Swapped Masks and Discovered Truths

by GoldenTigerEyeMania

Summary:

The turtles swap masks and see the world through a heavily stylized version of the thoughts running through each other's heads, except Leo. He sees exactly what Mikey sees on a day-to-day basis that is their lives. Suddenly he becomes very concerned and then the others find out, and then they have to embark on a spirit/meditation mission to free him from mental chains with different versions of their youngest brother. And then they have to confront a lot of things about Splinter. In simple terms, everyone needs some kind of therapy and something gets done about it.

Chapter 1: How it began

Sensei had made them swap masks to ‘see how the others see the world’. Raph swapped with Donnie and Mikey swapped with Leo. Suddenly their worlds, their sight, actually changed.

“I feel like a homing missile!”

“You never told me you were a god sensei”

“Make the numbers Go Away!!”

“Why is everything glowing?”

“Now now my sons,” Splinter looked each of them in the eyes “your masks are so entwined with your spirits that they give others the ability to see as you do and so this is how you will learn to consider how others think. By seeing just how differently you four see the world.”

The four turtles looked at each other warily before turning to their sensei and nodding, he had never steered them wrong before. Maybe it would help after all.

---
Raph was sick and tired of seeing equations everywhere he looked, he knew Donnie was smart enough to solve them at a moment's notice. Donnie was constantly thinking, but seeing the guts of every machine, joystick, and even the toolbox hinges was wearing him out.

Raph could handle an info dump, he had information on where to go and what could be a weapon in a pinch in his head a lot of the time. But this was out of his expertise, he just wanted to fight or punch something. If only he could look at his sandbag without seeing all the guts that made its stand and physics and all that nerd stuff.

On top of all that nerd stuff and long strings of what he could only assume was binary, he saw details of things. Not just the details of how everything worked, but who made an object, what stitch Mikey used to patch something or other, notes of how Leo would be sitting on the couch if his leg was hurting, sticky note message things that were basically color coded reminders about what he and the others preferred.

It was kinda nice knowing that Donnie cared so much even when he spent most of his time in the lab. Then Raph opened his eyes to look at the stuffed turtle April brought to the lair one time and saw all the nerd stuff and notes get replaced by a million different things about April.

Raph groaned and closed his eyes again as he leaned back. This was going to be a long week, or however long this lasted.

—-

Leo was having a hard time understanding the world Mikey lived in, everything had a faint glow to it. Some had multiple colors to their glows, some were covered in a slick black ooze that Leo hesitated to touch, and some things were just glowing white.

On top of the glow and slicks, everyone looked odd.

Raph had a mix of sludge and fiery red glow over his hands besides the red that covered the rest of him. His face had what looked like tear tracks that consistently dripped from completely green eyes. His heart had small thin lines either of the dark ooze or a darker red, Leo couldn’t be sure

Donnie was covered in a gradient of purple, from what looked like fuchsia to dark violet, and he had some inky black under his eyes. Over his heart there was a cracked replica that oozed that same black ink, it didn’t take long to realize why Donnie’s heart was so prominent.

Splinter had both wet and dried black splotches over his fur. His heart was also displayed on his chest, but it was broken in half. Slowly it seemed to mend when Leo was present, only to be split again the next time he saw his Sensei. The glow was weaker over the rest of his body, Leo had to squint to see it, a dark teal that seemed to pulse and reach in 7 different directions. Leo didn’t know how, but he knew those directions were the directions of himself, his brothers, April, Karai, and Casey.

When he looked in the mirror Leo found that he had a layer of inky black substance over his knee, some scars, and his eyelids. His glow was a midnight blue streaked with lighter blue strands,threads(?), when he focused on them he could get them to move outward slightly. What was most surprising were his eyes, they were sapphires in the mirror and the facets reminded him of an insect's eyes. In them, there were plans, things that he thought of doing playing out as they would in real life.

When Leo saw Mikey… he almost cried out. The glow was bright, just as the oozing ink was dark. Mikey had an orange glow interspersed with pinkish bits, wherever it was it seemed to push away the darkness that fought to take over. There was a large oozing black spot on the back of his head where Leo could have sworn he saw Raph hit him a few times. There were black marks over scars Leo hadn’t noticed before; lines that traced along Mikey's left leg, what looked like burn marks on his hands, a large web of cracks along his shell, cuts, and bruises that Leo remembered and swore had healed years ago were still coated in a thin oily sheen. Dark inky circles under his eyes and tear tracks that dripped more than Raphs. Mikey's heart seemed to have been broken into pieces and fixed again and again and again. The worst was Mikey’s mouth, always turned up in a smile, with a line that painted a frown overtop it. A frown so quiet and understated that Leo couldn’t help but wonder what could have caused it.

Leo counted it as a blessing that they wouldn’t see Casey or April much this week.

---

Mikey was worried. He knew that Leo was a mother hen and that most of his worries were unfounded, but seeing how he got to those conclusions was eye-opening. He looked at his brothers and saw children. 5-year-old versions of his brothers, much like Mike, only they weren’t as in control of what surrounded them. Suddenly Mikey wanted to fight Raph more too, and wanted to see how far he had progressed in his training. Seeing Raph as having the most potential. Being older sometimes.

He saw Donnie and saw a tired little boy, already headed to bed with a toy bear that was lost years ago in tow. Even when Mikey knew that wasn’t true, that Donnie was nursing a hot mug of coffee and carrying a toolbox to the lab so he could finish one experiment or machine, most likely trying to speed up the retro-mutagen-making process with purifiers or build another mech that was easier to control and used way less power, he couldn’t help but coo at how cute it was.

Splinter seemed to glow, which wasn’t that odd, but he glowed brighter, golden, and each word just sounded like gospel truth. A part of his mind laughed at that thought(probably Neural or Facade). Where Splinter sat he saw a kind of pedestal appear to raise him an inch and a half(?) off the ground. The honestly scrappy robes Mikey repaired every night looked like rich silk and Splinters' fur looked shiny, almost like those hair product commercials they saw sometimes. It was weird seeing Splinter like that, but it made sense considering Leo’s worship of nearly everything Splinter said.

The only thing around the lair that seemed abhorrently different was the kitchen. Mikey had long since banned Leo from doing anything more than reheating soup on the stove with strict instructions or making a sandwich with pre-prepared ingredients. So when he walked into the kitchen to find that it was absolutely covered in what looked like orange police tape barring almost everything he just had to laugh.

---

Donnie was annoyed, usually, he would be able to visualize and solve a simple equation in minutes at most, but now that he had the sights of a targeting missile he had to grab heaps of scratch paper, he even asked Raph to help bring a whiteboard into his lab just so he wouldn’t have to waste so much for the shorter problems. Whenever he saw Leo, who was oddly subdued, he saw the words ‘Target: Leo. Engage: yes. Action: spar’. It was nothing short of infuriating.

Setting aside his blueprints Donnie scanned the rest of his field of vision and noticed a small meter with levels of anger in the corner. He was at “annoyed” at the moment and rapidly the anger Donnie felt was overtaken by curiosity. Leaving the lab for the first time in what was probably hours Donnie looked for Mikey, Raph always seemed to have stronger emotions when around the baby of the family. Maybe he could test the words that appeared whenever he saw someone.

When Donnie found Mikey in the kitchen he was surprised to see that his eyes initially locked on Ice Cream Kitty, words reading as ‘Target: Icky. Engage: yes. Action: pet.’, before catching on the fried rice Mikey was making, and finally on Mikey himself. Mikey seemed to be making 3 kinds of fried rice, 2 were staying warm on the stove while the third was being stirred methodically. His eyes were focused and movements graceful, practiced, when the ‘targeting system’ locked on the words startled Donnie. ‘Target Outuo. Status: concentrated. Engage: no. Feeling: Jealousy, pride’.

Donnie couldn’t understand why Raph would feel jealous of all things when looking at Mikey, he even called him littlest brother in his head, Mikey was just Mikey. Donnie needed time to think so he grabbed a cup of coffee and started to head back to the lab when Mikey stopped him.

“And where do you think you’re taking that Don?”

“Lab, have something I wanna finish tonight.” The mask computer things words disappeared as he started talking.

“Mind leaving the coffee, dinner’ll be ready soon and then I’m making you go to bed.” Mikey smiled as he said those words and turned to turn off the burner “I swear Leo’s mother henning is rubbing off on me thanks to this.”

“What are you making?” Donnie could see, it was obvious what dinner would be after years of watching his brother cook, but strangely the words reappeared again. ‘Target Outuo. Status: calm, happy, incredulous. Engage: yes. Feeling: warmth. Action: listen.’

“Rice and omelet, yours will be scrambled and have no wet or brown bits, promise.”

“Thanks Mikey, I’ll get the others.” Donnie couldn’t believe what was happening, Raph never listened to anything he, Leo, or Mikey said on a good day. Why was the mask saying to listen to Mikey now? Why could he never see any ‘warmth’ feeling when Raph was around them, much less when Mikey was interacting with him, he always seemed annoyed and gruff at the best of times. He needed time to figure it out. Maybe over dinner.

Chapter 2: What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Dinner wasn’t as productive as Donnie would have hoped, Leo was asking cryptic questions all the time and Mikey was answering back just as cryptically. The curiosity about what they were talking about and why color theory was so important was almost distracting enough to make Donnie forget that he wanted to ask Raph on its own, but combined with the mask telling him all the things to use as a weapon and where all the exits were was really starting to grate on his nerves.

Raph didn’t look like he was doing any better either though, his eyes were either closed or staring at his food like he was questioning reality. When Donnie tried to talk Raph steamrolled his questions with his own.

“Why the hell do you recite that omelets are the work of evil.”

“Wha- of course it's evil, they have wet bits and don’t have the same texture from one section to another, the only good version of omelet is a rolled one, and even then it’s only good with cheese.”

“And shrimp, why do you know so much about them and how Mikey cooks it specifically?”

“Marine biology isn’t well understood and neither are turtles, so while researching I ended up going down a rabbit hole about their development, which led to recipes, which I talked to Mikey about because he’s the chef of the family, and apparently he knows a lot about them-”

As Donnie rambled, slight topic changes or directions being given to him by Raph, he forgot why he wanted to talk to Raph in the first place. By the time Donnie remembered it was somewhere around 2 in the morning and there was no way he would be getting any answers out of a sleepy brother. He would just have to try again tomorrow.

---

Raph went to dinner, still kind of overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information Donnie had running through his mind. Looking at the rice and omelet in front of him though gave him a strange realization. There were three kinds of rice at the table. His was delicious obviously, but Donnie seemed to think that it was disgusting because it had shrimp in it and the omelet was also the wrong somehow. Raph watched as the notes appeared again, light purple for Donnies opinions, they all had variations of ‘ewewewewew gross, no’ and ‘satan spawn of a food’ with tiny writing in the margins that might have been an explanation. There was only one note in dark red, his color, that read ‘Raphs plate, his favorite’.

Raph looked at Leo and Mikeys plates in turn, the red note disappearing and being replaced with dark orange and dark blue notes that read ‘Mikey likes this decently well, he's trying to eat it quicker’ and ‘Leo’s favorite, though he’ll never admit it, extra shrimp, cooked longer’. How Donnie noticed it, Raph would never know. But when it was pointed out he did notice that in between answering a question or spewing color theory, Mikey was eating faster than he would with, like, pizza gyoza or something he liked better. Leo was also savoring his food more than he would savor, say, toast.

When Raph turned to Donnies plate he saw all the angry light purple notes disappear, only to be replaced by a single dark purple, fact, note that read ‘My favorite, good texture, no shrimp bits, extra soy sauce’. It was so weird to see the change in Donnies thoughts and even weirder to realize all the work that went into making meals. Raph still saw more notes with tiny writing in the margins and started to get more and more curious about what they said, if there was more to those colored notes than he first thought.

---
Leo was trying to think of how to ask Mikey about the dark ink, oil, ooze, scabs, Thing that covered so many places, why it had different sheens, why there was so much covering Mikey himself, why the colors were important. He looked in the mirror to see how the plans would play out in the faces of his literal sapphire eyes. The slightly larger surface was slower and understandable so using it he ran simulations like Donnie did that one time to ask April out. He had only gone through about 6 scenarios(why did asking directly result in Mikey being held down by chains!?) when Donnie opened his door to pull him to dinner, Leo couldn’t help but bring a small hand mirror with him.

At dinner it was clear that Donnie wanted to talk to Raph and that Raph was questioning something, so it was now or never.

“Hey Mikey, why is everything so… colorful in your eyes?” Leo hoped that was the right thing to say, it was cryptic sure but Mikey knew what he was seeing so it had to be understandable right? Two hands popped into existence over Mikey, who hadn’t hesitated for a moment before diving headfirst into a rant about color theory, stuff they had all known for years at first but with bits and pieces of more specific things. Like darker shades of yellow representing deceit, how colors need context before you could give them a meaning. Maroon was indecisiveness as much as it was confidence and love, midnight blue was depth and loyalty and inspired introspection, purple was… something. Leo had honestly kind of tuned out from what seemed so random a topic, his eyes started to wander.

Then he caught sight of Raph. The glow around him was red, sure, but as Leo looked closer he noticed that it was darker and more… brown? Leo looked into the small hand mirror by his plate. “Remind me what maroon looks like.”

Mikey smiled as he spoke, a bit of incredulity in his voice “Darker and browner red, always reminded me of Raph.”

Indecisiveness, love, and confidence. Raph who was indecisive in how he acted sometimes, Raph who fiercely loved them all, Raph who was so confident in battle. Mikey was telling him what the colors ment. Leo had to direct what colors he needed but he would be able to find out now!

“I thought darker colors were always bad?” Leo turned away from his realization, focusing on the darkness that covered Mikey's left shoulder as he took a bite of his nearly forgotten food.

“Not always,” Mikey smiled again but it seemed more exasperated this time “when you look at a color you need to understand the context of what's around it, like how wearing a green hat in china means your spouse was unfaithful- also didn’t I just say that midnight blue was, like, really positive?”

“What about black,” Leo hadn’t looked into the mirror for this and he was starting to regret being so direct “I get that we live with dark shadows and that the dark is a contrast to keep balance-”

“It can also represent being upper class, immortality, and stability despite the connection to mourning and evil spirits or fear” Mikey had put emphasis on ‘fear’ and ‘spirits’. Clearly they were clues. As much as Leo wanted to push, and might’ve, he stopped himself as the black began to ooze and crawl up to cover more of Mikey's body. As if it were alive.

“I never realized, do you know how the green hat thing started? I thought green was more about nature?” The change in topic seemed to help as the ooze was beaten back again, the orange glow lashing out as tiny chains… this was so weird.

---

Ok, maybe Mikey had forgotten that Leo could now see the physical reminders of everything that hurt. Maybe he forgot that Leo could now see the consequences of his actions clearly in the small mirror poorly hidden on the table. Maybe there had to be a bit of explanation.

Spirits did Mikey wish he could cuss right now.

It wasn’t a total panic worthy thing, if it was Nightmare would have made the back of his neck ache with the desire to raise hair that wasn’t there, so it was time to get Facade to use the smiles and pretty words to- and Leo would be able to see the hands…

The hands would give him away that he was hiding something, they always appeared when someone was lying, even over Bradford! Mikey regretted ignoring those hands as hiding the shock of seeing a mutant. Whatever, Facade was already buying Mikey time to think by rambling on about color theory. Then Leo asked about maroon, suddenly Mikey had taken the front wheel again, he had a plan now and being the one directing the words gave Facade the chance to focus on body language.

Overall the conversation went well. Leo did surprise him by being so direct about the ink but it wasn’t all that hard to get him to drop it, probably because the ink crawled up his shoulder. Like always. By the time dinner was over and the dishes were washed Mikey felt better about Leo knowing at least that the ink reflected fear though their spirits.

Of course, that didn’t mean this would be the end of the conversation and questions. Maybe Leo didn’t actually understand it. Man, not being able to see Mikes' little distractions was not good for keeping the annoying thoughts at bay.

Mikey whispered as he did the dishes. “Spirits be merciful and just spell it out for him.”

Hopefully the mother henning wouldn’t stick.

Chapter 3

Donnie was excited to go out tonight, for once he could find out what made Raph get so excited whenever they were hopping rooftops.

He had largely figured out the meaning behind what the red mask showed him. Bright red dotted lines on the floor for escape routes that were largely muted when at home, a darker crimson outline for potential weapons that grew and thinned depending on effectiveness, an odd reddish brown color that had a name Donnie couldn’t put his finger on the name of for uncertain things that appeared as a dot, and of course that line of text on the bottom of his vision that told him what to say or do.

They had left the lair a couple hours ago and the only things that remained were the lines and the text, other than that the targeting system was at the edges of his vision. When he looked at the others he saw jealousy and fondness as Leo and Mikey were chatting about… the differences between oily and inky black???

Donnie wanted to know what prompted that kind of thought but he also wanted to ask Raph about the ever-present jealousy he felt towards their brothers, was there any aimed at him? Why didn’t he express his fondness? Why did the targeting system always focus on animals the second they were in view?

So many QUESTIONS that needed answers if he could just figure out how to ask without Mikey or Leo picking up on it. They were out of direct hearing range sure but who knew when they would get back into range and disrupt the conversation. Then Raph started heading towards them as Mikeys' laugh was getting louder. A few words made Mikey dissolve into a fit of giggles that Raph was going to silence as usual when Leo stopped him. The text read something Donnie couldn’t find the heart to disagree with, ‘Target: Leo. Status: angry. Engage: no. Action: disengage, placate, apologize.’

---

Mikey was answering question after question now that they were on patrol and could reasonably be further away from Raph and Donnie. Questions were direct at first, their meanings and intentions clear as Dream's purpose. Mikey had to direct with the deceptive hands to keep that kind of directness at a minimum so Splinter wouldn’t be able to hear it.

Once that was fixed though their conversations were kept clear by Facade's hands and Mikey's intuition. By the Spirits it was nice to share with someone the world he saw. Through cloudy darkness and blinding colors Leo was assuredly seeing it was easy to direct and explain when he was being the curious galaxy of complexities Mikey saw in him every time he learned a new kata or mantra. It was Freeing as only it could be. If only he could be free.

Eventually they came across one of the areas Mikey and Kid had imagined and reimagined painting. It was of Dream as he should have been, flowing robes reminiscent of a cultivator and with bronze and coral accents that seemed to swim over the beige fabric. Mikey’s usual orange paired with lilac as gems on his kusarigama scythe hilt and the end of the chain. They would never be able to replicate the colors and flow right in the real world, they would have to wait until Dream could really wear those robes instead of the plain rough woven one he was stuck in.

Leo didn’t know that though and started gapping at it looking where the signature should be. Then it clicked and Leo turned towards him with that look he used when he was debating whether something was worthy of a lecture. “Do you… sneak up here to graffiti places?! Some of those murals were here before we came topside. Mikey?!?”

And well, Mikey had to laugh, at first at the absolute incredulity of those questions and then at the faces and moves Leo was pulling in his effort to explain them for a question. He asked again about the other paintings and if Mikey had worked on them, which he had but Leo wasn’t supposed to know, so he lied through his teeth and called on a scouts honor. By the time Donnie had come to the defense of calling them scouts Mikey was clutching his sides as he restrained his laugh, it hurt, but it was so long since he had laughed with sincerity.

He was laughing hard enough to forget his surroundings and it felt so good after so long. Then Leo stopped Raph from hitting him. Spirits please Let Mikey cuss right now.
---

Raph could hardly describe just how thankful he was to be outside, the notes and equations and everything faded to the background and the only equations appeared when he jumped or focused on something. Thank god.

Sometimes he would see a few notes pop up about an area or equations appear when he thought about making a fancy jump but it was mostly, blissfully, clear. Without the nerd stuff and notes he could focus on the freeing feeling of running, jumping, just existing. It always made him feel like he was flying. Then there was a blue note, it was new, curling up slightly. It read “Leo is acting strange, he seems worried about what Mikey sees”. That was weird, Leo was asking really weird questions but how did he seem worried?

Taking a closer look he saw Leo looking around and occasionally squinting at something. Head tilting in confusion Raph watched as Leo pointed at something and asked Mikey something, Outuo then laughed about whatever it was before responding in a way that just made Leo move his hands in an aggressive ‘really’ motion.

Moving towards them Raph caught the tail end of Mikey’s explanation, if it could be called that, “-it’s just imagination, I swear I don’t actually graffiti up here”

“Really Michael, really, you don’t graffiti topside” Mother henning, as usual, but the name was a strange one. Usually everyone called Mikey, well, Mikey or in Splinters case Michalangelo. So why was Leo using a different nickname?

“Scouts honor” And now Mikey was giggling madly as Leo half yelled that it didn’t count ‘cause they had never been boy scouts. Donnie was also now standing right next to Raph, having had to turn back from investigating a mark.

“Technically we are scouting a purple dragon lead right now so we could be labeled as scouts-” Raph stared at the side of Donnies head “- at least for the time being.”

Still wondering about the scout thing Raph walked toward Mikey to give him the customary smack upside the head to get him to focus when Leo grabbed his arm, a look in his eyes and set to his mouth Raph hadn’t seen a lot. The note that appeared in dark blue only confirmed the meaning of that look. ‘Leo is angry’.
---

Patrol was going well, Leo and Mikey were further away and could talk freely. It was perfect for asking more about the whole world Mikey saw and that weird minute or so where there were actual cartoon drawings telling a story that cut off abruptly. First though he had to know what the Thing covering people was.

“Hey Mikey what does the black ooze thing mean, you implied it was connected to spirits and fear but what does it really mean?” Mikey tensed at that a bit before answering, kinda? He jumped into another rant, this time about how different textures on a color can change the way people feel about it.

It was weird but after looking at the ooze on Mikey's shoulder expanding and crawling he got the hint that they had to be cryptic. The strange hands told him when Mikey was hiding something and added in were comic speech bubbles that replaced lies with truth and misdirection with straightforward answers so the conversation never really stopped, just… changed form.

Then Leo caught sight of paintings that looked like splashes of color that didn’t have their outlines yet, sometimes it was just a sketch with a color pallet next to it. They all felt familiar. Each was like… emotions given form with flowing movement. He spotted one of the murals that had been there since he and his brothers had started going topside and saw the similarities. The thing that cinched the connection was when he and Mikey came across the back of a billboard with the most intricate painting he had seen yet with paint(?) that seemed to flow off of the surface with a signature of an M and A combined as one in warm orange. It was the same as the small signatures next to those murals that were actually painted.

“...so the difference between amber and gold should be-”

“Do you… sneak up here to graffiti places?!” Mikey only grinned despite the interruption. “Some of those murals were here before we came topside. Mikey?!?”

The urgency in his voice was clear to even Leo and still the only response was a smile, some giggles, and the worst lie Mikey had said since this whole mask swap started.
“No dude, I came up here for the first time with you.”

“Are you sure, you graffiti the tunnels! How would I know that you don’t come up here!” Leo’s voice was rising somewhat and he struggled to keep it low when the damn hands and word bubbles were telling him the truth. ‘We’ve been coming up here since we were 6, aren’t Angie’s paintings cool?’ and it was signed Michael.

The only logical thing would have been to keep questioning, especially after the use of ‘we’ like his Outouo was a collective, but he couldn’t think of a way to be subtle. That and there was a small 4 year-old Mikey in his peripheral with a paper crown who waved from the corner of his vision alongside a dark gray blob that only vaguely resembled Mikey’s body shape and had dulled blue-gray eyes.

What

The

Fuck

The word bubbles named them ‘Imagination’ and ‘Nightmare’ which was ominous but they also had nicknames???? Apparently being ‘Mike’ and ‘N’. That didn’t help. Who were these people(!?) literally in Mikeys eyes? Head? Whatever they were seeing through the masks?

He couldn’t make sense of it and definitely couldn’t put it into words, he just had to try and… gesture? Try and ask in some way that wouldn’t have his little brother changing the topic or cutting him off with some art theory.

“Mike, I- do you know what’s here then?!” Leo hoped the nickname and wild gesture that ended in the corner he spotted the two in would get Mikey to understand his meaning.

“Yep,” the nerve of his Outouo to pop that p “an imaginary mural of a cultivator!”

A half truth. Growth of that shoulder ooze with its strange dark yellow oil slick sheen. ‘A mural of Dream as he should be - Michael’

The two beings looked dejected at the mention of this ‘Dream’ before nodding to each other and drawing up… Instructions? They were titled “Cheering up Angie!” and involved some more exaggerated actions than Leo would usually be comfortable doing. But it was for Mikey and so he followed them.

God that was definitely the right choice. The ooze shrunk in on itself, the tears ebbed in their flow, that small but oh so painful frown faded until it was barely there, and his little brother was nearly blinding with his happy orange and amber(light yellow?) glow.

Eventually Donnie and Raph had wandered over, Donnie even helped keep the fun going, and Leo saw Mikey’s heart heal for the first time since being given this strange sight.

Then Raph raised his hand. It took a split second to see the smiles on Kid and Nightmare sadden, time felt and looked like it was moving slower. Two simple words replaced the instructions. “Not again”.

So as any good brother would, as he should have done all along, Leo stopped the hand. He scowled at Raph.

Chapter 4: Interuptions

Summary:

last chapter was supposed to be titled Patrol but I didn't catch it in time

Spirits, SpIrITs, SPIRITS! This was bad! Raph was shocked and knowing him, his confusion would turn to anger and the pure hurt that came from fighting would make the ink swell on his hands and in his heart. It might even break! And that Could Not Happen!

Donnie was just staring, he didn’t even look like he was looking at the situation! Mikey Just had to move, get between them, make a joke, pretend to be dumb, lie, Something. JUST MOVE!

But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t, and the tension just kept rising as no one said or did anything, and he couldn’t even see Mike, and his brothers were going to fight-

There was a sound then. It cut through the silence like a sharp knife through warm butter. The sound of grinding, mechanical in the way gears turned without grease on their axles.

Gods and Spirits only knew Mikey had never been more thankful for the Foot clan showing up.

He took out his kusarigama on instinct as Fishface landed a few feet in front of them, other enemies following him soon after. He, Rahzar, Tiger Claw, and a bunch of foot-bots were their enemies now. The fight could give him the chance to figure out just how to minimize the fight or even stop it entirely!

With Leo’s vision he saw markers on their enemies, red, yellow, and green. Mikey’s eyes kept returning to the red marked Tiger Claw after dispatching green marked bots. A danger scale.

As Mikey fought he felt the shift from being in full control to Nightmare taking on the movement of his body and Mike taking up the battle banter. He was about to consider some plans to help his bros (ways to stop the inevitable argument) before his eyes caught on the annoyingly familiar yellow shirt and orange hair of April.

Casey wasn’t far behind, shouting his goongala war cry as he threw an exploding puck at Rahzar’s head. April gravitated towards Mikey and spirits did he wish she hadn’t. Daring not to look at her, Mikey continued with the flow of battle, straining to think of a way to lie to Leo without being revealed without also having Splinter call it out when they got back to the lair.

He failed.

---

When the Foot clan interrupted the weird tension Raph was half tempted to thank them. Claiming Fishface as his enemy and launching some of his own bots at his face.

It felt like the weight from that almost fight had lifted from his chest as he kept the bots off his brother's backs. Leo wasn’t moving though. He was just standing there, staring at the enemy as if it was the first time he’d seen them.

“Leo! Get your shell in gear Fearless Leader!” Another bot fell to the ground as Donnie threw some stars. Leo still wasn’t moving, just staring at the bad guys with his swords hanging loosely in his hands. Eyes growing wider the more he looked at the Foot goons.

Casey joined with a hit on Rahzar and took down 4 more bots in a row. More light and dark gray sticky notes filled the corners of Raphs vision, almost as though they were thrown to the side. He could only see one clearly enough to read ‘Casey has a blind spot on his left, requires defense.’

The notes were ignored in favor of punching the lights out of the bots and Fishface. At least until he had to tell Leo to get his head in the game again, what was it in Mikey’s vision, mask, thing that distracted him so much?

Mikey looked like he was a pinball from the machine at the lair kicking and slicing with his kusarigama instead of his usual nunchaku with a rare efficacy, almost as though he was annoyed, while keeping up the quips and a weird amount of jabs aimed at Razhar.

But Outuo couldn’t be annoyed, he never was in battle. There wasn’t anything that would make him annoyed before either! Whatever was going on with him had to be from Leo's mask.

Donnie was fighting better though, hitting joints and soft spots on Tiger Claw as Leo finally got with the program and distracted him. There was a new note that looked like it was being written in real time.

‘We’re adopting pieces of each other's fighting styles,’ really? ‘it’s confusing our opponents’

Paying more attention to the others he could see it. Leo was twirling and evading more with what looked like improvised dance moves while Mikey was being more direct with his moves in a way that was more like how they had been trained. Donnie made some moves that Raph recognized from his own move set and well, who was he to ignore a leg up.

Those notes might be more useful

---

If Raph’s vision was like a homing missile regularly, it was even more so when in battle. Donnie was half blindsided by the bright targets projected onto the joints of his enemies but when he took the time to really look, they were similar to the things he noticed anyway. Not exactly the same, but close enough.

When April and Casey joined the fray he barely had the mind power to say more than a passing quip about Casey’s missing teeth and give a smile to April before he was revealing his Naginata blade to try and cut off Tiger Claw’s utility belt/sash(?). Following more prompts had the big cat actually start to back off, trying to get a read on the new fighting style Donnie was using.

Leo was at his side now and kept up the heat with still sheathed swords going for the joint spots and putting special emphasis on pressure points. He was bending more than usual and visibly wincing as he tried a move that Mikey had just pulled a minute before. Tiger Claw was still blindsided by the action and missed his shot before Donnie knocked it out of his hands.

April, who had been trying to stick close to either Casey or Mikey(or maybe she was oscillating between them?), suddenly joined in with a hit to Tiger Claws knees. Surprising the big cat but not doing much damage. Cursing the natural muscle mass that protected a tiger's limbs, Donnie aimed for the same spot.

Leo had frozen again at his side, eyes wide and seeing something he couldn’t. Either way Raph had joined and was aiming for Tiger Claws good eye with the hilt if his sai.

Lunging for a swipe at both the belt and knee, Donnie had finally managed to rip it off, in time with Raph finally got their enemy to turn the metaphorical tail and run. Limping noticeably all the way. Fishface and Rahzar followed soon after, cradling their own injuries.

Fishface had a cut breathing tube and some more minor injuries centered on his tail. Expected considering he fought Raph and Casey in succession. Rhazar was startling though. His snout was cut straight down the middle, one eye closed and bleeding from a second and third slash that cut diagonally. His left arm was gripping his right shoulder in what looked like an attempt to keep the broken limb steady by mimicking a sling while the right arm held pressure on a large, deep, cut on his torso(did Mikey really do that). How that was possible with the skeletal appearance of the man was, for once, beyond Donnies understanding.

---
Leo had pulled out his swords, ready to fight when he heard the sounds of Fishface’s legs… he froze when he saw them.

It was strange, and frightening, and so, so sad.

Leo looked at the three he knew, knew, were enemies, men to fight, to hurt, to win against because they aimed to hurt him and his family. But all he saw were people who were hurt.

Rahzar was gaunt and stretched beyond what a human should look like, features like clay and moving all the time. Trying and failing to reform, contorting into sharp lines and sharper claws against the will of the crying, screaming man that was once Chris Bradford. Chains choke his shaking, writhing, body.

Fishface is bathed in a watery blue, ominous now in how it keeps the pale figure within afloat. Body bloated and legs fused together in a mockery of what could have been a mermaid. Red scales seem to spill from cuts as though they were blood, gills splitting the sides of his chest and moving with every labored breath. All of this as Fishface, as Xever Montes claws and shakes the bars in front of him with webbed hands.

Then there was Tiger Claw. Oh there was Tiger Claw. He is the worst.

Instead of the tall, menacing figure of an assassin, or mercenary for hire, he is a cub. A cub who's scared, and hurt. All bleeding wounds and matted fur. His tail, small and thin, is wrapped around his thigh and he cowers in an imaginary corner. Gun held as firmly as it can be in tiny shaking paws, pointed at whatever the idiotic Krangg had him up against. Choked sobs fight to leave the throat of the child as tears stream freely from his eyes. His eyes that are so startlingly blue in place of their usual yellow. So close to Mikeys-

Snapped out of his stupor by Raphs shouts, Leo hesitates. He resheaths his swords and uses them like that. He has too. He can’t hurt them more.

He has to be called back to the present again(when did he get so scatterbrained?) and sees when their two human friends join. He forces himself to move, even as he sees April with no glow besides the sickly pink and what seemed like a projected green tint. He sees Casey in mottled black and white, protective and fierce. N raises a silent cheer on the corner, actually sending power to the boy in thin rivulets from Mikey. Rivulets that flow to everyone but the Foot and April.

Mike has a plan for movements in crayon lines leading Leo, he can do nothing but follow. Barely able to think besides the deep rooted desire to not hurt them more.

When the fight is over, when the Foot run and they greet their friends properly, Leo drops and stares at this still sheathed sword. When he looks up Mikey is kneeling in front of him. Rivulets of golden power still flowing gently from him to Leo. Warm, and soft, and calm, and loving. N and Mike are joined by the frail form of who he assumes is the cultivator, Dream. All are looking at him with concern and understanding and it draws out his question, the one that feels like it’s burning his lungs as everything he sees is Mi- Angie.

“How…” it takes a moment to curb the tears in his voice(when was the last time he cried), “how can you fight them? Angie?”

A smile. Soft and sad, paired with lidded eyes that speak of years thinking a similar question. “To defend,” it sounds weary, a mantra repeated until its lost meaning, “to protect you and the others… and to let them live. Let them forget for a minute in the rush of adrenaline what they became.”

It’s the slowest Leo has ever heard Mi-Angie talk, such reverence packed into those few words that it shocks him. In moments he lunged forward to hug his brother, his Outouo, to try and show what he wants so desperately to say. Even though he didn’t have the words.

Chapter 5: Aftermath in the Lair

Notes:

this chapter is about 6 pages long on a google doc, I don't know if that's an accomplishment or not but it is something

Casey is going to play a bit of a bigger role than I initially planned so I hope Casey Jones fans enjoy the coming chapter

It was weird seeing Leo be comforted by Mikey after he dropped, but Raph couldn’t figure out why. It was obviously about the Mikey vision but there couldn’t be anything that would get any of them to freeze that way, it was probably just daydreams!

But then why did his brother collapse after the fight? Why did he have to be comforted by Outouo? Why did he use so many names for him? Why were there so many unknowns in this damned situation!?

Donnie had gone to give the report to Sensei because Leo had to be coddled by Mikey on the couch as they watched that stupid cartoon(space heroes) in the pit. April and Casey went to train in the dojo so there wasn’t anyone to see what he did next.

Raph watched until he thought he saw Mikey fall asleep and walked up, beginning to speak, “So Fearless wha-“

Only to be cut off by a quiet, but insistent, hiss “Quiet! Leo fell asleep.”

“Why are you still on his lap then?”

“He grabbed me and now I think I’m stuck… also do you refuse to say ‘cuddle’, is this a thing now?”

“Not the point shell for brains, what did Leo see that stopped him from fighting?!”

“Something definitely.”

“That’s not an answer Mikey.”

“…”

Why wasn’t outouo answering his questions, he obviously knew, if the way he was looking away and the notes were anything to go by. So what was stopping him from just saying it. Before he could ask again Raph heard the others walking over, Splinter looking concerned(maybe? It was hard to tell) and the others curious. Donnie’s notes appeared again and this time they were blank, waiting to be written on or have a color change from off-white.

“My sons, it concerns me that Leonardo froze the way he did when he saw your enemies. I ask that he and Michelangelo explain what it was that he saw.”

Raph turned to see Mikey asleep with his head on Leo’s plastron, looking as though he had been napping for a while already. Leo was obviously still asleep too seeing as he hadn’t moved other than to grip Mikey tighter.

He heard a faint click as Donnie’s phone was being manipulated by April's powers to get a picture. To be fair, it was kind of cute… why is there a note about his thoughts now?!

Resolutely ignoring what Donnie noticed, Raph turned his attention back to the problem at hand. He made a move to smack Mikey upside the head again and almost made it, had Leo not immediately woken up and stopped the hand again. He looked even angrier this time. At least he was awake and Mikey, the little shit, feigned waking up with a yawn and everything.

“Leo?” what the, how did he sound like he just woke up?! He was just awake, where was that ‘I just woke up gravel’ coming from, Raph hadn’t heard that before!? Not since Mikey started waking up earlier than them when they were 7!

“Sorry for waking you Angie, what’s going on? Sensei?”

---
Donnie was surprised at the fact Mikey comforted Leo after the fight, he thought everyone was, he was even more shocked at how they stuck close the entire way back to the lair. They didn’t even say much as He and Raph explained the mask swap to Casey and April. April was curious at how the vision worked and was asking a lot of questions, to Donnie! It was definitely the best part of the swap.

But the anger meter was rising and the text was loading, as though Raph was actively trying not to think about whatever they would say and it was actually affecting what Donnie could see. That was until Casey distracted him. ‘Target: April, Donnie. Activities: April is leading Donnie on again. Engage: No’.

What? How was April leading him on? I mean she had so many chances to reject him, and she didn’t! But… No! There was no way he saw that correctly. Oh, April was asking him something.

“-nie, Donnie! Are you ok, is there something weird you’re seeing?” She was worried that he stopped talking. It was fine, she wasn’t leading him on. Right?

Well ignoring that brief interaction, they got back to the lair pretty quickly, Leo all but dragging Mikey to the couch and hugging him like a giant teddy bear while Mikey turned on space heroes(how did he reach the remote), then Raph headed to the kitchen for something. Leaving Donnie to give the report.

Walking into the dojo with the two humans in tow to train and maybe add in what they were doing Donnie saw Splinter sitting under the tree with tea in front of him, a second cup waiting for whichever of his sons(Leo) would sit to talk. Taking a seat in seiza before his father Donnie dove into an explanation of the fight.

“I see. Your victory was admirable and it seems you have uncovered adoption of others' styles as intended, However it is important to understand what caused the sudden shift in Leonardo, freezing in battle as he did would have harmed the team had the Foot clan taken advantage of such hesitance.”

“Understood Sensei, he and Mikey are on the couch right now. Do you want me to go get them?”

“No. It would be better for everyone to hear what exactly caused it so you can all avoid it. Now,” as Splinter rose Donnie noticed the anger meter rising more with scrambled words on the bottom(how did that work) “let us go ask our questions.”

When they left the dojo April and Casey followed again, probably curious. The sight they walked into though was strange, Raph seemed to be trying to get answers out of an already sleeping Leo and Mikey. When Sensei said his piece Donnie noticed the way Raph's anger grew at the fact that Mikey was apparently feigning sleep and being a ‘little shit’. Though the way their youngest brother was laying limp against Leo's plastron said otherwise. Donnie couldn’t really help the fact he passed his phone to April with the message to take a photo of the sleeping pair.(when was the last time he saw them so calm?)

Raph, who thought the pair were infuriatingly cute, tried to hit Mikey awake and was promptly stopped by an abruptly awake and irate Leo. Even angrier than earlier, though that promptly dissolved in the face of a slowly waking Mikey. Donnie heard Casey coo quietly at the small yawn his outouo made.

As April asked the question of the hour Donnie wondered more about the fact that Leo was reserved when looking at her. Strange.

---

Leo was a wreck, Angie knew that and he could only guess at whether or not the power he managed to send was the only thing keeping him up. Even then Leo was practically leaning on him the entire way to the lair. Thankfully April had stuck near Donnie now that the fight was over to get an explanation(even if it sucked that she was leading his brother on) and Casey was getting a play by play of the situation and some of the things Raph could see with ‘Purple vision’.

They passed more murals on the way home. Both real and imaginary. Of a shadowy figure pressing a hand into a crying figure's shoulder, a malicious pink crawling its way over a planet, a heart in pieces held together by thin lines of gold, their colors swirling into a colorful vortex around a revamped Hamato crest, and more. All made to be filled with nothing short of emotion in as pure a form it could be.

By the time they got home Angie knew that Mike and N were pushing Leo to sleep, only confirmed when he was dragged to the couch for a turtle pile of two. Raph was too high strung right now to do much so he headed to the kitchen.

Or so Angie thought as Raph walked back out trying to ask Leo, who was already asleep and clutching Angie close to his plastron, what he saw. Mike was trying to divert Raphs questions while Angie focused on searching past him, into the dojo and at the others. He watched(felt? he couldn’t see with Leo's mask) as they began to walk towards the common area, Splinter leading the charge. Facade took over in delaying the inevitable questions. Then Leo got angry at Raph in a mirror to what happened on the roof, luckily just pretending to wake up was enough to dispel the tension, especially now that he was sending more power to Leo with the rivulets to wake him up.

April was the one to ask the questions then, “Hey what made Leo freeze up there?” her face was tilted and her smirk was just over the line of conceding. Yet more reasons he was resentful of her.

“Something I’m sure,” and that was a tad too much snark for this “I don’t know if what I usually see was weird enough to get that reaction.” Spirits let Leo be awake enough now to catch on.

“‘Something’ is definitely one way to put it.” Truth. Good, and with Michael working to tell Leo what to say and how to cover his tells the conversation was probably best left to Mike. Casey was staring and, while usually that could be attributed to him just not knowing where to look, it was pointed this time. Feeling through the auras he found disbelief and wonder, Angie felt recognition and had to pull away then.

Casey was more than sensitive to how things moved around him, ice skating alone had honed his senses of balance and placement in the world. When he had begun playing hockey, and later acting as a vigilante fighting against the Kraang, was when he began building the foundation for spiritual sensitivity through observation and prediction of others. When he looked it seemed as though Casey began to see more now. While that was something to celebrate, to teach and expand on, right now it felt like a curse. There was nothing to do but send emotions across a rivulet of power and hope for the best as Angie planned for his freedom.

Spirits please just, please just let this and the next few days go off without a hitch.

---

How did they get here?

How did Leo go from learning about the way his little brother saw the world to starting to find a way past a wall he didn’t see before, to lying through his teeth with enough precision and half-truth that Splinter couldn’t see through it?

How did he go from trusting Splinter unconditionally to seeing the man, their Father, as a threat to his and Angies’ well-being?

He had a bit of a shut down on the roof, then next thing he knew he had passed some murals that felt heavily symbolic, and then he was passed out on the couch with some space hero reruns playing on the tv. The day had felt like a week and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a full 24 hours and nurse his growing headache.

Then shit hit the fan and he was suddenly more awake than he had any right to be(thank you energy rivulets) and catching Raphs hand again(did he really hit Angie so regularly) as everyone was staring down at him. The tension was palpable for the few seconds before Angie faked waking up and Leo followed the instructions that were practically screamed at him from the speech bubbles and hands as Mike left the corner of his eye.

April asked what caused him to freeze(why her and not Sensei?), her colors still muddy and malicious with a slight hint of pride slipping past it through her smile. It felt off in a way he couldn’t describe but made Angie respond with snark. Snark he immediately regretted and backpedaled on.

The hands reappeared and their plan to lie with half-truths was as shocking as it was expected by this point. The ease Angie lied with was concerning though.

“‘Something’ is definitely one way to put it,” a sigh and a hand over his eyes paired with pulling Angie closer sold the exhaustion in his voice with enough fake authenticity to get Donnie wincing in solidarity, “Those visions were… terrifying, and horrible, and Sad.”

“Sad?” oh good, Raph was incredulous now. Apparently that gives him a bit more credit in Splinter's eyes. “How can the Foot clan be sad and ‘terrifying’ at the same time?!”

“My son, please explain what was so sad about these visions”

The permission was all it took to quiet any more questions from the others. “They looked human, Fishface and Rhazar, but twisted and in pain… they had tears streaming down their faces and were trapped by bars and chains respectively, Tiger Claw was a cub who was injured and aiming a blaster with shaking paws… it looked, it felt, real in a way I can’t describe for the life of me.”

“My imagination can do that,” A- Mike was speaking now, they could switch who was piloting the body(what the fuck what the fuck what the fu-) apparently, “when I think of something long enough it gets added depth, like the shading in a painting.”

“I see, Michelangelo, why do you have visions of Tiger Claw as a cub?” another question that felt like it was burning his lungs on that roof, but now felt like it should only be spoken in confidence, away from prying ears.

“Leatherhead told me about some documents he read in dimension x, they said things about how they raised Tiger Claw from newborn coward into an acceptable mercenary,” what? “ it described how they changed him with special mutagen, made to make him grow slower and make his muscles more…compact,” What?! “and the…methods they used to get rid of his… less desirable traits.”

They. Did. WHAT! To a cub! Fuck, just thinking of Angie or Donnie or Raph having to endure something like that made Leo’s blood boil. “So the cuts and his eye-”

“Evidence of the Kraang ‘teaching methods’ to make him what he is now.” Oh that grim face that should never find its way on his outouo(outouos?) face is more than enough of a confirmation to see that the anger that’s burning its way through his glow like fire in dry grass is genuine. In every facet of Angie’s mind.

There was more talking and explanation before everyone scattered. Splinter retreating to his chambers to meditate, Raph leading April and Casey to the kitchen, and Donnie retreating to the lab.

The first bit of quite since Leo was sitting in his room trying to find a way to talk to Angie. Broken by the little brother himself, at the helm instead of Mike, asking to sleep over tonight. A request you would have to kill Leo to make him decline.

Tomorrow would be a new day, and hopefully it would bring answers.

Chapter 6: A Plan in Motion

Notes:

OK I made a split-second decision, and it's only going to be mild, by adding a touch of Casey Jones x Donatello because they deserve to be happy.

sorry Raphs section is a bit shorter than his brothers

also bonus at the end in Caseys pov

When Donnie was about to head to bed(get some more coffee) he was grabbed and dragged to Leo's room by its occupant, hand over mouth and quick assurances that it wasn’t an enemy were the only things that prevented a rather… unrefined shriek. It was curious that it had happened in the first place, Leo never being the type to grab someone. Much less in a way that implied the need for extreme secrecy. The situation only became more confounding when he spotted Raph being led quietly by Mikey.

Having removed Raph's mask earlier in his quest for coffee, Donnie found himself missing the way it would have analyzed the look on his brother's faces. Or failing that, provided insight to how Raph was feeling.

Leo was looking to an unmasked Mikey, him being the only one still wearing a mask at all, with what looked like a silent question for… permission? Looking briefly to the side for something before nodding and removing the orange fabric carefully. Completely silent he turned to give the mask to Donnie, one hand outstretched and the other miming that he should put it on.

Reluctantly, Donnie raised the fabric to his face. Marveling at how soft it was as he tied a loose knot behind his head. He opened his eyes as his arms began to lower to his sides, recognising the fact that Leo wasn’t kidding when he said the world was glowing. And then he saw his brothers.

He saw blazing power.

He saw hearts on full display.

He saw Determination, Dedication, Joy.

He saw dark oozing wounds.

He saw grief.

He saw Pain.

What the Fuck was this. Was THIS how Mikey saw them? Was this pain he saw ever present? Looking to the mirror in Leo's room he saw his own heart, his own strength, pain, grief, sorrow, exhaustion, curiosity, all that made him Him! Clear as day.

Then he saw the hands. The dark gray collection of sludge in the shape of his outouo. The child wearing a paper crown. The emaciated cultivator. All in the corners of his eyes and all motioning for quiet.

Donnie had never turned to Mikey so fast in his life.

About to ask a question, mouth barely opened, Donnie was suddenly faced with his outouo and eldest brother covering his mouth in unison. Still quiet as the dead.

Words.

Instructions.

They appeared in speech bubbles, telling him that there were reasons, Telling Donnie that Angie needed help. That Mikey was the name of the cultivator, Mike the child, N the clump of sludge, Micheal the owner of the hands. That all would be well if he listened and meditated with the others when they began.

Leo and Mi… Leo and Angie had let go by now. Raph, still on the other side of the room, was clueless and his glow(wtf) was near vibrating with emotions that Donnie couldn’t translate for the life of him. The text wanted him to give the mask to Raph.

So he did. The last thing he saw from it was a thanks, addressed from all the names he had learned.

Raph had a similar reaction, attempting to throw a punch at the mirror when he(presumably) saw the other beings, once more stopped by M- Angie, Leo following a second later.

Then Mik- Angie left. He came back with Casey. Quiet for once, socks helping to mute his steps. He was the last one to look through the mask. Freezing for a moment, looking to Mikey and something on the floor. Staring. It took a moment. A long moment. But he eventually took off the mask and put it on the nightstand. Sitting on the ground in lotus form.

Mi- Angie followed, then Leo, and Raph. As Donnie followed, evening his breathing. He had to wonder. What the everloving Hell were they getting into.

---

What the Fuck, What the Fuck, What the Fuck, What The FUCK

Raph had followed Mikey because he thought they would be having a turtle pile, thought that Leo and he needed a bit more comfort or coddling because they saw some horrendous shit, but then he saw Donnie have a silent freak out. He almost broke a mirror because he saw some goop thing that was trying to look like Mikey, Mikey wasn’t even Mikey, he was Angie and had never told them. There was a mystery guy and THREE OTHER PEOPLE in his Outouos’ HEAD!

Now they were sitting with Casey there for some fucking reason and meditating to do… something. What that something was he couldn’t tell you, but they also had to be absolutely silent for some reason. It was infuriating that they might have to fight something or someone. It was bullshit that there was more than one person in Mikey, Angies’, head!

Whatever was happening… at least he was going to get some answers. So he meditated, let go of everything and breathed deep and even. They all matched someone, probably Leo, in their breathing and began to sink into that half awareness he always hated.

Normally that would be where the meditation feeling would end, but this time, something started to tap at his consciousness. It felt warm somehow and when he turned he felt the spinning feeling he usually got if he hit his head too hard. But the feeling wasn’t bad and it led to an orange and gold path. Like some kind of “Dorothy follow the yellow brick road” deal, so of course he followed it. Like a sane person in an insane situation.

It was a short walk, all things considered, and soon he found himself at what looked like the edge of a dome. He could just see the bars of a bird cage with someone inside it when he got yanked into a panel that opened in the weird beams that covered the dome by those creepy dark yellow hands.

The hands also grabbed the others apparently ‘cause they appeared in the beams too. The beams were big enough to easily hold Slash with room to spare and clear now they were inside. They could see more and that bird cage…

It was dark greenish-blue and inside was Angie(how was the distinction so easy now) who was chained to the floor by shackles on his hands, feet, and neck. His eyes were covered by a band of metal, the skin around it was cracked and red, tinged with that golden orange color of the road he followed.

The others saw it too now. They saw the state of Angie and Casey had frozen, Leo was glaring as if that alone could melt away the metal, Donnie had his hands over his mouth, and the hands. They moved away.

Tracking the movement he saw a turtle wearing a painted a happy Angie mask , a set of black gloves and leg covers with dark yellow swirls in the shapes of fog(how did he know it was fog and not clouds), and some gear belts across his midsection. He looked up and began to speak.

Fucking Hell

---

Not even one night's rest.

Leo wasn’t tired by any stretch of the meaning, but it was abnormal to have Angie wake him up at midnight with the mask in hand and a plan in mind(if the determination in his eyes was anything to go by)

“I had a nightmare and think a turtle pile™ would be nice, can you get Donnie while I get Raph?”

Those words and his acceptance led to learning what the plan was, learning that they had to go into Angies ‘mindscape’ and free him from a cage of Splinter’s creation. The fact he was even kept in a cage by their father and sensei was a shock, seeing it was a greater shock.

Small and practically forcing Angie into seiza with both its height and the shackles weighing him down. There are clear sores and blood(how are there injuries in this place) tinged with Angie's glow.

The rivulets of power were rivulets of blood.

That revelation alone makes Leo want to fight Splinter for making this happen. They could have had a magic brother and it would have been fine, but no. That paranoid rat had to seal those powers away because they would draw in scientists that wanted to dissect Angie. Not like they weren’t already likely to be seen like slabs of meat to inspect.

The figure began to speak.

“I am Facade, a subconscious mind of Michelangelo in charge of concealing anything he doesn’t want others to see or know, you may call me Micheal and speak freely while we are in the tunnels.”

Raph was the first one to find his voice. “Why the hell is our outouo in a cage?!”

“That,” the Micheal moved the mask away from his face so that it clung to the upper right of his head, “is the fault of the rat bastard who claims to be our parent.” His anger was palpable as all the floating hands balled into fists, some clumping close to Micheals body and others finding a partner to make vague fighting motions with.

Then the mask was moved back into place and the hands returned to simply floating near or above them, rage hidden once more.

“You will see the results of his actions and our work to have as much freedom of self as we can, after all, the rat has arrived.”

As he spoke, a dark teal doorway opened and the metal of the cage shook. Out of that doorway stepped a man, the same man they had seen in the picture of Splinter when he was still Hamato Yoshi, head held high and strides confident. He walked up to the cage that held Angie and frowned. Angie had begun to sing. Quiet and lilting, almost like a lullaby, until Yoshi struck one of the bars with a fist.

“Michelangelo, what are you doing with your brothers.” he asked the question as though it was a statement. Voice harsh and accusing as he eyed the rivulets disappearing out of the spaces between the bars. Angie just sang again. Louder, loud enough for them to hear the words.

“When the heavens crash aground, we will hear the trumpets sound, cause you’ll be in hell, yes you’ll be in he-”

The slap felt as though it rang through the space as Angie was cut short.

If Leo was angry before. He was pissed now.

---

Donnie couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Their Father and Sensei had just slapped the baby of the family through the bars that were keeping him aloft in an otherwise opulent room, giant marble chess board in the floor surrounded by hardwood floor boards and mother of pearl columns that held up massive red satin curtains.

An opulent prison was still a prison.

“What are you doing to your brothers Michelangelo.” he same clipped, accusatory question went unanswered for what felt like hours. Until one of the curtains rippled and Angie raised his head.

“Giving them strength.”

“You lie, what are you doing to them.”

“...making sure they are alive… making sure they are happy…” and Donnie can hear the tremor in that voice. The tremor that betrays pain and desire and bone-tired resignation, “making sure they have what I cannot.”

It took another long moment before Splinter left, calling over his shoulder as he moved past a curtain “Be sure that remains all you do.”

Micheal began to talk again. “Do not mistake those words as genuine,” what? “what Angie just said was shrouded so it would not betray his disdain before the time was right-”

“How could that have been a lie! It sounded so… so impassioned.” Donnie spoke before he could fully determine how he felt but this was too important to wait. How could Angie be so good at lying that they couldn’t tell? They had known him all their lives and even if he figured out how to hide his more obvious tells, how could he hide any lie from Splinter? Especially of this magnitude!

“Because we learned, because if we couldn’t we might have been shoved in cages of our own, or Angies’ cage would have shrunk, or he might be in more shackles, we simply had to become proficient.” How the actual hell could that thing be shrunk more?!?!? How the Fuck would Splinter be able to do that to Angie in the First Place, he had to have been put in that cage as a CHILD-

“Now come along, we must help Neural prepare the network.” and just like that, they began to follow Micheal to this ‘network’ to help another Subconscious mind named Neural. Thoughts flooded Donnies mind as they went, only to be interrupted by Casey putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Its fucked up Angie had to deal with this, but now we can fix it right?”

“Right…”

“Then let’s fix it, Don, Goongala!”

With those words Casey started to glow himself, a deep rich brown, like that of healthy soil paired with a pulsing heart of shining silver over his flesh and blood heart. A streak of swirling brown and silver power moves to Donnie and twirls around his fingers. It’s warm and reminds him of the first time he and his brothers were able to truly sunbathe at April’s family farmhouse, the smell of warm stones and a summer breeze in his nose(mind?). Now suddenly, suddenly it felt like they could do this.

“OHHH that’s why Angie insisted you be here”

…Damnit Leo.

---

Looking through Micheals’ eyes was nice when they could afford it. It took so much to remember how his own mindscape looked like when it was just him and Imagination. Back in the beginning. Back when he had just been put into this cage of teal. Angie didn’t understand it back then. First it was confusion and fear when he couldn’t make things fly anymore at the tender age of 3(he both thanks and damns the Librarian for keeping those memories).

Then it was panic when the next time he meditated he saw nothing but that dark teal. Felt nothing but the shackles, chains, and bars when he flung himself about.

Yeah, he came out of that with screams and tears galore.

Angie was 5 when he realized what had happened, was 5 when he asked Splinter why he locked up his mind. Five when Splinter looked at him in the eyes and told him that the powers he had were evil. Would bring danger and pain to his brothers. Would KILL THEM if he were allowed the abilities he was born with.

It was that same night he heard the voices of Nightmare and Dream. Representatives of things he couldn’t control, not really, and a way to cope with the building power that would surge on occasion and Hurt.

That hurt was why Neural was the next to exist. He would be able to change the way his neurons distributed the energy, change it to work faster, work better.

The Librarian showed up less than an hour later to take the memories into his power and lessen their burden on Neural. Short and long term edited like films for whenever Splinter would watch them to make sure he wasn’t misbehaving.

The last to appear at age 6 was Facade. He was arguably the most important. He protected them all from the prying eyes of Splinter, made sure he could eat the most disgusting things without grimacing so the others wouldn’t feel bad taking more, and helped make spotting lies as easy as breathing. He was invisible. Angie had never even heard his voice cause he had to remain unknown if they wanted his job to be done.

All of it, all of this was in effort to be as free as he could be. No one else showed the same powers so Angie had resigned himself to the mockery he was stuck with at 10 years old.

Then April happened.

She had powers.

She was accepted.

It made Angie sick.

If she wasn’t a danger with powers she barely had control over, she didn’t even know she had them until the Kraang forced her hand! Then why was he a threat when he knew how to do what she did when he was 3?!

He saw through Facades eyes for the first time that night and saw the state of Dream. Saw the oozing wounds of Neural. Saw the bags under Librarians eyes. Saw how big Nightmare had become. Saw the mockery of a crown atop a to-young child’s head.

That was when his rage began to fester.

But now, finally, he had a chance. He could be free with the help of the kind Casey and his brothers. Leo who was forced to grow up too fast because Splinter couldn’t handle being a leader himself. Raph who was constantly forced to bottle his emotions until it spilt over as unintended ire. Donnie who was overworked and insomniatic because ‘he had to get everything done!’. Casey who grew to use his own power, who became more than a spiritual sensitive because of his unwavering desire to do the right thing and learn from it.

They were his chance at freedom and if the aftermath was a fight with the rat bastard who put him in this prison in the first place, so be it.

Bring it on Yoshi.

Angie wouldn’t be trapped a second time.

---
Bonus!

Casey really didn’t know what to think here. He had sensed things but had always written it off as a gut feeling. But here he was, facing a subconscious mind inside one of his best friends and using a power he didn’t realize he had until like 5 hours ago when he was picking up on practically everything going through Angie's head.

And wasn’t that just the way of life now.

Well point was he managed to cheer up his rival/best mechanical friend with the brown and silver glow he now had around him, like he was a nightlight!

Then the look on Donnie’s face was, well… shit. Now he had a crush on Donnie.

He’d given up on April a while ago since he figured out she was leading both him and Donnie on for the favors and had actually gotten to know the guy. God making that car with him was awesome and his ideas were always so cool, especially when- No, shit, stay on focus brain!

Revelations aside, now he knew that Angie had insisted on him being here for this fight, and maybe why considering the new light source.

Time to free a friend bitches.

GOONGALA!

Chapter 7: Progress

Notes:

I realized as i was writing this one that last chapter had two Donnie sections so I'm just going to say it happened in the haze of actually being able to write at 1:20pm in class

The shock of everything was winding down as they walked to the network and now questions had to be asked. A prime example being:

“So, how are we going to free Angie exactly?”

A hand moved to rest on Leo’s shoulder as Micheal addressed Donnies question

“The main problems keeping us from just going in guns blazing to break down the cage are the rat himself and the inevitable power surge.”

“Power surge?” Casey asked as he wrung his hands, glow having yet to dissipate.

“Angie has been trapped for long enough that the energy build up is at a dangerous level, so when the shackles on his neck and head are removed there will be a surge of power escaping him, like a dam breaking because of a few cracks,” a gaggle of hands mimed the action “the surge with put all the minds into a state of shock as we readjust.”

“Didn’t you say Angie had this power for years,” Raph asked through gritted teeth “why would you and these other ‘subconscious minds’ have to ‘get used to it’?”

Micheals mask shifted and though Donnie couldn’t see its face he had to imagine that it had changed in some way. “Mike, Imagination, was the only one to exist when Angie was first put in the cage, and likely would still be the only subconscious mind to exist if Angie was still free, we who were created afterwards only know the shallow waters we’re allowed to access because of the rat and his shackles.”

Leo moved to be at pace with their guide, an impromptu perch for the hands that keep hovering around him. “So the surge is going to be like jumping into the deep end before learning how to swim?”

“Exactly, the shock is expected to put us all down for a moment and the rat would likely try to take advantage of our prone state, you would do your best to stall him.”

“But we would only be able to stall him-” Donnie began to fidget while thinking of all the times Splinter had thrown him and his brothers around “-how are we going to make sure Angie isn’t put back when you regain consciousness?”

A stray hand lifted the mask to show Micheals mouth as he turned to address the whole group, his smile sharp and crooked, “When Angie is up the rat will be forced to run in fear of our festered fury, especially that of Neural down there.”

Confused, everyone looked down and found themselves above a room of bright flashes and colors moving quickly on thin pathways between circular structures. Ports on walls that were collecting streams of colored light in tall batteries or sending it to places unknown. At a large control panel stood another version of their outouo.

If he was still wearing Raph's mask Donnie was sure that he would have witnessed the meter raise from ‘pissed’ to ‘enraged’, and he was all too willing to agree with it.

---

Leo was mentally adding the sate they found Neural in to the list of reasons to say ‘fuck Splinter’ that had been steadily growing since he’d seen Angies reaction to the man. No. Know what, he’s the rat now. When they faced him Leo was going to yell that he was a rat bastard with his whole chest. Maybe Angie or the others could get a kick out of it.

Neural’s legs were in shackles and he had long wounds on his arms and deep gashes along his shell, all oozing a shining black substance. He had dark pits for eyes that from here seemed bigger than eyes should be as he answered the rat’s questions. Oh yeah, the rat was here, looking just as demanding as when they could hear him in the main room(?).

They couldn’t hear anything from where they were in the pathways(rafters?) but they could see how Neural had shrunk in on himself when he was cut off from explaining something. The rat left soon after. They had to wait a moment to cover Casey in some of the hands and give everyone a mask to literally mask their presence from the rat. Then they dropped down.

Neural turned to them immediately and scowled at their group. “You and Angie sure these guys can hold back the rat long enough? Don’t get me wrong,” he looked directly at Leo as he spoke the next part, “you guys are strong but Caseys the only one with actual psionics and newly uncovered psionics at that.”

Facade had moved towards the network of neural connections and began to climb “Stop scaring them Neural, you know as well as we all do that Angie wouldn’t have asked us to take the risk if he wasn’t sure” turning and hanging from a single sphere, the hands covered the mask and showed the true playful smile on Micheals face “just tell us how to help you be sure too.”

Returning the smile and huffing out a laugh, Neural pulled up a schematic, “then let’s get to work.”

Hands flew about, gripping one on each ball that was(probably) mirrored on the schematic in red. “Alright boys, follow the hands and move as they do, stop when they let go and they will do the rest.”

Leo sighed as the others stared. He went to the closest hand and climbed, ignoring the wave of power that crackled under his skin like lightning, to the first hand.

Time to get to work. For his outouo.

---

Raph was moving the last of the neurons when the hand grabbed his in the way Angie did to thank him when they had to be quiet. It was a boring and repetitive ass job but the thanks, electric tingling power, and the way the colors seemed to sing like they were finally right made it worth the effort.

He leapt down to the others and glanced again at how closely chained to the podium Neural was. He was going to love seeing him and the others free.

“-by my calculations the surge should only do minimal damage to the network now and-”

“Minimal damage!?!?” Raph had to force his voice to be quiet “I thought this wasn’t going to hurt!”

The others, minus the subconscious minds, were also staring in shock. Donnie moved towards the podium to look at whatever nerd stuff explained this shit. Their outouo was hurt enough and shouldn’t be hurt by anything else as they freed him from his fucking CAGE.

“No one said this process would be painless,” Neural was frowning as he spoke and eyeing the curtain, pinned by hands and coated in a dim dark yellow glow, “sometimes pain is worth it to be free, this is one of those times.”

“And,” Facade took over the conversation now, “we all knew what we were getting into.”

Raph was almost certain that he could touch the silence in the air after those words were spoken. Leo would probably be able to cut it with his swords if he tried. Looking to the side abruptly Facade started to talk again, fake cheer obvious in his voice.

“We have to warn the others so they’re ready, back to the rafters.” and that was it, no one was willing to pick up the conversation on how much it would hurt Angie to follow through with this plan of his, theirs?

It hardly mattered as they went above the ‘library of memories’ to send down a smaller hand from one of Facades pouches to act as a signal. They were quiet again as they did the same for the glob whose smile was a twisted version of Angie’s with too many teeth in a too wide mouth.

The real action was when they found the child and the cultivator in the ‘castle of creativity’.

---

Angie could feel the shifting in the network, could feel when it all clicked into place and had to hold back his hum of satisfaction. Had to hide it in more singing. Hazbin hotel had been an excellent source of inspiration.

The rat was walking out of the library, his footfalls were heavy here, towards the cursed cage.
“-it always feels so stark, how silence grows under the moon,”

The hands were being distributed now

“It’s always gone so soon,”

The Librarian had his.

“I used to think that I was bold,”

Nightmare was grinning, ready to bite.

“I used to think love was for fun,”

Their saviors had reached the castle, they would have their weapons soon

“Now all my stories have been told, except for one-”

A rap on the bars told Angie he needed to stop. So he did. He didn’t need to sing like a canary in his cage anymore. He would be free in a few short moments. Afterall, the mind is swifter when it has a destination to reach.

He could feel the draw from his core as Mike and Mikey played their parts, creating the weapons as though they were of plastic, handing them disguised to the hands of the ‘imagined’ playmates able to leave their room in the castle tower.

Angie watched through Facades eyes as they reached the rafters, out of sight from the rat as he entered the creativity at large. He felt the satisfaction of marching forward towards the freedom they so desperately longed for fuel Dream. Heal the spiderwebs of cracks on Dreams shell. Age Mike just that little bit more.

His brothers and Casey were confused and worried, he could sense that much, but Angie could only help them once he was freed.

And Spirits he would be free, just a little longer.

---
Bonus!

Casey wondered how the hands weren’t visible through the thin costume he wore, a hippo one, as he play fought with Raph alongside Donnie.

He also wondered how he was supposed to feel about the whole ‘dress up so we can slip under the radar and get the weapons that will cut through the shackles’ gig.

It was over quickly when Splinter appeared in the door. They were whisked away by the younger of the two turtles, Imagination, who kept close to the sickly looking form of Dream. But it still felt like a long time.

When they reached the rafters again, one hand lighter, they started off to the center. Facade making them run just to keep pace. In his hands was a curved sword that Donnie called a harpē.

This, this was apparently it. They would break Angie free, and fight Splinter. Casey felt his anticipation grow and watched in awe as time slowed and his glowing heart beat. Silver overtook brown as the hands left him and his spear's head shifted to be a sharper version of a hockey stick, his mask now his own. It felt right.

Then the world sped up again.

Then they were jumping down in front of the cage.

Then it was time.

“Goongala!”

Chapter 8: Progress

Notes:

1. We added April to the bonus bits

2. I wrote Donnie’s part at 3am and only minimally edited it during my choir class in between singing so sorry if it’s a bit cobbled

3. I was told by a friend(not a beta reader) that some people might think Angie has DID, he doesn’t. I don’t have the ability to accurately describe or represent DID and those who have it deserve a good book or something, not a random tmnt fanfic on Ao3. Canon in this au is that Angie basically made spirits to get rid of excess psionic energy and they manifested as different versions of him. This is a very difficult feat and requires enough energy to power the entire USA for 2 months.

4. April will not be making a spirit, she’s too weak

Angie felt the surge of Casey breaking the first of his limits. Claiming the power he held in his hands and making it his own. His core mourned the loss of it but the payoff of seeing the silver shine in the way that only a soul can as he cried out his rage was more than worth it.

Casey broke the cage, and Angie relished the short fall to the ground, his first true movement in years, as he stretched his neck to raise his head as far as it could go. He couldn’t cut the chains himself, but he could make the act just a bit easier.

Leo moved forward, his determination edged rage filling the twin Katana, cutting through the shackle at his neck and one on his wrist like warm butter.
It took so much self control not to let the energy surge just yet. He wanted to see his saviors. His brothers.

Raph, Facade, and Donnie moved together and cut. Donnie and Facade the shackles on his ankles, Raph his face and last wrist.

The last thing he saw before his mind lit up with sparks were the relieved, amazed, faces of his brothers.

Then he was floating. A pillar of color, fire, electricity. A star of power in the void of consciousness.

Six sparks split off him. They specialized.

He remained Orange. The color of youth, joy, creativity, optimism, Warmth. Bronze and gold joined it now. The colors of loyalty, strength, stability, success, and prosperity. He was all of this. He was Angie.

The first to split became white. Burning brightness of white light, every color, yet none of them with edges of mauve. A blank sheet. Imagination filling its space by the will of the color of innovation, inspiration, and intuition. He was Mike.

The second burned violet, the color of ambition. Reaching and splitting off before combining again. Dreams, put into the world and being fulfilled, returning the satisfaction and joy. He was Mikey.

The third was pitch black. Refined, dark, ominous in its flickering. Monster maws closing on lone figures when an invisible wind blew through it. It was fear. It was Nightmare. He was N.

The fourth was electric and sharp. Efficient in a searing cyan blue. Impatient for when it could work, and brutal when it was finally allowed. It was a network of sparks. He was Neural.

The fifth was a calmer azure blue, but it burned just as fiercely. It treated its work with care. It was calculated and swift. Sweeping wide to pull work into its wings. It was the librarian. He was An.

The sixth, the last, burned shades of yellow. Bright and sunny center of truth and clarity. Darker yellows a cover of distrust, distraction, and illusion. It was Facade. He was Micheal.

They were facets of himself, spirits born of and by him, that would outlive him. They gave him comfort, learned from him, became themselves in spite of him. Angie could only give them the best he could as they reformed.

If they must stay with him, and care for him as they had for the years they had been trapped, then he would heal them. Add fuel to their flames. Give them everything he couldn’t before.

This was all thanks to his brothers and the human boy who proved themselves worthy of power.

—-

Everything turned white.

That didn’t mean they were passed out, or dead, nah.

It meant that Raph watched alongside his brothers and friend as his baby brother turned into a pillar of fire. Other balls of light going INTO him. And then he became another bright ass ball of light in the sky(?). Whatever the hell up was called didn’t matter though considering the orange started to shift and change and spit out another ball of fire, white this time.

This was too much to process at once, he would get an explanation later, Raph just turned to look around for something, anything, else.

Everything disappeared except for a human Splinter, just there, staring at their group for a second before he turned and tried to send shackles to the giant fuck you ball of light to… grab it?

Fuck if Raph new, all he knew was that Facade told them to stall once Angie was out of the fight.

So he did.

He ran at Splinter with all the wrath he had built since first seeing this shit show and stabbed. The newly gray chains fall and keep falling past where they were they were standing and fucking dissolved in a flash of bright orange gold FIRE. aka, the same shit Angie was RIGHT NOW.

It was going to take more than one conversation to figure out how he felt about that whole situation.

The injury from where he stabbed Splinter was already closing up, void of light, and Raph had to jump back to avoid being locked in those chains. That got the others to jump into action, Donnie and Casey slicing through as many chains as they could. Casey sending waves of silver light to dissolve multiple at a time.

Raph wished he had something like that. Something to tear or Burn away the shit Splinter was sending towards them. Like the fire he watched so often on candle wicks, the fire his rage was so often compared too, fire that had the same potential to hurt and heal, the fire that now represented his outouo burning away the fake shit that caged him for so long.

Then he felt it.

Warmth blooming in his heart, the warmth he felt when he saw his brothers happy and relaxed, the warmth he felt in his muscles when he fought or had a particularly good workout. He FELT the thrill and fire of running across the rooftops in a game of chase.

Power from the sais in his hands went from orange to a strange red, Maroon.

Becoming His, becoming a raging fire, becoming his weapons, his flames striking in how they surrounded his hands with heat that made the sais glow.

This was what he imagined when he first learned about spiritual cores. The very center of his being, his self, a bonfire of comfort and warmth behind a wall of burns and heat.

Donnie was in front of him, a shackle refusing to be cut by his naginata, looking muted. Sluggish movements hindered by the chains snaking their way up his body.

That was unacceptable.

Raph pushed the flames to move forward, to turn the chains to ash, to burn the enemy.

The fire burned the chains away, it warmed Donnie from the inside out as Raph willed it to heal his younger brother.

Now this fight would be more evenly matched against the mother fucker who hurt his brothers.

Time to use this new magic thing to kick that rats ass!

—-

Leo watched from the side as Raphs fists caught fire and he decimated the gunmetal gray chains that tried to hold down Donnie while healing at the same time.

It was incredible and it gave him an idea.

Reaching for the feeling of the tendrils he saw in the real world, or the midnight blue core, Leo searched himself and found it in his heart.

It was cool and dark, lights embedded as veins of bright blue, it felt like water rolling off his shell when he left the shower, like when he chewed the ice at the bottom of a finished drink, it felt like coolness after so long of having a fever.

Then his twin katanas, full of Angie’s energy shifted, they went from feeling like a warm summer's day in the sun to the sensation of a cool ocean current.

Then they were his.

His mind whirled with ideas and he smiled as wide as Raph had when the flames had worked to free Donnie. He felt the whirlpool flux and thin, becoming a raging river. Strong as a flood. Cold as the arctic snow.

Ice flow raced past his allies and froze the rat's hands closed before screaming, “Quit being a coward and Fight you RAT BASTARD!”

Power infused voice rippled through the air and threw the rat back. He collected himself as Casey moved to help Donnie as his naginata glitched.

“My son listen, you don’t know what you’re doing, if he is allowed these evil powers-”

“Evil?!” Leo couldn’t believe the man with clear powers, who taught him to use those same mantras, could say that the powers Angie had were evil. “How could power, so similar to what April could do, be evil?! Especially in the hands of a child who just wanted to play with his family!?”

The world seemed to tilt then, sunshine warmth and Galaxies forming into pillars around them, as layers of fabric in shades of purple, blue, black, white, yellow, orange, gold and bronze flare into existence.

Above them the flames that were Angie and his subconscious minds begin to reform. Still covered in their light, but the light taking different forms.

Sweeping lines of white tipped with pale purple. Blinking spheres of swirling violet. Slashes of pitch black that glow in spite of physics. A sparkler of electric blue. Cooler blue in icy shards no less warm than the others. Dancing yellow fabric in every shade. An orange star, steady and calm.

None of them were hurtful. None of them trying to harm anyone. All emitting joy and Jubilation.

Leo turned to the rat in human form and asked a single, damning, question.

“If they are so evil, why aren’t they trying to get revenge?”

The rat, Yoshi Hamato, Splinter, didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He stared and rose to his full height.

—-

Donnie couldn’t hear what was going on around him. He had just taken a moment to look back at the fires in the sky and was caught by the chains Splinter kept throwing at them, he was trapped. He tried desperately to break them but the chains made him sluggish, they felt as though they were sucking the energy out of him, he watched as the green of his scales turned olive.

Then he was covered in a wave of warm, maroon, fire. It burned away the chains and returned his color. That came from Raph. Soon after Leo had sent a river of pleasantly cool water to freeze Splinter's hands and yelled loud enough to send him flying back, but left the others untouched.

If they could do that, Donnie should be able to do it too, so he tried. Donnie stepped away from the fight and tried to meditate. He shut everything out and focused on his breathing. He felt the power in himself, it was indistinct, unformed, or corrupted?

He felt the sun warm power in the naginata Angie had given him and tried to send his own power into it, but it started to glitch, to corrupt. It was fucking weird to feel yourself glitching.

Then Casey was next to him, hand on his shoulder with a light touch, brown glow. Mask moved to sit on top of his head to show his face. Donnie could only focus on his eyes. They were filled with worry and care and a feeling he couldn’t name. It felt like butterflies in his chest.

But that couldn’t be the feeling he liked…

April had led him on.

Suddenly the place they were in vanished as Donnie did the only thing he knew how too in these situations. He analyzed his memories.

He searched every memory he had with April and found that she had truly seemed to dislike his advances, just like he had hated the advances of Bigfoot, but even so. She had kissed him after Donnie tried to let go. She never spoke about it again, even when he tried to figure out where they stood. She only went to him for homework help or to research more about her powers. She never tried to actually get to know him.

His heart, dull and cracked to hell, shatters at the realization.

And then he realized that most of the things he noticed since being at the farmhouse were about how different she was from Casey.

How she didn’t join him in coming up with blueprints, didn’t do casual touch, her laugh never reached her eyes like Casey’s did. How Casey’s laugh was infectious as they worked, how his jokes would make him laugh so hard he shook with the force of it, the urge to make Casey do the same. He reminded Donnie of the smell of motor oil and melting metal, the sound of sparks welding two pieces together, the feel of making an engine sing.

He realized now, there’s no way Donnie couldn’t, that he loved Casey Jones.

He returned to the present, his heart sparking and glowing anew in striking royal purple and inlay with silver where it used to be cracked. Casey was staring at both him and their hearts, his own having been painted with lilacs. Then they beat as one.

The power he felt the glitching as it smoothed out, overtaking and transforming the naginata in his hands from a traditional weapon with the sensation of summer's day to an eternal twilight within a bō made of shining silver and deep purple metal. A concept he had only dreamed of in the physical world. It was here and he knew exactly what to do with it.

He looked up again at Casey and was caught again by those eyes, deep brown and shining as though he was just shaken from a vision. He was blushing fiercely and in one swift motion kissed Donnie on the cheek. Sparkling swirls of the brown glow and silver streaks took over his peripherals as Casey moved back and looked everywhere but at Donnie himself.

That was until the moment was broken because Casey had to throw them both back to avoid being caught in another chain.

“Really!?!” Glaring at Splinter Donnie decided that he was the rat now, no question about it. “Couldn’t leave it for 3 more seconds you Literal mother fucker!”

Someone spat and Raph laughed, until Donnie used his newly reformed bō to shoot a rocket at their opponent, forged in royal purple light and highly explosive.

Time to get in the game and fight.

—-

Bonus!

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, why did he do that!

They were in the middle of a fight and then his and Dons hearts were shining with each others colors and he saw a kind of vision of them in a workshop and they were working on some kind of car and they were so happy!

He just had too kiss him but he didn’t think they were ready for any kind of lip on lip action so he went for the cheek and oh god.

Wait, shit, fuck they had to move. He pushed Donnie away so that the damned chains wouldn’t get them. So they wouldn’t dull Donnie’s scales again.

He felt the heat still in his cheeks as Donnie yelled at Splinter for disturbing the moment and pulled his mask down in time to splutter at the fact Donnie had insulted the rat man(currently just man) and called out his dead wife at the same time. Then Donnie shot a fucking rocket from his bō staff like it was no big deal?!?!?!? Did he know he could do that?? Did Donnie know he could do that?

—-

Bonus pt 2!

April woke up to a migraine, she had been ignoring some mental turmoil because it was expected from what Donnie explained on the way back. It was cool to learn how Raph saw the world and the theories for why Mikey was being more of a mother hen.

Then at the lair they were acting weird, Casey of all people had some kind of psionic activity. Completely absurd considering he was just the guy who hit hard and yelled that stupid catchphrase all the time. And the weirder part was that the activity felt like it was half of a… conversation? She couldn’t tell where the rest of it was coming from but knowing Casey it could’ve very well have been a conversation with himself.

Now though she had been woken from the sound of shattering and cannon fire. Not pleasant and definitely not what she expected at 1 in the morning.

Getting up and looking to her left didn’t see Casey and the sleeping mat was cold so she got up and went to look for him. He wasn’t in the kitchen(and she was hoping to get a cup of tea out of him if he was), and the bathe door was open so, not there.

April went to look for him in Raph's room to see if they were talking or something but he wasn’t there and neither was Raph. Weird. Donnie wasn’t in the lab or his room and Mikey wasn’t in his room either.

April had started to think they had left her behind while they went to do something when she found them all in a meditation pose on the floor of Leo’s room. They were present, she could tell that much, but they were covered in that weird interference thing. Splinter was there too in presence, but he wasn’t covered by the interference.

In a bid to figure out what was happening April sat on Leo’s bed(she was not getting on the floor thank you very much) and began to meditate as well, latching onto Splinter and following him to where he, and the boys, were.

Only to find herself in a mostly empty void, balls of light in the sky, the boys(minus Mikey) glowing, and a man in Splinter’s robes throwing chains at the boys.

What the hell was going on here???

Chapter 9: Reformation

Notes:

Last chapter was supposed to be titled freedom😅

“HAHA HOLY HELL, Donnie, did you just blow him up?!” Raph had to confirm, there was no way he heard Donnie say that AND watch as he launched a rocket at the rat. Oh he hoped it was real cause again, Holy Hell. This is incredible.

“Problem?” Oh, that face, he was genuinely worried… to be fair he did just fire a rocket at their father.

“Just that I can’t do that too,” Raph turned to his direct younger brother and grinned something feral, “now let's give him hell!”

“Nice to see we’re all on the same page,” Leo was already racing forwards on a literal river of icy water like a goddamn surfer, “but let’s get our butts in gear!”

Fire raged in his palms and feet as Raph got an idea of the ‘probably going to hurt if I fail’ variety. “HAI!”

Jumping up and forward Raph used the fire like a jetpack and flew up until he felt a tug. It was pulling his shoulder until he looked behind all the action and saw… April. What the fuck? They had left her in the physical world and she was obviously confused. She was starting to move, running at Casey. He felt a wave of disapproval that wasn’t his own. Summer days turned hot and scorching as he looked at her, a strange hatred for her audacity to wear yellow and orange while… claiming she was wearing a shade of gold? When did that happen? That shit ain’t gold.

Either way he couldn’t let her ruin the fight seeing as Casey was the most experienced with his power(if only by a few… however long). Walls began to form as the raging Sun that was Angie made the whole world shift again, effectively stopping April in her tracks as Raph, Leo, Donnie, and Casey were unbothered.

Dark wood, shades ranging from practically black to the same dark brown of healthy soil, filled most of the space between the curtains. More rooms seemed to split off from this main area through arches lined with what looked like a shiny white rock?

Whatever, it looked nice, main issue was either finding a way to kick April out of his outouos mind or at least stop her from trying to stop the fight. Like a dumbass. Sighing, Raph redirected himself to stop in front of her.

—

Leo was riding high, literally, as he rode the waves of ice flow around the rat. Building a practical arena to corner him and give the others an easier target. Looking around for Raph, he saw his brother wrestling April to the ground in a veritable bonfire. How did she get in here? At the very least she wouldn’t try to join the rat before learning what he did to Angie, Leo felt hot days and dry mouths under an angry unrelenting sun, or not. She could at least just leave.

Returning his attention to the fight he watched as a silver puck was sent at the rats head. The rat switched to unarmed combat and attempted to grab Donnies staff, failing as a shield of metal spawned from its center. Leo jumped down to try and restrain Splinter(it was tiresome to say “the rat” every time) before he could restrain the others.

Casey followed his lead as he summoned his own silver chains with brown shackles, yelling for Splinter to “Just stop being a damn Hypocrite and let Angie have his powers!”

Of course Splinter didn’t listen(why was that thought so familiar) and tried to counter with “You do not understand!” and a punch.

Shit.

Splinter was now fighting back.

Donnie had shifted from mid range offense to long range and defense as his shield grew to engulf his bō and a section split off to become a kind of gun(what was his thing with projectiles). Casey used his power to make a pair of brown(yeah brown this time not silver) roller blades and was skating his way around Splinters harried attacks.

For the first time since he swapped masks yesterday(damn was it really only yesterday, what god was in charge of this pacing) Leo saw this weird mind space like he usually saw the world. A yellow marking above the rats head as targets painted themselves over his bodies. But this time, this time there was something new. Something he was sure Angie had gifted him. Phantom versions of him and Splinter as they moved through potential plans for less than a second. They lessened in number, so fast that he was sure the only reason he knew they were there was the sensation of sunlight dappled rivers, until there were only 4 pairs.

Following the path that seemed to sing as he stepped into it Leo had only one thought on his mind. ‘Stall the rat and set Angie Free’

—

When the world shifted and walls sprung into existence Donnie only took notice long enough to gauge the space they had left to fight(a lot). The reason for this was that he was pissed, not just pissed, enraged as he thought of how long he had been ignorant of his own feelings and distracted enough by April's games to neglect his only younger brother.

His outouo had to deal with so much because of them, because of the Rat Bastard they called Sensei and Father, and they did nothing to help.

Now they could.

Now they Would.

But even then he wished he had time to sort through all his revelations without facing Casey, April, and Splinter. Even with Raph keeping her at the far side of the space Donnie was painfully aware of her presence. It was like something in him was pulling his concentration away. This time, in this place, he could feel the way hairline cracks appeared again in his heart. He could feel the energy seeping out of him around the soft silver glow that had welded him back together.

Donnie fought on. Emotions choking his mind as his body sent rocket after rocket at the man who was the root cause of ALL Of THIS-

A spark.

Donnie’s perception of time slowed to a crawl again. Swirls of silver and ringing bells punctuated the air alongside the sound of laughter and a humming engine. He could taste the eraser end of a pencil in his mouth. Smell the oil and engine grease that still couldn’t cover that of the copious amounts of coffee they had both drunk. Felt the dark brown floor beneath their feet. Donnie could see the worry in Casey’s face, hear it in his voice though he wasn’t speaking aloud.

“You ok Don?”

Finally he could feel how staticky his energy had become, how it had recoiled from Casey’s, and he loathed the empty feeling of it. Reaching for the silver and brown, security and something so intuitive he couldn’t describe it, Donnie enveloped it in an embrace of silken purple. Calming the almost frantic glitching of his power with what could only be described as a poor patch job.

He would have time to process later, time to freak out and wonder if he even liked either of their human friends(April was on thin ice but still) like that or was simply seeking normalcy.

For now he had people to protect and a fight to win.

But he didn’t win, because before he could, the mindscape moved again and suddenly they were next to Angie as he stared down Splinter with a gaze he was sure could’ve killed.

—-

The fight had raged long enough.

Angie had fueled his spirits enough to heal their wounds and they all wanted the man and his replacement daughter OUT.

So he waved away all the changes Leo had made, returning what was used to make them back to his onii-chan. Smoothed away whatever damage or scorch marks had been made by Donnie’s rockets. Returned the force of the flames to Raphs spirit.

He made vines line the iridescent mother of pearl arches used for the paths to new rooms, murals he had made in the physical world painted themselves upon the walls of cocobolo wood. Floors made of black marble with veins of his colors. A ceiling of facets in all the colors of the world lined by the rafters that would be part of Micheals new room. Angie sent the spirits to the outside of their respective rooms, moving outside his own as well, and they allowed their bodies to reform as people again.

Mike had a cloak of fur topped fabric and a true crown, delicate metalwork forming three points adorned with mystic quartz, resting upon his head. Finally as old as he should be.

Dream was no longer emaciated, clothed in robes of painted silk of beige base and violet swirls. In his hand was a shakujō with six rings instead of four on its head.

N had finally been given form. His body solid as he controlled mist and thin liquid darkness, his eyes the only color outside the monochrome. A striking mix of red and blue through partial heterochromia.

Neural no longer wore the scars of a damaged psyche and instead had a range of tattoos, from flowers to animals to celestial bodies, each with a meaning as beautiful as the last. His new eyes were the best part of it all, shining gold right and his cyan on the left. Climbing gear on his hips and back.

A was clothed in a loose azure turtleneck and a bronze floor length skirt. A messenger bag slung across his chest and glasses perched on his beak. The bags, once prominent under his eyes, now nonexistent under his steely gaze.

Last was Micheal. He looked very similar to before, arm and leg coverings painted with fog patterns in yellows, but his mask had changed to be electronic. Facial expressions besides false cheer programmed in. Hands upgraded to include those of other beings, human, mutant, or otherwise.

Finally they were ready, Angie felt the bow on the back of his neck to double check the orange scarf was secure. His bronze and gold gloves were far softer then the shackles he had to wear for all those years.

Staring down the rat in front of him, Angie pushed every ounce of hate he hid over the years to the forefront of his mind.

—

Bonus!

Holy Fuck.

Angie looked ready to kill and Splinter was RIGHTFULLY cowering from the literal floating, golden light emitting, scowling boy who just made the entire place look like a palace in less than four seconds.

April was dragged behind Splinter before she locked eyes with him, quickly shifting to the turtle beside him, she called out “Donnie what’s going on, can you convince Mikey-”

That was when Casey had to cut in “Angie, his name is Angie.” Donnies heart thing(still so weird to think about it) was practically singing as it pulled away from a piece that seemed tethered to April and closer to his own energy(thank god for the mask hiding his blush). Though the tether wasn’t like the one he and Donnie forged together here, it felt more like a leash.

A leash that was pulling Donnies thoughts further towards protecting Her.

The feeling of a raging sun in the desert flooded into his mind. Angie agreed with him. This was fucked up. This could not be allowed.

So he destroyed it. He took the power of his own core and strangled the leash with the strength of an earthquake, brown overtaking the sickly pink, until it snapped and Donnie was free of that bitch.

Pulling away himself Casey found that Donnies energy had gone from a glitching mess of contradictions to a calmer clicking of a keyboard. The same noise that always lulled him to sleep.

Fuck he loved this turtle.

Did this make him a furry?

Who knew, basic point was Donnie was free from that leash now and they could deal with whatever came next without the manipulation of someone else. Fully retreating to himself, Casey watched as the barely there fog over Donnies eyes cleared and he looked at April with a scowl rather than the frown from a moment before.

“Wha-what?”

Oh this bitch was in for it.

—

Bonus pt 2!

April didn’t know what was going on, Raph had landed in front of her and demanded to know how she got here(rude!) and refused to answer her questions of what was going on! Instead he told her to leave(as if she didn’t have a right to know what was going on) because she ‘wasn’t supposed to be here’, which was totally BS because Casey was there and if she wasn’t allowed, then he certainly wasn’t either.

But when she said she would get Casey out too Raph told her that he was asked to be here! So she tried asking why they were fighting a man who…. Looked a lot like Splinter’s old photo of when he was human… Why were they fighting Splinter?!?!

“Cause he’s an ass, now go and leave this to the people who were actually invited to help here!” Raph actually growled then, those odd sounds he and the others made sometimes when they lost control of the human language(eww).

April tried to just go and find out from Donnie, willing his attention to turn to her, only to find him ignoring her! That never happened before!

Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Raph tackled her and covered them both in some kind of dark red fire that she thought was just an illusion. Turned out it was some kind of magic power that Raph developed and was now using to keep her out of the fight, as if she couldn’t handle herself!

It was a while of wrestling with Raph to try and get him to let her join before she was suddenly pulled right next to Splinter. She watched as the balls of fire-like light reformed into other turtles and the one that was in the center, now in front of them, was Mikey!

He was wearing fingerless gloves and some similar kind of sock things with a bronze base and golden swirls(where did he get those, she was going to ask) alongside an orange scarf tied into a bow around his neck.

Then Mikey opened his eyes.

They were glowing with a harsh, burning, golden orange around bronze pupils that were as cold as they were searing. Mikey then focused on her and Splinter and GLARED.

What the-

Chapter 10: Book it!

Angie was watching Splinter and April squirm under his gaze as music began to play from around the room, Audiomachines ‘battle weary’ if he was remembering correctly. It made him feel like a god. It made him feel like he could do this, not just because he was angry, but because he needed to. It reminded him that he was the one who should have power in his own mindscape. Before he lost his courage Angie spoke.

“Leave.”

That short sentence, unfortunately, predictably caused Splinter to summon his own strength to yell.

“I will not, I am your father and you will obey me, repay your debt!”

“Debt?!?!” Raph raised his voice from the side “What debt?!”

“The debt from raising him alongside you despite his evil nature!”

Audacity was wasted on the inane.

Silencing the cries of outrage from his brothers, the spirits, and friend with a raised hand, Angie filled his voice with as much steel-laced disdain as he could.

“I owe you nothing”

Using the same raised hand he used to call for quiet Angie sent the two trespassers flying out of his mindscape.

There was a problem though, neither April nor Splinter were far in the physical world and if they wanted this freedom to stick they had to be separated long enough for Angie to build his mental barriers. He had to get away and take the others with him if they were to do this. Waving his hand again he placed his allies gently into their bodies and awoke his own.

Opening his eyes Angie spotted April sitting on Leo’s bed, their only saving grace was her disorientation from being thrown into her body. Grabbing the twin katanas from the wall and pulling everyone to their feet with glowing chains he used a touch of the same mist N commanded to get them into fight or flight mode.

“We gotta go, my room now!”

“Wha- shit!” Raph was startled into running toward the door when he noticed April, almost like a cat, dragging Leo and Donnie along with him.

Angie led the charge, pulling essentials from all over the lair with his chains and packing them away. He even grabbed Ice Cream Kitty and her toys from the freezer(finally he was able to make sure she didn’t melt outside that place) before Splinter shoved open the dojo screens.

Shoving his bed over the door gap once everyone was inside, using the cloth and liberal alchemy to make his clothes in the physical, Angie stepped toward the far wall. Hands on the smooth concrete and fingers splayed he poured his magic into it until he had made a tunnel all the way to the mighty mutanimal base. Opening the new tunnel he ordered the others through.They moved only when they heard Splinter kick the bed, the force of it splintering the wooden frame.

Following and closing the wall once more, Angie could only look over his brothers one more time, not willing to risk anything giving them away. Thanking the spirits of the world he had because Splinter had managed to sneak tethers on all of them. Burning them was simple enough as he pushed them onward, closing the pathway more until they had made it halfway to their destination. Their safe haven.

Slowing down, taking a breath, Angie turned to his brothers and friend.

“We’re safe now, so, any questions?”

—-

Note to self: Never piss of Angie

Raph had thought he saw Angie mad before, maybe even angry, but nothing could have ever compared to the pure rage that filled the stare he gave Splinter. It made the man cower for god's sake! Plus the barely hidden contempt and fury when he told Splinter he owed him nothing! Better than any of the stupid lines in the shows Leo watched.

Of course when he ‘woke up’ to a sudden sense of dread and April opening milky white eyes on Leo’s bed while he got dragged up wasn’t exactly what he expected after such an awesome showdown. Raph was expecting a party and maybe talking more to the subconscious minds as they explored the new place. Instead he was running to his outouos room while his gear was strapped on him and Icky(Ice Cream Kitty was a long name ok) with legs(HOW???) clinging to the newly formed scarf tied around Angie's neckwhile he opened a fucking tunnel in the wall.

He certainly didn’t expect to hear such a demanding tone from his outouo as he turned around to reveal eyes with very prominent, very glowy, flecks of the colors he was when he was a flaming star. Raph, and everyone else, had frozen at those eyes. No clue why the others had, but raph froze because he was in both awe and shock. At least until Splinter made his presence clear and tried to bust down the bed blocking the door.

Now they had all just finished running, or skating in Casey’s case, for what felt like half the city and had slowed down enough to ask what the fuck just happened. Also where the fuck Angie got those thigh pouches… eh he probably just summoned them like he did the rest of his outfit.

“I got one,” no time like the present to get some actual answers, “what the actual hell did we just run from, and the follow up, where are we going?

Angie had the nerve to smirk like he hadn’t just made them run so fast he felt like his lungs were going to burst. “One, we just ran from a pissed off rat bastard who was going to try and knock us out to put all of us and the spirits in chains, and two, we’re heading to the mighty mutanimals for a safe haven.”

“Why the mighty mutanimals?” Donnie chimed in, obviously having just caught his breath as he leaned against the wall.

“Leatherhead knows about my whole situation with Splinter and can be trusted to-” whatever Angie was about to say got cut off by a bunch of exclamations, Ralphs included because-

“What the hell, why did Leatherhead get to know before we did?! Did he try to help??”

Leo moved forward to take Angie's hand as he asked something that Raph realized he should have thought of first, “Did we make you feel like you couldn’t come to us with this?”

Fucking hells, now Raph understood why Leo got so mad about the smacks upside the head. Angie was actually affected by them. He was lying through his teeth when he shrugged it off.

He was a horrible brother

—

Donnie could practically feel the self hate radiating off of Raph as the full implications of what Leo said sunk in, he couldn’t blame him. Donnie was also a horrible brother when it came to actually taking care of their youngest, his only younger brother, practically neglecting him.

Angie had shifted his eyes to look at them both and his face immediately collapsed into a kind of sad acceptance of whatever his next words were going to be before he looked Leo dead in the eyes once more.

“Not you guys, the rat is to blame here,” Donnie was beginning to think every problem between them would lead back to Splinter, “you would have been easy to read off of, I told Leatherhead because he wasn’t, he had mental barriers strong enough that he could prepare false memories or make use of the bad ones to mask his thoughts” having bad memories provide some use was a strange concept, “Splinter would have cut through your minds and discover the plan to escape far too quickly to have it work in any situation other than this one.”

“What was your plan before all this outouo?” Donnie knew it sounded like a bad segue but he had to know if his outouo was ever going to tell them.

A small frown, widened eyes, and a short stride to hug Donnie where he stood, “wait for Splinter to die and hope I wasn’t already gone by then…”

“‘Gone by then’, Angie were you-”

“We should keep going,” Angie cut off Leo’s attempt to get more answers, “we should get to the mutanimals base before they head out for patrol, I’ll answer more questions there.”

“Angie, can you answer one more question?”

“…just the one Donnie.”

“If you waited, and we didn’t free you, how long would you have had?”

“…with all the restrictions…5 years at best,” Angie didn’t turn to look at anyone as he said that, “I don’t wanna explain everything twice so I’ll explain at the mutanimals base.”

5 years. That was how long they would’ve had with their outouo had nothing happened. If Splinter didn’t have them swap masks and Leo didn’t find out, if Leo lied poorly, if something went wrong… they would’ve only had 5 years and never known the truth.

“Dude,” Casey put a hand over Angie’s shoulder, “I know we just fought the guy, but I really wanna kick the shit outta your dad, is there a way you could pin him so we can do that?”

The idea was enticing, but “If you give me some time and materials I could make a recreation of the cage he put Angie in so he can experience what he did, karmic retribution in a way.”

“Thanks for the sentiment guys,” Angie reached out and grabbed Raphs hand, “but how about we don’t plan torture?”

“Angie’s right,” huh, Raph was acting on his actual thoughts for once, “no one plans this kind of stuff out loud!”

“Raph,”

“Yeah outouo?”

“why?”

“He’s an ass who called you evil.”

“I also want to add the 5 year life expectancy.” Donnie was still trying to wrap his head around how locking someone in their own mind could kill them.

“And how he slapped you!” Leo had crossed his arms as he spoke but the twitching of his fingers betrayed the way he wanted to reach for his katana.

Icky hissed at the mention of Angie getting hurt… Donnie had never related so much to a cat in his life.

—-

Leo was still livid, more so now he had learned of the short time they would have had if they weren’t practically forced to take action. Stewing in his hate and planning how to beat the mutagen out of Splinter to share with the others once they reached the mighty mutanimals’ base carried him through the rest of the walk. When they did reach the dead end Leo was surprised to find that Angie hadn’t let go of Raphs hand.

Watching as Angie kneeled to the ground, palms flat against the floor and freckles(there were more of them now and they were all various shades of orange) beginning to glow, Leo wondered what kind of miracle he would perform this time. Then the floor began to rise and the ceiling above them opened up until they were in a strangely decorated living room in front of the mighty mutanimals. Judging by the music, sound effects, and the controllers in the mutanimals hands they had just derailed a Mario kart tournament.

Angie stood on shaky legs, apparently catching Leatherhead's eyes as he did, and Leo was sure that even N’s smile couldn’t compete with how vindictive Angie’s smile was now.

“Hey Leatherhead, I’m free.”

The way Leatherhead lit up at the words before he dropped the controller to pick up and hug Angie had Leo rethinking the way he viewed the old reptile. Especially when he took note of how much care was put into not jostling the already unsteady Angie. The other mighty mutanimals were staring in disbelief at the floor and them before Slash spoke up.

“How did you get here?”

Dr. Rockwell and Pigeon Pete followed soon after,

“How did you rise through the floor?!”

“Mikey wasn’t free already?????”

“It’s a long story guys,” Angie was leaning heavily against Leatherheads shoulder as he spoke, “right now we need a place to rest and-”

“And I already have rooms ready for you,” wait what? Slash stared at Leatherhead when he said that as though something had just clicked, “though two of you will have to share.”

Leo watched as Angie winced when Pete exclaimed in surprise and Slash asked if Leatherhead expecting this to happen was why they were banned from doing anything on the second level. Moving quickly to rest a hand to his outouos Leo looked for permission to share, looking straight into Angie’s eyes. The intense eye contact was uncomfortable but necessary to show Angie what he planned.

The second he got the nod of approval Leo spoke. “We had an eventful night of fighting the Foot clan, discovering the cruelty of Splinter, using some kind of psionic power inside Angie’s head, and running to get here,” Dr. Rockwell stared at Angie with wide eyes, “we would be happy to explain why and what happened but first we need some rest.”

“That shit was exhausting in so many ways I think we might just hibernate for a week,” Raph was walking towards Slash and he talked, “you will not believe the shit that Rat bastard pulled, he slapped Angie like it was nothing while he was trapped in a cage like a goddamn canary!”

Raph, after sitting heavily on the floor next to Slash’s leg and sighing, promptly fell asleep in the shocked silence. Much to Leo’s disgruntlement, his direct younger brother stayed asleep despite the cries of questions. Wanting nothing more than to follow in those footsteps Leo tried to come up with a way to get to the aforementioned rooms, only to be blindsided by the sight of those phantom versions of himself again… not dealing with that tonight(day?).

Following the path of wordlessly scooping up Raph and grabbing Donnie’s hand to lead them in following Leatherhead, Leo bid the others a good night. They could deal with this tomorrow.

—-

Bonus!

Casey could sense turmoil in all his turtle friends when Angie revealed his estimated lifespan…

Leo was like a storming ocean, Raph sputtering charcoal, Angie…, and Donnie tv static even after he tried to lighten the mood with ideas of how to kick splinters ass. The only creature in that tunnel that was sure of themselves was Icky, probably cause she had legs(still so weird to think about) outside of the freezer for once.

Though Casey could also sense constant use of psionics from Angie as they walked. Following the power he found that Angie was expanding the tunnels. He couldn’t follow the trail far but the way Angie was working them created a whole new system Casey thought would extend all over the city. Then he checked what else Angie was doing, only to realize that Angie was the only reason they were breathing good air at the moment. He was taking the CO2 they were breathing out and shoving the carbon into the walls, leaving oxygen for them to breathe.

The fact he could manage that was super mondo cool! Casey knew he just unlocked whatever power he had but he couldn’t wait until he would be able to do something like this too!

—-

Bonus pt 2!

April couldn’t believe what had happened, how angry Mikey was. How they tried to call him by a girls name. What they said about Master Splinter. The fact Donnie ignored her!

Something was clearly wrong.

She was going to find out. She couldn’t sense them but she would find them! To the left of Mikey’s room was a sewer pipe that they probably used to get away, they just had to use that.

When April said as much to Splinter he squared his shoulders and grabbed his green cane. They would get the boys back and get rid of whatever made them act like this.

No matter what.

Chapter 11: Calm Before the Storm

Notes:

Went heavy on the Jonatello this chapter, hope those of you who know flower language can figure out what Donnie means🙃

Also I love a chaotic Angie and he deserves a partner but he does not get any romance in this so before people start I’m shutting it down in this AU

Donnie was sharing his room with Casey, logical considering Raph snored and Leo was a creepy sleep talker, but he was a bit on edge about the fact. They had formed a bond when they were in Angie’s mind. Ignoring the peck on the cheek it was still a strange sensation to have a part of your being intertwined with another. It felt so… intimate.

Sitting up from the floor, he looked at Casey and felt for the connection like he had felt the pathway to Angie’s mind. He found a brown bridge with silver detailing. Donnie’s own royal purple as delphinium, carnation, and gladiola flowers lining the path. Their meanings were something Donnie was rather keen on ignoring as he basked in the feeling of stability and soft light that danced like little fireflies.

Instead of following the bridge as he had the small path that led to Angie’s mind Donnie sat and continued to bask. He felt a twitch in the way the invisible wind played with the flowers, heard footsteps on the bridge, and suddenly Casey was sitting next to him. The boy was leaning into the crook between his arm and plastron, hair tickling the skin that dipped into his shell.

“What does it look like?”

The question caught Donnie off guard, he almost couldn’t process it and was sure the only reason he did was the strength of how the question rang through their bond. “What does what look like?”

“My path, what leads to my mind, what does it look like?”

That.. was a fair question as Donnie wasn’t able to see his own path, “Will you tell me what mine looks like cave-mouth?”

The chuckle at the nickname that once fueled a rivalry sounded like ringing gongs, deep and resonating, as Casey shook slightly with it and melted further into his plastron. “Sure shell-for-brains, try not to bore me to death please.”

The tone was exasperated but the way fondness lingered beneath it and hummed low through the bond betrayed Casey’s thoughts. Turning his head to look again, Donnie began, “It’s a bridge, mostly brown with silver accents, surrounded by silver firefly-like glow spots and purple flowers all along it,” looking down showed Casey slack jawed as he stared from where he came from, strange, “now what about mine?”

Casey shook his head and turned to face the direct opposite of his bridge, shifting to have his legs drape over Donnies in the process, “It looks like a paved garden path, one of those weird looking arches they show all over japan-”

Donnie watched as he shifted viewpoints. It was as though he was looking through Casey’s eyes. “Spirit gates…”. He saw what Casey was describing, a garden of flowers and plants in ranges of purple shades-

“-I think I recognize some silver flowers, maybe baby’s breath, bittersweet, and… camellia? My sister was obsessed with flower language for a while so I hope that’s right, seems a little naturey for you!”

The last sentence before Donnie was seeing through his own eyes again was said with an air of levity that he failed to match, instead he had butterflies in his stomach and a blush spreading across his cheeks. Casey was right and the meanings were so… Baby’s breath: Everlasting love. Camellia: Longing/you are a flame in my heart/you’re adorable. Bittersweet: Truth.

Then Casey looked up and cupped his face, so natural in the way he moved, worry clear in his eyes until Donnie pulled him into a hug. He sent a surge of appreciation across the bond and slipped the boy who made him realize so much back into his body, mimicking the way Angie had done for them. Right before they separated he felt the wave of realization and embarrassment flare.

He chuckled in the physical world as he heard Casey sit up, opening his eyes to see the flustered boy gesture for Donnie to join him in the bed. Too tired to feel flustered at the prospect he joined easily and pulled Casey to lay a little closer.

It was late enough with their jaunt into the mental/spiritual world, they could talk more in the morning. It could be handled and Donnie could ask his brothers how to show he cared without being so… overbearing at best.

Tomorrow.

—

Angie was carried into his room at the end of the hall and let down to enter when he spoke up to get Leatherhead to talk despite the aching migraine he was nursing. They were seated on the floor when he made certain that the spirits wouldn’t hear their conversation. “Leatherhead I have to thank you for doing so much but I- I’m afraid I have to ask for one more thing,”

“Whatever you ask Angie, I will do my best to fulfill the request.”

“I know, you’ve made that very clear since our time in dimension x,” a chuckle sounded from his friend’s throat as they both recalled every time Leatherhead had jumped at the opportunity to ‘pay back’ his ‘debt’ to Angie for saving him. “, still this is a bigger request than I’ve ever made before…”

It took a fortifying breath before Angie could speak again, Leatherhead needed to fully understand the scope of what he was asking before a decision was reached. “As I have told you before, the power I was forced to accumulate has been released by creating spirits in the past, and now those spirits are no longer bound to stay with me as they were when we were chained…”

Leatherhead nodded and began to absentmindedly rub his wrists where the old shackles had been.

“Those spirits have decided to stay with me and have a shared dream to live in the physical world as… my children…” That got Leatherhead to perk up. The prospect of being able to watch as others grew happily was a joy they shared after all.

“I don’t have high hopes for finding a romantic partner, much less one I can… have children with, so I plan to use my powers to create these children from a sample of my blood and that of another,” the time to make his request was now or never, “I wanted to ask if you would be comfortable providing the other blood sample?”

It took a moment for the question to fully register, but when it did Angie could sense and see the war between elation at having been chosen for this question and worry at whether or not he would be a good father figure. “I am honored that you would consider me, though I must ask, are you sure I would be the best candidate? Slash is a tortoise like yourself and would probably result in a child that was more predictable in its development.”

Leatherhead made a good point, it was one Angie had mulled over for hours in the cage. But his decision was firm in that if it were anyone, it would have to be Leatherhead or a non-mutated turtle. “I know, and I am glad to know we both understand how important this decision is, but I cannot live comfortably knowing it was Slash who provided the blood sample… he planned to kill me, Donnie, and Leo when he was first mutated,” Angie could already see the argument rising from Leatherhead, “and yes, I know you did something similar when we first met, but you were blacked out while the plans to kill us from Slash were a premeditated choice.”

“...what would happen to your plans for children if I didn’t give a sample? Do you have another option?”

“Yes, a non-mutated turtle, probably a red eared slider or an alligator snapping turtle.”

“You are certain of these two choices, there are no other ways?”

“The only other way would be to clone myself and they’ve existed looking like me long enough,” Angie saw how Leatherhead was barreling towards making his choice immediately, “please take your time to think on this LH, I wanted to tell you now, years in advance, so you could take the time to properly think it out and decide whether you would be the donor or not, either way you are welcome in their lives.”

A smile stretched Leatherhead’s scaled mouth as he fully took in the deluge of information, his spirit shining in his assuredness. “The next time you ask, I will have an answer, now-” Leatherhead stood once more and headed for the door “-I hope you sleep well on your first night as a free turtle, good night Angie.”

Angie did sleep well in the criminally soft mattress despite the distinct hour of getting yelled at about how cool the new rooms were and how reckless he was in wasting so much power when they needed to fix the network. Then the other two hours of fixing said network on his own so the others could relax. It was the least he could do for them as both the reason they were there in the first place and hopefully future dad, maybe when he was twenty he would bring Mike into the world. He would have to check their lists of alternate names before then.

When he woke up from the first pleasant dream in years, Angie went to make breakfast as usual(the migraine was gone and he wanted some familiarity, sue him). The mutanimals had some better food to use than they had back at the lair so he decided to get a bit decadent with what they could have, especially now that he didn’t have to eat anything as disgusting as the literal trash he ate so the others could have good food.

Pressing start on his playlist as he pulled out some fish and vegetables, (making a shopping list as he went)Angie hummed along, today would be full of hard conversations and explanations. At the least they would be able to start off on the right foot.

—

Raph woke up slowly. He was warm and comfortable but he could only sleep for so long. Lifting the cover and shivering slightly at the cool air around him Raph got up with a yawn. It took a moment to remember why he was in a building rather than the sewers, and when he did he groaned at the shit show of memories kicking around in his head, then he realized he made fucking fire at the palms of his hands.

Raph remembered being hauled to his feet by thin chains that were impossibly gentle. They felt just like the power from inside Angie’s mind, so, had to be him. If Angie could use his, then maybe Raph could use those flames again, or he might just fuck up and burn down the mutanimal base…

With determination Raph got up to hunt down his outouo for some lessons in how to use some powers like he did, and then he face planted by tripping over Icky. The cat, a bastard, just meowed angrily at Raph for disturbing her nap before prancing out through the crack under the door like she owned the place. Icky meowed again from the other side as though she expected Raph to follow her to wherever she wanted to go, probably the kitchen.

As he picked himself and grabbed for his mask he realized he left it behind. Instead Raph found a new mask in his left hip pouch, soft and the same maroon as his flames and the ends showing off an intricate embroidery of fire in red and a color that was slightly darker than the maroon base. Putting it on for the first time did nothing to change his vision but it felt like he was able to feel a little more. Something was tugging him towards the door in time with Icky’s calls at the least.

What he finds after following is Angie making several sides for a big breakfast to a song he’s singing along to, several small things jumping to his ungloved hands as he reaches for them. It smells heavenly and he almost moves forward to get first dibs when Leo grabs him from behind, covering his mouth in the process, and pulls him back. Raph turns to see Leo also stopping Donnie and Casey from moving into the kitchen, signaling them to listen for a few moments.

It seems stupid until Raph watched Icky move forward to curl around Angie’s legs and the smile on his face falter for a moment as he looked down before it widened again. The smile was different from the wide toothy one Raph always associated with a happy outouo, it was smaller, closed mouthed, and it looked so natural. Then Angie started to sing along with that song again, louder than when they first heard his voice in the cage, smoother than they had heard before he was free.

“Cause I’m still standing, better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, I’m feeling like a little kid,”

The song was a victory call!

“I’m still standing, after all this time, picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind, I’m still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah”

Raph could have sworn the only reason Angie didn’t continue singing was the timer on the oven going off. Turning to it, Angie grabbed a folded cloth and used it to pull out a pan of what smelled like bread rolls. Growling from all four of their stomachs gave them away.

“Oh, Morning guys!” Angie was talking as he started plating multiple side dishes. “Hope you're hungry, I may have, uh, gone a little overboard?”

“If this is what happens when you go overboard, I want to encourage it.” And boy was that a sentiment Raph agreed with.

There was some light broth soup, fish in multiple styles, fried rice, eggs 3 ways, those cheesy garlic bread knots that just got taken out of the oven, like 4 different types of potatoes. and stuff Raph didn’t know the names of but it all smelled delicious. Only problem with it was that Angie smacked his hand away when he tried to grab something off a plate.

“Not yet, we’re guests here so our hosts get first dibs, speaking of…”

From behind them they heard Pigeon Pete gasp at the sight and smell of fresh bread, he almost barreled them all over in his quest for it. Only to similarly be stopped by Angie because the knots were still too hot(take that you lucky bastard). Dr. Rockwell followed soon after and began analyzing the food for whatever reason. Slash and Leatherhead were on the other side of the kitchen in the next minute, just staring at the food and Angie intermittently. Weird

—

Leo had just walked over to the kitchen after tying his new bandana across his face, what he now recognized was cobalt replaced by a royal blue base with blue and teal snowflake embroidery on its ends(he didn’t know how to feel about that). When he saw those vestiges again. They merged into two paths this time, one was to stop Raph from walking into the kitchen and the other was to let him go. This time there were small noise signs, the first had song notes and a cat, the second had distressed crooked lines.

So he stopped Raph from going and heard Angie’s smoothed out voice singing out his victory, stopping Donnie and Casey from going forward as well(Donnies new mash was a dark purple, indigo and the same light purple as was on Mikes flames making some kind of flowers on the ends while Casey had a new plaid bandana in his spirits colors), at least until they were caught by the rumbling of their stomachs.

It was nice how normal the sibling interactions were, even if something felt off, like something had yet to be shared. The edges of his sight pinged green for a moment before returning to normal… another gift to ask about later.

When the Mutanimals arrived they, with the exception of Leatherhead, were all confused, to the point where Rockwell asked Angie where he had gotten ‘all this’.

Weird question, they should have known what was in their kitchen, and considering Angie made all this… why was his smile sinister now?!

“Shredder has a bank account, I learned enough hacking in dimension x to get through a firewall, and there’s a store 2 streets down with an atm out front-” Angie moved fluidly to set down a few place sets “-simple as that!”

“How did you learn how to code in a few hours?!?” Donnie practically yelled his question as he was pushed to sit at the large table which, now that Leo thought about it, wasn’t there yesterday.

“Ah, right, one of the things we need to talk about today, I was actually in dimension x for about a year-”

All three of them exclaimed “WHAT!”

“-which makes me 17 instead of 16 like you guys are, congratulations on becoming the outouo now Donnie.”

Leatherhead was laughing as Slash and Rockwell stared open jawed, Pete wasn’t paying attention as he ate the first of his garlic knots. Raph looked like he was reeling from so many revelations. Donnie sat down and held his head in his hands. Casey was stock still with wide open eyes. With everything happening around him, Leo was wondering if they would ever have a normal day ever again.

“Wait,” something hit Leo just as he stared down into the green tea Angie had set in front of him, “how did you go above ground without causing a panic?” They were mutant turtles and they had multiple examples of regular humans screaming in terror at their faces. But from what Angie had described, he went up there and paired for groceries like a regular person, none of the usual threats and fear involved.

Angie’s grin grew sharp again. This time he waited to put his gloves on again before he snapped his fingers and was surrounded by a pale golden mist. When the mist cleared they were all staring at a dark skinned boy with curly dark brown hair. Dressed in fingerless gloves that reached his elbows, pants , a cropped short sleeve hoodie that hung loose around his shoulders, a pair of white high tops, and a sleeveless black turtleneck that hugged his body.

The only words he managed to get out before the table erupted with sound were “I have my ways.”

Through the noise Leo stared at his tea, looked back up at his newly dubbed older brother and regretted the fact he was still too young to try sake.

At least the food was good.

—-

Bonus!

Holy hell broke loose when Angie showed off his human form, disguise? Honestly, Casey couldn’t blame anyone. After all, it was on top of the revelation that you’re dads an abusive asshole, your little brother becoming your eldest brother, the fact that said brother can use alchemy, the spread he made from stealing from your worst enemy, and the fact he was in a pink hell dimension for a year.

Yeah, Casey didn’t think anyone could blame them, even as Leo drank his tea as if it were something stronger. Leatherhead was still smiling and looked like he was comforting Slash, whispers passed between the two.

Casey had a more important question on his mind though. What would Donnie look like if he got that power? Casey wouldn’t trade the turtle for the world, fancy looks or not, but he was curious. I mean if Angie looked hot(shut up that was one of his best friends not his crush dammit) then he could only imagine what Donnie would look like.

Aaaand Rockwell was looking at him, god did Casey want to hide his face. He pulled his bandana down from his head as he wished for his mask, when suddenly he had his mask on his face. His bandanna had shifted. He just did his first bit of alchemy and it was to hide a blush…

That… fuck it, the dumplings looked good.

—-

Bonus pt 2!

April and Splinter ran through the sewers looking for any sign of the boys, yet they found nothing. Extending her senses as far as she could, April tried to look for that strange interference after giving up on looking for the individual turtles. When she returned to her body she shook away the mounting headache.

Splinter put his hand on her shoulder and though they didn’t say a word to each other she could feel the worry radiating off of him. Then April realized something, if she couldn’t find their signatures, she could look for emotions! It would be difficult to sort through them but if she found a patch of extra loud emotions like Raph or Mikey then they could lead her to the others. Even if their emotions were covered in that same interference she would be able to follow the absence!

So she stretched her consciousness again, searching for the emotions that would show where in New York the boys had gone. Splinter was still worried but she pushed further past his feelings and past the stores just beginning to open, until she found herself looking through the eyes of a cashier. It was strange but she could see a boy(a pretty boy) who was buying a lot of food. The boy's laugh reminded her of Mikey and the smile was just as bright.

Her mind brought forward images of the small sun and an angry Mikey unbidden. Eyes of molten gold and pupils of hardened determination on someone who glared unwavering at her. She caught a glimpse of the store's name as she was shoved back into her body as roughly as a despised rag doll.

Heaving April opened her eyes as Splinter swept away her sweat soaked bangs. “I know where to start.”

She was determined she would find them, she just had to follow that boy's trail.

Chapter 12: I have a favor to ask

Summary:

Not a real chapter

I have tried to make a chapter that covers the rules of the world and the differences between April, Casey, and Angie’s powers more specifically

However that chapter was very exposition heavy and I don’t like when chapters do that so I won’t subject you all to it either

So I ask everyone who reaches this chapter without dropping the fic to leave a question in the comments so I can make the next chapter a kind of Q&A with answers directed to the readers and small segments that show the explanation in the story

Thank you all in advance

Chapter 13: Q&A + Skits

Q - Why did Angie say he would only have 5 years to live?!?!?!

A - Skit

“So…” The air was thick with tension as Donnie began to ask the first question of what was sure to be many, shifting on the couch they had all relocated to after breakfast, “why did you say… why would you have only had 5 years?”

Angie smiled small and sad, a turtle once more, as he answered. “A person can only have so much power before they are consumed by it, it’s why my imprisonment was so dangerous, and why I used drastic measures to get rid of it.”

“You mean that’s why you-” Leo cut himself off with a hand over his mouth as his eyes blew open, shining with unshed tears.

“Yeah, that’s why you saw the streams of power bleeding out of me,” Angie was frowning and twisting his fingers together as he spoke, “though they may not have been physical cuts, they still hurt and added to the oozing wounds on Neural.”

—

Q - Does Angie have DID?

A - No, in a previous note at the beginning of Chapter 8: Progress(a technical part two) Angie does not have Dissociative Identity Disorder. Instead he created spirits from a large amount of his own energy(about enough to power the US for 2 months if it were measured as electricity).

He made one as a child and was ill for a few days after due to the strain, the spirit would later become one of imagination and be officially named Mike.

There was no strain from the creation of later spirits because the build up from being unable to use practically any of his power made it more like a process to release pressure on his mind and body.

—

Q - How many alters are there?

A - There are six spirits in Angies mind at the moment. They are(in creation order) Mike of Imagination, Mikey of Dreams, N of Fear, Neural of the Networks, An of Memory, and Micheal of Truth.

—

Q - What did the flowers mean in Chapter 11: Calm Before the Storm

A - Purple carnations can symbolize impulsiveness and whimsical decisions, usually given to partners as a way to compliment their spontaneity while also asking them to be more careful.

Delphiniums represent positive changes or modifications(they are also poisonous but that’s more a fun fact rather than important to the story).

Purple gladiola flowers are explicitly used to tell a person you are already friends with that you love them.

—-

Q - How did Leo feel seeing the black goopy ink shit in the first chapters(like more in depth Ig? Like was bro absolutely horrified intrigued or??)

A - Skit

Leo was marveling at the brightness of practically everything, most especially that of his family, once his eyes had adjusted. The variety of colors was breathtaking and the ceilings were covered in murals of the sky at different times of day. The kitchen a pleasant dawning, the living room a sunny day spotted by clouds, the training room a dusk of vibrant purples.

It was so beautiful he almost missed the darkness around him. Almost.

When Leo first caught sight of a pitch black ooze covering a part of a plush toy in the pit he had nearly pulled out his swords. It seemed to be squirming and writhing as it spread and shrank over the face of the turtle plush April had gifted them. A sheen of dark yellow only visible when he shifted.

But Raph wasn’t reacting. Donnie walked by and didn’t react either. Mikey had walked past and pat his shoulder as though he knew what was there… was this normal?!

—-

Q - Did April put that tether thing on Donnie on purpose, what did it do?

A - She did it subconsciously when Donnie first saw her(he was the first turtle to see her at all so it latched onto him) as a way to make sure someone would be motivated to save her and it was the reason Donnie was so obsessed with her.

—

Q - Is there any future shipping planned?

A - No, but considering the Jonatello wasn’t planned that doesn’t mean there won’t be other shipping.

—

Q - How does the spirit realm work?

A - The spirit realm is one we haven’t visited, what we saw in the story was Angie’s inner mind.

The inner mind is a place a person can reach if they meditate deep enough and is a representation of that person's soul and/or their mental state. Some may also call it a mindscape or a mind palace(for reference look at how the Sanders Sides fanbase treats their mindscape).

The spirit world itself is more of a collection of planes parallel to the real world and is where the spirits in Angie’s head would have gone if Angie died

—

Q - How did the boys get these powers?

A - Angie was born with close ties with the spiritual magic thing of this world by chance and it spiraled from there, Casey developed his powers through meditation(strict definition is thinking deeply or focusing one’s mind, which Casey does when he plays hockey), and here’s a Skit for the bros.

Raph was staring at his hands in concentration, almost as though he was trying to burn a hole through his palms. “Why the fuck can’t I make fire anymore!”

“Cause that was my power you were using, you just flavored it.” Angie was embroidering a white child sized poncho with a rainbow of animals along the bottom when he answered.

Leo muted the tv as he turned to his ani, “I’m sorry what?” It had been an hour since the official explanation of what had happened in the mindscape. This was not covered.

“When you three ‘unlocked’ those powers in my mind you felt, or in Raph’s case saw, the power become yours, right?” The brothers nodded, the mutanimals and Casey trading looks of confusion. “That was basically what happened, your cores, spirits, energy- whatever you want to call it, colored the power I lent you so you could fight Splinter.”

“So why didn’t I feel that?” Casey questioned from his place at the small table where he was playing uno with slash and Pigeon Pete, “I mean I felt my power change what my spear was but that was it- did I miss the feeling or something?”

“Oh nah, you had more than enough power to do what you did in my mindscape and possibly in the physical world if you learn to tap into it,” pulling the mauve thread tight for a phoenix Angie turned to look at his friend, “I mean, you already did some alchemy on that bandana.”

Donnie had looked up from the notes he was going over, and furiously adding too, to stare at Angie from his place on the floor. “...can we do that?”

“Yep, if you cultivate the power you should be able to apply what you learned in the mental to the physical.”

“...will you teach us?”

“We start when I finish this.”

—

Q - Why is Splinter so hypocritical of Mikey’s powers? He clearly has magic abilities and so does April. So why is he like that? Is it a prejudice thing, where he’s one with humans who have powers or people who were originally human? And he views mutants or animal mutants unworthy/undeserving of those same kind of powers, even though they are sentient.

A - Wow that’s a long question!

First, yes it is partially due to prejudice. Splinter thinks his sons are just exceptionally smart for animal mutants and uses Pigeon Pete as a reason.

But that’s not the only reason, Splinter also has never heard of someone being powerful enough to create a spirit whole cloth. At the very least he’s never heard about someone who made a spirit that wasn’t evil. Then he saw this child, a mutant child he was predisposed to believe would be lesser than, make a spirit with very few repercussions.

Then after he was trapped in a mental cage for a few years the same kid makes two more spirits with Zero repercussions. Splinter's own fear made him fall into this prejudice harder and made him act this way.

—-

Q - We know April's power will be very different considering the Kraang, but how come Casey is different from Angie’s? I thought it was much weaker?

A - Casey has just tapped into the power he built up from his meditation during hockey so he’s inexperienced. He will be able to do practically all the things Angie can once they start training it, but it will take a bigger toll.

April only has the powers from the show and the tether thing, she cannot grow further than that because of the Kraang meddling because power from earth tends to avoid her like the plague.

—-

Q - What is Happening with Leo? Psionic leftover from swapping masks with Angie?

A - It’s a bit complicated.

Leo has the closest connection to the spiritual out of everyone but Angie and Casey and his subconscious adopted the concept he saw inside the mindscape.

Basically it saw how cool and helpful it was to see potential plans in his eyes, then how it could be applied without needing a mirror, and decided to do the thing while it still has the borrowed power. Unfortunately it will run out in the next chapter and will only return when he trains his own power.

—-

Q - What is the hardest power to pull off?

A - Singular action: Creating a spirit, hands down.

Cause that’s basically making a whole separate person with powers and cognitive thought(to the extent of their creators so a three year old makes a three year old) and a sense of understanding of the world and who is also invisible to everyone but the creator.

Plus as I have stated before in the notes at the top of Chapter 8: Progress, and earlier in this same Q&A, that it takes the same amount of energy to power the USA in its entirety for around 2 months.

Close second is making a whole baby, but that's only because it requires a ready made/ready to move in spirit and some DNA from either the person you want to clone or two people to make a genetically unique child.

Multiple actions at once: Anything if you do enough of it

—-

Q - How far into the future will Angie make the spirits his kids?

A - Angie plans to give them bodies when he’s somewhere in his mid twenties, 24-26, or whenever they defeat the big enemies so the kids would have a support system and stable home life. He planned this because 1. He was not going to appear on teen moms anytime soon and 2. He knew what it was like to be a child soldier fighting the battles of your parent and would not be letting His Children experience that if he could help it.

—-

Q - Where will the next chapter start?

A - The day of the characters sit down talk, about 4pm, they’ve had about 3 hours to process and recover from the showdown.

April and Splinter are getting closer to the mutanimal base by following what they can from people’s minds and city security cameras.

—-

Can’t wait to see you all next chapter and do some more of this when the story calls for it!

Chapter 14: Storms Edge

Notes:

Sorry for the wait

I hope to address the fact that April has been in the dark about a lot of things for pretty much the entire fic thus far next chapter

As promised, the moment Angie finished he dragged Donnie, Casey, Raph, and Leo to the room the mutanimals lent him. Soft forest green carpet covered the floor between the bed and desk. Both made of dark oak wood and the bed covered in the softest orange blankets Angie had ever felt(hopefully Leatherhead got them legitimately).

The four of them were sitting in the lotus position with Leo closest to the door, Raph on his left, Donnie to his right, and Casey in front of him. Angie was scrolling through his t-phone(untraceable by April or Splinters phones thanks to a dash of magic interlaced into the existing systems) looking for the good playlist.

Normally they would be in a row and silent(easier to observe and stop any fidgeting that way), but with Angie leading the meditation they were facing each other so they could train their sight. It would be interesting to see how they would manifest their powers. Their cores would need to be stabilized first in order to be properly used but it would be worth it to have

Pressing play on the first song a slow piano melody, joined soon by strings both low and high, sounded through the now set down t-phone. “Start your breathing, follow the crescendo to breathe in,” the volume of the strings rose, “and the diminuendo to breathe out,” the volume went down and remained at the level for a few moments before rising again. It was different to them, but easy to follow.

When Casey began to fidget, Angie put a fidget cube in his hands. It was quiet and focused Casey's mind on something that wasn’t Donnie. The way his aura shifted from sparks to fireworks and became more stable brown than shaking silver only emphasizing the fact that the boy needed an outlet. It also seemed to have caught Leo’s attention.

Within the minute, Donnie started to eye it. Leo stared as Angie placed a laptop in Donnies lap, the one from his lab that got grabbed in their dash away from the lair, its keyboard glowing a soft bronze. No sound rose from it as Donnie focused heavily on the instruction to try coding a program that would act like adobe flash(he desperately needed a way to visualize his ideas in 3D). Static buzzing replaced by the rumble of an engine and the clacking that should have been coming from the computer on his lap. Violet always did pair so very perfectly with royal purple.

Raph was perfectly still, but he was stiff and his eyes scrunched as though he were trying to force the meditation. Angie sent a small ball of orange light out the door, a ball of light that returned being chased by Icky. She pounced into Raphs lap, startling him enough to make him jolt. The light disappeared and Icky blinked up at Raph before she curled up and began purring like an engine. Leo stared(quite obviously)in shock at how quickly his brother relaxed into his meditation while petting Icky the whole way through. The flickering candle light swelling and for once gaining a shimmer of the red he so often wore before, so vibrant in its passion.

Looking up at Angie himself, Leo raised his eye ridges. The mask only enhanced the stripes Angie could now finally see(damn the rat for limiting him so much). His brother was so unsure about the differences in the meditation he was so used to. Well, he would understand once he saw the power of the others stabilizing. The swirling, curious, cosmos of his brother was looking for direction now though.

Putting power into his voice so only Leo would hear it, Angie spoke. “Focus, put power into your eyes, and see.”

—-

Leo was confused, the only familiar part of this meditation was the position, everything else… moved so much! Casey was playing with something and Donnie was just doing something on his computer and Raph had a cat in his lap! Leo had no idea how this could be in any way helpful for meditation!

“Focus,” why was no one else reacting, “put power in your eyes,” his eyes? “and see.”

See? What power does he put in his eyes? Is it the light blue strands he saw when this all began? Or was it-

Cold serenity came over him as Leo envisioned the power he felt within the mindscape, currents suddenly so intense within his veins they sounded in his ears. The currents of his blood. Currents of his life Currents of his soul, of his power…

Focus was the key.

The current were moveable but they were too wide to control, he had to condense them, but how? Icey fractals of thought formed around the edges of his mind… the eye of a needle, only passed by woven thread, thinnest of silks.

Grasping the frozen thought he formed a barrier, aiding its creation by freezing the raging water around the frame of thought, until it would thin the currents. Leo vaguely registered the warm feeling of pride suffused in the very air he breathed.

Shaping the route of his power along the existing veins and arteries of his body, Leo reached his eyes. He bade the currents to surround them until they were just balls of water. It felt odd. His eyes heated despite how cold the waters were and began to itch, this was wrong, it was becoming unbearable.

“Put power into your eyes”

The currents had only surrounded the eyes, not been put into them, not been as intertwined as the pride and air had been.

What had Donnie told them about eyes? They were one of the most intricate parts of the body, they had layers, they were filled with liquid. Liquid.

Moving the currents to the thinnest of the blood vessels and nerves surrounding his eyes Leo pushed, like oxygen moving into them, and pushed further until the currents were in the eye fluid. Until it became so mixed that one couldn’t be distinguished from the other. The heat abated, the odd feeling disappeared, it felt right.

This time when the pride hit him he felt it as sunshine warming his skin. Encouraging. It gave him a vision of his own eyes opening to the world. Sapphires staring back at him, Leo repeated the action, and saw.

Purple shades purring and pulsing in time with the clicking of a keyboard. A Maroon firelight flickering with red flecks. The sparkling silver fireworks shining in a brown sky. Above them all was the sun, brilliant bronze and gold rising from and diving back into an orange core, watching over them all with soft light.

It was gorgeous.

Wait what was that-

—-

Raph had been relaxed before, many times, but never this much during meditation. It was something about the “letting go” and “forgetting the physical world” that always put him on edge. A feeling that only got bigger when they had actual enemies to fight. Raph never thought he could ever be as good as Leo, or even Donnie, was at meditation because of that- that feeling.

Now though, now he had an older brother he knew for a damn fact could and would bring them out of any meditative state if an asshat tried to attack them. There was a cat in his lap purring like there was nothing else she was built to do. Music led their breathing so that he didn’t have to focus on counting seconds. They were in a place that had never been attacked by any of their enemies. Everything was so… peaceful.He had never felt warmer.

Though his eyes were closed he could see a candle, wick nearly drowning in the wax, supporting a tiny maroon flame. Moving without moving, Raph tried to save the cold fire, dipping his hands straight into the liquid wax. Visions of things that made him angry, annoyed, upset, feel like crying all rushed to the forefront of his mind. It was almost painful.

Almost.

Pushing past the uneasiness he accepted the events, admitted to himself the effect they had on him, and pushed the wax over the edge of the previously pristine candle. As it flowed, so did his feelings, it was as though every event was given its ending. Annoyance put to rest, apologies accepted, shits given.

The flame nearly exploded on the wick as it grew, warm and bright, until it gained a second color. A small spark, just below the core of the fire, shone a vibrant red. It was so familiar. It was action, passion strength, energy, love-

Raph wanted the color to spread, to feel those things more, maybe with this he would finally understand w-

“Oh what The- KUSO”

Raph jumped to his feet, dislodging Icky in the process at hearing Leo curse in japanese, only to find him staring at the empty air next to Angie’s head…

He had slipped out of the first good meditation in his life for this? For something invisible that had neither Angie or the lovebirds on the floor freaking out? Sometimes Raph wondered why Leo was the leader.

“What fearless, Angie isn’t that ugly”

Leo pointed at the space just next to Angie’s head “You can’t see that?!?”

“The air or our brother? Seriously are you going crazy?”

“No he’s not,” Angie chuckled as he spoke, “Leo just learned sight-“ What? Could Leo not see before or “- and can now see N”

“…What?!?”

“That thing is N!”

Why was all this new shit so complicated…

Before any more conversation could clear up what N was doing next to Angie’s head and why Leo was so scared of the little shit, Donnie abruptly looked up with Glowing Marks on his neck and shoulders that looked like weird flowers(what was with the damn flowers) to look straight at Casey. Casey who had opened his mouth to show a full set of teeth(what the fuck what the fuck what the fu-) and started breathing like he just ran a marathon.

It took a while after for them to fully calm their asses down as Angie ordered Raph and Leo around. Raph having been told to get a blanket from the room the lovebirds shared. He had so many thoughts running through his mind, but the one he kept getting back too was “Seriously?!”

—-

Donnie was writing code, trying to match the way he pressed computer keys to the piano keys in the music playing. It didn’t feel like meditation with the goal he had and how it was so easy to dive into the zone. The flow of simple work that still felt like new territory to discover.

Then the code began to change, the settings weren’t altered, but parts of the code began to glow or have purple spider lilies. Pushing forward made the flowers increase in number, all different kinds, all in shades of purple from the lightest lavender to the deepest indigo.

Suddenly Donnie was in a field of wilted plants. A royal purple heart in the center of it all and shielded by a weeping willow. Pieces glued together by silver. The pattern almost as though something had clawed into the heart and squeezed. Each step over wilted grasses brought forth old emotions, muted by neglect.

Donnie ignored the feeling of vague tapping and faint crescendo of a violin as he moved to touch the very representation of his being. Love he had given to April… love that had been broken time and again. Tricked into staying loyal to her by whatever had clawed into it. Joy that was consistently pushed aside to make room for stress and worry.

Apathy was what caused this garden of wild things to wilt.

He had let go of far too much

Donnie felt the silver, practically praying that he wouldn’t feel that same incessant itch that would force his thoughts to stop, and felt no more than care. Care and kindness for him, from Casey. A wish that he would be whole. A promise to fill in the gaps until he learned to fill them himself.

Filling the void left by lost love, lost romantic love, was easy now. Easy because Donnie was able to fill it with the memories of easy jokes. The smell of engine grease. Tapping of computer keys as someone whistled in the background to an off-tune melody. Memories of playing games with Raph. Talking endlessly with Leo about the science and lore of Space Heroes. Having Angie in his lab and seeing the spark of understanding when something fit into place just right. The hope for the relationship he could have with the spirits he now knew existed.

The silver would still be needed, a single day would not be enough to fully heal this damaged heart, but it was a start. Better than a start, a new beginning, one where Donnie would be free of outside influence on who he was. Where he would be able to let himself feel things.

That was for later though, right now he had too many theories to test! He needed a partner though and his brothers were sure to be busy. So he had to ask the only other person currently meditating and had some insight into how this whole spiritual nonsense worked, Casey! They had met before at the roads to their minds so that was where Donnie would go.

It was barely a moment after he got there that Donnie learned what it was like when colors screamed.amed.

—
Bonus!

Meditation had never felt so natural before. When Casey joined the others in it before he had always struggled to even get the breathing right. Now he was sending his senses out, to smell the tea Leatherhead was letting steep, hear the way Slash growled low in his throat when Rockwell was winning at the racing game on the tv, actually sense the way Rockwell used his own telekinesis to speed up his reaction times.

It was all so cool and strange at the same time!

Stretching his consciousness further, Casey began to search for Splinter and April, their signatures easily recognisable considering there weren’t any other half kraang or mutant rat men anywhere else in New York.

He knew that they were safe, that Angie would give warning or that the mutanimals would help them if a fight broke out, but Casey was curious dammit!

They were a dozen streets away, still following the sewers and stopping every few blocks, getting closer to the base. Poking around them as much as he dared Casey felt the second the pair noticed him. Splinter, in an annoyingly expected move, placed a hand on Aprils shoulder and threw some chains. They were easy to dodge until April started to use her own powers to throw more flexible ropes in a disgusting shade of pink.

With the way they were haphazardly throwing their powers to capture him Casey fled… and April was following with her own consciousness. He had to dodge her ropes as they tangled with Splinters’ chains.

They attached themselves on Casey’s arm despite his best efforts. He had to get back, he had to get help, he Had TO-

He screamed.

Slamming back into his body, Casey opened his eyes. His vision swirling with colors and shapes all disconnected but coiled together. That shitty pink and dark teal overtaking so much-

Then he saw a familiar purple.

Casey reached, practically crawled, to cling to Donnie, who wrapped his arms around the boy so he could rub circles into his back. Shades of purple dragged brown from Casey’s own light and stabilized his vision. He saw the chains intertwined with rope of agonizingly familiar pink(why did April have to have her powers come from the kraang) while Donnies beautiful flowers turned to razor sharp blades that tried to cut them away.

They couldn’t.

—-

Bonus pt 2!

When Splinter started directing her power, April didn’t know what was happening, it was only when she sensed Casey(how????) did she even think about trying to follow where he ran off too.

It took a few tries and some teamwork but they managed to get a hold of him. At which point he shot off like a rocket towards what was probably the others. She and Splinter similarly started to run(god how fast was Casey?! Was he slowing down to stick with her before? How dare he underestimate her!)

Whatever, they would be able to find the five of them now. Maybe they would finally fill her in on why they were being so rebellious when all Splinter did was tell the truth.

Chapter 15: The Storm Part 1

Notes:

Sorry for not posting for a while, college and getting housing sucks

I hope this chapter is at least kind of ok and I will post pictures of the boys human disguises on my Tumblr(same name as this ac)

Donnie was panicking, how could he not! Chains and rope were binding themselves to Casey the same way they had Angie in the cage, it looked like they were searing the flesh they touched. He could almost smell it. He tried to cut, to sever those damned restraints. He couldn’t.

 

He Couldn’t and he had to restrain himself from gagging as the chains tightened.

 

He felt Casey dim in his arms, light drawn away until his glow was no brighter than a dying firefly, and watched the colors drained from his face until he was pale as a sheet. Eyes faded to a dull gray as tears fell freely.

 

He felt a wave of panicked heat tempered by a shaking coolness. Raph and Leo. They had covered Casey in a blanket and brought lit incense that smelled of sage. 

 

The light of an angered sun bloomed again. All it took was a tap of the chains to dissolve them, to send a wave of pain through them to the self righteous rat they had called father (how long until he would be capable) .

 

Rope was severed by Donnies own might once they were revealed to be as weak and unstable as April's connection to her powers had proved to be when she had let them destroy him(why did he keep making excuses for her in the first place?).

 

Still there was something. As he held his friend in his arms Donnie felt a familiar incessant itch calling out that protection and love be given to one April O’Neil. He could refuse it now, it wasn’t yelling at him this time, but he could see that Casey couldn’t. Could feel the shaking in his spirit. 

 

Donnie couldn’t let him experience that violation. 

 

A breeze surrounded Donnies mind, calling out in a voice that reminded him of flute song, that piece would be useful.

 

He sent power in the shape of the pliers he so often used on delicate circuitry to pull the piece away. Sent a scalpel to cut it free. He brought it into himself. Into a box of violet walls and an indigo lock.

 

He gave it willingly to the crawling mist and fairy lights as they laughed in tandem. Delicate bells and the shrieking of a violin.

 

As he felt it leave him, Donnie opened his eyes to a glowing Angie bathing them in waves of protective energy, in calm, in reassurance. 

 

Those two wouldn’t know what hit them.

 

—

 

Great, just great. Angie was straining after Donnie had cut the damned pink threads April had tried to trap Casey's power in. He tried to grasp the fleeting ends, just one would be enough to track her!

 

They were pulled away too quickly, even the one he managed to brush had melted under his touch, and now the damned rat was shielding their presence.

 

If he could just grab a- 

 

Angie's eyes widened as he felt the thunk of an object being placed in his mind. Saw and felt the sheer unrepentant glee coming off of N’s grin as it stretched far too wide. The tingle of lighting on his skin from an excited Neural. Feral joy enough to match their twin shone as bright as any star from Mikey’s eyes. 

 

Packed in a neat box was a tag, a piece of power that specifically drew one creature to another, the same kind of power that April used on Donnie. 

 

The same power that would lead them to her. Her and the Damned RAT.

 

They had to prepare for them arriving though. Had to lead them away from the mutanimals. Find a place where they would have a chance at getting through to April and separating her from Splinter. If they could then it would leave Splinter without the help her psionic presence gave him.

 

“Casey, can you tell me how far out they are right now?” if they were far enou-

 

Almost breathlessly Casey responded, “2 minutes”.

 

Well shit.

 

Angie grabbed the bag of stuff they had and pulled what was in the other’s rooms before calling out “Leatherhead we have to go! Leo, Raph act as rear guard until Casey’s recovered, Donnie, carry Casey, we’re moving out before they find us.” Everyone jumped at his words but followed his instruction. 

 

They would all need disguises for going outside though…

 

Mike was hovering at the ready above Raph, waiting for the signal. A signal given happily as the others were obscured by smoke.

 

—-

 

Leo was amazed as they walked freely along the sidewalk. During the DAY. People were walking past them without calling them freaks or screaming! Some tended to stare but it wasn’t hostile!  

 

Mike and Nightmare were floating above and ahead of them, almost as though they were leading the group, as they followed a strange thread and Leo took the chance to look over their human disguises. 

 

“Redhead under us,” the speech bubbles were back as Michael phased through the floor, “she's got a headache and-”

 

“AND wants to try and get us below ground!” Dream cut Michael off with a manic grin, shakujō shaking twice as new floating lights spawned. Leo could vaguely see within them. One showed April joining their side and choosing to help while the other was a depiction of the girl leaving the fight well alone.

 

Leo knew what he would prefer if it was his choice, but… maybe she didn’t deserve that chance. Either way she was in the alley now and trying to get them to follow her.

 

“Guys, why do you look so…” she looked them over and her eyes lingered over Leo for a bit longer than he would have liked, “human?”

 

“We can explain if you come with us-” Raph started

 

“-or do you expect us to go with you?” Casey, who was now standing on his own and glaring at her with silver flecked eyes, finished.

 

There was a pause where Leo could almost see something trying to reach for them only to be blocked by… something. Even with his new sight Leo couldn’t quite make out what the dots in his vision were coming from.

 

“Well you clearly haven’t considered how this made Master Splinter feel-”

 

“He never considered how I felt, why would I care how he feels?”

“Well you should because he’s your dad and-”

 

“And nothing April, he hurt our Ani for no good reason-” Leo was cut off as April pulled him further into the alley and down into the sewer before he could pull away. How she did it Leo didn’t know, what he did know was that he heard the others follow and they weren’t happy.

 

—

 

Raph was furious, chasing April and his brother down into the sewers again, only to come face to face with Splinter again. He really didn’t know how to feel about the man yet and was just- so- AUGH

 

The man had raised them, and trained them, and worried like a mother hen every time they went out, and he also tortured Angie for years, and apparently thought they owed him a life debt for raising them, and yeah it made sense to treat him with respect and care seeing as he was their dad but that didn’t mean that he had any right to treat them like a retirement plan!

 

It wasn’t as simple as hating April was, the girl had always seemed too self important and pushy about how they were ‘always going easy on her’ and at the same time complaining about how it wasn’t fair the guys with years more experience were ‘never letting her win’. Then there was the fact she had torn Donnie apart and never even thought of apologizing for it. THEN there was the fact she had apparently been using some kind of love curse on Donnie and tried to do it to Casey too.

 

So now they were face to face and Raph had grabbed Leo's arm to stop April from pulling him closer to the man he refused to look in the eyes. That was until he heard the man call his name like it was foreign.

 

“Raphael- Leonardo- my sons?”

 

The look he was giving them made Raphs stomach turn. 

 

It was jealousy and surprise and- fuckin’- There was Joy and Relief in those eyes. It was like he never really thought of them as people until they looked like humans! 

 

The thought made him burn and he felt the power of the candle flame again, new and yet so familiar, felt as it burned away their disguises. Watching as Splinter saw the way it had only been an illusion, Raph couldn’t help feeling a rush of hurt at how the man, how his DAD, let disgust and anguish fill his eyes. Raph wanted nothing more than to keep this man away, make a shield, make something to keep this rat Away.

 

He remembered the bonfire he summoned in the mind, remembered the feeling of the wax seeping in between his scales, imagined himself as the wick that melted and molded the wax of its candle. Raph may never be as good as fearless when it came to this magic mystic bullshit but damn it all if he wasn’t going to find some way to use it, and now…

 

Now he’d let the fire Rage.

 

—

 

Bonus pt 1!

 

April was so done with the boys trying to be rebellious. First they kept her out of the loop, then Raph kept her out of the fight, then they Refused to listen to Splinter, And THEN they had the audacity to be mad at Her(HER) for siding with Master Splinter.

 

It was almost like they thought Splinter was wrong for expecting them to respect him, glaring and getting rid of the human look they had. Going from good looking guys to the messed up mutant turtles she met them as(which was so disappointing cause Leo was just her type!).

 

The boys seemed to forget they were supposed to eventually be human like Splinter would be once Donnie made more retromutagen. Plus if they were human(and looked like they did just now) then April would be able to get with Leo! It would be perfect and he obviously had feelings for her after they worked together at the farmhouse.

 

If only they would let her just show them that she was right!

 

—

 

Bonus pt 2!

 

Splinter flinched at the wave of searing pain as the . It reminded him of(thefire) why he should never have kept that demon child after it had revealed itself. Bad enough he had kept the four of them after they had become yōkai (hewasnotyokaihewasnotamonster), but now his mercy of the youngest was pulling the others into the claws of evil.

 

Even the best of them, even Leonardo, had fallen into the clutches of that demon. The only thing he could do was find a way to separate them and kill or capture the demon once more. 

 

As he and April(suchalovelygirljustlikeMiwa) kept searching it became clearer to Splinter(YoshiHamatohewasYoshi-) that death would be inevitable.

 

When they appeared in front of him, human, he was overwhelmed with joy and hope that they had found a way to be true people. That they would be his sons without doubt. But when they revealed that their forms had been an illusion. When Raphael looked at him with disgust, Splinter's hope had faded. The hope that at least his more sensible children would prove loyal to him instead of the yōkai. 

 

It would tear him apart to have to kill their brother, but Splinter needed to get his sons free of the spell the demon had cast, it would have to be now. When he saw the boy drop to the floor, Splinter attacked. 

 

He would save his sons.

Chapter 16: The Storm part 2

Notes:

Sorry it’s been a while since I last posted, I got distracted by a lot of stuff including a new fic!

It’s called Rise/12 crossover(magic weapons) and is shorter chapters that actually follow a timeline

I am also sorry I have to split the storm into more than just 2 parts, it’s a long conflict

Hope you wnjoy this though!

Raph was growling as he looked on at the face of his father and cried out in the safety of his mind.

Why, why the actual Fuck was it so hard to hate him?!? Why now!

It was easy before, easy while they were in Angie’s mind and looking at the human face of the man who hurt, and trapped, and HIT-

…Splinter was not Hamato Yoshi.

He was not the man who had loved his wife and daughter more than the world. He was a rat that craved a lost humanity, that refused to leave the sewers to fight by the sides of his sons because they were animals made more human.

Splinter thought they were guard dogs.

Years of glances and faraway looks flooded into Raphs mind as the pieces clicked into place.

Vaguely Raph heard Casey, and Donnie drop into the sewers as he turned towards April. She also looked disappointed… while staring at Leo…

Did- did she really think she had a chance with Leo? LEO.

Raph didn’t care what the hell her deal was, April was going to get her ass beat for not only leading Donnie on but ALSO going for Leo when he looked human. For being so shallow that she couldn’t look at who they were without thinking about how they looked.

She was not his friend, not anymore. Not ever. Even if she got her head out of her ass Raph vowed he would never forget this. Would never take what she said at face value again.

A vision of the candle came to him unbidden as he vowed and he watched as a stripe of brilliantly bright red began to form. He couldn’t see it, but he felt the way the color seeped to the very core of the wax.

Of course the bitch was the one to break the silence. “Why are you guys doing this! What did Splinter ever do to you!”

“It’s less what he did to us-” Leo started

“-and more what he did to Angie.” Raph finished with a growl. Words left him then, as he continued to grunt and hiss his rage.

—

“Ugh,” Leo didn’t know what was going through April's head as she kept trying to push away the hands over her ears with her fragile threads, “there you go again trying to call Mikey by a girl's name!”

“Pretty sure Angie's gender neutral O’Neil.” It sent shivers up Leo's neck to hear such a sharp edge at the end of Casey's words.

Leo watched the fur of Mikes cloak spike, N’s hands turn to claws and maw opening to reveal dozens of sharp teeth, climbing rope turn to whips in Neurals hands, Dreams light taking form as shields around himself and the others, pages becoming projectiles under An’s precise hands, and Facades mist coated the ground.

Leo himself stared at his pseudo sister and his father. He thought about all the good memories they shared- before he delved deeper.

Time seemed to slow as he pulled memories to the surface, An turning and helping by turning the events before him to videos and pictures. Leo watched to see how every fumble, every bit of hesitance, was met with disappointment. Watched as he internalized it all, pushing himself to be better, because it was only when he excelled that he felt loved.

He reached up to touch the image of his father smiling at Leo when he got a kata right. Leo had just turned 5 and that kata was the first one, the only one, he got right on the first try. Around it were countless moments where there was disappointment in those same eyes as Leo fell or got hurt.

Leo could have almost confused those looks for worry if it weren’t for the crease of his eyebrows, the downturn of his lips.

His hand brushed past the picture and settled on the hilt of his katana.

When he drew it he cut the idolized image of Splinter in half and for the first time saw the man as he was. Rough dull fur under a tattered patchwork of a robe, eyes frantic and reluctant but determined.

It had been hours since Angie's gift of future sight had worn off but now as the pressure behind his eyes grew, Leo made a version of his own. It was rudimentary, unfinished, unpolished, when it showed him what he could do in this situation with only the simplest idea of what the others would do. But here, for this, it was enough.

Then Angie dropped into the sewer.

Then Splinter pounced.

—

Angie stayed back as his brothers ran into the sewers so he could reassure a pair of parents, and their already sobbing child, who had seen April drag Leo down. The kid had brown eyes that shone with her tears and only calmed down after he let her have a cat keychain he conjured from a spool of thread. The parents asked a handful of questions about why his friends had rushed into the alley and only stopped when he mentioned their dad being a short walk away.

Angie’s thoughts turned to how easy Casy could get out of his house and stay out for days on end… there wasn’t time for it now as Micheal’s hands beckoned him to join the others almost frantically.

He wasn’t expecting to be jumped the second he dropped into the tunnel.

The warning bells came a second too late while his spirits(children) rushed to defend his brothers and friend(their uncles). So Angie had the ‘lovely’ experience of being shoved into a concrete wall without the protection of his shell. Angie sucked in a breath through his teeth and watched as Splinter's eyes widened at the realization that the boy he’d called a demon was more human than he was. His breath was also because the fucker definitely gave him a bone bruise. Even with healing hands that was going to be a nuisance.

Donnie and Casey used their bō and hockey stick to pry Splinter off of him as Angie changed himself for the fourth time that day. His core ached as it remolded itself faster than he would have liked.

He had N blanket the ground with dread as he set to work using what would have become the seventh spirit to live in his cage of a mind had he not been freed. Power was used and given in floods in the remolding and escape, yes, but that had barely tapped into his reserves no matter how Angie’s core cried out its losses. His dams would open one of the flood gates along its side now as he sent Splinter sailing through the air to land a dozen paces back. Glowing all the while.

Though Splinter did land on his feet he had clearly been stunned as the dark scabs of darkness flared back to life and leaking wetness. Angie watched as it crawled along the man’s sides and face. Flashes of a man wailing as fire and glowing green ooze burned his skin until fur appeared where the scars would have been. Flashes of the man who was reaching out for his wife’s bloodied, coal blackened body, and the baby daughter he thought died in the house that lay in ruins at his back.

Angie had once thought of his father and his decisions as no more than a mistake made in fear. As an act meant to protect them. So he stayed quiet in his cage then, stayed until he saw the depths of Splinter’s delusions. Until he had personally witnessed the death of the man he had once been and buried the remains of Yoshi Hamato in the night.

His first funeral was that of an empty shoebox coffin and burned incense that Splinter held when he gave up on returning to human form when Angie was 4.

The second was of crayon drawings, tears, and a single forlorn child as witness to their burning.

Angie sent these memories, the worst memories of his imprisonment, the memories of what it was like to be powerless as his Children were HURT into April's head with An’s help. He sent them so she would know and realize who it was she had sided with. Praying to the oldest gods he knew were there in their sacred realms, whose names he learned and memorized when he meditated, that she would see sense.

If the gods were listening, they did not answer.

—-

Donnie was working his jaw. He wanted to speak, to support Angie and call Splinter out for everything he did to hurt his brothers.

But he couldn’t.

Donnie didn’t have a steak in this fight, he was support, nothing more.

The others were directly hurt but Donnie just existed. He was left to do as he wanted with whatever he learned.

Donnie wasn’t the one told he was wrong for feeling.

Donnie wasn’t the one held to an unattainable standard.

Donnie wasn’t the one slowly being killed as he was trapped in his own mind.

Donnie was taught and listened to. He was allowed to do what he wanted in the lab. HE was the one Splinter didn’t fuck up with.

The only thing Splinter did wrong when raising him was letting him remain under control of April’s damned leash.

And Donnie hated it.

Donnie knew he should be glad that he wasn’t neglected or abused- hurt- whatever it was Splinter did to his brothers, but it made it hard to hate the man now. Hard to put all his power into a fight.

It was so hard to hate with everything happening in so little time, if only Donnie could just See-

A pair of daffodils, staggered so one was below the other, bronze petals dark against the azure backdrop suddenly overtaking his vision.

The Librarian was in front of him, holding a violet book with indigo letters and peonies over the cover. Donnie didn’t know how An had access to his memories or why they were now in their hands but at the sight a feeling started to stir.

A feeling deep in his scarred heart that stirred until it kicked up a tornado of emotion. Donnie had to fight the urge to tramp them down, to shut the emotion into a buzz beneath his skin to get rid of later in a haze of invention. It made him wonder why that had become an instinct.

Then the book was opened and spider lilies bloomed bright, bright red until they coated the ground so thickly he couldn’t see the floor beneath them.

Someone was talking outside of the little bubble he and An were in but Donnie didn’t listen. He couldn’t. Not when he was seeing all the ways Splinter had failed him.

Every dismissal of his interests, every sarcastic consolation, every pointed look for him to stop talking, every time he was allowed to shut himself away in the lab for Days without sleep, every word and action lined with meaning he hadn’t recognized in the moment.

Something Donnie knew he was incapable of recognizing without help because of the way his brain was built(maybe Neural could fix him later).

Donnie realized that he wasn’t the one who wasn’t hurt by their sensei, he was just the one who couldn’t recognize it.

And then the world refocused. An and his memories disappearing in a flash of searing cyan and soothing azure.

Suddenly he could see the Spirits floating in the space and the dark liquid pulsing against the walls, ready to strike, and a barrier built in white and maroon separating Splinter and April from everyone else.

Donnie still couldn’t hate them, but he could fight for his brothers and for the chance that they could learn what they had done was wrong. Now he could breathe again, pressing into the silver and smelling the warm earthen ground Donnie sent security across his bond with Casey. They were ready.

They had to be.

—-

Bonus!

Casey heard the scratching of pen against paper and the swooshing of papers flying past him. The smell of old books, ink, copper, and wood filled his nose as if he were in a library.

Half of it flew like a knife into April's head, cutting through her flimsy defenses. The other half settling around Donnie in a kind of hug.

Then April grabbed her head like she was having a migraine and Splinter rushed to her side. At least that’s what he tried to do.

Casey knew April had a habit of being just a huge bitch in the oh so nice ‘you must pay attention to me or suffer’ kind of way. So when he saw how powerful the ‘I must protect this girl’ urge Splinter had beyond just being a girl-dad, Casey was just a teensy bit worried this week, day? This weird ass time was being made worse by one of those fucked up tethers.

But when he looked, like really looked for that same kind of thing, the world went quiet for just a minute, cause nothing was there.

Chapter 17: A New Wind Blows

Notes:

Ao3 author curse is doing its thing

But we're here so...

enjoy!

The world was quiet.

Nothing was there but the feeling of power wrapped around them all like a blanket.

The spirits were visible again but they weren’t in anyone's mind, they weren’t made visible in the regular world, they were somewhere new.

Somewhere with a sky that was both teal and fuschia(how did he know-) at the same time. Not mixed or swirling, just both at once, as blue-silver clouds lazily floated past.

Leo looked around, counting who was there, until his eyes caught on the stag that led them into the spirit world back when they were at the farm house standing behind Splinter. Its eyes were different here but it was the same stag, Leo was sure of it.

Splinter was gripping April close, human form shaking in rage as he yelled at someone, but Leo wasn’t paying attention. His eyes were focused solely on the stag and the strange figure shrouded in veils that had risen from the river he could almost swear hadn’t been there a second ago. She moved with an ethereal grace across the ground, flowers sprouting to line her path, the stag only moving to follow behind her.

Leo saw his brothers and Casey looking at her with the same awe he felt out of the corners of his eyes, the spirits having become smaller to cower behind Angie like children.

Splinter finally shut up as the woman came to a stop behind him. A wind blew the fabric of her robes so that they seemed to frame Splinter's body. Leo watched with detached contentment as the man jumped and April nearly fell out of his grasp. April had passed out at some point between the sewer tunnel and this new place and now was being lifted by that invisible wind, placed gently on a bed of silver-blue cloud out of the way.

—

Raph was looking over this weird place, the grass around him burning and changing to be the same color as his candles flame and the fire gracing the ends of his bandana, watching the woman in front of them with suspicion.

Her big sleeves were more than able to hide weapons in their white and seafoam green layers. It looked like she was wearing a hanfu with how the thick coral ribbon that tied itself around her lower ribs left the top slightly loose. Her hair was dark and shiny, half kept up as a bun at the back of her head while the rest was free to fall against her back. The sheer veil still hid her face enough Raph couldn’t see her eyes or tell what she looked like, the only thing he knew was that she was looking at Splinter.

“Yoshi, it has been some time.” The woman spoke and Raph croaked, distantly he heard Leo do the same as Donnie slapped a hand over his mouth and Angie churred.

Tang Shen. Their MOM was in front of them, and staring at their dad.

Because of course that would happen in the, what, three days this whole shitshow was going on for? Seriously, what the hell was this pacing!?

Angie moved then, Raph saw the spirits he made shrink further to hide in the scarf or behind the bow. Leo followed their ani’s lead and motioned for the others to follow, closing rank with Angie as the spearhead. Raph ended up putting himself closest to Splinter, Leo on his right followed by Angie, Donnie, and Casey.

It was only then he noticed that the ground around the others had changed. Midnight blue grass topped with frost surrounded Leo’s feet, more violet flowers grew around Donnies, Silver lights topped dark brown sprouts around Casey, all while what was around Angie stayed unchanged.

It was weird, but not weird enough to stop Raph from keeping his eye on Splinter.

—

Donnie was confused but comfortable in the presence of his mother which was… strange to say the least of it considering the last time he had seen her she was…

The less said about the last time he saw her the better.

He watched the flowers sprouting around her, honeysuckle, red carnations, and white lilies spreading to circle each of them in turn. Around Splinter her power grew wild roses to frame the rotted grasses and colorless ground that surrounded him.

Colorless grounds impossibility aside, Donnie watched with bated breath as Tang Shen raised her hands, beckoning them all to her.

Leo moved first this time, practically launching himself into her arms, followed by Raph who tried to stay just at her side but was drawn into a hug all the same. Donnie moved at a slower pace, taking his mothers hand from over his brother's shells, watching as the veil cleared so he could see her face. Eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled warmly at them. Angie joined them last, coaxing the spirits under his breath until they had each greeted Shen.

“It’s good to see you again mom,” Donnie heard Casey gasp at his words, “you look beautiful.”

Tang Shen chuckled before she spoke, the sound light and airy.

“Thank you Donnie,it is good to see you boys again too” she rubbed a thumb over his hand, “even if I wish it were under better circumstances.”

The Stag behind her made a sound not dissimilar to a cough, undoubtedly trying to get their attention, and unfortunately broke whatever shock had been keeping Splinter silent.

—

It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that they were summoned to the spirit realms. Not when Angie and his children had been so prepared to use so much power to curse Splinter into oblivion, and yet…

The stag was at least smart enough to understand that it would be a worthless effort to not bring them to Tang Shen, whether that be because of him or her was irrelevant. Besides, he would be able to introduce his kids to their grandmother!

Then the rat started talking.

“My love! Please help me cage this malevolent demon-”

“Yoshi.”

The sky darkened, fuchsia replaced by bronze, as Shen removed herself from the hug. “I hoped you would have known better than to speak without being spoken to, but it seems you have disappointed me once again.”

With so few words Tang Shen not only cowed Splinter, but also became her grandkids favorite person. Nightmare and Neural cheered her on while Mikey and An flew through the veil to nuzzle themselves close to her neck. Mike summoned a notebook and pencil to come up with something to make her. Michael was just looking at her in awe after taking off his mask.

“Huh,” Shen turned to him, “you just became your grandkids favorite person Mama.”

Yoshi’s face paled and he tried to find a rejection in Shen’s face, a futile effort, as she smiled at Angie. “Oh my, what flattery!” a hand lifted to her neck to cradle the two there.

“Tang Shen, what are you-” Angie cut him off this time.

“-Mom’s being a good parent,” addressing Shen again, “wanna hear about our sister's girlfriend?”

Voice light with restrained giggles spoke over the surprised gasp from Yoshi, shouts of ‘I knew it’ from Casey and Raph, and the groan of losing a bet from Leo, Shen spoke. “When Yoshi is dealt with, my son, I will be happy to hear all about it.”

—

Bonus!

Splinter couldn’t believe it.

His wife, the love of his life, the most beautiful woman in the world. Shen was right there.

She sided with the yokai.

Her mind had to be clouded, surely, there was no other way she would reject him(shechosehimshelovedhimshenhadtounderstandshehadto-).

—

Bonus 2!

Well damn, Casey didn’t think he would have to feel awkward meeting Donnies Mom.

But here he was, standing in a circle of grass and lights in the colors of his powers and trying to figure out how to introduce himself.

He wasn’t Donnies boyfriend, they didn’t ask each other out yet or have a conversation, and they weren’t just crushes either. How were you supposed to introduce yourself when you didn’t know what you were to a woman's son?!?!

Tang Shen seemed cool enough, she was happy enough with sass, and she didn’t freak when Angie mentioned Karai having a girlfriend. So she wasn’t homophobic at least.

Why was that deer staring at him?

{I am a Stag child}

Ah, cool cool cool, the stag could read his mind, that's cool.

Why did people have to look in his head when he's thinking weird things?

{You think very loudly.}

… Well shit.

Notes:

nah but for real I didn't think I'd wait weeks before being able to write or post anything for this so I am sorry it took so long

Chapter 18: A Mothers Lament

Tang Shen looked down at her husband as she clutched the small spirits of her grandchildren to the crook of her neck. Her sons and their friend were standing guard at her sides like warriors instead of the children they were. The replacement daughter her husband had taken was awakening slowly at the banks of Shens river and Yoshi himself was working his jaw as if trying to find some argument against her actions.

Trying to get her to reject her family.

Oh how the love of her life had fallen.

Shen remembered their wedding day and the way Yoshi had nearly dropped the ring in his haste to put it on her finger. She remembered the day she told him they were expecting and the tears when Miwa- Karai now- had been born. Every sleepless night spent reading child rearing books just so he wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of his father.

The man in front of her was not the same as her Yoshi.

And Shen had been unable to stop him from falling into the prejudice and fear of his forefathers.

The plane shifted then, the river expanding until they were all surrounded by an unending ocean of Shens tears. Memories flashing in its surface as she recalled the first time she appeared in this spirit realm.

She had no form and was but a collection of half remembered emotion, but her mind was strong and clear. She watched as her baby was taken by Oroku, abandoned the form of her husband with but a blessing of luck she could follow, watched as her daughter was raised by nannies. Until Oroku put a sword in her hand and made her a Weapon.

Shen thought back to how she was approached by the deer of Nara. They told her about the children her husband gained that night of pain and transformation.

She watched those first few years as the boys grew. Saw the diligence in the eldest Leo, the fierce feelings of the second eldest Raph, the desire to learn in the third son Donnie’s eyes, and the joy that radiated off the youngest Mikey.

Shen worried so much for her daughter she couldn’t stay with her sons. She had faith in her husband to raise the children as she knew they would have raised their daughter together. So she left them with blessings.

Leo was so determined to find success in the katas and martial arts his father still practiced so Shen gave a blessing of good health. A dream of swordplay and katas the family had erased from their teachings, a dream of the signs and sigals to use the connection he was already forging with the spirit plane, knowledge that would become ingrained instinct as he grew.

Raph loved so strongly and desired so much to be strong enough to defend them from the monsters under the bed or dastardly roaches. He received a blessing of strength. The dreams she gave him were ones of comfort and of care, the love he gave would come back to him, the trust he gave to his family would be honored. A message to feel freely but to learn when to act on it.

Donnie was near insatiable in his desire to learn how everything worked and how his brothers ticked, his love was shown in inventions to help his family. His blessing of scholarly success was immediately put to use. His dreams were filled with rest and simple joys, a caution to not be consumed by his work, to allow for rest as he learned. Even as his hands were ever restless.

Mikey had been seeing the flows of power as she and other spirits were drawn to them, drawn to the sheer radiating positive energy coming off of him, and each passing spirit found themselves kind enough to gift wisps of their own power in turn. As his mother, absent as she was, Shen gave him twice the amount the others had and a dream to warn him away from hoarding or using his powers for harm.

Her husband was in the throes of grief as he mourned the loss of his life above ground. He begged at night for guidance and just one more glimpse of her face. So Shen gave it freely. She formed herself anew in the same black tomesode embroidered in lavender wild roses he had gifted her upon their first anniversary, matching tsumami-kanzashi pin in her hair. She urged him to remember the readings they had done and to trust himself. Shen pressed a gentle kiss to his lips as she told him to raise them as they would have raised Miwa before retreating to watch over her.

Only now as Shen looked down did she realize her faith had blinded her to the path her beloved was falling down.

She returned the small children to Angie as she stood tall once again, her eyes glinting as she summoned a glaive from the protea bush that grew from her feet. Only when she knew her voice wouldn’t waiver did she finally speak. Her voice cold and tense with her anger and regret. Words she had prepared the moment she finally turned to see her sons and realized the state they were in.

“Hamato Yoshi, it shames me to see that this is the man you’ve become.”

Yoshi tried to speak again, a flash of desperation in his eyes, before he was cut off.

“You are no longer the man I married, the man I loved, the man I trusted.” With each declaration Shen took steps toward him, her veils fully disappearing so he would see her face so hardened with quiet rage.

“My faith in you blinded me to the depths of depravity you have fallen down,” the wild roses around him wilted and died as she spoke, “you are no longer my husband and now, for my family, I curse you.”

Power surged within her, flowed into her from her youngest son and grandchildren, as they all began to glow.

“I curse you now and forever to never step foot near my children,” Tang Shen’s voice reverberated throughout her plane as the power filled it, “never again will you hold power over them or their children or their grandchildren, you are Exiled from this family, With this final cut I sever all connections we had.”

As the glaive swung down Yoshi was stripped of the Hamato name. His soul cried for the loss. And yet, Shen could not weep for him.

Spirits came to see what had yelled and found the one they had been drawn too so long ago. They crowded to ask questions, to admonish who they recognised as responsible for their suns disappearance. To ask what had made the young girl, so forgotten she had lost the cloud, what had made her so vile. To ask her sons questions.

Shen loathed the idea of allowing Yoshi to stay longer, but for the spirits, for the answers she also desired, she would let him.

Notes:

Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth, I was enraptured by the urge to write another new fic and I had to talk myself out of it.

Chapter 19: Request pt 2

The next chapter is going to be another Q&A but this time you actually get to affect the characters with your questions

My game plan is to introduce you by your screen names as the names of the spirits asking(you can choose a nickname if you want just make sure you tell me that). You can ask for specific spirit types such as a selki or gashedkuro and message me on Tumblr(same username as this account) if you want to ask an especially in depth or multifaceted question.

There are three rules to these questions

1. don't break the fourth wall too hard, I'm already giving you an in world explanation for why you know things and the boys have already had enough mindblows this fic

2. no slurs or mentions of doing the deed please, none of you have made me think this would ever be a problem but I want to cover my bases because its the internet

3. if your going to yell at splinter please also add a question so there's less chance I have to leave you out

like I said in the notes last chapter, sorry for dropping off the face of the internet for like a month(-_-') I hope everyone enjoyed their winter holidays and new years celebrations!

Chapter 20: Ummmmmm

Summary:

My bad guys

I’ve hit a roadblock and have decided to rewrite this entire fic because I’ve grown in my writing ability after a year of college and now know the benefits of planning a plot instead of flying by the seat of my pants

I’m still posting what I have fore this final chapter cause you deserve your questions answered and it’s my bad for not updating but please don’t be surprised when this fic ends abruptly with a blue screened Donnie

Leo was in awe.

Shen, Mom, claimed them as her children and cut ties with Splinter in a bittersweet swipe of the glaive. So in a way… they lost one parent and gained another. For now anyway.

And then after a tense moment a new person stepped out of the endless sky onto the ocean. Leo couldn't tell whether they were a man or a woman but they were beautiful in their dark robes. Patterns of silver and gold feathers dancing along the hem as if caught in the wind.

To his side Raph put a hand on his sai and Leo had to stop him from drawing it. An instinct in the back of his mind told him that even if they had to fight this person, they would lose.

Others appeared out of the mist to stand or float above the water, almost as though they were unable to think of touching the land. No less than two giant skeletons completely made up of skulls crouched before them. So fearsome looking that Leo had frost forming at the tips of his fingers despite himself.

“Hello again Chīsana Taiyō, you have grown.”

A feather was plucked from the person's robes and split into many. Each flew into one of them like wind into a storm. The one that merged into Leo felt like a mountain wind turning delightfully chilled until he couldn’t tell what was his own power from the beginning and what had just been added.

Looking to Angie, Leo found his ani contemplative, a soft look in his eyes as he looked at the figure in black.

“I’m sorry, I remember you, and your mountain winds, and raven companions, but I don’t remember the name you gave.”

The phrasing was weird and it took a moment to remember the stories of spirits being banished or controlled when their true names were used.

“If that’s the case then you may call me Raven, now as your siblings show prowess how are you to teach them Nikkō?”

The question was one Leo had in the back of his mind since Angie had taken them to meditate. It almost felt as though the spirit, a Kami perhaps, had lifted it from his mind. The look they gave when their eyes met his certainly didn’t help the thought.

“Well,” Angie turned to the collection of human looking spirits with weapons tied to their bodies and in close fitted robes of simple design Leo hadn’t noticed, “I was hoping to find or trade for guidance from the martial spirits here and teach them what the near forgotten gods spoke of in my sparse meditations.”

“Wait,” Leo felt more than saw the attention of the spirits fall on him, “what do you mean trade?”

One of the giant skeletons lowered themselves further and spoke with rattling, scraping, sort of sounds. “Very little can be given freely cold one, power and information are traded by those who know not to be indebted.”

That… well it made a certain amount of sense. But if receiving help or power meant you would be indebted to the giver then- “So are we…”

Raven chuckled softly at the implication. “No child, some like me are powerful enough to give small gifts without needing repayment.” Some of the gathered glared at the Kami who themselves looked pleased at their thinly veiled insult.

A blur of white climbed up Leos’ shell. Tiny claws sunk themselves into the scales on his head. It squeaked something Leo couldn’t understand seemingly at Raven in an indignated tone.

Another Spirit walked forward, a human who looked like they had just been killed, he was dressed in white and was carrying his own hand. He addressed Leo for his question.

“You, first born and second eldest, what do we call you?”

The question brought yet more questions to Leo's mind. How did they know the weird situation with their ages? Why were they asking Leo anything when Angie was clearly the one in charge and knew what the hell was going on? And- oh, they were looking at him weirdly-

Name, name, Angie seemed to have named himself after what his power felt like and Raven named themselves similarly so- “You can call me Kōri no Kawa, and you are?”

“I am a Yūrei, Kōri no Kawa, and you may call me as such, now tell me,” the spirits body began to twist further until his blood and burns flooded Leo’s nose with the smell of iron and cooked meat, “when will you fulfill your destiny to kill the bastard who massacred our clan?!”

—-

Raph surprised himself with how fucking excited he was to start the training his ani described.

Excited enough he barely paid attention to the other questions the spirits were throwing their way. Raph was pretty sure they started some kind of bragging contest with the volume they were reaching. That was until he tuned back in, hoping to hear more about the magic shit they could try, only to hear an argument over whether or not they should force Leo kill Shredder now or wait until they could fight the fucker as a team.

Even then it took one of Angie’s kids(holy shit how did he not realize that Angie was their dad earlier, fucker MADE them) pinching him to make sure he heard(N was a little shit who decided the best way to pinch was to BITE) Exactly what demands some ghostly looking fuckers bearing their clans crest on their death robes were making.

But even through the excitement he still couldn’t forget about the bastard and April on opposite sides of the small island. Raph's eyes kept scanning them every few seconds in case they decided to attack. April was stock still and pale as she watched the yokai around them and Splinter was working his jaw.

Eventually Splinter tried to grab April and run.

Raph felt a smile almost as big as N’s break out on his face as he put mental emphasis on the word ‘Tried’(favorite nephew right there even if he was bitey). A grey and tan blur knocked the rat back onto his ass.

“Now now pretender, it doesn’t bode well to leave when we have questions yet to ask you!”

Now that the blur stopped moving Raph could see the faces of three opossums all standing on top of one another in a tan trench coat that clearly saw better days. One of the opossums was licking at a weird brown stain… yeah Fuck thinking about that. Raph was about to ignore them in favor of looking at one of the giant skull skeletons when the middle opossum started talking in a weirdly high pitched and winded voice.

“We are new, spirits of today who live in the concrete jungles humans like she” -the bottom opossum pointed at april- “have made.”

The top opossum carried on for the middle one, his voice sounding like he just smoked twenty packs of cigarettes. “So forgive us for not knowing to tell, but are you like our host Kēbetsu Sareta Josē?”

The bottom opossum added on in his own voice, deep enough Raph swore he could feel it in his bones,(why the fuck won’t these guys finish a damn sentence again) “a human who has ascended to yokai, or are you something different?”

The middle one finished their long as shit question “Just what are you that you are so weak?”

A fire lit in Raphs gut as he took the chance to redirect the yūreis(the name entered his mind in a flash of white sparks) anger. “So weak that instead of going to save our sister and avenge our moms murder, you decided to run away from the fight!”

And just like that the ghosts turned on him. Raph felt bad for him, bastard or not, the good memories of his childhood were still there to make his chest ache at watching the man antagonised. But then he remembered how many times the man had stayed sat in his stupid room while Raph and his brothers were out fighting giant mutants that routinely left them bruised and cut and sometimes on the brink of death. Suddenly the feeling was whisked away as a rill of wax down his candle.

Fuck you Yoshi.

“You,” one of the ghost people split from the hoard trying to interrogate Splinter to look at him, “third eldest and second born what do we call you? So wise in recognizing the fault of your father.”

WOW that felt.. weirdly good to be praised. Raph almost just said his name when Dream spoke up. “You can call our uncle Honō!”

…Not the worst nickname but why???

The woman, grey streaked hair falling out of her bun, seemed to consider the name for a sec before nodding. Shaking the knife sticking out of her neck in the process and causing a new spurt of blood to roll down her robes. “Well then Honō, maybe you can tell us what in the world that girl is?”

“Apr-” wait, no, no real names even if she was being a stuck up bitch “-uh, I mean Akage?”

“Yes, she seems… unnatural.” The woman looked over to the group hassling Yoshi again and gestured to a man holding an arrow. He looked over and seemed to watch them for a long minute before grabbing a group of others to corral the now awake April O’neil.

She looked like a lunatic trying to use her powers here. What probably would have been a chain or massive shove in the human world looked like, well, nothing but flailing. Either her powers were drained or she was just that weak in the face of actual spirits.

“Well Akage is kind of unnatural since she's a Kraang experiment, I think D- my younger brother could tell you more though.” Dream and N pipped up with the name Rairaku. “Now, what do I call you?”

The woman smiled. “I should have introduced myself sooner, I am your Grandmother on your fathers side.”

…Fuckin WHO-

—-

Donnie and Casey were surrounded by spirits that were eyeing them up and down, some staring at the plants sprouting at their feet, others still were just staring straight at Casey’s eyes. After Angie and Leo answered questions it seemed like the rest of their little group were also opened into the impromptu seminar.

Most of the questions were easy to answer being mostly about their lives and the feeling of discovering their powers, though An and Neural stopped them from saying their actual names, Casey called himself ‘Voorhees’ and Donnie was given the name ‘Rairaku’ by An…

Oh god An and the other spirit children were his nephews how did that only Just REGI-

A tsukumogami jumped excitedly on its one foot, eye shaking to try looking at both of them “How did you become engaged?!”

…What?! Engaged!?!

Donnie wasn’t embarrassed to say he had bluescreened.

He and Casey hadn’t even had a proper conversation about the weird limbo space their relationship was in, Donnie hadn’t had the time to analyse his feelings, hadn’t taken any time to see how long those feelings had existed, hadn’t even-

A jorōgumo swooped to grab the jittery umbrella by its handle and tossed it somewhere behind her. Long hair moving as if it was another set of spidery legs like the ones connected to her bottom half. It seemed almost normal if only she wasn’t simultaneously the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “Horrid thing, so weak as to not know the difference between engagement and support.” She turned her face to them and her mouth split to reveal a pair of pincers that clacked like laughter when the tsukumogami—

Notes:

That was where this story ended and scraped my brain in a bad way, I’ll write the full rewrite and post on a schedule instead of whenever like I tried to do with this one