#and it's easy to think mikey and raph are the worst

[meanderfall]

decided that the reason why 2003 splinter can be so laid back at times about the adventures his sons get up to is bc he knows he's unleashed hellions upon the world

[klunkcat]

dialogue prompts for ~injury~

11. “I’m going to lift you up, okay? Tell me if it hurts.”

with maybe portal duo my beloved :3 💙🧡

(I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I read this and immediately thought about how cold it was outside the other day, so this got away from me a little bit <3 if you live in upstate new york and know geographically that this is impossible, know that I looked up exactly enough for this to not be nonsense and that's it so sorry in advance lmao)

tw: mild injury, some mentions of potential suffocation (does not happen), avalanches

Maybe it’s a cliche to say that ‘everything happened so fast’, but in Mikey’s defense, it was freezing and he was thinking about the hot cocoa he was going to make when he got home (with mousse, and sprinkles. Maybe the cherries April had sneakily bought him the other day), and frankly it was freezing. 

The opportunity to hang out at April’s cabin with his brothers upstate had been a dream come true. Donnie kept the train carts from getting too cold regularly, but there was a power outage issue that made things draftier than even their mounds of blankets seemed to be able to drive out these days. When it had been suggested they spend a few weeks away until the grid could come back on, it sounded like a vacation. 

Complete access to an open acre of land in the mountains complete with a two story log cabin home, with full wifi? And a full kitchen? Paradise. Easy trade. Every single one of them had yes and’ed that bit. 

Of course, it didn’t mean they’d left the winter behind. 

One second, they’d been playing ‘Free Willy-Raph’, which is to say competing over who could launch themselves high enough off a snow hill to make it fully over Raph’s head – kind of like a pole vault but with a sled and a lot more crashing limbs– and the next. Well. Mikey isn’t entirely sure what happened next.  

He’d been up the slope, maybe a bit farther than his brothers had gone just to prove a point, spiced up on the barest bit of playful spite after Leo had beat him the last four times in a row, and sure he could get it this time. His brother’s and April looked like stickmen down the ways as he’d started settling down his bright orange sled. 

Suddenly, a shout, or a rush of noise. He wasn’t sure what came first. A roll of white, and he was flying. Swimming, maybe. Then: darkness.

Mikey’s not sure if he blacks out for a second, or when he blinks himself awake it’s just fallen instantly silent, but it’s muffled all the way up to his eyes. Oh, he thinks distantly. There is stuff on my eyes. It’s really unfortunate that his arms are too tired to move anywhere at all near his face. He wiggles his hands anyways. 

It’s cold, too— his thoughts are hard to order. It’s an all over cold like Donnie had stuffed snow down his jacket again. He hopes Raph caught him doing it this time. 

“Not funny, Dee,” he mumbles, and hey. Actually, it’s hard to move his lips, too. He knows something about that— Leo had drilled it into all of their heads after he’d read through one of the big medical textbooks April ‘borrowed’ for him. 

We don’t regulate temperature like people do, Leo’d said. Which means, if you lie around in the tunnels all day or take a funky trip up to skate around without a scarf. Bam, turtle pop. 

Does that mean we can’t go up top at all? Mikey’d whined. It would be horrendous if they couldn’t visit April for a good few months; they had a tradition on Christmas eve of watching the absolute worst Christmas rom coms they could for the entire afternoon before her parents got home from work. They’d never gotten that cold before. 

Leo’d poked Mikey and leaned forwards with a sideways smile. Nah, just gotta stay warm is all, Angie. If you feel sleepy, let me know okay?

“I think I’m sleepy,” Mikey tells Leo. Except Leo isn’t actually here, he doesn’t think. It’s cold, but it’s packed all in at him like there’s something warm under the center of it. He can’t really feel his toes, he thinks one of his boots might have fallen off. April had tried really hard to find some in his size, she’d probably be sad. 

Fuck, Leo thinks. Imagines a Raph who isn’t just as mortified as he is scolding him for it, and swears again just for emphasis.

In theory, he’d known that avalanches were a thing. He’d even made a joke about it as they were driving up and noticed exactly how nestled into the mountainside April’s parents place was. He’d thought it was more for skiers, or freak accidents in ice storms, or dramatic beginnings to a meet cute made by someone who had absolutely no understanding of gravitas. 

Not for little brothers. Definitely not for his. 

The notice that the snow was giving way had been almost nothing— a faint drum sound maybe. He’d hesitated, for a second while goofing around with Don and gotten a handful of snow to the face as a result. Mikey trudging stubbornly up the marker that Leo’d set to try to get even more airtime, bright orange sled bobbing with him as he went. 

He’d looked so tiny. For all his little brother was an absolute powerhouse of a maniac when he needed to be, sometimes it hit him funny just to remember that he was little. 

Then, a cracking noise. Something rumbling— a white hill appearing behind Mikey, farther up the slope, April’s gasp of sudden realization and— 

He couldn’t find Mikey. 

“Maybe he followed it out,” April said, panic making her voice sound thready to Leo’s ears. “If he— in an avalanche, you’re supposed to swim with it.” 

Leo shook his head. Numb down to his finger tips. “He wasn’t even looking at it.” Mikey hadn’t even seen it. His baby brother was a fluid instinctive wave of thunder in motion on his worst days, but it hit him from behind. They’d never been anywhere that had so much snow. 

Donnie made a faint noise to his left, the kind of exasperated hiss that meant he was overwhelmed and shutting down. He typed even more frantically on his wrist guard. 

“He’s here,” Raph said, swallowing roughly. “We just— we just have to find him. Right?” 

Leo nodded back. “Maybe we should, um. If we split up, we can cover more area. Don, can you lend Raph your staff?”

It was a testament to how far deep into shut down mode his twin was that he didn’t even argue, passing it over without a word. Leo tried to center himself. 

“It’s. If you poke first, gently. You can find more under the snow, so it doesn’t get more compact.” Raph’s weight would be a problem in terms of accidentally standing on Mikey, if he was under him. He tried to will his brain away from the mental image and failed. “You go left, I’ll start where we saw him and work down.” 

Raph nodded, mouth set in a wobbly line. Find him Leo, he imagined Raph saying. Please.

It was a tiny one, April’d said, which was the craziest part. They’d had enough time to back up out of the way, and it hadn’t reached the house. Just a top layer shifting with the snowfall from last week, probably. Just bad timing. 

There could be another one, if they weren’t careful. Leo was the fastest, he could portal himself down the mountain if he triggered anything, but it would mean Mike potentially buried under another layer. Shit. And it was cold. He’d almost told Mikey to come back down at first, because he was the most susceptible as the smallest to bone chill and they’d been out for a good hour already, but Mike had looked so determined—

He set out up the mountain. 

“Mike? Angelo?” He called, gingerly plodding through the snow, one careful foot at a time. “Buddy, you’re scaring us a little here. Can you make a noise? Reach a hand up? Come on, I’ll even let you tell everyone you won the jump if you want. Once in a lifetime offer!” 

The wind whistled emptily back at him. He shivered. The chill was already starting to bite further through his layers, or maybe it was the shock of seeing his baby brother’s orange hat swallowed up like it was being erased in front of him. This was supposed to be fun, was the thing. A big relaxation party time after barely surviving the end of the world, again. 

Dad had stayed home to keep the lights on, and April was off school for winter break, and it was supposed to be the best time ever so that dad didn’t get a heart attack and ground them all from ever doing anything until they were forty. Fuck, he thought again, which really put a finer point on things. 

What if Mike was hurt? What if he’d hit his head, or crashed into a tree– what if he couldn’t breathe, and Leo was walking around slowly above him all the while, oblivious. What if this nice holiday trip was the last time he ever saw his baby brother, and the last thing he’d ever said was a teasing insult about being last. 

“Mikey!” He called out more urgently. It echoed back, just on the side of too loud, and he froze. Waited. One one thousand, two one thousand. 

No drum sound, no cracking. Just the potential of his brother suffocating three feet to his left. 

Dad was going to lose it. 

He scanned around, white snow and wind blurring at his vision in every direction. Panic had already settled its grip in his chest so hard it hurt, his hands thrumming with adrenaline. It seemed all dead here, frozen still life portraits of something lost years ago. Grey and white and— there! 

A peek of bright orange, barely poking out of the snow. His sled. 

Leo collapsed beside it, digging immediately, heart in his throat. “Mike! Mikey, can you hear me, buddy? Are you— can you say something?” 

He wiggled the sled free after a long frantic moment, using it like a shovel. What if Mikey wasn’t even under it, what if the sled had flung itself the opposite direction, and Leo was wasting time— 

A gloved hand reached up through the layer of snow, weakly. “Oh thank fuck,” Leo breathed, and dropped the sled to grab at it with both hands. “You okay? Can you— is anything broken?” 

Mikey’s face appeared, paler than usual. Bunches of snow tucked against his eyelids. The most wonderful sight he’d ever seen. 

“C’n get it off,” he said, barely a mumble. Leo leaned in. 

“What was that, sweetheart?” 

Mikey’s face scrunched, a barely there motion but something that shot right through Leo’s heart with every big brother instinct he owned. “Snow. M’ eyes.”

“Oh,” Leo chucked, nervous and rabbit quick with fear. “I got you, shush. Hold on, Sunshine.” He pulled his glove off with a thumb, wiping at Mikey’s eyes as careful as anything. His hands shook violently.

Mikey cautiously blinked up at him, eyes dazed. “Leo, I’m sleepy.” 

Leo shoved his glove back on, pushed the remainder of the snow off Mikey’s legs. Unburying him as much as he could. “I bet, big day for you, huh? How’s about we get you down the hill–”

“No,” Mikey’s voice got a little clearer. “I’m. You said to say. If we’re cold and sleepy. I remembered.” 

Oh. Oh, shit. Leo made himself smile. “That’s right, I did say that. Great job for telling me. We’ll get you warmed up right away, okay? But I— I need you to stay awake before that, okay? Can you do that?” 

Mikey’s eyes fluttered. “Try.” 

The whiplash of fear and relief was making Leo dizzy. He nodded frantically, made himself stop. Mikey’d landed the right way up under the snow, had almost certainly hit his head from how his pupils looked, but he didn’t know if anything was broken. He shouldn’t move Mikey until he was sure, but— there was blue, just there ever so slightly. The edges of Mikey’s lips. Shit. Shit. 

“I’m going to lift you up, okay? Tell me if it hurts.” 

“‘Mm.” Mikey’s head flopped back into the snow. His hat was missing, Leo realized. He didn’t know where Mikey’s hat went. 

“Okay, that’s– that’s good. Hey, you were saying something about hot chocolate earlier. Can you remind me? You always make it the best.” He slid his arms under Mikey’s shell, one under his legs. Mikey rolled his head towards him as he pulled him towards himself like a limp doll– Leo made himself stop noticing. 

“Mousse,” Mikey said, simply. “And sprinkles.” He added, more crossly. 

Leo chuckled, then grimaced as he carefully moved to stand. “Yum, that sounds great. Hey, nothing hurts, right? You’re not being brave on me, are you?” 

Mikey let out a vague mumble, then frowned. “Raph was. He was gunna eat all my cherries, for the hot chocolate.” 

Fifteen years of growing up with Michelangelo was the only thing that prevented Leo from freezing in sheer confusion. The best way through was with him. “Oh? I’ll tell him not to.” 

“Good,” Mikey said, with a tiny head not he seemed to regret. “You can have one, though.” 

The trek back down was going to be slow, Leo thought. He smiled vaguely at Mike, listening carefully for any angry mountain noises around them. April and Donnie seemed to have noticed him already, at least. April was sprinting back to the house. 

“I’m special? Didn’t know you liked me carrying you so much.”  

Mikey huffed, sounding more like a sniff. “Didn’t put snow d’wn my. Down my jacket.” 

“Hm. Think that might have been the mountain, Miguelito. Are you feeling sleepy still?” 

“Head hurts,” Mikey said after a moment. “Oh. We were sledding.” 

Okay, good. Leo breathed out. “Yep. You got surprise attacked a little bit there, so we’re done for the day I think.” 

“Aw,” Mikey whined. Looked up at Leo with big eyes. “I lost my boot.”

His little brother, Leo thought with a wave of fondness so loud it felt like a heart attack. He nodded seriously. “April will forgive you.” 

He hefted Mikey up higher, making sure his arms are tucked in and his face pressed to the warmest parts of Leo's jacket. Hot baths and big blankets aside, he was going to make Mikey the biggest, sweetest hot chocolate the world had ever seen.

"Big shitty rom-com marathon in your future, Angie."

Mike sighs, just there against his pocket, looking smaller than anything without his mask. "Can we play the mustache game?"

He'll tape as many fake mustaches all over the screen as the kid wants, he thinks. "Mhmm. I won't even cheat."

"Yay," Mikey said tiredly. "Thanks f'r not letting me be a turtle pop."

"You got it, sunshine." His heart right between his hands. "Anytime."

[chil-aglia]

BAD THINGS HAPPEN BINGO CARD (again)

Hey y’all, so remember when I said I’m doing another bad things happen bingo card thing? Well….I GOT THE CARD LETS GOOO

RULES TO SUBMIT REQUESTS!

Has to be set in the ROTTMNT universe (during the show/present timeline/apocalypse timeline/movie timeline, an AU of sorts (I mean these bingo spots are basically all AU’s) etc, etc

Main character to write has to be my OC’s (Giovanni, Adriaen, Ronin, Three/Luca. You are also free to suggest Caden. I’ll even throw in Nico, Matt, Dante, Atlas, Zak and Sylas)

You are also free to request for Leo from my FTNTH AU!

Canon characters can be part of it too. Like for example, Leo is helping Adriaen. Or Donnie and Ronin are there together doing whatever it is they are doing. Ya know? Kinda like the prompt ideas

You’re free to submit more than one prompt space for the bingo card. And you’re free to go crazy with your ideas

For the NSFW ones, I’ll be posting those on my NSFWblog, but you can submit the ideas here.

Make sure you also tell me that your request/ideas are for the bad things happen bingo! Otherwise, I won’t know

The fics will be posted here on tumblr and on my Ao3 (I’ll post a link to that after I get some suggestions)

No t-cest btw.

You’re free to draw art for these and idk, tag me or something

And that’s all. If I think of more, I’ll keep adding to it. But other than that…GO, GO, GO, SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS!

You can either comment the ideas here or send it through the ask box!

-----

Tortured for information: Luca is tortured for information. (Not sure what I’ll be doing with this yet) - In the process of writing

Biting: Leo loses control during a moment of intense stress and nearly bites Donnie, his instincts overpowering his rational mind. Though no harm is done, the guilt hits him like a freight train. But Donnie doesn’t let him go that easy. With calm understanding, Donnie reminds Leo that he's not defined by his worst moments, and gently offers a solution, to give Leo an outlet for those urges without hurting anyone.

Self Harm:

Starvation:

Trying not to cry: Tensions run high when Leo and Raph clash in a heated argument that ends with Leo being harshly called a "monster." Shaken and overwhelmed, Leo slips away under the guise of needing fresh air. But the weight of the words cuts deeper than he lets on. Just as he's on the verge of breaking down, Mikey stumbles upon him. Leo struggles to keep his emotions hidden, not wanting his little brother to see him so vulnerable, but Mikey's quiet support gently breaks through his defenses. In the end, Leo allows himself to be comforted, finding unexpected solace in his baby brother’s unwavering compassion. - In the process of writing

Gaslighting:

Stabbing:

Setting a broken bone:

Didn’t want to be saved:

Non-consensual touching:

Forced to hurt someone:

Sleep deprivation:

Muzzled:

Attacked in their sleep:

Paralysed by fear:

Overdose:

Overprotectiveness: While exploring the Hidden City, the Turtles are ambushed by a group of witches with a grudge against Donnie. Separated from Raph, the trio is caught off guard and lightly injured in the scuffle. But the sight of his brothers bleeding, even if it’s just a scratch, is enough to send Leo into a monstrous rage.

Minor character death:

“I’m fine.”:

Suicide Attempt:

Sound Torture:

I deserve this:

Body image issues:

Stranded/lost:

Backhand slap:

[milykins]

TMNT Headcanon – When They’re Sick

You would think the guys never get sick but they’re just as susceptible as you are and they all handle it differently.

Aged Up Characters

Bayverse Turtles

Individual TMNT x Reader

Mikey

Mikey will turn into a big baby when he’s sick. He wants all the attention, all the amenities and all of the cuddles. He will whine and act like he’s dying and that everyone needs to be nicer to him because he’s sick. He will also be bad about taking his medicine, especially if it’s the liquid kind. Good luck trying to get him to take Buckly's. He’ll request you to do silly things like spoon-feed him his soup or having Vicks rubbed on his plastron even though Donnie told him it wouldn’t work. Mikey will request soup, crackers, toast, anything his little heart desires and expect you to wait on him hand and foot. He’ll burrito-wrap himself up and stay on the couch for days until he starts to improve. When he finally starts feeling better he’ll apologize for annoying everyone and bake cookies or brownies as a peace offering.

Raph

This guy will hole himself up inside of his room when he’s sick for however long it takes. He’ll sneakily emerge for food and disappear right after. He’ll raid Donnie’s cabinet for medicine much to his annoyance because he'll leave it a complete mess. When asked how he’s feeling it will be “I’m fine.” No matter what it’s “I’m fine, quit asking.” Raph’s worst habit is trying to push everyone away including you when he’s sick. This is due in part of him refusing in infect his family with whatever he’s sick with and stubborn pride to be able to take care of himself. He will begrudgingly accept your help if it’ll help YOU feel better. He is the worst patient though, because he'll still try to act like he's fine and accepts the bare minimum in the way of medicine and care. You will discover though, that if you rub his shell when he’s sick he’ll churr for you. He can't help it. It’s quite a sight seeing the biggest and strongest turtle curled up in a ball of blankets. After he recovers, he’ll quietly thank you for your help and apologize for being a dick to you.

Leo

Leo will steadfastly refuse your help, he is fine and will take care of himself, there’s no need to ‘fuss over him’. All he needs is time and his tea, thank you very much. He is the most difficult one to take care of because he will continuously refuse help until you just start helping him anyway and may even need to put him in his place. If he’s got a fever/cough/cold and it’s getting worse you will order him to go rest and bring him tea, soup, medicine, whatever he needs. Leo will reluctantly come to the realization that he feels so rotten that your help is very much appreciated. The more delirious and sick he gets, the bigger the baby he becomes and he’ll actually ask for things like being cuddled. Once he’s feeling better he’ll downplay how sick he was but thank you for your assistance nonetheless. Formally, with a bow.

Donnie

Donnie’s toxic trait is completely ignoring the fact that he's sick and continues on working and living his life despite feeling like a bag of garbage. He will likely work himself too hard and collapse from his symptoms. His brothers will put him to bed and then it’s your turn to put on the doctor hat. You ignore his weak protests and get to taking care of him. Once he’s been forced into his bedroom to rest he’s relatively easy to take care of. He’ll take whatever medicine you provide for him and eat his soup like a good turtle. He’s not used to being cared for like this. He’s usually the one taking care of everyone else. Finally being unable to do so is a humbling experience for him. He will be very grateful for your help and will present you with a gift once he's recovered.

[moxfirefly]

"Of course I want them. I want them so much I can barely breathe but I'm not going to force it. If they come to me, it'll be on their terms. Not mine."

For Donnie or Mikey x reader (F) please? Maybe reader is the one saying that line 👀 jealous, fluff or smut scenario, you can choose! Thank you for opening your requests, you always deliver great pieces! ♥️💫

Oh this line hits! And I think Mikey is the guy for it and I think I’ll tweak it a bit if you don’t mind. Thank you for your kind words! Means a lot 🖤

Rated Feels

Mikey wanted to believe that his eyes were deceiving him at most, maybe not working at worst.

Because he really saw some peculiar stares on your behalf.

This whole crush thing was trickier now as an adult. When he was younger, crushing after April had been easy and fleeting.

Now? Some days he couldn’t chase away your scent to safe his life, he couldn’t remember what life before your proximity to him used to be. When had a song sounded better than the ringing of your name, carefully collected consonants and vowels crafted to melt on his tongue.

What had life been before the ache of watching you leave? The insane joy of watching you come home to grace his presence with honeyed bliss?

He felt silly, somewhat dumb, over all hopeless.

This all felt like a curse some days too. Not having the luxury of being topside with you, getting to experience the city night through you.

The wind picked up, cold little pin prick reminders of what he was. Mikey was fond of this roof, maybe because your building was across it, maybe because if he squinted hard enough he could see what your little life in your little apartment was like, and how he could fit into it.

“You plan on sulking all of patrol?” Raph’s deep baritone carried the chilly air as he sat on the ledge.

“I’m not sulking, that’s your job bro.” He was hugging his knees, chasing away the chilly air or maybe because he was truly sulking.

“That broad’s got you bent outta shape, you never got like this with Ape.” Because that had been childish puppy love, and somehow Raph couldn’t see that this ached for real.

It especially ached because there were too many moments where he swore you’d say something first, that you’d cave in and say something about the elephant in the room.

“I like her, she’s—she’s different.” It doesn’t do it justice but he doesn’t want to get mushy with Raph right now, not when his head isn’t cooperating and his heart feels heavy.

“Different alright, wants to hang around with a brat like you, laughs at your shitty jokes, caught her staring at your biceps once.” Raph numbered the facts on each of his fingers, nonchalant but aware of the gas he was pouring.

“Where ya going with this dude? Aside from giving me hope.” And hope was a tragic little word for their kind, something more akin to a light sprinkle of salt on a small wound.

“What I’m saying is, just go after her, tell her the truth. Ya want her, right? She probably wants ya.” Raph popped a toothpick in his mouth, an old habit dying too slowly.

“Of course I want her. I want her so much I can hardly breathe but I’m not going to force it. If she comes to me, it’ll be on her terms. Not mine.” It hurt to say it, it hurt to admit out loud that this was a luxury he couldn’t afford due to what he was.

Raph’s gaze soften, it wasn’t fun seeing his baby brother going through something that had his head spinning this badly. He reached out and clamped a hand on his shoulder, an affectionate squeeze of sympathy.

Mikey watched the building, swore he saw the light on your apartment come alive. Flooding the modest little living room, he could picture you tossing your stuff with a huff and a sigh, before settling into the normalcy of your routine. He felt his phone vibrate, pulling it out to see your name on the screen. It was enough to lift the black cloud.

Not enough to chase the storm away in his chest.

“Hey, angel, outta work finally?” He greeted you, that perfectly timed sigh of ‘fuck yes’ not (yes) sending a jolt through him.

“Are you still out on patrol? I got those disgusting heart attack inducing burgers from the bodega you like, wanna come over when your done being a superhero?” You cooed affectionately, he could hear the rustling of the bay.

Raph watched the smile, a smile only you were capable of sculpting out of Mikey.

He hoped, he hoped for a chance.

A chance at you two enjoying this little life.

[nani-nonny]

Prisoner of Fear : Part 3

Masterpost | Part 2

You chose: Hiding Spot (2)

Enjoy!

Lee’s first thought is to check Señor Hueso’s restaurant, but he scratches the thought when he remembers how loud that place can get. And with his luck, the place was usually up in shambles with whatever crazy situation was happening. It was like trouble followed his family wherever they went. He has to remember his old hiding spots, places where not even trouble could find him–even his family. He has to remember old spots where he used to relax with his family.

And in hindsight… they weren’t exactly good hiding spots. Within the wiring of large jumbotrons in stadiums? Not exactly the best hiding spot. Within plain view of anyone while wearing shoddy disguises? Definitely the worst kind of hiding pot. But that one isn’t exactly a hiding spot. They were almost everywhere in their phony disguises.

But quiet places…?

Lee looks up immediately, eyes locking on the rooftops and their ledges.

Under his breath, Lee mumbles, “Quiet… hidden…”

Memories of spending long nights with his family staring up at the night sky begins to flood his mind as he begins his climb. He grabs the nearest window pane and digs his prosthetic fingers into it, launching his body upwards to catch on another window pane or any other piece of the building’s structure.

He remembers the nights where they made an effort to venture out together, as a family, to fight off the stuffy feeling of constantly living underground. Donnie would point out constellations or planets, maybe he would throw in a random fact that has long flown over Lee’s head by now. Mikey would be huddled with Splinter under a plethora of blankets, keeping warm as they tried to listen to Donnie’s educational rant without falling asleep. Raph would spend the first hour pacing the rooftop, anxious that they would be spotted until he finally gave in and huddled under the blankets with Mikey and Splinter.

And Lee… What would he do?

He reaches the rooftop with ease, ignoring the unanswered question as he scans left and right. But when his view is blocked by an even taller building, he curses under his breath. It’s not high enough. And the blaring horns of traffic down below confirms that thought.

He needs to be higher. The heights are quiet. They’re safe. That’s exactly what he would have done in the past.

He takes a few steps back before readying himself. The next building over is a bit far, but it’s possible. He’s jumped further and more dangerous leaps before, this is nothing. So, he breaks into a full sprint. And when his foot lands on the ledge, he launches himself.

He lands on his foot before breaking his fall with an easy somersault. He catches sight of the next building and doesn’t stop running. His foot meets the ledge once again and he launches himself to the next rooftop.

He repeats this precarious process, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, building to building. He climbs each building that rises higher than the last until he’s scaling skyscrapers. He doesn’t stop until he’s able to see all of Brooklyn on the city’s tallest skyscraper. It brings bad memories, standing on the skyscraper’s rooftop, but he ignores it as he scans the city below.

He searches and searches for anything; a glimpse of a movement, a crowd of cautious strangers–anything.

But then he sees it.

The smallest, green speck on the top of one of the pillars supporting the Brooklyn Bridge. And it… confuses Lee for a second. The bridge is stocked full of cars and trucks stuck in traffic. There must be an endless shroud of sound constantly blaring like a dissonant choir.

So why would his counterpart be there…?

Lee pulls out Mikey’s phone but stops himself short of texting his counterpart’s family. Is that what he needs right now…?

He shakes the thought from his head and tucks the phone away. He’ll think that question over when he sees his past self. He just needs to see if the teen’s okay.

Lee makes quick work of scaling down the skyscraper, dangerously letting his fingers scrape down the side until it was safe enough for him to jump to the nearest rooftop. He doesn’t care if he might be seen in the news as some kind of smaller, less reptilian and more amphibious version of a certain kaiju. That’s a problem for Donnie to fix later. He’s more focused on preventing twisting his ankle on the way to his past self, but makes the journey with ease.

He hops a ride on the top of a semi, hiding himself from the edge while laying on his back. He watches the sunset in the west, twisting his neck uncomfortably to get a better look. And then he realizes why the teen came to the Brooklyn Bridge.

It’s home.

Lee watches the first arch of the Brooklyn Bridge pass and immediately jumps for the nearest pillar. He rounds the pillar to avoid any stares as he climbs the dirty, gross pillar covered-in-bird-feces and tries to avoid those too. It’s a bit difficult to climb due to the pillar’s cylindrical shape, and having to climb the short distance to the tower, but he manages nonetheless.

It makes it all worth it in the end when he sees his past self curled into a ball on the neighboring pillar, past one of the arching cables. Relief immediately swells in Lee’s body when he sees the teen isn’t harmed anymore than he already was when they first met.

Lee steps onto the ledge of the tower and curses inwardly when he sees how far the tower he’s on is from the tower his counterpart is on. He’ll have to cross the support cables, which isn’t something he hasn’t done before, but given the circumstances… it won’t be a nice fall. But he continues onward, making the first step onto the cable.

With each step he makes, he tries to make up topics of conversation. His past self may be on a different level of sociability in comparison to when he had faced this. In fact, he had been trapped long enough to lose his ability to make sound altogether. But from his interaction with his past self, it wasn’t like that for the younger.

But the fear is there, just like his was. He just needs to comfort the teen. Show how everything is safe now.

Lee crosses the support beams without much trouble. There had been a seagull or two flying by and the annoying sound of a horn blaring for too long to be considered sane, but he made it. Although, he didn’t dare passing beyond the ledge. He doesn’t want to scare off the teen now, not when he has reached this far.

So, he clears his throat to signify his arrival.

The sound makes the teen flinch and turn around with the swing of his blade. The teen’s eyes look horrified, wide, and tensed. He points the end of the blade drastically in almost every direction until he finally sees Lee standing from a distance.

“Hey, bud,” Lee greets.

The younger’s eyes shake–tremble in their sockets as he stares directly at the elder. His hand trembles with far more vigor than his eyes, as if they were long trapped in ice. The teen curls deeper into himself, attempting to burrow backward into the corner of the opposing ledge.

Lee raises his hands in surrender, spreading apart his fingers to show he’s not concealing any weapons or anything at all. “I’m not going to do anything, I just want to talk. Is that okay?”

The younger’s eyes shift back and forth between Lee’s open palms, frantically looking between like an overly cautious animal.

Lee frowns seeing how frightened his younger self is and realizes… he messed up. He did more harm than good, bringing his counterpart to the lair the way he did.

A horn blares louder among the rest on the bridge, making the younger flinch and point his blade in the direction of the sound. And it makes Lee’s frown grow deeper. Or maybe he executed his plans the wrong way…

It’s obvious the teen shouldn’t be here. The poor kid is too afraid to think straight, much less think at all from the looks of it.

Lee clears his throat again, garnering the teen’s attention again. He speaks cautiously, “Don’t worry, just a horn. You remember the cars in New York, right? I know you remember something since you’re here of all places.”

The teen doesn’t respond, as expected. And his eyes refuse to look away from Lee.

“Sorry, you’re scared right now, I get it,” Lee apologizes sincerely.

The teen’s eyes narrow, making Lee add this note to the possibility that he still understands speech. It’s far more than what he had experienced… and it’s far more helpful for him to help Leo.

“You might not believe me, but you’re okay now. The Krang’s gone. You did the impossible, Champ,” Lee tries to convince the teen, fighting back the confident quirk at the corner of his mouth when he sees the teen move slightly at the nickname.

Lee can feel the steady, increasing burn grow in his arms. But he doesn’t lower them, not even the smallest margin. His surrender is the only thing that is letting him have this one-sided conversation with the younger.

“That’s right, Leo. You beat the Krang. You freed yourself from the Prison Dimension. I know you remember it. And it’s not a trick. Trust me, Champ. I personally know what you’ve gone through.”

At that, the teen’s head quirks to the right. Whether he’s curious, intrigued, or confused, Lee’s not sure. But he’s got the teen’s interest. So he keeps talking.

“You’re safe. No more tricks, no more Krang. You’re finally home. Well, Brooklyn, but it’s better than back there, right?”

The teen’s hand falters slightly, the sword lowering ever-so-softly.

Lee takes this moment to take a step off the ledge, just one single step as he mentally fights with himself on what he should do next. But this motion makes the sword raise again, this time directly at his head.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Is it a trick? Is it another facade made by the Krang? What does it want from me? How do I get away?’”

Lee turns to the side, mimicking taking a step back like he was making room for the younger to step through a doorway.

“I won’t stop you if you try to make a run for it. But just know that I’ll follow you to make sure you’re safe. Do you think you could handle me following you everywhere you go until we have this talk?”

Lee almost laughs aloud when he sees the teen’s mouth quiver to a small snarl of disgust in response.

“I thought so…”

Cautiously, Lee lowers himself. He keeps an eye on the younger, who flinched at first but keeps a steady blade pointed at him as he lays on his back on the ground. Lee sprawls himself out like a starfish, extending his limbs in a tiny stretch before exhaling softly.

The sun is almost completely gone for the night, a purple hue consuming the sky in an ombre effect. A cold is slowly blanketing the area as the night closes in and all it does is remind Lee of how lonely the rooftops were to him–especially at night. How these nights were empty and void of people other than siblings–before they met April… He doesn’t want the teen to have another night like those, but… he’s not sure what to do.

“I’m scared for you, bud,” Lee admits suddenly.

Lee doesn’t check over his shoulder for any sight of response from the teen. He just stares up at the sky as the night slowly begins to show itself.

“I’m scared that you’ll stay like this forever. At least, that’s what I was afraid of when I was in your place.”

In the stars, Lee sees a glimpse of his past. Of nights when he, too, ran from his family out of pure fear. Of nights when the only thing that comforted him was the moon’s soft light from above, where the stars weren’t reliable in showing themselves no matter how many times he begged. Nights where he curled into himself in the darkest corners or the coldest holes where no one would find him. Nights where his heart pounded so hard against his chest, he wasn’t able to sleep or eat or drink for days. Nights where he feared being alive because everything was so terrifying to face. Nights where he thought he was constantly being hunted by the Krang, even when they failed to show their faces for a year and more.

The Krang haunted his every waking hour. They were somehow everywhere and nowhere all at once. They were in the air he breathed, the water he drank–in the blood that coursed through his veins. They were in the faces of strangers and the ones he failed to recognize as his family. They were in his reflection and in his mind.

Life was nothing but a living hell, a personal horror movie made specifically for him.

“I was afraid, just like you. I was scared of night and I was scared of the day. I was afraid of every little thing and it was… it was lonely. I wanted freedom from that. And I want that for you. Do you understand?”

Lee doesn’t get a response and he releases an amused exhale.

“Who am I kidding, of course you do. You of all people would get it the most.”

Lee sighs, “I just want you to go home, make the first step that I failed to make. I want you to feel safe for the first time in a long time, but I don’t know what to do for you. It took me this long to save you, when I couldn’t save myself.”

He takes a moment to think for a second. He’s sure that his counterpart must be listening by now. Whether the teen realizes it or not. But what then? What does he do next? What’s the next step in saving someone with such deep-rooted trauma?

“Hey, Champ. What should I do? How do I help you? How do I save you?”

[qoldenskies]

I cannot for the life of me read your fic but I am??? So eager to know what's going on???? I just. Emotions when reading are. Hard.

Is there anywhere I can read the plot, like, summarized?

there is not because its not something i ever expected to become a real actual au, so ive had no reason to make an overview for it or anything + i think there's no way of adequately summarizing it, but i'll give the best overview i can. not a replacement for the actual experience of reading the fic, but i shall do my best o7

im only going to summarize caged lungs because it is the MOST distressing of the three, and the one people cite being unable to read the most (there is some pretty intense angst in miner's eulogy and clipped wings, but its also combined with hurt/comfort that makes up for it. cw can get harsh but there's a lot of caretaking <3)

(quite obviously, trigger warnings for really extreme physical and psychological abuse, gaslighting, solitary isolation, self-harm, a suicide attempt, and attempted murder)

okay so ESSENTIALLY

[if an outsider is seeing this 'cause i'll reluctantly maintag it, read the fic here. the main plot is over, it's just waiting on an epilogue that's all fluff!]

caged lungs is a boiling frog of a narrative-- the crux of it all is that from the beginning to the end, donnie does not know his brothers are cursed. it begins with them going to get pizza, where he's recognized by a witch in a bathroom. she doesn't say anything, he doesn't recognize her back, he dismisses it. he goes home, has a movie night with his family (it is established that splinter has been leaving the lair more and more, socializing to combat depression) and falls asleep cuddling in the armchair.

when he wakes up, he's alone in the dark.

his family is eating with breakfast without him. their behavior is uncanny, but easy to dismiss-- things start to change from there. donnie seems to start "missing" his tools, mikey is acting strange, raph rejects donnie when he surprises him with some changes on his weight rack that he would have liked otherwise. they "forget" him for a movie and apologize, and donnie tells them that it's okay.

this is pre BN:NY. witch town is very fresh in his head, and he's learned from things like this and the whole drone race experience with shelldon-- donnie is making an active effort to change himself. he wants to be more receptive and communicative, so he's putting aside a lot of his own usual bite in favor of being "more open". this is the absolute worst time that he could have put focus on this, unfortunately.

he puts a cloaking device on the turtle tank (combined with mystics, since witch town, he's very proud of it), and in an attempt to present it to mikey when he needs to go somewhere, leo offers to take mikey with his portals instead and dismisses the tank by calling it a "useless piece of shit", barbed and joking. he tells him to take the L and donnie shies back, offended but afraid to express it.

right after he is given another opportunity to present it, when they're going on a mission to stop hypno from robbing a bank, but they shut him down, asking him if he's tested it, kind of needling him about the fact that his things break a lot, generally just undermining him, etc. they cut him off when they get there. notably in this fight hypno manages to attempt to mind control leo and gets kickback because there's a whole different spell on him. there's also a note that leo's mysteriously switched his dominant hand.

donnie twisted his ankle in the fight, and he asks leo to look at it. leo says no-- donnie can handle it himself. (note that donnie taught leo medicine, so this is technically correct, but it is heavily implied that leo's prior insistence about seeing his injuries comes from a fear of donnie keeping things from him on a more general level lmao)

some other things happen etc etc, but the first breaking point of many comes a little later when they're having an argument and donnie brings up the whole useless piece of shit comment. leo tells him he doesn't know what he's talking about, and tells him he's just making shit up like he always does. he expresses genuine anger and distaste before storming off.

donnie is guilty and distraught. he talks to shelldon for a bit, even googles how to apologize (he doesn't even know what he did wrong), and then goes to leo with very little confidence. he attempts to apologize and leo shuts him down, and tells him he doesn't really believe he'll actually change. donnie pushes, becoming more and more desperate, and leo finally snaps and screams at him to shut the fuck up. donnie is terrified and trembling-- leo yells at him to leave. donnie runs.

its finally what gets him to go to splinter, because he has noticed the change in behavior-- he thinks it's his fault. he had to have done something that upset them, somehow-- splinter says the absolute worst thing he could in that situation, saying that donnie shouldn't be dragging him into his fights and spinning stories, citing past instances of him overreacting to more mundane things. all things that would be somewhat reasonable if there WAS no curse, and he has no reason to suspect malice. donnie eventually breaks down and crawls into his lap, and splinter gently reassures him that they're never upset with him for no reason. it'll all blow over soon.

donnie never goes to splinter again.

afterwards leo "apologizes" through text (there is no actual "im sorry" there to speak of) and donnie tells him he's not mad, he understands, it was his fault. leo agrees very dismissively, thanking him for agreeing not to tell mikey.

things get worse from there-- he fails to catch mikey in a fight and he falls into the ocean (he dives after him and swims him out, though), and raph chews him out very harshly in front of the other two while they stifle laughter behind them. donnie notices missing footage on his cameras and is so terrified he pukes, and when he goes to the medbay leo tells him he's just going crazy. at one point leo pours a protein shake down his hoodie just to get a reaction, laughing at him and telling him it's just a joke when he cries and melts down.

raph eventually just completely benches him, saying that he's not trustworthy on the field-- he cites his failure on the docks in the fight against shredder, despite that being an extremely triggering topic. donnie bites his tongue, and goes back to where he's useful-- his lab. shelldon is pretty much his only supporter in all the chaos, helping him with his missing tools. donnie genuinely does feel like he's going crazy with how forgetful he seems to be getting lately.

pretty much all he does from this point is work. none of them want him there, and he cant do anything but accept that. he misses meals, pretty much only sleeps and works, and they barely talk to him at all.

mikey comes to his door (he has a door, not a curtain-- its explained in cw that its because there was a lot of shuffling after donnie got duped in lair games, so his room set up is different, but its relevant so i feel the need to specify here) and asks him if he wants to eat something, because he HAS noticed donnie skipping meals. donnie follows him, happy just to be appreciated, only to learn that it was a set up.

they lock him in the storage closet by the kitchen, giving him "time to think about it". donnie is terrified, and when raph walks by he begs and pleads for him to let him out, only for raph to kick the door and continue walking by without a single word. they visit him a few hours later, and decide to leave him there for three more hours, and donnie is so distressed he just screams and doesn't really stop.

it doesn't help that they're lying. it was not three hours-- it was much, much longer than that. donnie feels like he's suffocating, terrified that he's going to be left in there to die, and when leo and mikey come to get him he finally, finally lashes out, shoving mikey away from him when he tries to touch him. he runs to his lab- raph runs after him and they get into an argument. shelldon wakes up from where he's charging, realizes something's wrong and tries to help, and raph breaks him (his ai chip is intact, but he's gone for the rest of the fic, donnie doesn't feel safe enough to rebuild him). donnie completely checks out, raph grabs him by the wrist and then stops when he notices how upset he is, the little bits of him left poking through. he tells him they'll talk about it later, all of his bad behavior.

later comes two days later in the form of a "family meeting". they drag him out of bed (he hasn't left it once) and pull him into the tv room where they just berate him, going after every little thing they possibly can to make fun of him for, while he's just standing there doubled over, crying and begging for them to stop-- leo even tells him to kill himself. raph breaks it up and tells donnie to step up and be useful. donnie takes this extremely seriously.

he's desperate to earn back their love and attention, so he doesn't protest when leo comes into his lab asking for help. he hangs over his shoulder while he works on fixing his phone, but donnie's so nervous he cant, and when he tries to beg leo to understand he's trying and that he loves him, leo strikes him.

it starts a chain reaction, and they're all regularly striking him, now. he does finally end up presenting something to raph-- something raph suggested he make way back before the closet, and raph denies him and turns him down. they all heckle him and tell him his tech is useless.

it's what completely destroys donnie's will to keep trying. he goes on a rooftop and he's so close to jumping, before april calls him, saying that they were asking her where he was and etc, and she gets the vibe that something is off and says that he can come over in a week to help with a coding project, and that he should go home-- donnie agrees, driven to tears by her kindness, and he obliges. when he comes back to his room, it's completely torn apart by his brothers, and his door locks from the outside.

he completely checks out from that point on. he sleeps on the laundry room floor and starts leaving the lair because he doesn't feel safe in his own home anymore, walking around aimlessly-- there's one encounter he has with his family, where they beat the shit out of him, but otherwise it's nothing. raph eventually corners him about his disappearance and chases him to the bathroom, pounding on the door and FURIOUSLY demanding donnie let him in.

it's the thing that makes him realize oh, they're going to kill me if i stay. he runs to april's a little early and she gives him sanctuary, for that night and one morning only-- inevitably his family call her asking where he is, and when she asks donnie freaks out on her. april realizes something is wrong and he's been so beaten down and traumatized he can only see her anger as something that means danger for him, so he runs.

his feet take him back to the lair. he curls up on the laundry room floor, hollowed out and broken. leo discovers him there an unknown amount of time later, kicking him hard enough to break his ribs when he doesn't respond to his call (due to dissociation) and then dragging him to the others.

raph tells him they're kicking him out, disowns him and calls him a danger to his family. donnie begs for them to let him stay, but raph only has to take one step forward for him to start crying and pleading for raph not to hurt him, that he'll do anything he wants. raph grabs his wrist and squeezes so hard that it breaks, which is finally what shuts him up </3

leo says they're doing this the hard way, then. raph smacks donnie to the floor, and leo gives him their terms-- he has two minutes to get his things before they come after him, if he's really that desperate. donnie takes off running, and mikey and leo give chase-- he ends up pinning mikey to the floor with his battle shell, and he runs to the TV room in hopes for splinter to protect him, but leo slams him to the floor and tells him that he's out for the night. he runs his blade through donnie's shoulder and is about to slit his throat, when donnie's driven by a surge of hysterical strength and he manages to throw leo down to the floor, giving him a concussion. he runs for his lab to get shelldon's ai chip-- leo calls for raph.

in the middle of desperately trying to grab his things, raph corners him there, and the confrontation that ensues is uhhhhh violent! extremely so. it ends with raph's hands around donnie's throat, donnie on the verge of death-- and that's the point where he decides that raph is right, they were always right. he's never been a part of their family. he deserves this.

his ninpo breaks. the stipulation of the curse was that it always end in donnie's death, so this manages to trick it-- raph snaps out of it, horrified by what he's done, and calls donnie's name in a panic as he finally passes out, unaware there was ever a curse in the first place, assuming he wont wake up.

his brothers remember every second of it :) and miner's eulogy picks up with leo's perspective of the aftermath, roughly a few days later!

[luckycharms1701]

[comes rolling into your askbox on a spinning swivel chair] Hey lucky!!! So, um, I was wondering if maybe, possibly, um, you could grace me with a little fic of a tentative first kiss between Raph and a female reader during a little game of one on one basketball. (Bayverse of course!) Pretty please with tiny Mikey shaped marshmallows and extra "I love your writing!!!" sprinkles on top?

Thank you!❤💙💜🧡

eeeeeeeeeeee avery!!!! this is so cute!!!!!! i will gladly do this for you, i don’t even need the marshmallows and sprinkles!! (i WILL take those though 😜)

i know the tiniest amount possible about basketball i’m so sorry

this prompt took me hostage. sorry it took so long lmao

The sound of the ball bouncing against the pavement echoes loudly in the alleyway as you focus on the handsome turtle striding towards you. He has a cocky grin on his face. You take a second to admire how good confidence makes him look before you roll your eyes and scoff at him. You assume a defensive position in front of the basket.

He stops at the half-court line, warm green eyes appraising you. His smirk softens into a smile that you only ever see when the two of you are alone. Distraction is about to become your worst enemy, you can tell. “Usual rules?”

“First to five points gets to pick their reward. Bring it on, Red!” He snickers as you beckon him over, then his face goes serious as he starts to really move. You brace yourself and watch his feet. Raph has never once gone easy on you, and you’ve never scored a goal on him, but you won’t let that little fact deter you. Maybe not today, but eventually you will defeat him.

He’s going to feint, you think as he barrels towards you. You lunge to the left just in time for him to deftly stutter step and spin around you on the right, launching the ball as he does so. You turn and watch in dismay as the ball sinks neatly into the net. One point to Raph.

The smirk on his face is unacceptable, even if the move was incredibly graceful and impressive, and you purse your lips as he tosses the ball to you. “Better luck next time, shorty,” he taunts, and despite the words his tone is almost sweet. A blush colors your face, but you ignore it in favor of steeling yourself for some fierce competition. He laughs when you playfully stick your tongue out at him. Then you jog to the line and turn to observe the turtle defending the goal.

Your hands tighten a little on the ball at the sight of him. His cocky grin is back in place as he bounces from foot to foot. He runs his thumb along his lower lip and your pulse flutters in your throat. No! Stop that! You’re playing basketball, not ogling your best friend!

The ball falls from your hands as you start to bounce it with your right hand. You approach slowly, as is your custom. No point in wearing yourself out sprinting towards him when you’re going to need all of your energy to try and get past him. Mikey’s advice runs through your head. Keep your breathing even, try not to dribble the ball faster when you’re getting ready to make your move.

He lunges for you at the same time as you break to the left, and for a moment you think you’re going to make it. Eyes on the goal!

The ball doesn’t meet your hand after the next bounce. You look down in confusion, then look up in time to watch the ball swish through the net. Raph literally managed to steal the ball from under your nose.

“That has to be cheating!” Your finger nearly meets his nose as you whip around to find him unexpectedly close. Immediately you lose your train of thought, arm falling to your side as you stare up at his grin.

“Not my fault you forgot to guard the ball,” he says as if it’s normal for the two of you to occupy the same space like this. You swallow and take a small step backward, giving him space to catch the ball bouncing towards you and you space to remember how to breathe. Was that two or three points for Raph?

You regain your equilibrium slowly while he continues to best you. It’s not long before he is turning to you, smile sharklike as the ball swooshes through the net for his fourth point. “You ready to buy pizza tonight?”

You purse your lips and flounce off to retrieve the ball while he laughs. He sets up across the court from you, prepared to defend the basket one last time.

Once again you watch him from across the court, twirling the ball in your hands and an idea in your head. His brow ridge raises as he beckons you forward, and you decide that your idea is worth a shot.

The ball falls from your right hand. You approach, slowly. Your breath is even. A feeling of rightness slots into place.

He steps forward. You break left. He reaches for you. You angle the next bounce away. His hand misses by a centimeter. The ball smacks into your left hand. You bring it to your center and shoot.

The only sound in the alleyway is the ball bouncing off the rim of the basket and into the net.

Before you can even register that you just scored a point, Raph lifts you up and is spinning you around in his arms. You grab his biceps for balance, looking down with wide eyes at his laughing face. “You did it! Ya got me!” His words shake the shock off, and you start to grin.

His face quiets a little at your smile, and you nearly gasp when his eyes meet yours. His smile has softened from excitement into fondness. He slows until he stops spinning, but you barely notice, arrested by the intense look in his eyes.

The two of you stay there, frozen in time, lost in each other. Your hands tighten on his biceps as he lowers you back to the ground. His hands stay on your waist, and you are grateful. You’re not sure if your legs could hold you up right now.

His eyes don’t leave yours as one hand comes up slowly. A single finger brushes against your cheek, and tears spring to your eyes at the tenderness of the motion. His smile quirks up in one corner as he repeats, “Ya got me, sweetheart.” The quiet whisper nearly knocks you off your feet. The tears spill over as you smile brightly up at him.

Raph leans in, as if bewitched. His eyes flick down to your lips and back up. Your smile widens at the hesitation, and you lift your face in invitation. His finger brushing tears from your cheek turns into his hand cupping your jaw as he lowers his mouth to yours.

His lips are so soft, barely brushing against yours. Almost as if he’s afraid of scaring you off. You close your eyes and release his biceps in favor of cupping his face. One of your fingers taps against his face in admonishment as you lean up on your tiptoes to get that little bit closer.

The hand that was on your waist slides around to your back, pressing you closer to him. His kiss gets that much firmer, that much more confident, and you soar at the feeling.

You chase his lips as he eases away, causing him to chuckle. He rests his forehead against yours, eyes closing as he breathes deeply. You study his face as much as you can at this angle, in awe at the peace you find there. 

The peck on his nose startles him, and your clear, happy laughter rings out as you dance away from him. A smirk grows on his face as he stalks after you, and you shiver in delight at the implications of that expression. However, you aren’t going to go down without a fight. You are riding the double high of a score and his kiss, and no one has won that game of basketball yet.

You pick up the ball and turn to face him. “Ready to be defeated, Red?”

He blinks, then throws his head back and laughs. When he meets your eyes again, the heat simmering in him sends another shiver through you. “I’ve changed my mind. When I win, I don’t want pizza.”

Slowly, you smirk back at him. “Good.” You begin to bounce the ball.

~~~~~~~

head bonks: @yorshie @avery73 @justalotoffanfiction @thejudiciousneurotic @writinandcrying @xnorthstar3x @morenovix218 @donniesgirlie @gornackeaterofworlds @thelaundrybitch

[tmntartblock]

TMNT LEOSAGI AU

FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

Chapter 2: Finding the truth

previous chapter | next chapter

After some weeks, after the physical scars had started to heal, Gen, the old friend of Usagi, came to visit unexpectedly. Gen had been part of Usagi’s military but left after disobeying the leaders. Leo had met him only once when he had just left and had the military after him.

“Gen… What are you doing here?” Leo asked. Hope raised in him. Was Gen here to tell that Usagi was safe and everything was just a horrible nightmare?

“Do you have that Earth leaf juice? I need that stuff before I have to flee again. The army is too active on this planet to stay long.”

“You mean tea? Uh, yeah sure”, Leo said and went to put the kettle on. Finally, after pouring everybody a cup, Gen opened his mouth.

“I’ve heard rumours of a prisoner bunny here on Earth. Is that true?”

“Prisoner bunny?” Leo stood from his chair, staring Gen, afraid of what the rhino might say next. Heart was pounding painfully in his chest. Prisoner bunny could only mean-

“I only know of one bunny who visits this Earth”, Gen said, eyeing the turtles that looked all shaken up, except Mikey, who was more focused on devouring his cheerios.

“You mean that backstabber Usagi?” Raph spitted, anger raising in his voice. “He betrayed us with some Foot ninjas couple of weeks ago and left us to die.”

“What? That doesn’t sound like Usagi”, Gen said and emptied his cup.

“I guess you can’t really trust anyone nowadays.”

“He… He sold us out”, Mikey said, voice quiet, trying to make the words hurt less. “Just like that.”

“There was clearly something going on. He said he was not going back to the Realm”, Leo said.

“Maybe they got him”, Gen said. “It was dangerous for him to come here out of all places. They knew where to look for him if he actually decided to leave.”

“So… you are saying he did not betray us?” Donnie asked.

“I can not be for certain. All I know escaping that hellscape is not an easy task and you have to run for the rest of your life. Not stay with your boyfriend.” Gen gave Leo a pitiful look.

“It’s not Leo’s fault that he’s ex is an idiot”, Raph spitted. Leo looked at him angrily. Raph meant good but it hurt that everybody had just accepted that Usagi was a backstabber and it was jus the truth that he didn’t care about Leo.

“Look. My intels told me that there is a bunny, held captive on Earth. That’s all I know and I wished that you would have more information but you clearly don’t. The Realm is breathing on my neck more than in years and I have to look out for myself.” Gen got up. “Thank you for the leaf juice.”

“Thank you for telling us even if it risked your life, Gen”, Donnie said.

“I still care about my friend even though we did not separate in best terms”, Gen stated, melancholy in his voice. “I can’t wait for the day that the Realm falls finally and we all will be free. Good bye.”

Gen created a portal and disappeared, probably as far as possible. Leo had no time to feel bad for the rhino because all he could think about was that the worst betrayal of his life might not be true at all. He hadn’t sleep for weeks. He had felt anger, shame, sadness, everything in a rollercoaster and all at once. Questioning all the love that he had so blindly felt. And now all those feelings were insignificant. Usagi was probably captured. Being tortured. Weeks of the anger turned to shame. How he could have believed such things of Usagi. Leo knew him better. Leo knew how honourable, how loyal and caring he was. And that one moment let him threw out all of that.

Leo felt hesitant. He remembered how Usagi had looked at him. Directly into his eyes. There had not been any fear, no hesitation. Leo was hurt and Usagi did nothing to help. Maybe Leo had read the whole situation wrong.

He had made a mistake. Why hadn’t he gone after him immediately?

“Leonardo. What are you going to do?” master Splinter asked with his husky voice. He had stayed on the side, like he nowadays did most of the times. Time had done its work and master Splinter had grown weaker. He only could stand ten minutes at the time without shaking.

“I will fix this”, Leo said and looked at his father with determination. Weeks of hopelessness turned into new purpose. “I will start my search in New York.”

“You can’t just leave us for your own little missions!” Raph yelled and pushed Leo’s shoulder. “Foot ninjas could attack any time!”

“You basically demolished them, Raph. They are not coming back any time soon. They don’t have a leader. You made sure of that.” Why Raph always wanted to push him back?

“You don’t know how fast they can reorganize themselves again. You’ve seen they don’t go down easy.”

“I have to do this Raph. I have to safe Usagi. Don’t do this any harder than it already is.”

“He left. Willingly. You saw it. Gen is full of shit.”

“Gen said that there are rumours of a bunny prisoner held hostage on Earth. Who else could it be?”

That shutted up Raph, for now.

Leo started to attack the scattered Foot ninjas, trying to get any information out of them but nobody seemed to know anything about a bunny prisoner even a sword on their throat.

After weeks of inspection, Leo came to the conclusion that Usagi was not in New York. The only other option seemed to be going to Japan, to Tokyo. Raph was not happy, he yelled at Leo for being irresponsible. Leo couldn’t give a damn about Raph’s opinion: Raph didn’t know what real responsibility was. He had never had to make the tough calls and gave bullshit for Leo for doing so. Master Splinter didn’t seem happy either. But for years now he had chosen to give advice to only when asked for it, so his words meant nothing now. The responsibility of the family was put on Leo and he was going to use it. Wether others liked it or not.

It wasn’t easy to leave them all on their own. The last time he had done it, he had to rush back to ruins, thinking that he’s brothers were dead. But his brothers were competent. They’d survive. The Foot was no threat anymore and Donnie had a good surveillance system. The family was safe. With these thoughts he packed a little bag and left, unsure of when he would return. He only knew he could not return without Usagi.

Leo had always wished to visit Japan but this way wasn’t the most pleasant. Tokyo was huge, full of possibilities and dangers. With his elementary level Japanese Leo barely survived and he had no help to gather any information about anything so he had to go in places cold turkey. That meant the stakes were higher, the risk of dying being more imminent than ever.

But Leo knew that he could not give up. Somebody had to know something. Leo attacked ninjas, trying to gather any valuable clues but again, nobody knew anything. He infiltrated the headquarters, searched every single prisoner cell but nothing. He wanted to give up. To go home to his family. But he couldn’t. Fear of failure burned through his veins.

Finally, after months and months of constant attacks from Leo, the head of the Japan Foot clan quelled after a fight and told that they had a deal to help transfer a bunny through a portal. They had forced Usagi to make a deal. Leo tried his best not to have the anger overconsume his senses. The blade of his katana was shaking on the neck of the leader.

“Does that ease your mind, reptilian? His freedom for your life.”

It did, for a second. But that meant Leo had been wrong and it may had costed Usagi’s life.

That’s it. There was no other information. They did not know anything else, the Foot didn’t ask questions for that good amount of money. Leo believed.

Leo went back home, defeated. Usagi was not anywhere on this planet.

The return was difficult. Everyone tried to act like he had not disappeared for months. Leo tried to cover his anger. He tried to act normal. Listen to Mikey’s rampant about his new comic book idea. Sit next to Donnie and hand him over screwdrivers and metal pieces. Let Raph use him as a punching back. But nothing took away the pain.

Disappointment was eating him alive and the only thought consuming his brain was that Usagi was not on Earth.

Usagi was not on Earth.

Usagi was not on Earth.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

previous chapter | next chapter

[saltydoesstuff]

Deadlight turtles with a very naive Reader. Inspired by the IT turned Good comic/au.

Reader was not meant to still be alive. She should have died a long time ago when she encountered Mikey in the sewer drain. But she never took the bait. Never reached her hand in... Instead, she happily talked with Mikey, full heartedly believing his story of a circus that had blown him and his brothers into the sewers and showing true sympathy. Mikey was made fun of when he came back to the lair empty handed by his brothers after Reader had to eventually leave.

The worst of all... the brat left a bag of kettle corn and hot coco by the same drain the next day on her way to work. She was mocking his failure, he knew it. So that night... Leo tried to get her.

He too failed to kill her. She didn't even look scared when she woke up to see his large form carefully standing on the end poles of her bed frame with impressive balance, crouched over and holding two cups of hot chocolate. At first, she was a bit confused- but then had the audacity to look happy to see him. Glad to meet one of Mikey's brothers, she had explained. Leo wanted to rip her apart then and there, but how she looked up at him with such big old happy eyes as she accepted when he offered her a cup of coco.. He hated her. He hated that he couldn't kill her. He hated that she wasn't afraid.

This cycle repeated with Donnie and Raph both in their respective orders. They would meet and try to kill Reader, at least scare her- but any and all attempts failed before they would fully try. Not even a stutter of her heartbeat, or a flinch! Was she truly a human like what the brothers had been preying on for centuries?

This loop of trial and failure continued until it all came to a head when Reader was cornered and threatened by the Mud Dogs (who I imagine are Henry Bowers' gang in this au sorry jdsn) at the creek. Mikey was the one to save Reader before anything could happen, using his shapeshifting powers to turn into a twisted bird like monster and scaring the yokai- nearly eating Leonard in the process, if the pesky mortal didn't shoot him and make Mikey let go before he could take a bite.

When it was over and the gang had fled, Mikey shifted back to normal- a crack in his plastron from the bullet and his blood floating upwards as it exited his body. He watched as Reader got over her shock, looking towards Mikey. He really hoped that now she got it, now he had finally scared her...

But she instead looked at him with adoration. She began to happily ramble about what just happened, laughing at how the Mud Dogs had run away.

"why..."

"Huh?"

"Why aren't you.. afraid?"

"Why would I be afraid? You're my friend!"

". . ."

Mikey wanted nothing more than to rip her throat out, but he knew he would never be able to bring himself to actually do it. So instead, he snapped at her, yelling about how he nor his brothers were her friends.

"Why of course you are! I got you popcorn, Leo got me cocoa- Raph made me a plushie, Donnie made me this cool tech thingy, you all come visit regularly and you just saved me! That's stuff friends do!"

"It would be too easy to- you can't even comprehend what I- Do you know who I am? What I am?! I- You-"

"Have you guys never had a friend before..?"

"I-"

"Look... I'm not dumb, I know the whole story about people going missing every so years. About monsters in the sewers... and if you can turn into that- I guess you are those monsters. But, I think you're good monsters. Why else would you hang out with me so much?"

That caught Mikey off guard.

"'Good... monster..?'"

He started to laugh. At first it was a tiny giggle, then it ramped up to full on hysterical laughter.

"Good monster?!"

Mikey howled, hunching over gripping his stomach. That's when Reader fully took notice to his wound.

"You're bleeding!"

"Good monster!! HAHAHA HAHA HA-"

When she turned to her bag to try and find something to help him, Mikey was gone- his floating blood the only thing left to prove he was there at all...

Down in the lair, Mikey was rolling on the floor- still hysterically laughing. Good monster, she said!

He grew longer claws, using them to pick out the bullet from his chest. Once the object was out, his wound healed almost immediately. He threw the bloody ball away carelessly, rolling onto his stomach. His sharper claws tore into the cement below him with a loud grating noise. Mikey let out a long sigh, calming down from his fit.

'Good monster'... right.

[jasminegazer]

Chapter 9 Part 1

Flashes of the fight flew past Leo’s eyes. Hands grabbing him. Arms locking him into place before the sharp pain his neck. Donnie and Raph’s faces as his head pounded before a numb shock.

RAPH! DONNIE!

Leo snapped his head up like a nutcracker slamming against another skull. Ow ow ow ow OW! Loud muffled voices were turned to his direction before something hit him back. OW!

Through his tight wince he opened his eyes. Whoever these people were, they put a duffel bag on his head. It made him feel stuffy and hot, feeling his own struggling breathes against his face.

He tried moving his arms but an arm around each of his own as well as a cold metal chain kept them in place behind him. Now normally this would be any easy feat to put a persons hands behind their back. But Leo was not normal and had shell. So he had to deal with the high discomfort of both chains and the edge of his shell. Greeaat.

Come on Leo! Think!

His legs were free. Maybe he could use that. He was, unfortunately to Raph’s liking, very bad on his feet but he was still a ninja.

Leo sucked in breath before trying to lock his legs in place. But his feet were just dragged against the harsh cement. And that hurt. Before he could try again, he was forced onto his knees, scrapping even more on the cement. A hand pushed down on the back of his shell as another yanked the duffel bag off his head.

There was no blinding light in face like they did in movies thank God but instead a darkness only shied away from by the moonlight.

Leo’s thought got cut short by a hands yanking his head back up. The face he was met with was one he would definitely avoid if he saw it at any other time. The face of some jerk who believed everyone should bow down or become some kind of zombie henchmen just by their presence. A manic smile crept up his face. “Well what do you know? The plan worked.”

What plan? I don’t have time for this I have to get back to Raph and Donnie and find-

“Leo?”

His little brother sounded so scared. But he was here. He was ok. Leo found him.

“Mikey?”

But his relief was quickly replaced by rage and his own fear looking at his brother’s body. Bruises in variety of sizes and color were almost everywhere. Blood trickled down the back of his neck and down his arms. None of those wounds managed to compare with the fear on his face. The fear caused by them.

Leo didn’t think through the swirling panic in his brain. Thrashing against the tight hold of the chains on his arms and hand on his face. “LET US GO!” He growled eyes screwed shut to avoid whatever could trigger him further on the outside.

Anxiety had quickly added itself to the storm in his brain. Lightning bolts of pain from struggles added to the pressure. He needed to get Mikey away from here now. His littlest brother was hurt and scared. He needed to be treated by at least Raph immediately. The injuries that peaked around from the back of his skull hinted that he had been slammed against the pillar behind him.

What if his shell was cracked? What if it was bleeding? What if-

Another sharp thwack of a spike bristled hand against Leo’s head broke him from his suffocating thoughts. The jerk in front of him forcefully grabbed his chin, yanking his head up to look at the cruel smile that formed. He was enjoying this. He was enjoying their pain and suffering like a tv show. “How about, no?”

As Leo face scrunched up in hatred, his captor broke into a cruel chuckle. “You two will be staying right here. That is until you’re ready for pick up.”

Through his anger, he shot a quick glance at his little brother. But who he saw didn’t look like Mikey. The orange banded turtle before him looked too stunned for that. Too lost. Too quiet. Too blinded by fear with no hope of optimism. But worst of all he looked too much like he had a month ago. When they were all healing and his little brother could barely hold it together.

Mikey was the one that made them feel better who built them back up when they got taken down. When Donnie got cyber bullied and it made him question himself Mikey talked him through it. When Raph got into big arguments with him Mikey talked to him in a way that made him listen for once. When Leo had a sensory overload Mikey was there with his breathing lessons and a favorite movie.

All of those times when they hadn’t felt like themselves, Mikey knew what to do. Almost like he knew them better than they did. But now Leo was looking at a turtle he wasn’t sure was the same.

Leo wanted to comfort him. To tell him it was gonna be ok. To take him home and make sure that he would be ok.

Sounds of vehicles in the distance stopped the conversation. “Ah. I guess you’ll be leaving sooner than I thought.”

No no no no no no No NO!

They couldn’t leave yet. Leo needed to find Raph and Donnie. He needed to tell them to stay away from here. He needed to get away from here. He needed to at least get Mikey out of here.

In the middle of his panic, Leo spotted a shadow moving above him. When he looked in the direction of the action, aka the giant whole in the ceiling, another shadow vaulted past. With … a glint of light reflecting off … something? Like glass?

Glasses! Donnie! Raph!

Leo must have let his excitement show because his captor turned to glare at where he was staring before swiftly returning it to the mutant. “What are you smiling about fre-?”

“GET THE SHELL AWAY FROM MY BROTHERS ASSHOLE!”

In a flash, Raph smashed his foot into his face, sending the criminal flying to the other side of the warehouse. After he made quick work of the two holding him in place his twin rushed to his side. “Leo!”

“Raph!” Leo excepted the embrace. Thank God. After a moment Raph pulled back unsheathing two swords, handing them off to him. Right. We still have a mission here. “Thanks.” Leo could hear Donnie in the background. He rose to his feet as he spoke. “You and Donnie fend the rest of these guys off. I’ll get Mikey. But when I give the signal we’re out here.”

“Got it.” Raph ran off to the fight as Leo turned to get to Mikey. Either his plan in action no one who was nearby needed anything more than a kick or a shove out of the way.

When Leo got to his little brother the weights on his chest felt like they were drop down his throat and into his stomach. Mikey hanging limp against the chains holding him up. He put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to gently shake him awake, his voice dropping to a flat mutter. “Mike. Come on.”

Mikey groaned in response, hissing when Leo clenched the bruise forming on his shoulder too hard. Stepping back and taking a breath, Leo broke the chains in one swing. With Mikey detached from the pillar, he had a clear shot of the damage. It was cracked all spiraling to a whole in the center. Right where his head was. Coated with a thin layer of blood. The back of Mikey’s head looked like anyone could dent it with the smallest touch. But no one would probably ever wanna do that from the mere sight of it.

God Mikey. I’m so sorry.

Leo readjusted his little brother onto his back in a piggyback ride. “Raph! NOW!”

His twin stood beside Donnie as they both looked back with nod. Raph pulled a smoke bomb out of his pouch raising into the air. Leo raised his one as they smashed them down in unison and Pow!, they were gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the rooftops Leo ran as fast as he could. He didn’t mind that he wasn’t thinking straight. He didn’t care that Donnie was mapping the way home (even though that was his job that he usually fought for). He was going to get Mikey home. Now.

Leo felt the arms around his shoulders tighten ever so slightly. His little brother murmured in a small voice. “Leo. Where are we going?”

Leo moved a hand to squeeze Mikey’s as he felt his brother fade again. “Home, Mikey. We’re going home.”

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Man I had an internal battle while fighting this. Our boy in orange gets to go home in celebration of Tales of the Tmnt being UNBELIEVABLY GREAT (that and we had to get to that part of the story). The last three parts coming up are definitely gonna be way more fun to write as I try to wrap this up before September(edit:spoilers I failed at that attempt). Hope y’all like this.

Cowabunga turtle fanz!

[immedealwithit9855]

Caught.....Again

Summary: Things seemed to be going accordingly. Ya had a night out. Did a performance you didn't plan on doing. The turtles dragged into your performance, getting lap dances, and kisses. Next thing ya know, your sedated and taken away by a figure you wished stayed in his dimension. Let's do this...

Morning comes and so does his grumpiness. He stretches out, mind set on bench presses. The brute didn't even have to pull back his sheets to know that he had a wet dream. About you. That lap dance, that smooch fest ya'll were in did more than he deemed possible. He cleans up and immediately heads to the gym.

Leonardo was in his room reading when he got a call from April. Her voice showed something was wrong.

"Leo, did Y/N go to your place last night?"

Leo crooked his brows,"No. I thought she went back to your place."

She explained how she hasn't seen or heard from you since last night. Assuming you spent the night at the turtle's. Leo put down his book, stood up, and walked into the living area where his brothers were nearby.

"She made it clear that during her training she'd stay at your place. Where could she have gone?" Leo pressed, catching Mikey's attention.

"I'm not sure. I've tried to contact her through the communicator, she isn't responding!" She says.

Leonardo goes to Donnie and starts hounding him to locate your communicator.

"Strange. The system shows her communicator is near April's apartment." Donnie points to the exact location.

Fearing the worst, April quickly ran downstairs in her bathrobe, looked around and there your communicator was lying beside a dumpster. She placed her hand across her mouth, trying not to scream as she noticed droplets of blood on the device.

Raphael finished his session upon hearing some of the conversation between Leo, April, and Donnie. He comes forth, his aura demanding to know what's going on without even saying anything.

"Did she get jumped?" Mikey asked.

"Nah. She'd been training non-stop with Splinter for weeks. She had to put up a fight." Leonardo added. April looked around in the area some more, gasping.

"What'd ya find, April?" Raph gruffed, getting too close to the communicator.

April found the orchid Raphael gave you, completely Destroyed. She couldn't bring herself to tell Raph that the gift he gave you had possibly been ripped from you before being taken away. Finding strands of your dreads laying a few feet away made it worse.

"Someone must have abducted her. Wait, I found something else. It looks like a purple durag. It has a dragon symbol." She tells the turtles.

"The Purple Dragons." Donatello lowly says.

Raphael was ticked. 'Those wannabes got my girl!!!!!'

"Donnie. You think you can locate recent gang activity? I want all the locations, meeting spots, phone records, whatever you can pull up. We need to find her!" Leo orders, not happy that gang members found and took you away from them. Away from Raphael.

"Easy peasy. If you want, I can contact the Chief regarding any members in their custody." He suggests, not looking up from his monitors.

"Even better." Leo nodded.

As Donnie did his thing, Raphael growled. So animalistic, that he was losing his senses. She had quite an impact on him. Accepting him in a way that he feels human. As he walked close to the couch, he caught her scent. He looked down to see an object tucked beneath the couch. He leans down and retrieves it. He found 2 cross stitch projects still in their hoops. The needle was wedged into the side, avoiding the art she created. The first one was large as it was a project that consisted of each of their weapons and names: Leonardo: Katana. Raphael: Sais. Donatello: Bo Staff. Michaelangelo: Nunchuks. The way she perfectly created their weapons amazed him. He knits, so he knew the importance of perfecting a pattern. You nailed it with each of their weapons. Especially Mikey's.

The second project had his eyes filled with a newfound purpose as he read the message finely stitched in the fabric. Knowing it was for him.

"I Love You, Raphael."

Little roses scattered around the message. His heart grew larger than the Grinch's. Mikey came over to comfort him when he discovered your fine work. He was speechless. Donnie received a call from the Chief. As they conversed, Leonardo came over to see what had his brother's attention. Raph passed him your projects without a word. Leo too had no words, he wasn't the mushy type, he looked up at Raph and Mikey.

"We're gonna find her and bring her home. You have my word on that!"

Donnie finishes his call with the Chief, nearly squeaks at your project. He gets himself together to inform the guys of what he's found.

"Chief says a member was brought in last night after he attempted to mug some lady on the street. His apprehension seems concurrent to Y/N's abduction." Donnie explained, pointing at the screen for his brothers to see his point. "She said we can meet with him now for questioning, but would have to be discreet." He finishes.

"We need ta question this joker. He may know where she is!" Said Raph, trying to show restraint and failing.

"How are we gonna do that genius?" Leo snapped. "We can't just waltz into the police station and start taking names!"

"Actually, we can." Donnie intercepted. Mikey's rubbed his hands together, knowing what Donnie was talking about. "I've recently created a device that could cloak our outer forms, making us human."

Leo and Raph's face were stunned at their brother's new invention. "Yeah, it was my idea, just so ya know. The other genius in the crowd." Mikey chimes, pointing his fingers at his head. Donnie rolls his eyes.

"Has it been tested?" Leo asked.

"Yes. It's been tested on Mikey numerous times. I'm confident it will work in our favor if we plan to go to the station or anywhere, really." Donnie finishes, showing the device for the guys to inspect. Completely forgetting April was still on the phone.

"Do whatever you have to do to find her. Please." She pleads, before hanging up, immediately returning to her apartment.

The guys looked at one another. Splinter came forth, his face filled with concern for your safety and well-being.

"Find her! Bring her back!" He ordered.

They all gave a nod. Donnie showing them how to work the devices, activating them accordingly.

"Let's get our girl back!" Mikey says.

All turtles placed and activated their devices, made a swift beeline for to the station.

Your head was thumping as you awakened from your unexpected slumber. A surge of pain peaked it's ugly head as you tried to move. You were leaned up against a wall. As your vision started to clear, you realized you were in a glass prism! Looking around, it appeared to be a lab as you've seen tables, computers, and tools laid out on a separate table near your glass prison. The last thing you recall was a slender man hovering over you. The sinister vibe he let off reminded you of a character you didn't wanna face.

You stood up, the pain intensifying as you moved. Reaching down to rub your abdomen, you saw a dark bruise stamped on your belly. 'I hate it when punks kick someone while their down. Raph ain't gonna like this.....' Then it hit you. You had to get out of there!

"Finally. You're awake. You've been out all night." A gruff, yet professional voice came from the corner of your eye.

Turning your head towards the voice, you carefully made out the figure coming towards you. It was the slender man that subdued you. Unamused, you got smart.

"Kidnapping is a serious crime, ya know!" You snapped.

"Indeed it is. However, I prefer to do my work outside of the law. Then there's you, who doesn't even exist in this dimension!" The voice claps back, taking you completely by surprise.

"How.... how do you know?" You were cut off short when he suddenly appeared in front of you. Black slick back hair, black shades, a scowl that knows not what a smile is, black trench coat with tactical boots completing the ensemble. You couldn't see pass his shades, but it didn't take long for you to realize who he was. Wishing for a moment it was the female version instead.

"Your name wouldn't happen to be Bishop, would it?" You asked.

His face remained unmoved as he responded,"Indeed I am. You're knowledge of this dimension fascinates me. Clearly, me bringing you here was no mistake."

"You what!!??" You squeaked.

As he studied you, you felt completely unsafe and uncomfortable around him. Knowing his history, this guy most likely wants the turtles.

"I'm the one responsible for bringing you to this dimension. I could send you back if I so choose." He replies, his voice itself sending chills down your spine. Of all things to learn, this was the last you wanted to hear. Especially from someone as sadistic as Bishop.

You knew his character, eerie, sadistic, cunning. Not to mention being well-seasoned in martial arts. You didn't feel 100% fully capable of taking him on yourself. Being afraid was not your thing, so you had to be creative. What all do you know about this sadistic man?

"Yes. You could send me back if you wanted." You began. "However, if I got this correct, it's not really me you want? Is it?" His face remained the same, not a hint of emotion.

"Enlighten me, Y/N." He speaks. Hes the type to learn about his enemies and victims beforehand. So you had to play your cards right.

"You've endured quite an ordeal during the war in what was it? The 1800s?" You started."Being abducted by aliens could change a man. Agelessness is interesting. Especially for one who makes up for it by torturing and dissecting aliens. In case it slipped your mind, I Am NOT an alien!"

Bishop remained unmoved by your knowledge of him along with your sharp tongue. He steps to you and places his hands on the glass. "You are correct, it is not you that I want! I know of the turtles you've associated yourself with." Your eyes twitched,"I also know you've been interfacing with one of them! Raphael, was it?"

You could throw up in your mouth from him knowing. How does he know all that? Where exactly is he getting these details? Just like some of his origin story, it seems unknown. You had know words, he had you pinned.

"Listen carefully, Ms. Y/N. Those turtles are of better use being my experiments, than your personal pets. You will draw them to me."

"They're not pets, they're my friends! Friends that have saved sick, twisted butts like yours. This is how you thank them?" You hollered, earning a slam to your glass prison by his fist. A Crack began to form, startling you. 'He's stronger than I thought.'

You kept your facial expressions at a calm level, not giving him the satisfaction. When deep down, you feared for the turtles lives and well-being. Images of them being strapped to tables at the mercy of this tortured soul. He appeared to be deep in thought.

"I could send you back. Or I can toy with you. I don't usually experiment on humans, I can make an exception. For all we know, you could be carrying that monster's child!"

Your eyes turned crimson at the crude comment. "HES NOT THE MONSTER! YOU ARE!!!" You hollered, slamming your fist as hard as you could against the glass.

He didn't even flinch. The man had seen and put up with a lot of mess, your rants did not phase him. He turns around, starts walking towards the door. Before exiting gave his final word,"They will be mine. I will make you watch as I tear a gaping hole in each of their bodies!" He huffed, leaving you in terror.

Though you were angered, you didn't want to believe he was completely evil. Put yourself in his shoes? You didn't want to imagine the horrors of his torture. Looking to your side, you screamed at the imagine of what appeared to be a man covered in stitches. As if he had didn't shades of flesh attached to him. He was floating in a bask of some sort of liquid. You covered your eyes and mouth, hoping its not who you think it is.

"If they come, don't let Splinter be with them too! Please!" You whispered, before fainting.

[chil-aglia]

Imagine - A fic idea for Younger Giovanni and Mikey. The fic basically starts with Mikey waking to go to the Bathroom but stops when he hears a Sound that is coming from Gio¨s Rooms. Its Distress Chirps, Gio is having one of the WORST nightmares in his life (EPF related one) and Mikey enters to see his Baby Bro with tears in his eyes, and hugs him (Even tho Gio thinks its pathetic and that is bothering his older bro), but Mikey reasure him that is not the case that he will always come for him.

Little Nightmare. Big Hugs

(Younger Giovanni AU)

Dude…I love the headcanons you have of Giovanni! And of course I’ll write this. It too cute not to write.

It won’t be separated into separate parts btw. And it’s gonna be short.

Obviously, this isn’t canon to the main storyline.

I’m picturing Giovanni to be around maybe 13 or 14. He’s either the same age as Mikey but just younger in terms of months. Or he’s a year younger than Mikey who I think is 14??

——————————————————————————————————

Late at night in the lair, everyone was sleeping soundlessly. Even Leo and Donnie had actually managed to go to bed on time, a rare occasion for the disaster twins.

Mikey yawns, opening his eyes as he stretches for a moment. He needed the bathroom; Raph warned him to not drink all that apple juice and Mikey was now facing the consequences of not listening to his older brother.

With a light grunt, he hops out of his hammock and hums a random tune as he exits his room and starts heading off towards the bathroom.

He walks past his brother's room, and past Splinter’s but just when he was about to past Giovanni’s bedroom, he came to a startle halt in his tracks. 

“Chiirrp….!”

Mikey perked up at the familiar sounds of chirping. Giovanni’s chirping to be more precise. He frowns and gently opens the door to the bedroom; the chirps were that of fear and distress. Mikey narrows his eyes slightly to try and see more clearly in the dark, ahead of him was Giovanni, turning back and forth in his sleep, eyes shut closed and body trembling as he twitched his hands and arms.

A nightmare.

Mikey immediately thought as he tiptoed closer to not startle him awake. He bites his lip, debating if he should go get one of his brothers to help, but breathed in and shakes his head.

This was easy for Dr. Feelings to handle! Mikey had to prove that he was also the better older brother to Giovanni.

“Mm…n-no…chirrp…!”

Giovanni mumbled in his sleep, tears running down from his closed eyes as his chest heaved up and down unevenly. A bad nightmare he was experiencing.

Mikey gently reached out and shook him awake. “Hey, Gio…wake up.” He softly soothed, watching his younger brother tremble in fear. Mikey shook him a few more times before he let out a tiny yelp in shock when Giovanni gasps and snapped open his eyes.

He sat up, holding himself as he wheezes and gags, trying to recover his breathing that he briefly felt like he lost. “Whoa, whoa. Easy there! It’s okay…breathe in and out.” Mikey guides him, his voice being enough for Giovanni to listen and turn to him with surprise.

“M…Mikey?”

“Yeah. I’m here. It was just a nightmare.”

Giovanni registered his comment, rubbing the back of his neck to ease any tension he had as he shivered. “Sorry…I didn’t mean to scare you. Uh, did I wake you?”

Mikey offered a warm smile and shook his head, “I was already awake to go to the bathroom. I just…heard you when I was walking by and wanted to check in.” Mikey explains as he rubs Giovanni’s shoulder who relaxed under his touch.

“Another nightmare?”

Giovanni nods, not daring to look at Mikey as he wiped away at his eyes, hiding his tears as best as he could. “Want to talk about it?” Mikey offered, wincing slightly when he felt Giovanni tense under him at the question. “I don’t want to burden you…” Giovanni mumbled back, as Mikey blinks with wide eyes.

“Gio, I love you. You’re my little brother! You are never a burden. Not to me. Not to anyone.”

“But—“

Mikey narrowed his eyes in both playfully and seriousness. “I will unleash Dr. Feelings and Dr. Delicate Touch on you if you try fighting me on this.”

Giovanni gulps and nods in agreement. He heard stories about Mikey’s alter egos. They sounded terrifying. He sighs as he curls up slightly, pulling the blanket closer to him as he recalls his nightmare.

“EPF…kept experimenting on me. Again….”

Mikey glares at the mention of the organisation but didn’t interrupt as Giovanni placed a hand over his mouth briefly. “They were pulling out my teeth…wanting to see how long it took for them to grow back.”

He then gazed down at his palms, shaking. “They handed me a sword…they do that to make me fight yokai that they…enhanced. To test my capabilities.” He informs, clenching his hands into fists, for a moment he thought he saw blood staining his hands, but he blinked and it was gone.

“Sorry…I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“That’s all right. You don’t have to if it’s too much.” Mikey assures, as he placed an arm around Giovanni for comfort. He stared as he briefly froze when Giovanni was crying again, looking up at Mikey, sniffling and hiccupping.

“Can you…hic…please stay with me…?”

Mikey immediately embraced his little brother, hugging him tightly as he held back his own tears. He was told he had always been quite an empath when it came to those he loved.

“Of course I’ll stay. Don’t you worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll wait until you fall back asleep.”

Giovanni didn’t say anything, but he showed how he appreciated the company by nuzzling his face into Mikey’s plastron.

-----

As Mikey promised, he waited until Giovanni went back asleep. Hovering around for a moment to make sure Giovanni wasn’t having anymore nightmares, which he didn’t.

Mikey went to the bathroom and back to his room, falling asleep. 

In a few hours, he woke up early as he normally does to prepare breakfast for his family. Deciding to make bacon and eggs with toast. Man, he was starving, but cooking was a delight for him.

One by one, his brothers and father all got up, yawning and still waking up as they gather at the table. Donnie instantly going to the coffee maker. Leo yawns and stretches his arms out, Raph who still had his sleeping gear on his face was leaning against his palm, blinking slowly. And Splinter was basically doing the same thing.

“Mikey, did you by any chance get up last night? I thought I heard someone shuffling around the lair.” Leo inquired, focusing his gaze onto his little brother who hums a tune as he used his spatula to move the eggs around.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I got up for the bathroom.”

And stayed with Giovanni. But, I don’t think Gio would want me telling the guys here about his nightmare.

On cue, Giovanni creeps into the kitchen, looking much better than he was last night. He had his hands by his side and face awkwardly looking down. “Morning little brother!” Leo greeted, waving lazily at him. “Morning…” Giovanni softly spoke as he makes his way over, but he passed by his brothers and goes straight to Mikey.

Giovanni tapped Mikey on his shoulder, the mutant turning around to face his brother. “You okay?” Mikey questioned in concern, but without warning, Giovanni quickly hugs him, nuzzling his face into the crook of Mikey’s neck and shoulder.

The others watched with a bewildered gaze. Giovanni never had been one to instigate hugs from anyone due to feeling awkward with it. So, seeing him hug Mikey, was eye-opening and of course the others couldn’t help but feel a tad jealous about it.

Mikey was caught off guard, but he smiles and giggled warmly, patting Giovanni on his shell, the mutant breaking away from the hug. Splinter clears his throat, “Yellow! Why don’t we go start training while Orange is cooking up breakfast for us?” He suggests, hopping off his chair and making his way to the dojo.

Giovanni nods, “Coming.” He responds, chasing after his father who chuckled at him. Once the dojo doors closed, Leo, Raph and Donnie were immediately interrogating Mikey.

“Uh, I’m sorry, did Gio just hug you?”

“Did something happen with him?!”

“I cannot believe I wasn’t the first brother he hugged.”

Mikey grins proudly, hands on hips. “Guess I’m just that good.” He teases lightly as Leo pouts but then he smirks and shakes his head playfully as he turns his gaze to the dojo.

“Look at our baby brother growing up. It’s enough to make a grown man cry—“

“Leo, you’re not a grown man.”

“Don’t ruin this moment Donnie.”

——————————————————————————————————

Ta-da! This was cute and it definitely helped wash down the angst mini fic of older Giovanni that I just finished writing—

Hope you liked this! I know I do

[djpachipikachu]

omgomg i’m so interesting in you usagi/tmnt iteration!!!

okok first what’s like.. the starting point/inciting incident of the story if there is one?

second what are the characters personalities/inerests like?

HAIIII excitedly kicking my legs

the start of the main plot is when usagi goes back in time and is forced into the tmnt’s era of time ,,, he accidentally comes across an ancient relic in the woods with spot (these woods are made of massive ancient trees with equally expansive entangled roots , like if the ocean itself had been a forest instead of filled with water it is kinda horrifying) and it takes him and spot back to the tmnt era , before the relic itself was even created

i do plan on making a comic for this so it wont start out immediately like that but itll have some like . oneshots/episodic comics of usagi’s adventures before that happens, similar to usagi yojimbo’s way of storytelling

PERSONALITIES!!!! WEEHEEE!!!!!

usagi:

most similar to usagi yojimbo, a mature but still like . silly kinda guy ! in the usagi era he takes joy in chatting with people he meets on his travels, incredibly polite, loves to tell stories of myths and gods to children

although most of his days are spent alone with spot , his steed (spot is like horse sized)

he tends not to attach to people or things very much because he knows how easy it is to lose everything, so as much as he enjoys talking to people, he keeps his distance.

he doesnt dedicate himself to being a hero or anything … he will help if he feels people need the help but all hes really trying to do is survive on his own

hes basically like a formless side character . forced bystander in this story

its for the character development i promise

leo:

cold

hes the leader/general of an army, a bit harsh in his personality, doesnt want to be approachable or get close with anyone

hes stern and quiet and kind of a workaholic, his brothers think he needs a life outside of being a leader and Only a leader

tired ! so very tired !

a lot of shit that he internalizes

however a very strong leader and strategist, he is well trusted by those who follow him and they know that his main priority is to get everyone out Alive, more than fight for their cause

he protects fiercely , just insanely bad at showing it . the worst at social things out of all his brothers easily

forced to be an adult at a young age so he never rly got the chance to form a personality outside of his responsibilities

she likes reading in her lonesome though

raph:

PASSIONATE ! ABOUT MANY THINGS !

theyre the sibling that goes out the most and interacts with people on personal levels the most out of everyone ! they have a good rep in the general yokai public !

they do have problems with anger but a lot of the time they channel it into training newbie recruits , the main motivational speaker , they know how to encourage and pump ppl up

a bit recklessly bouncy in how they fight, imagine rottmnt mikey’s energy with mutant mayhem raph’s enjoyment of fighting

the most down to earth out of all their siblings . arguably the most mentally stable out of necessity

they love feeding pigeons and they teach lion dancing to a children’s dance group in the city !

donnie:

obnoxiously gen z . good god . insanely chronically online . most similar to mutant mayhem donnie

he doesnt go out like whatsoever Partially bc he has chronic fatigue syndrome and its easier for him to just stay home, partially bc his brothers are over protective of him and dont want him fighting in the war

so he helps from afar, piloting drones, targeting firearms into battle, building gear for everyone

he likes engaging in arguments online . most exciting thing to him . little fuckass teenager this guy

kendra is his worst online enemy and rival but also like . his only friend . rly sad . joking is his coping mechanism

he loves researching and learning things, it takes up most of his time when he finds a topic to extensivelt research and take notes on

his main interests are the usual coding, engineering, etc As well as the inner workings of mystic power

mikey:

most sociable next to raph !! a very altruistic spirit

he’s most similar to idw mikey i think , most upbeat and relaxed kinda nature !

However . he’s not at all as emotionally aware as any other iteration mikey

he’s very strong in his opinions, stubborn about being right, can very easily fall into a black and white point of view about things, its hard to get thru to him

he loves to dance the most, its how he uses his mystic power

whew okay yeah they might not be the Most accurate bc im still ironing out the main traits but here they areee

[brightlotusmoon]

Working on fics like "The Brightest Fire" without expectations is pretty freeing. I liked this scene where the brothers are being brothers.

-

Leo gave his sensei a long look, then narrowed his eyes. “Okay, we're leaving. Mikey needs to get some food, anyway.”

“I do?” Mikey asked.

“You've been traumatized,” Leo said lightly, “you need your vitamins.” He gently nudged the brother huddle toward the doorway.

Once they were on the other side and moving to the huge couch and huge screen, Mikey sighed. “You know I could just eavesdrop with my mind, right?”

Nobody said anything until they had deposited Mikey on the couch. The new one that April gave them, with sections and angles. The fabric was plush and dark green. There were several equally plush pillows in orange, purple, red, and blue. Mikey sighed as he sank.

“Yeah, we know,” came Raph's rumble. “But let's rest yer brain for a while. Ya been through a lot.”

“We've been through worse.” Mikey was pouting.

Someone caught his chin and he found himself staring into Leonardo’s worried eyes. “That depends on how you define worse.” Leo smiled very softly.

Mikey frowned at him. “The Shredder? All the Shredders? That's worse, I would say. And Bishop! And-”

The hand covered his mouth. “Okay,” Leo said, “those were extremely bad.”

Mikey raised an eyeridge.

“And nothing.” Leo shifted to pat his head. “This is also extremely bad. Let's not create a conspiracy board in our heads.”

“Hey!” Mikey huffed. “It's an easy visual, okay?”

“That's a good point,” Donnie said, leaning around Raphael. “Making connections is important.”

Leo sighed, settling back, stretching an arm around Mikey's shoulders. “Right now, Mikey, you need to rest your brain.”

Mikey stared at him, one eye squinting. “...dude, that's not really possible. My brain bounces everywhere.”

“I mean your psychic brain,” Leo said easily. “Your powers. You're exhausted.”

“Am not,” Mikey grunted. “I did all kinds of things when I was in that trance.”

“Which still bothers me on an ethical level,” Donnie sighed.

Mikey lifted an eyeridge and lifted his arms to make a sweeping gesture. “We are mutated turtles who came from alien goo, we have to keep ourselves hidden from creepy agents of doom, and you're trying to wax poetic about ethics.”

“Whoa,” Raph chuckled. “Cheeky.”

“Well, you're not wrong,” Donnie sighed. “But please keep in mind that we still haven't talked about your initial reaction to the video.”

Mikey licked his lips, eyes roaming. “Can we talk after three episodes of Star Trek Voyager? I promise none of them are Threshold.”

“It won an award,” Donnie said, automatically, an echo of a long word play game.

“We can watch it later,” Mikey said. “Right now I want angst.”

“What, like yours?” Raph huffed.

“No,” Mikey said quickly. “Fictional.”

“Bro, we might as well be.”

“Soo,” Mikey smirked, “does that mean we're not real and we don't have to have a talk?”

“And,” Donnie said, “that makes me more decisive. We're having a talk.”

“Nooo,” Mikey groaned, burying his face in Leo's shoulder. “Can't I just say I'm fine and you'll all believe me?”

“Noooo,” Leo grinned against his forehead.

“I told you, I'm cool with it,” Mikey grumbled. “It's not like I remember much.”

“That's the worst answer ever,” Leo sighed. He bumped their heads together. “It's a non-answer.”

Mikey gave a little growl, trying to think up more distractions.

“Okay,” Donnie said, holding his hands up in a time out motion. “Mikey, stop. Sit up.”

Donnie got up to crouch right in front of Mikey. Mikey shifted more upright and reached for the remote. Donnie took it and quickly started up a Deep Space Nine episode.

“Oh, you're going right to Bashir being discovered?” Raph commented. “Bold.”

Donnie tilted his head like a bow. “Thank you, I was feeling audacious.”

Mikey stiffened. “Yeah, yeah, I get the connection. Didn't we already do this with our autisms?”

“And now we're doing it for your superpowers,” Donnie said firmly, putting his hands on Mikey's knees. “We've seen this particular episode so many times we can quote it in our sleep. You probably do. It will run in the background while we talk. That gives us around an hour. Is that acceptable?”

Mikey looked between Don and the screen. “Fine.”

“Okay,” Donnie said, squeezing Mikey's knees.

“Okay,” Mikey said.

“Okay?” Donnie leaned forward slightly. His eyes lit up a little.

Mikey smirked. “Okay!”

“Oookay, yeah,” and Leo gently shook Mikey, kicking out at Donnie. “Get to it, Brainiac.”

“Oy, that's my line,” Raph grunted.

[shreddeddescent]

i often end up writing shit thats referencing previous versions of events ive written before (like in prev drafts i guess? or early exploratory shit??) and recently realized where the name 'worst case scenario' even came from and its kinda funny. its a leo thing, being so anxious hes gotta share his worst thoughts.

this is REALLY old so its not very good and it wont make sense with lore NOW but you know, just for fun.

guess i should say the thing originated from a thing of raph and casey both getting kidnapped by purple dragons and then sold out to shredder, but obvs shredder gave casey back cuz he doesnt care about her.

and its been a week w no raph but mikey gets a lead on where casey is, in some underground fighting pit, so they all head over immediately.

--

Leo was driving over the bridge, his mother sleeping in the front seat. He was surprised she was capable with how much caffeine she’d been drinking. It was like she hadn't slept all week. None of them really had, but she had been keeping herself awake.

Mikey and Donnie were talking strategy in the back seat. Well Mikey was trying, Donnie just listened.

Donnie at some point leaned over, placing his hands on the back of the driver's seat to speak closer to Leo.

“Are we going to address the elephant in the room?”

Leo raised his brows and looked at him in the rear view mirror.

“Mikey heard Casey was here. Not Raph.”

Leo looked back at the road. “It’s the best lead we’ve got.”

“Yeah, and wherever Raph goes, Casey always knows! So when we find her, she’ll tell us, and then we head right over! Easy peasy!” Mikey beamed.

Leo tapped his fingers on the steering wheel anxiously. “Let’s play worst case scenario. My worst case is Casey says he didn’t make it.” Leo said, not looking back at them.

Donnie scoffed and leaned his head against his hand, staring out the tinted window.

“Worst case scenario: Raph is actually just on a bender and all these clues lead nowhere.” Donnie mumbled.

“Hold on, let me think.” Mikey sat back in his seat, tapping his chin in thought.

Leo kept his eyes on the road. There was many worst case scenarios running around his brain, it helped to talk it out.

“Okay! Worst case scenario is Raph was eaten by a dinosaur while failing to stop nuclear bombs go off and we all die in a horrible firey explosion!”

Donnie snorted, staring at his brother incredulously. 

Leo barked out a laugh, “What?!”

“What? That’s my worst case scenario!”

“That’s a little unrealistic don’t you think?” Donnie punched him lightly.

“Well duh! It’s the WORST CASE SCENARIO! Of course it’s unrealistic!”

Leo kept laughing. At least they could be very sure that wasn’t true.

--

*insert long winded poorly written action scene here of them rescuing casey from purple dragons*

--

Leo set Casey carefully down on the cot in the back of the van. She gripped his hand tight, a wild look in her eye.

“Raph.” She croaked. “You have to get Raph.”

He squeezed her hand back. “Do you know where he is?”

She nodded, groaning. Clearly her brain was finally catching up with her injuries.

“Mom! Hospital!” Leo shouted towards the front of the car. 

He looked back at Casey, her eyes looked so guilty suddenly.

“It’s… Shredder…” she breathed out.

Leo felt everything else fade away. A ringing in his ears, a chill down his spine. He stared, absolute horror on his face.

Mikey was at his side in an instant, he held Casey’s face.

“Did you say Shredder?!” He wasn’t calm, but he was more in control of his emotions than Leo currently was.

Casey groaned, putting her hands on Mikey’s. “W-worse…”

Leo frowned and squeezed her hand again.

“H-he had his eggs in the van…”

Oh god.

Mikey looked up at Leo. “But if Shredder knows he can do that…” he trailed off. They both knew what that meant.

Reality had broken his worse case scenario.