#tmnt daimyos son

[ritz-writes]

Me: *trying (see: failing) to convince @novelcain 2003 tmnt is amazing*

This fucking thing existing:

Me: ...okay this part is kinda complicated-

[twicethetrouble]

Someone stop me.

My brains trying to come up with an 03 separated au and i already have too much work to do!

But, like, the thought of Donny growing up as Casey's little brother, who Casey is fiercely protective of , is just too good. (plus their neighborhood just being like "This child isn't a turtle creature. What are you talking about? He's clearly just a kid with a skin condition who refuses to take off their backpack for security reasons. Don't be rude." would be hilarious and adorable. gasp! Donny could go to school)

[whattraintracks]

The thrilling sequel, it's time for me to watch "Big Brawl - Part 2"

Leo's opening is sending me. Note to self: listen to dad, portals are bad, STOP BEING AN IDIOT AND STOP BROTHERS FROM BEING IDIOTS, oh and also don't die.

Okay, but seriously, his little "Sorry, Master Yoshi!" is so sweet (when he's fighting the shadow assassins or whatever and deflecting crossbow bolts with his forearms, someone needs to teach me how to do that stat). I need the boys to meet the spirit of Hamato Yoshi and for him to gush about his grandbabies and what good kids they are, and then Splinter can be all, "This is weird" until the affection gets turned on him, and Yoshi says something like "my son! <3 <3 <3" and Splinter'll be like, "Never mind, this is great." Totally derailed from the episode, but it'd be so cute!!

Oaughaaough and Mikey's match with Splinter: "The Master of Ninjutsu lost to the father in you." You bet it did!! He's such a good dad I'm cryinggggg. Thinking so hard about this family and how they are so happy and willing to pass on their legacy to the next generation.

I don't have any fully formed thoughts about the order of them getting knocked out of the competition yet, but it's very, very interesting. Oh yeah, and Usagi's here, I guess. Kidding, he and Gennosuke are actually pretty neat. So hilarious that Splinter doesn't even recognise him after retelling the story of how they met only a couple of hours ago.

Y'all, "Big Brawl - Part 1" was so funny to me. It's like sneaking into your dad's high school reunion and figuring out he—and also your grandpa, apparently??—was captain of the football team and the most popular kid in school. But wait! There's more! You also find out that he went toe to toe with the school's biggest baddest bully and had to be saved by Some Dude™️. And then, surprise! The principal likes your dad so much that he's gonna let you play on the football team, too. And the principal's son, who tried to kill you once, doesn't want to kill you anymore (sus) and wants to help you out (double sus). I haven't even watched the other parts yet since this one was so bonkers to wrap my head around.

[aquietwritingcorner]

You Weren't Meant to be There

Title: You Weren’t Meant to be There Day: Febuwhump 2024, Day 22 Prompt: You Weren’t Meant to be There Fandom: TMNT 2003 Word Count: 1626  Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating:  T Characters: Splinter, Donatello Warning: SAINW Summary: Splinter had noticed that multiple times a night Donatello has gotten up, checking on each of his family members as they sleep. But as Donatello makes his third round of the night, Splinter decides it’s time to see just what is plaguing his son.    Notes:     ff.net || AO3

_________________________________

You Weren’t Meant to be There

It wasn’t too unusual for Splinter to hear his sons up and around during the night. When they were younger, he paid more attention to it, making sure that they didn’t need anything and that they were alright. As they had grown, though, he had become more hands off, letting them set their own schedules and trusting them to come to him if they had a need.

Of course, this often led to things like all night video game binges, Michelangelo’s movie marathons, Donatello’s late lab hours, late nights out, and noisy nights in. Truthfully, Splinter didn’t mind too much.  As long as his sons were responsible and they took the consequences of their actions, he was fine with it. It let them learn their own boundaries.

Of course, there were other reasons for his sons being awake at night, reasons which had only started after his sons had started going topside, especially after their first real brush with death, when Leonardo had been injured so badly. Ever since then, it hadn’t been unusual to find a son up, occupied with his thoughts, or one checking on the others, not able to sleep until he knew his family was alright.

Yet seldom did they come check on him. He heard them outside of his door, certainly, and he tried to breathe a little louder, or shuffle around some, just to reassure them that he was fine. It was usually enough, and the son in question would walk away, seemingly mollified that he was alive and alright.

However, for the past week, that hadn’t been enough for Donatello. His son would come to his door and listen. Splinter would shuffled around a little, and then settle down, but Donatello wouldn’t leave. Inevitably, he would slip the door open as quietly as possible, angling his body to block as much of the light as possible from entering his room, and he would just stare at Splinter for a while. And then, he would leave, although Splinter always had the feeling that Donatello wasn’t satisfied, even when he left.

He did the same thing with his brothers, checking on them and staring at them at night. He even followed them around during the day, to a certain degree. However, for the past week, Donatello had checked on them all multiple times throughout the night. He never spoke of it in the morning, and neither did anyone else, but Splinter was aware of it. He had the feeling that, if he had been able to, his son would have put them all in the same room to sleep together with no explanation given, and even then, not been satisfied.

Splinter was positive that it was because of where Drako and the Daimyo’s Son had sent Donatello. Donatello hadn’t been very forthcoming about where he had been sent in the beginning, or perhaps not very coherent about it, but his distress had been very real. When he had finally told them what had happened, it was to the horror of the rest of his family. They had reassured him, of course, and even piled together, but after everyone drifted back to their own rooms, these nightly checks had begun.

Perhaps it was time for Splinter to do something about them.

Once again, Splinter heard his son’s feet approaching his room. This was the third time tonight, and Splinter was about time to put a stop to it.

This time, when Donatello stood outside of his room, Splinter gave no extra indications of his status. Donatello paused and, sooner than normal, and with a bit of panic to his movements, Donatello slid his door open. This time, though, instead of feigning sleep, after a moment, Splinter sat up and turned around, catching his son in the act. Donatello froze, his eyes wide as his father stared at him. For a moment, neither one of them said anything.

“My son,” Splinter said, sitting up more fully. “This is the third time tonight you have checked on me, and you have done so at least once every night this week. Come. Tell me why you are doing this.”

For the briefest of seconds, panic played across Donatello’s face. Never the most emotionally open of his sons, and often aware of the impact his words could have, Donatello kept a lot of things to himself, not wanting to share them or cause his family distress. But Splinter saw the panic turn to emotion, and Donatello brought himself in Splinter’s room, closing the door behind him. He hesitated for a moment, but then made his way to Splinter’s bed, sitting himself down on it, facing his father.

However, he did not look at Splinter, instead keeping his head bowed.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a soft, quiet voice.

Splinter felt his heart hurt for his son. So much was conveyed in that tone, and all of it was far, far too heavy. He reached out, placing his hands on Donatello’s face, gently caressing it before reaching up to untie the mask his son still had on.

“My son, you have nothing to apologize for,” Splinter said as he removed the mask. “I only want to know why you feel the need to check on your family so often.”

Donatello let his father take off his mask, and blinked up at his father when he was done. It made Splinter’s heart twist a little more. He looked so young without his mask, like the child that used to come to him to scare the monsters away. Now his son was the one checking to make sure that the monsters hadn’t gotten his father.

“I…” Donatello’s voice was watery, and his breath shaky. “I just—I have to make sure. I… when I dream, it’s not good. It’s never good,” he said. “All I see is that world and what happened there and I just—I need—I can’t—”

His voice grew choked with unshed tears, and Splinter reached out again, laying a hand on his son’s cheek. “And you need to check on us,” he finished for him.

Donatello trembled under his hand, but he nodded. “I keep thinking—why was I sent to that world? Mikey was needed to help the superheroes in the one he went to. Raph helped to expose a scheme that would have killed people. Leo prevented a coup that would have had disastrous effects. And obviously I was there to help them take down the Shredder, but—” his breath hitched again. “What if—what if I was also there to make sure this doesn’t happen here? What if I’m supposed to prevent this? What if I was sent there as a warning and I need to make sure that it doesn’t happen and that nothing leads up to it and—”

He was spiraling. Splinter could clearly see that Donatello was spiraling into all of the possible scenarios that could exist. His trembling was getting worse, the tears were beginning to spill over, and he was beginning to hyperventilate. Splinter reached up again, and quietly shushed his son.

“Donatello. My son, breathe. In, hold it, and out. Yes, yes that’s good. In, hold it, and out. In, hold it, and out,” Splinter said, keeping his voice calm and soothing. “Keep doing that and listen to me. My son, you were not meant to be there.”

Donatello’s breath hitched. “But—all of us. We got sent to places where we could help! And—”

Splinter shushed him again. “No. You were thrown to places where you were able to help. But you were not sent there. You were not sent with a purpose.”

Donatello took in another shaky breath. “But—Lord Simultaneous. He—he said that the Time Scepter, that it has a mind of its own and can weigh good against evil, and—”

“And it was being controlled, at that time, by someone who wanted to use it for evil purposes—and did so,” Splinter said. “He wanted to cause all of us harm, so he—or they—controlled the staff to send all of us away. But you and your brothers were never meant to be a part of the story of the worlds you visited. Perhaps, if you had not been there, things would have ended differently. Or perhaps they would have ended the same. We don’t know. But Donatello, my son, look at me.”

Don looked at Splinter, his eyes wide, scared, trusting. Splinter cupped his face and wiped away the tears, even as more fell.

“You were not meant to be there. You were not sent for some grand purpose. You are not responsible for keeping this family together, nor for preventing Shredder from taking over either here or the Utroms.” Splinter made sure he had Donatello’s full attention. “An enemy sent you there. And you were able to help them. But you were never meant to be there, Donatello. You were never meant to go through this pain.”

Donatello wavered in his father’s hold, and then his face crumpled, tears falling as he openly cried. Splinter drew his son to him, bringing his head to rest on his shoulder and curling his arms around his son’s shell, holding him as tightly as he could. He whispered soothing words, both in English and in Japanese, and held his son as he wept, hoping he would take his words to heart.

Donatello was never meant to be there. He was never meant to see what he did, to hold the blame and the trauma that he was, or to experience what he did. And Splinter would forever hold a grudge against the forces that put his son where he was never, ever, meant to be.

[angstsplatter]

Battle Nexus Masters

Summary: Some beloved masters run into each other at the Battle Nexus.

Fandoms: 2k3 TMNT, Kung Fu Panda

Length: ficlet, just wouldn't leave my head and needed to know this had been written somewhere by someone.

___________________________________

Splinter smiled, using his cane to ground himself and be still, as he looked over the years Battle Nexus contestants who'd made it past the qualifying round. Some familiar faces. Many new ones. He loved his sons, but it was wonderful to hold some adult company for once. Speaking of-

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Master Shifu," Splinter greeted the only contestant around even shorter than he.

"Master Splinter," Shifu nodded, coming to stand next to rat. Outwardly, he was calm, but Splinter could see he was a bundle of nerves. Judging by their last meeting, Splinter suspected that was normal for red panda. He found it endearing. It gave him hope for how young Raphael might one day wrangle his own growing temper.

"Competing this year?"

"Oh, yes, yes," Shifu perked up. "I wasn't sure about it, but it looked like a good experience from watching Oogway last competition."

Splinter surreptitiously glanced around. "Will Master Oogway be joining us again this year?"

No matter how small, Splinter couldn't miss the devious quirk of Shifu's mouth as he grinned. "No, no. Oogway will merely be a watcher this year."

"Hmm," Splinter said, relaxing marginally. The Nexus was tough competition all around. You couldn't qualify for the Battle without the skills to back it up. But no doubt, some competitors were above the others, and Master Oogway was one of the greats. He'd blown through competitors without even breaking a sweat, barely needing to dodge most of them with the shocking quickness of his chi point attacks.

Splinter had barely missed his own battle with Oogway, instead losing his match in the top eight to a fierce competitor with acid saliva and killer aim. Oogway had won the competition, and Splinter had met Shifu when he'd gone to congratulate the master, the loyal student anxiously acting as bodyguard to his beloved teacher.

"Well, that should level the playing field a bit," Splinter admitted affably. Finally, he spotted the turtle, somehow so different from his own turtle sons, wearing his usual serene grin within the raucous crowd.

"Yes - oh, it seems like we'll be starting, then," Shifu said, barely heard over the roaring of the crowd as they greeted the Daimyo graced his terrace.

Splinter bowed to Shifu as portals began appearing over the stage. "Good luck."

"And to you," was all Shifu said before he walked through the mystical doorway.

Splinter gently rolled his shoulders out. And so it began.

[mystech-master]

I have now gotten to TMNT 2003 season 4

There seems to be a lot more stuff with the Y'Lintian slave races, from the fish people who were being contaminated with radiation, and the Avians with Raptarr (I keep thinking of Reptar from Rugrats when I hear that name) and Mephos.

The stuff with the Battle Nexus Daimyo in the previous season was weird because after the loss of his son, I'm pretty sure the Christmas episode happened where he was fine, then he was super depressed in the Ultimate Drako mini-arc with the Turtles being sent across the multiverse. Now I know they said he was under some kind of spell with Ult Drako being disguised as the Gyoji, but I have no idea how much of that was fake because he seemed genuinely depressed.

Bishop does seem to be a pretty cool and threatening antagonist, able to puppeteer a lot of stuff and hold his own against like 6-7 people at once.

Leo is currently going Batman where he goes really hard on training and crime fighting out of self-hatred for having him AND his family go to self-sacrifice to defeat Shredder last season, so I'm eager to see how this plot thread progresses.

Can't wait to get to the Ninja Tribunal arc.

[lostywrites]

writing patterns tag game

Rules: list the first line of your last ten posted fics and see if there's a pattern!

A/N: Oof. It was only in the middle of last year when I started writing again so I haven't written that many fics in a long while. Imma have to cheat and include some of my old fics and also skip the fics I've written with others.

Tagged by: @radioactive-earthshine

1) Crossing Shadows (Assassin's Creed Mirage/Warcraft Crossover) The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in golden hues.

2) No Time Like the Present (Gotham Knights/Young Justice hybrid verse) Tim jolted upright the moment he felt the fear gripping him, his breathing growing rapid and shallow as his eyes searched the darkness for signs of danger.

3) The Last Hybrid (Transformers Prime/G1 Transformers hybrid verse) The Air Commander has foreseen it all: the uprising of new ideals, the fall of the caste system, the end of peacetime.

4) Prodigal Sons (Nolan-verse Batman) A son of many talents, he does what he can to make this an enjoyable performance for me.

5) shards of grey in a black and white world (Watchmen) Walter Joseph Kovacs lives a routine life.

6) Displaced (Warcraft) "Archmage," the firm voice of a female blood elf donning a Timewalker tabard called out to Khadgar, demanding immediate attention.

7) The Daimyo's Concubine (TMNT) The castle was as ancient as time, its walls like inanimate guardians harbouring tales of murder, sex and vengeance.

8) Sparks & Spaces Between (Transformers Prime) "It's been an honour serving with you, Optimus Prime."

9) Saving King Mrgl-Mrgl (Warcraft) King Mrgl-Mrgl is missing!

10) I Will Not Forget What I Have Forgotten (TMNT) Dear, Raphael. I'm sorry it took so long.

A/N: Hmm...I don't know if there's a pattern here but I seem to have a habit of blending verses a lot. XD

Tagging: If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged!

[purplescience]

Au idea with the 2003 tmnt:

When the turtles were young they snuck out of the layer and went to explore the city. They ended up close to the TCRI building while the Utrom were working on their transmat. An explosion occurred which separated all the turtles.

The blast sent Raph to the Triceraton’s home world where he was found, raised, and provided the proper breathing equipment by Traximus’ dad.Traximus and Raph are brought up as brothers (Trax is older).

Leo was hit by a smaller explosion shortly after the first and was sent to the battle nexus. He was shorty found by the Daimyo who took him in. He was raised alongside the Ultimate ninja with an intense one sided rivalry (on the Ultimate ninjas side).

Donnie was found by the Utroms and was raised alongside leatherhead.

By the time Splinter realized his sons were gone he was too late and the only kid left when he got there was Mikey. Heartbroken, Splinter dictates all his free time to raising Mikey as an only child.

Mikey,Raph, and Donnie all have vague memories of each other while Leo doesn’t remember anything about his life before for most of his upbringing. When they are around 15 the turtles end up reuniting with each other one by one.

I call it split by space au

Raph info, Leo info, Mikey info,

Donnie info

[tmntseparatedaucompetition]

Split by Space

By: @purplescience

Iteration: 2003

Where You Can Find It: Ao3 | Tumblr

Summary: Basically, a 2003 tmnt separated Au where Raph is brought up by the Triceratons, Donnie is taken in by the Utrom, Leo is now the son of the Daimyo, and Mikey is raised as an only child by Splinter.

[thesameasme]

Turtle Forever 2?

I know this account hasn’t posted anything in years, but I’m the only one I know who like TMNT and I need to talk about it and get some input for a fan fiction I want to write. Ever since I watched the TMNT Turtles Forever crossover movie, I have been trying to write a Turtles Forever sequel fic where 1987, 2003, 2012, and 2018 TMNT all fight in the Battle Nexus. This is where I need a little help. I can’t decide whether is should be set in the Rise universe with Big Mama running the Battle Nexus or the 2003 Battle Nexus. 

On one hand, if it’s in the Rise universe then Big Mama is in charge. I would prefer if Big Mama was in charge because then all the turtle would have something to worry about. She’s the type to make a deal with the winning group of turtles, as in they get to go back home while the others stay and fight in her Battle Nexus. She would have three copies of her champion from Battle Nexus New York, and since she is the one that brought them to her world she would be the only one to put them back. This situation would put a lot of pressure on the turtles to win and would force them to see the other versions of themselves as enemies. If they see each other as enemies then it would be harder to work together to get all of them back to their own world, it would be especially hard to work with the Rise turtles because their existence is the reason why the others were there  fighting in the first place, which is difficult because they would also be the only one to be able to send the other turtles back to their own worlds other than Big Mama. My problem with this is how all the turtles get there. Saying “Big Mama has a mystic device that can bring them there” seems lame because she would have no need to focus on the turtles, she doesn’t really have a need for revenge from them so her motive would be because of more people coming in to see the fighting. 

One the other hand, the 2003 Battle Nexus is called that because it takes place in an actual Nexus. It a place between worlds and dimensions so it would make more sense for how they would be stuck in another world in the first place. During the actual fighting I planned on putting all of the different turtles into different fighting games and being in an actual Nexus between world would allow the games to be a lot more creative and not bound by the rules of one universe. However, I haven’t watched all of the 2003. I saw a few episodes, specifically where they sneak off and find Master Splinter at the Battle Nexus. Idk what Leo and the Daimyo’s son’s beef is, but he was sucked up into a rip in space so I can’t just be like “oh the new daimyo has beef with them so he takes all the turtles and forces them to fight” like with the Big Mama scenario, unless I say he comes back to kill his dad again and become the Daimyo but I honestly think he’s dead, so it has to be the original Daimyo. The thing is with that though is that the original Daimyo likes the turtles so he wouldn’t force them to come. If they were all just invited then they’d just fight each other like the rules of the tournament, all friendly like, so there would be no drama. Sure, I could write that there is a conspiracy like how it when before during the Battle Nexus episodes but then there would be no need for the other turtles. I could really stretch it and say there is a completely new Daimyo who either want revenge for the last heir or is such a huge fan that they kidnap a bunch of the turtle to make them fight, Collector from the ow house style were it’s some kid with too much power playing with them, but I’d just prefer not to stretch the lore too much. If it’s a good idea I’ll do it, but I doubt it is. I could just set it before the whole battle Nexus events but once again there would be no need for the other turtles if there is no beef, also I want the 2003 turtles to have meet the other turtles.

Ok so that’s the pros and cons of those ideas. Sorry if this is hard to understand, I kind of just wrote down all the junk I was thinking in the moment so my thought might see all over the place. I know I’m not a popular creator or anything, and not a lot of people care about TMNT crossovers, but whether you plan on reading my work in the future or not, the input would still be helpful. I like writing fan fiction and I plan on making this fic the first fic I post on ao3, my account has the same name as my tumblr. I’ll have more things I’ll need advice about like the winners of games and fights so if you actually interested in this fic follow my account. Ok, thank you! Bye!

[fire-fira]

A Non-Exhaustive List of My Fiance @radioactive-earthshine​‘s Impressions of the 2003 TMNT Series:

First up--

MIKEY

Her favorite

He screams in such a wonderful way.

10/10 would be friends with Bart Allen/Impulse online (where they’d talk about Star Trek, both headcanons and meta).

The cute one

Precious

GIVE! HIM! FRIENDS!

He definitely needs to hit up Roy Harper/Arsenal in New York to join his team, Titans East.

RAPH

He experiences a LOT of male-bonding.

This turtle isn’t straight. (He’s masc for masc.)

Dramatic

He needs his boyfriend (meaning Traximus) around more.

While his brothers were all being traumatized in various ways during the arc that included SAINW he was off in a bike-race with a hottie on another planet.

Would absolutely swear more and probably only censors himself around his dad.

He’d be friends with Jason Todd/Robin II/Red Hood.

DONNIE

The Kirby episode with him was one of her favorites.

Tim Drake/Robin III/Red Robin’s friend.

Why is he sitting on the couch like that? Sir, why did you put the couch like that before climbing onto it to sit?

He’s not straight because he sits on the couch like that. He’s not straight either.

Hasn’t made much of an impression. (Sorry Donnie, you don’t get a full 7 points.)

LEO

O O F.  SON.

Ah, he’s a bi disaster.

He needs to get together with the rabbit.

Wants him to behead people more. Wants it to be a running gag that he beheads Shredder every time they encounter each other. (”Go apeshit! Do it again!”)

He needs to stop chasing Karai, she’s a bad choice. (”She’s hot, but son that’s a CHOICE.”)

✨T H E R A P Y✨

Her watching every moment between Leo and Usagi: “That’s gaaaaayyyyyy~.”

Orion (of New Genesis) would get along with him.

SPLINTER

Unhealthy obsession with wanting to see him naked. (Seriously, she wants to see this rat without his robe on constantly.)

Wants to see him brushing his fur.

Is married to the Daimyo.

Wants him to have tea with Alfred Pennyworth. (Where they could go back and forth over hellion children.)

Where are your teeth? (”He’s a opossum!” -brings up google images- “Look! That’s a opossum! He doesn’t have rat teeth!”)

You’re one fucked-up rat.

Regularly quotes him as saying “Oh, you were so cute” about his sons.

USAGI

Leo’s (long-distance) boyfriend

“Is he a lop-eared rabbit? If he takes that tie off will his ears just flop over?”

Ah, another disaster-bi.

A much better choice than Karai.

“You exchanged swords? That’s gay.”

“I do not want to see him naked ever.”

“Where are your teeth?!”

“Real original name.” 🙄

KARAI

I have no thoughts about her-- no wait.

If I had that name I’d Karai too.

A terrible choice.

Hot though.

Needs to figure out her shit.

You don’t need NO MAN.

CASEY (MOTHER FUCKING) JONES

CANADIAN????

It’d be hilarious if how he died in SAINW was something really stupid, like choking on air, or tripping into something, or choking on a muffin. Nothing impressive, just embarrassing. It’d be hilarious.

Fun to watch.

You’re too disastrous to not be bi.

I need him to handle all my retail returns.

He needs to use a baseball bat more.

Dumbass™ (because of his terrible hiding skills)

APRIL

“I haven’t changed my outfit in over 10 years because I made a vow when I lost my Uncle Auggie to never change my wardrobe until he came back home so he’d recognize me!”

MOOD

You’re just as much of a dumbass™ as Casey, and that’s why you deserve each other.

GIRL, are you BARBIE? Because you have a lot of careers!

-a la Jurassic Park- SHOOT HER!!! SHOOT HER AGAIN!!!

LEATHERHEAD

I WANT TO BOOP THAT SNOOT.

Wants to pet his snoot too. (”I think he’d like it.”)

Also would get along well with Orion of New Genesis.

✨T H E R A P Y✨

Deserves better.

SHREDDER

wATch OUt fOr ShrEDdeR!!!

Can’t take him seriously and starts laughing every time he’s on screen.

Wants him to be beheaded constantly by Leo.

Mocks him by giving him Bane’s voice from the Harley Quinn animated series and pretending he has a fixation on cheese and shredding cheese. (”Soooomonnne! Give me the cheddaaaarrr!!! I’m so stressed!”)

Sometimes calls him Cheddar.

Desperately wants someone to call him a Kitchen-Aid attachment to his face.

HUN

Hun. Hunny. Honey. (Absolutely must mock his name.)

“All the men call me Hun.”

Vaguely implied that the Purple Dragons were his harem??? (My fiance is wild y’all.)

Clearly smarter than Baxter Stockman.

BAXTER STOCKMAN

HE NEVER LEARNS!!!

“I want him to call Shredder the Kitchen-Aid attachment.”

Her favorite line from him: “You’d make a horrible scientist.”

WOOOOWWWWWWW

Clearly not as smart as Hun when it comes to shutting his damn mouth.

[annonniiiiieeeee]

Who do you think each character would be if they were Mario characters? From reading the story have to say Mario is definitely Usagi, and that man seems like the guy to travel eight worlds for Leo.

Okay this is one of the funniest asks I’ve had in a while.

I’m not sure if you want me to line them all up character for character or if we are making a Mario au.

I’m going to with the second option because obviously I need more aus.

This is also because I know the legend of Zelda franchise better than Mario but I’ll try my best.

This is also a hard core stream of consciousness and I’m sorry.

So I love the idea that Usagi is traveling 8 worlds to save Leo. But Mario has a partner in Luigi. I know normally it’s just princess peach that’s been captured but I love Daisy and Luigi.

We as a fandom have put Raph in princess peach’s dress one to many times for me to not give him the role.

But if Raph is peach then who is mario

Mona Lisa. Is Mario

This makes Leo Daisy (I know Rosalina is more his color scheme )

And Luigi is Usagi.

I love this because both Leo and Raph get taken and Usagi and mona team up to go find them.

Gen, Kitsune, and Chizu are characters at different levels/worlds that give aid to our hero’s

Mikey could also could be in this mix of missing turtle brothers. (The three princesses are pink, blue, and orange)

Donnie. Oh Donnie what to do with you. Given that the new movie promo has revealed that Luna (Rosalina’s star companion) is psychotic Donnie could fall into that roll. Stays close to his twin with unhinged behavior.

Could also be Hatty he joins the party to save his brothers and is the tech that helps Usagi and Mona Lisa succeed.

(If you want this to be really unhinged maybe Donnie just didn’t like Usagi and Mona Lisa and sent them on a wild goose chase. No one is actually kidnapped he just didn’t want them around for a bit)

I prefer the hatty option. I think it’s fun putting Donnie in the mix in the recuse team.

April could be Paulina character. Helpful in her plane but not outside.

Maybe add Casey and Cassie into it.

Yes six levels before the big bad.

Chizu has a forest level with ninja sneaking around

Gen is a ancient village. He has a bounty hunt that he needs help with

Kitsune is an old castle where you have to help her or stop her from robbing the lord.

April is in New York the big city level that has to be navigated. Maybe she needs help with a new story?

Cassie is in the underground. Either the hidden city or in the old foot clan tunnels. Your fighting the foot clan. Helping Cassie get some of her old stuff back.

Casey is the last level to the boss. We have to go back to the apocalyptic world and gather needed supplies. You have to get in and get out in time. Maybe the portal with time out and they will be stuck there. But Casey is your guide and your are navigating the Krang torn world.

Each level has you collecting something needed to find the brothers (maybe a metal pizza key or just something ridiculous)

Now who is the big bad. Who could ever kidnap the boys?

I have three otptions

The first two, I think the best option is either the Shredder or the Krang. I am partial to the Krang. Each level has a boss that is serving the Krang

Chizu’s level is the “ultimate ninja”

Gen’s level ? I’m still deciding

Kitsune level is Lord Hikiji (I love him as a villain)

New your level with April could be the foot brute

Cassie’s level boss is the foot lieutenant

Casey’s is sited Krang 

Final level is Krang Prime

The third option is the ultimate ninja is the bad guy.

That guy Ue in the 2003 tmnt. The Daimyo’s son

That guy was low key obsessed with Leo. (Yes it was because Leo defeated him and he was humiliated) but maybe he’s obsessed with Leo because he defeated the Krang. (Yes it was a team effort but so was the shredder’s defeat in 2003, he gave it to Leo because he delivered the final blow.)

He tried to capture all the brothers but only gets three of them prompting the rescue mission.

Chizu level boss is still a ninja maybe Kagemaru

Gen’s level is one of the battle nexus fighters from 2003 (Kluh the big purple fighter from 2003)

Kitsune boss is still Lord Hikiji

April is still Foot Brute

Cassie is still Foot Lieutenant

Casey is still sister Krang

The final level is where it changes. First they fight Ue thinking he is the main villain

Secret boss is Draco the mastermind of the whole thing.

I like this option best.

Let me know if you want more of this I think this is really fun.

But yes rescue team Usagi, Mona Lisa, and Donnie.

[deadwardianpoltergeist]

No but your right about 03 Raph being relatable please continue talking

as someone who struggles with emotional regulation, the way Raph is written in 2003 tmnt is so therapeutic to see because even with his anger she’s still a very caring person

(her anger is so well handled by splinter too, makes me wish I got raised by 03 Splinter)

in Meet Casey Jones his “WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?” hits painfully close to home, especially with her running off and the whole scene where he lashes out at mikey is so realistic because raph doesn’t really want to hurt her sibling, but taunted like that he just loses it. it’s really Mikey’s fault for taunting him like that but Raph seriously sounds like she’s about to cry as he realizes what she’s doing. the distress feels so genuine

and when his anger is fueled by overwhelm too, like when the daimyo’s son challenges leo. Raph is confused as to what’s happening and worried as to what could happen to leo. she wants to rush in to help his brother but he’s not allowed, and the fact she has to stand there and let it happen is so scary

vulnerability is so hard for her but yet it wants to come out all the time, he feels emotions very strongly, but in the attempt to hide it and keep from breaking down it all comes out as anger.

Leo almost dies and at first raph is closed off, she doesn’t want to tell a story about a fond memory of him to try to wake him up like everyone else has, but it spills out anyway, raph’s a mess because she’s so overwhelmed. and it’s not just anger this time, after telling the story he’s crying and leaning on windows, she’s a wreck, and not an angry one.

as much as leo and raph fight raph cares SO MUCH for leo, the “fearless leader” isn’t even just a jab, raph actually believes it. but raph still reaches out at the farmhouse, not to make fun of him but to check on him and help him forge new swords, and even the small things like picking up the hammer for him and the little shoulder touch are little things so packed. when the daimyo’s son challenges leo. Raph is confused as to what’s happening and worried as to what could happen to leo. she wants to rush in to help his brother but he can’t, and the fact she has to stand there and let it happen is so scary

2003 tmnt does a really good job of writing multi dimensional characters and raph is so well done, she’s easily aggravated but even when he puts up the tough guy persona she feels bad when he goes too far, she doesn’t want to hurt people and he even tries to help Casey with HER anger issues

most medias make angry characters so flat. they’re usually just mean, but 2003 raph and even casey have so much there

raph can be a little mean sometimes but she doesn’t have a mean heart, that’s not who he is

and this is super messy but I have a lot of posts about raph.. and I lost motivation so uh have this

[aquietwritingcorner]

Suppressed Suffering

Title: Suppressed Suffering Day: Whumptober 2023, Day 15 Prompt: “I don’t need you to help me I can handle things myself” Makeshift Bandages/Suppressed Suffering/ “I’m fine”  Fandom:  TMNT 2003 Word Count: 5786  Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating:  T Characters: Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Splinter, Casey Jones, April O’Neil Warning: SAINW Summary: Don doesn’t remember where Draco and the Daimyo’s son sent him. He doesn’t care to, either. But suffering of that level will not stay suppressed forever. Little signs show in the ensuing weeks, until it can’t be suppressed anymore.    Notes: I feel like I could have done better with the ending, but I was literally rushing this one, counting down the minutes until midnight--and I still didn't make it. AO3 || ff.net

______________________________

Suppressed Suffering

“Hey, Donnie. Those bandages look a little rough. Need help changing them out?”

“What?” Don looked over at Raph, and then down at himself. Sure enough, there were sloppily done bandages on him. He had a couple of places on his arm, and one on his leg. He blinked at them. He didn’t remember getting hurt enough to need bandages while he’d been gone.

Actually, he didn’t remember…

“Donnie?”

Don shook his head and looked back up at Raph. “I’m fine,” he said. “It was a long, uh, ten minutes.”

Raph snorted. “Ten minutes. Right. Maybe here, like Case said. But I was gone for three days.”

“Three days?” Mikey said, cutting into the conversation. “I was only gone a day! I wish I had three days where I was!”

“I was gone for two,” Leo added in.

They all looked at Don expectantly, but Don’s mind blanked. How long had he been gone? Where did he even go? He couldn’t remember.

“Mine was something like that,” he said. “I didn’t really pay attention. But my guess is that, with the time scepter involved, the normal expectations for the flow of time don’t apply. It pulled us from wherever it wanted to.”

“Well, ain’t that great,” Raph said.

 Don shook his head. “I’m going to go take care of these,” he said, indicating the makeshift bandages, and headed off towards his lab and the medical supplies.

The bandages, if they could be called that, were little more than scraps of cloth that had been put over some cuts. Don looked at the cuts carefully, but he couldn’t remember getting them. One on his arm was long and jagged, like it had been caught on something. It probably could have used stitches, but it was far enough along now that Don didn’t want to do that unless he had to. The other on his arm looked more like a weapon had caught him, like a shuriken or a kunai. It was deep, but it was small, and looked like it could use a cleaning out.

The one on his leg spanned across his thigh, but it was a very clean cut, like he sometimes gave himself when working with sharp metal. Don laid his hands down on either side of the cut and looked at them. There were small, faint lines on his palms—nearly healed cuts—that lined up perfectly with the cut on his thigh. Whatever had happened, it looked like something similar to a sheet of metal dropped on his thigh. He must have been wearing gloves for his hands to be in so much better shape, but still.

What had he been doing? Don still couldn’t recall.

There was a knock on his door, and Don looked up. Leo was standing there. “I just wanted to check on you,” he started, and then grimaced as he saw the cuts. “Those are some pretty nasty cuts, Don. Want me to help with them?”

“No thanks,” Don said, the words falling from his mouth easily. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Leo said. “I don’t mind.”

“Leo, I’m fine,” Don said again, stressing it. “Look, worry about yourself first, alright? You have injuries to tend to, as well. Besides, these are already on their way to being healed. Nothing to do but keep them clean and rebandage them.”

Leo frowned. “If you’re sure,” he said.

“I am,” Don reassured him. “I’m fine. Go on, I’ll be out there in a minute to help.”

Leo reluctantly left him, and Don turned his attention back to his own injuries, frowning at them. Where had he gone to that he ended up with injuries like this that had enough time to partially heal? He wasn’t sure.

In the end, Don bandaged them up, and moved on, trying not to be too concerned about it.

~*~

“Donatello? Donatello?”

“Huh?” Don’s attention snapped back, and he blinked his attention off of Splinter’s walking stick and onto his father himself.

He was looking at him concerned, and it took Don a few moments to realize that he was on the ground of the dojo area, his brothers also looking concerned. Right. Right, they had been sparring and Splinter had brought his stick up to whack Mikey about something stupid and—

Don looked back at his father, at the concern and love in his gaze, and he immediately felt something stir deep inside him. His breath caught in his throat, and this inexplicable sense of grief welled up in him. For a moment all he wanted to do was hug his father and not let go.

“My son?”

Don shook his head. “Sorry. Guess I’m a little distracted.” He started to pick himself up off the floor. “I’m fine.”

Splinter frowned. “My son, if you are in need of some time… It has only been two days since you all returned.”

Don just shook his head and gave his father a smile. “No, thank you, Sensei, but I’m fine. I promise.”

Besides, something felt incredibly important about learning how to defend himself, and Don was going to roll with it.

~*~

“I don’t know, I just feel like some sort of change might be in order.”

Don looked over at April from where he was wrists deep in a computer. April was as well, as they were both working on upgrading her computer system.

“Are we talking a big change, or a little one?” Don asked curiously.

April shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just feel like I’m stuck in a rut. I don’t want to do something as drastic as, say, moving, or switching careers, but maybe something else. Maybe update my apartment or change up my look.”

“Those things could be good,” Don said, focusing on the work he was doing while he talked. “Sometimes a change like that is enough to satiate those feelings without doing something extreme.”

“That is true,” April said. “Maybe I should do something to my hair. I could start styling it differently, or maybe do something like curlers or a light perm.”

Don snorted a little. “A perm? I don’t know it’s hard to picture you with curly hair.”

April lightly wacked his shoulder. “Okay then, smart guy, what should I do? Cut it all off?”

Unexpectedly, Don froze. He could clearly picture April with short hair and something about it just seemed wrong. Not like it didn’t suit her, but wrong wrong. A feeling of danger and despair welled up in him and squeezed at his heart, and for a brief second, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. It echoed the feeling he had in training a few days ago, which just made it all worse.

“Don? Don? Hey, Don, are you alright?”

Don shook his head and blinked back to the moment, pushing those feelings away. “I’m fine,” he said.

April frowned at him. “Are you sure? You seemed a little on edge there.”

Don just looked at her and shot her a grin. “I guess trying to picture you with short hair made my brain short circuit.”

April put her hands on her hips. “Hey! I could rock the look if I wanted to!”

Don snorted again and turned back to the computer. “I’m sure you could, April. But I think you look better with long hair.”

~*~

“And then, Silver Sentry swooped in, and yanked Villainous up! But Villainous wasn’t through yet! He had these robots on standby, and they came in—”

Don watched as Mikey told them all about his latest adventure with Silver Sentry, complete with sound effects and hand motions. Don was relieved that Mikey was back to normal with this. Ever since his adventure in a superhero world two weeks ago, Mikey had strayed away from his superhero enthusiasm. But it appeared that it was over, and it was nice to see Mikey feeling better again. Whatever had happened had seemed to reignite his enthusiasm, and his arms were moving around quickly as he described the battle he had witnessed. Don found that he couldn’t take his eyes off of them—or more specifically, Mikey’s left arm.

He watched as his brother’s left arm moved around, going up and down, twisting and turning. He stared at it intently as his brother talked, taking note of how smoothly it moved, of how he seemed to use it with no problems at all, of how it was simply there and existing.

“Uh… Don? Donnie?”

Don blinked. “What?”

Mikey looked back at him, giving him a funny look. “Bro. You, okay? You spaced out there, hard, and you were staring at my arm.”

Don looked at him, and then glanced around at the rest of his family, who were looking at him with a measure of concern, too.

“Ah, sorry. I’m fine. I just got lost in thought,” Don explained with a smile.

Mikey didn’t look like he completely believed him, but he went back to his story anyway. Don tried harder to pay attention this time, even if he kept getting distracted by watching Mikey’s left arm.

~*~

The garage had always been a place of refuge for Don. He enjoyed working in there, banging out ideas and projects, and putting crazy ideas together. There was something satisfying and relaxing about doing this kind of work with your hands, and Don enjoyed it.

He had found, surprisingly, that Casey also enjoyed it, which had actually led to the two of them and Raph enjoying each other’s company up in the garage. They’d worked on the Battleshell, the shell cycles, the side cars and more together.

Currently, Don had some repairs to do to the Battleshell that he’d been neglecting. It was really best done with two people. Normally, Don would have gotten Raph to help him with it. However, Splinter was giving Raph some extra lessons. Fortunately for Don, Casey was looking for something to do tonight and had agreed to help the turtle out.

“Geeze, how long’s it been since you’ve checked on this?” Casey asked as he pulled himself out from under the Battleshell.

“Longer than I wanted,” Don said with a grimace and he stayed under it and kept working. “I just haven’t had the chance.”

“Yeah, I feel that. You guys have been busy lately,” Casey said. “Especially since that dragon guy sent you guys to all those places two weeks ago. I don’t think you’ve stopped since!”

“Tell me about it,” Don said, with a roll of his eyes. “I feel like every day there’s something new coming up, or like I need to get things ready in case something comes up. Can you hand me the three-quarter?”

“Sure thing,” Casey said. Don felt the tool hit his hand. “You planning on any upgrades to this baby?”

“Oh sure,” Don said. “I’ve always got ideas. The problem is picking out which ones to put into motion.”

“Donnie, I think you could probably add all of ‘em if ya wanted to,” Casey said.

“Nah, that’d be overkill,” Don said with a grin.

“Sometimes I don’t think there can be overkill for you guys,” Casey said. He stood up. “Imma grab a quick drink.”

“Sounds good,” Don said, continuing to work. “When you finish that, let’s try to finish working on this chassis.”

Casey made a noise of agreement, and Don took a second to focus on his work. He finally managed to get the stubborn bolt off, something he’d been working on for the past five minutes or so.

“Hey, Casey! I finally got it off!” Don said.

There was no answer.

“Casey?”

Still silence

Don pulled himself out from under the Battleshell and looked around. “Casey?”

There was no answer. There wasn’t even a sign of the man. Panic started to grip Don, and he fought it back as best he could, getting up and starting to look around the garage. After all, there was always the chance that for some reason Casey couldn’t respond to him. Don pulled out his bo and circled to the other side of the Battleshell. No Casey. He slowly spread out his search parameters, but he couldn’t find a trace of the man anywhere.

The panic started to bloom. Casey wasn’t here. He wasn’t anywhere around. All he had been doing was getting a sip of his drink, and now he was gone. What was this? Was it some sort of new attack? Had someone infiltrated the garage? What had they done to Casey?

“Don?”

Don whirled, his bo at the ready, only to stop when he saw Casey standing there, two drinks and some food in his hands. The man tensed up in response, looking around. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“Casey…” Don said, lowering his bo and leaning on it in relief.

Casey slowly lowered his guard and looked at Don, confused. “Don? What’s going on? You alright?”

“I’m fine,” Don said, trying to calm down. “I thought you disappeared.”

“I told ya I was going to get a drink,” Casey said, still confused. “Sorry it took me a minute. Mikey sidetracked me and sent some food and a drink for you up with me.” He peered at Don. “You sure you’re good, man?”

Don sat down on a nearby stool. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I’m just jumpy from everything. I thought you had a drink here and didn’t realize that you went down to the lair.”

“Oh,” Casey said.  “Sorry ‘bout that.”

Don waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I should probably just get more sleep. Hand me a sandwich?”

“Sure thing,” Casey said, handing over a drink and a sandwich.

“I finally got that bolt off.”

“Really? Geeze, that thing was stuck on tight.”

~*~

“Gah!”

Don’s head jerked up from where he had been working, whipping in the direction that Raph’s cry had come from. Don immediately abandoned his work, jerking his goggles off of his head as he ran towards it. Raph was on his knees in the dojo, hands pressed over his eye, their father and other brothers already around him.

A burst of panic went through Don, and he doubled his speed. “What happened?!” he asked.

“We—we were just training and—and it went towards his eye! I don’t—I—” Mikey sounded panicked, and it fueled Don’s own panic.

“Move!” he demanded of his family, practically shoving them out of the way to get to Raph’s side. Raph still had his hands covering his left eye. “Raph, move your hands.” Raph didn’t and let out a grunt of pain. Don felt his panic rising. “Raphael, move your hands!”

Don didn’t often raise his voice, and especially not in situations where a calm disposition would be better. But this time he did, and it was enough to startle his family into compliance, for the most part. Don reached up and tugged Raph’s hands away. There was blood. In the eye, around the eye, and Don couldn’t see all of the damage.

He felt his panic rising. Raph could lose this eye. If the damage was bad enough, then Raph could—would—lose his eye. What would that mean for him? What would happen to him? If Raph lost his eye, that would change everything.

“Don? Don!” Leo’s voice broke through his panic. “How bad is it?”

Don swallowed. “I can’t tell yet. Mikey, go get my bag. Make sure to get my penlight. Leo, warm water and a soft cloth. Sensei, just stay with him and help keep him still and calm. Raph, don’t move.”

They moved to do what he said, but Leo hesitated. “Don? Can you handle this?”

“I’m fine, Leo,” Don said, his voice tight. “Just get me what I need.”

Fortunately, the injury itself wasn’t that bad. The throwing star had actually cut Raph’s eyelid, just barely above the eyeball itself. A loose sliver of metal from it had fallen into Raph’s eye. None of it was permanently damaging and all of it would heal. A little eyelid glue and a magnet took care of the problems, much to everyone’s relief. Don felt drained by the experience, which was odd, considering that looking back at it, it wasn’t as big of a deal as it had felt at the time. But maybe it was just all of the stress from being scattered three weeks ago, Bishop’s cloning adventure, and everything else that was building up.

~*~

When Don built his vehicles, he usually built the really sturdy. He had no idea what they were going to do in them, or how much punishment they would take. But one he built a bit hardier than the other was the Tunneler. The Tunneler was built to go underground, to withstand all sorts of hostile environments and terrain. He built the thing to withstand lava, even if it wasn’t forever. The Tunneler was a very hardy vehicle.

But even hardy vehicles needed maintenance. So, every so often, Don would go over all of his vehicles to see how they were doing. He’d been working on this for the past month. For some reason, he’d been avoiding the Tunneler, but it was the only one left. It had been like a looming presence this whole time, but it was time to face it.

Don had all of the tools he needed, as well as the cleaning supplies, and he walked closer to the Tunneler. Each step, though, seemed harder than the last, and a sense of dread seemed to fill him the closer he got. He felt like a weight was being pressed into his chest, as if something about this was foreboding. He paused, staring up at it.

Anxiety seemed to grip him, and he couldn’t understand why. It was just the Tunneler. It was just routine maintenance. It was just something he’d done several times before. But the anxiety was growing, and he didn’t know why, couldn’t understand why, wouldn’t understand why, and it was all he could do to stay grounded even the small amount that he was.

“Donnie? You alright, bro?”

The moment was broken, and Don could feel it. The anxiety was still there, but the overwhelming feeling of it was starting to fade. He looked back at Raph. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said.

Raph eyed him like he didn’t quite believe him, but he nodded anyway. “Need some help with this thing?”

Don looked at his brother. “Well, your eye should be nearly healed up, so as long as you’re careful, sure.”

Raph clapped Don on the shoulder. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Start with the engine. I’ll start on the electrical systems.”

“Got it.”

Having Raph there helped, but the feeling of foreboding never quite went away.

~*~

The Foot were up to something. That much was obvious. What was just as obvious was the fact that they needed to do something about it. Of course, that meant that they needed to figure out just what the Foot was up to. And that meant a mission.

The mission was supposed to be simple. Observe. Investigate. Regroup. But nothing ever went simple for them. They had gotten noticed, and a fight had ensued.

“Fall back!” Leo ordered. “We’re not fighting this fight today!”

None of them objected. There were too many Foot, and they hadn’t come prepared for a big fight. Unfortunately, the Foot were not as eager to let them go, and while Leo was in the middle of giving his order, a Foot soldier threw something that exploded right in front of Leo’s face.

Leo cried out, a hand coming up towards his eyes, and Don felt panic rise in him.

“Leo!” Mikey called out.

Raph was suddenly between Leo and the Foot Ninja that was trying to take a swipe at their brother.

“Don, get Leo!” Raph yelled out. “Mikey, make us a way out of here!”

“On it!” Mikey said.

“R-Right!” Don rushed towards Leo, reaching out for his brother that was rubbing at his eyes. “Come on, Leo, this way,” he said, helping him up.

“Donnie?” Leo said. “Don, Don I can’t see.”

A cold terror flowed through Don, but he shoved it to the side in favor of helping his brother. “Okay, Leo, just—it’ll be okay. It will be. Just follow me.”

Don led Leo out of the fighting, through the way that Mikey made for them, Raph guarding their rear. They managed to get back to the Battleshell, Mikey driving them home while Don looked Leo over. As far as he could tell, it looked like it was maybe a simple flash bomb, but he refused to say anything definitive until he had Leo back home where he could look at his eyes more properly. Fortunately, that seemed to confirm that it was just the damage from a flash bomb and was more than likely temporary.

Still, that “more than likely” ate at Don, and he insisted on being nearby while they waited to see if Leo’s eyesight would return. At some point, he tuned out Raph’s similar story, Mikey’s outlandish suggestions, and Splinter’s words of wisdom. Instead, a sense of dread consumed him, and his thoughts started spiraling.

What if this was permanent? What if it didn’t go away? What would this mean for Leo? Being a ninja was everything to him. Sure, he could still fight, Don was sure, but it would be such a huge adjustment. Would he be able to do it well? What if something happened while he was getting used to things again? Would he blame himself? Become bitter? What would the consequences of this be?

“Don? Donnie.”

“Huh?” Leo’s voice brought Don out of his thoughts, and he abruptly realized that he was the only one left in the room with Leo.

Leo frowned. “I said you can just leave me here for now. I’m going to listen to the TV, and I’ll call if I need help.” His frown deepened. “You alright, Don?”

“I’m fine,” Don said. “Sorry, this has just got me worried. First the scare with Raph’s eye, and now this for you—it’s a little too close together, I guess.”

Leo gave him a smile. “Yeah, I understand that. This past month has been crazy. Why don’t you come sit next to me? That way if anything changes, I can tell you right away.”

“You’re patronizing me,” Don said, but he came and sat next to Leo anyway.

“Is it working?” Leo teased.

Don laughed lightly. “Maybe a little.”

The dread didn’t go away, though, until Leo’s eyesight fully came back.

~*~

Nightmares weren’t an uncommon occurrence in this household. They all had them, although what, exactly, featured in them varied from person to person. Mikey’s usually featured something happening to their family. Raph’s were usually about him not being able to protect or, worse, hurting his family. The Triceritons featured quite a bit in Don’s own nightmares. It was no secret that Shredder haunted all of their dreams, but that he haunted Leo’s worst of all.

Now that Splinter had been given a vision to stop Shredder once and for all, it was no surprise that the nightmares of Shredder had increased. It also wasn’t a surprise that the brothers found themselves all together in the living room, even though they were supposed to be sleeping.

“Bad dream?” Raph said, directing his question at Leo.

Leo always had a particular look about him after a nightmare, especially if it was one from when the Shredder nearly killed him.

“Yeah,” he said, clutching one of the throw pillows to him. “It was the Shredder.”

Mikey pulled Klunk into his lap. “Yeah. He was in mine too,” he said, curling around his cat.

“I hadn’t even made it that far yet,” Raph said.

Don shook his head. “I wasn’t asleep, either.”

“No offense, Donnie, but that’s no surprise,” Mikey said.

“I hate to say it, but Mikey’s got a point,” Raph said. “You ain’t been sleeping much for the past five weeks.

“I was working on things!” Don defended himself.

“What do you think he’s planning?” Leo said, bringing the conversation back around. “The Shredder, I mean.”

“Master Splinter saw Master Yoshi, right? And he was in a Guardian uniform, and then Splinter was wearing the uniform,” Raph said. “The Guardians guarded the Utroms. So maybe it’s something to do with the Utroms.”

Something about that made Don deeply uncomfortable, and he didn’t know why.

“He’s been stealing things from Triceriton spaceships, too,” Mike said. “Maybe he’s trying to go back to space?”

“Or maybe he’s trying to go back to the Utrom home world,” Leo said. He looked over at Don. “Do you think that’s possible?”

“Definitely,” Don said without even hesitating. Dread started to creep its way up his throat. “If he had enough materials, he has the know-how, as do Stockman and Chaplin, I’m sure. He could leave here, go back to the Utrom home world or gather allies. If he conquered the Utroms, then with their technology…”

Don’s breath hitched as the possibilities spun around in his mind. Utrom technology used against the universe. Utrom slaves. Conquering other planets. Conquering Earth. The death, destruction, and desolation that would come with that. He could picture it so, so clearly, practically taste it, hear it, smell it.

“Don? Don!”

Don’s eyes jerked up. Mikey’s hand was on his shoulder, and all of his brothers were looking at him with concern.

“You okay?” Mikey asked him.

Don nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine,” he said, although it didn’t sound as convincing as he would have liked. “It’s just—thinking about what all could happen if the Shredder gets what he wants is… chilling.”

“It is,” Leo agreed. “And that’s why we have to stop him.”

A horrible sense of foreboding filled Don, but he just nodded along with his brothers.

~*~

Knowing that the Shredder was planning something and knowing what that plan was were two different things. They needed to know what the plan was, and if they disrupted it a little along the way, well, all the better. Which is how they found themselves facing down the Karai Legionnaires again.

The robots were tough, and a few of their weaknesses had been bled out of them, making this fight even harder. Don’s brothers had been fighting hard so that Don would have the time to get the information off of the computers that he needed—and to install a virus—and Don was hurrying as fast as he could. The Legionaries had brought a much bigger sense of urgency and danger to this recon mission, and Don was more than anxious to pull his flash drive from the computer. When it was finally finished, he yanked it from the computer and whirled, bo in hand, to rejoin the fight.

Leo and Raph seemed to be holding their own against some Foot soldiers. Mike was separate from them, though, and it took Don a second to find him. His heart nearly stopped when he did. A couple of Legionnaires were closing in on Mikey, and all that went through Don’s brain was No, not again!

Without even thinking about it, a desperation and a rage overtook Don, and he raced to Mikey’s side. He came down hard on one of the bots with a yell, hard enough to break his bo staff, but also to cause damage to the bot’s shoulder. It tried to whirl on him, but Don was having none of it. He picked up a fallen sword and jammed it into the damaged shoulder, putting all of his considerable strength into using the sword to tear the damaged arm off of the body of the bot. The sword went through, and the arm clanked to the ground, its weapon falling with it. Don stabbed the bot in the stomach, and then bent to pick up the naginata that it had dropped. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned the blade on the bot and used it to slice it to pieces.

He immediately whirled on the one that was closing in on Mikey, throwing the naginata at it like a spear, and impacting it enough to send it flying back into a wall. Don scooped up a blaster that had fallen to the ground, and immediately turned it on the third bot, blasting it to pieces before turning back to the one he had thrown the naginata at before. He ruthlessly yanked it out of the bot, and then proceeded to stab it to death as well.

“You can’t have my brother!” he yelled. “Stay away from him! Stay away!”

“Whoa—Don, Donnie! Donatello! Don! Don calm down!”

Breathing hard, Don stepped away from the mutilated bot, and turned to look at his brothers. They were all there, all with their guards slightly down, but Don only had eyes for one right now. “Mikey,” he breathed out, and then practically fell on his brother.

“Dude, Don, are you okay?” Mikey asked as he held up his brother. “The last time you hugged me like this was five weeks ago.”

“I’m fine,” he said, a roughness in his voice. “I’m fine.”

“I kinda think you’re the opposite of that, but okay,” Mikey said, giving Don’s shell pats.

“Come on, let’s figure this out later,” Leo said. “We need to get out of here while the going is good.”

Don nodded, and they all moved forward, leaving the mutilated bots behind.

~*~

“I thought you said this place was abandoned!”

“It was supposed to be!”

Don looked around. This was not what was supposed to happen. This was just supposed to be a training run. But they had stumbled onto a Foot operation, and, true to form, a fight had broken out.

“Donnie! Figure out what’s going on here!” Leo said.

“Right!” Don sheathed his bo and turned, heading back towards the computers he had seen earlier. If he could get on them, then maybe, just maybe, he could figure out what was going on. He was climbing the stairs to the platform when two figures made themselves known.

“Well, well, well. Donatello.” Stockman’s pod appeared, the eyeball in it peering down.

Don froze.

“Don’t be impolite, Hun. Say hello.”

Hun smirked down at Don. “Greetings, Donatello,” he said with a smirk.

Don’s mind blanked.

Suddenly it wasn’t Stockman and Hun separate anymore, but an amalgamation of them in a wheelchair. Suddenly it wasn’t a random Foot warehouse they were fighting in, but it was the Shredder’s throne room. Suddenly it wasn’t Foot Ninja that his brothers were fighting, but Karai and Legionnaires, and they were losing, and they were dying, and it was his fault—and there was nothing that he could do about it.

“Don? Donnie!”

Almost as if he were watching it through someone else’s eyes, Don saw Raph appear and block a blow that had been coming at him.

“Donnie! Snap out of it! Donnie!”

Don couldn’t snap out of it. He couldn’t break free. All he could see was Raph dying again, and he was powerless to stop it.

“Shell—Leo! Something’s wrong with Donnie!”

“What?”

“I don’t know!”

Raph was suddenly gone from his sight, and all he could see was Hun coming after him, Stockman peering over his shoulder—or maybe attached to it, Don couldn’t tell anymore. Hun’s hand reached out and grabbed Don, picking him up by the neck and shoulders, and Don instinctively scrambled for a hold that would take the pressure off of his neck. Hun squeezed, and the pressure increased.

Suddenly, there was a yell, and Hun dropped him, holding his bleeding arm. Leo was in front of Don, and Don watched everything as if in a daze. Arms went around him, and he heard Mikey’s voice saying something, but Don wasn’t sure what. Everything was a confusing jumble as Don was hoisted up and practically carried out by his brothers. Through the warehouse, out to the streets, down into the manhole cover, and into the sewers. Very little of the trip registered with him. It was only when he was sitting on the couch, Master Splinter looking into his eyes, that Don began to comprehend what was happening around him again.

“M…Master Splinter?”

“Donatello? Are you back with us, my son?”

Back with them? Don blinked, trying to understand what was going on. He was home. His family was staring at him. His face was wet. That didn’t explain much. It didn’t explain anything. It certainly didn’t explain the images, the sensations he was reliving.

Reliving… Don’s breath hitched. He couldn’t tell them. There was no way that he could tell them. What would they think? What would they say? Don had killed them. He had killed them! He had disappeared and failed and the worst had happened. There was no way he could tell them what he had lived through.

But as Don looked at Splinter’s worried eyes, the compassion, the love, and the concern in them, he broke. Don crumbled, curling in on himself as the sobs started. He felt more than saw his brothers closing ranks around him, trying to comfort him. He felt his father’s arms as Splinter coaxed him to uncurl and drew Don’s head to his shoulder.

Don wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the tears, sobs, wails, and apologies finally slowed, but they did, eventually. His family pulled back a little, just enough to give him space to think, clearly concerned.

“Donatello, my son, what happened?” Splinter asked. “What has gotten you into this state.”

Don wiped his eyes with a shaking hand. “I…” he started, trying to put what had happened into words. “I… I think…” he paused and looked up at his family. “…I’m not fine.”

His family drew closer around him as, six weeks later, Don finally explained where he had gone and what he had done when he was sent away by Draco and the Daimyo’s son. By the time he was finished explaining, broken and piecemeal that it was, Don was exhausted on every level. But his family was here. His family was around him, and although the memories were heavy, it still felt like something had been lifted from him.

Don wasn’t fine. He wasn’t going to be fine for a while. He had repressed what had happened, not able to face what he did, but it had still made itself known in little ways, until, finally, it had forced its way out completely. But here, with his family, his suffering could finally come out and be dealt with—and his family would be with him every step of the way.

[officiallyashley]

“Let us help you guys...” (. tmnt 2003 .)

SUMMARY: Ever since their encounter with Draco and the Daimyo’s son, Alex, Raph, and the others had realized how odd Donnie and Ash are acting.

NOTES: enjoy! This takes place weeks after the episode called Same As It Never Was. This is one of my favorite episodes in the TMNT 2003 series, so I thought that I would write a oneshot about it and how those events really messed with Ashley and Donatello. You may want to re-read the Same As It Never Was headcanons that I made a while back for some clarity. 

WARNINGS: depictions of self-destructive behaviors, elements of anxiety, elements of depression, mentions of multiple character deaths, implications of disordered eating patterns, depictions of clear mental health issues, arguments amongst couples. If there are any other warnings that a missed, then tell me and I’ll add them.

𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦. 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!

{~~~}

THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ASHLEY AND DONATELLO. 

The two ninjas have been fighting their inner demons and trauma alone for the past few weeks. It had been like this since Draco and the Daimyo’s son fused together, stole Lord Simultaneous’ Time Scepter, and sent the turtles and the kunoichis to different points in time. Once Ash and Donnie had gotten back from their point in time, they were vastly different from before. Everyone was extremely worried for Donnie and Ash. Their family desperately wanted to help the two of them with dealing with whatever they had to deal with, but it was so incredibly challenging to get anything out of them. Both Ash and Donnie became quieter and more reclusive. Ash’s irritation and self-destructive habits had started showing up again, and her patience and tolerance were practically nonexistent. Donnie was the same way in terms of irritability. His fuse was a lot shorter than normal, which was extremely unlike Donnie’s typically levelheaded demeanor. Donnie began to throw himself into old inventions and new projects, constantly keeping himself busy with something. 

Everyone knew that Donnie overworked himself to distract himself from the troubles he was experiencing. Their family knew exactly the reason why Ash was wearing long sweatshirts in the middle of the sweltering heat. Ashley and Donatello weren’t the same people as they were before the time-traveling incident happened. For the turtles, April, Casey, and Splinter, all that they felt was helplessness and worry for their two family members. These drastic personality changes in Donnie and Ash have caused rifts in their relationships with others. Donnie was more likely to get aggravated at Alex accidentally knocking something over as she brought her boyfriend his third cup of coffee in the morning, and that led to Donnie blowing up in her face. When Raph would say something sarcastic as a joke, Ash wouldn’t take it as what it was and explode like a bomb. 

It was like walking on eggshells when others were around Ash and Donnie. It was transparent that both Donnie and Ash needed some mental health help, but they both were constantly denying that they needed help. Leo and the others realized that their family members weren’t willing to talk about what they witnessed because they didn’t want to burden anyone. At first, Splinter had told everybody to just give Donnie and Ash some time to process everything themselves. For about two weeks, the Hamato family was patient with the purple-masked turtle and the brunette teenager. By the time the third week had rolled around, nothing was improving. Even now, coming up on the fifth week of no answers and pondering, it was clear to everyone that Donnie and Ash needed to talk about what they were going through. No one wanted to be the one to come off as invading or nosy, but it had become almost too much for the others to see Ash and Donnie deteriorate right in front of their eyes. Seeing how much their family members were suffering in silence was becoming frustrating for the rest of their friends and family because they didn’t know how to help them. Donnie and Ash weren’t giving anyone any sort of inkling as to how they could aid them because they both thought that they didn’t need and deserved the help that was right in front of them. 

Ashley’s stomach growled ferociously. She didn’t have to ponder why the hunger pains were so strong. The brunette hadn’t eaten that much over the past three days, which is something that she didn’t realize Leo and Mikey had picked up on. Ash decided that, fine, she would go and retrieve a little something from the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen area of the lair, Ash saw that her loyal boyfriend was sitting at the counter sipping on a glass of water. Judging by the fact that he was breathing slightly heavier than usual, Ash could surmise that he had been training harder. That was one of his ways of coping with stressful situations. 

“Hey, there, sweetheart. How are ya feeling?” Raph inquired. There was a genuineness to his tone of voice, along with a hint of concern. 

“I’m fine,” The brunette said in a clipped tone. 

It stayed silent for a brief moment. That was until Raph spoke up and broke the quietness. “Ya can’t just keep fighting in silence like this, Ashley. You and Don both can’t keep this up forever.” The red-banded ninja turtle commented on his lover’s and his younger brother’s unusual mannerisms. His tone was lowered and unsmiling. 

Ash grumbled in response. They annoyingly grabbed the cherry and chocolate-flavored Greek yogurt from the top shelf at the back of the fridge, and they slammed the door. They stayed inaudible as they walked to the other side of the kitchen and opened the silverware drawer, retrieving a spoon from its holder. Ash tore open the seal to the Greek yogurt, expecting to remove it cleanly. However, to their dismay, the cover didn’t even come close to ripping off easily. There was only roughly half of it that tore off. This made Ashley growl in anger. “RAH! UGH!” Ash exclaimed loudly with rage in her voice. The brunette threw the spoon across the stovetop, clashing noisily with the top of the stove. “Why didn’t it open right?! Goddammit!” Ash screamed, “You know what? What’s the fucking point? I wasn’t hungry anyway!” Ash then pushed the carton of yogurt to the back of the stovetop. 

Raph approached his girlfriend carefully. Ash had her head in her hands, her lavender-grey hues wide with so many different and complicated feelings that were locked inside of her. “Ashley, calm down,” Raph said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her, “please, you need to talk to someone.” 

Ashley scooted away from her lover’s touch. This disheartened Raph, but he wasn’t going to give up on trying to comfort her. “Don’t touch me, Raph! I’m fine!” Ash protested harshly. 

Raph narrowed his eyes. “Really?! Are you really fine, Ashley?!” The ninja turtle’s voice was rising from its normal vocal volume. “Yer getting upset over a fucking yogurt not opening right! Ya don’t usually get so damn upset about small shit like this! This isn’t like ya!” Raph infuriatingly pointed this out to his significant other. 

Ash clenched their fists. Their demeanor was giving off vibes of irritation, depression, and reverence. All Raph wanted to was to help Ashley, and he wanted to know what had happened. What was going through their mind? “Raphael, for the last fucking time, I’m fine! I don’t need help!” Ash exclaimed arduously. 

Raph balled up his fist, closed his eyes tight, and he slammed it against the counter. This caused a loud BANG! to ring out across the rest of the lair. He opened his eyes, looking straight at his girlfriend, who had fallen silent from what the ninja turtle just did. The atmosphere was tense and thick. Still, she didn’t let the loud noise, no matter how scared she was of them, falter her cutting gaze toward Raph. “You are so goddamn stubborn, ya know that, Ashley?” Raph spoke tightly and lowly. He sighed out of annoyance. “Fuck, it’s like I’m talking to a brick wall! Every time I try something to help ya out, it doesn’t work! There’s always an obstacle that I have to overcome. It’s the same thing with Don! Hell, am I doing something wrong?!” Raph exclaimed stressfully. The volume of his voice was booming at the beginning, but as he continued to speak, his volume went back down to a normal level. “I wanna help ya both out, we all wanna help ya both out, but we just can’t! We can’t because you and Donnie won’t give us anything to go off of!” His emotions were finally erupting, and he was getting everything off of his plastron at last. 

Ash was thinking before they spoke. “Listen, I can’t speak for Donnie, but I’m okay. I don’t need help, so you and the others don’t have to worry about me.” The brunette declared in a low and calm manner. Their tone of voice was too steady for Raph. Far too even and collected to Raph to feel any sort of easement or reassurance from his lover. 

Raph could feel the irritation and rage cloud his thought process. He could sense the pain and agony bubbling up inside of him. Raph bit his lip. All he could do was stare at the love of his life, someone who he loves dearly and more than anyone else in the world, and think about how broken they are. Raph couldn’t even imagine how Ash and Donnie were feeling. They were both feeling and experiencing the same emotions, as they were together when everything took place. “Ashley, I love ya so much. I want ya to be happy in life, and I can’t stand to see ya wallow in the negativity yer feeling. I’m telling ya this now, and I plan on telling Don the same damn thing to hopefully get this through yer thick skulls: ya both need to come clean about what happened when the whole Daimyo-Draco shit went down. This is seriously fucking you two up, and no one here wants ya both to continually suffer in silence.” Raph sighed shakily. It was like he was about to burst out crying from frustration and anxiety. “Please, it doesn’t even have to be me, but at this point, ya need to talk to someone. I’m beggin’ ya, baby, just… help yourself live happily by going to someone that ya love…” The red-masked ninja turtle was practically begging and pleading with Ashley for them to take his advice. He held Ash’s hands gently, tenderly squeezing back. 

Ash just kept that same stone-cold expression on their face. They didn’t know what to say to Raph, so they made the decision to not comment on anything that was said. Ash averted their gaze from Raph’s gaze. Eyes are the windows to the soul, as some others would say, and the brunette teenager knew that Raph was trying to see the emotions carved out in her eyes. She didn’t want Raph to see into her trauma, just to spare him from having to hear everything. Ash doesn’t want that for Raph nor anyone else that they love, and neither would Donnie. 

Ash didn’t squeeze Raph’s hands back. Raph took the hint, so he let go of his partner’s hands. Discouraged by this conversation, he decided that he would leave and give the brunette woman some space to calm down. Before he left the kitchen, though, Raph leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I love ya, Ash,” Raph muttered, “Don’t forget that.” After that, Raph left the conversation. Ash was frozen in place. Now, they were left alone with only their thoughts, the mess they’d made, and the quietness they’d created. 

Meanwhile, with Donnie and Alex, things were going just about the same as they were with Raph and Ashley. Alex had come into her turtle boyfriend’s laboratory to check up on him. Alex still had that familiar anxious feeling in her gut. Nonetheless, the psychic woman was still very adamant about getting something out of the love of her life. Most every time Alex had dropped by Donnie’s laboratory, she would inquire about how he was feeling. That was her entryway into allowing Donnie an opportunity to voice how he was feeling and what he and her younger sister experienced together. To Alex’s disappointment, Donnie never took that chance to be vocal about his troubles. He would just brush it off like nothing, focus even harder on his work, and then ignore Alex for the rest of the time that she was in there with him. This was frustrating to Donnie’s girlfriend, but alas, Alex wasn’t deterred by his dismissive mannerisms. 

Typically, Alex wouldn’t pry too much when it came to other people dealing with emotionally challenging situations. She knew that people had the right to their emotional privacy, as did she have the right to that, as well. However, under these circumstances, the red-haired woman couldn’t be complicit in Donnie staying silent about his sufferings. She had to say something to Donnie. Even if she didn’t want to be perceived as persistent and nosy, Alex had to get Donnie to say something about what had happened to him and Ash. Alex tried discussing this critical matter with her younger sister, but that didn’t go well by any means. If anything, it made everything so much worse for both of the sisters. If she wasn’t able to reach Ashley, then Alexandria sure as hell was going to reach Donatello. Now, after wanting her boyfriend to communicate with her, Donnie was, unquestionably, antagonized by Alex’s concerns. 

“Alex, stop! I told you so many times already that nothing is wrong!” Donnie exclaimed with vexation, turning around in his swivel seat. 

Alex sighed. She tried not to lose her composure. “Listen, babe, I want to help you. If you just… tell me what happened, if you talk about what you and Ash went through, I can help! I want to comfort you!” Alex expressed vehemently, standing up from her seat. 

Donnie stood up from his seat. “I don’t need comfort, Alex, because I’m—”

“Okay? Okay?! You’re not okay, Donatello! You’re not!” The red-haired psychic exclaimed with a shattered voice. She almost let tears fall from her emerald green orbs, but, as of now, she successfully held them in. “I-It’s challenging enough to watch my baby sister deteriorate in front of me — I can’t lose you, too!” 

Everything went silent. The couple didn’t have the strength to speak up, as they both let Alex’s statements linger in the air for a minute. “Dove… I, um, I-I…” Donnie trailed off, lost. He was rendered speechless. 

“Don’t you fucking say it.” Alex stated darkly, glaring at him, “I mean it, Donatello! Don’t you say that you’re okay, or that you don’t need comfort! You do need those things now more than ever!” Her emerald gaze held tearfulness and worry. 

Donnie thought about what he was going to say next. He knew that what he was about to say was going to piss off his significant other, but he didn’t know what else to say to her. “I’m fine. Just let me work.” He stated simply. 

Even though his statement was barely audible, the redhead heard exactly what the purple-banded ninja turtle had just told her. With that response, she was pissed. Her eyes went wide, and she just went off on her boyfriend. “Donatello Hamato, I want to help you! We all want to help you! However, we can’t do that until you tell us how to do that! Talking to Ashley is fucking pointless because they won’t speak up, and trying to get anything out of you is a goddamn nightmare because you’re not giving anyone anything to work with!” Alexandria confessed with tears beginning to cascade down her face. She was beyond stressed out with her boyfriend, and she, along with the rest of Donnie’s family, was worried sick. This all showed in her voice as she ranted. 

“Dove—”

“We are all feeling so damn hopeless with both you and Ash! Do you know how worried sick we all are of both of you?!” Alex questioned her boyfriend harshly, but she wasn’t giving him any time to respond. “I want you to be able to enjoy your life while you have it! I want you to love yourself and the family that you have! No one wants to see you wallow in your own misery, Donnie. Especially me. I can’t see you fall down the rabbit hole of depression and wander aimlessly through a wonderland of confusion and hurt. Splinter is worried about you. Your brothers, Casey, and April don’t know how to aid you. I… I’ve run out of all of the ideas, as well. I feel so incredibly fucking helpless…! We… We all feel so helpless! We just want to help you two…” Alex sobbed, an arduous and broken tone in her voice. The red-haired teenager began to cry, and the sound of her hiccups filled the room. 

Donnie was stunned by her words. He could see how long Alex had been holding all of this inside of her, and he could only imagine what everyone else was feeling. Even though he wanted to inform his family of what he and his good friend had been through in the previous weeks, Donnie couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was frightened by what he had to go through, and he knew for certain that Ashley was just as haunted as he was. They were both extremely riddled with trauma. 

“I don’t want to talk about it at all, Dove…” Donnie voiced after a moment of silence. 

“Fine,” Alex muttered bitterly, “I’ll give you the space that you need to continue your work. I’m always open to talk if you need someone to rant to.” With that, the female psychic wiped the tears from her eyes and her cheeks. She silently put her hair up in a high ponytail, turning away from Donnie. Without another word, Alexandria Singh had walked out of Donnie’s laboratory. This left Donnie alone, reveling in the aftermath of this argument. He began to overthink everything that had just taken place, wondering what he could have done differently so this wouldn’t have happened. 

Alexandria and Raphael both stormed out of the rooms they were previously in. They both walked into the living room, sitting next to each other on the couch. In front of them sat Leo and Master Splinter on the couch across from them. Mikey resided on the floor in front of the tv where he was playing his video games. It was quiet for a brief moment, as no one knew what to say at first. Splinter was waiting to see if either his second oldest son or the psychic teen was going to speak up, but neither of them did. 

After a bit, Mikey paused his game. “Okay, someone has to say something. The silence is wayyyy too loud for my liking.” The orange-masked turtle commented as he broke the quietness. 

“I’m assuming that you guys got in another fight with Ash and Donnie respectively?” Leo surmised before taking a sip of his chamomile tea. Although, no one needed to guess what happened because everyone else in the lair could hear both altercations going on from where they were. It was even louder because both arguments were happening at the same time. 

“Yeah,” Alex sniffled quietly. She kept her voice low and her responses short. 

Raph just grunted in reply. 

Splinter hummed in thought. “Hmm… this is most troublesome…” He spoke with contemplation. 

“Master Splinter, we’ve tried everything with Donnie and Ashley! What are we supposed to do now?” Leo asked his teacher, searching for some guidance. 

“Fuck, I don’t know what to do! I already told Donnie that we want to help him, but we’re feeling incapable of doing so.” Alex chimed in with distress. 

“I told the exact same thing to Ash, and they didn’t listen to a goddamn thing I said!” Raphael voiced. 

“At least they both know how we all feel now…” Mikey piped up, trying to look on the bright side of things in this situation. 

However, no one else in the room could do that at the moment. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that they’re gonna come to us to speak about it, Mike,” Raphael replied to what his younger brother said. 

“Damn…” Mikey cursed under his breath. He was pondering something, but no one had pulled him up on it. 

Splinter carefully stood up from his seat on the couch. “Master Splinter?” Leo inquired. 

“Let me talk to them,��� Master Splinter told the four teenagers. 

“Good luck with that, dad,” Raph murmured under his breath. 

Without another word and with no objections from any one of the four teens, Splinter retrieved both Ashley from the kitchen and Donnie from his laboratory. The three of them followed behind the elder inaudibly. Neither Ash nor Donnie even acknowledged Raph or Alex. The two of them couldn’t even look their lovers in the eyes after their respective arguments took place because of how guilty they felt. Ash and Donnie couldn’t even meet Leo and Mikey’s gaze. They wished that they could find the courage to finally tell their family the events that took place, but it was too hard for Ash and Donnie to do that. 

Donnie and Ash sat next to each other. They were sat on their knees facing Master Splinter. “What do you need us for, Master Splinter?” Donnie asked his Sensei. 

Master Splinter grabbed a tea kettle, and he poured the tea he prepared beforehand into three teacups. Calmly, he spoke. “My son, I brought you both into the dojo to discuss what has been bothering you.” Master Splinter stated simply. He handed Ashley and Donnie some tea, which they took with no objections. 

Donnie remained silent. This left the answering up to the brunette. Begrudgingly, she responded to her elder. “I’m okay, Sensei,” Ash whispered briefly. 

Splinter lifted his brow in question. “Ashley, Donatello, it has been quite evident that you are suffering in silence. Whatever it was that you went through, let us help you with processing it.” Master Splinter said calmly, attempting to ease the nerves of his son and his student. 

Ashley took a sip of her tea. Hmm… Earl grey… They thought to themselves. Donnie didn’t bother to take a sip of the tea that his father gave him. “Splinter, I can’t speak for Donnie, but I can assure you and everyone else that there isn’t anything that’s bothering me,” Ash said with a sigh. 

“If there is nothing wrong, then why are you trembling?” Master Splinter questioned with furrowed brows. 

Ash’s stoic expression on her face morphed into one of confusion. Then, into an expression of surprise. What? Trembling? That’s when the brunette teenager glanced down at the hand that held the glass teacup. Sure enough, the teacup was shaking along with their hand. Ash’s lip quivered. Still, she stayed quiet. Donnie glanced over to see that, yes, indeed, Ash’s hand was unsteady due to some sort of emotional distress. Her mental and emotional turmoil was finally showing through after all of this time. 

“You, my son,” Splinter began, making Donnie turn his attention to his father, “have been struggling. You and Ashley have been extremely traumatized by a specific incident. You know you can tell me anything that you desire.” The ninja master tried to appeal to the two young adults that he was a safe space for them to vent their mental and emotional wounds. 

To the Splinter and Ashley’s surprise, it was Donnie that broke first. “S-Sensei, what we saw was awful… It's been over a month now, and I still can’t get those images out of my head! I can’t even sleep at night because of how horrible my nightmares are!” Donnie finally broke, and there were tears pricking his eyes. Tears were threatening to fall, and it became evident in his tone of voice. 

“Don’s right, Splinter… Every time I close my eyes, I see all of the blood. I see all of the gore. I hear them take their last breaths, I hear their painful screams. They keep telling me that I could’ve done better, that—that I should have saved them!” Ashley just started to burst out in sobs. She was hysterically crying, tears falling continually down her cheeks. Her makeup had begun to smudge slightly. However, she didn’t give a care in the world at the moment. 

“Who are you referring to?” Splinter asked his student, intrigued by what they were saying. 

That’s when Donnie and Ash both started to explain everything that happened to them. How they were transported thirty years into the future in a dystopian future, and what happened in that timeline. How the Shredder took over New York City, how Donnie left and never returned, how Splinter died in front of his sons and the kunoichis, and how Casey had been murdered right in front of everyone’s eyes. They both commented on how broken the Hamato family had become in that timeline. Ash even mentioned how she died in childbirth with her and Raph’s fourth child, and how Alex ran away and never came back after losing her husband and their baby. They also mentioned the plan that Ash and Donnie came up with, and how they, with the help of that timeline’s version of Mikey, Leo, Raph, April, and Raph and Ash’s children, were finally able to bring peace to that timeline. However, this is where both Donnie and Ash choked up. 

Splinter took in everything that the teenagers were saying. They were very clearly distressed. Both of them were crying heavily, Ash more than Donnie. It wasn’t like either of them to just start crying like they currently were, and Splinter knew this. Ash was biting her thumb as a small toddler would, and Donnie kept his gaze averted from his father. “Take your time, my children,” Master Splinter told them steadily. He was shocked by the information that was already told to him, but he didn’t let it outwardly affect him. 

“Even though Donnie and I managed to defeat the Shredder and ensure peace in their timeline, so many lives were lost along the way. April has absolutely no other friends left, and me and Raph’s poor babies don’t have their mother nor their father around anymore!” Ash cried out, sniffling. “They don’t even have their Uncles or Aunts by their side to help them through this tough time…” 

“It’s horrendously dark, Master Splinter. It’s all just so… bleak and miserable…” Donnie muttered sadly, his voice breaking under the pressure of his emotions. 

“I am so sorry that you two had witnessed something as traumatic as that. Truly, I am.” Splinter said genuinely. He felt horrible that there was a timeline out there where his mortal enemy had won, his family became broken apart, and his loved ones ended up dead in one way or another. Splinter couldn’t imagine what it was like to see how it ended like Ashley and Donatello did. He paused for a minute, thinking of what else to say. “You both should be proud that you reunited the three brothers with each other. I would like to think that there was a sense of comfort for those three seeing you both there with them.” 

“There was. That version of Raph was just so… broken. Leo and Mikey were, too! Mikey wasn’t as boisterous and fun-loving as he once was, and…” Ash chimed in after they had calmed down from their sobbing, “… fuck! It’s all so tragic! I wish I could do something to rewrite their history! N-None of them deserves what they got!” 

Splinter silently stood up from where he was sitting. The great ninja master crouched down in front of his son and his son’s friend, and he hugged them tightly to comfort them. “You should be proud of what you two did. Even if you couldn’t save everyone, you, Ashley and Donatello, made such an impact on the people that were spared. Your bravery and leadership changed their course of time forever, and you should be fulfilled with what you two did. I know for certain that version of April and the others are beyond grateful for what you both did.” Splinter spoke to his two pupils gently.

Ash and Donnie immediately embraced their Sensei in response. Ashley sniffled a little more, but Donnie still continued to let the tears silently fall from his eyes. “Thank you, Master Splinter, for being there for us,” Ash expressed her and Donnie’s gratitude. 

“Of course. We are all family here, and we need to be there for each other when we need it the most.” Splinter voiced truthfully. 

As the three of them broke the hug, that’s when the rest of the Hamato family walked in. First, it was Mikey, then Leo, then Raph and Alex, and April and Casey. Donnie rushed over to Alex, who engulfed him in a big hug with a gentle smile present on her face. Ash walked quickly over to Raph, and she hugged him tightly. “I’m assuming that you all heard everything?” Ash asked softly. 

“We did, babe, we did,” Raph confirmed as Ash gave him a kiss on the cheek, “ya don’t have to re-explain everything again.” 

Both the couples dispersed from their hugs. Mikey offered his big brother a bright grin, and he pulled Donnie into a side hug. Leo approached Ashley, who was standing next to her boyfriend. “I-I’m sorry if I’ve been a dick over the last few weeks…” Ash trailed off. 

Leo put his hand up. “Ash, we understand. You and Donnie have been through a hell of a lot. You guys need to rest and mentally recoup from what you’ve been through.” The blue-masked leader expressed his comprehension of the situation. 

“Thanks for understanding, bro,” Ashley said with a smile and a thankful gleam in her lavender-grey eyes.

“Let us help you guys,” Leo started, “alright? We can’t have you and Don going through such an ordeal all by yourselves.” 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ash said as she gave Leo a quick hug, “You’re a good friend, Leonardo. Don’t forget that.” 

Leo just grinned, giving his best friend a nod in response. 

Ashley and Donnie were far from recovered, and they both knew that what they saw that day will still continue to haunt them in a way. However, with their family by their side, Ash and Donnie knew that comfort was just one initiation away. They knew that help was just one call away. Ashley and Donatello knew that they had plenty of support around them, and they also knew that they didn’t have to suffer from their inner demons alone. 

𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 © 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑. 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚. 𝐢 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐞𝐭𝐜. 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥.

[turtle-ika]

What's your favorite episode of TMNT 2003?

okay i cannot just single out one episode (picking one fave is always something i cannot do haha i tend to complicate things) so let me give you a longer list if that's okay:

- Tales of Leo - i just had to include this one, there is no way i wouldn't - this one stood out to me even when i was watching the show as a kid - idk but the image of Raph crying will forever be burned into my memory, also the flashbacks *chef kiss*

- Shredder Strikes Back (part 1 and 2) - these two are just amazing - 1st part with all its Leo fights on the rooftops and the scenes with the other just chilling in April's apartment (i wish we got more scenes like that) April slowly turning more and more grey with each plate that breaks, Splinter being like 'ughh, this is what i deal with all the time' perfection. And then the 2nd part again with amazing fight scenes, the 'hats' scene, Casey saving the day, that scene between Leo and April (we're all family now, i could never run out on you), Leo trying so hard to get up and help his family but always falling back down - love me all of that

- Adventues in Turtle Sitting + Good Genes arc – again, had to include this one, bc i love pain

- The ultimate ninja – here's the thing with this one: the fight between Leo and Ue (had to google that, the son of Daimyo) was okay i enjoyed that, but the real reason this one is on the list is the first part of the episode, where the whole gang is just watching a movie and going for icecream

- Hunted – one word: Letherhead – him dealing with the aftermath of the whole Bishop thing that is now causing him to lose control – he just means a lot to me

- Turtles in Space, Part 3: The Big House – the turtles breaking out of prison with spoons and cleaning utensils is a great and fun concept haha, also an episode i remeber from my childhood

Some other special mentions: Meet Casey Jones, The Ancient One, SAINW, Lone Raph and Cub, Samurai Tourist, Exodus, Cousin Sid, The Golden Puck, etc.

sorry this got so long :'D but thank you for your question!