Chapter Text
.. Rupert Swaggart went out into the dark alleyway, looking for more of those scrumptious mutant silverfish.
..“Over here!” A small voice cried.
..“Got it!” Another one.
..“What do we do now?” In the dim light, he could make out four short figures and one mutant silverfish about the same size as the shortest. Small hands held the silverfish in place.
..“You can come with me, lovelies.”
..“Villain!” One squealed, and the silverfish was released as another ran up to him, smacking him with a stick with a rocket attached to the end. It hurt.
..He attacked with his hammer.
..The tiny figure went flying, slamming into a wall with a hard ‘oof.’
..Silence for a brief moment as Rupert prepared to swing again.
..“Time out!” One of the figures cried, racing toward the fallen one. Meanwhile, said fallen one had begun to cry.
..What were these, children?
..He slowly set his hammer down, if these were children, and he hurt one of them- well, he’d never forgive himself. He’d always wanted kids of his own, sometimes he’d even go to the park to watch the kids play around.
..One of them stepped forward into the dim light. It was a turtle, chubby cheeks resembling those of a six-year-old, with an orange mask. “You play too rough, mister! Villain is supposed to be defeated by us heroes!!”
..Holy *bleep* these were children! And… they thought they were just playing?
..“My sincerest apologies, I suppose I got a little too into character. Say, where are your parents? Who takes care of you?”
..“Our pops is at home.” The tallest said, apprehension clear in his fear-tainted voice. The next time he spoke, his voice was back to normal. “And I take care of my brothers.”
..Pulling out a flashlight, Rupert flicked it on and got his first good look at the four.
..All of them were turtle children, probably mutated by the bugs as well. The one crying was decked in purple, his shell even being the unnatural color. The one comforting purple was wearing blue. And the tallest wore red. Slowly, he approached the purple and blue. “May I see him?”
..Blue went rigid, but nodded tersely.
..He gently lifted purple, shushing him softly and rocking him until his cries slowed. “What hurts little one?”
..“Back.” The boy sniffed.
..Rupert looked at the purple shell, seeing it was thoroughly dented, probably broken.
..Yep, this was how Rupert died, killing himself over hurting a child.
..“Should we take off his battle shell?” Blue whispered to Red. “Or should we be careful of this guy?”
..“He’s only pretending to be scary, otherwise he’d be more like… well, we can trust him. He’s like April!” Red muttered in response.
..Blue nodded, walking up to Rupert and holding his hands up. He easily scooped up Blue, and the boy carefully removed the purple shell, revealing the bruised, soft shell underneath.
..Carefully Rupert scooped up the other two boys, easily holding them all with the size of his mutated arms. He carried them all to where he’d been staying, pulling out some cream and applying it to the bruised shell. Purple had stopped crying awhile back, but relaxed further as the cream was applied. The other three all watched.
..“So, what are your names, boys?”
..The four all glanced at each other before Red finally said “I’m Raphael. Or Raph.”
..“I’m Michaelangelo. Or Mikey.”
..“Leonardo, or Leo.”
..“Donatello, also known as Donnie.”
..“And how old are you four?”
..“Seven.”
..“Me an’ Don are almost seven.”
..“Six!”
..Oh goodness, they were so little. “Does your father know you’re here?”
..All four of them tensed, looking at one another before all eyes landed on Raph. “Well, uh…”
..“Do you know how to get home?”
..“Yep!”
..“Alright, lead the way.”
..“Um,” Raph started. “I can take my brothers on my own mr. … meat sweats?”
..Rupert snickered at the name. “Rupert. Rupert swaggart. Though I suppose my villain name can be Meat Sweats. And are you sure you lovelies can get home on your own?”
..“Mmhmm!”
..“Okay then.” He carefully set Donnie down with the others.
..“Bye mister Rupert Meat Sweats!” Mikey waved as the four began walking away. “See you next time we play!”
..Reluctantly, Rupert watched as the four left.