The Words That Hurt Me

Thirty-One Notes

Mikey let out a breath as soon as his feet touched solid ground, slowly opening his eyes to a beautifully strange sight. It was a city, just not like any city he's seen on Earth before. 

The buildings looked like they were tied together with cable, the monstrous sails of distant ships poking up from the horizon. There was an unnatural glow floating about the place, with something that buzzed beneath his skin all around him.

Gazing across the horizon, Mikey was left breathless. He was thrilled that the portal brought him someplace so cool! However, he had other things to attend to.

Every second he spent waiting here was another second he could be using to find Goo. Before he could go, however, he was knocked to the ground by his brother.

"Ow! Dude!" Mikey shouted, pushing Raph away. Raph grunted when he hit the ground, rubbing his head where a bruise was forming.

"Woah-!" Donny popped out of nowhere, nearly losing his balance when his feet touched the ground. Leo and Casey blinked into existence soon after, having a similar after-portal experience as everyone else.

The group gathered their bearings, taking in the sight of the city. Several gasps sounded throughout the group, wide-eyed awed expressions on their faces.

Then, a glowing blue portal opened up next to them.

Everyone went still, staring at the tear in space with growing anxiety. Eventually, a figure stepped through.

"So this is where the 'electrical disturbance' was-AH!" The person, who was talking to his wrist, apparently didn't expect to see them and reflexively threw down a smoke bomb. The group stared at the spot he once was in utter confusion.

After a moment, another smoke bomb went off behind them. Mikey got a good look at the figure then, recognizing that he was a turtle, like himself.

He had twin blades, just as Mikey's older brother did, even having a similar deep blue mask. That's where the similarities end, however, for this person had two bright red crescents on his face and yellow stripes adorning his arms and legs. He didn't quite stand on the offensive, he simply gazed at them with his blades drawn.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting guests," He said, raising a sword to point at the group, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Leo shook off his confusion, raising his hands to show their peace.

"You can stand down, we're not here to cause trouble,"

"Okay..." The person lowered his sword, but kept it drawn, inspecting them all carefully, "So you're willing to tell me what happened here?"

"Right," Leo breathed, gesturing to the rest of the group, "We followed someone-"

"LEO!" A voice shouted, an enormous body paired with it, landing beside the blue-masked person, "Are you okay?! You got cut off!?"

"Raph," Leo (apparently) said through his teeth, glaring at the larger figure, curiously called Raph. He was the embodiment of strength, a large spiked turtle donned in red. "What did we say about abandoning your position?"

"Ah, um," The larger turtle stuttered, looking a bit sheepish for a moment, before steeling himself once more, "It was a necessary abandonment! You could've been in danger!"

"You didn't even send a check in!" The other Leo fumed, crossing his arms. His swords fractured into blue fragments, leaving two kunai behind in his fists. "Come on, dude! We talked about this!"

Mikey's eyes were drawn to Other Leo's knee, noticing the strangely shaped white fabric wrapped around it. A knee brace?

"Leo's right Raph," A third voice chimed in, descending on a chain from the...sky? "You need to check in~"