#spell shocked donatello

[regulus-ready-to-scream]

Spell-Shocked Donatello

Donatello is a fellow,has a way with machines!

 Donatello is trying to assert his independence from his brothers. Donnie is the only one with an actual job, he's a freelance programmer and he sells the tech he develops. He's very reliable but quite aloof.

Donnie also has to handle his control issues resurfacing his desperation to assert his independence and do something more with his life. He desperately wants to go to college and do more with his life

His work isn't as acknowledged as his brothers and he's honestly fine with that, but he doesn't like Splinter pushing him into the spotlight with praise and affirmation.

 it just makes him uncomfortable, Even if he knows splints and his brothers mean well. He wants to go out and see the world. Donnie is the team's navigator alongside being a tech guy. He's been trying to teach his brothers to surf.

Donnie is a Brahminy River Turtle and being a river turtle, has webbed fingers and thus has less finger dexterity than his brothers.

He is able to kind of get around this with the use of his gloves but more often than not,has to ask his brothers for help more often than he’d like. He has invented little prosthetic fingers that extend and retract into the gloves he wears.

Donatello wields a kanbo alongside his tech and sounds like Donald Glover as Marshall Lee

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Even Better: part 1 (Angst) (18+)

TLR!Michelangelo x reader

Part 2

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A/N: Finally finished The Last Ronin the other day. Other than making me cry like a bitch, I have to admit it made me thirst for some TLR Mikey. Dude deserves a good smut written about him🖤 And to be honest, I had a hard time stopping once I first got started. This is my longest one yet, goodness😭😂

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You’re April’s daughter and Casey Marie’s twin sister. Most of your life you’ve been dreaming about the turtles of your mother’s youth, but nothing could have prepared you for the real deal.

Reader is at least 20. As far as I know, Mikey is in his 40’s.

Warnings: Spelling, age difference, masturbation (reader), caught in the act, oral - female receiving, dom Mikey and sub reader, dirty talk, unprotected sex, a little pain, size difference, size kink?

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Your mother had told you and your twin sister many stories about the turtles and their rat father over the years. How she and your father met each other because of them. How Splinter taught both his sons and your parents how to fight. How Leonardo fiercely protected his brothers, and as your mother put it, was seen as an absolute killjoy by his brothers. How Raphael matched your father in temper with an equally big and golden heart hiding within him. How Donatello could speed days locked up in his lab, and the many times he inspired your mom in her own lab. And how Michelangelo could light up a room with his loud jokes and bright smile. You and your sister would often point them out in the picture frames hanging around the lair, and beg your mom to tell more stories about them, no matter how mundane. The time your mom and Donnie made a tracking device in the lab, the time your father and Raph played hockey a whole night, or the time Mikey pranked Leo so hard that Splinter put him on cleaning duties for a whole month. You wanted to hear it all. Every single little detail.But that didn’t change the fact that they are all gone now. Your mother’s best friends and your father.

As you and Casey Marie got older, you continued to ask your mother for stories. But while Casey Marie wanted to hear about New York City before the Foot came to power, while you still asked for the turtles, getting more and more interested in the mundane part of their lives. Like whose room was it that you had made your room in? Who used to sit in the seat you sat in when eating dinner? And that mug you found in the storage, who did that belong to that? So many questions, and your mother could only give you so many answers.

Once you reached your teenage years, you started fantasizing about the four mutant turtles. Was that wrong? Their pictures literally hung on the walls of your underground home, so it wasn’t as if you could just ignore them. It probably didn’t help much that you didn’t like going outside, deciding to stay in the lair with your mother, while Casey Marie went out and explored. But that just gave you more time to help out your mother and learn more about the turtles.

As you gathered more and more information about the turtles, you started to form scenarios in your head, imagining how it would be to get together with the turtles. Which one of them would be the best friend, the best boyfriend, or even the best in bed. That proved to be a question you would contemplate for years, finding yourself staring at the pictures of the four turtles in the hallway in your early twenties, still with that little question in the back of your head. Although your thoughts about the turtles had calmed a bit once you had hit your twenties, you could not deny that they still lingered in the back of your head from time to time. So when your sister one day brought a passed out mutant turtle home, you did not know what to do with yourself. You were shocked, and maybe even a bit scared. He was way bigger than you had thought he would have been, but given his age it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

Your mother knew who he was straight away. It was Mikey. The turtle whose room you had been occupying every since the day you and your sister grew too old for sharing the same bed with your mom. He was bruised and bleeding badly. Thank God for your mothers medical skills, otherwise Mikey’s fate would have been a dark one.

It took some time for Mikey to wake up, but when he did, he was much different than you had thought he would be. Your mother had spoken highly about his jokes and his warm happiness, but during dinner the day he woke up, you saw none of that. The only time you heard him speak the first day, was when you overheard a conversation between him and your mom in the kitchen. His voice was much deeper than you had anticipated, catching you off guard. And of course he heard you gasp and stopped talking, not speaking a word until you had gotten what you needed, and leaving the kitchen so they could continue their talk.

Three days had passed, and Mikey had still not spoken a word directly to you. He had thanked your sister for saving him while you were close by, but that was pretty much. There was this one time where he took up the whole hallway, staring at the exact picture of him and his brothers, you had found yourself staring at many times. When you asked if you could pass by, he did not say a word. He just looked at you out of the corner of his eye, before moving to the side, giving you more than enough space before you ran by.

Michelangelo was really nothing like you had expected him to be like. You had thought he would be nice, open and warm, talking your ear off like your mother had said he always did. But now he was silent, closed off and cold. He almost seemed angry. It scared you a little bit. Made you nervous whenever you were around him. Whenever you were sitting and talking with your mom or Casey Marie, you would lock up when he entered the room. But as much as he scared you, you also found him very interesting. You blamed your teenage fantasies for finding his form attractive. His toned muscles, covered in bruises, and the visible veins on his neck, arms and hands. The wrinkles on his face told of the things he had been through, and his eyes were always so distant, as if he was watching something no one else could see. But when his eyes suddenly snapped to you, catching you staring at him, you panicked, quickly avoiding your eyes, feeling your cheeks getting red. Luckily for you, Casey Marie came into the room, as loud as your mother had said your father was, telling Mikey about something, giving you the distraction you needed to run to your room. You stayed there the rest of the day, too embarrassed to come out.

That evening you laid on your bed, staring at the ceiling above you. You cursed yourself for choosing this room when you were little. Now you couldn’t fall asleep without thinking about Mikey’s eyes on you. Anywhere you looked, you were reminded by the fact that Mikey used to look at the same walls as you did. Heck, you were even sleeping in the bed he used to sleep in. As far as you knew, the blanket, pillow and sheets were also his. It did not matter how many times you had washed them over the years, because they now suddenly smelled strongly of him, not letting you rest for a moment.

You found yourself getting frustrated. None of the turtles had invaded your head so badly ever since you were a teenager, and now you could feel the same need and tension from back then build up between your legs. You pressed your naked thighs together under the blanket, feeling the wetness in your panties. You sighed out in frustration, as you once again remembered the old turtle’s eyes on you. As much as you had felt embarrassed under his eyes, you could not help feel aroused at the thought. He had caught you staring. Michelangelo had caught you with his strong gaze. And now here you were, laying in his old bed with your panties soaked just thinking about him.

Your fingers moved down your stomach, getting closer and closer to your core. It was okay to touch yourself with the older turtle in mind, right? You had done it before, so why would it be any different now? And with that thought you let your fingers slide into your panties, where you found your clit. With yet another sigh you started to rub your small bundle of nerves, letting your thoughts drift back to the muscular turtle. His broad shoulders, his big hands, his thick thighs. With his general size, you could only imagine what he could be packing in secret. You used both hands to slide your panties down, leaving them somewhere under the blanket, before pushing your legs out further, letting your fingers continue their movements around your clit.

A  knock on your door caused you to quickly pull your hand out from under the blanket. You sat up in the bed, staring towards the door as it opened. You were almost ready to sink to the ground when you saw who it was.

“Sorry”, Mikey said. “Were you sleeping?”

“Just about”, you answered, tugging the blanket closer around you.

“Sorry. I just wanted to see my room once again”, Mikey said, his eyes falling towards the foot of his old bed. “May I?”

You nodded, watching him as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He stood for a moment, staring into nothingness, before his eyes moved to his surroundings. It was almost just the way he remembered it. You had only moved a few things, but other than that, it looked like his old bedroom. Same bed frame and all. He let out a small chuckle, remembering all the memories he had between these four walls. The chuckle was light, lighter than sounds you ever had heard from him. That surprised you, and Mikey noticed, though he decided not to say anything about it, acting as if he forgot you even were in the room. Acting as if he couldn’t smell the heavy odor in the air. Truth be told, he did not notice the odor when he first came to the room, nor did he notice it when he walked into the room. It wasn’t until he stood a few feet from the bed that he really noticed it. But with his back turned to you, he did not dare to move or look in your direction. It was the same smell he had noticed when he caught you staring at him earlier that day. It was a scent that seemed to follow you, at least whenever he was around. Yet it wasn’t until now he realized what that scent could be signifying.

You watched as Mikey moved around the room, feeling your legs shake under the blanket. As horrified as you were, you could not deny the excitement. Knowing that lower half of your body was naked under the blanket, with the old mutant just a few feet away from you. You clenched your teeth as you rubbed your thighs together, your eyes lingering on the way his overalls clung around his thick veiny thighs. You had to keep your breathing calm as you the movement in his muscles, and the way his big hands smoothed over an antiche on one of the shelfs. Slowly, making sure his back was still turned to you, his focus on everything else except you on the bed, you let your hand move back under the blanket, once again finding your now dripping core. You suppressed every sound as you slowly started to circle your clit again, your eyes focusing on his hands. The size, the veins, the roughness. You could only imagine how they would feel against you. His rough skin against yours.

“You’re young”, Mikey rumbled, his back still turned to you. You froze, your heart pounding. Yet you managed to remove your hand before he spoke once more. “But you’re not stupid. You know I know what you were doing. I can smell it”. He turned his body towards you, taking small slow steps towards the bed, his voice deep and echoing against the brick walls of his old room. Once again, terrifying yet strangely arousing. It was at that moment that Mikey decided to let go. For the past 20 years he had traveled alone. He was tired. He felt lonely. And with this sweet scent in the air, begging him to come closer, he had to surrender. Even though you were one of his best friend’s daughters, he could not deny your beauty or how your hormones in the air drew him to you. “I could smell it when you were staring at me, and I can smell it now as I’m telling you”. He was now so close to the bed, that his knees were hitting the mattress at the end of the bed. In a slow move, he was standing with both of his knees planted firmly against the bed under him, towering over you. You were too stunned to speak, your mouth dry as you tried to swallow. But damn it, it didn’t change the fact that your heart was beating fast and your nipples were hard under your shirt. “But one thing I can’t smell…”, the mutant continued. “... Is if you still have your underwear on under the blanket”. He took a hold of the fabric of the blanket, pulling slightly at it, making it move down your body, stopping right over your hip. You whimpered slightly. You knew you found Mikey attractive, but this was almost ridiculous. He hadn’t even done anything, and you were already out of breath. “What will I find, (Y/N)?”

“Off”, you choked out. “They’re off”.

“Good girl”, Mikey hummed, pulling further on the blanket. It tickled as the blanket slowly moved off your skin, causing you to curl your legs up against you. With the blanket in his big hands, Mikey’s stare burned into your dripping core, just behind your closed legs. He could almost feel the heat from his towering position, watching the glistening of your folds in the dim light, your sweet scent taking a hold of his senses. Mikey suddenly felt hungry. Hungry in a way he had never felt before.

The churr that erupted from his chest almost made you jump in surprise. It was deep, deeper than you had ever dreamed it would be.

Silently he let go of the blanket to grab a hold of your ankle, his big hands easily opening you up for him. Not that you tried to fight him. No, not at all. All you could do was watch him and his hungry eyes as he crawled further onto the bed, making you gasp at every touch of him against your skin, and marvel at the sheer size of his hands on your ankles. Mikey used his rough hands to keep your legs open for him, letting him move closer to your core. Your breath hitched when you felt his breath against your knee, just before the inside of your thigh. You let out the slightest moan as Mikey’s eyes locked with yours, just as his lips meet your thigh, just above your knee. His hands slipped under your knees, sliding up the outside of your thighs, bringing your legs over his shoulder and onto his shell, before curling around them, his big strong arms holding you open, revealing your aching core even further.

“I’ve always dreamed of having a woman in my bed”, Mikey murmured against your thigh, his lips slowly making their way upwards, letting his tongue lick and his teeth nibble on the way. “Though I always thought that it would happen while I was a teenager, but life has its ways to surprise us”.

“Me too”, you breathed out, making Mikey look questionable at you, his lips still working their way closer to your core. “I used to dream about you when I was a teenager”.

Mikey let out a chuckle. It was almost a laugh. Your heart almost stopped at the sound. You had never thought that you would get to hear the mutant laugh. A chuckle? Sure. A laugh? Never.

“Is that so?”, Mikey smiled against your soft skin, feeling himself getting more daring. He could literally smell and see how his words affected you. The way you bite your lips with your pupils blown wide, and how your beautiful center started to cling around empty air. The thought of how you would cling around him, brought him dangerously close to dropping, making his churr sound as he spoke. “On my bed while I was gone? You’re a better girl than I thought, waiting patiently for me to come home”.

You sighed at his praise, feeling your heart flutter in your chest. This was already better than anything you could have made up in your mind. “Mikey”, you sighed, grabbing onto the sheet under you, breathing heavily at the close proximity of his lips to your flower.

“Is this how you’ve dreamed of me?”, he asked, before his tongue drew a line, all the way from the bottom of your core to the top, flicking your clit on the way.

“Mikey!”, you gasped in pleasure, your hands flying onto the arms around your legs.

“Not so loud, (Y/N)”, Mikey whispered against your mount. “We can’t let them hear us”.

You nodded, bringing an already shaking hand up to your mouth, before Mikey let his large tongue flick your clit once more, enjoying the feeling of how your thighs tensed in his grip. It was soon followed by another flick and yet another. It didn’t take long before you grabbed a hold of the front of your shirt, biting down on that instead of just covering your mouth with your bare hand. Mikey saw how that made your shirt rise further up, letting out a deep churr like moan against your clit. The vibration of one of your heels kicked against his shell, while a head flew to his bald head. Your head rolled back as Mikey started to suck on your clit, making your shirt rise even further. One of Mikey’s hands moved from your legs and up your side, until his hand was right on your breast. Your shirt rose over his two big knuckles, exposing your chest. You groaned against your shirt in satisfaction as Mikey’s gigantic hand started palming your breast, while his tongue and lips continued their work on your clit. Mikey hummed against your clit, finding the taste of your juices and sounds sweeter than honey. He wanted more.

With the hand of the thigh that Mikey’s arm was still wrapped around, he replaced his lips and tongue with his thumb on your clit, letting his tongue sneak down to your entrance. He growled at the sight of you squirming against him, his thumb rubbing circles on your bundles of nerves, while his tongue started exploring your insides. Your eyes fell shut as you threw your head to the side, your hips buckling against his face, and your small hand grabbing on to the one that was still groping your breast. You were close. Fuck, you were close. Your free leg over Mikey’s shoulder started to move frantically as you got closer, the other shaking against Mikey’s grip. He took in the sight of you. You red flushed face, your now messy hair, and the way your breast shook ever so slightly at each sudden move. Mikey started to grind himself against the mattress under him, getting himself closer to his drop, his tongue doing curled motions inside your warm walls, all while his thumb still assaulted your clit. That was when you started to grab onto him frantically. You were close, so fucking close for him. Mikey growled against you. He was going to get you there.

And then it happened. Your legs clamped around Mikey’s head as you came with a muffled scream that sounded like his name, and your legs spazzing over his shoulder. Mikey quickly retracted his hand from your chest, forcing your legs open with both his hands, licking up every last bit of your orgasm, every breath from him sounding like a groan. You puffed and panted, your hands forming fists around the sheets as Mikey rode out your high, until your legs finally started to relax under his hands.

Mikey sat up and started to undo his overalls. His moves were almost frantic as he undid his belt, followed by his straps, all while you laid there and watched him, still recovering from the earth shaking orgasm he had brought you, your now soaked shirt clinging to your collarbone. You once again started rubbing your thighs together, the sight of the undressing turtle making your heart pound.

“You like this, don’t you, (Y/N)?”, he growled with a smug smile, as he started to push the overalls down his body and down his muscular thighs. “Just like you used to dream of, huh?”

“Almost”, you smiled back, feeling yourself getting more mischievous, letting a hand slide down to your now overly sensitive clit. “It’s even better”.

The terrapin growled at the sight, shoving the rest of his clothes onto the floor, revealing himself before you in all of his naked glory. You marveled at the full sight of his toned body, feeling your body shiver with need once more. Mikey huffed before he grabbed a hold of your wrist, moving your fingers to his mouth, so he could suck off what little slick you had picked up on them. That alone caused you to let out a choked moan.

“No more self pleasure”, he said, before throwing your hand to the mattress, his hands finding the hem of your shirt. “Take this off and I’ll show you what’s even better”.

Whatever sound you made, it was enough to make Mikey chuckle as he watched you sit up to take off your shirt, leaving you fully naked in front of him. Once your shirt hit the floor he slowly crawled over you, his deep eyes watching you like a predator hunting a prey. Instictly you leaned backwards, slowly letting your back fall against the mattress, until Mikey had you lying fully onto the bed, with him positioned between your legs. You felt his breath across your face, his beak so close that you instinctively closed your eyes, your lips searching for his. His lips were rough yet soft, and moved against yours with ease. The kiss started out sweet, as if he hadn’t just fucked you dirty with his tongue. Your arms moved around his thick neck, your fingers tracing shapes on the back of his head, your legs curling around his thick thighs. Mikey’s hands moved to hold your close by the shoulders. It wasn’t until a soft moan escaped your lips that his large tongue dared to ask for entrance. And once entrance was granted, this got heated once again. Mikey started to grind his cloaca against your soaked flower, his lips swallowing every sound that came from your pretty mouth.

“Mikey”, you moaned against his lips, buckling your hips against him. “Please, Mikey. I want it”.

Mikey pulled from your lips and placed a sweet kiss on your cheek, before his eyes caught yours. “Tell me if it hurts”, he whispered, a sudden softness in his voice. In the short time you had known him, you had never heard Mikey be soft. “Tell me and I’ll stop”.

“I will”, you nodded, feeling a soft kiss against your lips, before his kisses started to move down your neck just by your ear. One of his hands moved between the two of you to his cloaca, where he pulled himself out with ease, before he slowly started dragging his head up and down your folds before he found your entrance. With even more kisses down your neck, he slowly pushed into your tight hole, groaning against your skin. You had to bite down onto his shoulder in order not to scream. He was so much bigger than you had thought he would be, stretching you out to the point where it was hard to tell the difference between pleasure and pain.

“You’re doing so great, (Y/N)”, Mikey groaned against your ear, almost making your eyes roll back just by the sound. Your arms hugged tighter unto him as he moved further in, making him groan by how tight your walls were hugging him. “Fuck”. You whimpered against him, adjusting to his size. Mikey brought a hand to your face, pulling back slightly so he could look at you. “So good. You’re doing so good, (Y/N)”, he said before placing a tender kiss on your lips.

“Please, Mikey”, you whimpered, nudging him with your leg. “Please move”.

Mikey answered you with another kiss, before letting his head drop back down to your ear. He ever so slowly started to pull out of you, before slowly pushing back in. You quickly hide your face against his broad shoulder once more, whimpering at the small wave of pleasure. Mikey listened closely to your muffled sounds at his slow speed, trying to find any signs of pain. But once he found none he slowly started speeding up.

“Shit”, he moaned against your ear, his thrust becoming harder. “You feel so good, (Y/N)”. Your hands clawed onto his shell, your sounds muffled by his rough skin against your mouth.

Mikey’s legs moved further apart, making it easier for him to move against you. With the bed starting to creak lightly under you, you prayed that neither your mother or sister would hear anything. Neither the way you whimpered against the mutant turtle, or the way he cursed and groaned against your ear, telling you how good you were. Michelangelo fucking you raw on his old childhood bed was not something they needed to know. But you would be lying if you said you hadn’t dreamed of this moment, ever since he was brought back down to the lair. And now you were enjoying the full force of his God-like thighs.

Mikey placed a hand over your mouth and pulled back, looking down at you with hungry yet mischievous eyes. “Is this what you’ve dreamed of?”, he asked, his hips continuing to drive into you, setting a new speed. “To be fucked like this but and old mutant?” You nodded frantically, wanting to scream against his hand. A bright smug smile grew on his lips, bringing a boyish charm you had never seen on him before. He almost looked 20 years younger. “You’re such a good girl, (Y/N). Tell me, who is fucking you this good?”

“You, Mikey!”, you whimpered against his hand, your head spinning at the second high that was starting to build in your lower region.

“You’re getting close, ain’t you, (Y/N)?” His hand moved from your mouth to your throat, making you fight to stay quiet. Your heart beating faster and faster as you got closer and closer to your second orgasm. “Who are you coming for, (Y/N)?”

And with that your second orgasm that night hit you like a brick wall. Your body spazzing and your head spinning, you let out a loud soar moan. “Mikey!” The said mutant roughly pulled you in for another hungry kiss, swallowing every sound as you came hard around him. His speed continued high, the bed creaking while he rode out your high. His thrusts started to become erratic against your still shaking body, before he too came, groaning your name out loud.

Mikey stayed upon you, as the both of you caught your breath. With one last kiss, he slowly pulled out of you, leaving the two of you with small noises of complaint by the lack of each other. He laid back on his shell, staring up at his old ceiling while catching his breath. He instinctively pulled you close with his big arm, letting you rest your head upon his shoulder. He knew he should leave. You had both been noisier than he had wished to be, and he feared what April would say if she found him cuddling with her freshly fucked daughter in his arms. But Mikey could not deny how nice it was to be laying there with you in his old room. Who would have thought that his teenage dream of having sex in his room actually would come true.

“So”, you smiled from his side. “Was this just like your dream of having a woman in your room?”

Mikey chuckled, pulling you even closer. “It was even better”.

[apritellointeractive]

Sworn to Devotion: Chapter 3 - Part 2

>> April interrogates the lady. 

(Art by @lovelyladylavie)

April narrows her eyes at the strange lady in front of them. “Look, I appreciate you savin’ us, but I don’t know who you are. So who are you, how do you know who I am, and how did you know I was kidnapped?”

The lady smiles and waves her hand. “Oh, where are my manners? My apologies, princess. I’m Mira, a friend of Gentry’s!”

The princess’s shoulders drop and her gaze softens. “Wait, you know my handmaiden, Gentry?”

Mira nods. “Yes! Oh, she tells us all about what life at the castle is like. I happened to be in town to give her some homemade treats! We had quite the starberry harvest, and she loves her berry crisps.” Mira hums happily before resuming her story. “Anyway, the castle was in an uproar when I arrived, and Gentry informed me that you had been kidnapped! So I went searching for you.”

April nods. “I see.” She turns to her knight, who still has his bō raised and looks ready for a fight. “Donatello, you can lower your weapon. I trust her.”

He does as he is told, but he still gasps. “Are you serious, princess? How can you trust her so easily? Also, side note: isn’t magic forbidden in your kingdom?”

“Well, that’s the King’s rule, not mine! I think magic is pretty neat!” She turns to look at Mira, still standing next to the two fallen men on the ground with a bubbly smile, before turning back to Donnie. “And very few people know Gentry loves berry crisps. She keeps it a secret until you give her a heaping plate of it behind closed doors." The princess smiles fondly as she remembers sneaking the beloved dessert to her handmaiden on multiple occasions. "So Mira’s telling the truth, and I trust her.”

She then walks over to the friendly witch and holds one of her hands. “Thanks again for saving us! I hate to ask more from you, but can you also help us get back to my kingdom?”

“Of course! But–” she looks around before turning back toward the princess and her knight “–there are many of those henchmen about. I think it would be best to wait ‘til morning before making the trip back home. But don’t worry, I have just the solution!”

Donnie walks over and stabs his bō into the ground before using it to lean into Mira’s personal space. “And just what is your solution to prevent us from getting caught?”

“You’ll see!” 

Before the knight can utter a retort, Mira grabs him while tucking April closer to her body. As Donnie grumbles and protests, the friendly witch pulls out a wand from her belt and utters a spell. Sparkling pink magic swirls around the three of them, and in the blink of an eye, they disappear from the dark and foreboding forest.

April smiles with glee as she watches the pink magic surround them. It feels like she’s flying as they teleport to wherever Mira’s taking them. It’s a much more pleasant experience than the teleporting spell her kidnappers used, which left her feeling queasy and sick.

The sparkling pink magic eventually dissipates and the trio is left standing in a quaint and cozy cabin, a fire already roaring in the fireplace. A large bed sits in the corner opposite the hearth, with an old yet comfortable-looking rocking chair and table tucked in the other corner.

The softshell finally scrambles out of Mira’s grasp and sputters, “And how is a well-lit cabin supposed to keep us safe?” 

“Well for one, the cabin is nowhere near where I found you two,” Mira explains as she sets down some of her belongings on top of a wooden bench near the door. “But as an extra safety precaution, this cabin is invisible to those outside it.”

She opens the door and gestures for the knight to walk out. “Go on! Check it out for yourself.”

Donnie keeps his narrowed eyes on the witch as he walks toward the door. He only breaks eye contact to step outside, but he quickly whips around to look at her once more. He takes a few steps back before daring to look around.

A look of shock washes over his face, and that’s enough for April to walk across the cabin and step outside. She joins her knight's side before looking forward and also gasps. The only evidence of the cabin’s existence is the open door with Mira standing in the door frame. The rest of the building doesn’t appear to exist—only the dark forest around it can be seen.

“I don’t suggest you stay out there for long!” Mira advises as she waves them back inside. “Who knows what’s lurking out there.”

The knight quickly ushers April back inside, but she can’t find it in her to complain. They’ve been through a lot, and she doesn’t want to take her chances by staying outside either. Besides, the bed looks very comfortable, and she’s ready to get a good night's sleep.

April tosses her shoes off before clambering into bed, quickly getting under the covers as Mira sits down in the rocking chair. Donnie, however, stands near the door, his bō still tight in his grasp. 

“You should also rest, my dear,” Mira hums as she brings out knitting needles and a half-made scarf from her purse. “You’re both safe here.”

He shakes his head. “I swore to Prince Raph that I’d protect her. That… and there is only one bed.”

April rolls her eyes and tells Donnie to…

>> get in bed… or else…

[phoebepheebsphibs]

.Dead asleeP.

Title: Chapter 4: N2 Prompt: You were peacefully sleeping when you suddenly wake up to the sound of a heart monitor steadily beeping somewhere nearby, and realize you are in the med-bay with no memory of what happened prior to this. // After watching movies with your siblings all night and passing out in the tv room, you wake up to find that you're alone. What happened? Fandom: ROTTMNT Word Count: 5,043 Author: PhoebePheebsPhibs Rating: Gen Characters: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, & Raphael (disembodied voices), Big Mama Warning: Derealization, nightmare-ish stuff (Leo is stuck in a dream), blood & injury (Leo's shell is temporarily shattered) Summary: Leo fights in a dark and twisted version of the Battle Nexus, and learns more than he wanted to about his situation... Notes: More chapters to follow (2 more, to be exact)

@shr00mi3writefight @tmnt-write-fight @that-0n3-shr00mi3

Posted on AO3 <-

Leonardo turned round three times, staring in confusion and shock as he attempted to get his bearings and understand the situation. How was he here?? How had he gotten here?? Why couldn't he remember anything?? And why did everything look like it was straight out of a paranormal youtube video??

Dark creatures with malformed limbs and creepy grins were placed in shadows, watching him with anticipation. Their eyes glowed white and yellow against the darkness, their jaws slowly cracked into demonic smiles with sharp fangs which dripped drool and blood as the teeth cut their gums and lips. The crowd roared -- part cheers, part animalistic growls and snarls. Leo's breath froze in his lungs, his arms and legs trembled as he was wracked with shivers and shakes. He couldn't move. He tried at some point, just to prove he still could. But he was stuck, trapped in his own body and forced to witness the crowd grow excited over his oncoming death.

"Tonight's battle will star our favourite little turtley-boo, Leonardo! Up against a few simply silly sadisticals. How fun! I do hope he shall give us a good show, though I know it shan't be a long one. So sad. Just kidding! This will be such an exciting tizzy-tassle! Let's see how long he lasts, hm?" 

Leo swallowed deeply.

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this literally CANNOT be happening!" he hyperventilated, trying his hardest not to cry. He couldn't cry, not here. It didn't matter how utterly terrifying this whole thing was, he could. NOT. CRY. HERE.

"Leo!"

"I can't do this, I-I can't do this--"

"Leo, listen to us --"

"I can't, I can't, I can't, please --"

"LEO!!"

Leo jumped, the voices shocking him out of his panic-riddled stupor.

"WHO?! What was -- Do I have to fight invisible people now, too?!"

Leo backed away, trying to find the source of the voices. He couldn't see anyone --

"Leo, LISTEN TO ME!"

But Leo felt something. A grip on his wrist, a pressure that was tight and kept him from pulling away. Leo stared down in shock at his wrist where someone was grabbing him -- but there was no hand. Only a strangely glowing purple wristlet --

A growing sensation almost like electricity rose through him, purple light flooding his veins from the hand all the way up his arm and into his heart and lungs and brain before turning a glorious shade of blue. Everything returned. The creeping hallways where he first met them. The distorted pizzeria. The never-ending loop of the Hidden City. Everything. Donnie was holding his wrist. Somehow, through the bracelet, he could feel him as if he were actually there. Leo remembered the three dreams prior, everything he had learned and seen, how Leo was trapped in a strange dream world and how his brothers had used a mystic spell to break in and help Leo break out.

Leonardo's gaze was fixated on the glowing device. His eyes were wide, pale, confused but hopeful as he whispered in utter shock.

"...Donnie? Donnie!"

"What-- how--?"

"The device," Donnie realised. "It's a ninpo enhancer -- it used my ninpo to recharge his and return his memories!"

"Is that a thing?"

"It is now."

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Leo screamed loudly. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"No need to shout," Mikey scolded.

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHERE WE ARE?!"

"Oh. Right."

A horn blared through the atmosphere, and the creatures were free to commence with their assaults. The lights faded, apart from one spotlight placed directly over Leonardo. The monsters began to rush Leo, faster than anything he'd ever seen before. He could barely see them through the dimness, but fortunately there spotted areas where some soft light still remained. Leo saw their forms zooming back and forth -- but he never saw the one creature that jumped him from behind. The monster clawed into Leo's shoulders and shell, crashing him to the ground. Leo screamed as loudly as he could as the could as the beast dug into him. He could hear his shell shatter, he could feel the talons and claws ripping their way to his spine and skeletal structure.

"LEO!!!"

There was a blast of red and orange and purple, and the monster was blown away, incinerated completely.

"Leo, Leo!! Are you okay?!"

"I-I --" Leo gasped and shook, blood spilling over him as his tears pooled in puddles below his face as he slowly came to his knees. He couldn't stand, he was shaking too much. "I don't -- I can't, c-can't -- It, it got my back --"

Leo felt a heat, warm and thick flowing through his body and flooding out of him like a gushing river. The red that stained the ground started to reach his hands, his knees, his legs, his everything, his --

"Leo, breathe. Breathe with me, okay? Just breathe. I know this is freaking terrifying. But you need to take in a deep breath, and remember... it isn't real."

"It sure FEELS pretty frickin' real," Leo snapped in between gasping sobs.

"Does it? Really?"

Leo paused. There... there was no pain. There was heat, hot as fire, but no sting, no ache, no pain. Leo turned back to look at his shell, broken and shattered and revealing his innards. But it didn't hurt. Leo stared blankly at it. As he stared, two pins of golden light ignited and gracefully flowed over him, sparks stitching matter together over his destroyed carapace and restoring his shell to its former glory.

"How... how are you doing that?"

"It's a dream form," Mikey said, and Leo could practically hear the shrug. "It's not that out of my skillset."

"What... is your 'skillset', exactly?"

"I can show you later," Mikey said with a deep and exhausted exhale. "F-for now... we have to get you out of here..."

The lights (which Leo slowly realised were Mikey's hands) flickered and went out. Leo sensed anxiety and worry in his other two brothers.

"What's going on? Is he okay--?"

"He's just overworked," Raphael explained. "He used up a lot of energy before this..."

"M'fine," Mikey retorted. "I can still --"

"Take a backseat for this one, Angelo," Donnie instructed. "We'll take it from here."

"What do you mean, you'll take it from here -- what are you taking on?"

"Your nightmare," Raph responded.

Leo turned back to watch as the monsters approached him with snickers and sneers and snarls. He froze again. They may not be able to kill him or physically hurt him, but the fear was more than real, and that alone was torture enough.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Raph promised. His voice was quiet, but severe with determination.

"How?" Leo asked, voice wavering.

"I told you --" Raphael replied, and as he spoke red crystals of light surrounded Leonardo, forming a more durable and fitted uniform of armour and a massive shield, "This is my speciality."

Leo had no idea how Raph managed this, how he had created such a shimmering suit of armor that glowed bright crimson around him like the holograms he wore over himself...

But what shocked him even more was how a red star with white-hot light sparked to life before him, and formed an entire dragon around it. Completed with spiked frills and scales that stood up like barbs and spines.

It looked like him. It looked like Raphael.

A second miracle occurred as dozens of missiles and firearms appeared from nowhere, glowing purple, same as the device on his wrist. Each one exploded in a flurry of violet violence. The two partialled out the arena, splitting it in half between them. Raphael to the right, Donatello to the right. The missiles fired on all counts, and the dragon exhaled a fury of white flame upon them all.

Leonardo stared at the scene in utter stupefaction. 

"...Um. Okay. I'm just going to roll with this, I guess."

Leo rose to the battle, heartened to bravery by his brothers' actions. The monsters roared as they flew past them on all fronts. Leo's mystic armor kept him safe and secure; ceaselessly enveloped in the constant feeling of his big brother watching over him. Leo jumped over a creature and stabbed it with his odachi. The beast melted into black goop and then evaporated into shadow. Another one came up from behind and attempted to jump him, but Donnie's nukes took care of it before it even had the chance to growl at him. Leo kept up the attack, destroying every nightmare monster that approached him. But it was by no means easy work. The creatures were still terrifying and deadly. Now that Raph had a semi-physical form, they attacked him with full force, biting, clawing, and stabbing at his dragon projection. He roared and swiped his large paws at them, knocking at least ten away and into the crowds. A few of the demons jump onto his back and climb up to the dragon's face, stabbing it in its hologram-eye.

"Raph!!" Leo cried out when he heard the dragon roar in pain.

"H-he'll be okay," Mikey whispered behind him. "It's not his actual body. They can't touch his actual body, even if they tear the dragon apart."

"Can he make another one?" Leo asked, swinging his sword in a perfect 180˚ arc, cutting down three nightmare demons at once. "If the dragon is destroyed?"

"Maybe, but he probably shouldn't," Mikey sighed. "This form is already more than he usually does, he's exerting himself..."

Leo swallowed, his throat thick from anxiety. Raph shouldn't do that, not for him, especially not for him.

He shouldn't sacrifice himself for Leo's sake. Again.

Again?

Why was that thought so recurring? Why did Leo get faint deja vu every time he thought about...

...Whatever it was that he kept thinking about?

"How do you feel guilty over something you don't remember?"

"Mikey?" Leo asked, air frozen in his lungs. "What do you mean? You read my thoughts -- wait, you know what I can't remember? What can't I remember??"

"You --"

Leo was slammed in the chest by a monster. The armour held up perfectly, a shimmering ripple went through and reverberated across the chestplate.

"Leo!" Mikey screamed, and a blast of golden lightning and chains exploded through the creature.

"Woah! Mikey! H-how?!"

"It's my ninpo! Remember?"

"No! I don't remember... whatever it is you said!" Leo retorts.

"Wait, you... you don't remember -- How far back do you remember??"

"Donnie and Raph already asked, we defeated the Shredder by having Big Mama banish him into another dimension or something!"

"Wait, but that was over a year ago! Does... does that mean you don't know how you got here?"

"How I what?"

Leo jumped over an attacking monster as it tried to bite his arm off. Donnie created a machine gun that fired endlessly at the foes. Raph swung his tail at the dream demons before turning them to a flambé.

"Leo, think back! Back to before the sleepover. What do you remember?" Mikey asked.

Leo panted heavily as he tried to think. His mind was a bit foggy over the subject, like there was tar covering over that part of his brain and causing everything to become blurry.

"Um... w-we defeated the Shredder?"

"After that."

"We... Donnie won the Lair Games."

"Good, okay! Keep going..."

"What do you mean, keep going? I don't... I think we went camping?"

"Camping? Camping where?"

"In the woods. With... with Todd?"

"Were there dentists?" Mikey inquired.

"Yeah. Yeah! There were!"

"What else? Anything beyond that point?"

Leo thought hard. He's... he wasn't sure. Every time he tried to think about it, he felt sleepy and sluggish. Which was really bad timing considering what was going on. As Leo's head swam and his thoughts clouded, a nightmare-creature came bounding over and lunged at him. Leo's head his the ground with a thunderous crack, splitting the hard dirt beneath him. He really couldn't focus after that. Couldn't do much of anything but watch drowsily as the monster started to claw at the hologram armour Raph had given him.

"Leo!" Mikey screamed, and a mystic chain wrapped around the beast. Michelangelo swung it around and around before letting it fly into the nearest wall. "Bad doggie!"

Leo blinked slowly as movement and clarity seeped back in. Golden sparkles fluttered around him, hovering over his face and chest. Mikey was standing over him. He could sense his nervousness, his concern.

"Leo? Dude, you okay?"

He nodded softly. He felt something tighten around his wrist as he was pulled up from the ground. He glanced at the wrist tech from Donnie, which was glowing orange. He saw how orange light chased through his veins, reinvigorating him and clearing the tar away drip by drop.

"What is that?" Leo asked, looking over his arms and veins as the orange light flashed into blue.

"That's your NINPO, dude!"

"Wait, say that again?"

"Ninpo?"

"What the heck's a pinpo?" 

Before Mikey could answer, a purple missile landed between them and sent Leo flying. He assumed that Mikey went flying as well, but couldn't see.

"Whoops!" Donnie called out. "Sorry!"

"Watch your aim, dude!" Leo yelled back.

The last of the monsters vanished, melting into nothingness as the crowd roared at the victors.

"Is... is that it? Are we done?"

"Not quite yet, my pretty little plaything," a grotesque and saccharine voice echoed.

Leo's eyes grew wide as dinner plates a giant behemoth leapt from the stands far away and landed in the center of the stadium, the force of her collision caused an enormous ripple effect that made everyone jump and crash back into the floor. Big Mama. Though, she did not look like Big Mama. Yet despite her general unnaturally thin self, her abdomen was three times her size and looked malformed. She looked older, half-dead, her hair even frizzier than usual. Her chest was skin and bones thin, as though she'd not eaten once in her life and was nothing more than a skeletal creature with flesh haphazardly glued to her ribcage and spine. She had more than just the eight limbs, there must've been ten -- each one looked gangly and broken the wrong way, cracking and shifting. she had long, thin nails that elongated into talons. Her colours were drained -- pale and desaturated, no life or vibrancy could be found within her. She literally looked like she'd crawled back from death just to duel Leonardo.

"You're very clever to have defeated my hordes," she cooed. "But your lucky streak ends here. Prepare to die."

Leo swallowed.

"Guys...? Little help?"

"Get to the exit!" Mikey shouted, directing them with a beam of light towards a doorway.

Big Mama saw the beam and slammed one of her many legs against it, crushing the light against the wall. It fizzled out, and Mikey gave a bloodcurdling scream of agony.

"MIKEY?!"

"MIKEY!!"

Leo watched, frozen in place, as the dragon ran to where the light had been and slowly sniffed the area. The white light at the center moved towards the end, leaving the beast as it inspected the spot where the light had been destroyed.

"Mikey, what happened?!"

"Sh-s-she p-pinned my arm-m-m...!" Mikey hyperventilated. "She, she broke my light, I -- M-my hand, it hurtssss...."

"I gotchyu, bud," Raph whispered. "It's gonna be okay, you're fine, you--"

"Raph, your dragon!"

Raphael turned back to see that Big Mama had begun attacking the hologram dragon, destroying the body piece by piece. The giant reptile wailed in pain as she brought it down and broke it apart, clawing the chest open and ripping the arms off. The dragon projection cried out one more time before its head fell and hit the ground, the body pixelated and dissipated.

Leo heard Raph groan softly, and sensed him grow weaker. The red armour around Leo deconstructed and fluttered away, like ashes in the wind. He sensed Mikey's anxiety and fear rise higher and higher.

"Raph?! RAPH!! No, no!"

"Ssssstop yer wailin', I'm alright," Raphael muttered.

"But Raph --"

"I'm fine," he scolded. "Don't worry Leo, okay?"

"...M'kay," Mikey whined. Leo could hear the tears streaking down his baby brother's face.

It was at this point that Donatello sent a barrage of missiles after Big Mama, blowing her to kingdom come.

"Let's GO!" he yelled, trying to direct the group out of the turmoil as quickly as he could.

Leo wished he could help his brothers somehow... help lift them up, carry them --

"Oh, how sad," Big Mama chortled. "It feels alone."

Leo's blood ran colder than ice. She was still alive?

"I wonder," she said, crawling out of the smoke and flame, "if you truly understand the repercussions of your inadequacy. Do you know that each one of these pathetic brothers of yours would DIE for you?"

Leo took a step backwards, whole body trembling. Both Raph and Mikey were out of commission. Donnie's weapons had no effect on her. Leo kept creeping away from her until his back was up against the wall. Chills ran down his spine from the cold structure. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to avoid looking at her. He forgot he was in a nightmare. No matter what he did, he couldn't not see her. His eyes closed, he watched from the outside. He turned away, the world warped and had her reappear in front of him. He tried to run away, she was always the same distance away from him in all directions.

"You pathetic wicked worm," she spat. "Did you really think you could get away? Did you really think you would be safe -- or that they would be safe from you??"

A thick and sticky string of webbing wrapped around his stomach and tossed him like a yo-yo, throwing him far away before reeling him back into her clutches. He kicked at her in desperate panic, and with every kick he attempted she laughed at him. Laughed, and laughed, and laughed, like the joke he was.

She flung him into the ground, against a wall, and finally across the arena. Leo was dizzy, confused, disoriented. He felt something tighten around his wrist and pull him away.

"Leo! Come on, Nardo, get up!"

Leo groggily got to his feet, swaying from side to side as the world spun round like a top. He limped along with the pull, trying to go as fast as he could to keep up. He knew it wasn't enough.

"Where are you going?" Big Mama called after him, her voice simultaneously sweet and venomous. "You have nowhere to run! You have no salvation prepared! You truly think you can escape death?"

Leo slunk through the opening and heard Raph and Mikey call out to him. He could hardly focus on the words between the ringing in his ears and the echoes of her voice. His heart pounded with terror, but his head lolled from side to side from the hits he'd taken. He felt something stronger try to lift him up. Red light filled his veins, same as before when Mikey and Donnie touched the device on his wrist. The red light blended with blue, and Leo's head cleared somewhat. He still felt the strong arm of his brother under him, raising him almost off the ground as he helped to carry him through the tunnels leading away from the Battle Nexus and into the kennels for all the trapped performers.

"I'm right behind you!" she sang, almost giddily. "Better run!"

Leo did just that. He ran. Raph's arm kept him upright, and his pinpo or whatever Mikey had called it kept him shielded, though it looked like it was running out of batteries. Donnie's pinpo was doing okay, he used it to send missile after missile after missile at the charging arachnoid, doing his best to keep her at bay. Mikey led the way, his fading light bouncing off the walls and pointing the way out of the dungeons.

Leo kept running, even after his sides started aching and his legs went numb. He couldn't stop. He wasn't sure when the walls went from stone to drywall with withered wallpaper, or when the dusty ground beneath him morphed into floorboards with thin carpeting. He couldn't tell when the windows to the cells shifted into picture frame paintings on the wall. He didn't notice that there were now the occasional long tables with flower arrangements and lamps here and there. But he only realized the difference when he no longer felt Raph under his arm, couldn't hear Donnie shouting at Big Mama, and lost sight of Mikey's luminescence. He stopped, looked around, hyperventilating as the thought surged through him that he'd somehow lost them. But he hadn't lost his pursuer.

"Oh, dim-witted deary... is it lost?" she laughed, coming up behind him. Despite being far too enormous to fit within the small and cramped hallways, she made it to him easily. Venom dripped down her mandibles, her long fangs glistened in the weak light of the dying lamps. "Did they leave you? Understandable, considering all you've put them through. And the fact that you left them before..."

"This... th-this is a trap," Leo reminded himself. "This isn't real... you're just t-trying to scare me!"

"I'm not trying at all," she giggled. "You ARE scared. You are TERRIFIED. You are MY PREY."

She raised one of her long legs and brought it crashing down, cracking through the floor and creating a cavity in the halls. The floor crumbled beneath Leo's feet, he slipped and tripped as he tried to outrun the cracks growing along the flooring. He fell through and landed in the floor below. He wasted no time in getting back up and running for his life. Where were his brothers?! He needed them! He didn't know where to go -- and they needed him! If they strayed too far, they would become just as trapped as him!

"RAPH! MIKEY! DONNIE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Leo sobbed as he ran. He screamed his lungs out, shrieking and crying and wailing in desperation. He wanted to wake up, he wanted to get out!

"Do you, now?"

Leo skidded to a halt as Big Mama came thundering down in front of him, the ceiling caving in beneath her weight and dropping her before her prisoner.

"Is that what you want? To leave? My sweet, silly blueberry boo! You are so confuzzled! You want to STAY HERE, don't you?"

Leo swallowed, backing away gingerly. He whimpered, raising his hands up in surrender, trying to keep her at bay. He couldn't stop shaking, his skin crawled, his chest fluttered with anxiety and a strange urge to just fall over and play dead. Faint away and be done with this. To go back to sleep.

"You want to stay in this world. It's so much more comfortable here."

"You call this comfortable?"

"Maybe not now, but you've chosen this route. You can just as easily choose a different one. Just as simply decide to go back to the start, finish your sleepover with your friends and family. Live a peaceful life, free of worry or pain or regret. Choose a paradise. Or, you can continue to defy and deny this world, and discover for yourself the subsequent results."

"I-I don't want to stay here," Leo refused, though the cracking in his vocal chords wasn't very convincing. "I want to go home."

"You are at home," she spat back with a sneer. "You've been at home this whole time."

"I mean, I don't want to be under your spell!" he retorted angrily.

"What spell?" Big Mama cackled. "There is no spell!"

"What...?"

Leo lowered his hands slowly, searching her eyes for the lie, the twist of the truth. She always had a secret twist, a change of the rules at the last second. He knew he could never trust her. But this wasn't her. This was Leo's nightmare. His own mind. Technically, this was Leo.

In the distance, he could hear Mikey shouting for him. Donnie, too.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Big Mama laughed. "You haven't worked it out? Such a clever boy, but he soars right over the obvious!"

"What are you talking about?" Leo barked. "Haven't figured out what?"

"Leo. Poor, little Leo... you're not under any spell, except the one your brothers put on you to infiltrate your mind."

"What are you --"

"Donatello told you, don't you recall? No one put any spell on you to cause you to sleep. So who's trap is this, then?"

Leo's face fell. Raph yelled for him, called him by name, begged him to answer. Leo thought it over. They said he was trapped. They said something was keeping him asleep, wanted him to stay asleep. But there was no spell... so then, what was this?

"Who did this to me?" Leo asked, unsure why he was asking her, of all people. "Who's keeping me trapped?"

She smirked at him, just as his brothers rounded the corner and found him again.

"YOU are."

Leo could hear his brothers skid to a halt. He could hear them gasp in horror. He could feel their fears, rising to exponential levels as Leo was handed the truth.

"You are under no spell. You did this to yourself. And now, you're doing it to them."

"I... what?"

"Don't listen to her, Leo!" Mikey shouted. "She's distorting the truth!"

"But you know it is true," she smiled, humming a laugh as she came closer. "You have been keeping yourself prisoner, in a perfect prison."

Leo always loved plot twists and betrayals in his telenovelas... But this was a little too much for him to swallow.

"You're... you're lying."

"You have been asleep for seven whole days. You have been lost in your own mind and body this whole time, on the verge of death itself. And you have refused to come out of it."

"No," Leo said, laughing at the audacity of the claim. Laughing like he'd lost his mind. "No, I w-would never do that to -- my family, I'd never --"

"They told you themselves what you'd done," Big Mama snarled. "But you have been blocking them out. Refusing to listen, avoiding the truth. You can't live with the knowledge that you abandoned them, so you won't listen to it any longer."

"That... that isn't true," Leo begged, looking for his brothers to prove her wrong. He really wished he could see their faces, see their denial, the reassuring smiles that they would bear, the kindness in their eyes. Instead he felt their regret, their sorrow, their fear.

"...You've been in a coma, Leo," Donnie explained.

"I... I've what?" he scoffed, tears spilling from his eyes as his throat closed up, the broken smile still scrawled across his face in pure denial. "No... no! No, you're wrong!" he laughed. "A coma? Seriously, Dee, even this is too silly. It's the most cliche thing -- I mean, come on, you -- you can't be serious, you're joking. This is a joke!"

His laughs died down as their silence filled the halls.

"...Right?"

"You poor, diluted boy," Big Mama sighed, placing a hand on Leo's shoulder. "You couldn't save your family then, and you'll bring them down with you now. Can't you even die right?"

She cackled maliciously as Leo's head slowly rotated, staring in horror at the demon behind him.

"Oh, that's right! YOU CAN'T."

She gripped his shoulder tightly and flung him down the hallway behind her, once again separating him from his family. As he slid and skid down the corridor, she bellowed more revelations.

"YOU COULDN'T KEEP THEM SAFE IN LIFE, SO YOU TRY TO DIE FOR THEM. SOME MARTYR YOU MAKE!"

"Leo, don't listen to her!" Mikey screamed, his voice tarnished by desperate wails.

"Don't let her get to you! Get out of here! RUN!" Donnie shouted after.

"We'll hold her back! Just go! You only have one dream left!" Raph instructed. "GO!"

Leo choked on his own sobs, watching helplessly as Big Mama came barrelling down the hall.

"YOU WRETCHED LITTLE PEST! YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!" she screamed, her voice shifting lower and into something so much worse. Her long, spindly legs seemed to turn to spaghetti, changing colours as she turned into an unholy amalgamation of something grotesque and traumatizing. Leo knew to fear this form, but he didn't know why. He couldn't remember. She chuckled as she came closer, her eyes glowing red and teeth sharp. "...And now, my wrath will be reserved for you alone."

Leo bolted.

"YOU THINK YOU'VE WON?!"

She chased. The walls crumbled around him as his brother screamed after him. Leo couldn't stop crying.

"YOU WILL BE THEIR CAUSE OF DEATH! YOU WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU LOVE! NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, NO MATTER YOUR SACRIFICE, IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH TO MAKE UP FOR ALL THE PAIN YOU CAUSE AND THE DEATH YOU BRING ABOUT!"

Leo screamed out his sobs. There was a photo in his hand. When did that get there?

His eyelids grew heavy. His brothers' voices faded away. The monster behind him turned to shadow. But the voice echoed.

"YOU KILLED THE ENTIRE WORLD WITH YOUR EGO AND PRIDE! YOU DESTROYED THE FUTURE! YOU..."

Leo saw a light up ahead, orange and red and yellow. The dark hallway, with its twisted and gnarled walls became illuminated. There were eyes watching him. Everywhere. And yet he never felt more alone.

He stepped through the doorway.

He was in a large chamber. The floors were lava, molten and hot and glowing red, orange, and yellow. Leo stood high above the liquid fire, on a walkway leading to an enormous window. He made his way to the glass, overlooking New York City.

New York City, ablaze with flame and destruction.

"...You did this. You caused this."

Leo fell to his knees. Above him, an eye the size of the moon blinked and rolled over him, creating a spotlight that revealed the last nightmare he would face.

"King of the apocalypse, indeed," the Krang smirked.

[girlrachael]

The Uncles/Dads find out that Casey is a Turtle

They did it, everyone was here. And now they can rest, heal, and just be happy with one another. (and possibly cause immense chaos >:3)

Donatello now has a burning question that now has risen to the top of his list of ‘questions I need answers to’. So Donatello turns to Casey and asks the question that has been on the back burner for awhile.

“So with what happened at the facility, can you answer my question now?”

This makes Casey start to visibly sweat. Donatello simply raises an eyebrow, while the rest of the Uncles/Dads are swiveling back and forth wondering what the heck was going on.

Leo interrupted the stare off, “Donnie, what are you going on about?” Donatello turned to Leo to give a response, “Well my dear twin, this one (points at Casey) went to get the ingredients for the ‘plot twist’ serum and needed to disguise himself. So Casey Jones proceeded to change into a turtle.”

This response made all the turtles turn to Casey in shock and in extreme confusion. Mikey spoke first, “Turtle? Casey, was this a situation that you put on something like a cloaking broche to look like a turtle, or have you stayed a turtle from that one time back in our timeline?” 

Casey looked away and just let the cloaking spell fall and there he was, in all his cute, turtle-y glory. This action gained dropped jaws from everyone but Donatello, who was nodding in the background because he had the answer to his question. 

Leo spoke first after a moment, “Why?”

Casey sighed and looked at his lap before answering, “I just….. Just felt like I was truly a part of ‘this whole situation’. And sure I liked being human but I liked being a part of you guys that much more.”

Raph, who had been sitting mostly in shock the entire time, shook it off and just grabbed Casey and set him in his lap and gave an answer while just lightly petting Casey, “Casey, you were always part of ‘this whole situation’. You’re basically our son/nephew, human or not.”

Casey nodded tearfully and then Leo voiced a question due to Casey’s strange choice of words earlier, “Casey, if you liked being a human, why stay a turtle? It seems like there is more than just you being a turtle and wanting to stay that way?”

Casey fell into a thinking face before turning to Leo and answering the previous question, “To start the process of turning me back, Draxum had to identify what type of turtle I turned into. Sure I look like a red-eared slider but Draxum wanted to make sure. And he was right to double check, apparently I’m a turtle amalgamation of all of your turtle types.”

This made the turtles bug-eyed, Donatello included. Raph spoke up in a rather quiet tone, “Even me?....” Raph looked like he was about to cry, Casey nodded quickly and started talking, “Uh huh, even Draxum was surprised on that front. It’s extremely subtle, it’s my sharp teeth, that’s from you Uncle Raph.” Raph does now start tearing up especially after I flashed a sharp toothy smile at him.

Mikey spoke up next, “And how do I play into this? It’s obvious with Leo. Actually…. What about Donnie?”

Casey turned to Mikey and started to explain, “For you Master Michelangelo, I have a shell pattern extremely similar to Box Turtles. And for UncleTello, these are somehow even more subtle than Uncle Raph’s, I can hold my breath for about the same amount of time as UncleTello and I have a SoftShell Turtle’s jaw strength.” At that Mikey and Donatello both gained star eyes at that. 

Leo stood up suddenly and walked over to Raph and Casey and plopped himself into Raph’s lap after picking up Casey and setting Casey in my lap and just held him close. After both seeing what happened, Mikey and Donatello walked over and leaned on/climbed on the now all turtle cuddle pile. Casey seeing that his Uncles/Dads weren’t mad at him for keeping something this big from them started the water works for the stress of keeping this secret for so long. And all of the Uncles/Dads just started reassuring and some even just cuddling closer to Casey to calm him down.

While that day didn’t go the way they thought the day was going to go, they were still all just happy, healing, and now could just live their lives without fear of the next day.

[boxfullaturtles]

Kingdom Hearts Rise AU

Michelangelo Hamato The youngest brother wields magic with incredible skill and proficiency. Combined with his speed and acrobatics, Mikey is a lethal force on the battlefield and not one to be underestimated. His youthful outlook and wide-eyed wonder belie a strong emotional intuition and an even stronger heart whose light reaches out to help and support those in need. He’s a firecracker on the battlefield, his speed on par with Leo’s. His magic is devastating and capable of doing damage over a large area, decimating weaker foes. He’s primarily a long range fighter, working to pin the enemy down so his brothers can close in for a truly wicked series of blows.

Keyblade: Solarflare A Keyblade with a long reach that provides a substantial boost in Magic. Strength: +2 Magic: +8 Length: Long Ability: Magic Galvanizer: Increase the damage done with magic in proportion to the length of the combo.

[extra details under cut]

Team Attacks: + Leonardo: Shooting Star Team up with Leo and launch fireballs through his portals, casting them all over the battlefield, then finish them off with a gigantic Thunder spell.

+ Raphael: Fists of Fire Team up with Raph, coating his fists in flames and riding on his shell as he charges through enemies before finishing them off with an explosive ground pound attack that sends shock waves across the ground.

+ Donatello: Bombs Away! Team up with Donnie and ignite a giant rocket, riding it around and plowing into enemies, then end it all by launching the rocket into the sky, leaping off before it crashes back to earth and explodes.

+ April: Mystic Mayhem Team up with April to link magic and spin around the battlefield like a dance, gliding on air while launching spells in every direction, then finish with an eruption of magic.

+ Casey: Danger Days Team up with Casey to let him rail grind on magic chains, slicing through any nearby enemies before directing lightning down the chains to channel into his Keyblade for a final blow.

----------

More stuff about KH Rise Mikey:

- He swims but very badly and prefers to avoid water if he can help it.

- The most powerful mage out of his teammates, Mikey is capable of combining his spells to cast two at once, often creating deadly combos like Fire-Wind or Lightning-Ice. In the future, he might be able to cast the highest tiers of magic without the cost it would take from most wielders.

- Solarflare sounds like rattling chains when it strikes enemies and its particle effects are grinning little balls of flame, sparks like embers, and little green stars and circles. It is always slightly warm to the touch and the symbols on the end glow softly.

- Mikey’s outfit is specifically designed to allow him to pull into the safety of his shell, since it’s something he does frequently and often uses to his advantage in battle.

- He sometimes gets a little cocky and overconfident in battle, especially when he’s winning. Although unlike Leo, he tends to be immediately humbled by any mistake he makes.

- Chronicles their travels and keeps track of their story (like Jiminy does in the KH games). Fills the pages of his journals with plenty of sketches and photographs. Sometimes adds souvenirs from worlds they’ve been to like pressed flowers, stickers, or scraps of paper or fabric.

- His temper is legendary but rarely seen. Few have ever lived to tell of its unleashing.

- Mikey has an extremely good (and very mature) understanding of the heart. Of all his friends, he’s the only one that seems to really understand that a heart is a thing of balance and that Light cannot exist with the Dark, and that Light can be just as vicious and cruel as Dark. He struggles to conceptualize this in a way that he can explain to others and the frustration of his failure to communicate (and the stigma against Darkness) drives him to keep it to himself. He hasn’t mastered his own Darkness by any means and actually has a hard time dealing with it himself. Just because he understands it, doesn’t mean he knows how to execute it.

- That being said, when it comes to matters of the heart and, indeed, feelings, there’s no one better to turn to than Mikey. Or rather, Dr. Feelings. He’s as blunt as ever and will tell you exactly what you need to hear, even if you don’t want to.

- Yen Sid and Merlin believe that, with the right tutelage, Mikey could do far more than simply cast spells. They see great things for him in the future...

[lieutenantbiscute]

You totally don't have to answer this but I was going through you Shell Shocked Au tag, and I just adore Sersi (I don't think I spelled that right). Do have any more headcanons about her or maybe her and Donnie 👀? (they make a really cute ship)

Aww thank you and it’s Seri since I reinvented her around the actual canon triceraton Seri!

With her I originally envisioned her as a more bubbly ‘Renet 2012’ version of Donnie. Very much an avid talker and over sharer of sorts. Now though it’s moved to a more pragmatic; matter of fact tone for her.

(Early designs)

HC about her,,,

She’s a massive star geek! One of her wishes is to go topside (she doesn’t out of respect for her father Cliff) to see the stars. Her way of decompression is to read up about comets and star formations; she finds it wonderful how something so massive and awe inspiring can be made from something as simple as gasses and gravity. She herself meets Donatello when the boys are searching for a cure for Mayhem in the mystic library; he’s their chaperone of sorts since he wanted to head to the library.

One bump in later and a small intro while Donnie tries to have his nephews not frozen and the two and introduced!

Relationship wise the two are massive info-dump people. Seri will take great interest into Donnie’s own fixations since she herself seeks to learn more about topside sciences and Donnie loves learning more about Seri’s alchemy and mystic magic. The two are workaholics but hate when the other isn’t taking care of them selves (pot calling the kettle black /j) despite everything Seri doesn’t mind Donnie’s massive scarring; she sees it as his ultimate sacrifice of sorts to his family and completely understands it.

Donnie was willing to do anything for his nephews and that full body scar is proof of it. I do picture the relationship taking time to actually blossom since Seri is an alchemy friend first and frowns into a love interest second; Donnie himself doesn’t wanna force his feelings on her (he cringes hard over how he reacted with April as a teen) and Seri just,, buries her feelings deep cause dammit girl act civil!! Ye his eyes kinda are like rubies but every girl says that about her guy friends eyes, right??

Ye right!!

[snackugaki-jestsjapesjokes]

やってみる, let's see if I can actually read at an N5 level much less actually translate instead of transliterate. if I can't translate I'll transliterate tho idk idk it's been ages since I had to exercise my 日本語

1st image; close up of the boys' faces with their eyes in various stages of shimmering

うる うる うる うる うる うる uru uru uru uru uru uru sound fx: tears welling up, a happy welling of tears

2nd image; the boys making a human mutant turtle rainbow

ミュータント タートルズ myuutanto taatoruzu mutant turtles

オレたちゃ カメな 4忍組 oretacha kame na 4 "shinobu gumi" my best guess: "we're the four turtle ninja team"

I've personally never seen 忍 or 組 combined into one word, 忍 is the same kanji used to write ninja and shinobi and 組 is used to refer to groups, like the historical Shinsengumi

a note that I wanna make is that "we" is usually written as おれたち (oretachi) but instead the ち(chi) is ちゃ(cha). In the way that English has different ways to spell things to give a certain sense, like typing "Oh naurrrr" or "oww my widdle fweelings", the oretacha is most likely the same I... just don't know what the sense would be, overconfident? child-like lisping? idk idk

also as a fun second note, the "ore" in oretacha is spelled in katakana, one of the uses is to emphasize.

力を合わせて chikara wo awasete [with our] combined strength

勝利をめざせ shouri wo mesaze [ we ] aim for victory

3rd image; Splinter in shock, holding his cat eared sons and the kid from the topmost textless image holding cat ears

the right most column of text:

ネズミの先生の天敵になりきってる息子(タートルズ)たち。。。、 nezumi no sensei no tenteki ni narikitteru musuko (taatoruzu) tachi カワイイけどね♡ kawaii kedo ne ♡ The rat teacher's sons have become his greatest enemies... but they sure are cute, aren't they?

there's some fun word play going on in this line. "nezumi" is written in katakana to emphasize him being a rat (because his sons are wearing cat ears)

but what's also very cute is that 息子 (musuko) has accompanying furigana reading タートルズ (turtles). furigana is usually written beside kanji to sometimes help kids/beginners read kanji correctly but also, in this context, to put a little joke that while yes, they are different animals they are still his sons who happen to be turtles.

little boy's speech bubble:

ネコの話しです。 neko no hanashi desu. it was a story about cats

the text by the cat ears the boy is holding:

映画 特典 eiga tokuten movie special item

this part of the image gives the main subject of Splinter being shocked some context. looks like they went to see a movie about cats and the cat ears were a freebie they got from watching

Splinter's speech bubble:

コラコラコラコラコラー、 kora kora kora kora koraaa, [ harshly ]hey hey hey hey heeey--!

ねこはなし、なしーっ！！ neko wa nashi, nashi-!! not cats, no!

the little written notes over the boys:

Leonardo: ありがとうニャー (arigatou nyaa): thanks mew Raphael: フニャー (funyaa): the フ(fu) is probably a stand in for a sighing noise I'm guessing, mew Donatello: 大好きニャー (daisuki nyaa): i like it mew Michelangelo: ニャーニャー (nyaa nyaa): mew mew

to note, technically ニャー (nyaa) is the onomatopoeia for a cat meowing but... y'know I spelled it that way because, mew mew mew mew y'know?

~~~~~

4th image: Michelangelo fishing, baiting with pizza or caught a pizza?

--ふんぱつしたのに。 --funpatsu shita noni. my best guess: "--I did it even if it was hard."

the speech bubble is cut off so.... idk, made an educated guess what he was referring to

5th image: everyone is waiting for Leo to come out of the bathroom, Mikey and Mystery Kid are having a hard time waiting.

right most text:

朝のトイレが大変なことになっている。 asa no toire ga taihen na kotoni natteiru. [going to] the bathroom in the morning has gotten troublesome

scribbled writing between Mikey and Mystery Boy:

はやくでてくれええええ hayaku dete kureeeee please hurry up and get outttt

Mikey fx:

バタバタバタバタバタ bata bata bata bata bata sound fx: in this context it'd be the sounds of Mikey's hands and feet thumping rapidly on the floor; frantic movement

Mystery boy's jagged speech bubble:

うおおおおお、トイレが遠いー！！ uooooo, toire ga tooi-------!! ohhhh, the toilet is far-------!!

Donnie, Raph, Leo's little notes above their heads

Donnie: まあまあ (maa maa); well well [resigned] Raph: イライライラ (ira ira ira); irritated, getting angry Leo: フー (fuuuu); a little sigh, completely unstressed

6th image, everyone is skiing; Splinter put a kotatsu on his skis, Leo is skiing on top of Donnie who's on top of Mikey, SRaph is skiing on Mystery Kid

right most text:

うむ、 その調子だ。 umu, sono choushi da. oh well, that's one way to do it.

this one I fiddled with, since その調子 (sono choushi) is more toward like "way to go!"/"that's the way (to do it)!" but translation gets tricky when you have to balance between direct meaning that does have a similar counter part with something more suitable in the language you're translating to and considering its context so! idk! best guess in keeping the joke in the same vein!

sound fx behind Raph and Leo:

シュバー shubaaaaa whoosh

Mystery Boy's speech bubble:

えーっ！！！ Ehhhhh... !!!?

the kid is flabbergasted, gobsmacked, amazed! there's really only one sound for tha and it's えーっ！！！

7th image, Splinter and the turtles riding atop a plane, carrying very full bags

さよーならー sayoー naraー faaaareweeell...!

8th image, the turtles wearing giant realistic turtle masks, Leo putting on a sea turtle mask to the shock of Mystery Boy

Leo's speech bubble:

どう、これ？ dou, kore? how's this (look)?

Raph's speech bubble:

いいん、じゃね？ iin, ja ne? it's whatever

Mikey's little written dialogue

ワーイワーイ waaai waaai yaaay! yaaay!

Mystery Boy's little written monologue:

なぜそんなマスクをえらぶ naze sonna masuku wo erabu why would you chose that kind of mask

hmm I went with the one closer to the Japanese meaning but if I was incorporating localization, I'd've picked, "out of all the masks to pick..." but that's just me.

alright, できた！feel like my brain expanded a little by exercising the language node

ŸØŪ

HELLO BEAUTIFUL TMNT FANS!!

I am still digging for some more Rise art

BUT!

For now, I give you cute✨️ 2k12 boys ✨️

Look at the goobers✨️✨️

🐈🐈🐈🐈

Fishing with mikey 🎣🍕

Leo taking his time 🚽⏲️

Not mikey on leo and donnie💀

Family trip 😅

I'll let this one sink in...

THATS ALL FOR NOW

I'll post more of these goobers if your guys like them!!

[lazypanartist]

And here we go! Your special mystery blind box. Hope you enjoy!

-📝 nonnie

--

"You- you can't use FIREBALL!! I'm in the middle of the fray!" The half-orc paladin cried out, swinging her battle axe. The blade connected with a ravenous furry shape that, had you asked her earlier, Bearbones would have called absolutely adorable. Now the massive swarm was growing taxing.

"Then get out of the way!" snapped Arous, the halfling holding her spell while kicking a creature away. "We're getting swamped by these wolpertingers, and they're a little too BITEY for my taste!"

"I...Rolled an 18, the AC seems to be twelve- Okay I hit, and I use my canon on the group over to the left. Eat zap cannon, you over grown rats!!" The artificer bellowed.

"Alright, listen. I'm just saying, maybe we shouldn't be doing this quest to free the Great Fairy of Rot, y'know?" The Aarakokra bard was back to back with his Kenku sibling that was using him as hidden cover to get extra damage in. "What say you, Nitpick?"

A series of affirming chirps and clicks meshed with broken words stolen from other conversations the kenku heard. "Aztiel is RIGHT...but Rot Fairy Siofra is...Very Pretty. Have to help her."

"Oh jeez, Mikey's crushing on the rot fairy." Leo whined, head in his hands. You grinned, giggling at the revelation that rolled through the group. Battle now on standby, Donatello glared over at his twin.

"You idiot! Without Siofra, the other Great Seasons Fairies are going to ruin the world. Rot is needed for new life and all that."

"Wow. Nitpick likes Siofra huh?" Raph leaned over, looking at what Michelangelo was doodling. The eldest huffed in amusement, staring at a rough sketch of the kenku fantasizing over a 12 foot nature goddess.

"Maybe! I think Nitpick just likes Big Tall Misunderstood Lady."

April shrugged. "Honestly you could pick worse."

You got up, chuckling to yourself as you went to the kitchen. You bagged another, your DMing prowess of making your players becaome smitten with NPC knew no end. Well, correction. It knew one.

You hadn't managed to get Leonardo yet. And, for the life of you, you couldn't figure out why.

You got Raphael with his character's rival, a Firbolg ranger who she shared one good, deep conversation with and it shook his character's faith somewhat while showing the other wasn't so bad a guy. April's sorcerer already had a girlfriend, and you made sure she got to interact and write to her frequently, and the sorcerer was planning on proposing. Michelangelo was fawning over Siofra, his character bonding with her despite being trapped in a crystal prison by being a great listener. Donatello's was the tricksiest one by far, his high elf character becoming smitten with a kobold thief who, as a shock to you, his character saw all the stealing of his machines as flirting, and now he made trinkets for them to purposely steal as a kind of...courtship game.

But Leo? Nothing, no NPC, be it the handsome rival bard or the lich king, made him enamored.

"I'm grabbing drinks! Anyone want one?" You listened as a collection of of yeses called out and you nodded, already knowing who wanted what. A chair scraped across the floor and you heard footsteps follow.

"I'll help out."

"Thanks, Leo."

Humming, the two of you gathered up sodas and teas and coffees galore, nabbing some more pizza while on your impromptu snack break. You glanced over at the red eared slider. "May I ask a question?"

"Mh? Sure thing. What's up?" Leo adjusted the tails of his cobalt bandana before reaching for a sleeve of cookies.

"What's your type?"

Leonardo froze, sweat beading on his brow as he stared HARD into the cabinet. He swore there should be some cheez-its in here somewhere.

"My uh. Type?"

"Yeah! Do you like big muscles and massive pecs, small wet cat energy, cocky, calm and collected, regal, maybe something more chaotic...?"

Biting his lip, he looked over to you, noting you refused to look at him. Like you were planning something. Being sneaky.

...Oh! He knew what was happening.

He relaxed a bit, nodding to himself, before he quickly became red in the face and jittery.

Oh. He knew what was happening!!

The leader looked to the side, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Well, um. I have to say uh...I like...creative types. With big imaginations and a love for storytelling." Leonardo cleared his throat. "And uh, hopefully a fondness for my jokes and willing to put up with my charming personality."

You blinked at that. "So...artsy nerd with a high stupidity tolerance?" Damn what a character you'd have to make.

The turtle gaped at you, looking mildly offended. "Hey!"

You shrugged. "You're a bit of a peacock."

"Hey!!"

You snickered to yourself, grinning at your joke and Leonardo felt his heart...swell, bubble and melt like chocolate. His mouth buzzed with the cloying bittersweetness you radiated, and it made him crave your attention, your AFFECTION, more.

Smiling to himself some, he bumped your hip with his own, looking up at you under half lidded eyes. "Yeah, I guess nerd is a good term for em."

"What else? What do they do?" you asked, a coy look on you face, and he felt the thrill of teasing and playing with you making him giddy.

"I mean they're hot, for sure. Love their nose, it does this cute thing when they smile. And theyre one hell of a master of dungeons."

"A master of dungeons? Ahh so you like power eh?"

"Mhm. You could say Godly."

Man, a mortal falling in love with a god would be great. You'd push one of the great fairies, but they didn't fit personality-wise. Perhaps you would make another godly being, or there was the massive eldritch sea creature, but they wouldnt find that til the High seas chapter...

Godly. Master of Dungeons. Creative story teller with a love for...oh.

Oh.

The pieces clicked, and your eyes grew wide, face now flushed and hot to the touch. You whipped around to look at Leonardo, whose cocky grin faltered some at your bewildered look.

"Me, um- I just. I mean- I was asking for the campaign. For Aztiel."

Leonardo's face did the opposite of yours, blood draining quickly and making him appear pallor.

"Ah. I'm. Oh my god."

You two grew quiet. Your thoughts were that of a notebook in a whirlwind, papers and words and pictures whipping around you while you sat in the middle, getting fleeting frenzied glimpses at the chaos surrounding you. Leonardo's own were like tv static, harsh and crowding and, though others tried to push through, the screeching noise drowned them out.

"...No wonder I never could make an NPC you loved."

Leonardo swallowed nervously. He looked away, hot shame stabbing him in the gut and through the ribs. He felt ill.

"Yeah. They, um...Well I do like all of your characters. I love something about em all. They all have a little piece of you in them... I'm sorry- that's weird and I'm just going to-"

Masked eyes widened, his brain coming to a sudden, stuttering halt. He couldn't move, and he stopped breathing briefly as you pulled away, tongue swiping your own chapped and chewed lips nervously. You gathered the drinks again.

"I'm... free on Friday, if you wanna sneak out to go see the horror movie marathon at the drive in theater with me. My treat."

It took a few pulls of his brain's rip chord before his ability to think came back, but when it did, it was like all thoughts came to him at once. So many questions wanted to pour out of his mouth that they were scrambled, before he finally managed to ask-

"So! Uh, it's date, yea? A date? Like, with me? Boyfriend?"

You grinned, starting to walk out of the kitchen with a bit of extra pop to your step. "Yeah. A date with you would be wonderful. I've wanted to go on one with you for a while now."

YESSSSSSS LET'S GO DISASTER DATE LEO!!!

Thank you so much for the blind box fic! The way Leo just kinda studies reader while describing them, reader's obliviousness... Love it!!!

[sylvain-writes]

Doors Will Open (Donatello x Reader)

Rated: G

Gender Neutral Reader, pre-relationship, movie night, tenderness, cuddling, supportive brothers

You surprise Donnie with lembas bread for your Lord of the Rings movie night.

for @blancoluna

Donatello is holed up in his laboratory of mischief and oddities when you arrive at the lair bearing treats. But Mikey is there to greet you, jumping out of the Pit to graciously unload the deep tupperware of cookies from your hands. 

His eyes twinkle as he leans in to stage whisper, “You’re my favorite, know that?”

April walks up behind him with a gasp of indignation. “I’m gone five minutes!”

“But, but...” He lifts the box in his defense, “Cookies!”

“Ooh.” April’s eyes go wide and warmth floods your cheeks at their enthusiasm. She rubs her hands together with delight. “Can I grab one for the road?” You nod, of course, encouraging her to take as many as she likes. “You’re my favorite too,” she says with a giddy bounce.

Your laughter draws Raphael and Leonardo from the tunnels, and your excitement for the evening mounts. Rising to your toes hopefully, you try to capture a glimpse of Donatello behind them. The tunnel, however, is otherwise empty. Your heart sinks just a little.

Everyone gathers in the kitchen, welcoming you and trying to convince April to stay, but with each passing minute, the absence of your best friend grows harder to ignore. 

“Wheel of Time is in my bag,” you mention to Leo half-heartedly. It’s a book series he’s been begging to borrow for ages. You’re proud of yourself for remembering to bring it, and you don’t want to get distracted and forget. 

“Thanks!” Leo unlatches your messenger bag immediately, diving into a confession that only serves to prove what a nerd he is. Apparently, he sped through the Lord of the Rings this week in his excitement for the weekend movie marathon. You nod along with an amused smile. You're usually overjoyed to have the fellow bookworm to talk to, but your attention keeps drifting to the empty tunnels. 

A lull in his rambling gives you an opportunity to ask, “Is Donnie coming?” You have trouble meeting Leo's eyes, but you try your best to keep the question sounding casual and light. You don’t want Leo, Raph, Mikey, or April to feel like you don’t value their company, but you brought down supplies for Movie Night under the impression Donatello would be joining in; you don’t want to start without him.

“Oh, I’ll get that knucklehead,” Leo says, stacking the books to carry. “He probably just lost track of time.” 

Turning from Mikey's final, futile plea for April to stay, Leo heads toward his room to drop off the books, then to the workshop to gather their missing brother.

The muted sounds of tools and machinery come through the heavy door in clanks and whirrs. But Leo knows Donnie won't mind the intrusion.  He raps a knuckle against the small frosted window and gives his brother a shout. 

Donatello raises his voice over the buzz of a circular saw to ask, “Emergency?” But the sound of the blade cutting through metal continues without pause.

“No.” Leo won’t lie. He won’t test Donnie’s nerves with trickery, not even when the reveal is something his brother has been looking forward to all week. 

“Password?” Donnie counters next.

Leo screws up his face, searching his memories for the right answer. “I don’t know, dude. There’s cookies? And, like, ten hours of movies, so-”

The saw goes silent before the 'shop door opens with a snap. Leo takes a step back to give his brother room. 

Donnie’s face pops through the gap, his eyes looking unnaturally large through the magnifying lenses perched atop his beak. “What day is it?”

“Uh, Friday.”

“Y/N is here?”

Leo's exasperated answer hisses through the tunnel. "Yes." 

Donatello lets the door swing wide as he pulls off his goggles and hangs them on their hook. “Why didn’t you start with that?” he asks as he tidies up his station. His hands fly over the tables, reorganizing the space for his return. He fumbles his wrenches into their case in his rush. "How long have they been here? Why didn't anyone get me sooner?"

Leo doesn’t hide his grin, so happy to see Donnie this close to admitting his crush. “Oh, so they’re the password, huh?”

Donatello’s blush starts at his neck and rises up to his ears. “That’s not…” He gives a little huff as he rolls his tool cart to its place against the wall. “Shut up, Leo.”

Slinging an arm around Donnie's neck, Leo drags him into the hall. He grinds his knuckles over his little brother's head with a light chuckle.  Though Donnie easily squirms free, Leo knocks him with a shoulder, a tease and a mark of support. 

At first, Leo had been reticent to encourage his brother's feelings for you, but over time it's become obvious that Donnie’s affections are far from one-sided. Being what they are, that came as somewhat of a shock to him, but it was the best kind of surprise.

Donnie's lucky to have you in his life. And Leo hopes that one day soon, the two of you will get your acts together. It's about time you two admit just how happy the other makes you.

*

You're picking at the edge of the countertop, stomach in knots, when you hear the echo of footsteps draw near. Leo and Donnie enter the main living space pushing and shoving, but there's not a hint of anger on their squabble. Laughter stretches their smiles wide. 

You bite your lips together, anticipating the moment when Donatello finds you. There's become a shared second of pause when you meet, though you don't know when that began. You try to prepare yourself for it each time, but it always leaves you breathless. 

When Donatello’s eyes fall on you, his laughter peters out and his smile goes soft. Your lungs ache with the breath you've forgotten to release until Donatello breaks the spell. "I was told there would be cookies?"

You gesture to the box, hoping the slight tremor in your hand isn't obvious. "Lembas, actually." It's silly, your newly developed nervousness around him. Donnie is the person with whom you feel safest, most free to be yourself. He's your best friend in the world. 

Your crush on him shouldn't change that. But it does. It could change everything.

Donatello's eyes slide to the box and his jaw drops comically. "Are you kidding me? How did you-? Why did-?" His long strides bring him to the table before he has a chance to form a full sentence.

"It's our weekend," you say. A blush colors your cheeks as you catch your choice of phrase. "I mean, Lord of the Rings weekend. Remember?" You fiddle with the ring hanging from your neck, your fingers running back and forth over the elvish script. 

"I didn't. I do now! I didn't realize it was Friday until Leo… But Lembas!" He's probably the biggest nerd of you all.

"Go ahead." The mess of crumbs on the counter is evidence Raph and Mikey have grabbed their share. Thankfully, they left some for the rest of you. 

Leo skirts around you to take a cookie for himself while Donatello inspects his square of pastry with care. Turning it over in his hands, Donnie hums. "It smells like citrus and almond."

"There's lavender too," you supply gently. It took a few tries and a few tweaks of the recipe you found to get it just right, but you're quite proud of the end result.

"Yeah," he gives a slow nod. "And lavender. I was getting to that." He looks at you in awe. "This is really… it's so cool."

"You didn't even try it." Your racing heart switches gears from nervousness to anticipation for Donnie to have a taste.

"Oh, right." Donatello takes his first bite, follows it quickly with a second, and the cookie is gone. "Wow." Crumbs fall from his lips and you chuckle at his enthusiasm.

"I can make more," you offer as he reaches for another, "if you guys like them so much."

Donnie nods and drops his gaze as he seems to consider it. "...maybe you can make them here," he says finally. "With me, y'know? Show me how it's done."

Your blush returns at the suggestion and you find yourself hesitant to agree to the plan. 

Donatello's eyes blink wide and his almost pout is irresistible as always. You can't fathom why you'd give up the chance to be the one teaching Donatello something for once. 

With a leap of your heart, you give in. "Yeah, of course. We can swing by my place later and grab the stuff. Could be fun."

"Could be," he agrees quietly.

Donnie meets your eyes again and the moment of stillness between you stretches long--

Until Raphael speaks up from the couch with an exaggerated groan. "Can ya please get over here already? There's a whole mess of movies waitin' for us and you're busy yappin'."

Donatello grabs the box of cookies and rummages through the cabinet for Pop-Tarts while you make your way over to the TV. Of course, not even lembas can fill his appetite for sweet pastry. 

In the Pit, the lighting is dim. Title screen music rises and falls, drawing you into the fantasy world of Middle Earth.

Leo has taken a seat atop the back of the couch to give Raph and Mikey room on the cushions below. At the sight of your approach, Mikey scoots toward his brothers to make you a place by the armrest.

It's a comfortable fit, even for your favorite position, sitting with your legs pulled up, criss cross. But when Donnie comes in, there's no real room for him. He doesn't seem to mind. He places the plate of lembas and box of Pop-Tarts on the coffee table. Then, without hesitation, he takes a seat on the floor in front of you.

Mikey starts up the movie and the epilogue scenes cast the room in shadows and flashes of light. Donatello settles in against your legs and everyone's eyes focus on the screen.

The film plays and the temptation to reach toward Donatello increases with his every shift. Though he hasn't complained, you think he must be uncomfortable down on the floor. If nothing else, the way he rolls his shoulders probably means he's feeling stiff. 

It's dark enough, you could lay your hands on his shoulders, work the knots out of his muscles and neck, without attracting the attention of his brothers. But you don't. As you indulge yourself in fantasy, Donatello shifts once more.  He slides into position between your knees and the tails of his bandana catch on the hem of your jeans. 

You stare for a moment, unsure if you're allowed to touch. Then, Donnie leans back and smiles up at you and you could swear your heart stops. It only lasts a second before his eyes return to the screen, but it fills you with comfort, confidence, and calm.

Careful not to tug, you take the tails of his mask in hand and lay the long strips of cloth over your lap. With steady passes, the fabric runs through your fingers. It's soft and worn. Stained and fraying on the ends. The movie plays on, but as far as you're concerned there's only this. 

You twist the tails of Donnie's mask around your fingers. You tie them into loose knots, losing yourself in the quiet intimacy of having Donatello so close. 

Donnie tips his head to the side as you play, turning his body just enough that he can rest his head on your knee. 

You bend at the waist and drop your voice as quiet as it can go to avoid being overheard by the others. "You OK?"

Donatello nods, nuzzling his cheek against your knee just enough for you to notice. "It's nice," he says, and you drag the tails of his bandana through your fingers again. 

As you sit up, you spare a glance at his brothers. Raph and Leo are sitting forward, elbows on their knees, enraptured by Arwen's race on horseback. But Mikey's watching you through the corner of his eye. He gives you a small, knowing smile before turning his attention back to the screen.

When it's time to switch DVDs, everyone agrees it's time for a stretch. 

Donnie's the first one back to the Pit. And he takes it upon himself to lie across all three cushions of the couch with a lazy grin. Mikey doesn't even bother with him, ducking out to meet up with April and leaving his older brothers to fend for spots on the broken recliner and floor.

Donatello makes grabby hands as you return from the kitchen with a pair of sodas. You think he'll sit up, make some room. But to your surprise, Donatello exaggerates his sprawl. He takes the drinks and places them on the floor, then extends his hands toward you again.

You only have a second to register his request before he takes your hand in his and gently pulls you onto the couch with him. 

Cuddled up between the couch and your back, Donatello gives a little shimmy and a wistful sigh. 

Your heart is racing and you're tingling from your hands to your toes, but fitting against the curves of Donatello's bent knees and soft embrace takes no thought at all. And once you're there, you can't imagine ever wanting to leave.

*

The second Fellowship DVD comes to an end, and Donatello's breath tickles your neck, "One more?"

You shrug into the feeling of his words ghosting over your skin. "I'll fall asleep," you admit regretfully. You're so comfortable in his arms, you don't want to go home. But it's precisely that warmth and safety that are making it so hard to stay awake.

"I won't make fun of you if you snore," Donnie teases. There's soft pressure on your scalp and you're sure that's the feeling of him snuggling into your hair.

"I make no promises," Raph chimes in from the recliner. You'd long since forgotten you had company. The sound of his voice should come as a shock, should have you scrambling out of Donnie's arms. But it's only Raph, and he's picking on you the same as always. And there's a kind of approval in that -- the kind you never dreamed of receiving.

You try to shoot him a scowl, but you're grinning because you can't help it. 

*

You were right about having difficulty staying awake. The film isn't on for five minutes before your eyes drift closed.

"Are you asleep?"

"Still listening," you mumble dreamily. Donatello's arms tighten around you and his chin tucks over your head. It's enough to send you adrift into a deep and peaceful sleep.

You wake up in the morning alone but wrapped in a purple knitted blanket you recognize from Donnie's room. You pull it snug around your shoulders as you sit up to check your phone.  There's a text from your roommate and emails that can be ignored, but one notification stands out. You touch the media message from Raphael. 

Though you roll your eyes at the blurry thumbnail, your curiosity has you pressing play. The video is only 20 seconds, anyway. 

It loads immediately and the image clears. You smile at the closeup of Donatello asleep on the couch. The audio is low but you can clearly make out the snuffling rise and fall of his snores. You allow yourself a little laugh as you watch the video play through again. And you don't miss the way Raphael panned to show you and Donnie together dozing comfortably -- your limbs entangled and your face tucked into the crook of his neck.

You're unsure where you two stand and where your relationship will go, but your stomach is full of butterflies and your heart is content.

"Did you sleep OK?" Donnie asks as he comes in from the kitchen. He's brought tea and toast -- a simple but sweet gesture. 

You take a moment to enjoy the sight of him bringing you breakfast 'in bed' and tuck your phone away with a smile. "I slept great."

[bottomvalerius]

37. Caught for Donna and Heron - vesuvian-disaster

84 YEARS LATER 😭 @vesuvian-disaster This got ✨out of control✨ but it’s Donna and they can’t help themselves lmfao

Obvi lemon warning, but other CW for 💫magical bondage💫, voyeurism, oral, and facials 🤭

Donna was grinning down at Heron, quite pleased with the glowing bonds keeping him in place. Their hair was a rich crimson color; they were already worked up. Heron couldn’t help but chuckle, his arms held in place above his head, his shirt already discarded. Donna’s fingers were tracing along each of his ribs as they bit down on their lip. They were still fully clothed, though the strings keeping their blouse together were coming undone, the frill of their hemline brushing right against their nipples. They had pulled their skirts up too, their covered crotch seated snugly on Heron’s erection. Even through their panties, Heron could feel how excited they were, eager to get going.

“You’re wearing underwear for once, I see?” he smiled, rocking his hips ever so slightly. Donna sucked in a breath through their teeth, a crooked grin on their face.

“I only wear them when it’s inconvenient,” they teased, wiggling their own hips. They pressed their ass down lower on his thighs, enjoying the sharp hiss he made.

“You learned this binding spell fairly quickly,” Heron tried to keep his voice steady, but it was becoming harder and harder not to try and break his restraints. He absently wondered what type of expression they would have if he turned the tables on them, but he shook the thought away, happy to have Donna lead.

“I told you I’m a star student,” Donna purred, sinking down onto their elbows to plant feather-light kisses over Heron’s chest. “Let me show you how much I appreciated the lesson.”

Lower and lower, they trailed his chest and collarbone with kisses and quick nips. They brought their chest down against his, raising their hips higher in the air, arching their ass out. They had a wicked look to their face as they watched Heron’s eyes flick between their mouth to their butt; as they sucked lightly on his neck, they made sure to sway their hips side to side, humming a made-up tune as they did.

“I, ah, would feel a lot more appreciated if I could touch you,” Heron panted, trying to look down at them. They peeked up at him before shaking their head “no.” He grunted, pushing his head back as his throat was peppered in quick kisses. They ran their fingers through his hair as they kissed him, lightly dragging their nails across his scalp as they kissed along his jaw. They grinded into him, their laughter airy on his feverish skin. The temptation to unbind himself was stronger than ever; he just needed a moment to catch them off guard and then…

“Donatello? I was in town and saw the shop was closed. Are you available to…?”

The pair stared up in shock at the Consul of Vesuvia standing nonchalantly in the doorway. Valerius was dressed much more casually than usual, hinting to the fact that this wasn’t just be an accidental visit. Donna’s entire face took on a deep shade of red, their hair quickly bursting with a sickly green color. Despite this, they were frozen in place, Heron in a similar state. It took Valerius a moment to register what he was seeing. His eyes flicked from Heron’s bound wrists and up to Donna’s raised ass; his cheeks burned brightly.

Heron broke the silence first.

“Hi, gorgeous.”

Donna expression quickly dropped into a mischievous smile, the door to the room suddenly slamming shut behind Valerius. A small eep escaped him, his arms hanging up at his sides.

“How nice of you to drop in unannounced, consul,” Donna purred, though their eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Heron looked up at them, amused. Valerius balked, unsure what to do or say. Donna and the… magician from the ball? He bit down on his lip. He had yet to learn just how small Vesuvia’s world truly was. Heron raised a brow as Donna’s hair shifted into a rich purple color, the ends shifting slightly as they twitched their nose. Valerius gasped as his own wrists were suddenly bound, a similar “rope” keeping his wrists snug to his waist. Another, longer strand connected to Donna’s finger; they curled it towards themselves, causing Valerius to be pulled forward on the makeshift leash.

“Donna—?”

“Sit. Get comfortable. I’m a bit… tied up at the moment, but you can be patient for me, right?”

“J-Just wait a momen—!”

“That’s the idea, gorgeous,” Donna drawled out the pet name, winking down at Heron. He huffed, nudging his knee into their rear. If they wanted to put on a show, then they needed to get a move on. Unmoved, Donna stuck their tongue out at him as they snapped their fingers. Another purple “rope” appeared, this time firmly gagging Valerius. His bounds glowed brightly, his complaints and whimpers thoroughly muffled. Heron couldn’t help but appreciate the craftsmanship; they really had taken his lessons to heart, it seemed.

“Now, where were we?”

As they spoke, Donna dragged Valerius to sit at the side of the bed— front row seats for whatever show Donna wanted to put on. Heron sighed through his nose as Donna sank down lower and lower, trailing kisses down his naval. Each kiss made his skin tickle and heat up; by the purple sheen of their hair, it was clear they were using some sort of spell for an added touch. Valerius grumbled into his gag, wiggling in his restraints as he watched Donna rested between Heron’s legs. He spread them, letting Donna settle between his thighs. They nuzzled them as they worked down his pants at last, closing their eyes as they soaked up the heat he gave off. They smiled up at him, blowing a cold stream of air at the base of his shaft.

Groaning, Heron rested his head back on the bed, stealing a glance towards Valerius. His eyes were glued to Donna’s mouth, watching, mortified and mesmerized, as they snaked their tongue along the length of Heron’s erection. He let out an airy laugh, his chest heaving; the slick texture of their mouth coupled with being watched was already driving him wild. Donna was taking their time, too, placing tender kisses around the head of his cock, as if they were kissing Heron himself and not just his dick. Valerius made a rather pathetic noise, the rope only muffling it slightly.

“Who are you so jealous of, I wonder?” Donna whispered, their voice ruff. Heron wiggled in his own restraints, shivering as their lips grazed him as they spoke. “Heron? Or me?”

Valerius tried saying something into the gag, but neither could make out what it was. They both laughed, Donna’s hand reaching to cup Heron’s sack as they other began rubbing his chest. Finally, Donna wrapped their lips around the head, a smile in their eyes as they made a show of sliding their way down his shaft. Heron moaned, his legs twitching, as Donna swallowed him down, moaning as they bobbed their head lower and lower. Valerius struggled more in his bounds, his eyes still wide, still only focusing on Donna and their lips and their moans and the spittle trailing down the length of Heron’s cock.

Heron hissed through his teeth, trying not rut up into their mouth, to sit back and let them work. They were doing just fine without him already. He stole another look to Valerius; the erection was clear in his pants. He let out a breathy laugh that broke off into a loud moan. Donna had sunk all the way down his shaft, their nose buried in his pubes, as they stared up at him with half-lidded eyes. They stayed put for a moment, their tongue curled around his length as they relaxed their jaw around him. They only gagged a moment, taking little time to get used to their mouth being invaded in such a way.

“W-Who taught you that?” Heron panted, his brows knitted together.

Donna hummed around his cock, a wicked glint to their eyes. Slowly, they pulled their head back just enough before swallowing him back down again. Heron writhed, no longer able to stop himself from thrusting up into that waiting mouth. Donna took it in stride, moaning and encouraging him to keep going. They had almost completely forgot Valerius was even there, his muted whimpers and groans no longer so loud anymore. Heron could hear him panting through his nose, his own legs shifting where he sat—most likely trying to get friction he could for his “problem.” It was all getting to be too much; Heron whimpered, shutting his eyes tightly as he focused on that warm mouth, on the way they twirled their tongue around the head of his cock, continuously rubbing him just right.

Donna crinkled their nose as they tasted something other than their own spit. They smiled around his cock, bobbing their head just a few more times. Heron gasped as he was released. He almost wanted to shout at them, but by the wicked smile on their face, he knew he would be rewarded in just a moment. Wordlessly, Donna sat him back up, one hand on his neck, the other stroking his erection. Valerius made a panicked sound, staring up at the others helplessly.

“You know, it isn’t nice to enter someone’s room without knocking,” Donna panted, their voice still gruff. Using their magic, they tugged Valerius’s face closer to Heron’s crotch. His eyes widened, fixed on the erection before him. He babbled uselessly into the gag; whatever he had to say, complaints or pleads, Donna did not care. Heron gasped, taken aback by that humiliated expression, already so resigned to his fate. Donna placed their head under Heron’s chin, grinning down at Valerius as they pumped Heron’s cock right in front of his face. “If you were better behaved, I’m sure Heron would have let you suck it. But this is all you’re getting, I’m afraid.”

They pressed back into Heron, their hair that deep crimson once again. Heron let out what was almost a growl, hunching over as he shot his finish, his hair flopping in front of his face. He nearly missed the way his cum coated the consul’s face, the way his face twisted in a heated mortification. Donna snapped their fingers, the gag around his mouth disappearing as cum dribbled down his lips. Heron straightened back out, finally freed from his own restraints. Donna whistled, petting down his hair as Valerius heaved below them.

“You’re almost too good looking, Valerius,” they mused, using their foot to tilt his head up towards them. “What do you think we should do now?”

They looked up sweetly to Heron, their smile too innocent for someone who just did… that. He laughed, shaking his head out of his face.

“You’ve been on a roll tonight. I’d like to see what other sick thoughts are stirring in that head of yours.”

Valerius shuddered, biting down a moan. He didn’t need to say that he was eager to see it too.

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Unwanted Attention

Bayverse!Leonardo x reader

The boys have brought you along for a party at the NYPD headquarters, where a police woman finds your crush, Leonardo, very interesting. Leo on the other hand is not interested and turns to you for help.

Warnings: Spelling and an annoying police woman that doesn't understand no.

All characters are at least 21.

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

The atmosphere at the NYPD headquarters was vibrant, filled with laughter and cheers. Drinks were served along with snacks, and a table where everyone was free to serve themself. It was police chief Vincent’s idea, as a way to celebrate the new partnership between the NYPD and the mutant turtles. It also served as a way to celebrate the defeat of Kraang, and to let the rest of the department meet the four turtle brothers that had saved New York City once again.

The brothers, not sure what to do with so many humans around them, had invited you, April, Caesy and Vern. They insisted that the four of you had as much to do with the saving of New York City, yet they failed to remember that it was them that came up with a plan and guided everybody through it.

Yet there you were at the NYPD headquarters, with a drink in hand chatting and laughing with the people around you. Raphael was having a conversation with Caesy about motorbikes, Donatello, April and police chief Vincent was talking about something techy, while Vern and Michelangelo was trying to see who could drink their drinks the fastest. You had been standing with Leonardo and a policeman, talking about your experiences during the Kraang invasion.

As the three of you spoke, you couldn’t help but throw glances in Leo’s direction. You had known him for two years now, and you couldn’t deny your growing feelings for the leader in blue. Especially not after the ordeal that was the Kraang invasion. There was just something about him that drew you in - his confidence, his leadership, his unwavering dedication. And his eyes. Those pretty blue eyes that made your stomach tingle. But little did you know that Leonardo harbored feelings for you as well, just as you secretly held a crush on him. He had been aware of these growing feelings ever since April pulled you to the roof where they had asked her to meet them so they could bring her to Master Splinter.

As the night unfolded, Leonardo found himself trying to enjoy the celebration, but he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. And it wasn’t your beautiful eyes looking at him every once in a while. No, it was some new strange eyes on him. Unknown eyes. Glancing around, his eyes met those of a police woman, her gaze intense and determined. Curiosity piqued, she made her way through the crowd until she stood beside him, right next to the police man. You saw her as she came over, a nauseating feeling growing in your stomach. You did not like the way she looked at Leonardo.

"Leonardo, right?" she asked with a coy smile, her voice carrying a subtle flirtation.

Leo nodded, a bit caught off guard, slightly fidgeting with the glass in his hand. "Yeah, that's me. Can I help you with something?"

The police woman leaned in slightly, her eyes locking onto his. Leo leaned away, clearly not expecting it. "I couldn't help but notice you from across the room. A fearless leader, I presume?"

Leonardo chuckled nervously, his eyes darting around the room. "I don't know about fearless, heh. We just do what we can to keep the city safe".

She playfully twirled a strand of hair with a smug smile. You wanted to yank her hair to whip that smile off of her face. "Well, a brave man deserves a reward. How about another drink, or maybe a dance, Leonardo?"

Leo hesitated, glancing around as he searched for a polite way to decline. You could see the “nope” written across his face. "I- I appreciate the offer, but I'm here with my brothers and my best friends… Maybe some other time?"

She didn't seem deterred, stepping closer. You were getting mildly shocked. Wasn’r she supposed to be a police officer? "Come on, Leo. We're here to celebrate. Loosen up a little".

Leo felt the awkward tension, realizing he needed a way out of this encounter. That's when he remembered you stood by his side. He turned to you, catching your eye briefly.

"(Y/N)... Babe?", Leonardo said, trying to keep his tone casual as he turned to his friend, noticing your surprised look at the sudden nickname. "We have plans later tonight, don’t we?"

You stared at him for a second, heart skipping a beat when you suddenly realized what was happening. The urgency in his eyes and the way she started to look at you in confusion. The police man the two of you had been talking to looked even more confused by the sudden change in your demeanor. "Yeah, we agreed not to go home too late, since we have that thing with your dad tomorrow".

“I knew there was something”, Leonardo said, acting relieved, before placing a hand on your back, making your knees go a little weak. “Thank you for reminding me, babe. I don’t know what I would do without you”. That’s when Leo pulled you close and placed a kiss on your forehead. You could feel your knees buckle and your head spin as he turned to the woman, and told her he couldn’t go out for a drink or a dance.

That was when she finally took the hint and left, you and Leo watching to make sure she wouldn’t be back. Once she was gone for good, you and Leo let out a sigh of relief, turning back to continue your conversation with the police officer, only to realize he had left, leaving the two of you alone.

You turned to Leonardo with a teasing smile, and smacked him gently on his strong bicep. "You know, you owe me for saving you back there".

Leo chuckled, rubbing his arm as if you had actually hurt him. "I owe you big time, (Y/N). Thanks for being my fake girlfriend".

Your heart warmed and broke at the same time. The word “girlfriend” brought you happiness, but the word “fake” tore it apart. Yet you had thought that was it. That Leo would take a step back and leave you alone. But he didn’t. The rest of the night Leo stayed close to your side, placing a hand on or around you every once in a while. You thought it was because he caught a glance of the police woman or something, and therefore you didn’t think much more about it.

As the night continued one, the two of you found a quieter spot away from the crowd. It was down one of the hallways from the big area the main body of the part was held in. Here the light was dim, with an empty couch with space for the two of you. You took a seat, laughing at a really bad joke Leo had told you. It was nothing new. Every once in a while Leo would make you laugh with his dry humor, to the point where you would be in tears.

“You can’t say stuff like that Leo”, you laughed, drawing away the tears that had formed in your eyes. “We’re surrounded by police”.

Leonardo smiled as you laughed, feeling his heart beat a little faster. He looked into your eyes with a warmth that went beyond their charade. It was a look that made your laughter quite down, feeling excitement and nervousness grow in your stomach. Leo’s eyes just had this power over you, that you couldn’t explain.

"I have something to confess," Leo began, his tone serious yet sincere, causing your breath to hitch for a moment. Leo fidgeted with his hands, looking at them instead of your eyes now. "(Y/N), I... It’s really not easy to say, but I think it’s about time. I… I've had feelings for you for quite a long time now. I just didn't know how to tell you, at least until now". Leo swallowed a lump, still not looking you in your eyes. “When you played my fake girlfriend I realized… how badly I really want to. I mean, how badly I want you to be my real girlfriend. I know it’s strange, but I just couldn’t do this without telling you”.

Your eyes widened in surprise, and a blush crept onto your cheeks as you felt your smile growing big and bright. "Really?”. The happiness in your voice made Leo look up at you. “Because I've kinda had a crush on you too for some time now".

Leonardo smiled, a mix of relief and happiness crossing his face. He breathed out a sigh of relief, his head working to find a way to answer you. "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one".

You both chuckled, unsure of what to say or do. You cursed yourself for being so awkward, and Leo yelled at himself for being so nervous around you, even after he had fought an alien from another dimension.

Then Leo finally asked. “(Y/N)? Can I kiss you?”

You could only imagine how you looked when you heard his question. “Of course you can Leo”.

The kiss that followed was soft and unsure, yet with a passionate undertone. Leo held you close with a soft hand on your face, as if he was scared he would break you by accident. But once you placed your arms behind his neck and leaned further into him, the kiss ever so slowly turned more and more passionate. Leo’s hands moving from your face to your back, pulling you closer to him.

Who would have thought that some unwanted attention from a flirty police officer, was the push the two of you needed?

[fairymagicheart1]

The Very Odd Couple

(It took a while but this is my first fanfic since I went through the passing of my grandma, so I hope you all love this! This is more of a buddy fic between my OC Tati and Donnie, and yes the title is a reference to the classic 1968 movie The Odd Couple.. for obvious reasons here. xD

Yes this is for saving our Rise boys! Please @nickelodeon @nickanimation @netflix please pick them up for continuing them!)

It clearly was supposed to be a peaceful night of pizza and Lou Jitsu movie marathon.. but there was trouble to that plan.

Standing between the last slice of pizza on the table was Tati and Donnie, clearly another of their usual competitions and bickering that has become common soon after Tati began living and training with them.

"Donnie, it would be easier with a duplication spell?" Tati said, she had a smirk and tried to pull the plate and ready to use said spell, but Donnie snatched the plate with one of the mechanical arms of his spider shell.

"A simple precise cut is much more easier and effective for the sharing of the last pizza, especially with my area of expertise with technology." Donnie bragged and pressed a button on his tech-bo to switch it to laser mode. "Oh and burn us like the last time?" Retorted Tati.

The remaining three turtles, Splinter, April, and Nessa were just helplessly watching the bickering. "Shouldn't we try to stop them?" April asked, frankly for all.. it was getting to be too much lately; Tati was just as proud of her mystical fairy abilities almost as much as Donnie's own abilities in technology. Splinter was even tapping his fingers on his arm rest in growing frustration at the constant arguments.

"At least it won't blow us off the roof of a 12 story building with your so called Air Swipe attack?" Donnie sarcastically said back, using air quotations and Tati learned on the table now doing a mystic spell/tech tug of war with the pizza slice. "THAT was an accident during practice and you know it Techy!!"

It was a pull and tug battle and it was getting heated.. until Splinter leaped from his chair and pulled the slice away and caused the two to land in a pile. "ENOUGH!! Both of you!" Called out Splinter, now both teens looked up to Splinter's steamed face; the argument clearly had annoyed him greatly. "You know it's kinda ironic how you two argue but can be so much like each other." Raph spoke up with a slight smile.

Though getting back up, they both spoke at the same time. "What me, him/her?! We're nothing alike!" They then both faced each other steamed.

Before another word can be spoken, Splinter jumped to separate them with a loud. "To your rooms! Tomorrow there will be training.. for you both only!" And with that, Tati and Donnie had no choice but to do so..

Through this silence, April spoke up and they all have a look that screams unease. "Uh Splints? You sure you got a great plan? I love them both but Donnie and Tati look like they're almost ready to tear each other apart." She said while Leo just leaned back. "Totally cheering for my girlfriend by the way." Though at that Splinter just made his chair tip over and fell to the ground with a yelp.

"Oh I have just the plan for this and it will take more than just one parent.." Splinter said with a grin and pulled out a hand sized crystal piece.. "I just need to make a call." He walked away, leaving confused looks on the group's faces.. though Nessa's face had more of a look of knowing.

It was the next morning when Tati and Donnie were already up in the kitchen for breakfast.. still clearly ticked off from last night though Splinter came into the room and wasn't alone as Tati nearly choked in surprise. There standing with her arms crossed was Tati's own mother Queen Himari. "Mother?! What are you doing here?" Tati asked in surprised yet slightly fearful..

"My daughter, Splinter called me here for my help on this training.." Himari explained.. now they told the idea... and the unison shouts came soon after from the two teens and it rattled the doors!

"WHAT?!?! Spend the whole day with HIM/HER?!?!" Cried both Tati and Donnie in horror, clearly obvious that this plan does not sit well with them and that was expected.. so Himari herself nodded, her hand raised to Tati and a zap came to her cloaking T-symbol pin. "This spell lasts for exactly 24 hours, this keeps you from using your mystical abilities." Himari explained and Splinter quickly grabbed Donnie's gear, his battle shell, gauntlet, his goggles and tech-bo! "And until then, Donnie will not be using his tech! You both must learn to respect each other as a team on equal ground." Splinter said in this moment of seriousness ans Himari nodded in agreement. "And for you both to respect your abilities, not to use them for ridiculous fights and competitions."

The two teens both clearly were to argue back.. if not the two parental figures have gave their stern glares (hence anime fires behind them) Donnie and Tati knew.. they had to spend the day together, so they were on the surface now; Donnie in his hoodie sweater and Tati wearing her jacket, walking together.

"Great, a full 24 hours without tech or even without even the use of phones?! The great Pizza Supreme in the sky may take me now!" Donnie exclaimed with such a dramatic expression. "You went on a full on mission without tech before.. Twice?" Tati replied, though rather being sarcastic.. then a cheerful voice piped up behind them.

"Never fear! Todd the Friendship Counselor is here!" Said the sweet and overly excited mutant Capybara Todd.

"Todd?! How did you-!?" Tati cried out in surprise. "Let me guess.. Dad and her mom called you in for backup?" Donnie asked with a deadpan expression and tone. In which Todd pulled both Tati and Donnie and a tight hug. "By the end of this day, I just know you two will become the best of buddies!" He said cheerfully, the two weren't as thrilled as he was.. even they know Todd means very well. "Yeah.. this is gonna end well.." Tati said in a deadpan expression.

Though it was from the shadows, three hidden figures smirked from the shadows..

Now at an outdoors pizza place, Todd had Tati and Donnie sitting face to face and both equally share a look of unimpressive expressions, arms crossed on the surface. Todd sat on the stool where he can face both of them. "So let's see, why don't one of you start off by saying something nice?" Todd instructed.. which still caused silence to follow.

"Donnie? Doesn't Tati have the cleanest hair?" Todd said, trying to start things off.

Taking a breath, Tati regained herself.. "Well Donnie is great with his tech.. if it wasn't for that S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. Milk Thief thing that nearly fried me?" She said in a passive aggressive way as Donnie just narrowed his eyes. "What you expect me to eat dry cereal?" Donnie just said equally as such.. they both glared, electricity zapping from all around. But Todd was undeterred! "Don't worry! We still got 12 hours of fun together!" He said as both teens have fallen backwards with exasperated groans.

"Well yes but she's always the one who ties up the bathroom for 3 hours every morning?" The technology minded turtle just pointed an accusing finger at the mystic fairy.

"Hey I was trying to get my makeup done, I like looking my best?" Tati snapped but Todd intervined. "Hey now we're trying to say nice things?" He said still trying to keep the peace.

*segue into montage*

After the pizza and through the daytime, Todd was making sure the two were doing buddy themed activities; video games at the arcade (getting into a competitive argument in between when Donnie cheated again.)

Basketball (Donnie still has a horrible toss and Tati made a basket which bounced off his head.)

And now a quick browsing trip in a clothes store. At this time both teens had finally managed to relax.

Tati was looking at some cute tops and dresses while Donnie just looked at some fabulous jackets. "You know this wasn't so bad.. never ever done this kind of day off before." Tati said offhand, which Donnie looked towards her at that.

"That's.. surprising.. I thought a princess like you got to do whatever and whenever you want at the snap of your fingers?" Donnie replied, Tati put away the dress. "Yeah right.. everyday was a constant and useless schedule of so called ladylike lessons, it was very rare that I even get to spend at least more than 3 hours with my mother and siblings." Tati explained, gritting her teeth at the memory of it.. but then looked back to Donnie, a flash of realization, if it wasn't for them.. she would've gone back to that life. "I'd give anything to have what you have.. even admittedly that skill in tech."

Donnie gave a wry smile, even chuckling at the memory of how hard it was for the mystic fairy to get around tech in the beginning. He's noticed that she now gotten some improvement.. even if the other day she still confuses the remote with the phone.

"Still I thought.. you hated me or something.." Donnie said in a rare honest tone, Tati looked at Donnie with a shocked look. "Donatello why would.." Tati started but then the store lights started flickering and the floor started to shake. Totally means trouble and they both rushed out fast.

"Oh just typical New York stuff.. uh Todd, maybe you should go on ahead and we'll catch up?" Tati suggested with a nervous grin, she didn't want Todd in the crossfire..

There was a 10 foot tall robot with a shogan like headgear and large gauntlets (like something out of Gurren Lagann) Tati had her hand in front of her open gaped mouth and was wide eyed. Tati turned to Todd who came to join them. "What's the excitement?" Asked Todd, blissfully oblivious. Tati clapped her hands together fast.

"Okey-dokey!!" He skipped off, leaving Tati to sigh in relief.

"The one time we don't have gear or powers then trouble starts?! Sure this was a great idea Papa!!" Donnie exclaimed loudly and slapped his face covered.

"Aww is little tech turtle having a bad day?" Said a condescending female voice and both teens looked to see it was the Purple Dragon Tech Club! Kendra smirked with Jase and Jeremy standing behind her, Jase was the one holding the remote control for the robot.

Donnie shot a look but narrowed his eyes in distaste at the group. "I should've known.. the Purple Dragon Tech Club? Shouldn't you all be under house arrest?"

"Purple Dragon Tech Club? Those crazy kids you told me about?" Tati quickly asked before the robot had swung fast and knocked over Donnie and pushed Tati a fair distance. "And Ow!!" Donnie said holding his head.

Kendra smirked at the opportunity now to smash Donnie once and for all. "Jase, smash the turtle!"

Donnie held his head, looked up and stared wide eyed up at the impending robot arm about to hit him, but at that moment, a recovered Tati's eyes shimmered and screamed out "DONNIE!!!" She sprang up and ran so fast.. as if she was tapping into her Air powers now! She managed to push Donnie and both of them rolled out of the way as the robot just smashed the pavement.

"Ugh! Get them!!" Cried out an irritated Kendra, pointing towards the two.

The robot tried another swing but this time Donnie managed to react in time and sprinted fast enough with Tati. "Those guys.. seriously have issues!!" She cried out and now they ran before ducking into an alleyway to let the robot rush by. The two peeked out before stepping out.

As the robot came, Tati was waving her arms. "Hey down here!!" She goated and rushed towards a fire hydrant. While the robot turned towards her, Donnie took this chance before the Purple Dragons caught up, Donnie may not have his gear but this didn't stop him from ripping out the panel cover with the crowbar and he pulled the right wire to stop the leg from moving. "Boom! Ready!!"

"Hey thanks for that save.." Donnie said catching his breath, keeping a sheepish glance. "Donnie.. I know I was angry but I know I couldn't and never will hate you." Tati said, smiling to the purple banded turtle. "In fact, Todd was right.. I already thought of you like a brother." She looked at Donnie with a glance of sweetness that was shared.

"Yeah." Donnie said, Tati hugged him from the side, though now and stepped to face the oncoming robot coming back towards them. "Ok Techy let's come up with something to teach those brats a lesson.." Tati said while giving a look of determination which was shared by Donnie. "Hey Don? Their tech isn't waterproof?" She said as Donnie's lips turned to a smirk. Glancing from a nearby renovation site with a crowbar..

Tati pulled a thumbs up and did a dodge roll before the robot finally took a swing and hit the hydrant instead.

The stream of water hit the exposed panel and the robot couldn't move anyways so it shorted out and finally crashed to the ground.

"What?! How?!" Shrieked Kendra after running up, clutching her head in anger.

"You messed with the fam, you get retribution!!" Said in a loud tone of confidence from Donnie with Tati, arms crossed and smirking proudly. Then the sound of police sirens finally came rapidly.

They already got back ahead close to the manhole closest to their lair home, managing to pick up Todd along the way. "Oh man I wish I could've saw the look of their faces!" Tati laughed alongside Donnie. "I know right!" They both laughed then they shared a shared smile as Todd looked up at them both with shining eyes. "So does this mean you're both best buddies now?"

Before Kendra could try to even expose Donnie and Tati, they were already gone and left the Tech Club to their fate, getting arrested by the cops once again.

Though they both looked at each other then at Todd. "Well we could say for certain that we will be.. this is a start of it." Donnie said and Tati continued with "Yeah and besides, we're more like siblings now.. guess that's why we fought, siblings fight.." "But we'll always be family." Donnie finished as he and she shared a fist bump to Todd's joy as he hugged them both. "Friendship counseling mission complete!" He cheerfully said and the both teens laughed.

They both went home, even when they got their respective abilities and tech back, the next night..

"Donnie!" Tati said arms crossed. "Just say when Techy?" She finished actually using her levitation spell to life up one pizza box. "Ok now!" Donnie called out as each arm of his spider shell held up plates and Tati tossed up the box and duplicated every slice so that everyone got twice as much slices on each plate! Both teens now stood side by side, a grin on each face.

[katsidhe]

Fic: games of skill; games of chance [14.17 coda]

Sam, and a head injury, and a car ride: one vessel considers another.

AO3

“You’re still looking green around the gills,” Dean tells him.

“I feel okay now,” says Sam. He is still nauseous, but it’s fading. Jack did a good job pasting his skull back together. Nick’s dead. Lucifer’s dead. Sam should be dead but, as usual, isn’t.

“We should have just ganked the guy,” Dean says. Dean is angry, of course he is. Sam doesn’t begrudge him. Sam is probably angry himself.

When Sam broke it to Dean, that Nick had survived and they’d been getting him back on his feet, Dean had told him that it wasn’t his responsibility. You don’t have to martyr yourself, Sam, he’d said, it doesn’t have to be you taking care of him, like Sam was making a sacrifice. But Sam hadn’t been. He really, really hadn’t been.

In fact, Sam’s pretty sure he was being fundamentally selfish.

Cas would have taken it on, if Sam had asked; Sam knows. Same with Mom. But Sam had been the one to bring Nick back, so Sam volunteered. He even told himself it was to spare the others. To spare Cas, who had spent months possessed; to spare Mom, who’d spent an uncertain amount of time in that other world one-on-one with Lucifer.

(When Sam had asked, vaguely, she’d been noncommittal with the details, said, oh, you know. Said, it wasn’t that bad, and hadn’t been long anyway. She’d smiled the way she often smiled, without her eyes, in a way which meant nothing at all.)

But he knows now it hadn’t been because of them, not really. Patching Nick up was—it felt good, like holding his breath and pressing on a bruise.

Dean deserves to enjoy an I-told-you-so, at this point.

***

The noise in his head is loud and long, strident, persistent, splitting him open. Sam tries to wedge himself upright on the wheel, lying across the horn: the noise is his lifeline.

Saving Nick’s life in that church was still the right thing to do, Sam knows that. He’d just about collapsed from the shock when Nick had tried to sit up, then crumbled back down, unconscious; but Nick so obviously wasn’t Lucifer. Not then, and not today either—not even when he’d been singing, goading Sam like a toddler, using familiar lines—there wasn’t ever really a moment that Sam got them mixed up. He’s sure it’s actually easier for him to see the difference than it was for Mary and Dean; even Cas, for some reason.

But everything that came after—the warning signs, of which there had assuredly been more than one; the mood swings, the harsh gestures and words. The obsession. Sam didn’t miss the signs. He was simply desperate not to see them. Desperate to believe that someone as indelibly ruined as Nick would manage to pull himself up out of that hole.

But he was wrong. He’d let himself think... it’s getting harder to think. He leans more heavily on the horn. The sound fractures his skull.

***

“So… what happened, how’d he get the drop on you?” Dean’s asking like he doesn’t actually want to poke at it, but he’s compelled to say something anyway.

Sam knows the feeling. The oppressive quiet is somehow too much like the drive up, with Nick in the backseat—even though Nick was anything but quiet; loud but benign, hallucination made solid. Intangible, until he wasn’t, until his human flesh crashed into Sam’s.

It was an odd slip in time, listening to that harmless off-key singing in the dead silence. It was funhouse-mirror strange to glance out of the corner of his eye and see that somehow Dean was grimacing at the off-color taunts—for a second, it was as if Dean could hear into Sam’s mind, or else that he’d taken up residence there too.

”I don’t know,” says Sam, several seconds too late. It’s not really a lie. It was stupid to think all that was behind him, and he’s not sure why he did it, why he assumed he could handle Nick in a fight.

Dean makes a noncommittal sound.

They drive in silence (actual silence, no sound in Sam’s head) for a few more minutes.

***

The car door rattles. Sam startles upright and falls off the horn; the noise in his head slackens.

“Dean,” says Sam. It’s Dean. Dean’s cursing, fumbling with the keys. Sam should help him. He fumbles for the handle, tries—

The door’s open. “Sam!”

“Nnngh,” he tries. He can’t make the words come out. “S’gone. He.”

“Sammy—you and your thick fucking head, come on, come on, big guy, you’re fine—”

“Lucifer,” Sam gasps. That one’s easier to get out.

“Not Lucifer,” says Dean, “Nick cold-cocked you good, but you’re fine, okay?”

“No,” says Sam, or he thinks he does. “Help.” Help, help, help. He’s being yanked out of the car, pulled out bodily. He struggles but not for long, the light cuts through his eyes, too sharp.

Dean’s pushed his arm under Sam’s, gripping Sam’s ribs. Sam blinks stupidly at the ground. He buckles forward and throws up, retching emptily onto the pavement.

***

“So, the blood I get, but where’d Nick get the grace? Is that something we need to be worried about now, secret fuckin’—horcruxes or whatever?”

Sam considers this briefly, with faint horror—thinks about vials of Lucifer stashed in his vaults like little phylacteries, contingency plans waiting for the wrong tripwire to spring. “I don’t think so,” he says. The possibility of his death hadn’t seemed to hit home for Lucifer even in the moment he was stabbed. “Nick must have extracted it himself.”

“Extracted?”

Sam suddenly remembers that Dean hadn’t been around when he and Cas had tried to get out Gadreel’s grace, for that spell. “Yeah. Remember Gadreel?”

Dean glances sharply at him, then looks away. “Right. Yeah, I remember now.”

The drive on in uncomfortable silence.

Dean rubs the back of his neck. “So. So, when Michael went through my psychic maintenance pipes—he left behind some grace, huh?”

“Probably,” Sam says. “That’s probably part of how he got back in.” He glances sideways at Dean, trying to gauge his expression. “I’m sorry,” he offers. It’s paltry next to the nausea of the realization, he knows, but he can’t bring himself to say anything else. Michael’s dead now. Lucifer, Nick, Gadreel—all dead now.

***

Dean says something. He’s shouting. There are hands in Sam’s hair, damp hot fabric pressing hard against his temple. The world does a dizzy loop and then he’s staring at the sky.

The air hurts, the gravel prickles on his skin like knives, he’s too stiff to move away. He’s going blind. Where did Lucifer go?

“The Empty,” says Dean. His face is blurry and worried, hovering.

“Lucifer, Lucifer’s, he’s gonna—”

Dean pinches him hard on the shoulder, Sam flinches away. “You seeing things? Hey. Stay with me, it’s just us. Okay. Donatello!”

Dean’s hands are a heavy, grounding weight. The world tilts on a nauseous axis.

***

“Wish I’d just let you kill him,” muses Dean, after another long minute.

“No, man, you were right,” says Sam. “I was out of line.” He’s looking out the window, at the dirty snow, broken through with patches of brown grass and scrub oak.

“You couldn’t have known,” insists Dean, apparently intent on easing Sam’s guilt.

Sam scoffs. Dean shouldn’t bother.

“Cmon,” Dean says, focusing in on his goal now, a dog with a bone, “you couldn’t have. How could you have guessed, huh? Everyone else on the planet, it takes two seconds of Lucifer’s smart mouth before they wanna shoot him in the face just so he shuts up. Who’d have guessed Nick’d be the one dick in existence to actually like the guy?”

Sam gives him a sharp glance. Shrugs. “He’s not the only one who does.”

“…What?” Dean stares at him.

Sam raises an eyebrow. “Most of Hell? Plus a fair chunk of Heaven, plus who knows how many sects of human followers.”

“Oh.”

Dean’s still looking at him like he expected something else. It coils uneasy in Sam’s stomach.

“I really should have—figured, though,” says Sam, finally.

It’s a too-long, too-quiet drive, without anyone in the backseat.

***

It’s a slow-moving nightmare, this disconnect between his head and his mouth. The only thing preserved is the urgency, awful and bloody. But he can’t marshal it, can’t connect it, can’t remember how—he blinks dumbly at Dean, at the icy sky. “Nick’s getting him back, blood, grace, s’a ritual.”

Dean freezes. His hands go still. “Fuck. Shit, dammit—now? Where’d he go?”

“Dunno. He’s got—his grace—Jack’s blood—” The panic has him fighting, batting weakly against Dean’s tight grip. He can’t think through it, a molasses-thick dream where all he can do is writhe and struggle against the syrupy weight pinning him down, try vainly to push away the slimy stifling horror in time.

“Sam—focus, okay. Shit. Okay. We can handle—we’re on top of this—I’ll call—”

Dean knows.

Sam’s warned him.

He’s done it—Dean and Cas and Jack and Mom will—Sam lets his eyes slip closed, just for a second.

***

How long had Sam let Nick wander, unfettered, with a piece of Lucifer nestled in his soul? How well did Nick know Sam, how much had he seen? How well did he know Dean? How much did Sam let his stupid impulse to—to fix someone Lucifer broke, blind him to basic safety precautions?

And now that the damage is done, as always, Sam has the time and the hindsight to look back and see all the cracks in his intentions, the places where he’d thought his motives were pure and his actions were just, where he’d allowed self-delusion and selfish need to drive him onwards without caring about the fallout.

It’s that fucked up self-righteous part of himself, that need to be right, that need for something to go right, that lets him think that just because he has a worthy goal, he’s excusable.

It’s the reason for the near miss today. It’s the reason nearly everyone they saved from that other world is now dead, buried with too little ceremony in a mass grave in Kansas, far, far from their home. It’s the reason for a whole hell of a lot more, if Sam wants to go back a year or several.

He doesn’t know why he keeps wanting things like this for himself. The shame should be whittled to an unbreakable point by now, a mechanism to keep Sam from fucking things up irretrievably; and yet he keeps pushing through it anyway, and the blood keeps building up on his hands.

Nick flinching from his hands, glancing up at Sam from hooded eyes—how long did it take? How many of those times that Nick stared at him had been with twisted, insane jealousy and not deep unease, as Sam had assumed?

Sam noticed him looking; he couldn’t not. Sam was the one taking care of him, after all: feeding him, bandaging his wound, bringing him news and human contact that Nick had seemed to grasp at like a man drowning, his understandable awkwardness aside.

Sam asked after his nightmares. Sam asked him carefully if he remembered anything useful about Michael. Sam stitched together his flesh. Sam kept tabs on Nick, watching his human movements and his human posture. Nick ate, Nick slept, Nick hissed in pain under Sam’s hands, and Sam tried to keep his careful thrill quiet—he curled his toes and licked his lips and slowed his breathing.

Must be weird for you, helping me, Nick had said.

And it had been weird, Sam agreed. Just, not in any way that was quantifiable or straightforward. Being around him was like being suspended over knives, tense and perfect. Safe and unsafe. Proof that this wasn’t ten years ago, or seven, that Sam could inhabit his fear and come out unscathed and breathing hard and tingling—that Sam could shove all his issues into one box with one face, minimize and control whatever the world threw at him, lose sleep and come out the stronger for it.

Sam looked forward to visiting Nick, every time, with an anticipatory adrenaline like being ratcheted up the lift hill on a rollercoaster, waiting for that safe, sickening drop. Waiting to come out sane.

He’s a junkie, through and through—can he complain that it turned out the ride wasn’t up to code, after all, when he’s the one who tore through all the caution tape, who hotwired the car and ignored the brakes?

***

Everything’s dim and red like this. His pulse thunders sick and loud. No matter how many times Sam’s died, he can never shake the animal terror. There’s a point where mortal instinct takes over; the shift from pain-without-purpose to soul suffocation, the body’s last-ditch scream.

It’s okay, though. He’s done it.

“Stay with me, now. We’re just gonna play a little game.”

It’s happening. His brain’s clawing uselessly at life. It’s the last starbursts of agony.

Not so perfect now, Sam thinks. What he did to himself, what he would have done to himself. How many rocks, the ways he would have smashed his own bones apart if it would have changed a single thing.

“Just count with me,” Dean says.

[mrsmess]

Faves and fails of SPN (season 15, finally):

Favorite episodes (in chronological order):

15:4 Atomic Monsters - Demon!Sam flashbacks! Dean in a beard! Some old fashioned banter! Meatman! Beaverdale! Love how Sam starts arguing w the parents in the parking lot - Me too, Sam, me too. Loving the self-aware monster. I know Becky is problematique™, but I dig her, so, all kinds of fuck Chuck. He must die, and when he does this is the episode I’ll think about.

15:6 Golden Time - Badass protection spells. Dean in a robe and a hot dog pyjamas. Cas going by Clarence. Jogging Sam. Eileen! God I ship her and Sam, and I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that I don’t ship him w anyone. Liking this ep a lot, every little side plot. Nice. And Eileen is back and I know it won’t last but like, that was awesome.

15:10 The Heroes’ Journey - Pretty neat intro. Monster on monster violence to the sound of Clair the Lune. Oh, and excellent casting of Garth’s kids. Regular people trouble... Awesome! Brilliant! This is the kind of meta storylines this show should deal in, exclusively. Oh my Garth! Explosives! Why isn’t every episode like this?

15:11 The Gamblers - Oh, is this another lucky coin episode? In that case yes please! More inconsequential bullshit kindly! Loving Sam staying in touch w Eileen. Hey guys, remember when you did the gambling thing w your years? And the rabbit’s foot? Good times. Will this be an equally good time? I hope so. A god! Excellent. ”Lady, I’m Tolstoy.” Yeah ya are, and i’m dead. The guys and Fortuna bashing god. And I'm equally delighted and distraught over the lore that god created man, man imagined gods and god decided to create the other gods to play into man’s ideas, or as a distraction.

15:13 Destiny’s Child - Omg the intro! Savage garden! I’m dead. Jack w the sandwich, why is that so funny? Cas is a gem this episode! ”’Sexually intimate’?” Lol. That’s what you get for trying to speak plainly, Cas! Hunter Corp. I’m dead, again. Keep the different Deans and Sams coming! I’m digging this! Why would they send ‘em to Rio? They could be your buffy-bots!

15:14 Last Holiday - Weird people popping up in the hq is awesome. And Dean’s immediate instinct to yell for Sam reminds me of me calling mr mess for everything! ”Shouldnt you be in the woods? Nymfing?” Monster radar? Oh, oh this is excellent. So mrs Butters is capable of murder when home and family are threatened, good for her. They better not kill her. I can accept them returning her to the wild. Yes! Did I call it or did I call it? Good Supernatural, good boy! And Dean making a cake for Jack! My heart.

Fail episodes (in chronological order):

15:2 Raising Hell - Rowena! Instant win. Ketch. Instant lose. Ketch undressing Rowena with his eyes = rating plummeting. Jeez. A bit dangerous even joking about the GoT finale, don’t you think? Rowena and Ketch full on flirting... this is hell, I'm being punished.

15:3 The Rupture - Don’t call him god! His name is Sucky-Chucky. The shock of Cas! “You’ve been playing us the whole time!” This is how it works Cas, where have you been? They're always solving problems like Jason Mendoza. In-Dean-angry-voice: “Anytime I had a problem and I threw a Molotov cocktail, boom! Right away, I had a different problem.” Rowena! And Sam! No!

15:5 Proverbs 17:3 - Listen, spn, it’s your last season and if you like just wanna stop writing and casting women completely rn i won't stop you or hold it against you (also why are these ladies identical?). We’ve had a terrible run but lets just let bygones be bygones.

15:8 Our father, who aren’t in heaven - Gosh, having Eileen in the show is painful, I’m just constantly expecting a piano to fall on her head. *Ugh* Sucky-yucky-Chucky. But hey, at least everybody else looks better alongside him. Case and point: I never rly cared that much for Donatello, but it’s great to see him, and Michael’s back, sure is nice to see him too.

15:9 The trap - Ugh. Main plot shit and Sucky-yucky-fucking-Chucky. Fail. Although the flashforward to jan 6th 2021 was a hoot (but probably not meant like one, huh?) Dean’s monologue in purgatory though... gosh. This show would be nothing w/o Jensen Ackles. Omg the kiss! Nice. However, the show at this point has lost the ability to offer any sort of pleasure. Because like Sam, we know which way this will go. They used to have some hedonism working for the characters but now they don’t even have that.

15:20 Carry on - You know what? I’m not gonna make this post longer than it already is talking about the last episode of Supernatural, that has been done better by people w real grievances w the show. The kindest thing you can say about the finale is that it just as well could’ve been jammed into a few extra minutes added to the previous episode.

Mediocre mentions:

Drag me away (from you) - what is this ugly cell interface? The opposite of product placement. Yay! Retro episode! And they got the same actor to play Dean, neato! Dean admitting he had a hard time handling hunting, that always gets me. Woah! That scream effect without reverb was kinda startling. And the camera zooming in on the little porcelain clown even though Sam is nowhere n- oh shit. This was an interesting episode

Inherit the earth - Goooood I hate Chucky. Barefoot Sam is okay though. Digging this soundtrack too. Very un-Supernatural. Nice to meet ya Betty, but I wouldn’t pull up a chair if I were you. Always a fan of the shiteating grin. Jack, stripping god of his power, that’s so hot. And again: kudos to the soundtrack! The Youngbloods and then Jackson freakin’ Browne! And you know, it’s clichéd and kinda vacant, but also kinda nice. I’m cool with the story ending like this. Why did they have to do another one? Supernatural has never known when to quit, and this is the very real backside of this.

Honorable mentions:

I don’t know who this Ardat chick is but killing Ketch puts her instantly in my win column.

Winchester-dumb, new household term.

”Feels like were taking a big, probably stupid risk. Feels good.” That made me feel good too.

I’m vastly enjoying this dark-art hippie couple in Unity and Jack’s interaction w them.

Cas launching straight into his dramatic I-will-not-let-you-end-your-own-life-speech when Sam casually mentions he’d like to talk to death in Unity, that angel has seen some things, and he has learned.

Those are some pretty pretty death effects on Jack in Despair/The Truth.

Obviously Misha Collins

Things that makes you go hmm:

Which of the clowns is this supposed to be in Back and to the Future? Because the one from season 2 was a monster, right? So he would’ve gone to purgatory. You know what? I’m not an expert. I try to not pay too much attention ’cause it makes me funny in the head. But just, y’know, a general objection.

Here’s my deal w death as a looming threat in this show: it holds no weight. And even if it did it has been painted as the ultimate relief, unless you go to hell, these characters know for a fact that there’s a potentially blissful afterlife, so their attitude towards death should be, what? More pragmatic, I think. And it’s partly why Ackles is wasted on this show; That man can deliver a death monologue like it’s nobody’s business, too bad all those words have been rendered meaningless after 15 seasons of this shit!

Summing up:

So, I did not go into or leave this season happy, I knew how it would end and I was sad for everyone the show screwed over (more than it already had). Which really meant that I always had to force myself to watch another episode, knowing what was coming. But I had to see it through. I did, so I’ll give myself a pat on the back and get to work on my own personal selection of episodes that will henceforth represent spn to me. A selection I’ll enjoy all the way through. All in all I think the most frustrating thing about the show is how it insists on taking itself so freakin’ seriously. It has always done horror *and* humor best and this whole heaven and hell aspect has never sat right w me, and in any case they should’ve leaned more on “supernatural” narrative tropes (if you will) getting out of their plot problems, gambled some more and thought a bit more outside genre conventions *especially* in their main arcs, they opened up so many opportunities that they never even used. They could’ve been more like Buffy, or Doctor Who. That said, I’ll always get that spn-itch, and when I do, I’ll be happy to have seen all the episodes so I’ll know which ones to avoid.

[shirtlesssammy]

15x08: Our Father, Who Aren’t In Heaven

Then:

Fighting the good fight since 2010

Now:

At the Lucky Elephant Casino, God’s knocking back fruity drinks, playing slots, and murdering everyone around him. Things don’t look so fun in Chuck-land. 

Meanwhile, Eileen is living her best new life hunting a werewolf. She’s kicking butt but has a temporary setback when Sam shows up. She shoves him out of the way to finish the job. She asks Sam if he’s following her. MAYBE he’s being a little overprotective, but c’mon, he did just bring her back from the dead. I’m guessing he’d like to keep her on the side of the living a little longer than a week or two.

Later at the bunker, they’re eating their respective burger (Eileen) and salad (Sam), and Dean walks in with the demon tablet. He’s hoping the tablet will reveal a weak spot with God. They’re going to need Donatello!

Cas knock’s on Donny’s door. Hmm, I see, divorced husbands still communicating about the case and Cas still doing things for the cause. 

Donatello comes back to the bunker, but isn’t happy about it. He gets to work eating chicken wings and translating the tablet again. Sam, Dean, and Cas casually hang out in the library and sneak concerned looks towards the prophet.

Donny finds some footnotes written by Metatron about God’s secret fear that he only shared with “his favorite.” Lucifer was already locked away by the time the tablets were written. He must mean Michael. The problem with finding Michael is that he’s locked away in the Cage. Donatello starts to freak out over how overly dramatic TFW’s lives are but then passes out in a chair. He comes to --but it’s Chuck this time communicating directly through his prophet. He tells them to leave it alone. Then he threatens all the women in their lives if they don’t (and I just hate/love this because this calls back to early SPN so much when the women died for all their man-pain.)

They tell Donatello to go home. Then they all decide (Cas reluctantly) to go to Hell to find Michael. Dean sarcastically tells Cas that he can “stay here” at the bunker. And I can’t for the life of me find the post now, but whoever made a post of Dean increasingly going from sarcasm to flat out begging for Cas to stay at the bunker is my hero. 

In the bunker’s kitchen, they cast the same spell Rowena used to get Cas and Belphagor to Hell before. Dean cuts his hand as part of the spell (something he’s done a thousand times before) and Cas takes the time to heal him (but doesn’t touch him like he normally does) and it takes so much of him to do it. I’m just going to sit here quietly for a bit before proceeding. 

Once in Hell, Cas leads the way until they run into a bunch of badass lady demons that completely kick their asses. Well, they do until a very familiar voice bellows, “STOP!”

It’s ROWENA!!! 

She’s now Queen of Hell. She’s also posturing up a storm. Ah. They tell her they want to lock up Chuck and they’re looking for Michael. She tells them he could be anywhere. The Cage opened just like the rest of the doors in Hell. She sends her demon minions to find Michael. 

Back at the bunker, Eileen is watching over the spell, and she gets a call from Sue, another hunter. She needs help with a vamp nest. Eileen agrees to help as soon as she’s done helping TFW. 

In Hell, TFW meets with Rowena in her throne room. She tells Sam that killing her was a good thing. She’s queen! Then she asks him to get her another drink (!) so she can have a little therapy time with the other two clowns. She tells them to “fix it” because there’s no reconciliation in death. A demon comes in to inform them that Michael “is nowhere to be found.”

For Perfect Framing Science:

Actually, he can be found at Jaci’s Red Wagon diner. It seems that Adam and Michael are good buds and Adam’s currently enjoying his first burger in ten years. 

Dean checks in with Donatello just one more leeeetle time to see if he’s gotten any Chuck-adjacent flashes. Just when you think you’re out, yadda yadda yadda… He THEN checks in with Sam about Eileen. She is FINE, Dean, they have “an agreement.” Dean picks up on Sam’s waffling, and tells Sam that she fits the parameters of a potential partner: she knows the life, plus she’s hot. That’s way better than the life Sam tried to build with Amelia, a bag of limes, and a dog. This conversation is also notable for Dean’s admission that he’d been in a very dark place not long ago but he’s climbing out of it now.

At the diner, Adam continues to chill with Michael and contemplate the future when Lilith arrives. 

She’s there to bring Michael to Chuck. “I’m not accustomed to being fetched,” Michael says coldly. It looks like things are headed towards fisticuffs when Michael just…burns her to ash right there. Ah, archangels. (Side note: I rewatched this section with the sound off while gathering images and watching her performance is every bit as engaging. I’ll miss you, scrunchy-nose Lilith.)

Donatello has a vision and sees Michael’s spiteful smiting (smiteful?). He calls Dean with Michael’s location. He’s in Cairo! Time for Dean to hop on a plane and hold Cas’s hand nervously the entire time… I’m ready for an airplane destiel fic episode!

Cas has an alternate, non-hand-holding suggestion. He’ll pray to Michael instead. In the quiet of an upstairs corner of the bunker, next to a REAL and also METAPHORICAL CHESS SET, Cas characterizes their last meeting as “unpleasant” and asks to meet up. “I’m not your enemy anymore. Now we all have the same enemy. God himself.”

Mmmkay, compelling words. Michael meets Cas in a warehouse. He remembers Cas. “You called me assbutt and set me on fire.” LOL, classic. Cas faces Michael stoically and lights a circle of holy oil around him. That’s the Winchester’s cue to enter and they do so with STYLE.

DAMN!

Dean presents a set of warded cuffs for Michael’s consideration. There’s clearly only one way out of the circle of fire.

For Check out the Curtains Made of Chains SO PRETTY Science:

Michael is twenty-five shades of pissed off at being confined. In the bunker he accuses the Winchesters of abandoning their brother and then shocks them all by flashing Adam back in control. 

Adam seems much more chill than Michael and reveals that he and the archangel only had each other in the cage so they came to an agreement. Dean, who only recently stopped dragging himself around in a post-Michael traumatic haze, is gobsmacked that Michael’s letting Adam walk and talk. He tells Adam that there’s nothing they can say to fix what they did by leaving him in the cage. “How about ‘I’m sorry?’” Adam suggests.

Michael wrests back control and we go back to Chuck talk. Team Free Will attempts to briefly explain that Chuck isn’t trying to usher in “boring” paradise. Instead, Michael’s dad would rather see everybody suffer, including Michael.

Adam pops back behind the helm and advises them to stop their paltry attempt at convincing Michael of Chuck’s perfidy. On his (their) own, Adam unpacks the situation. He doesn’t forgive the Winchesters for what they did, but he does think they’re operating from good intentions. I don’t remember where I saw this online, but somebody posted that they have never liked Adam more than in this episode. I completely agree! There’s a lovely amount of complexity and growth hinted at through this performance.

Michael finds it hard to shake off a near-eternity of being God’s favored son. God is “having a mid-eternity crisis,” Adam suggests. Maybe Michael should at least entertain the possibility that Chuck isn’t on the up-and-up. Michael doesn’t want to doubt his father. “You still care about that after he left you in the cage?” Adam asks.

Meanwhile, Eileen’s friend Sue calls again. She’s ready to move on the vamps and needs backup NOW. When Eileen hesitates, Sue needles her about having to ask for permission. Eileen rises to Sue’s barb and agrees to meet up. The camera tumbles, Sue swears, and Eileen acts immediately as the call ends. She races to Sam’s room and fills him in on her friend’s perilous situation. Together, they run off to give Sue backup. (I love how this scene both shows Eileen’s need to assert her own independence and her absolute trust and pragmatism in getting Sam to back her up.) 

Cas heads in to speak with Adam/Michael. Michael is still not on board the fight-Chuck train. Cas responds with sass, as is his custom. “I never liked you. I thought you were too haughty. Too…to paraphrase a friend, you had an entire oak tree shoved up your ass.” 

Now Cas finds him pitiable. Michael isn’t God’s favorite. He’s just a tiny part of Chuck’s favorite soap opera. DAMN, Cas. 

Cas goes even further, telling Michael that Lucifer was the smart one all along, and Michael SNAPS. He flips Cas over the table and gets him in a headlock. Cas struggles, and manages to lock both his hands on Michael’s temples. It’s brain zapping time! Even an archangel is no match for Cas’s mind mojo, and Cas dumps a clip show of Chuck being a dick writer into Michael’s head. 

Later, Cas decompresses alone in the kitchen. Dean arrives, then suggests that Cas might have misjudged the situation and gone too far with Michael. D E A N. Before Cas left, Michael essentially said, “Leave. Get out. I want you dead.” We’ve all been in agony for several days now over the parallels between this line and what Cas thinks he’s getting from Dean and AAAAUGH THE SWEET PAIN OF IT. “We didn’t bond,” Cas summarizes. If you need me, I’ll be hunched in this burning dumpster, muttering about profound bonds. 

The bunker rattles, and they race to Michael’s room. He greets them with, “God lied to me.” He gave everything for Chuck, but it turns out he’s not even unique across the multiverse if there are other Michaels out there. 

Sam and Eileen arrive at the hunt and discover abandoned vehicles. Sam’s suspicion bone is tingling, but then Sue shows up. She’s got this swagger, so Boris and I immediately assume she’s been turned into a vamp because we’ve been watching this show since forever. Uh, Sue’s not a vamp. She’s Chuck! Or…you know, Chuck’s her! [Admiral Ackbar voice] It’s a trap!

Michael agrees to help Team Free Will. He pulls out a slip of paper with a spell on it that can contain Chuck just like it contained Amara. All they need is myrrh, cassia, rock-rose, and the nectar of a leviathan blossom. It’s a flower that grows in Purgatory. Michael opens up a rift-style door with the snap of his fingers.

The door will stay open for twelve hours. Dean uncuffs Michael/Adam and apologizes for what happened to his half brother. Adam smiles sadly and wishes them luck in their Chuck-fighting endeavors. After he/they leave, Cas and Dean turn towards the glowing rift. It’s Purgatory time, baby! And you know what they say about Purgatory. It’s the perfect place to work out your emotions in a friendly, non-deadly environment!

Quotingmoon in Purgatory:

There’s a crack in his invincibility shield

When I go crazy again, just shoot me

Usually I enjoy our little process. I toss something at you guys and you slam it right back. It’s fun! Like tennis! With monsters

What am I picking up from you two? A wee tif? Tell your Auntie Rowena

Why would he send you, a demon, a speck of infernal bile?

Oh, I didn’t come to beg

Since when do we get what we deserve?

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