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twignotstick · 2 months

Text

Broken Brothers (and How to Fix Them)

Part 2 💙 | <- Part 1 🧡

Note: This story is based on @cupcakeslushie 's Empyrean Weeping au. These characters are not my own, and this story is in no way canon to the main story. I wrote this as my love letter to the story and the characters. Especially April :)

Tags: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, ROTTMNT, Leo & April, NOT MY CHARACTERS, Empyrean Weeping AU, recovery (i have a sneaking suspicion that will apply to the whole fic,,), talking it out because we're adults, movies, comics, they're becoming friends

Warnings (if there's anything I should add here, tell me please!): Mention of violence (its one sentence, but figure I should still put it here :P)

Words: 1,588 (there's less setup this time)

Summary: April was able to figure out her first brother easily. Now, she gets three more, with a couple more issues to worry about.

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As soon as she even saw Leo for the first time, she knew he wouldn't be as easy to get along with as Mikey was. Mikey was always so open, so bright, so bouncy. Leo, in comparison, was still, dull, and closed off. He had just come from a terrible ninja clan, beaten by his own master. It was kind of warranted.

Any time April would enter the medbay where they were keeping Leo, he would silently stare a hole in her soul. His face had hardly loosened from the scowl he had adopted, and any time April would get near, it would just harden more. Even so, April kept trying to get close. Despite Raph's concerns for her physical health. (And with Mikey's encouragement, because he was happy to enable the potentially dangerous behavior.)

One afternoon, she decided to bring a ton of her Jupiter Jim comics to read. The boys needed a break from watching their somewhat-volatile-yet-severely-wounded brother, and April knew he wouldn't talk to her. So, once she settled down in her chair a few feet away from the bed where Leo was scowling, she pulled out the comic she'd left off on: Jupiter Jim Breaks Newton's Fourth Law, Volume 8.

After a few minutes of reading, April couldn't help but notice a change in Leo out of her peripheral vision. He wasn't staring at her anymore, but at her comic. This glare wasn't full of discontent and uncertainty. Instead, it was filled with emotions he was trying (and failing) to hide- curiosity and excitement.

“You read Jupiter Jim?”

Leo was surprised by the sudden question and whipped his gaze away, a slight flush coming to his cheeks. “No.”

April's journalism senses were kicking in. There was a story here. “Why not?”

“Things like that are…” Leo's posture tightened, almost as if the thing he was about to say wasn't what he believed, “useless distractions.”

“I don't think so,” April said, shifting her chair a little closer to the bed. “I think it's important to have distractions sometimes. Y'know, during finals, when you're sick, when you've got a broken arm…” Subtly, April started slipping the comic in her hands to the bed. “You can read it, if you want.”

“No. I can't.”

Leo looked surprisingly aggressive when he responded. He seemed to catch his unwarranted anger and mumbled, “I still haven't read 6 or 7.”

“Oh!” April sat up straight and grabbed her bag from the floor. “I've got the whole arc up to 9 in here, I thiiink-” Once she had fished out the comics she was looking for, she placed them on the corner of the bed by Leo's feet.

The slider stared at the comics like they'd offended him.

“...well?”

“I-I can't. I can't hold them with my arm-”

“I can hold it for you!” April said. “I can turn the pages whenever you need.”

Leo finally looked back at April with that trademark scowl he always had. “What's your game, woman?”

April smiled. “No games, just trying to make you feel comfortable in your new home.”

Leo huffed. “This isn't my home.”

“It's where your family is, isn't it? Isn't that what matters?” April asked genuinely.

Leo looked back down at the comics. His eyes softened while the rest of his expression remained, and he picked Volume 6 up with his good arm. He opened it and silently began to read.

They both sat and read for a while. April noticed Leo struggling to turn pages sometimes, but she didn't dare try to help him. She thought he might bite her hand if she did. He was still scowling at the comic as he read, but it looked less like a scowl of anger and more one of concentration.

When he got done with Volume 6, April spoke. “So, who's your favorite character?”

“...JJ, obviously.” Leo slowly reached out and grabbed the next volume.

“Seriously? That's so basic.”

Leo scoffed. “Really? Then who's your favorite character?”

“Atomic Lass, obvi,” April said, flipping her hair for emphasis.

“Atomic Lass?! Her personality is literally just ‘woman’.”

“Uh, yeah, and that's the point?! Atomic Lad is just ‘man’. Haven't you watched Jupiter Jim on the Atomic Sub-Moon?”

Leo's shoulders lowered. “...watched?”

April sprung up and put her arms on the bed, looking down at Leo in shock. “YOU'VE NEVER WATCHED A JUPITER JIM MOVIE?!”

“NO?! THEY MAKE THOSE?!”

“THAT'S IT!” April grabbed her bag from the floor and moved it over to the side of Leo's bed. “You, keep reading. I'll get one of the boys to watch you. I need to head home and get my box set. We are having a movie night. Understand?!”

“Y-yes ma'am!”

“We can start with Last Trip to the Moon 1, but then we are watching Atomic Sub-Moon, I DO NOT care if the context is lost, you'll figure it out.”

“O-okay?!”

“RAPH!”

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

“So… the real Atomic Lad and Atomic Lass are dead?!”

“Yes! And the Atomic Lad and Lass we know are-”

“People carrying on the legacy, who the Atomic people believe are still the originals?!”

“YES! That's why they never use their real names, that's why-”

“Why they act like Barbie and Ken for space…”

“Now you get it!” April leaned back into her bean bag and put her arms behind her head. The movie night had gone way better than expected. They had to set up the best pillow pile they could, since they didn't have a sofa big enough for everybody. In the end, April and Leo stayed in bean bags and watched the movies while the others went about their day. It took a minute for Leo to get into it, but once the moon buggy showed up, he was hooked. For the first time, April saw a child in Leo.

“So, have I won you over with an emotional, heart breaking backstory?” April asked slyly.

“Uh, no.”

April's eyes snapped to the slider. “WHAT?! What do you meeean?! I don't get how you like JJ more than Atomic Lass!”

“Well, he's the main character for a reason, for one.” Leo took another bite of the pizza slice he had been eating. “And second, he's the one who always gets everyone out of the bad stuff. He's the hero, and he isn't scared to sacrifice for his crew.”

“But, consider this, Atomic Lass has a giant rocket powered hammer, Leo.”

“JJ doesn't need a weapon. He's got the nerve pinch technique.”

“They never use the nerve pinch technique, though!” April whined.

“That doesn't mean he doesn't have it!”

“I never thought someone could be as dorky as April,” Raph said from where he stood a few feet away from the bean bag setup. “And yet, here we are.”

“Wh- dorky?!” Leo scoffed, looking at Raph incredulously.

“Yeah, dorky!” Mikey popped out from behind Raph's shoulder. “Y'know, nerdy? Geeky? Criiinge?”

Leo's face flushed and he curled in on himself, stammering.

“Hey, y'all are just jealous that we're bonding,” April defended. “If you gave JJ a chance, you'd like it too.”

Raph and Mikey both shut up quick. April waved them off, and they hurried out to the kitchen again, saying they were “getting more snacks”.

Now that they were alone, April looked over at Leo again. “They're stupid. Can't appreciate good media.”

“Good media?” Leo asked. “You mean B-Movies and old comics?”

“Yeah, man.” April grabbed a blanket and tossed it over at Leo, making him fumble to keep it off his face with his good arm. “It makes you feel good, doesn't it?”

Leo looked down and contemplated. “I mean… yeah. But I-”

“Shouldn't?”

Leo took a deep breath. “Yeah.”

“You don't have to worry about what you should or shouldn't do here, Leo,” April said, sitting more upright to look at Leo better. “You do what you want. What makes you feel good. That's all you should worry about when you're home. Doing what you want and feeling good.”

Leo turned away, looking at the TV, paused at the end of the credits.

“If it means anything, this really made me feel good,” April said. “It's cool to have somebody to talk about ‘nerd stuff’ with. And I'm glad you liked the movies. Atomic Sub-Moon is one of my favorites. Not as good as Pluto Vacation 4, but good.”

“There's more?” Leo asked timidly.

“Oh, there's loads more!” April grinned. “There's like a jillion Last Trip to the Moons, there's Jupiter Jim and the Overly Complicated Magic System, Jupiter Jim Squared Minus One, Jupiter Jim Breaks into Federal Prison, there's tons! We can have more movie nights, if you want.”

Leo looked at the blanket laying over him, grabbing it and rubbing it between his fingers. “I think… I think I want that.”

April pumped her fist. “Sweet! This means I've still got time to win you over to the Atomic Side.”

Leo let a single laugh escape his lips. “Yeah, not happening. Jim is the best, I don't care what you say. Even Red Fox is better than Atomic Lass.”

“AH! HOW DARE YOU?!” April stood up and looked down at Leo. “Just you wait, nonbeliever. Just wait until I show you the Atomic Lass spinoff comic. Or the Atomic Lass movies. You will change.”

“I wouldn't bet on it.”

“Oh YEAH?! I will bet on it. I'll bet on it so hard, you can call me Troy Bolton.”

Leo's eyes nervously shifted from side to side, centering back on April. “...who?”

“...YOU'VE NEVER SEEN HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL?!”

“NO?!?”

“RAPH!”

○●○●○●○

Yippee! Part 2! Part 3 is giving me more... issues... so it might take a minute to come out. But its coming! 🟪🐢

I really leaned into Leo's inner dorkiness here. I just thought him and April bonding over their obsession with an insane astronaut man was so cute. <3 (This is also why I'm so excited for the rest of Leo's arc in the actual comic! GAH!!!)

Congrats to everyone who won the first round of @tmntaucompetition voting! Very excited for the next round coming up :)

Part 3 -> 💜

#tmnt #tmnt au #rottmnt #tmnt fanfiction #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt au propaganda #tmnt separated au #separated au #tmnt leo #tmnt april #save rottmnt #unpause rottmnt #twig writes

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imagionationstation · 3 months

Note

OKAY— so like, we had scenarios of which the B-Team were raised by the Shredder, but what if it was the A-Team??

Shredder telling both Leonardo and Raphael (who now goes by Takeō and Akihitō respectively) lies about their younger littermates (Donatello and Michelangelo, whom he named as Junkō and Kōta)— telling them that their younger siblings have been ruthlessly killed by Hamato Yoshi, who had deemed them as an abomination.

In fact, Shredder wasn't even aware of the existence of the younger two; at least, not until both Takeō and Akihitō brought it up a few months after they were officially able to carry out missions and daily patrol. However, he couldn't deny that it's truly a blessing— there's a chance that they might know of Hamato Yoshi's location, and even then, Shredder can expand his army of powerful mutants.

Donatello and Michelangelo, on the other hand, aren't so thrilled about having to 2v2 their older brothers at just about everytime. There's also that the two have the tendency to play dirty. Stalking their friends and whatnot, it's driving them up the wall.

I don't know if Karai should be with the Shredder, because her rivalry with the A-Team over the younger onces is delicious.

What do you think?

I love this. No, no, wait, see my vision, look-

Takeō and Akihitō are everything that Shredder needs them to be. They took up training from the moment that their little legs could walk and they excelled past anything that he’d ever seen before, and one of Shredder’s greatest fighters happens to be blind, mind you, so he knows what greatness looks like.

He knows it has to relate to the fact that they’re mutants, but he couldn’t care less. With one student who bears a determination to please and the other with the violent fury to be molded like his own, they’re better than an entire legion of Foot soldiers. Takeō makes sure every command is followed and Akihitō leaves no enemy unpunched- what could be better?

They’re perfect. No, they’re better than perfect. They’re a miracle.

One that he never hesitates to take advantage of. If Yoshi had done one thing right in his lifetime, it was leading him to them.

And then- AND THEN-

Enter Mikey and Donnie.

The universe throws out two turtles with on obvious ignorance of surface life and an instinct to defend those that dwell on it. Leo and Raph’s world is thrown out of whack the first time that they spot them- considering Mikey is a younger-shaped replica of them with freckles. They keep an curious eye on them from a distance, but uncertain what to make of them, don’t interact.

They inquire about it to their father and (considering Saki likely stole them from Yoshi) he fabricates a story that horrifies them. They already know about Yoshi and how he killed Karai’s mother- but he tore apart their family too?

Afterward, it takes about five seconds to connect the dots on who these mutant turtles are. They go out to track down and reconnect with their brothers. *insert canon plot stuff*

When Donnie and Mikey try to save a kidnapped April, they fail pretty badly. The Saki brothers step in, stop the Kraang from taking the girl before Donnie and Mikey’s brains get blown out, but don’t really do much about them taking the dad. They don’t really care about the humans. They’re far more interested in prodding the turtles.

And, after taking April to her aunt’s, prodding absolutely happens from both sides.

The childish giddy air of the Junkō and Kōta upon finding their siblings obviously cements them as the younger siblings in the Saki brother’s minds. They don’t doubt for a moment that they are who they say they are because Splinter told them that they had two missing brothers as little kids.

Mind made up, Leo insists that they come home. Mikey insists that they have a home and Donnie admits they shouldn’t really wander off with strangers. They both vocalize that their rat dad needs to meet them first since he’s the one who lost them and he’s misses them and they don’t have to abandon their dad or anything, they just really want them to meet Splinter! (The Foot symbols on their gear mean nothing to the Hamatos and the name Splinter means nothing to the Sakis. Oopsy.)

And so they wait around for Mikey and Donnie to collect Splinter and then Splinter comes across his sons and Leo and Raph are tolerant until he introduces himself as Hamato Yoshi and then it all clicks that the man who Shredder thought killed their brothers and he had stolen them away instead and he’s the reason that they haven’t see them for fifteen years-

They don’t even give Yoshi time to explain before they’re attempting to eliminate the threat. Donnie and Mikey are insanely confused until one of the brothers lets it slip that their dad is Saki and- oh wait are they evil?!- so now there’s fighting, attempted forced reasoning and kidnapping of little brothers, but the Hamatos manage to get away.

So now Leo and Raph’s are simply DISTRAUGHT because the madman had stolen and brainwashed their little brothers so how were supposed to focus on anything else when they’re out there but actively on the wrong side of this war??

It trashes their game and suddenly his miracle team is no longer a shinning example of perfection. Once again, Yoshi has ruined something great and, instead of seething, Saki gets creative.

He fakes an understanding with what his sons are going through and expresses a wish that he knew where Yoshi was so that he could put an end to the threat. If only, they could find the lair where he was keeping their brothers prisoner, maybe then they rid the world of the rat and bring them home. Once they’re free from Yoshi’s dark influence, they could all be one happy family.

And Leo, like the helpful little leader he is, realizes that they could find the lair. Him and Raph could totally find a way to convince the brothers to take them home, or even find a way to get in without their knowledge. They were ninjas, masters of deception and lies. They could do it, Master, if only he would give them a chance?

So he does because an end to Yoshi and two new powerful warriors is more than he could hope for. Exactly what he deserves.

And the rest of the series is just Raph and Leo doing everything in their power to inch their way into their brother’s trust. They stalk them in a desperate itch to make sure they’re okay, which leads to them intercepting and assisting on a bunch of Kraang mission.

They run into each other when Donnie and Mikey try to stop the Foot from being evil, and Leo and Raph are more concerned with making sure nothing happens to their brothers that the Hamato brothers end up completing their mission more often than not.

Leo and Raph are still dedicated to the Foot but their priorities are skewed every time their brother come into play. Nine times out of ten, baby brothers take first priority. And Saki lets these mishaps happen because his sons are insistent upon gaining the Hamatos trust.

It doesn’t take Donnie and Mikey long to realize what Leo and Raph are doing, protecting-them wise. They don’t quite understand it, but they assume that even though they have been misguided and brainwashed by Shredder, they still are good people deep down. It’s incredibly annoying that they are always in the way and can’t seem to realize how what they’re doing is obviously evil, though.

Like plotting younger siblings do, they adapt to use the brother’s new apparent weakness against them, putting themselves in situations where the Saki brothers have no choice but to interviene- even if that means slicing their own bots or preventing their own missions from succeeding. And the best part is that the Saki brothers have no idea that they’re being played- they really just believe that their baby brothers are kinda bad at their jobs.

Which really doesn’t help with the whole PROTECT alarms constantly ringing in their brains.

As for Karai, I think she would still be with the Foot, but instead of a doting older sister, there would be jealousy vibes. She’d been overshadowed her entire life by these ‘perfect’ brothers and she jumps at the opportunity to impress her father when they start slipping. She could even play an antagonist role- actively trying to dissuade her father’s approval of Leo&Raph’s activities in order to get a better standing. She doesn’t want them murdered at the stake or anything, simply taken out of the favoritism role so that his actual human daughter (or so she thinks) can have a scrap of his attention.

I WAS GOING TO STOP HERE BUT YOU HAVE ME THINKING ABOUT PLOT AND SUCH NOW-

Like, Donnie would now be the eldest with the responsibilities of genius and leader, which means that he probably feels like his baby brother’s one line of defense against an entire universe. Splinter didn’t train his boys for war- but Saki did. Imagine the pressure on his shoulders to keep his family safe while actively on deadly missions with brothers who could turn on them at any second, stuck under the weight of wanting to get April reunited with her missing family.

Leo’s side of the spectrum is spent worrying that two of his brothers are under the abusive care of their kidnapper. He desperately hones the “but I can totally bring them to our side and make them see things our way!” attitude that he has for Karai during the canon series. He does everything in his power to keep the blame from falling on them when missions go wrong, fabricating stories for their father, like he’s always done to keep Raph out of trouble. He doesn’t care for the Hamato’s missions, but he cares greatly for their safety, so he makes sure they tag along at every opportunity, whether they are wanted or not. Stalking is never out of the question, even if it doesn’t take long for the Hamatos to adapt to their presence.

I CAN’T SHUT UP ABOUT THIS SUDDENLY:

So there’s this song “Our Word” from 36 questions that absolutely has the vibes from this au that has taken root in my brain and when I think of Leo being a sneaky little guy and keeping Raph out of trouble- IT FITS. Well, these specific verses anyway:

When I was a little [boy] Like really little, like eight or so I was playing in my father's study A place in the house I wasn't supposed to go

My father fancied himself a sailor His study was filled with nautical decor He kept a boat in a bottle on the top of a shelf And it shattered on the ground when I slammed the door

I told my [brother] everything I told [him] I was so, so sorry [He] told me, "Don't cry, When he comes home tonight We can make everything okay This is all we have to say"

"We don't remember a boat in a bottle It must've fallen off its shelf alone We know you loved it, we're so sad it's broken But neither one of us was even home"

And it's our word Yes, our word Against his

HOLY MOTHER OF MUTATIONS I AM DEVOURING THIS AU AND NOW I HAVE RETURNED WITH CONCEPT:

“You shouldn’t be out alone.”

Donnie lands as irritation crawls up his spine and becomes fuzzy little ambers in his brain. He has a few irrational thoughts, such as giving the nuisance a taste of throwing stars, but they’re dismissed as he pretends to check his t-phone. He can sense one entity behind him, but his partner doesn’t seem to be hovering nearby.

He turns, t-phone at his side, the cheese phone on speed-dial. He doubts the Foot ninja wants to kill him, but if this is another kidnapping attempt…

Well. Better safe than sorry.

“Apperently, I’m not. Need something?”

“You almost got caught tonight.” Takeō cocks his head, face passive. “You shouldn’t be breaking into military junkyards. There have to be safer options. There’s a place in Chinatown. Less guns.”

“Well, as soon as civilians throw out this kind of equipment,” Donnie pats the bag on his hip. “I’ll consider it.”

He frowns. “You’re taking risks.”

“Weren’t your men trying to slit my throat last week?”

“That was not my doing.”

“Oh, sure, Shredder doesn’t want to lure Splinter out of hiding and you would never kidnap me or Mikey, right?”

“I didn’t know about Bradford’s scheme until it was to late.” Takeō scans his face and Donnie denies the sincerity any thought. “You have to believe us- why else would we help you escape?”

“To earn our trust? For future blackmail? As some part of some evil Foot plot to hurt Sensei?” Donnie sneers. “I don’t care what your excuse is when you made my brother bleed.”

“I told Bradford to back off, but I can only do so much.” The tone is defensive, but his frown softens guiltily. “I can’t stop the bots from doing their programing. Maybe if my clan did not see you as a threat- if you would rethink your position-”

His grip tightens over the t-phone. “This is not a conversation that I am entertaining. Goodbye, Takeō.”

“Wait-”

He does not.

And then Takeō is across the rooftop and roughly taking hold of his arm before he can take more than two steps. The t-phone clatters, adrenaline surging as he stops dead in his tracks. His attention shoots from the weapon on the warrior’s hip and then to the blue gaze that is drilling holes into his skull.

He swallows, proud that his voice doesn’t shake. “Let go.”

Takeō tightens his hold. He steps forward, their gazes locked, face unreadable. Donnie thinks it might be an intimation tactic, but he’s not scared, per say. His gut squirms in discomfort and he feels weirdly small despite being inches taller. He expects a low warning, or some kind of dark threat to cut the air between them.

Instead, he gets a soft promise laced so heavily in passion that it might as well have been shouted across the rooftops.

“I would never hurt my brothers.”

Donnie is silent for several seconds.

“You’re hurting me right now.”

Takeō tears his hand away as though he just found out that Donnie was radioactive. Donnie rubs the area, mostly for show, in the hopes of dissuading him from trying that again.

“…I-I meant…” Donnie looks up. No hesitation crosses his face, but his words come with uncertainty. “Not like that. Never like that.”

Donnie humphs.

“Is- Is Kōta-”

“Mikey.”

Takeō stares and Donnie glares back.

The warrior relents. “How is he?”

“It was a flesh wound.” Donnie picks up the t-phone, unsure why he’s telling him anything. “He’s already back to being a hassle.”

A beat of quiet. “I suppose that means we’ll be reunited soon.”

“To kick your shells in? Yeah. Probably.” Donnie puts away his device, looking somewhere over Takeō’s shoulder to the bulky shadow who has been inching closer through the extent of their conversation.

“You know, family means more to me than biology. Shocking to hear from a scientist, I know.” He pauses for effect, considering. “A family with differences is still a family. You might be serious about this whole hurting thing when it comes to Mikey and me…” He narrows his eyes and trains the hostility on the piercing gaze. “But if I find out that you even thought about touching my father again, you can forget any chance of brotherhood. I might seem like a weak joke to you, but I promise that I can make your life a living hell.”

Donnie stares him down, grip tight over the strap of the bag filled with weaponry that he’ll use to make Metalhead truly surface worthy so nothing can harm Mikey again, and dares Takeō to challenge him.

“There’s no stronger warrior than one whose greatest virtue is their loyalty.” Takeō decides simply. “And there is nothing more that I’d expect from a brother.”

Donnie is pretty sure that’s a compliment. He’s not sure what that he to do with backing off his father, but he accepts it.

He releases the bag. “Glad we understand each other.”

He turns his back to the ninja, looking over his shoulder. “And don’t have Akihitō follow me home.”

Takeō stiffens, eyes widening. He smirks. “See you later, bro.”

With a burst of speed, he takes off.

To their credit, they don’t follow.

Donnie knows better to assume that this’ll be the last time he has eyes on his shell. But, for the first time, he thinks he won’t mind.

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