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tangledinink · 2 years ago

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Chapter Thirteen of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up! The gang journeys through the Hidden City to investigate the Battle Nexus. They journey through and investigate old memories on the way. Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

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"BARON DRAXUM!"

Everyone in the room winced, including Baron Draxum, who awoke with a start, sitting stark upright and snarling in response as he swayed.

"Jeez, Recruit... Love the enthusiasm, but tone it down a bit, maybe," Lieutenant bit out, rubbing his ears, still reeling from the volume of her wake-up call. Casey flushed just the tiniest bit.

"My apologies, sensei!" She cried, immediately falling into a bow, but privately she thought to herself it worked, didn't it? Nothing else that they had tried had even begun to stir the yokai, who they had found tied up and in an unconscious heap inside his own underground lab. They had arrived expecting to help transport the Hamato children to their main hideout, certain they would be, of course, apprehended neatly by Draxum by now... but evidently this was not the case.

"What in the world happened?" The Lieutenant voiced Casey's own thoughts aloud, holding his hands out exasperatedly. "You said you were going to get the Hamatos."

"Yes, well, things were a bit more complicated than I anticipated..." Draxum hissed, gritting his teeth.

"You said you could handle them on your own! We offered to send you back-up, but you didn't want to wait! Surely four children didn't overpower you--"

"They did not overpower me," Draxum snapped, turning to snarl as he dragged himself back up to his feet. "Some damned witch placed a protection spell on them," he seethed, absolutely bristling. "I can't touch them..." He grit his teeth. "... I will simply have to account for this in the future..."

Lieutenant and Brute seemed somewhat unimpressed, Cassandra noted, glancing at them from the corners of her eyes as the two exchanged looks.

"Yes, well," Lieutenant mused, his hands on his hips. "I'm sure there will be other opportunities to kidnap children in the future. However, the Dark Armor remains our priority. Come on. We've wasted enough time here, and we have a new lead to investigate..."

"Don't worry. You'll get 'em next time," Brute tried to encourage, patting Draxum's shoulders, to which he snarled and batted his hands away, grumbling to himself as he stalked off after them, discussing as they went.

Cassandra sighed softly, rolling her shoulders back and forth a few times before she trailed after her three superiors.

Yes.... The Dark Armor was the priority.

---

The collective shriek of their group was cut off by a loud thud, immediately followed by a chorus of groans. Okay, so, travel by teleportation was... a little disorientating. The fact that most of them currently sucked at staying on their own two damn feet didn't help matters. Some more than others.

"Sorry!" Raph immediately bit out, wriggling from atop the heap, an awkward chuckle escaping him.

"Raph, my wonderful brother," Leo grit out. "You know I love you dearly. But I'm really gonna need you to stop knocking us all over like bowling pins."

"Well, look, you try walkin' around with a giant tail you ain't used to! It's not as easy as it looks!" He defended, throwing his hands up. "I'm doin' my best over here!"

"Whoa!" Mikey effectively ended their squabble with his gasp, sitting up quickly in order to give a wild gesture. "Guys, look!"

And damn. Whoa was right.

Raph was a New Yorker, so he wasn't easy to impress. He wasn't immediately awed by big, sprawling cityscapes or towering skyscrapers, but this place was... something else. It looked somewhere between an actual city and some sort of mystic ruin, residing as 'neither' and 'both' all at the same time. The buildings themselves seemed to grow from the stone landscape, curving and sliding to match the terrain. Glowing mushrooms, crystals, and occasionally the eyes of massive statues provided brightly colored lighting, leaving the various neon signs and backlit advertisements of the city seeming pale in comparison. Street vendors, kiosks, and tents lined the bustling streets, and each and every creature making up the massive crowds was something completely alien that Raph had never seen nor imagined before. Yokai, he thought to himself. That's what April said they were called.

Rather than sharp, straight lines and confident corners, this place seemed built from jagged outlines and curving bends, looping and winding around itself as if the entire city were hanging on, clinging to itself, holding hands, nestled in between the hulking forms of unmoving stone creatures that Raph was unsure how to categorize. He didn't feel confident saying that they weren't alive after the day they had had, despite their frozen forms and their dead, unseeing eyes.

"This must be the Hidden City," Mikey said, and Leo let out a low whistle as the five of them took in the view.

"Good job, little guy. Knew you could get us here," April hummed, giving the little yellow creature they had rescued a squeeze. His tail wagged wildly in reply, snuggling up in her embrace.

"Alright, now we just gotta get to the Battle Nexus from here," Leo said with a sigh, shifting his weight onto one leg, hand on his hip as he glanced over at the yellow critter. "Any idea where that is?"

The creature chirred in response, nodding excitedly and scrambling down from April's arms in order to lead the way. Leo grinned.

"Okay, I take back all my earlier doubts and hesitations. Bringing this guy with us was a great idea," Leo declared as the group set off.

Though the acquisition of weapons, all tucked or stowed away in backpacks or belt loops or pockets, had helped a bit, Raph had still been, admittedly, pretty nervous about entering the city, a pool of anxiety swirling around in his gut. Given the day they had had so far, he couldn't help but imagine a hoard of devious yokai dogpiling him and his siblings the moment they set foot into unknown territory. But, to his quiet surprise, no one spared them even a second glance, all seeming far too occupied with their own errands and lives to glance over at their ragtag group.

Somehow, this made Raph feel a bit better. For several reasons. He supposed that, at the very least, they didn't seem to be freaks here.

"Don't worry, Dad, we're on our way," Mikey chirped, and despite his current relief, Raph still couldn't quite understand how his little brother could be so cheerful. Mikey always amazed him with his emotional resilience. Wished he had some of that.

"Eugh, is he even gonna recognize us when we get there?" Leo said with a wince, wrinkling up his face a bit. "We look, uh... a little different than when he last saw us."

"I'm pretty sure he knows, Leo," Donnie remarked. "He's the one who put the bracelets on us in the first place. He knows."

Raph glanced dimly down at the little golden bracelet still encircling his wrist, the red gem now seeming a bit duller somehow, and he frowned. So this little trinket was mystic all along, huh? Now that he knew, it seemed stupidly obvious. He wondered anxiously if they still worked anymore, or if they were broken forever.

"No wonder he didn't want us to take these things off," Leo muttered, looking over his own, holding his arm up to examine it. "Jeez. I can't believe he kept this a secret from us. How did we not know?"

Mikey gave a thoughtful hum. "Do you guys remember when we were really little? Before we moved? And we used to pretend we were turtles all the time?"

"Somehow I don't think that was pretend, Mikey," Donnie said with a roll of his eyes.

"That's what I'm saying!" Mikey insisted. "But you guys do remember that, right? I just... I always thought that that was just us playing a game or something, but it must have been real! So we knew at some point!"

"And then we forgot..." Donnie mumbled, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully, already obviously doing calculations in his head.

"You guys were pretty weird when you first moved here," April remarked.

"Oh come on. How do you just forget that you're a turtle?" Leo argued, glancing over his shoulder at the others. "That seems like the kind of thing that'd stick with you."

"I dunno," Mikey shrugged. "But obviously we did!"

"You're not implyin' that Dad did somethin', are ya?" Raph questioned, narrowing his eyes, and Leo immediately huffed.

"No! Of course not!" He frowned. "It's just... I dunno. It's weird, is all. It's crazy to think about how much stuff that we just... forgot."

"Well, what do you remember?" Donnie nudged. "Like, from before the move."

"Not much," Leo admitted, scrunching up his nose. "Everything from back then is fuzzy. I don't even know where we moved from."

"I think..." Donnie hesitated a moment. "I think we moved from there."

"Where. The Hidden City?" Mikey questioned.

"No, no, back there. I mean. The sewer we were in before," Donnie pressed. "Didn't it seem... kind of familiar to you guys?"

"Well..." Raph frowned.

"Mikey! Wait!" Raph laughed, stumbling as he chased after his littlest brother. He still didn't walk with a terrible amount of grace, but he crawled like a madman, and Raph took great joy in chasing him around. Mikey did, too, giggling maniacally as he attempted to dodge the other.

Raph could feel, reaching back into the memory, that the bottoms of his feet were cold. The ground was hard beneath them, like stone. Like concrete. He remembered worrying about Mikey's knees. And, thinking back on it now, he swore he could almost hear the sound of running water in the background.

"I go’chyu!" Raph declared, grabbing Mikey, who squealed in response, wriggling against him.

Everything from back then was blurred; cobbled together like pieces of glass glued into a mosaic, appearing in his mind’s eye as a series of blotted, wrinkled images. Were they turtles or people back then? He wasn't sure. Where were they?

"I remember it was dark..." He said. "And cold a lot. The ground was stone or somethin.’"

"I remember that, too!" Mikey gasped.

"Whoa, wait!" Mikey squirmed his way out of Raph's arms again, attempting an escape, and a flare of panic flashed through him for a moment. He dove for Mikey for real this time, not playing anymore, grabbing his brother before he could get too far.

"We can't go that way, Mikey. Daddy said 's not safe yet," he explained when his brother whined in complaint, hoisting him back the way they came, his footsteps clumsy while trying to drag his brother along. "We gotta stay in these tunnels."

"And... I think I remember there being… tunnels," he continued. "Or somethin' like that. It was really big, wherever we were, but we could only go into certain places. And the rest was off-limits, ‘cause Dad said he hadn’t checked them all to make sure they were okay yet. I remember keepin' Mikey from wanderin' off."

"I remember tunnels!" Mikey exclaimed. "I remember yelling into them when we were little and listening to them echo. I remember doing it until Leo made me stop!"

"I don't remember that," Leo protested, crossing his arms.

"You did!" Mikey insisted. "You said I had to play something else because it was bothering Donnie."

"That would be in character for you," April remarked with a tiny grin.

"Sounds like sewers to me," Donnie said with a shrug.

"Maybe," Leo conceded. "But why the hell would Dad keep us in the sewers?"

"There’s probably limited options when your kids are literally part-turtle," Raph reasoned with a grumble.

"Yeah, but abandoned sewers?" Leo pressed. "Come on. Was that really the only choice? Couldn't he have just... kept us inside or something?"

"I don't think so," Donnie said, frowning a bit, shaking his head. Leo sighed.

"Why not?"

"Leo, Dad has one of these bracelets, too," Donnie said. "Remember?"

---

The rest of their journey through the Hidden City went about the same way. One of the boys would bring up some old memory, and they'd discuss for a while, before the conversation would peter out and they'd walk in silence for a bit before the cycle started all over again. April pointed out that they had all regularly chirped and clicked and made other odd noises when she had first met them, but eventually, they grew out of it (mostly.) Raph discussed his memories of watching his younger brothers when they were very little, waiting somewhere dark and quiet for their dad to get back from wherever he was going. Donnie and Leo both remembered sleeping together as toddlers, somewhere very small and curled up, like a nest of some kind, both agreeing that it didn't quite seem like a crib or a bed. Mikey mentioned how many times he got in trouble for painting or drawing on walls when they first moved into the apartment, and how much it had upset and confused him in the beginning-- was that because their dad hadn't bothered to correct the behavior when they lived in the sewers?

"When we first started swim team," Donnie mused, tilting his head back to stare up at the sky. "I remember sometimes, we would have contests with the other kids to see how long we could hold our breaths."

"I remember that," Leo agreed. "And we'd always win!"

"Yes, but..." Donnie hummed. "I think we probably could have won by a lot more if we wanted."

"What do you mean?" Raph questioned.

"Well," Donnie explained. "I recall, or, at least, I think I do, that… that when we first started partaking in those contests, it was... it was easy. Everyone else would have already come up to breathe, but I'd feel completely fine. I'd only come up because I had won and the contest was over. But after a while, people started being weird about it," he frowned. "To be fair, people were weird about a lot of things I did. And I will admit I didn’t always catch on, but I noticed this one,” he said, laughing dryly and giving a wave of his hands. “And at the time, I just wrote it off as one of many! Just another thing that I did that made me different from my peers. But I started coming up earlier so I'd be more... normal," he confessed. "And I'd pretend like I was out of breath when I wasn't, so people would stop looking at me like that. Or, well. People stopped looking at me like that for that particular reason. And I guess eventually I just... I got so used to pretending that it just became second nature, and I didn’t even realize I was pretending anymore."

Leo nodded slowly, looking thoughtful, his arms crossed over his chest. “Yeah… Yeah, that sounds… that sounds right, actually…”

"I remember thinking the same thing!" Raph exclaimed, his eyes wide at the realization. "Except I felt bad that all the other kids kept losin' so bad! I started pretendin' 'cause I didn't want everyone else to get discouraged, and I just did it for so long...!"

"But you're the best swimmer, Dee," Leo remarked, nudging his twin slightly with a tiny smile. "So I wouldn't be surprised if you can hold your breath the longest, too. I mean, christ, you literally have webbed fingers now."

April glanced down at her brother’s hands, noting quietly to herself that it was true. If she was being totally honest with herself, it was a bit alien to look at, so she drew her eyes back away after a moment.

"That does make sense," April hummed. "And it'd explain why you guys are so good at swim meets and stuff, too."

The other three paused, and Leo frowned a bit. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean. If you're turtles, then... obviously you're gonna be good at swimming," she reasoned with a shrug. "It makes sense. Of course you’re gonna win!"

"Mikey doesn't swim," Donnie pointed out.

"Maybe he's a different kind of turtle who doesn't swim?"

"A terrestrial turtle..." Donnie hummed, resting his chin in his hand, brows furrowed. "Maybe a box turtle or something..."

"You think I'm a box turtle?!" Mikey gasped, his eyes lighting up.

"But obviously the rest of you would be good at swimming if you're, like, aquatic," she continued. "So I'm not surprised you all always kicked so much butt at swim meets and stuff!"

"... Yeah. I guess so," Raph said, but he seemed kind of... dejected, almost. Like he was upset. The conversation shifted shortly after, focus shifting to Mikey’s new identity as a box turtle, but April's mind lingered.

Why did she feel like she had just said something wrong?

---

“This is the Battle Nexus?!"

Raph gawked slightly, suddenly feeling a lot less confident. He could feel the various winces and mumbles around him. "It's a goddamn fortress! We're never gettin' in there!"

"Oh, come on. What were you expecting? To just walk in?" Leo scoffed. "It's not that bad!"

"Not that bad?!" Raph squawked, turning to gesture wildly to the massive walls, the towering, heavily guarded entrances, the watch towers perched on nearly every corner... Christ, was that a blimp overhead!? "Are you crazy?! There’s no way!!!"

"Well, not with that attitude," Leo said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah! We're basically ninjas, Raph, we got this!" Mikey cheered, ever optimistic.

"We’re not ninjas, Mikey. And there's no way in hell we're sneakin' in there. You two are out of your mind," Raph said with a scowl.

"We don't gotta sneak!" Leo insisted, waving away the other's concerns. "Don't worry! I'll talk us in there, no problem! Leon's got this. I'm an actor, remember? I just gotta charisma our way past one of those guards."

"You wanna talk your way in?" April questioned, raising a brow. "Leo, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure! This'll be a piece of cake. C'mon-- watch and be amazed!"

They were not amazed.

"Seriously, Leo?" Raph hissed, no more than five minutes later, the group slinking back into the same alley they had started from with a few new bumps and bruises and their metaphorical (literal?) tails between their legs. "Caravaggio? The awards show host? From the Bloodsporties?"

"I thought it'd work!" Leo cried, throwing up his hands. "Everyone likes to be flattered! People love it when you bring them awards!"

"Why do you need four assistants to drop off an award?" Donnie hissed.

"It's a very important award!" Leo insisted.

"That no one's ever heard of?!"

"Yet," Leo huffed. "Okay, look, it's fine. Leon's still got this. We just gotta switch over to plan B."

"Plan B had better not be at all similar to Plan A," Raph said, crossing his arms. "Or involve any of us being strong-armed off the premises by a massive yokai guard!"

"It won't, it won't, I promise!" Leo assured, getting to his feet again. "Okay. Watch and be amazed! Again!"

Leo shook out his limbs, straightening his posture, rolling his shoulders back, and setting his feet apart. And then, for just a moment, he was completely still. His chest didn't even twitch with a single breath. All at once, he inhaled sharply--

... And nothing happened.

"Wow. Amazing," Donnie said dryly.

"Well, just, gimme a minute! You're breaking my concentration!" Leo snapped, repeating the motion-- and then again, and then a few more times, until he was basically flailing in place, repeatedly thrashing in the same spot. "Come-- ON! Work already!"

"Leo, what the hell are you doin'?" Raph sighed. Leo groaned loudly in frustration.

"I am trying to use my mystic teleportation powers! Obviously!"

"Your what?" Donnie scoffed.

"I'm sorry, you mean the weird mystic things that we've been doin' completely against our will for the past two weeks and have absolutely zero control over? That one?" Raph grit out.

"Well, I'm starting to get the hang of the pattern..." Leo muttered.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me!!!"

"Well, maybe he can really do it!" Mikey chipped in with a bit of tentative encouragement.

"So, let me get this straight," Donnie said, rubbing his temples. "You are trying to teleport all six of us inside of the Battle Nexus... using your mind. Is that correct?"

Leo scowled. He shuffled his feet at the dirt, his lower lip poked out.

"It could happen," he huffed.

"You're an idiot."

"Leo, there's no way this is ever gonna work! We barely even know anything about these powers!" Raph insisted. "What if it's dangerous?!"

"I'm getting the hang of it!" Leo repeated. "I could do it! And how would you know, anyway? You don't even have any powers yet!"

"Guys!" April yelled over the chaos, and the rest of the group paused to glance over.

Scowling, she gestured wildly to the little yellow yokai creature that had led him here.

Oh, right. The one who teleported.

There was a long beat of silence.

"Yeah, that's probably a better plan," Leo reluctantly conceded, though he was still pouting.

"Thank you," April said, scooping the yokai up, who purred and waved his tail, seemingly happy to help. "Okay, come on guys, huddle up. And try not to fall over this time!"

The whole group obeyed, scrunching up around each other and grabbing onto various hands and elbows to make sure everyone would make it to where they needed to go. But something Leo had said nagged at the edges of Raph's mind, gnawing at him even as a bright flash of cyan light overtook them, the world going out from under their feet as they teleported once again.

Why didn't he have any powers yet?

---

Donatello wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting the inside of the Battle Nexus to look like, but it wasn’t ‘literal sports stadium.’

Though they stumbled a bit, they all managed to keep their footing this time once they teleported inside the halls of the Battle Nexus, thankfully in a quiet, unoccupied corner just outside of a stairwell. Perhaps it had been naive of him, but he hadn’t expected the inside of this place to so closely resemble the inside of a modern football arena.

“Nice job, little guy,” April whispered to the little yellow yokai, who looked just a bit more tired than he had before, Donnie noted, panting softly. “We’ll take it from here. You rest,” she instructed gently, tucking the critter into her jacket.

“Anyone have any idea where we’re going?” Leo questioned, looking around suspiciously.

“No,” Raph admitted. “But everyone stick close. And… act casual. This place has gotta be crawling with yokai!” Donnie concurred; he could hear the roars of the crowd from here. “If we don’t call any attention to ourselves, we can just blend in. Dad has be around here somewhere.”

“You got it, bossman,” Leo hummed. “Come on. I think the main stadium is over there. Let’s check that out first and see what the deal is.”

Now, Donnie may be a theater kid, but he was not exactly an actor the way Leo was, (or claimed to be, anyway,) and so ‘acting casual’ was a bit of a demand. He was very focused on trying to make his body language ‘casual,’ in keeping his muscles untensed and his expression neutral, to the extent that he was not especially paying that much attention to their surroundings as the group trailed after Leo. He followed his siblings’ lead into the main seating area of the arena, adjusting the settings of his headphones slightly as they moved to join the edges of the crowd, hoping to keep out the excited screams of the fans.

As a result, he was a bit taken aback when he did look up to take in the scene of the ring below them.

And oh. Oh my god.

This really was fucking bloodsport, huh?

“Jesus christ--”

He was vaguely aware of Raph’s hand hurriedly slapping over Mikey’s eyes before he could get a good look at the scene not just in the battle ring below, but also projected onto the massive jumbotron, and the younger immediately gave a yelp of protest.

“Hey! Raph--”

“Mikey, I know that you don’t wanna be babied and you’re gonna complain, but I really need you to just trust your big brother on this one,” Raph hissed out, his voice tight. “Don’t. Look.”

April had her hands over her mouth, and Leo bristled, mumbling a few curses. Donnie really, really didn’t want to be watching this, but he couldn’t quite take his eyes away. There was a wet, crunching noise, so loud that they could hear it even from up here in the balconies (were they mic’ed up? Sweet baby Galileo--) and the entire party winced around him as the crowds roared in delight.

“What happened?!” Mikey cried from behind Raph’s hands.

“Donnie?” April said, glancing over at him.

He swallowed hard, his stomach flipping. No, no, no. Come on. Keep it together, Vomitello. Not the time, not the place, not at all casual…!

Leo, to his credit, caught on pretty quickly, paling a bit at the realization and jumping forward to bodily whip Donnie away from the scene, beginning to herd the group away.

“Okay, well, Dad’s definitely not down there!” He bit out with a nervous laugh. “Thank fucking god… Look. Obviously, we’re up super high. Let’s find the stairs, start heading down, and see if we find anything on the way,” he said hurriedly, not slowing his pace until they were basically back out where they started, in the near-abandoned outside hallways.

“Sounds like a plan,” Raph said, finally releasing his grip on Mikey’s head. “Uh. Don…?”

“I’m good,” he squeaked out, leaning over slightly, his hands on his knees as he coughed a few times. “All good, no problem…! Just… gimme a second…!”

“Donald,” Leo said through gritted teeth, clapping his hands together decisively. “I am literally begging you not to puke right now.”

“I am doing my best, thank you!” Donnie snapped in response, squeezing his eyes shut. “Oh my god, why was it so lumpy? It looked like cottage cheese!”

“What are you doing!? Stop thinking about it!” Leo cried.

“Think about something else instead! Like… the periodic table! You love that thing,” Mikey suggested brightly. “Like, uhhh, what’s the symbol for chlorine?”

“C-L,” Donnie bit out, flapping his hands a bit and letting out a slow breath through a clenched jaw. “Come on, Mikey, that’s way too easy.”

“Okay, uhhm, what’s the atomic number for iodine?”

“Fifty-three.”

“Yeah! And what’s the atomic mass of titanium?”

“Forty-seven-point-eight-six-seven.”

“Yep! And uranium?”

“Oh, uranium, my beloved, my white whale…! Two-hundred and thirty-eight-point-zero-two-eight-nine.”

“AHHH!” Mikey imitated a buzzer. “Wrong!”

Donnie’s head snapped up. “What?!”

“Just kidding!” Mikey chirped happily. “I don’t actually know the answer. You’re probably right.”

“Oh, you evil genius,” Donnie said, shaking his head. “I’m never helping you study for science class ever again.”

“Pshhhh, yeah you will. Plus you feel better now, don’t you?” Mikey pressed, grinning wide.

“Yes, okay, fine. I owe you one,” Donnie sighed deeply, offering just the smallest of smiles and rubbing the other’s head as though tousling hair, (not that he had any anymore. Ugh, don’t think about that, either,) eliciting a giggle from the other. At least the nausea had backed off now. “Okay. Come on. Leo’s right, shockingly enough. Let’s head downstairs and see if we can find anything.”

“Oh thank god,” Leo whispered, yanking the door to the stairwell open and gesturing to his siblings. “Okay, c’mon, let’s go! Vamanos!”

The trip down through the Battle Nexus was long and boring, but admittedly, calming. Donnie had always been a fan of repetitive actions, and so far, every new floor they investigated they found much of the same, not uncovering much save for more seating for screaming, cheering yokai along with the occasional food court or souvenir stand. Any guards they found they made sure to steer clear of, slowly working their way down through the stadium.

“This is going nowhere,” Raph hissed softly, leaning into Leo as they did a lap through yet another floor of stadium seating. Quite frankly, Donnie was beginning to wonder if all these floors were exactly the same. “Where the heck do you think they’re keepin’ Dad?”

“I don’t know! How would I know?” Leo questioned, bristling a bit.

“This was your plan!”

“Yeah, ‘cause no one else had a plan!” He bit back, scowling. “Look, we’ve just gotta… uh… we’ve gotta…” He looked around for a moment, floundering for just a second before he lit up, pointing.

“We’ve just gotta follow one of those guys!”

Everyone glanced over, and April frowned a bit.

“Follow one of the guards?”

“Yeah!” Leo nodded excitedly. “Look, if anyone’s gonna know how to get into the secret, spooky parts of the Nexus, it’ll be an employee! There’s no way Dad’s just in the stands somewhere or in any of the other public bits of this place. And we’re just walking in circles.” He said with a roll of his wrist. “But I bet if we tail one of those dudes, they’ll lead us straight to him! We just gotta be sneaky.”

“He does have a pretty good point,” Mikey reasoned.

“I dunno. It seems kinda dangerous,” April said, raising a brow.

“Yeah, but we don’t have any other ideas…” Raph said, crossing his arms over his chest.

The three of them glanced over at Donnie, and he sighed, tilting his head back and forth for a moment to do some rapid calculations.

“I do agree that the risk associated with this plan of action is… significant,” he said, frowning a bit. “Butttttt… just wandering around aimlessly isn’t going to get us anywhere. Following someone has a much higher probability of success.”

“That sounds good enough to me!” Raph said, giving a nod. “Alright. Let’s do this then. Everyone’s just gotta be ninja-level sneaky. Got it?”

“Got it,” the group agreed, giving a nod.

Would this go horribly wrong? Only one way to find out.

Finding their target was easy enough. This place was crawling with guards, quite frankly, they just had to pick one. After rejecting the first few targets, as they were all rather beefy, they settled on a slightly smaller, less-deadly-looking Nexus employee to follow.

“Okay,” Leo said. “We’ve just gotta tail him for a while and see where he goes. Everyone stick close, and be quiet.”

“Obviously! You don’t have to tell us to be quiet!” Donnie hissed back.

“Both of you shut up!” Raph whispered. “Look, come on, pay attention! He’s on the move. Mad Dogz, roll out! We can’t lose this guy.”

Donnie huffed and grumbled a bit, resisting the urge to hipcheck Leo as the group began picking their way through the halls, taking care to stick to the shadows. At first, Donnie thought that this was just another waste of their time, and they would end up doing even more laps around the stadium. He dared to get his hopes up, however, when the fox-like yokai paused in front of an unassuming wall. It looked about the same as any other portion of wall in this place, but once the Yokai placed his hand (paw?) to it, it lit up white, and suddenly, there was a door that wasn’t there before.

“Whoa! Lookit that!” Mikey gasped.

“We’re all already looking at it, Mikey, be quiet,” Donnie hissed.

“What’d Raph say!? Shut it! And come on! Quick and quiet, before the door closes!” Raph whispered with a hurried wave of his arm, and the five took off, closing the gap between themselves and the guard in order to slip inside the secret panel, quiet as ninjas-- just like Dad taught them. Even April was surprisingly quiet, and Donnie was privately impressed. It took them years of lessons with their dad (and ill-advised shenanigans that they wished not to face consequences for,) to get this good at sneaking.

All five of them made it in, and the guard was already halfway down the hall by the time they joined them, seemingly none the wiser. Donnie didn’t make a sound, but silently, he fucking whooped and cheered. Yes!!! He had been really fifty-fifty on whether or not this was going to work out.

At the end of the hall, the fox guard clicked a button on the wall, and about five seconds later, the wall opened up like an elevator.

The elevator had about eight other yokai inside. These yokai did not have their backs on them.

“HEY!” One of them immediately shouted, pointing at their group, as they had not yet managed to find a proper hiding space in the long, but sparse hallway. Every single other yokai snapped around to look at them. “What’re you doing in here!? This is employees only!”

Fuck.

“Uhhh…” A pained smile spread on Leo’s face. “We’re looking for the bathroom?”

“Sure,” the fox scoffed, turning to face them properly now, beginning to make his way back down the short hall to meet them. “Alright, lemme see your tickets. I’ll escort you back to your seats.”

“Our tickets? Uhhh… Sure…” Raph spluttered for a moment, laughing nervously. “Let’s see, uh, where did we put--”

April yanked her club from her backpack and promptly slammed it into the yokai’s head with a loud thunk.

“APRIL!” Raph screamed, jumping in surprise. “What the hell!?”

“Well, there’s nowhere to run!” She shouted in response, and, ah, welp, there she went. Full charge ahead, then? “Come on, we gotta get into that elevator!”

Donnie sighed deeply. Well, he had predicted fifty-fifty.

He set his jaw, rolling his shoulders a few times before whipping his bo staff from his back. “Alright, well. Here we go.”

“COWABUNGA!” Raph shouted as he charged forward, and Donnie resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They were gonna have to work on battle formations and plans later.

But he was prepared this time. He wasn’t gonna freeze up and back down.

Yes, this was a fight. An actual, for real fight, which he had never been in before! But he hadn’t trained for nothing.

He got this. They’d be fine. They got this.

Leo laughed, sliding forward with quick, practiced ease, his odachi flashing forward to smack the blunt of the blade against the ankles of the nearest yokai and send them tumbling to the ground while he darted past them. April was right on his tail, beaning anyone who got too close and following her younger brother’s lead. “Come on, guys, keep up!”

“Right behind yah!” Mikey cheered, both him and Raph rushing forward at a matching pace. Despite the size difference, the two easily kept up with one another. Where Raph elbowed his opponents out of the way, clearing himself a path by bodily throwing their enemies to the side, Mikey darted and danced his way around them, a zig-zagged ballet to Raph’s straight, unyielding path. He whooped loudly as he went, always just out of reach with each step.

“Hot Soup!” Donnie noted their eldest brother howled out another battle cry (wasn’t that copyrighted?) Mikey’s kusari-fundo whipped about to fling him forward, tackling the largest of the guards to the ground and sending them both tumbling down the hall.

Like… Both of them tumbling.

Also, Mikey was in the mix too, still attached by the chains of his kusari-fundo.

Well, at least it was still forward momentum!

Donnie inhaled deeply, his muscles coiling.

Couldn’t get left behind.

He darted down the hallway, jumping over and dodging around anyone already on the ground. At one point, a hand flashed out, grabbing at his ankle, and Donnie bit out a series of curses. He wrenched himself out of their grip, stumbling slightly, and nearly ran straight into one of the other (quite large) yokai in the hallway. A rapid equation darted through his head, however, and he just barely managed to correct his footing at the last second, turning sharply on his heel to transfer the momentum into his staff. The weapon curled around to slam into the guard with a heavy, satisfying thawk, sending them sprawling to the ground, and the entire hallway shuddered at the impact.

Well, that was a close one. He hopped over their fallen form and surged ahead, reaching down to grab Mikey’s hand as he went, dragging both him and Raph to their feet behind him, “Come on!”

The two found their footing quickly with the assist, falling back into a sprint-- smacking and dodging enemies as they went with about a seventy-five-percent success rate. Jesus, had this hallway always been this long? It felt like it was taking a stupid amount of time to get to the other end of it! Out of the very corners of his eyes, Donnie just barely spotted one of the larger guards rising back up to their feet, lunging at him from behind-- only for a neon green club to come whipping out of nowhere at the very last second, colliding with the side of his assailant’s head and throwing him right back to the ground.

“Hey! Only I get to hit my little brothers!” April shrieked, her face set in a furious scowl. The guard, a huge, stocky, lion-like creature snarled in reply, lashing out with his legs to send her sprawling to the floor with a yelp.

“Oh, you did not just do that to our friend!” Mikey snapped, flashing forward to stand protectively in front of their sister, his kusari-fundo whizzing around them, filling the air with a barely-there whine. “Back off!”

He lashed out with the weapon, his arm whipping forward with the movement-- only to blink in surprise when physics failed to behave as expected. Which, uh, was pretty unusual for physics. Physics were typically pretty reliable. But the weight at the end of his weapon spun wildly in place, suspended in air for several long seconds, before it promptly lit up in a blazing flame.

“Ooh!” Mikey shrieked in delight. “Magic weapon! Guys, loo-- ACK!”

And there they were, Donnie thought dimly to himself.

The uncontrolled variables.

Donnie gasped, immediately ducking down and covering his head as his brother flew about the room like a deranged bird, still hanging onto his (seemingly demonic) mystic weapon. He all but pinballed off the walls, screaming the whole time. The lion just barely managed to leap out of the way before Mikey crashed into the wall, flopping down with a small squeak on impact, luckily seeming shaken but not injured.

“WHOA! Mikey! That was awesome!” Raph gaped, his eyes widening. “Dude, how did you do that?!”

“I dunno!” Mikey said, stumbling to his feet and kind of wavering a bit with dizziness. “I was just swinging my weapon around and it just-- did it!”

“Let me try!” Raph said, shaking his tonfas about like they were goddamn maracas. “Come on, magic weapon, magic weapon, magic weapon-- OOH!” He yelped in surprise as one of the remaining guards crashed into him, snarling as they all but whipped him from his feet. But Raph held his ground. “Okay, alright-- magic weapon tests later! Fight now!”

“Can’t wait to see what mine does!” Leo laughed as he leaped over the group, diving towards an oncoming yokai. He swung his blade forward, slicing through the air with a loud crackle of near-electric energy--

A bright blue circle of mystic energy promptly opened up beneath Leo, and he yelped in surprise as he went plunging downward.

And downward.

“Hm,” Donnie remarked. “I guess he can teleport.”

“GET! ME! OFF! THIS! RIDE!” Leo howled, flailing as he plummeted endlessly through the two parallel portals he had sliced through reality, one below his feet and the other up above his head, only picking up the pace the longer he fell.

Donnie sighed loudly. He was sure someone else would get him. Eventually. In the meantime, someone was gonna have to take care of the remaining yokai guards. Luckily, this one was suitably distracted by his twin brother’s infinite falling.

“And that’s why I like fighting the old-fashioned way,” Donnie hummed, slipping past the yokai’s side and into his blind spot, watching their eyes widen in surprise as he jabbed sharply at them with his bo staff. They were just barely able to dodge out of the way of Donnie’s attacks. “Though the portal does make for some quality entertainment, I must admit--”

They jumped out of Donnie’s range, swiping forward with a clawed arm, and Donnie’s body immediately, instinctively moved in response, his bo staff flashing upward to block the move and force them off-kilter. He hardly even had to think. His body already knew what to do when he needed it.

It’s just like a tournament. No different from a tournament. You’ve won thousands of fights. This is exactly the same thing. Just keep your head, do the math-- You’re good at this, remember?

Bouncing off the yokai’s arm, Donnie’s staff whipped back around to ricochet into the side of their head, earning him a frustrated and perhaps pained snarl in response. See? Donnie grinned, just for a second, ducking easily out of the way of the guard’s counterattack and leaping to the side, finding himself the space once more to adjust his stance and run rapid calculations. Numbers danced in front of his eyes, and he quickly zeroed in on the equation with the best probability of success, building his plan of action around that.

The yokai snarled, leaping after him-- exactly as he expected. Donnie’s entire body instantly snapped downward and out of their path in response, ducking away from their attack. At the same time, they pitched themselves to the left, whipping their bo staff around as they went to find their mark. The guard made a short, strangled noise of surprise as the weapon collided with their throat, sending them reeling in the opposite direction. They were almost immediately on their knees, choking and spluttering as Donnie darted away, just the tiniest bit breathless as he went.

“Just like I planned it--!” He had laughed, quietly delighted that it had, in fact, gone the way he planned it, and why had he been worried? He could do this, he knew how to do this!-- when his youngest sibling went flying into his side with a yelp.

The pair of them tumbled across the hallway before slamming into the wall, bringing their unexpected trip to a sudden and grinding halt. Donnie groaned softly, wincing as he slowly forced himself back up, stars all but dancing in front of his eyes, Mikey flopped over beside him and seeming just as dazed. Ow. Okay. That hadn’t been in his calculations.

He just barely caught sight of the lion yokai diving for them, catching on about half a second before the attack landed.

He didn’t run any numbers this time. He didn’t have the chance.

His muscles moved quicker than even his brain could, throwing himself bodily over top of his baby brother to shield him from the coming impact.

[ next ]

#sorrywhatnowau #sorrywhatnowau fic #rottmnt #tmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt au #rottmnt fanfic #rottmnt fanfiction #tmnt fanfiction #rottmnt human au #tmnt human au #fanfic #fidgetwing #fighting and potential injury #my beta reader has already informed me ill be hearing from their lawyer so don't worry abt it #also i make my best (and by that i mean dumbest) jokes in this chapter

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mistressoftherant-blog · 1 year ago

Text

Hypocrisy in the TMNT Fandom

I may come back to this topic at a later date, but I feel like I need to address the hypocrisy in the TMNT fandom when it comes to how 12 Donnie is treated for his crush on April, compared to other characters such as Bayverse Mikey and Mutant Mayhem Leo, or I might explode. Do I condone everything that 12 Donnie does in the name of his crush on April? No. Do I sometimes find the cringiness of his actions unbearable (keeping in mind that he is my favourite character in 12)? Absolutely. But is there context behind his actions that often gets ignored? Yes. Do the fandom vilify or make fun of behaviour from him that they let slide in other characters? 100% yes.

People love to bash 12 Donnie for his actions, without even considering the reasons behind them (poor choices from the show writers aside). April is the first human his age that Donnie really sees and gets to interact with. He's a deeply insecure character, who feels out of place even amongst his family and, as people have pointed out before me, April represents a wider level of acceptance to Donnie. If a pretty human girl can love him, maybe there is hope for him gaining wider acceptance from humanity. I do think he has genuine feelings for her, but I also believe that part of his obsessiveness is a desire to be more human, or at least be accepted by humans, and he subconsciously views gaining the love of a human to be a part of this. 12 Donnie (like most Donatellos), is keenly aware that he will never get what he wants, or deserves.

He is a genius, and that will never be acknowledged by the world. He will never get everything a human genius would get. He doesn't get go to school, or go shopping for new resources, or make friends who share his interests. He risks his life saving the world over and over again, only to be seen as a villain for the way he looks.

That's part of why he sees 12 Casey as such a threat, Casey is human and doesn't need the same level of acceptance that Donatello does. He already has everything that Donnie wants (he can go to school, make other friends etc), but yet he still wants to be with April. The first human to show Donnie any acceptance. One of the only people to even tentatively seem interested in Donnie's science. If April chooses Casey over Donnie, then that truly does mean that Donnie, as a mutant, and a nerdy outcast mutant to boot, can never find love or acceptance, (again, this would be Donnie's perspective, and it is not April's duty to validate Donnie's self worth by getting in a relationship with him - that being said, the mixed signals she sent definitely didn't help matters).

Also, his stalking is creepy, but this is a kid who grew up with no social interaction besides his brothers, watching shows that provably had dubious ideas of romance. All of his ideas of romance are influenced by media, which isn't exactly a healthy way to gain an understanding of how to express those feelings. And when he knows the exact distance to her apartment, I always thought that he was just insanely good at estimating distances? He's shown to be able to make advanced calculations around distances and things in seconds on the show, so this never really seemed that bad to me, even if the show itself deemed it creepy?

Moreover, for the most part, he does genuinely follow April when he believes she is in danger, or when she is distancing herself from them (again, absolutely not a healthy thought process, but he misses her and wants her safe, and thinks is the best way to handle it). Is it still wrong? Yes. But should Donnie as a character be completely dragged for this for eternity? Not really. Also, can we please move past reducing Donnie's character to nothing more than his failures at flirting?

There is also the fact that April definitely did flirt back with him on numerous occasions. Whether or not this was done consciously, or to manipulate him, or whatever, is a rant for another day, but 12 Donnie definitely does have reasons to believe that April could want a relationship with him. She kisses him, on the mouth, right after he had told her that he was going to stop with his behaviour.

People also genuinely forgive 12 Leo flirting with his sister more than they do Donnie calling April his sweet chinchilla (and yes, Leo and Karai are still flirty even after the reveal that they are siblings, though it is thankfully toned down later on, and though I've seen people jumping through hoops trying to deny it). And Leo's flirting with Karai (even before the reveal), is equally as cringy as Donnie's. He's the poster boy for the 'I can fix them' mentality, even when the person he was trying to fix was actively trying to destroy everyone he cared about. 12 Leo also puts his brothers in danger due to his obsession with Karai, hurting them both physically and mentally, but a lot of people sweep this under the rug and only focus on times that 12 Donnie puts the others in danger due to his crush on April, or see this as a positive thing, showing how Leo never gives up on the people he cares about.

Moving on, 12 Donnie can be possessive of April (again, not great behaviour, and not something I particularly enjoy or condone), but 12 Mikey is the same way about Renet, and no one mentions it? Donnie hugs her (or says he could hug her, I can't quite remember the exact context), and Mikey gets all pissy about it? He's known Renet for barely any length of time, and they have no relationship at this point, but he gets annoyed at Donnie having a friendly interaction with her, as if it hasnt been well established that Donnie is only interested in April? Why is this more acceptable than when Donnie gets annoyed at Casey (a confirmed love rival), shows off about being close to April?

Additionally, why are Bayverse Mikey and Mayhem Leo hardly ever given the same treatment as 12 Donnie? I see countless crossovers where 12 Donnie is given endless shit for his bad flirting, especially as it's towards someone who the other counterparts see as a sister figure, with hardly any of them ignoring how unfair it is to criticise 12 Dee for seeing April differently to the others when their circumstances are different, or bringing up anyone else's behaviour.

Bayverse Mikey is just as bad! In fact, some of the things that he says are far worse than anything 12 Donnie has said, and it just gets brushed over? Even in crossover fics where 12 Dee gets slaughtered for his crush, no one brings up the downright crude things Bay Mikey says?

He constantly calls her a babe (I think 90s Mikey also makes similar comments), and even says 'she's so hot I can feel my shell tightening' which is hella gross tbh. Sure, 'sweet chinchilla' is weird, but it's far less demeaning than babe? And Mikey keeps this attitude up throughout both films? Why is this treated as being more acceptable than 12 Donnie's behaviour? This is even worse as Bay April is clearly an adult compared to the teenage turtles, and is clearly depicted as an older sister figure. At least in 12 there is only a year age gap, and neither April nor her father had anything to do with them when they were babies.

Hell, a few chaarcters (I think 03 Mikey and either 90s Raph or Mikey) make a joke about getting to 'keep her' when they bring an unconscious April back to the lair, and no one bats an eye?? It's played off as a joke, but even so, it's still freaky, and I've never seen anyone mention it before. They don't even get admonished for it!

Also, Mayhem Leo is absolutely just as much of a cringefail flirt as 12 Don, but everyone is acting like he comes across as so much better?! We've only had one movie with him so far, but his behaviour so far isn't all that different to 12 Don's?

They basically act the same way upon their first meeting. The rooftop scene when he first sees her is almost exactly the same as the scene in 12. And the comment about her beautiful, perfect mouth? If 12 Donnie said that he'd be slaughtered, but because it was Mayhem Leo, it's considered cute? When 12 Donnie gets super excited about getting April's number even though they already have it on the fridge it's embarrassing, but when Mayhem Leo tries to get Mayhem Donnie's phone to swipe her number it's endearing? Both ramble and get nervous around her, but people think this is sweet from Mayhem Leo but annoying from 12 Don.

Plus, Mayhem Leo has far more experience with humans than 12 Donnie. He has been going outside of the lair for a while, he has definitely seen other girls before. In 12, Donnie had never left the lair before the night he saw April, she's genuinely the first girl he's ever seen in person.

This point may also be a little unfair as we only have the Mayhem movie at the moment, compared to entire seasons of the 12 TV show, but it's also irritating me a bit how many people are acting like Mayhem Leo has far more of a chance with April than 12 Donnie did, purely because she agreed to go to prom with him, ignoring her line about how it was just as friends, and the many instances in 12 where April reciprocated Donnie's flirtation (again, April kissed him on the lips in the cartoon. It is canon that she did so).

Why are there so many double standards around the turtles having crushes? Either address all of their behaviour, or stop throwing 12 Donnie's flirting in our faces. It's exhausting seeing people openly bashing 12 Donnie, ignoring all of his great characteristics due to his crush, and then turning around and glorifying 12 Leo, Bay Mikey, or Mayhem Leo, or just ignoring their behaviour. It's grating to see almost every chat fic (even ones I thoroughly enjoy!!), have a seemingly obligatory bash 12 Donnie's crush and flirting chapter, yet hardly ever address the way any of the others behave.

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt donatello #tmnt donnie #tmnt mikey #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #mutant mayhem spoilers #mutant mayhem leo #teenage mutant ninja turtles #mutant mayhem #tmnt 2012 donnie #tmnt 2012 donatello #tmnt 2012 leo #tmnt 2012 mikey #tmnt 2012 michelangelo #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016

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phoebepheebsphibs · 6 months ago

Text

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 27: Ecology

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

Casey is helping Mikey to pack essentials.

"Paints?"

Mikey nods.

"Paper?"

Mikey nods.

"Any clothes?"

Mikey stops mid-nod.

Huh. He actually hadn't thought about that...

Mikey looks down at his bare self. Casey wears clothes, April wears clothes, Drrrrrrrrraxum (he forgot his name for a sec) wears clothes, even Splinter wears clothes! His brothers wear clothes, to some extent. Sometimes they wear sweaters or hoodies or shirts, but mostly they wear things like masks and belts and gloves or wrappings over their arms. Mikey doesn't wear anything at all.

"Mmm, yes, pack clothes. Wwwwwhat, uh... what should Mikey -- I, what should I pack?"

"Well, in case it gets cold, maybe a sweater or something," Casey offers. "Do you wanna look through some of your stuff?"

Mikey nods and creeps next to Casey as he opens up a dresser drawer. It's filled with sweatshirts and jackets and pullovers.

"Which one looks good to you?"

"Mmmmmm.... um, I-I don't know," Mikey mumbles, somewhat overwhelmed by the number of choices.

He didn't think there would be this many clothes to pick from...

Casey sees the slight agitation on Mikey's face.

"Well, we should probably pick one that will keep you warm, so a thicker one is best," he suggests. "And maybe something soft? Oh, and let's look for a bigger size to fit over your shell..."

Casey starts to rummage through the drawer. He pulls out a hoodie with a sun decal and examines it.

"How's this one?" he asks.

"Looks good," Mikey says, sniffing it. It smells kind of like him! A little different than he smells now, but still similar... "W-will it ffffit?"

"Let's try," Casey replies, spreading it open and helping to direct Mikey's head and arms into the corresponding holes.

It's a big size, and Mikey vanishes in the hood. His talons are hidden by the sleeves, he flaps them around with a giggle. It's a surprisingly big hoodie, and Mikey wonders why he ever got something so huge. He doesn't recall that it was a gift for Raph but he'd outgrown it quickly, and gave it to the sunniest brother in the group.

"I like this one," Mikey chirps gleefully. "Can I keep it on?"

"Sure," Casey smiles. "It's yours anyway. We should find a few more to pack, though..."

"Big one!" Mikey requests. "Like this big!"

"Uh, well, I think that might be the biggest hoodie you have... Raphael might have a few we can borrow. I'll find some extras of yours to pack, though... while I do that, why don't you go get your blankets and pillows ready?"

Mikey chirps and crawls over to his bed -- whoop!

Mikey trips on his sleeve and crashes.

"Mikey! You okay?"

"Mm-hmm!" He says quickly, regaining his balance. "All good!"

Mikey shakes himself out and goes again -- whoop!

Mikey tumbles slightly, but catches himself. He tries folding the sleeves up above his wrists, but they fall loose and drape over his knuckles and drag across the floor as he trots. Mikey grumbles softly as he tries to figure this out...

"What's wrong?" Casey asks.

"Mmmngh... can't move right," Mikey groans. "Sleeves too long..."

"Do you need me to cut them or --"

"No, just... hmm. I can't mmmmove. Won't fold up right... can C-C-C-Casey help?"

Casey looks over the situation carefully, coming up with possible solutions.

"Well, if I fold them, they'll probably just fall loose again," he says. "You won't be able to crawl around in that."

"Do I have to take it off?"

"No, but there is another solution."

"Eh?" Mikey perks up. "What to do?"

"Have you tried walking upright?"

Mikey pauses, mouth open. His hands fidget.

"Haven't tried yet.... a l-little nervous..."

"Do you wanna try now? I'll help!" Casey offers, standing up and offering a hand to him. "I'll catch you if you fall."

Mikey swallows nervously. He reaches out for Casey's hand and takes it, careful not to grip him too hard for fear of cutting his skin with his nails. Casey pulls him up, causing Mikey to stumble with a cry.

"I got you, I got you!" he reassures him. "You're okay... Okay, you've got your balance?"

"Mm-hmmmmmmm," Mikey says with a nervous twinge in his voice.

"Alright, so follow my lead, one foot out --"

Casey swings his right leg forwards, taking a small step. Mikey watches as if Casey just jumped fifty buildings in one leap. He shakily lifts his own leg, and follows. He wobbles as he moves, almost losing balance and tipping over, but Casey holds his hand with determination.

Casey then moves his left foot to match. Mikey follows slowly, weakly. His legs shake. It's mostly just the balance that's his issue. The new tail is throwing him off, trying to readjust to the new center of gravity. But Mikey is figuring it out. Casey holds his hand like he's a toddler, walking with him around the room and giving words of affirmation and praise as he starts to pick up the pace. Casey steps further and further away from Mikey the longer they walk, letting him gain confidence in himself and get used to walking alone. The two get distracted from the packing and start roaming the halls. Casey lets go of Mikey's hand --

"No wet go!" Mikey scolds.

He's only a year old, and can barely get his points across, but he's trying. Splinter holds his tiny, stubby hands and uses his own claws to keep him upright as the tiny tot tries walking for the fourth time today, sixteenth time this week, fortieth time this month.

"I won't," Splinter promises with a sigh.

It's only been a year since the mutations, and he's still getting used to walking himself. Every once in a while, his tail will smack him in the leg, he'll forget it's there and think a strange snake got into the lair and try to protect the boys from it before realizing in embarrassment what it actually is. He's getting better with it, though...

Though parenthood is a new challenge he can't say he ever expected. The worry that he may mess up irrevocably without realizing it, the fear that maybe there will be an issue in health that he doesn't know how to solve, and even small things, like the differences in each son and learning curves or gaps.

The rest of the boys are walking. But Mikey is the baby, he's having trouble. He seems to be the 'special' baby, the late bloomer. He can crawl like his brothers do, but not as fast. They all can walk, Raphael can even run by this point! And the others can swim like experts. But Mikey almost drowned in his very first bath. Splinter might be babying him a bit, taking extra caution with him in some aspects... he does it for each baby. He's terrified of Donatello getting hurt because of his soft shell, so he is extra gentle. He's sure that Raphael is never alone because he'll start crying, and he lets him sleep in bed with him at night rather than in the box with the others. Leonardo is an attention hog and cries when he doesn't have the spotlight, so Splinter has to praise him a lot to help him feel validated. And Michelangelo is smaller than the rest, and for whatever reason he can't seem to stay on his feet for very long.

Despite all this, Mikey is determined and optimistic. But he's still nervous, and holds his father's hand with all his might. He fits within Splinter's palm, and Splinter helps to balance the baby boxshell as best he can without knocking him over.

Mikey takes a deep breath and swings his leg out. His foot hits the floor with a loud 'plap', and he swings his other leg out as well.

Splinter holds his hand behind him gently, his youngest son clinging to his fingers. Eventually, he takes the hand behind him away. He slowly leads Mikey around the area, guiding him by moving his finger in certain directions.

"Mikey say no wet go!" the baby shouts again when his father's hand drifts away faster than Mikey can keep up.

"I'm not letting go," Splinter explains. "I'm just moving my hand a little."

"Dada go too fast," Mikey scolds. "Dada no wet go."

"I won't," he promises.

Splinter and Mikey travel all around the room, with the little baby toddling around as best he can. It seems like he might be getting the hang of it!

Mikey trips and tumbles, having been distracted by the memory.

Casey grabs his arm as he reaches out for him, pulling Mikey back up as best he can.

"Whoah! Mikey, you okay?"

"Uh-huh," Mikey mumbles quickly, regaining his footing and holding onto Casey as though his life depended on it. "I'mmmmmm okayyyyy... jus' tripped."

"Okay," Casey says with a smile. "But so far, are you okay? Walking all good?"

"Shaky," Mikey says. "T-r-r-r-ricky... but, okay."

"Great," Casey nods. "It'll be a little difficult at first, but you'll get it!"

"Casey doing good job helping," Mikey says with a chuckle as he takes another step forward. "Thank you..."

"It's no problem," Casey says with a soft chuckle in return. "It's nothing compared to helping Sensei with his physical therapy after he lost his arm..."

"Huh?" Mikey asks in confusion. He's mentioned 'Sensei' before... who is he?

"Oh, n-nothing. Just something that happened in the alternate future..."

"Casey wanna talk about it?" Mikey asks.

Casey looks at Mikey in surprise. Everyone has been avoiding the subject of the future as though hearing more about it will bring about a crazy time curse or something.

But... if Mikey wants to know... what can it hurt?

"Well... okay! See, in the future..."

Casey talks on and on, explaining how Leo had lost his arm and had difficulty getting used to the physical therapy, and Casey helped him to adjust. Casey talks about how Donatello created a prosthetic arm that was equipped with weapons and equipment, and when Casey (who eight years old at the time) wanted one, Donatello made him a special glove fitted with a grappling hook so he could match his Sensei. Casey talks about how Mikey was an inspiration and kept the positivity in the Resistance, using his mystic powers to create all kinds of beautiful magic for the people and immeasurable protections and attacks against the Krang.

Mikey listens to Casey intensely, despite the fact that none of it makes any sense whatsoever to him.

Leo walks out and places his stuff down by the exit. There's a pile growing already, with duffel bags and totes and a few boxes of things that the group will need to occupy themselves. Leo packed several comics for himself, as well as puzzles and games for Mikey so he can exercise his brain. Raph packed up a flurry of stuffed animals, and was also tasked with packing Mikey's memory goop. April finished packing snacks for them to munch on while at Draxum's, and she also took the lead for gathering up Mikey's art supplies, too. Donnie packed an army's worth of purple jackets and hoodies and all of his tech and information on Mikey's double-mutation. He still hasn't given up trying to find a cure, despite knowing that there won't be one. Splinter packed up a few robes, his Lou Jitsu film collection, and as many scrapbooks as he could fit.

Leo notices that -- despite the enormous pile -- there are still a few bags missing.

Specifically orange bags.

Casey was supposed to help Mikey get packed up, but he hasn't seen or heard from either of them for a while. What are they up to?

Leo searches the lair, finding the two walking along one of the halls together. Mikey is standing upright, rather than crouched down on the floor on all fours. He's walking! Actually walking? Leo had been wondering about that, whether or not Mikey could still stand up or not.

He's a little shaky, but he's got the spirit. Mikey looks happy, but not completely confident in himself; he's holding onto CJ like a lifeline, refusing to let go as they roam around the rec room together, arm in arm.

Casey keeps Mikey entertained as they walk, talking on and on about...

Leo stops and feels his head go numb as he hears what Casey Jones Jr. is talking about.

"...And then Sensei grabbed the Krang dog by the leg and threw it at --"

"Hey, guys," Leo says, waving at them. "What's going on in here?"

"Oh, hey Leo!" CJ says with a nervous smile. "I was just helping Mikey try walking again. And, uh, we just started talking, and..."

"Casey is confusing!" Mikey announces proudly, stating it like it's an award or title that Casey earned. "Learning a lot!"

"Learning?" Leo asks.

"Future," Mikey explains. "You have an arm -- uhh.... Casey, what is the word?"

"Prosthetic?"

"Yeah, that. Leo gets a cool arm! Like a gift! You lost your old one, so Donnie made you another! Why did you have multiple arms?"

Leo turns and stares at Casey, his eye twitching.

"...It's.... uh.... a long story," Leo manages. "But, um, maybe we can talk about it later."

Casey shrinks a bit, his head goes low and his shoulders slump. Mikey notices the shift in the room, and is about to ask why they're both acting weird when Leo changes the subject.

"So, are you all packed?"

"Oh, uh, n-no, not yet, we kinda got distracted..."

"Well, why don't I help you out real quick?"

Leo pulls the two back into Mikey's room. He has Mikey pick out several more sweatshirts and hoodies to wear while Leo and CJ go to bag up his blankets and pillows.

Mikey listens to them as they whisper; eventually they catch on and sign to each other instead. Mikey watches from his peripherals, trying to not let them realize he's eavesdropping on them. It's tough, they both turn away and he can only catch bits and pieces.

'...why would you tell him...'

'...didn't think... issue... he asked....'

'...he's confused...'

'What do you mean?'

'Memory... doesn't know... aliens...'

'...sorry... didn't know...'

'...don't want to make it more confusing for him...'

'Okay...'

'Besides... talked about this...promised to keep it secret...'

'...just wanted someone to talk to...'

'....why should they know... painful... don't want them to hurt...'

'What about my hurt?'

Casey and Leo turn away from Mikey fully. He can't see the rest of their conversation, but by their body language he can tell it's not going well. CJ gets up and storms away. Leo sighs and droops in the corner of the room. Mikey hops over to him and nuzzles his back.

"Leo okay?"

He turns around and fakes a smile at him.

"All good, mi hermano. Just... trying to figure some stuff out with Casey."

"Is Casey okay?"

Leo heaves a sigh.

"...Let's just get you packed up. Do you wanna bring your chucks?"

Leo holds out the sticks he tried to give Mikey a few days ago. Mikey still doesn't understand what they are.

"No," he says with a shrug. "I don't. Unless you want them..."

"No, I don't -- Mikey, they're your weapons!" Leo clarifies. "You use them for your ninpo, remember?"

"What's a ninpo?" Mikey asks as he starts digging through his shirts again.

Leo is silent for a while. Mikey gets nervous that he said something wrong and turns back to look at him. Leo's eyes are wide and his face is shaken. But he blinks and resets, his expression changes to a feeble smile.

"Uh, nevermind. I'll tell ya later..."

Once Mikey's supplies are all compiled, the group meets in the garage.

Leo pulls out his katanas and slashes the air, creating a portal.

"All right everyone, let's go!"

Leo directs the group as though he were directing traffic, each person jumping through with their stuff one at a time. Mikey and Leo are the last two left in the room.

"You ready?"

Mikey nods, slowly pushing himself up and standing with a wobble. Leo takes his hand, and the two step through the portal.

It disorients Mikey more than he expected, and he stumbles after the second step, almost falling over before Leo wraps his arms around him and steadies him again.

"Well well, it's nice to see you finally arrive," Draxum grumbles as he greets Donnie. "Although, I didn't expect you to bring so many guests... I thought you said it was just your family?"

"Yeah, that's me, Mikey, Raph, Leo, Splinter, April, and Casey Jr.," he explains without looking up from his phone. "Oh, and S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.2.0."

Mikey notices CJ perk up with a smile when his name is mentioned in the list of family members.

But Draxum sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I see. I didn't account for that... I'm afraid I don't have enough room for everyone."

"I won't be staying overnight," April offers.

"Still, the addition of the rat and the time traveler was unexpected."

"Well, it's a good thing you have a certified genius to help with construction, then," Donnie says, cracking his knuckles. "S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., prepare the schematics!"

"On it, dude," the robot says with a laugh as he starts to scan the building.

"You don't honestly think that we can add two extra rooms from scratch by this evening?" Draxum challenges.

"You doubt my skills?"

"In addition to the rest of the renovations? Finishing by tomorrow night would be a miracle," he growls. "We'll have to find somewhere else to house you all until it's finished..."

"Like where?" Raph asks. "Not the Hotel Nexus..."

"Big Mama is not the only hotel proprietor in the Hidden City," Draxum huffs. "I know of a nice resort that could take us in..."

"Wait, resort? Not the one that only takes in people with hair, right?" Leo fidgets, his hands reaching to cover his bald head.

"I do have a membership there," Draxum says. "But there is another one --"

"Not the one across the street!" Leo begs, almost falling to his knees.

"No, of course not. There's more than one, don't worry. I'll call for a coach, and you can stay there until my home is repaired."

Draxum summons a flying cart with a pegasus, and the group fill the trunk with their belongings and climb in. The winged horse brays and jumps into the air, carrying the cart away.

"Not exactly a simurgh ride, but still pretty cool," Leo smirks. "Whaddya think, Mikey?"

Mikey leans over the side of the cart, the wind in his face and the underworld beneath him. It's so pretty, incredibly bright and colorful! For so long, all he knew was white coats and grey tiles and pitch black machines...

Mikey hoots as the cart flies. He loves this! Raph reaches over to keep him safely in the wagon when he thinks Mikey might fall out.

Mikey takes in the many smells... there's an entire world down here! And another world above! Mikey starts bouncing with excitement and anticipation...

The cart lands in front of a large Yokai resort, multicolored palm trees dotting the lawn and enormous shells decorating the entrance.

The group step out, oohing and awing at the underground beaches and beautiful views from behind the building.

"How do they have a sky and ocean?" Raph asks, pointing.

"It's a form of portal magic," Draxum states.. "There are many parts of the world still uninhabited by man, hundreds of undiscovered islands in the ocean. The Yokai use special spells to create bridges between those islands and their own cities, folds in space and reality, creating the illusion that the sandy shores are here, when in fact we are --"

"Less talking, more vacay!" Splinter shouts, running into the hotel. "Papa needs a suntan and a fruity drink with a tiny umbrella!!"

April cackles as Draxum rolls his eyes.

"And to think I chose him as the mightiest warrior for my experiments..."

Mikey turns to look at Draxum when he hears the word 'experiments'. But no one else seems to mind. Leo notices Mikey's nervous twitch and pats him on the back.

"It's okay," Leo whispers. "He means something else. He is a good guy. I promise you're safe."

Safe. Safe. Safe.

Mikey trusts Leo.

The duo follow after the rest into the lobby as Splinter rings the front bell several times over.

"Be right there!" a surprisingly cheery voice calls out.

A moment later, two small bat-like creatures fly out to greet the guests.

"Hi, and welcome to -- DRAXUM?!"

"BOSS!"

Draxum's eyes widen.

"Huginn? Muninn? You work here now??"

"Yeah!" Huginn cheers. "Can you believe it? We got such a cushy job here! I mean, well... it's okay. The pay stinks, the manager is the owner's son, we have to give rent for our own room, which is actually the supply closet..."

"But at least we have dental!" Muninn chimes in.

"...You're gargoyles. You don't have any teeth," Draxum states flatly.

"Yeah.... we didn't really think this through," Muninn sighs.

"Well, you're looking... um, good," Draxum says quickly. "I wasn't sure what happened to you two after the incident with the Dark Armor."

"We kinda... went off the grid after you disappeared and the arrest warrants went out," Huginn sighs. "It was tough finding work. But you're off the hook now! Congrats!"

"We've never been prouder!" Muninn smiles. "So, what's up with you? Looks like you finally got the turtles to team up with you!"

"It's a long story. But I've, uh..." Draxum swallows. "Been busy. Restoring my old home."

"Wow, really? Still?" Huginn asks. "Well, if, uh... you ever need someone to perch on your shoulders again, or y'know, do menial tasks like bridling ravenous ponies or filing taxes..."

Draxum smiles.

"I'll let you know. In the meantime, do you have any rooms available?"

"For you?" Muninn grins wide. "Private luxury suite!"

He tosses the key to the warring warrior scientist, who catches it with ease.

"We'll take your bags up for ya!" Muninn says, fluttering over to the pile. "You guys can go check out the pool, spa, bingo hall, buffet, and beachside!"

The teens immediately run out the back door to explore the beach as Draxum and his former goyles start to gather up the luggage.

Huginn notices Mikey scurrying past.

"Hey boss, isn't that...?"

"Like I said, it's a long story," Draxum says with a sigh.

The teens rush out and explore the beach. An aurora of rainbows wrap over the edge of the property, creating an archway that leads to a hidden tropical paradise. Mikey can feel the breeze and smell the water from where he is. Casey stares in shock at it all. He starts to tear up.

"You okay, CJ?" April asks.

"...I... huh? Oh, yeah," he says, coming back to reality, sniffing a bit as he wipes his eyes. "I just... I never knew that the world looked like this... it's so beautiful, and intact, and... big..."

April smiles, taking his hand and leading him to the beach.

"Come on, future kid. We're gonna introduce you to the magic of a beachside vacation."

Mikey chirps happily as he runs alongside them. Leo and Raph are already at the water's edge, splashing in the tide. Donnie watches from just beyond their reach, smiling softly, letting his feet sink in the sand as he basks in the sun.

It's so warm here, the sun is so bright and the water is so sparkling...

Mikey presses a hand into the wet sand. It squishes under his pressure. Casey mimics him, pressing his hand into the soft sand. He laughs. Mikey laughs with him, digging his claws deeper and deeper. His knuckles feel something hard with ridges. He pulls out a shell. Casey awes at it, staring in wonder. Mikey hands it over for him to examine.

Open. Space. Run. Free. Zoom.

Mikey starts bolting, running along the water's edge and kicking up sand as he races against the wind. He shrieks with laughter. He circles around and races back, zooming back and forth over and over again. He can hear Casey and April laughing at his speed, enjoying the fact that he's enjoying himself.

Mikey turns to the water. Leo and Raph are up to their knees in the waves. Leo beckons him out to join them.

Mikey, crouches, getting ready to pounce...

His animal intuitions take over. Rather than jump in the water... he runs. His legs speed under him, his back straightens and he runs on two feet instead of all fours. He bolts across the water, going past Leo and Raph in an instant and speeding away. He runs atop the water, the webbing in between his toes creating air pockets beneath that keep him afloat as he runs.

Mikey runs on water, never having felt more free in his life.

He can hear the others shouting for him and cheering him on. Mikey laughs loudly as he runs in an arc and returns quickly, coming towards Leo and Raph, who realize too late what Mikey's plans are.

Mikey leaps and jumps them. The two shout in fear as he pounces, knocking them into the water.

Donnie howls with laughter. April woops and Casey cheers. Leo and Raph are sputtering under Mikey but laughing all the same. Mikey cackles with joy as Raph splashes Mikey in retaliation and Leo flips him over, crashing him into an oncoming wave. Mikey swims around them like a snake before jumping out and pouncing on Raph again.

Splinter watches from the shore with a smile as his family lets themselves be kids for the first time in a very, very long time.

Prev || Next || Deleted Scene

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eveandtheturtles · 1 year ago

Note

Hi! I saw that request are open, would it be okay to request Bayverse Raph with a reader he has a deep crush on, being insecure about their body? Thank you so much, I hope you have a good day!

Here you go! Hope you enjoy this Nonnie. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a scenario or drabble lol. So I went with this.

Requests are open!

@m1dnyt3-w0lf @scholastic-dragon @madammuffins @turtle-babe83 @leosgirl82 @thelaundrybitch @dilucsflame33 @pheradream-15 @sharpwindow

"You guys know that Donnie gonna win this right?" You sipped your drink watching Mikey holding a game of Twister over his head.

It was game night with April, Casey and you joining the brothers for some shennanigans. You weren't exactly sure how Twister got selected though.

"I do have a superior physique for this, yes," Donnie agreed pushing his glasses up with his knuckle.

"Not if I steal his glasses , he won't," Mikey retorted sticking his tongue out at his tallest brother.

"You should play with us," April suggested.

"Nah, thanks, I'm good." You shake your head. The thought of getting in there with everyone made you deeply uncomfortable. "Plus Leo and Raph aren't playing either."

"That's because Leo's got stick up his butt and Raph ain't as nimble as I am," Mikey leaned in next to you, wiggling his brow ridges.

You snorted and pushed his face away. "I don't think you need a doughball like me in there then," you joked.

A loud sound of glass breaking got everyone's attention.

"Sorry, slippery hands," Raph replied, badly hiding the death glare he briefly send Mikey's way.

"Are you alright?" You asked, immediately getting off of your bar stool and joining him to help clean up.

"It's fine," he grumbled getting broom and a dustpan.

"Let me help," you offered. At the same time you reached your hand and took the duspan out of his hand, brushing your palm over his fingers.

Raph froze a little. "You don't have to, I've got it."

"I know, but it will be faster with help!" You replied cheerfully.

"You should join the others," he told you as he started sweeping the glass shards. Gosh that thing really broke almost to dust.

"Nah, I think they have full house without me there," you brushed that off with a smile. Looking over your arm you saw Mikey dragging Leo to be the one to spin the colour wheel.

Truth was everyone there was just so... fit and attractive, especially April. Meanwhile you... you were just not. With your body rolls, stretchmarks and body hair growing where , according to magazines, it shouldn't. Yeah, it's best to stay out of it.

The red clad turtle humphed something under his breath as he finished sweeping. You threw out the glass. He stomped away irritated for some reason, leaving you a little confused.

You looked at the party going on. Casey was the first to fail. You followed after Raph.

You found him in the gym, angrily starting to pick up the dumbbells.

"Hey, uh..." You hovered by the entrance. "Did I make you angry somehow?"

He paused.

"You've been a bit weird the past couple days and..." You almost jumped out of your skin when he tossed the weights away.

He huffed, inhaling through his nose loudly, then exhale. His jaw was moving as he was clearly working something out. He started to pace.

"Raph?"

"You're being stupid!" He suddenly fired.

"What?"

"You're being stupid," he repeated, "and it's pissing me off! Cause I know what you're doing!"

"What am I doing?" You were getting annoyed and ready to fight him.

"You're thinking!"

"Excuse me?!" Your voice raised.

"No, shit, what I mean is- you- you keep thinking those thoughts! That you're ugly or something," he tried to explain. "That's bullshit you know? You're- you're gorgeous and strong! And- and pretty and you smile so wide and you give best hugs and you don't make me feel like a freak..." He paused staring right at you. "And I want to beat up every single person who made you hate yourself."

Tears swelled in your eyes, so your tried blinking quickly. That took you so completely off guard.

"You are funny and-," he suddenly was in front of you. "I think I might like you." He said that last part quietly. He raised his hand up to your cheek but then quickly dropped it and cleared his throat. "Anyway-"

You cut him off, hugging him tightly. "Thank you."

His arms closed around you tightly. "Yeah, don't mention it."

"Hey, Raphie?" You said after a moment.

"Myeah?"

"I like you too..."

#projecting both onto the reader and raph at the same time #y'all gorgeous/handsome etc as you are #raphael x reader #raphael x you #bayverse raphael #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt bayverse #eve scribbles

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soft--dragon · 10 months ago

Text

Snow Day

Just a small drabble for you guys to snack on before I post the bigger one :D

Word Count: 1,177

Warnings: None

This is a SFW tickle fic, if you don’t like that then don’t read :)

Casey was practically vibrating with excitement, booted feet doing mini stomps - a stim he’d picked up from Donnie at a young age - as he looked out over the white powered landscape of New York City Park. Mikey, who was stood right beside him snickered at his child-like behavior, giving a friendly grin.

“You’ve really never seen snow before, huh Junior?”

Casey shook his head rapidly, eyes so wide as if he was trying to memorise every single detail of the park. “There was never white snow in the future, it was like ash, but this… Michelangelo, this is amazing!”

Mikey’s brow dipped slightly at the mention of the harsh, desolate future Casey had come from, but he gave the boy a gentle nudge to dispel the memory. “Mikey, Casey, call me Mikey,” he reminded lightly.

Whether Casey registered the soft words was up for debate, the boy’s spellbound expression never wavering when Leo seemed to drop out of nowhere to sling an arm around Casey’s shoulders.

“Not a bad view, aye Casey?” he grinned.

“It’s incredible,” the young warrior murmured, his smile lifting his eyes.

“Well what are you waiting for? Come on!” Leo grabbed his students hand and ran, dragging along Casey who almost fell flat on his face from the sudden force.

“Wait up Leo!” Mikey yelled after his brother, taking off right behind the pair, with the rest of the family in tow.

Leo didn’t even hesitate before he dove into the snow with a gleeful whoop, dragging Casey into the soft powder and laughing when the boy just about screamed.

“JESUS! It’s cold, Leo!” “Welcome to the ice age, Jones!”

There was an audible scoff from above the two. “Incorrect Leo, the ice age was thousands of years ago when creatures such as mammoths used to roam the earth and- hey!”

A snowball smashed into the back of Donnie’s head from non-other than April who was grinning similar to a Cheshire cat. “Sorry, did I interrupt you?”

“Yes actually, I was trying to educate Leo on his very historically inaccurate claim- ow!” A second snowball had splattered straight into Donnie’s face, the teen being thrown to the ground with the force of it. “APRIL!”

Raph high fived the girl in passing, moving to Leo and Casey who were still lying in the snow. “Don’t you two go catching a cold alright? We don’t want to get the whole fam sick.” “We’ll be fine, Raph, don’t worry,” Leo smirked up at his older brother, “We’re well protected from the cold.” “Yes, but some of us aren’t that used to winter, remember?”

“Oh, I know.” Leo’s hand planted itself in Casey’s mop of unruly hair, messing with the black locks and making the kid yelp and squirm in protest. “I’ll keep an eye on the snow baby.”

Casey baulked from under Leo’s fingers. “The- the snow what?” Raph sighed with a small, fond smile. “If he gets sick you’re taking care of him.” “Don’t I always?”

“Fair enough.”

“I’m right here you guys.” “Hush snow baby,” Leo scooped up some snow and shoved it in Casey’s unsuspecting face, trying and failing to hide his grin at the boy’s wild screech of alarm and offence. “The adults are talking.”

The snow removed, Casey tried leaning away only for Leo’s hand to come back and to pinch his cheek. “Augh! Stop! Your hands are freezing!”

“Oh, are they actually?” Leo’s hands were then diving under Casey’s scarf to press them against his neck, and the scream the boy gave was almost ear splitting.

“NO! Off, off, off! Get away from me!” Casey scrambled across the snow to escape, only for Leo to follow with an evil gleam in his eyes. “Guys help!”

Casey, who had fallen victim to Leo’s schemes more than once, knew the outcome of this dilemma, and scrambled off the ground in an instant. He was running laps of the park, laughing over his shoulder at the turtle who was pursuing him with outstretched hands and taunting loudly.

“Should we stop them before they fall into the lake?” Mikey asked with a laugh.

Raph shrugged, smirking. “Eh, let em tire themselves out, it’ll be easier to get them to sleep later.”

“I concur, I do not want to deal with a hyperactive Leo,” Donnie raised a hand from where he was still lying on the ground from April’s snowball attack.

The green jacketed girl rolled her eyes. “Donnie, get up.”

“Can’t. I’ve been shot.”

A scream echoed through the park, making the group whip around in alarm to where Leo and Casey were tussling on the ground, the blue coded turtle pressing his fingers underneath Casey’s scarf to target his neck. The raven haired teen was screeching at the chill spreading through his skin, bursts of laughter mingling with his yelps as Leo refused to let up.

“LEHEHO! Stohohopihit!”

“What? Can’t hear you Snow Baby, sorry, I’ve got ear muffs on.”

“YOU DON'T!”

“Invisible ear muffs are the modern style Case, I thought you’d know that cause you’re from the future.”

One of Casey’s hands came up to shove at Leo’s face, the other trying to push away the turtle’s fingers assaulting his sensitive skin. “Thahat’s soho duhumb!”

Leo’s mouth dropped open and gasped loudly. “How dare you insult my invisible earmuffs, that is so mean.”

Casey cracked an eye open to peer up at Leo smugly. “Thought you couldn’t hear me with those ear muffs?”

Scoffing an incredulous laugh, Leo furrowed his brow playfully. “Alright, wise guy, you asked for this.” Leo lightened his touch enough so that his fingernails were just grazing along Casey’s neck, causing the boy to try and turn into a turtle himself and scrunch his head down, all the while in fits of panicked giggles.

“DahAHAamnit LehehEHEO!” He cried, grappling with the turtle’s arms to dislodge his freezing fingers. “Nohohoho!”

Using the tassels of Casey’s scarf to dust along his cheek just to be annoying, Leo cooed, “I warned you bud; insult the muffs, get the fluff.”

Pressing his cheek into the snow, Casey batted at his mentor with horribly uncoordinated movements. “Yohou suhuck!”

“Ouch, what a burn. Good thing we’re surrounded by so much ice that I can treat it.”

Casey landed a smack on his shoulder, rolling his eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn’t roll right out of his head. “Dork,” he bit out between peals of laughter.

“Oh I’m a dork now am I? Wow, really laying it on thick with the insults today, kiddo,” Leo snorted. The attempts of ‘insulting’ Leo really weren’t really that cutting at all, he was gonna have to teach this kid some curse words to help him along. Raph may kill him for it, but he was the sensei of Jones Junior, not his big brother. Casey did end up catching a cold from the snow, though Leo held up his promise and was vigilant during the boy’s recovery. This was his kid after all, he was always going to look out for his Snow Baby.

#my fanfic #rottmnt tickle #rottmnt #tmnt tickle #lee!casey #ler!leo #casey jones #rise donnie #rise leo #rise raph #rise april #april o'neil

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milkytheholy1 · 2 months ago

Text

Day 8: B Team

This was the perfect time for an experiment, Donnie judged, the lair was practically empty! Leo and Raph had gone out on a mission, Master Splinter had decided to take a walk around the sewers, April and Casey were at school and Mikey was somewhere in his room busy with his comics. Yes, indeed, what a great, splendid, marvellous time to do an experiment.

"With just a single drop of copper sulphate, I should be able to stabilise this new explosive egg bomb. I juuuuust need to make sure I get the measurements exactly, otherwise I could, well, possibly level the city. No biggie." Donnie muttered to himself, his protective goggles slowly etching down his face as he stared intently at what lay before him.

"Of course, this is a piece of cake for me, especially when everything is so quiet and-" he sighed, "Peaceful."

There was one more final check of his mathematics before Donnie started pouring the solution, "Easy...easy...annnndd-"

"Hey, D, what ya workin' on?" Mikey literally popped out of nowhere, "MIKEY!" Donnie all but cried, the solution flying into the air. Donatello saw the world fall into slow motion as his extremely dangerous concoction fizzed in the air, waiting to smash on the ground and destroy them all.

"Oops, my bad. I got it, D!" Mikey leapt into action, catching the beaker with ease and backflipping until his feet touched the floor. He turned to a stunned Donatello, giving the middle child a thumbs up, "What is this stuff anyway, yo? Is it like an alien goo or somethin'?"

"Well actually-"

"OH! Is it like a gel that'll turn me into a superhero? I could be like Crognard or Luffy!" Mikey started bouncing around the room, acting as though his body was made of rubber. Donatello snatched the mixture away before Mikey could cause any more damage, "Actually, Mikey, it is an extremely dangerous experiment that could destroy the whole city."

Donnie gently placed it back down on his workbench, pinching his brows together in frustration, "Woooah, cool." Mikey hummed staring at the rich purple liquid. Donnie pushed his swivel chair to face an awestruck Michelangelo, 'Why are you here? I thought you were reading your comics and NOT bothering me." Donnie frowned, turning back to his project.

Mikey rolled his eyes, pushing away from the desk and deciding to look around the lab, occasionally poking something that caught his interest, "Weeell, I did do that, to begin with. Then I read some wicked stuff Mondo gave me, then after that I got bored and went to cook something, but I got bored doing that so I started playing some video games; y'know, I'm trying to beat Raph's high score?"

Donnie was too stunned to speak, "Then I got bored doing that so I put the TV on and I just so happened to catch One Piece, then it went on the break and I got bored and then I came in here." he turned around to face Donnie with a smile.

"Wow, you did all that in ten minutes?" he gasped, Mikey nearly cried, "IT'S ONLY BEEN TEN MINUTES!" his body deflating to the floor, "I thought it had been an entire day already, dude!" Mikey dragged himself over to Donnie, begging him to create something fun, "What am I gonna do all day, man? What am I gonna do!!!"

"Okay, okay..." Donnie sighed, pushing his younger brother off of him, "I'm sure we can think of something together."

"For real?" Mikey asked, wonder and excitement in his eyes. Donatello chuckled, "Sure, man. C'mon, I got just the thing you can help me with."

---- Later one ----

"What smells like burning?"

"AH! MY SOUFFLE!"

#tmntember #12yearsoftmnt #tmntember2024 #tmnt2012artchallenge #fandom #fan #fanfiction #fanfic #tmnt #oneshot #tmnt 2012

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winterflwers · 5 months ago

Note

I had this thought a while back about how Danny would react to Casey Jr, and, inexplicably, my first thought was that Danny loves space and CJ has never seen the stars before.

Danny would drag him out to go star-gazing first thing, like, they'd get introduced and Danny would fly them up to a roof first thing like 'I'm about to revolutionize your life. look up'

Anyway the Mad Dogs, Danny and his friends, and Casey Jr (We need a colelctinve group name now, i think) all stargazing and pointing out constellations and eating warm cookies that Mikey they'd baked together and fallign asleep on a rooftop somewhere is a really pretty mental image i'll be rotating for a while

OMG YES I LOVE THIS IDEA

Casey Jr would love to know more about stars and planets and Danny would explain EVERYTHING to him like constellations and the northern lights

And thanks to Leo, they both have. Jupiter Jim marathon together.

Oh and the last one is SO CUTE. Then Raph would give them a blanket when they fall asleep.

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #danny phantom #dp #dp x rottmnt

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fishsticksloser · 2 years ago

Note

a little for me! Future leo x Teen!reader(14-16)

gen: Platonic ofc, Found family and fluff

Idea: you know those peepaw multiverse where future leo got throw back to the past? yeah lets change that where instead of the turtles finding him, a teen reader found him in their yard, pass out and the reader just standing there wide eyes cuz theres a big turtle in their yard, now i know what your wondering wheres the reader's family? one word ✨Vacation~✨ anddd thats where the reader begin dragging him to the house to tend his wounds.

(you can add more plot, I really just want father figure peepaw ~^~)

Welcome Home

Future!Leo + gn!reader

Warnings: angst, mention of blood and injuries, mentions of death, platonic fluff, swearing, found family if you squint

A/N: I honestly haven't read many F!Leo fics, if you could please recommend me some. :) I don't know if this feels rushed or not...

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Going back in time probably wasn't Leo's best idea, at first anyways. He wanted to see his family again. He knew it would hurt, but he wanted to know that Casey succeeded, to know that his family was still alive, still thriving, that Raph had beaten the pizza box record.

What he didn't expect was to end up in someone's backyard. A teenager came out of the house. Worrying and fussing, not caring that he was 6ft turtle man, that he had a prosthetic arm, or that it looks like he'd been through hell and back. No. All this kid cared about was if he was hurt.

"Who are you?" Leo hisses as you help him stand. You introduce yourself, in a way you reminded him of his family. You helped him inside and set him on your couch. "Where's your family?"

"Family?" You ask, going to the bathroom and grabbing the first aid kit.

"Parents, siblings?" He asks, holding his side, sitting up a little better.

"Vacation." You said it so nonchalantly, like it was something you answered every day.

"And they left you here? Alone?" Leo presses. You begin to clean his wounds.

"Is there something wrong with that?" You dab some of the excess away.

"Did they make sure you had food? Water? Heating?" He grunts as you apply pressure to one of the wounds that had reopened.

"How did you end up in my backyard?"

"Don't change the subject."

"The answer isn't important."

"Yes it is. You're... What 15?" Leo groans, leaning forward so you can wrap up his plastron. "I have 2 younger brothers. I'd never leave them like this."

"Where are they?"

"What?"

"Your brothers. Where are they?"

"Somewhere in the city. I was going to find them."

"Really?" He plopped back down against the soft cushion. You gave him a disapproving look. "Like this?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Uh huh..." You got up, taking the dirty things and threw them away. "I could call them... If you have their numbers. But then again... you are a turtle man."

"You think I don't have a cell phone because I'm a turtle?"

"No offense, but normal people would be terrified if a giant turtle man came in and asked about phone plans."

"I'll give you that..." Leo sighs, feeling comfortable around this odd teenager. "You said normal people... Are you not normal?"

"Normal is... in the eye of the beholder." You shrug.

"Are you a yo'kai?"

"A what?"

"A yo'kai. They're... Nevermind."

Leo dreamt of his time in the resistance. Of Mikey, specifically when he died, an orange bandana now gracing his katana.

You got him something to eat and drink, making sure he was comfortable and his wounds stayed closed. Soon you left the room and Leo drifted off to sleep.

꒦꒷⚔️꒷꒦

"It'll take everything I have."

He thought about Raph, dying in his arms.

"This isn't your fault."

Raph's last words. He had tried so hard to push them down. Leo felt guilty for the Kraang invasion.

He dreamt about Donnie passing in the medbay.

"The world wasn't meant to be on some 16 year old's shoulders."

How could Donatello, of all people, forgive him? Tell him it's not his fault, tell him that it was okay.

Now he was here, in a time period where they're still alive, 6 years after the Kraang. He wanted to see them one last time. Just once Leo wanted to look upon the face of his brothers, his father, his sister. He wanted to hold them one last time.

Greif. Suffering. Wanting to go back and replace them. They deserved better, yet, he was the one to survive. Why?

Only to wake to a 15 year old, watching him.

"You talk a lot in your sleep." You say. "Who are they? The people you were talking about?"

"My brothers." Leo pants, the dream still fresh.

"They... died, didn't they..." You spoke softer, like you were afraid of upsetting him.

"Yes..." He breathed.

"May I ask... Why are you looking for them?"

"I'm from a different time, the me in this time is 22."

"Yeah right."

"Remember that freak accident 6 years ago? Aliens?"

"Yeah..."

"In my time period we didn't stop them, they took over the world. My... My brothers died fighting them."

"And you came back in time, to a different time period, because you miss them?"

"I am nothing without them."

"Why didn't you say so sooner? Let's go find them!"

You got him a big cloak to cover his 'turtleness' as you called it. You followed him through allies until you got to a sewer hole. He pulled it up, with a little help from you and dropped down.

"No offense, but this doesn't seem very homey to me." You jest.

"Let's hope that even in my advanced age, Donnie's system will still recognize me." Leo nudges you. "You on the other hand will probably be arrested."

"Tell them I'm a friend!"

You 2 continue down the tunnel, Leo pushed the hood off as you approached a door. He pushed it open and alarm bells started ringing.

"Fuck." Leo huffed. "Stay behind me. Donnie has a tendency to attack and ask question later."

Luckily Donnie wasn't the one who came to the door. It was Raph.

"Leo?" Raph lowered his Sai and reached out to him.

"Alright, who tripped the alarm!?" Leo could hear Donnie storming to the entrance. "Leo if you tripped the fucking alarm again-"

"Donnie... Raph..." Leo finally said, tears coming to his eyes. They looked so much better, healthier than the ones he grew up with. He wanted to hug them.

"Tello? Raph? What's..." Mikey walked up behind them. Donnie dropped his bo, shaking his head.

Finally tears fell. Leo fell to his knees, revealing you. It didn't seem to matter though as the other 3 turtles' eyes were still on the old man before you. Mikey rushed forward, pulling Leo into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." Leo hiccupped. "For everything."

Raph knelt down and pulled the 2 into a hug, his head on top of Leo's. Leo continued to apologize, for everything.

"It wasn't your fault." Raphael said. Donnie finally joined to mutants on the floor.

"The world was never supposed to be on one person's shoulders, especially not some kid's."

The words spoken on their death beds now had a new meaning. A weight lifted of Leo's shoulders, he squeezed his brothers, trying to engrain this moment into his brain.

"Who the hell is this kid?" All of you froze, looking up to see a young version of the old man you patch up. "Oh. I ruined a moment, didn't I?"

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percyaugod · 6 months ago

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Family Forged AU: First Fall

Someone tagged my AU that there'd be less angst, and I took that as a challenge. >:D

Casey was so young when it first happened that he doesn't remember what Raph and Donnie used to look like. All he can remember is large warm hands and the clicking of a keyboard.

Since Raph was the first to turn into a sword the others probably wouldn't consider the possibility. They'd looking for a large turtle after a fierce battle because "there's no body so he can't be dead." Unknowingly passing Raph multiple times in their search.

The others are forced to live with the guilt that, if Raph hadn't gathered the energy to flare the weakest bit of Ninpo, they could have unknowingly abandoned their brother on the battlefield.

The swords reflect how the body is injured. Like Mikey's handle is cracked and crumbling after opening the portal, Raph is scratched and dented from taking attacks to protect others, Donnie is blackened from an explosion, and Leo has a part of his blade missing to show his missing arm.

In case you're wondering, yes. All of the turtles are going back with Casey. They're all swords, wrapped in future Leo's scarf and being dragged along by one very determined boy, but they're going back. Completely useless to the timeline, but going back.

Too bad the past turtles wouldn't let someone suspicious keep swords. Casey Jr wakes up alone, with no sign of the others.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt au #rise casey jr #rottmnt casey jr #rise future au #Family forged au

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forestwhisper3 · 6 months ago

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heads up, seven up!

rules: post the last seven lines you wrote, then tag seven people. reposting, as the reblog chains get long!

. . . . . . . Yup, I'm alive (just very, very busy lately) Anyway, I was tagged by my good friend and amazing artist @joyfuladorable and thought this sounded fun. ...It may also be a sort of apology from me for being gone/silent for so long. So! Rather than the last seven lines, here are seven little teasers from fics I've been chipping away at during the bit of downtime I have- when I'm not just playing some Animal Crossing to destress, that is. It's not necessarily the most recent for some of them, but parts that I think you'll enjoy without giving away too much. Enjoy! (Also, please keep in mind that as these are still being refined, there might be parts you see here that may not be present in the final product) ============== Title Pending (Rottmnt) ==============

Not for the first time tonight, Raph had to wonder how he'd gotten to this point.

"There," his companion hissed quietly- a word he never would have used to describe her before this moment.

He leaned over her shoulder and squinted at the figures walking below. "You sure that's them?"

"OF C-!" she choked back her yell and settled for a heated glare. "Yes I'm sure! I'd recognize those ugly outfits anywhere!"

"How can you even see them from so far away?"

"That's how ugly they are."

Despite himself, he snickered a bit. Once he settled down, he crossed his arms.

"You do know this whole thing is crazy, don't you?"

She grinned ferally. "Yep."

"And it's very likely that if we're caught, we'll either get arrested or- if you're right about all this -even die, right?"

"Yep."

"You're insane."

"So are you coming or not?" she asked impatiently.

He looked over the ledge again, watching as the people below continued loading trucks.

"Well, Raph's made it this far," he shrugged, allowing an easy smile to slip onto his face. "And I think I'm overdue for a bit of crazy myself. Let's do it."

"Hell yeah!" Cassandra- Casey, he corrected himself -cheered, pumping a fist. "Let's go, Red!"

The two of them jumped.

============== Dragon of the Sun (TMNT 2003) ============== "Hey, I'm fine! Really! It'd take a lot more than some crazy lizard and spoiled son to take me out!" "You have cracks in your shell. And while I'm sure Donatello has provided excellent care, you are going to the med bay." "...Yes, M'am." Raph snorted softly as he watched Ananda start dragging Mikey away, his little bro not having put up nearly as much of a fight with her as he had against him and Don back home. Then again, he wasn't really surprised either. Maybe it was because Mikey played such a big part in reconnecting her with her dad, which led to her joining the Justice Force, but it was clear that she had a huge soft spot for him.

"And you're positive that there was no lasting damage?" And it seemed like she wasn't the only one. He turned to face Silver Sentry, the usually calm man also watching them go with furrowed brows and a frown. "Not that we could see," Raph sighed. "From what I've gotten him to tell me, he needs to take it easy for a couple more weeks, but he should be fine after that. Let's just hope nothing happens until then." And he really would hope this time. Usually he was itching for a fight within a few days, but if it meant Mike going out to fight before he was fully recovered? No way. Silver Sentry gave a sigh of his own. "And here I thought we could avoid this very thing by only making him an honorary member." ============== Turning Back Time (Linked Universe) ==============

"Hey, Time, do you have any other masks?"

Wind's question immediately caught the group's attention as they settled down to eat. Warriors looked up, admittedly curious as to how he would respond, especially since he knew Time would probably want to keep those cards close to his chest in order to mess with them.

But perhaps he was still remembering Hyrule's misunderstanding from the other night, since he was surprisingly straightforward in his answer.

"Quite a few, actually."

"And are they all magic like the- bunny hat?!"

There was something else Wind was going to say there, he realized, and judging by the way the others' gazes seemed to sharpen at the slight pause, they'd noticed it too.

Come to think of it, the two of them had been together this morning, hadn't they?

He thought about that for another second, then felt a chill of dread.

Could they be working together now? Sweet Hylia, he hoped not. Just remembering the sorts of things they'd accomplished together between battles during the war made him want to run far, far away. He was ninety percent certain that half the reason Impa disliked him so much was because of these two. He wondered if it would be possible to switch sides. ============== Recollections (Linked Universe) ==============

-of Darkness who sought to plunge the world into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into-

"-eight fragments," Hyrule weakly read that part aloud, face pale and eyes wide in dawning realization and growing horror. "T-This-…this is-…"

He whirled around to look at Time and Legend, the sickly look on his face growing even worse when they nodded grimly.

"Oh no," he murmured, turning back around and curling a bit into himself.

"Okay, that's enough," Warriors scowled, although the worry in his eyes betrayed him. "Would one of you please just tell us what's going on already?! Why's Hyrule upset now that he's figured out whatever it is you two know?!"

"It's about me," Hyrule explained, looking up at them with haunted eyes. "That story we're reading? It's what happened in my Hyrule. Zelda- my Zelda -broke up the Triforce to keep Ganon from getting it. Shortly after, I found myself on my first adventure."

Silence. Then, the implications finally sunk in.

"Oh, fuck," Wind swore.

"Can't we-?!" Twilight began.

"I doubt it," Time sighed, already knowing what he was going to suggest. "Seeing as we were all brought here, then subsequently locked in, it looks like we're going to have to finish watching before we can leave. And I know it's not going to end with just Hyrule's adventures."

The air between them felt heavy now that everyone knew what they'd be seeing, and there was a pause, as if they all wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. Finally, Legend let out an angry burst of air.

"Let's just get it over with," he said. "I know this is the last thing any of us wants, but it looks like we don't get a choice. The sooner we watch it all, the sooner we can leave this hellhole."

An apt description for this place, Time couldn't help but agree. Absolutely no danger to be seen, but somehow just as nerve-wracking as if there was. If not more so.

Another pause, but despite their reluctance, they all knew inaction was an even worse feeling. So Wild eventually started it up again. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the clutches of the evil Ganon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with enough courage to destroy the evil Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon grew angry, imprisoned the princess, and sent out a party in search of Impa.

The black screen started fading into color, although the words remained, and harsh panting could be heard as a landscape came into focus. ============== Title Pending (Trolls) ==============

Floyd was gone.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!"

That simple, heartwrenching fact kept spinning and spinning and spinning in his mind until it was all he could think through the numbness that had taken hold of him.

At least, until Clay's scream managed to break through.

John flinched, finally tearing his gaze from his second youngest brother's crystalized form only to meet the furious, teary eyes of the third's. It was all he had the time to do before Clay shoved him away from where they'd gathered around, the tiny ember of rage that had been ever present in those last few days as a band finally blazing into a wildfire, fueled by the same grief that seemed to have frozen him in place instead.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT WE SPLIT UP! IT'S YOUR FAULT WE WASTED TIME! IT'S YOUR FAULT FLOYD'S-!!"

Clay choked, unable to voice that final, damning word. Instead, his face twisted as it finally seemed to catch up with him. Yet the tears that began to stream down did nothing to soften the anger that continued to burn.

Staring as intently as he was, there was no missing when that anger slipped into hate.

"I'll never forgive you," Clay hissed, his entire body trembling and tense. "We'll never forgive you."

He swallowed thickly and chanced a glance at Bruce and Branch.

They stared back in stony silence.

"I'm sorry," he managed to push through the knot in his throat and a familiar gnawing emptiness that began to settle in his heart.

Sorry he'd failed them…

Sorry he couldn't protect them…

Sorry he'd hurt them…

Sorry he couldn't be what they'd wanted him to be.

His apology only seemed to anger Clay further.

"You're sorry?! Is that all you can-?!" He cut himself off, and took a deep breath. When he spoke next, it was with piercing finality. "All you've ever managed to do is ruin things. Ruin us. So, if you're really as sorry as you say you are, you'll keep yourself from ruining what's left."

"Clay-" Viva protested, concern thick in her voice as she stepped forward.

Clay cut her off with a look and a shake of his head, but the bit of John that didn't feel numb appreciated the attempt.

She was good for him, he thought. He hoped they could be happy together.

Without him.

Because that was what they wanted, he realized. It was what they'd always wanted. Hadn't they always told him to mind his own business? To go away? To leave them alone? It was him who had been too stubborn to listen. Who had ignored what they'd practically been screaming in his face for years.

Not anymore, he promised. He'd already messed things up enough. For once, he was going to do something right by them.

Clay was distracted by Viva, and the others had gone back to looking at Floyd. It was like the universe was agreeing with him, telling him that he needed to take himself out of their lives for good.

He took a step back.

Two…

Three…

He took in the sight of his brothers one last time, knowing that it really would be the last time, and climbed into Rhonda.

"Let's go, girl."

She fought him for a moment, and he felt yet another pang of guilt- she'd gotten attached to them, it seemed -but eventually allowed herself to be steered away with a melancholy warble.

"It's for the best," he told her softly, eyes closing in resignation at the hollowness he could hear in his words.

A hollowness he'd experienced just one other time in his life and struggled to escape. Even now, he could see it overtaking him again in the way the color slowly leeched from his fingers and trailed up his arms.

That was fine. Last time, he'd pushed forward for Rhonda. For his brothers. For his-

He closed his eyes and slumped in the driver's seat as a fresh wave of loss swept over him.

This time, when the emptiness threatened to swallow him whole, John Dory looked into the abyss and hung his head.

It was time to stop fighting. ============== Journey (Pokemon SI/OC) ==============

"Satoshiii, you've got to be kidding me!" I groaned as I pulled his curtains open. "Seriously?! You promised you wouldn't sleep in!"

Ash waking up late was a running gag in the anime. I knew this. Really. I did.

I just hadn't realized how bad that habit actually was.

"EHHH!?!? Amy, what time is it?!"

Mrs. Ketchum must have had the patience of a saint dealing with this every single day.

"Late enough that you're only gonna have time to get dressed! Now, move it!"

"But, breakfast-"

"MOVE IT!"

He yelped and scrambled off the bed, and I hurried out of the room to give him privacy. Walking back to the kitchen, I huffed as I took a seat, rolling my eyes when I heard a loud thump echo from upstairs.

"Never a dull moment with that kid," Papa chuckled quietly into his tea, still a bit bleary-eyed himself.

"Good thing he spent the night. With Hanako gone, he wouldn't have had anyone to wake him up," Mama shook her head with a fond smile.

"Next time I'm leaving him," I grumbled, though it was halfhearted at best.

Mama handed me two lunches and I secured them in my bag before grabbing some extra riceballs for Ash and placing them on top.

"Is Shigeru going to be taking part in the field trip?"

"He said he hears enough about it at home, so no. Good thing too, I don't wanna babysit him and Satoshi. I wanna see some pokemon, too!"

It was a good way to test how things could be once I began my journey. At first, Mama and Papa had been a bit hesitant to agree when Ash brought it up yet again (he did so every year, but this was the first time we were old enough to actually go), but Uncle managed to convince them. I was going to be with a group, and Professor Oak was sure to have at least Arcanine with him, so I would be more than safe.

To his credit, Ash only took a few minutes to get dressed, but our house was a bit of a walk from Professor Oak's lab, and we found ourselves having to sprint for the last stretch of it.

"-guess we're setting off," I heard Professor Oak say and immediately pushed myself just that little bit more.

"Wait!" I called while waving my arms, never more grateful for all the running I'd done during training than at this moment. "We're here!"

I slid into the meeting place like a baseball player, taking care not to squish the contents of our lunches as I allowed myself to drop onto the grass to catch my breath. Ash was still a bit behind me, but they should be willing to wait now that I'd made it.

"Way to look like a total loser," a familiar, though currently unwelcome, voice cut in through the harsh pants.

I groaned. "I thought you weren't coming."

"I'm not," Gary scoffed. "I just got curious because Gramps hadn't left yet. Shoulda known it would be you two behind it."

"And I should have known you'd be too nosey to not butt in."

============== Horizons (FF7 SI/OC) ==============

Ryuu stretched as he wandered into the entrance area of the inn, not bothering to hold back a wide yawn as he tried to shake off the last vestiges of drowsiness. Overall, he felt much better than yesterday, his various pains now muted to a dull ache instead of the sharp throbs and spikes of before. Thank fuck for accelerated healing. Probably one of the highlights of being SOLDIER, in his opinion. Cassie's potions had only helped in that- he'd probably be back to normal by the end of the day or early tomorrow at this rate.

It was early- enough that the sun was just barely starting to rise -but to his surprise he wasn't the only one awake. The innkeeper was already up, phone pressed up against his ear and having what seemed to be a pretty serious conversation if his expression was any indication.

"-keep an eye out for him, don't you worry…It's the least I could do after everything your daughter's done for us. Besides, I know I'd want someone to do the same if it were one of my girls missing…" He sighed, tone turning apologetic. "I don't. Wasn't expecting her to leave so suddenly, or else I would've asked…I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a tough girl, and clever. She practically saved this town."

Wait. He couldn't mean-

Now completely awake, he rushed back upstairs, only just catching the innkeeper's now confused expression as he continued his conversation with who he was becoming more and more certain was Cassie's family, though unfortunately missing the question itself in his haste to check on her.

"Son of a bitch," he hissed upon opening all the guest rooms and finding them empty. "You little shit."

Is this what it felt like to have a younger sibling? He was pretty sure this was what it felt like to have a younger sibling. This sheer frustration and annoyance- suddenly, all of his friends' complaints made so much more sense. Not to mention the worry. What if she ran into something else she couldn't fight? She said that bodyguard of hers could keep her safe but how could he be sure of that? She hadn't even let him meet the guy!

Cassie'd left early on purpose. He was sure of it. The question now was why.

He wanted nothing more than to chase her down and find out, but as it stood, he couldn't. He'd updated ShinRa on his status the moment looking at his PHS didn't make his head feel like it was going to explode, but while they'd allowed him some recovery time, they were also being very pushy in their reminders that he report as soon as possible. He could understand the insistence- absolutely no one had expected what sounded like a run-of-the-mill monster extermination to put a SOLDIER out of commission, even if only for a day or so -but he wished he could just-

His PHS buzzed in his pocket, and he sighed, heading for the stairs again.

============== ============== ============== And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed the little clips! Like I said, I am working on them. It's just a lot slower than it used to be since I have a longer commute to and from work now, and by the time I get home, I'm usually too tired to write. I'll be going on a short vacation in about two weeks or so to visit my bro, and I hope to get a good chunk of writing done during that time. You may see a few chapters pop up then. Fingers crossed, at any rate. For now, I think it's back to chipping at them a little bit more. Take care!

#Multiple fic teasers #Untitled fic- Rottmnt #Dragon of the Sun- fanfic #Turning Back Time- fanfic #Recollections- fanfic #Untitled fic- Trolls #Journey- fanfic #Horizons- fanfic #thanks for tagging me Sea #Enjoy the DotS snippet #As previously mentioned there be superheroes in the next chapter #And more Raph #Xenocanaan the Horizons snippet is for you #Thank you for always checking up on me and sending me all those nice messages #I don't say it enough but I really appreciate it #Hope you're doing well!#Anyway I need to go put my blankets in the dryer #later!

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bambiraptorx · 2 years ago

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Raph watched as his dad smiled, turning his face into the rain even as the downpour grew heavier. Well, Draxum's not exactly his dad, not here in the past. It's getting trickier to remember that the longer he's been stuck here.

"Enjoying the rain, huh?" Raph rumbled.

Draxum's face shifted, his previous joy replaced with a subtly pained expression. "I don't get to see it much. We live in a cave, after all." There was a forlornness to his voice, and Raph had to wonder if rain was yet another item on the list of everything that humans had taken away from yokai. He'd never truly thought about how long that list might be until coming to the past.

Raph closed his eyes, letting the sound and smell of the warm shower wash over him. It's peaceful like this, more so than he's felt in years. Even so, there was a tension in his shoulders that wouldn't quite fade, and he rolled them uneasily. Who would have thought that roughly a decade spent fighting off alien invaders would make it so hard to relax? ...Probably Mikey, actually.

He opened his eyes and blinked, his third eyelid automatically sliding down so he could see through the pouring rain. The temperature had shifted slightly, the once warm droplets now cool on his scales. The future had been cold too, grey and empty and alone.

"Hey, Draxum?" Raph asked, suddenly desperate for some sort of conversation to remind him that he wasn't alone, that he wasn't the only mind in a washed-out world filled with the static-y sound of falling rain.

"Hm?"

"Is my eyeliner running?"

Draxum glanced at him appraisingly. "Yes, quite a bit, actually. Will that irritate your eye?"

Shit, Raph didn't think about that at all when he put it on. The skin under his left eye tingled, as if it had been waiting for the suggestion before becoming annoying. Oh well, he'd had worse. Much worse.

The wind picked up, the heavy rainfall flicking harshly against the deadened patch on his face strong enough he could feel the pressure of it. The storm was gathering strength, and the goat yokai next to him shivered slightly.

"I believe it's time for us to head home, Ragnarok," Draxum said.

Raph nodded. "I've had enough rain for today."

Another snippet for my "Raph goes back in time too far AU", continued from this post.

A few things for context:

Raph did not tell Draxum his actual name. He goes by 'Ragnarok' around him (and in the Hidden City in general).

He wears red eyeliner like Casey Sr. did. Also because she did. What can he say, she has great taste.

This particular scene happens after Raph drags Draxum away from his work (creating the oozesquitos, specifically) long enough for them to go to the surface. Raph isn't actively trying to stop Draxum from making the oozesquitos, largely because he doesn't know how that would mess up the timeline.

Yes, Raph is taller than Draxum. Given that snapping turtles never stop growing, the height difference will probably increase.

Feel free to ask questions if you want more info! Just bear in mind that this AU is heavily under construction and I'm still ironing everything out, so details may be a little sparse for now.

#rottmnt #rottmnt au #future raph au #rottmnt raph #rottmnt baron draxum #raphael hamato #i'm not dead yet au #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt fanart #rottmnt fan comic #rottmnt fanfiction #my art #i decided to give raph nose privileges for this one #we'll see if I decide to keep it that way #if the rain looks weird uh no it doesn't

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nerves-nebula · 1 year ago

Note

do you think any of your turtles would get into any funky subcultures. Like punk or grunge. Just a thought I had.

i want to say yes but i know so little about them (the subcultures and their histories) that i have to answer with a shrug. specifically i think raph, mikey, and casey would love some kind of punk or grunge subculture. Mikey's got a whole situation going on with the mutanimals so maybe he's already a part of one, idk.

i think leo's more likely to fall into a queer subculture like ballroom stuff and drag shows, so that'd be cool.

donnie still doesn't like the leave the house unfortunately.

#nnstuff #ask #teenage mutant neglected turtles

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goodlucktai · 2 years ago

Note

If you’re still taking fic prompts, how about some good ol’ fashioned woodyangelo cos you write them so so well and I can never get enough of them both 💛

set in 2012 'verse, but the turtles are all different ages, like they are in rise <3

They weren’t sure about Woody at first. None of Mikey’s brothers were, it wasn’t just Leo.

The guy was just so… normal. He wasn’t thrown into their lives the way April and Casey both were. He didn’t prowl around dark alleys in the middle of the night, picking fights with crime lords and brain-shaped aliens in power mechs. His hobbies had absolutely nothing to do with sharp weapons or parkour.

So it just didn’t make sense. There was no common denominator. He had no stakes in the game. He could walk away from them at any time and upend their entire existence and it wouldn’t cost him anything. Just because he hasn’t yet doesn’t mean he won’t.

But it was a mistake to say as much to Mikey. ‘Mistake’ is putting it lightly.

Leo has absolutely never seen his littlest brother’s eyes turn so sharp. Mikey drew himself up like he was bracing himself for a knock-down, drag-out fight. It was like looking at a younger Raphael, except he burned hot, and apparently Mikey burned cold.

“You don’t like any of my friends,” Mikey said plainly. His arms were crossed and he wasn’t budging. “You call Mondo annoying right to his face, and you’re scared of Leatherhead because he’s stronger than you so you’re always weird and rude around him, and every time Renet comes to visit you look at her like you think she’s stupid. And I can tell, ‘cause it’s the same way you guys look at me.”

“Woah,” Donnie said, putting up his hands. His eyes were round and stunned. None of them had come into this conversation expecting it to spiral into an outright confrontation so fast. “We don’t think you’re stupid.”

“Sure,” Mikey said in a tone that made it sound like he was actually saying ‘yeah, right.’ His mouth was set in a firm line, brows drawn together under his mask. “So are you gonna tell me to stop hanging out with Woody? Is that what the point of this was?”

Originally? Yes. But Donnie was stricken, and Raph kept shooting sidelong stares at Leo that said Abort, Fearless, abort! as clearly as if he was shouting it. But more than that, it was the way Mikey was looking at him.

He looked like he was ready to get his feelings hurt, and it was the first time he’d ever looked at Leo like that in his entire life.

Leo was doing his best to lead the family without Splinter’s patient guiding hand, but there were days that he really struggled. Days that he’d give anything to see his father again, so he could ask for one more answer, one more moment of wisdom.

But he didn’t need anyone to tell him what the right answer was here.

“No, Angie,” Leo said quickly, the old nickname slipping out on its own. “I’m sorry I came at this so wrong. I just want you to be careful, okay? You know I—I worry.”

Mikey’s expression softened. Underneath the unfamiliar angry, defensive shell, he was still the sweet kid that brightened all of their days. He surged forward and Leo readily enveloped him in a snug hug, swaying him side-to-side in a playful way.

“It’s okay, Leo. I’m not very smart, but there are some things I know for sure. And I know Woody’s good.”

“Okay,” Donnie said, breaking up the hug with a brisk clap. Now he was the one who looked ready to go on a warpath. “We’re talking about that next. You are not stupid.”

“And I’m not scared of Leatherhead, that's dumb,” Raphael blurted, like he couldn’t go another second without saying it. So the Woody conversation quickly winged away in another direction, but they all ended up talking about things that needed talking about, and Leo soaked up their company the way other turtles basked in sunlight.

It would be easier if he could protect his brothers from every uncertainty and every stranger and every heartache, but doing that would sabotage all of the potentially good things, too. And Leo’s brothers deserved every good thing the world had to offer. What the world didn’t offer, Leo would take for them.

He still wasn’t sure about Woody—that hadn’t been cleared up at all—but he wasn’t going to deny Mikey anything that made him happy. Leo’s job as big brother and stand-in parent was to step in when things went wrong and make them right again. Until then, he would just pray they didn’t go wrong.

When Christmas Eve rolls around, the lair is packed. There’s music and cheesy Christmas movies and a rich spread of food. All of their friends make an appearance, even if they can’t stay. It’s so different from the Christmas celebrations of his childhood that it might as well be a scene from some alien planet. Splinter raised his sons with warmth and love, but he had been so alone in the world. Leo and his brothers are really lucky to have as many people to count among their family as they do.

He almost misses it entirely when Woody shows up. Maybe he would have, if Mikey hadn’t shouted out loud in pure glee. He watches his littlest brother jump down from Leatherhead’s shoulders and sprint across the lair at full ninja speed. Woody is laughing when they collide.

Leo isn’t close enough to hear their conversation over the noise of the party. Casey and Shinigami are doing karaoke now, for some godforsaken reason, and they could easily drown out everything else within a ten mile radius.

But he can see the brightness on both of their faces, the dimpled grin Woody’s wearing as he absorbs Mikey’s special brand of light, the easy, familiar way they lean into each other’s orbit.

They start to venture toward the kitchen, and like an act of gravity, Mikey’s closest friends peel away from the party to fall into step with them.

“—thought the movie tickets were my present!” Mikey is protesting, a big theatrical pout on his face. “The Force Awakens was amazing, and the theater was so cool!”

“The movie tickets were a red herring,” Woody replies. “My sister works there and it was really easy for her to get us in, especially because she’s been trying to get fired for weeks now. Your real present is actually in your house already. I had no idea how to get it down here by myself, so April and Karai helped me smuggle it in yesterday. I think they hid it in the pantry.”

Now it made sense why April has been guarding that particular corner of the kitchen so fiercely. Rockwell almost lost a hand when he went looking for some chips earlier. She tips her snowman-shaped mug at Woody in solidarity and he nods gravely back.

Leo is curious. He drifts over to join April when she moves over to stand just inside the doorway, propping up a wall. There’s a crooked smile on her face.

“You’ll want to see this,” she says, so certainly that Leo believes her.

The present, when they wrestle it out of the pantry and onto the kitchen island, is fairly big, and it’s easy to see how one skinny teenage boy would have struggled to get this into the tunnels by himself. Mondo immediately plucks the bow off the box and smacks it onto the top of his own head, because he’s—

Leo catches himself.

Because he’s a kid, Mikey’s age, mutated at fourteen years old and abandoned by his family and left to make his own way in the world. And maybe he’s annoying sometimes, but that’s not all he is.

“I’m a gift,” the gecko says proudly.

“To the world,” Renet and Woody say at the same time, utterly serious, and Mikey laughs.

He enlists Leatherhead’s help in unwrapping his present, because the metric ton of tape Woody used is no match for the alligator’s knife-point claws. Then all the paper comes off, and Mikey takes one look at what's underneath, and the smile falls right off his face.

It’s a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer, in bright buttercup yellow, with a bunch of attachments included in the box. Leo stands a little taller, eyes narrow as he takes in the scene, trying to suss out what caused that expression on Mikey’s face.

He looks absolutely dumbfounded. He thumbs at a corner of the box like he’s making sure it’s real.

“It’s exactly the one I wanted,” Mikey says really quietly. He’s clearly overwhelmed. “I never said anything. How’d you know that?”

“C’mon, amigo, of course I knew,” Woody replies. He’s a little self-conscious now. “I had to do a lot of extra deliveries to save up for it. But I figured I had lots of Christmases to make up for. And I wanna be around for all the rest of them, too.”

Mikey sniffs, and then starts rubbing his eyes, his shoulders trembling.

“Aww, Mikey, nooo,” Renet says, sounding choked up, “if you cry I’m gonna, like, start bawling my eyes out! Please think of my eyeliner!”

“They don’t have waterproof makeup in the 79th Dimension?” Mondo asks judgmentally.

Leatherhead chuckles warmly, a low rumble that sounds more like a growl than laughter. He’s so laughably big he barely fits in their kitchen, but he fits. It has a lot to do with the way he smiles at Leo’s baby brother, like he knows exactly how special Mikey is.

All of Mikey’s friends look at him like that. Even Mondo, skating in circles around the kitchen island, is sort of grinning to himself.

“Can you stay the night?” Mikey asks wetly. “I’m gonna make homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast with my new mixer.”

“Mikester,” Woody says, resting his weight on his elbows and leaning across the island to give Mikey his undivided attention, “I would literally rather die than miss your homemade cinnamon rolls.”

“Hard same,” Mondo adds.

Renet sighs, puts one arm around Mikey’s shoulders and the other around Leatherhead’s snout, tugs them both in really tight, and says, “This Christmas is one of my favorites. I come back to it all the time.”

“Stop trying to give me an existential crisis!” Woody demands, tossing a napkin at her. “I have enough of those on my own!”

Leo glances at April, and finds her already smiling back at him. The last stubborn guard around Leo’s heart folds, just like that. He gazes across the room at the ragtag little group his brother picked out for himself and realizes for the first time that he has a lot less to worry about than he thought he did.

Woody wasn’t forced into this subterranean life of secrecy and subterfuge and war. He could bail anytime he wanted and leave these abandoned subway tunnels behind for good, the way any normal person probably would, and there would be nothing that Leo could do to stop him.

He doesn’t have to stick around. Which makes it even more special that he’s still here.

And he looks at Mikey the way everyone who loves Mikey looks at him. Leo would know that look anywhere.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #woodyangelo #hamato michelangelo #hamato leonardo #woody dirkins #april o'neil #renet tilley #my writing #tmnt fic #prompt #anonymous

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