Archive of Our Own ^beta

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.

Chapter Text

..Big Mama was expecting a lot of things when the bugs invaded her hotel.
.. …Four tiny turtles in hazmat suits was not one of them.
..”I got one!” Purple hazmat suit cried, holding up a small orb containing one of the strange bugs.
..”Nice job, Donnie!” Red cried, attempting to smash the bugs and smashing just about everything else in the process.
..They were absolutely precious. These were going to be her children if no one came to claim them soon.
..The bug escaped from Donnie, all the bugs fleeing the hotel after one of them mutated her bellhop, who ran out of the hotel.
..Those bugs would be useful, but first she had some children to take care of.
..*One elevator ride down*
..”Well, looks like you’ve turned my hotel into quite the fizzywinkle!”
..”We’re sorry.” Red squeaked, and Donnie stepped protectively in front of Blue and Orange.
..She smiled. “Not to worry, my people will sort out this crackadoo.” With a clap of her hands, her employees whirled around the room, cleaning everything up.
..“Well, um, we’ll be going, then.” Red was muttering by the end.
..”Where are your parents, little ones?”
.. …”At home.”
..She tisked. “How irresponsible, leaving you four by yourselves! Tell you what, how about you four stay with me until they come for you, hm? Don’t want you getting hurt out there.”
..”But, we’re not…” Red gestured to his own face.
..She clapped her hands, causing her staff to reveal themselves.
..The four boys gawked before Red started taking off his hazmat suit. The others quickly followed suit, looking up at Big Mama with wide eyes.
..”Come, let’s get you four to the daycare center.”
..”But we gotta catch the bugs and be heroes!” Orange cried.
..”Well then, I’m sure there’s something I can do to help you with those dastard-whizzly bugs. Come with me to my office, and then after we’ve figured out a nice little plan we’ll get you all to the daycare center.” Two rocks with one stone, how ingenious.
..The turtles all glanced at each other before nodding. The four followed her like little ducklings into the elevator, watching with wide eyes as her bellhop pressed the button for her office. They rode in near silence, the turtles muttering to each other in their little voices.
..”Do you really think we can trust her?”
..”She’s nice.”
..”But… papa sometimes acts nice…”
..That was an interesting comment Blue made. “What do you mean, little one?”
..Blue looked at her, eyes widened with a hint of fear. That wouldn’t do. “Nothing.” He mumbled.
..”Oh come on, you can tell Big Mama anything, you know.”
..”Your name is Big Mama?” Orange snickered.
..”Yes, isn’t it amusing my little turtly-boos?”
..Orange nodded. “My name is Mikey!”
..”Oh, what a wonderful name!”
..”Thanks!” Mikey beamed. “Donnie helped me pick it out!”
..They arrived in her office. “Well my little turtly-boos, do you mind if I slip into something a little more comfortable?”
..”No?” Red asked.
..With a nod, she slipped into her true form, causing Blue to shriek and cling to Donnie.
..”Now, how can I help you with your little mission to catch the bugs?”
..”Spider…” Donnie muttered, his eyes going wide. “Do you have webs?!”

Chapter Text

..Big Mama watched her cameras as the turtles toddled off. Her guards escorted Blue - Leo, as she’d learned - Raph, and Mikey to the daycare floor, while Donnie met up with her inventor, Gadget. Gadget and Donnie were eagerly chatting, Donnie toddling along with him while holding a bucket full of her webs that was much too big for him.
..She had no idea whether their father would come for them, though she hoped he didn’t, she’d hate to give them up. Maybe she could go into the daycare and play with them, in her human form of course. First she’d have to watch Gadget and make sure he didn’t get carried away with the young inventor.
..Watching the cameras, she started heading over to Gadget’s laboratory as soon as they got close to finishing (and started getting off topic.) It didn’t take long before she was pushing the doors open. “Oh Gadget~ how are you and Donnie doing?”
..“We’re just about done, Donnie can go join his brothers if he’d like.”
..”Would you like that, Donnie?” She rested her hands on her knees, getting closer to the boy’s level as he nodded.
..”Bye Gadget!”
..”Bye Donnie!” Gadget waved as Big Mama led Donnie out of the lab.
..The elevator ride down to the daycare was rather short, and the two quickly met up with one of her daycare attendants, Nova.
..”Would you like me to take him from you?” Nova asked.
..”No, if you’ll just show us to his brothers that came in here earlier that would be great.” She smiled as Nova quickly obliged.
..”Right over there.” Nova pointed, and Donnie swiftly ran over to his brothers, Raph scooping him up in a hug.
..“Big Mama!” The kids cried, one kid - Ara, age 13 - ran up to her and gave her a hug.
..”How are you my lovelies?”
..”We’re good, Mama!” “So good!” “Have you tried this ice cream, Mama?” “Look at me, I’m bouncing!”
..”I’m glad to hear it, everyone! And how are the fuzzy-lumpous little turtles doing?”
..”We’re good-“ Raph started.
..”We’ve been playing with Sophia!” Mikey exclaimed, gesturing to the young bunny yokai standing next to the caretaker Lunar.
..”They’ve been a joy to have.” Lunar smiled, gently patting Mikey’s head.
..”Have they met my kids?” Big mama asked.
..”Oh, no. Sam and Mac are still in their room. Brownie’s trying to coax them out to come have breakfast.” They gestured to the fox yokai, effortlessly holding two trays of food in one hand as three kids raced around Brownie’s legs.
..”Oh well, they’ll meet them later.”
..Raph shifted. “About that… we’re gonna have to be heading home soon. Don’t want pops to get mad- I mean, to wonder where we are.”
..”I’m sure he won’t mind you staying here a little longer.” Or forever. Whoever he was, unless he was Lou Jitzu he couldn’t do much against Big Mama.
..There was silence for a moment. “Well, I guess we can stay, just until you get those bugs with Donnie’s bug catcher.”
..“Yeah! I want that back when they’re done!”
..”Then it’s settled!” Big Mama purred.
..Big mama introduced them to the pool, and the kids played Marco Polo until one of her henchmen came in, announcing that they’d returned with the bugs. She glanced at the kids. “Boys, would you like to come with me to my office to see the bugs they caught?”
..”Oh, yeah! C’mon, boys!” Raph climbed out of the pool, toddling over to Donnie’s removable purple shell. The other three quickly followed suit, Donnie strapping the purple shell back on. They all toddled after Big Mama as she waved goodbye to the other children. They ran into Sam and Mac on their way out, and Sam immediately raced up to Leo.
..”Hi! My name’s Sam. I like your stripes!”
..”Oh, um, thanks! I love your tail!” He gestured to the axolotl mutant’s tail.
..The two blushed, almost as red as the painted turtle mutant Mac was while staring at Mikey.
..Mikey waved at her. “Hi.”
..She blushed even further, burying her face in her sibling’s side. Sam gently patted her head.
..”We- uh- we gotta go. Bye!” Leo tugged Mikey along.
..”Bye!” Sam waved, hugging Mac with their other arm.
..The turtles raced to the elevator, catching up with Big Mama and riding up to her office.
..The second they arrived, a strange sheep man in a mask crashed through the window, shouting: “WHO DARES STEAL FROM THE GREAT BARON DRAXUM?!?!”

Chapter Text

..”WHO DARES STEAL FROM THE GREAT BARON DRAXUM?!?!” He shouted, bursting into Big Mama’s office. It was a rhetorical question, of course. He just wanted his bugs back so they could mutate the humans.
..”Villain!” A small voice exclaimed, and he glanced to the side.
..There was Big Mama, in her human form, with four turtle mutants he’d thought were long gone.
..”I see, this is the second time you’ve stolen from me, Big Mama.”
..”So you’re the papa they spoke of.” She tucked the children behind her.
..”No, papa’s a rat.” Orange piped up. “Not a goat man.”
..”Those are my children, I made them with the DNA of Lou Jitsu.”
..”And? They’re mine now. Along with those little bugs.”
..”You just want to use those bugs to improve your battle nexus, don’t you?” Draxum accused, folding his arms.
..”Of course not! I would also use them to get more children!”
..Oh great, this conversation again. “For the last time, Big Mama, you cannot just take children from their parents!”
..”I only take the abused and neglected ones!”
..”What’s ‘abused?’” Blue muttered.
..”It’s when you get hurt by someone who takes care of you. Or, at least, is supposed to take care of you.” Purple whispered loudly in return. There was something else he whispered, causing Blue to nod, but Draxum couldn’t quite catch it.
..With a firm shake of his head, he focused back on Big Mama. “Isn’t your definition of abuse ‘this child was left within my sights for a little too long?’”
..”And?”
..He sighed. “Tell you what, I’ll take the boys and try to find their parents, if I cannot find them I’ll return them to you.” Technically he wasn’t lying, after all, he technically was their parent.
..Narrowing her eyes, Big Mama pulled the kids closer. “You’re just going to keep them for yourself!”
..With another sigh, Draxum decided he was done with arguing. He summoned his vines, sealing the door to prevent Big Mama’s guards before yanking the children from her. Orange started crying, while the others started trying to attack him. Purple pulled out a stick that had a rocket attached to the end (where had he gotten that? Who let this kid have rockets) and tried to whack him, and he had to dodge out of the way while scooping up Orange to shush him and wipe away his tears.
..It didn’t take long before he’d gotten all four kids either in his vines or his arms. He gave a bound Big Mama a slight bow before descending to his home in the hidden city.
..Little did he know a young girl spotted him taking the little turtles.
*****
..Draxum had just gotten the boys to calm down and tell him their names when a girl ran into the lab, holding one of the four mystic weapons he’d created - the sword. “APRIL O’NEIL!!!!” She cried as she attacked.
..“April!!” All four boys cried. They quickly swarmed the young human girl, who looked to be about 12 or 13.
..“Boys! I saw you getting kidnapped! Are you okay?!”
..“We weren’t kidnamped!” Raph cried. “We were fighting this villain!”
..“He gave us apple slices!” Mikey agreed.
..She gave a sigh of relief, dropping her armload.
..”What’s this?” Leo asked, grabbing the sword that was much too big for him and swinging it around, causing a portal to be created next to him. “Ooh!” He walked through, coming back out with the agent he’d been holding captive as well as the other three mystic weapons.
..”DIBS ON THE RED GLOWING ONES!!” Raph cried, rushing forward and grabbing the tonfas.
..”Aw, sweet!” Mikey reached for one, just as Draxum yanked all four weapons from their grips, closing the portal.
..“This is much too dangerous for kids.”
..”I can’t believe I’m saying this but I agree with your kidnapper.” April sighed, scooping the two youngest - Mikey and Donnie - up as well as the agent. “C’mon, let’s get you back to your pops.”
..She didn’t seem to notice how all four tensed, but the other two quickly followed after her.
..Interesting, Draxum would have to do some more research for this.

Chapter Text

..Hypno froze as he spotted the pathetic worm man, his heart filling with sympathy for the mutant - after all, his life had also changed when he became a mutant.
..”Hey there, mate.” He held out a hand, and the worm man slowly climbed on.
..Now it was a whole month later, the two were sharing an apartment and Warren had found this mystic gauntlet that made him incredibly buff and allowed him to shoot lasers. Lasers.
..Warren was the happiest mutant magician’s assistant there could be, and it was all because of his partner, Hypno Pottamus.
..And today, they would be pulling off their biggest stunt yet: the two would be making an entire school disappear! Sure, it was a middle school, but that was mostly because they wanted to see the joy on the kids’ faces as they realized school was out forever.
..There was a knock on the door.
..Shoot, their nemesis, Atlis, aka mothman.
..Seconds later the door was busted down by the lunar moth yokai.
..”Get down!” Warren cried, aiming his gauntlet. “I’ll handle this!!”
..“Warren, it’s a teenager!!”
..”I’m not gonna hit them, I’m just gonna scare her!!”
..It took them nearly two hours to lose Atlis. Once they had, they made their way over to the middle school of choice. They had already created an app to hypnotize all the staff and students long before they got there.
..The two slipped inside like they belonged there, quickly planting Hypno’s doom hats all over the school, though they quickly ran into a problem:
..One young girl wasn’t under Hypno’s spell. She was crouched in the corner, watching with wide eyes. Hypno was trying - and failing - to coax her outside the school.
..A strange creature appeared, with four young turtles. “Good job, Mayhem!” The one wearing red cried. “Now let’s save April!!”
..The girl - April, evidently - stiffened, calling out to the turtles. “No, get out of here! I can handle this!!”
..The four little ones ignored her, rushing toward Hypno.
..“Aww, Warren, look at them!!” He cried as he blocked an attack from Blue, and the worm man narrowly avoided Orange’s grabby hands.
..“That is cute!” The worm man agreed, watching as Purple pulled out a stick. His face fell when an entire rocket came out of one end. “Uh, Hypno?”
..The two were launched into a wall by the little Purple-clad boy, who helped April (who was almost twice his size) back onto her feet.
..“Warren, get the adoption papers.” Hypno mumbled. “Next time we see these kids without an adult, they’re gonna become ours.”
..Warren just nodded, looking at the scars on the littlest, before loudly declaring ..“Retreat!!”
..The two retreated through the halls, gathering the hats while listening to the cheers of the little boys at their ‘victory’ over the villains.
..Next time.

Chapter Text

..Leo froze.
..Their father was in one of his moods again, the others were all hiding. He had no idea where Mikey or Raph had gone to, those two were the best hiders out of them all. Donnie had found a crevice that Leo could see him cowering in from the corner of his eye.
..Leo? Oh, he didn’t have to hide.
..Splinter never acknowledged the boy, even when he blocked the tv. At most he’d be called an ‘obstacle’ by the rat man. Which was why he’d been the one to become the medic. (He had barely started training, but still.)
..Which is why it was such a surprise when the man’s eyes locked on him.
..“Blue.” Splinter said, all too calm. Leo’s heart bounded into his throat.
..On the one hand, this was great! Splinter was actually acknowledging he existed!!!! ..He was so excited!!!!
..On the other, well, something was definitely off with Splinter.
..“Yes, Papa?”
..“Come with me.” Splinter held out his hand.
..”Don’t do it!” Donnie hissed, and Splinter’s head immediately snapped to the side, and some part of Leo was disappointed the attention was over so soon.
..“YOU.” Splinter growled, glaring at the 6 year old. “What are you doing outside of the lab?!?!”
..With a squeak, Donnie ran off to his lab.
..”Now.” Splinter’s attention turned back to him, and Leo’s heart surged! This had to be his luckiest (or unluckiest) day ever!! Splinter was paying attention to him, even after looking at one of his brothers!!!!!
..When he took Splinter’s hand, the man immediately lifted him off the ground, literally throwing him into his ‘special’ room, to which the door had been cracked open. Leo had always wanted to see inside the special room, only Mikey and Donnie had ever gone in there, but as he landed just short of crashing into a bloodstained weapons rack, he started to think the special room wasn’t one he should be in. He turned to leave, but Splinter was already in the doorway, pulling the door shut behind him.
*******
..Leo limped out of the room as fast as he could.
..He never wanted Splinter’s attention again.

…………….SUMMARY………………
..Splinter’s in a mood.
..Leo has never had Splinter’s attention before.
..Leo never wants to have it again.

Chapter Text

..Hueso slipped out of his store, dumping his trash into the human dumpster.
..He heard a hic, and the soft pitter of a child's footsteps.
..Careful not to be seen, he peeked out of the alleyway to see a young boy limping while running. A young turtle boy.
..Stepping out in front of the boy, he crouched down to his level. “Hey, pepino, what’s wrong?”
..The little boy - probably about five or six - looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes. ..“Hurts,” the boy eventually squeaked.
..Hueso looked over the boy, several open wounds, some on his plastron, an arm bent wildly out of place, some newly forming bruises, and a swollen ankle were what was visible. He gently scooped up the boy. He should be taken to a hospital, but Hueso was still a wanted man in the Hidden City, and he was closing the restaurant by himself today.
..Careful not to jostle the kid, he carried him inside his place, taking him to his office and pulling out his first aid kit. He laid the kid on the desk, shoving everything off right before. “Can you take some medicine, kid?”
..“What’s medicine?”
..Hueso’s metaphorical heart leapt into his throat. What, was this kid homeless? Who had beaten him up? Even the worst villain he knew of, Big Mama, would never dare to hurt a child.
..”Medicine is something that helps you feel better.”
..The boy cocked his head, wincing. “How?”
..”You know, pepino, I’m not really sure.” He took out a small bottle of liquid, opening it and pouring a little into the lid and giving it to the child. Said child threw the liquid down his throat, making a sour face after swallowing.
..”Icky.” He handed the lid back.
..He chuckled softly before pulling out bandages and focusing on the open wounds. Swiftly locating the worst one, he began bandaging the hole in the plastron, trying not to think about the saw marks on the edge of the wound, leaving the plastron edges sharp with cracks going well up and down. It probably needed to be filled with something, but he had no idea what.
..”Before you bandage it it’s best to apply a fiberglass patch. Here.” He pulled out one a little bigger than the hole in his plastron. “And for the smaller cracks we’re gonna need something to pull them together, I might have some wire in my shell…”
..Hueso gently held the boy down. “Okay, let’s just take this one thing at a time. First, how do I apply this fiberglass patch?”
..”Glue.”
..”Are you sure, pepino?”
..”Pretty sure, yeah. I’ve done this several times for Mikey.”
..”Who’s Mikey?” He asked, gluing down the patch and waiting for it to dry (at least the patch was stopping the blood flow.)
..”My little brother. This happens all the time to him, I guess it was just finally my turn.” He cracked a sad smile.
..”Pepino… these injuries are clearly intentional… who’s been hurting you and your brother?” He began wrapping bandages around every open wound besides the cracks in the plastron and shell.
..”And I have two other brothers! My younger twin Donnie, and my older brother Raph!”
..”That’s great, pepino, but who’s been hurting you? Who broke your arm? Who gave you that black eye and all these cuts and bruises?”
..”My name’s Leo, by the way, not pepino. And what I don’t get is why they get treated differently than me an’ Mikey. I mean, I get ignored, Mikey gets beaten, Donnie simply gets told to go to his lab, though! And Raph, well, I’ve hear dad saying Raph’s name all sweet-like-“
..”So was it your father that hurt you?”
..Leo went silent, fresh tears poking at his eyes as he attempted to retreat into his shell, getting stopped by the pain. “Nonononono!! You aren’t- I wasn’t supposed to-“
..Hueso gently set a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Calm down, pepino, it’s okay, I’ll help you be safe, okay?”
..With a shake of his head, Leo sprang to his feet, racing out of the restaurant. Hueso tried to chase after but by the time he’d made it out there was no sign of the boy.
..He shook his head. He was gonna need backup for this.

Chapter Text

..Repo Mantis had just gotten a new moon buggy from the Jampiter June (or something, he didn’t really care) series, and the thing would be the perfect toy for Donnie and his brothers. Sure, the boy had refused literally every toy he’d tried to give him, but this one could stay in the scrap yard and Donnie could finally bring his brothers over!
..There was the sound of rustling metal.
..Speaking of the boy…
..”Donnie? That you my boy?”
..”Yep!” Donnie came around the bend, with two other turtles toddling behind him. “Mr. Repo Man? Have you seen my twin?”
..”Leo? The red eared slider? No, I haven’t seen him. Why? Is he missing?”
..The boy nodded, while the other two just kept looking between Donnie and him. “Yeah, he ran off after- well, he ran off and now we’re looking for him.”
..”I still think we should check with Big Mama.” The one in red - Raph - mumbled.
..”Repo Man is literally on the way! That’s why we stopped here first!!!!”
..Raph stuck out his tongue.
..”Alright, alright, calm down, kiddos. We’ll find him.”
..There was a crash and a loud cry.
..Signaling the boys to stay low, he slowly crept around the pile to see what had crashed.
..Half buried in the junk lay an unconscious, injured red eared slider. Carefully he scooped the boy up, finding that half of the injuries had been bandaged (which sadly did not include the broken arm.)
..”Donnie, this the brother you were looking for?” He carried the kid over to the others, who immediately swarmed the blue-clad turtle.
..“Set him down, please.” Donnie motioned to a tire he’d put a filthy cloth over.
..“Yeah… no. We’re taking him to my house. Come on.”
..”Mister?” Orange - Mikey - asked as they followed after him like little ducklings. “Do you know how to keep him asleep so he isn’t in pain while we fix him?”
..”I’ve got some medicine we can give ‘im.”
..”What’s medicine?”
..”Medicine is something that helps you feel better.” He said, getting the strangest feeling of deja vu from the question. It was almost like someone else had been asked the same question…
..He shook off the strange feeling, right now he had kids to tend to.
..As soon as he set the boy down the others swarmed him once more, taking stuff out of their shells (or in Donnie’s case, his battle shell.) Pretty soon they had a sizable pile of medical supplies.
..The boys swiftly got to work, gluing on strange patches onto the holes in the plastron and shell, bandaging the wounds. Once they were done with all the open wounds they swiftly shifted, two of them holding Leo in place while Mikey very carefully, quickly set the broken arm.
..Leo woke up and screamed, tears running down his face as his brothers gently shushed him, talking softly to him as he looked up at them. The arm was quickly wrapped by Mikey and Donnie, with a small metal stick attached to keep it in place.
..”Raaphh.” Leo croaked. “I messed up, bad.”
..”It’s okay, Leo, it wasn’t your fault.”
..”Nooo, I- I told someone.”
..All three froze.
..”How much do they-“
..”Not much, but he knows. And he was nice, too.” Leo sniffed. “I’m sorry.”
..Raph gently hugged him. “It’ll be okay, we’ll stall him as long as we can.”
..”What are you boys talking about?”
..All four stared at the praying mantis. “Nothing.”
..”Look, kids,” He sat down. “I know those wounds were intentional, heck, the ones on the shell were clearly done by a reciprocating saw. And not accidentally.”
..All four kids looked at him for a moment before Mikey simply said “bye!” And they all raced out. He tried to grab Leo (as he was the slowest of them all due to his leg) but Donnie raced up and bit his ‘hand’, scooping Leo up bridal style like he weighed nothing (which, to be fair, he kinda did weigh nothing, he knew from when he’d picked the child up.) And with that, all four kids were gone.
..He was gonna need backup for this, good thing he knew just the capybara to convince the turtles to stay.

Chapter Text

..Kendra wasn’t really paying attention to where she was going, just all the people in front of the school were a bit too much.
..”You guys don’t have to walk me to and from school every day you know.” That sounded like April.
..”But what if the hippo shows up again?!” A child’s voice.
..She crept closer, peering through the bushes. There were four strange green children surrounding April, one with bandages just about all over.
..”April, who’re these guys?”
..”Kendra!” She stepped in front of the little guys, who Kendra could now see were little turtles. “What are you doing here?”
..”Stop hiding them, I’m not gonna hurt them!” She cooed.
.. … “Fine, but you can’t tell anyone about them!”
..”You mean we can’t.” She gestured to the two boys hidden behind her as they stepped out.
..”Kendra!”
..”What? We’re a team, we work as a unit.”
..”Is that tech?” Jason asked, gesturing to the purple shell on one of the turtles. The purple turtle in question nodded.
..”Mhmm! With class C encryption protocols!”
..”Oh, my fave!!!” Jeremy exclaimed. “I know class C inside and out!!”
..The boy nodded eagerly. “Me too!!”
..”What’s your names?”
..”This is Raph, Leo, that’s Donnie, and Mikey.” April gestured to each turtle as she spoke their name.
..”What happened to Leo?” Jace piped up.
..”I dunno, they won’t say.”
..”I tripped down the stairs.” Leo said with a sad smirk.
.. … “Uh-huh. Say, how would you boys like to come to the Purple Dragons Clubhouse?” Kendra had her hands on her knees as she glanced over the four turtles.
..“Sure!” Raph exclaimed, the other three nodding eagerly.
..”You guys go, I’ve got homework.” April waved goodbye to the turtles, who all chirped their ‘goodbye!’s and ‘good luck!’s at her retreating form.
..The clubhouse wasn’t the biggest, but it was big enough to fit all seven of them, Jace turning on a movie - Lou Jitzu’s One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Dead Fish - for those less interested in tech, which happened to be three of the four turtles.
..Donnie eagerly chatted with the three purple dragons, showing them his battle shell’s many functions.
..“Why’s it a little small for you?”
..“Oh, I haven’t quite had the time to improve it, but-“
..“We can fix it!”
..So, with the help of the purple dragons, Donnie’s battle shell fit perfectly and was better than ever! The boys had to leave once the movie was over, but they eagerly waved goodbye to their newest friends.

Chapter Text

..Raph stiffened as a hand landed on his shoulder. He hadn’t heard his father approach, but he knew it was him.
..“Hey Red~”
..Nope. Not today, he was NOT in the mood for this! He began struggling as much as possible.
..Claws dug into his shoulder, causing him to whimper.
..”Now now… there’s no need to fight, I know you enjoy our little sessions, stop trying to deny it.”
..He did NOT enjoy their ‘sessions.’ It hurt, and it was so uncomfortable!
..He remembered the first time this had happened. He’d passed out halfway through. Raph wished he still did that, wished that he hadn’t gotten used to this.
..Splinter slowly guided him out of his room (he was the only one of the brothers besides Donnie who had more than a closet for a room,) and to the dreaded Splinter’s room.
******
..Everything hurt as he walked to Donnie’s room. Donnie always was up for helping him after this, even when he was busy with something else. Much as Raph hated to bother him, at least Donnie didn’t have any pressures from Splinter besides fixing the stuff he broke.
..Creeping into Donnie’s room slash lab, he whispered “‘onnie?”
..His little brother was instantly at his side. “It happened again, didn’t it?”
..Raph nodded.
..”Okay. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
..Donnie held up his hose while looking away, and Raph was grateful for the privacy as he scrubbed himself until his scales started coming off. He pulled his shorts back on as Donnie handed him a towel, still looking away.
..Once he was done drying the two sat on Donnie’s ‘bed,’ aka his work bench. Donnie was rubbing gentle circles into his back as he cried. He hated relying on Donnie, but at least Donnie was available to do it, and he knew he needed someone.
..Once he calmed down he peeked at Donnie’s projects. One in particular stood out.
..“What’s that?”
..”That is something that’s going to solve all our problems once it’s done, dear brother.”
..Raph wasn’t sure what that meant, after all, almost all their problems came in the form of splinter, but he trusted Donnie. “I believe in you, if anyone can, you can!”
..”I will, brother, I will.”

Summary:
Splinter’s being creepy.
Timeskip.
Donnie comforts Raph and implies that he’s planning to kill Splinter.

Chapter Text

..Ghostbear began salting his sidewalk. The snow had been incredibly unexpected, but it wasn’t entirely unprecedented for the season.
..He was surprised when a bug bit him, and something changed in his body. Costume and body melded into one, and he became a true ghostbear.
..Stumbling into a nearby park, he spotted five figures: a young human girl and four smaller, green figures in grey, worn coats.
..He’d always loved kids.
..”Hey!” He called. “Can I join you?!”
..The five all glanced at each other before one of the shorter figures said “okay.”
..”Raph!”The girl cried. “You don’t know him!!”
..”But he’s not bad!”
..”You don’t know that!”
..”I’m Ghostbear, I’m a professional wrestler. And you look like you could use some help with your snowman.”
..“What’s wrestling?” One of the small figures walked up to him, eyes shining from beneath an orange mask.
..”Wrestling is where two people play-fight for a living, they try to pin the other down for a certain amount of time.”
..”Ooh! That sounds fun!” Raph cried.
..”It is! My signature move is called the hibernator!”
..The girl groaned as the two of them began chatting eagerly about wrestling, as ..Ghostbear began helping them make their snowman nice and big. He learned the boys’ names were Raph, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey, and the girl was April. The boys were turtles, and Leo was injured.
..They were now in a snowball fight, and he’d discovered he could turn into a ghost and was totally cheating using it.
..“NO FAIR!!!” Mikey cried as a snowball soared through his incorporeal body. He turned and lightly tossed a snowball that the boy easily dodged.
..“What’s unfair is your dodging skills! You’re so fast!!” Ghostbear cried, a grin on his face.
..Mikey was racing away when he bumped into a random person.
..The man looked down, spotting the green of Mikey’s skin. “Why hello there~” His voice was sickly sweet.
..“Hi! I’m Mikey!”
..Ghostbear crept closer in his ghost form, disengaging from the snowball fight.
..”Mikey, huh? How’d you like to come with me? My brother’s been dying for a pet mutant~” He grabbed the boy’s arm in a tight grip, causing Mikey to cry out.
..Ghostbear saw red.
..Next thing he knew, the man was on the ground and Mikey was crying in his arms.
.. … “Let’s get you back to the others, yeah?”
..Mikey nodded into his fur.
..It took a lot of convincing from the boys to stop him from walking them home that day.

Chapter Text

..BAM!!
..Todd fell to the grass. Where did that puppy get that frying pan?
..Said puppy dropped the pan, racing over and licking his face.
..”Aw, you just wanted attention, didn’t you!!”
..The puppy barked as he got up before racing off into the woods.
..”Charlie, no!! Alright, all of you stay here, I’m going after Charlie again.”
..He chased after the dog, although it was much faster than him and he quickly lost it. Fortunately Todd was an excellent tracker, and could smell the trail the puppy had left. Following the trail was simple, although Charlie had gone farther than usual. As he crept closer, hoping to sneak up on the puppy, he heard voices.
..”Doggie!!”
..”Actually, that’s a young dog, so a puppy.”
..”Puppy!!”
..”We should be careful, its owner could be close.”
..Todd was close enough to spot the four figures. They were turtles, color coded in red, orange, blue, and purple.
..He stepped out of the bushes. “Hey kids!”
..All four froze as he scooped up Charlie.
..”Where are your parents? Kids like you shouldn’t be out in the woods by yourself.”
.. … “Dad’s at home.”
..Todd’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the way the boys shuddered. He knew signs of fear from his past life. For some reason, these kids were terrified of their father.
..”Is there a reason you’re scared of him?”
..They all tensed further, eyes going wide.
..Huh. “You don’t have to answer that. Say, would you guys like to come to my trailer and meet the other puppies?”
..Orange’s head sprung up. “More puppies?”
..”Mikey!! That’s kidnapping 101!” Purple hissed.
..”I promise I’m not trying to kidnap you, I don’t even have a place to hold you guys if I wanted to!” Todd chuckled lightly.
..”Yeah, Donnie. He’s just a nice guy.” Red said, stepping forward.
..”Well excuse me for being careful after Mikey nearly got kidnapped!” Donnie exclaimed.
..”We’ll come with you.” Blue said.
..”Yeah!! I wanna meet the puppies!!!” Orange exclaimed.
..These guys’ father - whoever he may be - clearly didn’t deserve such wonderful kids… Now that he thought about it, four turtles…
..OH!! Repo Mantis was looking for these kids!! Maybe he and Repo could share custody over these kids.
..He began leading the four kids back to his home, where he would call Repo while the boys had fun milking the puppies or something.
..When they arrived the boys were quickly swarmed by puppies, giving Todd the perfect opportunity to contact Repo. Once he made the call he came back outside of the trailer, playing around with the boys and the puppies, prying them off of Donnie when the boy made it clear he didn’t like being slobbered on.
..It didn’t take long for Repo to show up.
..The four boys froze the second the mantis stepped onto the premises, immediately dropping the puppies and all scattering the second the mantis was in view.
..”Wait!”
..The boys did not wait, disappearing into the underbrush.
..Repo sighed. “Are they really that scared of me?”
..Todd just rubbed circles into his friend’s back. “They’ll be back, someday. You just have to be patient.”

Chapter Text

..Donnie carefully began hacking.
..Dad wanted more money. Again. The man was constantly demanding things of Donnie: he needed more money for fro yo, he needed Donnie to upgrade the television, he needed Donnie to make more tools for him to torture Mikey with.
..The punishment for failure was always the same: something bad would happen to one of his brothers.
..Sometimes his father wanted things but didn’t tell him, and would hurt Mikey or Raph - or Leo, now - when he failed to produce the thing he didn’t even know about.
..Between his father’s demands of him, and pretending everything was fine with his brothers, he never had any time to himself. Which was fine!! He didn’t need time, or sleep. All he needed to do was keep performing so dad wouldn’t start hurting his brothers daily.
..Donnie found a nice, rich bank account. He didn’t bother to look at the name it was under. The person wouldn’t miss the few thousand dollars he’d be borrowing, in fact this was the richest person he’d found yet!
..He began transferring the funds to his fake account, when he encountered growing, changing lines of code.
..A rival hacker.
..He hacked into their computer, sending the message ‘*Bleep* off.’
..’Not until you stop trying to hack Big Mama’s bank account.’
..Donnie froze. Big Mama?
..In the time he was frozen, the opposing person hacked into his computer. He started trying to fight it when the person opened a video chat between the two of them.
..Gadget’s face stared back at him. “Donnie?!”
..”Gadget??”
..”What are you doing, trying to hack into Big Mama’s bank account?”
..”I’m sorry!! I didn’t know it was hers!! I’ll go for someone else!!”
..”Donnie, why are you hacking into people’s bank accounts?” He folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. Donnie wished he had a chair.
..Well, his gun was almost complete, he’d probably be killing his dad before his dad had the chance to murder Gadget.
..“Well, you see, my dad’s actually super abusive to my brothers.”
..”How so?”
..”Well, he physically abuses Mikey - and by physical abuse I mean torture - and he intentionally neglects Leo, although he did once torture Leo as well, and with Raph he sexually abuses him.”
.. … “I see. Thank you for telling me.”

Chapter Text

..Cassandra had been training for two years as part of the foot clan. She’d trained to fight despite her blind eye and mutilated arm, despite the scars that covered her body from the rat.

..Her mission?

..To get four mutant turtles she’d met two years ago out of the abusive situation they were in.

..Some had said it was hopeless.

..Some had said there was no such thing as mutants.

..Most had laughed at her.

..But the foot clan accepted her and her mission as their own, and they had made huge leaps of progress. They’d found out that Big Mama was looking for the turtles, searching the hidden city alongside Baron Draxum. Many of the new mutants had encountered the turtles, and the skeleton yokai that ran a pizza place accessible on the surface had apparently gotten from one of the turtles that they’d been abused. 

..But still, no one knew where the turtles now lived.

..When she’d met the turtles they’d been living in a sad shack (if you could call it that.) She’d been twelve back then, and had listened as the boys confided in her. She’d caught glimpses of the four three to five-year-olds staring as their father attacked her. The only reason she was still alive was because she’d been found by some axolotl yokai who healed her.

..”Casey!” The Foot Brute - Brutus, he was fittingly named - came running into the training room. 

..”Yeah?”

..”We’ve found the final piece of the armor!!!”

..She sprung to her feet. “Where? I thought that belonged to the great Hamato Yoshi!!”

..”Yeah, we just found it in some dumpster!”

..Huh. “Then I guess it is time to resurrect Shredder and do his bidding!!” She exclaimed. “I will gladly be the sacrifice.”

..”No, we’ve already talked about this. I will be the sacrifice.” Brutus said solemnly. “It is more likely for me to live than for you.”

..She nodded sagely.

..They contacted Big Mama, who agreed to let them use her train to transport them to the ritual site on one condition…

..”You help me rescue these four turtles when you’re done.”

..”Turtles?!” Cassandra leapt forward. “Four mutant turtles, about the age of six now? You know where they live?”

..”Yes. So, do we have a deal?”

..”Absolutely.” The lieutenant smirked.

Chapter Text

..Mikey didn’t know what was going on.
..One minute they had been enjoying being at home while their father was gone, the next their father rushed in, shoved them all in the Special Room, and locked them all inside. With him.
..Their father started drawing something on the ground, big circles with little ones in the middle. While Mikey was all for arts and crafts, this felt… off. When Splinter touched the lines once he was done, Mikey found out why.
..A portal opened up, revealing some dark dimension. Splinter took some rope, wrapped it around Mikey, and shoved him in. “Grab the sword!”
..Obediently, Mikey grabbed the sword, wrapping his little body around the hilt.
..He was yanked back, hard, and the sword flew out of his hands the second he’d left the dimension.
..A strange, human woman landed next to all of them. She slowly got out of her bowing position and looked up. “What have you-“ She stopped, glancing around the room. “What happened here?”
..Mikey glanced around. The room looked normal. The weapon racks had dents from when he’d been thrown into them, dried blood coated the walls, each weapon had some blood on it, broken pieces of plastron and shell littered the floor. Yep, all normal for the Special Room.
..”Who are you?” Splinter demanded.
..”I am Hamato Karai.”
..Splinter immediately bowed, snapping his fingers for the boys to do the same. Mikey rushed into a bowing position, surprised to not be doing it towards Splinter.
..”I am Hamato Yoshi, and these are my sons.”
..”It’s nice to meet you, but again, what happened here?” She gestured to the room around her.
..”We do not know, we merely took shelter in here when the Shredder was released.”
..Mikey had no idea what the Shredder was, or why his dad was lying, but he nodded. If he agreed everything would be fine. If he agreed things could go back to normal. If he agreed-
..”That’s a lie!”

Chapter Text

..”That’s a lie!”
..”Purple…” The rat man, Yoshi, growled.
..The purple-clad boy raced up to her, looking at her with big eyes. “He’s been abusing my brothers!! This room is his torture chamber!!!”
..Karai just glanced between the rat and the children, shocked by such an accusation. Although the orange child did have far too many scars…
..”Oh great.” The rat groaned. “Now I have to kill gram-gram.”
..Karai glanced around. Who was-
..Yoshi lunged at her.
..With a yelp, she dodged, realizing she was the ‘gram-gram.’
..The tiny purple turtle flung himself between the rat and her, staring his own father down. “Splinter, no! You’re gonna have to go through me to get to her!!” He pulled out some strange device, pulling the trigger.
..The device exploded, sending sharp shards of metal everywhere, one impaling in the rat’s shoulder while another in the boy’s own foot. Both affected parties screamed in pain, the rat yanking the shard out while the boy collapsed to the ground.
..”YOU DARE TRY TO HURT ME?!?!” The rat screeched. The other three boys curled into the corner while the rat scooped up the purple boy. Yoshi reached toward the nearest rack, pulling out a hand drill and slamming the boy to the ground.
..Karai couldn’t stand there any longer, she lunged forward, yanking the drill from Yoshi’s hands. “What kind of monster are you?!”
..”I’m not the monster!! I was forced to fight, experimented on, and turned into this!” The disgusting creature gestured to itself. “I deserve to-“
..Karai was done with this, she knocked him off his feet, racing for the door.
.. … Only to find it locked.
..Summoning her ninpo, she easily kicked the door down. She turned back to the four turtles. “Come on, let’s get you boys out of here.”
Purple scrambled to his feet, only to be grabbed by the rat’s tail. The other boys successfully rushed past, stopping around Karai’s feet. She gently started pushing them out when-
..”Blue, Orange, Red, come here.”
..All three boys immediately scrambled out of Karai’s grip and over to the rat.
..”Sorry, gram-gram.” Blue muttered.
..”Hold down Purple, I’ll deal with him later.”
..The boys obediently began holding down their fourth muttering sweet reassurances to the flailing boy.
..The rat pounced, and the two rolled right out the doorway.
..Right to the feet of an armored person.
..Right to the Shredder.

Chapter Text

..Oroku Saki was expecting a lot of things when he finally broke free and gained control over the armor.
.. … To still be trapped due to his daughter and her family’s countless sacrifices, as well as the armor being scattered, was not one of them.
..He sat for years, fighting to maintain control for what felt like no reason. Until one day, when his daughter was pulled free, and the armor was reunited at around the exact same time.
..The first thing he did was flex his fingers, then he looked over his foot clan. They were all down on their knees.
..“Rise.”
..They all rose in sync, looking up at him expectantly.
..”How is the war going?”
..”Uh,” one of his clan, a strange thin man with a flame on his head, spoke In a raspy voice. “The war is over-“
..”Then why did you summon me?”
..”Well, we could use some help shredding this rat…”
*******
..On the way they encountered many allies, one of which claimed to be the co-founder of this ‘league of parents.’
..Oroku Saki - or ‘Shredder,’ as everyone called him - didn’t much care. He just wanted to help the poor little turtles he’d been told about. They’d be what, six?
..When they grew near their destination he could feel Karai’s presence nearby. He wondered what his daughter was doing right now?
..There was someone in a dumpster that caused them to stop, insisting they look at their lizard. It was a silly little lizard.
..They arrived in some kind of home in the sewers, appearing completely vacant, he began walking toward a door when it was kicked down from the other side, him catching a glimpse of Karai as well as three turtle children. Before he had much time to respond, much less process what had just happened, Karai and some humanoid rodent tumbled up to his feet. The rodent was clearly trying to gnaw at her arm, scratching her with his claws as her eyes met his.
..He reached for the rat, who sprung back, hissing. So instead he gently helped his daughter up.
..She looked at him for a long moment while he registered the others approaching.
..”Father?”
..He nodded, and pulled her into a tight but gentle hug. He could hear his generals tearing up behind him.
..Casey pointed towards the rat. “That’s him.”
..Two of his allies, by the name of Atlis and Blossom (he was against them being there, being teenagers and all, but apparently they were vigilante and sidekick,) rushed forward, the moth yokai throwing the flowery axolotl mutant at the rat who easily dodged, slamming both yokai and mutant into the wall.
..A battle nexus champion was next to rush forward, the snake attempting to wrap around the beast of a rat. A few conflicting blows later they were knocked out as well.
..More and more people were defeated by the rat, Lunar and Nova racing around to heal and fix up the quickly growing wounded. Oroku Saki raced forward, only to be quickly forced to retreat as the rat threw a dizzying amount of punches. Perhaps he’d have to tap into the armor’s dark powers in order to defeat this scum.
..”What’s going on here?”
..All of them turned to look at the new humans that had arrived. All five of them were dressed in matching purple jackets with a small dragon symbol on them.
..”Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
..”Hi,” one of the young teens spoke. “I’m Sofie, the newest member of the Purple Dragons, and we’re here to see our friends, the turtles?”
..With a nod from Big Mama, the caretakers Brownie and Lillie walked over to the children, gently muttering something along the lines of “How about we get some ice cream and come back later, Okay?”
..The rest of them turned back to the rat, who had retreated to block the entrance to the room. “Blue.” The monster called. “Here, now. Bring my saw.”
..A blue masked turtle, with a small cast on his arm, came out carrying a bloody reciprocating saw. The rat snatched the saw, holding it to the boy’s throat. “You are all going to let me and MY boys go, and you all are NEVER going to bother me again, alright?”
..Before any of them had the chance there was a loud CLANG, and Splinter fell to the ground as a young yokai stood there, holding a frying pan.
..”ARA!!” Big Mama yelled, and immediately began lecturing the child about not rushing into battle.
All Oroku Saki could think was ‘huh, that was anticlimactic.’

Chapter Text

Leo glanced down in horror.

Sure, his father had hurt his brothers.

Sure, his father’s yells pierced through any moment of peace they’d ever had.

Sure, Mikey’s screams filled his dreams.

Sure, he had wounds that would scar and last a lifetime.

But… Splinter was all he’d known. Without Splinter…

Who would take care of him and his brothers?

Who would raise them?

And most of all…

Who was he, without his father?

Who was he, not constantly seeking for a way to get his father’s attention?

The other three came out of the Special Room, eyeing Splinter’s unconscious body. Donnie started laughing, jumping up and down on their father’s body before Big Mama scooped him off, saying something about ‘let’s not wake him up.’

They were all scooped up by different people, he was picked up by Baron Draxum, who was muttering something he couldn’t make out. A glance at Raph and Mikey showed looks of shock. Leo didn’t know what he was feeling.

But… as he was carried away from the body, he couldn’t help himself.

He cried out.

“DADDY!!!!”

*Splinter’s POV*

Splinter awoke to an aching body, sharp pains erupting through his veins the second he tried to move.

“Well, look who’s finally awake.” The young girl smirked. Something about her was familiar, although he thought he’d remember someone with a scratched eye and absolutely mutilated arm. She strode up to him, grabbing his chin. “Remember me? The first person those poor kids ever told?”

Now he remembered. He’d done this to her, but… “You’re not supposed to be alive.”

She grinned, a feral smirk. Slowly, she took out an all-too-familiar drill. “Remember this? You used it on Mikey, you tried to use it on Donnie. Now I’m gonna use it on you.”

The drill whirled to life as she cackled.

*****

The next days turned into weeks before he had lost track of time, every day someone came in to torture him. Sometimes they’d unchain him and give him a chance to fight. Sometimes they’d heal him afterwards just to make sure he didn’t die. Sometimes he wished they let him die. But he had a mission now…

Splinter knew exactly who had sold him out.

And as soon as he was strong enough to get out of this cell, he’d get his revenge.

For now, he’d just have to wait.

Chapter Text

Raph didn't like this, he didn't like seeing Mikey or Leo or Donnie scared, he didn't like how his dad was on the ground, he didn't like being picked up by Big Mama. He was confused, he knows Leo started yelling, but he felt like he was just... Fading in and out of a dream.

He remembers someone put him in a carseat, his brother were all separated. He wanted to know why, but whoever was taking care of him gently shushed him. Saying he should take a nap, he didn't want to, it's not safe to sleep right now.

He remembers a sort of caravan thing starting up, and they were on the move. He felt each little bump and he felt each turn. He felt uneasy as well, everything was so... Different. Splinter was so mean to his brothers and him, but he was also their dad! He's the reason they weren't homeless...

 "Alright bud, we're here." The shark Yōkai said softly. Unbuckling his seatbelt and reaching out to pick him up. she made a short grunt, it wasn't exactly easy picking up a alligator snapping turtle, even if he was a kid. She placed him on her side, a Axolotl Yōkai followed behind them, writing something down, they were talking with someone they kept calling "Nova."

 The trio made their way into the big hotel he was at awhile ago. they stepped in, walking towards the elevator. He looked to his side, someone with Mikey was following him. He made a happy chirp and grabby hands, wanting to see his little brother. they got in the elevator, and it closed without Mikey. Wait! Wait he needed to see him!

 "Sh... It's okay little dude! We aren't going to keep you guys apart forever, we just needed some extra hands to get you all upstairs, okay?" The shark told him, he looked up at her with watery eyes, but nodded.

 the elevator slowly climbed up to the top, the Axolotl for off their phone, turning back to duo. "Well then, we are almost there deary. Nova and Todd will be bringing your brother Michelangelo, and Baron Draxum has Leonardo. Big Mama and Ara have Donatello, I promise you will all be reunited shortly." They said quietly, they reached out a hand to touch him, but quickly retracted it when he flinched. She signed, making a soft but sad smile, and turning back to face the door.

It felt a sort of awkward silence. Occasionally the adults would whisper or mutter to each other, what was going to happen now? He was going to get to see his brothers again, right?

They finally for out, revealing the bright and lively daycare. Children of all different types were running around, playing games, smiling, all of them just being happy and joyful. The shark sat Raph down, giving him a gentle pat on the back, he didn't want to move though. Instead, he went over to the elevator, sitting down and waiting for his brothers. It's his job to protect them! He couldn't back home, so he has to now!

He remembers a little 'Ding!' Is what brought him relief, each time one of his brother returned safely. He remembers Leo running up to him and crying, and then Donnie, and then Mikey. They all quickly formed a turtle pile, happy to be reunited.

Which was very much quickly interrupted.

 "Okay little ones." The Axolotl came up to them, along with a purple cat? And they were holding a big bag, looked like a medical kit.  Raph held his brothers closely,  

 "We aren't going to hurt you, but you guys seem kinda beat up, figured you might want to get those nasty wounds treated." The cat said, The boys exchanged glances, but nodded. "Nova will be here soon to help heal, and I'll take on Donnie and Leo, you got the others?" Gadget asked the Axolotl, who have a small smile. "Mhm, I have more experience in that type of injury, if what Donnie told you about Raph was correct..." They mumbled, crouching down to the level of the turtles.

 "My name is Lunar, may I take you to the med bay little one?" They asked Raph, who seemed hesitant. Donnie tapped his shoulder, getting his attention. "We need to get patched up..." Donnie mumbled, and he was right, they were all bruised and banged up. Slowly, Raph nodded, allowing the two to guide them to their medical wing.

While they moved, a couple more stared, Lunar hummed, and just kept walking.

The journey was short, but everyone still felt like it took far longer. Everyone was on the edge, and nobody knew what was coming next. It was scary, and he isn't suppose to be scared! He's Raph! He's a big boy! 

So he has to be brave.

Chapter Text

Everyone was hurt, Mikey was worried, everyone was all sad and stuff! And, he didn't like it when others were sad, it made him sad too! So, he always tried his best to cheer the others up! He was super duper funny anyways! Even if Splinter didn't think so, Leo always laughed with him! 

But there wasn't anything funny he could say here... That made him sad. 

There were all these nice people, taking them down an elevator, they coo'd kind words, and attempted to sooth their raging worries, yet anxieties were still running rampant in their heads. 

They came downstairs, the room was big! With all sorts of weird doctor stuff everywhere! Flashy lights and blinking buttons that decorated the walls and machines. 

A cat yōkai was in the room, walking over to talk to Donnie, Todd, and a bigger guy... Ghostbear? Were also exchanging words. Big mama and Baron Dra... Dram...? Barry! He'll call the goat man Barry. Barry and Big Mama were talking not so nice to each other, which made him sad.

But then Todd walked over to him, he had a med kit in hand, and it was so colourful! The capybera smiled at the turtle, offering his hand out to him.

"Hiya bud! So, we're just going to get you patched up, and then, lemonade!" The capybera stated, causing Mikey to happily kick his feet, before quickly stopping, Dad didn't like it when he did that...

Yodd seemed to have noticed it, and gave a sympathetic smile to the terrapin. "Tell you want, do you know what a prank is?" He asked as he picked up the ornate, carrying him on his hip.

Mikey looked up at him, eyes filled with curiosity, and shook his head. Todd smiled, walking over to a bed with orange sheets, and placing the injured turtle down 

"Well, a prank is a joke in a way, it's harmless fun you do to someone to make them laugh!" He explained, opening the box and grabbing out a couple things, like bandaids and cotton swabs. 

Mikey's eyes lit up, yeah, he liked making people laugh! The turtle enthusiasm was radiating off of him, Todd made a gentle motion, taking his hand, and putting a few bandaids on it. Was it necessary? Not really, did it make the turtle feel better? Seemed like it!

Todd took a moment to look around the room. With Lunar and Ghostbear talking to Raph. Big mama and Draxum had finally broken up their argument, it seemed as though Big mama was now paying attention to Leo. And Gadget and Draxum were working with Donnie. 

A shark yōkai soon entered the room, walking over to help with the medical supplies being delivered in. A giant hypo came in too! And a worm, though he forgot their names. He would have to make a lot of lemonade to show his support for them, they all worked so hard to keep the boys safe.

He placed the last bandaid on, picking up the small ornate, and twirling him in the air. He squealed happily, laughing and smiling too. It just gave the capybera more motivation to help them.

He had an idea, a harmless prank that just involved a lot of feathers, he and Mikey could pack them tightly in a bag, put a cake around it, and ask someone to cut it. Obviously, he would let the adults know first, and he would have to use something that wasn't too loud, he didn't have a clue on what might trigger them. 

But! It could be something fun for the kids to experience, getting that first taste of joking, where everyone us laughing with you. He wished he had a childhood like that sometimes, but he also knows, that his past is what made him so eager to help others. So, he'll keep doing just that.

He called over the little turtle, who had wondered off a bit, offering to carry him with his arms wide open. Mikey ran into the capyberas arms, letting jimself be picked up and carried.

They walked down, going to the kitchen, they'd need feathers... Somehow? But! He's really good with animals, who knows, maybe he could just call a large fluck of doves over, having them share their spare feathers... Probably wouldn't work, but worth a shot!

That somehow worked...? Turns out, bird yōkai are more than willing to give up any spare feathers they have, apparently it's incredibly inconvenient to have them constantly molting.

But! Now, the capybera can help teach the youngest of the clutch how to bake! Everyone should know how to bake in his opinion.

He showed the box turtle how to blow up a balloon, and fill it with feathers. Amd he showed him how to bale a cake, showed him how to make frosting, and showed him how they would do it.

The balloon was technically a cloth bag, but that was on purpose, very little people like the sound of popping balloons, and he can't really blame them.

"Okay, now, we cut the center out of the cake, and put the bag in. Then, we put the top of the cake back on, like this!" He said, helping Mikey put in the heavy bag. Once it was smushed down enough, they put the cake top back on. Todd went ahead and baked two cakes, the other one was in the oven. He loved a good food prank, but they would also get an actual treat.

He had talked with Big mama, and the pair decided she would be the one to cut the cake, and hopefully, the others would find it amusing.

Mikey picked up a spoon, having Todd help him frost the cake. It was chocolate! With white frosting and rainbow sprinkles! Mr. Todd let him eat part of the center, he never had chocolate before! And it was super duper good!

Todd came over with a handkerchief, wiping off the frosting covered mouth. And suddenly, the cake was done! And... Maybe Mikey wasn't the best at keeping secrets, but that's okay! It's still gonna be so much fun!

With the cake being set, and all being ready. The duo was ready!

Chapter Text

Donnie did not like getting split up from his brothers.

But Splinter was dead, just like he’d planned! Sure, things hadn’t gone according to plan, but now him and his brothers were getting patched up at Big Mama’s place! Someone had pulled out the piece of metal in his foot, which hurt a lot. Beforehand they’d tried to offer him painkillers but he’d done his research and knew that those were drugs, and drugs are bad for you, so of course he firmly declined. Once they were all done patching the four of them up they let the four of them back together again, where Mikey told them about something called a ‘prank.’

Donnie of course had heard about pranks before, and definitely did not request to go to Gadget’s lab the second all of his brothers were asleep to look up examples of pranks.

Donnie quickly found pranks to be delightful, and decided to pull one on Big Mama. It would be a great way to test her. Sure, she’d been nice at first, but now his brothers are probably going to be living with her, and he needs to make sure that they’ll be safe. If she does something to him then he knows that he has to get his brothers out ASAP, and if not then it should be safe to stay for at least a little while.

Little did he know his little brother had beat him to the punch.

He could tell something was up well before the cake was brought in, with his little brother’s near-constant giggles and glances toward Mr. Todd. When the cake was brought in he finally put two and two together, and he watched in horror as Big Mama cut the cake. Feathers erupted from the cake, flying all over and coating Big Mama. He couldn’t see her expression, but he knew she had to be furious. She had looked so happy when bringing out the cake.

”Gotchu!!” Mikey cried, and Donnie panicked.

Donnie flung himself in front of Mikey, shoving the boy further away from Big Mama as she turned towards him, spitting out feathers. Before she could get a word out Donnie cried, “Don’t hurt him!”

After a brief moment Big Mama broke out into a laugh, a pleasant, lighthearted giggle that matched the one Mikey had let out earlier that day. Mikey quickly started laughing too, as well as everyone around him as the tension died down.

Donnie didn’t understand.

Wasn’t Big Mama supposed to get angry? To kick them out or hurt them because of this prank?

She leaned forward. “Ohoho! Sorry, Donnie.” She giggled. “It’s just that prank was fantabulous! Now, what makes you think I would hurt him?”

”Be- because of the prank?”

”Oh, no! Donatello, I would never hurt you or your brothers, especially not over something small like a prank!”

The others were all staring at him, the pressure of their eyes causing him to fidget with his hands.

”Never?”

”Never.”

After a moment he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Big Mama’s legs. She scooped him up into a tight hug, swiftly scooping up Mikey as well when the boy cautiously reached for it. Leo and Raph looked a bit jealous, so Donnie hopped down and pointed to Leo, his twin needed attention more than he did anyways. Besides he got what he wanted. 

It looked like he might not have to take care of his brothers anymore after all.

Chapter Text

It's been... awhile. In this hell of a cell, everyday was just another waste. He was provided two meals a day, if he was lucky. And if not? Mealtime would be switched out for torment time. 

He has the place memorized at this point, he knows every escape route. He's just waiting for the right moment. 

The humans amd yōkai alike that had ganged up on him would all suffer once he was freed, but for now, he has one main target in mind, Purple.

Purple was the only one who could have possibly ratted him out to the... others, he's the only one smart enough to do such a thing. How dare he though, Yoshi has provided for him, fed him, clothed him. He had the opportunity to kick his sorry tail out the door a thousand times, and not once did he take it.

All of his children should be grateful to have him, he's done so much for each of them. Every punishment they received was warranted in his book, especially Orange. The nuisance could never sit still for more than five mintues, always making stupid random noises, it drove him insane.

So, he had to correct those behaviors. 

And Blue, an attention hog, always getting in his way, always trying to call his name. Spoiled, he should have disciplined him from day one, like the rest. A foolish move on his part. Eventually, he had no choice but to start smacking some sense into the freak.

And Red... oh, Red. He was... tolerable, to say the least. Especially in bed, Red should thank him, really. Their 'Special game' or whatever he had told the gullible snapper, made him feel good, whether he wanted to admit it or not. 

Oh, why even bother trying to defend his actions? Who cares! he is their father, they are his children, his! His property at best, he's allowed to do whatever he pleases to them. 

It didn't matter, the spider, hippo, bear, all of them were going to pay, as he started digging, a small hole, he would dig just a little more each day, while the idiots were out frolicking in who knows where.

But finally, he’d done it. Just a tiny tunnel that led into the hallway, after all, he could easily fight his way out. Even after all these stupid people hurt him every day, he knew he was still strong enough; not that he’d need to fight, with the convenient gap in the guard rotations.

By the time the alarm sounded he was long gone, on his way to find the rebellious little nuisance in purple.

Chapter Text

Things were rather peaceful in the glamorous home of Big Mama, with each boy being provided their very own room, it was hard to not feel at home here.

Leo's was right next door to Donnie's. His was super big! And blue! And different adults would come over everyday to check on him, they'd let him try all sorts of different foods! And play all different games! The only bad part was that he had to go to bed by nine, nine! That's super duper early... 

But, with all the other things he got, he's super happy anyways!

Raph's room was smaller, shaded with pinks and reds, the bed was huge, and really soft! The place had all sorts of things he could play with, like punching bags.

And! He got this rubber thing, like a chew toy, but for him! He likes biting on things, but most of the time, he ends up breaking it... but! This rubber was real strong!

He felt sorta... safe. Yeah, that's something he hadn't known in a long time, which... he didn't like. But, what matters the absolute most, is that his brothers are safe.

That makes him real happy.

Mikey's room had all sorts of things to climb on, and things to jump on! And the room had lots of patting, so he couldn't even get hurt, super cool!

Donnie comes around a lot, he doesn't like Mikey's room as much as Mikey does, which is sad... but! The bouncy pad (He's since then learned that it's called a trampoline!) helps distract him!

Oh! And he has so many spinney chairs! He loves spinning chairs! He's just so... so!...

He's just so happy here!

And finally, there's Donnie. His room was the smallest, by the fact that he lost rock paper scissors with Leo. Curse him taking advantage of his incredible pattern recognition abilities!

But, his was still quite adequate, to say the least. It had plenty of space still, and he was allowed to build what he wanted, he wasn't told to build anything for anyone.

Today, they (Minus April, she was at home today, her own home.) were out playing with Hypno and Warren, in front of the hotel. They had set up some sort of crime thing, the others don't know it was staged, and Donnie had no plans on spoiling the fun. Well, he did, but he wouldn't be acting on those plans.

His brothers deserved some happiness, okay, a lot more than just some. They deserved it all, they all went through so much...

Donnie's just happy that their finally safe. He's never felt so secure, especially since right now, he's dressed up as a superhero! He feels invincible, not invisible. 

"Haha! I will... uh, ahem... I will rob your super powers with my magic!" Hypno exclaimed, doing jazz hands, with glitter coming out.

"Nuh uh!" Mikey said, trying to keep his giggles to himself. Leo stepped in front of him, taking a heroic stance. 

"You fools! We'll stop you! We're the... uh." He turned to Raph, who mouthed 'Bad dogs.' in reply. Leo nodded, clearing his throat.

"We're... the Mad Dogs! And we're gonna kick your butts! Get them team!" Leo ordered, Raph nodded charging in first, while Donnie stayed behind, analyzing the situation. Leo and Mikey ran in soon after words.

"Get them, Dr. Evil Worm!" Hypno said to Warren, who had a very... unimpressed, facial expression. Dressed in a sparkly black suit, and ski mask. A slit had been made in the top, allowing his hair to be free.

"Dr... evil... worm? Is that the best you hav- AAHHH!" Before he could finish, Hypno had tossed him into battle, yelling a quick sorry! as he did the throw.

Donnie finally jumped in, pulling off a special bug net he had made eariler this week, swinging it in the air, he tried to capture the worm.

On the sidelines, Big Mama was sitting on a lounge chair, an assistant holding a large umbrella over her, the other fanning her.

Standing next to the lady, was a stoic looking Draxum, who turned to the spider. And sighed. 

"If I may, why are you doing... all this?" He asked.

The woman looked over to him, giving him a soft smile. "Why not? My poor turtley boo's have been through too much, that slippery spoiled rat took away their childhood." She said, her voice grew aggressive with the mention of that awful man.

But, now they got to relax, got to play and pretend like children should, and she would protect that with her whole army of staff. No matter what.

The boys were having a blast, each getting a chance to take the 'Villains' down. Raph was able to play rough without the worry of hurting anyone too!

Leo could run around super quickly! He got to jump around and fight like a real superhero! He just felt so awesome!

Mikey and Donnie were paired up together, now tying up Warren, whose acting skills could really use some work... but! He's still super fun to play with!

"Oh no... you caught me, again." Warren said,  unimpressed. Mikey giggled uncontrollably, while Donnie simply had a smug grin.

"Okay, I think Mr. And other Mr Stone-Potamus need to go now." Said the woman in purple, sitting up from her lounge chair. Getting boo's from her little turtle crowd. But alas, the villainous fun shall come to a stop today.

"But!" She interjected. "You can all still play out here for a bit, I need to run inside and have a quick chatty-chat with Baron-Boo here, my assistants will be watching!" She exclaimed, the four small turtle tots seemed pleased enough at that.

She stood, taking the hand of a confused Draxum with her, as she stepped away from the children, and moving over to her hotel.

Leo looked over at Raph, deciding that they needed to keep playing heroes, and Raph could be the villain! The snapper agreed, of course. Donnie's eyes scanned the play area, before landing on a ball. He and Mikey exchanged a mischievous glance, nodding at each other.

"Mikey, go get that ball over there, we'll use it to distract them." Donnie whispered the ornate, who nodded. Walking over to a bush, where the ball seemed to have appeared. 

As Mikey ran off to go retrieve their weapon, he watched carefully, analyzing their battle strategy. It didn't matter to him if this was pretend or not, they were gonna be real crime fighters later!

His focus was broken though, as he heard a short shrill. "Mikey?" The softshell said, turning his head over to the bush. Both the ball, and Mikey were gone.

"...Mikey?" The softshell said slowly, shuffling over to the bush, where a suspicious amount of leaves had fallen. 

"Mik-" Before he could finish, two pinkish, bruised, barely hairy arms reached out! They grabbed the softshell, pulling him into the bush as well.

He tried to scream, before a cloth was place over his mouth. He kicked his legs, but they were no match to... t-to....

Splinter. 

"Mhpm!" He tried to struggle, before a jolt of burning went straight through him! Like electric waves! He suddenly felt extremely drained, as his muscles contracted, before easing.

"...There you go, brat. You'll be home shortly..." Said a rustle voice. His eyelids got heavy, and his struggles came to an end. The cloth was removed from his face.

"M-Mama..." He gasped out, before the world went from vibrant to dark.

Chapter Text

Leo puffed out his plastron. "I will defeat you, Red Angel of Preparing Harm!"

"Oh, yeah?" Raph tried his best to flex, and though he was bigger than Leo it was still about as intimidating as a kitten. "You are too weak, Neon Leon! You cannot defeat me on your own!"

"But I'm not alone! I have the Purple Genius and the Orange Artist of Peace on my side!!" He turned to gesture Donnie and Mikey over...

Where were Donnie and Mikey?

And didn't Mama say that her assistants would be watching the two of them? Why could he only see one?

"Donnie? Mikey?"

At the silence the lone assistant tore their eyes away from the two children, color draining from their face as they seemed to realize that the three of them were the only ones visible. They walked over to one of the other spots that there should have been assistants posted, peering into the bushes surrounding that spot. Leo's stomach sank further when they stumbled backwards.

Raph grabbed his hand and started pulling him over to see what the assistant was looking at, but they noticed the two of them before they got  to the bushes and threw on a very clearly forced smile.

"Alright! It's time to go inside!"

"But-" Both children started.

"Nope!" They grabbed the two's free hands, and started leading them as quickly as possible toward the entrance to their Mama's hotel.

Leo caught a glimpse of a lying down adult figure through the bushes, a bit of red peeking out from under the plants, before being thrust inside the hotel. The three of them ran straight into Mama and "Barry Dad-um" (Mikey's nickname for the man, not his. Leo got the feeling that the yokai would throw him off the roof if they had met under different circumstances.)

"B-Big Mama!" The assistant let go of their hands, bowing deeply. "I-"

Leo turned around and made a mad dash for the door. He had to make sure Donnie and Mikey were okay! He was the two's big brother, and Donnie's twin! He had to make sure they weren't hurt, like the person in the bushes!

Big, armored arms lifted him into the air as his hand touched the glass, pulling him away from the door.

"Let me GO!" He screeched, thrashing as just one arm easily held him against the stupid goat's chest. "I need to find my brothers!!"

Leo's heart was pounding. It was pounding in his ears, just like it always had back when they were with Splinter and the rat was angry. Tears were streaming down his face, he couldn't breathe! He was always so, so... helpless!! 

Draxum's free hand was gently stroking his shell, there was a soft rocking motion as the yokai walked, muttering sweet nothings to him, but Leo didn't care. He wanted- he needed his brothers! They had to be safe, they had to be okay!! He had to know they were okay!!

"Please!" He sobbed. "Please. I- Don-nie 'n Mike-y!! I- I need!"

The arms hugged him tighter. "Shh. It's gonna be okay. It- it's gonna be okay."

***

Draxum was dragged into the hotel by Big Mama, wondering what she could possibly want with him. 

"What did you need to speak to me about?"

"My assistant just informed me that... the rat has escaped."

Draxum's eyes widened. Splinter was being kept in the lowest floor of the Battle Nexus dungeons, in the most secure cell the spider had. He also was severely injured, Draxum himself had helped with the torture of the despicable creature. Escape should have been completely impossible.

"How long?"

"The shift is changed every half hour, and the guards in front of the portal to my hotel were unharmed and saw no sign of him, so it's almost guaranteed he's still in the hidden city. I've already got my top people searching for him." 

He took a deep breath. It would be fine. The entrance in the Battle Nexus was the only one where Splinter could have gotten to the hotel within a half hour, the boys would be fine. The next nearest entrance to the hidden city was the one next to his lab, and it would take a half hour just to get to that one from the cell, and another twenty minutes to get to the hotel. There was no way that the rat would get there before he got caught.

"Is that all?"

"He also appears to have freed several criminals that were in my Nexus, likely as a distraction. Those are, obviously, second priority."

With a shared nod, the two turned to head back out and watch the kids...

only to run into a singular assistant, pulling Raph and Leo inside. Through the glass doors they could see no sign of the other two kids, nor the other assistants.

The assistant immediately bowed to Big Mama, and the little blue-clad turtle took the chance to sprint towards the door. Draxum easily snatched the turtle into his arms. The child thrashed and screeched, quickly dissolving into tears. After catching a glimpse of Big Mama picking up the other one and handing him to yet another assistant, (instructing them to take him to his room and not let the boy out of their sight,) he also began walking away, intending to take Leo to Raph's room as well so the two could at least be comforted by each other.

Blue passed out in the elevator ride, so he quickly deposited him onto Raph's bed next to the snapper. With a nod to the assistant, he swiftly fled the room, heading to his lab. He surely had to have some sort of tool that would help him find the rat, or at least something that would tell him how Splinter had gotten there so quickly. (It had to have been Splinter, who else disliked the turtles and was powerful enough to overpower several assistants?) Perhaps if he could figure out where the rat had taken the boys he could simply use the sword he was planning to give to Leo (when the slider turned ten, of course. He wasn't just gonna give it to a child.) to teleport-

Oh.

Oh no.

Chapter Text

The first thing Mikey noticed when he woke up was that he felt weird. The entire world felt like it was spinning around him, and the unfamiliar sewer walls-

Oh yeah, the second thing he noticed was that he was in an unfamiliar part of the sewers, which was weird, because him and his brothers had exploded almost every inch of New York’s sewer system. And they hadn’t been in the sewers since…

He heard the heavy, panicked breathing behind him suddenly stop, having taken in a sharp, quick breath as footsteps approached, also from behind. He craned his neck to see…

“Well, look who’s awake!”

The rat cackled, his wiry frame, (which was lacking most of its usual fur,) looking like it would fall over and die from the poorly wrapped injuries littering his body at any second. Splinter smiled, a broken-toothed grin that sent shivers down Mikey’s spine.

”Did you boys miss me?”

 Mikey’s breath caught, and everything went black.

***

Mikey awoke to a scream, and he opened his eyes to find his worst nightmare.

He was tied up, arms behind his back, with the rope pulled so tight he could barely feel his fingers and a foul cloth stuffed in his mouth. And the scene before him…

Splinter had never actually really hurt any of them in front of the others, and while Mikey knew he hurt Leo a couple times Mikey had always been the main target. He only ever watched it happen to himself.

 But now Donnie was lying on the ground a few feet away from him, clutching his dripping left arm with a bruised hand as he squirmed away from their father. Their father, who was supposed to be dead, hurting Donnie — his older brother that always made it clear he could talk to him about anything, the one who got squeamish around injuries but helped fix them up and helped everyone else learn how to do it themselves…

the one who got them out.

 The rat stepped on the softshell’s leg nearest to him, shifting his weight and digging in what was left of his claws until Donnie cried out again. Neither of them seemed to notice Mikey was awake yet. 

Okay, okay. Things would be fine! He just had to figure out how to take down their disheveled father and rescue his brother and get the two of them back to Big Mama. Simple!

 His eyes wandered back over to the scene in front of him when a sickening crunch was accompanied by a screech that turned his already unnaturally cold blood to ice. 

Donnie was now lying on his plastron, his leg bent and clearly broken. After a moment, the rat stepped back, cackling at his older brother’s misery as the softshell sobbed. “Not so tough now, are you Purple?! You thought you could antagonize me, to claim that I’m the monster!! Let me tell you something, Purple, I’m not the villain here. I’m the hero, you hear me?!?! I’M THE HERO HERE!!! You lot are ungrateful miscreants not even worth my time, BUT I STILL KEPT YOU!! I COULD HAVE LEFT YOU TO ROT ON THE STREETS BUT I GAVE YOU FOUR A HOME-”

Mikey’s eyes widened as Donnie made the worst mistake, one Mikey has learned many times never to make when Splinter gets like this-

Donnie retreated into his shell.

The rat’s eye twitched, a manic smile crossing his face as he used his tail to hand himself a knife, raising it above the exposed, soft shell. “and this is how you repay me?” He chuckled. “Well, let me do what I should have done a long time ago.”

The knife plunged into the soft flesh, the squelch barely audible under the screech his brother unleashed as the blade was drawn downwards.

Blinking at the tears blurring his vision beyond the point where he could still see anything, Mikey knew one thing: all he wanted was for him and Donnie to be back with Leo and Raph. He couldn’t save them on his own! They needed their brothers!

They needed them, they needed them theyneededthem!!!!!!!

As his desperation peaked, something snapped, and the world filled with a blinding light.

*******SUMMARY FOR THOSE WHO SKIPPED!!********

Mikey wakes up

Splinter’s there

Mikey passes back out from fear

Mikey then awakes again to Donnie screaming.

Splinter sucks a lot and hurts Donnie, presumably not noticing Mikey’s awake again.

Mikey decides enough is enough and that he wants his brothers, and “let there be light!” Commences! :)