7. Prank Successful - The Next Mutation
Venus, Raph, and Donnie figure out how to reverse the hypnosis caused in "Sewer Crash."
"Well then," Raph stretches. "Guess we tell the guys it's safe to say the b-word again."
Venus perks up. "Bit—"
"The otha' b-word, Venus."
"Oh."
"Well, we could do that." Donnie raises steepled hands to his chin. "Or..."
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"I can't take it anymore! Make it stop!"
Raph levels Mikey a look somewhere between unimpressed and exasperated. "Make what stop?"
Venus is humming to herself as she unloads a bag of groceries. A carton of banana peppers, banana pudding, and banana-flavored cheez-its join their bounty on the kitchen table.
"The groceries!" He anguishes.
"Whaddaya mean stop the groceries?" He brandishes an anchovy and banana hot pocket. "We need food, and you told me it was my turn to get 'em."
"Not this kind of food! Anything but this! This is too cruel, Raph! What have I done to be punished like this!? How am I supposed to eat all of these banana foods when I can't even say the wor—" He cuts himself short with a gasp, eyes bulging.
It takes everything Raph's got not to grin. Don was right: hook, line, and sinker. Mikey whips around to the turtle himself, already playing his part to a tee.
"My will is yours," Donnie intones.
"No! Donnie!" Mikey reaches out to shake him, "Banana!"
Right on cue, Leo charges in. "Did somebody say banana!?"
"Dude!" Mikey yelps, spinning around and throwing his hands to his head, "I already said it twice!"
They look at Donnie, still droning.
"Banana!" They both shout.
"I'll say it!"
"No, I'll say it!"
"Banana!"
They're not even looking at Donnie anymore, just shouting frantically in each other's faces. Raph watches with growing delight as Donnie stands and leaves the room completely unnoticed.
Venus—because she's much sneakier than everyone gives her credit—creeps over, looking equally delighted. She braces on his shoulder to peek past the fridge at Donnie, then back at dumb and dumber. "How long do you think they will fall at it?"
"That's fall for it, babe." He grins slyly at her. "And as long as Masta' Splinter lets 'em."
She snickers. Sensei's never met a well-meaning joke he didn't love.
The shouting match chokes when Leo finally realises, "Donnie's gone!"
"Oh no!" Mikey shoves past Leo to the stairs. "Don't do it, Donnie! You're too young for prison!"
Leo races after him. He's almost entirely up the ladder before he shouts, "Raph, Venus, come on!"
Raph presses a fist to his beak. He makes eye contact with Venus, and she bursts into high, pealing laughter. Before long, they're both busting a gut.
"Oh, man!" He folds over the table. "That was so much better than I thought it would be."
Venus is on her knees giggling, "Should," she hiccups, "should we?"
"I'll watch them with the satellite," Donnie reassures as he wanders back into the kitchen, grabbing a bag of seaweed and banana chips. He salutes Raph with a little grin.
"Good with me. Say, Venus," he bids, offering her a hand up. "You ever seen Dumb and Dumber?"
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Bonus: the sketch I made to help me figure out where everyone was in this scene.
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Lie Awake
A TMNT 2012 Casey and Raph ficlet [AO3]
word count: 1,191
just a small drabble focusing on Casey and his view of their relationship. I didn't write this as a ship fic, but I do ship them so you can interpret it as platonic or romantic
Casey hates people seeing him as weak. He wears every cut, bruise and mark like a medal, a badge of honour for a hockey game well played or a fight well fought. He hates when neighbours or the school populace look at him with pity in their eyes and sympathy coating their words like sponge covering a toddlers playroom or bubble wrap suffocating a porcelain doll.
So what if he doesn't have a mom anymore? Who cares about his deadbeat dad? Casey is keeping his promise and at almost 17 is protecting and looking after his sister, the best player on a hockey team within the region and a vigilante the purple dragons will write legends about. He is strong and brave. He bounces back from anything with a witty comment and a toothy grin. Missing incisors be damned.
So why is this different? Strong, calloused, leathery hands gently graze over fragile skin. Instead of the usual burn of anger such caution would ignite, Casey Jones feels a sense of calm and his breath almost gets caught in his throat. Almost. Arms he has seen tear robots to shreds, dislocate joints from vigilantes, break monstrous jaws are now delicately tracing over his pale soft surface, well- it should be pale but the current complection is primarily a mixture of injuries, marks and dirt. Purple, blue, green, yellow, pinks, reds- any colour besides a natural skin tone coats his body like a vandalised back alley wall.
The hand stops moving and instead a comforting weight is placed across Casey's chest and torso. The weight he has seen choke and crush wrong-dooers, crack brick walls and dent spaceship walls now comfortably rests along his side like a weighted blanket, the arm across his middle.
Awareness of his current location comes back. Why's the ceiling looking blurry suddenly? Casey realises his eyes are starting to water. These can't be tears of frustration though? Maybe these are not new tears but the remnants of the storm that leaked from those eyes earlier this evening, in the privacy of these four walls as his own inner walls crumbled in Front of his current companion. No mask or face paint or armour, no facade of cokyness and happiness. His emotions are raw and his mind is still screaming at him, maybe that's why he hadn't noticed the burning eyes. These tears can't be new. Definitely not! He's happy and safe now, why would they be? He is brought from his thoughts as a hard smooth surface buts the bottom of his jaw, sending a short vibration of pain through his skull.
"'Ya sure this is alright?" A gruff voice nervously whispers.
"Yeah, 's fine" he mumbles back before finally looking down at the friend pressed against him. His own voice sounds raspy and sore. Perfect.
Raph has put his head back down on the pillow, his beak fitting like a jigsaw puzzle in the gap above Casey's shoulder. The bolt he'd felt had been from Ralph bucking his head to hit his jaw with the top curve of his beak. It hurt a little but he isn't fragile. Raph knows that. All he can feel now is that comforting weight on his side. He's focusing on it. Raph certainly wasn't scared to touch him. Why else would he hit him to gain his attention?
Soft cold breath gently brushes against Casey's neck in delicate puffs.
"I can sleep on the floor y'know?" tiredly drifts out of the terrapin creatures mouth "This bed ain't exactly made for two"
"Nah it's your room, I'm the intruder"
"Hmm" Raph lazily hums and slightly squeezes his ribs, getting comfortable in his squashed position on the edge of the bed "a warm one".
Casey sits there in silence for a bit, his friend drifting off to sleep. The overwhelming smell of sweat and blood and the sewers clogging his nose. Raphael is the only person Casey talks to about his home life, the only one he talks about his troubles too. He knows Raph instils that same comfort and confidence in him as he tells the lanky teen his own insecurities and secrets.
Tender moments like these however? They usually proceed fights. Fights they start coated in darkness or just heated spars between friends who are shouting and blowing off steam. They'd collapse with exhaustion on some random rooftop and through jagged breaths become vulnerable, no eye contact, maybe a squeeze of the hand or a punch in the side to let the other one know they're there. Kind, soft and comforting pain. Like the kind you get from laughing too hard or playing a game. It is strange to think they are now squashed and laid across each other, even if the reptile insists the body warmth was an exciting upgrade to his sleeping arrangement.
Casey was kicked out tonight after a particularly bad fight at home, he limped his way to his usual meeting spot and a few texts later Raph was on his way. He's going to be staying here with his friend, just tonight... he'll go home tomorrow. No one else in the sewer family needs to know why, Raph will come up with a lame excuse to torment him with. The thought makes him smile a little. Raph is the epitome of masculinity. Testosterone coats his existence like a second shell. He's violent and abrasive and yet here he is, not throwing punches, but still being gentle. His body weight is not entirely on top of the teen, but it is there along his right side nonetheless. He wasn't repulsed by Casey and he hadn't tried sugar coating anything all night. When he 'picked him up' he'd joked at Casey's expense and made the boy laugh. Casey wasn't too sure how Raph managed to create such a strong positive moment up on that rooftop in those circumstances. But none of the Hamato clan followed logic by nature so maybe that is not so surprising.
Casey isn't sure why this isn't affecting him the way it usually does. He feels calm and safe, even stripped down to his boxers and pressed into an old smelly matrice and cold metal wall.
Maybe it's because he keeps reminding himself that Raph doesn't see the squishy, thin human as delicate. He knows the turtle enough to know he considers Casey a great enough fighter to stand amongst his brothers, without any formal training or skill.
Maybe that's why this tender moment is nice? Raph isn't scared Casey will break, he wouldn't touch him if he thought he'd be hurt. Raph wouldn't joke with him and invite him here like this. The ninja had seen the boy break earlier, as he broke down and sobbed on the bed when they first arrived at the decorated subway car. The weight against him now is heavy, not crushing. It's grounding him.
Why is being treated tenderly so nice right now? Maybe that's the kind of privilege having a best friend creates? He doesn't remember his childhood friend creating such a welcoming environment before though.
Casey hates people seeing him as weak. Raph doesn't, even now.
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A while back my first ever post for rottmnt was about how Donnie died in the bad future so now what if I wrote about how Raph died
Some quick notes for context:
I hc Casey Jr. as trans. His given name was Arum (after the toxic flowers yes) so he’s still referred to as such during this.
I hc Raph as??? definitely not cis and Cassandra often uses she/her pronouns for Raph while Donnie often uses he/him
Added commentary in my tags if u want it uuuuu okay have fun????
Donatello could accept dying.
He’d come to terms with that ages ago, not long after they got thrown into this war. Despite all the measures he took for safety, defenses, he always kept it in the back of his mind that any number of things could kill him and that would just be that.
He couldn’t, however, accept that Cassandra and and his niece would die with him.
What a mess and a disaster. All it took was one Kraang hound following a squad to this base for the army to show up. They had an alert, at least, a heads up. Most everyone escaped.
But two year old Arum was harder to find. Donatello and Raph both stayed behind with Cassandra to find her, where she’d tucked herself away, while Leo and Mikey took care of setting up their backup base.
Donatello wouldn’t admit half his motive for staying was to, potentially, set off the self destruct sequence to put a dent in their numbers.
But so much for that. Cassandra’s leg got injured. She was against the wall behind Donatello, holding Arum in her arms.
And Donatello couldn’t move. He just stood there, staff out, his magic tech projecting a shield into the open hallway to stop the enemies from getting in. By now there were so many of them, too many. Kraang hounds, corrupted humans, and other flesh like monsters all pressed against the shield, adding to the pressure.
Donatello knew it wouldn’t hold forever. Knew if he tried to do anything else the shield would fail and they’d be overrun in seconds. How was he supposed to get them out of this?
Where was Raph? Already gone? That thought put a vice grip on his throat, almost squeezing out a sob.
Donatello wanted his big brother.
He didn’t know what to do.
The room shook. A sharp crack came from above. Donatello turned his gaze to see the concrete giving way. No no no. Were they going to bust in from there too? Donatello didn’t have time to make another shield.
Another crack. A huge slab fell from above. Dust exploded into the room but Donatello refused to drop his shield. Not yet. Not yet.
“Cass.” Raph’s voice rang out through the room. “Donnie!”
Donatello watched his big brother first run to check on his wife and daughter. His breath shook when he exhaled, so relieved to see him, but he kept his concentration on his magic as the kraang tried to put another dent in the shield.
“Cass, are you okay?” Raph spoke from behind.
“Fine. Had worse. Take Arum and get out of here.”
“You’re both getting out of here.” Raph insisted. “Donnie--”
“Take them and run.” Donatello interrupted. “I’ll keep buying you some time.”
“I’m not leaving you here either, Donnie.”
“You don’t have a choice.” He snapped. “The second I drop this shield we don’t have time to escape.”
He waited for some final words, or another argument. Instead there were some quiet whispers from Raph, probably speaking to Cassandra, then the sound of a gentle kiss.
Donatello glanced back at the shifting of rubble, seeing Raph approaching him.
“We have to get you out of here, Donnie.”
He glared at his big brother. “No you don’t. If you try then none of us are getting out. Just--”
“You have to get out of here.” Raph insisted. “Without you, your tech, the resistance is dead in the water. We need you, Donnie.”
“You will figure something else out.”
“No.” Raph hardened his tone. “There has to be a way out of this.” He glanced at the shield, at the wall of monsters just behind it. “Think you can make that thing just a bit smaller?”
“What do you mean?”
“Small enough to fit down the hall. Then I can punch it, send all of them back. At least long enough to give us a chance to run, right?”
That seemed stupid, insane. “Raph, it would insure your family’s survival far more if you just--”
“Donnie, trust me.” Raph held his shoulder. “We’ll get you out of this.”
Donatello didn’t want to listen. Why couldn’t Raph just take Cassandra and run?
“Fine.” He sighed. “Get ready.”
Raph’s ninpo already flashed around his fists, light trailing up his arms. It glowed bright, hot, like it often did these days when he wanted to increase the impact of his strikes.
Just as his big brother rushed toward the shield, Donatello let it shrink down. Pink tentacles and teeth tried to worm their way through the gaps, but a second later Raph hit the shield.
The impact sounded like an explosion. The entire thing rocketed down the hall, taking the monsters with them. The edges of it shredded some of them, smearing flesh and blood along the walls. Donatello held back the bile in his throat as he finally released his magic.
“Go help Cass up.” Raph told him, keeping an eye on the hallway where some of the creatures were already screaming as they approached once again.
Donatello rushed over to Cassandra. He hoped to see her relieved, or at least angry at this whole ordeal.
Instead she looked horrified.
“Donatello.” She shouted at him. “You idiot.”
What? What was she talking about? He followed her gaze, back over to Raph.
The devices seemed to fly toward him in slow motion. Two of his escape pods, the things he hadn’t brought with him because he’d given them to all the other people on base.
As soon as they got close enough they sprung open. Metal clicked as it shifted into place. The belts shot out, grabbing their target. One snatched Cassandra and Arum off the ground while the other aimed for Donatello.
He tried to weave out of the way, run around it toward his brother who had his back to him. But it wasn’t enough. The devices were meant to chase their target, on the off chance they got snatched by an enemy during launch.
He almost got close enough to grab Raph’s shoulder when the belts snapped around his chest. It jerked him backwards, into their.
“Raph!” He screamed. “Raph, what did you do?”
“Sorry.” Raphael finally looked at him, smiling, in spite of the onslaught of kraang reemerging from the hall. “Take care of them for me, okay D?”
“No.” Donatello screamed as the cover snapped down. He tried to pry the belt off, release the hatch, but it was too late for that. “No. Raph? Raph!”
The pod launched into the air, out of the hole Raph created earlier. Had he planned all this from the start?
Donatello kept staring at the old base, praying that Raph would somehow find another way out of it.
He could see the shock wave hit the ground before red light emerged from the ground. It twisted into the shape of his big brother, a bigger construct than he ever created before, almost glowing as bright as the sun.
It aimed a punch down, and as soon as the fist collided with the ground everything exploded.
Donatello flinched when the shock wave from that hit the escape pod. Thankfully it stayed intact, and on course. He tried to look back at the base but by now it was nothing more than a crater and a pillar of dust and flames.
“Ra... Raph...” He barely got the word out. Shock settled into his systems, rendering him silent as the base got farther and farther away.
As Raph got farther and farther away.
Donatello failed to hold back his sob this time.
He wanted his big brother.
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