#I mean this is rise Donnie we’re talking about | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ju1cyfru1t · 7 months

Note

HIII CAN I ASK IF UR GONNA DO A PART 2 OF UR RECENT DONATELLO FIC?? IT WAS SO GOOD AND I'D LOVEEE A FLUFFY ENDING 🙏

I wish you would (Rise! Donnie x Reader) pt.2

Pt.1

Donnie apologizes to reader.

fluff!:), comfort???, gn reader, hehehehehe Donnie has a crush on reader, platonic or romantic

I wish we could go back

And remember what we were fighting for

Wish you knew that

I miss you too much to be mad anymore

And I wish you were right here, right now

It's all good

I wish you would

“He did WHAT?!” April’s voice echoed off the walls of your bedroom in disbelief. You had called to tell her about you and Donnie’s fight. You just couldn’t understand why he was so mad at you when you just wanted to help him like he and his family would do for you. He even shouted at you. You knew it was late, and you were grateful that she picked up.

“Yeah.” You took a deep, shaky breath, “I don’t know what to do. He told me he wouldn’t talk to me until I ‘admitted I was wrong,’ but I don’t even know what he wants me to say. I didn’t do anything.”

————————————————————————

“Uggghhhh..” Donnie groaned, leaning his head against his cold desk.

“You shouldn’t have picked a fight with them in the first place, Dee.” Mikey sighed, patting his brother on the shell.

“Yeah, yeah.” Donnie grumbled, not even bothering to look up.

You were the one being reckless, right? So why does he feel like such a jerk? He was mad, and it stayed that way for a few hours after he got home but all that anger quickly turned into pure regret.

“Come on. We were all worried when Y/N just jumped into action like that, but you still hurt their feelings.” Mikey rolled his eyes at Donatello’s dismissive attitude, crossing his arms, “I think you need to apologize, ‘kay?”

Donnie sat upright to look at him, furrowing his (drawn on) eyebrows. Worried? About you? …To be honest, that felt right to him. Donnie hadn’t really pieced together what exactly made him snap at you like he did, but he did recognize the guilt he feels every time he replays your hurt, confused expression in his mind repeatedly. It was distracting him, and he was definitely not a fan.

Truthfully what was the most distracting was that deep down he really, really missed you. You hadn’t texted or called him since the argument and he was too anxious to reach out to you first. He knew he couldn’t act like nothing ever happened no matter how much he wanted to.

As much as he hated to admit it, Mikey was right. He does need to apologize; it’s just so hard.

“You know what? Give me just one second to change, bro. I think you need a lesson from…Dr.Feelings.” Mikey winked at Donnie, skipping out of his lab.

“No, not Dr.Feelings, I beg you! Anything but that!”

It was already too late for Donnie to get out of this one.

————————————————————————

“April, I appreciate it, but I’m not sure this is such a good idea.” You stood in the doorway of the lair and April grabbed your hand.

She laughed, “You’ll be fiiiiine. Just because you’re not talking to Donnie doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see your other friends. Besides, Mikey invited us over.”

“Well, he’s not talking to me, but you know-“

“Shhhhh!” April shushed you, pulling you into the turtles home, “Heeyyyy! Guys, we’re heeeere!”

You rolled your eyes with a sigh but let her drag you in.

“Hey! I’m so happy you’re here!” Mikey practically sprinted to greet you. Mikey and April shared a look, nodding at each other. Clearly they were up to something, and it made you nervous.

“Soooo…I was thinking we could just watch a movie? The six of us?” Mikey’s tone was off and he seemed too nervous. Not very good at lying, is he?

Oh. All six of you, meaning Donnie would be there. Whatever. It’s not a big deal, right? I mean, he lives there. Still you couldn’t help the nervous pit deep in your stomach (and also the burning of annoyance).

You guys moved to get settled in the living room and soon being joined by Raph and Leo…but where was Donnie? The pit grew.

There was a whisper between Mikey and Leo followed by Leo clearing his throat.

“Ahem. Y/N, would you be a dear and get us some popcorn?”

You looked at him confused (and also afraid), “I mean, I could…but why can’t one of you? You live here.”

Leo looked at Mikey and there was another shared whisper. He turned his attention back to you, “Because we want you to get it…it’s, uh, better when you make it?” Ok, now you were sure something was going on.

You sighed deeply, but begrudgingly stood up. “Alright, fine…but it’s just microwave popcorn…” You muttered the last part under your breath.

You made your way to the kitchen and began to search their cabinets for the popcorn.

“Y/N? Uh, what are you doing?” You jumped at the sudden voice behind you before letting out a breath of relief. It was just him.

“Donatello.” You didn’t even turn to glance at him as you opened the packet of popcorn and made your way over the microwave.

Donnie frowned and scoffed, “I don’t care for your tone.”

“Excuse me? I thought we weren’t speaking.” You side-eyed hard with a glare. A pang of guilt ran through his chest, his face heating up. The energy in the room was tight and full of tension and the silence was so loud and painful.

He walked over to the fridge and pulled out six sodas, placing them on the counter one by one. Dammit. You knew his brothers and April had set this up.

Donnie took a deep breath and cleared his throat, “Hey…um, I just wanted to say…that, uh-“ he breathed out, “I’m sorry.”

You finally turned around to face him and leaned on the counter with the microwave buzzing beside you with a few pops every second, “I’m listening.”

“Look, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I was just…concerned. I didn’t want you to get hurt.” A rare Donatello Hamato heartfelt moment; You knew he really meant it even with his soft scowl as he spoke.

You thought for a moment then smiled reassuringly, “Thank you for apologizing, Donnie. I forgive you, I guess…Hug?” You opened your arms out and reached for him.

Relief instantly washed over Donnie, he would finally be able to sleep tonight. You weren’t mad at him anymore, and he wasn’t mad at you.

“Yeah.” He nodded with a small grin, and loosely embraced you for a moment.

“But for real though, don’t ever yell at me again.”

“Yeah…of course, haha…”

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artistic-intrxvert · 5 months

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hey so how do you think the turtles rottmnt would deal with having a s/o and Casey slips up a “Mr/Mrs Hamato” to the s/o and it dawns on s/o right away what that means and if their turtle picks up on it and brings it up. S/o remains silent until then with yes or no answers when usually they’re way more talkative. S/o is like “Don’t you dare start. We’re on mission and we’re too young to be talking about this right now” Makes it sound like it’s an option when they’re both 30 or something, but they’re panicking by hearing this news right now, they’re making excuses not to talk about it, and they clearly need time to process it? 😂 (s/o does want to marry their turtle eventually, but this news freaked them out. Even the krang alien didn’t freak them out as much as knowing they get married to their boyfriend does).

HAISKEKEKR YES

Rise!Turtles when Casey Jr calls their s/o “Ms/Mr/Mx Hamato”

Donnie

Donnie would probably do a double take…then a triple take

Bros just standing there like🤨”tf?”

When he finally processes it, he corrects Casey

“Ah, but that is where you are wrong. (Name) isn’t my spouse. We’re just in a romantic relationship, but not legally married.”

Yeahhh he goes into the technical stuff about it

Casey explains it’s just habit since you and Donnie hang out a lot

Eventually Donnie doesn’t seem to care, sometimes he might use it to tease even

“Yes, I would agree that’s a good plan. And how about you, Ms/Mr/Mx Hamato? What say thee?”

Not quite as flustered but more in the confused side of things

Leo wouldn’t stop teasing him, Raph occasionally would tease

Mikey is just doing little happy stims in the corner because of how adorable he thinks it is

(Donnie likes it but will never on Galileo’s name admit it)

Mikey

Seems confused at first but wraps an arm around your shoulder before explaining

“Oh! No, we’re not married! Not yet, at least. (Name) is just my partner!”

Istg he’s so wholesome about this I can’t-

He’d use it but not in a teasing way (50/50 he will whisper it just to see your reaction)

The others seemed confused considering Mikey was the youngest of them all and there was no way they could even imagine him getting married at that age

Even they correct Casey, again explaining that you two were only dating

Mikey does get used to it but always gets excited to hear it, clinging onto you tightly and giggling

Leo

SMUG. ASS. BITCH.

Bro grins from ear to ear, nodding

“Ms/Mr/Mx Hamato~? Damn, I never thought you’d love me so much as to take my last name~?”

Yeah you bonked him over the head with your phone after that

(He whined…A LOT)

He’s constantly teasing you about it, like 24/7 constantly

There have been a few times where he’s accidentally said it without realizing and it has confused literally everyone in the room

Like he says it on accident and they’re all just “🧍”

He didn’t even notice! He just thought you guys were quiet!

Later in the day he does realize it and then face palms himself while his face heats up

Sometimes if the others tease him and he’s had too much of it he’ll bury his head into your neck </3

Raph

My big man Raph

The dude

The guy

The silly

He just corrects Casey, doesn’t even feel flustered

Okay maybe a bit…

No he’s very flustered

He won’t admit the tho…(ids obvious he is)

Raph would correct him and probably wouldn’t tease you

If he would it would probably be after a long day of fighting and you both would be too exhausted to even think too much about it

“Jeez…You did good today…Ms/Mr/Mx Hamato…”

You looked at him confused bc like

Did your sweet innocent kind caring Angel of a boyfriend tease you?

If you’re too quiet afterwards he might think he said something wrong so don’t do that </3

He really doesn’t mind the whole thing but honestly he has thought about it being a real thing one day

Thank you so much for your request! Feel free to leave something else if you’d like! Have a wonderful day/night!! <33333

#rottmnt x reader #rottmnt

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midnightcreator12 · 2 years

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Because my last friendly reminder post did so well...

Y’all need to chill with the ‘2012 Turtle are all abusive expect Mikey!” posts

Yes, there are episodes where they’re extra mean, it’ll happen if a show runs long enough.

But 2012 Raph loves his little brother.

(He’s the first to comfort Mikey after the whole Bradford fiasco)

(helping Mikey with trash talk. I think this bit is cute tbh)

(The absolute PANIC on his face when Mikey jumps off a roof)

(threatening Leatherhead, a gator 3x his size that has kicked all there asses twice, because he’s worried he’ll hurt Mikey)

His brothers have also been overly mean to him.

(The training scene in Turtle Temper. I know you were trying to teach a lesson Splints but yikes, that got personal)

(And the guys, *cough* mostly Mikey, picking on him about his fear of roaches)

(and using him to bait out said roach that ACTIVELY wants to kill him)

This isn’t even close to a full list but you get the point.

And the Rise boys can be overly mean to each other.

(They went too far with bringing Mrs. Cuddles to the Lair to scare Raph...even without the secretly a demon part)

And I don’t remember the episode but I do know Raph smacked Donnie once in Rise when DonTron told Splinter they were having a ‘non-mystic day’

The show got sped up so a lot of the episodes towards the end were mainly focused on the Shredder plot, so the show didn’t have enough time to have episodes where the cast acts a little OOC to build a plot around.

And I know, I know, ‘Siblings shouldn’t hit each other!’

Not with malice, no. But I have a lot of sibs, there’s 8 of us, and we rough house with each other, we grab and smack and poke and rib at each other because we all know the others boundary and trust them to tell us if we’re going to far.

Rise Turtles and 12 Turtles have different sibling dynamics, and there both valid dynamics so chill out and enjoy the silly mutant ninja show.

#rottmnt #tmnt #long post #midnight talks #tmnt 2012

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marwhoa · 1 year

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request: Leo x gn!reader who's pressure-touch-starved in the way that if you put a weighted blanket on them, their brain would short-circuit. What happens when Leo decides to use Y/N as a mattress? 😏 ~🌺👸

🝮 “ skin hunger touch-starved ”

rise!leo x touch-starved!reader

author’s note: woot! another request after how long? has it been a week since i posted? oop— my bad y’all, i was in break but ended up a tad bit on the lazy side uwu 💕 this is moderately short, but i would say i had fun with the extra details in the leo-donnie convo :33 as always, i hope you enjoy reading, and consider maybe sending in a requesty-wuesty~?

word count: 1.0k

“ I just don’t get it, Donnie! ”

Leo complained, laying on his plastron in the middle of his brother’s lab—who, let the records show, was not enjoying the company at all (at least, if he was, he would never admit to it.) He huffed, propping his head up on his hand while the other hand traced circles on the floor. He expected to pick up dust but was a little weirded out to find it perfectly spotless.

You could eat a dinner plate on this damn floor?

“ Y/N’s been so sluggish and stressed out lately—more than usual! And they’ve even been awake as late as I’m up, and I’m nocturnal, Donnie, nocturnal! ”

“ Insomniac, ‘Nardo, not nocturnal. ”

“ Same difference! ”

“ No—What? Heavy sigh. ”

Donnie grouched, spinning in his chair to face his brother who splayed out on his floor. Don’t think for a second he didn’t notice those grubby little fingers rubbing his floor.

“ If I help you, will you promise to leave me alone? ”

Quite literally grasping at straws, Donnie dragged his hands down his face then rested his gaze upon the all-too-smiley blue-banded brother. Leo gave a nod and sat up, crossing his legs.

“ Tell me again what’s going on. ”

This time it was Donnie’s turn to rest his head in his palm, legs crossed and elbow pressing into his knee.

Leo cleared his throat.

“ As I said, they’re much more stressed than usual and not sleeping at well. They flinch when I touch them, but I don’t know if they dislike it or are just, I don’t know, surprised? ”

“ Who wouldn’t be surprised if you touched them? ”

Donnie cracked a grin then yelled as he narrowly dodged a tossed item. It made a crash that wiped Donnie’s smirk off immediately— just what did he hit! That was a mess to clean up, and best believe he’s pushing it for later.

“ Har-dee-har, Dee. They’re just so drained, a bit snappy here and there, and just.. I want to be able to help them, but not even they know what’s wrong. “

After a few moments of silence, Donnie popped his fist into the palm of his other hand in a, “ got it! “ way.

“ Skin hunger. ”

“ Excuse me? ”

“ Sigh, my good man! This is Y/N we’re talking about. Knowing them, it sounds like maybe they’re experiencing effects of skin hunger—or, more commonly known as Touch starvation. “

Donnie spun back around, standing to look for the previously thrown object. He had continued speaking, but it was all deeper, more scientific stuff, and something about cortisol.

“ So they’re starving? For touch? What does that mean? ”

Leo stood up too, walking over to see if he could help find the object lost to the void, only to be pushed back by a mechanical arm and a grumpy glare.

“ Touch starvation is a common problem for humans to undergo, especially as a social species that has physical contact so ingrained into its culture. Y/N probably needs some form of physical contact, such as a hug or holding of the hand. “

Donnie holds his hand up, shaking it with emphasis, before then dropping his goggles over his eyes. Just what did he throw? And where was it?!

Leo started smiling wide, bouncing on his feet. In one fell swoop, he swiped open a portal with his sword before Donnie could say, “ not in the lab! “ and leaped right on through, straight into Y/N’s living room.

“ Y/N? ”

He called inquisitively, looking around. There was a groggy response from your bedroom, one that quickly made him connect the dots—you must’ve been sleeping! Wait, what time was it? No, never mind that, he came into your room, leaning in from your doorway as he searched for you.

“ Leo….? “

Y/N grumbled, wriggling beneath their blankets until finally their head popped out. Curious eyes landed upon their beloved blue, not-so-belovedly interrupting their desperately sought after sleep.

“ What are you doing here? “

There were a few more tosses and turns from under the blankets until finally they flipped the blankets over and off their torso, resting at their waist.

“ I discovered your ailment—“

“ Ailment? ”

“—Yes, ailment, with Donnie’s help! And I know just the thing to cheer you up. Hopefully. “

Y/N unintentionally glared at him, not exactly sure if they wanted to entertain whatever plan Donnie had put him up to. After all, who knew what the two of them talked about?

Alas, before you could agree or disagree to the terms of this experiment, Leo assumed a jumping position, announced “ POUNCE IMMINENT! “ and proceeded to launch himself at you. A startled yelp left you, expecting to be in some form of pain after this, but found that he had landed over you with a grin.

“ Where’s the trust, Y/N? ”

And with THAT, he thumped against you, and you involuntarily gave an “ umph! “ from the sudden weight.

In any other situation, you would have no issues with yelling, bopping, or scolding your way out of this—you were in no way, shape, OR form a mattress! But, your stammering came to a stop as it seemed the weight of your boyfriend was somehow curing all the metaphorical weight bearing on you. You were beginning to feel…

Better? Oddly as if it were easier to breathe? Deciding against a protest, you hummed low and quiet while snuggling your face into Leo’s neck, arms lazily wrapping around him to pull him in closer (which was physically impossible, but hey, no one said you couldn’t try.)

Leo was shockingly quiet but grinning ear to ear. His arms wrapped around you too, snuggling up.

Plenty of silence passed you both as you lavished in the luxurious comfort the gods had been bestowing upon you right now, not daring to break the silence with any questions….

For long, at least, since there was like ONE little inquiry crawling up your throat.

“ … What did Donnie even say? “

Leo hummed a “ hmm? ”, much too comfortable himself.

“ To make you know to do this? “

There was a muffled “ oh “ against your neck that stirred a few giggles before he then pulled up his head to speak.

“ Something something skin hunger, something something too much cortisol. “

He then thumped his head into your pillow. Maybe that was the best answer you would be getting out of him..

And, maybe that was okay…

You were getting a bit tired again, and something was telling you that this sleep would probably be the best you’ve had in a while..

#Leonardo x reader #leo x reader #rise leonardo x reader #rise leo x reader #rise tmnt x reader #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt leo x reader #rottmnt leonardo x reader #tmnt x reader #tmnt leo x reader #tmnt leonardo x reader

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rallentando1011 · 2 months

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Somnambulant Soulmates (rise Donnie x gn reader)

Prologue, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Word Count: 3676

(alright, we’re getting into some good stuff now ;) hope you enjoy!)

Three weeks.

Three weeks had passed since you first encountered that purple clad turtle, give or take.

And they were a blur of fighting and parties and studies and a library and coffee and him.

Donnie, the centrifuge that had been the catalyst of the whirlwind that had become your life. Well, technically his brothers, April, and the rest of the gang were also at fault, but he was the main culprit. The superfluous amount of meetings you’d had with him in your short time knowing him, his intriguing disposition, the whole situation had made it quite easy for him to work his way up to being one of your favorite people.

It had been a few days since you’d seen him. It had also been a few days since you’d left the fortress of your home. Following the hectic event and subsequently less wild ones of last week, you deserved a few days’ break.

But it was time to get back into the fray.

You forced yourself up from where you had been lounging on your bed, prying your eyes away from the ceaseless social media scrolling you had subjected yourself to.

Blinking your sleepiness away, you thought about what you had to do: eat something, first of all, get some water and whatever prescriptions you needed, then message that confounded turtle about his progress on that invention.

Call yourself curious, but you just had to see it in its completion. Also, you were desperately bored. Why not get your social interaction and entertainment in one stop, kill two birds with one stone?

You pulled up the chat you currently had with him but paused before you typed a word.

Sure, texting got the point across, but you were looking for a quick answer, not a typical, joining-the-conversation-hours-later Donnie answer.

Would a call work better in this scenario?

Of course, calls kind of sucked to do, solely because of the whole talking aspect, but it could be quicker. And if he didn’t respond, then you could just send a text.

You clicked his contact and the button to call him, holding your breath momentarily afterward. Hopefully it wasn’t too weird. You meant, you’d never called him before, so maybe you would look like an absolute maniac for calling him now over something so trivial. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea-

“Hello?”

You startled at the sound of a voice over the phone. He’d already answered. No going back now.

“Hey, how’s it going?” you responded as smoothly as possible.

“... Fine? You called?”

“Yeah.”

The conversation fell silent until he spoke up.

“May I know what for?”

“Right! Yeah, sorry, I was just curious about that whole mystic gem-finding situation. Did you find one yet?”

“I have yet to locate and secure any that aren’t currently in use. The project’s also been on the backburner with lair repairs; segue, do you know how many microwaves Leo can break in a week?”

You snickered, though you quickly worked back out of that tangent. “Dude, isn’t your dad- er, wait, your father some kind of alchemist? He probably has something you could use.”

“He likely does. However, we have what one might call a strained relationship.”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me about that if you don’t want to-’

“Me and my brothers destroyed his lab and he threw Leo off of a roof.”

“Oh.”

You two went quiet once more. He also broke the silence once more.

“Never mind that, let’s focus on the task at hand: how to obtain a sought-after gem.”

“By destroyed, do you mean made a mess of or..?”

“Absolutely decimated it.”

“Right,” you nodded slowly. “So is it abandoned, and, follow up, would it still have any resources left?”

“Not likely. Scavengers, and Draxum himself, probably made certain that anything valuable was taken care of. But, we could potentially check it out.”

“Hmm, ‘we’?” you asked innocently enough, save for a teasing inflection in your hum.

“Yeah, ‘we’. Unless you’re not interested, which is totally within bounds-”

“I’m free Thursday and Friday, either before noon or at, like, ten,” you cut him off. His surprise was discernible by how quiet he went for a solid ten seconds.

“Right, yeah, Friday works,” he finally conceded. “Would Friday at 23:00 work for you?”

Seriously? Military time? What a punk. “Translate into normal time talk and then you’ll get an answer,” you quipped.

“No need to be rude. Does eleven sound better to your inconsiderate self?”

“Much. And eleven works. Where’re we meeting?”

“Fret not. I’ll send the location.”

Come Friday, following the address brought you to the shadiest place you’d been since April took you into the sewers last week.

Man, your friend group was a whole situation.

The area itself was fine. Domestic, contemporary homes and apartments in a congested neighborhood, standard New York living arrangement. Your dubiousness, however, stemmed from the particular location: a horribly lit, uninhabited, possibly abandoned construction site.

Actually, it would probably be weirder for him to ask to meet you in a normal location with street lights.

You sent a quick text to Donnie, informing him that you were there and possibly telling him to hurry his shell up before stepping into the.dirt-coated lot. As you moved deeper into the area, you noticed a silhouette propped against the side of a big metal container. You squinted at the turned away figure, trying to make out any features.

Typing vigorously, wearing an oversized purple hoodie, hunched over their phone- okay, yeah, that was Donnie.

You quickly made your way over to him, leaning next to him on the container with a loud, metallic thud.

“Hey there, pal,” you grinned, a visible puff of air exiting your lips. Boy, was it cold.

He lackadaisically lifted an eyebrow at you as he finished typing something up on his phone. “Salutations. And refrain from calling me pal; we’re not pals.”

Donnie placed his phone and hands into his hoodie pocket and started making his way further into the shadows underneath the structure of steel beams and bars. You followed suit.

“What are we then?” you prompted playfully.

“Acquaintances.”

“Really? I don’t think people who are just acquaintances travel to literal mystic cities or even the sewers with each other.”

“Well, if you are so well versed on the classifications of relationship statuses, what do you consider us to be?”

“Friends, probably,” you shrugged.

“Probably?” he asked as he started to use a pin from his pocket to draw an unfamiliar insignia on an oddly placed brick wall.

You rested your hands on your hips. “I mean, thinking statistically about it, we’re probably friends.”

“In what universe does statistics have anything to do with this situation?”

“Ion’ know. You’re supposed to know about the science-and-math-y stuff. I’m just moral support.”

“No, you’re just throwing mathematical terms around haphazardly!” he exclaimed, gesticulating with his free hand.

“I probably am.”

His eye twitched. Before he could iterate his disdain for your insolence, the design he traced on the wall began to emit an electric blue shade. A static buzz entered the air, creating a warm, fuzzy feeling around you. Not comforting, though. It was reminiscent of the portals you’d encountered just last week.

Abruptly, a swirling amalgamation of light and energy came forth before you, small bursts of lightning zapping periodically.

Huh. You were right. Portals.

“Does this lead to that lab?” you asked, peering at it curiously.

“What do you say we find out?” Donnie gave a lazy grin before coolly stepping backwards into the portal.

You gawked. The audacity of this man to invite you adventuring and then leave you high and dry was astronomical.

That left you with two options: get out of there and have a cozy night in or follow him into a suspicious portal. Which, come on, you already knew what you were going to do: tail that turtle and make him rue leaving you behind like that.

With a roll of your eyes, you stepped, or fell, more so, into the portal, and that’s when things went loopy.

Your surroundings melted into a zero gravity tunnel of blue, insides churning in a manner akin to the swarm of colors around you. Everything looked distorted, warped into only sensations, and after moments of free fall and whiplash and weightlessness you plopped rather unceremoniously onto a brick path.

Somehow, the area you ended up in was even loopier than that.

For starters, the sky was a washy mix of apricot and slate and a golden color. Next up, and quite likely most pressingly, was the gigantic structure sitting before you. A short, rocky path trailed up to a floating cylindrical building, the size of which rivaled every building you’d ever seen in New York. The building was bathed in green light, had a balcony- and did you mention FLOATING?

“Holy-” You couldn’t help but go slack-jawed, earning a smug expression from the turtle.

“Mmhm.”

“Where are we?” You looked at the vast area behind you, the fiery orange sky littered with floating edifices and vessels and creatures of all varieties.

“Welcome to the Hidden City, my associate-”

You interjected, “-friend-”

“-entourage,” he corrected with the raise of an eyebrow.

You let it slide, not looking to lower your status any more. “Touché. Continue.”

“The Hidden City, a subterranean city-state far beneath New York City and home to the laboratory of former warrior-alchemist Barron Draxum,” Donnie introduced with a flourish of his hands.

You released an amused puff of air. “You feel good about letting out your inner theater kid?”

“I feel great, actually. But there’s no time to dwell on that. Onward, to exploration!”

He was really in full theatrics tonight, but you didn’t mind indulging. Lightly shaking your head at him, you joined him in moving up the path to the towering golden archway at the front of the building.

The door opened creakily, unsturdy on its hinges, shedding light on a decrepit, dust-ridden foyer. Large tapestries and artworks strewn about the halls were coated so thickly in dirt they almost couldn’t be made out. You shot him an uncertain look.

“Like I said, don’t keep your hopes up,” was all Donnie said in response before continuing down the dim corridor. You stalled, still weary about the condition of the building, before swiftly catching back up with him.

As you worked your way into the dark, desolate lab, Donnie lectured you on safety precautions. “Don’t touch anything unless it seems nonlethal and productive. Actually, just don’t touch anything.”

“So, I can’t open any drawers or anything?” you sassed.

He deadpanned. “You know what I mean.”

“Semantics matter, D.”

“Not really- fine, whatever. Let’s get to exploring,” Donnie conceded, excitedly flicking his goggles down with a smirk.

It was an instinct, really, that you clasped a hand over your mouth and terribly concealed a laugh upon seeing his goggle-covered eyes.

He stared at you blankly. “What?”

You waved your hand in front of you to dismiss yourself. “I’m sorry- I’ve just never seen you in the goggles.”

“I’ve worn them during every interaction of ours.”

“No, I mean like on your eyes. It makes them look all beady.”

“Wow. I appreciate that.”

You quickly defended yourself. “In a good way! It’s not bad, just different.”

“Ah yes, ‘beady in a good way’. I’ll log that one in the books.”

“Seriously, I thought they looked cute.”

He looked taken aback, lips pursed and face warm at that assertion.

“Not like that. Like an objective kind of cute.” You shook your head in disbelief at the words you were spewing. “Actually, nevermind. Forget I said any of that.”

“Agreed.” He rolled his eyes and set to work scanning shelves and drawers for any traces of the mysticism you were pursuing. For his sake, you didn’t mention how the pink tint on his face didn’t disappear until minutes into your guys’ search.

The search ended up unsuccessful. Sure, while scouring shelves and cabinets and odd cages around the spacious laboratory you found a whole lot more than you would expect in an abandoned building - elements in sealed jars, flasks of what seemed to be potions or ingredients - but nothing close to a crystal or gem.

After working your way around the room, you looked up at Donnie.

He shook his head and walked over to you. “It appears the lab’s a bust for any type of crystal. Not a total loss, though.” He held up a container labeled ‘emp.’ before one of the mechanical hands from his battle shell stored it for him. Another of the hands gave your shoulder a reassuring pat.

You shook your head. “No, we’re getting you a crystal, man.” You paused, thought of an alternative. “Are there any stores or markets nearby that might have them?”

“Ohmigosh, you are just full of great ideas.” You and Donnie began moving back toward the front.

He sounded like he might have meant that, but his voice was still startlingly monotonous. You narrowed your eyes, put your head askew. “For real?”

“Yes, this time,” the turtle nodded before excitedly gliding back down the entrance’s stairs.

You laughed, following along. “This time?”

“Surprisingly enough, yes.”

You caught up to him and landed a firm, still playful jab to his side.

“Just stop yapping and take us there.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After what felt like eons of continuous motion, you two made it onto the streets of the Hidden City.

Brightly colored banners, advertisements, decorations, adorned lampposts all up and down the streets, though you avoided certain battle-themed ones. Multitudes of languages and dialects could be heard all around. The smells of delectable foods wafted through the air, sweet, savory, spicy, but you couldn’t pay them any mind. You were on a gem-hunting mission. Even if it wasn’t going very well currently.

The merchant running a crystal stand was slumped over on their counter, boredly staring at the customers that had been occupying their business for minutes on end without making a choice i.e. you and Donnie.

You raised an index finger at a particular pretty purple gem sitting in a pile of other ones on the counter of the stand.

Donnie flicked on his goggles and shook his head. “Uh, no. Not remotely. We’re looking to avoid overcurrent; that thing has enough mystic mojo to wipe out half the city.”

You slowly placed it down. “Oookay then. Glad to be of service,” you muttered.

He pursed his lips at your interesting body language. Slumped shoulders, hints of dejection in your voice - you weren’t having fun. Maybe it was because he immediately turned down the last five of your suggestions, but who could definitively say why?

“The issue is that you keep grabbing crystals that emit cool colors, which, as you know from the electromagnetic spectrum, correlate to a higher frequency. We don’t want that. So, as much as I would enjoy a violet crystal to match my ambience, something with a less vibrant, warmer hue works best.”

You slowly digested what he just said. Cautiously, your hand crept back to the merchant’s display and selected an auburn gem.

“That one’s frequency is too low-”

“Of course it is.”

“-but you’re on the right track! Try a little further down the electromagnetic spectrum-”

“What, something like this?” You gestured toward an amber gem that was near the bottom of the pile, exasperated.

Donnie hummed. “Actually, yeah. That’s just fine.”

“Really?”

“Shhh,” Donnie waved a hand telling you to calm down before pulling you aside. “There’s no fixed price on the signs here. If we seem too excited or gullible-”

“We get duped?” you guessed.

“We get duped. So stay cool, and let me handle this.”

Donnie cracked his knuckles and turned back to the stand, professionally ready to bargain and deal with the price.

He still ended up paying a ridiculous price for the small gem’s size, but you didn’t know if you’d ever seen him grin so proudly, so you didn’t say a word about it.

The first time you spoke up after the deal was made was after passing by a food cart and hearing your stomach rumble.

Donnie almost kept walking without you before you loosely clasped onto his wrist.

Puzzled, he turned back to you.

“Would you want to get something to eat? Like, while we’re down here,” you asked.

He pursed his lips. Just as he opened his mouth to retort or deny the requests, you were both hit with a wave of the most scrumptious food you’d smelled probably in your entire life.

“Okay, you have to admit that smell is heavenly,” you looked at him knowingly.

“I don’t have to do anything, but those do look fire.”

You gave him the best pleading look you had, and you could pinpoint the exact moment he caved in.

“Alright, we can take a quick detour from the exit.”

“Heck yeah! You rock, no correlation to geology,” you winked, adjusting your grip from his wrist to his hand so that you two wouldn’t get separated from you charging through the crowd.

And charge through that crowd you did.

Donnie in tow behind you, you bounded through the crowd excitedly, scarcely avoiding collisions all over.

However, the complaining Donatello in hand and sweating were inconsequential compared to being in line for a brand new type of culinary experience.

You were practically buzzing with joy, so excited that you momentarily forgot to relinquish Donnie’s hand. You still did though, just a moment shy of awkwardness.

You had made a good deal, had good company, and were about to have good food. What more could you want?

Still beaming, you felt your phone buzzing in your pocket and pulled it out.

The smile on your face quickly receded as you checked who was calling.

“Just a moment, I need to take this,” you muttered before slipping out of line and off through the crowd.

Donnie froze. He didn’t like the fact that whoever called seemed to ruin your mood, nor the idea of you being alone in an entirely unfamiliar city.

Reluctantly, he relinquished his spot in line - which was painfully close to the front, might he add - to find you.

It took a moment of weaving left and right, dodging up and down through a flurry of wings and tails for him to find the space between two buildings that you had moved yourself into.

Not wanting to intrude, he stood right outside the small alley, listening in by a complete coincidence. Certainly not out of nosiness in the slightest. Nope.

Anyway, he only got close enough to hear you mid-sentence.

“-you serious? Now, I don’t know if your section of New York is in a different time zone, but for me right now it is way too dark and way too late to be calling for conferences.”

A pause. Scraggly sounds faintly sounded from the other side of the call, not that he could make out an inkling of it. You, on the other hand, understood it all too well.

“Obligatory? Yes, I know what obligatory means, I just find the notion of a required meeting kinda dumb- Sorry, I mean extremely dumb.”

Another pause of you presumably getting chewed out passed before you, begrudgingly, grumbled, “Ugh, if you insist. Be there later.”

The phone call ended after that, and Donnie had no clue what to do.

Walking in normally could make it seem like he was eavesdropping, which he was but he didn’t want you to know that, but he couldn’t just stand still either.

After some careful contemplation, Donnie looked around and stumbled (definitely not purposefully) into the alley you were in. He seemed somewhat concerned; he hadn’t seen you that perturbed before.“Is everything alright?” he muttered vaguely, not wanting to overstep.

“Just yelling at my… mother’s urn- Anyway, once again, I have really got to go, this has been really fun, we should do this again sometime, am I missing anything else?” you joked lightheartedly. Thankfully the mood, along with Donnie, followed your attitude shift.

“I feel like a ‘thanks, you’re the best’ may be due,” your companion urged jokingly.

“Thanks Donnie, you’re the best.”

He huffed. “Kidding. I was kidding.”

“I wasn’t.”

For a probably too long moment, he made eye contact with you and your startlingly genuine eyes. Eventually, he tore his gaze away and cleared his throat. “... Let’s get you back to the surface.”

The trip back to the site of the portal was mostly silent, just the two of you trekking shoulder to shoulder through crowds of characters, before you entered the vertigo-inducing light once again.

The wind bit harshly at you as soon as you landed back on New Yorkian ground, an unkind reminder of the end of your adventure.

You blew a puff of warm air onto your hands and almost started walking on instinct before Donnie spoke, reminding you of his presence.

“Are you alright going back on your own?” he questioned quietly, almost coyly.

“I mean, I made it here on my own. I think I’ve got it covered.”

“Oh. Okay,” he concurred with a nod before giving you a pair of thumbs up. “In that case, make it home safely. Text you later?”

“Later,” you agreed emphatically. With one more nudge of his arm and a pivot in the other direction, you were off, out of the construction zone, on the sidewalk, down the street.

As you moved toward your destination, the skyscrapers and towering structures lining your path grew taller, more opulent, more lavish. Insignificant residentials morphed into substantial, old money commercials. Your heart rate climbed.

You paused in front of the grand doors of your location and took a deep, steadying breath. It was just some quick business you had to take care of. Brief. Inconsequential. Everything would be fine.

With some renewed confidence, or at least some semblance of it, you pulled on the handle and swiftly entered the hotel’s lobby.

The door closed thickly behind you with a thud.

Resonate. Absolute. Irrevocable.

(Artwork for part 5)

Taglist ~

@rottmntsimp

@envyjmoney

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #save rottmnt #save rise of the tmnt #unpause rottmnt #rise season 3 #save rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #unpause rise of the tmnt #rise donatello x reader #rise donnie x reader #rise donnie #rise donatello #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt donnie x reader #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donatello #soulmates #part 5

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msbarrybeeson · 2 years

Text

Before You Go - P.1 | Future Leonardo X Reader

A/N: Time to make a series! Inspiration is taken from the movie and several fanart. Constructive criticism is appreciated as usual.

Summary: Heartbroken about a death of a dear friend, you and Leonardo debated on whether to co-parent Cassandra’s baby son, Casey.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warnings: Blood. Death. Child becoming an orphan.

Word Count: ~1280

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / ...

“We’re.. keeping him?”

A wary expression on your face as you met eye-contact with Leonardo. In his arms held a baby boy, wrapped in a soft yet dirty blanket.

“We are,” he confirmed.

“But what about the other camps—.”

“I promised Cass we would take care of him.”

You went silent, wincing at the thought— the memory of your friend dying in that rubble. Leonardo shared the same feeling, replaying Cassandra’s final words in his head.

“You didn’t even ask me for my word!” you snapped. “We’re talking about taking care of a baby in an alien invasion! I want neither of us nor the team to get too attached. He’s going to get in the way and if something happens—.”

“We won’t let anything happen to him.”

Your hands curled. “...How can you be so sure?”

“(Name).” Leonardo stepped closer to you. “Think about it this way: he could be a hope for us. He could be the one to stop the Kraang and this mess.”

“No.” You wanted to yell and force him to look from your view. Except, you can’t risk scaring anyone else in the base. There were other humans, mutants, and yōkai taking refuge to hide from the Kraang.

This was one of the only safe havens in New York City, or the entire world at that rate. You wanted this to be a place of consolation, not panic.

Arms crossed, you turned away. “I was afraid you’d think that.”

“...What do you mean?”

“He’s young, Leo!” You faced him again. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about forcing the idea of ‘being the chosen hero’ on him!

What if he doesn’t rise to that challenge? What if he didn’t succeed? What would you think of him then?”

Leo’s mouth perked up.

And you realized yourself.

“Sounds like you’re the one with a personal attachment, (Name). I almost thought you don’t care about this little guy,” he teased. “I wasn’t being serious about the whole ‘hero’ thing. Splints threw me on the leader spot myself, remember?”

Your shoulders loosened.

“I remember.” You sighed. “I never said I don’t care. Just worried we won’t be able to give him the childhood he deserves— the life he deserves. I wish that for every child, especially knowing this is the wrong place for them to grow up in.”

You grimmed. “We’ll be busy trying to take out Kraang, Leo.. How are we going to take care him, let alone give him enough love?”

Leo gave no response. But you watched his feet inching closer. Then, he held out the blanket-wrapped baby to you.

“..We’ll find a way,” he assured, “We’ll work it out together.”

You took the baby in your arms. He was snoring away all the problems, a bittersweet moment that warmed your heart.

“The others are going to co-parent too, right?” you asked. That one question making Leo freeze. You spoke again, this time raising an eyebrow. “..Right?”

He cleared his throat. “Well.. the thing is.. they.. probably don’t even know how to take care of a baby.”

“What.”

“But we’ll be fine on our ownn! Trust me, (Name), nothing’s going to go wrong under our watch.”

“And then you’re going to force all the parental responsibility on me.” You scoffed. “Are you serious? You had me thinking that Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and April will help too!”

“Cass trusted us to do this.”

“Exactly, us.”

“The both of us.”

“Why did she exclude the others out?”

Truth be told, you couldn’t understand what made his brothers and April any less qualified to take care of a baby. You knew Leo would be out a lot. You too had responsibilities with keeping resources in check and defending the base. Extra loving hands shouldn’t hurt.

Except, when you found Leo averting his gaze and coughing, a light blush on his face, it clicked for you. He wasn’t being completely serious. He just liked the thought of he and you— did Cassandra tell him?

A chuckle left your lips.

“Look, as much as I’m willing to try for her,” you paused, “I don’t know if I can make a good caretaker, let alone a parent for Casey.”

“And Cass knew you’d doubt yourself,” Leo held your hands, “but she still trusted you. She trusted that you can do it.”

You took a deep breath, tearing up a bit.

“There.. are a lot of responsibilities....”

His arms brought you into a hug from behind. “I know.”

He leaned his head on your shoulder, watching little Casey sleep. “Like I said though, (Name), we will make it work.” Leo reassured. “I’m here right next to you.”

Him being made leader changed him for sure. It was comforting to see him grow less cocky and more consoling, empathetic.

You kind of missed his overconfident, happy, sarcastic side though.

“What are you doing?” A shaky breath. “We’re running the same way. Why are you handing him to me, Cass?” Leonardo felt his heart beating faster.

“Take care of him for me. He needs you all, especially (Name).”

“H-Hold on..” Leonardo taken aback.

He watched a couple of tears pooling up in Cassandra’s eyes. Her hand grasping his arm as they both ran for base.

“Y-You know (Name)’s been eyeing me for a while now.” Emotions caught up in her throat as she spoke. “They’ve always wanted a kid— I didn’t even have to ask them. So.. I-I thought that if I’m ever gone, Casey can be the one for them. (Name) can be the one who will love him just as much as I do.”

“What are you talking about—?!” Leonardo’s breath hitched when the woman let go and ran behind him.

“Please tell ‘em that for me.. before I go..”

“CASSANDRA!”

“They’re just gonna keep following us if something isn’t done. I have to go distract them!”

You stopped in your tracks the moment you found your best friend turning the other direction. The baby gone from her arms and in Leonardo’s instead.

“Casey? Casey!” you shouted. “Where the hell are you going!?”

She was running towards one of the giant machines. A large rock into the eye with her hockey stick and a loud BOOM blasted from an ignition.

You immediately sprinted after her. “Casey! CASEY, STOP!”

“(NAME)!” Leonardo followed.

Cassandra caught the attention of other nearby mechs, this time using her hyperbeam gun to strike.

You were starting to lose your distance.

“Please! I don’t want to lose you—!” Leonardo yanked you back with his other arm. This was when you felt your eyes burning. This couldn’t be happening, not when you weren’t prepared to lose someone.

Leonardo kept a tight grip on your arm. “(Name)! We have to go back!”

“Casey’s out there! Let go of me—!”

“Yet you’re out here— I’m not gonna lose you too while we’re at it. Listen to me: we have to go back, or you’re putting everyone else at risk. We have to go NOW.”

You took one final glance at Cassandra, so far away.

Suddenly, a bright beam of light shot down on her ground. You watched the dark silhouette in your sight evaporated.

And you screamed.

Leonardo pulled you into his chest, hand over your mouth. He carried you over his shoulder as you sobbed into your own palms. He fled, fled as fast as he could with stinging eyes, not because of the dust this time.

No one back at the base could’ve prepared to see you and Leonardo return with Cassandra’s baby alone.

That ache hurt more when you found a photograph of her and everyone tucked in little Casey’s blanket.

#rottmnt #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt leo #rottmnt leo x reader #rise of the tmnt #rise of teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt movie #rottmnt casey jones #rottmnt casey #rottmnt april #rottmnt raph #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt cassandra jones

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wingedcupcaketimemachine · 6 months

Text

Scattered Remains (TMNT 2012 and Rise! Crossover)

Summary: After April’s enhanced psychic powers destroy Donnie, she attempts to bring him back to life. But, the purple turtle she finds is not her own

Warnings: Spoilers for TMNT 2012 Season 4, Episode 22

A/N: I’m finally done with the first chapter! If this does well, I might create a comic based off of it on my art account!

Fic starts below cut

TMNT 2012 Masterlist

Rise of the TMNT Masterlist

Main Masterlist

“Red, is that really you?” Casey asks, as he cautiously approaches April.

“I think so. But Donnie,” she says with teary eyes, “What have I done.”

The group stands still for a moment before Leonardo breaks the tense silence.

“It’s not your fault April. You had no control,” he says.

“But it is!” she gasps, looking up at him through her tears, “It was all me in a way. If only-”

She pauses for a moment, focusing on the broken crystal shards.

“Donnie’s not gone! He wasn’t really destroyed, just molecularly scattered,” she says as she faces the turtles and Casey, “I can bring him back.”

The boys watch in anticipation as April’s powers hone in on Donnie’s energy. If she can bring him back, she can make her family whole again.

She has to bring him back.

The turtles and Casey watch as blue sparks fly through the air, forming the silhouette of a body.

The turtles watch, full of anticipation. Their brother wasn’t gone. He was coming back!

Their excitement quickly turns to horror as they realize the figure in front of them is not Donatello.

Though not their missing brother, April still managed to bring another mutant turtle to the place where Donnie had been vaporized minutes before.

This turtle seemed younger, maybe by a year or so.

Raphael breaks the stunned silence as he holds a sai against the neck of the unfamiliar turtle.

“Who the hell are you? And where’s my brother?”

“Woah, Raph! Chill out dude!” says Michelangelo, pushing his brother out of the way, “He’s just a kid. And he’s scared.”

Michelangelo was right. The mystery turtle was still pale and shaking even as Raphael released him from the ground.

“It's ok mystery dude! We’re not gonna hurt you…anymore,” says Michelangelo, glaring pointedly at his hotheaded brother.

Raph rolls his eyes in annoyance.

“What are you doing Mikey? This is some random mutant that April brought here with her freaky crystal powers. We have no idea what it’s capable of.”

“Mikey’s right,” says Leo after a long stretch of silence, “This turtle is just a lost kid. He was brought here with April’s powers, which means he’s our responsibility. We have to take him back to the lair.”

“Are you crazy Leo? We have to focus on finding Donnie. Our brother is lost somewhere and you're focused on a random mutant we found on the street!”

Before another argument could break out, the mystery turtle interjected.

“Your brother’s name is Donatello?”

The group of teenagers looked over in shock. Michelangelo was the first one to respond.

“Yeah, dude. He disappeared when April got possessed by a freaky alien crystal.”

“The same crystal that brought you here,” says April in shock, “I was trying to find Donnie, but it brought you instead.”

“So that means…you’re Donnie?” asks Casey.

“Yes,” says the other turtle, “Just not your Donnie..”

“We have to get back to the lair and talk to Master Splinter. We’ll come up with a plan to find our Donnie and get this Donnie back home.”

“Seriously Leo?” Says Raph, “You’re gonna believe him just like that? Even if he is a Donnie he’s not our brother. We can’t just take him to the lair.”

“Think about it Raph,” says Casey, “If April accidentally brought the other Donnie here, our Donnie is probably stuck wherever he came from. Trustingthe other Donnie is our best bet.”

Raph huffs, but doesn’t argue any further.

“That’s it then. We’re headed back to the lair,” said Leo, “April, you should probably come with us. Maybe you can help Donnie replicate the research that you and Donnie did on the crystal.”

April and other Donnie both nod in agreement.

“I might be able to use other me’s research to try to replicate a similar

kind of technology that could get me home,” said the alternate Donnie, “If all goes well we should be able to find your brother too.”

The group looks to Raphael, gauging his reaction.

“Fine,” he said after a beat of silence, “But that doesn’t mean we trust you. All we need you for is to get Donnie back.”

The group sits in tense silence as Raphael stalks off towards the Shellraiser.

“Don’t worry about Raph little dude!” says Michelangelo with a small smile,

“He’s just worried about Donnie. He’ll come around.

“Mikey’s right. It’s nothing personal…probably,” says Leo before looking over to the Shellraiser, “We need to get back to the lair and tell Master Splinter what happened.”

“It’s late, I should probably get home,” Casey finally speaks up, “Let me know if you come up with any ideas on finding Donnie.”

The group watches as his figure retreats into the night before following

Leo into the Shellraiser.

#rise donnie #rise leo #rise tmnt #tmnt crossover #tmnt crossover fic #tmnt 2012 rewrite #tmnt raphael #tmnt au #tmnt leonardo #tmnt mikey #tmnt donatello #tmnt #rottmnt tmnt 2012 crossover #tmnt 2012 #rise of the tmnt #tmnt 2018

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taizi · 1 year

Text

find another guiding light

rise of the tmnt pairing: don & leo, don & raph, don & mikey word count: 4k title borrowed from dear reader by t swift pre&post-movie

read on ao3

“What the hell are we gonna do about Leon?” Donnie says one day when both his older brother and his twin are gone from the lair on a two-man training run that is almost certainly going to end in disaster.

He doesn’t know why he says it. He certainly isn’t expecting any answer that isn’t just an annoyed groaning sound, because what other answer even is there?

But Mikey replies, “You mean how self-destructive he’s been lately?” and it puts Donnie fully on the back foot.

“What?” Donnie says blankly.

“Is that not what we’re talking about?”

“I mean—I guess—I wouldn’t have called it that,” Donnie says, but now that he’s saying it he’s not sure.

Mikey snorts. The sound is humorless. “What else would you call it? Running around throwing himself face-first at every bad guy we find without waiting for back-up, refusing to hang back and come up with a plan even though it used to be his favorite part of a mission, not listening to anybody about anything—it’s like he forgot what self-preservation even is.”

Donnie is thinking really hard and really fast, looking at the last few months through this new lens.

Leo’s their self-proclaimed face-man, but he’s also the idea guy. Donnie is an outright genius when it comes to science and engineering and everything in between, but his twin isn’t stupid. Leo is as clever and Machiavellian as any storybook trickster, and tactics come as easily to him as breathing.

He’s always been the one to suggest a plan, to guide his brothers back on track, to keep them from getting in over their heads. The only times he and Raph ever used to butt heads was when Leo had an idea more stealth than smash.

Donnie would never admit it out loud but Leo’s had those qualities since they were kids. He’s charismatic and charming, a theater kid at heart with the modified genetics of a super soldier and a mind every bit as bright as Donatello’s, even as it twists and turns down other avenues. It made sense that he’d be shoehorned into a leadership role as he got a little older. Leo is the type of person who would be thrilled to captain the crew.

So then why did Leo do a complete 180?

And Mikey made another point, too, whether or not he knows it. If Leo was just being a huge jerk outright, Dr. Delicate Touch would have made an appearance by now and shut that shit down hard. But the fact is, Dr. Feelings has taken point on this one—and if there’s one thing Donnie’s learned the hard way, it’s that Mikey in feelings mode is usually the right one to listen to.

Mikey is watching his pastries rise in the oven. Donnie can see his expression reflected in the glass door. It’s flattened out into plain worry.

“He never tells us any of the important stuff,” the youngest Hamato says, tone uncharacteristically bitter. “He just goes on and on about things that don’t matter until we’re distracted, and it works every stupid time.”

“Leo’s always been that way,” Donnie interjects half-heartedly. “You can’t come at him head-on about stuff or he clams up. You gotta go in a series of annoying, convoluted circles to get to the heart of the thing. He’s literally the creature in the middle of the labyrinth.”

Mikey points at Donnie, as if to say ‘you got me there.’ “And that’s exactly why I don’t think Raphie’s method is helping.”

It’s obviously something he doesn’t want to admit. Mikey is his brothers’ number one fan and cheerleader first, person second. He bites the inside of his lip and starts twisting his fingers in a manner that promises to be painful. Donnie digs into the pocket of his hoodie and shoves one of his own mesh and marble fidget toys across the table at him. It’s an obnoxious lime green color and it makes Mikey smile involuntarily. He twists the toy instead and Donnie falls back into his train of thought running at roughly mach ten.

Raph’s method of confronting anything is head-on. That’s just the type of guy he is—steady and solid and unflinching. And they all depend on him the way most other people probably depend on the sun to rise every morning. Donnie literally does not know how they would make it a single day without Raphael, and prefers not to think about it.

But that also means that Raph and Leo can be like oil and water. And suddenly, the ‘A Team’’s constant bickering and late-night shouting matches and cold shoulders makes more sense.

“I don’t know what to do,” Mikey admits, this empathetic powerhouse with more emotional intelligence in one finger than Donnie has in his whole body. It’s incredibly disheartening to hear. “So for now I just want Leo to know that someone’s on his team.”

Whatever else he might have said is cut off by the familiar electric snap of a portal opening near the turnstiles, and then a second later Raph and Leo materialize in the lair, mid-roof-raising-argument.

Raph is carrying Leo carefully through the living room. There’s blood on his hands, enough to make Mikey suck in a breath from his station in front of the oven. Right away, the facts come together in Donnie’s brain: Leo got hurt.

What looks like all the bandages from the medkit on his waist are wrapped around his arm. Whatever happened, it was bad enough to push out those stress lines around Raph’s eyes and mouth, bad enough that he still hasn’t set Leo on his own two feet, like he might be able to undo all the pain if he just keeps holding him. But Leo is doing what Leo always does, hiding whatever he’s actually feeling behind a smarmy grin and a smart-ass attitude, and Raph’s fear and worry and love have coalesced into something huge and ferocious that sounds a lot like anger.

Now Donnie knows what to look for.

“—what happens when you don’t listen!” Raph snaps furiously. “God, Leo, it’s like you don’t even care!”

“Why should I? Look where it’s gotten you!”

Something darts through Mikey’s eyes that makes Don want to snap at something.

“Leo,” he says, his flat tone cutting through the fight like a souped-up soldering iron through the cheap components of a certain rat’s ancient CRT TV (not that he would know), “you’re still bleeding.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then Raph and Leo both look down at the slider’s arm. Red is blooming across the crisp white gauze. Mikey makes a wounded noise. Right away, Leo clambers out of Raph’s arms with a joke to make their youngest feel better—“It’s okay, Miguel, you should see the other guy!”—and Raph’s getting heated again at the apparent flippancy, and god, it never fucking ends, does it?

Leo is retreating further and further into this new character that doesn’t care about himself or anybody else, and it’s happening right before Donnie’s eyes. He’s already slinking away, out of the warmth and light of the kitchen, away from his family

Donnie realizes abruptly that there is a non-zero chance he might lose his twin brother. That one day he might wake up and not know Leo anymore.

He stands up, chair screeching behind him.

“Lesser twin, with me.”

Leo opens his mouth to try to get out of it, but that’s not going to happen. Donnie’s not having it. With the way their bodies work—ninpo and genetic modifications and yokai-isms, oh my—if it’s still bleeding, it needs stitches. And Leo, self-made team medic, ought to know that.

He gives Leo a look that says Remember when Taylor Swift’s Folklore album came out and you performed the entire thing in my lab and I swore I didn’t record you? I one-thousand-percent recorded you.

Leo’s look back succinctly says You motherfucker.

But he falls in next to Donnie without another word, a move that probably bewilders their brothers into next year. He definitely isn’t happy about it. He’s still prickly and defensive. It seems like he’s waiting to get ganged up on.

Raph starts to follow them and Donnie says, “I got it.” He shoves Leo a step ahead of him, putting his own body between him and Raph like a wall. It doesn’t feel good to do it. He chooses cowardice and doesn’t look back at whatever Raph’s expression looks like as a result.

Behind them, ever-reliable Mikey jumps in immediately with a bright, “You can help me with the cupcakes, Raph! We’re doing cream-filled red velvet!”

In the infirmary, Donnie points Leo toward a cot. Leo rolls his eyes and hops up to sit on the edge of it. He starts unwinding the gauze from around his arm agreeably enough, wincing a bit when the final layer sticks and comes away with a painful pull.

Don’s stomach swoops unpleasantly at the sight of the torn skin. It’s definitely not the worst he’s seen—they’ve taken worse damage flubbing skateboarding moves on the half-pipe—but it’s still not nice to look at. He takes a moment to swallow hard, then asks, “What happened?”

“Typical oozesquito shenanigans,” Leo says off-handedly. “Alley cat? Adorable. Mutated yokai alley cat? Not as much.”

Donnie grimaces sympathetically. “Claws or teeth?”

“Teeth. Hey, do you think we can get rabies?”

“I can’t wait to find out.” Putting rabies vaccinations at the top of his mental to-do list, Donnie gestures with a sweep of his arm at the infirmary. “This is your domain, Nerdo. Where’s the stuff I need?”

“You know I don’t actually need an assist. Like you said, my domain.”

“Wow that’s a super interesting non-answer to my question.”

With a dramatic, put-upon sigh, Donnie’s little brother points him in the right direction and says, “Steri-strips are in the top left cabinet.”

Immensely grateful he wasn’t directed towards the suture needles or the skin stapler, because as willing as he is to help it really doesn’t take much for Vomitello to make a guest appearance, the softshell rummages through Leo’s meticulously organized industrial-tool-chest-turned-medical-supply-cabinet, triumphantly coming up with a pack of adhesive bandages and some antiseptic wipes after a moment.

He pushes the wheeled stool over with his foot and it bounces gently off Leo’s knee, shuddering to a stop just in front of him. Leo tries to kick it as Donnie sits down and nearly succeeds, giggling like a menace when Donnie staggers and almost eats it face-first on the floor.

“Okay,” Don says loudly, not actually as annoyed as he’s trying to sound. “Arm.”

“Donald, seriously, I got it.”

“Leonard, seriously, I will upload that T Swift footage today.”

Leo mimics him with all the maturity of a three-year-old but ultimately surrenders his arm. He looks tense and uncomfortable the whole time, like he’s forgotten how to let someone this close.

And Donnie thinks about what Mikey said in the kitchen, about wanting Leo to know he had someone on his team. He thinks about how things were a year ago, when that would have gone without saying.

It doesn’t take long to wipe down Leo’s arm and press the steri-strips over the wound. Then Donnie sits next to him on the cot. Neither of them speak up right away. They can both tell this is going to be a Moment, and Donnie, for one, is bracing himself. He gets the feeling that he really, truly, can’t fuck this one up.

“I know something’s percolating in that abstruse brain of yours,” he finally says. “So talk. But do me a favor and skip over all the posturing and trying to convince me nothing’s going on and lying right to my face, okay? I don’t know how much time we have before Mikey kicks the door in and drags us to a TED talk.”

It’s as much of a threat as it needs to be. Grudgingly, like he’s prying each word up out of the mud, Leo mutters, “I want dad to take it back.”

Donnie wants more than anything to shake Leo until all of his secrets fall out of his mouth and Donnie can sweep them away to a safer place. Like an encrypted folder on his computer. But he can’t do that, so he has to settle for—ughh, patience.

It pays off. Leo admits, in the safe, familiar space of his infirmary, that he doesn’t want to be team leader. He doesn’t want things to change. His crooked, cooked-up scheme is to just—fuck up over and over again until papa decides Leo can’t be trusted with that mantle that rightfully belongs to Raph.

Donnie understands him. Of course he does. He hates change, too. It makes him feel itchy and restless. He likes knowing what to expect. He likes when everything is in the same place he left it.

If Leo wanted to be the leader, he’d be good at it. As long as he doesn’t want to, he won’t be. So it’s a scheme—Donnie can get behind that. He knows whose side he’s on. It’s the side he’s always been on, since the day he read the definition of “twin” out of a water-logged dictionary. It’s his job to be here. Leo’s kind of an idiot for expecting him to be anywhere else.

“Not a bad hypothesis,” Donnie says, pressing their shoulders together. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Leo’s face split in an honest smile. “It’d probably work a lot better for you if you’d let Raph in on it, you know.”

“Please, are you kidding?” Leo scoffs. “As if he’d ever play along. Half the time I think he must hate me. I stole his job and now I’m not even doing it right.”

Are we talking about the same person? Donnie wants to demand. Raphael, the guy who carried you home not even twenty minutes ago? The guy who’s always carried you?

He doesn’t say that. Instead, he says, “Let me handle Raph.”

Back in the kitchen, the cupcakes are filled and in the process of being frosted. Mikey’s going all out, piping bag in hand, an assortment of edible decorations spread across the counter. Raph is gamely assisting to the best of his ability, even though his big fingers make it more of a task than it rightly should be. They both glance up when Donnie and Leo come in.

“Hey, your timing is as suspiciously convenient as always,” Mikey says cheerfully. “I need to take some pics for my Insta but after that you better come eat some of these.”

“Everything good?” Raph asks gruffly.

“Todo esta bien, hermano,” Leo says, breezing inside like he hadn’t just spent the last ten minutes unloading his fear of failure and inadequacy, as well as his certainty that the big brother he admires so much doesn’t like him anymore. “It smells like magic in here! Michael, we gotta get you a sponsor or something. The world needs to experience this.”

Mikey laughs and passes Leo a piping bag. “Raphie’s working on a rainbow sprinkle unicorn cupcake over there, and you’ll never guess who that one’s for.”

The surprise that darts across Leo’s face hurts to look at. His eyes drop down to the lopsided multi-colored creation taking shape under Raph’s clumsy hands. He looks more vulnerable in that moment than he has since the day dad unceremoniously turned everything they knew upside down.

“Raph, I need to talk to you,” Donnie says loudly because he’s about to get mad and do something he’ll probably regret, like put his fist through the projector in the TV room. “Chop-chop. The sprinkles can wait.”

“The sprinkles cannot,” Mikey and Leo chorus at the same time in exactly the same tone like the freaks of nature they are. Raph makes the right choice and escapes their company, following Don down the tunnel toward his corner of the lair.

“Okay, focus up,” Donnie says the second the reinforced door is closed behind them. “We’re getting your old job back.”

He understands why the infirmary gave Leo the courage to talk. His lab does the same for him. It’s like Mikey’s kitchen, Raph’s dojo—they each have a place that makes them feel their best.

“Wait, what?” Raph looks bewildered. “What are you talking about?”

“The leader schtick, Raphala, keep up please. Leo’s going to keep sabotaging himself at full-speed until papa sees the light and demotes him. I’d like to see that happen before he breaks all of the bones in his body.”

Raph’s brow furrows beneath his mask. “Hang on, is that what he’s doing? I thought he just—didn’t care.”

Donnie gives that remark the deeply unimpressed look it deserves. “Right. Leonardo Hamato, the guy who started teaching himself field medicine when he was eight years old after you sprained your ankle and he cried for two hours because he didn’t know how to fix it, doesn’t care.”

He kind of feels bad for dumping this on Raph the way he has, but honestly. They’ve been stuck in place for months now, and Mikey’s been on edge constantly with all the fighting, and Leo’s going to get himself killed trying to prove something no one else believes, and Donnie can feel something toothed and tender coming alive inside his chest, trying to bite and claw and fight its way out.

Leo’s afraid you hate him, he doesn’t say, but he wants to. Leo’s scared all the time now. Of course he’s been acting like an asshole, when’s the last time he actually told somebody he was scared?

Donnie’s the fixer. He wants to fix this. If Raph would just get on board, maybe he’ll be able to.

“If Leo wanted to be the leader, we would have heard about it one million times every single day since he was four, ” Donnie says plainly. “The fact is, we haven’t. Draw your own conclusion.”

“But he’d be good at it,” Raph says, his tone blank with surprise and a total lack of comprehension. “That’s why dad gave him that role in the first place. I was always supposed to be the placeholder while Leo grew up. And now if he’d just put in the effort—if he’d try—he’d be amazing.”

“Okay, and I’d be good at domestic terrorism, but somehow I think you’d frown upon me reaching my full potential there.”

“Donnie!” Raph looks scandalized, like the NSA might be listening in. Puh-lease.

“Look,” Donnie says. He has no idea why he’s the one fielding these feelings talks, but he gives it his best shot. It’s probably not fair to shovel it onto Mikey’s shoulders all the time anyway. “You’re not a placeholder anything. Don’t say that. You’re our leader. We’ve always followed you. If we didn’t want to, we wouldn’t. Especially Leo. He’s a nightmare person. He’s never done a single thing he didn’t want to do. He was happy being your right-hand man.”

The snapper stares at him. His eyes are all dewy, and Donatello prays to any imaginary higher power that might be listening that he won’t cry, because Donnie becomes absolutely useless in all directions the second his siblings cry.

Miraculously, Raph smiles instead.

“Okay,” he says. “Raph’s listening. Loop me in.”

Actually talking about stuff changes everything—who knew?

It’s like they’ve been stuck in a boarded up room for weeks and someone finally wrestled a window open and let in a fresh breeze. All the stagnant air got swept out and they could finally breathe again.

They’re all playing along now. There are multiple levels to this deception happening all at the same time. Raph and Leo still bicker where papa can hear it, but they’re as thick as thieves at all other times. Raph is the one who makes the final call on a mission, but he makes it a point to hash things out with Leo first, so it’s really their final call. Donnie watches as Leo learns the ropes without realizing he’s learning the ropes. As Raph teaches the way he probably would have liked for someone to teach him. They meet in the middle, on each other’s team, where they belong.

If Raph is the foundation they build their lives on, Leo is the sky they reach for. Gravity was all out of whack with the two of them at odds. Donnie never wants them to fall out of orbit ever again.

They still lost the key, but it wasn’t anybody’s fault in particular. They were all playing keep-away with it to tick off Hypno and what’s-his-name, and Mikey shouted, “Go long!” and Donnie flubbed the catch. Raph called out, “I got it, I got it!” and Leo took that as a challenge because of course he did and neither of them got it. They were all laughing about it. They had no idea what that stupid key was, how were they supposed to know it was going to end the world?

Casey Jones still came back from a broken future, and Raph still got captured by the Krang, and Leo still stepped up in a big way, accepting the responsibility he never wanted and leading his family forward into certain danger because he had nowhere else to lead them.

And Leo, who knew how to stack the deck in his favor, who had never done a single thing in his life that he didn’t want to do, looked death right in the eye and told it, “I missed on purpose.”

It’s a good thing Mikey came up with that Hail Mary pass in the form of a sunlight-golden portal, because Donnie’s mind went cold. Donnie’s mind went straight back to the plans for a particle accelerator that he’d abandoned when he was thirteen years old. Donnie was fully ready to rip this goddamn universe apart to get his twin brother back.

In the infirmary Leo is happy to see everyone crammed into the room and camped around his bed, and distressingly honest, though that part is largely thanks to the morphine. Donnie puts a firm kibosh on personal questions, as tempting as it is to grill him when he’s all loopy and his constant guard is non-existent.

“I love this song,” Leo mumbles out of nowhere at two o’clock in the morning, two days after the almost-end of the world.

Mikey’s dead to the world and sprawled on Leo’s plastron, because they’ve discovered through trial and error that the immediate weight and warmth of a sibling nearby keeps the panic at bay when Leo wakes up in the dark and doesn’t know where he is right away. Casey is asleep on the other side of the bed, his head pillowed on his arms. Raph and April are in a pile on the other bed, dozing fitfully.

Donnie’s tablet is in his lap but the screen went dark with inactivity an hour ago. He’s been watching his twin sleep, deep in thought. After dinner, he’d asked S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. to play one of Leo’s favorite albums through the speakers, low enough not to wake anyone in the infirmary on its own.

Now, he says, “Yeah, I know, Nardo. I’m going to end up on the DJ blacklist right next to you with all the Taylor Swift music I’ve been forcing everyone else to endure for your benefit.”

Leo smiles. With the deep bruising on his face and neck, it looks more daring than it should, here in his little corner of the world. “Admit it, Tello. You’re a Swiftie.”

“No one will ever believe you,” Donnie says, some weight in his heart beginning to lift the longer Leo looks back at him and sounds like his old self. “How are you feeling?”

“Like hell,” Leo replies frankly. “Physical therapy is gonna be a B-word.”

“Thank you for unnecessarily censoring a word we’ve both heard a million times, I appreciate that.” Donnie leans forward, placing his tablet out of the way on a nearby overbed table, and says, “I have a question for you, now that you’re no longer lost in the sauce.”

“I bet it’s gonna suck,” Leo mutters.

“Do you still not want to lead us?” Donnie asks bluntly. “You saved the world, you know. I think it’s fair to say you’ve earned your stripes.”

Leo doesn’t answer right away. He’s drawing idle patterns on Mikey’s carapace with his good hand, staring up at the ceiling with hooded eyes.

“I learned my lesson,” he finally says. “I’ll do whatever I have to.”

Whatever he has to. Donnie relives the moment that portal closed, the moment Leo took his own life in his hands to protect his family, the moment everything that Donnie knew was ripped apart in front of his eyes, and thinks, That’s a dangerous precedent.

“Not what I asked,” Don tells him.

“It’s not about me,” Leo replies tiredly. He’s Donnie’s little brother and he sounds ancient, like he’s lived too much life already.

“I don’t know what the hell that means, but fine,” Donnie snaps. “Then it’s about me. It’s about Raph and Mikey and April and Papa. Junior, even. Everyone who loves you more than life itself. It’s about us.” He stares Leo down, daring him to break eye contact, to make light or make a joke. Donnie will climb into that bed and strangle him and no jury on earth would convict him for it. “And you’re one of us. You’re our family. So it’s about you.”

For once in his life, Leonardo is speechless. He swallows a few times, tightens his grip around Mikey, and darts a guilty look toward Raph.

“I don’t want to do it alone,” Leo admits quietly. “I don’t know if I can.”

“You’re my other half, dumb-dumb,” Donnie tells him in no uncertain terms. “You could do any crazy, stupid, impossible thing you put your mind to. But,” he adds, because this is important, and it’s something all of his siblings could stand to hear at least a dozen more times until it’s successfully been drilled into their stubborn brains, “you don’t have to. You don’t have to do anything. You’re a kid, Leo. We all are. This never should have been our problem to solve.”

Then, because he can’t bear the way his younger twin’s eyes get full and wet, he adds, “Next time a warmongering alien race tries to take over the world, I’ll just do it first.”

Leo laughs out loud, like it was surprised out of him. Raph is stirred awake by the sound, and when he sees Leo’s up, he tries to lunge out of bed so fast that April ends up on the floor. Within minutes, everyone in the room is wide awake and talking over each other and the music is drowned out by all the noise. Not even a full forty-eight hours ago, Leo was trapped in a cold, dark place, where a monster held him down and hurt him—but now he’s here and he’s safe and he can still laugh. It’s a hoarse, wheezy sound, and it’s the best thing Donnie’s heard in days.

He’s got a good feeling about tomorrow.

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #hamato donatello #hamato leonardo #disaster twins #b team #smash and smarts #my writing #tmnt fic

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14muffinz · 7 months

Text

@blackfire-fanfiction it's 2am, but here's the fic as promised

first week

words: 2169

Notes: i didn’t remember the rise timeline, so i’m just going in the order on wikipedia. There’s a lot of food mentions because i forgot to eat dinner and i got hungry. Sue me.

~~~

it’s a bit weird right? that over there we’re almost fifteen, and then over here we’re almost fourteen? wonder how that worked out

shit, right. this is supposed to be important info only, sorry

Leon’s pretty sure that it’s pure luck that’s holding the page of the notebook together. He’s written down so many things in preparation of swapping, only to wake up the next day still in ‘his’ body, and have to erase it all.

The body’s not actually his. There’s a bit of a silent agreement that he belongs in this world and the other guy belongs in the other, just because that’s usually where they are. The longest Leon’s ever been on the other end was a couple of weeks, he doesn’t know those brothers like he knows the ones here.

Plus, no hate to the other guy and whatever he’s got going for himself, but it’s weird and wrong to be the same age as Raph and Mikey. To somehow be the soft spoken one, even though that’s almost the complete opposite of who Leon is.

The switching’s been more frequent than normal as of late. It’s got them both on edge, from what Leon can tell. Unfortunately, you can only write so fast in a notebook, and apparently the other guy’s barely touched a keyboard so even if they could find a way to stop Donnie from hacking everything tech-y that they own, it wouldn’t be any faster. But they have talked about it, sort of. Mostly about who has taken notice, with maybe one or two theories thrown in.

Good news, countdowns ticking. They’re about to be fifteen in the other world, and Leon just has a feeling that something’s going to happen over there. He doesn’t want the other guy to miss out on that, so he’s doing anything he can to stay up, even though he’s not entirely sure if that’ll prevent a switch or not.

He was planning on staying up late either way, if he’s honest. After all, fifteen over there means that he and Donnie are about to be fourteen over here, and that’s pretty important. Leon, for several reasons, does not know if he’s actually fourteen, but it’s the thought that counts.

At about five minutes to midnight, Donnie lifts up the curtain leading into Leo’s room, settling himself next to Leo on the bed, and silently handing over a party horn. Leo very, very carefully sliders the notebook underneath his sheets.

Right as the clock strikes twelve, in a mutual silent agreement, they blow into the horn, the paper uncurling and making no noise at the end. Damn, that’s overwhelming.

“I blew first,” they both say in perfect sync, before turning two glares on one another. There’s no way to prove it, as always, but Leon will fight for his status as the older twin, please and thank you. With nothing to decide it for them, they usually resort to things like rock paper scissors or who can do something first games. They never warn each other, either, it only adds to the fun.

One of the many reasons that Leon prefers his Donnie to the other one. He might pretend to be all distant and cool, but he’s still Leon’s twin and it doesn’t seem like he plans on dropping that title any time soon. But other Donnie spends most of his time cooped up in his lab with the small amount of materials he has, or with other Mikey. Having the ‘twin’ interactions with other Raph just isn’t the same.

“Considering I am wearing my glasses and have been caffeinated, it’s reasonable to assume that I would have a quicker reaction time than you.”

“We both I have the better reaction time, Dontron,” Leon argues. “And that I’m much faster than you.”

“Lies.”

“Are they?”

⠀

The surface is weird over here. Like, it’s cool finally seeing what’s above this lair, but it was hard trying not to act underwhelmed. The other world’s a lot more colourful. I have a feeling you won’t like it up there.

They finally tried pizza, and thank goodness they are hooked. I don’t think I could last too much longer on algae and worms, haha. Definitely need to track down Mike Tony Lou’s, though, I need to get them hooked before it’s too late.

Onto the good stuff! We are very, very close to figuring out what mutated us. We found another canister tonight! And a lot of other stuff, make sure that nobody else bothers you before you read this because it is a lot.

“You doing your writing again?”

Leo can’t help but jump, looking out his open bedroom door, where Donnie is peering in. He winces, frantically shutting the worn and slightly water-stained notebook shut, sliding it underneath his covers before Donnie realises that it’s one he stole from Raph. “Uh. Yeah.”

“Cool.” Donnie pauses for a moment, before continuing as though nothing happened. “Do you want breakfast?”

No. Absolutely not. Ever since the first time he’d had real food in the other world he has not liked eating over here. It’s disgusting. Why are his brothers still okay with eating algae and worms?

“What time’s it?”

Donnie barely hesitates before responding, “Nine-ish.”

“I’m going to sneak out,” Leo decides. It’s prime pizza hour! He can’t ignore that!

“Are you crazy?” Donnie hisses.

Ehn, maybe. Not that he can tell his brother that. Leo just wants to have some bread, so that he has a reason to ask for a toaster, so that he can have toast. Master planning, very important leader stuff that he’s thinking about.

“If Dad doesn’t know, he can’t yell at me,” Leo decides. That’s not the card he’ll usually play in this dimension, but sometimes a little misbehaviour for the sake of the greater good (his family’s taste buds) is worth it.

Donnie considers this. Leo can’t tell how serious he is, his brother mostly just looks tired. “Good luck.”

He proceeds to walk away.

Leo goes back to updating his other self on the Kraang situation.

⠀

… I’m not entirely sure what happened to S.B, actually, just that he made it out of that fight. One of us should probably bring that up to our brothers. He could cause problems.

By the way, we have cereal finally. You’re welcome. Make sure Raph gets his first, you know how he is.

Leon stares down at the notebook, shocked by all the stuff detailed in his other self’s ramble about the last two weeks-or-so. It was a lot, and Leon doesn’t think that the weird shapeshifting dudes and creepy lab guy really hold up in comparison.

He crams the notebook between his mattress and the wall, before beginning to stretch his fingers and toes, adjusting himself to the unnaturally large hands that this body is stuck with. He swears, if it weren’t for the switching, one of them would never have heard of wrists or ankles, because they barely exist in this body.

For the first time in a while, he’s not ready to face the day. So many unknowns have just been thrown at him, and he’s not sure how casual to be about them. Silence is always an option, but Leon’s not a quiet guy. He’s the jokester, the face man! Even without the eye bananas from the other body that he loves oh-so-very much, he wants to keep that role here.

Not the leader.

Goddammit, other Leo. If you were that jealous of Ra– big Raph, why didn’t you just say so?

The differences are apparent pretty much the moment he steps into the main area of the lair. Mikey is sitting in the pit with a plate that only has two slices of bread on it, and he’s biting into the third. In this Mikey’s usual chaotic neutral fashion, he’s biting right into the side, crust and all. Beside him, Donnie is leaning over his own notebook, scribbling something down frantically.

It’s not, like, weird or anything, but last time Leon was here, algae and worms were pretty much the only thing these guys ate and Donnie would usually be in his own space rather than in the pit while he works.

He’s good at rolling with things, though, and he’s too hungry to care.

Slipping into the kitchen without offering a good morning, Leon comes across Raph leaning against the counter with a bowl of cereal in his hand. He’s practically asking to spill it, wow.

“Morning,” Raph greets shortly.

“Morning,” Leon returns, already looking around the room trying to identify which cabinets have probably been filled with actual food. One of the worst parts about swapping is not knowing where anything is, like that one time his other self washed his mask and forgot to tell Leon and so he spent the entire morning tracking it down.

Whatever, the biggest one probably has something in it. Raph doesn’t seem to care that much anyways.

“Hey dudes!” Mikey shouts from the other room. “Wanna try and set up a ramp for a bit? I’m bored!”

Heck. Yes. Leon misses the giant ramps from back home, like, all the time. He’s going stir crazy in here! All the time. All the time. Trust him on this.

“Be there in a minute!” He responds eagerly.

Hopefully other April plans on coming over together, he really wants to meet her. He’s been wondering if there’s an April here or not, and he finally has an answer.

⠀

so those green bugs kinda sorta came back out the portal thing with us. and went everywhere. so that is a bit of a problem, and we don’t really know how to handle it yet. another mutant popped up btw, a pig dude. really weird, 0/10 would not recommend fighting

you also missed the rat flu by like two days. don’t ask raph what happened, because he is a lying liar who lies, but fingers crossed that you’re around for it next year

we’re going out to see a wrestling match wednesday night, no april

The nice part about this world is that Leo can spend two minutes reflecting on what he just read with his head in his hands, just trying to make sure he read that all right. He’s not sure what he was expecting when he showed up, considering how his own week’s been, but it definitely wasn’t this.

He’d thought that the whole brain aliens thing had upped his weirdness tolerance, but an entire magic city underneath New York is pushing it a lot. As is the teleporting dog/cat, sentient vines(?), and all the other madness that his other self has apparently dealt with.

But you know what? This is the dimension where he’s able to speak his mind without getting weird looks. If he told these brothers that this is insane, he’s pretty sure at least one of them would agree with him.

Leo rushes up the stairs and skids into the kitchen, being greeted by the wonderful smell of this Mikey’s cooking. Absolutely the best part of showing up here is the pleasant wakeups. As much as he loves training (he loves it, he loves it so much, even when Raph is constantly showing him up) sometimes it’s nice to just have a peaceful morning.

“Morning Leo!” Mikey greets happily, moving around the kitchen expertly.

For how much the other Leo wrote down this week, very little seems to have changed.

“We have anything planned today?” He asks, hoping that he sounds more tired than quiet. Leo’s not the loudest person unless he’s quoting something, but the other guy is and he spends more time in this body, so Leo just has to deal.

Mikey shrugs. “Raph wants us to head topside tonight and do more hero stuff, probably. I think that he should be saving his energy for when we watch the match tomorrow.”

Raph wants to do hero stuff? Really? Raph from the other world spends most patrols complaining about how Leo leads the team, or just having to waste time patrolling in general. Which is weird, because Leo knows that those brothers are excited by being topside, including Raph. (Maybe this is something he should prompt his other self about?)

For the next few minutes, he’s left awkwardly standing around as Mikey finishes up a batch of pancakes, trying to think of any more questions that he needs to ask before he starts the day. He has several questions about what’s happened on this side of things in relation to those bugs, that secret city, and more, but he doesn’t know how to ask without sounding suspicious quite yet. He’ll just have to go off of context clues.

“You look tired,” Mikey notes as they both finally settle around the table.

He does? Whoops. It’s not the first time this Mikey’s said that to him, so maybe it’s just a swapping thing.

“I’m fine,” he responds.

~~~

#soul switching au #tmnt 2012 #rottmnt #tmnt leonardo #rise leo #2012 leo #ficlet #fanfic of an au #since this au is so new a lot is there to be played with #this is not an attempt at assuming what the creator wants to do with this story #its just my mind being bored and writing stuff #btw am i allowed to chuck this onto ao3 or no

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luckycharms1701 · 2 months

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for the loml rise donnie: 8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? 21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like? 23. Favorite picture of this character? (GIMME) and 26. FREEBIE QUESTION!! -> why is he just the most best boy ever. america explain

ngl, i looked at this and for a second forgot that yes i have written two whole rise donnie fics

8. he’s not an asshole. he’s low empathy, but he tries really hard!!! if he’s insensitive and you bring it to his attention, he’ll do what he can to make it right. that’s not asshole behavior

21. i have to admit. i love to poke him. be a little mean. it entertains me. i don’t like trying to come up with technical jargon for him. that is not something i’m good at

23.

sorry it’s so grainy, it’s the only one i could find. look at him though. little purple ninja. so cute. makes me want to pinch his cheeks

26. *checks notes* we’re talking about rise donnie, right? i think you’re confused, obviously mikey is the most best boy ever. BUT, i will say that i love how donnie always makes things interesting. you are never ever bored when he’s around

#there’s a lot to love about donnie but i’ll restrain myself #talking tag #ask game #tmnt

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yellowhollyhock · 5 months

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Tmnt Memory mash up part 2 (finally ran out of jokes for the first one)

Concept is, there is no concept we have no idea what’s real because memories are wonky, everyone is a storyteller, and Casey is gaslighting them all. (Actual concept: characters remember the same events differently because that’s how brains work, but now it’s taken to an extreme where the basis for different turtle realities comes from each set of memories.)

Rise Raph, 2012 Mikey, 2003 Donnie, 2007 Leo, 1987 Splinter, 1990s April

Leo: You guys need to focus. It’s just like I learned during my training—

Raph: Your training? Are you talking about when you became a mascot for that basketball team?

Donnie: Raphie, be nice. You know Leo takes ninjitsu very seriously.

Raph: *cackles*

Mikey: pfft yeah haha, he’s a big goofy dork who loves cartoons, trying to act all serious haha (he tried to sacrifice himself again last week why are we laughing)

Mikey: Yo dudes, I made us some pizza, shaken not stirred, canned meat supreme with jalapeños and strawberries, light on rosemary heavy on hot sauce. We’re ready for movie night!

Raph: You’re so creative with food! ❤️ You were watching that cooking show you like again, weren’t you?

April:

Leo:

Donnie:

Splinter: You are a great chef, Michelangelo. Because of my peculiar tastes I will be eating sushi.

Casey: There’s definitely algae on this pizza.

Leo: Casey shut up we’re eating

Donnie, on the last slide of a PowerPoint: And so, Leo, I think you will plainly understand, you cannot go outside.

Leo: What about Raph and Mikey?

Donnie: Did Mikey almost accidentally ally with our family’s nemesis?

Leo: No, but—

Donnie: Did Raph get poisoned at the Battle Nexus?

Leo: Well, no, but—

Donnie: Did Raph or Mikey or Splinter or April or even Casey fight an army of Foot by himself while still recovering emotionally from our first presumed defeat of said nemesis, and end up facing him again, getting thrown through a window, and falling into a coma?

Leo: But you said you were abducted by aliens! And what about all those adventures in alternate dimensions you talk about? Your safety is also important! (fuming)

Donnie: Well I’m not the one who had to go away for training. 😘

Leo: But you did take that horrible phone line job while I was away for training, and do not tell me that was less traumatic!

Donnie: … phone line job???

Leo: Yeah, the—didn’t you—Casey told me you worked in tech support?

Donnie: Casey told you—Casey said—I am the cofounder of O’Neil Technologies he told you I got a phone line job?

Splinter: You must center yourselves, my students. The mind is a powerful weapon.

April: So does he always just call you guys his students?

Donnie: Nah, I think he says ‘my son’ more often than he says my name, he’s just in training mode right now.

Leo: Yeah, it’s more in private conversations that he’ll use familial terms. He really means it with just as much affection when he says students.

Mikey: lol I have been called both son and student with varying degrees of affection and annoyance. When he says my name I run for my life

Raph:

April: Um, you okay Raph?

Raph: He mostly just calls me Red…

Everyone: Dude….

April: Hey do you guys remember that guy who got mixed up with a bad crowd, almost did something really irreversible but then met you guys and turned it around and helped us instead?

Donnie: Angel!

Splinter: Ah, yes, young Carter. I hope his studies are going well.

Mikey: Mondo Gecko my man!

Leo: Do you mean your boss Winters? I mean he was the most recent.

Raph: That was Casey.

Casey: That was me.

April:

April: Anyway I was talking with his dad the other day—

Mikey: You ever had feelings for someone, Leo? Feelings you didn’t know what to do about? Feelings that kept you up at night?

Leo: Mikey I told you, I didn’t stay away that extra time because of a girlfriend.

Mikey: Maybe even feelings that make you act stupid. Feelings like Raph has for his Mona Lisa, or Donnie for April?

Raph and Donnie, eavesdropping:

Raph: What’s going on with you and April??

Donnie: Nothing I’m aware of. Maybe she borrowed a tool without asking or something. Who’s your Mona Lisa?

Raph: Raph wishes he knew.

Mikey: The heart’s a soft muscle, dude. Squish squish.

Leo: I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.

Casey: Hey Mikey! How are things going with that time traveling girl you liked? I can’t remember her name.

Mikey: Time-traveling girl..? Wait yo dude that hasn’t happened for me yet. I think you just accidentally revealed my future!

Casey: Cool, I didn’t even know I was from the future. I wonder if I could convince Leo he might start an apocalypse if he doesn’t find, like a certain artifact or something….

Donnie, again on PowerPoint: If I were to disappear, the whole world would fall to pieces. Shredder victorious. Raph and Leo estranged forever, unable to reconcile after Master Splinter’s tragic death. Mikey and April, the lone fighters against the growing tide of darkness, barely clinging onto hope. Mikey’s lost one of his arms, and with it the spark of joy in his eyes.

Raph: Who let him have coffee

Splinter: I believe he has had a nightmare. We must guard against these dark thoughts.

Donnie, staring into the distance: That dragon-daimyo merged guy nearly won the Battle Nexus. It looked like the blue bunny poisoned Leo, but in the end he stood beside him in battle. At least Raphie won his planet race.

Raph: Who let him have poison pizza puffs

Mikey: Ay Raph that’s scarily specific?

Mikey: They always forget that I’m good at science, too. I help Dee out in the lab with ideas and stuff. I mean, I don’t understand science, but I got good instincts for it. They need to remember that.

Casey: Yeah, like when you created Ice Cream Kitty.

Mikey: Yeah! What.

Casey: Or when you cured Donnie of that stuff that made him super dumb.

Mikey: No yeah but go back to what you said about Ice Cream Kitty.

Donnie: Do you guys remember that jungle dimension we went to with the really big bugs?

Mikey: Did you just call our own city a jungle dimension?

Leo: Reminds me of my training. I miss the jungle….

Mikey, humming to himself: welcome to the jungle, it’s worse here every day, you learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play

Raph: Did you guys all portal somewhere without me?

Mikey and Donnie: You wanted to see the giant bugs?

Raph:

Raph: Well, no, but—

#tmnt #tmnt 2003 #rottmnt #tmnt 2007 #tmnt 90s #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 1987 #tmnt casey #2003 donnie #rise raph #2007 leo #1987 splinter #90s april #Leo will forever relate everything to his training period #and no one else ever comments on it except for Donnie #who remembers it being much shorter than Leo does

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ju1cyfru1t · 7 months

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i wish you would (Rise! Donnie x Reader) pt.1

Donnie snaps at reader after they put themself in danger.

angst?, fighting and yelling D:, gn reader, hehehehehe Donnie has a crush on reader 🤌, platonic or romantic

Pt.2

You think I'm gonna hate you now

'Cause you still don't know what I never said

You hit the ground, the sword you’d swiped from a foot clan soldier landing beside you with a clink. The origami soldiers turning to confetti in front of your eyes.

You just sat there for a moment as your heart raced, and yours wasn’t the only one.

“Y/N!” A familiar voice called from you behind you and you felt a three-fingered hand grab your arm to help you up. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

You stood, turning to face Donatello while you brushed yourself off. “Yeah…yeah, I’m fine. Just a little shaken.”

Donnie looked all over you, checking for any injuries no matter how minor. A sigh of relief escaped him as he let go of your arm.

“What could you have possibly been thinking?! That was totally irresponsible, Y/N!”

You blinked at him, visibly confused. “What? Donnie, those soldiers were headed straight for you guys. You didn’t even see them, I had to do something!”

“That is not an excuse, you idiot!” He yelled. He actually raised his voice at you. “I mean, seriously! Do you have any idea how much danger you put yourself in?”

Raph, Leo, and Mikey couldn’t do anything but watch the scene in front of them stunned. Sure, they’d heard their brother get angry and yell before, but never at you.

“I don’t understand why you’re yelling at me right now. I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m perfectly fine! I think I can handle myself against some paper.” You defended yourself, your own anger building. Why was he talking to you like this?

“Woah, woah, woah- Let’s just all calm down, ok? To be honest, Y/N, I thought that was pretty badass-“ Leo spoke up in your defense. I mean, why wouldn’t he? You didn’t even have a scratch on you!

“Shut up, Leo!” Donnie glared at his twin.

“Donnie, you need to chill.” Raph placed a hand on his brothers shoulder.

“Yeah, Y/N is fine, aren’t you?” Mikey responded. All but Donnie were on your side.

“Yes! Thank you!” You groaned. You just couldn’t understand why he was being like this.

“Fine.” Donnie’s eyes narrowed at you and he crossed his arms. He spoke to you through his clenched jaw, “but we’re not speaking until you can admit that you were wrong.”

Wrong about what?

“Fine.” You glared back, crossing your own arms.

Mikey, Raph, and Leo all shared a nervous, unsure look.

“Leo, portal Y/N home.” Raph ordered, motioning towards you.

“Alright, but if they end up in Jersey it’s on your conscience.” Leo shrugged, slinging his sword until a large, blue portal opened in front of you.

“I’ll try to talk to him, ok?” Mikey whispered and gave you a reassuring smile, patting you on the back. You just nodded, stepping into the portal.

You landed on your bed at home, watching the blue light fade. You curled up on your side, hugging your knees to your chest.

Donnie had never yelled at you before. Annoyed with you? Yes, but not angry.

You didn’t do anything wrong, right? You just wanted to protect them like they would do for you. You wanted to protect him. Why couldn’t he just understand that? Did he really mean what he said, or was it just in the heat of the argument?

You took a deep, shaky breath. Pulling out your phone from your pocket and clicking on April’s contact, listening to it ring.

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skylarmoon71 · 1 year

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Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) - Oneshot

"Vincent said they'll be operating here. There's a couple inns located in the general area. So it's unsuspecting. "

Donnie went over the layout of the mountain getaway.

"You have to admit it's pretty smart. It's secluded and Christmas break. They just need to find a few people that look like they're on a family vacation. Moving merchandise would be easy." You state.

"That's why we gotta beat em at their own game." Raph slipped a toothpick between his lips.

"Vincent gave us a little spot of our own. We just need two partners to volunteer to go up there and study the place while Donnie works with Vincent to cover the rest. " Raph adds.

"That sounds like a great plan. Who's going?"

When three of them look at you, it becomes clear. Leo is sitting directly opposite you, and he can already see the wheels turning in their heads.

"Looks like our fearless leader has been nominated." Raph looks way too smug when he says it, and you can't stop the flush of your cheeks. Leo just lets out a soft breath.

"Fine." He doesn't sound too happy, but he knows arguing would do no good.

"It's time to get busy, secret agent style, good luck." Mikey rises, and the rest of them follow, laughing all the way down. You and Leo are the last ones there.

"I guess we're partners."

You send him a smile, but his face gives very little away.

"You should start packing. Make sure you're ready to leave at ten tomorrow." No other words are exchanged, and you're left staring at his retreating form.

When Vincent said it would be a cabin, you thought she was bluffing somehow. This entire situation felt cliche. Two partners staking out criminals in a cabin up in the snowy mountains. Pretty predictable. But it was legit. The interior was beautiful. It had the homey feel that just resonated with the holiday season.

It was crazy.

You never thought you'd be freelancing with the NYPD. In the past the cops were always on the other side of this. Being a vigilante tended to do that. But now you are helping. Making a difference. It felt great. Especially with perks like this.

"I'll be setting up in the room. Make sure the entrances and exits are secured. "

Right, you almost forgot about your absolute ray of sunshine.

Leonardo.

Truth is, maybe this particular situation was set up.

Let's have a replay.

~Earlier~

"Vincent said that she only needed the two of us to scope out from the cabin. That means the rest of us can get by with the busy work. Ya know I aint about to be stuck in a cabin watching snow fall off trees." Raph explained.

"Short attention span." Mikey interjected.

"My abilities would be better utilized devising something essential for combat." Donnie inputs.

"Then is it just me!" You complain. Raph smirks.

"See we know Mr. uptight is good at this stakeout thing. Plus ya get to spend an entire week with him alone."

Your cheeks color immediately.

"W-Why the h-hell would I want that!"

"Come on, we know you got the hots for Leo." Mikey teased.

"This way ya get to hang out with him, and we avoid all the boring stuff. It's a win all around." Raph states.

Donnie nods.

"Exactly. There is also a high probability for success on your part. It's proven when placed in an enclosed space with an individual you admire, certain feelings have an easier time of surfacing. The chemicals in our brains trigger-"

Raph smacks Donnie.

"What Einstein is trying to say is ya got a real shot. Just talk to the scmuck and you'll be fine."

You fidget.

"D-Do you really think so?"

"Definitely. Even Leo isn't dumb enough to pass up a babe like you." Mikey says it with a straight face, and you can't help but laugh. You pull them all into a hug, and their laughter follows.

"I love you guys."

"Love ya too dumbnut." Raph ruffles your hair as you giggle.

This is what has led you to your current predicament. The plan had worked exactly as you hoped.

Leo was focused, you expected as much, so maybe you just needed to try harder to get him to realize your feelings.

Piece of cake.

You got busy setting up in your room. You'd packed just enough to be comfortable. Sorting your clothes, and sliding on a more comfortable black shirt. You tied your shoes. You would need it if you were about to start scoping out the scene. When you'd gotten everything set up, you gave a little stretch. Heading for your door. You closed it, and as you turned, you'd almost run into Leo.

"W-Woah, sorry about that!"

You smile as he steadies you. He gives you a once over, saying nothing and you tilt your head. When he pulls away, his face is back to its usual stoic nature.

"We should get to work."

That's all he says. On the ride over you'd gone over the sections you needed to cover. Today you would take the south end and Leo was scouting the east. He placed your radio on the table, turning to you.

"We need to be thorough. Vincent already informed us what hours they operate. That's why we're doing surveillance right now. You're just taking pictures and reporting back. Don't engage."

You frown.

"I'm not some newbie Leo. I'm training to work for the FBI." You were a criminology student for goodness sake. You understood how stakeouts work.

"I'm just being careful."

You were used to being treated like a child. But this was different. You walk past him, taking up the radio a bit angrily. Your hand doesn't even touch the door, it just flies open and slams shut. Leo's eyes watch you walk down the short staircase, and he sighs.

"I'm being too tough on her."

He knew that, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. Because his mind was still reeling from this current situation.

Leo gripped his own radio, heading out.

"I need to stay focused."

That would be a task in itself.

~~~

"Just take pictures, report back." You mocked.

"Who the hell does he think he is!!"

After two hours of trudging through the snow and snapping the necessary shots, you were back at the cabin. A wind blows, and you shiver gritting your teeth.

"Damn it!"

In your rage you'd forgotten to layer up. You only realized halfway across your path. Your rage at the situation had you venting for a while. As you make your way back up the stairs, almost sprinting through the door. Leo turns when he hears it slammed. He's standing by the fire. You could have been wrong, but you were certain you'd spotted relief on his face.

"You told me you were just a few minutes out on the radio. I was a little worried that something happened." The worry he shows almost makes you forget why you were even angry.

"I'm fine. " You grumble, heading straight for the fire. You reach your hands out to warm up your body. Leo takes in the way your body seems to shiver, and guilt hits him. He turns, grabbing the blanket from the couch. When he walks back over, he drapes it on your shoulders, and you look back as he kneels down next to you.

"I forget sometimes that we're not built the same. "

His eyes are fixated on the fire, and you just stare at him. As long as you've known Leo, he's always treated you as an equal. Even before he found out about your powers. You hug the cloth to your body, diverting your gaze. It's things like this that irritate you.

One minute he's a drill sergeant then the next he's so sweet. You deflate. You aren't sure if he notices, but he finally looks your way, the very same time you turn to inform him of the photos you got. Your eyes connect, and you're quite literally breathless. He's closer than you expected, and the dim glow of the flame adds to the allure of his beautiful gems.

"You should tell him."

It's that little voice at the back of your head. So you swallow any doubts, ready to spill your guts.

"Leo I-"

"You should get some rest. Make sure and change into warm clothes so you don't catch a cold." He stands abruptly. You can no longer get the words out. Because he's already heading for his room.

This was going to be a long week.

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gladiatorofthevoid · 1 year

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Rise April Challenge 16: Mask

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here

(This is a bit of a long one, but I think it’s worth it. Also, I go to make April say “bitch” so that’s fun. Warning: Feels Ahead!)

The Boys were acting weird. Which was quite a feat considering that they were mutant turtles, trained in the art of Ninja-ing. April wasn't even counting the fact that they were teenagers. In April's experience, all teens were weird. So yeah, the boys were acting stranger than normal.

It started when she went to meet them on the roof of her current job. Raph arrived first and gave his lovely snaggle tooth grin.

"Hey, big guy!" She calls out, waving him over to sit next to her by the small wall that went around the edge of the roof. "The others on their way?"

"They stopped by Run of The Mill to get us some pizza." He said, sitting down and crossing his legs.

"Cool." She responded and opened her phone, expecting Raph to do the same.

But when she looked up a few seconds later he was staring at his lap, the place where his eyebrows should have been furrowed in concentration. He was thinking very hard about something, and when Raph was thinking hard about anything it was normally meant bad news.

"You good over there, Boss Man?" April asked. The mutant jumped a little and snapped his head towards her, a big smile twisting his face.

"Yep! I'm good! Why wouldn't I be good? I'm the best at being good!" Raph said, words rushing out like water out of a firehose.

...Yeah, something was definitely wrong. April put her phone down and turned to face him.

"Come on, bud. What's going on?" she asked and tried to look him in the eyes, even as the snapper nervously turned his head away from her. "You always say that you're here for all of us, no matter what. And you know that we would do anything for you."

Raph softened at the girl's words. He shifted and squirmed, and though it was hard to tell with his green skin, April thought she saw him blushing. She waited and didn't look away, trying to project a calm and loving aura. The turtle finally sighed and faced her.

"I'm Ok, April. Raph promises." His smile was softer now, more real and relaxed, and April knew that that was the best she was going to get. She patted his arm, scales smooth on her hand.

"Alright, but just know that we're here if you need help. Or if you just need to talk." She leaned back against the wall and picked up her phone again. It's best not to push her friend unless he really needs it.

"What's your favorite color?"

The question was sudden and so different than what they had just been talking about it took a few seconds for April's brain to process it.

"...It's yellow, why-" She was cut off by a loud whoop and the sound of skateboard wheels, and when she looked over Leo was jumping over from the neighboring roof with a pizza box in his arms. The skateboard flipped under him and rolled across the roof as he landed next to them. Mikey and Donnie shortly appeared next to him,

"It's Pizza Time!" Leo yelled and that was just enough of a distraction that by the time they were all settled, April had forgotten the strange question.

The second time was with Leo.

They were having a makeover day, with different types of eyeshadows, blush, and nail polish spread all over the living room table. It was hard doing make-up on someone who was green, but Leo looked great if April did say so herself. They were munching on candy and watching some stupid internet challenge video, while waiting for their nails to dry when Leo asked the question.

"So what do you use for your pigtails?" She blinked and turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Leo had his look that he always used when he wanted to look natural but was really after something.

"Just, you know, you always complain about how hard your hair is to style. But it always looks fabuloso, So, you know, I just wanted some tips." Leo flashed his sparkling teeth at her like it would distract her from how weird his question was.

"You don't even have hair. What do you need tips for?"

"Casey said that Mikey had hair in the future. I'm hoping it will grow in." April narrowed her eyes at Leo, who was examining his nails with a clearly fake casualness.

Well... it wasn't like it was personal or anything.

"I can't wear hair ties because my hair is too thick, they always snap and they're a pain to use. I normally just use some ribbons to tie them up." Leo smirked

"Wow. You're sweet, strong, pretty and with a bow on top!" April shoved him away.

"Oh, come on that was a "ribbon" good one." Uuuhhhh, why her?!

"Ow! Alright, alright I'll stop "ribbon" on you. OW! Ok, I'll stop! Wait hold on-WAIT! APRIL, I'M SORRY! UNCLE! UNCLE!"

Next time was with Donnie.

April knew the soft shell had problems with boundaries, they've had to have several interventions to explain to Donnie that "It doesn't matter if you think you know better, you can't mess with our stuff without asking." Or "I know that you wanna keep us safe, but you can't tag track us without telling us." But it was normally alright. Donnie just needs some help understanding some things, and he usually said he was sorry, even if he still insisted that he was in the right. But April had thought that Donnie at least understood the basics of social etiquette, like not digging through a girl's closet without asking!

But when she entered her bedroom after a long day of work, there he was: sifting through her shirts with his back facing her, and with a pile on the bed that was not there when she left.

April closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, held it, and slowly let it out and relaxed her shoulders. She gently set down her backpack and opened her eyes.

Then she took a flying leap and tackled Donnie to the ground.

"OW! APRIL?! You're home early. How was- OW!" April wrestled the turtle into a chokehold, holding him down as he struggled, and she hit his chest with all the rage she could muster.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU ASSHOLE?!"

"Wait! April, Stop! I can explain-"

"EXPLAINE?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"Currently, I'm being beaten by a small, angry, teen-"

"YOU DON'T JUST GO TROUGH A PERSON'S CLOSET! THAT OFF LIMITS!"

"It wasn't like I was looking for your underwear! I was just looking at your shirts!"

April stopped and glared down at Donnie squirming in her arms.

"You got one chance to say something that will fix this, or I will be giving Leo an airhorn, and telling Mikey that you need more therapy." Donnie stilled.

"You wouldn't."

"You wanna test that?" April said, gritting her teeth. "Try me, Bitch."

Donnie sighed in defeat.

"I just wanted to get a sense for your style."

What the heck? April let go of Donnie and crossed her arms.

"Why?"

"Style is an important part of expressing yourself, it reflects how you want others to see you, as well as what other factors like personality, overall mood, values-" They were getting too far off topic.

"Yeah, I get all that. But why do you wanna know all that?"

"...To be a better friend..." Donnie said with a fixed and stiff smile. April didn't stop glaring. Donnie drew back a little but stopped. The smile dropped and was replaced by a regretful look. "I'm sorry, April. I get that I was wrong and shouldn't have done that. I swear that I wasn't doing it to invade your privacy and I do have a reason. I just... can't tell you right now. But I promise I will! And I also promise that I will never do this again."

April sighed and uncrossed her arms. She was still angry, but she had an apology and Donnie did promise.

"Fine. But this is the only warning you'll get, and you owe me big time."

Donnie smiled, a real one this time. It was soft and grateful, and felt so sincere that it threw her for a loop when she saw it. It didn't feel like it matched the situation at all.

"Of course. Anything you want."

The third time was with Mikey.

She had woken up in the middle of the night to find him hanging upside down outside her window, tapping on the glass. She stumbled out of bed, and towards the window to open it.

"Mikey? What are you doing? It's late."

"Sorry, I just needed to ask you something."

...

Why did it have to be April?

She thought about just slamming the glass in his face and going to bed, but, knowing Mikey, that would not deter him. So, she just sighed.

"What is it?" The turtle dug around in his pockets and shoved two small squares of fabric in her face.

"Which do you like better?" He asked, smile never leaving his face. She was too tired of this, but she still reached out and felt the squares.

"This one," she said holding one up. Mikey took them back and nodded.

"Great. Thanks, April. Night." He vanished into the shadows and was gone.

April shut the window and fell to bed, too sleepy to care what on earth that was all about.

The last time, it was with all of them.

A few days later, she walked into the living room and found the four brothers sitting on the floor in silence.

Raph had called April a few minutes and asked her to head down to the lair as soon as she could, that it was important. He had said that nothing was wrong when she had asked, but with the way they were all gathered in a semicircle with serious looks on their face it felt like they wear going to tell her someone died.

What was happening?!

April walked and sat down with a thump in front of them and narrowed her eyes. The tension in the room was thick, but she wasn’t going to back down from whatever this was. She would face it head on and beat it into submission. She wouldn’t run, not from her friends, not from whatever this was.

“What’s going on?” she asked, staring into each of their eyes. They stared back.

“We wanted to give you something,” Raph said, sounding calm and centered. But there was a lilt to his voice, a quake that made him sound... nervous?

The red turtle reached behind him and handed over a flat white box. April took it and saw Mikey wriggle out the corner of her eye.

This felt... big. Like some kind of old sacred ritual. It felt as though there was something else in the room, a presence that made every move seem purposeful and heavy. It made her hair stand on end.

April placed the box in her lap and looked at the brothers. Each of them was turned away and... blushing?

Screw it. She’d just have to rip the Band-Aid off.

She opened the box.

Inside, was a mask.

She froze when she saw it, its long tails spread out and the eye holes stared back at her.

It was yellow.

“What’s your favorite color?”

She reached down and touched it. She knew this fabric.

“Which of these do you like better?”

That wasn’t all that was in the box though. There were also two long, green ribbons, knotted at the ends, and strung through a beaded charm, that glinted in the light. It was the symbol of the Hamato Clan.

“We were thinking you could use them for your hair.” Leo said, his eyes locked on the floor and skin a bright pink when April whipped her wide eyes up to look at him. “Because you can’t wear the mask all the time like us.”

"So, what do you use for your pigtails?"

“We wanted to make sure it could be something you could wear without it looking out of the ordinary for you.” Donnie added, scratching the back of his hand.

"I just wanted to get a sense for your style."

April looked down at the box in her hand. Her hands trembled.

This was-

Her vision blurred.

So, all this time it was-

Her throat went tight.

She had called them her brothers before, had called them her family. But she had always worried that she was wrong, that it was just her that felt like that. But this was an undeniable confirmation that yes, you are Hamato. You are our sister. We love you.

“It’s ok if you don’t want-” She lunged forward before that sentence could be finished and wrapped them in a hug. She clung to them desperately, trying to pull them closer and closer. She buried her face in someone's chest and sobbed. Tears and snot ran down her face as she kept whispering: “Thank you, thank you, thank you, I love you, thank you.” over and over again.

The mask lay on one floor, having fallen out of its box, and the two charms glinted like distant stars. All the while, the Hamato Clan children hugged and cried together.

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge (you can blame them for the feels) 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.

#AGAIN THIS IS ZEE'S FAULT #save rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rise april art challenge #unpause rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rise april #rise leo #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise donnie #rise mikey #rise raph #fanfic #found family

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