#Donny didn't let him down for another three days

[yki-dolls]

Teenage mutant ninja turtles in their natural habitat

[sarathrwizard]

7 Day Camp Stay. Day: 1

okay, so this is part 2! (I know, this is confusing. Day 1 part 2, huuuuhhhh????)

Again, souly based on my camping trip. Most I changed was I turned into Donnie and minimizing 10 people onto 4.

Still wish I could be making some of this stuff up, but it was what it was. And it was still a good trip all in all. :)

Hope you enjoy Day: 1! (under the cut.)

7 Day Camp Stay

Day: 1

Three times he had woken up last night. But this time the sun was up. Donnie checked his phone for the clock. It was already 10:15. Donnie groaned. It was too cold to get up. He had his sleeping bag all nice a cozy! But what was the point in sleeping away the entire day? He reluctantly got out of his sleeping bag and quickly threw on his coat.

He unzipped the door and stumbled out of the tent. It was sunny, if anything. But the wind was atrocious! It was making the tent go haywire! He looked over and saw the others have had their breakfast. He walked over and stood next to the fire pit.

"I didn't start you any eggs cause you were still sleeping. You know, they would have gotten cold!"

Mikey waved his toungs around. Picking at the charcoal pieces that were still glowing red.

"I can start you some now if you'd like!"

Donnie looked at Mikey, then looked at the coals. The fire was completely out and he didn't want Mikey to have to build another fire just to cook a couple of eggs.

"No, no. It's okay. I'll have something else."

Donnie said as he walked over to the picnic table. He grabbed a couple pieces of bread and put a slice of cheese in between. It looked stupid, but it was a cheese sandwich none the less. Just not grilled. About an hour after having his breakfast, the others were starting lunch. Good-old turkey sandwiches! Without avocado this time.

"Hey, Donnie! Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Okay, we'll pack your sandwich away for later then!"

Donnie ran his finger through the dirt. He felt like he was missing something. Something he forgot to bring. No, it wasn't his lab. It wasn't even technology related. But he was missing it.

Throughout the day, Leo and Mikey were also finding that they had forgotten things they wish they brought along.

"Okay, okay! Fine!"

Raph flung his hands into the air and stood up from his camping chair.

"I can swing by the lair and grab some things for yall, okay? Now, what was it ya wanted?"

Mikey and Leo told him the various items. Raph knew he wouldn't remember all that so he had them write it down. Donnie was still sitting in the grass. Pulling out the grass blade by blade.

"Donnie, was there anything you wanted while I'm back at the lair getting these two guys their stuff?"

Raph knew it was a dangerous question, asking if Donnie wanted anything from home. He could ask for his entire lab, and Raph would have to tell him no. But Donnie seamed oddly quite. He nodded his head.

"Okay? Can you tell me?"

Donnie lifted his eyes to looked at Raph and shook his head.

"Okay then. I'll just bring you back with me so you can grab it yourself! Sound good?"

Donnie stood up and seamed like he was ready to go. So raph took Donnie back in the Taxi rocket to the lair with him. Raph had finished gathering the stuff on the list and went to find Donnie.

"Yo, Donnie! I'm done! Are you ready to go?"

Donnie came out of his room holding something small in his hands.

"Is that it?"

Raph asked because he was surprised Donnie didn't have a truckload of tech in his arms. Donnie nodded.

"... What is it?"

Donnie slowly opened his hands to reveal an Atomic Las action figure. It was silly that something so small and so simple felt like a lot more when you didn't have it near you. Raph chuckled slightly.

"That's all you want?"

Raph asked with a smile.

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's get this stuff over to the campsite!"

Soon they arrived back at camp where Mikey was already starting the fire to make dinner.

"Back so soon I see?"

"Yup! Here Leo, I gotcha your comic books."

"Thanks!"

"What are you making, Mikey?"

"Walking tacos! It's where you take a small bag of chips-"

Mikey proceeded to demonstrate.

"Put some ground beef in it. Put some cheese, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole-"

There was that avocado again. Something about 'guacamole' didn't sound very appatizing that day.

"Close the bag, mix it up, aaaand done! For you, Donnie!"

Donnie took the bag and peaked inside. It looked like a jumbled mess. But I mean, it smelled good! And he was kind of hungry sense he didn't actually eat that extra sandwich they made him. He took his food over to the picnic table and ate there. Mikey proceeded to serve everyone else too.

After they were done eating, Donnie picked up a bar of soap and was about to walk to the restrooms himself, until everyone else decided they had to go as well. So they all walked over to the restrooms. This wasn't so bad. It felt safer knowing his brothers were right there by his side. Mikey, being a typical younger brother, ran to the restroom. Either he was blowing off excess energy, or he really had to go that bad. That was a question only Mikey could answer.

Four entered the restrooms, but only three appeared to have come out. Raph and Leo were chittering there heads off. Donnie looked around and noticed Mikey was not with them.

"Where's Mikey?"

"Probably still in the bathroom."

Leo foulded his hands behind his head. Donnie stopped and turned around to confirm this probability. Opening the door, he peaked inside to see if he was washing his hands. Nope.

"Mikey? You still in here?"

...No answer. Donnie walked in and peaked under the stall doors to see if his feet were anywhere. Empty. Mikey was not in the restroom. He went back outside and checked around the restrooms. He wasn't there either. He quickly made his way back to the camp. Just when he was about to tell the others that he couldn't find Mikey, he found him snuggled up in an orange sleeping bag.

"Oh... Hi Dee! What's up?"

"I could have sworn you had went to the restrooms with us!"

"Oh, I did!"

"...Then how come I didn't see you exit?"

"Cause I was done before you even left the stall."

"Oh, Oh.. okay, I understand now. Sorry to bother you."

Donnie exited Raph and Mikeys tent and walked over to his he shared with Leo. Speaking of which, Leo was already in his sleeping bag and sound asleep! Guess it doesn't take much to run his energy battery down. Donnie quietly crawled into the tent and wiggled into his sleeping bag. The temperature should be warming that night. Somewhat of a relief for Donnie. He did not like the cold, at all.

...

30 minutes later, a horrible dizziness came over Donnie. It made his stomach turn. He shifted his position but nothing was helping. He looked at the tent as it swayed back and forth, back and forth. That didn't help at all! Quickly he scamper out of the tent. He felt like you could throw up at any given moment. His stomach settled down slightly once he was outside. But the wind was still howling. Sending shivers up and down his spine. Donnie decided he'd make a break for the restrooms. He grabbed the soap again and quickly rushed to the restrooms. The temperature was warmer that night by 20 degrees. Then why did it feel like it was freezing? His back tensed up and his teeth chattered so loud he could have woken up his brothers from a mile away!

He made it to the restrooms and quickly got inside. Again, he went into his little corner in the large restroom stall and took deep breaths. If he threw up now, at least he could easily clean it up. His throat felt thick. If he had just a little water to drink, that would fix everything, right? But he left his bottle at the tents. He then started thinking about the food he ate. At that very moment, food sounded like the most disgusting thing ever! Thinking about it made him feel sicker! He took in a few more deep breaths, hoping to calm the storm building up in his stomach. Slouching over made it hard to breathe, but sitting straight made his head spin. It was a lose-lose situation. All he could do was pray that it'd go away.

An hour he sat in that restroom stall. And finally, it felt like the dizziness left. He got up and briefly use the bathroom while he was there. Washing up, he could feel he wasn't so cold anymore. And when he walked outside, the temperature felt better. Still a little chilly, but it was manageable now. Donnie made it back to the tents. Opening up his tent door, he saw Leo, sleepily sitting up. Donnie stared at him, but Leo just stared into nothing. Before Donnie could ask if anything was wrong, Leo settled back down in his sleeping bag and pulled it up as high as it would go. Donnie saw that he looked a little cold sense he wasn't wareing his coat to sleep, as he usually would during camping. Donnie grabbed a small blanket from the side and draped it over. Leo stirred, but looked comfortable. Donnie proceeded to climb into his sleeping bag and drift off into sleep for the night.

____________

Ough boy! That was not a fun night, but I made it through!

If you enjoyed the story, then... yay? Good to know you love ✨️MiSeRy!✨️ (just kidding!)

Hope you have a wonderful day! Lord bless you! ❤️

Last x Next

[savemeafruitjuice]

Tickletober Day 17- Raspberries

This is a Rise fic! Maaaybe was self-induglent.. just a little. (It's just Leo being bullied, really)

@smiley-star Lee Leo :)

Lee: Leo

Ler: Mikey

TW!: SWEARING!

Leo bounced his leg on his bed, tapping his fingers on his arm. He had felt jittery today, like he had drank three cups of coffee, even though he had been forced to cut down after staying up for almost a full week straight sometime last month.

To be fair, Donnie did that all the time, but Raph just wouldn't let another brother with that degree of a bad sleep-schedule slide.

The blue-themed turtle sighed, instead tracing over the lines of his palm. The slightly tingly sensation calmed him down a bit, until that same feeling returned in his stomach. After a second, the slider realized what it was. A lee-mood.

The turtle groaned quietly, choosing to ignore it for the time being. Everyone was tired, having had a crazy run-in with some mutants last night, and no one would want to deal with whatever he wanted. It wasn't a priority.. it could wait..

"LEO!"

He flinched, body pausing before turning around on his bed to face the doorway. It was Mikey's voice, which was weird, considering the youngest would usually greet everyone at their own doors. "Yeah? What is it?" He listened for a response, but none came. "WHAT?!"

"COME HERE!"

Leo sighed, tightening the drawstring on his hoodie to hide his face, which was probably flushed from his newfound.. mood. He left his room, feet shuffling on the ground as he made his way to the source of the voice. Walking across the lair, he immediately paused at the entrance of his brother's room.

Mikey was sitting on the floor, arms crossed over his chest. Next to him was a paint splatter, covering the majority of what looked like the youngest's most recent artwork. "Aw, Mike.. your painting.. are you okay?"

The box turtle shook his head, pressing his arms harder around himself. "No! All day, no one has wanted to hang out, and was asleep for the entire morning! I had to eat breakfast by myself, so I went to paint to feel better, but then I spilled a bunch of stupid red everywhere!"

Frustrated tears were building up in the smaller's eyes. Leo quickly went to sit down next to him, holding his arms out to comfort him. Mikey sniffled, flopping into the elder's hold. "I'm so sorry, we didn't mean to leave you alone like that-"

"No.." the younger interrupted, resting his head on his brother's shoulder. "It's not any of your fault.. I'm just.. overwhelmed." Leo nodded, squeezing him into a hug. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Mikey nodded. "I just have a lot of energy built up.. could I.. uhm-" he paused, the elder nudging him to continue. "try tickling you..?"

The question was so quiet, Leo was almost convinced he had made it up, but the words rang clear in his mind. "Oh! Uh- sure, Mikey." A smile crept onto his face. It was weird how his lee-moods always seemed to sync up with his brothers, but that wasn't his concern right now.

Mikey smiled back, although it was a little shyer than the slider's. He hugged his brother tight, mumbling a "thanks" before reaches for his hips, latching onto them gently. "Just tell me if it's too much."

Leo squawked, arms jolting down, though he didn't push his little brother away. "DEHEheal!" The box turtle pinched at the joint for a few seconds, then carefully pushed on the taller's plastron to lay him down, sitting on his thighs. Mikey giggled, then rolled up the blue cloth of his hoodie. Leo only had a split second to realize what was going on, watching his brother's head lower, before being plunged into a fit of loud laughter. "HAHAHAH! AAHAH! MIKEHEY!"

"Whahat? I thought you agreed?" Mikey smiled, blowing another raspberry against his belly. "I can stop if you want." The slider bucked, whining at the offer. "NAHAH! Heheh, nohoHOHO! IHI-AHAH! IHIhit's SNRT- OHOHOKAHAay!"

The younger smiled. "Alright then, hang in there, Lee~" He took a deep breath, eyes gleaming mischievously at the anticipation on the elder's face.

Leo's eyes had squeezed shut, blushing at the nickname, only for them to shoot open wider than before at the horrible tickly feeling on the side of his ribs. "HAAAH AHAH! MIHIKEHEHEEEY, NOHOT THEHERE! HAHAHAHAHAH!" His arms shot out to push at the younger's head, but the other just pushed his hoodie higher up, taking his arms with it.

When Leo opened his eyes, he learned that the clothing article had been pushed over his face as well, and he was trapped in a sea of blue as Mikey blew raspberry after raspberry on his plastron. He kicked and squirmed, trying to sit up to stop the tickling, soon lost in his own laughter as his thighs were lightly scribbled on.

"FUHUHU-AHAH! SNRT- IHI CAHAHAN'T SEHEHEE! IHI-AAHAHAHAHAHAH! SNRT- NAHAHAH, PLEHAHAHA!"

The orange-themed turtle cooed, scooting down on his knees which effectively stopped the moving from those limbs. Instead, the slider's hips bucked, and he once again tried to pull his arms out of his sleeves, too overcome with ticklishness to escape.

"Y'know, I think I want to try something.. Of course, if you're willing." There were a couple seconds before the elder had processed the question, the turtle trying to suck in as much air as he could when the fingers at his legs stopped moving. "WHAHaha- SNRT- WhahaHAHat is ihit?.."

Mikey's grin was that of pure evil.

"Oh, I was just wondering how much a raspberry on your thigh would tickle.."

"Euhuhughhh bohohoy.."

-----

Errm I may end up doing a part two to this? Possibly later in the month, or maybe a fic later on. We'll see I guess. Have a great day!

[eclipsedrgn]

Left Behind (3)

Pair: Bayverse!Leo x Fem!Reader

Summary: It's been 6 months since coming back to New York. Will you forgive the Turtles for their mistake?

Warning: implied sex, mentions of sex

A lot has changed since you came back from supposed death.

Splinter has explained to the turtles about your death and was furious, they didn't trust you much afterwards. Unlike the other three, Michelangelo tried his best to be around you even though became cold and disconnected. He misses his best friend, you coming back was the best thing that happened to him in a long time. So the fact you barely even acknowledge him or his brothers hurt him a lot.

The first three months were painful for you and for the four turtles, you all barely spoke to each other and only you visit the sewers to see Splinter and told him news about the Ancient One and why you've come back to New York.

The fourth month is when Raph let his anger out on you. You were coming by the lair to tell Splinter the news your team will be arriving in two months time, you wanted to ask him for permission to have Gojo and Geto over at the lair to discuss planning when you encountered Raphael leaning against the entrance of the lair. You gave him the cold shoulder and was about to go around when he yelled at you, telling you how much you've hurt his family.

Which ended up you telling him the truth, how they all thought you were weak and you didn't bring anything to the team, how depressed you got and the only way to live your life is to move on and away from them. Raph didn't know what came over him as he presses his rough lips against yours, sexually frustrated for a while now, you responded as you wrapped your arms around his neck and his hands placed on your ass lifting you from the ground.

That night you unintentionally slept with Raphael.

The next morning, Mikey found you sneaking out of the hothead's room holding your jeans in your hands as you borrowed his t-shirt. And that day, you had a talk with everyone.

About you.

You all gathered around the dining table eating pizza, their usual meal, Splinter sat at the head of the table as everyone ate silently.

"I believe (Y/n) has something to tell us" Splinter announces.

"About what?" Raph says walking in, he snatches a cup of coffee and drinking it.

"Why I faked my death and came back alive" you stated, glancing at Splinter who gave you a stern nod.

You take a deep breath. "So... you still think I'm weak?"

The turtles froze.

"Here" you said bringing out evidence of the Foot Clan you've been gathering for a month. "Still think I didn't bring enough to the table?"

"Or are we gonna pretend that I've been nothing but an ordinary girl sitting on the couch doing nothing"

The tension thickens as you stood from your stop slamming down your hand. "I fucking sacrificed a lot being your friend, I never took you for granted because I loved you guys and all you did was talk behind my back how I'm worth nothing"

"I didn't say anything..." Mikey frowns.

"No but Raphael did, Donatello oh let's not forget Leonardo. What happened then? The hothead complains so everyone joins in?" You spat.

"And you!" You pointed at Leo. "You were suppose to have my back. You decieved me"

Another silence fills the air.

No one knew how to respond, even Splinter who walked out knowingly this is his son's responsibility. You angrily wipe off the tears gathered in your eyes, you hated feeling weak and for the past two years and a half all you've done is prove to yourself that your tough. You can handle things. And if things got all tough, you'd be find because you know you can surpass it.

"I have another month to go before I leave to go back to Japan" you announced.

"You're leaving?" Mikey said sadly.

"You just arrived. I know we barely talked but is there anything we can do to make it up to you" Donnie begs.

"You know it was just banter" Raph spoke up, his voice gentle, totally different from the night before. "We didn't mean to hurt you badly"

"Banter or not, its not an excuse" Leo said, standing up as he takes you hand. "I'm sorry I didn't stand up for you, I'm sorry that I didn't look for more evidence you supposed killed you. I'm sorry"

You gave him a sad smile, "I... I've been wanting to hear that for the longest time. I'm sorry I caused you the pain. Especially..."

Especially you know you had to save me those five times.

Leonardo wrapped his arms around you, as you hugged him back tightly and willingly. The others joined in, hugging you as tight as possible. From Leo's shoulder, you looked up making eye contact with Raph. You both knew what happened the night before was a fluke and won't be happening again, and you both knew, that secret will end up biting you back on your asses.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Yet another Lou Jitsu's Kids ramble because uhhhhh y'know wut just cuz

I had initially wanted the AU to have absolutely nothing to do with magic or ninjas or anything cool like that. The Foot Clan didn't exist. Draxum wasn't really evil, just grumpy. The boys were not ninjas at all, and in fact they all had like their own things going on! Raph worked as a stunt double, but was generally interested in law enforcement and wanted to go to the police academy when he was old enough. Donnie had pretty much skipped high school and was taking advanced college classes and I think even taught a few coding and computer courses himself, also earning his own money on a sweet side gig for fixing laptops and stuff. Leo was an up-and-coming actor, starring in some tv shows and even a few movies! Mikey took professional ballet and gymnastics and did some work as a dancer in music videos and a few stunts in Lou Jitsu movies with his dad.

I changed my mind about the "no cool ninjas or foot clan stuff". There are definitely ninjas and foot clans. The boys (plus April and Cassandra who works as a double-agent) formed a vigilante group called "The Mad Dogs". They were known as the Blue Ninja, Red Ninja, Orange Ninja, and Purple Ninja. When April joined their fights, she went by Yellow Ninja. They mostly fought against the Foot Clan and sometimes got mixed up with Big Mama, but never actually met her or saw her, so they never knew that their surrogate mom was actually a crime boss. There was this one other mysterious vigilante that they kind of had beef with, and I think he was called "the Splinter Ninja", but nobody knows who that is ooooh what a mystery!

So there was this unimportant plot where the only thing I wrote down was that Leo got shot in the shoulder but that definitely doesn’t matter for later

So a while ago I mentioned this one storyline where Leo got word of a cool festival in the mountains was made to take Mikey with him. On the way there, the two had a fight and Leo wished that Mikey wasn't his little brother. Before either of them could say anything about it, they got run off the road by a truck, knocking Leo out cold and sending Mikey spiraling over the cliff railing. While unconcious, Leo had a dream that Mikey was never in their family and went on a mad search for him or any evidence that he existed. Leo eventually woke up and discovered that Mikey had fallen down the side of the cliff they were driving on and he called 911 and the two were taken to the hospital and Mikey was in a coma for three days and then woke up and he and Leo made amends.

Anyways so immediately after they make up, Mikey tells Leo that he saw the truck that almost killed them both, and it was a delivery truck for the Foot Shack. So the boys realize that they meant to do that, but not only that, they knew they would be on that road at that time. So they try to figure out why and how... Donnie notices Leo keeps scratching at the wound in his shoulder and he checks it out and lo and behold he finds a tiny tracker. He quickly takes it out but realizes that the Foot Clan will be arriving any second to finish the job.

So the Foot Clan start to secretly invade and search the floors of the hospital for the tracker. The boys manage to defeat them all and keep their identities hidden, but one lone foot soldier finds Mikey sleeping in his room and searches through his stuff and finds the orange mask and puts two and two together. Fortunately Cass subdues him before he can do anything, but now they have a problem.

The Mad Dogs take the foot soldier to a secret hideout and interrogate him, but discover quickly that they are at a stalemate. The Foot solider knows who they all are now, and just as bad, he knows that Cass is a double-agent. They can't let him go, but they can't keep him prisoner. With no other choice, they tell their dad about everything they've been doing and the mess that they're in. Which is when SUPRISE SUPRISE, Yoshi Hamato reveals that he was the Splinter Ninja?! WHAT WHO SAW THAT COMING??? And he is a part of the Hamato Clan and that the Foot don't just have gangs in NYC, they're all over the world and the Hamato clans have been sanctioned all over as well! He tells them they can send the foot prisoner to a Hamato group that will know what to do with him. So they contact one of their cousins which I was gonna make 2012 Karai lol because EASTER EGGS AND REFERENCES EHEHE

Anyways I think that's it

[itzzaira]

@tmnt-secret-santa-2024 @bluefeather-tmnt

Hehe hello hello, my dear giftee!<3 Happy holidays, I hope you enjoy your gift and I hope your day turns out wonderful! Have an absolutely amazing day my friend!

"Tomatoes, Doritos, and-... what do you mean slow down?"

"-tomatoes, we're out of tomatoes-!"

"-Dad said he wants a party-sized sweet chili Doritos this time, should we be worried-?"

"I don't see any vegetables on the list-"

"That's boring Leo!"

The oldest cringed, making a face the other three turtles behind him couldn't see. He stood in front of an open fridge, which was currently lacking... everything, really. Ugh. They hadn't gone to the surface for a good while, being on school break and all, they desperately needed to go 'shopping' again.

Thus the current chaos.

"I want gummy bears!"

"And get them stuck in your braces again?" Donnie asked, but still wrote down the request on his list anyway. "Because I'm not helping you this time."

Mikey huffed and crossed his arms.

Leo shook his head.

"...We need mushrooms-" He weakly tried, but was cut off by the youngest once again.

"I am not cooking that."

"You don't have to-"

"You are not setting foot in my kitchen either." A threatening glare was shot his way. Leo awkwardly looked towards the genius for help, and cleared his throat. Should he just give up? Or perhaps go out alone-

"You are not adding another pack of instant coffee." The leader spoke before he could stop himself. Donnie blankly looked up. And blinked.

Leo just placed his hands on his hips with narrowed eyes.

"..." Grumbling, the younger scribbled through the item with a sharpie.

"Dad wants us to get instant ramen!" Raph let his presence be known as he walked inside, still shouting for reasons Leo couldn't understand. "The cheese one!"

"I could just make him a better-tasting one..." Mikey grumbled, crossing his arms. "He doesn't even add the flavoring."

"He's old," Raph patted his head, while looking over his purple brother's shoulder to check the list. "You forgot the Monster Energy."

"You don't even like Monster." Donnie, unimpressed, looked up again slowly. "You just drink it because it has 'Monster' in the name."

"I do not-"

"We're out of eggs?" Leo hesitantly tried again, but was ignored once more. Maybe he should just make his own list? He didn't trust Donnie's anymore.

Oh, but he didn't have the time to start all over again, the delivery trucks would arrive at the stores soon enough. They would need to act fast once those arrived so Leo did not have the time to start with listing everything from scratch.

But Donnie must have added at least half of what he said, right-?

Without asking, he plucked the list from Donnie's hands, ignoring the protests behind him as he turned to the fridge again. He quickly skimmed over the notes, then plucked the pencil out of his hands too.

"Leo!"

"We're not getting more ice cream we have enough of that." Leo scolded, scratching that out. Okay, he couldn't find any milk- which. Mikey... might have banned them from getting milk after-... everything. But Leo wanted cereal so oh well. He added it to the list. What else, what else...

All four of their phones started ringing at once, but Leo, too focused on his task, did not bother to try and pick up his phone. That was, until Raph announced.

"April is calling."

"April?" He turned around so fast with huge eyes, if it had been any of his brothers doing that it would have been funny. His cheeks reddened just the tiniest bit when all three of them looked at him with those stupid grins, and he turned back at once. "I mean. Yeah. Sure. Pick up, I guess." He muttered, trying to appear nonchalant by leaning on the fridge door- only for said door to swing away, causing the turtle to lose his balance and almost fell. He managed to catch himself by holding onto the edge of the fridge for dear life.

Raph snorted while Donnie covered his mouth, shaking his head to the side. "You sure you didn't want April to see that?"

Leo would absolutely not face him.

Mikey giggled while accepting the call, grinning up into the camera when April's face appeared. "Hi April!"

April, seemingly unfazed by how close the camera was to Mikey's face, grinned back and waved. "Heeeey-" she started, clearly awkward, before frowning. "Sorry to- ahm, interrupt? When you didn't call earlier I wanted to see if you dudes are okay!"

Their friend was just so nice!

"Oh, we're fine." Raph huffed before narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms. From the tone I his voice, though, Leo could tell he was smiling. "If Nardo over here would have stopped stressing over our grocery list, we would have been done ages ago!"

Hey now that's not- "It helps that we're prepared." Leo tried- but already could tell no one was listening to him.

"Grocery list?" April asked, sounding confused. She put her phone down on her table, then turned around and opened her wardrobe. "Why would you need that now ready? Store doesn't open until eight."

"Exactly." Donnie shrugged, quickly looking into the notes on his phone. 'We have about... twenty-seven more minutes until the delivery trucks arrive, which would give us an hour to get our groceries-"

"Half an hour?!" That seemed to make Leo snap out of it and panic, closing the fridge at once. "It takes us half an hour to get there- we gotta go!"

"Oh, come on." Raph threw his head back in annoyance. But still, he complied, getting up.

"Sorry April, we gotta go!" Mikey cheerfully waved- but just before he could end the call, April spoke up.

"Why don't you just go during the day tomorrow? Would be a lot easier..."

"Because then humans would see us." Mikey's smile went away to make way for a frown. "Duh."

"But..." April turned around to face them again. "You guys can go out in the open now."

"And?"

...

It took a minute.

April stared at them, unimpressed and just the tiniest bit disappointed at how long it was taking to land- however, after a painfully long minute, Donnie's eyes finally lit up.

"...We can go out into the open." He repeated in awe- Leo was pretty sure that if stars could appear into his eyes, they would have.

"Yeah?"

One beat.

Two beats.

Three.

But then the realization finally settled.

And the remaining three froze.

Right, they,,, they could go into public now. Shell, they went to school. They'd gone to both vets and doctors too. They were allowed to go out into the open.

Stores were part of the open.

"...Yeah, why are we trying to sneak in the middle of the night?!" Raph asked, voice pitching higher as he dramatically sat down again, clearly excited by the idea. "We can go out during the day!"

"Through a door!" Mikey added, actually bouncing up and down in place while his hands flapped in front of him.

"Without trying to force open containers!" Donnie finished, adjusting his glasses-

"Absolutely not." Leo cut through their excited rambling with a serious expression- ignoring the shock and heartbreak on his brother's faces.

"Hey, what-?"

"You don't get to just decide that!" His hotheaded brother claimed, smile completely gone as he glared daggers at him. Leo cleared his throat again.

"As the leader, I can and I just did. Let's go-"

"Leeeooooo." All three complained, getting up when Leo turned his shell towards them all. "You can't just decide for us!" The genius huffed, putting his phone down. Mikey still held onto his with April on the line, who just looked awkward now.

"We wanna go during the day! We can do that, now!"

"Come ooon, you know you wanna go-" having had enough, Raph got up from his seat and quickly stepped forward to glare Leo in the eyes- but stopped when he got a look at his face.

Leo looked... insecure. Worried. He was hugging himself, finger tapping against his arm over and over again in a steady rhythm with his gaze cast down, clearly thinking (probably overthinking) about something.

Raph blinked. "...Leo?"

"It's dangerous." The leader's expression was stoic- oh. Now Raph recognized that look. Fear.

Judging from Raph's expression the youngest two got the hint, getting into Leo's field of vision. Gently smiling, Mikey passed the phone into Donnie's hands so he could hold Leo's. "We've always wanted this, Leo! What's the worst that could happen?"

A lot, judging from Leo's face. Still, he squeezed back. "...Human's can be mean." He weakly tried.

"Then we'll he meaner!"

"No."

"The meanest!'

Raph looked a bit too excited by that idea. Donnie, without looking away, took a step back.

"We can ask April to join?" Donnie suggested, looking at the phone questionably. The human nodded excitedly, balling her fists in front of her face.

"Of course, always! I need to go shopping anyway."

"..." The oldest's gaze traveled to the phone. Next, he looked at each of his siblings, one by one, who looked at him expectedly.

In the end, he sighed in defeat.

"...We're making a plan."

The others immediately cheered.

~~~~~

It always felt weird to just... walk in the open.

Don't get him wrong, they'd done so a handful of times- like every day when they went to school at the crack of dawn, so early no one ever saw them!

But... still. It always felt wrong.

Leo itched for walls. For dark, the familiar dripping sound of water, the smell. Unpleasant, maybe, but what he was used to. The lack of walls and the blinding light always made him feel vulnerable and exposed. Anyone could strike at any given moment (logically, Leo knew no one would but hey, he'd lived with that fear for years) and it was so crowded too.

"Aren't those the turtles?!"

"Ohmigosh ohmigosh, it's them!"

"I love you Raphael!"

At least the attention was positive.

Mikey seemed to thrive with all the happy energy, happily running and spinning around and bouncing from one corner to the next- but then again, the youngest had always been very much a people person. Leo was glad he finally had the attention he'd craved-

"Aren't you the leader?" A sudden voice from behind made the one in blue help and sharply turn around, but relaxed when he saw it was just another human. They appeared to be the same age April was, clearly excited to be talking with him. "You are so cool, dude!"

Okay. Okay. Stay cool, Leo. Someone is excited to see you. Be cool. Respond like a normal person. You got this.

"Ahm... I, uh- thank you-?"

What was that.

"I-I mean!" Leo's smile widened in a way that seemed painful as he perked up, squeezing his hands together to try and get the tension out. "You seem cool too, uhm- dude-?"

Aaaaand that was his cue to stop talking please.

Luckily, Raph seemed to have noticed and took pity on him, abruptly grabbing his older brother by his shoulders and pulling him away. Whatever he shouted to the stranger was lost to him, as the leader was just relieved to shut his mouth. Still, he mouthed a quick thank you, which earned him a squeeze.

"How much longer, Don?" Raph asked without letting go, leaning a bit more over Leo's shoulder to get a look at the genius. Donnie adjusted his glasses again as he narrowed his eyes, pulling his phone screen closer to his face. Hey, they'd never taken a normal route before leave them alone.

"...I think Google Maps is glitching." The genius frowned. "It says we're under water now."

The hothead grumbled. Leo looked worried.

"So we're lost now?"

"I didn't say that."

"Do you know where we are?"

"...." The face Donnie made was enough. Ugh.

At least Mikey seemed to be having a good time.

The youngest flung himself against Donnie without any warning, earning a yelp followed by giggles. Donnie snickered, wrapping his free arm around the other's shell. "Hey, Mikey."

"Everyone is so nice!" Mikey gushed, letting go to be able to bounce on his heels again, starry-eyed. Next, he looked around. "Are we close?"

"Uhm..."

...

Mikey, being the very smart turtle he was, had the best solution ever.

"Heeey ma'am!" He called out to the first person he saw, completely ignoring his brother's bewilderd looks and protests. Donnie froze while Leo immediately freaked out- and Raph laughed. Because of course he did. Leo's misery must he hilarious to him.

...Okay, that's not the correct emotion. Leo was having fun. Nervous, yes, but fun. They were outside! In the sun!! Which felt so so nice on his skin, warming him up in ways he hadn't even known were possible. It made him feel kind of tired already without having even done anything- huh.

Luckily, the poor woman Mikey had chosen seemed to know the way, kindly pointing it out. After thanking her a thousand times, Mikey started running again. "Come on!!!"

"Mikey-!"

"You heard him." Raph, who started pulling Leo with him against his will, followed the one ahead. Donnie, with similar excitement, followed.

"...Does he even know where he's going?"

The clear answer was no, considering Mikey wasn't even looking. Luckily, Donnie had listened too.

-------------

"..."

'So. What do we do?"

"I think we just go inside. And grab stuff."

Turns out, the turtles had walked past the store ten minutes earlier- then walked past it again when chasing the youngest. Donnie had managed to drag them the correct way... but now what?

The four turtles stood in front of the store entrance, looking at it with awe- which was probably weird to anyone else, it was a grocery store- but hey the building looked different during the day, how were they supposed to recognize it?!

"Grab stuff of the isles?" The idea sounded strange, even more so when Leo said it out loud. The leader cringed, then gulped. "Without hiding?"

"Without hiding!" Mikey cheered- but his energy had toned down when the store had come into view, the usually-energetic turtle suddenly growing unsure and quiet. Guess it hadn't actually dawned on him until it was too late.

"And we can take our time, too." Donnie spoke, pocketing his phone finally. "The site says they're open until nine."

"What is the security for?" Raph narrowed his eyes, suddenly untrusting- because why would a supposedly safe place have security? They were never there at night!

"Security-? Okay, that's it we're going home-"

"That's normal!" The one in orange grabbed Leo's arm before he could run away. "Stop looking for excuses, we got this!"

"Do we?" The genius deadpanned, looking at the oldest two with disappointment. Leo's nerves seemed to have infected the sais-wielder too, arms stiff and hands itching at his sides, gaze focused on the security-personal. "Raph, that's normal."

"I'm gonna call April!" Mikey happily ignored them once again, stepping away to be able to talk with their friend.

"..." Donnie sighed, stepping in front of Raph's field of vision so he couldn't look at the entrance anymore. "Raph, please- Leo's already freaking out I can't have you freaking out too."

...Oh Donnie sounded a bit unsure now too. Oh no.

"I'm calm." He very much wasn't, but his brothers didn't need to know that. Leo managed to smile one of his awkward smiles- he even met the genius' eyes. "I'm just... nervous. I'll be fine."

His younger brother smiled back, a small twinkle in his eyes making Leo's heart warm- he knew Donnie was just as excited as Mikey was, he was just a lot calmer about it. A gentle tidal wave compared to the youngest's bright light.

If Mikey was a bright light, Raph was a raging flame- the hothead was a bit too quiet. Leo tapped his shoulder to snap him out of it. "Raph?"

"Can we go inside already?" Raph complained, as if he hadn't been frozen solid earlier- huh. "The sun is getting annoying."

"Just waiting on Mikey and April-"

"I found her!!"

...speak of the devil.

The three turned around- Leo could feel himself relax at the sight of their human friend, because at least she should know what they were doing. She'd also been there the first day of school- April knew a lot. So hopefully they wouldn't look like total fools in there!

"Mikey said you were all panicking?" April didn't bother to greet them- she just sounded amused, her voice having a teasing tone to it. Leo looked away at once, cheeks heating up as Donnie answered for them, unbothered.

"Nardo was."

"Leon."

"When isn't he panicking?" Raph snickered, nudging his shoulder- but the leader wasn't having it. Without any amusement, he just looked down with a deadpan expression-

"You were eyeing the security guards a second ago."

"I have no idea what you're talking about-"

"Can we go already?" Mikey whined, using April as a weight to hold him up as he threw himself back, standing on his heels. "We could have been inside already!"

"There's air-conditioning in there?" The human patted his hands. Mikey's eyes lit up.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!!"

"Mikey-!"

April was laughing as the youngest pulled her along, quickly turning her head towards the other three. "Well? Come on!"

...

Come on. You got this.

Leo braced himself by taking a deep breath in and out- before he squeezed his eyes shut tightly, bit his lip- okay, okay... one... two-

Raph grabbed his hands again, dragging the leader with him before the oldest could finish his count. Leo protested- but quickly shut up when he saw the look on Raph's face.

Excited, but clearly trying to hide it with a stoic expression. The was he cut off the blood circulation in Leo's wrist told him he was also nervous.

"..." He sighed, and shook his head.

Finally, they stepped inside.

--------------------------------

To anyone else, a store was just... a store. Somewhere that was available almost all the time, that there were different kinds off, that anyone could enter and everyone would mind their own business. Stores were everywhere, no matter the kind.

To the four turtles, stores were a luxury.

Going outside was a luxury.

Heck, it sometimes still felt wrong whenever they just- stepped outside. In the open. Under the sun. Without hiding.

And now they got to enter a store?

The four stood frozen for a moment, taking in their surroundings. They'd been here plenty of times, but... never during the day. Never without hiding. Never without being on their guard, ready to fight, to blend with the shadows, to-

You got it.

April gave them a minute to process, shooing away anyone else who tried to get near for a picture or autograph or what not. Hm. Leo had forgotten about that. Then again, he also forgot stores weren't usually empty. Ugh. Now his plan to split for effectiveness was useless, there was no way he would let them-

"The fairylights are so pretty!!" Mikey squealed, clasping his hands together. He was the first to snap out of their trance, excitement seemingly having doubled ten-fold. April laughed, then patted his shell.

"Yeah, they are. I think they put them up yesterday for the holidays."

"Can we get fairylights?" The youngest turned to the oldest with those puppy eyes he was so famous for- and Leo, unfortunately, was weak to. Oh well. He wasn't asking for anything bad sooo....

"Sure we can."

Mikey cheered, grabbed April's hand- "Let's go!" Ignored any protest as he dragged her along this time. What was it with everyone getting dragged today?

"Hey, wait up!" Raph laughed, running after them- only to almost immediately run into a little girl he had completely missed. Quickly apologizing, he ran off.

Leo blinked, before groaning. "Are you going to run off too?" He asked, both amused as well as annoyed. He might as well not have planned, nothing was happening as it should!

...Instead, he was surprised when his little brother took hold of his arm, and gently pushed his cheek against Leo's shoulder. That... was troubling. "Donnie?"

"There's more people than I thought..." The genius mumbled, his eyes darting across the space before focusing on his feet again. "It's weird."

Well. That was something Leo could definitely agree with. Without looking away from the crowd, he rested a gentle hand on top of the one clutching his bicep.

Those were... a lot of eyes. It felt more suffocating than usual, but Leo blamed that on the walls. Walls.

His eyes twinkled, a childish grin starting to grow on his face. "We're in a store."

"I'm aware." Donnie whispered back, looking up with those big eyes of his. At seeing Leo's face, he couldn't help but respond with a soft smile. "I thought you didn't want to go to a store Leo?"

"Hush." Let him enjoy this before the nerves took over again, Donnie.

Thankfully, no teasing followed- and in a moment of bravery, Leo gently pulled the younger forward. "I think those are the vegetables.... should we start there?"

Ew.

At the face Donnie made, Leo huffed, rolled his eyes, and pulled him forward. "We need it."

If anyone should know, it would be Donnie. At least. Leo thought it would be Donnie. He was proven correct when the one in purple followed him without argument.

Okay, follow your list Leo... he could see all the other greens they were missing at home, but his mind wouldn’t let him grab any of those until he found the tomatoes- which had been the top. So... where are they.... hm...

While the leader was looking around, the younger noticed the mist sprinklers that hung all over the vegetables. He blinked- had those always been there? He never noticed them when 'shopping'. But then again, it was always dark and he never let his feet touch the ground- so maybe he didn't notice before?

The genius held a hand forward- and squealed when the mist hit his fingertips. Leo giggled, covering his mouth with a hand. "Don?"

"I never saw these during the night!" Donnie flopped out without thinking- squeaking and turning red when that sentence made multiple eyes turn on him. He covered his mouth while lowering his head. "I mean. Uhm. Online. When. Uhm..."

...

Leo laughed sympathetically when Donnie buried his head into his shoulder again. He wrapped one arm around the turtle, letting a hand pat his shell- when he spotted a smidge of red from the corner of his eye.

Tomatoes! Finally!

...

Why were they next to the apples-?

-------------------------------

Mikey was ecstatic.

And that might be an understatement.

Hey, to anyone else it might be boring, nerve-wracking or frustrating, but Mikey was born to he social. He was born to entertain, to create, to talk, talk, talk. And his family, who all existed out of introverts, obviously got sick it after a while.

Even little Mikey, who'd always yearned for the outside world. Don't get him wrong, they all did- but he was pretty sure Leo could also do without, Donnie was content with his online friends and Raph was-... Raph. And although he saw the way his older brother's became happier when they started school- none had been as excited as Michelangelo had been.

They got to be normal.

How cool was that?!

"Oof!" The youngest snapped out of his daydream when Raphael pushed the cart he was sitting in against a wall, jostling the turtle in the process. They'd both completely forgotten about store carts, Mikey had always wanted to sit in one! And although Raph had been clearly happy to push the cart while running in the isles, April had warned them against it- apparently they couldn't run? They had to be slow?

It felt weird. Against his nature. New.

"Earth to Mikey." Raph flicked the back of his head, smirking when the youngest responded with an offended "hey!" He turned back to look for April- had they lost her again? He hadn't even run that much this time! Ugh. "Do you see April?"

"Wasn't she going to grab bread?" Mikey leaned over the cart, letting his arms dangle over the edge. After a bit of thought, he added. "...We also need bread."

"Than that's where we're going." Raph declared, full of confidence-

...

Where is the bread isle?

...

Where were they actually-?

A quick look around- fish, chicken- cheese? That... was an odd combination. "Uhm... where is the bread isle?"

"Didn't April call it the bakery?" Mikey sat straighter, squinting his eyes to try and see- but nope. "Uhm... maybe we can just stay here? I think we needed cheese anyway."

"Cheese it is!" Mikey squealed when Raph started running, grinning like a maniac and ignoring any odd looks send their way. Mikey almost fell backward in the cart, but managed to grab onto the edges.

"Raph! Slow down!" He laughed- he actually didn't want the older to slow down, but April said they couldn't, sooo-

Raph, to his credit, did no such thing. He kept running, missing the cheese section by a mile- which is how they'd ended up finding the bakery on accident.

The sais-wielder dug with his heels into the floor to stop, panting from the adrenaline- the snickers let Mikey know he didn't have to worry. Instead, he propped himself up on his knees and pushed himself up by leaning his full weight into his hands- aaaaaand almost fell over. Yay!

Raphael held onto the cart before he could topple over, actually laughing this time at the face the younger made. Michelangelo huffed, looked away- his annoyance evaporating as soon as he spotted their human friend. "There she is! April!!!"

The human yelped, and dropped the loaf of bread she had just been grabbing.

...Whoops.

...

Oh well.

"Hey April!" Raph pushed slower this time, gently making the cart bump against April's side. She shot him an unimpressed look and raised an eyebrow- but failed to keep a straight face, and cracked a smile.

"I thought I told you two to wait?"

"You did?"

She sighed, and shook her head. When April bent down to grab the item she dropped, Mikey quickly reached over her to grab a loaf too. Happily putting it next to him in the cart.

"What are those?" Meanwhile, Raph's attention had been taken by the oven. April hummed.

"The bakery. That's where they put the fresh croissaints and stuff." She stopped before she could say anythint else in favor of grabbing her phone, looking pleased when seeing the time. "Want some? They should be warm still."

"Can we get some for Lee and Dee too?" Mikey was already reaching for them, but April gently shooed his hand away. Instead, she grabbed a plastic bag from a rack as well as a... fork-thing? That was attached to the compartment the bakers put the baked goods in.

"Sure." She shrugged, putting five in the bag. After a bit of thought, she added. "They have a chocolate version if you want that instead?"

Obviously, Mikey had been about to say yes. But then Raph pushed him down to sit and shook his head.

While the youngest was grumbling April dropped the bag into the cart, the plastic radiating a pleasant heat onto Mikey's knee. So they were warm! That made him feel strangely happy, for whatever reason.

"That actually reminds me..." Aprjl started, grabbing the end of the cart to drag them bot along, back to the cheese. "How are you guys going to pay for everything?"

"With money? Duh."

"...You have money?"

"You thought we were poor?"

April panicked at the offended looks the two gave- but froze when the two snickered. Mikey was the first to break, unable to hold onto the serious expression for long.

"Tiktok."

"...Tiktok?"

"Tiktok." Raph confirmed, quickly pulling up the app- wow those were a lot of followers. "Apparently humans pay to see us?"

"Isn't that cool!?"

"...That just sounds like a zoo."

"I'm going to ignore you just said that."

-------------------------------

Vegetables done, got dad's ramen, so that left... sweets!

Leo was happily humming to himself while browsing- he loved how organized everything was here! It was always so messy and chaotic during the night- it was nice to be able to take his time.

"Leo." A tap on his shoulder made him turn around, squinting his eyes when a camera flashed. The turtle blinked, trying to get rid of the stars. Donnie paid him no mind, focused on his phone again.

"Dad wanted a picture."

"I know you know how to turn the flash off, Tello."

An innocent grin was the only response he got. After sending the image, Donnie focused on his older brother again. "So... now what?"

"If Mikey and Raph got what I told them to... sweets is all that's left." Leo hummed, looking around. Sweets would be close to the sodas, right? It made sense in his mind, both were sugar-based items. And he saw a sign that said soda was the very last isle... so sweets should be near. "Follow me." He said, focused on the board. The basket the two had found on the floor had a broken wheel, but that didn't stop Leo from dragging it around. "I know Dad wanted Doritos... do you want anything?"

"Gum?" Donnie wondered out- more a question than a true statement. He wasn't sure if the gum would be there, but it made sense. Maybe he would crave something when he saw the options, who know-

He stopped.

As someone who's favorite color was purple, as soon as Donnie saw purple, he just had to look at it. That's just how it worked. Not his fault it was absolutely the best color ever and dominated everything else.

What he'd spotted seemed to be a stand. It stood out of place, right between two isles, lonely and its items fitting neither of the categories of food that the other isles presented. Donnie held the edge of his glasses to gently lift them.

Stepping forward revealed that perhaps it didn't fit because the stand didn't hold food at all. Instead, it held-

Donnie's eyes widened with awe, mouth forming a little 'o' when his mind finally processed all the space-themed items presented to him. Plastic astronaut figures, cheap glow-in-the-dark star stickers, was that a planet squishy-?

The genius was walking forward before even being aware of it, grabbing the first thing he saw slowly- a small star-plush.

He knew some stores ended up selling some small toys, especially around the holidays- but space?!

"Donnie?" He snapped out of it at the sound of his name, immediately hiding the little plush behind him in an attempt to make it look like he hadn't been looking at a toy- but much to his horror, when he squeezed, a horrible peep sound seemed to echo throughout the entire section.

"I wasn't looking at toys." He said too quickly, cringing at himself- seriously? Ugh. Well, at least it was Leo who saw him- the oldest wouldn’t be too mean about it. Probably. Hopefully.

But to his surprise... Leo's confusion soon turned into amazement when he saw the pictures decorating the stand.

"Space?" He breathed, a smile growing on his face. Donnie was surprised... but pleasantly so. Allowing himself to relax as he nodded.

Relaxing made him release the pressure in his hands, fingers brushing against the pleasant-feeling fabric of the toy in his hands. Donnie looked down at it, letting his thumb brush over the fabric again. It felt... really nice actually.

"...Can I... uhm." He looked away, suddenly shy- and held up the star. Leo's expression softened as he nodded, bushing the basket forward so Donnie could put it in. His little brother quickly smiled again, albeit softer than before as he bent down.

The stand had many cool things actually- the glow-in-the-dark stars caught Leo's eye. Without thinking about it, he reached for them. "Wouldn't these look cool in your tent?" He asked, throwing them into his basket without waiting for an answer.

"..." His little brother only responded by taking a hold of his arm today. Good.

Smiling, they started walking again- pleased when seeing that yes, the sweets were very close to the sodas. He thought right!

Small victories.

So first was Doritos... which. Although Leo found them quickly... they were way too high for him to reach. He cringed. There was no way he was climbing the isle, the shelf seemed unstable. So that left-

Asking someone.

Uh oh.

His body went rigid, nervous all over again- oh well. Living without his constant paranoia had been nice while it lasted. Now what? Did he just. Ask someone?

No, no, that's what workers are for. You ask someone. Who works.

But there was no one who works, so how else could he ask?

"I could get on your shoulders?" Donnie offered once he saw the problem, but the oldest shook his head.

"Leo!! Donnie!!!" A flash of green, orange and red zipped right past them- coming to a halt not even a second later, further away. Raph was struggling to catch his breath while Mikey grinned, sitting in the middle of a... cart? Where did they even get that? Surrounded by groceries.

So they'd gotten what Leo asked. Good.

"We found a cart!"

"I told you two to-" They heard April gasp from further away, her head poking out when she leaned forward to catch her breath. "-to stop running!"

"But it's fun!" The hothead wheezed, managing to wink. That... was odd. Running around with a cart shouldn't tire him out that much.

Immediately worried, Leo reached out to touch his forehead. If anything, Raph felt cold. But why- ooohhh.

His eyes fell on the air conditioning in the ceiling. Then, he touched his own forehead.

Ah.

Nevermind, Leo could keep his worry to himself for just a bit longer.

He didn't notice that while he was busy fretting over Raph, Mikey had gotten out of the cart to help their genius brother. So, when he finally zoned back into the present-

"Oh my shell."

He flopped out before he could stop it.

Much to his dismay, the youngest had climbed on top of Donnie's shoulders instead- which. Really? Couldn't they at least have gone with Raph? Donnie was too skinny for such things, Raph at least had the bulk to stay stable-

"We got this!" Mikey cheered, moving around way too much for Leo's liking. Donnie looked unstable, as if he could fall over any minute. The only reason he hadn't yet was because the one in orange was now holding onto the edge of the isle. "Which one again."

"Sweet Chili this time."

"Be careful!"

Leo's warning was ignored when Mikey pushed himself forward as much as possible- cheering and letting go when he managed to grab a bag that was far in the back.

Unfortunately, this action finally caused Donatello to lose his balance. He tried to stay upright, taking multiple steps back and doing his best to not fall- but in the end, he ended up falling backwards anyway.

Leo lunged for Mikey before he could even think.

The three yelled, ending up as a tangle of limbs on the floor with Leo at the bottom, Mikey in the middle and Donnie on the top. The three groaned, unmoving for a moment.

"Ohmigosh-" April gasped, running over to help Donnie up first. "Why- I could have found a worker!" She scolded- but really, you would need to be deaf to miss the worry in her voice.

"What are you staring at?!" That was undoubtedly Raph shooing someone away, which Leo was greatful for. The oldest was too stunned to move for a moment... until Mikey finally broke the silence.

"The chips are still in one piece?"

Leo made no comment as he rolled his eyes, sat up, and gently tried to get the youngest off. "No one hurt?"

"Nope!"

"Me neither." Donnie confirmed. Pleased, Leo got up properly.

Mikey very delicately put the chips in his and Raph's probably stolen cart, then immediately reached out for some chocolate chip cookies. "Was that everything?"

"I think so." Leo mentally listed up everything they needed. "Did you get the cheese and-"

"Everything is in there." Raph pointed at their cart. After a moment, he made up his mind. "I want soda."

"That's the next aisle- right?" He quickly turned to April to confirm, who nodded. "I could show you?"

"Great!" Oh- aand he was being dragged again. Great. Wonderful. Why did he keep being dragged? "I can walk on my own, you know."

"I rather you not freeze seven more times, Fearless." Raph pushed himself against the older one, snickering when he was shoved away. Thankfully, finding Raph's favorite drink didn't take as long as everything else had- they managed to return quickly to the three left behind.

The cart was much fuller than it had been before they left- piled to the brim with all kinds of chips, chocolate, cookies and sweets. Raising an eyebrow, Leo just looked at the two youngest. The duo attempted to look innocent- and failed so badly even Leo could tell what they were actually feeling.

...Oh what the heck. He sighed again. "Do you need anything else, April?"

"I only needed the bread." The human's eyes seemed to be glued to the cart, clearly waiting for Leo to say something- but when he didn't, she seemed to let it go. "Would you guys rather self-checkout or-"

"Yes please." Leo answered before she could offer the other. Don't get him wrong, he was having fun, but his social battery was done.

"Then we go left." This time, it was Mikey who took a hold of the cart before Raph could, giggling as he ran forward with it. Donnie snapped a picture when Mikey looked away, snickering.

"Do you guys have any bags with you?" April asked. Raph nodded, pulling out one from his pouch. A plastic one, much to her dismay.

"...That's going to rip- Mikey slow down!"

"But it's fun!" Still, the turtle stopped running, waiting for his family to catch up. "It's all fun."

It had been fun, Leo had to agree. Even the checkout, where he got to scan every item one by one while the others bagged everything. Sure, they got some odd looks, and yeah, Leo panicked when he couldn't shove the paper money into the machine- but all good!

Today had been good.

"Mikey- the croissants."

"Oh! Right!" Ths turtle perked up, quickly digging through his bag to find the packaging.

They all ended up carrying one bag each- it would have been double the amount if Raph hadn't shoved everything with force. The vegetables and fruits were probably crushed now- but that wasn't Leo's problem.

A now-flat croissant was handed to him- and although Leo could tell that wasn't how it was supposed to look, he smiled, thanked his brother, and took a bite.

He could deal with getting lost, making grocery lists and shopping- happily, even. He was not dealing with the sticky fingers he was sure to get from the crushed oranges.n

[misteria247]

How many times?

How many times until he and his brothers could finally rest?

He remembered things. Things that shouldn't be remembered. Memories that drift in and out of consciousness. Memories of a home that was familiar yet unfamiliar in so many ways. Memories of a father who was kind yet stern, of three older brothers who loved him dearly. Memories of a woman who was full of life and a man who was full of spirit.

Faces, faces that always changed each and every time. Vastly different from before, yet beneath them the same people he loved remained within. He remembered moments, moments that he never experienced personally himself, yet he knew them all too well. Moments that ranged from events to even he and his family's deaths.

A new life, a new beginning. A new face that stares at him in the mirror every day. A new gruesome ending for him and his family. He doesn't know how, but he can recall each life. Can recall them, both the good and the bad. Recall the lives, such as the first where he was carefree and with a deeper voice. In one life he was a champion of a battle royale, in another he was an entertainer for children. In one life he was small and covered in freckles, in another he was huge and wore strange clothing. There was one life where he was alone, dressed in black and old and bitter.

So many lives, so many memories. And he was the only one who recalled them. The only one who remembered any of it. No one else knew the things he knew, didn't understand what he was trying to say.

His current life he was once again small, covered in paints and spots. He had a gap in his teeth, and he was an entirely different turtle species. A box shell turtle in this life. The eyes, that in most of his past lives were blue, were now a light brown. He had mystic abilities, such as in the life when he'd been the nexus champion. Yet despite the vast difference in his appearance, despite the changes in each and every lifetime. There was a few things that were constant.

His family and his name.

And his name, the one that he's held for several lifetimes and in several deaths was-

"Earth to Michelangelo!"

Mikey blinked at the hand waving in front of his face. A bit startled by how close it was. Light brown hues locked onto dark brown ones. Donnie was giving him a small concerned look, his mouth pulled tightly into a thin line. Not too far behind him, Leo and Raph were watching them, concerned gazes of their own showing. The box shell mentally shook himself out of his head and gave his three older brothers a convincing smile.

"Sorry Dee, zoned out there for a minute! I'm with you guys again don't worry!"

The youngest chirped gap tooth peeking out in his smile. The soft shell gave him a searching look before finally nodding and continuing on with what he was saying before. Mikey listened, just as Leo and Raph did too. As his brothers got lost once again in the conversation, the youngest turtle looked at each brother. Flashes of the lives before with them playing in his head. Flashes of their deaths playing shortly after.

'I can't let them know. I can't tell them the things that I know. Because I'm not even sure if what I see is real or not.'

The teen thought, though deep down he knew down to his very bones that these memories were real. He didn't know how they were, but he knew that they happened.

For decades he's lived and died. For decades he's watched his brothers die.

And they never remembered it. Every new cycle they had a clean slate.

But not him.

How long?

How long does he have to endure this? This cycle of starting new, innocent and unknowing, only to have the memories come back eventually.

How long before he completely went insane?

He didn't know.

All he knew was that he was the only one who was given this knowledge, these memories that should have been locked away a long time ago. He had no idea if it was a blessing or a curse but he did know this.

He didn't want to do this anymore.

[tyo-mimt]

5/36. @tmnt-event-blog

Time is often better spent on compromise than arguing.

(a/n: tumblr. i need more colours. this was already a hard enough prompt to write /lighthearted)

It's rare to see every single member of the Hamato Clan present and accounted for under the same lair. While the turtles and Splinter were always there, April had less time to visit, Sunita's visits relied heavily on April's presence, the Caseys were always off doing something in New York, and Draxum only ever visited whenever disaster struck or if he didn't have that tri-monthly lunch ladies' assemblage.

So naturally, it was difficult for everyone to be there for one big gathering.

But on the off chance that everyone could make it, it's only natual everyone would want to capitalise on it. April and Sunita brought the pizza (lots of it), the Caseys brought drinks (even more of it), and Draxum brought seating (who knew man-sized plants could make for such comfortable chairs? Learn something new every day). What could go wrong?

Well, maybe the fifteen minutes they had spent arguing about the same topic: which movie to watch.

"We've been over this, Jupiter Jim Sails The Seven Galaxies makes Mikey and Leo fight!" Sunita sighed.

"We'll promise to fight extra quiet for the ending," Mikey argued.

"Yeah! And at least we won't have Raph die of boredom and break another table via Jupiter Jim's Pluto Vacation IV!" Leo was quick to add.

"But it's a musical! It's the only worthwhile thing about the movie!" Draxum emphasised.

"I refuse to spend three hours watching the funny space man look for ice!" Cassandra asserted, squeezing the life out of her red cup.

"How about a Lou Jitsu movie instead?" Splinter brought up.

"Pops, don't take this the wrong way, but everyone and their mothers has seen every Lou Jitsu movie at least twice," Donnie deadpanned.

"Even already CJ's seen Punch Chowder three times! And those two times were in the apocalypse!" Raph mentioned.

"Then three times simply isn't enough!"

The entire room burst into a chorus of disagreement; the order they all once established was now chaos as the line-up of movies remained as limited as they always did.

Casey could understand; time's precious, and there wasn't always enough of it.

Back in the other timeline, disputes like this would've been resolved through compromise... The movie displayed was always determined by luck of the draw. Easy when their selections were always limited. Those movie screenings weren't mandatory, but Casey did attend every one... It was more time spent with loved ones, and he knew better than to let this argument drag on any longer.

He cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention. "How much time do you all have to fight over this?"

"I have tomorrow off," April answered.

"We're both free all the time," Cassandra added.

"It's a weekend, everyone's probably free tomorrow," Sunita said.

Casey sighed, exhaling in relief; they just gave him the answer, "Well, we have two movies we want to watch, and we all don't have somewhere to be tomorrow, so how about we watch both of them?"

Agreements rang through the air. As the tension in the air mellowed down from the prior polarising argument, everyone assumed their positions. The turtles took up a bulk of the floor in a pile, stacked onto each other.

The first movie started; Splinter was the first to inch towards the turtles, taking a seat on one side of Raph's shell. Then April and Sunita clambered onto the other side, claiming the spot as their own. Draxum even pulled a beanbag over to sit closer to the crowd. The second movie rolled in, and the pile turned upside down. Raph had gathered everyone sitting there into a sitting embrace; Cassandra grabbed Casey and pulled him over to join them all. Casey found himself nestled next to his mom-turned-sister and Raph's arm as he watched the movie play on.

But in the end, plagued with the drowsiness from too much pizza and the night creeping in, no one got to see the ending of Jupiter Jim Sails The Seven Galaxies.

[riseleon]

For the writing game- number 25 with Mikey and Donnie

Dialog prompt 25: “you scared us all back there. I… including me”

Darkness, Mikey couldn't tell where or when he was as he opened yet another portal, he needed to save him, he needed to help leo he was just the baby brother but this! This was what he could do!

The cracks on his arms grew jagged as he so desperately tried to open another portal. He was too weak, he knew he was too weak, they had told him to stop but he wouldn't give up!

He wouldn't give up! He couldn't give up, but he was so tired.. so very tired, he couldn't stop now! Not now! Not when he was so close! Tears poured down his eyes as he collapsed to the ground, clinging onto the only piece left of him, left of leo.. Then the door opened.

Three days, three days after Donnie found him in that mess. Donnie had been absent for those three long days. The clutches of life dwindled around Mikey, taunting him. Struggling to get up, he slowly made his way back to Leo's room, watching the empty space. He wanted to get Leo back, he so wanted to, bit what would they think if he tried again..

He couldn't sit idly for so long, managing to stand up straight, he focused on his last remaining strength to open the portal, multiple slow agonizing seconds when by, before, yes, was this true, was this leo!

Then, everything went black.

Spinning, the whole world was spinning, what was going on? Where was he. He could hear crying, someone was clinging to him, slowly opening his eyes, he was met with donnie.. He.. was crying?

“Donnie..?” He manged to say, trying to sit up.

Donnie looked back at him, getting up before hugging Mikey close.

“You scared us all back there! I… even me..” Donnie choked out, letting go of mikey, tears pooling to the ground.

“I-I saw leo…” Mikey could only respond before Donnie shushed him.

“I know.. I know, I saw him too.”

He felt the trickle of tears down his face as he clung to his plastron, “H-hes gone..”

Donnie looked away from mikey, nodding.

“I know.. I know…”

Sorry it didn't have a lot of Donnie in it!

[3mutantsinatrenchcoat]

It takes a village to raise a family part 5

Part 4 , part 6

IM COMING TO GET YOU @angelpuns

Rural au made by the LOVELY lovely angel puns above-

I broke your heart once I'll do IT AGAIN WATCH ME-

Shrieking filled the air, the ground rumbled with the force of a thousand feet. A monsterous beast rose above the mountains and-

"AAHAHA!" Little Leo took off running as I chased him, Mikey screams as Leo tries to use him as a human shield.

"I'm going to eat ya!! Raaa!!!" I stomped towards them, hands held in the sky like a ferocious beast. Raph gets in front of them, legs shaking but a face of determination.

"you dare challenge the DESTRUCTOR-"

"no- no! Wrong name!" Mikey squeaks, cheeks puffed.

"oh uh-" I drop my arms trying to figure out the right name.

"you are da uh...da uh..." He looks around, spotting a few things.

"uh...wood-...grass...cloud-...Donnie!!" He lights up "the wood grass cloud Donnie!!"

Donnie from the porch screech's a little, wrapped in a blanket on a chair, dropping his book. "Why me!?"

"because you didn't share!" Mikey sticks his tongue out before shrieking as I ran towards them, the three kids taking off around the yard much faster than I can even walk.

I laugh evilly and roar out as best as my old voice could speak. "I'm coming to get you!! I am the terrible wood grass cloud Donnie and I shall have my revenge!!"

There were few days I had like this, the stall prices have gotten higher, so has everything. I hate being couped up in the house all day, sure I have my husband but lately he has been at work more and more.

------

"darlin," he told me, face turned to the window, wrapping cloth around his hands. "I'll be busier now, but do not worry, I don't need you to stress"

I looked up from my tea, setting the cup down as I turned to look at him "..may I ask why..?"

"...it doesn't concern you but, I've been asked to patrol the outside of the village" he looks over. "It will make double the money, it will be sent to you ever 10 days." He turned towards me, while he gave me a smile with not a single bit of worry..he is my husband. I could see the fear in his eyes, the way his ears went flat against his head.

"...promise me, you are not going to be in danger?" I turned towards him, letting his hands rest on either side of my face.

"you won't have to work another day my dear, if it means you will not stress.." he smiles, but he dodged my question...

----

It had been several weeks since that conversation, to keep my mind busy I've spent more time with the Turtle boys than at my own home. It was rare my husband would come back home, letters about animals and people he has met, about people he calls his brothers..."uhhh...Mr Flint?" Leo was about 2 feet in front of me, Mikey and Raph slowly approaching from both sides. The worry on their faces, they didn't understand.

I smiled at them, putting on a big smile "it's okay, don't worry, I was uh... trying to figure out how to be uh... scary?"

They didn't believe it.

"you are a terrible liar, Flint" Splinter approached us from the village, carrying a few paper wrapped items.

The kids shouted and gathered around him, smiling and giggling. I couldn't help but smile at them, taking a step forward before I saw the look on his face. It sent a rotted pit into the bottom of my stomach.

It was the face of a man who had more on his mind, like when he would space out...like when he was listening to his thoughts that were only talking for him. Taunting him.

Something... something is very wrong.

[zuzzebat12]

The Replica AU

(This is a PLATONIC AU and story! Do not ship or make something inappropriate out of this AU or any of my work. Enjoy!)

(I know it's a rather plain name, lol- but I'm still working on it!)

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ Part one? ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

A couple months after the Krang battle..

The musk turtle was inside her containment unit, she was a baby turtle, yet was a bit too small... only about two to three inches tall.

She shivered, it was cold inside.. She knew how to walk and run pretty quickly by the scientists that mutated her.

She was supposed to be the replica of the same turtles that saved the world. Everyone was grateful for their help, but the scientists wanted a replica or at least something alike the mutants that saved the world, and all to themselves too.

So after many failed experiments, they finally successfully mutated a female musk turtle.

A female musk turtle in fact, but WAY smaller than normal. The scientists decided to leave it at that, happy that they finally had a mutant turtle of their own.

They'd do anything to get her to be at the level of the teenage mutants, but they didn't even realize one thing..

The musk turtle mutant was just a child. She had her limits, and they pushed it.

The musk turtle would sometimes fall asleep during those harsh trainings, and it took a long time to just wake her up.

She'd sometimes even hide in her shell, or scratch and bite at the scientists, but it was all because she was scared.

She didn't really know her purpose, and she was so young that she couldn't even speak or talk yet.

One day, the tiny musk turtle was playing with one of her toys before a loud and huge explosion came and the scientists ran, leaving her behind.

"Run!" one of the scientists yelled.

"What about the mutant?" another one asked.

"We can't think about that thing now! We can send someone to check later!" a scientist hollered.

The mutant heard it all, she hid in her shell as the rubble came down.

"Owww..." Leo groaned, he looked around.

"Uhhh.. guys..?" he called back to his brothers.

"We're good, just some bumps and bruises!" Donnie assured, "And- Wait.. Holy french toast.. where are we? Is this a lab?" he asked.

They all looked around, taking it all in before hearing a chirp.

They all looked down, before seeing a black shell, it seemed scratched up due to the debris, but it was okay.

"Is that a shell?" Mikey asked, he got up. Kneeling down, he poked it gently, making the shell shake and a screech-like chirp came from it. "Oops.. sorry about that.." Mikey apologized.

Donnie picked up the shell gently, "Hmm.. one thing for sure is that this is a musk turtle.. somehow became a mutant.. I wonder.." he pondered before hearing a another chirp.

The tiny turtle finally stuck all her limbs and head out the shell, looking up at him. She gasped, looking around, seeing other mutant turtles. But she didn't know they were a threat or an ally of some sorts.

The brothers scooted around eachother, looking at the miniature musk turtle in Donnie's hands.

"Never thought I'd see another mutant before.. especially one that's so small." Donnie said. "What should we do?" he questioned the others

The musk turtle curled up, trying to seek warmth.

"Let's get back to the lair, we'll figure something out there. They're freezing out here." Raph instructed.

-- Back at the lair.. --

The turtle was laid down on a beanbag chair, piles of blankets were put on her as the other mutants tried figuring out what to do.

"Based on appearance, the smaller mutant seems to be a female." Donnie said.

"But what I'm trying to figure out is how and why she was there in the first place!" Leo added, he crossed his arms over his chest, letting out a sigh.

"I've never seen another mutant turtle before, and she seems so young.. definitely younger than all of us." Mikey followed, he turned to look at her. "She seemed all alone as well.. she even had scratches on her shell."

Raph was the most concerned, yet determined and confident. "She'll be fine, and we'll protect her no matter what! That's what we do."

They all smiled and agreed, though the lingering concern for the baby turtle seemed all too much.

ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩͙‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩͙‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‘⸊ˎ

When the musk turtle woke up, she squirmed a bit to get out of the blankets, she slipped and began to fall, luckily Leo was close by.

He caught her in his hands, and almost had a heart attack seeing her fall down like that.

The tiny mutant squeaked in surprise, she looked down at his hands and raised up hers in front of her face.

Leo was confused on what she was doing until he realized and smiled. "Yeah, we have the same hands. Pretty cool, huh lil' buddy?" he chuckled.

The musk turtle giggled, raising one of her hands towards him.

Leo's smile got wider, as he gently shifted her into one of his handd, using his free hand and lifting it up, palm facing her as he let her put her palm of his.

The little mutant did so, making it feel so odd but adorable at the same time. His hand was much bigger than hers, but it felt like a perfect fit.

The smaller mutant gasped, smiling as well.

━━━━━━༺༻ ━━━━━━

"Y'all are telling me that you found a new mutant turtle that's also a girl? Right after you somehow flew into a lab or facility while fighting some goons?" April asked.

She came over when they called a couple minutes ago.

"Yep, here she is.. she's a bit shy though." Raph chuckled softly.

The little musk turtle mutant sat in Raph's hands, she looked up at April, slowly entering her shell as she did so.

"Hey.. it's okay! You don't have to be scared of me! I'm a friend. If you're a friend to them, you're a friend to me!" April reassured, she grinned as she did so.

The mutant came out her shell, she chirped, tilting her head.

April smiled at her, seeming friendly enough to the little mutant. "There ya go! See? Nothing to be scared of."

The little musk turtle smiled back, happy to find a new family.

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

End of Part One.

Probably will make a part two soon if this gets attention or something- lol.

Anyway, if there's any questions to be asked about this AU, please ask. The ask box is open, and I'd love if anyone would like to ask about this after reading.

Bye! Have a good day/night

[artzzyb00-27]

{💙New Guy In Town💙; part.2}

After a few months of hanging out and getting to know each other, Usagi and Leo were able to become good friends. Not just friends in forced environments, like the one they were currently in. The one where because of their appearances, no one else would be their friend. It became so much deeper than that.

They were able to be themselves around the other and express their passions without getting ridiculed or judged in anyway. Not even questioned because that's how similar they were. Of course everyone has their own unique aspects and one of them was flavors. Usagi was the kind of guy to like savory flavors. Like steak and carrots and just regular food that wasn't meant to be anything special. Leo was one of the loyal followers of sour/spicy flavors. The rush he got when eating spicy foods or just having some Mexican food that April had bought from somewhere in Washington Heights.

This led to an interesting discussion of what was a good middle ground. Developing ideas they had simultaneously decided that if it was shown to them they'd acknowledge it but never mention it. The arrangement wasn't made vocally either. As if they knew what the latter was thinking they just went on with more topics of conversation.

That may seem stupid to most, or at the very least boring, but it never bored Leo listen to Usagis' voice when he talked about a new movie he couldn't wait to watch about super heroes. Another thing they had in common of interest. He felt happy whenever the rabbit mutant would go to the lair and specifically look for the leader in blue because it meant he was special to the boy.

Usagi was special to Leo too. Whenever they would team up on patrols with Uki and Usagi, Leo would make sure Usagi was partnered with him or with Donnie. The reason was because he knew how his other brothers were and didn't want Usagi to think Leo was weird.

Why, you might ask? It's because the turtle with baggy pants let is slip he loved hanging out with Usagi by himself. He had meant to only tell Casey this when him and April visited but it was overheard by Splinter. After a round of training, Splinter popped an interesting question making the other brothers do their own investigations.

"I must ask Leonardo, what is it about this mutant you love hanging out with?" hell broke lose after that one. Mikey was chuckling like numbskull, Donnie gave a smirk accompanied with a side glance and Raph just crossed his arms with a smug expression.

One that surely meant, 'I told you~', referring back three weeks prior to this event. Sadly, because his father asked, Leo answered truthfully. Saying that from his interest and drive for succeeding in martial arts and compassion towards anyone, he couldn't help but admire him. At least that's what he had told his sensei. After leaving the dojo the brothers cornered him almost immediately.

"I can't believe Raph called it before me!" Mikey exasperated.

"I can." Donnie replied, while Raph just put his arm over his elder brothers shoulder. Leo rolled his eyes and looked away in embarrassment to hide the tiny blush forming.

"Aww, ya' thinking 'bout your boyfriend?~" Raph teetered as Leo just groaned while laughing and shoved them off walking away as best he could. It didn't work, considering they all had a last gaming session in his room and just talked about the subject for the entire time.

Coming back to present time, it became more apparent to everyone how close the turtle and rabbit dynamic had gotten. Every time they would visit each other, or the other was in sight, they would rush over as if something was trying to stop them. Nothing was stopping them. Not the rules of society or their own personal friendship and family dynamics.

Usagis' favorite moments with Leo had to be when they had taken down a mob of rogue Foot soldiers trying to start their own version. It was shut down after 3 days due to the duo being strong in battle. The fluidity of each others movements was great like a river and when working together in a special dual move they were sturdier than obsidian.

As if to be connected psychologically, their movements were in sync from the moment they began talking alone. Without the distractions from their friends and family, it suddenly felt like their moments alone together was the most cherished thing they could have. Even moments sitting on billboards, in the shadows with lights of the city and stars above, where the most soul relieving experiences.

Tonights was one of those nights. On top of a roof near China town, they were talking about the latest issue of a novel series coming up. Usagi had been ranting about how beautiful the cover was for the soft-cover version when he suddenly felt someone staring. Turnings his head towards Leo, his eyes locked with dark blue ones and didn't let go right away. Suddenly turning their heads away they sat in silence.

Not awkward silence, never awkward silence. More of unexpected yet calming silence meant to ease the tension. Taking deep breaths, Leo turned to face the mutant rabbit with softened gaze. The purple lights from the rave down below were shining onto his white fur glowing with the lavender hue. Sighing in delight, Leo looked away from his friend who was looking up at the sky while leaning back to the billboard.

The turtle boy looked up as well and breathed the atmosphere in. Usagis' ears twitched and he side glanced at the ninja leader. Proceeding to pull something out from his pockets, Leo turned his attention back to him again. Pulling out a walkman from his baggy pants and some earbuds that could be shared between people, plugging them into the device and passing one to Leo, he put the other one on and put a tape record in.

'Sagis' Playlist' began to play and Leo had to admit,... this boy loved romance songs. Like,.. a.. lot. Some of them were just basic dance, hip-hop, pop songs, but most were 'good feeling', 'falling in love' and 'being in love' songs. The blue bandana'd turtle memorized some of the rabbits favorites(he could tell because Sagi would break out into song), and wrote down their names on his phone in the notes app.

After a while of just chilling they decided it was time to head back home. At least to meet up with Uki and his brothers to go their separate ways. Once the turtles left Uki looked at Usagi in curiosity. Noticing he was still smiling from his encounter with Leo earlier and was most likely replaying the event on loop.

"Why are you so happy after seeing Leo?"

Not gonna lie, it made the rabbit jump. However, that did not stop him from ranting on about how kind the turtle boy was. How strong and skilled he was in battle and just the amount of ability to have this presence that brought peace to his soul.

"You like him?" Usagi stopped and looked at the wolf girl. She stared at him without a specific emotion, but it was an expression that dared him to deny anything. He thought about it, and then stood in his spot. No movement, or attempt at trying to defuse the tension. Letting the air build on itself solidifying the question asked.

"Yeah, yeah I do." he smiled and continued to think. Everything he liked about Leo came rushing to him causing a bundle of words to spew out from excitement. "Holy shit, I like him! I like the way he's able to be serious but it comes from a place of worry and consideration for his family and friends, I love that no matter what he's tried to understand me on any level of hyper-fixations or just simple interests." At some point Uki leaned back on the wall of a building and watched her friend go on a rant while pacing slightly back and forth.

"I love how even when we've had tough battles and he's exhausted, he always gives me the option and heads up of making sure I get out off it with less injuries. I mean, even if I do get hurt, he always tends to them and checks them right away to make sure I'm fine. Normally when a mutant with scale touches my fur it makes my nervous system feel jumpy, with him it feels like I'm able to relax further and ground myself. It's like he's this thing and light in my life that keeps me more stable than before, and when I'm not? Oh you best believe he's there to get me out off negative thoughts through compliments. Not just ones on my appearance, but ones that truly matter, like how he loves my personality. This turtle boy really doesn't know what it does to me but I can't believe I haven't realized before that I've had a crush on him. Shit, maybe even more than that!"

Once done and out of breath he finally stops pacing and looks at his friend, who's face is smug looking and glancing out to the side on the right of Usagi. He quirks and eyebrow and looks in the direction Ukis' attention is. Leo is standing in front off his brothers, who were looking at their elder brother with smirks and smiles, holding the headphones Usagi shared with him back in the billboard. An expression on his green face that sent different emotions through the mutant samurai.

Usagis' eyes widened and shuffled quickly to take back the headphones. Snatching them away and trying to run, he's suddenly grabbed by the forearm, pulled back and spun to face Leos' carapace. Leo wraps his arms around the rabbit boys waist and hugs him. Usagi reciprocates, throwing his arms over Leos' neck and nuzzling into Leo. The turtle brother lifts Usagi up slightly, bringing one hand up to the boys' cheek and rubbing his thumb on it.

"I know this is fast, but, can I kiss you?" he asks and not a millisecond passes before the two are lip-locked and taking the moment in. It's good that Leo saw Usagi that night on the rooftops and decided to chase him.

[savemeafruitjuice]

Tickletober Day 22- Role Reversal

This is a Rise fic! Also, it's based off of the intro to Smart Lair! (The episode starts with Donnie screaming, with Leo and Mikey chasing after him. Raph comes in and stops them, then Donnie complains about never being a mummy. I wanted to explore why he's never able to, and how he would act if he were to be a mummy.)

Lee: Mikey, Leo, Raph (implied)

Ler: Donnie

TW!: SOME SWEARING! SUSPENSE! (Dark rooms, shadows in doorways)

I split the fic into parts to help it go faster, so if there's any misinterpretation as to what's happening, feel free to ask for clarification!

"Can I please be the mummy this time?"

Raph sighed, Leo groaned, and Mikey pouted. "Donnie, if Raph lets ya be a mummy, do ya promise not to get all of of control again.. like.. that time?" The softshell straightened his posture, hands going behind his back in a neat clasped form. "I promise."

The red-themed turtle squinted at his little brother, nodding slowly. "Alright, then.. You can be the mummy." Donnie grinned sweetly, uncrossing his fingers and taking them from behind himself to do a fist-pump. "Oh yeah!"

Leo and Mikey looked on nervously.

-----

The Lou-Jitsu movie had begun playing, and the four sat down on the ground, going over rules. This happened every time they turned on the film, and they had all seen the movie enough times to remember the intro word-for-word anyway.

"...And no toilet paper wars. It is to be used strictly for costume."

Leo gave a sharp look to Mikey, who only shrugged. "Don't look at me! Raph started it." The slider waved him off, then tossed a roll of toilet paper to his twin.

Donnie almost caught it, sighing as he picked it off the ground. "Just so we're clear, this is directly from the packaging, right?" Leo rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Yes, you maniac-" There was a creaking door from the movie, making each brother perk up. "Shhh! Guys, Lou Jitsu's entering the tomb! Donnie, go get ready!" The purple-themed turtle got to his feet, scurrying off into the other room.

"So!" Mikey clapped. "Who's scared for their lives?"

All three of them raised their hands.

-----

The lights were turned off, and Leo started standing on Splinter's armchair, quoting along with the scene as it played. "And I, Lou-Jitsu, will defeat you, mummies!"

A metallic sound came from the sewer tunnel. Mikey flinched, turning around, but he saw nothing. He was standing on the ground beside the slider, and gulped, grabbing onto the blue-themed turtle's arm at a flash of silver in the doorway. "I don't mean to break character, but.. I don't think Donnie's keeping his promise.."

Leo gave him an uneasy glance, turning around just in time to catch a glimpse of purple, much closer than a couple seconds ago.. He missed his next line, trying to get back into the rhythm of the movie. "Uh- and.. If any of you try any funny business, I'll.. send you crying to your mummy.."

When the elder turned to his brother, he saw that Mikey's face was pale, and he was inching away from the dark doorway. The sword-wielder turned, only to be met with red eyes staring at them.

"Donnie?.."

"EEEK! SHIT!"

A robotic noise came from behind the two, and the younger jumped up onto the armchair as well, almost causing the both of them to go toppling down as the other wobbled. Leo jumped at a noise behind him as well, the two silently waiting for their brother to enter at his cue. The movie had its cue pass, but nothing happened. A minute went by, the Baha-Blast duo whispering fearfully at each other.

Soon enough, the cue for the main mummy came, and the turtles held each other's arms. Donnie should never have been allowed to be anyone other than the side character who almost dies every movie..

The cue passed. Donnie didn't come.

Leo looked at Mikey, and Mikey kept staring at the doorway. "Dee?.." Another moment passed, and the two almost relaxed into the silence, except each of their sides were latched onto from behind.

"AHH! AHAAH- HAHAH!"

Leo winced at his baby brother's loud screaming, but yelped as well, hands launching down to push away the attacker. "AH! Noho!- DohOHONNIE!"

The blue-themed turtle whipped around, and was met with his twin, eyes staring blankly ahead as his hands dug into their sides. "I am a mummified Egyptian body, I am not Donatello.."

Mikey squeaked as his ribs were dug into, squatting on the top of the armchair when his knees buckled. Donnie only sat on the armrest, squeezing Leo by the thigh, effectively sending him down as well. Leo screeched, writhing on the cushion, trying to dislodge the fingers at his leg. "STAHAHAHAP! KCCH- DOHOOON!"

Metallic spider arms suddenly shot out of his battle-shell, capturing the two's arms in a hand each. Leo squirmed, eyes wide with panic, just above his knee being squeezed at. "HAHAHAH! FUHUCK, STAHAP! HEHAAH!" Donnie gave no response, tickling harder.

Mikey squealed, trying to pull his arms down, but they were pinned high above his head. He wriggled about, trying to twist his ribs out of the elder's grip. "DohoHONNIE! Ihi cahahan't-"

"Groan. I don't care~" The scientist continued to make onomatopoeia sounds, his brothers squirming and flailing. "You're both doomed to face the wrath of the tickle monster! Ghastly noises."

"RAHAHAHAPH! RAHAPH, HEHELP US! HEHE'S- HE'S NOT PLAHAHAYING RIGHT!" Leo screamed, head thrown back in hysterical cackles as his thigh was only tickled at faster in retaliation.

"PLEHEASE, STOHOHOP IT DONNIHIHIEE! NAHAH- EEEEK!-" The softshell fluttered his hand into the youngest's underarm, staring on blankly as the box turtle arched up, giggling increasing ten-fold. The movie played on in the background, but the three were not paying attention. The music escalated, almost ringing out louder than the turtle's laughter.

All of a sudden, Raph came running into the room, tackling Donnie. "Take this, evil mummy!" The softshell tumbled to the ground, almost taking the other turtles with him. Leo and Mikey, now free from his grasp, could escape, the elder grabbing Mikey's arm and rushing out through his giggles.

Donnie twisted, slipping through the snapping-turtle's arms, and jumping away. Raph whipped around, then froze at the dark glare the tech-loving teen had on. It was then that he made the connection between his other sibling's predicament, and his own. Crap..

"Uhuhm- Donnie, what- NoOHO! GET AWAY, YA DEHEMON!"

-----

Urghh, sorry I'm a bit behind, but I haven't had more than a couple minutes each day to get writing done. I'm doing my best, and as soon as I have more time, I'll get all of them done. Have a great day/night!

[blindrapture]

TUESDAY MAY 31ST, 2011 (Tropes)

7:12 AM "Man, that really did a number on you, didn't it?" I don't want to disobey. :c "That is what I wanted, yes. Okay, I don't have much to tell you today except to remind you, marketplace, 8 PM." Hey, yeah, there's a big TVTropes meetup there. Why do you want me to go to that? ..she walked out. Guess I can go back to bed, then.

7:56 AM Donnie’s up. She said she missed me yesterday. ..and she kissed me. .w. FUCK YEAH APOCALYPSE

8:20 AM ZOMBIES IN THE KITCHEN FUCK NO APOCALYPSE

8:38 AM Fucking hate those things. They don’t ever do anything. They just stand there, moving only when I do. I’m beginning to suspect they aren’t really “zombies.”

12:52 PM More zombies got into the house. I got ‘em out.

4:44 PM OH MY GOD MORE ZOMBIES BACK BACK BACK There’s been a lot of zombies lashing out today. It’s almost like they’re choosing today, of all days, to group up. >___>

7:10 PM We’re heading out to the marketplace now, all three of us. It’s a stupid idea to leave the house unguarded, but what the fuck.

7:48 PM People are slowly pouring into the marketplace. It’s oddly devoid of all zombies.

8:06 PM Wow, a lot of people here recognize me ‘cause my TVTropes avatar is a drawing of Rael Fancyhat. ..which is my ALTER-EGO. :DDD (Inter-ego?) In the.. coat n’ hat. And scarf. And.. yeah, I’m easy to spot. I just heard, like, seven “DJays” right then. I’m getting hugged left and right. I love tropers.

8:14 PM OH MY GOD THEY HAVE FREE FOOD

8:21 PM Seems like someone’s gonna have to make a speech soon. This oughta answer a few of our questions.

8:29 PM I see Mister Speech Man Dude. I think that’s one of the moderators. I think. Shit, I’ve heard about him.

8:30 PM Speech time! “Attention. Attention, everyone. I don’t exactly have a microphone, so you’re just gonna have to be quiet, alright? Alright. Now, let’s get some facts straight: This is probably the end of the world. There are zombies in the streets. There are giant faceless torso men crawling around. There are portals to another dimension lying around. The internet has been down since Saturday. There are really dangerous creatures sharing our world. We have no idea what else is going on. There, see? Does that clear things up?” crowd’s laughing a bit “But none of that means we should give our hopes up. We’re all still alive, and we’ve made it through some pretty atrocious wars so as a species I think we’ll do just fine. The important thing to do is to gather whatever information we can find. So if we could all patiently raise our hands and, when called on, tell everyone whatever information you’ve been able to discern about this bizarre state of the world.” someone raises their hand, the mod points at them “I’ve been having bad dreams about the future, and from what I’ve gathered everyone’s been, so they’re probably important.” “Yes, good to note! Bad dreams about the future, real specific, I love it! Who’s next?” a woman over there “I have good friends in the Internet Service Providing industry, and before the internet went down last Saturday some of them were talking about their computers showing a figure made of clockwork. The internet had actually gone down before that day and they’d been able to get it back up, as apparently this clockwork virus thing can’t keep a total hold over the internet for too long, so something tells me the internet will come back. Probably go in waves.” murmuring mod “Wow, that’s some really vital information if your friends were right in what they saw! Way to go to them! Anyone else? C'mon, we’ve got all night!” uh I guess I’ll raise my hand “Yes, you there in the hat!”

Hi! I, uh. I’ve got a lot of things to say, actually; I’ve kinda been running all over the country so I’ve already encountered a fair bit of stuff. May I take some time to.. list.. stuff? “By all means.” First up, hi, I’m Jordan. Jordan Dooling. You guys know me as DJay. I’ve been kinda running all over the country, and I’ve seen plenty of shit. Can I say “shit?” Alright, shitting fuck, all that stuff. There are, uh.. there are these things called “spidercats.” I don’t know if you guys’ve seen them. Hell, they might not even be called that; I just… heh, yeah. Spidercats are exactly what they sound like. They’re cats. With eight legs. And they are bastards, seriously. Sure, they can be docile and cute just like any cat, but I warn you: If they get hostile, kill them swiftly and sharply. Try not to get ambushed. …that was shit advice, now that I think about it. I mean, you can’t exactly prepare for an ambush; it’s not an “ambush” then. I’ll move on. The big, faceless guys? I call ‘em “Big Ones,” and I find it’s a very helpful name for remembering which creature’s which. I haven’t seen any other giant creatures crawling around, and I can’t say I really want to. But yeah. Big Ones. I have no idea how to kill them. I just try to avoid them. Oh! Oh! A little tip: Big Ones love Pot Noodles. Found this out the hard way. You guys might want to write some of this stuff down. A while back, I encountered something some of you might not believe. This was an isolated event; I haven’t ran into the thing since, but still! Best to inform you. It was, um… no easier way to say this, really. A Cockroach Jesus. It was a giant cockroach. With the head of Jesus Christ. He was driving a car, no joke. He’s a little hostile. Chased me through the woods. Uh.. take notes if you see him. Or one. Might be more than one. Oh, important to note that it was specifically the head of the white western depiction and not anything historically accurate! ..moving on. In the aforementioned forest, not sure where but it’s somewhere close to Ashford, Middlesex. …SORRY NOT MIDDLESEX, I forgot it hasn’t been called “Middlesex” since 1962. SURREY. Right? Surrey? Yeah, Ashford, Surrey. Anyway! In the forest is a little town I found filled with green people. Now, uh.. trying not to sound racist here, but the green people were evil. They tried to kill me. I think. I’m.. well, my memory’s a little fuzzy as to what they actually did. I just realized I don’t have a name for them. …well, they had trees on their fingers. So “Treefingers.” Let’s call ‘em that. Kay? Kay. Question, did you have a questi… no, you were stretching. Kay. God, this is gonna take ages.

There seems to be a, um… does anyone know the towns near Ashford, Surrey? You do? Good. Um.. tell me, was “Hell” always there? It wasn’t? Yeah, well, it is now. It’s a weird town, clocks are a little broken, and your old friends show up as tarantulas, but it’s.. I mean, it’s not bad. I wouldn’t hate living there or anything. The only problem is this, uh… “Eldritch Bear.” It’s a giant bear thing that really isn’t a bear at all. It’s Eldritch. An Eldritch Abomination. I’m sure you tropers know what I mean. Just.. if you see a bear, run, okay? You probably didn’t need me to tell you that, actually. There’s also a really creepy man around there, looks a bit like the G-Man from Half-Life. Don’t know shit about him, sorry. He’s good with bears, though. Alright, let me pose a, um… scenario in your minds: Let’s say you’re— close your eyes, close your eyes, relax, you’re on a beach, you’re in the sky, you’re relaxed and in your happy place. Right. Now, you’re on the motorway and a giant truck is chasing you and trying to eat you. That’s the “Carbra.” Watch out for it. f them do have wings. Watch out. No special name; they’re just the flying zombies, really. Real flappy wings. Can’t miss ‘em. Unless you’re looking at the ground. But then, why would you be looking at the ground out in the middle of— oh, maybe there’s a spidercat eating your leg or something. God, that would be, like.. the worst day, ever. …sorry, moving on. London is fairly safe. Fairly. I’m sure some of you were wondering about that. See, the zombies there don’t hurt you. They just stand there, as do the ones around here. I have no name for these. ….but I guess I’ll make one now. Uhhhh… hrm, what’s a good name? They’re zombies… but they just stand there. They’re pretty dull. …how about “dull zombies?” Right, rolls off the tongue, sounds good. Now, up around the northern motorway, I have seen a certain crying man. Now, don’t fall for the same mistake I made, kay? Stay away from the crying man. If he runs from you, don’t follow. “But wait,” you ask. “What if it’s an actual survivor? How do I tell the difference,” you ask? Well. …I have no idea. Just, um.. call his name. Or say “HEY YOU.” If you get no response, he’s either the crying man or he can’t hear you or he’s distracted or he’s.. well, a lot of things. Fuck. Um.. just… be careful, alright?

Right. I’ll cut right to the good part: The slender man is real. Saw him when I was on Blackpool Tower the other day. Same slender man we all know and fear— slendercoat, slender body, no noticeable face. He didn’t attack me, but ohhhh god I’ve never seen him actually attack anyone in a story ohh god what’s gonna happen SORRY SORRY SORRY. Next: THE MOTHERFUCKING RAKE IS REAL. AND THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE OF THEM. Three Rakes. You know The Rake, I’m sure. Pale, hairless, dog-man, sharp claws, disturbing eyes. Yeah, there are at least three of them. Luckily, they are killable. And I have already killed two. But still, y’know? Prepare. My friend in the Americas let me know that the Grim Reaper might be real too. Wears a gas mask, apparently. Be on the lookout. What else. What else. Hoo boy. In London, right? In London, there is, uh.. how to explain him. He’s a man. In a hood. And he’s wearing a mask that’s a lot like a giant beak, covers his face. I thought he looked a lot like Ace, from RubyQuest, so I called him Ace Man. For some reason, I get the feeling he’s a lot more dangerous than when I just saw him standing there, so.. yeah. And here in Blackpool, stay away from the seaside, okay? You might run into a giant tentacle. I call it CTHULHU 2 or something, though I was told it’s nothing like Cthulhu at all, so don’t let my words distract you from reality. It controls the zombies around here. Okay, good I got that out of the way. Now, I think that should be it. Is that it? Yeah, I think that’s it. Thank you, and, uh… have a nice day.

“Thank you for that, DJay. That was pretty informative. But I think I have something you missed: The Harlequin.” The, uh.. the Harlequin? “Yes. Heard of her?” …no, I can’t say I have. <:D “Then I’ll explain. The Harlequin is an increasing threat in our attempts at survival. I’ve heard word of at least seven groups of survivors being defeated by her today. And with the more people she defeats, the stronger she grows, so something needs to be done sooner rather than later. The Harlequin, for all intents and purposes, is a living puppet. A marionette, y'know? Except she isn’t controlled by strings. She uses her strings to control us. Well, her victims. She loves to play tricks, whether just fooling us for fun or playing with her ‘food.’ It’s hard to tell who’s actually under her control, too. Her strings aren’t normally that easy to see. And if she knows enough about you, she can get your corpse to mimic you to a terrifying degree of accuracy.” Have there ever, um.. been reports of people.. following the Harlequin.. without being forced? "What, a genuine follower? No. No, nobody's been that stupid. To willingly go along? To just be some kind of... of pet? What would she have them do, probably murder. I have a word of advice to everyone here: You want to avoid the Harlequin. Kill the Puppets, put them out of their mercy. If there is someone willingly following her, kill them too! This is about survival, and protecting humanity!" ..ah. That answers my question. “Good. I’m glad it does. Now, then. Now that we’ve gotten all the serious business out of the way, let’s try living like humans again. Let’s have ourselves a party!” crowd cheeeeer

8:57 PM Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my goddddddddddd HELP.

9:32 PM THIS IS FUCKING TORTURE, I FEEL LIKE EVERYONE’S LOOKING AT ME OH MY GODDDDDDD

9:58 PM WHYYYY DID I HAVE TO BE SUCH A FUCKING POPULAR TROPERRRR OH MY GOD STOP LOOKING AT MEEEE

10:31 PM I’m hiding in the bathroom. I just.. I need a moment. Oh my god, why am I freaking out so much, they love me, but I’m a traitor. You heard them, journal; you got it all written down. They'd hate my kind. I’m spineless. I’m a coward, a fool. A bitch. I’m a pet.

10:34 PM ….as I was walking out, I passed by a troper who I assumed was listening to his iPod. I looked again, he had no earphones nor any iPod or anything. Just wires. I’m gonna find Donnie.

10:38 PM I can’t find her. I guess I’ll.. keep looking.

10:44 PM Everyone’s looking at me. Why is everyone looking at me.

10:45 PM Someone’s stepping up to the stage. It’s the mod. He looks tired. “Attention, everyone. The time has come for the few of you who have been unconverted to step up.” ..the crowd’s pushing some people up to the stage. What the hell. …wait, am I converted already or somTALKING TALKING “We shall start with the first.” It’s a woman. ..obviously. I’ll shut up. ..wait. What’s he doing with that KNIFE WAIT asdfgh ….o_e There’s someone floating above him. Above the mod. I gotta get closer. The mod’s arms are raising. His hands are dangling as his elbows are up. The figure above him is doing the same. The figure’s moved their right hand to their throat. And.. I don’t need to tell you this but that’s his knife hand ohgod I can almost tell who the figurrjiweds Hello, Mistress. Mistress is pleased to see me here. I.. but.. fuck. Mistress says she’ll do that later; I may have been a good boy but she has other matters to attend to. That’s not what I… Mistress is making the mod talk more. She’s making him give a speech to the few remaining survivors, telling them how they shouldn’t have come, how the Mistress is so pleased they did come anyway. How their blind obedience will come in very handy. The crowd of puppets is closing in on the NONONO I’ve gotta do somethYES MISTRESS, oh god sorry sorry…I’m sorry, you guys. .__. I just.. I can’t. She can crush me like an ant. I couldn’t possibly… Oh god. Can I at least look awayYESMISTRESS ohgod I don’t wanna looooook blood blood look at that that’s death more and more tropers taken to the public spectacle I oh god please no that’s Donnie please. .___. Mistress sees I am passionate for this pathetic girl. Mistress decides she’ll show a little mercy, at least because it’s for her pet. But Mistress reminds me that her mercy comes at a price, a price that Mistress can and will claim when she so pleases. Yes, ma’am. >___< Mistress is ordering me to take Donnie and go to bed now. Mistress will see me in the morning. …her giggles. Not so comforting.

11:00 PM Donnie and I walked home slowly. Donnie stopped by a bin to vomit at one point. We didn’t speak to each other. She knows I’m a pet now.

(Attached: "What is this about? Tropes transcend television. They reflect life. We’re about celebrating fiction, not showing off how snide and sarcastic we can be. What is this about? What is this about? What is this about? What is this about?”) (Attached, flipped to other side: “Cyetbwla ewbtwnx eu tam ohytv, Sbjyw if lbnw lv usnz hcfaz Agl hkvdadfr gx spta bzx vxhoshogeay mw kxl ezo J.. kyeh, dhh Q jxhtdy ba. Naa Yemcjg vn Jafz Ztjjyail, tz Q'v cbzfxz pt. Lwex vn qov aur dhvx lgnibwd ns Uvybsxl ex vn ealwhz if lbnw nw Ag I esxbyhtx xska wx Rbdnnnl th ggn Icl umhcfwaeeg lapa as ocn yky yhc. Lapa as gcl xrlrrwfx. Apas jg zhn te. ...Vhvk htvsnh oed qgea fiwir: Vrhtagqpeaofi tbv VXN...”)

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[clanofjones]

Ghosts of Our Days - Chapter Three

Start

<- Chapter Two

Ao3 link (full work)

Co-written with @theosb0rnway!

Chapter Three: Best Laid Murder Plans

April's POV

April O'Neil just wanted a donut. 

That was it, just a bag of donuts for herself and the guys while they searched for Raph and Casey. Okay, and maybe she was there for whatever other comfort foods she could find, but mostly the donuts. Thinking about one pack of godforsaken donuts was better than any other thought racing through her mind. 

'Where's Raph?' 

'Where's Casey?' 

'I hope they don't do anything stupid while I'm gone-' 

'Master Splinter...' 

Ah yes, the poor rat was another casualty of Oroku Saki that fateful night at the Wolf Hotel, stabbed through the chest and thrown onto the ground below for everyone to see. While the brothers carried their fallen father to the Shellraiser, April and a now conscious Slash had searched the area for Raph and Casey, finding no traces of either of them besides some blood where Raph had laid for a few moments after his own stabbing. 

April tried Casey's phone, then Raph's, then the Jones apartment, but no one answered and the boys' phones didn't even ring once before April got the voice message tone signaling that they wouldn't pick up.

April took an excused absence from school to mourn Splinter for a few days, but even when she returned, there was no sign of Casey anywhere. Donnie swore up and down that all of their devices were completely untraceable, either destroyed or had their signals made invisible by someone smarter than him. 

That last bit was not easy for him to admit in the slightest, but April helped him get it out. For the most part, the four of them just hung around the lair, tracking any leads they could find and trying to move on after the loss of not one, not two, but three members of their tea- no, family. All of them had their suspicions about where the boys might be, most of those suspicions being Donnie's. 

"I bet he's just keeping Raph from us, hiding him away somewhere so that nobody else can have him!" 

April sighed, shaking her head at her ranting boyfriend. "Donnie... come on, that's ridiculous, why would Casey ever wanna hide Raph from us? You're clearly stressed from everything that's going on, you're not thinking straight right now!" 

Oh, the irony of that statement. When does Donnie ever NOT think straight?

Adding onto the list, Leo insisted that Shredder took them out too, or that Foot Bots had come to do the dirty work for them, but there were no other villains besides Super Shredder that night that anyone else had seen, not counting the villains that had distracted Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Leatherhead. They were more C or B-grade villains that couldn't have taken out Casey or Raph, let alone both of them.

Mikey chalked it up to mysterious pizza aliens. That was obviously a no, but for once, nobody had the heart to rain on his parade, so 'Evil pizza aliens' was added to the neatly organized board that Donnie created to keep track of all his ideas, or 'conspiracy theories' as April called them. 

But, back to that pack of white powdered donuts April so desperately needed. The grocery store was very much out of her normal commute, but she'd decided that taking a nice walk would do her some good. Taking a walk at three in the morning with no protection after the last fight was risky, but as previously stated, April didn't give a flying- was that Casey?? 

She'd recognize that black hood and beat up hockey shoes from anywhere! Those almighty donuts left her mind and her new objective immediately became talking to her lost friend. She creeped towards him, hoping he didn't hear her as he stuffed his arms with various types of junk food. 

"Casey?" 

The vigilante growled. "Shut the fuck up." 

Okay, THAT was a new one, but nothing April O'Neil couldn't handle. "Casey?" 

He turned around to face her, his eyes the only thing that hinted at his shocked expression behind the mask. 

"Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in–" Before she could say anything else, he ran. 

She tried to stop him, yelling all the while, "Have you at least seen Raph, we–” 

That got his attention. He paused only for a second, looking back at April before dashing out the door with his now stolen food and disappearing into the night. 

It looked like April's body wasn't the only thing getting exercised that night. So was her wallet. On top of the donuts, she also paid approximately for what Casey had stolen, telling the tired cashier that her friend was... a bit of a wild card. Isn't that the understatement of the year? 

She noticed that some of the food was different from the others, most being packaged junk food, but others being snacks that needed either some source of cooling or to be eaten within the span of a day. They also happened to be food that April knew Raph liked, or at least tolerated eating.

This was good news for her to tell the boys, the perfect cherry on top of these finally purchased donuts! Raph was alive and so was Casey, but wherever they were, they clearly wanted to be undisturbed, ('Oh shit, Donnie was right', she thought) so April was going to do what any great family member would do: poke the beehive with the biggest stick she could find in the woods. And she could dig up some pretty big sticks. 

Casey POV

'Shit. Shit shit shit shit SHIT!' That right there is the current thought process of one Casey Jones as he ran through the city with as much food as he could carry in his arms. 

That wasn't good at ALL. Now April knew he was alive, but thankfully she still had no idea where he was or anything about his precious Raphael, safe and sound in his cooler. 

"Fuckin' damnit, O'Neil, why do you have to ruin everything ALL the time?" He hissed, maneuvering his way through the streets until he found an empty cardboard box he could carry his food home in. He took the grappling hook and jumping combo the rest of the way home. 

Home. That was what the abandoned apartment was to him now. His home. Not his own beaten up apartment with his sister and his room and all of his hockey posters and tropies. His home was now wherever his boyfriend was, so technically his home was a giant ice box in the middle of that destroyed apartment. 

How fun.

"Thank the pizza in the sky for dumpster boxes!" He continued on his way, reaching the apartment with ease and carrying the box up as quickly as he could. 

Nothing had changed since he'd left, save for the ice box which had stopped humming its annoying 'I'm bringing in cold air' tune. It was in its silent phase, Casey's favorite phase. 

"Raphiiiieee! I'm baaaack!" No response. Casey expected that, but kept going anyway, drawing out his words like the night prior hadn't torn his life asunder. "I got you your faaaaaaavorites! We can share them together!" 

He set the box on top of Raph's freezer. His face was drawn into a smile, the nearly week-old paint on his face stretching just like his skin at this point. There was no way it was coming off, and Casey wanted it that way. Raph had painted that himself the night of their battle, the same way he always did. 

Casey could never quite replicate the markings, so he nicknamed it 'Raph's Secret Style'. It was similar to Jack Skellington in the mouth and had heavy black circles around the eyes, the amount of paint applied leaving Casey's face completely black and white until further notice. 

Casey wouldn't have it any other way, this was the last living part of Raph he had left until he got up the guts to raid the lair. That, he believed, would take a while. 

As for now, he had his snacks, his Raph, and that pesky ass voice in his ear. 

'You let her catch you.' 

"So?" 

'Your dead cover is blown.' 

"But Raphie's safe!" 

'So?' 

"Don't copy me, asshole! All you do is piss me off!" 

'And you don't do the same to me?' 

"Just SHUT UP ALREADY! Raphie and I don't need to hear you anymore." 

'Yeah, keep telling yourself that, I'm SURE it's true, just like all the other secrets you're keeping.' 

Casey responded by opening up a pack of Cheetos and climbing on top of the ice box. The voice stopped. 

"Thank fuck. Now it's just us, Raphie! I knooowww you love Cheetos! Eat up!" He poured some of the orange cheese sticks on the box lid. He'd eat them later, but he had to let his Raph get a chance at them. That was just common courtesy, letting dead people eat first before you! 

Casey let them sit on the lid as he laid down next to the snacks, singing very much off key one of his favorite songs. 

"Love I can't ignore you, in my room, I do adore you Love, I can't ignore you, in my room, do anything for ya', tap tap on that piece o' ass!" He laughed at that, remembering all the times he used to roll by Raph on his skates and lovingly slap him on the ass like nobody was watching. "R-Remember that, Raphie? Remember that?" He choked out in between laughs, his face pressed up against the metal box as if he was touching Raph himself. Honestly, that wasn't a bad idea either, sliding in the box for a couple minutes to hold his dearly departed.

And as much as Casey loved the idea, he felt like Cheetos would be a right pain in the ass to get out of the floor, if he didn't want ants and rats raiding his new place. Even if the flooring wasn't carpet, but plain, flimsy, wooden floorboards.

Seeing as the Cheetos would only get cold and attract bugs with the morning air, he took one to munch on with a sigh. Despite common courtesy and all, it wasn't as if he could have expected anything to happen to the Cheetos. With that as a given, he ate them in silence.

The silence felt wrong. He was only feet away from his lover, his Raphie, but the silence was even more crushing and bone chilling than regular silences did.

'It wouldn't be so quiet if you'd saved him,' that jackass whispered in his ear silkily.

Casey banged his head against the mini freezer with a groan. Of all the things to break the silence. He'd have preferred one of the turtles, April, Splinter, Karai, or, heck, even Super Shredder discovering his dwellings than that stupid voice echoing in the silence around him.

"Jackass."

'Imbecile.'

"Useless."

'Ditto.'

Casey huffed and scooped the rest of the Cheetos into his hands. As he ate in the silence, he knew that the voice wouldn't have made an appearance if Raph hadn't died– no. Hadn't been killed. Murdered. Massacred.

He still had a job to do, after all. Kill Super Shredder. No resurrections allowed, and if anyone tried, Casey would kill them too.

But how would one kill Super Shredder? Casey had thrown nearly everything, if not everything, that he had at Super Shredder, and it barely did anything.

Well, another voice offered, nobody survives a good old fashioned decapitation, did they? Not unless they were, like, one of those Greek monsters. But Casey was pretty damn sure Super Shredder could only grow spikes, not extra heads.

So Casey Jones made another list. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered that he should probably get a notebook or something of the sort.

WAYS TO KILL THAT FUCKER:

Decapitation

Stabbing with something really big (ironic)

Bombing

Drill

Sniper shot in the eye

They were in no particular order of ways that he'd prefer to have it done, or efficiency and ease with which it could be done. If he'd had to choose, Stabbing With Something Really Fucking Big would be his preference. Make Saki look at him while he died, with nobody he could call to. Casey would grin as the light left that monster's eyes.

The only problems would be keeping the way clear for him to do the necessary deed, and finding something big enough to pierce enough flesh to kill the fucker.

The turtles and Splinter were already ninjas, and while Casey could keep up with them to the extent that he went on missions, he doubted he could handle fighting all of them, especially Splinter. Slash was a beast of a turtle, but Casey was fast enough that he might be able to outrun and KO him with his taser. April's powers weren't to be discounted either, and he'd do well to preoccupy her first, if anybody was to try and stop him.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. They would already resent him for not being able to save Raph, he didn't need the added weight of a full on fight with them and their allies.

In regards to his second need, he could probably fashion something thick and strong enough to take him out once he amassed more of his and Raph's possessions.

Regardless, he'd have to up the ante with his gear. What worked on the Purple Dragons and Baxter Stockman wouldn't work on Shredder or, if it came to it, his friends.

As he made another mindless snatch at his palm, he looked down. The Cheetos were gone, save for the orange powder.

He scooped the remaining powder from the top of the freezer, walked over to the collapsed wall, and dusted it off into the morning breeze. Some of it blew right back at him, and he was glad he still had his hockey mask on. Furiously swiping at his face, he managed to dislodge the remnants into the city.

Now, only one thought ran through Casey's head.

Oroku Saki would die. And Casey Jones would be the one to do it.

.

.

.

.

A/N: There's no party like a murder party *proceeds to jammy-jam*

Also, if you wanna check out any other writing I've done, then my AO3 is here!

Chapter Four ->

[eveandtheturtles]

For Donnie requests, if it tickles your fancy:

How about another one set in the tactical universe? (I so enjoyed the one you wrote for Leo when I asked last time)

Maybe a similar format to the last one but, say. Four times reader/OC (who is an art thief or whatever you like) outwits/outlucks/outruns/plain-old-tricks Don and one time he catches her?

But plot twist it was a game all along so it turns sweet or spicy (however you like, I'm down for and/or both)

(Eyyy, a returning customer! We like thay here! You said OC and activated my trap card tho lol)

Bayverse!Donnie and Kara in Tactical AU! (I am almost sure you guys are sick and tired of this ship lmao sorry xD

This one is getting a strong T!

Tactical AU belongs to @donathan

Here are my headcanons for my own spin to it if anyone is interested! And here is a link to Leo's version. Can't wait for someone to request Raph.

@madammuffins @turtle-babe83 @thelaundrybitch @sharpwindow @dilucsflame33 @pheradream15

(if anyone wants in on this list let me know!)

I. This case took him and his brothers all around the world. But it all began in New York after their handler gave them the order.

The Met event was fitting perfectly the M.O. of the thief. Donnie has been preparing himself for this. He studied extensively the previous crime scenes and had to admire the cleverness of it all.

He instructed the ground team on what to look for and how to behave. He himself kept his distance, for obvious reasons. They were going to monitor the event around the clock. The human team during the day, and the turtle brothers at night.

While the guests milled about the museum, Donnie was watching the feed from the cameras closely. This was the second day of surveillance. His sensors weren't picking up any suspicious activities either. Of course, he didn't expect the thief to be bold enough to do something during the day - this didn't fit the profile he built but all good thieves usually tried to scout their targets beforehand.

Donnie sighed and licked his lips. He switched to the computer database of all the security and staff that were currently at the museum. No one in particular stood out. Maybe he was wrong about it being the Met?

Once the gates to the museum closed it was turtle time.

The brothers took over from the day shift. As far as the security knew, they were just some special task force. The ski masks hid their faces and various leather straps disguised the shells as weird backpacks.

"This is so boring," Mikey whined over the comms. "You sure I can't liven up the place a little?"

"If you'd even think of setting off anything-!" Leo's warning resonated sharply in their ears.

The youngest snickered. "Chillax, bro, I was joking."

"Like you did in Budapest?" Raph snorted.

"That was an accident!"

"Let's make sure no more accidents happen," Leo warned him. "Especially not in the Met."

Donnie smiled listening to his brothers' banter as he patrolled the corridor he thought had the highest chance of being hit by the thief.

He listened keenly to any sound that would come his way. The empty corridors would echo them back to him. Unfortunately, it was all silent. Just the sound of his own breath coming back to him and the soft sound of his feet. The brothers were unnaturally quiet for their large size. When they wanted. Mikey usually could be heard three blocks away.

Donnie adjusted his night vision goggles as he entered a new area. He added his own security measures on top of the ones the museum had. There was no way the guy could escape them.

Suddenly one of his sensors tripped. The silent alarm got activated in one room. Donnie turned on his heel and ran.

"We have a hit!" He told the others and directed them to the correct location.

He got there first. Visor focused, looking for anything out of place. Nothing.

"What the-"

Suddenly, another alarm tripped. And another. And another. His whole grid lit up in red and he cursed. That fucker!!

"Donnie, what the hell is going on?!" Leo shouted over the comm.

"He is using my system as a smoke screen!" Donnie shouted back and cursed. He shut it down and popped the standard Met security.

Did he really figure out the system in one day? What the fuck was going on.

"He's in the Maya exhibit!"

"Raph!"

"On it, Fearless."

Motherfucker, Donnie cursed at himself and sprinted. He brought up the schematics of the room on his holoscreen.

"I have the visual!" Raph announced on the comms, which was immediately followed by a string of curses. "Stay still you slippery bastard!" And then. "I lost him but he is heading to the roof!"

Donnie smiled. Predictable.

"I'm on it!"

But then he came to a screeching halt. The fucker was heading to the main door! What?! Ballsy motherfucker.

Donnie jumped down the stairs.

"Freeze!" He got out his gun and fired a warning shot.

The thief didn't stop. Just kept running straight. Donnie followed. Then froze. The figure just passed through the glass door and the terrapin realized he was following a hologram.

"Please tell me one of you got him?" He asked his brothers, breathing heavily, feeling frustration building up.

"I saw him in the Danish exhibit but then he proofed!" Mikey responded.

"I thought I got him by the African exhibit," Leo said, his tone clearly indicating a similar failure.

Donnie cursed.

"You'll get him next time," Leo tried to comfort him.

"Yeah, thanks," he responded. The words were bitter in his mouth.

II. Weeks of intense research and work later the turtles were in Italy. Donnie once again figured out the thief would be there.

All the feed from the Met was tampered with and Donnie worked for hours to fix it. To just get three frames. Thankfully, he had seen the hologram. Raph also had a description, though not very helpful. "Short like a fucking kid and slippery like a weasel," he said. That much Donnie knew.

He managed to estimate the thief's height to be 150cm (about 4'10"). If they were dealing with a rowdy teen the turtle genius was going to be super pissed and impressed.

Right now he was riding on a huge adrenaline rush as he watched the thief through his scope. The guy was running away from Leo, who took the chase.

"I got you," Donnie muttered to himself. He aimed the shot. He wasn't going to kill the thief. Just incapacitate him with some tranquilizers.

It was the end of the road for their target either way. The line of houses ended and only a large plaza awaited. No escape.

The thief faced Leo. Then turned his head and looked straight at Donnie. The mask came off. Green skin - like the yellowing grass in autumn, face and bald, larger than average head dusted with freckle-like spots of various shades of brown, green and yellow. Pointed, pierced ears. The eyes, big, yellow, playful.

The thief winked and… just disappeared.

"Dude!" Mikey's voice activated the Comms. "The thief an alien!"

"Donnie, you okay?" Leo spoke up.

"You missed, nerd," Raph snickered. "So much for Mr. I-Never-Miss," he put on his Batman's voice.

"Shut up Raph," Donnie shot back. He was thinking intensely. She-, he was certain the thief was a she, looked straight at him. She knew his position. She led them to that corner of the street. This was all a game for her! "I need all your guys' phones!"

"Why?" Mikey whined. "I didn't do anything!"

Turns out Mikey did do something. A couple of days before he clicked some link on a website from his phone and that got the thief an entrance into their systems. That pissed off everyone and earned Mikey some extra training and cleaning time as well as a lecture on Internet safety.

What was concerning was that their criminal most likely got into their Top Secret files if she knew how to get to Mikey…. She knew who they were. Meanwhile, they knew nothing of her.

III. Next stop was Egypt. A short jump from Italy. They were going to monitor the Museum of Cairo. Why? Because right before he cleared all their electronics one message went through. “Up for another Caaper?”

When he checked the source it went dead. A burner phone. Now he had a dilemma. Either ignore it or follow… On one hand, it could have easily been a typo. On the other… In Cario there was a wooden statue of Ka-aper from the 5th Dynasty.

He chose to follow and that’s how they ended up there. Was she really going to steal the statue that was about a foot shorter than her? He thought back to the image of her in his mind. Who was he kidding, she absolutely would.

So they were staking out the museum. “Third time the charm, eh, Donnie?” Raph teased.

“Do you guys think she has like a spaceship? With lasers?” Mikey enthused over her. He wouldn’t shut up about the alien bit since Italy.

“You can ask her when we catch her,” Leo told him in a very tired voice.

Donnie didn’t join in on the conversation. He was in the room with the statue. Monitoring the screen, flipping through the feed from the cameras and paying attention to every single alarm there was. He didn’t want to miss any suspicious flicks or changes.

“Donnie, you alright over there?” Leo called to him, snapping him out of his focus.

“Yeah, yeah I’m here,” he responded.

“Anything moving?”

“Not yet…”

Why did she want to steal that particular statue?

Time ticked by… Suddenly he felt someone watching him. He turned around. Yellow eyes, right over his shoulder. He reacted immediately by throwing a punch at her. She was hanging by a rope from the ceiling. Pulling away, avoiding his fist by a hair. She flipped around. He pulled his gun and aimed at the rope. She kicked his hands and vaulted off the wall. He kicked at her legs and she fell on her back with an audible ‘oof’. He tried to grab her but she folded and jumped up to her feet. Punch, evade, retaliate. They danced across the floor.

He had to adapt himself to her small height, throwing him off a little. She had no problem with his.

Suddenly she reached for her belt and threw something at him. He ducked. She jumped again, using his knee as a boost and jumped over his back. He spun around. A puff of smoke in his face and his world went dark.

He didn’t know how long he was out. Mustn't have been long because she was still in the room, finishing up securing the statue to some ropes to pull it up. He groaned and got up.

“Stop,” he said, his voice hoarse. He reached to his thigh and pulled his second gun. Despite the headache his aim was steady.

She turned to him. Smiled. And pressed something on her forearm. A force yoinked him backward. Slamming him against the wall. He gritted his teeth. Magnets? When?, he thought angrily as he watched her ride up on the same rope she came down with.

She winked at him and blew him a kiss. 3-0.

IV. Donnie admitted that he may be a bit obsessed. The woman infuriated him and kind of… He dared not to go where his thoughts wanted.

His memory took him back to Italy and Egypt. Her bright yellow eyes, sparkling with mischief and excitement enthralled him. That confident smirk. He wanted to wipe it off of her face! He wasn’t sure how yet.

She tricked him three times! Them! She tricked them three times! Maybe the fourth time was the charm….

He knew his brothers were making some bets behind his back but he didn’t care.

They were in Tokyo, Japan, this time. She left him another clue in his pants while he was passed out.

His brothers were on the ground, while he stayed behind. Their eagle eyes. She wouldn’t slip past him again!

“I don’t think she’s gonna show up this time bro,” Mikey said. “You almost got her before, you think she’ll show up?”

“Thieves sometimes stop when they get scared but I doubt we scared her enough,” Leo sighed.

Donnie’s phone vibrated. He’d usually ignore it during the mission but this time… He quickly glanced at the screen.

After that one text she sent him before Egypt… Leo would probably yell at him so hard if he knew… But Donnie didn’t fully shut down one channel. He made it possible that if she wanted to contact him he’d be open for it.

And lo’ and behold. There was a text.

Unknown number: こんにちは！(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ I left you something at this location~! Take it as a reward for almost catching me 4 times now! And thank you for missing in Florence ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎

Donnie jumped up to his feet and cursed.

“What’s up Donnie?” Leo checked in on him.

“I’ll be right back, this is important!” He tried to ease off the incoming protest, but also just in case he turned off his comm.

The attached location led him to a posh bar, just around the corner from the art gallery. He made sure his ski mask was on as he entered the establishment. Of course, all the eyes turned to him. Meanwhile, he only looked for one set of eyes. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen.

“Excuse me,” he asked the bartender in Japanese, “something was supposed to be left here for me?”

The man eyed him, a bit fearfully but nodded. “What drink would you like, sir?”

“I’m just here to pick the item up.” Donnie tried to explain.

“The item is a drink and a letter for you after you get your drink.” The bartender insisted.

Donnie sighed. “Something fruity with rum then.” Why the hell not. Fuck it, they failed again. He might as well drink off the thieves tab. He waited for the drink to arrive before he lifted the mask up a little just enough for him to be able to drink. He took a sip. Damn it was good. He snorted and shook his head. This whole thing was so ridiculous.

As he was in the middle of his order the bartender slipped him a cream coloured envelope with a red lacquer stamp on it. Classy.

He broke the seal and opened the envelope. He read the letter.

Donnie smiled and shook his head. "God damn it."

He turned on his comm, which earned him an earful from both Leo and Raph.

"Guys, she's going to be in New York next," he told them.

"How do you know?"

"She told me," he said, draining the rest of his glass.

V. Was he annoyed that she was stringing him along so much? Probably. Was he excited to finally snap some handcuffs around her wrists? So, so much.

It wasn’t easy to find her. The riddle this time was a bit more complex than the one for Egypt and Japan. Then there was the matter of actually finding her in the urban jungle that was New York.

But when he did… He didn’t tell his brothers. It was his little secret. He didn’t want anyone following him there. He slipped from the compound when everyone else was asleep. The coordinates led him to a red brick building with an industrial elevator.

Thermal scanner told him where she was. He took the stairs as the safer option and climbed. Quietly, like a ghost he entered the large open-space. The wooden floor creaked under his steps and a loud bird attacked him. The creature wasn’t from Earth. It neither cawed nor barked. The noise was offending to his ears nevertheless.

Then a whistle. He saw her standing a couple feet away from him. She extended her arm and the bird perched on it. It had a muzzle and sharp teeth like a dog. scales mixed with feathers and claw tipped wings, almost like a bat. The legs were birdlike all-right. A long tail wrapped around the thieves arm securing it in the spot.

<Hello,> she signed. <I see you finally found me> She smirked.

<Thanks for the hint,> he signed back.

<You welcome.> She stroked the bird’s head and it purred. With a flick of her elbow it flew into the air again and sat somewhere among the pipes.

<So, how do you want to do this?> She asked. <I got some weapons for you to choose from.>

<I brought my own.> He reached to his belt and pulled out his collapsible bō staff.

She regarded him with an appreciative nod. Then she walked up to the wall. She pressed on a brick and a panel dropped down revealing a collection of staffs, spears and other weapons. She picked two thich sticks.

<Escrima?> He asked and she grinned. He got it.

They charged at each other. Blow after blow, the weapons clashed. She was nimble and fast, using her environment to her advantage. He, with the experience from Egypt, handled her better. No more blows that went over her head. She had to block him, make an effort to evade.

He hoped whatever they broke during the fight wasn’t something priceless.

Finally, he had her against the wall. Adrenaline buzzing in his ears. He hasn't won yet though. He knew it. Her golden eyes bore into his. Suddenly, both dropped their weapons and their mouths clashed.

The morning came, brutally invading Donnie’s eyes. He groaned and stirred trying to avoid it. When he couldn’t quite move his arm he looked up. One of his hands was handcuffed to the headboard and he smirked remembering that particular move.

He looked around. Karaa was sitting on the bed, eating a breakfast roll and smiling at him. She reached out and released his arm, which got a bit stiff.

<You’ll need to get dressed, your brothers and major Douche will be here soon,> she signed, smiling her usual impish smile. <Have some breakfast.>

<So, I passed?> He grinned.

<You will get points deducted for teamwork probably but…> she leaned down to kiss him. <I will give you some bonuses for performance.> She wiggles her eyebrows with her best bedroom eyes.

He got lost in their kiss but pulled back when a thought occurred to him.

<You will help me find Splinter?>

They started communicating after Florence. They didn't know at first who they'd be going in the against exercise. It was all part of it. Karaa though she found out things. And also being trapped by the US military she didn't see any objections in helping the boys out.

<Oh, yeah. They will not know what hit them.>

____________________________________________________

Bonus content!

*Text in Japanese above reads: "hello"

So I decided to do this one with the OG version of Kara.

Karaa (how the og spelling is, ye I know super original lol) was first created in 2014 as my Megamind OC. In the fandom we already had whole lot of Blue guys running around and... one Red, that came from desert part of the Meg's planet. I went like, so let's complete the traffic lights set and I made Karaa + the whole lore etc for jungle dwelling aliens of Megamind's planet.

This is how she'd look like. (art by Scarlette and Koda, I'm not sure of Scarlette's current handle it's been a while since 2014 XD)The earrings serve purpose also as disguise generators/cloaking devices.

Here's link to how Pi'ehra, her bird looks like.

I'll probably draw her tactical AU look soon!