[It's sad that this kind of is the least tragic side effect of the apocalypse, for the four of them. He aged quickly but at least he didn't die. He and sensei lived to the last day, they didn't waste away or lose their bodies (mostly) or lives to the war. Casey and Commander O'Neil managed to stay the most intact, they were lucky, they were protected by their superhuman family. But the turtles all suffered so much. Master Michelangelo... he got old. And Casey saw the horrible toll even that took on him, over the years. Having to decide when to use his power and when to hold back, how much he could risk aging, who he couldn't save so he could live one more day to save others, getting closer and closer each time to becoming too far gone to protect his family. And then they died, anyway.]
...You... remember how I said he was the greatest mystic warrior? That's... the cost of using too much, over time. It's- it's part of why I wanted you to be careful.
And I guess... no one really knows why? Or how to prevent it?
[Other than the obvious, of course. To have the potential for all this power and decide not to use it. It's silly, but out of everything Mikey could be frustrated by, the first place his mind goes is how unfair it is that in the end his abilities are one more reason for his brothers to treat him like he's something fragile.
From his tone--and the way he keeps staring at the photos--it's clear he doesn't expect much of an answer. If Casey had some miracle fix, he would have led with that. Reminding himself this is supposed to be the easy part, Mikey tries to focus less on the man who looks like his own ghost and more on the way it all fits together.]
Ever since Old Leo showed up I've been worried about what kinda person future me really is, but I think I understand him a little better now.
[Loaded question, and it speaks to the known inevitability of Casey's timeline that Mikey doesn't wait for him to come up with an answer. There is, technically, a way to prevent it. Moderation. None of the others aged like he did, they made it to their 30s and 40s at a normal rate. But Master Michelangelo, with his over-the-top and seemingly (at first) infinite mystic powers, saving people over and over, protecting his family and everyone he could possibly spare... the toll was too much.
Casey reaches up and tugs down one of the photos, where the older turtle is cooking and smiling happily. He can't give a perfect cure of this fate that this Mikey can hopefully avoid, but he can at least paint a better picture of who this person is, rather than just the warrior.]
It's... still really hard for sensei to talk about him. We haven't yet, not even once. He- he died, right in front of us. It took everything he had left to open the portal that sent me back. Sensei always carried so much guilt, every time we lost somebody. Like it was something he did, not the Krang.
[Idly, he toys with one of the crinkled corners of the photos, trying in futility to smooth it out.]
I think out of everybody, it really struck me, how different you are from him. You're both so kind, you really love your family, that part's the same as ever. But he was so tired. All of us were, sure, but he was burning himself out in a way that everyone could see, and it was harder for him to be the optimistic one when everything kept falling apart. It frustrated him, how he couldn't just use all that power to fix everything forever. Maybe that's... why he agreed to do the time portal.
[Wasn't that at last fulfilling his wish? A single spell, to get rid of the Krang forever, save his whole family, save the world. It just wouldn't be their family, their world. Just Casey, and the new future they'd never see.]
When I see you doing stuff you love, like cooking, or your art, the skateboarding or games or any of it... I can really see him, finally. Who he used to be, and what he was still fighting for. He wanted to save who all of you were supposed to be.
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...You... remember how I said he was the greatest mystic warrior? That's... the cost of using too much, over time. It's- it's part of why I wanted you to be careful.
no subject
[Other than the obvious, of course. To have the potential for all this power and decide not to use it. It's silly, but out of everything Mikey could be frustrated by, the first place his mind goes is how unfair it is that in the end his abilities are one more reason for his brothers to treat him like he's something fragile.
From his tone--and the way he keeps staring at the photos--it's clear he doesn't expect much of an answer. If Casey had some miracle fix, he would have led with that. Reminding himself this is supposed to be the easy part, Mikey tries to focus less on the man who looks like his own ghost and more on the way it all fits together.]
Ever since Old Leo showed up I've been worried about what kinda person future me really is, but I think I understand him a little better now.
no subject
Casey reaches up and tugs down one of the photos, where the older turtle is cooking and smiling happily. He can't give a perfect cure of this fate that this Mikey can hopefully avoid, but he can at least paint a better picture of who this person is, rather than just the warrior.]
It's... still really hard for sensei to talk about him. We haven't yet, not even once. He- he died, right in front of us. It took everything he had left to open the portal that sent me back. Sensei always carried so much guilt, every time we lost somebody. Like it was something he did, not the Krang.
[Idly, he toys with one of the crinkled corners of the photos, trying in futility to smooth it out.]
I think out of everybody, it really struck me, how different you are from him. You're both so kind, you really love your family, that part's the same as ever. But he was so tired. All of us were, sure, but he was burning himself out in a way that everyone could see, and it was harder for him to be the optimistic one when everything kept falling apart. It frustrated him, how he couldn't just use all that power to fix everything forever. Maybe that's... why he agreed to do the time portal.
[Wasn't that at last fulfilling his wish? A single spell, to get rid of the Krang forever, save his whole family, save the world. It just wouldn't be their family, their world. Just Casey, and the new future they'd never see.]
When I see you doing stuff you love, like cooking, or your art, the skateboarding or games or any of it... I can really see him, finally. Who he used to be, and what he was still fighting for. He wanted to save who all of you were supposed to be.