Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

At first, April really didn't know why this random guy came over to talk to her. It, honestly, startled her a little; not expecting him to just randomly appear and say something. Of course she had seen this guy in class before, they shared one of their classes and she had seen him walking around the schoolyard or in the hallways... but she had never seen him speak to anyone so him just randomly appearing was strange? He seemed interested in one of the projects that she did for the class that they shared. He seemed very interested with all of the questions about it that he asked. At first, she wasn't sure if she wanted to answer them but she couldn't help it. Nobody ever seemed this curious before! With stuff she did, she meant.

He listened to her rant and ramble about why she did what she did and how she came up with the ideas. He nodded along, his arms crossed and his head turned a little to the side. It was nice to be listened to... a lot of the time she felt like she was pretty ignored in school. He even asked a few questions which she was happy to answer and he seemed pleased with a few of them... though also with a few of them, he disagreed with and explained his reasoning. She hated that with a few of them, he was right haha. 

Then she asked him about his; while trying to remember exactly what his name was. Even though they were in the same class, he never caught her attention other than with his strange look. He had long white hair and pale eyes, always looking like he was too deep in his own mind. Sometimes he argued with the teacher about things that he knew she was wrong about, even with other students. Other than that, he stuck to himself from what she had seen.

While he spoke, explaining his project and what he did, she remembered. His name was Wain. He was pretty much the smartest kid in their whole dang school! Geez, how could she forget that? Well... she didn't exactly care too much about that sorta stuff but he had gotten a few prizes for things. If he was so smart, why was he interested in her project? It seemed like something about it caught his attention, and you know, she couldn't help but feel pretty good about herself.

After talking for quite a bit of time, they traded numbers and Wain told her that he was going to call her or message her at a later time... maybe they could work together on a project and then he left, putting his hands into his pockets and April watched him leave. There was something about him that just struck her in a weird way. Maybe it was her just being rude cause of his skin condition? Or that fancy necklace that really didn't fit with the rest of his outfit. She swore that she saw herself in the red gemstone and it made a shiver go down her spine but, no, she decided to ignore her gut feeling and went home to do her school work then maybe she'll go and bug the turtles and see how they're doing. That could be fun.

Wain focused on the road in front of him while he walked, listening to the music that was playing in his ears from his headphones. Finally, he got to talk to her while nobody else was around. There was someone interested in the project at least, but really, he could care less about that assignment. Hers was interesting, but the rest of them? Boring, overused. Hell, he didn't even have fun talking about it...

When he got to where he was heading, and he heard the voice say, "Did anything happen at school, number 2?" 

He smiles and reaches up to slip off the necklace, feeling his body shift and change he nodded to show his approval, "Yes, something very interesting... I'll get back to you on that, father." and with that, he walked into his lab slipping his beanie off his head to replace with his goggles. Something very interesting happened and he was going to have fun finally finding the ones that took his life from him.

Picture of what Wain looks like :D

Chapter Text

April was texting Leonardo, who had been whining, 'Aww, April, come on, forget about this weird dude. You always come to our place for movie day ;3;' 'how could you abandon us?' 'this is a every week thiiinnnggggg!' he had been complaining because April called off movie night because Wain asked that she hang out with him today, and she had a feeling that it took a lot of his energy to even ask that. He seemed so hopeful, and she couldn't turn him down, right? They had only become friends a small while ago, and she would feel like a bad friend if she turned him down the first time he asked to hang out. So, tragically, she had to call off movie night and tell the turtles that she was going to be spending the day with Wain.

Naturally, she didn't let them know where they were going, understanding that if she did, the turtles would definitely try to track and spy on them, and, you know, she didn't want to have to deal with that today. She rolls her eyes at Leonardo's bellyaching and protesting, a smile on her face, and types in a response, "Yeah, we always do it. I couldn't say no to him the first time, plus something about him caught my attention. I wanna see what caused that! So I'll message you later. Love you guys <3' as a friend, of course. She knew that they knew that... hopefully. Leonardo totally grumbled but sent a heart back, maybe to show that he wasn't actually that upset.

He understood that once April got interested in something, it would be almost impossible to get her off of that thing. Troublesome at times, but it was one of the reasons why they cared about her so much.

Once she was done dealing with the jelly turtle; she typed in Wain's number to send him a message. She mostly wanted to ask about where they were headed, just in case. 'So that address you sent me, where is it again?' She did tell her mom and a few others the address in case Wain turned out to be some crazy kidnapper murderer dude. They would know where to start looking for her if she simply disappeared. Not that she thought he would be one! New York was a crazy place though and you could never be too sure or too safe. It took a minute, but she got a reply. 'It's a lovely cafe. I found it a tad back, and they have adequate hot chocolate. I do not typically like such strong flavors; but they have a very pleasant taste' she reads the text and rolls her eyes, grinning. Does he usually type like that? What a weirdo...

It really wasn't what she was expecting. Guess that's what makes it interesting though, huh?

After a bit of walking and the phone telling her that she was there; she lifted her head to look at the cafe. Huh... how had she never seen this place before? Sure it was small, but... still? She looks around, noting that there aren't too many people around. She bites the inside of her cheek but shakes her head. Okay, this is all fine. Everything is totally fine! Yeah, why wouldn't it be fine? She- "April." She heard from behind her, causing her to jolt, and she quickly turned, about to throw a punch. Hey, she felt on edge! This isn't her fault... She was able to stop herself when she saw that it was Wain who was looking at her with a slightly blank look. "Don't hit me." His eyes shoot down to look at her hand, then her face, his eyebrow lifting a little.

Yeah, don't sound too worried about it, damn.

"I wasn't going to hit you!" She quickly answers and lets out a giggle, lowering her arms and then moving her arms behind her back. She felt awkward. "You only startled me. Why'd you pick somewhere so far from people?" she couldn't help but question, looking around the area that they were in. She couldn't remember the last time being around so few people! Other than, you know, in the sewers.

"I didn't. This is simply a less-known place, and I don't like crowds. Plus, why go to the more expensive places if I could just get what I want from here?" He shrugs his shoulders and heads towards the door as he spoke, holding an umbrella over his head. It was kind of lacy, so she figured it was more for the sun than for rain. She reasoned that that made sense; if he was albino, that meant that the sun was hard on him. She was shocked that he didn't wear sunglasses and all that. "Anyway, come on, let's get in. I'll pay for this, of course, since I was the one to suggest it. You could pay for the next time we go out since I am hoping that you would pick the next place if we decide to 'hang out' again. I will say that I do not do this often." 

"What? Hang out with your friends?" April asks, following after with a relaxed smile. Come on, everyone had friends that they spent time with... right? I mean sure, she didn't for a while, but then she met the turtles and she has, since, gained quite a few friends!

Wain didn't respond, seeming to be possibly thinking of how to answer that before he nods. "Yeah, pretty much. I don't have 'friends'" He did the finger quotes as he spoke with his free hand, "I've had companions, but more often than not it turned out that they just wanted me to help them with their schoolwork. Or... other things." He mumbles the last part. "I mean expected, I am very intelligent. It would be absurd to not use that to your benefit but it did get a bit tiring after a while." he reaches over and opens the door looking back at her.

Those eyes focusing on her made her feel strange.

They looked wrong. Like the eyes of a doll. They didn't look like they were alive.

She realized that she was staring when she noticed his eyes shoot away, looking uncomfortable, "Ah- sorry! Sorry." she heads in and breathes in the smell of coffee. Geez, breathing that in was enough to wake her up a small bit. She steps in and looks over at Wain who closes the umbrella and holds it under his fishnet-covered arm, stepping in and then over to the counter. The woman behind it smiled at him, saying, "Afternoon Wain, same order as per normal?" Wain nods and points to a basic cookie then looked over at April to see what she wanted.

April makes a soft uhh sound, then looks up at the menu, "Heh, can I ask for the same?" she suggests. She wasn't expecting him to be such a big regular that they would remember him! Guess that's her fault. He does seem like the coffee kinda person. 

Wain looks at her, his head turned to the side then shakes his head, saying, "Just get her a strawberry-shortcake-style Frappuccino." He takes out the money, puts it down, and walks towards the table, "She'll call us when the drinks are done." he continued. He was acting like she didn't even say what she said! Rude. April perks up and frowned, following after. Hey, what the heck? I mean that sounded delicious but still! That isn't what she wanted to order. What was his 'normal' thing anyway? That's weird! That's scary.

They both sat down anyway; April held her hands together and tapped her thumbs while Wain pulled out his phone starting to type on it. Maybe he was talking about this? About them? She wondered who he would tell, though. His parents, maybe? She wondered if they were albino too, or if he was a special weird case. He seemed interested in the screen so April decided to take that time to study him. Honestly? He was genuinely handsome. The light air movement in the cafe was enough to brush his hair around and it looked soft. Like little strands of silver. He reaches up to tuck some of his hair behind one of his ears, having a turtle shell-like piercing in it which caught her eye and she smiles, "Aw, you like turtles?" she asks, wanting to make small talk. 

Wain paused at the question, his eyes quickly shooting up to look at her then makes a soft oh sound, then uhhh, "Yes, I guess so... turtles have always interested me. The way that they have shells and how only a few can go into their shells... like box turtles while others, like red-eared sliders, can only go a little bit into their shells. They use their hands to cover their face." he reaches up, messing with his hair. Mostly twirling the strands between his fingers as he spoke. "Then there is the spiny softshell turtle. They cannot go into their shells at all and their shells are, of course, soft. They have a very strong bite force though." Aw, he's talking about a hyperfixation it seems. That's pretty cute. There were so many different types of turtles! No idea about the amount, if she had to be honest, but she knew that there was a lot.

"Really? How strong?" she decided to ask, resting her head down against her fist and looking at him. She found it a little strange that he brought up two of the turtles that she was friends with, but figured that that was because those two types of turtles were pretty common, right? She's overthinking it! There's no way that Wain would know about the mutants. How would he?

The other didn't respond for a moment, squinting at her. It seemed as though he needed to wait to see if she was genuinely interested... when she didn't try to change the subject he got a small smile and started to explain everything that he seemed to want to share. The females were often larger than the males, he told her. "Females are larger but have a smaller tail and a smoother shell. A female spiny softshell turtle can grow between 7-19 inches, while males reach 5-10 inches." He told her, plus a lot of other stuff. She truthfully did try to keep up but wow, he got into that talk. He shifted between talking about Spiny Softshell turtles to ornate box turtles, then Red Eared sliders, and seemed to be about to go to a different subject but had to take a breath.

Then the lady called out, "Wain, your order is ready." he paused while talking, looks over, then nods and gets up to go and grab it. She watches him go and smiles. You know, maybe it'll be nice to have a normal human to hang out with for a little while. Try to get away from all the turtle weirdness that is going on. Wain comes back with the two cups and sets hers down in front of her, "Here you go." he sits down, taking a sip from his, his eyes shut.

She mumbles a thank you, takes a sip from her own, and makes a soft sound. Oh... that's good. She saw him giving her a look so she waves her hand at him, laughing, "Don't you look at me like that." He laughs lightly and turns his head away, looking out the window. She looked out as well. Yeah... she had a feeling that she could get used to this. Wain might be a nice thing to have around! Well... person around, of course, and she was going to make sure that nobody would try to 'befriend' him just to get him to help them out with their tests and stuff! That's an April PROMISE!

Chapter Text

Friendship was a curse.

The idea of friendship was nothing but a lie.

Nobody would be there for you other than your family. Family was all that Wain had left, and only his father because of that stupid RAT that took the rest away.

Wain grew up hearing stories about his siblings—the ones that he never got to meet. Numbers 1, 3, and 4. He was number 2, the only one that his father had left because the rat took them away. His father told him the story a few different times and explained what happened. He did everything in his power to help create the children, then the human—turned rat mutant on accident because of his own idiotic plan—betrayed his father and blew up the lab, then ran away with his siblings.

And... Wain felt betrayed.

He was left behind. Why? Did the rat think he wasn't worth it? Wasn't worth the trouble?! Well, as he grew, he decided to show that he was worth it. He was worth that and more! He was the smartest person he knew; sometimes he thought he was even smarter than Draxum, which was a big deal. He was so smart that he decided to get his payback. Payback for himself and his brothers! He didn't really care too much about his brothers. Honestly, Wain had a feeling that Draxum wanted him to try to bring his brothers back, but why would they need them? They were fine without them!

They were fine with it just being him and Draxum. They didn't need the others. He bet they didn't even know about their fourth missing brother... but he knew about them. He knew about them so much more than he wanted to know. His life would have been perfect without them! Without them being in his father's mind. It caused his dad so much grief, and there was pretty much nothing he could do about it! But then he met April.

April thought that they were friends, and... maybe he did see her as a close friend. More than he was expecting, and he hated it. He didn't want her to be his friend, she was just a stepping stone to help him get rid of those stupid turtles. Then his father would be happy! He would be the only one left, and then all the attention would be on him and only him. They would get payback on that stupid dumb dumb rat for blowing up the lab before! All of that work is gone! All because he decided he didn't want to go through with the plan. That's what his father told him, after all, and why would his dad lie to him?

His dad would never lie to him. Everything he was told was the truth. He was left behind on purpose, he bet. "Oh, a softshell? No, why would I want a softshell?" At least his father was smart enough to know that a softshell, a spiny softshell, would be smart to have around! His bite was strong, he was strong... he was smart too! He knew that he was good to have around. He... it was stupid to leave him behind.

"Two, what are you doing?" he heard, knocking him out of his thoughts. He blinks a few times. Why did his eyes burn? He shakes his head to get his mind back on track, and he looks over his shoulder, smiling at his dad. "I'm working on a few things. You know how the order is, Father." Sometimes he allowed people to buy things from him, all so he could get money and then buy other things that he wanted himself. It was all part of the plan.

Draxum lets out a hum and waves his hand, responding, "Get out of that human skin of yours. It's strange to see you like that." He turns away to look at a few of the other things that Two had made in the past. Two makes a soft oh sound and nods slightly, "Right, yes, sorry..." He reaches up to take off the broach and sets it down on the table. He had to make a deal with Big Mama to get that, and once he was back to normal, he kept working.

His hands were shaking, but they froze when he felt hands on his shoulders, causing his breath to hitch. Draxum then spoke. "You understand that whatever you create, I have the first choice of, right? I know you made a deal with the spider woman, but whatever plan you are doing while you look like a human means nothing to me. Our plan is the most important."

"...Yes father, I know. Thank you for the reminder." He kept his voice even, not allowing the faintest of shakes to carry into it. "I will tell you when everything is done." Once the hands were removed from his shoulders, he took in a shaky breath that he forgot that he needed and turned his head up to look at Draxum. He nodded, then turned and walked out of the room that Two was in.

Once Two was alone, he rested his hands against his cheeks. What the hell was that? Why did he forget that he was looking like Wain? How stupid could he be? He knew that his father hated humans—damn it. He sighs, putting his hands over his eyes, and resting his head against the table. "Two, you're so stupid..." He was an idiot! It took a little while for him to calm down, mostly panicking about the random touch and wondering a few things, but he finally calmed down enough to go back to work. He needed to finish whatever Big Mama asked him to create, then show his dad and see if he needed to work more... when was the last time that he ate something? The thought caused him to pause, yet he shook his head.

That didn't matter.

He could handle not eating for a while. 

What's the worst that could happen?

Two continued his work, mind wandering to think about a few things. Why did he like looking like a human? Was it because he felt 'normal'? Well, that's stupid. He's not normal. He's not a yokai, and he's not a human. He's some weird thing in between that... there will never be anyone like him other than his brothers, and that hurt him to think about it. Ugh, this was annoying! Why were they even created? He continued to bicker in his mind but perked when he heard a few blips so he pulls out his phone and checks the messages. They seemed to be from April.

'Hi!' 'This is Leo, I stole my friend's phone lol' 'April's phone I mean, you know, the girl that you're friends with' 'you're Wain, right?'

Two stares at the texts. That's not April, that's the turtle! Or at least one of them. That meant that she was with him most likely... he clicks his teeth together, thinking about his next choices carefully then presses a button on his wristband causing the screen to show up and he looks at the blinking dot.

Let's go and have a family visit.

Chapter Text

This is what Wain had been planning for pretty much as long as he could think. Why did he feel so nervous though? Why did he feel scared? Why did he feel like he was making a mistake? He shakes his head to try to get his mind off that; there was no reason for him to be thinking that right now. He needed to do this! He needed to; it just… it had to happen! He had to make that rat see that he had made the wrong choice. He was the only one that was able to land a hit on his father, while the others couldn’t even think about it.

Plus, they were stupid! They were idiots. They were so damn stupid, and he was smart and strong, and he deserved to be taken as well! What kind of person would steal their friends phone to message that person’s friend that they’ve never met?

I mean… It helped Wain, so he couldn’t be too upset about it. No, not at all; if anything, he was happy! No, not happy; he was euphoric. All of his plans and all of his choices were finally coming together to end with this.

Each step felt like he was wearing concrete shoes, though. His body was trying to tell him that he didn’t want this; he didn’t want to lose his friend. He fought through it. Friendship was a lie; everything was a lie! Nobody cared about anyone. Family was the only thing that mattered, and his own family betrayed him and abandoned him.

He was left behind.

While following the tracker, it led him down to the sewers. Huh, smart idea to hide there, less likely to be found, but, sadly for them, his trackers were made special! He made sure that it would lead him to right where they were.

His eyes scanned around as he walked, listening for any alarms, but nothing sounded off. Did they really not put up alarms to tell them when people came down into the sewers? How have they made it this far? Idiots. They would have done amazing things with him! He bet they'd have much better weapons as well.

Eventually, after a while of walking, he got to the opening and looked up. He could hear faint voices laughing. April’s was the only one that he really recognized. Slowly he breathed in and out, then pulled out a ball from his pocket, pulled a pin from it, and rolled it in. He steps away, crossing his arms over his chest, and counts down in his head.

Then there was a large puff of white smoke that came out. “Ah! What’s going on!?” A boys voice shouts; another responds, “I don’t know!” And, just as planned, the three turtles dashed out of the smoke-filled room. Wain looks at them, letting out a soft sound of annoyance.

He was right; they weren’t impressive. He was expecting them to be bigger and seeing them on the screen just made them look worse and smaller, but no, they weren’t impressive at all.

“Who are you?” Number Three asks, pointing at him, while numbers One and Four stare at him, looking confused. One had a look of anger on his face, which he decided to ignore.

“Someone your father shouldn’t have forgotten about.” He pulls the staff from his sleeve, presses the button, and runs forward, swinging it at Three, who yelps and dodges out of the way.

“Hey!” One says, startled, and tries to grab the staff from Wain, who ducks and swings, hitting One on the back of his head, then jumps away. One grunted, rubbing the back of his head, while Three held up his arms, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What’s going on? Why do you have to have that dramatic thing?”

Four looks around, frowning, and asks, “Guys, where’s April?” One and Three look at him too.

“She’s in there, asleep. I didn’t want her to see this, so I made that powder that would put humans to sleep.” He stands up and says, with annoyance, “Now enough with the questions!” He runs forward again. One looks at his brothers, then at Wain, and rushes forward himself. Each punch thrown was blocked by the staff.

It was a harsh sound, and Wain knew that it wouldn’t last forever. The strength was impressive. “You three were picked. I was left behind, all for what?” He growls and turns the staff, pressing a button that causes a large, bright flash of light to appear, and One stumbles back, holding his hands over his eyes. “Raph!” Four runs over and puts his hands on One’s arm.

Three narrows his eyes and pulls out his sword, running forward. He was faster than Wain; that was something that he knew, so he had to be careful. “What are you even talking about, dude? Did you have a crush on our dad or something? Cause I don’t think he swings that way.”

Annoyance fills Wain’s chest. Or… was it something else? Emotions were never something he knew what to do with. With each swing and block, Wain was starting to lose his temper. He jumps away and shakes his head quickly, “I don’t feel any type of good emotion for him!” He puts his hand to his chest, continuing, “I was good too. I was there too! But I was left behind. Why did you three get such a loving family? Get to stay with your brothers while I was abandoned? Why did you stay with someone that blew up the place you were created while I had to stay with him and hear all of his anger every day?” Crap, why were his eyes burning? He reaches up, wiping his arm over his eyes.

Was he crying?

This wasn’t the plan! He lifts his head and looks at them; they were staring at him now. Three blinks a few times, looking confused, and asks, “What... what are you talking about?”

“You… have no idea.” He mumbles under his breath, then his eyes widen when he realizes exactly what that meant. “You have no idea.” He reaches up, tangling his fingers in his hair, the other hand gripping his staff tighter, “Damn it!” He felt like he was about to have a breakdown, and he didn’t want to do that in front of these guys.

Four frowns and steps closer, “What don’t we know? What do you mean a place where we were created?” he asks.

“I wasn’t even worth talking about to him.” Wain whispers under his breath and squeezes his eyes shut tight, then pulls out another ball and tosses it down. Smoke explodes, purple-colored, of course, and he makes his way away.

Once he was far enough away, his legs gave out under himself. He thought that they knew; he really thought that they knew, but then the rat didn’t even talk about him? He was that easy to forget?

Chapter Text

Sitting in his lab, Number Two worked on some of his unfinished projects—ones that he had put to the side for a while now. He had been there for the last few days, and he knew that his body was working against him. He felt weak, tired, and sick to his stomach. A strange tingle kept going through him, like he was being shocked every so often.

It was annoying that his hands would not stop shaking. He needed a steady hand to finish this, dang it! It was a very important item, so he wanted to finish it before it got too late so he could go and give it to the person who bought it.

Simply put: ugh .

The fact that his other dad—the second part of him—had chosen to never speak about him was something he did not want to think about. The fact he was left, abandoned, and forgotten was very depressing, and Number Two chose to try to ignore it rather than give it any thought. The best way to ignore it was to work! To keep working, he needs no breaks, no rest, and no time for his mind to wander and get upset.

As he picked up his wrench, starting to tighten one of the parts, his hand trembled, and it dropped out of his hand, clattering down onto the floor with a loud sound. He stares down at it for a few moments, then looks down at his hands.

Shaking…

When did he last have food? That he took a nap? Before he left on his mission, he was too… excited to? Maybe? Had he been excited to see his missing siblings? Excited for the plan to come together at last?

He had no idea.

He still didn't know.

Not just that he had not eaten or slept in a long time, there was also a general sense that something was not right with him. His body seemed to be rejecting something, and he felt hot as fire, which was making it hard for him to breathe very well and focus.

He sighs and puts his head down onto the table, frustrated with himself. He could have done a far better job handling that! He spilled too much because his emotions got the better of him.

It was entirely his fault that the mission failed. 

He looked down at his phone as that thought continued to repeat itself in his head. That was one he had designed and created himself! It contained everything he could ever possibly require.

It has advanced facial recognition technology, retina and iris scanning for added security, and then an add-on of voice recognition. He took all those precautions to make sure that no one would be able to get his phone and find anything that they should not have.

Naturally, he also included a holographic display since he believed it would be useful for a few things. It also had health and wellness features. It had built-in health sensors for monitoring his vital signs and would alert him if something went wrong. Maybe he, uhh, turned that off, though.

Additionally! Even environmental sensors to gauge temperature, humidity, and other elements of the surroundings. In addition to checking the water's safety, it informed him about the pollution and weather.

Yeah, he knew that it was a lot, but hey, if he was able to make it, he was going to do it well! It was fun to use, and texting was fun. Even though he didn't really have anyone to text.

You know, he bet April went to school looking for him. She most likely wanted to confront him for what he had done to her, and she’d ask him a lot of questions. Ha , he didn't blame her! He would have wanted to do the same thing if he had been in her shoes. He had long since put his phone on silent, not wanting to hear all the messages and phone calls that she was presumably sending him.

Though… he was curious?

Was she trying to get in contact with him? What was she saying? Or was she out on the streets of New York, searching for him? Or, unlikely, did she ignore what happened and forget about him too? The thought made him clench his teeth, annoyance filling his body, and he reached over to grab his phone to look.

Oh…

Wow.

That was a lot of messages!

She sent him about twenty-five texts and eleven missed calls. With his head resting on his arm, he begins to scroll through the messages to see what they have to say. Okay, a lot of them were her asking if he was okay, what the heck that was, and why the turtles were telling her about that weirdness that he said. What was the reason behind his strange attraction to Splinter? Number Two grunted at that and began to slowly type to that one to respond.

‘I don’t have a strange attraction to him. If the blue one told you that, he’s an idiot :p’ ‘and I don’t know what you’re talking about’ Was what he said wrong? Yeah, of course it was. They, you know, counteracted each other! However, he was allowed to say whatever he wanted to say because he was funny.

‘That don’t make no sense!’ ‘Boy, what the hell is wrong with you?’ ‘And what the heck is going on?! You attacked them, put me to sleep, talked a lot, and then you vanished? And you haven’t shown up at school either. Tell me what’s going on right now’

Number Two stares at the messages, his mouth shut in a tight line, then he sighs out slowly with his eyes shut. Damn it… He straightens his back and feels his body tremble. Was he cold? Tired? Hungry? Ugh , he didn’t know—likely all of them, if he had to be honest. He starts to type on the phone. ‘I can tell you in person’ ‘and explain anything you want to know, as long as the turtles aren’t there’ ‘I don’t want to see them right now’

He saw that she saw the message, and the bubbles showed up then disappeared, repeating that a few times until she finally responded. ‘Fine, but you best explain it well! >:( I am so unhappy with you.’

And with that, Wain was sitting in the coffee place that he took April to before. He was twirling some strands of his hair while he waited for her to appear before him. Why did he do this? If you wanted him to be truthful, he didn't know… it was dumb!

A part of him, the deepest part of himself that he didn’t want to admit existed, was hopeful. Was hopeful that he could talk with April and that she would understand him and his plight. She could understand his anger against the turtles and the rat who betrayed him and his other father.

Of the three saved, he was the forgotten fourth.

And maybe, just maybe, he could finally get his family back? He guessed that he couldn't say get them back since they weren't ever his to begin with. The thought made his chest hurt, but he decided to say that it was caused by heartburn from not eating enough—or at all, really.

His thoughts were racing all over the place until, at last, he heard the bell above the door ring. His eyes shoot over to look at the door and perks—only a little bit—when he sees April.

She was dressed as she was before, with her hoodie tied around her waist rather than on as it had been previously, and a bright yellow shirt with short sleeves. Probably in case he tried to do anything, she was carrying a bat over her shoulder. She squinted as her eyes swept across the room before settling on him, and she blinked, then squinted again, harder than before. “There you are!” She walked over and put her hands down onto the table with a loud bang. “What the heck is wrong with you, dude? Why did you attack them, and how did you find them? Did you tell anyone what you saw?”

Yeah, those questions were smart ones. He guessed that he didn't blame her for wanting a weapon, but it still kind of hurt his feelings! Why would she believe that he would want to hurt her when he made sure she would not have a chance to be hurt during the fight?

He clicks his teeth, turning his head away, then sighs and looks back at her before starting to talk with his hands together on the table. “A lot of stuff is wrong with me, though I guess I could say that I have autism, paranoia due to past experiences, sensory processing disorder, and a hate for the turtles while also wanting to get close to them. There are a few others that I don't exactly want to get into because it would be a lot to explain. I attacked them for the reason I said before, plus a few other surprises, and I found them because I put a tracker on you when we spent time together.” after saying all of that, he lifts his cup to his lips to take a sip, waiting for her to respond.

That is probably a lot to take in at once.

She opened and closed her mouth, kind of looking like a fish, before she hissed through clenched teeth. “How did you put a tracker on me?”

“It wasn’t that hard, honestly. I slipped it into your pocket.” He points down at her jacket. “I made it small enough to where you wouldn’t notice it, and it seems that I did that well enough.” He was pretty proud of himself for that. For real! Do you have any idea how hard it is to make such small machines? Having to figure out a way to make them powered too… the way that she was looking at him, though, made him realize that she probably didn’t want to know about it. He purses his lips, looking at her, then sighs and looks away. “Alright, fine, I guess that it could be seen as bad… maybe.”

“Oh! Oh, no, you did not just say that.” She reaches over, poking his chest, which made him let out a soft mmm sound in annoyance. “Saying I guess it could be bad should be saved for eating your friends candy or something, not coming to try to kill my friends because you put a tracker on me!” She was still ranting when a strange ringing sound filled his ears, and his eyes blurred in and out of focus. He started to blink a few times to try to get the blur to go away. Ugh, how troublesome. What the heck? He reaches up, rubbing at his eyes, and moves his hands away, looking down at them. They seemed to be shaking worse than before, and he shivered, a strange feeling shooting down his back. “Are you listening?” He heard April's question.

“I… yes, of course.” He rubs the side of his head, feeling his hair draping over his hand like strange strings. Man, he knew it'd been a few days since he last ate, but wasn’t this a bit much? Why was his body rejecting him? Guess he should try to take better care of himself; however, he had a hard time doing that… sometimes he felt hungry, just not very often, and normally he ignored it because he was distracted by other things. He reaches up, rubbing his hands over his face.

At least it was only the two of them here. He handled the person behind the counter already—no, he didn't kill her; he merely knocked her out with the same sleeping powder that he gave to April. Don't worry! He gave a very large tip too, so she wouldn't lose any money while he and April did their little meeting.

He had everything handled.

April, even though he couldn’t see it, frowns and reaches out, carefully moving his hands from his face. “Look, I’m mad at you, but are you sure you’re alright? You’re, like, really pale, and that’s saying something for you.”

Oh, ha, she probably thought she was so funny with that. Gag him before he says something mean; luckily, he didn’t! “I'm fine, only a bit dizzy.” And feeling strangely sick to his stomach. Before he knew what was happening, though, his eyes blurred in and out, then went dark around the corners, and he fell forward, falling into April's arms.

Well, you know, this is exactly the opposite of what he wanted to happen! He should be able to go a very long time without eating! It was something his father had in mind when he created them, so what was wrong? Oh well, he can’t tell, since he just passed out.

Chapter Text

When Wain started to fall forward, April's eyes widened, and she let out a loud sound of surprise. "Ah!" She reached out, catching him in her arms before he could fall out of the chair onto the ground. "Holy shit, are you okay?" Of course, she didn't get a response from him.

Why did he pass out?

She frowns and pats his cheek, looking for any movement in his eyelids, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he'd wake up. Yeah, no, he's so not waking up! What was she supposed to do now? She knew what he said about the turtles, but she couldn't leave him here, and she knew for a fact she couldn't carry him back.

Even if she could carry him, where would she take him? Sure, she could call 911, but then she would have to answer a lot of stuff, and she was still curious, so... she pulled out her phone.

After she got the others to agree to come and get them, she moved them both to sit on the ground. Wain's head was resting on her lab, since she heard that's what you're supposed to do? Heck, she didn't know! She didn't do that medical stuff; that was more Leonardo's thing.

With his head resting on her lap, she played with his hair while she waited for the turtles to appear. You know, his hair was a lot softer than she was expecting it to be? Given the look he normally had to him, she figured he wouldn’t take very good care of himself, but maybe she was wrong? Sure as heck, he needed to brush his hair more! There were so many knots.

It took not too long for them to get there, luckily, and Leonardo was the first to come in. “So it is him… did he tell you why he has a crush on our dad? Cause, like, he's weird looking for sure, but I think he could do better than dad.” April couldn't help the snort of laughter that slipped past her lips. She shook her head and responded, “He says it isn't anything like that. Can you check him out? Make sure he's not, like, you know, dead?”

Leonardo makes a sound, then nods and walks over, crouching down by Wain, studying him. "Well, first, we gotta undo anything too tight.” He starts to undo parts of Wain’s outfit, making sure to be careful.

Raphael and Michelangelo both came in finally, with Michelangelo leaning over one of the chairs to have a higher eye. “Do you know why he doesn't like us?” Raphael was standing a bit back, his arms crossed over his chest. He was ready to do something if Wain woke up violently.

She hums while watching Leonardo, a small frown on her face. Look, even if Wain attacked them, something about him seemed off to her. A strange feeling shooting through her body told her that something about this was wrong. Very wrong. “I’m gonna be honest; I didn’t get a whole lot out of him before he passed out. He was shaking, and his hands are pretty cold. You think we should take him back to your guys place? He found it earlier because he put a tracker in my pocket, so I wanna get that out.” Michelangelo’s eyes widened when he heard that, clearly just as shocked about the tracker as she was.

Still! She still couldn’t believe that he did that to her... what the heck, dude? What kind of person would put a tracker on another?

Raphael had a kind of annoyed look on his face, which she didn't blame him for! This was the guy that attacked them, that went into their safe space pretty much… but after a few seconds of thinking, he let out a long sigh. “Alright. Let's get him there, though we gotta tie him up so he doesn't do anything.” And with that, he walks over, picking Wain up.

Luckily, it turned out that he was merely really tired and passed out due to that. Maybe he could use an IV for dehydration, but it wasn't anything crazy . “Something about him does seem off, though… I can't put my finger on it.” Leonardo continued. April paid attention to that, though she also paid attention to how small Wain looked in Raphael’s big arms. The way his eyes were shut made him look almost princess like? Was it just how he was being carried? Or the long, light lashes?

She shakes her head to get her mind off that thought, patting her hands on her cheeks to get the strange thought out. Okay April! This is gonna be fine.

They made their way to the familiar lair, where April found herself spending more time than at her own house! Michelangelo went to grab a chair and rope, swinging it around his head—the rope, that is. "Alright, Raph, put him in the chair, and I’ll get him all tied up.” He seemed way too happy to tie someone up... Eh, April wasn’t against it! She would have tied him up too, if she had the chance.

He deserved it.

Raphael snorts in amusement and nods, setting him down into the chair. “Doesn’t this feel familiar?” he questioned, and he got a shrug from Leonardo. He couldn’t really remember the last time that they had to tie someone up.

They totally had to do it before, though.

Once Michelangelo was done tying the human up, he walks around and leans forward with his hands on his hips. He seemed to be studying Wain. “Something about his necklace seems kind of weird to me. Doesn’t it look familiar?” He reaches out to touch it, but Raphael reaches over and gently nudges his hand away, telling the youngest, “Don’t mess with that. You don’t know if he’ll wake up and try to bite you or something.” “Why would he try to bite me?” Michelangelo questioned, and they started to go back and forth.

It was all just Raphael being overprotective and Michelangelo not liking being treated like a baby. That’s how it always went...

While they were chatting, April was staring at Wain, a small frown on her face. With his head leaning forward like it was, his hair was hiding his face, and the only reason she could see that he was alive was the slight movements of his breathing making his shoulders rise and fall. “How come you look so nervous?” She heard Leonardo ask a question, so she looks over at him, then sighs, scratching at her cheek while she thought of how to respond to that.

Why did she feel nervous and worried about him? Was it because he showed interest in the stuff that she did and spoke to her? Ugh, man, that made her sound really bad! “I really want to know what’s going on, and it’s hard to do that when he’s not waking up.” She looks down, untying the jacket from around her waist, and feels around in her pockets to try to find the tracker that he said he put in it.

Course she was still mad about that! Who wouldn’t be mad about being tracked and followed? It’s like really toxic parenting, and she didn’t need that in her life.

That made Leonardo snort, and he reaches over, patting his hand on Wain’s shoulders, saying, “Don’t worry, he’s gonna be out for a while, but he’ll wake up and—ouch! Hey, hey, let go!” he suddenly shouted because Wain, who had probably been faking being asleep for a bit, bit down hard onto his finger.

Huh, guess Raphael was right.

April’s eyes widened, and she rushed over, snapping, “Dude! Let him go.” What was she supposed to do to get him to let go? She panicked and reached over, flicking Wain’s forehead pretty hard. He lets out a sound, shutting his eyes, then lets go of Leonardo’s finger, who pulls it back fast, holding his hand to his chest. “That is so not cool!” he shouted.

Wain squinted, pursing his lips as he looked up at April, asking, “Did you have to flick my forehead?” When she glared at him, he sighed, rolling his eyes, and turned his head away, grumbling, “You don’t have to glare at me. That doesn’t exactly answer my question… so you three brought me back to your home. What is your plan here? If you’re planning on trying to force me to talk, that doesn’t strike me as a very good idea. You don’t seem like the type to torture to get what you want.”

Raphael steps forward and puts his hand down onto the back of the chair, pointing at Wain. “Listen. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if it’s to protect my brothers. Why did you come to our place, and why did you attack us?” Michelangelo, as though Wain didn’t just bite his slightly older brother, held up a phone and asked, “And what’s your favorite pizza? Cause I’m ordering!” Raphael turned his head to give Michelangelo a look of disapproval. Really Mikey?

April crosses her arms across her chest, a deep frown tugging her lips down and she says, “Wain, please just answer the question… is someone forcing you to do something?” she saw the way Wain’s eyes were shooting around, as if he was taking in everything that was happening around him… studying the sewer that they were in, maybe?

Slowly, he purses his lips, then sighs out through them. “I like cheese with mushrooms and stuffed crust. It’s reliable and consistent, which I approve of myself. Now, to answer the rest of the questions, no. Nobody is forcing me to do anything that I don’t want to do. Everything that happened, I did it myself because I wanted to… I have questions about things that I want to know, and you three, plus you April, are the keys to me figuring that out.” He looks off to the side, flicking his tongue out to wet his lips. “I will admit that I expected more, given what my father has told me… and put your hand down. We both know that you aren’t going to do anything to me. You would tie me up and probably cause a few issues, but you wouldn’t hurt me. You three are the ‘heroes’, always going and saving people.” He rolls his eyes. “It’s amazing, ” he mumbles under his breath. “He said sarcastically.”

That got a strange rumble from deep in Raphael’s chest, probably because Wain was annoyingly right—or was he? April grins and cracks her knuckles. “Oh, Wain, you forgot that I know you pretty well.” He looks over at her, and she looks at Leonardo, asking. “Hey, can you get me a plate and a fork?” Leonardo looked at her confusedly, then his eyes widened and he laughed. “Oh, yeah, for sure!” He runs off to get that.

Wain stares at her silently for a few seconds, then clicks his teeth together. “I know what you’re planning,” he starts, “but I’m not going to tell you guys anything that I don’t want to share. Why I attacked is my personal business.”

“It became not your personal thing when you attacked us, dude.” Michelangelo says, reaching over to poke Wain’s cheek while he was distracted. The pale dude made a soft meh sound at being poked. “And how does your dad know about us? What is he telling you?” Wain, of course, shut his mouth tight to not spill anything, squinting in annoyance. Michelangelo hums, then shrugs his shoulders and walks around Wain, starting to pull and mess with his cheeks. “Welp, if you’re not gonna say anything, I’m gonna mess with you.” April was sure that Raphael wanted to tell Michelangelo to knock it off, but luckily he bit his tongue. Most likely because he knew that Michelangelo wouldn’t have listened.

It didn’t take too long for Leonardo to come back with his finger bandaged and a plate with a fork on top of it. She takes the stuff and looks at Leonardo, nodding her head as she says, “You played your part well, soldier. Thank you.” Leonardo snorts and puts his hand to his forehead in a salute. “Of course, Commander O'Neil!” Heh, Commander O'Neil, huh? That has a sort of nice ring to it. She looks over at the others and warns, “Alright guys, this is about to get loud.” she reaches up and starts to drag the fork against the plate, which already sent shivers down her spine.

Oh yeah, she hated this sound.

She saw Raphael squint, and Michelangelo moved his hands away from Wain's cheeks to cover his own ears—er, did they even have ears? By then, Wain's cheeks were a nice pinkish color from the pinching. Ha! Pale boy.

Wain squeezes his eyes shut, starting to squirm, letting out soft mrrr sounds. "This is a cruel and unusual punishment! Using my dislike of certain sounds is bullying, April!" Yeah, it was something she learned a little while ago. For some reason, Wain had a hard time with loud, or a lot of sounds at once. Honestly, she was pretty sure he had autism, so she felt a little bad using it against him. However, he did attack them, and they needed to know what was going on. Michelangelo touching him so much probably added onto that as well. Sensory overload, am I right?

"So is coming to someone's house to hurt them!" she said back to him, starting to tap the fork on the plate. Leonardo laughs and starts to clap his hands together. "The sweet sound of justice!" he was likely finding this very amusing… he starts to whistle to add to the sound. By then, Raphael had covered his ears too. This was probably a lot of sound for him too.

"You three left!" Wain finally shouted, which caused the four of them to stop what they were doing. He continued, his voice strained. "You left, and I was forgotten about. Your... your stupid dad and his stupid plan left me behind. I deserved to be taken; I deserved a childhood instead of being trained every day to stop humans." he spat out the words as though they were gross food. "Every day I hear about the three that got away, while he still had one, but I wasn't even called that! I was Number Two. That's all I am to him, and I thought maybe..." he stops, letting out soft huffs of air, then mumbles, "I thought if I found you three, I could... have the life that you guys have. You're more than just creations; you're family, and I don't have that. You three have a dad; I have a creator."

Oh, wow, that's... huh. That's heavy.

Raphael reaches up, covering his mouth with his hand. His eyes were teary from hearing that story. "You don't have a real name?" Michelangelo was straight up bawling and hugs onto Wain tightly. "I'm sorry!!" he shouted, as if it really was their fault. He rubbed their cheeks together.

Wain lets out a grunt at the hug, squirming. It was the best he could do because of the rope around him... Leonardo, of course, had to ruin it by asking. "You said three that got away... who, or what, are you really?" he narrowed his eyes.

Yeah, April was curious about that too! If these guys were mutated turtles, how was there a human in the mix? Even if he looked kind of strange.

Once more, Wain didn't respond for a few seconds before he lifted his head to look at them. "I am Number Two... your brother. If you'd take off my necklace, you'll see what I mean." He looks down at the necklace that was dangling around his neck. The first thing that really caught April's eye was the bright reddish-purple gemstone at its center. The gemstone was faceted, reflecting even the smallest light in it... huh, damn, that's pretty. The gem was securely nestled within a golden pendant. It had a golden chain that linked it all together. Now that she thought about it, April had never seen Wain without that necklace.

Though, to be honest, she never exactly paid attention to him till recently! She didn't think he would care about her before he came to talk to her that one day.

April was the one to reach over to unclip the part holding it together. The other turtles watched closely, two of them not exactly believing it while the last was hopeful. Michelangelo, in case you didn't figure that out already. Raphael had a little hope that it was the truth, while also hoping it wasn’t.

He didn’t want this dude to be a missing brother! If so, that would mean they had a brother this whole time that he didn’t know about, and who knows what this dude went through? His dad didn’t seem all that nice, not at all.

Dark swirls formed around Wain, curling around him as though they were the claws of a beast about to grab their prey. Luckily, by then, Michelangelo had let Wain go.

When the swirls finally disappeared, what was left there wasn't the human there before; instead, it was another mutated turtle! He had a jade green skin tone, which was kind of darker than the others. His front shell was a light brown, while his back shell was covered by purple metal that had spines on it. He had purple markings on his shoulders and thighs, sort of in the shape of squares. His eyes were the brightest neon blue that April has ever seen! Those eyes scanned over the three turtles then at April. "Now, can I please be untied? I would much rather talk without being tied up."

Of course none of them moved, much too shocked. April didn't know what the other turtles were thinking, but she knew what she was!

This, truthfully, was a huge twist!

Chapter Text

Number Two looks between the four that were still staring at him. Yeah, he doesn't like this at all… Due to the loud noises from before, he was feeling a tad overwhelmed! Even more because they kept touching him.

Mostly Number Four. Why was he so huggy? What the heck, man? That isn't what a warrior, or anything else, is supposed to be like.

The rat ruined them.

“Oh, look at me, still tied up. How silly. I was expecting to not be tied up by now.” He stares at them, blinking slowly. “In case you guys couldn't tell, that was me saying I would like to be untied by now.”

Number One sighs, putting his hand on the side of his head. He seemed unsure of what to do and confused. “How…” he looks over at Number Four, who walks over and crouches behind him to untie him. “Mikey, I'm not sure it's a good idea to let him out. He could be lying about this.”

“I'm not. Unless you've been meeting a lot of mutated turtles? If so, I'm impressed because I've never seen them.” Number Two says it bluntly. “And I've got a lot of cameras all over New York.”

He saw April staring at him, so once he was free, he moved his arms around and rubbed at his wrists. They weren’t exactly sore or anything; mostly, it was annoying to be tied up like that. Way too tight. “I hope you know that I could have cut the ropes at any time, but I didn't. That should mean something.”

"How could you have cut the ropes?" Number Three asks, his eyes narrowing and his hands resting on where his hips would be. They were all wearing masks, which he knew before. Number One had slightly torn tails, and his mask was red. Number Three's tails were longer and blue, and Number Four had his orange mask in a bow style. Probably because he was the youngest.

Number Two himself enjoyed the color purple—in case you couldn't tell from what he was wearing. He looks at Number Three and scoffs. "How would I be a warrior if I didn't have something to cut myself out of that, Number Three? Whoever goes somewhere without a way out is an idiot." What a stupid question.

That got a deep frown from the red-eared slider, and he says. "My name is Leo. It isn't Number Three... That's Mikey and Raph over there, too. Not, like, one and four."

Right, their names. He would have to try to remember those…

He remembered when he first heard about them; it was an amazing story of sadness, betrayal, and family. Draxum spoke about how he wanted to save the world for the yokai, and to do that, he needed to create mighty warriors. He explored the world and collected six turtles. An alligator snapping turtle for the strong bite; a spiny softshell turtle for the strong bite as well, but for the speed too. A red-eared slider for protection, and a box turtle with the highest type of protection. One that could close themselves off from the world if needed. The other two—one being an eastern snake-necked turtle and the other a yellow mud turtle—sadly, those two, Draxum told him, never thrived.

They were probably not even alive anymore! So, sadly, he didn't bother searching for them. They were both girls, if he remembered the story correctly.

April studies him, then turns her head away and tightens her hands into fists, which she holds down by her sides. "Were you acting like you were my friend?" she finally asks. "You've... we were hanging out. Did you become my friend just so you could get to the turtles?"

Number Two saw the others look at her, looking worried. Number One, as unexpected as it was, seemed the most bothered by that idea. Number Two stares at her for a few seconds in silence, then shakes his head. "No. Of course not." He shakes his head at even the idea of doing that and leans back in the chair, which makes a soft creaking sound that he doesn't like at all. "I mean, you did help me find them, and I did become your friend at first to find them, but I gained a strange attachment to you." He scratches at his cheek, looking off to the side. He felt a bit… embarrassed to say this. "And once we're complete with the plan, I'm sure we could even keep you alive. Dad might find it strange, but you're nice enough, so I think he would like you."

"Plan?" That seemed to have caught Number One's attention, who had a deep frown on his face. The look of worry on his face almost made Number Two want to smile. It was a bit funny! He couldn't help it. "What plan are you talking about?"

"The one that we were created for, of course." He moves to stand from the chair, resting his hand against the back of it. It was slightly cold. "To take the world back from the humans and allow yokai to live comfortably above ground. Our creator created us as warriors, and I'm sure that we could fix whatever the rat did to make you guys..." he waves his hand at them in a gesture. "This..."

The way that they fought? He has seen it over the cameras, and really, he wasn't impressed by it. Not a single bit. Plus, he fought them himself! Their movements were sloppy and easy to expect.

Number Three, or the one called Leonardo, frowns at that and holds up his hand, asking. "Didn't you say that you wanted a life like us? More than just creations? What's with the sudden shift?" Number Four, or Mikey, adds quickly. "Yeah! We're like the opposite of bad guys here. We save people, dude. We're not going to kill all humans."

The way that Number Four looked at him gave Number Two a strange, strange feeling.

He did not like that.

"I... do, I will admit, but..." He stopped for a few seconds, looking off to the side. What should he say to that? He means they were right; he did want a life like theirs. They all seemed so happy! He's seen them sitting around eating their pizza, playing with April, and hanging out with humans in their weird outfits that—for whatever reason—made it so humans couldn't tell that they were mutants... He purses his lips, then clears his throat. "It's what we were created for. If we don't do what our creator wants, then we don't have a reason to exist. If you make something and it doesn't turn out right, you restart. Get rid of the mistake and make a better one." That's what he sometimes did with his creations.

At least... most of them. There was one that he kept, even if it didn't turn out correctly. His very first one. He protected that one and kept trying to upgrade it to make it better.

He saw the other guys look at each other, then Number Three snorted and nudged Number Four, saying to him, "You've got your work cut out for this one, Mr. Feelings."

"Dr. Feelings, you mean." Number Four corrected, letting out a little laugh. "And yeah, you're right..." He walks closer and puts his hand on his arm, which makes Number Two look down at it. What the heck was going on? Why was he being touched again? "Before we do anything else, we have to try to figure out a name for you. Not like Wain or Number Two. You've got to have your own name, one that makes you, well, you." Number Two's eyes shoot over to look at the others.

April had a strange look on her face, looking happy while also not? Ugh , he hated having to try to read people! It was so hard. This is why he normally likes wearing a mask whenever he has to go out. He didn’t have it right now. "And I'm sure you could stay here for as long as you need, right, Raph?" She says this, looking up at Number One.

Wait, really?

They would... let him stay here? Even after he attacked them? Damn it, that's another little weakness that they would have to try to work through. They were too nice! If you were really that nice, you would get yourselves killed. People would take it, abuse it, and leave you to die after they got everything they wanted from you.

Everybody was out for themselves—that was something he learned at a very young age.

Number One purses his lips, sighs, and nods slightly. "Yeah, he could stay until we figure this all out. But he best not do anything that Raph doesn't like; if he does, Raph's not gonna be real nice." He points at Number Two in a threatening way, which causes him to hum.

He wasn't threatened.

"Then I'll stay too!" April walks over and puts her arm around Number Two's shoulder, tugging him down to her level. "I wanna hear more about this creator's plan, cause as if any of these guys could kill a person. Raph almost cried when he killed a fly one time."

"It trusted me, and I squished it." Number One moves his arm over his eyes, as if it was really something that bugged him... heh, bugged. Funny.

Number Two looks down at the arm that was around his shoulder, a bit annoyed. Alright, this was something that was happening now; he guessed that he was alright with that. There was no way that she could have pulled him down if he didn't agree to let her do it. "It's simple. They have the power to do it; only they were raised to not." His eyes scan around the area, letting out a hum. "Where is the rat, anyway? He didn't die yet, did he? I have a few questions that I would like to ask him." The not-murdery kind, of course!

"You aren't gonna be meeting him yet." Number Four tells him, "Not until we're sure you wouldn't do anything to him." What Number Two didn't know was that, most likely, he wouldn't be able to do anything even if he tried, and Number Four thought that seeing Splinter would cause a few issues for him that he didn't need at the moment.

Number Four was going to say more, but then he heard a bling on his phone, so he looked and got a grin on his face. "Ah! Pizzas here. You guys, get ready." and he turns, running off to go and get the food.

April opens her mouth to say something, though funnily enough, she got cut off when there was a growling sound, and Number Two looks down at his stomach. Oh... Number Three snorts, putting his hand over his mouth and trying not to laugh. "Dude, was that your stomach?" Number One looked a bit startled.

Number Two felt his cheeks flush with warmth, a strange feeling shooting through him. Oh, he wanted to do a violence. A very, very strong violence.

April giggles and looks over at Number Three, telling him, "Leo, knock it off. You're gonna embarrass him." Why did Number Two feel like this was going to change his life? Did he want his life to be different? He was never one for change, if he had to be honest. Even a change that would be better.

Should he be happy? Was he going to be free? Or was he... going to pull these guys back with him?

If he had to be honest, he wasn't sure what he wanted. At first, he was going to try to bring these guys home, but now that he saw how they were, how they acted? He isn't sure. If he brought them home and they somehow agreed to work with him and Draxum, would he even want to go through with what his creator wanted?

He cared for April; he cared for a few of the humans at the school, even if they weren't very close to him. Could he bring himself to destroy them? To end them?

Of course if he didn't go through with this, then his whole life would be wasted! He's only 14; he shouldn't... ugh , damn it.

Wait, the others were talking to him. He blinks a few times and stares at them, his eyes shooting between them both, then squints slightly. "What?"

April snorts and repeats herself. "I asked what kind of turtle you are? Your shells spikey like Raph's, but well, purple doesn't seem like a real shell color." She taps her knuckle against it. "And it feels like metal."

The vibration of the tapping sent a shock through his body, and he quickly backed up from her, letting out a soft hiss. "Don't touch my shell." He didn't mean to snap at her! Honest, just... he didn't like it when people touched it.

Number One looked ready to stop him if he tried to attack, which he wasn't planning on doing! Because he hissed doesn't mean he's going to try to hurt anyone, dang it. April holds up her hands, shaking her head. "Whoa there. I'm not gonna hurt you or anything! I was just curious. It really does look like Raph's."

Number Two's eyes shoot down to try to look at his shell, even though he knew that he couldn't see it as it was on his back, then he looks back at Number One. "Well... I did... base it off of his shell." He clears his throat, turning his head away to try to calm his nerves. Too much stuff was happening right now, and he didn't like it. "He's the oldest, as he knows, and it felt... nice to... have something to connect us. Even if they didn't know who I was."

When he looked back at them, April had her hand over her heart, and he saw Number One's tail wagging back and forth quickly. "Aw..." he says. "Man..." He looks down at the ground, then back at Number Two. "Can I hug you?"

Hug?

Of course he knew what a hug was! It was something that people do sometimes. Normally, people do it as a sign of affection or when they need to say goodbye. "Why do you want to hug me?" he asks, squinting slightly.

"Tsh." Number Three went and let out a little laugh. "Dude, you're acting like you've never gotten a hug before." When Number Two stares at him, he continues, looking awkward. He rubbed at his neck with the palm of his hand. "Uh... you've, you know, hugged someone before, right? Like, this isn't your first hug?"

Number Two felt like he didn't want to answer that. He doesn't understand why they were being so nice to him! He can’t understand. He attacked them, he hurt them, and he did so much stuff already! So why? Why were they being so nice? Against his best judgment, he slowly held up his arms, feeling like he wanted to disappear.

When Number One walks over, pulls him into a loose hug, then tightens his arms after a second, he felt strange. The arms around him should have hurt; they were strong! Why didn't it hurt?

Number Two slowly moves his arms around Number One the best that he can, shutting his eyes. This felt like something he was missing... It kind of reminded him of a heavy blanket—warm and protective.

This isn't what he was expecting to happen today. Nope, not at all.

Some parts of him, the deepest parts inside him, wondered. How would his life be different if he was already part of their family? What if he wasn't left behind? What if he was raised alongside them? Would it be good? Would it be bad? Would he even still be alive?

Sometimes, when he couldn't sleep, he thought about a world where everything was exactly the same... except he didn't exist. Everything would function perfectly without him, and the thought scared him. It terrified him! He didn't want to be alone; he didn't want to be forgotten.

He wanted to be needed. That's one reason why he worked so hard on the stuff that he made—if he made it perfect, if he made it better than everyone around him could, then the people would come back to him. They would need him to do the stuff rather than anyone else.

Number Four comes in, carrying a few boxes and holding them up. "Guys! I got the pizza—oh! You guys are hugging." He heard Number Three start to laugh at that, and Number One pulled back from the hug. Heh, funnily enough, Number Two didn't want to let go... He did, though.

"Let's get some food in you. Does that sound good?" Number One asks, looking down at him with that sharp-toothed grin. Number Two just nodded slowly to show that he was listening, and they all went to sit down to eat. Number Four opened the box, picking up one of the pieces, and Number Two looked down at the box.

It was very... cheesy?

Look, he knew what he said about the favorite, but that didn't mean he had tried it before! Cheese with mushrooms and stuffed crust sounds good, rather than him knowing it is good.

His eyes scan to look at everyone, seeing them start to eat. April bit into hers, and their eyes met. She got a playful sparkle in her eyes, and she waved at him, so he waved back and picked up one of his pieces, taking a bite from it. When he pulled it away, the cheese stretched, so he had to keep pulling it.

The cheese started to fall while he was stretching, causing his eyes to widen, and he moved his other hand to catch it. What the heck is this? Why was it so stretchy? He looks around with his eyes, wondering what he was supposed to do about this? He had a bite of pizza in his mouth, still connected to the cheese that was connected to the pizza. It was hot... should he... should he just let it fall?

Why was no one helping him?

How are you supposed to eat this!? At least it was really good.

He pulls his head back, and the cheese finally breaks, falling against his chin, and he pulls it up into his mouth, starting to chew. At least nobody saw that. Or, at least, that's what he thought until he heard Number Three start to laugh. "That was amazing." He laughs, patting his hands on the table in front of him. "Have you never had a pizza before? You looked so freaked out."

Ah. So, the blue one was going to be his enemy during his stay here. Number Two could handle that. He could beat him again. He looks over at Number Three, narrows his eyes, and kicks his leg under the table, causing him to yelp. April starts to laugh at that, poking Number Three on the arm and telling him. "You deserved that." He huffs at her, though he was smiling.

Why was he smiling?

Number Two just hit him! He shouldn't be smiling about that; it wasn't a very soft hit either. Ugh , these guys were weird. He looks down and mumbles something under his breath, then takes another bite, shutting his eyes. That first bite made him realize just how hungry he was, so maybe eating was the best idea.

Stupid.

After a while, they were eating another one of the pizzas that they ordered when Number Four decided to change the subject from whatever the others were talking about. Number Two wasn't really paying much attention to it. "Hey, so you said that you were Number Two, right? Does that mean you were the second oldest?"

He lifted his head and looked at Number Four, then nodded in approval. "In a way, yes." he said after swallowing what he had been chewing on. "It's ironic, but when our creator found us, we were in eggs. The one you call 'Raph' hatched first, then I and 'Leo' hatched next... almost at the same time."

"So, we're twins?!" Number Three suddenly shouts, which causes him to tense; then he sighs and shakes his head, responding. "No, there is no way for us to be twins. We only hatched at the same time; we're different-" He was going to keep going, but Number Three interrupted him by saying, "Nope! Not listening, la la la la, we're twins." He seemed very pleased with himself for that.

Number Four smiles too, clapping his hands together. “How exciting! We've gotta come up with a name for you.” He rubs his chin, thinking about it. “We've got a bit of a theme…”

They wanted to give him a name… he already had a name, though? He was Number Two; they were Number One, Three, and Four. This was a lot of change to handle at once, can he? 

His head started to be filled by the buzzing of static, and even though he could see that they were talking, he couldn't hear it. The only sound he could hear was the static.

His body felt hot.

Why did he suddenly feel so bad? He felt sick to his stomach, and everything seemed to be too much. He starts to tap his fingers on the table, turning his head down.

He felt something tap on his arm, so he jolted and looked over to see that it was April who smiled at him, and she spoke in a careful voice. “You don't have to pick a name yet. We can call you Two, but if you want… we could call you Purple?”

Purple?

They could… that was a name that they could use for him? He liked Purple… he opened his mouth to say something, though he couldn't speak. Instead, he only nodded to show that he liked it. He broke again. Draxum would be disappointed by that, but these guys seemed okay with it. They kept talking about other stuff, using Purple to talk about him.

They asked him questions which could be answered with a head nod, or a head shake. That's nice.

He liked this.

Chapter Text

Well, for one, are you still enjoying this one? :3 I would hope so! But for two, the question I mean, can you please vote on this?

https://strawpoll.com/PbZqRKJV0yN

Chapter Text

Number Two, now known as Purple by his brothers, felt a tad strange about all of this. A part of him wanted to help his father get revenge on the man who ruined everything, but the other part was kind of enjoying everything that had been going on as of late.

Mikey, as Number Four liked to be called, was an interesting one to Purple. Very, ah, playful? Number One, now known as Raph, was very protective of him, which made sense as he was the youngest.

Purple didn’t really care about age, if he had to be honest.

If you’re able to do something, then you should do it.

Trying to tell someone not to do something, even though they’re good at it, is stupid to him. He meant that Draxum let him do a lot of stuff when he was younger! He made a robot—and an AI—when he was five! From a toaster… his name was Shelldon . He liked the nickname Don… Anyway, he did a lot of stuff when he was younger, and look at him. He’s fine !

"Wain" was hanging out with April during the school day today. In their homework hour, he was helping her out with a few of the questions. She tried to ask him for the answers, and he went on a rant about how giving the answers wouldn’t help anyone! He knew that he was smart, but she could be smart too! After that, yay, they got to work on the homework. “So,” she started, which caught his attention, “the guys wanted me to invite you over again. Mikey says that he wants you to come over and stay a while.”

Wain shuts his mouth in a tight line at that, his mind rushing with different thoughts. Did he want to do that? Kind of; nonetheless, it also kind of worried him. What if something happened while he was there? Or what if he was away from home when his dad needed him? Plus, you know, he needed to work on the stuff Big Mama ordered from him.

Would he have enough time?

Probably…

“And do what?” He decided to ask a question. "He would have to get me the materials if he wanted me to build them stuff. They could certainly improve their weapons, in my opinion.” He was going to keep going, but April held up her finger, causing him to stop, and she shook her head. “No, no, no. No weapon upgrades, and nothing like that. He wanted you to come over to just hang out. You are his brother after all.”

Oh… right, yes, that was a thing people did. They spent time together just for fun! Nothing more. He glances down, then back up at her, slowly nodding. “I think I can handle that.” At least he could take off his cloaking stone.

It isn't that he didn't like the stone! For a while, being a human was kind of nice, but he also enjoyed being a turtle. Maybe the smallest bit of him liked not being at home. Not being reminded of the day that his father ‘failed’. Purple didn't like being called the one that got left behind.

She laughed at what he said, and they went back to working on her homework. Of course he was still going to do a few things! He refused to live in a place where there were no alarm systems! Do you know how dangerous that is?

Like, what if someone tried to break in? There would be no alarms to warn them! There are no weapons to take that person out, either. Honestly, the fact that they haven't been caught yet is shocking to Purple… other than by himself, of course.

He was able to find them because of his control over the cameras and a few other things, mostly the fact that he's much smarter than they were.

Much, much, much, much, much smarter. (He would add quite a few more, but he thought that it would be a little annoying.)

It didn't take long for them to end up down in the sewers. Purple was the one to lift the covering, even though he knew that April herself could do it… She only didn't want to, and he figured that he didn't mind too much. As they walked, his eyes scanned around, thinking of everything that he could do to fix this place up.

He could add some weapons that would shoot—maybe some darts? Hm… oh! Wait, what about a hole that would open up to spikes? He loved that one. It was an oldie, though also a goldie. Ugh, wait, these guys probably wouldn't like that, would they? They were the 'heroes'. Yeah, whatever, that kindness is going to end up getting them killed.

Give a human some kind of kindness, and they'll take it, then turn around and shoot you in the chest. Humans hate things that they don't understand, and sadly, they would never understand mutants or yokai. April was… April was different.

It was why they needed to stop humans. Why they needed to give the world back to the Yokai… like his father said that they should. It was why they were created, after all! Why he went through so much training, so much sweat, blood, and tears! And he really meant that.

All of those thoughts, he could ignore for now at least. Overthinking it wouldn’t help anything; if anything, it might make it worse, so he was going to try to not think about that.

When they went into the hideout, Purple saw Leonardo hanging while holding onto a rope upside down, and Michelangelo was trying to hit him with stuff that he was throwing. “Give it back!” He shouted, while Leonardo stuck out his tongue. “Nope!” He shouted down, laughing. Purple saw a box of colored pencils in Leonardo's grip that wasn't holding onto the rope.

What were they even doing?

Michelangelo looked over at them when they came in, and then he pointed up at Leonardo, saying—or rather whining. “Aprrrrriiiiillllll! He took my pencils, and he won't give them back!”

“You should take a break! You've been working all day on that art piece, little brother. I had to take drastic measures since you wouldn't listen to the medic.”

He's the medic?

Remind Purple to never get hurt whenever he's around these guys—at least hurt enough to need a medic. At least he never really needed one before? Whenever he got hurt, his creator would tell him to wrap it up, then rest for a little while before going back to training.

They were created to be warriors, and warriors didn't need to rest too long before going back to training.

Too much rest would cause you to lose your sharpness. They were weapons , not children or teenagers.

April sighs, rubbing the side of her head before letting out a little laugh. “You guys…” She walks over to help Michelangelo get his colored pencils back from Leonardo.

Odd people.

Very odd people.

Well, now that he was alone, he could focus on what he wanted to do! Exciting.

His eyes scanned around the room, taking in every detail around him. There were markings on the walls; drawings could be one way to say it. Why? He wasn't quite sure, but they were nice… he guessed?

Draxum wouldn't let him do that—not that he even would want to, if you wanted him to be honest. Maybe because he was not very good at drawing; he does not find it all that enjoyable. Making up things that are not real? Why would you want to do that? You could use the time to create things! Like, real things!

If you're not making stuff or using that time for a good reason, you're wasting it!

He shakes his head to get his mind off that and wanders off to go and look around. Maybe he could ask them to give him something to snack on; he wasn't too hungry, but he had a feeling that he should eat before it gets too late.

While walking, he heard loud thuds and bangs, which caused his eyes to shoot over that way, and he turned his head to the side, frowning. What the heck was that? He starts to walk towards the sounds, reaching up to take off the cloaking stone as he walks.

It sounded like metal and stuff getting moved around, which, of course, caught his attention! He loved the sound of metal—not scraping, though—that is a sound that made him want to die.

Before he could get to where the sounds were happening, Leonardo appeared in front of him. “Whoa! Hey, glad to see you're here. Hey, we should hang out.” He swings his arm around Purple's shoulders, starting to lead him away. He blinks a few times, startled for a moment, then looks at him out of the corner of his eyes. “Why are you touching me?”

“Because you're my brother, and you've got to get used to it. Now, come on, let's get snacks.”

Ugh, man, it's so odd to be called the brother! Like, he knew that they were brothers, and they were all created by the same person and shared DNA, but it still felt odd after all of these years. Plus, honestly, he did attack them, so he had a feeling that they would have been mad about that still.

They didn't seem that bothered, which he didn't like.

Or maybe he did?

Emotions were annoyingly weird.

“Do you have turtle pellets?” He decided to ask. They were good treats that he liked! Sometimes he also ate worms and other things like those. Blood worms were pretty good, but he liked earthworms a bit more.

Blue looks at him out of the corner of his eyes, looking confused, then lets out a little laugh. “Oh, you're probably more like Raph, huh? Yeah, we got some.” He walks into the kitchen area, going over to the fridge to get it out. He turned his back to Purple, and he stared at the other turtle's shell.

Turning his back to him? How can they trust him so much already? He could attack him right now! He should attack him right now for letting his guard down! But no, Purple held back and turned his head down instead to look at the ground.

This was fine.

Everything was fine.

Leonardo turned to face him, then leant down slightly to look at his face. “Hey, why are you looking down?” He asks, so Purple takes a quick step backwards and shakes his head before replying. “No reason.” He holds out his hand, ignoring the tingling in his arms. “Gimme.” He could ignore the feelings rushing through his mind if he had something else to focus on.

That caused the blue-wearing, red-eared slider to laugh, and he nodded, then poured a few into his hand, which he popped into his mouth. The taste wasn't something that Purple loved, but it was something he knew. Something that he was familiar with.

It made his tongue a little dry, and he could feel it crunch under the force of his teeth.

This was a food he ate more for the texture than the taste.

“I can't believe you guys eat those, but hey, do whatever you wanna do.” Leonardo says, waving his hand that wasn't holding the container. “Raph seems to love it, so who am I to judge?”

So he and Number One—erm, Raphael—liked those. That made sense; they were both the more aggressive turtles. He's a bit shocked that Leonardo didn't eat them either, however.

It was silent between the two of them other than the crunching as Purple chewed his food and Leonardo cleared his throat. "Alright, I guess I'm still talking. I bet this is pretty crazy for you, huh? I mean, it's crazy for me! Learning that I have a brother, a twin even? Dude… kinda cool though too, you know? Like, not every day you hear about that.” He leans against the fridge, messing with the container wrapping. “At least, I hope it isn't every day I hear about that. Can you believe if it was? That would be way too many mutant turtles around… Even two more would be way too many.”

Well, he guessed that he shouldn't bring up their two older sisters, huh? He would bring those up later. They weren't exactly sisters; they weren't created with the man's DNA.

They were failures from the beginning. Not nearly strong enough… He wondered where they went off to, though.

Since even if they were failures, they were still his sisters… ironic, right?

He thought it was a little ironic.

“Unless other people than our creator are making more, I'm sure you wouldn't see many others.” Ha! Not a lie. He's amazing. “Anyway, can you tell me why you appeared and dragged me away from the bangs and noises? I was very curious.”

Leonardo purses his lips at the question, his eyes shooting away. What a gross face… “It isn't really important; you know how it is. I mean, if I was at your place and I came to see what you were doing, would you like that?”

Purple wanted to respond and say that he wouldn't care, but he knew better. He would be so annoyed! Instead of telling the truth, he decided to just not answer that part. “Right. Did, ah, Mikey go take a break?”

The question made Leonardo nod, and he answered. "Yeah, luckily. I get that he likes to draw, but overdoing it would end in something bad."

Purple nodded to show that he agreed, and they went quiet again. Neither of them exactly knew what to say or do at the moment.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for something to happen. Purple felt something jump onto his back, and Michelangelo's happy voice said. "Purple!" He nuzzles their cheeks together, likely being careful of the spikes on his shell. "I'm so glad you decided to come over. What's up?"

His body tensed when he felt the arms around him and all the touching. Okay, he guessed that he would have to get used to this—they seemed very touchy-feely.

Honestly, he didn't get it.

Instead of trying to knock Michelangelo off like he wanted, he decided to answer the question posed to him. "April told me that you wanted me to come over, so I did. I guess I needed a break from working on my creations." Though he did need to go and work on that.

Big Mama never seemed like the type of woman to wait too long for what she deserved.

“What kind of stuff do you make?” Leonardo asks, squinting. “What kind of supervillain sort of stuff?” Michelangelo gave him a look, silently saying for him to knock it off, but Purple didn't mind.

Not at all.

You know why?

Because he did make a lot of supervillain-like stuff. It was one of the many things that he made and that people wanted from him… What did they do with the items that he created? Frankly, he didn't know, nor did he want to know. He didn't feel any guilt for making the stuff, however, because he didn't tell them to do it! It's 100% up to them what they did with it.

Should it cause harm to others, it was only because the buyer was a bad person. Purple used the money and everything else for good reasons! Plus, to tell the truth, if he said no to a few of them, he would be putting himself in danger.

Big Mama being the biggest reason.

“At the moment, I was asked to build some weapons. The last few that my customer bought were terrible, so now she came to me. A very smart idea, if I may say so myself. I use the best provisions that I can get my hands on.” He smiles, moving to rest his hand against his cheek, extremely proud of himself. “And I can get my hands on a lot .”

Leonardo squinted a bit at him and mumbled, probably mostly to himself. “That doesn't give me the happy family feels right now, dude.” Purple couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Ugh, yeah, of course it wouldn't give you the happy family feelings. They only became family members a little while ago! How the heck were you supposed to feel like family already?

He shakes his head, then reaches up and pats the top of Michelangelo's head, asking him. “Can you get off me?” He felt Michelangelo shake his head, letting out a laugh, which made him sigh.

This little shit.

Why do they want to touch him so much? All the hugging, bugging, and poking! It was confusing to him. Was this something he was going to have to try to get used to?

Disgusting .

With a sigh, he shuts his eyes and crosses his arms across his chest. Metal arms came out of his shell, and he heard Michelangelo let out a loud, “Whoa!” before they were able to pull him off. They set him down, with one of the hands petting him on top of the head. “What are those?” he asks, looking up at them.

Purple knew that he was looking because he opened his eyes to look at Michelangelo now that he was away from him.

“They are arms that I created to come from my battle shell. They're able to lift quite a bit of weight, and they come in handy for when I'm working on making many things at once. Of course it's just one of the many things that my shell can do.” He didn't say that he sometimes liked to walk around with them because, to be frank, it sounded a little lazy.

They did come in handy, though! Mostly for when he wanted to work but not sit down.

Sometimes chairs could hurt his butt if he sat in them for too long.

Hearing that seemed to make Michelangelo interested, and he seemed to be about to ask a question, but Leonardo beat him to it. "How exactly does that work?"

"Well..." He started, then shut his mouth as he thought. How should he explain this? It isn't something he could explain really easily! Eh, oh well, he got asked, so he might as well try to explain it in the best way that he can. "A very good question, Number Three. You see, I created the battle shell quite a bit of time ago; embedded within the shell are networks of sensors strategically placed to detect muscle movements, nerve impulses, and other physiological signals from my body. Those sensors serve as the interface between my real body and the robotic arms that I have placed inside. It translates what I want to do and makes them do it. I have something inside that also tracks my heart rate and-" He was going to keep talking, holding up his finger with a smile, when Leonardo let out a loud sound. "Snore!"

Wait what?

"What do you mean, snore? Learning about my creations should be exciting!" He raised his voice a little because that kind of annoyed him! They asked about it, then didn't care enough to listen? How is that even fair?! It isn’t! Not at all.

"Then make it exciting!" Leonardo responded with a laugh. "I would invite you to come to my room at night to help me fall asleep with that talk, and I have insomnia."

It went silent as Purple pursed his lips. This isn't fair; why bother asking about it if they're just going to be annoying? Is this a normal younger brother thing?

"Number Four is now my favorite younger sibling." He crosses his arms over his chest, turning his head away. "You're dead to me."

Michelangelo laughs and throws his arms above his head, cheering in an excited tone. "Yes!" and Leonardo whines. "Aw man, what? That's not fair. We're twins!"

They weren't even the same type of turtle! "You should have thought about that before you were mean to me about my creations, my dear twin ." He sticks his tongue out with a farting sound. He thought the twin comment sounded sarcastic, though maybe not? He wasn't sure.

Michelangelo started to tease Leonardo, who was huffing and puffing. A part of Purple wondered if maybe, just maybe, they were fighting to be his favorite… Was there any way? Any chance? Would they care about him enough to do that?

Probably not.

He shook his head to get his mind off that, because there was no way! At least not yet, right? He was about to say something when he felt large hands rest on his sides, then they lifted him up, and he got placed onto Raph's shoulders, who said in an excited tone. “There's Raph's newest brother! Hope these two aren't bugging you too much, Purple.”

Okay, now he was up here.

His eyes shoot around, holding up his hands since he wasn't sure where to rest them while he was up here. “…Leo was being mean to me.” he finally responded.

“Hey! No I wasn't!” Leonardo waves his arms by his sides, shaking his head quickly. “He's using his newness against me.”

Purple let out a little laugh, and he reached up, resting his hand on his chest as he spoke. “I'm not good at lying, my blue-wearing friend. So everything that I say is the truth.” He turns his head away, resting his arm across his forehead. “He hurt my feelings by acting interested and then rejecting me when I tried to explain.” He added the last part to be a bit overdramatic.

Why?

Because he thought it would be funny, that's why.

Leonardo's mouth opens, and he looks shocked, then puffs his cheeks out while Raphael shakes his head. “Well, come on, you can see what we've been working on while you were away.” He turns and starts to walk, which makes Purple jolt, and he rests his hands on top of Raphael's head.

“Wait, wait, why are we moving? Where are we going?” What have they been working on? Was he about to be killed? Left to rot? Man, he really hoped not! He still had so much to do! All of the work he had left to do.

Getting killed before he could finish? That's so sad! And annoying.

Michelangelo and Leonardo started to follow, and Michelangelo held up his arms, hurrying to walk beside Raphael. “It's something that we decided to do for you! I think you're gonna love it.” Leonardo nodded in approval too.

You know, he kind of thought that Leonardo would have been mad at him, yet it seemed that he didn't even care! What the heck? Blurgh, he could never understand these guys! Also, where was April? Where did she run off to?

How should he feel about that? He looks down at Raphael, then turns his head to look over at the other two. “What did you do?” Michelangelo only smiled at him while Leonardo put his finger to his lips.

That didn't make him feel very good about this!

Why were they being so secretive? What were they planning? Was he about to die? Not likely, though he couldn't think of anything else that would happen.

God, he hated surprises!

When Raphael went into one of the rooms, he heard a loud voice that shouted. “Surprise!” That was April, who yelled. The room was changed into a bedroom with a small bed that had some plush creatures on it, which seemed robot-themed, as well as paint on the walls that was a pretty purple color.

There were also fairy lights, which were, too, purple in color.

His eyes scanned around, and the metal arms moved to grab onto a pipe that lifted him off Raphael's shoulders, setting him down onto the ground again. “You guys… made me a bedroom?” He walks over to pick up one of the plush animals. It was approximately 12 inches tall and had a plush body that had a pretty smooth, velvety texture. It had a metallic shine to it, while there were also bright neon blue lines that he guessed were supposed to look like circuitry patterns. The arms were short, as were the legs, and it had a friendly-looking smile on its face. He squeezes it gently in his hands.

A plushie robot. How amusing.

April nods at him and answers with a big smile on her own face. “Yeah, they figured since you were part of the family now, you should have your own room here… Raph's been moving stuff around in here—we even got you your own computer over there too.” She points over to where the computer was resting on top of a table.

In all sincerity, he could likely get a better one easily. He had a better one at his real home… Calling it that made his chest feel strange. Was it his real home? It had Draxum there—his creator and protector—but these guys are… they're doing so much for him.

Why?

They shouldn't even like him! He attacked them. He hurt them. God, why couldn't he be better at emotions? Better at understanding them and showing them? Draxum always told him that emotions were a weakness, and that's why he didn't need them.

“What do you think?” Leonardo asks, moving his arms behind his back with a smile on his face. “Pretty awesome, right? That's why I had to stop you from coming back here. Couldn't have you ruining the surprise.”

Slowly, Purple turned his head to look at the four of them. Raphael had a small sheepish grin on his face, Michelangelo's was huge, and Leonardo looked proud of himself. April looked excited to see how he would react.

How should he react?

He turns his head down to look at the plush again, then sighs out slowly through his nose and hugs it, then shoves it into Leonardo's arms, mumbling. “Thank you.” Why in the seven hells did he do that? No, really, why did he do that? He could have done anything else but that.

Leonardo grunted at the force of the shove and laughed. He looks down at the plush and turns his head to the side, asking. “Why're you thrusting that into me?” Michelangelo watches for a moment, confused, then his eyes widen, and he runs over to Leonardo, pulling him down and whispering something to him.

What were they whispering about?

He saw Leonardo's eyes widen, then he hugged the teddy tight. “I love you too, bro.” His bottom lip wiggled, and Purple gave him a squint. Ugh , damn it, he liked it better when Leonardo didn't understand why he did it. How the heck did Michelangelo figure it out so fast?

That's not fair.

Michelangelo laughs and pulls Purple into a hug, then Leonardo and April did, and before he knew it, Raphael was giving him a hug too. “Welcome to the family, Purple.” Raphael told him with a happy tone in his voice.

Welp… He figured he deserved this.

Even though he wasn't sure he wanted to, he allowed himself to relax into the hug, shutting his eyes. Okay… he's sure that he could get used to this. Maybe.