#we already know that Mikey and Leo look a LOT alike

[turtleblogatlast]

Things I make for myself when insomnia kicks in

Just a chart about what I wanna change up and keep consistent in my art - I mainly wanna draw Raph with a tail because he deserves one, it fits too well. Donnie gets a long tail too because I didn’t realize how dino-like he looks until I gave him one, and now it’s a must for me haha.

[obsidiancreates]

Out Of The Shadows and Into The Neon (Part 16)

“Hey Dooonald?”

“Yeah, Angelo?”

“Ever notice Mikey is starting to sound a lot like Shelldon?”

“Actually I believe he picked up the ‘sufer/skater bro from the 80’s’ lingo from Jupiter Jim XXIV: The Rad-tastatic Wave Through The Time Tunnel’.”

“I meant his actual voice.”

“Oh. Are we finally acknowledging that?”

“So you also noticed it!”

“Yes, yes, I’ve been tracking it, as you see on this chart.”

“Wooooow. So, why’s that happening?”

“The short answer, I don’t know. The slightly longer answer, I do not know.”

“Maybe it’s just a fun coincidence that our boys sound so alike!”

“... Yeah, I’ll settle for that, it’s not the first time someone’s sounded strangely similar to someone else.”

“Uhhhhh what are you two talking about?” Leon leans in the doorway, frowning in confusion at his brothers.

“Just about Mikey sounding a lot like Shelldon!” Angelo says brightly.

“Pffff, they don’t sound that alike.” Leon waves his hand dismissively. “Way more important, are you guys ready for Ultimate Uncles Day?”

“Are we sure we aren’t doing this too close to Vacay Day?” Donald leans his arm on the back of his chair and rolls away from his work desk. “It’s only been a week. That’s a lot of family bonding in a short time.”

“It’s perfect!” Angelo springs up, pulling a calendar down from Donnie’s little section of the lab (the kid has always gravitated towards Paper more than Digital with certain informational storage, and Donald has learned it’s best not to force otherwise– comfort zones are comfort zones, after all). “We can make this kind of thing a weekly tradition! That’ll give us all fresh eyes on any ways we’re coming up short as fathers by being judgemental as uncles!”

Leon frowns. “... Okay… reminding me a little of the whole Unicorn Competition disaster there, bud…”

Angelo flops a hand down. “This is waaay different, Leon! I’m not competing, I’m saying we can balance each other’s strengths and weakness, like in a fight!”

“Still sounding weirdly violent.”

“That’s a you problem,” Donald says matter-of-factly, standing up and stretching. “And to answer your previous question, yes, we are ready.”

“I got all-new spray paints for today, baby!” Angel whips out two of them to show off. “Raph’s gonna have a great time with the place I picked out! It’s an old skatepark that a community program just got all fixed up, and the one big thing people wished could’ve been kept was the graffiti!”

“Wooow! Now that, is convenient!” Leon nods, impressed.

“And I have gotten Leo and I tickets to not only attend the observatory, but test out their new Interactive Space Travel Experience! A-HA-HA-HA!”

“Niiice! But check… a-this out.” Leon proudly presents.. a receipt. One of Donald’s robotic arms snatches it and he and Angelo read it so closely they’re basically sniffing the words.

“You rented out the whole stadium?!” Angelo looks up at Leon with sparkling eyes as Leon smirks.

“Is that why my safe had pizza sauce on the handle?” Donald narrows his eyes at Leon, who breaks out into a sweat.

“Uhh… nope, that was definitely Mikey trying to get into it.”

“Oh, you did not just frame my son in front of my face!”

“AH! I mean- Raph, did it?”

“Raph did what?” Raphie peeks his head into the doorway. “Leon! Are you accusin’ our boys of somethin’ you did? ON ULTIMATE UNCLES DAY?!”

“Oh, gee, is that the time, Mikey’s probably bored out his mind waiting gotta get going already byeeeee!” Leon slashes open a portal and gets away just as his brothers all jump for a tackle. They scream as instead of landing on Leon they all crash into each other, landing in a heap on the floor.

“Note to self,” Donald groans, rubbing his head. “Install update to Anti-Leon Safe Security Measures.”

“That’s what was happening?” Raphie sits up. “So he got that ten bucks he’d owed me from you?”

“He- ARHG!”

“Well before that–” Angelo stands up and dusts himself off, “– we were comparing Uncles Day plans!”

“Oh, I got the best plans!” Raphie pulls out two tickets. “They’re doin’ a Ametuer Feature Event at the wrestling arena today! It’s got a whole bunch of up-and-comers! There’s even an event where the kids in the audience can have some matches of their own between shows!”

“Oooooh. That is the best one!” Angelo throws up his arms in praise as Donald’s face melts in a jealous bitterness.

“Ha-ha! I know.” Raphie tucks the tickets away again. “Alright, Mad Dogz! … Minus Leon. Let’s get our Uncling on!”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, we can just paint whatever we want?” Raph asks as he and Angelo walk to the gate around the park. “Like, anything?”

“Whatever your imagination cooks up!”

“... Can I paint a big cuss word?”

“Wha- you know cuss words?!”

“... No.”

Angelo narrows his eyes for a moment, then laughs and rubs the top of Raph’s head the way one would ruffle the hair on a human child. “Let’s skip the cuss words and keep to the art, okay?”

“Aw… alright.”

They get to the fence and Angelo uses his powers to lift the bag of their many cans of paint over the top. “Alright, lil’ man, need a boo-?”

Raph jumps at the fence and scales it easily, landing on the other side with a grunt and turning back around with a proud look on his face. Angelo grins back. 

“That was great!” Angelo gets over the fence with one jump.

“I’ve got the ‘breaking in’ part of ninja-ing down!” Raph cheers.

Angelo laughs lightly. “Except the ‘keepin’ it secret’ part, kid!”

“Oh. Right.” Raph grabs the bag and, with a great deal of effort (and some subtle unknown weight-supporting mystic help), hoists it onto his back and sets off for the middle of the skatepark.

They get down into the center and Raph plops the bag down, the top falling open to reveal the huge assortment of paint colors, paint finishes, and two sets of gas masks and goggles. They pop the protective gear on and look around.

“I’m gonna start on that ramp,” Raph declares, pointing. “I’m gonna paint… a van! A turtle van!”

“Aw, yeah, baby! Keepin’ it on brand!” Angelo points at the half-pipe next to Raph’s chosen spot. “I’ll be right there if you need me, I’m gonna do some word-art!”

They both grab some cans and get to work. Angelo flows with the feeling, letting the shapes and colors of the letters take him on a journey as the work blossoms, bigger and bigger, details filling in themselves as inspiration flows through him the same way his powers do. He remembers standing on Raphie’s shoulders when they were kids, painting the walls of their childhood lair while Donald and Leon chased each other and Splints’s snores echoed around the huge main room.

That lair would’ve been nice to raise the boys in. It was a little less cramped- but also more sewer, so maybe the tradeoff wasn’t so bad after all. Still, it would’ve been nice to have the indoor ramp for the boys to skateboard on, and the better lighting, and bigger space for the Lair Ga-

Lair games! Oh, man, they haven’t had a Lair Games since before the boys were brought home! The last time they held one was–

… Before Shredder, and The… Aliens.

… How long has he been out of paint in this can? Angelo shakes his head and turns around to grab a new can, trying to ignore the pang of loss in his chest. It was so long ago– why does it still hurt so bad sometimes?

He blinks as Raph suddenly snatches up the can Angelo had been reaching for and dashes away with it again. He chuckles a little, feeling some of that tightness around his heart loosen, and looks up. His eyes widen. “WHOA, LIL’ MAN!”

He’s fairly certain Raph hasn’t used Spray paint as a medium before, but he seems to have figured it out quickly. The van is very impressive, especially for the work of a 3--foot-tall 10 year old. It’s an old volkswagen-style body, with huge monster-truck-esque back tires and smaller, normal tires on the front. It’s a side-view of the vehicle, showing off some kind of dark red armored siding in place of a back sliding door. The top of the van has a turtleshell pattern to finish off the look. Raph climbs up to the top of the ramp and hangs off the side, then shimmies until he slides partway down and plants his feet against the concrete side when he reaches the height he wants to be at. Holding on with one hand he leans closer to his artwork and adds two fin-type decorations to the back of the top of the van.

Angelo gapes at the sight, impressed and astonished. He shakes his head again and walks over. “You want me to hold you up instead?”

“I’ve got it.” Raph looks at his uncle. “Cool, right? Donnie drew it for our comic, before everything got… bad.”

“It is sweet, baby!” Angelo puts his hands on his hips. “I should talk to Donald about makin’ something like this!”

“But you guys have a tank!” Raph slides the rest of the way down the ramp. 

“The tank is for fights, Raph. Vans are for things like family road trips! Going to the park! Mall hauls!”

“Not this one.” Raph crosses his arms and looks at it with a violent sparkle in his eye. “It’s armored and it’s got all kinds of weapons in it!”

Angelo looks over at his piece, unfinished on the half-pipe. The last few letters are done with a shakier hand, messier mind, messier lines– he doesn’t feel like continuing it anymore.

So he uses his powers to float the whole pile of paints over to him and Raph. “How about I help you with adding all those weapons?”

Raph grins. “There’s a million of ‘em! Let’s start with the deer head that shoots fire!”

“The what?! That is genius!”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Uh, Uncle Leon?” Mikey whispers as he clings to Leon’s neck. “I think we’re early, this place is totally empty.”

“Surprise!” Leon grins and slices open a portal to the light switches, flipping them on and pulling his hand back out to throw out in grand presentation. “I rented the whole place out just for us!”

Mikey’s grip tightens, and Leon chokes for a second before Mikey lets go and springs off, pushing his hands against Leon’s head to use as a springboard and effectively toppling his uncle to the ground. His eyes shine as he looks around the stadium. “So we can jump around the whole place?!”

Leo sits up, rubbing his throat and grinning. “Oh yeah! If you wanna do a double front flip off the first row of seats, you can!”

“I TOTALLY DO!” Mikey runs up into the stands and does just that, landing for only a second before springing into a backflip to push off the stand wall and launch himself up again, flipping and flinging through the air and laughing gleefully the whole time.

“Whoa, who needs a basketball when we’ve got you?” Leon laughs. 

Mikey lands and gasps. “You’re right! I’m even the same color, yo! I am the basketball!”

“Guess I should set this guy up in the audience then.” Leon pulls the old, faded, worn basketball out from a small portal. “Maybe I’ll bring Lace-Face in, they can be our mascots.”

“No, no wait!” Mikey zips over, sliding up on his knees and clasping his hands. “Please let us play normal basketball first! Pleeease!”

“Well…” Leon pretends to be deep in thought about it, tapping his chin.

“If I’m the ball I can’t play! And if I can’t play I can’t prove I’m the awesomest basketball player ever!”

“Oh! So this whole thing is a chance to steal ol’ Uncle Leon’s title, huh?” Leon smirks as Mikey’s eyes go wide with realization.

“Uh…”

“How about this? If you win–” A guarantee, this is Mikey’s Day after all, “– I make you a crown officially declaring you The King of Turtle B-Ball. If I win, youuuuu uhh… draw me as a superhero and you as my sidekick!”

Mikey jumps up. “Deal!”

He and Leon head to the center of the stadium. Leon clears his throat and lifts the ball up. “Alright, you know the rules and so do I.”

Mikey, instead of answering, just vibrates with barely-contained competitive and excitable energy.

“And… a-let’s go!” Leon tosses the ball up to start the game. As soon as it lands and begins to bounce up again Mikey starts dribbling it over to Leon’s hoop, his disproportionately large hands giving him a grand advantage in keep the ball from slipping away from him. Leon gives chase, and Mikey gives the ball an extra-forceful slam to send it high into the air! He jumps up with it and slaps it back down at an angle, sending it a good deal ahead of both of them!

Leon stays running at a speed matching his nephew, trying to keep a balance of trying hard enough for Mikey to have fun but not so much that Leon will absolutely win without contest. He’s seven feet tall, has superpowers, and is a ninja master– his nephew is just under three feet, no superpowers, and only has five years of semi-casual training under his little leather belt. The game couldn’t be less fair.

He catches up to the ball first and starts dribbling, turning and making his way to Mikey’s basket. His nephew gasps like he’s been unexpectedly betrayed, and then leaps into the air again. “COWABUNGAAAAAAAA!”

Leon realizes what’s about to happen and scrambles to keep the ball but still move out of the way. “WAIT WAIT WAIT-!”

Mikey does not wait. How can he, when he’s already plummeting back down at his uncle– and popping his head and limbs into his shell for the impact.

Leon ‘Oofs!’ as Mikey slams into him! It’s far from the worst hit Leon’s ever taken, but it’s enough to rattle his brain a little as he’s sent heels-over-head upside-down and Mikey pops back out of his shell to steal the ball back his way. Leon lands in a crumple and blows his mask tail out of his face. “Referee?” he mumbles, dazed for a second, before he sits back up and whistles with his own two fingers.

Mikey freezes just as he’s about to take the shot.

“How about no trying to turn your uncle into one giant concussion while we play for the rest of the day?” Leon calls out.

“I was just doin’ what it takes to win, yo! In the old home movies you totally do and say the same thing!”

“Oy… Okay, can’t argue there.” Leon shrugs. “But… I was being stupid and learned a valuable lesson many years after those were filmed?”

“Pssssh, you were the Lair Games champ! You don’t hold back on anybody, so I’m not gonna hold back either!”

“Oh-ho, you think I wasn’t holding back?”

“Nope!” Mikey grins and spins the ball on his finger. “Old people just get slower in sports! It’s like, science!”

“Old?!”

Mikey blinks at Leon innocently. Leon puts his hands on his hips, and shrugs.

“Alright, mi sobrino. You wanna go all-out? Prepare to face the undisputed champ!”

“AND YOU PREPARE TO FACE– uh, um– DR. SPORTSINSTEIN!” Mikey dribbles the ball, rolls it across his shoulders, and then puts it down and balances on one foot on top of it before kicking it back up to spin on his finger. “HA!”

“Okay, you’re totally showing me how you learned that after this, because there’s no-way it was from any of my bros. And… GAME ON!”

Leon zips at Mikey as quick as he would in a fight, and his nephew yelps in surprise as Leon easily snatches the ball away and not only makes it to the basket, but slam-dunks the ball through in seconds.

The scoreboard above thoonks as the numbers change, 01-00. 

“Whoa…” Mikey isn’t even upset– just amazed. He has stars in his eyes as he stares in awe.

“And that is why my only Lair Games loss wasn’t even a loss.” Leon buffs his nails against his shell. Mikey is still quiet, though, so Leon’s smirk fades as he remembers this is Mikey’s Day. “Hey, I didn’t mean to–”

“THAT WAS SO AWESOME!” Mikey jumps in place, flapping his hands. “THIS IS GONNA BE SO MUCH COOLER THAN I THOUGHT!”

“You- huh?”

“I’M GONNA BEAT THE CHAMP!” Mikey runs forward, goes into a  front handspring, and basically tackles the ball to get it away from Leon. “YOU MAY BE BIGGER AND FASTER, DAWG, BUT I’VE GOT THE DR. SPORTENSTEIN SPIRIT!”

Leon laughs. All-out it is then!

[popculturebuffet]

Quick Thoughts: Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Reveal Trailer and Initial Roster

Whelp I didn’t expect to be doing another one of these so soon but welcome to quick thoughts where I give well quick thoughts on stuff instead of the longer form reviews I usually do. 

So as longtime or even short time readers of this blog might know I love NIck. I don’t review shows from it as often as Disney or Cartoon Network, but it was still a beloved part of my childhood and still makes great shows today such as the Loud House, Harvey Beaks and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s horribly mismanaged, which is why two of those shows are no longer with us and the last of them is weirdly missing from this game, and have a long and storied history of screwing things over.. and i’m not exagerating when Mr. Enter, no matter your opinon of him now, did a whole marathon of every nicktoon almost every entry included the fact the show had been screwed over in some way. 

But as anyone who knows my history with Disney will tell you just because I don’t sugarcoat a brand I like’s fuckups dosen’t mean they aren’t near and dear to me at the same time. I”m a grown up: I can have complex emotions towards a chlidren’s tv network. So I love it’s varied shows some of whom (Avatar, Harvey beaks again, Danny Phantom, Hey Arnold) are among my all time faviorites. 

Now something readers of my blog probably WOUDLN’T know is I love Nintendo, they have their own fuckups like weird release strageies and never doing a remotely decent discount like the competition, but their still a company I love and since I only play handhelds most of the time are my primary source of good shit. So naturally Smash Bros is my faviorite franchise of theres. I love the idea of fighting games but often struggle with the combo heavy nature. So Smash Bros, having a roster of some of my faviorite characters ever, a plaformer style control scheme, and a deceptivley simple style that’s easy to learn and fun to master with the right character, is my shit. Sure I won’t rush out to buy every dlc character, but you better belivie I played the hell out of Ultimate, will likely go back to it again some day, and did buy Banjo and Kazooie because fuck yeah. 

So yeah I needed to talk about Nick making their own smash bros clone. When I heard the rumors I wasn’t sure, mostly because Rumors can be just that.. but nope this game is happening and i’m all on board for it. This isn’t Nick’s first crossover rodeo in recent memory either also making a pair of Kart Racing Games: one I KINDA wanted to play till I looked at the roster, had a good laugh and lost that i want, and the other I really want to play as it seems like the first game if it were you know an actual game with a decent track selection, a deep character roster and an actual love of it’s properties. 

So making their own Smash Bros was a logical step and one i’m here for. We haven’t had any of the big cartoon networks make one since well.. Cartoon Network, and Nick has just a deep a bench to pull from, one that will hopefully get CN to get their cast to throw hands once more. 

For now though the idea of the vast history of nick all throwing hands with each other is amazing. Look i’m honest with myself: this looks like a decent smash clone,functional but nothing specail, but with the expressive character animation and solid roster you need for a game like this. I know going in i’m not going ot get Smash Ultimate quality of brawler, but i’m probably going to have fun with it. 

The only downside I see so far is , like the Kart Racers, theyd idn’t seem to get ANY voice actors for this which smacks of laziness, especially since most of the voice actors for these characters are still active, and in some cases like Spongebob or Loud House are still working with you. So you have no real excuse for this, shame on you.

But yeah the game looks good.. despite the trailer being pretty bad. It’s just some generic music set to “LOOK WHO WE GOT”. And granted look who they got is really spiffy and i’ll be diving into that in a second, but it dosen’t give any of these characters a reall chance to show off how they play or how awesome they are. It’s just a bland montage of whose in the roster in the same 2 or 3 stages. And when you have 15 stages overall to show off that’s not excusable. Again i’m not expecting Smash level quality revelas, this game dosen’t have the marketing budget, but you have a really great concept and roster here, you coudl’ve revealed it better and this game better. The Kart Racers 2 Trailer was also mildly bland but it did show off the game better, showing off several tracks and how VASTLY improved the roster was, so you CAN make a good trailer you just didn’t. It felt like they thought the poitn of all the smash reveals trailers was here’s a character and missed all the style and substance to them. 

That being said while the trailer was weak.. it was boyed by the fact this roster is REALLY damn good. Let’s face it I woudln’t even be talking about this game if the roster wasn’t this minty but they clearly learned from Kart Racers not to half ass it and while they learned the long lessons from Smash in how to promote the fighters they have, they learned the right lessons in having a nice mix of crowd pleasing faviorites for kids and vetrans alike along with a few deep cuts for said longtime fans. And this is JUST the intitial reveal roster: Given the Box Art isn’t out yet, I feel there’s more to come, especially since despite being perfect for the game there’s no one from the Avatarverse yet, but I also feel that Nick is saving that for a second trailer to announce the release date. But I can and will go into who i’d LIKE on the roster in another one of these sometime soon. -

Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy (SpongeBob Squarepants): I’m getting these three out of the way as their essentially to this what Mario and Co were to smash: necessary and inevitible.  As for who was chosen.. it was as obvious as putting spongebob himself int he game. Sponebob is Nick’s mascot, Patrick is nearly as iconic and Sandy is well loved as well as the spongebob character most associated with buttkicking. Being an expert martial artist is both part of her character and a cerntral part of her character and relationship with Spongebob. So yeah not a lot ot say here: it was ineivible but I don’t mind at all having grown up with them and with my niece and nibling being huge fans. 

87 Leo and 87 Mikey (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles): This one i’m mixed on. Not on the turtles being here: i’m a MASSIVE TMNT fan and i’td be stupid to leave them out since Nick Owns them, made the last two series, and they fit this kind of game like a glove, even having had their OWN smash clone to themselves once. 

No my issue is obviously in the version choseN: The 87 turtles. Again I have no beef with the guys themselves, I haven’t seen much of 87 but I want to and they look really gorgeous and nicely cartoony. It’s just a REALLY weird choice. The 87 turtles have never been on a nick network due to rights issues, have never been associated with nick, and aren’t the ones most kids of EITHER DEMO would be familiar with: Grown up fans of nicktoons from the 90′s like myself would be more familiar with 2003, and kids and teens from more recent eras would be more familiar with 2012 and rise, which REALLY should’ve been the rep. I mean their weird shame of rise bothers me enough on a good day but not using EITHER show you actually made bothers me, it bothers me a lot. I’ll still probably play Mikey, i’m not made of stone and as I said I have no beef with the 87 turtles, I just wish nick had used the others or hell just gone all lin and used one turtle from each cartoon. I mean if your going to use stuff you’ve barely aired why not give me some 2003 nostalgia too huh? Though it could just be that since, unlike the rise and 2012 turrtles the 87 turtles have the same body type and colors it was easier to just do all 4 and just give each unique facial expressions. Who knows... I knows it was probably that. 

Lincoln and Lucy Loud (The Loud House, Duh): Another pretty obvious one as The Loud House is currrently nick’s co-flagship show with spongebob. Still waiting for my diffrent world spinoff with Bobby and Lori guys. So yeah Lincoln isn’t a suprise and Lucy is only minorly one as it was a matter of “which sister”... and Lucy is one of the most popular. Neither really fit a combat setting.. but given this is a fun crossover game, that really dosen’t matter and in fact is kind of the fun: taking just the most insane matcchups imaginable and mashing them together. I mean this is a game where Lincoln and Lucy can beat up Leo and Mikey, why wouldn’t I want that kind of crack on my nintendo switch? I am hoping for Luna to make her way to the stage next as she was absent from Kart Racer 2 and would be really fun to play. Plus having ANOTHER bi fighter in the mix if korra gets in there would be awesome, let alone letting the two beat up or punch each other’s face. But again I could and probably will mak ea whole article about other possible fighters i’d want. 

The Plesant Suprises: Nigel Thornberry , Oblina and Powdered Toast Man (Wild Thronberries, Ahhh! Real MOnsters1 and Ren and Stimpy) : Yeah while only one of these cartoons was a faviorite as a kid (Wild Thornberries)... I have nothing but respect for these choices. One of the funnest things about Smash is while you can see some roster members coming sometimes you get utter curveballs like Mr. Game and Watch, Pirana Plant and MInecraft Guy. They also go for more cult franchises like SNK or Earthbound (the latter of which is fucking awesome localize mother 3 already dammit) too among the big heavies, making it feel like a true tapestry of Nintendo’s history. 

Nigel is the only one of these three that’s really obvious. He’s a meme, he was the best part of his show.. but it’s still just uniquely batshit to put NIGEL THRONBERRY in a fighting game. You better belivie he’ll be one of my mains. 

Oblina is more a suprise because I thought they’d go with Icket, but instead went wtih the character who was more popular and had a really unqiue and cool design, so i’m pleased as punch to have her. Finally while I don’t have any real attachment to ren and stimply apart from Log, and really it’s hard to gain any now knowing i’ts creator was a pedophile piece of shit, the franchise is still a cornerstone of nick history, the rest oc the crew didn’t abuse power or not make deadlines or be a com plete piece of shit, and powerded toast man is genuinely great. I”d love to see Really Big Man too, clash of the weird superheroes, I love me a weird as hell superhero. This also speaks promisingly that w’ell get some real weird curveballs to come and i’m here for it. 

The Rest: Helga, Zim, Danny and Reptar. (Hey Arnold, Invader Zim, Danny Phantom and Rugrats! ): Note i’m not lumping these together because their bad: their all graet nostalgic picks from timeless shows and with the rugreboot currently running on Paramount+, it’d be weird not to represent them. 

And since I brought it up reptar is a fun chocie, another oddball but one more understandable as no one wants to beat the shit out of a toddler. Or rather no one playing the game would care you could because it’s a silly fighting game and a 12 and 8 year old are also beat upable, but someone would probably throw a fit somewhere. Plus again it’s a game where you can have danny phantom fight reptar. Shut up and take my money. 

The rest are all great choices if ones I’m not suprised by: Hey Arnold’s an all time classic and being tough is a lot of Helga’s character, and again I can have her throw hands with nigel thornberry, reptar and a ninja turtle in the same match. Zim is another fan faviorite and fits the game like a glove and Danny Phantom is the one out of Nick’s three suprehero classics it actually still cares about so my boy getting in there isn’t a shocker, though his attacks lookw eird. Hopefully they green them up before the final prduct. 

So yeah overall it looks really promsing and really fun and i’ll probably check this game out if I get enough money when it comes out or more likely put it on my christmas list. But I will get it somehow this i swear.. speaking of which put manny in the roster dammit. If you liked this.. thing consider joining my patreon for a buck a month fo exclsuvie reviews and ot help me review tuca and bertie, amphibia and more as part of my memebership drive. 

[we-rate-tmnt]

I request: Leonardo. Please and thank you 🙏.

Idk if everyone loves Leo or if my header and avatar just remind everyone about this amazing blue boy. (This one’s super silly btw. I’m just sillier as time goes on. Character development I guess?) 

The iconic leador Leonardo (1987)

Bro idk why but I loved this Leo. I have a tiny memory, especially with this version but I clearly remember that I thought he was the funniest and the coolest. I mean, he had swords, what was I supposed to do as a 7-year-old. NOT like him??? Anyway, while Raph was the best at insult comedy, I think Leo had the best puns and punchlines. I really like how nonchalant this Leo is compared to his iterations, going along with really silly ideas and having fun along the way. But because of this, his leadership is a little forced at times, he seems like such a chill and fun dude that when he gets serious, I have to squint and ask ‘are you Leo? Or were you just putting on act a moment ago?’ Or my perception is entirely warped over time. Either way, good turtle boy, could have used some work tho. 5.7/10

Here comes grumpy lad wooo this is all read very monotone btw Fearless Leader (2003)

What. What the fuck happened. I was actually so confused when Leo turned really angry and serious and almost manic. I thought that episode when he popped into Casey’s window and was like ‘Hey bitch lets go beat the shit out of some lowlifes’ I was WOAH THERE BUDDY BACK UP BACK UP BACK TF UP. It was so sudden to me and when it was finally explained, it made some sense??? Like yeah, character development is great an’ all but this ain’t it chief. I can’t imagine what it was like having to wait for these episodes to release one at a time. Bc I watched every episode back to back on Youtube and I was genuinely bamboozled. But when you have an experience like that where guilt is weighing down on you from a situation you couldn’t control, it would’ve been HELLA HELPFUL to have at least a flashback, like a line saying ‘I was so useless!’ at BARE MINIMUM. Like right after Shredder is booted off to Planet Zula, Donnie would notice that Leo didn’t seem all that happy and would ask why and Leo would get upset and yell at Donnie saying that ‘You wouldn’t understand’, ‘You don’t know how I felt, how I feel because of that’, etc. Like you don’t even have to say he felt guilty or helpless, just give us something to grab onto. We’re merely six-year-olds who thought they could climb the YMCA rock wall in easy mode but instead the script riders harnessed us up on the hard one and wouldn’t let us come down until we rang the little bell at the top. I think that is the only problem I had with his Leo. The sudden change of calm and decisive to angry and irrational was so jarring that it felt unnatural without that crucial context. If you want a surprise reveal, at least hint at the reveal (like just about every Disney movie with their ‘twist’ villains) not wait until the very last moment. I think this might be my least favorite Leo and I think the season where he stood out the most and seemed the strongest was Fast Forward (Which was GOOD FIGHT ME), especially in scenes with Dark Leo, his clone. He sees so much of himself in Dark Leo but he also sees something he had once grasped (AKA the poorly written character arc, I CANNOT stress how bad I thought it was). Although, I honestly think he’s a really good character and he’s a pretty neat guy. However, this score is entirely held up by Fast Forward and his connection with Usagi, sword bros to the end of time. 3/10 (2 for FF and 1 for Usagi)

And now a Leo that makes me genuinely feel UWU Leo (2012)

I cannot stress how much I like this guy! Like his design is so appealing, his dedication, his obsession with Space Heroes, like I FUCKING LOVE IT. And everyone knows, that shit with Karai, at first when they didn’t realize they were related, I can let slide but kajsdflksadf what even like why did the writers feel the need to add in more ‘love interest’ implications like yuck yuck yuck. The only two interactions with Leo and Karai that I really like are when Leo defeats her using the healing hands technique and when Leo has a goth/emo/punk/idk I’m new here phase and they team up and EXPLOSIONS. He was introduced to us as being incredibly naive and his idea of leadership is from some old cartoon that’s basically star trek but ethically questionable. After his fights in season 1, to the finale with the technodrome, you can see his growth. He’s able to formulate plans and make life or death decisions. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. When Leo got hurt, I felt like the oof sound effect mixed with some tears I normally shed at some Shojo manga bs. While the episodes following were super weird, it was a nice way to help Leo recover, not only physically but spiritually (Although I don’t remember the spirit arc at all except the epic Raph vs Fishface fight, so we’re skipping that). When Master Splinter really died, you could tell there was a huge impact on Leo, but he had to remain stoic and lead the family now. A lot of heartbreaking moments in this series came from Leo and I’m glad they took at least some thought into developing him. Tiny head Leo will haunt my nightmares, but the giggly fanboy will warm my heart constantly. 6/10

I only have one word for this Leo (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

This is a super crazy bad idea accent on the super crazy bad part have I mentioned it’s also a really terrible idea/10

Okay, spoiler alert, didn’t really think this Leo was that grand Leo (2014/2016)

Painfully average. He didn’t stand out that much, Raph was part of the focus and had that touching scene at the end, Donnie was ICONIC and Mikey (with his weird-ass eyes) was super lively and funny! Leo? Uh, I don’t remember a single line he said. Because he never really grabbed my attention, I don’t have too much to say on this version. The Raph and Leo fight felt forced and the whole ‘keep this stuff that could turn us human a secret’ was pretty pointless and was added just to cause drama, I don’t even remember what that Splinter and Leo conversation was about. Design-wise, really neat! You can see some more traditional Japanese clothing/style mixed with modern (I’d feel a lot better about this assumption if some could tell exactly what the heck he’s wearing, but I get traditional Japan warrior vibes from it) in his look which was super neat! Other than that, if you like him, please tell me why because I don’t get. He was just kinda eh. 5/10

AHHH MY BOY YASSS WHOOO!! Neon Leon (2018)

Okay, I loved Ben Schwarts already from Parks and Rec but like him being Sonic AND Leo, like DUDE. He’s super funny by himself but teamed up with this shows writing and animation, it makes it hilarious. I literally love this Leo so much, maybe because we’re alike but honestly, he’s amazing. I love his design with the red and yellow crescents accenting his skin and livening up his color pallet. He has a very healthy and natural dynamic with his brothers, he’s the first to know what’s wrong and tries his best to make up for his actions. This is really prominent in the most recent episodes, along with the episode portal jacked. In both, Leo is separated from his brothers. Portal Jacked is in a more literal sense, while Air Turtle handles in more of an emotional sense. While both are brief, Leo sees his error and tries his best to make it up to them. I love his dynamic so much and it’s so nice to see something like this compared to the unnecessary drama and tension between the brothers in the previous series. It’s refreshing and this is something a younger audience needs to see; instead of fighting, it’s better to work together and improve yourself along the way. Improvement is a big theme for Leo here. He’s a goofball, makes jokes at every opportunity and isn’t quite skilled at fighting or using his weapon. But he grows over time, he learns to manage his power and he’s working on mastering it. He’s trying to put aside his narcissism more and focuses on his family. I think the approach they took with him rising to leader rather than slapping it on his forehead was the goddamn best decision they could make. He’s making plans, finding loopholes, helping out and getting out of his comfort zone. I cannot stress how well this show has handled Leo, along with the other characters. I can’t wait to see more episodes about his growth and I am awarding him with one of the greatest honors I could give... 10/10

Storytime: I drew a super cute 2012 Leo, you should look at him. Shameless self-promo, but you should follow me on my main blog bc I’m nice and I draw pretty pictures. Also. I have a little 2012 Leo Happy Meal toy??? I think??? guarding my window and he’s been there for YEARS. I need to bring him in and refresh his paint job.

Wow! I didn’t expect this many requests for Leo, so the blog will be momentarily spammed with the requests, but it shouldn’t be too much! Up next should be the last turtle (Mikey) and then we can get to some REALLY great requests I’m eager to answer. As usual, please comment and reblog! I’d love to hear your opinion!

[undercoverwizardninjaturtle]

BatDad and Turtle Sons One-Shot

Summary: A crossover au between Batman and TMNT to see what I think it’d be like if Batman was the Turtles Dad

Word Count: 4040

Pairing: None (unless you count Leo and angst)

Rating: T (for blood and mild mild violence)

Life is strange, but the path we choose is even stranger

 Leo clung his leg to his chest, hissing in pain. Managing to bounce around on one foot for a few moments before falling. He could feel the muscles in his leg spasming between his fingers as he cursed his own body.   He wa so wrapped up in cursing his body that he almost didn’t the arm that wrapped around his shoulder. “Breath Leo, you need to stretch your leg to prevent straining.”

 “I know Dad.” HE did as his father commanded, and though his breath came out shaky at first, the more he stretched out his leg the easier it became to breath. He gave a weak sigh, “Sorry father.” Before looking to the man holding him up. No one in their right mind would ever accuse ‘Bruce Wayne’ of stereotypical ‘dad bod’. For a man in his late forties he was still in excelled shape, and if it hadn’t been for the slight grey tinges in his hair no one would have thought he had changed at all.  Bruce moved around to get a better look at his leg, rolling up the pants leg of his sweatpants and looking over the muscles with a father’s eye, “You’ll be alright son, you should just rest for the rest of the night.’

 The blue masked turtle gave out a sigh that almost sounded like a death gasp, “But we barely got started.” Course, the sympathetic smile his father was giving him only added to his shame,

“Just for the night, Alfred can look at it and we’ll go from there.” Bruce moved under his arm, lifting him up. With his support Leo was able to balance on one foot and move out of the rumpus room.

 For the past ten years, the citizens of Gotham had been curious at the ongoings at Wayne Manor, mostly on why, no matter the time of day, was the Manor always lit up? But Most of the citizens, the one who didn’t think it was full of vampires, would shrug of their own curiosity and mutter ‘rich people’ and shuffle on their way

 And the very answer was the turtle being helped of the small rumpus room by his father. The seventeen year old Leo was the same height as his father but lacked the build Bruce Wayne had. But dressed in dark blue athleisure wear. Another spasm shot through his leg, despite himself and his already brewing shame he can’t stop himself from hissing. Praying it hadn’t been overheard by Bruce.

 But very few things passed his fathers notice. Even the slightest hitch of breath, Bruce immediately turned to him, looking around and taking one of the hallway chairs and puling it closer, “Sit.”

“Dad its=” but choked off as his leg spasmed again. Leo reluctantly sat back down as Bruce looked over his leg again, “Look its really fine- “

 “Leo, you once broke your foot and didn’t say a word for week about It. If this pain is enough to make you make a noise, then it’s no small thing.’” Bruce held Leos’ calf between his legs, kneading the muscles with his thumbs, “You wait here. I’m going to go get some ice and some pain killers and call Al.”

 “No, Dad it’s fine I- “he was cut off by a gentle hand rubbing his scalp for a moment before his father disappeared down the end of the hallway. Leaving Leo to sigh and lean back in his seat. He wasn’t embarrassed about his father’s protectiveness, but rather his own inability to cope with the pain.

 Well, now that the pressure was off his leg, he was bored.

  Atleast until a moment later when a loud crash filled the opposite end of the hallway his father had gone. Followed by a stream of shouting and cursing. Leo could only sigh and pinch his brow, “Oh no.”

Almost in unison the two voices suddenly yelped loudly before starting off again. Alfred turned the end of the hall, dragging along two of Leonardo’s brothers, the Chaotic Twins known as Michelangelo and Raphael. But they were only twins in the sense of age, since they hardly looked alike. Mikey was closer to his height then Raph’s, since Raph was the only brother who stood taller then their father. And other then their similar skin tones of dark green they even dressed differently. Since Mikey always liked to wear bright colors of varying fashions and Raph preferred dark red or black. But right now, they both were at the mercy of Allred, who had a tight grip on their masks and pulled upward so the knots that kept their masks on was pulling the fabric in a most uncomfortable manner,

 “He was the one who tried to- “

 “Lies and slander! Don’t’ listen to this poser Al- “

 “POSER!?” Raph yanked away at the death grip on his mask, “You’re the one who filled my shoes with, GOD what was that?!”

 “I have no idea what you’re talking about! But if I DID I’d say it was a mixture of something I found in Dad’s closet, and a lot of Dicks old hair gel- ‘

 “Oh, you son of a-OW!”

 Alfred glared at the two turtles at his dwindling mercy, “That is enough out of both of you. If I hear one more word about ‘posers’ or ‘murdering’ eachothers or ‘memes-’

 Mikey looked up at Allred in confusion, ‘But I haven’t mentioned memes all day-OW!” ceased by another jerk on his mask

“Then you will both be sentenced to Laundry duty.” The two turtles immediately shut up. Even Raph looked a little worried for a moment. Alfred, finally noticing Leo was there, sighed, “Leonardo, my favorite turtle- ‘(ignoring Mikey shout in horror, ‘I thought I was your favorite!!!’”) “Please tell me you’ve seen your father? I feel compelled to inform him of his sons latest, ‘projects’”

 Leo couldn’t help but grin, truth be told Alfred HAD no favorite turtle. But at some moments Alfred would use his ‘favorite’ turtle tactic to get one of them to behave better, Atleast for a few minutes, “He’s getting some ice. I pulled my leg when we were practicing.”

 Alfred let out a long-suffering sigh that one might hear from a tired mother and not from a former British Secret Agent/Military Veteran, “Well that won’t do at all.” He gave a jerk on Raphael’s mask just as the red masked turtle tried to reach over and smack Mikey, “As soon as I’m done with these two, I will look at your leg- “

 “What did they do this time?”

 When his father had returned, Leo don’t know but he knew that he wouldn’t have jumped so hard if he had known it was his father taking his leg again, “Well Master Bruce, apparently there was a ruckus that involved defiling Master Raphael’s’ gym shoes and said Master swearing his revenge.”

 Bruce gave another sigh like Alfred’s, running his hand over this black hair, there were only a few dark grief streaks that undoubtedly came from, not dealing with a multi trillion-dollar company, but dealing with four teenage sons all day, “Raphael we’ve been over this, no killing your brother. Michelangelo stop tormenting your brother. If I catch either of you with a bruise or covered in chicken fat your both grounded

The moment Mikey was free he gave a loud yelp in joy, “Thanks Dad!!!!” before turning and charging for freedom. Free of the Mayhem Twins, Alfred knelt, “Let me handle this Master Bruce,” before pressing the icepack to Leo’s leg, Leo glanced to the one turtle who hadn’t run off in joy. That was the seething brother that, though younger then Leo, was taller than their father. “Why do you let him get away with everything?!” Raph demanded, “He torments me all freaking day and all he gets is a warning?!”

 “He’s not just getting a warning Raph, “if Bruce had mastered anything in the past thirteen years, it was patience, “I’m gong to talk to him later.” Raph scoffed angrily, storming a few feet away with his shell to them. Bruce stood up and walked over to him, taking him by the bicep and Turing him to look at him, “Why don’t you get some fresh air? Dick and Tim are back in town, I’m sure they’d like to take you on one of their patrols.”

 Leo could see the gears rolling in Raph’s mind. Struggling between staying and exacting his forbidden revenge on Mikey or being able to crush some one’s skull with his other brothers. Eventually he groaned, “Ok fine.”  Before turning and leaving

 “Don’t forget your coat Raph, “Bruce called, “If you stay until morning then call me. Don’t let anyone see you.”

  “I know I know Pop.” Raph waved without looking at him before leaving the need of the all. Leo had no doubt the news tomorrow would have several more segments of criminals begin beaten to a bloody pulp, “Are you sure that’s wise Master Bruce?” Alfred asked reflecting his own fears, but only hissed when Alfred shifted the icepack higher on his leg, “You know how bad his anger gets.”

 “He’s a good kid Alfred, I trust him. Sometimes he needs to let off steam. Dick and Tim will take good care of him.” Bruce stood by Leo’s chair just out of Leo’s peripherals but a gentle touch on his shoulder told him his father was still there, “How bad is it?’

 “He’s stressed several tendons in his leg, I recommend he rest it for Atleast three days.’

“Three days?!” Leo twisted to look up at Bruce, “Dad that’s not fair- “

 “If Alfred says to rest it then you rest it.”

 Three days though? As much as he wanted to argue, he didn’t want to disappoint his father. With a sigh, gesture his family shared, he leaned back in the seat with his father coaxing. Allowing Alfred to wrap up his calf. If he had to rest, he Atleast wasn’t going to be trapped, “Would it be alright if I used crutches Atleast?” he asked, “I don’t want to be stuck in one place, I promise not to move around too much.”

 Alfred gave Bruce a look before nodding, “So long as you keep your movements to a minimum, I will get you a walking cast “

 “Thank you,”

 “I was going to ask, “Leo was grateful to have his father’s attention on something else for a bit, “have you seen Donatello?”

 “Actually, I have. He was lingering around the kitchen again. NO doubted trying to sneak a cup of coffee.”

 Father sighed,’ Not again, I’ll deal with it. Will you get Leonardo somewhere comfortable and get him what he needs?” Without waiting or a answer, Bruce was already gone. No doubted off to fight the monster that was Donatello’s caffeine addiction.

 With a sigh Alfred looked back to Leo, “How many more years till I can retire?”

(#)(#)\/(#)(#)

This wasn’t happening

The Chunin looked back down at his hands, the kunai he had been handed looked so big in the grip of a six-year-old, “You…you want me to what?” he asked the dark abyss

“They are not learning as quickly as you are.” The darkness exhumed cold, like the breath of the dead, “They are holding us back.”

“Th-they’re doing their best Master.” He begged, “Please, I’ll help them. I-I—” Chunin face exploded with pain as a staff backed across his face. If it hadn’t been the first time he experienced such pain, he might have been knocked over. But he instead squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head, ignoring the blood now running down his cheek. He felt a clawed hand grip his shoulder that seemed to suck all the happiness out of his body, “You are nothing but a weapon, Chunni, a tool. You have no will of your own except to cry out mine.” A claw as sharp as a knife touched underneath his chin, drawing his gaze up to a pair of pure white eyes with needlepoints for sprinkles. The white surface jagged with red lines, despite himself Leo could feel himself start to tremble. And the Master whispers to him

“Kill them.”

 The book and blanket that had been resting on his chest suddenly flew to the ground as Leo jolted awake with a gasp. His sudden movement irritated his wrapped leg and stole his breath. The turtle nearly doubling over as he held himself flighty, squeezing his burning eyes shut as he struggled to breath.

A dream

He tried to tell himself it was just a dream, a ghost of a memory but his shaking body refused to listen. Remembering the breathing techniques his father had taught him, he led himself through a short meditation, tell his body finally stopped trembling and his breathing beamed regular. When Leo lined back in his seat he glanced over at the large grandfather clock. His first irritation was that it had only been about half an hour since Alfred had dumped him in the library with a tray of snacks and books, the second behind this father had already been in to check on him, hens the blanket draped over him, and the third filled him with more sadness then anything

 And that was the slight angle to the clock itself. While that might have been a minute issue for certain people, for him it opened a can of worms.

 Leo stood from the couch, testing his walking cast before hobbling over. How someone had managed to get past him, even if he had been asleep, was enough to irritate him. But that irritation was drowned by his concerned brotherly nature. He took the Grandfather clock by the frame and pulled it away from the wall, letting it swing like a door.

The tunnel inside was as dark as ever, tinging with dust, but a faint light at the end of the steep staircase told him he was right. Someone was down there

 And he knew exactly how it was.

 It was strange to descend that staircase. The steps, like everything else, was covered in dust and cobwebs. With only faint darker steps marking anyone having been down there recently. Yet, when he reached the end, he still had to muffle a gasp.

 The Batcave, though still covered in dust and cobwebs, was just as impressive as it had been the first-time father had brought them home. It had scared his brothers so much that Mikey and Raph had refused to leave his side, and father had to carry Donnie in his arms. The T-rex alone was enough to give any six-year-old who lacked basic knowledge of anything, nightmares.

 Speaking of Donnie

 The giant behemoth that was the Bat monitor was the only thing in the room that had been recently cleaned off, all screens lit up with the same image of a dark tunnel. Leo sighed as he moved towards it and the chair facing it. he peered around the chair to see a familiar purple masked turtle sitting, his teal orbs fixated on the screen behind glasses, “Donnie” he sighed, shaking his brothers’ shoulder

 The youngest gave yelp jumping in his seat and immediately slashing his arms around as thigh he was in a kung Fu movie, his headphones sliding down from the sides of his head. After a few moments Donatello’s eyes looked back up to him, “Leo!” he fixed his headphones again, “Who-what are you doing down here? Dad told me you needed to rest.”

 “What are you doing down here, you know we’re not allowed in here.”

 “I-I” Donnie slapped at the console, turning off the monitors, “I wa seeing if Dad used to play solitaire down here.”

 If eto shared anything with his father, it was his intolerance of being lied to, “Fine, get grounded, see if I care.” Before taking a grip on his youngest brothers’ bicep and lifting him up to his feet, “We’re leaving, now.”

“No wait-I- “Donnie was able to pull his arm free, but also succeed in flailing back into his seat, “I-I.” he glanced back at the screen, “I-I lied. I’m sorry.”

 The anger Leo had felt ebbed from him, as much as he doesn’t want it to, “Then why are you down here again?”

 Again, teal eyes looked up at him, drawing in concern and worry that made Leo’s heart ache despite the stoic stance he was trying to pull off, “I was checking some of Dad’s old surveillance cameras to see if they were working.”

              “Why?”

 For a memo Leo was impressed his new ability to talk without being speaking Before realizing he had no such skill and his voice had no such ability to change at moments notice. The two turtles turned to the Batcave entrance to see the form of their father standing there, arms crossed with a less then impressed look in his eyes that promised repercussions.

 For a moment, he felt sorry for his youngest brother

 Then he remembered the time Donnie had turned his stereo into a robot, and quickly pushed his pity aside

 “B-Because I’ve seen the news Dad,” Don’ stuttering didn’t come from a fear of their father but rather a lifetime impediment, “Th-There have been a lot of disappearance in the sewers lately in Star City, Cyborg told me. And-and I wanted to see if the camera’s caught him, or anything.” Donnie looked back to Leo and then their father, “Its him, it has to be right?”

 The room fell silent, Bruce crossed the room and turned the large armchair in his direction before kneeling, “Donatello- “

 “It has to be him, what if he’s back Dad? What if he came back for Leo?  I Don’t want him to hurt my brothers=”

 “DON.” Their fathers tone wasn’t hard or bitter like the monsters in Leo’s nightmares, but one of a parent demanding their child’s attention, “Donnie, ‘he started again,” his hands coming up to rest on the youngest child’s shoulders, “Even if there was a chance he survived our fight in New York, there’s no way I’d let him anywhere near you or your brothers. That’s why I have those cameras in the cities surrounding ours, so I would know” Bruce’s hands came up to hold the sides of Don’s tear stained face, “You are my sons, and you will always be safe so long as I draw breath.”

 Donnie looked at the ground for a moment, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears before he gave each nod. Bruce drew him in to an embrace. Don’s smaller arms wrapping around his fathers’ neck as Bruce stroked the back of his head.

Leo looked away to spare his brothers’ pride, and to repent to his own harshness. Of course, Donnie wasn’t a bad kid, he was only a few years younger then himself, almost fourteen. He wasn’t’ like Mikey who always tried to cause mischief, or Raph whose anger sometimes overshadowed his overwhelming big heart.  It took him a moment to realize Donnie had finally broken his hug, wiping his eyes as Bruce stood up, turning to face Leo, “Go rest son, enjoy your night. Make sure you close the door behind you.” Before going back up the stairs. It took him a bit longer to realize Donni eyes staring at him, “What’s wrong?” he asked

 “Are you mad at me?”

 “No, I- “Leo paused, “No I was wrong, I was too harsh, I’m sorry.”

 Donnie nodded, his eyes glancing back to the blank computer screens, “he was really bad right? The Master? I mean, I don’t’ remember him, but I was walking by Raph’s’ room the other night and he…” he paused, being his lip, “Raph was crying. I even heard Mikey the other night screaming.”

 He remembered that, it was always this time of year that brought all those painful memories back. Leo had tried to reach them to provide some sort of comfort, but Dad had beaten him to them both times. “Yes, he was.” Was all he managed to say, but he took a breath, “But Splinter is gone, D, even if he wasn’t, there’s no way Dad or I would ever let him near you or our family.” He wasn’t sure if Donnie would believe him, mostly because he doesn’t believe himself, but his young trusting eyes turned to him again and nodded, “I believe you.”

 Those words could have broken him, how many times had he this same conversation with his father? Back when they were children and he still feared every shadow? How many times did he wake up crying in the middle o f the night only for the rather to appear a moment later, rubbing his shell and coaxing all the nightmares away? Despite himself, Leo gently cupped Donatello’s face with his palm, pressing their foreheads together for a moment before pulling away, “Come on little brother, why don’t’ we hang out in the library? That was Alfred doesn’t get a conniption from me standing on my leg

 Though light returns to his intelligent brothers’ eyes as he nods, there’s still a shadow of fear in his eyes. Leo follows his brother out of the Batcave, and as he closes the Grandfather clock behind them, he notices the tremble in his hands and immediately hides them from view.

He never thought he’d still fear monsters

 (#)(#)\/(#)(#)

“It’s him, isn’t’ it?”

 Bruce feels as though his lounge is sandpaper as he nodes, standing at the window. “I knew it was him when I saw the reports in New York, then in Philadelphia. For a ninja, he leaves an obvious trail.”

 “Then why let Raphael leave? Aren’t’ they al in danger?” despite the incident earlier, Bruce never doubted how much Alfred cared for his sons,

 “HE’s with Dick and Tim, and by my calculations, Splinter hasn’t’ reached Gotham yet. But I have no doubt that’s where he’s headed. “

 “DO you think he’s after Leonardo? That he sill wants his weapon? OR does he want revenge?”

 “If I know anything about him, he wants both. But he’ll get neither.” Bruce moved over to his large bed and sat down, his hands rubbing on his thigh,

 “IF I may,” nothing could ever stop Alfred from voicing his opinion, “You are not the man you were ten years ago. You may have taken his most valuable assets, but he took something from you as well.”

 Bruce nodded, rolling back the leg of his pants, revealing a pale leg that matched the rest of his body. But he twisted his thigh for a moment, and with a his the deceiving human leg separated from his body. WITH the top off the line robotics, this leg still lacked the natural hairline reflect the rest of his body had. And while that may not be a issue for a normal person, for him it made every fight a struggle between life and death,” when I first fell into those sewers, I didn’t know what awaited me Alfred, I expected monsters but instead I found a turtle in form of a child, a child more scared then any child should ever feel, flinching at every shadow, and I wondered what could eve remake someone that young so scared of the dark….” he looked back down the remains of his leg, the horrendous scaring that marked where eat had been removed from the rest of his body, “But all those years being Batman didn’t prepare me for that kind of monster.”

 “You should send the boys away, they can stay with Mr. Kent.”

 “They wouldn’t’ leave and you know it.” Bruce put his leg back in place, the hissing markings where the leg was realigning with the already stationed apparatus. HE stood again< “IF I have to, I will return to the darkness. I will do what ever it takes to protect them.” Before his mind wondered back to the Cave he had just caught is sons in, the tall glass displays still covered in dust, marking a life he had far left behind.

He would do whatever it took to keep them safe

[nei-ning]

Very, very mild tcest (at the end) oneshot fic about Leo and Raph.

“Beginning Of Something Deeper.”

Turtles trip to Casey’s farmhouse was supposed to be relaxing for all of them, but no, it wasn’t. Not at the current moment at least. Mikey, Don, Casey, April and Splinter stood outside the house in snow watching how Raphael and Leonardo, once again, were at each others throats.

Asking should they interrupt his older brothers, Mikey saw Master Splinter shaking his head, returning back inside the warmth of the house, suggesting them all to do the same. His oldest sons would calm down and find a way to find peace between them after all steam had been released.

As April and Casey followed Splinter inside, Don and Mikey kept staying still, having worried looks on their faces. One stupid little argue had again lead to this. It was their normal life but the more Leo and Raph fought, more it hurt their younger brothers who just wanted it all to stop.

“Get out of my face!” Leo shouted at the bottom of his lungs, pointing toward the nearby forest at his left, receiving deadly glare from his heated brother who snarled at him.

“Fine!”

Turning on his heels and stomping away, Don took few steps forward, reaching his hand after his brother, but Leonardo reached his right hand in front of his brother, giving silent warning gaze from the corner of his eye. Don swallowed and bowed his head slightly down, stepping back at his place next to Mikey, who’s eyes kept following his oldest brother who still seemed to have some steam left and for that reason it wasn’t surprise to see Leo going in that big barn, closing the door behind him. It had become Leonardo’s favorite area at the farm, a place where he could be and train alone if needed – and now he indeed needed it.

Turning his worried look back on Don, Mikey placed his hands on those collapsed shoulders. “Come now, Donnie. No point staying out here and get ourselves cold. Let’s go inside. I make hot chocolate for you.”

Just nodding to Mikey as a reply, Don allowed himself to be guided back inside. In front of the fireplace Master Splinter encouraged Donatello not to take his brothers fights personally or so seriously. They always had have them and probably always would have. In some weird way it kept those two balanced.

–

Kicking snow out of his way Raphael walked forward cursing out loud to himself, picking big frozen and snow covered rock in his hands, slamming it as hard as he could at his feet on the ground. A loud crack made his temper withdraw in the back of his mind as the sound kept going on and soon Raphael’s body weight crushed cracked ice under his feet, dropping him in ice cold water.

Pushing his head above the surface, Raphael gasped for air as sudden coldness was overtaking his body what wasn’t exactly used to this cold temperature. Trying to reach the bottom with his feet Raph realized there was no bottom, he had come too far away from the shore. In his fury state of mind Raphael had totally forgot this small but deep pond what was in the forest and since he had kept his gaze down at his feet, kicking snow, he hadn’t been aware of his surroundings.

Reaching his shaky hands to his sais, Raphael reached as far as he could and slammed his blades in ice, pulling half of his body out of the water but cold wind froze him in his place. Shutting his eyes, Raph started to talk to himself with whispers to keep his drifting mind focused but at times he had hard times hearing what he was saying since his lips were, like the rest of his body, trembling violently.

–

At the farm house everyone seemed to be in good mood and Leonardo had come inside too after cooling down. Wind had turn more stronger and it had made its way into the barn which had drove Leo inside the house. April smiled at those three teenagers who were happily chatting but one of them was still missing. Raising her green eyes to scan Casey’s stiffed form while he stood in front of the window, April stood up and came next to him.

“What’s wrong, Casey?”

“Raph. He hasn’t come back yet.”

April sighed and looked out through slightly frozen window.

“I hope he’s okay. Winter isn’t exactly the best season for turtles.”

Standing silently a moment Casey left April’s side heading towards coat rack, taking his warm winter coat. Pushing flashlight in his pocket Casey made his way to front door where April catch up with him.

“Casey, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like, babe? I’m going ta find Raph.”

“But the storm...”

“April, my friend’s being out there and I ain’t sitting here waiting that he MIGHT come back. Ya know? I have ta do this. I could never forgive myself if I wouldn’t.”

April secretly admired it how much Casey cared for Raph and how close those two had become. Sighing with a smile she stood on her toes, placing a kiss on Casey’s cheek.

“Be careful, okay? And call us if you need help.”

“Awh, geesh, babe. Thanks.”

Standing at the doorway hugging herself, April watched with worry how Casey slowly disappeared into the upcoming snow storm. Master Splinter placed his hand on her slightly trembling shoulder, suggesting to leave everything to Casey. Casey maybe wasn’t the smartest one, but his heart was as big and loving as Raphael’s and those two were so alike that if anyone would find Raph, it would be Casey.

It’s not Splinter didn’t trust his sons or knew they would find Raphael, but his senses just told him to leave this to Casey.

–

“Raph! Yo, Raph!”

Slowly opening his stiff eyelids Raph swore he was hearing someone calling his name. His neck had start to turn stiff too because of snow storm and wind, but he managed to turn his head and see a shadow figure on the hill near by him. Hearing his name being called again, he recognized familiar voice.

“C—Case, h-here...”

But his voice was way too silent, like a gentle whisper. Damn it. If he wouldn’t find his voice soon, Casey would keep on going since snow already had cover his footprints. Trying to call Casey again and again didn’t bring any result so his only hope was to catch his human friend’s attention in another way.

Releasing his tight and stiff hold on his second sai, Raphael managed to summon enough energy to pull it out of ice and throw it toward Casey. His arm trembled as he threw his weapon, hoping it wouldn’t hit his friend. The last thing what he wanted was to kill his friend who had come to look for him.

Hearing ‘thud’ behind his back, Casey turned around and his eyes widened when he saw familiar Sai sticking out of the tree. Looking at the direction where it possibly was thrown Casey saw darker figure laying on the ground and he instantly ran down the hill, sliding down on his stomach more closer to his friend. Seeing the state what Raphael was in, Casey reached his hand to Raph’s, getting firm hold on it, slowly and gently pulling his friend out of ice cold water.

When it was safe enough Casey got on his knees, pulling his trembling friend against him while taking his coat off.

“Here, pal. It will keep ya warm at least a bit.”

Nuzzling his face against Casey’s warm neck for heat, Raphael mumbled something but Casey couldn’t get anything out of it so he asked Raph to repeat it.

“C-can’t… f-feel m-my l-l-legs...”

Damn… If he couldn’t feel his legs, it was bad since Casey couldn’t walk him home. Looking around he saw nothing what would help him to get his friend back at the house, Casey did the only thing what he could; Lift Raph in his arms in bridal style.

Raph’s weight was something to handle but Casey couldn’t focus on complaining about his friend’s natural massive weight at the moment so he turned his focus elsewhere – Talking to his friend and keeping him awake. Feeling Raph’s cold face burying deeper in his warm neck, Casey couldn’t stop imagining it how cold Raph really was feeling.

Hurrying his steps as much as he could Casey soon saw the lights of farm house between trees.

“Look, Raph. We’re almost there, just hang in there, buddy.”

–

Scanning the landscape behind the window once again, Mikey sighed turning slowly around but spun back to his original place in a flash after seeing something.

“Guys! It’s Casey and Raph! He found him!”

Leo and Don rushed to Mikey’s side while April rushed to the door, swung it open and rushed to her lover and friend.

“April, hurry. He’s badly cold. He needs ta be warmed as soon as we can!”

“You got it, Casey.”

Rushing back inside April headed straight to stairs what lead to second floor, only stopping to command two boys with her. While she was taking one extra mattress Mikey and Leo were taking few pillows and extra winter blankets while, at the same time downstairs, Splinter and Don were filling water bottles with warm water to help Raphael warm up faster.

Looking down at his friend in his arms Casey felt guilty for not going to look for him sooner. Maybe all this could have been avoided if he would had follow him or something. April brought mattress on the floor between couch and fireplace, Mikey placing pillows in their place and Leo watched from the side while Casey gently and carefully landed his brother on the mattress. Donnie came there next, taking Raph’s gears off while Splinter placed those flat water bottles in line on his son’s body.

Feeling eyes on him Leonardo lifted his gaze to meet with all of them, hearing Mikey’s voice; “What are you waiting for, Leo? Give him those blankets.”

“Oh, yes, sorry.” Stepping closer Leonardo bend down, slowly laying those slightly warmed blankets on his brother one by one, hoping his own body heat had warmed them enough for his brother. All their eyes were locked on Raphael’s trembling form and face and it felt like an eternity before Raphael let out small sigh and his face seemed to relax a bit and his body’s trembling started to turn more down.

“I think we need to watch him through the night and see how he will do.”

“I agree. Casey, go get more woods. We can’t let the fire die.”

“Sure thing, April. Come, Leo.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, we need a lot of woods and it’s faster ta get them with two people, ya know?”

Nodding Leonardo followed Casey and while they were putting their coats on, Leonardo couldn’t help but to take one last look of his brother. If he just hadn’t argued with him and told him to get out of his face… Feeling a weight of Casey’s hand on his shoulder Leo turned his gaze in his eyes and he saw it in Casey’s eyes. The truth. Casey knew he was blaming himself for this.

–

“Leo, it ain’t your fault. None of this isn’t but yeah, I understand how ya feel, buddy. Ya blame yourself for pissing him off and telling him ta get out of your face and I… I blame myself for not going after him sooner. I have no idea how long he was in that water.”

“I understand. I just… I wish we wouldn’t be fighting so much because it always leads to something bad. Raph really must be hating me.”

“Because of argues? Leo, Raph loves ya a lot. He said he never knows how ta show it ta ya since he doesn’t want it ta be awkward or anything. Ya are so very important ta him and he looks up ta ya so much. Ya are his big bro and leader after all. He rely on ya a lot as well.”

Hearing all this surprised Leo and he stopped in the middle of picking up logs in his arms, looking at Casey who never hadn’t seemed to be so serious. Seeming to get lost in his words, Casey laughed and slapped his turtle friend on the shoulder, lifting up the mood.

“Now come, ya green freak. Your bro needs us ta keep him warm.”

“Green freak?” Leonardo growled playfully, slapping Casey gently on the arm with a log and Casey only returned friendly laugh to his friend. Leonardo was always so serious so little teasing like this seemed to relax and open him up a bit. Plus Casey and turtles had become good friends. If, in the past, Casey would had call Leo a green freak, those deadly blades would have chop his head off.

–

It was around 3am in the first night and Leonardo had sent Don to sleep from his turn to watch after their brother. Sitting on the chair near Raphael’s feet, Leonardo eyed his brother who was sleeping quite peacefully. It seemed those painkillers what April and Don had decided to give him were working. Placing a book in his lap Leonardo lowered his gaze on those written words and no matter how he read them, his mind didn’t register them. Instead his mind kept thinking about his brother and the moment when Raph had fell in the water.

Leonardo rolled many emotions inside him, trying to imagine how Raphael must have felt in that moment. If he would had been there longer, he most surely would have die. Sighing with sorrowful look in his eyes, Leo closed his book and made his way next to his brother, sitting down on the floor. Turning his eyes towards the fire he threw few more logs in those flames.

Feeling a gentle hold around his wrist Leo jumped a bit, turning to look Raph who’s eyes were open very slightly but enough for Leo to see those misty yellow eyes. Seeing Raph’s lips moving Leonardo moved a bit closer and bend down to hear his brother better.

“It... ain’t… your… fault.”

That surprised look on Leo’s face made Raphael start to repeat his words, but Leonardo stopped him by placing his finger on those cool lips.

“Sssh, it’s okay, I know that. But you shouldn’t be talking. Rest, my brother.”

“Lay… Me...”

“Huh?!”

Taking few fast breaths what burned his airways, Raphael licked his dry lips and spoke with whispers again.

“Lay… next ta… me.”

“O-oh, sure. Hold on.”

But Raph didn’t wait. He was already moving with snail’s speed on the edge of his mattress, making more room for Leo who was taking pillow to himself from the chair where he sat few minutes ago. Seeing Raph moving made Leo give ‘the look’ to him, but Raph ignored it completely, settling down in his new spot.

Hesitating a moment Leonardo finally placed his pillow on mattress, settling himself next to his brother who instantly started to seek the warmth of another body. Feeling wrapped between two lovely warm sources Raphael sighed and closed his eyes, soon breathing all calm in restful sleep, under the loving gaze of his older brother.

–

Thanks to his mutated genes, Raphael was recovering better than expected but he was still being kept warm in front of the fireplace since he was still sneezing and coughing. However he was allowed to move to sleep on the couch which was more in Raph’s liking. His fever had gone away day before but he was still weak so Splinter had forbid him from any kind of training, expect meditation what Raphael just refused to do if it wasn’t forced on him.

His brothers, just like Casey and April too, were equally spending time with him so he wouldn’t die on boredom but when his eyes had spotted one basket with yarns and needles, he had asked April’s permission to use them. She had no idea why, but she gave them to Raph, soon watching in awe as Raphael started to knit. Looking at all other turtle family members they confirmed that Raph indeed knew how to knit and he liked it. Of course this made Raph throw one of the yarns toward his brothers who easily dodged it and the yarn was returned back to him by Splinter who gave little strict look to him. Dropping his head slightly down Raph apologized and went back on knitting.

At dinner time Raphael had refused to eat since he wasn’t hungry so instead he sat there on the couch, wrapped in warm blanket in front of fire, knitting and listening his family’s happy chatting with their friends. Soon white mug appeared to his view. Following that arm all the way up to his friend’s face he saw happy smile and friendly blue eyes.

“I know ya ain’t hungry but ya need ta fuel your body with something so drink this at least. April forced me ta do it ta ya so ya better appreciate it.”

“April forced ya?” Raph smirked with a chuckle as he reached to take that warm mug in his hands, letting that welcomed heat warm them. Closing his eyes he pushed his face more closer of that warm steam what slowly rose from the mug, gently traveling on his skin.

“Hey, I made it for ya ta drink it, not just use it ta warm ya up from outside.”

“Shut it, Case, and let me enjoy this in my way.”

“Touchy.”

Casey said poking Raph on the shoulder with his elbow, finally leaving him alone to enjoy his drink which he actually enjoyed a lot. Once before Raph had tasted Casey’s hot chocolate and it had tasted so horrible so perhaps April had teached him how to do it good. Chuckling silently to his own thoughts Raph took another long sip, sighing deeply. He was lucky to have them all in his life. It didn’t matter how many persons he had, but the quality of what kind of persons they were.

–

Another day had come to an end and Leonardo was making his tour in the house to make sure everything was in order and everything were, except Raph. He was still sitting and knitting. He had been knitting a whole day and it would be good to stop and get some rest.

As Leo approached his brother, he saw Raph was just doing his finishing touches with whatever he had knit.

“Glad to see you got it done. I was just about to tell you to quit and get some sleep.”

“And ya think I would have listened ya?”

Seeing that playfully challenging spark in the corner of Raph’s golden eye made Leo chuckle as he sat next to his bro, staring at the fire.

“I think not.”

“Damn right about that.”

Comfortable and long silence surrounded them which was broken only few times when Raphael coughed some.

“Hey, Raph… You know what?”

“If this is about ya still blaming yourself I ain’t listening.”

“No, no. I just thought that tonight you can sleep on your own since you don’t seem so sick anymore that you need to be watched after at nights anymore.”

“Geesh, Leo. I have been telling that ta ya for few days already but ya have been insisting ta sleep here with me.”

“Sorry. I guess I just… have been so worried and wanting to make sure nothing bad won’t happen to you.”

Another silent moment landed in the room as they both listened the sounds of fire eating woods in that old fireplace. Leo sighed as he slowly stood up, turning to look his brother one last time.

“Well, it’s goodnight then., Raph.”

“Hold your horses a bit, Leo. Sit down.”

Sudden worry took over him and he couldn’t hide it while sitting back down.

“What is it? Are feeling okay?”

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine. Just… Here.”

Rather then letting Leo take knitting from his lap, Raph pushed it in Leo’s hands looking away. Looking slightly surprised Leonardo rolled Raph’s knitting open, realizing it was a scarf… with a text in it. Best big brother ever. Feeling all warm inside, loving and tender smile spread on his face as his eyes moved from those words to Raphael’s profile.

“… I mean every word in it, Leo. I ain’t good with words, ya know it, at least not then when it comes ta talking about how I feel but… Ya know. Writing is a bit easier.”

“I know. This is very special gift to me and I will treasure it.” Moving right next to Raph, Leonardo pressed his head against Raph as they both scanned scarf spreaded in their laps.

“Thank you.”

“Hmh.”

“… You know, Casey told me one day how you really feel about me. How much you love me and how much you look up to me.”

“He did? Damn, I knew I shouldn’t had told him. He’s such a big loudmouth. More worse than Mikey!”

Leonardo only chuckled and pressed his head a bit more against Raph’s. “It’s not all that bad. At least now I know and I try to do my best we will find a balance between us. Our argues are slowly getting out of our hands and I have come to notice how much they have start to effect and hurt our little brothers. I don’t want them to suffer because I’m acting too immature by arguing with you.”

“By ‘I’ ya really mean ‘us’? About being too immature.”

“Well, yes. Just didn’t want to say it to piss you off once again.”

“Njah, I wouldn’t get pissed off from those words since they are the truth.”

“So.. does this mean we agree on this one? We will work and try to find a way to stop arguing.”

“Not completely since I love ta crawl under your skin at times, but not as bad anymore.”

“So we will be okay with small argues? Not full wars?”

Raising his brow Leo looked into golden eyes while hearing Raphael’s light short laugh.

“Yeah, no full wars. Just bitching.”

“Bitching, huh? I should have known you would say something like that.”

“Oh? Then how about this?”

Wrapping his arms around Leo’s body, Raph laid down pulling Leo on top of him, smiling gently.

“Would ya keep me warm tonight?”

“I thought you would never ask.”

Shifting himself in better position in his brother’s arms, Leonardo rested his head on Raph’s shoulder and sighed. This was very good start to their brotherhood but deep inside of his shell, in his heart, Leo felt and knew there was something much more to come to him and Raphael. More than just more matured brotherhood.

[nurturingflame]

Week In Review - 54

It’s always exciting getting to post a new section of our continuing adventure. You will see a difference in tone from the last installment and we hope that you enjoy the action to come. 

A quick question, as we are always very interested in your feedback. Would anyone be interested if we hosted an open rp event? Let us know!

Aww, Rats! 1-5

Michelangelo stared at the frozen deliciousness he'd spread out before himself on the table in Donnie's lab.  Even four days later, the room still smelled of the feast that his family, Mrs. V, and The Children of the Phoenix had partaken in.  The giant chairs that Donnie had constructed were not longer there, each of the three mutants they were made for having taken them home.  Medusa had been thrilled to pieces with her first ever chair.  Sad life never sitting in a chair, the teen thought.  Even sadder to let this ice cream melt.

The ice cream was almost gone, and his plan was to make a many scooped concoction meant to finish it off before someone else beat him to it.  He pushed the jar of mutagen, or retro-mutagen, or maybe it wasn't-mutagen-at-all, out of the way.   Donnie really needs to do a better job of putting stuff back where it belongs, he thought.  All of this lab equipment is blocking my food prep.  

"What are you doing with the ice cream on my table?" Donnie came up behind him.  Mikey turned to see his taller brother standing with his hip popped out, his arms crossed his plastron.  "Hmmm?"

"Fixing you," he drawled, "a big bowl of ice cream!"  He turned and began to scoop the dessert into a bowl.

"What were you doing before you decided to serve me ice cream?" Donnie asked suspiciously.

"Serving myself ice cream?" Mikey presented the brainiac with a heaping bowl.

"Why don't you fix Mrs. V and Phoenix bowls," Leo suggested, sauntering into the lab.  "They've been sequestered in Mrs. V's room for a long time now."

"What do you think they're doing in there?" Donnie asked, handing a bowl to Leo and taking one himself.

"I dunno," Leo shrugged as they walked away.  "I heard Phoenix say that Mrs. V was right not to imbibe, apparently she had to use her own medical knowledge on a hangover."

Ice cream is so much better than sake.  Mikey's mouth watered as his brother's voices drifted away.  Not that he had ever tried sake, but if you had to take medicine after drinking it, then it couldn't be good.  He stuffed a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth before beginning to serve up another bowl. Piling it high, he admired it.  It sparkled in the low light, the ice crystals on the cream beginning to melt into a smooth dripping loveliness.  He took a long lick.

"Where's the one you were going to make me?" Donnie snapped Mikey out of his reverie.

Sighing, Mikey handed the bowl to his brother, just as April's voice hit his ears.  "Hi guys.  Look what I found!"

"Are you sure you measured right?" Eliza asked as she exited her room behind the Phoenix, tweaking her shirt, hoping that it would fall in more flattering creases to hide her stomach bump. They had just spent more than an hour in the most detailed check-up she had undergone to date. "Pregnant or not, adding four inches to my waist-line in a week seems a bit extreme." Her friend just snickered in a knowing way as they made their way towards the common area of the lair.

The Children of the Phoenix had stopped by in the early evening the day after the party, with their rather haggard looking mother in tow. Eliza had slept in late that day and thus had gotten a late start in cleaning up the aftermath. The boys had helped of course, though Eliza noted with no small degree of annoyance that her own daughter was MIA, mostly likely off in some hidden nook bonding with her new pet. Regardless, the result was that she was still elbow deep in pots and pans when her company arrived. She was immediately relieved of duty by an insistant Acros who then recruited his brother to his aid while Medusa when off to find Donatello. Apparently she wanted to ask the craftsman turtle if she could take her custom-built chair back to the warehouse.

When Eliza turned her attention to the Phoenix, it was apparent that the small woman was not nearly as chipper as her adopted offspring. When asked she just grumbled something about a newfound distaste for 'fine' sake and maybe a disparaging word or two about Mirakami's lineage, which Eliza hoped would not be repeated in the blind chef's company. Taking pity on her friend, Eliza put on the kettle and discretely went to ask Splinter if he happened to have any tea blends that would help. The end result was a pleasant enough tea time and chat between three adults. Splinter and the Phoenix with their 'day after' brew and Eliza with the iron enhancer the healer had made for the pregnant ferret. With lots of sugar.

As the tea was consumed the small healer had a more healthy color returned to her and was guiding the conversation back around to Eliza. Mostly as to how to ascertain the health of the babies, now that they had shown movement. However, they were interrupted by the children, furred, shelled and scaled alike. They had loaded all three chairs into the shell-raiser and wanted to deliver them to the warehouse before the Hamato boys planned to head out on patrol. The Phoenix left with the group, with the caution that Eliza wasn't off the hook, and a promise to come back soon. Today's exam was the fulfillment of that threat.

Eliza had been weighed, measured, poked and prodded, all in the Phoenix's goal to not only judge the health of the pregnancy, but to have a base understanding of Eliza's ferrety physiology, or as much as she could with basic observation. It was a lot of asking Eliza to bend this way and that, understanding how the ferret's body moved normally so the healer could then make note of any changes that the pregnancy caused. The end result was a mix between a doctor's visit and a yoga class.

As they moved towards the pit the sound of young voices brought her attention to the lab just as April and Casey were making their way there as well. Her accute hearing heard the word 'ice cream' being bantered about just as Donatello and Leonardo meet them with bowls of the sweet treat. "Ohh, snack time." She smiled in anticipation as she accepted the bowl from Donnie freeing him to return to the lab, "thank you boys I can go for this about now."

"You're welcome." Leonardo said politely while holding out his bowl to the Phoenix who seemed to be contemplating whither she wanted the treat or not.

She caught the smaller woman raising an eyebrow at her. "Hey! Don't give me that look. I've been good. But even leftover chicken gets boring after a few days. Not to mention that having Ladybug around has not being helping on the craving front. I think ice cream is a much better option."

Then the squee of "KITTY!" came through the door and Eliza caught a glimpse of an orange tabby being danced around by green hands.

"Oh for heaven's sake." She muttered as she stepped into the lab, an ecstatic Mikey cuddling a weather worn ally cat, blissfully ignoring the agitated chatter of the other teens. Her mind immediately went to how this new arrival could complicate her own situation. Not bad enough I have to keep myself from snacking on my daughters' pet, now I have to make sure the cat doesn't get to it either. Because it was plain to see that Mikey was already enamored and if he turned his watery baby blues on the rest of the family she was certain the cat was not leaving anytime soon.

"Okay, whose idea was this?" she asked the room, but a shrinking and suddenly shy April made the answer all too clear. "Really. April?" The ferret sighed in an exasperated but defeated way all parents do when there is no way out of a pickle a wayward child puts them in.

"It's only temporary." The teen tried to defend sheepishly.

"Un hun." Eliza shook her head and walked over to the ice cream spread, serving herself an extra scoop of the quickly melting treat. Hey, she deserved extra for dealing with this kind of stress. "You're telling Splinter." She declared without looking back as she deposited off the last of the mint chocolate chip in her bowl.

"Master Splinter is meditating right now," Donnie said in a pensive voice.  "You'll have to tell him later."

"Yeah," Casey Jones chuckled, "what if the cat goes nuts and attacks him when he's not paying attention?  She could feed off of his body for months!"

"There is something seriously wrong with you," Donnie snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That was pretty gross, Casey," Phoenix agreed, handing the young man her bowl after putting only a spoonful in her mouth.  She turned to Eliza and smiled as Mikey let out a lovesick sigh.  "You be good," she told the ferret.  "And I'll be back."

"Let me get your bag," Eliza turned toward her room.

Phoenix held a hand out, again peeking at Mikey as he let out a squeak.  "I can get it.   Make sure you hold the cat when you introduce it to Ladybug."  She sang the last words, almost as a tease.

Mikey gasped and growled out, "Nononononono!"

"Everything OK Mikey?" April asked, waving as the healer left.

"Yeah," he said, his shell pressed against the table.  "It's cold, it's cool.  Like ice cream."

Eliza swallowed hers.  "Get the cat off the table, Michelangelo."

"Okie dokie!" he squealed, turning, grabbing the feline in his arms, and running toward the kitchen.

Eliza rolled her eyes.  "I need a nap."

For days, he had watched.  Through the eyes of Ladybug, The Rat King was able to see most of the Turtles lair, spy upon the interactions between those living there.  The girl who had taken Ladybug as her own did not restrict herself to only one or two parts of the lair, but roamed freely.  However, the girl did not go where he wanted her to go, and he had to wait until she was sleeping with her ferret-mother before he could tell the fancy rat to wander.

So the doe snuck out when the girl was solidly asleep, only once causing the ferret mutant's whiskers to twitch, into the dojo to watch the sleeping or meditating form of Splinter.

Ah, his Splinter.  The Rat King had been watching his general, his bodyguard, his brother in body, heart, and soul long before Ladybug had made her presence known to the human girl called Gwyn.  The Rat King did not want to play his hand too early, so he had only tickled Splinter's presence in his dreams, wandering in convoluted places that made little sense, places filled with cherry blossoms, old style Japanese buildings, the clinging of steel weapons, and the cooing of a baby.  But the little fancy rat doe had her eye on the rat mutant and his household during his waking hours.   It was in that way that he'd felt the weakening of Master's Splinter's mind.

Even drunk, filled with the blood warming fuzziness of sake, Master Splinter was formidable.  His mind was firm, watching the goings on about him with a nonjudgemental eye.  However, The Rat King was able to feel the rat mutant, much the same way he could feel his many brothers and sisters.  With the emotional impressions of Splinter, and the visual information of Ladybug, he had formulated his plan.  He needed only to wait until the right time.

He had thought he would have to wait longer, but fate was smiling on him.  

Ladybug saw, at the beginning of what seemed to be the ninja turtle's fighting lesson, Splinter training each of the boys, separately and together.  Then The Rat King felt Splinter's wall crack, as the sound of a woman came to his ears, met with the higher voice of another woman in typical, almost squealy female greeting.  Ladybug was no longer in the dojo, as Gwyn had scooped her up, and carried her to the sounds of the voices, showing The Rat King her mother, the ferret mutant Eliza, and the mutant healer, The Phoenix, hugging each other.

At the same time, he felt Splinter's attention shatter.  Only a shard, for that moment, was on his sons, another on their training, another on their obedience, but several more stretched out from the dojo, to the voices of the women, a recollection of how each one smelled, looked, moved.  The Rat King felt the Ninja Master's swell of affection for the little girl, for the ferret, for the healer, and he felt the body he was observing clench with desire.

Much like his own heart did when he longed for his brother, who rejected him, rejected who he was.  But no longer.

Splinter put on a blindfold, taking the lesson in a different direction, to regain his focus.  

"This doesn't seem fair," Leonardo said.

"I assure you," Splinter replied.  "It isn't."

Again the voices of the women came to his ears, as he moved to avoid Leonardo's strike, his attention split.  The Rat King reached out his desire, clear for the Ninja Master, to match that which the Ninja Master himself felt for...The Rat King could not quite tell what.

The first move was made, his second was now in the waiting.  He would have what he wanted.

Phoenix followed the flashlight down the sewer tunnel, her mind a whirl with the information she'd gleaned from Eliza in this last visit.  She was still seeing how the woman moved in her mind's eye, her flexibility was amazing.  She could practically turn herself in two, despite the two babies growing in her belly.  The way that the mutagen had modified her spine in making her an anthropomorphic ferret was fascinating in and of itself, and she had to keep bringing her mind back to the actual measurements that mattered.  She chuckled, shaking her head.  You're an obstetrician at the moment, she reminded herself.  See what her body can do for its sake after the babies come.

As her muffled laugh faded in echo, she heard, "Eek."

She stopped, casting the flashlight about to find the owner of the voice.

It was just a plain rat, grey with a pink nose, and a pink tail, and pink feet.  It lay on its side, and squeaked again meekly. When she softened her eyes, to see the glow that was not a glow that emanated from everything, she saw very little of it around the rat.  It was as if it was being suck in from the rat’s center instead of exuding out as it should.  She picked the rodent up, and held its limp, warm body in her hands.  She could feel its little heart beating against her palm.  She rubbed it gently, and as she did, she gave it some of the tingly light.  The thought and look of the process, when she was self-aware enough to watch it, never failed to fascinate her.  Everything she looked at gave off the glow that wasn’t a glow, a type of shimmering in the air that indicated its existence.  The tingly light that came out of her hands, almost of its own accord, had a different kind of glow to it, an almost light, the shimmer from it was white in color, but translucent.  It did not look like it felt.  It was a sheet, one continuous emanation of light, while it felt as if ants or spiders were coming out of her palms through her pores and into the pores of the creature she was giving it to.  She knew it wasn’t hers, that she didn’t make the light.  The light came from somewhere else, the same place as the great firebird that had come to her all those years ago, the same place as the voice that was not her voice, the same place as the poetry.

A gift from the Universe, she thought errantly.  Like Eliza's babies.

The tingling stopped in her hands, and she held the rat for a while longer.  She smiled ironically.  “Medusa would eat you,” she said to it softly.  “And here I am trying to help you heal yourself.”

The rat raised its head, as if it understood her, and then wiggled to get down.  She put it on the ground gently, and it ran off down the tunnel.  Ti stopped, looking back at her, as if waiting, ran a little farther, then waited again.  She watched it, the soft glow that was not a glow fading into the dark of the tunnel only shortly after she could no longer see its physical body.

She picked up her flashlight and followed the rat.  She turned a corner, and shone her light on several rats eating some garbage in the tunnel.  The all looked at her, squeaked loudly, and then ran off farther down the tunnel.  The one she had helped, however, waited for her to catch up, then ran off again.

She grew increasingly uneasy as she stood in the dark tunnel, deep in the sewer, away from any way out that she knew of.  A few rats, brown and gray, chittered beside her and ran forward a little, but were still well within the beam of her flashlight.

“Do I follow you?” she asked out loud, feeling rather silly as that was what she was already doing.

The rats waited.

“You know your life is getting really weird when you start talking to rats, and they answer you,” she smiled.  "And they are mutated."

Interested in rping with the Nurturing Flame universe?