#but it's splinter holding up turtle babies to the grate

[lotus-duckies]

i'd like to imagine the turtles would subconsciously gather in the dojo growing up and splinter was like hmmm that's odd

he would later realize they wanted to be in there because it's the only room in the lair that gets sunlight and turgle needs sun, gotta hold them up to the sewer grate for their daily dosage of vitamin d and Warm

[goodlucktai]

a minute from home

tmnt 2k12 pairing: don & mikey word count: 7k title borrowed from the view between villages by noah kahan

read on ao3

x

Once, when Donnie and Mikey were very very small, they went the wrong way.

The tunnel they lived in at the time was safe and clean, and conveniently located near thrift stores and food banks, but during heavy rains it tended to flood.

So Splinter would pack the few precious items he could not stand to lose into a rucksack and then bundle up his turtles and lead them away to a safer place to wait out the storm. They had a lot of little halfway homes like that before they finally settled in the abandoned subway station that would become their forever home.

At barely three years old, Michelangelo was very farsighted. The condition of his eyes made things right in front of him look blurry. Figuring out that it was actually a condition and not silly Angie being his silly self took a lot of trial and error on their poor father’s part. There was no conceivable way for Splinter to provide him with prescription lenses, but the frames that he stole from a corner store seemed to do the trick. Mikey would probably grow out of the condition eventually but when he was little he depended on his glasses.

And Donnie was supposed to be holding his hand.

Donnie only had one younger brother to look after—he couldn’t imagine being Leo and being responsible for three—but even just one was hard sometimes. Donnie’s brain liked to outrun him, darting away after a hundred things all at once, and sometimes he forgot what he was supposed to be doing.

So Mikey didn’t have anyone holding his hand, and he tripped over the uneven tunnel floor and fell right on his face, and his glasses broke with a crunch.

The tunnel was so noisy, rain thundering against the street above them, drainage tumbling through the grates and pipes, that Donnie was the only one close enough to hear the crunch. To him, it was the loudest thing in the whole world.

His little heart flew up into his throat and he let go of Splinter’s robe to run back to his baby brother. Mikey looked up at him, and his beak was all scraped and sure to bruise, and there was a tiny smear of blood on his lip—but after a dizzy second to sort himself out, he gave Donnie a big smile. He was always totally unruffled by things. Even now, Donnie was closer to crying than Mikey was.

“Up, Angie,” he said frantically, tugging on him. “You okay?”

“Up up,” Mikey parroted, the way he had a habit of doing. He let himself be bullied to his feet, tottering unsteadily for a moment until he could latch onto Donnie’s sweater. “Angie’s okay!”

Letting out all his breath in a relieved sigh, Donnie patted Mikey’s head the way Leo always did, and then looked for his glasses. When he found them, he tried not to let his face crumple the way it felt like his tummy was. The lenses were cracked and the pink plastic frame was in pieces.

Mikey’s glasses were important and off-limits when he and his brothers were playing or roughhousing or being mean and teasing each other. Now they were broken.

“I’m okay, Dee,” Mikey insisted, pulling on his sleeve. He repeated himself in simple Japanese, and then added, “Prommy.”

Naturally, the four turtle siblings, all of them toddlers between the ages of three and six, considered a promise to be every bit as serious and blinding as a blood oath. When Mikey said it, Donnie knew that Mikey was really actually okay, and his heart stopped thumping behind his shell so hard.

“Prom-ise,” Donnie corrected automatically. He put the pieces of the broken glasses in his pocket and detached Mikey’s fingers from his sweater so he could hold them instead. “Let’s go back to papa.”

Only it wasn’t as easy as that, Donnie would realize after a minute of careful, measured steps, because around the bend there were two tunnels ahead of them. Donnie lifted his snout and sniffed, but it was too wet for his family’s passing scents to really linger, and the wind and moving water had stirred up other pungent, distracting smells besides.

It didn’t occur to him to be frightened, not yet. He was a very smart four year old, and very sheltered on top of that, thanks to a parent hellbent on protecting him and his siblings from a world that would not understand or appreciate them. He had never met anything he needed to be afraid of.

Besides, Angie was right there, holding his hand and humming their favorite song.

In another universe, Donnie followed Splinter through the right tunnel with his little brother toddling neatly along behind him. Mikey didn’t fall and his glasses didn’t break and Donnie didn’t get lost. They made it to their storm-time lair safely and fell asleep in a turtle pile with Raphie and Leo, snug and warm and exactly where they belonged. Nothing changed them and they were never apart.

In this one, they went the wrong way.  

#

When Raph was five years old, his little brothers disappeared in the middle of the night. It felt like they were gone for a billion years, but it was really only three months and two days. That’s ninety-one days. He knew because Leo carefully marked the squares on their waterlogged froggy calendar, a blue crayon frowny-face for each day that Splinter returned without them. It was a really long ninety-one days, though. He figured that was what a billion years must feel like.

“But where did they go?” Raph demanded.

The world wasn’t very big when he was little. There was their usual home, and the sometimes-homes they went to when the weather got noisy and the floors got wet, and the dark, cave-like tunnels in between. He didn’t understand why papa didn’t just go get his little brothers and bring them back, since there were only a few places they could be.

“They got lost,” Leo said in his quiet voice.

He didn’t use his loud voice very much anymore. Mikey was the best one at making him loud, at making Leo smile until his dimples popped out and run around all silly. That’s why Mikey needed to be here. Didn’t papa understand that?

Looking back as a teenager, Raphael understood the hell Splinter must have gone through. He couldn’t leave his two eldest by themselves for solid hours at a time to search for his youngest. It probably killed him to do it at all. And it definitely must have felt like he was failing Donnie and Mikey by not devoting all his time and energy solely to finding them. He kept searching for long after some parents would have given up.

But when Raph was five, he didn’t get it. He missed his little brothers so much it made feel sick and he wanted Loud Leo back and it was frustrating that he kept waking up and going to sleep and waking up without them. He felt angry all the time, stomping around the lair and slamming things and talking back instead of being good.

When twenty squares had been marked on their calendar—that’s two tens, a whole lot of days—Raph spotted a pile of the big kid books that Donnie loved. Sometimes the books were all wet when Splinter brought them home, and they had to sit in front of the fan for ages until the pages could be touched without tearing apart. The books ended up looking bloated and misshapen when they were dried, but they were Don’s treasures. He would read them out loud to his siblings if they asked nice, his lisping voice trudging steadily along, picking its way stubbornly through words he didn’t know. Papa seemed very surprised the first time he heard Donnie read—he was almost as good as Leo, who was two whole years older than him—and Splinter’s surprise made Raph feel proud. That was his smarty-pants little brother.

But on that day, seeing the books just made Raph angry. He kicked the whole stack until it collapsed in a messy pile that would have made Donnie cry, and that wasn’t enough, so he picked up one of the books and threw it as far as he could. He did it again, and again, until the books were scattered all around the room.

Leo watched him with wide eyes the whole time, but he didn’t shout at Raph to stop or go tattle on him to papa. He was Quiet Leo. He only got up when Raphie started crying and all he did was put his arms around Raph and squeeze him tight until he ran out of tears. Then he led Raph by the hand around the room and together they carefully picked the books back up and smoothed out the bent pages and stacked them neatly on the far side of the toy shelf.

It was so that Donnie would be happy when he finally came home. But also it was so that Raph wouldn’t have to see them all the time.

And then on day ninety-one, they didn’t mark another square on the calendar. They didn’t need to. The door burst open, and Splinter returned a lot of minutes before he said he would—the big hand on the clock had barely moved all the way from six to seven! And he was talking in lullaby-soft Japanese, too quiet to be for Raph and Leo all the way over in the kitchen, so he must have been talking to someone else.

Leo jumped to his feet so fast he knocked his juice over and then Raph figured it out a second later. Bundled in the blanket in papa’s arms were their little brothers, their missing halves, safe and sound and finally back where they belonged.

“Tello, Angie,” Leo was saying, up on his tiptoes and tugging at the front of Splinter’s robes, reaching up as high as he could. His blue eyes were all wet, mouth wobbling. “Tello, Angie—are you okay? Are they okay, papa?”

“They are cold and hungry,” Splinter said gently. “Will their older brothers look after them while I heat water for a bath?”

It had been a billion years since Raphie wasn’t the littlest brother, but he hadn’t forgotten how to be bigger. When Splinter knelt to set the blanket on the floor, Raph reached right in and pulled Donnie into his arms. And then he sat down so he could hug Donnie all the way around, dragging him into his lap like a stuffed animal. Donnie didn’t hug back, but Raph didn’t care. Raph squeezed him tight enough for two turtles. For a hundred turtles. If he held on tight enough, Donnie wouldn’t ever get lost again.

Mikey’s eyes were squinted all the way shut, like the cat in their Wonderland coloring book. He didn’t even open them when he clicked wetly at Leo, an anxious-excited turtle sound that meant hello, here-I-am, hello. He should have opened his eyes, so he could tell how much Leo loved him and was happy to see him, but Leo didn’t mind. And he didn’t mind when Mikey just pressed his cold little face against Leo’s neck instead. Leo just put his cheek on the top of Mikey’s head and hummed turtle sounds back to him.

Donnie finally curled one hand into the front of Raph’s shirt and clung to it. When Raph looked down, he saw that it was because Donnie’s other hand was already holding something pink and plastic. It was so grimy and all twisted out of shape that it took Raph a minute to remember what it was.

“Are those Mikey’s glasses?” he asked. “Are they broken?”

His lip wobbling, Donnie nodded.

“That’s okay,” Raph rushed to say immediately, anything to keep him from crying. He knew that whatever happened must have been an accident, because Mikey was silly but harmless and Donnie was always careful not to break things unless he could rebuild them. “You did a good job keeping them safe.”

It must have been the right thing to say, since Don didn’t burst into tears. He felt big and strong when Donnie leaned his head on Raph’s shoulder. His big red eyes were drooping, like he was sleepy, but the set of his mouth was the very stubborn one Raph was familiar with from a million bedtimes.

Sure enough, he fought sleep tooth and nail, and he was still awake when papa came back. Splinter rubbed Raphael’s cheek with his thumb fondly before he lifted Donnie away. Donnie immediately stretched both of his arms out for Mikey, so Leo reluctantly let Splinter take him, too. Mikey still didn’t open his eyes, but he made a wide-awake chirp at Splinter and knew exactly where Splinter’s muzzle was when he reached up with his hands to pat it. Splinter nuzzled his tiny hands carefully, and then the top of Donnie’s head, holding them tight against his heart.

Raph and Leo followed Splinter so closely that they nearly stepped on his hem and his tail more than once. The big basin they used for bathing was full of steaming water and the shimmery rainbow sheen of soapy bubbles. Splinter lowered Donnie and Mikey in first, and then sighed when Raph and Leo splashed right in after them, but it wasn’t his exasperated-sigh, or even his you’re-about-to-be-in-trouble one. This one sounded the way his love-yous sounded, warm and laughing.

They ate ramen for supper, and Raph and Leo had extra noodles because Donnie and Mikey were supposed to only drink the broth. They got the last applesauce cups in the cooler, though, so it wound up being fair.

And when it was time to go to sleep, papa curled around them the way he used to do when they were babies, keeping the dark and the cold far away. Raphie asked him to leave the lamp on and retrieved a special Magic Tree House book from where he had been keeping it under his pillow. It was the one Donnie had been reading to them before that stormy night took him away.  

He felt his brothers press in close around him. Leo was hugging Donnie against him the way he’d hugged Mikey earlier, and Mikey’s head was pillowed on Raph’s plastron, the tiny curve of his shell fitting in Raph’s arm perfectly. The tip of Splinter’s tail swept idly back and forth, creating a playful swooping shadow in the lantern light.

Raph felt funny, like he wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, but he took a deep breath and found the right spot on the page. He had been practicing.

“Annie knelt down and put her arms around Barry’s giant head,” Raph read carefully, tracing the way with his finger. “He licked her as she clutched him. “Tell him, Annie,” Jack urged her. Annie lifted Barry’s ear and whispered into it for a long time. Jack couldn’t hear all that she said, but he caught the words ‘love’ and ‘all my life’.”

He wasn’t as good at it as Donnie and Leo, but no one interrupted him once. Even Mikey laid still and listened without squirming or singing to himself.

Raph read for them until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. When he woke up in the morning, Dogs in the Dead of Night had fallen shut in his hands, and his brothers had twisted and turned in their sleep, and Splinter was preparing breakfast across the room—but besides that, everything was exactly where Raphael had left it. Nothing else had gone missing in the dark.

It would take a lot more days than just that one for him to stop being worried about it, though.

#

For pretty much as long as Leo could remember, Donnie and Mikey had always been on each other’s team first. They were the textbook example of a dynamic duo. It would be cute, if it wasn’t so annoying.

“Donnie,” Leo said in a level tone, reaching into the far corners of his body for patience, “I’m giving you the chance to tell me the truth before Splinter gets here. Where did you get this stuff?”

The ‘stuff’ in question was very clearly brand-new. Some of it was still in the box. It was equipment that Leonardo couldn’t make heads or tails of, and he refused to agree with Raph’s “mad scientist” moniker out loud just on principle, but sometimes he had to admit to himself that Raph might have a point. Donnie’s haul wouldn’t have looked out of place in an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory.

Donnie’s eyes narrowed, arms tightening around his oversized satchel. He sized Leo up for a solid ten seconds, visibly gauging how much he could get away with in the moment. And then, predictably, he glanced over at Mikey.

Mikey was sitting on the kitchen counter with a bowl of pineapple chunks in one hand, plastic Hello Kitty chopsticks in the other, swinging his feet and watching the scene play out with mild interest.

The youngest turtle tilted his head. Huffing out a displeased breath, Donnie faced Leo again.

“I found it,” he said grudgingly. He was only nine years old and not even the F.B.I. would be able to crack him. Leonardo was going to give it his best shot anyway.

“Where?” Leo stressed. “Dad doesn’t even like you going to the junkyard by yourself, and I know you didn’t ‘find’ this stuff in the garbage.”

“Humans throw away good stuff all the time,” Don said, sticking to his story. “Remember the fountain pen?”

“Oh my god, Dee,” Leo groaned.

“You mean the one you bring up every time you get in trouble for dumpster diving without permission?” Raph piped up from the peanut gallery. He was sprawled comfortably on the couch, magazine in hand, Spike a cozy little lump under his shirt. “That fountain pen?”

“I looked it up online and it retailed at over five thousand dollars,” Donnie went on doggedly.

“Okay, yes, people throw valuable things away,” Leo agreed, exasperated. “Did they throw away this stuff, though? Or did you break into a government building again, like you did when you decided you needed the—the what’s-it-called, accelerators.”

“Actuators,” Donnie corrected him. “And it wasn’t a government building, it was one of the labs at NYU.” Then, after a beat, “You can’t prove I did that.”

“Don, give me the bag.”

Donnie glanced toward Mikey again. Mikey clicked at him. It definitely didn’t sound like a ‘you should listen to your brother’ click.

Sensing where this was going a second too late, Leo made a grab for him, but Donnie moved at the same time. He sprinted into his lab at full ninja speed, stolen goods in tow, and the reinforced doors closed behind him with a decisive thud.

Raph howled with laughter in the living room. Leo let his forehead thunk against the lab doors and groaned.

The soft tap of a walking stick made him roll his head to the side without lifting it. Splinter’s whiskers twitched in amusement, even though his expression gave nothing away.

“I see that my second youngest has engaged us in yet another battle of wills. Is Donatello in immediate danger?”

“Only from himself,” Leo muttered. “And me, when I get my hands on him.”

“In that case, we can only wait him out,” Splinter said wisely, continuing on his way into the kitchen. “He will get hungry eventually.”

Mikey smiled sweetly at their father and offered him some pineapple. Splinter turned down the fruit, but rubbed the top of Mikey’s head affectionately, further proving Leo’s thesis that Michelangelo could do no wrong in the rat’s eyes. The kid literally just aided and abetted a repeat offender and he got head rubs. Donnie snuck aboveground for the third time that week—and it was only Tuesday—and he probably wouldn’t even get scolded.

It’s more complicated than that, Leo sometimes had to firmly remind himself. Donnie and Mikey survived without their family for three months when they were little more than babies—and in part, Splinter had solemnly informed Leo and Raph as they got older, they were only able to do so by venturing to the surface for food and clean water and warm things to nest in. Out of necessity, they acclimated to living between two worlds.

They didn’t have the deeply ingrained anxiety surrounding humans and human places that Leo had inherited from Splinter. They didn’t have the healthy disdain for people that Raph had, either. Leo was pretty sure they only stayed underground at all because they were fond of the lair and didn't want to give their dad and brothers heart attacks by springing an apartment on them.

He slunk down into the sunken living room and collapsed onto the sofa. Being the oldest was thankless and horrible and Leo wanted a new job. Raph nudged his knee with his foot.

“Don gave that fancy fountain pen to Splinter for his birthday,” the red-banded turtle reminded Leo. “He may be an evil genius, but he’s our evil genius. And Mikey would probably stop him before he did anything really bad.”

“Unless it was funny,” Mikey called over.

“Unless it was funny,” Raph conceded.

Leo buried his face in a cushion and groaned again. Sometimes this family could be so annoying. But somewhere in the back of his mind, a well-kept secret from everybody else—even himself some of the time—Leonardo was always a little bit relieved every time Donnie acted bratty and clung to his stupid treasures, every time Mikey started talking his family’s ears off about some comic book or new cartoon.

He had vague, fuzzy memories of a Mikey who wouldn’t speak in human languages at all—of a Donnie that picked through toys and books listlessly, uninterested in everything he used to love—and he knew that the annoying versions of his brothers were the ones he wanted to keep.

#

April was having a really, really, really bad day when she first met the best friends she’d ever have. She was trudging home from the bus stop, all wet from a puddle a stupid car had splashed on her, damp bookbag full of homework she didn’t want to do and an essay she got a C on because English was stupid and literary analysis was stupid and the stupid green light at the end of the stupid dock was stupid.

It had nothing to do with tomorrow being Mother’s Day.

She was cutting through a side street to get back to her apartment faster when suddenly her foot caught on something hard and unforgiving and she pitched forward with a screech.

Her bag busted a seam when it fell, and books and folders scattered magnificently around the dirty alley, and April had just about had it.

She burst into tears.

Today was horrible and she hated her new school and she just wanted to be home with dad already even if their new place was stuffy and cramped and not as comfortable as the one they lived in with mom. Nothing was as comfortable as it was when mom was there.

April was crying so hard she didn’t hear it at first—a gentle rolling, rumbling noise, like a car engine, only it would have to be a really little car. It was so out of place that it distracted April from her tears. She looked around to find the source of it, rubbing her face dry with the inside of her shirt.

The first thing April saw was the manhole cover. It was lifted slightly instead of laying down flat, which must have been what she tripped over. The second thing she saw was the round blue eyes peering at her from the darkness underneath.

April was twelve years old and nothing surprised her for very long. She shoved the hood of her yellow jacket off her head and demanded, “What are you doing down there?”

The eyes blinked at her. Furiously, she said, “You made me fall!”

“He said he was sorry,” another voice said from directly behind her.

She turned to look and found a boy staring back at her. He was a few inches shorter than she was, and dressed in mismatched layers of clothes that all looked too big on his skinny body. He was wearing a floppy beanie and a purple mask and holding something big and square and wrapped in a tarp. It was so much to take in that it took April an additional second to register that his skin was green.

April was so taken-aback by the sudden appearance of a green boy that she completely missed the dull, near-silent sound of the manhole cover grating over concrete. She scrambled back when the green boy moved toward her, and then felt silly about it because he wasn’t moving towards her at all, he was carrying the thing he was holding over to the manhole.

“What is that?” she asked curiously.

“Microwave oven,” he said, holding it a little closer against his stomach like she was going to snatch it from him.

There was no danger of that. April tried moving her own microwave to a different counter once to make room for her dad’s new coffee maker and she barely made it two feet with that thing. And that was a normal microwave. This one looked like it belonged in a kitchen restaurant somewhere.

In fact… April squinted, and made out a sticker on the side that said “Property of Rupert’s Management.” He certainly wasn’t old enough to be the manager of anything. From the defensive way he was holding the appliance, April was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to have it.  

Two hands reached up out of the manhole, green and three-fingered just like the boy’s. He passed one end of his ill-gotten gains down to them, carefully lowering the whole heavy, bulky thing into the tunnel. It slipped and fell a few inches, and the boy snapped something in what sounded very much like fluent Japanese, and from underground where April couldn’t see, the owner of the blue eyes giggled.

After watching for a moment, it occurred to April that her stuff was still sitting around slowly getting soaked in the rain-wet alley. She made a fed-up noise under her breath and scuttled over on hands and knees to begin the annoying task of picking it all up. After a moment, she heard paper rustle somewhere to her left.

“The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s dreams for the future,” the boy said abruptly, “not just his love for Daisy. It gave him hope. People like to say the book is a condemnation of the American Dream, but really it’s just about wanting more than what you have, no matter how rich or poor you are.”

April sits up on her knees to find him reading her essay, flipping through the stapled pages with a halfway interested look on his face. He glances up at her, not quite making eye contact, and then down at his hands again.

“I like what you wrote,” he muttered. “I would have given this a B at least.”

It was the nicest thing anyone had said to her all day, and it crystallized in April’s memory as the exact moment she knew she was keeping this weird little microwave thief no matter what.

#

Sometimes Mikey got quiet. He didn’t mean to, he tried not to, but Donnie said it was okay if he didn’t want to talk the way people did. Mikey was a person, but he was a turtle, too. His siblings could understand him if they tried. Donnie would always understand him.

Papa thought that Mikey was too young to remember those months he and Donnie were alone, and for the most part he was right. Mikey’s memories of that time were all disjointed, hazy things. Mostly things he dreamed about.

But papa was wrong, too. There were some things Mikey kept.

When Leo turned sixteen, Splinter finally allowed her to lead her team on the surface. By then, they were all familiar with New York City—Mikey and Donnie dressed in their layers and ventured up whenever it suited them, and Leo had had to hunt them down and drag them home at least a thousand times, and even Raph could be coaxed into topside shenanigans if April promised there was junk food and horror movies on the other end.

They weren’t new to the world, but they were new to the criminal underside of it all. They could practice kata and spar with each other for hours in the dojo but it was much different fighting a stranger with a butterfly knife or brass knuckles who didn’t care about them at all.

Mikey was unsettled by it when his siblings gathered at the breakfast table nursing aches and bruises the morning after their first fight. Papa was unhappy, too, his tail lashing in agitation even while his face remained thoughtful and impassive. He listened to Leo explain so earnestly that if she had the power and the ability to help people, it meant she had the responsibility to.

It was hard to argue with that. Mikey busied himself with tying his sister’s blue mask tails up in a poofy bow the way she secretly liked a lot, waiting for papa’s inevitable sigh.

“You are burdened with wisdom beyond your years, Leona,” the rat finally said. He always took great care to say Leo’s chosen name properly, ever since the year before when she disclosed to her family that she was actually a girl. Even now, during this tense conversation, that acknowledgement made Leo sit a little bit taller. “I want you to promise me that you’ll be careful,” Splinter goes on. “With your brothers, and yourself.”

“Of course,” she was quick to agree. “I promise, dad.”

Only stupid Leo was a big fat liar, because the first chance she got to fling herself into danger, that’s what she did. And it was really annoying, and when Mikey was done being terrified, he was going to be very, very angry.

On this particular night, they had split up into two teams to cover as much ground as quickly as they could. The Purple Dragons’ den was somewhere along the waterline, and Leo wanted to find it. So Donnie and Raph were canvasing on the other side of the docks when the Purple Dragons found Mikey and his sister.

The odds were immediately bad, something like a dozen thugs against two ninja turtles. Even with their training, they were still only sixteen and thirteen years old. They had brushed up against violence before, but not the organized kind. Donnie’s voice got panicked in Mikey’s ear, guessing what his and Leo’s tense silence meant, and then Raph started cursing up a storm, and Mikey could tell from the way their breaths got fast and punchy over the comms that they were both sprinting to get there as fast as they could.

But Mikey didn’t think that was going to matter, because one of the men pulled a gun from his waistband. He was saying something but Mikey’s thoughts were all underwater. He was clutching his ‘chucks so hard he could feel the scores on the handles biting into his palms.

When the gun went off, he was pushed down, and his head knocked into a shipping crate hard enough that he saw stars behind his eyes. He had to blink a few times to find Leo. She was hovering above him, her carapace turned outwards toward the man with the gun. She was holding Mikey like she expected one of them was about to lose the other. She was bleeding. She looked afraid.

Mikey closed his eyes and let the quiet out.

It filled his whole body like the first gulp of hot chocolate on a blustery winter day. It made him remember being somewhere damp and dark, smaller than he was now and cornered by a bigger animal, Donnie’s wheezy, rattling breaths behind him and the weak press of his fever-hot hands on Mikey’s shell, but it wasn’t scary to remember that. It made everything very simple. He knew what to do.

“Mikey,” someone was saying. “Hey, Mikey. Angie.”

When he blinked his eyes open and looked up, the warehouse was empty. There were a few limp human bodies strewn within his line of sight, but when he turned to look for the rest of them, a hand caught his chin and held him still. He followed the hand back to Donnie, who was looking at Mikey the way he always did, like they were each other’s first and best and forever friend.

“There you are,” Donnie said, and smiled.

Mikey tried to smile back, but his mouth tasted like metal and salt, and his jaw was sore. When he touched his face, his fingers came away sticky and red. It was all down his chin and throat. He didn’t know how that got there. He looked up at Donnie again, and then past him, at where their brother and sister were hovering.

The second Mikey saw Leo, and the hastily-wrapped bandage on her arm, he remembered the obscene crack of the gun shooting her and he started to cry. 

Leo practically trampled over Raph and Donnie in her rush to get her arms around Mikey. She didn’t care that he was all messy and ugly, she was pressing her beak to the top of his head, clicking and cooing the way she hadn’t since they were children.

Then Raph picked Mikey up and tucked Mikey’s head under his chin and they went to April’s apartment, which was twenty minutes closer to the docks than the lair. The trip across Manhattan was brighter and warmer than the winding subway tunnels home would have been. Someone must have called ahead to warn them, because April and her dad were worried but not horrified by the picture the turtles made on their fire escape.

April sat in the bathtub with Mikey, a tight enough fit that their knees and elbows knocked together. She used the handheld shower head to get all the blood off him. It ruined her pajamas but she didn’t care. She was his big sister, too. By the time Mikey was released, smelling like April’s mango body wash and wrapped in his favorite fluffy Hello Kitty blanket, Mr. O’Neil had finished stitching Leo’s arm and she was pacing in tight circles around the kitchen, lost in her own world.

“Okay, Fearless, he’s here,” Raph said, clearly fed up with her. “Go smother the kid and get it out of your system so we can eat already.”

Mikey was still mad at Leo. But he could save that for later. For now, he wanted to lean against her and feel the steady, reassuring marathon march of her heart, while his human family and turtle family piled into the living room with paper plates of greasy cheese pizza. Mr. O’Neil called Splinter way before he ordered the food, so papa would be there any minute. They didn’t turn the TV on, they just sat together and talked in low voices, until Raph said, “Where’d we leave off, Don?” and Donnie made an ‘oh yeah’ sort of noise and scrolled through his phone.

They’d been rereading one of their favorite books together to pass time during boring patrols and endless stakeouts. Donnie passed Raph his phone, because Raphie did it best.

“For the hundredth time, she closed her eyes so she could see another room in her mind's eye,” Raph read into the companionable silence of the room, “one with a curtain full of stars, and a mattress surrounded by books that whispered their stories to her at night."

The quiet inside of Mikey was docile and passive now, a dangerous animal deep in hibernation. But it was still there. Maybe it always would be.

But Leo was hugging him like nothing about him had changed, and Raph was reading The Thief Lord the way he used to read Magic Tree House when they were little, and Donnie’s hand was wrapped around Mikey’s like a promise.

Mikey’s earliest memory was just that. It was Donnie holding his hand, walking next to him, all through the dark.

#

Once, when Donnie and Mikey were very very small, they went the wrong way.

Their turtle instincts kept them moving, kept them scrounging for survival. Maybe if they’d been human toddlers, they would have stayed put and made it easy for their father to track them down. Maybe they would have only been out there for a few days, a week at most. Or maybe they would have fallen into the deep run-off and drowned, or got eaten by subway rats, or died of exposure.

Donnie remembers more than he thinks anyone in his family is aware that he does. A true photographic memory has never been proven, but frankly that’s only one item in a long laundry list of reasons why any scientist worth their salt would love to get their hands on him. Don can recall everything he’s ever seen.  

He’s done a lot of reading on childhood trauma and the way it can affect toddlers and even babies going forward. Three months in the grand scheme of things is not a remarkably long time, and they could have come out of that whole situation a lot worse than they did.

Mikey’s eyes weren’t irreparably damaged by the long stint he went without his glasses, by the grace of some imaginary god, but in part that’s because he learned to get around without his eyes at all. Donnie’s baby brother taught him how to echolocate, using their subvocal turtle noises to see in the dark the way their red-eared slider cousins use vibrations to see through murky water.

Nowadays it’s mostly a parlor trick they use to get the better of their big siblings.

Sometimes during morning training, after Leo had beaten Mikey and Raph had beaten Donnie, and Raph went on to be a really sore winner about beating Leo, Splinter would tap his walking stick and call Raph back onto the mat.

“Now you will spar against your younger brothers together,” the rat would say mildly, knowing exactly what he was doing. Raphael’s smug face would fall, and Leo would settle on the sidelines with her new bruises and a beaming smile on her face.

On their own, Mikey and Donnie were both talented ninjas who were easily distracted during practice and only trained as much as they were required to.

Together, they were monsters.

“Okay,” Raph said, lifting his hands warily, “let’s talk about this.”

Mikey winked at him and closed his eyes. Raphael swore. Leona smothered her laughter, but Donnie could still hear it, rising and filling the dojo in gentle waves.

Donatello remembers being lost. He remembers how the days blurred together, dark and frightening—the maze-like tunnels—crying and crying for Splinter before finally learning that no one would come when he cried. He remembers getting sick, a bad chest cold that was no match for his mutated DNA but gave him a rough time for the few days it managed to stick. He remembers the big ugly rats that stalked them to their makeshift nest, and the tiny curve of his little brother’s shell when Mikey went on all fours and bared his teeth and protected Donnie from the creatures that would hurt him the only way he could. He remembers the first time they crawled out of the sewers; how they didn’t want to break papa’s most important rule, but they were so hungry.

He remembers seeing the city lights for the first time, neon and eclectic and dizzying, the brightest things in the whole world. He remembers how fear began to fade and what was scary became normal and all he needed to feel safe was his little Angie beside him.

“Telloooo,” Leona calls from the den. “Get your shell in here or we’ll leave without you!”

“No you won’t, I have the keys!” Donnie calls back. He saves the design he’s working on, a wrist-mounted crossbow for Casey’s upcoming seventeenth birthday, and smiles to himself imagining the horrified look on Leo and April’s faces and the elated one on Casey’s when Don presents the gift. It’s going to be sweet chaos, and that he’s doing it all for a cute boy makes it even sweeter.  

He steps out of his lab to find his siblings lingering by the turnstiles, waiting for him. Mikey is giving goodbye kisses to Klunk’s little orange face, acting every bit as though he’s going to be out of the country for a calendar year, instead of just, like, out for a few hours. Raph looks like he’s about three seconds from dragging their baby brother out of the lair by his mask tails. Leo has her hands on her hips, in full harried single-mom mode, even though Splinter is right there.

“Finally,” she says when she spots Donnie. “Ready to go?”

“Can I drive?” Mikey blurts before anyone else can say anything.

“What? Of course not,” Donnie refuses immediately, a scandalized look on his face. He smiles up at Splinter when he passes him, and leans into the one-armed hug the rat gives him in parting. The moment they’ve hopped the turnstiles and left the lights of the station behind, Donnie tosses Mikey the keys to the Shellraiser and says, “Go wild.”

Michelangelo whoops and takes off down the tracks. Raph barks out a surprised laugh, and Leo says, “Oh, hell no!” and the tunnels echo with the sounds of Donatello’s family, rowdy and reckless and irrepressible.

He and Mikey got lost when they were little, but they ended up right where they were supposed to be.  

[rottmnt-hc]

Mikey's Babysitting Service

Remember the "Raph gets cuddley when having a growth spurt" prompt? Remember you voted for the 03 turtles? I honestly have no timeline in mind, maybe tribunal or not.

Since meeting their older counterparts, Leon and his brothers found dealing with their problems a lot easier.

Leonardo was training them, well mostly Leo, in their training. Teaching them things that he had to learn from when he was younger.

Raphael was mostly helping them with their emotions, both surprising and not surprising. To the younger, it seems all Raph's they met were emotional…to his brothers he was defaulted to "angry".

Donatello was surprisingly the gentlest of the brothers, toning down their own Donatello and teaching them a few tricks. (Leo's Raph made a comment about him being similar to Todd.)

Michelangelo was one they'll hold near and dear, not because he's Mikey, but because he seems to understand them better than anyone. He was the one to let Donnie go batshit but let's him know about limits.

For himself he was introduced to his Superhero friends, encouraging him to continue his comic.

Mikey was ecstatic about having another big brother, one that didn't treat him like a baby and also gave him his brother's point of view.

But Leo had to be grateful for Big Mike's efforts to his Raph, the younger brothers knew he could be just as unhinged as them when he wanted but to see it happen so easily.

Raph isn't the type to cause mischief but Big Mike usually brings it out of him and sometimes talk to him.

This makes Big Mike the most trustworthy of his brothers, which led to Leo's current predicament.

Raph was going through a growth spurt, the nerve! Like 6'8 wasn't tall enough!

Well, Raphie gets spacy and cuddled when this happens, but his loving brothers have things to do so they can't enjoy his lovely cuddling.

Big Mike agreed to watch him, but unbeknownst to Raphie's brothers, he never made it to his destination.

"What do you mean Raph never made it!?"

========

It was dark and everything felt different.

Raph was aware he went through a portal but he was supposed to be with their uncle counterparts.

It smelled like they were close but they also smelled different, like anxiety and fear.

Something sharp scraped across his shell causing him to pause, "Alright dude! Prepared to get your shell kicked!"

Oh! Uncle Mike! He sounds a bit off, maybe he feels weird too?

"Wow! Hey!" 

"MIKEY!" 

Oh his other uncles were here, this seems like a good spot for a nap. Oh! Splinter is giving him scritches.

========

"Mikey, what did you do!?" Raph seems pissed but actually very scared for his little brother.

"I swear I did nothing! You saw him appear the same time I did! But can I say, I never knew turtles can pur."

The old rat approached the large figure holding onto his youngest son's waist, sure enough this turtle was purring.

There was no ill intent, and they seem quite young. Too young for the amount of scarring on their body.

Splinter scratched their head, smiling as the purring grew louder and they leaned into the touch.

Master Splinter watched as his son relaxed under the giant child and soon join in the gentle petting, "Aw, he's just a little guy."

"Mikey, I love you but there is nothing little about this guy." Donatello approached, looking at the mysterious giant turtle.

Raphael and Leonardo both kept their hands on their weapons but since Sensei wasn't frightened that meant they were okay for now.

Splinter stopped before turning towards a corner of the lair, "Whoever you are, reveal yourself!"

"Chill out Sensei, I'm just here to pick up baby Raph." Everyone turned to see Michaelangelo, but he was different than their youngest being cuddled.

This Mikey was bigger and obviously stronger, old scars become visible at his approach.

He stopped at the new turtle who seemed to accept with a higher pitch purr and immediately latched onto him faster than anyone could comprehend.

"Oof! Yes, Yes, Hi Raphie. Come on, time to go." Against anything the four younger turtles believe in, Big Mike hefted Raphie on his shoulder.

"How-!?" "Wow!" "Are we that strong!?" "Careful!"

Big Mike sat down with Raphie's head in his lap, "Alright bros, while I get my ride, how about I answer certain questions?"

"You called him Baby Raph, what with that?" Good ole Raph starting with the facts.

"Bros, the Multiverse is real! He's a different version of Raphael, he's currently fifteen years old and the oldest of his brothers. My Raph has adopted them and I have never seen him go this soft."

Raph didn't seem to believe him but Big Mike pulled out his phone for them to see a picture.

It was when Raphie first pranked Raph, nobody suspected him, and Leon and both Mikey's got chased and tickled into submission.

The picture was Raph holding Little Mikey and Leon by the waist and reaching for him with a relaxed grin on his face.

Splinter seemed to melt at the sight as his younger self and brothers looked surprised, "Nobody believed us that It was Raphie but it was too glorious of a prank."

Little Leo looked at Mikey with hope, "Do we…get to be happy?"

Mike smiled at his younger older brother and nodded, "It'll be hard, there will be bumps, but I'd say we're pretty happy."

Donnie tilted his head, "How strong is everyone, my legs hurt just looking at him."

Mikey laughed at that, "Heck yeah dude, all our training and other training pays off. It also helps to use Chi sometimes."

Splinter nodded but him and his brothers looked confused, he didn't elaborate.

Big Mike turned to his younger self, "Any questions mini me?"

"Yeah, how did we meet other versions of us?"

"Bro, not gonna lie, it's gonna happen to you guys soon with different versions of us and it won't stop. The first group is annoying, even by my standards…but they weren't all that bad. We meet a lot of us's, but these guys are the youngest so far…and the most powerful."

Mini joined him in petting Raphie as his brothers relaxed, "So why is he all sleepy? Is he hurt?"

"Oh! Nah, he's fine. According to Leon, he's going through a growth spurt and gets like this. Which is both funny and adorable, especially since he just lays on the ones he trusts the most. Don't worry Raph, he would have tackled you to the ground if he hadn't smelled me first."

Mike let out a laugh at everyone's shocked faces, "He's getting bigger!?" "Why does he need to get bigger!?" "Wait, if he's only fifteen, does that mean he'd be twice as big later!?"

A familiar cackle erupted from the corner startling even Master Splinter, "I'm glad I'm not the only one reacting as such. Hamato Leonardo at your service, ready to go Uncle Mike?"

Splinter looks over to Big Mike as he hefted the larger turtle again, "Their Splinter asked Leo personally to keep an eye on them when we travel dimensions. They've taken to calling him "Mom" as a joke and it's gotten to the point where he answers to it, it's hilarious."

Leon open the portal as Big Mike approached, Michaelangelo had one more question though.

"Do we defeat Shredhead!?" Big Mike only winked and walked through the portal with Leon right behind him.

The next day Raphie managed to grow two whole feet! Though, he was nervous about it, no one (aside from the Hidden City Police) treated him differently.

He was their Raphie after all.

[sbf-orouborus]

AHHHHHH!!

first off thank you so much for responding so kindly.

Secondly this was soo much more in depth then I thought you were going to go but I LOVE IT. omg

Mikey being Hydro? That's something I would totally do in a au. Especially to mess with him because he's a box turtle, box turtles can't swim hehe. And yeah I just went Pyro because he's often Associated with fire in the fan and kinda the cannon and I was thinking of yoimya and Hu Tao when I chose that.

But now you got me thinking about Hydro and the fact he's the heart, and that's! That's doing things for me. Like Barbara he's the emotional one, but I always view Hydro as stoic but I can definitely see it as a loving element too.

Leo I gave Hydro for no real good reason just that it fit his blue portal vibe, like I can imagine him getting something like yelan's Ault.

But you're points on cryo really got me thinking, especially since you gave Splinter cryo, it feels like overachiever energy and I definitely get that with many cryo characters (cough cough Choungyun, eula, ayaka Cough cough)

But Anemo was what I always lean towards with leo, and I love your comparison with Jean that definitely set it for me.

Anemo and Leo is like venti and wine. They just fit! Leo being fast, the leader, and a wildcard of adventure it really was the obvious choice in my mind. (Even though now you got me second guessing)

Raph... my big strong baby Boi. I picked cryo because I saw that overwhelmed and overworked Lil baby that is raph and said "yeah, yep that's my boi." It was my first choice and the one I like the most for him, especially with freeze reactions acting like his big arms holding down his enemiesssss

But geo I did because it's the stereotypical choice, ya'know big strong. Like itto!

And Donnie oh my banana pancakes did I go a 180 on this Boi.

You're comparison to Albedo definitely made me second guess my life. Like- my two favorite bois, together, AH! And his big goal? GETTING URANIUM!! Donnie would go feral with a geo vision.

Electro I picked for esthetics and because electric techyyy but honestly didn't see any besides Shinobu fit anywhere near Donnie's tech side. But they can definitely fit the flamboyant side (Fishcel, Cyno, yae miko)

But dendro way my main pick originally it's techy, smart, sassy, everything you need in a Donatello! And I can totally see Donnie getting kicked out the Akadaimia (excuse my mistakes I'm just waking up) for various times trying to see forbidden knowledge.

Also for the extras I got:

Draxum would be Dendro: obviously. He practically is one in cannon.

Big mama I see as either electro or cryo. (See Ei, Yae, Eula, and rosaria for further explanation)

And I see Cassandra as Pyro. She's just that feral to me.

Also slay my living heart you amazing bean for dedicating yourself to respond to my silly ask with Logic! And reason! I am eternally grateful.

Leo: Cryo or Anemo

Donnie Geo or Dendro

Raph Cryo or Geo

Mikey Pyro.

Have a wonderful day! -SBF 🐍

OK SO IDK IF YOU ALREADY ANSWERED THIS.

But your the first person to openly say you like both genshin and Rottmnt so I made a mad dash to ask box because I need second opinion.

(Also sorry if this is off topic of your page I didn't go too far into it, but imagine about to)

What visions do you think the turtle boys would have?

Personal I think it'll be

Leo Hydro or anemo

Donnie eletro or dendro

Mikey Pyro.

And raph either cryo or Geo.

But I Have no second opinion and I NEED ONE

Then there's the issue with what would April + company would have, But I DONT CARE RN! maybe a do about April but she's the only one.

Sincerely- SBF🐍

I DON'T MIND AT ALL My asks are always open to discuss stuff, as long as people keep it civil and not being rude/provoking/aggressive and all, of course xd And no, no one asked me this question, so-o-o-o... I had to go through a little analysis myself, as I wasn't thinking much about how a visions usually chosen for characters, but I think: /It turned out pretty long, ahah, and mostly I agree with you, anon, just go into more on the analysis/ With Leo, I agree with hydro, as we see that those who have this vision usually chases after perfection, being the best at what they do, and using it to protect those they care about. I would also add that he could have a cryo vision. With cryo we see that characters in Genshin who posses it are usually struggle with their inner conflict, and being torn apart between, let's just say, "two world". In Leo's case, it would be him struggling between the role of a leader, that he avoids, and a desire to just enjoy his teenage life and himself (basically, the movie Leo, I think, would get a cryo vision). Tho anemo element, of course, suits his aesthetic best, as his strongest side is his speed, though I wasn't sure if it would fit his character at first, but after a bit of analysis, I think it's actually the best option, recalling his character arc in the movie. It reminded me of Jean, when she was left to deal with being the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. The concept of freedom is also suits him, though not literally. It's more about him accepting his weaknesses, let go oh his past self that he wants to avoid, and choosing to move forward for those he care about. SOOO, yeah, I would give Leo anemo vision xd With Donnie it's a bit easier, as I think he would, I agree, receive either electro vision, or dendro. Pyro also suits him in a way, but with pyro I see it's more about just enjoying your hobbies and what you do, when with Donnie it's more about chasing something more. Like with dendro, characters who have it usually observe, chasing knowledge and wisdom, which, in a way, suits Donnie. Electro, of course, like with Leo, suits his aesthetic the best (PURPLE. ELECTRICITY. PURPLE ELECTRICITY. NEED MORE PURPLE OOOOOOOOOOOH), and fits with his character, as characters with electro vision usually live in their own world, seeing it from a different perspective and chasing their own goals despite what people around them think of that, ans it really suits him being a "mad scientist". A little addition, that I think that geo vision could also suit Donnie, and it's possessors are either those who are determined and hard-working (I actually had a thought that Albedo and Donnie have something in common...), the only problem is that usually geo characters have some kind of a big goal. Aside from Donnie wanting to get a Nobel Prize, he doesn't have the kind of a goal that would suit him receiving a geo vision. On the other hand, future Donnie would have a much better chances at getting it, as I see and from what we can speculate, he would be crushed under the weight of responsibility of being "the tech guy", as everything that involves tech would circle around him. Weapons, vehicles, software, codes and all... And it would all embodied in him being a hard-worker in order to keep it all together and keep his family safe. So, yeah, electro vision for Donnie that is.

With Mikey, I agree on pyro vision, if we stick with his artistic personality and enjoying himself and his hobbies the most, but I would also think that it's possible for him to get a hydro vision...? Like said previously, hydro users are usually chase perfection in order to protect those they care about. In Mikey's case, it's not about his skills, but his personality, as we see in the show that he acts a role of a "heart" of the team, keeping them all together. And I would see him getting a hydro vision for his desire to keep his family together, being the best little brother and all that. And, of course, his character arc in the movie also suits this statement, when he was ready to sacrifice himself in order to master his "mystic warrior's" abilities to get Leo out of the prison dimension.

A-a-and, yeah, with Mikey I'm not really sure. Pyro fits his aesthetics, but with hydro it's a bit dipper. But, ok. to be fair, let's stick with pyro xd

With Raph I totally agree on him having either cryo or geo vision. Cryo suits him best in his tv series character arc, as we know from it and from one of the creators tweets, that Raph is basically, like Leo in the movie, is torn apart trying to be both a good leader/big brother/protector of his family, and just being a teenager and enjoying his life. With geo, it also suits him as, like, again, previously said, geo is about being determined and hard-working in order to achieve a big goal that usually involves a well-being of those you care about or who are you surrounded with, which fits Raph pretty well.

With Raph I would stick with geo xd

With other characters, I think Splinter would definitely have a cryo vision (the theme of having an inner conflict with yourself, and being torn between world). Cryo also suits April a bit, because she struggles a bit in the show about living life of a normal teenager, and life with the turtles. I would also add a dendro vision as an option, as those who have it are not only those who chase knowledge and wisdom, but who also are kind and willing to help others.

And with Casey, I would give him a geo vision (a hard-worker who think about well-being of the others).

Soooo, something like that xd

[zizzy-rie]

hello i love your tmnt headcanons, do you have any more?♥️

Hiiii!! Thankss am glad you love em!!

Hhhmmm these are some of my thoughts [may or may not be headcanons]

It's kinda long :>

2012

-April and the turtles' first meet up-

Donnie's the one who spotted April and her dad getting kidnapped by the Kraang. Not sure if it's canon to the show but in what I percieve of him, he's got a gentle heart and he isn't gonna let that situation slide. Leo protested at first, saying it's against Splinter's orders but with the convincing of his brothers, he reluctantly agreed to save her and her dad. April of course, still got kidnapped along with her dad. Back in the lair, the brothers told Splinter about everything that had happened and also convinced him that they save the girl. The guys get to save her, not her dad though [pretty much similar to what happened in the canon, except Donnie still doesn't have feelings for her and he's just being a good boy wanting to do what's right].

April thanked the guys, and they assured her that they'd help her find her dad. She's very grateful of the offer, and asked them if they could be friends. Of course, the guys are delighted because they've never had friends before. April exchanged contacts with the boys to keep in touch.

-An overhaul to the love triangle in the show- [@bogkampilan-in-a-well ]

Casey is nonbinary and uses he/they pronouns. Realization only hit him when they and April temporarily switched bodies that one time. They mistook gender envy for romantic feelings hence the flirting with April. Once he finally figured it out, he immediately dropped all the flirting and also told april about their gender. The guys were confused since casey forgot to tell them. 

Donnie's not really jealous of Casey flirting with April. He really just hated his guts, well, at first. Though he does get hurt at the thought of them getting together, he doesn't really show it and still very much respects April with her choices. There's no love rivalry between Casey and Donnie over April. Every time the two fight or argue, it's mostly because they have a different opinion over things and wouldn't hear each other out [this mainly happened when they just started getting to know each other]. Their arguments mellowed out at the start of season 3. They do still throw jabs at each other from time to time.

Whenever the trio are together, April's mainly the one holding the brain cell, despite donnie being the smartest among them. 

-Karai and the Turtles-

Leo is the brother Karai is closest to, though she still treats all of her brothers equally. They would talk to each other about their duties to their respective clans, since she's staying with the foot clan. Karai is the eldest among the siblings so she would lord it over Leo and throw out banters to one another from time to time. They'd also help each other in training their clan members. Karai calls Leo, Raph, and Donnie "little brother" while she calls Mikey "baby brother". 

Rottmnt [sexualities]

Leo is gay. I know it's kind of implied in the show but since it's not exactly confirmed, I'll keep this as a headcanon. His awakening was from an actor in a tv show he watched as a kid. He's never made it a big deal about himself and pretty much accepts his sexuality very quickly.

Donnie is demiromantic bisexual. It takes awhile for him to realize it since he doesn't focus that much on crushes and romantic stuff, especially when it's about him. Leo took notice about it first before himself but didn't say anything so Donnie can figure it out on his own pace.

April is Lesbian. She didn't really understand whenever her peers would talk about boys and just thought that maybe she was just a weirdo for it. Her gay awakening was on a classmate in her middle school years. 

[exovapor]

My first attempt at headcannons for the guys as children.

RAPH:

Fully blown oral fixation, a soothing mechanism for insecurities.  Stealing bottles and binkies from his brothers when Splinter wasn't looking.   

He would mainly steal from Donnie (hence D’s leaner frame).  

He targeted Donnie because Donnie’s personality made him was less likely to wail about his missing bottle and more likely to whimper in solitude.  Mikey was a wailer, drama queen in the making.

So attached to his oral soothing rituals that Splinter had to resort to hiding the binkies from Raph when it became obvious that he was WAY too old to be sucking on them.

Always referred to pacifiers as his binkies (never used the word pacifier or passey).

Once his binkies were “stolen away”, he started sticking other things in his mouth instead.  All his crayons, pens, and pencils would be chewed beyond recognition.  He swallowed more than one toy on accident (and had to wait to get it back...ew).  Eventually, moved on to more acceptable items such as lollipops and toothpicks,

What were his insecurities?  Total Middle Child Syndrome...jealousy.

Being the physically ‘bigger’ brother but not the eldest, he always had to submit to Leo’s authority.  Which made no sense to him.  He was big enough to take care of himself.

Resentful that Splinter didn’t think he was responsible enough to watch himself when Splinter left the lair on errands. 

Always thinking that Splinter favored Leo.  (It wasn’t true, Leo just carried responsibility well and could be trusted to make good decisions).

Always thought if they had a Mom that he would be her favorite and not Leo.

Would often watch TV shows with strong female characters and image them as his mother.  HIs favorites were Nell Carter and Roseanne Barr.  He liked their Direct-No-BS-Attitudes.

Another insecurity?  Not fond of the dark.  Needed a light source of some sort on at all times.

Had a Gloworm Doll he slept when until he was....well....he still has it.  It lays on his bed but he doesn’t sleep with it!  It’s just there, you know, it is sentimental.

Still sleeps with a night light on though.

Mikey:

Was a pretty calm baby, as long as he was dry and fed.  If he wasn’t, total water works!

His personality was chill; however, with four others to cater to him, he was used to getting his way.  (Youngest Child Syndrome)

You had a toy he wanted, he wailed until he got it.  

You were watching TV and he wanted to watch Sesame Street, he cried crocodile tears until Splinter, or Leo, made you change the channel.

Was the one who took the longest to potty train.  Splinter still thinks of that lesson as his most fought after achievement as a father!

Oh, and Mikey didn’t like keeping his diapers on either....so, watch where you step!

Was that nudist child, always taking off his clothes and running au naturel all day long.

About the only article of clothing he ever put on voluntarily was his superhero cape.  (What a sight!  Supehero, naked kid).

Would steal Raph’s chewed up crayons and pens and draw on every surface in the lair...then blame it on Donnie. (poor Donnie...not that Splinter ever believed Mikey).

Had a major crush on Barbie.  Watched all her commercials with enthusiasm.  (And God FORBID if you changed the channel during a Barbie commercial!)

Had his own Barbie doll that he’d cuddle with every night.  Actually, still has that Barbie, but she lost her clothes long ago.....also falsely blamed on Donnie.

Other childhood crushes include Kelly from Saved By The Bell, Ashley Banks from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Topanga from Boy Meets World (although he and Donnie often fought over her).  

Well...that is until Mikey discovered Bay Watch.

Donnie

Was a very quiet, observant baby.  Generally, very calm and non-demanding.

He out grew toys just as quickly as his stretching frame out grew clothes.  They just didn’t keep his interest.

Learned to walk, talk, and potty train all in the same week 

Splinter was grateful for the potty training skill but the talking skill brought headaches.

Donnie was that “why” kid.  

Everything he saw or that was said to him, he had to ask “why”.  Then, when you gave him an answer, he’d ask “why” about the answer!  He wanted to know everything about everything...the kid was exhausting.

Nearly 24/7 Splinter had a lanky kid following him around asking why this and why that.  Splinter was ecstatic when technology advanced enough for Donnie to research information on his own.

Well, that is until Donnie found the more...au naturel... side of the internet.

Splinter still believes Donnie was the poster child for the implementation of Parental Controls.

The only actual toy that Donnie really took to was his plush Hulk Hogan doll.  Splinter thought it was cute that Donnie attached so strongly to the red bandana figure, it must of reminded Donnie of his older brother Raph.

Strange how often Donnie beat up on that doll though...like he had some pent-up aggression towards his bigger brother for some reason.

Donnie and Leo were the wrestling fans of the family.  They would never miss a show.  Jumping around and grappling for hours afterwards and usually breaking something in the lair to Splinter’s dismay.

Fought with Mikey over Topanga from Boy Meets World, because she was so cute AND smart, until he discovered Madame Curie (smart science women are HOT!).

Got tattled on, to Splinter, by Leo, for knowing a “Madam”.

Still to this day prints out pictures of Madame Curie photoshopped in a dominatrix outfit and posts them randomly in Leo’s room.

Leo

A very CLINGY baby.

The type that will not sleep unless you are holding him and then will wake up the moment you try to put him down.

Even in the crawling stage he would chasing Splinter to wherever he was and cling to his robe.

Cooking?  Leo’s hanging on to the robe.  Washing dishes?  Leo’s hanging on to the robe.  Meditating?  Leo’s crawled into your lap.  Showering?  Leo’s crying outside the shower stall until you get out.

In fact, the only way Splinter taught Leo to walk was to take the sash off his robe and put it in the toddler’s hand so that Leo thought he had a hold of Splinter.

Enjoyed watching wrestling with Donnie, loved to practice the moves on Donnie so that he could be experienced enough to use them on Raph.

LOVED board games as a kid (namely Clue, Risk, and Battle Ship).  Heck, who’s he kidding?  He still does!  Don’t ever agree to play with him, you’ll be playing for HOURS (food and sleep be damned!).

As a kid Leo grew more focused on winning his father’s approval through helping to parent this brothers.  

Bonus?  He got to boss them around!

When Splinter would leave the lair on errands he would leave Leo in charge, Leo it called it “Do What Leo Says” time.

More often than not, the entire time was spent with Leo and Raph arguing and the two younger brothers running amuck.  Donnie surfing God knows what sites on the internet and naked Super Mikey trying to see if turtles can really fly.

Love to tell Raph that he saw monsters under their beds or ghosts in their rooms just to even the score for causing trouble when Splinter left the lair.

Feels slightly bad about that now....after all, this HUGE hulk of a brother still sleeps with a Gloworm for goodness sake!

[lec743]

Writing Trade For @s-s-ironnie

           Donnie was in his lab working on upgrading his personal computer. His lab was slightly vibrating from the dubstep that he was listening to as he was trying to drown out the shenanigans his family was doing. What shenanigan-er-ies could his brothers be doing, he does not know, nor does he care currently as he was installing a more proficient coolant system into his computer, to keep it from overheating from all the songs he’s downloaded from the Internet that reminds him of Iris.

           He was laying on his side, underneath his desk, as he was holding in place a difficult nut and bolt with one hand, while trying to find the proper sized wrench with the other hand, “S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. Will you hand me the ¼ wrench!”

           There was no answer.

           “S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.!”

           Still no answer.

           Donnie sighed, irritated as he let go of the nut and bolt and the nut popped him in the middle of his forehead as he shimmied his way out from under his desk.

           Sitting up he turned off the dubstep and yelled, “S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.” even louder.

           There wasn’t even the sound of tiny rotor blades humming, implying that the little purple turtle drone is around, but is just ignoring him. Donnie then realized that the house was relatively quiet to begin with, minus the sound of Splinter snoring in his recliner as a Korean drama played in the background.

           Donnie stood up as he got a sudden bad premonition. Usually when S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. doesn’t talk to him, it’s after having a big fight, but the two of them haven’t had a fight like that in a whole month. Which is their best record so far. So Donnie could only conclude that his brothers have done something to his baby and are trying to fix it before he finds out.

           Donnie stormed out of his lab as he rushed through the lair to try and find them. He speed-walked through the living/skateboarding room. He investigated each of his brother’s rooms. He then immediately ran to the kitchen and found his brothers congregated around the kitchen table.

           Pointing dramatically at his brothers, he shouted, “Where’s S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.!?”

           Flinching, Raph turned around as Mikey and Leo slid on either side of Raph. All three of them were trying to block his view of the kitchen table.

           Having none of it, Donnie engaged his extra robo-arms in his battle shell and used them to push them out of the way, much to their pleading cries to wait. Donnie gasped at the sight on the table.

           S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. was a mess. His little turtle head was caved in on the side and his eye lens was sloppily glued back in place. He was missing his front right roto blade. There was a big, jagged crack across his back, and he looked like he was fished out of the muck of the sewer and only recently, hastily cleaned up.

           Donnie usually has all the words, any words, to describe a bad situation; your incompetence is as mind blowing as a bad yelp review, you’d struggle with throwing away a paper ball, your voice is as grating at a cheese grater on glass, or even babies are smarter than you. For Donnie, this takes the cake and his words as he picked up S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and glared at his brothers as he walked by them.

           “Donnie, we didn’t—” Raph tried to say but was cut off by the soft-shelled turtle.

           “Not. A word.”

           With one last glare at his brothers, he stormed off to his lab.

           First and foremost, Donnie made sure that the most important part of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. was well and intact, his memories. Once he was in his lab, Donnie gently sat the little drone down on the table next to his computer set up while pushing aside his previous mess, then quickly got into S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s hardware and extracted his protected memory bank, then he plugged it into his computer. He did a diagnostic check on the software to see if any files were corrupted by the external damage.

           There was damage, not surprising, considering the damaged state the little drone is in, with most of the corrupted memory files being from that day before he got hurt. Also, not surprising since these are all categorized as short-term memory and deemed not needed to be saved, via his special programing.

Then he saw smaller chunks of corrupted memory that’s set in his long-term memory files. The memory of them overcoming their differences and the Purple Dragon’s meddling. The memory of them fighting beast mode Shredder together. The memory of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. finally developing speech.

           Donnie felt his lip quiver at the thought that S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. considered these memories worth holding on to, but he coughed that feeling away to replace it with anger at his brothers. He wanted to scream but he settled for groaning loudly as he leaned hard into his swivel chair. He turned away from his computer monitor and looked towards S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s busted frame.

           He was doing mental calculations for what the little drone would need, and whether it would be a good idea just to remake his body entirely. Then as he was doing the math in his head, a simple thought slipped into his mind. The fact that this accident, this incident that completely destroyed S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., will change him completely. Even if he makes his body just the way it was before he was broken, the little drone won’t be the same, even if he manages to find copies of the corrupted memories, they won’t be his memories.

           Donnie’s vision started to blur as this thought ricocheted through his head. Trying to fight it, he quickly stood up and went to his toolbox to find his tiny tools so that he can salvage what he can of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s broken body. As he was unscrewing a rotor blade, he tried to breath evenly to keep himself from crying, but as soon as he started working on the second rotor blade, he felt hot tears run down his masked face.

           The soft-shelled turtle could barely see, but he refused to stop working. He was grimacing hard as the tears kept coming out of him, resigned to the state that he’s in but still angry about it.

           Donnie didn’t know how long he was working on salvaging S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s body. What he managed to set aside was his good rotor blades, the lenses were still good and intact despite the head being smashed in, and he was slowly discerning which of the hardware for flight function was the least water damaged when he heard her voice.

           “Donnie,” Iris’s voice was soft and hesitant.

           The purple coded turtle was already a mix of emotions, and with her here, it felt like a whole bottle of potassium was thrown into his personal cup of water. He froze in his actions, debating on whether he should try and hid his tears to save face for his bad boy persona he’s been trying hard to cultivate around her, or if that’ll just make him look even more of a loser than he already felt like.

           “Your brothers told me what happened to S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. I’m so sorry he got hurt,” Iris said, her voice getting closer.

           Donnie went back to work on the little drone as he continued not to say anything as he was thinking very hard of the situation that he was in. Simultaneously trying to pretend that he doesn’t care if Iris thinks less of him for crying over a drone and praying to any gods or magical creatures or whatever that she really won’t think less of him. All while trying to think of a what he can say back.

           There was a little gasp as Iris walked around the other side of the table to see the damage. Donnie looked up from his work to see her in all her beauty. She was wearing her usual purple and yellow dress, and her long orange-red hair was tied back with a purple bow. She gave him the most heartbroken look, even her pointed elf-like ears were drooping.

           Her genuine sadness over S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s broken visage made something break in Donnie and he dropped his tiny screwdriver, then covered his eyes with his hands as he sobbed.

He couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t do anything but cry. He didn’t even realize that Iris was hugging him until he was gasping for breath.

           “There, there,” she said, as he felt her petting his head, “I know. It’s hard when people you care about get hurt. Cry for as long as you need to.”

           Donnie was still sitting in his chair, while Iris was standing in front of him between his legs, while his face was pressed against her diaphragm area. She felt soft and warm and smelled like sweet mixed berry pie. His hands shook with nerves as he attentively wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her a bit more snugly against himself as he was starting to calm down.

           It’s not like he hasn’t gotten hugs from her before. It’s just they recently got into the hugging faze of their friendship and this is their first kind of emotionally fraught hug, and it felt more intimate than the usual quick squeezes they give each other. It was nice though.

           Coughing, Donnie said, “Um. Could you go grab my water bottle that’s on my nightstand.”

           She smiled at him and nodded. Then she grabbed his water bottle that was by his incubator bed and handed it to him.

           Donnie chugged the water bottle empty, then taking a few moments to wipe away his tears and runny nose, without looking at her he gave her a bashful, “Thanks.” Then the threw the water bottle over his head and into his lab to be picked up later.

           “Of course. Any time,” she said enthusiastically. Then she asked, “So, what else can I do to help?”

           “Can you use magic to fix him back to normal?”

           She laughed at his joke, then said, “No. As far as I know, magic doesn’t work like that, but I can help you get supplies or devices or anything else you might need.”

           “I have to finish seeing what I can salvage from him first,” Donnie said as he turned away from her.

           “How about we get one of your brothers to do the slowly taking apart bit while you and I head to the surface to see what the electronics store has,” she said as she walked around the table to stand in front of him.

           Donnie gave her a disbelieving look as he twiddled a screw between his fingers.

           “Okay. Okay. Not your brothers, but you can salvage the rest of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. later, the stores will close, up top soon,” she said.

           “And they’ll be open tomorrow. Right now, seeing what S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. does have still working for him is more important.”

           She puffed out her cheeks in a pout. Then Donnie watched her drag her chair, that she sits at for art projects, over to the table he was working on, and she sat down in front of him.

           “Okay, then I’ll help you get through this faster,” she said as she reached for a piece of the purple drone, but then she hesitated and asked him, “But only if you want my help.”

           “Thank you… I’d like that,” he said as he looked down at the busted drone.

           Nodding, Iris picked up a piece of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and Donnie handed her a flat head screwdriver.

           They sat silently as they both worked together to take apart the little drone, but after Iris asked him if a computer chip was worth saving, he asked her a question of his own.

           “Why is it so important to you that I get this done as soon as possible?”

           “The sooner we get him fixed, the sooner you’ll feel better, and the sooner you start feeling better, the sooner I’ll get to see your beautiful smile again.”

           Donnie felt all fluttery inside from his smile being called beautiful, and he saw Iris’s face turn a dark shade of pink as she seemed to realize what she just said. They both looked away from each other.

           “A-anyways, the chip! Is it good or not?” she asked him again.

           “Junk it.”

           Donnie and Iris managed to take apart S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s old body and they managed to salvage a number of things that were primarily plastic or metal like his rotors and camera lenses, but they also managed to salvage his flight pattern abilities, and his original voice box.

           They both stretched in their chairs from being hunched over for so long, and Iris pulled out her phone.

           “Oh! Yes! We have two hours until all the good tech stores close for the night. Do you know what we should get for S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.?”

           Donnie stood up as he rolled his shoulders, saying, “Yah. I can make the body, but I’ll need to buy some special wiring and chips that are mass-produced that I can’t make myself,” then he got out his own phone as he got on the map app, “There’s a Mousey’s Click Tech shop that’s a ten-minute train ride from here. They should have what I need.”

           Iris hopped out of her seat and cheered, “Alright. Then get your hoodie on and let’s a go! Go! Go!”

           He sighed and smiled at her as he meandered over to his lose laundry pile and picked out a purple hoodie from a dozen identical hoodies. Iris skipped ahead of him as he was putting on his hoodie and they walked out of his room/lab. As they were leaving Splinter was still fast asleep in his recliner, but Mikey was sitting on the floor beside him as he was watching the Korean drama too.

           Donnie saw Mikey turn at the noise they were making as they were leaving, and the soft-shelled turtle avoided his gaze as he turned his hoodie up. Iris was helping his mood, but he was still angry at them for not immediately telling him about S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.

           The two of them boarded the earliest train that arrived at the station and made it to the tech store in fifteen minutes. Now usually when they travel together Iris would tell him about her day, how her mother’s shop is doing, and/or tell him something she found interesting. Instead, she was focused more on her phone as she was texting someone, which is fine, since he was focused more on trying to remember what that one really durable plastic is called so that he can make S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s body out of it.

           The two of them walked into the store and it smelled of plastic, fresh ozone, and freshly sprayed febreze. A thin, shaggy white guy with dreads was sitting at the counter with his feet propped up on the counter as he was playing on his phone. Donnie asked him if he had any of the items he needed on stock, before the two of them went looking around the store.

           “I don’t know man. You’ll just have to look.”

           Annoyed, Donnie sighed and said, “Fine.”

           He and Iris walked around the little store to try and find internal computer components but the more they looked, the more they saw that they barely had anything, and what they did have wasn’t compatible for drones or complex computers.

           The two of them went back to the front counter where the guy hasn’t moved and hasn’t looked up from his phone as Iris said, “Um, could you look in the back storage for what we need. We couldn’t find it on the shelves.”

           “Sorry, Ma’am, if it’s not on the shelves, then we don’t have it,” he said as his phone suddenly got musically energetic like he opened a special box in the game on his phone.

           “Okay. Then when are you expecting the computer parts to show?” Donnie asked as he leaned angrily against the counter.

           “I don’t know. We’ve been waiting for a month now. If you want to add a new keyboard to your computer, we have those,” he said, still not looking at them.

           Donnie was glaring heavily at the disinterested man, and Iris pulled him back by his shoulder and started gently pushing him towards the front door, as she said, “Okay. Well, we hope you can get all your stuff as soon as you can. Have a good rest of your night.”

           “You too, Ma’am.”

           The two of them stood on the street as Donnie groaned out his frustrations.

           “Welp, that was a bust,” Iris said, “but it’s no big deal. We can go to other stores.”

           He sighed, then said, “Yah. We can.”

           Then he got out his phone and looked at the map to see where else they can go shopping for the parts he needs.

           They went searching at every store they could reach quickly. They tried another Mousey’s Click Tech store. Then they tried a store called Pineapple. Then a store called Junk Tech. Then Future Tech. Ghost In the Shell. Galaxy Tech. Drone Heaven. Turbo Tech. Each store that they visited, the more frustrated Donnie felt and even Iris was getting annoyed, as the stores were either as bare as the first store they went to, or it was even more bare.

           “What the heck is going on. Why is every tech store like this!” Donnie yelled at the sharply dressed woman at the counter.

           The brown skinned woman with long black hair and half her head shaved stared at Donnie with a professional glare.

           Iris sighed as she lightly turned the purple coded turtle away from the working woman and she said in an annoyed tone but much calmer voice, “Sorry. We’re having a rough night. He just lost someone special to him and we just can’t seem to find the parts we need.”

           The woman’s face softened then she said, “I’m sorry to hear that. But yah, every tech store is having shortages.”

           “Do you know why,” Iris asked as she gently rubbed Donnie’s back who’s resigned himself to smooshing his face onto the counter.

           “Have you two heard of Bit Coin?”

           They both said yes.

           “I absolutely hate the concept of it, and I’m surprised it’s still going,” Donnie said at the same time as Iris said, “I love it. I think it’s going to be our new future.”

           The two of them looked at each other in surprise, but their attention was put back on the woman as she spoke.

           “Well, whatever your stance on the new fake money is, these people who create Bit Coin have been buying up all the computer components to keep their giant c.p.u.’s running. So if you decide to buy online, don’t get a used part. It’ll just die on you after two boot ups, okay.”

           “Okay,” Iris said

           “I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier,” Donnie mumbled to her as they were walking out, and the lady was following to lock the door behind them.

           “Thank you. I understand losing someone too,” she said.

           “Have a good night,” Iris told her as they were outside.

           “You too and stay safe out their kids.”

           Then she locked the door and turned out the main lights. Iris was texting someone on her phone while Donnie was trying to think of where else they could possibly go, since ordering anything online is not available to him.

           “Hey.”

           Donnie turned to Iris with a questioning hum.

           “You know who I bet has a finger to the pulse on this whole shortage situation and would be exploiting it for any money he can get? Repo Mantis,” she said as she put away her phone, “If he has anything, it’d be him.”

           “If he does, it’s more likely that he’s doing it on accident, you know, unless someone’s told him already. But even if he does have what we need it’s not like he’ll sell it to us at a reasonable price.”

           “Who said anything about buying,” Iris said as she gave Donnie a sweet and mischievous smile.

           Donnie’s brain kind of fizzled at the sight of her smile. He loves her smiles, but her lets-start-trouble-on-purpose smile is his favorite.

           Already walking towards the scrapyard to hide the, what he considered, obvious lovestruck look on his face, Donnie said, “Welp. The night’s not getting any younger.”

           Iris jogged to catch up to him and once she was walking side by side with him, she hip-bumped him and said, “Yah! We’re going to get those parts and you’ll be able to rebuild S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and you’ll talk with your brothers again.”

           Donnie huffed at that last comment.

           “Have you heard what happened from their point of view?” Iris asked, hesitantly.

           “No. And I don’t want to. You saw how bad S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. looked and it was just his body. I didn’t show you, but his mind got corrupted by the damage too. He’ll never be the same again.”

           Donnie felt his eyes sting with budding tears, and he rubbed his eyes, then looked back at Iris. She was looking at him with sad puppy eyes, like she wanted to say more, but didn’t know what to say.

           He looked away from her because he was starting to feel weak against her puppy eyes. They were essentially telling him to just; pretty, pretty, please talk to your brothers. After a few seconds he looked back at her and she was still looking at him with sad, pleading eyes that seemed to have gotten bigger somehow.

           He groaned to the sky as they waited for the street sign to give them the okay to cross as he said, “Okay! Okay… I’ll hear their side of the story. But I’m still going to be mad that they didn’t send S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. to me as soon as they could have.”

           She patted his back with a small smile and said, “That’s fine.”

           The Repo Mantis Salvage yard was dark, with only a few key lights lighting up certain areas, like the front entrance. The small building that Repo Mantis lives in and his shop, and the heavy-duty equipment that’s used to break up cars.

           Donnie and Iris were a few yards away scoping out the scene and making sure that Repo’s giant mutated cat wasn’t prowling around. Using his goggles, Donnie scanned Repo’s small shop and saw that the mutant mantis man had a lot of busted computers in it.

           “I think he got rid of his pet cat,” he stated.

           “No. I can smell her. She’s still here, but probably locked up somewhere.”

           “…You can smell the cat on the wind?” Donnie raised his goggles and looked at her.

           “Yah, you know that smell. That pungent cat smell that people have in their homes. You probably don’t recognize it because you guys don’t have a pet cat,” Iris said.

           “Okay. Well, the small shop has a bunch of electronics in it, your theory may be right,” he said as he looked back at the scrap yard, “We’ll have to be careful. If he shows up, you run as fast as you can okay. I’ll make sure he can’t hurt you.”

           “Uh, no?” She chuckled, “I’m not leaving you behind. If we get caught, we stick together. You hear me, Mister?”

           Donnie groaned, then he said, “Okay. How about this. We just play by ear. Does that sound good to you?”

           She hummed a high-pitched “okay” at him.

           The two of them snuck onto Repo’s scrap yard and Donnie expertly unlocked the four different locks the mutant man has on the door to his workshop, then deactivated the silent alarm.

           Donnie activated two extra robot arms to come out of his battle shell while holding two flashlights. It was small and the inside was a mess of broken electronics of mostly computers, but what wasn’t broken was expertly taken apart and labeled.

           “Ohhh,” Iris squealed quietly, “This looks promising.”

           Donnie nodded in agreement with her.

           The two of them looked through the labeled computer parts and other scrap. Donnie found everything he needed and more for his little drone. However, Donnie took only what he needed. He then turned to Iris to tell her that they should go, but she had her arms full of different computer chips and wires and miniature cameras.

           “What are you doing!?” he harshly whispered at her.

           “I’m trying to get as much good stuff for S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.,” she whispered back just as harshly.

           “He doesn’t need all that hardware! Put it back! Back! Back! Back!” he said in a panic under his breath as he tried to get her to silently put everything away.

           “Oh, come on,” she breathed, “Don’t you think these will make S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s eye’s pop with these types of cameras?”

           They were shiny and brand new looking, and Donnie could see that they were the latest model of robotics cosmetics. His mouth drooled a little at the sight, but he shook his head and was determined to be resolute.

           “No! S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s current eyes are still good,” he murmured.

           Amidst their arguing, Donnie accidentally elbowed a pile of neatly stacked laptops that crashed loudly to the floor. Less than a minute later, the lights in the shop were turned on and a giant purple mantis with an Elvis style hairdo appeared in the entrance. Repo’s buggy face was furrowed with such a deep rage that it was almost like a canyon of anger was etched across it. He stood in an attacking stance like normal praying mantis do when they get ready to hunt their pray.

           “Trespassers! I’m gonna decapitate ya!”

           Repo lunged at them, swinging his claws like scythes.

           Donnie pushed Iris out of his path as he dodged the other way. He got out his bō staff and got ready to fight, but Repo instead was going after Iris. Repo swiped at her, but she dodged with amazing agility and grace. Doing backflips, sliding under a table covered in tech to block, and side stepping like she was dancing with the giant mutant mantis.

           “Hold still,” Repo yelled at her.

           She kept on dodging, but this time, while giving him the finger.

           Donnie ran up to Repo, hopped on his back, and put the mantis man into a choke hold using his staff.

           “Go!” He yelled at her, “I’ll be right behind you!”            Nodding, she ran around them and slid out the workshop door.

           While Repo flailed around trying to get Donnie off his back, the teenage turtle planted his feet firmly on his back, then at the same time as he released the chokehold, Donnie pushed off Repo and did a backflip. Landing on his feet. Repo, however, was pushed roughly forward into a pile of old junk computers. The force of his landing made a shelf above him fall and a pile of paint cans crashed on top of him.

           Donnie flinched at the sight, but when he heard the mutant mantis groan, he ran out the workshop door while pocketing his staff.

           As he ran out, he saw that Iris was anxiously jogging in place while waiting for him.

           “Come on!” he said as he grabbed her hand.

           The two of them raced out of the scrap yard and ran through the streets. Neither of them stopping until they were both out of breath and were deep inside the city.

The two of them were catching their breath crammed in between a dark alleyway. Iris moved to the entrance of the alleyway to double check and see if they were followed, and Donnie noticed that they were still holding hands.

           There’s not a lot of situations in which he can contrive a reason for them to hold hands. She has very pretty hands with a lot of work done on her long nails to make them look cute. He’s sure they’re not fake long nails but regardless, she takes good care of them. Her soft hands are strong, like she could snap his neck with one hand if she wanted to and he’s not sure why he likes that idea so much. She loosened her grip on his hand and he reluctantly let go as she used it to tuck a piece of loose hair behind her ear.

           “I think we’re safe,” she said.

           Donnie fiddled with his controller wristwatch and retracted his two robo-arms back into his battle shell, and Iris untied Donnie’s hoodie from around her waist and gave it back to him so he could put it back on.

           “Thanks,” he said as he started putting his hoodie back on, “What you did back there was really cool, I didn’t think all your dancing prowess could make you an excellent dodger.”

           “Hehe,” he laughed as she rubbed the back of her neck, “I think that was mostly adrenaline but look what I managed to get.”

           From out of her dress pockets, she pulled out the two advanced robot eyes that they were arguing over before.

           “Now, before you say anything,” she said, reading the look on his face, “I know you said you don’t need them, but these are just for incase. You know? I want our favorite little drone to not have to worry about his eyes in the future.”

           She handed them to Donnie and waited for him to take them.

           Donnie sighed, then smiled at her and took the robo eyes, placing them with the other hardware for S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s rebuilding.

           “Thank you for caring so much about him with me. It means a lot.”

           “Of course, Donnie. You both mean a lot to me. Now let’s go home. The boys have some explaining to do and you have some listening to do.”

           As they made their way to the nearest train station, Donnie groaned but didn’t argue with her and Iris got out her phone and started texting with someone.

           The two of them entered the lair and they walked into the living/skateboarding room and saw that Splinter was still asleep in his recliner, but the projector was off and most of the noise was coming from the kitchen.

           The two of them entered the kitchen and saw that dinner was made for Iris and Donnie.

           Raph was doing the dishes. Leo was reading a comic at the kitchen table and sitting next to him was Mikey who was drawing something.

           “Oh, this looks so good. Thanks for making this for us, Mikey,” Iris said.

           All three turtle boys snapped their head up at her voice and they all looked at Donnie.

           “You guys knew we were coming,” Donnie asked.

           “Yah, Iris has been texting us all night since you two had left,” Raph said as he dried off his hands on a rag.

           The two of them sat down and started to eat.

           “Thank you, Mikey,” Donnie mumbled over his food.

           Mikey smiled at him.

           As they ate, Donnie could tell that his brothers were trying very hard not to say anything too soon, and it was slowly grating on his nerves.

           When he finished eating, he said, “Okay. I’m listening. What happened when S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. was with you guys.”

           Iris was still eating, but she was silently watching everyone interact with each other.

Leo and Mikey turned to Raph who was leaning against the kitchen counter.

           “Okay. So, a giant alligator/crocodile mutant guy was prowling around outside our lair when we were all goofing around. The guy then attacked us, unprovoked, and tried to bite us to death. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. was trying to help us by being a distraction to him so that we could get out our weapons, but the alligator/crocodile guy managed to get him with his massive tail and just batted him into the concrete wall, and he then bounced into some sewer muck,” Raph said.

           Donnie gave his brothers concerned looks.

           “Don’t worry. The crocodile guy hasn’t comeback yet,” Leo said.

           “I’m still wondering why he attacked us in the first place, thou,” Mikey said as he continued drawing.

           “Why didn’t you guys just bring him immediately to me,” Donnie asked, pleadingly.

           Donnie saw Mikey put down his coloring pencil, but he didn’t look at him and Leo went back to looking at his comic, but he wasn’t reading it. Donnie turned his attention back to Raph.

           “We were all kind of scare of how you’d react. Even S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. was scared. He asked us to try and fix him before he shut down,” Raph explained.

           Donnie was reeling at this information.

           “I’m not that scary when I’m angry… Am I,” he turned and asked Iris.

           She winced at him a little as she brought her hand up and made her thumb and pointer finger almost touch each other.

           Donnie turned away from her as he brought his hand up to his head and rubbed it, sighing into the table. Then he sat up and looked at his brothers.

           “I’m sorry I made you guys feel that way. I want you all to know, no matter how angry I get, I still want to know these things. I need to know these things. Or S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s memory wouldn’t have gotten as bad as it is.”

           Mikey looked up at Donnie and Leo looked over his comic at him while Raph stood up straighter.

           Mikey asked, “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”

           Looking away from them, Donnie told them what he found out about the little drone’s damaged memories and how it’ll affect him in the future. When he looked back at his brothers, all three of them were teary eyed and they immediately moved to embrace him. Donnie was almost tipped out of his chair by the force of his brother’s hugs. Mikey and Raph were crying the loudest while Leo was crying silent, guilty tears.

           “We’re so sorry,” Mikey spoke for them all, “We should have just bit the bullet and showed you the damage immediately.”

           Donnie let them cry since he hashed out all his crying earlier, but he hugged them back as best he could as he said, “I’m sorry too.”

           Donnie then saw Iris come over with a soft smile on her face as she joined in on the hug. She patted him on the head like she was saying, good boy, to him. He puffed out his cheeks at her in a pout. Her smile widened in response and that made him look away from her in shy embarrassment.

           Eventually his brothers let him out of the hug, and he was able to stand up.

           “Hey, don’t feel too guilty guys. You three did do a good job on cleaning away the sewer muck from him and it minimized the damaged to his memories,” Donnie said to reassure his brothers.

           “And we got all the parts we need to rebuild S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. good as new,” Iris chimed in.

           Leo was wiping off his face as he said, “That’s good at least.”

           Having finished drying off his face, Raph said, “Okay guys. It’s pretty late. We should head to bed and let Iris go home,” then quietly to a still weeping Mikey, Raph said, “Come on, little man. You can sleep with me tonight if you want.”            Mikey nodded his head as he let Raph lead him to his room while Leo followed them out.

           Donnie and Iris were now alone in the kitchen. Iris started picking up the dirty dishes from the kitchen table and Donnie followed her lead.

           “Hey. Thanks again for tonight,” Donnie said, “and uh, I have another favor to ask of you, if it’s okay?”

           “Of course it is,” she said as she put the dirty dishes into the sink.

           “Can you… help me think of a code word we could use to signal to me that I’m getting too angry? I don’t think I understand just how much anger I have in me, and maybe I can avoid something like this happening again.”

           He was avoiding making eye contact with her as he asked this, and he only looked at her when she placed her hand on his shoulder.

           “Heck yah, I will. And we can get your brothers in on this too and we can all brainstorm together. It’ll be fun.”

           She gave him the biggest and sweetest smile he’s seen from her yet.

           Smiling softly at the sight; he took her hand off his shoulder, gripped it lightly in both of his hands, and gently raised her fingers to his forehead where they lightly brushed against him.

           “Thank you,” he said looking down, then looking back up at her face he said, “Truly. You’re too good for me.”

           Donnie saw her wide smile had shrunk down into a tight-lipped smile, and her face seemed to be turning a bright shade of pink. She took her hand back with an awkward laugh that confused him.

           “Okay. Well. I’ll see yah around,” she said as she speed-walked away from him and she said, “Text ya later!”

           Then she was out of his sight.

           Donnie stood alone in the kitchen for a minute, confused by the situation, until realization hit him in the face.

           “Oh no,” he said to himself as he staggered against the kitchen counter and covered his mouth with his hand, “Was I being too forward?”

To those that may be interested in the story: @thelaundrybitch @rheawritesforfun @turtle-babe83 @leosgirl82 @mysticboombox @drowninghell @raphielover @raphslovemuffin80 @doctorelleth @post-apocalyptic-daydream @tmntspidergirl @s-s-ironnie

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT Oneshot: Sweet Sixteen

((This scene just popped into my head, aaaaand I don’t feel like writing anything else atm so- hope you all enjoy))

It wasn’t often that the lair was bustling early in the morning; the Hamato-Jitsu family stayed up late, and often slept in even later. But on certain days such as these, only one person was allowed to sleep in...

At about 7 a.m., all activity was quickly shushed as silent shadows crept towards a specific room - a bedroom with red-tinted walls thanks to the small lamp that was still lit. They could hear quiet snores, and grinned to themselves as they snuck inside.

Still somewhat asleep but awake enough that his ninja senses were reacting to certain noises and scents, Raph snorted a bit and turned over as he began to stir from his slumber. He instinctively hugged his teddy - he had chosen Dr. Huggenstein the night before - close and tried to bury his face in the back of its head, hoping for just a bit more sleep.

And yet, his mind was slowly starting to wake. He could smell something fruity and buttery near. He could hear quiet giggles and quiet steps padding across the floor of his room. And, despite his eyes being closed, he could still somewhat ‘see’ figures coming closer and closer, until they were standing right in front of him...

With his curiosity now too much for even his sleepy mind to ignore, Raph opened one eye, and-

“SURPRISE!”

The snapper flinched, startled as he sat up and nearly throwing a punch at his ‘surprise’ - although this was anything but a surprise attack, and due to expecting it, his family easily stepped back, avoiding the hit expertly as they laughed. 

Donnie and Mikey threw bundles of red and green confetti at him, and as Splinter held up the stack of strawberry and chocolate waffles, Leo leaned over and placed a plastic “Sweet Sixteen” tiara right on his big brother’s head. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~!”

Although he groaned a bit at being surprised by one of their family’s longest running traditions (again. You’d think expecting it would be enough to STOP him from freaking out), Raph still smiled as his family sang and clapped. 

When they finished, Raph naturally invited them all in for a group hug. “D’awww, thanks guys.”

“No probles, Big Brother.” “Happy birthday, Raphie!” “Heh, seems like we got you pretty good this year, huh?”

“Ugh, only ‘cause I was in a deep sleep!” Raph argued, pouting only a little, “I’ll be ready next year.”

Splinter just chuckled at his boys, shaking his head. He hadn’t expected this Birthday Morning tradition to last sixteen years when he started doing it when they were all tots (albeit with less screaming involved, at first) but he was sure glad that it had. “Here,” he said, handing the snapper his breakfast, “Best to eat them before they get too cold and soggy.”

“Right, don’t wanna lose that crunch,” Raph agreed, quickly digging in. Although they still had their own breakfasts to prepare, his brothers and father kept him company as he ate. Honestly, Raph appreciated that just as much as he appreciated the breakfast itself.

Naturally, they discussed Raph’s ‘birthday wish’ plans for that day first - another family tradition, the birthday boy (or girl, in April’s case) gets to decide what they all did as a group that day. For his Sweet 16, Raph had decided on some sparring with Frankenfoot, go-karting at Albeartoland, a small shopping spree at Teddy Bear Town (gotta spend that bday money somehow) and capping off the night with a three-hour wrestling special that was premiering on TV (after presents and cake, of course). 

His bros approved of all these ideas, and after texting the schedule to April and CJ, they gave her approval too.

Afterwards, the brothers moved on onto talking about past birthdays, followed by Leo, Mikey and Donnie all talking about the plans that they had for their upcoming birthdays. But as fun as this conversation was, Raph couldn’t help but notice his father growing quieter the longer it went on.

Eventually, his brothers excused themselves to both grab their own breakfasts and give Raph some space to get ready for the day. (The guy didn’t even have his bandana on yet! How embarrassing - or at least it would’ve been if there was anyone but family there). The only one who stayed was his pop, sitting there as content as ever with a soft, slightly bittersweet smile on his face.

“...Everything alright, Pops?” Raph finally asked, once he had polished off his waffles.

“Hm? Oh yes yes, I’m fine... So, how are you feeling, my son?” Splinter asked, “Sixteen is a pretty big milestone, after all.”

“Heh, I’m good. ...Honestly, it doesn’t feel all that different from fifteen” Raph replied. Thinking about it, he added, “Maybe ‘cause a bunch of stuff has already happened in the past year?” He was now officially a year older, yeah, but it felt like he had already done plenty of changing and growing before then.

Who would’ve thought that he would be given mystic weapons (and later mystic powers), learn about his dad’s past, take down several city-ending threats, meet the spirits of his family, and become a hero alongside his family and friends all before his next birthday? That whole situation was... pretty crazy to think about. Amazing, yeah, but definitely still crazy. In that sense, maybe a more normal and lowkey birthday was just what he needed.

Raph was brought back to the present when he felt his father patting his shell. “Yes, you make a fair point... Still, this birthday is just as much an accomplishment as anything else, and certainly worth celebrating properly.”

The old rat sighed a bit, closing his eyes for just a moment. “You boys are growing up so fast... Before I know it, you will be all grown up. You and your brothers...”

“Aw, come on, Dad...” Setting his plate to the side, Raph pulled Splinter in for a one-armed hug. “We’re always gonna need ya, no matter how old or grown up we get.”

“Heh, I know...” But it was still admittedly nice to hear. “Still, you cannot blame me for being a bit... well, a bit shell-shocked as it were whenever I think about how far you have come, Red. I remember when you were all small enough for me to hold in my arms, and now-”

Splinter stopped, his eyes widening as if he realized (or maybe remembered) something - something apparently funny enough to make him laugh. “Did I tell you- ah, no, I wouldn’t have... Well, no time than the present. Want to know something about the day you were born?”

Raph’s eyes widened at the suggestion, more than a little surprised at his dad’s sudden openness about that day, which Splinter supposed he should have expected, considering previous reactions to anything (or anyone) relating to it.

“I know I do not always-” or ever- “talk about the day I was mutated, but it was not a completely bad day.” He smirked. “I got you boys that day, didn’t I? Heh, you were all so tiny and cute! And you-” Splinter laughed again, and while he was still a bit surprised, now Raph was curious about what was so funny, and how did it involve him?

“Okay, so- this was before your boys were- yourselves. Back when you were norm- ah, average turtles. I was picking you all up, looking at how cute you all were and, well, at one point I decided to give you a kiss on your little head - and you know what you did in return? You bit me!”

“Pffft-!” Raph brought a hand to his mouth, hiding his laughs. “I did not!”

“Oh yes you did!” Splinter shot back, grinning now, “Bit me right on the lip! And I am pretty sure I still have the scar to prove it, somewhere under all this fur. Oh, I was so mad! Heh, but only for a few seconds. It is cruel to be mad at a baby, after all...”

His expression softened a bit as he thought about what happened next. Although Splinter was sure that he would always have mixed feelings about what happened that day and the transformation he received, he would always see the creation of his sons as a blessing that he would always be grateful for.

“Once you were all yourselves, I did all I could to get you boys to safety. And when I held you and your brothers in my arms and saw you all looking up at me... I knew that I would never be able to let you go.” 

Even before he began calling them his sons, even when he still only saw them as ‘innocent creatures’ and had no idea what they would eventually become, they were still his. And they always would be. 

“You have all grown so much that day... And I am not just talking about size, although you especially have certainly gotten bigger.” Splinter looked up and smiled at his eldest. “You are strong, and brave, and so kind... You are more of an honorable man at sixteen than I ever was, and I am so, SO very proud of you, Raphael.”

By this point, Raph’s tears were already beginning to fall, but the snapper could hardly care about that. He just brought his rat dad in for another hug - one that Splinter happily returned. When he eventually felt his son’s grip begin to loosen, Splinter moved to stand on his tip-toes and moved his tail towards his son’s head.

Understanding what he was getting at, Raph lowered his head, allowing Splinter’s tail to lift up the silly tiara as his dad planted a kiss right on the center of his head. “Heh... Happy birthday, my son.”

Wiping his eyes, Raph nodded back. “Thanks, Pops.”

“Oh please, thank YOU for not biting me again.” 

The two shared another laugh, staying beside each other a bit longer. When Splinter did finally decide to leave, he made sure to grab his son’s plate to take back to the kitchen. “Try not to come home too late, I’ll be sure to have supper waiting for you all when you get back. But make sure to enjoy yourself today too, okay?”

Raph chuckled, nodding again. “I will,” he promised - easy enough to do, considering it already felt like a great day. Splinter gave him one last smile before walking away.

As he put on his bandana and his wraps, Raph continued to smile to himself. Maybe he didn’t feel any different than he did at fifteen, and maybe in comparison the days where he escaped a Battle Nexus or fought a dark armor, a birthday wasn’t THAT big of a deal.

But maybe his dad was also right. Maybe it was still an accomplishment that he was a year older - that he was still there, still living and still right beside his family, even after a less-than-normal ‘birth’ and everything that came after. 

Maybe that really was worth celebrating, especially when that celebrating was done with the people that actually made his life worth living.

Speaking of which- “Hey, Raph! You still in there?” “Come on! We’ve already got the dojo set up, and we’re pretty sure Buddy’s just gonna start punchin’ stuff if you don’t get in here!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming - and you guys better be ready!” Raph shouted back, grinning. 

With his wraps, belts and bandana all now on, he grabbed his sai, spinning them a few times before sliding them into their holsters. Once that was done, he happily raced out of his room and ran towards the dojo, more than ready to seize the day - seize his birthday - for all it was worth.

THE END

[thelostandforgottenangel]

Dancing With Your Ghost

Because of the high demand needing more I continued my fanfiction ‘What Might Be Our Last Dance’ so for everyone who reblogged liked and reached out I made this especially for you all so please let me know what you think and remember I love each and everyone of you *Blows Kisses* Enjoy guys and please forgive me for this 

@bloody-dark-shells03 @lonelyheart-clubband @fyreball66 @blossom-skies @midnightrebel669 @betelgeusessonajblog @nikitaboeve @masoulcold2 @mistyroselove @ravn-87 @darksaphire2002 @zombiesnips-blog @masoulcold @coco-rena @geekgirl24​ @leetah2999​ @raphaelsrightarm​ @moonlightprime​ @bayverse-turtle-power​ and everyone else that liked the first story hope I did it justice

It had been well over a month since the mission and like she had feared Raphael hadn’t returned to her the next night, or the next, or even a week after that sending her into a deeper depression with every passing day that she waited by the door for her husband

She had their daughter to care for, had schooling and dance lessons to continue for the child, a nursery that her and the turtle were wanting to set up together for the little one coming soon but she couldn’t

She knew she had to keep going but she could no longer sleep staying up all night hugging his pillow telling herself this was all going to turn out okay long as she kept her faith not believing he was really gone, eating was a task she struggled with but forced food down if nothing but for his child going to care for her babies if nothing more, chores were slacked on until she was wondering the lair through the night trying to keep her mind busy from thinking the worse when her love didn’t walk through the door

Her heart ached wishing she had just begged him for one last dance, had kissed him again, maybe had just ran to him before he stepped out the door if only to tell him one more time she loved him

She shattered finally the morning she woke up after passing out from exhaustion to feel their little one kicking seeing her belly moving realizing he had never felt the movements would never feel the kick of what she was hoping was a son, just how much he was going to miss of the kids growing up unable to get off the bed as she cried until she heard her little girl rushing to get her out of bed forcing a smile

The hardest part was the questions her curious little turtle kept asking like; when her daddy was coming home to dance with her and momma again? Where her uncles were and if she could play Mikey’s games? Why she was crying and Grandpa Splinter wouldn’t come out of his room? It broke her to tell her baby they would be back soon while trying not to break down pushing through the day in hopes for good news to come

And finally it did

Slowly his brothers returned one by one each in bad shape

Michelangelo had came home first a few day after she had marked that month off the calendar screaming out for her when he didn’t see or hear anybody dragging himself in with a shattered ankle his head bleeding from a large gash where he had looked to have hit something hugging her tight when she had grabbed him sobbing into his chest glad to see him alive, trying to flirt with the woman as she stitched him up and had to set his ankle getting a sad smirk from her; even with a head injury he was still the same Mikey

His arms surrounding her was a momentary relief she never realized she needed

The stressed lines in her face deepened as he kissed her cheeks, without meaning too she finally asked what her heart dreaded but he couldn’t tell the woman anything of Raph more then they had been split up Raph with Donnie he with Leo to cover the front, seeing her face sinking further he quickly mumbled that Leo had pushed him out of the way before an explosion had sent him flying but that he didn’t remember anything before waking up under a bunch of rubble from the building that had went down

He hadn’t had contact with the red masked turtle since the night they left

A few days passed with no word of the others but the fact that Mikey was home gave her hope happy to see he was healing quickly and complaining when he couldn’t get up without crutches, a week later she was startled out of her thoughts in the middle of the night while holding a soft blanket Raphael had knitted for the baby by a crash in the living area, singing to keep her calm in hopes he would hear her if he did come home, thinking her husband was in the den she jumped up rushing down stairs not seeing anything

There was a second she panicked thinking the Foot had found their home going for a bat Casey had left months ago walking further seeing the light in her father in laws room aluminate a stretch of concrete that was wet moving over to find Donatello laying near the pool soaked to the bone and bleeding from a few wounds he looked to had treated and bandaged at some point groaning as she touched his shoulder looking up with a smile.

She physically dropped hugging him as the genius forced his body up nuzzling her when she clung to him tightly laughing between sobs as he tried to lighten the mood

She helped him to the couch drying the turtle off as he gave her part of the story as she fixed him up having to force his leg straight to pop his knee cap into place again wrapping it up as the turtle accounted how he had disabled their computers but before he could find out what they were plotting he had been attacked by the soldiers – how Raph had protected his shell making him retreat when they had been over run but past that they had lost track of one another when the second wave of reinforcements arrived telling her that last he had seen him he was with Leo

Him and Leo didn’t always see eye to eye on things but they were one hell of a team together able to work together perfectly even when they were at odds so if he was with the eldest she knew he was coming home – Raph would come back because she trusted Leo to bring him home safe knowing there would be a chance they’d be arguing over who saved who’s ass out there but she welcomed that coming fight if just to see them smile as they joked with one another

Slowly she started to wait by the door less no longer fearing for him she fell back into routine until the morning two weeks later she had been making breakfast turning to place the eggs on the counter looking up having thought she was alone suddenly screaming as she dropped the pan seeing a bloodied Leonardo in the doorway leaning on the frame, he looked so tired looking up at her his normally bright blue eyes dulled calling out to her so weakly she hadn’t moved thinking it was just a nightmare until the eldest reached out his eyes rolling back before he hit the unforgiving ground unconscious

Her screams pulled the others to the kitchen as she rushed to his side seeing most of his wounds were old from the battle on their mission getting Mikey to lay his head on her lap as Donnie worked on his wounds trying to wake him looking out to the way he seemed to have come praying she’d see Raphael but he wasn’t there

It was easy to see he needed medical attention soon unsure how bad his wounds were from all of the gore but  she could feel he was burning up his skin too hot, it took both younger turtles to get him up unstrapping his gear leaving it where it landed to hurry off getting a bed ready for him already in nurse mode when they laid him down laying a blanket over him as they placed ice on him trying to slowly bring his temperature down hearing him groan finally from the cold wiping off the blood from his face calling his name softly

For a moment it felt as if everything was going fast and slow in the same second

He didn’t respond to her for a moment her mind tricked her into thinking his chest wasn’t moving checking for a pulse finally finding one calling for Donnie to get her some oxygen hearing her little girl crying at the door quickly telling her to go play in her room as she tried to get to her uncle wanting him to hold her

Mikey saw the torn expression in her face as she tried to get Leo back but was going between the nurse and mom within her begging in tears for her baby to go out of there when for a moment Leo wasn’t breathing, she thanked him as he grabbed her taking her to her room explaining Uncle Leo wasn’t feeling too well

Her sweet voice asking where daddy was shattered her on the spot becoming numb as she worked getting him on fluids after locating the worst wound seeing the skin had festered now understanding why he was sick spotting the set in infection finally finding her voice just as Splinter entered the room to see his oldest son

“D-Donnie…” pointing for her medical bag the woman was mentally thanking god and whoever had convinced her to get her medical license; having never thought she’d be having to use it but was grateful she knew what she was doing having Donnie give her a hand in cleaning the worst as Splinter cleaned him up flinching at the extent of the infection in just one smelling something foul, grabbing up a tool she set to scraping away the infection gunk as much as possible while cleaning it thoroughly

To keep herself calm through the process she talked to the oldest turtle seeing once Donnie had cleaned the rest of his wounds he had started dressing them with plenty of ointment sighing once his breathing evened out still unconscious asking her if she needed him to take over but she couldn’t answer having him hold Leo on his side as she repaired his shoulder that had a nasty cut from a sharp object seeing it had torn clean through everything skin, muscle tissue, ligaments… someone had tried to take his arm off

Cleaning it was an unforgettable experience she wished she could rid from her memories her eyes burning and head pounding at one point nearly losing her mind as he started seizing up one hand locked around her wrist screaming even if she was sure he was sedated but she kept talking to Leonardo telling him he was okay, begging him to hold in there as stitches were placed her hands shaking so bad at one point she had to stop heart breaking in thinking if he was this torn up, if he had come home like this what would Raph look like

Three hours later he was finally pieced back together and resting calmly but for some reason the woman couldn’t leave his side holding his hand unable to move as the others told her she needed rest but she couldn’t function everything just felt numb

Mikey had brought her daughter in at some point to let her see Leo the little girl strangely calm as she reached for him finally getting placed on the bed and told to sit still so as not to hurt her uncle

She tried, really desperately tried to tell herself this was all a nightmare but it wasn’t and like she had been weeks ago she was panicking in thinking the worst for days on end scared what would come when Leo woke up, finally unable to shoulder the pain she slumped forward laying her head down shattering beside the leader’s bed pleading for herself to just wake up

She didn’t remember falling asleep but when she opened her eyes she was beside Raphael on the couch safe in his arms watching their favorite movie giggling making him jolt as she jumped him kissing her turtle passionately while he sat there shocked finally just pulling her close returning the affection asking her what she was doing hearing the husk in his breathless voice grinning as she just hugged him telling him she loved him so much saying everything she regretted not telling him the last time they had touched until he chuckled whispering she could never lose him, she almost called him a liar but instead holding him for as long as she could asking him to stay with her

Some hours later she felt somebody petting her hair groaning telling Raph to let her sleep a bit longer nuzzling into his hand until her eyes snapped open looking up at the gentle touch seeing Leo still had his eyes closed but he seemed more relaxed but as the woman reached out the leader took a deeper breath smirking as she touched his hand mumbling he was insulted, she got up fast feeling the same hand pulling her forward into a hug clinging to her as she cried into his neck kissing his cheek hearing him whispering before tears were soaking her cheeks making her look over seeing the one thing she never had

Leonardo – in tears apologizing and pleading for forgiveness

She shook her head trying to wipe the tears away smiling telling him he was fine that she had stayed on her own but as he looked up she saw something in his blood shot sapphire orbs that had her frozen on the spot her heart already not holding up in suddenly understanding shaking her head, his bandaged fingers touching her cheek watching him break as she refused to believe what she was hearing

“I couldn’t get to him in time”

Her breath left her in a distraught scream as she stumbled back shaking her head repeatedly saying ‘no’ he had to have some kind of brain damage and was confused but as he recounted the last few minutes of the battle it settled in her chest he was reliving it even though the woman could see him trying to keep it together but lost his ability to speak as he forced out the last thing he could physically remember

He couldn’t find Mikey after the bomb had gone off his shouts for the youngest turtle as he searched the piles for his baby brother had drawn Raphael to him after he had made Donnie run for it both of them searching franticly finally being forced to run when The Foot had ambushed them driving them to retreat into a trap both of them had been looking for a way out losing more ground before the red masked turtle had pointed to a window yelling for Leo to go as he held off the enemy

As he got it open calling for Raph to retreat he saw his brother becoming over ran, going back to help him he hadn’t taken two steps before the building had exploded sending him through the wall and into a free fall crashing on a roof feeling bricks and debris pelting him as the middle of the building went up in flames

She remembered screaming that he was lying, pleading with him to tell her this was all a hoax but as she got closer he just pulled her into his chest telling his sister in law he was so sorry seeing the rest of his family running in to find her curled up against his chest sobbing her heart out in knowing her husband was lost

After having to finally explain to their baby daddy wasn’t coming home the questions and tears had forced her to admit he was gone forever and right there trying to comfort a sobbing little girl she collapsed hugging their girl mourning she couldn’t make this better

She was completely numb after that night spending two days in confinement inside her room unable to walk away from his area

Their memories hung on the walls

The love she had felt in their bed

His scent and clothes and the way he had always been there

For two days she couldn’t force her body up keeping her daughter beside her through the sleepless nights until Mikey or Donnie would come to get her to let the woman have a moment to grieve without having to hold it in to keep the others from seeing her crack all over again, when she finally could get up she grabbed his hoodie putting it on and just curled up on his side breathing in his scent until she could let sleep take her

Leo came to see her once he was healed up enough to get around on his own rubbing her back as she laid there silently promising they would still help her, his voice growing thick as he laid down beside her hugging her close telling her he’d always be there like the rest of them swearing the kids would always have a father but it shattered her to know Raph wouldn’t get to see them grow up

Her due date was getting closer and it started to dawn on her she would be giving birth without him repeatedly swearing she wouldn’t be able to do it without her husband holding her hand but Donnie couldn’t help reminding her this was going to happen no matter how much she tried deny it which only deepened the depression that only her children could pull her from talking to the little one in her belly telling him of his father and how wonderful he was

She wanted to see him in her dreams but every time she closed her eyes he was gone from there too a distant memory she was dying to see just one more time but he was gone from there as well, where he had been haunting her dreams since the night they had left Raphael was gone from her happy place

A week passed and when she could finally walk out of the room she stopped at the bottom of the stairs seeing his family had made a memorial for him right there by the weight room his smiling face in a photo had her stuck in the middle of the room never seeing Leo coming up behind her but the moment he touched her she went limp feeling him holding that much tighter helping her to take the steps forward until she was able to reach out grabbing the picture of them from their wedding day seeing how happy he looked as she walked down the aisle laughing sadly at how his eyes had held so much love that day going back to their room alone clutching that picture as she fell to the floor

Life seemed to be moving forward but she was caught in that night he had walked out the door; Donnie had gave her a check up getting a good look at the infant she was carrying wanting to tell her what the baby was but she refused to know wanting to keep to what they had promised going to find out together when she gave birth, at one point she had called him for breakfast turning when Leo had said her name realizing she had set the table for him and made his favorite, when asked one night the woman had said he was coming home soon making dinner in a daze before Mikey was hugging her from behind

There were days she swore she heard him talking to her, several days started with his deep sleepy voice in her ear, one night after getting her daughter down for bed she had thought she heard him yelling her name rushing downstairs to see nobody was home, the day before she was talking to him and turned to find nobody had been talking back

She was just starting to think she was going crazy when one night she heard their song stumbling down to the den to see Donnie had passed out at his computer accidently hitting the music file she had forgot was on his monitor going to turn it off but the tune stopped her as she looked over to the memorial taking in his face

As if on it’s own her limbs moving the female back thinking of him as she pulled the red bandana of one of Raph’s old masks he had gave her for her hair down covering the already wet eyes that were letting more tears fall moving slowly around knowing where not to go dancing like they had that last night her emotions being let out as she moved crying loudly when she got to the part that required a partner but as she started to drop a pair of hands landed on her waist keeping her up

She didn’t want to turn around to be disappointed but the press of a hard chest plate on her back made her take the next step finding the figure behind her moving at the same time doing her best to imagine it was the man her heart longed for

Before she knew it she was being guided through the movements by her partner every step made at the exact time whoever had decided to step in was taking the steps like they had done them a million times supporting her heavily pregnant body like she weight nothing

The rough feeling of the calloused fingers on her wrist as she was spun and the height had her thinking it was Leo who was usually the one still up with her lately hoping he wasn’t hurting himself to give her a moment of happiness

Completely suffocated by the fragrance of Raph’s hoodie she didn’t smell the smoke under the cologne she had sprayed just to keep him with her, the gentleness in the care the one holding her showed, the way those big hands cradled her larger body just perfectly, the hot breath on her neck that for a moment had her so calm she forgot where she was taking anything she could get

For just a second she was in heaven not a care in the world

For a moment she didn’t remember the hell that was taking over inside her

She smiled through the tears soaking his mask pleading for it not to end too soon even though the music stopped finding they kept swaying with her

The startled shuffle as Donnie jumped in his roller chair in front of her made her snap to attention pulling the fabric off looking up but was met with the three turtles staring at her in disbelief leaving her confused

Leo who had come down to look for her when he didn’t see her in her bed when heard her sobbing erratically already in tears at the sight behind her, Mikey had just woke up after watching his brother’s favorite movie series going to go upstairs to cuddle up with his sis needing comfort when he saw something moving through the lair heading for the woman never noticing his older brother at his side choking out something she couldn’t hear, Donnie had finally startled hearing the music playing loudly just before it ended waking up and becoming frozen in his chair his eyes wide looking past her like there was a monster standing behind her

That was when it hit the woman somebody was still dancing with her eyes going wide as a soft kiss was pressed to her neck hearing a deep growl from behind her she had never thought she would hear a pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around her body

“Thought I’d never get ta ‘ave this dance with ya again” the deep voice against her ear had her in tears so convinced it was all in her head finally turning around slowly seeing Raphael standing before her, both hands trembling while taking in the massive turtle who was beaten and bloodied, his clothes burned and torn, a deep gash in his cheek that had healed wrong but – he was alive

She couldn’t breath stumbling back scared her mind was making her see him now on top of hearing her love when he wasn’t really there looking up at him as he moved forward so slowly his expression so soft compared to the hard look he wore all the time seeing the broken look on his mates face as he reached out to touch her stopping just inches away letting her come to him but the moment he touched her she trembled his name coming out so softly under her breath he hadn’t heard it at first

She touched his hand breathing rigidly so shaken she was scared she was about to wake up “R-Raphie… is it-”

He nodded seeing she was so guarded and stiff “It’s me baby… ’m right here it’s me” the turtle pulled her forward smiling as she seemed to latch onto him touching his face repeatedly choking out a wail as he grabbed her fast hugging her tight his lips instantly on hers showering her in affection laughing as she kissed his face looking him over not even caring he looked like something out of a horror flic smiling like he could see she hadn’t done in so long

Before he had came in that entrance he had tried to clean himself up just in case his little girl was up but he was still a mess it had taken him a while to get home his body killing him having to dig himself out from under the building that had went down on him yelling for his older brother not wanting to think Leo was under the ruble

He hadn’t been able to walk for a week having smashed his ankle in trying to jump out of the way after the first blast the wall probably saving his life even though it had almost crushed him a shattered support being the only thing that had kept it from smashing him under the weight his phone destroyed in the explosion and no way to contact the others he had been held up in a abandoned substation miles away

He had been through being severely sick due to infection without anyone to help finally passing his fever and forcing himself to get up, it’d been hell walking but once he had numbed it had been easier needing to get home had him pushing through until he couldn’t go having to rest but the moment he caught his breath he had gotten right back up needing to get back to his family fearing the other’s hadn’t made it home, needing to see his daughter if only one more time, swearing he was going to dance with his girl again

Looking down at her he apologized telling her he had come back even if he hadn’t promised he had made it home like he hoped she had believed kissing her as she placed his hand on her belly before feeling the kicks his golden orbs growing misty as he looked down seeing his little one was moving a lot seeming to know who was squeezing mommy

Leo stumbled forward touching his brother’s arm gaining his attention chuckling as he pulled him into a hug showing that softer side, he had sat his girl down hugging his brother before he got tackled by the other two groaning in pain yelling for them to chill but he didn’t push them off chuckling seeing her laugh as his brothers gave him all kinds of hell over taking so long to get home glancing over as she lowered herself beside him kissing him softly before a small voice made them all look over

Standing at the bottom of the stairs was the little girl still looking sleepy calling for her momma; the noise had to have woke her up if it hadn’t been her recent nightmares daddy wasn’t there to chase away

She stumbled forward each of his brothers moving as he sat up seeing this baby looking at him almost like he was a stranger as he got up with some trouble until Leo pulled him with his good arm grunting in effort to not show he was hurting

He chuckled getting on his knee that popped loudly from the pressure but he didn’t even flinch calling her name as she looked to her mom and uncles then back to him holding his hands out seeing tears as she hugged her turtle doll closer “C’mere daddy needs a hug” the woman hugged his arm as the little girl slowly took a step whimpering out a cry unsure she was seeing him before he clapped his hands waving her forward “C’mon kitten ya gonna make me wait”

Her golden green eyes lit up at his nickname for her realizing she wasn’t imagining him “D-Daddy…” he nodded chuckling as she pulled her gown up off the floor running forward tackling him being met with the unmovable wall he was as he hugged her tight trying to hide the tears as she cried into his neck loudly clinging to him like he would disappear if she let go “DADDY! MY DADDY HOME!”

He pulled his girl into his side kissing her and his baby squeezing them both nuzzling into his wife’s chest as she held him when he finally broke laughing through the tears nodding as she whispered to him that she was never letting him go again

He needed a shower bad wanting to just be in something more comfortable, his injuries needed to be looked at but right then all he wanted was to stay right here for a moment longer kissing her belly whispering his praises and affections to his goddess thanking heaven he hadn’t lost this chance

[savannahsdrabbles]

Encounters - Part One

rating: G summary:  How April met the ROTTMNT turtles. notes: 6k fluffy turtle tot fic with just a touch of angst.  Part two can be found here, and Ao3 link here

“Okay, my sons.  It is time,”

           Despite his hushed tone, Splinter’s voice swelled with importance as he turned to face his charges. The maroon hoodie he had scrounged up fanned around him almost comically as he moved, speaking to the fact that it was clearly designed with someone much taller than he in mind. Even so, there was still an air of confidence and gravitas to his manner – this was not the first time that he had stood before an audience, nor, if he had anything to say about it, would it be his last. “As you know, this is an important mission. I am aware that you have been through this before, but it still remains pertinent that you remember the rules. Recite them for me, please.”

           Three of the four hooded figures before him immediately straightened to attention, their voices also hushed but still quivering with excitement.

           “Pay attention!”

           “Stay close!”

           “No talking!”

           …

The last response, rather than being delivered with confidence, was replaced with silence punctuated by the steady drip drip drip of a leaky pipe above them and the droning rumble of cars in the distance. Tiny rivulets of water streamed from a crack in the metal tube directly over their heads, running together and condensing into a single droplet that swelled and drooped under its own weight before silently dropping into a puddle of its brethren at their feet.

The pause dragged on for a few more seconds, and Splinter couldn’t help but roll his eyes upwards in a silent plea for patience as he sighed. “Michelangelo?”

“Oh!” The last and smallest figure in line immediately stood up straight, his focus snapping away from the growing puddle and turning towards his father. “Stick to the shadows!” The young turtle scrunched up his snout and leapt forward, landing on one foot and raising his arms into the air as an attempt at an action pose. “Like ninjas – HA!”

The gesture might have been threatening, were it not coming from an eight year old in an orange hoodie. However, it definitely sufficed to distract those around him. The three other turtles giggled, their concentration broken as they immediately began hopping around and striking their own grand poses. “Yeah – ninjas! Like Lou Jitsu!”

Splinter blinked slowly, a small smile teasing at his lips despite himself. “Right… like ninjas. If ninjas were loud and unfocused.”

That caught their attention. All four turtles immediately fumbled to a stop and forced serious expressions onto their round faces. “Sorry, Dad.”

“Hm.” The rat hummed, his gaze moving over the boys one last time before nodding. “Alright, let us go.”

***

Even with his years of training, Splinter still couldn’t help but be impressed by the relative ease with which he was able to lift manhole covers. Perhaps there were a few advantages to this new form - however, now was not the time for him to crow over his abilities.

Tonight was a gathering night.

Still holding the cover a few inches above him, Splinter peered around the alleyway. His ears rotated atop his head, listening for any sign of danger before he finally pushed himself up and out of the pipe. Once he was on solid ground, the rat sniffed the air and nodded slowly. This would be a good spot for the night.

Green dumpsters lined the gap between Eastman’s Donuts and Laird Apartments, each giving off a variety of odors that ranged in levels of pleasantness.  The alleyway he’d chosen tonight was one they frequented due to its abundance of cover and wide variety of resources. He always made sure to schedule their gathering nights shortly after garbage day, so that any food placed in the bins would still be relatively fresh and untouched by whatever else was dumped in with it. Years of gatherings told him that the dumpsters on the opposite side of either building tended to be less fruitful, but both alleyways held Salvation Army drop boxes that sometimes held clothing or other small items that could be repurposed for their needs.

“You may come out, boys. Silently.”

To their credit, his sons were decent at following commands when needed. One at a time, the four boys peeped their heads out of the drain and then scrambled over the edge.

Raphael led the way, his shell bumping against either side of the pipe as he pulled himself through. Even at eight years old, his biggest son stood slightly taller than his father and was showing signs of growing every day. Splinter was already dreading the day that they would have to change gathering routes in order to find manholes covers more accommodating of his size – that, or he would have to risk leaving his tenderhearted son alone at the lair during missions. The latter idea already hurt to think of.

Donatello and Leonardo were next, somehow managing to hold a silent shoving match as they ascended the ladder and attempted to pull themselves out of the ground. His purple son eventually emerged victorious, scrambling to his feet a few seconds ahead of his brother and immediately ducking behind Raph to smile smugly. Leo stuck his tongue out in protest and opened his mouth as if to say something, only to catch a warning glance from his father and snap it shut once more.

Michelangelo was the last one out of the sewer, clambering up the ladder with ease and bouncing excitedly next to his brothers as Splinter pushed the grate back into place. When he turned back around, the rat nodded in approval at the way the other boys had closed rank around their brother, making an unspoken shield. Despite the fact that the turtles were all the same age – or at least, had mutated on the same day – Mikey remained the smallest of the turtles and therefore held the honorary title of baby brother. While he hoped the boy wouldn’t one day grow to be resentful of the fact, Splinter was grateful to have three extra sets of eyes trained on the actions of his most distractible son.

Speaking of eyes – Splinter turned towards the mouth of the alley and took several steps forward. The four boys stumbled after him, small hands brushing his tail and the edge of his hoodie as a guide. His vision nowadays was not what it used to be – a trait he could only assume was a result of his transformation – so he had come to rely heavily on scent and color when moving about.  Nevertheless, his ability to navigate in the dark remained the strongest of the small band of creatures he now called family.

Once he was completely satisfied that they would not be seen, Splinter reached into the pocket of his jacket and withdrew a small bundle of meshy fabric. After a moment of unwinding, he distributed a small reusable bag to each of his sons and jerked his head at the bins. “Red, I will need you to hold a bag for me while I look in the larger bins.” Raphael swelled with pride, and Splinter then turned to his three smaller sons. “You three, go ahead and start gathering. Remember to not eat anything you find until I have had a chance to look it over.”

The boys all nodded obediently as they set about their tasks.

***

“Check this out!” Leo whispered excitedly, drawing his brothers’ attention from their searching. Their scavenging through the cardboard boxes at the edge of the alley hadn’t been particularly fruitful so far – only a few unopened fortune cookies from someone’s takeout and a half-crushed box of crackers. Mikey could feel his stomach grumbling in protest as he rocked backwards on his knees and squinted in the direction of Leo’s voice.

“What’s’it? Something good?”            “Yeah – a remote! See?” The blue-clad turtle shuffled closer on his knees and held out a small rectangular object in his hand. “And it still has batteries in it – I think I can use the recharger we found last time to juice them back up!”

“Oh, cool!” Donnie leaned forward until his head almost bumped into Mikey’s, causing the box turtle to scooch back to allow him a better vantage. “I needed some batteries for my flashlight!”

He reached for the remote expectantly, only for Leo to hurriedly stuff the item into his tote bag and shuffle away. “No way – finder’s keeper’s!”

The soft shelled turtle scowled and reached out again. “Dad said finder’s keeper’s is only for toys and stuff – we have to share tools!”

“Well, then this is my toy.”

“A remote isn’t a – “

“Guyssss I’m hungryyyy. Let’s just go back to looking!”

“Boys!”

The three turtles’ mouths snapped shut, eyes flickering towards the area where Splinter and Raph were and then back towards each other. They waited for a moment, half-expecting to be berated for being too loud, and then heaved identical sighs when no lecturing came.

“Really guys, I’m hungry,” Mikey whispered as he dramatically dropped his head onto Leo’s shoulder. “My tumbus wants food.”

The red-eared slider patted his youngest brother’s head sympathetically, and then gently pushed him off. “Me too. Let’s keep looking. Maybe we can find something good, like… like pizza!”

Mikey could feel liquid immediately rushing to his mouth at the thought of pizza. “Mmm, yeah! A whole entire pizza!”

“As if someone would throw out a whole pizza,” Donnie scoffed as he turned back towards his pile and started searching again. “It’s too expensive.”

           Leo rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah? And what do you know about money?”

“More than you.”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yuh-huh.”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yuh-huh.”

           And with that they were off again, attention set on each other as they continued to whisper-argue. Mikey sighed. Sometimes he swore those two were twins, what with how much they bickered with each other. Dad had said it was impossible due to their difference in species, but that didn’t stop Mikey from imagining his middle two brothers holding a shoving match even from within whatever egg they had hatched from.            Mmm… Eggs.            The small turtle shook his head as his stomach growled once more. Nope, can’t be thinking about food right now. Gotta keep searching. Gotta not think about yummy scrambled eggs or hot, tasty pizza with cheese that stretched off the crust whenever he bit into it. Can’t think about the intoxicating aroma of tomatoes and spices and mushrooms that was so good  she could almost taste it -

Wait.

Mikey sniffed the air.

That smell wasn’t just in his imagination – he was actually smelling pizza!

Scrambling to his feet, Mikey closed his eyes in concentration and focused on the scent. He slowly turned on his heels, inhaling deeply and trying to zero in on the source of the wonderful aroma until he faced the direction it seemed to be coming from. When he finally opened his eyes, the turtle felt his heart drop.

The mouth of the alley loomed before him like a sideways set of open jaws, warning him not to step out onto the sidewalk lest they chomp down and never let him go. Dad had warned them never to venture past the alley’s boundaries, where they were cradled in shadows and safe from any wandering eyes that happened to turn in their direction. And yet the smell of pizza and other good things drifted from just around the corner like a siren’s song, calling him out into the open.

Surely it couldn’t hurt to just lean out and grab the food, then duck back to his family? Mikey could already imagine the proud look on his father’s face as he returned with a whole box of hot food – a rare delicacy in their family. Certainly he would forgive his son for going just a tinnyyyyy bit further than he was supposed to if it meant being able to feed everyone for the night, right?

Glancing back at his family to ensure that their attentions were elsewhere, Mikey stepped closer to the edge of the shadows and listened. He could hear young humans’ voices chattering and laughing in the distance, and the ground vibrated slightly as an occasional car rumbled down the next street over. Taking a deep breath, Mikey poked his head out of the alley and allowed the tip of his nose to be lit up by the towering street lights. The boy hesitated, half expecting to hear Donnie or one of his other family members hissing for him to come back, and then looked to his left.

A row of hedges lined the front of the apartment building they were next to, and served as one of the few natural sources of green on the heavily brown and red bricked street. Mikey could almost imagine the scent trails winding through the leaves of the bushes and down the alley on the opposite side of the building. Maybe he could just sneak through those bushes and around the corner without even stepping onto the sidewalk- so technically he would still be staying in the shadows. Like a ninja.

Before he had a chance to change his mind, Mikey darted around the corner and cleared the small gap between the edge of the building and the first of the bushes in a single leap. The leaves closed around him like a protective cocoon as he ducked into the foliage, shielding him from the street lamps’ lights and serving as the perfect tunnel to crawl through on hands and knees towards the smell. He hesitated for a moment when he reached a slab of concrete that created a gap in the foliage – the front porch that served as the building’s entrance. This opening as a bit more nerve-wracking than the initial dive into the bushes had been, because there he had at least had the option of turning back.

Mikey glanced over his shoulder and back through the bushes, listening. Splinter had still made no sign of noticing that his youngest was missing. He guessed it was now or never.

The young turtle scrambled forward, fighting the urge to yelp as the front porch light fully illuminated his body, and then threw himself the remaining few feet back into the cover of the bushes. His arms trembled with nerves as he collapsed onto his still aching stomach, and he lay motionless for a moment until he could catch his breath again. Ok, ok. Still safe. His knee stung a bit from where he’d apparently scraped it on the concrete, but other than that he was in one piece.

Better yet, the smell of pizza was almost overwhelming at this point.

Swallowing the drool that threatened to escape his mouth, Mikey pulled himself back onto his hands and knees and closed the distance between himself and where the edge of the bushes met the mouth of the next alleyway. He heaved a small sigh of relief as he could finally emerge from the bushes and dive into the dark alley – safety.

The small turtle’s legs shook like jelly beneath him as he plastered himself against a shadow drenched wall and tried to calm his frantically beating heart. It was odd to think that his family was just on the other side of this building, maybe three or four dozen yards away, and yet it felt as if he had just crawled a mile and was now utterly alone.  Mikey shivered at the thought. Okay, so maybe this hadn’t been as great of an idea as he had initially thought. But it was all going to be over in just a second – all he needed to do was grab the pizza and then crawl back through the bushes. Problem solved!

Lifting his nose again, Mikey crept towards one of the closest bins – a large green dumpster with the lid propped up against the wall of the apartment. The smell of hot pizza was nearly overwhelming, and Mikey felt another shiver run through his body as he imagined biting into the cheesy goodness. Who in the world would throw away such an amazing thing?

But… how to get to it?

Raph and Master Splinter usually had to work together to get the rat high enough that he could lean over the edge of the bin and toss things out. And while Mikey was a good climber, he already knew he wouldn’t be able to scramble up the vertical metal wall without help.

Glancing around, Mikey’s eyes zeroed in on several cardboard boxes like the ones he and his brothers had been looking through in the other alley. Maybe if he stacked those together… yes, perfect!

With a smile of determination, the small turtle set to work creating a staircase along the side of the massive trashcan and then scrambled up to the top. It wasn’t the perfect height, but if he stood on his tiptoes from here he could peer over the edge of the bin.

“Whoa,” he whispered as he pulled himself up to the lip, “This thing is enormous!”

Sure enough, the trash can was about six feet long – nearly triple his height – and almost as tall. A few trash bags lined the bottom of the bin, the plastic on some drawn so tight that they threatened to burst and spill their contents into the rest of the garbage. Several brown glass bottles littered the top of the bags, clearly thrown in by a drunken passerby rather than bagged up safely. But in the center of it all, perched atop a particularly large bag of trash, was the pizza box.

Mikey couldn’t help but let out an excited giggle. Based on the smell and where it sat, someone had to have just thrown the box in a few minutes ago – how in the world had he gotten so lucky? Now he just had to reach it.

Using his arms, the turtle pulled himself up on to the edge of the trash can and balanced on his plastron as he leaned forward to reach. His right arm stretched out into the air above the bin, grasping for his prize while his legs kicking legs served as a counterbalance.

“Almost…. Come on…” Pursing his lips, Mikey waved his stubby arm in the direction of the box. Nope. Not working. He rocked sideways to switch arms and then extended the left one in a second attempt. His fingers brushed the tip of the cardboard, and Mikey felt a grin stretch across his face.  “Almost… almost…”

Then, as if suddenly taunting him, the box slipped and slid out of his reach. Mikey yelped in frustration and lunged forward, fingers outstretched –

-only to find himself falling head over heels.

The child squawked in surprise as he tumbled forward, arms pinwheeling as he attempted to grab the edge of the can and keep himself from falling into the veritable abyss, but gravity was not on his side. The turtle fell heavily, arms barely coming up to shield his face as he dropped like a stone and faceplanted into several swollen black trash bags.

Immediately he went into panic mode, his arms flailing for purchase on the shifting floor. Mikey struggled to push himself up onto his elbows and looked around his new surroundings in fear. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no,”

His heart pounded against his ribs as the turtle rolled onto his back and attempted to clamber to his feet, only to succeed in slipping and sliding on the slick plastic until something sharp bit into the bottom of his foot.

All goals of remaining quiet were forgotten as Mikey yelped and leapt backwards from the broken glass, his shell hitting the back of the bin and causing a loud, warping echo to rattle through the metal. Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, the lid wobbled on its hinges and slammed down, plunging the turtle into perfect darkness.

[aurora-the-kunoichi]

For The Love Of Shell - Chapter 35

Chapter 35 of my baby

Full story here

After filling their bellies with the food Master Yoshi had provided, they departed once again finishing their journey to the airport. With Aurora still drained of energy Donnie insisted on finishing the trip in the driver seat. Reluctantly she agreed, grabbing her bag she disappeared into the back room to put on fresh clothes for the plane ride. It was probably best she didn’t have bloody clothes on when she went through airport security.

Back in the main cabin Master Yoshi sat in front of Aurora at the kitchen table his arms outstretched his hands covering hers. The wonderment in his eyes he couldn’t hide, he had been waiting hours to talk to her. “Aurora, I have trained and prepared all my life in anticipation for yesterday’s events. And even seeing everything with my own eyes I still have trouble wrapping my mind around it. The masters had doubt that a woman would be able to endure everything that was required of you. Not only were you able to withstand the adsorption of power of all four warriors but you were able to give them their lives back when your task was done. I still don’t know how that was possible, it was a miracle.”

Leo walked up behind Aurora, he leaned on the back of the seat his hands in the open space of the seat next to her. His green digits reached absentmindedly for the empty water bottle rolling along the table and began rolling in between his wide palms. “We’re hoping it doesn’t have any lasting effects on her. When we get back Don is gonna do a full work up on her and us for that matter. He wants to see if anything that happened yesterday changed anything in our bodies or have become unstable from the surging power.”

“That would probably be a wise Leonardo, just to be on the safe side.” Master Yoshi agreed.

Aurora looked out the window watching the Japanese hillside pass by becoming less and less green as they drove into town and off the mountain, ominous dark clouds drifted across the sky covering up the blue morning sky alluding to a storm in the near future, “There is one thing I’m confused about.” Aurora started. “The demon, I mean he was large in stature, but I guess I was expecting something much larger. Like Godzilla big, you know?”

“The form you saw yesterday was his weakened form essentially. That’s why he needed you and the warriors. If he was successful with your consumption he would have grown exponentially, then he would have had the strength to take the warriors and after them he would have grown yet again four times the size. His power would have spread more quickly infecting the world’s population. He would have been invincible and able to destroy the world one city at a time.”

Aurora picked at the label on her water bottle and looked out the window to the vibrant colors of the Japanese morning. She could feel the warmth of Leonardo as he hovered next to her his presence bringing her solace. The sound of gravel below the large tires made them turn to the front of the RV; they were entering into the far field where she had picked up the turtles at the beginning of their journey.  As the RV rumbled to a stop the rain began to pelt the windshield. Donnie put the rig into park and turned the engine off looking up into the darkened sky. At least the storm would conceal them as they snuck onto the airport grounds and unnoticed into the bottom of the plane. Getting up from his seat he took the spot next to Raph who was sitting on the couch next to the kitchen table.

“The plane leaves in 2 hours. We better get a move on. Aurora still has to get through customs.”

Leo stood up as Aurora scooted from the bench seat and made her way to her bags closing up both. Leo quickly came up beside her his hand resting on her upper back. He could see she was still weak; her footing was timid and unsteady. “Do you want us to take your weapons bag so you don’t have to check it? It’s one less thing for you to carry.”

Letting out a heavy sigh she knew he was right. Just giving the bag a quick tug she could tell her strength was nowhere near what it usually was. She could barely carry her own body weight let alone the duffle bag with her two sets of katanas and miscellaneous weapons. She only had to carry it to customs but still she tired easily right now, still weak from yesterday’s ordeal. Nodding reluctantly, she lifted her duffle bag to Leo’s extended hand and he took it hooking it over his shoulder.

Reaching down Leo helped Aurora to her feet steadying her by placing his palm to the small of her back. He could feel her lean into it slightly getting her balance back; he hated seeing her like this. Usually strong and defiant he could see her legs tremble under her weight; he was a little worried letting her go alone on the plane. But he knew she would fight him so he left it alone, there was no use fighting when he knew she wouldn’t budge on the matter.  At least she gave up her bag to him.

Master Yoshi stood before them all; his smile was grateful and proud. “Turtles, you should be proud of yourselves. Your father taught you well and you have more than proven your worth. I know this deed will never be known more than an urban legend on the mountains, but I want to thank you for all your efforts yesterday. The world is safe once again with the demon banished back from wince it came, a feet unable to be fulfilled in a thousand years.” The old monk ran his fingers over his tired chin smiling warmly. “I suppose now with the Kingyos gone maybe I can re-open the monastery and update its teachings. I want you all to know that you are always welcome at its doors and this is including Master Splinter. If he would like I would be honored for a visit, I’m sure there are things I can teach him and perhaps a few things he can teach me. I wish you safe travels back to New York and I thank you for taking good care of Aurora.”

The four turtles gathered their belongings turned to bow to Aurora’s Sensei, showing their respect.

“Thank you, we will convey the message to our sensei, I’m sure he would be pleased to visit.” Leo smiled shaking the master’s hand.

Leo maneuvered around Master Yoshi and came up to Aurora his green fingers finding her chin tilting her face up to his. Her violet eyes bore into his as his mouth slanted over hers taking a quick but heated kiss. Pulling away slightly he ended the connection and closed his eyes. “We’ll see you in two days ok. Go home after the plane ride and go to bed and rest. When you get up the following morning come see us.”

“Sir, yes sir.” She mocked him giving him a sloppy salute.

Leo gave her a playful poke and stepped away revealing Donnie stationed right behind the blue banded turtle. He quickly filled the space Leo had once occupied and looked down on Aurora. “Your heart beat is still a little high and I can tell you’re still dehydrated. Make sure to drink lots of fluids preferably water and try to sleep on the plane. You need to get your strength back before I can take blood from you. Hopefully two days will be enough.” Timidly he leaded down and pressed a timid kiss to her lips.

Aurora smiled feeling the shy turtle kiss her, reassuring him she pressed up giving the sweet gesture a little more friction making the breath in Donnie’s throat hitch and his heart quicken.

“Ok, ok my turn.” She heard the grumpy voice of Raphael mumble pushing Donatello from her breaking their contact.

“Guys, I’ll see ya in two days.”

“Yeah we know but the past two days have been……stressful and emotionally and physically draining. The ordeal has left us all a little needy for each other’s presence.” Raphael’s usually rough demeanor softened as he gently gathered her into his arms. The bottom of his chin rested on the top of her head and the long warm drawls of breath from his nose rustled her hair.

The closeness of the big turtle made his scent drift through her nose and the dream she had flashed through her mind making her cheeks flush with red. “Get a hold of yourself.” She scolded herself internally, being close to any of them was making her pulse quicken for some reason. Raphael’s fingers relinquished their hold around her waist and slide slowly down lightly brushing against the top of her butt and around her hips sending a quick shot of heat to her groin. It almost seemed deliberate; she wondered if they were having the same residual reactions as she was.

Mikey curved around Raph’s retreating form and curved his one arm around her waist and dipped her back, his lips dove not for her mouth, but the side of her throat places a warm wet kiss to her pulse point. Her gut tightened at the spontaneous pressure from his moist lips grazing gently against her flesh and she could have sworn the tip of his tongue skated out tasted her skin. Hoisted back up she did her best to look normal despite her heart pounded against her chest. There was no disguising the flush in her cheeks and Mikey could see it giving her a playful wink before opening the RV door and disappearing into the storm. The three other brothers slowly filed out the door into the morning storm after their little brother.

“Let me know you got on the plane ok?” she called out to Leo’s retreating form as it disappeared into the deluge.

After returning the RV to the rental company at the airport concierge Aurora turned to Master Yoshi at the airport check in. She hoisted her backpack over her shoulders and bowed to her sensei. His face was warm and sincere as he closed the distance between them encircling her in his arms.

“I am so proud of you my dear. After all these years you’ve survived under great pressure and adversity and in the end you fulfilled your density. Hopefully now you can move on with your life with your turtle companions. I can see they all have strong feelings for you and you return them. I’m not so sure how deep those feelings go but you’ll all figure that out as time goes on. I think since you were a little girl you always knew you’d end up with them, you’d day dream about them often and I’d have to snap you out of it to continue your training.” He let out a soft chuckle reminiscing. “I’ll stop blabbing I know you have to catch your flight. All I have to say is, don’t be a stranger, I’ve missed you. Please come back for a visit. Because of your braveness and resilience I will be taking females into my teachings.”  

“Good, every gender deserves the right to learn the art of ninjutsu and the teachings of bushido. I hope my story has proven that in spades. There is no such thing as a weaker sex. And don’t worry; I will be back Sensei, I promise. You have my number now if you need to get a hold of me. I think it’s time I put down roots now that I’ve found my home.”

Master Yoshi now bowed to her in respect, “You honor me with your bravery and skill. I couldn’t have asked for a better pupil my dear. I wish you all the happiness with your future.”

Taking her leave Aurora entered the check point and headed towards her ride back home. Reaching the large overlooking window of the tarmac, the kunoichi stared at the large airplane that would return her and the turtles back to New York. The clouds were dark and heavy making the morning sky feel like late evening and the rain still poured from the heavens would easily conceal the four large stowaways waiting in the shadows.

An announcement over the airport com system informed the plane would start boarding first class now. Aurora waited for the line to die down and kept her eyes on the back of the plane as the last of the bags were loaded into the open hatch. Suddenly the lights around the plane flickered and cut off plunging the plane and surrounding areas into darkness. If she wasn’t in tuned to the darkness due to her training she would have missed them. Through the downpour four large shadows shot across the tarmac and into the open gate of the plane disappearing inside. Within seconds the lights hummed back on as if nothing had happened.

Several baggage men came out scratching their heads looking at the fuse box on the side of the building. After a few minutes they shrugged their shoulders and returned to their business closing up the back of the plane getting ready for takeoff.

Knowing they were safely onboard Aurora boarded the plane and took her seat by the window. A light buzzing brought attention to her phone in her hand.

“We’re aboard and ready to go home.” The message scrolled across her screen from Donnie. Quickly her fingers ran over the digital keyboard and responded, “See you guys at home, I love you all.”

Soon the plane pulled away from the main airport hub and started towards its departure. Thankfully the storm wasn’t too severe, so they were able to take off without a hitch. After the plane left the ground and ascended into the sky Aurora leaned her seat back and closed her eyes. She hoped she could sleep most of the way home, she could barely keep her eyes open, so it didn’t seem like it wouldn’t be possible. She concentrated on the low hum of the airplanes engines and soon drifted into slumber.

Below Aurora in the belly of the plane they four turtles were arranging several bags, so they could get comfortable for the long flight. Mikey flopped down in his pile resting his hands behind his head and let out a long sigh. “Well this trip didn’t turn out like expected.” He huffed.

“No, no it did not. But the upside is Aurora is free and no longer has to hide anymore. The demon is gone as well as the Kingyo’s.” Donnie smiled lying down on his makeshift bed as well.

Raphael sat down next to a crate which housed a sleeping dog, his green fingers slide through the grate and brushed over the soft fur of the canine. His mind racing, he looked up to his older brother and locked with his blue iris’. “Do you think we’ll ever know what happened while we were….um… you know.”

Leo and Donnie shot each other and glance and Leo nodded giving him the ok to inform them of the recording.

Donnie cleared his throat sitting down on his pile of bags, “When Aurora was thrown into out weapons she somehow activated my go pro, it recorded everything. I only watched a few moments before turning it off. But we should wait until were home so Master Splinter can watch the video as well. I have a feeling we’re only gonna want to watch this tape once.”

Making eye contact with each other the brothers nodded solemnly in agreement and settled down for the long ride.

Leo laid back and closed his eyes his dream from last night replaying in his head. The theme of the nighttime vision was of an erotic nature which included Aurora and all his brothers. It entailed each one of them taking their own turn exploring her body, taking her to blissful heights while the rest of them watched. It was rather strange; he had plenty of dreams about Aurora but none with his brothers included. He wondered if it had something to do with their merge, so to speak. He would need to broach the subject with Donnie when they got back and see if any of them had similar dreams as well. His green fingers ran unconsciously over the zipper of Aurora duffle he kept close to his person, getting quick wafts of her scent. His body was sore and tired and he needed a shower desperately. His mind was heavy with the burden with the choice he needed to make; it would alter their very lives and affect everyone in his family. He just hoped he would make the right choice which was in the best interest for all of them. With his tumultuous thoughts swirling around in his head Leo soon drifted to sleep.

Aurora jolted awake as the plane connected with the ground; her eyes shot open her hand clutching her heaving chest. Looking out her window the familiar sight of New York’s sky line calmed her racing heart. They made it home safe and sound, a little worse for the wear but nothing a little time wouldn’t fix. She had no idea how she did it but somehow she had sleep through the 14 hour flight without waking. She was still tired but when she stood to begin her exit from the plane her legs didn’t wobble beneath her.

Pinching the bridge of her nose she took a deep breath, her heart was still pumping quiet fast. She may have slept through the whole plane ride but she still dreamt. She had another dream but this time Donnie was prominent taking her from behind on his desk in his lab, with Mikey thrusting into her keen mouth. She could still feel Donnie embedded within her body, deeper then Leo or Raph could reach. And Mikey, she could have sworn she still tasted the saltiness of his release that he emptied himself down her throat with a shout.

She hoped she wasn’t making noises again but luckily no one was giving her sideways glances like she was a freak moaning in her sleep.  What was going on? These were Leo’s brothers, she loved them but this sudden attraction was very quick to manifest, or was it? She always had feelings for them, deep feelings that has grown over time. Brushing those thoughts away she exited the plane and made her way to the overnight garage to get her truck. It was time to go home and take a very very long hot shower.

Getting behind the wheel she pulled out her phone and typed a quick message to Donnie telling him she’d see them tomorrow.  

Getting off the plane undetected they disappeared into the sewers and hurried home, with everything that had happened seeing their father was of high importance. Coming face to face with death made the urge to see Master Splinter that more urgent. They had things to tell him….to show him.

Jumping the familiar turn styles of their lair their loud voices announced their arrival to their master who was mediating in his room.

“Father?” Leo called setting Aurora’s duffle down on the circle platform in the middle of the lair.  

Their eyes trained in on the entrance to Master Splinter’s room as he emerged from the darkened space. His smile was a ray of sunshine in the dark cloud that had followed them home. On light feet they all ran to him each giving their father a hug.

“My sons,” Splinter called out arms outstretched for his four mutant sons.  “It has only been a couple days since we have seen each other; you act as if it has been several months.”  Splinter chuckled looking up at his four large overzealous sons.

Leo kneeled down next to his rat father looking into his wise gaze, “Father, the trip did not go expected. They had a scout still at the monastery and they found us.”

Master Splinter’s smile faded and replaced with worry, his furry hands came out grasping his eldest son’s arms waiting more info. Leo continued, “They were prepared for us and we were hopelessly outnumbered. So needless to say the ritual was performed.”

Splinter tore his gaze from Leo searching behind his sons frantically, “Aurora?”

“She’s fine, just really worn out and tired. Her body took a lot the past few days. She went home to rest. She’ll be over tomorrow; I wanna do a few tests on her.” Donnie cut in reassuring his father.

“Sensei…..” Leo swallowed hard trying to bring his father’s attention back to him. “Aurora’s sensei is still alive, and we met him. He was able to give us the information we needed to defeat the demon. If the demon was released there would have to be sacrifices in order to give Aurora the power to defeat the creature.”

Splinter cocked his head, “Sacrifices, my son?”  

“Our lives.” Raphael whispered kneeling down with Leo. He needed to be part of this conversation.

“We died sensei.” Mikey made his voice known as well.

Donnie laid his hand on his father’s shoulder, “We had to give ourselves to Aurora to give her the power to defeat it.”

“But you are all here my sons and Aurora would never allow you to sacrifice yourselves.”

“Aurora tried to stop us, pleaded with us, but she was on the brink of death herself, she was being consumed by the demon and we were next. We had no choice. We don’t know anything after that except she was able to bring us back to life. There is a recording of the events after we passed on Donnie’s go pro. We waited until we got home to watch it. We figured you’d want to see it as well so we would all watch it together.”

They watched a range of emotions pass over their father’s face, his hands tightening their hold on Leonardo arms pulling him in for another embrace. Splinter moved to each son giving him an unusually long hug for the characteristically aloof rat. They could have sworn they had seen tears in his eyes.

After a few moments he spoke. “Come my sons let us watch this recording and hopefully it will answer some unrequited questions, so hopefully we can move on from all of this and grow with its knowledge.”  The old rat ushered them to the couch where they all sat down ready for the footage Donnie’s go pro had captured. The genius’s fingers flew over his wrist keyboard pulling up the footage sending the projection into the air for all to see.

“Father, please be prepared this will not be pleasant……for any of us.” Donnie called as the footage came up.

As the recording started Splinter flinched involuntarily seeing the large demon hurtling itself towards the camera taking him by surprise. It’s toothy gaping mouth screeching nearly engulfing the entire view of the camera stopping just inches from the go pro. His furry hand jumped clamping around Leonardo’s wrist hearing the pained cry from Aurora as she was hauled out into view of the go pro. Her face contorted in pain she tried freeing herself from the large hand wrapped around her bare waist. That’s when he saw his son’s hanging helplessly from shackles from a nearby wall.

Leonardo listened to his father’s breathing as he watched the fight enfold on the giant screen before them. Right off the bat when he saw the horrid demon, the old rat jumped not expecting to witness such an intense scene right away. Then his hand latched around his wrist and Leo could hear his father’s breathing catch and stop as the demon took hold of Aurora.

He couldn’t blame him; he was there for all of it, but reliving the nightmare was still just as horrible. As the video played they neared the part Leo knew would be difficult for his brothers and himself, especially his father. His blue eyes zoned in on Aurora’s as she writhed in pain being drained of her life, it pulled at his very being seeing her like that. The pain and sorrow in her eyes knowing she could do nothing to stop their impending decision.

Soon they all found themselves leaning forward towards the screen knowing what was about to come. They were about to witness their demise on screen and in color. Raphael and Leonardo felt their father’s arms come around theirs holding on to them his eyes transfixed on the scene.

Splinter felt his heart clench painfully watching his children, his precious four son’s bodies surrendering their life forces before falling lifeless. Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled forth wetting his fur. He knew they would be fine for they were sitting right next to him on their couch back at home with him but seeing it play out was heart breaking for a father. For a second a vision of them as babies tucked in their beds as he kissed them goodnight overtook him. His body trembled as short quick sobs escaped his throat. He felt both Leo and Raph’s hands come around and press down on his hands comforting him and through Leo and Raph’s arms came Donnie and Mikey’s hands resting gently on his knees.

“Dear Aurora had to witness that first hand.” Splinter softly whispered watching his son’s souls dance in the sky just above Aurora’s dying body her horrified eyes glued to his four sons bodies. “I am watching knowing full well you are alive sitting next to me but she didn’t kn…..” his voice cut off as their souls merged with her body sending out a burst of energy sending the demon flying.

Mouths hanging open they watched as her body hovered above the ground radiating her violet aura. Her eyes were closed squeezed shut tightly in agony, she had just witnessed their deaths and she could no doubt feel them within her. Her aura began to fluctuate and pulse as her hands clenched into tight fists her lips pressed into a thin line. Then everything exploded engulfing the screen in the vibrant purple hue, her haunting scream echoed over the speakers that delivered the sounds of the recording. They could tell Donnie’s pack rolled with the energy displacement but thankfully it rotated just enough to still record everything. As the light diminished revealing the scene again the forest fire had been quenched and the thick dense smoke had been cleared. Like something from a sci-fi movie Aurora’s body emanated power sending waves of her violet aura through the air.

Leo and Raph hissed feeling their father’s nails dig into the green skin on their arms as he watched Aurora stare at his son’s bodies seeming oblivious to the ravenous charging demon. Hearing them wince in pain Splinter let up on his grip never taking his eyes away from the screen. “Come on my dear he’s almost upon you.” Splinter called to the screen as if he was watching one of his stories.

Then she spoke lowing herself back to solid ground, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to stop him myself. I’m sorry you’ll never see the sun again or Master Splinter.”

Closer the demon came, and her eyes remained on the four bodies hanging lifelessly. They could see her face contort in anger and fury as it built within her fueling her power. It was almost upon her and just as he was about to collide with her she stopped him midair with her outstretched hand.

In perfect unison everyone took a deep breath in shock as she stopped the 20 foot demon without even touching it, she lifted the stunned immobile demon higher into the air as if he weighted nothing. Then in a fit of explosive rage she began to throw the demon around like a rag doll with what seemed like the flick of her wrist.

“I won’t let you win.” She hissed low in her throat at the dazed demon she had just thrown across the large space into a smoldering tree truck.

It scrabbled to its feet launching at her again, but light shot from her fingers sending the demon back once again.

“They’re dead; I couldn’t stop it, now I have to live without them in this cruel world!” They could hear the sorrow in her voice behind the unbridled fury. Her eyes wide tears flowing freely, she was breaking. Aurora closed the distance between her and demon and extended her finger out and curved it bringing the flailing demon back into the air. The purple aura around her expanded growing brighter as her fingers opened her palm outstretched to the cool evening air and then she clenched her fist sending the demon into a twisted pain filled spasm.

Launching the demon once again she turned to her swords laying a few feet in front of her, eyeing them carefully she took a few steps forward retrieving them. When her palms connected the hilts of her blades the steal began to glow, the purple hue rolling down the scrolling illuminated the writing on the edges of the blades. Rising again into the air she waited.

By now the demon had gotten to its feet, the determination apparent in its wide soulless eyes. It was determined to end her, to drink every last drop of her powers hopefully taking what remained of the warriors within. It launched itself forward again ready to take the human woman down. But its plan fell short as he reached her and found her swords impaled in its chest. It gasped for breath clawing at the hilts eyes wide with disbelief.

“How?” it growled.

“It doesn’t matter now. Go back to hell!” Aurora yanked her katanas free stepping back to watch the demon disappear. A red light began to engulf the demon as it howled in the agony of it, consuming it. Aurora backed up further towards Master Yoshi and the turtles and her hand reached behind her covering them once again in a protective bubble just in time as the demon exploded sending a devastating surge of obliteration hundreds of feet around them.

Each one of them were breathing heavy their hearts racing, she had done it and they had been able to see it. They were able to witness her raw power, the rage, the pain, the passion, and the sorrow. The experience of it all was intense leaving them all at the edge of their seats, but it wasn’t over yet. She wasn’t done, she still needed to bring them back, and they were reminded they were dead a few feet behind her.

She dropped the shield and her katanas, the heavy metal echoed as it hit the stone ground. Her head fell back her chest heaving for breath as everything came rushing towards her at once. Closing her eyes her mouth opened her lips trembling with her unhinged emotions.  Her throat constricted and let a guttural sob rip from her throat as her hand pressing over her face muffling the heart retching sound. Her whole body shook with her grief.

The four turtles didn’t realize they had tears rolling from the corners of their eyes wetting their green pebbled green skin as they watched her mourn them. It was nearly too painful to watch.

Master Yoshi reluctantly came up behind her placing his hands on her shoulders steadying her. Ignoring the gesture, she moved to them her eyes moving over each of them. A sudden realization in her face made her eyes widen and gasp out loud, “Oh god!”

Raphael was first in line as she approached him taking his cheeks in her hands. Raphael held his breath waiting for the moment to happen, his fingers dug into the old tattered fabric of the couch in anticipation.  He heard her whisper her nickname for him and his heart leapt into his throat holding back a sob.

Then it happened their eyes moved her to stomach as their colors began to swirl behind her abdomen behind her skin. Her body arched forward towards Raphael’s body as red inched up her chest into her arms. Aurora gasped realizing what was happening, she stared at her arms in shock and looked back at Raph’s face a hysterically wide smile moving across her face. Moving her face towards him the red continued up her throat and poured from her mouth into Raphael’s making him lurch forward inhaling gulps of air. His whole body began to twitch back to life. Caught in the moment Aurora pressed her mouth to his kissing the red banded turtle. Her hands rose up pulling him free of this metal shackles with ease allowing Raphael to land on his feet. He quickly cupped her cheeks taking another impromptu kiss.

Raphael looked over to his older brother and nudged him in the arm playfully, “Sorry bro I couldn’t help it, was a heat of the moment thing.”

“It’s alright Raph, calm down.” Leo calmly reassured his younger brother he wasn’t upset with him.

With each turtle she brought back they watched their colors pull from her stomach bringing them back to the living at the same time draining Aurora of her new found strength. When she finally collapsed in their awaiting arms Donnie ended the recording. The lair lay silent for quite a while as they processed what they had just watched. No one wanted to be the first one to comment. There were no words just emotions that none of them were ready to deal with.

@blossom-skies​

[just-straight-up-chaos]

Since it ate my anon: which turtle do you think I’d be best with? Just a reminder: I’m a Pisces with Aries tendencies, love cats and sharks, small social gatherings, drawing, writing, singing, and watching movies. My love language is spending time together, physical affection and word affirmation. I like a guy who can make me laugh, has patience and an open mind. Oh and I love food. Not sure how that factors into anything tho XD (I’m also a horn ball but you know this)

Cats, sharks, social gatherings (eeeeh smaaaallllll👀), drawing, writing, singing, watching movies, time together, physical affection, word affirmation, funny, patient, open-minded, food, and horny af?

👀👀👀👀

Girl you hit every marker on the Mikey train!

Mikey loves animals. If he can love on it he wants to. He's cool with keeping the socializing small, he might want to go to bigger parties. Okay he'd love to, but he's happy with what he can get while keeping you comfortable 🧡 Drawing? He's happy to swap tips and tools, he'd be extra happy if you'd allow him to draw you, to have you be his muse 👀 he'd gladly pose for you of course! "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME READ IT PLEAAAAHEEEHEEEEAAAASE!!!!" He will not give up unless it makes you genuinely uncomfortable. He'll still give you puppy eyes though 🥺 he just want to be able to praise your work!! He knows it'll be good! Singing!? KARAOKE NIGHT AT THE LAIR BABY!!! (Warning, he's not the best singer 👀) Followed by a movie marathon. He wants to spend as much time as he can with you. Hes kinda clingy like that. Buuuut that means he'll never get annoyed whenever you want or need snuggles. He's happy to hold you any time, all the time, every time. He will praise you up and down, to your face, behind your back, to anyone who will listen. He will talk until he's blue in the face, or until one of his brothers otherwise shuts him up. Don't get them wrong, they love you too, but sometimes Mikey gets a bit grating and repetitive 😅 the sense of humor on this turtle though. Holy shell! He's got puns and pickup lines for days! Oh you thought they'd stop after he picked you up initially?? Shell no!! Any chance he can get to shoot one your way, especially in front of strangers, he's gonna take it! Mikey is patient in every important way. When it comes to things like paint drying, difficult videogame levels, patrol running long, you know, that kinda stuff. All of the boys are pretty open-minded, but Mikey? He takes the cake 😁 There I almost nothing you can do that would make him judge you even in the slightest 💖 excuse us, FOOD!? You just said the magic word. Mikey's a wiz in the kitchen, so another thing for you two to bond over? He's ecstatic!! He's looking forward to try any secret family recipes you might have 👀 and of course sharing his with you! And horny? The other magic word 👀👀👀 if you're down, he's down, he doesn't care when, and he'll make sure to find a where as fast as he possibly can 👀👀 he maaaaay get into trouble with Leo, and Splinter.... and Raph....maaaaybe even Donnie sometimes....but it's always beyond worth it 😉 🧡

@wacheypenaart @wacheypena @acelikesturtles @lady-ella1 @bayverse-turtle-power @ai-kizu-rp @kawaiibunga

[turtlestanfirst]

alright my dear little munchkins the mane has been tamed and the whole tray of brownies have been Eaten i have no regrets and it is now time for

The Shards of Stained Glass AU (AKA evil!donnie is the best way to get to good!draxum tbh)

once upon a time my ex was having a rough night and worried about whether or not he was a danger to me in any way. i told him that he's got his sharp edges but we all do because every single person is like a broken shard of glass and to love is to find the people who's jagged edges fit against our own best and i've always kept that in a romantic sense but i've decided to use that as a base theory for this au s o-

BEFORE IT ALL:

Once upon a time Draxum and Lou were together. They loved each other despite everything going against them. It was genuine and stronger than any issue- so they had believed. when Lou left, Draxum was left a man without love, a father without his children. He was hurt, and his hatred for humans grew stronger than before. He tested mutagen variants for years, carefully picking test subjects every month or so to prepare for the day he eradicated them all. It's on one of these outings he finds the horrid father and his blind malnourished daughter. Draxum calls her Artemis and she's never mistreated again.

Lou isn't Lou anymore. Splinter wasn't prepared for fatherhood but these four are tiny and look to him for protection. Mistakes are bound to be made but he does his best. Keeping the four safe is hard- especially when one son needs to be protected more than the others. He can't stand singling Donatello out, but what choice does he have?

Donatello was always different. And he hated it from the start. He wanted to play rough and go rummaging around the abandoned subway system and train with the same voracity his brothers were allowed to. He can handle it, he knows he can. But everyone else doubts it so strongly that Donnie is forced to wonder if he's overestimating himself. They baby him and protect him and he should be grateful because he needs it but he only feels resentment. He's the second oldest. It should be the other way around, this isn't fair.

The battle shell is the first step towards independence. He protects himself so that they don't have to. They do anyway and as he grows older he hates it more and more. At some point he becomes hesitant to play with them anymore because he knows what they'll say. He doesn't mean to resent his family, just the actions they take against him. But resentment has a funny way of taking over more than it needs to and leaving you with a guilty knit in your stomach.

When they become ninjas Donnie immediately knows he's the weak link. The soft shell is a liability to him, and he can't forget that because he's never been allowed to and it affects his fighting. As a physical member of the team he holds little value. But if he can build an extra shell he can build anything. And what he lacks in fighting value he makes up for with inventions to make everything easier. He's the brains, and he hopes it's enough.

Or, wonders really. Because his family doesn't really let him know if it is. And maybe he should have just asked at some point but the teasing and the complaints and the brushing off of his creations seem like answer enough. He stops feeling bad about the resentment at some point.

Leon never means to hurt other's feelings when praising himself. The cockiness is a side effect of a low self-esteem. A defense mechanism against the truth he feels so deeply in his bones it makes him shake on his own feet. When he's validated he can't help but make a big deal about it. So when he and raph talk about leading as a pair, of course it gets to his head.

And maybe Donnie resents that because it's not fair that Leon can get validated and he can't. So the attitude creeps in and without meaning to he corners Leon with the worries that never do leave him alone, despite his new place in the team.

And Donnie might be the one with fangs but Leon is far more dangerous when backed into a corner, physical or mental. He lashes out, and the cracks seem to grow more and more with each passing argument.

Nobody remembers why this fight got so bad. But everyone said things they shouldn't have and the cracks become a rift, a full-on chasm and Donnie is stranded alone on the other side. He says he needs to breathe and doesn't come back that night. Or the next night, or the night after that.

Draxum meant to lure the lone turtle as an ally only. Wishing for his children back was dangerous business. But Donnie was vulnerable and a father's heart feels for his child. He's determined to do his best from now on for the boy too.

THE HERE AND NOW:

It's weird. Losing a brother is weird.

Leon blames himself because it was their argument that brought this on. Because he'd missed something along the way and failed his older brother. He misses his twin and doesn't handle the raging emotions well. Some leader, some champion tearing his own family apart. The guilt and the shame are wrapped just too tight around his throat all the time now.

Raph was his one older brother, his first protector. Raph saw this as a sign, proof that he was a terrible older brother. It makes him all the more protective of the two siblings he's got left. He can't fail again, he couldn't handle that. They deserve better than him but he's what they've got and damnit he's going to try his best in spite of everything.

It confuses Mikey. He'd never thought dontnie disliked being their brother or living with them. Betrayal stings, and mikey has never felt anything like it. He can't process it in the way he should.

Donnie is happy. or, he tries to be anyway. His little sister calls herself the bigger sibling and never holds back on account of his shell. Draxum praises his every creation and the giddiness in his stomach is welcomed and cherished. But his heart aches in a peculiar way when he hears a bad pun or sees a wall covered in graffiti. He misses them.

Splinter misses him. He'd known there was bound to be mistakes on the man's part, instances where his choices as a father would be wrong. But he had been blind. He'd given his sons everything except for what they might have needed most. He hovers near the other three more than usual. His heart burns with loss and more anger towards the yokai he'd loved so fiercely once.

They're April's family too and she tries to be there as much as she can but college is a bitch worse than high school sometimes. It's not so bad though. Her roommate is a witch with secrets all their own and that chick Casey is always fun to hang around. Casey and Talise fit right in with the turtles too, they're a growing family. But April feels the hollow spot left by her once brother and she is mad about it. Damn near resentful.

Draxum wants what's best for yokai. That's all. His son makes him think about how he's trying to reach that goal. Maybe he needs to rethink his strategy. But the hurt felt at the hands of a human haunts him. Then again, maybe he needs to rethink his feelings about everything that went down before it came to this.

Because everyone hurts someone. Every hero is another man's villain. A beautiful church window is little more than shards of broken glass made into something more. And perhaps this shattered group can fashion themselves into the most beautiful window of all.

[inkyturtle]

It had been a long four

No.

It had been a long eight years.

The memories of his brothers’ demise were forever etched into Donatello’s mind. Every ounce of blood. Every inch of viscera. Every decibel their wails had made in the throes of death. Don could not forget a single moment of what he saw, no matter how much he tried.

Even harder to forget was the feeling in that moment. The panic he felt as his body began to uncontrollably shake, or the adrenaline that surged through him as he got up to run to the nearest body. Despite seeing Raphael’s intestines next to him on the floor, his mind could not register that his brother was dead. That any of his brothers were dead. It took April and Casey together to pull Donatello out of the same path of danger that had decimated his siblings, and had it not been for them he would have joined them in their demise.

Had his mind not refused to accept their deaths, he likely would have wished to join them.

No, Donatello instead had another idea. He spent day in, day out, doing research on cloning. Research on the documented affects of mutagen on as many species as he could. Lord was Donnie grateful to Kurtzman during the early stages. 

Those days quickly turned to weeks, then months. In time, both April and Casey found themselves unable to reach him. No, it was more that they didn’t understand him. They were so quick to accept that his brothers were gone, that they were willing to overlook the potential possibility of returning them to life. To him. Donatello was certainly upset at their abandonment, but he knew, deep down, as much as he loved April (and as much as he tolerated Casey), neither of them could properly understand what he was going through. They could try, certainly, and they definitely did, but when it came down to it what Donatello and his brothers shared was a bond beyond words.

A bond he knew he could restore, with the right tools, time, and a great deal of patience.

He could never begin to explain to his three younger brothers the process with which he used to bring them back to life. The cruel, unusual methods with which he tested the cloning process. The multiple failures that came before them.

If Heaven exists, Don was certain he would never see it.

It was worth it, though. It was all worth it just to see his brothers again. Just to give them that second chance they all deserved. Of course the cloning process wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t as if Donnie could merely duplicate his brothers as they were prior to death. He would have to start from scratch. Three tiny infant mutant turtles with no prior knowledge of the life they lived before. No knowledge of the friends they used to have, the father who loved them dearly, or the experiences and hardships they had endured together.

It was better this way, Donnie thought. This time they would all be safe. They’d all be happy.

After four years of raising his (now baby) brothers, Donatello was hoping he’d be more comfortable with the situation. With his care giving and proper medical examinations, the three of them were growing up happy and healthy, even if their living conditions left as much to be desired as they had before. While he had kept his brothers’ bedrooms in spotless condition, they were still not old enough to be comfortable in their own rooms, preferring to sleep in Donnie’s bed together. Sometimes the three of them would take up the cot in his lab, if there was a night where he simply wouldn’t be able to join them in his room proper.

They weren’t old enough to train yet. Donnie wasn’t even sure if he was going to allow it or not. He still had time to make that decision, and to him it wasn’t one to make lightly, considering everything that had happened before. Despite that Donatello still did his best to teach them of the traditions that Splinter had taught them before his passing. Though the three would have no idea who ‘Splinter’ was, the wisdom he imparted on them would remain. Donnie would make certain of that, if nothing else.

As they grew, Donnie was happy to find their personalities remained relatively in tact. Leo was still calm, commanding, and oddly, eager to please his older sibling. Leo always did have great respect for authority; Donnie simply wasn’t used to being that authority. Still, it was nice to see Leo viewing him as someone to look up to. Unfamiliar, but not at all unwelcome.

Raph grew to be rowdy, reckless, and very impatient. Donatello was surprisingly relieved to find he was just as much a crybaby now as he was when Donnie was growing up with him. Back then he could find it grating from time to time. Now he welcomed Raph’s more obnoxious temper tantrums. Not only was it a nostalgic familiarity, but it furthered the feeling that his family was once again whole.

Mikey was the same too. Often Donnie would have to stop what he was working on to break up a fight caused by Mikey’s little ‘pranks’, or be pulled away simply because Mikey wanted to occupy all of his brother’s time. It was very difficult to resist lavishing Michelangelo in attention; his sweet expression and charming words all but called for it. In turn Mikey became Donnie’s favorite to hold, and though it could be vexing to be torn away from his current work, he was more than willing to do so for any one of them. They were united again, and his brothers were perfect.

That was the problem. They were too perfect.

The longer Donnie lived with them, and despite how much like his brothers they were, there were little details that would remind him that they were, in fact, not the genuine article. Their plastrons were perfectly smooth and unscratched, for one. There wasn’t a single scar on any of them. Raph’s plastron especially felt like a blemish to Donatello. He’d never known his brother to have a perfectly flawless plastron. As grateful as he knew he should be, this Raphael especially stuck out like a sore thumb because of that fact.

It was a painful reminder that these were merely duplicates. That the original brothers he had sought to get back were gone from him forever.

That harsh reality often brought him to the edge of sanity, he felt. There were times, for example, when Don would look at his little brother’s plastron and consider damaging it himself. Taking a sharp object to the upper left corner of his chest plate and carve out that familiar shape all on his own. He wouldn’t cause Raph harm, no. Donnie would never do that, though he was certain his brother would need to be heavily sedated and numbed during the operation. And chipping his shell would be a lot more difficult.

Whenever his mind went to these places, Donatello could feel himself fight back the urge to vomit. The very idea that he would want to do such a thing to any of them, these precious boys, these marvels of modern science, filled him with revulsion for himself. Had he slipped so far over the years that he would let small details not only overshadow his common sense, but his own morality? 

No, he would always tell himself. Even if his brothers weren’t exactly the same as before, they were still his brothers. His family. He could never lose sight of that, especially after all the time and effort it took to reunite with them again. Things were different, but that had to be good. Yes, this time, nothing bad was going to happen to them.

Donnie would be lying if he said he never considered the idea that they would be better off with someone else. The fear of losing himself loomed ever closer to him with each passing mental note of his siblings’ perfect imperfections. In the end, though, he knew he couldn’t stand to part from them.

Without them he would have nothing.

Without them, he was nothing.

[stark-raving-romantic]

Request! 2016!Raphael x Reader (Part Three of Three).

And weeks later, the turtle was still thinking about it.

The family had adjusted to life with "princess." After all, what were they going to do? Drop her off at the nearest orphanage and hope that no one noticed the tail? Hand her back to the Foot Clan? Obviously, she had to stay with them. And, honestly, Raphael didn't have a problem with that. With every knew day, he foundf himself loving the little lizard more and more. She was small and bubbly and a little pouty...she was perfect.

And he was Raphael.

Big, burly, angry all the time Raphael. How could he raise this baby? His entire family had adjusted, each finding a new or old skill set. Splinter was the wise grandfather, always knowing what to do when she fussed. His brothers were fun and helpful uncles, always eager to play peek-a-boo or feed her. April and Casey were right there too, honorary family members always willing to lend a hand. And you? You were perfect. Raphael's little princess loved his queen...and he was happy.

He was truly, wonderfully happy...but he was scared too. Scared of what could happen to her, he knew what life was like for a mutant. Scared of someone hurting her, of being unable to protect her. Scared of not being a good father. Raphael could barely hold her without shaking in his shell (the little baby fit completely in his hand), he hadn't even named her! Everyone just called her "baby" or "princess." And as he keeled over her bed (it was a box. A freaking box, she didn't even have a crib) and thought all these things and more...Raphael couldn't stop himself from crying. He sat silently, tears streaming down his face as the little lizard snoozed away happily...and on this rare occasion, he was grateful that he was alone. At least, for the moment that he was.

"Raph?"

He looked up, seeing Leonardo in the doorway. His elder brother had the same look on his face that they all got when one of the cried: a mix of surprise, confusion, worry, and perhaps a touch of discomfort. Raphael looked away as Leo stepped closer.

"Is...is she okay?" He asked quietly, glancing towards the baby.

"She's fine. Just sleepin' is all." Raph replied.

"Are you okay?"

Raphael was unable to reply, a sob escaping despite his best efforts. And then his brother was by his side, a hand resting on his shoulder.

"Hey, Raph, it's...it's okay..."

"No, it's not! How am I gonna do this? How can I be a good dad? I can't even hold her without gettin' sacred, how can I take care of her?" Raphael said, furiously wiping away his tears.

"You cannot hold her because you fear hurting her."

Both brothers looked up in surprise, only to see their father calmly walking towards them. Master Splinter sat down in front of them, taking his son's hand.

"Her pain is your own, her cries break your heart. You are worrying over every step and decision because you fear what effect the wrong one will have upon her. Because you love her, Raphael, as I love all of you. As I worried over you. Perhaps you will not be a perfect father...but I know you enough to say that you will be a loving, protective father. And that is what she needs."

"And you won't be alone," Leonardo added, "we're all right behind you. And Y/N is next to you too."

And Raphael felt himself smiling, wiping away the last of his tears. Maybe they were right. Maybe he was over thinking all of this...and maybe he wouldn't be the world's worst father.

"Thanks, guys."

After that, it became so much easier. Instead of worrying (at least, not as much as he had before), he lived for every moment with his little family. For the time she got her first toy (she now had an obsession with stuffed animals), for the day they finally named her...Briar. though, she was still Raphael's princess. And for right now, the three of them just sitting in the living room together.

"Do ya like it, princess? Do ya like ya new dolly?" Raph said.

Briar looked at the stuffed turtle in her little hands, turning it around slowly. Looking back at her parents she pointed a tiny green finger towards Raphael and said,

"Dada."

And all over again, his heart was soaring as Y/N picked her up, kissing her chubby cheek.

"That's right, Briar! That's Dada!" She said as the baby giggled in her arms.

His queen and his princess...Raphael couldn't possibly imagine having a happier life...

Thank you to @chubbygoddess22 for the cute request! I hope that you enjoy it!😚😚😚

[satireknight]

TMNT S02E02 - The Incredible Shrinking Turtles

They sound like some kind of circus act, don’t they?

So the story opens in Central Park (not named, but obvious), where Leonardo is busy ruining Raphael’s camouflage hat as a demonstration of why they need to be vigilant and train... only to get humiliated when Donatello disarms him while he’s talking.

There’s then a brief segment where Michelangelo plays a prank on them by dressing in a Shredder costume and dropping in on them, which just makes me wonder if the Turtles have the same myopic affliction as everyone else. Like, you can’t see that this person is the guy you’ve lived with all your lives?

Just then a spaceship crash-lands. I’m not kidding, that actually happens: a spaceship crash-lands in Central Park with a jet-engine sound, and nobody sees it except the Turtles. April must be cussing up a storm.

They immediately dive into the nearest pond to rescue the pilot, a withered-looking little alien in a nightgown who always sounds like he’s got really bad asthma.

Oh, and if you’re wondering where Shredder is... he’s hiding in a bush. That is what Krang has reduced the guy to, following the Turtles around in public and lurking in bushes like a perverted creeper.

Fun exchange:

“Quick, boil some water!”

“We’re not delivering a baby, dimbo!”

“I heard it in a movie.”

The alien quickly exposits that they have to find the three fragments of the Eye of Sarnath, which grants incredible power to anyone who has it. Naturally Shredder hears that part and practically salivates over it. So the alien gives Donatello a crystal tracking device that can take him to the fragments. Yay, we have an arc plot! Then he dies.

Krang is still telling Shredder to fuck off until he can do something right.

The Turtles follow the crystal tracker to the dockside, where garbage is being loaded onto a scow.

“We’re going to dive right into that garbage, no questions asked!”

Donatello whines a little about having to do this sort of shit all the time, before getting literally yanked into the garbage headfirst. He finds it in about two seconds flat... only for this to happen.

Maybe if you DIDN’T hold it up over your head like that.

In an interesting reversal of the usual, the Turtles kinda get their butts handed to them by Shredder. I’m not sure why, except that they seem pretty unaware of their surroundings, which maybe ties into the whole training sequence at the beginning of the episode?

And then the fragment gets all glowy.

It’s shiny. That means it must be important.

And if the title didn’t tip you off, the Turtles immediately start shrinking down to the size of not-very-large dolls.

Shredder kind of sucks at chasing them, since they are small, fast and there are four of them going in different directions. Of course, Donatello is carrying around an object larger and heavier than he is, so he tires out pretty quickly. Fortunately a really unsafe garbage truck driver scatters them, and they’re able to escape in the dust cloud.

Of course, they’re still so tiny that an alleycat could easily munch them down, and they have to get back to their normal size. Which is a problem when you have to get past pedestrians. And when Leonardo insists on telling them to cheer up because, hey, it can’t get worse.

Shaddup, Leonardo.

So they’re washed down a grate and somehow manage not to die from either the fall or the water, and make their way home. Splinter is obviously not pleased, because it means he’ll have to take over the action part of the episode, which rarely ends well for him.

So he calls April to drive him around, while she’s in the Orange Juice meeting. Seriously, every person is drinking OJ. You know, April O’Neil was decades ahead of the trend of having your cell phone go off at odd moments, thus annoying every person around you.

Krang is still telling Shredder to fuck off until he has a pile of dead bodies to show for it.

April is chauffeuring Splinter around (I think that’s the only reason he called her) when they get news that someone is shrinking the Empire State building, which in no way impacts the foundation or the plumbing.

And pretty soon Shredder has a whole terrarium of shrunken buildings, which Igor... I mean, Baxter seems FAR too impressed by.

April and Splinter end up in a traffic jam, in which nobody notices that the guy in the passenger seat is a giant rat. Meanwhile, the Turtles are eating a single slice of pizza, which is more than enough for any of them except Michelangelo.

Then the whole place floods. Like, not for any reason; water just starts pouring in. They all climb on a bar of soap, which... does soap float? In my personal experience, it tends to sink right to the bottom and land on my foot.

Then because the universe hates them, a snake shows up.

Fortunately it’s a very stupid snake that just eats anything thrown at it, so Leonardo gets it to fuck off by feeding it lumps of soap.

Krang tells Shredder to fuck off AGAIN, pointing out that he demanded the Turtles and not shrunken-down buildings, which Shredder was absolutely sure would impress him. Baxter has also created a device that will track down turtles... which would probably be more useful if things like pets didn’t exist.

Meanwhile, the soap is almost gone and everyone is trying to strangle Leonardo.

Or maybe that’s just what it looks like. Michelangelo looks like he’s spooning him.

They end up washing out to sea, which in itself doesn’t seem to be a big deal, since they’re able to comfortably hang out and talk underwater. Fun fact: Turtles in fact cannot breathe underwater, they’re just very good at holding their breath.

Then a piranha attacks.

Maybe Splinter should have put them in a terrarium before leaving the house, for their own good.

Then they’re rescued from the fish by Igor.

I think this might qualify as the worst day of their lives thus far. And one of those days involved listening to the Neutrinos.

Shredder uses them to prove to Krang that he does NOT suck, so there, and why won’t you love me back, Krang? Seriously, he seems to need so much validation.

Donatello tries to defend himself with cliched writing, much to the scorn of the others, and Shredder prepares to kill them with a crowbar. Well, he could have just put them in a jar with no airholes, and that would have probably turned out the same.

Just then the Turtle Van busts in the door (good thing Splinter’s funny feelings are completely trustworthy, or that might have gotten awkward) and Splinter springs out to fight Shredder.

In all the commotion, April decides to do something useful by finding the Turtles in their jar, which she... doesn’t open.

Instead she just sort of coos about how tiny and adorable they are. Donatello tells her to get the crystal and aim it at them, on the assumption that it probably works both ways.

Splinter, meanwhile, is not doing so well against Shredder.

“Quick, April, turn on the beam!” AND OPEN THE JAR. For reasons that become immediately obvious when they start growing, but are getting squished against the sides of the jar.

Fortunately when they literally explode out of the jar, because April couldn’t take two seconds to dump them out, Donatello’s staff goes flying and switches off the machine just before it was going to kill Splinter. And boy is he ever aware of that.

He knocks Shredder onto the floor next to the fragment and... wait, the floor? Where did April go? Did she figure, “Well, I’ve done my part” and just leave the building, dumping the dangerous crystal fragment on the floor as she went?

The Turtles are about to pursue him when Splinter stops them.

“It is useless to try.” The episode’s almost over, and you already got shrunk once already.

And... wait, since Shredder got away with the crystal fragment... what about the buildings? Is this episode literally going to end with multiple buildings, including the Empire State building, being permanently shrunken down to the size of action figures?! 

Verdict:

So this episode was much more enjoyable than the last one, and not just because it doesn’t focus on some random dolts in costumes. It’s a pretty decent version of the help-we’re-tiny-and-dealing-with-tiny-perils story that a lot of shows do (even ST:DS9, one time), as well as setting up a small story arc that will last for a few more episodes.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that the characters had some brain farts that were impossible not to notice, like Michelangelo literally stepping on a snare. Or, you know, April not letting them out of the jar.

But overall, it’s a pretty good episode that maintains some decent suspense, with the Turtles trying really hard not to get squashed, eaten or flushed away. And it gave Splinter something to do, rather than just lurking at home and waiting to see what problems they came home with.

Grade: B-