#Future Baxter Stockboy

[risestarkissomega]

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••••

Stockboy's ad is for...Rupert Swaggart?!

I wonder what ol' Meat Sweats is up to? 🤔😒

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[circusinarun]

Baxter Stockboy has so much potential as an inventor and robot technician!

I think in the future he'll unleash it in something good. Like making tech for resistance!

With Donatello's guidance :)

"Hmmm, I could take you as a temporary assistant in my lab, and then up the career ladder...-"

"YES! I HAVE SO MUCH IDEAS! BLASTERS! GIANT ROBOTS! BOMBS! I CAN PROJECT ANYTHING!"

(i like how he stims :3)

But every job has its cons... Like babysitting CJ because Donnie hates kids and is too busy. (too busy drinking coffee and bully Kraang's offspring online"

"Hey! Turtle man! When you said that you want me to be your assistant that's not what i thought it would be!"

And i think after Donnie's passing he took his place as a general technician of the resistance. (Also, my AU Donnie died at 35-37 y.o. so on these drawings shows us the second general technician in the resistance (yet :]))

[leeseechkeens]

Say hello to future Baxter Stockman :)

I was thinking he would turn out being a great colleague to Donnie in the future

Maybe even a friend

[kathaynesart]

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And we're back!! I still have one more zine and a few other projects on my plate, but it should be much more manageable from here on out (hopefully). So I'm going to try to get back into the swing of more regular updates.

Also, I like to think that Omega's idea of "oceanic ambience" is basically just Homer's Ocean Sounds.

Sorry not too much is happening yet, but the next update will have some heavy Mikey lore so needed to stop it here before we jump into that big old can of worms. Hope you guys liked the little Baxter Stockboy cameo. While I think he got along well with Donnie, I could see him and Omega being practically inseparable, since Omega has the time and ability to just follow Baxter around as a "building buddy" to help with whatever projects he's got on his plate.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

I mentioned in a reblog thing that I'd wanted to make a Rise comic series called "ROTTMNT: UNPAUSED" and I hinted to one of the finale episodes being called "Mikey's Birthday Bash"

Well I'm gonna infodump about that now...

So basically the episode started off with Mikey waking everyone up for a special breakfast to celebrate his bday, only to discover that not only did his brothers forget his bday, they all made plans of their own. To quickly make up for it, the guys take him into the Hidden City for a quick shopping spree before they all have to leave for their engagements. While Mikey is looking for something to buy, he overhears his brothers conversing about how in the next year, Raph won't be a TEENAGE mutant ninja turtle anymore (he is 17 currently). Donnie adds that he is already looking for colleges to join and hopes for an early admission. Leo also admits he has been planning for the future. Mikey realizes that his brothers are all planning to leave and grow up, which he is not ready for. He runs away crying, and meets a strange old hag who sells him a "special" birthday candle, which she promises will grant his biggest birthday wish.

Mikey finds his bros again and uses the candle on a meager cupcake they got for him. As soon as he blows the candle out, the four are transported into a version of the Battle Nexus, trapped there along with every other character from the show (and my comics) by the hag who sold Mikey the candle. She reveals that Mikey's wish was for "everyone to spend my birthday together", and the only way for them to escape is for the turtles to win the tournament! The bros are furious at Mikey for making the wish, and Mikey promises to get through the games as quickly as possible so they can get back to their plans and leave.

The hag states that the turtles will be pitted against their previous enemies, and with each round they win they'll will receive more allies. Anyone KO’d will be eliminated from the round and sent to watch in the audience, and upon the ending of the game all contestants will be returned to their last location. The enemies will get progressively more challenging until they defeat all of their opponents.

Round 1, April is with the guys, and they are up against Baxter Stockboy, Albearto, and the Purple Dragons.

Round 2, the Casey Joneses join the fight against the Foot Clan.

Round 3, Draxum, Splinter, Big Mama, and the two missing siblings hinted at by the writers join against the evil league of mutants and the Mud Dogs. April is KO’d after getting slammed into a wall and knocked unconscious by Heinous Green. Cass is KO’d by Hypno after he hypnotizes her to knock herself unconscious as well. Draxum is KO’d by Meat Sweats after he steals his power.

Round 4, Several characters (such as Agent Bishop and Mona Lisa) join to fight against the Triceratons (which were introduced in my series). During this round, everyone is K.O.'d except the turtles. However, Mikey sees that he didn’t finish the battles in time and his brothers have missed their appointments. He feels guilty, and his brothers are admittedly irritated.

Round 5, the final boss battle. They are pitted against the Shredder and the Kraang. Before the fight begins, Mikey has a blowout with his brothers and finally admits that he was angry they were gonna leave because he was scared of growing up, as he is not ready to be an adult yet and he doesn’t want to be alone. The Kraang interrupts stating “I can help you with that” and captures Mikey. However, the Turtles get one last team member… Karai. The Shredder -- having been defeated and Oroku Saki redeemed -- turns against the Kraang and sides with the Turtles and his daughter. The boys defeat the Kraang using the special formula from the movie, but not before the Shredder and Karai are K.O.'D by the Kraang. The Kraang are defeated with the last of the mixture, but to the boys' horror they see that Mikey was kraangified, and now have to fight against him as their last opponent. They try, but are unable to defeat him due to his increased strength AND his ninpo. Leo refuses to admit defeat, saying “Mikey never gave up on me… I can’t give up on him.” He tries one last attack, grappling with Mikey and holding him down...

I happened to make sketches of what came next...

The game finished, everyone is returned home. Mikey apologizes for everything, but Raph admits that he isn’t ready to grow up yet either, and he never wants to leave Mikey alone. He found out the hard way what that felt like, and the brothers agree to wait a little longer to grow up and enjoy being the teenage mutant ninja turtles while they can. Back at the lair, everyone bursts in to make sure Mikey is okay. They spend the rest of the day with him, enjoying his birthday...

So yeh that's that

[risestarkiss]

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[sunflowhamato]

ROTTMNT Curiosities Part.3

The turtles honored Karai, and would talk to her whenever they needed guidance

Originally Karai would have been in 8 episodes (11 minutes) or 4 (22 minutes), she would help Donnie with his desire for recognition, Raph's anxiety, Mikey's aversion to family conflict, and Leo in his potential as a leader, as well as April letting him know that she is also a Hamato

The Rise movie takes place months after the end of the second season

The photo at the beginning of the movie was taken just before the Krang arrived.

If the series were renewed, they would touch on the theme that humans already know about them, addressing issues of misunderstood heroism to maintain their reputation as full-time heroes, and that some people hate them, as well as how they adapt to this new change

The crossover between the different versions of TMNT was never discussed, but it can happen (Although it is complicated to use two types of animation in the case of 2012)

2012 Leo and Rise Leo would get along badly at first, but would end up being great friends. The Mikeys would get along well from the beginning

There was a story to tell about Big Mom and Stinkbomb

The team never realized that there was no episode with the duo of Raph and Donnie (but they would if the series is renewed)

In the apocalyptic future it may be that Donnie is taller than Leo, and Raph is at least 6 feet, Mikey would have grown, but due to the use of the Ninpo on him he would become smaller

Mikey could be enough for multiverse episodes

In the series the invasion would not have happened like in the movie

Ron would like to see a Spin-off of CJ and Cassandra wandering the world and fighting the remains of Krang (Where Draxum could join)

There are Krang everywhere, there may be some good Krang

The Rat King could be the next villain, Shredder could return, Bishop could be a thorn like J. Jonah Jameson for the turtles, he would be like an ally, but don't trust the turtles (a few ideas if the series is renewed)

Baxter Stockboy would mutate, and become a man, but his voice and mentality would be that of a child

There were no plans for Beebop and Rocksteady

It could be that Mikey from the future communicated with his dead brothers

There are other hidden cities such as Tokyo, where it was thought that they would be

The prison dimension is to get rid of the villains

In terms of power with the Ninpo, Mikey is the strongest, followed by Donnie, Raph the next, and Leo is the one who depends the least on the Ninpo, he uses physical and mental abilities

CJ is around 20 years old or a teenager. Leo from the future would be in his early 40s. Young April is 18 just like Raph

The movie was already planned before they found out about the hiatus, it didn't change much since it was set a little far from the series, so it didn't receive many changes

Don Suave is attractive to any gender or orientation Leo has a little insomnia

Donnie's fear of beach balls started at a young age as seen in “Lair Games”

His favorite video game is “Crazy Copter”

The bounty hunters in the first episode are called “Garm and Freki”

Baba Yaga was planned to be introduced

Donnie is the team doctor

Ant and Andy had the idea that the turtles were of different species

Kids would put cereal before milk (haha, good tip)

In Origami Tsunami the test audience thought Leo was the leader

Kendra is Indonesian

Raph feels bad when he is alone, because his brothers are the strength he needs to survive.

Leo's hair reference in Bad Hair Day is because of the guy in the middle

A rivalry between Baxter and The Purple Dragons was thought of

A little HeadCanon that Donnie has a pumpkin-growing rivalry with a woman named Ethel Crabtree

Hypno is New Zealander

In Al Be Back, Raph was Raphy White in “Barry White”, his hair is similar to James Brown, Leo is a glam rocker in the vein of David Bowie, the New York Dolls or Sweet

“Othello Von Ryan”, is a reference to the strange Liz Taylor commercial in the 80s

Dale is based on Dale Malinowski

The boys' nickname is: Othello Von Ryan, Dr. Delicate Touch, Cool Teen Randall, Neon Leon and the Red Angel of Preventing Harm

Mikey knew that April's apartment upstairs was unoccupied, where he sent Draxum

Raph's hero names, he doesn't realize they spell his name R.A.P.H until later

If the series is renewed, several discarded episodes could return without a problem, and everything would resume from the end of the movie

There is a completely complete episode that Nick never released

If the series were renewed it would be at least another 3 seasons

The pitch process for an episode is organic, a writer has a pretty solid idea, people propose ideas, the key piece is finding the growth story not only of the story, but also of the character

The difficult part of the series was fitting the entire plot into 11 minutes for one episode, there were great things that were eliminated for this reason, the general opinion (from high ranks) was that action shows lasted 22 minutes to sell toys, while comedies got ratings

[rottmnt-honeybea]

🐢BAD FUTURE AU🐝

🤖 The Last Hamato shield🛡️ - Part 7 Shelldon

Guess they should've listened to Baxter Stockboy and ran while they had the chance.

[gelu-the-babosa-multiversal]

Following this post! More #Caught in the Web characters! The Stockfly family.

Baron Draxum became obsessed with perfecting the mutagen in this AU after seeing that Yoshi transformed into a Yokai, so he spent years kidnapping humans. He became increasingly aggressive to the point that he sent his minions to go after more diverse test subjects.

More info under the cut

One of the unlucky ones was Msr. Stockboy who was 7 months pregnant with little Baxter. The place where she was kept in captivity is full of flies due to the horrible smell produced from the corpses of other failed test subjects...

But, the mutation was an achievement at least to the eyes of Draxum, and because Msr. Stockboy was still pregnant Draxum decided to conduct more tests.

This did not make happy Msr. Stockboy who was just going through the mutation and the future birth of her son. The good thing was that Draxum let her keep the baby just to see if the baby was a Yokai as well.

The result is a little baby fly. Taking advantage of Draxum believing that Msr. Stockboy was too weak after giving birth she took all the courage she still have and escaped with her baby who was still a little egg about to hatch!

They made it safely out of Draxum's layer and hid in the Hidden City where she was found by Señor Hueso and was helped by some Death Flower shop owners.

Baxter grew up among the Yokai people becoming a hight intelligent kid at a young age, though, he has a deformity on his wings that made them stop growing making him incapable of flying, unlike his mother who has fully developed wings.

Still, Msr. Stockboy wanted to return to the surface she was scared that her husband and mother would see her and Baxter as monsters. She does not know that Ms. Stockboy and Grandma Stockboy are still looking for them, not losing hope.

Until some turtle kappa boys came to the Stockboy shop...

[phykoha]

1. Does Tello still have a beaf with Baxter Stockboy?

2. About turtles supporting April. I think that Tello is even more likely to help her study- witg the difference that he doesn’t get annoyed so easily- i mean how could he? It��s older (younger) sister.

3. IS THERE USAGI SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE AND IS LEO DATING HIM? Or did this bald turtle and bunny met only bc of the apocalypse?

4. Can Raphie crochet? She seems like a person to do so

Yes. Absolutely. but like. They were frienemies and teamed up quite a bit. Along with Kendra and the other Purple Dragons.

Oh absolutely. April would def go to him, if only to get him to stop with his constant working. She is sneaky like that.

:)

Sure! I feel like she would've picked it up during the invasion to help with making blankets and clothes. Also Lee can sew really well.

[risestarkissomega]

My design for an aged up future Baxter Stockboy from "The Spring Collection: Mikey's Coiffed Cuisine I"

At this point he's been a YouTuber for a while. He's found his niche and has accrued a bit of a following by stocking shelves in spooky and abandoned grocery stores across New York City.

What do you think of his design? 😊

OH! And *pffffft* all of my references are under the cut...

😂😭☠️

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[wraenata]

Oh boy, 2003 Baxter

I think about him a lot because, man, do I feel bad for him

Like.. i know he's a villain, but the way he was treated by Shredder then Bishop...

Stockboy definately had a better life even with the Kraang. I havent seen the cut intro for a while, but I think it would be neat if they had part of 2003 Stockman's later bodies as a part of Stockboy's future design

Now im thinking about how Stockboy and Donnie probably teamed up and made some wicked tech to fight against the Kraang

Yes you get it! 2k3 Baxter was so tragic. Like he kind of dug his own grave for the first few seasons, but eventually he realized he just wanted to rest. And Insane in the Membrane, oof. His mom. What a difficult episode.

That would be really cool if Rise future Stockboy had design elements from 2k3! Like giving him a sort of battle shell with spider legs, like when he was a little spider head haha.

Yeah Donnie and Stockboy probably made a bunch of really cool stuff. I think it would be cool if Donnie became sort of a mentor to Stockboy but eventually they grew to be equals. That would be nice.

I hope your work shift goes smoothly tonight!

[leeseechkeens]

Doodled some possible Baxter Stockboy looks in the future

Still can’t decide

[icy-watch]

So, we finally get Baxter Stockboy. That's going to take a minute to remember.

I kind of wonder what other changes they made to him, other than age and name. I wonder if we'll get Mousers...

I'm glad this episode was kind of a Scooby-Doo with a bit more horror. So, for people kind of just tuning in to my liveblogs, I actually like horror. I wouldn't say it's my favorite genre, but I do really enjoy it.

I don't have much to predict from this episode other than Baxter will be back at a later time. And I can see him joining the growing Evil League of Evil in the future.

Alright, on to the next episode!

[mrstealyogender]

Here are some of the references Rise makes to other TMNT iterations I noticed. If you notice any, please reblog and add your own findings! I'm pretty new to the TMNT fandom so I'm sure I'm missing a ton

In most TMNT iterations, the evil scientist is Baxter Stockman. This time, he's a kid named Baxter... Stockboy. And he still makes his classic Mousers (episode: The Mutant Menace)

In one of the very first episodes, the group makes a comment about how Raphael is the self-appointed leader, even though everyone knows someone else (Leonardo) should be leader. A similar comment is made by one of the criminals in Raph's Ride-Along ("Blue is always leader"). If I can find the specific episode, I'll update y'all.

Ice Cream Kitty shows up as a statue in the Hot Soup: The Game auction house episode

I forget what episode this is in exactly, but in one of the early episodes, there's a bottle of Dregg's Honey.

Rise has a lot of voice actors from other TMNT series!

Christian Lanz plays Captain Piel and Don Suave in Rise; and Fishface/Xever in TMNT 2012

Eric Bauza plays Splinter, Senior Hueso, and Don Suave in Rise; and Tiger Claw and one of the Triceratons in TMNT 2012

Phil LaMarr plays Jupiter Jim in Rise; and plays Baxter Stockman in two of the TMNT video games based on the TMNT 2012 show

Some of the actors for the TMNT 2012 turtles show up as villains in Raph's Ride-Along episode in the Hidden City: Leonardo, Donatello (also voiced Raphael in the original 1987 TMNT show and voices Foot Lieutenant in Rise), and Michaelangelo (also voices S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. in Rise)

Fred Tatasciore plays Gram and Freki in Rise; and plays Rocksteady in TMNT 2012

Karai has shown up in many different versions of TMNT. She's usually Shredder's adoptive daughter or second in command. imo, Karai's relationship with Shredder in Rise felt most similar to her dynamic with Shredder in TMNT 2012, because in both, she had a familial relationship with Shredder that she had to betray for moral reasons. I'm not sure if folks will technically count this as a reference, but I wanted to shout it out anyway.

I had a hard time finding good photos of their outfits, but I definitely felt similar vibes to TMNT 2012 future!Mikey when I saw Rise future!Mikey's design. There are definitely key differences, but to me, it feels like they tried to keep it in the same ballpark.

Those are all the references I personally noticed, but Turtlepedia has a great list of Easter Eggs! I didn't know most of these, but they're all delightful

Watching tmnt 2012 before rottmnt was such a good call, the references are so good

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Snow Day

Title: Snow Day Prompt: There's a snowstorm, and someone's been gone since before it started. They were supposed to come home hours ago, so a member of the group heads out to find what happened to them. Fandom: ROTTMNT Word Count: 3681 Author: PhoebePheebsPhibs Rating: Gen Characters: Casey Jones Jr, Raphael, Leonardo, Baxter Stockboy cameo Warning: Casey gets real freaked out and has a minor anxiety/panic attack Summary: Casey goes out just before a snowstorm happens and gets caught right in the middle of it... Notes: No Beta, We Die Like Gram-Gram! Reused old art for illustration lol, you can see it on AO3

@cheetochild989 @tmnt-write-fight

Posted on AO3 <-

"I won't be gone long," Casey promised. "It's only a few things."

"Still, it's your first time buying groceries alone," Leo mumbled, the tap tap tap of his crutch echoing against the floor. He didn't always need it, but some days were harder than others. "I could go with --"

"No," Casey interrupted him, holding a hand up and stopping Leo in his tracks. "If I'm ever going to figure out how to live in this time period, then I need to learn to do these things on my own."

"Sheesh, alright!" Leo joked. "And don't say 'time period', this isn't the Victorian era! It's only what, 20-plus years into the past? Time period. Woof! You make it sound like we're ancient wizards or something..."

Casey laughed at the idea. The only one he could truly call a 'wizard' was Mikey, but he hadn't really gotten to that stage just yet. Mage, yes. Wizard? Maaaaybe in a few months, if he kept up the training with Draxum.

Casey and Leo went over the list one more time, adding one or two last-minute items that Leo suddenly thought of as they made their way to the exit. Casey stuffed the list into his pants before shoving a large and slightly oversized jacket over himself, struggling slightly with the arms.

"Don't forget your hat and earmuffs," Raph reminded him as he walked past. "It's really cold out today."

"Gotchya," Casey nodded, handling the earmuffs like they're some new and exotic species. "We didn't really have cold weather in the future..."

"Really?" Leo asked, his head tilting to the side. "What were winters like?"

"I dunno, like 60 degrees at the lowest?" he shrugged. "What with all the planetary devastation and laser blasts and global warming... weather became sorta nonexistent."

Raphael shuddered at the thought of such a thing. No weather meant no rain, no snow, maybe even no real wind or cloudy days. 

"Well, try to be home soon okay? I think there's a call for heavy snow later."

"Sure thing," Casey replied, half-paying attention to Raph as he walked out the door. After all, this is the past, and everyone has it so cushy! There's nothing dangerous here except for idiot muggers and a few mutants. What could possibly go wrong?

"And don't forget the mittens!" Raph called after him. Casey walked back into the lair, retrieved his gloves, and then walked back out.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

Casey Jones Jr was starting to really like New York City, circa 2020. It was a different kind of hectic, but Casey had lived his entire life in chaos.

Instead of dodging missiles, he was dodging taxi cabs.

Instead of wild krang dogs, there were people walking a dozen angry chihuahuas and poodles and dobermans to earn money.

Instead of corpses laid to waste on the ground, there were a few homeless people sleeping in cardboard boxes.

Differences with small similarities.

The biggest difference was the turtles. Sensei Leonardo was no longer a tall and hulking king of the apocalypse with a robot arm who took no slack from anyone or anything -- he was now an ego-stripped teenager with a knee that had been so twisted up that it counted as a physical condition and they could qualify for disabled parking with the tank. Master Michelangelo was no longer someone who looked older than time and could create lavish magic spells with a flip of his hand, but an untrained child with an unbridled adoration for drawing and reality cooking shows. Uncle Tello was not the cybernetic scientist in overalls with a hundred extra technological advancements, but a nerdy teenager with 'secret' plans for anarchy against the US government. Raphael... well... Casey couldn't remember Raph firsthand. There were some photographs and video recordings of him, a few stories passed down, but the big red giant had been killed in action a few years after Casey Jr was born.

But this time period -- er, the past was still nice. It was crazy how many people he recognized. Baron Draxum, Commander O'Neil, Master Splinter, Todd 'The Sasquatch' Capybara, Big Mama... Casey would just be walking down the street and he'd see a couple with a child, and he'd realize the kid was one of the medics that helped him when he'd broken his leg. He would be buying pizza and the cashier was one of Uncle Tello's tech apprentices. In the Hidden City, an octopus Yokai would offer to sell him some mystic potion and Casey would recall they were one of the cooks in the mess hall who always gave him extra portions to help him grow, even when rations were low.

Casey reached the end of memory lane when he found the grocery store he'd been looking for. He casually walked inside just as a few unnoticed flakes of white began to fall from the sky above him.

"Hello, and welcome to the Stock & Shop!" an older woman greeted. "Holler if you need anything!"

Casey nodded with a smile as he started to gather everything on the list.

Chicken soup: got it.

New batteries for the remote: donezo.

Flaming-hot chips: three bags procured. 

Four different brands of soda: orange blast for Mikey, sugar-free cola for Raph, flavourless juice for Donnie, and diet blueberry bubble waters for Leo. Check.

Popcorn for movie nights: not yet.

The popcorn in question was placed on a hard-to-reach shelf high above him. Of course, this one particular brand that Mikey so desperately needed was at the very top. As Casey was reached up for the requested snack, a voice chimed in behind him.

"Better hurry, there's supposed to be a wicked snowstorm tonight!"

Casey jumped back, startled by the sudden sound. He looked down and saw a short, scrawny kid with a comparatively huge head looking up at him.

"Oh, hey. You look familiar...?"

"This is my parent's store, I work here all the time. Or maybe you've seen my videos? My channel? STOCKBOii?? Cybersleuth??"

"Stockboy? As in Baxter Stockboy?" Casey wondered, his eyes widening as the corners of his mouth turned up.

"Yeah! You've heard of me?" the child asked excitedly.

"Kind of," Casey replied, not exactly sure how to explain that Baxter had worked as one of Donatello's apprentices to create warships and mechas during the golden age of the Resistance, despite Sensei's reluctance. "I heard about the whole 'Mutant Menace' fiasco."

Baxter groaned loudly.

"Uggggh, that whole thing. My parents still won't let me leave the house unsupervised. It's ridiculous! One mass panic and riot instigation, and they turn on me! At least the judge agreed to let me work off community service in the store..."

Casey smirked just a little.

"Hmm. Anyway, you said something about a snowstorm?"

"Oh, right. The weather report says it might get up to two inches."

"What might get up to two inches?"

"Um... the snow? Look, it's started snowing already!"

Baxter Stockboy pointed out towards the front entrance. A small sprinkling of white could just barely be visible beyond the glass.

"Oh," Casey shrugged. "Doesn't look too bad."

"You say that now, but it's supposed to get below 30º Farenheit!"

"Oh. That is kinda cold," Casey agreed. "...But I'm sure it'll be okay."

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

Ten minutes had passed.

Raphael received a notification from the weather app, informing that the previously predicted 'heavy snowfall' was now a full-blown snowstorm.

That probably wasn't good. But it wasn't terrible, either. Just some snow.

"Boys, it looks like tomorrow is another snow day!" he announced to the rest of the Hamatos.

From various rooms in the lair, Raph heard them shout in excitement.

"Yes!"

"Alright!"

"Snow day, hooRAY, baby!"

Raph smiled. He couldn't wait to introduce Casey to his first snowfall...

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆

Casey had finally gotten all the items on the list and was preparing to check-out, when an announcement went over the loudspeakers.

"Attention shoppers -- we encourage all patrons to finish up their errands, as we will be closing soon due to the weather. Thank you."

Huh. They sure were getting all riled up over this 'snow' stuff. Casey had witnessed a few storms before in the months prior, but it was never too bad. Thunderstorms were freaking terrifying, but only because they were loud and Casey's first thought was always that an air attack was happening. But he loved watching lightning. It reminded him of a few magic spells Master Michelangelo had performed on occasion...

Casey finished up the last of his errand and purchased the items. He needed a little help when trying to decide on paper or plastic, and for a moment he forgot the pin number for the card Splinter had given him, but other than that all had gone well.

He stepped out of the store, the glass doors sliding past him gracefully.

And he was greeted by a harsh blast of cold. It almost knocked him over, the icy wind biting his face so much he dropped the bags of groceries in order to cover his face with his regrettably un-mittened hands.

Okay. He was starting to see what people meant now. He hurriedly pulled his mittens on and scrambled to cover as much of his head as he could with his hat and earmuffs.

It had been cold these past few months, sure, but not like THIS! This was arctic.

And what's more, the sky was raining ash. That only ever happened when Uncle Tello sent missiles to blow the Krang vessels to kingdom come. So why was no one terrified, or hiding? Besides, there were no more Krang ships to incinerate. So then, what was...?

Casey happened to glance to the side and saw a kid sticking their tongue out. Their parents did the same. They caught a few of the flakes on the tips of their tongues, laughing as they shivered. Casey watched in wonder. He held a hand out. A single fleck of white flittered down to his palm, delicately touching down onto him, and melting upon impact with the glove. Casey was gently bewildered. He looked up at the sky. The heavens above were masked over with clouds of grey, hiding the universe from him, guarding him from the wonders he couldn't understand or comprehend. And yet, the universe deemed this wonder fit for him to comprehend?

Casey's mouth hung open as he gazed at the sky, confused. Snowflakes fell against his cheeks, his eyelashes, his lips, his chin. He stuck out his tongue and closed his eyes. It took a few minutes, but finally he felt one land and melt in his mouth.

...Underwhelming, if he was honest.

It was just water. He kind of expected a flavour.

The wind suddenly whipped against him. It had calmed for the brief moments that Casey stood there, but now was circling back in full fury. Casey gasped at the fierce chill, bundling himself up more and more before gathering the supplies and shuffling back to the lair. The wind swirling around him, the snow raining down with a vengefulness.

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Twenty minutes had passed.

Raph had started to feel like he was forgetting something. He wasn't sure what, though...

Donnie had re-fortified the lair and central heating system, so now it would stay extra cozy despite the freezing temperatures outside. You could hear the wind start to roar if you went to the exterior tunnels and big exit door.

Raph remembered how in the early years when they were all teeny tiny turtle tots, Splinter had them all stay in the same room to conserve heat. He'd set up tons of heat lamps and space-warmers, bundle each one in extra-fuzzy blankets... Looking back, he could clearly see the panic that Splinter would be hiding at the idea that maybe they could all freeze to death if they weren't careful, or maybe that the power would go out when they weren't expecting it and he'd only have a few minutes to come up with a plan before hypothermia could creep in like a ghost. It was probably extra terrifying considering that they had minor cases of brumation when it got way too cold. They got better at combating it, wearing warm clothes to help stay warm. And it helped that they also had some minor mammalian DNA too, meaning that they had to be utterly and agonisingly cold for brumation to actually take effect. 

Still. Raphael had mad respect for Splinter now. He'd kept his cool and kept his calm, never once displaying the fear that probably filled his mind day in and day out. Raph wished he knew how to do that...

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Was Casey even going the right way?? He couldn't tell anymore.

The downpour of snow particles was starting to get so heavy that Casey couldn't even see ten feet in front of him, even with his mask on. Constantly blinded, he relied mostly on the lights from cars or neon signs to help guide him down the sidewalk. He couldn't remember the last time something like this had happened...

Maybe... during the dust storm incident. Sensei and Casey were in a losing battle against the Krang one day and in a sheer panic, Leonardo portaled them away and into some random place far, far away. Leonardo had initially assumed it was some inhospitable desert in the middle east or something, based on how much sand and wind there was. But after a quick look at the tracking device Donatello had installed, they realized that it was actually just New Mexico. Or, what was left of it. Sensei Leonardo had sent them right smack-dab in the middle of a dust storm, where the drought-riddled land had become so dry that the wind created massive walls of dirt and dust that engulfed everything. It could suffocate you, dehydrate you, blind you, etc. The might've died if Leonardo hadn't thought quickly and found a shelter for them to hide out in. He'd dropped one of his swords during the storm, so the two were forced to wait it out. Sensei Leonardo never did find that other sword. He'd had to create a new one with his ninpo.

Anyway, this snowstorm felt like the exact opposite of the dust storm.

Rather than hot and dry, this was cold and wet. But the stabbing sensations of small things constantly flying into you was the same. The wind that threatened to carry you away was the same. The loneliness was the same.

Casey was convinced that he'd gotten turned around somehow... He wasn't sure where he was.

Forget being able to see ten feet away, he could barely see his own hands in the storm!

This was not good. Casey reached up, feeling around his mask for a specific button that would activate a distress beacon. He'd modified it so that Donnie's tech could receive the call, and hopefully it would go through. But if the storm was as severe as it felt, then it was possible that the lines would be down and the lair's internet access and phone lines wouldn't get the message.

Casey found the button. He'd have to hope that they'd get the signal.

He pressed it, and then pressed on, hoping that he could find his way home on his own...

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Thirty minutes.

The lair was starting to get terribly frigid. Raph waltzed into the kitchen, shuddering from the chill as he did, hoping that maybe Mikey would start making something hot to eat and that in turn would warm up the kitchen. He only found Leo in there, swirling a mug of hot cocoa that he'd heated up. 

"Brr-rr-rr, it's cold! I thought Donnie fixed the heat?"

"He did, but it's still pretty frigid," Leo sighed. "I'm starting to get worried..."

"You think the power might go out?" Raph asked.

"No, I'm wondering where Casey is."

Casey?

OH SHOOT, CASEY.

"Raph completely forgot that Casey was out!" Raph screamed, hands flying through the air. "I thought he came back fifteen minutes ago! You mean he's still out there?!"

"Relax, it's just snowing. Not that big of a deal," Leo said as he took a long sip of cocoa from his mug.

"Leo, you do realize that Casey's never seen snow before?!" Raph reminded him. "And this ain't no ordinary gentle snowfall, this is practically a blizzard!" 

Raph huffed angrily before rushing to the lair entrance. He grabbed a coat, some galoshes, a scarf, gloves, snowpants -- the whole shebang. Leo followed casually, sipping his cocoa gently as he walked after him.

"Where'ya goin'?" he asked with a smile.

"I'm goin' after Casey, of course!" Raph yelled.

"Do you know where he is?"

"I got him right here on the little tracker thingy."

Raph held out his phone to display to Leo the small signal coming in from Casey Jr's mask.

"Mhm," Leo hummed. "Okay. Well, when you get back, maybe bring home a pizza too."

"Leo, can you be serious about this?!"

"Okay, fine. When you find him, call me and I'll portal the two of you home. Okay?" Leo suggested. "No sense trudging through the cold back and forth."

"Great, thanks," Raph grumbled before running out the door, pulling his collar up to prepare for the wind and wet.

Raphael ducked out. Down the corridors, up a ladder to the top of the street. He pushed the manhole cover aside with ease. He was instantly met with a barrage of wind and ice, the snow and slush that had been atop the cover sliding down and splashing onto his face.

Raph sputtered softly, wiping his face off before heading into the fray...

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Casey was huddled against something. A wall, a stone, a tree, a car -- he could hardly tell. It was so cold, his skin felt like it was peeling off. His eyes stung from the wind, his feet ached from the chill, his arms hurt from the cold and from carrying all the groceries with him this whole time. The straps on the plastic bags were digging into his arms, cutting off his circulation. It was so windy and loud, he couldn't hear the traffic of the city anymore. His jacket was coated in white.

He'd hoped that he could shield himself with whatever he was leaning against, but the wind came from all sides.

It was terrifying. Being alone. He hadn't felt alone like this in so long...

He remembered sitting alone, like this, long ago...

The wind whipping around, the sky dark, the battlefield torn and scarred, white flakes of ash raining down from above. It was cold that day, too. Casey couldn't be older than four years old at the time.

The ground was covered in grey and white from all the ash and cinder. Casey was covered in the powdery residue himself, his face white as a sheet, his messy and greasy hair holding in the flakes and embers from the explosion that had decimated the world around him.

But the worst was the silence that followed. Nothingness. Loneliness. Agony.

Casey started crying. Four years old, having watched the world end, having seen his mother die, and so many of her comrades, and only to be left alone and scared? Of course he was crying.

In the distance, a figure began to move. Casey gasped, trying to cover his mouth and keep silent as the looming creature lumbered towards him. The monster was huge, it must be a krang mecha or --

"Casey?"

He recognized that voice. It wasn't Sensei, but it was just as comforting.

"Casey, where you? Casey!"

The child meant to answer. But his voice was lost in his own throat.

"Casey! I see you! I'm coming, kid, I'm coming!"

Casey reached out for the Red Giant to take him home... The silhouette of his figure in the smoke and smog that surrounded them...

But as the figure stepped through the fog, it wasn't a red giant.

"Casey! There you are!! I was so worried, what happened?!"

Casey Jones Jr was taken back to the present moment, and stared at Raph in shock.

"R-Raph..?"

"Geez, Case, you look frozen solid! Are you okay?"

Casey nodded softly, getting back up on his feet as Raph gave him a hand.

"I'm fine," he whispered. "It... it, uh, started snowing."

"Yeah, I see that," Raph chuckled. "Sorry, we had no idea it would get so bad."

"It... it's okay," Casey responds quietly. "How did you find me?"

"Well the snow's dying down a bit, so it ain't as hard to see," Raph mentioned as he pointed up. Casey did notice that during his anxiety attack, the wind has calmed a bit more and the downpour of frozen particles was much gentler. "Besides, the tracker helped. Although, I am curious how you managed to get all the way into Central Park?"

"Wha-huh?" Casey gaped, turning around and examining the area.

He had been huddled against a tree trunk, and a few feet off in the distance was a playground. Ahead of him was the cityscape, behind him the rest of the wooded little area.

"Wow. I didn't realize that I came this far..."

Raph chuckled as he grabbed the groceries from the ground.

"So, you ready to get home? All I gotta do is call Leo and we can be back in the lair with some hot chocolate!"

Casey glimpsed at the park behind them. It was... actually quite lovely.

It was a magical world, sparkling and quiet. Undisturbed. Serene.

Raph noticed Casey's stare and looked back at the scene, smiling knowingly.

"It sure it pretty, ain't it?"

"...It's peace," Casey awed. "It's absolute peace. This... I've never seen anything like it before."

Raph took in a deep breath, inhaling the peace with gratitude for a world that could give you something so gorgeous after something so terrible.

"Yeah. It's really beautiful. Tell ya what, the guys can wait for a bit. Want me to show you around the Winter Wonderland for a bit?"

Casey nodded with a dumbfounded smile on his face.

The two walked out into the park together, enjoying the peace that they both had fought tooth and nail for.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆The End⋆⁺₊⋆ ❄ ⁺₊⋆ ❄ ₊⁺ ⋆