#ooh draxum

[exhaustedwriterartist]

Next (soon)

Masterpost

Here it is! The beginning. Oh my word... it took me... so many months to finally get enough motivation and post this... but hey! It's here. Just a note, the art style for the next part is going to look fairly different, because my artstyle has changed since I drew the line art for the panels. Plus I will be changing art apps for the rest of the time I do this comic. We'll see if I can get some more OOH stuff out by the end of the year. Love y'all. :]

People who wished to be tagged:

@bowandbrush @allyheart707 @lokiwaffles @nyaboshi @untitled-tmnt-blog @jadetheblueartist @ferniforest @banana-pancake5 @poetique823

Title/cover page art without text:

[3lectricinsomnia]

every headcanon you possibly have about two? i am so normal about him

Ooh, the biggest one I can think of rn is when they were younger, Two really looked up to One. You can read more about that here :)

Ummmmm, some other ones: Two picks up a smoking habit, he's more prone to being allergic to stuff because of all the substances he puts in his body because he was trying to fix himself, he's more prone to getting sick for the same reason, ofc the headcanons revolving around his fondness for plants and insects (he's most definitely built little teeny tiny houses for his bugs).

This one kind of goes for both of them. I don't remember if I talked about it before or not so I'll just talk about it again. When they were younger, the twins had a really hard time sleeping separately. Even though they had separate rooms and Draxum expected them to sleep in their own rooms, they couldn't sleep alone so they wind up sharing a room and it's a habit that sticks with them well up until Smart Lair. So now that One is gone, Two has a lot more trouble sleeping and puts more focus into work.

There's another thing here (towards the end) that explains the difference between One and Two's morals. If you don't want to look for it, I'll just copy and paste it here:

(One) At a certain age, Draxum started pulling One away for “special” training, which was basically Drax getting One to get used to taking lives, starting with small animals. At first, One had a really hard time pushing through and whenever he finally got the job done, he’d feel really guilty afterwards

He’d cry and Drax would ask him why and would say that crying about it is pointless and it won't help him.

I had this very specific idea of Draxum pulling One away from Two when they were playing + having fun then having One accomplish this task probably for the 2nd or third time and One coming back to Two covered in blood, absolutely numbed and hollow, which kind of puts a wedge between them.

By the time Draxum puts One in the nexus, One’s already sorta used to that feeling and it’s not such a big deal— but I was thinking the nexus is maybe what makes One think that killing is acceptable because when he kills he gets rewarded and maybe it’s also what makes him realize what his purpose is— and ofc Draxum’s already been feeding him that but when One is fighting in the arena, he actually gets what Draxum means ab their purpose or whatever about being warriors and stuff bc he knows he can fight and that he can kill and that he’s good at it and that’s what makes Draxum happy

and I just think this is very interesting bc this implies that, initially, One knew what he was doing was morally wrong and he could feel it but bc he was encouraged to kill and wasn’t punished for it, his viewpoint kinda got skewed

(Two) And in Two's case, he started to kill either after One fights in the nexus or he sees One kill one of the animals bc he sees his brother doing this and thinks “oh, yeah. I can do that” but because he wasn’t taught the difference between what he should destroy and what he should protect, that’s kind of why he’s Like That. And it's why Draxum fears/doesn't trust him like he trusts One.

That's all I can think of for now but if I have more, I'll reblog this

[copperpipes]

What’s going on in your after dark AU

I think of it more as a post-movie fic in comic form with a bunch of worldbuilding headcanons but anyways

After Dark is the name of the comic, I've planned two parts, two arcs.

We are just entering the first arc of the comic! Backyard fairies!

Its the farmhouse arc that was present in both the 2003 and 2012 iterations (I've watched both) in which the turtles (try to) heal after a big event, be it a failure or a victory. The surroundings of the farmhouse hold many mysteries, because the hamatos will never catch a break :/ poor guys

The parts of the arc will be more just like little one shots with a thin plot connecting them like in the show instead of the plot being the main focus, it thickens towards the end but overall I'm more exploring the world and the characters and what they've been through.

The main characters in this arc would be Mikey, April, Donnie and Casey because Raph and Leo got the film. Splinter and Draxum won't appear in this arc to deal with the aftermath in the hidden city because they believed the boys would be safe away from it (of course they were wrong). Cassandra has a clan of middle-schoolers to run in new york which was put on lock down, so she too in the end won't be able to visit :[

The episodes would be like this:

Mikey in wonderland- the focus is Mikey, he goes to explore the woods a bit because his arms ache and he needs a distraction.

Target practice- the focus is April, the exploration of her role in the predicament the hamatos are stuck along with a small theme of feminism and her being a part of the clan.

Five easy steps to build a tree house- the focus is Casey, he lost his home, and he realizes the turtles he grew up with are gone with it too, also a glimpse of his past and birth.

Its the IRS! but they're not after Donnie?- amateur timestress tries to impress her mentor, and draggs Mikey with her into the mess.

Germophobia- Mikey drags Donnie into the woods to meet someone he met there. Donnie isn't a fan.

Thats it for the first arc I think. There will be smaller stuff in between that'll show the details, how Raph and Leo are doing, what is up in NY and the HC (hidden city).

The second arc is the infamous tmnt space arrrrc

It'll be called star sailor ✨ the main focus in it will be Donnie :D it'll include the triceratons, fugitoid, many aliens and a lot of existential crisis :'] i think it'll be much more angsty and philosophical then the first arc and ooh can't forget the amount of body horror I've planned >:D

Man I should really make a masterpost

[bambiraptorx]

Lowkey I've been thinking about giant mutant toddler turtles again, and I think it'd be funny if Lou Jitsu actually never left and was just kinda hanging around.

Draxum's got his hands full dealing with four mutant turtles (the approximate size of their teenage forms) who don't know anything about How To People, and he's also got this weird new roommate who is technically the biological father of said mutant turtles. The roommate in question is actually kind of annoying also clearly has a lot of trauma going on so Draxum feels bad about the idea of kicking him out.

Meanwhile Lou Jitsu is like "ooh a free place to stay with food and cute turtle things I can hang out with? All for the price of giving my DNA to a complete stranger who may or may not actually let me leave if I tried? I've been in worse situations lol"

[daboyau]

i haven’t gone to bed yet so i’m counting this as being on time. :)

here’s part 2 of the very special and fun collab with @boots-with-the-fur-club! It was such a great experience getting to join in on her wonderful ideas. 💚 you can find part one here:

And here is my part! Hope you enjoy it!! @tmntaucompetition

There’s a warmth to Mikey’s simulation. A candle bright glow around the edges of reality, seeping into the world and warming the air itself. It feels almost stifling, making each breath heavy and hard to draw without their lungs burning from it. Mike doesn’t seem to notice, though, his smile big and bright as he stands at the head of the room, talking animatedly to his captive audience. They all stand close together, faces plastic and bright. Nothing but smiles all around as they ooh and ahhh at the art that Mikey is showing them. Each piece is a vague blur of color, a shifting landscape of shapes and shades that only make sense in the world of dreams. Mikey is glowing with pride, though, to the point that it almost makes Donnie feel a little bad for wanting to wake him up and break him out of this moment. 

He scans the crowd, searching for the shades of himself and his brothers, and when his eyes fall upon the smudge of green he heaves a put upon sigh. Of course they’re all the way up at the front of the room. He braces himself and begins to make his way through the throngs of bodies, shoving against humans and yokai and mutants alike. The smiles never fade from a single one of their faces. 

“Mikey!” he yells, struggling to be heard over the indistinct chatter of the crowd. He hasn’t seen a single one of their mouths moving. His little brother doesn’t even glance in his direction, seeming to not hear his voice. 

“Mikey! If you don’t answer me I will put all of your cringey 15 year old moments online for everyone to see! I know you know I recorded every single one!” 

Nothing. Instead, Mikey turns and steps into the horde, being swallowed by the mass of colors and textures. Donnie curses, and his shoves begin to get more violent as he fights to reach his brother. The bodies bend and ripple like jello when he pushes against them, making his skin crawl and his stomach churn, but he persists. There’s a flash of orange, a familiar laugh, and Donnie zeroes in on his target. 

“Mikey!”

His brother turns and for one wonderful second Donnie thinks that his voice has been heard. That hope dies a quick and resolute death when he realizes that there is no recognition in Mikey’s fever bright eyes. An arm is thrown over his baby brother’s shoulders, and his gaze is pulled back to the fake family that is vying for his attention. Donnie grits his teeth and shoves closer, trying to duck around the bodies blocking his way. 

“Mike. Miguel! Michelangelo, I swear to Marie Curie, if you don’t get it together right this moment—“

Donnie breaks through the crowd, and when he catches sight of who his brother is talking to, he feels his breath catch in his chest. He feels his heart plummet and his stomach twist as his vision goes blurry. 

“Oh,” he whispers. “Papa.” 

He understands now why Mikey is so happy here. Why he has been harder to catch the attention of. Their father is healthy and smiling here, one hand resting on Mikey’s forearm as he guides the family around, gesturing broadly towards the artwork with a huge smile on his face. Draxum is trotting at his side, smile just as broad. At times, he leans down to whisper something in Splinter’s ear and the two of them laugh together like they never had in the real world. The fake Donnie and Leo are walking arm in arm, smiling as they discuss the artwork. Seeing themselves getting along better than they have in years makes Donnie feel vaguely ill, the sting of longing and guilt mixing painfully with the grief he hasn’t let himself feel since—

“This is amazing!” a voice booms, familiar but warped. Younger than it should be, and echoing strangely through the heavy air. “Good work, big man!” 

A facsimile of Raph swoops in and hoists Mikey onto one shoulder, and their dad on the other. Mikey laughs, nuzzling closer, one hand linked with their dad’s. The fake Leo bounds after them, head thrown back, laughing more freely than he has since he was a teenager, back before the weight of life and leadership and loss had settled too heavy upon his chest. The fake Donnie and Draxum follow close behind, locked in deep discussion, smiling easily as they talk. From out of the crowd, April materializes, clinging to Raph’s forearm as she twists to shout something over her shoulder at Leo and Donnie. 

They’re all smiling, happy, and together for the first time in years. It hurts to see it. Donnie didn’t realize how much he’s missed it until it is right in front of him, but still out of reach. Unachievable with mystics or science, no matter how hard he may try. He swallows hard, bracing himself for the pain and the grief and the way Mikey will look at him with betrayal and hatred when Donnie forces him to wake and face reality once again. 

“Hey,” he says, quiet, as he steps closer to fake-him’s back. The imposter doesn’t turn to look at him, its routine set up already to revolve around Mikey and Mikey alone. Donnie flexes his fingers, mystics flaring as a glowing purple bo forms, settling comfortably in his hands. He breathes out, a blade forming on the end of it, and runs his double through. 

He winces as the fake Donnie crumples to the ground. None of the others miss a step. Donnie joins their march, weapon still held tight in his hands. Beside him, fake Draxum does not miss a beat. He continues to talk, pausing occasionally like he is listening to a response. His voice is strange and garbled, though, like a scratched record playing backwards. The sound makes his skin feel too tight and he shudders, turning his attention instead on the imposter Raphael’s broad shoulders. 

Their dad’s tail swings with each of Raph’s steps, tail curling in the same way it always did when he was happy. It hurts to see it, and yet it feels like a violation that Kendra knows this tiny detail and chose to use it against them. Mikey’s laughter fills the air around them, his head tilted back, his face brighter than it has been in years. The sound is like music to a man hearing for the first time, or food for someone long starved. Donnie allows himself a moment to soak it in, and it feels like heresy to get to enjoy Mikey’s joy again when the cause of it is a sham. 

The defeated slump to his brother’s shoulders is gone. Donnie feels guilty that he hadn’t even realized it was there until that awful weight had been lifted. 

“Mikey,” he calls again, soft and sad. For the first time that night (the first time in years), his little brother turns and looks right at him. There is adoration in his gaze, though it turns slowly to confusion as he sees the bo and the serious expression on Donnie’s face. 

“Dondon?” he asks, head tilting. He looks so young here, with none of the deep worry lines that he’s developed in the real world. Maybe this is what he could have looked like if Donnie hadn’t had his freakout. If he hadn’t panicked and run and fucked it all up. 

Donnie smiles at him, and he knows it must look awful because Mikey’s brow creases with worry in response. He tugs at Raph’s bandana, trying to get him to slow, to notice that something is wrong, but there’s no indication that he notices Mikey’s attempts. 

“I’m sorry about this,” Donnie says. 

“What are you—“ Mikey begins, but before he can finish the thought Donnie is swinging, the blade hitting fake-Draxum in the side of the neck and sending him crumpling to the floor. The world goes pixelated and iridescent. Mikey’s scream echoes around them, and as he leaps from Raph’s crumbling shoulders to race to Draxum’s side, his markings already beginning to glow, all Donnie can think is how grateful he is that he didn’t have to kill dad a second time to make his point. 

.

Mikey jerks awake with a horrible, shuddering gasp. He scrabbles for the headset, breaking off into a violent coughing fit as he manages to pull it from his temples and throw it across the room. Donnie is at his side immediately, hand hovering just over his shell. He wants to rub circles on his baby brother’s back, just like he used to do for him after he was sick or had a bad dream when they were kids, but he isn’t sure if he’s allowed to anymore. Mikey’s foggy gaze finds his, and his mouth opens a closes a few times, throat clicking dryly whenever he tries to speak. Finally, he manages to croak out a scared little whisper. 

“Donnie?” he asks, and his voice is so broken, and suddenly all Donnie can think of is the night before the funeral, Mikey sitting lost and alone in their dad’s bedroom. They had all been so caught up in their own grief. Their own hurt. None of them had leaned into one another for comfort, each trying to handle things on their own. None of them had stopped long enough to sit with Mikey as he grieved, alone and lost, in the empty room. 

“I’m here,” Donnie promises, saying it now because he hadn’t been able to force the words out from behind the lump in his throat back then. “I won’t be going anywhere.”

Mikey’s eyes are glistening, and Donnie’s pretty sure that he would be sobbing if it weren’t for how dehydrated he is. They both would be. Donnie gently, hesitantly, allows his hand to fall and rest on Mikey’s shell. That’s all it takes for his little brother to crumble, falling unsteadily into his arms, trembling and whimpering as he hugs Donnie tight. 

“I missed you so much,” Mikey sobs, his voice hoarse and wet. Donnie wishes he had water to offer him, but he contents himself with hugging back, squeezing as tightly as his malnourished arms will allow him to. 

“I did, too,” he whispers, burning eyes squeezed shut. “I’m sorry I left. I won’t do it again.”

“You dumbdumb,” Mikey warbles. “You can live your own life. You just have to make sure you come back, and that you call us every week, and see us on holidays and birthdays.”

Donnie wheezes out the ghost of a laugh, pulling his little brother impossibly tighter before he says, “Just the major holidays, or will I need to buy a plane ticket for every bank holiday, too?” 

“Shut up, Donnie.” 

Mikey chokes on his own giggles, fingers curling almost painfully against the leathery surface of Donnie’s shell before he shoves him playfully away. He smiles warmly and looks into Donnie’s face, eyes searching, before his gaze wanders towards the rest of the room. Donnie sees the moment he finds Leo and Raph, because the way that warm expression twists into one of terror makes him feel vaguely sick. 

“What’s happening?” Mikey asks, struggling to stand on shaking legs. Donnie clambers to his own feet, and they lean on one another for support as they shuffle towards their brothers. 

“Purple Dragon,” Donnie murmurs, eyes roaming towards the faint lavender glow emanating from one of the discarded devices. “She trapped all of us in some kind of…simulation. A dream world. Something to keep us from interfering with her plans, though I don’t know yet what those might be.” 

“And what about them?” Mikey gestures towards Leo’s slumped form. His eyes are open wide, staring at nothing, pupils and irises gone as they glow a pale white. 

“Leo mind melded with Raph, trying to break him out of it. Just like I did with you.”

“Can we do anything to help?” Mikey’s fingers find Donnie’s hand, intertwining them, holding him tight like he’s afraid that his brother might slip away again. Donnie squeezes back. A silent promise. “Should we also go in there and try to get through to him?”

Donnie considers it, then shakes his head. He grimaces as he does so, obviously not liking the answer any more than Mikey does. 

“The simulated worlds seem unstable. I don’t know what would happen if too many of us tried to all fit inside the same one at once. For all we know, Kendra might have even anticipated something like this would happen and included some kind of failsafe that would fry all our brains if the device detected that all four of us were inside the same simulated dream.” 

“So what? We just wait here and do nothing?”

“I didn’t say that. While we wait for Leo to do his thing, let’s see if we can find food and water, and a way out of here. We all need it.”

Mikey frowns, but after smacking his chapped lips a few times, concedes. Donnie smiles and ruffles the messy tufts of thinning hair on his brother’s head. The sight of it is a painful reminder that how much he’s missed of his brothers’ lives already. He makes a silent vow to be there when Mikey inevitably circles back around to being bald. 

“They’ll be okay,” he says out loud, trying to inject a confidence he isn’t completely feeling into his tone. 

“They’d better be,” Mikey mutters, glaring at Raph’s twitching form. His voice is suspiciously tight as he turns away and mutters, “Or else.”

.

The sound of dripping is the first thing Leo hears when he finds himself inside Raph’s mind. He squints against the dimness, turning slowly to try to gauge where he is and what’s going on. A strange sense of nostalgia overtakes him as he realizes that he sorta recognizes the sewer tunnels he’s standing in. They’re the same ones that he and his brothers would play in when they were too young to go to the surface, but their dad had still shooed them from the lair with the order to go stretch their legs. Which was of course just code for “go be loud somewhere else.” Leo allowed himself a brief, fond smile at the thought before pushing it away and getting back to business. 

“Helloooo?” he calls, and listens to his singsong voice echoing eerily back to him. “Raph? You here, man?” 

He tilts his head, trying to discern anything besides the distant rush of water and his own echoing calls. He wets his lips, and wonders suddenly if this is going to be harder than he thought it would. Donnie had made it sound so easy! Just come in, rile the big guy up a little so he’ll use his ninpo, and badabing badaboom, problem solved! That won’t work if he can’t even find the big lug! 

He groans and spins slowly in place, eyes squeezing shut as he listens intently for any sign of life. Finally, down one of the multitude of side tunnels connecting to his own, he hears the faint sound of voices. Leo grins triumphantly and begins his march towards them, already preparing his speech for his grand entrance. 

“Alright, hermano!” he shouts as he enters the chamber he’d heard the voices coming from. “Prepare to get a face full of my fists and the biggest wake up call of your—“ 

A tiny figure runs past him before he can finish, no taller than his knees. Leo yelps and stumbles back, shell crashing against the wall with a thunderous bang. None of the others seem to notice. He stares at the three of them, jaw hanging open, as he tries to process the fact that he’s looking at the tiny little baby versions of himself and two of his brothers. 

Well, maybe not babies exactly, but definitely freakishly young. Way before they ever went topside, at least. 

Before they ever awakened their ninpo or their mystic abilities, for sure. So much for this being easy. He’s going to complain to Donnie about this for the rest of their lives, loudly and for long periods of time. 

“Eugh, boy,” he mutters as another of the tiny figures run past him, laughing uproariously. Leo sidesteps this second one, only to almost trip over a third as little baby Mikey follows hot on their nubby little tails, hands outstretched, giggling with a gap toothed smile. It’s painfully adorable and Leo is already dreading the nightmares this encounter is sure to give him when it’s all over. 

The fake baby him, fake Donnie, and fake Mikey are all laughing together, chasing one another through the chamber without ever splitting off into any of the side tunnels. If Raph was in his right mind, that would be a dead giveaway that something about this situation is wrong. They always split up when playing tag as kids, even though the rules and dad both said they weren’t supposed to. Looking back, Leo can’t help but be a little impressed with their past selves for surviving childhood with decision making skills like that. 

Real Leo watches them for a moment, waiting impatiently for real Raph to join in. As weird as this situation is, he can’t deny that it’s gonna be hilarious to see Raph’s massive self trying to play tag with these guys. He’s pretty sure little Mikey wouldn’t even reach the top of Raph’s ankle. Leo huffs a soft laugh at the mental image, and turns away to peer into one of the numerous and constantly shifting side tunnels for his missing brother. It’s unnervingly dark inside, and a thin layer of fog swirls eerily across the wetly glimmering ground. The sparkles might lure a lesser mutant, but Leo keeps his feet planted firmly in the less creepy chamber that he’s currently in.

“Rapherella?” he calls, squinting to see through the gloom. His voice doesn’t have an echo anymore. Everything looks all strange and wobbly the further out it goes, like the only solid thing in the dream tunnels is right here in front of him. It makes him a little nervous that Raph isn’t here, too, if that’s the case. What happens if Raph or Leo wander too far away from the fakes? Will they fall off the edge of the dream-world? 

“Come play with us, Raphie!” tiny Leo yells, grinning upwards with sparkling eyes. 

Damn, Leo can’t believe how adorable he was back then. How dad had ever been able to say no to those squishable cheeks and big eyes, he’ll never know. Then, the actions of little-fake-him registers and he follows fake-him’s gaze up up up. 

“Raph!” he calls, seeing a dark form huddled in the mass of pipes leading to nowhere at the top of the tunnel. There is no response, but that’s never stopped Leo from rambling before and it sure isn’t going to now. “Hey, big guy! How about you and me get outta here, huh? We can get some pizza and rip Donnie a new one while we’re at it!”

It’s been a long time since they went out for pizza together. It would be nice to finally do it again.

“Raph, we’re waiting for you,” little Donnie says at the same time, his words almost a whisper. Somehow, his creepy little voice seems louder than Leo’s showboating. The way his pudgy hands tap excitedly at his thighs belies his happiness, and Leo wonders if Kendra really knows so much about them that she can add little details like that into this weird simulation-dream-thing, or if their minds just betray them by filling in the blanks and making everything so much more believable.

“Okay, okay,” Raph’s voice says from the shadows, soft enough that Leo almost doesn’t register it over his own musings. “Raph’s comin’ down.”

The three fakes all cheer as the sound of claws scrabbling against metal rings throughout the tunnel. There is a sharp grinding, then a loud thump, and Raph lands on the floor between Leo and the little fakes. 

“Oof, I take back the big from big guy,” Leo mutters. 

Raph is just as young here as the others, though he stands a little taller. Even all puffed up like he is, he barely reaches Leo’s hip. Still, he’s big enough to charge forward and sweep the other three up into a hug and spin them all around without any effort at all. Leo catches a glimpse of a big, carefree smile when Raph turns his way. The chasm between his eyebrows is gone. The worry lines around his eyes and the scarring that still makes Leo’s heart sink whenever he sees it have disappeared. Leo almost doesn’t recognize his big brother without the evidence of never ending stress and the burden of responsibility weighing him down. He’s never considered how much it would hurt to see it before now. 

“Oh, buddy,” he murmurs, and quickly swipes at the wetness he can feel gathering at the corners of his eyes. There’s no time for that now. He can think about this glimpse into a lost childhood later, once they’re all out of the woods and have some food and water in them. He’s definitely not looking forward to the dehydration headaches they’re all going to be dealing with when this is over. Not to mention the emotional fallout. Talk about a nightmare. 

“Raph,” he says again, trying to use the firm I-Mean-Business voice he has to bring out to get the rowdier kids at camp to listen. “We need to leave. It’s time to go home, to the real world and our realbrothers. C’mon.” 

He reaches out a hand, trying to grab this strange, half-forgotten version of his big brother by the shoulder. Before he can grab him, Raph ducks out of reach, crouching down to grab fake Mikey up into another hug. Mikey squeals and hugs back, arms only wrapping halfway around Raph’s spiky little shell. Fake Leo pounces on them, climbing up Raph’s shell to plant a sloppy little kid kiss on the top of his head. Leo’s heart squeezes a bit, and he wonders when the last time was that he did that. 

With a frustrated grunt, he grabs for Raph again, only for the little guy to sidestep the swipe as he rushes over towards fake baby Donnie, dragging the others along in his wake. He grabs his little hand, all wrapped up in purple and pink bandaids, and together the four of them begin a march in the opposite direction. Leo frowns and puts his hands on his hips. 

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were doing this on purpose, young man.”

He gets no response, but that’s fine, he’s more than used to it. It’s easy to catch up to them, considering his legs are ten times the length of theirs. He sighs, heart already sinking at the thought of what he’s going to have to do to break his brother out of this trance he’s in. He was hoping to avoid it, but Leo’s always been good at knowing when to throw in the towel and admit defeat. What’s one more nightmare, right?

He feels like a predator, like a monster, as he watches the four of them march hand in hand down the never-ending sewer tunnel. Seriously, this thing just goes on and on and on and on! 

“Eeny, meeny, miny…” he already knows which of the four he’s going to grab for first. There’s only one of them he can even think about ripping away without feeling like he’d rather die a thousand terrible deaths. It still sucks, still makes him want to puke, but at least it isn’t going to give him any nightmares he hasn’t already had.

“Moe,” he whispers, and lunges forward like a lightning strike to pluck the little Leo from their daisy chain. It’s too easy, and the tiny creature is helpless as he yanks it roughly away from the grasping hands. 

The little Leo cries out, eyes wide as it is turned to face the real deal. Those wide eyes go strangely empty once they’re turned towards Leo. The red markings are beginning to run at the edges, and its pupils blur and bleed until its eyes have gone completely black. Leo grits his teeth, ready for the little thing to start screaming or fighting back. 

Instead, it begins to dissolve in his hands, black ichor leaking from its nose and mouth and eyes. Its little hands come up to clutch at his own, malformed fingers like claws as they dig into his hands. He cannot feel any pain from their grip. It flashes a sharp toothed grin, a final goodbye as it melts, and he finds himself staring at hands now stained with red blood and black tar. 

“Oh,” he says, feeling a little numb. That was maybe a little worse than he was hoping it would be. At least he didn’t have to yeet it himself?

A scream rips through the tunnel, echoing and amplifying as it grows and grows. Leo cringes away, hands instinctively raising to cover his ears. They feel sticky and warmer than usual, but not quite wet. It makes him shudder and bite back the urge to retch as it stings the back of his throat. He can taste blood on his teeth. 

“Raph!” he shouts, trying to be heard over the horrible, unnatural screams. The fake Donnie and Mikey are staring straight at him, eyes black and emotionless, mouths hanging wide open as they wail. Their arms hang limp at their sides, and Leo notes that their fingers have begun to lengthen and now glint with needlelike points.

Raph has scrambled backwards, shell pressed tight against the curve of the tunnel wall, his eyes massive and glassy as he stares at the scene before him. He doesn’t wipe away the tears that race each other down his cheeks, too busy trying to block out the horrific sound with those chubby little hands of his. Leo can’t help but stare at those hands, unable to stop himself from marveling at how soft they look. No callouses from years of learning to fight. No crooked fingers or scars from the endless battles, all for the sake of an earth and its people that wouldn’t do the same for them if given half a chance. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Leo lies, hoping that his little big brother will be able to read his lips. “I’m going to make it all better.” 

Slowly, Raph shakes his head. The fakes have begun to settle, their screams more like the air raid sirens instead of the falling bombs. The same black that fake-Leo had wept is leaking from their eyes, mocking the tears that Raph is shedding on their behalf. Leo can feel his own eyes watering at the sight of his indomitable big brother so small and scared. Scared of Leo. 

He slides past the two remaining fakes, doing his best not to brush up against them. They turn in unison to watch him pass, but thankfully do not try to touch him. As one, their mouths snap shut and the tunnel falls blessedly silent. His ears are still ringing, but at least he might be able to hear himself think now. 

He crouches in front of Raph, knees creaking with the motion. God, he feels old just looking at this fresh faced little guy. He’s not even wearing a mask yet! Just a little red and green Christmas scarf tied around his head like Rambo. Trying to be an action hero, even back then.

“Hey little guy,” he murmurs, reaching out carefully to rest a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Raph flinches away like he’s afraid of Leo, and he feels his heart threaten to shatter under the weight of his guilt. He forces himself onwards, trying out a smile for size as he asks, “Do you recognize me?”

Raph responds by winding back and clocking Leo in the jaw with enough power behind it to have him spilling backwards, head and shell colliding hard with the floor. Ouch? Why did that feel like getting a brick to the face, when the fake-him had tried its best to turn his hands to mince meat and he didn’t feel a thing? That just doesn’t seem fair. 

“Mikey!” Raph is screaming from somewhere behind him, and Leo hears the slapping of tiny bare feet through puddles and against stone. There are no answering voices. “Donnie! Leo! Where are you guys?!”

Wow, rude. He can’t believe his name was last on that list. 

Leo struggles to flip himself over, cursing the fact that the turtle on its back thing does very much apply to mutant turtles, too. With a groan that echoes eerily through the dream world’s tunnels, he manages to stumble gracelessly to his feet. With his heart beating its panicked, angry rhythm against his insides and each breath tasting like rot, he frantically scans the tunnel for his brother. 

Raph didn’t manage to get far, thank the giant pizza pie in the sky. Leo races after him, cursing himself for not knowing how else to handle this. He had really been banking on one good shock being enough to get his brother out of this mess, but apparently neither of them are going to be that lucky. All aboard the trauma train! Next stop: whatever the hell Leo was about to do. 

“Hey!” he shouts, reaching out to grab Raph. He scoops him up and winds up getting pummeled in the face for his troubles. He spits out the little foot that had somehow ended up between his teeth and holds Raph out at arms length, ready to give him an earful of the frustration he could taste like acid sitting on his tongue and eating through the enamel of his teeth. 

The look on Raph’s face stopped him short. There was terror, yes. Tears running thick and unending down his chubby little cheeks, and snot bubbles that grew and shrank with each of his heaving breaths. Leo had been prepared for that. He knew that they weren’t going to get out of this mess without a few tears. What he wasn’t ready for, though, was the awful, horrible, familiar sorrow. 

It was the same look Raph had bore when they lost their dad. The same helpless devastation that Leo himself had felt, deep and cold and alone, as he drifted through the prison dimension all those years ago. The horrific, uncomprehending, unyielding pain of grief. The silent, even worse realization that this is forever, and you will never get them back. 

The hairline fractures of Leo’s heart finally imploded, shattering the remnants into a billion tiny shards. Every bit of frustration, every compounding hurt from over the long years, every declined dinner invitation and ghosted movie night, everything negative he’d been holding onto melted away. The tears overflowed. 

“Raph,” he whispered, and he pulled the struggling form of his big brother closer. “I’m sorry.”

Raph went still in his arms. The world around them was silent, and the darkness was creeping closer, lapping at the corners of his vision. Everything felt so fragile. 

“I couldn’t protect them,” Raph whispered, his voice so small as the words tickled Leo’s cheek.

“It’s okay,” Leo soothed, squeezing him a little tighter and shifting them so he could tuck the top of Raph’s head beneath his chin. “Those guys weren’t real. I promise nobody got hurt.”

Raph made a small, hurt noise and shook his head. He was trembling, and Leo could feel the tears as they dripped onto his shoulder. Each of his panic-quick breaths felt too cold against Leo’s neck, raising goosebumps across his flesh.

“Not them,” Raph whimpered, and Leo went very still. He swallowed hard, struggling to speak around the tightness in his lungs.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s so much easier here. We were always safe in the tunnels, but the world is so big,” Raph whispered like he was telling Leo a horrible secret. “And there are so many things that want to hurt us.”

“Oh. Listen, you don’t have to worry about that. Those guys are all gone!” 

“They hurt them. Hurt…hurt you. It’s my job to keep everybody safe, and I couldn’t do it. I failed over and over and—“

“Hey, no. No, no, we are not doing this.” Leo sank to the ground, sitting cross legged and shifting his little big bro around so they could look each other in the eye. The darkness glittered. It felt hungry. “Listen to me. You did the best you could, which is what matters most. You kept us all alive and got us out of trouble again and again no matter how many stupid things we did to make that harder on you. But — and this is important — that burden should never have been on your shoulders. Do you hear me, man? You were a kid, just like the rest of us, and I….”

Leo paused when his voice cracked, taking a deep breath. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get himself under control. When he opened them again, he found Raph staring up at him, wide eyed and trusting and nothing at all like the beaten down adult he knew. It was too much. 

“I’m sorry,” Leo croaked, and he covered his face, not wanting this version of Raph to see him like this. Still, he forced the words out through hiccuping breaths and a tight throat, hating himself a little more with each one. “I made things so much harder on you. I was such a little shit, and I hurt you so many times. I helped put that burden on you, and you never even complained even though I never helped you carry it. I should have done more, I should have told you how much you meant to us, but instead all I did for so long was find ways to tear you down. You were never alone, but we made you feel like you were. I don’t know why— I never really felt— ugh! I want you to know that I never—“

“Leo,” Raph’s voice breaks through his rambling grief, and his name sounds safe in his big brother’s mouth. Leo lifts his gaze, and the broken remnants of his heart twists when he finds himself staring into a more familiar face. Raph’s undamaged eye is warm, full of so many emotions that Leo fears he might suffocate beneath the weight of them. “That’s enough. It’s okay.”

“Raph,” he croaks, and then stops, suddenly at a loss for words. He wants to keep apologizing. Wants to make up for the years lost to infighting and hurt feelings. Wants his big brother to know—

“I love you,” he says, and watches Raph’s face light up with that big grin that he’s missed so much. 

“I already knew that, you knucklehead,” Raph laughs, and he pulls Leo in for a hug. It is tight and warm and Leo melts into it, letting himself relax for the first time since the funeral, since the last moment he saw all three of his brothers in one place. “I love you, too.”

As the warm, familiar red glow of Raph’s ninpo envelopes them, Leo smiles. His heart feels like it’s begun beating again, and for the first time since the funeral, he’s looking forward to waking up from his dreams and facing real life.

This time, at least he knows that his brothers will be right by his side again.

[ace-of-garlic-breads]

more ROTTMNT characters saying things that me and my friends have actually said cause I'm bored. 👍 (including ones from my parents)

(No shipping)

.....

April: I once sneezed so hard my necklace flew off.

The others: ?!

.....

Donnie: QUIT HITTING ME WITH CRACKERS MIKEY

......

Mikey: ooh look a hole! Imma jump down it!

(This was me playing Minecraft for like, the first time.)

......

Donnie: are you smarter than a doorknob?

(This one was actually my mom)

.......

Young Leo: ah yes, Slime my favorite drink

.......

Young Mikey: I'm a sandwich bored

(Again, one from my mom)

.......

Raph (to Donnie): WHY WOULD YOU READ FANFICTION ON AN OVEN?!

.......

Raph: Put the tape measure down and go to bed.

(Yet another one from my mother)

.......

Draxum: why is there a pile of cinnamon toast crunch on an envelope

......

Leo: awwwwww no. I can't hate myself, that's homophobic and transphobic.

......

Donnie: ewwww! It's a sweaty croissant

......

Leo: moose Jesus?

Donnie: MOOSE JESUS!

.......

Mikey: WHO THE FUCK CRUCIFIED ELMO?!

.......

Raph: WHY DOES SANTA HAVE A ROCKET LAUNCHER?!

........

Leo: it wasn't cooperating. So I stabbed it.

.....

Donnie: Raph, you walk so loud.

.....

Donnie: windows are for losers

.....

Raph: Donnie. Give me the crowbar.

......

Mikey: I AM CONFESCATING THE POTATO

....

Leo: I will no longer be celebrating my brother's birthday. Only Nico Di-angelo's

.....

Leo: Don't eat roses, I tried it and it tastes bad.

......

April: Quit talking about the Rinocerous party

(This was acc my HS Civics teacher. The rhinoceros party is a joke Canadian political party and my class wouldn't shut up abt it)

.....

Mikey: im looking for the Unicorn insides

(The things you say/hear as a crafter)

......

Donnie: SUBMIRGE!

......

Leo: we love gay space apples

.....

Mikey: PHD, Permanent, Head, Damage

[itsyagurlchip]

Rottmnt request platonic funny hc.

Younger sister reader whose always talks about " am daddy's favorite and i'll have most of his inheritance " type of talk like how leo jokes mostly about new Jersey and whenever her brothers are either in danger or doing something naughty she always writes to her dad with

" dear daddy, sadly i'd like to inform you that my brothers are mostly dead so please scratch their names off your will and thank you "

٠ ˚ ※ ๋࣭  ᯓ⚝ ⋆ .˚✰"Daddy! Buy Me North Korea!"٠ ˚ ※ ๋࣭  ᯓ⚝ ⋆ .˚✰

✰⋆⁺warnings: death mentions(!) death threat jokes(!) reader is scary(!) lil bit of angst(!) cussing(!)

✰⋆⁺I really love this one- I'm even gonna add gifs for specific events rather than making up my own plot. My brain is kinda hurting- I found this funny bc it's a thing that me and my dad joke about from time to time.

"that's a thousand dollars" "out of what?" "what I'm owing you in my will"

I hope you all enjoy<33

✰⋆⁺ Random scenes where reader "accidentally" mentions her ability to kill the four turtles. Poor thing doesn't even know that Splinter hasn't even written his will yet.

Reader already knew that Lou Jitsu was a popstar in the hidden city-

Just look at all of those posters!

And after a bit of poking and prodding at Draxum for a while, she found out how they were created.

Yet she didn't know who her biological father was, and her digging came to an end.

untilll-

After finding out that Splinter is Lou Jitsu (during the fish and ladders fight), reader has been ADAMANT that Splinter still has some of that leftover money.

You know how the turtle boys always try to gain Splinter's favor?

Well, reader tries even harder.

Homemade gifts, physical affection, spends time with the old rat, listens to his stories.

She is getting that money one way or another.

She even tries to stay in the lair more often, sometimes to manipulate his opinions of her brothers just a tiny bit.

But that doesn't mean she isn't genuine with her actions-

She just wants the benefits yk?

I basically headcannon her to be like Zuri from 'Hey Jessie" and "Bunk'd' where when she finds an opportunity for money, she'll take it.

Reader is very observational, so after finding out Donnie's password, she just slowly started cashing out the man's bank.

She found it even better when she realized that ALL of his passwords were the same and he BARELY changes them.

When someone owes reader her money, she'll get it.

She's actually kind of a loan shark, and even does interest depending on who owes her and how long they didn't pay her,

"HEY! I said pay up bucko! It's been three months and you still haven't coughed up JACK."

Repo never wanted to be in debt to a little girl ever again.

Anyone who is in debt to her will be crouching in pain- wallet empty, dignity lost, banging the floor, and broke as hell.

"IS THAT MONEY I HEARD?" You shouted, this may have been the best day of your life! Say goodbye to pyramid schemes ole pal! You just found a new source of forever income!

You sighed dreamily, thinking about how much cash you'll be flowing in before the old rat croaks.

Raph deadpanned at you before grabbing you by the shell and dragging you away from the fight.

"Ooh Donnie! DOn't GeT ClAweD At!!! You might just loose your name in the will! Who do you think Splinter will give it to??? His favorite child of course!"

You cackled evilly at the thought, but pouted when you saw that your brother survived.

"NO!" Raph yelled, jumping off the roof to catch Leo.

"There's no point! You should've just ran- Besides, he barely has anything left to his name but a few lil comics and unicorn figures." You rolled your eyes.

Raph successfully caught Leo, with said turtle yelling in retaliation to your claim.

"THEY AREN'T JUST UNICORN FIGURES!!"

While Leo was fighting Raph, you were writing a letter, tears staining the page. Somehow, you had gotten aloose with all of the commotion.

But instead of running, you wrote,

" dear daddy, sadly i'd like to inform you that my brothers are mostly dead so please scratch their names off your will and thank you "

The joy that you would have mountains of cash was overshadowed by the depression that you felt over the possibility of losing your brothers.

If they did actually die, you would pay them 500 bucks each everytime you passed their graves. If not, then writing this letter was completely and utterly useless.

More tears fell from your eyes, angry at the selfishness you had despite how dire the situation currently is. You stopped writing.

The Krang had attacked the day before, but you had to find it before it was too late!

Splinter was dead. He had been for a while now, died from old age and dementia. Out of respect, you held back your impatience to find that damned paper-

There!

While very unprofessional, and quite frankly very unorganized, the will was there.

"My Dear youngest, Pink .

I know you will find this first. You always had a thing for wads of cash and anything that blinged."

Tears began to flow from your eyes again, your lip trembling as you continued to read,

"Do know, I have nothing to my name. No money, no residence, nor any left over children."

The paper crinkled beneath your hands, you knew it. You fucking knew it and yet you continue to read it. How utterly selfish of you. Law wouldn't matter, not with what is going on right now.

Things were hopeless. The future would be corrupted by these alien things. And yet, you still read.

"The only thing I would want to leave for you and your brothers, the only thing I can give you in my current state are my final words.

I love all of you. I am proud of each and every one of you. Watching you all grow up was one of the best things that Lou Jitsu never would have known he needed.

Take care, don't miss this old rat too much.

-Splinter Hamato"

That night, you cried the most you've ever done in your entire life. And in a few hours, you were dead.

Mikey, the one who found your hand clenched to your weapon underneath pounds of rubble, couldn't speak for the next few days. The letter stayed in his pocket.

man... I'm bummed now.

For those who are worried; no, reader did not kill herself. The Krang just caught her, she was the first to go.

(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و tags: @kittykittyanon @radicallxser @oleander-nin @towomatos @thealphagirl

@ziipzeepzop-eez @spongejuice @nuncscioquidsitamor-13 @cyb3r-st4r

if you would like to be added, check my blog. if you would like to be added, check my blog. SEE? I SAID IT TWICE!!

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Hey, Wait a Minute.... Where's Claire?

@littlemissartemisia @tmntaucompetition

Prev || Next

Claire paced angrily back and forth as she waited. Patience was not her strongest attribute.

Where was he? He wasn't the type to be late. Maybe it was her. Maybe it was this place. Time didn't seem to exist in this arena... or at the very least, it didn't flow properly. It was a bit screwy in this dimension. It wasn't as if there was a son or moon or stars to measure the passage of time! There were some clocks, but those were more like general estimations than actual time-telling. One minute could pass in your home dimension, and it would have been a full week here. Or, one hour could go by here and it would have been a month on the outside. One end of the compound could move faster than the other. It was all relative, fluctuating, and nothing seemed scientifically plausible. So, while her wristwatch said that she'd sent the message and invitation to the TMNT AU Competitions to Baron Draxum only a few hours ago, it felt like it had actually been weeks!

A pink and magenta portal suddenly appeared a few feet away from her. Finally, he was here.

Draxum slowly stepped through, his gargoyles perched atop his shoulders as he looked around, scanning the compounds with a mix of caution and curiosity.

"How interesting..." he murmured.

"Glad to see you finally made it," Claire grumbled, crossing her arms.

"I wasn't sure the coordinates you gave me were correct, they didn't lead to anywhere on our plane of existence," Draxum noted. "But after some thorough examination, I saw that there was a pocket universe hidden within the destination. After that, it was simply a matter of finding the correct potions and spells to infiltrate without being seen, as per your instructions."

"Took you long enough. But I'm glad you're here," she said. "We have work to do."

"So I gathered from your message. You said that the subject is here?"

"Not just her," Claire said with a wicked grin. "This whole place is filled with variants of your original experiments! And even more! There are even some that were actually raised by their universe's version of you."

"Really? Hmm. I should like to see that..." Draxum said, grinning as he considered what these variants would look like. They must be the most effective warriors, strong and able-bodied and fearsome and cutthroat.

"Ooh, I wonder what Draxum would be like as a father," Huginn chuckled. "I'm sure he would be loving and caring as always!"

"You'll probably see soon enough," Claire noted. "But first, our plans."

"You didn't say much in your message. Crypticity does not become you," Draxum said, gritting his teeth. "I don't think I need to remind you that I dislike being summoned as though I were some resource you can play with when it suits you. I am a busy Yokai, Claire. You and your little Artemisia are not the only mutant turtles I am preoccupied with."

"I know, but this will be worth your while!" she promised, her voice raising in excitement.

"Prove it."

"How would you like to have not one, but FIVE experiments?"

"Five?" Draxum repeated, unsure if she was jesting or being serious.

"Misa is travelling with an alternate version of the teenage mutant ninja turtles that you created all those years ago. They are essentially the same, with the same genetics and similar traits as yours. And most of them have been reverted back to their early childhood, which means they would be extremely pliable and easy for you to manipulate, while also being just old enough to understand orders and be capable minions!"

"And you couldn't capture them on your own? Five little toddlers?" Draxum huffed. "I wonder if I should be disgusted by your lack of skill, or impressed by their abilities."

"Do not blame her, they are not alone," said a voice from behind Claire's head.

The Hand.PNG slowly crawled around, perching itself on her shoulder, almost mimicking Huginn and Muninn, who recoiled in disgust at the thing.

"The turtle tots are traveling with three young adults. They shall not be easy to defeat, mind you. But you may leave that to me."

"And who exactly are you?" Draxum questioned.

"This is the hand I wrote you about; it told me how to capture the specimens," Claire explained quickly.

"And why would it do that?" he growled, sensing some ulterior motive within the disembodied appendage. "What would you have to gain?"

"I have nothing to gain, expect the fulfilment of my purpose."

"What purpose is that? Are you some enemy of the turtles, that you would want to see them captured by me?" Draxum challenged.

"I am not their enemy, though most would think of me as such. I am a prompter, my purpose is to continue the story, to get it moving, keep it flowing. For the time being, that means assisting you in capturing Misa and the turtle tots. Now, I must go..."

"Go?" Draxum questioned, still unsure of the hand's motives.

"Yes. As of right now, the odds are not in your favour. I must set this right. By tomorrow, you shall have the upper hand. Ahem, so to speak. All I need do is change the perspective of one particular player in this act, and the scene shall be set."

The Hand.PNG jumped down from Claire's shoulders and skittered away.

"...I don't trust it," Draxum growled low.

"I don't either. When I first met it, the Hand said something about how it didn't want to hurt Misa, but would let me do it. I'm not sure what goal it's working towards... but I can't see any reason for it to betray us," Claire explained. "For the moment, it seems to be on our side. I say we wait a bit before killing off the golden goose, hm?"

"Fair enough," Draxum sighed. "But you still have yet to tell me why I am here."

"Oh, right! Well, these variants that Artemisia is travelling with? One of them is named 'Donatello Von Draxum', sound familiar? Apparently he was raised by you in his world, and until just recently, he was your loyal little soldier. And that's where you come in..."

Claire continued to explain the plot that she'd been given, as the Hand.PNG followed it's favourite playthings to their rooms... its new story unfolding, its plan coming together.

Although, it had not been completely honest with them... yes, it had plans for Donatello, but there was one other person whose perspective it planned to change...

[chil-aglia]

𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞 |ROTTMNT| (Leo X Male OC)

𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

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

Like any other day, something had to be going on. With Adriaen he was spending his time in the arcade that the lair had with the brothers. Raph playing on the dancing machine for a good few hours now to beat the high score.

Adriaen wasn’t much of a fan of dancing games, but even he had to admit that seeing Raph go nonstop on the machine was impressive. Thumping techno music playing out as Raph follows the patterns on the screen.

“Yeah, all right. Get ‘em. Ooh, ahh."

Raph grunts, jumping and sliding his feet to the rhythm, Leo however wanted to try and fumble Raph by distracting him as best he could, Mikey of course defending his older brother naturally.

"I don't think he's got this."

“Hey! Leave him alone."

"What? I’m just saying he doesn’t have this."

Raph huffed at Leo’s tone, but he smirked soon after with a confident smile. "You’re just trying to get in my head." He says with utmost confidence, Donnie gasps lightly and points at the screen.

“Oh, my peaches and cream, he just doubled."

Adriaen who was leaning against a car racing game that they owned, had his arms crossed with a small smile. However, while he was somewhat enjoying the scene of the brothers playing this game, his mind has been elsewhere of late.

He should tell them what he found out from Draxum that day in the Hidden City. But he just…didn’t know how or if it was even his place.

And what’s this with me being a failed experiment?

"Rag! Now!"

Raph demanded, sweating which Mikey was quick to aid as he pops up next to him and uses the rag to wipe the sweat off Raph’s face.

“Have I ever told you how big and beautiful you are?"

“No, but thank you."

Donnie was clearly getting excited, eyes glued to the screen. Leo who tried to see calm was also watching with his eyes glued to the screen. "Uh, he is about to set a new high score. I can’t watch, but I can’t not watch!" He squeaks as though he just discovered something new entirely.

Adriaen perked up briefly when he heard what he thought was things being thrown. He shrugs his shoulders soon after, thinking his ears were just playing tricks on him.

“You know what they say about big-time moments?"

“Yes, I do. They say that in big-time moments, leaders make…."

Before Raph could even finish his sentence in response to Leo, an agonising yell from behind them shocked the turtles.

“Brain!"

They all flinch and turn around to face Splinter who looked quite unwell and strange. The dancing machine illuminated the words Game Over on the screen since Raph had stopped moving.

Splinter, clutching his head continued to groan in pain, “Ow, my brain!" He hissed, the turtles back up at the sight of the ill Splinter.

"No! Why?"

Splinter inhales sharply and then gave out a weak sneeze, Leo leaning against Adriaen’s shoulder as he mumbles out loud at the sight.

"Gesundheit."

“Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh, Splinter’s a zombie!" Mikey cried out, but Adriaen was quick to assure the youngest turtle that the rat ahead of them was not a zombie.

”Mikey, he’s not a zombie. He’s sick is all.”

“Plus, zombies are interested in other people’s brains." Donnie added with a hint of sass, Raph quickly turns away from Splinter to announce to the others of the only conclusion as to why Splinter looked as he does now.

"Rat Flu. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill, boys."

I literally just said he was sick—

Cautiously everyone led Splinter into his room and lay him down, the boys hovering over him as Leo fans his father with a handkerchief. Meanwhile Donnie was peering at his sickly father through his goggle lenses.

“I feel terrible. Do I look terrible? Be honest."

He lifts his head weakly so that the turtles could see his face and boy was it brutal. He looked, to be quite blunt, nasty and utterly disgusting.

The gang pull back, all reacting with fear or disgust.

"Whoa!"

"Okay."

"You look great, not horribly sick at all.” Raph assured his father, before they all step out to give Splinter some privacy, he closes the curtain so that Splinter couldn’t see them.

“He’s horribly sick."

Adriaen shivered lightly at the sight of Splinter still fresh in his head. “Ugh, I don’t wanna look at him again for a while.” He mutters as Leo placed a comforting hand on Adriaen’s shoulder, patting him with a small smile.

"Look, a flu this intense is going to affect all areas of his brain. I’m talking the full seven stages, before his body naturally heals itself." Donnie explains with what he could tell so far, upon hearing the stages that Splinter would be going through, the boys pout as Raph let out a sad sigh.

“You guys know what the full seven stages mean?"

He drops his arms over Mikey and Leo who nod together in unison.

"Mhm-hmm..."

"Another chance to get whatever we want!" Raph smirks with utter victory, the brothers all matching his energy. Adriaen stared at them with an utmost unimpressed expression on his face. Being the only one who didn’t see the joy of this circumstance.

"Yeah!"

“But poor Dad. He must feel terrible. But lucky us, he’ll say yes to whatever we ask for! Whoo-hoo!" Mikey threw his hands up in the air to show his enthusiasm for their sickly father.

"Only if we make it all the way to the end of the flu, the elusive stage seven. And we never get there." Donnie huffs, Adriaen quips in to try and get everyone on track of everything.

”Guys Splinter is sick. Shouldn’t we…help him?”

”Don’t worry. We’re going to help him once we get past the stages. Even though, as Donnie said we never get to the last one.” Leo assures, bringing Adriaen into his side as he placed one hand on his hip confidently.

"This year’s gonna be different. Nobody’s getting bit. Nobody’s getting infected." Raph concluded, as Leo once again spoke up, having let go of Adriaen as he rubs a hand under his chin.

“When we do make it to the end, which I’m now calling the Must Say Yes stage, what are we gonna ask for?"

"Hmm…”

Adriaen rolls his eyes at the brothers. Why did he have to be the only one to I don’t know, care, for the health of the rat.

The younger brothers all gaze at Raph, the oldest, for what he had in plan for the ‘must say yes stage’.

“Well, this year, I was thinking we could ask for, uh, um, er—uh…” He was clearly drawing a blank on what to ask, causing his brothers to groan.

“Aww, he’s got nothing. We’re dead."

“Hey, I got something, all right? Like a, uh..." Before the large turtle could think of anything to say, Donnie leaps up with a maniacal expression plastered on his face.

“Uranium! Oh, we should absolutely ask for uranium. I mean, if I could finally get my hands on a little of that, we would be virtually unstoppa…”

He was no doubt picturing something dubious in mind, Adriaen blinking wide eyed at the purple masked mutant turtle, sweating.

”Your crazy—“

Mikey had then jumped in, innocently pitching in a request, “What about a brick oven for pizza?" He tilted his head but Leo steps in between them, using his hands to shove them to the side.

“Who’s gonna clean that? What we should ask for is matching unicorn onesies. Those are sick! Pun intended. And I nailed it."

He grins, posing at the possibility of a onesie, he turns to Adriaen who deadpans at all their ridiculous ideas. “What do you say, huh? Team Leo?” He smirks but was quickly met with dejection of the idea.

”I’d rather die than put on a unicorn onesie.”

”Well what did you have in mind?” Mikey stared in curiosity at what Adriaen had to respond with, the said turtle hums in thought, but he then shrugs his shoulders.

”Nothing I guess. I don’t really care what we get. As long as it’s good.”

"Enough. I got this, all right? I’m gonna ask Splinter for something that benefits all of us." Raph cuts in, stepping to stand next to Adriaen, “This is so exciting! But terrible for Dad." Mikey added before he gasps and then exhales when he noticed his breath.

Adriaen looks around, having noticing the change In temperature. There it was…the first stage of the rat flu was happening.

“Buckle up, boys. It’s about to get weird."

Stage 1: Fever!

Air whooshing through the vents of air conditioning unit, it has been some time before the boys were huddling together in the centre trying to get warm, it didn’t help with them being cold-blooded.

Donnie had found a giant heat lamp to place over them but that wasn’t really enough. Meanwhile Leo had been the only one prepared, sitting cozily a foot away wearing a body parka and sipping some sort of hot beverage.

"I hate stage one. Think warm thoughts. Pizza ovens. Bricks from Italy. Wood chips roasting."

Mikey trembles at the cold, instinctively cuddling up against the closest turtle, which was Adriaen who also shivered as he welcomed Mikey to come closer to him.

”It’s been four hours…” He stated, Raph sighing with a light glare, “His fever’s gotta break soon." He grumbled before Leo gave out a brief chuckle and stared at the others.

“I told you guys to plan ahead. Now I’m sitting here all toasty.”

He stared at Adriaen and pats the spit next to him, somewhat a little teasingly. “There’s room for one next to me if you’re cold?” He drags out the word ‘cold’ briefly, Adriaen narrowing his eyes at him and looks away.

Not a bad offer Leo…

As Leo slurps his drink, a shadow appears which caused everyone to look in the direction, a mistake that had all of them look in with stunning shock and Leo spitting out his drink.

”What? Wha…why?"

In front of them was Splinter who had shaved off all his fur, leaving him completely naked if it were for the pants.

“Had to air myself out….”

He sniffles as he suddenly falls on his face as wisps of smoke rise off of him. “Uh…?” Adriaen didn’t really know what to say, tilting his in confusion.

Then the rat suddenly starts to growl and lifts his head, screeching and looking rather demonic. In a panic the turtles scream and quickly run off when Splinter began giving chase.

Stage 2: Wild Rat Man!

Adriaen glanced around after running for a couple hours of avoiding the crazed Splinter, Donnie had managed to slip away to quickly invent something that could possibly hood Splinter. Adriaen jumps up to get to higher grounds, running along the balcony in the lair, the others follow him which of course had Splinter following them as well.

”Don’t follow me guys!” Adriaen groaned, but they didn’t listen, screaming as the turtles avoid their rat master. 

Raph had some point got hold of everyone’s hazmat suits and tossed them to their respective owners with their respective colours. Mikey, Raph and Adriaen easily slipping into theirs while also was trying to get into his own.

"Don’t eat me! Raph’s tastier!"

“Suits on! Suits on! Donnie, get the device ready."

“Uh, it’s ready.” Donnie replies, standing at the centre of the lair, zipping up his hazmat suit.

“You know, my inspiration for this device was simplicity. Why dress something up with lots of bells and whistles when you can just let it speak for its…”

Leo and Adriaen cut him off in unison, the two not in the mood to listen to Donnie ranting about the invention.

"No one has time for this!"

Donnie with a slight huff presses a button on his gauntlet, a deep rumbling heard as water from a pipe stops flowing and a large clear ball rolls out, smashing into Leo, who grunts as it hits him, and he falls to the centre of the lair with the containment ball.

Adriaen was briefly shocked at what he saw, he knew that no doubt must’ve hurt.

"Nice. All right, let’s get him inside.”

Raph jumps down to the lower level of the lair, Mikey and Adriaen following pursuit which of course led to Splinter pouncing after them.

All five turtles now on ground floor, standing around the ball. Leo being brave enough to open a box containing pizza, the stench of the cheesy goodness wafting into Splinters nose who begins approaching, snarling animalistically. Leo gulps before throwing the box into the ball while Splinter leaps after it, diving into the contained sphere. 

Donnie shoves a giant plug into the entrance to keep their father inside.

“Okay, this should hold him for a while."

“And you’re sure this isn’t cruel?"

"He loves pizza and confined spaces you can barely breathe in." Raph assured, watching as the ball began to shake violently. “You sure about that Raph?” Adriaen sassed, backing up while Donnie tried to hold onto the ball.

"Donnie, is it gonna hold up?"

“Most definitely!” Donnie reassures only to suddenly start rolling, with the ball.

Donnie caught on the outside, screaming as inside, Splinter runs like on a hamster wheel trying to get the pizza. 

The others dodge and run from the ball, watching as it goes airborne, with Donnie still stuck to the outside. The ball begins bouncing off the walls of the lair and then bursts open, releasing Splinter, who jumps into a pipe and disappears into it. Donnie hits the ground with a thud, groaning at the brief pain. Adriaen stood beside him while glancing at the soft-shell mutant turtle before looking away to be on high alert for Splinter.

“Mikey, follow me, and be careful. We can’t afford to lose anyone before stage seven." Raph declares, indicating to Leo, Donnie and Adriaen to stay here.

“I thought we all agreed it was now called the Must Say Yes stage."

“It would be easier for me to be careful if I knew you were gonna ask for a pizza oven."

Raph growls at Mikey’s comment, snapping his head towards everyone. “I’m still thinking!" He hissed, meanwhile Donnie raised his hand up.

“Quick question, is uranium still on the table?"

Raph groans in frustration, storming off with Mikey chasing after him. Donnie sat up and placed a hand on his cheek.

”He didn’t say no…”

Adriaen and Leo both glance down at the maniacal turtle, with Adriaen being the first to voice out what he was thinking.

”Your crazy.”

”l second that.”

Donnie scoffs, crossing his arms and looking away dramatically. “You two just have no sense of creativity.” He stated, as Adriaen rolls his and looked ahead in the direction Raph and Mikey disappeared off to.

“So about those onesies Adri.” Leo slides on over, smirking playfully, “Not in a million years.” Adriaen once again was quick to shut down the idea of wearing such a thing.

”Come on then, what do you want from Splinter?” He asks with utter curiosity, but Adriaen shrugs his shoulders. “I said I don’t know. Unlike you guys I’m more focused on not getting infected more than I am on asking Splinter about what I want.” He deadpans making Leo lightly sigh as he looked around.

It was quiet and therefore Leo figured it would be safe to briefly take off the hazmat suit. “These are unbreathable. Donnie let’s just take them off for a few.” Leo complains, already taking off his helmet and started to unzip the suit.

Donnie gave both Leo and Adriaen an unsure look, “Is that even safe…?” He mumbles, looking to Adriaen for guidance on what to do. “Don’t look at me. It’s up to you.” He stated, he personally was going to leave the suit on for his own safety.

”It’ll be fine.” Leo waved him in assurance, Donnie being somehow convinced takes off his helmet. “Raph and Mikey have it under contr…oh, no." Leo added but paused when said brothers ran past them in a haste.

“Stage three. Stage three!” Raph yells at the others, Adriaen blinks and turns his head, bewildered to see Splinter who was no looking demonic or crazy, running towards them with affectionate energy.

“Oh, little baby blue, come to Papa."

Stage 3: Captain Cuddle Cakes!

Oh no—

Adriaen was the first to run away, catching up to Raph and Mikey, Donnie quickly putting his helmet on and followed the others as well.

“Suits on! Suits on!”

Leo runs alongside them but was struggling to get back into his suit that he took off.

“Why weren’t you in your suits?"

“It was Leo." Donnie quickly blames, and well, he wasn’t wrong really about that.

"No one forced you to, Donnie!” Leo quickly defended himself, falling down but quickly got up, managing to zip up in his suit.

“Ugh, what’s that smell?"

Adriaen widens his eyes in utter shock as did everyone else as they see Splinter’s head pushing up next to Leo’s inside the suit.

“I love you this much."

"No, no, you don’t I’m your least favorite!"

Leo falls back, rolling on the floor. Donnie sighed at the sight and turns the others.

“Uh, Leo’s infected. Quarantine him."

They paused their running and managed to push Leo into a plaster wall that Donnie had set up for this occasion. Splinter was once again somewhere in the lair.

Leo is locked in behind the wall as he pushes himself against the plastic.

“Hey, you need me to get to the Must Say Yes stage. We need to ask for the onesies…” 

He sways and groans, obviously the sickness starting to get to him rather quickly. “Whoa, it is really hot. Is there a fire? There’s a fire here, right? The floor is made of lava?" He groans, sliding to the floor. Adriaen looks to the control panel and presses the button, jets spraying blue mist hits Leo who was knocked out.

Sorry Leo. Had to be done.

“Down to four. All right, fellas, let’s be careful so the rest of us can make sure we get what we want. Who’s got eyes on the package?" Raph informed the obvious, turning to look at the three turtles were unaffected so far.

Mikey gasps, looking at a practice dummy covered in lipstick kisses. “I lost him. Oh!" He whimpered before a purple flash hits the eyes of the turtles, the training dummy exploding as well.

Splinter appears in a full ninja garb and carrying a sword.

Stage 4: Ninja Supreme!

Splinter swiftly tosses throwing stars at Raph, who catches them on his tonfas, still surprised since he let out a squeak.

“Hot soup!" Splinter yells, charging at the four who tried to have their eyes on him. But for a fat rat, he sure was fast on his feet, running past them while swinging his sword. They all yelp, watching the hazmat suits they wore practically disintegrated into nothing.

"Where’d Splinter go?" Raph panicked, the lights going out which made Adriaen go on high alert, instinctively going for his Kama’s for a comfort of protection.

The four began trying to find their way into the dark, Adriaen heard Mikey announcing to them that he grabbed Splinter. 

“Guys! I think I felt him!"

Donnie’s hand goes up in surprise, slapping Adriaen in the process which the black masked turtle let out a small ‘ow!’ as he stumbled back from the light impact. 

“Hey, that is my butt." Donnie scolds Mikey, who chuckled sheepishly. The brothers were instantly wrestling one another, mistaking whoever as Splinter. Adriaen backs up, Kama’s in hands as he tries to look around in the dark for a sign of the rat. Only to bump into something plastic.

Huh?

He was quick to jump back when he realised, he bumped into the plastic wall that Leo was in, but he was more surprised when Leo had pressed himself against the wall with a hiss, trying to reach out for Adriaen.

”Come to me! My precious!”

Adriaen pants but calms down from the mini heart attack and gave a soft glare at Leo who from the sounds of it was already at Stage 2.

Donnie suddenly taps him on the shoulder, almost making Adriaen slice him if it weren’t for Donnie dodging and quickly reassuring Adriaen that it was him.

”It’s me! It’s me…!”

”For the love of—“ 

Adriaen groans, relaxing slightly as he placed a hand on his plastron to where his heart is. “You need to announce yourself if you’re going to suddenly touch me while we’re all trying to avoid getting infected by Splinter.” He somewhat scolds, Donnie half listening.

”Listen, I saw him go into my room. Unfortunately. Stay here so that these guys don’t kill each other on accident.”

”Yeah, all right. Be careful.”

It was dark but he could faintly see the shadow of Donnie’s figure walking away towards his room on the upper level. Adriaen turns to Leo who was silent now, but that wasn’t the priority. He got in between Raph and Mikey, pushing them apart.

”Guys Splinter isn’t here. Donnie went after him.”

”Oh…my bad.” Raph sheepishly chuckled, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “Will Donnie be okay?” Mikey inquired in concern but was met with a reassuring head pat from Adriaen.

”He’ll be fine.”

Maybe.

After a few minutes flew by, the three jump at the sound of a loud crash from above. No doubt coming from Donnie’s room, “Donnie, you hit?" Raph had to ask out loud, looking around to try and spot Donnie in the dark. The softshell turtle leaps down between them, holding his arm which is now bandaged all the while trying to hold his composure.

“No, no, I’m fine. I just cut myself on that janky old door. Everything’s okay. Raph, did you decide what we’re gonna ask for?"

Donnie fumbled lightly as he changed the subject quickly, “Yeah, I got it. I’m gonna ask for…” Raph confidently grins but was interrupted when someone clears their throat.

“Huh? What?"

Splinter who was in ninja gear lands a few feet away, when he stands back up, he rips off the ninja outfit and underneath was his robe, he somehow also held out a microphone out of nowhere and started to sing horribly.

Stage 5: Karaoke Love Songs!

Mikey, Raph and Adriaen had their hands over their ears as they try to muffle out the ear-splitting singing from Splinter. On the plus side, Splinter had somehow managed to set up disco lights which made the dark room now light up so everyone can see him.

“I can’t feel my ears! Nothing is worth this!"

”Ugh, why did it have to be these love songs?”

Raph groans, sweating as he felt a headache from the obnoxious voice of Splinter. “We’re so close. Only two stages left." He called out to everyone.

Donnie was sweating and nose dripping, but he tried to keep his composure. “And four totally healthy turtles left. Man, why is it so hot in here?" He twitched before falling over on the fall. Adriaen deadpans at the sight of him.

”That’s two now.”

With caution, Raph pushed Donnie into a plastic wall, zipping him up to hold in Donnie. Donnie was…less than thrilled to be locked up.

"Oh, you’re gonna get squat from Splinter without Donnie.”

He starts beating on the plastic wall with a crazed look in his eyes, “Not without ol’ Donnie! I’m the brains behind this operation!" He announces but hissed and falls down when blue disinfectant sprays him.

Raph and Mikey turn to Adriaen who had the pleasure of pushing the button on the control panel. He glanced at the two, “What? The guy was already going mad.” He defends himself, knowing that the two brothers were somewhat judging him from how quickly he sprayed Donnie.

"Uh, what stage are we on now?" Mikey innocently but also nervously asks, glancing to Raph who hums in thought.

Stage 6: Fan Fiction!

Splinter who far more chill but also excited had ran over to the three turtles left standing, having an action figure of Lou Jitsu in hand. Raph and Mikey sat around the table, watching Splinter act out a made-up scene. Adriaen was standing at least a foot away out of instinct to protect himself from catching the infection.

"Okay, okay, okay. Listen, listen, listen.”

He sets down the action figure of Lou Jitsu on table, moving his hands around dramatically for effect. “Okay, we open on noodle shop. It’s raining. Lou Jitsu…hot soups, two assassins, then wham…interdimensional doorway opens, and out walks…dun-dun-duh!” He ranted on, acting out the scenes and making the sound effects with his mouth.

He pops up with a helmet on his head, “Jupiter Jim, and we smash to titles!" He announced proudly at his creation, Mikey and Raph had seem to enjoy listening to their fathers' ramblings, even Mikey writing it all down on a clipboard.

“This is amazing. Keep going."

“We’re almost at stage seven. This is the closest I’ve been to success, uh, ever."

Raph smiles as he looks to Mikey and Adriaen, holding his hand up for a high three, but before either of them could touch Raph’s hand, Mikey sneezes just in time for Raph to pull back from getting hit with the sneeze.

Mikey falls forward towards Adriaen who side stepped to the side to avoid the infectious Mikey. “Sorry but I’m not risking it.” He stated, as Raph groans and once again with caution locks Mikey up in another plastic wall.

"We’re done. Raph is totally gonna blow this. He has no idea what to ask for, which means…getting hot. It’s like I’m on the sun here."

Mikey hops around as blue disinfectant sprays him, this time Raph being the one to handle the spray button with a little pout at the lack of confidence his brothers had with him.

”So...what’s the plan now Raph?” Adriaen gazed up at the largest of the turtles, who exhaled and smirks at him, chuckling.

“I’m not gonna blow this."

Leo who had calmed down and was on stage 3 looked on adoringly at his brother. "Raphael, I love you, my brother, but you do tend to fail in big moments. Pish posh. But that’s what makes you, you. Now bring it in, buddy. I’m gonna hug you till a smile comes out." Leo announces in a daze, hugging his body.

He eyes Adriaen and opens his arms out for him to also hug. Luckily the wall of plastic was preventing Leo from actually touching anyone. “Adriaen my handsome man, come give your Leo a hug.” He begs, making Adriaen just raise an invisible brow at his words.

”Wow the flu is really getting to him.”

“Enough! Raph’s got this, ‘cause in big time moments, leaders make big time shots, and I’m big time!"

Donnie suddenly hisses, and well, who knows what stage he was currently at as he pressed his body against the plastic wall, once again with a crazed gaze.

“He must say yes. Make him say yessssuh!”

I always knew he was messed up.

"Enough! Don’t mess this up, Raph. Don’t mess this up." Raph yells, clearing getting stressed the more his brothers talked. Adriaen knew that he probably should stay quiet, it’s not like he had any ideas or suggestions on what to ask from Splinter.

“Don’t forget we only get to ask for one thing, my little Raph-a-doodle."

“I know exactly what I’m asking for."

Oh boy…

Stage 7: Must Say Yes!

With Adriaen standing a few feet away, leaning against the wall next to Donnie’s little enclosure, Raph stood broadly ahead, chin up and chest puffed out, staring at Splinter with determination, while the rat just stood there looking sick and sniffles.

"Master Splinter, I know you’ll say yes to whatever I ask for. I want you to give…”

“Raph-a-doodle a hug!”

Even Adriaen flinched in utter surprise when Leo managed to slice through the plastic sheeting with his sword and runs towards them. Leaping between Raph and Splinter.

“Everybody loves hugs!"

Oh my god…

“What? No! Anything but that!"

Adriaen, if he could, would step back even more but in the way was a concrete wall. 

Splinter smiles and runs towards Raph while laughing, “Come here!” He cooed, pouncing on his son, knocking the large turtle to the ground and hugs him tightly while smooching him in affection.

Raph was groaning in defeat before he then sneezes, now beginning to look sick himself. Splinter sits up, clapping his hands as he looked practically normal now.

 “Ooh, flu. Papa wants a new bike."

Leo who was free from his cage runs off towards Adriaen’s room, still looking to be in stage 3. “Oh no! Leo!” Adriaen hissed, giving chase after the blue masked turtle. He jumps up to the second level, which was where his room was located, in fact his room was right across from Donnie’s. He walks in, pushing back the black curtains that he uses for a door since it was hard to have doors down in the sewers.

His room was decently big and clean, with a few small bits laying around on the floor, for example, a pile of books stacked near him as he trips over and lands on the ground, lighting groaning.

”Did you have a fall? Leo will kiss the boo-boo away!”

Adriaen widens his eyes when he saw Leo coming out of nowhere and jumping on him, puckering his lips to kiss the ‘boo-boo’ as Adriaen used his arm to hold back Leo from his face.

”Damn it Leo…get it together!”

He sweats, he didn’t realise how strong Leo was until he notice that the blue masked turtle was inching closer to him. Adriaen quickly tried to think of a plan, he perked up briefly at an idea, he puts it to action.

He wraps his legs around Leo’s shoulders and neck and used whatever strength he had in him to push Leo down. It worked as the said turtle was thrashing around to get free from the grip.

”H-hey! Ow, Adri, be a dear and let me go!”

”Yeah not gonna happen.”

Adriaen sat up, keeping his legs wrapped around Leo. Now currently sitting on the red sliders chest, using his hands to hold him down to the floor as he looks around for something to use to prevent Leo from getting him infected. He spots a blanket and reaches out for it quickly before he swiftly wraps Leo in the blanket. He sighs in relief when Leo couldn’t move and was rolling around on the floor.

Adriaen deadpans and used his feet to gently kick Leo out his room, where he could hear Leo yelp as he must’ve fell off the second level and landed on the ground level of the lair. Adriaen will just leave the infected Leo in Splinters hands.

Adriaen leans against the wall, closing his eyes and sighing out in exhaustion.

”Maybe I should call April and ask if I could stay with her for like 2 days.”

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

A/N: I APOLOGISE FOR ANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES THAT WERE MADE, I TYPE REALLY FAST AND OFTEN DON'T SEE THEM UNTIL I ACTUALLY PUBLISH THE CHAPTER. 

EVEN WHEN LEO IS SICK HE STILL CAN’T GET ADRIAEN-

Well at least he was met with Adriaen actually sitting on him, so maybe it’s a little win for him-

First Chapter here

Next Chapter here

[tblsomedoodles]

A Thought I had today while thinking about Mikey's Imaginary Friends; if Leo is HoH, then what if Donnie still needs glasses? Just running around with everything blurry af and both boys have to cover for each other, hehe.

Ooh yes! i usually have Donnie need glasses for whatever reason, (though it's usually not that he needs them 24/7 b/c his eyesight isn't bad. Similar to Ignis from FF15, who wore glasses not because he had bad vision, but because he wanted his vision to be crystal clear. That's how i usually figure donnie to be.) But having Donnie have actually bad vision for this au? I love it. (i have shitty eyesight myself and am totally down with inflicting Donnie with one it lol)

Like Donnie being nearsighted as fk. he wouldn't be able to read signs that are across the room, and if the thing isn't within like two feet of him, he has to squint to see it properly. Reading is usually alright, as long as he has the book close, but it would give him a headache if he reads for too long.

Those classroom lessons with their caretaker would be torture for him, especially if they had a standard classroom like setting with a chalkboard he was expected to see.

But, like you said, Leo would cover for him just like Donnie covers for his hearing. He'd tell him what the board says, make sure that Donnie could see whatever Draxum was showing them during training.

Just things like Donnie's eyes getting too tired to read so Leo takes the book and essentially reads to him via mind meld!

Then, i'd imagine Raph would be the one of the two other brothers to notice this first? Their hangout is the library. He's going to notice if Donnie is leaning close to books/computer screen, or squinting, or rubbing his eyes and forehead whenever they get tired. He would certainly notice Donnie passing the book he was reading to Leo (who complains briefly about not wanting to read about computer stuff) then put his head down as Leo starts to read said book.

I've got some more ideas for this, but basically yes! I love this. (it also gives me an excuse to give another teenage donnie glasses lol)

Thank you!!!

[exhaustedwriterartist]

Are there any bothersome side effects to Michael and Raphael’s excessive training (while typing the word “training” I got to “t” and the only suggested word was testosterone, so any side effects to that as well? Hahaha)

Lollll honestly, testosterone works too.

Just a little content warning: child abuse, as Big Mama and Draxum make for terrible parents. Like I've said before, they're horrible and manipulative. They really do act like a divorced couple in this au I'm not going to lie.

With physical training, the boys are usually worked till they physically can't anymore because of exhaustion or training with an injury too long. Draxum tests them a lot, and is very willing to force them past their breaking point, more than Big Mama will ever know. That's not to say that Big Mama doesn't push them past their breaking point, especially when training for the Battle Nexus.

So they're usually very tired and in pain. They're used to it unfortunately. But most importantly, they are not allowed to show their "weakness" to others (meaning guests, crowds, and anyone really), even if it means sitting through long dinners and parties with wounds and little sleep.

When it comes to mystic training...

Eugh boy.

Raph... Hasn't really gotten a hang of any mystic/ninpo. He may be a very physically strong, he is not mystically. He can sort of do a mystic punch, but other than that, there is something blocking him from "reaching his full potential" as Draxum AND Big Mama would put it. Because of this, he is seen as a failure in this regard. Draxum has forced him to train for many unhappy hours to see if there is any improvement. But nothing has really happened. He knows why he can't improve, and it has to do with how Draxum and Big Mama have treated and done to his baby brother.

Michael is a prodigy. He honed in on his mystic talent very early on. Unfortunately for him Draxum latched onto this quickly, and along with physically training until he can't, he is pushed to the extremes with his mystic/ninpo. Draxum is very very cruel when it comes to this, and uses Michael's gift for his selfish goals. The sheep man is very much stuck on in the past, you see. He has a goal which ultimately fails that I cannot share just yet, but this causes Michael to use his ninpo up so much that he gains his hair and... Scars. Said scars have a tendency to reopen with vigorous mystic training which happens often. Does Draxum care? No. Does Big Mama care, not really. Does Raph care? 100%. He knows how much this is taking a toll on Michael. Because of all this training, Michael's physical strength has waned significantly. No one but him seems to care though.

After all, in the eyes of their tutor, Draxum, and Big Mama, the more the boys are put through, the more the boys will succeed.

(ooooo I haven't talked about the tutor yet. I hope y'all will hate him as much as I do /pos. @nyaboshi you know the terrible tutor... The terrible guy andjdjfnffn).

Tldr: the boys are so tired and in pain, but will never let on that they are actually in pain.

Thank you for the ask Jade!!

@bowandbrush (would you like some OOH Sunset Duo angst?)

[alpinefrsh]

So

TITTV has been circulating through my mind like a a microwave meal and I have ✨ thoughts ✨ about stuff that randomly occurred to me while rereading Alright and I have no one to share these buggers with so here I am

So, to my recollection, Tommy has yet to meet Draxum (unless he did and it just got lasered out of my memory) and then I was thinking about how Tommy is a soldier and soldiers (from my personal experience) hold themselves a bit differently from an everyday person

And I remember how Draxum (unless I’ve been projected with fake memories via fanon) is referred to- usually by himself -as a warrior, which is basically like a soldier

So

Like, theoretically, Draxum could probably be able to tell in some capacity that Tommy was, at some point, a soldier based on how he walks or holds himself when standing idly, possibly even by little actions he does that another probably wouldn’t think much of unless they’ve experienced battle, maybe even experienced war, and can recognize those small habits for what their origin lies

Draxum could possibly recognize a tortured soldier

Anyways, just a silly thought I had that I wished to share with someone! I hope you have a lovely day and remember to take breaks <3

(P.S: None of what I said is like a ‘do this’ sort of thing, I just really like your fics and they make my brain rot in the best way possible and have many thoughts of ‘what if’ that I like sharing sometimes.)

(P.P.S: I love your fics, they’re so nice! And your art too! So editable! I wanna munch on ‘em!!)

Yeah, they've yet to meet. Actually, while Tommy's heard about Draxum at this point (through Splinter), Draxum himself still has no idea about Tommy's existence.

mhmhm, a warring warrior scientist he is.

Ooh, that's a fun idea. A bit of an "I know what you are" moment, but more depressing.

I personally have something of a more scrappy view of Tommy's fighting style- like, skilled enough and pretty good at what he does, but he's ultimately pretty self-taught. As far as canon's concerned, I'm pretty sure Tommy and Techno didn't even really meet each other until the whole Pogtopia thing. Could be wrong about that though, details like that can get a bit fuzzy and inconsistent due to the rp elements.

But I digress, I really do love the concept of Draxum just like, generally hanging out in the same space as Tommy and having that little unnamed something going off in the back of his mind. Something about Tommy that feels oddly and unshakably familiar despite being one hundred percent certain that they've never met before. And then it just clicks and he goes "Ah, I get it now." Maybe he'd pull Tommy aside at some point, just for a brief and somewhat awkward exchange where Draxum acknowledges Tommy's fighting roots.

Thank you for sharing! You too <3

(I'm glad to hear you like my stuff, tyyy :D <3333)

[starsfic]

Yoshi reached out, wiping away the condensation that bubbled up on the glass of the tank. The same condensation had bubbled up after the DNA harvesting, hiding his sons from view before he had smashed it open.

He leaned forward, squinting in and trying to see what lurked in the swirling orange liquid.

It was hard to see, the liquid making the view blurry, but the creature inside was small, about the same size as Donatello when he was a baby. As he squinted more, more details poked out at him.

The tapered head, coming to a point. The natural ridges of the shell that were already visible. The pinkish tint to the carapace and plastrons.

Draxum had made another turtle.

"Oh no..." Yoshi leaned back, patting around. There had to be a label of some kind, right? Or a report? They looked very young, barely a few months old. A small crystal was hooked to the edge- a recording crystal, if he remembered correctly. He grabbed it and focused on activating it.

It sprung to life with a chirp, revealing a full image of the little one in the tank, dated to about two days ago. They were small and adorable and Yoshi's heart melted.

"Subject, nicknamed Monet as insisted by assistants, appears to be stable at eight months, matching Venus and Artemisia's progress-" There were two more. Yoshi had daughters. "Her animal donation is a mata-mata turtle, a river-dwelling turtle." Draxum's drone continued on. "She is in stable condition. If I wanted to, I could bring her out. However, I have learned from my mistake with Sofia-" Wait, there was another one? "I have decided it would be best to bring her out until she is a full year old."

Screw that. Yoshi pocketed the crystal and returned to patting the edges. A small handle was found on top, next to a button.

Without a second thought, he pushed the button.

-_-

"There he is!"

Everyone looked up at Mikey's call. Their dad, hood drawn up to hide his face, ran up, holding something to his chest. "You're back!" Raph said, standing so their dad could sit down. "We managed to get the pieces." April, Leo, and Irma held up three pieces of armor. "What about you?"

Their dad managed an awkward laugh. "So I didn't get an armor piece when I broke into Draxum's house. I did manage to steal something!"

Confusion and calls rolled across the table.

"Ooh, what?"

"Don't tell me, let me guess-"

"Did you take his-"

A small noise came from the bundle. "Well..." Yoshi pulled back the cloth to reveal a small baby turtle, her little face nuzzled into the cloth that surrounded her. As the turtles all leaned in, big brown eyes opened up, staring at them all. "Huginn and Muninn apparently named her Monet."

Monet blinked and then she smiled, letting out a little coo and exposing small growing teeth.

All four turtles stared.

All four began to cry at once.

[bambiraptorx]

currently thinking about an au of Minor Interference where Donnie was the one to start breaking into Draxum's house instead of Leo. It would probably go something like this:

Donnie: wow sucks that I accidently left some of my soldering stuff at Draxum's and had to sneak into his house in the middle of the night to come get it

Donnie: ...my brothers are totally gonna make fun of me for this if they find out

Donnie: but I didn't finish my project earlier, might as well work on it here. Ooh and I'll play music while I work, that's always fun!

Donnie: *is not wearing his hearing aids* *proceeds to blast extremely loud bass heavy dubstep at a volume that shakes his bones* *it is two in the morning*

[3lectricinsomnia]

For the ✨TMNT Ask Game✨

6, 16, and 36

:)

Hello ace :D✨

6. Do you own any TMNT merchandise?

Yes! I have a tmnt key chain, mutant mayhem pins, a ronin action figure, and a 12 leonardo plushy

16. Which version of Casey is your favorite?

ROTTMNT Casey. She is so silly!

36. Which character do you have the hardest time writing/drawing?

ooh boy out of the non-turtles, Draxum is harder to draw but of the turtles, it's Mikey. Also April and Casey just bc I haven't drawn people in a while and I haven't been practicing :( April and Raph are harder for me to write

[evenmoreofadisaster]

I really love how well you’ve written one and two, like they’re different from Leo and Donnie because of how they grew up but it’s still incredibly in character, like they are how rise!donnie and Leo would be if they’d grown up like that.

I’ve been wondering if things were reversed and it was the twins that got saved by yoshi and it was Raph and Mikey raised by Draxum (let’s call them three and four because while I know they’d probably be one or two that’s too confusing lol) how do you think you’d write them? Or design them? (If you’re ever interested in drawing/thinking about it for that much lol no pressure)

Like where would three and four be similar to how you’ve written one and two? And how would they be completely different based on the canon personalities?

No pressure to respond I’m just incredibly interested in your thoughts and I like thinking about what ifs at 3am when I can’t sleep lol

Thank you!! That's one of my favorite things about this au

Ooh, that's a really good question. I've never thought about it before but I'd really love to work through this scenario.

If Draxum raised Raph and Mikey, I think his principles would be pretty similar. He would want to raise Raph and Mikey as soldiers, not as his own children.. but, to be honest.. I think Mikey would soften him up a little bit. Draxum probably wouldn't be as strict with Raph and Mikey as he was with Leo and Donnie. In this case, Draxum raises Raph and Mikey practically the same way, but he's a lot more lenient and patient.

Draxum would've guided Raph towards the leader role, but I think he would've trained them somewhat equally, unlike with One and Two.

I can see Raph being this outwardly calm and collected leader, who internally has absolutely no idea what he's doing and has a dash of rage issues when provoked. Unlike EMD Raph, he'd probably be less protective of Mikey just because he knows that he's capable of protecting himself.

As for the sweet little orange angel, I can imagine Mikey being a little unhinged and chaotic who can only be tamed by Raph. He's got a very unique and unpredictable fighting style and is probably a lot more reckless. He's an adrenaline junkie and lives off of danger. He's not afraid of anything, except losing the people that he loves.

I'm not quite sure about their designs, but maybe I'll take some time to think about it and experiment with it. I'm loving this spin-off au already lol.

I know this is mainly ab Raph and Mikey but I'm gonna talk about Leo and Donnie too.

I think Leo and Donnie would've learned how to take care of/look out for each other if they were raised by Splinter. Not that One and Two don't, it's just in a very different way. Without them being categorized into ranks and because there's no pressure from Draxum, Leo and Donnie can learn how to love each other without feeling inferior or like anything is expected of them. There's nothing keeping them from having a good relationship with each other. There probably wouldn't be an "older" twin, they'd treat each other as equals. It'd be so cool actually if they were both vigilantes and fought crime side-by-side. They are both leaders and just an amazing and iconic duo. When they find out about Raph and Mikey, it would go a lot differently. For the most part, I can see both Leo and Donnie/Raph and Mikey wanting to be one family, but I think there would be more hesitance with Raph and Donnie. Donnie, because hey these guys work for BARON DRAXUM of all people and Raph, because hey we should probably listen to Dad. But mainly what's stopping them from merging their families is Draxum and Splinter. Draxum wants all 4 turtles for himself, so that he can destroy the humans and Splinter wants all 4 of his sons and he won't let Draxum take them away again.

I think it'd be pretty funny if this au was basically just one huge parent trap and/or the four brothers trying to keep Draxum and Splinter from finding out the other set of brothers exist because then a war would break out between them.

That's all the ideas I have for now, not sure if I'll flesh it out more but this was really fun to think about. I'm kinda loving this idea and it could be a really fun au of the au lol