#he would’ve done all the running for leo

[bluesandboos]

just thought about what it could have been like this season with gavi and Messi on the same pitch im gonna fling myself off a tower with

[world0fmadness]

⋆ ˚｡⋆ ✩ ˚ SOMEPLACE SILENT

oscar piastri x silent hill / horror game obsessed! reader x lando norris ( kind of )

faceclaim: none!

୨୧ this is uh… this is just very self indulgent to be honest! i’m someone that cannot shut the fuck up about video games in general but especially silent hill and other survival horror games so yeah! i haven’t slept in 20 hours, i’m running on monster energy so sorry for any major errors

୨୧ part two of this smau available here

reading music recommendations: the reverse will by akira yamaoka - laura plays the piano by akira yamaoka - waiting for you by akira yamaoka

ynlovesthehorror: it’s raining and hailing outside today… you know what that means… classic survival horror game marathon 🥳

landonorris ✔️: girl you would’ve done this if the sun was shining and the birds were chirping…

> ynlovesthehorror: shut your mouth

> landonorris ✔️: i’m telling oscar

> londoacaryn: never beating those future throuple allegations i fear…

oscarpiastri ✔️: miss you tons, can’t wait to get home and watch ❤️

> ynlovesthehorror: miss you more! can’t wait for you to get home, i still have lore to explain :3

> landonorris ✔️: oscar she told me to shut my mouth, tell her off

> oscarpiastri ✔️: no way mate, you deserved it

> landonorris ✔️: right well i’m just gonna drive off a bridge then i reckon, since you obviously all hate me so much 💔

> oscarpiastri ✔️: okay

> ynlovesthehorror: okay

> danielricciardo ✔️: okay

landoontop: my favourite wag, she just wants to chill all the time 😭

ynlovesthehorror: THIS IS A 100% REAL NOT FAKE NOT ALTERED NOT MANIPULATED IMAGE OF THE F1 DRIVER LANDO NORRIS AND A UNKNOWN ASSAILANT TRYING TO SILENCE ME IN THE PADDOCK FOR TALKING ABOUT SILENT HILL TO HIS ENGINEERS

landonorris ✔️: GET A GRIP YOU MUPPET 😭

> ynlovesthehorror: THREATEN ME ALL YOU WANT I WONT BACK DOWN

danielricciardo ✔️: DISTURBING! someone needs to show this to the FIA…

> landonorris ✔️: DONT ENCOURAGE HER

landoontop: and where was oscar when this was happening?

> ynlovesthehorror: toilet 😔

> landoontop: seems suspicious… you don’t think…

> ynlovesthehorror: 😟

> oscarpiastri ✔️: 😳

landoscaryn: she couldn’t be serious if she tried 😭

ynlovesthehorror: went to the paddock with oscar today! you already know the psp had to come with me <3 also l*ndo got me this shirt… i think he might feel bad about threatening me with a gun for being passionate about a game

landonorris ✔️: still going with how i and a unknown assailant apparently put you in a chair and pointed guns at you for talking to our engineers about silent hill?

> ynlovesthehorror: you left me traumatised

> landonorris ✔️: absolute muppet

> ynlovesthehorror: thanx for the shirt :3

❤️ liked by landonorris and oscarpiastri

danielricciardo ✔️: nice seeing you again yn! thanks for letting me borrow your psp for a bit, took me way back

> ynlovesthehorror: you’re welcome <3

oscarpiastri ✔️: always a better race when you’re here ❤️ love you lots, my lucky charm

> ynlovesthehorror: you flatter me too much, love you more <3

charlesleclerc ✔️: the paddock is always more fun with you around! hope to see you again soon yn 🙂

> ynlovesthehorror: only if you bring alex and leo with you again

> charlesleclerc ✔️: leo? sure! alex? absolutely not

> ynlovesthehorror: don’t hate me because your girlfriend liked my nerd swag

> landonorris ✔️: “swag” someone run her over

ynlovesthehorror: me at comic-con last year vs me at comic-con this year! i have a new sidekick :3 oscarpiastri

oscarpastry: holy fuck

> iluvf1: holy FUCK

> piastrilover: HOLY FUCK

oscarpiastri ✔️: most fun i’ve had at an event in a long time, love you lots ❤️

> ynlovesthehorror: i finally have a bf that will cosplay with me 🥹 AND HES AUSTRALIAN AND SUPER HOT

oldf1lvr: well… this is it! this is the cutest thing to ever happen in the history of f1 couples

landonorris ✔️: nerds

> ynlovesthehorror: you get absolutely no bitches, leave my comment section

> oscarpiastri ✔️: lando you messaged me that you were upset we hadn’t told you we were going to comic-con this year and you would’ve come dressed as james if yn wanted

> landonorris ✔️: snake

> landoontop: lmao poor lando 😩

eatoscarlikepastry: so this confirms that oscar is a silent hill fan too right?

> landoontop: idk… he might just be dressing up with her, supporting her!

> ynlovesthehorror: he wasn’t a silent hill fan before i met him, he didn’t even know wtf it really was 💔 i changed that real quick, he’s almost a big of a fan now as me… almost

oscarynlove: something just happened in my brain and i don’t know what…

danielricciardo ✔️: good work on crafting the costumes both times yn! always lovely to see your talent

> ynlovesthehorror: don’t praise me, i’ll cry

> landoscaryn: she’s just like me </3

> danielricciardo ✔️: don’t be stupid! you deserve praise love ❤️

> oscarpiastri ✔️: she’s crying but she says thank you lots

> landonorris ✔️: what a strange girl…

> oscarpiastri ✔️: 🙄

ynlovesthehorror: life update! me and osc got a kitten :3

maxverstappen ✔️: good choice of pet!

> ynlovesthehorror: thank you maxi pad

> maxverstappen ✔️: 😕

oscarpastry: oscar with a kitten oh my god… what did you name it?

> ynlovesthehorror: heather <3

> landonorris ✔️: of fucking course you named her that…

oscarpiastri ✔️: i love our child ❤️

> ynlovesthehorror: our BABY!

charlesleclerc ✔️: i must bring leo over so they can meet and be best friends!

> ynlovesthehorror: yes 🥹 next week!

iluvf1: they’re the cutest couple on the grid i fear…

❤️ liked by landonorris

ynlovesthehorror: you’re the james to my mary (minus the murder part) i’ll always be waiting for you ❤️

eatoscarlikepastry: i’m so obsessed with them…

landonorris ✔️: “minus the murder part” i just… why can’t you just be normal?

> oscarpiastri ✔️: i don’t want her to be normal ❤️

> ynlovesthehorror: you heard the man

landoscaryn: WHEN WILL IT BE MY TURN?

oscarpiastri ✔️: i love you, lucky charm ❤️

> ynlovesthehorror: love you more speedy <3

oscarynlove: you as mary or maria and oscar as james when?

> ynlovesthehorror: soon… very soon :)

⋆ ˚｡⋆ ୨୧ ˚ NEW ADDED BONUS ˚ ୨୧ ⋆｡˚ ⋆

a chat is needed

[tmntxthings]

hi! So I was hoping you could make a story about Leo accidentally drank a love potion thinking it was a new brand of soda and always wants to be with the reader now and the reader just accept it’s now?

thank you ☺️!!

Sugar Pie Honey Bunch

author’s note: 🤭 such a cute idea, thank you for requesting~~ hope you enjoy <3 (title reference to the movie strange magic)

warnings: slight angst, fluff, slight cursing

> donnie’s < > raph’s < > mikey’s < > casey’s <

—————————————————————————

“Ohhhh Y/n~~~~”

You groaned at the sound. Leo hasn’t left you alone for two weeks straight. You kept quiet hoping he wouldn’t check Raph’s room. But that only had him calling out for you louder, making a ruckus in the lair.

Splinter yelled at him to ‘BE QUIET’ and something about one of his shows just getting good. You knew it was only a matter of minutes before Leo pulled out his ultimate weapon. And no sooner you saw a tiny blue circle start to form.

Let’s start from the beginning. The turtles had dragged you to Hueso’s, your first time ever eating there. And somehow after ordering drinks a sparkly pink drink ended up at the table. No one had ordered it but Leo being such a dare devil decided to give it a try. “What?! It’s a free drink!” Leo said nonchalantly. Raph had told him not to, “You don’t know what that could be! And look at it! It’s like the drink is alive or something,” Raph said suspiciously eyeing the drink from his corner of the booth.

He was right, ever since it had been placed on the table it was like the liquid swirled and moved without anyone touching the straw. Mikey looked at Leo, “you won’t!” he goaded his older brother. And that was all it took as Leo dragged the glass to him, took the straw out, gave Raph a wink and Mikey a smirk as he downed the entire thing. Donnie smacked his forehead at the absurdity and Raph mumbled something under his breath. Now the seating arrangement turned out to be very important in this situation.

Leo and Donnie were sitting together on one side of the booth, while Raph, you and Mikey were squished on the other side. So when Leo’s glazed eyes opened after drinking the last drop and they landed directly on you, it was like electricity could be felt in the air. He sighed no- more like swooned in his seat as he leaned forward over the table and slurred, “Y/n have I ever told you how beauutiful you arrre??”

Everyone including you, was staring at Leo dumbfounded. “If my calculations are correct, from the pinkness, to the fizziness, and way it moved… Leo just downed about a pint of a love potion,” Donnie concurred. Your hands smacked down on the table, “anddd you thought it best to say that AFTER he drank it??” You narrowed your eyes at the purple turtle who looked up from his phone finally, and gave you a shrug, “he would’ve done it anyway whether I said what it was or not.”

You sighed, he was right about that. And you jumped out of your skin as Leo reached over and grabbed your hands from the table. “Why aren’t you paying any attention to me?” He pouted and all his brothers made gagging noises. You couldn’t help but laugh, and slowly pulled your hands away, patting his gently, “Leo, you’re under a love potion” you tried explaining to him, even though you didn’t know the first thing about love potions just that now they were suddenly real!

“Yeah I’m totally in love with you,” he corrected you and smiled dreamily. Back to the here and now, the blue portal was big enough for his head to pop through looking around, “Aha! You’re in Raph’s room,” and ducked his head out of the portal as it closed. He came running into his older brother’s room. “Why don’t you come hang out in my room?” He whined as he approached you. Stopping just shy of practically climbing on top of you.

Leo craved your presence at all times. It had been funny at first, watching him wait on you hand and foot. He literally never told you no for anything. But after a while it got to be too much, and when you had asked Donnie when the potion should wear off he had shrugged. “It varies on how strong the potion was made and how much he drank, and he did consume the entire glass so I’d be willing to estimate a month,”

You sighed, you still had a whole week left. “We were playing hide and seek!” You lied to him and his eyes lit up. “Well I found you,” he chuckled and leaned in impossibly closer, “do I get a prize?” He looked down to your lips and you couldn’t help your blush. Leo had been getting bolder and less innocent as time passed. “Nope! You cheated, no portaling allowed!” His eyes teared up, “But I couldn’t find you!!” he whined as he reached out and grabbed the bottom hem of your hoodie.

He did that a lot too. If he couldn’t kiss or hug you, he grabbed onto your clothes or hand. It would be really endearing if he wasn’t under a potion. You refrained from rolling your eyes, it was his fault, but you couldn’t blame him too much. “Okay okay, I’m sorry don’t cry,” you grabbed his hand and stood. He let you pull him out of Raph’s room, him sniffling the entire time, holding back tears. When you entered his room he stopped, seeming to relax more now that you were in his space.

“I don’t wanna play hide and seek anymore,” he said squeezing your hand. “Alright, what do you wanna do?” you asked. Hide and seek had been your go to game to get Leo to leave you alone for a little while. But you were resigned to your fate as he pulled you into an embrace. Heart racing stupidly as you tried to tell yourself this was just a potion. “Let’s cuddle! Oh and watch movies! Do you want popcorn?” Leo got really excited about doing regular things together. Things that before the potion, he never made a big deal about. “Yes to the movies and popcorn,” you said carefully making sure he realized it was a no to cuddling.

“Get comfy! I’ll be right back!!” He said happily, choosing to ignore what went unsaid. As he ran out of his room only to stumble back in after a few seconds, he came right back up to you. “Yes?” You questioned, “I forgot..” he said shyly, “Forgot what?” and no sooner had you asked he rushed forward kissing you chastely and ran back out of the room in glee. You were shocked to say the least, as your hands came forward to press against your lips. You were blushing so hard, “damn it!” you said going to sit on Leo’s bed.

You were frustrated with yourself for enjoying this so much. So every time you felt a blush or happy at his lovable behavior you got angry. It wasn’t real! None of it, and by the time the month was over Leo wouldn’t feel what he was feeling now. You needed to calm down but tears at the prospect of the future were threatening to fall down your cheeks. “Get a grip,” you muttered to yourself as you covered your face with your hands. Breathing in and out deeply.

You had always had a crush on the blue turtle. So all his advances made your heart flutter even though your mind knew it was only the love potion. It was a constant battle between your emotions and rationality. But if you tried to stay away from Leo it only made him upset, and truly you didn’t want to be away from him either, you just wanted the real him back. Even if he didn’t feel the same way you did, it was better than knowing it was all fake. You sighed and when you dragged your hands down your face you almost jumped out of Leo’s bed.

He was right in front of you! Sometimes you forgot how good a ninja he was, or maybe you had been so wrapped up in your own thoughts that you just hadn’t heard him return. He was looking at you with the strangest expression on his face like he was conflicted, “why are you crying?” he asked softly. You didn’t want to talk about it to love potion Leo, so you shook your head, “it’s nothing, c’mon let’s watch Lou Jistu or something,” you said trying to distract him. When you tried backing away from him further onto his bed he followed you. Your eyes widened when you came to the edge of his bed and your back met a wall. He was hovering over you now, “tell me please,” he refrained from touching you which you found very strange. He was usually very handsy.

“I just,” you blew out a breath, were you really going to spill and tell love-potion Leo that you had a big fat crush on him? He’d just immediately start kissing you and not get the point at all. That he wasn’t actually himself right now! That this all just meant nothing, and when you admitted that to yourself it felt like someone had just sliced open your heart. “You won’t understand,” you tried to reason with him and he shook his head, “try me” not backing down until he knew what was wrong. Why you had tears in your eyes and stains running down your cheeks.

“I’ve been crushing on you for a while Leo… so this whole love potion thing was fun at first but it hurts now. It hurts knowing what I feel is real and what you feel isn’t.” There you said it, in a rush of words that all hurt to say but you did it. Instead of what you thought was going to happen, him jumping around the room happily or try to mush his face to yours he seemed surprised. “For how long?” He asked seriously, “I think ever since we first met…” you said quietly.

“Y/n.. don’t be mad.. but the potion wore off a week ago,” Leo was smiling down at you. And you blinked in response taking in what he just said. “What?” You said dumbfounded. “I was pretending.. this whole week to be under love potion influence,” Leo explained sheepishly, a hand going behind his neck rubbing there. You pushed at his plastron angrily, moving to get out of his bed, “wait don’t go!” he said in a rush, as he beat you to the doorway. “You thought this was funny???” Your voice raised in anger and embarrassment. “Seeing my stupid reactions??”

“What?! No Y/n that’s not true,” he said shaking his head, eyes imploring you to believe him. “Move Leo, I’m leaving.” Your arms were wrapped around yourself, like if you held yourself tightly you wouldn’t fall apart. You couldn’t believe it had all been some prank! That he was actually in a right state of mind and just toying with you, annoying you and and, then you thought of all the lovely compliments and the fleeting touches. “What is wrong with you?!” You cried out, hurt more than ever and Leo winced, “Y/n please just listen to me” he begged going down on his knees.

When you said nothing he continued, “I liked you before the potion and I liked you during the potion and I like you now! I feel the same way as you and just, it felt so nice being able to express how I really feel without having to fear the rejection, I realize that was wrong of me! And I’m really sorry!!” His words tumbled out quickly like he couldn’t get them out fast enough, he worried you wouldn’t listen. That he had taken it too far. But he meant every word.

“You liked me before the potion?” You repeated, stunned at his confession. “Yes!” He said rising from his knees as he scooped you up in his arms. “Please forgive me for being so stupid,” he murmured in your hair. You sighed and he tensed up, “I don’t know..” you felt him sag, deflated that he had ruined his chances, “I guess I’ll let it slide this one time…” you finished, reaching out your arms returning his hug, fingers caressing his shell.

He picked you up immediately, “Really?!” his eyes were bright with hope as he spun you around in his arms. “Yes!” You laughed and he churred, nuzzling his face into your neck, feeling relieved. “But don’t you ever do anything like that again!” You said and he nodded into your neck, saying into your skin, “never again!” And he leaned his head back to look you in your eyes, “no more pretending,” he said seriously and looked down to your lips in question. You surged forward, answering him, kissing him.

[moxfirefly]

Hey, would you mind doing Mikey x Fem!reader (I feel we would be blessed with jealous Mikey) with the prompts.

❝  stop—  it’s okay.  they’re not worth your anger.  just kiss me.  ❞

❝ yeah it's time to walk the fuck away ❞

[Take] passionately kiss the other fueled by jealously

[Remind] passionate sex to remind the other who they belong to

Maybe a cop decided to flirt with Mikey's girl at an office party? Whatever you want is fine, and no pressure for any of this! Take care <3

Listen a jealous Mike is my bread and butter. I’m taking a few liberties with the scene cause I feel it’ll work even more.

So let’s goooooooo

Rated Explicit (18+ only)

Mistake number one was letting this jerk walk you home.

Well about twenty minutes ago he wasn’t a jerk. Twenty minutes ago he was your friend. Twenty minutes ago after a college party had ended, he had offered to walk you home. Which was fine, Mikey would’ve done it but from his last text it appeared they had ran into a scuffle with the local gang.

But your supposed friend thought that it would be a good idea to put the moves on you when you arrived near your apartment he had grabbed your arm. At first you thought he had almost slipped and had simply grabbed you to break his fall but no.

He was pulling you closer to him.

On instinct you had smacked him with your palm straight to his jaw (Leo would be so proud). He’d fallen against the entrance door to your building, which unfortunately prompted you to run to the alley beside it. There was a manhole there, it was a straight shot from there to the Lair, all you had to do was find the hook to open the cover.

“Hey what the hell! What’s your damage?! You’ve been giving me signals all night!” His words were muffled, he was covering his mouth. Whatever damage you had cause you felt proud of it.

“What signals you asshole! I literally told you I have a boyfriend!” You flung a can at him, anything to slow his approach as you looked for the secret hook.

“Oh yeah the mystery man you’ve never even shown me a pic of! You were just playing hard to get! If he was fucking real he-“ A sudden heavy fall made his rant stop.

You watched in shock as he turned around only to be met with a very, very, angry Michelangelo.

“Real enough for you?” Mikey stood, a tight grip on the handles of his nunchuck. There was specks of blood adorning his feature, scrapes and bruises and tears at his clothes. Whatever fight he had just finished off, you could tell the other party was not in good shape.

The jerk was frozen in his spot, eyes wide as he took in the sight before him.

“Wha-what…are you?” He barely breathed out the question, a step taken back to the step Mikey took forward.

“I’m about to become your worst fucking nightmare bro” He charged forward, the end of the nunchuck meeting with other man’s stomach and sending him toppling backwards in pain. He extended the chain and pressed it down onto the man’s neck as a warning.

“I know you dude, I’ve got your name and by that alone I can find you” Mikey spoke slowly, he wanted this fucker to remember everything. “You so much as think about her, I’ll know, I’ll know and I’ll come find you and fix it” He pressed down causing the other to choke and cough. The other man did his best to nod before begging to be released.

Mikey got up and the other man scurried to his feet, he casted a perplexed and fearful look at you and then turned it equally as frightened towards Mikey. “Yeah it’s time to walk the fuck away” Mikey nearly growled. He nodded before running away as fast as his trembling limbs allowed him. Mikey breathed hard, watched him leave before turning and kicking the nearest dumpster so hard he dented it severely. You flinched, words about to exit your mouth before he kicked it again, and again.

“Asshole! I should’ve picked you up like you asked! I should’ve been there! I should’ve but I can’t because I’m- IM THIS!” Whatever had gone down tonight coupled with this incident had sent something in the youngest spiraling to its boiling point.

You moved forward, throwing your arms around him as best as you could.

“Mikey! Listen! It’s okay! He isn’t worth your anger! Just kiss me, baby just kiss me…” You cupped his face, rubbing the angry tears away from his cheeks. His eyes looked like a raging storm, the bluest of skies tinted with red. His chest rose and fell in heavy breaths as he did his best to calm the rage. What had transpired stuck bitterly to the back of his throat and before it could bubble over as it had, he crashed his mouth against yours.

Those sweet kisses of his weren’t here, this was different. This was territorial, a hint of bitterness with unfathomable levels of want that made you deepen the kiss. His nunchucks clattered to the floor, hands finding your waist and pressing you towards him. If he could fuse you to his bones he would, if he could keep you within his veins he would. His tongue found itself in your mouth, it casted a familiar path over the tooth of your mouth before finding your own tongue.

You tasted copper and candy.

God, you wanted him right then and there.

His hands hiked up your skirt, finger dipping beneath your underwear to grab at the plump flesh. With a smooth fluid motion he backed you up against the door to a closed off exit of the building. The metal connecting with your back as he lifted you by your rear.

This. Was. Insane.

Anybody could come down this alley, anybody could see the two of you and yet here you were helping push his shorts past his thighs as he gave your lower lip a bite before kissing it.

It was swift and messy and not the usual song and dance you were accustomed to your usual romps. This was pure instinct, pure need, a fire that had spread and began to burn down common sense.

He found his way into you, felt that familiar warm tightness envelop him. Mikey groaned against your lips and relished the way your eyes fluttered closed. Your arms wrapped around his neck and a sort of debauched exhale only served to fuel his desires.

“You’re mine-“ He muttered it against your jaw. “Say it, angel” He kissed a path towards your ear, the goosebumps spread just as you moaned from the angle he thrusted.

“Oh fuck I am so yours” You could blush later, right now he needed to keep this up because if he did there was no way you were lasting much longer.

He smiled against your ear, a huff and then he was relentlessly thrusting.

A breathless soundless mumble of disjointed words appeared to form but all the sound you could produce were the moans Mikey kept yanking out of you with his hips and words. A little vile part inside his animal brain really hoped the guy would come back and find this scene. Something about it made his soul sing.

A sort of ‘Ha Ha Ha, I get to and you don’t’ childish and egotistical.

But fuck it, he didn’t care.

He was too lost in this familiar swirl of pleasure. His hands gripped your thighs harder, you got tighter and with a soft but demanding “Come for me my pretty little angel doll” he felt you spasm around him and fall down the delightful precipice alongside with him.

[ceruleanwhore]

So I’ve seen a lot of headcanons and fics floating around the Cybird/Ikemen fandom spaces about pregnancy or having children, but I have yet to see any childfree content at all, as @sevenai pointed out in a post they made about ikevamp. As such, I’ve put together a list of childfree headcanons for all the ikevamp men for those of us who want such things.

Napoleon — After the tragedy of his only legitimate son’s premature death during his life, I think it’s perfectly plausible that he would not want to try to produce another child of his own. Besides, the children he teaches with Isaac do more than enough to fill the void and warm his heart. I imagine that, at some point, the topic of children would come up and, when his partner would nervously disclose that she doesn’t actually want to have any of their own, he would feel relief.

Leo — Being in a relationship with anyone at all (especially a human) is already more than enough heartbreak, I don’t think he could handle producing a child of his own that he would then have to watch die someday even though no parent should ever outlive their child.

Mozart — This man is obsessive about cleanliness and absolutely cannot tolerate noise. There’s no way in hell he’s ever having a kid.

Arthur — He had five children in his life and so I feel like, for him, he’s already done that and sufficiently fulfilled that desire, so now he doesn’t feel the need to do it over again in this second life. I think he’d be willing to give it a go if that’s what his partner wanted, but I also think he’d be just as content not to.

Vincent — I get that in ikevamp he’s a sweet boy, but he has a past full of tremendous mental health struggles, and I think he’d be afraid of passing that to any potential children. I also think he would be worried about his ability to care for a child.

Isaac — Dude’s already worried he’s going to snack on Comte’s ferret or something, like being in a relationship with a human is PLENTY for him to worry about. Also, he’s a good person who views himself as a dangerous monster, which means he definitely won’t be having kids any time soon. Plus, like Napoleon, he has their little gaggle that they teach and that is genuinely plenty for him. Yeah, I think he’d be perfectly happy to have his partner tell him that there is no desire for children on their part.

Theo — I think he’d be more apathetic about children, where he doesn’t really have a desire for them but he would be willing to have kids if that’s what his partner wanted. He already has his partner, his bother, and his career, and that is more than enough for him to be happy.

Jean — First off, Jean is 19. Secondly, he hates himself and what he is, like Carlisle from Twilight. Maybe he would’ve wanted kids in life, but there is no way in hell he’d want to create half vampire spawn.

Will — Given that he was always running away from his wife and kids in his life, I think it’s safe to assume he never wanted them, even before he died. I think, given the context of his real marriage with Anne, he would be grateful to discover that his partner doesn’t want to have kids with him and it would be another indicator to him that this relationship is actually a good match.

Comte — I think he has no desire of his own for children and I also think he is hella devoted to whoever he chooses to be in a relationship with and will do anything to make them happy, so even if he did want kids he still would 100% fold to a childfree partner. There’s also that element of tragedy like with Leonardo that we’ll also see with Vlad.

Dazai — He’s either actively suicidal or very recently got better and definitely does not feel like he has the capacity to care for a child. Also, someone who hates themselves so much they’d choose to become a vampire solely so they could live long enough to kill their infant self is definitely not going to want to reproduce. Like Isaac, he sees himself as dangerous and I don’t think he would trust himself with something like having kids and I think that being in a relationship is already massively stressful for him.

Sebastian — He has a terminal illness, so there could be concern about passing whatever it is to any future children. He also probably would just not want to have to subject children to dealing with his inevitable, premature death. Even without all that, like if he can get magically cured by Faust or something, I don’t really see him actively wanting to have children, like I think he’d be more of a “travel the world with your partner in a delightfully comfortable DINK arrangement” kind of guy.

Vlad  — Yeah I think he’d 100% just be a “whatever you want” guy who values his partner above all else, including potential people who don’t exist yet.

Faust  — He’s kinda weird with kids tbh in a way that reminds me of myself — uncomfortable but kind of nice and gives in easily to whatever they want — which makes me think he doesn’t really like them and doesn’t really want them. I could see him kind of wanting to reproduce with a human as an experiment, but I really don’t see him genuinely desiring to have children.

Charles  — I get the vibe that he’ll be a very possessive yandere once he’s in a relationship and won’t want to share his partner with anyone at all, including potential children of their own. He actually gives me the impression that even if his partner came to him and shared that they genuinely wanted to have children with him, he might insist they not because of this trait of his.

[nerves-nebula]

Splinter fully blamed Raph for “convincing his impressionable brothers” to want to run away btw. He saw it as a fit of like, stupid adolescent rebellion, and not the desperate actions of a kid who needs help.

He told Raph it was his fault Leo broke his arm, and his fault his brothers had to see that. That Leo and Donnie and Mikey are all the victims of Raphs outburst. Cuz if he’d just stayed put, if he’d just done nothing at all, then none of this would’ve happened. Splinter makes it clear he’s not sympathetic to Raphs pain, physical or emotional.

That was a very formative experience is what I’m saying.

[yosajaeofficial]

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑎𝑦𝑐𝑒 𝑀𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 || 𝑂𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝐿𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡)

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A/N: I hope you all enjoy this entry of “The Jayce Myles Comics”, we’re able to see the get a grasp of what’s to come!

Song Inspirations:

For (YOOHYEON SOLO) - Dreamcatcher

NEON - YUKIKA

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It was the late afternoon, specifically golden hour. Employees would slow down their hustle since there weren’t many customers after lunch hours; golden hour was also when employees were able to yawn and then prepare themselves to close.

Today was a slow day for the small café, “Madeline’s”, exactly how Donatello liked it to be. It was a spot where Donatello felt safe when he wanted to study by himself. It was nice for him to have his own time of relaxation outside of the lab, and for Donatello to continue his studies in a different and refreshing environment. He was able to release muscle tension while soft jazz played on the speakers; the repeated rhythms from singular piano notes pulled Donatello into a mind waltz, making his head sway.

This place was also beneficial to him as he was able to order multiple cups of coffee while never taking his eyes off of his laptop.

The café had been running for quite a while after celebrating its grand opening two months after “Fernando’s Taco Shop” had collapsed. To Donatello, it was just a minor coincidence since around that time, the poor taco shop didn’t matter to him or his brothers.

If his brothers weren’t worrying about it, neither should he. They would’ve been caught by the cops if they stayed any longer, there was simply nothing else his brothers could’ve done that night. If the police caught the Mad Dogs during their amateur days, Splinter wouldn’t ever trust them to go to the surface ever again.

During the raw aftermath, that incident did haunt him for quite a while, was there a different solution? Were they all just scared that night? Could they have stayed a little longer to help?

Most of those questions remain unsolved for the time being because those thoughts of his always eat him up during the night. Now wasn’t the time for him to feel this way.

When Madeline's opened, Donatello got curious about the café (since his best friend, April O’Neil, had worked there when it first opened but got fired for being late after barely a week).

One day, April brought some coffee for him; he usually had black coffee with one sugar packet and one singular creamer. Donatello had to be the one to manually assemble his drink. He blames Leo after witnessing his brother making him coffee but when putting the sugar and creamer in, he used his finger to stir the ingredients together.

The softshell turtle would never let Leo touch his stuff ever again since.

That day when April gave him his usual coffee order, but the cup looked different. Donatello inspected it and asked his friend with red glasses which shop she went to that morning. April explained to him that she grabbed it from Madeline’s, and she was able to take home a self-made coffee after work as a treat for her difficult shift that day. Donatello raised an eyebrow at her words and he continued to inspect the cup cautiously.

Finally shrugging, he took the sip of faith and sipped out of the cup.

His eyes had then lit up.

Donatello’s snout scrunched and his body shivered, April had got a bit worried but it was when the softshell turtle got up and yelled out, “Woah hoo hoo! That’s good!” Ever since he tried that cup of coffee, Donatello started to get his coffee from Madeline’s.

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Donatello was hanging out in the café with someone new. He never liked giving out his information to his brothers or strangers, he rather have at least one place he could go for a relaxing study session solo or with April. Donatello wasn’t the turtle to scold his brothers for being too loud, because if he did, he would absolutely be deemed as a hypocrite.

Nothing would be able to beat this exact moment for Donatello. When he was able to enjoy a late afternoon with a new study partner, Jayce Myles, they were willing to take over for April and help Donatello out with a certain blueprint concept he was stressing about.

It was nothing too out-of-the-water for Jayce, so she took the opportunity to help while they could later finish an essay after helping Donatello out with this specific project.

“Nothing’s too wrong with the model, but I am curious about how the product would work if each of these wires are bunched up like that,” Jayce voiced while pointing at a small part from the drawn blueprint. That made Donatello let out a low rumble, he then put down his pencil and covered his forehead with one big hand.

“I don’t know…” Donatello responds.

“Come on dawg, you’re smart. Try again and illustrate the model where the wires will be equally separated.”

Looking at the blueprint, Donatello took his eraser and started sketching out a different model while Jayce watched. Jayce’s eyes landed on the mutant turtle’s hands; where his grip on the pencil was odd by her standards.

They just had to know...

“Why are you gripping on that fucking pencil like that...?”

“I’M A-“ Donatello cut himself off when he saw the poor waitress wide-eyed in the corner of his eye as she was pouring another cup of coffee into his mug. Jayce snorts and starts to cackle like a Windex bottle at the softshell’s stiff stance.

”I don’t like the way you mess around with me.”

“Then stop holding the pencil like that.”

Donatello kept his mouth shut, letting out a low rumble once more. His hand would continue to illustrate animatedly. Jayce’s eyes would then get lost in his hand movements which caused them to zone out. Their gaze moved away from the hypnotizing hand and now fixated her eyes on the blueprint paper; the way the ends were slightly curled inwards always annoyed her, but she didn’t dare try to flatten it out.

On the blueprints, there were notes next to the official model which read Donatello’s calculations and equations. Jayce remembers Donatello spouting about how each side note on his blueprints mattered. They either show “how long and wide a certain metal plate would be”, or they demonstrate “an equation showing how many wires would be needed for a specific area”.

Nevertheless, Jayce snapped to their senses and jolted up after realizing they'd been staring at the sheet for too long. This caught Donatello’s attention as he accidentally crossed a calculation off.

He turned his neck, ”What was that?”

“Nothing,” Jayce responds.

Now it was Donatello's turn to laugh, but he wheezed mockingly. Besides wanting to strangle the turtle, Jayce was too tired to pay their full attention to him so she let that slide.

“Har har, laugh at me zoning out. How original and funny,” Jayce quipped.

Donatello smirked at their sour face, “It’s only funny when you do it.”

“Why?”

“You always jolt up in your seat like a scaredy-cat when you realize you’re zoned out. Hence, making it more obvious that you’ve been zoning out.” Jayce huffed, blowing raspberries and turning their gaze to his red eyes.

“You win this round asshole, but now expect me to look into your soul whenever you’re working on anything lab related alright?” Even if Jayce said that with a neutral expression, Donatello let out a genuine belly laugh. Jayce would never admit it, but hearing him enjoy her company gave them a boost of serotonin.

The two of them calmed themselves and continued to focus on the blueprint. “You got it?” Jayce uttered. Donatello cued to sit down and take a drink from his warm cup of coffee, letting Jayce peek at the model. It was definitely showing signs of improvement. The model was starting to come together more realistically; most of Donatello’s previous inventions had issues back-to-back. Those malfunctions would cue due to him blueprinting flawed models that held only a fifty percent chance of functioning correctly.

Donatello loved to make crazy-looking machines that would look pleasing to show off to other tech enthusiasts. His models looked incredible, but their performance was the big giveaway for it being a poor model. Jayce understood this, most of their side hustles have been her fixing up her teachers’ projectors, computers, and construction tools; so them seeing a flawed model even from their great genius scientist friend wasn’t surprising. Everyone was bound to make mistakes. It’s how the mistake is approached that’s going to determine if the model was meant to be scrapped or not.

Jayce scratched their nose, “Looks better Donnie,” They grinned.

“Phew! I thought you were planning my funeral for a sec.”

“The organization of the wires looks so much better than before. If they get fired up, then your hands won’t get an electric shock when doing an emergency troubleshoot.”

Jayce wiped their clammy hands on her jeans before sitting down. Looking at their school bag, Jayce remembered that they needed to finish that English assignment. Rolling her eyes, she started to dig in their bag to look for her physical copy of the assignment.

Donatello wasn’t paying attention and was downing his now cold cup of coffee.

Donatello puts his mug down, “Hmm?”

“I need to finish some schoolwork.”

Donatello then quickly rolled up the blueprints, right after he blew the eraser residue. He watched Jayce place down their chunky packet on the table and start turning the pages one by one as if she was quickly refreshing their knowledge.

Jayce clicked their tongue and started erasing one section out of page 8, and started cursing to herself. Now it was Donatello’s turn to snort.

“Get a computer! It’s painful to witness you doing your essay handwritten, I take pity on your right hand.” Jayce rolls their eyes.

“If you offer to pay it off for me, I will consider it.”

Donatello cracked up, “I can use my hard-earned money for something more useful than a lame computer model from a big corporation.”

Jayce paused, slowly turning their head to face Donatello, who was sitting right next to her. The smell of ground coffee beans and steamed milk made the café have a nostalgic atmosphere. Combining the smell and the warmth of Donatello’s laugh, it was like Jayce was enjoying a cold day with their best friend by being cuddled up together by a fluffy blanket. Even if Donatello himself was a cold-blooded reptile, Jayce couldn’t help but scoot a bit closer to him. Yearning for his warmth that can only be obtained if you’re close.

“Then how did you build your PC back at the lair?” Jayce mumbled.

“From Repo’s scrapyard or the Nakamura brand.”

“Hmmm?”

“I only put my trust in new tech parts with Nakamura, everything else stinks,” Donatello clarified.

Jayce snickered, “Does it stink as much as the sewers?”

Donatello lightly punched Jayce’s bicep, “That was one time, Jayce Myles!”

“It smelled like shit because that’s where shit goes, Donatello Hamato!” Jayce pushed him away and pouted. To Donatello, their puffed-up cheeks were a new sight. He closed his eyes and internally thanked his big brain that he had everything recorded. Jayce’s emotions were something that Donatello had recently been observing more often, nothing out of the ordinary of course, but something about Jayce felt different to him.

Donatello tried to think of the reason why he felt that way about his friend, nothing was different. Maybe it was because Jayce’s presence had started to feel more comfortable to be in. Donatello had assumed that Jayce would ruin his relaxing experience at his favorite café (hence why he had begged April to not bail out at the last minute).

However, Jayce had actually helped him out way more than he expected. Jayce explained their previous experience with tech in a simple but compelling way.

“Jeez! I could talk about coding all day man! Being able to get the program running is such a relief. I adore it when people format their code with multiple different colors. I saw this one girl that color-coded their program in purple-”

Their words were spoken with pure passion, and that’s what made Donatello let his guard down. The jazz that continued to play would continue to make his head sway, a soft melody that he was easily able to follow as he continued to stare at Jayce. Their cheeks were already depuffed and they were intensely fidgeting. She was sweating.

“Are you stuck?”

“...Yeah-” Donatello’s chair scraped against the cement floor as he got closer to Jayce’s packet. Jayce swallowed their sudden anxiety but didn’t turn her head this time. Since when was Donatello that tall compared to them? Jayce’s heart skipped a beat and they coughed.

“What are you stuck on?” He rumbles, Jayce gulps.

“In this paragraph, I spelled a word wrong. To make it worst, I wrote it with fucking red ink!” Their face was already red, but Donatello only guessed it was all from frustration.

Donatello shrugs, “This is why you should invest in a computer, four eyes.”

“I will hit you.”

“Do it froggy, leap.”

“Check yourself before saying that asshole!”

Donatello snorted, Jayce was able to feel the vibrations of his laugh by her side; her shoulders softened. They were getting the memo that Donatello just wanted to chat with her. He was enjoying himself too much, Jayce didn’t care at this point.

“April recently helped me install a printer in the lab. We can...go to the lab right now and I’ll type up the whole packet for you. After that, I...can print it all out for you so it’ll be completed for the morning.” Donatello was a bit hesitant, but his words got out eventually. His gaze was soft and shy, looking away from Jayce as much as possible.

Jayce pushed their glasses up, and she got up from her seat. Donatello sweats, he was surely worried that he scared Jayce a bit after spitting out bits of banter at her. That doubt was proven to be false as Jayce beamed with a bright smile, eyes wide and twinkling with excitement. That would be a smile that Donatello would remember fondly, it was as if Jayce’s petals had fully bloomed right in front of his eyes.

Jayce giggles, “Sure, only if you insist. I’ll buy some printer paper along the way.”

Donatello stands up as well, stretching his back where his tail wags while doing so. He starts packing up the blueprints that had been rolled up and he puts them in his bag. Grabbing his coffee mug and downing it in one gulp then placing it on the coaster. Donatello wipes his mouth with his purple hoodie sleeve, earning a snicker from four eyes right next to him.

“Gross...”

“I can leave you here to write that essay with your pathetic pencil.”

“Do it you won’t.”

Donatello snorts and then starts to ruffle Jayce’s soft brown hair.

“I’ll do it another day, the workers look like they want us to leave already.”

OH MI GOSH!!! WE’RE FINALLY DONE WITH THIS ENTRY! I hope you all enjoyed some Lavelatte content for this lovey dovey season, more will come with them in a later arc. What did you guys think? Don’t be shy to tell me your thoughts on this entry, I love reading comments. Thank you for reading and have an amazing Valentine’s Day!

[lukecastellanshandholder]

In celebration of the new My Hero Academia episode that came out Saturday AND Percy’s birthday today (I’m like an hour late, sue me! 😭), have this nice little Percico/ Nicercy ficlet! (That is definitely not angsty what so ever 😅)

(You don’t have to know anything about MHA at all, it just served as inspo! ☺️)

CW//: Major character death, blood, lots of blood

Takes place during the giant war!

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The journey had been long and grueling. Percy’s bones and soul still ached from from his walk through Tartarus and all he wanted to do is sleep for an eternity. But the gods would never allow him true peace. He still needed to put Gaia back to sleep and needed to stop Octavian and his army of Romans from attacking Camp half Blood and starting a whole other war.

Percy had been pacing the deck of the Argo ever since Leo had announced that they would be landing in about an hour. His heart was racing, he couldn’t seem to make his limbs be still. He had all of this excess energy and quite frankly, he was just worried. He wasn’t worried about Gaia, he could easily put her back to sleep with the help of the others. He was worried about camp, sure; but most of all he was worried about Nico.

Nico had looked so drained and exhausted after his walk through Tartarus. Then almost right after that they had him shadow traveling a huge statue and two other people half way across the world! He needed rest just as bad if not more than anyone else on this ship, yet they had to send him out again. Percy knew that Nico was more than capable of taking care of himself, but no matter how strong and powerful he was, he still was prone to over exerting himself.

Once they were done with this, Percy vowed to lock him in his cabin where all he was able to do was sleep and recover his strength. Percy felt his face heat up slightly. That was something that he had realized during his walk through Tartarus, his feelings for Nico. Whenever he would get some sort of sleep in Tartarus, he always had these weird dreams that essentially played his life and all of his mistakes in his head over and over again.

There were plenty of mistakes that he had made in his life, plenty of things that he would try to atone for to many different people. However, there was one person that was always at the forefront of those dreams. Nico. Of his dark eyes looking at Percy in mild horror as Percy held the blade of his sword against his fragile neck. Of the look of pain and sorrow on Nico’s face as Percy dared to accuse Nico of not being trustworthy. Nico’s face and almost lifeless body laying on the ground of the colosseum after he tumbled out of that jar. The jar that never would’ve been open if everyone had listened to his scornful remark to not focus on saving him first.

There was so much that Percy felt he had to apologize to Nico for. But no matter how maddening those dreams were, they were also very enlightening.

They took all of Percy’s emotions and laid them out for him to see clearly. Percy saw just how much devotion he had for Nico deep down. He reflected on the way he had been drawn towards Nico, making him devote so much time to tracking him down when he had run away from camp. He saw the way he instantly realized Nico even without his memories and just how much comfort just seeing Nico, gave him. Percy could finally place the heavy feeling in his heart that he got when he looked up at Nico before dropping into Tartarus with Annabeth. It was fear. Not of the hell he was about to fall into, but fear that he would never get to see Nico again. Fear that Nico would be left alone in this world again. Fear that he would never be able to give Nico the life he deserved. Fear that he would never get to see the other boy truly smile again.

Percy couldn’t truly rest until he told Nico about his feelings, and until he had gotten the chance to apologize for everything.

And apparently he hadn’t been the only one having these dreams. After Nico, Reyna and coach Hedge had left on their quest, Annabeth had approached him wanting to talk. Talk about their relationship more specifically. She realized that she was looking for something different from what her and Percy had. That even though she still loved him, she had found herself feeling more platonic love towards him than anything.

Annabeth didn’t mention it but Percy could guess that her change in feelings were linked to some of the things that Percy had to do in Tartarus to make sure they got out alive… That and it definitely had something to do with the certain daughter of Aphrodite that she had been trailing after ever since they got back to the land of the living. Percy understood, was more than happy for her. Now, he was worried on getting back to Nico.

He was startled back to reality by a gentle hand on his forearm. Percy turned around and was met by two worried faces.

“Percy, are you sure you shouldn’t be resting before we get there?” Annabeth’s gray eyes seemed to bore into his soul. She had that familiar frown on her face that told Percy that he wasn’t doing very well at keeping his cool.

“I’ll be fine. I just… I need to be ready.”

“You will be ready. We’re all ready. Things will work out. I trust that Reyna and Nico will be able to restore order before we even get there.” Piper tried to make her voice as soothing as possible without using her charm speak, Percy was grateful for that. He truly was, but there was still this looming feeling of unease that washed over him the closer they got to camp.

Percy looked over at his two friends and realized that he needed to lock his feelings away for now. The others were looking to him and they wouldn’t able to perform in top form if they were too busy worrying about him. He took a deep breath and forced an easy smile onto his face. “You’re right. Things will be ok. I’m positive.”

~~~~~~~~

When they landed at camp it was chaos. The Greeks were trying to fend off from the Romans as Gaia’s forces slowly made their way onto the territory. There were already multiple demigods injured and worse of all, it looked as if Reyna and Nico were no where to be found. The only proof that there was of them having already arrived was the statue of Nike glinting in the sunlight.

Percy breathed in deeply, straightening his posture and squaring his shoulders as he stepped onto the battlefield. They had to take care of this and get everyone prepared for the incoming threat. There was no time to worry about anything else at the moment.

The rest of the crew split off to take care of things on various areas of the field. For a moment Percy stood in place to survey the battlefield, trying to find where he could help. His friends were already taking care of the main threats and they seemed to have things mostly handled.

Just as Percy was going to go towards the heart of the fighting a scream rang through the air, directing his attention towards the trees on the side of the clearing.

Percy was running towards the commotion before his brain had fully registered what his body was doing. He just knew that he had to help whoever that was. He had to make sure that he kept everyone safe so that he could live on and have a peaceful life with Nico while harboring no more regrets.

“Sorry we’re late! Is everyone alri-?”

Percy couldn’t breathe. It felt like he was drowning in something more poisonous than anything that Akhlys had thrown at him… Burning hot rage and grief.

His heart was racing while it felt like it had stopped all the same. All he could hear was his own pulse, but even that was quiet to him.

His eyes were unblinking as he took in the scene infront of him.

An unknown person standing with a dagger in hand, blood splattered all over his clothes. Blood running down the blade and dripping onto the grass below.

Two other demigods that Percy didn’t know that well were standing off to the side, their eyes wide in shock.

Will Solace with blood smeared across his arms and orange shirt. Tears streaming down his face as he leaned over the body next to him, the victim of the unknown attacker.

The body was laying in a puddle of red that was starting to sink into the ground below. The blood seeping through the oversized jacket that the person was wearing.

Percy recognized that jacket, he recognized the combat style boots that the other demigod was wearing. He knew that almost shoulder length pitch black hair. He knew those dark eyes that were now just barely open, the light from them already gone. Percy knew that hand and that skull ring.

Percy didn’t want to know who that was, he wanted to be able to pinch himself and be snapped out of this nightmare. But with the pain that he was feeling in his heart and the burning in his lungs, he knew this wasn’t any kind of dream.

Nico… Nico was…

Percy felt like he was being shattered. He tried desperately to breathe, to move, to say anything. He couldn’t begin to register the strangled sounds coming from his throat as he began to hyperventilate. His blood was roaring in his ears, pumping his blood through his veins so hard that it felt like his vessels would simply burst.

“N-…. ic-….” Percy’s mouth could only hang open in a silent scream as his body shook with sobs.

He couldn’t breathe. Nico. Nico, he was… and Percy wasn’t there to protect him. He let Nico down again! He had left him alone. Some hero he was, he couldn’t even save one person, the one person who mattered most to him. The person who deserved any of this the least, and the person that Percy owed everything to the most.

“It’s you, isn’t it? The all powerful son of Neptune, savior of Olympus.”

Percy couldn’t tear his eyes away from Nico’s lifeless body. He couldn’t keep his eyes from following the way his hair rustled in the wind, so soft looking.

“No wonder he would never shut up about you. About how you were the strongest demigod of our time. But what great Greek hero are you, if you can’t even keep one of your friends safe?”

A single halo graphic card fluttered away from Nico’s body and stuck in the long blades of grass. Percy felt as if a titan had kicked him in the stomach. It was a mythomagic card. The card for Poseidon.

He couldn’t breathe. He wanted to cry, to scream, but his body could only produce small noises in between choked sobs.

“Mh, quite tragic, isn’t it? And here I was under the impression that the son of Hades would be a formidable foe. No matter, now he can be with his father and plead to be stronger in his next life.”

Percy finally looked over at the other person. The person who had murdered Nico. Percy vaguely remembered seeing him at camp Jupiter before. He probably knew this persons name, but the only thing Percy could think about was Nico. He could only think about how he had failed him again. He could only think about all of the things that he would never be able to tell Nico now.

Percy’s vision went red, he was suddenly very aware of the blood that pulsed through his own veins. But most importantly, he could feel the blood running through his enemies body. He could sense every vessel, every drop of blood.

Percy was vaguely aware of the tug in his gut and even less aware of the sickening ‘pop’ as every vein in his enemies body burst at the same time.

Will and the others let out startled sounds as they watched Bryce’s body thud onto the ground. His skin turning a horrific shade of dark blue and red. Blood was running out of from his eyes, his mouth, even his ears. It looked like something from a gorey fighting game.

Percy looked over to Nico again, his legs starting to move him as his eyes flooded with tears.

Will carefully got up and ran over to the others, grabbing their hands and getting them away from Percy. He had never seen Percy like that and the look in his eyes was terrifying. More frightening than any monster that he had ever seen before, probably more threatening than any god he had met. Either way, he wanted to get as far away from Percy as he could and leave him alone.

Percy didn’t pay them any mind as he staggered over to Nico and dropped down onto his knees next to him. Percy’s tears were running freely down his face, dripping down onto Nico’s jacket and forming little dark spots on the worn fabric.

This shouldn’t have happened, it wasn’t supposed to happen. Percy was supposed to be there. He was supposed to help Nico and the others win this fight, defeat Gaia and then make everything up to Nico. He was supposed to take him on dates, make sure that he knew how cherished he was and hopefully make him happy. He was supposed to be able to apologize properly.

But as Percy looked into Nico’s unseeing eyes, all of those hopes crashed down around him leaving him hallow with nothing left but a rage that he didn’t know what to do with. Only he did know what to do, at least for now.

Make everyone pay.

Percy stood up on wobbly legs, swooping down to take Nico into his arms and carry him over towards the tree line where it was shaded. He always did like the darkness more.

He laid Nico’s body down gently on a soft looking patch of grass. Kneeling down near his beloveds dead body one last time, Percy took two fingers and gently closed Nico’s eyes before softly kissing his lips.

Percy would make sure that this war ended and that everyone who helped make this happen was dead. There would be no mercy shown. The battle field would be painted with red by the time he was done. They would feel his wrath and he would show them true misery.

[barikinbear]

You wanna know something I find ✨ weird?✨

I find it so weird that Bayverse Donnie rolled over so easily when Leo made a hard and fast decision about the whole ‘maybe turn human’ situation.

Where did his backbone go?! He literally just went ‘yeah fine it’s fine I’m fine 😢🥴’ and let it be?!?

Would any other version of Donnie have done that? I think the flip flop flapjack not.

2k12 Donnie definitely has his own opinions and would never have stood for his Leo doing something so unfair and stupid.

Rise Donnie especially would’ve been like ‘nope, absolutely not I do what I want fight me’ if his Leo did something like that.

‘07 Donnie probably would have argued back, too. He followed Raph and Mikey into a fight even though Leo was insisting Splinter didn’t want them fighting. My boy would not take behavior like that from his Leo. No way.

Not that I think any version of Leo besides Bayverse would do something like that. They value their family members’ opinions and want what’s best for them.

And maybe that’s where Bayverse Leo was coming from. He was scared of change and didn’t want such an extreme change for his family. He did learn his lesson by the end, which is good.

I haven’t seen 2003 tmnt, so I’m not sure what that Donnie would’ve done, but I like to think some level of unhinged feralness runs through all the Donnies and it would kick in for him too.

I’ve seen it in Bayverse Donnie before. I wish he would’ve stood up for what he wanted, but at least there’s some hints that he’s just as much of a menace as his counterparts.

[pixiecaps]

heres a long recap on qjaiden and qfoolish’s relationship, their ties to cucurucho, and recent lore

it mainly started around the time qjaiden was doing her cucurucho missions and there was a lot of distrust on the island towards her. qfoolish seemed to be one of the few people who genuinely didn’t seem affected by her working with cucurucho. mainly due to the fact he wanted to befriend cucurucho for a cloud. so over time they got closer as friends over this very thing. they both held some type of connection with cucurucho. she eventually shows foolish her base at bobby fields which is a very special place for her. only inviting those over who trust her. foolish & leo were in-fact the second people she ever showed this base to. roier the first and cellbit & richas the third. over time she’s one of the few people who gets to witness and hear about all random interactions foolish has with cucurucho. i feel like over this time they were dubbed cucurucho buddies. there’s also the blue bird mission where jaien is tasked to go to coords which led to a dangerous dungeon but no worries because foolish, cellbit, and bad all follow her invisible (though she was aware of this) because they worried something may occur to her. all of them seemed bonded even closer after that and they called themselves the jaidens. also important to mention foolish and cellbit are technically related since foolish is roier’s father and cellbit is roier’s husband. which makes foolish cellbits father in law.

now to present time foolish gets given the task of arresting tazercraft. when he went to go do that tazercraft were giving jaiden a haircut. so somehow she ends up roped into the arrest and is one of the few witnesses. fast forward theres the interrogation between cellbit and foolish. foolish calls in jaiden to be the witness and lawyer. fun fact there was a court trial previously on the island and jaiden was a lawyer and she slayed. moving along, foolish doesn’t say anything important to cellbit so jaiden tells cellbit she’ll take charge and get the real scoop since her and foolish are bonded. she does this for cellbit because her and cellbit also have a close relationship due to roier her bestie being married to him and then later gaining a genuine respect for each other. remember he was the third person she showed her base too and actually showed the entire base to including the basement. cellbit was also one of those few people who was empathetic towards her during the distrust period. so you could say they’re pretty tight. in this moment she is deliberately choosing to help cellbit.

so afterwards she does just that and speaks with foolish about everything to learn about what truly occurred. and she got all the information from him! however this is where some things begin to get a little mixed up. foolish lies to her about his conversation with cucurucho in an attempt to make himself perhaps look better, maybe more understandable on his part, or even just for some spice (who fucking knows its up to you to have your own interpretation). in this lie he tells jaiden that he was given two options arrest pac and mike or kill richarlyson. the richarlyson part a lie. and jaiden having no reason to distrust foolish or question him as foolish has never once lied to her before believes this. and empathizes with his situation and says she would’ve done the same. she has a strong passion for protecting the eggs as do many of the other island residents. so then after this conversation ends she runs off back to cellbit and informs him of what she was told. unknowingly spreading this lie. this is another instance where things get interesting she once again goes back to speak with foolish. and tells him that she told cellbit about what occurred. foolish admits he assumed she would do that. a moment that insinuates the lie to be calculated on his part. now jaiden here says she isn’t sure if she wasn’t supposed to tell foolish she told cellbit all the information but she felt she had because she felt bad about lying and going behind his back. it is her friend at the end of the day. throughout their conversation it really appears that jaiden doesn’t want this conflict to blow up outta proportion, to me i interpreted it as her character really not being fond of conflict. or at least conflict between her closest friends. despite foolish knowing she told cellbit his trust and bond with jaiden didn’t seem to waver at all. friends who cucurucho together stick together i suppose (bad joke)

the next day foolish gets a couple threats from both forever and fit about the whole arrest situation and betrayal. after hearing foolish decides he’ll try and search for the prison but no luck. then he tries to learn for mr mustard. this is when leo suggests doing a summoning circle to see if this capybara will show up. jaiden logs on just as foolish finishes and he immediately invites her to tag along. foolish, leo, and jaiden did the ritual together and sadly mr mustard was not summoned however cucurucho was. they’re both surprised but they go along with it. foolish takes this chance to ask cucurucho what happened with the arrest, if they were wrong about who kidnapped mr mustard and if they could release pac and mike. and this is when cucurucho asks a very important question. “your decision. alone or accompanied.” foolish responds saying the second option. so important to note foolish had no context about what was going to occur or be said after he replied so he just wanted jaiden to be there. he also doesn’t read this book aloud which leaves jaiden with no context to what was happening as well. im quoting the moment here because i think it’s important to understand why jaiden even tagged along.

foolish: yeah! i think you know it’d be more fun that way. well maybe i dont-

cucurucho: yes

foolish: well congrats jaiden we uh-

jaiden: what?

foolish: okay yeah nevermind yep

cucurucho: follow me

foolish: following

jaiden: okay? well i’m coming too. come on leo

so they follow cucurucho and it takes them to a room in the prison. both never having been there or being sure whats about to happen. this is where cucurucho offers foolish the detective position and the mr mustard report as sorta a reward for the arrest. the report details that mr mustard was last seen at the hide and seek arena and that crushed oranges had been found at chume labs most likely signifying a struggle, and lastly that the murder mystery arena still had to be investigated. foolish questioned if cucurucho was completely sure about all this information and all it replied was “do you want to find mr mustard”. after everything was said foolish asked cucurucho if this was a public thing? cucurucho said no. this position was meant to be a secret. then he asked what exactly stops jaiden from telling others? cucuruchos told him “you said you wanted company. it is your choice. :)” which to me is super intriguing because it insinuates that foolish could’ve been doomed to fail from the start. if someone like bad had been with foolish and he had replied to be accompanied then immediately he would be compromised so cucurucho seems to have definitely been ready to brew some conflict. some important things to note foolish’s decision wasn’t impulsive he surprisingly thought this through and asked many questions. even asking leo for her opinion and if they wanted him to do it. he did ask about pac and mike and each time cucurucho refused to tell him where they were or the fact they had already escaped. foolish’s attempted to also get jaiden a detective role but cucurucho did not seem too into the idea replying with a “no. maybe.” and ended up not doing that. after he agreed to the detective position and the case jaiden and him spoke. she swore secrecy to foolish and that she would not be telling anybody about what occurred. to directly quote her,

“no i’ll be honest i didn’t feel good about tattling. so i hereby swear secrecy to you. i feel like this is bigger than me i don’t want to fiddle with it you know. if you want to tell people, tell people but my lips are sealed”.

that explains her position on everything and why she hasn’t informed others. there’s also a moment after all the cucurucho stuff where bad, foolish, and jaiden hang out but nothing really important happens since neither foolish or jaiden spilled anything to bad.

then rather recently she logs on (today, july 29th, when this was posted). bad decides to interrogate her after his conversation with foolish since she was with foolish yesterday. after all that she goes and tells foolish what happened with everything and that she wasn’t mentally prepared and apologized for the slip up. they then sort their stories out so that they’re on the same page about everything. foolish decides he won’t tell them about cucurucho showing up despite jaiden’s slip up since he wasn’t the one to admit it. she also makes the joke about staying at her base at the time being during all this foolish stuff so she doesn’t get bothered further. foolish asked jaiden if she wants to be kept in the loop and told information about anything that happens in the future and her answer to that is that it is completely up to foolish. up to this point foolish still hasn’t told her that he lied and he doesn’t seem inclined to at all. so i suppose we’ll have to see what he decides in the future. later a disguised bad and pierre calling themselves The Justice League torture foolish to get him to try and confess and admit that slip up to be true. he does not do that at all and says perhaps jaiden was lying or jaiden was the one having the conversation with cucurucho but not him. The Justice League says they would’ve included jaiden in this torture but she had logged off (lol she escaped just in time).

and i think that is everything up until this very present moment. i am normal about these characters as you can tell. if i made typos. no i didn’t 👍

[canaryshall]

RHYTHM • TOURISM

"You can go wherever your next whim wants to take you to most, and I’ll follow."

Characters: Izumi Sena, Leo Tsukinaga, Shu Itsuki

Season: Winter

Location: Airport

Izumi: Finally got it… Those suitcases were just not moving, I was almost sure these found their way to lost luggage.

We wasted so much time with that too, what a pain.

Leo: Wahaha! Why didn’t you take a page outta my book and bring a carry-on then~?

Izumi: No~ way. I mean, sightseeing in Paris? You don’t know what you’ll buy.

If anything, your luggage’s way too small. Are you sure that’s good enough?

Leo: Even if I forgot something, all you really need is a phone and a passport! Plus, if I get into any trouble, I just know Sena and Shu will come straight to the rescue…☆

Oh yeah, I should give him a call now that we’re here.

Beep boop beep boop beep…☆ Heyo, Shu? It’s me, it’s Leo!

…Yep. We just got here! What about you?

Mm. You’re running late 'cause you’re still in class, and want us to wait at the airport café?

H~mm... That’s real boring, so how about we go into town and do some real sightseeing instead? We know where you’re staying, and we’ve gone sightseeing a lil’ bit before. Besides—

Sena was all excited looking at all these touristy spots~. Doesn’t that just really make you wanna take him to all of ‘em right away?

Izumi: Haa? Just what do you think you’re saying?

Leo: Fufun~. You were all smiley while staring at your phone the whole way here, y’know? I saw you~♪

Izumi: I was not all “smiley”. Soo~ annoying!

Leo: What’s that, Shu? Want me to hang up before we get into a lovers quarrel? Whoops, my bad!

I gotcha, I’ll make sure we don’t go too far. See ya!

Two hours later

Izumi: …I don’t remember seeing this here? Doesn’t look like it’s on the info site, either.

Did I pass by it last time? It’s right up my alley, I definitely would’ve noticed if I did.

Hey, Leo-kun, this place—

…aaand he’s not here. Where did that guy go? He~y, Leo-ku~n?

? This sound…

Leo: ♪~♪~♪

Izumi: …Found him. Playing the piano and singing to his heart’s content over at that storefront…

Leo-ku~n. Quit playing that piano, it’s time to go!

Leo: Uuu~, don’t you try to yank me away from the piano! I wanna keep jamming! GRRRR!!

Look around! Everyone’s loving my performance! C’mon, Sena, you have fun too!

Izumi: You know, I really didn’t come to Paris for this kind of entertainment.

…Ah. I’m getting a call from Itsuki. Hello?

Yeah, know that place downtown… the one with the street piano? That’s where we’re stuck.

…Right, because of Leo-kun. How’d you know?

The same thing happened to you when you went out and about with him? That guy’s just a walking disaster, huh…

Yeah, I’ll wait. I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to, anyway—Ah, wait a minute. Why’d you call my phone?

Because Leo-kun just completely forgets about his when he’s absorbed in something, huh. You sure know him well…♪

Alright then, see you later… Wah, the crowd got even bigger while I wasn’t looking.

Well, since someone’s playing the piano this hard, it’s really no surprise. Besides—

That guy’s singing isn’t bad at all…♪

After a little while

Leo: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

(There’s people who don’t even know Knights’ name stopping by! They’re looking at me all full of interest! And they’re clapping! Wahaha, this is great!)

Izumi: …...♪

Leo: (Even the completely dumbfounded Sena is tapping his fingers along to the rhythm…♪)

Sena, come here! Sing with me!

Izumi: Haa? Why me…?

Leo: C’mon! The people around us are all waiting for it, too!

Izumi: That’s just 'cause you’re drawing attention to us on purpose, isn’t it? Geez… Alright, I get it. But only one song, understood?

Leo: Yep, just the one! Everybody, clap your hands ☆

♪~♪~♪

Izumi: ……~♪

A few minutes later. Once they’re done playing the Street Piano

Leo: Thank you, thank you~! Thanks for all your applause! We’re Japanese idols, so thank you for supporting us~!

Izumi: You do realize they’re not gonna get a word you’re saying if you say it in Japanese, right?

…Ah, Itsuki.

Shu: A Knights show in Paris, is it? Not bad at all.

Leo: Shu!? How’d you know we were here!

Didja sniff us out by our scent? Just like a doggie, wahaha! ☆

Shu: Comparing me to a dog is plain crass. It was Sena who told me.

If that’s all, I will be showing you to your lodgings. …Do you have any arrangements from hereon?

Well, you did say you would be going wherever Sena desired to go.

Izumi: Right, then. Wherever Leo-kun wants is fine by me.

Leo: Huh, wherever I wanna? Why?

Izumi: You’re always doing whatever you please instead of sticking to a plan, y’know? I’d rather not stress you out with something like that.

Strolling around Paris is fun enough on its own, and it’s not like we’re only here to visit tourist spots all in a hurry.

You can go wherever your next whim wants to take you to most, and I’ll follow.

Leo: Wherever I wanna go most, huh~ I didn’t really think about anything besides meeting up with Shu, so… U~mm…

Oh, I know! What’s Shu’s suggestion here? I’ll go wherever he recommends!

Shu: Good grief. I suppose those who come to Paris to spread their wings will always look for recommendations. However, I am not a tour guide.

Hmph… Well, given we’re on the topic, the biggest book fair in France is being held in Paris right now.

It is said to be an enormous event, attracting tens of thousands of professionals from all around the world. Does that raise your interest?

Leo: Where’s it being held? Is it over there? Or over this way?

Shu: Non! Control yourself for a moment, Tsukinaga, I still need to put my luggage down!

writer: yuumasu (ゆーます) jp proofing: amberhoneybee eng proofing: ixcarus_

[once-upon-a-pirate-ship]

How Restlessly the Stars Do Gleam - Chapter 10: Lost and Found

Story summary: After the Evil Queen kidnaps and curses her family and destroys her kingdom, Princess Emma is on the run. She boards a merchant vessel with her godmother Red, and they intend to travel to Arendelle to seek magical assistance. But when Emma discovers the dark truths aboard Captain Silver's ship, she must put a stop to his cruelty and rescue the Jones brothers from their enslavement. Emma has to find her own allies and face her fears in order to save her parents, her brother Leo, and her kingdom.

Read it on AO3 from the beginning here.

You can find chapter 10 below the cut or on AO3.

There was a struggle of limbs, frantic and desperate but strong as Emma was pushed away but she pushed right back, rage and pent up aggression and months of no sleep, of living on the edge of her own blade—it all vanished when her opponent cried out.

Emma hesitated, just long enough for her to be thrown back, and she landed a few feet away, leaves and twigs and rocks digging into her palms that were braced behind her, but she didn’t care about that now. 

The man—no, boy—surged forward, intending to strike at her, but she caught him easily, she’d done it a thousand times before, and her arms wrapped around him, bringing him to her chest, resting over her heart just where she’d felt him all this time.

“Leo,” she choked out, and he froze, no longer attempting to escape her embrace. 

It was dark enough that he had to squint as he pulled back just enough to look at her, but he knew. She smelled like the forest and the sea, but also like buttercups, the ones she’d had father fill their garden with because she loved them so much. Months had passed, he had changed so much—but none of that really mattered. She was still his sister. He was still her brother. 

“Emma!” he cried, his arms becoming a vice around her, and for a second, he was terrified to let go. Terrified it was all just a dream, and he would wake to his painful reality, no idea where she was. 

The brush she’d leapt over rustled, a preamble to the appearance of one very alarmed Killian Jones, his sword brandished in search of danger. “Swan!” 

Emma scrambled to her feet, bringing her brother with her. Tears crept down her cheeks, but they were so unlike the ones she’d spilled in the last months. “Put your sword down,” she practically admonished. “My brother won’t harm me,” she added, her words tripping on the laughter that fell from her lips.

“Your brother?” Killian repeated, his sword slipping. 

She turned back to Leo, her hands moving to hold his face then his shoulders as she tried to inspect him in the darkness. “You’re okay,” she breathed, “gods, I cannot believe you’re okay!”

“I could say the same to you,” he said, pulling her in for another hug. “I was so relieved you were out for your ride—what that bitch would’ve done if she’d found you…”

“She did,” Emma told him. After a moment, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. She didn’t curse me, not like our parents, or you—your curse?”

Leo resisted the urge to curl in on himself. He wanted to lie, save her from the gruesome truth, but he sighed. He’d never successfully lied to his sister, he was certain he wouldn’t be capable of it now. “It’s bad, but I’m managing.”

She took a step back, her hands catching his. There was so much they had to say, to catch up on. Her mind reeled, a mess of wishes and wants and fear—she was afraid to ask, afraid to find out. But some things, she had to know. Whether or not she wanted to. “Please, tell me you haven’t been alone all this time.”

A smile teased his lips. “No, I’ve found some allies. They should be along any minute…but gods, what is that fantastic smell?”

Emma laughed, reaching up to wipe the tears from her cheeks, pulling her brother’s hand along with because she couldn’t even consider letting go. “Dinner. You must be starving,” she said, worried again. She kept swinging from one end to the other—deliriously happy that he was okay, that they’d found each other, then deeply concerned for his well-being, guilty for not taking care of him all this time. It was giving her a headache. 

She glanced back to find Killian predictably standing guard, far enough to allow them some privacy, close enough to be ready at hand if danger appeared. 

“I’m surprised any of our knights escaped,” Leo said, his eyes on Killian. 

“They didn’t,” Emma replied. “He’s…a new ally. A sailor who has joined our cause.”

Leo’s eyebrows were high on his forehead when she tore her gaze from their protector. “Hm,” he sounded, and though he hadn’t technically said anything, his tone was very revealing.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing at all,” Leo said, his voice a bit too high. “Not a single thing.”

“Leo,” she snapped. 

A mischievous grin broke out across his face. “Nothing. He just seems very dedicated to the cause.” 

She smacked his arm, a gesture she’d done for years, but everything about their situation swirled within her once more, and she couldn’t stop herself from hugging him again. Leo didn’t seem to mind. 

“Leo!” a voice echoed from deeper in the woods, and though Emma had tensed, Leo’s expression made her drop her stance. 

“I’m over here!” he called back.

The noise had caused Killian to remove the distance he’d kept between them, and though he did not raise his sword, his hand rested firmly at the hilt. Emma met his gaze, and they exchanged a nod.

A woman appeared first, scolding Leo for not waiting for them, but her censure lacked any real bite. She froze when she saw Emma, fear glinting in her kind eyes. “Leo?”

“It’s okay,” he assured her, “Belle, this is my sister. This is Emma.”

“You found Emma?” The question came from another boy her brother’s age as he came to stand beside Belle. 

“Well, she found me,” Leo said, nudging her with his elbow. “She’ll always find me.”

Emma resisted the urge to smack him again. “Our mother would be ashamed of you,” she teased. “Your etiquette has become positively disgraceful.”

Leo’s posture straightened, his chest puffing out. “Please accept my deepest apologies. Princess Emma, would you allow me to introduce you to Sir Roland.” This time, she did smack him. “I can never win with you,” he whined. “And besides, you have yet to introduce me to your personal knight.”

Emma flushed, stepping to the side, revealing the man in question. “Leo, this is Killian Jones.”

Killian stiffened, bowing deeply. “Your Highness.”

Leo scrunched up his nose. “Oh gods,” he grumbled, “don’t even start with the titles.” 

“Don’t be so rude,” Emma snapped.

“I’m not—how is that—” he cut himself off, shaking his head in exasperation though a genuine smile played at his lips. “Fine. Hello Killian Jones, please call me Leo.” He held out a hand. 

Killian hesitated only a moment before taking it. “Your sister has told me quite a bit about you,” he said, working hard to sound casual.

“Don’t believe a single word of it,” Leo warned. “I’ve never done anything wrong in my entire life.” 

Roland scoffed. “Yes, because that sounds believable.”

Leo ignored that, turning back to his sister. “Hey, didn’t you say something about dinner?” 

Emma laughed, nodding towards their camp. “Come on, we’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Wait,” Roland said, his eyes wide as he stared ahead. Belle caught his hand, worry written across her features. 

“What’s wrong?” Leo asked, wasting no time moving to his friend’s side, a hand on his shoulder. “Roland? What is it?”

Roland shook his head, unable to tear his gaze away. “My father…”

Emma may have been sleep deprived, emotionally and physically drained, and potentially on the brink of collapse, but her mind snapped the pieces together. “Robin,” she breathed. 

Roland took off, leaping over the stream and heading straight for their camp.

Leo made to follow, though he couldn’t seem to get himself to take more than two or three steps from his sister. He glanced back at her, seeing beyond her tear-streaked cheeks that shone in the limited light of the crescent moon. Beneath her joy lay deeply set sorrow in her pale skin; exhaustion carved shadows beneath her eyes—they were jade, like their mother’s, but he couldn’t see the color in the darkness. He wondered how long it would be before he could (if he ever could).

“Seems ours isn’t the only happy reunion tonight,” he said, smiling when she did. It made warmth spread across his chest, settling on his heart. 

“Not by a long shot,” a voice called, though this one had come from camp. Red stepped through the brush, her teeth gleaming with her wide grin, and it was only a moment before Leo was wrapped in her embrace. “We’ve missed you, kid,” she told him, not wasting the opportunity to muss his hair. 

He groaned at her, ducking out of her arms and backing away, his hands working to fix the disheveled mess. “Red,” he whined, making his sister laugh.

Emma nudged him until he turned to face her, and she took it upon herself to arrange his hair—in that moment, just for the span of a single breath, her mother was there. She lived in the way Emma held her arms, how she curved a hand along Leo’s cheek. It was Snow White’s tender smile that tugged on her lips, it was her determined tenderness that carded Emma’s fingers through his hair. 

Red saw it in her, too. Emma could see the recognition glinting in her gaze when her eyes flitted to her godmother, as she watched over them with all the warmth of a mother’s devotion

Noise erupted from camp, but it was not terror or sounds of war—it was joy, it was love, it was pure happiness. 

“Come on,” Emma said, leading her brother towards the glow of camp, where all that joy and love and happiness awaited them, where they could share in all of it. 

— —

Celebrations had lasted well into the night, unburdened laughter rising like the smoke from their fire. It gave the air something sweet, something to melt away the bitterness and dread that had for so long tainted everything Emma saw, everything she touched. 

Leo sat just a few feet away, speaking animatedly to the group gathered to listen to tales of his adventures during the last months. Roland sat beside him, adding or correcting details when Leo tried to embellish. Robin hadn’t strayed from his son’s side since they had reunited, and so he looked on with fondness and immense relief, too lost in what he felt to truly attend to the story Leo regaled.

Emma knew the feeling well. 

Her warring emotions had torn her into shreds—when she couldn’t handle one more moment of their relentless penduluming, the curtain fell away, and she was forced to stare into the truth of everything she’d been avoiding. She couldn’t hide from those thoughts anymore; her interlocked joy and despair had demolished the walls she’d built to protect her from the last thing that hadn’t hurt her yet, the last thing that truly could.

Killian shared a log with his brother across the dancing flames, avoiding her gaze as he so often did these days. 

Everything she’d acknowledged to herself was painful enough: that she couldn’t find happiness while her family and her kingdom were destroyed, that she should’ve been spending every last drop of her energy to find and save them all, and most of all, that he pulled away, that he kept pulling away. But the thing that glared back at her in the rubble of her mind was beyond all of that. 

She watched him chuckle, his face practically glowing in the firelight as he exchanged a look with his brother. 

He had happiness now. Freedom. She refused to take that away from him, refused to put a target on his back—being her ally had put him in enough danger, if the Evil Queen discovered what she felt for him, he’d be doomed to a curse and guaranteed a painful death. 

So that was it. She had to let him go. 

Emma withered, shrank, crumbled in the wake of her decision. She was as broken as her kingdom. At last, Regina had gotten her wish. 

“You look awfully grave for someone who just found her brother.”

Emma glanced up as Elsa joined her, a reassuring hand on hers. 

“Sorry, I just…”

Elsa smiled knowingly. “You’ve got a lot on your mind.”

“Too much,” she huffed. “But I should enjoy tonight, while we have it. There’s never enough time. The gods know everything else will be waiting for us come dawn,” she added. It was something her mother would have said—at least the first part, anyway. 

“You should,” Elsa agreed, her gaze drifting to where her sister sat, her head drooped on Kristoff’s shoulder. “We all should.” 

— —

The party broke up an hour or so before dawn. 

Emma followed her brother, intending to move her bedroll beside his, but instead of making camp for the night, she found him packing. He tucked some bread into his bag, weighing his waterskin to determine if he needed to take a trip to the stream. 

“What are you doing?”

Leo’s head shot up, his wide eyes flickering with fear. “Oh. Um…”

“Um?” 

He sighed, securing his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. “We haven’t had a chance to talk, and I’m sorry for that. But we don’t really have the time to have it now.”

“Leo,” she almost snapped. “Where are you going?” She couldn’t hide the panic laced in her voice. 

“I have to go, a few miles at least. But it’s just until nightfall. I’ll be back, I promise.”

“I don’t understand.”

Leo took her hand in his. “I know. I’ll explain everything when I get back, but it’s the curse. I have to keep everyone safe.”

She snatched her hand back, desperate and confused. “Safe from what? Leo, tell me what’s going on. Tell me how I can help you.”

“Emma, please. We’re running out of time.”

“Safe from what, Leo?” she demanded.

“From me.”

Emma swayed, her shock putting her off balance. “Leo,” she breathed—it was a quiet sound but not without weight, anchored by fear and heartache and hopelessness. 

He took a few more steps, his hands latching onto her arms, steadying her. “Everything’s gonna be okay, Emma. I promise. I just need you to trust me. Let me do what I have to, and tomorrow, I’ll tell you everything. Even the things I’d rather you didn’t know.”

She studied his face, seeing an intensity she’d never known him to possess. “You really have to go? Now?”

He nodded. “Yes. Will you let me?”

She deflated. “Yeah.”

He took a shaky breath, waiting only a second before pulling her against him. If they’d learned anything all those months ago, it was that you never knew when a hug would be the last. 

“Thank you, Emma. I’ll be back once the stars are in the sky again. You should get some sleep.”

She let him go, watching until he disappeared, all while the emptiness threatening to swallow her heart stole the newly returned pieces—once again, she was shattered.

“He really will be back,” a voice called.

Emma spun to find Roland, hesitance written across his face. “Why did he have to go?”

“To keep us safe,” Roland replied. “He would’ve explained earlier, I know, but I don’t think he wanted to…spoil your reunion. Or however he rationalized it.”

Emma took a deep breath, ordering her emotions to calm themselves. “You know him pretty well then, huh?”

Roland shifted, straightening his posture in a way that her mother would have been proud of. “He rescued me from the Evil Queen’s dungeons. We’ve fought together for months, survived. Done things neither of us—” he paused, shaking his head to dispel the memory. “I knew my father would welcome me back with open arms, but Leo always worried…”

“That our parents wouldn’t, after everything we’ve done.” Emma was familiar with the concept. 

“He’s been looking for you since we broke out. Kept insisting that you’d always find each other. And I’ve never seen him so happy as he was tonight. There may be things you don’t know yet about him, but at least be content in knowing that.”

Emma swallowed her fear, nodding. “Thank you.”

“Get some rest. He’ll be snippy if you’re exhausted when he gets back,” Roland said, heading back to his father. 

She knew he was right, the thought of it made her smile. But her gaze returned to the place she’d last seen her brother, and then she couldn’t get her feet to move further away from him. Emma stood there, her eyes on the trees, until the first bit of the sun peaked over the horizon. 

Red came to stand beside her, taking her hand, sharing her strength. “I could follow him, you know.”

“We can’t.”

“Then at least sleep. You can’t just stand here all day,” she said.

“I don’t want to move,” Emma replied, hating that she could see the color of the leaves now. 

“We don’t have to,” Red told her. 

Emma tore her eyes away, instead finding her bag and bedroll laid out a few feet behind where she stood. “Thank you,” she said, dropping onto the mat as the exhaustion dragged her down. 

“It’s not me you should thank.”

Emma’s lips parted to ask, but instead she glanced back towards the center of camp where Killian was arranging his own bedroll. “Of course,” she sighed.

“At some point, Emma, you’re going to have to accept it,” Red told her, sitting beside her, smoothing her cloak so she could get comfortable. 

Emma didn’t have the energy to fight her on it, not now. After a few hours of sleep, perhaps. She closed her eyes, pushing away everything else. But as she fell to sleep, a trembling cold crept over her. Even as the sun rose.

— —

Leo buckled from the pain, ice blooming where fire spread across his skin that tore into scales, but despite all of that, he smiled. His teeth turned to daggers that sliced into his lips, but he could not care. The curse would not break him. It hadn’t, even after months of trying, and now he had his sister back, and there was nothing they couldn’t do together. It was only a matter of time before they were reunited with their parents—after all, they would always find each other.

[midnightcreator12]

The Portal Home is Built with Roadblocks - Chapter 25 Final Test

AO3 Link

Chula finally takes the Rise fam to their home dimension

Chula couldn’t help but smile up at her ship.

Six years ago, she would’ve scoffed at the idea of ever calling it ‘her’ ship. It had been a convenience at first and a begrudging comfort later on, a small part of home that she only kept because it was the only thing she knew inside and out. She hadn’t entertained any ideas of claiming it beyond that, had honestly considered crashing the heap a number of times and fully intended to get rid of it when she found her way home.

But now? Now it was the Tortuga. A beat up, heavily modified Ghtroc seven-twenty light class freighter. The paint was faded, there were plasma burns on her hull, but she was air tight and warm. One of her holds was sealed shut and converted into a living area, and a corner of that was dedicated to a small army of blankets and lamps. And her supply cabinets were stuffed with snacks and sweets alongside ration packs and haarshun bread and gihaal.

And it housed a newly upgraded hyperdrive that could open gateways to other dimensions.

The generators were a bit cobbled together. Chula had plenty of scrap on her ship and there was a small scale forge in the barn along with its own scrap pile, the result was them building the generators one small section at a time and welding them together.

They had to rip down a few walls to wire everything together but in the end, the Tortuga had two flat prongs jutting from either side of the bridge. Donnie had loudly declared he would be upgrading the material when he got home and Chula, to herself, had agreed with that idea to spare Don’s feelings. But for now? It was perfect.

And since the testing phase was over and done with…this little adventure was nearly over. She was simply waiting for Donnie to hammer the kinks out of his dimensional locator and then she’d be taking the boys and their family home before…before it would be time for her to go home as well.

It was a thought Chula hadn’t been entertaining much beyond a vague surface level. Ironic, if she was honest with herself. Because a year and a few months ago, she would have been pushing to get going as quickly as possible.

Now? The idea of making those last two jumps left a bittersweet taste in her mouth.

Yes, she was eager to get home, find her clan and see how everyone was doing…

But a lot happened over the last year and there were some things in her galaxy that…she wasn’t as eager to return to. Oh, she wanted to see Astra and the battalion, check in with the Corvid Squad, maybe swing by Lasan and check on Garazeb…

But after that? The Clone War might be over but who’s to say another one might not have started? Or that the Separatists and Republic were still trying to overthrow each other. Or maybe Mandalore had started another war…

She was getting tired of war.

She was shaken from her thoughts by the farmhouse door slamming open. She glanced over her shoulder to see Donnie, forgoing running in favor of using his battle-shell jetpack. She grinned, bracing herself mere seconds before he slammed into her back, “Good news?”

“My locator works!” Donnie held his arm tablet in front of her nose, “We are from dimension one-eight-dash-two-zero-two-one!”

“Nicely done,” Chula reached up to pat Donnie’s shoulder. “I assume everyone wants to get going?”

“Naturally,” Donnie nodded.

As if on cue, the house door opened again, much less aggressively this time, and both sets of turtles and their families came tromping over. Leo sidled up to Chula’s side, leaning on her arm with a lazy grin, “Well, as fun as this lil pit stop was, I think I’m ready to be back in my New York.”

“Same dude,” Michel looked up at the alternate turtles. “No offense, of course. Just, ya know, homesick.”

“Understandable,” Leo nodded. “But you’re all welcome back anytime you’re in the neighborhood.”

“Absolutely,” Raphie agreed happily. “And the same goes for you if you somehow end up in our New York.”

“Man, ever think how it’s kinda crazy how likely that is to happen?” Mikey asked.

“I’m trying not to,” Don replied

“Yeah, let’s not tempt fate,” Raph agreed.

“You guys have been a riot,” Casey beamed, snagging Apes and CJ by their shoulders. “‘Specially you lil whack-o’s.”

“Ain’t so bad yourself old man,” Apes shot back, wiggling an arm free to give Casey a noogie.

CJ chuckled as he carefully squirmed out of the hug, “Thanks for hosting us here.”

“Of course,” April beamed. “You guys are basically family, afterall.”

Baby Cassandra babbled happily, little arms beating the air.

“Egh, you’re all so sappy,” Lou groaned, shuffling his way to the ship ramp. “Wrap it up boys! I need to catch up on my shows!”

Splinter chuckled, approaching Chula and bowing, “While I don’t doubt the engineering ability of yourself and both Donatello’s, I ask you to fly safely.”

“Of course,” Chula gave a smaller bow in response. “I’ll have precious cargo after all.”

“Aww, you hear that guys?” Leon asked. “I’m precious cargo.”

“Get on the ship goof-ball,” Raphie groaned, lumbering by and scooping up Leon and Donnie as he went.

Chula snorted, shaking her head as she waited for the rest of her ‘crew’ to board before following them up.

The entire group climbed into the bridge, Leon spinning happily in his usual seat and the rear technician chairs being claimed by Lou and Donnie. Chula settled behind the controls, her fingers moving on ingrained habit through the checks.

The energy of the cabin buzzed with excitement as the engines engaged and the Tortuga slowly ascended. The standing members of the group moved to the view-shields, waving and shouting goodbyes as the farmland grew smaller and smaller.

White clouds zipped by as she pushed the Tortuga to move faster, fly higher.

“Uh, you do recall that we don’t need that much elevation to safely travel, right?” Donnie asked.

“Oh, I remember,” Chula grinned. “I just wanna show you all somethin’.”

“If we get dragged into another crazy adventure-” Lou muttered.

Chula smirked, flipping a switch. The engines roared in reply, giving the ship a quick boost that sent them through atmo with a tremendous BOOM!

The blue skies of Earth darkened and Chula expertly weaved between the dozens of satellites orbiting the planet. And then the sky opened up into an endless expanse of stars.

The Hamato’s all gasped in awe, except for Leon. He leaned back in his seat, spinning it to face the bridge and threw his arms open wide, “Welcome to the wider universe!”

“Dude,” Michel breathed. “You got this view everyday?”

“Eh, it tended to vary a little.”

“I completely retract my previous observations,” Donnie pressed against the view-shield, almost drooling. “This was a very necessary detour!”

Chula chuckled, slowing the Tortuga down so that they would drift, letting the gathered audience take in the wonders of space travel.

She heard a shuffle next to her and turned to see CJ. He was staring, slack jawed as the galaxy reflected in his dark eyes.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Chula asked, lightly batting his arm.

The touch seemed to startle him. His eyes flicked to her briefly, mouth snapping shut, before going back to the outside view, “It’s…beautiful up here….I always….”

Chula’s ears flicked up and she leaned forward, waiting for CJ to finish.

“Space always seemed so…terrifying. It was…it’s where the Krang came from.”

Ah. Poor kid. It was a shame that his first contact was a particularly bad one.

“Well, I came from space,” Chula said. “A space, anyway. And the sun and stars are in space. Moons, planets, hundreds of races and cultures and biodiversity. Yeah, a lot of it is pretty scary but this?” she pointed to a far off nebula, almost glowing in cloudy swirls of purple and pinks, stars glittering in it like precious stones. “This part is always amazing.”

“Yeah,” CJ agreed.

Chula leaned back again, letting everyone take in their surroundings for a few more moments.

But eventually, she retook the controls, “Alright! Now let’s see what your stars look like.”

A cheer billowed up and filled the cabin as Chula moved one hand to the shiny new control panel. The buttons and dials glowed as she started pressing and turning, cycling through a spectrum of colors as she imputed the universe code Donnie had told her.

A new hum joined the main engine and the prongs bracketing the bridge started to light up, pure white energy streaking its way from the base all the way to the ends. The energy hummed between the two points, building into a glowing ball… then shooting forward faster than any of them could track.

A white ring appeared before them, opening up wider and wider, the center turning a deep, inky black filled with thin white rings.

“Whoa,” Apes breathed.

“Yeah, I’ve seen that twice and it’s still amazin’,” Chula repled.

“I concur,” Donnie breathed.

Chula thrust forward on the yoke, rocketing the Tortuga through the gateway. 

With how they had built it, the ship was only ‘inside’ the portal for a moment. Only a moment of silence, of inky black and circular white patterns surrounding them, pressing in like a massive wave, threatening to swallow the entire ship whole.

And then sound came back in a fantastic clash of roaring engines and popping energy.

Chula blinked, taking in the view for a few seconds while the jump vertigo faded.

Dimension one-eight-two-zero-two-one was much, much brighter then she’d expected.

She was used to cooler colors making up a galaxy, to blues and purples with only occasional soft pinks and greens with splashes of brighter reds and yellows.

Here? Color was everywhere in a dozen different shades, swirling and harmonizing, clashing and twisting, decorated by massive, bright stars that almost hurt her eyes.

“Holy pizza supreme!” Raphie exclaimed. “Are we sure we’re in the right place?”

“Scoff, of course we are!” Donnie answered. “Clearly we have the superior solar system and extended galaxy.”

“And based on all of you, your dimension probably leans more into the bright colors,” Chula added absently.

She could feel the silent stares slowly turning her way. Her ear flicked as she glanced towards Leon, “What? You’re all like blinking neon compared to me and the other you’s.”

“We’re not that bright,” Apes protested. “I mean, I know I’m wearing yellow but it’s not like it’s a school bus yellow.”

“It may not be in your world. But where I’m from? I’ve only seen that shade of yellow on poisonous animals.”

“Wait,” Leo sits up, eyes slowly going wide. “Is that why people tried to kidnap me so much?! Because I look like an exotic frog or something?”

Chula had to pause at that, several faces flashing in her minds eye, “....you definitely stood out.”

Donnie was frowning thoroughly. He reached up, pulling his goggles off his head and holding them against the gray wall of the bridge. While both items were technically the same color, the shade was clearly wildly different. 

Michel gasped then, “Wait! Is your ship not actually all faded and rusty!? It’s just not as bright as our world?!”

“Oh no, this thing is ancient, even when I was a kid this class of fighter wasn’t in production anymore.”

“As fascinating as this conversation is!” Lou piped in. “I would very much like to get back home, thank you very much.”

Chula chuckled, engaging the engines for reentry and moving towards Earth, “Donatello, I assume you have somewhere for me to touch down?”

“Of course,” Donnie huffed. “I happen to have the perfect spot! I was planning to construct some sort of airborne vehicle but I have yet to collect enough material for such a project. But I did find the perfect place for a landing pad slash hanger.”

“Wh-when did you build a personal hanger? Raphie asked.

“...don’t worry about it! Sending coordinates to your console captain!”

“Excuse you! She’s a commander!” Leon corrected loudly.

Chula chuckled as she watched the numbers Donnie sent her flash over the screen.

The Aurebesh characters, however, stuttered her laugh, reminding her that this would be going away soon.

…she didn’t want to lose this. This warm, carefreeness that had permeated almost every bit of her life and ship.

The bright blue and green planet suddenly looked much less beautiful in her eyes. She clutched the yoke a little tighter and tried to let the turtles bickering wrap around her like a blanket.

—---------------------

It turned out, Donnie’s hanger was an old pump station that he’d gutted out and replaced the roof with a hydraulic sliding doorway.

Chula was impressed, if she was honest.

But she couldn’t tell Donnie that quite yet, because his family was yelling about him having another secret project and one that was quite far from the Lair and how many other secret projects did he have laying around?

It was all quite funny, in Chula’s option.

But she was distracted from watching the boys when both April and CJ gave twin hisses at their comm devices…which seemed to be exploding with messages.

Chula shuffled over, ears up as she tilted her head at the flat devices, “You two are popular.”

“All the messages people have sent us are finally coming through.” April explained. “Aaand my parents are going to absolutely flip…ogh boy, I am very happy I don’t live at home anymore….oh, hey, Berry sent me a few too, I knew he cared!”

“Casey sent me a lot of messages,” CJ murmured. “And half the scout troop…and the other half of the scout troop. And there are…a lot of voicemails.”

Chula chuckled, reaching down to give booth kids pats on their shoulders, “Well, I’m sure once you explain you got dragged into an alternate dimension, they’ll all calm down.”

April and CJ blinked, looking at her, then at each other.

“Is it weird that that isn’t close to the weirdest explanation we’ve given?” CJ asked.

“It really should be…yet somehow it isn’t,” April replied.

“Yes, yes, we all lead very weird lives!'' Leo, apparently done chastising Donnie, had bounded over to Chula’s side, “But now I can show you all the things we talked about! We can start in the Lair and I can show you the best rooftop runs and the Hidden City and we gotta go to Run of the Mill! Oh, and we gotta go to the Magic Townhouse!”

And Chula really should have Leo slow down, because the plan was supposed to be Donnie would replace the gateway generators with titanium and she would be on her way to her own dimension.

But Leo was listing off all the things he wanted to show her, face more open and happy than she’d ever seen it.

…Astra and the battalion had already waited six years. What was another few days?

“How about you give me that Lair tour first,” she suggested, lightly pulling at Leo’s mask tails.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Leo was almost vibrating now, excitement infectious. “Guys! I am portalling us home! Get over here or you’ll have to walk all the way there!”

“Yeesh, slow down a little, would you?” Donnie groaned as he walked over. 

“Nope!” Leo said happily as he sliced open a portal.

Chula could feel the difference in this portal and all the others she’d seen Leo make. The blue was brighter, more vibrant, and she could almost taste the thrum of power in the air as she stepped through it.

She wondered how much of Leo’s struggle with his powers was from his trauma and how much was from the fact he was just in the wrong place to use them effectively.

The portal opened into another underground base, but this one was a lot more spacious than the alternate turtle’s had been. If Chula recalled correctly, the space looked a lot like an abandoned transport hub. There were boxes scattered around, a few half finished murals on the walls, several rail-speeders were scattered around, decorated with string lights that gave the metal exteriors a warm glow.

“Welcome to the Lair!” Leo announced, bouncing around Chula so he could spread his arms wide to present his home. “Clearly certain individuals haven’t unpacked everything but, still, pretty sweet, right?”

“We were working on unpacking,” Raph protested. “It’s just been…uh-”

“Relax Raph-a-doodle, I’m just messing around,” Leo turned back to Chula, grin getting wider. “Now, where shall we start our grand tour-”

“Where have you all been?!”

Chula’s head snapped in the direction of the new voice, shoulders going tense and hands hovering over her weapons.

A tall figure stormed into view from a large doorway. He wore a white and blue robe, had long, maroon hair tied into a half bun and features that reminded Chula of an ungulate. He also looked frazzled and exhausted, hair frizzing and falling out of the bun, heavy shadows under his eyes and his robe was very rumpled.

Chula glanced around at the Hamato’s, gauging their reactions so she would know how to react. But no one seemed to be alarmed by the new arrivals yelling. In fact, Mikey sprinted across the Lair to launch himself at the newcomer, “Berry! You’re not gonna believe where we’ve been!”

“Well then start explaining Michelangelo! Because you all cannot just vanish for a month and not give…me…”

Chula frowned when ‘Berry’ trailed off…and then noticed his gaze was quite firmly fixed on a certain young terrapin.

Leo noticed the attention as well. He grinned nervously, shifting on his feet and clasping his heads behind his shell, “Heeeey Barry…turns out! I am very hard to kill!”

Barry stared, eyes flicking from Leo to the family then to Leo again.

Chula grit his teeth a little in sympathy. There were probably quite a few people here that Leo was going to have to have this same moment with. 

But Barry outwardly recovered from the shock quickly. He blinked, then straightened, clearing his throat and looking away, “Surprised you haven’t made a comment about me throwing you off a roof yet.”

Chula’s spine went rigid as she snapped her head around to Leo, “He did shabbing what?”

“Hey, all in the past, am I right?” Leo was quick to throw an arm around Chula, effectively making sure she did not charge…she still could if she wanted but there wasn’t a way to get away from Leo without physically moving him away. “You said something about a tour? Let me give you the grand tour! The absolute grandest of grand tours. We’ll clearly start in my room because, as much as I love the ripped mask look, it’s Raph’s thing. And get my hoodie! Oh, I miss my hoodies-”

Chula let Leo drag her away but she did manage to turn and give Barry the universal ‘I’m watching you gesture’. 

His face scrunched into a frown and his ears flicked back.

Oh, he thought she was all talk? She definitely couldn’t leave until she wiped that condescending look off his face.

But for now, Leo was tugging her along, babbling about his comic book collection and how he couldn’t wait to introduce her to the world wonder that was Jupiter Jim.

She could kick Barry’s shebs later.

[aeoki]

Blackjack - Miracles Don't Exist: Chapter 10

Location: Star Fest Stage Characters: Shinobu, Yuzuru, Natsume & Mika Season: Winter

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< Almost another hour later. “Star Fest” Venue No.20 “ES Building”. >

Mika: Ngh ahhhh~... D–Don’t cry, Naru-chan.

I–I didn’t mean to make you cry…

Arashi: Waaaaah! You’re so cruel – just so cruel, Mika-chan! What have you done!?

Y–You did that for me? To apologise for causing me so much trouble last year? And also as thanks for everything I’ve done for you every day? You prepared all that for me and even asked “Oshi-san” who’s overseas to help?

Y–You created a surprise performance just for me? This is the result of our friendship – something you produced in order to make me happy?

Of course I’m going to cry if you suddenly give something like that to me…!

Mika: S–Sorry. You didn’t like it…?

Arashi: There’s no way I wouldn’t not like it, you dummy! Mika-chan, you big dum-dum! My bestie! You’re the cutest in the world! I love you to bits!

You’ve created the best Christmas Eve for me! I always hoped for something to happen every year, but nothing ever did!

This year, it’s all your fault – waaaaaah!

You’re so cruel! I decided I wouldn’t cry on stage! I was going through such a hard time during “Tanabata Fest” and I didn’t even cry!

Why didn’t I cry? Well, it’s because crying isn’t beautiful! It’s not something I’d do!

But now, I’m bawling my eyes out this year all because of you! What are you going to do about this? You’re just downright cruel!

Also, it’s like Ritsu-chan’s in that corner, saying…

“I pretended to be lazy on purpose to bring your spirits down, so that I could lift them right back up to an all-time high.”

It’s like he’s saying that with a smug look on his face for no good reason and it annoys me so much! He shouldn’t try to raise his own stocks after taking advantage of other people’s behaviour!

I need to complain! I want to slap that advisor-pretending idiot straight across the face!

Don’t you dare move an inch, Ritsu-chan! And you too, Tsukasa-chan – you’re laughing even though you don’t know what’s going on! That goes the same for Leo-kun and Izumi-chan who’s here like it’s the most natural thing in the world, too~!

Mika: Ahh… N–Naru-chan left. So does this mean Naru-chan liked my surprise?

Yuzuru: Indeed. Narukami-sama must have left because she wanted to hide how shy she felt. I see she could make those sorts of expressions too – She’s always so calm and composed.

Hehe. Your hard work has paid off, Kagehira-sama. It was worth worrying and running over to lend a hand.

Mika: Yeah. Thanks a bunch, Yukkun. Oshi-san went overboard with the plannin’ and made it so that it’ll take a long time to set things up, so I don’t think I would’ve made it in time all by myself.

Yuzuru: No need to thank me. I was simply influenced by your friendship, Kagehira-sama. I simply wanted to support you, despite my limited abilities.

Mika: Ngh~ Thanks, though – really. Yukkun, you’re my precious friend, y’know~? ♪

Yuzuru: Right. I entered Yumenosaki because that’s how things naturally turned out, but it seems I was able to gain a lot more things than I would have imagined.

I’m simply thankful for that right now.

Merry Christmas.

Mika: Right, Merry Christmas ♪

Natsume: HeHE. It feels a bit silly making it sound like everything has come to a happy eND. “Star Fest” isn’t over just yET.

Mika: Ngh, Nakkun!? Why do you always appear out of nowhere? That’s bad for my heart!

Anyway, you look kinda tired? Are you okay?

Natsume: YeAH… ActualLY, I was called to visit a lot of the venues todAY – I’ve been performing on stage with a hoarse voiCE.

It seems Sora and Senpai are the saME. I’m calculative and definitely won’t save others out of goodwill bUT…

It looks like there are a lot more people who are grateful for “Switch” than I had expectED.

I thanked them with a smile on my face – on the stage they called me to appear oN. I said things like how I’m still able to stand on stage as an idol thanks to their suppoRT…

Those who gave up being idols during the “Bon Festival” in summer are now popular figures in the cyber worLD.

Those sorts of people thanked uS. They wore smiles on their faces that showed they didn’t think about the advantages or the disadvantages, and welcomed mE.

It might sound strange but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shouldeRS.

The thought of having fun like an idiot without stopping to think even crossed my miND. I did some merrymaking here and there so I’m all exhausted nOW.

In realiTY, I shouldn’t be doing something that doesn’t align with my charactER.

Mika: Ahaha. Good for ya – I see you also had a happy Christmas Eve, Nakkun.

I was worried since you looked kinda desperate durin’ our “SS” Qualifying Round battle. It felt like you were smilin’ thoughtlessly on the outside, but you were actually walkin’ on thin ice…

Natsume: WeLL, thanks to yOU, I was able to have a pretty good time todAY.

StiLL, I can’t be this happy-go-lucky forevER.

I’m Natsume Sakasaki from “SwitCH” – a magician and fortune-tellER. A descendant of the lovable “Five OddbalLS”. 

My duty is to save those who have fallen off of that “big waVE”.

Natsume: No. It’s to make all living things hapPY.

It’s pointless if I’m the only one who reaches a happy endiNG. I’m only “Switch’s” Natsume Sakasaki if I can also make others happy, tOO.

Ŧwø ɏɇȺɍs Ⱥǥø, đᵾɍɨnǥ ŧħɇ Ɍɇvøłᵾŧɨøn, wɨnŧɇɍ wȺs ŧħɇ sɇȺsøn øf đɇsŧɍᵾȼŧɨøn.

Ŧħɇ ŧħɨnǥs Ɨ føᵾnđ ɇnđɇȺɍɨnǥ wɇɍɇ Ⱥłł ħᵾɍŧ Ⱥnđ đɇsŧɍøɏɇđ – đɨsȺᵽᵽɇȺɍɨnǥ fɍøm ŧħɇ wøɍłđ.

Ɨŧ wȺs Ⱥ sȺđ ᵽɇɍɨøđ øf ŧɨmɇ wħɇɍɇ ønłɏ Ⱥ fɍɇɇƶɨnǥ ƀɍɇɇƶɇ ɍȺǥɇđ øn.

ƀᵾŧ łȺsŧ ɏɇȺɍ, ŧħɇ ȼøᵾɍsɇ øf ŧħɨnǥs ȼħȺnǥɇđ. Ɇvɇɍɏønɇ łøøꝁɇđ ᵾᵽ Ⱥŧ ŧħɇ đȺƶƶłɨnǥ sŧȺɍs ŧħȺŧ ɇmɇɍǥɇđ Ⱥnđ ȼɇłɇƀɍȺŧɇđ.

ŧħøsɇ ȼɇłɇƀɍȺŧɨøns Ⱥnđ ᵽɍȺɏɇɍs ɍɇȺȼħɇđ ŧħɇ ħɇȺvɇns Ⱥnđ wɇ ᵾsħɇɍɇđ ɨn Ⱥ nɇw đȺƶƶłɨnǥ ɇɍȺ.

ᵾnđɇɍ øᵾɍ ƀɇłøvɇđ “ᵽɍøđᵾȼɇɍ’s” wɨsħ ŧħɨs ɏɇȺɍ, wɇ sŧȺnđ wɨŧħ øᵾɍ fɍɨɇnđs øf ɇꝗᵾȺł sŧȺnđɨnǥ Ⱥnđ, ŧøǥɇŧħɇɍ, wɇ ȼɇłɇƀɍȺŧɇ ŧħɨs ħøłɏ nɨǥħŧ.

Øᵾɍ fɇɇłɨnǥs Ⱥɍɇ ɉᵾsŧ ønɇ: Føɍ ŧħɨs mømɇnŧ – øᵾɍ ħȺᵽᵽɨnɇss – ŧø ȼønŧɨnᵾɇ ɇŧɇɍnȺłłɏ.

Wɇ đøn’ŧ ꝁnøw ħøw ŧħɇ “SS” wȺɍ wɨłł ŧᵾɍn øᵾŧ…

Ƀᵾŧ Ⱥs łønǥ Ⱥs wɇ ħȺvɇ øᵾɍ mɇmøɍɨɇs øf ŧħɨs ɉøɏøᵾs ȻħɍɨsŧmȺs Ɇvɇ Ⱥnđ øᵾɍ fɍɨɇnđsħɨᵽ, ŧħɇn øᵾɍ ɉøᵾɍnɇɏ ȺħɇȺđ sħȺn’ŧ ƀɇ ɇnvɇłøᵽɇđ ɨn đȺɍꝁnɇss.

Nøw, łɇŧ’s łɨǥħŧ ŧħɇm Ⱥłł.

Łɇŧ’s mȺꝁɇ ŧħɇ sŧȺɍs ƀɇfɨŧŧɨnǥ øf sᵾȼħ Ⱥ ƀłɇssɇđ ȻħɍɨsŧmȺs Ɇvɇ sħɨnɇ ƀɍɨǥħŧ.

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[dottie-writes-tmnt]

Universal Struggle

This is part 7 of my fic A New Kind of Familiar. Tags and other chapters can be found here!

Some people just want things their way. Others are struggling to get by. And some are so used to fighting that it seems that is all they can do.

Cw for discussions of suicide, and ofc 12!Leo being an asshole over it. Ruby also has a panic attack

When Donnie opened his eyes and saw the roof of the lair, he wanted to fucking cry. He ached in different places and there was a heart monitor beeping. He felt tears gathering in his eyes and he whined, squeezing his eyes shut. And then he heard the voice of Splinter Jr. Great.

“Why the fuck did you do that? You think you can just screw up like that and then, what, kill yourself so you don’t have to fix it?!”

He didn’t even consider answering. Maybe if he didn’t say anything, Leo would leave.

“Or maybe you did this all on purpose. You got Raph out of the way so the attention would all be on you, and then when you decided you didn’t like the type of attention you were getting, you pulled this stunt so someone would find you and then everyone would baby—“

“You think I did this for attention?” he asked, voice quiet as he sat up and turned to watch Leo pace towards him.

“Yes, either that or you’re just purely selfish.”

“You are a fucking imbecile. Leo, I did not plan to fucking live. By the time you were supposed to come try to harass the portal machine into working, I would’ve been dead. So I guess Mikey found me?”

“So you were being fucking selfish! You don’t get to leave and run away from this! You made our brother disappear, and now you have to get him back!”

“I DON’T KNOW HOW!!” he yelled. “You guys always put everything on me! I know this was my fault, but I don’t know everything! Why doesn’t the perfect leader try his hand at it? I hate all of you! I don’t fucking care what you want, Leo, when all I am to you is a fucking machine! And that’s still what I am! Now Raph’s gone and Splinter Junior’s lost his way again!”

“You fucking—“

“Stop it!”

They both turned to the door to see Mikey crying. The turtle sniffed, looking between them before walking closer.

“I-I…um…I-if you fight, Donnie won’t get better as quickly, Leo.”

The blue coded turtle simply gave Donnie a glare.

“Don’t try that again.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Waking up to your face after a failed attempt is not something I want to repeat,” he muttered.

“At least my face didn’t drive my crush away from me,” the eldest called over his shoulder, the doors shutting. Donnie, honestly, didn’t care about that comment.

He was truly being selfish with the whole thing, wasn’t he? He just… No matter whether he deserved to live or not, he supposed that he had to get Raph back. He had to do that much, since he was the reason his brother was gone in the first place.

 

——

 

Leo reached after him, wailing about the greater good, while Ruby grinned evilly. In his hands was a Jupiter Jim comic, and the slider was begging him to give it back. Ruby, of course, was going to steal it away for himself.

“Fine, I will return your comic, if! You admit that Chrome Dome is superior!”

The slider groaned. “Keep it!”

He cackled, walking away with the comic. Ruby didn’t know what he expected when he saw the big lights on in his room even though he never turned the big lights on, but it was not to see this world’s Splinter standing there.

Immediately, he straightened up, leftover smile gone from his face and shaky hands hidden behind his back.

“Why are you in my room?”

The rat looked at him, expression unreadable, expression unreadable.

“I wish to speak to you, Raphael.”

“About what?” He shoved down the swirling emotions growing in his chest. Now was not the time.

“I wish to know why you avoid me. Is it something I have done or is it something your own version of myself has—“

“My Splinter’s fucking dead,” he interrupted, hoping that was enough to get the mutant off his back.

It wasn’t. The other went on to say he was sorry for Ruby’s loss then started talking about some other bullcrap that he wasn’t listening to, only tuning in when a phrase exited the other’s mouth.

“—my son, and—“

“I am not your fucking kid,” he growled, glaring. “And you don’t care about me. You’re only pretending to because your kids like me.”

“That is not true! Any version of Raphael is a son of mine, and I am not pretending. I worry for you, my son,” the other said, and he started to speak again, the rat cutting him off. “You are so angry all the time, and you become destructive. You yell, you break things, you hurt others. It is like you become a whole new person. Something evil takes hold. Clearly there is something wrong and I simply wish to—“

“SHUT THE FUCK UP,” he yelled before he could stop himself, the hurt swirling in his gut turning into some something else. “You do not get to say things about me, you fucking sick bastard! You’re a fucking dick, and I want you out of my room, now. I don’t know what you—“

“I am only trying to—“

“Stop cutting me off, you—!”

“Do not—!”

He lost control.




It was only for a second. He screamed, winding back to punch the rat, but he stopped. His breathing shortened. Then he heard the footsteps of the others running and he couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. There were voices around him, muffled and concerned, and his panic grew, his ears ringing.

He was still the same asshole he always had been, and being here didn’t change that. A voice came too close and he punched on pure reflex, vision clearing enough to see the slider back away and make a little noise of surprise. Now all eyes were on him. And, his fear decided for him as it transformed, it was time to put on a show.

“Get the fuck away from me,” he snapped, eyes wide and looking wildly around at the people around him. His breathing was erratic, heart beating fast.

They all obeyed, surprisingly, except one. The rat came closer, touching his arm. The other began to speak, getting cut off by a cowardly, explosive Ruby.

“Don’t fucking touch me! Why the fuck won’t you just listen to me!? But I guess you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t make me feel like I’d prefer hell over interacting with your ass, huh, Splinter? Things have to be your way or they’re wrong, and you don’t wanna hear any options that don’t match your fucking own, and I am sick of it,” he growled, wrestling his way out of the room. “I can’t wait until you follow in my Splinter’s footsteps.”

No, wait, why the fuck did he say that. He smacked a hand over his mouth, backing up. He didn’t want to see what their reactions would be, running off before he got the chance.

In the place of his anger was white hot shame and pure fear. He leapt his way up the ladder, throwing open the manhole cover and climbing up the fire escape quickly. He still couldn’t breathe, but he ran anyway.

There was nothing freeing about running across the rooftops when he was frantically trying to get away from something. He fell more than he would’ve liked, scraping himself in the process, before he finally collapsed, lungs burning and eyes leaking as his stomach turned, choked gasps coming from him as he sat there, on his hands and knees on top of a roof and with his words playing in his head over and over. His chest heaved as he tried to get air into his lungs and they rejected it each time.

Something vibrating on him scared the shit out of him, and he yelped, frantically digging for the thing and pulling out his phone. Leo was calling. He pressed the decline button as his sobs finally broke through, making themselves at home between his shaky, choked off gasps.

 

“Ruby? Whoah, buddy, you need to breathe. Do you know where you are?”

Apparently he pressed answer instead because of how badly he was shaking. He was going to dig himself into a hole and never come out. A pitiful attempt at an apology crawled out his mouth. The other clicked his tongue.

“No, don’t apologize. Where are you?”

He looked around, unsurprised to find the area unfamiliar.

“D-don’t…don’t know,” he managed, and the slider was silent for a moment. God, he was fucking pathetic. Leo was gonna make fun of him and tell everyone how fucking pathetic he was. And he was selfish, too.

He was crying because, what? He was the one who said that fucking awful thing to this world’s Splinter.

“That’s okay,” the mutant responded. “Just breathe for a bit, okay? In…out. Good job, repeat. In…”

After he calmed down enough to speak, the slider had him describe what was around him.

“Okay, I think I know where you are. Do you want me to come meet you or would you rather someone else? Raph maybe?”

He simply whined, curled up between an HVAC and the wall.

“Ruby?”

“Whichever,” he muttered after a while, exhaustion coursing through him.

He rubbed his hands on his legs roughly, letting his head fall to rest against the HVAC. It was a habit he picked up a while ago when he got upset. Self soothing. His brothers called him weird for it, along with his other habits.

“Okay, I’m on my way.”

 

Fuck.

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[summersnow82]

Oh, the Turtles You'll Meet: Part 7 of That Familiar Feeling

Or....

Leo does a deep dive into his counterpart's memories, and here we are. Enjoy.

Fanfiction_TMNT Bayverse/ 2003 crossover

Author’s note: Part 7 of That Familiar Feeling. Hello, my lovelies. Thank you for reading. I've got a few other fics I've been neglecting, so it may take a bit to get the next part written. Please bear with me.

.....

The first time they’d laid eyes on her she’d been an open wound; a massive, bloody, pulpy mess they could barely distinguish as female. The whirling vortex spit her out into the lab like it was trying to remove a bad taste from it’s mouth. Her body slapped against the ground, a motionless heap, and the portal closed; it’s business was complete.

The autodocs had their work cut out for them, and as Donnie was quick to note, had they been in another time with lesser technology they would’ve been burying a body instead of trying to heal one. It was weeks before she began to look human again, and even then Donnie cautioned against lowering the force field. Until she was stable he refused to move her.

“Do you think she’ll ever wake up?” Leo asked one morning as Donnie was running his ritual diagnostics.

“The autodocs have done some amazing work,” Donnie said, his hand waving over the tablet in his hand. “I think she’s got a chance.”

“I still say we shoulda dropped her at the hospital,” Raph grumbled. Leo said nothing, but he knew Raph was still grumpy over their experience with Dark Leo.

“She came out of a portal, Raph. That doesn’t intrigue you just a little?” Donnie asked.

Raph shrugged. “More like what happened to get her in that kinda condition in the first place. I mean, what the shell happened to her?”

No one answered that question. They’d seen a lot of terrible things, but nothing like the bloody pulp this woman had once been.

“Once she’s stable I’d like to get her cleaned up,” Donnie said. “The autodocs can only do so much.” He finally raised his eyes from his tablet. His voice sounded tenuous as he asked softly, “Any volunteers?”

Mikey was standing right outside the force field’s barrier. He’d been unusually quiet when it came to their mystery patient. “I’ll do it,” he said, raising a hand to signal Donnie’s attention.

It didn’t surprise any of his brothers when Mikey followed through on his word. Donatello had laid out several thick towels on a stainless steel operating table, and the brothers gingerly transferred their now stable but unconscious house guest onto the towels. Her clothes had been tattered and torn, and there wasn’t much left, so they placed more towels over her body to offer her some privacy. Mikey washed her hair until the water was no longer brown from the caked on blood, and he delicately sponged her body clean. They would later lie and tell her the autodocs were capable of this work to spare her modesty, but if you’d asked Michelangelo he would’ve told you there was nothing remotely arousing about caring for someone so badly abused.

His care for her didn’t end there, though. When she’d finally woken up he’d spent hours outside her locked bedroom door just rambling. He talked about the Silver Sentry, the Turtle Titan, skateboarding, the future, their home in New York, life in the sewers, his favorite pizza – anything to give her a sense she was safe. It was a well known fact people who want to kill you don’t sit outside your door reading you comic books.

At least, that’s what Mikey told his brothers when they’d ask just what the shell he was doing.

Sometimes Cody or Donnie would join him. They all took turns bringing her food, and speaking (or in Raph’s case grunting) through the door, but Mikey was the consistent one. He was the one who heard her crying, or groaning in her sleep, and all too often, he heard her scream. He promised himself then and there he was never going to let anyone else hurt her ever again.

Of course, Mikey was still naive enough to believe every promise made can be kept.

…………..

When she finally did come out of her room for the first time it was when she suspected everyone would be sleeping. She crept around the penthouse taking in her surroundings, and only forgot herself when she looked out the window. The futuristic New York skyline was nothing short of breathtaking, and it was even more incredible at night.

“Pretty, ain’t it?” She spun, pressing her back against the glass, and stared at Raphael. He’d seen the looks before; the fear, the confusion, the disgust. Something about the way this woman was staring at him felt different, though. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” he said gently, holding his hands up, and taking a few steps back. “Began to wonder if you were ever coming outta that room. Ya hungry?”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion, and she frowned. “Is this,” her voice came out broken and raspy from disuse, and she swallowed hard. “Is this real? This place? You? Me?”

Raph nodded. “Yup. ‘Fraid so. Not a big fan of the future, but here we are.”

Her frown deepened, and she looked down. “Future,” she murmured. She looked up quickly, her eyes wide with fear. “There was a man,” she started.

“No man. Not here. You don’t gotta worry about him hurting you again. Promise.” Raph clenched his fists as he spoke. He’d had plenty of time to stew over just what kind of torture leaves a human body looking like a bloody wad of meat, and he had strong feelings of retribution.

She shook her head, and he noticed she looked more upset now. “No. There was a man with me. Tall, blonde, blue eyes. He must be here. He has to be.” Her voice was still broken and cracked, but it was getting louder with the stress of her words.

Raph frowned. He wasn’t the best with emotions, and an emotionally distressed woman was out of his wheelhouse. “Listen, lady, I’m tellin’ ya you don’t have to worry about it. You’re safe. There’s no man here.” He took a step forward, and she slammed her back against the glass.

“No no no no no no no no no no,” she cried, thrusting a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries.

He froze, suddenly quite fearful himself. He’d experienced fear before – shell, sometimes he even liked it – but he’d never witnessed anyone this terrified. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” he whispered softly, desperately.

She was sliding down the glass window, biting her knuckles to muffle her cries. “He’s dead. Oh my gosh, he’s dead. He’s dead. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. Oh, God, please no.” Her pleas were rising in volume, and before he could react she bit her knuckle hard enough to draw blood, and let out a devastating wail. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she opened her mouth to scream again.

“Raph, what the shell?” Leo’s eyes were wide as he burst into the room with Splinter and Cody on his heels. Donnie and Mikey were seconds behind, and they all took in the woman before them in the throes of a full blown panic attack. “Miss?” Leo asked softly. He was moving slowly closer to her, and when she realized it she thrust out an arm, and scrambled away until she hit a corner in the wall.

“Don’t touch me, please don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me. Please don’t hurt me.”

“Leo,” Donnie cautioned.

“I won’t touch you,” Leo promised, crouching down to be on her level. “And we won’t hurt you. I promise.” She’d closed her eyes again, and was trying to get control over her labored breathing. “Our autodocs were able to heal you, but you’ve been out for weeks.” He tilted his head. No response. “Is there someone we can call for you?”

She shook her head, but refused to meet his eyes. “I need Sean. I need Sean. He has to be here, but he’s not which means he’s dead, which means they killed him too, which means…,” her voice broke off into a sob, and she buried her face in her hands. “I can’t do this without him,” she whimpered.

“I’m sorry,” Leo said gently. He felt helpless – what could he say to her?

“We could try to locate this Sean for you,” Donnie offered, and once again Leo was thankful his brother was so kind and gentle.

She shook her head. “If he’s not here… if he’s not here,” her voice broke again, and she tucked her knees up to her chin. “I can’t do this without him,” she repeated in a barely audible whisper before her sobs took control again.

………….

It was, unsurprisingly, Master Splinter who was able to calm her down. He moved slowly, kneeling down a foot across from her, and waited. When she did lift her head she gasped, hiccuped, and made a valiant effort to control her breathing. “You are safe here, Miss.”

She swallowed hard, wiped her nose on her sleeve, and nodded. “I know.” She hiccuped again. “Bad guys don’t save a nobody just to kill them later.”

Master Splinter tilted his head to the a touch. “I do not think you are a nobody. I do not think anyone here thinks that.” He paused. “I am called Splinter. These are my sons: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael,” he said, gesturing to each of the turtles. “And this,” he waved a hand towards Cody, “Is Cody Jones, our benefactor, host, and inventor of the technology that saved your life.” He looked back at her, a gentle smile on his furry face. “May I ask what we should call you?”

Her eyes darted to the side, and she gave a shaky exhale. “Sean says we shouldn’t use our real names. It’s not safe, and…,” she stopped herself, and ducked her head again.

Donatello’s brow furrowed. “Does this have anything to do with the whirling vortex that spit you out a few weeks ago?”

She blinked, surprised, and sat up a bit. “I landed here?” They all nodded, and she looked even more surprised.

“We arrived here in a… similar fashion,” Leo said.

“Time travel,” Cody added, moving closer.

She sat up straighter, and her grip relaxed a touch. “You too?” Again, they all nodded.

“Perhaps now you would feel comfortable sharing your name with us,” Master Splinter suggested, but she still seemed hesitant.

“My friends call me Belle,” she said softly, tucking her head back behind her knees.

“It is an honor to finally meet you, Miss Belle,” Splinter said, giving a small bow. “I know you have many questions for us, and we for you. Perhaps this conversation would be more pleasant at the table with some refreshments.”

“I am a little hungry,” she admitted, almost as if she were embarrassed by it.

“I imagine you are. Let’s see what we have.”

She was bashful requesting food, hesitant to lift her head to meet the eyes of those around her, and very wary of any potential contact. She answered questions slowly, cautiously, and as briefly as possible, so Splinter took the opportunity to tell her the story of how he came to be a single father of four turtles, how he named them, taught them, and how they came to be here in the year 2105.

“When your portal opened up there was a spike in the seismic readings. It was brief, and most wouldn’t think anything of it, but I could certainly run a report to see if there have been any other similar spikes. Maybe Sean came after you when it was safer,” Donatello offered. Her eyes remained lowered, but a small smile graced her pale, cracked lips.

“Yes, thank you. I would appreciate that.”

“So this Sean guy’s a friend?” Raph asked, cocking his head to the side. He still felt strangely protective of the meek woman sitting across from him.

“He’s my best friend,” she answered softly. “He’s family.” Mikey noticed how she seemed to shrink further into her chair, and the fat teardrops that rolled silently off her nose onto her clasped hands.

“Here.” He held out a tissue to her, and she swallowed hard, accepting it without meeting his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m not normally like this. Before…,” she choked, and ducked her head trying to regain her composure.

“What did they do to you?” Cody asked softly.

“Cody!”

“Dude!”

“I’m sorry,” Cody said. “I’ve just never seen anything like…,” he trailed off, realizing how his words sounded. “I’m sorry.”

“It is late,” Master Splinter said. “And such matters take time to discuss. Perhaps you will feel comfortable enough to share with us at a later time, but please do not feel pressured.”

She nodded. “I…um…I know I’ve been an inconvenience to all of you. I promise I’ll be out of your hair soon.”

“An inconvenience?” Leo asked, arching an eye ridge, and exchanging looks with his brothers.

“We don’t have hair,” Mikey chirped. “I mean, Cody does, and Master Splinter has fur, but we don’t. Besides, a pretty girl like you is never an inconvenience.”

“I’m not pretty anymore,” she whispered. “Not after what he did to me.”

Again, the turtles exchanged looks, but no one spoke – they didn’t know what to say.

Finally, Cody said, “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to. It’s been pretty lonely with just Serling and me. I appreciate the company.”

Later, when she was better mentally and physically, she would tell Cody how much his offer meant to her. In that moment though all she could do was bury her face in her hands and cry from relief.