Chapter Text
Leo sat up and his hand immediately flew up to his head. He winced at the pain surging through his brain. It felt like 1,000 needles stabbing it. No, worse than that. 1,000 kitchen knives stabbing it.
“Ughh…what even happened last night?” He groaned, glancing at his alarm clock.
5:49.
…Okay, he slept longer than he thought.
Despite his horrendous pain, he forced himself to get out of bed. But as he stood up, he felt something soft and furry beneath his foot.
“YOWLLLLL”
Leo stumbled back onto his bed, nearly falling off the other side.
“What the-!”
Glaring up at him was a yellow and blue…fox? Dog? Leo wasn’t entirely sure what it was, he’d have to ask Donnie. In fact…
“Are you one of Donnie’s experiments?” - the creature just deadpanned at him - “Oh, wait, no! I know, I bet Mikey brought you home! I remember he brought a stray cat when we were tots!...Dad wasn’t very happy.”
Still, the same blank expression.
“Okay…not a Leo fan, huh? That’s fine, not like I care.” He pouted, attempting to guilt trip the creature. It…surprisingly worked a little. The creature's expression softened the tiniest bit. It almost looked..sad.
Okay, now Leo felt bad.
“Here, let's go find Mikey or Raph, they’ll know what to do with you.” He tried picking it up, but it teleported on top of his shoulders.
“Woah! Okay, that’s sick! Donnie would love to observe you!”
With that, he headed out of his room. The lair was…surprisingly quiet. And still. Huh.
As he walked past the living area, he noticed the TV was turned off, yet his father lay sleeping on the chair. Weird, Splinter usually slept with it on. Maybe Raph turned it off.
He approached the kitchen and popped his head in, the creature jumping onto the counter.
“Guysss~ your favorite brother has risen!” He exclaimed charmingly, but he faltered when he realized they weren’t there.
Leo could’ve sworn he felt them in the kitchen, but the room was empty. He tried to push down the pit in his gut that had begun forming. Maybe they were topside? No, they wouldn’t leave him. They were probably just hanging out in their rooms.
Yeah. That was it. He wasn’t forgetting anything! His gut was feeling weird because he was hungry, that’s all.
He turned around and took a step to head out of the kitchen, trying not to spiral into a panic at the feeling that something was wrong.
“Boo.”
Leo yelped and whipped around, preparing to fight whoever just spoke right into his ear.
He was surprised to see his brothers facing him, Donnie looking proud of himself.
“-Donnie?! Where did you-..? How- Why?!” Leo sputtered out, trying to calm his heart.
Raph gently slapped the upside of Donnie’s massive head, annoyed. “Donnie, I told you not to do that!”
“Oh, please, he’s fine. It was funny!”
As Leo’s heart rate returned to a normal pace, he felt eyes boring into him. He turned to face Mikey, who had tears brimming his eyes and looking at Leo with such sadness.
Leo instantly turned on Big Brother mode.
“Mikey, what’s wrong? Are you o-”
He was cut off by Mikey jumping onto him and pulling him into a tight embrace. Leo was caught off guard, but quickly shook it off to return the hug.
“Hey, Mikster, it’s okay. What’s going on?”
Mikey pulled away, rubbing his eyes. “Nothing. Sorry, it was just… I don’t know. I love you.”
“Love you too, little brother,” Leo replied, still confused.
“Leo!” A voice behind him called out suddenly. He barely had time to catch April as she plummeted into him.
“Woah, what is up with everyone hugging me today?!” He laughed.
April let go, smiling. “I’ve missed you.”
“But didn’t you see me, like, yesterday?”
The air suddenly got very tense. April flinched but quickly tried to cover it up.
“Doesn’t matter how long it’s been, I’m allowed to miss my little bro, am I not?”
Suddenly Leo felt a furry presence leaning against his legs. He looked down to see the creature below him. He leaned down, and this time, the creature allowed him to pick it up.
“Ohmigosh, guys! This lil guy was in my room this morning! Do you know anything about this?” He turned around and took a step back to see everyone. They all shook their heads no.
They’re lying, and you know it.
Leo told his brain to shut up. They wouldn’t lie to him.
“Aww, he’s so cute!” Mikey cooed.
“Hmm, we’ll have to think of a name for him!...It is ‘him’, right?” Raph commented.
“Looks like it!” April observed.
“Donnie, what do you think?” Leo asked, noticing his twin’s distant look in his eyes.
“Huh? Oh.” Donnie blinked off the surprise from being addressed. “I think you should keep it.”
Leo’s eyes and smile widened. “Woah, I must be dreaming! Donnie, the turtle who hates furry animals, is allowing me to keep him?!”
“I just think it could be…helpful,” Donnie responded, a bit nervous for whatever reason.
“Say, I’m feeling refreshed!” Leo switched topics. “Raph, didn’t you say we should be heroes, fight crime and whatever?”
“Well, yeah, but-.. Leo, where are you going with this?”
“Why don’t we do that? I need to move around and have some action! What do you say? I’m sure there’s something going on!”
“Hang on, Leo, I don’t think-”
Leo didn’t let Raph finish. “Donnie, can see what crimes we can stop?”
Donnie pulled out a tablet from God knows where and began searching. Leo could see Donnie pause on two of the articles, though he didn’t see what they were. Donnie then finally turned his tablet around to show the others.
“Some people stole paper from a delivery truck and other paper stores. Paper thieves are easy enough, right Raph?”
Raph bit his bottom lip and looked at Leo worriedly. Leo didn’t know why he looked at him like that, but he hoped it wasn’t for the reason he thought it was.
He thinks you’re weak. You’re not good enough to fight fucking paper thieves .
After a few moments, Raph sighed. “Right. Okay. Yeah. We can do that. April, why don’t you stay here and keep an eye on Pops?”
“What?! I wanna help!” April argued.
“April.” Raph gave her a look that Leo couldn’t decipher, and she instantly backed down.
“Okay, I’ll do it, maybe I can come up with a name for the critter!.. But you guys better let me know if h-” She paused and looked at Leo, who was currently focused on the creature in his arms. “If you get into any trouble,” she finished.
Raph nodded in understanding and they were off.
“What kind of weirdo steals paper?” Raph commented as they crouched on a roof.
“A dreamer,” Mikey explained. “You look at a blank sheet and see nothing. They see possibilities- agh!” Mikey was interrupted by Raph elbowing him.
“There’s only one store they haven’t hit yet,” Donnie explained, goggles over his eyes. “And it’s right over there..hm, convenient.”
“Let's go stealth and make ‘em wish they stole toilet paper!”
Everyone but Donnie laughed.
“And how are we supposed to, you know, do this, Raph?”
Raph’s confidence seemed to falter as if he remembered something, but before he could respond-
“Improvise!” Leo exclaimed, jumping from the roof.
“Wait, Leo!” Donnie yelled as he followed him. Raph and Mikey doing the same right after.
Unfortunately, Mikey landed on Raph’s shell and he lost balance, falling hard onto the ground loudly.
…The thieves didn’t seem to notice.
How the hell did they not hear that?
“How the hell did they not hear that?” Leo whispered to the others.
“Uh… maybe they have trouble hearing?” Mikey answered, suspiciously nervous.
“Hmm, I wonder…”
“Leo, don’t-” But Donnie couldn’t stop him.
“Hey thieves, can you hear us?!” Leo shouted.
They seemed to notice that time.
“Hmm?” The slim thief turned.
“Huh?” The other turned as well.
Leo and Donnie jumped down and the thieves ran in two separate directions.
“Leo, go left. Mikey and I will go right, and Donnie-”
“I know,” Donnie interrupted.
Leo had no clue what Donnie and Raph meant, but he could worry about that later. He ran left just as he was instructed and chased after the shorter guy. However, as he rounded a corner, he disappeared and Leo ran right into Raph and Mikey.
“Ugh…” Leo groaned. That did not help his headache. Raph and Mikey seemed to recover easily, though.
“Leo! Are you okay?!” Raph exclaimed, concern painting his face.
“Yeah I just-” Leo was about to stand, but Donnie stopped him.
Where did he even come from?
“Hold on, ‘Nardo, I need to check your head so your headaches don’t get worse,” Donnie said, crouching next to him.
Leo took his hand off his forehead to allow his twin to inspect it. He only felt the most pain internally, but it was still good to-
Wait.
“How’d you know about my headaches?”
Donnie’s eyes widened, obviously not expecting that question.
“Uh…” He looked at the back of Leo’s head, attempting to avoid eye contact. “Twin sense…?”
It was a terrible lie, but Leo was so excited about Donnie saying it that he didn’t care.
“Ohmigosh, so you finally admit we have twin sense?!”
“Uh, yeah…sure.” Donnie turned back to Leo. “Anyways, I don’t see anything too bad outside, but you should take some ibuprofen back at home, which we’re going to right now.”
Leo jumped up, surprising Donnie as he fell back onto his butt.
“What?! We can’t just give up! Where did my brothers go?”
“Leo-” Raph started, but Leo wasn’t having listening.
“Mikey, where’s your legendary optimism?” Mikey just looked at him with a sad face that Leo couldn’t read. He decided to ignore it.
“Raph, where’s your, ya know- your go-getter attitude?”
“Leo, I-”
“And Donnie, where’s your…your thing, your- emotionless passion?”
Donnie didn’t respond, he just looked at Leo with an expression Leo never wanted to see on him - fear. Not afraid of him, but afraid for him.
“Leo, listen to me-”
“We can still catch these lame old paper crooks and be heroes!”
“LEO!”
He couldn’t ignore Raph anymore. He turned to see his older brother. He didn’t look mad, just tired. Leo hated it.
“Leo, we aren’t giving up because we don’t think we can do it, we want to go home because you’re-...you have some head damage.”
“What? I just bumped into you and Mikey, I’m fine!”
“No, it’s-”
“‘Nardo, what do you remember about yesterday?” Donnie cut Raph off.
Leo desperately tried to remember. He had to prove he was fine, but… what did happen yesterday?
“Uh, well… we met up with April!...And…er-..”
“Leo, you… we think you hit your head yesterday. Like, really hard,” Mikey spoke quietly.
Leo looked down, chewing the inside of his lip. He didn’t want to be weak. He didn’t want to be a burden. He had to do this. He had to show his brothers he was okay.
“Okay, maybe I don’t remember anything about yesterday, but I’m fine! Really! They’re paper thieves , I doubt they can do much to hurt us.”
“Leo…” Donnie sounded so sad . Leo tried to ignore the uncomfortable twist in his gut.
“Listen, I promise I’ll rest and take medicine at home, but we already started this, we can’t give up now!”
“How would we even catch them? This was the last paper store in town,” Donnie reminded them.
“Fear not, dearest twin! Neon Leon’s got a plan!”
“Wait we-”
“Raph, it’s paper thieves,” Mikey defended. “I’m worried about Leo, too, but…”
Raph looked between the three of them, probably having a debate with Mind-Raph. Eventually, though, he sighed and said,
“Fine.”
“It’s beautiful,” Mikey sighed.
Before the four brothers was a cardboard cutout for a paper store titled “Leo’s Paper Hut” standing in front of an alley.
“Do you really think this is going to hook the thieves? The only ‘paper’ we have is made from salami which is round, paper is not round,” Donnie pointed out.
“Yes it’ll work,” Leo responded before turning to Raph. “Raph, stop eating the plan!”
Raph continued to chew off a piece of salami, grunting.
They then heard a van pull up.
“Quick, in the back!” Mikey commanded as they slipped into a crowded cardboard box.
Then, as quickly as it pulled up, they heard the car drive away.
“Get outta the way!” Raph yelled as he busted through the cardboard box.
“Ohmigosh, the salami paper, it’s gone!” Mikey whined.
“No way!” Leo started, kicking down the cardboard wall. “This was supposed to be easy, why can’t we catch these clowns?! Why can’t I catch these clowns?!”
“Hey, it’s okay, Leo,” Donnie reassured. “You really think I would let you make salami paper without putting a tracker in it?” He pressed a button on his gauntlet when a faint beeping came from inside Raph’s stomach. “It’s okay, I put two.”
“Great! ¡Vámonos, hermanos!”
“Wait, Donnie,” Raph’s stern gaze directed to the purple turtle.
“Raph,” he replied, just as stern.
Leo and Mikey waited awkwardly as the two had a silent conversation with their eyes.
After a few moments, Raph let up. “Ugh, okay, let's go.”
Leo crouched in a shipyard, watching through binoculars.
“Okay guys, this is our moment. They may have given us the slip before-”
“Twice before!”
“Yes, thank you, Mikey, twice before. But now we’ve got them cornered and there’s nothing that can stop us.”
They rolled into the inside of the ship and leaped onto the lower ground where the thieves stood.
“Okay, twerp and-” Leo pauses as he gets a good look at the two of them. “...Surprisingly big man…It’s four against two, so why don’t we just call it a day, right?”
“Woah, they have feet on their faces!” Mikey observed.
“Uh, and are those flames on their heads?” Raph questioned.
“Feel like a real fire hazard for a paper thief,” Donnie commented.
“You!” The brute pointed right at Leo. “I’m gonna grind your bones with your fists!”
Raph suddenly became very protective as he marched up in front of Leo, glaring daggers and growling.
“Woah, Raphie, it’s okay,” Leo soothed, ducking under his arm to face the thieves properly again. “I have to ask you guys, though - what’s with all the paper? Like, why?”
“Watch,” the other guy began folding a piece of paper quickly before showing off the finished product - a paper ninja.
“Yay, arts and crafts!” Mikey blurted excitedly.
Suddenly, he threw the paper ninja and it transformed into full-sized.
“Aw, arts and crafts…”
They all dived out of the way as the ninja punched into the ground. Leo ran up and sliced through it as it turned into confetti.
“EWWWW WHAT THE FUCK?!!”
“‘Nardo, it’s just confetti.”
“Oh. Never mind then.” He sliced through the new hoard of ninjas running up as his brothers dodged. “We’re getting nowhere fighting these things, we need to go to the source!”
“Leo, wait-!” Before Raph could finish his sentence, Leo leaped to the brute, both their swords clashing.
“You think you’re pretty good, huh?”
“Indeed.”
Leo attempted to kick him in the face, but the brute grabbed his ankle and kicked Leo across the ship.
“LEO!” He heard his brothers yelling, but as he began to get up there was a flash of light. His head started pounding, throbbing in pain. His ears rang so high he thought they’d explode.
And then it
All
Went
W h i t e .
[ “Yellow Submarine, are we clear?” Raph asks into his walkie-talkie.
“Affirmative, Red Rover,” April’s voice responds.
“Right boys, it’s go time.”
Donnie attaches a cable for the four of them to zipline down. As they make their descent, the three youngest wait for Raph’s signal.
And then, they let go.
“Cow-” Leo starts.
“A-” Mikey continues.
“Bun-” Donnie deadpans.
Ga!” Raph finishes.
“CANNONBALL!” They all announce.
The water in the pool splashes everywhere onto the roof. April, trying to take a picture, gets soaked.
They begin cheering.
“Ha! You must be this rad to ride that ride!” Mikey exclaims.
“Well, based on our velocity and entry angle…” Donnie walks towards Mikey. “...I concur, we rad.” ]
Leo found himself slowly waking up on his bed, sheets covering him. He sluggishly sat up and tried to ignore the pain in his head.
“Leo!”
Mikey jumped on him as Raph, Donnie, and April rushed to his bedside.
“Woah, hey Mikester! What happened? How long have I been out?”
“Only for about three hours,” Donnie informed. “We defeated the thieves, so don’t worry about that.”
“Oh. That’s good.” Leo smiled because it was good. But part of him hates he didn’t help take them down. He wanted so badly to prove he was okay and wasn’t weak and then he fucking passes out.
Because of course he did.
He’s Leonardo.
“Leo? You good?” Raph asked, brows wrinkled.
“Oh, yeah, I am! I just…uhm, I think I remembered something…about yesterday.”
His siblings froze. He wasn’t sure if they were even breathing.
“It wasn’t much, but, I remember we cannonballed right into a rooftop pool. Heh, it was actually pretty fun.”
They all seemed to release a breath at that. Before any of them could respond, however, the creature jumped onto the bed and snuggled into Leo.
“Aww, he seems to really like you!” Mikey squealed.
“Oh, yeah, while you guys were gone, I think I thought of a name for him!” April announced. “Mayhem!”
Leo smiled down at the critter lying on him. “Mayhem, huh? I like it.”
Leo hoped if he kept smiling and talking, maybe the feeling of wrongness in his chest would ease up.
It didn’t.