#Spikey Mikey

[foxsoulart]

Tmntember prompt 14! With Spikey Mikey

Prompt list

@truths33k3r4 (is this what you meant by tagging? If not sorry for the @)

Edit: I completely forgot, but the prompt and au were picked at random by not me. Which is how I'm gonna be doing the rest. (I have ten aus and 30 prompts, one 1-10 and one 1-30 numbers to pick)

Ramble oncoming:

I feel like this would be not long after he's double mutated and one of his brothers came on a little too strong(or persistant) about his health and wellbeing. Which to be fair, Donnie was dying when he doublemutated, and Mikey knows this. And his brothers still kinda consider him the baby of the family even though they're quadruplets. And he's come to be cool with that and fully use it to his advantage. But after a little too much babying and worrying, Mikey has had enough and tells them so. I mean, Donnie already cleared him, and confirmed that he was perfectly fine. And Donnie was being cool about it. But were his other two brothers? Nope. So yeah, a long day topped with that kinda makes a guy snap. (He regrets nothing and feels snapping was justified. And it kinda was. He already told them off, and explained, and Donnie did the same.)

Close up, cause dang I like how his face turned out.

[ashenchromatic]

i tured PILKARAI into A GRAND WIZARD. look at his funny portals

[xxarson-forbr3akfastxx]

HOLD THE FUCK UP

This mans middle name is... JAMES!??!? MICHAEL JAMES WAY?!?!

WHATTTTT

[paintedkinzy-88]

I am at work but I found more dragons and I can’t not share that

Cuz look at these??

These are so beautiful I can’t NOT share with y’all???

More dragons sketches

Redesigned them a bit to be more dragon like, specifically the 2003 dragons. Might continue till I got something I'm pleased with.

Tried to make Raph be more intimidating and the most dragon of them. He seems so dangerous, and he is, but he's still a softy. And he's huge.

Leo and Donnie are more sleeker and were meant to resemble wyverns, but I missed the mark with the wings rip. Maybe they just like to swim more-

Mikey will remain the smallest no matter what. He's got no wings, for now, and is fluffy.

And, of course, Casey Marie/Shadow. She's having the time of her life experiencing how to train your dragon.

And yes, they are all rideable, although Donnie requires his equipment. I might do some sketches on the dragon riding.

I just wanna draw more dragons...

[bumpscosity]

need to wash my sheets which means plush pile on the floor for the next couple hours

[heck-theo]

Okokokokok- ignore how rough and messy some of these redraws/sketches are - but it's apparently also dinosaur month?? (WHY did no one ever tell me it's Jurassic June? I love dinosaurs) And like. What if Rise but dinosaurs?!

I don't often post such loose sketches but I wanted to show these off cause I really like some of this.

Design choices and dino species + the reasons I picked them bellow (looking for potential Donnie dino suggestions):

Clothes: Without the shell they really need clothes. They'd all have pretty much the same pants to keep some unity, except maybe Mikey (I decided they should all have the same pants after I finished the Mikey sketches, not sure if I'll keep the shorts or change to pants). Accessories are a mix of pre and post finale.

Raph - I think would keep it simple and practical but would also wear nice jackets and stuff when in casual situations. I need to work on giving him an alternative outfit and tweak his accessories a bit.

Donnie - An oversized pull-over hoodie cause we already know he loves that shit. We see him wearing it all the time. Easy enough. He wears a comfortable singlet underneath so the straps of his battle sail don't rub. Nice soft fabric, tight fit so it doesn't move around, tucks it into his pants, etc. When he wears the battle sail he won't overheat so he can wear hoodies basically all year round.

Leo - He's in one of those shirts with obnoxiously large arm holes and make it cropped cause 1. I think he would 2. I want it to be different from Raph and Donnie's singlets. He usually wears the shoulder strap off his shoulder but pulls it up when he needs to. He has some of the black bandages over his mid drift atm but I might just make his pants super high waisted in the final version. He'd probably wear a bomber jacket (also cropped?) over the top for cool weather, but doesn't like to hide his feathers.

Mikey - I think he'd mostly wear hand me downs when he's younger. He definitely goes through a stage of rebelling and wanting to pick his own and would find a middle ground of appreciating sharing some of his brother's clothes and modifying them, as long as he has the choice of his own available. Not sure if that would be before or after this design. At the moment he's got Raph's old shorts (from a loooong time ago), Leo's old shirt, and Donnie's old zip up hoodie. He does have his own accessories though, including pins instead of stickers.

Dinosaurs: I kept them all as non-avian dinosaurs, AKA not including animals that are colloquially considered dinos but aren't (like pterosaurs). I wanted to keep an even split of herbivore vs carnivore just so one wasn't the odd one out. I wanted to keep most of their body structure, colours and distinguishing features the same as canon. Obviously I added tails cause, yeah, of course haha. I did want them to be recognisable as different species of dino using distinct characteristics that their species is known for. I did ignore a lot of differences though, like size and bipedal vs quadruped (although the quadrupeds might be more likely to go to all fours, especially when fighting or afraid). Leo and Donnie are carnivores so have sharper teeth and claws.

Raph - Some kind of Ceratopsian (likely Triceratops or something very similar) and he was the first idea I had for this and I'm really happy with it. I think it just suits him. Trike Raph just came to me in an unprecedented moment of genius. His spikey frill replicates his spikey shell. His sturdiness, protectiveness and willingness to kick ass when needed, all scream trike to me.

Donnie - Spinosaurus but looking for other species recommendations. More details below: So I wanted to figure out a way for him to have tech with a similar function to his battle shell (in the sense that it's something that helped him in day to day life) and so I went with spino cause one possible theory about a function of spinosaurus' sail is temperature regulation. So his battle sail has heating/cooling systems as well as other tech. A spino's sail was probably not fragile but the battle sail would also help protect it from being targeted during fights or crushed during extreme impacts. It was also thought to be used for display, and what's more of a display than a battle sail? The only problem I have with this is that it's lacking part of what makes Donnie's battle shell so great, which is that it is essentially a prosthetic. Not quite the same as how prosthetics are used in people of course, just in the sense that it is replicating the functionality of a body part that he doesn't have (I can't think of a better word). Well he does have a shell but it doesn't function in the same way that his brothers shells do, which leaves him with less defense than they have, hence a big reason for the battle shell (I hope I explained this well, it was hard to try and word properly). I can't think of a good way to do this with dinos. I was thinking of a carno or something with tiny arms, then Donnie could have tech enhanced arms but I'm pretty much ignoring body structure in the others so it would be weird to have just Donnie be affected by a difference in limb structure/functionality. I was thinking prosthetic tail but every non avian dinosaur had a pretty substantial tail. Except therizinosaurus but even they hade pretty obvious tails. I'm open to suggestions for this one if anyone has ideas. It does have to be an extinct non-avian dinosaur (anything not in Avialae), preferably carnivore but if someone suggests a really good herbivore or omnivore then I can try and swap Mikey for a carnivore. I want there to be an even split. I also wanted to give him something different on his face, like his brothers, and that could only be a little spino crest and it crowds the top of his head but I can't put it anywhere else...

Leo - A type of Dromaeosaur. I was tossing up between this and a dilophosaur where his red stripes were part of the dilo's crest, cause I wasn't sure about giving him feathers. But dilo Leo was so plain compared to the rest and the crests were hard to get looking right so I went back to raptor Leo. I can definitely imagine him literally and metaphorically preening his feathers too. You can't really see it but he does also have that big raptor claw. Raptors were smart, tactical and worked in packs so I think that suits him. I wasn't specifically referencing how some artists draw Leo's stripes coming off his face (I was just trying to replicate his stripes somehow, even though it doesn't make a huge amount of sense) but I realised afterwards that it kinda looks like that and might have been subconsciously inspired by it.

Mikey - Is an Ankylosaur. I'm pretty happy with the species but I need to work out the design of his armour plating so that it looks interesting, cool and protective but isn't too chunky, too pointy or super lumpy looking. I went with an anky cause Mikey is often hiding in his shell and he can't do the same here but he could curl up in a defensive ball. Plus I could imagine him using his tail club in his razzmatazz fighting style. A little like his kusari-fundo or nunchacku/nunchucks (not sure on proper wording).

[kathaynesart]

I only had three requirements when designing future Raph. Spikes, scars, and the biggest chasm possible. He's a simple boy with simple needs. No flash. But looking at how spikey alligator snapping turtles get in adulthood I figured he could do with plenty more. (I will update the past images of him... eventually haha).

BEGINNING || PREVIOUS || NEXT MASTER POST

Also, it is likely that Leo and Mikey change out Donnie's photo every couple of weeks to different, ridiculous kodak photos of him. He didn't pose for photos often in later years so they don't have many good ones of him to use.

So happy to finally get this out. Thanks everyone for your patience as I've been juggling a lot of real life events as well as zines. Hopefully we'll finally be getting some answers in the next update. Omega's just being mysterious for dramatic effect I'm sure.

[bumpscosity]

Here's Spikey Mikey, my 5+ foot long eel! i got him from the thrift store for ~$7 and one of my fav thrift finds to date :) i can tell he was handmade by the way his stitching is uneven and he's got rocks for teeth, i still wonder who made him and loved him before me...

as a bonus here's the plush idogs i've thrifted over the years, they all work and they're surprisingly cuddly considering they have speakers in them and plastic ears

and also my newest plush, Bingsu! i got her when i went to the aquarium last month, im still connecting to her (i tend to have an easier time connecting to pre-owned plush) but she's so adorable to me 🥺

hey gang can someone tell me about their stuffed animals / plushies. any of them. give me a name, an age, a species, materials, how soft they are, how silly they are, anything. give me a story

[acidsaladd]

i feel like i havemt posted anything in forever so heres a couple doodles from my notes :']

[id: it is three images of notebook pages with doodles of mikey and donnie from rottmnt. the first image is a colored doodle of mikey. He is screaming with his eyes clenched shut, one hand is clenched in a fist while the other aggressively points towards the left. his leg is raised and his knee oad has a frowny face drawn on it. his other leg is covered by a spikey speech bubble that reads "LOCK IN U FOOL >:(".

the second image is a colored doodle of donnie. he is standing with his back straight snd his arm folded behind him. he is raising his chin and talking with his eyes closed as if giving a debrief. theres a speech bubble coming from him that reads "TO-DO" in bold letters.

the last image is another doodle of donnie, uncolored. he is drawn in a pose similar to a meme of gru from despicable me. he is slightly hunched over, shoulders raised and his hands gesturing in front of him, close to his chest. he is smiling mischievously. theres text next to him that reads "the plan is simple"./ end id]

[heretherebeturtles-comic]

thoughts on the current designs of the Rise!characters from the new comic by Andy?

I love the designs so much haha. They are the perfect mixture of cool and silly, it really fits the rise series vibe imo. Raph’s shell is so spikey! and his eye patch! and little eylash! Donnie's romper,,, I love it. Mikey fully embracing that old wizard energy and I support him in this. APRIL! I'm so happy to see her included. The trench coat and gear!! She is so cool.

Also, I love the art style, its so fun to look at. Shapes and inky textures beloved.

[foxsoulart]

Spikey Mikey refs

Au Mikey + baby rise Raph

No color changes from cannon designs, except Raph now has little red diamonds

I didn't include him but baby Mikey also is the same but with little gold freckles

Masterpost

[tmnt-soup]

I am convinced that frida is a yellow blotched map turtle, also known as a yellow blotched sawback here is my reasoning

- LOOK at the eye markings between the two that is so similar

- freshwater turtle like leo don and raph

- found in the same general areas that you can find red eared sliders, ornate box, alligator snappers, and spiny softshells, so it makes sense that drax would be able to get them all in vaguely one spot assuming he just grabbed some turtles off the ground

-primarily eats bugs which is just delightfully ironic considering shes w big mama

-less of an actual reason but the spikey spine stuff would be fun to draw and adds a nice visual difference from the others(mikey specifically bc their silhouettes are p similar rn), but now also has something in common w don and raph !!

[ju1cyfru1t]

Yellow!! How are you? Hope you are doing good! Just wanna say your whipped Donnie?? Soft Donnie?? Headcanons?? :((( it was so cute :((( literally I’m like your pfp rn :((( absolutely adorable

Idk if you are accepting requests (if not you can ignore it!!) but could you do a similar one for either Raph or Mikey?? I adore the disaster twins, but Raph and Mikey get so little recognition, Headcanons or scenarios :( if you are not feeling it that’s totally ok!! Hope you have a good day! ♥️🧡💜💙

I’m so glad you liked it!!! Have some soft Raph hcs 🫶🏻❤️ hope this is alright???

Rise! Raphael x reader

fluff :D, gn reader, romantic

soft raph hcs :(

- the first time you told him you loved him he just said “thank you” out of panic but tbh it was the funniest shit ever and his brothers never let him live it down.

- More than happy to help you with anything, he is doing it ALL for you.

- Opening and holding every door for you

- You can’t reach the top shelf? Don’t worry, Raph’s got it.

- You need help carrying your groceries in? You need help changing that lightbulb? You need someone to walk you home? Literally anything at all? He’ll be there in 5.

- You’re tired? Sure, he’ll carry you!

- He would pick up hot coals directly from a fire with his bare hands if you asked him to.

- He loves quality time and the little things! Like watching movies, playing games together, having lunch together, almost anything! All that matters to him is that he’s with you.

- He is so scared that he’ll accidentally hurt you yk cuz he’s big and spikey :( so, so gentle

- Treats you like you’re made of glass sometimes

- you make him very nervous, he’s scared he’ll say or do something wrong

- he lacks confidence sometimes, poor Raphie

- will explain all of the Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim lore to you as best he can + would insist that you watch all of the movies together (he just wants to spend time with you but he doesn’t know how to just say that)

- tries really hard to think of gifts that you would like

- protective and always looks out for you, not in a possessive way but in the way that he just wants to keep you safe yk? they got a lot of enemies

- “LEO! I told you not to make a mess!” “It was me, sorry-“ “don’t worry about it, let Raph take care of everything.”

- He wants to take care of you. It’s just how he’s used to showing his love.

- esp from his dumbass brothers (Mostly Leo. Donnie and Mikey USUALLY let you live in peace)

- -> “I thought I told you to leave Y/N alone!” “Whaaat? I was just saying hi!”

- Softens and completely drops his usual intimidating, angry demeanor whenever he sees you and the quick switch is painfully obvious. He just thinks you’re so cute. but don’t worry his brothers won’t forget to point out how obvious he is (LEO)

- idk why but I feel like he would have some kind of stuffed animal that you guys act like it’s your child and you take turns taking care of it 😭 yk what I’m talking abt?

- one time he accidentally called you babe in front of Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and April but denies it ever happened

- -> “Hey Raph! Remember when-“ “NO THAT NEVER HAPPENED IDONTKNOWWHATYOURETALKINGABOUT-“

- would never let anyone say anything bad about you

- really appreciates your private moments when you two are alone, he feels much more comfortable this way

- Hesitant, but he will be vulnerable with you because he knows he can be without judgement.

- Please give Raph any kind of reassurance and he is misty-eyed. Tell him he has nothing to worry about, that he is a great leader and boyfriend and you’re proud of him, too many things to list. TELL HIM HE’S PRETTY.

- He LOVES to hold you to his chest, it makes him feel like he’s keeping you safe that way.

- Stares at you all the time, and is embarrassed if you catch him. “sorry-“

- if he were to call you a pet name, most likely to call you ‘baby’ or ‘babe’, maybe even a ‘babydoll’ if he’s feeling bold

- very very sweet overall :(

——————————————————————————

ty for reading <333 rlly appreciate all the notes on everything

still working on + accepting requests !

[lolforu]

Hello :3 could you please do 2012 headcanons of the turtles finding out their friend/lover (you choose) is a vampire?? I'm a female btw soo :3 if you do it Imma give you.. a piece of my birthday cake >:3

HEADCANNONS TMNT 2012 !! : (finding out their s/o is a vampire !)

FEM!reader x tmnt2012 (romantic)

..............................................................................................................................

Leo :

-the first time you bit him, he would most likely go into fight or flight mode for a moment, as s/o would've come out of nowhere to bite in the middle of a training session with Leo.

-He's shell shocked as how fast you are when you don't hold back, this causes Leo to admire his significant other anytime she reveals her true self in training.

-He wouldnt mind you taking blood from him as long as you didnt take too much.

-although if you did start taking too much, he'd tackle you most likely and try his best to get you to resist urges to take more blood than the boundary you'd both set.

..............................................................................................................................

Raph :

-he would throw you the first time you bit him, out of shock of course and only because he has no flight response, only fight

-sparring together ends up with you laughing at the stubbornly defeated raphael

-like Leo, he admires your skills, tries not to show it when you're hanging out with his brothers together but when you're in private, he almost gets caught melting for his gorgeous vampire lover

-he's willing to give you all of his blood, as long as he doesn't die and as long as you give something in return

..............................................................................................................................

Donatello :

-the time he finds out you're a vampire, he essentially had theories... the unnervingly pale skin, the fangs... he never really understood if you were human or not, he loves you too much to care.

-but when you accidentally reveal you're true self to him, he is all over you, mumbling sciencey stuff and bragging about how he knew what you really were (in a way)

-he begs and begs you to let him study your vampire anatomy and biology, with time, you let him do a couple of tests, only to fascinate over his positive expressions. seeing him so happy and excited, you caved and let him do more tests.

-he doesn't hide how engrossed he is when he's with you, even Infront of his brothers, he does NOT hesitate to go into a mumbling state about the things any simple being would bore at. but you? you were in awe about all the things he rambled about. especially if they were about your vampire species.

-he adores spending time with his significant other , taking in all the fabulous vamp features you have. speed, your fangs, smooth skin

-he doesn't mind you biting him but it does make him a bit uncomfortable as it puts him off whatever he's working on, he does however have a blood bank of mutant blood in his lab, in case you were ever hungry.

..............................................................................................................................

Mikey :

-oh he is all over you when he finds out you're a vampire, his fantasies of having a hot vamp girl to hang out with have come true!

-when Mikey found out, it was whilst you guys were eating pizza, he's not one for staring but like pizza, you wowed him in general. even more wowed when he noticed your spikey fangs, the gasp you'd get from him would be quite loud, so much so that you have to cover his mouth in desperate measures to make sure nobody else heard.

-even before he knew you were a vampire, he loved you, but ever since you unveiled that spooky side of you to him, he loved you even more.

-nothing would really change between you two, except you only got closer, having revealed the hidden side of you, it allowed you to become closer to mikey.

-Mikey wouldn't mind you taking a bit of blood from him, but being melodramatic he would always go the long distance of fake fainting and pretending to be on his death bed to get a rise out of you.

..............................................................................................................................

I really enjoyed making these HC's, defo my fave so far

although I'm starting to think I have a better chance at making headcannons for Donatello and Mikey than the others....

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THESE HEADCANNONS <33

[britt-kageryuu]

In another world/timeline/dimension/universe:

Mikey comes out of Donatellos lab, "Hey Guys, I just found something weird!" Donatello is annoyed at this. Leo and Raph decided to just watch incase they need to dodge a tool, or something.

"Mikey, how many times do I have to tell you, to stay out of my lab!?" Donatello says in exasperation.

"Well your computer is better to watch videos on, but that's not the point. I found something weird with your Computer," Mikey replies, "Let me show you!" He drags Donatello back into the lab, Leo and Raph follow behind out of curiosity.

Mikey pulls up a video on Donatellos computer. It showes a 3D model of Rise Leo, in blue swim trunks, blue crocs, his mask with long trans tails, and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, playing a Beat Saber type game. He's singing along to the song and looks just a second away from dancing instead of playing the game.

"You found someone using a turtle model to play games? Is that it?" Donatello asks.

Mikey shakes his head and pulls out his phone, "No, I was like, 'I'm gonna subscribe, and watch more on my phone later.'" He opens Youtube on his phone and searches for the channel. "Only I can't find this channel, or any of the videos when searching on my phone, Dude!"

Mikey hands his phone to Donatello, to show a search page that doesn't show the channel on the computer, despite having typed in the exact name of the channel/video title.

"Mikey, did you accidentally connect to a different reality, through YouTube, on my computer?" The purple coded turtle asked slowly, while trying to process this odd discovery.

"And the video you chose to show us is an alternate Fearless? Why not their Raph?" Raphael asks a little annoyed but amused. Leo elbows him in the side, "Hey, you haven't said anything about this either!"

"Red doesn't stream very often," Mikey shrugs, before going to the channel to the Rad Angel playlist, "and alot of them are work out streams, so not as fun to watch." Now the screen is showing a 3D Rise Raph model in workout gear doing guided basic stretches. Raphael goes wide eyed at the site of the large spikey turtle in red.

Donatello moves Mikey out of the way, "I'm going to look this over to see if you did anything." Mikey lets out an annoyed shout, "I'm not fully blaming you Mikey, maybe something happened when those other turtles visited us last. Now kindly leave my lab, all of you!" He shoves them out of the lab, and locks the door behind them, before returning to the computer.

Donatello spends a few minutes, not really finding any problems or anything that would be harmful to his equipment. So he decides to binge his way through some of the videos and VODs. He'll tell his brothers it's safe, and perfectly fine to continue watching this...later, after taking lots of notes on this alternate reality were they are VTubers.

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

Masterpost

This might, or might not be canon. If it is, well it's a way to introduce crossovers later. If not, well it's just a bit of fun writing.

I could not figure how to write Leo in this short, I don't know why.

[imagionationstation]

So about your Wendybird AU

May I ask for Villain era Leo crumbs 🙏🙏

Or at least more angsty Leo ideas cuz omg I'm really invested in this concept

VILLAIN ERA CRUMBS!

I have had this scene bouncing around in my head for DAYS. There are so many things in it that I can’t put into words, like, descriptively. Summarized. Whatever.

So you get some story instead!

Leon was normally a pretty understanding guy.

He’s used to holding grudges and pouting in corners. He’s not above throwing things or refusing to talk about what’s upsetting him because surely, Donnie already knows and he’s being belligerent.

But this was getting ridiculous.

“How long does he plan to keep this up?” Leon refuses to look back to the Sensei who hasn’t stopped staring at them with the blankest of unreadable expressions. “It’s creeping me out.”

“You too?” Raphie shivers. “He walked past my room two nights ago and just stood by my door. I haven’t been able to sleep since.”

“And he won’t talk!” Michael hisses. “Not to me or Dr. Feelings! He just glares when it try! Like he’s daring me or something!”

“To be fair, no one is comfortable around Dr. Feelings.” Don supplies. “But I concur with the weird feelings.”

“He’s upset.” Donnie taps his computer. “Ganging up on him to boss him around will do that.”

“Besides, he’s harmless.” Raph grumbles. “How about we talk about the psycho who’s not?”

“Good point.” Donnie raises a hand and snaps. Leo and Mikey look their direction as Raph waves them over.

Mikey crosses the room in a bound, using Raph’s chair to slow his momentum and ramming his chest into the table. His brother shoots him a nasty look that he snickers at, innocently circling the table to reach Raphie’s side. They share a smile and then Raphie goes back to watching the Sensei that had made his way behind Donnie. Once safety is procured, Mikey sticks out his tongue.

Raph growls under his breath. Donnie rolls his eyes.

Preoccupied with each other, none of the brothers notice how their counterparts have stiffened.

Not just me? Not just you. Raph don’t like it. Keep cool.

Leon watches him intently as he slides an even gaze over them all. He doesn’t understand how none of Leo’s brothers feel the absolute danger that’s radiating off of him.

Then, he does.

Donnie looks up to him, gesturing to their brothers helplessly, and his body language changes. He smiles, for the first time in a week, and turns to the brother with a foot on the table. There’s a spark of life in his eyes, even as his scolds, “Cut it out, you two.”

“He started it!” Raph gestures furiously as Mikey hides behind the spikey shell. Mikey shakes his head, “Nu-uh!”

“This is a meeting. Wrestle when we have the time.”

“I think now is a very good time!”

“If you put anymore weight on this table, you’re going to flip it.” Don supplies helpfully. The harden gaze takes over with the interjection of his twin’s voice. Leon watches a finger trace along the metal of his newly improve ‘magically science’ staff.

Raph gets off the table and Donnie offers, “Now that you’re done being babies…” Raph turns his anger on a new target and Mikey squawks his offense. “I’ve managed to connect all the whereabouts of our masked assailant. It’s a circle.”

Leo frowns, “Around where?”

“Here.” Donnie taps the table. “Every spot has been within a certain range of the turtle’s home. Whoever this guy is… He’s targeting us.”

“You’re sure?” Leo looks over his shoulder as he nods. Leon glances at the sling that Michael’s arm is in and then at his brothers, “How is that possible? I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Not I.” “No way!” “He knows where we live?”

“Doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.” Raph scoffs. “Dude ran off when I came into the picture. Squirt here had it covered.”

“Yeah!” Michael chimes in. “He just, uh, got the drop on me. But I totally had it covered!” He slaps a high-five with Mikey. “All the way!”

“You shouldn’t have antagonized him.” Leo snaps at his brother. The smug look fades as Raph crosses his arms and slumps in his seat bitterly. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Are you saying he shouldn’t have stepped in?” Leon asks, cooly.

“Of course not.” Donnie closes his laptop as Leo leans on his chair. “He only means that Raph’s temper has gotten us in trouble before. And if one of us has to face this guy, we should do it as a team.”

“Exactly.” Leo stares at Leon, unblinking. “This guy enjoys getting the drop on people. It seems like he’s avoiding taking on more of you than he can handle at once.”

“Sounds like we need another buddy system.” Don offers, looking only at Leo. “That might help us to… Keep an eye on one another. Don’t you think?”

Careful.

Being.

“No way am I getting stuck with one of you bozos.” Raph scowls at the table. “Especially not when that guy skedaddled as soon as he saw me. I ain’t scared of him, but he’s smart enough to be scared of me.”

“It doesn’t have to be mandatory.” Leo assures. “As their Sensei, I know what my brothers are capable of. I know they can handle themselves. I trust them. Don’t you?”

Leon can feel the slight like a knife to his throat. Leo’s brothers beam at the praise as Leon’s look to him warily. Leon’s sword is in his hands, but he doesn’t remember summoning it.

“Sure.” He tightens his hand around the hilt. “Why wouldn’t I trust them? They haven’t given me a reason not too.”

“And I doubt they will.” Leo smiles, smug. All Leon can picture is Krang on his throne, flashing sharp teeth. “Let’s just focused on keeping each other safe in the time being.”

“Speaking of which,” Donnie looks up at him. The spark returns. He tilts his head curiously. “You mentioned going to the Hidden City again today. I’d like to join you this time. I was thinking we could stop by the library-”

Leo doesn’t like the look in his eyes. He’s noticing it more and more as Sensei’s attitude changes. It’s an eager, predatory glint that makes Leon think that if any of the brothers go anywhere with him; they aren’t going to be coming back.

He pictures the prison dimension portal closing, cutting him off from the outside world. Adrenaline pumps through his veins. A flash of light under the table.

Leon’s hands are empty as he jumps up from his chair.

“You can’t!”

Donnie looks over, startled. Leo stares at him, silent. Leon laughs, sheepishly, “Didn’t you and Don have plans today? In the lab?”

“Did we?” Donnie looks at Don. Don freezes, looking at Leon for help because he cannot lie to save his life. He smiles. Go on.

Trying. His brother clears his throat. “Maybe?”

Work with me. “I could have sworn you mentioned it yesterday. You had something you were going to show him?”

“I… Could have mentioned something about this. Yesterday.” Donnie nods. Nailed it. “But if you want to go back on a mutual agreement, I suppose I will just have to deal with the consequences.”

“Well…” Donnie hesitates, uncertain. Leon thinks a part of him doesn’t buy it. He glances at his older brother. “Do you mind?”

Leo straightens, patting his shoulder. “You have fun, Dee.”

“I can come!” Mikey throws a hand in the air. Mike.

Got it. “And miss out on the big cook off I got planned?! No way!”

“Oh, man, really!?”

“Really really really! Time to see who’s the better chief, baby!”

Raphie grins at the sulking turtle. My turn. “You wanna help me judge? You can take Michael.”

“And watch you finally taste the nightmares that Mikey makes?” Raph sits up in his seat, grinning maliciously. “Count me in.”

Nice, big bro! “Sounds like it’s gonna be a busy day.”

“Sounds it.” Leo looks at him briefly, void of emotion. “I’ll see you guys in a bit.” His eyes go to his brothers. “Call if you need anything.”

Leon gets in his way as his brothers confirm as much, smiling innocently. “I could always tag along if you needed a friend.”

A beat. Careful Leo.

“That’s okay.” Leo meets his gaze. Leon’s stomach flips. “I think it’s safer if you stay back. And I prefer a solo trip. Getting pretty used to them by now.”

“Oh yeah?” Leon holds his smile. “I forget. Where are you going?”

“Hidden City.” Leo steps closer. “Excuse me.”

“Excused.” He steps out of the way, stretching out a hand in flourish. Leo moves fluidly, not betraying a single thought. He cups his mouth. “Let me know if you change your mind!”

No response. Leon waits and then interrupts the conversation to announce, “None of that was off to you guys?”

“He’s grouchy.” Mikey offers thoughtfully.

“Still mad.” Donnie shrugs. “He’ll come around.”

“Seriously. Chill.” Raph says with an arm slack over the back of the chair. “We know Leo. As long as you’re not Shredder, he’s harmless.”

Harmless. They think. Right.