#the first time I ever drew Raph and Mikey | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ramzawrites · 2 years

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Mission: First Date - Reader X Rise!Leonardo

FEM

Pairings: Leonardo x Reader

Characters included: Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Splinter, April

Warnings: n/a

Series: A request!

Summary: Leo and Y/N are out on their first date so the rest of the family decides that they better observe them and make sure that this First Date of theirs will be a success

Word count: 5610

Authors Note: Wrote it in one go so I apologize if there are still many mistakes, I tried my best to find most

Mikey tapped with a stick against a whiteboard that was at this point covered in a myriad of writing and drawings in all kinds of colors. The turtle mutant wore a serious expression behind his big round glasses. He was trying his best to gather the attention from the group that was sitting on the ground in front of him.

Raph had his typical smile on his face, his attention fully on his youngest brother while Donnie just eyed Mikey with narrowed eyes. He was sure that his younger brother got the whiteboard out of his lab and if he finds out that Mikey erased anything important for this weird little stunt of his, there will be hell to pay. April had her eyes narrowed as well but for a different reason. She just got off shift from her latest job and immediately came over to the lair since Mikey said there was an emergency only to see that whatever this was, was the emergency.

To everyone’s surprise even Splinter was in the room. He had his eyes closed as he stroked his chin deep in thought but if he really was busy thinking or in the middle of falling asleep could be anyone’s guess.

“Come on guys! We gotta make sure that all will go well as his family!” Mikey exclaimed loudly, trying to elicit a reaction from the group this time.

Knowing that Mikey will just keep them all stuck like this if they didn’t go somewhat along Donnie replied “Why, though? I have better things to do than sneak after Leo on his date.” He couldn’t help the sneer when he said the word “date”.

It was almost as if Donnie just insulted Mikey with the way he puffed up his cheek and threw his arms into the air, gesticulating wildly “Well! You know Leo! And you know Y/N!”

Donnie just stared him further down. This did not in fact answer his question in any way.

Raph, sensing that both Donnie and Mikey were slowly becoming more tense and annoyed, tried to mediate somewhat “Uh, how about you just go through all of this again? Maybe in an abridged version, lil’ man?”

Mikey’s hand slapped against his forehead and slowly slid down his face in annoyance “Ugh, fine!” he grabbed the whiteboard and flipped it around. He drew a quick picture of Leo’s smiling face on the board and another one of Y/N’s face.

He coughed to clear his throat as he tapped his stick against the whiteboard once again “Alright, guys! As we all know Leo has recently asked Y/N out on a date in the Hidden City. Not only is it his first date, it’s also Y/N’s first date.” His stick moved towards the Leo picture “Leo here is confident but also when it comes to emotions, he can be stupid at times!”

Now the stick moved over to the picture of Y/N “Now Y/N here is as we all know very nice and funny, but she is also very shy, so should Leo do anything stupid she wouldn’t say anything about it.”

Mikey slapped the stick loudly against his hand, he must have not expected this as well seeing how he had to shake his hand in pain “Now there is not a lot we could do to make sure that the date goes well in that regard, but we can make sure everything else will be fine! They are in the Hidden City and I swear every time we go down there something happens.”

“I mean not always though, Mikey, and I’m sure Leo will be able to handle anything that’ll come their way.” Raph mumbled out, scratching the back of his head.

This just made Mikey roll his eyes “Yeah, sure! But I feel like as his family it is our duty to make sure it’ll go well!” There was a short beat of intense silence before he continued “Also it’s been a while since Leo took time off like this. Ever since the whole Krang thing he’s been mostly concentrating on training and everything, so, I wanna make sure this will go well.”

This answer visibly satisfied Raph as he nodded along “Okay, yeah, you’re right. Let’s make sure it’ll go well.”

“Thank you, Raph!” Mikey sighed out, happy he managed to bring at least one of his family members on his side.

“I mean, I agree with you there Mikey, but also this kind of feels like an invasion of privacy…” April winced.

Mikey took a second to reply “You know Leo and Donnie didn’t really hesitate when you went out on a date with Sunita. “

A frown immediately appeared on April’s face “One! It wasn’t a date! We’re friends! Two! Okay, yeah fair and I am curious not gonna lie.”

Donnie suddenly gasped out in utter outrage “Really? You are just going to go along with whatever this is? Really, April? I thought better of you.” He huffed.

April snickered “Well you thought wrong, Donnie. I’m a journalist, snooping is what I do! Besides, for Y/N’s sake and our sisterhood that we both share, I gotta make sure she’ll be alright! Come on, I know you wanna come along as well!”

“Scoff. I have better things to do, thank you very much.”

“Donnie, even Splinter is coming along.”

“Dad? Really?!”

All eyes were now on the rat that was sitting quietly between his children.

He continued stroking his chin, opened his eyes to speak with a sagely voice “It’s simple. I’m a father. I am worried for my son’s well being and he is the first of my kids that is going out on a proper date. Of course, I want to make sure that he will be alright.”

Donnie did not trust a word his father just said to him. No, he knew there was something else. That’s when it hit him “Oh, Pizza Supreme, your favorite soap opera is on break isn’t it?”

Splinter nodded, somehow still trying his best to keep his wise aura going “And my soap opera is on break.”

“Come on, big bro, you know you wanna come along with us!” Mikey chimed in before Donnie could admonish his father even further. His eyes wide open and glistening. The puppy dog eyes combined with him calling Donnie his big bro was a powerful weapon for the most dire moments.

The purple ninja groaned angrily “Alright, I’ll come along but only because if Leo inevitably embarrasses himself, I want to be there. After all I do record everything.” His angry expression now exchanged for a devious one.

It was quiet for a very awkward moment before Mikey picked up the pace once again “Alright! Glad we’ve got this figured out! That said we should really be going because judging by the time they should have been gone for like half an hour now. I would say this is good enough space to ensure that they won’t suspect a thing. Let’s get going to Hueso’s!”

This is how the group ended up being spread in Hueso’s restaurant. Mikey somehow managed to infiltrate the kitchen, saying something that while he definitely trusts Hueso’s food, he’d make sure it’s extra perfect.

Raph was sitting in a booth, wearing a trenchoat and a hat while holding a huge newspaper to hide behind. April sat in front of him in a similar get up with another newspaper.

Donnie sat at a table with his father in a corner of the restaurant. Both wore their sweater vests combined with a fake mustache and glasses that Mikey insisted the two had to wear just to be sure. Honestly Donnie was just waiting for all of this to backfire horribly.

While all of them were spread around they all head a good view of Leo and Y/N who sat at their own table, munching on some Pizza while they chatted. Both leaning back in their own chair with soft smiles. The blush on Y/N’s face was obvious while the one on Leo’s face was more faint but still very much there.

Suddenly Raph’s voice rang in Donnie’s ear. Right, Mikey begged him that they get to use the little earpieces so they could communicate.

“How’s it looking gang?”

“How’s it supposed to look? They are just talking. It’s fine.” Donnie replied lazily as he grabbed a piece of his own pizza.

Splinter shook his head disappointedly “It is not fine, Purple! Can’t you see in their body language how this is not fine? I knew I should have taught Blue more about how to talk to a lady. They are barely looking at each other!”

“Uh, yeah, sure, that.” The others did not need to see April to know that she must be grimacing, since they were as well. None of them wanting to think about Splinter flirting with anyone. It was already hard enough to know that Big Mama was his ex.

Mikey’s voice appeared again “But yeah, the two look really more like two friends hanging out. I think the two might be too shy to try anything.”

April snorted “Can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I think you are right. Didn’t think I would see Leo being too shy for anything.”

“It’s infuriating to watch. The more I sit here the more I can’t understand how you keep watching shows all about romance.” Donnie muttered towards his father. The disdain clear in his voice.

“Just concentrate on helping Leo out and not the romance bits then.” Raph tried to reason with Donnie “Oh! There is way more sport here in the Hidden City. Boulder pushing? That sounds interesting.” There was a rustling as Raph moved the newspaper closer to properly take a look at the article “They have to balance at some point on a log and carry the boulder across! Guys! Doesn’t that kind of sound like when we do Pizza box balancing?”

More rustling as April flicked Raph on his arm “Sports can wait, Raph!”

He sighed, the edges of his mouth turned downwards “You’re right. Raph is sorry. This is about Leo and Y/N.”

“Well, what do we do?” Mikey piped up.

Splinter chuckled “Now, kids. All they need to be is in the proper mood. This place isn’t romantic enough in the least! I really need to talk to Blue about his choice of restaurant.”

“Actually, I think this might have been Y/N’s idea, Splints.” April brought up.

But this didn’t deter Splinter “And? Blue should know better! Can’t believe he is related to me.” He grumbled something more out, but it was unintelligible at this point.

“I think dad is right. The right mood could help both of them to finally open up more.” Mikey spoke, trying to move the situation along.

“It is good that you brought me along then, kids. I think it is time for some music. Music shall give both of them the courage to finally show what they each think of each other!”

“Wait, what?” Donnie exclaimed, shocked with what he just had to hear from his father “Oh, please, do not!”

But it was too late, Splinter took a deep sip from his water and began to silently warm up his voice. Raph also seemed to notice that there was no way to stop him now “Okay, I think this just means we have to help him somehow! We gotta move and help! Go!”

“Wait, what can we even do?” April asked.

“No idea but we gotta do something!”

“Please, someone, just kill me here and now.” Donnie muttered as he jumped off his chair to sneak off to meet up with the rest of his family.

At the other side of the room Y/N and Leo were still chatting.

Leo wouldn’t admit it, but he felt like he was sweating bullets. When he asked Y/N out on a date he did not think he would be this nervous but here he was sweating bullets while he bunched up the napkin between his hands.

“Can I admit something?” he made sure to put his typical smug smile on as he tried to look as nonchalant as possible.

“Sure, I’m listening.” Y/N smiled.

Leo couldn’t help but stare at her for a few seconds. One thing he appreciated about humans was how obvious their blush can be. It looked really pretty on Y/N and he secretly loved to make her blush whenever he got the chance.

Sure, he was blushing as well, he could tell with how warm his face felt but it was harder to see because of his green skin. Though he was glad about that fact, it helped as he tried his best to act confident.

He chuckled “Normally when I go out, I’m a bit… accident prone. I was sure that at this point something would happen. Not that I couldn’t handle it and get us through it.” He made sure to puff his chest up a little bit to look as strong and cool as possible.

Y/N’s smile widened, her blush darkening as she said the next words “Then let’s just, uh, take this as a good sign for this date.”

“Yeah. Heh, we are on a date!” He hummed happily as a response which made Y/N chuckle.

That’s when suddenly the lights dimmed. Leo tensed up as he looked around, not expecting this at all. Never has anything like this happened when he has been over at Hueso’s. Though when he saw that the other guests didn’t react much to it, he just assumed that he must be missing something. That said he did notice Y/N slighty raise her eyebrows. Obviously also not expecting this.

Leo shrugged and returned to properly look at Y/N. He had to admit it was a bit easier to look into her beautiful eyes knowing that it must be harder now to see his blush.

“Oh, nice, mood lighting.” He mused, wiggling his eyebrows, hoping that it made Y/N laugh.

It did. She laughed quietly at his antics, hiding her smile behind her hand “Mhm, seems like it. Didn’t know it was a thing here.”

“Me neither but, hey, it’s nice. I think. Right?” Somehow, he got nervous. Was Y/N okay with this? Would she want to leave, was this somehow too intense? Maybe she wants to have proper light to see his handsome face?

Y/N nodded “Yeah. It’s nice. Ro-Romantic even.”

Man, the two were a lost cause, Leo realized. Both were comfortable enough with each other where they didn’t want to flee this situation but somehow this was going nowhere, and Leo couldn’t help but think it was his fault.

And then his ears picked something up. Music? Since when did Hueso play romantic music at his joint? Leo tried asking for some special treatment from Hueso for the date, but he was adamantly declining it, so this was definitely weird. Did he come around after all?

Leo bit into his pizza, trying to wrap his head around it. Maybe the two reminded him of Hueso when he was younger and maybe on his first date and wanted to help? Who knows.

Was this opera music? That definitely didn’t seem like Hueso’s style. The others in the room sighed happily as they listened to the music though, so, once again, maybe he was just missing something. Yet somehow there were some kind of warning bells ringing in the back of his mind.

“Y/N, you hear the music, too, right?” He couldn’t help but be very confused by all of this.

Y/N nodded “Yeah. It’s nice!”

Well, if she liked it might as well just go along with it.

Right, he was on a date. Time to be romantic. The mood was kind of set so he might as well try something cheesy.

Leo grabbed a piece of pizza but instead of biting into it himself he moved it towards Y/N “Do you want some pizza, Y/N?”

Her blush that was slowly getting better darkened once again which in return just egged Leo even more on.

“I could never say no to pizza.” She smiled.

Leo nodded, happy with her answer “If you could I wouldn’t be able to go on a date with you.” He joked. He then moved the piece closer to her, so she was able to bite a piece off.

Somewhere deep inside his own mind he checked off the box for “Feed your crush some food”.

“Thank you, Leon.”

“I’d feed you grapes like how they did in ancient Greece or something.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Y/N laughed. “But I appreciate the sentiment. I would do the same.” Her voice wavered a bit, but Leo couldn’t help but be a bit stunned at that. She is normally so shy, so this was very straightforward for her.

“Actually, here.” She said, grabbing a piece of pizza herself and holding it to Leo’s lips so he could bite off as well, which he did.

Once again deep in his own mind he checked off a box for “Get some food fed by your crush.”

As this was going on Leo had to admit that the dimmed lights and the very, weirdly familiar, romantic opera music did seem to help. He somehow felt more emboldened. Maybe he should have tried going for a more romantic place in the first place but the two loved this restaurant, so it just felt natural to go here.

Taking some of the new courage Leo moved his hand towards Y/N’s holding her soft ones in his battle-hardened ones. Y/N didn’t even flinch. She automatically threaded her fingers between his.

That’s when it suddenly hit him. A cold shower went down his back. There was a reason he knew this singing! But that couldn’t be! No, surely. Why the hell would his dad be here? Just to sing? But something deep in his gut was so sure that this was his father singing and over the years he has learned to listen to his gut.

“God damn it.”

Y/N’s eyebrows bunched together in worry “What’s wrong?”

“You know how I just said that normally things happen when I go out?”

She nodded.

“I think the one singing is dad.”

“… Splinter?” Y/N asked, clearly not being able to believe that his father could belt out something in such a nice and almost angelic voice.

Leo took his free hand to pinch the ridge between his eyes “Years ago me and my brothers made a whole band and dad begged us to join. He just kept singing in front of us to show off his prowess and I swear this is him.” He was now looking around since he was so utterly convinced that this was his father.

“I’m sorry, it was all so nice, and I head to break the moment. It’s just… I have this feeling that somehow my family is up to something.” he apologized but he couldn’t help but look around. If only this huge dude in the weird trench coat and big hat wasn’t in the way, he could get a better look at the back of the place!

Y/N must have noticed that he was at this point really paranoid which probably made her come up with the next idea “It’s fine. Don’t worry. At this point I know that your family can be… quite the bunch. A funny bunch but I can understand your worry. How about we go out on a walk?” A comforting smile every present on her face.

Leo let out a deep breath, happy to hear that she would trust his gut feeling like that “You know what? I know the perfect place for that, and I have an awesome idea how we can ensure that we are for sure alone.”

That purple vest on the yokai in the back looked familiar. Purple vest? Oh, hell no, they gotta go now!

He abruptly stood up and slapped some money on the table. Y/N followed suit, wanting to walk towards the exit of the place but instead Leo held firmly onto her hand that was still in his. He grabbed one of his swords and opened a blue portal. He’ll make sure that they will be left alone. Let’s see if his family can follow him when he just randomly teleports away, ha!

He did have to admit that they did an amazing job of hiding though since he at this point was sure that he only heard Splinter and saw Donnie.

Scratch that, that human over there behind the newspaper, clearly ogling him and Y/N, was April. The shine of the glasses gave her away.

Leo nodded to Y/N and together the two stepped into the portal to the chagrin of his family who immediately began scrambling up trying to figure out where he went.

Donnie tapped around on his wrist gadget before he exclaimed “Got him. He’s at one of the ports here.”

That was Leo’s amazing idea. He remembered the port where he had to fight off a bunch of pirates and honestly a romantic boat ride under a literal magical moon in the Hidden City sounded amazing. Plus, it would ensure that the two got some privacy.

“Are you sure it’s okay to take one of these row boats?” Y/N asked as Leo helped her inside a blue little boat.

Leo did a dismissive handwave “Oh, pshaa, I saved the world I think I’m due some sort of repayment! Besides we’ll bring it back. We will just borrow one for an hour or so! So, stop worrying and make yourself comfortable!”

Happy with this answer Y/N sat down and watched as Leo began rowing out onto the sea “You know, you were right. I saw Raph but I didn’t want to say anything.” She chuckled as she remembered spotting Raph as he wrestled with a newspaper.

“Raph is in this as well?!” It was already weird enough that apparently Splinter was involved in this but by the looks of it his whole family had been spying on them. Even if he hadn’t seen Mikey yet he was positive he must have been around somewhere. Not when everyone else was there.

As Leo rowed further out the rest of his family finally managed to reach the port. At this point he was actually pretty far out. So far actually that it was difficult for the other to see what they were doing.

Donnie pulled down his goggles to zoom a bit in so he could take a look. Once again science saves the day.

Mikey jumped on Donnie’s back, clutching on to him “What are they doing? What do you see?”

“Once again. They seem to be just talking.”

Mikey slid down Donnie’s back with a groan “Ugh! The two are the worst!”

Splinter seemed dejected as well “After the performance of my lifetime Blue just flees with her? On to the sea?”

“Well, we know your singing so maybe he recognized it?” Raph tried to reason as a way to cheer his father up, but it didn’t seem to help much.

April crossed her arms “I’m still so positive that he saw you, Donnie.”

Even though April couldn’t see it since Donnie had his goggles down, he rolled his eyes “Yes. Truly. I am devastated as well.” He said clearly not devastated at all. Barely caring, even.

Mikey was at this point laying on the ground sprawled out like a starfish “Why are they only talking? How is this a date?”

April slapped her fist against her open palm “We have to set the mood.”

Raph raised his finger at that “Uh, Apes, we already did that and I’m pretty sure it was the reason the two fled literally on to the sea.”

“Yeah, but now they are on the calm sea, a full moon shining down on them. Perfect basis for a romantic day out.”

Splinter looked up at her with a new spark in his eyes “You have an idea?”

She nodded “Don, you will have to help with that. Your science and machines may save this date yet.”

He wanted to retort that he wouldn’t be doing anything like that but how can he dismiss it immediately when she brought up a valid point. If his inventions would save his dear brother’s date, then he would owe him a lot and who was Donnie to not take the chance to gain a favor from Leo.

“Alright. What do you need?”

“Yes!” April cheered as she got her phone out “I’ve got the perfect song for them to listen to. You think you could somehow make it possible for them to hear it without noticing us immediately?”

Donnie raised one of his drawn-on eyebrows “Nothing more? That’s easy.”

“Actually Purple, didn’t you show me something about like holomographicmajig? Uh the illusion stuff?” Splinter suddenly jumped in.

This surprised Donnie. Splinter remembered one of his inventions he showed off to him? How come that the day Leo had his first date was also slowly turning into his best day yet?

“You mean my Holographic imagery? What’s with it?” It was still in beta, but he was excited to hear what Splinter had to say now. This was a momentous occasion after all!

Splinter nodded “Yes you showed off a holographic version of yourself. You think you could do some mood lighting for Blue and Y/N? Like Fireflies for example?”

He even got the word correct! Donnie was now happy he wore his goggles, or the others would see how glassy his eyes have gotten.

“Oh, that’s a challenge I’ll accept gladly, my dearest father!” His voice trembled in excitement. He couldn’t help laughing as he began tapping on his wrist gadget. He needed his DJ Shell and if he just attached the new holographic gadget on it, it could hover it a bit over the sea so the two would hear music and the holographic imagery would reach them.

It was easy really, but it still made his family members throw praises towards him.

Suddenly he was very glad that he came along after all.

At this point Leo was resting his elbows on his knees and held his face in between his hands as he stared at Y/N who was looking at the sky in awe.

The moonlight lit her face up, showing off the soft blush on her cheeks which made Leo sigh happily. The light almost made her look ethereal, and he swore he could just stare at her like this for hours and he still wouldn’t have enough.

“I’m still wondering how they managed to put up a whole night sky while the city is underground. It’s amazing. They must have their own star signs.”

Leo hummed in agreement. He was listening, he really was! He just felt like he was currently stuck in a beautiful dream and couldn’t help but bask in the moment.

“I’ll find out who makes the stars here and I’ll ask them to make one just for you.” He spoke, a big smile on his face.

This pulled Y/N’s attention from the night sky, her mouth open as she processed the words. She let out a snort, which to Leo was the cutest thing “Alright, you flirt. Next thing you’ll ask me if it hurt when I fell out of heaven.”

As response Leo just grinned “Well, did it?”

Y/N lightly slapped his arm, rolling her eyes but Leo could tell that she got more flustered which just made his grin so much wider.

Then something bright flew in front of his eyes.

“A firefly?” Y/N asked. Her awestruck expression back on her face.

Then even more began surrounding them and Y/N took a big look around. Her smile wide as she noticed how they were at this point surrounded by the small lights.

“This is beautiful.” She whispered.

“Not as beautiful as you.” Leo immediately quipped.

She chuckled “You are the worst.”

“You make it so easy but also it’s the absolute truth.”

“Leo?”

He just nodded to encourage her, his hands searching for hers once again. The boat slowly rocking along on the water.

“You are-“ She bit down on her soft lip “You are quiet handsome as well.”

His breath hitched. Of course, he knew he was handsome but to hear it out of her mouth? Oh, that was magical. It made his heart flutter hard against his chest and the blush on his cheeks so much worse.

She managed to make him speechless. That was a rare feat for anyone to do. Hell, he couldn’t remember anyone doing it to him to begin with.

So, all he could do was lean forward as he stared down into her beautiful eyes. Normally she would have been too embarrassed to keep this up but her she was staring right back into his eyes.

And as they just stared at each other Leo couldn’t suddenly make out someone’s voice being carried over the waves.

Yes, you want her

Look at her, you know you do

Possible she wants you too

There is one way to ask her

It don't take a word

Not a single word

Go on and kiss the girl

It was music. There was the urge to look around where it came from, fearing that somehow his family caught up to him but as Y/N stared into his eyes he couldn’t dare to tear his eyes away from her. Scared that this could ruin the moment.

Sing with me now

Sha-la-la-la-la-la

My oh my

Look like the boy too shy

Ain't gonna kiss the girl

Sha-la-la-la-la-la

Ain't that sad?

Ain't it a shame?

Too bad, he gonna miss the girl

Normally he would groan that it had to be the Little Mermaid song but once again he didn’t care. He was too caught up in the moment.

Suddenly her eyes darted down to his lips only to jump back to his own eyes. Her blush darkened and Leo was sure so was his.

Now's your moment (ya, ya, ya)

Floating in a blue lagoon (ya, ya, ya)

Boy, you better do it soon

No time will be better (ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya)

She don't say a word

And she won't say a word

Until you kiss the girl

He really wanted to be angry at whoever decided to play this stupid song since this was the cheesiest thing for this moment, but he just couldn’t. Not when Y/N shimmied a bit closer to him. Her hands squeezing his hands. Was it encouragement? Was she wondering if he was too deep in his thoughts?

To hell with it.

He slowly untangled one of his hands to tentatively raise up to her face. Cupping her warm cheek in his green hand. Carefully leaning forward but leaving a tiny bit of space so she could move away if she didn’t want this. Yes, the two were very clearly on a romantic date but this wouldn’t mean that she would want to kiss him.

Before his worries could overtake him, she suddenly closed her eyes and pushed forward. Her soft lips softly pressing on his.

He knew this was a possibility, obviously, but as she made contact, he couldn’t help but freeze up. His mind going a mile a minute as he realized that she was kissing him! His eyes wide in happiness, shock, and utter disbelief.

But then she moved away. Softly biting on her lip, looking down into her lap.

He barely processed that she kissed him and there she was leaving his space again. Leo could tell that Y/N was embarrassed, knowing her probably thinking that she did something wrong. He couldn’t have that.

At this point he had completely forgotten the lights around them. The song in the air.

His other hand landed at the side of her face, forcing her to look up into his smiling face. Pizza Supreme he was so happy he could scream.

Before she could ask anything. Say anything. Pull away or anything else. Leo pushed his lips again against hers. This time closing his eyes to truly bask in the moment. The warmth of her on his lips.

His hand snuck at the back of her head, as he softly pulled her closer to himself. Her own hands traveled along his shoulders behind his own hand. One of them grabbing one of his mask tails.

Both of them slowly moving their lips as they tried their best to get even closer to each other. Goosebumps ran down Leo’s skin as he felt Y/N kissing him back. Their knees hitting each other clumsily but he didn’t care, nor did Y/N seem to care.

Leo had to pull away to breath some much needed oxygen in. He had to gulp as he watched Y/N slowly pull away as well, just as out of breath as he was.

“Wow.” He whispered out, barely loud enough for Y/N to catch it.

Her hands were still behind his head, fiddling with his mask tails “That was… nice.” She said breathlessly.

He nodded, he wanted to dive towards her lips again but that’s when he heard something. He heard cheering over the cheesy music.

Y/N must have caught on as well since both looked towards the port. There were five shadows either jumping around or just high fiving each other.

“I will kill them.” Leo deadpanned.

Realizing that Leo’s family must have watched them Y/N pressed her head embarrassed into Leo’s shoulder. He automatically laid his arm around her protectively.

“Oh, they are so dead. So, so dead.”

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brightlotusmoon · 7 months

Text

Here I am working on a 2007 fic of all things when I could be working on the 2003 fic. The characters forcefully shoved their way up front.

This would be 2007 post-movie, after the presumed events of Splinter's death and April's inheritence.

There hadn't been time to move.

Time still crawled. Mikey was still staring down at his right leg, with his ears still ringing, but the blood trickling down from his thigh wasn't slowing.

Gradually, the yelling came to him, as white noise, because his ears were still ringing from the sound of the-

He tipped back as a shiver made him lose his balance. Someone caught him from behind and set him down very gently. The concrete scraped his shell a little as he was settled against a brother's thighs. Pain exploded through his right leg and he whimpered through clenched teeth.

The world sped up, slammed to a stop, and left him dizzy.

Mikey blinked, slowly, heavily.

“-be okay,” Raphael was saying, “You'll be okay, just hang on.”

Raph was cradling him while Don and Leo were crouched at his hip, obscuring his view. Leo glanced up, then threw a shuriken, and calmly looked right at Mikey. “Breathe slow, Mikey, keep your eyes open!” he said in his calmest voice, so Mikey did what he said, because Leo was calm.

“Hear that, little bro?” Raph's golden eyes, dark with emotion, looked closely at his face, locking with Mikey's eyes. “Stay awake. Keep breathing.”

Breathing was actually getting harder. He wheezed, and a chill shook him so hard his teeth cracked together.

“It's here,” came Leo's voice. “Looking at the patterns, it hit his outer thigh, cut through to above his knee, then went right into the concrete. The splatter corresponds.”

“Done!” Donnie yelled, and the pressure on Mikey’s was gone. Donnie would leave finger-shaped bruises on his leg. From his perspective in Raph's arm, Mikey saw his leg wrapped in thick gauze from just below his hip to just below his knee. It began to blur, as Donnie stood, both hands clutching bloody gauze and the suture kit he carried in his duffel. “The bullet grazed him, it was small,” he said in a flat voice.

“Did ya learn that in South America?” Raph teased. Mikey managed to huff.

“Yes,” Leo said. There was a pause. Raph cleared his throat.

Mikey drew in a breath. “Leo…doesn't ever…like guns.”

Leo's hand pressed warmly against his forehead. “He's clammy and chilled. We need to get home.”

Raph carefully lifted Mikey in his arms and nodded.

The movement pulled at his new stitches and his nerves howled in agony. As he lost consciousness, Mikey realized he had forgotten why they had gone to New Jersey in the first place.

#2007 mikey needs love too #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt 2007

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signanothername · 1 year

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Villainous brothers AU masterpost

This is a masterpost for everything related to my villainous brothers au, from my own art and comics to the ref sheets to asks :D

———

Reference sheets

Raph

Leo

Donnie

Mikey

April

There’s a big possibility that imma make a ref for Splinter too

———

Art and comics

These are gonna be arranged from oldest to latest, I’ll also specify which character it’s about, and I’ll also specify if it’s related to each other in any way

Lab rat - Donnie centric (possible cw: a character strapped to a table, nothing beyond that)

Games with Mama - Leo centric

White lie - Mikey centeric

Death chess - Leo centric

Mikey’s joker arc - Mikey centric

Leo’s gift - Leo centric (TWs: blood, amputated limbs)

Perspective practice - turtles centric

Stranded lullaby - Mikey and Raph centric - related “Mikey’s joker arc”

Misplaced anger - Mikey centric

Protective twins - Leo and Donnie centric

Guilt filled painting - Mikey centric - related to “misplaced anger”

Starscream Leo, real????? - Leo centric

Starscream Leo part 2 cause yes -Leo centric

Pranks - turtles centric

Mikey with a kitty - Mikey centric

Guilt and apologies - Mikey and Raph centric - related to misplaced anger and Guilt filled painting

Solo mission - Mikey centric

Chaos - Donnie centric

Turtle sketches

———

VB Au asks - tagged with #VB asks

How did the turtles become villains in your villainess brothers au?

broski I LOVE your villainous brothers au I am eating it up like a starving child

does piebald exist in your villianous brothers au?

How do you think your evil versions of the turtles will interact with Casey Junior?

i was wondering if the villainous brothers au is still ongoing

———

VB-Ask the characters (closed)

Announcement post (plz read this first)

-Leo! How are you?

-Hello hello Donnie, when was the last time you drank H2O?

-To all: Have y'all pulled childish pranks on each other for fun and if so what is everyone's fav prank they have pulled?

-Raph are you ok?

-Hi! Can I ask them what's their favourite foods?

-yogurt is such a goofy ass favorite food.. 💀💀

-Ben Schwartz's choice for his last meal

-Donnie how many times have you tried to mutate april

-Hi Mikey! What are your favorite kind of snacks to have at your tea parties?

-Raph, why are you not smiling in the group photo!?

-How well do y'all get along with your brothers in your opinions?

-Leo, what do you like to do for fun, to relax?

-To all the turtles: do you guys have any hobbies you pursue in your down time if you ever have any?

-Out of curiosity, what kind of experiments or projects does Donnie have in the works?

-April how do you feel safe

-Does everyone still skate board?

-Can i hug you Mikey? :3

-So, how did the villainous brothers meet April? What kind of relationship(s) do they have with her?

-April who’s your favorite brother

-Who’s older April or Raph

-Would Mikey ever consider letting Leo attend his tea parties again? Is it like a perma-ban or a “You worried Raph so you’re in timeout” ban?

-What do Mikey's tea parties usually look like? Is there a normal teaparty or is there something more to them?

-insta ATC thingy

———

Fanart and others’ art related to VB

Amazing OC art by @/ legallyaweirdo - they drew their OC as if she was in my au :D

Memes done by @/ yourleastfavoriteguyinthechair

This beautiful artwork by @/ okaydokielemonquokey

An adorable artwork by @/ diona-98

#VB AU MASTERPOST REAL???????#villainous brothers au #villainous brothers au masterpost #masterpost #anothers art

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ruija · 2 years

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A trip down memory lane - TMNT 2003

So. The 20th anniversary of 2003 Ninja turtles was a little while ago, but I didn’t have time to draw anything for it 👉👈💦 BUT, I wanted to do SOMETHING for it, even a bit late.

For context, TMNT 2003 was my introducion to the franchise. Back when it started airing, I was 9yo and was immediately hooked. I think it’s the series/fandom that has stuck with me the strongest across the years. Even if I’d have long periods, even couple year brakes from it, I always dip back at some point. Usually it’d happen by me suddenly having a dream about the turtles, and then going like “Oh, is it that time again? Guess I’ll go check some fanworks, then.” ANYWAY, I thought it’d be fun to dig up some old art and do some redrawing hehheh. Hopefully yall find these somewhat entertaining, I’ve been equal parts cackling and cringing lmao!

Here we have THE FIRST EVER Leonardo I’ve ever drawn! (Made when I was 9) I’m honestly very charmed and kinda impressed by it. Like, he looks really funky and dynamic! That pose and the way the bandanna tails are flying adds really nice movement and energy to the drawing! It was really fun to use it as a base, because the elements of it were already working well!

Also there’s Splinter I drew around that same time. He also has a lot of funny personality haha! (Sorry Splints for being too lazy to redraw you)

(More art and reminiscing under read more!)

BY THE WAY. I’m FUCKING DEVASTATED that I was not able to find a third drawing I remember from this period. It featured Splinter being drunk while Leo looks on horrified. Why? I don’t know. Little Ruija thought it was really funny I guess. Anyway, here’s an imitation piece for demonstration:

Truly shocking. Bad Parent Splinter AU? (I have a suspicion the original is MIA, because I got too embarrassed by it at some point. But I will not lose hope, maybe it’ll turn up someday🙏)

I think the next time I drew fanart of ninja nurtles was when I was 11-12yo and joined Devianart. The account I used to have doesn’t exist anymore, so I wasn’t able to recover files from that time. My only hope is to come across some originals in my old art folders 💦 💦 I have really fond memories from that time. Was quite active in the Sonic and TMNT fandom.

This was drawn when I was 13, I think. I’m sensing... a bit of a fictional crush there. And- Wait a minute. Is that...? ENHANCE

DONNIE?!

Biblically accurate recreation.

Karai from same time period. It’s probably a lesser known fact, that in several iterations, she’s usually among my fave characters.

Grumpy Raph my beloved! This is from when I was 14. Those thighs are tragically skinny! This obviously had to be rectified.

Somewhere in the 14-15yo range. I think I had already picked up a special fondness for Leo+Mikey dynamic <3

And then... I got kind of a whiplash when this piece jumped out from my folders:

What a weird experience. I guess this particular visual spoke to me even 13 years ago.

Well, here’s another one to the pile.

Last piece has a bit of a timeskip! It’s from 2013 ( I was 18yo) and the original post is actually on this blog!

I’ve actually been wanting to redraw this piece anyway, but with my HC of Donnie being really tall, haha. (I keep squinting at Leo and how he turned out very femme in this... Oh well, he/she’s just rocking some transswag)

PHEW! This was fun! Made me feel extremely fond, thinking about how excited my younger selves would be to see these redrawings haha.

Earlier I said I didn’t have any works archived from my old DA account, but surprisingly I had a couple screenshots like this:

Back then (2005-2007 in this case) personal websites were common, including ones dedicated to fandom-content. A Japanese tmnt fan going by Sakan-san also had one called FREAKfreak. (She was also on DA) Her art was gorgeous and I thought she was like the best and coolest tmnt artist ever.

Her webpage had this PAINTchat on it and both Japanese and Western fans would gather there to draw together. Sakan-san would often post the collabs in her gallery afterwards. There were a couple times I was able to join a session with them too, which I was over the moon about! (In the screenshot the bottom right segment was mine lol). It was really cool, that they included a novice artist with extremely broken english amongst them.

Seeing these screenshorts made me remember how much I admired Sakan-san and wanted to draw like her. And then realizing, that now I can✨

Another memorable interaction from that time is when I was chatting with some older fans. By the time I got on DA, my country had only dubbed and aired the first two seasons of the 2003 series. I kept seeing fanart of Leo with his shellscar and got curious. I asked the others where he gets it.

They told me he put dynamite on it.

And then said it’s better if I go watch the episodes myself. Fortunately I was able to find and watch rest of the series after that, haha.

Maybe that’s enough reminiscing for now! Thanks for the company and all the lovely memories TMNT 2003 <3

I hope you all can also keep creating and having fun within this fandom, for years to come! 💙❤️💜🧡💚

#tmnt #tmnt 2003 #leonardo #michelangelo #master splinter #raphael #donatello #oroku karai #long post #redraw #old art

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stuckonmain · 2 years

Text

Human Nature

2012 Raph x reader

Could be read as platonic or romantic I guess, and the reader's gender isn't mentioned. Angst and hurt comfort.

You find Raph crying over a dead baby turtle. That's it. That's the fic. It ends well. (Sorta)

***

I rounded the corner of the farmhouse as I headed in from the barn. There was only so much I could do to help Donnie before starting to feel like a pest, so I had come up with some excuse about needing to finish some homework or something, and it was a true testament to how tired he was that he didn’t question that at all.

Of course there was no homework. There was no school. Dee needed sleep, but that wasn’t my problem…what time was it, anyways?

Well, it was dark, so late probably…I also needed sleep, apparently.

But as I approached the house, I became aware of a quiet sobbing sound from the porch.

I sighed. Mikey, probably. Maybe April or even Casey. It wouldn’t be the first time in the past few months I’d walked in on one of them crying.

I racked my brain for possible reasons, but I couldn’t find any…Leo was up and about, so it probably wasn’t that this time…maybe the brothers had fought or something? Or maybe…Well, the maybes weren’t helping anyone.

…Another choked sob sounded from above me.

I shook my head clear and considered my options. I could go up to the porch and confront the crying person, or I could go around the back entrance and leave them alone… Okay, when I put it like that, the answer was obvious. To the back entrance I’d go-

CRACK.

I froze, staring at the stick I’d stepped on, because of course I couldn’t be stealthy- I wasn’t a ninja, I was just a kid who liked fighting things. Shit. Maybe they didn’t hear-

“W-Who’s there?” Growled the person on the porch. It sounded hostile, like the person didn’t want me to know he was crying.

Oh he definitely heard.

I paused my thought train to recognize the voice. Was that… Raph? Raphael? The least likely person at literally any given time to do something like cry?

Brooding , maybe, but never crying…

“Uh…no one…? Just…the…wind.” I said slowly, not turning around to face the porch as I tried to continue my tactical retreat.

“Well good, screw off like the wind then!” He snapped, but the bite of it was kinda dulled by how choked up he sounded. Much to my chagrin, I was starting to feel kinda bad for him.

Raph didn’t cry a lot…I’d known him for a year and come to think of it? He hadn’t cried ever . If Raph was crying…it had to be serious.

Mission unsuccessful, now I feel bad.

I slowly walked back towards the porch, avoiding eye contact as much as I could.

“...Hey…uh, sorry, but it turns out I’m not the wind.” I said lightly, sitting on the porch step next to him. “You okay?”

He stubbornly glared at the ground. “What, here to laugh at me or somethin’? If I wanted that I’d find Mikey.”

I ignored the comment and looked over at what he had in his hands.

“...What’s that?” I said softly.

He swallowed thickly, holding it out so I could see. It was a slightly speckled oval with a crack running down the side…

“...T-turtle egg.” He mumbled, barely comprehensible. “It’s…” He drew a line across his neck to mime ‘dead’, seemingly unable to say the painful word.

“Oh.” I said, because what else do you say to that?

“Foun’ it in…y’know. The woods.” He said, waving vaguely at the trees. “I ‘unno, guess I t-thought I could…save it or somethin’...it’s stupid.”

I nodded. That sucked. “Well…hey, y’know…ya tried, right? That’s…that’s more than a lot of people would do…You know, you gave it a chance. I’m not wording this well…”

Raph snorted. “Jus’ tell me I’m bein’ a baby, (Y/N).” He said, words slightly distorted in that way they are when you cry. You know, when ‘t’ sounds are impossible and ‘g’ sounds slip away…I always found that embarrassing when I cried in front of others, but now with Raph being the one crying, I just felt empathetic.

“You’re not though.” I said finally, looking out at the woods. “I’m sure that this baby turtle would be glad that you tried to help it, and yeah it fucking hurts that you failed, but that’s not your fault. That’s just…the delicacy of living. Nature and the cycle of life or whatever.”

“I stepped on it.” He said, starting a new bout of sobs. “It wouldn’t be… dead if I hadn’t screwed up- I didn’ know that I’d…wandered into a turtle nest …”

“You stepped on it?” I echoed, glancing at him.

He nodded, closing his eyes. “An’ I shoulda know it was there, I -”

“Well…it’s dark out. You couldn’t have possibly seen it.” I reasoned.

“I shoulda.”

“Who goes out to the woods at night and thinks ‘hm, I should definitely expect to see everything that could possibly be in my path’?” I said with a half smile.

“Someone who didn’t accidentally…” He mimed killing again, “...a baby turtle.” He grunted.

“It was an accident, Raph.” I shrugged. “You couldn’t have helped it, and beyond that, you tried to save it. So somewhere there’s probably some…I ‘unno, ghost turtle that’s glad you tried to give it a chance at living. Ya did your best, man, and sometimes that’s enough for the bad karma or whatever to leave you alone.” I said, punching him lightly in the shoulder.

He snorted. “Tha’s dumb. There isn’ some… ghost turtle that’s glad I carried it to this fucking porch and cried about it like a baby after killing it. ”

I smiled. “Nah. Of course there isn’t. I’m tryin’ to make you feel better.”

“Well you’re bad at it.” He scoffed, but a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

“Yeah? And you’d say something better?” I challenged.

He nodded, rubbing the side of the egg’s shell. “Easily. I’d say…It’s a fucking dead turtle (Y/N), it doesn’ care. Go inside and watch a dumb movie with Mikey or somethin’ and stop crying about it.” He was smiling a bit more now.

I smirked. “How comforting.”

“Quit bein’ sarcastic, you jerk.” He said, punching my arm lightly, but he was full on grinning so I knew he didn’t mean it.

I fell back as though he’d punched me across the porch. “You wound me so, Raphael!” I said dramatically, chuckling as he rolled his eyes.

“So…” I added, gentler now, “D’ya wanna…bury it or something silly and sentimental like that?”

He nodded, blushing a bit as though the idea of doing so was embarrassing.

I helped him up, smiling as though the idea of doing so was completely normal and not at all over-dramatic, because really, it wasn’t.

Yeah, burying a crushed turtle egg after comforting one’s friend who also happened to be a giant talking turtle was a completely normal thing to do.

I smiled again at the absurdity of it all, and a part of me noticed that Raph hadn’t let go of my hand despite the fact that we were both standing now. I squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back.

“C’mon. You gotta pick a good spot.” I said softly as we reached the edge of the yard.

“...Okay.” He whispered. “How about…there.” He nodded towards a section of earth by a little creek.

“Oh. Good choice. That’s probably the prettiest part of the yard.” I agreed, and he smiled at the feedback.

“Alright, you mark the spot an’ I’ll grab the shovels.” He said, clearing his throat as he slipped the turtle egg into my hands.

“Yessir.” I nodded. He came back with two shovels a second later, and we began to dig a small hole.

“Do y’think I should…I ‘unno, make a gravestone?” He said with an air of casualness that we both knew was a total lie.

“Sure. It’d be…respectful, right?” I said, scooping another mound of dirt into the pile. The hole was already at least a foot deep, which was far more than it needed to be, but neither of us wanted to point that out. I think we both knew that that meant actually putting the little turtle into the ground…for good, and we weren’t quite ready for that yet, so we kept digging.

“Yeah. I could draw him on a motorcycle or somethin’. That’d be cool.” He chuckled.

“You sound like Jonesy.” I grinned.

Raph shook his head. “That is a horrible nickname.”

“No, it is not very metal, is it.” I mused. “That may or may not be why I gave it to him. Don’t tell Mikey, but I have lame nicknames for all of you.”

Raph snorted. “Really.”

I nodded. “Yup. I have them all stored in a secret journal with a lock on it. Once we go back to New York, I’mma put it in the farmhouse attic in order to totally confuse future generations of O’Neils.”

“No ya don’t.” He scoffed.

“What makes ya say that?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“If you genuinely did, you’d be laughing, but you’re trying to look serious.” Raph said smugly.

“Huh. You’re good, that was a lie. Not the nicknames part, I do have those, but none of them are written down. …And I don’t think you can lock a notebook shut unless it’s one of those dumb diaries at elementary school book fairs. I’m rambling. I’ll stop.”

Raph broke the silence after a beat. “What’s Leo’s top secret nickname?”

“If I tell you it won’t be a secret, will it?” I teased, flicking his mask tails. He responded by flicking my shoulder.

“You already told me Casey’s, tell me Leo’s.”

“Captain Ryan. It’s pretty basic.” I answered.

“...He’d take that as a complement, you know that, right?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Mikey’s is Angel ‘cause of his name, and Donnie’s is Rainy D. Y’know, instead of Sunny D because I think it’s funny to annoy him. April’s is Red, which I stole from Casey. Yours is also Red because for some reason I find that funny. Mine is Ruler of New York because…well, c’mon . It’s self explanatory, baby.” I said, tossing my hair cockily.

“Oh I get it, because you’re freakishly tall like a measuring stick.” Raph said.

“Oh dear sweet Raphael, being taller than you does not make me freakishly tall, or even particularly tall at all.” In fact, being taller than Raph was a very easy -and common- feat…he stood at about 5’0.

“Yeah, well you know what’s great about being short?” He said, leaning on his shovel.

“Tell me.” I said, leaning on my own shovel dramatically.

“It makes it easier to do this .”

He kicked me in the shins.

“Oi! That was low!...Literally.” I said with a smirk, miming a ‘badum tss’ with the shovel.

He scoffed, but failed to hide the smile on his face. We kept digging.

“D’you think we’re done, then?” I finally said as I found myself standing over a hole that was at least two feet deep.

Raph busied himself with using the shovel to measure the depth rather than answering my question, stubbornly avoiding my eyes.

“Raph?” I prompted, nudging him. “We can wait a bit if you want…”

He sighed, eyes glued to the ground. “Nah, you’re right...I guess so.”

I scooped up the little turtle corpse, glancing over it one final time. Its face was barely visible through the crack in the egg, and unfortunately it was adorable.

I set it gently into Raph’s outstretched hands, and he hummed sadly. Well…it wasn’t quite a hum, it was more of a sad animalistic chirp, as though losing this baby turtle was hurting his biological turtle-senses or something. (Donnie probably had a solid explanation, but that didn’t matter right now.)

Raph blushed again as he seemed to notice the sound, and he cleared his throat and looked away from me with a grimace. The sound stopped.

“Not a word.” He grumbled.

“Didn’t plan on it.” I coughed, and he looked at me gratefully. “Also…Should we…say something…y’know, memorial-y?” I asked hesitantly.

“Probably. Uh…I…I dunno what exactly to say at one of these…funerals.” He said, starting out really strong. I resisted the urge to say something sarcastic and instead nodded encouragingly and gave a thumbs up.

Raph sighed and patted the top of the egg. “But uh…it’s like one in the morning, and I’m out here knee deep in a bunch of dirt with my friend, burying a turtle I’ve never met and will never get to meet, so…I guess anything goes. Uhm…I’m sorry, little guy. I wish you coulda had a better chance at living, and…I hope you like the spot I chose for your…resting place.”

I nodded. “It’s the best part of the yard…on sunny days, the creek turns bright blue, and the flowers are starting to grow. If you were alive, you’d get to see them, and you’d probably love them. They probably taste good.” (Did turtles eat flowers? Probably not…whatever, I’d already said it now.)

Raph smiled bittersweetly and set the egg down in the grave.

“Bye little guy. …Love you.” He said softly, and picked up his shovel again.

And without saying a word, we buried the little turtle in its final resting place. Somewhere along the line his sad chirp sound started up again, but I didn’t mention it and he didn’t notice.

I stood up finally and tossed my shovel aside. “We can make a grave marker tomorrow, but in the meantime…” I plucked one of the crocuses by the creek and set it on the grave.

Raph nodded, pulling himself up. “That’ll work for now… C’mon, let’s steal Mikey’s oreos and watch a movie or somethin’.”

“Sounds good to me.” I said, holding out my hand.

With a half smile, he took it.

“Hey, (Y/N)...thanks.” He said quietly as we headed back towards the farmhouse.

I squeezed his hand, smiling lightly. “Anytime, Raphael.”

“Oh, and mention this to anyone, an’ I’m shoving my sais through you.” He added, but there was no venom behind his words, so I just flicked his mask tails again.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I grinned, and he squeezed my hand, and we went inside.

The next day, we found a piece of wood that Raph painted a picture of a turtle on, and we stuck it in the ground over the grave.

Life would go on.

***

Bonus:

Leo, glaring at Raph and (Y/N): “Guys, care to explain why I saw you two out there with shovels last night?”

Raph: “We…murdered someone…?”

(Y/N): “Yup. Lotta blood. Lotta violence. The dying part was unintentional. I always did say I’d help ya hide a body though, so…”

Leo: “I’m sorry wHAT?!”

***

Author's note: Requests for the 2012 characters are open now on my account :)

#tmnt x reader #tmnt 2012 x reader #reader insert #gender neutral reader #gn!reader #tmnt raph x reader #tmnt 2012 raph x reader #raph x reader #tmnt 2012 raph #2k12 raph x reader #2k12 raph

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tmnt-reticent · 6 months

Text

Since Reticent won the poll in the @tmnt-iteration-compeition , here’s Ret Chapter 10’s summary, chapter cover and first scene! It doesn’t have a title yet, i might have to ask @aaronymous999 or Starla for help with that after they betaread dbsjcbsjhcjd-

Summary: Frustrated with the rest of the team, Mikey decides to take their latest mission into his own hands. Donnie has to make a difficult decision regarding his youngest older brother.

“Dude, how the hell do you keep getting these?” Mikey questioned as he took yet another cog away from Klunk, shoving it into his sketchbook bin for safe-keeping along with the rest of Donnie's stuff the cat had stolen. He'd return it all to the softshell. Eventually.

The orange-clad teen stretched before popping himself back on the rug, beckoning Klunk over. The cat completely refused though, turning away from him. Damn. Iced out. He didn't know why she was so enticed by random pieces of metal. Although, the same could be said for his younger brother- no, no, he had to stop thinking about him. He'd just upset himself.

Donnie had been avoiding him recently. He didn't know why. He thought it was because of their confrontation the other night, but Donnie had been doing so long before that. Maybe he should start asking him to hang out again? That was what drew his brother back to him before. But at the same time, he didn't exactly feel like hanging around the softshell any time soon. He just didn't like being ignored. He only knew so many people, that was like, a fifth of his friend group gone in the blink of an eye. He'd at least like for them to be on ‘wave to each other across the room’ level for now-

“Michaelangelo! Hurry up, it's time to leave!”

Oh, right, the mission. He had more important stuff to think about right now.

The painted turtle grabbed his nunchucks, shoving them in his belt and then throwing on a hoodie before entering the living room. He was met with April and Casey, along with his brothers who were donning their own ‘disguises’. Raph's would've worked if his shell wasn't so….prominent, almost poking out of the fabric. But Donnie and Leo were practically a lost cause. Donnie was struggling to keep his bo hidden, refusing Leo's demands to cut a hole in his favorite hoodie to do so. Which made sense, that wouldn't exactly hide his bo. And Leo's sheathes weren't hidden whatsoever, the bottom of his hoodie barely covering the tips. He could already tell this was going to be great. But hey, maybe the person they were hunting down wouldn't mind being confronted by 4 mutant turtles who were clearly carrying weapons.

He had to do something about this.

“Heyyy Leo, uh, didn't know if you knew this but I think your disguises might be a little bit easier to see through than mine.” It was difficult not to refer to him using a nickname like ‘Nerdo’ but Mikey couldn't afford to get on the eldest's bad side right now.

The map turtle turned to him with narrowed eyes. “What are you getting at, Michelangelo?”

“I was just wondering if I could finally put my role to use? Y'know, as the face man? I figure I can get this Venus person to lead me to the Nexus and the rest of you can just follow us. It's way easier that way.” He knew this wouldn't convince Leo, nothing ever did, but-

“Fine. Whatever. But if you do anything, and I mean anything that puts the mission in jeopardy, I will be sending you back here. Got it?”

Mikey paused for a second. Leo? Letting him take the lead? He couldn't believe his non-existent ears. But, the painted turtle quickly got a hold of himself. “You got it! I'll be the best face man you've ever seen! No jeopardy here!”

“I'm already regretting this.” The tallest sighed. “But there's more important things to worry about than whatever you're going on about. Casey! April! I need to speak to you.”

The two humans turned towards him, but April spoke first. “Did we do something, or…?”

“No, no, I just… I don't think you should come.”

Casey's countenance dropped. “What? But like, all the information is on my phone-”

“Then send it to one of us, we’ll take care of it.” The blue-masked turtle responded. Weird that he said that as if he was one of the options.

“What is this even about, Leonardo?” Ouch. April rarely used full names. Although, Leo preferred it that way. Maybe he was pissing her off on purpose?

“Look, Casey is already a criminal, he doesn't need anymore charges-”

“But you're fine with us fighting the foot clan out in the-” April began to interject.

“And you shouldn't be getting involved in all this shady business in the first place. I was willing to let it slide for a while but I'm drawing the line at underground dog-fighting rings. You have a future to think about, April. We don't. You shouldn't throw everything away for us.”

“But we're already as deep into all this crap as you guys are! Heck, Casey has been doing this shit for ages! And you're just gonna tell us to screw off? For what? You couldn't do any of this without us!”

“It's for your own good, April-”

“How do you know? We're not just going to give into any stupid little demand you throw our way because it's ‘for our own good’!” Mikey didn't know bunny ears could look so aggressive but April had managed to surprise him.

As the arguing continued, the orange-clad turtle grew impatient. He just wanted to get this mission over with. Sure, going topside is nice, but the charm starts to wear off when you're only ever allowed up there for missions.

Although, maybe he could prove that he'd be fine up there on his own… and he did know where all the information for the mission was being kept…

It may not have been his god-given role, but Mikey started formulating a plan anyway. Who said Leo had to be the sole strategist? Well, Leo did, but that wasn't the point.

#tmnt reticent #tmnt #reticent #tmnt fan iteration #teenage mutant ninja turtles iteration #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt iteration #tmnt iteration competition

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thmadwolf · 4 months

Text

ONE-SHOT; scythe.

TW; vulgar language, violence, blood (?

She was angry, oh man, she was furious. Usagi could tell by watching how she paced around the gym like a damn caged lion.

''Gin... I'm sure you heard wrong. He's your friend, right? I don't think he said anything like that, maybe you misunderstood.''

Here's the thing, Ginny had been walking around the Resistance base, she had received the excellent news from Leo that he wanted to have her as his second in command after she had shown some surprising tactical skills in the last refugee rescue mission.

She had been elated when her old best friend told her the news that, and she almost managed it if it weren't for Leo's size, she crushed him in her arms.

While she was walking around, on her way to meet Usagi, she had managed to eavesdrop on a thread of conversation that included the three turtle brothers.

''You can't be serious, Leo. She?''

''Don, we've already talked about it, even Draxum and April said it was a great idea.''

Ginny would have frowned if she had eyebrows, she leaned a little against the wall. Mikey talked:

''Yeah, she deserves it. If it weren't for her plan we would still be in the concentration camp.''

''If it weren't for her, Raph would be here.''

Ginny held her breath, letting out a choked gasp when she heard that. Donatello's voice sounded cold and cruel, so much so that she felt herself freeze.

''Donnie that's not-''

''Don't tell me it's not true, Leo. If it weren't for her clumsiness, Raph wouldn't have had to-''

''Enough!'' Mikey cut off his older brother with an angry expression, now they were taking him more seriously. ''That theme was buried, and it will remain buried.''

Ginny did not stay to listen anymore, going like a fury to meet the samurai, who was scared when she entered the place like a bull.

''I know what I heard. He did not hesitate to say it out loud.''

''But he didn't seem to mind that you were there when we all hang together.''

''He's a great actor then.''

The rabbit snorted, the tangle of fur on his forehead ruffled a little as a result.

''It wasn't your fault...'' The calm voice of her comrade made her stop her steps. ''I know you know, everyone does it, what happened was inevitable. I don't understand why you care what Donnie thinks.''

Because she had always been worried about what he thought, ever since they met so many years ago.

''Let's leave this conversation.'' Ginny responded, her tail giving a small flap in the air.

The short-necked turtle approached the bench where Usagi was sitting, and copied him.

''Come on, I need you to cheer me up when Leo kicks my ass.'' The turtle laughed. She and Usagi were going to train a little some convate tactics that the ninja had learned in their youth so that they would know them too. ''It's not fair tho, you practically lived with them before this whole apocalypse thing'' He complained to her.

They talked for a couple of minutes about the first thing that crossed their minds, Usagi and Ginny had forged a great friendship after everything they had experienced together.

''Ah, here you are. Good.'' Leo entered with a smile that grew when he saw the samurai in the room, Ginny rolled her eyes when Usagi's pompous tail wagged.

''Poofy.'' She teased him, the rabbit smacked her on the shin.

''So, Scrabble.'' Ginny groaned when Leo used her old nickname. ''Mikey has uhm... mystical things to do? Or something like that, it doesn't matter. Dontron here will be your partner this time.''

Usagi made a small hiss as he got off the bench and looked askance at her shelled friend. Ginny looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled in a way that he didn't like at all.

''What's wrong, Baby Blue? Don't you want me to kick your shell?''

Leonardo gave a low growl, and faked a laugh with his hands on his hips, then told Usagi to go get his sword while he drew his own.

''Let's get started at once.'' Donnie had arrived stealthily at the dojo, he spoke with that neutral tone that had characterized him lately while typing on his wristband.

''Donatello.''

''Ginevra.'' He materialized his bō with his ninpo. Leo looked at Usagi and vice versa.

The red-eared slider drew his weapon, the bright red cloth, Raphael's mask, that was now tied to his greatsword caught the attention of the other two. Ginny narrowed her eyes a little, not realizing that the fight had started. She received the first blow to her stomach.

''Ouch! Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?!

''The fight has started, let's go.'' When Donnie charged again, Ginny was quick enough to slide her feet across the floor and grabbed a metal bar she had found. ''First lesson, which you should already know, pay attention to your enemies. Or you might regret it.''

That was a pretty direct taunt, Ginny felt it more than when the purple turtle kicked her in the face. Ginny groaned, gripped the bar tightly in her hands and attacked as well, hitting him on the arm, but he stopped the next blow with his staff.

''You're predictable.''

''Shut up''

After a few minutes, she was gasping, her lip split and bleeding, a cut on her thigh that she had given herself with the metal bar that had gone flying who knows where, a blow to the top of her face and he would probably get a bruise in various parts of his body. Donnie on the other hand, only had a couple of scratches.

Neither of them realized that Leo and Usagi had stopped their training to focus on the two of them. Usagi moved to help her friend, but Leo stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

''No. They need to fix it on their own.'' He told him in a whisper.

Donnie was standing with the staff on his shoulders in a serious manner, Ginny was hunched over slightly trying to catch her breath.

''S.H.E.L.D.O.N told me you heard us.'' Ginny froze, looking away from the ground to look at the soft shell. ''So?'' '

''You are idiot''

Donnie laughed, his tail cutting through the air like a whip. He separated from her when she made a move to straighten up.

''Give up, Ginny. You're going to hurt yourself.''

But Ginny ignored him and attacked him again with empty hands. Donnie turned the bo in his hands to block the attack, and with them he continued to comment at the female.

''It was your fault. "You were reckless and didn't think about the consequences, and that's why Raph is dead." He told her with venom in his voice, it was enough to make Ginny tackle him as she screamed in rage.

The one in purple dodged her, and when he raised his hands to hit her with his weapon, he realized. He didn't have a weapon.

''Holy shit...'' He heard Leo, his twin's eyes were wide open, Usagi's jaw was on the floor. They were both looking at Ginny, she was kneeling on the floor, and he followed their gaze.

Surprised, he imitated their expressions. Donnie saw how the purple color of his mystical powers with which he had created the staff was disappearing and changing to a cream color, the tip taking the shape of a scythe in the hands of the short-necked turtle.

Ginny had stolen his staff, and turned it into her own weapon. She had used his ninpo, to...forge her own?

Her eye marks, and the lines of her shoulders and legs glowing, as did those of her chin.

In his stupefied state, Ginevra took advantage of the opportunity and jumped at him, too furious to notice what she had accomplished.

Donnie screamed in pain as he felt the scythe's blade embed itself in his battle shell, which fell to the ground, split in half. Leo ran to his brother's rescue, grabbing Ginny by the arms, trapping them behind her shell.

''Ginny!''

''It was my fault.'' She spoke with bitterness in her voice. ''Raph died for me, and I will always live with his death on my shoulders, there will never come a day when when I go to sleep I don't see those last minutes crossing my mind. And do not doubt that more than once I have thought that I must have been the one who died that day. I've tried to...'' Ginny stopped talking as tears threatened to come out of her eyes. ''Raph died for me, so that I could live and help this war end, and that's what I'll do until my last fucking breath.''

Donnie looked at her, his drawn eyebrows arched in an expression of compassion. He stood up with a whimper, there was a strip of blood traveling from his soft shell to the tip of his tail.

''Ginx-''

''Don't. You. Even. Dare.''

Ginny wriggled out of Leo's grasp, the scythe having fallen to the ground and evaporated. She marched out the door. The three of them stood there in silence, Usagi tapped his hips a couple of times with his fists.

''Someone explain to me, what the hell just happened?''

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misteria247 · 1 year

Text

She was beautiful.

It wasn't the first time that Mikey had seen her, wasn't the first time that he'd befriended the time traveler known as Renet. However this time around there was something.....different about her.

Perhaps it was the smile, full of life and sincerity and beaming.

Or maybe it was her chipper personality, the kind that dragged those around into her cheer and brought smiles onto their faces.

Or perhaps it was her eyes. A beautiful shade of brown that was full of kindness and determination to get the job done.

Mikey didn't know exactly what it was about Renet this time around. Didn't know what it was that drew him in like a moth to a flame. But here in his current life, Mikey found himself falling hard and fast for her. It wasn't often that the orange turtle fell in love. Many lifetimes that he'd lived he'd never been so gone for a woman. The only one he could remember, was from his first life.

Her name was Kala.

She'd been......incredible.

Kind hearted and full of spirit. A bit rebellious in nature and she was as tough as nails but the beautiful smiles and shining eyes had him falling hard for her when he'd first met her. Then he died, only to be reborn once more in a different body but with the same name. He remembered waiting for Kala, hoping that maybe he'd see her again.

He never did.

He made it a personal choice to stay away from anyone who could be a romantic interest after that. And for several lifetimes he'd been successful in it. But then Renet fell into his arms, and he was struck with that familiar warm pang in his chest. The familiar throb of his heart as it skipped a beat at her smile, reminding him so much of Kala sometimes that the wonderful feeling was painful as well.

Mikey knew that it was a bad idea. Falling in love with someone, when there was no guarantee that he'd ever see them again in his next run. It was a painful experience. To be haunted by smiles and chiming laughter belonging to someone he at one point saw himself having a future with. If he wasn't stuck with this curse, wasn't stuck with these memories of pasts that he once lived, he would marry Renet in the future. When he'd grown into a man and could stay by her side. If he hadn't been reborn he would have married Kala too in that first lifetime. Would have built that white picket fence life with her by his side. But he didn't have the luxury, hadn't been blessed like his brothers and friends to forget about those phantoms that left him scarred with his heart.

"Michelangelo, are you coming?"

Renet's voice, gentle and concerned brought Mikey to the present time. To the current moment that he was living, dressed as an elf in an D&D style setting. Surrounded by his older brothers who were looking at him in worry at him zoning out. Especially when they were trying to find April. The blue eyed turtle shot Renet and his brothers a small smile, the mask back in place.

"I'm coming, I just got distracted by the trees is all. They're incredible!"

Mikey chimed in enthusiasm, straying his loved ones away from his earlier mood. It worked as his brothers let it go, Raph's grumbling filling the air and Donnie and Leo's exasperated yet fond sighs accompanied the red clad turtle's half hearted ranting. Mikey went to follow behind them when he felt a hand gently slip into his. Baby blues snapped up to meet Renet's chocolate brown, a smile coming onto her angelic face. With a gentle tug, she began to lead the two of them onwards giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. Mikey felt his throat tighten and his heart stutter as he tentatively squeezed it back.

It wasn't a good idea to do this, wasn't a good idea to entertain something that was so tangible and yet so forbidden in a way. Knew that by the end of this, he'd be left with the shattered pieces of his heart once again in the next run. Haunted by the rose tinted memories of Renet just as he was with Kala.

But maybe......he could pretend that he could have this.

Maybe.........

Maybe he could forget about the looming tragedy, the unwritten sorrows that await for him in the next life. Just for a little while he could enjoy this moment.

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dunk-on-em-ao3 · 2 years

Text

Hold On (Or Three Times Donatello's Soft Shell Almost Killed Him, and One Time it Saved His Life)

The first time it happened, there really wasn’t anyone to blame. Four knee-high turtles stumbling around were chaos-bound, no matter how early their father tried to send them to bed. They were in Raph’s room, brightly colored bandanas wrapped tightly around their little heads. Raph was standing on top of his bed with a huge toothy grin.

“Are you ready, boys?!” he yelled, spreading his arms wide.

Mikey was hanging on the bookshelf, his short legs dangling dangerously. Leo was crouched on a chair, and Donnie was balancing on a pillow in the center of the room.

They all smiled back and began to chant, “Three, two, one, THE FLOOR IS LAVA!” Their screams echoed around the room, and they began to bounce from one piece of furniture to the next.

“Look out, Mikey!” Leo shrieked as he jumped and desperately tried to hang onto the shelf. The younger box-shell laughed hysterically as the shelf began to wobble, clearly not designed to handle the weight of the two turtles.

“Saaaave meeeee!” Mikey held out his hand, and pulled the rest of his body into his shell. Leo reached out, wrapping three chubby fingers around Mikey’s hand, right before his shell tipped off the bookcase. He began to swing his littlest brother back and forth, building momentum.

“Raph! Heads up!” With a final swing, Leo tossed Mikey across the room, toward the (relatively) large snapper.

Raph jumped up and closed his arms around Mikey’s shell with a triumphant “Gotcha!” As he landed, his left foot slipped out from underneath him, and he stumbled off the side of the bed.

All of this would have been fine, if not for two simple facts. The first is that that with Mikey in his arms, he instinctively fell backwards, trusting his own shell to take the fall.

The second is that Donnie was crawling underneath them both, building a bridge of pillows across the concrete floor.

There was absolute silence as the two shells collided. Donnie was splayed on the floor facedown, Raph was on top of him, still holding Mikey in his arms. From the shelf, Leo would swear that he heard a soft hiss as the spikes and jagged edges of Raph’s shell pierced Donnie. The soft-shelled turtle let out a shattered gasp, and his eyes snapped open.

In the same breath, Raph tried to stand up. And Donnie screamed.

In the panic of it all, Raph dropped once more onto Donnie’s shell, and the scream got ever louder.

“STOP!” he screeched, clawing at the ground underneath him. “PLEASE STOP. I-” His cry for help was cut off as their father burst through the door, clearly alarmed by the scene before him. Splinter grabbed a stunned Raph by the sides and lifted him directly up, gasping as he saw what lay underneath his largest son. He set Raph on the bed, mindful that he was still holding Mikey.

“Purple,” he whispered, setting a gentle clawed hand on top of the quivering shell. Donnie screamed at the contact, and Splinter quickly drew the hand back. He reached underneath his son, scooping him into his arms without putting any contact on the wounds.

“Blue!” Splinter turned his attention to the shocked boy, still on the shelf. He raised his voice to be heard over the sound of Donnie’s wails. “Get your brothers and follow me!” He raced out of the room, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Red had begun to cry. He hurried to the table in their barely stocked kitchen, and laid the crying child on top of it. He grabbed a kitchen towel, and began wiping away the pools of blood on Donnie’s shell. The towel quickly soaked through, and the blood showed no signs of slowing. “Blue!” Splinter yelled once more, panic rising in his voice. “Red!”

Leo and Raph appeared in the doorway, tears sliding down Leo’s cheeks, and choking sobs stuttering out of Raph.

“I’m so sorry,” Raph wailed, his hands clenching around the fabric of his shirt. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Not now!” Splinter snapped, internally knowing that he would need to apologize later. “I need help. Blue, go to bathroom and gather all the towels we have. Red, bring me the first aid kit by my chair, and then get me a bowl of warm water.” The two turtles hesitated for a moment; eyes locked on their crying brother. “Move!” Splinter bellowed, satisfied when they turned and ran. His turned back to Purple, whose wails had quieted into hiccups. He placed a hand on the young one’s forehead.

“Purple, can you hear me?” He received nothing but sniffles in response at first. He continued to stroke his head, silently wishing his sons would hurry.

“It hurts,” He heard a weak voice choke out. Donnie had his head tilted away from his father, but Splinter could tell by the way his skin quivered that his eyes were squeezed tightly shut. “Dad, it hurts so much.” Splinter opened his mouth, but was cut off by the entry of Leo and Raph, followed closely by Mikey. He gathered the materials, thanking his sons quietly. He shooed them out, promising them that they could come back in soon.

Towels in hand, he cleaned up Purple’s shell, taking note of the most serious injuries. Three incisions, from the sharpest points of Red’s shell, laid an equal distance apart. They were just above the halfway point of his shell, an inch long, and looked to be a half inch deep. They would need stitches, surely.

“You will be okay, Purple,” he murmured, opening the first aid kit to bring out some disinfecting wipes and the suture supplies. He wiped the first cut, whispering apologies as his child hissed at the sting. He had nothing to help with pain, and the stitches needed would be extraordinarily painful. Splinter heard a whimper at the door, and turned to see that his other three sons had gathered at the doorway once more. He tilted his head, beckoning them inside.

“Purple, listen to me.”

Donnie turned his head to face his father, and Splinter felt his heart break at the sight of his wobbling lip. “Dad?”

“Hold on to your brothers’ hands,” he instructed sternly, and immediately the other three crowded near. Raph grabbed Donnie’s left hand, whispering apologies over and over. Leo grabbed Donnie’s right, locking eyes with his self-proclaimed twin and gently resting his head on Donnie’s. Mikey, as small as he was, pushed himself under Raph’s arm to hold on as well.

Splinter started on the first cut, the needle piercing the soft shell, and Donnie simply sobbed. Mikey started to cry in response, but not one of the brothers let go. Every time the needle entered, Splinter could feel Donnie tense, and he could feel the other three squeeze back in response. It took five stiches to close the first wound, and Splinter immediately moved on to the next, wanting it to be over as soon as possible for his purple son. The only sound in the room was Donnie’s wet gasps and whines, and the hushed reassurances of his family.

Fifteen stitches later, Splinter was finished. He dropped the last bloody towel onto the floor, and started to wrap Purple’s shell with bandages.

“It is finished, my son. Let us rest now.” He lifted Donnie’s body to wrap the bandage under and around him. Better too much protection than too little. He took note of how none of his other sons moved at the disturbance. “Let go, boys.”

Donnie’s hands were clasped so tightly around his brothers’ that his knuckles were white, starkly contrasting his dark green hands.

“Let go,” Splinter repeated again, putting more of an edge into his words. “You can join him in bed, but I must move him.”

Mikey let go first, immediately moving from his brother to hold on to the edge of his father’s robe. Leo followed, furiously wiping away tears.

Raph stayed, snatching up the hand that Leo left behind.

“It’s okay, Raph,” Donnie whispered, and Splinter was somehow proud that his son still had the energy to speak. He was so much stronger than he appeared. “I’m okay, and I’m not mad. It was an accident.”

Raph said nothing, shaking his head and holding on to Donnie’s hands tighter.

Splinter moved to pack up the first aid kit, but a flash of red on Raph’s shell made him draw a shaky breath and pick up another wipe. He moved behind Red, and gently started to wipe the blood-tipped spikes on his oldest son, silently grateful that Red’s attention was on Purple.

“Purple will be okay, Red, he murmured. “We will all be okay.”

__________________________________________________

The second time it happened, it was very very clear to Donatello who was at fault.

It was closing in on two in the morning, the full moon illuminating the almost silent docks. The waves of the Hudson splashing up onto the wooden piers was the only sound for miles. Leo and Donnie walked along the rickety walkway, scanning for any signs of a disturbance. It was rare for the twins to be on patrol without the other two. Raph had argued against splitting up the team, and Donnie was inclined to agree after the entire Shredder “situation”. But there were reports of attacks all throughout the city, and there simply wasn’t another solution.

Mikey and Raph had headed into the heart of Times Square, where (according to rumors) Meat Sweats was trying to eat tourists.

“I’m just saying,” Leo drawled as he kicked a pebble off the side of the dock. “I don’t understand why he would go after tourists. New Yorkers would taste just fine, really.”

“Are you suggesting he focuses his terrorism on the locals?”

“No! I’m just saying that if you’re going to eat anyone, why outsource at all? There are plenty of good people here.”

Donnie pushed his goggles up, blinking as his eyes adjusted. “It sounds like you want him to eat New Yorkers.”

“No!”

“Do you want to eat New Yorkers?” Donnie lifted an eyebrow, glaring at his twin.

“I would eat New Yorkers before I ate anyone from New Jersey, and that is a promise.” Leo skipped out ahead of him, walking backward so he was facing Donnie. “New game. Which state has the worst tasting people?”

“Leo-”

“Smart money is on North Carolina, and I have a reason.”

“Leo!” Donnie kicked gravel up and towards the slider. “Focus.”

Leo rolled his eyes, turning back around and resuming his game of kicking rocks in the river. “Donald, in case you haven’t noticed,” he spun around in a circle, his arms out wide. “There’s no one here.”

Donnie opened up the menu on his wrist-pad, bringing up the files he collected on suspicious activity in the city. “For the past three nights, there have been disturbances at the docks. Shipping containers going missing, strange sounds, disappearing employees,-”

“Destroyed walkways?” Leo interjected, slowly coming to a stop. Donnie walked up beside him, surveying the damage. The wooden dock they were walking on had a large jagged hole, right in the center.

“Aproximentally seventy-five centimeters in diameter – and look at the-”

Leo smacked him on the shoulder. “I don’t speak metric, I’m from New York.”

“Aproximentally two and a half feet,” Donnie paused. “In diameter. Look at the way the wood shattered.” He gestured at the splinters of wood, all pointed up. “Something punched through this from the water, then went right back where it came from.”

Leo was silent for a moment, leaning his elbow on Donnie’s battle shell. “Hold on a minute, did you say missing employees?”

Donnie nodded, opening his mouth to speak, but never getting the chance. The wood directly underneath them exploded, knocking the two turtles apart. Leo crashed to the side, and Donnie careened into the water.

A tentacle, jet-black with silver streaks, towered above the docks. Immediately, Donnie grabbed on to the edge of the pier, pulling himself up and out of the water, while drawing his Tech-Bō in the same breath.

“This doesn’t look like Draxum!” Leo yelled, already back on his feet, unsheathing his twin ōdachi blades.

“Really?” Donnie yelled back, and the tentacle came crashing down, blowing the pier to smithereens. Leo immediately summoned a portal underneath him, and Donnie instantly understood the game plan. His battleshell hummed as it rocketed him into the air, giving him an aerial view of what exactly it was that they were dealing with. He held out his left hand, smiling as he heard Leo’s portal open above him. Leo was already reaching out, and immediately grabbed hold of the outstretched hand. His battleshell was strong enough to hold them both, and they soared upwards as the tentacle crashed through the dock again.

“What are we dealing with, Don-Tron?” Leo yelled above the wind, instinctively drawing his feet up as the tentacle thrashed beneath him.

Donnie pulled his goggles back over his face, letting out a low-whistle at what he saw. “The mystic readings are through the figurative roof, Nardo.”

“Not a mutant?”

“Some sort of squid yokai, then.” Donnie adjusted his grip on Leo’s wrist, frowning as a second tentacle slammed through, just north of the first.

“Divide and conquer?”

“I rather not, squid definitely have more than two arms.”

“Fair enough,” Leo laughed, “Let’s start with the first!”

And with that, Donnie let go, letting Leo plunge toward the beast, cackling with laughter. He followed closely behind, transforming the head of his Tech-Bō into a spear. It plunged into the tip of the tentacle with a satisfying hiss. Donnie planted his feet on the creature, pulling the spear down toward the shattered docks. The creature in the water shrieked as it was sliced open, sending a shiver up Donnie’s shell. He quickly reached the bottom, having sliced the first tentacle from top to bottom. Leo threw his ōdachi at the middle point, directly where Donnie had sliced it. The ōdachi easily cleaved through, and the creature howled once more. The destroyed tentacle quickly retreated, while the severed top crashed into the water. The second tentacle shortly followed. The twins stood on the shaky wooden pier, listening for movement.

“It’s retreating,” Donnie whispered.

“Good!” Leo whispered back.

Sure enough, the mass underneath them seemed to be headed toward open water. The broken floor underneath them groaned as the beast swam slowly away.

“Simple enough,” Leo sighed. “Almost disappointing.” He glanced back toward the mainland, sighing when he saw that the walkway needed to get home was completely destroyed. At least 20 feet of the dock was completely gone, and the dark waters of the Hudson lapped softly underneath. He held out his hand to Donnie. “Give us a boost? I do not feel like swimming, and this mission is not worth another portal.”

Donnie sighed dramatically, but reached out to pick up his brother.

He never did get the chance.

The creature, in its escape, snapped once last tentacle out of the water. It exploded through the wood once more, and Donnie simply didn’t have enough time to react. He turned around at the noise, and the tentacle hit him squarely in the plastron. It sent him rocketing back, to the point where he almost cleared the gap he was about to fly over.

Almost. He slammed into the jagged edge of the dock, shell first. His head snapped back, and a shattered gasp filled his ears. He hung there, his battleshell impaled on the wood and metal supports of the dock. Faintly, he heard his brother scream his name. He registered the feeling of blood dripping down his shell and legs. The blood was moving quick, much quicker than he would have liked. The battleshell was compromised, he was compromised. He tried to take a breath, which quickly stuttered out. He needed to move, he needed to run, he was stuck, he was -

The hum of a portal snapped him out of his thoughts, and Leo appeared on the dock above him.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, looking down and seeing blood-stained Hudson below. He dropped to his knees, reaching out a hand, but not exactly knowing where to place it. “Holy shit, Donnie, what do I do?”

Donnie had to crane his neck upwards to look at Leo. He tried to speak, but all that came out was another shattered gasp.

“We need to get you out,” Leo breathed, answering his own question. “We need to get you out of your shell, Donnie, how do we get you out of your shell?”

Donnie’s left arm came up weakly to gesture to the strap on his right shoulder. He was grateful that Leo didn’t need any more guidance than that. Leo reached down, grabbed the strap, and pulled. There was a quiet hiss as the battleshell detached.

The pain that followed was – indescribable. Donnie clenched his eyes shut as a scream ripped its way out of his throat.

“Donnie?” whispered Leo, barely heard above the shouts of pain. He was expecting Donnie to drop into the water. His mind almost didn’t comprehend the fact that Donnie was still hanging there, still impaled. The audible sound of the blood dripping into the river is what snapped him out of it. Leo grabbed Donnie’s head, tilting it forward so he could look behind his brother, see what was connecting him still. “Donnie!” he yelled, as he finally saw. “Oh my god just – hold on!” Three metal support beams had penetrated both of Donnie’s shells. Without the battleshell attached, the full force of Donnie’s body weight was on these three poles, dragging him down, and ripping open the soft shell slowly.

Leo slammed one of his ōdachi into the edge of the dock, and lowered himself next to his brother. He wrapped his one free arm around Donnie’s waist, trying not to panic at the warm blood raced over his arm. He kicked his legs up until they made contact with the dock, and pushed out outwards, letting go of the sword he was holding onto.

Leo had just enough time to gasp, “deep breath!” as they both fell into the Hudson.

The cold water was a shock, silencing Donnie’s screams and Leo’s thoughts. The water around them was quickly dyed red, and Leo knew he was running out of time. They sank down too quickly, and with Donnie’s dead weight, there would be no swimming up. Leo tilted down, still holding onto Donnie. With his remaining ōdachi he sliced open a portal below them.

And with a last burst of energy, Leo kicked his legs, and pushed them both through.

They crashed into the lair, along with a tidal wave of water. The teleported wave slammed into their living room, absolutely destroying Splinter’s chair and their projector before dispersing on the floor.

But Leo didn’t even notice.

His focus was on his twin in his arms. His silent, cold, deathly pale twin.

“Donnie, c’mon!” Leo yelled, ignoring the way his voice cracked. He shook him gently. “We’re home, please wake up!” Distantly, he heard the shouts of Mikey and Raph on the other side of the lair.

“We need some help!” he screamed in the direction of the noise, shaking Donnie once more. Nothing. He flipped Donnie so his plastron was resting on his legs, and immediately, Donnie started to cough.

“Oh thank god, Donnie!”

The soft-shell hacked up water, desperately trying to take a breath. “Leo?”

“You’re going to be alright, just – just stay still.” Leo ran a hand over Donnie’s shell. For lack of a better phrase, it was simply torn apart. But he would be alright. The wounds weren’t too deep. He would need a horrible number of stitches, and might even need a transfusion. But Mikey and Raph would get here soon, and he would be alright. He grabbed a blanket that was in arms distance and pressed it onto Donnie’s shell, hoping to stop the oozing blood.

Leo let out a sob that he didn’t realize he was holding. This had all happened so fast and Donnie almost –

Tears started to flow, landing on top of the blanket. Donnie almost –

Donnie’s hand reached around to his own shell, grabbing hold of Leo’s arm and squeezing gently.

“You’re going to be alright, you big dork,” Leo whispered as Mikey and Raph burst into the room. “Just hold on.”

__________________________________________________

The third time it happened, Donnie couldn’t blame anyone but himself. Everything that led up to that moment had been his call, his decision. And when he looked back at that day, he didn’t regret a single thing.

His steps were louder than he wanted them to be as tore through the Krang’s ship, desperately hoping for a control panel of some kind. He had a job to do. Get control of the Krang ship, send it back where it came from. That’s all he needed to focus on. Stealth wasn’t the highest priority at the moment. All he needed to do was focus.

That alone was proving difficult, as a distant part of his mind, a part that he was trying very pointedly to ignore, was consumed with worry. Leo going on his own to find Raph could be disastrous. There was no guarantee that his oldest brother was even alive at this point. He couldn’t be sure that Leo was either. He shook his head frantically, trying to clear his mind of those thoughts.

Then again, Donnie thought as his vision cleared and he looked down at the Krang “computer”. This plan wasn’t shaping up to be much better.

“Oh god,” Donnie whispered, trying not to immediately gag. “I know what I have to do.”

He turned away for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. He could hear Mikey gagging in the background, as the youngest turtle figured out what was about to happen. Donnie turned back, steeling himself for what was going to happen. He heard Mikey sprouting encouragement in the background, but he wasn’t paying much attention. He knew what he had to do. He took a deep breath, and plunged his hands into the Krang control panel.

Burning, searing, heat was the first thing Donnie felt. Tendrils of pink and violet crawled up his arms, poking and prodding, trying to find an entrance, and burning a pathway up his skin. He grit his teeth, plunging his arms deeper and closing his eyes.

The outline of the Technodrone appeared behind his eyelids, hazy and flickering. He could feel the walls of the ship, the floors, the engines, the weapons, every living being that resided upon it. But that was all he could do. He could feel them, but he couldn’t control anything.

He opened his eyes, standing up straighter.

“It's not working!” Donnie yelled in frustration. “I need more of a connection.” He turned to face Mikey who was standing guard. “Mikey, take off my battleshell.”

“No,” Mikey immediately responded. “You're too vulnerable with just your soft shell.”

Ignoring the sting that those words brought, Donnie shook his head once more. “There's no time! Hurry!”

He felt his younger brother move behind him, gently unclasping his battleshell. As if the Krang ship understood, the tendrils immediately moved off of his arms, allowing Donatello to turn around. He saw Mikey glance at the burns on his hands, and scrunch his face up in fear. He closed his eyes before Mikey could say anything, as they both knew this needed to happen. For Earth, for their home, for Raph.

What happened next was a bit of a blur.

The tendrils came up from the console once more, this time quickly latching onto his soft shell. Donnie took deep breath at the now familiar burn, refusing to let pain or disgust get the better of him.

Once attached, the tendrils on his shell hesitated for the briefest of moments, as both parties got used to the other. Donnie opened his eyes, trying to smile at a clearly distressed Mikey. He opened his mouth to joke about how he had been meaning to get a back massage for a while, but stopped short as the tendrils drew back ever so slightly, and stabbed directly into Donatello.

His mind was bombarded with information, sensations, data, pain, - and he was briefly knocked out as the tendrils dragged his entire body into the control panel. There was silence for a moment, until Mikey quietly spoke up.

“Donnie?” he whispered, still holding on to the battleshell. “Donnie?”

Inside the panel, Donnie woke up. His mouth was open in a silent scream, and he hopelessly thrashed against the Krangs hold. The tendrils drove deeper into his shell, driving tears from his eyes that were unable to fall.

He felt everything.

He felt the roar of the Technodrone’s engines, responding to his own breath. He looked through the eyes of every Krang on the ship, who immediately sensed that something wasn’t right. He felt the footsteps of Raph and Leo, dancing around each other in a very close battle. He felt –

He felt Mikey’s heartrate pick up, panicking as a Krang barreled towards them both. The only thought he had was to Protect Mikey, and the ship did exactly that. Tentacles slammed the Krang out of the way, quickly interlocking over the alien, preventing its escape.

The image of the Technodrone was now clear in his mind, and he immediately began driving back towards the portal. He had just enough thought to tell Mikey that he “was a spaceship!” before he was back to the task at hand, pouring everything he had into the engines.

It was working.

For a moment, anyway.

He heard Mikey give a startled shout as the Krang leader punched a hole through the wall and took him away. Donnie tried to gather resources to put up some sort of defense for himself, but it was no use.

He felt the Krang leader break into the control panel.

He felt the tendrils pulled out of his shell, leaving nothing but sizzling flesh and oozing wounds in their wake.

He felt his mind literally ripped from the ship, and everything went black once more.

________

Donnie remembered the rest of the night in pieces only.

He remembered –

Raph screaming as he desperately tried to rip the Krang off of his flesh.

The hum of his Ninpo through his broken body, giving him the energy to launch an attack on the Krang leader.

Pulling up a shield, trying to prevent the Krang from shredding Mikey.

Falling through the air.

He remembered –

He remembered staring at the sky and crying, looking for a sign that his stupid twin was still alive.

Holding on to Mikey as he did the impossible, and brought Leo back from hell itself.

April supporting him as they crawled back to their lair, or what was left of it.

When they arrived home, all Donnie wanted to do was find a portion of his home that wasn’t completely destroyed, curl up, and sleep for the next three days.

But that simply wasn’t possible. His brothers were injured, much more than he was. The wounds on his back had stopped bleeding, and weren’t stopping from him from working. So he wouldn’t stop either. The first thing he did was attach a backup battleshell. There wasn’t time to focus on him. He needed Splinter, April, and Casey to focus on his brothers, and they wouldn’t be able to do that if he worried them in any way. He threw all of himself into their care.

_______

For two straight nights, Donnie did nothing but float from bedside to bedside. He designed an x-ray machine, he stole books on turtle anatomy, he did hours and hours of research to be the best medic he could be. He slept in fifteen-minute increments, often in a chair, often while the other three were sleeping as well.

And the battleshell didn’t come off.

And it was fine.

He could do this for them.

Leo and Raph’s injuries were – extensive to say the least. On top of it all, Leo was the worst kind of patient, constantly asking questions and trying to move when he was told very clearly to sit down and shut up. At least Raph could listen.

“For the last time, you’re both on bedrest. And believe it or not,” he glared at Leo, who didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. “Bedrest does not include making cereal.”

“It’s all we have in the house,” Raph whispered, holding an icepack up to his eye. It was a constant task, keeping enough ice on hand in the house. Donnie wasn’t sure if his eye was actually burning still, or if it was more of a comforting thing at this point. It didn’t really matter.

“What are you-?” Donnie sputtered. “I’m not upset about the cereal, I’m upset that you got up at all! If you want cereal, I will make it!”

“I don’t want to bother-” Raph started.

“I don’t want to hear it!” Donnie snapped, flinching at the downcast look that took over Raph’s face. Leo frowned, tilted his head in a silent accusation.

Donnie sighed. He placed a hand on the snapper’s arm. “Focus on getting better. Let me take care of everything else, you big lug.”

Raph immediately brightened, and pulled Donnie into a hug.

Donnie, who would normally hiss and complain if handled like that, went deathly silent as waves of pain crashed through his shell.

“You alright, Donald?” Leo asked, immediately sensing that something wasn’t right.

“I’m fine, Nardo.” He ducked out of Raph’s hold, and put on a smile that he knew wasn’t fooling anyone. “Get some rest, boys.”

________

Mikey’s hands had extensive burns, all the way up to his elbows. He needed a reapplication of aloe and new bandages at least four times a day, so Donnie had to make multiple runs for supplies in the middle of the night.

“Where are you getting these from?” Mikey softly asked, pointing at the pink bandages Donnie brought to his bedside on the third night.

“Pharmacies,” Donnie replied truthfully, finishing up and taping the edge of the bandage down.

Mikey squinted. “How are you getting these?”

“What do you mean ‘how’?”

“You’re just walking in?”

“Michael!” Donnie gasped, placing an offended hand over his own chest. “I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating. I’m getting these supplies like everyone else in New York is getting supplies!”

“Which is?”

“By throwing a rock through a Walgreens window and grabbing them.”

“DONNIE!”

“Michealangelo, you must rest.” Donnie gathered up the bandages, smiling softly as Mikey laughed. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“What about you?” Mikey asked. Donnie looked up to see Mikey staring directly at him. “You haven’t slept in a while.”

“I’m good,” Donnie shrugged. “I’ve got a lot to work on.”

“Please?” Mikey asked. He scooted himself to the edge of the makeshift medical bed. “Just rest for a bit.”

Donnie blew heavily through his nose, knowing that he already lost the battle. He couldn’t say no to Mikey. And a bit of rest might actually do him some good. He had been feeling warm all day, and the stinging in his shell had gotten so much worse from when Raph had hugged him.

“Fine,” he huffed. “But only for a few hours.”

He crawled into bed next to Mikey, sitting up just a bit so he could set an alarm clock on his wrist pad.

“Aren’t you going to take off your battleshell?” Mikey mumbled, already halfway asleep.

Donnie didn’t reply, instead choosing to lay his head down and close his eyes.

He would just be out for a few hours – then he needed to get back to work.

__________

When Donnie awoke, he was on the floor.

“Donnie?” he heard Mikey mumble. “Donnie are you okay?”

The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, Donnie realized distantly.

His body felt – bruised, as if it had just went through something horrible. He tried to stand up, but his right leg quickly gave out, and he collapsed once more.

“Donnie?” Mikey was more panicked now. “What’s going on?”

He – He didn’t know. Something was wrong. His voice wasn’t working. He was so hot. He held a hand up to his forehead, realizing that he was sweating profusely.

“Mikey – I think I-” Donnie’s leg kicked out, and he collapsed completely. There was a moment of quiet, and he started to convulse on the floor.

The last thing he heard was Mikey screaming for help, and Leo bursting into the room.

That asshole. He was supposed to be on bedrest.

_________

Donnie came to slowly. The clock on the counter read 4:16, but he wasn’t sure if it was morning or night. He saw his battleshell resting on a chair. The dried blood on the edges made Donnie want to go right back to bed, but he continued looking around the room. Raph was curled into a chair by the door, icepack still in hand. Mikey was in a chair by his bed, one arm draped over Donnie, snoring softly. He woke as soon as Donnie started to stir.

“Donnie!” Mikey gasped, “Oh my gosh, we were so worried!”

Donnie brought an exhausted hand up to Mikey’s head, patting him softly.

Leo, unfortunately, was not asleep. He was standing in the center of the room, staring right at him.

“Good morning?” Donnie croaked. His throat felt like sandpaper. Leo silently grabbed a water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to his twin. He drank half of it. “What’s the verdict?” he drawled.

Leo held out his hand and started to count on his fingers. “Multiple open wounds, all pus-filled, all showing signs of advanced infection. A fever of 104 degrees. Large second-degree burns all over your body. Evidence of cranial swelling. Irregular heartbeat. Three seizures so far.” Leo dropped his hands to his sides. “I’ve run out of fingers.”

Donnie said nothing, dipping his head slightly and waiting for the yelling to commence. If he was Leo, he would be furious. He would be screaming. He would be smacking people upside the head.

Instead - there was nothing.

He looked back up, cringing when he saw Leo silently crying.

“We almost lost you, Donnie.” Raph’s quiet voice cut through the room as he slowly got up. “We all almost lost you.”

Donnie said nothing, not trusting his voice to speak.

The room was silent once more.

“We can’t keep doing this, Donatello,” Leo finally choked out. His shoulders dropped, and he shook his head side-to-side. “Our family can’t take much more of this.”

“Oh, you’re one to talk!” Donnie snapped, ignoring the way Mikey squeezed him in response.

“I know!” Leo whispered. He walked over with Raph, finding a seat near Donnie’s bedside. “I know.”

Donnie squeezed his eyes shut, not expecting that honest of a response. He felt Raph wrap a large arm around his shoulders, and Leo reached out to grab his hand.

Tears fell from his eyes as the Hamato boys gathered together, and simply tried to hold on.

__________________________________________________

At the end of the day, Donnie understood that he had no one to blame but himself.

When he stood in front of the mirror (and he very rarely did), every scar on his back was because of him.

He was the one who had foolishly crawled under Raph when they were children.

He was the one who had turned his back on the squid yokai.

He was the one who took control of the Krang ship, and ignored the injuries until they were too much to bear.

He was the one who wasn’t quick enough to avoid the blow from Shredder, Big Mama, Draxum, Meat Sweats, –the list goes on and on.

Every scar on his back was a reminder of a time in his life that he failed. And he was sick of looking at them.

After the stint with the Krang, his shell was severely infected. The wounds on his back were in need of constant medication and bandages, just to keep the infection under control. As soon as Donnie was able to walk, Leo had declared a strict “No Battleshells Policy” for the entire lair. Mikey even made a sign, a drawing of Donnie’s battleshell, with a giant red “X” painted over it. The weight of the battleshell would make things worse, and would prevent him from monitoring the soft shell’s healing.

When Donnie complained that the policy only had consequences for him, Leo changed it to a “No Battleshells and No Hawaiian Pizza” policy. Raph and Mikey had nodded sagely at the change, declaring it to be only fair. A picture of a pizza was added to the sign the following day, and Donnie knew the battle was lost. The rest of his family was almost as stubborn as he was.

“How much longer?” Donnie’s muffled voice asked. He was facedown in a beanbag, with Leo kneeling on the ground beside him. Raph and Mikey were sprawled over the other couch, absentmindedly flicking through the channels.

Leo sighed. It had been a little over a month since Donnie had collapsed in the middle of the night. The echoes of Mikey’s screams that night had played in his head on a loop since then. He dreamed more of the moment when he took off the battleshell from his fallen brother then he did of the Krang invasion. Not a day went by when he didn’t have flashbacks of Donnie seizing in his arms, of a silently crying Raph picking Donnie up, looking much, much older than he actually was.

“Leo?” Donnie asked again. He tilted his head to look at his twin. “I asked how much longer.”

Leo shook his head, pointlessly trying to shake away memories. Four of the of the wounds were already dressed. One more to get through. He peeled the bandage off, noting with satisfaction that all that came up was dried blood. There was no puss, no infection, nothing out of the ordinary.

“It looks good, man. It really does.” Leo placed a new bandage, not even bothering to add gauze. “A week more? Maybe?”

Donnie immediately placed his head back down in the beanbag, groaning.

“That’s great, Donnie!” Raph piped up. The whites of one of his eyes had been permanently dyed pink, courtesy of the Krang, but it shined nonetheless. “You’ll be back in fighting shape soon enough!”

Donnie waited until Leo had finished taping the bandage down before he rolled over. He shot Leo a small smile, which Leo knew to take as thanks.

“It’ll be weird seeing you with a battleshell again,” Mikey yawned, stretching his hands above his hands. Thin white scars danced up his arms, reminding Donnie of shattered glass. “I’ve gotten used to you like this.”

“I haven’t,” Donnie spat. Three pairs of eyes were on him before he could even attempt to cover that admission up with a joke.

“What do you mean, Donnie?” Raph asked gently, his anxious hands settling in his lap. He had his “Let’s Talk” voice, which Donnie had been on the receiving end of more than he cared to admit these last few weeks. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mikey pulling on a turtleneck. Which meant Doctor Feelings was not far behind.

Donnie pushed himself up and out of the beanbag. He –

He couldn’t do this right now.

He knew they meant well. He just-

He had had enough heart-to-hearts to last him a lifetime. He had seen his brothers cry way more than he should have ever had to. He couldn’t do this again.

“Nothing, you big babies. I just mean I haven’t gotten used to seeing me without my battleshell. I used to wear it constantly.” He kept his voice nonchalant, walking over to Mikey. They didn’t need to know that he felt like half of the turtle he used to be. He used one hand to pull the turtleneck off of the box shell, holding it up high so Mikey couldn’t reach. They didn’t need to know that he was afraid of reflections, that he felt like a burden, that he was absolutely positive that his brothers would be better off without him.

Mikey immediately began complaining and jumping to reach his turtleneck, causing Raph to get up to take the sweater from Donnie.

Donnie dramatically protested, but gave up without much of a fight, laughing at Mikey’s squeal of happiness when the clothing was returned.

He turned to Leo, planning on throwing a well-timed barb to bring his twin into the chaos. But when he turned, the look on Leo’s face told him that he hadn’t been able to fool him at all.

Leo opened his mouth, more than likely to call Donnie on his bullshit, but was cut off by the lair’s alarm.

Donnie quickly dropped his eyes to his wrist-pad, pulling up reports.

“It’s Hypno.”

“He survived the Krang?” Raph asked, almost surprised.

“He must have.” Donnie tapped a few more buttons, pulling up a map. “He’s at the Statue of Liberty,” Donnie rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

“Let’s get going y’all!” Mikey yelled, already running to the tank, Raph close behind.

Donnie turned to join them, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Leo-,” Donnie all but growled, “I’m not doing this now.”

“I’m not going to stop you,” the slider promised, and when did his brother get so calm? “Are you sure you’re ready? Without your shell?”

And there was a part of Donnie, a small, small part, that wanted to answer No, I don’t think I am, I don’t think I ever will be.

And Leo, able to read his twin like a book, asked one more question.

“You know you’ve got nothing to prove, right Donnie?”

Donnie just laughed, and it came out sounding a bit like a sob. He turned and ran toward the tank, Tech-Bō in hand. He heard Leo’s footsteps following closely behind, and he knew that this conversation wasn’t over.

__________

Hypno was –

Hypno was definitely attacking. Why he was attacking, and what his actual plan was –that was still to be discovered.

He seemed to be just sending random bursts of mystic energy at anything that moved. Cars and storefronts alike were exploding in bursts of purple and green. And a maniacal hippo was laughing hysterically at the center of it all.

“Humans have evacuated,” Donnie called out as they pulled up to the wreckage.

“That’s good,” Leo mumbled as he looked out of the tank’s window. “Is he – is he crying?” He pointed at Hypno. “Is our evil villain crying?”

“I don’t see Warren Stone anywhere.” Mikey whispered.

“Where did you get another turtleneck??” Donnie sputtered in the background.

“This may be a case of a broken heart,” Mikey continued, ignoring his older brother and pulling up his sweater. Leo and Raph howled with laugher in the background. “There might be trouble in this here paradise.”

“Oh my god,” Donnie chuckled, and turned his eyes back to issue at hand. Raph drove the tank closer, and Donnie saw as Hypno took notice of them.

“Oh, he definitely is crying,” Raph mumbled. “Poor guy.”

“Let me handle this, boys,” Donnie drawled as they pulled to a stop. He stepped out of the tank, waving off Leo’s protests. He could handle it. He needed to handle it. If he couldn’t handle an emotional Hypno, what was even the point of him?

“Hypno!” he yelled, leaning on his Tech-Bō. “I know of at least two turtles who would be willing to talk this out with you!” He pointed back toward the tank. “One of them has even got an outfit on already!”

Hypno took a threatening step toward them, and Donnie distantly wondered if he should be concerned.

The hippo held out a hand, and Donnie felt a wave of mystic energy thunder by him. He may have been needing to prove something today, but he wasn’t an idiot. He turned around to wave the other three out of the tank, when Hypno –

Hypno closed his hand into a fist.

And the tank crumpled.

Another wave of mystic energy, and the tank sailed through the air, landing in New York’s Upper Bay.

Donnie’s feet were moving before he was fully aware of the fact. He was running faster than he ever had, completely ignoring the laughter of Hypno behind him.

His brothers –

His brothers were in that tank.

And it was sinking.

There were no portals forming in the sky, bringing his brothers to safety. He didn’t hear the hum of Raph’s Ninpo, punching his way out of the tank that was slowly sinking. He didn’t hear Mikey yelling for help at all.

They must be unconscious, his brain supplied, as he reached the edge of the bay and dived in.

The water silenced the chaos of the city. The only noise was the beating drum of his heart as he swam desperately toward the still sinking tank.

He needed to get inside.

He had lifejackets on the tank, he just needed to attach them to his brothers.

He had also built in a disassemble protocol for instances just like this. A few clicks, and the tank would fall to pieces.

I just need to – Donnie kicked his legs furiously, ignoring the burning in his lungs. The tank was falling quicker than he could swim. He wouldn’t come back up without them. He wouldn’t. Not after all this.

There was a thud, and a cloud of dirt billowed out. They were at the bottom. One last pull, one last kick, and Donnie was there. He grabbed on to the side of the tank, pulling at the door. It was stuck. A panicked scream bubbled up in his throat, which was quickly swallowed down.

He swam over to the tank’s windshield, thanking whoever was listening that it had been broken in the attack. He dove through the window headfirst, grabbing the tank dashboard to try and pull himself through.

He didn’t quite make it. The tank’s window was small, reinforced by steel bars. He was caught at the widest point of his shell, halfway into the tank. Black dots swarmed Donnie’s vision as he thrashed, unable to move further.

His hands started to droop, and his legs stopped kicking.

He wouldn’t come back up without them. He wouldn’t come back up at all.

He opened his eyes one last time, and saw –

Donnie saw his brothers. Floating in the water, completely unconscious.

In the tank’s emergency lights, Donnie saw blood trickling out of Leo’s mouth.

And this time Donnie did scream, an angry yell that only came out as bubbles.

Not them. He wouldn’t lose them. He couldn’t lose them. He grabbed the tank’s dashboard one final time, and pulled with everything he had. He felt the edges of his shell slowly bend inwards as Donnie pushed himself through the window. With a final kick, he forced his way inside, frantically swimming toward the center control panel.

His vision was almost completely gone, and the burning in his lungs was excruciating. He opened up a glass case on the panel, and slammed a red button inside. Mechanized life jackets, much like the escape pods, flew out, attaching themselves to Leo, Mikey, Raph, and himself.

He couldn’t feel his fingers anymore. He couldn’t feel his legs.

Donnie forced his eyes to stay open, desperately punching in the passcode for the tank disassembly.

Hold on, he begged. Hold on. And he wasn’t even sure what he was begging for. For his brother’s lives, for his own, for just a little more time, for anything.

A green light flashed in Donnie’s face, and the tank fell apart right as Donnie blacked out.

_________

For the second time in his life, Donnie regained consciousness while spitting up water.

He was face down in the grass, and extremely, extremely confused.

“Donnie! Oh, thank god!” Weakly, Donnie lifted his head to see his three brothers, all sprawled out on the grass as well.

Mikey was throwing up into the grass, and the pale face of Leo told Donnie that he had recently done the same. Raph was the only one sitting up.

They were alive. Donnie scrambled to his feet.

“What-? How did we-?

“I woke up in the middle of the bay, also throwing up water,” Raph explained, picking seaweed out of the spikes of his shell. “You three were out like lights.”

Donnie felt his eyes well up, and his hands started to shake. They had been so close. He had been so close to losing them.

“Did you carry us back?” Mikey asked weakly, and Raph nodded in response.

“But Donnie was the one who got us out!” Raph smiled. “We would’ve still been at the bottom!”

“Donnie?” Leo called softly. “Hey, are you alright?”

No, Donnie thought. No, I am not. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it, instead, he tackled his three idiots, choking back sobs. He felt his brother’s arms wrap around him, heard the soft murmuring of Leo and Mikey, but he couldn’t stop shaking. He rested his head against Raph’s plastron, sighing when Raph leaned his head on top of his.

“Donnie?” Leo called. “Your shell. It’s bruised around the edges. Cut up a bit.”

And Donnie just laughed, and pulled his brothers in tighter, beyond thankful for the soft shell on his back.

__________________________________________________

This is a complete work! I really hope you enjoyed. It is on AO3 if you’re interested. <3

#rottmnt #rottmnt fic #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles fic #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise!tmnt #rise donatello #rise raphael #rise tmnt #rise michelangelo #rise leo

151 notes · View notes

zinzabee · 1 year

Note

How do Leo, Donnie, and Mikey feel exactly towards Sharron?

Okay, firstly, I am SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER OMG T~T ...This is such a great question I wanted to make sure I drew stuff for it to go with the explanations. But I never got around to like, cleaning up the sketches I did to look nice and clean, and I got buried in so much other stuff that I dont think I'll ever get around to it. So I'm just gonna include the raw sketches, I'm so sorry! ;n;

LEO

Leo has a lot of respect and admiration for Sharron, and this comes from the fact that the first time they met, she literally gave him and Mikey (who were two complete stranger to her at the time) her mother's cloaking necklace in order for them to save Raph & Donnie. That kind of trust and good-hearted nature made Leo come to like Ronnie right off the bat. This...however, also meant that he was a little too eager to play matchmaker for her and Raph when they started hanging out more. But once Raph put his foot down, Leo backed off, and he and Sharron became great friends.

As he often does with the people he cares about, Leo likes to tease Sharron a lot and will take any opportunity he can to pull silly little pranks on her, just because of the fact that she's gullible enough to fall for them. She takes them in good stride though, and will get him back at a ratio of...probably 5:1 I'd say. One of Leo's favorite things to do is call her "Sherry" when she least expects it, because she tends to have a knee-jerk reaction to the nickname. She absolutely hates it, and he knows that. She would never actually hurt him over it, but she does fake out punches or push him over or light heartedly threaten him every time he does it.

DONNIE

Unlike the rest of the brothers, who came to like Sharron right away, Donnie took some time getting used to her. Not to say he hated her or anything, but meeting someone new and having a change in atmosphere with her around took time for Donnie to get comfortable with. He wasn't instant buddy-buddy with her like the other were, and Sharron didn't take it personally.

Eventually, once Donnie did warm up to her, they formed their own unique relationship. Since Sharron lives down in the Hidden City, he'll ask her to be his guide when he wants to sneak down and buy up merchandise he can only acquire there. She enjoyed showing him around and keeping him company while running errands. Sometimes they even get lunch. (Dee reminds her a lot of her own younger brother, Trevor, who's also a big geek interested in STEM.) Additionally, Donnie will often ask Sharron to "test" some of his new equipment as he upgrades it. Sharron has teeth, claws, and high animal instinct, so getting her to demolish a prototype in order to test durability is very helpful.

MIKEY

Out of the three, its safe to say that Mikey is the one who bonded with Sharron the quickest. Mikey was also there when Sharron gave them the necklace at first meeting, so he instantly liked and trusted her, same as Leo did. When he found out that she was into sewing & music as hobbies, he begged her to do collabs with him, which she was more than happy to agree to.

Sharron works a full time job in the Hidden City, so their projects aren't anything too elaborate. It's all for fun and the joy of creative process rather than rushing to finish. Everyone loves when Sharron bring her guitar when she visits the lair, but Mikey especially loves performing with her, freestyling lyrics while they dance around together. Mikey also treats Sharron in a similar manner that he treats Raph; in that he likes to climb on her back or cling to her in scary situations. While Ronnie doesn't normally like to manhandle others normally (out of common courtesy, of course), once Mikey gives her permission to, she is more likely to be seen throwing him over her shoulder to carry him, or picking him up by his shell and whatnot. She doesn't do this with the others though, only Mikey, because he told her she could.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt oc #rottmnt yokai #yokai oc #sharron tatopoulos #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt michelangelo #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donatello #rottmnt leo #rottmnt leonardo #rottmnt doodles #doodles #traditional #asks #thank you for this ask btw!#dinomight duo

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yellowhollyhock · 2 months

Text

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

Where's the Honor in Secrets

defense is the best offense, and boy, this family's got defensive down to an art

Raph took deep slow breaths, quietly. His face was calm. The storm inside was invisible to any but him. He was a machine, ready for any possible type of attack, knowing his opponent was creative, quick, and absolutely ruthless.

Finally, Mikey placed down a card.

"Uno," Raph blurted out so fast it felt more like an instinctive grunt than a word. Mikey was far too content as he drew two cards; he'd placed a draw four, and was completely unconcerned about saying Uno first.

Raph was starting to suspect he was playing more to make the game last than to win.

"What color?" he grumbled as he picked up four more cards.

Mikey tapped his cards against his chin, almost chewing on them "Hmm..."

"Oh, come on! You only have three cards. How hard can it be to pick a color from your hand?"

"There are only four colors," Mikey countered. "I could have three different ones. Besides, the really important thing is to pick a color you don't have."

Raph held up his hand of fourteen cards and gave Mikey a look. Mikey shrugged in acknowledgement.

"Yellow."

Raph placed down a yellow skip, then a yellow five, then quickly jumped in on himself with a matching yellow five.

Mikey placed a yellow seven and slapped it without missing a beat. That was part of why he was winning by so much; they apparently had all kinds of house rules piled on top of the classic ones Raph was used to.

Being the last to slap a seven meant he had to draw a card.

Thankfully, he picked up a draw two. Unfortunately, it was the wrong color, but he could fix that pretty quickly.

He placed a red seven. Mikey slapped it. He sighed and drew another card.

Mikey was down to two again. He had to pay attention and be quick. Chances were good his last card was a wild, based on the way he'd been playing and the lack of wilds in Raph's eleven card hand.

Mikey placed down a red zero. He leaned back with an easy smile, smirking at Raph.

Oh, this guy. They both knew he could win. Why wouldn't he go for it? Why was he toying with him?

"Uno."

"First to speak after a zero is played draws three cards."

Raph's jaw dropped. He'd been doing so well at keeping that rule, but with Mikey so close to winning he'd forgotten about it.

Mikey drew two cards. Raph drew three cards.

"Have you ever heard that the best defense is a good offense?" he asked. Maybe if he made conversation, he could get into Mikey's head a bit, turn the game around.

"I've heard a lot of things," Mikey sat up his full height--which Raph still looked way down on--a sly smile sparking in his eyes. "What I have found to actually be true in battle is that the best offense is a good defense."

Raph shook his head; Mikey was just talking to talk. He knew this game. And he wouldn't forget the rules, either.

He knew his brothers.

"You could've won at least six times by now. Keeping my hand higher than yours is a great strategy to start, but you'll never finish with it. Sooner or later you need your cards gone."

He played a red skip, then his red draw two, smirking.

Mikey played a blue draw two.

How could he be that lucky with only three cards?

Raph played a yellow draw two. No way Mikey had a second.

Mikey drew six cards, not appearing phased in the least.

Now he only had three less cards than Raph.

"I could win any time. You know it, and I know it. Now you also know that I have the patience to keep you fighting for it. Luck might turn around--"

He played a yellow seven. Raph moved to slap it, but Mikey was faster.

"But you'll still know I can hang on for as long as it takes. Forget about offense, Raph; patience is the best defense."

He drew a card, and then placed down a yellow zero.

Mikey raised an eyebrow. Skip. Blue skip. Blue six.

Blue--in spite of holding eleven, Raph only had a two blue cards. He was trying to remember any special rules.

Nines meant something, but what?

He played a three.

Mikey played a two and then jumped in on himself with another. He was down to two cards again.

Raph could either change the color, and risk not being able to get rid of his last blue card, or play a nine without knowing how many it meant he'd have to draw when he didn't keep whatever rule he'd be breaking.

His heart hammered. He was barely staying in the game; he had to be smart about this.

He knew, really, that Mikey was just keeping him busy, trying to distract him from the oppressive quiet. The other Raph wasn't around; Donnie was working; Master Splinter was meditating. Leo may be the only one physically absent, but he and Mikey were alone.

He wondered what Mikey would be doing if he weren't here.

He played a blue nine. Mikey stared.

They looked between each other and the card, in silence, for what felt like forever.

Mikey finally cleared his throat. "Youngest draws a card when nines are played."

Raph grinned triumphantly. Mikey finally had to draw more cards than him.

Of course, he was still losing, but that was beside the point.

"I still say it's an unfair rule," he protested in spite of his victory. It was just the two of them playing, so it clearly gave him a disadvantage.

Mikey gave him a somewhat rueful smile. "Hey, I said so too when they first made it up, but you know how it is. It was three against one."

"That's messed up."

"Aw, c'mon," Mikey's crooked grin widened into something warmer, "You telling me you wouldn't do the same thing to your Mikey?"

Raph fought a smirk.

"I mean," Mikey blurted suddenly, probably misinterpreting Raph's expression, "If your Mikey is the youngest. I don't know how that works in the multiverse since we're all technically probably the same age."

"Mikey's the youngest," Raph assured him, "And if Leo and Donnie agreed, I'd definitely do that to him."

"I have never understood the mechanics of this game," a voice at Raph's elbow made him jump. "But it is always a joy to watch you play."

"Hey, Master Splinter," Mikey beamed. "Pull up a chair, I'll deal you in."

"Would that not put me at an unfair advantage?"

"More like an unfair disadvantage," Raph explained, "You're trying to get rid of cards."

"Give him half your deck," Mikey suggested. "Then we'd pretty much be even."

Raph scowled at Mikey's irritatingly deserved arrogance, but he wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to cut his hand in half. He fanned out his cards and held them up to Master Splinter. "Pick five."

Splinter cleanly took the five on the left, and play resumed.

It went so fast--Mikey, Splinter, Splinter, Mikey--they were slapping a seven. Raph drew a card--what color now? When had it changed to green? He placed down a skip, and then a reverse. Shouldn't Mikey be winning by now? When had he drawn cards?

Master Splinter jumped in with a green reverse. He was down to two cards, and Raph somehow still had five. He played a blue reverse.

Wait--did Mikey have more cards than Splinter?

"Uno," Splinter had played a wild before Raph knew what was happening. "Yellow."

Mikey played a yellow nine. Splinter jumped in with a matching card, securing his victory.

Raph threw his cards down, acting more put out than he really was. "You made me think you didn't know the game!"

"He does that," Donnie announced his presence, sliding into the seat next to Raph. "Remember the first time Casey played Poker with him?"

"The first and the last," Master Splinter said serenely.

Mikey and Donnie chuckled.

Raph looked between them, trying to keep up. The only Casey he knew was-- "Casey Jones? He's friends with you guys?"

The three of them stared at him. Mikey looked downright scandalized.

"What kind of question--"

Donnie nudged him, shaking his head. "Yeah, he's Raph's friend, and him and April are close." He paused, seeming uncertain how to phrase his next question. "Do you? Know Casey Jones?" a kind smile softened the inquiry.

Raph shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, we, uh, just met him."

Donnie snorted.

"Oh," Mikey leaned back in hai chair, "That makes sense. He doesn't always make the greatest first impression. But you gotta give him a chance, bro, he's like, your only friend."

"Mikey!" Donnie scolded.

"Besides your brothers, obviously. And April. So yeah, your only friend who isn't family. Wait, unless April--anyway, you gotta give him a chance."

Raph nodded uncertainly, thinking over the comment. None of them exactly had a lot of opportunities to make friends. Would he consider Vernon a friend? The guy was a bit of a jerk with an over-inflated ego, but he had been willing to help them, and they'd survived a lot together.

Anyway, he doubted Vernon considered them friends. To him, they were April's freaks, the thing he hoped she didn't bring up whenever he got a phone call from her.

Their only chance of ever being accepted was that purple ooze of Donnie's.

Raph didn't want to think about that.

"Where is the other guy, anyway?"

"Other guy?" Mikey sounded amused.

"You know," he inclined his head towards the bedrooms, feeling awkward about saying his name. "I thought he'd come out after you got off the phone."

Donnie pursed his lips. "Hm."

There was a heavy silence.

Donnie broke it with a soft sigh, pushing his chair back. "I'll get him."

"Dude," Mikey gave him a look.

"If no one nags he doesn't do anything," Donnie dismissed the unspoken reprimand. "It's not good for him to be alone in his dark room all day."

"You mean like you're alone in a dark house all day," Mikey mumbled.

"What was that?" Donnie asked sharply. Raph tensed; he hadn't heard the two of them angry with each other up to this point.

"You're poking the beast, dude," Mikey said as if exchange hadn't occurred, all traces of bitterness gone. "Just let him sleep."

"I'm trying to take care of him." The words carried a subtle accusation that Mikey and Splinter obviously didn't miss, from the way the temperature dropped.

It shouldn't fall on any if his brothers to take care of Raph.

Donnie turned his back on the group to retrieve his remaining brother. Mikey very deliberately avoided looking at Master Splinter, frowning heavily at the Uno game still sitting on the table.

"Raphael is going through a difficult time," Splinter's tone was remarkably level in spite everything, as if he actually hadn't heard his son's implied plea for their father to intervene with their wayward brother. "He has taken a dark path, but if we remain patient and open, he will find his way home."

"Like Leo?" Raph blurted, and immediately regretted it.

Splinter only gave him a tired smile, but Mikey's face crumpled like a napkin.

He grabbed Uno, clearly giving himself an excuse to leave the table. "I'm ordering pizza," he announced. "Everyone cross your fingers it doesn't accidentally get dropped off in the wrong dimension."

He shouldn't have asked about his alternate; now he wasn't' sure when or how he'd bring up what he really wanted to ask Donnie, which was whether he'd made any progress figuring out how Raph even got here.

Well, at least he was getting free pizza out of the deal.

And, slowly, he was starting to piece together the irresistible mystery of a family even more broken than his own.

#tmnt #tmnt bayverse #tmnt 2007 #bayverse raph #2007 mikey #yellow writes #uno

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