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It all started when Donnie and Raph came out. Donnie first and Raph second. Technically Leo was the first to come out but all of them really just forgot he was trans in the first place. They knew he was a boy from when they were really young, so nothing really changed. But the pronouns and name change for his sibling Raph had thrown him for a loop more than Donnie's reveal about being Nonbinary did. He was super supportive, don't get him wrong, he was just struggling to understand. He had limited internet access and mostly just stuck to skateboarding or drawing more than being on his phone anyways. If he had questions, which he did sometimes, he just went to the expert of the family. Donatello. Which was where he was heading right now. Really, he should be asking Raph since the question was about him but he was nervous and didn't wanna worry the big fella when she was resting.
He knocked on the giant door to Donnie's lab and smiled awkwardly when it opened. He stepped in and saw Dee standing over a new project, sparks flying and oil dripping onto the floor.
"Hey Dee? I have a… a question for you..?" His older sibling threw their hands up in defeat and kicked the machine to the side. They straightened their back and sat down In their rolling chair, staring at Mikey.
"Yes Angelo? What's the matter?" Mikey swallowed thickly and shuffled around the lump of metal and oil on the floor and sat down on Donnie's desk, his eyes looking around the room rather at his sibling.
"So I uh.. I haven't gotten the whole.. 'interchanging pronouns and names thing' yet and I need some help. I know Raph uses both boy and girl pronouns, but I think the name thing is throwing me off.. Can you help me?" Donnie nodded and rubbed their chin, showing their signature smug grin.
"Yes, yes- of course Michael. Uhm.. let me put together something real quick- you can just sit in my chair as I do so because I need my desk." Mikey hopped off the table and jumped into the rolling chair as soon as Donnie left their spot. The wheels rolled and eventually Mikey stopped spinning and stared at Donnie while they worked. They moved quickly and nimbly, moving the mouse around the table and typing things out at a speed faster than Mikey has ever seen. Eventually they moved to a whiteboard and Donnie started dotting things down. They spun on their heels and smiled at Mikey like a mad man before coughing into their fist and wiping themselves off.
He glanced towards the board and the computer and squinted, frowning. Donnie motioned towards the board.
"I was just doing some research online and I sent you a bunch of links that will get to your phone's messages soon, but before I address that, I want you to look at the board." Donnie pointed to the top left corner and smiled, closing their eyes.
"See, here is Raph, the fine specimen in question, secondly is me and Leo and then you. You haven't really decided on anything yet so that leaves you with just the pronouns you were given at birth, me and Leo, trans and non-binary, and Raph. She's a demigirl, which is basically just feelings of being a girl or more attuned to female qualities than any other gender but still feeling something else there, such as being a boy still, hence the female and male use of pronouns for him." Mikey nodded dumbly and grinned.
"So what's that mean for names?" Donnie smiled, obviously overjoyed that their little brother wants to learn more about all their identites.
"Well, dear Angelo, Raphael also uses Rose, meaning that you can call her either Raph or Rose. I'm not too sure how he wishes for that to go down and if we should use the names interchangeably as well as the pronouns so I'll have to ask her, but for now, just use whatever feels right in the context." Nodding, he got off the chair and stared at the board a little closer. There were pronouns and flags and names pinned to the board and printed papers on the white space as well. He felt his phone buzz and looked at it, a paragraph of links Donnie said would come in. Donnie moved back to their mess on the floor and started to clean it, putting gloves and their goggles on.
"If you have any more questions you can either message me or come talk to me, but right now I am incredibly behind on schedule for this new project, so if you would.." They didn't have to finish their sentence for Mikey to understand. He waved Dee goodbye and left their lab, skipping to his own bedroom. He would have gone to the skate room but he wanted to learn a bit more. Flopping into the swinging chair he had in the corner of his room, he grabbed his phone from his shorts and turned it on, skimming through the links.
When Don had said they researched and looked for a bunch of websites for Mikey to look through, they weren't lying. It was paragraph upon paragraph of links and descriptions of what the website entailed. Mikey clicked on the first tab, the description Donnie sent had been, "Common identites other than Cisgender." He read through the website, it being very thorough as well as entertaining enough that Mikey and his ADHD didn't click off after a minute of reading. He spent the rest of his afternoon clicking links and reading, hoping to understand more and care for his siblings. But while reading, one thought wouldn't escape his mind. He saw himself on the whiteboard Donnie had with the pronouns he/him pinned on. He wasn't sure why he felt a knot in his stomach when seeing that but it felt weird. He shoved the feeling down and continued his research until supper time, where he cooked pasta for his family.
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There hadn't been a villain attack for weeks so it was beginning to be about time they had one. Unlucky for them, it was Hypno and some worm guy. They had been throwing everything they had at them. They even tried using ninpo and their mystic powers but they just kept dodging and had some sort of crystal that absorbed every blow. Mikey was getting really tired and just wanted to go home at this point. It was almost uncharacteristic of him. He ran straight at them, his kusari-fundo lighting ablaze and he rushed them. The flaming, laughing ball struck the worm and cut him in half. Hyno flung his rings towards Mikey, he fell down to the concrete and laughed.
"You missed me!" Hypno raised his eyebrows and grinned.
"Did I?" Just as he said that the rings swung around and hit the building beside him. From that building being previously hit and smashed, a large chunk fell down. His siblings were frantically trying to get to him, Hypno distracting them and throwing punches where it was due. Mikey dodged the first rubble that fell down, but the heavier and bigger piece of the building fell down and he collapsed, his legs being trapped under the heavy brick and concrete. He clenched his teeth and forced himself not to scream. He could get himself out of this. He wasn't helpless. No, not by any means. He pushed and shoved but his arms felt like jelly. The adrenaline was quickly running off and he would soon feel a searing pain, or at least that's what Leo told him would happen when injuries are severe. No one else in the family much cared to listen to Leo go on about medical issues besides Donnie occasionally so Mikey would sit down with him and learn all he could in case anything happened. He bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted iron and stared at the battle ahead of him. Donnie was fighting clones of Hypno while Raph was fighting the real deal. Leo was portaling around, throwing quips and trying desperately to portal to Mikey, the hippo quickly noticing and throwing rings in the air to throw him off balance.
A strong swing from Raph sent Hypno flying. He quickly gathered himself and grabbed his worm friend, sprinting towards Mikey. He lifted him from the rubble like he wasn't just trapped under like a thousand pounds (over exaggeration Mikey) and put a magic ring to his neck.
"Let me go or I'll hurt your little brother." It was an empty threat, that they all knew, but the fear and adrenaline from the battle threw them off. That hesitation cost them everything.
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His head was spinning, his vision was dark and his mouth tasted of blood. He felt a heavy weight on his chest and his legs ached and burned.
"D…Dee?" He tested his voice out. It sounded hoarse.
"Leo? Raph? Are you guys there?" He heard shuffling around and trying to turn his head to look but it felt heavy. His head rolled to the side and he fell on the floor with an "oomph!"
His vision came back swiftly as a blindfold was removed. Hypno stood above him, the worm man on his shoulder, the both of them staring down at the young turtle cautiously.
"Well good morning Michaelangelo, we got off on the wrong foot, didn't we?" Mikey tried sitting up to look at the hippo better but his limbs felt like lead.
"So sorry about everything, didn't expect you to break your ankle, really. Thought you were stronger than that-" Mikey groaned and closed his eyes. He wanted to protest but for some reason his voice betrayed him at this moment. Hypno moved Mikey and sat him up against the wall, deciding to slide down the opposite wall and stare at the orange turtle.
"Wha… where..?" Hypno hummed and set the worm down in his lap. He was snoring softly and Hypno smiled fondly.
"You passed out as soon as I picked you up and started running to my base.. which is this apartment. Your brothers won't find us for a while. I didn't really plan this out." Mikey snorted and looked down at himself. His arms and legs were bound with rope. He could easily get himself out of this if he had a walnut shell..
"So uh.. why did you.. uh.. take me?" Hypno stood up and walked to the living room area of the small apartment, setting the worm down on the couch and quickly scurrying back and sitting down in front of Mikey.
"Well for one, you were hurt, and number two? I'm evil of course, so I'm holding you for ransom.. I'm actually not too sure, the whole thing was Warren's idea to take one of you but he passed out as soon as he was cut in half by your little yo-yo thing." Mikey grunted.
"Not a yo-yo." Hypno nodded and frowned.
"Well, since we have time to talk before your brothers get here-" Mikey frowned next and stared at the floor.
"Siblings, not brothers." Hypno coughed and tilted his head.
"Siblings? Not, brothers? Like.. are any of them-"
"I have one brother, two siblings. Donnie is non-binary and Raph is a Demigirl. I'm uh.. still learning on how to use their prefered.. stuff." Hypno smiled and nodded, stroking his chin.
"Well at least we have something in common.." Mikey tilted his head. It was his turn to be confused.
"I'm Genderfluid. You've probably heard that before, right?" Mikey had actually. It was the day he was learning more about gender identities. (He mostly focused on his sibling's identities though.)
"Kind of.. I mean I know the basic definition and what not- didn't really go too deep into it.." Hypno nodded and smiled, glancing at his hands and back to Mikey.
"Well, it's basically when someone is fluid with their gender, one day or week they may identify with being a male and the next week they could be a male and so on." Mikey tilted his head and just stared at the hippo in front of him.
"So.. what pronouns do you…" He shifted his weight and stared at Hypno.
"Well, I'm using masculine pronouns as of late. Could change any day, just mind the clothes." He wiggled his fingers and grinned. Mikey laid against the wall behind him and just sighed.
"Can you.. tell me more?"
"Why of course! What do you want to know?" Mikey licked his lips and frowned. Was he really gonna open up to a villain before his own brothers?
"When you found out… how'd you feel? Or um.. how'd you know? Like, what led up to it?" Hypno hummed and rested his chin on his palm.
"It was kind of a long journey, but really mind blowing. I guess I found out a few months ago. I had always felt like something was off and I didn't really like how I was, how I looked or felt about myself, even my pronouns made my gut twist a bit. I tried using different pronouns for myself and dressing certain ways and just experimenting. Eventually, I did some research and bam, here we are." Mikey nodded, he understood the gut part, for some reason. It felt weird to understand someone you were fighting against.
"I uh.. I get that gut feeling too sometimes.." Hypno looked into Mikey's eyes and just smiled.
"Well, have you been experimenting? Researching?" Mikey frowned and looked at the ground. His eyes glared into the floorboards.
"I uh… I mean.. just about two weeks ago I started to feel this way… I mean, I always kind of felt it there but nothing like, strong… you know?" Hypno just nodded, though Mikey wasn't looking.
"I don't know, my siblings would just laugh at me because I'm always trying to do what they do and be who they are… classic little brother antics.." Mikey grimaced at his own words and he sighed. Hypno rested a hand on his shoulder and untied the rope around Mikey.
"Remember, your ankle is twisted.. but I uh.. geez, go figure yourself out you weird little turtle." Mikey smiled sadly and nodded. He stood up, making sure not to put pressure on his injured leg and left the apartment, waving goodbye to the large purple magician waving back.
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"Mikey!"
"Michaelangelo!"
"Dude we were so worried!"
"No external injuries? Oh my banana pancakes-"
Mikey smiled and put his hands up, getting out of the group hug.
"Guys, chill, it's just a sprained ankle. I'm all good, he let me go!" Donnie crossed his arms and Leo just smirked. Raph on the other hand was just confused.
"Let you go? What'd you do, bore him to death?" Mikey frowned and just shook his head.
"We had a heart to heart and he just untied me and I walked away!" That made them all laugh and he just groaned.
"You guys always do this! You always think I can't handle stuff on my own, but I can!"
"Oh dear little brother, we do have faith, it's just sometimes unbelievable-"
"Don't… don't call me little brother.." Mikey turned away, not looking at their expressions and just walked away, not even caring about the pain in his foot as he limped to his room and laid on his bed and cried.
Man, what's going on with him today?
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Mikey was laying back, scrolling through his phone and taking dumb quizzes online like: "What's your gender based on your favorite pizza?" And "What's your sexual identity based on your favorite color?" Just some silly things. He wasn't too bothered, just kind of upset he got so many different answers with each quiz he took. He kept getting male, female, and other options he didn't think was possible, for him anyway.
He sighed and just stood up, grabbing his paint cans and walking to the end of the lair and walked into the sewers. Spray painting was a hobby at best, a talent even. He shook the cans and began creating. He usually just used art to express his emotions or thoughts, and he just went on autopilot. It took maybe an hour or two until he stood back and looked at the wall of paint. It was a symbol he kept seeing on the internet. It was a purple circle with an arrow, a cross, and an x. It was supposedly representative of all genders. He just stared, looking at the art on the wall and made his way back to the lair.
"Hey Angelo, are you… doing alright?"
Donnie was never one to ask about feelings, so he must have been looking weird.
"Oh, uh, no- I'm fine Dee, really. Just kind of.. having a weird day?" Donnie nodded and just walked alongside Mikey, ignoring what they had planned in the first place.
"Want to… talk about it?" Mikey stopped walking and just looked at Donnie.
"I don't know.. ever since that day I got kidnapped by Hypno and that night you guys laughed at me… even before then when figuring out stuff with Raph and you.. something's been wrong with me.." Mikey just fell to the floor and stared at the ceiling.
"I know I'm being Leo's level of dramatic, but I feel weird and my brain is doing weird stuff.. like.. maybe I'm not a boy? But I know I'm a boy because I was born a boy but it just kind of feels weird? Like, I just wanna do what I wanna do and not be like.. gendered all the time, you know?" Donnie laid down beside Mikey and just rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling a bit.
"Are you.. questioning your gender Michael?" Mikey looked up at Donnie and frowned, he shifted his gaze back up to the ceiling.
"I guess I am.." He groaned and brought his hands up to his face.
"Dee, why does my stomach go in knots when I hear people say I'm a boy? I like being a boy but I don't want to… hear people say I'm a boy.." Donnie rubbed their chin before standing back up, bringing Mikey with them.
"Let's go do some experimenting my dear sibling." Mikey just flapped his hands and followed Donnie to the living room.
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"I have an announcement! Start using all pronouns for Mikey this instant!" Mikey just stared at Donnie and cocked his head to the side. Leo and Raph exchanged looks before smiling, taking the hint.
"Why, of course my dearest sibling, I do love our sister very much!"
"Do you wanna hang out with me Mikey? We can paint nails and try on dresses?"
Mikey just stared at his siblings and smiled. Why'd this feel good?
"Come on now, don't you wanna skateboard dude?" Mikey just smiled wider and flapped his hands, a squeal coming from his throat.
"So, are these accommodations better for you, little sibling?" Mikey stared at Donnie and nodded.
"I um… do you mind if I hang out in the lab with you and do some research?"
"Not at all Angelo. You're welcome any time." Mikey followed Donnie to the lab and waved goodbye to their siblings.
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"Hey Dee? I found an article about gender fluid and stuff.. I kinda fit with it?" Donnie just hummed and looked up from the mess they were making with oil and robot parts.
"Gender fluid you say? So, different pronouns every so often?" Mikey just nodded and went back to looking through the article.
"I uh.. I really resonated with the feminine pronouns earlier but I mean.. I know I'm okay with everything else but I just really.. a girl today?" Donnie just hummed again and smiled.
"Okay, just let us know if any developments change. I love you little sister, and so do Leo and Rose." Mikey just wiped at her eyes, forcing the tears to go away.
"Thanks Dee.. I love you guys too.."
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