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Parentified mother hen Leonardo is just too relatable

I love the idea that the 2003 iteration of Leonardo is so intent on being a mother hen that he tries to take care of literally everyone around him—even grown-ass adults. I especially love the idea of fifteen-year-old Leonardo mother henning Casey and April, who are in their mid-twenties.

Leonardo: [hands an apple and a protein bar to Casey] Here. You might get hungry during patrol, and it’s important to keep your energy up. I also have dark chocolate or peanut butter if you finish those.

Casey: [staring at the snacks, confused] Uh… thanks, Leo?

Raphael: [snickering]

Casey: [frowning] Does he always do this?

Donatello: [with a straight face] You have no idea…

Michelangelo: [letting Leonardo peel an apple for him with his katana] Oh yeah, all the time. It’s kinda nice—he cuts the apple into perfect little pieces.

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TMNT LEOSAGI AU

FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

Chapter 4: Failed experiment

previous chapter |

There it was, one possibility. Leo tried to fight against the idea, as it was a long shot but it was the last glimpse of hope. He swept aggressively the tears that had formed up after thinking about Usagi and their last some-what happy conversation. Usagi had gave the crystals for a reason. It had to be. He knew something was gonna happen.

We are here for you.

Leo decided it was time to face Donnie.

Of course Donnie was still awake at 3 am. Leo had always nagged him about it even though he did exactly the same thing. 

“Leo! What are you doing up?” Donnie said, not even pretending to hide his half-done gadget. 

Leo was hesitant for a second. What if Donnie couldn’t help him? The hope was holding him together and he was afraid what would happen if he had to let go.

“Donnie. I need a dimension portal.”

“What now?”

“I need it as fast as possible.”

“Do you think they grow on trees?”

“Well, probably they grow in crops if I’ve understood Usagi correctly but that’s not important right now. I need a dimension portal.”

So this was the moment his brother had completely lost himself, Donnie thought. But he couldn’t lie to himself – a dimension portal sounded so freaking cool.

“It would take a long time, Leo. I need to find… well, first of all, some scientific proof that multiverse exists and then a to find a fuel source-”

Leo opened a little bag with turquoise stones and threw them on the table.

“These are how Usagi travelled to here. At least I think so. You can start from this.”

“Where did you-”

Leo looked at the floor, fists clenching the bag.

“I got them from Usagi.”

Donnie took one of them carefully in his hands. 

“They look like the material from his necklace.”

Leo’s heart was pounding in his chest.

“He… He said that they are what the Realm is protecting. He said they cultivated blue crystals when he was a kid. Could it… could they be to used for teleportation?” Leo asked, full of hope and fear. Please. Please, please, please.

Donnie put the crystal back on the table and gave Leo a pitiful look. He sighed.

“I… It could. It might. He never told you?”

“I guess I never asked.”

“You never asked how he got here?” Donnie couldn’t believe his brother. How he could not ask about it? Donnie had to always come up with an impossible project to keep his mind occupied every time Usagi came to visit just not to ask him about his realm.

“It was irrelevant to me.” Leo felt like an idiot. But back then it didn’t matter. Usagi came from a blue portal and that’s it. “Why didn’t you ask? You are the geek.”

“You specifically asked me not to ask invasive questions about his home planet or himself because you thought he would feel uncomfortable.”

“And you actually never did? Even when I wasn’t around?”

“Of course not. I promised.”

“Thanks”, Leo said, feeling gratitude to his brother. Even though this one time it would have helped not to listen to him.

Donnie stared at the crystals intensely.

“I will look into them but I won’t promise anything. These crystals could be just for decoration.”

“I know you can figure it out.”

“Thanks for the pressure.”

When Donnie got the portal machine running after a couple of months, Leo could not think straight. It had been so long that who knew what had happened to Usagi. He could’ve been killed for all he knew.

“We should do couple of test runs”, Donnie said when they all stood next to the brand new machine.

“Test runs? You said it’s working, right?” Leo said.

“Yeah, it works but-”

“We can test it to go to Usagi’s realm”, Leo said. “We have wasted enough time.”

Donnie didn’t want to argue longer. Leo had been a pain in everyone’s butt for months and Donnie was getting tired of it. Leo didn’t listen to anyone when he had the attitude.

Donnie gave everyone a little square machine with the little turquoise stone.

“These are portal devices to create portals”, Donnie said and gave everyone one. “They each have a portal stone that is charged by the big machine over here. You can do few jumps from one place to another with these without them needing to be charged but I still haven’t tested how many exacted.”

“I have the one that’s connected to the rest of them so we can do simultaneous teleportation together. One crystal is meant for one person to use and it does not hold the portal for that long so that’s why everyone has their own. So don’t test them. I don’t want any of us to end up in any random realm.”

Donnie gave Leo a long look.

“I can do this by myself”, Leo said and crossed his arms. He was going to do this now, no matter Donnie said.

“We promised to help”, Mikey said. “So that’s what we’re doing.”

Donnie set the coordinates and the portal machine started to glow. They stepped on the machine and the glittering light covered them. When it disappeared, they had appeared in the middle of a blood covered battlefield.

They had ended up somewhere dark, where the only source of light came from the bright blue nebula above. The ground was covered in gray dust that made the lungs hurt. 

They were surrounded by different kind of mammals standing on two feet, fighting with katanas, knives and bos against what Leo could only describe as straight from a horror film. The shadowy creatures did not have a clear shape, they moved through the air, slashing their opponents, leaving them screaming on the ground. Leo felt uneasy looking at them. 

Fuck.

“What happened?” Leo yelled and drew his katanas.

“I- I don’t know”, Donnie yelled and dodged an arrow. “I- I need to recalibrate. Shield me.”

Neither side cared if they were a foe or a friend. The turtles were attacked immediately. Leo kept his stand to protect Donnie but Mikey and Raph were getting pulled further away to fight.

“We are on some kind of crossroad section”, Donnie yelled, trying to make the numbers on his little carry-on machine to make sense. “There’s a lot of the same energy in here as these crystals so maybe that’s what confused the machine. We are not that far off tho. I think some of these people here might be from Usagi’s realm…”

“For fucks sake Donnie”, Leo couldn’t hold his frustration in as he kicked a leopard to the ground. The leopard in blue-red costume got back up and attacked again, forcing Leo further away from Donnie who looked at him, very much insulted. 

“You blaming me?” Donnie’s cheeks started to burn red. “What the fuck. I said we needed to calibrate.”

“Well I thought you meant that we would end up few miles off but not in an entirely wrong fuckin planet!” Leo yelled as he dodged the leopard’s attack and hit them on the head, so it passed out on the ground.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were so stupid to not understand that”, Donnie spitted. “I’m sick of your nonsense, Leo. Get a hold of yourself.”

Leo was ready strike back but he felt a push and something cold touched his shoulder. He turned around and faced the shadowy creature, standing in front of him, staring with its white bottomless eyes. Leo couldn’t breath.

The heavy feeling from his heart poured to every inch of his body. The failure, the fear that had kept piling on for months. He would lose. Everything. He would never find Usagi. He had brought his brothers to their grave. They couldn’t get out of there alive and it was all because of him. 

He would never find peace.

Lightning struck the air, covering everything in blue light. The force of the strike made Leo fall to the ground and he couldn’t believe what he saw. It had struck Donatello. Leo felt weak, powerless, he almost couldn’t get back up.

“Don!” Leo cried. He heard his brothers yelling from the distance. Donatello’s body was laying on the ground, smoke lingering from his body. No, no, no, no. Leo ran as fast as he could, using his sword on everything that was in his way. 

“Don, Don, please be alive, please”, Leo was afraid to touch his brother, who was covered in wounds. But he was breathing. For now.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t worry”, Leo said, trying to calm his racing head. “We will get you home.”

Blood, so much blood. Leo could smell the burn.

“Raph! Mikey!” Leo yelled. “We have to go!” He couldn’t see them, but he heard them agreeing. “O-okay Donnie, what do we do? How- how we get home?”

Leo felt the tears forming. Fuck. How could he let this happen? Donnie had not explained how to get back home. 

Mikey and Raph had reached them finally, covered in blood and bruises. They couldn’t do anything but try to fight off the people attacking them.

Leo took the portal device from Donnie and looked at it. There was an extra button with a home symbol on it. Leo felt a sense of relief.

Thank god Donnie knew they were a bunch of idiots.

They got home, everything was loud, rushed. Master Splinter took care of Donnie with Mikey and April. Leo wanted to go inside but Raph stopped him.

“I don’t think it’s good for you to be there right now.”

Leo wanted to argue with him but there was no point. It was still hard to think straight. His mind was on the battlefield. 

Leo sat down on the ground, his heart pounding heavy like he was still running. Raph stood next to him. The tension was insufferable.

Raph opened his mouth.

“You know master Splinter has always been worried about Usagi.”

“What?”

“Is that big of a surprise for you? Well, I guess he hid it pretty well from you since you would have not listened in the first place.”

“Why are you telling this now?”

“Because I want you to stop this shit. Master Splinter is right. Usagi comes from a world we don’t know. He is a trained soldier. You have to stop this nonsense before one of us dies. We don’t know him.”

“I know him.”

“Do you? Do you really or are you just that delusional?”

“Shut up already.”

“No I fuckin’ won’t before you get it in your thick head. If you really knew him and he could be trusted, he would’ve told about that betrayal plan. He knew you would’ve helped him but he did what he fuckin’ did. ”

The anger was burning through Leo but he couldn’t get up. It hurt to hear what everybody really thought about Usagi.

“You have nothin’ to say?” Raph spitted.

“Not to you.”

After so many painful hours waiting, April finally came to announce that Donnie was going to live. 

“He’s just now unconscious and highly medicated. He’s gonna be in pain for a long time. And who knows what that amount of electricity did to his nervous system.”

Leo went inside the room and took a look at Donatello, covered in bandages and all kind of tubes. The worst had not happened. Not yet. 

Master Splinter was sitting next to him, looking at Don with a concern. He turned his head only when Leo started to talk.

“I need to talk to you, master Splinter”, Leo said. The initial anger had already faded and he started to feel numb from all the emotions. Master Splinter got up to his shaky legs.

“You are right, my son. But not here, we need to let Donatello rest. Let’s go to my meditation room.”

“So, what did you want to talk about?” master Splinter said calmly as they sat down. 

“Is it true that you hate Usagi?”

Master Splinter was not shaken by the question. It was like he knew it was coming.

“Hate is a strong word, my son and I would use it more carefully. I never hated him but also, I never truly trusted him. First, not because of his character: he was as innocent boy as you were. But the environment he was raised in shaped what kind of man he grew up to be. The realm is not something to take slightly. It is a strict military society and the citizens are known to be loyal to their realm.”

“Usagi is different. He always said he hated being there.”

“People there are told from a very young age that they need to protect their realm and die for it. Even the most determined mind can fold under enough pressure, my son. He may have realized how strong and dangerous you had become and that the best for his realm was to eliminate you and the rest of us. He may have not be able to kill you yourself but he put his feelings aside to make somebody else kill you. Only a person with a heart of ice could do that.”

“You don’t know that. I have to save him.”

“I order you to stay.”

Leo looked at him, shocked.

“I know what you want to do. But you’re going down your old path, my son”, Master Splinter’s words cut like the blade. Leo could barely look at his father’s disappointed face.

“You are not to order me anymore. You’ve made it clear enough for years now that I’m the one taking the responsibility of everyone. I am the head of this house. I make the calls.”

“I may have miscalculated the level of responsibility you were ready to take on, my son. I thought encounters with Shredder had thought you enough. You are doing horrible decisions and not thinking about the consequences for your family.”

Leo stared at his father. It was like every word coming from his mouth was meant to break the last pieces of his soul. But he did not feel anger. He did not feel sadness. There was just the unpleasant truth in front of him.  

“Usagi is my family”, Leo said as he stood up, looking down on his father. He walked away, went to his room and packed rushly the few items he thought he might need. He needed nothing. He deserved nothing.

He went to the portal machine and avoided Raph and Mikey. They would try to stop him. No matter how much they hated him, they wouldn’t let him leave to a whole other realm alone. He could not stand to see Mikey even though he would’ve needed that one last hug from him. But he couldn’t bare anything else happen to them, not because of him.

The machine wasn’t hard to set up. Donnie had left some manuals laying around. Leo tried to find the other crystals to take them with him but couldn’t find them. Others probably still had them on. Leo packed the manuals in his backpack so at least Raph and Mikey couldn’t immediately follow him.

He took a last look on the door and imagined his brothers in the living room. They would manage.

He had to keep everyone he loved safe. That’s what he had to do. That was his purpose. To save everyone. Alone.

Goodbye, Earth. 

THE END OF ISSUE 1

I hope you enjoyed the first 4 chapters :) Let's see how Leo will manage to survive in the realm in the next issue!

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Donnie building his first robot! :D

(That may or may not look very similar to fugitoid 👀)

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TMNT LEOSAGI AU

FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

Chapter 3: The lost child, part 2

previous chapter | next chapter

“When I got back home sensei Kuma was furious. They isolated me, interrogated me and didn’t let me eat for a week. Every second I wanted to come back here, to see you and the others again. 

Of course I made a stupid plan to steal a necklace to myself. I knew if I ever got caught having one, I would’ve been executed but I never cared. When I finally got back to you, I was so happy.

“In the middle of the night. You scared the shit out of me.”

“Luckily you didn’t wake up the others with that scream of yours.”

“It wasn’t that loud.”

“I still haven’t recovered.”

“Ah, shut up.”

“We did it for like… five years maybe? ”

“They were maaaad when they finally caught us when we were doing popcorn.”

“Mikey had never looked so insulted in his life when he realized what was going on.”

“I was so sure master Splinter was gonna double-kick me to the atmosphere.”

“He for sure was not happy. I got a really long lecture on trust. But he got around eventually when he realized you made me better.”

Usagi flustered.

“Ah, shut up.”

They sat in the comfort of their silence. Even taking a glimpse of Usagi next to him made his heart flustered. Going down the memory lane had made him think about all those little moments with him and how, eventually, the friendly comfort of Usagi had changed into something else. Something deeper. It had been hard to explain. Hard to grasp what it was. First Leo thought it was just how a best friend was supposed to feel. Like home. Like comfort. 

But friends never made Leo feel so flustered. Stumble so much on his words. Make him stare into other ones eyes and feel like it was never enough. Like no matter how close they got, it was not enough. 

“It was so damn hard to tell you how I felt”, Leo said while the last rays of the sunshine disappeared, leaving the world quiet.

“Tell me about it.”

“Mikey bullied me about it so much. He thought it was hilarious that I didn’t have the guts to tell you.”

“In our defense, we had a lot going on.”

“Yeah, Gen had left and I had to fight Shredder.”

“But in the end it didn't matter. We had each other”, Usagi gave that smirk of his. He was done talking deep. 

“I need to leave in the morning”, Usagi said when they went to sleep after seeing the sunset.

Leo couldn’t help himself but feel disappointed. Usagi had talked like he wouldn’t go back. That he was done.

“I don’t know how long I can be away, Leonardo. They are getting suspicious. I am here for too long. Too… often.”

“You are saying you don’t give a shit about them but at the same time you are worried about them.” Leo still remembered the disappointment filling his chest. 

“Leonardo-chan. You know it’s not simple. If… If I could, I would stay here. With you. You know I would. But like you can’t leave your family, I cannot leave my Realm.”

Leo couldn’t say anything. Could he leave if Usagi asked? If he said that he was going to escape the Realm and wanted him to join, could he leave his family behind?

“If it came to that you had to escape the Realm, I would go with you”, Leo said. 

Usagi sighed.

“Easy for you to say.”

The next morning Leo was still feeling grumpy and he hated it. He didn’t want to ruin their last moments together who knew for how long.

“I’m sorry to leave you like this again.”

“I know”, Leo said, trying to sound cheerful but he knew Usagi read him like an open book.

“Please don’t be angry at me, Leonardo-chan.”

“I am not. I… I’m just angry at this whole situation.”

Usagi reached for his little bag and took a small pouch from there. 

“What is that?”

“I have a little gift for you”, Usagi said and put it on Leo’s hand. Leo opened the pouch and saw four little turquoise crystals.

“These crystals are the main reason we need to protect our realm so others cannot have them to use for evil.”

“Why are you giving them to me? They are dangerous.”

“I… I want to show how much I trust you. And how important you are to me because I think you tend to forget that.”

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TMNT HEADCANNON #6: 2003 Leo still struggles with his depression post season 4

This is something I wanted to touch on in Too Many Turtles, but I’m a throw it here: Leo needs a break from being the eldest, dammit.

After season 4 and Leo’s whole depression arc, he isn’t magically recovered. He still has Bad Days ™️ where he becomes very depressed. Mikey, always observant to emotion, sees his brother try to hide this and instead sets aside the day for Leo to have a full spa treatment. Face masks, massage - it starts off jokingly but Mikey sees that Leo actually really needs this (and Raph is scarily skilled at giving massages).

Ok, so maybe Mikey eats the cucumber you are supposed to put over the eyes. But Leo sees the effort his family are doing for him and that matters the most. It isn’t just spa days, either. Mikey just knows when Leo is hurting and makes it his (and Raph and Donny’s) mission to dedicate the day to him. From watching bad soap opera marathons, to even just turtle piling in the pit, it becomes routine.

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Just some sainw angst. I believe that Usagi tried to come to help the turtles but ended up dying on the same mission as Splinters (also adding to the angst: Leo had to make a choice to try to save either Usagi or Splinters, decided on Usagi and both of them ended up dying). Raph was not happy.

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TMNT LEOSAGI AU

FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

Chapter 3: The lost child, part 1

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Leo couldn’t sleep. He was thinking all the possibilities, reconsidering every interaction with Usagi. Everything what he had said about himself, his world and their relationship.

The time before the last time, Usagi and Leo had had a long talk, sitting on a tree while looking at the sunset. Everything was peaceful at that exact moment. Leo had felt that everything was going to be okay. They saw each other less and less since Usagi was having harder time sneaking out. It was because the general’s had started to keep more eye on him and said that he had potential.

“I really wanna leave”, Usagi had said. “Come here and live with you. We could watch sunset together every day.”

“Why not? Is it such an impossible scenario?” Leo knew it was a stupid question but couldn’t help himself.

“Leonardo-chan...” They both knew the army would not let Usagi down easy. They hunted Usagi’s friend Gen years after he left. They did not let go of their citizens easy even if they had no interest in fighting.

“It’s not even about being on the run for the rest of my life”, Usagi said. “I… I have the responsibility to my Realm."

Even though Usagi didn't love the army, his Realm he talked about very dearly. Whenever Usagi described his planet, it sounded like the most beautiful place in the universe. The landscape varied from high, dangerous mountains to wide lands of field of blue crystals that the farmers cultivated from their land, mainly due to the government's orders.

"I… I promised to my mother to keep the realm safe from monsters who are trying to take what is ours.”

Usagi rarely mentioned his mother and the first time had been only few years ago. Usagi had never told to anyone else than Leo what had happened.

Usagi didn’t remember a lot from his childhood, only his mother and the wide field he used to run on with his wooden sword. They didn’t have a lot but the government support was enough for the two of them. 

“The last thing I remember from my mom was that I… I yelled at her. She took away my sword and said not to use it anymore. I got so angry.” Usagi stared into abyss, into his own nightmares that had never really left him. No matter how much he tried to suffocate them. He never talked about his past, at least not like this.

“And you know what I did?” Usagi turned back to Leo, eyes filled with disgust to his younger self. “I ran. I thought I could make my own sword. But then the evening came and I got hungry so I went back home and… And the house was on fire. There were few army soldiers trying to put out the fire but it had spread too far.”

Usagi tried to swallow the tears that were forming in his eyes.

“I… I just stood there.”

“It’s not your fault”, Leo said but Usagi did not believe him. 

“That’s when I met my current mentor, sensei Kuma. She was a third rank sergeant who trained soldiers but also took missions to countryside. 

“This is what the enemies do to our realm”, she said. “They want these precious crystals and are willing to do anything to get them. Your mother gave her life for this realm.”

“Why you didn’t come earlier? You could’ve saved her!” I remember being so sad it turned to anger. I couldn’t fathom that my mother was inside those flames. 

“We came here as soon as we could, little bunny. The real question is - why weren’t you here to protect your mother?”

Kuma made sure that I understood that the army was the reason I was still alive. She knew I didn’t want to join them but as an orphan I really had no choice - I belonged to the government. I owed my life to the Realm and I had to protect it at all cost. My mother would’ve wished it. 

It made sense. Why else she would’ve give me that sword to practice, right?

We visited my mother’s grave only once. A new family had moved in the spot to take care of the crystal field. Parents with a kid who was running on the field without any worry in the world.

I promised there and then to my mother that I would honor her sacrifice.

You know, I was really angry. I hated everything about the army at the time. The strict rules, awful food, pretentious people who are there to kick your ass. Everybody saw me as a fragile and small bunny who could barely hold a real sword.”

“When I met you, everything changed. We had the field trip to Earth with our squad. It was my first - everything was so loud and big and terrifying. At the same time I was fascinated. For a few years that I had already been in the army, they had told me stories of different planets and civilizations and how they all were barbaric and just out to get us. 

“This is Earth. Right now it doesn’t really pose a threat to us but it is developing fast”, our instructor had said. But I was not interested at all to just walk the dark and dirty streets. I wanted to see the people.”

“Of course I got lost.

And of course I lost the stupid portal necklace to get back to my realm.

That’s when I met you, Leonardo-chan”, Usagi’s smile widened. “It had started to rain and everything just looked the same. I was miserable and thought yeah, this is it, I’m gonna die now.

And then you showed up so concerned and I couldn’t understand your thick Earth accent.”

“I remember that”, Leo said, smiling at the memory. “And when I asked if you needed help and you just said to go away, bandana frog.”

“In my defense the Earth fauna is not that familiar to me.”

“Luckily I understood you called me a band dog.”

“How is that any better?”

“Made you seem more out of your mind so I didn’t take any offense”, Leo responded laughed. The memory was from years ago but it felt like yesterday.  

“Damn your father was scary to meet”, Usagi said after some silence. 

“He’s always been little hesitant with strangers.”

“Luckily master Splinter let me stay even though we didn’t quite understand each other first.”

“Yeah it took like couple of days. But honestly I don’t pay any attention to it anymore. You are easier to understand than Raph with that Brooklyn accent of his.”

Usagi laughed. 

“After you finally understood my situation we started to search for that damn necklace.”

“It really felt like an impossible task. You had no idea where you had lost it.”

“It’s not my fault all the streets look the same! Just gray and full of trash. But damn I had fun.”

“Me too. We searched everywhere.”

“Not just the search. Those few weeks that I got to live with you has been one of the happiest periods of my life.”

“I’ve never had such a comfortable bed.

So much good food.

So many random bursts of sparring. So much playing.

And just have someone to talk and laugh with. I could talk about anything and everything. You always listened to me with all your attention and made me feel seen. Like a real friend that I never had.

To be honest, I didn’t want it to end.”

Usagi’s smile faded away.

“I remember how it felt like finding that necklace. First the excitement that quickly turned into sadness. I remember us thinking to keep it as a secret but I guess our sense of responsibility was already so strong at that age.

I had kind of hoped that master Splinter would let me stay even after finding the necklace but he was very eager to send me back home. He looked very concerned.”

"It was one of the hardest good byes ever", Leo admitted. "I thought I would never see you again."

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/////Hope you liked this little flashback down the memory lane :)

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he did not in fact understand anything that Don said

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24, you pick who. There are definitely a few people who come to mind easily, but I want to see what you think!

24.) "Unless you ask me not to in the next five seconds, I'm going to hug you."

I won't even lie, I struggled with this one for whatever reason. But! I gave it my best shot 🙌✨

TW: Eye Strain/Bright Colors

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Thank you for your submission! 🙏🌟

(:

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It's universal.

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TMNT LEOSAGI AU

FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

Chapter 2: Finding the truth

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After some weeks, after the physical scars had started to heal, Gen, the old friend of Usagi, came to visit unexpectedly. Gen had been part of Usagi’s military but left after disobeying the leaders. Leo had met him only once when he had just left and had the military after him.

“Gen… What are you doing here?” Leo asked. Hope raised in him. Was Gen here to tell that Usagi was safe and everything was just a horrible nightmare?

“Do you have that Earth leaf juice? I need that stuff before I have to flee again. The army is too active on this planet to stay long.”

“You mean tea? Uh, yeah sure”, Leo said and went to put the kettle on. Finally, after pouring everybody a cup, Gen opened his mouth.

“I’ve heard rumours of a prisoner bunny here on Earth. Is that true?”

“Prisoner bunny?” Leo stood from his chair, staring Gen, afraid of what the rhino might say next. Heart was pounding painfully in his chest. Prisoner bunny could only mean-

“I only know of one bunny who visits this Earth”, Gen said, eyeing the turtles that looked all shaken up, except Mikey, who was more focused on devouring his cheerios.

“You mean that backstabber Usagi?” Raph spitted, anger raising in his voice. “He betrayed us with some Foot ninjas couple of weeks ago and left us to die.”

“What? That doesn’t sound like Usagi”, Gen said and emptied his cup.

“I guess you can’t really trust anyone nowadays.”

“He… He sold us out”, Mikey said, voice quiet, trying to make the words hurt less. “Just like that.”

“There was clearly something going on. He said he was not going back to the Realm”, Leo said.

“Maybe they got him”, Gen said. “It was dangerous for him to come here out of all places. They knew where to look for him if he actually decided to leave.”

“So… you are saying he did not betray us?” Donnie asked.

“I can not be for certain. All I know escaping that hellscape is not an easy task and you have to run for the rest of your life. Not stay with your boyfriend.” Gen gave Leo a pitiful look.

“It’s not Leo’s fault that he’s ex is an idiot”, Raph spitted. Leo looked at him angrily. Raph meant good but it hurt that everybody had just accepted that Usagi was a backstabber and it was jus the truth that he didn’t care about Leo.

“Look. My intels told me that there is a bunny, held captive on Earth. That’s all I know and I wished that you would have more information but you clearly don’t. The Realm is breathing on my neck more than in years and I have to look out for myself.” Gen got up. “Thank you for the leaf juice.”

“Thank you for telling us even if it risked your life, Gen”, Donnie said.

“I still care about my friend even though we did not separate in best terms”, Gen stated, melancholy in his voice. “I can’t wait for the day that the Realm falls finally and we all will be free. Good bye.”

Gen created a portal and disappeared, probably as far as possible. Leo had no time to feel bad for the rhino because all he could think about was that the worst betrayal of his life might not be true at all. He hadn’t sleep for weeks. He had felt anger, shame, sadness, everything in a rollercoaster and all at once. Questioning all the love that he had so blindly felt. And now all those feelings were insignificant. Usagi was probably captured. Being tortured. Weeks of the anger turned to shame. How he could have believed such things of Usagi. Leo knew him better. Leo knew how honourable, how loyal and caring he was. And that one moment let him threw out all of that.

Leo felt hesitant. He remembered how Usagi had looked at him. Directly into his eyes. There had not been any fear, no hesitation. Leo was hurt and Usagi did nothing to help. Maybe Leo had read the whole situation wrong.

He had made a mistake. Why hadn’t he gone after him immediately?

“Leonardo. What are you going to do?” master Splinter asked with his husky voice. He had stayed on the side, like he nowadays did most of the times. Time had done its work and master Splinter had grown weaker. He only could stand ten minutes at the time without shaking.

“I will fix this”, Leo said and looked at his father with determination. Weeks of hopelessness turned into new purpose. “I will start my search in New York.”

“You can’t just leave us for your own little missions!” Raph yelled and pushed Leo’s shoulder. “Foot ninjas could attack any time!”

“You basically demolished them, Raph. They are not coming back any time soon. They don’t have a leader. You made sure of that.” Why Raph always wanted to push him back?

“You don’t know how fast they can reorganize themselves again. You’ve seen they don’t go down easy.”

“I have to do this Raph. I have to safe Usagi. Don’t do this any harder than it already is.”

“He left. Willingly. You saw it. Gen is full of shit.”

“Gen said that there are rumours of a bunny prisoner held hostage on Earth. Who else could it be?”

That shutted up Raph, for now.

Leo started to attack the scattered Foot ninjas, trying to get any information out of them but nobody seemed to know anything about a bunny prisoner even a sword on their throat.

After weeks of inspection, Leo came to the conclusion that Usagi was not in New York. The only other option seemed to be going to Japan, to Tokyo. Raph was not happy, he yelled at Leo for being irresponsible. Leo couldn’t give a damn about Raph’s opinion: Raph didn’t know what real responsibility was. He had never had to make the tough calls and gave bullshit for Leo for doing so. Master Splinter didn’t seem happy either. But for years now he had chosen to give advice to only when asked for it, so his words meant nothing now. The responsibility of the family was put on Leo and he was going to use it. Wether others liked it or not.

It wasn’t easy to leave them all on their own. The last time he had done it, he had to rush back to ruins, thinking that he’s brothers were dead. But his brothers were competent. They’d survive. The Foot was no threat anymore and Donnie had a good surveillance system. The family was safe. With these thoughts he packed a little bag and left, unsure of when he would return. He only knew he could not return without Usagi.

Leo had always wished to visit Japan but this way wasn’t the most pleasant. Tokyo was huge, full of possibilities and dangers. With his elementary level Japanese Leo barely survived and he had no help to gather any information about anything so he had to go in places cold turkey. That meant the stakes were higher, the risk of dying being more imminent than ever.

But Leo knew that he could not give up. Somebody had to know something. Leo attacked ninjas, trying to gather any valuable clues but again, nobody knew anything. He infiltrated the headquarters, searched every single prisoner cell but nothing. He wanted to give up. To go home to his family. But he couldn’t. Fear of failure burned through his veins.

Finally, after months and months of constant attacks from Leo, the head of the Japan Foot clan quelled after a fight and told that they had a deal to help transfer a bunny through a portal. They had forced Usagi to make a deal. Leo tried his best not to have the anger overconsume his senses. The blade of his katana was shaking on the neck of the leader.

“Does that ease your mind, reptilian? His freedom for your life.”

It did, for a second. But that meant Leo had been wrong and it may had costed Usagi’s life.

That’s it. There was no other information. They did not know anything else, the Foot didn’t ask questions for that good amount of money. Leo believed.

Leo went back home, defeated. Usagi was not anywhere on this planet.

The return was difficult. Everyone tried to act like he had not disappeared for months. Leo tried to cover his anger. He tried to act normal. Listen to Mikey’s rampant about his new comic book idea. Sit next to Donnie and hand him over screwdrivers and metal pieces. Let Raph use him as a punching back. But nothing took away the pain.

Disappointment was eating him alive and the only thought consuming his brain was that Usagi was not on Earth.

Usagi was not on Earth.

Usagi was not on Earth.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

previous chapter | next chapter

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I know I mentioned this on CreativeRewiring, but I’m still not over it.

There were two sets of bunk beds in the old lair. Right next to each other.

Do you know what that means? It means that, until they moved to the Y’Lyntian lair— either at age 14 or 15— the boys still had to deal with one another during the night.

And I find that absolutely hilarious.

Can you imagine what that might have been like?

Mikey harassing Don on the opposite top bunk* by craning out of bed or throwing stuff at him, bothering whoever was on the bottom bunk by shifting around constantly.

Donnie accidentally keeping the others— but especially Mikey, being on the same level— awake using a flashlight to either fiddle with something or read. (If you notice, there’s a book shelf right next to one of the bunks. That’s a lot of potential for fraternal annoyance right there.)**

Leo inadvertently waking everyone up earlier than they’d like because he wanted to get an early start in training, or getting the urge to practice something in the middle of the night and— since the bunk beds are right next to the training area— irritating his brothers.

And Raph. Oh, Raph. Do I even need to bring up the canonical snoring issue?

And just think how ineffective sending someone ‘to their room’ would be! The bunks are in the middle of the training area and just around the corner from the living room. Punishing one of the boys in that manner would be nearly impossible without halting all activity in this part of the lair.

Needless to say, I’m very excited about this. Very, very excited.

* I’m basing this off of the brief view we got of Don’s room in the Y’lyntian lair, where he had a top bunk with space to work beneath it. I seem to remember Mikey having a top bunk, too, but can’t remember where I’m getting that from.

** The shelf also makes me think that it would have been Donnie and Leo on one side, and Mikey and Raph on the other.

There might be more to see when I get to the flashback episodes. Mikey’s section of ‘Tales of Leo’ and ‘The Lesson’ as a whole should help narrow things down.

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Concept art of sainw Donnie. I have a little headcanon for what happened to him during those 30 years that I guess he was cleared gone for good.

So, basically Donnie gets kidnapped by Shredder who forces him to build machines for the plan of conquering Earth. In return Shredder doesn’t kill Donnie or his brothers. When Shredder has no more use of him, he releases Donnie but makes sure that he can never build anything ever again by taking his hands.

The Apocalypse starts that same night. Donnie realizes there is no home to return to. He can’t fight without his hands. He can’t build anything that could help. He has nothing but guilt.

While fighting to survive, Donnie figures out that Shredder is destroying all the technology in the world and getting rid of all the scientists. Nobody is safe. And he realizes what he must do. How to salvage the little hope that is left.

He gathers supplies. Builds caves. Learns again how to fight with his bo. Writes books and more books about physics, chemistry, math, biology. Everything humanity would need knowledge on if Shredder ever got defeated. He hides the books he's written in different locations. Travels far and right to meet new people who could share any information for the generations to come.

He does it. For 30 years.

These illustrations are only the beginning of his journey. I have some more sketches that I will post some time in the future!

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TMNT LEOSAGI AU:

FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

Chapter 1/???

WARNINGS: BL00D, VIOLENCE

Introduction post:

CHAPTER 1: Everything changes

It had been a rough couple of months. Even though Shredder had been finally defeated, his little minions kept showing up. Leo was tired, always trying to keep up with their schemes but it was starting to get overwhelming. He spent countless nights planning strategies for every possible scenario, setting up his little ponds of everyone that Mikey had so kindly made for him. 

One late evening, as Leo was trying to come up a plan to invade an old storage house, Usagi appeared. Leo felt his heart filling up with warmth and the ponds dropped from his hands immediately as he went to hug his boyfriend that had been in his strict military realm for months. It was impossible to know when Usagi came to visit - sometimes it was only weeks, sometimes half a year. 

Usually it made Leo happy to see Usagi. Usagi made him feel at ease and he could focus on something else other than his responsibilities. But when Usagi appeared from a shiny blue portal, holding a little sack and tears in his eyes, the ease was nowhere to be found. 

“I am not going back”, Usagi said, voice trembling as he threw his belongings in the corner. 

“What do you mean?” Leo asked as he put his hand on Usagi’s shoulder. Usagi didn’t answer but hugged him, so tightly he could barely breathe. Leo felt Usagi’s body shaking so he held on as long as was needed. 

Usagi only started to talk when they went to bed. Leo sneaked some snacks for them from the kitchen and luckily nobody asked questions since everybody was already used to Leo spending days in solitude. 

“What happened?” Leo finally dared to ask. 

Usagi stared at his hands for a while. He didn’t touch the food Leo had brought.

“I… I had enough”, he said finally. Leo stared at him, eyes wide. They had been talking about it for years. Usagi hated the army and everything it represented. But he had vowed to his mother to keep his realm safe. It was about honor and Leo understood it too well.

“We don’t have to talk about it now”, Leo said. “Let’s talk with master Splinter in the morning. It won’t be a problem for you to stay here.”

Usagi smiled a little and gave him a quick kiss.

“Thank you, Leonardo-chan.” 

First days Leo felt happiness. Usagi was free. He was here, with him. But the inner struggle of leaving his home planet just seemed to eat Usagi’s mind, snickering in his consciousness. Usagi thought Leo couldn’t notice, but of course he did. Every time Leo asked what had happened, Usagi quickly redirected the focus on something else so Leo decided to leave it at that.

Leo could feel Usagi’s mind wonder. He could feel the distance growing every day between them. He wanted to  demand the answer but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He had to focus on the tasks at hand - bringing down the rest of the Foot. As long as Usagi was physically safe near him, it could wait.

After some weeks, Leo’s plan had been formed and they had taken into all precautions. If the current leader of the New York’s Foot clan was in the warehouse like she was suppose to, it was going to be a hard hit for them. 

“Guys”, Leo said and looked at his brothers, Casey, April and Usagi. “It’s been a rough couple of months-”

“When was the last time it really wasn’t?” Mikey asked blantly, staring at the plan at hand. Leo sighed and Raph slapped Mikey on the back of his head.

“Hm? It was a genuine question.”

“If I recall correctly, about… 5 years ago”, Donnie said, defining his last piece of tech for the attack. “It was that one morning before the mouser attack.”

“I don’t need a reminder how shitty our lives have been, thanks Don”, Raph said. “Go on with your great speech, oh fearless leader.”

“You kinda killed the mood for that already”, Leo said trying to not sound bitter. He knew his brothers listened to him when it was necessary but any extra words went over their heads as they lost interest. “I hope everyone knows their positions.”

That night, Leo, Mikey, Raph and Casey were on top of the warehouse, waiting for Usagi to get the thermal camera to its position. 

“This waiting thing is always so boring. Why we just didn’t get here when the big boss arrives”, Mikey said, snacking on his popcorn that Leo had specifically told him not to bring.

“Because, Mikey, we don’t know when the big boss arrives.”

“But why not arrive later then?”

“We cannot let her get too comfortable. Surprise is our advantage. Like always.”

“Wait, what the shell is Usagi doing, Leo?” Raph said, interrupting them from their banter.

Leo went quickly back to the window and saw the shadow of Usagi wandering on the floor.

“Why is he not coming back up?” Raph said and looked at Leo, who felt the cold rushing through him. Leo saw Usagi stopping and waving at the darkness. What-

Foot ninja.

Leo didn’t hesitate. He broke the glass and jump through, landing on the boxes under him and then jumped on the floor. He drew his katana and put it on the ninja’s neck.

“One wrong move and you are dead.”

Leo knew he needed to pay attention to the enemy but he could not help himself but stare at Usagi who just stood there, doing nothing, staring with his big brown eyes, being impossible to read. 

“Leo! Watch out!” Raph yelled from the above and suddenly the whole warehouse was overflowing with ninjas. Others jumped in to help them. The whole plan had failed miserably but why- what- 

He was surrounded. He saw a blade coming from one direction that he had to block and then dodge the other one coming from his side. He air-kicked two other people before he could flee to clearer soil. He had been preparing for a fight but not like this. 

“Leo! Watch out!” He heard Mikey yelling somewhere above and moved just in time to not get crushed by huge containers that Mikey had been able to push to fall. This whole time Leo tried to catch a glimpse of Usagi.

The doors of the warehouse exploded open. Donnie and April had gotten the message that something had went wrong.

Then, in all the hassle, Leo saw something that made his heart drop.

Usagi, talking with the enemy. What was happening? What was Usagi doing? When Usagi shook the hand of the ninja, Leo realized.

Usagi had betrayed them. 

No. No he couldn’t. Usagi could never.

But he was the one who didn’t follow the plan. He didn’t draw his katana because he didn’t have to. It was all on ambush to get them all killed. But why? How could Usagi do this? It couldn’t be. He couldn’t. 

Leo’s mind was racing, he tried to make sense of all this. Was this the reason Usagi had been acting distant? How long he had known? Was this some long run plan of years trying to get him and his brothers?

Leo felt sick to his stomach. Time seemed as it had stopped. He stared at the man he had so wholeheartedly loved for years, betray him, just like that. He got snapped back to the reality by the cold blade cutting through his arm, sending sharp pain through his body.

Leo knew he was badly hurt. He could feel the blood flooding from his arm but the only pain he could feel was from his heart as he stared at Usagi. Usagi had stopped to look at him as he laid on the floor. If it wasn’t for Raph Leo would have been dead by now.

“Usagi, please” Leo cried and tried to get up from the ground as the blood smeared everywhere. “Usagi don’t do this.”

He knew it was pointless to plead but he couldn’t help himself. Usagi stepped into the portal and just like that, he was gone. Mikey and Donnie helped Leo back on his feet. His focus was gone, the attacks that were once easy to dodge, suddenly could reach him. 

Usagi’s betrayal made everything blurry for him. Others it filled with clarity – destroy Foot, get Leo out of there alive. Raph’s rage could be felt through the whole battlefield, and no one got spared. The current leader didn’t get a chance. She was destroyed.

The rest of the ninjas fled when the leader was killed. Leo felt the adrenaline fading with his consciousness. It took all of Leo’s power to not pass out on the way home but it was mainly due to his brothers’ annoyance that kept him conscious. 

“Leo! Stay awake or I’m gonna use your katanas to spread butter!” Mikey yelled and slapped him once more. 

When they got back home and all the injuries were taken care of, Leo could only sit and stare into an abyss. His heart was pounding heavily and all he could hear was the blood flowing through his ears. Images of Usagi filled his mind, the anger in his eyes when he last took a look at him. 

“How are you feeling, bro?” Mikey asked quietly and sat next to him. Leo wanted to smack Mikey but he’s arm was hurting.

“What do you expect, dimwit”, Raph said and scooched between them. Donnie followed and sat on the armrest. 

“We are here for you, Leo”, Donnie said and tapped gently on his head.

“Yeah. If that traitor bunny shows up again he’s gonna be a goner after that”, Raph said in a serious note. “Nobody messes with my brother’s heart without a consequence.”

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TMNT 2003 clips I quote on the daily basis :P

P.s. I got even more hahaha

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TMNT AU TIME GUYS

FIND ME IN THE FUTURE

main pair: leosagi

ISSUE 1 FINISHED

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3, part 1

Chapter 3, part 2

Chapter 4

ISSUE 2 COMING OUT ON NOVEMBER

Hey guys I have an leosagi au called Find me in the future and I'm gonna post the first chapter here this Friday, 23rd of August! The story follows them all from their late teens to adulthood when Leo goes out to find Usagi, who has either betrayed and left them to die or has been kidnapped.

Leo and Usagi have known each other ever since they were kids. Usagi is from a strict military realm that protects its precious crystals at any cost, so Usagi and Leo don't see each other so often but the bond they share is ever stronger - at least that's what Leo thought. Has Usagi's realm finally got a hold of him or is Usagi in danger?

The story follows their journey to find each other as they both grow and try to find themselves (cheesy I know, I'm cheesy)

(lol I'm so bad at synopsis - it's a long story okay)

Anyway, here is some art of my two idiots and what kinda couple they are:

Oh yeah the one last thing! This is formed like an illustration so it has both writing and art. I'm planning to have 5 issues with 4+ chapters. The first issue is called Earth and I'm trying to post the chapters throughout the September.

Anyway, I hope I got your interest! Ask me anything that comes to your mind and see ya!!

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Now that I've shared equally one drawing from each turtle, I can unleash my true form and now on only post about leosagi (and occasionally Donnie (especially sainw) (okay okay I have art of others too do not worry))