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imagionationstation · 12 days ago

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I have an idea: what would have happened if Donnie got mind controlled instead of Raph in that one scene in Clash Of The Mutanimals?

“That one scene”

See, my first thought was to do an analysis but then I realized that an analysis on a scene that I could very easily rewrite to answer what is very clearly a prompt (and I will accept it as nothing else) would be less fun. And, I mean, you can’t start in the middle of the story.

You gotta flip back a few pages to get the better picture.

So you get two scenes!!

When Donnie wakes up, his thoughts are sluggish.

Everything blends into one another, hazing his world as he brings a hand to his face. He smashes it against skin, trying to wake up his brain. He’s on his knees. He’s on his knees in a- he opens his eyes, giving the room a lost look- a red room?

“…Where… Am I?” He rubs again, frustrated by the lack of compliance, trying to remember how he got here or why there’s a little fluttering sound from somewhere behind him-

Something thuds, quietly. He drops his hand, looking towards it.

His eyes widen. Shredder puts on his helmet.

“Your new home, mutant.”

Nope, nope, nope, nope to that-

Donnie scrambles to his feet, turning around-

Tiger Claw is there, blade held up to his plastron.

Donnie’s bo finds its way to his hands, knocking it away as he steps back. It’s a long range weapon, awful in close quarters- but now he’s closer to Shredder.

His eyes immediately go up to scan the room, looking for another exit plan-

“Drop the staff.”

Donnie does. Then he panics, going for it-

“Leave it.”

His muscles lock up. He wants to reach for it but he doesn’t. He can’t move. He can’t get so much of a twitch out of his fingers, hand beginning to shake from the strain. He can’t reach it he can’t pick it up why can’t he reach it-

He can’t reach it and Shredder’s behind him- he’sbehindhim- and goosebumps smear down his skin with his presence- it’s not working- so Donnie aborts.

Donnie abandons his staff and goes for the kunai in his belt, spinning around and going for the neck-

“Stop.”

Donnie stops. He stops the whole motion, dropping any pretense of continuing so he can step back and gasp, “What did you do to me?”

Shredder looks at Stockman, “None of the others had these results.”

“No.” Stockman agrees. Donnie’s head hurts, a dizzying kind of pain as tries to remember how he got here. Who are these others? Where are his brothers? What happened to his brothers? “We had the psychic within the second command.”

Psychic?! April?!

Shredder looks at him. The intense feeling of vulnerability returns under his stare and his eyes dart to the door across the room.

“Come to me.”

Oh no-

Donnie does, pain blossoming with every step that he fights. So he stops fighting, legs stopping him right in front of the horror of many nightmares, and he whispers, “What did you do to me?”

“I changed your alliance.” He responds cooly. “Your loyalties belong to me now.”

His heart pulsates. Pinprick eyes narrow. “No.”

“Yes.” He leans closer. “Bow to me.”

His muscles lock again, only this time, it’s his intention. He refuses to get down, refuses to bow before another master- no matter how hot the fire in his brain is, no matter how much it hurts- he won’t make him he can’t make him he’s stronger than-

“Bow.” Shredder booms as his voice darkens. “Now.”

The fire explodes, raining down on everything. He wants to scream.

Silently, swiftly, he falls to his knees, head bowed low.

“Good.” Shredder says. “Look at me.”

He looks up, eyes a soulless white.

“Grab your weapon.” Shredder releases the blades of his gauntlet as he stands. “And attack me.”

Leo is all too relieved to find Donnie alive.

When Leatherhead breaks through the gate, his younger brother has positioned himself on one of the statues. He isn’t bothered by the crash, continuing to fire one of Tiger Claw’s weapons at Shredder. Admist them, he throws down a smoke bomb.

It lands under his feet, exploding and sending him into his back.

Donnie pounces with Raph and Mikey’s overjoyed cries, “Woah, Donnie!” “Go Dee!” but Leo notices how he lands on the armor, how a gauntlet blade slices against his ankle and he doesn’t even react.

He’s never seen him that- focused before.

That doesn’t matter now, because Donnie has the gun pointed at the flesh of his face and he’s not firing, “Donnie! Do it! End this!”

Donnie doesn’t move or even react to his voice, and their brothers look to Leo as their leader scans for any other threats, anything that might be holding him back.

Raph bursts, “What is he waiting for?!”

Donnie turns, and he steps off, setting the ray in Shredder’s outstretched hand when he rises.

Shredder laughs.

Leo can’t take his eyes off his little brother.

“Donatello is mine now to control.”

The gate slams shut behind them. Leo’s heart pounds.

“As are your other mutant friends.”

The mutanimals come out of their respective places behind the statues. Raph’s worried voice calls, “Slash!”

Slash looks at Raph and he raises his mace. Leo reaches out a hand to the side, a means of comfort and a warning to stay still, as Tiger Claw preens, “No escape for you, reptiles.”

Shredder holds out the weapon to his second-in-command. Donnie pulls out his staff, unsheathing the blade.

“Donnie?” Mikey asks, a tremor in his voice.

Donnie doesn’t acknowledge it, moving beside Shredder.

“Now.” Shredder announces. “Let us welcome you properly.”

Leo doesn’t give him the chance. He bolts to the front of the group, launching himself at the monster that stole his little brother.

Shredder doesn’t move.

Donnie does.

He places himself as a boundary between Leo and Shredder, catching his katanas before they can hit. Leo has no choice but to throw himself away, snapping, “Donnie! Back off!” He reorients himself, hitting the ground. “Shredder’s the enemy!”

“My allegiance does not lie with you.” He responds simply. “Nor does my loyalty.”

Then Donnie’s crossing the distance, whirling his staff and throwing himself at Leo. Leo goes to meet him halfway, determined to knock him off his feet long enough to get through to him, startled by how different every move is.

There’s no hesitation to each blow, no extra care taken to prevent injury or calculation made to get the best outcome. He reacts every time, practically taking off Leo’s head and limbs more than once, only prevented by his quick reaction time. If he’s being perfectly honest with himself, he’s normally one step ahead, but now he can barely keep up. He’s forced to neglect their surroundings to focus on each blow, hoping that he can trust their brothers to handle their own.

Then his katanas are embedded in Donnie’s staff and Donnie’s knee is coming up to catch his chin. He stumbles, realizing too late that he left his blades behind.

Donnie tears them out and throws them out of reach.

Leo knows he won’t last two seconds unarmed so he puts distance between them, getting to the top of one of the statues. Donnie doesn’t follow, watching from the ground, and Leo uses the breathing room to reach for his brother. “Donnie! This isn’t you! Think about it! You’ve got to break Shredder’s control!”

“I am thinking clearly.” His little brother’s voice in unnatural, bland and bored in tone. “And I do not align with you anymore.”

Leo points at the monster watching, baffled. “I’m your brother! That’s the Shredder!”

“I don’t care what you think.” Donnie plants his staff on the ground. “I do not follow you anymore, Leonardo. Accept it.”

“No.” Leo snarls as he throws one of the weapons embedded in the statue’s head, taking the trident with him. “Never.”

Donnie throws the first away, barely able to stop the trident with his bo. Leo presses down hard. Donnie’s expression changes and his eyes narrow, suddenly dropping the protective stance.

“Woah!” Leo’s blade almost crashes into his forehead, but he catches it before it scrapes skin. They stare at one another, frozen, and Donnie states, “There. A weakness.”

He brings his staff up, knocking the blade away from his face, and then takes off.

Obviously, Leo follows him, and watches as he throws himself into Leatherhead’s and Slash’s battle. He jumps in the way of the mace and Slash hits him without blinking. He goes flying, and Leo screams, “LEATHERHEAD!”

Leatherhead throws him. He reaches his brother, arms around him, taking the combined blow of them both slamming into the gate. Donnie doesn’t hesitate, spinning around to shove the throwing star in his hand into Leo’s shoulder.

Leo catches his wrist, hissing, “Donnie-”

Donnie elbows him in the gut and takes off.

He runs towards Rockwell and Raph as the psychic mutant tries to impale their brother with his own sais. Donnie jumps up as they fly through the air. Leo grabs his legs, dragging them back down before they can impale him.

Donnie swerves for him, staff coming down on his skull as they hit the ground, but Leo releases and rolls. Then he tackles his younger brother before he can try that idiocy again, trapping both arms against the ground, “Donnie! Stop this madness!”

Donnie grits his teeth, each thrashing movement more intense than the last. “No!”

“Yes!” He doesn’t let up. “You’re his puppet! Can’t you see that?”

“Let me go!”

“Snap out of it!”

“Leo, please!” He begs. “You’re hurting me!”

Leo’s world tilts the wrong way, panic searing straight from his heart and into his brain, apology on the tip of his tongue. But he swallows it because Donnie’s eyes do not match his tone, cold and hard in a way that can never rule or not define his passionate little brother.

“Are you-” It hits him. “-are you trying to manipulate me?”

Donnie raises an eye ridge, pausing in his struggle. “What took you so long?”

Leo’s chest burns. So that’s the play? Really? Fine.

“I can’t believe you.” Leo tears himself away, putting distance between them. He turns back to his brother as he spins his staff. “I can’t believe you would do that!”

Donnie moves a few steps. Leo refuses to follow, “You’ve been with Shredder all of five minutes and this is the monster he turns you into?”

A pause, “I am no different.”

“You bet you are.” He growls. “I thought better of you. But I should have known. Of course you can’t stop this! You’re not strong enough! I can’t believe you’d disappoint me like this.”

His stance falters. “What?”

Leo steps towards him, never breaking their gaze. “You heard me. You’re a disappointment, Donatello.”

The staff slips from his fingers. He pushes, “You want to stay here? By all means! Stay! I won’t waste any energy stopping you.”

There are tears in blank eyes. Leo turns away.

A final nail in the coffin, he shouts. “Have fun with your new clan. Today, you are no longer my brother!”

Leo runs. Donnie gasps, “Leo, wait-!”

He chokes and Leo spins around in an instant.

He’s by his side as he hits his knees, gagging the brainworm onto the ground. Leo stabs it as it squirms, setting his attention on his little brother, hands on shaking shoulders. “Donnie?”

“I’m sorry,” He whimpers, looking up, face streaked with tears. “I’m sorry I’m sorryI’msorryImsorry-”

“Nonono-“ Leo hugs him, tight, his little brother’s head on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I didn’t mean a single word I said- I swear, I didn’t.

“I couldn’t-“ His breath hitches. “I couldn’t stop-“

“I know.” He says gently. “I know I know- I went too far. I just wanted to snap you out of it and I wanted to get you back. You’re my brother, you never disappointed me, and I’d never leave without you. I wanted you back. I just wanted you back.”

Donnie pulls away, looking him in the eyes, desperation visible, “Really?”

“I promise.” Leo squeezes his arm. “I swear on my life.”

He swallows, breath hitching, brushing at his face.

Leo gets to his feet. “GUYS! GET THEM UPSET! FEELING SOMETHING SNAPS THEM OUT OF IT!”

“GOOD!” Raph calls back. “RIGHT UP MY ALLEY!”

Leo looks to Donnie. His younger brother exhales softly, brown eyes lingering uncomfortably on the brainworm.

He holds out his hand. Tired eyes look up.

“He’s not the only one.” Leo jokes, lightly. “Why don’t I make it up to you?”

He pulls his little brother to his feet.

“Oh yeah?”

He smirks. “Help me take down the Shredder?”

Determination sparks, lighting up his gaze, strengthening his stance.

“Let’s bash his face in.”

Leo’s never felt prouder.

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fabuloustrash05 · 6 months ago

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Looking back, so many TMNT 2012 side characters have really sad backstories.

Tiger Claw & Alopex were kidnapped by the Kraang when they were children, experimented on and when finally escaped they were runaways, first joining a circus then joined the criminal underworld as top level assassins, only for Alopex to then learn her own brother killed their parents (hiding the truth from her for years)

Leatherhead was a pet for a loving human boy but was flushed down the toilet when the kids parents found him. He was taken by the Kraang, experimented and tortured by them for years.

Fishface grew up in poverty, living on the streets and his only way to survive ever since he was a small child was to steal.

Dr Rockwell was betrayed by his long time friend and lab partner by getting mutated into a monkey and used as a test subject in his friends sick experiments on the mind.

Mondo Gecko was normal teen boy who love skateboarding and his pet gecko until one day a can of mutagen hit him and he was mutated, resulting in his own parents kicking him out of the house leaving him to fend for himself on the streets

And the list goes on…

#random thoughts #tmnt 2012 #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #leatherhead #mondo gecko #Alopex #tiger claw #dr rockwell

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skysiren41 · 6 months ago

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What if Raph stayed mind controlled for longer? (TMNT 2012 rewrite)

As much as I love TMNT 2012, one of the things I thought was disappointing was having Raph only be mind controlled by Shredder for one episode. I think there was a lot of potential to have one of the turtles temporarily be on the villians side (kinda like how in the IDW comics Leo was brainwashed into becoming part of the foot clan) so I thought 'what if Raph stayed brainwashed for longer?' And now I want to share my idea

(Buckle in folks)

Clash Of The Mutanimals

Clash of The Mutanimals would largely remain the same, Slash and Rockwell are used as test subjects by Stockman and are brainwashed by Shredder, they end up in the turtles lair where they seem fine, but the mind control worms activate, a fight starts and they end up capturing Raph and bring him to Shedder where he ends up being brainwashed as well

However the changes start at the climax of the episode, instead of Leo making Raph mad which causes him to spit out the mind control worm, it's instead Donnie who manages to break Rockwell free first by insulting him till he's angry enough to spit it out. A now freed Rockwell then uses his psychic powers to blast the worm out of Slash. However when he tries to do it to Raph, it doesn't work, even the Turtles can't make Raph angry like they did with Rockwell. This is when Shedder taunts the turtles during his brawl with them and Mutanimals by revealing that during the time he had send out Slash and Rockwell out as bait, Stockman was able to create a stronger brain worm specifically for one of the turtles. Not only did he want Karai on his side again, but have one of the brothers as well just to rub salt in the wound for Splinter and the turtles, which is why he specifically ordered Slash and Rockwell to bring one of the turtles to him. Eventually Slash and Leatherhead are able to push the statue on Shredder before a bunch of foot soldiers swarm the room with a still mind controlled Raph leading them. While the other turtles want to stay and save Raph, the Mutanimals (mainly Rockwell) tells them they have to retreat if they all don't want to be killed, and they reluctantly do so

Back at the lair we get the scene of Slash apologising to Splinter for not only hurting him, but also apologising for what happened to Raph, believing that it was his fault that he got captured. Splinter (though its clear that he's heartbroken over what happened) reassures Slash that what happened wasn't his or Rockwell's fault. At the very end Leo promises Splinter that he Mikey and Donnie will do everything they can to get Raph back

For the next episodes we see the heroes struggling with not only trying to find a alternative cure for the brain worms, but with the fact that one of their brothers/son/friends is gone and working for Shredder

Meet Mondo Gecko

Meet Mondo Gecko would for the most part be similar to the original, however we see how the characters are dealing with Raph's absence, with Mikey trying to distract himself in his shows, Donnie trying to find a cure for the mind control worms, and Leo endlessly training in order to basically kick Shredder's ass for what he did to Raph. Also during the race at the end, Fishface tries to taunt Mikey with bringing up what happened to Raph, how he and his brothers failed to save him and for a brief moment it works, but with the help of Mondo and Casey there able to finish the race

At the end of the episode we cut to Shredder's lair where we see him train with someone just as a defeated Fishface walks in. Fishface reveals to Shredder that the turtles haven't been the same since the loss of Raph (noting how angry Mikey got when he taught him about Raph) this pleases Shredder who says "how about we give them a much needed family reunion" before the camera pans to show not only a now brainwashed Karai, but a still brainwashed Raph in a new design that he will keep till The Fortold Trap

Think of the design as a mix of his Vision quest and Owari design but more Foot Clan themed. Also due to him loosing his Sai's during Clash of The Mutanimals (which Splinter now keeps close to him) He now uses the Shredder claws he used in that same episode as his main weapon

The Deadly Venom

Now this episode notably has a few changes, firstly the beginning of the episode is a flashback that took place before Meet Mondo Gecko, explaining what had happened with Karai and how she got brainwashed. In present day Shedder once again orders Karai to take down the turtles, Splinter, April and Casey, but this time she's joined by Raph who Shedder thinks they can use to find them easier (que the two acting like siblings). During the talk with Splinter and Leo at the start, Leo starts to open up about how he wishes that he wasn't so hard on Raph before he got brainwashed, thinking that if he didn't antagonise him as much as he did, then he would still be here. Splinter tries to comfort Leo by reassuring him that what happened to Raph wasn't his, Slash's or anyone else's fault, but it's clear after that Leo is still upset

With the help of Raph, Karai is able to find April's home where she uses her venom to poison her. When she fights Casey at first he has the upper hand, that is until Raph joins the fight and he hesitates, which Karai uses to her advantage to poison him as well. The turtles get an SOS from Casey, both Mikey and Leo go to investigate and they find Casey, but before they bring him back they are ambushed by Raph, both shocked with how diffrent he looks. They struggle during the fight, not only due to the training Raph had received from Shredder, but don't want to hurt him. During the fight however Mikey gets bitten by one of Karai's snakes, and Raph is able to capture him and Casey. Before he and Karai leave she demands Leo and Donnie to meet them both in the station or else they will kill Casey and Mikey, with no other choice Leo calls Donnie, explains the situation and the two adventure into the station while kirby and Splinter watch over a still poisoned April

The episode largely remains the same at this point with Leo and Donnie bring poisoned from the water, but Leo is able to heal himself with the Healing Hands and fights both karai and Raph, however at one point where Raph has Leo cornered and is a about to strike him but he hesitates, as if his trying to stop himself from hurting him, and Leo notices this. Back at the lair after the others are healed Leo reveals to the others what happened with Raph hesitating, and this gives the others hope that Raph is still in there

Mutanimals episode

ok so this is probably gonna be my biggest change, I'm gonna move Turtles in Time and Tale of The Yokai to take place after The Fortold Trap. In it's place would be an episode focusing on the mutanimals, mainly Slash. The episode would focus on Slash's guilt with what happened in Clash Of The Mutanimals, in his mind if he hadn't tried to ambush Tiger Claw at the docks, none of this wouldn't have happened and raph wouldn't have gotten brainwashed. Now I'm not gonna go into too much detail on this one cause I'm still trying to come up with ideas for it, but the main thing is that the episode would have a Mutanimals vs Raph and Karai fight that hints again of Raph trying to regain control from the mind control worm. If your interested in how the episode would go feel free to let me know

Attack Of The Mega Shredder

After finding out that Raph had hesitated in The Deadly Venom and the Mutanimals episode, Shedder has Stockman inject Raph with a serum in order to make the mind control worm inside him stronger. As he and karai watch, Shedder reassures her they they will both get their revenge (though we get hints that karai herself is starting to fight back against the mind control worm) he then orders Bebop and Rocksteady to double the security. Like in the orignal episode the other turtles try to break into Shredder's lair in order to save Raph and Karai as well as get one of the mind control worms, but they end up getting caught and have to retreat, with Donnie being to get his leg broken by Tigerclaw

Leo then tries to sneak into the lair alone but Mikey follows him and Leo eventually let's him join. Again the episode largely remains the same but during the climax while they try to stop the Mega Shredder, Leo and Karai have a one v one. Thoughout the episode Karai was slowly starting to fight back against the worms control, and eventually with the help of Leo reminding her who she is, she is able to spit out the brain worm, and now Karai is back on the heroes side and helps them defeat the Mega Shredder

They bring Karai back, we have a sweet reunion between her and Splinter, and she reveals that Shredder has infected Raph with the serum, making their job to find a cure more difficult. Leo then suggests to Karai that with Shredder being hell bent having her in his clutches, she should temporarily leave New York in order to not get captured again, which she does (explaining her absence for the rest of the season)

The Creeping Doom

This episode is basically the same as the orignal, just without Raph

The Fortold Trap

Here we are, the finale to this arc. The main difference with this episode is obviously instead of Karai, it's Raph who lures the team into a trap (also Casey is here) using his knowledge of his brothers, he lures each of them out into a trap. First Donnie, then Mikey, and finally Leo, Casey and April with the help of Shredder's mutants. When April tries to escape and Raph stops her, she pleades with him to snap out of it, but it falls on deaths ears as it's clear that what Stockman inject into Raph in Attack Of The Mega Shredder is working

He brings them into the trap rooms (with Casey being in the fire room) and while April continues to try and tell Raph to let go and snap out of it, he calls Splinter so he can witness the turtles, April and Casey's demise. With that Splinter basically goes "screw it" and goes to confront him and Shredder's mutants (bringing Raph's Sai's with him) After beating the mutants, we finally get a Raph vs Splinter fight, though its clear that he doesn't want to fight his own son. As the turtles and Casey each break out of their trap rooms with the help of April, Splinter begs Raph to fight back against Shredder's control, and eventually Raph briefly does for a moment. As he does before he can strike, Splinter and Leo together perform the Healing Hands on Raph. Raph stumbles and is about to fall into the rivulet before Donnie and Mikey catch him. And after a brief moment, he finally spits out the brain worm (which Leo quickly kills) he opened his eyes, they're back to normal and he mutters "what did I miss, guys?" With that the Turtles, Splinter, April and Casey group hug him, crying as they are happy to finally have him back. Raph begins profusely apologise for everything that happened, how he almost killed them but they reassure him that what happened wasn't his fault, and that they are just happy to finally have him back after so long. With that they head home, finally a full team and family again

On Turtles in Time and Tale of The Yokai, the episodes basically remain the same, they just take place after The Fortold Trap

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this rewrite and I thank you for listening to my ramblings! Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas and criticisms! And feel free to give suggestions on what I could rewrite next

#tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt fandom #tmnt 2012 raph #tmnt 2012 leo #tmnt 2012 donnie #tmnt 2012 mikey #tmnt 2012 au #tmnt 2012 april #tmnt 2012 casey jones #tmnt 2012 splinter #tmnt 2012 shredder #tmnt 2012 karai #nickelodeon #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 rewrite #tmnt rewrite

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theyhavetakenovermylife · 1 year ago

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To my Favorite person,

Would it be okay to make some more muntant mayhem ones? I love the one you made! Amazing content like always! <3

Family In The Sewer (Fluff)

MM!Donatello x reader

A/N: I’m your favorite person? You’re so cute and thank you😭💚 Hope you’re ready for some Donnie time💜

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You’re finally meeting your boyfriend’s big family, who just happens to live in the sewer.

Warnings: Family cuteness💜 and maybe some spelling. I was a little tired heh

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New York City was buzzing with activity on a usual Wednesday, as Donatello led you through the crowded streets, his hand intertwined with yours. The two of you had just left your favorite pizza place, and were now making your way to the sewer Donatello called home.

You couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness. Today was finally the day you were going to meet Donnie's family. You had met his brothers during school, and even been out bowling with them, but you had never met the rest of the big family.

It was no secret that Donnie had been nervous about it. His family was nothing like yours. Your family was small compared to his, and only made up of humans. All though it had been a bit strange bringing a mutant turtle home for your parents to meet, it had been a somewhat normal get together, with dinner and your family asking Donnie all sorts of questions. But Donnie’s family was quite a bit different. Only consisting of mutants, being him and his brothers were the only turtles. He had told you about them. His rat father and his cockroach stepmother, and her many siblings that now lived with them.

You followed Donnie down into the sewer, finding the whole experience fascinating. You had never been at his place, mainly being that it was located in the sewers, and he had told you it was cramped with his family there. Therefore it wasn’t uncommon for Donnie to spend the night at your place. There he could do his homework and get some peace, without having to listen to Ray Fillet’s singing, Mikey and Mondo Gecko’s skateboards, Bebop and Rocksteady’s booming voices, or whatever Splinter and Scumbug told each other in their secret language.

With a deep breath, you followed him down into the sewers and through the winding tunnels until you reached the home of the mutant family. The moment you stepped into the entrance, you were greeted by the familiar face of Leonardo.

“Oh! Hey Donnie! Hey (Y/N)!”, he greeted, jumping on one leg as he was getting his shoes on.

“Hey Leo”, you greeted.

“Where are you going?”, Donnie asked, watching his oldest brother as he finally got the shoe one.

“Nowhere”, Leo answered, standing like a deer caught in the headlights.

“April asked you to help her with her new story, didn’t she?”, Donnie said with a sly smile.

“Maaaaaaybe”, Leo said, moving further and further to the exit. “Anyway, see you later. Bye!”

“He’s still not over that prom thing, is he?”, you asked your boyfriend, watching Leo leave the lair in a hurry.

“Nope”, Donnie answered, before guiding you further into his home.

To say that the lair was cramped was an understatement. There was not a surface where a mutant wasn't doing some sort of activity. Who you guessed was Mondo Gecko was skating in the hallway-like tunnel with Mikey, while Genghis Frog was filming them. They greeted you with a small hello, letting you and Donnie pass before continuing what they were doing.

The moment you stepped into the main area, you were almost tumbled by Leatherhead and Wingnut, as they were hurrying to the computer desk. They shouted apologies at you and Donnie, before fighting over who got to play on the computer first.

Ray Fillet sat in the corner, singing and writing down whatever song lyrics he could think of. Splinter and Scumbug was in the kitchen area, cooking together what you guessed was dinner, while Raph, Bebop and Rocksteady sat at the table playing card games.

Bebop and Rocksteady looked up from their game of cards, to see you and Donnie walk in together, their eyes widening in surprise.

"Well, well, well! Look who's brought a date to the party!" Bebop exclaimed, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, forgetting about his cards long enough for Raph to get a quick look at them.

Rocksteady nudged him with his elbow, "A date, huh? Donnie, you sly turtle! When were you planning on telling us about this?"

Donatello rolled his eyes. "Guys, I’ve already told you about this. This is (Y/N), my girlfriend, you know, the girlfriend I told you I would bring over for dinner today".

Bebop and Rocksteady exchanged amused glances, and Bebop waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Donnie's got a girlfriend! Who would've thought? Our little tech genius is all grown up."

Rocksteady chuckled, "Yeah, and he even knows how to use those smooth lines. You've been holding out on us, Donnie."

You couldn't help but laugh at their good-natured teasing, turning to look at your boyfriend. Donnie shot them both a mock glare, his cheeks tinged with a hint of embarrassment.

"Come on, guys. Give it a rest," Donnie said, tightening an arm around you.

“Did I hear someone say girlfriend?”, a friendly voice sounded from the kitchen area. You turned to see the mutant rat you’ve heard so much about, walk to you and Donnie, wiping his hands in a kitchen cloth.

“Hey, dad”, Donnie smiled at the old rat, before letting himself be pulled in for a heartfelt hug.

Splinter gave his son a smile, before turning towards you, grabbing your hands to shake them. "Welcome, (Y/N). It is a pleasure to finally meet you!", he said, shaking your hand with so much enthusiasm you feared your arm would fall off.

"Likewise, Splinter," you replied, feeling a bit more at ease, even if your shoulder was about to pop. “I’ve heard so much about you”.

“And so have I about you”, the rat smiled, finally letting go of your hand. But just as you thought you finally could keep your hand for yourself, Scumbug came and shook it, letting out a string of sounds you did not understand. “She said you have pretty eyes”, Splinter translated. “But that you’re too thin. Donnie! Don’t you feed your girlfriend?”

“Dad!”, Donnie exclaimed, feeling his face get hot.

“Haha, don’t worry my son. We’re just kidding”, Splinter said. “But call your brother, and ask him if he eats at April’s or comes home from dinner”.

—

Dinner was a lively affair, with everyone sharing stories and laughter. Mondo Gecko and Mikey shared their latest skateboarding escapades, and Leatherhead and Wingnut entertained everyone with their tales of adventures on their computer. Raph revealed that he had already won against Bebop and Rocksteady three times before you came to the lair.

And then came all the questions. Ray Fillet wanted to know how long you and Donnie had been together, while Genghis Frog wanted to know who asked who first. All of it prompted Scumbug to say something, that Splinter translated to a remark about how the boys were getting older, causing Donnie to remind her that she had only known for a few months.

As the night progressed, you found yourself getting to know each member of the mutant family a little better. Donnie was right - it was a tight fit amongst them all, but you couldn’t deny the coziness of it all. Sure, it was a strange group of mutants, all finding their home together in the sewer, but it was nice. Strange but nice. Way more noise, but comfortable. You understood why Donnie sought out you and your place for peace and quiet, but you also understood why he didn’t like to stay away from home for too long. His family was a lovely quirky bounce, each with their own lovely personality that you couldn’t help but admire.

—

As you prepared to leave with Donnie there to walk you home, Splinter approached you with a kind smile, before bringing you in for a quick goodbye.

"It was great to finally meet you, (Y/N)", he said. “It is great to know there are good humans out there to take care of my sons, and I’m happy you are one of them”.

You nodded and thanked him, grateful for the wise rat's words. And with a final round of goodbyes, you and Donnie made your way back to the surface, hand in hand.

As you emerged into the night air, Donnie looked at you with a grin. "So, what do you think?", he asked, tucking the hood of his hoodie closer around his face to shield him from the cold night air.

You chuckled. "They're amazing, Donnie. Strange but amazing".

“That’s good”, Donnie said with a smile as he swung your entwined hands back and furth, as you continued down the street. “Because my dad has already asked about when he and Scumbug can meet your parents”.

“Your dad is ready for all the big things, huh?”, you laughed, finding the thought of the mutant rat and cockroach at your parents dinner table slightly amusing.

“I like to think that he’s happy that we’re making progress in the human world”, Donnie said, referring to him and his brothers. “Besides, he might as well get ready for the things he knows will happen”. He let go of your hand to pull you closer against him, causing you to giggle.

“Is that your way of saying that I’m invited back for dinner again another day?”, you asked, feeling your cheeks getting hot.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying”, Donnie smiled, before placing a sweet kiss on your blushing cheek.

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vanillavengeance · 27 days ago

Text

ROTTMNT Bad!Leatherhead Outline

I’ve had this outline for a while but I don’t think I’ll ever get around to fully writing it, so I’ll share it here to get rid of the brain worms

Warnings for psychological/emotional manipulation, hypnosis, and past cannibalism (stay with me here—)

Timeline - Post season 2, pre-movie

Genre - psychological thriller

ROTTMNT Leatherhead AKA ‘Edd’

Mutant crocodile, between 25-30 years old

From Louisiana, still has accent, migrated to the New York Hidden City after ~events~

Hermit, chronically alone, bitter towards Yokai and the world at large

Despite this he’s not outright AGGRESSIVE if approached with no intent to harm

Generally pretty grumpy

Hasn’t had any sort of relationship with ANYONE since the ~events~

Plot

First Meetings

The switch of Raph to Leo for leader at the end of S2 creates immense amounts of friction, specifically in fights and tense verbal spars between Raph and Leo, with Mikey and Donnie caught inbetween

Mikey takes the brunt of the attempts to de-escalate to very limited success, and Splinter tells them they need to work it out themselves

Donnie eventually completely checks out from all of it and figuratively throws Mikey to the wolves, holing up in his lab to get away from the constant noise and tension

The fights aren’t physical, but it causes all of them to avoid the common areas of the lair and on top of Mikey getting frustrated with the fights in general he’s really lonely and mentally exhausted with everything (Leo and Raph both try to drag him to their sides and blow off all his attempts to create a compromise)

Nothing’s fun or calm in the lair anymore and April is busy with finals so Mikey has very little options to feed his need for a social life

Draxum kicks him out and/or hangs up whenever Mikey tries to call and vent about things, too

Eventually Mikey’s spending more time out of the lair than in it, only returning each night with the hope of having a family dinner again (and being disappointed each time, eating at the table by himself and a rare visit from Splinter)

On one of his outings he’s in the Hidden City and accidentally draws the attention of the Hidden City Police with his tagging, he tries to talk his way out of it but gets rebuffed immediately by the officers once they hear that he’s a ‘teenage MUTANT ninja turtle’, they’re very xenophobic towards mutants

Mikey tries to escape but gets clipped by a mystic taser which completely nullifies his ninpo (not permanently, just for like 15 mins)

Ran towards the very outskirts of the city towards a swampy area, where the officers finally catch up and pin him

They’re about to drag Mikey off (he’s cursing in his head about it) when Leatherhead ‘Edd’ comes out of the treeline and scares off the officers, who leave Mikey to be possibly eaten

Edds very tense and standoffish but still asks if Mikey’s alright, and happy to find a somewhat friendly face Mikey brightens and profusely thanks him, Edd gives him a weird look and tells him to beat it, going back the way he came

Mikey follows and asks a million questions to Edd and is met with silence all the way to his run down shack where he finally snaps and makes it VERY clear that he’s a MUTANT and not a Yokai like he thinks Mikey is, Mikey gleefully corrects him and Edd’s a little taken aback meeting another mutant but loses any kind of aggression, leaving him awkward

Insinuates Mikey should be getting home and after Mikey morosely agrees Edd awkwardly asks if Mikey wants to stay for dinner and Mikey eagerly agrees (no stranger danger here) as long as he can know his name, Edd says it’s ’Leatherhead’ and Mikey nicknames him Edd immediately and there’s no complaints about it

Edd’s already getting charmed by Mikey and is even more shocked when Mikey asks for his number (Edd doesn’t have a phone) but Mikey says he’ll just be back in a few days and Edd has no chance to disagree in the face of the whirlwind that is Mikey excited about a new possible friend

…New Friends (?)

Things still aren’t going great in the lair, so Mikey spends more and more of his time at Edd’s to chase away the loneliness, and justifies it as him being there for Edd who is also very alone, he even stays the night once or twice, and when none of his family asks where he went it sends him into a bit of a spiral

He has no clue how obsessed Edd is getting with his company, thinks the fun nickname he gave Mikey (‘mon frère‘, AKA ‘my brother’) means friend in Cajun French cause that’s what Edd told him it meant

On one of those overnight stays Mikey finally pries Edd’s backstory out of him

His mother was mutated right before they hatched (Edd was the oldest) and she threw them into the water, contaminated with runoffs of residual Empyrean, to be mutated too. Edd felt responsible for looking after his little brothers (about 34 of them) when his mother left

After four years their mother stopped coming back, everything went bad and his hungry little brothers started trying to kill each other, Edd got caught up in the carnage and rage, ended up as the last one standing, since he was too scared to leave his home he ate most of their bodies to survive

He relives this everytime he closes his eyes and desperately wishes he could have another chance to be a good big brother *wink wink*

When he finally left and stumbled into the New Orleans Hidden City he was outed as a mutant and persecuted with death threats, similarly happened at Philadelphia and Pittsburg Hidden Cities until he managed to make it to New York which is also not great towards mutants but he wasn’t forcibly chased out, he just deals with the prejudice and harsh words and keeps to himself

Throughout all this time Edd has been slowly sprinkling in doubts about Mikey’s relationship with his brothers/family, how if they’d really cared they’d know he’s gone and check up on him, they show no appreciation on how Mikey keeps them together

It’s not enough to create obvious red flags but enough to have Mikey think about it more than he should, and in response now HE’S getting snappy and irritated with his brothers for not noticing that he’s NEVER home anymore except to sleep

When a fight finally turns physical Mikey snaps (not explosively, but he left during it which he would have NEVER done before), Donnie gives him a weird look for it but doesn’t comment and is back in his lab to avoid everything once again

Mikey packs a bag and leaves for Edd’s (his safe place now), Edd of course welcomes him warmly but gets concerned with how withdrawn Mikey is

He finally breaks down sobbing about how broken Mikey’s family has become and they’re not acting like brothers anymore, Edd comforts him through it all, saying he can stay for however long he wants and that he’ll always be there even if his family won’t

Mikey stays for 3 straight days (with no one reaching out wondering where he is) before he thinks he should probably head back

Edd seems panicked and fidgety when he hears it and practically begs him to at least stay for dinner, and Mikey wasn’t going to but Edd bribed him with his favorite southern dish and he’s convinced to stay

Edd is staring at him all throughout the meal, barely picking at his own, Mikey notes that’s there’s something sweet about it that’s not normally there but brushes it off since it still tastes REALLY good, starts trying to leave and gets hit with a wave of dizziness

Edd acts concerned and insists that Mikey can stay if he’s not feeling well when he still tries to leave, everything starts getting fuzzy for Mikey and he can’t think straight

Mikey’s picked up before he can fall on his face and placed in his hammock above Edds bed (he feels like he should be concerned but he can’t feel anything except calm and pliable), Edd comforts him, tucking him in, and then brings out a hanging lamp right in front of the hammock

The lamp had light that flows gracefully between greens/blues/yellows, Mikey passes out watching it completely calm and mind suspiciously quiet

Under the mystic hypnotism Edd whispers things like ‘it’s aight, you’re already home’ ‘I’ll take care of you’ ‘You’ll get everything you deserve’ ‘nothing will hurt you again’ and ‘You’re big brother will make sure you stay safe and sound’ ‘I won’t mess up it this time’

Where’s Mikey?

April finally visits the lair after finals, she’s prepared to party but finds the lair suspiciously empty, expects Mikey to be in the kitchen and doesn’t think much when he’s not

She goes to the lab and Donnie’s very happy to see her but reluctant to admit everything about the fights and being cagey about it, Aprils already frustrated and calls a family meeting after dragging Donnie out of the lab

Mikey’s the only one not present and no one knows where he could be (he’d NEVER miss a family meeting), cue hunt through the lair that no one except April takes seriously at first until Leo gets to his room and freezes next to the calendar hanging by the hammock

Mikey was always on top of crossing out the days, but the X’s are missing from the last 2 weeks

They start panicking a little bit more and try tot rack his phone, the signal is at the bottom of the harbor, the subdermal tracker thankfully works and shows him at the CERY VERY outskirts of the Hidden City, and they set off to bring him home (Leo and Raph bicker the entire time)

Meanwhile, Edd and a hypnotized Mikey have been having tons of fun as Edd tries to teach him everything he knows and how to survive

Since it’s things to do with crocodiles and not turtles Mikey’s pretty terrible at it but that just endears him to his amazing ‘big brother’ even more than before, cementing in Edds mind that Mikey will always need him and won’t ever leave

Hypnotized Mikey believes that Edd gracefully took him after his real brothers were neglecting him, and looks up to him as if he’s the best thing ever, never going against Edd and when there is some pushback Edd gives him a little bit more of the mystic hypnotic to make it go away and has no desire to return to the lair, irises ringed in a very faint glittery green

The family finally finds Mikey and try to drag him home but Mikey resists, Edd gets VERY AGGRESSIVE when he stumbles out to what’s happening, Donnie (very uncharacteristically, hold on though) convinced everyone to avoid a fight and retreat as Edd forcibly drags Mikey back inside the shack where it’s ’safe’

When Donnie gets flack for the retreat he reveals the mystic aura that he could see covering Mikey from head to toe from his glasses, he couldn’t tell exactly what it was and didn’t want to accidentally hurt Mikey because of it, they get Draxums help figuring out the hypnosis thing and go on their mini adventures to get the ingredients for the sure fire antidote

Edd’s getting progressively more agitated and aggressive the more Mikey questions why his previous brothers were here, why they would want him back after all that happened, why they’d look like they cared about him when Edd said they didn’t, etc.

It gets to the point where Edd nearly turns Mikey into a mindless doll with how much mystic hypnotic he gives him to try and erase the encounter and stop talking about it so he can keep his ‘little brother’ for himself and protect him like Edd couldnt with his other little brothers

The others obvious come back with the antidote and Draxum which leads to a big fight against the wards Edd put up in his paranoia about Mikey being taken and then Edd himself

Leo manages to sneak into the shack and finds Mikey listlessly watching the lamp in his hammock, he takes Mikey out of the hammock and gives him the antidote, starts snapping out of it immediately and Leo fills him in on what was happening because of the explosions outside

Mikey, pretty weak, gets out and tries to reason with Edd where he’s facing off against Raph, the fighting momentarily stops and they’re all glad to see Mikey okay

Mikey very much doesn’t appreciate what Edd did but since he’s Mikey he says that he can forgive Edd for it given enough time (the others VERY vocally disagree on that, and April says they’re going to have a talk about his tendency to forgive abuse)

Edd seems to deflate and understand, backing down and walking remorseful towards Mikey and Mikey’s hopeful that he can still have Edd as his friend after they get some time apart

In the next moment Edd snaps and tries to kill Mikey, claiming that if he can’t have his little brother than no one can (he’d rather know that Mikey’s dead than living somewhere without him being happy), Draxum takes him out with his vines before he can get far and has to take him to the police where he’s imprisoned immediately for being a ‘volatile mutant who’s a danger to the general public’

Mikey finally speaks to April about the stress he was under with all the fights and trying to keep the family together before he finally had enough, April makes it VERY clear that none of it was his fault and he didn’t deserve any of it

She also gives the others a talk and they all reluctantly agree that they’ve definitely been drifting too far apart and vow to have family time where they don’t dissolve into real fights (Leo makes this hard but there was no rule against being a nuisance on patrol so he’ll live with it

Mikey hopes that Edd can get the help he needs and live an actually happy life

(He doesn’t, every time Edd escapes the prison he goes after Mikey, only gets stopped when he gets Kraangified and goes ‘missing’, AKA the officers of the Hidden City finally have a justification for executing him)

The ending’s sad for Leatherhead, I know, but some people don’t change or get better even if they DO get help, which Edd doesn’t. On top of that, sometimes trauma makes people do bad things and they don’t have any remorse for it. Seeing as this was meant to be a psychological thriller kind of fic I think the unhappy ending for him was fitting.

If you read all that, I hope you found some enjoyment from it! It’s also a little showcase of how I outline the stories I write lol

#rottmnt #rottmnt mikey #tmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt au #Leatherhead #fic outline #writing #fanfic #psycological thriller #manipulation #hypnosis #psycological horror

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aealzx · 1 year ago

Text

“Uhm… Yes?...Why?” Don responded, taken a little off guard by the question. They were already borrowing the infirmary weren’t they? Donnie and Lil Mikey were going to stay the rest of the night at least. Leatherhead was already settling Donnie back into the bed he’d been in before, and Raphael was trying to lead Leon over to the other bed for Lil Mikey to sleep on.

But Leon was apparently distracted by something else, leaning away from Raphael halfway and slow to respond. “You have intravenous antibiotics, yeah?” he asked, a mix of feeling rushed and excited making his speech faster as he eventually obeyed Raphael's mildly frustrated coaxing and carefully rested Lil Mikey on the mattress. “And two metal plates, about this big, and screws?” Leon followed up, holding his hands up a short distance apart and then a certain thickness.

The questions immediately caused Don’s mind to start listing possible uses in the context he was given. Injuries that would warrant metal plates, screws and antibiotics filtering into his head as he narrowed his eyes just slightly. “Yes, of course. Why?” Don confirmed and repeated his own question with a little more emphasis, restraining himself from grabbing Leon to check him over. It couldn’t be any of them that were currently there that were injured. The only thing Don could think of was a severe fracture, and if that was the case he didn’t think Leon would be moving as easily as he was.

But luckily Leon answered the question of who without the need of further interrogation.

“My brother has an open compound fractured tibia and fibula. Let me go get him, I’ll be right back.” Leon’s answer came as a rush of syllables accentuated by one of the swirling blue discs opening up next to him. Don flinched back slightly at the revelation, and Raphael was more caught off guard by the portal. The kid hadn’t even moved for that to appear. It was a little disconcerting since they still weren’t quite sure what they did exactly. Before the others could fully register what was going on Leon had slipped through the portal, mask tails nearly being caught by the closing gateway.

Being left in silence, Raphael mentally repeated in his mind what Leon had said. He understood most of it, but he wasn’t familiar enough with the names of bones to know which ones the tibia and fibula were. Something in the leg? Or was it the arm? They sounded familiar enough for him to think they were in one of the more external limbs. Looking over to Don for clarification and possible direction, Raphael let out a smothered snort of amusement. Don’s hands had remained frozen in the air where he’d reached out on reflex, and his expression betrayed his disbelief in what he’d just been told. The revelation caused stress to build to the point it bubbled over in the form of a higher pitched whine slowly escaping his form while his fingers flexed.

“Easy there Doctor Don. We don’t want to scare the kid off now that he’s finally started to trust us,” Raphael cautioned with a mild chuckle, recognizing Don’s mental restraint barely keeping him from chasing Leon down. Speaking up only caused Don to redirect his stress at him though.

“Hhhhhhhhh Raph you can not tell me to take it easy after being told the last one of them has a bone sticking out of his leg! if they’re not back in four hours I’m tracking them and getting them myself, and I make no promises on the four hours,” Don rambled, grabbing Raphael’s shoulders and lightly shaking him in distress.

Raphael could only chuckle, reaching up to still Don’s hands and keep him from shaking his brains up too much as Leo and Master Splinter moved closer. “Then I guess you should keep yourself busy getting the supplies you’ll need?” he suggested. Anything to keep his brother occupied and not giving someone a headache.

“...Duh,” Don huffed, giving Rahael an incredulous squint before breaking away to scurry towards the cabinets. The least he could do was make sure they had everything where Leon and he could easily get to it.

“What’s going on?” Leo asked, having heard pieces of the conversation but not actively followed it. He had a relatively clear guess on what the problem was with Don, but he preferred getting clarification before causing issues out of ignorant guesses.

“Remember when your bone was sticking outta your arm?” Raphael asked, raising his own arm and pointing at it.

“...Yeah?” Leo confirmed, reflexively glancing at the scar running down the length of his arm in memory.

“The kid Leo says his brother has the same thing, and went to get him. Obviously that got Don all worked up,” Raphael explained, jerking a thumb at their brother pilling medical supplies on the rolling surgical tray near the table.

Leo’s brows raised in mild surprise before furrowing in concern. He had been quite distracted when his own arm had been broken, for obvious reasons. But he still remembered Don being just as frantic. Paranoid about bone infection, or being able to properly stabilize it without doing further damage, or preventing it from healing properly. Honestly Leo still thought Don had done an amazing job with it, as always, considering he didn’t notice it anymore. And yet the memories just added yet another thing to the list to explain why Leon had been so upset earlier. “..Did he say anything about needing transport?” Leo asked, tone a little more sullen than before. He was starting to regret the way he’d reacted towards Leon’s actions. They were the wrong actions to take, but Leo was starting to find it hard to hold anything against Leon now.

“Nah. I think he can teleport just fine. Like he was doing when he got here,” Raphael admitted with a shrug. “Don gave him four hours, but I bet he’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Then let’s make sure we’re ready for them,” Leo directed firmly, moving around Raphael to head towards Don to see if he could help with anything.

Raphael watched Leo go and could only huff in amusement as he folded his arms. “Took him long enough,” he mused, lowering his gaze down to Master Splinter as he stepped next to him.

“Leonardo has always had difficulty thinking clearly when the safety of his family is in question. A trait he has come to manage as he’s gotten older, but also one that I have never faulted him for,” Master Splinter mused with a smile, looking fondly after his boys. Then his gaze shifted, a knowing smile as he looked up to meet Raphael’s eyes. “It would seem this young, other dimension version of my son has the same trait. And you, my son, have gotten much better at recognizing the motivations behind others’ actions.”

Raphael had to snort in mild embarrassment at the compliment, shifting his weight and shrugging his shoulders uncomfortably. “Wasn’t hard. It was written all over his face. Don saw it too,” he brushed off despite forcing down the grin tugging his mouth.

Master Splinter could only chuckle softly, but was unable to add more to the conversation as yet another blue portal swirled into the room in practically the same spot as before. Raphael stepped back to fully face it, and had to chuckle in mild triumph. “See? Just a few minutes.”

—---

As time crept on at an agonizing pace in the still darkness, April was finding she hated that she’d agreed to wait until noon to look for Leon. It wasn’t only that she was worried about him, but she missed having him there for company in this empty place. Of course having Raph in her lap brought some comfort, for she wasn’t truly alone. But her back was bare other than a light blanket, and she trusted Leon’s medical expertise way more than her own. She wanted her brother’s weight on her back, and his encyclopedia brain ready to address their needs. But she also wanted all four of her brothers there too. Which was the only thing that kept her where she was, staring at the map on her phone as it showed Leon chasing around the city, trying to find their little brothers. Part of April wanted to help look, but she didn’t know how she could. Leon was definitely able to move around way faster than she ever could. And she knew the best help she could give was to stay there and look after Raph. He didn’t handle being alone in a foreign place well at all even when he was healthy. So she had to be there to keep him calm. But his current state wasn’t doing much in the way of keeping her calm.

Thirty minutes after Leon had left Raph had woken up again, asking almost immediately where Leon had gone. Noting how disoriented Raph seemed to be, April had made up the excuse that Leon had gone to the bathroom. Partly because she didn’t want Raph to try and get up, but also because she didn’t want to add any more stress to her biggest little brother even if he behaved and remained laying down. She just knew he would start imagining all the wrong scenarios in his overprotective mind. Probably start talking aloud that everything was fine to reassure himself. Get fidgety, want to check outside, and otherwise just not relax and rest like he needed to. He needed all the rest and care he could get.

When they had settled down in this room Raph had looked relatively okay despite the pain from his broken bones. Just a clenched jaw and furrowed brow behind his bright red mask. But now those rich green cheeks were flushed red, and his forehead was damp from sweat instead of the rain. April knew the signs of fever in all of her brothers, and even without a thermometer she could tell Raph’s temperature was creeping up. Leon had anticipated it, and had already given him a fever reducer that he’d had stolen while gathering supplies. But they weren’t exactly in the best circumstances. The tarp on the floor wasn’t that comfortable. The blankets weren’t that thick. And their sanitized bubble of space wasn’t impenetrable. They needed antibiotics, and a proper bed at the very least. As soon as Raph had shivered once April had wiggled out from under him to crank up their space heater. Then her own blanket was tossed over him before she slipped his bandana off so his face didn’t overheat.

Two hours after Leon had left April couldn’t bring herself to make up another excuse when Raph opened his eyes again amidst her absently rubbing his head. His right eye was always slightly unfocused after the damage it’d sustained from the Krang, but now even his left eye was finding it difficult to register where April was in the dark. Yet despite that it didn’t take much effort at all for him to notice Leon still wasn’t there.

“... Wh’rs Leo now?” Raph asked, slightly mumbled from exhaustion and fever haze. He sounded a little grumpy, but April knew it was just his worry creeping up into his sleepy mumbles.

“...He went to get Donnie and Mikey,” April relented this time, not willing to lie to Raph a third time and shifting her phone so that he could see the screen as well. Leon’s icon had come to a stop with the other two, and April kept telling herself it was because he’d finally located them, and was just taking care of them or something. Checking their physical and mental wellbeing. Catching them up on what had happened. Making sure no one saw them. The usual. His vitals had had a spike in heart rate at one point, but it was calm now. As were Donnie’s and Lil Mikey’s. So they had to be fine. Right?

“...What?” Raph almost wheezed, shifting to sit up and grinding his teeth when even twitching his leg sent stabbing waves of pain up it.

“Easy there, big guy,” April protested, placing a hand gently on Raph’s chest, pressing lightly to direct him to lay back down.

After halting his movements and giving a slight hiss, Raph looked back to April with a slight squint. “Why didn’t he wake Raph? I should be helping him get the others-”

“You know you’re not in any condition to be moving around,” April interrupted quietly, but firmly. “Don’t make me lecture you. We agreed after the Krang that no one would be doing anymore self sacrifice bull crap, remember? That includes forcing yourself to do what you physically or mentally shouldn’t when there isn’t immediate danger.” Her scolding felt shallow, but the conviction was still there under the sleep worn exterior. No more hiding injuries. No more getting seriously hurt to save others. They were to include themselves when it came to protecting who needed it most.

At first Raph wanted to be belligerent towards April. It was his job to look after his brothers. He was the oldest. It had always been that way. Especially if they were in an unfamiliar place like they were now. If he’d heard Leon correctly, they were apparently in an alternate dimension. And while Raph was probably the least scientifically inclined of them, he’d seen enough sci-fi stories to know what that meant. This was probably the most unfamiliar place they could get. He wanted to be there for his brothers. Not only to rescue Donnie and Lil Mikey, but also to be there to support Leon. But hearing April remind him of their agreement deflated his stubbornness almost instantaneously. He knew he could move on his own if he had to. His ninpo apparition would make it easier to not use his leg. But he didn’t need to move right then. As far as they knew, he was the most injured. So it was his job to behave and not worry the others. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t also just want to curl up and cry whenever he did move his leg. It was worse than when his shell had been broken.

Seeing Raph almost deflate into obedience, April let out a breath in a tired sigh and returned to rubbing his head. “There you go,” she complimented, grateful for his choice. “He said to wait until noon, and if he wasn’t back here by then to come looking for him,” she added, just so Raph knew they had a plan other than sit and wait endlessly.

She sounded so tired. And that, combined with everything else caused Raph to let out a small whimper as he shifted to wrap his arms around back around April. “...Okay… Raph will wait,” he agreed quietly, silently wondering what he could do for April in turn. He couldn’t imagine she was comfortable waiting in the dark on her own. So this time Raph stubbornly didn’t let himself fall back to sleep, staying curled around April as they gave each other comfort in the dark. It was hard to pass the time in silence, and unfortunately Raph’s brain felt a little more fuzzy than usual. He didn’t think talking about the others would help either, he knew it wouldn’t help him stay calm. So he ended up pulling himself to other, way less important thoughts. “....Do you think they have Jupiter Jim in this dimension?”

April couldn’t help snorting at the seemingly random question. But she found the topic was actually incredibly calming. “If they don’t I’m gonna be extremely disappointed,” shifting her attention to her phone with the thought to search for it on the internet. Seeing the tracking screen again though, she paused before looking back to Raph. “Do you have your phone? I’m not sure how to get back into this screen if I exit,” she admitted with a slight grimace.

“Yeah, I still have it,” Raph nodded, moving his hand from his hug just long enough to get his phone from his shell and pass it to April after unlocking it.

Quietly tapping the franchise name into a search engine, April ended up scoffing. “Whaaat? Nothing came up? Okay this dimension officially sucks now. What about your dad, are there any of his movies?” she huffed, immediately switching to the next curiosity.

Raph had to snort at her choice of search, and furrowed his brow. “... I dunno. We’re kind of an oddity…” he mused. He and his brothers were decidedly created by someone, not just a common species. He wasn’t sure how that would factor into consistencies between dimensions if something like Jupiter Jim wasn’t there.

“Euh, you’re right. Nothing came up for his movies either. Laaaaame,” April groaned, rolling her eyes.

Raph could feel the tension slipping out of her frame as she excitedly began looking up other things that were familiar to them. The Nexus Hotel wasn’t there, but surprisingly there was still a pizza chain called Lou Mike Tony’s Pizzeria. The two ended up excitedly making a note to try and get some once everything calmed down so they could compare. It made the next hour much more bearable, and they ended up slightly startled when a familiar blue portal whisked into view near them, momentarily illuminating the room as Leon slipped through before it closed.

“April!- Raph!” Leon blurted when he saw them, including Raph when he saw his big brother was awake this time and had jerked his head to look at him.

“Leo!- GAhhkk” Raph called, his attempt to sit up and greet his brother interrupted by another fierce pain firing up his leg.

“Woah there. Take it easy,” Leon cautioned, rushing over to crouch next to Raph and offer support. Even in the dark it only took him seconds to notice Raph’s flushed cheeks, and a brief expression of worry flashed over Leon’s features as he reached up a hand to Raph’s forehead. “Sss… okay, bit higher than expected…,” Leon hissed more to himself, eyes flicking down to Donnie’s wrist computer on his own arm and swiping the screen over to the vitals. 38.7 degrees celsius for Raph. Not horrible, but not good either. Leon knew they wouldn’t be able to avoid a fever, but he’d been hoping he’d have more time than this. At least he had a good place to take Raph and April too now though.

“Did you find Donnie and Mikey?!” April rushed while Leon checked the wrist screen, wedging next to Raph’s side to act as a prop to hold him if needed and handing his phone back to him. She could see Leon checking all of their vitals, so she knew she didn’t have to tell him about changes in Raph’s condition.

“Yeah!” Leon chirped, a bright smile returning to his features as he looked up to them. “They’re okay- Well, they’re a little banged up, but they’re already taken care of and sleeping. These really great guys from this dimension that are probably pretty much us already found them and took care of them,” he rambled, unable to sit still in his eagerness to get back. “They’re also gonna let me borrow their hella cool infirmary to fix up Raph! April you should see it! It’s like a whole hospital crammed into one room! They even have an MRI machine! At least I think that’s what it was….”

April listened to Leon in mild disbelief, what she was hearing conflicting with what she and Raph had thought more than half an hour ago. “Hold up-,” she paused, raising her hand, palm open. “They have the best ninja turtles ever in this dimension too, but no Lou Jitsu?”

“They don’t have Lou Jitsu here?” Leon repeated, looking borderline offended. “Wow, that sucks. Though I guess it makes sense. Their dad is kinda…. Weird. So quiet and…regal? I dunno. I feel like he’s one of those old dudes that just sits and drinks tea all day,” he mused, scrunching his nose slightly. He didn’t think he’d like not being able to roughhouse with and tease his dad. But that was a topic for later, and he pushed it aside in his mind as he addressed Raph again, leaving April to try and configure an image in her mind of this other version of their dad.

“We’re going to have to move you again Raph. Think you can handle it? I’ll try to make the distance as short as possible,” Leon informed apologetically, shifting around to crouch and wiggle underneath Raph’s arm on the opposite side of April.

“Are we going where Dee and Mikey are?” Raph asked, unable to resist giving Leon a little squeeze hug once he was squished under his arm.

“Yup! They’ll be in the same room. But we’re going to fix your leg before letting you join them, okay?” Leon confirmed after giving a small wheeze squeak and laugh at being squished.

Seeing Leon in such a good mood compared to the last time he saw him, Raph realized wherever they were going it was apparently safe enough for Leon to want to be there. And that was enough to reassure Raph that all of them would probably be alright. “Okay, let’s get going then,” Raph nodded, realizing they needed to get moving before the relief Leon brought washed away all resistance he had to the desire to lay back down. Shifting to help Leon and April lift him to his feet, Raph bit back almost all of his whimpers as the trio heaved the group up as carefully as they could. “Easy. Gently. Sorry,” Leon chattered uneasily, pushing back the heartache bubbling up in his chest. “Don’t put any weight on your leg at all okay?” Leon ordered just in case Raph forgot or wasn’t thinking about it, and adjusted his own position to try and take all of Raph’s weight off his broken leg. He wished he had a better way to move them, but portal dropping him onto the surgery table was risky as well as too jarring. So he just had to keep his heart in his chest, forcing himself to be steady as every noise from Raph made him want to stop moving completely, and gradually help them make their way through the new portal he opened.

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Iiiiii struggled so freaking hard with this one ;v; Not only because I just couldn't get words to work to give this part the attention I wanted (it's barely acceptable now), but I've been working on a massive collab image, and then also got super distracted by a game's story |DDD oops.

you for your patience <3 Hope you enjoy the Raph snuggles =7=

#my art #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #cross dimension kidnapping #Raph #April #rise + 2003 crossover #writing #long post

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shantechni · 1 year ago

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This hit me out of nowhere like a water balloon left in the refrigerator for 3 hours so bear with whatever madness you're about to see because I don't even know what I'm going to say but I do know I'm 100% reaching like crazy with some stuff

It's common knowledge that Splinter spends the least amount of "lesson time" with Mikey, and it's a common consensus that Splinter doesn't need to spend much "lesson time" with Mikey considering how he tends to figure things out for himself. But I don't really see much acknowledgement of their scarce amount of "lesson time" greatly impacting Mikey over the course of the series. Unless I'm not treating this enough like a "Where's Waldo" game, idk-

Putting aside Karai's Vendetta, it takes a grand total of 31 episodes for us to see Mikey get any one-on-one "lesson time" with Splinter.

We see throughout S1 that Mikey is likelier to go with the flow of one of his brothers' plans or suggestions during a mission than doing something major on his own. It's simply the more favorable option for everyone than him screwing things up or getting himself in trouble. His "friendship" with Bradford was his first time landing himself and the team in hot water, and he's evidently remorseful near the end of the episode. Not only did his actions cause trouble, but he was being used by who he thought was his first human friend, and he learns that every human isn't so accepting like April.

He screwed up, and everyone had to pay as a result.

That could be part of the reason why Mikey was so adamant about befriending Leatherhead; he saw good in the alligator and wanted his brothers to believe that he wasn't screwing things up again. The guy's a mutant like them and he's fighting the Kraang, there's no way this'll go like the Bradford incident.

Meanwhile, his moments of silliness are often reserved for lowering the tension of a situation, or because the urge is there to be given into, but his brothers tend to view this behavior as him being the typical goofball they know him as. Which unfortunately painted a permanent image of himself that rubs him the wrong way.

That leads us to Parasitica, and it's quite the significant episode because it's the second time we see Mikey express blatant frustration at his skills and mental fortitude being underestimated. He proves to his brothers that he's capable of finishing a job on his own, following directions to a T, and making things work with his own plan of action. But his earlier soiling of Leo's comic ruins his moment of accomplishment and the episode ends on a comedic note. It show us that the guys are sometimes reluctant to praise Mikey because of his tendency to let things go to his head and, in the process, Mikey sometimes doesn't feel respected by them, something he expressed to Bradford way back when.

Come S2 though, Mikey immediately screws things up and adds to his brothers' list of reasons to not respect him because he doesn't quite read the room when he admits their wrongdoing, nor does he expect April to react so strongly to something he sees as an innocent mistake on their part. He's used to joking around or speaking lightly about serious manners to ease the tension, but not only did that not work this time around, it served to make things worse in a way.

We don't see Mikey get reprimanded since he was right to tell her that their mishandling of the mutagen is why Kirby was mutated, but I'd believe it if Ciro Nieli randomly stepped forward and said it did significantly affect him. His slip up doesn't affect him too heavily though, at least not enough for him to avoid aiding the team in finding mutagen and fighting the Foot clan. Not only that, he saves the day with the help of popcorn and a septic tank when they're attacked by the squirrelanoids, and the guys willingly praise him for his actions.

But we don't get anything really centered on Mikey until the fifth episode of S2.

He has a moment of enlightenment and he chooses to dabble in some mutagen off screen to be cooler and less like the typical goofball his brothers often label him as. Of course, this greatly backfires on him as the mutagen that makes up his body becomes unstable and threatens to explode in an unpleasant manner, so the turtles spend most of the episode focused on curing him rather than trying to work through what made him resort to such measures in the first place. They even prove Mikey's point in one particular scene when he makes a suggestion that goes ignored and adds to his disappointment.

Once they finally cure Mikey and prevent him from meeting an untimely demise at the hands of mutagenic acne, Splinter is the one to reassure the youngest turtle that he needn't change himself to appease his brothers. Mikey moves on from Splinter's wisdom to gloat about being right when they didn't believe him, to which Leo tells him he just took a gamble because had no idea he'd be right about it, and the episode once again ends on a comedic note with Mikey being the one who again saves the day.

I said near the beginning of this that Mikey's usual behavior during missions was to go along with whatever was asked of him, and he has the tendency to go in the same direction that those around him appear to be going.

Post the acne incident however, there's a noticeable shift. Maybe Splinter's words really resonated with him, or maybe his learning experience gave him the realization he needed, I don't exactly know.

Either way, Mikey changed.

This happened with the giant wasps and squirrelanoids as well, but it's not until S2 is halfway over with that we see Mikey really start to trust his instincts more and become less reliant on his brothers to help save the day. He still seeks their strength and smarts when in a rough spot mind you, but when he sees an opportunity to deal with something on his own, he takes it and doesn't wait for permission or looks of mutual agreement.

His use of Ice Cream Kitty in their second confrontation with the Rat King could count as one such instance since he enacted his own whimsical plan, but I'd be inclined to include any other instance of him doing something similar before then. A better representation of the point I'm trying to make is his solo endeavour into Dimension X. It takes 19 episodes after his acne incident for this to happen, but it's our first huge instance of Mikey initiating and going through with something that goes completely against his brothers' wishes.

One probably thought Mikey would sit tight and somehow manage to involve himself in Leatherhead's rescue later on, but Mikey catches his brothers off guard by running off into danger head first without waiting for anyone. And we see when the guys find him that he miraculously adapted to the new universe; he could take care of himself, he knew how to handle these otherworldly enemies, and he repeatedly helped his brothers and educated them.

This becomes a recurring pattern whenever they enter Dimension X, but Mikey's whims pulling the others into a direction they don't expect to go happens more with each season. The same thing happened when he ran away and found Napoleon, though not to quite the same extreme; he quickly became acquainted with him and acclimated into the group of mutant frogs.

He got by in these situations by being himself. Not like a cooler version that his brothers would probably prefer, but his usual, outlandish, and unorthodox self.

Other than an astounding sense of adaptation that's far above his brothers', he sticks with his gut in the face of retaliation and doubt. He was the only one to sense something wrong with April's mom, and he isn't subtle about it at all, even when his suspicions get him on everyone's bad side. He could've easily laid low for an opening or gone along with everyone else's acceptance of her, but he doesn't. He isn't going to change his mind just because his claims seem crazy and make him look paranoid.

Again, we see something similar whenever everyone second guesses his knowledge of chemicals and compounds. Donnie nearly had an aneurysm when he found him tampering with the retromutagen before their big fight with the Kraang, but he was soon delighted to see the positive results of Mikey's tampering. And when Mikey accidentally bumped a bit of the mind control cure onto Donnie in The Creeping Doom, he decided he should be the one to fix things and made an antidote for Donnie. It's a bit funny how Mikey did both of these things without truly knowing what the result would be, and even he was surprised to see that his concoction worked to cure Donnie of his slow decay of intelligence.

Either way, he usually knows when he's right. He knows he can do so much more than his brothers believe he can at times and he goes out of his way to prove it.

This is getting long (could've been extra long if I really wanted to go in-depth), and I already briefly mentioned something similar for S5 in this post, but I just really like how apparent it is that Mikey embraces who he is more and more as the show goes on. Electric powers? Boom, I'm using them. Seal's broken? Boom, bubblegum. Mutagen bomb ended the world? Boom, I'm making a map that only I can understand.

Fr tho, he once felt insecure about his weird way of behaving and thinking, most notably when he's in a situation that would usually call for the types of planning and actions his brothers are better known for.

But now it's something he utilizes and even holds over everyone's heads at times.

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