Chapter Text
The turtles are backed into a corner, surrounded by Foot Clan ninjas. "Leo, what do we do?" Donnie asked. "I'm thinking," the blue-clad leader hissed through his teeth.
Suddenly, a large blur rushed past them and slammed into the ninjas. Multiple went flying, while those who kept their composure quickly started to fight. After a few minutes, most of the ninjas were unconscious.
"Come with me," a person said, grabbing Leo's arm. They dragged the turtles toward an unknown destination.
Leo studied the person as they lead the turtles through the back alleys. They had long pink hair pulled into a small bun near the bottom of their neck, large eyebags, and baggy clothes. Most of their face was hidden by a monster mask, and they seemed mildly irritated. "You four are becoming a real pain in my ass, y’know that?"
Once they entered the back door of a building, the human discarded the baseball bat they'd used to be the shit out of the Foot Clan. They pulled the mask down around their neck. "Sit down and relax, I'm gonna go grab some medical supplies."
"Woah! Look at all this cool stuff!" Mikey said excitedly. There was a dartboard full of arrows, a couple of arcade machines, various books and mechanical tools discarded around the room, a skateboard, a table covered in comic books and blueprints, a 3D printer in one corner, and a kitchen full of junk.
They came back around the corner into a hallway that Donnie guessed probably lead to a bathroom and bedroom.
"Why are you helping us?" Leo asked as they dumped the supplies on the stool at the end of the couch.
"Because I'm not a dickbag?" They replied, passing each turtle different things. "Does anyone need an icepack?" "I would like one," Donnie said, wrapping a bandage around his wrist. "Wait hold on! You can't just keep running around and helping us without an explanation!" Raph interrupted. The human rolled their eyes. "Let me get him an ice pack. Then I'll explain." With that, they walked away again.
"They seem cool! And did you see how they beat up those ninjas? It was quick and effective!" Mikey grinned. Raph humphed. "Well if pea-brain over here had thought up a plan faster we could beat them too." He jerked his chin towards Leo.
"Don't blame me! I was panicking!" Leo growled back. "Besides, we should be thankful to them, who knows what would've happened if they hadn't showed up?"
"We would've kicked some Foot Clan ass! That's what would've happened! That's what always happens!" Raph practically shouted. "What would Splinter say if he knew we were saved by someone with a baseball bat??!"
Donnie interjected. "He probably would've been upset we'd been seen then give us a lesson about accepting others' help."
"Here's your ice pack," the person said, handing it to the talking turtle. "So what questions do you have for me?"
"Let's start with the basics; Who are you? Why did you help us? You're not working for the Shredder right?" Leo started. They laughed. "Of course I'm not working with Shredder. He's an asshole. I'm Kaos- they/glitch/ghost pronouns- and I helped you because you looked like you could use it."
"That's... it?" Raph asked. "You helped us because you thought we needed it? Nothing else?!"
Kaos shrugged. "Look man, if you don't want my help you're more than welcome to leave. And hopefully take those stupid ninjas with you. They've been tormenting my neighborhood for weeks now, and it's really annoying."
The turtles exchanged a glance. "What do you mean? I thought they were just after us." Donnie replied.
"They are. Shredder's pissed off at them 'cause they haven't captured you lot yet. So they've been cornering people and asking them if they know anything," Kaos replied, starting to gather up what was left of the medical supplies. "I've been patrolling around to make sure they don't bug anybody else. These people are under my protection, and some ninjas don't scare me. Especially when they're too stupid to try a new tactic with attacking you."
Raph humphed. "That's stupid."
He flinched as a baseball bat neared his head. "Wanna repeat that, hothead?" Kaos growled. The red-clad turtle swallowed. "Alright, sorry, jeez."
The baseball bat retracted. "Good. Now, any other questions?"
Mikey raised his hand. "What do you do with all this cool stuff? Will you be our friend?!!"
Kaos shrugged. "I can be your friend, sure. And me and my friends build stuff, so I have blueprints and a 3D printer here. My garage has more of our stuff. The dartboard is for me to practice with, and the rest is just stuff." There was a pause. "Do I get to know your names or do I have to guess?"
The turtles blinked. "I'm Leo, I use xe/she pronouns mainly," Leo answered first. "These are my brothers; Donnie- he/him, Raph- he/they/it, and Mikey- she doesn't particularly care what you use for him."
"Wait, hold on, as much as I want to trust them, how do we know we can?" Donnie pointed out.
Kaos shrugged again. "You can search the house to make sure there's no Foot Clan stuff around if you want." Leo and the others exchanged a look. "Raph, Mikey, go back to the lair and report to Splinter. Donnie and I will check around."
The others nodded, Kaos showing the group to the door, which led to an alley. "There's a manhole cover back here, feel free to use it whenever you want."
Once Raph and Mikey were gone, Kaos turned to Leo and Donnie. "Soo... do you want this to work like a tour or..?"
"Tour works for me," Donnie said. The human gave them a little grin. "Alright, we'll start with the garage."
-----
A little while later, they ended up in Kaos' spare bedroom. "I'll check the closet," Leo said. "There's nothing... weird in there right?" Xe double-checked. Kaos laughed, "No, just me at one point."
The two dug around for a bit with Kaos studying the T-Phones on their bed. "Hey, what's this box??" Leo said, emerging with a shoebox.
"Shoes?" Donnie guessed sarcastically. Kaos' indigo eyes widened. "Oh, that's just old pictures. I hide it in here for.... uh, personal reasons. You can check if you want."
Donnie came and looked over his brother's shoulder as she opened the box. There were family pictures and some sticky notes, but nothing weird. Near the bottom were some pieces of jewelry, mainly homemade out of string and random beads.
"Alright, all clear. Thank you for letting us do this, I was sick of just having to blindly trust people." Leo mentioned with a smile as Kaos lead them to the door again. "Oh, can we have your number? Just so we can contact you if necessary," Donnie added.
Kaos gave him a grin and a wink. "Already added to your T-Phone. I'll send you a message if I need anything. Or if you guys ever need a safe space to crash and get some bandages or something, you're always welcome. I mean, maybe text or something, but my doors are usually unlocked. If they are, something might be happening. But eh."
With that, the turtles headed back to the sewer.
-----
"Leonardo, Donatello, there you are. Would you mind explaining what your brothers told me?" Splinter greeted them as they entered the lair.
"Uh, sure, Sensei. What exactly did they tell you..?" Leo asked.
Splinter scowled. "You were seen and helped by a human?! And you two stayed to ask them questions!?"
Leo swallowed. "Oh, well, yes. They helped us get rid of some Foot Clan soldiers then took us to their house to give us medical supplies. Then they offered for us to search their house and make sure they were helping our enemies."
"Hmmm," was Splinter's only reply. "I wish to meet them. Bring them here after your patrol tonight. And is there anything else you feel you should mention?"
"They were really good at beating up the Foot Clan, and they said they patrol their neighborhood for the ninjas. Oh also they had no evidence of them working for any of our enemies anywhere in their house," Donnie added.
Splinter paused in his pacing. "Why do they have to protect their home from the Foot?" Leo shrugged. "Kaos said the Foot Clan is asking people about us since they haven't managed to find us."
"Interesting... very well. Check with them tonight, and have them come here. That is all," Splinter said, turning towards the dojo. "Enjoy your patrol tonight my sons."
Mikey rolled over to two of his older brothers. "Sooooo, we have a new friend?!"