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The Krang Apocalypse had been going on for a few years before Leo lost his arm. Donnie would say Leo had lost his mind long before that, but Leo firmly believed that all other flaws aside Donnie was ignoring his genius. That's why, one afternoon while Leo was meditating with Mikey, he knew he had something.
"Do you think-" Leo starts to say as Mikey finished his meditation.
"My arm is out there floating in the Hamato Ninpo Afterlife with Gram-Gram," he finishes.
Michaelangelo, Master of the Mystic Arts, Ninja Warrior of the Hamato Clan, Defender of the Resistance, stares at him before he snorts so hard he stops floating and falls back onto his shell.
"Hey," Master Leonardo, Leader of the Resistance, Greatest Ninja Warrior of the Hamato Clan, complains, shoving at his little brother.
Leo's Ninpo had never quite been the same since the Krang sealed it away but he still liked to meditate with Mikey whenever his little bro contacted their ancestors. He had just been thinking about what it might be like wherever Gram-Gram is and his newly amputated arm and just-
"I mean it has to be somewhere right?" Leo adds. It's just more fuel to the fire as Mikey snorts again and giggles, clutching his stomach.
Donnie must hear the noise because he peeks in "What did I miss?"
"Well, I was just asking Master Michaelangelo a serious question," Leo informs his twin, "I wanted to know if my arm was already in the Hamato Ninpo with Gram-Gram." He waves his stump at Donnie for good measure.
Donnie's mouth twists in the way it does when he's trying to fight a smile.
"I mean, the various cells have likely died and begun decomposition, so one could argue that your arm is 'dead'," Donnie does finger quotes and everything. It's utterly disgusting to hear him describe Leo's arm like that but at the same time- Leo's fighting off a smile himself as Donnie continues his Speech Mode™ "...Not to mention concepts such as phantom limbs where amputees swear they can still feel their arms-"
"So you're saying the ghost of my arm is still here?" Leo interrupts.
Donnie fixes Leo with a deadpan look and Leo only smirks all the brighter.
"Yeah, sure, whatever your mystic ghost arm is haunting you," Donnie throws up his hands in defeat.
Ooh, poor timing. Mikey lets out another snort and falls back onto the floor, his shell clacking against the concrete. Leo bites back a laugh. He will not break before Donnie does.
"What are you bozos up to now?" Raph grumbles as he lumbers into the room. He's got little baby Casey in one giant hand and April at his side. Mikey waves a hand from the floor as he giggles helplessly.
"I just wanted to know where my arm was," Leo defended himself.
"I think technically it's somewhere under Midtown," Donnie adds tapping away at his wrist pad. "But what's one more mystic ghost haunting the family."
"Donnie," Raph pinches his nose.
"Bonny," Casey babbles in imitation.
"If you two don't cut it with your middle child nonsense-" he starts to say.
"You think it just like appeared in front of Gram-Gram and Splints?" April cuts in, "Like splatted into existence in front of them?"
Mikey wheezes.
Leo bites back a laugh as he makes eye contact with Donnie but April isn't done there.
"Like, is it floating there? Laying there? Or are Gram-Gram and Splints just taking turns carrying around Leo's ghost arm?"
The twins burst and join Mikey in the hysteria. Casey Junior doesn't seem to understand but he giggles alongside them.
Raph sighs as his siblings dissolve into laughter over Leo's ghost arm and chuckles himself. It's not that funny, but heh, Raph can almost see Gram-Gram's face at the arm just appearing in front of her.
"Cass, Cass, Cass," Leo exclaims running up to Casey Senior later, "Yes or no, do you think my arm is in the Hamato afterlife yet?"
"What?!" The woman barks in confusion.
"Arm!" Casey Junior repeats before throwing his up and giggling.
"What nonsense have you infected my child with?" Cassandra demands but Leo's already giggling.
It was dark in the lab as Donnie finished up Leo's new arm. They had lost Raph only a few months ago, and now Donnie was replacing Leo's busted prosthetic with surgical precision and without their big brother worrying outside.
"Think Raph's got my arm?" Leo asked his twin.
"Yeah," Donnie grunts, before stepping back to let Leo see his new prosthetic, "and now you've got his." Leo tears up a little bit at the sight of the spiked red and green arm before using it to pull his brother into a hug.
"Thanks Dee," he whispers. Donnie pats his back in silence.
"...Raph would tell us if he found my arm there though," Leo finally says to break the silence.
And Donnie sucks in a breath as his shoulders shake with silent laughter because somehow that bad joke has never failed to make Mikey laugh and even now, they haven't been able to get a straight answer out of him.
Years later,
"Sensei," Casey Jr asked, "what happened to your arm?"
"Do you mean physically or mystically," Donnie interrupts, "Because Mikey's never been able to give us a straight answer on that."
"What?!" Casey asks, sounding so much like his mom had the first time Leo asked her about it that he can't help but laugh.