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goodlucktai · 1 month

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a bigger heart grew back

rise of the tmnt post-movie characters: leo & splinter, raph & splinter word count: 5k title borrowed from no hell by cloud cult

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Splinter thought he had lived through all of life’s worsts already.

Losing his mother, estranging himself from what was left of his family, moving to the States as an orphan of his own making, falling in what he thought was love and losing his freedom as a direct result—

Years spent underground where he was forced to fight like a dog, an unwanted mutation that guaranteed his exile from society, that first bleak night in the sewers with nothing but the clothes on his back and four infants who depended upon him entirely and the utter conviction that he was going to fail them—

The resurrection of the Shredder, the collapse of Splinter’s home and the exodus of his children, the fear he had become unfortunately intimate with in those fraught hours—that his boys would become orphans, too—

Raphael’s escape pod opening and Leonardo tumbling out, eyes glassy and chest heaving with panic—sweet, sensitive Red covered in a fleshy pink parasite and forced to attack the siblings he loved more than life itself, those little turtles he had fussed over and carried and kept safe since he was just a little turtle himself—

But nothing compared to hearing the voice of his second youngest child as he prepared to end his own life.

His precious Blue, who could sell water to a fish, bravely trying to convince his siblings that it was right for him to go. Already pulling away, beginning the vanishing act, even as Raphael begged him not to do it.

All for that tiresome, nebulous greater good. As if any happy ending could possibly exist with Leonardo removed from the narrative.

Splinter had thought he knew what pain was, but his heart, patchwork, secondhand thing that it was, had never broken like this before. He crumpled to the ground, and listened to Blue’s line on the comms explode into a strange whine and then static and then nothing, and it was over.

His Blue would never crawl into his armchair for late night Spanish telenovelas again, Splinter realized. Would never wheedle and bribe and coerce him into chess matches, because he didn’t seem to know he could just ask and Splinter would play as many matches with him as there was time in a day for. Would never run from a successfully antagonized sibling and fill the lair with his ringing, infectious laughter. Would never fall asleep at the kitchen table over a medical textbook he pretended to be too cool for in the daylight hours. Would never effortlessly argue his twin out of the lab for dinner, would never lift Orange up on his shoulders to get a hard-to-reach mixing bowl because teamwork makes the dream work, would never painstakingly stitch together a ripped teddy bear for the brother whose fingers were too big to handle needle and thread ever, ever again.

There is not a word for a parent who has lost a child. There is not a word for that particular flavor of grief that carves you empty at the same time that it fills you to the last hopeless, drowning inch.

April sobbed openly beside him, her small, strong shoulders shaking. She had always been exactly what Splinter would have wished for in a daughter, and so the Hamato curse didn’t spare her, either. It takes and it takes and it takes.

And then Michelangelo turned his back on despair and handed his family a miracle.

Splinter could feel his remaining sons’ ninpo stir and then surge together, and the sheer forceful brilliance of it staggered him from all the way over on the other side of the city. He knew better than to hope—but he also knew that nothing existed in this world or the next that could possibly outstubborn his children, or strong-arm them into abandoning each other, or quite frankly make them do any single thing they adamantly as a group did not want to do.

“Guys,” April choked out. “Talk to me, what’s going on? Hello?”

Thudding footfalls announced Casey approaching at a run. He jumped over one of the pinned Krang’s flailing tentacles as if he dodged ballistic alien parts every day of his life and skidded to the ground beside them on armored knees.

“I felt it,” Blue’s child from another life gasped, face tacky with half-dried tears. “That’s Uncle Angie opening a door. No one else could do it but him.”

Casey had a familiar katana at his side, blue and gleaming. His fingers seemed like they wanted to linger on the hilt but he handed it over to Splinter agreeably enough. The lingering ninpo in the blade usually welcomed Splinter warmly, eager to be of use, a telling mirror of the way Leonardo himself was so anxious to please and be praised. But this time the tool that Splinter picked up was an innate, lifeless thing.

He prodded tentatively with his own qi. The runes flickered once, half-hearted, in the manner of a dog waking at the sound of a key in the door, ascertaining the person there was not the one it belonged to, and laying its head back down to sleep.

Splinter would not be able to follow the whims of his son’s ninpo to create a portal while it lay dormant. His own uselessness crushed him.

“Raph mentioned Staten Island earlier,” April said, wiping her eyes with the heel of her palm and pushing herself to her feet, business-like and brisk because she couldn’t afford to be anything else. “I doubt the ferry’s running, and the bridge is going to be a gridlock nightmare, so it looks like we’re stealing a boat.”

“If your mother asks, I did not condone this,” Splinter said hoarsely. “That said, the marina is too far to run to, so first we are stealing a car.”

They were halfway across the river in a cruiser that probably wasn’t meant to sustain the sixty miles an hour April was pushing when that startling shout of their family’s ninpo finally started to fade into a soft-spoken susurrus.

Before it was too quiet to make out clearly, he felt it: that achingly familiar mischievous blue energy, like a playful breeze flying above everything. Much smaller than usual, less spirited—giving more of the impression of a tiny tide pool creature hiding inside its shell than a smartmouthed sixteen year old boy with the whole world in his corner—but present.

Alive.

“Sensei,” Casey whispered.

“They got him,” April said, a ferocious, not-to-be-trifled-with look in her eye, all but daring the universe to try to make her a liar. “They saved him somehow, I know it.”

They were both Hamato enough to feel it as certainly as Splinter did.

But the boys hadn’t thought to include anyone else in their immediate, hard-won victory—and in fact, the call Splinter, April and Casey finally received some ten minutes later was one of outright panic.

“Dad, dad, are you there?” Orange’s voice warbled. He sounded all of fifteen years old and frightened in a way that set Splinter’s fur on edge instantly. “Dad, Leo’s hurt bad. He was awake a second ago, and talking even, but then he stopped making sense and just—just fell—”

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Purple added, high-strung and liable to start biting if one more thing went catastrophically wrong within a mile of his person. “I’m scanning him but I don’t—I’m not a doctor I don’t know—”

“Send the readouts to me,” Casey said quickly, pulling his mask down, its lenses glowing green as the interface came to life. “Sensei trained me in field medicine, I can help with anything short of an open-heart surgery.”

“You take after your father,” Donatello replied. “Irredeemable overachievers.”

That faint thread of gratitude in his voice would go unheard by anyone who didn’t know him, but Casey huffed a near-silent exhale, having heard it loud and clear.

What Future Boy had to share with them wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst it could have been, either. Leonardo had sustained a number of broken bones and soft tissue damage, the cartilage in his right knee was torn as if the joint had been viciously twisted, one of his cheekbones was fractured, and even his shell had suffered a few hairline cracks. Altogether, he was looking at a long recovery, not unlike what the survivor of a traumatic car accident might have had to look forward to—but he would recover.

It wasn’t enough to prepare Splinter for actually seeing him. His Baby Blue, a tiny little thing in Raphael’s arms, with a face so beaten it was hard to make out the bright red stripe on one side.

“Okay,” April said, voice thick with anger and hurt and love. “Okay. Everyone on the boat.”

And finally they were home, after the longest day in history. Casey confirmed his initial diagnosis, with the caveat that they would know more when Leonardo woke up. He insisted to an audience of grim faces that it was a very good sign Leonardo had been awake and coherent in the first place, however briefly.

So Blue was disinfected and splinted and bandaged and medicated and then tucked safely away in the infirmary bed. Everyone else was seen to in short order. It was an easier task than it usually was, since none of them were remotely willing to leave just yet.

Splinter made a mental note to call Draxum to double-check that Michelangelo hadn’t pushed himself too far in creating a gateway—the glowing lines on his hands had faded, and beyond an occasional tremor, he promised his family up and down that he was actually fine. Donatello’s shell was a quiet source of concern, but the only person alive who could harass him into a checkup without getting maimed for his trouble was currently very much out of action. Raphael’s eye was definitely infected, and blood vessels had burst when he’d ripped the parasite away, coloring the sclera an alarming red.

The rest of the clan watched in some unspoken, exhausted wonder as Casey unthinkingly maneuvered around Leonardo’s infirmary as if he’d spent part of every day of his life there, knowing which drawer to find compression gloves for Orange in, locating topical pain reliever for Purple that he could apply himself and medicated eyedrops for Red in quick succession, before ultimately offering a bottle of extra strength Tylenol to April, who accepted it gravely.

“You’re a weird kid,” she said. From her, it was a declaration of approval. “You better plan on sticking around.”

“Oh,” Casey said at length, surprised. Clearly, he hadn’t thought ahead to what the after of his mission would be shaped like. His gaze lingered on Leo’s little bundled-up figure in the bed, so full of love and grief for a man who didn’t yet exist, and Splinter thought to hell with it. The kid was as good as his grandson if you squinted.

“We’ll find a bed for you,” Splinter said, some tiny corner of his mind free from screaming worry and bone-deep exhaustion already plotting where to make room for another subway car. “In the meantime, the sofa is yours.”

With that, five out of six children had been packed off to sleep. It took April and Michelangelo combined to pry Donatello’s hand from Leonardo’s, and subsequently his entire person from the infirmary. Raphael pulled a chair up to Leonardo’s bed and Splinter didn’t try to argue him out, knowing when to pick his battles.

Red had a familiar look on his face, an elephant in the room that often went unacknowledged for both their sakes. That look that said you’re his father but he’s my kid, too.

He had earned the right. No one could argue that. Late night vigils were his wheelhouse and had been ever since he was about nine years old. When Splinter didn’t have to be quite so present—when he started to let the tired gray encroach more and more, when he stopped getting out of bed right away at the sound of a child crying—Red quietly learned how to tend fevers and stomach bugs and bad dreams.

Soon enough, the boys stopped calling for daddy when they were hurting and started calling for Raphie instead. And their Raphie always came when they called.

Which was why it must have hurt like a blade piercing clean through his ribs when Leonardo finally stirred at something approaching two o’clock in the morning, blinked muddy gold eyes open slowly, looked up at the familiar shape of his biggest brother beside the bed, and flinched.

The world hadn’t ended yesterday. It was happening now instead.

Splinter had thought he knew what pain was. But life did not seem to ever run out of brand new lessons to teach.

“Leo,” Red whispered, heartbreak obvious in every inch of him. His hand was frozen in the air between them, arrested right in the middle of reaching out.

“No,” Blue managed, twisting around like he would attempt an escape the second he figured out where his limbs were in relation to the bed, IV be damned. The lines on the heart rate monitor started to crest dramatically.

“Leo it’s okay it’s—it’s me, I’m not—I’m not going to—I would never hurt—”

His voice strangled itself into silence. After all, at least some of those grisly black and blue marks around Leonardo’s neck were from him.

“Papa,” Leonardo cried out, the call reaching directly into Splinter’s heart with hooks and yanking him out of his chair. “I want papa, please, please—”

Clambering onto the bed, minding all the hardware, Splinter placed a careful hand on his second-youngest’s feverish head to soothe him.

He felt like an imposter, especially with Red still frozen like a statue behind him, but that part of his heart that had been smothered once, allowing his children’s cries for him to go unanswered and someone else to pick up the slack, was the loudest part of him now.

There was physically nothing else he could do but stroke that bruised forehead with the pad of his thumb and tell him, “Hush, Baby Blue, your papa is here. You are safe. You are home.”

Leonardo turned his face into Splinter’s hand, hiding as much as he was capable of. Raphael took one staggering step back, then another, then turned on his heel and fled the way Splinter had no memory of him ever doing before, infirmary door crashing behind him.

Torn completely in two, Splinter summoned conviction from those ancient spirits housed in his soul and forced himself at knife point to be strong for his family for once in his goddamn life.

“What are these tears for, silly turtle?” he murmured, the same way he had when Leonardo still mostly fit in the palm of one hand. Back then, all Leonardo wanted was to be held. He wondered if that was still true. “You are the safest little turtle who ever lived. There is no one left in this world who is stronger than the people who love you, don’t you know that? Your baby brother pulled down the stars for you. Your twin did not let go of your hand even once. And your big brother carried you home. You are safe. You are so loved.”

It was a nonsense litany for the most part, all true things said to someone who clearly was only absorbing every third word or so. But Blue stopped hiding his face at some point, eyes wet with tears he is even now too stubborn to let fall.

Splinter felt as though he was looking at a childhood memory of himself, trying to be strong when it would have been better—kinder—to allow himself a much-needed moment of weakness.

“You think you’re too grown-up to cry in front of this old man?” he said, gently pinching Blue’s cheek on the side of his face that hadn’t been crushed beneath a monster’s fist. “Try again in about a hundred years.”

Blue blew a tired raspberry at him. Splinter laughed, surprised at the show of spirit, his heart doing cartwheels at this proof of his irrepressible little boy unchanged by the close brush with tragedy. Winning a laugh from his father was enough to coax the ghost of a smile across Blue’s face.

“How are you feeling? We have some water for you here. No, don’t sit up. Let me help.”

He really ought to let everyone know Blue was awake, but they had just gone to sleep. His other kids needed their rest, too. It had been a truly terrible day.

And now that Red was out of the room—that thought dripped with oily, unpleasant guilt—Blue seemed to be in a more solid state of mind. He had winced as he tried to sit up for water, but if he didn’t have whiplash after a psychotic alien flung him around like a terrier would its chew toy, Splinter would eat his tail. There were none of the red flags Casey had warned him to be on the lookout for. The only thing Draxum had done right in his life was develop a mutagen that made these boys all but indestructible. Splinter would have to find the mental fortitude to choke out a thank you to him for that.

“It has been a long time since a sick little turtle has called for me,” Splinter murmured, stroking Blue’s forehead around the bandages. “Normally you are all ready to fight each other to the death to monopolize Red’s attention.”

It was only partly a joke. Leonardo gazed up at him, eyes glassy. It was hard to gauge how much of their conversation was sticking the landing and how much was somersaulting straight over his sluggish head.

Then Leonardo said, “He hates me.”

“Pardon?” Splinter said stupidly.

His son blinked, and finally fat tears rolled down his cheeks, soaking into bandages on one side, unchecked on the other.

“He hates me,” Blue insisted. “He’s right. It was my fault.”

“No one hates you,” Splinter said, reeling. He’d been right here the whole time and yet somehow he was suddenly flailing about two miles behind.

“You didn’t see his face. You didn’t see—and his eye—all because I—I couldn’t—” He sobbed, an awful sound, and turned to press his face into his pillow. Once he started crying he couldn’t seem to stop. The rest of his words stumbled out thick and choked and terribly sincere. “I couldn’t just—be what I was supposed to be. And he—and it was all my fault.”

There were few things Splinter regretted more than his fumbling of the leadership role. He had always known that Blue was too clever for his own good, that he had a head for strategy—as evidenced by his early mastering of chess, entirely outpacing Splinter’s own skill level by the age of eleven.

Acknowledging that in theory and learning to trust it in practice were two separate beasts, but watching from the front row as his baby outsmarted Big Mama of all people left little room for doubt.

On the other hand, Red was as solid and dependable as they came, the foundation his siblings built their whole lives on. As far as they were concerned, the sun only rose in the morning because Raphael hung it up there.

But Splinter’s eldest son was prone to anxiety that tended to fall on him like a guillotine, a kill switch to his rational thought. The twins floated terms like ‘panic disorder’ and the entire family was well-versed in helping him through his episodes, but if even an ounce of the burden on his shoulders could be reduced, that could only help.

Red would be happier and function better in a support role, where his top priorities would be to protect his little brothers the way he always had protected them, and to smash whatever Leonardo pointed him at.

Splinter should have sat them both down and explained it. He shouldn’t have left Red to feel as though he had done something wrong, that he had failed somehow. And he shouldn’t have let Blue believe he would be shoved into the deep end and left to sink or swim.

His boys were little gremlins who thrived in chaos and learned best on the fly. Splinter had thought the surprise announcement would have been an utter shock at first and the new normal by dinnertime. They were always so much on the same page, so in tune with one another, that he couldn’t have guessed it would turn into the tangled mess of hurt and frustration and miscommunication and blame that it did.

He should have stepped in the first time Red punched through a wall in a fit of anger and Blue laughed as though his biggest brother’s good opinion of him didn’t matter in the slightest. Instead he was a coward, unable to face them and admit his wrongs. He left his children to resolve it themselves and suffer in the meantime.

He should have done better. Maybe one day he would learn.

For now Splinter held Blue’s face in one hand and wiped it clean with a cloth in the other, patient with every new flood of tears. The last time he had seen Blue cry was the night the Shredder destroyed their home and killed Karai. There had been no time to comfort him then.

He takes after his Gram-gram, Splinter thought, and tried not to resent her for it.

“No one hates my sweet Baby Blue,” he said, willing the stubborn child to hear him. “Especially not my other sweet baby Red. You are a very confused turtle, that’s all. You will see. No one hates you.”

“You don’t,” Leonardo mumbled. “You’re not allowed to. You’re my dad. You don’t have to like me, but you’re not allowed to hate me. S’in the—the contract. You signed it. Legally binding. No arbi-arbi—”

“Arbitration. I would like to study your mind under a microscope. Maybe then I will have a hope of understanding these twists and turns it takes.”

Splinter’s voice sounded nothing but fond even to his own ears.

His children were all incredible people worth knowing, worth living for, and it was a very special joy to still be surprised after all these years by how much more he loved them today than he did the day before. To think about how much more he would love them tomorrow, even though it felt impossible to love anyone more than he loved them right now.

“You are so important, Leonardo,” Splinter said gently. “To me, and to your siblings, and to your friends. We would miss you so much if you weren’t here. We all want to see you get well.”

“It’s not about me,” Blue said, wobbly and miserable and matter-of-fact. “I know it’s not. I have to make up for it. I’ll prove—prove—”

“You have nothing to prove. It was not your fault.” Splinter pressed Leonardo’s chin gently to close his mouth when he inevitably opened it to argue. “Hush. You did not steal the key. You did not open the door. It was not even your responsibility to stop either of those things from happening. You are a child. It cannot be any one person’s duty to save this planet on their own. That doesn’t even make sense.”

Blue’s expression was becoming thunderous, which was silly and endearing, because his cheeks were still tacky with the remnants of his tears and half of his face was a swathe of bandages and without his mask he looked years younger than he already was. Splinter felt affection unfold in his heart like one of those absurdly big tropical flowers with petals the size of dinner plates, taking up more room than it was allowed and spilling out the sides and going on forever.

“Can I tell you something else? Your brothers aren’t allowed to hate you either. It’s in the contract as well.”

“They do,” Blue said tearfully, face still screwed up beneath Splinter’s hand. But his eyes drifted in the direction of the door, and the wanting in them was plain to see. Splinter took matters into his own hands.

“If I’m right, you must finish watching The Strange Return of Diana Salazar with me.”

His son took a moment to digest that, slower on the uptake than usual. Finally, he asked, “Don’t we have like a hundred episodes left?”

“I said what I said,” Splinter said sagely, then patted his cheek and hopped down from the bed.

He found Raphael exactly where he expected to find him, sitting just outside the cracked infirmary door, a hunched over shape that seemed unwilling to take up a single unnecessary inch of space.

Red stared up at him, unbandaged eye wide.

“I don’t hate him,” he blurted. “I could never—I wouldn’t even know how.”

“I know, my dear.”

“Even if he’d done it on purpose,” Red went on. “Even if he stole the key and took it to the Foot and opened the door with his own two hands, I wouldn’t have done a single thing differently.”

Splinter had worried when the turtles were very young that Raphael would frighten one of his siblings accidentally. He was so much bigger than them and toddlers were not well known for their self control or emotional regulation. It was a lingering fear that Red would say or do something he did not mean in the heat of the moment, and alienate himself. That something would happen in a split second that would cause his brothers to grow up wary of him.

It was an unfounded worry. Raphael was a quiet little boy, the last of the four to start talking, and as sweet as an American dessert. Splinter’s little apple pie. Even as he got older and started playing rougher, testing his strength and raising his voice, he never forgot when he needed to be gentle.

His brothers never ran from him unless they were avoiding bedtime or a well-deserved grounding or really did not want to go watch wrestling, Raph, it was boring. Otherwise he was their North star.

Even now, Leonardo would rather hide himself away than face a world in which he no longer had a Raphael to run to.

“How could he think that?” Red asked desperately. “He was going to die back there and he thought that’s what I wanted.”

Splinter cupped Red’s face in his hands and told him, “Blue was trying to do what his hero would have done. All of my children are so quick to sacrifice for each other. It is a wonderful thing to love someone so much, but consider the example you are setting.” Red’s good eye filled with tears, and Splinter was powerless to do anything but kiss him firmly on the forehead. “As empty as our lives would have been without him, they would have been just as empty without you. You are fundamental to us. Please remember that.”

“I know, pops,” Raphael whispered. “I’ll remember.”

“It is not always possible to win without losing but we must fight tooth and nail anyway. Abandon honor and heroism. Do what it takes to bring yourself and your brothers home. I would much sooner tell the great Hamato clan where they can stick it then let you join them before your time.”

It coaxed a shy smile from his eldest son, the barest exhale of a laugh. Still his sweet apple pie, no matter how big he got.

“I’m gonna go see him,” Red said bravely. “I’m missing out on premium Leo time while the gremlins are asleep.”

“Very wise,” Splinter said, patting his cheeks in approval.

Leonardo had managed to drag the blanket up over his head while no one was around to stop him, and only one golden eye peered out at them from his makeshift shell.

Raphael snorted and leaned over to peel it back down, heedless of his smaller brother’s protests. He let one hand linger on Leonardo’s scuffed plastron, and the other cupped the back of his bruised head.

“You’re so dumb,” Red said. “I love you more than anything. If you ever try to go anywhere without me ever again, I’ll make your life a living hell. Capiche?”

Blue stared up at him. It’s very possible he didn’t understand every word of that. But the tone seemed to get through.

His hand drifted up slowly, as if it weighed a thousand pounds, to cover the one planted on his chest. When the world didn’t end and his big brother continued to smile down at him like nothing between the two of them was any different than it used to be, Blue risked a smile back.

“I capiche.”

“You’re not alone, okay?” Red went on, playfulness gentling into sincerity. “We’ll figure it out. I’m in your corner, right where I’ve always been. But for now let’s get some sleep, big man.”

He didn’t move his hands even after Leonardo had dozed off. He just hooked his foot around the leg of his chair and scooted it closer to the bed before sinking into it.

Splinter joined him, and felt both aged by the last hour and rejuvenated. He needed a good pair of running shoes to keep up with these kids.

“He never asks to play chess with anyone else you know,” Red said suddenly.

Thrown by the non sequitur, Splinter could only offer an intelligent, “Huh?”

“Leo only learned how to play because of a comment you made once about—I don’t even remember what you said. But it stuck with him. He wanted to impress you. And he started learning Spanish because of those weird soaps you guys watch. He drove us crazy practicing every day but he never let up.

“I know that it seems like he does whatever he wants without rhyme or reason, but I think he just tries really hard to make it seem that way. Otherwise we’d all clue in to the fact that every single thing he does is just—him trying to get closer to us somehow. And then his cool guy cover would be blown. And god forbid that.”

Raphael brushed his thumb over the crown of Leonardo’s head, much like the way Splinter had earlier.

“He doesn’t love you for no reason, pops,” Red went on, not looking at him. “None of us do. Even when getting out of bed was the hardest thing in the world, you came running when I needed you. Every time I needed you. I learned all my moves from the best.”

Splinter had seen the worst of the world. He was no stranger to pain.

It was only occurring to him now that the opposite was also true.

His life was so full of impossibly good, underserved things; every day a little brighter, every night a little richer.

Four little creatures tumbled into his world by chance and then filled it to the brim with mayhem and color and laughter and pride, and he would not take a second of it back. He would not change a single painful part.

If only he had known as a young man where he would end up someday. It would have made those earlier years so much easier to survive.

Pretending his own eyes weren’t wet, Splinter said, “It will be hell on earth in the morning when Orange discovers we let him sleep through Blue waking up. You had better rest while you can.”

Smiling to himself, Red folded his arms on the side of the bed and rested his head in them, tilted so that his brother was within line of sight of his good eye. He had capitulated to the changing of the guard without complaint, but he was still tense. Primed for danger. Anxiety no doubt at play.

But Splinter was not without his tricks. He stroked Red’s carapace between the spikes, humming an old TV theme song under his breath. He did this for upwards of an hour once, back when Red was still small enough to be held in his lap, fussy and clingy after a bad dream.

Sure enough, with a great, shuddering sigh, Raphael’s shoulders went slack, and his breathing evened out—asleep within moments after the day he’d had.

“I’ve still got it,” Splinter murmured, and let himself have the win, as small as it was. If nothing else, he could give his children a safe place to rest.

And that really was no small thing at all.

#rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #lou jitsu #hamato yoshi #hamato leonardo #hamato raphael #hamato donatello #hamato michelangelo #april oneil #casey jones #casey jr #ratdad #my writing #tmnt fic #a team

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truths33k3r4 · 11 months

Text

CHAPTER 4 - 'Signs' of Life

" What are you doing? Get away from there."

Raphael's infamous frown adorned his face as he motioned for Mikey to leave the doorway.

" Oh come ON, DUDE! Aren't you curious at all about the OTHER MUTANT TURTLE?? Last I checked, we've never seen other mutants before. AND SHE'S ALSO A TURTLE!! Coincidence? I THINK NOT."

Mikey lifted his eyebrows in question. Raph sighed and rolled his eyes as he leaned onto the counter top and crossed his arms.

" Yeah, I s'pose I'm a little curious. But don't get too excited about her. Just cause she looks like us doesn't mean she'll immediately become our ally. We know nothin' about her."

Mikey sagged his arms in disappointment and groaned.

"Ok, Senior-Kill-Joy, so I should just assume she's our ENEMY?"

" No, Drama Queen, I'm sayin' we should stay on guard at all times. She could be dangerous."

"RAPH," Mikey flaunted his head, " YOU'RE dangerous. Does that make you my enemy? ANYONE could be a threat, but you shouldn't immediately assume they are! That right there is the fastest way to NEVER make any friends."

Raph grew a small smile on his face and loosened his arms a bit.

" It's also the best way to keep your head in the game and never let your guard down..."

In a blur, Raph pushed off the counter and wrapped his arms around Mikey's neck.

"... like that."

Mikey blinked in amazement and shock at the speed of Raph's attack.

" See, if you had been prepared and assumed I was a threat, then maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't have been caught so easily. Get my drift, little brother?"

Mikey begrudgingly nodded.

Then- in his retaliation- Mikey sloppily licked his tongue over Raph's arm.

Accordingly, Raph released his grip and squealed, wiping off the fresh river of spit pooled on his skin.

"GGYEEEIIII!!!! -MIKEY HAMATO, YOU'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT JUST HOW DANGEROUS I CAN BE......."

. . .

Lotus' eyes groggily opened as she gave a long sigh. Apparently she fell asleep? She turned her head over to see- Donnie? Don? Was that his name? He was still sitting next to her, but the humming was replaced with.. snoring. His head hung limp over his torso and his arms lay sprawled out on the floor. His glasses were hanging on his face by a thread.

' Guess his calming technique worked a little too well. '

Lotus couldn't help but softly chuckle at the sight, which resulted in Don startling himself awake, flinging his head up and yeeting his glasses into the abyss of the pile of clothes on the floor behind him.

" -WHA??!? I'M UP!!! Whhaaaa happened?" Don sucked the tiny bit of slobber from his lip and wiped it with the back of his hand. " ARE YOU OK?"

Lotus was now adorned with a full smirk on her face. She minimally nodded and placed her thumb to her plastron with her fingers pointed up. ( American Sign Language for- " I'm Fine." )

Don's eyes grew and his mouth opened the slightest bit. Then a huge smile sprung onto his face. After fishing through the pile of laundry for his glasses and returning them to his face, a thought came to his mind.

" Wait! You use ASL? ( American Sign Language) Who taught you that? Wait- oh shoot- are you deaf? Or- hard of hearing? ... WAIT NO. You- uh- you understood me fine earlier... Orrrr did you read my lips?"

Lotus' smirk blossomed into a small smile.

" I.. can...hear you. " She spoke. " I was taught by.." Lotus' eyes loomed onto the scars on her wrists. " ...them." Lotus winced a little as she massaged the invisible restraints that were once there. "They... didn't know I could speak. So.." She lifted both her hands and signed the words, " Taught. Me. ASL."

Don's smile quickly dissolved into a frown. And, using his own amount of knowledge with ASL, he signed back,

" I'm sorry. You. Past. Go. Through."

Lotus' smile also vanished as she turned her gaze away from Don to the ceiling. She let out a small huff from her nose. Her eyes glimmered from moisture but no tears dared to fall.

Don placed his hand on the edge of the bed and gave Lotus a shy smile. He could sense the need for silence at this moment. Ever since he was a kid, it was harder for him to understand how emotions worked, and how to deal with them accordingly. But thankfully, as a turtle of science, he had the perfect test subject to observe for that particular study: the most emotion-filled creature on the planet, his little brother. As the years passed, he studied and watched how Mikey would react to different situations. And he learned through it all how to eventually be able to comfort and help his brothers through tough times.

And with all that data in his brain now, he sensed that this was a moment for quiet. Don still stayed by Lotus' side, but this time, no words came from his lips. Not even a hum.

As someone who was taught for two years how to do ASL, and knowing that Rise of the TMNT had their Donatello signing, I really wanted to incorporate it into my story with one of the characters signing. :) In my universe, Don learned Sign Language as a kid. ( along with all his brothers.) Splinter taught them all when they first arrived at his home in the sewers 12 years ago. Splinter didn't know if they were capable of speech, so he taught them a somewhat easy way to be able to communicate. :)

If you have any questions about my story or characters, I'd love to hear them! You can go ahead and send me an ask or message! :)

That's all! To God be the glory!

~ Melissa

Masterpost <- PRIOR CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER ->

#tmnt #my version of tmnt!!#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt fanfic #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt au

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brucenorris007 · 1 year

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TMNT Cheat Sheet

There are many, many incarnations of the best reptilian adolescent quartet of ninjas. And yet, believe it or not, there are common threads running through their many incarnations that a newcomer to the franchise might find helpful.

Note that I say common threads; each incarnation of the Hamato Brothers are unique characters. This is just a helpful introduction.

What the Uninformed Would have you believe

Leo: The Mom/Leader

Raph: The angry one

Don: The Intelligent/One with a plan

Mikey: The baby/comic relief

The preceding is lacking in many ways but above all it is not sexy.

What the Informed TMNT Lover will tell you

Leonardo Hamato:

-comes packaged with Solo Suicide Mission.exe pre-installed; it will be the most frequently used command after Dork.exe

-Dork.exe

-the first to die for his family (so help him, he will be the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice)

Raphael Hamato:

-wants All The Smoke.

-team Reality Check (can and has leaned too hard into this role)

-feelings. so much.

Donatello Hamato:

-Does machines (his brothers are not dumb. they just aren’t as curious or scientifically minded)

-fledgling mad scientist (experiments of his have gone horribly wrong before and even he has moments of machine failure. gets absorbed into his work easily)

-secretly believes himself the most expendable member of the team (IMPORTANT: HE IS WRONG)

Michelangelo Hamato:

-The baby (Read as: Chaos Incarnate)

-Wild card. Greatest untapped potential. Provoke at your own peril. God won’t help you and I know I won’t either. also a goof

-The first to kill for his family

Finally, as a team?

-Independently quite capable for literal children

-However if one is missing, the remainder of the quartet is automatically operating at 60% of their peak at best

-Whole is greater than their sum of four

#TMNT #ROTTMNT #TMNT 2012 #TMNT 2k3 #Animated Turtles #Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #Hamato clan #Bruce talks about #it struck me that I hadn't made a post specifically about my favorite ninjas #so now I have

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tmnt-project-brutus · 1 year

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TMNT: Project Brutus

Link to Chapter 1

Masterpost (wip)

The world is under siege by the indomitable Kraang. There is no hope to be found...

...save for a mysterious project, created deep within a government facility.

After all, hope is a ninja's greatest weapon...

Welcome to Project Brutus.

Lore posts

Background information (as of 7/19/23)

The Hamato-O'Neil family (coming soon)

Hamato Leonardo / PB03

Hamato Michaelangelo / PB04

Hamato Raphael / PB01

Hamato Donatello / PB02

April O'Neil

Carol O'Neil

Hamato Yoshi

PC01/Cassius

Project Brutus (coming soon)

Project Cassius (coming soon)

The Kraang (coming soon)

EPF / Agent Bishop (coming soon)

Spotify playlists

Discord thread

Oc ask post

Hi! I'm Crow! You can find me at my main blog @flockofcrowsinatrenchcoat or my usual ROTTMNT blog @flockofcrowsinaturtleshell .

This iteration was inspired by @cokoweee / @cokowiii and the @1v1-tmntiteration-battlenexus

#tmnt #tmnt: project brutus #tmnt iteration #flockofcrows #flockofcrows fic #masterpost #Spotify #tmnt:pb discord

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misteria247 · 2 years

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*Throws down more of my insanity like a businessman once more*

So the brain rot has won this round once again so here's more of my bullshit contribution to the 2012 tmnt fandom. An unasked sequel to this post:

But now with the rest of the cast fight me-

April O'Neil, the daughter of a well known doctor in a small Japanese village in the countryside. April's a kind yet passionate girl who's childhood friends with Donnie and who was born and raised in the village. April's specialty is her uncanny ability to predict what people are thinking as well as making things float for brief periods of time. Despite her father's reputation as the village's best doctor, April is somewhat of an outcast amongst her fellow villagers. Due to some rather strange occurrences that's been known to happen around her, she's believed to be a seer or witch of some sort by some of the villagers. However there's far more to her gifts than she realizes, and a chance encounter with her best friend Donnie soon reveals all that she's been questioning.

Casey Jones, a ronin samurai who roams and challenges others all over the vast lands of Japan. Casey is a rather chill person who has a surprisingly short temper underneath his laid back personality. Casey's whole life has been nothing but wandering and roaming the Japanese landscapes and fighting any who dares to challenge him. Casey's specialty is his innovation in creating strange weapons from seemingly useless things and always having something possibly deadly up his sleeve. Casey is also a friend and somewhat rival to the ronin ninja assassin known as Raphael Hamato, and the two will occasionally work together on jobs as well as challenge one another when the mood strikes them. Casey while being fine with his lonely ways of the ronin lifestyle, has a craving for adventure to some degree and a fateful moment gives him the opportunity to fulfill his desires.

Mona Lisa, a goddess of war and protection. Mona Lisa is a timeless being, having been around since the very dawn of time. Much like the mischievous yokai Michelangelo Hamato, Mona Lisa is an immortal being who's specializes in the art of war and protection for warriors who've earned her attention and favor. Mona Lisa doesn't interact with others much, preferring to instead observe the mortals rather than partaking with them. However a certain red clad turtle has caught her eye and has unknowingly been granted her blessings in warfare and protections. With a few pulled strings perhaps she could officially meet this ronin ninja.....

Renet, a goddess of time and rebirth. Renet, much like Mona Lisa, is a being as old as time itself. Renet while a somewhat bubbly and awkward person, is also a goddess who's wise and all seeing in ways many could never predict. Being a goddess of time and rebirth, Renet specializes in the delicate threads that make up several timelines as well as handling the souls of those who have passed and deciding if they're worthy of being reborn once again. Renet is extremely close to a yokai known as Michelangelo, and might even fancy him in a more than friends way. Yet just like the prankster entity, Renet knows more than she let's on and may have even played a role in said yokai's knowledge of his brothers.......

Karai Oroku, a demoness who wanders the shadows of Japan, bringing dread and despair wherever she goes. Karai is the daughter of the mysterious and deadly demon lord whose known as the Shredder. Karai's a mischievous yet biting demoness who holds no patience for those she deems unworthy of her time and skill. Karai's specialty is the reaping of mortals and destruction of villages within Japan that her father deems to be a prime target of being wiped out. It's during this very thing that she runs into a monk whose skilled in expelling and exorcising demons and yokai. After clashing with the monk, a boy known as Leonardo Hamato, Karai has become somewhat interested in him. Perhaps he could be of some entertainment for her in the long run......

Tang Shen, a phantom name that very few remember in the old, ancient lands of Japan. Not much is known about Tang Shen, her origins are unknown or have been completely forgotten due to the sands of time. Records that remain of her describe her as either a demon or a goddess, who was supposedly married to the elusive enigma known as Splinter. However much like the being himself, Tang Shen also disappeared some thousand or so years ago and her current whereabouts are unknown.

The Shredder, a name whispered in fear or spoken about like an unholy curse in Japanese folklore. Shredder's origins, much like Tang Shen's, are completely unknown. The story of the demonic lord on the other hand is one that many people, such as shrine maidens, priestesses, monks and older Japanese folks know of. It is said that he is the bringer of death and destruction, a man who sold his soul to demons, consumed by his excessive need to conquer and destroy all that stands in his way. However the Shredder has been locked away, banished from the world. Or so that's how the legend goes.......

Splinter, another name spoken rarely in the ancient Japanese world. Not much is known about him, his origins, his personality, his features or even his whereabouts are all unknown. All that is known is that Splinter is said to be either a demon or god, an immortal being that has been gone for thousands of years. No one knows where he could be or if he's even among the living immortals anymore. Yet despite the little knowledge on him, four turtles and two humans are destined to look for him and perhaps even have their very destinies intertwined.

Lotus Blossom, a shrine maiden in a nearby village located near the ancient and vast Japanese mountains. Lotus is a powerful shrine maiden whose known for protecting magical artifacts and scrolls as well as purifying evil and unclean auras and curses. Lotus is a quiet yet fiesty woman who while somewhat naive is not to be underestimated lest the fool who does earns her wrath and righteous judgment. Lotus lives in a small village next to the mountains where Leonardo's temple resides on. Despite her somewhat peaceful existence, Lotus wishes to at least have some companionship. Being a shrine maiden can become quite lonely, given that the villagers tend to only come to her when they're in need of her abilities or healing. However one fateful moment sends her a possible friend in the least expected way.

Venus de Milo, an orphaned turtle girl who had lost her parents in one of the many Japanese wars of the ancient times. Venus is a chipper yet quiet child who can be incredibly stubborn and short tempered depending on the situation. Venus's specialty is strategic planning via for pranks or tricks. She lives in the temple in the mountains with the monks that reside there and she's taken quite a shine to the one monk known as Leonardo and will follow him around and ask that he plays with her much like the several other orphans who stay there as well.

Usagi Yojimbo, a ronin samurai whose sole mission is to defeat his sworn enemy and to bring vengeance to his family's home. Usagi is a rabbit samurai who roams the Japanese countryside in the hopes of bringing honor back to his name and to defeat the one who had brought said dishonor onto it. Usagi is a rather stern young man who doesn't really interact with others much. Preferring to instead focus on his mission and hone in his swordsmanship with each battle he faces. Usagi's specialty is his quick thinking and deadly swordsmanship. With his katana in hand Usagi is a deadly and dangerous samurai who shouldn't be taken lightly. Usagi has a rather great dislike towards ninjas due to a few run ins with them however his opinion may end up changing in the future....

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nani-nonny · 1 year

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Okay!! I read ch 10 and lord help me because i need it!

Starting with April dragging shopping cart full of things and i don't blame her, almost the whole family needs it and i feel older leo will get into trouble for exposing himself, idk if the rest of hamato knows about what he did.

When barry explained the mystic power my brain kinda stopped working (i have 1 beain cell, have mercy), but ifhe really hit the jackpot on who they are? Damn that'll be either great detective skills or new level of common sense 😂

My god i feel bad for the rest of family because they're worried sick while the leos are off to fucking dreamland xD

" Surviving death " BOY THAT'S A BADASS LINE! I LOVE IT!! YES THEY'RE GONNA SURVIVE DEATH!!!❤💜🧡

You know the part where leo tries to give his mystic energy? Zip zapping? Yeah my brain got fried trying to read it 🥲

I read the spoiler 2 of ch 10 but damn seeing the thread fall makes me gets worried they actually failed.

Raphael smiles, a snaggletooth making itself known in the corner of the snapper’s mouth. ( you don't know how much this made me happy, after 10 chapters FINALLY THEY MEET)

Honestly the whole time i thought the ghost brothers are in their own colors, orange, red & purple instead of white.

" And just as the moon begins to fade, so does Raphael " NO DON'T DO THAT!! THEY ALREADY MET

" Draxum’s eyebrow raises in pure confusion " trust me barry, that my same reaction like BOY WHAT ARE YOU ON?!

And of course we gotta add everyone's insecurity, it's a hurt/comfort fic after all.

Casey jr finally got his phone and it's light blue!! Like a mini leo/blue!

And this got me confused “How is he, Little Blue?”

Ooo let’s see what you thought! I’ll respond to every thought but basically thank you for reading!

And here’s my reaction to your long response <33:

Anyways, a kind of a long post :)

Starting with April dragging shopping cart…

Yellow bringing supplies is absolutely necessary with all the near-death-experiences the Leonardos keep having /hj.

And everyone already knows that Leonardo exposed himself! (Ch.6: Voices)

Yellow’s eyes narrow in frustration as she looks down at the ground at the reminder, “Casey and I asked a bunch of people in the neighborhood but everyone was either busy trying to salvage what they can or gave us vague answers. Apparently, some green giant was running around evacuating the city and someone said my mom must have gone with a group.”

Purple’s eyes lock on Leonardo who immediately understands.

“That was me,” the elder answers.

Yellow’s eyes slowly widened, “That was you?”

The family hasn’t gotten around to deciding what to do from that point on because of situations. (The situations being the injuries of course haha)

When barry explained the mystic power…

I tried knowledging it up for Draxum’s mystic explanation because he’s a warring-warrior-scientist, but basically Leonardo’s running out of battery power (because of the “voices”) so he’s using backups and Blue is the glorified battery charger. The phone and charger duo lol

I feel like Draxum’s thought process being the voices that Leonardo hears is: “Who else but his clingy family members would bother to stick with him for this long?” /j

My god I feel bad for the rest of the family…

The Leos in “Dreamland” (+ F!Raph and F!Mikey):

“Surviving death”…

F!Mikey living up to his “badass mystic warrior” title fr

You know the part where leo tries to give…

See Little Blue’s dot/fire-center-thing? v

I imagine that as his center (kind of where his heart is), when he was doing the defibrillator zip-zap thing, he’s taking a piece of it, balling it up to make it smaller for easier transit, then sends it down his arm directly to Leonardo’s center to explode throughout Leonardo’s body like an electric shock

Hopefully that helps!

I read the spoiler 2 of ch.10…

Everyone’s fine, we just need Draxum to go to the Hidden City to find the damn mystic herb. No worries :)

Raphael smiles, a snaggletooth making itself known…

Leonardo finally reuniting with Raphael was actually not what I intended when planning out the story. He was supposed to officially meet F!Mikey first a few chapters back, but things went awry in writing so I moved it to here and changed the brother. But I suppose technically the brothers haven’t officially-officially reunited.

Honestly the whole time I thought the ghost…

Teehee, they’re supposed to be in their personal colors *plays menacing piano noise*

“And just as the moon begins to fade, so does Raphael.”

THE STARS CANT COME AT NIGHT WITHOUT THE MOON, BUT WHO IS THE MOON????

“Draxum’s eyebrow raises in pure confusion”

Listen, the old man doesn’t remember everything mystic-related, and he’s absolutely confused why Blue of all people knows something mystical hahah

And of course we gotta add everyone’s insecurity…

I just wanted to share a little insight on how they’re feeling teehee I have to remind everyone I can cross the threshold of entering angst at any moment if I wanted /j

Casey Jr finally got his phone…

Purple would’ve made it a completely other color that isn’t any kind of blue just to spite the old man but we’re not at the point of making jokes with the old man lol

“How is he, Little Blue?”

It’s in ghostly italics, so it’s one of the voices, but whose? *rubs hands manically*

#nani nonny answers #whispers of distant souls #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt fanfiction #tldr: long answer to a long question <333

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turtlethon · 1 year

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“Shredder Triumphant!”

Season 7, Episode 26 First US Airdate: December 18, 1993

The Technodrome is revived, and the Turtles are banished to Dimension X.

“Shredder Triumphant!” is the final episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season seven. Written by David Wise, this adventure serves as the conclusion of the classic era of TMNT ahead of a significant change in direction beginning in season eight.

vimeo

Before we get into the episode itself, I should mention that this is the last appearance of the second title sequence, in service since Turtles made its Saturday morning debut on CBS in September 1990. While this opening never seems to be lauded in the way that the first one is, I do find it to be a highly polished introduction in its own right: that shot of Hamato Yoshi picking up the pet turtles and transforming into Splinter is downright spectacular, and probably one of the best-looking bits of animation to appear within the series.

Today’s episode opens in the same way that “Combat Land” concluded, with the Turtles gathered in front of the TV. April is reporting about the opening of the new Museum of Asian Arts when an amphibious module rolls up, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady emerging to cause chaos. In any other given episode this is where the Turtles charge off to stop their foes, but Splinter intervenes here to try and stop them, announcing that he’s had a “strong psychic impulse” leading him to believe it would be better if they don’t get involved. The Turtles can’t make sense of this, and who can blame them? Over the course of the last seven seasons, Splinter has constantly drummed into the team how important it is that they stop Shredder, and now on a whim he suddenly feels it’d be better for them to hold off. With that in mind, Leonardo defies the orders of his sensei, and leaves with the rest of the group to deliver a “Turtleising” to Shredder.

After the Turtles leave, Splinter turns to the camera, telling us that while he can’t stop them, he fears “they will regret this action”. It’s wild that even now, as the tone of the show begins to shift, the fourth wall break continues to hang on by a thread.

The team briefly confront Shredder and his mutants at the museum: in what could be considered a nod to the fact that this will be the last go-around for many of the conventions we’ve seen countless times over the years, Leonardo goads Shredder for continuing to use the same tired old taunts against them. After Raphael threatens Shreds with what turns out to be a paper fan, he’s surprised to see the villain retreat: in reality, Shredder received a radio message from Krang giving the all-clear, and so the next part of their plan is ready to be implemented. The Turtles watch their enemies escape in the module and wonder why they would flee while having the upper hand.

Splinter can’t let go, and when the Turtles return to the Lair he warns that the path they’ve taken by confronting Shredder may lead to “the greatest danger [they’ve] ever faced”. Turning on the TV, the team watch a reporter cover the theft of a regenerative power cell from a space administration facility outside of the city. This, we’re told, is “the world’s most compact source of energy.... invented for a new super space station!” The thieves are said to be “a strange alien creature” and a group of ninjas clad in blue attire. The Turtles are quick to determine that it must be Krang and the Foot Soldiers that are being referred to, but this does raise two questions: How can it be that nobody in the city other than them knows who Krang is when he’s appeared on TV attempting to take over the world multiple times, and since when did the Foot Soldiers ever wear blue?

It dawns on the Turtles that they’ve been played: in a return to a strategy that worked when applied all the way back in season three’s “The Big Rip-Off", Shredder kept them busy with a distraction while the gizmo he was really after was being stolen elsewhere. An alarm sounds in Donatello’s workshop, indicating an impending tidal wave may be approaching the city. Rushing to the beach in their van, the Turtles watch as the newly energised Technodrome emerges. Our heroes are so blasé about the prospect of stopping the fortress now that they all begin to recite, in unison, the dutiful steps they’ll need to go through that they know like the back of their hands. “We break into the Technodrome, fight our way past the Foot Soldiers, disconnect the power device...”

The team use a grappling hook to hitch a ride to the rolling headquarters, and once inside begin taking out Foot Soldiers. Krang has also performed this song and dance enough times that he has anticipated the arrival of the green teens, and made allowances for it in the Scheme of the Day. He has the Technodrome tear through town until it arrives outside City Hall, where he begins the process of staging an invasion, accompanied by General Traag and a sizeable contingent of Rock Soldiers. He demands that control of the city be handed over to him immediately, threatening to destroy the building if the officials within refuse.

Inside the Technodrome, the Turtles move on to begin trying to disconnect the power source as planned, but are captured by Shredder and The Boys. Outside, Krang is borderline ecstatic as he relays the news to Shreds: “WE’VE DONE IT!” Now fully in control, the villains take care of the only force that could plausibly stop them – the Turtles – by tossing them through a portal into Dimension X.

Act two opens with the Turtles floating through a green, glowing void until they’re pulled inside a spaceship. They’re soon introduced to its pilot, a rodent-like slave trader by the name Weesel, who tells the team they’ll “fetch a nice price in the slave pits of Si-Ra.” Back in the Lair, Splinter snaps out of his meditative state with the realisation that the Turtles are in danger, and the fate of the world is at stake. (He must surely be the only person left in town by now who’s somehow oblivious to the fact that the Technodrome has already flattened a decent amount of real estate on its way to City Hall, the danger he’s so worried about has been here for a while now.)

We start to get a sense for how quickly Krang’s takeover has impacted the city as April and Irma are seen leaving Channel 6′s car park in a news van, commenting on how their computers and phones no longer work. They find themselves unable to exit the building as Krang and a group of his followers are waiting outside, the TV station their next target. Soon Krang is confronting Burne Thompson, and I think this may be the first time we’ve ever had any significant interaction between these two characters. Burne is insistent that any takeover will never work as his employees are loyal to him, an assertion immediately disproven by Vernon, who agrees to work the cameras under the new regime. Splinter watches from an alley as Krang’s victory speech goes out on-air, a group of onlookers gathering to view the unfolding events on the TVs in the window of an electronics store.

The Turtles try to lecture Weesel about the ethics of his profession, but he remains unmoved, taking them to be examined by Vorx, a slug-like alien who maintains control over his slaves by wielding a whip. Weesel is paid in exchange for the Turtles but before leaving spots his kid brother, Zwerk, chained up and being marched into the mines. When he questions Vorx about his younger sibling being part of the operation he’s warned that anyone could potentially end up working as a slave in the pits, even him should he continue to make a fuss. Reluctantly, Weesel finds himself with no option but to leave in his spaceship, as the Turtles are put to work.

In the foyer of Channel 6, Krang reveals to Shredder that a set of rocket thrusters are kept at the same space facility where the power cell was obtained. The next phase of their plan will involve taking these and affixing them to the Technodrome, effectively converting it into a spaceship. Taking it back through a portal, Krang will then be able to terrorise Dimension X while Shredder uses the Rock Soldiers to gain control of Earth. Bebop and Rocksteady are beginning to wonder where this leaves them, and are thrown a bone as Krang effectively appoints them as the new bosses of Channel 6. Later, the two mutants confront April, Irma and Vernon, keen to begin throwing their weight around.

The Turtles are made to toil away with pickaxes in the pits, and while working strike up a conversation with Zwerk. The young alien insists that his older brother isn’t really such a bad guy, and is simply trying to provide for the pair, an assertion that our heroes find dubious. He goes on to explain that the material the slaves are made to dig for is Ilanium, a rubble-like substance that serves as the diet of the Rock Soldiers. Putting two and two together, the Turtles determine that this must mean Vorx has a business relationship with Krang, and by extension likely has access to a dimensional portal too. The Turtles and Zwerk begin considering how to escape, but find themselves constantly being watched (and fired upon) by the slave master’s airborne drone guards.

In the offices of Channel 6, April, Irma and Vernon are tied up as part of “The Bebop & Rocksteady Show”. Destroying a nearby window with his laser weapon, Rocksteady announces that an upcoming segment of their broadcast will involve sending the three crew members out the side of the building, their final on-screen appearances culminating in them hitting the ground below.

Vorx has learned of the planned insurrection by the Turtles and Zwerk, and orders their extermination at the hands of The Great Chaarg, an enormous drooling cyclops monster. Chaarg looks set to devour our heroes until Weesel swoops in, using his ship to open fire upon the creature. The Turtles and Zwerk soon board his ship, and upon reclaiming their weapons, the green teens begin working with the alien brothers to figure out how to strike back against the slave owner.

Rocksteady fires at the feet of the Channel 6 trio with his laser rifle, nudging them closer to a fall as he joins Bebop in swearing revenge for all the times the station has aired stories that painted the duo in a negative light. (This scene is hampered briefly by a particularly egregious animation error in which it’s the lower body of Rocksteady himself that’s seen being pushed towards the window.) Splinter arrives to intervene, taking down the two mutants and encouraging his friends to snatch their weapons.

In the Turtlethon entry prior to this one (for “Combat Land”) I suggested that Irma taking on a more proactive role in stopping the bad guys may have been intended as foreshadowing for what was to come. That begins to take shape here, as upon picking up Rocksteady’s gun her voice and demeanour immediately change. Irma is livid as she holds The Boys at gunpoint, demanding that they reveal the current whereabouts of the Turtles. Bebop and Rocksteady immediately cave, but can’t provide concrete details about where they are beyond being in Dimension X. She continues to intimidate The Boys until they also cough up the details of Krang’s plan to steal the rocket blasters. Our heroes leave to stop the alien brain, providing Vernon with a blaster weapon so he can keep Rocksteady and Bebop in line; it speaks volumes that the henchmen are terrified of the new Irma but immediately begin to intimidate April’s old rival.

Weesel takes the Turtles and Zwerk to a bunker, where the master controls for the slave pit operation are said to be kept: he warns them that attempting to gain entry is a foolish exercise, as doing so would be near-impossible. Vorx soon emerges, flanked by a group of obedient henchmen, and begins doing battle directly with the Turtles. Nearby, the assembled slaves see the beginning of a potential rebellion taking shape, but the drones continue to keep them in line.

As the fight continues, the Turtles are forced to concede that Vorx’s forces are too powerful for them to prevail. The tide of battle is turned by the return of Weesel’s ship, which crash-lands into the bunker, destroying the systems controlling the drones. The rebellion soon begins, with Vorx and his underlings finding themselves surrounded by the furious prisoners.

The Turtles lament that Weesel was forced to sacrifice his own life so that his brother and the other prisoners could be free, and I must admit that for a second there they really had me going: I genuinely thought that maybe David Wise had been able to convince the powers that be to allow him to incorporate the death of a guest character into the show as part of the transition into the new, darker era to come. For better or worse, that’s not how this plays out: Weesel is alive, having sacrificed his ship but escaping via the use of a rocket pack, and he soon rejoins the group.

Following the capture of Vorx, the Turtles head into his control room and find there never was a portal there after all. The next best thing is a trans-dimensional viewscreen, which they use to call the Technodrome. As Shredder drives the rolling fortress to the space site his conversation with Krang is interrupted by his old enemies, who appear in a transmission where they roast him endlessly, declaring him to be a dishonourable coward. This trolling goes on and on and on until Shredder can’t take it anymore, and is goaded into letting the team come back through the portal so he can beat them legitimately.

Krang waits at the space site for Shredder to arrive in the Technodrome, oblivious to the return of the Turtles, and is soon confronted by April and Splinter. It’s a combination of characters going toe-to-toe that I don’t think we’ve seen in the show’s history, but the way it plays out is even more unexpected. Splinter is no match for Krang’s android body and its built-in weaponry, his walking stick broken in half. It’s clear that the duo is in over their heads, and then...

From the shadows emerges Irma, who is going all-in with her new persona, now sporting a Rambo-esque red headband. Declaring Krang to be “alien scum”, she opens fire on his android body, blowing a huge hole in its back and rendering him immobile. Inside the Technodrome, Donatello spots a cloaking device that can be used to alter a person’s appearance, and decides they could use this gizmo to their advantage.

Donnie and Mikey’s preoccupation with the cloaking machine leaves Shredder now facing just Leo and Raph. With only two Turtles to shake off he eventually makes it to an escape hatch, where he leaps out, bouncing off a nearby restaurant’s awning and running away. (If there’s one thing this show loves, other than TV stores with sets in the window that have the volume turned up and men getting their come-uppance by being made to stand around in their underwear, it’s a good springy awning that can serve as a makeshift trampoline.) Leonardo and Raphael follow, doing battle with Shreds on the street.

April reaches Donatello via Turtlecom, informing him that Irma has successfully disabled Krang’s robot body. I don’t think I praise the voice actors enough, so here’s an example of what a critical component of the show they are: the comedic beat when Barry Gordon (as Donnie) processes the news of who beat Krang - “Irma...? Oh! Well, that’s perfect!” is impeccable. The group agree to meet Donatello outside the Technodrome, leaving Krang where he is. This turns out to be a major mistake, as following their departure the alien brain is free to begin attempting to reconnect the wires of his android body, and is soon mobile again.

Bebop and Rocksteady use similar tactics on Vernon as the Turtles did on Shredder, goading him with threats of what their boss will do to the newsman upon finding out they’ve been held hostage. It’s a strategy that works as the cowardly reporter succumbs to a nervous breakdown, dropping his blaster and running out of the room. Now left unaccompanied, The Boys begin looking for a way to break out of the ropes restraining them.

Krang orders his Rock Soldiers to fall back, an event picked up on by Shredder as a sign that things are unravelling while he continues to battle Leo and Raph. Knocking the two Turtles aside, he tries to escape, but is confronted by Irma, April and Splinter, who work together to disarm him. Sandwiched between this trio and the two Turtles – at this point, even April has balled-up fists and is clearly ready to throw down – Shreds has finally wound up in a position where there’s nowhere for him to run.

Krang emerges from the Technodrome in his bubble walker, accompanied by Donatello of all people, and when he addresses General Traag as “dude” it’s clear that something strange is happening. The cloaking device wears off, revealing that this Krang was Michaelangelo the entire time. The real Krang rejoins Shredder and both watch in horror as the full extent of Donatello’s sabotage becomes evident: the Technodrome is pulled into a portal to Dimension X, doomed to spiral uncontrollably through space.

As in “Night of the Rogues” earlier this season, it falls to Bebop and Rocksteady to save their bosses at the last second. The Boys emerge in a pick-up truck – identical to the one used by yokel criminal family the Badds in “Donatello’s Badd Time” - and pull the villains into the back, Irma continuing to fire upon them as they flee. With the Technodrome, the Foot Soldiers and Rock Soldiers now gone, Shredder and Krang have effectively lost everything.

Throughout this season, almost all of the adventures of the Turtles have taken place at night, a subtle shift from the cheery bright blue skies often seen in years prior and an indicator of the more mature direction things were taking. Today, the Turtles have been out in the open during the daytime, forced to deal with a threat to the city big enough that it justifies them re-emerging from the darkness. As Splinter addresses the group in the closing moments of this outing – warning that Shredder may return to fight another day – sunset arrives, the sky above the city transitioning to a golden hue. In the final shot, a streak of red looms ominously on the horizon. Whether by intention or simple coincidence, it hints at a future still to come for our young heroes, one where things will never be the same again.

Oh, and Irma still has the gun. I’d like to think that she’ll hold on to that thing, knowing how grim things will soon become.

Phew. Okay, there’s a lot to take in here. “Shredder Triumphant!”, I dare say, could be considered a triumph in its own right; here we have not only a big end-of-season-finale for the first time in four years, but one that arguably tops them all. There’s a sense that all roads have led here, the almost one-hundred-and-seventy adventures of the Turtles building to this point: a final battle in which the entire main cast gets to show what they’ve learned, and who they’ve become over this journey.

I say “final battle”, pointedly, because I strongly suspect David Wise was writing this under the assumption that it might mark the end of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a series. Way back in the very first Turtlethon entry I touched upon how Wise had been tasked with closing the book on Transformers with “The Rebirth”, a five-episode final season that wound up being whittled down to three, intended by Hasbro as a hurried swan song for a franchise thought to be in a death spiral. Though “Shredder Triumphant!” doesn’t even have the benefit of being told over three shows, the intent seems to be much the same: achieve a happy ending, conclude with the villains on the back foot and bickering among themselves, and most crucially of all, provide a bit of wiggle room so that future stories can be told should a revival materialise later on.

With that in mind, I wouldn’t blame anyone who considers this their jumping-off point, a satisfying conclusion to a long-running show that for most of its life has been about the light-hearted, often goofy adventures of four youngsters enjoying themselves. What Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be when the story resumes with season eight is something else entirely. For now though, I think “Shredder Triumphant!” is worth celebrating as a tremendous final encore for the series as it was, a fitting end to a remarkable era.

Only three seasons of the show remain, each extending to a mere eight episodes. Before we get to those though, there’s some long-outstanding business to take care of. The first component in a trilogy of significant works of TMNT-related media which, while not a direct part of the 1987 show’s continuity, are too integral to the story of Turtlemania for us not to cover. So...

youtube

NEXT WEEK. We’re doing it. The 1990 live-action TMNT movie. I don’t know how I’m going to approach writing about such an all-encompassing topic within the confines of Turtlethon’s format, but dammit... we’ll make it work!

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #TMNT 1987 #Ninja Turtles #Turtlethon #1993 #Shredder Triumphant #Shredder Triumphant!#Irma #TMNT Irma #Irma TMNT #Weesel #Vorx #Zwerk

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ducknotinarow · 11 months

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@starsandsavages | continued from [here]

Yeah maybe Leo had a point here, maybe it was insane for him, had Leo done it, then of course Raphael would agree. Part of him agree hiw fucking stupid it was when he left to go find them. But their fucking words were echoing in his mind. Bouncing around his inner ear so all he could really hear was what Shredder confirmed.

Raphael reached out for Leo, grabbing them by their forearm before they could go too far away. The last thing he wanted was for Leo to leave his sight right now. Letting his fingers curl around them tighter.

"Leo I know excatly what he did." He repeats feeling Leo didn't fully caught his meaning before. "I know how he hurt you what he put you through." Lifting his head up. "An' how many times have I told ya? Jus' cause you lead the team don' mean shit to me Leo. Especially not with this." Raphael stares at Leo eyes slow to soften.

"You say you didn' ask me todo this and yeah ture but Leo. We would never ask you to do that either. I definitely wouldn' that's too big a price even for you to have paid."

#muse| hamato raphael #starsandsavages #[ Sorry I don't treat you like you're perfect ♥︎starsandsavages]#[2012 verse]#[reply]#[closed thread]#ic reply

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im-a-walmart-bag · 2 months

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Chapter 4 of..

King Leonardo and the Fallen Kingdom

I know this is a longer Chapter, enjoy!

Leonardo’s POV:

As I walk to my room, I look around the halls, seeing paintings of my father as human. ‘Wow, he looks so…different..’ I thought to myself, opening the door to my room. Once I get to my closet, I get out my armor. I put in my leg armor first, then my chest plate with my sleeves, I always struggle with my chest plate because it is always so hard to adjust the armor around my shell and tail. Once I finally get it on, I get it adjusted. Then I get my sword, putting it in the scabbard on my waist. For the final touch, I get my cape, putting it over my shoulders, which was all blue with a white symbol of the Hamato clan with a dragon circling around the symbol. Finally I leave to the dojo, walking down the same halls, looking at the paintings once more.

Third Person:

Once Leonardo got to the dojo, he saw his three brothers sitting in their knees, waiting for Splinter to enter. Leonardo quickly sits down next to Raphael, Leonardo’s brothers were wearing the same armor as he was, but their capes were different. Raphael’s cape had the Hamato clan symbol with a lion having the symbol in his mouth. Donatello’s cape was with the Hamato symbol and behind the symbol was an owl spreading its wings. Lastly, Michelangelo’s cape was with the Hamato clan symbol, a cheetah circling around the symbol. The turtles say there until Master Splinter emerged from his meditating room. Splinter was a mutant rat that wore a maroon royal robe with the Hamato symbol on the back, the symbol made of gold thread with a luxurious robe with fur on the outer rims as well as a simple Benkan on his head. Splinter looked down at the turtles before speaking in a kid and serous tone. “Rise my sons.” He said, the turtles bowing their heads in respect before standing from their sitting position. “Today,” Splinter began, “You all will focus on your Ninpo. Mastering these techniques is essential for your growth and unity. Each of you have unique abilities. And you must learn to harness them effectively.” Splinter pauses to allow his words to sink into the four turtles. “Leonardo,” Splinter called to the blue masked turtle. “Yes Sensei,” Leonardo responds. “You will practice telekinesis and healing. Raphael, focus on controlling your fire and strength. Donatello, enhance your mind reading and problem solving skills. Michelangelo, refine your control over your electric field and chains..You will pair off and engage in a series of exercises designed to challenge your Ninpo. Begin!” Splinter said, the four turtles bow, “Hai Sensei” They say. Leonardo paired with Michelangelo while Raphael paired with Donatello.

First, Leonardo and Michelangelo started, Leonardo lifted a training dummy with his telekinesis, sending it flying towards Michelangelo. Michelangelo deftly dodged, his body cracking with electricity. He summoned chains that wrapped around the dummy, pulling it to the ground. “Nice move Mikey!” Leonardo said, lifting several more objects and hurling them towards his brother. Michelangelo laughs slightly as he spun his nunchucks, creating an electric barrier that disintegrate the incoming projectiles. He then launched a burst of electrical energy at Leonardo, who countered it with his sword. Leonardo sending an opportunity, he used his healing powers, mending a small cut on Michelangelo’s arm caused by the electrical feedback. “Stay sharp little brother” Leonardo advised, Michelangelo grinned, “Thanks Bro.” They then sat down to rest for a moment.

For that, Raphael and Donatello were up. Raphael ignited his sais, launching a controlled burst of flames at Donatello. Donatello anticipated the move, blocking the fire with his staff. He then read Raphael’s intentions, predicting his next attack. “You’re too predictable Raph.” Donatello teased, swinging his bo staff with precision. Raph growled in response, channeling his strength to break through Donatello’s defense. He managed to land a fiery blow on Donatello’s staff, but Donatello’s quickly adapted using his intellect to invent a counter strateg. “You’ve got to think smarter, not just harder Raph!” Donatello said, already strategizing his new attack. Leonardo and Michelangelo started to train again as they continue their training, each of them trying to push to their limits. Leonardo focused on balancing offense and defense with telekinesis and healing abilities, while Michelangelo worked on precision and control with his electrical field and chains. Raphael sharper his fire and strength, striving for more control. And Donatello combined his mind-reading and problem-solving skills to stay ahead of his opponent. Splinter watched with pride as his sons demonstrated their growling power of Ninpo. They were becoming powerful warriors, more importantly, learning how to work together if anything happens. If He returns for another challenge to claim Splinter’s life once more. Splinter hated that he put his sons in danger, but they had nowhere else to go. “Hajime!” Splinter called, raising his hand. The turtles immediately stop, breathing heavily from the intense training. “You all have done well,” Splinter said, his voice filled with a proud tone. “Remember, Ninpo is not just about power, it’s about balance, control, and harmony. Continue to train hard and support each other.” The turtles bowed deeply to Splinter in respect. “Hai Sensei!” They say before leaving. Splinter waits until they are gone before sighing. Splinter got up, going back to his meditation room, sitting down legs crossed to meditate. Before he was able to, a guard quickly ran in. “Your majesty!” The guard said urgently, Splinter looking back at the guard with a side eye. “What is it Ethan?” Splinter asked, getting up. “It’s- He—…” The guard seemed troubled “Well? What is it?” Splinter asked, the guard looked up at Splinter in horror

“…King Shredder has returned..”

#tmnt 2012 #royalty #tmnt fanfiction #knights #tmnt royalty #fanfic

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goodlucktai · 2 years

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give me something that’ll haunt me when you’re not around

chapter ten: standing here hoping it gets to you

rise of the tmnt pairing: leoichi (leonardo / usagi yuichi) word count: 3k title borrowed from message in a bottle by t swift post-movie

(previous) (next)

read on ao3

Free-climbing up the side of a high rise in downtown Manhattan might be considered an extreme sport in most other circles, but Yuichi doesn’t know anything about those circles. They sound boring.

It’s drizzling a little, and the next window ledge he reaches for is slicker than he’s expecting. The second his grip slips, a huge green hand shoots out and catches him by the wrist.

“Thanks, Raphael,” he says when he’s found a better foothold. His heart skipped with the close call, but otherwise he isn’t fazed.

“You’re gonna have to break and call Raph by a nickname sooner or later,” the eldest turtle says, playfully stern.

Yuichi busily looks down at his hands as he climbs, flustered. It makes Michelangelo laugh, ringing and bright.

“I can’t believe we used to think you were scary,” the spotted turtle says. He’s perched on Raphael’s shell like gravity is a neat concept in theory but not one he’s particularly interested in.

“Come oooon,” Leonardo’s voice calls down from the roof. “¡Vamos hermanos! Hey Cottontail, I thought rabbits were supposed to be fast!”

“Hey Stripes, I thought turtles were supposed to be quiet,” Yuichi calls back without missing a beat.

There’s an immediate chorus of “oooh”s at the burn, and Leonardo makes offended squawking noises, and Yuichi is smiling when he finally pulls himself over the parapet onto the flat rooftop.

The view from here is breathtaking. NYC at night is unlike anything else Yuichi has ever seen. The blinding lights and the rumble of traffic and the kinetic energy of millions of humans going about their night.

It’s absolutely bursting with life, and they’re sitting above it all, a part of it and apart from it.

Yuichi’s muscles are pleasantly sore from the workout and he stretches out to cool down and get his breathing back. A nudge at his side makes him glance to the left to find a mechanical arm offering him a water bottle. Donatello doesn’t acknowledge his thanks, but he also gives Yuichi an energy bar.

It’s one thing to know that the Hamato siblings are ninja in theory, and it’s another thing entirely to see it in practice. None of them have broken a sweat, not even Casey.

“Do you guys do this a lot?” Yuichi wonders aloud.

“We try to patrol once every week,” Raphael explains, then seems to catch himself. He glances at Leonardo and gets a thumbs up before he goes on, “Otherwise, Donnie has alerts set up for suspicious activity, and we go check it out if it’s our brand of weird.”

Leonardo’s family has an impressive number of adversaries, though none they really seem to take seriously. The ones they call “mutants” all have a grudging understanding with the turtles—from the tone of the stories they tell him, Yuichi secretly thinks it’s pretty likely that these grown-up yokai just don’t want to deal with a handful of teenagers any more than they have to. There’s a mantis that runs a junkyard they’re at constant odds with, but in the manner of a grumpy old man chasing annoying kids off his property. And apparently they got invitations from the hippo and the worm to save the date for their upcoming wedding.

There’s some dissension among the siblings about this, but if Yuichi is understanding the thread of the argument entirely, it’s not a matter of whether or not they’re going. It’s a matter of the gift registry, and why the hell they should subject themselves to Pottery Barn for those guys when Target is right there.

The ones that call themselves the Foot Clan are another story. They’re a hereditary enemy, and the ones responsible for the invasion in the first place. The turtles and Casey all have dark looks on their faces when the Foot comes up.

It’s nice to have people to blame for the shadow that passed over Leonardo’s light. Yuichi unwinds his yo-yo a few times, sparks flying off the reinforced string, and looks forward to meeting the Foot on the street sometime.

“I’m glad Cass got out of there,” Raphael is saying. “What’s she up to now?”

Casey answers dutifully, “She told me when we went to lunch yesterday but she swore me to secrecy. She said ‘if you know, you know.’”

“Goddammit, it’s world domination, I know it is.” Donatello puts his head in his hands, staring into the middle distance. “She beat me to it.”

“I’m good with that,” Michelangelo says blithely. “When she’s finally running the show, we can take a vacation. Tahiti, baby!”

Leonardo is sitting on the edge of the rooftop, legs dangling over the side, with what would would be considered reckless ease for anyone outside his family. Yuichi sits next to him, because he’s exactly the kind of reckless idiot who would risk a thirty-story fall just to sit next to a cute boy.

In the back of his mind, the absolutely certain knowledge that he’s completely safe with this cute boy—this insane, amazing family—thrums like gravity, constant and steady and unspoken. It doesn’t even occur to him to be afraid of falling.

It feels like this is where he belongs.

“You know,” Leonardo says suddenly, staring up at the stars he can’t see through all the light pollution, “I keep thinking of something the General said.”

The atmosphere changes immediately. Yuichi can feel the overwhelming, undivided attention of a small ninja clan sharpening into a point. Leonardo is freer with his words now than he was two months ago, but he still generally doesn’t offer information about the Krang unless he’s pressed.

Yuichi shifts his hand across the concrete, feeling the rasp of it through his fur, until it bumps Leonardo’s.

Leonardo still doesn’t look at any of them, but some small line of tension in his shoulders bleeds away.

“Oh yeah?” Donatello asks in a tone that anyone who didn’t know him might mistake for mild.

“Yeah. He said, uh. ‘Strength always prevails.’ He said a lot of stuff, but that’s what I keep thinking about for some reason.”

Michelangelo looks like the only thing stopping him from flinging his arms around his immediate older brother is the quelling hand Raphael has on his carapace. His amber eyes are big and wide but he manages to sound halfway normal when he nudges carefully, “How come, Leon?”

“‘Cause it’s funny, isn’t it?” Leonardo says, as if anything about that day could possibly be funny. But Yuichi is watching him closely, and only sees wry good humor in his face. “If strength always prevails, and he’s gone and I’m still here, I guess that means I’m stronger than him.”

No one speaks. It seems like everyone is holding their breath. Yuichi is the one who says, “Well, yeah, Leo.”

Leonardo grins. It’s a little shaky, but it finds its footing the longer it goes. He stands on the edge of the rooftop and throws his head back and faces the empty sky again.

The thought occurs to Yuichi, unbidden: Now I know why his brothers call him Fearless.

“I’m still here!” he screams. “I won! Fuck you! You’re gonna die alone and you’re never gonna hurt me again and I’m going to forget all about you!”

Casey laughs out loud, a harsh, relieved sound. Michelangelo slumps forward, hands pressed to his own plastron, but he’s beaming in a way that takes up half his face.

There are unselfconscious tears on Raphael’s face. Donatello’s staring at his twin’s back with vicious satisfaction, golden eyes glowing in the low light.

Someone lounging on a fire escape a few stories down, indistinguishable in the dark, lifts their beer and shouts back, “Yeah, fuck him! You’re better off, babe!”

Leonardo stumbles backwards off the parapet, laughing so hard he can’t stand upright. Yuichi reaches out to catch him, and finds himself caught up instead as this ragtag, war-torn little clan clings to each other and dissolves into hysterics together. The kind that starts from the bottom of your stomach and works its way up, scrubbing you clean. The healing kind.

Afterwards, it feels like a party. They want to celebrate this nameless thing shaped like recovery. So they go to Run of the Mill.

They’re a rowdy crowd clustered around the hostess stand, just by virtue of their personalities. There’s a table opening up in the back of the dining room big enough for all six of them.

From behind the bar, Qiao gives Yuichi a very knowing look—seeing the group he’s lumped with and Leonardo’s arm draped comfortably around his shoulders—and he has to fight not to hide behind his ears at their smug scrutiny.

Sunita and April are here already, sharing a basket of garlic knots, and they both smile warmly when they see who just walked in. Kitsune and Gen are at a booth in the corner, wearing the world’s worst attempt at disguises and peeking at the foyer over their menus.

Señor Hueso is the one who seats them, looking annoyed by all the noise but making absolutely no move to subdue them.

He lays a hand on Leonardo’s shoulder, his sunken eyes soft with fondness if you know what to look for. The skeleton yokai says something in Spanish that Yuichi has no hopes of translating. Leonardo’s cheeks darken and he responds in kind, his tone rapid-fire and flustered. Señor Hueso confirms whatever he said with a perfunctory nod and then gathers a handful of menus and leads the Hamatos toward their table, leaving his honorary nephew sputtering behind him.

(“Podrías haberlo hecho peor.”

“Espera, ¿él o yo?”

“Sí.”)

Leonardo catches Yuichi by the sleeve before he can follow. He looks agitated, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and blurts, “Can you hang back? For a sec?”

Yuichi blinks and turns to face him. This doesn’t do wonders for Leonardo’s nerves, for some reason. The striped turtle glances anywhere but at him, and then finally darts a desperate look at Casey.

Across the room, the human lifts both his hands and gives him a double thumbs up.

“Okay,” Leonardo says. “Okay,” he says again, finally daring to look at Yuichi again. That only lasts about two seconds.

“Hey,” Yuichi interjects, tilting his head to the side. Concern is a little wriggling fish in the back of his mind, but he refuses to give it room to swim unless there’s real reason. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

He puts out his hands, an offer. He doesn’t know if it helps or not, because Leonardo snatches them up quickly, but he only looks more miserable by the second, in a vaguely seasick kind of way.

“Are you—” His cheeks darken. He’s still studying the polished tile beneath his feet like it’s the most interesting thing for miles. “I mean—if you’re free, whenever—would you—”

Yuichi sees the moment this cobbled-together courage starts to fail him. Give Leonardo a grenade to fall on and he’ll do it in a heartbeat. He’ll hold the line at the end of the world, he thrives in the eleventh hour. But an honest conversation? Way more terrifying than any of those things.

That’s okay. Maybe Yuichi can be Fearless this time.

And he wants this to be what he wants it to be. He’s willing to risk looking like an idiot if he’s wrong.

It wouldn’t be the worst thing, really. Leonardo is his friend. There’s real love between them already, no matter what shape it may take in the future, no matter if the edges of Leonardo’s feelings don’t quite match up to Yuichi’s.

It’s like sitting on the edge of that rooftop, feet dangling over cars that looked like toys in the street. He won’t fall. Leonardo would never let him fall.

“Yes,” Yuichi says, calling on all the bravery that belongs to his name, every inch of the samurai spirit he inherited from Miyamoto himself. “I am. I would.”

Leonardo’s head snaps up, eyes like headlights. “What? Really?” The sweet expression on his face falters before it even has a chance to settle. “Wait, are we talking about the same thing?”

This idiot. Yuichi loves this idiot.

He squeezes Leonardo’s hands, a mirror of what his heart is doing. He tugs the turtle in a step closer, so there’s hardly any space left between them except for the space they need to breathe, the slim margin left open to keep holding hands.

Leonardo is staring at him, and Yuichi recognizes the look on his face. It’s the way Leonardo has always looked at him, since that first golden afternoon at Run of the Mill, but Yuichi didn’t know him well enough to read him back then. Not the way he knows him now.

And now he sees warmth in those eyes. Admiration. And powerful, precious hope.

That hope outlasted the apocalypse. It’s outlived every night terror and panic attack and strangling episode of self-doubt since. Yuichi wishes, absurdly, that he could pick it up and hold it close and carry it safely the rest of the way through the world.

He’ll have to settle for meeting Leonardo’s gaze squarely and telling him, in no uncertain terms, “I’m talking about going out with you. What are you talking about?”

“Samesies,” Leonardo breathes, and then closes his eyes, like he’s just pained himself beyond recovery. It’s ridiculous. He’s adorable. “I mean. Yes. That’s what I—that’s what—please make me stop talking.”

Finally. Yuichi leans in to do exactly that.

There’s immediate uproar from elsewhere in the room, because of course there is. Leonardo’s siblings and Yuichi’s friends waste absolutely no time making complete nuisances of themselves, hooting and catcalling and shushing each other in turns.

But the only thing that matters is Leonardo kissing him back.

It’s brief. It’s clumsy, a little self-conscious. Neither of them know what they’re doing, they’re both really nervous. It’s better than Yuichi ever could have imagined.

“Took you long enough,” Yuichi whispers. He feels light as a feather, like the slightest shift in the weather might blow him clear away. “That’s what I get for waiting on a turtle.”

Leonardo scoffs, breathless and flustered. He’s flushed all over by now, and when he rolls his eyes it’s clearly just an excuse to let his eyes dart away. Then he spots something that makes him groan.

“Oh god. Look.”

Yuichi follows his gaze to his siblings’ table, where they’re clearly straining to listen in on this conversation. Sunita and April have abandoned their bread basket to attach themselves to the ninja huddle. When Leonardo gives them away, only Raphael, Casey and the girls have the decency to bury their faces in a menu and pretend otherwise. Michelangelo and Donatello are outright staring.

“Ugh, they’re the worst,” Leonardo says. “I literally can’t imagine life without them.”

“I get that,” Yuichi replies honestly. As they watch, Gen and Kitsune slink across the dining room to join the Hamato clan, and they all begin having what looks like a very animated, very involved conversation, occasionally gesturing in Yuichi and Leonardo’s direction. That can't be good.

Sometimes retreat is the better part of valor.

“Hey,” Yuichi says, lowering his voice into a conspiratorial whisper, “you wanna get out of here?”

The cheesy line is rewarded in a heartbeat by Leonardo’s blinding smile. He clusters in a little until their foreheads bump. He loves a scheme, he loves to be in on it. They’re back on solid ground together.

“Let’s do it. Where do you wanna go? Anywhere in the whole world.”

There’s something very earnest in the question, behind the chaos gremlin energy, the giddy good humor. He’s vulnerable, laying himself out for Yuichi to see plainly.

His ninpo is such an intrinsic part of himself, the thing that houses his soul, and he’s saying, Use it. I’ll let you use it.

It’s not a hard choice. Given his pick of any destination in the world, Yuichi has his mind made up in about five seconds. He doesn’t even really have to think about it.

“I kind of want to go to Hungry Burrito and try those carne asada fries you never shut up about,” he admits.

It’s the right thing to say. Leonardo tips his head back and laughs, and it sounds exactly like the very first time Yuichi ever heard it. Before the invasion, before the months-long recovery, before the monster that tried to ruin him and every good thing about him. Back when it had no reason not to be the loudest, brightest thing in the whole room.

Spirits. God. Yuichi isn’t ever letting this boy go.

The turtle reaches over his shoulder for a sword. The spinning blue portal opens right there in the dining room, and one of Leonardo’s brothers squawks in alarm, and there’s a ruckus of upset dishes and screeching chairs behind them, but Yuichi and Leonardo are faster.

They make their escape hand in hand. The whole thing feels equal parts silly and daring. The whole night feels that way.

They put their phones on airplane mode and eat spicy loaded fries on a fire escape in Queens and sit close enough that their knees and elbows bump every other time they move. They race each other over the rain-slick rooftops and wipe out a couple of times each and almost lose their voices in the cool night air from laughing too much.

As far as first dates go, Yuichi has no notes. He wouldn’t change a thing.

It’s time to head back when Leonardo’s eyes glow white between one blink and the next, and he sighs, like someone who just got a disappointing text.

“Curfew,” he says. “Let me take you home.”

“Are you going to survive your brothers tonight?” Yuichi asks fondly.

“God, I don’t know. Pray for me.”

In the blue light of the portal, when Yuichi is standing in the middle of his bedroom, Leonardo leans through after him to press a quick, shy kiss to his cheek. Then he flails a haphazard wave and disappears.

Ugh. Ugh. Yuichi can’t with this guy.

He collapses into bed, dizzy and breathless. He’s smiling so hard he’s half-afraid it might leave a permanent impression on his face. He feels drunk. He feels perfect.

He’ll have a lot of shit to answer for when his friends inevitably show up at his house tomorrow, furious at the missed chance to embarrass him in front of his brand-new boyfriend (!!). They’ll definitely rat him out to Auntie, and the cousins will eavesdrop like the monsters they are and never give Yuichi or Leonardo a moment’s peace for being gross and in love, but that’s entirely future-Yuichi’s problem.

If he’s very lucky, it’ll be a rest-of-his-life problem.

The last thing Yuichi does before he falls asleep is reach for his phone.

Usagi: Let’s do all of it again tomorrow.

The reply rolls in immediately, every bit as if a certain someone was waiting with their phone in their hands.

Leo💙: it’s a date!!!!!

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #leoichi #leosagi #usagi yuichi #hamato leonardo #my writing #tmnt fic #these bright blue city lights #aaaaaa im so sad this is over !! ive really had a lot of fun writing it !!

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imonsterkive · 3 months

Text

Pride's a Death Sentence (pt.2)

Angel, that was her name. Or at least that's what is written in the registry.

Astro, was the name of the young lady they found in the carnage.

She doesn't even look a bit like her; the red of her hair was dark, hers is a bright vermilion. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, hers are widened, soulless, like a doll.

But what if... It was her after all?

She's missing that same arm. The same one he hides.

No, Leonardo would never accept it. But eventually it could backfire to deny he was her mentor, her "father"...

Her killer.

-----------------------------

"Everyone, silent! Do you all realize we're hanging on a thread? There's no time for setbacks! All of you, get it together, we're leaving tomorrow morning!" The Leader in Blue says, setting his prosthetic arm on the table as his eyes squint in frustration.

The room goes motionless soon enough, the fear lingering with each second that passed by.

To leave the next day out to the dangers of the apocalypse was without question a reckless course of action. Part of Leonardo’s tactic is to resort to get the help of the Hidden City and thus, increase the number of their army, but there was no sign of the city being anywhere soon to be found.

Leonardo doesn’t have anything else to say; there was nothing coming to his mind, not a single solution or new plan to fight the Kraang. Ten years passed so fast; the grief of thousands of families, the broken hearts of past lovers, the cries of the Apocalypse generation children under the rubble and the limp arms of their mothers and fathers, those glimpses were still haunting.

Leonardo is the man to call for things of this sort. He's in charge, and he is the one who promised people that the war would end soon; despite he's supposed to be a leader, he never learned from his mistakes. The tapping of his three calloused fingers against the red wood table, a pair of fatigued eyes leering across the room; the feeling of a million eyes staring at the abyss of who he is.

He sighs. “You’re all dismissed”.

The set of broken sai hung on the wall, a torn red bandana next to the picture of his long gone brother in the middle of the room, next to the picture of his long gone brother.

What would Raphael do?

The former leader of the Resistance– well, not the leader, but surely people respected him and trust him more. The Resistance had no choice but to start looking out for him now that Raphael was gone.

"Goddamn..." He sighs as soon as everyone leaves the meeting room; deep inside he's nothing but the scared teen who sent the world to this misery.

He's staring at the picture again; the vivid image of his older brother torments him every day, when he's out on the battlefield, when he is in a meeting, even in his sleep.

The multiple Kraang crawling behind his shell, squirming with their disgusting ooze across his face, asphyxiating with a smile on their faces, pulling from his strong limbs one by one. The sky was painted red, that grim night only three of the Hamato brothers returned home, barely making it.

His calloused skin and the chipped piece over his shell; Mikey's limping that lasted for at least three whole weeks (news flash, it actually wasn't temporary); Donnie's battle shell completely torn to junk, the tentacles made it to, what's by nature, his weak point. A big nasty trace of scars across the keratin of his shell— inflicted by his own dear brother, if it wasn't for the girls' distraction they would've lost him too.

Well, he did lose him. But not to the Kraang, it was his own loss.

The Resistance is not big enough to have two leaders in charge, especially if the one challenging him was his, quote, twin. He's no longer his family, just a lame excuse of a brother, that traitor. Giving it all to the magical nonsense; for someone as smart as him, he sure made the stupidest decision ever.

And then... He lost her.

He will never forget her voice filled with pain.

The same way he lost Raphael, but this time the blood was on his own, fucking hands. He made sure it was well hidden between his brother and himself.

But the truth always prevails, doesn't it?

A dreading gasp.

---------------------------------

Leonardo's just falling deep into his thoughts, again. Shaken up by his younger brother, who went to check in after spotting him frozen up like a corpse. "It's getting worse. You should seek some help, Nardo". Mikey sets his cloak to the side, placing it over him as he was holding his battered hands into his; the box turtle smelled like the candle's citrusy scent. Leo's dilated eyes became softer, letting go for just a second. To remove the prosthesis that covered his...

Stump? No, there wasn't a stump in sight; Leonardo's right arm was in one piece, but compared to his left one, it was all covered in old burns, and wounds inflicted long ago, the most remarkable time being the night they lost Raphael to The Bite.

Michelangelo's magic could be used to heal it all; "You shouldn't be punishing yourself for any of this".

But Leonardo's stance concerning supernatural phenomena is strong.

"And you should stop killing yourself with your powers. Don't act like I haven't spotted a new gray section in your locks, Hermanito".

The prosthesis even made a yellow mark across the metal, to be matching with his left one, intact. It also looked a bit too much to Raphael's arm, so people just started assuming it was in his honor, and not asking Leo personally any further details.

After all, talking about losing a family member it's never an easy topic. He wishes he could stop lying to people; the war's most likely not going to end soon, but someone has to keep their hopes up. Someone.

Someone else than him.

Mikey approached him; a hug can't heal everything, but at least for the next ten minutes of silence, they could move on. Leonardo's right arm couldn't feel anything with all the dead debris surrounding it, but his left one started to brush his little brother's hair, it is amazing how long and well-kept it was despite all the dust and filth from the outside.

It was just the two of them. They don't have anyone else besides April, and Splinter, although he's been getting very sick lately. So they have to get mentally prepared to assume the worst.

"Leo..."

Mikey whispered. He held his hands as another butterfly emerge from his palms; the glow in this one was a light purple, with beamed in sync with the Clan brooch around Leonardo's belt and Mikey's cloak.

"I sense him again... I thought Astro would know what happened to-"

No.

Leonardo's too prideful to ask for help.

But Mikey knows he must step in to try and find a way to win this war. And it all starts with the robot girl he rescued, and vanished as soon as she woke up from her hyper sleep.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt fandom #tmnt #redheadz au #tmnt au #artists on tumblr #future leonardo #future mikey #redheadzau #astro tag

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