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Everything GREAT About Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem!
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A Gift for @allosaurids
Summary:
This is inspired by @cupcakeslushie Feral Leo AU.
After Leo comes back from the prison dimension scared and battered, Raph is just trying to survive the night and help Leo come back to them.
Even though he questions if there is any part of Leo left to return to them.
-
The vision in Raph's right eye is fuzzy and out of focus, and his arm on that side is throbbing and twitching uncontrollably. In fact, the whole of his right side feels wrong, alternating between numbness, and feeling like a thousand sharp needles are tearing and shredding at his skin and muscles.
He needs rest. He knows he needs rest. But he can't, not yet.
His mind is a field of landmines, and if he thinks too long about what could have happened, what did happen, he's going fall apart, and Raph can't afford that. Not now, when the injuries of the invasion are still raw and bleeding, still all too present. He can't rest yet; he needs to wait for his family and him to begin to heal.
But Raph has a feeling that they never will be completely fine after this again. Especially Leo, who crouches in the corner of the dark med bay, eyes wide, wild, and unseeing.
Raph is sitting in the opposite corner, curled inwards in an attempt to appear smaller and less of a threat, and just looks at his brother.
His brother who spent years in the prison dimension, when for them it had only been minutes. Who has thick, jagged scars across his body that hadn’t been there at the beginning of this nightmare, nails and teeth that are sharp and cracked, and at the center of it all: a huge crack down his shell that none of them can treat because he won't let them close enough to do so.
The two brothers watch each other in the dim light and take in each other. Leo with a scared and uncertain gaze, that shifts from Raph to the other shadows in the room. While Raph just looks and tries to take in all the changes that Leo has gone through.
Raph wishes he could have stopped it, that he had taken Leo’s place, that none of this ever happened.
He wishes he could tell Leo that he’s sorry.
But he can’t. Not in a way that Leo would be able to understand right now.
So, Raph does the only thing he could think of to calm down the scared rabid animal that had taken the place of his little brother. He hums.
It’s a deep, rumbling, purring, hum that doesn’t come from his throat, but from the space between his lungs. He hadn’t done this in years, not since they were all tots, but it had always calmed him and the others down and he was praying it would work here.
It didn’t seem to be working, Raph wasn’t even sure Leo was hearing it.
Then, Raph felt a flicker of pain scatter across his arm, and he flinched.
Dammit, not again!
He groaned and curled inward bracing for what was about to happen.
The parts of him that had been fused with the kraang flared in agony. Burning sharp pain that made him want to scratch and tear at his skin to get it out. His whole-body shook, his eyes watered, and Raph knew that all he could do was ride it out.
But, God, he just wanted it to stop.
The episode went on for what was likely just a few minutes, though it felt longer, wearing down Raph’s already weak mental defenses and allowing the memories of everything that had happened to invade the parts of his mind not already overwhelmed with the pain. Why couldn’t this horrible day just be over already?!
Raph felt something brush against his left arm.
The snapper whipped around and pressed himself deeper into the corner to get away from whatever had managed to sneak up on him. But as he did so, whatever had touched him skittered backwards with a hiss.
Leo hunched inwards on himself staring at Raph with fear and expectance, but Raph froze. For a few seconds neither of them moved, then Leo leaned forward and audibly sniffed the air. After a second, the slider took a step forward and made a soft clicking noise.
"...Hurt?" Leo managed to rasp; voice uncertain but his face a mix of apathy and fear. Raph managed a small nod, too scared to make any move or noise that could frighten Leo back into the opposite corner. The younger just sniffed the air again and shuffled closer. Without taking his eyes off Raph, Leo reached out with one dirty clawed hand and placed it atop his brother's bandaged wrapped arm.
It took everything Raph had not to flinch at the contact, as it caused the pain to spike and be brought to the forefront of his mind again. Leo ran his hand over the bandage, squinting down at it with his still cloudy eyes. He took the larger hand into his own and ran his fingertips down it and turned it over.
He's looking for blood, Raph realized. Checking to see if the bandages needed replacing. Just like he always does when one of us is hurt.
The thought gives him a terrible hope that maybe a part of Leo survived whatever had happened to him.
Leo's administrations hurt more than they help, because there are no cuts to bleed, and his bandages are clean. But Raph allows it because it's the closest Leo has been to normal since they got him back, and he's not going to ruin this. He stays still, even when Leo moves his examination from his arm up to his eye, and, upon finding nothing to treat, onto the rest of him.
When it's over, Raph is still just as hurt and tired as when they started, but Leo looks more present than he has since they got him back. The younger pulls back and faces Raph head-on. His mouth twists like he wants to say something, but he doesn't even try to open his mouth and vocalize it, which is so unlike the Leo that Raph knows.
That's okay, Raph still has his voice, and he can talk for them both for now.
"Thanks for the help, Lee," He whispers. Leo squirms under his gaze, then makes us sharp hissing click before turning away.
Raph briefly panics that he did something wrong before he sees Leo moving towards the medical cot in the center of the room. The older relaxes realizing that Leo is just going back to bed now that he knows everything's all right. Or so he thought. Because Leo is coming back with the pillows and blankets that had covered the bed.
He puts the pillow up against the wall next to Raph, then takes the large sheet and throws it over Raph's head. Leo sits down with the pillow protecting his injured and broken shell and arranges the blanket around his older brother. When he's done, he just curls slightly into his shell and stares out over the dark med bay, searching for a threat that isn’t there.
The dangerous hope has taken root in Raph's chest, and he prays that Leo is still there.
For a few minutes they just sit like that. Then Leo struggles out a single word.
"Real?"
For a moment Raph's not sure what he's talking about, then he remembers all the horrible things the kraang could make him see when it forced itself into his mind. An overwhelming sense of grief threatens to swallow him whole, and he moves to take Leo's hand in his. To try and convince his younger brother that yes, this is real, and he is safe now. But he stops himself.
Memories of what it was like being held captive by the kraang, about how they clung to every part of you, and how their touch was unescapable, flashed across his thoughts.
No, touch wasn't a good idea. But the idea of not being able to cling to some part of Leo was worse.
So, Raph does the only thing he could think of, he reached up and undid his bandana from his head. He wrapped one of the fraying ends around his own hand and offered the other out to Leo.
For a moment Leo just stared, eyes flickering between Raph and the red fabric.
"Take it," Raph offered, and Leo's face filled with the same dangerous hope that had blossomed in Raph's chest. Leo shakily gripped the other end of the bandana, and Raph pulled it taut between them.
They had done this when they were younger too, mostly when Donnie didn't feel that he could touch anything but still wanted to know his brothers were nearby. It feels wrong using it like this, but it's the only thing that Raph can think of.
"This is real," Raph promised, tears flowing out of his eyes. "You're safe now."
Leo’s empty gaze returned to scanning the dark room, but his grip tightened on the bandana, and after quiet moment Leo began to hum in the same way Raph had done earlier.
Raph closed his eyes, pain still shooting up and down his skin and returned his brother’s attempt to soothe them with his own rumblings.
They would both be healed soon; they just needed a little time.
-
Sooooo, I'm kinda sliding in under the buzzer here.
I rewrote this at least five times, and still wasn't satisfied with it. But @allosaurids deserves a gift, so I just had to go with it.
Thank you to @rottmnt-secret-gifting for hosting, and to the receiver of this gift I ask permission to be able to post this on Ao3.
Thank you.
Moments Chapter 3: Dr. Delicate Touch
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Ao3 Link: Here
Tensions had been running high in the Hamato household for days now. Raph and Donnie had been fighting, Raph and Leo had been fighting, Donnie and Leo had been fighting, everybody was fighting with everybody. Mikey doesn't even really remember the reason why it started, he only knows that every attempt to apologize or to calm everyone down had only caused more harsh words to be exchanged and more feelings to be hurt. And honestly, Mikey was just getting sick of it.
Even still, he might not have done anything about it. The fighting may have lasted another week before fading into obscurity, and it all would have gone back to normal. But Mikey was tired. He had stayed up all night for the first time, and when the morning had come, he had been barely able to keep his eyes open, and of course, when he went down to breakfast everyone was pointedly ignoring each other or glaring at each other. But Mikey had been too emotionally and physically tried to give a damn, just sat down with a thump and tried to eat his cereal in peace. Then, Leo decided to open his big mouth.
"So, you're really going to pretend that nothing happened?" the Slider said, glaring at Donnie.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Donnie responded coldly, not looking up from his bowl. Mikey squeezed his eyes shut with a despite, silent plea for his brothers just to stop.
“Oh, wonderful. We’re just going to mosey on past all that stuff you said. Awesome. Great.” Mikey put his head in his hands and wished he had hair to tug on.
“You’re not even going mention what you said yesterday?” Raph asked, eyes narrow. Mikey could feel himself losing control and getting closer to a breakdown every second.
“Don’t start with me, Rapha.” Leo snarled and opened his mouth to say something else that he would most certainly regret later, and Mikey felt the moment he lost it.
“Shut up, Leo. You’re not helping.” Mikey said. The others all stopped and stared at him. “What? He’s not. He’s just mad 'cause he knows he’s in the wrong, and he can’t worm his way out of it, so he's pointing out everyone else's mistakes.” There was silence for a moment then Dee, still a little unsettled but determined to use this to his advantage, shakily smiled and turned to Leo.
“Ha! See Leo-”
“Oh no, Donnie,” Mikey interrupted before that could get off the ground. “Just because he’s trying to deflect, doesn’t mean he isn’t right. You need to get off your high horse and quit pretending you’re better than us because you’re smarter!” And you!” Mikey said pointing at the eldest brother, and the others watched as Raph leaned away from his younger brother. “You need to quit it with the passive-aggressive stuff! Just say you are angry and hurt! We don’t need you pretending you’re not and then ignoring us or saying backhanded stuff! Comminate! It’s not that hard!”
Mikey then turns to the whole group and grits his teeth.
“All of you know you’re wrong! But none of you are going to come out and apologize and would rather keep shouting at each other because you don’t want to lose whatever weird and annoying game you’re playing!” Mikey was waving his arms and then slammed them down on the table. “Well, guess what? It’s not a game! And if you don’t stop, I’m going to tie you together, and dangle you over the sewer fallout! And I will be happy and smiling while I do it, so don’t TEST ME!”
By the end, Mikey was breathing heavily and the others had backed up several feet. The wind had drained out of him and slumped slightly.
“I’m going back to bed. Don’t wake me up.” He left the three of them in the kitchen, and marched back into his room, collapsing onto the bed and curling up into his shell until he fell asleep.
-
When Mikey awoke, he groaned and popped out of his shell keeping his eyes closed. He was already forming an apology in his mind to his brothers for his sleep-deprecated shouting earlier. So, when he opened his eyes and found the three brothers surrounding his bed, he squeaked in surprise and then groaned again once he realized who was there.
"Look, guys-" he said, but was quickly interrupted.
"We're sorry, Mikey," Raph said, and Mikey blinked.
"What?" he asked, feeling an intense amount of whiplash.
"Yeah..." Leo said, fidgeting with his hands. "We shouldn't have been fighting so much, you were right."
"As much as it pains me to admit it," Donnie said avoiding eye contact and crossing his arms. "You were right, and we could tell that our fighting was hurting you too. We should have been more considerate."
"We've all already apologized to each other and made up," Raph said. "So, we just needed to apologize to you as well."
Mikey was overwhelmed, and quite possibly in shock. This was so different than what he was expecting when he woke up. But he felt a rush of relief that the fighting was finally over.
"Thanks, you guys," he said, feeling a smile. "And I'm sorry about being so mean."
"You were just a tad mean," Leo said with a dismissive wave. "Honestly we needed more than a little delicate touch, doc." Donnie clapped his hands from where he was standing.
"Well now that all the sticky emotions are over, I am getting back to business." He turned around and waved back to the others. "You three enjoy yourselves doing whatever it is you do."
Ralph rolled his eyes and turned to Mikey.
"Do you want to play Animal Crossing with me?" Mikey shook his head.
"Nah, I'm going back to my nap," he said.
"Alright," Raph said and nudged Leo. "Come on, Lee."
"Alright, Alright," Leo said exasperated. "Night, bro," he called back.
"Night," Mikey said and curled up with a smile.
-
I know this is late, stuff happened. Thank you for reading. Let me know if there is anything I should work on.
Thank you to @sariphantom for hosting the Rise August Challenge, which this is inspired by.
@nickelodeon Please save Rise.
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Moments Chapter 2: Disaster Twins
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Ao3 Link: Here
Donnie and Leo loved to get each other gifts. It started with small things when they were younger. Leo brings home a bundle of wires from dumpster diving, or Donnie finds sparkly plastic jewelry for Leo to wear around the lair. There was something about seeing an item and instantly thinking that the other person would like it.
-
On their 8th birthday, Leo pulled Donnie aside from the celebration and towards their room. Donnie grumbled at Leo's excited giggling and yanked his hand back to sit down as soon as they were through the door and alone. Leo didn't seem to mind, still smiling like a madman.
"I got you a gift!" Leo said, and Donnie just rolled his eyes.
"I know you did. You're not very good at keeping secrets. The only thing I don't know is where you're keeping it." The slider glared at his twin and with a huff reached under Donnie's bed. He then pulled out a small cardboard box with a bow on it. Donnie raised his eyebrows.
"You hid it under my bed?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah! Why would you look under your bed?" That was a fair point, Donnie conceded, then reached under his extra pillow, and pulled out a similarly sized box. Leo grinned and shoved his box into Donnie's hand before snatching the other one.
Leo stuck the bow to his head before ripping through the paper and rifling through the tissue paper inside. Donnie on the other hand was very careful in peeling up the pieces of tape, setting the bow to the side before unfolding the tissue paper and pulling out a white coffee mug. It was covered in designs of constellations and atoms that Leo clearly drew himself in varying shades of purple.
Donnie blinked down at the gift in surprise and looked up at Leo, who was pulling his own white mug covered in Donnie's hand-drawn designs, these of unicorns and rainbows. Leo broke out into a huge smile and began to laugh.
"We really are twins!" He shouted.
"Shut up," Donnie mumbled, annoyed.
-
7 years later, Donnie was sitting in his lab finishing up the wrapping on his gift for his twin. He smoothed out the wrapping paper across the heavy box with steady hands, trying to dispel the nervousness that always came with getting a gift for his brothers.
Over the years both Donnie and Leo had given a lot of gifts to each other and to the rest of their family. Sometimes it was for special occasions, sometimes they saw something that the other person would like or need and just did it, sometimes it was just because. But giving gifts to Leo always felt different.
The thing was that, at least for Donnie, the gift exchanges were reminders of how well the twins knew each other. Donnie had a hard time understanding any of his brothers, but with Leo, it was a bit easier. He believed it had something to do with them both being people of thought, rather than action, like Raph and Mikey. Leo may have acted stupid, but Donnie knew that his true strength lay in his strategy, in his understanding and manipulation of the enemy. He tended to show it casually most of the time, but it was always still impressive.
But the point was that Donnie understood Leo on a level that he didn't quite with the rest of his family, and each time they gave each other gifts it helped reinforce that understanding. Plus, it was an easy way to show that they loved each other, without all the complexities of emotion.
Donnie reached out and grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen out of an old coffee mug, with purple hand-drawn constellations and atoms, scribbled a quiet "happy birthday" on the paper and stuck it under the bow. He then walked out and knocked on Leo's door.
He heard scrambling from inside and was greeted with a bright overwhelming smile on his twin's face.
"Finally! Why do you always say wrapping till the last minute?" Leo yelped as he pulled Donnie inside his room. Donnie didn't dignify the question with an answer and shoved the present into Leo's hands. Leo in turn put the box on the ground and shoved his own huge brightly wrapped box into Donnie's.
It had been a tradition ever since that first 8th birthday that they would give each other their presents separate from the rest of their family just so they could have a moment with each other alone on their birthday. And Donnie always had the strangest sense of Deja Vu whenever they did it. It was always a reminder of how little he and his twin had changed as they grew older. Because Leo still ripped and tore through the paper after sticking the bow on his head, and Donnie always peeled away the tape, to the point that Leo only used one or two pieces on the whole box to make the process faster.
Once it was open Donnie picked up a new soldering tool, remembering how he mentioned his old one was fizzing out uncontrollably, and in another box a Jupiter Jim comic book wrapped in cellophane. With a card on top that read "Mint condition ;)." Donnie felt himself start to wiggle and put down the box to flap his arms up and down, he wished he was in his wheelchair so we could spin around. He looked up to thank Leo and hug him, only to find Leo already leaning across the gap with an excited squeal, talking so fast that Donnie couldn't keep up.
In Leo's lap was a new custom wooden chess set, with each of the pieces a different sea creature. (Except for the nights which were unicorns, because his brother never grew out of that phase.)
Donnie hugged Leo back with a smile and patted him on the back before they drew apart.
"This is great, Don! I love it so much! You've got to play with me later today!"
Donnie just sighed and rolled his eyes, accepting the fact that he was going to get his butt whooped in chess because he never could be Leo at that game.
"Later," he said. "Let's just enjoy the party." Leo smiled and bolted for the door, dragging his twin behind.
Just like always.
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Thank you to @rise-august-art-challenge for hosting the Rise August Challenge, which this is inspired by.
Please let me know if I should improve or fix something.
Beautiful!
Rise August Day 1: Mad Dogs
So... let's just pretend that I finished this on time and I'm TOTALLY not a day late on even my own art challenge, shall we?😅
Moments Chapter 1: Mad Dogs
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AO3 Link: Here
Draxum was still adjusting to being in contact with his creations. He had thought they had been destroyed with his lab, so when he saw them alive, he had been overwhelmed. When he had lost them, he hadn't truly mourned, he had been uncertain if the experiment would work and wasn't sure what it would have created, he wasn't even certain if they would be fully sentient. The fact that they were alive and there had caused a rush of emotion. Surprise and shock, but also pride and wonder. He had called them beautiful, and he had meant it.
As they fought, Draxum observed them carefully, trying to see what his creations had become in his absence. They had somehow managed to find the scrapped prototypes for the weapons that he had intended to give them if he had raised them. And each of them seemed to use them with at least a moderate form of success. Impressive. But what was more impressive was the fact that they could speak clearly, enough to banter with him and each other, and they each seem to have different and separate personalities from each other.
Even though he only spent a short time with them he could see that they had become people. Not weapons, or animals, or some empty shell that could be puppeteered. They were aware, sentient, alive. It made some small and strange thing bloom in his chest. He had ignored it.
He learned eventually that they called themselves "The Mad Dogs." Draxum had creased his eyebrows at the name, wondering why they would want to name themselves after a crazed and feral animal. But otherwise had not thought about it.
-
It had not been until much later that he remembered he had made them to be weapons.
It had been a hard thing to remember. They acted up and goofed around so much, and rarely took anything seriously. Even when he had revealed a core piece of their identity, the truth about their human DNA, all they had done was squeal like little girls and jump up and down. And though he saw their power, it was easy for Draxum to continue thinking of them as nothing more than children. It took him seeing how they reacted after the Krang invasion to remember that fact.
Draxum had received a call from Michelangelo's phone shortly after the chaos had settled. All he had managed to gather was that Michelangelo had done something mystical and had been severely injured before he was out the door and on his way to the turtle's lair.
-
When he arrived, he ignored the mess that the layer was in and march straight to the med bay. He threw the door straight open with a slam.
"Would anyone care to tell me-" he started, but he was immediately interrupted.
The Alchemist found himself tackled harshly against the wall, pinned there by a steel-like forearm across his neck, and staring down the glowing purple of a mystic technological weapon. Beyond the weapon he saw two animalistic eyes reflecting the purple light, pupils blown wide with adrenaline. Draxum froze under Donatello's gaze, the two eyes pinned him more securely to the wall than even the threat of the weapon. From behind the softshell, he heard a deep rumbling, and when he managed to look beyond the thing pinning him to the wall, he saw three more pairs of eyes staring him down intently. He felt his heartbeat pick up several notches, and his breath catch. His hind mind kicked into gear telling him to leave, screaming "threat!" in his ear. He felt like he had stumbled upon a den of predators, willing and able to kill him without thought. Like a pack of ravenous, hungry, and crazed dogs.
"Donnie," a voice said, and all attention twisted from him to the source. April stood in the corner; hands raised in surrender. "Donnie it's okay, it's just Barry. He's here to help Mikey, remember?"
Slowly, the purple turtle leaned back from Draxum. His weapon dissolved and he stepped away, pupils still wide but holding more clarity than before. Donatello nodded, glared at Draxum, and retreated towards the bed his brothers were gathered around.
Now that Draxum was able to get a clearer look at the room, he nearly winced at the state of the brothers. Leonardo was by far the worst, wrapped in a huge number of bandages and looked trapped in the bed under the weight of the injuries. Raphael was favoring his left side, his right I was swollen shut, he had his body hunched over the bed pointing his spiked shell outwards and revealing the puncture wound above his shoulder. Donatello looked the best out of the brothers, resting on the foot of the bed like a sentry, but he was leaning on his bo staff like a crutch, and the Alchemist could still see bandages and patches on his arm. He also noted the lack of battle shell and the way the turtle angled his real shell away from him. Michelangelo was sitting at the end of the bed too, and Draxum saw the burns reaching up his forearms and the way his hand shook. They all still pinned him with that unnerving stare, but it was less of a threat and more of a warning.
"Sorry," April said. "You just startled them a little, they're still kind of on edge."
"Yeah," Michelangelo said from the bed, with a small smile, but his voice was hoarse and weak. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize," Draxum said. He slowly approached the bed trying to keep his body language relaxed. "Now," he said gesturing for Michelangelo to show his injuries. The others' animalistic eyes still pinned on him. "Would you mind telling me exactly what happened?"
-
Later, when Draxum would try to go to sleep, the image of those stares would burst through his mind, and he would be wide awake again. He would be reminded of the name "Mad Dogs" and would find that it suddenly fit.
Because no matter how childish they were, how silly, how kind, they would always have the capability to be weapons. They would always be more powerful than almost everyone they would ever meet. They would always have a wild part of themselves, that would seek to eliminate any threat to themselves or to anyone they cared about. It was a frightening thought, and The Alchemist was suddenly very happy that he had not raised the boys.
Because no matter how much he had missed, and he had missed so much, he was happy that they had the chance to be more than weapons. Happy they had the chance to be more than crazed and feral animals. Happy that they had been raised as children and not soldiers. Happy that that wild part of themselves was not the only thing that defined them.
Even if he still did not understand why they chose to call themselves by that title, he was happy it was a part of themselves that they could embrace along with their... humanity.
-
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Thank you for reading. Let me know if there is anything I should work on.
Thank you to @sariphantom for hosting the Rise August Challenge, which this is inspired by.
@nickelodeon Please save Rise.
Moments: Rise One-Shots
AO3 Link
Based on the Rise August Challenge by @sariphantom Thank you for Hosting this Challenge.
Mad Dogs: Draxum ponders over why his creations would use the term “Mad Dogs” to identify themselves. He sees why. (BAMF Turtle Brothers, Draxum trying his best)
Disaster Twins: Donnie and Leo like to show their love through gifts. (Fluff, Angst, Gifts)
Dr. Delicate Touch: How did Mikey become Dr. Delicate Touch. (Turtle Tots)
Yokai: Donnie and his brother weren’t humans. So, he was excited to discover that there was a whole city of people like them. Except that it turns out they aren’t Yokai either.
Mayhem: Agent 64 knows that their mission is over. That the council would want them back to continue their work elsewhere. So, they gave themselves a new mission: to spy and report on human activity.
Cassandra Jones: Cassandra Jones had loved the Foot Clan, the Clan just hadn’t loved her back.
Senor Hueso: The hidden city was aware of the invasion but didn’t know how it ended. Senor Hueso finds out when the turtles come to eat.
Big Mama: Leo is trapped with Raph by Big Mama (Whump)
Kimono: Ralph wears a kimono; it feels strangely right.
Pizza: Mikey tries to make pizza from scratch. It... doesn't really work out.
April O’Neil: It’s hard to believe that April is human sometimes, even she sometimes questions it. (BAMF April)
Cassy Jr.: Cassy Jr has a panic attack. Raph helps. (Angst)
Cannonball: Cannonball Day ends with Mikey having his arm in a cast. (Hurt/Comfort, Broken Bones)
Purple Dragons: Donnie was not happy that the Purple Dragons had made him almost destroy his brothers. But they were fine in the end, so no harm, no foul. That didn't mean they weren’t still on thin ice with him, then they decided to do the incredibly stupid thing of risking his son’s AI’s life. They weren't going to know what hit them.
Invention: Donnie has never been the safest in his lab. He regrets that now more than ever, as his newest invention begins to malfunction.
Hidden City: The Hidden City is a weird place. so, when something weirder comes along they notice it. And rumors are a thing no matter where you live.
Warren Stone: Warren Stone is not the most intimidating figure, but he'll be damned if the relaxing date he had planned for him and his boyfriend was to be interrupted by anything.
Lou Jitsu: Splinter finds an old Lou Jitsu Movie, and he takes it home. He never meant for his boys to find it. (Fluff, Angst, Tots)
Snow Day: Mikey isn't the best at dealing with low temperatures. His brothers must deal with the aftermath. (Hurt/Comfort, Whump)
Sleepover: Everyone needs some comfort after the invasion, and since Leo can't be moved from the Med Bay, they'll have to make do. (Hurt/Comfort)
Mrs. Cuddles: How did Raph become afraid of Mrs. Cuddles?
Hypno: It turns out that Leo and Hypno have a lot in common. So, when they're not trying to beat the living daylights out of each other, they have a lot to talk about.
Turtle Tots: Turtle brothers have always been trouble magnets, which hadn't been great when they were younger. There was a reason Donnie invented his battle shell.
Rise: The Hamato children remember what it was like when they awoke their Ninpo.
@nickelodeon please bring back Rise!
This is everything I love!
Sweet Brothers and then Heart Break!
Please show it Love!!!
I made a ROTTMNT Turtle Tots comic for Twitter about the Disaster Twins accidentally switching outfits!
MOVIE SPOILER WARNING BTW
Reposting to Spread More
CALLING ALL RISE FANS!
The lovely @seasaltcosmos has started a google doc! We’re going to form a MASSIVE letter and post it on twitter and they could use your help!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mr4KYBhqkLyO2KGOOtSLvsk8Bc_-k2lJe6tPCKrKZLw/edit?usp=sharing
Hit the link, write your piece, share the link and lets get our words out there!
Every little bit helps! We want want something good in the future, but not one of us can do it alone. Let’s support each other! Like the Rise boys would do! Don’t stop trying!
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
-Wayne Gretzky
Also! Please do THIS!
Rise April Challenge 24: Rebirth
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The yellow of the setting sun was painted over by the swirling pink of the hole in the sky. The wind whistled past Leo's ear as he listened to the young voice coming from his comm.
“Just tell me when you’re home free, and I’ll pull the plug!”
Casey’s voice rang in his ears as he looked up at the hulking steal encased monster and the endless void of suffering just on the other side of the gate, marching towards him. Towards the city. Towards the world.
Towards his family.
Maybe that shouldn’t be as high on his list. Maybe a real hero would do this for the world. But Leo isn’t a hero. Leo is selfish, arrogant, and a screw up.
But if there's one thing that Leo could consider good about himself, it was this: he was loyal and he loved his family more than anything. So, screw it.
“Casey, listen to me.” He says, not taking his eyes off the Krang. “When I get to the other side, you close that door.”
He knows what he’s asking from the kid. Knows he is asking him to pull the trigger, to kill him. Leo knows he could have lied, could have told him to close it without telling him that he was still on the other side. But Casey shouldn’t have to live with the guilt of thinking that it was an accident, that Leo had a chance of making it out and Casey somehow screwed it up. He deserves to know that it was Leo’s choice. That there was no other way out.
“What? Sensei, no!”
Leo tunes out his response, his explanation, to focus on the enemy in front of him. He knows the way it will go, knows the words.
It feels like he’s already said them a thousand times.
Raph’s panicked voice brakes through his concentration. He’s begging, pleading, trying to reject what is happening, to demand and hold all of existence down so that is has no choice but to compile.
Leo did the same when he was dragged away by the escape pod.
He says something, a joke he forgets before it’s even out of his mouth. What he’s really saying is “I know this hurts. I know you’ll hate yourself for this. But you’ll live. You’ll be ok after a while. And that’s all I want.”
He stares at the end of everything he loves, and, with his body and mind collapsing inwards on itself like a dying star, he brings forward his Ninpō and rases his blades.
It’s a pitiful fight that’s over before it starts. But he feels his first blade in the void of the prison behind him and digs the one in his hand into foot pining him down.
“What you fail to understand is I missed on purpose.”
His Ninpō flared and he teleported deep into the prison.
In the moments between the disappearance and reappearance, Leo could swear that he could feel the weight of thousands of despairing eyes burn into his soul.
The Krang tried to fight him, tried to run back towards the open doorway, and Leo knew he couldn’t keep him there for long.
“Casey, please.” He pleaded.
This is a plea that he knows, one that sings in his blood. Hamatos have always been forced to sacrifice everything for their family, for the world. And they always died the same way: begging their loved ones to understand. To forgive them for not coming home.
The portal closes, the Technodome explodes.
Leo let’s go of his hold and waits for death.
-
Mikey opens a portal and saves him. He comes home.
But Leo is still waiting for death.
He sits in his med bay cot and listens to the beeps of his heart monitor and waits for it to stop. He feels each breath and waits for it to be cut off.
Nothing happens.
It doesn’t feel real. He thinks back to when the Krang’s anger was trying to crush him, when it rained hits down to try and crack open his shell and rip apart whatever was inside.
He hadn’t been alone. He could feel them, watery eyes that watched with despair, hands that reached out and tried to hold him, voices that thanked him and whispered to him that “Anata wa hitori ja nai.”
As he hugged the photo of his family to his chest and smiled, he felt a sense of familiarity well up in him. As if he had already done this 1000 times over. But it wasn't him, no, it was spirits that gathered around him. That could do nothing but reach out for him as he waited to die.
Leo wonders how many of his family sacrificed themselves for the ones they loved, how many died for some cause. How many deaths did it take to carve the knowledge of sacrifice into a bloodline?
But Leo hadn't died.
He began to cry. He let the tears flow freely and he cried. Because even if his heart had never stopped beating, he still felt like he had died. Like whoever he was had disappeared into that dimension and left him a broken body to return to his family.
But that wasn’t true, he was alive. Scared and beaten and broken, but alive.
Why? Why him?
Out of everyone, out of all the souls that had reached out and shared his pain, why was he the one to come back home?
What had he done to be brought back while they were mourned?
No one answered.
After a minute Donnie would walk in on Leo still crying. He would grow stiff and reach out and grab his hand. Leo would cling to it and sob that he was sorry that he hadn’t listened to them, that he had put them in danger for his ego, that he had almost made them lose him.
Donnie would just cling right back and soon began to cry in turn, begging Leo to never do that again. To always be safe and with them, and Leo agreed.
Thus, Leo returned to life not with fire and ash but with tears and sobs. Nothing would be the same, nothing would be the way it was before, but they would always love each other and nothing else mattered.
Prev - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.\
@nickelodeon Bring Back Rise
Rise April Challenge 23: Spooky
Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here (Not my finest work, but it's okay. I like writing horror, but I didn't want to lean too heavily into that, so here.)
Flint lives in New York, has for many years now, he’s seen some weird stuff. That means that he rarely gets surprised any more. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t get scared.
He had been scouting out an abandoned sewar tunnel for a few weeks now. It seems that’s out of view most security cameras and he hadn’t seen anyone else using it for... unsavory business. So, Flint thought it would be a good place to do some not exactly legal art.
The tunnel was dark and smelt of old rainwater, the kind of water was tainted with the oils and gases of the city and dragged them down through storm drains, but there wasn't the smell of sewage and that was good enough for Flint.
He flicked on his flashlight and walked deeper in, the sound of his footsteps bouncing endlessly into the darkness. The light from the entrance was soon gone, leaving Flint only with the pale artificial light in his hand. The air was still, and the young vandal felt the clinging, dusty cold that came with being encased underground. It felt like the tunnel was holding its breath, staring out at him with wide unseen eyes.
An image entered Flint’s mind of a tall, slim, shadowy figure, just a step or two behind him. Following. Waiting. He could see the way it glided forward, soundlessly so as not to alert its victim. He could see the way the darkness was stuffed and shoved into an into a tall, bulging, shape that could almost be a man. And Flint could see the way its long slim fingers reached out to grab his head and yank it straight off his-
He whipped around and shined the light right where the things face would be.
There was nothing there.
Of course not. He was just creeped out from being in a dark tunnel alone. It was normal that his imagination acted up. Flint shook his head and carried on.
-
A few minutes later Flint had stopped walking and was working on a section of wall, illuminated by his flashlight laying on the ground. The smell of paint driving off the old rain smell, and the shaking of spray cans driving off the echoes.
He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to paint and was mostly hoping inspiration would strike as he started to work. It was going okay, and he could feel himself slipping into a nice artistic trance when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing off the walls. He froze, wondering if someone had seen him go into the sewers and thought he was an easy target to rob, or if it was a cop.
Except, it wasn't coming from the direction of the entrance.
It was coming from deeper inside.
Flint didn't move. He could feel his heart in his chest jumping and his mind overflowed with the images of true crime shows and horror movies.
The noise stopped, and Flint twisted his head to face it.
He could just see it, the beam of his flashlight barely managing to reveal its outline while the rest of it was cloaked in shadow. It was huge, almost twice his height and just as wide, with bulging masses of muscles the size of his head. Flint could make out the pointed shape of spikes running up and down the scaly skin of its arms. He saw more spikes curling down his back, and a few splitting from his shoulders, sharper and longer than the others. It was hunched over slightly and pinned Flint in place with two blank, glowing, white eyes.
Flint could hear his breath hitch, and his legs shake.
He didn't want to die. Oh God, is he going to die?
The thing tilted its head and leaned slowly closer to the light. Flint could just make out the glimpse of bright red around its wrists, when something on the thing shoulder moved and two more glowing eyes opened and stared at him.
Flint ran. He abandoned his paint and flashlight, and just ran. Ran through the endless darkness towards the entrance, feeling the air rush past him and the walls closing around him, trying to trap him inside. They were inches away from touching his skin, he knew it. even if he couldn't see it, he knew it. He just had to get out.
Had to get out. Had to get out. HadtogetouthadtogetouthadtogETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT-
he collapsed into the light of the sun right of the tunnel and stared back into the darkness. Nothing came out after him.
After a few minutes of catching his breath, Flint went home. He never went back for his supplies. He never told anyone, never posted about it on the internet, he knew no one would believe him. And he figured that if he never went back into that thing's territory, it would leave him alone.
He didn't want to know what it was; he didn't care. As the saying goes “live and let live.” So, if it let him live, he would do the same. He figured that was fair.
-
Raph blinked at the spot where the artist had stood and just put his head in his hand. Dang it, he hadn't meant to scare the kid. Mikey yawned from his spot on Raph’s back.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“Nothing,” Raph said. “Let's get you to bed, you don't think your Sleepy-Little-Brother act gonna get me not to tell Pops you were out late painting again.”
“But I am tired. It's not an act if I’m actually tired.”
Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge, and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.
@nickelodeon Bring Back Rise
hope and sacrifice.
I need to expand on this more on here because I'm going insane thinking about this.
the main themes in the rise movie center around hope and sacrifice. hope, being a ninjas greatest weapon and what leo ultimately uses to get the team motivated, and sacrifice which leo actively uses. these two concepts are interchangeable and are used to develop this unhealthy view of being a hero.
leo being the prime example of this.
leo is notorious for being a martyr in the movie not because he wants to be self sacrificial and thinks he deserves it (although a small part of him might think that) but because thats what he's been taught and grown up to think. of taking responsibility. of allowing to take hold of the "burden" of caring for his team, for his brothers. he must sacrifice a part of himself in order to be a worthy leader. no more immature pizza stacking competitions, no, leo must sacrifice that part in order to mold into being a leader. he must sacrifice his childhood.
its no surprise leo wants nothing to do with this idea, its no surprise he's constantly rebelling against this notion and not taking it seriously because as much as we have seen leo act dumb and immature, we know that he is smarter than he acts. he knows that being a leader is sacrificing the part of freedom he loves so much. the part that can joke around with his brothers and can allow himself to easily fight off bad guys without worrying because thats not his job. he's just leo.
thats raphs job.
raph has sacrificed this part of himself. his identity is surrounded by being the oldest, being the responsible one, having the "raph chasm", being the leader. raph was born as the eldest son to take the responsibility and with little to no help from splinter (because lets be honest raphs relationship with his brothers is also very parental), raph has had to create this idea of what being a leader is not only to himself but for his brothers. he has created the mold of being a leader from shows, from experiences, from being the oldest. he must sacrifice a part of himself, a part of his freedom, a part of his childhood, in order for his brothers to be safe.
and now his younger brother is being pushed into this with little to no warning.
(now I could go on and on about how the season 2 finale was the catalyst for raph and leos bond and brotherhood to slowly unravel BUT thats another thread.)
the rejection of the leader position from leos perspective makes so much sense. leo is still a kid. this responsibility isn't for him, he's not equipped to make these decisions. thats for raph. thats for the oldest.
which makes why raph is so upset with leo in the beginning of the movie so much more real. all he's known is this great weight of carrying the burden and guilt of his brothers and the actions that could cause them to get hurt, he has taken the fall, taken the blame, and has done so without faltering (kind of). although leo is the "faceman", all of the brothers show some sort of mask to hide behind in an unhealthy way. donnie hides behind his science and his title of being the "smart one", mikey hides behind the fact that he is the youngest and his many dr. personas. leo and raph both hide behind some form of bravado that masks the fear they have for their brothers and their safety. raph uses his anger while leo uses his laid back attitude. both are hiding their fear. their both scared.
this is where hope and sacrifice begin to blur.
casey jr. introduces us to the idea of hope because he essentially is the human personified version of hope. he is future leos last hope. he is what is left of an entire civilization that has now been destroyed. but what is hope without sacrifice. casey jr. has witnessed both future mikey and future leo sacrifice themselves for the greater good. for hope. since this is all casey jr. has ever known, especially with how he grew up (another major theme but ill talk about that another time) the idea of sacrifice is hand in hand with hope. with winning. with being a hero.
so when leo comes back after raph sacrifices himself so leo can escape, casey jr. is more thrilled than anything that they have the key. because they "won", because raph sacrificed himself, because hope is nothing without sacrifice.
and this is again another reason why leo begins to put the two together and create his own warped idea of being a leader.
being a hero.
learning about his future self, of how much casey jr. idolizes him and calls him "the greatest ninja the worlds ever seen", of how he was a leader and led the entire revolution. of how he saved the world by sacrificing himself. its only until raph does the same does the gears begin to turn.
being a leader is about sacrifice.
and so getting thrown into the prison dimension is the responsible thing to do. its the right thing. its the sacrifice that someone like leo believes is what a leader would do because yeah leos the leader now and leaders do whatever they can to make sure their team is safe.
that their brothers are safe.
the words "its not about me" play into this mindset and although by the end it helps leo learn that he needs to put more trust in his brothers and allow the burden of being a leader to fall on more than his shoulders, "its not about you" is exactly the mindset that raph had in the beginning of the movie. and because of this, raph and leo both are stuck in this cycle of responsibility and freedom. of having to navigate between wanting to sacrifice their future of being heroes in order to just live like normal people for a few minutes or sacrifice their own individuality to bare the weight of the world on their shoulders. and with their situation of being literal mutated turtles created only to become super soldiers, they automatically are deemed special and were brought into this world in hopes of fighting against humanity.
A ninjas greatest weapon is hope after all.
I messed up on Leo so bad
*Internally crying right now*
Honestly, I've never drawn Usagi before, surprised at how he turned out.
I have better art of Leo I swear, my hand was shaky with the sharpie. :/
(My art is usually all sketches, they look better as sketches)
Anyways I had fun drawing it. What should I post next? If y'all wanna see pre drawn and already finished art just ask.
IFORGOTLEOSBLUSHOMGD:
new sprite teehee
do you have an itch.io page?
I've just made my account, thank you for reminding me! the name is the same as my usual accounts, spoopyblues214. I won't make the game a page until we finish the Leo routes though.
Also, have a free sprite update that goes with the finished bad route!
drew some stuff on a whiteboard
so I drew the disaster twins and my ocs
Also my ocs
having a lot of fun redrawing memes as tortles
Idk how to use tumblr hi
Have a boy
And another one
My friend @kyuubicore gave me this idea cuz i didnt know what to draw
Fighting art block be like *bothers bestie for ideas*
