Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was something that Raphael knew would happen one day, but that didn't make it feel any better. Knowing that he was going to die... he was going to have to leave his brothers behind in this world, and he felt guilty. He was going to leave his child and his wife. His whole life. He was going to have to leave that all behind!

Of course, against his will. If he had the choice, he would stay forever and never leave them behind. He knew that they needed him, even if sometimes they acted like they didn't. He knew that he needed them too.

He was holding up a building that had started to crumble because of the Krang attack. He had to use his powers to hold most of it up, and he could feel his energy start to crack. There was only a matter of time before it ran out; he felt so damn tired. They had to fight the Krang, and the last attack pretty much had the building crumbling. He did this form in a last-second thought; luckily, it worked, but he knew that he was too tired to hold it up for too long. "Move!" He snaps at his brothers, "Get out of here!"

Everyone else was being moved out with the help of Michelangelo's powers. The glowing chains were curling around people and pulling them out while he was outside, keeping an eye out for any Krang. Leonardo ran over to help a lady up with her baby, carrying her out princess-style. Everyone else was already moved out, with April and Cassandra helping them into the Jeep that Donatello made to move survivors. Cassandra's booming voice really helped them move fast. They've been through a lot, yes, but right now they needed to move.

Donatello looks up at Raphael with a frown on his face, and he holds up his arms, telling him, "Raph, come on, your energy is breaking. You need to come too!" He definitely believed that if Raphael rushed, he could get out of the building before it crumbled, but Raphael knew better. He could feel all the weight on him right now, so he smiles. It was strained. It was tired. "I love you, big guy. Tell the others that... that I'm real proud of them, okay? I'm proud of you too." Then he moved his arm and pushed Donatello out of the building, just in time for his energy to shatter.

He could hear Donatello shout, "Raph, no!" before he was pushed out. 

The building's weight fell on top of him, and as his body landed down on the ground; there was a sickening crunch, almost unheard over all of the crashing sounds or the sounds of screams from people, startled or scared, and babies crying. The Krang was already dealt with... for now, luckily.

Cassandra's scream was the loudest once she saw that Raphael wasn't out there with the others.

He knew that it would happen, but he wasn't prepared for the shot of pain before everything went cold. He couldn't really feel anything anymore; the only 'feeling' he had was like he was floating, and when he opened his eyes, the area around him was a light milky blue with white swirls.

Wait what? Where the heck was he? After dying, he expected to be greeted by all the people from the past, but it was just... him? He was alone here. Raphael frowns and starts to walk, looking around. Where was his dad? Splinter died early in the Apocalypse. Not because he was weak, but because he was old and his time caught up with him. He helped out a lot more than everyone first expected, though honestly, it was good that he passed when he did. They had enough time to grieve before everything went REALLY bad.

Raphael didn't like to be alone. Did he do something to cause this? Was it a weird punishment? He's been a good boy his whole life! Truthfully, he couldn't think of anything he did to be in trouble like this. With a sigh, he looks around and calls out, his voice holding a slight echo, "hello? Is anyone here?!" He got no response other than his own voice coming back to him.

He was alone.

It was well known that he didn't like being alone, and now he was questioning everything! Did he do something wrong? He truly believed that he had done well. He shook his head to get his mind back on track and reached up to hold onto the sides of his head. This was fine! He was fine... he couldn't have a panic attack after dying, right? I mean... how is this fair? He spent his whole life helping people that didn't even know them or care about them much, and he was being punished? Was it because of what he did with the Mud Dogs? Well whatever! He said that he was sorry, and they became really good friends!

Then he heard the noises, which caused his eyes to snap open wide, and he turned his head fast to where he was hearing the sounds coming from. What the hell was that? Slowly Raphael follows the sounds to a hole that was in the milky blueness, causing him to turn his head to the side. Well, that's not what he was expecting; what was this? He leans closer to try to look through the hole, listening to whatever sounds were going on from the other side.

The faint sound of shouting. It sort of felt like his head was underwater and all the sounds were happening above him. Muffled. He stares through the hole, his eyes scanning around—did they shout turtles? Why would someone shout turtles? He looks over his shoulder, wondering if he should go and do something about this. Was this some sort of test or something? He's gone through so much in his life already—why couldn't he just have a peaceful death? Come on! He sighs, rubbing his hand over his face, then mumbles under his breath, "Guess I have a few things left to do." Like a boss, or whatever he used to say when he was younger. He was like 40 now; he wanted a rest.

Slowly he moved his hand up, touching the hole. It had a thinness to it that he was a tad confused about, then it gave way and he felt himself fall through. He landed down on one of his knees, his hand resting on the ground and his eyes shoot around.

Now he could feel things again, and he felt hot. The air was dry, and there were green flames all around him. The building was shaking, most likely threatening to fall, which caused his chest to tighten. Damn it, was he about to die again? Was this a joke? Let's just keep killing Raphael over and over again for something that he doesn't even remember! He shakes his head and stands up, heading towards the exit. He'll just leave before it falls; there didn't seem to be anyone.

Then he heard the voice.

It let out a cry of pain, which caused him to turn his head quickly toward the sound. God, his neck hurts already... there was someone in there? He could leave; he knew that he could leave, but he was never the type to leave someone if they were hurt. He squeezes his eyes shut tightly then hurries towards where he heard the voice coming from. Damn it all. He saw someone holding onto something while trapped under some rocks that had fallen.

The smell was enough to be worrying. Raphael could sort of smell blood, which worried him a lot.

"Don't move; I'll move the rocks." He told the person and walked over to move the rock pinning him, but froze when the person looked up. Tearful eyes looked up at him, and... it was his dad. Of course when he was younger. Raphael knew it was him because of the rat look and the outfit. In his arms were the four baby turtles that were chirping, and young Mikey was crying. They all looked worried, confused, or scared.

Young Splinter stared up at him, a shocked look on his face before he shakes his head, and he shoves the babies forward, saying to him, "Take them and get out, please don't let them die." His voice was pleading, with pain filling the words. Raphael's chest felt tight, making it hard to breathe. What was going on? Where was he? He looks over his shoulder, then down at the baby turtles again, and he just nods. He quickly gathers the four turtles, looks down at his father, then turns and runs away. Crap, crap, crap! What was going on? This isn't... this isn't right. This isn't where he was supposed to be.

He bursts out of the building, hearing loud bangs and clatters, and he looks down at the four very small turtles. They were all crying now, making loud sounds that he knew would make it more probable for them to be found. He was a ten-foot-tall turtle! He wasn't the best choice for this himself! Why would he... damn it, what the hell happened? His dad was able to get out in his timeline; is this a different one? It had to be a different one. Was he sent here to make sure that this version of himself and his brothers didn't die in the fire?

His mind was rushing too fast, and all he could think to do was run.

As he ran, his eyes were burning. Was it from the smoke; or the tears that blurred his vision? He was unsure if he made the right choice—could he have saved his dad too? The rock was big, and... he had a feeling that even if he got the rock off, his dad would have died from the damage done. Even so, he wasn't 100% sure. He just left his dad to die again! Didn't even try to save him.

He saw an alleyway, so he ducks in there and sits on the ground beside a trash can. "I'm sorry," he whispered to someone who would never be able to hear it. He holds the babies close to his chest, hiding his face against his legs.

He felt like a little kid again, lost in the big city.

He wanted his brothers.

Even though Raphael was a giant turtle, scarred by battles he won in the past, he still needed his family. And he guessed that he had them now, but... it wasn't the same. Over the years he grew hair, a wild mane of curls that he kept back in a weird ponytail. He lost one of his eyes to damage, and almost lost one of his arms. Luckily, he didn't lose it, just sometimes couldn't feel it and it ached a lot. 

His heart jumped when he heard loud thunder, and then it started to rain. 

He lifts his head to look up at the sky, then looks down at the babies again, who were shivering now and looking up at him. He moves his thumb, gently petting the top of Donatello's head, who makes a sound of almost annoyance but he didn't even bother trying to pull away. Heh, cute. "Hey guys..." He murmurs under his breath and stands to keep moving, feeling Michelangelo hugging onto his thumb, pretty much the only thing he could hug onto because of how small he was... Raphael moved to hold them closer, wishing that he could warm them up with his body, but he really couldn't. He'll just find somewhere for them to hide out until the rain stops, and maybe try to find a way to keep them warm.

As he ran through the darkness, he saw a flag in the trash. He stares at it for a moment, then down at the babies, and he walks over, holding them in one hand, then picks up the flag and bites down, tearing off some of the colors. Once he got the colors he wanted, he started to tie them around the babies. Kind of like capes. Red for him, blue for Leo, purple for Donnie, and orange for Mikey. Guess he was going to keep the names that his dad decided for them earlier in their lives.

Purple looks down at the cloth around him and moves it tighter around him, curling up, and Blue crawls over to lay on top of Purple. Red went to join the pile in his hand, and Raphael smiles a little, starting to walk again. Alright... he'll have to find something else, but for now, he hoped that that would be good. He wondered if that was the same thing that his dad did when they were younger.

Maybe that could be a good idea, he could try to go down into the sewers. Or maybe he'll find a better place? He didn't know just yet. Sewers might be the best idea.

Chapter Text

Sewers were the best idea.

He would find the place that his dad found for them in his time, and then he would rebuild the place the best that he could. Sure, he'd have to break some rules and steal a few things, but... it was necessary. Maybe he'll visit the Hidden City and make some new friends... Make a few deals with Big Mama even? He would prefer not to do it, but it may be inevitable. 

This was... everything would be fine. Everything had to be fine! He was sure that it would all work out in the end. They just had to get to the ending.

He found a large box and a blanket in the trash, which he then placed inside the box, followed by the babies. Red looks up at him, puzzled, and begins to chirp. Raphael smiles at him and begins to speak, "hi... I'm uh... I'm sorry if I'm not the best caregiver, but I'll do my best. I-I had a son, but I doubt you'll ever get to meet him." He looks forward, mumbling under his breath as he walks to a manhole cover, "I didn't get to."

Naturally, he had no regrets about what he had done; but he still wished he had at least one chance to hold his son! It... He shakes his head and starts to climb down. The three turtles were all chirping. Purple sounded annoyed, and Orange seemed to be asleep. How cute.

Finally, Raphael finds the place where he grew up and looks around. This is so... different. It was so empty. He reaches up, putting his free hand to his chest.

His heart hurt...

He looks down into the box. Purple was wiggling away from Blue squeaking loud while Blue was crawling after him, also squeaking, though it sounded like he was laughing.

"Blue, stop bullying your brother." He sets the box down and picks up Blue. He had to be careful because Blue was so tiny.

Blue looks up at him and sticks out his tongue, wiggling his arms as if he was unhappy about being picked up while he was trying to bully his brother. Raphael rolls his eyes, amused. He sets Blue back down and goes to grab a few things from around. Moving stones away and such. He could hear the babies chirping until slowly they went quiet. He went to peek in and saw that they had fallen asleep, which made him smile, and he went back to work.

Maybe... Hm... He didn't know all of what he was planning on doing. Big Mama was a big maybe for him, but he knew he'd go to the Hidden City and not tell the others. The boys would grow up themselves... He would let them be kids for as long as he could.

Over the next few days, he did whatever he could.

He found some old clothes and tore them up to make stuff small enough for the tots to wear, and he caught things for them to eat. Mostly rats in the sewers. It... might not be the best, but it was food, and sometimes he would go topside to get them normal food. He kept them in the box whenever he had to leave, hiding them in one of the rooms, and he always made sure to keep an eye on them when he was around.

At times, he would fill this plastic tub he found with water and let them swim around. Not Orange, though, since he was afraid of the water.

Orange would sit on his lap while the others would swim around; sometimes Red just floated on top while Purple and Blue would swim with each other. Purple was much faster than Blue while swimming, and Orange sat, squinting at the little tub where they were. Raphael thought that it was adorable.

It had been a few months since he was brought into this world and a few months since he got these little turtles. It was... interesting, to say the least. He saw how Red acted and wondered if he used to do the same thing. He was really protective of the others and would start to squeak or chirp if anyone was doing anything that could be seen as even a hint of danger. Most of the time, Blue when he was trying to climb on things.

Orange liked to be close to you and to be held. He wouldn’t stop crying unless he was being held, which was easy for Raphael because of how big he was. He could still pretty much hold all four of them in one hand.

Purple didn’t mind Raphael holding him, and sometimes even tried to get it, but he disliked being touched randomly and would try to bite if someone touched his shell without warning -- unless it was Blue sometimes.

Red liked any type of attention, though did have a biting problem. He enjoyed biting on anything to see what would happen. Other than his brothers, after he accidentally made Orange cry. He hid under the couch, which was difficult for Raphael to find, to put it mildly.

Blue was the strangest. He would get jealous if someone else was getting attention and squeak and wiggle over, but he didn’t go out of his way to try to get attention any other time. It was weird. Plus, he did a lot of things to get hurt, and Raphael hoped it was an accident rather than an 'I want attention' thing.

Luckily, they weren’t too hard to handle. He really only had to make sure they were dressed, wore their masks, and ate. Plus, you know, didn’t get hurt.

Purple had texture issues and frequently threw tantrums when he ate something he didn't want to eat. Raphael could calm him down pretty well. A lot of the times it was by getting mad at the food and acting like it attacked Purple. He would start to giggle and laugh after a little while of that.

Blue also had a hard time falling asleep sometimes, which was something that he knew well, and Raphael just had to wrap him up in a blanket and read him a story. He didn’t think that Blue could understand him all that well; he just liked the voice.

He obviously suffered some trauma along the way. There were days where he had to force himself to go and do things for the tots, and there were days where he couldn’t handle them. On those days, after placing them in the box in front of the TV he got, he would leave the area as quickly as possible and punch the nearby walls. It hurt, as expected, but it was better than doing something to accidentally hurt the tots. Their feelings or their bodies.

And, rarely, he would stay in his room to try to calm himself down. He would have nightmares pretty much every night. Sometimes he dreams of his brothers dying because he wasn’t there to protect and save them, or he sees Cassandra getting killed too. At least he couldn’t dream about their baby; he didn’t know what Casey really looked like… that was the worst part.

Today he got woken up when he felt something on his tail, causing him to groggily open his eyes and blink a few times. Huh? What was that? He turns his head down to see Orange trying to climb up his tail, his tongue sticking out in focus. Heh, would you look at that? As Orange climbed, he grinned and then closed his eyes to make it appear as though he was still asleep.

The teeny hands touched his leg before climbing up to sit on his chest, which he felt. That was a far way for a little tot to climb, so he was impressed! He could hear Orange giggling, as if he was being so sneaky, and a hand is placed on his face, causing him to open one of his eyes to see Orange right in front of his face, and he makes a sound to... maybe scare Raphael? It was hard to tell, really. They couldn't speak yet.

"Gasp," he begins, "how did you get in here? You scared me!” He picks up Orange and lifts him above his head, laughing, "You're such a sneaky little sneak, aren't you?" Orange squeals with laughter and kicks his legs, his eyes tightly shut. Raphael smiles up at him, but his mind sees something else. He was holding a more human-looking baby, which caused his breath to pause, and he turned away, closing his eyes. Damn it…

He heard Orange make a sound of confusion, and when he forced his eyes open again, he looked up at Orange, who was looking at him, frowning. “I’m okay…” He sets Orange down on his shell again and starts to scratch lightly at Orange's shell with one of his claws. “You just reminded me of someone... that's all."

Frankly, he had no idea what he was doing talking to Orange like that; there’s no way that he could understand him, but he felt like it was kind of nice to talk. I mean… the babies were pretty much the only ‘people’ he spoke with. April wouldn’t come around for a long time, and neither would Cassandra. Plus, you know, he hadn’t gone to talk to Big Mama yet. He has been thinking about it, though. He was just waiting for a good time. It was strange to think of her as a villain now, because in the future she joined the rebellion and was a huge help to them... though that could just be because she felt bad for them. Who knows.

Orange stretches out on his shell, yawning squeakingly, then he hears crying, causing Raphael to blink and turn his head. What were they doing? He stood up, after moving his hand under Orange so he wouldn’t fall off and walked to check on the tots. He figured they were probably hungry... he was hungry too; it was difficult to find enough food for everyone. I mean, it was difficult in the future as well, but he was able to eat the krang, so that was enough for him. No, they didn’t taste very good.

When he went into their shared bedroom, he saw Blue biting onto Purple’s arm, or maybe sleeve, and Purple was the one that was crying. Red was trying to pull Blue off, sounding off the chirps of alarm.

“Boys! What are you doing?” His voice boomed, causing everyone to freeze, and they looked over at him. Purple took that chance to pull his sleeve from Blue’s mouth and hit him with the other one. Not hard, but Blue started to cry, and Purple was still crying… now Orange was crying too.

Orange, why are you crying? He thought to himself, then sighed and walked over. He sits, picks up Blue and Purple, and pets the tops of their heads with his thumbs. “You silly little turtles...” he murmured under his breath, “Blue, why’d you go and try to eat your brother?” Blue sniffles and rubs his face with his hands.

No response, not that he was expecting one, so he leans down and gives Purple a light nuzzle. “You’re okay, just take a breath.” It was easier to do this once he disconnected them from his brothers. Yeah, he knew that they were, but this just made it easier. They were different mutant turtles… it would be less easy once they grew up, he bet.

They would get their personalities back, though they were most likely gonna be pretty dang different compared to what they were used to. I mean… he’s not his dad. His parenting style was different from his father's. That’s… strange to think about, isn’t it?

Purple grabs his face, hugging it as tightly as he can and pressing his face against Raphael's cheek. It's amazing how much they differ in size. “There there.” He laughs softly, shutting his eye on that side. Red seemed jealous because he climbed over to sit in Raphael’s lap too and patted Blue’s arm. “I’m not mad at you, Blue; you just need to not do that.” Blue squeaks at him, then hugs Purple and nuzzles his side. Purple makes a sound and looks down at him before hugging him back.

He hoped that they would forgive each other.

“Let’s get you boys something to eat.” He gathers them all up and carries them off to the kitchen, breathing out slowly. He needed to get them a lot more stuff; they couldn’t just use this little stove he found to make food. He’ll… go make the deal with Big Mama tomorrow. She can get them all the stuff that they need, and he would get her whatever she wants from him. He was a big guy, he was strong, and he could be dangerous if needed… of course he wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, but he could be scary and help her threaten people if it was needed. 

Chapter Text

Raphael knew that he couldn't keep calling himself Raphael—that was the name that Red was going to choose when he was older. So he had been trying to think about what his new name could be, and he finally decided.

He was now going by the name of Rappa.

He told the tots what his name would be, and they all chirped and clicked at him. It made him laugh, and he started chirping back at them, his tail wagging happily behind him. He knew that they couldn't understand him, but he wanted to tell them anyway. They needed to know and talking to babies helps them learn how to talk, right? At least that’s what Donnie told him while they spoke about raising Casey… he hoped that they were having a good time with that? He was sure that they were sad that he died, though. Ouch, just thinking about that made his chest hurt.

Then Rappa decided on what he needed to do… he would talk to Big Mama and get help. He didn't want to, but it was sadly needed. They needed a better heater for when it got cold, and maybe a big light for them as well. He would have to read up on turtles… oh! And make sure to get enough food for them all, too. Not having enough food would be bad for them; he wondered if they would grow bigger than even before! I mean… that would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? He thought so, at least.

Rappa put the tots in the large box and turned on the videos for them, then left. Of course he didn't like the idea of leaving them alone! If he had the choice, he would bring them with him all the time, but, as for right now, it would be best for them to stay home. He made his way to the Hidden City while his mind was rushing with all sorts of different thoughts. This could be dangerous… he hoped that nothing bad would happen. He shakes his head to get his mind off that: these turtles needed to survive, and if he had to do something, he'd do it. Screw his moral code for a little while! Sorry dad…

Finally, he made his way to the Hidden City, dropped down with his eyes scanning around, then stood up straight and continued to walk. To the hotel he goes! As he walked, he knew that people were looking at him. Rappa was a big guy! Sharp spikes, long tail. He took up room, even if he didn't mean to. He remembered when he was younger, he would try to take up as little space as he could. Over the years, though, he just stopped trying to do that; it was a worthless thing to do unless he had to do it. Like they were hiding in a small area.

During what they went through, he had to be the strongest. He had to be prepared to die at any time and protect everyone around him. They needed someone that they could trust... with his size, it made trusting him easier. Even if he wasn't the leader anymore; that was Leonardo and April.

Oh, huh, you know, he almost forgot that they were going to meet April at some point in this place... how did they meet again? Those memories were blurry. With a soft sigh, he reaches up to rub the side of his head. Ugh, he hated being in this place again. Starting over wasn't something that he wanted to do! He just wanted to live a normal life; he wanted to go back with his wife and see his little boy. What was he going to do when Cassandra came in? Or all the others? Was he going to help his boys fight? Or would he let them handle it themselves?

Ha! His boys: what was that thought? He laughs at himself, then feels something brush his arm, causing him to blink, and he turns his head down. A raccoon Yokai looked up at him, their eyes widening, and they squeaked out, “I'm sorry!” Then they scurried away. They looked pretty young. He was about to say that it was fine before they did that. Huh... maybe he looked scarier than he remembered? He hadn't had the chance to look in a mirror in a while.

Or were the people around him just used to him?

He slowly waves his hand as he watches the Yokai run away, and he looks forward to returning to his walking. Once he got to the hotel, he walked to the counter. “Hello,” he greeted the worker, “I would... like to talk to Big Mama, please?” He did hunch over a little at this point. One, to be able to fit through the door easier, and two, because he didn't want to seem too much like a threat. At the moment, he was sure that she didn't have her right hand, the assistant. She would be too young, so maybe he could get that job? Who knows! Psh, maybe he would have to be the fighter in the battle area; he sure as hell hoped not.

When the worker looked up, their eyes widened, and he didn't blame them. He was a giant turtle with a mess of curly hair, an eye patch, and a large red cloth that reached down almost to the ground. It was crossed over his shoulders, and it covered one of his arms... he got a lot of scars there; something happened with the Krang, and he liked to keep them hidden. Ha! Donnie even suggested that they cut it off so he could get the robot arm that he made... huh, Rappa wondered what he did with that now that he thought about it? It would be a waste of metal and stuff to just throw it out... maybe they'll do something with it.

After a moment of silence, the worker shook their head, saying to him, “right right, I'm sorry.” They clear their throat and look at their computer, typing quickly. They probably assumed that he was one of the new champs... or at least a fighter that came to talk to her. “What's your name? Did you tell her that you would be coming?”

He shuts his mouth in a tight line, averting his eyes. He despised lying to people... he clears his throat and looks back at the worker, nodding, "Yeah, that uh that's right. My name is Rappa. I have something to tell her that is real important..." he told them. The worker looks at him, their eyebrow raised. They stared at each other until the worker nodded, and they turned, speaking into their mic. 

Before long, he was allowed to go and see her. Rappa knew that she knew they didn't plan anything, but he hoped her interest would change her mind and get her to maybe work with him and not decide to try to kill him right off the bat. Ahhh! He was freaked out and he hated it. Over the years of the rebellion, he learned how dangerous she could be.

When he got to the room and knocked, he heard a voice say from the other side, "You can come in!~" The voice was of the playful, sing-song type. He clicks his teeth together lightly, breathes in and out, then heads in. Big Mama sat at her desk, leaning back in her chair and her eyes scanned him up and down before letting out a soft giggle, “Oooo~ aren’t you a big one? You told my worker a lie, hm? Why would you do that? What exactly do you hope to gain?”

Rappa’s tongue flicked out to wet his lips and his throat felt so dry. Damn it… he hated feeling nervous. He shouldn’t feel nervous! Why would he? I mean, yeah, she was dangerous, but so could he. He fought Krang! He protected so many people over the years; he had to fight so many people too! You think the only bad guys were the Krang? Yeah, no. Some people decided to try to use the bad stuff to be bad too. Robbing others, trying to even kill others just to take the things that they had. Rappa hated it! He hated the greed of other people.

“I knew it would get your attention. Not many would have the guts to lie to you.” She giggles at that, looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes. She looked interested, which made him happy. “My name is Rappa, and I would like help. I have a list of things that I need.” He looks down, pulling the paper from his pocket, and walks closer to put it down in front of her on the desk, saying, “think of it as a deal. You give me these things, and I do whatever you want from me. I can work with you or for you.”

She lets out a pleased hum and picks up the paper, looking it over. Mostly food, but some items to have in his ‘house’ it seemed. Heaters, UV lights, and other things. Rappa stares at her while she looks at the paper, tapping her finger on her cheek. He had a feeling this might be something he would learn to regret, but at the moment, he had to do it. After a moment, she sets the paper down and says, with a small smile on her lips. “I accept. I will come up with whatever you can do for me, my excity turtle poo.” She stands and holds up her hands. Of course he leans down so he could rest his head against her hands, her studying him as she does so. “You are quite big… how strong would you say you are? My last champion was taken by this harriblex person.” she sounded sad as she looked off to the side, letting out a hum and saying, “You might be a good replacement.”

“ I'm sure that I would be, ma'am…” he mumbles. He knew who she was talking about… how was he supposed to tell her that he was dead? Maybe it's best if he doesn't say anything? “I'm stronger than I look too.” that makes her hum happily.

Soon enough, he was sent home with the papers that would tell him where to go to pick up the things that she gave him. She told him as well to come back in a few days, and she would decide what he would have to do for her since she was being so kind to him… Rappa had to bite his tongue. No, being kind means helping someone without expecting anything back, woman! He looks down at the papers and sighs, shaking his head. He couldn't be too upset—she was helping him out, and he needed things.

He gets into the sewers again, heads back to their house, and when he stepped in, he could hear loud chirping and squeaks. Rappa looks over at the box and walks over to look in. There were the turtles; it seemed like they had been trying to get out of the box… there was a small hole in the box too. Most likely caused by Red chewing on it. “Hey guys,” he cooed softly to them and picked them up.

Blue starts to chirp at him. A lot. Orange yawns, stretching out in his hand and making a squeaky yawn. He was so small... and didn't chirp; he never really was the type to do that, for whatever reason. “Sorry I left, I had to do a few things.” he says and pets the top of Purple's head with his finger, causing him to shut his eyes then hums, leaning into the touch and chirping softly.

It seemed Blue got jealous because he suddenly jumped over, knocking Purple over and laying on top of him. Purple starts to squeak and chirp in annoyance while Orange laughs, clapping his hands together, thinking that they were maybe playing? Red squeaks in surprise, tumbling over because they bumped into him.

“ Blue...” Rappa mumbles, then shakes his head and goes to sit down, leaning back on the couch. “You two need to calm down.” His tail was wagging, though. He found this just adorable… all of what happened was going to be worth it.

Chapter Text

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. The turtles were growing nicely, which Rappa was very happy about. They had been eating well; he made sure of that. Red was the largest out of them all, and Orange was the smallest. Expected… Blue and Purple were pretty similar in sizes since they were 'twins', you know how it is. 

They had started to move around a lot more now too! Blue took his first steps, and Rappa was so proud of him! “Good job, Baby Blue!” He had said, laughing and holding Blue's hands, giving them soft squeezes while Blue laughed and tried to jump, excited, but he lost his balance and almost fell if it wasn't for Rappa holding his hands. Little dummy… Purple was the next to walk, followed by Red, then by Orange. 

Orange more of a waddle than anything, and he climbed up onto Rappa's tail, who didn't notice him for a while until he heard the giggling… then he looked over his shoulder to see that a certain tiny turtle was hitching a sneaky ride! “Hey, what are you doing?” He had asked with a laugh, and Orange had let out a squeal of laughter at being caught. He then tried to waddle away but tripped and fell and went hiding into his shell… as if that would really hide him.

Rappa thought it was… just adorable.

But not everything had been nice, sadly.

Rappa was starting to be well known and, shockingly, well respected in the Hidden City—or rather, he was starting to be feared. He didn't blame anyone for being scared of him; he was dangerous-looking. Spiky and strong. Being the champion, so far, nobody has been able to beat him. Nobody was even close! It was, truthfully, a little boring sometimes… a few days ago, someone came down, spoke big shit, then Rappa knocked him into the wall with his tail, and well… yeah, that was it. He got knocked out! Rappa thought that he would be able to handle more; he really did! The crowd booed so loudly at the shortness, while others laughed. That guy probably wouldn’t be able to get out of that without being mocked by his friends, or really, you know, anyone.

Rappa didn't want to fight anymore, though; he fought his whole life and fought until he died, and yeah, he LIKED fighting, but that doesn't mean he wanted to do it pretty much every day. He knew better than to try to say that to her. He didn't want her to try to lock him up… he knew that if she did that, he could break out, but they would search for him.

And they might use the tots against him; he didn’t want that to happen.

The tots still didn’t know what he did for a living, and he hoped that they wouldn’t ever figure it out. There is no need for them to… They didn’t need to know where he got the things they used or where he got the money that he used to order their food sometimes. Yeah! Big Mama liked him enough that she started to pay him for fighting in the ring… more than he was expecting, honestly, and he had a feeling that she knew that he wasn’t enjoying it too much and was trying to ‘sweeten’ the pot, if you get what he meant.

Today was one of the only days that Rappa had fun in the ring. He had gone against a large black bear Yokai, one covered in scars and marks from battles over the years, most likely, and he got bit on his arm, which did draw blood, but Rappa did the same back, and by the end of the fight, he had won but was bleeding pretty badly, as was the bear. Big Mama smiled and clapped her hands together while people were cheering. They liked the fight. Rappa had reached up, touched his lips, and pulled them back to see blood. Was it his own? Or the Yokai's? Both? He walked over and helped the bear up, telling him that he had done well. They promised to keep in touch… Guess he made a friend?

Now he was heading home.

He got paid more than normal for the fight today, and when he got back to the sewers, he walked in thinking about how he was going to fix up this wound. They wrapped it up, but they didn't bother trying to really fix it... would it heal well enough? Did he need to sew it? Ugh. He bit his tongue when Big Mama praised him for his fight and told him to keep it up. You old hag… he had no choice, and you knew that.

He could hear noises by the time he got back, and he looked around. What? Were they still awake? It was way past their bedtime... "Boys?" He walks towards where he heard the noises and sees them all piled around on a blanket, watching a movie. Orange was asleep, and Purple seemed to be having a hard time staying awake. "What are you four doing?" He asks and looks at the movie to see what they were watching. Oh... that was Lou Jitsu on the screen; how did they-? He shakes his head to get his mind off that and looks at them. He couldn't let himself get too deep into thought about that; it would just make him sad.

Blue turned his head, hearing the voice, then smiled and held out his arms, letting out happy chirps. Red was doing the same, and his tail started to wag, which bumped Purple and caused him to wake up. He let out an annoyed squeak. Orange was still snoozing away.

Slowly, Rappa moves over and picks Blue up, looking at him. "What's up, little man?" he asks, leaning forward, nudging his nose against Blue's cheek. He leans into the nudging, starting to chirp and click happily. How old were these guys? How long has he been here? He hadn't really been keeping too much track of it, now that he thought about it... Red, his smaller version, heh cute, looks up at him and starts to pat at his leg, pointing at the TV, "Oh? You guys want me to watch with you?" He looks at the TV and nods, slowly getting down on the ground and crossing his legs. Purple crawls over to lay on his lap, curling up in it. Red picked up Orange, who stayed asleep shockingly, and dragged him over to join in on the pile.

He figured that he could wrap up his arm later—better, I mean. He looks down at the tots and smiles, sets Blue down with them, and pats them all on their little dumb heads while making sure to be careful not to press down too hard. Rappa knew that they would grow up... they were going to grow up and become what his brothers were: strong fighters and strong warriors… but he knew that they could stop it. Stop the danger; stop the bad stuff from happening. He… wouldn't end up dying like he did.

They would still grow up, but not grow up to have to fight in the apocalypse.

God, how was he supposed to help stop that? He could train them, but they were so small; how were they supposed to fight? They were going to get hurt, and he couldn't protect them from it all. He couldn't protect his brothers; he ended up dying and leaving them behind, and now look at him; he's fighting for a villain just so they would have stuff. His moral code screams at him every day. Has he been doing alright? Is he doing any better than his dad did?

Every day was a struggle to get up. Loud noises made him want to attack, and every day he fought, he had to hold back to not accidentally kill someone. Rappa might be raising these guys, but he wasn't a dad! He didn't want to be their dad; he had to... his thoughts were stopped when he heard squeaking.

The tots were looking up at him, looking worried, and they were squeaking and chirping up at him. Blue was rubbing at the liquid that was on his head... what? Slowly, he reaches up, touches at under his eye, and pulls it back. It was wet; he was crying?

"Geez," He mutters to himself and laughs, rubbing at his eyes quickly to try to get the tears to stop forming, and he sniffles, "Sorry, I... I dunno where those came from. Rappa's fine, promise." Blue nuzzles up against his plastron the best that he could and Red pats at it as if he was trying to offer comfort. "You two are cute." He mumbles and pets the tops of their heads with his thumbs. Purple was just staring at him, looking confused but looking back at the TV. He was never the best with emotions.

Soon enough, they went back to watching the movie, and Rappa held the tots as they all slowly fell asleep… he couldn't help but allow his mind to wander. He remembered the day that his dad died; the age just caught up to him; he didn't die during battle, luckily. He died with his family around him… he was holding Leonardo's hand, telling him how proud he was of him, how proud he was of all of them: "I know I wasn't the best father… but you all were the best sons someone could have asked for, and April, thank you for being my daughter…" They said their goodbyes, and then he went to sleep and was gone before they knew it.

Mikey was the first to break, starting to sob, and Raph held him at the time. What they didn’t know was that he could feel it. It felt like a string had been cut, a thread finally giving out after holding on for so long.

He had to go through that twice, didn't he? His own father dying, then this version? These boys would never have that. They would never have Splinter as a father figure.

All they had was… him.

His son never got to have a father.

Rappa squeezes his eyes shut tightly, knowing he was crying again, so he reaches over and turns off the TV, then picks up the tots, making sure not to wake them up, and goes to put them into the blanket pile that they used as a bed. They'd want their own rooms sooner or later, he was sure. Once he made sure that they were asleep, he went to fix his arm.

He needed to distract himself. It seemed like today was a bad mental day for him.

Chapter Text

After Rappa was able to clean and wrap up the wound, he went to check on the babies. They were still asleep, and he then went to splash water on his face. With his work, he hadn't been able to spend as much time with them as he would have liked, and he knew that he was stressing himself out too much as well. All of this fighting wasn't good for him, and honestly, he just wanted to spend his time relaxing with his little brothers… guess he couldn't call them that, huh? They were his brothers, but they weren't really his brothers? They were just from this timeline? World? Ugh, he didn't know! This was stupid and confusing.

They were the mutant turtles, but they weren’t his brothers! Just really like his brothers.

While he was splashing the water on his face, he heard faint sounds that caused him to blink, and he turned his head, frowning. What in the world? Who could that be? There was no way that someone found their way this deep into the sewers, right? He followed the sounds to see that it was Blue, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He was walking, carrying some of the bandages. They were dragging behind him on the ground… did he go into Rappa's room to get those? He hadn't cleaned up the cloth with the blood on them yet, so that's worrying. Did he see the bloody wrappings? That would be bad for Blue… probably. No, not probably! For sure.

"Blue, what are you doing?" he walks over and scoops Blue up into his arms. Blue chirps at him, sounding sleepy, so he smiles and starts to chirp back, then asks in his normal voice, "Did you want to come and help me? I'm not really hurt. Don't worry about me." He starts to head back to the shared room, figuring he could just put Blue back to bed… at least he hoped that Blue would want to go back to sleep. He was always hard to put to bed when they were older.

Dumb little insomniac.

"Daddy…" Blue mumbles and shakes the bandages, smacking Rappa in the face with them as if that would help. He noticed that Rappa had the bandages, and there had to be a reason for it, so he wanted to help! He had seen enough TV shows where someone had bandages on because they were hurt!

Rappa stopped moving when he heard the little voice, looking down at Blue and then biting the inside of his cheek. Oh… Oh, crap. "I-" he stopped. What was he supposed to say to that?

Blue just said his first word! His first word was daddy, but it was at him. He was… he was the dad, huh? He turns his head down, then looks back at Blue, who was looking up at him sleepily, still shaking the bandages around. This, funnily, wasn't the first time that one of his brothers called him a dad… Orange did once when they were really young, before he really realized what was going on, and it broke his heart then and it did now too. "I'm okay little guy… hey, you want to spend the night in my room with me?" Blue lets out happy sounds at that, so instead of going to the boys shared room, he decided to go into his own.

He places Blue onto the bed and grabs the bloodied bandages, throws them away, then takes the bandages from Blue's hands, "Hey… you know, I'm really proud of you." He pats the top of Blue's head and says, "I'm always gonna be proud of you; if I ever don't tell you, just remember this, okay?" Blue leans into the touch, and he was pretty dang sure that he wouldn't remember this. Rappa just remembered all of the times that he and Leonardo fought. Rappa wouldn't change that, but he would change the whole end of the world thing and him getting killed by a fallen building.

Yeah, that sucked.

He couldn't handle the sound of things falling like that anymore. It sent him into a panicked state, but at least he could handle being alone now! He sort of grew out of that phobia, at least a little. He hadn't gone into his 'savage' state in a while, though he almost did one time when he got knocked into the wall and some fell on him. He was only able to stop himself by a thread.

He was sure that Big Mama noticed something, but he hoped not.

Rappa gets into the bed, and he feels Blue climb up onto his shell, curling up between the spikes, and he smiles, shutting his eyes. Yeah, he isn't going to do the best as a caretaker or parent, but he is going to do his best. He liked to think that he was doing well, at least.

The boys were still alive, and they were healthy. That's all he could ever want.

The next morning, when he woke up, he could feel extra weight on his back, and when he looked over his shoulder, brushing his hair out of his face, he saw the familiar shapes of the four tiny turtles asleep on his back. They must have come to join Blue during the night when they realized he wasn't there. He smiles when he sees them and shuts his eyes again. Okay, this is fine… he'll just rest until they are ready to get up and move around.

Today was his day off, anyway. Maybe he could take the tots upside so they could play around some; wouldn't that be fun? He would… just have to be careful, I mean, with his size, he couldn't say he was just some normal human. Maybe he could try to ask Big Mama for a cloaking stone? Egh… she would most likely get him deeper into debt; how awesome would that be?! Not… not at all. Plus they haven’t learned how to talk yet, and they were still pretty small, so maybe he’ll put off going topside for a while.

If he remembered correctly, Blue was the first one to talk, followed by Purple and Orange. Red was the last one to talk; he never saw a reason in talking until he realized that he needed to talk to April… It was interesting, to say the least. How old were they when they first met April? He couldn't remember.

Maybe he could take them to the store? Damn it, each and every single one of these ideas wouldn't work because of how tall he was! He huffs softly under his breath, squinting in annoyance. Being a giant is never fun, not when you were supposed to be 'normal' and yeah, he would never be normal. Even compared to his brothers. 

As he was thinking, his thoughts were suddenly yanked out of his head when his hair was also yanked. He yelps at the sudden pain and turns his head to look. It was Orange! Orange giggles, looks at him, and smiles, waving his free hand. Orange, you little evil creature, how could you? "Orange." He reaches back to try to grab him, but he couldn't reach and Orange laughs ducking down, still holding some of Rappa's hair, "Orange, come on, you're out of my reach. Stop tugging my hair, you big bully." He laughs, trying not to move too much since the others are still asleep.

Orange lets out a squeal of laughter and rocks where he was sitting on Rappa's shell, tugging on his hair again. He didn't blame Orange; he didn't understand that it would hurt because they didn't have hair, most likely… maybe? "Ouch, hey hey, Orange, no, stop pulling my hair." He tried to reach back, but hissed and put his arms down since, dang it, his arm was hurting again. That cut better heal fast.

The others get woken up by the sounds and movement, and Red yawns, stretches out, then shakes himself off a bit like a cat would, and he crawls over to hug onto Orange, taking him down while Orange was still laughing, as if that was the most fun he's ever had. Rappa reaches out and hugs both of them, pulling him closer to his front. "You're a little bully, you know that?" he says, nuzzling his face against them both since he was big enough and they were small enough for that. Red starts to chirp happily, and Blue whines, "Noooo!" he crawls over and hugs onto Rappa's face, since he wanted attention too.

This isn’t fair.

Where was Purple in all of this?

Purple was still trying to sleep with his loud and dumb dumb brothers.

Rappa snorts and hugs Blue too, knowing that he would be a baby about it… you know what? He could take the babies to a pizza place! That would be fun; he knew that they would like it, and hey, so would he. There's an all-you-can eat pizza place! Of course he wouldn't be able to have all he could eat, but… no, they're still too small. He'll wait until they can all walk and talk.

He looks over his shoulder and reaches over, picking up Purple to lay him in the pile too, letting out a soft laugh at his annoyed chirping, "You're part of this family whether you like it or not, you big baby." He kisses Purple on top of his head, making him squeal in his baby rage.

Cute little shit.

Weeks passed. Rappa continued to work, fighting in the ring and getting food and everything that they needed from Big Mama. She just loved having him around! She would compare him to her old champion in popularity too; he didn't want that. He didn't want to be 'popular', he didn't want to be loved by the people who only liked seeing him get hurt or seeing him hurt others. That felt so… empty.

He ordered food sometimes too, mostly whenever he didn't want to cook anything, and would always ask them whatever they wanted. They would always smack at takeout menus to decide which they wanted at the time, which he thought was cute.

Purple learned how to talk during those weeks and he decided that he didn't want to say anything until he could talk well, so he said, "Papa, I don't want this…" Rappa almost jumped away since Purple startled him. Come on, kid! Why can't you be normal?! He sighed and told Purple that he didn't need to eat anything that he didn't want to… But asked what he wanted.

Purple wanted noodles.

Then Orange spoke. Rappa found him rubbing pasta sauce on the wall, and he said, "Art!" He cried when Rappa had to clean it, and Rappa ordered him some finger paints and Blue some child doctor set… It was cute; he wrapped Red up in the bandages, and then Red couldn't get up. He started squeaking and chirping loudly. He kept going until Rappa went to help him out, but Blue started crying because "Red's hurt and needs to have the bandages!" not exactly what Blue said, but close enough. Him crying made Red start crying because he was confused… then Orange because his siblings were crying and Purple was squeaking at everyone to tell them to stop crying… maybe? It's hard to tell with him.

Rappa was so tired… these boys knew just how to tire him out, didn't they? He collected them and started to try to get them to stop crying, while Purple stood with his arms crossed then he realized hey, wait, he wasn't getting attention… he looked down, then over, and he walked over to hug Rappa's tail, mumbling under his breath. He wanted attention too… Rappa looks down and smiles, patting the top of Purple's head, then goes back to trying to get the idiots to stop crying, telling Blue that Red wasn't really hurt and everyone was going to be alright.

It took a while, but, luckily, they calmed down. Rappa was happy that everyone was learning how to talk and walk; Red still hadn't spoken, but he wasn't too worried about it. He knew that Red would talk whenever he was ready!

Heh, this was sort of funny… I mean, that was him when he was much younger. Every day it was getting easier and easier for him to disconnect these guys from his brothers though; maybe because they kept calling him dad, papa, or daddy… his brothers never called him that haha! Ah… that was a bad joke.

After crying, Rappa had to order some ice cream from the store since Orange asked for it, and then the others started chanting. They only ever had it rarely—once or twice. Now that he thought about it, he said, "Alright, alright, let's get you guys some ice cream… but just this once since you guys have been doing well," and he ordered it. He got vanilla since it's the most basic flavor, and everyone liked that one—even Purple, which made him happy.

When the bag was dropped off from the shop, Rappa reached out and grabbed it, pulling it down, then started to head back over to where he left the tots. He heard them chanting, mostly Blue while Orange was clapping happily. Red was chirping loudly too. Purple was even doing some happy wiggles. He found this adorable! He liked it when they got excited. "Alright, you guys," he starts, "you can have one bowl, and only one. No asking for more." He points at them and they all smile, nodding… He knew they'd still ask for more, but oh well. He goes to the kitchen while they follow after him like they were little ducks.

Chapter Text

Something was wrong.

Purple wasn't waking up.

After their "training" for the day, Rappa allowed everyone to go take a nap. It wasn't really real training; honestly, he's been making it look like they were playing games instead because he didn't want them to think it wasn't fun! Mostly hide-and-seek games or providing them with makeshift weapons they could use to fight with without hurting one another. Purple had a pool noodle instead of a staff, and Orange's were just foam. Blah blah blah, everyone had something. While training that day, Purple complained about being tired, and the others joined in—he had a feeling that they were just saying that to get out of it—so Rappa took them to nap, then he went to go and do whatever he wanted to do while they were resting.

After taking a short break, he went to get some food, sat down, and began using his phone to do some research. Due to the size of his fingers, pressing the buttons was a little challenging, but he managed it! He had seen some news stories about how Lou Jitsu went missing and how they were going to try to find him, but they have been unable to so far. He always clicked off that screen very fast; it wasn't important. They weren't going to be able to find him...

After a little while, he got up from where he sat and walked to their shared room. They would get their own rooms soonish, but right now, it was best to let them share. It was a little funny; slowly, Rappa was starting to forget the past... it was strange. Despite the fact that the thought alarmed him, perhaps it was for the best. It was getting easier to not see these guys as his siblings; he had a feeling it would change when they got older. When he got into their room, he looked at their sleeping forms and smiled. "Heh, adorable." He walked over and started to gently shake them awake. "Guys, it is time to get up." When Orange hears Blue begin to squeak angrily, he squirms and flinches, but then he opens his eyes, smiles, and calls out to him, "Papa!" with his hands raised. Red awoke and began to chirp as well, though perhaps not in a sour mood.

Difficult to say.

"Good morning, Orange." He leans down and nudges his nose against his cheek to nuzzle him, then looks over at Purple and gently pats his cheek, saying, "Come on, Purple, you can't sleep all day, you little lazy." Purple didn't react, and when he touched him, he was so hot. Rappa perks up and frowns. What in the world? "Purple?" He scoops the softshell up. His head was limp and hanging, and the only reason that Rappa could tell that he was alive was because of how hot he was, as well as the slight shivers.

"Purple?" Blue asks, reaching up and patting his hands against the other's arm but getting no response. Rappa's heart began to beat vigorously in his chest, resembling the sound of a drum. Why wasn't Purple waking up? Wait, wait, wait! He remembered this. Purple experienced a serious illness at this time. "Why isn't Purple waking up?" Blue asked once more, his worried gaze glancing up at him. In addition, Orange and Red began to appear anxious.

What was he supposed to say to that? He turns his attention away before turning it back to the others. They looked so nervous. Crap! "Purple is just... very sleepy. Really worn out, but it will be fine! We're going to wake him up, but I'm going to need you guys to help me with it." They cheer, throwing their hands in the air. They figured that it would be a game. Despite being terrified, he smiles. When Red was younger, he had to inform Splinter that Purple was not waking up. Splinter left them for a short period of time while he went to get medicine for Purple, but he left them all alone, which caused Red to panic terribly. He shivers at the thought and shakes his head to get his mind off it. He grabs a blanket quickly and does his best to cloak himself in it, the children trailing behind. They all roared in laughter and giggles as he swiped them up in his tail and drew them into his arms.

This was not what Rappa wanted to happen.

Although it was regrettably necessary, he did not want to take them just yet to the Hidden City. The medicine that their dad got before worked, but it left Purple not feeling very well for a long time afterwards. This might now be able to make him feel better and keep feeling better.

Orange looked up at him with his hand in his mouth and asked, "Where we going?" as he ran toward the entrance to the Hidden City, trying to be as cautious as he could. All of the tots now looked up at him except Purple, who was letting out soft weak squeaks. Blue kept trying to nudge him, but nothing worked. It was good enough, though. He was getting noises from Purple, and that showed that he was alive.

"We're... we're going to see somebody that I work with. She goes by Big Mama.” Orange makes a soft oh sound while Blue grins and pats his arm, saying, "Is she your wife?" Rappa blinks at that and turns his head down to look at Blue, and he guessed the confusion was clear, so he continued, "Papa is you, and then Mama is who you're married to!" Red begins to chirp cheerfully as Orange covers his cheeks with his hands and gasps.

Despite all odds, Rappa managed a small chuckle before shaking his head and saying, "No, she's... Big Mama isn't my wife. I had a wife before, but... she's gone right now." He sips and shakes his head to get his attention away from that before looking ahead and moving more quickly. They started to ask a lot of questions, and Rappa answered the ones that he thought were needed. People moved out of his way as he passed through the Hidden City while still keeping an eye on him. They seemed confused and nervous, which he understood. A very powerful and dangerous fighter, Rappa is enormous as well. The public witnessed that.

They saw his teeth and spikes. They didn't see his softness or how he cared for these children, and he was happy about that. The fewer people who tried to fight them, the better. He has undoubtedly already made a few enemies, as was to be expected.

Finally, he got to Big Mama's place, and he rushed in, ignoring the person at the counter. He is sorry, Minori, but he is currently busy. Tsutomu and Satoru, two workers who were the twins Sakata, passed him as he ran. Although they waved, he had to ignore them. His arms were full. He ran into Big Mama's office, panting softly to try to catch his breath. "Big Mama, I need your help."

Her humming, which had been interrupted when he entered the room as she was going over some papers, stopped. She raises her head and gives him a moment of her full attention before grinning and saying, "Rappa, welcome back. You did not seem to have a meeting scheduled for today, did you? They would have informed me. How can I help?” Even if it was just a little bit, he could tell that she was irritated as she set her papers down.

"I..." He takes a gulp before looking down at the young children and then back at her. Blue pokes his head out from under the blanket and waves, "Hi Mama!" All of her irritation seemed to vanish as she put her hands on her cheeks and exclaimed, "Oh my! Hi smoochums." She giggles and waves her fingers at him, "Go on, Rappa, why did you bring your little babily boos here?" 

This was a bad idea, and he knew it. She would demand more. She ALWAYS wants more, but he exhales to try to calm himself down and moves cautiously toward her. "One of them won't wake up; their names are Red, Purple, Blue, and Orange. Urm, Purple won't wake up. He's sick. I was hoping you could help me get him better." He moves Purple out from under the blanket, seeing his little chest rising and falling but the breathing was harsh sounding.

Big Mama looks at him, then Purple, and reaches out to take him into her arms. "Poor little creature, what type of bummemiesters would go and make him not feel good?" she coos at him, and Orange pokes his head around, asking, "Are you our Mama?" In the midst of Big Mama's laughter, Rappa reaches up and gently nudges his head back under the blanket, almost embarrassed.

"Do you think you could help him?" Rappa questioned a little more forcefully than he intended. He was just panicking! Each passing second got worse for Purple. What if he... what if he died? Of course he knew that Purple wouldn't end up dying; his father took much longer to get the medicine, but he was allowed to panic. He could not be judged for that. She lets out a hum, then nods and snaps her fingers, ordering the assistant to go and get the doctor to come and check Purple out, then leans back in her chair and says, "Sit." When he was about to object, she gave him a look, which caused him to sit down while muttering.

Now she continued to talk: "You decided to bring him to me for a reason. You were such a catch, and I am proud of you for having both brains and muscle! I'm glad that I hired you." She giggles and gently pinches Purple's cheek, who lets out a soft whine and tries to lean away from the touch. "And who would have guessed you'd have such purrity little babily boos?" She coos at Purple again, and Blue giggles, holding out his arms, but Rappa moves his arm around Blue, holding him closer. He didn't want her anywhere near them. "You have never brought them to see Mama, and it really hurts me."

The truth is, I have not really taken them anywhere outside of our home. I didn't want them to be seen by anyone. Yokai or human." He says to her, "It isn't anything against you or your place." She frightened him despite the fact that he was aware of how much bigger he was than her. The way that she sometimes looked at him sent shivers down his spine, which made him a little amused. Being one of the strongest individuals in the post-apocalyptic world, he was confident in his ability to defeat just about anyone. It is kind of funny—no, it is not funny at all—that he passed away first. Hurt him genuinely.

The doctor soon arrived, examined Purple, and made a few recommendations for what they should do. The medication Rappa would have to administer to Purple on a regular basis was given to him: "Complete the entire bottle, and he ought to feel better. To prevent the others from becoming ill as well, he must be separated from them.” Rappa nods along, listening while the other Tots are still in his arms. They seemed confused about what was happening now. This... wasn't helping Purple wake up; this seemed bad. Orange whimpers and calls out to Purple, "Purple!" holding out his arms. He appeared to be on the verge of crying. While rubbing his back, Rappa frowns and looks down at Orange. "Sorry little buddy. Purple's going to need to stay with Rappa for a little while. He's... real tired."

He takes the medication and murmurs his appreciation to the doctor before turning to Big Mama and asking, "Well... what do you want for helping me out?" Although he was simply worn out and tired, he was aware that he came across as a little rude. She looks at him, then gets a small smile on her face, and she shakes her head, saying, "Now now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Given everything you have already done for me, how about dropping by on your next day off? We'll be equal." Aw man, he never got days off... he bites the inside of his cheek but nods, getting a small smile. "Thank you." He stands up and walks over to take Purple back, where she hands him back, saying, "And remember to bring them to see their Mama sometimes." She reaches over and pinches Blue's and Orange's cheeks, giggling, and Red leans over to try to bite her fingers, not in a mean way but in a, "I see something and I want to bite it," kind of way, which made her laugh since he missed.

Rappa smiled at her, then picked up Purple and started to walk out, looking at the medicine in his hand. Just his day off, huh? He felt like something wrong was going to happen. His hold on the bottle gets more firm. "Let's get us home so we can give Purple his medicine..." The tots were all looking up at him, then they looked at each other, letting out soft chirps and squeaks. They all seemed just as nervous as him.

Chapter Text

Slowly, but surely, Purple was beginning to feel better from the sickness that he had. 

Rappa noticed when he opened his eyes and weakly murmured, his voice soft, asking about where Blue and the others were and if he could see them. He sounded disoriented and confused about why the others weren’t with him already, in all probability not realizing just how long it had been since he was sick. During the time that he wasn't feeling the best, Rappa had to keep the other tots away from him so they wouldn't get sick themselves and so Purple could sleep without being disturbed… he knew that the others were displeased by it; that was obviously easy to guess. Blue began to cry and argue with him, stomping his feet and throwing a temper tantrum because he wanted to see his twin, but Rappa had to send him away to be with his other brothers. Rappa knew that he was sad, and he didn’t blame the kid for being upset, but there was nothing that he could do.

Red attempted to sneak in; he wasn't the most stealthy, and Orange even asked to be let in before trying to run around him, laughing. Rappa caught him with his tail before he could get too far in. Blue actually bit him once! It didn’t hurt or anything, as Blue’s bite wasn’t the strongest and he had rough skin, however, it was still sort of surprising to him. Rappa had to keep saying no and stopping them from trying to get into the room until finally he lost his temper and sat them down, asking them what they would do if they were allowed in? They can not make him feel better; all they can do is let him sleep and rest. He would improve if they just let him rest! He did his best to answer the questions posed by the tots.

He tried his best to explain to them why Purple needed to sleep and why trying to go visit him was a bad idea! They could get sick themselves, and then they would have to be all alone too, and that isn’t good, right? Blue was still upset and pouting as they shook their heads. Rappa understood; this is exactly how it happened when they were younger… it was kind of funny.

Then it was the day that Purple woke up and asked about them. Rappa looked at him, smiled, and rested his hand over Purple's. The size difference was mind-boggling! Huge hand and tiny hand together… “Are you okay? Do you need anything?” He felt like he needed to ask. Rappa stood up and went to get the other Tots after Purple shook his head and asked for Blue again. When he brought them in, he set Blue down on the bed with Purple, then set the other two down so they could join in, but Purple did just ask for Blue…

“ Purple!” Blue cries and crawls closer to hug him tight, nuzzling their faces together and letting out little whines. He sounded so scared. “I thought you were gonna die!” Orange even started to cry, maybe not liking the energy that Blue was letting out right now, so Rappa reached over and patted the top of his head with a small smile on his face. Orange would stop crying soon enough once he realized that Blue was happy, not sad… he had always had that strange connection to his brothers emotions. Rappa sat on the ground beside the bed so the others could have all the space that they would need. Red crawled over to them, lying on his tummy and looking at Purple. Red would wait for his turn to have a hug after Blue got his; he knew how sad Blue had been lately.

Purple squirms slightly in response to the hug, making an annoyed sound, but he nuzzles Blue back, shaking his head. It would be ridiculous if he died like that... Blue, on the other hand, needed to calm down because Purple was on the verge of crying as well. He was still feeling icky, and he did not like it.

Rappa, on the other hand, wondered.

What kind of disease could have done that to them? Draxum created them to be warriors; not much could affect them in that way! Poisons, drugs, and all that nonsense—how did Purple get sick? His mind raced with different ideas, but he sighed slowly and closed his eyes. He would have to consider it later. He had no desire to. The idea of figuring out if the sickness was caused by someone made him worry! That would mean that someone tried to kill Purple. Perhaps he was overthinking things and it was simply a common illness.

Over the next few weeks, Rappa kept an eye on Purple whenever he went to do anything. He knew that he was being overprotective, but he mostly wanted to make sure that the softshell was alright and healthy, and luckily, everything seemed to be fine! It made him very happy. Really took the edge off him. His heart would still pound whenever he heard Purple even cough! It was good that the others didn't get sick either; Rappa always worried about that.

They were all doing fine...

Guess he should thank Big Mama for the stuff that she gave him. Not asking anything back though? That was uncharacteristic of her, and it worried him.

Today came and went, and finally, Rappa was allowed to come home from work. Big Mama kept asking about the Tots, wanting to see them, but he told her, keeping his voice light and relaxed… or at least he hoped he did; he wasn’t the best at telling with that sort of stuff. "I would rather keep them home for now. Shouldn't take them anywhere where they could get hurt, right?" She always just smiled when he told her no, but something about it made him... uneasy.

Why did his heart beat faster every time she looked at him? She was only smiling at him, but he felt like prey, and he hated that! He was so much bigger than her! He battled the Krang. Hell! He even ate a few! Why did Big Mama, one of the ladies that used to be their teammate, make him feel so freaked out? For many, he was the predator, not the prey. No way, not with her. With her, he felt powerless. Like chains were wrapped around his legs. Captured and chained.

When he returned home, he looked around before smiling and calling out, "Boys! I'm home. Sorry I’m a bit late, but I was thinking we should order pizza again." God, he loved coming home to someone… maybe it would be a bit nicer if it were, you know, his wife and son, but he tried not to think about that too much. Even if it is one of the only things he dreams about these days—and has nightmares about. He would had so many nightmares. Always around him dying—his brothers dying, seeing his dad getting crushed under the rubble and all that fire—you know, he was going to think of something else.

There was no reply.

Why were not the boys there to greet him like they usually did? Maybe they were just… they were playing somewhere? Rappa began to walk around, looking for them, with that thought in mind. He checked in their shared room; he checked in his own room; he checked in some parts of the sewers that he knew that they liked to hang out at. Heck! He even checked all of the cabinets, but they weren't there. Why weren't they here? Rappa had told them many many times that they needed to be with him and not leave if he wasn't home! It was dangerous! 

He could feel panic rising in his stomach and the desire to freak out, but he calmed himself by breathing in and out. No no, right now, freaking out wouldn’t help; he needed to control himself and not lose control like all those times when he was a stupid teenager. "Alright, Raph, no need to panic. I'm sure that they're fine." it was almost strange to talk to himself like this, and even more strange to call himself Raph anymore, even if that was his original name.

What was he supposed to do? Who could have taken them? Did they leave on their own or were they taken? Even though he was trying to tell himself not to worry, he knew that he was, and he knew how dangerous it was. "Boys!" he yells out and turns, running out of the hideout that he has made their home. He needed to find them. He simply had to! Who knows what would happen to them if they were kidnapped? Or even where they could possibly be?

The idea of anything bad happening to them made his heart pound, and he felt sick. This isn't... this was not supposed to happen. Rappa did everything perfectly! He forced himself to work so they could have things—better than they did when he was a kid. He let the tots play, even if he hated the idea of them going out. Sure, he never let them go above ground, but they were too young to go out. It would be too dangerous for them; they were still being trained. Fortunately, it was progressing well, but they were still children.

And, yes, Rappa was aware that he was being far too protective of them. If this was the original timeline, they would have left by now, and he knew that changing things was not good, but he just could not let himself let them go. Not quite yet. 

It had been hours.

He still had not found the tots, and Rappa was heartbroken. He had been sneaking around, trying to find any hints as to where they could have gone, but there wasn't anything that he could find. Truthfully, he kind of thought that maybe it was Big Mama, but maybe he was pushing that thought to the back of his mind—he didn't even want to think of that! How was he supposed to track them down? He had no idea how long they had been gone! They could be anywhere, and he would have no idea.

So, for the time being, he returned home. The sun had long gone down, and it was bitterly cold. Rappa would make a plan, and that plan was to keep searching for them no matter what. He did not care how long it took; he was going to find them. They were very important—not just for fighting the Krang in the future, but also for him! They were his brothers , and they were the kids that he was taking care of. If something bad happened to them just because he had to go to work, he would blame himself. Of course he knew that he needed to work, but he still felt bad… 

He was walking home, trying not to be seen, when he heard childlike laughter, which made him pause. Huh? Was that… he thought for a moment, then went to where he could hear it, and he saw exactly what he wanted but also didn't. There were the tots, playing in the park. Orange was swinging around on the swing while Blue stood on it, holding onto the chains to keep from falling off. Purple was sitting and playing on his tablet, the light from it lighting up his face, and Red was playing with a human girl—one that Rappa himself knew very very well.

Even though he had kept them inside for so long, they had still somehow found her. April .

He stood there for a few moments, unsure whether he should interrupt, before deciding that yes, he should. So many rules were broken! Did they know how worried he was?! He exhales and exhales to relieve his annoyance and, possibly, anger before shaking his head and feeling his hair hit himself. He should try to cut that, huh? Once he was able to calm himself down, he stepped out, heading over to where the boys were playing with April. He hoped to not scare her, but he figured that she wouldn't get too freaked out—maybe just a little, hopefully.

"Boys!" He didn't exactly shout , but he did raise his voice. "I have been searching for you four everywhere ." When he called out like that, the kids stopped their playing, and Orange looked over, smiled, and held up his hands, squeaking, "Daddy!" He jumps off the swing, causing Blue to lose his balance and fall off, but he laughs, hops up, and runs over as well, not seeming to exactly care that he just fell on his face. They both leap into Rappa's arms, where they are caught, and Orange begins to speak, "We met... we met a friend! We have a friend!" He laughs and claps his hands together, to which Blue responds, "Yeah! Her names April, and she doesn't have a shell."

"Cause she's a human, dumb dumb! They don't have shells." Purple spoke from where he was. April sits up after watching from where she was lying on her stomach. Rappa wanted to be annoyed, but seeing their joy made him sigh, knowing that he couldn’t bring himself to be mad, and slowly walk over, "I have told you boys not to go out without telling me... you really made me worried. What if something happened?" he asked, as if expecting a genuine response.

Red shakes his head and raises his hands, clearly pleased with his brilliant idea. "Red would protect his brothers!" the others, even Purple, cheered, and April laughed, throwing her hands up as well. Guess she wanted to be brought into it… eh, alright, fine. Rappa could not blame them, and they usually listened, so he would let them off the hook this time. He sits down on the ground, with Orange and Blue climbing out of his arms to climb on him. His tail begins to sway slowly as he is relieved that he found them and that they are safe.

"Hello there." He looks at April, holding out his hand for a shake. She looks at it and slowly reaches out, taking one of his fingers into her hand to shake it, "I'm Rappa. I'm these squirts dad... heard you were named April?" She nods and smiles up at him, revealing the gap between her teeth. It was just one of them that was gone, soon to be replaced by a full-grown tooth. Rappa felt his heart ache as he saw her so young and pure again. April helped them so much in the future, and he wondered how she was doing… he wondered how they were all doing, really. Rappa died a while ago, but the nightmares were still there. He awoke occasionally, feeling as if he were being crushed under the weight of the stones once more, his chest so tight and painful that he could not breathe. Rappa, in all honesty, could handle those nightmares. The ones that upset him the most were the ones where it showed his brothers dying because he wasn't there to help them, to protect them, and then they would tell him that it was his fault. It was his fault that they were dying because he wasn't strong enough. It was his fault that they were dying because he wasn't there to help them… 

And damn it! He was well aware that they would not say such a thing. Why was his body torturing him over something that he couldn't control?

He blinks, getting back into focus, and he hears Purple saying, "No, that's normal. Sometimes he stops moving; I think he's thinking about stuff. Normally whenever that happens, we just wait and he knocks himself out of it… we’re not really sure what happens to cause that." He looked over at Purple, then at April, who was now staring back up at him. Oh- right, yeah, that was… that was something that happened, huh? Crap.

What was he supposed to say? "Sorry kid, I got distracted." He puts his hand down to the ground, then looks over his shoulder at Orange, who was on his tail, so he smiles and starts to wag it back and forth fast, causing him to squeal with laughter, hugging onto it the best that he could to not be flung off. "Faster faster!" He shouted, so Blue laughed and jumped down too, latching on. Rappa couldn't do it much faster.

"If you're a turtle, why do you have hair?" April asks, pointing up at his head. He looks at her and shrugs his shoulders, responding, "If you're a human, why do you have glass in front of your eyes?" She giggles, putting her hands over her mouth, and then points over at Purple, saying, "He has glasses too! You know what those are." Rappa lets out a hum at that, rubbing his chin, "Ah yes, you're right; it seems that Purple is a human too. Tragic." Purple gasps, as if he was offended, then waves his arms, saying fast, "I am a turtle! I'm not a human!" Purple and April then started to go back and forth, with April asking what was so bad about being a human while Purple shook his head.

Alright, great, guess he got himself off that. "Red, stop trying to eat the sand. That's not good for you." Red stopped his hand that was about to go into his mouth, looking over, then putting his hand down, pouting a little.

It went on like that for a while. The tots—and April—were playing while Rappa was watching them until Blue wrapped his arms around himself and whined, loudly, "Dadddd! I'm cold and hungry!" That seemed to catch Red's attention, who nodded in agreement, and Orange waved his arms, almost shouting, "Daddy, I'm tired!" Purple decided to join in by saying, "Papa, I don't wanna walk anymore!" His eyes shoot between the four of them and holds up his hands, saying, "Alright boys." He scoops them all up, Blue crawling up to sit on his shoulder, holding onto his hair to not lose his balance. "let's get heading home… April, do you live close by?"

She looked up, then around, as if she was confused and unsure. Rappa bites the inside of his cheek, figuring that this was expected. What was she even doing out here? They first met on top of her roof! He sighs out slowly and scoops her up too, starting to walk slowly, saying, "Come on, let's get you home too. You can stay with us tonight, and then I'll take you back where you belong. Sounds good?" She smiles, nodding, and Purple even hugs her, if loosely. He kind of liked her because she explained some stuff about humans and all of their nice things. "Hey dad, are we going to be able to hang out with April again?" Blue asked, sounding hopeful.

"You boys snuck out without telling me where you were going while I was at work, and I nearly had a heart attack while looking..." when they all looked guilty, he continued, "But that's no reason to punish April by taking her new friends away… as long as you four tell me before you leave, I don't see why not. Just don't go and talk to other humans unless you're dressed up. We don't know if everyone would be as accepting as she is." they all—as well as April—cheer, throwing their hands into the air, and he chuckles, rolling his eyes.

He guessed that… different friendships will always find their way. April will always find the turtles, or the turtles will always find April. No matter what.

Friendships always find each other.

In the morning, Rappa took April home. He told her that if they ever needed to get in contact, she could message him on his phone. He gave her his number, patted her on the head, and left. She grinned and waved to him, shouting, "Thank you for helping me, Mr. Turtle!" he couldn't help but laugh at that, turn to look over his shoulder, and wave, then look forward to head home quickly. He would much rather no one see him. Okay, so guess they found April. Later on, they would meet the others… they would meet Big Mama again at some point; they would meet the foot clan and… and Cassandra, and he would have to try not to think about that too much. Then they would have to deal with Draxum.

He never liked to think of himself as a violent type, but at the moment, Rappa wasn't sure what he would do if he saw Draxum right now. He knew that Draxum would later become a friend, but at first, he wasn't, and he was… the cause of this version of Splinter dying, all because he wanted to mutate the turtles. Rappa clenches his teeth to calm himself down. He'll… just take his anger out on the people that he had to fight; it's not healthy, but it was something that he was going to have to do anyway.

Draxum just better hope he has better control of his anger when they meet.

Chapter Text

Rappa had to do something that he really, REALLY didn't want to do; obviously, though, he knew that it would be needed by now. He was going to have to allow the turtles to go topside… he had been training them for a while now, a bit harder than what he was doing when they were younger; nonetheless, they were older now, and he guessed that they assumed that they were old enough to go topside by themselves. Leonardo, who decided on that name a while ago, told him, “We're old enough to go out! Why do you want us here all the time?” Rappa wasn't too happy about being shouted at, but he did understand where Leonardo was coming from.

Michelangelo helped by adding his thoughts, saying that Raphael's been going up himself, so they should be allowed to as well. That made him sigh. Admittedly, he knew that Michelangelo was right; he couldn't keep them down here forever… plus, he'd been training them more than his own dad did, so he knew that they would be able to fight! They would be able to protect themselves—and maybe he’s been a bit harsher on his own smaller version, even if he hadn’t exactly meant to.

“Alright, alright, fine; however, I want you all to message me at least once every few hours. I want to be able to check up on you guys.” That made Leonardo groan, but Raphael told him to stop it, and Donatello approved of that as well. They all figured that that was fair , even if annoying. April had been coming around a lot, and he was sure that she was telling them about what was going on topside.

Hearing them call themselves those names reminded Rappa that… these guys ARE his brothers; they're not just some turtles that he found. When they left that day to go and explore for the first time in a group, he wouldn't lie and say that he didn't cry. He did. Man, he did so much!

Over the next few weeks, they kept going topside and exploring. They would come home and sit around his—way too big—chair and tell stories of stuff that happened while they were upside. Raphael laid out on the ground in front of his chair; Michelangelo sat on one of the chair arms; and Leonardo sat over the back. Donatello sometimes sat on Raphael's back, in the chair beside Rappa, or on the other arm that Michelangelo wasn't sitting on. Normally in the chair beside Rappa with his tail around him. He said that the weight was really nice, and the texture was nice to play with. He found that funny.

Over these years, Rappa had grown some, and his hair was a nice mess. Leonardo often liked to play with it while sitting behind him, which he thought was really sweet.

He was covered in scars, mostly from the past. His hair was still colored black, not yet graying with age. How old is he right now? Man, he lost track. Crap, that’s a sad thought, isn’t it? How old would Casey be if he was here with him? How old would his brothers be? Why couldn’t he remember? Why was it that every day their faces were getting blurry?

"Daddy?" he blinks, getting knocked out of his thoughts, and looks over. It was Michelangelo, and he had been talking, so Rappa felt a little bad. "Are you okay?" At least Michelangelo didn’t seem all that bothered by it… what a good kid.

"Or are you losing your hearing in your old age?" Leonardo laughed as he patted his hands on the top of Rappa’s head. Rappa rolls his eyes, amused and reaches over his shoulders to grab Leonardo and drop him onto his lap, "har har, no, I'm still able to hear… I was just thinking. You guys have been growing so much." He smiles, shutting his eyes, "I'm so proud of all of you…" Leonardo grins at that and hugs his arm.

Donatello chuckles, rubbing his neck, and Raphael's tail starts to wag. "Aww, thanks, pops." Leonardo says to him, and Donatello pats his hands together, "It isn't like it's that hard to grow. It's our job to do it."

Raphael and Rappa laugh at that. The air in the lair felt so light right now, and he liked that! They all liked that. Being able to spend time with each other. "Hey dad, do you think you want to come with us to get pizza?" Michelangelo looks at him, turning his head to the side. "That does sound pretty good right now…" Raphael mumbles, mostly to himself.

Rappa couldn't help but agree! It did sound kind of nice. Would it be a good idea, though? Rappa was really big. "Aww, come on, stop with that look. You're going to make your wrinkles worse." Leonardo reaches up and squishes his cheeks, laughing. He had to almost stand up to reach what he was trying to grab.

As of right now, Leonardo and Donatello were 10, Michelangelo was 9, and Raphael was 11. Where have the years gone, man?

He looks between the four, seeing that they are all giving him the puppy-eyed look. Mostly Leonardo and Michelangelo, unfortunately he could also tell that Donatello and Raphael were excited about the idea.

After letting out a deep sigh, he stands after picking up the blue turtle, sets him down on his shoulder, and says, "alright, let's get some slices." They let out loud cheers, with Raphael laughing at the reactions.

So that's why Rappa was now in the lobby, waiting to be served at a pizza place. Since this was—pretty much—their first time going out all together, he decided that they should go to an all-you-can eat place. Donatello was standing a little behind him, his eyes scanning around and holding onto the back of his shirt. Leonardo and Michelangelo were both looking around excitedly, and Raphael was sniffing at the air. Michelangelo was hugging onto Raphael’s arm.

"Alright guys," he started, getting their attention by clapping his hands together lightly, "this place is where you can go and get whatever food you want, but you need to finish whatever you grab. Don't take it from anyone else, and don't get too much. I don't want to hear about stomach aches… don’t grab anything and then put it back. And no grabbing something, eating a bit, then putting it back because you don’t like how it tastes… Blue, did you take your medicine before we got here?"

"Yep!" He chirps, putting his hands on his tummy as he continues, "No tummy aches for me." Donatello sticks out his tongue, making a fart sound with it. He didn’t believe that for a second; Leonardo totally didn’t take the meds, and he was going to get a stomach ache and then complain about it later… Rappa reaches down and pats the top of his head. He was wearing a custom outfit that Big Mama gave him; it was a little… dressy, fortunately he figured it was better than nothing. He could still feel people looking at him, and he had to stop himself from feeling annoyed. Or, at least, nervous.

Damn it, he missed not having to hide the fact that they were turtles. Even if that timeline was bad, it was still nice not to have to worry about it! Even more, the larger and sharper he got, the harder it was to find something that would fit, until it became damn near impossible.

As he was thinking, he heard a voice say, "hello sir, would you like a table?" He blinks and looks over, then down, seeing a human looking up at him. She seemed nervous… he bites the inside of his cheek and crouches a little, smiling, "Hello, yes, please. There are five of us." 

"Should we invite April?" Raphael asks, holding up his arm so he looks over and shakes his head, telling him, "She's with her own family right now. She can come over later."

Michelangelo pouted, and the woman laughed, nodded, and told him the price as well as asked what everyone would like to drink while leading them over to their table. He was glad that she put them in the corner… he was just going to ask one of the tots to get him a plate. He didn't want there to be a chance of him accidentally knocking something over with his tail.

The boys stated their preferred beverages. Donatello wanted water with a lemon slice; however, not in the water, Michelangelo wanted orange soda, Raphael wanted Pepsi; and Leonardo wanted Coke. Rappa asked for tea, then settled for water when she said that they didn't have any tea right now. Something happened that stopped the shipment.

That was just GREAT! He sighs, resting his head against his fist, then looks at the boys and smiles, asking, "can one of you guys get me a plate too?"

Leonardo and Michelangelo look at each other, then Michelangelo laughs, "I'm gonna get it!" He shouts and turns, running over to the place with the pizzas. Leonardo chases after him, and Raphael runs after him, shouting, "guys! No running!" Donatello just follows after.

Rappa watches, then shuts his eyes, letting out a sigh. Man, he was so tired… Mama has been working him harder than normal. Sure, he could fight all the people that she made him fight, in any event, it has been a lot lately. This was his first day off in a while. He had a feeling that she was mad that he never brought the little turtles back, admittedly, he didn't trust her, and he told her that she'd meet them again one day, he's sure. How did he meet her? Man, the past was hard.

While he was thinking, his eye, just the one that worked anymore, shot down, and he saw a little kid staring up at him with big eyes. She was a girl, hugging a unicorn plushie. Her hair was floofy and a bright blonde, though her eyes were green, and she had a cute little button nose. "Oh, uhh, hi there, little lady. Do you need something?" He decided to ask.

She slowly holds up one of her hands and says, in a questioning tone, "why are you so big?" Her eyes were so big and sparkly. She didn't look scared, which shocked him, but it was nice. He didn't like it when people were scared of him… it happened a lot more than he would like to admit.

"Same reason why you're so small," he grins, which was lopsided. He had lost a few teeth over the years, but thankfully, they grew back fast. The girl laughs, bouncing between her feet, and holds up her arms, saying, "You're too big! Big, big, big!"

"Lizzy!" the mom hurries over and picks up the little girl, hugging her to her own chest and laughs, looking up at him. "I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't mean—I mean, um, I didn't…" she seemed almost unsure of what she wanted to say, so he shook his head, telling her, "Don't worry about it. It was nice to talk to her… I brought my own boys." he nods his head over to the four. "those four by the dessert table." Both Michelangelo and Leonardo had double plates, so he had a feeling that they were going to pile it up way too much, then bring them back to him as a way of showing off… nice.

The mother looks over at where he pointed, smiles, and laughs, nodding, "They look like good boys… I'm with my daughter, Lizzy. I hope she didn't bother you too much." Rappa shakes his head, and they continue talking for a little while until she walks off and the worker drops off the drinks that they asked for. The boys came back, both Michelangelo and Leonardo running over, "We got you food! I got the best amount, though!" Michelangelo shook his head while Leonardo spoke.

Raphael climbs up to sit in his seat and pats his hands on the table, excited. He probably hadn't had the chance to have this much before… they didn't struggle a lot with food; he could get stuff, but not too much. His mind rushed with different thoughts before he shook his head and reached over to help Michelangelo up into his chair, and Donatello climbed up into his chair after putting his plate down and pulling his hood up. There were probably a lot of people, and he was having a hard time handling it.

They ate their food, talking amongst themselves. Donatello didn't talk too much, and Raphael was pretty busy stuffing his pizza slices into his mouth. Leonardo was the one who was talking the most. "So April showed up, and then we went to her house, cause her parents were gone, and we watched this really cool movie. It has such cool fighting scenes, and then I remembered that, hey! We've watched this before. Remember when we used to watch Lou Jitsu all the time?" He claps his hands together, laughing, "It was so cool! He fights like us cause we're gonna be ninjas!" he cheers, holding up his hands like he needed to fight right now. 

Raphael started to laugh, his tail starting to wag as he nodded to show that yeah! They were gonna be the best ninjas! Michelangelo giggles, claps his hands, and hugs Raphael's arm again. Rappa remembered when he and his Mikey were that close… he shakes his head and smiles, resting his head against his fist. "Yeah, I remember… you know, I used to watch those when I was a bit younger too. He was my hero." He wasn't going to let himself cry about this.

His life didn't matter. That part of his past wasn't something that he needed to think about anymore, but crap if his throat didn't feel tight. He clears his throat and takes a bite from his pizza, then chews and starts to talk around it once he was sure nothing would come out: "How are you boys enjoying the little trip so far?"

"I like it." Donatello says, poking at the crusts that he refused to eat. Raphael reaches over to 'sneakily' take them, which made Donatello smile, and continue, "We should… come here again."

Rappa smiled at that, glad that Donatello was at least having fun. Michelangelo was chewing on his desert pizza, kicking his legs, and leaning against Raphael. Rappa had a feeling that he was going to have a sugar high… then his phone started to ring, causing him to perk up, and he looked down, "Oh- uh, give me a second, guys." He stands up and walks a bit away to answer the phone. He didn't see how 'his' tots frowned, and they started to whisper to each other. Of course they noticed that he normally answered the phone before having to leave… he left normally during the night, although other times they all woke up to him already being gone, and he hated having to do it, but he needed to. "Hello?" He says into the phone, just to hear Big Mama's voice, "Hello my big turtley-poo~" He had to bite back a groan.

"Oh, hey Big Mama, um, what do you need? I'm spending a bit of time with the boys." He looks over his shoulder to see what they were doing. Man, he had a feeling that he was going to have to give them all baths later, and that's harder than you might think, mostly because of Michelangelo. Dummy was scared of water at this age because he was worried he would get eaten by the 'water monster', whatever that was. Rappa got them a fish to try to solve that worry! See? The fish is always in the water and she doesn't mind… then he remembered the 'other' fish that he knew, and he laughed since, hey, history really did repeat itself! His boys were confused by that; obviously, he couldn't exactly explain it, so he just said that he remembered a funny joke…

He heard Big Mama let out a chuckle, "Yes, yes, I know… Rappa, my cutesty boy, you remember that you have to come tomorrow to the party, right? If they don't get the chance to meet you, they might get an itsy bitsy upsety… you wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you?" he sighs while listening to her talk and moves his hand up to rest on the wall beside him, tapping his clawed finger against it. "No, not at all," He responded, "I know that I have to come tomorrow… I've already made the plans, and I'll be ready." he tensed at the next words: "I would hope so; I would hate for something to happen to your little boys while you're gone…" and she hangs up as he growls at the phone, tightening his grip yet stopping when he hears a faint crack, so he breathes in and out, trying to calm himself down. This damn woman… he stands up straight, cracking his neck, and walks back over, sitting down.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Michelangelo asks, looking over at him with a big frown on his face. He had sauce on his cheek…

Rappa looks at him, then the others. They all had looks of worry on their faces, even if they were trying to hide it. He breathes out and reaches over, gently wiping at Michelangelo's cheek, "I'm alright, boys; I just had a stressful phone call. Let's try not to let that bug us, right?" Michelangelo laughs, trying to lean away, but Rappa grins and pinches his cheek, tugging on it VERY lightly. Honestly? He knew that he could easily crush all of these people in this building. If he wanted to? He could! But he didn't want to, so he went back to eating, trying to ignore the sudden feeling that they were being watched.

Chapter Text

Rappa, on the next day, was getting ready to go. He had succeeded in taming his mess of a haircut, putting most of it into a messy ponytail. God, he really needed to cut his hair… But Leonardo had so much fun playing with it! He'd feel really bad! He sighs at the idea, shakes his head, and fixes his tie, looking into the mirror with a deep frown on his face.

Big Mama told him that a lot of people were coming to this party, and he had to be kind and respectful... But maybe a BIT scary; she didn't want people to think her champion wasn't doing enough to be strong. He had to bite his tongue at that and just nod to show that he heard her.

"Alright, Rappa, you've got this… just have to deal with Big Mama for a little while." Ugh, that didn't make him feel any better. Rappa sighs, resting his hand on the side of his head and shutting his eyes. He was glad that he got his eyepatch back; it felt weird not to have that on.

While he was thinking, he heard a faint sound, causing him to turn his head, and he saw Michelangelo peeking into the room, the curtain blocking the entrance bunched up over his head and covering one of his eyes. When their eyes met, Michelangelo squeaked and ducked away. "Orange, what are you doing? Get in here." Orange whines but steps in, kicking at the ground, and then the others came in too. "What were you guys doing out there? I thought you went out."

"We were, but Mikey thought that something was going on cause of that phone call yesterday. Why are you all dressed up?" Leonardo points at him, waving his arm slightly. Raphael puts his hand onto Leonardo's shoulder, saying, "What he's trying to say is we're worried... is something going on?"

Rappa looks over the four of them, mouth shut in a tight line. Damn it... he was really hoping that he could get through all of this without them realizing or questioning it. He turns his head away, then back to them, and crosses his arms over his chest, squinting a little. What was he supposed to say to that? Slowly, he sighs out and stands up straight, his tail starting to swish back and forth behind him. His boys—man, it was so weird to call them that now. Life was... life was strange. Was he still treating them like his children because he missed his own? Yeah, but also no! He needed to take care of them and make sure that they were happy and safe, as well as trained. "The woman that I work for invited me to a party... I don't want to go, but she says we have to."

"You're going to a party!?" Michelangelo and Leonardo both shout. Donatello rubs the side of his head, mumbling, "you guys are loud."

It was kind of nice, you know? He knew that they'd been going topside and hanging out with April, and he was glad that they were having fun. They never really complained about training, either! I mean... Leonardo did, of course, but that's just something he does. Rappa didn't judge him. Normally, giving them something that they liked—like candy or praise—and they would often work well.

Don't ask him how it happened.

Really, don't ask him; he doesn't know how they talked him into it. He held Raphael's hand, who was holding Donatello's, who was holding Leonardo's, and he was holding Michelangelo's hand. He told them to stay together during the party while he was talking with Big Mama. "Hey Dad?" Raphael says, causing him to turn his head, "Yeah?"

"Are we allowed to eat the food here?" he looked around, seeming like he felt awkward. Rappa didn't blame his little version; he didn't like being around too many people either. When Rappa nodded, Raphael smiled, and Michelangelo started to try to drag the brothers away to go and try all the new foods.

Big Mama had been watching from where she sat, her claws tapping against her cheek with a small smile on her face. So Rappa decided to bring the little turtles to see their Mama, huh? It took him long enough. She holds up her hand and snaps her fingers. Two of the workers walk over and pick her up, holding her in their hands, and they start to carry her down. "Here is your host, Big Mama!" one of the other workers said, "And the champion is here as well! Rappa!" the lights go to Big Mama and another onto Rappa, causing him to tense. then he smiles weakly and holds up his hand, waving. Big Mama was set down, and she walked over, moving her arms around Rappa's arm and pulling it close to her chest. "Thank you all for coming!" She chirps happily, then whispers to Rappa, "and thank YOU for bringing your children; they've grown nicely, haven't they? It makes me so beamish that they're here."

He just nodded to show that he heard her, whispering back, "I couldn't leave them home. You didn't exactly give me the most time to plan for a babysitter, ma'am." She shrugs her shoulders, deciding to let that bit of sass slip. There was soft clapping from the other yokai. There were way too many for him to be comfortable.

After waving to some people, she starts to pull him towards the snack table—not exactly tugging him since, you know, he was way too heavy and big for her to drag. He figured it would be best to walk with her, though, so he allowed her to move him. "How are your little hobbins? Have you told the purple one that I was the one that helped him when he was feeling all icky?"

"No, not exactly... I didn't want to bring it up and make him upset." His eyes shoot over to see Raphael and Michelangelo eating some stuff from the table, while Leonardo and Donatello, he couldn't see where they were. Come on boys! He literally said to stay together! He sighs at the thought, shaking his head. She hums at that, then grabs a little plate and gets some of the snacks, then holds up the plate and says, "Would you like some?" He bites the inside of his cheek, then nods and he takes one of the pieces, mumbling a thank you, then pops it into his mouth. Ooo, that tasted good. He looks over at Michelangelo, who was bouncing between his feet, cheeks puffed out. Heh, he had always been interested in food and cooking, huh?

How cute.

Big Mama looks over at where he had been looking and smiles, "Blue and Orange, yes?" Rappa nodded at her question and responded, "Leonardo and Michelangelo, actually. They decided to change their names." Leonardo looks over and waves, smiling as he shouts, "hi Dad!" Rappa looks over and raises his hand, waving back. Alright Leonardo, stay away for now...

Oh, no, he's coming over.

Leonardo looks up at him and holds up his arms, starting to talk while ignoring Big Mama, "Dad, dad, daddy, dad!" he bounces as he spoke, "This place is awesome! There are so many people like us. Mikey's gonna eat a lot, though." Big Mama giggles, putting her hand over her mouth.

He reaches over and pets his hand on top of Leonardo's head, telling him, "That's okay, but I need you to make sure that he doesn't eat too much because that'll cause him to get a stomachache, you got it?" Leonardo nods, looks at Big Mama, then runs back over to Michelangelo, causing him to sigh out slowly.

Big Mama looks up at him and puts her hand on his arm, saying to him, "Let's go and meet a few of the people here, my champion." He looks down at her and nods. Look... sometimes, some people? Yeah, they might like her; they would think that she's pretty, and Rappa does agree! She is a very pretty lady, but Rappa just felt weird about this whole thing.

She used to date his dad! That's just so weird! Plus... his heart still belonged to Cassandra, even if he'd never see her again—or, at least, his own Cassandra. His heart hurts just thinking about that.

Man, he didn't even realize that Big Mama was moving him until he heard voices, causing him to blink. Had he been glaring by accident? It wasn't that he was glaring, just that he had a hard look sometimes while thinking deeply about stuff. He realized that Big Mama was talking to a tall lizard yokai. The tall lizard seemed nervous, his eyes shooting to look at Rappa as they spoke. That was until Big Mama patted her hand on Rappa's arm, saying, "I know that he's very impressive, but I wish that you would be paying attention to the person that you're listening to. I don't like being ignored." She smiles, twirling her finger. The lizard tensed, then held up his hands, quickly responding, "I am very sorry, ma'am, I am just... shocked by how... how big he is. I have seen how he fights; you have a real monster."

Rappa lets out a soft growl of annoyance and steps forward, telling him quickly, "I ain't a monster. You want to see a monster?" Big Mama holds his hand to stop him, amused, and the lizard quickly takes a few steps backwards. Rappa felt his tail start to whip back and forth. He didn't like people calling him a monster; he was anything but a monster! He had done everything in his life to STOP monsters, so being called one raised his anger level by... maybe a bit too much.

Throughout the night, Rappa had to talk to other people, not that he wanted to. He wanted to spend time with his boys, but nooo, he had to deal with these people. Damn it.

He smiles while listening to these three people talk with him and Big Mama. A moth Yokai, a cat Yokai, and a red panda Yokai. He was listening and responding happily until he heard a loud sound. It sounded like a shout and another person yelling, "Why did they let a kid in here?!" He turns his head just to see panther Yokai standing over Donatello. He was curled up, and a plate shattered on the ground around him.

Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo run over to help their brother, and Rappa narrows his eyes. He starts to walk over himself, people moving out of his way fast since they could tell that he was pretty pissed right about now, and he puts his hand onto the panthers shoulder. "that kid is mine; is there an issue?" he asks, a smile on his face even though he didn't exactly WANT to smile. This was a threat.

The panther turns to face him, fast, his mouth open, about to say something, but the voice died in his throat when he saw just who he was talking to. Rappa crosses his arms over his chest, staring down at the panther, and squints, "Or are you going to apologize?" Leonardo was hugging Donatello, who was clenching onto his shirt, making light sounds to show that he was not happy.

They stared at each other until the panther gulped, mumbling a sorry before he turned and ran away. Rappa snarled at him as he ran, then huffed and walked over to gently pick up Donatello into his arms, whispering, "It's okay, Rappa ain't upset with you." He had to pick up Leonardo, too. He looks over at Big Mama, Raphael moving to hug him the best that he could, and Michelangelo hugging onto his leg, saying, "I'm taking the boys home. It was nice to talk with everyone, and I'll come back when it's my job to do so." She hums at that, nodding slowly and he starts to walk out. He knew that she was mad, but he also knew that she wasn't mad at him.

"Are we going to be in trouble?" Leonardo asked, looking up frowning, "It wasn't our fault; the guy bumped into Donnie first, then... then he yelled at us, and it isn't our fault!" Donatello was curled up in Rappa's arm, not wanting to see or hear anything right now.

Rappa looks down at them all, still feeling Michelangelo hugging onto his leg so he sighs and shakes his head, "No," he starts, "You guys aren't in trouble... if anything, that panther is going to be the one in trouble. Big Mama really likes you four." Michelangelo yawns and starts to climb up to hug him around his neck, asking, "Have we ever met her? She seems kind of familiar." Raphael just walked beside them, holding onto his sleeve.

How should he explain this? He clicks his teeth, looking forward, "When you guys were a lot younger, Purple got sick. He got... really sick, and I had to take you to meet her so she would give me some meds to give him that would make him feel better. I'm shocked that you guys remember it." Donatello didn't, and Raphael didn't either, but he didn't really remember a lot from when he was younger? Parts of his memories went away, and he was hoping that he would never find out why. Leonardo and Michelangelo kind of remembered it! So hey, that's pretty cool.

"Oh! Is she sort of like family, then?" Michelangelo seemed excited about the idea. Rappa shakes his head and responds, "No, she isn't family at all... at least not yet. I don't trust her around you four without me being there. She's just my boss right now." The others seemed a little confused by that; however, they figured that they should listen to their dad.

It luckily didn't take them too long to get home, and Rappa went to put Donatello in his room with Leonardo staying with him, and Rappa stretched his arms above his head, letting out a breath. At least he was finally home and probably wouldn't have to deal with that stuff for a little while.  

Chapter Text

Fortunately, Donatello began to feel better the following day.

He apologized to Rappa for… acting out like that the day before, but Rappa said he was not upset. Certainly not! If anything? He was pretty happy! Come on, he didn't want to be at that party in the first place! He softly patted Donatello on the back of the head and told him. "You shouldn't be sorry; I didn't want to be at that party anymore anyway, and that guy was a bully. If you ever want to leave a place like that, you just have to call me. Even if I'm not there, just call me on your phone, and I'll come help you guys." Donatello stares up at him, then smiles a little and leans into his hand, nuzzling into it slightly.

Leonardo laughed at that, and Donatello's sudden 'cuteness' disappeared as he reached over to punch at his brother's arm, telling him to shut up! Rappa laughed as he shook his head at them. God, they were such kids.

Rappa cooked something for them to eat throughout the day, which Michelangelo seemed pleased with. Whenever Rappa was cooking, he seemed ecstatic. "I wanna learn how to cook!" he cheered in a loud happy tone, and that made Rappa smile. They really were becoming like his brothers, even if he didn't want to admit it. Slowly, he breathes in and out and nods, handing Michelangelo one of the plates and beaming, "Yeah, I'll help you learn. For now, let's get the others and start eating… you guys wanted to go and hang out with April, right?" Michelangelo nods quickly and runs off to sit down to eat too. Rappa gathered the rest of the group. 

As they were eating, he looked over at them. "Alright, you guys," he began, drawing their attention to him, "you can go see April, but we have got to do some training first." he told them. The training would have to begin again, mostly before it got too late.

That made Leonardo groan, and he knew that the others seemed displeased about that too. Too bad; it needed to happen, and he wasn’t going to let them get out of it! Even if it made them annoyed with him. "Aww… but we did that yesterday ; why do we have to do it again?"

"Because training is important. Sooner or later, you guys might have to go against someone that you need to be strong to fight… and I don’t want anything to happen to you four." He tells them, resting his head against his fist. The idea of them getting hurt? It made him feel sick to his stomach. 

Michelangelo asks, with a big frown on his face, "But you'd be able to help us, right?" The others nodded to show that they agreed with that. Rappa sighs, putting his hand over his face with a frown on his face. He was glad that they respected him and believed in him, but this was something that they needed to do! Before he could say anything, Raphael started to comment, "Raph thinks he agrees with dad… training is important, and if it's dad training us, then we'll be just as strong as him!" he holds up his arms, flexing with a big grin. That made the others mumble but agree. Rappa didn’t think that they would get as strong as him for a long time, and he hoped they never would.

He wanted to get them strong enough to live, but not strong enough that they had to hurt people to get there. He had to hurt a lot of creatures to get this strong, and he never liked it. Fighting was fun; killing was not. He picks up his cup to sip from it, shutting his eyes. Big Mama might get mad at him about last night, or maybe she’d like it? Cause then she could bring up the fact that the panther made her champion so upset, and maybe she could get paid some hush money? Hell if he knew; that stuff was always weird to him.

As his mind wondered, he opened his eyes to see the others. They were chatting amongst themselves, talking about what kind of training they were going to have to do. Maybe sneaking around like they did before? Rappa did something special with that! He bought some cookies and spread them out throughout the lair, and the boys had to get them without him catching them… course he let them keep the cookies too, and he let them slip up a few times. Other training was harder, so he figured he understood why they wanted to try that one. He watched them, his mind flashing to the memories of his own brothers. Michelangelo with his weird hair, Donatello with his metal arms and his one false eye that he had to put in… and his wife and son.

God, his throat felt so tight again. He puts his hands down on the table, feeling it creak under the weight, and he gets up, causing the others to look at him. “You guys finish your food,” He tells them. “I’ll be in the other room setting everything up. We’re trying something new this time.” And he turned, walking out of the room. He heard them whispering amongst themselves, seemingly worried.

Their reactions to these things lately, it made him realize. Maybe he was babying them a bit too much… he knew that Leonardo always argued against training, and some training would be better than whatever his dad made them do when they were younger. Just watching the TV for stuff? He should have known better! Rappa sighs, shutting his eyes and shaking his head at himself. No, he can’t think like that. He puts his hands together, breathing in and then out, and he heads to his bedroom. He wanted to try something.

When he got to his bedroom, he started to set up a few things. He lit his incense, took his old mask out of his hair—he started to use it as a bow to keep his hair back from his face—and set it down. He puts his hands together, shutting his eyes. Michelangelo had always been the one most connected to the family connection; it was why he had the strongest magic! Rappa wanted to see if… he wanted to see if maybe that family connection would allow him to speak to his brother again. Any of them! Just… he wanted to know if they were okay.

When Rappa died, he knew that it would cause a lot of issues. He wanted to go back there, but he was needed by this family now as well. It felt wrong; it didn’t feel right for him to be the one helping them and caring for them; it was supposed to be their dad, and he just wasn’t it. Guess that was his own thoughts, though, since he knew that they saw him as their dad. Rappa breathes out slowly and rests his head down against his hands, his eyes shut. He felt his body start to heat up, and after a few seconds, he wasn’t sitting where he had been before.

Instead, he was floating in the same whiteness as he was when he first appeared in this world. He blinked a few times, his eyes scanning around, then looked down and started to walk quickly. Where was he? “Guys?” he called out into the empty whiteness. It almost burned his eyes with how bright it all was. This was farther than he thought he would get.

“Hello.” He heard, so he turned his head fast and saw something that he wasn’t expecting… Splinter, but not… not his. It was this world's version of Splinter who was standing there. “I… I’m guessing I wasn’t the one that you were hoping for.” He laughed, rubbing his neck. “I’m pretty confused myself, honestly.” Rappa stares at him for a few moments and clicks his teeth together. Yeah, this isn’t what he was expecting to happen. Slowly he walks closer, and the other Splinter—or should he call him Lou right now?—looks up at him, attempting to speak calmly. It was kind of… hard to tell if he was nervous or not. “I want to thank you for protecting the boys. They don’t even seem to remember me. That’s, you know, a good thing.” He waved his hand as he spoke, moving to rest his other hand on his hip. “I will admit that I didn’t expect to end up here; who would have guessed, right?” He was rambling…

“They should remember you, though. You’re the one who’s supposed to be taking care of them! I’m not. I shouldn’t even be in this world!” Rappa quickly decides to spit out, in a voice a bit harsher than he meant for it to come out as, “I’m not their dad. You’re supposed to be.” After that, they stared at each other. Rappa let out a soft whine and reached up, holding his head with his eyes shut tight, “I want to be able to see my brothers and my son… I never even got a chance to hold him.”

He heard the footsteps before he felt the hand on his side. He opened his eyes to see Lou staring up at him, so he slowly crouches down to sit on his knees, mostly so it would be easier for them both, and Lou starts to talk: “You might not feel like you deserve the title of their father, but they see you as it… I’m guessing that there is more going on than I know, but I… want to thank you for taking care of them. They needed someone, and I don’t think that that someone could have been me.” He reaches out and takes Rappa’s hand into his own, still talking: “Your hands are so big and strong, yet they hold such kindness. You’ve probably known so much violence, but you’ve been teaching them how to be kind and strong. You’re doing good, and I’m sure your son would understand that you didn’t have a choice but to be here.” 

Rappa looks down, his eyes burning, and tears were rolling down his cheeks. Ones that he held back for… God, how long had it been since he really allowed himself to cry? He knew that there were days when he couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed, but those days he couldn’t cry either. He had no energy and no desire to do anything but sleep… he felt the tears get wiped away, and he forced his eyes open to see that Lou was speaking. It was strange; he couldn’t understand and he couldn’t speak. He blinked fast, trying to rid his eyes of the burning, and he tried to speak as well. The words wouldn’t come out of his throat! Hell, he couldn’t even move.

Then he blinked one more time, and he was back in his room. The incense had run down all the way already, and in front of him was Michelangelo, who was frowning and asking, “Dad? Are you okay?” his eyes shoot around, and he saw that the others were in there too. They all looked worried…

He opens his mouth, then shuts it again and lets out a soft laugh, saying, “Yeah… I’m alright.” He pulls Michelangelo into a tight hug, then holds out his arm and murmurs, tired. “The rest of you get over here too; I’m giving hugs.” Leonardo laughed and ran over, jumping into the hug while Raphael and Donatello both joined too. Rappa shuts his eyes, hugging them.

He didn’t really know if his son would respect or forgive him for leaving, but he hoped that Casey would… if he had the choice, he would have his son here with the others. They could be a big family! Maybe when his brothers ended up dying, they would appear here? Man, that’s a nice and really sad thought. He didn’t want to think about his brothers ending up dying!

After the hug, Rappa decided that he had enough stuff going on for training. "We'll skip today, but we've gotta back into focus tomorrow." And that seemed to make them happy. Now he was dropping them off at April's. "Remember guys, don't let any other humans see you… If you need anything, call me, and I'll be right over."

"We know," Donatello grumbled, "you've told us three times already… Can we go?" Leonardo was bouncing between his feet, clearly excited and Raphael was looking between him and the door.

Rappa couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head, then nodding and waving his hand. "okay," he starts, "go on and go hang with your friend." They cheer and run towards the door, with Michelangelo waving back to him.

Rappa watches them go, smiles, and heads home. He would clean up some, maybe make some calls… maybe he should just try to get some rest while he had the chance… he'd have to go back to work tomorrow, and man, he really didn't want to go back. He sighs at the thought, shaking his head, and when he got back home, he decided to just take a nap. He'll deal with everything later; right now, he had too many emotions and just wanted to ignore everything.

When Rappa started to wake up, it was because he could hear ringing. He blinked a few times, sleepily confused, because what the heck was that? He reaches up, brushing his hair back from his face, and then his eyes widen when he realizes, crap! That was his phone! Quickly he reached out, grabbed his phone, and answered it, holding it to his head, “Hello?” he didn't know if the panic was clear in his voice or not.

“Hey, papa, it's Donnie.” He heard, and Donatello didn't sound nervous or worried, so that was a good thing to hear… “April's mom says that she wants you to come over cause she wants to meet you. Her name is Carol, and she's sorta weird.” then he heard as well, “Don't call her weird!” they started to argue, so he figured that was probably April.

Carol wanted to meet him? How the heck should he meet her? He was a giant! He bites the inside of his cheek, averting his eyes, then gulps and looks at the phone, responding with a question, “Does she know that you guys are turtles?”

There were bangs from the other side, and he heard Donatello shouting. Then April's voice could be heard. She probably stole his phone. "hi Rappa! What was that?" He repeats the question, so she responds, "yep! I told her a while ago, uh, sorry about that… I didn't know you guys didn't want her to know. Dumb kid, you know." She chuckles, sounding nervous. Probably worried that he would get upset.

Now the real question was, did she believe April? I mean, his boys always wore clothes when they went over; he always made sure of that. Slowly, he sighs and shakes his head, saying, “It's alright… okay, you can tell your mom that I'll come over. Should I bring anything?” There were muffled voices, most likely her asking them if they wanted anything.

They said that they wanted pizza, which made him laugh, and he agreed. That was why he was at April's building, standing in front of their door with his tail swaying slowly. Man, he didn't prepare for this much! He didn't know how he was supposed to handle this… he reaches his hand up and knocks against the door, trying his best to be soft with it.

He wished that they could do some… wait- would Draxum be here? He lifts his head to look at the roof, squinting, but shakes his head and looks down. They're too young for him to be here, and he wishes that Draxum would never appear. Ugh! The idea of seeing him filled him with such anger that he didn't want to deal with.

His thoughts were cancelled when he heard the door opening, so he leans down just enough to hopefully not tower over the woman. He still towered over her. Carol looks up at him, smiles, and nods her head in greeting. "I'm guessing that you're Rappa? Oh, hey, you brought pizza. That’s good; we can have that for dinner. April already told me you were going to be bringing that over."

"Ah, yes, hello, Miss I, uh, thanks for letting my boys come and hang out with your daughter. They get along really well. She's really cool." Crap, crap, crap! He felt so awkward. What was he even doing?

Luckily, she didn't seem bothered as she laughed and answered, "your boys have been really good to her… I think ever since they've met, she's been much happier. Come on in," he nods and walks into the room, making sure to be careful of where he steps. Being big isn't that good all the time.

She shuts the door and looks at him, so he looks back at her and messes with his fingers. Okay, yeah, he felt awkward, and he was sure that he looked like it too. "So… how're you?" he wasn't good at talking to people normally! He could deal with fighting or talking about certain things, but just chatting? Yeah, not very good. "Where are the others?"

Once again, she laughed at his reaction, shaking her head at him. He felt embarrassed now… ugh, he already felt embarrassed. "I'm pretty good… do you want to sit? The kids are upstairs playing their games. Do you want something to drink?" when he nodded, mumbling a soft thank you, she went to the kitchen. He looked down, then around, and went to sit on the ground by one of the chairs, crossing his legs under himself. Honestly? He wasn't sure if he could sit in any of the chairs without accidentally tearing or breaking them.

Just a tiny bit later, Carol came back in with two cups. She looks over at him and smiles, handing one to him. Of course he took it, looking down at the cup, amused. Before, it looked fairly big in her hands, but in his own? It was so small! He clears his throat and looks over at her. "I'm glad that the boys are having fun. Sometimes I'm worried about letting them out, but your daughter has been helping with that a lot."

"I'm glad to hear that." She sits down on her chair, crossing one of her legs over the other. "April has always been a bit out there, so I'm happy she has some friends that could keep up." the thought made her chuckle, shaking her head.

"I'd hope they could keep up!" He laughed himself as he spoke. At least things felt a little less awkward now. "I will say, it's been nice being able to send them to hang out with someone I can trust… I was worried they'd burn the house down if they didn't get out more often." couldn't burn down the sewers, but she didn't need to know that right now.

They continued to talk, telling funny stories about their kids when they were younger. Rappa let it slip that he was the one that helped find April that one time that she got lost, and she thanked him a few times, telling him just how worried she was when April disappeared for that long. He told her that it was fine! He did it because he liked helping people, and anyone would do something like that if they were good. That made her chuckle since… well… not everyone would do that. They would probably think someone else would go out of their way to help. Carol never liked that sort of thing.

They spoke until they heard a loud clap of thunder and the fast steps of little legs. April let out a scream, and he could hear Leonardo joining in on the scream. Carol looks out the window at the rain that was starting to fall and smiles before chuckling out, “I'm guessing that they got caught up in the rain… Let me go get some towels.” then she stands up and walks off to get towels for them. Rappa watches her go, then looks over at the door, waiting for them to come in.

Yeah, talking to Carol so far has been enjoyable. She seemed like a nice lady… kind of weird to talk to her like a normal adult, though, but eh, he was a normal adult. Okay, you know, maybe he's not a NORMAL adult, but he's an adult right now.

The door gets opened, and April runs in, laughing with her arms crossed over her head. Next was Raphael, who was carrying Leonardo and Michelangelo, while Donatello was on Raphael's back. Raphael and Leonardo were laughing. “Hey dad!” Michelangelo cheers, waving, “It started raining!”

"I can see that," he replies with a laugh in his voice and sets his, long since empty, cup down on the table. "Carol is getting you guys towels, so don't get water everywhere." Donatello was very unhappy because his hoodie had gotten wet. He hated the feeling of wet clothes. "Have you five been having fun up there?"

"Yeah!" April shouts, holding up her arms as she continues talking. Her glasses were wet, too. "I won at basketball, and I did awesome!" Leonardo stuck out his tongue since he still thought that April cheated. Everyone would disagree with him.

Rappa grinned as he listened to them all start to talk about what they were doing and how well they did at the game. Raphael said he did pretty good cause he could knock it with his tail, and Leonardo butted in, "and cause you're so tall!"

He laughed, shaking his head at them with his eyes shut. You know, given what happened earlier, this was nice. "Alright everyone, here are your towels." Carol walked in as she spoke, handing out towels. "Why don't you four stay for dinner and a movie? You can head home when the rain stops?" She suggested.

And now all eyes were on Rappa, probably hoping that he would say yes? He looks at them and rolls his eyes, then nods, "alright, but if it gets too late, we'd have to go home anyway." He tells them, making them all cheer, and they start to dry off.

Yeah… This was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

Yeah, it didn’t look like the rain was going to be stopping anytime soon.

They had already finished two movies, and Rappa could tell that the kids were having a hard time staying awake by then. Raphael was lying on his stomach, his head rising and falling in an attempt to stay awake. Michelangelo and April were both lying next to him, using him as a pillow, and Rappa had the thought that they were both already asleep. Leonardo was distracted, blinking slowly, then yawning and nuzzling up to Rappa, mumbling, "When is it going to stop raining?" Rappa found it amusing that he would cuddle up to him and then argue with him later.

Donatello was fiddling with his fidget toy. He was tired as well; however, the twins both had a hard time showing it unless they were ready to pass out most of the time, which Rappa found very troublesome.

Rappa looks down at Leonardo and gently pats the top of his head. "I'm not sure... it might be time for us to head home, though. You guys seem awfully tired."

"Nooooo!" Leonardo whines, his eyes closed and his cheeks puffing out. He didn't want to go home yet, dang it. Raphael yawned and turned his head to look over to see what would happen. "It isn't like we're able to stay here all night, Leo. We have to get home." Come on, Leo, stop being such a baby.

Carol lets out a giggle and shakes her head before placing her hand on his arm, saying to him in a lightly amused tone. "I wouldn't mind if they wanted to spend the night. I don't want a chance for you or your boys to end up getting sick. They could sleep in April's room with her." She trusted them not to do anything, and she also trusted her daughter.

"Are you sure?" He asks, looking down at her, "I don't mind taking them home." He looked at Leonardo and Donatello as he spoke, though he paused when he noticed Leonardo giving him puppy eyes, and Donatello appeared to be excited as well. Even hopeful, in fact. He tightens his lips, sighs slowly, and places his hand over his face, grumbling under his breath, before waving his hand and saying, "Alright, fine, nevermind... thank you." Carol smiles while rolling her eyes. "Do you mind helping me get these two to the bedroom?" She was clearly referring to Michelangelo and April.

With that, they led April and Michelangelo to her bedroom, with the rest of them following shortly after. Donatello tucks his toy into his pocket and walks alongside Leonardo, leaning slightly against him. Rappa found it adorable.

⋘                                𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒                            𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡...                            ⋙

After the kids were put into April's bedroom, April and Michelangelo were in her bed, and the others laid out on the blanket and pillows on the ground. Carol turns to face Rappa as they exit the room, and she begins to speak. "Do you need anything? I don't think I'd have a blanket big enough, but I can get you one anyway." 

Rappa shakes his head and holds up his hand, saying to her, "Don't worry about it. I'd be fine; maybe just a pillow if that's okay?" She smiles, nods, and walks away to get it, while he moves to sit, his hands clasped on his lap.

If Rappa was being honest, this was a lot for him. There was so much going on! The kids were happy, which made him happy, and he noticed that they were healthier than they had been previously. The only thing that bothered him was that he was changing the past too much?

They were strong and getting better with their training, which was good; nonetheless, it also worried him somehow. He closes his eyes and sighs slowly to calm himself. Rappa was overthinking things.

As his thoughts wandered, he found himself back in the empty room. The area where he would float and see openings! He takes a look around, then groans and falls to the ground. "Lou? Are you here again?" That name felt so strange to say.

"Not him, exactly." A strangely familiar voice caused his eyes to widen and his throat to close as a shot of panic passed through him, and he turned to face the person, his eyes wide.

What on earth was he doing here?

Who was in front of him?

One of his brothers! Donatello stares at him from where he stood, arms crossed over his chest. “Donnie? What are you doing here?” He hurries forward and pulls him into a tight hug. ”I can’t believe you’re here! What are you doing here? What happened?“

Donatello lets out a grunt at the tightness and how he was lifted off the ground, but rolls his eyes, “annoyed eyeroll...” He mumbles and reaches up to pat the top of Rappa’s head, continuing, “What do you think I’m doing here, my big dumb-dumb brother?”

Oh... Oh man, that didn’t make him feel good at all. He pulls back and looks at Donatello, frowning and asks, “How did you die?”

"An inappropriate question that I would rather not answer right now.” He averts his eyes, pursing his lips together. Donatello was wearing his normal outfit that Raphael remembered him wearing when he himself was alive. The long hooded cloak and pants. A visor over his eyes and his long hair in a braid with his purple mask was used to keep it together. He didn’t wear the mask anymore because of the visor; you know how it is. “Anyway!” He starts again, “So this is where you have been. Angelo has been trying to find you with the rest of the ghosts; oddly enough, he can’t. Do you have any idea why? Also, I am very happy to see you as well, and I feel like I may cry; in any case, please put me down as you are going to crush me.” Haha! Bad choice of words.

Rappa lets out a raspy laugh, shaking his head at his brother's weirdness, and sets him down, letting out a soft sniffle. “Alright, well, uh, it’s a long story, but to make it short, I think I was reborn into a different world? Eh, not really reborn, more... just put into the other world? I’m, uh, taking care of our younger selves.” he rubs his neck, looking off to the side, “I’m called Rappa by them. Fake name so this worlds Raphael could keep the name.”

“Ugh. Only you would somehow get reborn to take care of your younger selves. Didn’t you take care of us enough?” Donatello reaches up, and Rappa leans down to rest his head in his brothers hands, who started to pinch and squeeze his cheeks. “Why must you always force yourself to take care of people even if you’re not ready for it?”

“Because someone has to be. Raph took care of you guys cause it was needed. Now I’m taking care of them because it’s needed.” His voice came out kind of strange because of his face getting messed with. “Do you think you’d get put into this world too?”

He heard Donatello humming, except before he could get a response, he heard another voice say, “Rappa? Rappa, are you okay?” His eyes snap open, and he blinks a few times, his eyes shooting around. In front of him was Carol.

“Huh?” He mumbles under his breath, then sits up straighter. Crap! No, he needed to get back there! Unfortunately, Carol looked nervous, so... he gulped, his hands shaking, "Uh, y...yeah, I’m alright, thank you.” He holds out his hands for the pillow that she gave him, “I was just lost in thought.”

“You’re crying.” She told him, pointing up at his eye, “Is something wrong?” she sounded worried, but Rappa didn’t want the worry. He wanted to go and see his brother!

“Yeah, I promise that I’m alright. I’m just a bit tired; you know how it is.” He waves his hand and moves to set the pillow down beside him, letting out a little laugh, “You should get some rest. The kids are probably going to wake up and try to mess with us.” She hums as he spoke, and he had a feeling that she didn’t believe him, though she nods and walks off to go to her bedroom.

He waits for her to leave, then breathes out to calm himself down, and he rests his hands down on his knees, shutting his eyes again. He needed to get back there to see his brother again! He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his eyes burned, though no matter how long he sat there, he couldn’t get back.

Why couldn’t he get back?

Was he too panicked? Was his mind working too much for him to try to get back there right now? That’s not fair! He puts his hands together and breathes in and out slowly to try to calm his nerves. Alright, this is going to be fine. He could do this; he just needed to breathe in and out and calm himself.

Sadly, no matter how long he sat there, he wasn’t able to come back. He sighed, laid back on the ground after moving the table, and shut his eyes. Maybe trying to sleep would be a good idea, and he’ll go back tomorrow.

⋘                                𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒                            𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡...                            ⋙

Rappa got woken up by a heavy weight landing on his chest, making him grunt, and he opened his eyes fast, looking down at whatever was on him. It was Michelangelo!

He smiles up at him, his head resting on his arms, and he says, “Good morning, dad! Did I wake you?”

“Yeah, you did, you little fart. You already knew that.” He reaches down to pinch Michelangelo’s cheeks, tugging on them lightly while making him laugh. “Did you have to wake me up like that?” Of course, it wasn’t too bad; Michelangelo wasn’t that heavy, still! Rude.

Michelangelo nods and sits up once his cheeks are let go, and he starts to talk. “I was thinking maybe we could go and get IHOP or Denny’s? For breakfast? Since we’re already out, I mean.”

Denny’s or IHOP? That’s a random thing. He yawns and reaches up to rub his hand over one of his eyes, mumbling under his breath. Man, he was sleepy still. “We would have to ask the others if they would want to go... are they awake?”

“I think April is, but the others are still asleep. I think Leo had a hard time falling asleep again.” was the response that he got, making him hum. Rappa picks up Michelangelo in one of his hands and slowly pushes himself to sit up, letting out a groan at the shot of pain that went through him. “Are you okay?” the small turtle asked, with a frown on his face.

Rappa nods in approval and moves to set Michelangelo onto his shoulder, responding, “I’m alright. I’m just not used to sleeping on the ground like that anymore. Let’s go and get the others and tell Carol that we’ll be leaving to go and get breakfast.” Michelangelo smiles and nods, hugging his dad's head, and they start to walk to go and wake up the others.

He could hear that April was in the shower, and when he walked into the bedroom, he saw the others still asleep. Raphael had his arms wrapped around both Leonardo and Donatello, them using him as a pillow. When he saw Donatello, his heart dropped, admittedly. Rappa shook his head to get his mind off his brother right now.

He needed to deal with the kids.

He crouches down and gently shakes Raphael's arm first, "Hey, it's time to wake up. We have to get out of here and head home." When he felt a soft tug in his hair, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Or to Denny's," he corrected.

Raphael gradually opened his eyes, then let out a big yawn, his jaw cracking when it opened, and he stuck out his tongue slightly, mumbling, "Morning..." Rappa let out a laugh and woke up the other two. Leonardo murmurs something and turns away to go back to sleep. Rappa snorts and picks him up in his arms.

"Can we do IHOP instead?" Donatello asks, rubbing one of his eyes and looking up at Rappa. He liked pancakes. Rappa nods and helps Raphael up as well as Donatello, "Course."

And with that, they headed out after saying goodbye to April and Carol. They stopped at IHOP, and they ordered their food. A few people came over to take a picture with Rappa, who merely smiled and gave a thumbs-up. He felt kind of awkward. They said that they never met anyone as tall as he was! The others seemed a little uncomfortable with the attention—mostly Donatello and Raphael.

Luckily, that didn't last too long. The people left, and Rappa sat down to eat the food that they had ordered. Leonardo grins and holds up his pancake, saying, "It's your shell~" he teases. Donatello rolls his eyes and pushes him away, making Leonardo laugh. Michaelangelo laughs too, putting his hand over his mouth to try to stop himself.

Rappa takes out his phone, seeing a message from Big Mama: 'are you going to be coming in today, bigga boo?' It said.

He shuts his mouth in a tight line and looks at his boys, then writes back to her, 'yes, ma'am, I'll be in. I'm just with my boys right now. I took them out for breakfast' 'how sweet of you. Now don’t forget that you need to come here!~’ she wrote back to him, making him let out a sigh. He puts his phone away and then looks back at the kids. They were eating happily, chatting amongst themselves.

Rappa liked seeing them happy and relaxed. “Hey guys,” He started, making them look at him, “I have to go back to work soon, I’m hoping you four can go home and do some light training, then you can do whatever you want to do the rest of the day. Does that sound good?”

“What kinda training?” Donatello asks while Leonardo was still eating the pancakes he ordered. As Rappa told them what they needed to do, he was thinking about everything that had been going on. Lou talking to him before really helped him feel better, and now he could talk to his brother! He had so many questions. He was planning on trying to get back to that area after work was done so he could talk to his Donatello and ask a few questions. He wanted to mostly see what their lives were like and what was going on exactly. He wanted to know how Cassandra was and how Casey Jr. was too! Especially Casey Jr. These guys were his kids. Yeah, sorta, but Casey Jr. was his son. His blood and these guys were also his blood, though not his sons? It was hard to explain.

They had fun at the restaurant. Leonardo kept making jokes or teasing his brothers, and Michelangelo told them what was in the food because of his strangely amazing sense of taste. Raphael put way too much syrup onto his pancakes, and Donatello stuck out his tongue. Ew, sticky. Rappa thought this was all pretty cute.

“How many pancakes do you think I could fit in my mouth?” Raphael asks, pointing at himself with a big grin on his face. “I bet 12.” Michelangelo says, and Leonardo was quick to add, “Don’t be a coward! Do 20!”

Rappa rolls his eyes, amused, and reaches over to pat them both on their heads, “No, no trying to do that. You’d end up getting it caught, and you’d choke.” they all went booo since Donatello was prepared to record it. Also, you know, Rappa didn’t want to have to pay for that many pancakes...

After they were done eating, Rappa paid, thanking the workers, and the four turtles left while Rappa waved at them. Once they went around the corner, he left himself to get to work. He really hoped that this day would be fine.

⋘                                𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒                            𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡...                            ⋙

When he got there, everything was going as normal. The workers greeted him, and one walked beside him as he headed toward his room. "Welcome back, Rappa! Thank you for coming when you did. I'm sure that Big Mama would be delighted to see you. Would you like anything? Are you peckish? Parched? I can get you anything that you desire." It was a small yokai, a very fluffy creature, that Rappa couldn't place his finger on. What he did know was that this Yokai always seemed anxious, and they were the one that Big Mama told to keep him comfortable while he was here.

Rappa turns his head down to look at this little creature, then crouches down and rests his hand on top of their head, giving them a nice smile—or at least what he hoped was a nice-looking smile. "Hey, it's alright; I'm fine. Thanks for the offer, but why don't you go and sit down for a little while? Take a break," he told them.

"A...Are you sure?" they asked, sounding unconvinced; thankfully, when he nodded, they beamed and ran off to do just that. Maybe they could slip in a nap? Who knows! Rappa watches them go, then stands up straight and heads to his room. He'd get ready for whatever the day was going to bring—assumably some fighting. He was the champion, after all. So far, he had been able to hold back enough to not hurt anyone too badly, though enough to show that he was strong and unable to be beaten. He would be worried about losing control and really hurting people if he wasn't good at holding back.

Against the Krang was the only time that he ever allowed himself to go fully out—after getting so big, he meant. After learning that he could easily snap someone's arm, he grew a bit frightened of himself. His brothers helped him out a lot. Hell, he had a feeling that he could easily bite through someone's arm if he wanted to! Not that he would ever want to.

He knew that he was a beast. Easily could be a monster, and he was going to try his best to never let that happen.

While he sat, brushing out his hair, he heard the door open, so he turned his head to see that it was Big Mama there with a smile that tugged her lips up slightly. "Hello, bigga-boo~" She wiggled her fingers to wave as she spoke. "I was starting to worry that you were going to skip out on me today. That would have left quite a lot of people unhappy. Would be extremely forbelling."

"I would never miss it." He turns to face her, getting a little smile. Man, he hated it whenever she smiled at him like that! She was so small compared to him, but so dangerous. "Can I know what the plan is for today's round?" She simply smiled at him, putting her finger to her lips in a silent way of saying that no, she couldn't tell him. He let out a sigh, shaking his head at her.

Troublesome.

He always disliked it when she wouldn't tell him what was going on! She acts like it's funny or cute when it really isn't. He stands up and stretches his arms above his head, yawning. He had to be careful not to accidentally damage the roof.

Being really tall sucked.

"come, come, let's not keep people waiting too long. There are some people wanting to talk to you." She turns, waving her finger in the silent come on way. He watches her for a moment, then sighs and stands, following. Honestly, he wasn't ready to go; you bet he figured that he couldn't say that.

As they walked together, he was busy thinking about his boys. He wondered what they were doing? Probably playing around. He hoped that they had fun today.

He knew that he did.

Chapter Text

Walking together, the only sounds were Rappa’s loud footsteps and the clicking of Big Mama’s heels on the ground under them. For some reason that Rappa couldn’t put his finger on, he felt nervous.

Was it because he didn’t know what was going on? Because he didn’t know what was going to happen next?

Ugh... whatever.

It always happened like that; he was just going to have to deal with it and see what was going to happen.

Big Mama turns her head to look at him and smiles, resting her hand on his arm as she speaks to him. “It was so cute that you were spending time with your little turtleies; how come you never bring them to see me? It’s like you don’t trust me!” She spoke with amusement in her voice, but he knew better.

That was a challenge.

She already knew the answer to that—he knew she did. She wanted to see what he would say. His eyes shoot down to look at the hand on his shoulder, then he smiles at her and responds, “I don’t like to mix my work and family life. It would make it harder to focus, Big Mama. What if there was something that came to try to attack you? Or somebody finds out how to get through your great champ? It would be pretty bad, wouldn’t it?” She stares at him, blinking slowly, and he stares back at her.

They were both waiting for each other to say something. He knew that he brought the kids to see her earlier, but he also knew that she would be seeing much more of them in the future... He kind of wondered how all of this would change the future. How would she treat them? Better? Worse?

He didn’t know—nor did he exactly want to know.

Finally, after a few moments, she hums and then nods. “Alright then.” She looks forward, bringing him into one of the rooms. There were quite a few people already there, chatting amongst themselves. Of course, he was the biggest person in this room...

Expected .

So far, Rappa has yet to find someone to fight that he could stop holding back against. Sure, there were a few where he could stop a little bit, but he has yet to be able to go 100%. While he was alive in his own world, he could go all out against the Krang, and that was... pretty awesome for him, to be honest! He loved fighting; he missed fighting, but having to hold back was annoying and stressful .

Rappa... didn’t want to kill anyone, however, so he would keep going. He would keep holding back.

The people look over, and one of the girls, who was a civet, puts her paw on her cheek and says. “Wow, you were right! He’s huge.” She, along with a few others, came over, and Big Mama clapped her hands together, laughing, “Of course! Only the best of the best for my friends and the people who come to watch the fights. He is almost just as good as the last one... People love seeing just how strong he is.”

“Have you found anyone yet that was close to a match?” Another one of them asked, this being a chinchilla who was very small compared to him and the others even. He was wearing a cute little suit that Rappa loved. Oh, my god, he had a little bowtie! Ahhhh !

Big Mama shook her head and continued to talk to them while holding onto his arm, and he sighs, looking away, his eyes going blurry as his mind starts to drift away to think of other things. This was so boring…

He was hungry.

He perks up when he suddenly notices a familiar shape. Donatello stood beside one of the tables, looking down at it and then at Big Mama. “So this is what it looked like while we were still younger...” He walks closer, rubbing his chin as he studies the spider woman, having to lean down quite a bit to do so. “She’s so pretty, yet so disgusting too.”

“Donnie? What are you doing here? How are you here?” He asks, his eyes shooting down to look at Big Mama; though, she was still talking, and it didn’t even seem like she could see the big turtle right in front of her! Oh- right, yeah, that’s... Rappa was most likely the only one who could see him right now.

Donatello’s eyes shoot up to look at Rappa, then he makes a soft tsh sound and stands up straight, holding up his hands as he says, “I’m a ghost, Raphael. In a way, you could say that I’m haunting you.” He then holds up his hands and wiggles his fingers, “ooooo... haunting. Boo.” He chuckles at his stupid joke, shaking his head, and Rappa couldn’t help but laugh as well, shaking his head.

“Is something funny, Rappa?” a voice asks, and he looks down to see that Big Mama was looking up at him, so he pauses then shakes his head, responding. “No, sorry, Big Mama. I was thinking.” She purses her lips, then nods and goes back to talking to the three yokai in front of her. He looks back at Donatello to see that he was still there.

He hums and shakes his head, then starts to talk. “Well... since you are with people this time, I guess you can’t answer. Troublesome, but I can work with this.” He puts his hands together and keeps talking, “Raphael, I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, but I think that when the others die, which I do think that they will sadly, they’ll appear where you could see them just like me. I’m going to try to figure out a way to make us able to appear like you did. Do you think that would be a good idea?”

The idea of them dying made him really sad, but the idea of having them back with him? To have his brothers again? It made him happier than he would ever like to admit, so he nods fast and whispers, “Please.”

Donatello lets out a happy hum at that, nodding, and then starts to walk around again. Heh, the idea of having them back made him really happy, even though he knew that it would take a really long time... He really hoped it wouldn’t take forever. He was already getting a little old! (Not really, he’s being dramatic)

He felt a hand patting his arm, and Big Mama said again, “Rappa. What are you doing? We’ve been asking you questions.” She sounded annoyed. He jolts at the touch and turns his head down to look at her, then at them, and smiles, putting his hand to his chest as he answers, “So sorry for getting distracted... Rappa’s got a lot on his mind, thinking about the next fight and how it’ll go. What was being said?” The two girls started to giggle, and one of them repeated the question that they asked while he happily answered them.

He was in a much better mood than before.

He did have to wonder, though: how would the smaller turtles react? What could he do to come up with an excuse without telling them the truth? He really didn’t want to tell them that he was their brother from the future in a different timeline who got crushed to death and then got sent here because their dad died in an equally crumbling building! He thought that that would kind of ruin their friendship with Draxum.

Ugh.

Draxum...

He hated the idea of meeting Draxum again. He knew that they became friends after a while, and Draxum became very important to them, but this one? This one, he couldn’t picture becoming friends with. He killed Splinter! He... damn it! He took their father away from them and left them with him .

Rappa wasn’t prepared to take care of four little turtles! He had been prepared to take care of his own son; his blood then he died and it was taken away from him.

He starts to tap his foot on the ground, trying to calm himself down. His tail started to wave back and forth, against his will, as he couldn’t control it, sadly. 

Rappa answered all the questions that the people had, met more of them, and finally, after a few hours, he was allowed to go home. Big Mama told him that she was a bit disappointed in him for ignoring the people when they were very important! He lowered his head and told her that he was sorry.

When he got home, he opened the box and put the money into it, smiling a little. Heh , he’s already getting quite a lot of money! He’s been saving it for anything that is really important.

“Daaaadddd!” Leonardo shouts, running over and climbing up his spikes to get away from Donatello. “Don’s trying to kill me!” 

“You ruined my blueprints!” Donatello shouts, shaking the paper that was dripping with liquid.

"No, I didn’t!” They started to go back and forth, saying yes, you did and no, I didn’t! Rappa lets out a laugh and shakes his head, then reaches up to grab Leonardo off his back to set him back down onto the ground. “Alright, alright, calm down. What happened?”

Donatello looks at Leonardo, who was looking down and fiddling with his fingers, then he points at the paper. "I was planning on making a few things and drawing up the blueprints for them to come up with everything that I would need. He came to bother me, and I told him to get out, but then he dropped his cup on my prints!"

"It wasn’t on purpose! I wanted to hang out." Leonardo whines, waving his arms. He seemed panicked, and Donatello turned his head away, puffing his cheeks out.

Rappa smiles a little, amused by this. He remembered when this happened when they were younger; they went to Splinter, and he helped them calm down. With a huff of laughter, he moves to sit on his knees, looking at them. “Alright, both of you guys calm down... Leonardo, did you say you were sorry?” Leonardo nods quickly, so Rappa looks at Donatello and asks, “And you’re still mad at him for it?”

Donatello nods quickly and holds up his hands in fists as he says, “Of course I’m angry! He ruined my blueprints. They were very important! And...” He stops, looking over at Leonardo, who looked sad, so he shuts his mouth in a tight line, then sighs and grumbles, “I’ll be better if he cleans his mess.”

Rappa nods and looks over at Leonardo. “Well?” he starts, making Leonardo smile, and he turns, running off and laughing while holding his arms out by his sides. 

Being left with Donatello, Rappa looks down at him to see him squinting at his hands and slightly squirming. Ah, right, he was probably sticky from the drink, huh? With a hum, he scoops him up. "Come on, let's get you cleaned off. He'll clean up, and he really is sorry for spilling that. I don't think this time it was on purpose." He starts to walk to the kitchen.

The smaller purple turtle just starts to mumble and mutter. He wasn't too sure about that, but he guessed that he would listen... If he wasn't washed soon, though, he was going to scream. Feeling sticky was the worst thing in the world.

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Next

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It has been years since that day.

Rappa saw his boys grow up, and he was so proud of them. They were getting so strong, and he knew that they would be better prepared for the Krang than they were when the Krang appeared.

Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to survive.

Today he had a day off from work, so he was relaxing in the big chair with his eyes shut. Days have been going by so quickly... he knew that the boys were out doing things, and he was sure that they were safe. They were most likely fighting with Meatsweats or one of the others. Ha! Those dudes wouldn’t know what was coming. They were better at fighting now than he and his brother’s were at this age.

While he was relaxing, he heard footsteps, and when he opened his eyes, he saw his four boys sitting around the big chair and looking up at him. Raphael looked nervous, Michelangelo and Leonardo both had those smiles that showed that they did something, and Donatello looked jittery.

He stares at them, blinking slowly, then looks at Raphael and asks, “What’s going on?” He knew, from personal memories, that Raphael wouldn’t be able to lie to him. He was never able to lie to his own father, or at least he had a hard time with it.

Raphael’s eyes widened when Rappa spoke to him, so he opened his mouth, then shut it again and turned his head away, rubbing his neck. “Well… I, uh-” Leonardo decides to butt in, holding up his arm. “April says that she wants you to meet her grandparents! They’re coming for a visit!” 

April's grandparents? He didn't even know that she had grandparents. He saw Michelangelo nodding, while Donatello was giving Leonardo a strange look. The look disappeared when he noticed Rappa was looking at him.

Yeah, okay, that didn't make him feel all that good.

Rappa stares at Leonardo, squinting slightly before he says it in a questioning tone. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

There was a nervous laugh, and Leonardo shook his head, waving his arm and making a farting sound with his lips. "Pffttt... what? No! Course not... why would I go and... do that?" He turns his head down, messing with his gloves.

Yep.

They were planning something.

Slowly, Rappa sighed and rubbed the side of his head, feeling his mess of hair tangling between his fingers before he responded. "Alright, fine, we can go and see them whenever they get here. When is it?" the four turtles cheered, throwing their hands up into the air. He lets out a little laugh and stands up from his chair, which makes a soft creaking sound. "For now, come on, let's go get started on dinner." He starts to walk to the kitchen, with Raphael and Donatello getting up to follow.

Michelangelo watched them go, then climbed up to sit on Rappa's chair and bounced slightly, whispering. "I feel so small in this." Leonardo laughs and jumps up onto the chair too, and asks, "You think he's gonna be alright meeting Draxum?" Michelangelo shrugged, with a little smile on his face.

He couldn't see it going too badly.

Chapter Text

“Come on, come on, it’s this way!” Michelangelo said while dragging Rappa.

Dragging was the wrong word to use; it was more Michelangelo holding his hand and pulling him, while Rappa was following after. If he didn’t want to walk, he wouldn’t be able to be pulled by pretty much anyone that he knew of right now.

Where were they going? Well, Rappa wasn’t exactly sure. All he knew was that they were heading somewhere! Leonardo was sitting up on his shoulders with his hands over his eyes, so he couldn’t ’ruin the surprise,’ they said. Rappa fully and honestly didn’t believe that they were going to meet April’s grandparents, be that as it may, he didn’t want to accuse his boys of lying to him! They said that they weren’t, so he would trust them until they were proven wrong.

Heck, maybe they were telling the truth?

Raphael and Donatello were following behind them. They were dressed up nice, Donatello and Leonardo in their little matching outfits, and Michelangelo was wearing his sweater and dress pants. It was nice to see that they were able to dress up nicely sometimes.

“After we’re done with this, Raph’s gotta go and help April with her bathroom. The lights keep going in and out.” Rappa heard Raphael say, and Donatello responded. Why did that seem so... important?

Something was tickling the back of his mind, and he didn’t like it very much.

Leonardo rests his head down on top of Rappa’s, nuzzling a little into his hair before saying, “You’re gonna have a lot of fun, I think. Mikey wants us all to get along... I’m not really the most into the idea.” Why wouldn’t he want to meet April’s grandparents?

“We’re here!” Michelangelo lets go of Rappa’s hands and shouts. “Draxum! We’re here!” and that sent a shiver down Rappa’s spine.

What?

WHAT ?

Leonardo slides down his back to the ground, and he blinks a few times as the light hits his uncovered eyes. Draxum was standing there with his arms crossed, and Michelangelo was rambling excitedly. “Yeah, so this is our dad! Dad, this is Draxum. He said that he created us; can you believe that? He’s pretty much like another dad, isn’t he?” He was saying more, but Rappa wasn’t listening.

You know, he knew that he would be angry. He knew that he would be mad.

All the same, he didn’t expect the rage that filled him—the anger that was telling him to rip this idiot apart. This was different from when they met him.

“Orange one, I am not your other dad or this one-” Draxum starts to talk, looking up at Rappa. The voice is what broke him.

The voice is what made him snap.

Before Draxum could say anything else, Rappa rushed forward and slammed him into the wall, a hand around his throat as he snarled. “You sick bastard.” Draxum’s eyes widen at the sudden movement. Even though Draxum was so tall, with a total of 6’8, Rappa was a lot taller. He was taller, stronger, and prepared to pop this fools head off like a lollipop! “You should have prayed to any God that would have listened to you that you would have never met me.“ He tightens his grip, feeling the nails clawing at his hand. The slight pain didn’t really do anything; this idiot made sure of that.

Creations for war. That’s what they were; that’s all they were supposed to be to him. To take out every human and return the Yokai to the surface, yeah, like that would have been a good idea!

”Dad! Stop it, what are you doing?“ He heard, causing him to pause, and his eyes shot over from the face of the man he knew caused so many issues and saw Michelangelo tugging at his jacket sleeve. ”Let him go!“ he said, and then Rappa’s eyes scanned up and he saw the others staring at him, shocked. Worried even.

He...

He shouldn’t do this in front of them. He drums his claws against Draxum’s throat for a few moments before letting out the shaky breath that he didn’t realize he was holding and letting go.

Draxum falls to the floor with a thud and reaches up to rub at his throat, gasping for breath, and Michelangelo crouches beside him, asking if he was okay.

Rappa clicks his teeth together and takes a few steps back. ”I’m going for some air.“ and he walks out of the door, shutting it behind him. He tried to shut it gently, really tried to; nevertheless, he could feel the way it shook the walls, and he headed to get to the top of the building.

As he walked, he rubbed his hand over his face, breathing in and out slowly. This was stupid. This was so stupid. He should have known that it wasn’t April’s grandparents! And the bathroom. Damn it! How could he be so stupid? He reaches up, tangling his fingers in his hair and tugging at it.

He felt angry. He felt so mad, and he couldn’t think of any way to get it out! He couldn’t punch the wall because he would break the wall, and he couldn’t go to fight anyone because he didn’t know if he would be able to hold back!

Once he got to the roof, he walked to the edge, sat down with his legs hanging over, and stared down at the floor that was so far below him.

Did he overreact? No, he didn’t think so. Draxum killed the one that was supposed to raise these guys; he killed Lou and Splinter... it would be only fair if he did it back. That thought caught him off guard, and he sighs, rubbing his hand over his face and mumbling. ”What’s going on with me?“ He was never this violent when he was younger.

”You’re keeping a lot inside. Duh.“ he heard, so he looked through his fingers and saw his Donatello, who walks over and sits beside him. His hair wasn’t blowing in the wind, and Rappa could slightly see through him, so that was telling him that yeah, this wasn’t real—or at least, not something anyone else could see. ”Even I can see that, my dear red brother.“

For a few moments, neither of them spoke, then Donatello continued. ”You would have killed him, wouldn’t you?“ When Rappa nodded slowly, he continued. ”why?“

”When the explosion happened, this world’s Splinter got caught under rubble, and... he died. These guys never got to meet their dad.“

Donatello rolls his eyes and reaches over to flick his cheek, which causes him to let out a soft meh sound. It didn’t hurt or anything. ”Idiot. Yes, they did; you’re their dad. They don’t even know who Splinter is. You’re all they’ve known... look, I’m not good at this stuff. In spite of that fact, do you really think Draxum caused that? Or are you lashing out at him because then you could, I don’t know, put the blame onto someone?“

Rappa opened his mouth to respond, to say that Donatello was wrong, but... he couldn’t. He couldn’t say that because his brother was right. Yeah, Draxum got Lou killed, and of course Rappa was mad about that, though maybe he was overreacting with a lot of stuff. Was he mad because he didn’t have anyone to talk to?

He died, then had to go and start parenting someone right after without having any time to cope. For a few moments, he was silent, then he sighed and looked over the edge. ”I hate it when you’re right.“ he grumbled.

”I am often right, dumb-dumb.“ Donatello replies and nudges his shoulder against his arm. ”As of now, though, I think you should probably do some damage control. You might have messed up some by attacking him. Even if I would have done the same thing,”

Rappa lets out a pfft laugh and shakes his head. ”No, you wouldn’t have! You’d pull out a gun on him.“ Donatello sticks his tongue out with a fart sound in a silent way of disagreeing without having to do it because, yeah, he would have done that.

For a bit longer, he sat out there, watching the people far below move around. Parts of him wondered if he would die falling from this height, then realized that no, probably not. He was bigger than he was when he was younger, much stronger too. He looks down at his hand and flexes his fingers, seeing his claws shining in the light of the sun.

He really could have killed Draxum... He sighs out slowly and shakes his head, mumbling under his breath. “Revenge is a losing game; remember that.” He moves, pushing himself to stand up, and goes back through the door, starting to head back.

They would probably have dinner, then... he didn’t know. Whatever would happen next.

When he got back to the room, the others looked over, and Michelangelo stood up straight, putting his hands on his hips with his cheeks puffed out. “You better explain yourself; what was that?” he seemed upset, which was cute albeit now wasn’t the time.

The pizza casserole that they made was on the table, as well as other foods stuff. He looks at Michelangelo, then at Draxum, who was sitting on the couch, and his tongue darts out to wet his lips before he starts to talk. “I... had my reasons. Draxum, count this as us being fair.”

“I don’t see exactly how you almost choked me in my own home accounts as us being counted ‘fair’” he did the finger quotes, so Rappa narrows his eyes and walks closer, hissing through clenched teeth. “I was there when the explosion happened. I know the blood on your hands, so you better be happy that I don’t have any on mine.” He said it quietly enough for the others to not hear, though the way Draxum’s eyes did, he could tell he knew what he was talking about. 

With that, Rappa stood up straight and looked over at the others. “Alright, sorry about that, boys... we’re good for now.”

“That was awesome!” Leonardo cheers, throwing his hands up into the air. “That was so cool! I always forget how strong you are, since you normally just sit on that big chair whenever you come home from work. Also, you two are acting like an old divorced couple. Enemies to lovers 40K fic?” Donatello, this timeline’s, reaches over and smacks the back of Leonardo’s head, saying, “It wasn’t that cool. And stop being weird.” Leonardo rubs the back of his head, frowning. “Aw man, yeah, it was. Stop disagreeing just to disagree with me.” they started to bicker, and Michelangelo sighs, shaking his head. Raphael was still shifting where he stood, not all that sure exactly what he should do.

“Should... we sit and eat?” Raphael decided to suggest, and Rappa nodded. “Let’s.” he says, walking over to the table and pulling out the chairs. “Mikey made that meal special; he seemed really excited for this meeting.”

“That you almost ruined by killing me.” Draxum said, standing up and brushing himself off.

“Which I can still do, goat. Don’t push your luck.” he replies, squinting at him. Michelangelo frowns and holds up his arms, quickly saying, “Guys! Nobody is killing anyone; let’s just have a fun, nice day. Geez, I know where Donnie gets his murderous intent now.”

Donatello puts his hand to his chest, frowning. “Gasp? I do not have any murderous intent. I am perfectly peaceful.” Leonardo makes a pfft sound at that, shaking his head, and goes to sit down.

Soon, they were all eating. Michelangelo was rambling, waving his hands as he spoke. “So, dad, I don’t know how you know him, but isn’t it cool that he made us? If he didn’t, we wouldn’t be here!”

“Yes, orange one; that is normally how it goes.” Draxum adds, poking at the food that he was given. Rappa wanted to bite back and say something; however, he decided not to. “Yeah, you’re right; I guess that’s one thing I have to thank him for.” He reaches over and rubs the top of Michelangelo’s head. “Gave me four great, strong sons.” Leonardo and Donatello both laughed, a little sheepish, and Raphael grinned.

Draxum gave them all a look and shook his head, so Rappa sighs through his nose and asks, “Something wrong with that?”

He got a shake of the head in response, and then the voice answer. “How do you ever expect them to be great fighters if you treat them so softly? You’re distracting them from the main goal.”

“Just because I’m treating them good doesn’t mean that they aren’t good at fighting. You should know that.”

“I know that only one of them was able to land a hit.”

“They just got their weapons! What do you expect from them? To be perfect with them at a moment's notice?” He snaps back, holding up one of his hands.

Draxum was about to continue with the argument, which Michelangelo was covering his face for, when Raphael butted in by asking. “Dad... how do you know that?” Donatello nods slightly and adds, “I was wondering the same thing.” Leonardo agrees by nodding too.

Oh.

Ha... okay, he might have messed up with that. He looks at Raphael, then the others, to see that they were staring at him, probably waiting for him to answer. Well, what was he supposed to say? He shakes his head and holds up his hand. “I noticed the change; don’t worry about it. It isn’t every day you guys get new weapons. Other than you, Donatello, your choice is still perfect.” That got a smile from the purple turtle, who nodded and responded. “I know.” Leonardo squints at him, as if he didn’t believe it.

“What is the main goal?” Michelangelo decided to ask a question, and before Draxum could respond, Rappa shakes his head and says, “Nothing that you four are going to do. He had his chance, and he lost it.” Draxum glares at him, so he glares back.

There was so much tension in this place. He could tell that Donatello was starting to feel nervous, lightly scratching at his arm through the fabric of the sleeves, so he sighs and mumbles. “Dang it.” He looks down and opens his bag, then pulls out the fidget toy, handing it to him. “Here, play with this.” Donatello looks down at it and gets a small smile on his face, then takes it and starts to mess with it. As he moved the blocks, it made soft clinking sounds, and Leonardo let out an “oooo” sound and lean over to watch, resting his head against his twin’s shoulder.

Michelangelo puffs his cheeks out, then puts his hands down onto the table and says to Draxum. “So Drax!” “Don’t call me that.” "So, DRAX , do you want to come with me to the carnival that’s going on later? Sweet! Who else wants to come?” Since Leonardo and Donatello were distracted, he reaches over and pushes Raphael’s arm up, who perks up. “Huh? Me?! What?” Rappa lets out a soft snort and leans back against the ground. He didn’t want to sit on one of the chairs and have it break.

His weight was a bit, uh, much... for normal chairs.

They made the plans for when they were to go out, and Rappa gave his allowance. He really didn’t want to; however, he knew that Michelangelo really cared about Draxum, and... man, he didn’t want to be the one to take him away.

After Draxum left with Michelangelo and Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo, and Rappa watched them leave. Rappa moves his arms up to cross over his chest, squinting slightly. “You okay there, old man?” Leonardo asks.

“No.” was the fast response. “And if either of them gets hurt, Draxum will be even worse.” he turns and starts to walk out of the room. “Let’s head home.”

Donatello and Leonardo look at each other, and then they quickly follow after. They both climbed up to rest across his back, since they liked being carried. “Were you really going to kill him?” Donatello questions.

Did Rappa want to answer that? He wasn’t really sure... was he going to? He felt like he was about to. Those dark thoughts really wanted to get out. “I think so.” He mumbles. “But let’s not talk about that, alright? Anywhere you guys want to stop?” 

Leonardo grins and holds up one of his arms, shouting, “Let’s get ice cream!” Donatello rolls his eyes and pushes on Leonardo’s arm, telling him, “You’re not allowed to have dairy, idiot.” Leonardo sticks his tongue out, laughing, and Rappa smiles, starting to head that way.

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Skip

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Michelangelo said that Draxum and Rappa should hang out! Rappa disagreed, saying that he didn’t think it would be a good idea, though when Michelangelo gave him the puppy eyes, he couldn’t help the sigh. "Fine. I'll hang out with Draxum.” and that made the youngest happy!

And that’s why he was sitting beside Draxum in the hidden city.

They were both sitting in silence, their arms crossed, and they were leaning against the wall. It felt awkward, and he didn’t want to be here.

Michelangelo ran off to get them ice cream, and he told them to stay there. “I dislike you.” Draxum finally spoke.

Rappa perks up and turns his head to look over at him. “You finally start to talk, and it’s just to say that you don’t like me?” When Draxum looked at him, he let out a sigh and shook his head. “Well, I don’t like you very much either, Mr.; the only reason I’m here is because Mikey wanted me to.”

“Do you normally let them rule whatever you do? Here I expected you to be a warrior due to your size.” Draxum turned up his nose at him as he spoke, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Rappa narrows his eyes and snaps at him, holding his hand in a fist. “I’ll show you just how much of a warrior I am if you don’t stop trying to push my buttons. You alchemist sheep creep. You don’t even have horns without your helmet.”

Draxum perks up and puts his hand to his chest, offended. “Don’t you bring my lack of horns into this; what is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with you ? You’re not allowed to ask what is wrong with me when you have what you have wrong with you!”

“You’re the one with something wrong with you!”

They were going back and forth, getting really loud. Rappa knew that he shouldn’t lash out like this; Michelangelo wanted them to be friendly, though it was kind of nice? In a weird way?

As they were shouting at each other, they both heard a voice shout. “Hey!” They both look over to see a cop who was pointing. “Is that Heinous Green and Draxum?” Rappa pauses and squints. What the hell? Really? He groans and reaches over to grab Draxum. “Hold on.” He starts to run away. This is stupid. He knew what would happen! Draxum would go to jail, Michelangelo would be sad, and no, he wasn’t going to let that happen this time.

“Dad? What are you doing?” He heard a voice in front of him and saw Michelangelo, so he reached out and grabbed him too, continuing to run. “Cops saw Draxum; want to take him; we’re not going to let that happen.” even though he REALLY wanted it. His son- uh, brothers happiness mattered more.

They ran until he found a large trash can that was, strangely, big enough for him. Convenient! He drops them both in there and climbs in himself, shutting it behind them with his tail.

“Did you have to carry me like that?” Draxum complained, fixing his outfit with annoyance in his voice. Rappa lets out a tsh sound and narrows his eyes at him. “I wouldn’t have to carry you like that if you weren’t wanted by the cops.”

“The cops are idiots, and he was after you too. Don’t act like I’m the only one!”

“They mistook me for someone else, and they are stupid to say that.” Rappa snaps back, poking Draxum on the chest. “You ruined Mikey’s day with this.”

Draxum smacks his hand away and snaps at him, his voice heated. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have a son for me to ruin the day.”

As they argued, Michelangelo looked between them both, then looked down, frowning and messing with the hat he was wearing. His eyes felt watery. Rappa opens his mouth to respond, then pauses and lets out a sigh, grumbling under his breath. He turns his head to look at Michelangelo and reaches over to put his hand on his arm. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Why... why do you guys not like each other? I wanted you two to get along, but now I think it was a stupid idea.” Michelangelo sniffles, reaching up to wipe at his eyes.

Rappa frowns at that. Aw man... he looks over at Draxum, then at Michelangelo, and sighs, moving to rest his hands on his knees. “Draxum, what... is your favorite color?”

“My... my what?” Draxum asks, now kind of sounding confused. It seemed like he wasn’t expecting it, since yeah, that’s kind of clear. It was a random question.

The large turtle turned his head away and waved his hand as he started to explain. “Look, I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. I don’t really know you as well as I could, so maybe if we knew each other better, we would... get along better.” Michelangelo let out a little laugh at that and looked over at Draxum, waiting for him to say whatever.

Draxum doesn’t reply for a few moments, his eyes shooting away, then he slowly pulls his legs up to his chest. “Teal. It has been a color that I have loved since I was a child. What is... yours?”

Rappa smiles at that and rests his head down against his fist. “Red. All mutant turtles have their mask as their favorite color, don’t you know?” Michelangelo snorts while Draxum’s eyes shoot up to look at the fabric holding Rappa’s hair back. “Yes, I can... see that.” he sounded like he was thinking.

They asked each other questions for a while, almost forgetting that they were in the trash can! Well, they could have forgotten if it wasn’t for the smell. Rappa felt something on his tail that felt sticky, and he was trying his best to ignore that.

Michelangelo stopped them from talking by holding up his hand. “Hey guys, I have an idea.” When both of the adults looked at him, he held up a cloaking stone. “Why don’t we try to get Draxum to not look like Draxum?”

“I would like that a lot.” Rappa said, while Draxum gave him a look of ’what the heck?’ before asking, “You had that for how long, Orange One?”

"Oh, for a while. I thought you two talking out your problems would be good. It was getting a little annoying.”

Rappa stared at him for a moment, then looked at Draxum and poked him. "He got that from you." Draxum smacks his hand away and replies. "He doesn't have any of my DNA. He has nothing from me, you big fool." Rappa smirks and sticks out his tongue.

Of course he was still mad, and he was sure they would continue to argue, but this was good enough for now.