#okay but like if mikey managed to get draxum to start caring about him and the other hamatos in just a few months in the show

[tizeline]

So Splinter was willing to trade the world for his son. If Draxum had to choose between his world domination plans and the safety of his own sons, what would he pick? If he was choosing between the world and Donnie?

Honestly TSAU!Draxum would very much choose his sons (including Donnie) over the world. Sure, world domination is important to him, but also remember that he views world domination as a necessary step to save yōkai-kind from destruction, which includes his boys! Draxum isn't the perfect dad, and he didn't exactly plan on getting as attached to his sons as he did when he first created them. But now that he does have them he is Attached™ and he'll be damned if he lets anything bad happen to them.

[nights-flying-fox]

Hopelessly Surviving Chapter 2

Same (Not the Same)

Leo thinks about everything that happened.

tw: panic attacks & implied (?) hallucinations (if you ever think i should add any other warnings please tell me <33 ) Shoutout to @little-banjo-frog for helping me with the title!! <33

Word Count: 3025 ☆ Fandom: rottmnt ☆ AO3 Link: Here!! ☆ Next Chapter: 14 April ☆ Previous Chapter: here!!

 Leo learned several things after all the hugging and at some point falling asleep:

 Mikey had opened a portal with his bare hands. They had gotten him out and threw a drill and a punch in Krang's face. Everyone (except him) was fine physically. 

 Returning to the lair, they took care of their injuries and mourned. Casey Jr at some point disappeared and they had April and Raph go after him. 

 And then, at some point Draxum arrived. Mikey said that he was worried, and that once he learned what happened to Leo, he was devastated. Which Leo was sure his little brother was exaggerating, but it still was kind of nice to know he cared. L

 Then he came up with an idea. An ancient spell, a ritual. During his research he had found information about it, and believed they could save Leo with that. 

 Splinter for a moment was uncertain, having heard that it could be dangerous to mess up with someone's soul. 

 But they all loved Leo. 

 In the end, they had gathered what was necessary, and had made the spell.

 That led to him gasping for the oxygen he lost, and all of the hugging happened.

 In the most simply told way, these were the events happening after the almost invasion. They didn’t tell any more details, and Leo wasn’t sure he was ready to know some of them.

 Now Leo was laying on his bed, Mikey hugging him and sleeping by his side. Donnie had asked Raph to help him remove some rubble so he could access his laboratory to get some essential items. Splinter and April were preparing dinner, and Casey Jr was with them. He didn't know where Draxum went. 

 Which left Leo alone with his thoughts. He was still processing everything he learned, and he had to admit it wasn't easy. His head was foggy, and the squeezing in his chest didn't leave. He wasn't sure if it was because of the wound near his heart (which was healed now, apparently…) or the realization of everything that happened today.

 He almost caused the end of the world, and without Casey showing up he would have caused it. He almost lost dad, Raph, Donnie, Mikey… April and Casey Jr could have ended up in worse conditions too. And because of his selfishness. He didn't even want to think about what Casey had told him. They all die, the words were repeating in his mind no matter how hard he tried to ignore them. And here he was, died and resurrected. 

 How did they even manage that? Resurrecting the dead… He wanted to ask them what they exactly did, but he knew well they wouldn't tell him. Just like how they didn't tell him they had to stitch his wounds. Leo didn't like not knowing, but he was too tired to get the answers he wanted. Maybe he could learn later, when he felt better.

 He looked at Mikey and the faint golden scars on his arms. Leo sighed, his little brother opened a portal, and for what? To pull out a corpse. The thought made him feel sick. He was alive, right? He was breathing. So what if Krang had most likely impaled him? Who cared if he was dead for several hours? He was back. He was okay. He would be okay. A few scars and bruises wouldn’t stop him, they would heal soon anyway. And Leo will become better, and be a proper hero like Raph wishes him to be. Like everyone wishes him to be. He could start planning better and working harder, maybe spend some time in the dojo after healing. Act like a leader…

 The joy left its place to something numb. He wasn’t excited about these ideas, but he wouldn’t admit it. He didn’t want to spend his free time perfecting his jitsu, but at the same time he couldn’t afford to put his family at risk again nor disappoint them. He had failed enough. Casey Jr was right, he wasn’t the Leo this world needed. He had to become the one they needed…

 He sighed, ignoring how the gripping feeling made him uneasy. Now was time to rest, so soon he could become better…

 …

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

  Leo didn’t remember when he fell asleep. When he woke up he was feeling much better. The grip in his chest still was in there, but at least his body didn’t hurt like before. 

 He looked around, sluggishly sitting up. It must have been late, because other than a faint light coming from outside, his room was dark. The closest thing to light in his room was only the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling.

 Welp, he must’ve slept through the rest of the day, but still didn’t manage to stay awake long enough to pass the night, huh?

  With a sigh, he got up. He carefully moved once he noticed Raph was sleeping on the floor. Well, he had pulled many pillows and blankets, so saying he slept in a heaven of comfiness would be more fitting. 

 He decided to go and grab a glass of water, and maybe later could check out others. He left his bedroom, quietly walking through the corridors. He had expected to struggle more walking around, but whatever the spell had done must’ve helped him. It was much better than spending time stuck in a bed, so he wasn’t complaining. 

 Something caught his attention and he stopped on his tracks.

 Turning around, he looked at the empty corridor. For a second he thought he saw something. A red, bright light. But looking around, it was clear that the only light was the faint night light- which was yellow colored. He looked around again, just to be sure, and seeing nothing unusual he kept walking. It must’ve been a game of light. 

 As he got into the kitchen he ignored his thoughts about how the light reminded him of him. He did his best to not pay any attention to them as he grabbed a glass and poured water in it. But his grip on it tightened with creeping panic. No, no, no. He didn’t need to think about anything related to him or that day.

 But what if he is around? What if he’s back?

 He tried to block the intrusive thoughts, taking a deep- yet quick- breath and drinking the water. He tried to think of something else. Like how Raph was in his room, safe and home. He was sleeping in a giant mess of way too many blankets, and somehow Leo didn’t see any plushies of his around. Raph always preferred sleeping with them. Leo guessed that he somehow forgot or was too tired to go back to grab one of them after everything. Luckily Leo was close to Raph’s room and he could grab one or two for him. 

 Leo left the kitchen and walked towards Raph’s room. It was a very quick trip, but he had to do his best to ignore the broken parts of the lair. A cruel reminder of yesterday until taken care of, and a deja vu he hated. They had to fix that. Maybe he could help in the morning. 

 He finally reached the room, and grabbed two of Raph’s teddy bears. A new one that Raph loved as much as the rest of his collection, and his favorite, Brown. It was his first teddy bear, worn out with time and love, and yet still held together no matter how many times Splinter had to sew it.

 As he left the room, he heard a noise. Turning around the corner, he saw the doors of Donnie’s lab open. From them stepped out Donnie, and his and Leo’s eyes met. He froze, startled. From behind him Mikey’s sleepy voice heard: “Donnie, move!”

 But Donnie didn’t, still staring at Leo.

 “Frozen like a deer in headlights, I see.” Leo mussed. “What’s it, sneaking into your lab at midnight again and getting caught?”

 This got Donnie talking, rolling his eyes as well, “As if that is the first time ever you got me.”

 

 “Then why are you blocking Angelo’s path, hmm?” Leo smirked.

 Donnie’s eyes widened with realization and he moved, letting Mikey walk out. “What took you so long?” Mikey huffed, then noticed Leo. “Oh, hi Leo! Wait, why are you up? You should be resting!”

 “I wanted to grab a glass of water.” Leo explained, “What are you two doing?”

 “Raph stole our blankets and we decided to get more.” Donnie answered.

 “From your lab?” Leo raised an eye ridge.

 “You were getting a glass of water from Raph’s room?” Donnie retorted. 

 

 “I never said I didn’t visit his room as well.” Leo replied.

 “So didn’t I.” Donnie smirked.

 “Donnie wanted to visit his lab to grab his laptop because he wants to do research about you.” Mikey blurted out, still looking sleepy.

 “Mikey!” Donnie glared at him. “Snitch!”

 “Hey, I came only to stop you from doing anything in your lab and go back to sleep. If I fail to prevent that I get to snitch on you.” Mikey shrugged. “Now can we go back to sleep?” He whined.

 “You heard him, back to sleep!” Leo announced.

 Donnie groaned, but laptop and blankets in hand, he did as he was told to. Mikey took the lead, and the twins followed him. Leo looked at Donnie, “What research do you want to do about me anyway?”

 “I thought it was an easy answer.” Donnie said, looking at him unimpressed.

 “Come on, stop being annoying, I’m serious.” Leo glared at him. 

 Donnie rolled his eyes, but Leo was aware he did it just to annoy him, “I want to know how the spell affected you.” He answered. “What exactly it changed, and how it helped. We need to be sure you are okay.”

 “Didn’t Draxum already give an okay and explain everything in super detail to you?” Leo asked.

 “He did,” Donnie affirmed. Then added, “I don’t trust him.”

 “Valid.” Leo nodded.

 They arrived at Leo's room, and he noticed how Donnie and Mikey were following him. Then he realized that it wasn’t just Raph who was accompanying him. That explained why Raph had so many blankets and no plushies or teddy bears. He turned to Mikey, “How do you manage to escape his bear hugs?” 

 “A Mikey talent baby!” He grinned. 

 Leo put the teddy bears next to Raph, and Mikey got back into the hug. Donnie looked at Leo, after putting down the new blankets and laptop he signed ‘Don’t tell Raph.’

 ‘Only if you sleep.’ Leo signed back.

 Donnie glared at him.

 Leo glared back. ‘You have to rest.’

 ‘I need to make sure you are fine.’ Donnie didn’t stop glaring.

 ‘So do I. All of us had a rough day, Donnie. We can’t be okay without a good rest.’ Leo gave his everything to not cringe at how he sounded like Raph. 

 Donnie’s look became softer. He was considering it.

 ‘We’ll do it in the morning. I promise.’ Leo smiled.

 His twin sighed, finally nodding. ‘Okay.’ 

 Leo watched as he put the laptop on a shelf, away from any possible harm and took his place next to Raph. He wondered why they didn’t lay in the bed with him. But who cared when he could join them. Leo lay down next to Donnie and Raph, smiling as he surrounded himself with one of Donnie’s blankets. 

 “Leo! You are freezing!” Donnie whispered, jerking away.

 “Your problem.” Leo closed his eyes, but he knew Donnie was back to glaring at him. It was nice to know even after everything his family could behave like themselves. He heard Donnie sigh, and very quietly whisper “Dum-dum.” before shifting again and wrapping his arm around him. As he lay among his brothers he thought how lucky he was. It was good to be home, safe, and warm, surrounded by his family.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

 The next morning Leo woke up still surrounded by his brothers, minus Mikey. He always managed to get up early, so he was probably in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Leo yawned, turning a bit to see Donnie was sleeping on his back, one arm covering his face and the other arm next to him. Meanwhile, Raph was snuggling his teddy bears, sleeping like an angel.

 Leo got up as quietly and slowly he could, and walked out of his room. He felt a bit sloppy and his mouth tasted weird, so he decided washing his face before breakfast would do. The lair was quiet, but if he tried he could hear the noise and very faint music coming from the kitchen.

 He opened the bathroom’s light, entered and closed the door. He yawned again, walking towards the mirror. He noticed how his skin looked paler and the new scars first. Well, technically stitches. He knew he had two on his right leg, but he didn’t see the ones where his plastron was broken. A big gap on his left part of his plastron revealed skin, and there were two big stitches. Same side of his shell seemed to be broken too. There was a nick on his plastron, and two big scratches. And a big bruise on his neck. He frowned, but at least it would heal eventually. He couldn’t help but compare himself to Raph’s first teddy bear though. All sewn, the stitches keeping it together. In Leo’s case, the spell was keeping him together. Then he proceeded to look at his face. He froze.

 Bright pink light was staring back at him.

 His heart started beating fast with panic, and he took a step behind. The reflection. No, his reflection. His eyes. No.

 He felt his hands trembling.

 He couldn’t– No no no– Not the same eyes from–

 He found it harder to breathe as he remembered the same colored eyes staring back at him in the technodrome. His brother under control, attacking him, looking with empty red-pinkish eyes. 

 He didn’t want this. Why were even his eyes like that?! He looked like– Like–

 The memory of Leo almost hurting Raph flooded his mind. The moment Raph held him in his grip. The moment he thought it was over. The fear. They had hurt his brother, they would hurt his brothers. 

 The eyes.

 The reflection. Was he one of them? Was that why Donnie stared at him like that? Why he wanted to do research?

 Had he brought a part of krang with him?

 Would he hurt his family?

 Pink glowing eyes.

 How could even they look at him, he wasn’t he. He was just like– would he become–-

 He lowered himself down, his thoughts too messy, and he couldn’t even breathe. He wasn’t safe. He would hurt others. He had to fight it he had to fight it he had to fight it–

 The tightness in his chest got worse. It hurt. But he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t let them control him and hurt his family. The krang must stay sealed! He couldn’t let them come back again–-

 Before he knew it, the world turned black.

⁺₊

☾

⋆

 Leo gasped for air and shot back up. He wheezed, feeling his chest burning with the oxygen. His body hurt, but the pain had already started numbing. He blinked a few times, looking around. Where… oh, right. Bathroom. He saw the mirror. He remembered the eyes. He felt his heart starting to beat fast again, but pushed the fear away. He didn’t want to black out again. He could figure this out. He was still himself right now—

 The door flung open, “LEO?” Donnie shouted frantically. He immediately ran next to him, sitting next to him and inspecting him with a scan. “What happened, are you okay?”

 “Oh hey, Dee.” Leo replied calmly, not letting his twin see his anxiety.

 “Don’t hey Dee at me.” Donnie glared with worried eyes, finishing inspecting the scan results. “Your heart rate was going crazy and–”

 “I’m fine, Donnie.” Leo reassured.

 “–then it stopped beating!” 

 Leo’s eyes widened with shock. “What?”

 “It stopped beating.” Donnie repeated. “You were dead. Again.”

 “But I am not.” Leo replied. He ignored what Donnie just told him. He had just fainted, that was all.

 “Leo.” Donnie said, and as much as it sounded harsh it was a plea for Leo to take this seriously. He was freaking out. Leo couldn’t blame him.

 He sighed, “I saw my eyes.”

 Donnie looked at him confusedly.

 “And maybe I freaked out a little.” Leo admitted. “But it is okay, I am fine now.”

 “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why your heart wasn’t beating for fifteen seconds.” Donnie said.

 “Maybe a glitch on the signal? I don’t know, Donnie, tech is your thing, not mine.” Leo replied.

 Donnie watched him silently, then sighed again. “It is very unlikely, but considering that you had a panic attack and your subcutaneous tracker having a chance of being damaged, I will let it go for now.”

 “Thanks.”

 “Are you sure you are okay?” Donnie asked again.

 “I am, Dee. It is fine.” Leo huffed. Then glanced at the mirror, “I was just wondering if you had an answer for these.” He pointed at his eyes.

 Donnie nodded, “You can be sure I do. According to Draxum, the spell causes minor side effects. It depends on the situation, and the information about it is limited, so there is no clear list. However, every time this has happened, the eyes changing color to pink slash red slash purple or a mixture of them is a common observation.”

 “So this is because of the spell.” Leo said.

 “Positive.” Donnie confirmed.

 “Nothing related to krang.” He said.

 “No relation to the krang, you can be sure of that.” Donnie got back to his feet and offered his hands. “You can fully trust my calculations.”

 “I do.” Leo smiled as he took his hand. “Thanks again, Donnie.”

 “Anytime.” 

They headed out of the bathroom, going to the kitchen. As they left, Leo couldn’t help but look towards the mirror again. He really hoped everything was okay.

[animal-lover-forever]

And Then There Were Five.

Chapter Eight: The Nexus Hotel.

Kai had left with Usagi so he could grab his gear. When he came back, his brothers crowded him, gawking in amazement.

“Why do you have those metal things over your claws?” Raph had asked Kai.

“They’re guards to ensure my claws don’t break in a fight. And to give me an extra boost in combat.”

“What about the dagger?” Leo asked.

“What about it? It’s good to have an extra weapon.”

“What’s in the pouches?” Mikey had asked, already trying to dig through the pouches on Kai’s belt.

“They hold yokai currency, a cloaking broach, chalk, along with some other things.” Kai said while pushing Mikey away from him.

“Why the chalk?” Donnie asked.

“The chalk is there in case I need to make a spell circle.”

The five turtles continued to talk until it was time to go to bed for the night.

…

….

……

“Hey, Kai?” A knock came from the entrance of Kai’s room.

“Leo.”

“Donnie just discovered that a bunch of those oozesquitoes are at some hotel. You gonna come with us?”

“What hotel?”

“Donnie said it was called like, the Next Hotal or something.”

Kai looked at Leo, his tail curling around his own ankle. “I think you meant the Nexus Hotel, and no, I will not be going, and I suggest you do the same.”

“We kinda have to, Kai. We have to round up all those bugs that Draxum made.”

“Do what you will, but I would prefer to stay here.”

“Alright, I’ll let the others know that you won't be joining us on this mission.”

And with that, Leo left Kai to be in his room alone once more. His brothers were fools to head to the Nexus.

…

….

……

Four turtles were in the tank– that Donnie had made about a week ago, and Dad had immediately stolen it– and were driving down the street. All of the turtles were dressed in hazard suits.

“Donnie, I need an update.” Mikey said.

“Okay, one more time. Baron Draxum created ooze and put it in carrier bugs that bite people and turn ‘em into mutants. And for some reason, it’s up to us to stop the whole situation.”

“No. I need an update for my phone.”

“Focus!” Raph shouted.” The new hotel is full of oozesquitoes. We’re suited up, so let’s get down to business!”

The group entered the Nexus Hotel, which was infested with lots of oozequitoes.

“Okay, bugs, it's just you and us.”

A person popped up from behind a counter. “And me!”

“Do not fear, sir.” Leo reassured. “We are unlicensed amateurs, and we have this situation mildly controlled.”

“Ew… Your skin's all green.”

“Relax, sir, it’s just a perfectly normal side effect of all the chemicals we use.”

“Alright, remember the plan.” Raph said. “We trap and smash. Zap, smash, bash, smash!”

Raph leaves, only to bump a vase. Stanley managed to catch it.

“Don’t break anything! The boss will have my hide!” The oozequitoes fly past, making Stanley scream and run away.

“I say we revise Raph’s plan to make sure this guy doesn’t get mutated.” Leo said.

“Stick to the plan.” Raph said firmly. If we capture the oozequitoes, nobody gets mutated. Alright? Mikey, you’re up.”

“Roger skipper: Honey-based distraction released!” Mikey pours honey all over himself. “I’m so sweet, baby! Come and get me!”

As the Turtles try to catch the bugs, Stanley tries to catch the statues and vases– that the turtles keep knocking over– to prevent them from breaking.

“Hey, be careful! No, no, gentle.”

“Zappin like a–” Raph tries to swat a bug, but the electric rod hits Stanley while he was trying to save the statue.

“Not me, the bugs!”

Leo appears, holding a gas tank with green gas spewing from the hose. “Get behind me. My trusty cata-noxious gas will save you.”

“Leo, you're wasting it!” Raph yelled. “We need that for the bugs!”

“I’m protecting this guy.”

Raoh and Leo start to fight over it. Meanwhile, Donnie is holding a sphere while stalking an oozequito.

“Okay, bugs, check-in time is now a clock.” Donnie throws the sphere and catches the bug. “Yes!” He laughs and pumps his fist in the air in victory. But before he could finish, the sphere breaks while Mikey leaps into the air.

“Cowabunga!”

Mikey crashes into Donnie and hits the button on his chest; a trap traps the two turtles in a sphere. It started bouncing around the lobby until it crashed into Raph and Leo. Now, all of them are in a sticky mess and trapped in a sphere.

“Plan is really coming in together, Raph. No more honey next plan.” Leo complained.

Stanley peeks from his hiding spot and sighs in relief, glad that nothing is broken. However, an oozequito lands on his neck and injects ooze into him.

“Oh, that’s odd.” Stanley starts to mutate as horns, a tail, and feet turn into hooves, his clothes start to shred, and he doubles in size. He screams. “Oh, that’s–” Screaming in pain, Stanley leaves the hotel, leaving the turtles stuck in the orb.

“Gah, no! Leo, If you’d just listened to me, we would've gotten the bugs and been hosing down Mikey right now.”

“I did listen to you, Raph, and that persnickety guy was ironically mutated into a clumsy bull.”

“Hey, how about we continue this classic Raph-Leo argument outside the trap?” Donnie enlarges the sphere and sets them free. Once they were out, they saw that the lobby was destroyed.

“Look at this mess.” Mikey said. “We gotta do the right thing, guys, and get out of here.”

The elevator doors open, and a woman is being carried by two bellhops into the lobby.

“Uh oh.” Raph said quietly.

“Ohmigosh. Humans. Be cool.”

A red rug rolled down the stairs and to the entrance as the bellhops carried the young woman down the steps.

“Well, you turn my hotel into quite a fizzy winkle.” The woman said.

“You sure that was us?” Raph asked sheepishly. “I tell you what, we totally human exterminators will wave our usual fee and-”

“Don’t fret. My people will sort out this cracker doo.”

Human bellhops appeared all over, even in the vents, and started cleaning up the place.

“Well, since you have this under control, we’ll be heading back to our human office like humans do.”

“No need for film flam. You’re amongst your own kind.”

All of the humans transform into yokai with a touch of their brooches. Amazed, the turtles dropped down their hazard suits.

“Whoa! Yokai work here?” Mikey asked.

“Why yes. Now, come. I’ll give you the grand tour.”

“Okay. Anyone else thinks we shouldn’t follow a stranger we just met into who knows what now?” Leo said.

“She’s a nice lady, Leo. What’s not to trust?” Raph reassured.

They follow her into an elevator.

“Yokai number 5, please.” The woman said to another yokai.

“Yes, Big Mama. Welcome, gentle turtles, to the best hotel in town!”

As he lifted his hands up, a magical mystic aura turned the elevator into a golden, jade, and Asian appearance. Everyone was amazed. Then, they entered a vast casino with a bar, a fountain, and orb-like screens.

“Do you guys think Draxum created anyone in here?” Raph asked.

“Draxum? What ever is a Draxum?” Big Mama asked.

“I’m sorry, you’ve never heard of Baron Draxum?” Leo asked suspiciously. “Tall, ugly dude with talking gargoyles for shoulder pads? Likes to make mutants in his spare time? None of this ring a bell?”

“Mm, sounds fascinating. No, we yokai existed for thousands of eons. Most live in the Hidden City, but my hotel gives them a chance to kick up their flippers and stretch out their hollydoos.”

They enter another room.

“This place is amazing! What is it?” Mikey asked.

“Our sporting lounge, where you can take in the ferocious fight of the Battle Nexus.”

“Sounds scary.”

“Heavens, no. Unless you’re put off by blood-curling battles where warriors are ripped limb to limbity limb.”

“Hey guys, remind me not to ask any more questions.”

The group had finally arrived at Big Mama’s office.

“So this Draxum’s oozesquitoes are causing quite a tissle tassle. Creating all these new… mutants. Oh, so troubling; gives us yokai a bad name. I prefer a low profile. Excuse me while I slip into something a little more comfortable.” Slowly, Big Mama transforms into her true form. She is a Jorogumo with sea-green hair, six red eyes, and blue-violet skin with more limbs.

Leo pumps his fist in the air. “Oh, I knew it. Not that specifically, but there had to be something.”

“I see my true form shocks you.”

“You would hurt a nice spider lady’s feelings, wouldn't you, Leo?” Raph scolded.

“Boo!” Mikey said toward Leo.

“You know, come to think of it, perhaps my webs could be of use in catching the bugs. I have no means to splort them around town, but surely a genius like you can create a clever device to use them. I love it.”

“Okay, I know what you're doing.” Donnie said to Big Mama as he rolled closer to her in an office chair. “You’re just trying to flatter me with the truth, and I love it.”

“Well then. Allow me.”

Big Mama threw Donnie a bucket; then she spewed webbing strains at him. Donnie yells as he is hit toward the wall, the webbing sticking all over his body.

Donnie tries to hold his gagging. “As fascinating as it is. Hideous... Oh, I hate it.” he falls to the ground. The other three are disgusted.

“Once you catch the oozequitoes, bring them to me, and I’ll safely return them to the Hidden City.”

“You got yourself a deal.” Raph said.

“Raph, what are we getting into?” Leo asked. “In case you haven’t noticed, these mystic types have a nasty habit of trying to kill us.”

“You’re being crazy. She’s helping us catch the oozequitoes. Don’t look a gift spider in the mouth.”

“Never look at her in the mouth.” Donnie said, disgusted.

…

….

……

“I looked it up. Bitey bugs from phylum arthropods are attracted to carbon dioxide.” Donnie said matter-of-factly.

“Leo, let it lose.” Raph yelled.

Leo– who was tied to the roof of the tank– began to use the carbon dioxide tank to attract the oozequitoes.

“Fire up the bug slapper.” Raph said to Donnie.

“Genius powers go!” Donnie began to jump down and activate a hovering bike from his briefcase. He fired the gun and made a web on the wall. “What, no, no!” The oozequito dodges the web. “Eat silk bug eyes! Good eye Donnie, shoots, and touchdown! Or insert sports reference.”

“Got an oozequito bagged another. Oops, that is a cantaloupe.” Donnie accidentally fired a web at someone playing basketball. “That’s a basketball player, I’m sorry, sir. My mistake.”

“Yeah!” Mikey got in front of them and took a selfie with the person.

“Boo to the yeah, another oozequito! You know, Big Mama was right to believe in me because I am killing it!” Donnie cheered.

After a while, all of the bugs are captured in a huge jar.

“Nice work, team. We must’ve got a hundred of them.” Raph praised. “Good thing we didn’t do Leo’s idea of being afraid of spiders.”

“I don’t know, I still don’t trust her. And even Kai didn’t want to be here.”

“Probably because he doesn’t like people.” Mikey suggested.

They headed into the elevator when it opened, where a big owl yokai greeted them.

“So, other guy’s day off?” Leo asked.

After they exited, they saw that Big Mama's office was dark, with webs all over the ceiling and walls. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are surrounded by the bellhops as Big Mama steps into the darkness.

“Greenie boos, gifts for Big Mama?”

“Oozequitoes. But we’re almost out of web goo.” Raph said.

“Fantumptous.” Big Mama climbs down from her spot on the ceiling. “And look at that marvelous device you’ve built me.”

“Oh, glad you like it, but uh. Actually, it’s mine. And why are your extra large bellhops standing so close all of a sudden?” Donnie asked.

“Oh, they’ll just be taking those bugs and your device. My Battle Nexus thanks you.”

“Wait a minute. You run that barbaric Battle Nexus?” Raph asked.

“Yes. Big Mama’s kind of the bees knees down in the Hidden City. You see, the pickings have gotten a little slim lately. And with these Oozequitoes, I’ll be creating wonderful warrior mutants who will be more exciting than ever! And I’ll be putting you boys to work in my Battle Nexus as well.”

“No way. We are not fighting for you.” Mikey said firmly.

“ Heavens no. You’ll be my bumbling arena clowns.”

“No, we won’t.” Mikey was about to step closer, but he slipped on a banana peel and fell, sending Raph and Donnie tumbling down with him. They groan in pain as Big Mama laughs.

“Okay, Leo. I admit it; you were right. You were right. Leo?” Raph said, but Leo didn’t answer. “Hey, where's Leo?”

“I'm sure wherever he is, he's trying to save us.” Mikey said, very sure of his answer.

Leo was still in the elevator, pressing the buttons before the elevator closed, and Leo disappeared.

“Find the blue one!” Big Mama yelled.

The yokai jumped at the three remaining turtles, pinning them down and putting mystical restraints on their hands behind their backs.

“Hey!” Donnie yelled.

As the three turtles are restrained, the bellhops start to go after Leo.

“Wait! I got a better idea. Gus~.” Big Mama singed songed that name.

“Gus? What kind of mutant or yokai is named Gus?” Donnie asked.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a terrifying dog mutant, who happens to be a friendly-looking one.

“Yep. That’s a Gus.” Raph said.

Gus skids between Big Mama and the turtles. “Whoa, dudes, is this about me chewing all those slippers? I totally didn't do it.”

“Never mind the stupid slippers.” Big Mama said, annoyed. “Get their scent and find the missing turtle.”

“On it, brah.” Gus sniffs the turtles and howls, and then he starts to leave.

“Put this splendiferously ingenious device contraction in my safe.”

“Flattered. But also betrayed.” Donnie said, a bit defeated.

“Take these charming young clowns to the Battle Nexus gateway.”

Two bellhops started to take Raph, Mikey, and Donnie away.

…

….

……

Leo is in the vents after he had escaped from the elevator. "Come out to the mutant hotel. Get together, have a few laughs. Oh, I knew we couldn’t trust spider lady! Maybe we should have listened to Kai’s warning.” Leo looked over from the vent and saw the bellhop storing the jar in the vault. He narrowed his eyes to get a close look as the yokai locked it up with everything. Leo chuckles to himself, crawling further into the vents. “I can’t wait to save Raph so I can rub it in his face.”

“Be a henchman. See the world. Worst job ever.” A random yokai complained.

Leo jumped out of the vent and landed on the janitor. He opened up the laundry chute before he gagged in disgust. “Oh, boy, dirty yokai laundry is not gonna be fun. Those guys are gonna owe me.” Leo jumps into the laundry chute and lands in a basket full of dirty clothes. A pair of underwear makes itself at home on Leo’s head. “I’m just gonna tell myself this is a t-shirt.” The underwear slips from Leo’s finger and smacks him in the face. “YECK!”

…

….

……

In the hallway, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are being escorted by the bellhops behind them.

“I can’t believe we’re gonna end up being rodeo clowns.” Donnie said.

“And you laughed at me for taking that class.” Mikey said. “Who’s gonna be when I’m minding up a storm? Ohmigosh.”

They arrive in front of the Battle Nexus portal.

“Here we are. Gateway to the Battle Nexus. Say goodbye to New York, Turtles.” The otter yokai said.

Just as they are about to push them in, a laundry bin rolls in the way.

“Alright, hold up. Laundry bin in the middle of the hallway?” The owl yokai asked.

“Classic trap. I shall investigate. The otter yokai lifts the clothes out of the bin but finds nothing. “Oh, it’s empty. Well, I guess we can let our guard down then.”

“Sounds right.”

Leo tries to make a portal from his spot in the vents. “Come on. Make a portal. Step back, step back. Yes, now step into my trap.” The air vent breaks suddenly, causing Leo to fall. Then, the brothers jumped into the portal and landed on the next floor. After they are safe, Leo cuts the restraints off their hands, setting them free. “You’re welcome for saving you.”

“If you hadn’t left us, we all could have saved ourselves together.” Raph said.

“What?”

A loud howl startled the group, and they turned. Gus leaped toward them.

“Well, we had a good run.” Leo said dramatically.

Mikey pulls out a ball. “Hey, boy, what’s this?”

“Whoa. What is that?” Gus asked excitedly before Mikey threw it in the farthest corner. “Oh, man, I gotta get that thing and bring it back.” he chases after the ball.

“I’m sorry, who was that?” Leo asked.

“Gus, was sent to eat you.” Donnie informed.

“In that case, maybe it’s time to blow this balloon factory. Once we’re safe at home, I can brag about how right I was and, in turn, how wrong you were. So let’s do it!”

“I got it. But we’re not going without Donnie’s bug slapper and the oozequitoes. We can’t leave them in Queen Eight leg’s hands.” Raph said.

Once they were in the elevator, Leo pressed the bottom to the high level. “Well, since we indubitably have no idea where–”

“Spill the beans, Leo! Every time you say indubitably, I know you’re up to something.”

“Fine. Everything is in Big Mama’s office, and we can risk our lives getting it back right now.”

“And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do. Guys, stealth mode.” Raph yelled.

“Or stealth mode.” Leo whispered.

The Turtles sneak into Big Mama’s office, and Donnie, Raph, and Mikey start looking for the safe. Leo pokes the magic portrait, which reveals the giant safe to the group. Donnie grins and, pushes Leo aside, and puts his tech-bō into buzz saw mode.

“This calls for the delicate touch of a genius.” Donnie flips his goggles down and advances on the door, starting to cut into the metal extremely loudly.

“I’ll cover the sound for you!” Mikey pushes a vase off a table and breaks it, which makes a minor tinkle noise. Mikey gives Donnie a thumbs up.

“We should be through in a couple of hours!”

“Or we can do this.” Leo puts the code in, and the vault opens.

“That’s awesome.” Raph said.

The same ball that Mikey threw earlier came back and rolled into his foot before coming to a stop. “Hey, my ball.” He picked it up and sniffed it.

The Turtles grab the Bug Slapper and the bugs, look out, and see Gus standing there, growling. “Don’t start a game of fetch you can’t finish.”

“Oh no no no no no.” Big Mama started to speak as she turned around in her office chair to see the turtles. “This simply won’t do. If there’s one rule of Big Mama has–”

“Is it forgive and forget?” Leo asked.

“Is it don’t chew on the guest slippers?” Raph asked.

“Is it no using Raph’s toothbrush?” Mikey asked while starting to brush his teeth with a red toothbrush.

“Is it Ohm’s Law?” Donnie asked.

“NO!” Big Mama shouted as she transformed and used her webbing to tie the turtles up. Once more, Raph and Leo are in separate cocoons while Mikey and Donnie are tied together.

“My rule is no stealing from Big Mama!”

Suddenly, something cuts a circle through the glass of one of the big windows in Big Mama’s office, and then it explodes. Baron Draxum rides in on one of his purple vines. “And my rule is no stealing from me!”

“Mr. Sheep to the rescue.” Mikey said.

“And that’s a good thing?” Donnie asked. “He tried to destroy us last time we saw him.”

“Scramulet to see you again, Baron Draxum. But you really must learn to use the dimbally door.” Big Mama said, annoyed.

“You must learn to use real words.” Draxum said.

“They know each other. If only one of us had seen that coming.” Leo said.

“You are a poor winner, Leo.” Raph said.

“Those are my property; fetch them my pets.” Huginn and Muninn jump down from Draxum’s shoulders, snickering evilly. And they are immediately pounced on by Gus and start screeching, clearly outmatched.

“I need these bimbaliy bugs for all those tasty victims. They will mutate for my Battle Nexus.” Big Mama cooed.

“Those were made for something much greater than your silly Battle Nexus. They’re here to eliminate the human threat forever. I will have every last one on the surface.”

Big Mama reaches out to the jar, but Draxum turns his arms into spikes and starts attacking the Jorogumo. Big Mama spewed out many webbings as Draxum dodged and used his vines. The turtles roll out of the way as Big Mama maneuvers past them. She jumps higher in the air, spitting webs at Draxum.

“What is this? Another one of your success-proof plans?” Leo asked.

“Yes. I mean, no. Look, use my shell.” Raph said.

The spikes from Raph’s shell are poking out from the cocoon. Together, Mikey and Donnie roll themselves onto Leo and wiggle. Raph’s spikes start tearing through the cocoon. Draxum throws the tennis ball, which Gus chases after, releasing the gargoyles. Huginn and Muninn work together to pick up the jar of oozesquitoes.

“To the roof! Time for us yokai to take over the surface.” Draxum yelled.

The gargoyles began to take the jar and advance to the roof. After they are free from their webs, the turtles get back up to their feet.

“Leo, portal to the roof, now!” Raph demanded.

“There you go, telling me what to do again. Well, actually, no, that’s a plan I can get behind. Can we rename today Leo Day?” Leo opens a portal, and he and Raph jump into it; the portal closes just before Mikey and Donnie try to get in.

“What are we supposed to do?” Mikey asked as Big Mama screeched. “Oh, right.”

“This’ll teach you to compliment my work and give me my first positive reinforcement from a parent aged adult ever!” Donnie yelled.

“Cowabunga!” Mikey yelled.

On the rooftop, Draxum rises to the very top of the building, and Huginn and Muninn are carrying the oozesquitoes over to him. Leo’s portal opens, and Leo and Raph tackle the gargoyles, getting the jar of bugs back.

“Leon’s got it.”

“Leo! Toss me the oozesquitoes!” Raphed yelled.

Leo drops the jar just before he’s grabbed, and Raph catches it. Draxum pulls Leo to him and dangles Leo over the side of the building by his bandana tails.

“I may created you, but I will not hesitate to destroy you.” Draxum said.

“Let my brother go!” Raph yelled.

“Not literally.” Leo yelled.

“Oh, Brothery loyalty. But my bugs are important to you as well. Which one will you choose?”

“Give him the bugs! Just give him the bugs!”

“I'm not giving him the bugs–” Raph stoped mid sentence as the jar full of bugs got taken out of his grasp and thwarted to float? away. “What the heck!?”

The bugs moved a bit closer to Draxum before they stoped inbetween him and Raph, Kai then reveled himself.

“Subject-5. I figured you had survived. Now, hand over the bugs.” Draxum said.

“Why? What was the point of us– the point of me, if you were just going to mutate the humans? Why train me for all those years if you were just going to mutate them?”

“Because you were only a part of the plan S-5! Now give me the bugs before I drop him.”

“He won’t drop Leo.” Raph spoke up.

“Yes he will. Here’s a tip, Raph, Draxum doesn’t throw threats that he doesn’t plan on doing.”

“Then just give him the bugs!” Leo yelled desperately.

Kai looked at Leo. “You’ll survive.”

“Very well then.” Draxum let go of Leo and he fell. Raph jumped after him leaving Kai and Draxum on the roof alone. “Why must you play these games, S-5? You don’t belong here!”

“I Don’t belong with you either!” Kai growled, holding onto the jar of bugs.

“You will be punished for this!”

A vine went toward Kai, he doged it, only for another vine to spring up and catch him. “NO!” Kai growled and struggled to get free as Draxum grabbed the jar to release the bugs.

“And for you punishment.” Another vine came over to Kai and secuered a muzzle to him.

“Heys, sheep man! Let Kai go!” Mikey yelled from behind Draxum.

“They gave you a name?” Draxum said as he looked to Kai. “Pathetic.” He said that last bit quietly.

Mikey and Donnie started to fight Draxum to get him to release Kai. During the fight, Draxum threw Kai across the roof. Kai dug his claws into the roof to stop himself from falling off. Focusing back on the fight, Kai could see that Draxum had somehow managed to drop the key to his muzzle; now he just needs to get it. His gear can turn invisible with him because of a special spell that’s on them, but the muzzle won’t turn invisible too.

“Mikey!” Kai yelled despite the pain that it caused from the muzzle.

“Yeah?”

“Grab that thing!” Draxum was distracted by Donnie, so maybe he wont notice.

“Okidoki!” Mikey dashed to grab the key as Donnie landed one last hit on Draxum.

“This is not over!” Draxum yelled as he opened a portal. “I will be back for you Subject-5!” And with that, Draxum went through the portal and it closed behind him.

“Alright! We did it!” Mikey cheered.

“Yes, but we still have a problem.” Donnie said as he looked at Kai with the muzzle. “We should get that off.” Donnie walked over to Kai and tried to take the muzzle off without any luck.

“You can’t get it off without the key, Donnie.”

“Surly we can just cut the straps.”

“You don’t think I have tried that? No, that won’t work, you need the key.” The spikes were already starting to dig into his beak enough to draw blood. “Mikey, that thing I pointed out to you.”

“Oh!” Mikey grabed the key from his belt where he had put it. “This is the key, isn’t it!”

“Yeah, that’s it. I wasn’t expecting Draxum to drop it, but at least we can get the muzzle off.”

Mikey stepped closer and unlocked the muzzle and Kai took it off, starting to clean the blood from his beak.

A mechanical arm popped out of Donnie’s battle shell and grabbed the muzzle and key and stored it into his battle shell. “Come on, we should meet back up with Leo and Raph and then head home.”

<- Prev Next ->

[raphmybeloved]

After The Fight

This is a little fic for @idiot-mushroom 's Where We Belong au which you should for sure check out! For context, Raph (going by Snapper) is a fighter in the Battle Nexus and at this point Mikey (going by Orange) acts as his medic. This AU lives rent free in my head and I couldn't help but write a little something.

The roaring of the crowd is deafening. It almost but not quite drowns out the sounds of the battle raging in the arena. 

Orange tries not to pay attention to either sound as he sits cross legged on a wooden bench adding a new design to his plastron. The angle is hard to manage but he had just managed to track down a silver marker and his plans for the latest drawing are ambitious.

Besides it isn’t  like he needs to watch the fight, he’s seen enough of them and he already knows how it will end. No need to see the carnage this time.

Sure enough the cheers get louder signaling the end of the match. 

“Big guy is ready for you,” one of the handlers says, ducking his head into the room. Orange caps his marker and hops down from the bench. He stretches and then grabs his medic bag hoping that he won’t need to use it but knowing that he will.

As he walks into the holding room they use for Snapper he immediately knows it’s going to be a rough one. The fighter is pulling against his mystic restraints, thrashing hissing and growling in a manner that would strike fear into any yokai.

Orange isn’t any yokai though and he’s never been afraid of his brother.

“Hey Snaps!” He greets in a forced cheery voice as he begins to examine Snapper’s wounds, from a distance of course, he might not be afraid of his brother but he’s not stupid. 

The injuries aren’t too bad. Some claw marks on Snapper’s arms, a bite on his shoulder, a swollen hand that probably means broken fingers. Most of the blood on his plastron is not his and while he definitely needs to be patched up he’s not in danger of passing out or bleeding out anytime soon.

Now that Orange has some idea of what injuries he needs to take care of it’s time for the hard part. Time to calm his brother down from the semi-feral state he goes into during hard fights.

“Looks like you didn’t get too badly hurt big guy.” Snapper just bites at the air in response. “Check it out I’ve started to finally use the silver marker I got,” Orange says brightly gesturing at the half finished drawing on his plastron. “Oh! Also Mama said she’ll pull some strings and try to get Draxum to let redeye and soft shell have a sleepover for my birthday isn’t that cool!!”

Through years of practice Orange has learned that familiar voices help calm his brother and rambling at him for a while can bring him back. He forces a cheerful voice and does that for a while, talking about little things like his new projects and what they should get for dinner and plans for the future. 

About fifteen minutes into his rambles Orange frowns realizing it’s not working. Snapper is still pulling at his restraints hissing and biting at the air. Orange quickly looks around to see if they are being listened to. There’s one last way to get him to calm down but it’s risky. Seeing the coast is clear he gets as close to Snapper as he can while staying out of attack range and lowers his voice.

“Hey Raph,” he says in a soft voice. “It’s me, your brother. I’m here. Come on Raph.” Using Snappers former name is dangerous, Big Mama doesn’t like it and it’s a punishable offense but it always helps Snapper when he’s really bad like this.

Sure enough he stops fighting and starts blinking, eyes getting less cloudy and pupils returning. Orange reaches out and puts a gentle hand on his brother's cheek. “There you are big guy,” he says with a smile.

Snapper’s mouth opens and closes a few times as if he’s trying to figure out how to speak. Eventually he manages to push the words out.

“You okay?” He asks Orange, who in turn steps back and shows Snapper that he’s unharmed. It’s an old routine after Snapper almost took his finger off once. Orange hates how much relief Snapper gets from it, hates that his brother is so terrified that he’ll hurt him.

“I’m all good! Time to get you fixed up, you won by the way,”  Orange says and Snapper snorts.

“I always do.”

Orange reaches  into the pouch strapped to his waist and pressing the button that loosens Snappers restraints. Snapper slumps to the ground and lets Orange begin his work. He talks the whole time, mostly repeating what he had talked about when Snapper was in his savage state but now to a brother who can nod along and ask questions.

Orange hates this. Hates that his brother is sent to fight. Hates that he’s treated like a wild animal. Hates that Orange has to tend to his wounds as Snapper gets hurt. Hates that the woman who calls them her sons does this to them over and over. 

For all he hates his situation though he is grateful for one thing. At least the two of them have each other. At least Snapper isn’t doing this alone and Orange can be there to comfort him. For now that’s enough. It has to be.

[nakmor-leigh]

I posted 9,805 times in 2022

170 posts created (2%)

9,635 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@infernalfae

@threefeline

@awi-usdi

@ironbullsmissingeye

@darkspawntaxcollectors

(ilyall 😘)

I tagged 896 of my posts in 2022

#rottmnt movie - 37 posts

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles - 33 posts

#rise of the tmnt - 28 posts

#rottmnt - 26 posts

#baron draxum - 22 posts

#flashing lights - 13 posts

#😍😍😍 - 12 posts

#dragon age absolution - 10 posts

#rottmnt draxum - 9 posts

#self reblog - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 83 characters

#they don't care about your finances or how much you need your phone service to work

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

266 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

#4

So like, if Big Mama kidnapped Lou Jitsu and had him trapped in the Battle Nexus up until DRAXUM kidnapped and mutated him, does that mean human law enforcement has a cold case open for Lou Jitsu's disappearance???

273 notes - Posted July 23, 2022

#3

Draxum might have had to choose between retreating with his people or staying with the Turtles

AND HE WOULD HAVE CHOSEN HIS FAMILY

313 notes - Posted August 7, 2022

#2

Okay so i think it's WAY funnier and makes way more sense for the Turtles usage of "Big Brother" and "Little Brother" to be ENTIRELY literal.

They were all mutated on the same day at the same time. They're all actually the same age. But Raph is the biggest, so he's the BIG Brother. Donnie and Leo are mid sized, so they're the "middle" children. Mikey is the smallest, and so he's the "little" Brother

And it's ALL Splinter's fault. He started it

589 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Aight i keep seeing this and it's kinda ticking me off so I'm gonna try and change some minds

I've been seeing people site "Late Fee", where Splinter offers to reward the boys with a hug and the boys are enthusiastic and motivated by a hug, as evidence that Splinter is an awful parent

Have you considered that maybe he ACTUALLY raised the boys to just REALLY like hugs????

First, i was raised in a household with a VERY loving mom and a pretty abusive dad. Pulling teeth was easier than trying to get love from dad. But mom gave love like it was going out of style, and she ALSO would offer hugs as rewards for tasks done. I was JUST as enthusiastic as the boys because mom hugs were the BEST, not because i was desperate for them.

Second, the boys are ALWAYS hugging on each other, April, AND Splinter anyways ON SCREEN. It's so obvious that they're a super loving family. Kids don't just pick that up, that's something the adults in their life show them.

Like yeah, i know that Splinter isn't the BEST dad. He can be pretty lazy, but he's also the single parent of FOUR mutant children without any support structures and STILL manages to rarely blow up in anger at the boys (he'll start to get angry, then take a moment to calm down and collect himself), actively practices healthy communication, and regularly compliments the boys and tells them that he loves them. I have SEEN parental neglect and that is NOT IT. It's lazy parenting at WORSE

And before you say "Well Mikey said he doesn't know what Splinter's whiskers feel like!", bruh i think that's just a MIKEY thing. This is the same dude that eats peanut butter with his fingers while his brother has a PEANUT ALLERGY (you and me both Raph, you and me both)

845 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[remmushound]

Bay/rise 27!! @errorfreak88 @selfindulgenz. Special thanks to @brightlotusmoon for help with this chapter!!

Mikey’s eyes popped out of his hiding space to watch Raph do his reps, giggling like a hatchling. Raph noticed him, of course, but didn't give his baby brother any attention. He was winding down to hopefully catch a few quick hours of sleep while Leo meditated on their next move against this ‘Draxum’.. After nearly ten minutes of being eyed down like the last slice of pizza, Raph couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Can I help you with something?” Raph put his weights up and sat up with his arms crossed.

Mikey finally came out from behind the weight rack without saying a word and collapsed onto Raph. Raph gave a grunt at the heavy weight, then scowled as the hug went on for far longer than he had anticipated.

“Whatcha doin’~?”

“Uh. Liftin’.” Raph answered, giving Mikey a pat on the carapace hoping it would dislodge him. It didn't work. “What are you doing?”

Mikey grunted and slid down into Raph’s lap, laying over his legs like a melting ice cream. “I’m boooooooored.”

“Whatchu want me to do about it?”

“Make me not booooored!”

Raph rolled his eyes and finally shoved Mikey off of him, laying down and trying to go back to his lifting. He didn't even see Mikey move, but by the time his hands were back on the handle bar, Mikey was perched on it staring down at him. Raph decided not to acknowledge him and proceeded to lift a few more times before Mikey slid down and plopped himself on Raph’s chest.

“Pay attention to meeeeee!” Mikey pawed him like a cat.

Raph lifted the weight back into its rack and picked up Mikey, putting him back in the rack as well. Raph left him there and went for the treadmill, but before he could even start it, Mikey ran and jumped on his back with his arms wrapped around Raph’s neck.

“What’s your problem Mikey?!” Raph snarled and spun around, tossing Mikey off of him and sending the smaller turtle to the ground with a hurt expression. Raph took a few deep, shaky breaths. “I just wanna be alone right now Mikey.”

“Okay…” Mikey didn't bother arguing, leaving Raph alone with his head hanging low.

***

“DON!”

Donnie screamed and almost dropped the orb, bouncing it a few times between his hands before he was able to get a good grip on it and then glare back at his brother.

“Mikey! You almost made me drop New York!”

“Did I scare ya?” Mikey slid in beside Donnie, resting his head and arms on the table.

“Yes.” Donnie huffed, carefully placing the orb back on the desk. “What do you want?”

“I’m bored!” Mikey sat up and rested his head on Donnie’s shoulder instead. “What are you doing? Can I help?”

“The other Donatello is letting me take notes on the mystic orb, and no you can’t help.”

“Why not?” Mikey rolled onto Donnie’s other shoulder, “My eyes are better than yours! I can help!”

“No, Mikey.” Donnie shoved Mikey off of him, but Mikey came back quickly.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Would you please just leave me alone?” Donnie didn't mean for the words to come out so harshly, but they did.

Mikey pulled away and his eyes fell, shaking his shoulders and dragging his feet on the floor. “Sorry. Just wanted to help.”

Donnie tried to call back to his brother as Mikey walked off, but no words came out. A moment of regretful silence and Donnie turned his attention back to the orb.

***

“Hey Leo! Whatchu doing?”

Leo sat with his legs crossed on the floor, his eyes closed, and hands folded on his lap. In front of him were scented candles that filled the air with an alluring scent of lavender.

“Meditating? That’s cool.” Mikey sat down beside him, crossing his own legs and trying to copy Leo’s calm. “I think I’m gonna do that too. Ommmmmm! Ommmm!”

While Mikey hummed, tapping his fingers together in a stim, Leo slowly broke from his own state and opened an eye to glare at the loud turtle making a mockery of him.

“Mikey.”

Mikey’s eyes shot open. “Is meditation over? Sweet! That took forever! Let’s go play Super Mario brothers!”

“Mikey.” Leo’s patience was running thin.

“I’ll let you be Mario…” Mikey said softly— hopefully.

“Please leave me be.”

Mikey hung his head and gave a weak nod as he got to his feet and walked away to leave Leo to his activity.

***

“Hey!” Michelangelo’s chipper voice quickly turned solemn at the sad look on Mikey’s face. He pulled himself onto the bed beside the upset box turtle and stared at him for a long moment before saying, “You’re upset.”

Mikey nodded. “I don’t feel good.”

“How not good?”

Mikey shrugged.

Michelangelo hummed and rocked back and forth for a moment before giving an excited squeak and running off for a second. Mikey watched as he left but said nothing. Michelangelo returned minutes later, much to Mikey’s confusion, and offered him a giant hunk of clay.

“Here! Mold while we talk!”

“Thanks!” Mikey took the clay and almost immediately started to fiddle around with it while Michelangelo pulled himself back beside him, saying nothing. Mikey let himself play with the clay for several awkward minutes before suddenly saying, “You like pizza?”

Michelangelo beamed. “Ohhhh! I love pizza! My favorite kind is pepperoni!”

“I’m more of a meat lover's pie myself.” Mikey held a hand to his chest proudly.

“Oh that’s good too!”

Another silence followed. Mikey kept finding himself looking over at Michelangelo, expecting the turtle to say or ask something. But Michelangelo didn't.

“So…” Mikey whistled, trying to make the silence somewhat more bearable.

“Something on your mind?” Michelangelo prompted with an innocent smile.

“Um. Just… the silence is weird!” Mikey laughed, and Michelangelo giggled along with him, “Like, I feel like we should be talking about something!”

“Well, what do you want to talk about?”

Mikey only shrugged. Michelangelo let the silence go on a moment longer before saying,

“How… about what’s making you so sad?”

“Who said I’m sad?”

“You’re sitting here alone on your bed looking like you lost your best friend. And I saw how you were on the rooftop earlier… when they were talking about… you know.” Michelangelo thought it best not to mention the name. “Do you dislike hugs…?”

Mikey traced his fingers across a crack on his plastron. “I love hugs! I love giving them! Just… not getting them… not anymore...”

“So... you don’t dislike hugs. You dislike being squeezed. Because somebody hurt you like that on purpose…”

Mikey gulped.

“That’s okay. It’s okay to not like being squeezed.” Michelangelo said slowly, “Do your brothers know?”

“No. Then think because my cracks are healed that I’m healed...”

“Mm. Well, I won’t tell them if you won’t want me to. But you should. You have autonomy over your own body, even if it's against your family. Especially if it's against your family! If you don’t set boundaries, then they can’t know when they cross them.”

“But I don’t wanna upset them…”

Michelangelo scoffed. “Upset them? Our brothers are shinobi! They’re tough as nails! And if they can’t take you setting your own rules on your own body then they seriously need to reconsider their life choices. Your body is your temple to paint and restrict as much as you so wish! But I can tell I’m not getting through to you… so. How does roleplaying sound?”

“Roleplaying?”

“You pretend to be your Raph, and I’ll pretend to be you! Now: Try and hug me!”

“Oh— okay!” Mikey sat up a little taller and cleared his throat. “Hey bro! Come give Raphie bear a hug!”

“I would rather not be hugged right now.” Michelangelo stated calmly, “I will however accept a fist bump, high five, or pat.” Mikey held out his hand for a high five, and Michelangelo quickly obliged. “There you go! Now be more insistent! Demand a hug!”

Mikey was still in character, so quickly said, ��Naw man, you’s gotta give me a hug!” And he moved to hug Michelangelo.

Michelangelo shoved him away and hopped back. “I do not consent to being hugged!”

Mikey withdrew at the sudden shout, bringing his hands back to his chest and staring wide-eyed. Michelangelo’s faux-rage quickly faded back to his gigglish state as he bounced back over and hopped on the bed.

“See? So next time he goes to hug you, but you don’t want him to, then try that!”

“That was scary cool!” Mikey laughed, “Where’d you learn how to do that?”

“My dad taught me! He always told me to stick up for myself and for those who can’t do it themselves! A bully’s just that. Except in this situation, your mind is the bully making you sick! And once you get it under control, you can manage everything a lot better! And the first way to do that is to set boundaries for yourself.”

“Your dad has such cool advice.” Mikey laughed, “My dad’s only told me that people fear what they don’t understand.”

“And they hate what they fear.” Michelangelo finished with a solemn nod, “That much is true.”

“Yeah…” Mikey’s voice was raw, stripped of stereotypes and mimics. Just… himself. “I just wish they didn't.”

“You can wish and wish and wish, but things aren’t gonna get better unless you make them that way. Little by little. But start with helping yourself, okay?” Michelangelo put a gentle hand on the giant mutant's leg. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot. Things aren’t going to get better; it’s not.”

Mikey was silent for a long moment. “Did you just quote Dr.Seuss—?”

“Yeah, I just quoted Dr.Seuss, you got a problem with it?”

Mikey thought a moment, and then only laughed. “Hey— no judgement here! Suess rocks!”

[danzinora-switch]

Typing the Turtles (ROTTMNT) Part 2 - Donatello

This started out as an investigation into the turtles’ insecurities, because one thing the show does so well is demonstrate that they are still teenagers. And being a teenager is a confusing experience - there’s angst, drama, exploring one’s identity, a lot of growth, and overall figuring out who you are. That’s a messy process, too! And we see this mess in our turtles: they mess up, they’re learning, they self-doubt, they have fears and insecurities, but they’re also discovering their strengths and how to overcome their inner obstacles.

So after thinking about all this way too long, here’s my psychological breakdown of each turtle (I’ll be referencing MBTI and the Enneagram, but will include links for more general information on those if you don’t know what I’m talking about).

Donnie: INTJ, 5w6

The Architect, the Investigator, the Problem-Solver, the Observer

Firstly, getting into this analysis means that we have to step away from the stereotype that all INTJs are cold, aloof, and unemotional. INTJs, especially Turbulent ones, do express emotion, and we’ve all seen Donnie’s dramatic ‘theatre kid’ side. I’m not going to ignore that. He manages to be both thanks to the INTJ’s tertiary function Introverted Feeling (Fi). Extroverted Feeling (Fe) really allows one to connect and empathize with others’ emotions. Fi, however, is a more internal experience of feelings, and has trouble connecting with others without having been in their shoes. I happen to think Donnie is in a strong Ni-Fi loop, as well, which would make sense because fighting bad guys every day while trying to save the world after discovering a Mystic City which upbends everything you ever knew is pretty stressful. https://www.psychologyjunkie.com/2017/06/21/intjs-loop-understanding-ni-fi-loop/

And it’s super interesting that he often expresses his emotions by literally saying them. “Evil laugh! Relishing chuckle! Gasp!” (Mind Meld) and, one of my favorites, he literally says “Sad face emoji” in Many Unhappy Returns.

So while we DO see Donnie experience and display his own emotions, we also DON’T see him all that affected by other people’s emotions. He’s still pretty stoic in Mystic Mayhem after the delivery guy gets mutated, cracking a joke about imitation crab. He’s unaffected by Todd’s puppies in Repo Mantis, and the only one immune to Warren Stone’s sob story in Warren & Hypno Sitting in a Tree. Pizza Pit shows it best when he’s unaffected when Mikey’s favorite pizza place collapses until the same thing happens to him. Fi at work vs Fe.

As for Donnie being a 5w6, keep this core motivation in mind: “[Fives] Want to possess knowledge, to understand the environment, to have everything figured out as a way of defending the self from threats from the environment.” https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-5

Donnie at his Worst: Donnie vs. Witch Town gave us this gem of a line: “Because I’m the science guy! If mystic powers can do everything I can do, but better, then why would you guys even need me?” And while people have pointed out his need to be needed, I argue it’s a little more accurate to say he has a need to belong. His role in the group is the Brainiac, the Science Guy, the Smart One, and so his very identity is tied into fulfilling that role. A 5’s core fear is of being useless, helpless, or incapable. Mystic powers rendering his tech redundant, and thereby him useless, would be a pretty big threat to the security of his role in the group (that 6 wing kicking in). And remember a 5’s core motivation: to understand the environment as a defense. And he still doesn’t understand mystic energy. It’s pretty infuriating, so he’s pretty insufferable about it.

[Note: seeing mystic power as a threat probably didn’t kick in until their fight with Shredder in Many Unhappy Returns. Prior to that, his brothers were still learning how to use their magic weapons, but Donnie already understood his tech well enough to use it effectively (see their first fight against Baron Draxum in the pilot). But against the Shredder… all his tech was useless. Only the hanky, the hanky, was even marginally effective. His brothers’ weapons were now way more capable than anything he had to offer… core 5 fear. And to cope? Learn all you can about your fear/threat. Except he still hasn’t figured it out; we see even in Air Turtle that he calls Draxum for the mystic expertise instead of formulating his own hypothesis].

We’ve seen this insecurity about his place in the group before. In Mind Meld, as his brothers become more like him, his role is challenged. “Hey, you’re trying to get rid of me, that’s what I do to you!” “But, I thought purple was my... my thing.” When he first meets the Purple Dragon he immediately wants to join them because he sees them as tech peers. In Man vs Sewer even though he professes that it’s his day off, he doesn’t react well whenever Leo does ‘his thing’: analyzing the situation and drawing a conclusion. His self-worth seems to be tied to what he has to offer the group, and we hear that even in his song in The Mystic Library about proving himself.

Besides his insecurity, Donnie is practically allergic to blame. (Interestingly enough, he’s more okay with being wrong and others being right sometimes… sure he’ll deflect, but it doesn’t seem to get under his skin the way being at fault does). He will repeatedly deny fault and shift the blame to someone else when something goes wrong. He denies creating AlBearto in Al Be Back, says the incident with the Purple Dragons in The Purple Jacket is entirely April’s fault (she is not amused) and puts the blame for ditching Todd off on his brothers in Todd Scouts. The one time we see him own up his mistakes is in Mind Meld when no one (except Shelldon) is around to see it. “Yup. I beefed up.” This is definitely an area he needs to work on.

Average Donnie: Donnie cares for his brothers, but that doesn’t always get across in the best of ways. Take the episode Donnie’s Gifts, for example. Donnie never actually got a chance to explain how the gifts work, but we can see protective elements in each of them. Raph: please use your head and don’t just blindly rush in! Mikey: ohmygosh that is so dangerous, please be careful and don’t get hurt! Leo: stop poking the bear, Leo, it only makes him angrier! It makes sense that a 5 who has external fears of the world and has their own protective equipment (the Battle Shells) would extend that to his brothers. And Donnie was able to recognize that even though his brothers got the wrong message, he could move past that and call for a group hug. In the Purple Game he is super anxious to make sure his brothers are okay and not mostly hurt. Insane in the Mama Train also reveals the invention of the Panic Button… and who designed that?

Donnie also seeks a lot of validation. He takes pride in his work, and when his work is appreciated he gives that appreciation back tenfold [such as when he shows off the Turtle Tank to his brothers (Fast and Furriest), or when Splinter says he’s proud of him (Turtle-dega Nights: the Ballad of Rat Man)]. The flip side is that when he’s not getting the validation he needs from others he’ll create it himself, which comes off as arrogant and egocentric. See Smart Lair, when Sheldon 1.0 plays messages of Donnie’s self-worth all night, and is programmed to favor him. Or when he takes full credit for defeating a bad guy: the silverfish in Donnie’s Gifts, and scaring Draxum away with his disco ball in Shadow of Evil. When he gets the recognition for all his hard work from the right people, though, it inspires him to do great things. There is danger in getting validation from the wrong people, however, as we saw in Big Mama’s case in Bug Busters.

Donnie at his Best: Donnie’s at his best (and most relaxed) whenever he’s learning or building something. He gets super excited and happy attending April’s school (The Purple Jacket) or going to the library (The Mystic Library) and wants to attend college someday (The Mutant Menace). The INTJ/5 seeks to absorb information and he’s constantly energized by it.

He’s also energized when he can put that information to use, such as when building something. Did Albearto need a total tear-down in War and Pizza? No. But Donnie had fun making him ‘dazzle!’ How did Donnie cope being in the woods in Todd Scouts? By building an impressive tree fort. Donnie’s projects actually relax him, because he’s exercising his strength and capabilities.

This also works for his method of attacks and plans: Know Thine Enemy. He studies Warren Stone in Newsworthy when they meet him and is the only one who remembers he regenerates by Warren & Hypno Sitting in a Tree. Donnie and Mikey are able to successfully scam Repo Mantis in One Man’s Junk because they know how he thinks. Donnie thwarts everything the Purple Dragons do and can bring Shelldon home because he knows how they operate  (The Purple Game, Breaking Purple). He can restore his brothers to their rightful minds in Mind Meld because he knows himself. 

Also: music. The fact that one of his Battle Shells has a music mode (Mascot Melee), that he remembers things in song form (The Mystic Library, Donnie vs Witch Town), and that he likes to dance (Stuck on You) is so pure and adorable.

Donnie Relationships: 

(while Donnie does see his brothers as dum-dums at times, he admits they’re fun and pretty great to have in Mind Meld)

Raph: We really need a Donnie and Raph episode, but even without one there’s some moments we can look at. I already discussed in Raph’s analysis their general similarities. Donnie doesn’t think Raph always has the brightest ideas, but still has soft moments with him such as giving him $20 at the end of Mind Meld, designing the ‘captain’s chair’ of the Turtle Tank to Raph’s lumbar settings, and appreciating Raph’s pirate accent in Snow Day. They are both protective of their brothers, Raph with his fists and Donnie with his tech. It’s interesting that (I believe) they’re the reverse of each other on the Enneagram: Raph is a 6w5, and Donnie a 5w6. So they both understand the risks involved in what they do (mostly: Donnie still ate poison and Raph still goes on ‘smashcapades’). I really want to see a team-up between them.

Leo: I’m all for the Disaster Twins trope, but to me an episode that epitomizes that isn’t one like Lair Games, where they’re at each other’s throats, but Operation Normal. They’ve apparently done the grandma-getup before. They wind up playing as good cop, bad cop in Fast and Furriest. Sure, one’s high-strung, and one’s laid-back, which can get on each others’ nerves, but there’s also a lot of making up. Brotherly betrayal passes back and forth between them, but never crosses a line. And the numerous times they unconsciously mirror each other can be found with a simple search of the Disaster Twins tag. I’m interested to see more episodes where they work together, even in the background, just because they can get up to wild shenanigans.

Mikey: Mikey’s probably the turtle Donnie most gets along with. They’ve had several episode team-ups: Repo Mantis, One Man’s Junk, Turtle-dega Nights: the Ballad of Rat Man, Breaking Purple, etc. Donnie may be the team academic, but Mikey has strong emotional intelligence. They get along pretty easily, making plans together (One Man’s Junk) and protecting each other (we see Donnie protect Mikey in Repo Mantis and Bug Busters, but we see Mikey protect Donnie by pulling him out of the way in Smart Lair). Donnie helps Mikey focus on the goal at hand, and Mikey helps Donnie communicate better with others. They’re a good team with a pretty solid foundation.

Ultimately, Donnie’s an inventive turtle who wants his brothers to be safe but is still wrestling with a lot of insecurities and unhealthy stress levels. I’m excited to see how he grows into real confidence and utilizes his strengths as an integral member of the team.

For more information on the INTJ and Enneagram 5 personality types, click here:

https://www.16personalities.com/intj-personality

https://www.crystalknows.com/enneagram/type-5-wing-6

https://thoughtcatalog.com/heidi-priebe/2016/01/mbti-and-the-enneagram-2/6/

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT drabble: It’s... probably a phase

((Had this silly idea a while ago, but I was suddenly inspired to write it out for funzies. Hope you all enjoy! ^v^))

No matter how many times he saw it, Mikey was sure that he was NEVER going to get tired of seeing the Hidden City. The unique architecture, the bright colors, the dragons and giant birds flying all over the place - it was AMAZING!

Not to mention all the various locations that he still had to see and explore - like the Hidden City Mall! Maybe for any other teenager, a mall would have been mundane - boring, even. But not for Mikey. Not when he had been given permission to explore the mall by himself as long as he remembered to text his fam every few hours, and especially not when it was so different than the malls he'd see on TV. In a way, it was like some of the shōtengai (or commercial districts) they had in Japan, according to their dad. Rather than being confined into one building, it was instead a long stretch of road that was covered with tiles on the ground, had large and open entrances and exits onto the street, and a curved roof above (making it seem a bit more 'indoor' than a marketplace or the Pirate Bazaar down by the docks).

"Coooooool~!" Mikey grinned, his pace increasing as he walked inside. There were plenty of different shops to browse through, from the specialty to the common. Some sold food and pharmacy others while others sold clothes, toys and knick-knacks. There was a shop full of scrolls and tombs, a shop for crystals and mystic gems, and even a pretty neat antique shop! But, as Mikey began heading towards a stand-up noodle bar for a quick lunch, a store that seemed to be covered in shadows quickly caught his attention instead.

The walls of the shop were painted black, with only covered candles providing any sort of life. The letters above the shop were written in Yokai-ese, but just based on the blood red color and the way they were written, Mikey could still tell that the shop was going for a 'hardcore' vibe. A bit intimidating maybe, but also interesting - interesting enough for him to walk inside, the orange of his bandana and the colorful stickers on his chest instantly making him stand out against the racks of black and dark colored clothing and the silver, spiky jewelry on display.

...Huh. So the Hidden City had goths and punks. Who knew?

Since the shop didn't have too many customers at the moment, it was that much easier for the two employees currently on duty to notice him. "Uhhh, you lost, kid?" one of them - a grey-furred hound with a pretty wicked nose ring and a black poncho with several chains hanging off it - asked, raising an eyebrow at the young box turtle.

"Oh, no," Mikey said, giving him a friendly smile, "I'm just browsing."

The other employee - a snake girl with purple scales and red highlights in her slightly spiked hair - chuckled. "You sure this is the store you wanna be browsing in?" she asked him, sticking her tongue out a bit, "There is a kimono shop just a few stores down that seems a little more... your style."

"Already saw it," Mikey replied, "And yeah, they were really nice! Really colorful too - but wayyyy out of my price range." He picked up a couple shirts, looking them over before putting them back. "But hey, this stuff is really cool too!"

"Hmph, oh really?" the hound asked dryly. Great, another poser. Just what they needed. "And just what is so 'cool' about it?"

"Lots of things!" Mikey grinned, "Though, I guess what I really enjoy about the goth style is how you guys are able to use a limited palette to not only express yourself, but still make something really unique and memorable! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all sorts of bright and warm colors, but expressing yourself with only one or two colors that really mean a lot to you, and being able to focus on just them while still being able add so much style to that one palette is pretty impressive! And pretty cool too, if I do say so myself! I really love the way you guys use metals and stuff to catch the light and catch people's attention." He picked up a spiked collar, admiring it. "Plus, it just looks really sick."

"..." The two employees shared a look before smiling at each other. "Huh... I guess when you put it that way, it is pretty cool," the snake agreed, actually looking sort of touched by Mikey's comments, "I mean, for record, being goth is about wayyyyy more than just the fashion. But, hey, I can hang with someone who can respect and appreciate the aesthetic without being shallow about it."

"Yeah, and you know... if you like the style that much, I think you could pull it off," the hound added.

Mikey's eyes went sparkly at that. "Really?!"

"Sure, kid! We've got some stuff that would look great on you!" "Aaaand, I think we could let you use our employee discount too. Since you're, you know, cool."

"Sweet!" Mikey grinned, pumping his fist in the air, "What are we waiting for? Let's make me over! Goth style~!"

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

Splinter had been planning on texting his youngest during the next commercial break, but before he could even reach for his phone, he heard Mikey call out from the lower level. "Hey, Pop! I'm home!"

"Oh good, I was just wondering when you would get back," Splinter replied, "So, did you have fun shopping?"

"Yeah, it was great! You wanna see what I bought?"

Splinter chuckled. "Oh, I suppose." That was enough to make Mikey race towards the TV room, his steps quick and obviously excited. Sitting up a bit, Splinter wondered what it was his youngest could have bought. Some fancy and fun new hat, maybe? Orange did always like playing dress-up. All of his boys did, really. They must have gotten that from him. Or maybe it was something in his favorite color? Or maybe-

He heard a small grunt behind him as Mikey lifted himself onto the second floor. "Tada! Take a look at me!"

"Okay okay, let's see-" Splinter looked over his shoulder, and his eyes nearly bulged right out of his head. He sputtered a bit before finally managing to shout, "Who are you and whAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY BOY ORANGE?!”

Mikey tilted his head at his father. "Huh? Dad, it's me. I just got a new look"

Splinter narrowed his eyes a bit. It certainly sounded like his Orange, but...

Mikey's mask had been dyed completely black, only the tips of his mask tails remaining orange. He was wearing a black tank top with a spiked collar and long, fingerless black gloves. Hanging over his shoulders and shell, covering up his bright yellow spots, was a black trenchcoat. His dark cargo pants had been spray painted with orange at the bottom of each leg cuff, almost looking like flames, and heavy black boots tied it all together.

"Come on, Pop! Don't I look great?" Mikey asked, holding up a 'rock and roll' gesture. ...Or, at least he was trying to. It was sort of hard to do with only three fingers. "I saw this goth store in the Hidden City, and I just HAD to give it a try! Don't you think it looks cool?"

"Er, w-well, ah..." Mikey frowned, disappointment starting to creep on his face.

...Well, that settled it. He may have looked very VERY different, but this was no rebellious phase or sudden change in his otherwise cheery attitude. He was still his son - still the same box turtle Splinter knew and love. "I think you look very, ah, unique!" Splinter told him, "And, uh, veeeeery fashionable and cool!"

Mikey grinned. "Awww, thanks Dad!"

"Hey, are you guys screaming in he-WHOA!" they heard Raph say from the atrium, “Mikey? Is that really you?!”

Mikey laughed, amused at his oldest brother's expression. "Yep! It's really me, baby!" Thankfully, Donnie and Leo didn't seem as shocked, though they were still mildly surprised.

“Huh… You know, out of all of us, I thought for sure Donnie would be the one who’d have a goth phase,” Leo said.

His twin shrugged. “Eh, my natural aesthetic is more high school prep meets cyberpunk.”

As Mikey ran off to give his brothers a closer look at his new goth duds, Splinter gave a small sigh. He would always try to support his sons and give anything that they cared about - whether it be likes, hobbies or even fashion - a chance, and he would continue doing that for the sake of his boys and their feelings... But a small part of him couldn't help but hope that Mikey's 'goth phase' didn't last TOO long.

Later that night, he received a text from Draxum - and surprisingly, this one wasn't some complaint or request. From the Baron's perspective, it was actually positive!

"Lou Jitsu - I know we don't always agree, but for the record, I also approve of Michelangelo's 'new look'. Very intimidating... A good starting point for a young warrior... Plus, all the black fits in with his ninja side. A win-win as it were, right?"

Splinter could only groan.

[rottmntquotes]

Out Of Commission

"Ooooohhhh yeeeeeaaaahhh! I can't believe Hueso allowed us to be the first ones to try his new pizza!"

A symphony of agreements was let out in response to Leo's cheer, followed by excited chanting as Hueso approached the table. Despite the cacophony the boys were creating, Hueso managed to fight back an annoyed sigh, setting his new pizza down on the table and watching as his best customers prepared to dig in. Before this could happen, however, Donnie got a call from April, who alerted them to a battle that was going on between two mutants in Central Park. Much to their dismay, the team was unable to gather the pizza to go, but Leo decided to take a slice and swallow it whole as they stood to leave.

"Can't let your kindness go to waste!" Leo shouted, stopping mid-run and turning around to swallow another slice. And another. And another. "Hueso, this pizza is super fucking good!"

"LEO! GET OVER HERE!" Raph ordered, huffing as Leo complained loudly. No more words were said afterwards, and the boys were gone in no time. Once they were finally gone, Hueso chuckled, gathering the remaining slices of pizza- which meant the two slices Leo was forced to leave -and taking them to the back to throw them away. Knowing that the pizza was good enough to feed any of the turtles was enough reassurance to Hueso that it would be good enough to feed everyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"I swear to bob, if we have to deal with those ferret mutants one more time, I'm going to use my Ōdachi to dig my own grave."

"You said it brother."

"I hear that."

"Don't have to say that again..."

Calming silence followed the brief conversation, and the boys sat on the floor in the main atrium before deciding to break apart and go to their rooms. For the moment, none of the boys had enough energy to take showers, so they collectively decided that they would take care of those necessities in the morning. As bedtime came, everyone seemed fairly relaxed, and the night went by without a hitch.

At least, for everyone but Leo.

"Ugh... stupid stomach... why are you so upset?" Leo whined softly, curling in on himself and shuddering. Teeth chattered rapidly and low growling echoed through Leo's room, accompanied by soft whispers that made Leo's eyes shift constantly in search of the sources. At one point, Leo swore that he saw a small child run past his room, and it aroused a side of him that he didn't even know existed. Low growls turned into loud hissing, and Leo crawled onto the ground, stalking towards his room's archway on all fours. With every step, Leo became more and more tense, his body instinctively preparing itself for a scuffle. Once he was finally at the archway, Leo crouched down, going silent and waiting exactly six seconds before racing out of his room, screeching loudly and yelping as he fell off the ledge of the sewer.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHO'S THERE?!" Raph roared, shooting out of his room with a pillow in his hand. Donnie and Mikey ran out of their rooms as well, holding a paint brush and a snow globe respectively. No sight of an intruder was found, and Raph started to think that they had all dreamed the same thing.

That is, until Leo let out a loud cry of pain.

"Leo!" Raph, Donnie, and Mikey shouted in unison, hopping down and circling around their blue loving brother to see what had happened. At close range, it could easily be seen that Leo had broken his left arm, and twisted his right ankle, explaining his pained cry. Donnie went to work effective immediately, helping Leo up and handing the Slider to Raph, following his brothers back onto the ledge and leading them to the lab. Leo was then sat down on Donnie's resident cot, being distracted by Raph and Mikey while Donnie got to work on setting and slinging Leo's injuries. Granted, Leo did attempt to bite and scratch Donnie with every bout of pain that appeared, but other than that everything turned out fine. After being patched up, Leo was left alone in the lab, having been given a few pain pills to keep him stable throughout the night. Unfortunately, Leo's insomnia chose to strike that night, leaving him unable to get a good night's sleep.

The next morning, Donnie walked into the lab to check on Leo, raising a brow as he caught his twin sitting in front of a wall and mumbling. Nonchalantly, Donnie walked up to Leo, crouching down and trying to decipher what Leo was saying. Despite the close range, Donnie was unable to understand his brother's words. With a hum, Donnie gasped with revelation, snapping and focusing his attention on attempting to use their ever-popular twin telepathy. It took a good while, but Donnie was finally able to enter his brother's psyche, humming in surprise at the strange sights he was met with.

Unlike the normal bright and beautiful landscape that his twin's mind usually harbored, Donnie found himself in the middle of a foggy and dark swamp. The sounds of bubbling sent shivers down Donnie's spine, and he groaned in distaste as he realized that he was standing in some sort of dark sludge. The vegetation around Donatello was rotten and crumbling, the sky was smothered in heavy clouds, and any sort of wildlife present let out terrifying screeches in place of their normal chirps, squeaks, and sweet sounds.

"Brother... what has happened to you...?" Donnie whispered, forcing himself through the thick sludge and using his limited sense of smell to try and search for his brother's scent. The task proved to be difficult thanks to the messed up atmosphere, but Donnie soon caught sight of Leo. Smiling, Donnie moved faster, eventually managing to get next to Leo. "Hey, what's going on here? Why is everything so messed up?"

Leo whimpered, turning to face Donnie with a deep frown. The sight alone was enough to make Donnie sick, and the feeling got worse as Leo opened his mouth to say something, only to fall forward and begin hurling violently. This was all it took to drive Donnie out of Leo's psyche, and the Softshell backed away from his twin with the trademark speed of his species. Loud panting seemed to be all Leo needed to stop his staring, and he groaned pathetically, falling forward and shaking. Donnie- being the scientist he was -went into doctor mode immediately, checking all of Leo's vitals and cursing under his breath as every one of the tests proved to be spiking aggressively.

"Leo? Leo, can you hear me? Leo!" Donnie shouted, drawing Leo close and cradling Leo until he stopped shaking. "Leo...? Are you okay?"

An eerie silence was what Donnie received, and he held back a concerned huff, lightly gripping Leo's jaw to turn his face forward. As soon as the duo made eye contact, Leo hissed, moving like a viper despite his injuries and biting down on Donnie's shoulder, clamping down hard enough to make sure that he stayed attached to Donnie's shoulder. Screams and cries of pain and terror rang through the lair, drawing in the rest of the family. Raph went into action as soon as he saw what was happening, using one of his claws to loosen Leo's grip.

"Mikey! I need you and dad to pull Leo back! And do it fast because I have no idea how long I can keep Leo's bite loose enough!" Mikey and Splinter nodded, racing forwards and tackling Leo back, holding him down and doing their best to ignore the bits of skin and scales that were caught between Leo's teeth. "Keep him down! I'll wrap Donnie up!"

"No! We will not be able to hold him down for that long! Raphael, I need you to go into my room and look under my bed! There is a box labeled with a dragon's tooth, and I need you to grab it and bring it!"

"But dad-"

"DO IT NOW!" Raph squeaked, racing off to do as told. In the meantime, Mikey was following Donnie's instructions on how to patch up the large injury, and Splinter was using every bit of strength in his tiny rat body to hold his son down. As much as it hurt Splinter to watch his son suffer like this, he knew that feeling sorry for Leonardo and trying to talk about things was not going to work. Thankfully, before Splinter could drift farther into his thoughts, Raph returned with the box, sliding it next to Splinter and panting. "Good. Now hold your brother down."

"Master Splinter, what's going on with him?" Raph asked, his heart nearly stopping as he finally took notice of Leo's rapid heartbeat. Splinter shook his head, admitting that he did not know, much to his dismay. Two more seconds passed, though they felt like two hours, and Splinter was not surprised by the gasps of shock that he earned when the boys saw what was harbored in the box.

"This muzzle and these bindings should be strong enough to keep Leonardo stable. They are made of the strongest and finest material known in the Hidden City, and I have been saving them for a time like this." Splinter explained, scooting close to Leo and using a finger to press down on a pressure point to put Leo to sleep. "I never wanted this to happen, but I knew that it was destined to. You boys are growing up, and your animal instincts mixed with the ooze in your blood was bound to become a normal part of your lives."

"Wait, are you saying that this is because of us growing up?" Mikey asked, watching with slight disgust as the muzzle was placed on Leo.

"I am saying that it is likely. But we cannot know that for sure. I learned many of the things about raising you as children from books, movies, and TV shows. But there is only one person who is able to tell us more about the ooze and how it affects the composition of those it mutates..."

"Ugh... are we going to go to Draxum's apartment?" Raph asked, catching the beaker that Mikey threw at him; much to Donnie's horror.

"Yes." Splinter confirmed with annoyance. "We are going to Draxum's apartment."

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So you are saying that he simply started to attack the purple one out of nowhere?"

"Yes, Barry. That's what we're saying."

Baron Draxum snorted, putting a fist up to his mouth and snickering softly. Splinter and Raph sneered at Draxum's reaction, holding back choice words and leaving Donnie and Mikey to themselves. At the moment, Donnie was instructed to sit down on Draxum's refurnished couch, resting and trying to keep himself calm despite the blood that was still beginning to pour out in generous amounts. Next to Donnie sat Mikey, who was attempting to cheer Donnie up by regaling tales that happened between him and Todd. On the floor lay Leo. No sounds came from Leo, even as his eyes stayed wide open. His pupils were dilated, breathing unsteady, and though he would make eye contact with his family regularly, they each swore that it was like he wasn't even looking at them; rather that he was looking through them.

"Draxum, when you are done with your childish behaviors, we would appreciate it very much if you helped us understand what is going on here." Splinter hissed through clenched teeth, throwing his ears back to convey his anger. Draxum chuckled one last time before clearing his throat, looking down at Leo and humming.

"I hate to disappoint you, Lou Jitsu, but I must admit that this is something I am unable to help you with." Draxum admitted, feeling an odd sense of... something at the sight of one of his creations being in such a state. "Unlike what you might want to believe, the things you have described to me are in no way, shape, or form related to my ooze. And do be reminded that I spent years studying both the ooze and turtle species before combining them."

"Well then what are we supposed to do?! Who could we possibly go to that knows enough about the mystic types to help us?!" Raph groaned, letting a tense quiet befall the group before a loud gasp resounded between them. "No..."

"Raphael, we must."

"But father, she has done so many awful things to us! How can we trust her to help?!"

"We cannot, Donatello, but unfortunately she is the only other one we can go to..."

"If that's the case, then I would like to go as well! Let me say hello to an old enemy." Draxum rubbed his hands together, smiling darkly as he did so. "Let us go and try to bargain with Big Mama..."

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, you know what to do boys. Look for Big Mama, and when you see her, do not engage. Keep her in your sight and keep us updated on where she is so we can join you."

"Yes, father."

"Got it pops."

"We'll find her, dad."

Splinter frowned and watched his healthy sons fan out through the Hidden City, his ears swiveling to better pick up the sound of Leo's labored breathing. A mustard coloured plastron rose and fell with each of Leo's breaths, and quiet wheezing drove spikes of pain and sadness through Splinter's heart. A heavy hand fell on Splinter's shoulder, and he turned to look up at Draxum.

"Do not worry, Jitsu." Draxum started, sitting down and staring at Leo's stiff body. "While your children may be stubborn, and reckless, and irresponsible, and make stupid decisions, and-"

"Are you trying to make me feel better, or insult my sons for the next half hour?" Splinter interjected, glaring at Draxum sharply.

"Right, my apologies." Draxum then moved his hand from Splinter's shoulder to Leo's neck, showing a rare display of affection. "While they do have all of those things, they have many other positives that outweigh the negatives. They are each intelligent in their own ways, strong in their own ways, perseverant, caring, sympathetic, energetic, and so many other things! They are all of these things, and not because of themselves. They are all of these things because of you, Jitsu. You have done a wonderful job taking care of these boys, and there is no one else who could have possibly-"

"DAD! DRAXUM! YOU HAVE TO TAKE LEO HOME!" Raph's frantic screaming startled Splinter and Draxum out of their conversation, and they stood up abruptly. In one swift movement, Draxum picked Leo up, holding the young turtle close and keeping a tight grip on the blue clad mutant. The duo stood still, looking around for any movements that would signify that Big Mama or her goons were nearby. The atmosphere was tense, and it took only one mistimed step for Splinter to throw a kunai at a nearby alleyway, smirking at the sound of the blade hitting even the smallest bit of skin.

"Draxum! Take Leonardo to the Candy Store!" Splinter ordered, knowing that Draxum was aware of what the order meant. In a split second, Draxum raced away, not turning to watch Splinter take down Big Mama's goons with little to no effort.

"Do not worry, blue one. We will find some way to fix you." Draxum assured, stopping and hiding behind a thick buildup of brush. More wheezing came from Leo, leading Draxum to believe that Splinter may have fastened the muzzle too tight. Out of an unexpected bout of pity, Draxum loosened the muzzle without second thought, doing the same with the rest of Leo's bindings. As soon as Draxum loosed the bindings surrounding Leo's legs, the mutant turtle screeched, easily sliding out of his binds and pinning Draxum onto the ground. The action was enough to shock Draxum into fighting back, and he used a vine to throw Leo out of the brush, his ears falling flat against his face as he watched Leo race off into the Hidden City. "This is not going to end well..."

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Where am I? What am I doing here? How did I get here?

Leo panted and whimpered with every step as he raced through the Hidden City, shocking each citizen with the sight of seeing a teenaged turtle running past them on all fours.

 I have to find my family! Where are they?! Why aren't they with me?!

Blurry vision and terrible coordination accompanied Leo in his frantic search for his brothers and/or father(s), leading him to believe that he had been injected with some sort of virus or poison. Part of him didn't want to believe that he had been poisoned, as the last time he was poisoned he had caught on fire.

 Why is everything so weird?! I can't see anything right! Raph! Donnie! Mikey! Splinter! Draxum! Where are you?!

All of a sudden, Leo felt two hands wrap around his waist, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, taking the time that his enemy was shocked to attack. With a bite to his assailant's arm, Leo kicked the enemy back, returning to his search for familiar faces.

 Where are they?! Where is my family?! Where. Is. My-

"Well, lookie-lookie what we have here! My little champion turtley-boo!" Leo knew that voice, those words, that tone. It was Big Mama, but he couldn't see her! He could smell her, he could hear her, he could sense her presence, but all he saw was a blurry blob of lavender.

 Big Mama... oh-ho-ho, wait until I'm done with you! When I get my claws on you, I'm gonna-

"Gunna eat... dump the... and keep... you see the... GOT YA!" Leo fell forward, coughing and whining as he attempted to even out his breathing. "Brothers... eat... keep at... don't you... hope..."

"Oh, you poor thing! You seem to be more woozy-frazzled than normal!" Big Mama chimed, leaning over to boop Leo's nose. A weak bite was sent in Big Mama's way, followed by a wheezy hiss. "And here I thought you were smarter and stronger than this."

 I am! You awful Yokai! I'm not so weak that I can't fight you!

Leo gave another weak hiss, trying his best to push himself up. When he failed, Leo started to sob, taking notice of how weak his body had truly become. He didn't feel anything, he couldn't see anything, and his body was beginning to give up on him. Whatever this was, it was attacking Leo with a vengeance, and wasn't looking to give up until Leo was dead.

"Hmm, I must say that I am beginning to feel a bit of pity for you." Big Mama admitted, patting a finger on her chin as if thinking intensely. "Hey! I have an idea! What if I were to help you? I could help nurse you back to help, and in turn-"

"NO! No... don't... coin... flip..." Leo spat through his tears. Big Mama shook her head in disapproval, booping Leo's nose once more.

"Let Big Mama finish." The disguised Yokai then smirked deviously. "Now, I will help you, and in turn... you will fight in my Battle Nexus for the next year. You will be in my debt, and you will not be allowed to have your family help, or see your family without permission."

"Would... die..." Leo ground out, high pitched whimpers becoming more and more audible. "Rather... would... death..."

"I'm sure you would, young one." Big Mama giggled. "But I don't think your family would enjoy that very much."

 No... don't do this...

"Just think, how would your brothers feel?" Big Mama hummed, putting her hands on her hips. "And your father, and your close friends? I'm sure none of them would be very pleased. Now, of course, none of them would be jumping up and diddly-down when they find out about the deal, but at least you'd be alive! To make it sweeter, I may just make it so that you can see your family twice a month for 12 hours each time! How does that sound?"

...

"Don't... can't..." Leo stopped, thinking over Big Mama's words and grimacing at how awful the truth was. "...Okay..."

"Good boy! Now, let us go and get you fixed up! Can't have a weak champion now, can we?" On any other day, the word Champion would have made Leo's heart soar, but now it just seemed like a mockery. The sound of grunting was followed by Leo feeling his body being lifted up. He had no strength to fight back, so he did nothing more than let himself be carried to Big Mama's Battle Nexus.

And, dear Pizza Supreme...

A nap really sounded good right now.

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

So, yeah; I realize that I left out the others after the second third of the fic, but I couldn't really think of anything to use them for that wouldn't end with the whole "Family getting back together and learning a lesson about love and acceptance" trope. That would have completely ruined the original intention of ambiguity for the ending, so I shall leave it up to you to determine how they react/respond to learning about this deal.

*It took me a while to realize that I didn’t make it clear what was affecting Leo. In short, he has Belladonna (Nightshade) poisoning, and it was contracted by a new ingredient in Hueso’s pizza that was mixed in with the pizza sauce. The side effects were displayed throughout the fic, and trust me when I say that it took some time to think of how it would effect him - what with him being a mutant turtle with human DNA and all.

[ec-makes-stuff]

I saw your Don and Mikey post for your A Little Too Late AU, but the writing is hard to see. What is it saying?

Sorry about that! My handwriting is a mess and the quality of the photo was shit but he’s a little transcript for ya! (I added and modified some of the text for clarity) Hope this helps and I’m so glad you’ve taken interest in my AU! I’m working on Raph and Leo atm and will hopefully get around to coloring the Mikey and Don sketches!

A little too late AU (ALTL) - Donnie

Atl-l = Alternate life

Remind me to never design robots, I suck at them

Top left sketch: 

-Uses covers to protect weaker/sensitive areas

Top right sketch: 

-During the fight with Shredder, Donnie protected Mikey from a direct strike. However, Donnie had lost his battle shell during the fight and had nothing to shield himself from Shredders mystic claws. Donnie’s body died that day, but he had created a back up body and managed to load his most recent memories, personality, etc (essentially his ‘spirit’) into his computer through his shell cell, setting off an auto upload into his alternative body, along with his other memories he had already stored (he would load them weekly). This process got delayed due o a failsafe he installed in case the memory AI tried to take control. It took 4 days before he was activated and transferred into the robot body.

-Made a microchip pattern for his tongue bc he thinks it looks cool

- Donnie installed warmers in some areas so that it would feel like an actually body when hugging his brothers rather than just a hunk of metal and tech

Bottom left sketch:

-These can move!

-Light up

-Triangles light up as well

-Interchangeable fingertips! His arms can change…

-... into weapons as well. Very multipurpose!

Bottom right sketch:

-EW

-Okay this arm looks NEAT but not Donnie’s style

A little too late AU (ALTL) - Mikey

I’m so sorry bby ily I just needed some angst sprinkles on this sundae

Top left sketch:

-Wears his torn bandana on his arm

-Has Donnie’s emblem along with his own

-Made the handle of his Kusari Fundo longer and made the spikes more noticeable

-Blind in left eye after blast

-Started wearing wraps to look tougher and stickers to his his scars/cracks

-Erased the faces on his knee pads

Top right sketch:

-He’s conflicted between hiding away and standing out. He hides his scars with stickers, but uses wraps to look tougher and like he can take on anything and no one needs to help him

-Even with Donnie back, Mikey had depressive episodes and dissociated quite a bit for awhile. He developed a phobia of blood and created ‘Dr.Fault’, going back and forth between The Foot Clan, Baron Draxum and himself for the cause of Donnie’s ‘death’. Over time, he accepted that it wasn’t anyone's fault and started to enjoy life again, closing the distance with his family and friends.

Bottom left sketch: Mikey felt guilty when Donnie died right in front of him, shielding him from Shredder bc he was careless ((and left himself vulnerable to attack)). While Donnie took a majority of the blast, Mikey’s left eye and shoulder weren’t entirely covered. Mikey’s left arm is weaker and he’s entirely blind in his left eye. His shell also took some damage, cracking the plastron and matching up to the wound in his shoulder. 

Bottom right sketch: 

Mikey: “I’m sorry… I’m sorry Donnie…”

Big city sketch of Donnie and Mikey on the rooftop I never finished:

Donnie: “What? What is it Micheal? Care to tell me what’s wrong with my face?”

Mikey: “No! Nothings wrong! Stop making stupid expressions!”

[spectrumscribe]

the kids aren’t alright

A nudge in the spacetime continuum, a shift in storylines, and it’s April O’Neil who descends once again into the hidden city of yokai... but in this world, she’s on her own... until she meets a few unexpected (but fated) allies.

(It’s the Baron Draxum Raises the Turtles AU everyone, I told ya I’d get to writing it eventually.)

-///-

April rips a legging as she lands, she just knows she does, feeling the awful sensation of skinning her knees as she rolls. It’s by virtue of pure instinct that she dives to the side to hide behind a stone pillar right after, not even pausing to catch her breath. The wackos with their killer dogs are so close nearby that she’s not really sure how she managed to escape detection.

Probably because her little cat-dog friend is screeching their head off inside their bubble prison. For such a small creature, they’re sure loud.

April, hidden from sight for the moment, sucks in a breath and takes in her surroundings. What she sees steals her breath all over again.

Craggy cliffs are dotted with ancient looking buildings- torchlight flickering in windows and tangled roots clutching roofs. A city sprawls in the distance, made up of those, and even from far away April can see that the residents walking and flying and climbing around that city are definitively not human.

“Ohhhhh my god,” she whispers in awe to herself. Her first impulse is to grab her phone- no one will ever believe- but the heavy, scraping steps moving away from her hiding spot remind her of her priorities.

Right. Rescue her little friend, avoid getting caught, and get the hell out of dodge. Real simple plan in theory, but probably not in practice.

April is a lot of things- socially awkward, a bad employee, kinda lonely- but she’s anything but a coward. Squaring her courage, April slips out from behind the pillar and hides behind the next, trailing the freaky dudes and their massive dogs... right up to a veritable castle tower, with a vibe that screams danger.

Well, April didn’t get her Gryffindor sorting on that buzzfeed quiz for nothing.

April rushes (sneakily) inside.

-/-

The honest to god secret passageways in this place are pretty easy to navigate. April thinks they should be more complex, or maybe boobytrapped at least, so intruders can’t just waltz around like she is. Not that she’s complaining about the waltzing, the waltzing has been very convenient.

It’s just not as excitingly challenging? Kind of anticlimactic.

She finds her lil friend within the first ten minutes of poking around. They’re caged by a scary guy that looks like a cross between a goat and a wrestler, whose monologueing masks April’s footfalls as she skirts around the room. There are two small gargoyles flying around goatman- Baron? Uh uh, she’s not calling him a title, pompous asshole. All of them are speaking plain English, which is the least weird thing in this situation, but still. It’s weird.

April studies the layout of the room- she can make the jump no problem- but the rescue mission won’t work if she doesn’t have an escape plan following her initial assault. She needs a weapon, and possibly a distraction to get the monsters away from her friend.

April is very pleased that with the next secret tunnel she takes- seriously, such a security hazard- she finds a whole atrium of weapons.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” she says to herself, grinning as she advances on the first rack.

Does she know how to use any of these? Nope. They don’t cover sword fighting or melee or magical items in public schools. But it can’t be that hard, right? Keep the stabby end aimed at her enemy, don’t stab herself in the process, etc.

As she examines the stock of deadly arms, April wonders if she’s taking this all in stride too easily. In books and movies, people tend to freak out way more when they find out magic and monsters are real. Then again, she thinks as she admires a hefty club glowing acid green, I always thought those people were wimps.

Besides, this is New York. She’s seen plenty scarier things on the A-train than goatman and his sidekicks.

Absorbed in her pep talk with herself, April doesn’t hear a soft landing on the stone floor behind her. She does, however, hear the whisk of wire being extended.

Swinging with her full strength, April spins and aims for the head of the person creeping up on her. She gets nothing but air and a startled noise as her target disappears.

The person behind her is headless.

April screams once and tries to hit it again, only for the headless body to jump out of the way.

“Jesus, girl! I’m just trying to-” April swings a third and fourth time, ignoring the voice coming from inside its torso. The green-skinned headless monster abruptly dives downwards and somersaults away, it’s shell curve aiding the maneuver. As it comes to a stop and turns to face her again, a head pops out of the space between its shoulders.

April stops, meeting the glare of the monster. It’s grimacing, crouching low and twining the sturdy wire of its weapon around its few fingers.

“You really, really shouldn’t be here,” it- he?- says gravely, voice young and nervous. He has a mask over his eyes, black, and a loincloth-shorts combo like goatman was wearing. Rows of small blades and unidentifiable weapons are strapped to him, going over one shoulder. In the monochrome grey and black of everything else, the bright orange spots that pattern his limbs and shell stand out.

He stands slowly, not attacking, but not putting down his bladed wire-weapon either. “D’you even know what happens to humans brought here? What Draxum does to intruders?”

April skips her shock at yet another talking monster- the novelty is wearing off at this point. She keeps her club raised and firmly replies, “I don’t care. Goatman’s got my friend and I’m not leaving here without them.”

“You mean the-?” He shakes his head, short mask tails flicking. “It doesn’t matter, you gotta go before it’s too late. You can’t help your friend now.”

“And if I say hell no?”

“Then- then I’ll have to knock you out and take you to him!” he declares, but April can hear his heart’s not in it.

“So why give me a chance to escape,” April asks carefully, “if you’d turn me in anyway?”

The turtle monster’s momentary fierceness fades, dark eyes averted. He chews his lip, conflict in his expression, before answering, “I'm not gonna turn an intruder in if she’s gone before I can catch her. Please? It’s super not fun to be a mutation experiment, trust me. Go back up to- to above, okay? I won’t say anything if you leave now.”

The desperate undertone to his words makes April pause, reconsidering. But she shakes that off a second later.

“I’m not going back. Not until I have my friend.”

The turtle monster stares at her for a beat, and then tosses his head back and makes a supremely annoyed groan. April lowers her weapon slowly as he stomps in a small circle, muttering to himself. Huh. The air of danger he’d had at first is totally dispelled; he reminds her of neighborhood kids more than anything, now.

Weird choice of bad guy sidekick. A little fucked up, maybe, if the monster is really as young as he acts.

“Ugh god FINE,” says the turtle, stopping his pacing and pointing a finger at her. “This is the last time I ever do this, I swear.”

“Do what?” April questions, eyebrow raised.

“Help you humans!”

“Uh, I've never been here before-?”

“Not you! Just- ugh, c’mon, let’s go before anyone else finds you.”

April is bemused, now, by the turtle monster. So he’s done this before? Trusting him to help her is probably a bad idea, but that fact gives her some hope it’ll turn out alright in the end. One more bad decision is no big deal with the night she’s had.

“Sure, let’s go,” April agrees finally, swinging her club up to rest against her shoulder. She sticks out a hand to the turtle- who flinches minutely at the gesture. April continues without commenting. “I’m April by the way. Thanks for not taking me to your evil overlord, I guess?”

“I’m f- I'm, um, Mikey. You can call me Mikey.” He gingerly takes her hand, eyeing it and her like it might be a sneak attack. “And he’s a Baron, not an overlord. Baron Draxum.”

“Could’a fooled me,” April says with a shrug, dropping Mikey’s hand. “Y’all got hella evil mad scientist vibes.”

“Haha, yeah, kinda...” Mikey glances around awkwardly, before nodding a direction. “C’mon, someone’s gonna miss me sooner or later. Let’s just- get this over with.”

“What kinda plan you got?” April asks as they start moving. Mikey takes her over to a different corner of the room, far from where April entered.

“Uh, distraction, maybe? Or I could- no, he’ll notice, ugh- fuck, I don’t know.” He sighs as he presses on a trigger disguised as a stone, the wall grinding open gradually. “You wouldn’t happen to be a kunoichi by any chance?”

“A kuno what now.”

“Guess not.”

April rolls her eyes, underwhelmed by Mikey’s evil henchman skills. He sees her do so and he scowls, sticking out his tongue. April lets out a gigglesnort in surprise, caught off-guard by the childish annoyance.

Her laughter dies as she sees a figure looming in the newly opened passageway. At April’s sharp intake of breath, Mikey spins and makes a strangled squeak.

“Shit,” April says, getting her club ready.

“Uh, hi, I was- we were- it’s not what it looks like?” Mikey says in a rush.

The huge monster steps partially out of the passageway, towering over both of them. Clothes like Mikey’s, but with ragged tears in spots, and none of the hin knives the smaller monster has. And with the scars dotting his rough scales, his shit brickhouse form, the snaggled-tooth fangs he has- he’s lot more imposing than Mikey had been.

The much more threatening looking turtle stares at them both with yellow sclera for a long moment. Then, he sighs.

“Mike... please, not again.”

-/-

“Sorry?” Mikey says in a tight voice, one Raph has heard more times than he can remember.

Things had been looking up, what with the agent being returned and the first experiments taking place- Raph had been hoping they get some downtime, enjoy the Baron’s good mood for a few days. If Draxum is happy, they get to be happy.

The human girl glaring daggers at him right now throws that all into jeapordy.

But Mikey picked her- he’s decided to try and save her, which counts for something- so there’s nothing for it. Raph isn’t going to even try convincing Mikey to change his mind; either Raph helps, or he steps back and watches Mikey face the punishment he’ll get all alone.

God, Raph is so tired. He misses winter, when he’s allowed to just sleep for days in a row.

But that’s months away and Mikey needs him right now. Moving his eyes to the human girl, Raph sizes her up. Just from how she’s meeting his gaze and standing her ground, he can tell she’s a fighter. Hell, he can’t even tell if she’s scared or not. That’s serious guts right there.

“We’ll talk later,” Raph says softly, looking around them. He’s the only one who noticed Mikey slipping away from the big breakthrough celebration. He’s hoping that lasts. “Crazy girl, you ready to haul ass once we get you outside?”

Mikey’s face lights up, a smile following. He doesn’t smile anywhere near as much as he should, in Raph’s opinion. This is going to bite him later, but right now, making his littlest brother happy is worth it.

But then crazy girl says, “Oh hell no, I told the same thing to your buddy here. I ain’t leaving without my friend.”

He frowns at her. Of course she isn’t going to go easy. “What, the delivery guy?” Raph asks. “He’s already imitation crab bits, dude. If you hurry you’ll catch him.”

“Not him,” Mikey says, same time as the girl says, “The white guy? You should let him go, too, but I’m here for the little guy.”

The little guy? Oh, she’s not- nope, Raph sees her expression and knows she’s a hundred percent serious. Damn it. She had to want the most difficult to retrieve prisoner.

Raph counts to ten and bites down on his temper before it rises. Damn it, damn it, damn it. “Oh, of course, yeah that’s great. Love it. Let’s do this before Don finds out and uses crazy girl as his newest project.”

“I got a name, dude.”

“Does it matter?” She opens her mouth. “Don’t answer that. It doesn’t.”

“She’s April,” Mikey says, winding his kusarifundo’s wire around his fingers, a habit of nervousness. “She almost took my head off with that club.”

The last part is said in an admiring sort of way and Raph feels exasperated. No matter how many times he’s told otherwise, Mikey can’t quite get that yes, all humans are bad, not just most of them.

...But maybe that’s because part of Raph hasn’t ever really gotten that, either; he’s the one setting the example, after all.

“Sorry, you spooked me,” April says, and the apology is almost sincere sounding. Raph side-eyes her, mildly surprised. Humans always scream or run when they see them, they don’t say sorry for defending themselves.

He shakes off the interest he’s developing in the human girl. At least one of them has to have his head on right, which means he can’t indulge in thinking of April as anything but a potential threat.

(He privately looks at her sharp red glasses, her sharper stare, the fearless attitude she’s taken with stealing from one of the Underground’s most powerful figures- and he thinks she’s, maybe, just a little bit really cool.)

Raph ushers both of them into the passage, eager to just get on with the dangerous endeavor.

-/-

With three party members, it’s not too hard. The snarling yokai in their cage isn’t useful any longer to Draxum, so Raph just has to direct attention to the other side of the room. It’s simple until Raph sees Leo come back from wherever he’d been. It’s simple until he sees April and Mikey doing something with the controls of the lab core. It’s simple until he sees Leo noticing the duo, until the warning lights on the core start flashing without noise, alarms disabled.

Raph locks eyes with Leo, who holds his gaze for a long, long moment. Raph silently begs please, let this go, I won’t say anything about you letting it go just PLEASE, Leo- 

And Leo cocks his head, giving a lazy hooded stare. He looks between his options, cradling his arm close in its sling. A bad fall, last training session. When it’s better, Draxum’s promised to double Leo’s workload to get rid of that weakness.

Leo’s blank expression becomes a leery smile, shrugging. He doesn’t care about this, same as he never cares about anything other than staying in good graces and slacking off chores. The look he shoots over his shoulder, as he walks back out, says I won’t forget this. Oh well, better Raph owe his brother a favor than Mikey get in trouble.

In his distraction, Draxum has lost interest in the bullshit plans Raph threw together, in danger of turning around and seeing. But Donnie jabs a spider leg into the paper and says, “Ra- subject one is wrong. We should hit the figureheads of the population before we move onto the masses. Wall Street is the best starting point based on my calculation of how to induce swift widespread panic.”

“Hm, you make a good point, subject two,” Draxum says thoughtfully, refocusing on the plans.

“Of course I do,” Donnie scoffs derisively, the only one of them so bold to take that tone with the Baron. Raph doesn’t even care he’s been showed up, Mikey and April are safe (for the moment).

And then the alarms finally kick in, the vine tree and the ooze and the mosquitos all lighting up bright neon, and it all goes to hell.

-/-

Mikey probably should have known April wouldn’t be okay with the whole ‘conquer humanity via mass mutation’.

Still, she didn’t have to blow up their home.

The last thing he sees of her is the human clutching her tiny friend close- the upwards curled fangs of the creature makes Mikey think dragons and sends a shiver through his shell- and the two of them looking to him.

April mouths something lost in the noise of the room collapsing around them, but Mikey thinks she’s saying thank you as her furry ball of mayhem teleports them away.

From his hiding place, Mikey sighs. At least they got out. At least he wasn’t anywhere close by when the alarms started. At least their dorms weren’t caught in the destruction...?

Ah, shit. He sees Baron Draxum clawing his way out from under a slab of concrete. Raph is helping as much as he’s able and getting yelled at for it. Leo is leaning in a lab doorway, looking on in languid amusement. Donnie has lifted himself up on his extra legs and is poking through the rubble of their ‘greatest triumph’.

Mikey decides he should make an appearance and creeps out of the alcove he’d shoved himself into, nimbly gripping with his hands and feet both as he lowers himself. Scampering to ground level, he puts on his best clueless/panicked expression and lies about having gone for refreshments.

Later, perched up on the edge of the roof, Mikey stares at the dome ceiling of the Underground and wonders how he got away with it all. He’d been expecting at any second to get caught. Somehow, against the odds, on such an important night no less... he pulled it off.

Mikey feels a wave of heavy relief all at once and lets out a loud sigh, flopping over. Boy, what a night, what a freaking night.

He lays with his eyes closed for a while, legs dangling over thin air and a seven story drop. The city near and distant is noisy, but muted, and the air smells like acridic burning vines. Draxum is still storming around downstairs, furiously trying to salvage his projects, and Mikey is good out here, thanks. He wasn’t implicated by what happened at all, so he doesn’t plan to stick around and catch the brunt of that frustrated ranting.

Sometime later, the sound of mechanical joints moving together approaches him. Mikey opens his eyes to see Donnie standing over him, having climbed up the side of the tower.

“Sup,” Mikey says, not flinching as Donnie’s spider legs lift him over his body.

“Hey,” Donnie says tonelessly, which is an unusually subdued greeting, even for him.

“Somethin’ up?”

“Not really. Just our, you know, creator and owner violently grieving the ruination of his life’s work. I put out some fires, salvaged a few samples of mutagen, the like, just fun family bonding stuff.”

Mikey doesn’t let his unease show. Donnie’s words are flippant, but he still has no inflection or emotion. “That’s... sucky,” Mikey says, forcing away his need to fidget with his ‘fundo. “I mean, jeez, talk about a setback. Who knows how long it’ll take to catch all those skeetos, eh?”

“Mhm,” Donnie replies, lowering himself onto the stone roof beside Mikey, legs folded in a cross. “He’ll probably have to take completely new samples of our DNA to synthesize everything all over again, if we don’t catch them all.”

Mikey’s arms feel itchy just thinking about it. He scratches at the pockmark scars in his elbow, trying to not remember the biotech vines sucking pints of blood from his veins.

“Yeah,” Mikey says sullenly, “guess he probably will.”

They sit silently for a beat. Mikey stews in guilt and trepidation, knowing it’s his fault they’ll be going through this because he let himself be weak. He should’ve captured April and dragged her down to the Baron, shouldn’t have faltered at how brave and kind she was, trying to save her friend, he shouldn’t have-

“She got home safe.”

Mikey’s thoughts derail. He sits up a little too quickly to be casual, staring at Donnie. His brother, who doesn’t care about humans, who wears hints of purple like Draxum, who has happily combined his body with biotech to make it stronger- he has a carefully emotionless mask in place, Mikey sees that now. Donnie feels, just as much as any of them. He just never admits it.

He’s scared. Donnie is scared of something.

“...Really?” Mikey asks after a too-long pause.

“I had a drone follow up on the profile I found online. She’s home with her new pet.” Donnie makes an aborted motion with his hands, and then goes through with it and takes off his mask, rubbing his face and scalp. Without the near-black purple bandana, Donnie looks as tired as Raph often does.

“How badly did you want her to escape?” Donnie asks in a quiet mumble, eyes fixed elsewhere. “Badly enough for this? To risk-?”

“Yes,” Mikey says without hesitation.

That makes Donnie stutter, mouth twisting in a scowl. He recovers, hissing, “It’s inevitable, Mikey. Draxum is going to beat humanity, and we’re going to help him, this setback is just that. A setback. We’ll get the carriers back, or- or make more, and it will happen. You’ve just prolonged it all, this didn’t change anything.”

“It changed things for her!” Mikey snaps without meaning to. Donnie glares, but he doesn’t cower. “...It changed things for her,” he repeats, calmer. “She got to go home, her friend got to go with her. Humans don’t have to get wiped out for another few months at least.”

Donnie pulls a face, scoffing. “Why do you care about some random human girl? They keep us down here Mikey, it’s their fault Draxum made us and- uses us.”

“Her name is April,” Mikey says plainly, fingers finding his kusarifundo and winding it’s wire tight around his thumb.

“...‘Her name is April’,” Donnie mimics, disgusted. But he doesn’t say anything more, just sitting and glaring and being his typical prickly self. Mikey winds his wires tighter, tighter, tighter; thinking about faint memories of Donnie being softer and letting them closer, somewhere warm and safe. Somewhere not here.

But that’s a dream, unreal in his earliest memories, conjured by wanting for comfort when he didn’t get any.

“I hope this was worth it for you,” Donnie says eventually, back to his toneless voice. “We’re covering, but... this can’t happen again, okay? None of us can do this anymore, we’re too close to the finish line.”

Mikey nods, unwinding his wire from throbbing fingers. “I know. Um, thanks.”

“Mm,” Donnie says, not acknowledging he’s done anything. Mikey slides his bruised fingers over to lightly poke his brother’s, invitation unspoken.

A moment of decision, whether he’s pissed off still or having a no-touching day Mikey isn’t sure, Donnie moves his hand and links their fingers together. It’s apology and forgiveness in a single, wordless gesture.

-/-

Pacing the length of his cell, pink clawed toes clacking on the stone, someone bides his time impatiently. His sentence is near completion, he’s been given recommendation for early release for good behavior. It’ll be simple to ditch his parole officier’s watch, even after nearly ten years out of the game.

A former man and current mutant prisoner, in situation and body both, looks to the small window of his cell, and swears not for the first time that Draxum will pay for what he’s done, and for what he plans to do.

(He wonders, also, whatever happened to his children. He worries, nightly, daily, constantly. What did Draxum do to his four sons, the unexpected saving grace he’d hidden away for almost five years? Are they alive? Do they know he’s alive?)

Lou paces his cell faster, tail lashing, barely keeping the splinters inside himself from cutting deeper still.

-/-

Somewhere in an ordinary New York neighborhood, in an ordinary apartment complex, an ordinary girl lays on her bed with her new fuzzy friend and thinks to herself, hey, what the fuck was that.

She has no answers for herself. Well. If nothing else, she got her parents to let her little pal stay. After the insanity said pal got her into tonight, April is deeply relieved to have something go according to plan. (Is ‘insanity’ a good pet name? Maybe ‘chaos’? Ugh, she’ll keep workshopping it.)

When she goes to bed, much later on, and sleeps fitfully and shallowly, April somehow thinks that’s the end of it. She has a new roommate, there’s an underground city full of monsters and magic, and there’s a history test tomorrow that she didn’t study for. The only next step she has is go back to normal, pretend it didn’t happen.

So, she does. And nothing else weird happens for a few days, other than Mayhem teleporting into her school bag despite her telling them they should be at home, jesus, she doesn’t need detention on top of her homework pile and job searches,

Things resume normalcy, almost mind-numbingly so... until there’s a knock on her window about a week after it all, and a freckled scaly face peering through it.

-/-

“Uh, hi?”

“...Hi.”

“Sorry to- I was just passing through so I thought- I’m, uh, glad you’re doing okay! I’ll go now I’m sorry I shouldn’t’ve-”

“Hey, hey, no, just hold on.”

“What?”

“...You wanna come say hi to Mayhem, too? They’re, um. They’re doing okay, too.”

“I’d... yeah! Yeah, I’d, yes, I’d love to. Thanks. Could you just, um, move sideways a little-?”

A window on a third story apartment home slides shut. Behind its hastily shut curtains, a cautious friendship is born.

.

.

.

.

My ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/A3022DE7

My AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werepirechick

[halloweennut]

Okay, so I LITERALLY just thought of this while I was making my supper, and I managed to write it out. So, once again, happy birthday, and I hope you enjoy this fluffy drabble for your happy family AU ^v^

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

“...What are you doing up?”

Lou froze. Slowly and sheepishly, he turned to face his husband, who was now sitting up in bed. “Well I- I mean, I was just, heh, well… What are YOU doing up?”

“You woke me up,” Draxum said flatly, too tired to be amused.

“Riiiight… Well, it's just…” Lou’s smile softened. “It is after midnight, after all.” 

At that, Draxum’s eyes suddenly filled with understanding. “...It wouldn't exactly be wise to wake them. I doubt they'd be in the mood for celebrating.” Though as he says this, he can't help but smile a little as well. Lou promises that it’ll be quick, and Draxum follows him to the nursery.

It's dark and peaceful in the room, the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling being their only light. Still, with enough time, Lou’s eyes adjusted and he could see the sleeping faces of his sons, all of them cuddling with their favorite plushies as they dream sweet dreams. Raph and Donnie snored lightly while Mikey mumbled in his sleep. Leo was the only completely silent one, but his sprawled out form nearly made him chuckle. Lou made sure to stop by each crib (and bed, in his oldest’s case), taking enough time to smile down at them, whisper a happy birthday wish, and give each of his boys a light kiss on the forehead before moving along and allowing Draxum to do the same.

Raph was already so big, taking up most of his toddler-sized bed while the spikes on his shell threatened to poke through his footie pajamas. Lou could tell that he was going to grow up to be big and strong - easily as strong as he was in his prime Nexus days - but also hoped that his oldest wouldn't lose his kind and loving nature as he grew. 

The twins were coming along nicely as well. He could tell that Donnie was a clever one, just in how he curiously examined his toys and tried to sound out the words himself whenever he was read to. Lou had no doubt that Donnie will grow up to be smarter than him, possibly even smarter than Draxum. And as for Leo, even for someone so young, he was already filled with plenty of personality and charm. Certainly a chip off the Jitsu block, Lou thought with a smirk.

As for Mikey, he was still struggling a bit to get around on his stubby legs, more than happy to just be carried around by one of his fathers. But, whenever his youngest did manage to get ahold of something, he'd usually end up turning it into a very messy yet very creative crafts project. Lou could still remember being scolded by his father for being interested in art as a boy, being told that it was a worthless hobby that wouldn't help him in any way that mattered. As such, he made a promise right then and there that he’d hang every single one of Mikey’s future art pieces up somewhere to be admired, not caring if he’d have to cover every inch of his home to do so.

Once he finished, Lou ended up just standing in the middle of the room, staying in the center of all his sons as he thought about the past year. A year of smiles and tears, of frustrations and small victories, and no doubt plenty of joy. A year of his sons being healthy and happy, a year of having a family… He could only hope that they all received many, many more years such as this one together.

“...Lou?” A sharp finger wiped away a tear he didn’t even know was there, and Lou quietly chuckled as he wiped away the rest.

“I’m alright,” he insisted, “Heh, look at me, getting all emotional.”

Draxum did look at him, his pink and orange eyes filled with the same vulnerability he had when he first proposed the idea of children to his lover, as well as back when he first confessed his love. Lou was the only person who could make him unafraid to feel such things, to want to stand tall even when he felt weak. “Are you happy?” he asked in a whisper, cupping his love’s face, “Truly happy?”

Lou didn’t even hesitate. “Happier than I have ever been,” he replied honestly, putting his hand over Draxum’s. The two shared a long, soft kiss before finally leaving the nursery, letting their boys sleep. Too awake to go back to bed, they spent the hours until dawn sitting up on the balcony, going over various memories from the sons’ first year and sharing both laughs and tears. When they heard the telltale whines and cries of boys who were ready to start the day, the morning became a lot more energetic. 

All four turtles were treated to a yummy homemade breakfast, and in the hours leading up to their party and the rest of their family arriving, they were given piggyback rides, gentle vine swings, and fun flights around the room (courtesy of Huginn and Muninn, naturally) to their tiny hearts’ content. The arrival of Auntie Shen and Auntie Mama brought more sweets and presents and fun, and by the time the day was done, each boy had what seemed like a mountain of presents.

As successful and enjoyable as the day had been, they highly doubted that any of them - even Raph, who was technically three years old - would remember their first birthday. But even so, Lou and Draxum both considered it a day to be remembered, and one that neither of them would forget.

----

AAAAAAH

I'm crying the club right now. This is so good and cute!!!

Thank you love!! 💖💖💖💖

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT/Baron Jitsu fanfiction: Dating… With Children - Chapter Six

(Also on AO3 if you want to leave a comment or kudos)

Plot:  Benjamin Draxum hardly considered himself a man of high social standing. Not because he was uncouth or unworthy of it, mind you, but simply because he didn’t have much of a social life. Hard to have one when he usually spent his days at work, cooped up in a lab for so long that he often had his lunches in there, and his nights at home reading or doing research for more personal projects. But perhaps meeting handsome semi-retired movie star - as well as his four young sons - could change all that…

((Mild warning for mentions of being sick/throwing up, though nothing super descriptive/disgusting or anything. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!))

Something was up…

Draxum stared down at his phone screen. No missed calls. No missed texts or voicemails. Not even a “Sorry, can't talk right now”. Nothing… Nothing on his side at least.

Opening up his call log, Draxum sighed through his nose as he looked through it all. One unanswered call to Lou Friday night, two unanswered calls on Saturday, and one that morning. That wasn't even including the texts he’d sent, not receiving a reply to any of them. At this point, he was beginning to feel like a stalker or something, or at the very least clingy-

“I'm not being clingy,” he mumbled to himself, “Just… Concerned, is all.” It was natural to feel concerned when your boyfriend wasn't talking to you, right? But then again, Lou could've just been unusually busy that weekend. Still, he couldn't help but feel like something was up. Something was wrong.

After a moment more of thinking, Draxum stood up from his couch, grabbed his keys and jacket and headed towards the door. A quick check-in wasn't unreasonable. Most likely this would all end up being something mundane anyway, and Lou would probably have a laugh about it later, or think it was amusing that he cared so much.

‘And if doing this annoys him?’ a part of Draxum asked, stubborn enough to ignore logic, ‘If all the missed calls and texts end up being his way of saying he's done with you?’

The scientist paused… And then continued on, nearly slamming the apartment door behind him. “I’ll just deal with that when it happens…” He took an extra second to put on his jacket - the cold front passing through New York was a bit harsher than usual for that time of year - and went on his way out into the cloudy afternoon.

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

“But I don't wannaaaaaaa!”

Lou sighed through his nose, trying to keep a grip on his child. “I know you don't want to, but I promise that it'll help you feel better! So please, Michalengel-”

“NO!” Mikey screamed back at him, startling his father enough to slip out of his arms. Mikey then dove back under his covers, letting out another muffled yell of frustration.

Lou rubbed his temples. “Alright fine, stay under there! But you will be getting a bath tonight, young man!” He could've sworn he heard his youngest actually hiss at that, before coughing several times. He knew being sick could make some kids cranky, but this was getting ridiculous! Still, it wasn't as if Lou could really blame him.

“Daddyyyyyy…” Another voice from the doorway called, sniffling slightly. Lou turned and saw Leo, looking at him with watery eyes. “If he's not gonna use the tub, can I have his bath instead?”

“Yes, that would be fine,” Lou nodded, clearly seeing the boy’s shivering body as well as all the sweat stains on his son’s nightshirt despite just putting it on him a couple hours ago.

“Kay… Also, I threw up. In my room. Sorry…”

Lou closed his eyes for just a moment, just enough to recompose himself, before nodding. “It's fine, you are fine. I will run your bath first, and then I will clean it up, okay?” Leo nodded back at him and slowly made his way towards the bathroom.

As Lou traveled down the hall, he briefly checked on his other two kids. Raph, shirtless with discomfort clearly on his face, still managed to sleep in spite of his fever. He'd need to check his and Leo’s temperatures too when it was time to give all of them their next dose of medicine. “That's gonna be real fun,” he mumbled to himself, already dreading it.

As for Donnie, he was wide awake, sniffling and fiddling with his humidifier. “Donnie, please stop messing with that,” he told him, leading the boy back into bed.

“But it's not workingggg!” Donnie nearly sobbed, rubbing his tired eyes as he let out a couple tears, “I'm still all stuffed up!”

Lou turned the humidifier up one level before handing Donnie a box of tissues. “I know it's no fun being sick, but just try to relax, okay baby? Blow your nose a few times, that should-”

“I already blew my nose a hundred thousand times already!” Donnie growled, mood going from despairing to grouchy on a dime. “My dumb nose is STILL stuffed up, ‘cause you bought the wrong dumb machine! Cause you're dumb. Dumb Dad!” He tossed the box on his bed, kicking it slightly as he continued to sniffle. “Dummy dumb-dumb…”

Lou just patted his head. “I will make you some tea soon, Don. That’ll help clear things out.” Thankfully, Donnie seemed to accept that, still pouting and whimpering a bit but nonetheless laying back down and making sure to face the humidifier. Lou would make sure to make his purple pajama-wearing son his favorite flavor of tea as an added bonus. But first, bath time.

Leo was already waiting for him, undressed (save for a towel wrapped around his waist) and leaning against the toilet to try and keep cool. “Leonardo, don't, that's dirty,” Lou told him, gently pushing him off it. He then turned on the faucet and, out of the corner of his eye, noticed his son wincing at all the steam coming from the water. 

“Daddddd, I'm already super hot! If I take a hot bath I'm gonna die!”

“You're not gonna die,” Lou insisted, “A cold bath would just make your body sicker, and hot water will help your fever break. I promise that this'll help, and if you don't like it you won't have to stay in there for more than a couple minutes, okay?”

“Ugh, fiiiiine.” Lou gave him a small smile, quickly giving Leo a pat on the head as well. Soon enough the tub was filled, and Leo slipped into the water without any protest, already closing his eyes. Lou set a clean towel on the toilet lid in case Leo wanted out before he came back, and then set forth on his next task. There was still that mess in Leo’s room to clean up, but…

He heard Donnie let out a long whine (followed by a couple quick sneezes), and then heard Raph let out a low, raspy groan, waking up slightly from his fever induced nap. It nearly broke his heart, how miserable they sounded. “...Right. Tea first.” So, he headed downstairs, ignoring the tickle in his own throat and the fatigue pulling at his eyes. Not to mention his pounding headache… Unable to help himself, he closed his eyes again - and nearly tripped over a pillow that had been left on the living room floor. He managed to keep his footing at least - even if that meant stepping on one of Raph’s wrestling figures instead.

“You've got this, Lou,” he told himself, even as he limped into the kitchen, “You've got this. Just start the tea.” He made sure to make enough for three cups in case Mikey wanted some, as well. The process was easy enough, thankfully, though even the steam and pleasant scent of the soothing drink did nothing for him. If anything, his headache got worse, with it almost sounding like someone was knocking against his head!

...Wait, that knocking wasn't in his head. Or, was it? “Is someone there?” He shouted from the kitchen, nearly driving himself into a coughing fit, “I-If that’s you, O’Neil, door’s unlocked! Get whatever you need to borrow and go, okay?”

He heard the door open - good, he wasn't hallucinating - but the deep voice that answered him caught him completely off-guard. “Lou…? Is everythi-?”

“Ben?!” Lou moved to the kitchen doorway, and sure enough, there stood his boyfriend, looking confused and a bit shocked. “Uh, h-hey you!” Lou greeted, forcing a grin as he ran a hand through his (greasy, unwashed for who knows HOW long, ugh) hair, “Heh, what uh- what brings you?”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Draxum answered, unable to help but stare. Even when wearing simple and casual outfits, Lou had always had a sort of ‘dressed to impressed’ vibe, always looking good and well put together, matching his life in that sense. He never seemed stressed, being able to roll with whatever came his way, his kids always behaving well enough - he just seemed like Mr. Perfect! Even him being a bit flustered as he explained his feelings in the diner parking lot or him explaining his past hadn't shattered that illusion to Draxum. But now…

Lou was wearing just an old grey tank top, a brown house robe and nothing on his feet. His hair was an absolute mess while his face had some stubble, indicating that he hadn't shaved in a couple days. His usual sunglasses were also missing, meaning there was nothing to hide the bags under his eyes. But more than just his outfit or appearance, Lou just looked tired. Completely exhausted and looking like he was barely keeping it together.

Lou seemed to realize this too, glancing away as he explained the situation. “Yeah, uhh… Things are a bit rough over here this weekend. Big flu outbreak at school. Apparently April caught it first, so thanks to a heads up from her father I was able to prepare somewhat, but…” But there was only so much you could prepare for when not just one or two, but ALL FOUR of your kids got sick. “Donnie and Mikey both have colds while Raph and Leo have fevers, and unlucky Raphael has a really sore throat too, it seems.”

“And you?” Draxum asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lou immediately waved him off. “Oh I'm fine! Completely well! You, you didn't need to come over, really!”

“Well, I tried to call-” “You did?” Lou went around his chair and picked up his phone from the coffee table. He tried three times to turn it on before realizing the phone was dead. “Right…” He sighed, tossing the phone over his shoulder, it bouncing a couple times on the cushion. “Well, I-I’ll just charge that later and we can talk maybe to-”

A high pitched whistle pierced through the air and Lou mumbled a Japanese curse under his breath as he scrambled back into the kitchen. Draxum followed, still a bit surprised. Because the fact was, as easy as it should have been for Draxum to realize, Lou was just as human as him - just as human as anyone. He wasn't the Lou Jitsu from his movies. He could be handsome and witty and unflappable as both a person and a parent, but also disheveled and stressed and even have days where he could hardly stay afloat.

This was certainly one of those days.

Taking a deep breath as he poured the hot tea, Lou granted himself one moment to relax before pushing himself back into ‘dad mode’. “I'm sorry, Ben, I just- I have a lot to take care of today and-”

“Just tell me what you need me to do,” he heard Draxum say suddenly, his tone funnily enough making his request almost sound like a demand.

Lou turned back at him. “Oh, no, Ben! You, you don't have to spend your day- W-We’ll be fine, really! I've got this, I've just got to get the boys their tea and medicine and clean up a few messes-”

“Then why don't I take care of the messes,” Draxum told him, taking another step forward before gesturing to the cups of tea, “While you take care of these.” Lou tried to argue but his boyfriend once again cut him off. “I'm not going to take no for an answer, Lou.”

Lou was silent for a moment before he managed a sheepish smile despite himself. “You uh… You know how to clean up puke?” He asked, his tone unsure, as if he expected the idea itself to make the taller man immediately regret his decision to help, and he was already ready to tell him once again that he didn't need to stay.

But Draxum simply put a hand on Lou’s shoulder, his touch steady and strong enough that even Lou’s tired back was able to straighten up at it. “I think I can manage,” Draxum told him, smiling ever so subtly. Lou stared back at him… And then nodded, accepting it. With that, the two went their separate ways and got to work.

And with perfect timing too. In that moment, they both heard a loud wail from upstairs. Lou knew it well - it sounded like his youngest had officially gone from ‘everyone leave me alone right now’ to ‘I'm sad and/or feeling bad and I wanna be hugged forever’. So he grabbed the tea tray and raced up the stairs as fast as he could go without spilling the precious cargo while Draxum headed towards the nearest closet.

Along with finding cleaning supplies, Draxum also spotted some masks and gloves by the family first-aid kit. He tried not to look too relieved about this. Once he was properly protected and had gathered all he needed, he too went upstairs. Finding Leo’s room was easy enough, as was cleaning up the mess, thankfully. By the time he had finished, Leo was out of the bath and dressed in a fluffy bright blue bathrobe of his own.

The boy blinked slowly at him, eyes still a bit weary and sick mind hazy. “...Are you a dream?”

Draxum smiled. “Nope,” he answered, “Just a doctor helping out.”

“Oh. ...Kay.” Too sick to ask curious questions, Leo just got back into bed while Draxum left with his supplies to go take care of his next task, wishing the poor boy a 'get well soon' as he went.

The rest of the afternoon seemed to run just as smoothly, with Lou and Draxum working opposite each other. While Lou worked on getting the kids to take their medicine and drink their tea, Draxum took care of the overflowing laundry pile. While Draxum handled their mountain of unwashed dishes, Lou checked temperatures and ran more baths or refilled humidifiers. Lou even managed to get a nice hot shower for himself while Draxum kept an eye on the kids. There would still be work to do later once he had more time to do it, but Draxum’s help still took a lot off Lou’s plate - and for that, the former movie star was especially thankful.

Speaking of plates, they ended up cooking the kids’ supper together, with Draxum handling the dry toast and Lou making the chicken noodle soup. Not the most exciting meal, but perfect for small, upset stomachs that still needed to eat something they could keep down.

Of course, the two of them would be able to have something a bit more flavorful. Using the last of a bag of rice along whatever bits of ingredients he could find, Draxum managed to make a decent fried rice (NOT overcooked or burnt, thank you very much!). Once he had a lid over the pan to keep it warm, he went upstairs to tell Lou that their meal was ready.

Though, as he got closer to Lou’s room, he heard a low melody, and his footsteps slowed.

“Nakiharashita me de hiza wo kakaeru… Wake wo kikasete subete hanashite… Daijoubu dokoemo ikanai yo… Nani ga atte mo issho ni iru yo…”

It was quite the scene, really. All four kids were tucked into Lou’s bed, snuggling up to each like it was a giant cuddle pile, their faces finally peaceful as they slipped into sleep. As for Lou, he sat on the edge of the bed, smiling softly and occasionally petting one of the boys’ heads as he sang. Lou had a good voice, and even if he was occasionally off-key, the sentiment was still very much there.

Smiling softly to himself, Draxum stood in silence as he listened, deciding that supper could wait a couple minutes…

Even with there still being some sunlight outside, the inside of the house was awash with comfortable darkness, save for the single light left on in the kitchen. As far as they could tell, as they sat together on the loveseat and ate their food in peace, they were the only ones awake in the world.

“...You know, I think we skipped a couple steps.”

“Hm?” Draxum questioned, his last bite of food still in his mouth.

Lou, bleary eyed and exhausted, still managed to flash him a cocky smile. “Aren't there supposed to be a lot more fun and/or sexy times before we get into the domestic stuff?”

His date rolled his eyes. “You're sick and half asleep, and you're still going to try and flirt?”

Lou hummed, nuzzling Draxum’s shoulder slightly. “You're a good man… You deserved to be flirted with…” He then sighed. “Thanks for your help today, Ben. You… You really didn't have to-”

“Oh yes, because leaving you to take care of your children and your house despite me being more than able to help you would've been the muchmore supportive option,” Draxum replied, his tone sarcastic yet without harshness, “Honestly, what was I thinking.”

Lou weakly nudged his side. “Baka. You know what I mean… You didn't have to help as much as you did, but you just… Did, without hesitation.” He smiled again, this time a bit warmer though still somewhat playful. “Guess I won the jackpot on boyfriends, hm?”

Draxum chuckled slightly. “I suppose so…” Though, as far as he was concerned, they both won.

“...I’d kiss you if I could. You know I would.”

“I’ll settle for you getting some rest and getting better. I’ll go find you a blanket-”

Lou groaned, leaning further on his date and even wrapping an arm around him. “Don't leave meeee… You're so comfortableeeee…”

“Yes, and I’m sure a proper pillow would be even more comfortable,” Draxum argued, amused as he managed to slip out of his pouting boyfriend’s grip. It took some time to find a spare pillow and blanket that hadn’t been used yet or wasn’t currently being used. Once he found them and went back downstairs, Lou was already fast asleep.

Shaking his head, Draxum put a pillow down by the man’s head and spread the blanket over his body. He stared at Lou for a moment, almost unable to look away… Only feeling just a bit silly, Draxum pressed two of his fingers to his lips, kissing them and then pressing them to Lou’s forehead.

“Sleep well, Lou Jitsu…”

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

“Uhhh, special delivery for a ‘Dr. Benjamin Draxum’?”

Being yanked out of his concentration so suddenly - there was a reason he hadn’t taken a break yet, but it seemed like SOME people just couldn’t respect that!  - Draxum couldn't help but scowl at his computer screen. “Ugh, I didn’t order any-!” He turned to look at the doorway, and stopped short.

Lou, grinning and holding up a bag from Draxum’s favorite sandwich place, just gave him a wink. Draxum saved his work, and within a minute they were both sitting at Draxum’s desk - Draxum in his chair, and Lou deciding to just sit on the desk itself, being sure to mind the few things on it.

“Looks like a few days of rest did you well,” Draxum commented as he checked his sandwich for any unwanted toppings.

“Oh yeah,” Lou nodded, “The boys are back in school and catching up on missed work, house is all back in order, and I just figured that this was the least I could do.”

Draxum hummed. “Oh, I don’t know…” He set the sandwich down, earning a curious look from Lou. “I think there’s something more you could do for me. After all…” He stood up, smirking now as he leaned forward. “I believe you still owe me that kiss.”

Lou smirked back. “Well, if I still owe you that, I may have to throw in a bit of ‘interest’...” Their lips quickly met, Lou’s arms back around his tall lover’s waist while Draxum settled for cupping Lou’s face, fingers in his black and grey-streaked hair.

“...So, you think that’s him?” Muninn whispered as he quickly moved away from the doorway.

“Uh, yeah dude,” Huginn replied, giving him a bit of a flat look, “Pretty sure the guy that’s kissing him is his boyfriend.”

“Hey, just making sure! He seems like a pretty good guy.” And his boss definitely looked happy. “Heh, you think they’d invite us to their wedding?” he joked.

“Tc'ch, yeah right,” Huginn chuckled, smirking back at his partner, “Draxum wouldn't want us anywhere near their wedding. Come on, let’s get going before they hear us.” Besides, if Draxum was busy with his own lunch break, maybe he wouldn’t notice if his two interns came back a bit late from theirs. Extra dessert from the good snack machine by the chemistry department, here they come!

((The song Lou was singing is called Mother's Song from 'Wolf Children' with the lyrics translating to "You hugged your knees, crying out your eyes, Tell me why, I'll listen to everything, Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, No matter what happens, I'll be with you".

Granted not all the lyrics of the lyrics fit with Lou, hence why I only took a small bit of it, but I just needed a song to set the mood of the scene and this song seemed like the perfect fit (plus I just love both the movie and the song SO much! So I couldn't help but include it, heh). Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this! ^v^))