifice - like some kind of family curse that hangs thick off their shoulders.

Gram-gram, Dad, Raph, Cassandra, Donnie, Draxum, April... Mikey.

And in another timeline, himself.

A complete set.

In Leo's time, he'd stumbled hard in the immediate aftermath of the invasion. He'd hated himself for his mistakes, and so outwardly acted like he hadn't made any. Been a reckless fool who wanted to fix things himself and seen other people pay for his stubbornness. He got it together eventually - grew into his role as leader and held it until the end. He was older and a hell of a lot wiser now.

He wonders if, in the new timeline, that version of him grew up a little faster. In the end, though, it doesn't matter if he did or not; Leo knows with certainty that at any point, if he'd had the same opportunity, he would have made the same choice.

But he's forty and the brother in front of him is sixteen. The version of him that locked himself in the prison dimension is sixteen.

Donnie's right - it's not fair.

Someone is always sacrificed. And Leo has been right where Donnie is, too many times, and he knows how it feels.

He pulls Donnie into a hug now, and he's so small like this Leo can completely envelop him the way Raph could.]

Oh Donnie... I'm so sorry...

[purplexing]

[The reminder of his absent brother doesn't do anything to stop those tears, but there's still some comfort to be found in being engulfed in a hug. Just for a while, he can pretend that nothing else exists, that here he's safe.

Safe, but still hurting. He can't get his own arms around Leo but right now he feels like he's just being held up by the larger turtle and all he can do is cry against that scarred plastron.]

[faceguy]

[Leo hugs him tight, his body a shield from the world for Donnie. As long as he needs him, Leo will be here - nothing could tear him away.]

It’s alright, Donnie. I gotcha.

[purplexing]

[He's depending on Leo again. But that's how it'll always be with them.

It's not fair.

This Leo's lost two of them. He's been shouldering so much. Even Leo-Leo's been doing the same here. This whole Krang business has changed them both.

It's some time but eventually the tears stop, but Donnie just stays where he is for a while. Crying is so tiring, and it doesn't really solve any problems. But it does feel a little better to have let it out. He sighs.]

...sorry.

[They'd been trying to avoid a Mood and just nosedived right into things.]

[faceguy]

It’s alright. Seems like you really needed that.

[He rubs Donnie’s shoulder, not pulling away. He’ll let Donnie make the first move there.]

…I’m sorry, though… We wanted to give you a second chance. But we gave you a lot of responsibility, too.

But he’s not in the prison dimension; he’s here. That means it’s not over.

[He gives Donnie another squeeze.]

I know it’s hard, but don’t lose hope. Anata wa hitori janai.

[purplexing]

[He rubs at his eyes with the back of a sleeve, resting his head against his brother.]

I...I know. I know.

[He drags in a breath to try staving off any lingering tears. That phrase is always both a comfort and painful to hear for everything that's surrounded it. But that's their saying, and he knows it's true. He sniffs.]

I've been trying to work out how to help him, how to find a way he can get back to us if...or before something happens here that might send him back. Things keep happening and I haven't progressed as much as I'd like, and there's just so much...

[So much he doesn't know and he hates admitting it.]

[faceguy]

[Ah... He sees.

If there's the potential to get sent back any time, he can see why that would be stressing Donnie out like this. It's pretty worrying for Leo himself, actually; even if he knows he would be able to accept dying for his family, it doesn't mean he actually wants it for his teenage self. Especially since, at this point, he's pretty sure they are functionally separate people.

Donnie theorized that even if they managed to send someone back and stop the invasion, it would only split off a different timeline, after all.

So he gets why this is so upsetting for Donnie. But he hates seeing him like this. He'll just wear himself out.]

I know you're doing whatever you can. He does, too. Don't go beating yourself up.

[purplexing]

[He's filled pages of a notebook with his own outlines of fractured timelines, possibilities of how things might work out and alter a singular course, essentially overwriting a future, or just split things off into different branches, more alternate realities. But then that'd be a possibility for any given event in any given situation, with endless lines spidering out like an immense nervous system.

He'd had to stop himself and throw that notebook under the bed before he drove himself crazy with it.

Sighing, he nods.]

But I can't not do something. I told Leo I'd figure it out! That I'd fix this.

[But what if he can't? It's a tiny, unvoiced thought but it's always been there, it had just been easier to ignore before.

He stiffens under Leo's hand, tensing like he's preparing to push away, but reluctant to leave that protective wall.]

[faceguy]

[Leo's heart is breaking.

He wishes he knew what to tell Donnie, some magic bullet that will fix all this. But he doesn't have anything like that to say, because he doesn't know how this world works, he doesn't know anything about these confluence-thingys. He genuinely thinks if anyone can figure it out Donnie can, but he doesn't want to put more pressure on the poor kid. He seems like he's drowning in his own self-expectations already.

His Donnie was like that, too. Time didn't really change anything there.]

I'm not telling you to not do anything. Even if I told you to stop, you wouldn't listen to me.

[He knows that to be true.]

I know it's scary. Little me's depending on you, so you feel like you have to figure it out, and fast. Having someone's fate in your hands like that... it's heavy.

[Especially when you've failed before. But Leo won't say that.]

[purplexing]

[A bitter, brief smile tugs at his lips at that. It's true. He wouldn't stop. Not when the potential of a missed opportunity is always hanging there. But now he's not sure what to do now that even the Confluence has become a questionably reliable occurrence. If they just happen to stop, then what happens with them? With the connection that seems to tether them to this world if they make use of whatever dimensional travel actually is available?

Donnie groans, dragging his hands down his face. He can't really help himself, but it's hard to keep his thoughts out of the rabbit holes they end up leaping down at any given moment.

But Leo's words aren't ignored. He can't imagine the weight of the burden his now older brother has been carrying. His eyes fall upon that metal shoulder, and he brings a hand up to rest on the that bulky arm.]

...how do you do it?

[How do you not crumble under the weight? How do you keep going when things go wrong?]

[faceguy]

[How does he do it, huh? Hm...]

...I already said it, didn't I? You remember that you're not alone.

[He places his robot hand gently on Donnie's battleshell. The arm that his Donnie made for him - the arm that is not at all subtly based on their older brother. The arm is every bit as much a reminder as the masks are.]

I struggled with it a lot at first. I... blamed myself. For the Foot getting the key in the first place.

[He doesn't know exactly how it went down for little Leo, at what point Casey intervened, but if that happened, he probably blames himself, too.]

So I tried to fix it alone. I thought if I came up with all the plans and did all the dangerous missions and kept it to myself when things went wrong, I would avoid burdening anyone else. But in reality, I was just... doing the opposite. I wasn't letting anyone in, and I... caused problems for them.

You're smarter than me, Dee. Smarter than anyone I've ever known, in fact. But even you can't do it all. [He rubs the boy's shoulder again.] I know it sucks, admitting what you don't know. But even just talking it out can help you think of things you hadn't before. Or someone will have a way of thinking that helps you get past where you're stuck.

And if nothing else... shared burdens are easier for everyone to handle. [He grins.] Come on, tell me you don't feel at least a little better talking to Big Bro Leo.

[purplexing]

[It's not really surprising to hear, it shouldn't be. And yet it's strange, hearing his own approach, his own thought process of how to handle things being echoed right back at him.

In hindsight he supposes it's kind of stupid thinking that it had all been his problem to deal with. Part of him still thinks it is, because the well-being of his family is always a priority.

He and Leo would touch on it, sure, backtrack like nothing happened, both wanting to keep the other from getting hurt, from getting burdened by things. They've just been making it harder on each other for it. Hearing this Leo laying it out like this, even if some of the things are what Leo's said before... Well, it puts things more into perspective. And he's right; Donnie's not alone, he was never alone, and he doesn't have to be in this either.

His tension finally seems to release under that hand. He takes in a deep breath, letting his shoulders sag as he looks up at Leo with a rueful half-smile.]

I guess it's probably the same as asking your grandparents for advice, anyway.

[faceguy]

[Donnie relaxes, which makes Leo relax - it seems like that helped, at least enough that Donnie is calming down now.

He gives Leo a smile, and...

Leo gives him a light cuff over the head for that one.]

Hey, watch it! I'm not even as old as Dad was at your age, you know?

[Grandparents! Honestly. Young people don't even know what being old is.

Leo grabs onto the lip of Donnie's battle shell with his real arm, effectively scruffing his now little brother and lifting him up like an unruly kitten. He remembers, through the long fog of time, how Raph used to do be able to do this to them. Leo himself has always been able to pick up Casey like he's a twig, and like this Donnie is only a little heavier because of the titanium shell.]

Now, how about we get you home and get that pizza delivered, hmm?

[Because Donnie's eyes are still puffy from crying and he seems drained, and Leo isn't sure he's up for actually going into a restaurant at this point.

He won't make him suffer the indignity of being carried like this, though, instead depositing him into the crook of his robot arm. He carries Casey like this, too. Or, used to.]

[purplexing]

[A brief cackle escapes him at that- nope, couldn't hold it in, sorry. At least he's definitely feeling better?

And then Donnie finds himself being picked up like a kitten and so reacts appropriately with a bit of flailing before he just dangles there.]

Heyyy! That is not what that's there for!

[He fully expects to be set down again, so he's unprepared when he finds himself instead tucked under Leo's other arm.]

Oh come on!

[What about this preserves his dignity?? Never mind that he doesn't have to walk, that he can get behind. He tries to wriggle his way free but there is no budging that arm, and his heart's not that into it so eventually he's back to disgruntled-cat dangling.]

Okay, okay, fine.

[faceguy]

[Leo is doing some laughing of his own, because that series of reactions was just too funny.]

You're making it too easy for me, little bro.

[Maybe he secretly wants to be carried! Well, probably not quite like this, but still.]

Man, you're so light at this age. I have to enjoy this while I can. [For... a number of reasons, the most lighthearted being that Donnie will grow to be taller than him.]

[purplexing]

[He wrinkles his nose at being called 'little bro.' Yes, it's technically correct under these circumstances but he can still be annoyed by it.]

Yeah, yeah. Don't throw your back out or anything.

[Yeah he's going to be a butt about it too. Except now he can't get his phone because Leo's arm is so huge, not that he doesn't try, but once again it ends up with him sighing and hanging there again.]

[faceguy]

You don’t have to worry about me, I’m fit as a fiddle!

[He looks down with a grin.]

What’s all the wiggling around for? Here, want to sit on my shoulder instead?

[He can move him up there.]