Where We Collided || ROTTMNT ||

Unknown, Yet Familiar

Year: 2022

Two years after the 2018 boys defeated the Shredder.

Six years after the 2012 boys defeated the Shredder.

Universe: 2012

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Hamato Leonardo sat up quick as lightning, a scream tearing from his raw throat. Sweat slid down his cold and fevered body, and he took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. His eyes flickered around the room, trying to see anything he could recognize. He saw nothing.

The room was dark and dank, uninviting. There was a rickety desk at the far wall with a worn lamp illuminating a stack of papers with little scribbles on them. A shelf above held a few items; an action figure, a small skateboard-like chain, a ripped piece of blue fabric, and a wooden katana. Before the desk was a chair, gathering dust, it seemed. The floor was swept, however, and the bed Leo lay on was clean. There was a door on the other side of the room, made of white paper and a wooden frame. It looked kind of like a shoji, except this door didn't slide.

A pang in Leo's stomach told him he was hungry, and the sting of injuries and bruises told him his health was suboptimal. His body ached, his mind slow and clouded. Even so, his thoughts raced through his head a million miles a minute. Leo might have been the face-man of the Mad Dogs, but he was clever and had even outsmarted Big Mama. Hell, he could make a better plan than Raph, but since his big brother was the oldest, he was the leader, not Leo. Leo was fine with that, he didn't want to lead the team, he could be freer like this. Free to do his own thing.

The hunger pang became worse, and Leo slowly dragged his aching body off the bed, feet touching the swept but cold floor. He tried to stand, but his legs didn't support his weight and he flopped back onto the bed with a surprised yelp. He didn't move for a moment, catching his breath as the action had, surprisingly, taken a lot out of him. Then he pushed himself back up with trembling arms and managed to stand, his legs shaking terribly.

He took one slow step after the other and made it to the door at a snail's pace. He carefully opened it and peeked outside, curious to see where he was. Leo frowned, this looked like the sewers, but far darker and moodier. The playful colors of his home were missing in this place and it seemed... dull. There was an old tv playing softly on the lower level of the chamber, a few bean bags and blankets surrounding it. Leo spotted an abandoned bag of popcorn and a pizza box left unopened. There were comic books strewn everywhere and a pinball machine stood on the other side of the room.

There were exits towards a subway station that looked like it hadn't been used in ages and a large garage door that stood a little ajar. There was a kitchen, which looked rusted and old, but still in use. There was a coffee machine dripping a fresh pot. Plates with unfinished food lay on the island and Leo frowned. Who left a kitchen like that?

In the middle of the room was something Leo didn't know the purpose of. A section of the chamber was closed off with shoji doors, and he could see a figure inside, whoever it was wasn't moving. Leo carefully walked out of the room he had been in and leaned against the wall to catch his breath again, carefully making his way to the closed-off section. He leaned against the shoji carefully before sliding one open and taking a step inside.

A tree grew in the middle of the serene space, leaves a luscious green color, sunlight streaming in from somewhere Leo couldn't see. A small shrine hung on the wall with a picture of a human family, and several trinkets surrounded it. On the other wall hung an array of weapons, all polished to shine and sharp looking. Leo didn't approach them. Instead, he approached the tall rat sitting on a worn carpet in the middle of the room