#gave them all personalities and bro i was bot expecting them all to be dead on

[old-skyguy]

I made a TMA island in European Tomodachi life.

[baebeyza]

Unpopular Opinion: Optimus Prime isn't a very good person and that he's too glorified. (expect TFA Optimus)

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

What can I say except that there are many, many Optimus'/Convoy's out there and making a general opinion on them just doesn't work.

But I couldn't think of any Optimus I experienced who wasn't deep down a good person - lets make a roll call shall we? (includes all shows except RB and RBA + Bayverse)

G1 Optimus Prime - Good person, good leader, good father figure. Is forgiving towards wrong-doers without being a pushover. Couldn't think of anything he does that is sketchy

Beast Wars Optimus Primal - He has a harsh personality, hits Rattrap on the back of his head when the Rat talks bullshit and can get feral against his own teammates when they are being assholes like Depth Charge - but all in all, he is still a good leader and a good person. He simply has a more down-to-earth personality and a no-bullshit attitude.

He only ever reacts angrily because his team do stupid and jerkass stuff, but he is never unreasonable.

When he gets angry, you know why and you get why.

Also, he gave Dinobot a chance as a Maximal two times, so he too has a forgiving nature. And his dynamic with Depth Charge shows that he isn't petty either. ("I don't like him much either, but he's still a Maximal.")

He also had a nice moment with Blackarachnia in which he assures her they won't do anything about her coding against her will and that she is safe with them.

Beast Wars II Lio Convoy - The only thing you could call him out for is for refusing the father role when he found out he has a son. It took him half the show to actually call Lio Junior his son, but it made for a nice story! Also, he was willing to make peace with Galvatron in the show, showing his forgiving nature.

Beast Wars Neo Big Convoy - The shy and awkward one! He's a treat who learns to become a good teacher and leader with the help of his students, and he had this moment in which he tried to save Magmatron's life from Unicron. He is a hero with a strong sense of justice who needed to learn about proper teamwork and friendship and it's a really simple and sweet story.

Beast Machines Optimus Primal - This dude is such a trainwreck and I cannot in good conscious say he was always on the right side of things, I admit that.

The way the show treated the Vehicons was a little sketchy, because the Maximals technically became hypocrits, especially when it was about Silverbolt.

Forcing the "techno-organic is the real way to be" unto the non-organic characters feels a little weird, because the show never properly showed us why being without an organic side is supposed to be so bad. (And this matters because the good vs evil conflict isn't properly connected to the techno vs organic plot).

So this Oppy you can make the point that he isn't all that good as he pretends to be in his preachy cult leader role.

RiD01 Optimus Prime/Fire Convoy - Listen, this is the most naive and cute Optimus out there. This dude was willing to let Decepticons into their base just because they were like "We are good now :)" without even checking first.

His dynamic with his jerkass twin Magnus supports that - he doesn't want to fight his brother! The dude fucking pushes him off a cliff and he still tries to reason with him and doesn't fight back at all!

Don't you ever dare call this Prime a bad person, he's precious! xD

Armada Optimus Prime/Convoy - This is the dude who goes fucking feral at the end and shows just how much hatred and anger a Prime can store - but really just towards the end! The rest of the show he's your typical leader who doesn't do anything bad.

And when he made mistakes, he corrected them.

The fact that he always had this hatred and rage that he pushed aside all the time is the most interesting thing about this Prime, but even that doesn't make him a secretely bad person, because he still doesn't do anything bad. He's just an angry boi.

Energon Optimus Prime/Grand Convoy - This is technically the same Prime as Armada, and for once that shows - that anger Prime showed at the end of Armada is still present here and shows up a few times, especially when it's about Unicron.

But just like in Armada, he doesn't do anything bad.

He even tries to save Shockblast, the jerkiest jerk of the entire show, from Unicron's influence! And did just that with Galvatron at the end as well with the full intend to sacrifise himself to save everyone, including the Cons.

Cybertron Optimus Prime/Galaxy Convoy - My favourite Prime of them all - this Prime is just a damn Papa Bear! He will be considerate and loving towards his men, but if you bully his kids, you'll catch his hands bro.

He's bit a stoic dude, but shows compassion and kindness when he needs to.

He doesn't do anything sketchy either, and lets the few remaining Cons be part of the Transformers society in the end, despite their misdeeds before.

TFA Optimus Prime - The one you say is the only good Prime? Guess so, he's a good person as well! He makes mistakes (like insulting his team) but learns and grows from them.

But mate - he isn't a better person than any of the other Prime's I just listed. The only difference between TFA Prime and the other Primes so far is that TFA Prime is a narrative underdog who you are supposed to feel pity for.

All the other Prime's are leaders in a leader role, so just from a narrative standpoint, you don't feel the same sympathy for them as you do for TFA Prime.

But being an underdog doesn't translate to being a better person. The Joker in the Joker movie is also an underdog, but no one says he's a good person and that everything he does in this movie is justified.

TFA Prime just goes through more harsh shit that isn't Megatron and that's it. He isn't being a better hero or person for that.

TFP Optimus Prime - Yeah, I saw the opinion that him being too forgiving towards Megatron in the past is a flaw and that he cares more about this one silver shark more than about the safety of the universe - to which I say: WHEN???

This is a thing Ratchet accuses him off! But I couldn't remember a single scene in this show in which Optimus does, in fact, let Megatron go when he had the chance to kill him!

They always fought to the death when they did and Megatron surviving wasn't because Optimus was too nice. He's not Son Goku peeps.

And I have my issues with TFP Prime and how his characters is written, but being a secretely bad person aint it. He isn't a bad person.

If this is also about Starscream - he has every right to not trust Starscream. No one should trust Starscream! Starscream doesn't exist to be trusted by anyone.

You cannot call Prime a bad person because he elects to not trust the notorious backstabber, who, as Prime himself as pointed out, only does things for his own gain.

Also, he did try to make peace with Starscream after Megatron's "Death", and Starscream refused.

Is it about him destroying the Omega Lock? Nothing wrong with that! He chose to save Earth and all its Humanity over restoring a dead planet! Dead planet stays dead, alive planet stays alive. No one died by his decision to destroy the Omega Lock - but a whole ass planet would have died if he hadn't.

Like bro - I am not a big sucker for TFP Prime, but all these points I see floating around to prove that he is actually a bad person are kinda weird and biased.

Why should he have given Starscream a chance? To get backstabbed and used??? Which we know would have happened because this is fucking Starscream we are talking about??? A dude who doesn't care about Earth in the slightest and was happy about it being destroyed? Who only cares about power and winning this war, which is why he goes back to Megatron???

Should have sacrifised Earth? Would that have made him a true hero???

RiD15 Optimus Prime - This TFP Prime, just sterner, weaker and ready to start beef. But ultimately still a good guy.

Bayverse Optimus Prime - Here you got a Prime who kills his enemies! For anyone saying that TFP Prime is bad for not killing Megatron when he could, do you at least like Bayverse Prime for doing just that? Three times???

Even though he kills all his enemies, I never saw that as him being evil. He just doesn't give second chances. And it was refreshing to see a hero who actually does get rid of his enemies before they can do more shit.

He aint the nicest bot in town, but in the end he still did the heroic thing.

Movie 4 even gave him an arc about losing his faith in humanity and not wanting to help them anymore, but in the end he still does because his Barn Husband Cade convinces him to.

Good man I say, good man!

Prime Wars Optimus Prime - He tried to stop Windblade from making a mistake that would end in war with an emphasis on Windblade herself - saying that war is horrible and he doesn't want her to go through the same thing.

He then decides to help her anyway when he learns what the stakes are, is giving Megatron a second chance, keeps being on friendly footing with the dude and dies in an attempt to destroy the bad guy.

All in all, a good boy!

Cyberverse Optimus Prime - He forbids his soldiers from taking Energon from a foreign planet because the local fauna need it to survive - he constantly tries to do peace talks and doesn't give up on them - He dances in front of his crew to cheer them up - he shows remorse about what happened to Wild Wheel and tries to make things right again - he holds the dead Megatron in his arms and calls him his old friend-

Nothing bad about this home boy!

War for Cybertron Optimus Prime - he fucks up the whole damn time, but he has good intentions! He's a flawed individual who realises what his mistakes are!

Making mistakes, even as grand as his, doesn't make him a bad person!

So, no - I don't agree that Optimus is bad person and I also don't agree that TFA Prime is a better person than any other Prime.

Almost all these Prime's do good things, protect life, try to choose peace over conflict at least once and have a forgiving nature (even Bayverse Optimus, as he forgives humanity) - that all good guy qualities for me!

What more do you want from him to be a good person? Be nice to Starscream off all people???

Also, what do you even consider to be "too glorified"??? The newest media like WFC doesn't even depict him as a good leader because he fucks up so bad.

[number5theboy]

The notes I took while reading the comics are under the cut. These are not my ordered thoughts, just thoughts I had while reading. I’ll write something more coherent a bit later, once my thoughts are sorted better than these

APOCALYPSE SUITE

Diego repeatedly stabbed a Caravaggio, which just personally offends me. Also @ Reginald the fact that you left a Caravaggio in reach of your KIDS, who have KNIVES, is just as insulting. Someone save that Caravaggio since anything and anyone else is beyond saving

“Inexplicable resemblance to an Ingmar Bergmann extra” askjdsgbkdsbhsd Gerard sir that is so oddly specific. Is Reginald an Ingmar Bergman fan. Is that what you’re trying to tell us. Or is Klaus just a silent movie type

Right off the bat, the comics universe is so much more interesting than the show universe. They have boxers who beat up squids like??? Give us an adaptation with the comic world, preferably animated

The kiddos were all born to “mostly single women” dsbksdgbksdgbdsg??? Did the magical alien thingamajig check their relationship status first?

“Inventor of The Televator, The Levitator, The Mobile Umbrella Communicator, and Clever Crisp Cereal” dgdsghsgdhjsdkjhg Reginald names his inventions like Dr. Doofenschmirtz from Phineas and Ferb

Also the page that reveals/introduces Reginald is SO good, just the panelling and the action tells you so much. There’s dead bodies and excavations and masks in addition to text. It’s great.

“The Day The Eiffel Tower Went Berserk” is an EXCELLENT hook to a story

“It’s your Eiffel Tower, it’s gone insane and must be stopped at all costs.” Dksgdhjbkgsdhjbdsghjb the show could never

This comic keeps disrespecting cool art. Why is it doing that to me. Don’t let the musée d’orsay get robbed

Okay, luther came through for me on that

Dsdhlsdghlgsdhldsh the siblings arguing while the Eiffel Tower is falling apart around them had me cackling

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE” dsbdgsbgsdbdgsbklsd okay diego

“And just as I suspected – ZOMBIE-ROBOT GUSTAVE EIFFEL!” hello I need at least three comics of back lore on this. Why does luther have that hunch. Why is Gustave Eiffel a zombie-robot. How did we get here. Please I want answers

The missing line on the ‘e’ of ‘touché’ makes that dramatic moment way less dramatic and more funny ngl

Oh but you can be bothered to put the accent aigu on ‘séquence’

“And while you lost the Eiffel Tower, you saved Paris.” I am laughing too hard by this point. How dare this be a barely brushed upon adventure. Please I need to know more about zombie-robot Gustave Eiffel

Te Ben-robot makes me emotional and “Only my father calls me Number One”? ouch.

Also for the record, I love Luther’s design SO much

“Hello your father is dead. Please audition for my orchestra for revenge. Many thank. Bye.” Okay Conductor, whatever floats your boat, I guess

“and something worse is coming” dbhsdghbjgshbjsgbjhkgf okay Five, whatever floats your boat I guess

Allison immediately coming in with the ‘I know everyone blames you for Ben’s death, Luther, but honestly, who the fuck knows?’ dsbgbhdgshbsgdhkbj

Klaus has such an entrance and I honestly didn’t know that Claire was a comic character

The introduction to the apocalypse comes SO the fuck out of nowhere, but grumpy little Five with the ‘I knew I shouldn’t have run away from home’ speech bubble? Awesome

Also just genuinely interesting that Five truly hated Reginald and was aware of these feelings

The apocalypse introductions in the show and the comic are going for different feelings but they are both equally devastating, which is a nice touch

Also someone give show! Five a sword

Comic Diego is a fuckboy, and that’s obvious from a hundred paces

Apparently Grace makes me sad in any incarnation

Okay but the backdoor of the Icarus in the show is lifted straight out of the comics

I love the Conductor’s design so much, and his introduction is so good

Oh my god someone get a language checker, The Orchestra Verdammten doesn’t even make grammatical sense

I love the Conductor, he is so extra and just the concept of a piece of music that destroys the world…….it fucks so hard

This comic just throws wild shit at you and expects you to keep up

Just read the instructions Dr. Terminal gave his bots. Is he okay.

Why does Dr. Terminal want to eat Finland. Please I need to know what’s going on in that head of his

Gabriel Ba has excellent comedic timing

Five is a bitch and I love him

Diego hiding in a haunted house…….what a drama queen

Klaus is so fucking funny oh my god

Diego is so hilariously bitter towards Vanya. No need to destroy her like that, asshole

Love how Diego single-handedly brought about the apocalypse. What an idiot.

Dr. Pogo deserves the world

The Vanya reveal of powers is a bit. Uh. Underwhelming. Love the Frankenstein set-up tho

The art, man……..it’s so good

Comic Luther is SO savage holy shit

I love you Mister Conductor, but please stop butchering languages I know, thanks

I knew he was gonna die, but I am still hurt. Please bring him back, he’s the best character in this

“I don’t know where to begin…But I suppose I should start with the Kennedy assassination.” Okay five you drama queen

Allison is a bitch, and I mean that as a compliment

Honestly these Five and Vanya are made to be enemies, it’s great

HELL YEAH YOU GO KLAUS

This wraps up a little too nicely. Where did the moon boulder go

DALLAS

Sagfdghjasfkjghdsfjhksfhkj it opens with a ‘by the way, I’m still dead’ from Pogo

I can’t believe TUA directly inspired Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

No seriously, I knew about sentient monument Abraham Lincoln but this entire scene FUCKS

Dsbksgdbhsgbhksgdhbkj Celebrity Surgery, the big popular reality TV show, I’m laughing

Luther and Klaus are both such messes jeesus, even if Klaus is coping better

Allison immediately kidnaps Vanya and exposes her to all the horrible shit she caused?? Dbgbhjdgkjhbgdhkj I love these versions of the characters

While Show!Diego is Walmart Batman, Comic!Diego is Walmart Rorschach

I thought I got the gazelle speech but now I’m just confused

It literally is an epiphany AND WHAT GOT HAZEL AND CHA-CHA SENT ON HIS ASS I’M

CACKLING

Also that one wordless Hazel and Cha-Cha panel……..so good

Five is a communist lmao Diego

Luther and Diego arguments are tedious in both versions

I hate the Marilyn Monroe ape scene. With a passion. It is so cursed

Also show Hazel and Cha-Cha were partners that grew apart. I think comics Hazel and Cha-Cha are in love

I am every killer ever. That is one cute puppy.

Also Klaus and God is great in every universe

Dsjfghjdhjdgjhbdgbjhkdbkjhgb Five’s face when he is outfoxed

Why do dream!Luther and Allison have am ape cyclops daughter

I love the Luther&Klaus dynamic

This is just a remix of Watchmen

I have no idea why they suddenly know what Five is up to, from the corpse of a Commission agent. What.

Wait now they can use corpses as time travel devices. What.

Okay, Klaus accidentally blew up the world. Cool?

I am so confused

Now Diego Klaus and Luther are fighting vampires in Vietnam and hurling mummies through the bush. Okay.

So Pogo always knew what kind of disasters they’d turn into? Dskbgdsbkhsdgbkgsdkh

THE WHOLE JFK ASSASSINATION ARC IS AMAZING

HOTEL OBLIVION

Hotel Oblivion really just presents a cockroach on a plate to you, huh

Reginald’s aesthetic is seriously so much cooler than he deserves

EVIL IS THE NAME OF THE FIRST PART OF HOTEL OBLIVION?!? I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE MR. AIDAN GALLAGHER

Five is a hired gun now?!? Man, that dude cannot catch a break ever

“TV is a healthy alternative to dying” esjkdsgbkgskbhdsgkbes

Who is Luther’s Japanese bro?!?

Also I just kind of really like the Luther&Diego dynamic in the comics

The show robbed us of Allison helping Vanya recover. It robbed us of Vanya getting injured in the first place, so what recovery, but still. This is incredibly sweet

God, all the villains in this universe are so intriguing. Except for Knock-Off-Adrian-Veidt, I keep forgetting that Perseus exists

“I’m a haunted house.” Is so metal as a self-descriptor

What the FLYING FUCK is Klaus doing there

Giant chicken?

The Enterprise???

“What are you doing?” “A report. I’m really interested in capitalism.” Djhsgjgskjvsevksevjesvjsefjv maybe Diego is right and Five is indeed a communist

“I know what it feels like to be unloved. I was born an object, and never treated as anything but.” It really was that bad, wasn’t it?” “For the both of us, yes.” B R U H

Evil Grace is fun

I love Allison and Five and their relationship so much

Five is interested in the stock market??

I am way too emotionally invested in whether Murder Magician and his baby make it out of there

Oh I CANNOT believe their romantic loves for their SISTERS is what unites them. I hate this.

What on earth is going on with Perseus and the flying head of Medusa

Alive Ben 😊☹

I am an idiot for not making the Perseus-Medusa connection sooner.

The Eiffel Tower now looks like the love child of the actual Eiffel Tower and the Atomium.

And now the Dr. Manhattan knock-off is here

God I love Allison so much

What the fuck is Pereus on about

Terminal eats a zoo

Scientific Man borders on plagiarism I’m sdhbgshsvjhksfvjksdjhkdsj

No no no no no not the Murder Magician

This whole baby arc makes me so soft

HELL YEAH LUTHER

Well this ended on a cliffhanger

[defectivemecha]

TMNC(at)- A TMNT OC insert Part 1.01

Okay, I stand corrected. Each episode may have to be split into three parts? Please bear with me.

S01E02- A Better Mousetrap 2/3

Of course, it couldn’t have been more than an hour or two before I could hear Leo and Raf starting to argue downstairs. ‘Is it too much to hope that they’ll knock each other out before too long?’ I groaned and scrunched up tighter as the argument escalated. ‘How in the world does Splinter sleep through this?’ “Fine, I’ll deal with it.” I growled to the ceiling before rolling out of my comfortable nest to go separate the two idiots before something regrettable was said. When I got downstairs, the scene was pretty much as expected, Mikey was passed out in front of the still-running TV and Donnie was working on a mouser that looked to be whole again, while Leo and Raf were grappling in the tunnel leading into the lair. ‘So… What, one of them tried to leave the Lair?’ I leapt down to the bottom floor just as Don exclaimed triumphantly, “Ha! I got it working again!” Mikey suddenly shot into wakefulness again as Don began typing up a storm on his computer.

“Hey, awesome! But, uh, what are you doing now?” Mikey asked, still obviously half asleep. “I’m looking for some kind of return code, something I can use to track it back to the source.” Donnie explained, waving at me as I examined the little tin terror uneasily. “Maybe if we can figure out where it came into the sewer, we can block the door and at least stem the tide until I can devise a way to keep these mousers out of the lair.” “Sounds good,” I responded absently as the arguing in the tunnel became a fight, “in the meantime, I’ll see what I can do about shutting up the testosterone twins so that relative peace may be restored.” Donnie shrugged as Mikey snickered, they were used to the conflicts, I was still new enough to the idea of sibling rivalry that it bugged me.

In the way of things, though, I didn’t get farther than halfway before- “Oh for-” Donnie smothered a curse as the mouser sprung to life and cleared his desk for him as it trotted in the direction of the tunnels. For being so stout, it was an agile little thing, dodging tackles from both Mikey and Donnie on its merry way around the main chamber. “Donnie, I swear,” I vowed, snagging my knives and weapons belt from the rack. “If you can’t learn to control your toys!” I flung a shuriken, but the little monster turned before it could hit! “Hey, it wasn’t my fault!” Donnie claimed indignantly as he grabbed his bo-staff. “Um, yeah, that would be my bad. Actually.” Mikey grinned sheepishly as I glared at him. “No time! It’s getting away!” Donnie cried.

What ensued was a five mutant race to keep up with one overpowered toaster as it led us into the tunnels closer to the subway system. “Whoa,” I skidded to a stop as the mouser continued clattering it’s merry way out of the tunnel and along a pipe that spanned the length of a massive septic-tank-thing? “Watch your step here guys,” Leo warned, “don’t wanna end up as mutant soup.” I shuddered as I regarded the drop, and the smell, thankfully I had to pay too much attention to my footing to worry about other things, like what I was stepping in. Of course, things only got better, because the mouser began climbing the wall!

Of course, we all had a pair of shuko spikes on us, metal spikes on substantial “gloves” used for climbing when anything else is too clumsy, it’s not easy to climb with them, but it’s doable. “Uhg. Next time, let’s leave the wall crawling to the dude in the blue and red tights!” Mikey complained. “You read way too many comic books.” Leo retorted. “Hey Tami, why not just use your claws?” Mikey wondered. “Because I’m not Wolverine.” I panted, glaring at the robot that was dragging me ever farther from my warm bed. “Meaning,” I continued, “that my claws are barely stronger than normal fingernails, so trying to climb with just my claws would only end in a very messy declawing. Answer your question well enough?” Mikey thought it over for a second, “Yeah, I think so.” he conceded. “Hallelujah.” I muttered, the bot had finally climbed into a tunnel. A few moments later, and we were back to running down dark and smelly tunnels.

“Just curious, Don.” Mikey started apprehensively, “What’s to stop Old Turbo Jaws from munching up another 6.2 on the Richter scale?” ‘Good question. This thing surprised Donnie once.’ “I shut down its jaw servos.” Donnie stated, a quick glance showed that he was pretty confident. “It couldn’t even chew through a stick of gum!” Which was the universe’s cue to hand it’s beer over to a half-conscious karma, the mouser skidded to a stop and proceeded to daintily chomp a hole through to wall of the tunnel. “You were saying?” Rafael snarked as we slid to a stop. “But I-” Donatello faltered, “I’m sure I shut it down.” I looked the mouser over curiously as it started in on the wall itself, for Stockman to one up Donnie like this is a fair testament to the former’s skill as a techie. “Oh,” Mikey sighed jokingly, “Don’s finally lost his techno mojo. Sad, really.” Donnie made a face as he regarded the tiny terminator. “It must have some kind of… Security override routine.” He mused, “Come on!” ‘Why would a PR project like a rat-catcher have advanced security measures?’ I wondered as we rushed the freshly made tunnel. ‘Heck, why would a rat-catcher need the ability to burst through walls like the Kool-Aid man?’

“Oh no.” Donnie groaned. “What is it Don?” Leo asked. “If I’m not mistaken,” Donnie began, “that’s a serious water main hanging right over heads!” ‘No-no-no-no, please tell me he’s not about to say-’ “So?” Raf prompted, just as leaks began to sprout ominously from the pipe. “So!” Donnie yelped. “Our little mouser friend just ate through the pipe’s support!” Cluuunk! ‘Fudge-’ I scrambled for the tunnel just as Leo cried, “Incoming!” and the old pipe burst, before any of us could get out of the way! ‘Faced-’ I grabbed the pipes along the wall and the back of Mikey’s belt just as the water hit. ‘Fools-’ Thankfully, they all had good reflexes and survival instincts, so he managed to grab Leo and Raf, who in turn had Donnie. ‘Frolicking with-’ Unfortunately, mutant or not, trying to anchor a 5 person daisy chain against the full fury of a bursting water main is not feasible without extra gear. ‘Frivolous-’ I slipped, and we got washed out the tunnel, the initial surge had enough power to send us tumbling into the yawning chasm of sewage. ‘Frogs!’

What followed was nothing short of a miracle of training and luck, Donnie was able to catch himself on a sturdy pipe with his bo-staff. “Grab on!” He shouted desperately. Somehow, Leo, Raf, Mikey, and I were able to grab hold in yet another daisy chain. “Ouch!” Yelped Mikey. “Watch the claws, Tami!” I grimaced. “Sorry,” I snarled, “I just gained 15 pounds of water weight in 5 seconds and lost a year of life to unmitigated terror, so bear with me for a moment while I ATTEMPT TO THINK CALMING THOUGHTS WHILE HANGING ON FOR DEAR LIFE TO A FLOGGING CHAIN OF TURTLES ABOVE AN UNREASONABLY LARGE SEWAGE SYSTEM!” My volume had built to full on tirade before I could even register the building hysteria. “Ow!” Barked Raf, cutting me off before I could start berating people. “Watch your own claws, Mike!” Mikey writhed a bit. “Aw, keep your shell on Raf!” Mikey teased as he began to swing his feet, and me, like a pendulum. ‘WHAT DOES HE THINK-’ “I got an idea!” My stomach clenched again as he got the whole chain swaying. “MICHELANGELO DON’T-” The threat was cut off by a shriek of pure terror as the momentum caused Donnie to lose his grip and send us sailing through space, and water again.

“Huff!” I wheezed, slamming into the wall face first and shortly followed by one, two, three, four similar impacts all around me. “Guys,” Donnie panted, somewhere above and to the right of me. “Is everyone okay?” Someone spat down and to my left, “Peachy.” Raf growled. ‘Speak for yourself!’ I was having issues hanging onto my dinner, and my breath. Glad as I was to feel solidly anchored again, even if into a wall, there was no way I was thanking Mikey for this stunt. “Yo, Tam.” Raf nudged me slightly, “You alright?” I couldn’t move, the adrenaline had my heart pumping so hard I could barely hear them, but my muscles felt frozen. I couldn’t even move my tail! “No, she isn’t.” Leo snapped from above, and I could nearly hear the glare he shot Mikey. “Quickly, Don, give Raf and Mikey your bo-staff.” “Gotcha, bro.” I heard wood scrape against brick, and the slap of wood against flesh as Mikey caught it. “Now, Mikey, carefully slide it between Tami and the wall. Raf, grab the end. The two of you are gonna have to work the one shuko with your foot to free your hand. Now the two of you need to move so your staff-hand is level with her stomach.” Shuffling and scraping as Mikey and Raf moved to be parallel with me and I could hear Don’s bo staff scrape against the wall just above my belly button.

“Tamara, can you hear me?” I eased an eye open and looked up at Leo. “I need you to trust us. Drop and grab the staff, Mikey and Raf can carry you up until we reach a tunnel.” ‘Drop? Again?!’ I gave an involuntary whimper as my arms trembled ominously. “Get ready,” Donnie warned. My fingers released the shuko spikes just as Raf and Mikey moved the staff farther from the wall, causing the staff to hit me dead in the chest and helping me wrap my arms around the strong wood. Though I had faith in the brothers’ strength and dexterity, breathing was a trial until Leo grabbed me by the waist and set my feet on solid ground, well away from the edge. Unfortunately, my legs were considerably less solid and I slumped against the wall as my knees gave out. ‘Breathe. In for 5… Out for 10… Focus on the stability of the earth around you.’ I focused on this as Michelangelo and Rafael climbed into the tunnel. “Hey,” Mikey knelt down beside me. “Tim-Tam, you going to be okay?” It was petty, and he certainly sounded apologetic, but that doesn’t change the fact that-

“YOU OVERGROWN, SOFT-SHELLED, NITWIT!!” I screamed, launching myself at him as the residual adrenaline sparked a bout of short-lived fury. “WARN US NEXT TIME!!!” I landed a perfect punch on his chin before Raf managed to grab my shoulders and drag me off of him. “Easy,” Raf cautioned, keeping a firm grip on my shoulders as I tried to get my breathing under control again. After a minute or so, the rush faded and exhaustion began to set in, and Mikey was staring into the tank while Donnie and Leo discussed what to do from here. “Mikey,” I sighed, stumbling over to rest a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have blown up on you like that.” Mikey shook his head, frustrated. “No, you were right, I should’ve warned you guys before I did that. If you were warned…” I shook my head, social interactions weren’t my strong suit, especially when emotions came into play. “It was the fastest way to get down,” I shrugged, trying to cover my unease with indifference. “I probably would’ve freaked out even if you had warned me and if we had stayed on that pipe for too much longer, it may well have broken under our weight and then where would we be?” I looked down at my hands as Mikey thought it over, my claws were still extended, so I tucked them into my pockets. “You gonna be okay?” He inquired apprehensively. I thought it over for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” I assured him, a bit surprised at the truth of it. I grinned, “Or, at least, I will be once I dry off. I really was not planning on playing extreme urban water sports today.” Mikey slowly smiled back, still a bit unsure, but maybe this wouldn’t loom over him so much now that we’ve talked it out, sorta.

END OF PART 2