Notes

alright worstie here's the move

so donnie's frustrated by the turtle mech bc he cant find a power source powerful enough to power it. mikey comes in because he's been locked up in there for hours so mikey brings him some coffee or something and then goads him into a stress relieving wrestle except whoops they knock the fuckin uhh portal over and it opens. so the other two rush in and then they get the message from leatherhead and mikey wants to go NOW except Leo is like we should make a plan and at least tell sensei and karai what's going on and Mikey's like YOU can do that, im going now and then he does the fuckin madman.

so the other three follow him except he's nowhere to be found.. they go off looking for him and are almost killed a bunch of times. its only when they encounter the rocktopus that mikey shows up except he's. different? his voice is hoarse, he looks skinnier, he's got more scars, he's less carefree, and they all notice it but it takes donnie a while to put it together even after they realize there's a space-time differential. when they arrive at the facility where leatherhead is being kept, donnie is like you've been here for a lot longer than a few hours mikey what's going on. and mikey admits he's been here for months by himself and his brothers are horrified and Leo and raph start to go into mother hen mode. but Mikey's like can we do this later we need to focus but they don't let up until donnie's like guys stop hovering rn, he's right, and they think he's just being cold but donnie realizes mikey will lose it if he gives in to his emotions rn.

so mikey says the reason he couldn't break into this facility because of traag and granitor, who he can't beat by himself. so he gives them some info (sound will affect everything here except for the rock golems, but they're affected by the bang rocks) and Leo comes up with a plan. donnie acts as bait, luring the things to the edge (remember earlier when he accidentally stepped off the ledge but stuck like gravity to the other side?) while Leo and raph pelt it with bang rocks to keep it distracted. then mikey screams and the ledge cracks except donnie's still on the bottom and starts to plummet, but then mikey swoops in and saved him.

they sneak into the facility and find leatherhead, who says he was worried they wouldn't make it on time. he leads them to the main portal room and tells them that the first wave of the invasion force has been mobilized. so they come up with the same plan pretty much, mikey helps donnie rig the computer, they jump through and return home, and mikey snags a crystal! so they bring leatherhead back to the sewers with them, where they discover they've been gone for all of two seconds, and they explain to splinter what happened. splinter gets stuck on mikey being gone for months and just very gently asks mikey if he's okay and mikey makes a joke about how he's the oldest now and just BURSTS into tears.

eventually they're like okay that may have bought us some time, but we need to assume that the invasion is imminent, like it might happen tomorrow and we've got to plan. donnie gives mikey a medical checkup to make sure he really is okay (and he notes all of Mikey's new scars. the way their healing factor works, lots of things have the tendency to scar unless treated quickly, which is why he got so good at giving stitches, but clearly mikey wasn't able to give stitches while in dimension x). and then they sleep. hours later, it's the middle of the day and they call casey and April and tell them to come down asap, like skip school kind of emergency. so they tell their friends what's up and try to come up with a plan, and donnie and Leo get into a HUGE fight. after seeing the size of the invasion leo's like we need to regroup, we should leave the city. donnie's like this is what we've been preparing for and since they're a hive mind if we can take out the brain we can stop it all. raph wants to stay and fight with donnie and so does leatherhead, who thinks its pointless but wants to go down swinging. mikey and sensei just want to survive, karai agrees with Leo that they should leave, casey wants to stay and fight but April is worried about what the invasion might mean for her, considering she's part Kraang, and wants to leave. they compromise: they'll make one last stand and try to find the brain, but if that fails, they need to leave. April offers a place but says she needs to talk to her father first, and the squad goes to her apartment to talk to her dad.

he freaks out of course but he agrees the farmhouse is their best bet and he decides to go there immediately to get things ready. then he remembers his sister and Aprils like you have to go with her she'll get suspicious otherwise. so kirby reluctantly agrees to bring Kenny somewhere. casey volunteers California, saying it's far and it's where he's going to convince his father to go, since his father's family is from there. with the farmhouse set up for them, leo's less tense, and he even agrees, when casey asks, to let casey expose them to his father to convince him to leave. donnie goes with him.

the bakery is open but casey walks in looking so upset that his father agrees to close early for the day and they go to Casey's room to talk. casey explains firstly that he's a vigilante (his dad is not as shocked as he could be since he already had suspicions), that he's been fighting mutants (Caseys dad is upset but again not surprised, and just glad Casey's alright). casey then explains about the alien robots and the invasion, which Michael finds very hard to believe. casey also explains he became friends with a family of mutants who've been in New York for years and have been fighting against the mutants and the aliens. donnie comes in, Michael freaks out but calms quickly because of how polite and unthreatening donnie is, and is at least willing to listen. Casey's little sister comes in then and immediately tries to climb on donnie and Michael almost freaks out until he sees how gently donnie picks her up and how he's like. humoring her little girl babble. donnie, fir his part, is having flashbacks to when his brothers got mutated.

so donnie and Casey explain about the invasion and how it's imminent and they're going to fight back, and Michael agrees to go to California, where his parents live. and then casey says he's not coming, that he's going to stay and fight. Michael is like absolutely not, if this invasion is as bad as you say it is, I'm not leaving you alone in New York what the fuck. but Casey's like look ive faced threats you cant even imagine, im part of their team and their family, I have to help. and donnie pitches in and says that Casey can definitely take care of himself, that he's an instrumental part of the team, that he'll increase their chances of winning by a lot, and that the family will take care of him. Michael's like I can tell he means a lot to you but it's dangerous and Casey's like just living in this city is dangerous, and I have to help. donnie says that casey might be the difference between whether they save the world or not.

eventually Michael caves once they tell him about the farmhouse and that they're planning to leave if things go bad. but he makes casey promise to call all the time and stay safe, and he makes donnie promise to take are of him, and donnie swears on his life, and Michael kind of. gets a vibe. but anyway then donnie has to go so they pry Jordan off of him and casey sees him out. donnie tells him to keep hm updated and come to the lair whenever, that they can kick mikey out to the lab cot and donnie and casey will share the bunkbeds (flirtatious) and then donnie goes home.