#he’s like ‘okay we’re just a group of Lou Jitsus’

[mefiman]

Hamato Family’s First Visit to the Hidden City

Story request by @rottmntrulesall. Hope you enjoy the story, bud! ^^

"C'mon, everyone! Hurry up!" Michelangelo's impatience was obvious in his excitement. He and his siblings were finally going to show their dad's relatives for the first time to the Hidden City for two reasons; one: to view the many wonders of the other world and two: to have a formal, proper meeting with Draxum's parents. The latter part had instilled some unease into the Hamato siblings, especially Saki who was wary about stepping foot into a mysterious world and was about to see for himself the father and mother of the "monster" who altered his younger brother many years ago.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Hamato Kenji asked. Raphael glanced at his uncle, understanding his uncle's concerns. "We've been there a lot, Uncle Kenji! We did encounter a few dangers there before but other than that, the people there don't usually attack humans unless provoked." Raph assured his uncle.

"There are a lot of places to visit like the many resorts and spas if you want to have a massage and ooh, Señor Hueso's Run of the Mill Pizza where they make one of the best pizzas! I know the manager of that place, we're amigos~" Leonardo took the chance to quip in.

"I can't wait to see Grandpa Mons again! Wait till you guys meet him yourselves, he's the nicest, sweetest grandpa you'll ever meet! He's still as strong as he's gentle!" Mikey said happily.

"I wonder if Grandma Chemia has some wicked new inventions to show me!" Donatello exclaimed.

"This would be my first time seeing my grandparents, Arachne..." Ariadne whispered to her best friend, Arachne.

"You've never seen them before?" Her friend asked.

"Once when I was a baby... I haven't seen them for years." The yokai femme told Arachne.

"Alright, kids, you've shown us all that you're excited to bring us to visit the Hidden City, Mikey, can you open the portal now?" Splinter asked.

"Sure, Dad!" Mikey got to work quickly.

Draxum felt a tinge of anxiety inside himself. He could not recall the last time he visited his creators ever since he moved out of home to pursue his alchemy researching, away from his parents' constant arguments, half of which is about their preferred methods of raising him. It was a surprise how those two still manage to live under the same roof despite their obvious clashing personalities. He guessed that they tolerated each other just for his sake. His parents had never produced any more offspring after him and one of Arachne’s parents...

"Hey, are you okay, Dad?" A female voice asked him. Draxum jolted from his pondering to find that his daughter, Poison Ivy asking him out of concern. He just gave a small smile as he ran his clawed hands over her helmet. "Am fine, just thinking about your grandparents." He assured her. He marveled how Ivy much had grown from the last time he scientifically created her with his and Lou Jitsu's DNAs; she being so tiny as a developed newborn infant growing in a liquid chamber to a young lady around the boys' ages. From what he knew later on, Splinter raised her along with the Turtles. Ivy had lived her life at first as a normal human teenager until her yokai genes started appearing. The initial discovery of her origins did shake her world but over time, she had learnt to accept and use them to assist her brothers in their adventures. She was intelligent like Draxum and his mother with his father's gentle, mature nature as well as Splinter/Lou's sassiness. She loved to study on botany and coincidently, her powers involved using vines and summoning plant like monsters at will. She recently revealed her sexuality preference as a lesbian and had a girlfriend who is a fellow classmate and witch trainee/apprentice in disguise. Both her creators and siblings were happy for her. As of now, she was cradling her younger sister, Venus de Milo was giggling and squealing as April, Ariadne and Arachne cooed and tickled her belly.

The group watched Mikey draw a symbol on the wall at an alley. Once the symbol was drawn, an open portal revealed. The Hamato siblings' mouths went ajar, not believing what they just saw. "if you think that's mind blowing, you haven't seen nothing yet!" Mikey grinned. His three other brothers and the three girls each took hold of one of their Hamato uncles and aunts's hands. The moment they all jumped into that portal, they found themselves staring at a massive part of a what seemed to be a huge city. The sky above was unlike Earth's skies; instead it was orange with some brown. The architecture of the buildings there were monster shaped with some tall, castle like structures far away from the city. There were a lot of people of all shapes, sizes, colors and appearances walking, running, passing by each other, buying their needs or doing their usual business trades. The Turtle family allowed their Hamato relatives to take in their first view around them. Saki's eyes were bulging out of his sockets, he could not believe for his life what he was seeing. Anthropomorphic, mostly consisting of animal, everyday objects, monstrous and supernatural like individuals roamed every part of the streets around him, he felt as if he was having a strange dream that defied logic! Nori on the other hand, looked right and left, taking in interesting sights that captured her attention. Underneath a calm façade, Kenji was freaking out internally at the new, foreign view. Hiroki was squealing in delight similar to a child had just discovered a world made of toys and sweets. Her twin, Hikari was a bit calmer than his sister, feeling a thrill of danger running through his veins. Last but not least, the youngest Hamato sibling, Mei's stance looked poker face yet she looked around to see if there were any Gothic like people that she can interact with. The Turtles and the girls grinned, seeing the reactions of the others.

"What do you think? Surreal, huh?" They ask.

"Amazing.."

"Fascinating..."

"I can't believe what I'm seeing..."

"Someone please tell me that I'm dreaming..." Saki mumbled, still not believing.

"No, you're not," Draxum replied, going straight to the point with an indifferent expression. "May we please hurry to my parents' house, I bet they're waiting for our arrival..."

"Oh yeah!" Mikey clapped both his hands once. "Lead the way, Draxy!"

Draxum sighed as he took the lead of the group. Along the way, there were a few whispers around and behind Draxum coming from the city people but Splinter and Ivy took hold of both his hands and gave a comforting, assuring squeeze, making him feel better. Ariadne gave her uncle a comforting hand on to his shoulder. They were soon out of the main city square to a further distance into the woods. They had to climb up a hill for a while until they reached a big mansion residing there.

"We are here at last. My childhood home..." Draxum said, looking at the grassy, serene valley below, reminiscing the times where he as a little one ran galloping around the field, cartwheeling with glee among the flowers and his sire teaching him the basics on how to defend himself the predator way. Both father and son spend their days in the early years, sparring with each other...

"Draxum, my son!" The former alchemist warrior villain snapped out of his memories to find himself being engulfed into the arms of none other than his dear, loving old father, Monsrage who brought his only son into a crushing bear hug which knocked the wind out of his lungs. "How have you been, my little baby boy? It's rare that you visit us but it's so wonderful to see you bring your family along! How delightful!" the older yokai gushed, his bushy tail wagging with unlimited enthusiasm like an excited puppy. Monsrage was rather huge and muscular with perked up, pointy ears, silky straight black hair unchanged through time and a fairly long beard to match. Like Draxum before, he wore a battle mask. He had a significant dark upperlip. His body had different shades of blue just like his son, Draxum when he was armored. Monsrage's eyes were the same like Draxum's. His feet in particular, was a noticeable difference. Unlike his wife and son, his feet were shaped like a lion's paws, fitting for him coming from a predator species.

"Father, it's great to see you... but can you please let go now? I can't breathe..." Draxum choked out, being smothered by his sire's busty chest. Monsrage immediately loosened his grip, apologizing profusely while checking to see if he had accidently broken any of his son's bones. Draxum shook his head, smiling a little. His sire had never changed all these years, still a concerned worrywart. And he bet his mother had not either...

Chemia on the other hand, was greeting the rest of the visitors with feverish energy. She was a redhead with shades of pink for her skin colour and her ears, long and drooped. Her eyes had a little twinkle in them, a part of her eccentric personality and plump, red lips. Like her husband, she wore a mask. Donnie, April, Arachne and Ivy were given a whirlwind hug the moment they came in front of her. Monsrage went back to the mansion with his son to give the new visitors, the Hamatos, April, and Arachne a warm greeting as well as welcome his beloved grandchildren with his signature bear hug and proceed to pepper their faces with smooches which they were delighted to have especially Mikey, Ariadne, Ivy and Venus. Monsrage and Chemia ushered them all into their humble abode. The Hamatos were initially skeptical about meeting Draxum's family but they were soon warmed up to them. Later on, the mansion was filled with guffaws of laughter as Monsrage showed them all baby pictures of his son which embarrased the poor warrior scientist. Donnie, April and Ivy were treated to Grandma Chemia's latest creations. Monsrage himself had a blast, playing with Venus and sparring with the Turtles and the girls. Arachne was delighted to meet her grandparents as a young adolescent, telling them about her achievements, adventures and that her own parents are doing well. The Hamatos became comfortable talking with Draxum's parents over some snack delicacies. Overall, everyone had a wonderful time at the Hidden City.

I had fun writing this! Was tiring but oh so worth it.

The Hamato siblings (minus Lou/Splinter) and Venus de Milo belong to @rottmntrulesall while Ariadne and Arachne are the OCs of @mikeykawaii/@mikey-ho. Monsrage, Chemia and Poison Ivy along with the mention of the witch girlfriend belong to me, @mefiman. I hope you don’t mind me incorporating your girls into this story, @mikeykawaii but I’ve been dying to add them in, especially Ari meeting her grandparents! ^^ 

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #my art #ocs #baronjitsu #a teeny bit mentioned

[eternalglitch]

Like Father Like Son: Chapter 1

Prologue

Arc 1: Chapter 1

“Ha! Your loss, brother,” Donnie crowed, holding up the complete popsicle stick with a flourish.

Read it on HERE on ao3.

Chapter Specific Warnings: no specific ones (please see the general ones listed in the prologue) 

Chapter One: a Night Like Any Other

“Ha! Your loss, brother,” Donnie crowed, revealing the last complete popsicle stick with a flourish.

Leo glowered at the half of a stick that was left in his hand, his brow furrowed as he stared at the stick like it would give answers as to why it had betrayed him so. “Why did we switch to drawing sticks for pizza runs? What ever happened to a good old game of rock-paper-scissors?”

“Mikey kept losing,” Raph said, already fishing one hand around inside of their collective pizza fund’s jar. “So I figured this would be a little more… fair.”

Mikey, perched on the table next to Raph, rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks flushing a bit as he looked to the side. Raph patted him encouragingly on the head as he pulled his other hand back out of the jar, counting up the coins in his palm.

“Fair? How is this fair Donnie clearly cheated!” Leo complained, jabbing an accusatory finger in Donnie’s direction. “Look at that- that look on his face! He clearly did something!”

“I would never.” Donnie crossed his arms, raising one of his sharpie eyebrows in mock hurt. “And, really, Nardo? You were the one holding the sticks at the start. How would you propose I even did that? Where is your proof?”

“Well, what about ordering it in? What ever happened to that?” Leo pressed, waving his hands around in large, dramatic motions.

Mikey swung his feet forwards as he slid off of the table and landed on his feet with a small bounce. “It’s a pickup special night!” he said. “We get two whole pies for the price of one!”

“And so, of course, we ordered four,” Donnie deadpanned, typing something into his wrist watch. “Now, if you please, I estimate the pizza will be out of the oven in exactly eighteen minutes based on the last twenty times we ordered it, so be on your way now. Shoo shoo, go go.”

“But- couldn’t April-“ Leo kept trying, but Raph pried open Leo’s right hand and pressed the change into his palm.

“C’mon, Leo, the pizza’s gonna get cold. We did this fair and square.” He stared at Leo, putting on his puppy eyed pleading face, and Leo couldn’t exactly say no to that look, now could he.

Leo sighed loud enough to make sure everyone heard it, but tucked the money away in his pouch. “Fine,” he grumbled. Raph patted him encouragingly on the shell as Leo passed by to head for the nearest ladder to the surface. “But I call dibs on the first slice!” he called over his shoulder. He chuckled as he heard a faint “boo” echo behind him.

Leo approached the slightly rusty ladder that lead up to the nearest sewer lid, and glanced up at it. He reached for the first rung but hesitated, considering his options.

“Actually, let’s take a shortcut,” he murmured, unsheathing his sword in one smooth motion. His reflection winked back at him as he drew the sword forwards and started to carefully draw bigger and bigger circles in the air. With a soft crackle, a blue portal snapped into existence, vibrant and brimming with energy.

The only problem was that it was too small for Leo to feasibly fit through it.

“Fine,” he sighed, sheathing his sword. The portal winked out of existence, and Leo started to painstakingly ascend the ladder. “Looks like we’re doing this the old fashioned way.”

It was late, but New York still bustled on, lights making the alleyways and corners appear that much darker. Leo remained there, in that twilight area between the human and the yokai world, with a practiced ease as he ducked into an alleyway and scaled a drainpipe to get to the roofs.

He’d never admit it, but he didn’t actually mind going on these pizza runs. Sure, it was a bother, and he could be watching the Jupiter Jim movie that Donnie had no doubt resumed watching without him right now (of course, Raph would make sure they rewatched the parts Leo missed), but it was sometimes nice to just have some space. The feeling of his feet slapping against the buildings as he jumped from one to the next, the way the moon always looked bigger and brighter at this time… even the distant screeches of the weirdest things New York had to offer, like fake wizards or a small group of mutant silverfish or even that more recent group of flat earthers. It was comforting… it was familiar.

He made it to their favorite pizza place in record time, crouching low on the opposite rooftop as he scoped out the situation inside of the pizza parlor. “Couldn’t just get Hueso’s, could they,” he muttered, squinting as he tried to spy which pizza box set out had their names on it. “Just had to make me figure out how to get the pizza from the “no mutants allowed” area.”

He spotted a stack of four boxes, one with a short word on top that maybe said either Leo or Raph; it was too far away to be sure. “Okay, this time for sure,” he muttered, drawing his sword again.

It was like a video game; wait for the waiter to pass, avoid the chef setting out more pizzas, aim, and… bingo! A blue portal popped up next to Leo and above the pizza boxes. He reached both hands in, fishing around for the edge of the boxes as he squinted against the blinding blue light suddenly right in his face. He felt the edge of the top box and followed it down, snatching the four hot boxes and pulling them against his chest. The portal started to shrink, and Leo threw the money from his pouch into it just before it vanished. They ate here far too often to be banned for dine and dashing.

It was rare to have four pizzas to carry though; normally there was just the one that they all split. Even if it was just paying for two tonight, Leo decided that dad must have been in a good mood. There was no way Raph had enough money for two pizzas stored up, they always ate through their pizza money the second they had any available. Perhaps he was just impressed that his four sons were genetically related to the movie star Lou Jitsu? That was definitely something worth celebrating.

Leo carefully picked up the four boxes, using his chin to press down on them to make sure they didn’t fall. He turned a bit, staring back at the multitudes of roof tops he now had to jump across with precious cargo. The smell of melted cheese was now heavy in the air, and his stomach growled loudly. Leo wilted, slumping over the boxes in his arms. “There has to be a better way to do this,” he said. He glanced at his sword. “What do you say? Two outta three?”

The sword, of course, did not give a response, nor did it apparently feel like going for two out of three. After waving it around and cursing it a lot, Leo had to come to the conclusion that slowly jogging back was the only way to go.

It was painstakingly slow compared to the trip over, and the smell of the pizza made it feel that much more unbearable. Leo was so caught up in making sure his packages were delivered safely, however, that he remained unaware to the presence of two small gargoyles watching him from overhead.

“Hey there!” a voice chirped, and Leo startled, nearly tipping backwards into an alleyway he had just hopped over.

He glanced upwards, eyes flicking from place to place until his gaze landed on what he was looking for. Two small little black bodies, barely held aloft by small wings, greeted him.

Leo squinted at them, perplexed. “Do I know you?”

One of them flew forwards, his sharp little face nearly touching his. “Know us? Of course you know us! We’re Huginn—“

“-and Muninn,” the other added helpfully.

“Right, right. And Muninn,” the gargoyle continued. “And we’re the official henchmen of none other than-“

“Oh, wait, right,” Leo realized. “You’re Baron Draxum’s shoulder pads!” He whirled around, completely missing the slightly offended and proud looks on Huginn and Muninn’s faces as he focused instead on scanning the rooftops while his grip on the pizza boxes tightened.

Was Draxum here? Not that Leo was scared or anything- of course not- but, well, he didn’t exactly dream of fighting murderous mutants by himself.

At this point, Leo realized the gargoyles were still talking, but it was too late to tune in now; if Draxum appeared, he wouldn’t be ideal to fight alone, especially while his stupid sword was on the fritz. The gargoyles had come closer to him now, and were hovering directly in his way. “Sorry, we’ll have a chat later; gotta go!” he shouted, shoulder checking the two gargoyles so they were sent spinning out of his way.

“Hey!” an indignant voice shouted as Leo leaped into the air, scrambling to not drop the pizzas as he dropped and rolled onto the next roof. He ended the roll clumsily on his back, rocking slightly as he skidded forwards on his shell, and had to use forwards momentum to leap back onto his feet. One pizza box slipped and he barely saved it from hitting the ground.

“What, not even a greeting? I thought you’d at least have the decency to stay and exchange a few words!” The voice was right behind him already, and Leo jolted, glancing backwards. Right. They flew, of course he couldn’t lose them so easily.

“Wasn’t he supposed to be the funny one?” the other gargoyle asked from behind him.

Leo started running again, not allowing himself to stop and catch his breath. “Wow, my brothers really ordered rush delivery,” he managed to say in between gasps. He glanced over his shoulder and winced when he saw the two keeping up with his pace. Was he out of shape? No way. It must be him trying to balance four pizza boxes while doing this.

At that thought, his eyes darted back down towards the pizza boxes, and Leo groaned as a very bad idea struck him. “Nooo don’t make me choose,” he whined, legs still pumping as fast as he could go while awkwardly holding everything. “You guys are the worst! Just for making me do this! You hear me?” he yelled over his shoulder at the two pests that were still right behind him.

He grabbed the top pizza box- sorry Raph- and threw it like a Frisbee at one of the gargoyles- Huginn, maybe? Really, they looked kind of the same to Leo. Huginn avoided it, his sharp little face grinning wider than he had already been doing. “Ha, you missed- gah!” He vanished into an alleyway beneath them, this time Donnie’s pizza acting as tribute.

“Haha!” Leo cheered. “Score one for the turtles! Donnie, you owed me for stealing my allowance last week anyways.” His gaze swung to the remaining gargoyle, whose eyes widened.

“Uh,” Muninn squeaked. “Can we maybe talk about this?”

The pizza box hit him in the face, and he tumbled into the alleyway after the other one. Leo paused, leaning over the edge of the building to watch Muninn crash right on top of Huginn, who had been trying to climb out of a dumpster. The force of the fall made the lid swing shut on top of both of them.

“Well,” Leo said, scratching the top of his head. “Talk about taking out the trash.” He glanced down at the remaining box in his hands. It was, not surprisingly, the box with his own name on it. “Aw man, the pizza though,” he groaned. “Maybe I overreacted to two flying rats- er, gargoyles. But they better not make me pay for it. This wasn’t my fault, obviously.” He pondered it for a moment, pacing on the rooftop before the thudding and distant cries of trapped gargoyles made him stop. He crouched down to stare at the dumpster before nodding. “Right. Well, they never need to know about this. If I just say that maaaybe there was like, eight bad guys, or- or maybe even Baron Draxum himself, they won’t even be able to be mad! It only makes sense that I had to make sacrifices!”

“Oh, well, in that case, maybe I can help you out.”

Leo reacted immediately, his hand shooting to his sword’s hilt as he unsheathed it and whirled to face Draxum behind him in one fluid motion. The yokai stared down at him, a smirk on his face, as he stepped down off of the purple roots that had lifted him onto the rooftop.

“I came here to ask you-“

“Absolutely not, I am not facing you on a rooftop again,” Leo interrupted. He glanced down at the last pizza. “Sorry,” he whispered, before he wound his arm back and hurled the box at Draxum’s face. Clearly a pizza box assault was the last thing he was expecting, because the yokai just stood there and took the corner of the box right in between his eyes. The box crumpled and opened just enough for gooey cheese to cover his face, and more importantly, his eyes.

Leo didn’t wait another second; he took off again, gripping his sword tightly as one hand fished around in his pouch for his cellphone. He furiously punched in the numbers and held the phone up by his earhole. “C’mon Raph, pick up the phone, pick up the phone, pick up the phone.” There was a moment where the ringing dial tone continued before Raph’s voice answered.

“Raph! Quick, I need- aaaaand that’s a recording,“ Leo realized as the pre-recorded message he had heard so many times continued. “Why didn’t I call Donnie? He’s the one always glued to his technology, Raph sometimes forgets to charge- whoAH HEY THAT’S NOT OKAY,” he yelped, skidding to a stop as purple roots burst from the cement right in front of him.

His momentum lost, his arms pin wheeled furiously as he attempted to turn and keep going. The roots shot towards him, and he jumped, landing on one before hopping onto the next. A grin grew on his face as he realized that he just had to keep moving, and he did a flip in the air before gracefully landing on the next one. “Annnd he sticks the landing!”

There was a cracking sound, and Leo’s face froze as his phone fell apart with a small tinkle of scattering glass and electronics. A smaller root had spearheaded his phone from behind, puncturing a perfect hole through the center.

“Wha- this was the worst welcome reception I’ve ever experienced!” Leo wobbled as the roots shifted, Draxum appearing just above him on another root. The yokai flicked off the last string of cheese from one of his horns, face almost expressionless as he stared down at Leo.

“There’s nowhere to run,” Draxum said, a smug smile finally crossing his lips. “Now, why don’t you make it easier for both of us and just come along quietly?“

Leo’s eyes darted towards his sword. “Oh, is that what you think?” he asked. “Because I’m just getting started!” He jumped, bringing the sword down on Draxum, who blocked it with one armored arm with ease. His orange eyes narrowed, and Leo had just enough time to brace himself before he was sent hurtling backwards, skipping across building tops like a pebble across water.

Leo finally stopped when he hit an advertising billboard with a cracking sound, denting the metal and sliding down into a seated position. The familiar sound of cars and chatter cut off, a loud ringing sound filling Leo’s head instead. He blinked a few times, opening his eyes to stare up at the clear night sky. To the rest of New York, it was just a night like any other, but right now... “Ugh,” he groaned, pressing one hand to his temple. He felt sick and dizzy, and through a blurry gaze he could see Draxum gliding towards him on his roots. Leo tried to stand, but his legs shook, and the urge to throw up only seemed to grow with each movement. He wobbled, and had to use his sword as a crutch to prop himself up. “I knew fighting him up here was a bad idea,” he muttered.

Through the ringing, Draxum’s voice took on a sinister tone, the yokai approaching Leo slowly, as a cat cornered its prey. “That wasn’t very impressive, was it?” he asked. He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow at Leo. “Want to try that again?”

“No,” Leo managed to get out, leaning against the bulletin board. “But I am willing to try this.” With a shaking arm he used his sword to draw a circle in the air between him and Draxum. The portal burst into life, small, but not small enough that it wouldn’t work. For once, Leo didn’t even care if he got the destination right; he just moved, only able to focus on getting away.  He dived through the portal, arms outstretched as he made a last ditch desperate attempt to get the hell out of dodge. And, for a second, he thought he made it, the familiar sewer air kissing his face as he made it through the portal. He even managed to portal home, too, with what felt like a concussion on top of everything else going on. His brothers would be impressed once they hear about his adventurous night out, Leo thought, woozy but pleased.

He turned to watch the portal snap shut, but then he felt it- a hand on his ankle, nails digging into his skin, a grip tightening and tightening until it hurt and with his already bad balance Leo was easily being yanked backwards, the sword clattering to the floor besides him, and he was being pulled back through his own portal-

He scrambled blindly at the floor, searching for something to grab onto, but he couldn’t reach anything; he needed help-

Where is everyone-

This is bad bad bad-

“Guys?!” Leo yelled, kicking at the hand. He saw stars. “Anyone? Da-!”

And the portal disappeared, almost as if it had never been there.

Only a sword remained, forgotten on the sewer floor.

(Chapter Two ->)

#lfls #like father like son #rottmnt lfls #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt fanfiction #glitch writes #the tumblr version continues~ #IF I FORGET ANY ITALICS I AM SORRY LOL #please don't reupload anywhere btw^^ #reblogs are appreciated though!!

[halloweennut]

Break Up Blues

this has been sitting on my drive since August and I only just finished it. Oops. Anyway, post finale, Jitterbug leaving the Hotel and Big Mama. 

Breaking up with Big Mama and leaving the Nexxus Hotel had been one of the hardest things in Jitterbug’s life. But she had been done with the lies, the manipulation, the disregard for life...the fact that Big Mama was still in love with Lou Jitsu and the fact she was so alright with endangering so many lives. Jitterbug sang her last song and left, glaring at Big Mama as she did. It wasn’t until she was halfway downtown did she see the hotel crash. Her gut sank...but she knew everyone she was friends with would be okay. At least...Jitterbug hoped. Repo fortunately hadn’t been caught in the orb, being out of the city on a job, and was there when she knocked on the door to his trailer.  

“Have any room for a fly?” she asked. It was then and only then that tears sprung to her eyes, and Repo was quick to pull her in. 

“Aw fancywings, what happened?” he asked, carefully pushing her down onto a chair. “Who do I have to repo?” 

She told him everything, and made Repo promise not to do anything yet, not unless Big Mama tried anything. 

“At the very least,” Repo said. “You’re staying here until you’re back on your wings, got it? Once you’re all better, you can look into getting a job in the Hidden City or something.”

Jitterbug roughly wiped her cheek and faintly smiled. “Thank you, Repo.”

“Don’t mention. And don’t worry about rent, fancywings,” Repo said, reaching over for the phone receiver. “I own the place and I’m running off grid. City ain’t getting my money. You good with Italian? I don’t have enough groceries for two.”

“That’s perfect.” 

-

Two weeks later, there was another knock at Repo’s door. Repo rolled his eyes, and placed the shop paperwork down and walked over, opening the door. “This is private property and the shop’s closed. Beat it.”

“Rude!” Hypno said. The rest of their little league was with him. 

“Oh shit, sorry guys,” Repo said. “Uh, come in I guess?”

“Thanks mate,” Meatsweats replied, entering with the others. “I suppose you’re wondering why we’re here.”

“Well, yeah,” Repo shrugged. “You guys don’t exactly come over for tea and crumpets.”

“Considering the events a few weeks ago, we all decided that perhaps we should all get together more often,” Hypno explained. “You know, brotherly companionship, not knowing when we may be forced to fight death sports, that all.”

“Exactly!” Warren said. Repo hadn’t even noticed him, despite him being on Hypno’s shoulder. “Hypno almost died!”

“So did I!” 

“So did my brother!” 

Warren only shrugged. “I’m more concerned with him.”

“So what? You guys just came over to hang out in my house?” Repo asked. “If you haven’t noticed, it's a little cramped. And where’s Todd?”

“Todd wasn’t available,” Hypno replied. “And no, we actually were thinking something along the lines of-”

“Guys night!” Ben and Carl exclaimed, snapping their claws for emphasis. 

“And by guys night, we go out, raise some cain,” Meatsweats continued. “Eat, drink, be merry, steal and maim!”

“Come’on, Repo! What do you say?” Hypno asked. Repo shook his head.

“I don’t normally do that brand of skullduggery,” he replied. “Besides, I have a guest over, and I ain’t about to leave her alone.”

“Her?” Meatsweats raised a brow. “I hope we weren’t interrupting anything.”

“What?!” Repo sputtered. “No! She’s in a rough spot right now, and I’m doing her a solid.”

“Who are you even friends with besides us?” Warren asked incredulously. The answer came in the form of Jitterbug appearing, wordlessly walking by them to the fridge. She looked like hell in oversized pajamas and a pair of large headphones as she grabbed a carton of ice cream from the freezer, and high kicked the door closed before disappearing again. “Was that-”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t she in a relationship with the spider woman who kidnapped my Hypno and the rest of these people?”

“Was,” Repo explained. “Broke up with Big Mama because of everything and quit the Hotel. Y’know, before it got demolished.”

“Damn. At least she has good taste in ice cream,” Meatsweats nodded, much to the glare of everyone in the room. “What? It is sad about the situation, but she has taste that I can respect.” 

“She’s barely left the trailer save for that, other than job hunting in the mystic city,” Repo replied. “But the whole thing was a personal blow.” 

“Poor bug,” Ben said. 

“Why don’t we take her along with us?” Hypno said. “Gives all of us a night on the town, avoids the skullduggery you don’t usually do, and gets her to have some fun.” 

Repo considered it. It would be nice to take a break, and Jitterbug definitely needed a night out. “Sure, why not. But only minor, minor crime. ‘Ey Jitters!”

Jitterbug peeked out from the bedroom she had gone into, eyes going wide at the sight of everyone she had just avoided. “Oh! Yes?”

“Come’on fancywings, we’re all going for a night on the town,” Repo said. 

“I don’t know, Repo,” she looked unsure of herself. “I’m not sure-”

Jitterbug yelped as her hands were grabbed, pulling her out into the main room. “Hey! Don’t tug a girl around!”

“Sorry love, but we insist you join us all,” Meatsweats said. “Besides, you’ll class this little party up.” 

“It’ll be fun! We’ll paint the town red and all that,” Hypno encouraged, pulling a ring from his jacket and extending it. He held it over her head and dropped it. As it fell to the floor, Jitterbug found herself dolled up in one of her nicer dresses for going out, hair neat and make-up in order.  “What do you say? You’re already dressed for it.”

“No pressure, Jitterbug,” Repo said. “But it might be more fun than eating ice cream and calling romantic leads liars.” 

“Well...I am dressed for it. Hell, why not!” Jitterbug smiled. There was a group cheer as the group walked in the night, ready to take on the town. 

“So where first? High speed chase downtown? Breaking and entering? Maybe getting into that glitzy place uptown?” The Shell Brothers listed in tandem.

“Le Chateau Mure?” Meatsweats said. “Impossible. It takes months in advance to get in, and we don’t all have cloaking brooches.” 

“Oh, they’re mutant and yokai friendly,” Jitterbug said nonchalantly. “Big Mama and I...we used to go a lot.” 

“Then maybe we should-” Repo started, but Jitterbug continued.

“But they do know my face, and I doubt they would know about the breakup…,” Jitterbug said with a smirk. “This can be my severance package from the Hotel.”

“Oh that’s devilish,” Hypno said. “Let’s do it.” 

Jitterbug was right of course - the maitre d’ recognized her and showed the group to one of the nicest tables amongst the high standing yokai. It was by far the swankiest place Repo had been in besides the former Hotel Nexxus. A waiter dropped off a complimentary bottle of champagne, and Meatsweats took over pouring glasses for them. “Cheers everyone!”

“Cheers!”

Jitterbug sipped her glass, leaning back into the plush velvet of her seat, laughing along as her cohort for the night told stories and caught up on everything they’d miss since they all had last been together. It felt...normal after a few weeks of absolute chaos, and Jitterbug loved it. The champagne was refilled and an extra bottle - or two, or three - were stolen from the bar on their way out, heading towards another hotspot for the group. They walked or drove through New York, passing their pilfered bottles around save for the Meatsweats - alcohol didn’t have much effect on him anymore, and he was the one driving. With each new stop and block driven, Jitterbug felt herself grow lighter. 

“Are all your nights out like this?” she laughed at one point after a run-in with the turtles. They narrowly avoided a brawl with a promise to do something lowkey for a bit. 

“This is the first one,” Warren said. “So I think it’s a pretty good idea of how the rest will be, especially if you can get us into the Mur.”

“I think that might be the last time,” Jitterbug replied. “They’ll all find out soon enough about me and...her, so unless they hire me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get us back in.”

“There are worse places to work,” Hypno said, taking the last champagne bottle from the Shell Brothers. “Besides, that place has ambiance, and far better suited for your talents than the Hotel!”

“You’ve seen my shows?”

“A few, but Repo told us about them,” he replied. “Said you have a very nice voice and are good at dancing. You were being wasted working for that spider.”

“I suppose…,” Jitterbug said softly. 

“Speaking of singing, and since we have to be lowkey,” Ben started to say.

“Why not karaoke? They have a few joints around here and Long Island!” Carl finished. 

“We’re sticking to Manhattan,” Meatsweats said. “I am not wasting my time on the L.I.E.. And I agree to that!”

“You, karaoke?” Repo said. “That sounds a bit wild.”

“I’ll have you know I can sing! Back in my culinary school days, I was in an underground punk band and I was lead!” the former chef bragged. “Now we definitely must go, if only to show you all up!” 

The cashier at the karaoke bar barely batted an eye at them, only taking their payment and handing them the room key. “Bar and kitchen menu are next to the door, bathrooms down the hall.”

“Ah, New York, what a town,” Repo shrugged as they settled in their room. “No one really gives a shit, huh?”

“I cried in Port Authority once,” Carl said. “Literally no one looked at me.” 

“I stepped over a dead rat without blinking,” Warren added. “You know, back when I had legs.”

“I’m a giant pig who runs a food truck,” Meatsweats added, scrolling through the song list. “No doubt, most people in the city have seen weirder.”

“I know I have,” Jitterbug replied. “So Meatsweats, what song are you singing for us this evening?”

“Just wait and see,” he said, pressing a number into the keypad and hitting enter. A loud guitar riff began blaring from the monitor. “Watch and learn.” 

-

By the end of the night, not only had they all learned that Meatsweats could sing, but Jitterbug felt the lightest she had in a very long time. 

           "We have to do this again," Jitterbug happily proclaimed. "I haven't had this much fun in forever!"

           "Agreed," Hypno replied. "Next month sound good everyone?"

            There was a cheer around the van in agreement, even from Repo. Truthfully, he had only been part way into the festivities. He was more concerned about Jitterbug and how she fared. She wasn't a villain like they were, and leaving the Hotel had hurt her more than she let on. But yet, this was the most he had seen her be herself in weeks. A little night of mischief and minor crime and karaoke. 

"And you were worried they would be too much," Jitterbug laughed once they got home. "That was nice."

"Eh, they're an okay lot," Repo smirked. "I don't know about you, but I'm hitting the sack, fancywings. See ya' in the morning."

"Heh, night Bugboy." 

The next morning, Jitterbug was surprised to see two messages on her phone. One from Warren about doing brunch at some point as “us bug mutants have to stick together and all that” which she happily responded with a “yes.” The other was a voicemail from Le Chateau Mure: they had recently, as in the past twelve hours, discovered her real situation with the Hotel Nexxus and Big Mama. But instead of forcing the bill at her, there was instead a job offer for their lounge. 

She had never been so quick to say yes. Her first night singing a few days later had her little mutated cohort in the front row seats on a legitimate claim. She felt her brightest under their lights, happily singing and dancing with a few band members, some of which had followed her once they heard the news. Jitterbug felt herself for the first time in a long time. Not Anais, not the Jitterbug of the Hotel Nexxus on Big Mama’s arm and payroll, just Jitterbug. And she was happy. 

It didn’t take long for Big Mama to hear about Jitterbug’s new venue, and once she had healed enough to walk in on her own feet, secured her reservation. Not her usual table at Mur, no, but one in the back, out of sight from the stage and other patrons. No one was to serve her or offer her anything at the table until Jitterbug had finished her set. As soon as she bowed, all glitter, gold and song, Big Mama slipped away from the table. The bouncers parted from her with a glare, and she wove her way backstage until she came to Jitterbug’s dressing room. 

There was no pause in her hand as she knocked, once again hearing the bug’s voice ring out an allowance for entry. Big Mama opened the door as Jitterbug turned with a grin, and time paused for a moment. Jitterbug stood, her arms crossing over her middle. “I see you’re better now.”

“I see you have a new stagelly,” Big Mama replied. “You certainly owned it.” 

“That’s my job.” 

Silence fell. 

“Why are you here, Big Mama? Going to buy the place and start terrorizing New York for money?”

“Pfft, please. We both saw how that turned out,” Big Mama scoffed. “I lost my hotel and was hospitalized. Not to mention-”

“Not to mention Lou Jitsu almost got killed because of it,” 

“Bugaboo-”

Jitterbug held up a hand to stop her. “I’m not your bugaboo anymore. I can deal with you still having feelings for Lou. Hell, if you had spoken to me about it, I would have been fine with it. It’s Lou Jitsu. I had a crush on him and I barely swing that way. But it was the fact that you hid that from me. Hid how you treated him. How we never officially made anything...official, for us. And then everything that you did to the city…”

She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I can’t do that. Not anymore. I prefer this life now. Don’t get me wrong. I had fun. You gave me a start fresh out of my mutation. But that’s over now.”

“Then I suppose I have really nothing to discuss,” Big Mama replied. 

“I suppose not,” Jitterbug agreed. “I’m...I’m glad you’re better. I hope you enjoyed the show.”

She received no response. Big Mama had left as quickly as she came. Jitterbug decided that it was for the best not to draw anything out further. And yet, she still wore the silver dress she had received, all that time ago after her first show, glittering and proud, for the next set of the night.

#rottmnt #rottmnt oc #jitterbug #big mama #repo mantis

[fanfic-inator795]

I just love how the Hamato-Jitsu-Draxum family just continues to grow into the most unique and strangest yet also most endearing family ever. Like-

Okay, so we’ve got the four turtles, whose parents are Lou Jitsu/Splinter and Draxum. Draxum’s still working on the whole ‘actually being a loving parent and not using your kids as child soldiers’ thing.

Then you’ve got April who was pretty much adopted into the fam as the Turtles’ big sis the moment they met her and who Splinter treats as a daughter. 

Then you’ve got S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and Buddy/Frankenfoot who were made by Donnie and Raph respectively but are still treated like part of the fam. You’ve also got Piebald who was already being treated like a member of the fam through things like Splints reading her bedtime stories and the Turtles including her in their games even before she got mutated.

THEN you’ve got Foot Recruit/CJ who both Draxum and Splinter have had significant and emotional-bonding moments with her and who she obviously formed a connection with, wanting to be partners with Draxum and to be taught by Splinter, so she’s pretty much on the path to becoming their next adopted daughter.

And NOW you’ve got Sloppy Joseph the meat-gremlin baby, who could’ve just been a one-off ending gag but judging by his inclusion in the Season 2 intro and the fact that Rise often brings back 90% of their characters and doesn’t just forget about them, he may or may not become part of Draxum’s side of the family. Same with Huginn and Muninn if he ever finds them again, since they seemed pretty okay with being his ‘pets’ and assistants as well as shoulder pads, lol.

And this isn’t even mentioning the people who aren’t technically family but might as well be an assorted group of cousins and uncles like Sunita, Bullhop, Senor Hueso and Todd, who have all gone on adventures with the Turtles/April and clearly care about them like they were family. (You could maaaaybe include Jupiter Jim as well, but I don’t really get the family vibe with him since he doesn’t seem to actually care for the Turtles as much as they care about him. So nah, he doesn’t get to be an uncle.)

So the Hamato-Jitsu-Draxum clan/fam is pretty much a rat dad, a sheep/fawn dad (we still don’t know what Draxum is), four turtles sons, two human daughters, a fish daughter, a drone son, a paper son, a meat son, gargoyle uncles, a slime daughter-in-law/cousin, a bull cousin, a skeleton uncle, and a capybara uncle. And we’re not even at the end of the series yet so who knows how much more this family could grow.

#rottmnt #silly stuff #I love this weird family

[halloweennut]

Dead AU: How badly does Shen react when she and the kids get back to find Draxum stole Lou?

Anonymous said: What happens when Shen, BM, and the kids return to the hide out?

(Okay I’m retconning. Casey is Recruit (confirmed?) and didn’t join them until a little after Draxum took control of the Foot Clan. Previously it was just April and Sunita alongside Shen, and Recruit is just absorbed into the group/adopted by Shen, solving mysteries and rewriting history)

Shen and the kids returned to the hideout too late. The place was in ruin. The cheer of having her best friend back turned to dread that sank like a lead ball in her stomach as she ran through the apartment. The hope and prayer that Lou was safe and still there was hollow, but she continued hoping and praying as she searched, even as April and Recruit shouted after her to stop. The small bedroom Lou and the babies had been in was practically wrecked - door and furniture nothing but scrap, and her near-brother and her nephews gone. 

“Shen?” April called, following not far behind. Recruit was close, casing every corner and room, just to be sure. Shen didn’t respond, only sinking to her knees with the wretching terror that she failed to protect those she cared about again. “Shen-”

“The place is clear,” Recruit said. “I don’t think anyone else was here other than...you know.”

“He must be acting alone then,” April said. “And the armor isn’t helping his mindset.”

Recruit pulled out a communicator. “I’m calling Sunita. Maybe she can scout out Draxum’s castle to see if he’s there.”

“No.”

The two looked over at Shen, who slowly stood. “I don’t want you three getting hurt. It’s bad enough you were brought into this mess.” 

“To be fair, I enabled a lot of this with the Foot Clan,” Recruit said. “And isn’t cleaning up your messes a….good thing?” 

“But it’s not really your mess, CJ,” Shen replied, turning to face the two. “It falls on me, on Lou, Draxum, the leaders of the Foot and Shredder. Even Big Mama. I will continue this alone, and I will bring Draxum done and get them back.”

“What?! You can’t do this alone, Shen!” Recruit exclaimed. “Look at what the Armor helped Draxum do to a door! Imagine that on a human!” 

“What if we want to help? Because like it or not,” April argued. “We’re involved. Heck, we involved you into this at the beginning! We just...we didn’t expect it to turn out this way.”

It went from saving a yokai creature to helping stop mutants to now saving the world and Lou Jitsu. Flipping a coin would have been more predictable. 

“So like it or not, we’re helping,” Recruit said with a certain finality that Shen knew she would only fail to overturn, even if she tried her best.  She sighed. 

  “Fine. But the moment I ask you all to back down, you do so, understand?” Shen stared at the two teens expectantly. Recruit and April looked at each other - there was no way on earth they would leave Shen to fend for herself...but for the time being they nodded in agreement. A weight lifted off Shen’s shoulders. “Good. Now...let’s go end this.” 

#rottmnt #dead au #tang shen #april o'neil #recruit #dont mind the retcon this prompt has been sitting for months

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT Drabble: Match-Up

((From my recently updated drabble series “Moments Under Manhole Covers” whiiiiich I can’t directly link to THANKS TUMBLR, but it’s on AO3 if you want to check it out. Enjoy!))

“Okay, Lou Jitsu VS Jupiter Jim - ah ah, WITH assistance from Atomic Lass!”

“A Two v. One fight, huh?” Leo hummed, leaning back as he crossed his legs. He could understand why someone as bouncy and springing as Mikey would prefer a hammock to sleep in over a bed, but it was still hard to get comfy in it. For a split second, the slider nearly fell right out of it, though was able to place a hand on the wall nearest to him and regain his balance just in time. “Eh, it’s not like Lou Jitsu hasn’t been outnumbered before.”

“I know,” Mikey nodded, eyes still glued to the space on his bedroom wall, “But those were just against grunts. Of course he was gonna take ‘em out! But Jupiter Jim actually knows how to fight, plus he’s got all those sweet gadgets on ‘im! Plus, Atomic Lass can help with long range attacks and try to knock Lou off his game!” With that, he started sorting through his spraypaint cans, looking for the perfect color.

Honestly it was a wonder he had any blank space left in his room at all, but he did. About two feet wide and four feet tall, right between a tag he made a couple of years ago and a mural that, while not as impressive given that he painted it when he was seven, was still too sentimental to just paint over. Still, if anyone could turn a small section of wall into a masterpiece, it was Michelangelo.

Though, if he had been looking back at his brother, he would’ve seen the proud smile on the slider’s face. Mikey had always been a natural when it came to acrobatics and fighting, having a very ‘go with the flow’ style that meshed incredibly well with with the Lou Jitsu style of using your surroundings and turning whatever you could get your hands on into a weapon if just your hands weren’t enough. Unfortunately, being great at fighting in the moment often meant that he was a bit weaker at actually planning attacks and accounting for variables, often looking to his brothers for a new plan when things went wrong and sometimes needing to be told what to do in order to make his next move. So, to hear his younger brother actually thinking about advantages and strategies somewhat definitely brought a smile to Leo’s face.

“So,” Mikey spoke up again, pulling his blue brother out of his thoughts, “Do you think they could beat him?”

“Nah,” Leo shook his head, “Lou knows his way around a fist fight, even with people as skilled as he - or Jim - is. As long as there was no outside interference, he could easily outlast Jim, and probably figure out how to wreck most of his gadgets too.”

Mikey hummed, considering this. “And Atomic Lass?”

“Once he figured out what all her powers were, he could find a way to work around them. Find a way to take away or fight against her hammer, and that solves half your problems right there. He’s also fast enough to dodge her nuclear blasts, and once he knows how to counteract her powers, he could easily own her in a physical fight.”

“Huh, yeah, that makes sense.” Settling on a golden-orange, Mikey began spraying. “Okay, Lou Jitsu VS the Moon-Cyborgs from the 8th Last Trip to the Moon!”

The slider rolled his eyes. “Seriously, dude? No matter what weapons they’ve got, cyborgs are just like high tech mummies or zombies or any other group of grunts. Lou could wipe the floor with them, no problem - and he wouldn’t even need Jupiter Jim’s laser blaster!”

“Alright, smart guy,” Mikey retorted, giving his brother a playful scowl, “Lou Jitsu VS… Big Mama!”

“Oh, so we’re getting into real life match-ups, huh?” Leo had to think a bit on that one, since they’d only met once, so she probably had some abilities that they didn’t know about. But, judging on what they knew- “I think he could take her. Yeah she’s really big and strong and she’s got those suuuuper gross webs, but he’s fast enough to dodge those. I could see her him jumping on top of her and trying to block a few of her eyes, slowing her down and giving him a chance to throw her into her desk or something.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Mikey nodded, “I could totally see him doing that. And with someone like Meatsweats, he could just grab his tenderizing hammer and use it against him!”

“Or trick him into taking the powers of a weak mutant,” Leo smirked.

“Or pretend to be a mutant to get Meatsweats to grab him, so he can get in close, and then POW!”

“Order up! Anyone ask for beaten porkchops with a side of hot soup?” Leo shouted, causing the two of them to fall into a fit of laughter.

Settling down a bit, Mikey turned back to his project, spraying a few lines of color. He looked at it for a moment before adding a few more spots. He then picked up a darker color for some shading. “Yeah, Meatsweats wouldn’t stand a chance. ...Though, Hypno would be a bit harder to beat. Lou doesn’t really have anything to block out his hypnotizing yells.”

“Right… Which means he’d have to knock him out before he could get the chance to hypnotize him, and would have to figure out how to get around his magic tricks,” Leo nodded, “Which itself would be sort of… tricky.”

“Booooo.”

“I regret nothing. Anyway, the doves and rabbits probably wouldn’t be too big of a problem, it’s those rings that he’d really have to look out for…” He cringed slightly, lightly touching his neck and remembering the razor sharp ring that he had just barely managed to dodge a couple weeks ago. “Those things are killer… But if anyone could get around them, it’s Lou Jitsu. After that it’d just take a good hit to the face, and boom! Game, set and match!” After a moment , Leo added, “Do you think we’re too biased in this?”

“Nahhh,” Mikey shook his head as he continued painting, “Okay, Lou Jitsu VS those crab guys! They were crazy strong, plus they had a long distance attack!”

“Yeah, buuuut if he could turn their attacks against each other, he’d have them knocked out in a second!”

“Lou Jitsu VS that minotaur lady from that maze you made us go through!”

Leo gave him a flat look. “You could’ve just said ‘that one maze’ but fine, that would be a pretty hard fight. Fighting against killer vines AND a fire breathing minotaur, plus being in an environment that’s always changing? It’d be tough, but I think Lou could pull off a win. Use the vines as weapons and tools, and find a way to either knock out or tie up the minotaur, which would be easy once the playing field was even a bit, since I don’t think very many pizza chef/restaurant assistant managers are also skilled fist fighters.”

“Alright, uhh, umm-!”

“Face it, bro!” Leo insisted, “Lou Jitsu’s just too awesome! No matter what the fight, he always finds a way out!” Whether it was just in the movies or not, it was just too hard to believe that a guy that strong and skilled and just plain legendary could ever actually lose, no matter who he was up against.

And Mikey must’ve agreed, because all he could say to that was, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” His voice was quiet now, and for a moment, Leo wondered if he had made him upset, making most of their theoretical battles so one-sided. He opened his mouth to ask, and-

“What about… Lou Jitsu VS us?”

Leo didn’t say anything. Instead, he sat up, and offered Mikey a small smile. “...Yeah, no. Mikey, we’re an awesome team but, we’re still just noobs compared to a master like him. We wouldn’t stand a chance at beating Lou Jitsu.”

“Heh, yeah, I know,” Mikey agreed. He smiled back at his brother, though it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “...I still wish we could fight him though, even if it was just a quick, dumb spar or something…”

“...Yeah, I get what you mean,” Leo said, holding back a sigh. Ever since the very first scene they saw from one of his movies - the very thing that had inspired them to want to become ninjas in the first place - all of them had wanted to meet the great and legendary Lou Jitsu. And now, thanks to certain revelations, well… Now that desire was stronger than ever.

It was pretty awesome, having one of your dads be a celebrity. But it was also bittersweet, especially when Wikipedia could only offer an incomplete history and various conspiracy theories around the web did very little to help.

“...Do you think that was his final fight? Him VS Draxum?” Mikey asked, still facing the wall despite not making a move to continue his art, “And that… that it was the one fight he lost?”

Leo could only give a shrug. “Maybe…” If he was being honest, his late father losing a fight still was a better ending than the alternative. That he simply gave them up and went into hiding, leaving them to be found by their rat dad. “But, hey… No matter what happened in it, you can bet he fought his hardest - and awesomest - during it. Just like he always does.” Just like they always did.

“...Yeah. I think you’re right,” Mikey nodded, another small smile making his way onto his face.

“...That’s really pretty, by the way,” Leo commented, looking back up at the wall.

“Heh, I know, right? Can’t believe someone would just throw this color out. But just wait until it’s done, then it’s really gonna look like something great!”

So, Leo laid back down on the hammock, and watched his younger brother paint his latest masterpiece.

Fights were a thrill. They were energizing and satisfying, but there was plenty of satisfaction to be found in moments of peace too.

#rottmnt #fanfiction #my writing #leonardo tmnt #michelangelo tmnt #rise of the tmnt #brother bonding #I really liked how this turned out and wanted to post it separately