Archive of Our Own ^beta

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I’ve lost three months of my life due to being in a coma. Everyone seems to have been keeping busy at April’s family farmhouse, Raphael has even taken the lead on keeping everyone training. Although I feel left behind and super weak, I’m proud of him for that. Heck, even though I can barely walk he tried to be supportive saying the two of us will train together and he’ll have me back on my feet.

When I woke up, Raph was there by my side. He downplayed it, but everyone kept telling me how he kept a constant vigil waiting for me to wake up. I know I would have done the same for him—I would have done the same for all of them—but knowing someone, especially Raph, did for me…

Every day.
Every night.
For three months.

Anyway… my voice sounds different due to the damage to my throat. Even my shell is sore, but the worst is my right knee. Then there’s Donnie’s mutagen medicine which is absolutely the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted. (That should say a lot considering I grew up on algae and worms.)

As if I wasn’t feeling bad enough, Raph gets me outside for some fresh air and I ended up vomiting right in front of the one person who is trying to treat me normally. Despite basically carrying me home, when the power went out he goes right back outside to chop up some firewood.

That’s when he went missing. I instructed Donatello and Michelangelo to look one direction with April and Casey the other. Raph is missing and Donnie wanted to worry about them being alone! If his argument was, one human and one turtle per group then fine—I would have changed my mind. But no he was just feeling insecure. At least he is good for more than just sitting at home waiting!

I can barely stand! I’ve had three months to rest and recover but I just can’t do anything right!

Just as I had hoped to hear Raph returning, I turn in time to see April being dragged off by some… creature? Mikey named it The Creep.

Eventually I’m able to track down where she and the others were taken to. They were able to restrain the swamp monster so that Donnie could work all night to save Raph. It wasn’t much, but I stayed by his side and wouldn’t have left even if it took three months…

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I’m still in no condition to join my brothers while they train, but I can at least enjoy watching Raphael work with Donatello and Michelangelo. I really am proud of all of them, even if I can’t help but feel left behind…

While doing an exercise we call Turtle Hunt, they discovered an actual Sasquatch! Just to be official, Mikey named it Bigfoot. But it gets weirder… not only did my brothers bring Bigfoot home, but he is actually a she—who developed a crush on Donnie just because he helped her. (I think there’s a psychological term for that, but Donnie is a bit busy for me to ask right now.)

Raph had Bigfoot train Donnie and Mikey about forest stealth so he could clean the bathroom. When he was finished he suggested we play some video games together which started off fun for a while, until my hands got cramped from overuse and he got a bit caught up with winning. Not sure if I was more annoyed by the aches in my hand or his attitude, but I needed to step outside for some fresh air.

On my way outside I noticed April taking Bigfoot upstairs for a makeover. Weird.

So Casey was outside and starts cracking jokes at Donnie’s expense, which is normal. It is weird the soups Bigfoot makes for him and now April has her wearing makeup… but when he laughed asking if she might be his type, I should have kept my mouth shut. Instead I was stupid and went along with it, retorting maybe after a shave.

Of course, my luck, she just happened to overhear that and ran off crying. I deserved Mikey yelling at me, that was insensitive for me to say. When he followed Donnie in chasing after Bigfoot, I noticed a music box left behind…

My brothers returned home telling us that the man hunting her down felt bad about ‘shooting a lady’ and she decided to take care of him instead, so they left together.

So weird.

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This morning I was in my room listening to April chop firewood when I heard Donnie’s voice… I couldn’t hear exactly what was said, but she kissed him! Not like a sisterly peck on the cheek but right on his lips! Then she just walks away, as if she wasn’t in the middle of chopping firewood.

I went down there to clean up because if Raph asks why someone didn’t put things away, he’s going to be annoyed. He’s not taking sides between Donnie and Casey, but he’s not happy about the April situation with either of them so I’d rather him not get upset about it. I don’t agree that Bigfoot’s crush on Donnie is anything at all like Donnie’s crush on April, but we both feel kinda weird about it…

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The old farmhouse needed deep cleaning so we all got to work—until Michelangelo discovered a trap door to the basement that April had no idea existed.

I don’t know what most humans keep in their basements, but not a Kraang spaceship that’s for sure.

It’s not that I forget April is technically a mutant—I think about it quite a bit. But here we are staring at a Kraang spaceship in her family farmhouse, discover who we think is her mom who went missing when she was six years old, then Casey pulls a Mikey saying something stupid about the Kraang mutating Kirby. I freak out trying to keep Raph calm and proved why it’s not worth me trying to lie even to spare someone’s feelings… because I told her they were kidding and that Kirby is on a safari in Puerto Rico for a while.

A safari in Puerto Rico?! Stupid.

Once again, Mikey’s instincts proved accurate as he was suspicious of “Mrs O’Neil” who I even started calling Mom. I don’t know why, I guess it was just nice to have a parental figure around let alone a mom… never had one before… Kind of like how I have three brothers but enjoy having April around as a sister. Or how I hope we can have with Miwa…

Anyway, I figured out Mikey was right too late when I noticed something suspicious with Donatello. Fortunately, April was able to save all of us. I know this makes me a hypocrite, but I told her she can’t give up hope that maybe her Mom is somewhere out there—just as I hope Sensei is too.

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We just deep cleaned the house and in the past week Michelangelo has trashed the place three times! Yeah we all snapped at him but all we asked him to do was clean it up—he didn’t get punished or in trouble.

We leave to calm down and get back to the house being vandalized, finding some weird footprints that turned out be from mutant frogs with a vendetta against humans. They thought April and Casey were keeping us mutant turtles as hostages but when we explained that they were our friends, they kidnapped them instead.

Mikey made a new friend—Napoleon Bonafrog. Unfortunately, when we tried to work things out the frogs’ home caught fire. We were able to save everyone and make amends, which was good—but they had to relocate meaning Mikey wouldn’t see him any time soon. I don’t know how much longer we will be at the farmhouse, but it would have been nice for him to be able to visit his new friend until we leave to go back home.

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Raph has been so patient trying to help me train…
“Nice!”
“Looking good, Leo!”
“You’re really coming along.”

I really hate that things have been so upbeat for us and yet I keep feeling down about how my recovery is taking forever. Used to be when I felt frustrated I could just take it out on him the next time we argue, but now I only have myself to be mad at. So when my knee dislocated again I just limped back inside to take a nap. Nature’s hugs, Mikey says.

What I thought was me waking up and going for a walk was just a dream. Maybe if my life wasn’t so weird I would have figured that out before dream-me gets a phone call from April saying I need to wake up. But no, I totally believed that I got super powers from a meteor and was fighting a giant beaver.

Next thing I know, I’m in the same dream with Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Donnie—who had been asleep the longest—mostly dreamed about being chased around the city. Mikey’s dream, no surprise, had something to do with candy. But Raph didn’t talk about his…

I don’t know how long we were fighting the Dream Beavers before waking up, but apparently once freed into the real world they are so small and non-threatening that they just gave up and left. That’s all there was to it.

Oddly enough, my leg feels a lot better…

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I did ask Raph about his dream… he said it was fire and fury, with heavy metal music playing and lots of snakes. Seems he was the only one to see the rest of us in his dream until the beavers gathered us all together with Donnie. To no one’s surprise, Mikey was basically playing in Candyland. Speaking of which, even though he eats everything I guess spicy gummy worms are his favorite. Once we save the city, I’ll have to surprise him with some.

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Even though Donatello and Casey Jones have been getting along better, they still have a rivalry going on. Kind of like how me and Raphael do—or did anyway considering how well things have been going between us. I thought maybe he was spending so much time with me because I had been out of it for so long, but maybe it’s because Casey has been busy with Donnie?

Anyway… on the way back from getting groceries, the two of them and April get run off the road by some lunatic driver we heard about on the news. Good thing no one was hurt but since Casey was so upset, Donnie helped him work on a car out in the barn. After they got it going, Mikey and Raph join them to watch the test drive.

They all get back only for April and I to find out Casey went after the lunatic driver again.

Back in the barn, Donatello and Casey work on the Turtle Racer using Kraang technology—with some help from Michelangelo and one of the chickens who somehow gets mutated into a genius? I don’t know. Well, I know Mikey named her Dr Cluckingsworth MD. Honestly, I’m just happy my leg is feeling well enough I could not only focus on helping make a plan but also drive the party van!

Well I was happy—until my brother got taken by the mutant car. (Who knew a non-living thing could get mutated? That’s terrifying!) Fortunately, Casey really pulled through and managed to save Donnie. I might have helped with a well-timed crash to the hot rod that knocked it off the cliff, but otherwise it was mostly the two of them working together.

Casey and Donnie were definitely on an adrenaline-rush from their high-speed adventure, but both April and Raph seemed a little… disappointed? I mean, I get macho Raph feeling weird about sharing his best friend with his nerd brother but April always complained about the two of them not getting along. Shouldn’t she be happy about this?

Boy, relationships are complicated.

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I was feeling a lot better, I thought for sure I’d hold my own against Raphael and Casey Jones. But then my knee dislocated AGAIN! It’s just hopeless… All I’m good for is just watching, no amount of stretching will help me be able to spar like I used to. This stupid leg is never gonna heal.

Then suddenly a huge monster swoops in from the sky and attacks all of us! Mikey named it Turducken; at least this time Michelangelo thought it was from mythology but Donnie corrected that it is a Chimera. Seems while Donatello was testing April’s psychic powers she became blind and somehow developed a sort of link with the creature. I couldn’t do anything except escape with her when all the guys were captured. Not only could she see through its eyes, but she could feel it’s hunger pains…

What a pair we made… she can’t see and I can’t walk! But she wasn’t ready to give up. I have to admire that about her, even her own dad complains how stubborn she can be. She insisted I’m still the leader and not a liability to the whole team. Honestly, I remain unconvinced—every time I think I’m getting better, I get hurt again way too easily. That said, I couldn’t let her go off alone.

At some point her link with the Chimera got so strong she tried to bite me, it freaked me out so much I didn’t even notice I was able to stand on my own at the moment. So we made the most of it and was able to save the guys.

Fortunately, April regained her eyesight and I was able to thank her for inspiring me.

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“If you’re not leading, who am I supposed to complain about?”

I guess that means if ever I’m fully recovered—or it’s been long enough he runs out of patience—things will go back to the way they’ve been between Raph and me. Guess he’s been holding back and it wasn’t just us getting along better after all…

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Since I can’t train normally, I started learning archery. Hunting seems low risk until you fall out of a tree, reinjure your bad knee, and get attacked by a giant deer in the woods.

But on the slow stumble back home it made me realize that us turtles have become at odds with nature. We’ve mastered our weapons, stealth, and hand-to-hand combat yet we haven’t achieved the very first of the 18 Ninjitsu disciplines—the Seishin Syuyou. Spiritual refinement is necessary for a true ninja to make peace with himself and thus become a master.

So I decided for my brothers and I to complete three days of meditation and practice awareness in the wilderness. Once again, Donnie lost sight of what’s important and was more worried about April being alone with Casey. I reminded him he needs to learn to let it go, leaving all our worries and fears behind.

Like Master Splinter said, we are in a war. There is no time for any of us to concern ourselves with romantic relationships or those sort of feelings… We have to be better than that!

Despite that, the trip went really well and I’m proud of each of my brothers for taking this seriously. When the deer spirit appeared Donnie reminded us that in the Shinto religion, deer are considered messengers of the divine, and hypothesized it as a sign we’re on the right path. But then when it took a humanoid form, they mistook it for a mutant and attacked. Not sure why they did so, but it disappeared before I could get them to stop.

Later that night Master Splinter manifested within the flames of our campfire! He’s alive!

He advised us to journey alone to face our spiritual adversary… Raphael he told to focus his fire for power, Michelangelo he advised to be strong and calm like the forest, Donatello he reminded to focus on his body to also be strong but like the mountain, and for me that I should be like the wind and not let anything weigh me down.
I don’t understand how that is possible when I carry the burden of leadership though…

The next morning we forged new armor and weapons to journey along for our individual challenges in the spirit realm.

What transpired is beyond words, so I will only express that each of us succeeded in our individual trials. Michelangelo beat Rahzar, Donatello battled against Tiger Claw, Raphael fought Xever, and I defeated Shredder on the spirit plane in preparation for the real-world victory.

I’m ready. We’re going back to New York.

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Donatello redesigned Mr O’Neil’s peace van into what we are calling the Party Wagon. We all worked together to paint and decorate it. According to him, while it’s not as heavily armored as the Shellraiser it is more maneuverable, has more weapons, and better gas mileage.

Okay that last part isn’t as important, except we do have a long drive ahead of us to get back to the city.

First goal is to find Master Splinter. Second, to find Karai. Third, free the city.

We arrived at the gate to realize the Kraang is controlling the EPF [Earth Protection Force] and military stationed there. Just as they started to power up their blasters, Casey Jones makes an executive decision to drive through the gate.

The city was deserted like an apocalypse… April could only sense a few hundred people hiding in the city, meaning millions of people were gone.

We were ambushed by the Kraang but between the defense and weapons of the Party Wagon and Casey’s driving, we were able to escape to our secret entrance to the subway.

Only to find our lair was destroyed… the Kraang even set up a sentry to alert them if we returned. Sigh.

April helped sense for Sensei during our search. When we found him, he seemed to suffer from amnesia and behaved like a rabid rat instead of Master Splinter. We were unable to calm him down before he escaped while we were attacked by the mousers and Footbots who captured him. We followed them to Shredder’s lair where he was caged in Baxter Stockman’s lab. Who apparently had Shredder mutations—a shrimp, lobster, and crab. Their shells made them well armored that even Raphael admitted how tough they were.

While we battled, April and Casey worked to bring back Sensei’s mind, which they succeed just as we defeated the enemy… and I lost one of my swords in the ooze. Worse, Shredder now knows we are all still alive so we’ve lost that advantage. But we managed to escape together.

For now, we will regroup and stay at Antonio’s Pizzeria. (Obviously, Michelangelo’s idea.)

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While the others cleaned up the pizzeria, I went with Raphael and Casey Jones to salvage items from the lair… not only did we sneak out a bunch of chemicals for Donatello but, upon request, the TV for Michelangelo.

Relieved it was intact, I slipped Sensei his old family photo.

It warmed my heart to hear him tell me I am a good son. I just wish I could do more… I know how much he longs to have Miwa home. It hurts to see him suffer missing his true child.

I took my brothers to go search for our sister, which upset both the humans. April insisted we needed her and Casey accused me of ‘penting up his rage’ whatever that means. I don’t want to tell them in front of Master Splinter that I feel he needs their company after just recently regaining his humanity, but hopefully they will understand…

Karai is apparently shedding her snakeskin which helped us track her. For some reason, Anton Zeck and Ivan Steranko show up and while fighting them she got frightened off. As we followed her, we then fought Kraang droids and Footbots. But we were able to help her understand and she recognized me before unexpectedly switching into her human form!

I was trying to convince her to come back with us when Rahzar and Fishface showed up. Just great. Karai reverted back to her snake form but got caught by them only to be intercepted by Zeck who meet up with Steranko. Thanks to one of Donnie’s spy roaches, we learned about their plan to find Karai and negotiate some deal with Shredder. So we showed up at the meeting location…

Raph helped me get away from Shredder so I could get to Karai and free her from the collar they placed on her. After convincing her to escape so they didn’t get her, she pointed east and just stated, “Comet.”

My parting words to Shredder was to remind him that she is NOT his daughter! Knowing our sister got away safely, I led my brothers to escape.

We will find her. I have to make sure she is safely returned to her true father. This has been my obligation since we first met and I cannot fail my Sensei.

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Donatello found three locations with the word ‘comet’ in them. I assigned him and April to check out Comet Cleaners on Bleecker Street, Raphael and Casey Jones to the Argosy Theater where “Earth vs the Comet Creeps” is playing, and since Michelangelo was excited about going to Coney Island to explore the Coney Comet roller coaster I brought him along with me. I know I probably humor him more than I should, but he is my baby brother. I also figured the least I could do is give Donnie some time with April and assign Raph a chance to take a break with Casey. Plus, I realize it’s more reassuring that the humans are safer when they have one of my brothers with them.

Each team got one of the three doses of retro-mutagen Donnie was able to make. He warned us that with her mutation being unique, there is a possibility that it wouldn’t work, but I didn’t want to think about that because I needed it to work. I felt that it just had to!

I feel so bad for Miwa and Sensei.

Then we found her at Coney Island! But she slipped into the ghost house and just as we caught up to her again, she escaped at the sounds of Zeck and Steranko. Only they had been mutated into a giant warthog and rhinoceros! Mikey named them Bebop and Rocksteady.

Bebop had captured Donnie and April while Rocksteady had captured Raph and Casey, both meeting up where Mikey and I were. I had him distract them while I tried to free the others when Karai suddenly showed up and helped. (That was a nice change.)

Casey went with April and Donnie to fight Bebop while Raph joined Mikey and me to go against Rocksteady. We ended up on the roller coaster after all, except Mikey didn’t get to enjoy it what with almost falling out of the cart. Fortunately, Raph caught him. Unfortunately, Rocksteady grabbed him, suggesting an exchange for the retro-mutagen gun. I gave him my word that if he put Mikey down, I’d give up the retro-mutagen… and I did—to Raph, who did not give his word!

Moments like that is exactly why we are the A-team!

We finally get to administer the retro-mutagen to Karai and… nothing. It didn’t work! Donnie reminded me her mutation isn’t normal, so I settled for her at least coming home with us. She refused, saying it was too dangerous and that she just wanted to say goodbye to all of us.

But this can’t be goodbye, she didn’t even get to see Master Splinter. We will figure out a way to help her, I promise. I cannot fail my family.

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As much as Donatello accidently causes explosions, you’d think Michelangelo would be more careful and stay out of his lab. But nope, he will play around with chemicals hoping to cause an explosion.

But today, as Sensei said, his tomfoolery yielded a gift. Whatever he made transforms an entire vial of Mutagen into Retro-Mutagen with just a drop.

Good news is, this saves Donnie months of work.
Bad news is, it will remain a mystery how it was created even to Mikey.

Donnie escorted us to a water tower where were interrupted when Kraang scanned a couple of humans. Of course we saved them, but it would be nice to not get screamed at about being alien turtles. Sure, that’s okay, not like we saved their lives or anything…

So there we are fighting the Kraang when suddenly Pigeon Pete, Leatherhead, Doctor Rockwell, and Slash show up… they are calling themselves the ‘Mighty Mutanimals’ now and only half of our team was happy to see theirs.

I questioned Slash’s leadership even though Mikey pleaded that everyone deserves a second chance. Leatherhead also voiced his support and invited us to meet their benefactor who turned out to be Jack Kurtzman! Then he was also insisting the eight of us team up to disarm a mutagen missile the Kraang have spent months working on.

I was distracted disagreeing with Slash, Donatello arguing with Doctor Rockwell, Raphael yelling at Pigeon Pete, with Michelangelo and Leatherhead trying to settle us down when we got ambushed. Kurtzman was injured so we escaped to our hideout so Sensei, April and Casey could help him.

Master Splinter instructed that we unite to stop the missile, but while I recommended an air attack Slash demanded a ground attack. Raph tried to get us to compromise and do both which is actually what ended up happening since we went our separate ways.

We returned to the water tower to see what Donnie had tried to show us earlier: a Turtle Blimp. In truth, the Mighty Mutanimals ground attack did provide a distraction for our air attack. But before Donnie could disable the missile, Kraang Subprime launched it—with us literally hanging on for life! Somehow, Donnie managed to redirect the missile and we jumped off—thank goodness for Turtle Gliders!

As we descended, I noticed Slash saving Pigeon Pete and realized he did care for his team after all. We all made amends with each other and, together, developed a plan to save the citizens of New York…

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Our plan was as follows: the Mighty Mutanimals break into TCRI, activate the portal to Dimension X, us Turtles use the retro-mutagen on the humans, and then the Mighty Mutanimals teleport us and all of the people back home.

Michelangelo was excited to return to Dimension X and I had to remind Raphael to just humor him. Seriously, our baby brother never ceases to amaze me. Sometimes that isn’t always a good thing, but other times we can really see his unrefined potential.

We found three islands full of mutated humans being forced to work as slaves for the Kraang. We borrowed a stealth ship to take over the Technodrome full of Mutagen in order to have enough to fix all the people. We were attacked by Kraang Subprime but Mikey managed to fly the ship… we crashed but still broke into the Technodrome. Even Raph was impressed how well Mikey was doing on this mission!

Meanwhile Donatello was his usual genius, adding the retro-mutagen to the huge supply of mutagen allowing us to transform the humans back to their normal so they could be teleported back by the Mighty Mutanimals—just as planned! (Also… just like Space Heroes!)

I was so focused on fighting that it wasn’t until Raph grabbed me that I realized Donnie had given the signal we were all clear. Finally, we were back home and April was reunited with her dad once again.

I offered both an apology and my congratulations to Slash who not only accepted but said one of the nicest things anyone has ever told me…
that he tried to model himself after the best leader he ever knew—me.

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It’s still kind of odd seeing pet turtle Spike so different after being mutated into the behemoth that is Slash. Now that the effects of his change have settled down, I’ve been able to understand how connected he and I are because of the most important thing we have in common: Raphael.

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Our lair is a disaster after being trashed by the Kraang, so we focused on cleaning it up and trying to get everything back in order. Poor Donatello had his hands full trying to fix his lab. This amount of cleaning is way harder than training, that’s for sure.

Casey Jones showed up in a bad mood expecting us to go after the Purple Dragons with him. According to him, they have a new leader—some guy named Hun. We just got back and honestly need a break! But later on when he sent a text, Raphael decided to go help him; I offered to assist but he wasn’t worried about it. But then he returns and I couldn’t believe he let the kid run off by himself!

In a weird twist, Mikey’s current favorite snack of cheesy balls are manufactured at Auman Chemicals—which is the biggest chemical manufacturing plant in the city right here in Chinatown, an area controlled by the Purple Dragons. We arrived just as Casey slipped away from Shredder. I immediately intercept the biggest threat, leaving Raph to fight Tiger Claw, Donnie with Xever, Mikey with Rahzar, and Casey with Hun.

With an impressive display of his hockey skills, Casey managed to contaminate the entire batch of chemicals and save the day! The kid took on Shredder and walked away in one piece—more than what even I can say at times.

The most concerning part is that Donnie realized the chemicals weren’t explosives but for mind control…

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We interrupted Bebop and Rocksteady stealing stuff for some sort of grocery list for Dexter Flyface. Err, Baxter Stockman. Mutagen and Reagent X—an ingredient for mind-control serum.

Michelangelo got hit in the head hard with a canister of mutagen so back at home I helped him ice the injury, which mostly means I try to help him stay still. While doing that we saw on the news what happened with the missing mutagen… it created some guy they were calling Muckman. (Mikey named him The Noxious Avenger.)

Since he stopped a mugging we got the sense he may be good… Unfortunately he blamed us for being mutated and fought us with a toxic attack. The debacle got caught on TV which enraged Master Splinter who forbid us from leaving the lair. Grounded, we all convened in Mikey’s room and I made a plan to show off our ninja stealth to Sensei so we could sneak out to stop Bebop and Rocksteady. (Okay so April helped with a distraction, but she agreed with me that this guy is good and we needed to help him.)

Sure enough, we find Bebop and Rocksteady using Muckman to break into a Kraang lab. I tried to explain the misunderstanding, that we didn’t want to hurt him and were not the ones who mutated him. I understand he worried about being called a freak but pointed out that didn’t matter as long as we’re doing the right thing…

Not only was Muckman able to ruin the chemicals but he was able to cover for us by telling the news that turtle mutants—especially of the child-eating ninja monster kind—do not exist. He even mentioned the Pulverizer, as if kids dressing up in costumes to fight criminals is a normal thing.

Good news is, we fixed everything.
Bad news is, we are still grounded.

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I’ve realized that Michelangelo reads way too much into his cartoon shows.

Meanwhile, Raph was in an impulsive overemotional state raging about going after the Shredder. Until Mikey called him a hothead, after which Donatello decided to hide out in his lab fixing the Shellraiser.

Yup, normal day here in the lair. Or was until Leatherhead showed up injured stating that Slash and Doctor Rockwell were captured by Tiger Claw. I led the mission to rescue them from Shredder’s lair, even though Raph argued about going in blades blazing rather than wait on a plan. Just as Pigeon Pete went to do recon fly-by, we saw both had escaped on their own which I knew was odd…

They didn’t look well so we returned to the lair, only to realize that they were experimented on with some mind control worms when they suddenly attacked Master Splinter and kidnapped Raph.

I know he wanted to take the fight to Shredder, but not like this…

Then it got worse…

We arrived to find Raphael standing over Shredder and I encouraged him to end him. But it was already too late, he was brainwashed and turned his attacks towards me. Mikey fought against Tiger Claw, Donnie went against Doctor Rockwell, Leatherhead battled Slash, and Pigeon Pete versus Stockman Fly.

Raph is the strongest among us, but his one weakness is words. While I kept talking, I realized he wasn’t in control of his temper and that a strong emotional response was needed to overcome the mind control. It was quite a compliment, Donnie calling me a genius for figuring that out. Knowing this, he was about to get the advantage over Doctor Rockwell who then helped Slash.

We all surrounded Shredder only for him to escape so we retreated, recovering safely back at the lair. As much as everyone is relieved to be back to normal, it felt great to hear Raph thank me and tell me I’m the best. I don’t know what I’d ever do without my A-team partner.

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As much as Raph and I have sparred and fought over the years, it was nothing compared to his attack during today’s battle. I went from fearing his safety to a rush of emotions… relief he was okay, shock he seemed to have the advantage over our strongest enemy, pride that he would be the one to end our struggle, then… guilt.

I commanded an order telling my younger brother to commit murder.

The world would be a safer place without the Shredder, especially for us and Sensei as well as Miwa. I know it is a part of being a ninja, but thus far we’ve been able to succeed in winning without taking a life.

Today I realized that as far as my brothers are concerned, I would like to keep it that way as long as possible. If blood must be spilled, as leader it should be on my hands and not weigh on their souls. I know at some point they may willingly choose to but I will do what I can to prevent them from carrying that burden for as long as possible, even when we are no longer kids.

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Last I remembered seeing Mikey was when I invited him to hang out and practice katas with April and me. I know that’s not his idea of fun but a little extra training doesn’t hurt anyone!

Instead, he decided to hang out with Casey and when they had been gone all night, neither answering their phone, I got worried. After all, it’s simple math:
Michelangelo + Casey Jones + too much time on their hands = trouble

We went to look for them, one clue coming from a police scanner about “for cops from Casey.” We finally managed to track them down to some underground obstacle course skating race run by Xever.

Weird.

So apparently while they were out they happened to meet another mutant, a kid named Jason who was changed when we accidently dropped all of those mutagen canisters from the sky.

Mikey named him Mondo Gecko.

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Master Splinter chastised me when I once again hesitated during our sparring session. I explained I only did so because he is still recovering. When he used an ancient technique known as the healing hands, I was intrigued and asked him to teach me the chant.

Rin. Pyo. Toh. Sha…

Wish I had known about this when I was still nursing the injury to my knee…

Later Kirby arrived in a panic with April, stating she had been bitten by a poisonous snake in her bed. It didn’t make sense but while Donatello was monitoring her condition getting worse, Raphael received an SOS from Casey Jones so I sent Michelangelo with him for backup.

With none of the anti-venoms working, Donnie was unable to come up with an antidote. Just as Sensei used an ancient poison-draining mantra, I received a call from Raph’s phone… from Karai. Leaving the fathers there, Donnie and I went to save our brothers and friend.

At least that was the mission, we didn’t expect to get poisoned coming in through the sewers. I was able to utilize the chant to heal the poison, being attacked directly by Karai when I tried to explain she had been brainwashed. Although I defeated her, she escaped. Again.

But the most important thing was that I rescued my brothers and Casey. I was able to bring them all home where Sensei and I could fully heal them so they could recover from the poison just as April did.

All this time I’ve been so frustrated feeling taken for granted, being leader is so often a thankless job. Yet tonight my brothers acknowledged I rescued all of them solo in a way neither of them would have been able to. Even Sensei praised my newfound gift as a healer and said he was proud of me for unleashing this power.

Yet I can’t enjoy it because I don’t feel like I’m doing enough, that I’m not good enough!

I saved the ones most important to me which is important. But I also keep failing to help one person, failing the same mission repeatedly to the point the others were ready to give up. If it was me, I wouldn’t want everyone to give up. I just keep thinking, I could have been her...

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For all the time he’s spent helping us find Karai, I hadn’t realized Casey never met her. Well, he’s let all of us know that changed when he bragged that she poisoned him with a kiss. The look on everyone’s faces was hilarious… Sensei didn’t look too thrilled and Donnie did. Raph looked like he was going to throw up and April had some weird smirk I can’t really describe.

Meanwhile Mikey rambled on about how he thought Casey had gotten bitten in the butt—I don’t know what goes on in that turtle’s mind sometimes.

As for me, I think she’s out of his league and I don’t think he’s her type. Then again if she kissed him maybe he is, I’m no expert in these things and he’s now already more experienced than me. Good luck, Jones—you’re already best friends with my brother so might as well date my sister while you’re at it.

Chapter Text

This journal series will be put on a brief pause, my apologies.

Initially I delayed the project until I felt I had a good head start to maintain daily updates for each episode per month. However, I underestimated how well I would handle some of the heavier emotions in the second half of the series.

I absolutely will complete the series, I just need a bit more time. My process involves rewatching the episode and taking notes, mulling over the events for a bit, then—when I’m able to sit and write—pulling up a transcript of the episode while sorting through feelings before typing out Leonardo’s thoughts from his perspective.

If you want to discuss any of the plot points thus far or have questions I’m always around to reply!

Thank you for reading, please stay tuned!

Birthday gift art from the awesome Nei-Ning after I said (referring to 2012 Leonardo):
"I just want to give the boy some hot tea and chocolate covered strawberries to let him talk about all his problems. XD"

Chapter Text

My sincere apologies—this project is NOT abandoned! I honestly had no intention for the “brief pause” to be so extended but I promise, this is literally one of my New Years Resolutions. (I appreciate the comments here on AO3 and messages on Tumblr checking in!)

When I began working on this journal fanfic last March, I started posting in what was perhaps a bit too-enthusiastic pace. At the time, I had only 10 published works not including my 2012/Rise crossover which was intended to be a playful one-shot that developed into an in-depth story of the eight turtles. (If you’re enjoying this series, I’d recommend it!)

Suffice it to say, I’ve not forgotten this... It haunts me like the Last Ronin. Good news is that during this time I’ve been able to discuss some points at length concerning various questions about some of the lack of contingencies in the latter half of the show. I’ve written up the next five episodes and they are in the editing phase, hopefully I can work on the others at a consistent pace to keep a routine posting schedule.

As always, thank you for reading!

Gift Art by NeiNing!

Chapter Text

The guys are ready to give up on finding Karai. Granted, Raphael is still angry about being poisoned and Donatello is still struggling to find a cure, but even Michelangelo doesn’t seem to care…

I don’t understand how they lose sight of how important it is for Sensei to have Miwa back. He’s lost so much in life and family is all we have, it’s the least we can do to repay him for taking care of us when he missed out on her childhood. But when I finally brought her home to him, I failed to keep her safe, then I failed to stop her from being mutated… I feel like I don’t have a choice. I think about her. A lot.

I guess I can’t expect anyone to understand how I feel as a son, a brother, and a leader… So I deflected back to Donnie hoping the others would take the bait and tease him about April.

If they can’t be dutiful sons, they can at least annoying brothers.

It worked. Mikey starts babbling, Raph gets the jump on him, and Donnie ends up in their crossfire. It’s not been easy, but this is our normal and I’m okay with that. For now, I just need to finish my final mission and tie up the one loose string in all the chaos that started since we learned about the Kraang and Shredder.

But it seems I am asking for too much, because then our lives got twisted even weirder than our regular weird…

Some girl falls out of a portal in the sky dressed up like a superhero from one of Mikey’s comic books and it was like watching Donnie all over again on our first night topside.

She called us “the Turtle Warriors of Legend” saying we are famous in the future for saving the world many times. According to her, we are known as Leonardo the Leader, Raphael the Warrior, Donatello the Inventor, and Michelangelo the… Cute one?

Who comes up with this stuff? Mikey has raw talent and strong skills that will outlast his looks and to just call Raph a warrior when we are all known as ‘turtle warriors of legend’ doesn’t give him credit for how strong or protective he is of us! Yes, Donnie is an inventor but so is Baxter Stockman—huge difference between using one’s genius for good versus evil!

Granted we have saved the world more times than I can count on one hand, but the thought that we go from no one knowing we exist to being featured in history books is a bit unnerving… do we get caught by our enemies and studied by scientists? That sounds almost as bad as having to save the world all over again!

This Renet person introduces herself as an Assistant Time Master in training—why someone like her would be in charge of something so critical is beyond me. She was being chased by a demon named Savanti Romero who wants to steal something called a Time Scepter to control all of time and space.

Because of course he does. I’d be thrilled to walk around the city during the day like a normal person while some people want to rule not only their world but all of time.

Well, this demon guy shows up and she sends him back to the past. So… why was she even here?!

Her boss, Lord Simultaneous, shows up and what does she do? Runs away! Which would have been fine if SOMEONE named Michelangelo didn’t follow behind her leaving me and the others to chase after him. What in the world is with my baby brother just jumping into portals? At least with Dimension X I understand him being worried about Leatherhead, but this time he follows after someone we just met a few minutes ago? She literally doesn’t even belong in our time!

England 980 AD. A far cry from 100 million years in the past… She doesn’t even know what she’s doing! But we had no choice and had to save history.

So there I am, resigned to our fate as usual… Raph is mad, Donnie is stressed, but Mikey? He’s enjoying all this and even tries to surprise with our LARP costumes ‘to blend in’ he says. Didn’t work, we got mistaken for orcs by a group of knights who weren’t that hard to fight.

Okay, so the jousting was a little fun.

Until Savanti showed up, snatched the scepter and stuck us in a time loop. When we managed to break out, we then ended up in an uber-creepy cemetery where we fought undead skeleton warriors before arriving at the castle. We managed to banish him and were being returned home through some time stream when suddenly we found ourselves in a modern times forest in Japan surrounded by ninjas…

Chapter Text

I recognized the ninjas as belonging to the Hamato clan just before Oroku Saki—prior to becoming the Shredder—approached us. Mikey was able to help us sneak out with a smoke bomb, which allowed us to regroup and try to figure out what was going on.

As best we could tell, we were sixteen years in the past—before our enemy became Shredder and before our master became Splinter, back when Miwa was just a baby… Odd how this suddenly came around full circle considering the night started out with us looking for her.

Just, not like this.

We found what we recognized was our Sensei’s old dojo and confirmed when we saw Saki speaking to Hamato Yuuta—Splinter's biological father and Shredder's adoptive father! Then we saw him…
Hamato Yoshi.
Human Splinter!

Raph’s right… this is Renet’s fault. But, wow.

He was young but also, well, kind of like he use to chastise us of being when we first started going topside… Yoshi was so dismissive of Saki, mocking him for his claims of seeing Yokai—which is what he believed us to be. Mythical Japanese monsters of which some legends say when the Yokai arrives, tragedy is sure to follow.

Considering we know what happens, I’m not sure how much worse tragedy us being here can bring.

We watched as they spar and argue which was interesting to observe, at least until the subject of Tang Shen was brought up. Saki accused Yoshi of only caring for the clan and himself, only for Sensei to insist he has always been there for his brother in arms.
I suppose, maybe, I now understand a little about why my relationship with Raphael sometimes reminds Master Splinter of his former friendship… That said, no matter how angry he gets, there is no way he would ever sink to the depths of our adversary! All of my brothers have far too much honor to become evil, especially over something as simple as a girl.

Days later we were beginning to wonder if Renet was ever going to find us so we could go home. I had no idea what the reason could be, but I don’t much believe in coincidences so I kept wondering why were we here at this specific time and place?

Turtle luck, Shen saw us and was terrified which caused baby Miwa to cry. I tried to reason with her, but Saki showed up to protect her and everything happened so fast… Raph wanted to take him down, Donnie insisted we can’t alter history, Mikey points out that Saki seemed very caring although Raph saw his behavior as creepy.

I debated about the merits of taking out Saki before he becomes Shredder, but Donnie pointed out that our interference would prevent Yoshi from adopting four baby turtles who later stop the Kraang invasion. As if to prove his point, evidence of Casey disappeared from his phone!

So now we were faced with undoing the damage we already done by being in the past, needing to somehow convince Tang Shen that Oroku Saki is not the protector he seems to be after saving her from four monsters (namely, us) and that Hamato Yoshi is who she should stay with.

The next day we approached Tang Shen and convinced her we were friendly Yokai—Kappa apparently, who are believed to like cucumbers. We tried to convince her that Yoshi was better than Saki, but she felt our Sensei was too dedicated to ninjitsu to prioritize family first.
Honestly, even I have to admit that is a valid concern and was stumped as to how to respond. When Donnie noticed evidence of April disappearing from his phone, I realized we had to do something more…

So I led my team to take down Shredder, which is how we found Saki had gathered ninjas in an effort to revitalize the Foot Clan. Although we knew that he had been adopted by Yoshi’s father, we learned there was more to it… In his claim for revenge, he stated that Hamato Yuuta killed his father, Oroku Kaiji, when he was an infant. As he said, raised by my enemy in ignorance.

Wow.

Wow!

On one hand, I can now see why he stole Miwa…
But on the other hand, why would he do to her what he hated was done to him?

While we were busy battling Saki’s ninjas, he stole away to confront Yoshi. We quickly ran them off, but by the time we did the dojo was already on fire… We couldn’t stop Shen before she ran inside and I was trapped outside…

Staring at a crying baby hidden under a bench.

That’s how Miwa survived the fire! Shen tried to protect her because the dojo was already on fire when she showed up.

Saki escaped badly burned and found Miwa while Raph and I rushed in to save Yoshi, but Donnie and Mikey were not as fortunate trying to save Shen.

All we could do, was walk away. History had proven to resume normally by the following morning, the photo with our friends again intact. But we were stuck, thousands of miles away and sixteen years in the past—before we were even born.

Finally, Renet returned. She claimed to have been looking for us for six months, yet to us these historical events occurred in a matter of days…

I questioned, of all times and places, why us here and now. She stated the scepter destined us to save Splinter. I could only agree with Raph… my head hurts and I hope we never see Renet ever again.

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I’m still uncomfortable that we risked altering history for the worse, yet I can’t help but wonder if perhaps we could have done something differently to alter it for the better… If I should have saved Miwa to spare Splinter the suffering of losing her, if there was a way to stop Saki from becoming Shredder, anything!

But one of the most amazing parts of the experience was getting to hold a baby. Not just because she was Miwa but… seeing a human so tiny. It was, well, nice. Like even cuter than the time I had to pretend to be an imaginary friend and get through a tea party with a little girl to save her from accidently mutating herself.

I wonder if this is what Master Splinter felt like when we were little?

Chapter Text

Donatello and Raphael were arguing with me about how to infiltrate Shredder’s lair when the genius—who was supposed to be fixing the Turtle Mech—unveiled his worst invention yet, ‘Mark X-1 Experimental All-Terrain Urban Stealth Vehicle.’

Supposedly it looks like a dumpster to ‘blend in’ on the city streets, but it takes forever to get there and get in. Eventually we do and almost stealth our way to the lab when we are stopped by Bebop and Rocksteady who are joined by Tiger Claw. After the Shredder mutants—the weird ones who look like a shrimp, lobster, and crab—arrive, I gave the order to withdraw. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in time to prevent Rocksteady from injuring Raph’s ankle. To make matters worse, not only did my brother get hurt but then Sensei grounded us from all missions until he heals! So now he feels worse because of that.

Since it’s too dangerous, I decided to go solo. After all, it’s my fault that I’ve already had one brother get hurt trying to help our sister.

I guess my guilt was getting to me because somehow Michelangelo snuck up on me, insisting to be my back-up. As much as I knew he needed to go back, I was… touched he followed me. And impressed he did—in his words—ninja’d me.
That and there’s no arguing with him when his mind is set.

We were so close to success too! We had a brain worm and were about to escape when we got caught by Bebop and Rocksteady. They had us over a vat of mutagen and the irony was not lost me that we were only there to help fix Karai after she had been in a similar situation… sigh.

Fortunately, I was able to stall for time by convincing those morons to create a super mutant… That led to them tossing in the Shredder mutants first while we escaped.

Unfortunately, it also created a monstrosity that Mikey named Mega-Shredder.

While we were fighting it… it ate Mikey!
It ate Mikey and I didn’t stop it from happening.
All I could do was rage, attacking it for taking away my brother.

Then it dropped me.

It dropped me because it was attacked by the Turtle Mech powered by April, Casey, Raph, and Donnie. And all I could do at the moment was stand there on the roof, staring down at Mikey’s grappling hook…

Next thing I know, Donnie informs me the brain is in the tongue so I immediately go to restrain it and while I’m in a tug-of-war between the Mega-Shredder and Turtle Mech, suddenly Michelangelo bursts out and I can’t believe it! My baby brother is safe and not only did he rescue himself, he injured the kaiju in the process allowing Raph to fire an acid can that exploded the monster from the inside!

Most importantly… my baby brother is safe.

Mega-Shredder is gone, my brothers and friends are okay, and we even successfully captured a brain worm… I suppose not a bad day after all.

Chapter Text

During a training session, Master Splinter told April her skills were much improved and challenged her to defend against me while Raphael sparred with our younger brothers. But Donatello seemed distracted as he’s been working on the brain worm solution for Karai, so he left with April to take another DNA sample and everyone else left me to train alone.

Or I was alone in the dojo, until I got attacked by the Creep and nearly lost consciousness!

Everyone showed up and Master Splinter ran it off, meanwhile Donnie has been acting forgetful…

Later I realized that Donnie was being affected by the brain stuff he had been working on because Mikey had spilled some on him earlier. Somehow he was becoming less intelligent while The Creep was getting smarter.

Leaving Donnie with April, I took my other brothers to search for The Creep and we found him with the Snakeweed Claw. Apparently, it made a clone which Donnie interrupted just as Mikey named it the Son of Snakeweed. While Mikey suggested using ourselves as bait, April finally called to let me know she lost Donnie. Unfortunately, he had stumbled in the way of our plan to run over the plants and Raph had to push him out of the way. We left them smoldering in flames as we went home…

Back at home Donnie was getting worse—forgetting we had a tire swing, stealing Raph’s and my masks, thinking Ice Cream Kitty on his head was stealing his brain power… We were so busy keeping one younger brother safe we totally forget about the other, only to find Mikey playing around in Donnie’s lab mixing who-knows-what insisting he “knows science-y stuff” like the time with the wasp—which was only because Donnie gave him instructions on what to do! This is a whole other thing and he had no idea what the ‘stuff’ could have done to him. But then we weren’t able to stop him from drinking it anyway! ARGH!

Speaking of making things worse…

The Creep and Son of Snakeweed combined, which Mikey named Creepweed. He had been storing people into pods and so we grabbed our breathing units to avoid being put to sleep. Which worked until mine was damaged in battle and I lost consciousness…

When I woke up, I learned that Mikey’s antidote had actually worked and Donnie was back to normal! It’s good to have him back and perhaps all of us—including myself—should be a little less hard on Mikey…

Chapter Text

Donatello reached a breaking point today and told Master Splinter he is unable to cure the brain worm. I was angry he so easily accepted the outcome and snapped at Donnie to try harder because of how much it would mean to Sensei.

He replied that I was the leader and I could find the answer myself. Then for some reason he turned on Raphael who just wrote her off as a lost cause which, surprisingly, upset Michelangelo. All of us arguing earned us a lecture on unity and how we should think as one, but then Donnie stated he was leaving to meet April and ignored my calls for him to stay.

Some leader I am, my team still doesn’t listen to me.

I vowed to not give up and asked Sensei if the Healing Hands mantra or any of the ancient scrolls would help, but he was uncertain of his ability to do so. If he can’t do it, then who can? Deciding to call a meeting in the dojo to discuss further, Mikey brushed me off saying he had ‘stuff to do, bruh.’

Sometimes being leader is completely meaningless.

My bad day got worse when April arrived stating she hadn’t spoken to Donnie all day and I got a suspicious call from ‘Mikey’ which we expected might be a trap…

Raph and I found our younger brothers tied up in an old warehouse only to realize too late they were holograms which Karai had staged to capture us. Worse became worst when she was joined by Bebop, Rocksteady, Rahzar, Xever, and Tiger Claw. I ordered April to go warn Master Splinter, but we were all knocked unconscious.

Then I woke up to Karai explaining through a speaker that my brothers and I were each placed in a room with a unique trap. Xever designed Raphael’s room that they called ‘The Hot Head’ while they taunted him to find a way out. Donatello’s was ‘The Brain Boggler’ which gave him an electric zap every time he made a mistake solving a puzzle. Michelangelo was forced to wait as a tank filled before dousing him with mutagen, named ‘Flush-O-Matic’ by Bebop and Rocksteady.

I knew she designed mine when she called it ‘The Courage Slayer’ and, just like Raph’s, I could tell she was mocking our personal nicknames. Then she taunted me hitting below the belt saying my skills weren’t all that formidable in order to save my brothers…

I begged for her to talk to me but, even better, I heard Raph’s voice! We realized that he was below me, Donnie could hear us through the vents, and somewhere we could hear Mikey calling to us too.

But with Raph desperately asking me what do we do, Donnie crying out in pain while being zapped and Mikey screaming in fear about being double mutated… I started to doubt if we would be able to work together and help each other out.

Until my genius brother with his logical solutions was able to suggest perhaps the mechanical and electronic circuits of the traps were connected! It was just enough to help me plan what to do… I was just able to barely dodge the blades which destroyed the floor, giving me access to Raphael who was nearly passed out from heat stroke. Using one of the katana to dislodge bricks, I quickly cut the electrical cords to shut off the heat and grant my brother reprieve from the flames. Without a moment to spare, we cut Mikey loose. Donnie’s proved more challenging since he was connected to so many wires giving him electrical shocks; cutting them would fry him rather than free him.

But then my awesome brother with his creative ideas hugged Donnie tightly, redirecting voltage away in order to free him. Despite the pain he was obviously in while being electrocuted, he just grit his teeth and joked about being born with ‘naturally rare awesomeness’ before he collapsed.

I would have to agree, yes… yes he is. All three of my brothers are.

We stopped Tiger Claw just before he attacked Sensei and April, but not in time for Miwa.

And maybe in the adrenaline rush of nearly being sliced, burned, re-mutated, and electrocuted I was just so relieved that the rest of us were okay, so grateful my three younger brothers were safe because I didn’t fail at saving the lives of those I’ve lived with my entire life… That, for the moment, I just couldn’t be bothered to worry too much about the sister I didn’t grow up with and was so relieved when we left to go home.

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Now that it’s over, we’ve been hearing how lame his room name was and that instead Mikey named it Flush of Fear or Toilet of Terror or Dump of Doom. Donnie is taking a break from anything that requires electricity other than watching television with us and I’ve never seen Raph eat so much ice cream before. I actually caught him with his head shoved in the freezer, standing there for a full minute before I decided to let him know I was walking into the kitchen—which he insisted he was just grabbing some ice cream.

I’m not sure how many nights we’ll be having sleepovers in the pit, but I’m not ready for us to be in separate rooms again right now.

Chapter Text

Raphael was late coming home so Michelangelo insisted we start the last episode of Crognard the Barbarian despite my protests.

Bad: the ending was so anti-climatic!
Worse: Raph called me just as it ended!
Worst: Our call got interrupted by the Mutanimals.

The three of us started to worry that he wasn’t answering his phone when Dr Rockwell and Slash arrived, stating Raph went alone after Dino-Man.
That hothead's about to get himself into some hot water.

I had no idea just how accurate that statement was about to be…

Finally Raph called and we met up with him to confirm that, indeed, he not only found Dino-Man but “bonded over a mutual love of destruction.” I was hesitant about the situation, especially how he took advantage of the guy being sick or something… But to him, it was worth posing as some guy named Commander Zoraph just to boss around his own “attack dino” or, as he called it, leading someone who needed a leader.

No wonder Sensei put me in charge of this team.

The most concerning part is, Zog was right when he insisted the Kraang were still on Earth! Interestingly enough, the Kraang seemed terrified of Zog who they referred to as a Triceraton…

During the battle Zog went on a rampage, even destroying the machine Donnie was using to pinpoint the Kraang’s secret hideout. Then a portal opened up and Raph ordered Zog through it like an attack dog. Turns out the Kraang base was the Statue of Liberty!

I had a precise plan, ruined by Zog’s free-for-all as he ranted about a beacon…

My bad feeling got worse as Raph followed Zog up to the crown where, it turned out, his equipment was stored. Able to breath again and think clearly, he turned on Raph who admitted I was right.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t right when things are about to go wrong…

Zog considered us treacherous and activated a signal beacon to summon the Triceraton Empire's armada to destroy Earth… all in an effort to stop the Kraang. Raph apologized but the alien charged off the ledge, choosing to fall to his death.

But at least it seems we stopped both the Kraang and the Triceraton signal to avoid an invasion of Space Dinosaurs…

Chapter Text

I wanted to believe that we stopped both the Kraang and the Triceraton signal to avoid an invasion of Space Dinosaurs… but I had a bad feeling perhaps we’ve hadn’t seen the last of either.

Certainly not the Kraang, considering one started following us as I drove the team around the city. Yet they disappeared just as we found a message:
Turtles 3117 Bayfront Street Midnight
Our only clue being the image of a chess piece—the Bishop.

Of course Raphael thought this was a terrible idea. I agreed with him, it had to be a trap—but I needed to find out what.

Michelangelo recognized this location and showed us a back entrance, but we lost the element of surprise due to Casey Jones’ recklessness. A brief bout ensured, the battle quickly subdued by who we learned was Bishop—an Utrom, the original species free of the Kraang hive mind that defected.

Of course the news was not good… Triceratons were on their way with massive firepower, Kraang fixed their Technodrome ready to invade once again, and both would destroy each other regardless of innocent casualties. It seems that over a thousand years ago the Kraang used something called a black-hole generator to wipe out all but one Triceraton fleet—and they’ve vowed vengeance at any cost.

I didn’t even bother to debrief Sensei, just gave the orders.
The whole world is at stake, and only we can save it.

Raph led our brothers and Leatherhead to take the sub to infiltrate the Technodrome; once it launched, my team including Bishop, April, and Casey exploded the Turtle Blimp so we could enter via gliders. Once inside, we followed Bishop to find the others only for alarms to go off announcing the arrival of the Triceratons…

Captain Mozar sent a transmission announcing the Triceratons would eliminate the Kraang to “free” Earth from them—at the expense of our annihilation.

A double invasion.

Bishop delayed Subprime so we could escape by commandeering scout ships… Mikey and Casey in one, Donnie and April in another, with Raph and I pairing off.

Who knew video game experience would come in handy when flying spaceships and shooting lasers?

Bishop and Leatherhead escaped in time before the Triceratons destroyed the Technodrome.

Knowing that we would need all the help we can get, we requested all our allies to meet at Washington Square to help stop the annihilation.

As much as I hoped this would not be our last battle, I feared it could be…

Chapter Text

April returned with Master Splinter, the Mighty Mutanimals, Mondo, Muckman!

Although Slash damaged the timer on the Black Hole Generator, he and a few others were trapped in large spheres before Mozar kidnapped Michelangelo!

Despite the fact that Splinter stated the black-hole machine was priority, I insisted that my brothers and I were saving Mikey. To my surprise, he not only approved but informed me he would find someone powerful to help us fight:
The Shredder.

We found Mikey’s ship yet somehow even with Donnie activating stealth, they still saw us. Thank goodness he had a teleporter to save us just before we were vaporized.
I… hate that I couldn’t save my brothers before the spaceship exploded. I’m glad we survived, but I wish there was more I could have done so that it wasn’t such a close call to us dying.

Hearing Mozar deflect Donnie’s appeal by comparing us to the Kraang then watching guards grab Mikey and Raph was not going to go unpunished. They definitely learned I am not one to make empty threats when I warned them:
I'm asking you one last time before I take this whole ship down… Let the Earth survive or be destroyed.

Desperate times, desperate measures… I dodged being grabbed by a Triceraton and took his teleporter which I activated before throwing through a window. Back on Earth ground, the fight of our allies—and some enemies—raged on against the invading alien dinosaurs.

It was all happening so fast… on Earth, in space, back on Earth, all the fighting… the Black Hole Generator timer almost down to zero… Splinter dodged to try and stop it when… Shredder killed him!
That coward! He literally stabbed him from behind when they were fighting side-by-side! He condemned us all for his petty revenge, resorting to scorched earth tactics to enjoy his disgraceful ‘win’ for only moments before the entire world was destroyed! Where is the pride in that? There is no honor!

He wasn’t even human enough to show a shred of remorse as I held my father’s corpse, nor as we watched everyone and everything be sucked up into the increasing black hole…

Just when all hope was lost, another spaceship appeared with a robot inviting us to hurry aboard. Left with no choice, my brothers along with our two human friends escaped before the Earth disappeared leaving only stardust and silence…

The Earth, Splinter, everyone, everything.
Gone… Lost forever in an infinite gravitational singularity.

The robot we later learned was known as the Fugitoid and our refuge was The Ulixes. However, for now he only introduced himself over hot cocoa as Professor Zayton Honeycutt and promised us a wondrous adventure.

I just want to go home…