#Draxum taking charge

[paintedkinzy-88]

Let's take a step back (or rather, forward) and indulge my wandering mind. Behold! Bad Future Dragos!

I want it to be clear that these are at the... latest point in their lives (AKA, before they die) rather than all at the same time. The design choices are very deliberate in that case.

As always, off I ramble---

Raphael was often called the "Umbrella" of the Resistance, due to his habit of shielding those around him with his wings. He's always done this, ever since he was a dragonet, but the danger is much more real now, and he has a lot more people to protect. As it is, his wings are torn beyond repair. Unless he uses his Ninpo, flying is no longer an option. It's also because of this tendency to constantly throw himself into the front lines that he lost one of his legs. Lucky, Donnie was able to craft multiple prosthetics for him, as his size grew bigger and bigger each day, at a much faster rate than his brothers. Unfortunately, this also made him a bigger target, as he was the first Hamato casualty.

Speaking of Donnie, that serpent held the Resistance together, no doubt about it. He wasn't often put on the battlefield, as his skills were much more needed within their bases building defenses, weapons, armor, indoor gardens, and so much more. He was essential to their survival, working the hardest out of the group of engineers and construction workers they were able to recruit. However, after loosing his tail, back leg, and, temporarily, his voice to Krang hounds, he was kept strictly on base only, much to his dismay. With his focus so narrowed down to just build build build, Donnie created more and more pieces of tech to help him do so, like multiple Shelldon bodies and a constant supply of robot arms (that could of course be used as weapons in a pinch). In the end, keeping him so guarded didn't matter. When one of their hideouts was ransacked before they could escape, Donnie stayed behind to initiate a self destruct. He took out the sister Krang in the blast, as well as a sizable chunk of their army.

Leo was the seemingly fearless leader of the survivors, his way of words convincing countless people of all kinds to join their forces. He actually only took charge after Draxum's death, since the yokai had previous experiences in mass wars and lead them as well as he could prior to Leo. His fins have certainly seen better days, but swimming wasn't much of an option after a few years anyways, as the Krang eventually made the oceans far to toxic to be in. Eventually, with his fins so torn up, Donnie did make him prosthetic wings, as attacking from the air was such an incredible advantage. He also ended up taking one of Raph's old arms after a wound left them having to amputate, and resources to build a brand new one were slim pickings. Sadly, after Donnie's passing, there wasn't anyone with the same knowledge to fix and manage the wings, leading to them eventually just breaking off. Leo mostly uses them to stab aliens now.

Mikey gained a growing group of worshippers rather quickly. He hates it immensely, but his family finds it hilarious. With his mystic powers only gaining strength, and getting increasingly flashy as well, it wasn't too much of a surprise that people would see him as an angel, godlike figure, or deity. He was the heaviest hitter of the Resistance, even before Raph's passing, and spent any free time he had either speaking to their ancestors or helping people nurture the little remaining hope in their base. Despite being almost constantly on the frontlines of the worst battles, Mikey has the fewest scars.

AND, FINALLY: Heights. With a quickly added April to help out. Again, these are at the latest stage of their lives, because Raph would definitely have been Much Bigger Than That had he lived to be Leo's old man age.

(And Donnie has always been the taller twin. It's not his fault Leo had more time to gain a few inches on him.)

[tizeline]

What is Draxum's relationships with each of his kids?

I'd assume he's closest to Mikey due to their shared interest in the mystic arts, as well as Mikey's emotional attachment to anyone he considers family 🥰

I find it funny how similar Donnie and Draxum are in cannon and I wonder how that will play out in this AU

The same thing with Leo and Splinter were very similar to each other despite being on opposing sides.

Yeah, I'd say Draxum and Mikey are the closest with each other. Draxum loves all his sons, but he really has a soft spot for Mikey. Mikey in turn is very devoted to Draxum, I've mentioned it before but Mikey's strong desire to do the right thing paired up with a lifetime of his father convincing him that destroying humanity is the right thing has led to Mikey being very determined to fulfill Draxum's plan. Also him being a prodigy with mystic powers leads to him spending a lot of time training his abilites with Draxum.

Raph is basically Draxum's second in command, as the oldest of his brothers he of course is the leader of the team when Draxum isn't the one issuing out orders. Draxum puts a lot of responsibility on Raph, responsibility that Raph very much takes seriously so Draxum as a result also has a lot of trust in him.

Poor Leo is still very much dealing with some intense Middle Child Syndrome here lol. To be clear, Draxum still loves Leo, and vice versa, but Draxum's role as a parent has a tendency to clash with his role as a... what, a military commander? Something along those lines. Listen, he's preparing to lead the yokai into war against the humans, and with his sons on the frontlines he needs to quickly figure out their individual strengths so that can help them evolve their specific skillsets. Mikey has his mystic abilities, Raph has his physical power and Leo.... Well, we know that Leo's expertise lies in his strategic thinking, except neither he nor Draxum has figured that out yet lol. Draxum is the leader, he comes up with the plans, and Raph's in charge otherwise. He doesn't notice Leo's leadership capabilities because he doesn't even think to look for them.

Leo's situation is kinda similar in this AU to what is in canon, where his self-esteem issues caused by him not feeling like he's bringing enough to the team paired up with him being a total Daddy's Boy and craving parental validation that he doesn't feel like he's getting because Draxum is more focused on Leo's brothers so he acts out to get attention and again Draxum's parental duties clashes with his WAR LORD duties or whatever because dammit son I love you but you need to quit goofing off you're a soldier and uh.... yeah...... Leo feeling a bit like the black sheep of his family (hah, sheep, cuz Draxum's a... hah) is another contributing factor to him being the first to turn sides.

And yeah, you make a good point, Donnie being so similar to Draxum vs Leo being so similar to Splinter is.... ooooooo, that's fun, there's so much potential there. Draxum's definitely dissapointed that Donnie's so gifted when it comes to the sciences only for him to be all like "Alchemy??🤨🤨🤨 Mystic science??🤨🤨🤨 That's not scientifically accurate!🤨🤨🤨" and just rejecting almost anything yokai-related.

Actually, Leo reminding Draxum of Splinter has a lot of fun possibilites too. Draxum being all like "Ah, he's just like Lou Jitsu!🤩" while simultaniously being all like "Ugh, he's just like Lou Jitsu...😒"

[teaableu]

First refs for the Even More Disasters au which took me a LOT longer than I bargained for

I wouldn’t be surprised if I changed some things here and there as me and @3lectricinsomnia work on it but this is a starting point

Here’s Somni’s summary of the au: 

Also sorry for my handwriting, I have the typed text below the cut :)

ONE - Experiment 001D-Alpha 9

soldier

draxum trained him as early as possible

not REALLY a ninja, but he’s been partly trained as one

Gets Two out of trouble

Insanely keen strategist/manipulator

follows Draxum’s orders but not blindly

Draxum always on his back, pushing him too hard

Poor self-care

Draxum makes him responsible for Two [would also be responsible for more people if One had more under his command]

LOTS of pressure to live up to expectations

Learned healing to help with Two’s injuries/health [see missing ARM]

Used to being in charge -> conflict with Raph

Hidden City knows he’s trouble

Raised to fulfill Drax’s mission but actually pretty [self-oriented, where he would prioritize his (and Two’s) own interests over Draxum’s if necessary]

Excellent escape artist even without portaling 

TWO - Experiment 002D-Alpha 9

Anger Issues

Raised to follow One’s orders

Minimal training -> less muscle than in canon or than One

Dadxum gets him to focus primarily on recreating what Lou Jitsu destroyed

^^ obviously takes a lot of time, so Two doesn’t really know how to fight and relies on Leo (don’t mind me using their names interchangeably)

Still tech savvy but with added expertise in mysticism and alchemy (thanks Drax)

Desperate for Dad’s approval... doesn’t get much

poor self-preservation

Unethical science (dad-approved)

Evil scientist fr

not really a GOD complex, but thinks he’s indestructible [see ARM]

feels isolated from One most of the time, more like he’s Don’s commander more than his brother

ARROWS (Left to right, up to down)

One:

Retractable claws

Gets them out of trouble

Bro’s got that Bluetooth Heart

[Shirt] Back exposed

Two:

Gets them into trouble

[Goggles] more for protection

Enhanced vision via tech contact lenses

Gas mask for work and trips to surface

Mystic cape in place of battle shell and for stealth

Power source for One’s heart and Two’s arm

Also, possible spine (spike) implants for additional defense, would be attached to nerves and mobile/reactive (instinctive, like hackles)

[Boot] makes him as tall as One

Both:

Both don’t have access to their ninpō, to Drax’s disappointment -> Two has a personal mission to artificially give/activate their mystic powers (lots of self-experiments, yikes)

[dandylovesturtles]

Whats Draxum’s redemption arc in sideline look like (if he even gets one lmaooo)

thanks for the ask! this got long so I'm putting a lot of it under a cut

at this point, I have committed to Draxum's redemption arc in Sidelined, because I like Draxum and I love a good redemption arc haha. That said, as I've said a few times before, it wouldn't be easy for him, and it definitely wouldn't go down like in the show, where Mikey just kind of drags him into it. he'd have to work for it himself

it's probably good to start this by talking about my own interpretation of Draxum and the Draxum characterization I'm working with in this AU. while I love a good Evil Bastard Draxum, in canon I read him as more of one of those people who truly believed he was the hero so hard he tipped over into villainy on accident. which doesn't mean he didn't enjoy what he was doing, and he's definitely uncaring of the lives around him (he's got some of that mad scientist spark), but in contrast to the Foot Clan who are actively trying to subjugate the whole world (presumably under the belief that they'll get to be the top brass in the new world order), Draxum is actually just trying to save his people. a noble end, even if the means he's choosing involves eradicating another race of beings entirely. and I'm generally of the belief that if Draxum had actually kept the turtles, if he had been in charge of their raising, he might have initially started out thinking of them purely as warriors to be molded for his aims, but eventually would have come to see them as their own people, as children (yes, it's entirely possible to raise children and still have disregard for them as people, but I'm giving Draxum the benefit of the doubt in this one).

however, Draxum didn't raise them from babies - they just showed up at his house one day, raising weapons against him and blowing up his lab. so he's still thinking of them purely as warriors - young and inexperienced warriors, sure, but warriors nonetheless. he's not really thinking about how they're only teenagers, about how they might have dreams and wants and needs that have nothing to do with fighting, how they actually love and care for each other as a family. I said this in another ask, but Draxum thinks the idea of them calling each other "brothers" and Lou Jitsu "father" is actually laughable. in his mind, it's just pointless to even read any kind of family structure into their relationship. they are at most superiors and subordinates.

when Draxum put Leo in the Dark Armor, Splinter saw it as his fourteen-year-old son, his Baby Blue, being tortured and possibly killed right before his eyes. Draxum saw it as sacrificing a pawn in front of a general.

of course, callous disregard for a living person is bad no matter how you see it, but there's still a definite difference in perception here.

it's not until 1, Draxum realizes he was horribly wrong about what the Armor is and what the consequences of awakening it are, and 2, he witnesses the way the family reacts to what is happening to Leo, not as group of warriors down a man but as a family desperately trying to save a loved one, a piece of themselves, that it finally clicks for him what he's done.

Draxum goes on a long soul-searching retreat after that (he's also hiding from the Hidden City government but that's a side note). how could the love he had for his people drive him down such a dark and reckless path? how could he not see what was right in front of him, until he caused serious damage to the place he was trying so hard to save? how could he be so callous to someone who, annoying as he may be, is ultimately innocent?

initially he does this soul-searching far away from the Hamatos. he still has his powers in this timeline, so he makes do with stealing and finding places to take over and live. but at some point he starts thinking, maybe he wants to try and make amends for what he did, even if it's in just a small way. and even with his humbling he's still a little full of himself, so he's like, of course this ragtag bunch would want the help of Baron Draxum

(they do not)

so he starts by trying to give them practical help. he can imagine that Leonardo has significant medical issues following his time in the armor, and while it's not his primary field he knows enough about healing draughts to get by, and while there's no magic potion that will "fix" Leo, there are ones that can help with the pain and fatigue, in some ways better than human medicines, and that can help strengthen his immune system. He tries to give these to the Hamatos (specifically Mikey and Donnie while they're out scavenging one day) and gets pretty soundly rebuffed. Donnie is in "kill on sight" mode, and while Mikey is more likely to at least hear Draxum out, he also has no reason to trust anything the man gives them, especially when he suggests they feed it to Leo. so they don't take the offerings initially. Draxum eventually settles for leaving them in a cache near one of the sewer tunnel entrances, if they want it.

and then Leo gets really sick, and is in a lot of pain. Leo's immune system, like everything else about his body, is pretty weak following the armor, and he can't fight off the flu or an infection as well as he could before. so Leo is sick and in pain and Donnie and Mikey remember the cache of healing potions.

(I actually considered writing this fic awhile back and then never did haha, but here's what I had in my notes for it:

Splinter kneels on the side of the bed. "I'm sorry, Blue. We'll get you more medicine soon."

Leo reaches one hand out and Splinter takes it quickly. "Daddy," he whines, tears starting to roll down his cheeks, and oh, Donnie realizes, Leo really is hurting.

He quietly and casually deletes the last ten minutes of audio in his recordings. No one else needs to hear this.)

again, they aren't stupid - they aren't just going to feed Leo some random potions given to them by the guy that hurt him in the first place. but they can go find out if the potions are legit. so time for a trip to Witch Town!

they probably have some kind of misadventure while they're there (I'm imagining Mikey is joining Donnie and April this time), but they do manage to ascertain that the potions are legit. still, they end up getting the same potions made by someone else instead, just in case. but they remember that Draxum did try to help them, that time.

I imagine this happens several times, where Draxum just shows up to help them, they tell him to get lost after, before it starts to sink in that maybe Draxum is actually trying to turn things around. I don't think it ever quite gets to "Mikey calling him their second dad" level, but they do start to accept him as a begrudging ally and eventual weird uncle.

he has to seriously and sincerely apologize to Leo first, though. and Leo doesn't want to forgive him at first, and that's okay. these things take time.

anyway that's all. thanks for the ask again!

[baskeigh-ball]

Loving your seperated raph au so far! So if Raph wasn't around, Leo must be the leader up til now? How did that affect his personality?

Thanks so much! And I actually have several ideas for their dynamic without Raph that I've been exploring, so prepare for a long-winded rant because I have Too Many Thoughts

I've brainstormed a lot about how the leadership role would work with Raph out of the picture, and my consensus is that Leo isn't a full-fledged leader. Instead, he and Donnie accidentally end up as co-leaders!

And by "accidentally", I mean "Leo elects himself as leader but Donnie hates the idea of being ordered around by his slightly-older annoying twin so much that he turns it into a competition for the leadership role". Actually in this context, I'd call it more of a president/vice-president dynamic, with Leo taking charge more often and Donnie occasionally stepping up if he doesn't agree with a decision. Poor Mikey kinda ends up stuck in the middle of all this, lol.

Outside of leadership, Leo is definitely more responsible as the self-appointed oldest brother, but that responsibility is more spread out between him and his brothers than it is with canon Raph. My reasoning behind this is how he's just barely the eldest. The difference in age between him and Donnie is so small that his younger brothers feel more inclined to help him out. Overall, the trio is more mature than in canon, but not by much (this isn't one of those super serious AUs where it's all about survival and familial issues, trust me. they're still a bunch of gremlins that love each other and do as they please, they just. know how to do their chores now.)

Also side note, without Raph around to be the tank/shield that takes the big hits, the trio's missions default to stealth if they're unfamiliar with whoever they're facing. At least until they get a handle on their mystic weapons; after that they can go into fights guns-blazing in all of their unhinged glory >:] (and i'd say Donnie with his tech takes up the mantle as the "tank" of the group, i mean did u see the first episode's fight with draxum? he was the only one getting effective hits in)

Exploring their dynamic is gonna be fun, especially how Leo and Raph might clash about leadership once things start winding down and Raph is finding his place in the family. He'd definitely feel like he should be the protector, what with his size, strength, battle skills, street smarts, etc etc, but I imagine the trio would be hesitant about the idea. After all, they've survived just fine up until now. Sure, they've got a few extra scars they could've done without, but they're still kicking!

To sum it up, Leo and Donnie somewhat share leading the team while also competing to become the True Leader, then Raph comes along and unwittingly joins in on the competition while Mikey has to just Deal in the background. Wonder how long it'll take for Dr Delicate Touch to step in?

Anyways, rant over. I hope this answered your question! (and sorry if it's kinda rambly, my thoughts usually come out as word vomit and this is the first time i'm posting them publicly ('._.))

[our-happygirl500-fan]

In regards to the third season of Rise (that we have yet to get), we know that the general outline of the plot of season 3 was that the Turtles find out that they have two more siblings & the family then each split up to go look for them, two turtles going with Draxum & two turtles going with Splinter to look for their  missing siblings.

Since we have yet to get season 3 we can only speculate which two Turtles would have gone with Splinter & which two Turtles would have gone with Draxum, we honestly could have gotten any combination but my theory is that the teams would have been Raph & Donnie going with Splinter and Leo & Mikey going with Draxum.

The first part of my theory comes from the fact that I think Leo & Raph would have been on separate teams.  

Splinter: Oh And Blue You Are The Leader Now

The line about Leo becoming leader suddenly at the end of season two was actually never supposed to happen originally & the Rise team said it was a little joke about how season two being cut in half made it so that they didn’t get the chance to do their ‘Leader Leonardo’ arc that they had originally planned.

The original plan for Leo in season two was that Leo was supposed to be pushed into roles where he had to take charge throughout season 2, with him & the family coming to realise that Leo had a genuine talent for leadership & the season would end with Raph & Leo as co-leaders. But due season two getting cut in half the Rise team said they basically had to speed run Leo’s leadership arc with the Movie.

Since Raph & Leo were originally planned to be co-leaders, I think when the family splits up they would be on different teams because it doesn’t make much sense to put both leaders on the same team & leave one team without a leader.

The reason I believe that Raph would be on Splinter’s team though is that we have yet to have an episode that gives insight to Splinter’s relationship with Raph, while we have had episodes that give insight to Splinter’s relationship with the rest of the Turtles which basically means that we are due for a Raph & Splinter episode & season 3 would have been a good opportunity to do it.

With Raph on Splinter’s team, Leo would have been placed on Draxum’s team by default.

Due to Mikey having the closest relationship with Draxum out of all the Turtles I think Mikey being on Draxum’s team would make the most sense with Donnie then being placed on Splinter’s team by default.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 31: Amnestic Syndrome

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

It has been a wonderful few days.

Leo has been chillin' like a king.

Casey got a suntan.

Raph caught a hermit crab while swimming and giddily showed it off to everyone.

Donnie started (and won) a squirt gun war.

Splinter has been napping nonstop, which is not exactly different from the norm but he's happy as a clam and has 100% been enjoying the seafood dinners.

Even Draxum has benefitted from this whole thing, having been reunited with Huginn and Muninn. He's even offered them their jobs back as his shoulder pads! Or whatever it is they're supposed to do.

And, of course, Mikey is having the time of his life running free and uncontained. Leo can't remember the last time he saw him so energetic and happy; it's like he's a little kid again.

Mikey has asked to go explore the heart of the island today, and so the four brothers are off on a hike into the beautiful jungle. Raph and Leo mostly lead the way, though Mikey runs off in different directions and they change course to accommodate. It reminds Leo of when they were turtle tots exploring the sewer tunnels. Raph would always take the lead as the eldest, though Leo (headstrong child that he was) would often fight to take charge or go a different way that looked cooler. Donnie and Mikey would walk hand in hand together until Mikey's hyperactivity went into overdrive and he'd start hooting and hollering and race up and down the tunnels excitedly. Leo would go chasing after him in a game of tag, Raph would cry because he was afraid they'd get lost, and Donnie would remain unconcerned. Ah, what good times they had...

Leo notices that Mikey had gone off in a certain direction not too long ago, but now can barely hear him. Scratch that, he can't hear or see him at all.

"Mikey?" Leo calls out. "Where are ya, bud?"

Donnie instinctively looks down at his wrist tech. Raph starts walking in the direction that Mikey's gone off in. He walks past the brush and flora...

Mikey comes bounding out of the bushes and pounces on Raphael, causing him to yipe in fright and topple over. Leo yelps at the literal jumpscare, but his fright turns to uproarious laughter at Raphael's face. Donnie smirks to himself and mumbles something along the lines of "I knew he was there."

Raph lays on the ground, gasping for breath as Mikey sits on his plastron with an enormous grin, tail wagging happily at the prank's success. Leo is on the ground cackling.

"Okay, okay, you got me," Raph sighs, picking Mikey up and off of his chest. "You can stop laughing now, Leo."

Leo, in fact, does not stop laughing for five more minutes.

The four press on.

Leo has to hold onto Donnie's arm for support after all that laughing. Dee isn't such a huge fan of that, especially with all the heat and humidity from the tropical climate. But he seems preoccupied. Leo happens to glance over and catches him looking at his wrist tech again.

"What are you doing?" Leo asks, leaning over to get a look for himself.

"Just checking something."

Leo notices several colour-coded icons.

"The trackers?"

"Yes. Since we are on a remote island and Michael has a tendency to just go running off when excited, I have been making sure that I know where he is at all times."

Leo looks back up at Donatello's face. His drawn-on eyebrows are furrowed, a crease on his fivehead and a stare of intensity in his eyes.

When Mikey first went missing, Dee would just stare at the tracking program and reupload new lines of code, debug it, update it, even turn the program off and then on again. He sat at his computer for an entire day, trying to understand what had happened. It worked fine for a few hours after Raph and Leo had reported Mikey MIA. But then, suddenly, it flickered and died out. Donnie didn't speak for the entire rest of the night, only staring at his screen and trying to get it back online. Leo had tried talking to him about it, But Donnie remained adamant that his tech and his ninpo were unparalleled. It would have taken massive voltage or some kind of mystic EMP like what the Krang had to deactivate it.

....Now, thinking it over, and after they'd discovered Mikey's altered DNA and the fact that he'd experienced severe electric charges, it began to make sense as to why the tracker was deactivated.

But it was like Donnie had said before -- it wasn't just deactivated, his tracker was removed. And though Leo and the others had considered it an invasion of privacy, Donnie's subdermal trackers came in handy more often than not, and Leo had found it was Dee's way of showing them that he cared about them all deeply. Not being able to know where Mikey was, or if he was alive... terrified him. Terrified all of them.

All that to say, Leo understands perfectly well why Donnie has been checking the trackers as often as possible.

Leo lets go of Donnie's arm, walking side by side with him.

The hike -- while being almost unbearably hot and through thick jungles -- is actually quite fun! Even with Mikey's occasional jumpscare pranks on the three.

Donnie goes into nerd mode, analyzing the flora and taking samples for later.

Raph is having fun chasing after Mikey and playing games with him. Mikey's memory issues and slight confusion make it seem like he's much younger than he really is, and Raph has missed being able to baby him like this. Some part of Leo thinks this might become an issue later on, but for the moment, Mikey is happy to have fun and Raph is happy to reminisce on days when his baby brother used to play with him like this.

And Leo is just happy to enjoy this time with his brothers. Even if he's constantly getting trampled by Michelangelo.

Speaking of which, Mikey is due for another jumpscare any minute now. Leo is on guard, listening for the little hunter. Mikey's inherited crazy impressive instincts from the added DNA. He somehow knows how not to make a single sound when moving, even in the tall grass and thick roots. He's fast, too, like blink-and-you-miss-it fast. You usually don't even realise he's stalking you until you're face-down in the dirt with him giggling on your back. Leo looks around cautiously for him. He sure is taking his sweet time...

Raph starts checking behind ferns and large flowers.

"Gee, he sure is hiding pretty well this time. I can't see him anywhere!"

Leo starts looking with him, checking the tree limbs to see if he's going to do another aerial ambush. But he can't see him anywhere.

"How does someone covered in neon yellow polka dots get so good at camouflage?? It's like he's not even here!"

"...That's probably because he isn’t, Nardo."

Leo and Raph turn to Donnie, who is looking down at his wrist tech.

"Mikey is several meters away from us. He ran off five minutes ago and has been stationary for quite some time. I suggest we go looking for him. The fact that he hasn't moved for five minutes is mildly concerning."

Leo and Raph follow behind Donatello as he leads the way towards a small clearing. Donnie pushes aside a group of monsteras, revealing a tiny river and waterfall hidden within the jungle. Large and exotic flowers grow around the clearing, almost fencing it in. The riverbank is made from volcanic rocks -- glassy obsidian and smoothed pumice and shimmering gabro. Leo and Raph ooh and awe at the scenery.

"Mikey is somewhere in here," Donnie says, looking around. "According to my GPS, he should be right around -- yipe!!"

Donnie yelps as he stumbles forward, nearly falling into a hidden pit just in front of them. The pit is obscured by the grass and alocasias growing around it, almost covering the opening completely. And to top it off, there is a short but unexpected drop-down from the area around the clearing, like an unexpected stair.

Both Raph and Leo grab Donnie by the shoulders and yank him back. He glances back with a grumble.

"What island has a secret hidden pit lying around?!"

From deep within the pit, they hear a chirp.

"Mikey!" Raph calls, stepping around the pit and looking down into it. "Is that you?"

"Hi, Raphie..."

"Are you okay?" Leo shouts.

"M'fine, just stuck."

"Stuck? Stuck how?" Leo asks, peering into the pit.

He can see Mikey sitting at the bottom of the pit, hands and feet doused in mud and muck. He looks awfully embarrased.

"Can't you just climb out?"

"Tried," Mikey answers. "Too slippery. Rocks are too wet an' slimy, Mikey just kept sliding on the mud!"

"Well, this is the time when I reiterate why we should always bring our mystic weapons with us when hiking," Donnie grumbles, crossing his arms.

"It was just a walk in the jungle! It's not like we were going to fight anything! Why bring them?" Leo refutes.

"Oh, I don't know, in case Mikey falls in a hole and we need to A: make a portal to get him out, B: Use giant elongated hands to lift him out, or C: create impossibly futuristic tech to get him out!"

"Okay, Einstein!" Leo growls. "It was just a suggestion! You could have actually brought your bō, I wasn't gonna stop you --"

"Can we stop shiftin' blame and get to helpin' Mikey already?" Raph yells, grabbing the twins' attention.

"Right right right," Leo stammers. "Well, Donnie actually gave me an idea! We can't really use our ninpo without our magic weapons, but you know who can?"

"…Mikey?"

"Exactly!" Leo says with a smile.

He leans down and calls into the pit.

"Yo, Mike! Just make a mystic chain and climb out!"

Mikey stares up at him, cocking his head in confusion.

"How?"

"Y'know, with your... mystic abilities? Your ninpo?"

"Whazza ninpo?" he asks.

Leo swallows. Both Raph and Donnie exchange glances.

"It's... it's like a superpower you have. It's a part of the family, you can do all kinds of cool stuff! Your ninpo is usually making these cool glowy chains... though, you were starting to do some new things, too... B-but, just try making a chain," Leo says, rambling awkwardly.

"How do I make a chain?" Mikey asks, slightly annoyed. "I can't make anything down here!"

"No, not like make it with your hands -- Make it with your mind!"

"My mind?" Mikey asks incredulously.

"Sorta, I'm not sure exactly how your mystic abilities work -- but for me, I usually just think of where I want to go and the portals take me there. Just try concentrating. Think about family, that might help. Your ninpo is powered by our family bond!"

Mikey stares blankly at Leo, as if he just told him his spots were purple and not yellow. But... Mikey trusts Leo, so...

He concentrates. He thinks hard.

"...Nothing's happening."

"Just keep trying!" Leo calls down. "I believe in you!"

Leo believes in him. Mikey trusts Leo. Family bond. Think about family. Make a chain. Concentrate...

Mikey's spots start flickering.

He squeezes his eyes so tight he gets a headache. He balls his hands into fists until the claws dig into his palms. His muscles tense.

"Woah, Mikey, don't hurt yourself! You're gonna give yourself a hernia or something --"

Mikey barely hears him. He growls and grunts and groans, blood vessels in his forehead popping from the effort as he tries.

He can't let them down. He can't let them know the truth. They're his FAMILY. Just... just... FOCUS!

Mikey's markings flicker once more... twice...

Something bright and glowing golden starts to form... shapes, materializing like dust in the air.

Think about family. Think about family. Think about --

Think about how you are not a part of their family anymore, no matter how hard you try to deny it.

Mikey's markings dim, the light goes out. The chains decay before they ever take solid shape.

He sighs, slamming his fists against his thighs in frustration.

"I-- I can't do it. I don't know how!"

Leo, Donnie, and Raph each look at one another.

"...Okay, Mikey. It's... it's okay, we'll get you out another way. Hey, Raph! Don! I think I saw some vines on our way in, let's try those..."

The three Hamato brothers leave Mikey alone in the pit. Alone with his thoughts. With his failings. With only his Instinct.

The trio are back within moments, having collected several vines and bound them together to create a rope for Mikey to climb up on.

They cheer when he emerges, but Mikey doesn't meet their eyes. The cheers simmer down, replaced by an awkward silence.

"So... Mikey," Leo sighs, placing a hand on his little brother's quilled shoulder. "I think it's time we had a talk..."

.

.

.

Mikey cleans the muck from his lower half before talking. He rubs the mud out from between his toes and talons, digging under his fingernails and doing his best to get himself presentable for the talk.

He's stalling. They all know he's stalling.

But Mikey has been dreading this conversation since the day they got him back from the labs.

Mikey's feet dangle in the stream, playing in the gentle flow of water. He wishes he could just stay here and stay quiet, never have this talk. It feels different from a scolding. Mikey doesn't mind scoldings, he's used to them from the labs. Though, his brothers are much nicer about their scoldings than the scientists were. But this isn’t a scolding, he can tell. It's something worse. It's a confrontation… As Mikey is marinating in dread and river water, Raph comes up behind him and rubs his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy? Ready to talk yet?"

Mikey shakes his head no.

"Do we hafta talk?" he whispers.

"I think so," Raph whispers back. "This is important."

"I didn't mean to do bad," Mikey says softly, pulling his knees close to his chest. "I tried my hardest! I really did! But... I-I couldn't do it."

Raph hums in response. He's not sure what to say.

"...Don't feel bad about that. You tried really hard, I saw. We just... wanna help you figure this out, okay?"

Mikey takes a deep breath and exhales loudly.

"Okay."

Mikey takes Raphael's hands and shakily stands up, his big bro helping him to walk normally over to where the twins are waiting.

"Hey, Angelo!" Leo greets with a nervous smile. "You all cleaned up?"

Mikey nods, sitting himself down, just outside of their circle. They don't let that slide; both Raph and Leo scoot out to make him a part of their formation.

"Great. So, uh... I guess you're all wondering why I called you here --" Leo starts.

"Skip the jokes and get to the point," Donnie interjects.

"Yeesh, tough crowd! Okay, okay. Look, Mikey, we've noticed that you've been... uh, how shall we say... acting oddly around us."

Mikey swallows. He tries not to let his anxiety rise any more than it already is.

"Odd? U-uh, how?"

"You threw away your chucks," Leo lists.

"You couldn't recall our names," Donnie adds. "And I've seen the way you react when we call you 'Angelo'. I suspect you don't know your full name is Michelangelo, and not simply Mikey."

"And April said you asked her why she cares about you, or why she didn't look like us if she was our sister," Leo reminds him. "And you reacted weirdly when Dad showed you our family photos."

"You also didn't recognize Draxum," Raph contributes to the list. "And you don't remember what the Prison Dimension or the Krang are, do you?"

Mikey thinks about bluffing. But his lack of response betrays him. He sees Leo flinch and go pale at the mention, Donnie shudders and squirms. Even Raph's body language shifts. But Mikey doesn't get it. He's caught.

"Casey talked about the future, and you had no clue. You get confused by inside jokes or references, and I'm pretty sure you have no idea that Dad is actually Lou Jitsu."

"He's who?!" Mikey asks, though it takes a moment for the memory of who Lou Jitsu is to process.

"See, that's what's concerning us," Leo exclaims. "Mikey, we don't mind that you're confused, but... you aren't telling us the whole picture. And what happened with your ninpo kind of confirms what we've been suspecting for a while now..."

Mikey's head buzzes loudly. He feels ill.

"Mikey... you don't actually remember us, do you?"

His eyes sting, blurring over. He hyperventilates, he can't catch his breath. His hands clasp onto his skinny arms, his legs fold close to his chest, his tail wraps around him. His limbs trap him in a cage, the spines and spikes and quills stand on edge to protect him from the panic attack. His brothers The others try to calm him, but Mikey can't hear anything over his weeping and wailing.

Mikey rocks back and forth, feeling like he might vomit. Raphael places a hand on his shoulder. Mikey screams, swatting the hand away in a panic. Mikey stammers and stutters, not even sure what he's supposed to be saying. He wants to convey how scared he is, how hard he's trying to hold it together, how bad he feels at letting them down, the terror he has at having been caught in the lie. But all he can hear himself say is 'please please please' and 'sorry sorry sorry'.

Hands take his own. Mikey looks up and blearily sees the colour purple.

"Mikey. Can you hear me?"

Mikey nods. It's hard to breathe. He doesn't say it out loud, but the deep and desperate gasps he's making are obvious indicators.

"Focus on me, okay? Follow my lead. In one --" Donnie makes an exaggerated inhale, posture arching. "-- out two." His exhale is loud and exaggerated, his stature relaxes.

Mikey tries to repeat him. His breathing is sporadic, he feels like he's failing him at the most simplistic of things--!

"Hey, hey, focus on me, right? Just focus on my voice, on my breathing. In for one, out for two."

Mikey follows his lead, eyes locked onto Donnie's.

"There we go. In for one, out for two. In for two, out for four. In for four, out for six..."

Donnie and Mikey do the breathing exercises until Mikey's lungs find a rhythm. He calms, hiccups and suck-ups following suit, but they slow soon enough. Donnie manages a tiny smile, an attempt to comfort. He pats the ground around Mikey's knees.

"Mikey, can you tell me what you're sitting on?"

Mikey looks down.

"G-grass...?"

"What do you smell?"

"Fl-flow-wers...? M-m-m-mud. W-water, s-sea water...! R-Raph..."

He hears Leo chuckle.

"Name three things you can see."

Mikey glances around.

"M-Mikey sees you... sees brothers... um, sees trees? And stream... is, is that three?"

"Yes, that's three. You're doing great. Now, can you tell me how we got here?"

"W-walked here. Mikey ran, f-fell in a pit..." he starts crying again. "I-I couldn't get out, I couldn't do the --"

"It's okay, stay present with me," Donnie soothes, rubbing his thumbs over Michelangelo's hands. "Just stay focused on the present moment."

Mikey sighs, tries breathing again. Stay present. Stay focused. Okay...

Donnie talks to him, asking simple and easy questions, such as 'what do you hear?' and 'what colour is the sky?' and 'can you taste this?' after handing him a honeysuckle. Mikey calms down quickly after that.

The other two sit at a respectable distance, making sure not to overwhelm him. After some time, and Donnie's calming techniques, Leo crawls towards them.

"You okay?" he asks cautiously, reaching out to hold Mikey's hand.

Mikey nods and hums a 'yes'.

'Sorry,' he signs. 'Got really scared.'

'That's okay,' Leo signs back. 'We didn't mean to freak you out. Just wanted to talk about it.'

"Can we still talk about it?" Raph asks gently, looking Mikey over. "I mean, if you're okay with that."

Mikey nods, crawling into Donnie's lap for comfort.

"Mikey ready..."

"Okay then," Donnie sighs. "Mikey, we need you to be honest with us so we can be sure to take proper care of you. How much do you actually remember?"

"Mmmm... not a lot," he whimpers. "Mikey remembers a few things... small things. L-Like random moments."

"That would be the brain sauce Draxum made doin' its thing," Raph nods.

"But other than that..?" Leo asks.

"But… o-other than that... Mikey can't remember anything before the labs," he shamefully admits.

"Mikey, why didn't you tell us?" Donnie questions.

"Scared to," he whines. "Didn't want to admit it, didn't want to disappoint you... Y-you all love Mikey so much, and I don't... I don't know why... I don't know who Mikey is, and I just... I wanted you to... be happy. I wanted to be Mikey for you."

Mikey feels Donnie wrap his arms around him and press his face against his head. He's shaking. Leo scoots in and hugs the two of them together. Raph joins in last, his arms just barely long enough to engulf them all.

"Miguel... we want to help you get better, we want to help you remember everything --" Leo states.

"B-but what if I c-can't?" Mikey sobs.

"Then we'll love you regardless. If you never remember us, or yourself... then that's okay. I mean, it'll suck, I won't lie. But it won't be like we've lost you. You're still here, you're just figuring out who you are again. And we'll help you."

"But I-I didn't want you to know!" Mikey wails. "I didn't want to tell you that I wasn't Mikey anymore! I wanted you to love me, I wanted to-- to-- I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Donnie pulls him tighter.

"Mikey... I do love you. Whether you remember me or not. Whether you remember yourself or not. I will always love you."

Mikey sobs and clutches the others his brothers tightly.

"Mikey... there's something we need to tell you, too," Leo sighs. "Something we probably should have told you earlier."

Mikey looks up at him anxiously.

"It's about your DNA."

Mikey nods slowly, prompting him to go on.

"Well... when we got you home and Donnie did the scan, we found out what you were mutated with. It was... a lot."

"Specifically it was jaguar, basilisk lizard, boa constrictor, baboon, mandrill, and proboscis monkey," Donnie interjects.

"Thank you, Brainiac Unlimited™ for that one."

Mikey nods again, seemingly unfazed for the most part. Leo wonders if he's still processing it all, or knew the information beforehand, or... maybe just doesn't care? He mentioned doing lots of tests at the labs, so he probably already figured he had multiple creatures' genetics inside of him now.

"Well, Donnie left out one crucial piece of info..." Leo mentions.

"Leo, I still don't think it's a good idea," Raph murmurs.

"We want him to be honest with us, we need to be honest with him. He has to know."

"Know what?" Mikey asks curiously.

"Leo is referring to how your DNA was primarily mutated with Krang," Donnie blurts before Raph can intervene.

The four are silent as Mikey processes.

"...So?"

"The Krang still don't mean anything to you?" Raph asks. "Not ringing any bells?"

Mikey thinks.

"You said something about Krang at the junkyard," he recalls. "And Casey mentioned them a little. The lab people talked about them, too. But I don't really know what they are..."

"They're aliens," Leo explains. "They're very dangerous aliens. They tried to invade Earth several months ago, but we fought them."

Mikey's eyes widen.

"Am... am I an alien?"

"Part alien," Donnie clarifies. "But we still consider you 100% Mikey."

"Dangerous aliens... you fought them... I-I remembered Leo said --"

Mikey pauses, eyes bulging and breath quickening as the realization hits him like a train.

"Prison Dimension. Did... was that because of the Krang? Of me??"

"No!" Leo says, unintentionally shouting as he grabs Mikey by the arm. "No, no! That was not you! You didn't do that, the Krang... the Krang didn't even do that, actually, it was --"

Leo sighs.

"...It was my choice. The Prison Dimension was made to hold the Krang inside, but they got free because of me. My stupid ego and my dumb mistakes. A-and... the only way to... I had to do something, and there wasn't any time to think of a better solution, and so... so I...."

"You portaled yourself and the Krang into the Prison Dimension and had Casey trap you both inside," Raph finishes.

"Yeah," Leo says, swallowing as he shakes. "That."

Mikey stares at Leo, eyes popping out of his head. He'd mentioned the Prison Dimension, he'd shows his aversion to it, and Mikey had even remembered scenes where he and his family dealt with the aftermath of it all. But... he didn't expect this. He didn't expect it to be because of monsters.

"...How did Leo get out?"

"You did that, actually," Leo chuckles. "With your ninpo."

"Mikey did that?" he echoes, looking around for someone to deny it. "With the ninpo?"

"Yep. Your mystic powers were growing, and Casey told us that you became the most powerful master of magic in the future! You didn't let that tidbit go, and you kept trying to make magic portals the whole time we fought, even though our mystic abilities were nullified by... the...Krang..."

Leo's voice trails off. The four exchange glances.

"The Krang had some kind of supersonic screech that deactivated our ninpo. Could it be that..."

"Is that why I can't do the ninpo anymore?" Mikey asks. "Because I'm... Krang?"

"I-I don't know, but it's a theory," Donnie suggests. "We'll talk to Draxum and Papa about it. We'll figure it out."

Mikey pauses, looking down at his hands. his claws.

"The Krang are evil... right?"

They don't answer, but their silence speaks volumes. Mikey looks up at them, trying to meet their eyes.

"Do... do you hate me because I'm Krang now?"

This is why I said it was a bad idea to tell him.

He deserves to know! And it might be tough, but --

"You dum-dums do know you're not talking and it's making Michael uncomfortable, right?" Donnie scolds, cradling Mikey a little closer.

"Oh!" Leo snaps back. "No! No, Mikey, no, of course not! Look, we were kind of nervous about the Krang DNA, but only because we weren't sure how you'd deal with the news."

"And I was concerned about the ramifications of modifying mutant DNA with alien genetics, but yes. Emotional stability was in question," Donnie adds.

"But you are not a monster just because you have alien DNA now. You're still our Michelangelo, and we still love you."

"...You love me now...."

Mikey remembered the conversation he and Leo had the other day, and how Leo had said he'd love him if you were a worm, or a regular turtle, and if he were a monster. Leo finished his little declaration by saying 'I love you now', and Mikey had found the wording strange. Not anymore, now he understood what Leo meant. He's a monster now.

And Leo loves him now, just as always.

Mikey cannot understand this. But he accepts it for the moment, resting his head against his brothers and just… stays here. Trying to understand why they don't hate him, why they keep trying to convince him he's not a monster when the evidence is starting to stack up against him.

But Mikey just accepts it. He'll understand it later.

.

.

.

The scientists have been very interested in Mikey's control of the human covered in pink parasites. They've been doing a lot of tests and examinations.

He's not required to move or do anything. He sits and lets them do what they want. They look him over, poke and prod him, lift his scales and scutes and quills. A doctor shines a light in his eyes, giving Mikey a headache. Another pricks him with a needle and syringe. They take his blood again. They take a skin sample again. They take a saliva sample again. They do everything three times over, again and again and again.

Mikey feels numb.

His mind wanders, helping him escape this room and find some semblance of serenity as he waits for these tests and exams to be done. He's so bored and tired. But compared to everything else they make him do here, this isn't so bad.

Mikey's attention comes back to him when he hears someone talking loudly by him. He flinches, thinking that he's being scolded or ordered to do something, but no. It's just Dr. Timothy getting enthusiastic over his mutations.

"I just can't believe it! The creature can control the zombies!"

"This is unprecedented. And I'm quite surprised, I've never seen Dr. Chaplin so intrigued and... dare I say?" Dr. Finn pauses. "Excited."

"This little abomination could hold the key to ending the Krang infections once and for all!" Dr. Timothy celebrates.

"But why stop there?" A third voice adds.

Mikey flinches again and cowers softly as Dr. Chaplin walks in and joins the conversation.

"This little mutant monster shows a higher success rate than any creature the TCRI has ever cooked up before. And it takes orders so well," he says with a sickening smile.

Dr. Chaplin reaches down and grabs Mikey's face, squeezing his thin cheeks and tilting his head to get a better look at him.

"Despite its age and emaciated figure, the little beastie has unprecedented strength and fighting ability. Just what we've been looking for. I do think our tests are nearly complete."

"Complete, sir?" Dr. Finn asks, raising an eyebrow.

"He's shown excellence in everything thus far. Problem-solving, keen instincts, agility… I think it's time we move onto the next phase of our studies. The A.L.P.H.A. device is ready for testing, put him in the Interaction Room when you're done. Depending on how it goes, we may be able to move on to..."

Mikey zones out again. He's tired of this. He doesn't like being handled or tested or talked about like he's an 'it'. He's a Mikey! Whatever that is…

Mikey feels heaviness around his throat, followed by a yank. The collar and lead were placed on his neck while he wasn't paying attention. He's dragged back to the Interaction room for the test with this strange new 'A.L.P.H.A. Device'...

.

.

.

Mikey can't sleep. He keeps thinking about what happened earlier that day.

He can't shake the feeling that... something is wrong. He's missing something. His brothers love him, despite knowing that he doesn't remember them. They support him, despite knowing that he may never fully be Mikey again. But... why does he feel so distant? Why is he still so scared to be around them, but so much more scared to be without them?

In the labs, he never knew why he wanted his brothers. He never even knew they were brothers, they were more so figments of imagination, a distant mirage that he could almost touch. They were shadows. And now they're real.

So why can't he accept them? Why can't he accept that he's one of them?

Because you're a monster. KRANG, Instinct whispers. You are a KRANG. It is what I am, what YOU are. What WE have become.

...Are Krang monsters?

To the weak, yes. The weak always view the strong as monsters.

So Mikey really is a monster?

Did you doubt this? Instinct questions.

Mikey hoped...

HOPE IS A FOOL'S WEAPON, Instinct scolds. YOU CANNOT SURVIVE ON HOPE. ONLY STRENGTH AND FORCE. THE KRANG ARE STRONG. THE KRANG SURVIVE. YOU WILL DO AS I SAY AND YOU WILL LIVE.

Even if it makes Mikey a monster?

Does it matter?

Mikey doesn't know anymore... h-he wants to believe it does, he wants to believe he's not what Instinct says he is, he wants to believe that he is their Mikey!

Even if you were once "their Mikey", it hardly matters now. You are simply an amalgamation creature made to serve a purpose. The humans created you to be a monster. Too bad they couldn’t remove the ALL THE MIKEY FROM YOU.

Mikey throws the pillow over his face and screams into it. Stop talking, Instinct!

You know it is true. And your "brothers" confirmed it for you. Even THEY KNEW you were a monster. Why do you continue to fight this truth?

"Because I'm not a monster!" Mikey whisper-shouts, sitting upright and flinging the pillow into the wall. "I'm not! They said I'm not!"

You DO know what a lie is, don't you?

"But... but Mikey trusts Leo--"

Why? Haven't you learned by now? I thought you would have known better. The labs taught you nothing.

"Shut up!" Mikey shouts.

Weak, pathetic, useless, coward --

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Mikey screams, hot and angry tears running down his face.

Mikey tears his bed apart, shredding the blanket and ripping the extra pillows to pieces. He growls loudly, looking for something else to attack in lue of Instinct. He punches the mattress, his tail whips the wall and gashes the wallpaper, he grabs one of the lamps on the nightstand table and chucks it, pieces shattering and the lampshade flying off from the impact. In the flickering light from the dying lamp, Mikey sees something move in the corner. He runs and confronts it --

It's his own reflection in the mirror. Teeth snarled and fangs elongated, his claws extended, his quills raised and his tail spiked. His eyes burn brightly and the irises are nothing more than thin blood-red slits.

Mikey jerks back suddenly, terrified of his own image. His pupils and irises return to normal slowly…

You see? Nothing more than a monster. Accept it.

Mikey screams in anger and punches the mirror as hard as he can. The glass shatters instantly and his knuckles bleed.

The door swings open and nearly smacks into Mikey's back.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Raph asks in a panic, scanning the trashed room before he sees Mikey, shying away with embarrassment.

Raph calms, then panics again when he sees the blood and glass.

"Sorry," Mikey squeaks. "I got... I was mad, I..."

"Leo and I heard yelling and thought --"

"It was just me, sorry. I didn't realise I was being so loud... Instinct was making me mad."

"The voice in your head?" Raph clarifies.

Mikey nods.

"Humph. Well, I don't like this voice bullying my little brother. Come on, Mikey, let's get you cleaned up."

Raph hoists Mikey up and carries him to the bathroom. Mikey perches atop his shoulders again, tail wrapping around and hanging lazily over his shell.

"So, what was Instinct saying?" Raph asks.

"Um... just the usual stuff."

"Which is?"

Mikey's fingers curl nervously.

"Just... stuff about... fitting in, I guess."

Raph places a hand on Mikey's head and rubs circles onto his skin.

"I'm sorry about that..." he sighs. "I'm sorry about a lot of things..."h

Inside the bathroom, Raph sets Mikey down on the toilet seat and grabs the supplies he needs -- disinfectant, bandages, some swabs, cream, etc. Mikey holds his paw out for Raph to inspect.

Mikey is actually surprised by the gentleness of his big brother. Raphael's huge, strong hands are slow, soft, delicate; carefully pulling any remnants of glass out with a pair of fine tweezers. Mikey winces initially, but stays still otherwise. This is starting to remind him of the labs... he zones out as Raph tends to his cuts.

"...Mikey? Mikey," he hears.

Mikey blinks back to reality. His hand is bandaged.

"Oh, hi Raph," he murmurs. "Thanks."

"No problem, that's what big brothers do. Now, can you tell me why you punched the mirror?"

"I was trying to punch Instinct..."

"So, because you couldn't punch a voice in your head, you punched a reflection of yourself?" Raph surmises. "Makes sense."

"I know it sounds stupid..."

"Not really," Raph shrugs. "I used to do the same thing."

Mikey looks up and slowly recalls moments from his childhood where Raph would get so frustrated that he'd obliterate things with a single punch. Walking into bathrooms where the mirror had been cracked and taped over in a feeble attempt to fix it or cover it up.

"...Really?"

"Oh yeah," Raph says with a nod as he leans against the wall. "Raph had a hard time not listening to intrusive thoughts, and they make him really angry. I used to get so mad after Savage Raph would attack you guys. Do you remember Savage Raph?"

Mikey does, actually. Flickering images of his biggest brother growling, his eyes whited over and his teeth bared. Barbecuing villains in a sewer tunnel, attacking his brothers, calling them 'sewer monsters'.

"...Yes, Mikey -- I remember." Mikey looks up hopefully at him. "How did you stop it?"

"I can't say I've stopped it," Raph admits. "I still have moments when I almost lose control, times when my thoughts start to turn against me. But I've learned how to fight against those thoughts, take them captive before they take me captive."

"Why can't I do that?" Mikey asks.

"You can, though!" Raph assures him brightly. "Mikey, you're the one who taught me how to do that!"

"Mikey did that?"

"Yeah, bud!"

"But... I can't remember, I don't know..." Mikey pauses to think, before looking up hopefully at Raph. "Will you teach me again?"

Raphael smiles and cups Mikey's cheek.

"Absolutely. That's what brothers do."

He's not your brother anymore.

"Shut up!" Mikey growls, squeezing his eyes closed, and pressing his knuckles against his temples.

He feels Raph lift his face up. He gently opens his eyes and looks at Raph's concerned expression.

"What did Instinct say?"

"...That we're not brothers..."

"Well, that's 100% a lie," Raph says. "So just tell him that."

"But he'll fight back --"

"Then you fight back, too!" Raph encourages. "Say it out loud. Tell him he's wrong."

Mikey swallows and feels a little embarrassed, but he follows.

"Y-you're wrong."

No.

"Now tell him he's a liar."

Mikey fidgets.

"You're a liar."

What are you -- why are you listening to him? He doesn't know what he's talking about --

"Tell him you won't listen to him anymore."

I'M THE ONE WHO KEPT YOU ALIVE!

"But Instinct --"

"No, Mikey. You can't listen to him anymore. He's not helping you, he's not doing anything for you. He only wants to confuse you and hurt you. So what do we do with things that lie and hurt?"

"...We get rid of them?"

"Exactly. So tell him he's not welcome anymore."

NO!

"You're not welcome anymore, Instinct."

DO YOU REALIZE HOW STUPID YOU SOUND?! DO YOU KNOW HOW RIDICULOUS --

"And every time he tries to talk again, every time he tries to lie or make you feel bad, you ignore him. Confront him. He only tells you lies, so you can always defeat him."

Mikey nods, determination bubbling up inside of him.

"Instinct isn't welcome," he annouces.

Stop this.

"Louder!" Raph encourages.

You fool --

"Instinct isn't welcome!"

YOU CAN'T --

"Even louder, buddy!" Raph shouts.

YOU WRETCHED LITTLE --

"INSTINCT IS NOT WELCOME! MIKEY IS NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO INSTINCT ANYMORE!!"

It's quiet.

"...I... I think I did it," Mikey heaves. "I think I... I think he's gone! I can't hear him!"

Raph cheers with Mikey, and pulls him into a bear hug.

"I knew you could do it! And if he ever tries to weasel his way back in, just tell him off and tell him what for! And remember, he'll only tell you lies to make you feel bad. But they are NEVER true. And you can use that against him."

Mikey squeezes Raph around the neck as he laughs. He feels... free. A strange kind of freedom, one he hasn't felt even after leaving the labs.

It feels good.

"So... now what?" Mikey asks.

"Now we go to bed," Raph yawns, prompting another laugh from Michelangelo. "Though, your room is kinda trashed now, so you probably shouldn't sleep in there..."

"Turtle pile?" Mikey suggests, going into puppy-eyes mode.

"Absolutely," Raph nods, hoisting Mikey back onto his shoulders and taking him out and into their brothers' bedrooms to get them all together again.

Prev || Next

[lackablazeical]

💜💉Donnie Hamato💉💜

Specific trigger warnings -

Animal abuse/cruelty/death/experimentation/consumption, sensory meltdowns, unethical experimentation, medical malpractice, objectification, sadism, murder, violence, heavy gore, minor/moderate body horror, needles, blades, electrocution

General info -

Donnie's birthday is October 28th. He is a Scorpio ♏️

Donnie's love languages are Gifts and Acts of Service.

Donnie is Aromantic/Asexual. He identifies as Voidpunk, with his gender relating to robots, spiders, bugs, and needles.

Donnie has ASPD (Antisocial Personality Disorder).

Donnie has Autism.

Personality traits -

Donnie is sadistic, anti-social, controlling, intelligent, protective, innovative, practical, apathetic, logical, and determined.

Donnie enjoys seeing others in pain, especially if he deems them as weaker. While he enjoys the sound of things screaming in pain, he dislikes the sound of crying. Donnie is the most likely to stretch out any torture he is doing on his subject for an extended period of time.

Donnie is anti-social, and doesn't care to talk to people outside of his family and Ishida. Any other communication is considered a burden to him, and he is always short and curt.

Donnie is a control freak, and wants everyone and everything to bow to his every command. He hates when his things are broken as well. He will lash out if not listened to, typically at Ishida.

Donnie is extremely protective of his loved ones and his things. He constantly tracks them and will do everything in his power to keep them healthy and working.

Donnie is the main tech guy, and is always constantly improving his inventions and research. He has security all throughout the Lair, tracking systems for all of his family, an extremely advanced battleshell, and more.

Donnie is extremely determined, bordering on stubborn. He never gives up on a project once he has started it, no matter how many sleepless nights it takes.

Important details -

His prosthetics -

Donnie's prosthetics are all made by his own hands and scrap he's found. He's always reworking them to make them better.

They are waterproof, fireproof, and bullet resistant.

Donnie rarely takes off his prosthetics, only when completely necessary, such as upkeep or when he is going to be submerged in water for a long period of time.

Donnie's hearing aids have multiple volume sessions, from complete mute, to white noise, to regular volume, etc.

His hearing aids also have fins. Those both allow Donnie to connect to wifi/internet, and they are sensors to detect new people, objects around him, danger, etc. They also react to how he is feeling. The fins will retract if his hearing aids are muted, off, or charging.

His blindness/hearing loss/amputations -

Donnie's hearing loss was gradual. It started when he was 8 and was fully gone by time he was 13. It was caused from a mix of explosions, too-loud music, and lack of ear protection around loud machinery.

Donnie fully lost his hearing in a land-mine accident in the lair games at 13.

Donnie's left knee was severely damaged in the same accident, AKA his leg below the knee was completely blown off. Donnie ended up being able to reattach it, as he was too emotionally connected to leave it behind.

Domnie lost his right finger at 12 years old from a broken bench saw flying at his face. He got his eye scarred/lost vision in it in the same accident, when the blade subsequently lodged into his head.

His relationship with Big Mama -

Donnie deeply wants Big Mama's praise and approval. Big Mama finds him somewhat annoying, but useful.

Donnie often will attempt to make technology that BM can use in her Battle Nexus.

Donnie dislikes Draxum, because Big Mama heavily prefers his technology and research to Donnie's.

Donnie folds to almost anything Big Mama asks him to, with the promise of approval and appreciation of his work. Then afterward, he will be very upset he fell for the manipulation. He will fall for it again, though.

His relationship with Ishida -

Donnie sees Ishida as his friend. Donnie would never admit this to anyone intentionally.

Donnie is Ishida's doctor as well, and works hard to keep up with his health and work to help Ishida function as efficiently as possible. He takes great pride in his work with Ishida and gets incredibly frustrated when Ishida does not follow training routines/diets/schedules assigned by him.

Donnie is very controlling of Ishida. He wants to be listened to, and gets extremely angry when Ishida blows off his instruction, or doesn't drop everything to respond to Donnie's call.

Donnie is extremely jealous of anyone Ishida chooses to be around, and Donnie often threatens/harms anyone he believes does Ishida wrong (which is most people).

Ishida is one of the few people Donnie let's touch him, mostly as a 'reward' system for things Donnie wants Ishida to do. This same logic applies to words of affirmation.

Donnie is also very sadistic to Ishida, and he enjoys running experiments/flat out torturing Ishida for research or his own amusement. This includes breaking bones, electrocution, laceration, sleep deprivation, and more. Donnie abuses Ishida's people-pleasing and masochistic tendencies.

His relationship with Shelldon -

Donnie, while he may not act like it, absolutely adores Shelldon.

Donnie is very proud of his work on Shelldon, and treats him similar to a puppy, or his child.

Donnie is also not above smashing Shelldon and restarting on his wiring if he wants to.

Donnie spoils Shelldon a lot though, and will defend him vehemently from his brothers trying to smash him.

Fun facts -

Donnie has a very picky, yet somehow wide pallete. He has a strong stomach, and he uses it to eat anything from sour candy, to pet dogs, to iron nails.

Donnie's favorite food is kimchi, and his favorite drink is lemon juice. He loves all sour/tangy things.

Donnie's teeth are like a shark. They are constantly falling out and being replaced by new ones.

Donnie's need to build things often overpowers his need to seem aloof and apathetic.

Tags that include Donnie -

#addams! Donnie, #addams! Donnida, #addams! Hamatos, #addams! Disaster twins

[thedawningofthehour]

I don't know how you do the hurt/comfort so well in the book even though it is really messed up.

One example is the chapter 5 in the botanist portion. Specifically the eating the orange section and the “you know what my fathers work is.” hopefully I quote that correctly.

But when I am writing I can hurt but comfort is difficult. Like I feel like I do good with hurt no comfort fics. But I don't usually like those fics.

Ironically, that scene was supposed to have minimal angst lol, they were there so I could show Gale infodumping about plants and let Raph have a swim. Which is why I have Gale cut away when the conversation gets too heavy-that's not the purpose of the passage.

I think something a lot of people get hung up on is trying to do EVERYTHING. They want to acknowledge every injustice, represent every kind of person, explore the entirety of someone's character and trauma or whatever in one scene. (I could write a paper on the new trend of having eight-episode shows and allowing every plot point and character exactly two seconds of exposition because that's all the screentime they can get when the studio wants an epic told in the length of a novella and how this is affecting people's expectations for how storytelling should be done, but my oven timer just went off and I'm gonna eat soon) The thing you have to remember, nothing can be everything. You have to specialize at least a little bit or your ocean of storytelling becomes a wide puddle of meh.

One thing I ask myself is what is the goal here? What are the themes that I want to get across in this scene? Do they work with each other or is it jarring for the reader? What do you want the reader to take away from this? The scene in the first chapter where Draxum and Gale are doing Raph's intake exam, part of it's just exposition and me dumping background information and psuedo-science on the audience. But it's also meant to show how Draxum interacts with Raphael now that he's an ally, and show Raph how Draxum and Gale typically interact with each other. The scene with Gale taking out the explosive charge in Raph's collar is meant to highlight how very much Donnie Gale still is, how he isn't entirely obedient to Draxum and does what he does because he genuinely believes in what he's doing-and likewise, he doesn't believe Raph should be here if he doesn't believe in their goals.

The greenery scene is meant to show Raph's pre-conceived notions of who Draxum is being challenged. He sees Draxum as wholly evil, whose only goal is to do bad, like the villain of a cheap 80s Saturday morning cartoon. So far he's rejected every suggestion that Draxum has genuinely positive intentions and goals besides destruction, that might have a point even if he's going about it the wrong way. Seeing that Draxum grows fruit, that a major area of study for him is agriculture cultivation-food has traditionally been a symbol of life, peace, support, so the fact that Draxum is a horticulturist challenges the image of heartless, evil Draxum that Raph has built up in his head.

But at the same time, in the same place where he grows oranges lovingly cultivated to provide nutrition for the people who will consume them, there's poison meant to kill. It shows the depth of Draxum's intentions and the full breadth of his actions, that he wants to help life thrive but will not hesitate to take life if necessary. And Raph is also coming to terms with what he was created for, what his purpose in life was supposed to be and how he's playing into it now. He wasn't just a weapon, he was a sword meant to be wielded along with a shield. He was made to kill, and Raph doesn't agree with that-but he doesn't wholly disagree with the logic that led Draxum there. And he's very unnerved by that.

Another thing, the actual storytelling is definitely important but don't forget-it's secondary. Your real priority is manipulating the reader into feeling things against their will. You can have a completely shit story and get by if it's told entertainingly or if it made people cry. The most interesting plotline will still be a slog to get through if it's boring. You're trying to write like Donnie, but you gotta be a Leo first and foremost.

[percyaugod]

Classic Krang Zombie Overthink AU: Outline Part 5

A group of scavengers comes back with a larger haul than normal, Leo whistling at the impressive size. Donnie is staring at the supplies. Something isn't right, but it's not sure what.

Donnie starts going through some of the larger sacks, Leo quiets the complaints of the scavengers, and finds whole packages? Did they just grab these without checking what's inside!? What if the krang planted poison or trackers or- bombs. Oh no.

Donnie holding up a large metal rectangle to show Leo and the others. The others ask Leo what it is and he just shrugs. That's right, they don't know that much about Krang tech, to them it probably just looks like scrap metal.

There's so many packages probably full of them. It'd be impossible to move them by itself in time and it'd take too long to try to explain as is. If it didn't do something though not only would it die but everyone in the base. It knew there was someone else there, felt them when the old masters tried to kill it, it begged and pleaded for their help.

They answered.

Leo's not sure what's up with Donnie. He's never done this before. Did they bring back some kind of food that he really liked the smell of? Is he holding up a piece of metal? Does he want it to build something?

No. Something's wrong. Donnis is getting more and more distressed to the point he's visibly shaking. Those are apparently something bad but Leo has no idea why or what's going on.

Then Donnie suddenly goes completely still before reaching toward his mouth. Leo panics as Donnie grabs the infection around his mouth and rips it away, taking a few layers of skin from the outside and inside of his mouth with it. Dumping something out of a bag and putting that in it before pulling out a water skin and drinking heavily from it.

In a voice that sounds like it literally hasn't been used in months tells someone to take the sack to Draxum before turning to Leo. Donnie looks Leo in the eyes and all he can see is Donnie, barely any of the glazed look that's been there for the past few months. He's so caught up in Donnie actually being Donnie he almost misses Donnie mentioning bombs.

Donnie grumbled about finally getting his attention before telling him the latest group didn't check their packages and brought back a bunch of heat-activated bombs. Could be activated by a small explosion, a laser, or a base where most inhabitants are humans that run warm or yokai and mutants that run even warmer.

They need a cart to carry all these packages and everyone that's either cold-blooded, has a prosthetic arm, and/or gauntlets to help move them to said cart so we can get these out of here. Leo giving orders while Donnis is already loading himself up with packages, Leo right behind him.

One of the groups that brought the bombs back would be trying to save face by pointing out Donnie is infected and probably lying to deplete them of resources. Donnie doesn't even say anything. He just takes one of the bombs, puts it in his warm mouth, and then throws it at them when it starts beeping. Sure the explosion is small, but that's one and they brought back hundreds all grouped together.

They try to yell about the blatant attempt on their life, the entire time blocking help trying to get through. Leo cuts them off and orders them and the others to check in for now, but he will be having a talk with them later.

Help includes two other turtles more surprised than anyone to hear the swears and reprimands of their resident zombie when someone drops a box. They hug Donnie who grumbles about missing them too, but bombs are a bit more important. Also Michael, no using mystic powers, the energy runs warm and might set them off. Use those noodle arms for once.

Smack. Ow!

After combing through a third time Donnie is confident they found the bombs all and can start putting distance between them and the base. Leo gives the location of a series of tunnels and a time-activated charge to a trusted member and sends them off. He turns to Donnie with a wide smile that quickly falls.

Donnie is leaning against a wall of the base, a familiar glazed look starting to creep back into his eyes as the infection slowly starts crawling back toward his mouth. Donnie gives Leo an apologetic look. Leo should have known it wouldn't have been that easy.

[kittynumyum]

So I don't really make a lot of posts for my tmnt iteration where it's just only text, since I mostly prefer to show my iteration through my drawings. But, I figured I might as well do this so you guys get to know a bit about the main characters that are going to be part of my story, so here we go!

Character Summary List:

The Boiz:

Leonardo: Leader in Blue. Centered arc is the first arc.

Raphael: Big and red and always ready for a fight. Centered arc is Yokai Uprising Arc

Michaelangelo: Orange and one of a kind. Centered arc is City at War Arc

Donatello: Purple and rocks machines. Centered arc is Galactic Frontier Arc

Other Main Characters:

Splinter: The turtles' rat sensei/father. Is Hamato Yoshi and has a tragic family backstory.

April O'Neil: The turtles' first best friend since they were kids. Currently a college student. Is besties with Donnie.

Casey Jones: The turtles' second best friend (Raph meets them first when they were younger, then the others during the present). Hockey player and vigilante. Has a dorky crush on April. Is besties with Raph.

Keno: The turtles' third best friend. High school student who works part time at his family owned pizza place and is badass at martial arts. Is besties with Mikey.

Metalhead: A turtle robot created by Donnie to assist the turtles through medical needs. Eventually, with Donnie's programming, they gain some sentient and becomes more willing to help out the team in any way they can.

The Mighty Mutanimals:

Old Hob: A mutant cat from TCRI, who originally started the gang. Once had a thing against humans due to being experimented on by them, but now wants to help protect the city and his friends.

Slash: A giant mutant spiked sea turtle from TCRI, who was overmutated from an ooze explosion. He started as a frenzied monster, but is soon healed by Dr. Rockwell. He leads the Mighty Mutanimals.

Leatherhead: A mutant alligator from TCRI

Mondo Gecko: A mutant gecko from TCRI

Dr. Rockwell: A mutant monkey. Was originally a human scientist who worked alongside Stockman at TCRI, but experiments went wrong in where he got turned into a monkey, (but he seems unphased with that situation ig lmao)

(And in short, they are all very close friends with Mikey)

Foot Clan:

Shredder: Leader of the Foot. Is responsible for the death of Yoshi's family. Main antagonist of the first arc.

Karai: Shredder's adoptive daughter. One of the members of the Foot Elite (Is viewed as the weakest Foot Elite, even Shredder views this). Is frenemies with Leo.

Tatsu (AKA: Tiger Claw): A mutant tiger who was originally human. Leader of the Foot Elite and is second-in-command of the Foot

Chris Bradford (AKA: Rahzar): A mutant wolf who was originally human. Member of the Foot Elite and is in charge of taking care of the new and upcoming recruits. He also becomes a better father figure for Karai.

Bebop: A mutant warthog who was originally human. Besties with Rocksteady.

Rocksteady: A mutant rhino who was originally human. Besties with Bebop.

Jennika: A mutant turtle who was originally human. She was the youngest member of the Foot Elite (is actually better than Karai).

Outer Space:

Fugitoid: A robot who was once a scientist but got his mind transfered to a robot. Is the one who originally formed the rebellion against the Triceraton Empire.

Mona Lisa: An alien salamander who is a gladiator fighter in the Triceraton Arena. She helps Donnie with his survival and skills in fighting in the arena.

Tokka: An alien turtle who decides to tag along the turtles' adventure.

Traximus: A triceraton guard who is secretly working with Fugitoid in the fight against the Triceraton Empire. He helps Donnie in finding a way to escape, as well as a way to take down the Triceratons' planet buster weapon that they have abused its power with.

Emperor Zanramon: Leader of the Triceraton Empire. Main antagonist of Galactic Frontier Arc.

Captain Mozar: Second-in-command of the Triceraton Empire.

Hidden City:

Baron Draxum: A goat yokai who is the leader of the Hidden City. Main antagonist of the Yokai Uprising Arc.

Huginn and Muninn: Baron Draxum's loyal pets.

Koya: A falcon yokai who is the general of the yokai army.

Miyamoto Usagi: A rabbit yokai who was formerly a warrior for Baron Draxum. He then helps the turtles in taking down Baron Draxum.

Alopex: A fox yokai who is the leader of the yokai rebellion.

Venus: A mutant turtle. Was created by Baron Draxum as a weapon against the turtles.

The Pantheon:

Kitsune: A fox yokai who is the eldest of the Pantheon. She is known for her variety of mystic powers and tricks. She is first seen in the Shredder Arc, where she is Shredder's right hand other than Tatsu. She is then seen again in the Yokai Uprising Arc, where she is Draxum's right hand.

Tengu: An eagle yokai who is the second eldest of the Pantheon. He is known for his mystic powers in weather-like abilities (thunder, earthquakes, etc.). He takes his duties more seriously.

Bakeneko: A cat yokai who is the youngest of the Pantheon. They are known for shapeshifting and playing with fire. They are very mischievous.

Nure-onna: A snake yokai who is the second youngest of the Pantheon. She is known for her deadly poison and cataclysmic powers yes this is based off of Cat Noir, shut up. She is very scary.

Sarugami: A monkey yokai who is the middle sibling of the Pantheon. He is known for his immense strength. He does not speak at all.

Ryujin: An all powerful and evil dragon who was banished to the Twilight Realm. He wishes to destroy the entire world and recreate it in his own image. Main antagonist of Dawn of the Pantheon Arc

Other Villains:

Krang: A powerful alien race who was banished to Dimension X. They wish to conquer the entire universe and remake it in their image. Main antagonist of Zero Hour Arc.

Baxter Stockman: A mad scientist who works at the TCRI.

Bishop: A special agent of the US government and head of the EPF. Main antagonist of City at War Arc.

Hun: A crime boss who is the leader of the Purple Dragons.

Rat King: A mad man who can not only control the rats, BUT ALSO MUTANTS! Main antagonist of Mutant Madness Arc.

[tizeline]

Love your Tiz Sep AU!!! I don't know why but looking at your art Mikey kinda comes across as the leader of Draxum's turtle team. He has this chill attitude and strong belief in 'the cause' (in this optimistic sense that good will always triumph and they are the good guys so there is nothing to worry about). He lets his brothers play and gives them as much freedom as possible but has the final say when it comes to the decision-making (like when mother hen Raph wants to drag Donnie back with them it is Mikey who intervenes). He always feels in control in a fun and good way, gently nudging them in the 'right' direction (e.g. him reminding Leo that all humans are evil) and playing mediator between the team and Draxum... there are not many AUs that could pull off Mikey as a leader but here I somehow wouldn't mind :)

Honestly, you're kinda right

Raph is officially the leader. Okay well, Draxum is the leader leader and he named Raph his second in command, so Raph is in charge of his brothers. But Mikey is such a driving force because he's just so hyped on the idea of their goal! So while Raph still has final say on decisions amongst the three of them, Mikey has a tendency to take charge and push his brother's towards fulfilling their mission. Part of this definitely has to do with him being The Baby, and everyone in his family (including Draxum) have a hard time saying no to him. Another part is that... well... Draxum doesn't play favorites! He's just... a bit closer to Mikey than his other sons.

Mikey isn't the leader, but he doesn't need to be to hold power and influence in the team! >:) He's the heart, the moral compass! So of course they should listen to him, they can trust his judgement!

And to clarify on why Raph's idea about "forcefully rescuing" Donnie got rejected, it because he was literally the only one who thought it was a good idea, lol. Mikey is against it because he has Main Character Syndrome and thinks he's helping Donnie go through his Redemtion Arc. Leo's against it cuz he's salty that Donnie doesn't seem to care about them. And most importantly, Draxum (who has final final say) who thinks it'll just be easier to convince Donnie of their cause AFTER they've fulfilled it. He recognizes that, as a scientist, Donnie values results and provable facts, so the best way to get Donnie on their side is to just show him the inevitably successful results of their Not-Evil-Scheme.

[cupcakeslushie]

Does the Hidden City not take into account Donnie being 1) fourteen, and 2) having been brainwashed, tortured, and virtually enslaved by Draxum? Or was it just regular disaster twin shenanigans that got Donnie and Leo banned from the Hidden City?

Unfortunately they don’t know any of that very important info. They just have a few very limited, vague witness descriptions to go off of from the one or two times Three accompanied Draxum to sell his ammunitions.

Also….the HCP is so stupid. I’m not giving them the benefit of the doubt, just zero detective work was done before they put up the wanted posters for two turtle yokai. I’d even say some of Leo and Donnie’s charges got confused and some of their wanted posters have crimes the other twin was responsible for. It’s just a mess. Like going so far as to say if Mikey wasn’t as recognized as a Battle Nexus Champion the HCP would have probably thought about taking him into custody. Morons.

[obsidiancreates]

Out Of the Shadows and Into The Neon (Part 10)

“SERIOUSLY, HYPNO!” Leon flips over one of the sharpened magic connecting rings that zips through the air. “THIS IS NOT HOW SETTLING DOWN WORKS!”

“IT IS IF YOUR CHILD DESERVES THE BEST!” Hypno shouts, pointing at the controlled Raphie and then pointing at Leon. Raphie growls, running at his brother, but Angelo catches him with a nunchuck chain and yanks him off-path!

“Hey, do NOT turn this into a parenting thing!” Donald infuses his bo with ninpo and leaps, doing a mid-air spin to charge his attack even further! He slams Hypno into the wall! And then something small and squishy smacks into his face. A full-body shudder leaves him vulnerable as Raphie shakes off Angelo’s chains and charges!

“We aren’t insulting your parenting!” Warren Stone declares as he launches himself off of Donald and at Leon. “Only saying we are the best fathers ever!”

“Oh yeah, you’re setting great examples for your kid,” Leon drawls, easily batting Warren away with the flat of his katana. “I’m sure she’s totally well-adjusted.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“WHAT IS WITH THIS CHICK?!” Raph rolls out of the way as the beak-shaped hammer comes down where he’s been standing a mere moment ago.

“THAT’S RACIST!”

“I MEANT IT LIKE GIRL, NOT BIRD!”

“THEN IT’S SEXIST!”

“NO, JUST YOU-IST, YOU WEIRDO!”

Donnie gives a shout as he jumps at her, but she turns on her heel and ounces on him while he’s mid-air! Donnie gets the wind knocked out of him as they both land, her crouched on his plastron! “Hey, Raph? How about you STOP MAKING HER MAD!”

“We need a plan!” Leo runs over and shoves her off. “And-and to not kill each other!”

“I don’t want to kill you!” Tweetie looks genuinely horrified by the idea. “Okay, time-out!”

Mikey helps Donnie stand up, and the four brothers all look at Tweetie as she sticks out her tongue and pulls a Warren Stone Official Collectible Notebook out of her suit. “Anyone have a pen?”

The four brothers share glances. Other than their belts with their panic buttons, all they’re wearing is some wrappings and joint-pads, like their fathers. 

Leo’s navy-blue knee pads have Jupiter Jim stickers on them, and he’s written motivational quotes on his off-white wrappings, but as he pats down his belt the only thing he finds in the side-pouch is an old piece of taffy, which Mikey promptly plucks out of his hand and eats.

Donnie checks between his own off-write wrappings, stained with bright purples and greens from his chemistry lessons with Draxum. He checks under his purple-gray elbow pads in case of a little pencil stub being trapped between it and his skin- it wouldn’t be the first time- but comes up empty. There’s nothing in his identically-colored knee pads either, except for a post-it note reminding him to wash them before his first patrol (oops).

Mikey spins around a bit, checking not only his pouch-covered belt but also the inside of his shell. He fully removes his dirty-orange (really almost brown) pads, then peels off the alligator sticker on the top right of his plastron– not really to check, just because he took the pads off and it feels right to take the sticker off too. He puts them all back on and shrugs.

Raph crosses his arms and huffs. He doesn’t check his brick-red pads, nor the two pouches on the back of his belt. Instead he sighs, and reluctantly pops off his panic-button buckle. Stuck in the back is a bright green marker, which he hands over to Tweetie. “You better give it back! That colors and exact match for the family ninpo!”

“I will,” she assures half-heartedly as she begins scribbling in her notebook. “I’m writing up an agreement. A contract!”

“A contract?” Donnie scratches his head. “I-I don’t think villains and heroes have contracts. Do they?” He looks to Leo.

Leo, resident hero enthusiast, thinks. “Well… sometimes they have peace treaties, like in Jupiter Jim and the Waterlily Plutionians 9.”

“This is more like, um…” Tweetie pauses writing and thinks. “Um… rules? I don’t wanna kill you, and you don’t wanna kill me, but we wanna fight.”

“Oooooh, I get it, yo!” Mikey grins. “Like the Lair Games agreements!”

His three brothers Oooooh in understanding as Tweetie finishes writing and shows them the rules.

Don’t kill each other.

If an adult attacks us we all fight together.

Don’t insult each other’s dads anymore.

“I can get behind this!” Mikey grabs the marker from her and signs his name next to Tweetie’s, holding it wrong so his hand smudges the ink as he writes the words.

Raph and Leo both look at Donnie as he thinks about the rules.

“They… seem fair.” Donnie accepts the marker from Mikey and signs as well, his printing less smudges but similarly scratched-out as he rushes his signature.

“We’ll take your word for it.” Leo signs next, his handwriting neat and small.

Raph snatches his marker back, shoulders sagging in relief. “Fine.” He signs, in big blocky capital letters.

“Great!” Tweetie closes her notebook and tucks it back into her suit. “So back to fighting?”

“Finally!” Raph jumps up and goes for a flying-kick! “HYAAAAAAAA!” 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“No calls from the guys or the boys,” April mumbles as she sits on the couch with Casey and Cass in Draxum’s apartment. “Why do I feel so nervous?”

“Because our boys can be idiots?” Draxum offers.

“Call my nephews idiots again and I shall SLICE OFF YOUR MANBUN BEFORE YOU CAN BLINK!” Cass throws a shuriken into the wall next to Draxum’s head as warning.

“Right, they’re not idiots! The kids are just… a little too excited to be like their dads, who can be idiots. … Maybe we should check the news just in case.”

Casey nods and turns on the TV, flicking through channels.

“– ther news, some kind of fight is rocking the office of Eastman and Laird Reality Group! We go now to amateur footage uploaded to social media!”

The footage doesn’t show much in the way of figures in the fight, mostly the puffs of dust and brick-chunks coming from the building as the distinct sounds of Raph roaring, Hypno mezmeroo-ing, and the other three shouting can be heard under the crashes and crumbling.

“Oh, man,” Casey says, wincing. “Maybe we should call that therapist Raphie was seeing, this might–”

“He hasn’t had a serious breakdown about mind-control in years now,” Draxum says. 

“But Hypno is making him fight his brothers. Including Ma- errhg! Leon!”

“... Hmm. Fine, I’ll book him an appointment. Better call Lou while I’m on the phone anyway…”

“Wait. Look!” April pauses the TV and jumps up, pointing at the corner of the screen. “On that rooftop!”

Everyone crowds in, staring intensely at the screen. Sure enough, in the shadowed and blurry depths of the shaky phone footage, they can see four small outlines on the neighboring roof– looking up at another small outline holding a hammer.

“I knew they’d forget to call me!” April grabs her helmet and dashes out the door. “I’M COMING BOYS!”

“Should we join her?” Casey looks around for his hockey mask, but Cass lays a hand on his shoulder.

“Trust me, Casey. Whoever that lone mutant is, they will be NO MATCH for our April O’Neil! ESPECIALLY IF THEY HURT OUR BOYS!”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oof!” Mikey is slammed into Leo as Tweetie knocks him aside with her beak-hammer. “We’re totally beefing it, dudes!”

“At Least it can’t get worse?” Donnie says, going for a spinning-strike that Tweetie dodges by flying straight up. Donnie’s bo hits Raph instead, knocking his brother aside. “AHH!”

“Donnie, don’t say that!” Leo stands in front of Mikey protectively. “Whenever someone says that on TV-!”

“Take a chill pill!” Tweetie doesn’t shout it, but sings it, and as she does magenta circles of mystic power emulate from her beak. Donnie yelps and rolls out of the way, but Raph doesn’t get the chance as he’s not recovered from the friendly-fire. The magic hits him and he stiffens for a moment before slumping, plopping onto his butt and yawning.

“Raph?!” Leo keeps in front of Mikey, arms spread wide. 

“Is it nap time? I… told you I’m too old for that… Dad… yawwwwn…” Raph lays down, using his hands as a pillow. “Mmm…”

Mikey grabs his head. “SHE’S GOT MYSTIC POWERS!”

“Why’d she wait until right now to use them?!” Leo shouts. 

“I dunno!” Donnie runs for cover behind a shed on the roof, and Leo yanks Mikey behind some kind of air conditioning apparatus. 

Raph snores from out in the open. Tweetie lands again, and rolls Raph out of the middle of the “battlefield” by pushing him with her hammer. As he snores, she yawns a little as well. Donnie, watching from behind the shed, gasps. While she’s busy pushing Raph out of the line of fire (and far away from her in case he wakes up), Donnie runs over to leo and Mikey.

“I think her power made her sleepy too,” Donnie whispers. “If we can get her to use it enough, she might fall asleep herself!”

“How do we do that?” Mikey peeks over the unit. “She’ll totally get us all before we can make it!”

Donnie thinks. “Leo, your dad keeps some of those little portal-stones in his room for when he’s too tired to use his own portals, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have any on you?”

“... Um…”

“I won’t tell.”

“... Yeah.” Leo reaches into his side-pouch and pulls out a few small yokai stones capable of opening one-time portals for a few seconds each. “I just grabbed them in case something really bad happened and we had to run aw- uh, retreat!”

“We’re running away?!”

“No, Mikey.” Donnie counts them out- three portals each he divides them up. “If we use these, we can quickly dodge her power! It looks like it works by direct contact- none of us got sleepy even though we heard it- so we can tire her out this way!”

Mikey’s eyes shine. “This, is, AWESOME!”

Leo looks up to see Tweetie has just finished drawing eyebrows and a mustache on Raph’s face with his own marker. “She’s done being distracted! Let’s end this fast, before our dads get back to see us fighting!”

They all three share a look, and nod at once. They leap out from behind the unit, and Leo cups his hands around his mouth. “Hey Tweetie! You uh– you were off-key!”

Tweetie whirls around. “Was not!”

“Totally off-key!” Mikey shouts. “And um- uh-”

“And your breathing sounded really inexperienced!” Donnie adds. “And um- and it wasn’t good!”

“I’ll show YOU good singing!” She takes a deep breath, flying up again and belting, “Why don’t you rest while I riiise!”

But before she even finishes her line the three boys have used the stone to open portals. Her power hits nothing but rooftop, and she chirps in shock. She spins in the air, lifting up her hammer. “Where’d you go?!”

Mikey pops out of his portal and it closes right after. “Right here, Squawksong!”

“My name is Tweetie!” she sings out, fuming. Mikey laughs and flips away from the blast, popping through another portal as he flips right past Leo, who stands with his swords drawn. Leo points one at Tweetie.

“Mikey’s right! I think your villain name is Squawksong now!” Leo declares. 

“That’s lame for a- yawn- a villain name!” she sings again. Leo throws down his stone, the portal swallowing him and closing before her power follows him through. 

Donnie jumps out from behind  the shed again. “HEY!” he shouts, getting her attention. “Not as lame as copying your dad’s suit gimmick!”

She gasps. “This was a birthday present, you-you shell-butt jerk!” She doesn’t sing that one– just swings her hammer down. Donnie yelps, rolling away and opening his next portal, pushing himself up from a handstand straight into the pink circle.

“DOWN HERE!” Tweetie- Squawksong- turns to see Mikey standing by Raph again. Mikey puts his hands by his head, wiggling his fingers and blowing a raspberry.

“Go to sleep, stop your annoying peeps!” This time is more of a rap cadence, her power coming out in bursts rather than one single blast, but Mikey grabs Raph and jumps both of them through his last portal. Squawksong yawns again, dropping a little.

“Nice try!” Leo taunts from behind her. She turns again, slower this time, rubbing her eyes. “My Uncle Donald is a way better rapper!”

“Then let me try a power ballad!” But Leo avoids it just as easily as before with his final portal, opening it just over the edge of the rooftop and sprint-leaping right in.

Squawksong spins around again, eyes drooping and losing steam in her flapping by the second. Donnie, crouched on the other side of the billboard, looks at his last portal stone. “Please let us win our first fight,” he whispers.

He runs out from behind the billboard. “HEY SQUAWKSONG! I BET YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW THE DONNIE DEWEY DECIMAL RAP!”

“Of course not, because that sounds stupid!” She tries to swing her hammer, but in her sluggish and tired state she missed Donnie by a wide margin. She rubs her eyes again, yawns once more, and takes a deep breath. “My dads are the best, better than the rest!”

Donnie cartwheels away and tosses down the final stone, popping out the other side of the portal to meet his four brothers behind the roof shed. Mikey and leo hold Raph up as they all peek out.

Squawksong yawns again, and drops– one foot, two feet, all the way to the rooftop. She sits down, yawns again, and then tucks her legs under her and wraps her wings around herself.

Soon enough they hear tweet-snores, and Raph yawns and begins to wake up. “Wha’ happened?”

“We… we won!” Leo looks at Donnie and grins. “We won!”

“You totally saved our shells, Dee!” Mikey wraps his brother in a hug. “We’d have gotten in sooo much trouble if ours dads knew we were-!”

“Y’ALL WERE IN A FIGHT?!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

April zips in front of the boys, hands on her hips. “You know you were supposed to call me if your dads got into a fight! And who the heck is that?!”

“Uh… Hypno and the worm guy’s daughter.” Leo winces. “She… wasn’t happy our dads are fighting hers.”

April pinches her nose. “Please tell me you did not knock her out. We made a deal with them, they don’t mess with you and we don’t mess with their kid!”

“We didn’t knock her out! She used her powers until she got all sleepy! Honest!” Mikey clasps his hands together and gives April his most sad, pleading look. Raph yawns again as Mikey takes away his arm, and rubs his eyes. 

April’s expression softens. “Alright. Looks like you guys had a big night, huh? And I’m guessing you don’t wanna leave until your dads get done?”

“Nuh-uh.” Raph blinks at her sleepily. “I gotta hug him when he gets back. He’s gonna be upset.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Raph.” April rubs his head. “Alright, let’s go grab the bird girl–”

“Squawksong!”

“Oh, no way they named their kid that! I’ll report them to, uh… I don’t know, Yokai protective Services?”

“Mikey named her that as her villain name,” Leo says.

Donnie nods. “Her real name is Tweetie.”

“Well then, let’s grab Tweetie and make sure she’s out of the way of any hurtling giant turtles and wait for the boys to wrap things up.”

“You um… you won’t tell them we got into a fight, will you, Auntie April?” Donnie taps his fingers together nervously. “Uncle Leon said we shouldn’t, even with Yokai kids.”

“I have to, Dee. You guys only got into this fight alone because you didn’t call me as soon as your dads stepped away. Look, I’m super proud of you four for holding your own, but this is a big deal. You just had your first real hero-villain fight and you’re only ten.”

They all sag, mumbling apologies.

“Hey, I forgive you. And your dads will too. But you need to stop rushing into trying to grow up.” She pulls all four in for a hug. “You’re still our little turt tots.”

“We love you Auntie April,” they all chorus softly.

“I love y’all too. Now let’s settle down. I think I smell Raphie’s ‘Just broke out of hypnosis’ stink from here.”

[zinovi768]

NEW AU ALERT!!

Presenting!! The Robo!Rise AU!!!

In this AU Draxum doesn't mutate turtles, he instead builds little robot turtles he wants to use as weapons but when he tries to use Lou jutsu’s Hamato energy to power them they end up becoming sentient and Splinter takes them away!

(More info/Character sheets under the cut!)

Little notes about the AU!

-The turtles do run on batteries and need to recharge at night (splinter didn't find that out for a while and thought he killed them at first when they where little)

-Splinter stays only about half human in this but changes his appearance a lot anyway- (think freshly mutated splints all the time)

-the turtles are children when they first grow sentient, and they are built to look like baby turtles (Draxum wanted them to be smaller warriors but he just ended up making children on accident)

-they do grow mentally and Donnie, even when he’s very young, likes to tinker with his siblings and make them bigger (Growing up physically)

-Mikey around 4 years old wonders into the sewer tunnels and finds a way up to the surface, being the curious one he is, he goes up and wonders but runs out of battery quick, Lil April finding him soon after and taking him back home and finding a way to charge him. (she has no idea who or what he is) once They were awake again chaos ensues and she evenchually gets him home and meets the others and splints.

-splinter is a dumbass and has so idea how to care for 4 robots that act like children so he tries to just ignore them but when they keep bothering him with little chirps and shiny things they found his heart melts and he gets his shit together to raise them (even if he has no idea how)

-Donnie’s shell is covered by a sort of leather instead of metal like his brothers, his robot was built with more agility in mind.

-Mikey is the smallest because after a while he didn't like Donnie upgrading him so much so Donnie stopped, Raph on the overhand didn't care at all so Donnie kept adding things (made her much bigger and built like a tank)

-their faces are screens that they can control and customize so it moves with their voices and emotions.

[jocelynships]

What was Baron Draxum and Jocelyn first kiss story like?

Thanks for the ask! I’ve kind of talked about it before, but I’m gonna go into a bit more detail here!

Putting this under a cut bc it’s probably gonna get a lil’ long despite me summarizing things by A Lot lol

So long story short, Jocelyn ends up getting some powers she struggles to control and it’s a big plot point in her season 2 arc. Eventually she gets to the point where she can’t control them anymore and they blow up.

I call it her “Elsa Moment” since it’s very similar to how Elsa reveals her powers and runs off

But when her powers finally blow up, she accidentally hits Draxum with them, and hurts him in the process. Now it isn’t severe, he recovers from it pretty quickly.

But after they all find Jocelyn and bring her back, they have a run in with the Foot Clan and she fights them off, overexerting herself and causing herself to pass out. Draxum catches her and is the one watching over her while she’s still out, and is the first one she sees when she wakes up.

She has a breakdown, upset that she hurt him, and for how she had been acting (before this she got into a fight with everyone it’s a lot of drama but we live for it!)

And Draxum is the one to comfort her. He’s not great with words, but he offers to help her learn to control her powers. She just needs to stop bottling up her emotions first.

And thus comes the confession. Jocelyn admits she developed feelings for him, and she’s quite honestly terrified of it. He was the bad guy at one point, and while they’ve become good friends a part of her is still super hesitant to fully trust him!

But Draxum shushes her and pulls her into a kiss, admitting he’s fallen for her in return.

It’s a very emotionally charged moment, both of them allowing themselves to be vulnerable after both of them having their guards up for so long.

It is cut short due to Splinter and the turtles coming in to check on Jocelyn, and wanting to take her back to the lair to keep an eye on her.

But after Jocelyn and Draxum reunite, they finally sit and talk about their feelings in depth, and agree to take things slow and see where the relationship takes them!

They don’t put labels on it and try to keep whatever their relationship is a secret, until the turtles burst into Draxum’s apartment needing his help with some mystic artifact and catch the two of them being all lovey dovey while making breakfast together lol