Prologue: The Final Spell

Summary: With the base becoming overrun by the Krang due to a new, deadlier soldier, Angelo is forced to cast his last spell to save his nephew.

NEW YORK, 2047

The day was calm. No sightings or alerts of the Krang army. Members of the resistance did tasks around the base while soldiers did their training and helpers went about, handing out rations of water and food. It was one of those days of normalcy that they always long to keep in any way.

One part of that normalcy was a young, teenage CJ trailing behind an orange box turtle mutant (who bore tied up hair that barely reach the back of his knees) while pleading, "Pleaasseee Master Michelangelo!" for what seemed like the sixth time this month.
It was still the first week.

Angelo was slowly moving all around the base, his feet were barely floating off the ground. Reason he wasn't moving all that fast was to stop now and then while talking to other members of the resistance to check on any updates of the facility or create small objects like fabrics or screws.

The teenage boy had found his uncle at the start of his daily checkup earlier and decided it was the perfect moment to beg all morning for additional training. After all, he wasn't even allowed to go out on proper missions so might as well take on some other tasks or preparation opportunities.

Okay, 'found' was a very loose word. He waited in the bedroom until the older turtle was wide awake.

It was only when Angelo checked with the water filtration overseer that CJ warned him with the ol' "I'm just going to keep asking until you say yes!"

His uncle finally turned around to face him more properly as he crossed his arms.

"Did you pass your first aid class again?"

"Yes."

"Still head of your ninjutsu class?

"Obviously."

"Know how to utilize more than two weapons in combat?"

"Of course!"

"Have you even passed your testing on repairing the main communication lines?"

"Uh. Well I-"

He pointed behind to the overseer, "Figure out how to recreate the filtration process for the drinkable water?"

"Umm-"

"How many hours did you sleep last night?"

"Wait how does that fit in with-?"

"Proper rest can go a long way, CJ." Angelo stated. He then stayed silent for a moment before placing his hand against his chin. "How many hours in your daily schedule do you even have open? Not including those exclusive to your sleep." He cuts with his finger before CJ can answer.

The boy frowned then said, "I guess it varies by the day of the week?"

"The one that is most free?"

He thought for a second. "I guess four?"

"What day is that?"

"Mondays."

Angelo furrowed his eyebrows and looked down as he contemplated for a bit. He then glanced back at the young human before sighing out, "I guess that'll be enough to start with a few basics and truly know if it's possible for you to learn."

CJ's whole body practically lit up. "Really?" He excitedly exclaimed.

"I think we stalled long enough. Heck, even your dad was about 15 when she activated her ninpo." He chuckled out, "She barely even knew how to use her old sais then. Considering how fast of a learner you are, there's no doubt you'll catch on quickly to surpass even her expertise once you activate your own."

"Oh!" The teen roughly bear hugged his uncle. "Thank you, thank you Master Michelangelo! I promise I won't let you down at all!"

Angelo returned the hug and with a pat on his nephew's back. He mumbled out, "I doubt you ever will."

Suddenly, loud, purple sirens from the inside of the base rang out. Within seconds, walls of metal slammed down to cover the sides all around, and no doubt the same was done to the entrances. Don had made sure nothing was left to be unprotected.

"Oh no." CJ's voice whispered out, his tone and a face of worry carried with it.

"It'll be okay." Angelo promised as he patted the boy's shoulder. His hands lit up a bright orange, then he held them in front of him and a sigil appeared. Soon the entire base was filled with miniature versions of the same casting.

"Soldiers gather your weapons and gather as many members as possible to lead them to the nearest passage out of here!" The turtle yelled out into his spell, his voice overplaying through every sigil to ensure as many beings as possible will hear. "Everyone else quickly gather as many essential supplies as possible and follow the soldiers to have your escape passage protected!"

He did a quick cross with his arms and the sigil changed shape to another one and this time emitted a soft blue hue. The miniatures scattered around the base disappeared, but CJ knew they were now placed with a selective group of beings.

"Task force: be on the lookout for any break-ins and any krang beasts. You are the first line of defense. Be prepared for anything, and thank you for everything." He swiped at the spell to make it disappear. He felt assured and yet still anxious from his other. They longed to have something.

Angelo hoped he did all of this correctly. He memorized Naro's plans beyond what he should've but he can't help but be wary. Naro would've known if he did. He would have been with the task force to ensure it all goes smoothly.

Angelo shook his head. Naro? Why was he thinking of his brother? He's been gone for a couple of years by now, there's no reason for him to be Angelo's first thought at this second.

BOOM

A loud explosion rocked the base, followed suit by loud screaming. Something got in, somewhere. That was the fastest that ever happened. His other's wants turned into a desperate need. Angelo tapped his wrist band and it released a small ping. They became temporarily satisfied.

"Master Michelangelo! What should I do?" CJ asked.

Angelo then sliced his hand through the air, a streak of blue colored followed it, making a slash. It then expanded and became a portal big enough for the other to get through, the other side showing their room.

"Get your stuff. You may need to join in on the fight." He ordered. CJ nodded and went in.

Keeping the portal up with his concentration, Angelo held up his hands out front again in a fist, this time one above and the other below his torso, then bumped them together and created an O symbol with one and the other crossed it. He immediately was encased in a blood orange hue circle before it quickly swelled and soon covered the base's walls, creating a surrounding magical shield to prevent any more of the Krang's beasts from coming in from the broken wall.

Focusing on three things at once wasn't ideal at the moment, but he needed to be sure that his other gave the go-ahead and reached him before he would join the fight himself.
Angelo can feel every bang and pounding against his shield. All it did was encourage him to continue strengthening it and not give way to make it crack.

Having put on his battle gear and handy tech-staff, CJ came right back out the portal and next to Angelo, who quickly closed it. The elder mutant grabbed his beaded necklace and handed it to his nephew.

"Use these all before you rush in for any reason." He said. "Mondo is on their way."

CJ looked a bit surprised, frowned for a second, then nervously grabbed the necklace to put it on. "If you think that's the best option." He then mouthed something to himself.

I don't have time for this. CJ knows this plan. Angelo thought before he lifted his hands high up, gathering more energy by focusing better. He then motioned his hands downwards, releasing said magic in waves, making it expand in all areas to go strengthen the shield. He felt all those that were banging getting electrocuted from the stronger shield. His body and his power knew how to differentiate between a Krang possessed being and one born from the Earth. The beings within the resistance knew how the shield was passable for them.

Why can't he feel anyone going through then?

Most importantly, why can he feel everything dwindling?

A high pitched roar then erupted from down the large corridor that Angelo and CJ reside.

"That's a new beast." The teen shakily whispered out. Angelo couldn't help but look down to see it better.

It was bipedal and much smaller than any other beast, about half their size, but it was still larger than him and his nephew, that's for sure. Angelo can just tell it was a new, special creation from Krang by how it had armor on it. No other beast wore one. It had a spiked helmet with two, asymmetric red eyes.

It also carried a sword in its gloved, left hand while the right was obviously made of that krang goop.

Angelo felt the dread rise within him as it started barreling down straight towards him and CJ.

COME NOW! He pleaded within.

As the beast got halfway down, a large rhinoceros mutant slammed into it, knocking it into the wall. The mutant looked towards the turtle and gave a thumbs up. A gecko one then popped up from his back and did the same. Angelo relaxed as he smiled and mouthed a 'thank you' to them both.

Before any can react, a tendril in the form of a sword was then skewered straight through the rhinoceros' back and out their chest, coming straight from the new beast. The tendril then sliced through the body sideways to exit it.

"NO!" CJ cried out, immediately trying to go to Rocksteady. Angelo instantly grabbed his nephew to stop him, causing the magical shield to collapse due to his new, sudden shift of focus.

As their savior's body fell to the ground, Mondo quickly scurried off to avoid being crushed or grabbed. They then latched onto the new beast as tightly as they could while also moving about to reposition as much as possible. The beast attempted to claw them off by any means necessary, screeching as they did so. Mondo's face and body scrunched up in pain, but as suddenly as the new wounds and marks appeared, they rapidly healed over.
Throughout the base they heard multiple shrieks calling back in response to the beast's own.

"We need to go! Now!" Angelo commanded CJ, dragging the teen through the air to get higher and away. CJ aggressively tried to pat Angelo's back as a motion to get down.

"They'll be okay, CJ!" He tried to calm him down. They both then heard Mondo wailing out "NO!", followed by the sound of quick footsteps.

Before Angelo gained any meaningful distance or could react, the turtle felt a harsh yank on his hair, noting how its ties instantly broke loose, before being tugged back towards the ground. Dropping CJ, who let out a pained grunt, on the way, Angelo was then pulled over the beast's body and slammed into the rocky floor with the might of a krang.

He groaned as he opened his eyes to see its actual sword raised above him and quickly moved away as it stabbed into the spot he was residing in. He quickly lifted himself off the ground to float again.

The beast screeched once more, this time in anger, then slashed its sword at Angelo; who did his best to dodge them all while in the air.

The turtle hands then glowed orange and expelled translucent chains. He blocked a few strikes before quickly wrapping them around the sword a couple times to be able to grab the weapon and jerked it away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his nephew pick up the fallen sword with Mondo coming back into frame, yanking on CJ's arm to follow him to the nearest safe path.

"I'm not leaving him!" The teen refused.

"Trust me! If anyone can catch up to us, it'll be him!" They stated.

Their point was not made as Angelo's face was grabbed with the tendril hand and he was slammed back into the ground. The turtle immediately bit into the tendrils as harshly as he could, making the other recoil and pull away. Glad that actually worked.

"CJ, GO!" Angelo shouted to him. Mondo grabbed CJ's arm again, who stared in stunned distress, and tugged him away without resistance.

The mutant turtle propelled himself off the ground right and back into the air just as the beast decided to transform its right arm into a sharp blade, plunging it into the ground where he was. Just as quickly, it extracted it and started to slash wildly at him, almost too low that what it should be aiming for.

Angelo raised himself higher in the air, his hands lighting up to conjure up flames and throw them right at the beast, who just quickly dodged them without a hassle while running towards his direction.

He switched to summon a shield in time to block the armored hand that attempted to grab him. He expelled it forward to push and entrapped the other in it. His hands hovered on top of it each other making a squeezing motion to signal the bubble to get smaller.

The beast began to hiss and tried to push against the spell as it was getting squished. When it was beginning to fold in on itself, the red on the helmet and arm started to glow brighter and hummed as the body shuddered violently. Suddenly, spikes burst out its back, arm and leg, forcing the shield to extend and strain Angelo's hands, who tried to keep it close. The beast opened its clawed hand and shoved the fingers through the shield, puncturing it.
Angelo's eyes widened as the beast then spun in a circle, slicing the bubble in half.

GO, his mind screamed at him.

He then attempted to hover backwards to create a larger distance as the beast sent its tendril arm to the turtle. By him still being too slow, it wrapped around Angelo's waist and whirled him around to be sent into the ground.

After being knocked down, Angelo pushed against the floor with his feet to launch himself higher, to gain distance to use his ranged spells once more, and avoid the beast's swings. He winced and grit his teeth at the feeling of a sharp pinch in his knees, trying his best to avoid thinking about them and how his eyes slightly teared up at the pain. It was starting to get harder and harder to get back up with the use of his feet.

It daunted him how the other kept aiming and slashing at his lower half of his body, specifically his lower legs. Other beasts often aimed for necks or the head. Rarely would they aim for arms or torso unless it was in the way.

Did it know?

How? How would a beast, who lacks the capacity to even self-think, even know the situation with Angelo's legs?

As the mutant was casting another spell, the beast then ran to jump and launch itself off the corridor's walls to tackle Angelo, who released a frustrated grunt as he was pounced to the ground again.

Fine. Put my legs out of commission, I'll do the same to yours. He thought as he casted a small shield with one arm to avoid the other snapping its teeth and clawing at him, while his other hand went to grab the beast's right calf. In the moment of anger, he felt that disgusting need to corrupt and take as he once did before, and the latched hand glowed a ugly green color. The color then spread onto the leg, quickly turning it gray and dusting away, even taking the armor plating with it. Good news, it wasn't made from the same material MT wore.

The beast screamed and turned its attention to its leg. Immediately, Angelo let go and sent glowing chains to the nearest wall and pulled himself away from its grasp, narrowly missing the attempted stab with its sword-tendril arm.
Angelo tried his best to push down the fact he felt immense pain on both sides. They'll both get through this. They both will push through and prevail as usual. They have to.

He hated the feeling that he was being torn apart. Why is he feeling this way? They shouldn't be.

He sat up and looked at the beast, who stared briefly at its disintegrated leg, then grabbed it at the end with its right hand. Quickly, its krangifed arm shifted and the tendrils wrapped the stub and split off the arm. The wrappings then went down and converted itself into a new pair of a calf and foot.

Gross. He thought. And annoying.

Now the bad news, he may have made this harder on himself.

Without further care, the beast sprang back into the fight, its arm transforming back to its sword form and positioned to swing once again.

He was continually forced to fight in close proximity to the beast, who refused to let him back more than a few steps at all. Always moving at a speed just barely faster than the turtle, who had whipped out his long trusted kusarigama. He blocked the strikes with the chain and slashed his blade at the other the best he could, though the beast had used its armored arm to act as protection to deflect his attacks.

Angelo's feet always levitated above the ground as much as he was able to. He recalled how Don often mentioned the way he moved about near the floor as if he had hover-skates on. It just now occurred to him that's probably how he adjusted so easily, being the one to always have an excuse to skate.

He went more offense by hacking more at the other, making it focus more on its own defense with its glove. Angelo then whisked the weighted end on the chain around the torso of the beast and hurled it over his head and to the other side, landing it into the rocky ground. It only took a second for it to composure itself by flipping around and running back to Angelo, this time on all fours. The mutant shook off the creepy shiver down his spine as he hated how it was crawling like a spider.

In fact, he was hating so many things at this moment. The growing pains in his legs. His long hair being in the way of everything and shifting his focus of it touching him. The glowing red eyes that refused to never stop staring at him. The way the beast always attempted to swipe at his feet. The fact it can predict and counter his movements so well. How he can predict the other as well but always seemed to fumble his defense against it. But most of all, he hated that empty feeling within him. That anxiety and worry, the need for calmness. The radiant zest. It was replaced with just nothing. He hated his fear subconsciously growing by the second with the thought of: What of Casey?

He needed to figure out how to uneven the playing field. To go and find his nephew to make sure the boy is okay. All without bringing that disgusting spell back.

It's useful. But he hated how it made him feel like he was the same as them.

The beast sprung up off the ground and grabbed the deflecting blade of the kusarigama with its gloved hand, yoinked it towards itself as harshly as it could and kicked Angelo's stomach with its reformed leg, making him falter backwards. He then casted a small shield in front of him as its own blade aimed for him. It hit the shield and turned it into a battle of who can stand against the other better. Angelo didn't like his chances as he was forced to plant his feet on the ground to help propel himself in the stand off. Fuck does he hate how much he wanted to readjust the various compressors on his legs to see if that'll even take away an ounce of the pain.

The beast then opened its mouth, barely visible under the helmet. "Once you're gone, I take your title." It spoke in a deep, distorted way.

Angelo's eyes widened as his grasp weakened. Shocked that the other was even able to form and speak words, and shocked on how familiar the voice was even though he couldn't quite place it.

It took the opportunity of Angelo's dismay to pull back its sword, reshape it into a mallet, and slam against the shield with full force, shattering it completely with only two hits. This caused Angelo to stumble backwards. With its third hit, it decided to pull back its reformed leg and kick the mutant again, launching him into a rock solid pillar, crashing through and skidding across the end of the hallway and landing into the wall. That definitely hurt his shell a lot more than any of the other attacks.

He heavily groaned as he attempted to stand up, then heard a loud rumble snapping all around. He looked up and saw tons of cracklings forming along the rocky interior walls, all no longer held with the support of that one pillar. Soon, piece by piece, the ceiling began to collapse.

He immediately tried to get up fully while trying to cast a shield spell or even a portal, but one foot out and he instantaneously fell right back down due to his pains. Yeah, his beads would've worked here so much.

As the rubble fell all around him, more shrieks were heard, quickly overlapped by a teenage voice crying out "UNCLE!"

Angelo looked up and saw his nephew running up to him. He threw one of the beads at the krang beast, making it expand and unleash plant-like tendrils, temporarily encasing it as a trap. As it ripped and attempted to break free, more of the tentacles sprouted across its body.

"CJ! You're supposed to be with Mondo!" The mutant shouted, trying to show anger but was obviously happy that the kid was still alright. Also noticing how half the necklace was gone, meaning he did as ordered.

"I can't!" CJ replied. Angelo saw him bite his lower lip as if to prevent himself from saying anything more.

The teen then grabbed his chainsaw-bo and slammed the end against the floor. It slightly shuddered before swiftly shifting into a longer pole, and the top multiplied into metal plates creating a huge dome protection around them, big enough to fit a small team of beings, as the rest of the cave network collapsed on top of them.

"NO!" The distorted voice yelled.

And thus, they were safely trapped within the rubble.

Angelo didn't know he had fainted until he woke to the sound of hordes of krang-beasts running around outside of the dome. He knew it was only a matter of time until they sniffed them both out and located them. They always had, regardless of what material or distance separated the groups. There were already noises of digging and banging to get to them. His nephew's voice finally pierced through his eardrums.

"Master Michelangelo! Are you alright?" CJ asked. He was crouching over him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fin—" Angelo released a hiss noise as he attempted to straighten up his back as best as possible as he sat up, but that sent great spikes of pain throughout his body.

CJ looked more worried for a moment, then quietly pointed out, "Your whole hair became gray again."

The turtle cracked a smile at that with a low chuckle. He was about to respond but the light chuckle somehow made his back feel even worse. He reached around to his shell and touched part of it, hissing even louder as he felt a crevice and few fractures that definitely shouldn't be there at all.

He pulled back his hand and looked down at it, seeing blood caked on his fingertips. He felt pain. A tremendous amount of pain all over his body on the outside. However inside he felt hollow. He can feel his own pain and dread, but nothing responded. Nothing was communicating to him in any way. The opposite of what he has been feeling for the past decade or so.

Inside, he reached out to find anything that can respond back, even a sliver of a breath. There was absolutely nothing except for the soul in front of him, and the three that always lingered around barely out of reach from him; his siblings that are long gone.

Angelo's mouth trembled as he clenched his hand, knowing what that quiet, emptiness meant.

"It's over." The mutant whispered out. "The resistance is fully gone."

"I'm sure there's still some." CJ assured with unease. "They must've escaped through the tunnels."

"CJ, there's no one left." Angelo snapped as he faced him back. He then softened his gaze.. "I can't.." his voice wavered, "I can't feel them anymore."

CJ's eyes fell as his lips began to quiver.

He can't feel Mondo, despite the link. That's why CJ was able to come back. If they were gone after all this time with their power of regeneration..what hope can he even give for his nephew? He can portal them out but what would wait for them? No beings, no resources, nothing was out there.

Yet again, Angelo couldn't help himself by thinking back to his older brother, Naro, for no reason.

Unless..There was. There was always a purpose, big or small. Each time his spiritual tune nudged him in a direction without ever fully giving answers on why or what. Giving hints to solutions for a problem waiting to come.
His memory was recalled to one day. A day from many years ago. He remembered he had tried to open a special gateway once, but had failed due to his lack of power. Evident by his hands and arms being ripped and pulled into another plane of existence, leaving scars as a reminder. Naro had to stop him then. To keep him grounded and remain with his physical form.. But now?

"I'm more powerful now." Angelo softly said. The teen looked at him with confusion. Angelo took a deep breath and closed his eyes in concentration. His hands lit up purple for a brief moment, then flash orange, and soon a piece of thick paper with a picture appeared in them. He opened his eyes and saw the moment he had printed. April's orientation day. She had her siblings, who all wore their color coded hoodies, grabbed and pulled into a group hug. In one of her hands she held her newly purchased school binder.

Angelo looked back at the teen.

"CJ I need you to listen to me and remember what I say next vividly, got it?" He said.

"What? What are you-"

"Listen." Angelo ordered. He turned the paper around and closed his eyes again. He pictured what he needed the most to show CJ. An object he can see crystal clear in his mind. His hand flashes orange once again, and he withdraws it, leaving behind the flawless imagery of a small statue upon a stone pedestal slightly covered by the Krang biogrowth.

He grabbed it and held it to his nephew, who hesitantly took it.

"The Krang came to our planet through a mystic doorway, opened by a key. The key looked like this." Angelo tapped the image. "The key was stolen by a clan, who sought out the means to open it by any way. You have to find it and take it away before they do."

CJ brows creased in confusion as he stared at the photo. "What do you mean find and take it?" He looked back to his uncle.

"I need you to find the key to stop the Krang." Angelo stated.

"Okay." He nodded, then became confused again. "Annd how do I do that?"

The mutant flipped the image and tapped again. "Find us. We will know the artifact you're seeking. We will help you."

The young teen then turned more confused. "Find you?"

His uncle grinned widely. "Yup! And you'll be able to do that by jumping through the time portal I'm going to create."

CJ's eyes widened in shock. "You're gonna HUH?"

Angelo let out a small giggle as he went to ruffle CJ's hair. His face quickly started to fall as he knew the outcome of his fate. He has to tell everything upfront to his nephew. No unnecessary surprises.

He opened his mouth to warn, but the words got caught in his throat.

He has to tell him the truth. He has to do it right here and now. There's no other time.

So why can't he state it?

Angelo then gave him a soft smile, lifting one of his hands to give a pat against his nephew's chest. He hoped in some way that it would silently remind him of Naro's infamous saying for when he's gone.

"I..I'm likely going to be passed out for most of the time." He lied. "I don't have that much mystic juice left in me to be doing anything really."

"And that's why I have to find you?" CJ's hand tightened on the picture. He could only guess what his nephew was really thinking.

Angelo nodded in response. "We also need to time this correctly." He asserted. "You're definitely going to need your staff for when we go through."

CJ glanced at the staff that kept them in the safe bubble. "But it's —"

"That's why I said to time it correctly. I need your hand ready on the button while I open the portal. Once I give the word, push it and I'll pull you through with me."

His nephew's hand became shaky as he put the picture into his back pocket. He gave a soft nod. "O-okay."

The mutant reached for the back of the other's neck to draw him closer to plant a small kiss against his forehead.

"Everything's going to be alright, Casey." He said as he was pulling away. "We're Hamatos after all."

CJ gave a grin at that but before he could respond, a loud roar vibrated the surrounding rumble, causing a few debris to get loose and fall around them as heard by the noises around, soon followed by continuous pounding to come inside.

"Shit," CJ breathed out, "They're closing in!"

With a heavy grunt, the older turtle then started to get up on his feet. He heard the young teen let out a small gasp while he almost fell while attempting to stand but had caught himself. His small rest had done little to stop the cramps and aches that began to grow in his heels, ankles and calves. It wasn't long before the pain worsened and spread to his knees and thighs. He had to ignore it and focus on the new task at hand. It's been so long since he had to properly be on the ground for a period of time, but he needed all his concentration for this one spell, as well as all his mystic power. He can't waste any more on something as frivolous as hovering.

He closed his eyes as he slowly staggered forward. Pulling whatever energy was left around him into his own body, he lifted his hands in front of him and pictured in his mind the latest day he can imagine to send CJ into. Anything later and the plan is ruined, anything sooner would consume his body even faster and have the chance of ruining the time flow, snapping CJ back to him.

Six hours. Surely six hours prior to the first portal opening was enough time for his nephew to pinpoint where they were exactly and get them to help track down the key. It was the best he could give him. Had he not had that fight earlier, he likely would've been able to give him an extra 24 hours.

Angelo needs to focus on that day. That moment. It'll be hard, but you need to focus. FOCUS.

He felt his hands grow burning hot, scratchy, and as if someone was pulling his fingers and wrists as hard as they can off of him, beginning to pop them from their sockets. He opened his eyes and saw a small yellow dot that released small sparkles as if it was Tinkerbell with her magic dust.
Focus.

He knows what he has to do. He's done this before. Once, but it was done. Mostly.

Angelo then gripped his hands and began pulling an invisible thread apart, the circle then started to unfold and turn bigger. Slowly, but it was growing in size. He had to focus on establishing the connection between the two points.

Fuck his fingers felt like they were being ripped clean off and his arms burned like someone made numerous cuts then slather as much hydrogen peroxide as they could on him.

Focus.

It needs to be bigger. You know that moment. It's been seared into your mind by him.

Angelo always forgets how the feeling of his hair follicles get pushed and shoved for newer strands and older ones growing in length. Always send shivers down his spine. Although he can't see it, it wouldn't surprise him if the new bits he's gaining are gray in color. It certainly felt like it.

FOCUS.

His hands then reached the limit of how much he was able to keep the gate wide enough. The inside glowed and seemingly spiraled inward, having a certain gravitational pull that was so faint but still able to pull in tiny pieces of debris from the ground and made his cloak and hair flow to it.

Those sounds were getting louder.

FOCUS.

He can already feel the difference of pure radiance the other side gave. The amount was so overwhelming that he knew that the time had to be correct. He hasn't felt this quantity of life in over 25 years.

FOCUS!

He then looked to his arms and saw his hands steadily flying away in tiny, golden shatters. It was now or never.

"Grab and hang onto your staff!" Angelo commanded, straining to keep the portal open. He had to lie to his nephew earlier. He knew how the other would have reacted. Angelo now has to do his true final spell.

"Got it!" CJ shouted. "Tell me when!"

Angelo released one of his arms and translucent chains appeared on it.

"Now!" The mutant turned and smiled at CJ, and then tossed the chains behind him, making it wrap around his nephew. As the makeshift ceiling rapidly retracted, Angelo then flung him through the gateway.

"With you, they live on." He softly said.

Then, Angelo felt his entire body finally give way and rupture completely into fragments the instant he looked down at his nephew as he went through. The last thing was him hearing CJ screaming "NO! UNCLE!" as the boy went in, and the portal shutting right after. The remaining boulders finally crashed all around but at that point it didn't matter, they were both gone. And his vision momentarily went fully bright gold and then cut to black.

He noticed all of his senses were gone except for two. First, he can hear. But it was so muffled and so fast he couldn't comprehend what was being said or what noises were playing and from where. All around yet nowhere at once.

Second, he can feel everything as usual. But he can also feel someone else's emotions that were clashing with his own.

He felt calmness and peace. The other's were a multitude of variations. Stress. Guilt. Regret. Anger. So much anger. The amount of negativity was so overloading, even to him, that he imagined himself embracing the other, and allowing his own warmth and comfort to make them be undisturbed no more.

He can feel the entirety of the planet and its life. That wasn't new. However, he had deeply missed the massive abundance he was currently feeling. Previously, it had dwindled in large portions year by year. It was the sad reality Angelo had to face every second. Now the world was brimming with exuberance.

Time was too rapid and so overwhelming, yet too slow and so serene. He didn't know how much time was passing. It could've been days or months, and yet it felt like it's only been a couple of seconds.

And then that bright light came back. It was like his eyes were closed the entire time, only he didn't know how to open them back up. It was so bright yet it dimmed due to his eyelids. The sounds were becoming clearer and closer. Voices. Multiple voices, ranging in pitch and tones.

His form wasn't physical, he knows. Although he felt as if his body was floating around, like when deep in water. Motionless, letting physics take control of you. Why did he feel like he was getting heavy while being lifted up?

He then heard a few gasps, then that wonderful voice that made him instantly joyful.

"Uncle?" His nephew's voice breathed out.

Finally, he was able to open his eyes, resting them upon the teen's face. He immediately smiled at him.

"Hiya, C–"

The mutant abruptly fell to the ground out of pure exhaustion.