#what is he supposed to do with this super chill raph

[rhinocio]

little brother-proof

[tangledinink]

Oh my goodness, guess what? Chapter 29 of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is now up! And on a Monday, too. Gosh, just like old times. Yet another family secret is revealed from somewhere no one expected it. Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

[ prev ]

“No, no, keep watching, seriously! They’re about to do something sooo cool!”

“Leo, you say that about every stupid street magic video you make us watch,” Donnie complained, rolling his eyes. “And it’s always something stupid.”

“It’s not stupid! It’s super cool!” Leo protested, huffing loudly and glaring at his brother in offense. “I pretend to think that your dumb science stuff is cool!”

“No, you don’t!”

“Well, I could, if you didn’t say magic was stupid--”

“We can literally do actual magic!” Donnie cried, throwing his hands up. “And you’re still into this fake bullshit?”

“Yes,” Leo confirmed easily, rewinding the video slightly. “And I’m restarting so that you guys can watch properly. So there.”

Donnie groaned.

“Both of you quit fightin’,” Raph said, shifting slightly so he could look over Leo’s shoulder, seeming only mildly interested at best-- but still interested! Suck it, Donnie. Raph knew something badass when he saw it. Leo grinned, shifting slightly so he could let his brother see better.

“This is a ridiculous waste of time,” Donnie muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re gonna miss the subway home.”

“We’ll get the next one,” Leo assured, waving him off. “It’s fine, Dee. There’s another train, like, every five minutes.”

“What New York City do you live in?” Raph muttered, glancing down at him and raising a brow.

“More or less!” Leo insisted. “I just wanna finish the video, and then we’ll go! We can’t go without Mikey, anyway.”

“What do you mean without--?” Raph’s head bobbed to the left. It bobbed to the right. He did a full 360 spin. “Wha-- Where the hell did he go!? He was here a minute ago!”

“He forgot his gym bag back in the locker room,” Leo said, waving a hand dismissively. “So he ran back to get it.”

“When!?”

“When you and Donnie were arguing about the best Jupiter Jim sequel, like, five minutes ago,” Leo explained breezily, leaning into his brother’s chest as he spoke, passing his weight over for Raph to hold up for the moment. Maybe physically pinning him in place would keep his head from vibrating off his shoulders. It usually helped. “Chill. He’ll be back in a second and then we’ll get out of here. Watch the video.”

“Leo!” Raph protested. “We’re supposed to stay together! Remember!?”

“He’s not even leaving the building, Raph. There’s still a couple kids around! And he’s literally down the hall,” Leo scoffed, rolling his eyes. “He’s not five., I’m pretty sure he can handle it without us escorting him.”

“Leo--”

“If you want us to chaperone him down the hall to fetch his bag,” Donnie said, not looking up from his phone. “Then you will be the one informing him of such, dearest Raphala, because I have no intention of being the one to tell him that.”

“It’s like you like Dr. Delicate Touch,” Leo sighed, shaking his head. “Do you miss him when he’s away? Is that it? Is that why you’re like this?”

Raph sighed, scrubbing at his face with his hands.

“Fine,” he finally relented. “But if he’s not back in two minutes, Raph is going after him! And you two are comin’ with me!”

Leo smiled a tiny bit.

“Yeah, okay, deal,” he agreed easily, pressing play on the video again. “Now here, watch. This dude is about to for-real make a whole-ass building disappear!!!”

---

Agent 64’s eyes flew open.

Danger.

There was danger.

He could taste it on the back of his sandpaper tongue. Every hair on his body jumped up on end as he flew to his feet, wriggling from April’s relaxed grip, his back arching and his claws extended.

“Ow! Mayhem, chill! Watch the claws!” April hissed, startled as he suddenly woke from his nap, previously curled up and dozing in her lap, wincing at the prickle in her thigh. “What’s your deal--?”

He would maybe regret hurting her if it weren’t for his heart banging wildly in his ears. He could feel it. There was danger. Something bad was going to happen. Someone was in trouble. His tail puffed up like a bottlebrush, he whipped around wildly to face the human-- both his favorite and his charge-- biting out a frantic, chittering warning. And spirits, he had never wished so desperately up until now that humans were able to understand the nuances of his language. Because while her brows crinkled with concern, a thick fog of confusion colored her eyes glassy all the same.

“Mayhem? What’s wrong, little guy?” She pressed, her bottom lip worried between her teeth. “Are you hurt?”

Agent 64’s tail whipped with frustration, a short, stuttering growl escaping him.

There was danger. There was danger. He was sure of it-- and he didn’t have time for this.

---

The cold, dusty tile of the school hallway did a lousy job breaking April’s fall. A short yelp of shock wrenched itself from her throat as she tumbled over herself, the crackle of mystic energy still prickling at the back of her neck, as she found herself quite suddenly sprawled about the floor as opposed to curled on couch in the comfort of her living room.

“OW! Mayhem! What the hell?!” She hissed, narrowing her eyes to scowl at the yellow creature. His only response was a sharp, strangled squeak, tearing himself from her arms and to the floor.

“April?”

April resisted a groan, sitting up just enough so that she turn her head to glance over at Leo and her other two brothers, who were all giving her a rather startled look.

“Hey, guys,” she said, wincing a bit as she got to her feet, brushing herself off.

“Are you okay? What are you doing here?”

“Beat’s me!” She huffed, placing a hand on her hips. “Mayhem just started freaking out all of a sudden! I dunno what’s going on!”

“Do you think something’s wrong?” Raph asked, his brows furrowed with worry as he bent down to look at the little creature, still puffed up and pacing back and forth, chittering frantically at the group. “What’s goin’ on lil’ man?”

“He can’t be acting like this over nothing! There’s gotta be--” April broke off, his lips curving into a frown. Leo and his two brothers? That wasn’t right. “... Hey. Where’s Mikey? Shouldn’t he be with you guys?”

---

They didn’t understand what he was trying to say. The big one reached for him, but Agent 64 dodged out from under his hand, ducking away and breaking into a sprint. He just had to hope they’d be wise enough to follow him-- the only reason he didn’t simply teleport himself away. He couldn’t waste any more precious seconds trying to secure their allyship for the coming fight.

He had to be there. He had to be there now. The air reeked of it.

Danger danger danger danger.

---

His hair beads clicking along to the rhythm, Mikey bobbed his head with the beat banging about in his head, humming softly to himself and tapping his fingers against the side of his thigh. Ugh, this had to be one of Donnie’s EDM songs, didn’t it? He couldn’t remember any of the lyrics or anything-- just the thick, heavy beat. It colored his steps as he wandered down the dimly lit hallway, shouldering open the locker room door and sighing softly to himself. Gosh, he had had this song stuck in his head all day long, but he still couldn’t figure out the name of it or where it was from… It was starting to drive him just a tiny bit insane. Maybe he could get Leo to help him figure it out on the way home-- he was really good at this game.

It was probably one of Donnie’s songs. He had probably picked it up from Donnie. He was sure Donnie would know the answer if he asked-- Donnie always knew the answer to pretty much everything.

But if he asked Donnie, it wouldn’t be a game. Nah. It’d be way more fun to ask Leo. As soon as I get back, he thought to himself, swinging open his locker door.

As predicted, his gym bag was still here, hung up on its hook all neat as if it was meant to be there and hadn’t been left behind. Thank god. If it wasn’t here, then it’d for real be lost and it’d be a whole thing. That’s how you know the Adderall is wearing off, he thought dimly to himself.

His backpack retrieved, he slung the bag over his shoulder, kicking the locker shut and turning to start the trek back to his brothers. His legs weren’t especially long, but he still made every effort to stretch them out with each step, picking up a jaunty pace so as not to keep the rest of them waiting.

The song still played in his head, and Mikey mumbled along to the wordless melody under his breath, fidgeting with the straps of his bag. The longer he thought about it, the more sure he was that it was something from one of Dee’s playlists. It had to be, right?... This was exactly the type of thing he always listened to… Sharp and stormy and loud. Thudding and all-encompassing. The rhythm wasn’t quite as fast as you might expect from the genre-- it sort of drew itself out.

Made you wait for it.

And then eventually, the pace started to pick up.

Each synthesized thump came quicker.

And louder.

Closer together.

Building up, bigger and bigger.

Tickling the back of your neck.

Breathing down your spine.

Thundering onward.

The anticipation would almost swallow you whole.

Until finally the beat dropped.

---

A tiny smile turned the corners of Draxum’s lips crooked.

It was almost amusing-- how careless they were. He wondered how safe they must think themselves to traipse the city openly like this. As if he wouldn’t be perfectly capable of hunting them down. As if he wasn’t patient enough to wait until one of them was alone.

All he would need was a simple capture charm.

From up above in the rafters, he watched the smallest of his experiments. He was still cloaked in their silly human form. Relaxed. Oblivious.

Perfectly easy prey.

After this, he could simply pick the rest of them off.

The second his target walked within range of him, he lashed an arm forward. Magenta light leapt outward from his palm and pounced.

---

He didn’t see the figure in the rafters.

He didn’t hear the pound of footsteps in the distance.

He didn’t even see the flash of light.

But he felt the whisper of magick.

---

Raph didn’t know why Mayhem was freaking out, but he didn’t have to. Because all of a sudden, every single one of his big brother senses and alarms were flipping out. And he felt this awful, gnawing weight of dread in his stomach.

He didn’t bother to wait and check with the rest of his family, to see if they felt the same thing or if they intended to follow. Once Mayhem took off running and that dread took hold-- he did, too.

He could hear other footsteps behind him. Usually, Leo and Donnie were both capable of moving significantly faster than him. But not right now. Raph wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he had a head start or just that he knew Mikey was in trouble. But his throat was tight with the very beginnings of panic. All his muscles were lit up with searing red heat. He was moving as fast as he possibly could. Maybe faster than that, even. And no one was overtaking him.

He needed to know where Mikey was right now.

Despite the dead-sprint, it felt like it took ages for him to reach the locker room. He didn’t even stop to open the door so much as he slammed into it, shifting his body just enough to let his shoulder take the impact, the barrier crashing out of the way, crumpling beneath him, just the way he knew it would--

“Mikey!”

His eyes caught sight of Baron Draxum’s crouched form right away-- curled up in the rafters like a fucking jaguar in the canopy. This dark, sickly pink coil of mystic energy reaching from his extended hand and reaching out towards his little brother’s back like a bullet.

Raph’s heart stopped in his chest.

For just a second, the rest of the world froze, too.

The rest of the world… except for Mikey.

His back was still to Draxum.

But his heels were already in a pivot.

His head hadn’t even turned fully yet. But already, his hand flew up behind him, palm stretched out wide and elbows locked. The very beginnings of a fiery golden light sparked to life around him like a halo. His entire body jerked hard and braced--

And he caught Draxum’s magic in his palm.

Without even looking, he stopped the spell dead in its tracks with one raised hand, curling his fingers around it with this sharp, awful hissing sound, sizzling and popping like a forest fire. Like something burning.

He tightened his grip and the magick shattered like glass beneath his fingers.

And then Michelangelo turned around to face Draxum fully, his head tilted back so that he could meet his eyes.

---

“Mikey! Come look!”

Mikey’s head bobbed at his big brother’s frantic cry, immediately heading over in his direction.

“What is it?”

“A baby bird!” Raph exclaimed, kneeling down, and sure enough, when Mikey leaned over he saw the little creature-- tucked up behind a dumper in their alley, their feathers all poofed up and fluffy.

“Whoa!” Mikey gasped, crouching down as well so he could get a better look. The little bird seemed to shiver, but didn’t try to get away-- just stared at them with its big black eyes. It was kind of scraggly and funny looking, with this big round yellow beak and fuzzy feathers. “He looks so funny…”

“We gotta help him!” Raph whimpered, his bottom lip trembling. “He’s all by himself! He musta fallen or gotten lost or somethin’!”

Mikey paused, tilting his head slightly to the side.

“You think?...”

“Well, a cat might get ‘im or somethin’!” Raph cried. “I’ll go get a shoebox, and we can bring him inside! You watch him, okay?”

And Mikey considered this for a moment, glancing from his big brother to the baby bird, his nose wrinkled up slightly.

… If he fell out of his nest, then why didn’t he feel afraid?

Mikey couldn’t quite place it, but it just… didn’t seem like the bird was that upset or scared. If Mikey fell out of his nest and couldn’t fly anywhere and was lost and all alone, he was pretty sure he’d get scared and upset, at least, eventually. But this little guy didn’t feel that way at all. Mikey could just tell.

Maybe a little… frustrated. But determined. Excited, almost.

Mikey could feel it.

“No,” he finally said. “I think he’s okay.”

Raph frowned a bit, looking down at his brother incredulously. “But he’s just a baby!”

“Yeah, but he’s not scared!” Mikey argued, pointing.

Raph tilted his head to the side.

“How do you know?” He argued.

Mikey wrinkled his nose, considering this for a second before he shrugged.

“I ‘unno!” He finally declared. “I just do! You don’t?”

“... No,” Raph said, perhaps pouting a bit. “He’s a bird.”

“Well,” Mikey argued, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think he’s okay! I don’t think we should take him inside. I don’t think he’d like it. I think maybe we’d be, like… stealing him.”

“We can’t just leave him!” Raph protested, and Mikey paused, considering this, his lips curved into a pout.

“... Can we watch him for a little bit first, and see what happens?” He suggested after some thinking. “So then we know no cats will get ‘im or anything.”

Raph sighed. “... Yeah. Okay,” he finally agreed. “But if he’s still there in thirty minutes, then we should bring him inside. Okay?”

“Okay,” Mikey agreed.

---

They were golden-- so very much so that they were nearly white, as if superheated by the sun itself. They were built from nothing, it seemed, save for light and energy itself, but playing a melody of clinks and clatters regardless, filling the air with the sound of metal-on-metal.

The chains that materialized from his baby brother’s body.

They moved almost too fast to see, curling like snakes, twisting and shifting at Mikey’s command. With a forward thrust of his arm, leg sweeping around and his hands clenched into a fist, they obeyed him instantly, echoing his movements and flashing forward-- screaming-- howling towards their target.

Draxum just barely had the time to leap out of the way, flinging himself to the side and correcting his trajectory as he fell, frantically dodging the onslaught, and Mikey chased him. The chains twisted midair to follow the yokai, forcing him to dance and dodge backwards, hardly able to even conjure the occasional counterspell or strike in between running.

Running from Mikey.

It was all happening too fast for Raph to follow properly, but he realized, distantly, that Mikey’s eyes were glowing, light pouring from them and streaking down his face in globs of color. Like he was crying. Like he has tears made of honey.

Draxum lashed out with another spell, trying to find ground, and Mikey’s chains screamed out to meet them, shattering it midair. For just a second, Draxum gaped, his eyes wide as he watched. And in that tiny moment of hesitation, Mikey pounced.

He leapt forward like a beast on prey, his palm outstretched, reaching for Draxum, to touch, to grab--

At the very last second, the yokai yanked himself back.

In an instant, a bubbling black light enveloped him like a shadow and he blinked away-- as though he had never been there in the first place. Mikey stumbled slightly, lurching in the empty space left behind, his body jerking slightly at the sudden halt.

He faltered, wavering for a second, rocking on his feet. He blinked slowly, staring at the space where his opponent had once been as his shoulders slumped. In the silence and the still, ragged pants clattered through his chest. Raph swore he could hear them echo.

He blinked, swallowed, and finally found his tongue again.

“... Mikey?”

---

Raph gasped softly as he watched the little bird they had been watching leap up with a flap and flutter of its wings.

“It’s trying to--”

And it took him a few tries. But after a few false starts, the tiny creature took to the air. And in nearly a moment, it was gone, swooping away from the alley and out of sight.

“Whoa!” Raph gasped, his eyes widening. “Did you see that? That was so cool! He could fly all along!”

Mikey glanced back at his older brother and grinned brightly. “Yeah!!!”

He could tell. He could tell that that bird had been so happy to make it into the air and start to fly.

He could tell Raph was happy, too.

---

The halo that was surrounding their baby brother faded. The tears fizzled and dried up, the glow leaking from his eyes faded away with a flicker. And for a second, Mikey stood in one spot, staring off at nothing, his face flushed and his shoulders heaving with deep, shuddering breaths.

After a second, he coughed-- once, and then twice, hunching over slightly at the force of it. And he spat something shimmering and gold out onto the floor.

And then Raphael watched in horror as his eyes rolled back into his head, his knees going out from beneath him.

[ophelliate]

okay so, my actual thoughts on the movie (i'll be mentioning massive spoilers at random so be warned)

i appreciate that the movie really put focus on all four boys as a collective instead of focusing on a select character, though it did feel like we only got a lick of them individually (though i'm sure that the show will make up for that)

the fight scenes???? bro i was grinning ear to ear every time the team was in action

the music was also super pleasant and gave in to the urban nightlife completely

i feel so dumb/unlucky that i had the chance to watch ferris bueller's day off yesterday and just decided not to, so to see it in the movie felt like my own personal slap in the face

actually the amount of references in the movie was about as much as i expected and a lot more at the same time, but it still felt fairly natural

attack on titan being the source of the boys' plan for the final fight is wild though, and its nice to see donnie's input be taken seriously in that regard

donnie's interesting now thinking about it, since i don't think there's any instance where he's considered a tech genius, he really is just a fandom kid and a lot of his ideas/skillsets are based around the content he consumes (the tism is strong here when i'm describing it)

also i know the boys were taught their ninja skills via home-video instructions, but how much do they actually know about their weapons??? donnie and the rest of them literally refer to his bo staff as a stick and not anything else

that might also explain why raph's sais are seemingly sharp, because none of them know that's even a defense weapon and is supposed to be dull

actually wait how did they even get their weapons?? why were there ninja weapons just chilling in the sewers– oh this could be a lore thing. ohoho this is a secret lore thing

oh yeah the milking joke was 100% seth rogan's idea i will not believe anything otherwise like what the fuck was that

i also need to know how the mutants age. odd question i know but they were all fetuses in tubes at the start of the movie and were raised by superfly for fifteen years, but they all seem to be different ages? it could be from their animal years but the turtles age like humans so wouldn't it be something similar? i'm definitely overthinking this but would love some input

speaking of the villains tho– the final fight?? where THE BOYS' SHELLS GOT CRUSHED??? i audibly gasped in the theaters how the hell did they walk that off

i just know fics are gonna be touching on that because the entire sequence was insane they'reonly14yearoldninjaturtles–

let them have physical therapy i beg, their bones are so fucked

i also need to rewatched this movie specifically because there was a background character with a skull t-shirt and my delusions are telling me it might be casey jones

overall i'm shaking

[bay-did-nothing-wrong]

Tell All (Donatello x Reader)

Synopsis: Don and the Reader had been hiding their relationship from his family but they decide its finally time to come clean.

Genre: Fluff mostly, some crack, literally one sex pun

Word count: 1946

Soft.

So soft.

Wasn't his skin supposed to be rougher all together? How were his lips so soft and smooth then? Just another mystery.

Your mouths split with a tiny wet sound, but neither of you was in a rush to go anywhere.

But you should have been.

"Dinner's ready!" came Mikey's energetic shout from somewhere withing the lair. Probably the kitchen.

A soft longing sigh left your lips, and you felt a warm current of air hit your face - Don felt the same.

"We should go." you state, convincing yourself as much as him.

"Do we have to?" he whined breathlessly.

Yes, yes, you did. And he knew that. You both did. Otherwise his brothers and his very observant father will notice you're acting suspicious. They'll probably figure out he wasn't just helping you study for that AP Statistics exam. That is, if they hadn't already.

Your hands slid down his shoulders in an attempt to separate you two but instead they fell onto the top of his plastron, thumbs running softly over the last uncovered skin there, where you knew he was sensitive.

"Hmmm..." it came out as a low growl and it surrounded you on all sides. "You're not helping."

"Am I ever?"

"DONNIE! (Y/N)! DINNER!" at least Mikey stuck to the strict "No entering during study-sessions" rules. That's good to know that he can be intimidated into compliance. Or blackmailed... Point is, it worked.

Donnie's head falls in defeat, forehead leaning on yours for support.

So glad he took those goggles off. You can see more of him this way.

He sighed again, defeated - he was too smart to not figure out that at some point your behavior will raise suspicion. His head lifted back, and turned to the door.

"Coming!"

And your cheeky ass giggled at that.

"Oh, Donnie." you teased, "I haven't even started."

"Pfft. " chuckle, and a snort.

He really did like your dirty puns.

The man took your hand into his cool giant one, somehow providing comfort like no other, as he pulled you to the lab entrance. But once at the door you had to split. It's part of the arrangement.

His family shouldn't know about you.

You two decided at the early stage of your budding romance that keeping the whole thing on the down-low for a while was the smartest choice. It would prevent his brother's jealousy, it won't incite any fights, it won't change their relationship with you and you'll get to feel things out at your own pace - no pressure or prying eyes.

Just you.

But there was a list of downsides too. For one, neither of you was a great actor, Don was even shit at lying, so you'd had to take extra steps to remain as friendly-looking as possible. Then there was the trying-to-set-you-up-with-Vern thing that April was doing and every time the topic came up you could act regular-disgusted but not in-a-happy-relationship disgusted, and so would your favourite turtle. And then there was the hiding, coveting each other in the lab or in small stolen moments in the lair, and the lying about going topside to do recon or install something somewhere, the covering up - no, of course Donnie wasn't with you at your place, he must have gone somewhere else.

You were quite honestly sick of it. You were ready to tell his brothers. You were ready to tell the world.

"We should tell them." his voice was once again low, quiet as if to preserve the last few moments of the secret to yourselves.

Once again you were entirely in sync despite being vastly different.

He was a genius, you, decidedly, weren't.

He was really into sports, you weren't.

He was a 6'8 ninja turtle raised underground by a rat dad, and you obviously were not.

And yet somehow, you clicked.

"I agree."

At that point you knew that your approval would kick into gear the most destructive process in Donnie's mind - overthinking.

Your hand immediately darted out and grabbed one of his pulling it up to your lips and kissing the knuckles in reassurance.

"We'll figure it out."

But still, you had to split. Even if you did plan to tell them, there would be a time and a place for that.

"What took you so long? The lasagna got cold." Mikey was positively outraged - as much as he could be - by your lack of interest in his usually excellent cooking.

"Sorry, Mikey." you butted in, trying to save the day, "There's just something about Inferential Statistical Analysis that I can't wrap my head around." Bullshit, you knew exactly what it was and how it worked - it's part of the basics but he didn't need to know that.

"Still smells great though!" Don sounds cheerful enough even though you'd just agreed to break the fragile peace in your relationship just a minute prior. He was getting really good at the lying part. Too bad it won't be needed for much longer.

Dinner was as uneventful as it can be around five mutant ninjas. Master Splinter asked about your day, you told him about the nearing finals season and he offered some comforting words after which the conversation bounced around the rest of the family in a natural progression.

Once you were full, and once all of Mikey's delicious food had been virtually inhaled by the four giant men around you, you got up to get the dishes to the kitchen and help clean up. It was only fair, after all.

Apparently it was Ralph's turn to wash dishes and there was no wiggling out of that because Splinter said so. Well, at least you can dry them.

And dry them you did, meanwhile casual conversation about whatever kept flowing and you figured you won't be able to go back to the lab and do some more 'Statistics'.

You were just drying and putting away the last plate when a thiqq arm stretched over your head to reach a cupboard you couldn't even get to in your dreams.

Your head whipped back, eyes landing straight on some hard looking chest plates under a pair of suspenders. And then you looked up and saw Donatello, the cheeky shit, with a pop tart in his mouth and a shit-eating grin around it.

"Oops, sorry, (Y/N), didn't see you there."

Oh, I'll give you Oops, didn't see me, my ass. You'll see.

He was being unusually open about his closeness to you and that was less then an hour after you'd decided to come clean.

He was ready then.

"I was planning on checking out the meatpacking District tomorrow." Leo was going on about that idea he had to check out some building or another, Mikey was wiping down the table, and Raph was finishing up the dishes, and for once Don was just there chilling.

His treat was gone, meaning he ate it all, he seemed relaxed, his shoulders loose and shell leaning on the wall.

No time like the present.

"You guys, I'm gonna head out. I've got work tomorrow and after that I've got a study group to attend so, I should head to bed."

"You need us to walk you home?" Leo asked more out of courtesy, he knew you lived close and would usually decline.

"No, no, that's okay." you replied, looking for your bag and jacket where you'd left them near the kitchen table.

"Aaaw, you're leaving already? Well, at least you ate." Mikey quickly swept you into a hug goodbye and turned back to sorting his ingredients in the cupboards.

"Thanks to you, Mikey Steward." to which he giggled in response.

"See you tomorrow, shorty." Raph waved as he turned to get a beer from the fridge.

"Stay safe out there, okay?" Leo always the guardian, warned you for the hundredth time, again just out of courtesy.

And then you walked to where Don was leaning on the wall, took his chin in your hand and pulled him down.

Oh, shit, am I actually gonna do this!?

Your lips met, your heart pounded, the room became super hot and that wasn't just because of the brilliant piece of man-candy in your hands. You could feel their eyes but then again that was the whole point.

A loud dramatic intake of air was heard, a drop of something metallic and then silence.

Your face pulled away from him, eyes opening slightly to look at him, as your weight fell back onto your heels from standing on your tiptoes. His face had that same dazed, satisfied-yet-hungry look that he usually had whenever you'd had to break apart.

He tasted so sweet, you just had to lick your lips at the memory.

"I'll see you tomorrow." you whispered, that was all you could force out in that moment.

"See you tomorrow." his voice was as soft as yours even though his brothers could probably hear.

You fully pulled away from your man, now certain that there'd be no secrets between you and the ninja clan.

You were not an actor, you quickly got embarrassed with your performance, however brilliant it may have been, and speedily scammed to pick up your belongings and jogged outta there.

You turned one last time, because something in you said you should and what you saw was truly a sight.

All three of Don's bothers with their mouths hanging open and Splinter peeking out of the door to the dojo with his eyes like saucers and then there's Donnie - the image of peace, hands in his pockets, a soft smile on his lips, now shiny from your lip gloss, and looking you straight in the eye as you retreated.

"Bye." you shout to no one in particular and scramble for the exit.

-_-_-_-_-

Phone - charging

Alarm - set

Pajamas - on

What's missing then?

Ding!

Your phone notified you that someone was requesting your attention and you were more than happy to find out it was your man.

'Hey, Laika' Oh lord it so got you giggling like a schoolgirl when he called you that.

'Hey, Tyson' and then he told you that he loved to be compared with the biggest name in astrophysics today.

'How did it go?' you felt super bad for bailing on him but at the same time there was this relief that came with the cat being out of the bag.

'Surprisingly well. No one was mad that we kept it a secret.' well, that's good. You won't have to jeopardize your relationship with the boys. 'Dad still wants to talk to you tho'

Ah, well, that's to be expected. Even though Donnie is an adult, the were still a very tightly knit family unit so, you supposed that something like that would be a pretty big deal.

'That's fine, I'd do whatever'

'I wish I could kiss you rn'

It honestly shocked you how chill about it he was. Probably because he wasn't being grilled for information anymore, neither of you would have to lie anymore, and because he could now tell Vern to fuck right off, with no worry about how it would look.

You were so looking forward to being solely and entirely his.

'Tomorrow we start anew'

He had a point, things would change. But hopefully not between you.

'Can't wait to meet you for the first time again lol' you didn't know if you were being funny or just cheesy but it felt right.

Despite your smile, your eyes started drooping, your breaths slowing and you felt the exhaustion of the day slowly hug you like a blanket.

'Goodnight'

'Goodnight, (Y/N)'

[well-its-not-human-anymore]

Amazing, ok so, how would the guys react to a super cuddly friend, but like they're really scared of crossing boundaries so they never really touched or anything, but as soon as they get the green light from the boys they're like. Always somehow touching them, like arm around the waist, legs on their lap during movie night, hugs from behind whenever they can etc

I was so hyped to write this because I'm definitely a touchy feely type of person but I've also just recently been like "boundaries you fucking walnut" so this is right up my alley.

TMNT Headcanons

The boys reacting to a super cuddly reader:

Michaelangelo

Alright let's be honest here

Mikey is the most intimate dude ever

He has no problems with physical contact as long as you're chill with it

Which you are, you'll take a hug wherever you can get one

The two of you have had your own handshake since the second week of you knowing him

His family however, is unaware of this

Obviously they know April is cool with touching them, she doesn't care

But they had no idea how you were about it

That was until you stayed for dinner

You'd basically fought Leo to let you help clean up

They knew you and Mikey were close

When you couldn't reach the shelf that the plate you were holding was supposed to go on they did not expect you to handle it the way you did

"Oi Mikey can I get a lift over here?"

The orange turtle didn't even look at you, backing up just enough and putting his hand out for you

You placed your foot firmly in his hand and climbed fluidly onto his shoulders, settling on the ridge of his shell and sliding the dish into it's proper place

"can you get this one too angelcakes?"

Mikey passed a cup into your hands and you proceeded to set it on the neighboring shelf, still perfectly balanced on your living perch

His brothers didn't know what they were expecting from the two of you but it definitely wasn't that

Leonardo

Watching Leo train was enough to make you tired

You weren't even doing anything, just watching

But once he'd finished his training and sat down to meditate you got up and padded over to him

"hey, do you mind if I sit behind you and use your back as a pillow while you do that? I'm tired as shit but I don't wanna crash on the couch right now, Raph almost crushed my head last time."

This smug fucker had the audacity to laugh at you

"be my guest. Just don't move too much"

Que the excited brain, you dropped to the ground and backed up to him as he settled

Your head made a resolute thunk against his shell and within minutes you were passed out

Leo was thankful that you didn't snore

This became your routine, so much so that he found it hard to meditate when you weren't there

He missed the familiar weight on his back

He'd approached you on the couch one evening, you were mid-argument with Mikey over some sort of movie theory and didn't even notice him standing there

"y/n?"

Your head snapped around to look at him

"yeahhhh? Did I do something?"

"no, I was going to meditate. Are you coming?"

You bounced to your feet, knocking Mikey in the shoulder before wandering towards the other room

"you win for now Mikey, I gotta go be Leo's human paperweight"

"you're not my- you know what close enough."

Raphael

No no no listen listen

This man is touch starved

AND I MEAN TOUCH STARVED

If you so much as roll for affection and get a +3 he dissolves

But he's also pretty sure you'd hate touching him or any of his brothers so asking for a hug is out of the question

If you want to touch him you'll initiate, right?

In-fucking-correct

Then at some point mid session you managed to land a solid ass punch right to his mouth

He crumbled on impact, grasping his own face in shock

Coincidentally you were also grasping his face in an attempt to see his split lip

"holy shit dude are you okay? I didn't chip any teeth did i? Wow okay that's bleeding pretty badly- one sec, don't move!"

Your hands left his cheeks and you scrambled to your feet, sprinting out of the room in search of a first aid kit

Raph looked up when you returned seconds later, the small tin box in hand, and kneeled at his side

"okay you might want to ice that but I'd definitely get a second opinion from donnie"

He was still staring when you handed him a gauze pad for his lip

"I'm really sorry Raph, I didn't mean to rock your shit like that"

The brain™ is recalibrating

Systems coming back online

He used one arm to pull you into a hug

"nah I'm good, it's just a split lip, barely even hurts- AH SHIT!"

you busted out laughing, tumbling out of his hug and covering your own mouth to contain your giggles

"I'll go get that ice for ya then?"

"yeah yeah shut up"

Donatello

Donnie didn't like to showcase that fact that he hated losing

He literally couldn't with the family he had, everything was a damn competition

And this happened to be a literal one

You, raph, Mikey, and he had been playing COD for hours now

You lost feeling in your thumbs about ten minutes ago

You and Donnie had lost every match since you'd split into teams and you were both getting sick of it

Donnie because he was a fucking genius, why couldn't he win this game?

You because you needed to pee like fifteen minutes ago and you weren't allowed to get up until the final match was over

"get your head in the game Donnie"

"oh wow thanks for the advice y/n, let me pull it out of my ass for you"

You wacked his shoulder with a scowl, settling your elbows on your knees and leaning into the controller

Mikey and Raph looked way too smug right now, like they knew that they were going to win

Neither of you would live with that

When it came down to the last 7 seconds you managed to snipe Mikey, making raph, who'd been shot out a minute prior, yell in outrage

Having been declared the victor you both triumphantly threw your controllers down on the couch

He went for a high five

You went for a hug

You both paused

He shrugged at you, earning an excited grin and you let him tackle you with a hug

Your airways were very constricted but at this point you didn't care one bit

"hey don?"

"yeah?"

"you can put your head back in your ass now."

Just as a general rule of thumb, whichever turtle I put last is usually the one I have the hardest time coming up with things for. So if you notice that the last ones always seem to be lacking that's why. Brain be sucking on the remainders of my creative juice.

Hope you liked this tho! I enjoyed doing it! Stay hydrated 😉

-Mars 🌠

[mythicalninjas]

From anon's request: Hey it’s the Anon from last time! I loved the HC’S they were amazing! I have another prompt: the boys with a super nice S/O who just fucking snaps one day (and surprisingly It’s really hot) bonus If S/O’s anger dies down and they pretend like it never happened and If anyone wants to bring it up they’ll have to deal with her new and improved sparring regimen.

Leo and Raph's part is here

Donnie:

You barely see Donnie in a "red code" mood.

Actually, you don't remember when was the last time that you saw him that way

Well, not in a hard anger mode...

And you have no idea how you would deal with an anger Donnie

But, now, who is anger is you

Anger with an stupid thing

(Or not)

With anger driving you crazy, you arrived in the lair like a soldier walking, hitting your feet quickly while walks to his Battle Tartaruga Brothers truck. The only place that you could have a moment of peace and chill you out

You sit down on a mini couch and placed your head on both of your hands, trying to do that breathe exercise that Splinter taught you to calm down

You got even more anger when you noticed it didn't worked

"Damn!" You whispered, disappointed that your anger didn't desapeared

"Dove?" He called from driver's

You jumped

"WTF?! Wasn't he supposed to be in the lab?!" You thought

"What are you doing here?!"

"I must ask the same" he said as he looks behind towards you

"Are you okay?"

You just closed your eyes and take a few deep breaths to not explode, making your chest rise up and fall back. Slowly

And it made your boyfriend goes crazy

By hotness!

The truck shakes a little when your boyfriend gets off from it. You could hear his steps moving around the great machine and stopping in front of the opened door behind

He just stands there staring at you. His facial expression clearly showing surprise and shock at same time with your sudden change behaving

"What happened?" He simply asked

"Nothing."

"Dove..."

"I said nothing happened!" You shoot

"Dove, dove, dove..."

You glanced at him

He knew that you aren't in good mood but he has something "magic" to change this not-welcomed behaving

He bowed his kept in this position

What is he doing? And why is he looking to the ground?

You kept in silence while he climbs into the truck with his head bowed like that, without even lifting it to look to where he is going

Then he stopped in front of you

And kneeled

"What are you doing?"

Even he kneeled, he's higher than you

So slowly Donnie started to look up at you

And make eye contact with you

You have to admit that you're getting scared by his act

It's so... creapy

"Donnie" you called

He just stares at you

"Donnie, I'm not kidding"

He continued staring at you and then whispered "Neither me."

You eyes went wide

You yelled when he threw you on your back on the mini couch and fill you with tinkles. Too many tinkles

A tickles attack!

That smirk on his face

"Stop! St-op! I-"

"What? Can you resist my tickles?"

The anger started to wash away when your laughs filled the truck

"Je- HAHAHA- stop- HAHA"

"Perfect. That is what I like" he smiled, moving his hands away and placing them on your hips

You got to a conclusion that your boyfriend for sure has magic for everything

"Sorry *deep breath* about the *deep breath* way I acted, love *deep breath*

He shook his head "It's okay, dove. I just don't like see you down like that. What happened?" he strokes you hips

"I..." you took another deep breath "I argued with my father before I prepare myself to come here. I got so angry-"

"Ssshhh" he murmued, putting his big green finger above your lips "I know you're going through a not good time but let me make you feel better again"

You couldn't help but smile "I'd love it love..."

Mikey:

"No!"

"angelcakes, tell me!"

"No!"

"Tell me what happened! I wanna help you!"

"Mikey, not now, please!"

"Aw man!" he groaned

You used to be an angelcakes for him but... you're full of anger today

Like Raph

Why?

He grabs your shoulders and shakes you "I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened, sweet cheeks!"

Your anger grew up even more and you tried so hard to not throw it above your poor and cute boyfriend

"Mikey, enough! Can't you see that I'm not good today?!" you shoot

Mikey releases your shoulders and takes a step back. You never ever treated him like that—never ever since you both met each other

Well, let's guess that this baby terrapin is already get used by these kind of behaving, mainly coming from Raph

But he wasn't expecting it from you

You walked away slowly, head bowed

He doesn't like seeing you that way, so... Mikey to the rescue!

He thought for a moment about his plan

The "Making Y/N happy" plan

"So..."

You rolled your eyes

He remembered of something precious, something gold in the fridge. Something you love with all of your heart

He lets out an evil chuckle and walked towards the kitchen

Your eyes lift and followed his moviment through the lair

You asked to yourself what he was doing.

"Nah, just Mikey things" you thought

He opened the fridge and buried his head into it, looking for the "golden" sweet

You lift an eyebrow

"Ha!"

You jumped a little

He closed the fridge and looked back at you smirking

"I've got something that will bring my angelcakes back" he laughed as that villains or crazy scientists from cartoons

You shook your head and rolled your eyes

Mikey being Mikey

"Come on, sweetheart. Try to find out what I've got here"

"Mikey..."

"Come on"

"Mikey."

"It is a thing you LOVE"

"Mikey, please. My patience is almost exploding today"

"Oh, really?" He tilted his head, grinning "close your eyes, my angel"

You let out a sigh "Mikey, I'm-", "Close your eyes". Sighing heavily you finally closed your eyes.

You felt the sofa beside you sink and a hand landing on your shoulder "Open your mouth"

You sigh again and opened

Less then a second you feel a sweet testing, a familiar see sweet testing

A delicious sweet testing

Chocolate

You let out a soft moan

"I knew it" he grinned

"You always surprise me, Mikey..." you said while you are eating the choco

"Thank you!" he pulls you closer and whispered "buuuuut there's more something I've got here"

You glanced at him "What?"

He placed his hand behind your head and pulls you for a kiss. And this time you accepted, surrending yourself.

After a moment he pulled away

"FINALLY I made you happy! My plan worked!"

"Wait, your plan?" You smiled. "Yeah. My plans never goes wrong"

You love this boy so much!

He got into a conclusion that little things can make big changes

[beitingz]

Headcanon: TMNT x younger! Reader

This is platonic, do not worry lol!! thank you for the asks/requests!! i have looked at all of them and have them “queued” to write in my notes

❤️ This is something I started working on beforehand. I didn’t really bother with capitalization and whatnot with this piece, so this isn’t really my writing style. Let me know if you want another part to this or a specific headcanon for a younger! reader :)

———

-you followed Mikey into the sewers when you saw him kicking trash on the roof of your apartment building

-you were caught because... well, he’s a ninja. he isn’t THAT careless...

-he brought you back home since taking you home would be a super stupid idea, plus he just knew Leonardo was going to kill him!

-he tells his brothers immediately when he gets home....... maybe not immediately..... he has to butter them up first so they don’t hit him

-Raph still slaps the back of his neck

-you wake up to Mikey poking your cheek and see that three other turtles have joined him

-Leo is the scariest, Raph’s Batman voice intimidates you, Donnie is just... kinda there, co-signing, and Mikey tries to get Leo and Raph to chill because they’re scaring you

-you swear not to tell anyone about them and Donnie takes your phone to make sure you have no videos or anything of them and they disappear

-after school you tracked your phone with your old phone after heading back into the sewers

-Turtles were not pleased

-the story is long, but they agreed that you could keep coming down to see them as long as you never told anyone about them and called/texted before coming.... and you weren’t being annoying

-you don’t know what happened to your phone tbh but donnie gave you some sort of modified track phone to use instead while he made you a t-phone

-you texted Mikey mostly. he was really cool and felt like an older brother to you. he always made you laugh

-Donnie rarely replied, so you would have to call him..... not much to talk about at first

-Leo left you on read a lot

-Raph tries to make sense of your text messages... NY colloquialism is interesting sometimes and you tend to miss out when you live in the sewers

-Mikey is the one to escort you to the lair the first (technically second) time

-you bring candy from a corner store for him and his brothers hoping they’d start to be more welcoming

-Donnie has a bit of a sweet-tooth and accepts the peace offering

-Raph and Leo pass on that

-Mikey happily takes their portion

-they soon warm up to you and begin randomly checking up on you and inviting you over

-you eventually meet April

-she’s really nice and always tries to form some sort of close relationship with you. she’s like an older sister

-have a gaming console? bring it with you and introduce mikey to some new games, he will absolutely adore you for it

-bonding with raph is harder, but eventually you learn that you dont really have to talk much to do that

-just kinda walk into the training room and either join him (he’ll automatically want to help when you’re doing something wrong) or carefully crawl on top of his shell while he’s doing push-ups

-he’ll stop and tell you to get off, but when you simply refuse, he’ll shake his head and mumble something, however will continue

-this will become a routine/habit and you’ll sometimes vent to each other like that

-donnie lets you in his labs for school related things only (unless you’re really into STEM, then he’ll definitely allow you to come in more often)

-he gets frustrated with your math book bro

- “that’s... not the way you’re supposed to do it, donnie... they want us to do it this way.”

- “i don’t know that way! why would they change math?? math is MATH!”

- “i’ll just wait for April to get back...”

- “what??? well she wont understand it any better than i do!”

-leo, as intimidating as he seems, has grown fond of you from a distance. you seem to light up the lair with your youthful spirit. they’ve all matured in their own ways. yes, even mikey. it’s nice to have a change

-you’ll have to approach him first

-join him while he’s meditating. he’ll give you tips and may even strike up a conversation unrelated. he enjoys the company

-leonardo tells you stories and let’s you hold his katanas and sometimes wear his mask from time to time

-youve never seen the turtles in action. you knew they were ninjas though.

-they typically train towards the end of the school day, so if you decide to cut class, you just might catch them

-you’ll be in awe

-you silently sit beside a panting Donatello and compliment his skills, he’ll say thanks and then suddenly realize your presence

-you’re sent back to school lol

-or you just have to wait in the livingroom

-Mikey is actually the one who offers to train you and the boys actually think it’s a good idea since he’s really patient with you and he took the longest to learn the art of ninjitsu when they were little

-sometimes Mikey strays from the lesson, so be sure to remind him that you’re training

-Leo begins to supervise when he hears laughter in the dojo

-he eventually takes over and you actually learn a lot more faster and realize Mikey was going super easy on you and taking it really slow

-you won’t be sparring for a while. Leo doesn’t want you getting hurt. they don’t know their own strength sometimes

-you have the most gifts on christmas, ill tell you that

-the turtles are basically your big bros

-you can’t stay late!!! forgot to mention that. they will not allow it... unless you have a good excuse set for your parent(s)/guardian(s)

[remmushound]

Could you write a crossover oneshot, about the 2018 crew (April included) showing off their crazy OP skillz? (Mikey yeeting boats around, Donnie's tech, Leo's portals, etc.)

@assanmaharielsreblogs @itscryptifssil

Rise April = April

2012 April = O’Neil

“Hey guys!”

Leo hated being so exposed, just standing in the open for all to see. Leonardo had reassured him that it was chill here, that they’d never been spotted and weird stuff happened so often that no one would question it if they were. Still, standing there on the docks, open as he was, Leo couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder every few minutes to check for any signs of life disturbing the darkness.

“Watch this!”

Michelangelo resembled the Mikey that Leo knew in so many ways, and it seemed they even shared the same mad skills that all Mikey’s seemed to have in common. The turtle had been loud in his cry, drawing the attention of all below as he leapt from the rooftops and swung out hiskusari-fundo. Like the most beautiful fire work show, the blade and chain ignited in a feiry blaze that caught all of the other box turtles below by surprise, though Michelangelo’s brothers hardly acknowledged the act past a short applause or curious, watching eye.

“Holy—“ Leo sputtered.

“It’s so beautiful!” Mikey’s eyes Reflected the flames like something out of a movie, observing their beauty and hardly breathing.

“HOLY CHALUPAS!” Ejected Donnie, “How did he...?”

“Thats... concerning.” Raph said softly, trying to hide his astonishment behind a chilled facade.

The kusari-fundo shot out over the water, the chain stretching far longer than Leo could remember it actually being. Like an ever growing snake, flying and flying over the orange-reflectinh bay until the blade and a good deal of the chain latched impossibly around the hull of a boat down in the water. Before Michelangelo could come crashing down onto the hard docks, the chain tightened and pulled him into the water at incredible speeds, like a water skier without skis.

“COWABUNGA!”

When he was just about to hit the bough of the ship, the chain gave a sudden, upward jerk and pulled him onto the safety of the deck just in the nick of time. The fire went out, and for a heart wrenching moment none of the turtles could even see the youngest among them, until the teen’s silhouette appeared over the railing and waved to them.

“Uh... how did he—“ Leo began before his taller counterpart cut him off.

“Relax; I’ll go get him.”

Before Leo could even begin to ask how Leonardo would achieve such a feat, Leonardo had drawn his katana and traced a large, arching shape in the air. It was like the blade was slicing through the very fabric of reality, leaving a baby blue glow wherever the tip of the metal touched. When the sword reunited with where it had started, the entire middle erupted into that same mystic glow.

“Woaaaah.” Was all the box turtles could say— even Donnie finding himself speechless at the pure display of power.

Leonardo tucked his katana back in its sheath as he stretched and stepped into the portal, backward so he could click his tongue and give finger guns as he disappeared through the rippling blue. Across the bay came that same ghostly blue glow aboard the ship, and they could see Leonardo step out and wrap his arm around Michelangelo before waving back to the turtles on land.

“Did you build that?” Donnie gasped out, addressing Donatello.

Donatello scoffed. “That? That’s nothing. Raph, show em.” He waved and gave the show off to Raphael, who seemed confused for a second before catching on with a belching bellow.

“Alright, guys!” Raphael slammed his fists together and gave an excited jig, swaying his body back and forth as a determined grin found itself on his face. Eyes narrowed, teeth pulled into a smirk, body moving with untapped potential. “I call this boss mode!”

“Boss mode?” Raph said slowly, trying to hide his growing anticipation and fear. “Looks like a dance to me.”

“Just gotta get warmed up!” He sucked in and huffed out deep breaths, grabbing his Tonfa as he shook out his wrists and started to dig his feet deeper into the ground with each increasingly-violent stomp. His tail lashed. Red sparks started to twist their way around his weapons and wrists, slowly spreading up until the electric aura surrounded him completely. The sparks turned into a fire once the all of him was in their power. His eyes flushed white. The red aura around him grew— and grew, and grew until he was almost as tall as the buildings surrounding him. Despite the awe-inspiring scene, the smaller Raphael within the heart of the beast seemed to be straining under the expended power. The bigger he was, the harder Boss Raph was to control. His teeth were clenched, muscles and veins bulging as life flooded back into tear-filled eyes.

“CONTROLLING JU POWER JITSU... LIKE A BOSS!”

Once the final three words escaped his mouth, he seemed in full control of the situation. When his leg moved, Boss moved in sync. Raphael forced his larger form to wade into the water, his red glow disappearing under the surface as he walked effortlessly over to his brothers on the ship. He held out a hand to them, and both seemed more than happy to hop onboard. Raphael spun around, the movement of his superior self slow and lumbering like most large creatures.

He held the two safely to his chest and carried them to shore, carefully letting them down beside Donatello. Raphael made sure his brothers were on sound footing before finally letting his form pixelate away into nothing and lower him to the ground in a gentle grasp. Leonardo and Donatello were there to support their older brother as he collapsed into them, his legs feeling little more than flexible foam under his great weight. Just from the maybe-minute long quest, Raphael was soaked in sweat and his plastron heaved with begging, thankful gasps of cool air.

“Sorry.” Raphael gasped to the other team, laughing and forcing his heavy arm up to wave. “Kinda tiring, yknow.”

“INCREDIBLE!” Donnie gasped, hurrying over to investigate Raphael though all traces of mystic power was gone from his body. “How often can you do that?!”

“Uh. Never done it more than once in a day.” Raphael rubbed the back of his neck, “it’s pretty draining.”

“I bet!” Donnie squealed, “maybe it’s like that because your metabolism speeds up dramatically— or, or your body adjusts for how long it SHOULD have taken you to do that normally, or—“

“It’s his chakra.” Donatello answered simply.

“Chakra?” Donnie deflated as he asked.

“Seven power points through the body, centers of magic? Ring a bell?”

Leo hummed. “Master Splinter taught me a technique called Reiki thats supposed to heal chakras...”

“So like, what’s your super magic power thing?” Mikey was practically pressing his nose to Donatello’s as he spoke

Donatello’s nose scrunched up at the invasion of personal space, but he quickly brushed it off when Leo grabbed his brother and pulled him away.

“I, little man, have the greatest ‘magic’ of all! SCIENCE!”

“Here we go,” Raph rolled his eyes.

“BEHOLD!” Donatello pulled his bō staff free of its holster and held it to the sky in a pose not unlike the Statue of Liberty. “MY TITANIUM REINFORCED TECH BO!”

Raph gave a slow clap. “Wow. Wonderful. So cool.”

Leo shoved Raph pointedly. “Thats... wonderful, Donnie.”

“Oh. OH HO HO!” Donatello laughed, motioning to his precious staff, “you think this is everything? Au contraire, my fellow shelled companions! This is the top of the line, most up to date technology in my arsenal. Complete with a glider...”

Two wings shot out from either end of the staff, much to the surprise of the turtles gathered.

“Chainsaw! Laser gun! Tranquilizer! Buzz saw! Dual sided rocket propellers! And of course a selfie stick!”

As Donatello listed off his tech-bo’s enhancement, the once simple-looking staff shifted between each feature, ending with a selfie stick that extended far beyond the reach of a normal one and took a snap after the few seconds it took Donatello to pose with two fingers extended and his tongue sticking out.

Leo blinked to try and bring himself out of the blindness induced by the sudden flash. Donnie recovered from it quickly, though his eyes were just as bright the light of the camera had been. He ran over to Donatello practically fit to burst as the softshell gave a smug smirk.

“THAT WAS SO COOL! HOW’D YOU EVER GET THE MONEY TO MAKE ALL OF THAT?!”

Donatello booped his older counterparts snout. “By no legal means.”

April decided to insert herself into the conversation before it could get much farther. “Wanna see what my power can do?”

Eight sets of eyes turned on her.

“You have a power too?” Mikey beaned.

April laughed and gave the mutant a pet on the head. “Sure do! Watch this!”

She lifted her baseball bat from her back, tapping it a few times on the ground as a green glow Overcame the wood. Donatello reached into his shell armor and produced a baseball, tossing it high into the air and out of sight.

“APRILLLLLLLL~”

She dug her feet into the earth as her eyes ignited in the same lime as her bat. She swung the bat a few times, super sight locking onto the small ball as it came hurdling downward.

“O’NEIL!”

With impossibly perfect timing, she spun around once more and brought her bat slamming down on the falling target, sending the ball flying once more in a blaze of neon green glory over the city’s horizon.

“HOME RUN!!”

[luna--dragon]

2012/RotTMNT crossover ideas

So a lot of people have been talking about possible “What if??” Situations if there was a 2012 TMNT/RotTMNT crossover, and I wanted to throw my ring into the hat with some of my own ideas! This is also to help me out a little as well because I’m currently writing up a fic about it (It’s not on the internet yet, so don’t look for it)!

Context: RotTMNT crew get transported to 2012 Dimension some way or another. 2012 dimension is set in the 2nd season as that’s all I’ve seen up to so far (No spoilers please!)

2012 Donnie being continuously impressed and one-upped by RotTMNT Donnie.

2012 crew being very confused as to why the RotTMNT crew don’t constantly beat each other up/punish each other when they do something wrong. Bonus points if they’re even more confused by all their love and affection, especially if the  RotTMNT turts start being really caring and familial towards 2012 crew too.

2012 Splinter probably being rather annoyed that the RotTMNT crew keep calling him “Dad”, “pops” or anything that isn’t ”sensei” or a formal title.

Adding on to idea 3, if RotTMNT Splints gets stuck in that dimension too, he’s super chill with the 2012 turts and it’s just like “Call me pops!” “No, you’re supposed to be their sensei-”: Rise!Raph: Hey pops! You want some pizza? 2012!Splinter: No, Ra- Rise!Splinter: Fuck yeah I want some pizza! 2012!Splinter:  ಠ_ಠ

(Long one here) Y’know how in the 2012 series Donnie has a big crush on April, and while she doesn’t reciprocate those feelings, she does peck him on the cheek or something every so often, or when something pops up between them? Well I think that one way or another RotTMNT Don would save 2012 April’s life or something and so she’d do that little peck on the cheek thing, either because it’s out of habit or she’s expecting this Donnie to also have a crush on her/RotTMNT April, but instead he’s like “The FUCK??” and gets all weirdened out by her. She then has to explain to him that 2012 Don has a crush on her, but that just makes him even MORE freaked out, and maybe even causes him to have a mini existential crisis, because, y’know, he just found out his doppelganger has a pretty big crush on someone he usually sees as a sister figure, so that’s fun!

2012 crew being very annoyed by RotTMNT’s crew’s lack of professionalism, but when they actually try to train them or take them to a fight they see their fighting skills are actually really fucking good, and the mystic weapons make them pretty op in their dimension.

RotTMNT crew having to explain what their versions of Yokai are, and how Magic works in their dimension, probably due to a very confusing and panicked misunderstanding.

RotTMNT crew freaking out over the Kraang and the much more funky looking mutants they have roaming the streets. Bonus points if some of their villains get transported to this dimension somehow too and the 2012 crew having a lot of questions

because the 2012 dimension is canonically in the year 2012, and the RotTMNT dimension  is canonically in the year 2018-19, there’s gonna be some meme barriers. The 2012 crew being very confused whenever the RotTMNT crew use or reference their memes/vines, while they have to internally cringe and scream when the 2012 crew use their very outdated memes.

2012 Leo being very confused at RotTMNT Leo being able to speak Spanish, and not being that good at Japanese.

2012 crew being very confused about Raph being the leader of the RotTMNT turts.

RotTMNT crew meeting 2012 Shredder only to laugh their asses off because to them he’s pretty much just a 40yr old samurai/ninja dude with some funky armour and claws. When the 2012 crew get confused and start saying hes a real, important threat in this dimension, they explain how their Shredder is a literal fucking demon yokai thing that very easily survived having a ship, crane, and whole arsenal of weapons thrown at him, including a giant fucking drill, leaving the 2012 crew very shocked and concerned. RotTMNT gang then proceed to beat the shit out of 2012 Shredder, once again greatly impressing and out-shining the 2012 turts, probably even scaring them a little too

I’ll probably add some more ideas later, but feel free to add some of your own ideas, or add onto mine if you want!

[dumbdotcomm]

lessons in opposites

(a/n) a commission for my pal @fanfic-inator795! enjoy some raph and donnie bonding !

It’s not that Raph really prefers one brother over the other; he’s been blessed with three great brothers and one fantastic sister and Raphael is grateful every day, as sure as he’s got life and breath in him, he’s so grateful that he’s not alone. 

April asks, just for laughs, for a silly documentary on their Lair Games, if Raph had a favorite brother; and off the bat, on instinct, he wants to deny that he does. He loves them all. But then he blurts out Mikey’s name without thinking and then things start to shift, and Raph starts to wonder if he’s a terrible brother for that.

“It’s not a big deal, Raph,” Donnie says, after having seen the clips of how little faith his brothers had in his athleticism, and that one little clip of Raph easily admitting Mikey was his favorite, followed up by Leo, “It’s just a joke…”

But he says it in the way that’s pinched and just a little forced like he does when he takes hard hits and bad falls and just wants to laugh it off because he’s fine. 

Raph swallows, nods, presses a smile that feigns belief in Donnie’s words, but he can’t stop glancing over at his brother’s face the whole rest of the time they watch April’s (incredibly edited) documentary film. 

His brother keeps his eyes downcast and does that thing where he wrings his hands till they get weirdly slick with this mucusy stuff. 

Like when he’s hurt and holding back. 

And Raph makes a silent promise, then, that he’ll definitely make it up to his brother.

---

Life has a funny way of just screwing plans and promises over. Raph trains extra with his father on early mornings, learning to think, to focus, to get his fears under control. Donnie locks himself into work by the time training is over, and then they go patrol and watch something on Netflix and then the day is spent and it’s 4am. 

So it’s not exactly intentional, the way their paths just don’t cross long enough for Raph to really get the chance to make it up to Donnie. But it’s still shitty and Raph knows there’s something he can do- he has to. 

And so he googles a bunch of stuff going on in Manhattan, something that wouldn’t be so obviously intended on compensating for basically saying Don is his least favorite brother. Something Donnie won’t suspect, because if he did- 

“If you asking me is a way of ‘reparations’ for the Lair Games documentary, Raph…”

“It’s not-” Raph raises his arms in innocence, and crosses over his plastron, “Turtle’s honor, Donnie. ‘S just the guys...they’ll be all ‘that’s lame’, and you…”

“Wouldn’t think a teddy bear world is lame?” Donnie quirks his perfectly drawn brow and cocks his head a little at Raph.

This is going abysmally, but not quite in a way that wasn’t expected. Raph bites his own tongue from just spilling his intentions heartfeltly- because he can’t scare his brother off right now. He’s gotta play it cool. 

“Uhhh, I mean, I-”

“Because you’d be pretty accurate,” Donnie interjects, and despite his voice remaining flat, his lips curve into a ghost of a smile, and Raph’s heart stops pounding so hard, “I was wondering when you would finally ask one of us, ugh a dream come true.”

Raph genuinely cannot tell if Donnie is being sarcastic, though roughly fifteen years of training has at least let him gather, from that weird way his brother’s eyes got super overbright when he was excited, that Donnie really, like super straight up, means it. 

“Wow…. well, aight then,” Raph laughs with his words, still not believing how easy it was to simply…ask to spend time with his brother, “Just pick a disguise and we good!”

“Yup, normal disguise. Friday it ‘tis,” Donnie returns the laugh, a touch awkward, before taking his sandwich back to his lab. 

And the slightly manic look that Raph catches in his brother, just as he slips from view, makes a lot of little pieces in Raph’s head come together, like a little, horrifying jigsaw puzzle.

Because Raph has been blessed with having Donnie as a brother for fourteen years, he knows a terrible plan forming when he sees one. 

-----

Donnie takes pride in his intellect, like not in a super cocky way, he’s just glad he’s been gifted with the ability to make a pea shooter in one afternoon that also has the capability to laser off a bastard’s face. 

Still he’s not too prideful to admit that he’s sometimes stupid as hell, in the emotional department, and social department. And while that’s not exactly ideal, Donnie’s got four pretty incredible siblings to lean on for that and so he doesn’t really complain about the impossibility of picking up social cues. 

But sometimes, like when his older brother is standing across from him uncomfortably stiff, babbling on about Teddy Bear Town- well sometimes Donnie kinda wishes he did get it. 

It’s only until he’s stacking his third layer of his sandwich that Donnie really understands what this is all about. Because Raph’s got his ‘I’m nervously trying to make it up to you’ stink, and then Donnie remembers the documentary, and Raph’s commentary, and the really…awful way Donnie pretended not to feel afterwards. 

He doesn’t want Raph to pity invite him, he doesn’t need that. And Donnie’s gonna make sure his brother knows he’s fine- he’s chill and and he’s okay with potentially being Raph’s least favorite. 

So he’s supposed to respond to Raph nonchalantly, to just go with Raph and be cool about it but- 

“Shelldon, download all the info you can find on Teddy Town…”

-----

“Rise and shine, bud!” 

Donnie must’ve drank four extra shots of espresso to be this hype this early, and Raph grips the steering wheel of the Turtle Tank a little harder to try and not smell so nervous. Because there’s no way Donnie could have actually known what Raph’s intentions were, like he had to have just thought that this was a normal thing, and not a ‘I’m so sorry I made you feel less than appreciated, please forgive me’ type of thing. 

And Donnie is definitely onto something, even if he’s not onto Raph. He’s just got that glint in his eyes, and Raph feels just a little bit selfish for wanting this to be a normal day- for his brother to  just be-

“Uh...thanks for taggin’ along,” Raph doesn’t intentionally cut Donnie off, but his brother’s talking a mile a minute about the history of Teddy Bear Town and Raph knows that he’s only doing it because he feels he has to. 

Donnie stops himself, blinks, and puts his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, “It’s no big deal…” he says, in complete contrary to his hyperactive Ted Talk, “Being benched for a sprained ankle was shit, needed to get out anyway…”

He glances over at Raph and looks instantly, incredibly smaller. 

Raph thumbs the steering wheel, drumming against it in thought, in a search for words. 

He doesn’t have to do this kinda stuff with Mikey, and Leo never shuts up- and Donnie is just…

“Bluetooth, connect to my phone,” Donnie says abruptly, before Raph even gets the chance to think of something to say. 

And they stay quiet, listening to music the whole way there.

------

Things feel significantly less awkward in the bigger crowd. Raph is grateful for all the noise and movement that he can shift his focus on, instead of the downcast way Donnie’s been carrying himself since halfway through their ride over here. 

And Raph’s always kinda felt his younger brother had a tough time expressing himself- that they were different that way. That Raph carried his heart on his sleeve and that his brother didn’t. But now he’s starting to see that maybe he’s got some things twisted. That he and Donnie are a lot more alike in these things than Raph thought. 

“Stay close,” he tells his brother, because as aloof as humans are, they’re still humans, and they don’t always accept what’s different.

Raph remembers telling Donnie that, when they first met April, when Donnie surprisingly was the first to reach out and grab her little hand and compare it to his. And Donnie had looked at him weird, and yeah, well humans aren’t the only ones that don’t understand ‘different’. 

The memory hits Raph so suddenly, and almost makes him miss a step. 

He turns to find Donnie staring at him, which must mean Donnie noticed, because of course he did.

And Raph stares back because oh. Holy shit. 

“Uh…” Donnie glances around awkwardly, “Raph, you’re giving off a weird...vibe right now. You good-”

“Can we talk?” Raph blurts out, and surveys their surroundings, for a place to dip, “Like real quick?” 

Donnie looks like he wants to bolt now, which would be ideal in the packed hallway of the mall. But he doesn’t. He just swallows and darts his eyes and nods.

Sure. 

Pros to being trained ninjas is the ability to disappear quickly, and they find a quiet, tucked away spot where Raph finally lets himself breathe. 

“You’re different,” he says it quickly and rushed and Donnie’s eyes briefly widen in some sort of surprise, but Raph presses on despite his sloppy start, “You….you think different, you think, like, way smarter than us, an’ you make different jokes and express differently an’ that doesn’t. It’s not bad, Donnie.” 

His brother keeps his eyes to the ground, kicking gently at nothing, “I don’t care that you said I’m your least favorite, Raph,” he mumbles. 

“But you do,” Raph counters back, and keeps his voice leveled, tries not to talk to Donnie too softly or else he’d feel babied, “And that’s normal, and I wish I could say that what I said wasn’t...I dunno, like a…”

“Reflection of how you feel?” Donnie poses, but his words aren’t angry, even if Raph feels his brother’s got full rights to be.

He sighs, deflating a little, “Yeah...yeah, I guess it’s that. But not because I think...it’s because I get really...weirdly insecure man. You’re a freaking genuis and I know you never try an’ make us feel dumb, but- and then we’re both super bad at words and I just… I dunno Dee.”

Raph takes the extra step to go close the distance between him and Donnie, and Donnie stiffens up- at first, for just a couple of seconds, “But I love you, ‘cause you’re an awesome person, and ya not my least favorite. You’re not. And ya don’t gotta pretend you’re cool with everything.”

Donnie pulls back, a dorky smile on his face, which is infinitely better than the sad way he looked earlier, even better than the way he pretended like everything was good and it wasn’t.

“You don’t have to pretend either,” Donnie says, unlocking their eye contact, and staring back at his feet, “I know you were trying to...to make it up to me, but. You could’ve- you didn’t have to invite me.”

“But I wanted to,” Raph says it and means it with everything he’s got, “Really, Donnie. A-and I wanted to do somethin’ that ya wouldn’t think was me just tryna get on your good side, ya know. Somethin’ we could just...do.”

“And I messed up, the whole info-dumping….” 

He’s doing it again, he’s making himself smaller and Raph’s not allowing that. 

“Okay, half of that stuff, I woulda never known- and ya looked all’a that up just to get to understand me better. I just didn’t want you...t’ think you had to...say all that.”

“And I didn’t want you to think you had to invite me,” Donnie quips back, but ends it with a small smile, “So I guess we’re in the same proverbial boat.”

Raph snorts, “The boat of insecurity…”

And Donnie, stiff and awkward and still full of feeling, takes his turn to hug Raph fully this time, “Screw that boat.”

-----

In the end Donnie makes his bear with a shitton of detail, getting so wrapped up in it that they spend a couple hours there.

And Raph’s bear is simple, not all that complex like his brother’s- but that’s more than okay, actually.

Their differences were more than okay.

[we-rate-tmnt]

I request: Leonardo. Please and thank you 🙏.

Idk if everyone loves Leo or if my header and avatar just remind everyone about this amazing blue boy. (This one’s super silly btw. I’m just sillier as time goes on. Character development I guess?) 

The iconic leador Leonardo (1987)

Bro idk why but I loved this Leo. I have a tiny memory, especially with this version but I clearly remember that I thought he was the funniest and the coolest. I mean, he had swords, what was I supposed to do as a 7-year-old. NOT like him??? Anyway, while Raph was the best at insult comedy, I think Leo had the best puns and punchlines. I really like how nonchalant this Leo is compared to his iterations, going along with really silly ideas and having fun along the way. But because of this, his leadership is a little forced at times, he seems like such a chill and fun dude that when he gets serious, I have to squint and ask ‘are you Leo? Or were you just putting on act a moment ago?’ Or my perception is entirely warped over time. Either way, good turtle boy, could have used some work tho. 5.7/10

Here comes grumpy lad wooo this is all read very monotone btw Fearless Leader (2003)

What. What the fuck happened. I was actually so confused when Leo turned really angry and serious and almost manic. I thought that episode when he popped into Casey’s window and was like ‘Hey bitch lets go beat the shit out of some lowlifes’ I was WOAH THERE BUDDY BACK UP BACK UP BACK TF UP. It was so sudden to me and when it was finally explained, it made some sense??? Like yeah, character development is great an’ all but this ain’t it chief. I can’t imagine what it was like having to wait for these episodes to release one at a time. Bc I watched every episode back to back on Youtube and I was genuinely bamboozled. But when you have an experience like that where guilt is weighing down on you from a situation you couldn’t control, it would’ve been HELLA HELPFUL to have at least a flashback, like a line saying ‘I was so useless!’ at BARE MINIMUM. Like right after Shredder is booted off to Planet Zula, Donnie would notice that Leo didn’t seem all that happy and would ask why and Leo would get upset and yell at Donnie saying that ‘You wouldn’t understand’, ‘You don’t know how I felt, how I feel because of that’, etc. Like you don’t even have to say he felt guilty or helpless, just give us something to grab onto. We’re merely six-year-olds who thought they could climb the YMCA rock wall in easy mode but instead the script riders harnessed us up on the hard one and wouldn’t let us come down until we rang the little bell at the top. I think that is the only problem I had with his Leo. The sudden change of calm and decisive to angry and irrational was so jarring that it felt unnatural without that crucial context. If you want a surprise reveal, at least hint at the reveal (like just about every Disney movie with their ‘twist’ villains) not wait until the very last moment. I think this might be my least favorite Leo and I think the season where he stood out the most and seemed the strongest was Fast Forward (Which was GOOD FIGHT ME), especially in scenes with Dark Leo, his clone. He sees so much of himself in Dark Leo but he also sees something he had once grasped (AKA the poorly written character arc, I CANNOT stress how bad I thought it was). Although, I honestly think he’s a really good character and he’s a pretty neat guy. However, this score is entirely held up by Fast Forward and his connection with Usagi, sword bros to the end of time. 3/10 (2 for FF and 1 for Usagi)

And now a Leo that makes me genuinely feel UWU Leo (2012)

I cannot stress how much I like this guy! Like his design is so appealing, his dedication, his obsession with Space Heroes, like I FUCKING LOVE IT. And everyone knows, that shit with Karai, at first when they didn’t realize they were related, I can let slide but kajsdflksadf what even like why did the writers feel the need to add in more ‘love interest’ implications like yuck yuck yuck. The only two interactions with Leo and Karai that I really like are when Leo defeats her using the healing hands technique and when Leo has a goth/emo/punk/idk I’m new here phase and they team up and EXPLOSIONS. He was introduced to us as being incredibly naive and his idea of leadership is from some old cartoon that’s basically star trek but ethically questionable. After his fights in season 1, to the finale with the technodrome, you can see his growth. He’s able to formulate plans and make life or death decisions. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. When Leo got hurt, I felt like the oof sound effect mixed with some tears I normally shed at some Shojo manga bs. While the episodes following were super weird, it was a nice way to help Leo recover, not only physically but spiritually (Although I don’t remember the spirit arc at all except the epic Raph vs Fishface fight, so we’re skipping that). When Master Splinter really died, you could tell there was a huge impact on Leo, but he had to remain stoic and lead the family now. A lot of heartbreaking moments in this series came from Leo and I’m glad they took at least some thought into developing him. Tiny head Leo will haunt my nightmares, but the giggly fanboy will warm my heart constantly. 6/10

I only have one word for this Leo (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

This is a super crazy bad idea accent on the super crazy bad part have I mentioned it’s also a really terrible idea/10

Okay, spoiler alert, didn’t really think this Leo was that grand Leo (2014/2016)

Painfully average. He didn’t stand out that much, Raph was part of the focus and had that touching scene at the end, Donnie was ICONIC and Mikey (with his weird-ass eyes) was super lively and funny! Leo? Uh, I don’t remember a single line he said. Because he never really grabbed my attention, I don’t have too much to say on this version. The Raph and Leo fight felt forced and the whole ‘keep this stuff that could turn us human a secret’ was pretty pointless and was added just to cause drama, I don’t even remember what that Splinter and Leo conversation was about. Design-wise, really neat! You can see some more traditional Japanese clothing/style mixed with modern (I’d feel a lot better about this assumption if some could tell exactly what the heck he’s wearing, but I get traditional Japan warrior vibes from it) in his look which was super neat! Other than that, if you like him, please tell me why because I don’t get. He was just kinda eh. 5/10

AHHH MY BOY YASSS WHOOO!! Neon Leon (2018)

Okay, I loved Ben Schwarts already from Parks and Rec but like him being Sonic AND Leo, like DUDE. He’s super funny by himself but teamed up with this shows writing and animation, it makes it hilarious. I literally love this Leo so much, maybe because we’re alike but honestly, he’s amazing. I love his design with the red and yellow crescents accenting his skin and livening up his color pallet. He has a very healthy and natural dynamic with his brothers, he’s the first to know what’s wrong and tries his best to make up for his actions. This is really prominent in the most recent episodes, along with the episode portal jacked. In both, Leo is separated from his brothers. Portal Jacked is in a more literal sense, while Air Turtle handles in more of an emotional sense. While both are brief, Leo sees his error and tries his best to make it up to them. I love his dynamic so much and it’s so nice to see something like this compared to the unnecessary drama and tension between the brothers in the previous series. It’s refreshing and this is something a younger audience needs to see; instead of fighting, it’s better to work together and improve yourself along the way. Improvement is a big theme for Leo here. He’s a goofball, makes jokes at every opportunity and isn’t quite skilled at fighting or using his weapon. But he grows over time, he learns to manage his power and he’s working on mastering it. He’s trying to put aside his narcissism more and focuses on his family. I think the approach they took with him rising to leader rather than slapping it on his forehead was the goddamn best decision they could make. He’s making plans, finding loopholes, helping out and getting out of his comfort zone. I cannot stress how well this show has handled Leo, along with the other characters. I can’t wait to see more episodes about his growth and I am awarding him with one of the greatest honors I could give... 10/10

Storytime: I drew a super cute 2012 Leo, you should look at him. Shameless self-promo, but you should follow me on my main blog bc I’m nice and I draw pretty pictures. Also. I have a little 2012 Leo Happy Meal toy??? I think??? guarding my window and he’s been there for YEARS. I need to bring him in and refresh his paint job.

Wow! I didn’t expect this many requests for Leo, so the blog will be momentarily spammed with the requests, but it shouldn’t be too much! Up next should be the last turtle (Mikey) and then we can get to some REALLY great requests I’m eager to answer. As usual, please comment and reblog! I’d love to hear your opinion!

[authenticaussie]

What do you think the difference would be in a TMNT/OP fic with different collections of turtles?

oooooooo okay so I should be getting ready for class tomorrow but you have 100% captured me I’m so invested in this

mainly I know 2003, 2012, and Rise - well, at least, they’re my favourites and have the most distinct characterisation tbh bc they’re long-running series - SO I’ll do those guys :DD

THIS GOT LONG (because of course it did, I’ve never made a short post in my LIFE) SO FIRST: 

the main difference in fic would be tone!!!!!!!! The turtles are all really affected by the shows they come from so there’d be big differences in how they react to the new situation. Combining OP and 2018, they’re both such loud and bright shows that writing them sad would be kinda….disatisfactory to a reader. 2012 is the one where you could get kinda dark, and go down the genetic experiment and “oh wow these kids need a therapist” and Luffy being >:T wtf why are your lives so Fucked Up route, and 2003 would be hilariously awkward because they’re technically all in the same age range but they act so different wheezes

Second!!! Fun character analysis and Shenanigans under the readmore. 

2003

Probably the most responsible on this list, they’re like??? tbh, barely teenagers?? Or at the very least, 18 or 19, and they can be air-heads but 2003 goes feet-first into the whole plot and character and Everything Happens. I mean, literally in season one there’s this whole subplot about how you define monsters and genetic testing and Wild shit like that so they feel Way more adult than the Strawhats get at times. Even though One Piece covers some dark topics it….the characters - the strawhats, in particular, is what I mean - don’t feel like adults the same way the 2003 turtles do. 2003 also doesn’t feel as dark as 2012 gets sometimes, but I feel 2012 is also because they seem really young, and in 2003 at least they get to process their trauma. 2012…..kinda beats them up a lot akhsdg pft.

Sticking them with the Strawhats would be !! Honestly really funny? I feel Mikey would get along with them really well - in every iteration he’s very good at going with the flow, and hey, pirates? and they’re nice? and cool powers? - he’d have the time of his life. Donnie would try and figure out What Was Going On (as the resident “please fix this in case it’s dangerous” guy, that’s probably what his role would Often be) but I can see him being easily distracted by Franky and the whole devil fruits thing. GOD him and Franky is a thought and a half omfg. The level of tech in One Piece is so different when compared to the modern world, and it operates on rules but like, rules that are just ever so slightly different. 

Raph would be in debt Immediately. Mainly bc Nami’s manipulative like that but also because he’s just………..Like That. He’d be rude and insulting and if the strawhats were helping them out he’d be the team’s voice of reason. Or, distrust, I suppose. The one who hangs back, who’s prickly, who’s the last to offer his trust because his family needs him to be uncompromised, just in case. I think he and Zoro would clash for a bit, not like, in words but just in gestures, until the crew + turtles had been through their adventures, and gotten to the end of Whatever fic was being written, and then they’d be friends. Not best buds but like, healthy respect for each other. 

Leo……….absolutely does Not understand why Luffy is leader. It’s like making Mikey the boss; it doesn’t make sense to him, because Luffy is too trusting and he’s strong but strength doesn’t make a good leader, and in 2003 Leo’s kind of a pushover so he’d stay on the sidelines and watch with Raph. But, as everyone knows, Luffy’s magnetism is Pretty Hard To Deny, and the crew’s respect for him does a lot to show to Leo that he may be missing something but that he doesn’t have to understand. 

2012

I always……..feel so bad for TMNT2012 //weeps They’re just kids and they get put through so much like wow I’m only at season two but from spoilers there’s like?? their dad keeps DYING and being bought back to life???/ THAT’S GOTTA FUCK YOU UP!!! Plus all of them have all these different insecurities and they’re kinda mean to each other (Raph….has only given a proper apology for being a dick once so far, and I’m like. mid-way through season two. I’m sorry if this makes me mikey kin @@zali but pLEASE I cannot stand this LET THEM BE NICE TO EACH OTHER ;A; Like they’re still obviously a family but gosh they’re– so prickly)

Honestly depending on how the Strawhats meet them, like holy shit :o they might be Enemies. In 2003 I feel like they’ve been through enough to try and de-escalate a situation first, but 2012 are so Paranoid that unless they had April with them they’d be like WELP this is another mind-control alternate dimension thing, time to ninja vanish. And sure, after they ended up on whatever quest they needed to go on, Luffy would be fascinated by them (2012 definitely pushes the limits of what you can Actually do, in terms of hiding and shit, but I think that makes it fun !!) but I feel the turtles would be pretty paranoid at first. Mikey & Donnie would be the first two to be dragged out of their shells (snickers) because Donnie would be super curious (and also…probably kinda aggravated and confused) about how the one piece world rules work, and Mikey because…friends!! They already have a reindeer mutant on the crew, they’re obviously cool with mutants :D

akhsdg okay I mention that 2003 would hang back and assess Luffy’s leadership still but like 2012 would be such a dick. He never seems to learn the lesson that people have different strengths and different ways of doing things >:T and watching Luffy lead would drive him crazy. I bet he’d try and make plans and be all structured and in control and Luffy would wreck things and/or the strawhats would be like “lol no lmao, you’re not the captain”. Even if he did have a good plan, like….the Strawhats rarely follow plans if Luffy says they’re doing something different snickers. I feel a major part of this could just a nice subplot line of Leo learning to Chill and also like………give the 2012 a fun adventure I’m begging you sobs. Do a Long Long Island filler arc or smth, where it’s dumb and silly and barely dangerous because they’re all competent af. 

Also: Mikey constantly trying to find a devil fruit because “dudes, it’s probably not gonna apply when we go back home and think about how SICK superpowers would be!!!!!!!!”

He does not get one, to his disappointment. 

2018

These guys are IDIOTS and would fit in with Luffy’s brand of chaos p e r f e c t l y 

Okay so yeeeeah I’m probably biased because I think Rise may be my favourite (the family dynamics!! the character designs!! the animation!!! the stupid jokes!!! the sudden flashes of deeper plot!!!!!!!!) BUT. No-one can argue with me that Rise turtles are chaotic as fuck and they’d have the time of their LIVES with Luffy’s crew. Raph would fall in love with Chopper (Chopper would be terrified of him, continuing the terribly sad trend of Raph being Bad With Animals), Donnie would go wild glitter-eyed over the devil fruits and technology and immediately try and do a million mad scientist experiments (and look. SMILES are fucked up. But this boii would totally try and make one/figure out how they worked). He’s….a mad genius and maybe a little bit evil. 

Leo would either drive Sanji crazy or be INSTANTLY adopted and taught how to be “cool”, but I can also see Sanji and Zoro lowkey fighting over him SNICKERS. Because Leo has a sword so he’s obviously Zoro’s, but he’s suave and likes fashion so he MUST be Sanji’s, and it’s not an argument persay, until Leo says he thinks both of them are cool and then it’s a battle to the death. 

(The end of leo’s sentence was “not as cool as me tho ;P” only they didn’t notice that bit.)

April would absolutely fall in love with Robin. And also Nami?? But I feel mainly Robin like Oh Man Robin is so cool and both of them are hypercompetent??? April’s like teach me how to be a badass assassin and Robin smiles and laughs and absolutely does. 

Mikey’s so loud that he almost terrifies Usopp, and terrifying Usopp is kinda a no-no in Luffy’s book, but he likes these guys and Mikey’s just excited to have an artist friend and so both of them bounce around the ship like ping pong balls. 

There is………yeah. A lot of paint covering the Sunny after they’re through. I can’t decide if Franky would cry or laugh but I know one (1) single drop of paint got on Nami’s tangerines and she Banished them. Rise turtles probably have a really good time and the crew figures out they’re basically children really quick and make sure nothing bad happens to them. Leo promises to try and get better at portal-making so they can come visit New York sometime, and everyone is like “what the fuck is new york??” at the same time as Donnie says HEY WAIT, I THINK WE’RE ON AN ALTERNATE DIMENSION and they get teleported home :DD

THANKS FOR LETTING ME SPILL ALL MY TURTLE FEELINGS EVERYWHERE

[turtlestrash]

Let Your Fire Burn (I)

______

A silent Michelangelo tip-toed across the sewer lair, letting his skill of stealth work its magic as he did not want to wake his brothers. The air was chilly, its unforgiving cold breeze making the orange-banded turtle shiver from the gust. Just as he had gotten a few feet away from his brother’s bedrooms, his stomach mumbled; it craved something to eat.

“Don’t worry, tum, pizza’s on the way.”

Mikey sighed to himself, as his gaze fell upon the the harsh shadows cast by the moonlight’s trickling stream of radiant light. Although, the few rays of the moon would not subside the cold temperatures of the sewer.

“I don’t get it, it’s usually warmer down here...” Mikey whispered to himself in wonder. “I’m so cold!”

Momentarily, after a few more paces, he finally had reached a small fridge in the corner of the living room—a makeshift one, as he and his brothers gladly called it. As he halted in his tracks, staring at the rummaged pillows and blankets on one couch, memories flowed to his mind. His brothers were always messing around in here; weather it be playing games, having cuddles, or even spending time with Dad.

I love this family.

Where was he? Oh, yeah. Pizza.

Mikey swiped a slice of pepperoni from the fridge, and began to munch. It was cold, not unlike the rest of his body, but at least he wasn’t hungry anymore. As he finished the slice, he started heading back to his bedroom to get the rest of a good night’s sleep.

Rustle.

“...what was that?” Mikey turned his head back to investigate the noise, but alas, nothing had appeared behind him. Stupid imagination. He stifled a yawn and began walking again.

“Pst!”

Okay, now that wasn’t imagination. He had definitely heard an unfamiliar voice shot him a greeting. Or, maybe he was just tired...in fact, he was actually getting very tired just then. So tired, that he was about to collapse on the ground. As his vision started to dim to a pinprick, he semi-consciously lay on his shell on the cold, hard sewer floor. He’d thought he felt a pair of hands swoop him up before everything went dark.

💚💚💚

“Hey, man. You all right in there? Hellooo? Anybody home? Please, wake up, dude. Wake up.”

Struggling to open his eyes, Mikey found himself now in some sort of dojo. He could make out a large cherry blossom tree in the middle of it, and below him was what felt like a soft rug. But nothing compared to what he saw above him: another turtle looking almost exactly like him.

“I...who...where...” Mikey tried to get some words out, but it was no use. He was too confused on where he was, who this turtle was, or if what he was experiencing was even reality.

“Who are you?! What am I doing here!?” The poor box turtle shot up and hid in his shell, for he was afraid on where he was. “Please don’t hurt me!”

“Woah, dude, chill!” The other turtle seemed to draw near Mikey and pat him on the shell, and his head peeped out. Maybe he wasn’t a threat after all.

“Please, just...t-tell me who you are and where I am,” Mikey stammered. “I’m scared.”

“My name is Michelangelo,” the blue-eyed turtle began, “And where you are right now is—“

“Your name is Michelangelo?”

“Yes, we’ll get to that later. Anyway, where you are is my home world. Or...sleeping.”

“Sleeping?” Mikey cocked his head to one side in confusion. “What?”

“This is a dream,” the other Mikey explained. “But, what you are experiencing now isn’t made up, dude. I’ve come to you to explain your purpose.”

“My...purpose?”

“That’s right! You’ve got a super special destiny ahead of you! In fact, all of your brothers do.”

“How do you know who my brothers are!?” Mikey, suddenly alarmed, backed up a bit from his counterpart. “Do you want to hurt them?”

“No, no!” The mirroring Mikey shook his head in opposure. “Just follow me into the lair. We’ll talk things out.”

Although hesitant for a slight moment, Mikey did follow the turtle. What appeared in front of them was another room, with a couch, pinball machine, and a television. Pizza boxes littered the ground. Three other turtles—also looking like his other brothers—darted their eyes toward the pair of green reptiles.

“Uh...Mikey, we weren’t supposed to bring him yet,” the turtle with a purple mask, what Mikey assumed to be this world’s Donatello, gave a stern glance at the other orange turtle.

“It’s okay, I’ve got this!” The counterpart sauntered to his brothers, and gestured Mikey to follow.

The turtle in the blue mask spoke up when Mikey was sitting in front of him. “Welcome, Michelangelo. My name is Leonardo, the leader of this team. Now, I’m sure you’re used to Raphael being the leader in your world, but...well, things will change.”

“C-change?” The confusion returned to Mikey; what did this world’s Leo mean by “change”? Will something happen to Raphael?

“But, this is about you,” Leo spoke once more. “I know you are facing adversity, but you shall overcome it. Now, you’re dreaming. So, you think you can create your weapon in this world?”

“I’ve always wanted to see the fire one,” the last turtle to speak, one in red—Raphael, Mikey presumed—eyed him with awe, as if he was interested to see what the littlest brother could do.

“Uh...all right.” It only took a few seconds for him to spawn his magical weapon; the kusari-fundo appeared straight before his eyes, gleaming and glowing with fire. Mikey smiled, admiring his signature weapon of choice.

“Michelangelo,” Leo pointed to the firey weapon. “I assume you remember how cold you were in the lair before arriving here?”

“Yeah, it was freezing...”

“I think that’s a perfect example of what you’re facing.”

“Huh?” Once again, Mikey was puzzled. “I’m not facing anything. I’m as happy as ever!”

“What about your brothers?”

My...my brothers.

Mikey paused; his mind and body both seemed to halt in mention of his brothers.

He’d always feel useless to the team, because he was the youngest. Leo, Raph, and Donnie loved him, and he knew that...but he couldn’t shake the feeling of being inferior.

“Bro,” At last, the other Michelangelo broke the devastating silence. “I know how it feels to be the runt of the litter. But, I’ve seen your family. And they all love you very much.”

“I...” Mikey began to fight tears as his eyes began to water. But, it was to no avail. Suddenly, a waterfall of tears started to stream from his eyes and sting his cheeks. “I’m no help to my brothers! I’m useless! You all say I have a destiny, but that’s not true. I don’t make the team better, I just slow it down! I’m useless! Worthless! I’m...I’m—“

“Shh,” Mikey’s counterpart placed a hand on his shoulder, while wiping away tears. “Mikey, listen. Your brothers love you with all their heart. You must fight the cold feelings inside your heart, and tell em to buzz off.”

Mikey sniffed, trying to get a hold of himself through the flood of emotions reeling through his mind. “I don’t get it...h-how?”

“Your heart is your biggest strength,” the Raphael stood up to meet Mikey’s gaze. “It is your fire, seemingly like your weapon. And, listen; you have the power to kick all those jerk’s butts who keep invading your city. You and your brothers.”

Donatello took a knee to face him. “That’s right! Your brothers will always be by your side.” He gave Mikey a large grin.

Finally, Leonardo looked him in the eyes. “You must burn your fire,” he stated, almost grimly. “Let your fire burn inside if you want to rise. If you all want to rise!”

Mikey was going to finally give the four turtles a thank you, but his head suddenly swam all around him. After a few moments, he was flooded by a pitch-black darkness.

[all-things-tmnt]

Thoughts on “Requiem” and “Owari”:

It all has led up to this...not just this season, but this entire series so far has been inching us closer and closer to this ultimate battle. Super Shredder is stable, and taking no prisoners; not even Karai. With all reserves long forgotten, Shredder sets out to claim his ultimate revenge that he’s been after for so long, but now the turtles are out for revenge as well. This is it; the final battle, and there will be pain, struggle and loss. What’s going to happen? Let’s break down this season four finale. I don’t know if you want spoilers are not, but they can be found under the cut, so if you don’t want them, don’t keep reading. If you think you’re emotionally ready for "Requiem,” I promise you that you aren’t. If you still want to watch it, click here.  If you think you’re stable enough after “Requiem” to handle “Owari,” it’s here.

A requiem is a term used – mostly in the context by Catholics – to describe a mass celebrated to honor the dead. Hint, hint. Owari– Japanese for “close” or “end.”

Interesting things in “Requiem”:      - Shredder gets stabilized just in time for the finale. Greeeeeaaaaaaatttttttttt timing.      - Aren’t Footbots supposed to be adaptive? Shouldn’t they be better at fighting Shredder? I mean I get he’s more powerful now but these Footbots aren’t performing like that normally would.      - I wouldn’t say there was ‘no emotional reaction’ there. He did pause briefly to identify her...but I will say it’s unsettling to see him be able to kill her and not care now. That spelled trouble. The one advantages the good guys had is gone.      - The writers themselves are even openly acknowledging here that they parallel their parody shows on the finale. I’m dead.     - The stairs joke had me rolling.      - That awkward moment when Chris Bradford sticks his butt in your face.      - That even more awkward moment when after he sticks his butt in his face, the child still willingly accepts the piggyback ride.      - Okay...the fall thing was a little too in your face. (Mainly because this episode got spoiled for me and I already know what happens at the end but I mean even if I hadn’t, I would have figured it out from that alone.)     - This entire Leo-Splinter scene in the dojo hurts me and I’m not ready to talk about it here so we’ll just save it for the break downs.      - Super huge appreciation bullet for the fact that Karai and Shini went to hide with the Mutanimals because they knew their old lair wasn’t safe anymore. Karai has gotten so much wiser and Shini is just awesome so...     - That predictable moment when 10 seconds after you point out the place you’re staying is safe from your biggest enemy, the alarm indicating that your biggest enemy is there goes off.     - “Is anyone actually watching the monitors?” - Shini / me. Also, Shini’s sassy pose is my life.      - @ me *is upset we missed like half of what apparently has been the greatest battle ever.*     - Shredder: “I AM HERE TO KILL ALL OF YOU.” *Leaves without killing anyone.*     - Why does Raph say, “hurry, Leo!”? Why not “Hurry guys!” or even “hurry, Sensei!”? Why is it specifically Leo? Hahaaa.     - Splinter literally pulls Karai out by her arm. So you know how painful that would be assuming that even worked? Don’t ever tell me her arm was not disconnected by this action.       - The fact that Leo knows CPR appreciation bullet. (I want back story on how he got trained in that.)      - The fact that Leo was the only one who reacted in that way dis-appreciation bullet. (I think it should have been Donnie, personally.)     - LEO’S FACE WHEN HE SAVES KARAI IS MY FAVORITE MOMENT OF THIS EPISODE HANDS DOWN.     - Splinter having that vision telling him which enemies went which way only further fuels my theory that HE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN but also kinda kills it because if he knew then why would he send half the team after the wrong pair and I just don’t know what’s going on anymore.      - Not saying Splinter’s advice wasn’t good or anything but what on earth does “leading from your heard” have to do with this situation, exactly? If anything, Leo is using his heart to voice his concerns about this plan not being good at all.      - Four seasons in and Leonardo is still the worst driver I have ever seen. (Seriously, he’s lucky there were no people on that sidewalk.)     - Revisiting old areas for fight scenes makes me happy.      - #ThrowbackThursday #ThrowingItBackToTheLastThursdays     - The rocket-shooting horses are a bit much...     - I super appreciate going back to the Wolf Hotel for this battle, because I recognized it as the first place the turtles fought Shredder before Raph even said it, so I’m already both aead of the curve AND pumped.      - 2012 forever throwing that full moon in my face...but seriously, nice entrance.      - Um, Splinter’s back should definitely be broken– no, he’s fine? Okay. Moving on.      - Casey going to catch Raph warmed my heart...even though he fell off the building as a result. He was okay in the end...but seriously, Casey moving to save Raph like that. Best friend points.      - You’re gonna try to convince me that Splinter can take the beating he took and keep fighting, but April gets on little but and she’s useless? April is (arguably) more or less the most powerful being on that rooftop because of her powers and she only uses them when it’s convenient. (She could literally levitate Shredder off of that building and drop him if she wanted to.)     - It was so nice of Shredder to pause and wait for Splinter to get over there in front of April and Raph before he started shooting. He’s such a polite villain.      - I’m just sitting here wishing we could watch Donnie’s fight more because he’s all over that carousel showing off how adaptive he can be in a fight and we have to sit here and watch the Leo-Season-Four-Trope where he gets hurt/almost dies only to be saved by someone else at the last minute.      - Pretty sure Leatherhead just casually murdered Rahzar and we just kinda breeze through that so I mean...okay...     - YOU WANT ME TO SIT HERE WATCHING THIS AND BELIEVE THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS BATTLE WITH SUPER SHREDDER, APRIL HAD TIME TO FACETIME DONATELLO AND ASK FOR HELP. I CAN TOTALLY BUY THAT SHE WOULD CALL, BUT SHE LITERALLY JUST SKYPED HIM FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE.      - That awkward moment when Splinter pauses and it’s the typical moment of, “the good guy has the chance to end this now but stops for whatever reason, thus allowing the big dramatic thingy that’s about to happen to happen.”     - I think we all hate Shredder just a little more for calling Splinter, “brother” just now.     - Leo’s scream is so confusing. I mean it’s implied that he saw Splinter die, but Splinter was stabbed after Leo screamed? I don’t get the placement of that scream.     - Also, Seth Green’s scream is 11/10, would recommend, one of his best moments in this show if not his absolute best.      - Seth Green’s moment when he says “father...father.” is 151827367289128372891827284/10 definitely recommend, I want that on my tombstone when I die and I want the quote to be credited to Seth Green. Like, guys, I’ve heard that line too many times at this point and it still gives me chills.      - Also, look at Leo’s eyes. Look at how huge they are. I’ve sucked at pointing this out for a majority of the episode, but the eye animation has been so incredible.      - They really love giving April the super saiyan hair these days.     - SUPER APPRECIATION BULLET FOR CASEY AND THE 1990 REFERENCE. THEY EVEN DID THE “OOPS” LINE.     - Leo’s hand on Splinter’s torso is literally shaking while he’s holding Splinter’s body. Like, the animation in this episode and the attention to detail...I can’t. It’s so good.      - Seth Green’s line of, “no, please...” is 94875483920938478290938476718928374382938478912837891028374829128374678912387483923847678292394723985649024889342089429172095739874829462398794060/10, definitely would recommend and at this point, I’ll probably have “I survived Seth Green’s performance in Requiem” tattooed on my body at some point in my life being 100% serious. Guys, Seth has KILLED IT in this episode. I can’t even believe how great he’s doing.     - On a far less serious note, I know this is a children’s show and we can’t really see blood or anything totally graphic, but Splinter looks surprisingly well put together for someone who was just stabbed through the chest and thrown off a building to crash onto the ground and fall to his extremely untimely death.     - I lost it when Mikey said “poppa...” I lost it.     - I lost it again when they all carried his body away.     - I refuse to feel anything over Shredder still being alive because I knew that was the case but still slightly annoyed.      - This is probably not something I should point out considering the trauma we all just went through, but...Where is Slash? They literally left Slash on that rooftop.  Interesting things in “Owari”:     - I’m actually so glad they buried Splinter out at the farm house and that they had all of their friends and allies there to wish him goodbye, because Splinter really did touch so many lives.      - PIGEON PETE IS THERE. OH MY GOD THERE HE IS!!!     - KIRBY O’NEIL IS ALSO THERE. LOOK AT THIS GATHERING OF ALL OF 2012′S LEAST RESPECTED SIDE CHARACTERS!      - Seeing April in her old outfit threw me for a second. Hahaaa.      - They totally got me with that shot of all the turtles by his grave. I really thought Leo was going to be alone there. So when he faded and his brothers were still there, I was surprised. Good for you, 2012. You still have some surprises for me.      - Drugs are bad, Leonardo. No but seriously, if vision Splinter becomes a regular thing, I would be okay with that, because one; it showcases and highlights just how much Leo depends on his father and how lost he is without him (especially with that “I can’t go one without you, father...” line) and two; it keeps Hoon Lee in the series.      - Even in the hospital, Karai’s makeup is still fierce enough to kill a man. Slayyyyy.     - Seeing these five interact like siblings is the happiest thing I’ve seen in this series in ages and I feel like I’m alive again.      - Casey’s new mask appreciation bullet.      - Black outfits appreciation bullet.     - Okay, so...I gotta say the goofy dialogue bugs me a little bit. This is supposed to be a serious moment where they’re gearing up to end their greatest villain, and avenge literally every wrong thing he’s done against them...and we get dialogue about toes. Like, I know we have to throw in some light stuff for the children watching...but that’s the best they could do? It feels like they’re not taking this moment seriously; both the turtles and the writers.      - I guess Leo finally canonically said Booyakasha.      - Love the concept of having to battle our way through the woods.      - The arrows gave me flashbacks to season two’s finale. Feels.      - The lighting in this whole forest fight sequence is 10/10, would recommend.      - April’s powers confuse me more and more with every fight.      - I’m pretty sure Raph just murdered Fishface.      - Yes, because Super Shredder would be lying in bed chillin’ like a villain.      - NO 2012. DO NOT TRY TO CONVINCE ME BAXTER STOCKMAN WAS HAPPY AS A FLY. We have seen him complain numerous times about his mutated for and make multiple attempts to become a human again. I do not buy that whole monologue and refuse to believe that Stockman wanted to remain a fly.      - I cracked up when Donnie called him “Michael.” You guys, I seriously cracked up and I don’t even know why.      - 2k3 references all over the place in this funfest of an episode.      - We’re wasting a lot of episode time taking out enemies that are not the Super Shredder...     - Casey should have been dead. Casey should have definitely been dead by the time they finally shut down those traps. Although I will say I laughed at the emojis.      - SINCE WHEN CAN APRIL EVER DO THAT? SINCE WHEN CAN SHE MAKE A FORCEFIELD? WHAT EVEN ARE HER POWERS ANYMORE?      - Incase you guys had forgotten that Leo was now suffering from extreme amounts of pressure to be leader now, Tiger Claw was given a line to remind you of all of that.      - I’m sorry but Leo’s lines in his fight with Tiger Claw are so lame and I’m dead.     - TIGER CLAW KEEPS PET TIGERS AND I’M EVEN MORE DEAD.     - SINCE WHEN CAN APRIL JUST FLOAT ALL OF HER FRIENDS? I AM SO DONE AT THIS POINT. LOL.     - Oh, there’s Shredder. Nice. We have...five minutes to defeat him, if we want some sort of closure scene after this. If we don’t want that, we have seven minutes. Aaaaaaaaand, go.    - Aaaaaaaaand Casey and April don’t even get to do anything. Nice.     - It’s canon that Raphael’s best insult in the moment they all starred Shredder down was “freak nut.”    - It’s canon that Michelangelo’s best insult in the moment they all starred Shredder down was “cheese grater.”    - Serious appreciation bullet to the camera angels and choreography of this fight. It was so cool to watch all the turtles fighting in sync for a few moments and landing hits.     - Also absolutely LOVED watching them attempt to retromutate Shredder. Like seriously, A+ choreography for this entire fight sequence.     - At least April gets to be somewhat useful in this fight...    - GO MIKEY GO MIKEY GO!    - Super appreciating this Mirage-ending setup. I knew Ciro wanted to go this route to close this arc but seeing it actually happen with the 2012 spin on it is really cool.    - Watching Leo question Shredder while they were fighting one on one was really interesting, and even more so when Shredder paused and actually questioned what he was doing for a single second. But Leo didn’t even give him a chance to finish the thought, which absolutely raises so many questions. Where could that moment have gone had Leo not immediately stopped Shredder from contemplating his destiny? Like honestly, the curiosity is consuming me right now.    - I’m really glad Super Shredder paused long enough for Leo to have that vision of Splinter.    - THANK YOU 2012. OMG. THANK YOU FOR RECREATING THE CLASSIC MIRAGE ENDING. I WILL FOREVER WISH THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN SPLINTER TO END IT ALL, BUT I’M ALSO MORE THAN PERFECTLY CONTENT IT WAS LEO. LIKE, GUYS, THAT’S THE CLASSIC ARC AND SEEING IT REINCARNATED IN WHAT HAS BEEN A GREAT SERIES SO FAR REALLY JUST DROVE IT HOME. I’M SO PUMPED RIGHT NOW. ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE WAS ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY THAT NICK WASN’T GOING TO LET CIRO AND BRANDON DO THIS ENDING. LIKE SERIOUSLY, THE FIRST TIME HE PITCHED IT TO THEM, IT GOT SHUT DOWN SO HARDCORE. BUT THAT WAS SO LONG AGO AND I’M JUST SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW. GUYS. GUYS. SEND AN AMBULANCE.     - Well...that ended fairly quickly. I mean we don’t even get to see them celebrate or hug or anything.    - Yeah Leo delivered the final blow but it was actually a team effort to get there and everything else so...can we throw some recognition to the others, too? No? Okay...    - This ending scene feels really final. We still have season five and possibly other seasons beyond this, but as far as the main story goes, this does feel like an ending and I’m pretty grateful for that.     - Here’s to you, season four. You ended on a high note.  If you’re still alive (no pun intended there) after all of that, let’s try to keep hanging on for these break downs. I’ve already said this in the bullet points, but I’ll say it again; this finale was spoiled for me about a week ago on my dashboard because someone didn’t tag their spoilers...but I digress. The point of this breakdown is to talk about that little moment with Leo and Splinter in the dojo. I think it makes a lot of sense that Leo would be the one to confront Splinter about his “being distant.” See, the thing is, Splinter and Leo are so close, and to see how much the thought of eventually losing Splinter scares Leo in this opening scene is a reminder of that. It’s a pretty subdued moment from an emotional standpoint, as in there’s no snapping or lashing or anything. Just Leo trying to keep his composure as his father reminds him that one day, he’ll be on his own, and it was just a really sweet moment...but it begs the question, did Splinter know what was going to happen? I think he did. He seems very calm while telling Leo he’s going to be gone one day, and very adamant in reassuring Leo that when that day comes, Leo can handle it. The fact that Splinter had been meditating and “distant” prior to this scene strongly hints that maybe...just maybe, Splinter knew something like this was going to happen. And that makes everything totally heartbreaking. Also, side note: I super appreciate Splinter telling Leo that saying he was chosen “because he asked” at the time to temper his ego was a phenomenal explanation and as a person who has spent the last four seasons bitter over the fact that it was because Leo spoke up that one night in the dojo, I feel like I’m at peace. Hahaaa. The voice acting in "Requiem” was the best it has ever been, but there is one actor who so greatly out shined everyone else. Do NOT ever try to argue with me and say that "Requiem” wasn’t Seth Green’s absolute best performance as Leonardo in an episode. Don’t ever try to, because I will fight you until the day I die that Seth Green has never impressed me more than he did on this one. From the way he screams to the way his voice breaks when he’s calling his father, I had chills throughout this entire episode when Seth delivered lines. Since his first episode, I’ve always felt like Seth was trying to fit into the role. And it was especially difficult for me to see him as Leo, who is my favorite, because of his acting roles in the past, like Chris Griffin in Family Guy, or the evil son from the Austin Powers movies. In the beginning, you could tell he was new and awkward, and it made me miss Jason Biggs as Leo more than ever. But he slowly grew into his role as the leader and blue and I’ve slowly adapted to his voice. Now, with this episode under his belt, I can honestly tell you guys I love Seth as Leo, and I couldn’t even imagine this episode with anyone but him voicing the blue turtle. I just can’t even...I’m still so awestruck at how great he did, and I couldn’t ever praise him enough for this episode. Give him an Oscar or an Emmy for part one.  ...Which makes it weird to see how he kinda lacked a little in “Owari.” I don’t know what it was, but honestly, Seth fell short of the bar he set in that first one in the second half for me. Not saying he didn’t do okay...but after hearing his voice crack and break and just leak pure emotion in that first episode, I was honestly expecting the same level or greatness I’d seen in “Requiem” to be present in “Owari,” especially considering the big events that happen in that second part. Part of me believes it was mostly due to Seth not having as many like earth-shattering lines and screams like he did in part one. I mean, granted, we went from “no, please...” and “father...father” in “Requiem” to “you’ve used up your nine lives, pussy cat,” but still... Granted, he did have some good moments in “Owari,” too, like his conversation with Splinter and even his conversation with the Shredder, but for me, it was no where near “Requiem’s” level of awesome. So now that we’ve seen what Seth is capable of doing in this role, I hope we get more dramatic moments in season five, specifically so we can hear Seth’s talents come out again. It would be a crime not to. Alright, let’s talk about the big event of the first episode...Splinter’s death. This is tricky to explain, because there’s things I loved about this and things I don’t like about it, but overall, I think this death scene did more good things than bad. So let’s talk about the bad and end it with the good. And no, I’m not saying I’m glad Splinter’s dead or it’s great he’s gone.      - The thing is...this is about the fourth time we’ve watched Splinter die. Yes, fourth, if you think about it. First, in the season two finale, Shredder threw him into the drain thing and for a few minutes, we had to assume he was dead, even though it was immediately explained that he had survived at the very end of that same episode. Then, we have the death at the end of season three in “Annihilation Earth,” when he died to be brought back to life via time travel one episode later and ultimately saved from that death 15 episodes later. Finally, the third one came in “The Super Shredder” and/or “Darkest Plight,” where after their battle with Shredder, Splinter pulled both he and himself into the chasm near the underground city, and the turtles had to go searching for him an episode later (you might not consider that a death but some of us do, especially when April has the line, “I can’t sense him”). Anyway, the point is, we’ve seen this happen, three times before this instance, and it kind of pushes me to believe this isn’t anything new, which feels a little short for me. I always expect new and exciting things from season finales, and this wasn’t new and exciting for me. And, because I’ve seen this happen, it doesn’t emotionally phase me as much as I want it to...which sucks, because this should have so much of a bigger impact than it did.      - I think what’s most offensive to me about Splinter’s death is not that it’s been repeated so many times, but that of all the characters in this show, Splinter was the one who deserved to die the least. Not just because he was a good person and he did so many good things and he raised these four heroes and all of that...but honestly, the man never got any resolve. And I guess you can argue that that’s what makes this death so dramatic, but honestly, like I’ve already said a bunch times, we’ve seen this happen already. This is a man who’s lost everything so many times before, and was given fleeting moments of happiness to compensate for that. You know what we never got? A moment where Splinter and Miwa could be happy and honor Tang Shen together. A moment where this father and daughter, after being ripped apart for so many years and so many times by so many horrific circumstances, like kidnapping and death and mutations and etc., could truly just breathe and enjoy each other company for the sake of finally being done with all of the bad and work on building a future with their little family all reunited. Or many a moment when Splinter could have meditated and been at peace knowing that everything was truly past him and nothing like that would happen again. OR SPENT MORE TIME WITH HIS SONS (OTHER THAN LEO!) Because we’ve seen some good moments between Leo and Splinter in the series, but moments with the others were far and few. There was just so much Splinter needed in life that he never got, and so much that he deserved and we as viewers who watched him go through all of those terrible things in his life deserved to see. Splinter deserved true peace and happiness after all of this, but he’ll never get it. It makes me feel like the writers said, “Splinter dying would be a good big dramatic event to stick in this finale so let’s just got with it.” Honestly, I would have been happier if they’d like paralyzed him or made him lose a limb or something. As long as he was alive and got to exist knowing that everything was finally over and that he and his sons AND DAUGHTER could be happy together. Karai didn’t even get to say goodbye to the father she was just starting to know, and honestly, she is seriously just a victim in this show as well. But, because I’m not totally cynical, I can say that of all the times we’ve seen Splinter die, this was the best one in the worst possible ways. This was, without a doubt, the most violent death we saw Splinter experience, hands down. He was stabbed through the chest back in season three, but this time, he fell off a building. And he hit the ground. And his sons watched it (and definitely heard it, but that’s an entirely different thing, I’m sure; point it, it was beyond scarring.) And you know what they did right this time around? The writers made sure nothing else was going on when this happened. The Kraang weren’t invading, the world wasn’t ending, none of it. It was just stillness and silence as they Splinter is impaled and then thrown off the building to his death. You know what the best thing the writers did this time is? We get to see the emotion. We get to see the initial reactions. We get to witness the boys break down and hear them cry in agony as they come to terms with the fact that this time, there is no undoing this. We’ve never gotten to see the boys break like this before (aside from Raph freaking out in the season two finale), and it’s about time we got to see it happen. In fact, the emotions we see are so perfectly laid out and heartbreaking, that you can totally forgive the fact that this is not anything new. It’s almost like we can overlook Splinter’s previous deaths, because it’s finally the proper emotional response and it’s like we’re really seeing this for the first time. Watching these four boys break down at the loss of their father is the most beautiful thing this series has done so far, and the reactions are a part of what has solidified “Requiem” into my list of top favorite 2012 series episodes. These reactions are what I’ve been waiting for every time we’ve seen Master Splinter die, and I feel like all that waiting might have made it the more impactful. But seriously, props to the voice cast for their super deep cries of pain and the animation team for the mannerisms we see, like the shaking and the curling up and everything else. This death scene was hands down the best we’ve ever seen.   Next thing I want to break down is each character’s reactions to Splinter’s death, because each one was hella interesting and if I don’t break them down, the stress will kill me.      - We gotta start with Leo, because he absolutely had the most shown reactions, as in, this episode showcased him the most, and I know that upset some of you. I’ve had quite a few messages telling me that this episode was so painfully Leo-centric, that it almost wasn’t fair at all to the others that went through the exact same thing as he had been; the loss of their father. And to some extent, I agree with you and feel we should have seen a little bit more of the others...but I’m actually completely fine with the way this panned out and that we saw Leo so upfront. It’s not because I’m biased and because Leo is my favorite, but more so of how the way this episode has been structured and how the series overall has shown us how close they are. I’ve never seen Leo, or any of the turtles, refer to Splinter so much as their father in one single episode. It’s like Leo was reminding us the entire time that he’s more than just their teacher, but he is their dad, and hearing it so many times made watching them lose their father all the more unbearable when it happened. But looking at Leo specifically, can you imagine how scared he is? How that conversation he had with Splinter a few hours prior just had to be replaying in his head? How Leo realizes that he is truly and completely on his own now? Leo’s always had Splinter to guide him when he didn’t understand things, and he’s still so young. That safety net is gone, and Leo is all too aware of that. You can hear it in the way he begs for Splinter not to be dead. “No, please...” He’s saying, “please don’t leave us. Please don’t leave me; I can’t do this on my own. I’m not ready. I need you.” All of this mounting pressure and responsibility that has just fallen on Leo is why they showcased him the most here, and it’s evidence from expression and emotion that Leo has never been more lost in his life. And he can’t even speak, because he’s trying so hard to be strong, but even he can’t stop himself from crying. And the little moment he remembered, when Splinter gave him his katana...my heart hurts, because he was definitely remembering how Splinter had told him that he knew from an early age that Leo would be the leader some day. And look at him now. Dear God, my chest is ripped open and I am bleeding out.        - Donnie is so broken that he can’t even speak, which in itself is something we don’t see regularly. See, Donnie is always the one who has a way of explaining things. Donnie always knows what’s going on and how to process the events around him, because he’s the smartest being in the group and probably in all of existence. Here, he’s utterly silent. Here, he can’t understand what’s happening or why. All he knows is that he’s hurting beyond measure and he can’t for the life of him figure out how to make it stop. He can’t fix this. There’s no equation he can solve or no one thing he can invent that can undo what has been done. Nothing he can do can bring his father back. His father, who didn’t always understand his inventions but who always supported him in making them. His father who always had a way of teaching him the things he couldn’t figure out on his own and who raised him since day one. His father, who was his biggest support system in life and who never failed to be there for him no matter what was going on. It’s gone. It’s been ripped away from him in the worst way imaginable. And he’s faced this loss before, but there was always something else to focus on. Wether the Kraang were invading or the world was ending, Donnie always had to put his pain on hold to focus on something else. But now, there is nothing else. There’s just the death of his father, and Donnie has never known that one could hurt this badly. Nothing scares Donnie more than being unaccepted, and the one person who accepted him the most is gone. So all he can do is just cry.      - Casey is behind Donatello in the background and his response is pretty interesting to see. He just folds his arms and looks away like he’s too tough for this whole thing, but really, he’s so hurt to have lost Splinter. We never really saw them as close, but I’m sure they had their moments, and honestly, look at the timeline. Casey was scared beyond reason when he first met Splinter, because rats were Casey’s phobia in the beginning. But overtime, Splinter helped Casey conquer that fear, and I’m sure Splinter helped Casey in other areas as well. In the beginning, Casey couldn’t even look at Splinter because he was afraid of what he would see; now, it’s the exact same principle, but for entirely different reasons. And that in itself is tragic.       - If you didn’t feel like you were being stabbed repeatedly when we saw Mikey, you weren’t watching the right scene and I encourage you to go back and actually watch it. Michelangelo is the child of this group; he is the most innocent and the most pure. And he just lost his dad. Mikey can’t even breathe; seriously, when you listen to him before he’s able to say “poppa,” he’s struggling to breathe, and that’s exactly what I would expect from Mikey. As scatterbrained as Mikey can be, he’s not stupid, and Mikey definitely understands the gravity of this situation. He understands the finality of death, and how this time, there’s no bringing Splinter back. It’s a sharp contrast to how we saw Mikey handle this scenario the first time in the season two finale...when he was the one comforting Raph and telling Raph that “Splinter would be okay.” Now, he’d got no one to console him, because they’ve all lost the same thing, and Mikey knows this time, it’s not going to be okay. He can’t have his father back this time. And no one thing that anyone could say to him would make this okay. Nothing is going to take that pain away. Especially when you remember that Mikey actually saw Splinter hit the ground. He observed and heard Splinter’s body smash into the concrete as he and two of his brothers desperately tried to catch him and failed. He heard Leo, who he’s always known to be in charge and on top of things scream in recognition that they failed to do anything useful in this situation. We see Mikey collapse into sobs while still holding Splinter’s hand in the end, and my soul is totally crushed for him.       - We actually see Raph walk up to the group and it’s very evident that he’s still in complete and utter shock. It’s like mentally, he hasn’t fully processed what just occurred. And seeing it first hand hasn’t made it any easier to understand. But now everything’s slowed down and he’s forced to face this heart-wrenching reality that his father is gone. His father, who has always understood him when no one else did. Who always was quick to forgive and empathize with his temper issues because everyone else around him failed to get it. The one person who understood him better than anyone is gone. The one person who raised him to understand that his anger did not define him, and who taught him how to channel and control his rage. That support system is gone, and Raph must feel like he’ll never have that level of understanding in his life again. Splinter never failed to reassure Raphael that his anger issues were a part of who he was and that he could use it to bring about change and positivity rather than destruction. Can you imagine losing the one person who has never given up on you since day one, because he was once where you were in life. Raph can’t, and yet, there he was, suffering that exact loss. All he can do is cover his face with his hand and wipe the tears away, because even though he’s the tough guy in the group, even he isn’t strong enough to hold back the tears.       - We don’t see much of April’s reaction initially. Well, we know she was angry, because she shot Shredder off the roof with a psychic blast powerful enough to shatter a cement wall. But sadness-wise, we only get a quick glimpse. But because we’ve seen how close April and Splinter are over the series, that quick little shot of her and Casey walking behind the turtles sadly is all we need to know April feels like she’s lost her own father. In a lot of ways, Splinter did father her. Splinter was always there to help her, wether it was training, offering her a place to stay and protection or anything in between. And April cannot believe she lost that in the ways that she did. Splinter was April’s adopted father, and the two of them were so close since day one. They might not be related by blood, but the loss hurts her just as much as if they were.  You know what upsets me a lot in this finale? how little a role Karai got to play. I mean, seriously, the girl is one of the biggest aspects of this story, and she didn’t even help get to avenge her father. Or get some payback for all the hurt and suffering and lies she experienced in her lifetime. Karai deserved just as much a happy ending as Splinter did, and in a lot of ways, she is happy now, and I like to see that. But at the same time, I wish we could have gotten to see her take some of her own happiness for herself. Watching her fight for 30 seconds in part one and then lying in a hospital bed to be told her real father was dead and not get to see her kick some butt like we know she can hurt a little.  The pacing for “Owari” was all over the place, and not in a good way. I mean, I get that it was a nonstop battle episode, and I think it definitely had to be...but this episode would have been A LOT better if we could have spent two full episodes on breaking into Shredder’s evil fortress. Seriously, 2003 gave this arc like a full four episodes, and they took their time to really go through getting to the final battle with Shredder. In this episode, much like 2003, the turtles have to go through all of Shredder’s forces before they get to him, but they gave themselves four entire episodes to do just that, and a full episode to battle the Shredder. Here, we have literally 22 minutes to take out MULTIPLE henchmen AND THEN Super Shredder himself.  The ending of “Owari” is a decent wrap up for the main story. They did a pretty good job tying up the main plot, but there’s still a lot of unanswered questions and loose ends that worry me. What about Timothy and his story? If Rahzar and Fishface are still alive, will we see them again and will we retromutate them as well (honestly I was kind of hoping for that to happen)? Will Leo and the others still have visions of Splinter in the future (or is it just Leo since he’s considered the most spiritual in this series)? What about other mutant villains we’ve seen over the last four seasons, like Snakeweed or Spiderbytez? Those are just the tip of the ice burg; there’s still a lot left that I hope we get resolution for in the coming season or seasons, depending on how far they was to take it. This finale ties up our major story, but we need to address our other side stories as well. Don’t let me down, season five.  I guess I’ve ranted enough, so let’s get ready to close this out with final thoughts...but there’s just so much to say. Looking at season four as a whole, it had a lot of weak moments for me. I felt the space arc dragged at times and the resolution to “Annihilation Earth” wasn’t as strong as it should have been. I also felt a little cheated with April’s corruption arc and how all of the build up led to one episode and a resolution I wasn’t totally a fan of. Leo’s constant trope throughout the season – especially in the space arc – of almost constantly dying and getting hurt got super repetitive and annoying at times as well. There were moments of this season that drove me absolutely nuts and there are definitely rants of mine to prove that. However, season four wasn’t a total loss. For all the chaos and discord, they also had some really high points; I felt that some of the episodes we got were the best of the series overall.  When I compare these two episodes side-by-side, I think “Requiem” wins out. While I appreciated the Mirage-based ending and the brilliant filmography and choreography of “Owari,” it just didn’t hit the emotional levels “Requiem” did. “Owari’s” fast-pacing hurt the episode as a whole a little bit. I was really excited to see Leo deliver the final blow, but I think the other characters deserved to get more hits than they got. We had to go through so many other bad guys before we got to Shredder, and Shredder was the whole point of this episode. They did a great job in the time they were given, but they should have given themselves more time. Expand on Raph (maybe?) killing Fishface. Show us Leo’s reaction to Tiger Claw’s comments after they had a moment to stop and for him to process them. Let Donnie struggle to believe that his retromutagen really didn’t work for a few minutes. Give Mikey a few more epic shots as he swings his nunchucks in battle. It was all just so rushed. And the moment when Shredder was actually pondering what Leo had said to him about destiny...where could that moment had gone had we had more time for it? When you rush an episode, you lose the potential for those things, and you can argue that we already had so much emotion and grief to deal with from having to see Splinter’s death, but this episode called for even more expansion on that in so many moments, and we just didn’t have the time for it. We didn’t even get to see the boys run up to Leo and jut all process that their brother had both survived and ended the ultimate battle they’ve all been fighting for years. There’s no way they held those reactions in until they were all on the rooftop with Karai. So many things needed to happen that didn’t. "Owari” was a good episode, but for me, “Requiem” shined so much harder. It did an excellent job in setting us up for the final battle with the Shredder, which ended entirely too quickly. All of the little details and development that went into “Requiem” really showcased how wonderful this show can be. From little things like the animation of the eyes with the pupil shrinkage and expansion to how hardcore the cries and dark moments were, it was a phenomenal episode with very few flaws. I wish that “Requiem” could have been the episode to lead up to the two-part finale, and not have it as part one of the finale itself. So for “Requiem,” I’d give it a 9.5/10 and “Owari” gets a 8/10. We’re not through yet; season five is coming. Honestly, “Requiem” set a new standard of episodes for me in this series. I want to see those same emotional highs come out in the future of this series. We’ve already established that things can get insane in this show, but season four overall especially. We saw everything from more violent action to actual character deaths to so much more pain than we’ve ever seen, and I’m extremely optimistic that season five can keep this momentum going. Like Casey said at the very end, Tiger Claw is out there and he has a serious revenge complex now. On top of that threat, we have so many loose ends to go back to as well. There’s a lot I want to see in season five as well. I want to see Karai and the turtles team up more; maybe even live together. I want to see the turtles struggle to adjust to life without Splinter for a while; Leo learning how to be a leader truly on his own, Raph have outbursts and no one to empathize with him, Mikey try to cope without having a dad, and Donnie go through life without Splinter’s wisdom and guidance to reassure him. I want to see Alopex come back as the fight with Tiger Claw gets more sever. I want to see Casey continue to improve. I want to know just what the hell April’s powers are, because they keep changing. Hahaaa. So much. So many things. And I’m confident season five can take us there. If anything, they’ve already promised us more multi-episode arcs, which will be cool.  Season five will begin with “Scroll of the Demodragon,” in which the turtles meet new foes after they were sure they’d defeated all the old ones.  We have a bit of time in between now and the season five premiere, so let’s talk about this finale, and about season four as a whole. Send me all of your thoughts here. Previous review for The Tale of Tiger Claw here. All season four reviews here. All episode reviews index here. Podcast review here.

[setoangel01-fanfiction]

Misconception

Crazy - Chapter 22 (Previous Chapters)

Rated: T

Chapter Summary: April takes off with Casey and Raphael is not prepared to confront the possibility that he was right all along…

Fanfiction.net

A03

"Hmm…that's rather peculiar…" Donnie muttered to himself; index pushing his glasses further up his snout as he stared at the alarm system near the entrance of the lair. Thick fingers rubbing the nibbled wires between his digits and staring upon the destruction that was caused.

It had been three days and the alarms within the lair had been sounding at all random times of the day and night.

Yet when the group arrived at the source, whatever had been there to cause the damage was already long gone. Simply maddening and confusing for all involved as they tried to figure out the source of the problem. Even the security cameras they had up had been glitching out during those times and these occurrences were getting more and more alarming and frequent…

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked, peering over the genius's shoulder.

"This is the fifth time this week; exact same scenario occurring." Donnie mumbled, eyes trailing over the damage on their security panels, "Whether it was the security panels or water heater…last week was the electricity bracket going out…I just don't understand how the blizzard, as intense as it is, could case this to happen so frequently…" his voice dissolved into mutterings as he got lost to his work and his three brothers and their rat father looked on.

"Ya can fix it though, right?" Raph asked, rubbing at his blurry eyes. His sleep schedule had been absolute hell. The situation with April was bad enough and now he had to deal with all of this shit on top of it.

"Certainly. I just need a good seven hours to redo all the wiring, electrical hookups, exchanging the paneling, and-"

"Alright. We get it…" Raph grumbled, sorry he asked.

"Yikes, bros. You think we got some huge, mutant super rats with a vendetta against us?" Mikey asked as he looked over Donnie's shoulder.

Splinter cleared his throat.

"Nah, not like you, dad. Just a huge rat infestation problem I bet! Right, Don?"

"No…" Donnie muttered. "I doubt it's any sort of rodent. I've placed multiple traps but they never alarmed and there's no feasible evidence of any sort of infestation. If it simply was a rat infestation, we could have identified corpses, traces of hair, droppings, etc. …but there's nothing to indicate anything of the sort is present."

Leo's brow ridges furrowed, "…they could have just not left evidence - couldn't they?"

"Highly improbable. They're not the cleanest creatures." Donnie shrugged almost helplessly. "If it was a rodent infestation, they would definitively left some evidence behind….but…it just doesn't make sense…"

"...So, what do we do, Donnie?" Leo asked.

"Monitor the situation as best we can." Don shrugged, "There's not much else we could do. I'll go ahead and set up more surveillance equipment and traps; perhaps they're mutated from the mutagen spill we had a few months ago. Although highly unlikely, I propose that may be the problem as little of a chance, I suppose anything is possible. Not exactly probable, but possible." Donnie let out a sigh; scratching at his mask in sheer frustration and lack of sleep that haunted all of them.

"Thank you for your tireless efforts to remedy the situation, Donatello. Your work is very much appreciated." Splinter spoke up as he approached his genius son and placed a hand on his arm.

"Thanks, dad." Donnie sighed but flashed his father a tired smile.

"I'm sure you're doing your best, and please, if there's anything your brothers or I can do to help, do not hesitate to ask - and they will do ask asked. Am I clear, my sons?"

"Hai, Sensei." Leo, Mikey, and Raph replied with a slight bow.

"Good. Run along now, there's quite a bit to do. Might as well get started." Splinter ordered; the whip of his tail had the turtles jumping into motion.

Raphael took a long, shaky breath as he exited the shower; steam licking at his scales as he wiped off the excess water that remained attached to his hide.

The day had been long and arduous by the time they finally fixed what was necessary. It was only obvious that a hot shower was in order after all the strenuous work he'd been put through today. Lifting heavy material and clearing out new areas of tunnels to add more security cameras and back-up generators. Donnie could be a bit melodramatic and panicky in situations where the electricity (especially his computer monitors) were endangered, so it was only obvious he'd put in back-ups in case there was another incident later on.

"No such thing as too prepared!" his genius brother's motto weighed in on his tired mind.

As strange as the past few days had been with the failing equipment and damage, there was one thing that was forever constant in the forefront of his mind - April. Let's face it, these past three days had been hellish for him. Dealing with his own emotions and Mikey's words still fluttering around in his mind and he was still trying to figure it all out.

Trying to understand what his next move, if any, should be.

Raph was just so damn confused by it all! Trying to explain away all of April's touching, spending time with him, bringing him food and drink, asking him over, calling and texting him, and treating him kinder than should have been necessary. Spending the better part of the past few days trying his damnedest to wrap his head around the small gestures she made. The tender caress of her hand on him when she thought he was asleep. Hugging him around his neck, brushing her nose over her, and the one time she kissed his cheek…it was all just too much to absorb at once.

Allowing his heart to calm a bit, Raphael finished wiping off his body before putting on his clean clothes and dumping the dirty ones in the overflowing hamper.

"Fuckin' Mikey." Raph growled under his breath upon seeing the mountain of dirty clothes and knowing it was his youngest brother's turn to do the laundry this week, "Always makin' me pick up after dat little shi…" he started but his voice drifted off.

Silently recalling that conversation with his youngest brother and that was there it hit him the hardest. For Michelangelo to be so forward; to say words that he would have never believed would be uttered from anybody; let alone his absent-minded little brother… A sudden pang echoed deep in his chest and he allowed a breath to escape from between his lips. Temporarily swallowing his anger, he picked up the hamper as well as a few stray clothes littered around before heading to the laundry room.

Once there, Raphael began wordlessly separating the whites and darks and placing them in different piles before dumping one set into the washer. Screwing off the top of the detergent and pouring the correct amount in, he started the machine. As he stared down into the churning motor, Raph allowed his mind to wander. To think about things he'd been putting off for days; facing facts and options he really didn't want to deal with but they flooded in anyway.

Before long, his head began to ache and he knew a full nights sleep was in order. Yeah, it was barely after 6 o'clock, but dammit, he was tired! Pushing away those thoughts he'd rather face more rested, he entered the main area of the lair and heard something he was not prepared for.

"You busy, Raph?" Donnie asked and the red-banded brother clenched his jaw. Forced to stop mid-step on his way to the bedrooms was not exactly welcomed right now.

"Nah. I was gonna patrol for awhile to get some air." Raphael lied. That was typically the easiest route; couldn't a guy just get some shut-eye without being interrogated?

"In that case, do you mind swinging by April's place and fixing her dishwasher? When she called me tonight, she sounded pretty damn desperate."

Raph froze; body in a state of limbo as Donnie's question left his throat. Thinking back these past three days, he realized now that he hadn't received a single message, text, or even missed call from the pretty brunette. Whereas she would contact him multiple times a day, she hadn't reached out to him at all since that night…and yet, Donnie spoke to her?

April called his brother - but not him…?

…his heart suddenly clogged his throat.

"You can do it, right? Or am I gonna have to go?" Donnie's sardonic voice was deadpanned as it broke through Raph's clouded mind and he immediately clenched his jaw and fists to keep from smacking the smart-ass Donatello into next week.

If there was anything Raphael hated more, it was being demeaned - something Don knew all too well and sometimes he liked to get under his shell to make him squirm. Raphael didn't exactly blame him as he took in Donnie's purple bagged and red-rimmed eyes. Ultimately chalking it up to Donnie's bad mood from lack of sleep - it always tended to make Don a little less pissy than a rabid coyote with a huge, cutting vocabulary.

"Don't fuck with me, Don." Raph growled, "Ya know I can."

The genius didn't bother a response; just shrugged and motioned to a nearby tool kit before going back to work on something or other.

Raphael left the lair in a huff.

The air, if possible, seemed further chilled than last time.

Harsh winds and sleet digging into his scales and he inwardly cursed at his predicament.

Raphael was not at all prepared to face April tonight - hell, probably not for at least a week, but here he was. Slowly moving toward her apartment as fast as the blizzard was allotting him. It didn't take him as long as he would have liked when he soon found himself atop her apartment and scaling down the fire escape.

In front of her frosted window, he peered inside. April was no where in sight when his knuckles subconsciously rapped on the pane and he waited in silent anticipation for her to open it. Silently preparing himself what to say; never could have predicted what awaited on the other side…

"Thank God you're he - Oh! Raph?! H-H-Hey." April said with wide, confused eyes; the brunette appearing apprehensive and nervous as she lifted the window for him to enter.

Raphael didn't think too much of it since April had been under a considerable amount of stress lately with her job; so ignoring the tone of her voice, he slipped in through the window. The wonderful warmth of her apartment a welcome change to the blizzard happening outside.

"Hey. How are ya?" he asked, placing the toolbox on a nearby kitchen counter as he wiped some excess sleet from his massive shoulders.

"I-I'm fine - b-but what are you doing here any -" April started but was interrupted when someone else in her apartment made their unwelcome presence known.

"Hey! Raphael! What's up, man?" Casey fuckin' Jones slipped into view and Raphael's stomach plummeted into his bowels. "Haven't seen you for awhile. How have you been?" the vigilante asked with his hand out offered for a handshake; seemingly not caring about the hostility reeking of Raphael in waves.

Raphael tried his damnedest not to show his dissatisfaction at the man's presence but it was fuckin' hard not to.

Just what the HELL was he doing here?!

Raphael knew it was stupid to ask that for Casey had been to April's on numerous occasions, even alone, but Raphael did not ponder that in fear he'd murder the man in cold blood just for breathing the same air as April. But this was strange for him to be here considering how things were going between himself and the brunette recently, at least in Mikey's opinion and perhaps his if he allowed himself to think about it further. The last person he expected to see at her place was the wannabe detective - yet, here he was.

"Nothin'." Raph grumbled out a reply, hoping one word answers would halt this unwanted conversation-in-progress.

"Aw, that's a damn shame. Haven't cracked any good skulls lately?" the charismatic Jones asked with a breathy chuckle and Raphael's fists itched to punch him in his pretty boy face with all those perfect white teeth flashin'.

"No, but I plan to..."

April butted in quick when the conversation seemed to be growing worse, "Hey, Raph, what are you doing here? I thought Donnie was going to come fix my dishwasher." April asked, probably completely unaware of how unbelievably rude she sounded.

"He was, but got caught up tryin' to fix our security systems and since I'm da only one else who could do it, I figured I'd come over for ya." he responded, surprised he wasn't grinding his teeth at just how uncomfortable all of this was.

"Wait…You can fix my dishwasher?" she asked and Raphael's heart ached at the question and her insinuation he was somehow incompetent.

"Course' I can!" he growled.

"Well, I've told you about it a half a dozen times that it was a piece of broken shit, yet you never offered to fix it before."

"Ya never asked me to!"

"Was I supposed to? I-I've told you how frustrated I've been with it and…" April voice trailed off as she sighed, dainty fingers squeezing the bridge of her nose.

Raphael was silent as the words came from her mouth. Never had April spoke to him as she was doing now; she seemed tired, stressed and angry for no apparent reason. Eyes lifting to the clueless vigilante staring nearby, he supposed that could very well be the cause and that depleted any confusion on his part.

"Look. I'm sorry, Raph. Thanks. Um... I was just on my way out, so sorry if I can't stick around to help." April muttered, brushing back her hair off her shoulders as she barely spared him a glance.

"'S fine. I got it. Yer leavin' too, right?" Raph grumbled toward the human male.

"He's the reason I'm leaving." April explained, suddenly sounding a bit more chipper, "Me and Casey are heading out but if you need me, just call me on my cell."

Raph was too shocked to speak as Casey interjected.

"Yeah, dude! Too bad you can't come too. It's my big local hockey playoff game and I'd rather not ask my poor elderly mom to come, April was kind enough to offer her support."

"Hmm. I dunno, Case. I may just be rooting for the other team." April laughed and Raphael hoped his face remained calm even as his heart staked permanent residence in his throat when Casey laughed; suddenly moving his arm around April's shoulders.

It only slightly alleviated when April promptly pushed his arm away but in that playful way she did it only intensified the growing pain in his chest.

"Heh. Yeah. But anyway, we're gonna be late if we don't get going." Casey chuckled, eyes suddenly glued to Raph's. "It was nice seeing you, Raphael. Don't be a stranger, okay?" the detective asked with his hand offered but Raph did not have any intention on shaking it.

"..." Raph was too lost in his own musings and heart being squeezed distressingly to really react to anything but the intense pain.

"Alright. Uh, anyway… I'll see you later, Raphael." Casey chuckled, moving to grab his coat by the door as Raph was suddenly left alone with April.

"Sorry for running out on you like this, Raph." April seemed like her normal self in those seconds, "If you want something to drink or eat, there's some soda and snacks in the fridge. Help yourself, alright?"

Desperately afraid to speak in fear he'd say something egregiously stupid, Raphael just stiffly nodded.

"Great. See you!" April smiled, turned around to leave but froze for a second. She turned around to face him again; a flash of something he didn't catch in her eyes as she spoke again, "Um…maybe if you're still here when I get back - we could, um…Tell you what, I-I'll just see you then. …okay?"

"Ape! I'm gonna be late!" Casey announced; voice carrying from where he'd exited her apartment and was waiting in the hall. The nickname he gave her had Raphael's intestines twisting uncomfortably.

"Coming!" She shouted back at the detective before her eyes met Raph's again. A sudden hand was gently placed on his forearm and his heart accelerated without his permission.

"Thanks, Raph. I'll see you later, okay? W-We'll catch up; just wait for me, alright?" beautiful smile lifting the edges of her pink lips. With a soft pat on his arm and a spin, she headed out the door with a wave. A click of the lock and she was gone.

The flowery scent of her long, flowing hair infiltrating his nostrils prolonged after she had already left. Heart hammering uncomfortably in his chest, he felt strangely at ease by her words. April would be back later on - she said she would. They were only attending a hockey game after all - something her and Casey were known to do together. It would be like all those other times and she'd be home within hours - that was it. Raph was certain it was.

Encouraged, he slowly got to work on her dishwasher; taking his time with multiple breaks to watch a little television or take something out of the fridge, he soon found himself watching the clock rather than the late night news or the few sporting events.

Raphael watched as the minutes and hours ticked by until it was midnight.

The dishwasher was long since fixed and he was on his fifth soda. Steeling himself with excuses of overtime and maybe they went out for a bite to eat afterward. Raph still waited even as it became after two o'clock and he'd eaten the remainder of some re-heated old Chinese take-out she had left.

Soon, he found himself pacing back and forth; steps heavy and loud. Her downstairs neighbors probably thinking she'd acquired a pet elephant but he didn't care at all right now as more time slipped through his fingers.

A strange pain building in his chest as four o'clock came and went. Nervous and full of trepidation as the sun began rising and filtering through her frosted windows…

...and still, April never came home...