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yourlocalartsonist · 1 year

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ROTTMNT Moths Fly In Packs - Chapter Four

A/N: Hello I have returned with yet another chapter for y'all to feed on! I am lowkey so happy the fanfic's going on for so long cuz I have a history of abandoning projects after like the third chapter, so clearly tis a sign I might actually keep this fic long running for years and years to come :D I know I have a lot of ideas for it so I'm def taking a few years on this one but oh well I'm having fun. Hope you guys like this one, tidepod duo is one of my favs and I got to implement some of my own lore bits here and there and foreshadow certain things... Also can y'all believe the Hidden City Zoo was mentioned in one of the episodes but we never got to actually see it like fuck u Nickelodeon, now I'm forced to write a self-indulgent fanfic so my brain can finally rest >:( But yee tell me your fav parts if y'all feel like it <3

Also! Credit to: @sweaterrat for being my beloved beta reader, and my irl friend "The Leo Hater Reading a Leo Fanfic" for inspiring some quotes~

*Phuphu means "paternal aunt" in Bangla

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Previous Chapter

Chapter One

Disclaimer: Chapter involves themes of abusive family, mention of death, violence, and curse words. If you're sensitive to that stuff, scroll past and stay safe! <3

—

“Remember we’ll be back by nine, this place better be spotless or you’re staying up and making sure it is!”

“I know Phuphu*, I’ve got it. You and Meeta just enjoy your day.”

My aunt called for her daughter who was still at the mirror adjusting how she looked, smoothening out her patterned gold dress and putting any flyaway strands back in place. They were both going to a birthday party for one of my aunt’s friend’s sister’s brother-in-law’s son and, as usual, I wasn’t invited. Instead, I got tasked with keeping the apartment in check while they’re gone in case there’s an explosion or something. They never give me a better reason.

“Hurry up child, we’re going to be late!”

“Mommy you’re the one who always says beauty takes time.”

Meeta took one last look in the mirror and joined her mom at the door.

“Well, don’t you look stunning!”

“Um, of course I do? Have I ever not looked perfect?” There it is, my ever so humble cousin. I mean don’t get me wrong I admire her confidence, just crosses a line when she starts putting others down for not looking as good as her. And by others I mostly mean me.

But regardless, it was true. Meeta did look stunning all day everyday. She’s only fifteen but still considered the beauty of our family, especially to our relatives outside America. Tall, dark eyes, milky skin. Shiny black hair done up in a tight bun. Meeta takes great care to always look picture perfect.

I waved goodbye as they left for the party. It did feel a little bad, never getting to tag along and join them anywhere. But then again, eight years of technically being in debt to my aunt didn’t exactly leave any respect for me so parties are the least of my concerns. She acts as if not yelling at me for one minute would end with tragedy just because she’s letting me stay here for free. My only form of compensation: taking care of the house. Cleaning, shopping, running errands, all that jazz. It’s either that or a job so I chose household chores, it’s got more perks.

Like getting to choose my own schedule! As always, I was told ahead of time that they’d be out today so while my aunt and Meeta were sleeping last night, I got the majority of the cleaning done (with the exception of their rooms, of course). I asked Jaiden if we could hang out today and miraculously they agreed so I had to make sure today's cleaning would take no more than an hour, even if that sacrificed a little bit of sleep yesterday. All I’ve gotta do now is just some light sweeping. Totally worth it in my opinion.

Soon after I was done, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and saw it was a call from Jaiden. Fumbling with the buttons I eventually managed to answer.

“Jaiden? Are you out already? Give me like ten minutes I’ll-”

“I can’t make it.”

Wait, what? “Wh-what do you mean?”

“I can’t make it today, something came up. I just wanted to quickly call you and let you know.”

Beep!

They hung up.

My heart sank thinking about their words. Something came up? I’ve been so excited to hang out with Jaiden all day and now something came up? We already haven’t spent much time together lately. They don’t talk as much at school and stopped responding to my texts. I got worried I did something wrong but every time I’d gain the courage to ask they’d just say they were low on energy and I’d accept that answer because what else could I do? After all of this time of practically begging them, I finally got them to agree on making plans in hopes we could talk and now today of all days something just happened to come up?

I sighed and quickly returned to rationality. It must be a last minute situation, I mean they barely even called for a minute. Probably something important or maybe a parent randomly said no. Jaiden did say their parents are a bit flip-floppy. Either way, no point in getting mad at Jaiden, it’s not in their control. I begrudgingly shoved my phone back in my pocket and paced around the house trying to entertain myself. I’ve already cleaned every nook and cranny I could bullshit into justifying as a mess so that’s not an option. I don’t really have any inspiration to work on my art or writing either.

I went into my room and flopped on the bed.

Ugh, this sucks! It’s only three pm, I still have so many hours to kill. Maybe I should just take a nap.

Before I could try to doze off to dreamland, a sound forced my eyes back open.

A knock? At my window?

But when I stuck my head outside no one was there. So either the wind was being a little bitch or I’m so depressed I’m hallucinating. I groaned and was about to go back to bed but, the very second I turned my back, two voices shouted in unison before I got tackled to the ground.

“Surprise attack!”

My poor back stung against the hard floor as the two mutant idiots curled around me.

“Leo, Mikey! I missed you guys! But, um, I do still need to breathe.”

We sat up, still on the floor and my soul eventually returned to my body.

Mikey flashed a vibrant grin “So, whatcha doing? Any plans or are you free today!? Please say you’re free!”

“Oh, I am now, I guess. I was supposed to hang out with a friend but they canceled last minute so my day just about cleared up.”

“Aww sorry to hear that Salena.” And he’s back to hugging. I’d be more annoyed if Mikey didn’t give such great hugs, he’s as soft as a sponge. “But, on the bright side, that means you can come hang out with us now! Leo and I were planning on going to a zoo and-”

“A ZOO!?”

Am I dreaming because holy daze it feels like I am! I could barely contain my giddy giggles the entire walk over.

“I’ve always wanted to go to a zoo literally my entire life! Getting up close and personal with all the amazing different animals! I mean don’t get me wrong, books are great but it’d be so different to see one in person! I feel like I’d get carried away and go inside the enclosure, though, but that’s fine! Just the usual intrusive thoughts and stuff!”

“Hey Salena, love the enthusiasm and it’s really great to see you so happy but, maybe you should save your energy for when we actually get there?”

“Sorry! I’m just so excited!”

“Yeah, I had a feeling you’d enjoy this.” He smiled and turned back to Mikey. “Hey Angelo, we there yet?”

“Yepperoni! Just give it a sec and let the Master of Mystic Arts do his thing.” Mystic arts?

He held out his hands and they started glowing. Contrasting with the neon blue I’m used to seeing, a portal opened up in sunset colors.

“Guys, am I missing something? Why are we opening a portal?” I glanced over at Leo for some answers only to be met by his stupid amused smirk.

“So, we may have hidden a tiny little detail about this zoo trip.”

“Damn, you don’t say?”

Mikey, the only thing between me and the glowing mystery hole, stepped off to the side. “We weren’t just gonna go to any regular zoo. We’re going to the Hidden City Zoo!”

Hidden City? Oh wait, that’s the place Raph talked about, the reason why there were so many Yōkai near my house! This is probably one of the gateways to it? I leaned in a bit closer, a little more cautious than usual. It sounded thrilling to explore the Hidden City but a zoo? What kind of animals could a mutant zoo have?

“Um, we’re not gonna get immediately mauled death by some crazy rabid mutant lion or something, right?”

“Dunno. Only one way to find out!”

“What.”

The blue bastard pushed me through without hesitation as my poor knees made contact with the hard, rocky surface on the other side. I thought of letting my violent desires get the better of me for a minute. Until...

The new world in front of me left me starstruck.

The sky painted in various hues of pink and gold, an enormous entrance built on seafoam-colored stone displaying the words Hidden City Zoo. Peeking inside it only got better, the place was littered with wild and wacky creatures I’ve never even dreamed could exist! And in the distance, I think I can make out a rollercoaster?

It seems like Mikey’s in just as much awe as I am “Omigosh look at how big it is! And it has an amusement park nearby? This place is even cooler than I thought!”

“Dudes, what’d I tell you, this was totally a great idea! Ugh, I should’ve gone here last time instead of that stupid spa.”

“Why didn’t you just go after the spa?”

“Oh cause we all got thrown in jail. A dumb bird and an evil wig framed me for theft so that kinda took up the whole day.”

“But Dad and I bailed them out and saved the day! Who’s the best turtle now Leon~”

A giggle escaped my lips “The fact that I’m not even surprised. Now c’mon, enough blabbering, we gotta go explore!”

A mutant zoo is somehow exactly what I expected it to be but also completely different at the same time. Most of these guys look like regular animals, just bigger and louder. But a few others actually reminded me of more traditional Yōkai I saw in a book about Japanese folklore. I remember Mom used to hate how interested I was in it, which was pretty strange since she herself was Japanese. That was the only thing I ever knew of her heritage. She kept trying to tell me Yōkai knowledge was useless and I’d have way more fun learning about real animals instead. Unfortunately for her, my curiosity was not one to be quenched so I simply ended up learning about both.

I looked at one of the bear Yōkai, they’re called onikuma I think. We made eye contact and either I need to get my vision checked or it just smiled at me. Weren’t these supposed to be wild animals? Come to think of it actually, the more Yōkai-looking creatures resembled the mutants outside the zoo enclosures more than the ones inside. You know, the guys walking around on two feet wearing clothes and taking pictures on their phones the same way we were and are very obviously not wild animals.

“Whatcha writing, Salena?” the tangerine looked over my shoulder while I was typing on my notes app.

“Oh, just trying to learn a bit more about these guys. I don’t know why but something just feels-”

Before I could finish my sentence, my stomach chose violence sending a sharp pain through my body as it rumbled louder than a whale call.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to eat today.”

“You do that too?”

Mikey let out a dramatically loud gasp “What is wrong with y’all? How can anyone forget to eat? We’re getting food right now.”

“Chillax Mikey, I’ll be fine! We can wait a little-”

“Don’t make me go Doctor Delicate Touch on you.”

“N-Nevermind.”

We were unwillingly dragged by the terrifying midget to a food booth nearby. I mean, it’s not too bad honestly, the food in the Hidden City is way better than in New York. We got a super delicious burger packed with juicy meat, creamy cheese, tomatoes that actually taste like something, and… worm fries. I avoided that last delicacy but Leo seemed to enjoy it. Mikey on the other hand wrote down every tiny detail while rambling to himself the whole time.

“Don’t mind him, Mikey loves to cook. Sometimes he tries remaking recipes of any food we liked outside.”

“Ahem, I don’t just recreate them, I improve them!”

I looked at the giant burger in my hands amazed at Mikey’s confidence. “You want to improve this? This is literally the best burger I’ve ever had in my life! How could you top this?”

“Yeah, Miguel, you sure you’re good enough for this one?” He glared as Leo playfully stuck out his tongue.

“You’ll just have to wait and be impressed! But on another note, how’re you doing Salena? Enjoying the day so far?”

“Enjoying doesn’t even begin to describe it! Everything is so cool here! I’ve always wanted to go to a zoo like this. I bugged my parents about it a lot when I was younger but we never had enough money for the tickets and stuff. They promised they’d take me one day but…” They died before they could.

I never realized how I completely forgot about that. Life got so busy that getting upset over zoos seemed too silly to do anymore.

I snapped back to reality feeling the boys’ eyes on me.

“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to ruin the mood-”

They hugged me.

“It’s a good thing we took you here then!”

“Yeah, consider it a thank you gift for Mr. and Mrs. Moni.”

This feels… warm. And familiar? It’s a hug. I’ve hugged plenty of people. But those hugs felt different. I feel so small right now and that’s strangely a good thing. Everything is warm and cozy and a little dreamy.

I think the last time a hug felt like this was when my parents were still here.

The rest of the day went by delightfully. We took a stupid amount of pictures - mostly because Leo wanted to boast to Raph and Donnie later - and Mikey even dragged us on to a few of the rides at the amusement park. The mood felt a little softer than before. I’m not entirely used to it but I honestly don’t mind.

But as usual, the pleasantly chill vibe can never last for too long. A loud crash grabbed our attention towards one of the exhibits where a bunch of employees were scrambling around with cages in their arms. Mikey managed to stop one of them mid-panic to ask what’s going on.

“Something broke the glass and now they all escaped!”

I caught Leo inspecting the broken glass. Following his eyes, they landed on what seemed to be a giant crab claw. He quickly noticed the two culprits in the distance frolicking around in acrobat uniforms and groaned. “Ugh, I think I know who that something was.”

“Who are those guys?”

“The Sando brothers. We just can’t enjoy a single day of peace can we?” Mikey grit his teeth with a murderous glint in his eyes. Like I said, soft as a sponge. Just when he’s mad, he’s as soft as a sponge left out too long without water.

The employee was focused more on the escaped critters and rushed off before we could ask anything else. “They’ll wreck everything! We need to catch them before they wreck everything!”

“Hey wait! What animal got loose!?”

I squinted at the label trying to read the small text, immediately filled with dread now understanding everyone’s panic. One of the raccoon-sized demons hissed to my right, preparing to pounce.

“Uh, guys? This was a shrew enclosure!”

“A what enclosure?”

“Duck!”

“Wha- GAH!” It would seem I managed to avoid it at the expense of traumatizing the blueberry. “GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!”

Mikey kicked the shrew off revealing poor Leo’s scratched up and terrified face. “Why are they so violent!?”

“They’re shrews, that’s their job! But they’re usually no bigger than a human palm, I can’t believe ooze could supersize them that much.” I quickly wrote down the new info on my phone as Mikey helped Leo up.

“Leo, what’s the plan?”

He looked at the crabs while dusting himself off “We should probably take care of the circus clowns before they destroy anything else. What do ya say, Angelo? Think you can keep up with professional acrobats?”

“You know I can! Cowabunga!”

“Wait! What do I do?”

“Oh, Mikey and I can take care of this. You don’t wanna just lay low till we’re back?”

“And let you two hog all the fun? I thought you knew me better than that.”

He softly chuckled “Right, adrenaline junkie, how could I forget?” He looked at the several mutant shrews raging havoc all over the place “Well, we could use someone to help catch the… shrews right? You seem to know a bunch about them. Maybe you could help make sure they don’t destroy the whole place.”

My eyes lit up “You got it chief!”

“If you need any help, holler!”

I went over to the employees. Some of them were still trying to capture the tiny devils while a few others were getting a mystic wall ready where the glass broke, I’m assuming to temporarily keep them in. I’ll need a plan to get all the shrews in there. Mindlessly chasing around already proved to be a fail.

I know I definitely read about this before. Shrews are carnivorous, they like eating things like snails and slugs but those were the regular-sized shrews. What could I feed these giants?

Think, think, think. There’s gotta be something around here I can bait them with…

“Wait! The burgers! Of course!”

I bolted inside a kitchen and scanned around for any giant clumps of meat.

“Hey, kid! Who are you, what are you even doing here?”

“Sorry, I’m in a hurry. Shrew problems.”

“What?”

I looked past the confused guy and saw what I was looking for. Shoving down my guilt, I grabbed a bunch of bacon patties and ran out the kitchen.

“Hey!”

“I’m sorry, it’s a necessary sacrifice!”

Back outside, I found a shrew and waved one of the patties, catching its attention.

“Over here, buddy!” Usually, thin bacon strips would be enough to lure them but I figured giant meat circles were more appropriate for these guys.

Once I got it close enough to the enclosure, I threw the patty in letting the shrew jump after it, getting trapped behind the transparent magic wall. One by one, all the menace mice were eventually recaptured. Not gonna lie, I’m still a little surprised it actually worked.

“Salena, look out!”

I dodged to Mikey’s instruction just in time for another giant crab claw to fly bullet-speed past me getting absorbed into the wall. It would seem mystic glass can’t really be broken, good thing too since the shrews escaping again would’ve broken my will to live alongside it.

Unfortunately, I spent too long collecting myself and got snatched up by the back of my shirt, now facing the presumed Sando brothers.

“Look Carl, it’s the gross little human that keeps ruining our plan!”

“Ha! Look at it swing!”

“Put me down you bald red freak!”

He suddenly looked at me in pain as if my dream of breaking his dumb claws open had actually come true “B-bald?..”

“Did you just call my brother bald!?”

“I can’t believe that’s the part you’re focused on.”

“I… I used to be so beautiful with my luscious long locks before I got turned into this! You still got to keep your hair, why was life so cruel to me!?” The red nuisance began pouring a waterfall of tears.

“See what you did!? Now you made him cry! Hey, it’s alright Ben, that human doesn’t know beauty when they see it.” Are you serious.

“You’re right! We should do something awful to it! Something that’ll make them regret calling me bald!”

“Yeah like!.. Like…”

“Ooh, I know! We should eat it!”

“DUDE! Why is that the first thing you think of!?”

A familiar taunting voice joined in the conversation “Lame! You guys are so awful at plans, no wonder you got outsmarted by a regular ol’ human!” I’d be offended if I wasn’t preoccupied with my confusion.

“Excuse me!? Did you just call my brother lame!?”

“Why does the universe hate me today!?”

“I’d like to see you idiots do any better!”

“Oh-ho we could do so much better, right Mikey?”

“What are you guys-”

“Duh! I mean there are rollercoasters everywhere and they didn’t even realize higher ground would speed things up by a trillion.”

HUH!? “No no no no no no! We do not need to go higher ground!”

“Hey come to think of it, Mike, dropping someone from a high place is a pretty heinous thing to do, too. Way worse than eating them.”

“OH YOU TWO ARE SO DEAD IF I’M NOT!”

“Ben, they actually have a point.”

“Y-yeah they kinda do… Welp doesn’t matter if we take credit for it, anyway! See ya later, jerks!”

They jumped onto the coaster as I helplessly awaited my fate, praying the dumbass turtles had some sort of plan and didn’t just use me as live bait for the crab monsters.

“Look down at your death tiny pest! I bet it’d take you days just to finally hit the ground!”

“Woah, you really think we’re that high up, Ben?”

“Yeah! Or actually, no not really, I think it’ll only take like a minute or something.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound as cool. Should we go higher ground-”

“UGH! Why does it matter, I’m dead either way you buffoons!”

“Oh yeah, good point.” He let go of me and off I was screaming as I fall to my doom.

But just above me, a pair of chains wrapped around the rollercoaster and snapped it like a stick, sending idiot crab men falling down with me. Still in shock, I didn’t notice the blue katana fly by, teleporting a smirking turtle just in time to catch me.

“Leo?”

“Missed me?~” He drew his blade mid-air and opened a portal landing us to safety.

“You didn’t think we actually ditched you, did you?”

“Aha, I was starting to…”

I looked past his shoulder towards the sound of Mikey’s hyper yelps.

“It’s mystic time, baby!” I gawked as the orange portal, just like the one from earlier today, opened up swallowing the terrified acrobats and sending them to who knows where.

“Mikey can open portals, too!?”

“Don’t tell me you thought there was a gateway to the Hidden City directly outside the zoo.”

“Actually, yeah I kinda did.”

Mikey walked over pressing against the glass wall between us. Wait, glass? Where even are we?

“Leo, Salena! Are you guys okay?”

“Don’t worry, little brother, we’re perfectly fine. We just gotta get out here.”

“Uh…L-Leo!” He followed my frightened gaze to the giant mutant bullfrogs behind us.

“So that’s what the glass was for.”

“RUN!”

I grabbed his hand and started sprinting away from the green enemy, making sure to dodge the enormous pink tongue currently hunting us.

“You know, for someone who supposedly failed gym, you’re pretty light on your feet.”

I furrowed my brows, more towards his accusation than his inappropriately relaxed smirk “I did fail gym! You’re just lucky dodgeball’s the only sport I’m good at.”

We hid behind a nearby rock, gasping and trying to catch our breaths.

“Man, of all the places you could’ve picked, why’d you portal us here?”

“Hey, it’s not like I meant to! My portals mess up when I panic.”

“You were panicking?”

He looked just as surprised as I did “Ah-”

“Guys! Are you dead?!” his comms let out Mikey’s panicked voice.

“We’re okay, Mikey. Just resting for a bit.”

“Oh good. Cause uh, THE COPS ARE HERE! WE’VE GOTTA MOVE!”

“The cops? Eugh boy.”

“Wait why is that a bad thing? Does the Hidden City not have Good Samaritan laws or something?”

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck “So uh, remember the whole ‘us getting thrown into jail’ thing? Yeah, we may or may not still be wanted criminals for that whole shebang.”

“You said you got bailed out!”

“I never said legally!”

“Oh my god.”

He peeked from behind the rock, making eye contact with Mikey still waiting for us outside the enclosure.

“Okay, I’ve got an idea but we’ve gotta make a run for it. You ready to leave the zoo?”

“Yeah, I think I’ve had enough mutant mayhem for one day.”

We raced past the mutant frog. Leo swung his sword one last time, creating a portal, and shoved it so it reached both sides of the glass barrier. The three of us dove in as it closed behind, falling back to a soft carpeted floor.

I rubbed my head and looked around “My room… M-My room! Omigosh we made it guys, we’re alive!”

Mikey and Leo were a little less celebratory than I thought they’d be.

“Sorry for dragging you into a fight, Salena. Again. Man, that’s the second time that’s happened. Which, I guess it isn’t a lot, but still weird it happened twice.”

“Ugh, this was supposed to be a fun, relaxing trip to the zoo. I can’t believe those stupid crab jerks showed up and ruined it.”

I had no idea they’d be so dejected over this.

“Who said anything about ruined?” They looked at me puzzled by my unfazed smile.

“Did you hit your head or something? We should check for injuries. Leo-”

“No, guys, I’m fine! Really!”

“You almost died twice today and you think that wouldn’t ruin anything?”

“Okay, yeah, that would’ve been inconvenient if I did, but I didn’t! I mean, come on! Think about literally everything else that happened! My first ever zoo and we just so happened to save it from disaster that exact same day? Guys, this was amazing!” I let myself breathe a bit, feeling the adrenaline calm down. “Life’s been so much better ever since I met you.”

Leo stared at me silently while Mikey caved into his emotions. “That’s it, I can’t take it anymore! Group hug!”

The teary tangerine pulled us in. For a while, we all stayed like that, cuddled on the floor. Warm, cozy, and comfortable. As weirdly thrilling as the danger was, I think the hugs were still my favorite part about today.

I would’ve loved to just enjoy it a bit longer but my phone alarm rang, the one I always set to be an hour before my oh so beloved family returned.

“You better go. I don’t think my aunt would be very happy with two random turtles in my room.”

After our goodbyes, I happily jumped into bed ready for some quiet downtime. I guess even though I didn’t get to hang out with the person I initially planned to, today might have turned out better this way. I opened up Instagram and started scrolling and catching up on everything else in the world. A YouTuber posted a new video, a couple and their cat went on vacation, an artist opened up commissions. All in all, seemed to be a pleasant day for everyone else, too.

My thumb paused. A new post from Zane. They were pictures from a party he went to today, seemed like he had fun.

I got to the last picture on his post. My eyes went wide, staying glued to the person next to him. Heavy eyes. Dark hair straightened into a ponytail.

I felt my stomach doing flips realizing who it was.

“Jaiden?”

—

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