The Beast below the Blue

Author's Note: Hellooo – this is a TMNT fic for those who love the coloured ninja brothers. Based on the 2012 series. Small spoilers for the season 1 finale. The point of views are written in third person, but focus on a particular turtle each time. Rated T.

Summary: Alternate ending to "Showdown part 2" and takes place straight after the Krang ship (Technodrome) sinks. However, when the ship went down into the watery depths, what if Leo hadn't escaped in time?

Disclaimer: Mwhahaha – yes yes all mine! *clears throat* Umm, nope sorry, I do not own the turtles or the concepts of the show.

Chapter 1: Leonardo is…

The Krang's Technodrome fell from the sky and plummeted into the water, sinking below the surface.

The Turtles and April stood in shock, as the horrible blood chilling reality sunk in.

Leo hadn't made it out.

Raph's POV:

"LEOOO! LEO - WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He screamed repetitively at the lapping waves, the escape pod rocking back and forth on the glistening blue green ocean.

His throat was raw – he had been screaming his brother's name for the last 2 minutes.

Behind him, Mikey let out a retching sob whilst Don held on to April as he shook in what was probably shock and grief. April sniffled softly, still pale from the Krang attack but repetitively assuring Don that everything was going to be okay.

Raph wanted to yell at them. HOW could anything EVER be OKAY? Their brother was gone. D-dea…dead. Tears dampened his mask, at the thought of Leo's body sinking to the bottom of the ocean trapped inside the Krang ship.

He had thought that Leo was fearless and invincible. His older bro had always been the turtle to swoop in and save the day. It had been that way from the beginning, and Leo had followed it through right to the bitter end, giving his own life to save that of his brothers and only friend.

Raph always knew that if Leo was to ever die, he would go down protecting his brothers. And yet it was still so god damn unfair.

Leo was the brother who kept them working together and as a team.

Leo was the brother whom he had told his secrets to as a hatchling.

Leo was the brother who he looked up to and dreamed to be.

Leo was his hero.

And now he was gone.

"AHHHH – LEOOOO!" He screamed again, wishing, hoping that his older brother would answer his call. Any second now, Leo's head would emerge from the water, spluttering and tired but alive. Raph would dive in and drag Leo to the pod. He would call Leo a dork…and then give him the biggest hug of their lives, not caring about his macho reputation.

But…the water just continued to lap and Leo was no-where to be seen.

Why did Leo have to be so stupid? Why did he always have to be the hero? Raph's grief bubbled and mixed with his anger, his emotions raging into overload. Why did you do this to us Leo? I can't go on without you bro.

His thoughts blurred as he was being pulled in a million directions and couldn't decide of the right path to follow. It was just…too hard.

A hand gripped him by the shoulder and he swung around to find a puffy eyed Donnie.

"Raphael, we have to get out of here," Donnie said, his voice layered with sorrow.

Raph shook his head, adamant that he wasn't leaving without Leo…dead or alive. "No, we gotta find him."

"We will Raph, but for now we have to go before the authorities show up."

Raph glanced down at Mikey who had curled himself into a ball on the floor, his arms wrapped around his knees as he rocked back and forth whilst whispering Leo's name. April was attempting to comfort him, but her efforts were futile with Mikey barely noticing her arms around him.

April looked up at him pleadingly and Donnie simply stood still and expectantly. It dawned on him then, that they were waiting on him to give the word. They were waiting for his decision.

They considered him as their leader.

No, no - that was Leo's job. This couldn't be happening. He had always wanted Leo's position but now that it was given to him, he no longer desired the task. It felt wrong. The entire situation was so messed up.

And yet, he bowed his head, knowing that for now he had no choice as the responsibility fell on him to lead and look after his little brothers.

It's what Leo would have wanted after all. Raph sorrowfully smiled as he imagined Leo standing over his shoulder and lecturing him to get Mikey, Don and April out of there. God, what he would give to hear Leo's lecturing again.

But Leo, once again, would be right. Raph still had two little brothers, and right now they needed his help. "Alright, let's go."

"But how Raph?" Mikey shuddered.

"We swim. We're not that far from shore."

Raph was the first to dive into the water, keeping an eye on the others who soon followed. It was freezing and Raph's heart sunk for Leo. He had died in this chilling water alone? Died – the word rang in his head and something clicked in his head as the cold crept into his bones and snapped him to attention. No – Leo couldn't be gone.

He had given up on Leo too easily. He had jumped to the conclusion that Leo hadn't survived, but Leo dying just wasn't compatible with his mind. He simply refused to accept it, knowing that he had and always would have three annoying pain in the ass brothers.

There was Mikey – the goofball.

Don – the brainiac.

And Leo – the leader.

There was nothing else to it. They were his family and to hell if he was going to give up on Leo. Raph knew that Leo would have found a way – after all his older brother was fearless and invincible.

Raph swam on, approaching the empty shore with only one thought remaining in his mind:

I'll find ya bro.

We'll get ya back.

Leo's POV:

*Ten minutes earlier*

The Technodrome ship was going down.

It shook with the force of an earthquake, as lights flashed through the long escape pod chamber.

"What have YOU done?" the Krang shrieked, its tentacle lips vibrating.

Leo smiled, his brothers were safe and that was all that mattered. Now he could give the ugly thing in front of him some hell – ninja style.

He lunged as the ship made impact with the water, throwing him off balance and sending the Krang sprawling onto the divided floor.

Water filled the chasm and the Krang screeched something incoherent into its communicator.

Leo had seconds before the chasm was filled with water and he took his last breath before the whole chamber flooded with the ice cold liquid.

Donnie's voice rang in his head: depending on its age and size, the average turtle can hold its breath for 20 minutes. So seeming that we are turtle hybrids, my calculations lead me to believe that we could maybe hold out under water for 10 minutes, but no longer. We should really test that though, don't know when it could come in handy…

Right about now Leo really wished that they had tested it.

He already had been under for roughly 1 minute.

He swam past the floundering Krang and to the end of the chamber where his brothers had escaped. There had to be a levered door or opening – 2 minutes under…

He was greeted by a closed silver and dark pink door with the control panel still flashing through the water. There had to be a manual override for opening it. A large flashing button caught his attention. Ah – what the shell?! He pressed it and the door clamped open, revealing the open ocean - 4 minutes under…

Leo seized the door's round silver frame and was about to pull himself through when a long tentacle wrapped around his leg and pulled him backward and down the chamber – 6 minutes under….

He kicked and squirmed but the Krang pulled him back in iron grip, as if it were trying to squeeze the life out of him. With a start, Leo realised that this was exactly what it was trying to do. The Krang was trying to drown him. The giant ugly blob smiled at him as he was pulled back through the door - 8 minutes under….

Leo stopped struggling and accepted his fate. There was nothing he could do, not in the water anyways. Maybe on the surface he would have stood a chance, but he was deep under and running out of air, his head already thumping with the lack of oxygen.

This was it, this was the end. He thought of his brothers and prayed that Raph would get them home safe. He prayed that they would be okay and his gut twisted with grief at the thought of his brother delivering the news to his Sensei, whilst his mind was plagued with guilt. He would never be by his brothers side's ever again. I'm sorry little brothers, I'm so sorry. He closed his eyes and counted. 9 minutes under….

Then suddenly the grip was released. Leo wildly searched with his eyes through the blurry water, but the Krang was gone. It had simply vanished, but Leonardo knew that he had no time to speculate theories and he swam through the tunnel again and out the door.

His lungs burned with the desperate need for oxygen – for a breath of air. His limbs became slow and heavy as he swam in an upwards direction. He reached out to the light of the sun shimmering on the water above him.

He was so close…and yet he knew that it was over.

The light above him receded and the water claimed the turtle for its own. He sunk down into the watery depths, his vision darkening.

10 minutes under…

To Be Continued…

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