#completely separate of ninja turtles

[tangledinink]

my official campaign promise is that if wanderer wins their poll in the @tmntaucompetition then i'll drive to @vangh17a's house to personally shake their hand and give them a crisp high-five.

[tizeline]

Gearing Up: Part 3 [Tiz Sep AU]

<- Previous Part I Next Part ->

Uh oh!! Family drama!! What's gonna happen!!

Also Mikey finally got to go apeshit, it's been a long time coming >:]

And I'm sure you noticed, but the last panel is referencing this shot from the show:

[turtleblogatlast]

Leo is just destined to be separated from his family, huh?

[bambiraptorx]

Back in this poll I did, Wall of Handprints and gargoyle lore tied for an infodump. The Wall of Handprints info is here (it's basically a communal art piece in the Hidden City that's been continued for several centuries), now on to the gargoyle lore. (Gonna be completely honest, I forgot which of the seven different phone documents I use for writing fic stuff I originally wrote this in, so it took a while to find.)

Huginn and Muninn's species (which I've named pygmy gargoyles due to the fact that all other gargoyles we see are HUGE compared to them) live in large groups, called warrens or hives, usually anywhere between 50-200 members. As a species they reproduce asexually, basically through enchanting rocks to create a sentient lifeform, not unlike a homunculus. In fact, certain parts of the scientific community argue that pygmy gargoyles should be considered homunculi, but since classification as homunculi would seriously mess up their legal status as something of an independent colony not directly governed by the Council of Heads, most pygmy gargoyles don't like the term.

Doing the enchantments to create new gargoyles is actually a very intensive and complicated process, usually involving the whole warren, because enchanting rocks to bring them to life takes a lot of mystic energy (and since gargoyles are maintained as living beings purely through mystic energy, they don't have much to spare). They tend to do these enchantments in batches for the sake of energy efficiency, so the vast majority of gargoyles are automatically born with same age peers that they call hatchmates. Usually these groups are of about 4-7 new goyles at once, but they occasionally are larger for warrens that do the enchantments less frequently (usually ones that have a larger population).

After the goyles are 'born', a small handful of adults will take responsibility for raising them (this is determined before the enchantment is started so that only gargoyles interested in becoming parents will become parents). You have easily three to six direct caretakers--parents--and the rest of the community steps in as needed, something like uncles/aunts, grandparents, or cousins. Gargoyles are not born able to fly, and not all of them develop that ability. For the most part, though, it's a marker of development similar to puberty that they develop around their adolescent years. As a result, gargoyle children are most often called walklings, then flightlings as they start learning how to fly and gradually get better at it.

Pygmy gargoyles, as a rule, address the adults most involved in their upbringing with parental terms, and other less involved adults with familial terms. However, the exact titles are up to the individual kids. One might call someone 'Mama' and one of their hatch mates might call that same person 'Aunt'. Also, it's not uncommon for a kid to switch the terms the use for a given caretaker, so someone might be "Dad" one day, and "Uncle" another. Again, there's no biological connection, so the exact title isn't super important, but more or less indicates a level of closeness.

When gargoyles reach adulthood, they have a coming-of-age ceremony where they pick a new name for themselves. Hatchmates do not always have this ceremony together, as 'adulthood' is defined fairly nebulously based on several factors (flying strength/skill, educational level, social skills, etc), and in fact it's more common for them to have individual ceremonies over the course of several months or years. This ceremony is usually attended by a gargoyle's parents, hatchmates, and close friends. Huginn and Muninn had theirs together, so they picked matching names.

Some random facts: as inorganic beings, gargoyles don't have all the needs as organic ones. Yes, they can eat, but they don't need to. They also aren't capable of truly sleeping; it's more like napping, zoning out, or purposely ignoring the world around them. Most of them have a very good sense of direction (usually as a result of some magnetic material like magnetite or hematite being included during their creation). Also, they do have their own flight-based language, but this post is already massive so I won't go into that right now.

[plum-pitt]

i love how bro literally tears this shit out of his head from being embedded in there and ron corcillo when asked about what lasting injuries the guys would have to live with post invasion in the qna is like: “Yeah he’s fine, no long lasting injuries here, def needs therapy tho.”💀

[risestarkiss]

The Correct Episode Order for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Have you noticed that every streaming service has Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes listed in a different order?

For instance, Netflix has Flushed, But Never Forgotten/Lair Games listed BEFORE Many Unhappy Returns, which chronologically doesn't make sense... Well, that's because the show originally aired in the wrong order...

How do we know the correct order?

Easy. Production Codes.

Nickelodeon now has the best episode order when viewing the episodes as-is (in their dual part form)

(I've listed them below JIC the page is not accessible in your country)

(Added image descriptions for anyone that needs them)

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE:

Since Nick aired most of the episodes as 30 minute blocks comprised of TWO SEPERATE episodes, the above list from Nickelodeon is still not the most ideal order list for those separate episodes...

Thus, the only way to get the most accurate order for each half-episode is to split the 30 minute blocks in half and then rearrange the sections according to their half-episode production codes...

Which is exactly what I did!!! 💜😁

↓↓↓↓

Click here for my:

CORRECTED ROTTMNT EPISODES GOOGLE DOC

↑↑↑↑

This took ages to work on and a ton of research to complete, so please share!!!!

❤️🧡💙💜

○○○○ YOUTUBE | KOFI | 🎵 BANDCAMP 🎵

[morbidlcve]

taking nat on an arcade date and miserably failing to impress her by winning her a plushie?

an: kinda switched to a sort of carnival thingy, i hope you don't mind!!

pairings: natasha x reader

word count: 0.8k!

"It will be fun", you groan at Natasha, who is reluctant to take you to the fair that has popped up in a nearby park. "Pretty please," you whimper, giving her a look you know she can't resist. "Fine," she sighs, "Only if it makes you happy" she says her eyes flickering back to the road. She turns on her indicator and steers left to find a parking space.

When parked safely, you jump out of the car and pull her to the stalls. Finding hook-a-duck, you grab some change from your pocket and pay the old man working the game. You had three chanced to hook a duck with a certain color painted on the bottom to win a prize.

Much to your dismay, you lost all three times, making you walk away sheepishly from the old man and the cable-tied plushies to the posts. Natasha smiled sadly at you, holding your hand and guiding you towards another game.

The next game was a basketball game, to win you had to shoot five nets in a row. You tried your hardest at throwing the ball into the hoops, yet on your 5th one it bounced and fell into the slope shaped net. You were determined to win the next one.

"You know, I'm completely convinced that these games just give you a run for your money, barely anyone wins, and if they do, I wouldn't even like to know how much money is spent", you complain to Natasha as she stands in a queue for a pretzel.

She smiles at your whining and kisses you. to make you feel better. "Why do you want to win so badly my love?" she asks you, stepping forward in the line. "I want to win you a prize" you mutter looking down at your feet kicking the grass lightly.

"Oh, babe, you don't have to do that. You're the best prize I could ever want," she smirks at you, and you gasp. "That is so cheesy, Romanoff."

You try more and more stalls and continue to fail miserably. You are so close to giving up. But when Natasha spots a throwing darts at balloons game, she's quick to pull you along. "Two separate games, please," she says to the woman, smiling kindly.

The woman gives you each five darts. If you are both able to pop all five of the same color balloons, you will both win. "I bet you can't beat me," she smiles. You think she's probably right; given her history, you're most definitely doomed.

You both throw. Natasha's dart lands on a blur balloon, meaning she's got to pop four more blue balloons, and yours lands on red. She pops another blue, and you pop another red. And the same again. You feel your heart start to get sweaty, two more reds are all you need.

You don't understand how nervous you are about a game. Might it just be your competition? This whole night has been quite a humiliation for you. Pulling Natasha along with you, watching you lose at these games for two hours, it's embarrassing. You're determined to win.

You take a steady breath, adjust your stance, focus on where you want the dart to go, and throw it. You squeal when you see it land on a red. Looking over at Natasha, you see her focused on the game but a small smile is tugging at her lips.

You look down at the floor, take another deep breath, wipe your hands on your t-shirt, and pick up the final dart. Your arm rocks back and forth, getting the right movement to throw it at your target.

A little boy behind you cheers you on, and you smile, letting the dart go. The little boy runs up to you to give you a high five when it lands on the red balloon. You grin when Natasha kisses you. "I knew you could do it," she sighs against you. Natasha's dart also got blue, so you tied realistically.

Natasha chose a teenage mutant ninja turtle plushie and gave it to the little boy still dancing around over your victory. Your heart melts as you see her interact with him. He wraps his flailing arms around her and spins, them two around. Natasha chuckles down at him and says her goodbyes.

You, on the other hand, chose something that was much more Natasha. When she sees you holding something behind your back, she raises her eyebrows. You giggle as you pull out a little black widow teddy.

Her jaw hands open before giggling, taking the miniature version of herself from your hands. "Thank you baby" she laughs, wrapping you in a hug. You gently kiss her neck as you two stand there, off to the side of all the festivity in each others arms. "I suppose we should go home now" she says, holding your face, pressing a gentle kiss on your lips.

"Yeah, probably", you smile, taking her hand and heading back to the car park.

[imababblekat]

The tmnt bois are being given a tour of the NYPD, Chief Vincent having stated that if they were going to be working together, then they should know what and who they’re working with. Casey’s showing them around, introducing them to some of the other cops and detectives he’s particularly close to, and then they come up on the forensics lab, music blaring from under the closed door. Casey’s got his hand on the door handle, jokingly warning the brothers to brace themselves and they’re just confused. Que Casey opening the door, your music blasting into their ears, and the new detective calls out your name saying you got guests. The turtle brothers are not prepared to see little you, hair and outfit askew as you come rolling from under one of your analyzers, eyes lighting up with sparkles and just the biggest, lovely smile they’ve ever been greeted with. You’re almost tripping over your own feet as you rush to introduce yourself, holding yourself back from completely geeking out at meeting the mutant ninja turtles you had been briefed on teaming up with. You’re so sweet and spunky and the complete opposite to anything the brothers have experienced as far as first meetings go. Before either of them know it, they’re(in their own separate ways) completely head over heels for the NYPD’s forensic’s scientist.

[whorbidmore]

okay, so, I've fallen victim to the leon kennedy brainrot steadily overtaking me, following me from Tumblr to Pinterest, to Instagram and even the absolutely fucking dreaded application of TikTok. I don't even use it that often??? and the algorithm is just like 'wow, yeah, this little fuckers gay as hell send in the 40 year old meow meow!!' and having watched Death Island fairly recently, I'm gonna have my opinions on what this dude would be like. Cus my brain loves to rationalize shit and think ab 'what if this mf was someone real?' so... fuck it.

Leon Soft Kennedy Headcanons

SFW

accidentally bigoted. - im sorry but let's be so fucking real here. he's a 40 something year old man who spent the majority of his life in either the military, a police training academy in the 90's, or otherwise working under the U.S Federal System with minimal/no time between missions to unpack absolutely everything he's got going on... the guys gonna have some problematic tendencies. Obviously that doesn't mean he means any of that or is incapable of change, etc. etc., but I know for damn certain this dude would laugh a little at Bill Burr's borderline to blatantly misogynistic material and has probably chuckled unironically at the attack helicopter jokes. But, he's not a complete dick, and would definitely become more critical of those kinds of jokes if it's pointed out to him.

honest to God, Dad Without Kids™ - it's not simply enough for me to leave it at 'but it's the vibes!!' so, I'm gonna break this shit down. Leon is absolutely Gen X incarnate. I can fucking guarantee you that on his off days he accidentally ends up dressing as an undercover cop; I'm talking cargo shorts, light blue button up, those fucking standard issue boots cus "they're perfectly good shoes" and those stupid ass sunglasses... you know the ones I'm talking about. Let's say you're living with him, right? And you're... you, and you wanna watch something on TV. This dude would strain himself getting up like a turtle fallen backwards on its shell, stand up, walk right in front of the TV screen and stand there with his hands on his hips. It doesn't matter that he had to piss, he needs to get a better look of what's happening! Does those really loud, obnoxious coughs and sneezes, absolutely blows his back out doing one at least five times a year.

Only watches British Reality TV - Considering he's canonically a film buff, I'll say that this is purely for whatever he gravitates towards on general streaming services. I honestly don't see him being the type to regularly tune in to standard American cable TV, or only does so under specific circumstances like American Ninja Warrior or maybe Forged in Fire if there's absolutely nothing else. It's not something that's exclusive to Americans, — I'm from New Zealand and I do this too, — but Leon absolutely falls into the category of watching British Reality and Game shows purely because of the accents. I'm talking Jeremy Kyle, The Big Fat Quiz of Everything, Taskmaster, The Great British Bake Off and so on and so forth. It doesn't matter that baking isn't his forté or a passion of his, if Josephine curdles her buttercream by over mixing, his hands are in his hair in utter disappointment. 100% tries to mimic their accents too. We all do it, don't lie.

Has... very dated music tastes - I don't know if you could guess, but the last paragraph included me calling myself out and name dropping some shows I watch anyway or grew up watching, and I'm just saying that this is gonna be no different. If anything? This'll be worse! Since I'm very passionate about the music I listen to and have the inability to keep my interests separated from the other, of course my love of particular bands will bleed over into my interpretation of Leon's character! Anyway, all that for me to say that Leon fucking LOVES 90's grunge musicians, specifically Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, as well as early nu metal bands like Korn (their dubstep phase did not happen.), TOOL, and Rage Against the Machine — and no, he unfortunately doesn't see the irony of him being a fed and listening to Rage, — but would also have a soft spot for psych rock, post-punk and shoegaze. My man's definitely laid awake at night, sobbing without expression as he struggles to accept that Ada never really wanted him like he wanted her while listening to fucking Slowdive. My hottest take here is that he doesn't really listen to Deftones. Like he'll occasionally blast My Own Summer, Change, Bored or Rosemary, but anything outside of those? He just didn't listen to 'em. My second hottest take is that he does NOT like Slipknot, which kind of pains me 'cus I do, but I fucking bet you this dude would actually adopt one piece of "Gen Z lingo" or whatever just call them cringe. Though admittedly he would've been jamming the fuck out to Psychosocial and The Devil in I when they came out. Went off the deep end in Vendetta, obviously, and drunk-cried himself to sleep on the couch listening to Linkin Park.

Very confusing spending habits - On one hand, we all understand that Leon came from money, — he was implied to have been born into a mob family from my understanding? And I doubt he'd ever really had to worry about being fully, irrevocably broke, — but I'm sure that growing up in the U.S Foster Care System made him at least a little more cautious of where his money comes from, where it's going, what he's spending it on, etc. So, on the one hand, he's apprehensive to spend recklessly, particularly on perishables. But also, if he can drop over $100,000USD on a motorcycle that got absolutely fucking cheese grated into the road, and spend a perceived, metric fuck ton of money on designer leather jackets and massive watches, it's gonna be hard for me to call him 'financially conscious'. On one hand, he gets apprehensive on spending more money than he needs to on food since he's "just gonna shit it out later", but if he sees a cool watch or a nice suit in a shop window? Money's suddenly not an issue! Not because he's materialistic, but because the one thing he really maintains a sense of control over in his life are his possessions and the way he dresses. The D.S.O can call him in for another months long mission whenever they please, and all he can realistically do is allow the government to tug on his leash and put him where he's needed. He may as well spend their money on things he wants!

Gets out... enough? But also, not really? - So, personally I've pegged Leon as more of an introverted person, — amateurly typed his MBTI as possibly ISFJ? — so he doesn't really feel the need to go out and meet new people or really hang out with anyone. If somebody invites him out? Sure, he'll go. Otherwise, it rarely occurs to him to meet up with friends or colleagues at a cafe or anywhere. I think he'd prefer to just go there alone, mostly for the sake of having somebody else cook for him as opposed to actively seeking out the atmosphere. It's pure convience in his mind. And remember when I said in the beginning about him accidentally being at least a little misogynistic? Yeah, that was me trying to say that he regularly tries to hit on younger waitresses. Not because he actually wants anything to do with them, but simply because it's an ego boost. He likes that he can make girls half his age blush or offer him their numbers, because it tells him that he's still desirable, and ultimately, that gives him the power to reject them politely and go about the rest of his day. If they don't reject him first, of course. Admittedly, Leon's audacity towards women peaked during Infinite Darkness.

Since I'm planning on posting more NSFW headcanons for this guy, — and more NSFW kinds of posts, — here is the obligatory Minors DNI attachment. For your own safety, I don't care if what I have to say is tame so far, you can hold it off I promise.

[baraturts]

To my non-tcest followers

Yes, you! I appreciate you so friggin' much! <3 It always brings a smile to my face to see my art reblogged by mature adults who understand the concept of "people can like different things and that's okay!"

Side note: I did debate if I should make two separate accounts at one point to separate the t-cest posts from the general stuff, but people would figure out the art style was from the same person anyway, so I didn't see much point to it. Feels less "devious" to just have everything in one place.

And I feel the need to explain why I like t-cest to those who might wonder. It's not the "teenage" part! It's not the "incest" part! Those are completely irrelevant to me (I like to think of them as non-blood related and 18+ when I draw them) It's the handsome, muscly Mutant Ninja Turtles part that is appealing to me. I see these characters, the chemistry between them and want to see them boink, it's not more complicated then that! If you'd rather be boinked by them, then that's totally fine too! If you want no boinking what so ever, that's also fine! But don't bother people who like different things then you, and ESPECIALLY don't bother people who just reblog something innocent from someone you deem to be part of a "problematic fandom".... come on, I though we were over this!

Again, love you all, keep being awesome <3

[the-peak-tmnt]

I want to say that I like that your fic is mostly Raph centric because those fics are rare and he deserves more love and pain lol

Raph: Mom says it's my turn with the trauma

Thank you so much! I'm seriously so grateful for people who are willing to give a Raph-centric fic a shot!

I knew writing Raph-centric fic that's also a Mutant Mayhem fic was gonna turn a lot of people off from giving it a try, which I totally understand because I usually go for Leo-centric fics myself lol. It also doesn't help that Mutant Mayhem still isn't super popular.

But Mutant Mayhem Raph is an exciting new version of Raph that's been SO fun to explore, and I'm gonna go on a little rant about why I'm enjoying writing (and torturing) him so much!

[Initiating Raph Rant] So, almost all Raphs are tough guys who also wear their hearts on their sleeves, which is what makes him such a fun character. He's "the angry one", but usually also super emotional in other ways:

Because MM feels more like an actual teenager than most other iterations, his moments of emotional vulnerability feel particularly raw and relatable. I might be old as dirt now, but I do still remember what it was like to be a teenager still trying to figure out who they were and what they wanted in life.

Mutant Mayhem does such an amazing job of hitting on those teenage insecurities and desires. The turtles whole goal in the movie is to be accepted. All teenagers feel like outsiders and want acceptance at some point. That teenage desire for acceptance is amplified for the turtles because they're not just teenagers, but mutants as well. The moment where Raph's voice sort of wavers as he says "we're never gonna be normal" breaks my heart every time, because they're so sure acceptance is completely out of reach for them 😭

...but the MM boys do get acceptance by the human world by the end of the film. Raph even seems to find his place own at Eastman on the wrestling team in the post-credit scene.

I think this is what has turned a lot of fans off MM, though, because the turtles' need for secrecy and using their ninja skills to remain hidden has always been an integral part of the TMNT franchise. Personally, I actually love that departure from the typical TMNT format and talked about it once before.

But there are some traditional TMNT elements that I did miss in MM, one of those being the fact that in most iterations, Raph is an outsider even amongst outsiders. His anger is what alienates him from his brothers at times, and it often gets him into trouble. It’s also what almost always leads to his friendship with Casey (another outsider).

Tales of the TMNT isn't out yet, and we don't how this series will give Raph that traditional outsider treatment, or if it will at all. They could save it for Mutant Mayhem 2, but that's still years away. And even then they might decide not to go that route because so far, MM Raph's rage has mostly just manifested in a propensity for fighting & violence rather than interpersonal issues with his brothers & other people. His rage is even framed as useful in the final fight against Superfly.

So anyway...as canon stands right now pre-tottmnt/MM 2, Raph is an "insider". He and his brothers can have a life on the surface, and Raph even seems to have found his own place at Eastman on the wrestling team. Again, I'm all for this happy ending and a brand new experience for the turtles, but I was also missing my personal favorite flavor of Raph...which is angry and alienated lol.

After I saw MM in theaters, I started looking at a lot of the concept art and other production material floating around on the internet and I came across this concept art by Garrett Lee:

And it was like "oh shit, there he is! Outsider Raph!"

He looks so lonely and separate from everyone else here, and I was obsessed with this idea of Raph somehow still being an outsider even after the mutants were accepted by humans. But again, we're still waiting for tottmnt and MM 2, and even then there's no guarantee we'll get an Angry & Sad Outsider Raph out of either of those.

So I asked myself "how can I ruin MM Raph's life so that he's as lonely and miserable as he looks in this concept art???"

...and Reciprocity was born 😅

[tangledinink]

Foot AU???? 👀 Cassandra Jones and her legion of cultish turtles.

In which the Turtle Gang are separated from Splinter as kiddos and instead raised by the Foot Clan-- alongside Cassandra! She's like their big sister, more or less, and the five of them run around doing cool evil ninja shit and get into way more trouble than they probably should. All five of them are completely and totally convinced of the validity and necessity of the Foot Clan's mission, and their loyalty is completely unshakeable! They'd all give up their lives for their clan without a second thought.

They are so dedicated to the clan, in fact, that when they meet another child, April O'Neil, on one of their outings by chance (and immediately hit it off with her,) it's really only a matter of time before they're able to convince her to run away from home and join them. She is eleven at the time, and while she doesn't fit in with other kids her age, she feels a connection with the turtles and with Casey that supersedes her suspicions. And so the Foot Clan gains a recruit. And with time, she, too, is completely loyal and dedicated to the cause-- to release Master Shredder back into the world and shape it in their image.

It isn't until Casey meets a rat named Splinter that she begins to question her life, her choices, and her allegiances...

[supernatural-bias]

𝐒𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞

↳ summary: donatello messes with something he shouldn't have, and now you have to deal with five of him. or; a reader insert of an original plot of mine

↳ warnings: fighting & canon type violence

↳ notes: happy halloween! as a treat have the third installment of this series. this takes place after of rats & men, and picks up before the invasion part one. the usual reminders that the reader is autistic, bad with feelings, and that this is a donnie + reader centered series

↳ taglist: @purplehyacinthx

↳ song: ninja rap—vanilla ice

part one | last part | masterlist | commisions | carrd

Donatello was stumped.

For the past few days, he had been locked in his lab. The heavy metal doors that separated him from the rest of his family only ever opened for food and water to pass through its confinements, swinging shut as soon as the transaction had been completed.

The turtle had been tinkering nonstop with some new Kraang technology. After the most recent bust of one of their warehouses sprinkled across New York, Mikey had spotted an odd glowing staff amongst a pile of junk. It had been labeled in a language Donnie couldn’t decipher, and he snatched it up for later, scolding his brother for playing lightsabers with it. Leo and Raph had waved it off without so much as a second glance, claiming that there were much more important things to do than look at a glorified scrap of metal.

That glorified scrap of metal, so to speak, is what he had been messing with for nearly four days. The detailed engravings on it were starting to blur under his gaze now, and the shine of metal from his room’s dull light left imprints on the inside of his eyelids.

“If I just apply the correct amount of pressure—" He mumbled quietly, rubbing at his eyes slowly. Dark purple bags hung underneath them, and if Raph were there, Donnie was sure he would have made a snappy comment about his appearance.

Without warning, a loud crash from the room over shook his lab. Donnie yelped at the unwelcome surprise and was sent bumping into his work table. Glass tubes clinked against each other noisily while he attempted to balance himself on one foot. From its place on the left of his desk, the staff clumsily teetered off the edge in a crude game of see-saw. With one more sigh from Donatello as the shaking stopped, it tipped, falling to the ground with a clatter.

It was scooped up in one quick motion and placed back on the desks surface, now glowing a faint purple as Donatello handled it. He barely spared it a moment's notice before rushing off in the direction of his doors.

“Mikey!” He yelled angrily through the crack he had made. “Would you keep it down?! You almost broke my experiment!”

“How do you know it was me, dude?” A whiney voice answered back.

“Because you’re the only one stupid enough to make that noise!"

Some more words were tossed back and forth between the two before Donatello ended the conversation by slamming the door on his brother. From behind it, he missed the way Mikey blew a fierce raspberry at him as he went back to his own activities.

Grumbling to himself, the teenager stalked back over to his desk. With a huff he flopped in the one good rolly chair he had left and sat lamely as it squeaked around in a circle. Taking a moment to massage at his temples, he only noticed the empty space on his table after he took out his microscope in preparation for another round of tests.

“Hey. Where did the staff go?”

None of the other brothers noticed the purplish-pink ray of light that shone through the crack of his lab door.

The sewers always stunk when you first climbed down into them. You didn't think that would ever change.

Pinching your nose as you oh so carefully descended into water reeking of filth, you looked down at your cracked phone screen one last time. A very poorly spelled text stared back, the words Michelangelo hovering above its contents. With one more furrow of your brows, you attempted to read it, coming up with nothing for the umpteenth time. All you knew was that it sounded urgent, and had a million exclamation points tacked onto the end. Which, knowing Mikey, could either mean that his favorite show had just been canceled or the world was about to end. You really hoped it was the first this time.

You had been walking downtown when the message came through. The trip was an aimless journey, really. You had nothing to do besides sit up in your room all day and look at the graying clouds. April and Casey were off doing their own things, hockey practice and calculus tutoring taking up time that could have otherwise been spent goofing off with you. Or at least snagging some pizza at Antonio’s.

With the promise of a day full of nothing hanging over your shoulders, you'd grabbed a jacket and set off into New York, sincerely hoping that it didn't start to rain anytime soon. Your umbrella had broken last month after someone ran over it with their bike, and you were still angry about it. The print on it had been green and plastered with the cartoony image of snapping turtles. It was part of the reason you had begged to get it as a child. A bit ironic, now that you look back on it.

Your footsteps slowed as you reached the entrance to a hallway that you were slowly getting more and more familiar with. Light breached your vision as you pried at a large metal door in the shape of a circle. A proud smile spread across your face as you stepped back enough to let it fully give way. The first time you’d tried that on your own, you’d ended up flat on your backside as Casey laughed nonstop from his place over you.

Climbing into the lairs entrance was the easy part. Making it a step further was the problem.

“Good! You’re here!” You just barely managed to catch a glimpse of a frantic green figure running around, chasing after someone that would occasionally let out a happy giggle.

“Raph?” You questioned the one out of the two you could recognize. Your brain felt as if it was running at half the speed it normally did. “What are you doing? What’s going on?”

Raphael grunted as he went to answer your question, but foregoed the notion to tackle the figure he had been chasing to the ground. A loud oomph left his lips, and you wondered why he hadn’t just used his sais to corner them.

“No time to explain.” He snapped with a huff. “Just help me find the other Donnies.”

“Other Donnies?”

You blinked, watching closer this time as he struggled to keep a hold on the happily squirming figure underneath him. Once you got past the initial shock of having Raph body slam someone to the ground two seconds after you showed up, you got a better look at the person he had pinned. Sure enough, it was Donatello. But at the same time, much much different.

Instead of a purple bandana, a yellow one sat wrapped around his eyes, right above the happiest smile you’d ever seen come from someone. You noticed he also seemed to be devoid of his usual bo staff; something he almost never left without.

He had a faint spray of freckles underneath his eyes, and it reminded you of his younger brother. His normally pristine elbow pads were smudged with soot and water. You recalled a time he had gotten upset with Leo for messing with his leather accessories.

Your eyes continued to sweep over this new addition to the Hamato family. It was like someone had taken your friend and molded him into someone completely new.

“Tag! You’re it!” This new version of Donnie happily laughed, coming up and hitting Raph between the head with a soft boop. His brother's eyes crossed for a moment before growing and looking at you.

“Get the idea now, genius?” He glowered.

“Am I supposed to believe that he—" You limply gestured at the yellow Donnie “—is your brother?”

“No! That’s the whole point! I don’t know what Donnie did with that Kraang thing, but now we’ve got five of him running around and, they’re all crazy!”

When he mentioned the Kraang, you winced. You’d run into them and their oddly humanoid bots a few times before, and were not eager to repeat the process. Last time, it had ended up with a batch of glowing green liquid just barely missing your face.

“So there’s four more of them?” You asked. By now you were approaching Raph, who was tying up the giggling Donatello with rope he pulled from who knows where.

“Yeah.” He tied off the end of a knot gruffly. “Mikey and Leo are handling some of the others right now, but there’s not enough of us.”

“So you called me.” The tone of your voice was very unimpressed as you stared down at him. He returned the look mockingly.

“Yeah, idiot. It’s not like we know anyone else that can help with this.” He stated like it was a fact.

“Uhm, hello? April? Casey? Your dad of all people?”

“Splinter is in a deep meditation session today. And I don't think April or Casey would want to help with this too much.” Raphael brushed off the edges of his shell as he stood. You wanted to tell him that it didn’t do too much, considering the giant crack zigzagging down the front of his plastron, but thought better of it.

“How do you figure?” Was what you settled on.

“Have you seen the way Donnie looks at April?” Raph squinted at you knowingly. “He’s practically a lovesick puppy when it comes to her. We don’t need that right now. It’ll probably end with a turf war between the five of them over her.” A pause. “And Casey would just end up messing things up more than helping.” He added the last part as an afterthought, and you shrugged as if to say ‘fair enough’.

“April? Oh, I love April!” The Donatello lookalike on the ground gasped. Both you and Raph glanced down at him. Besides a few bubbly giggles, he had been so quiet the past few minutes that you’d almost forgotten he was there.

“We know wise guy.” Raphael pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Or, at least what you thought was the bridge of his nose. You really couldn’t tell with them.

“Yeah!” Yellow Donnie beamed. “She’s such a great friend! I’m so lucky to have met her.”

At the word friend, your eyes widened. Slowly, as if you had imagined it, you turned to look at Raph in shock, finding him doing the same thing.

“Okay. Something is very wrong with him.” You stated carefully. Like you were talking to a tiny child. Raph nodded, outwardly cringing as he looked back down at the copy and paste of his brother.

“Come on.” He poked at them with the edge of his foot, “Let’s find the others. See if we can figure out what the hell is going on.”

The best way you could adjust to the scene in front of you was with a few seconds of poorly timed surprise.

Raph didn’t stop as you tripped over your own feet, tugging the yellow Donatello along behind him and into the originals lab. Briefly you wondered if there was a better name you could give the new turtle, and filed the thought away fo later.

A part of you had hoped that Raphael was lying, and that this whole thing had been a giant misunderstanding. You wouldn’t put it past the four brothers to get themselves into a load of trouble, only to realize after that it had been entirely their fault. Again.

Four more carbon copies of Donatello sat in various spots around the room. In a weird way, it was like you were looking at a mirror maze with Donnie in the center of it all—his outline projected into each corner of the room. All but one of them were tied up, and you took a moment to get a good look.

Michelangelo was crouching next to someone with a deep blue bandana; not yellow or purple this time. It threw you for a loop to see that color on anyone but Leo, and you took a moment to get used to it. Besides that, the Donatello didn’t appear to be doing anything besides pouting in his confines. His eyes were glassy, and it looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Opposite the room was another version of Donnie. He had on a bright green bandana that stood out against his more muted skin tone. No one stood next to him as he clutched his legs to his chest tightly—not that he had much of a choice, considering the rope around them. He made small rocking motions, going back and forth while his eyes darted around the room frantically. A little pang of sympathy struck you, and you immediately squashed it.

Raphael tossed the smiling Donnie he had caught down next to someone else you couldn’t see. Positioning your neck to crane over Raph’s shoulder, you grimaced at the sight of an extremely dopey looking Donnie. He seemed to be a more tame version.

Much like his yellow counterpart, he was smiling impossibly wide. Looking at him made your face ache.

Instead of insisting on a game of friendly tag, he appeared to be staring off into the distance, occasionally mumbling something to himself as he practically made heart eyes at a brick wall.

“What’s his deal?” You murmured. Raph looked back with a shrug.

“He ran out of here looking like that. Asked where you were when we found him. Been pretty quiet ever since.” He offered. One of your eyebrows practically shot into your hairline at his words, and stayed there as he glanced at you from the corner of his eye.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Raph rolled his eyes. “I know just as much as you do, toots.”

Sticking a finger into your mouth, you pretended to vomit at the nickname. Raph hit you on the top of the head, and you quit the theatrics to take a swipe at him.

“Raph.” A stern voice interrupted both of you, bringing your attention over to a more familiar face. Although, at this point, you were getting plenty familiar with Donnie’s.

“Sorry Leo.” Raphael addressed his brother with a grunt. In the second he took to answer, he seemed to become more stiff, and you instinctively felt the urge to mimic it. Following his line of sight from behind his shell, you found the source of his discomfort.

A fifth and final Donatello sat on top of the originals desktop, legs spread and arms propped gallantly on top of them as he glowered at everything. A singular, vibrant strip of fabric encased his face, and it looked more like a stripe of fresh blood than a mask.

His eyes flickered from each corner of the room to the next. The shade of rusty red you’d gotten used to seeing in Donnie’s eyes felt more lethal now. Cold and calculating. Like the red dot snipers used to scope out their next kill.

This one gave you more of a pause than any of the other Donnies had. A stray finger twitched as you felt the urge to grab at your tazer, and you pushed that feeling down just in time for his steely gaze to land on you. It flickered away a mere second later, and if it had been any faster, you would have thought you imagined it.

“Good. We’re all here.” The mutant spoke firmly. It was identical to the tone that your friend used, but filled with ill intentions. So much so, that your skin crawled with unease at the sound. Silently you willed it to go away.

Leonardo stood off by the red Donatello’s side. His eyes were narrowed in concentration. He barely even nodded in your direction as a greeting before going back to watching the newcomer like a hawk. Tension sparked between them, and your mouth began to feel as dry as their air.

“I see you got stabby here to calm down.” Raph deadpanned as he spoke to Leo and Mikey, nodding once again at red Donnie; whose face had begun to sour. The copycat said nothing as he bore holes into the side of Raphael’s head.

“His name's Ronnie!” Michelangelo piped up before Leo would even get in a word. From the sigh that the leader let out, you could only deduce that they’d already had a fight over Mikey's inability to not nickname something for more than five seconds. The older turtle had apparently lost this round.

“Creative.” Raphael said sarcastically.

“Thanks dude!” Mikey preened, not catching onto the tone. “I call him that because red and Donnie makes Ronnie!”

“Wouldn’t that make his full name Ronatello?” You snickered to yourself at the sound of it, successfully bringing the attention of the so called Ronnie to yourself. You let your laughter pitter out under his gaze.

“Enough small talk. We have much to discuss.” He frowned. You repeated the action back in his direction; admittedly with a bit more attitude than you probably needed to.

Looking away from you with a huff, he jumped off the table in one smoke motion. For the first time, you noticed him twirling a shiny object in his hands. It resembled the bo staff that the Donatello you knew constantly hauled around; granted with a lot of modifications. Glowing purple symbols ran up and down the sides, and the color scheme immediately reminded you of the Kraang.

At the sight of you looking, Ronnie held it tighter.

“Listen.” He began harshly. “I don’t know why I’m here. Why we’re here. But I know we don’t belong. If any of my other counterparts had a brain, I’m sure they’d agree with me.” He sighed at the reference to everyone else in the room. Boredom crept in through his voice like a poison.

“Do you have any idea how to fix this?” Leo cleared his throat in a business like fashion. You almost applauded him for being so calm about this, and then noticed how he’d occasionally glance at the blue Donnie’s mask with a hint of distaste. Fair enough. That was his brand, you suppose.

“No, I don't.” Ronnie bit out as the answer to Leo’s question, looking upset at just having to admit it. “If I had to guess, this had something to do with it.”

He held out the stick you’d been paying attention to earlier with conviction. Leo positioned his palm outward as if expecting Ronnie to drop it in his hands, and awkwardly drew it back when he realized that they weren’t letting go of it anytime soon.

“Donnie was messing with that a few days ago!” Mikey mentioned from somewhere next to you. He was still low to the ground, talking to the blue Donatello— who looked less like crying, and more like he was pouting.

“I saw an episode on TV like this once.” You cut in. “This is Kraang technology, right? In the show, some guy touched a, uh, alien thing he shouldn’t have and ended up with, like, split personalities. In this case I guess they ended up turning into real people. Er, turtles.”

“Oh great. Thanks for the help. Now we know exactly what we have to do.” Raph rolled his eyes and said your name. This time you were the one to deliver a hearty slap to the back of his shell. Somewhere below you, a strangled gasp sounded. Looking down, you discovered that the pink Donnie had moved his staring contest from the wall to you, mouth open wide enough to catch a dozen flies. You crinkled your brow suspiciously and made a face back.

“Stop it guys.” Leo directed a stern look at the both of you. You broke uncomfortable eye contact with the Donnie clone just to point at Raph as if to say he started it. Ronnie watched on, his gaze on you growing more and more unimpressed by the second.

“However juvenile the explanation, your friend may have a point.” Ronnie eventually concluded. While you most certainly didn’t appreciate the tone in which he said it, you grinned sardonically at him. Somewhere behind you someone— who you were sure was the yellow Donnie —praised you for doing a good job. You ignored him.

“So, what? We’ve got Donnie’s different personalities running around?” Raph chewed at his bottom lip in thought. You nodded, taking your TV show theory and running with it.

“If I had to guess, you guys are all based on his different emotions.” You directed your words to Ronnie. He raised an eyebrow and nodded, a silent motion to continue.

“Yellow probably means happiness.” A finger came up as you physically counted the doppelgängers surrounding you. “Blue for sad, hence all the crying, green for nerves, and pink for affection. But I’m spitballing on the last one.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of paranoia for the green guy.” Raph snorted. You briefly looked back at the subject of your conversation, now finding him in the fetal position, and shrugged.

“Yeah that checks out.” You nodded. “If I had to guess, Ronnie over here is something along the lines of anger or annoyance.”

At the mention of his name, Ronnie blinked blankly at you. You scoffed.

“Come on man. You’ve practically been staring daggers at everyone this entire time.”

“And he tried to kill us!” Mikey supplied you with way too much enthusiasm.

“I’m ignoring that in favor of moving on.“

As you turned back to look at him, Ronnie didn’t look any kind of soothed by your words. If anything his glowering only increased.

“Well maybe if I wasn’t surrounded by such simpletons—"

“Alright guys.” Leo butt in with his eyes screwed up. “We can argue later. For now, let’s focus on getting things back to normal.”

“More normal than living in the sewers?”

“Mikey, I think I like you better when you’re quiet.”

“Aw, you’ve been saying that for years big bro!”

Ignoring the exchange between Raphael and Mikey, Ronnie’s gaze was still locked on you. It took a bit of unrelenting eye contact for him to back down first.

You didn’t feel any better afterwards.

“Fine.” Ronnie huffed. With a one last survey of you all, he turned to the more cluttered part of Donnies lab.

“Does anyone know where to find a good microscope around here?”

It had been five hours since Ronnie had started his research with Leonardo, and you were this close to tearing your hair out.

After calming the other personalities down— and having them promise that they wouldn’t run the second you untied them —they had been released from the ropes. True to their words, none of them sprinted in the nearest direction of an exit. In fact, most of them looked pretty content to stay sat shoulder to shoulder in the living room—all gathered around a rerun of some sitcom. Green was the only exception. He hadn’t stopped chewing at his nails ever since being let out, and flinched at any approach you made to invite him over.

It was like trying to babysit four extremely tall toddlers. One minute you were calming Blue down— you had given up on nicknames beyond the colors of their masks —and the next you were shaking Pink off your leg. For some reason, that one really didn’t like to get too far from you. At this point you were considering just strapping him down again.

“I am going to kill something if they don't hurry up.” You had complained to Mikey after being sent for snacks in the kitchen. He shrugged sheepishly and went back to feeding Ice Cream kitty with sprinkles in a high pitched voice. Tossing the chilly mutant a slight wave, you pushed past the two to gather up as much food in your arms as possible.

Yellow gave you a large gapped tooth smile when you returned to drop a bag of chips into his lap. It crinkled faintly.

“Salt and vinegar.” He ogled at the blue bag like it was the holy grail. “My favorite!”

“I know.” You said blandly while handing the rest of the bags out. “For some reason that’s always been Donnie’s choice. With how much he talks about Mikey’s bad eating habits, he sure does choose the worst flavor possible.”

Yellow rewards your spiel with a happy hum. Chip crumbs already dotted the outside of his mouth, and you resisted the urge to reach over and bat them off with your sleeve. You might have done that with Donnie, but he wasn’t here right now. Just a bunch of strange versions of him.

You didn’t like the way your heart seized at that.

“So what’s up with you and us? Or Donatello. The other Donatello.”

The lairs ceiling came into brief contact with your head as you practically jumped five feet in the air. Sometime during your talk with yellow, Green had shuffled over to loom silently over your shoulder. Different Donnie, same bodies, and same freakish height difference.

He repeated the question again, although significantly quieter.

“Give me a minute to get used to my new concussion.” You grumbled without any real malice. He shrunk away at that and wrung his hands anxiously.

Once you got over the initial spook, your brain booted back up to fully process the question.

“What do you mean?” A hand thrust itself out from your person and offered Pink, who had found his way to your side again, another bag of chips. He took it with a breezy giggle you’d only heard from Donnie when he talked to April. You looked at him suspiciously before moving on.

“You seem to have a strong relationship with him.” Greens reiterated. He appeared to have settled on talking about his original with a separate tense.

You made a face in his general direction as a response. Combing through the last few days in your mind, you came up with nothing, offering an unbothered shrug.

“He’s friends with my friends. And a talking turtle. It’s not like I can really go to anyone else for the crazy stuff that happens to me.”

Green squinted at you. It was the closest emotion other than fear that he’d shown so far. He might have added more to the conversation, if the way his mouth opened told you anything, but his brief inhale was cut short by a sudden noise. It startled him so much, this time he was the one to jump up in the air and scurry away.

“Guys, I think we’ve found something.”

Leonardo had been the one to interrupt your conversation with a loud thump. From his place across everyone in the living room, he looked disheveled. His mask tails were laying over each of his shoulders, and looked like a very weird version of pigtails.

Wordlessly, you looked up at him from his sudden appearance, nodding curiously in the direction of the others. It was a silent question.

Leo shook his head back at you in the form of an answer, and you ended the mental exchange with a pat to your legs.

“Hey Mikester!” You yelled loud enough to where it would reach the kitchen. Five pairs of eyes followed your gaze. “I’ve got to use the bathroom! Watch the others!”

“That’s not the way to the bathroom—"

You completely ignored Blue as you slipped through the doors to Donnie’s workplace. With a creak, they swung shut, and you were left staring at two stiff turtles.

“Do you really have to be that obvious?” Ronnie’s lips dipped into frown territory as he commented on your less than graceful departure. He was sitting yet again on the desk's countertop, balancing a clean test tube on his knee pad as he messed with a metal scrap.

You noted the pairs of gloves and safety goggles he wore—equipment that Donnie had personally modified to fit his body. The ease at which they were worn on someone else sent a spark of emotions through your bloodstream.

“Do you really have to be such an asshole?” You deadpanned after a moment of tense silence.

The look-a-like glared at you, but said nothing else.

“Listen up,” Leo said your name, clearly not entertained by the conversation that had just played out in front of him. “We think we’ve found a way to get Donatello back.”

Strolling up to the station that they were standing around, you peeked past the katanas on Leo’s shell to see the silver staff from earlier. It was propped firmly on the table, and a few pieces of its outer shell had been stripped away, revealing an internal structure of wires zigzagging over one another.

If the way he was twitching anxiously said anything, Ronnie didn’t exactly like it.

“I’m listening.”

Leo launched into a fumbled explanation of what they had been tinkering with. From what you could pick up, they had been looking at the inside of it to get a feel for how the device worked, and now Ronnie had a general idea of how to send all five of them back to wherever they had come from.

Overall, the choppy explanation was filled with words you were sure he didn’t understand; and neither did you. Normally you would stop to ask Donatello what most of them meant, and if he was feeling bold he’d launch into an entire explanation. As you side eyed Ronnie from your spot next to him, you didn’t think you’d be doing that anytime soon.

“So my hypothesis, or whatever it’s called, was right?” Your hoodie pockets were filled with the absentminded fiddling of your hands as Leo paused to consider your words. He nodded at you in conformation.

“We think that the staff was meant to multiply Kraang bots. Making them stronger and faster than before.”

“Oh oh wait, let me guess. It didn’t work.”

“Obviously not.” Ronnie sighed at your obvious sarcasm. His tooth gap created a whistling noise that you had heard many times before. “Instead of dividing one organism into multiple, stronger organisms, it simply split the subject into parts of itself.”

It was strange. How such a small, skinny device could cause so much ruckus in just one day. You had been looking for some entertainment, but nothing that involved this level of calamity. Or effort, if you were being honest. You liked the guys, but you also liked really long and really uninterrupted naps.

“Do you know how to reverse it?”

Ronnie fell silent. Observing him through the pair of tinted lab goggles around his face proved difficult, but you picked up on the way his jaw clenched dangerously. A lone vein strained against his neck.

“Yes. He does.” Leo answered for him, awkwardly glancing between you and the other member in the room. You didn’t take your eyes off the duplicate long enough to notice.

“What do we have to do then?” Came your eventual query. “Gather all of them up and force ‘em back together?”

“I think it’d be a bit more intense than that.” Leo tilted his hand sideways and shook it in a wavy motion, symbolizing the difficulty of the situation. You resisted the urge to mimic the action curiously.

Craning your neck, you turned to look at Ronnie expectingly.

“Well? Come on smart guy, what’s the plan.”

He had angled himself away from the both of you. The expanse of his shell rose and fell as he breathed, and it was oddly quiet. Scars of all kinds dotted the back of his shell, and you couldn’t recall ever seeing them on Donatello’s before.

“Ronnie?”

“The plan—" He clutched at the staff tightly. You didn’t remember him even reaching for it. “—is to get rid of them.”

You exchanged a wary glance at Leo, and saw that he was slowly reaching for the katanas at his back. The hilt unsheathed with a cool hiss.

The hair on the back of your neck stood up.

“Alright.” You took a slow step backward in the direction of an exit. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”

“You ask a lot of questions.” Ronnie positioned the staff in front of him as he spoke. The top end of it peaked over the crest of his head. With a nervous swallow, you watched as he methodically placed the scraps of metal that had been torn off of it back on. “Unfortunately, they seem to be a little late.”

Without warning, Ronnie whipped around and launched himself off of the table. Red and green mixed together in a blur of ugly brown before your eyes. You didn’t waste time seeing if he was heading for you or Leo—you just kicked your legs into gear, fumbling to keep your balance as you ran.

Blood began to pool in the lower corners of your mouth. Without having to feel around, you knew you’d bit down on your tongue. The throbbing pain was almost as bad as the burst of purple light that skimmed by the side of your head. It was close enough for you to feel the whoosh it left behind, as well as the scorching heat. Your pulse began to thrum louder.

“It’s always the weird ones!” You half screamed, half heaved over the sound of fighting. Leo offered no response other than a few grunts and a clashing of metal versus metal. It offered you no relief—other than the fact that a giant angry mutant wasn’t at your heels.

Okay, so a little relief. Sorry Leonardo.

“Don't bother trying the doors.” Ronnie smiled widely in your direction. He threw his arm back for another strike, and it landed in the middle of Leo’s plastron with an oomph.

You, being stupid, tried the doors anyway.

“Alright, alright, alright. I guess I’m doing this today.” You sucked in a sharp breath of when they refused to give way. Turning from the handles and glancing around the room, you looked for something that could possibly help. Leo appeared to be holding his own against the parallel version of his brother, but you had no idea how long that would last. Especially with the threatening glow coming from his staff.

While you scrambled to think of something— of anything —a fat drop of sweat rolled down the expanse of Leo's neck.

His footing was growing increasingly sloppy as Ronnie pushed him further and further back to the wall. Each lunge was as fierce as the last, and trying to strike back was like hitting a brick wall. A brick wall that was coated with concrete and surrounded by titanium. Either Donnie had been working out lately, or the staff had given him some serious upgrades

“Why are you doing this?!” Leo was just barely able to speak over it all. Even still, Ronnie pushed on.

“Donatello is weak.” He snarled. The corners of his lips curled up in tandem with a sweep at Leo’s legs. The leader barely managed to jump over it while blocking yet another jab from the Kraang staff. It was humming loudly now, and the noise unnerved him.

Leonardo was faintly aware of the yelling and desperate banging coming from the opposite side of the nearby door. It sounded like the rest of his brothers had caught on to what was happening and were trying in vain to get in. Leo wondered why the hell he hadn’t insisted on Raph staying with him now.

“Your brother is a joke!” Ronnie continued angrily. He landed a hit on Leo’s shoulder this time.

“He won’t stand a chance against the villains out there. He wouldn’t stand a chance against me! None of you could! I should be the one protecting this city. The only one. I’m the better version of you; unbothered by junk food and affection.” He spat the last part like it was the name of a disease.

“Leave April out of this!” Leo stepped back enough to point the end of one of his katanas at Ronnie, his mouth pulled into a thin line of anger. It made the red-masked foe pause as his face dropped.

“You all are more idiotic than I thought.” He gritted his teeth with obvious annoyance. “I was not referring to that human—"

Without another word, Ronnie begins to jolt in place. Wide eyed, Leonardo watches as the enemy seemingly glitches, arms spasming and body glowing in a nearly see-through manner. He manages to get out a few more violent spasms before collapsing to the floor in a heap of limbs and shell.

Behind his folded figure stands you, chest heaving. A very different looking tazer sits heavily in your hand.

Leo says nothing. He simply looks between you, then the tazer, then you, and then back at the tazer again. After a moment of eyeing the new chunks of technology nestled along its sides, he slowly lowers his gaze to look at Ronnie.

“Sorry. I was going to let him finish his evil speech, but he sounded too much like ‘Tello and it was starting to freak me out.”

You step over Ronnie’s body cautiously and quickly make your way over to Leo’s side. Silence encompasses the two of you, and each one wonders what the other is thinking.

“So new weapon, huh?”

“Don had some stuff lying around. I figured it was time for an upgrade.”

It was then that the lab doors decided to burst open, providing its mostly conscious inhabitants with a bunch of yelling mutants. Somewhere in the entanglement of green limbs, you thought you saw Yellow trip and fall on his face.

“Mikey, put the pizza box down. We already got it.”

At the request of his older brother, Michelangelo sheepishly lowered the greasy cardboard box. Ice cream kitty had been resting on its yellowed surface; looking very melted and very fierce as she bared her tiny chocolate fangs.

“What the hell happened!” An angry voice shouted. Its owner shoved past the mini crowd that had gathered around Ronnie, and Raph stormed forward. His sais were pointed in the direction of the ground, but you couldn’t help thinking he looked angry enough to use them.

“We were just talking about how I should probably start training.” You rolled your eyes and expertly avoided the question.

Ignoring the way that Leonardo sent you a very ‘I told you so’ look, you scoot forward slightly to nudge at Ronnie’s leg. It rolls with the force of the action before motionlessly falling back into place.

“How did you know that would stop him?” Leo clears his throat to ask. The group watches him in joint confusion at his words. He simply points at the upgraded tazer in your hand to clarify.

“I didn’t.” You frowned. “I just grabbed some of the leftover scraps from the table you were messing at, and put it on this.” You held your trusty weapon up with a small shake, jumping slightly when it sparked in your hand.

“I don’t spend so much time around a bunch of nerds without picking up a few things, dude.”

“Guys—" Mikey spoke up. He sounded shaken, and everyone saw as he crept toward the door when they looked up.

“As much as I love cool sticks, I think that one has something seriously wrong with it.”

You looked at the only cool stick in the room, yelping as it shook violently in place. A giant purple ring had surrounded it sometime during your impromptu catch-up, and looked like the definition of bad news.

“Everyone out!” Raph yelled, pointing at the nearest exit while making a dive for it himself. You barely managed to make it out the doors after him, throwing your arms in front of your face as you landed face down on the cold concrete below.

A large explosion sounded from behind you just as you managed to lift your head. The smell of gunpowder and something more acidic filled your nose as you coughed. You wouldn’t be surprised if it was your nose hairs burning. It was probably your nose hairs burning.

“Where are the other Donnies?”

It was almost as if Leo’s question had summoned him. Well, maybe. You didn’t know. What you did know was that a grating noise began to fill your ears— making you feel like this living hell was finally complete —before a pair of charred lab doors peeled back to reveal a burnt looking Donatello.

His face was covered in soot from top to bottom, and the rest of him looked the same. He had on singed knee and arm pads where they previously lay spotless. The strap around his chest was black at the edges. Confusion peppered his face.

But most importantly, that familiar lilac mask was back where it belonged.

“Yes!” You shouted your name with a whoop. All of the turtles turned to look at you on the ground, observing the triumphant smile stretching from ear to ear. “I save the day, and the turtle! Again!”

Mikey, Raph, Leo, and Donnie all let you have your moment of victory. The latter of them all looked confused and equally as tired. Still, he waited for you to tire yourself out, which didn’t take long.

“Should I even ask.” He coughed as you calmed down. Leo shook his head while Raph scoffed.

“I thought dealing with one of you was bad enough.” Raphael snorted. Despite his harsh words, a glimmer of relief swam to the surface of his gaze, and Donnie pretended not to notice.

You fully retired from the conversation as Master Splinter eventually entered the room, looking frustrated to no end.

“What is all this noise?” His tone bordered on harsh. “You broke me out of my seven days of meditation.”

You focused on melting into the cool sewer floor as the four turtles stumbled over each other's explanations. Leo yelped out something about sparring, while Mikey cut him off with his own explanation. The only time you tuned back into the conversation was when Raph mentioned your name.

With a snicker, you propped yourself up from the floor to look at everyone.

“Sorry Master Splinter. We were just beating the shit out of Donnie’s evil clone.”

Everyone around you immediately exploded into yelling.

You weren’t able to make eye contact with any of the boys for the rest of the night without laughing—set off by their look of utter betrayal.

“I can’t believe you’d rat us out.”

“That’s what you get for making me babysit four of Donnie, asshole.”

They all forgave you when you showed up with pizza the next day.

[lactoseintolerentswag]

Rise Characterizations: The Foot Clan

Since I've posted on Cass, I figured it would be useful to post separately on the Foot Clan as a whole.

So the Foot Clan's obvious goal is the resurrect The Shredder.

They have paralleled origins to that of the Hamato Clan, the distinction of which caused by Karai splitting into her own clan.

One of the only mentioned laws of the Foot Clan is: you can only take control by succeeding where those have failed.

This leaves room to interpret that there could be a history of in-fighting or struggle for power within the Foot Clan.

Ranking:

To officially join the Foot Clan, a recruit must attempt an assigned solo mission, and return with success. The more missions a recruit/member go on, the more they are qualified to be raised to a higher ranking.

A foot marking on a face is implied to accompany a higher level of respect. Since Huginn and Muninn haven't raised their rank higher than the equivalent of a 2, we can assume that getting a foot print you must be a rank 3 or higher.

Members:

Foot Lt. offhandedly mentioned they get recruits online in "ninja chat rooms", so it seems they prioritize quantity over quality.

Then there are the origami warriors, who serve as canon fodder. We see the origami warriors as the earliest army of the Foot Clan, but this is ruined with the turtles' involvement. I wonder what determines the value between the origami warriors and the human members.

The Foot Clan is already kind of built on flimsy foundations. Foot Lt. and Foot Brute seem to be the only ones in the know of what's going on (being able to navigate through the Hidden City, use/locate mystic artifacts, and have some knowledge of the Hamato Clan), but even they don't really understand the Shredder's motivations. It makes me question how "human" or disconnected from their humanity they are, especially considering the flaming heads and purple skin.

There is some mentioned donors of the Foot Clan (such as Jocelyn's parents), but after the Shredder was detained in Seasons 2's opening, the members of the Foot Clan kind of jumped ship. This forced Cass to find purpose elsewhere, and Foot Lt. and Brute to retreat to the shadows. When the Shredder returns, it's just the three of them. This might have to do with where they recruit from.

In-fighting and changes between leadership through violence could also lead to muddled history and values. These people aren't bound together by one purpose, just broad destructive chaos.

Names and identities don't be appeared to be valued within the Foot Clan. For the majority of the show Cassandra is referred to as "Foot Recruit", and the only names we're offered with the two leaders are "Foot Lt. and "Foot Brute". This is could be read as a gag, but again Foot Clan history is completely open to interpretation.

Goals:

We've discussed their connection to Shredder's resurrection, but even beyond him what they're really aiming at it world domination and destruction. We see this reflected in Cass with her inherit fierceness, but also how she deals with the fallout of the Foot Clan by raising an army of brownie scouts to take over the world.

And then there's the inherit role of servitude that both Foot Lt. and Brute put themselves under. When Draxum dons the armor they "await" his orders (with the misunderstanding that the Shredder has risen), and when asked what they expect the Shredder to do they simply shrug and say "shred". They live to serve and destroy for a higher power beyond their understanding. A few lines that particularly stuck out to me in the movie was: "Tonight we liberate our masters from their dimensional prison. With this key we shall free them to lay waste to this world and enslave its people."

And finally I'd like to discuss their relationship with the Krang and the key.

Since the events of s2 the Foot Clan appears to have taken residence in an abandoned garden, whether it was the same in which the boys had broken into to smell the corpse flower remains unclear to My findings. Their numbers have grown again for an unknown reason, and they have been collecting parts of the dimensional gate and finally key.

I would also like to mention the inclusion of the boat and dock here. Especially since we were introduced to the Foot Clan through their paper thievery, and the boys had their first win against them on a similar boat that served as a paper hoard.

Moving back to the Krang, they have a similar fundamental misunderstanding of their place in relation to their masters, as they did with their master the shredder. It begs me to ask the question of when exactly and how did Lieutenant and Brute start giving attention to the Krang.

They were never mentioned before during the show, but in the movie Lieutenant does refer to them by name, "We shall follow the Krang as they lead the Foot Clan to glory!" So did this reach for a new master come from desperate research on the Shredder's origins, or was that the end goal when the Shredder was released? The oni that gave Shredder is shown to be a Krang before they were even confirmed, and the armor appears eerily similar to the armor that the three Krang don in the final sequence of the movie.

Then the source of empyrean (the source of mysticsm, yokai, mutants) is shown to come from a kraang corpse. There's so much of the Foot Clan tied to the Krang manipulating Oroku Saki, but a lot of their origins appear to be lost to history.

But again that leaves much to interpretation and wiggle room to poke at!!

[misteria247]

Future Rise Leo seeing Future 12 Leo and Future 03 Leo. Seeing how his future in an alternate universe or timeline could have been.

He sees Future 03 Leo, who's been blinded and scarred and who's had a falling out with his two of his brothers and the last one has just disappeared into thing air despite his best efforts. How Future 03 Leo seems more bitter and tired than the present 03 Leo who doesn't carry it with him.

He sees Future 12 Leo, who's been mutated twice, with his body large and full of mutagen from a bomb that had ended up killing one of his brothers and who had caused the other two to become separated. How Future 12 Leo carries this guilt and who has the eyes of a man who once was lost in madness. So different from the present 12 Leo whose not experienced it.

Future Rise Leo looks at them, these future variations of himself and then he looks at their present selves, the three who haven't experienced the horrors that they've faced. Who haven't experienced the Krang completely wiping them out, or the Shredder and his army winning the battle for the city. Who in a way are innocent to just how horrific the world can truly be.

And then Future Rise Mikey seeing Ronin Mikey, and Future 03 Mikey and Future 12 Mikey. Seeing how he could have ended up in another timeline or universe.

He sees Future 03 Mikey, who's the leader of a rebellion, his arm taken from him and his innocence and youth snuffed out by the harshness of the world. Who's lost all three of his brothers. How Future 03 Mikey seems much more grim and serious than present 03 Mikey who's more cheerful and carefree.

He sees Ronin Mikey, who's a wanderer and a disgraced ninja. Who's had his entire family slaughtered by their greatest enemies. Who's full of nothing but rage, guilt, despair and an unrelenting wrath fueled need for vengeance. How Ronin Mikey is a complete stranger to the present Mikey's who are recognizable and chipper.

He sees Future 12 Mikey, who's somewhat lucid and small and frail. Who's lived in isolation for several years, waiting for the phantoms of his brothers to come and see him again when a bomb had torn them all apart. How Future 12 Mikey's scarily similar and yet different from the present 12 Mikey who's been surrounded by loved ones.

Future Rise Mikey sees these younger turtles and sees just how bright and innocent they are. Who haven't experienced the twisted cards that life could deal them. Who haven't experienced a family being brutally murdered by the Shredder's clan or a bomb tearing up their world as they know it. These younger turtles who haven't had the most important things in their lives be torn away from them.

These two turtles see these variations of themselves, see how they could have ended up and they can't help but feel bitter. Because even in different times and places, their futures don't seem to get any better.

It makes Future Rise Leo and Future Rise Mikey wonder if this is their destinies. If this was the unavoidable outcome for people like them, doomed to forever fight and suffer and lose everything they hold near and dear.

It's a cruel joke, the way the world has woven their lives.

[dancingdonatello]

The turtle bros with an s/o that’s a total ice hockey nut

rise tmnt x gn reader

Raph and you get along great and not just because you two are dating. Raph also likes hockey. He does not go easy on you though. He will absolutely barrel you over if he needs to.

You two will fight over the TV if a football game and a hockey match are on at the same time. Raph likes football over hockey and honestly, it breaks your heart. You have to be in separate rooms so you can both watch what you want to.

Leo and you play all the time. The hard part is sneaking into a rink, but usually he’s decked out in hockey gear so it’s hard to tell he’s green anyways.

He’s very completive and is sometimes a sore loser. Whenever he feels a little bit too embarrassed, he will challenge you to a ninja competition, just so he can win.

Donnie, unsurprisingly, builds you a machine to help practice your shot accuracy. Does this machine gain sentience and try to kill you? Yes. Is this Donnie’s fault? He says no. You say yes.

You do get to guilt trip him into playing with you thoogh. He’s not very good at ice skating and even worse at sports, so it’s very fun to watch.

Mikey is your number one supporter. He is always there for your games. He has a duplicate of your jersey. He has posters of you in his room.

He also made you a fake trophy to give you, even if you didn’t win a tournament or anything.

didn’t know if you wanted rise or a different iteration :p