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More than a billion different things make up the universe that we live in. Atoms, gas, liquids. Stars, planets, space. Some even speculate there is more than one. Which only adds to the number of objects that seem to continue growing and growing. Forever expanding for reasons we do not know.
Despite this fact, there are not many living beings that represent these unlimited forces. Only a select few mortals exist that would hold such titles, that would deserve to stand against the influence of time and space. For however different they seem, at their core, they are all still the same. Still a part of who they are meant to be. Influences of events that no one else would be able to stop or foresee. Just like the universe expanding, there are no plausible reasons why it is them that can stop even fate itself, or change it. But they also never truly asked.
Their place in the world, however small, is just as important as the creation of life itself. And they are none the wiser.
Not that their awareness would change much. They would take the titles and protect them with their lives, no matter how reluctant. No matter how hard or vast the challenge would seem. It would not change their status or what would happen next; just simply give them another thing to represent, something they are more than used to. Alas, almost no one knows who these mortals are. In most universes, they are covered by shadow, hidden from a world that shuns them, or would if they knew of their existence. Even if their sacrifices were well known.
Regardless, four different beings that are bound by love and family represent the four main parts of the universe, connected together by an unknown force for the rest of eternity.
Individually different. Still all the same.
Michelangelo, the youngest, yet just as powerful and beautiful as the rest, is the stars. Even though he is as bright as the Sun, nothing compares to the force of energy stored inside no matter how young, no matter how small. Size is nothing compared to the bits of himself that he shares with his brothers, to his skill and how fast he learns, lighting the way for the rest when it seems as if all is lost. Sometimes, the ball inside him may die, sometimes he loses that life or hides his beauty from his family. But it returns within time, open and warm and pulling everyone close enough to him like a gravitational pull. Strength from and for those that need it. Even if they do not need his love in the moment, he will have it stored and ready for when they do, continuing to move forward. Just as the stars would. Displaying his many forms of laughter, kindness, skill, care, childish teasings and pranks all for the others to witness like constellations. Reminding them that there is hope, even in the darkest of nights.
Donnatello represents the face of the moon. He, like the moon, has many phases. Has more than just his genius, and even that wanes and waxes depending on the situation. When he is full, he is excitable, full of wonder and taking everything there is to learn with the utmost willingness to do so. After all, there are many things to explore, and he would consider himself a fool if he missed a single one. That yearning for knowledge, however, comes from a place of inadequacy. From the dark side that the Sun does not light, and even sometimes he is not lit at all. The universe is so vast and full of information that it would essentially take lifetimes for him to fully grasp it; a feat that feels almost impossible and leaves him wishing he could fulfill. And at times, his pursuit of knowledge drives him away from the people he loves most; his family. He shows his affection in any way he can despite how different it is, yet whenever he reaches for them they reach back, keeping him in their sights. In their little bubble of content and familiarity. It’s more than he could ever ask for, especially when his feelings and emotions wane and waxes, when his own potential grows and fades, when his mind overwhelms him and it feels as though he is never enough. He is forever grateful for when they are there to remind him he is more than just an unwanted, abstract object floating around their space. He changes their tides, their views, gifts light to uncertainty. And forever knows one thing: He is more than just his mind. He just is.
Raphael is the Sun. The largest, most potentially dangerous part of the universe, as it can flare at any moment, become the heat death of our very existence, uncontained and uncontrolled. … However, his heat comes from a place of protective resolve. As big as his fire is, it comes from a part of him that only wants to keep his family safe. There are times where the power escapes him and he uses that fire to hurt and lash out, but he makes it up in any way that he can afterwards. Learns to control his words and his actions with an outlet and his brothers trust him anyway despite his temper. They do not blame him and he takes their understanding with pride; rewards their trust by protecting them in return from whatever wants to hurt them no matter the shape, size, or threat. He fears nothing else other than the idea of losing the closest family he has left, and that fear may drive him in an endless pursuit of fighting even the shadows itself. But when there is no threat to be found, he revels in that safety, in their safety, his job being done and he lets the power of the Sun inside him fester until it is needed once more. Keeping it contained until it is necessary to be used. Until then he is gentle in the ways that matters most to his brothers, being that warmth and safety that tends to not come in between battles and loss.
Then, there is Leonardo. The oldest sometimes, the leader most of the time. He is the void of space… The void that consumes the Stars, Moon, and Sun and keeps them in one spot. Keeps them centered while pushing them on, while also keeping them at a distance. For while he loves his family, to the point where it is desperate and it almost hurts, his space is still, dark and cold. Full of insecurities and doubt and shame that would and could kill any other light that would even come near him; and he is terrified of that darkness snuffing out the lights that are his family. Terrified that, even for a moment, letting himself rest and relax would only lead to pain and suffering. Suffering he would then take onto his own shoulders, because he is the leader, he is meant to stay in control, he is meant to keep them safe. A mantra that even his brothers have tried to break him out of, yet only get very far before he pushes them away. But as cold as he felt he was, that love is stronger than anything in the universe. A love that could never keep him away from his family regardless of what they say or do. They love him too, more than he could probably ever know, and what they watch him to do himself hurts in many unspoken ways. But they stay by his side and support him as much as possible, and he takes that support and proves that he earns it, that he doesn’t or would never take it for granted. Taking their light, heat, love no matter how small it was. Thawing the cold ice around his heart that grew over the years, that was not bad or evil; just sad and calling for help. Help they would provide him with for the rest of forever if they needed to.
And so, there it is; the four Beings of the Universe. That link together to create not only one universe, but an infinite amount of many, many more. Maybe there are alternate universes where one grows up without the others, or they lose a member of the family, or maybe the world does know of their existence and they face different challenges. Regardless of any change, they will forever stay the same forces they always have been, will always find each other, and that is why they are chosen. That is why they are who they are, how they are able to defend the world and connect others together in the perfect tangibility they are meant to be in.
Some may have their potential filled, some may just be starting out, but that is never the point. Never have been, never will be.
The Turtles are defined as mortals, as living beings. But they are more than that. They protect where they live with love, meaning, understanding. No matter what it may cost them.
And that is why they are the Universe itself.