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Part 1 of 2012 The Journal of Hamato Leonardo
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0: Slady's non-romantic fanfics, Word Count 2.5k - 10k, W/ Art and/or Pictures
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Published:
2024-03-01
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2024-03-26
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26/26
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The Journal of Hamato Leonardo (1)

Summary:

2012 “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

Daily updates for each episode of Season One from the perspective of the turtle team leader Leonardo.

Notes:

A project I've been working on for months to explore the transitioning of trauma in this series as well as both Leonardo's intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships.

Season 1 will be posted in March, daily updates from the 1st through the 26th.
Season 2 will be posted in April, daily updates from the 1st through the 26th.
Season 3 will be posted in May, daily updates from the 1st through the 26th.
Season 4 will be posted in June & Season 5 will be posted in July.
After that I plan on developing a bonus chapter as follow up.

Chapter 1: SEASON 1; EPISODE 1: Rise of the Turtles, Part 1

Chapter Text

PROLOGUE

My name is Leonardo. I am the son of Hamato Yoshi, a skilled ninja master who has trained my three brothers and I to be warriors. It is the eve of our 15th birthday and we may soon be able to leave our lair to venture forth. The city is just full of possibility, there could be adventures around every corner and I want to document the battles we face to become heroes!

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;=; ;=; ;=; ;=;
Michelangelo: DO NOT TOUCH!
Donatello: Do not read please.
Raphael: It’s not a diary, it’s a detailed document to journal our journey.

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;=; ;=; ;=; ;=;
[NEXT PAGE]

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;=; ;=; ;=; ;=;
SEASON 1; EPISODE 1:
Rise of the Turtles, Part 1

We were finally allowed to go to the surface tonight! We just had to maintain awareness, stay in the shadows, avoid public bathrooms, and most importantly…

Rule #1: Don’t talk to strangers.
Rule #1 subset A: Everyone is a stranger.

So which of my brothers breaks Sensei’s #1 rule? Not Raph—the hothead who does whatever he feels like without thinking. Not even Mikey, who could probably hold an entire conversation with a container of ice cream if given the chance. No, it’s my genius brother who apparently lost all sense of reason the moment he set eyes on a human girl!

I did not see that coming at all.

Yet that wasn’t even the weirdest thing to have happened tonight…

The human girl and her dad suddenly got kidnapped. After a… team decision… we tried to help them. Bad news is, our teamwork was… insufficient. Good news is, Sensei made me leader and will train us to fight less like individuals and more as a team so we can rescue them!

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 2: SEASON 1; EPISODE 2: Rise of the Turtles, Part 2

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

I guess I should mention that my family and I are mutants. Tonight we found a canister filled with the mutagen that changed us 15 years ago.

My seriously twisted brother Raphael interrogated some thug who told us that scientists were being kidnapped by Kraang. Apparently, the girl’s dad is a scientist—much to Donatello’s delight.

Thanks to my bold and daring plan, we were able to infiltrate an enemy lair. Oh and, Michelangelo was right about alien robots with brains in their chests… go figure.

Like I said, my genius brother having a crush on a human girl is not even the weirdest thing to happen… although he did pull off an impressive rescue of April from a helicopter.

The thug, Snake, got mutated into a giant weed… Mikey named him Snakeweed. Honestly, the battle was exciting and kinda fun.

Aside from the fact we left a shuriken behind that was featured on the evening news, I’d say our first mission was mostly a success!

 

Notes:

Apparently September 29th is Mutation Day.

Chapter 3: SEASON 1; EPISODE 3: Turtle Temper

Chapter Text

Thanks to Raphael’s impatience and temper, our position staking out the Kraang was blown. To make matters worse, some human recorded our fight that he wants to exploit for money.

Master Splinter punished Raph for jeopardizing our mission with today’s training included Ninniku Seishinis—the ability to endure insults with patience and humility. Mikey and Donnie really enjoyed it but I kind of regret some of the things I said. I know how Raph is… plus our brothers just said typical mean things—you’re ugly, you smell, the sort of stuff brothers say to each other to tease. I kind of… hit below the belt… told him he always whines about “poor me, nobody understands me” and pointed out how he talks so tough but inside is a scared little baby (which the other two jumped on) and… when I asked him if he was going to cry, it kind of broke him. That’s when he snapped. Sigh.

After saving Raph from being hit by a van, he nearly got kidnapped in the same van! I didn’t ground him because I got scared, it was just he left the fight to go yell at that guy which put us all in danger.

But I was glad when Sensei sent him back to help us after they talked. Especially after the guy got mutated into a giant spider… Mikey named him Spider Bytes. Oh and he spits venom—ugh.

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I wasn’t going to apologize to Raph for sending him home, but I do want to apologize for what I said earlier… then again that comes with two risks: bringing it up and upsetting him all over again but also, appearing weak in front of him. If I’m going to be the leader, I need him to take me seriously. Honestly, I don’t feel like any of my brothers do but his respect will be the hardest to earn.

I guess since he told me I didn’t have to apologize I should leave it alone, especially since he knows the same could be said about me...

Chapter 4: SEASON 1; EPISODE 4: New Friend, Old Enemy

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Our teamwork has been improving, we’ve all gotten really good at running on rooftops and leaping from building to building! Plus our training paid off when we finally got to fight people—not just people, but NINJAS—instead of robots or aliens or weed-monsters! Their leader was crazy good too.

Sensei advised for me to seek victory and not fairness.

I try not to think about how unfair our lives are. As frustrated as he can get, I feel Raphael is safer down here than above. But Donatello could probably work for NASA knowing how smart he is despite being mostly self-taught once we learned the basics from Master Splinter. Also I didn’t realize how social Michelangelo is, how much he would probably thrive if we could go to school like other teenagers. As much as we don’t understand him, he can be pretty insightful… like when he told April she didn’t count as a human friend because we saved her life so she has to like us. I mean, he’s probably right—she screamed the first time she saw us just like other humans have so far…

Mikey has always wanted a pet cat which, for obvious reasons, we can’t have. For some reason letting him have his own human friend seemed less harmless. We couldn’t have been more wrong…

Chris Bradford taught Mikey his secret Death Dragon kata—which was amazing—until we realized that meant he is a pupil of the Shredder, our Sensei’s former friend and current adversary, Oroku Saki. We thought this would be the end of him and his group, but Sensei fears this is just the beginning…

Despite the disappointment, I’m proud of how well Mikey handled the situation. He’s rather resilient.

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I guess maybe I worried for nothing? When we went to rescue Mikey, before Donnie caught up to us, Raph and I did our secret hand signal we made up when we were kids. He’s not good with words, but actions speak louder.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

Martial Arts Expo was scheduled July 7th -14th which is quite some time after Mutation Day (9/29).

Raph and Leo hand signal:
https://www.tumblr.com/slady-ao3/744032286105911296/tmnt-2012-season-1-episode-4-new-friend-old?source=share

Chapter 5: SEASON 1; EPISODE 5: I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman

Chapter Text

To try to cheer Michelangelo up, I helped him convince Donatello and even Raphael into letting him perform a skateboard stunt with us. Unfortunately that got us grounded for a week, which is not fair considering our entire lives have been underground.

Donnie kept busy making some music player which Mikey named the T-Pod. That probably would have kept him occupied except Raph decided he wanted to sneak out to go skateboarding—never mind that’s the very thing that got us grounded! So do my brothers listen to the mature leader? No, it’s more fun to follow the irresponsible hothead. So I follow—er, lead the team to keep them out of bad stuff… Like reminding them we are ninjas who are supposed to move swiftly and—the most important part—silently!

Then a guy wearing powered battle armor goes by and I—not Raph—decided he needed a beat down. Which went well, except yet again we left something behind at the scene of battle. This time, the T-Pod.

Which upgraded the armor of that guy—I think his name is Baxter Stockman—by a lot! Mikey named him the Stockmanpod. He even destroyed Donnie’s bo and we got our shells kicked. As if randori just for being sleepy during training wasn’t bad enough today.

Sensei advised us to battle the man, not the armor.

That insight is what led the turtles of justice in conquering the villain! I destroyed the T-Pod and Raph put out the trash.

The good news is, we didn’t get grounded again.
The bad news is, we did get more randori.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 6: SEASON 1; EPISODE 6: Metalhead

Chapter Text

Donatello lost another bo. Again.

Then brings home one of the Kraang droid robots. It was like Christmas in July for him getting to study alien technology. He even got permission from Master Splinter to upgrade his weapon.

So what does he do? Make a loud clumsy robot. Mikey named it Metalhead.

I mean yeah it’s a cool toy but not for ninja battles. So when April told us about the Kraang plan to poison the water supply with mutagen, I had to have him hang back with her while the rest of us bashed some bots and destroyed some droids.

So… the battle wasn’t quite our best. But we stopped their nefarious plan and saved the city!

Donnie lost yet another bo in the fight so when we got home he decided to make a laser-guided missile-launching wooden stick. It exploded so hopefully he’ll stick with traditional weapons for a while and save his ingenious inventions for non-combat purposes.

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I think things are back to normal with Raph and I, we’ve been hanging out a lot more just the two of us again. It’s been nice.

I noticed that Mikey wasn’t too concerned about the humans being turned into mutants because he saw it as an opportunity to make a lot of new friends. I guess with Donnie being busy with studying alien tech and distracted with his crush on April maybe they’ve been hanging out less? I’ll try to make sure he doesn’t get too bored, although he has so much natural skill that if he focused more on his training he would be really formidable.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 7: SEASON 1; EPISODE 7: Monkey Brains

Chapter Text

Donnie apparently has an elaborate flow chart just to get April to hang out with him. Mikey thinks it’s romantic and Raph thinks it’s stupid, but it already worked so go figure.

During their “date” he got beat up by a mutant monkey after investigating the missing scientist, which still worked out for him since April took care of him. That was probably also on his flowchart…

So now we have T-Phones, courtesy of my genius brother. Helped a lot with my plan to spread out to find the mutant monkey—that turned out to be the missing Dr Rockwell who we had just returned to Dr Falco. Unfortunately, it was his partner who experimented on him to gain psychic powers.

How did our lives get so weird? I mean, weirder than what they already were…

Oh yeah, Sensei has decided to train April as a kunoichi. Donnie is delighted. Yup, you guessed it—that was somehow on his flowchart too.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 8: SEASON 1; EPISODE 8: Never Say Xever

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

April took us to a noodle shop owned by Mr Murakami, a blind chef who unfortunately was being attacked by some thugs called the Purple Dragons—who somehow have heard of us.

We fought them off, but then Raphael fought with me because I let them go.

At least the pizza gyoza was amazing—what few I ate before Mikey stole the rest while I was busy being yelled at again by Raph. Then he mocked me while I tried to train at home.

So I made a plan to track down the Dragons to make sure they got the message…
Which didn’t survive contact with the enemy. So we had to fall back.
Which, yes, got me yelled at again by Raph.

Then this guy named Xever crossed a line in kidnapping Murakami-san.
So, yes… I decided to make a plan that met with Raph’s approval.
Which, yes, then backfired on us.

At least during that fight Donatello and Michelangelo really showed improvement, I need to remember to commend them tomorrow during training…

Anyway… just as I was discouraged that we had lost, the guy I showed mercy to tossed back one of my katana which gave me the opportunity to turn the tide in our favor! Mikey made a nice save of Murakami-san. Who apparently figured out we were turtles but doesn’t think us weird or scary.

Sensei commended us for showing strength with mercy and Raph admitted I was right. Mostly.
Okay, so I had to wrestle it out of my so-called bilingual brother with the languages of fists and feet!

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

“We are better off keeping a low profile. We find people treat us better when they don’t know we exist.” (Leonardo)

Chapter 9: SEASON 1; EPISODE 9: The Gauntlet

Chapter Text

Donatello figured out how to make ninja smoke bombs! Very cool, even Raphael was excited! But, not as ecstatic as Michelangelo who proceeded to waste most of them before proclaiming this the best day of his life and kissing our genius brother. Honestly, those minutes were the best part of my day...

Later April arrived upset, saying she was being hunted by a giant pigeon-man. Seemed simple enough to set a trap for considering in the past few months we’ve taken down giant spiders, plant creatures, alien robots, and an army of ninjas. But Sensei feared we were becoming overconfident.

She was being followed by this ‘Pigeon Pete’ who was trying to deliver a message from April’s father concerning the Kraang.

While rescuing Mr O’Neil, he explained the Kraang are from another dimension and brought the mutagen with them to turn people into monsters. Despite the distraction that is Mikey, Donnie discovered they planted a mutagen bomb downtown. Unfortunately, we did not escape with Mr O’Neil.

Once downtown and despite the pressure, Donatello was able to disarm the mutagen bomb and join us in the unexpected fight with Bradford and Xever.

So there we were, feeling good about kicking the butts of the Kraang and Shredder’s top henchmen while defusing a bomb and saving the city… when he showed up.

The Shredder.

Sensei was right about us being overconfident. Despite all our training and skill, it was just luck we survived. If not for the mutated forms of Bradford and Xever suddenly showing up and distracting Shredder long enough for us to escape, I don’t know if any of my brothers would have survived. I… I felt like I was staring death in the face.

I am starting to have some regrets.

Today I treated Mikey like a burden. I even said I didn’t want to pair off with him. I know Raph isn’t patient enough with him so I dumped him on Donnie. Yet it was my baby brother who made a brilliant move to buy us a moment to catch our breath against our most dangerous enemy.

Today I yelled at Donnie to work faster. My brilliant brother who, with his brain deciphering alien technology, saved at least half the city from being mutated—provided we would have even survived this long. There was enough pressure even without me rushing him when I should have stayed calm.

Today I struggled with Raph. Nothing I did was good enough for him… I picked the lock too slow. I didn’t keep him calm from yelling or slapping our younger brothers. But as always, he jumped in first to fight and protect us. But then I watched as his every hit was blocked before he got kicked away and electrocuted.

I was overpowered.
I’ve never felt failure as bad as this.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 10: SEASON 1; EPISODE 10: Panic in the Sewers

Chapter Text

Master Splinter announced that we are at war.

We’ve been grounded from patrol, games, everything except relentless training. All to defeat the Shredder.

I’ve never seen my brothers, even Raphael, so scared of Sensei.

It’s been weeks… What little sleep we get is plagued by nightmares.

We finally get a break and everyone deals with the stress in different ways… Mikey pranks Raph, Raph beats up Mikey after picking fights with me, and Donnie is working on a patrol buggy.

Then April shows up with information that the Shredder knows we’re in the sewers. Although I agree with Donnie that laying low is safest, I decide the best plan is Raph’s idea to go topside to find out more. We were all scared—even Raph—before Bradford even showed up. Who Mikey named his new mutated version Dogpound. We were so stressed that half my brothers couldn’t even handle throwing a smoke bomb so we could retreat!

Admittedly, I got a bit anxious after April was kidnapped leaving the Foot Clan meeting. But my second-in-command came through, knowing exactly what I needed to calm down. I guess Raph really does pay attention when I watch “Space Heroes” after all… He’s always reading comics or magazines so I just figured he wasn’t really listening since he complains about it all the time. Then again, he is almost always with me when I’m watching it.

Although they weren’t entirely ready, the patrol buggy Donatello built worked great—and were fun! He noticed the tanker being intercepted contained a chemical that would incinerate the sewers—including our home and Sensei. To make up for the last mission, I paired off with Mikey… who saved the day with a water balloon!

We even got praise AND an apology from Sensei for pushing us so hard lately!

Maybe, just maybe we’ll be okay after all…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 11: SEASON 1; EPISODE 11: Mousers Attack!

Chapter Text

For some reason Master Splinter suddenly decided that Raphael and I are too competitive and don’t work together well enough. Yeah we argue a lot but it’s our differences that make us better! Psh, even Raph admits it’s fun working together with me.

So what if we’re an A-team and B-team when it comes to fighting? All of us are important members with our own functions and I told them there’s no comparing apples to oranges.

Anyway, April got her phone stolen by some Purple Dragons so no big deal getting it back right?

Nope, because our lives are weird. One of the thugs ran off with April’s phone while Raph and I chased weird robots only to find Dexter Speckman! Err, Baxter Stockman. Who created these MOUSERS to steal stuff. He sprayed us with some stuff that helped them track us which wouldn’t even wash off! But, hey, nothing we can’t handle… even hundreds… Raph and I are always up for a challenge! I mean, we had fun… Minus him almost getting hit by a van again…

Sure he and I showed up to save Donatello and Michelangelo, but we all worked together as a team to prevent the phone from ending up in the wrong hands and being used against us. So even though things got a little out of control, we learned our lesson about choosing our battles.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 12: SEASON 1; EPISODE 12: It Came from the Depths

Chapter Text

I’ve grown up in these sewers all my life and never saw another mutant, but now one has shown up in tunnel 281 courtesy of the Kraang.

Granted he fought off the aliens before passing out. Michelangelo insisted we let him recover at the lair. Mikey named him Leatherhead.

Donatello, Raphael, and I retrieved the power cell that the giant mutant alligator was hiding from the Kraang. Mention of both send him into a frenzied rage because of being tortured and experimented on so we have to be careful of what we say around him. He explained that six months ago he escaped and took the power cell that powers their portal between dimensions.

It sure powered up an abandoned subway car, launching us right to the surface. Whew!

With the way things are going, the weirdest part of the day was hearing Master Splinter tell Mikey he made a wise decision. Leatherhead decided to trust us with keeping the power cell safe and away from the Kraang.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 13: SEASON 1; EPISODE 13: New Girl in Town

Notes:

Technically the fourteenth episode; production-wise it is the thirteenth episode of the first season.

Chapter Text

My plan was fine: take Snakeweed down from above by tying him up in the clotheslines. But RAPHAEL had to waste time second-guessing my orders which let him get away! As if that wasn’t bad enough, he had the audacity to call me the worst leader who gives bad orders!

So fine, I left the team with him in charge just like he’s always wanted.

Good news is, I got jumped by a few foot clan members which made me feel better.
Bad news is, I got jumped by a girl ninja who took a cheap shot using some blinding powder. Yeah, I know… seek victory not fairness. But I was already in a bad mood.

Although with the way I was feeling, at least she said something nice. First positive thing anyone has said to me all day.

Okay so she just said, “not bad.” Not really a compliment but still the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day. Better than being told I give bad orders or that I’m the worst leader. Sigh.

I get back home only to be told by Raphael that it’s not my business to help find Snakeweed’s lair. Fine by me… I went to relax and watch “Space Heroes” which ended up being a weird episode. Boy, relationships are complicated.

But apparently, I’m not even allowed to even do that since I got lectured by Sensei saying leadership is not about being appreciated but responsibility, that it doesn’t matter if the burden is heavy only that I carry it.

It’s not fair! It doesn’t matter that I feel under pressure and just get complaints, not even a simple thanks? But apparently I don’t get a choice! According to Master Splinter, I have to make all the decisions except the one about not being the leader. What if I don’t want the burden?!

So there I am, looking for my brothers somewhere along 74th (at least I think that’s what I heard Donnie say earlier) when the girl ninja shows up again. Now even she’s making fun of me for talking to myself.

But this time she really did say something nice! I mean she’s really good and she says the same about me! Okay, so after that she said “not bad” again. But wow did it feel good to clash swords with someone who knew what he—er, she—was doing!

Yeah, I know… she’s in the Foot Clan but I get the sense she’s not as bad as she pretends to be. Just bored maybe? I can understand that, not like my life is fun…

With that in mind—which okay, maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly—I thought it would help to talk to April. She was excited I met a really cool girl who’s good at martial arts until I got to the one small detail…

Yeah… why did I think I could talk to anyone, even April? Aren’t sisters supposed to be different than brothers?

She remained unconvinced that there could be good in this girl, but I can feel it…

Okay so planning to meet with me to help her steal the sword of Miyamoto Musashi was wrong. Honestly, yes, it sounded tempting to have… I couldn’t imagine the honor to wield such a katana! But there is no honor in theft. It’s one thing to have less responsibility to worry about, but I don’t see the supposed fun in stealing.

So while we’re disagreeing of course, with my luck, of all people in the world who show up just as Karai pins me down… is Raph. Both eyes on me trying to explain, as he put it, why I’m “holding hands with the foot” and I’ve never been so relieved to see Snakeweed appear out of nowhere. Thank goodness…

I have no idea what Raph thinks I have to be forgiven for but he already wants to give up being leader. Seems it went so well Donnie lost yet another bo and Mikey got knocked out. Gotta admit, hearing him say I’m the boss felt good—especially after I asked Karai to help and she did!

He must have felt the same way since we got to use his plan this time, even used Mikey’s “Booyakasha” cry, told me we did nice work, and gave me an apology. Later on he even—calmly—asked about Karai and listened to me.

I may have kept her knife—you know, to give back to her. I’m sure we’ll meet again…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 14: SEASON 1; EPISODE 14: I, Monster

Notes:

Technically the thirteenth episode; production-wise it is the fourteenth episode of the first season.

Chapter Text

During training today, after re-evaluating my plan for the team, I actually made contact with a hit on Sensei! I was shocked and apologized, but he reprimanded me for being vulnerable because I hesitated.

Still, even my brothers were impressed I tagged Sensei with a punch! It felt nice to hear their praises but I was sure to let them know it was our teamwork and that we are all getting better. Hopefully with this encouragement they will start to listen to me more as their leader…

The city became overrun with the rat population which even affected Master Splinter. He was really upset, talking about losing everything in life except the four of us… I’ve never seen him like that before.

According to him, Dr Victor Falco established a telepathic connection with all the rats in the city and is now calling himself the Rat King. Thanks to that, we didn’t hear the end of the self-naming situation from Mikey while we went to his lair to stop him.

Somehow Sensei caught up with us quickly once he was under Falco’s control and we had to fight against him. But with some help I was able to help him focus on who he really is and Master Splinter was able to take control back.

I don’t know if we will ever be better martial artists than our father is, but for now he is proud of us and that means everything to me…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 15: SEASON 1; EPISODE 15: The Alien Agenda

Chapter Text

Karai stumbled upon us when we were fighting off the Kraang robots.

I… may have been a little excited to see her so unexpectedly. Not sure what she thought, but I managed to impress Michelangelo, confuse Donatello, and upset Raphael.

Especially that last part. We got into a bad fight at home. I wish he would just trust me but he always questions everything I do! I’m surprised he hasn’t told Sensei or the others yet.

The next night I wait around for her to find me so we could talk… Here I am trying to help only for her to agree with Raph that I shouldn’t trust her! Seriously?!

I warned her to stay away from the Kraang but, most importantly, leave my brothers alone! If I really can’t trust her, I’d rather be the one to suffer the consequences of my bad judgement and no one else. If nothing else, I need to stay focus and not drop my guard… Like when she said I was adorable—I know she didn’t mean it, especially considering she called me stupid immediately afterwards, so why do I keep hearing it over and over in my head?

I don’t want to tell anyone this but… I think, what if I was her? If I knew nothing else, I could be fighting for the Foot Clan too. I really do sense she isn’t evil, just misguided; I know it’s easier to walk away but I just can’t help this nagging feeling that I should help her escape.

Anyway, as soon as I get home Raph asks about her again. Of course he didn’t believe me when I reassured him things would be fine and she would leave us alone.

We get an emergency text from April who apparently was being attacked by a Kraang-droid posing from the Worldwide Genome Project at her school. Turns out they are one and the same. For some reason, Kraang are collecting DNA from plants and animals. Before I can process all of this, next thing I know Raphael and Karai are fighting! Well, physically anyway. They both agree about her being bad news.

And they were right. We found ourselves fighting against the Kraang when she decides to press a button and… mutates some random thing that Mikey named Justin… only to leave us behind.

Yeah, I was hurt she betrayed my trust, but the worst part is my brothers were put at risk all because she caused this mess and ran off! Didn’t help that Raph rubbed it in my face but I can’t blame all of them for being angry.

Raph’s right, it is my fault.

The rest is a blur… apparently while defeating Justin, I caught the building on fire.

I owed my family an explanation—and an apology.

Maybe admitting I was wrong would have hurt a lot more if not for the fact I was feeling really dejected. I expected them to laugh at me like they always do. Surprisingly, they didn’t.

Mikey couldn’t believe I trusted her.
Donnie couldn’t believe I didn’t trust them.
Raph and April, well, they both reminded me that they told me so.

Sensei was very mad and lectured me in front of everyone, stating the obvious it wasn’t just me being foolish over a girl but a grave error in judgement because she is the enemy.

According to Master Splinter, deception is the ninja’s most powerful weapon and Karai is a master. Okay the last part is fair but, is deception really our most powerful weapon? Maybe so if we are to seek victory and not fairness.

Later that night Raph caught up with me so I told him he was right—he deserved to hear it especially given my behavior and fighting with him about her. He joked saying he understood me seeing her as being hot in an evil kind of way; I just let it go assuring him I’m over that.

I know everyone is just writing it off as nothing more than a crush and maybe that was part of it. I mean, it was just nice to connect with someone different… and yeah, the allure of abandoning my responsibility was tempting. But I know that’s not who I am.

Yet I’m still haunted by what if… what if I was raised like her? Would I still be who I am or would I be someone different? If another person reached out to try and help me, would I be able to leave and do the right thing or would I feel duty-bound to stay with the only life I know?

Despite my family being understanding and forgiving me, I feel really alone right now…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 16: SEASON 1; EPISODE 16: The Pulverizer

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Donnie turned Leatherhead’s old subway car into a cool vehicle! Even Raph was impressed!

Mikey named it the Shellraiser. It’s actually the perfect name for it!

Donnie assigned us all stations, me being the driver since I’m the responsible leader who is least likely to hit something just for fun…

But seriously, this is awesome!

We were having a blast until we found some kid calling himself the Pulverizer trying to take on some Purple Dragons, unfortunately because of him Fong got away with whatever it was they were stealing. Which ended up being Kraang technology, likely for Baxter Stockman. Which is how this guy found out about us months ago when we fought against the Stockmanpod.

I left Donatello in charge of taking him home while Michelangelo, Raphael and I went to check up on Baxter Stockman. He used the Kraang tech to make legs for Xever’s mutated form, which Mikey named Fishface. Better than Robocarp. Seems his bite is poisonous—er, venomous—which we learned after he bit Raph.

While I fought off Fishface, Mikey stayed on the phone with Donnie to answer questions about Raph’s symptoms. Fortunately, he was able to mix an antidote and save him. Unfortunately, the Shellraiser was damaged including the shield protecting the power cell. Immediately the Kraang detected our location and got away with the power cell Leatherhead trusted us with…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

“Months ago” was S01 E05: I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman

Chapter 17: SEASON 1; EPISODE 17: TCRI

Chapter Text

We weren’t able to get the power cell back from Kraang so I decided we had to go back to Leatherhead for help, much to Donatello’s chagrin.

He drew a symbol that he recalled seeing and with some time—and space—Donnie recognized it! (It was most definitely not the Olympics.)

It was the TCRI building—hidden in plain sight!

April downloaded the blueprints for the building so I could develop a plan on how to infiltrate the Kraang hideout while Donnie worked on a bomb to destroy their dimensional portal.

April snuck us and Leatherhead in through a large box she was able to slide into an elevator before escaping from the building. While he took care of all the Kraang droids downstairs, my brothers and I fought relentless waves of Kraang in the elevator shaft going up to the 40th floor.

What we thought was poison gas apparently is their atmosphere—even Mikey figured out that they are trying to mutate the whole planet Earth for them to habitat!

Although they confiscated our weapons, they didn’t find my hidden Tanto which helped us to be able to break out—that along with Mikey’s abilities to hold his breath and still completely retract inside his shell so we could use him as a projectile.

Before we could destroy it, an entity of living rock came through the portal. According to Leatherhead, his name is Traag. He fought it and just when we feared something else was about to come through, said goodbye and dragged Traag through the portal. We had to retreat, but we’ll be back…

Mission failure. Leatherhead sacrificed himself and we didn’t destroy the portal.

Michelangelo had picked up what Donatello determined to be a Kraang data storage device that he was able to decode. Yet the more answers we find, the more questions we have…

The Kraang were not after Mr O’Neil—he’s a psychologist and not their target like the other scientists. It seems they are actually after April…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 18: SEASON 1; EPISODE 18: Cockroach Terminator

Chapter Text

Seems that Michelangelo wasn’t aware that one of us is scared of bugs… Much to Raphael’s chagrin, Donatello outfitted a cockroach with a remote-controlled camera helmet with the intention to spy on the Kraang in TCRI. We did learn that their next phase is a laser drill to bore a hole into the Earth.

Apparently when we lost signal it was the cockroach being exposed to mutagen. Mikey named it Spy Roach. It was really tough—like being hit by a van and still able to fight off three mutant ninja turtles tough! Raph was a bit panicked and even after pelting it with all our manhole covers it still got up and walked away!

We found and fought the Kraang to retrieve the diamond lens but I didn’t account for Raph’s phobia affecting his ability to fight. As upset as I was, I tried to not yell too much and I guess he noticed enough to apologize. I mean, it’s not like him to admit when he’s afraid even when the rest of us do.

Donnie figured out that Spy Roach was tracking us because of Raph, so I had to use him as bait while the Shellraiser was being repaired. While Mikey was antagonizing Raph, it molted—and got bigger with wings. Because of course it did.

My plan to ram the gate and go from there didn’t go far considering we got stuck… but Raph was able to stop the laser at the last minute and faced his fear to defeat Spy Roach.

What a Wednesday.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 19: SEASON 1; EPISODE 19: Baxter's Gambit

Chapter Text

We were trying to intercept a… sub-spatial endoparticle disrupter (it makes things implode)… from the Kraang when Fishface and Dogpound with Footbots show up. Unfortunately, due to the interference they got away.

The next night we find Fishface and Dogpound out in the open, but before I could recommend proceeding with caution my brothers already engaged them in a fight. When they ran off, I could still sense something wasn’t right but—again—Raphael ran off after them. It’s no consolation he understands why I’m always worrying since it’s only after the fact we were obviously lead into a trap!

A trap set by Blister Stockboy. Err, Baxter Stockman. Not just for us but also Fishface and Dogpound who he apparently doesn’t get along with. Some so-called maze of doom that ends with a monster of doom. Because of course.

So I suggested a rain check on the fight so we could focus on escaping alive. Raph questioned trusting them and the inevitable moment they will turn on us, I hope I sounded more confident than I felt when I said we have to trust ourselves to see it coming first…

Raph made short work of the ‘balls of doom’ before Dogpound and Donatello realized we had been going in circles the whole time! Then suddenly Raph got separated with Xever…

But then we got a break when the mad scientist told me that my swords would do no good attacking the walls since they are magnetically sealed! So Donatello worked on reconfiguring the T-Phone to help find a way out using magnets. To buy him time to do so, I had Michelangelo distract Baxton Stinkman. Err, Baxter Stockman. Ugh, the traps set in those tunnels of doom were such a pain.

Dogpound yelled out for Skunkman so loudly that Xever realized we were only separated by a wall and made short work reuniting us with Raph! I was so relieved he survived the impromptu play date but it only lasted a moment before Donnie found the way out!

Dexter—err, Baxter—was not thrilled to discover we worked together instead of destroying each other, so next up was the ‘bonus round of doom’ including—and he was really going to say it—his missiles of doom. I got a great hit on the face screen of his monster of doom before I realized the way to defeat him was for Dogpound and Mikey to team up followed by Xever and Raph to team up!

Truce over, we parted ways until next time… or so I thought. Fishface saved one of those balls of doom and sent it towards my head—if not for Raph trusting his senses and seeing the attack coming.

Thanks, bro.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 20: SEASON 1; EPISODE 20: Enemy of My Enemy

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Donatello determined that tonight a scouting ship from the Kraang was coming through the portal tonight, so we were on watch over the TCRI building. Just as I’m chastising Michelangelo and Raphael for not staying alert, we get snuck up on by Karai.

Yeah, crush is definitely over. I told her I was not in the mood and we were too busy to deal with her. That along with her messing with my brothers annoyed me more. Here we are arguing with her when a ship exits the TCRI building… not good.

She has the audacity to interrupt our mission and then question if I have a plan for fighting the Kraang ship! What was the point of her even asking other than to undermine my leadership since, as usual, she ditched us during our tactical retreat.

I drew the fire from the ship in order to give my brothers time to escape underground. Apparently, it has an invisibility cloaking device making it even more incredibly dangerous! Fortunately, Donnie had an idea to track it using radar—basically a smarter version of Raph’s idea to just shoot things into the air until we hit it. So we split up to place the beacons.

Just as I was heading back home Karai showed up again. As much as I feel sorry for her, I’m still angry for what she did to my brothers. She offered to help fight the Kraang, which sounds nice except: 1) we’re enemies 2) she wants to destroy us and 3) she’s loyal to Shredder. If I didn’t run out of fingers I could have added my favorite—she has a history of ditching us in battle!

Yeah she makes a good argument that our fight is petty if the Kraang destroy the planet but, as I suspected, Shredder doesn’t agree nor care. I didn’t want her to see me hesitate when she mentioned how he’s stubborn, short-sighted, and drives her crazy so I borrowed a page from Raph’s book and left her with, “Sorry, sister.”

Of course as promised, I discussed the possibility with everyone including Sensei and April. His advice left me more confused than before and she made it about her which left Donnie flustered.

Maybe if I can’t trust my instincts, I should trust the others’ instead…

Donnie tracked the Kraang ship and as they attacked us, Mikey led us to a dead end… but Karai once again showed up. But at least this time, she basically saved us. Raph disagreed with me about helping her out so I took the stealth bike to follow her by myself. At least she said thanks?

I figured she risked her life to save us and earned a little trust, so I brought her back with me. Raph was not happy—at least not until she offered a shoulder-fired missile launcher. He liked that. So with my brothers’ approval, we made a deal to team up with her if she steals the missile launcher from Shredder.

But then Raph decided he wanted to betray Karai in order to take the chance to get the jump on Shredder. Mikey had the perfect aim to hit him, but then she saved him AND shot at us with the missile launcher! Then the Kraang ship showed up and we were cornered by both them and Shredder. Just as I thought we escaped, I’m face to face with Karai who told me she is Shredder’s DAUGHTER?! WHAT?!

So now not only do our fathers have a lifelong feud, now we do too.

I slipped away long enough to blow up the Kraang ship with one of the other missile launchers, sending both it and Shredder into the water which left Karai to run after him. My brothers and I escaped safely, them reassuring me I made the right choice.

At least someone thinks so…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

Annoyed Leo is assertive Leo, LOL
Raph: Hey, the stealth bike is my thing!
Leo: Now your thing is sucking it up.
Donnie: Hey, that’s my thing!

Chapter 21: SEASON 1; EPISODE 21: Karai's Vendetta

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Sensei really seems to enjoy having a new student to train and it’s reassuring knowing that April is learning to protect herself. She has a long way to go but she’s doing well compared to that girl we rescued from being abducted months ago.

Ya know, when Donatello excitedly asked us to guess what him and April had been up to I can’t promise the same speechless thought crossed both minds of Raphael and Michelangelo as it did mine, but I’m pretty sure none of us expected it to be analyzing sewage.

I really hope that wasn’t on his flowchart.

Anyway… they realized that the Kraang are still working on contaminating the water supply and already have a low concentration present. During an accident, it spilled on April and yet (but fortunately) she was unaffected. Because of that, I ignored how concerned Donnie was when she decided to go topside before redirecting him to focus on our new mission.

Good news is, Donnie already had something invented to help us reach the bottom of the East River.
Bad news is… it is a bicycle-powered submarine. Seriously? We were exhausted before even getting there, which says a lot considering we’re mutants with high stamina and ninjas in great physical shape!

We get there only to see the Kraang facility being guarded by a Dimension X monster. Of course, because, once again our lives are weird. Although I guess at this point dealing with aliens really makes that redundant to say.

We sneak in quietly—until April calls Donnie to say Karai is after her! We make short work of the Kraang droids and Donnie sets it up to explode just as we are attacked by the monster. We escape and find out—very awkwardly—while the monster doesn’t like us, it sure does like our sub.

Okay, now that’s weirder than usual.

We get back and April got away. The guys piled up to listen to her story with Sensei standing close by. I kept some distance, just feeling off by everything going on because I knew what was going to happen next…

Sensei instructed April that she is to hide in the lair with us until we stop Shredder and the Kraang. There just isn’t any other way to ensure her safety. If Karai can sneak up on us, then April’s luck will run out sooner than she realizes. I know she’s having a rough time without her dad and in human terms, it isn’t fair for her life to be disrupted like it is. But she’s losing more than we’ve ever had and at least for her, it’s only temporary…

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

(1) Fun fact about analyzing sewage: testing wastewater was one of the most accurate ways to measure levels of COVID-19.

(2) Mikey: Hey we’re not that kinda sub!
Gotta appreciate when writers add subtle jokes like that for the older fans. LOL

(3) Here's a funny art I found of the Rise turtles version of the sub moment, LOL
https://www.tumblr.com/kittpunk144/749186732038275072/the-rise-brothers-as-the-iconic-submarine?source=share

Chapter 22: SEASON 1; EPISODE 22: The Pulverizer Returns!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

I wonder why the Foot Soldiers haven’t been much of a challenge lately.

For now, I’ll go with Raph’s suggestion that we’re just that awesome. It’s a good feeling I’d like to hold on to with all the weirdness we have otherwise.

Speaking of which, we ran into Timothy again (aka Pulverizer as he likes to call himself). That kid joined the Foot Clan who uses him as cannon fodder. Donnie tried to talk sense into him but it was to no avail.

Sensei was displeased how we’ve been defeating the Foot with ease, said we’re growing complacent and dependent on our own weapons then ordered us to switch. While we were randomly handing off our weapons I didn’t notice Michelangelo reach for my katana until it was too late… I would have much rather trusted them to Donatello or even Raphael. No such luck. Instead I ended up with Donnie’s bo. Great, the one single weapon that I struggle with the most—at least sais and nunchuck are dual-wielding. 1 in 3 odds and I lose out on both exchanges.

Raph lucked out with the nunchucks which are the most like his preferred weapon, which left Donnie to figure out the sais—the one he struggles with the most given as he is used to distance combat and does not like to get up close and personal.

Minus the fact that Mikey managed to not cut anyone, training was worse than I would have expected… Raph knocked himself out right before I tripped over myself, Donnie at least barely poked himself and it was Mikey who remained unharmed!

Donnie got a text from Timothy telling us where to find the Foot so we met up with him only to get busted. I reminded Mikey that leadership does not pass along with the swords, so instead of retreating we switched weapons. We didn’t lose the fight, but they got away with mutagen. Donnie wanted to send Timothy home but I felt it was more important we find out more about Shredder’s mutation plan to create an army…

If only we remembered to trade back our weapons before we got home… because then Master Splinter confiscated all of our weapons. I don’t get it! We trained for years to master them, what’s the point in putting ourselves in danger out on the field without even weeks of training with new ones? Sure we spent some time learning all kinds of weapons, but that was a long time ago!

Donnie got a call from Timothy. Okay, yes he was the one taking a risk but no one asked him to volunteer to be mutated. What in the world… no one should sound that excited. So we rushed off to try and save him from himself but he literally mutated himself! He ran under it and pulled the lever! I mean, he got his wish to become a mutant even if it wasn’t what he expected. We tried to warn him.

So there we are trying to save an acidic gelatinous blob before all of us die in a warehouse set to explode. But, with Donnie’s quick thinking, we made it out safely—barely, but seems that’s our usual way of survival lately. Oh and yeah, we utilized the whole, “anything can be a weapon” lesson Sensei was trying to teach us the hard way… granted, some of us lucked out in finding items kind of similar to what we were used to, so not sure it was that effective.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

I love Mikey’s imitation of Leo!

Mikey: Look, I’m Leo! Guys, shh! We have to be quiet. Ninjas are quiet. Quiet down.
Leo: I sound nothing like that!
Raph: Yes, that’s why we’re laughing because you sound nothing like that.

Chapter 23: SEASON 1; EPISODE 23: Parasitica

Chapter Text

We found a hidden Kraang lab during a recon mission. The place was already trashed and as far as we could tell, their mutagen experiment got away.

Or so we thought…

At first things seemed quiet. Donatello even found good equipment including a centrifuge which he was pretty excited about. Then Michelangelo spotted a giant wasp which ended with me getting stung because he deviated from my plan.

The rest is kind of… fuzzy from there. I remember feeling sore and then finding a large egg that I couldn’t let out of my sight. There was just this… overwhelming compulsion to protect it and keep it safe…

From what my brothers told me, I was oblivious to everything except the egg for the rest of the day. Apparently, I was infected with a parasitic virus that was contagious so when Raphael tried to destroy the egg that night I attacked and… I bit him. That’s embarrassing. To make matters worse, I bit Donnie while he was trying to create the antibody. Yet even after biting him, Mikey followed Donnie’s instructions to finish the antibody and save all of us.

Donnie broke another bo, but we managed to defeat the three mutant wasps that hatched from the single egg. Actually, Mikey did by firing the Shellraiser in the lair! While we were cleaning, Raph mentioned that our baby bro threatened to use my favorite comic book as toilet paper—that was just not necessary! (Good news is he didn’t but he still touched it!)

.
.
.
.

In hindsight, we probably should have acted a little more appreciative. I guess it’s hard to take our baby brother seriously sometimes and I need to remember that if we don’t expect more out of him, he is not going to be motivated to improve. He isn’t self-driven like Donnie and he isn’t competitive like Raph, so I need to do better for him.

Especially when the fact is, I was the one who failed my family yet again. I managed to get stung and I didn’t speak up to admit I wasn’t feeling right before I turned… I bit Raph, I bit Don, then I gave Mike grief. What would have happened if Michelangelo hadn’t saved us all? When he got home, would Sensei have fought off the wasps or would he have also become their prey? Would April have been with him and been another casualty before they were unleased topside with countless victims?

If it weren’t for my brothers, today’s mistakes would have been fatal. I need to do better for everyone.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 24: SEASON 1; EPISODE 24: Operation: Break Out

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

How long do crushes usually last? Raph says Donnie is “sadorable” and I have to agree. I mean I want him to be happy and it would be adorable if it wasn’t sad because it’s just not possible. He’s just not thinking straight, especially with her living with us for now. Once things go back to the way they were before, I’m sure it will eventually pass.

Anyway… April received some secret message in her email that Donnie stayed up all night trying to decrypt before running off to save Mr O’Neil at a secret Kraang facility. Which he did because Raphael told him he has no shot with April so Donatello went off on a solo mission to impress her. Even Michelangelo knows better than to say that!

We tracked down the location and Mikey stumbled upon a hidden entrance. He definitely did a better job of trying to figure out what Donnie would do than Raph.

Some hideous lizard thing starts shooting at us just as we find Donnie with Mr O’Neil, apparently this one he’s calling Newtralizer and Mikey was once again not happy about something being named without him. But he managed to, well, neutralize the Newtralizer so we all managed to escape.

Raph tried to make things up to Donnie by not only giving him credit for rescuing April’s dad but hyping up his heroics. I guess it worked because she gave him a big hug, seems he was happy enough that it was worth it to him. Boy, relationships are complicated.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

April has over a thousand unread emails in her inbox, I feel so seen. LOL

Chapter 25: SEASON 1; EPISODE 25: Showdown, Part 1

Chapter Text

I’m watching the final episode of “Space Heroes” when the Kraang communication orb that April found sent off one of Donatello’s alarms. He managed to translate a message stating something called the Technodrome was arriving in six hours. Not sure why they are proceeding if April is supposed to be a key part of their plan, but we have to stop them!

Sensei empowered everyone with encouragement that we could save the world, but then he pulled me aside to state in no uncertain terms the most important object was to complete the mission no matter what—or who—is sacrificed. I won’t argue with him, but I already know that if anyone is expendable it most certainly will not be any of my brothers…

Donnie and I worked on a plan while Raphael geared up, then I reviewed everything with the team. We headed to TCRI to destroy the portal. Everything was going well except we hadn’t anticipated there being a protective force field around the portal. UGH! Donnie thought of a plan B while I fought off Traag leaving the other two to take care of the Kraang droids.

Things weren’t going well and it was up to me for plan C:
rupture the power cell and destroy the building with everything in it—but only after my brothers escaped.

Never before have I ever been so grateful that they followed my orders.
Only once before have I ever seen my life flash before my eyes…

Plan C… complete.
Catastrophe… carnage… calamity…. circumvented…
Collision… crash… concrete… cease… conclusion…
Casualty.
Cost.

Sensei said the mission was to be completed at any cost, including casualty. But the only one I will allow that to include from my team will be me, not my brothers.

But I was a coward. The closer I came to crashing into the concrete, I closed my eyes instead of facing death fearlessly.

Then suddenly I was no longer falling but rising… Raph caught me! Our brothers flanked us from both sides cheering.

Caught… Collected…. Continue…
Covered... Clung... Comforted... Cherished… Care...
Champions.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Chapter 26: SEASON 1; EPISODE 26: Showdown, Part 2

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Just as I internally celebrated not dying, the Technodrome appeared. Certainly looked like the end of the world or, at least according to Donnie, the end of humanity’s reign as the dominant lifeform.

After being shot out of the sky, I did end up crashing into the concrete but at least not from a height that would have cracked my shell. We returned to the lair only to find Mr O’Neil who had been under mind control since we found him. Kraang and Shredder made an alliance so that they could get April and he could get Sensei. So back topside to sneak into the very thing we just escaped from…

Raph took out eight Kraang droids so we could hijack a pod to infiltrate the Technodrome. Which apparently has no gravity inside. It did, however, have April, who we quickly found and rescued. (Team effort but apparently Donnie is her hero now. But honestly, I’m happy for him. Our lives are weird, he deserves that moment.)

As we escaped to the last pod, we almost lost Mikey. I made sure he got inside safely, standing between them and the large Kraang. As its words rang in my ears that all of us will die there, Master Splinter’s voice rang in my head once again… With the world at stake, the only thing of importance is that you complete your mission no matter what you have to sacrifice—or who.

There is absolutely no way my brothers were going to die in that Technodrome! Not on my watch!

Twice in the same day I am so grateful that they followed my orders. Even if it did require Donatello dragging Raphael back into the escape pod so Michelangelo could close it.

They were safe, that’s all that mattered to me.

;=; ;=; ;=; ;=;

Obviously since I’m alive to write this, I managed to survive. Thank goodness for turtles being water friendly when the Technodrome sank into the ocean. I even got to hear Raph say he wished he had been nicer to me rather than always giving me a hard time. I mean, I don’t expect him to be accountable to that but it was still nice to hear. Just hearing any of their voices was nice, I didn’t think I ever would again…

We did it… we saved the world!

Something was bothering Sensei from his confrontation with Shredder, but he said it was an issue for another day and today wanted to focus on our success making the world safer from an alien invasion. That was fine by me! We even had a dance party… Donnie got to dance with April, Raph and I did our dance routine we made up as kids, and Mikey got to do the Robot dance not only with Donnie but Metalhead as well! I haven’t had that much fun in what feels like forever.

Or maybe almost dying a couple of times in one day will do that to you.

SEASON 1; EPISODE 1

Notes:

There it is—the magic that was Season One of 2012 TMNT! Even though I had already watched these episodes three times already, I still noticed details that hadn’t caught my eye prior. I hope everyone enjoyed and I’ll post Season 2 next month!

Question: Should I include the official episode synopsis in the Chapter Summary? If it would be helpful I can definitely go back and add it for Season 1 as well as moving forward with the other seasons, but I worry that might detract from the journal vibe.

Series this work belongs to: