Chapter 1: The Ring
Notes:
Hello and welcome to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Honestly, I wanted to get this out a while ago but writing F.T.G. took up so much of my time and writing power. Now that it is done, I can focus on finally getting this bonus installment to all of you wonderful readers!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Hello?” Mikey called as he entered Hueso’s restaurant, the bell above the door ringing with his arrival.
It was before operating hours and no one was in the dining room aside from Hueso wiping down some tables. The skeleton yokai looked up when he heard the bell of the door jingle and relaxed when it was just one of the turtle mutants that he had somehow inherited as his nephews. Picking up one boney hand, Hueso hooked his thumb towards the door leading to the kitchen.
“He’s waiting for you en la cocina, tortuga,” Huseo said before going back to his work.
“Thanks, tío,” Mikey grinned and floated over to the door, his half-and-half inversed colored cloak fluttering in the air behind him from the movement. His feet barely touched the ground anymore with his mystic powers allowing him to fly everywhere. Though, Mikey did make sure to actually walk on his own two feet at times to make sure his prosthetic leg that Donnie made him didn’t go to waste.
Mikey let himself in through the door to see the person that called him hard at work preparing the pizza dough for today’s service. The samurai and part-time pizza boy looked up and smiled at Mikey. Pausing his work, Yuichi stood up tall. “Mikey, you came!”
“Yuichi!” Mikey cheered and jumped forward to hug the rabbit yokai around the middle.
Yuichi laughed loudly and returned the hug, being carefully to mind the filled cracks in Mikey’s once broken shell. “Thanks for coming by,” Yuichi said. “Though, I know it’s mostly just for the free pizza.”
“You know me so well,” Mikey chuckled, pulling away from Yuichi. He floated back down to the ground and hopped up onto his chair that he always used in the kitchen when visiting, letting it spin around just once before putting his feet down to stop it in place to look at Yuichi. His metal prosthetic leg clanked against the metal of his chair. “Not that I’m complaining but what am I doing here and why did you ask me to not tell anyone?”
Yuichi looked around as if looking for a listening device and Mikey raised an eye ridge. Seemingly appeased by the lack of digital ears, Yuichi nodded to himself. “Mikey-kun, first, I need you to keep a secret for me.”
Mikey leaned back uncertainly and looked Yuichi up-and-down. “Am I going to regret it?” he asked carefully, blinking his mismatched blue and orange eyes.
“Not at all,” Yuichi shook his head quickly. “In fact, I believe you will be quite happy.”
Still not won over but very curious, Mikey nodded. “Alright, I’ll keep whatever you have to say a secret,” Mikey swore. Yuichi visibly relaxed and Mikey furrowed his brow. “Dude, what is going on with you?”
Yuichi fidgeted in his spot, licking his lips as he tried to work up the nerve. Mikey let him take all the time he needed and it paid off when he saw Yuichi square his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Yuichi smiled at Mikey. “Would you like to help me propose to your brother, Mikey-kun?” Yuichi sheepishly asked the 19-year-old the same thing he asked him back during Hypno's and Warren's wedding.
It was like all the air had been sucked out of the air with that question. Of all the things Mikey could have predicted, it certainly wasn’t this. Even his visions of the future didn’t show Yuichi asking for help. That being said, it wasn’t something that Mikey hated.
“Are you being serious?” Mikey whispered, his scarred hands shaking at his sides.
“You don’t have to if you—” Yuichi started to say, backtracking in case he hurt the young turtle’s feelings somehow.
“Of course, I would love to help you!” Mikey exclaimed as he jumped into the air to fly towards Yuichi, starry eyed as he clasped the samurai’s hands in his own. “I’ve been waiting for this day for like forever.” Mikey took his hands away to throw them out to the side as he spun around on his fake leg. His cloak swirling in the air around him as small orange sparkles popped from his hands in excitement. “This is going to be the second coolest thing ever!”
“And what’s the first?” Yuichi asked with a smile on his face and his arms crossed.
Mikey stopped spinning to pin Yuichi with an all-knowing look with his mismatched orange and blue eyes. “The wedding, duh,” Mikey snickered as he rolled his eyes.
Yuichi laughed at Mikey’s theatrics, knowing who he picked that up from clearly. Relaxing against the wall in Hueso’s restaurant’s kitchen, Yuichi felt a weight get lifted off his shoulders. He had asked Mikey to meet him there to avoid anyone else finding out about his plans.
Part of him wonders how it is that he is usually found in Hueso’s restaurant when something important with Mikey happens. First, the time Michael threatened him. Then, when Mikey woke up from self-imprisonment. Now being told that he was planning on proposing to Leo and that he needed help.
Funny how that works out.
“Do you have a ring already?”
Yuichi was brought out of his musing at Mikey’s question. It took him an embarrassing amount of time to realize what he was asked. With a blush at how delayed his answer was, he fumbled in his pocket to pull out a box and opened it to show the ornate box turtle.
It was a simple gold band dotted with an alternating pattern of light and dark blue diamonds around the edge in a box velvet blue. On the inside, it had an inscription etched in the metal. ‘Ninjas love samurais’ was what it said and Mikey snorted through his nose.
“He’s going to love it,” Mikey smiled as he looked up from the ring. “Do you have an idea what you want to do?”
“Something intimate but outdoors so the entire family can see,” Yuichi answered. He closed the ring box and put it back in his pocket. “I know that there is absolutely no chance of them not coming to crash our date the moment they get a whiff of something so I want to make sure there is plenty of space.”
Mikey nodded along, rubbing his chin with one scarred hand. With a hum, he nodded decisively once and clapped his hands together. Yuichi flinched as a very thick binder plopped down against the table between the two of them out of nowhere.
“I have just the plan!” Mikey beamed and brought his legs up to cross them as he floated in the air, holding each ankle in one hand. “Plan 3-SL-2.4 will be absolutely perfect with the weather we have coming. Man, I’m so glad I decided to not stop at 2.3 with this route.”
“Plan 3-SL-2.4?” Yuichi blinked as he got closer to the binder. It was filled to the brim with papers and cut outs that Mikey had complied. “…how many different ways have you thought up for this?”
“I have an entire pocket dimension filled with different binders,” Mikey answered immediately. Yuichi paled slightly at the implication and felt slightly terrified at Mikey’s planning skills.
“Why? You weren’t even sure if either Leo or I would ask you to help with something like this.” Yuichi asked. It wasn’t a malicious question as he was genuinely curious as to why Mikey would spend so much time on something like this.
Mikey shrugged shyly. “Well, with everyone starting to move out, I’ve had a lot of time to myself.”
Yuichi felt his heart go out to the teenager. With the age difference between Mikey and his siblings, increased by his own time being frozen while in the crystal and the spell against sister kraang, the ornate box turtle was the only turtle home full time. Raph had moved out almost a year and a half ago into his shared home with Mona. Donnie was still home part-time but he was spending more time in the hidden city as their chief of development thanks to the building capabilities his powers gave him.
The humans still came by as much as possible but they were also leading their adult lives now. April was a head journalist of her news company and was often sent all over the country for stories. Cassandra – still being the force of nature she is – was often chasing around Arnold, Casey’s counterpart from this timeline. The tyke was now three years old and was a little hellion, just like his mom. Casey was around to help when he wasn’t working among the researchers of his graduate school but a lot of his time went to it.
The latest brother to move out was Leo who moved into a place with Yuichi about seven months ago. Leo’s biggest hold-up was leaving Mikey the only one at home which is why he didn’t move in sooner. Sure, the boyfriends spent many nights over at each other places but it was always awkward when Yuichi stayed over at the lair with how the brothers tended to barge into the room in hopes of embarrassing Leo.
It was thanks to a very long and very serious discussion that Mikey had with Leo one night that gave Leo the push he needed. Mikey had told him that while he did love to have everyone home, they were all getting older and it was bound to happen at some point that everyone would leave. Sooner or later, Mikey would be next to leave.
Yuichi could see how Mikey was starting to get uncomfortable. It wasn’t a secret that Mikey preferred to have all his siblings together under one roof but they were all growing up. With Splinter and Draxum traveling the world for weeks at a time, Mikey had to find things to fill his time with. A good chunk of time, Mikey was traveling across various dimensions as he expanded his mystic powers and knowledge.
And apparently holing away in his own private pocket dimension writing up plans for a wedding that most likely never be used.
“So, when did you start making all these plans?” Yuichi asked to break the tension.
Mikey gave a smile at the change in topic. “Since Warren’s and Hypno’s wedding. I wasn’t kidding when I said that I would be start the planning.”
Yuichi barked a laugh. He leaned forward to leaf through the pages and grow excited as he through the plan. Mikey had clippings and print outs from different websites about color schemes and themes, as well as weather predictions of each spot depending on weather and season.
“You’re really thorough,” Yuichi awed.
“If I’m going to hold the title as best party planner, then I actually need to put the work in for it,” Mikey chuckled.
“Hey, Mikey!”
Mikey turned with a hum, pulling an ear bud out that was still blaring music. He lowered his hands with the orange magic haze that showed he was using his powers disappeared. The teenager had been in the middle of working on one of his new paintings but he wasn’t so deep in concentration that he couldn’t spare some time for whoever was calling him.
With a smile, he realized that Leo had come over to the lair and Mikey waved him into his art room. “Leo!” Mikey beamed and jumped off his chair to wrap Leo in a hug.
Over the last couple years, Leo had gotten taller and filled out. There were three yellow markings on his chin that matched the same markings on Leo's arm. To Mikey, it reminded him of facial hair and, funnily enough, Donnie had the same pattern on his chin with his own markings. Casey had said that Leo was slowing turning into the version of him that he knew with the biggest difference being the different type of prosthetic arm. That and he didn’t have the beat down personality from having to lead a rebellion during an apocalypse.
“What are you doing here?” Mikey smiled as he and his brother pulled away from each other. “You usually text me when you’re on your way over.”
“Just wanted to pop in and surprise you,” Leo shrugged but Mikey could see the hesitant excitement his directly older brother barely hid.
“What are you hiding?” Mikey asked immediately. If it was those pizza puffs that Raph banned them from eating again, Mikey was going to jump Leo for it. They were the one thing that Mikey couldn’t replicate with his cooking skills.
“What makes you think I’m hiding anything?” Leo asked in his squeaky voice that cemented what Mikey was expecting.
Raising an eye ridge, he looked Leo up and down. Knowing that Leo was hiding something, Mikey called upon his powers for a moment to have a glow cover his entire body. Within a moment, he was splitting apart into two with one wearing blue eyes while the other having orange.
It was something that Mikey had learned shortly after he accepted that Michael and Angelo were both apart of him. After some intense training with Draxum, Mikey had accidently split himself into his two personalities again. The main difference was that Michael wasn’t trying to kill the human race and Mikey could control both sides. He could even command when he wanted to separate and when he wanted to become one again. At first, everyone had been on guard in fear for another Michael vs. Angelo situation but once they learned that everything was safe, they accepted it pretty quickly.
It was quite a useful skill – especially when he pulled his all-nighters in his pocket dimension creating new ways for Leo’s and Yuichi’s wedding to go.
“What are you doing?” Leo asked carefully as he looked between the two Mikey’s. The two versions of his brother circled around him like sharks.
“Nothing,” Michael smirked and interlocked his hands together behind his back, his battle shell and cloak off in a rare occasion to show off the filled-in cracks of his carapace. The family always got on him to wear his battle shell to protect his compromised shell when he was out but it was fair game if he wanted to or not when he was relaxing at home. His orange eyes twinkled with barely concealed mischief. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not doing anything,” Leo answered hastily. “Was there a reason for you to split into two?”
“Just felt like it,” Angelo shrugged with a smile, bright blue eyes twinkling just as much as Michael’s. He spun around on one of his feet as he approached Leo. The red-eared slider was struggling to look between the two Mikey’s as one was in front and one in back of him now. “So, anything new with you?”
“Nothing much,” Leo answered as he turned his body to give the Mikey talking his full attention. “Just more politics and the likes of that. Makes me wish that I passed being a leader of the Hidden City along to Raph instead.”
“Raph is busy teaching his students,” Michael hummed as he jumped slightly to float in the air. The bows of his mask fluttered in the air.
“Yeah, but he is the better leader,” Leo pouted.
“I would say you aren’t half-bad yourself,” Angelo smiled, copying Michael by jumping into the air to float around.
“Yeah, well—”
Leo squawked as Michael made his move now that Leo wasn’t paying him attention anymore. The orange eyed turtle’s hand had slipped into the pocket that Leo kept patting and pulled out a small box the size of his palm. “Hoo hoo hoo, what do we have here?” Michael smirked as he also jumped into the air to float out of Leo’s reached.
“Give that back!” Leo demanded in a panic.
Angelo floated closer over to Michael as his other half floated higher, the tips of Leo’s fingers brushing against his metal foot. Opening it, Michael and Angelo leaned in to see a ring. What was shocking that it was identical to the ring that Yuichi had just shown him the other day. The only difference was the inscription on the inside that said ‘samurais love ninjas’.
“Mikey!” Leo exclaimed as he got fed up. Pulling his sword out and swiping the air next to him, he opened a small portal to reach through and pluck the ring and its box out of Michael’s hold. With a huff, he closed it and put it back into his pocket.
“Was that…an engagement ring?” Angelo asked slowly.
Leo’s irritation simmered down as a dopey smile covered his lips. He got shy as he looked away, his robotic arm coming up to rub the back of his head. “Well…yeah, it is,” Leo admitted with a giggle. He interlocked his hands as he started to fiddle his thumbs together. “Truth be told, I came here with a request of you.” Looking up, Leo took a deep breath. “Will you help me propose to Yuichi?”
Michael and Angelo looked at each for a long moment – long enough that Leo started to get worried – before a wide grin broke out on each of their faces. With a glow that covered their entire being, they merged back together and one single dual-color eyed Mikey came out on the other end. Floating over, Mikey threw himself over Leo’s back and his older brother instinctively hooked his arms underneath of him to carry him in a back-pack hold.
“Of course I’ll help you!” Mikey beamed and rubbed their cheeks together.
Leo breathed out a sigh of relief and with a smile, backtracked out of the art room to head to his old room. “Thanks, little brother,” Leo said. “Now, let’s go start drawing up some plans.”
“Oh, I’m way ahead of you,” Mikey smirked and pulled himself off of Leo’s back. Leo stopped walking as Mikey floated in front of him and moved his hands together in a complex pattern. It ended with a clap and then an orange tinted portal opened in front of the two turtles. “C’mon,” Mikey beckoned Leo through the portal into his pocket dimension filled to the brim with binders.
“What is this place?” Leo asked as he stepped through the portal and looked all around him.
“My event planning space,” Mikey smirked and flew up to a binder that was precariously balanced on top of a stack. Grabbing it, Mikey flew down just as Leo was reaching the table in the center of the space and dropped the binder on top of it. “And I think plan 3-SY-2.4 will be absolutely perfect for you.”
“Woah,” Leo said as he opened the binder and started looking through it. “How long have you been at this?”
“Since Hypno’s and Warren’s wedding,” Mikey echoed the words he had said to Yuichi.
“How’d you even know that I would come to you for help?” Leo asked without looking up from the binder.
“I had a hunch,” Mikey grinned and leaned back in the air as if he lounging on a recliner. Leo looked up and shot Mikey a disbelieving look. Knowing that he was busted, Mikey huffed and slouched. “Fine, I may or may not have…looked into the future to find out.”
Leo shot Mikey a scandalous look. “Mikey! What did we say about looking into the future?!”
Mikey pouted and crossed his arms over his chest as he inched away in the air. “To let it be a surprise for everyone unless we are in a dire life-threatening situation,” Mikey grumbled.
“And I don’t consider my engagement life-threatening,” Leo said, pointing a metal finger at Mikey.
Mikey threw his head back and groaned. “Fine, I’m sorry. I just wanted something to fill my time with while all of you are gone.”
Leo felt his anger disappearing as Mikey said his reasoning. He had always felt terrible about moving out even though Mikey said it was okay. Donnie still lived at home but was gone more than he was around. Raph was busy living in the hidden city with Mona and teaching his school of martial art students.
And, maybe, if this was the thing that gave Mikey to fill his time while everyone else was out doing their own thing, then Leo could look past it once.
“I’m sorry,” Leo apologized. He held his arms out in an invitation for a hug that Mikey eagerly took. Wrapping his arms around Mikey, he rubbed a hand up and down Mikey’s patched-up shell. “You were doing a nice thing for me so I shouldn’t be so harsh on you.”
“It’s okay Lee Lee,” Mikey said as he pulled away from Leo. He had a bright smile on his face as he interlocked his fingers behind his head. “I understand where you are coming from.”
Leo was glad that Mikey seemed to agree with him. The rule from no looking into the future was set by Draxum so that Mikey wouldn't be led down the path of a seer that got lost in his own visions. Mikey was getting stronger with his mystic powers every day and they all made sure to keep one eye on the smallest turtle in case his own powers grew beyond what he could control.
“By the way, I totally already know your wedding date and depending on the location you choose, I can tell you the weather of your wedding venue,” Mikey said suddenly.
Leo gave a defeated sigh. Dragging a hand down his face, he decided to just let it slide. “How about we get through the engagement first and then we can talk about wedding venues?”
“Okay,” Mikey chirped. Opening the binder to a page that seemed random to Leo but was with a clear intent on Mikey’s part, his little brother pointed at it. “So, let me start explaining how the way you’ll propose go.”
Leo leaned forward with rapt attention.
Notes:
This bonus part of 'DKGA' isn't going to be very long. I'm already over half-way done it and when I am, I will update the chapter count for it.
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
P.S. I had to go back and read 'DKGA' to remember everything I put in there and I cringed so bad at parts. I feel like my writing has evolved since writing DKRM and I thank everyone that has stayed with me since that first fic to where I am now in my writing journey.
Chapter 2: Pop the Question
Notes:
Hello and welcome to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Yuichi had to give it Mikey – the kid really knew how to create the best atmosphere.
Leo and Yuichi were currently walking through a nearly empty park with fully bloomed cherry blossom trees all around them. Soft pink petals floated gently down and the light of the settling sun gave the whole area a beautiful golden hue. The weather was absolutely perfect, not a cloud in the sky but not outlandishly hot. In the back of his mind, he wondered if perhaps Mikey's magic a hand in that.
Yuichi peeked over at Leo and blushed at how Leo looked so happy in the moment. The two of them were wearing traditional Japanese kimonos that Splinter had pushed into their hands after hearing they were going on a Sakura viewing date. The wink Splinter sent him confirmed Yuichi suspicions about Leo’s family tagging along if they heard a hint of a proposal happening. Yuichi’s kimono was a light blue with the haori on top being black with an intricate design stitched in blue across the left side of his body.
Leo’s own kimono was a dark blue with a haori that was pale blue. There were two yellow stripes stitched into the biceps of each sleeve to mimic Leo’s natural markings and the back had the Hamato family crest displayed proudly in white. With it being a special event, Leo had broken out his special nice mask that he had last used for Warren’s and Hypno’s wedding that had been made with his ninpo.
“This is so beautiful, Yui,” Leo breathed and turned towards Yuichi with a beaming smile. Leo’s flesh hand – the left one – was held in Yuichi’s right hand while his prosthetic right arm was raised in the air to catch a stray petal. “It was so sweet of you to think of this.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Yuichi stammered as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. His ears were tied together with one of Leo’s old masks he had started to wear after Leo forgot it at his place before moving in.
Off behind one of the trees near Yuichi, he could hear Mikey shuffle around as he patted himself on the back for the plan. Yuichi would never be able to thank Mikey enough for how well done this proposal plan was. They had agreed to let Leo think Yuichi thought of everything even though the samurai was completely following Mikey’s binder at this point.
He had to give it to Mikey, the turtle was through.
The boyfriends were coming upon a long bridge and Yuichi gulped, knowing that it was almost time. Under his fur, Yuichi could feel his hands go clammy with last-minute nerves. Subtly patting his front as he pretended to brush a petal off, he made sure the ring was still there.
(Next to him, Leo pretended to adjust his kimono to check that the ring was in the right place. Mikey’s binder said that the bridge would be the most romantic spot to pop the question and the time was almost upon him. He had thanked his stars that Yuichi had thought of this date so he could catch his boyfriend totally off-guard.)
Their shoes clacked hollowly on the bridge as they started to cross it. With hands held together, Leo and Yuichi awed to themselves as they had the entire area to themselves. The moment was perfect and they couldn’t ask for a better setting.
Yuichi was the one to break the act first. Pulling his hand away from Leo’s, he reached into his kimono and kneeled down on one knee. Leo’s mouth dropped open as he realized what was about to happen.
“Leo, from the day that I met you, you have captured my attention. Your wit and playfulness have become something that I cannot live the rest of my life without,” Yuichi said. His face was warm and he knew without a doubt that there was a large blush covering his cheeks. “Leonardo Hamato, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?”
Leo’s hands came up to cover his mouth as he looked between the ring in Yuichi’s hold and back to his boyfriend’s face. He was frozen in shock for a moment before started to laugh. Yuichi’s anxious excitement started to diminish at Leo’s react and his hands fell a fraction.
“You…don’t want to?” Yuichi asked as his smile slipped.
“No – I mean yes – no, wait,” Leo floundered as he realized Yuichi’s mood dropping. He dropped down to one of his knees and reached into his own kimono to pull out a black ring box. Leo popped it open to show a ring that identical to the one in Yuichi’s hold. “I’m just laughing because I was planning on proposing to you!”
Yuichi’s mouth dropped open as he looked down at the ring and felt his heart to soar again. His cheeks warmed up again that Leo would have been the one to propose to him if he hadn’t already decided to be the one to do it. It looks like they both had the same idea – how funny was that?
“Just say yes already!” someone yelled from the background. Yuichi looked over his shoulder to see Donnie pulling April back down to their shared hiding spot behind a large tree trunk.
April’s hair was done in long braids that swung through the air with flower clips tying off the ends to match the blooms on the trees around them. She wore a yellow kimono with a green obi decorated with white flowers. Raph was nearby and he more easily spotted as the tree he chose as his hiding spot did nothing to cover him. His special orders red kimono stood out in the light and both Leo and Yuichi were surprised that they hadn’t seen him earlier with how much he stood out.
Leo chuckled and nudged the ring in his hand closer to Yuichi. “Well, Yui, want to be husband?”
Yuichi’s smile grew even large. “Only if you say yes to being mine.”
Leo laughed again and nodded. They each took the ring in their box and slide it down the ring finger equivalent of their now fiance’s hand. There were cheers all around them as the Hamato’s finally revealed their hiding spots and the shutter of a camera as someone took pictures. Cassandra, in her silvery-gray kimono, was cheering as she held Arnold above her head and Casey holding his hands up to be ready to catch his counterpart-turned-younger brother. Casey wore what would be the male version of Cass’s kimono only he wore a light blue haori to match Cass’s obi.
Splinter was wiping tears from his face while Draxum clapped for the two young men. “One of my boys is finally getting married,” Splinter sniffled. April was moving around in all directions as she tried to get the best shot with the sun settling of the newly engaged fiancés. Donnie was helping her by deploying his hovershell attachment and flying the two of them above the water. His purple kimono and its white geometrical designs reflected off the otherwise clear blue water. Raph was just smiling and had an arm wrapping around Mona, the cherry blossom petals falling around them.
Yuichi and Leo placed their foreheads together as they laughed in joy.
“It worked!”
Yuichi and Leo turned their heads to see two Mikey’s revealing themselves from behind the trees. One had bright blue eyes and a light orange cloak with the other had golden-orange eyes and a burnt orange cloak. They both had matching kimonos that were a bright orange with a Sakura design splayed out the entire thing in white and black – Michael’s design in dark and Angelo’s in white.
“Mikey~” Leo said in a singsong voice and gritted teeth. “What did you do?”
“I just helped the two of you set up the perfect engagement with each other,” Angelo beamed as he flew over. He circled the air above the two with his blue eyes twinkling at them. “You’re welcome.”
“Do you know how hard it is was to help both of you plan an engagement without the other knowing?” Michael snorted as he turned over on his back and floated like he was lounging. His orange eyes looked amused as he stared at the rings on both fiancés’ hands.
“Mikey!” Leo exclaimed in shock.
“Blame Michael on this one,” Angelo laughed as he hovered lower and then saw on the railing of the bridge. “This was all his idea.”
“Michael is you,” Leo narrowed his eyes at his little brother.
“The evil me,” Angelo smirked.
“Still you,” Yuichi said but it was with a smile. It had taken so long to get Mikey to accept that Michael and Angelo were both sides of him but now it was treated more as a tease when Mikey tried to use it to get out of trouble – like now.
“To be fair, it was really my idea,” Michael shrugged and turned around in the air so that he was laying on his stomach. “Little goody two shoes over there kept saying that it wasn’t nice to trick the both you like that.”
“But it does make for some great pictures and a funny story for later,” Angelo giggled behind his hand.
“I’m so getting you back for this,” Leo grumbled.
“Oh, relax, Leo. He is right – it will be a nice, funny story to tell later,” Yuichi smiled warmly as he patted his fiancé’s arm. He looked at both versions of Mikey that floated closer to each other. “But for the record, who asked for your help first?”
That got Leo’s attention as he also waited for Mikey’s answered. Michael and Angelo looked at each other with shit-eating grins before being enveloped in a golden light. One singular Mikey popped out of the light that collided together, his cloak being a half-and-half version of the two cloaks his two selves had been wearing. The black and white flower designs on the kimonos merged together to be a neutral middle-ground gray. “I think it would be better if I didn’t answer that question,” Mikey said.
“Aww, but why?” Leo whined.
“Because I know how competitive the two of you can be,” Mikey smiled as he floated down to stand gingerly with one foot on the railing of the bridge. “How about for now, you two take some nice pictures and I go get our picnic ready?”
The fiancés looked at each and two matching dopey smiles bloomed on their faces. With a laugh, they leaned in to kiss each other. April squealed in the background and there was the sound of her taking picture after picture.
Mikey took that as his clue to fly away to not photobomb. With a smile, he flew above the tree line to where the picnic he had prepared for would be set up. The food had been prepared by him the last few days and was a feast to fill all of them – even Raph with his huge appetite.
Letting his powers flow to his hands, Mikey watched as his scars lit up against his green skin. Even though he couldn’t see it, he knew his blue and orange mismatched eyes were glowing with power to show off his magic. The ornate box turtle hummed as he used his powers to lay out the picnic blankets and move the food to where it belonged.
He paused when he felt a shiver go up his shell like someone was watching him. He turned around immediately, expecting someone there but turning up with nothing. More shivers ran down Mikey’s shoulder and he looked all around him.
“Hello?” Mikey called into the air, letting his hands fall to put the picnic down. His eyes stayed glowing as he let shine brighter as a show of intimidation. “Is someone there?”
There was no answer and Mikey furrowed his brow. He was sure that he felt someone’s presence but he couldn’t hear any signs of life in the vicinity. Blinking hard, he opened them to have his magic sense eyes activated. The purple-colored eyes with a black crosshair design in place of a pupil looked around to try and find anything.
And he found nothing.
Frowning, Mikey flew up high and switched between all the different version of his magic sense eyes that Draxum had taught him. Nothing was picking up on the presence that Mikey had felt and it made his skin crawl. No matter where he looked, there was no one.
“What is going on?” Mikey muttered to himself.
“Mikey! What are you doing?!”
Mikey looked down to see his family watching him from the ground. Just like that, the presence was gone and the goosebumps that Mikey didn’t realize he had disappeared. Looking around once more, Mikey decided to let it go – it was a time to celebrate anyways.
“Just saw a pretty butterfly,” Mikey grinned as he lied and floated down. “I’ll have to find a picture of it later to show you.”
“Never mind that,” Leo grinned and wrapped his arm around his younger brother. “Look at this spread! You’ve really outdone yourself, little brother!”
“Only the best for my brother and future brother-in-law,” Mikey beamed. He pulled Leo over to where Yuichi had found a seat and pushed Leo down to sit next to him. “Now, I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long now. ”
“Oh no,” Leo muttered to himself to which Yuichi elbowed him in the side.
Clapping his hands together, multiple small portals opened and many binders tumbled out onto the ground. “It’s time to discuss the time, date, and venue!”
Leo and Yuichi gulped in unison, feeling like they were throw right into the lion’s den.
Notes:
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 3: Following Eyes
Notes:
Hello and welcome to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Just a few handfuls of weeks after the proposal, the two fiancés were found lounging in their shared apartment and watching an old Lou Jitsu movie.
“I still can’t believe this is your father when he was younger,” Yuichi commented as he watched Lou Jitsu beat up enemy ninjas with nothing but two dead fish.
“Yeah, Pops was pretty cool,” Leo ginned, eating some more popcorn with his flesh hand. His metal arm was draped over the back of the couch behind where Yuichi sat cuddling up to him. He looked at Yuichi and winked at him. “Where do you think I got my wicked cool ninja vibes from?”
“You? Cool?” Yuichi snorted and booped Leo on the nose. “More like dorky.”
Leo gasped dramatically and held his hand to his chest. “Betrayal of the highest order by my own fiancé. How will I ever survive?”
Despite the teasing tone to it, Yuichi melted happily at the mention of their status and pressed closer to Leo. “I like the way you say fiancé,” Yuichi said.
“Just wait until I can say husband,” Leo smirked, dropped his cheek against the top of Yuichi’s head. “Won’t be too long from now.”
Yuichi hummed as he thought about their wedding that was quickly approaching them as each day passed. “Don’t you feel like we should be helping out with the planning of our own wedding more?” Yuichi asked.
Leo shrugged and threw a kernel of popcorn in the air to catch in his mouth. “Honestly, it’s easier to stay out of the way for now and let Mikey go at it. I fear for anyone that crosses him.”
Yuichi remembered the time Mikey was called in to help at Hueso’s for a last-minute catering gig after one of the other part-timers called out sick. Mikey had handled the kitchen with a military precise. There was poor soul that didn’t like a teenager telling him what to do and made sure to tell Mikey that.
And he shivered at how he remembered Mikey reaming the yokai out about his burnt scallops and raw chicken.
“You know what, you’re right,” Yuichi conceded. “It’ll be easier to stay out of the way until he needs us.”
“Now you’re getting it,” Leo laughed and threw another piece of popcorn in the air. This one bounced off his forehead right into his mouth. Deciding to count it as a victory, Leo shrugged and ate it.
Yuichi and Leo went back to watching the movie. Lou Jitsu’s shirt had been ripped off to show his abs that flexed with every movement. Yuichi’s mouth went dry and he hesitantly peeked over at Leo to see if his fiancé saw him getting flustered. Leo seemed completely unbothered by his reaction and actually seemed more embarrassed by his dad in his state of undress by the grimace on his face.
“Leo?” Yuichi said.
Leo hummed a response, stuffing a handful of popcorn in his mouth.
“I say this with all the love I have for you and the respect I have for you father – your dad was so hot as a human,” Yuichi admitted.
“Dude, you have no idea just how many people tried to get with him,” Leo cackled.
Mikey hummed to himself as he flipped through his binder.
Everything was going along great and moving along smoothly. Cassandra – his right-hand woman because there was no one else that he trusted as much to get the job done like her – had texted him that the menu tasting date was set. They were going with a famous catering restaurant in the Hidden City that got Mikey’s stamp of approval.
As much as Mikey wanted to cook everything himself, it was not feasible with his role as wedding coordinator. There wouldn’t be enough time to get it all done – even with his two halves – and Mikey didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. Mikey wanted everything to be absolutely perfect for his brother and future brother-in-law.
That didn’t mean Mikey wasn’t baking the wedding cake though.
They would have to rip that honor from his cold, dead hands before someone else’s cake made it on the table.
Interlocking his hands together, Mikey stretched them high above his head with a large yawn. His jaw popped with the sheer volume of it and he dropped his hands back down, cracking his neck. “I guess I should take a break,” Mikey said to himself. “I can put together the flower and color options binder afterwards.”
With a complex move of his hands accompanied with the glowing of his eyes as he called upon his powers, Mikey opened a new portal. He flew lazily through it and exited into his room on the other side. The portal closed behind him with barely any noise. Mikey yawned again and he decided that he was entitled to a mug of hot chocolate as a reward for his hard work.
Mikey flew out of his room and his half-and-half inversed cloak follow after him. He made his way down to the kitchen and was about to go right past Donnie’s lab when a quick cast of his eyes to the side showed his brother was home. Stopping in his tracks, Mikey back-tracked and knocked on the doorway to Donnie’s lab.
“Come in, Mikey,” Donnie said with barely a glance over his shoulder.
“How’d you know it was me?” Mikey asked with a grin, flying over so that he was leaning against Donnie’s desk on his left.
“Raph’s knocks are heavier and Leo doesn’t knock,” Donnie answered easily, his drawn-on eye brows furrowing as he worked on a complex formula. “Simple as that.”
“If you say so,” Mikey snorted and looked Donnie over. The three purple marks on Donnie’s chin in the shape of skinny rectangles hadn’t grown longer since the last time Mikey saw his brother and he wondered if they had their full length by this point. The markings reminded Mikey of facial hair and it amused him that Leo also had a version of it with his own markings. “What’re you doing home?”
“Got bored of working in the office and wanted to be back in my lab,” Donnie answered. His eyes dragged up to Mikey, meeting his mismatched blue and orange eyes. “Where were you when I got home? I was going to ask if you wanted to watch a movie with me.”
“Awww, of course I would like to,” Mikey beamed. “To answer your question, I was back in my pocket dimension finalizing some details in the wedding binder.”
Donnie snorted and shook his head. “Why do I have the feeling that after Leo and Yuichi are married, you’re going to start working on planning Raph’s and Mona’s wedding?”
“And you think I haven’t already started?” Mikey laughed loudly. “I have another pocket dimension dedicated to them. Though, to be fair, it doesn’t have nearly as much plans as Leo’s and Yuichi’s yet.”
“I should have expected that with you,” Donnie chuckled and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his plastron. “How full is the pocket dimension dedicated to me?”
“Empty, just like your love life,” Mikey snorted.
“Fair,” Donnie shrugged. Grinning, Donnie pushed his chair back and spun with his hands in the air “But who needs love when you have science?”
Mikey laughed loudly at his brother’s theatrics. “I’m sure some other people would have very different opinions.”
“Who cares about them?” Donnie huffed and wheeled back closer to his desk. “Plenty of people think like me. Look as Cass.”
That was true.
Cassandra was who never showed much interest in love. She thrived despite not having a lover and actively chose against seeking one out. As far as Mikey knew, Cass hadn’t had a boyfriend ever.
Which made her pregnancy all the more of a surprise.
Despite not feeling the need to have a lover, Cassandra loved being a mother. Arnold was the apple of Cassandra’s eyes as she doted on him endlessly. They had all questioned why she would use that name and she had explained that it was her father’s name – one of the very few things she knew about him.
When asked why she chose Arnold instead of Casey like the boy from the future, Cassandra would say that she had named him that because of Casey’s presence in their timeline. Cassandra didn’t want to give both her sons the same name – ignoring the fact that they were the same person. Since the past that created Casey’s future was prevented from happening, Cassandra argued that they would be two different people which meant they needed two different names.
Even though Arnold was quite literally himself from the past, Casey was regarded as Arnold’s older brother. Cassandra still thought of Casey as a son despite belonging to herself from the future and being nearly the same age. Most people that saw them together thought of them as siblings instead of mother and son.
Casey had tried offering to be Arnold’s uncle instead of brother but Cassandra had shot that down immediately. They were both her sons and no one could tell her otherwise. Mikey had thought of it as sweet.
“I can’t argue with you there,” Mikey giggled.
There was a beep on Donnie’s computer that had him looking over. Dropping his arms, Donnie went back to typing at his computer with the light of the screen reflecting off his eyes. “Hey, you mind making some hot chocolate and grabbing some snacks while I finish with this? Go pick a movie.”
“Lou Jitsu or Jupiter Jim?”
“Jupiter Jim, of course,” Donnie snorted, playfully rolling his eyes.
“On it,” Mikey grinned and pushed off Donnie’s desk to leave the lab. He flew over to their kitchen and floated a bit higher to get to the hot chocolate packets on the top shelf. While up there, he made sure to grab the cookies he hid the previous day after needing a small mental break from planning. If he didn’t hide it, Mikey knew that one of his brothers would eat the entire supply.
Floating back down, Mikey placed the contents of his arms on the counter. He clapped his hands together with a ripple of energy rolling down his hands and up his arms, crawling over his cloak. With a flash and a rippling of orange light, Mikey’s cloaked morphed into a hoodie version with it still being half-and-half inversed. With a smile, Mikey rolled up his sleeves as he prepared to get to work.
Only for his hands to still when he felt eyes on him again.
Carefully turning around, still floating in the air, Mikey looked around the kitchen. Nothing was out of place from the last time he was in here this morning. No one had touched anything and no one was in the kitchen with him.
But someone had to be with how Mikey’s skin seemed to crawl.
“I know you’re out there watching me,” Mikey frowned as he spoke into the empty kitchen. No one answered back, like after the proposal but Mikey knew that he wasn’t crazy. Even if none of his spells had gone off to alert him that someone was following, he knew without a doubt there was someone.
Splitting into two, Michael and Angelo flew quietly through the air. One took to one side of the room while the other took the other side. They looked in every cabinet and into every drawer to see if there was something there. Michael took a peek into the fridge and freeze while Angelo looked under the tables and its chairs.
“This is so weird,” Michael grumbled under his breath, closing the freezer with more force than necessary.
“Maybe we are imaging it,” Angelo offered, placing the chair he had picked up back in place.
“No way,” Michael shook his head, orange eyes looking around the empty space. “This isn’t in our heads.”
“But how can someone be watching us when we placed that spell?” Angelo asked. His arms came up to cross over the front of his hoodie that was an inverse of Michael’s. “Did we mess something up in it?”
“I don’t think so,” Michael answered, drifting over towards Angelo. “We would have known by now if there was a hole in it with how diagnostic spell running every week.”
Angelo sighed and shook his head. “I don’t like this,” Angelo said with a huff. “How are we supposed to plan Leo’s wedding when we keep having to look over our shoulders for someone that’s not there?”
“Got me beat there,” Michael grumbled.
In a flash of light, the two selves shot back to each other to combine back into Mikey. The singular turtle spun around the kitchen in a slow circle as his mismatched eyes looked over everything again. Nothing was out of the ordinary and that’s what bothered Mikey. He expected something to be off to prove that he wasn’t imaging it but there was no proof of it.
Turning back towards the kitchen, Mikey dragged a hand down his face. “Maybe I’m going crazy from lack of sleep,” he muttered to himself. He was ready to put this goosebump-inducing feeling out of his mind.
Mikey was just getting back to the counter when he felt that feeling again but, unlike before, Mikey felt a tether to one spot. Trying to inconspicuous, Mikey gathered a good load of his magic in his arms so that it wouldn’t show through his scars that lit up often with his power usage.
Spinning quickly in the air, Mikey stuck his fingers into empty air like he was grabbing something. Pushing magic into his fingers, Mikey felt a solid force underneath of them and started to pull on something heavy. They were there – whoever it was that was watching Mikey – and Mikey would find out who it is as long as he could rip open the space between them.
“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” Mikey muttered to himself as the fabric of the universe before him refused to tear. He bared his teeth as he continued to struggle and for the nth time, Mikey wished that he had Raph’s strength. It took forever – it was actually only a few heart-pounding seconds – for a tear to appear before Mikey. It was the size of his pinky and looked ready to seal up again but it was what Mikey needed to get invigorated.
With a yell, Mikey dug deep into his core and pulled on his powers. He poured more into his arms and felt his strength grow tremendously. The tear grew longer as it couldn’t fight against the mystic master and his sheer amount of raw power.
“Mikey? You okay?” Donnie called uncertainly from his lab, hearing Mikey’s yell of exertion.
Ignoring it, Mikey furrowed his brow and bore down. With a grunt, Mikey used all of his strength to rip in one go and was rewarded as the small piece of fabric of reality in front of him tore open. His hands shifted to hold the hole open so it couldn’t slam shut again.
Mikey’s mouth dropped open as he saw the space on the other side of the hole. “What the hell?” Mikey breathed.
It was an otherwise dark space that was dotted with what looked like a ship’s porthole dotted all over the space. They were numerous as the stack shot up into the air above and disappeared from view. From where he was, Mikey couldn’t make out what was playing out in the portholes but he could tell they were showing something.
And, in the middle of the space, hovered the being that Mikey had felt the eyes of watching him.
Mikey knew it was this very person watching – he felt it deep in his gut.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” the other person in the otherwise empty space said, amusement coloring their voice. “But, I supposed I should have expected that considering who you are.” With a hand held out, a wave of energy forced Mikey backwards and his hands slipped off the portal.
The portal closed with a small hiss as Mikey went tumbling across the ground. He hit the ground hip first and it dislodged it enough that his prosthetic leg popped off. His leg went one way while Mikey rolled backwards until he hit the counter with a loud clatter of his shell hitting wood. The surprise of it caused Mikey to split into two again with both selves falling to either side.
Michael shook himself out to gather his wits while Angelo rubbed at his head. Between the two of them, the cabinet their shell had smacked into had a deep crack running down the middle of it. One of the containers on the counter had toppled over loudly.
“Mikey?!” Donnie’s concerned voice yelled from the other room. There was a hurried and frantic patter of Donnie’s feet as he sprinted from his lab to the kitchen. Donnie quite literally slid to a stop outside the doorway of the kitchen to see what was going on.
He thought that he must have looked like a mess to Donnie. Here was his brother working in his lab only to hear a loud thump from the kitchen where he was. Donnie would have run all the way here only to see Mikey’s leg detached from him and Mikey split into two again in clear confusion over something.
Squeezing his two pairs of eyes, Michael and Angelo were enveloped in two flashes of light. The two lights shot towards each other and combined back into Mikey, falling back to the ground. His leg still laid on the ground mutely where it had popped off.
Donnie crossed the space from the kitchen’s doorway to Mikey in three long strides and kneeled down next to him. His hands came out to grasp Mikey’s shoulder and looked him over. “Mikey, what the hell just happened?” Donnie demanded,
The mystic master didn’t answer. Mikey blinked as he tried to figure out what he saw. Donnie was still talking to him, looking around to get a clue as to what happened in the short time they were apart. Mikey’s mind could only handle so much at a time and Donnie’s questions about his wellbeing was pushed to the back as two questions roared for attention in the front of his mind.
Who the hell was that?
And why did they look exactly like him?
Notes:
👀
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 4: Progression of Philosophy
Notes:
Hello and welcome back to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Sorry for not updating sooner! I actually wanted to get this chapter out last week but then I got busy preparing for my road trip to CO and then didn't have time to work on it.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Angelo yawned so loudly that his jaw cracked. Closing it with a clack of his teeth, Angelo rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his palm. Man, he was tired.
“Are you okay, Angelo?” Leo asked, pausing his perusing of the binder that Mikey had brought over to his and Yuichi's apartment. The two brothers had set up camp at the coffee table in the living room while they waited for Yuichi to return from the kitchen where he was brewing some tea for them.
Angelo looked up with a tired hum, his usually bright blue eyes duller from exhaustion. He forced a small smile on his face but he knew that Leo could see right past it based on the frown marring his face. Only 24-years-old and already a crease was forming on his forehead from how often he had to pull that frown.
“Don’t frown,” Angelo chided, reaching out to smooth Leo’s forehead. “You’re going to get a Raph chasm.”
Leo grabbed Angelo’s hand and pulled it away from his face, though he didn’t let go of the hand he captured. “Then tell me why you’re so tired,” Leo demanded.
Angelo shrugged. “Just busy,” Angelo answered.
“There’s no way you’re this tired just from wedding planning,” Leo frowned with a click of his tongue. “And if you are, then you need to take a step back. I don’t want you losing too much sleep over just a wedding.”
“First, it’s not ‘just a wedding’,” Angelo said, swiping his hand back from Leo. “This is going to be the event of the century only to be tied with Raph’s wedding.”
Leo rolled his eyes at that. “You’re so dramatic,” he said.
“We both got it from pops,” Angelo winked at Leo with a chuckle. It petered off and he slouched in his chair, rubbing at his face. “And, second, it’s not just your wedding. I’ve had to take care of some mystic magicy stuff lately.”
That got Leo’s attention and he pulled the chair away from the table, spinning it around on one leg before plopping down on it backwards. He folded his arms, metal and flesh alike, over the backrest and leaned forward. “What’s going on?” Leo asked in concern. “Anything you need my help with?”
Angelo shook his head and placed an elbow on the table to perch his chin in the palm of. “Not sure,” Angelo answered truthfully. “I’m still trying to figure out what is even going on. I’ll keep you all updated.”
Mikey had learned his lesson about hiding stuff from his brothers long ago. Ever since he ran away from his brothers after being released from the crystal and his subsequent return home, Mikey didn’t try to hide things as big as this from them. A little lie about how dangerous the other realms he had gone to in an effort to expand his mystic mastery was okay – especially when Draxum backed him up on it. Whatever was going on was definitely not something to hide but he wanted to find out more about whatever could be going on before bringing it to his brothers’ attention.
Leo looked at Angelo for a long moment, purple-colored eyes meeting blue. After a moment, Leo cleared his throat. “Is that why you and Michael are separated right now?”
“Yeah,” Angelo nodded. “Michael is off at Draxum’s library right now tearing through his books to see if he can find an answer to what’s going on. Before you ask, yes, Draxum is there too.”
“Has Michael told Draxum what’s happening?”
Angelo shrugged. “It’s Michael.”
Leo nodded once, taking that as the answer it was. “How long has whatever’s been happening going on for?”
“Three days since I got a more definite answer something’s going on,” Angelo answered, raising one finger to rub at his tired eye. “But if you’re wondering when it first start, it was right after you and Yuichi proposed to each other.”
Leo whistled low. “That’s been a while, Hermano,” Leo said. “Who else knows what’s going on?”
“Donnie knows that something is happening since he found out me after I got my definitive answer and Draxum since he’s in the library right now with Michael,” Angelo answered.
“And now me,” Leo added.
“And now you,” Angelo echoed. With a heavy sigh, Angelo pushed off his hand and forced a more energetic smile on his face. “But you aren’t going to worry about it at all.”
“Wha-what?” Leo sputtered, narrowing his eyes at his baby brother. “Why the hell not?”
“Because you have a wedding to worry about,” Angelo answered easily, winking at his brother. “The show must go on despite what’s happening backstage.”
“Angelo, whatever you’re investigating could be serious,” Leo scoffed.
“And it could be nothing,” Angelo shot back, his blue eyes flashing for a moment. “Besides, your wedding is just as important.”
“I think you have your priorities mixed up, little brother,” Leo chuckled.
“I have them just right,” Angelo laughed alongside his brother.
Yuichi entered the living room with a tray in his hands holding the tea kettle and the three cups for them. “Did I miss something?” Yuichi asked as he approached the table.
“Nothing much,” Angelo answered as he admitted the full truth. With a quick look to his brother that Yuichi missed as he poured the tea into the cups, Leo silently agreed to not make a fuss about whatever was going on at the moment. He was going to let his brother find out what was happening more as it would do no good to harp on him when Mikey didn’t even have all the information himself.
Yuichi settled down in the chair opposite Leo’s at the table and passed the tea cups to the two brothers. Leo took it in his flesh hand, feeling the warmth of the tea through his fingertips, while Angelo twirled a finger in the air to let his magic grab the cup with a haze of light orange around it. It came to float to the side of Angelo in arm’s reach for whenever he wanted it.
“So, Mikey-kun, what is next on our list of wedding planning?” Yuichi asked.
A real, energized smile took over Angelo’s face as he looked between the two fiancés. “I am so glad you asked,” Angelo giggled and clapped his hands together.
From above them, a handful of small portals opened up to drop stacks of binders on the table. Yuichi and Leo just barely picked up the tea kettle in time before it would have been knocked off the table, Leo taking the brunt of the kettle as his metal arm couldn’t feel the burning heat of it. Yuichi had pulled his hand back with a hiss after he touched it for too long in the wrong spot and blew on it to cool it down.
“What the hell is all this?” Leo gasped in awe.
“It’s time to pick out what you want to wear,” Angelo grinned like a mad man.
The husbands to be gulped at they looked the binders in front of them.
Michael scowled to himself as he slammed another ancient tome from Draxum’s collection.
“Be careful with that,” Draxum tutted, turning the corner from around one of his insanely tall bookshelves. “It’s older than me.”
“That’s saying something,” Michael grumbled under his breath. With a huff, Michael perched his cheek in one hand and twirled the other in the air. A haze of darker orange mystic energy enveloped the book and lifted it in the air to return to its spot in the library.
Draxum sighed and approached the table that Michael had set up shop at earlier when he burst into the library. Draxum had been back at his Hidden City residence to find some research material for his next project and nearly jumped out of his skin with how Michael teleported in despite his wards against intruders. Then again, Michael could hardly be considered an intruder.
Now, at least. Past Michael definitely could have been considered one when he was trying to destroy humanity.
“If you would tell me what you are looking for, I could at least point you in the right direction of what book you need,” Draxum told his creation.
“That’s the problem,” Michael grumbled and when the book was fully back into its spot, he dropped his magic and hand. He moved the hand holding his cheek to the front of his face and pinched his nose bridge. “I don’t even know what I should be looking for.”
Draxum approached the table and pulled the chair opposite Michael out to take a seat in. He sat tall and proud like the baron he is, hands folded on the table in front of him. “How about you start from the beginning so I could assist?”
Michael huffed and looked up at the ceiling, regaling Draxum from the beginning after the proposal of the eyes watching him. How it was always lurking around the corners when they thought Mikey wasn’t paying attention. It ended with the confrontation in the kitchen earlier in the week, Michael unconsciously reaching back to rub at his shell from when it hit the cabinet. Despite not hitting hard, it still stung his sensitive shell.
“Are you sure that they aren’t from our world?” Draxum asked, finally talking after giving Michael the time to tell his story with no interruptions.
“Positive,” Michael answered with a sharp nod of his head. “You know the spell that blocks outsiders from peeking into your lab that you casted?”
“Of course,” Draxum said with a roll of his eyes.
“I casted that one on our entire universe,” Michael said off-handedly.
Draxum slapped his hands on the table so hard that the books jumped and he jumped to his feet. “You did WHAT?!” Draxum demanded.
Michael waved a hand dismissively at his creator. “I didn’t want someone from another universe messing with us. I would have done it just for our dimension but since dimensions are so closely intertwined, I decided to leave it alone. Though, if someone crosses into our dimension without my say-so, I’ll know immediately.”
Draxum’s mouth dropped open as he fell back into his seat. He dropped his face into his hands, hair being pushed back as he stared unseeingly at the table “How…when…what…I don’t even know where to start.” He looked back up at Michael. “Why?”
“We aren’t the only universe around,” Michael answered, leaning back in his chair so that it was only standing on its back two legs. “There are so, so many other parallel universes out there.”
“That’s a theory and a shaky one at best,” Draxum frowned.
Michael pointed a finger-gun at Draxum lazily. “That’s where you are wrong, dear creator,” he said. “The multiverse is super real.”
“How do you know?” Draxum demanded, narrowing his eyes.
“Because…I got bored one day,” Michael answered, shooting off his finger-gun at Draxum so that it was now pointed at the air above him.
“…what did you do?” Draxum asked quietly.
A small magic circle formed at the top of Michael’s finger. He spun it around rapidly and Michael laid his hand flat just in time for a sphere the size of a softball to drop into it. Holding it out towards Draxum, Michael nodded towards it. “Take a look.”
Draxum took the sphere carefully. It was a clear orange that reflected the light of his library across his table in a sheen of light. Bringing it closer, Draxum did a double-take when he saw a visage of four turtles moving around in the center.
It showed a quartet, not unlike his creations, but they were more uniform and being of the same species. All four of them were around the same height – taller than Mikey but shorter than Raph – and the green of their skin varying in shades. The blue-masked turtle had part of his shell broken off by his left shoulder with a nasty scar accompanying it. He turned around to bark an order to his brothers before jumping off the rooftop to another building.
The purple-banded brother followed without looking up from his phone as he typed something at it. He looked up at the last minute due to a smack at the back of his head by the red-banded brother. The purple-banded turtle scowled at the other, who laughed at him, and the two followed after the previous turtle.
The last one laughed loudly as he brought up the rear. An orange-banded turtle that smiled brightly and cartwheeled over the rooftop. He jumped back up to his feet before wordlessly saying something to his brothers waiting on the other rooftop. The orange-banded turtle went to follow after him before pausing, looking off to the side. His eyes seemingly met Draxum’s and it made the alchemist freeze.
The orange-banded turtle’s attention was pulled elsewhere as his brothers called after him again. The turtle’s mouth moved in response before he went running off and jumped from his rooftop to the one with the other turtles. He rolled to a stop on the other rooftop before running again, seemingly challenging the others to a race with how they chased after him.
“That’s universe 2003, by the way,” Michael said after the turtles disappeared from view. With a snap of his fingers, the sphere in Draxum’s hands disappeared into a cluster of sparkles.
Draxum looked up to meet Michael’s orange-eyed gaze. “What did you do?” he asked with a repeat of his earlier question.
“I created new magic,” Michael answered as if it wasn’t some reality changing revelation. “Remember that big project you gave me to do last year and said I had the rest of my life to complete? Yeah, I finished it three months later. It wasn’t that hard once I figured out the right frequencies shared between universes.”
Draxum’s mouth dropped open again and leaned back in his chair, one hand coming up to cover his mouth. He was in a state of absolute awe. The project that Michael mentioned was a way for him to push himself and, yes, the goal was to create a new form of magic. It was something his own mentor had tasked him with but it was something that was supposed to force the student to think outside the box. It was never meant to actually be completed.
His youngest creation had gone beyond what was thought of as possible and found a way to peer into parallel universes. It was something that many had theorized but couldn’t prove due to the sheer magnitude of power needed to actually contact another universe. And here was Michael opening a window for Draxum to peek into like it was nothing.
Draxum was, once again, that his son didn’t follow his footsteps for evil like he was originally created for.
…well, aside from Michael’s short stint of villainy.
“This…this is amazing, Michelangelo,” Draxum breathed.
“Thank you,” Michael said with a bow of his head. “To be honest, I can’t take all the credit for it.”
“Oh?” Draxum asked.
Dropping his chair down so it was on all four legs again, Michael perched his chin in his hand. “Did you know that Donnie already knew about how the multiverse was real?”
Once again, Draxum was caught off guard. Mutely, he shook his head.
“Well, Donnie tried telling us before but we thought he was crazy. It was back when we had Raph dressed up in the hippo suit so we could get pops a new robe,” Michael started.
“You four did what now?” Draxum asked.
“It was back when you were still evil,” Michael explained with a wave of his other hand to brush past it. “Well, Donnie decided to carry through proving the multiverse was real and found a way to get in contact with them.”
“How?” Draxum demanded, leaning forward in rapt attention.
Smirking to himself, Michael chuckled. “Through online chess.”
Draxum blinked once, then twice, in surprise. “Pardon me?”
“Chess. Online chess,” Michael laughed. “Apparently he and the Donnie from universe 2018 figured out how to do it and the two of them challenge their counterparts all over the multiverse all the time without their counterparts knowing they are playing themselves.”
“I…I don’t even know what to say,” Draxum said as he leaned back in his chair.
“So, one day, I go to ask Donnie a question and see him playing the chess match,” Michael continued. “I’ve watched enough – aside from when I’m eating his chess pieces – to know how Donnie plays and his opponents were moving the same way. That’s when Donnie explains what he did and I got the bright idea to figure out how to open a window because I was curious what they looked like.”
Draxum was stunned into silence at the admittance that not just one but two – read that: TWO! – of his creations had proven a theory that caused so much turmoil in the science community for the hell of it. Even with his brilliant mind, he had to take a moment to comprehend it. Shaking his head, Draxum decided to go back to the question that sent them down this rabbit hole.
“So, why did you cast the spell to block outside contact from the other universes?” Draxum asked, clearing his throat. “Wouldn’t it be beneficial to converse and share scientific advancements with each other?”
“No.” Michael’s mouth settled into a hard line as he scowled.
Draxum felt like there was story behind that but he didn’t want to push it with how angry it made Michael. Deciding to take another approach, Draxum intertwined his hands together and perched his chin on them. “Is your spell just for watching the other universes or can it also travel to them?”
Michael didn’t answer at first. He looked down at his free hand on his prosthetic leg, thumbing the smiley face drawn on the knee. With a heavy sigh, Michael looked off to the side at the bookshelves filled to the brim with ancient tomes that possibly carried the answer to what he was looking for.
“If you’re asking if I have already been to another universe, the answer is yes,” Michael admitted. “As me – full Mikey me. It was a quick in-and-out trip into some universe that was all black and white. I didn't stay long, just enough to be happy in the fact that I could travel to another universe if I want to and then came right home.”
Draxum, to his credit, appeared completely calm on the outside. On the inside, he was freaking out each development in this new data proving the multiverse. He was so glad that he was pro-multiverse theory or else he would be crushed about being so wrong.
“And you won’t do it again?” Draxum asked.
Michael shook his head. “I brought too much attention to us the time I opened that portal. It was like a spotlight showing that we are here and I don’t want that again.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” Michael started, turning his gaze to stare with glowing orange eyes at Draxum, “there are some very, very dangerous beings in the multiverse that would destroy so much for their own selfish desire. I will not put my family in danger because of a stupid joyride to another universe when I have everything I need in this one.”
Draxum tried to wrap his head around that and just couldn’t. His son was one of the most powerful – if not, the most powerful – mystic master Draxum had ever met. There wasn’t much that scared Mikey anymore after unlocking his abilities but whoever these other beings were was something that made his son cast a spell stretch a spell past what was thought possible to protect the entire universe from them.
Deciding that his mind was just spent from the rapid-fire information dumped on him, Draxum told himself that he would ponder these new powerful beings later. Draxum looked at Michael and wondered if led down the wrong road, if Mikey would have been one of those powerful beings to be scared of from another universe. Just that short stint of Michael trying to destroy humanity was enough for Draxum to be thankful that Mikey was on the side of good.
“Gods above, I am so glad that you didn’t become the weapon of war I tried to create you four to be,” Draxum breathed aloud in relief.
Michael laughed loudly at Draxum’s declaration. Splinter was the one to take all the credit for the way the boys turned out. He raised them – aside from when Raph had to take over when Splinter’s depression became too much – to be good and to be warriors of righteousness worthy of holding the Hamato clan name. No god, if they were real, could take credit of that.
Then Michael’s laughs froze as he pondered over that last thought.
Gods above?
…gods?
…god?
…
..oh, pizza supreme!
God!
A god!
In a near mirror copy of Draxum earlier, Michael slammed his hands down on the table as he stood up from his chair. “Draxum! That’s it!” Michael cheered as everything became clear.
Michael jumped in the air, flying around the library to find any book related to gods. Draxum got up from the table and followed after him, wondering what he said that gave Michael the stroke of inspiration that he needed. His eyes tracked the books that Michael pulled out with his powers and left to hover in the air in a haze of dark orange. He furrowed his brow when they were all more of his philosophical books featuring gods across regions and religions.
“Child, what in the heavens you doing?” Draxum asked, deciding to help by pulling more books related to that from the lower shelves.
Looking down at Draxum so that shadows shrouded his face, Michael grinned at his creator with orange eyes glowing so bright that they were almost liquid gold. “We’re going hunting for a god.”
Notes:
👀
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 5: Sweets and Treats
Notes:
Hello and welcome back to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Are you sure that Mikey-kun is okay?” Yuichi asked again as Leo and he stepped through the portal into his old room in the lair.
“As okay as he can be,” Leo answered with a small shrug, the metal of his fake arm clinking slightly. “He promised to tell me if he needs help and he hasn’t yet so I can only assume he’s doing fine.”
Yuichi frowned to himself. Leo hadn't hidden the new development with Mikey at all and told him all that he knew after Angelo had gone home for the day. The unfortunate part was that Leo didn’t know too much himself and it only brought up more questions that couldn’t be answered. Since the last time they saw Angelo when they were discussing what they were going to wear for the wedding, there had been only one short update that Draxum gave them.
Something about hunting a god?
Whatever that meant.
Yuichi’s hand came up to grab Leo’s hand and they lazily pattered out of Leo’s old room. Most of his stuff had been moved into his shared apartment with Yuichi but there were still remnants of the turtle that had lived in that room around. “Should we go check on him?” Yuichi asked.
“Raph volunteered for today,” Leo told Yuichi. Word moved quickly in their family that something was up – especially since Draxum and Leo both knew and Donnie had a feeling after the episode in the kitchen. Raph had been put out that he was the last one to find out of the brothers and jumped at the chance to check on Mikey during his three-way call with the twins.
Yuichi sighed heavily and bumped his shoulder against Leo’s. “I’m worried for Mikey-kun,” Yuichi admits.
“We all are,” Leo joined in with a sigh of his own. Shaking his head, he pastes a confident smile on his face. “But, we have to believe in Mikey. Let him do his own thing for a bit and then we’ll jump in when he needs up.”
Yuichi nodded in agreement. Mikey had quickly become someone that he considered close to him and he was willing to drop everything at the moment he heard that Mikey needed help. Smiling up at Leo, the two of them crossed the lair and headed over to the kitchen per the text they both received earlier.
The scent of something sweet and fluffy hit their noses just outside the kitchen and when they turned the corner into it, they both froze at the number of plates spread out on a long table that hadn’t been there before. Each plate carried a small cake that could be finished off in a few bites. There were so many combinations of the cakes with varying icings spread out over top of them.
“Holy shit, Mikey,” Leo breathed as he saw the spread in front of him. Yuichi’s hand tightened around Leo’s flesh had that he was holding, telling Leo that he was in just as much amazement.
Letting go of Yuichi’s hand, Leo approached the end of the table where a small note sat and was folded to stand like a small simple tent. Picking it up, Leo unfolded the note to read it. Yuichi peeked over Leo’s shoulder to read it as well.
‘Try all of the samples and write down what you like. – Mikey’ the note read.
Leo flipped it over and saw a small chart drawn out with boxes for them to mark what cake and icing combo they liked best. Chuckling to himself, Leo placed the note back down on the table. He looked at all the decadent cakes that were waiting for them to eat them and his mouth watered.
“Well,” Leo said, looking over at Yuichi with his eyes twinkling, “we better get our job done.”
Licking their lips, the fiancés dug in.
Raph squinted his eyes at the intersection in front of him.
To the left was an old stretch of a train track that disappeared into the darkness that a barely flickering old light fought off. To the right was a maintenance tunnel that hadn’t seen a soul in many years – aside from four rumbustious mutant turtles running around in childhood when they were too young for the surface – that dropped into darkness suddenly as all the lights beyond a certain point had been sacrificed to a certain budding genius’ curiosity so many years ago. Grumbling to himself, Raph huffed in irritation.
As much as Raph hated to admit it, he was lost.
It had been a long while since Raph had made the trek back to this stretch of NYC’s underground system near their old destroyed lair after Shredder’s attack. He had gone back to grab their things that one time by himself and accompanied Donnie twice when he needed Raph to essentially be his pack mule. After that, Donnie just pulled Leo along to use his portals to pass things through usually.
With a sigh, Raph decided to just pick a side and hope that he was right.
Raph looked to the right and immediately shuttered at how dark the tunnel became. He was a grown, 24-year-old adult but the darkness wasn’t his favorite thing in the world. It was their ally and enemy at the same time when the brothers were out fighting crime, hiding them but also hiding their foes that were smart enough to use it.
Raph stepped off and walked through the darkness – hitting his head on a low pipe twice and tripping over a broken piece of walling once – long enough that he was sure that he chose the wrong tunnel. The light of the intersection was far behind him and growing with every step. He was sure that this was the wrong tunnel and he loathed to double back.
Especially considering that small puddle of mysterious liquid that did not feel like normal water.
For goodness’ sake, he grew up in a sewer and knew what contaminated water felt like.
Just as Raph was about to give up, hope alit in his chest when he saw a soft flicking of light to his side when he entered another intersection. Turning on his heel towards it, Raph could hope that he found what he was looking for and not a secret cult meeting in the sewer. It wasn’t that far off of a worry with how their life and its crazy plot twists went.
Luck was on his side as Raph approached the light that grew stronger the closer he got to it. It was the softness that only a candle could provide and he could tell that there were multiple lit to illuminate the space in the tall room. In the center of the soft orange light was Mikey floating high in the air like he was lounging in a beach chair with a thick book in one hand.
“Hey Raph,” Mikey greeted without moving out of his lounging position once his eldest brother was close enough.
“Hey Mikey,” Raph greeted back, ducking his head as he entered the relatively short entryway into the space. Books were sluggishly drifting around the room in orbits of their own, opened to certain pages that held no significance to Raph as they waited for the mystic master controlling them to need them again. “How’d you know I was here?”
Mikey flipped a page with his hand and then pointed at his own right eye, the blue of it sparkling in the low light. “Your bionic eye lights up in the dark. It was a 50/50 guess that it was you coming to find me or a new mutant that was unlucky enough to find my workspace.”
Raph looked around the large room that, even though had an opening low enough that he had to duck with his large size, towered above him. The room was circular in design and the diameter was large enough that Raph would have been more than comfortable having an intense drawl with Frakenfoot in here. Around the room was multiple small metal scones that Mikey had installed to hold the candles that he liked to work by the light of. Mikey had found this place a year or so ago after exploring one particularly boring day and claimed it as his own.
“Did you really have to choose a place so far away from the lair?” Raph huffed, hands on his hips.
Mikey shrugged, flipping the page again. “It’s supposed to be hard to find. Can’t have regular humans or bad mutants finding it while I’m experimenting with new spells,” Mikey answered. “Besides, I just portal over here when I need to. Get Leo to do it for you next time.”
“I should,” Raph grumbled under his breath. Looking around the space again, Raph straightened slightly when he saw the large chalk magic circle etched into the flooring below his feet. He picked up one foot and breathed a sigh of relief to see that he hadn’t messed it up. “Yo, Mike, what’s with the deal with this circle here?”
“It’s my door to hunt down god,” Mikey answered, eye ridges scrunching together as he reads something in his book before nodding to himself and adding it to his book.
Raph had a blank smile on his face as the dots tried connecting in his head and failing. Looking up at Mikey in the air, Raph shot him a smile that betrayed nothing. “Mikey, please, tell me that you aren’t trying to kill a god.”
Mikey barked a laugh and marked his bag in the book before closing it with a snap. He threw it over his shoulder and it fell for a second before his magic took over and brought it to join the orbit of the books around him. The book that Mikey had been writing in closed softly and followed after Mikey like a companion.
“Raphie, you’re so funny,” Mikey giggled. “No, I am not going to kill god.”
“Oh good,” Raph breathed in relief. Raph did ask with how Michael’s track record was. “So, why are you tracking down a god?”
“God, not a god,” the mystic master corrected. Mikey floated down to the chalk circle, his toes just brushing against the rough concrete of the room. “There is one that I am looking for and it is nothing like all these lower-class gods dotted around the universe that I could honestly beat in a fight pretty easily.”
“Excuse me?” Raph blinked. Surely Mikey wasn't that powerful at his young age...right?
Mikey moved his hand around and the books circling them stilled, showing off the contents in them. “I have poured over every book Draxum has and then took all the books in the mystic library that could fill in the holes. Do you know what they all agreed on about?”
“What?” Raph asked. He was totally lost. Maybe he should have let Leo or Donnie come instead.
“That they agreed on nothing,” Mikey laughed, spinning around in the air to force the books to resume their orbit. Placing his hands on his hips, Mikey watched them lazily crawl by. “Honestly, it is so infuriating. I feel like I’m Donnie when we get him on a tangent.”
Raph looked at the books, biting his lip as he tried to make sense of what Mikey was doing. He was the muscle of the squad and not the brains for a reason. “Soooo….what are you doing then?” Raph asked.
Mikey clapped his hands together, his scars flashing for a second with his power. “I am so glad you asked!” Mikey cackled and grabbed his book from the air to show the page to Raph.
The book was close to Raph’s face that he had to take a step back for it to become unfuzzy. He looked at the page written in a language that only Mikey and Draxum could understand fully. “Mikey, I have no clue what I’m looking at,” Raph deadpanned.
“Ah, sorry,” Mikey laughed and brought the book back, turning it so that he was looking at it straight on. “Well, this in the culmination of my research. I haven’t been this inspired since I cracked the code on how to look into other universes.”
“You did what now?” Raph asked.
“Based on my personal experience and what I have read, I have found that there is one higher being that is in control of every universe out there,” Mikey continued, his smile bright and infectious. “Even the books from the other universes that I stole—”
“You did what now?” Raph asked again.
“—align with what Draxum’s books showed,” Mikey said, looking up from his research to Raph. Even with how tired his eyes were, the excitement in them caried through. The mismatched orange and blue of his eyes sparked in the warm lighting of the candles around him. “What I am doing right now is finding a way to hop into whatever space they are hiding in without them kicking me out again.”
“You think it is going to work?” Raph asked, looking down at the chalk drawing again. He knew about Mikey's encounter with this strange god from the briefing he got from Draxum. Donnie’s exclamation of ‘that’s what happened?!’ in the middle of it still made Raph chuckle when he remembered it.
Mikey shrugged and floated back up into the air, curling a finger to bring a different book from its spot to him. Randomly, or at least that’s what it looked like to Raph, Mikey opened to a page and started to read it. “Not yet, at least. I still have some more fine tuning to do before we can get a true test run at it.”
Raph looked at Mikey for a long moment. He pressed his lips together. “You won’t try it without at least one of us with you, right?”
“Of course,” Mikey vowed with a nod, eyes scanning on the page of his book. “I’m not that dumb.”
“Just checking,” Raph smiled. He turned on his heel and headed towards the entryway of the room. “Well, Raph is going to head out now. Mona is making pasta for dinner tonight. If you need anything, give one of us a call.”
Mikey hummed an answer and Raph let him be. From his years of watching over each of his three brothers when they got in the zone, he knew that was the best he was going to get out of Mikey in that moment. Raph cast one last gaze over his shoulder at Mikey in the center of his literary solar system with the candles making their light dance across him and smiled in that way only an older sibling could.
Raph pulled out his phone and pressed the speed-dial for Leo. His profile picture was the twins bent over backwards as they tried to compete for best Dio pose and Donnie clearly winning with his soft shell that allowed him more flexibility. The picture was taken right after Leo fell in an ungraceful heap while Donnie pointed at the camera with a confident smirk, sparkles somehow shining around him. Raph hoped that Leo picked up the phone for a quick portal home.
Because Raph was not walking that dark trek back again.
Notes:
👀
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 6: The Champion of Uno
Notes:
Hello and welcome back to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“C’mon out already, Leo,” Donnie complained loudly, sprawled out on the couch of the tailor shop they were in like he was Raph’s size.
Raph, scrunching himself as small as possible on the tiny section of the couch he claimed as his, poked his fingers together. “Are you okay in there?” Raph called. Leo had been in the dressing room for quite a while now.
Mikey mumbled to himself as he read from another one of Draxum’s ancient books and wrote down something in another new book of his own, his finger moving in the air as a pen shrouded in his magic danced across the paper. His mismatched blue and orange eyes narrowed as he read a passage, his writing pausing for a moment before starting up again with a passion. Mikey’s half-and-half-inversed cloak was wrapped around his body but was wide open in the front to show Mikey hovering cross-legged in the air.
“Patience, my sons,” Splinter urged his children as they waited for the last of the quartet to rejoin them. “The traditional wedding robes take a moment to put on and we all know that Leonardo is particular about what to wear.”
“He shouldn't have too much trouble, though,” Mikey murmured, flipping multiple pages. He paused for a moment and then flipped back to find something he wanted to write how. “We’ve already figured out exactly what he would to wear.”
“He’s a diva,” Donnie snorted. “He’s going to take all the time he needs.”
“Who are you calling a diva, you primadona?” Leo grumbled from the other side of the curtain.
“You, you bald-headed diva,” Donnie shot back.
“Big-foreheaded primadona,” Leo argued back.
“Oh, here we go away,” Raph sighed in disappointment and dropped his hands in his face. “These two are never going to grow up.”
“Enough,” Splinter scolded sharply before Leo and Donnie could start yelling at each other. “We are here as a family and we will carry ourselves with the Hamato pride. You can have your spat with each other once we are home.”
“Yes, sensei,” both Leo and Donnie said in unison, their voices grumbling.
The attendant that had been helping Leo get changed stepped out from behind the curtain, a large smile on their face. “Everyone ready to see?” the yokai asked.
Mikey closed his book and snapped his fingers, sending both books to his pocket dimension with a burst of sparkles, to give his full attention. Donnie sat up from the couch with his forearms on his knees. Raph sat up straighter and gave a soft round of applause in excitement. Splinter held himself high and nodded, arms folded into the sleeves of his robe behind him.
The attendant shot them a big smile and pulled the curtain back to reveal a positively glowing Leo in his wedding robes. He stepped out and gave a short spin to show off the entire ensemble to his family. Leo then faced his face with his hands grabbing the edges of his sleeves.
Leo chose a traditional Japanese wedding kimono but had gone without the shoes because of his turtle feet. There were two things that differed from tradition though. The first was his haori himo that was wrapped around him on a delicate string was the color of his mask. The second was his haori that was a light blue with the Hamato clan symbol embroidered across his back in white thread.
Splinter nodded in approval at the robes Leo wore.
“An excellent choice, my son,” Splinter said as he circled slowly around his third youngest. “Traditional but with a pop of yourself.”
Leo breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad that you approved of it. I was worried you would get upset how it wasn’t completely traditional.”
“Who am I to judge on upkeeping the traditional values of our clan?” Splinter laughed fully with his belly.
All his sons chuckled at that. The mutant rat that had once been a famous martial artist movie star definitely couldn’t say too much about Leo changing his outfit. Their great-grandfather sure got on their father’s case based on the stories they heard.
Leo faced Donnie and Raph, metal and flesh fists propped up on his hips. “Well, what do you think?” Leo asked.
Raph clapped a bit louder than he did before with a big smile on his face. “You look amazing, Leo.”
“I concur with Raph,” Donnie nodded. “For once, you look presentable and noble.”
“…not going to take the bait on that back-handed compliment but thank you,” Leo said with a nod of his head. He then turned to Mikey who was still sitting in the air cross-legged, one hand holding the arm that the hand of was cupping his chin as he inquisitively looked over Leo. “And you, oh great-and-powerful wedding planner?”
Leo held still as Mikey moved out of his spot in the air to float around him. The box turtle pulled at certain spots to straighten them out and smoothed out wrinkles. A fleck of dust was brushed off Leo’s shoulder and then Mikey repositioned Leo’s mask tails. He finally got to the front of Leo and the older brother gulped under the appraising look in Mikey’s eyes.
Mikey hovered there for a moment before a large smile broke out on his face, his scarred hands coming up to clap. “Yuichi is going to love it,” Mikey said.
Leo breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t realize that he was holding. He placed a hand on his hip and leaned his back in a relaxed manner. His other hand, Leo’s flesh hand, gently pinched the edge of his haori between his fingers. “I do look pretty snazzy, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do,” Mikey giggled. Floating back from Leo, Mikey bowed his head towards his brother. “Now that is all settled, I have to jet.”
“Why?” Leo immediately asked, starting to pull his wedding robes off in a hurry. “What are you doing? Are you going after that stalker dude already?”
“Chillax, broski,” Mikey laughed as he held his hands up in front of him. “There’s no mystic business happening tonight. I still haven’t completed my research and I’m not dumb enough to try to bypass that or else Donnie would kick my ass.”
Donnie held a thumbs-up in the air in agreement. “Well said!”
“Then what are you doing?” Leo asked.
Mikey waved a hand at his side and a blue-and-orange toned portal opened up for him. “I’ve got babysitting duty tonight,” Mikey winked at his brother, disappearing into his portal.
“Uncle Mikey!”
Mikey laughed and scooped up the tyke that had nearly bulldozed into his leg upon leaving his portal. Little Arnold was a near carbon copy of Cassandra with his looks. They all knew how he was going to look as he got older with Casey being there but it was still interesting to see how different he looked at each stage of his life.
Propping the toddler on his hip, Mikey booped a finger on Arnold’s nose. “How are we doing today, little murder machine?”
“Mur’er!” Arnold cackled with his fists in the air.
Mikey laughed along and nodded his head. “That’s what we like to hear.”
Arnold, being the next iteration of Cassandra Jones from their timeline, was a force to be reckoned with. That didn’t mean he was an ornery little brat that went out of his way to be an annoyance. It was quite the opposite with how polite and pleasant he was to be around. It made sense with how Casey presented himself with his personality.
No, Arnold was a force of nature because he is Cassandra Jones’ son.
It cracked Mikey up to this day that Arnold first word was murder. All the Casey’s – all three of them – had been over to the lair in a growingly rare instant that everyone of the Hamato clan was home. The twins had been playing an N-17 rated game about killing vampires and Cassandra had demanded a turn playing it. Mikey had happily taken the chance to entertain Arnold while the twins and both Casey’s played the game.
Arnold had kept glancing behind Mikey at the game, his thumb stuck between his teeth. At the time, April and Mikey had been playfully bantering as they tried to get Arnold to say their names. In the background, Cassandra had been yelling about her need to murder all the vampires. April had pouted when Arnold had popped his thumb out of his mouth and started to make an ‘m’ sound.
Everyone had stopped what they were doing when April yelled out that Arnold was about to say his first word. Donnie pulled out his phone to record and Mikey passed Arnold back over to his mother. She was patient as she waited for Arnold to sound out his first word, his eyes shifting from his mother’s face to the paused game behind her.
Everyone had held their breathes in anticipation.
Only for their breathes to burst out in a burst of air when the word turned out to be ‘murder’.
Cassandra had been so proud of Arnold, holding him in the air which made him giggle. Casey’s face had gone pink in embarrassment at Arnold repeating the word over and over again now that he could get it out. Funnily enough, Casey had admitted that it was also his first word back in the apocalypse and told them how Cassandra would tout him around in his shoulder pack as he repeated ‘murder’ over and over again.
Speaking of the only survivor of a ruined future that would never come to be, Casey rounded the corner from kitchen with a washcloth drying his hands. “Hey Mikey, thanks for coming over,” Casey greeted the youngest turtle brother.
“You know I love watching this little munchkin,” Mikey beamed, tickling a finger under Arnold’s chin. The toddler laughed loudly and batted away Mikey’s hand. He kicked his feet out and Mikey took that as his hint to put the tyke down. Arnold went trotting away to the living room and Mikey could hear the music of a children’s show playing from the TV in there.
“Just a heads up, his current favorite show is Bubble Guppies,” Casey chuckled, throwing the wash clothes over his broad shoulders. Since being in a timeline with a constant supply of food and much less stress due to no kraang trying to take over the world, Casey had grown taller and filled out. Casey was fourth tallest in the height order with the twins before him and Raph taking the lead. There was a faint shadow of facial hair on jaw and his long black hair was pulled back in loose ponytail.
“Goodie, we can dance and sing all we want then,” Mikey chuckled. He looked around and noted that they were missing someone. “Where’s Cass?”
“Finishing up some business with her scouts,” Casey answered with a small shrug. “You know how it gets during cookie sale season.”
“Oh, I know,” Mikey shuddered as he remembered the kaiju she became when the sale goals came out. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Mikey faced Casey. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”
Casey shrugged again. “I’m not exactly sure. Mom said something about us not having enough time with just the two of us anymore and she wanted to fix that.”
Mikey smiled at the explanation. Despite having her own version of her son now, she never neglected the version of him that came from her future self. Casey never felt the chance to be jealous of the baby possibly replacing him for Cassandra’s love because she heard a certain share for him the entire time.
“Cass is the best,” Mikey grinned.
“Are you sure you can watch little me for a bit?” Casey asked, shifting on his feet.
Mikey laughed and nudged his shoulder against Casey’s. “Dude, go have some fun. I can handle Arnie while you and Cass go have some one-on-one time. If you do go to a carnival and don’t win me a giant stuffed bear, I will take it as you having a personal grudge on me.”
Casey threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll be sure to win you a bear then,” he said.
“Glad to see we have an agreement,” Mikey smirked.
Casey’s phone buzzed in his pocket and Mikey watched as he pulled it out to read the message. “Mom says for me to go ahead and meet her at Hueso’s.”
“I love how you two plus April are the only humans he allows there,” Mikey chuckled.
“It’s because mom scares him,” Casey responded, putting his phone back into his pocket. Mikey followed Casey to the entry way where he slipped on his shoes and grabbed a jacket off the hook. “Alright, you know what numbers to call if something happens and I pity the fool that tries to break in while you’re babysitting.”
Mikey’s mismatched eyes flashed in agreement, a smile dancing on his lips. “Go have fun,” he said, pushing Casey out the door. Casey was quick to swipe his keys off the table and stuff them in his other pocket, patting his back pocket to make sure his wallet was in there. “I’ve got this.”
Casey stumbled out of Mikey’s push outside the apartment door and shot his friend a two-fingered salute. “We’ll see you in a couple hours,” he said.
“Have fun,” Mikey said in adieu with a wave before closing the door. He made sure to lock it all the way like Cass always wanted him to when she wasn’t there and then made his way back to the living room. Arnold was splayed out on the couch like the toddlers did with his thumb in his mouth. The tyke looked up when his uncle entered the room with his hands on his hips. “Alright Arnie, what are we doing first?”
Arnold squealed in delight and clapped his hands together.
“How the heck are you so good at this?” Mikey laughed, looking at the large stack of uno cards in his hands.
Arnold, with only one card in his hand, looked up at Mikey with a toothy smile that let the card he had been chewing on fall. To everyone’s amazement, Arnold is amazing at Uno. They all found out one game night not that long ago when the tyke wanted to be included and then proceeded to win every game he was in.
Without breaking eye contact, Arnold placed his +4 card down on the pile. “Uno,” he said with a giggle.
Mikey playfully rolled his eyes and added another four cards to his hand. “You got that Jones’ luck, I can feel that deep in my bones.”
“Lucky!” Arnold squawked one of his other words that he learned after his winning streaks.
Mikey had ample decision to place down his next card and choose a 3 yellow card as it was the closest to orange. Arnold hadn’t picked up on the fact that he got to choose what color was next after the +4 and whoever was playing with him often choose it. “Alright, little man, show me what you got,” Mikey grinned.
Arnold looked at the color on top of the pile and then to the card that he had been chewing on. Picking it, Arnold placed his 0 yellow card on top. The toddler called his hands in joy at winning.
Mikey threw his cards down into the pile in acknowledgement of his loss. “One of these days, one of us is going to beat you in Uno,” Mikey vowed.
“Arnie best!” Arnold cheered and placed his hands on the ground to push him up. The toddler went trotting off, grabbing his stuffed orange fox from the couch, before finding residence in front of TV. With a snorting laugh, Mikey reached over to press a button on the remote to turn it back on. Arnold squealed in delight as his favorite show was on and started to dance to it.
Mikey’s phone rang and he pulled it out, pressing the green answer button when he saw the profile picture of Cassandra cackling with a fiery explosion that she caused going on behind her. “Hey Cass,” Mikey greeted. He pinched it between his cheek and shoulder as he cleaned up the pile of uno cards from the floor.
“Hello, my murder machine,” Cassandra greeted back. Mikey grinned wider at the nickname. It was something she had said in teasing one day while pregnant after Casey told them a story of their future selves adding more to their high kill streak in the ruined future and it had stuck. “How was my little murder machine?”
“Rejoicing in his undefeated uno streak,” Mikey grumbled playfully into the phone. “Ob, by the way, you’re going to need a new yellow 0. He kind of partially ate it.”
“You have no room to complain with how you eat Donnie’s chest pieces,” Casey piped up in the background of the phone.
“Is that Casey? Did he win me a stuffed bear?” Mikey asked.
“My eldest son won you the biggest bear they had,” Cass reported with a smile to her voice.
“Awesome, he does love me then,” Mikey grinned into the phone. Releasing his phone from behind his shoulder and cheek, Mikey stood up with the neat stack of cards in his hand. “Did you two have fun?”
“We had a great time,” Cassandra beamed and Mikey could hear it through the phone. “Quality mother and son time.”
“Hang on one second,” Mikey said and pulled slightly away from the phone. “Arnie, I’m going into the kitchen. Do you want some juice?” Mikey asked
“Juice!” Arnold cheered with his hands in the air.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Mikey giggled and pressed the phone back into the place as he walked towards the kitchen. “Well, I’m glad the two of you had a good time. The next time you guys want to do it again, just send me a text of when and I’ll clear my schedule to babysit.”
“You are the best, my murder machine,” Cassandra cooed into the phone.
“Anything for my Cass,” Mikey chuckled. He placed the stack of cards on the counter and put the phone on speaker mood to set next to the cards. Mikey opened the cabinet where Cassandra stored the cups and floated up just enough to reach the shelf he needed. “Hey, listen, Arnold’s ring bearer suit came in. Can you bring him by tomorrow for him to try it on?”
“We’ll be by after lunch,” Cassandra agreed. “Oooh, I’m so excited to see both my sons participating in the wedding.”
“That reminds me,” Mikey said as a lightbulb figuratively lit in his head and he floated back to the ground with a glass and one of Arnold’s sippy cups in his hands. “Casey, dad wanted you to come by so we could your new kimono altered. Said even if you’re the officiant that he wants you wearing the family crest.”
“I can stop by after school,” Casey sighed and Mikey heard something shift in the background of the phone. Probably Casey adjusting his hold on Mikey’s stuffed bear. “Though, I thought that Japanese traditional weddings don’t have officiants.”
“Leo wanted one,” Mikey shrugged. He placed the cups on the counter and opened the fridge to find the apple juice. Pulling it out, Mikey used his hip to close the fridge. “Something about how he needs you to be the one to marry them.”
“If he’s sure,” Casey sighed again. Mikey poured the apple juice into the cups – making sure to water Arnold’s down like Cassandra told him to – before returning the juice to the fridge. “I would still be okay just being part of the audience.”
Mikey giggled as he screw the top of Arnold’s sippy cup on it. “You know how Leo can get. I’m surprised he hasn’t demanded a carriage for them to ride in on yet for the hell of it.”
“Leo can be quite flamboyant with his want for flare and piazza,” Cassandra agreed.
“Did I tell you guys about the new thing he asked to add to the wedding?” Mikey laughed, placing the cup back down on the counter. “He said he wanted—"
Mikey’s breath froze on the next intake when he felt those eyes on him again. Eyes narrowing just slightly, Mikey looked around him. There was no difference to the room around him. He could still hear Arnold dancing along to his children’s show with its bright colors and sounds, giggling the whole time.
“Mikey?” Cassandra asked, a wary tone catching onto her voice. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” Mikey murmured. A sudden wave of dizziness rolled over him and the world tilt on its axis. Mikey placed his hands on the counter to brace himself but it did nothing to help. “Cass, how far out are you both?”
Mikey could hear the pounding of feet join the call, letting him know the two were now running. “We can see our building now,” she said.
“Good,” Mikey nodded and immediately regretted that as it made him nauseous. In one last resort of his magic, Mikey snapped his fingers to unlock the front door. “I unlocked the door.”
“Mikey, what’s going?” Cassandra demanded.
Mikey didn’t answer though as he felt all his strength leave him. He fell to the ground in an ungraceful with his knees hitting first with the rest of his body following. His head bounced slightly as it hit the linoleum flooring and he could see Arnold poke his head out of the living room. Mikey’s name was called by both Casey Jones’ over the phone but it was like it was distantly in the background.
The last thing Mikey saw as darkness clouded his vision was Arnold on his knees reaching out to his uncle. Arnold’s mouth was moving around the thumb in it and then he was swiped away by Cassandra’s hands as another pair that looked like Casey’s rolled him onto his shell. The darkness swallowed Mikey and he felt himself falling.
…and falling…
…and falling…
…and falling…
…until he wasn’t falling anymore.
Realizing that he was conscious in the darkness, Mikey opened his eyes. Whatever he was expecting to see, it wasn’t more darkness dotted with holes of light that crawled so high above that they disappeared into the shadows. In the holes of light, Mikey could see the barest of movement.
Mikey’s breathed hitched when he realized where he was.
He sat up quickly, looking wildly around him. The spell that Mikey was putting together to return to this space wasn’t near completion and Mikey didn’t cast it so he didn’t know how he ended up here. The answer as to how was quickly answered when he saw a copy of him floating in the air behind him.
“I’ve heard you’ve been looking for me,” the copy smirked down at Mikey.
Notes:
👀
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 7: The Test
Notes:
Hello and welcome back to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Last time:
Mikey’s breathed hitched when he realized where he was.
He sat up quickly, looking wildly around him. The spell that Mikey was putting together to return to this space wasn’t near completed and Mikey didn’t cast it so he didn’t know how he ended up here. The answer as to how was quickly answered when he saw a copy of him floating in the air behind him.
“I’ve heard you’ve been looking for me,” the copy smirked down at Mikey.
Mikey jumped up and didn’t question the fact that he could use his powers as he flew into the air. With a flash, Mikey broke into two and his two halves hovered on either side of the copy. Bright blue and orange eyes shone in the darkness with a clear threat of the power held in them.
The copy threw his head back and laughed. “Man, right out of the gate with you two? I should have expected that,” the copy laughed.
“Who are you?” Michael growled, the scars on his hands glowing as he called his powers to them. On the opposite side of the copy, Angelo’s scars glowed as he also drew on his powers.
“Hey, hey, hey, no need to get hostile,” the copy tutted their tung and then clapped their hands. Michael and Angelo yelped as an invisible force pulled them back together, forcing them back into Mikey. Mismatched blue and orange eyes blinked in surprise as one and Mikey felt his powers being forced under a lid. “Now, that’s better.”
“Who the hell are you?” Mikey demanded again.
“The Conscious of the Multiverse,” the copy revealed himself with a grin, bowing dramatically towards Mikey. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“The Conscious of the Multiverse?” Mikey furrowed his brow. His eyes widened as his mouth dropped. “Oh, you’re the god I’ve been hunting.”
“I think hunting is a broad term,” the Conscious chuckled. He leaned back in the air as if lounging in a chair and interlocked his fingers together. “I mean, you’re only here because I let you.”
“Nice segue way into my next question,” Mikey smirked. “Why am I here?”
“A little test,” the Conscious shrugged. “To be honest, I never thought it would be possible for one to enter my space on their own accord until you literally ripped open a hole in the fabric of reality.”
“I felt eyes on me and wanted to know who it was,” Mikey sniffed in defense of himself. He narrowed his eyes at the Conscious. “Sorry, I got to get off topic. I have to know. Why do you look like me?”
“Like it?” the Conscious asked with a laugh, gesturing to the body that was like a photo copy down to the prosthetic leg. The only major difference was the cloak that was like Michael’s – the original cloak – instead of the half-and-half colored cloak like Mikey wore. “I needed some type of physical form and your’s was too cool to pass up.”
“Thanks?” Mikey said in uncertainty.
“Take it as a compliment,” the Conscious chuckled with a wave of his scarred hand that was a copy of Mikey’s. “Think of it this way – you acted on such a grand scale that it caught the eye of the Conscious of the Multiverse. If you truly understood just how many different universes I have to keep an eye on you, you would think of it as a great honor.”
Mikey narrowed his eyes again. “So, you’ve been watching me for a long time then?”
The Conscious hummed. “What makes you say that?”
“Let’s call it a gut feeling,” Mikey said slyly.
The Conscious smiled at the avoidance. “Well, yes, are you correct. You’ve been on my radar for quite a while now.” The Conscious hummed a tapped a finger to his chin. “If we want to be exact, it would be right at the moment you switched places with your Leo in the prison dimension.”
“Why?” Mikey asked. It unsettled him that there had been someone out there watching his family without his knowledge. His eyes darted around to try and find the porthole that offered a peek into his universe. Mikey wanted to know if his spell to block outsides from peeking in extended to this so-called Conscious of the Multiverse.
“Because it wasn’t supposed to happen,” the Conscious answered with a bright grin. He sat up again out of his lounging position. “Your Leo was supposed to be stuck in there and it would give you the push to unlock your powers – opening a hole between your world and the prison dimension to bring him home. By switching like you did, you created a branch universe that wasn’t supposed to exist.”
Mikey felt something shift in the air and he clenched a fist at his side. “So, you are telling me right now that me and my family and little Arnie were never supposed to have exist?”
“In the versions that you are now, yes,” the Conscious answered with a nod of his head. “A whole new universe because of one small decision that was supposed to have been set in stone for the template you came from.”
A headache was starting to form in Mikey’s temples and he ground his teeth together. Hunching over, Mikey called upon as much power as he could even with the Conscious’ restriction on him. His eyes flickered as his powers struggled to come back from underneath of their lid. “Did you bring me here to tell me that you have to get rid of us?”
The Conscious mouth dropped open and he shook his head rapidly. “No! Where would you get that idea?”
Blinking in surprise, Mikey stopped trying to call for his powers and stood up straight again. “You were going on about how we weren’t supposed to exist. I thought that meant you would have to fix that.”
The Conscious chuckled to himself. “Michelangelo, I am the Conscious of the Multiverse. Do you know how many times I have seen a branch universe get created because of one decision only made in that universe? It doesn’t happen too much but more often that you would think.”
“So, you aren’t going to hurt my world?” Mikey asked for clarification.
“Not at all,” the Conscious answered with a peaceful smile. “All universes deserve life – even one that was accident. Besides, your universe has been quite entertaining to me.” The Conscious made sure to wink at Mikey at the end and it unsettled Mikey all over again.
“So…this was all just a test for you to find out if you could bring someone here?” Mikey asked.
“Oh, no, this wasn’t a test for me,” the Conscious chuckled. “I knew I could whenever I want to. The test is whether or not you can do it on your own. This whole little trip is to give you the push you need to complete the spell.”
Mikey clicked his tongue. “Rude, dude,” Mikey scowled.
The Conscious chuckled again. “Well, I can’t ask for your help with my task if you can’t pass the test, can I?”
“What task?” Mikey asked, his interest piqued.
“I think that is the end of our visit,” the Conscious interrupted, a neutral smile on their face. Their mismatched eyes that were copied Mikey’s twinkled in the light of the viewports around them and it made Mikey’s skin crawl.
“What are you—” Mikey tried to say.
“I’ll see you around – if you can pass my test,” the Conscious smiled mischievously at Mikey before poking him in the forehead.
Mikey fell back with the touch, his body feeling weightless as he fell down…
…and down…
…and down…
…and down…
“Mikey!”
Mikey’s eyes flew open, mismatched blue and orange shooting around to take in everything around him. Leo hovered over him, his eyes wide with concern. On the opposite side of Leo was Donnie who was scanning Mikey with one of his devices. Raph hovered above them all, standing so tall from where Mikey laid. In the background past Raph's toes, Mikey caught a glimpse of Cass bouncing Arnold in her arms as she watched with a curious and concerned eye at Mikey.
Noticing that Mikey was awake, Donnie put the device down and gave his full attention to his brother. “Mikey? Can you hear me?” Donnie asked.
Mikey took a moment to respond as he tried to gather his wits. He was trying to figure out if his little meeting between him and the Conscious of the Multiverse had been true. From the corner of his vision to the side, Casey appeared around Raph carrying a damp washcloth. Leo held a hand out for it and Casey dropped the washcloth in it.
Leo dabbed the washcloth against Mikey’s cheek and the coolness of it shocked Mikey back to his senses. Grumbling, Mikey pushed away the washcloth in Leo’s hand and sat up. “I’m fine,” Mikey said.
“Yeah, right,” Leo scoffed, not convinced in the slightest.
“I’m fine,” Mikey hissed in reiteration.
“You are not fine.” Donnie jumped in to help by putting a hand to Mikey’s carapace and helping him sit up. “You passed out. What happened?” Donnie asked.
Now fully sitting up, Mikey bent his prosthetic leg and balanced an elbow on the knee pad. He rubbed a hand at his face. Leo rearranged the cool washcloth and draped it over the back of Mikey’s neck. “Don’t worry about it,” Mikey said.
Leo flicked Mikey on the shoulder. “Yeah, no, we aren’t doing that,” Leo said. “You promised that you would update us whatever was going on and I have a strong feeling that this was a part of it.”
Mikey stared at Leo with narrowed eyes to tell him to back off. Leo was unfazed by it and stared right back at his brother with the same intensity. Seeing that he wasn’t going to win, Mikey clicked his tongue and turned away. “The god that I was hunting for found me first,” Mikey grumbled.
“Mikey, I don’t like this,” Raph said in a low voice. His mind flashed to the magic circle Mikey was working on back in his workspace in the sewers.
“They are messing with me now,” Mikey huffed. He reached behind him to grab the cool washcloth and pulled it over his head to cover his eyes. Mikey bowed his head and let the cool darkness soothe his headache for a moment. “I can’t believe they got the drop on me like that.”
The three elder brothers looked at each other over Mikey’s head, an unspoken discussion being said. Casey watched it but wasn’t privy to it as he was not on their same wavelength. Deciding to be the one to rip the figurative band-aid off, Casey placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “Mikey, I’m not sure if you should be messing with this god or whoever they are anymore.”
While Casey didn’t know exactly was going on – like the rest of the family – he knew enough to be concerned. He had seen many powerful beings in his time from the apocalyptic future. The most powerful being Master Michelangelo but it was only for short burst as his magic stole away from his life force and withered him away. Since the current Mikey didn’t have to worry about that as much with the world and its flow of mystic energy still aplenty since the kraang didn’t ruin the world, it allowed him to progress faster in his mystic studies than Master Michelangelo. At the current moment, Casey was having a harder and harder time denying that Mikey wasn’t at the same level as his former sensei.
And if someone put someone as powerful as Mikey flat on his back, then they were bad news.
“What are you talking about?” Mikey chuckled; his head still bowed. “I’m so close to finding them now on my own now.”
“Why do you say that?” Donnie asked.
Looking up, Mikey’s glowing mismatched blue and orange eyes cut through the shadow the washcloth cast on his face. A victorious smirk so strong at it wrinkled his nose bridge shown on his face. “Because they gave me the last piece of the puzzle to break down their door.”
Notes:
👀
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 8: A Moment of Normal
Notes:
Hello and welcome back to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Leo watched Mikey with a firm eye.
The older brother was leaning against a thick tree that served as a focal point of the ceremony’s decoration. Both his arms were crossed over his plastron and his eyes narrowed. Mikey didn’t seem to pick up on the worry in Leo’s stance as he zipped from one spot to another.
They were about two weeks away from the wedding and Mikey was in wedding planner overdrive. It had been a few weeks since the three elder brothers had received a panicked phone call from Casey that something had happened with Mikey. Leo had quite literally dropped everything – having been eating dinner with Yuichi in their apartment – to open a portal to rush out.
Leo had opened a portal to Raph’s apartment with Mona where the two had been watching a movie and barely got the words ‘something happened to Mikey’ out before Raph was jumping up from the couch. Mona had hurried the two of them along and then Leo opened a portal to Donnie’s lab in the Hidden City. The elder twin was already ready from how his trackers had alerted him to Mikey’s drop in vitals and the three ran through one last portal that spit them out into the Casey’s apartment.
Seeing Mikey passed out on the ground, Leo had feared the worst. He had feared that whatever cosmic entity that Mikey had been messing with had enough and cut his brother’s life short. Leo barely remembered what happened around him as he pushed back everyone to fall at Mikey’s side.
Of course, Mikey had been breathing and everything was fine. Mikey had just passed out but that didn’t stop the worry in Leo’s chest. That worry had only lessened when Mikey woke up a few minutes after they arrived but it didn’t go away entirely. That feeling had lingered after Mikey declaration that he had the last piece of the puzzle to find them.
Mikey had jumped up from the kitchen floor of the Casey’s apartment and winked at Cassandra in a silent apology before opening an orange and blue tinted portal. The brothers didn’t have time to stop Mikey as he flew through it to disappear off somewhere. Leo couldn’t even try to hijack the portal as it closed just as quickly as it had appeared.
They all expected Mikey to run off after whoever this god was without them. Donnie’s tracker in Mikey’s prosthetic leg had gone offline and Leo had feared the worst. For the next three days, Leo had been walking on eggshells as he waited for news of Mikey. Yuichi had seen how tense his fiancé was and tried to offer support but unsure how to.
Finally, on the fourth day, Mikey reappeared.
He had texted Leo to meet him in the lair to go over some wedding details. The moment Leo had received the text, he had sliced a portal open. There, Mikey had binders upon binders laid out for last minute decorations that he wanted Leo’s input on.
Since then, Mikey had acted like nothing happened and barely mentioned this god that he was hunting. Everyone had thought it to be odd and whenever they tried to ask about it, Mikey would redirect the conversation. No one was sure what to do and Mikey used that confusion to avoid the topic.
Leo wasn’t pacified though. He was a protective older brother through and through, and he wanted answers. Damn the wedding if it meant he could help Mikey.
“Mikey,” Leo cleared his throat, calling his brother.
“Yeah?” Mikey called over his shoulder as he moved to another spot to inspect it.
“How about we call it a day?” Leo asked. “You’ve been going at this for a while and you need to rest with all that you are doing.”
“Pssh, Leo, you’re such a worrywart,” Mikey huffed, looking at the trees arching over where his brother and Yuichi would be saying their vows. Furrowing his brow, Mikey moved a finger enveloped in orange energy to use his magic to adjust the arching branches. “I’m fine. We are getting down to crunch time and I’m going to make sure this wedding goes off without a hitch.”
“Mikey, please, me and Yuichi don’t care if we need to postpone the wedding ,” Leo groaned, following after his brother that flew around the room like a hurry. “We need to focus on this god of the universe or whoever they are that you are trying to find.”
Mikey turned around and his cloak billowed out around him with the movement. His hands were on his hips and he huffed heavily out of his nose at his brother. “Leo, are you being serious right now?! Your wedding is the most important thing to me right now! I’m not about to let anyone ruin it for you and Yuichi!”
“This is bigger than just a wedding!” Leo argued, a hand gesturing to the open space set up with chairs and archway being carried in by Mikey’s magic. “We can do this anytime! Yuichi and I don’t care! What we do care about if your’s and the safety of this family!”
“We are fine, Leo!” Mikey huffed a harsh breath, his eyes narrowing. “I made sure of that! Now, can we please get back to finishing the preparations for your wedding?! It is two weeks away and I want it to be perfect for you!”
“Perfect for us or perfect for you?!” Leo argued as he pushed off the tree to stomp over to Mikey. “Listen to us! We don’t care if the wedding is now or years from now! You’re the one that is pushing for us to keep the original date!”
“My problems don’t have to get in the middle of your’s and Yuichi’s love!” Mikey sneered, his shoulders hiking up higher the more agitated he became. “Now please, can we focus on making sure this wedding goes off without a hitch?!”
“What is your problem?!” Leo yelled, throwing his hands in the air. “Mikey, you are dealing with a god! This is big stuff that is a game-changer for all of us! That is so much bigger than a wedding!”
“I KNOW!” Mikey yelled, whirling around so fast that Leo flinched in surprise. Mikey threw his hands in the air as his eyes turned down in the corner. “I KNOW, OKAY?! I KNOW EVERYTHING IS CHANGING AND I WANT THIS WEDDING TO BE THE LAST NORMAL THING FOR ALL OF US! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LET ME PRETEND THAT EVERYTHING ISN’T ABOUT TO CHANGE FOR ALL OF US FOR A LITTLE BIT LONGER?!”
The air went quiet at Mikey’s admittance, only filled with Mikey’s pants as he tried to regain control of his emotions. Before Leo’s eyes, Mikey’s face crumbled and he dropped into the nearest chair to bury his face in his hands. Leo could hear the watery shudder of Mikey’s breathing.
“Mikey…” Leo breathed. He crossed the distanced between the two of them and dropped down into the chair next to his brother, throw his flesh arm around Mikey to pull him in for a side hug. “Oh, little brother.”
“…I know,” Mikey murmured, turning his face in his hands to glance at Leo at his side. “I know, okay? It was just easier to pretend that everything was okay just for a bit longer before we get dragged into another crazy adventure.”
“But crazy is what we do best,” Leo grinned as he tried to break the heavy atmosphere. The smile dropped as Mikey didn’t take the bait. “Hey, what’s really going on?”
Mikey sighed heavily, slouching in on himself. “I just have this feeling that this next adventure is going to change everything for us. No more normal days where I hang around the lair, and you and Raph help run the city, and Donnie creating his inventions. This is next adventure is going to be a big step that we can’t go back from.”
Leo rubbed a hand up-and-down Mikey’s arm. “But isn’t that how they all ended for us?”
Mikey wrinkled his brow and turned towards Leo. “What are you talking about?”
“I mean, hasn’t that already happened multiple times?” Leo shrugged. “You taking my place in the prison dimension? The second kraang invasion from sister kraang? Bishop? The Michelangelo civil war you told me about the other week?”
“I don’t remember agreeing to that name for it,” Mikey chuckled.
Leo grinned and bumped his side against Mikey’s. “All of those adventures changed things for us – for better or worse. Why are you so scared now?”
Mikey took a second to answer as he chewed on his bottom lip. “I just…I don’t want anything to change.”
Now was Leo’s turn to be stumped. “You don’t want things to change?” Leo echoed.
Mikey nodded. “I’m happy with how things are right now. I was asleep for two years and while I was gone, so much stuff happened. I’ve been happy with how consistent things have been these last three years. Makes me feel like things didn’t go to shit as much as they did with our family since the kraang invasion.”
“Oh, Mikey,” Leo breathed.
Sniffling, Mikey rubbed the heel of a hand at his face. “I thought that this new adventure of ours would be an interesting way to shake things up but the more I researched it, the more scared of it I became.”
“Scared of what exactly?” Leo pushed.
Mikey looked out at the wedding arch. “I guess of what it will mean for our futures. I will be making the final step into a true mystic master that goes out into the world to fix problems. You and Raph are leading your own lives as officials of the city. Donnie is practically the entire IT department for the Hidden City. Pops and Draxum are always off on their on trips. April is traveling all over the country for her career. Casey is becoming an expert in his field and Cass has her hands busy with Arnold. We are all off doing our own things.”
Leo nodded along. “So, you’re scared that we are going to drift apart,” he stated rather than questioned.
“Pretty much,” Mikey sighed and slouched, elbows on his knees. He propped an arm up on it to perch his chin in his palm. He looked out onto the peaceful scene as the sun set in front of them. “…life is changing so fast. What happened to the days with the four of us pushing dad’s buttons in the lair and watching old b-rated movies all day?”
“That’s life, little brother,” Leo chuckled, clapping Mikey on the shoulder. “It’s always progressing and moving despite us not wanting it to. It forces us to change and evolve. You want to know something though?”
“What?” Mikey asked, turned to look at Leo.
Leo smirked and ducked his head so he was eye-to-eye with Mikey. “No matter how far away we all are from each other or how long we have to go without seeing each other, we are never ever going to drift apart. We are all stuck with each other for the long run, got that?”
“How can you be sure about that?” Mikey frowned.
“Because I know us and this family,” Leo grinned, sitting back up straight. “While, yes, we may each be leading our own lives now, it doesn’t mean we can’t still be a part of each other’s. Through thick and thin, we are family and that is something time and space can’t break.”
Mikey snorted and looked back at the wedding arch. Embarrassment rolled through him at his crusade to make sure this wedding went on without a problem even as the grooms voiced that they didn’t care if it happened at all. Sheepishly, Mikey looked at Leo. “Sorry I went wedding planner-zilla. It really is up to you both about the wedding since it is your big day.”
“You were just trying to help us and I can’t fault you for that,” Leo grinned.
“Do you want me to send postponement announcements?” Mikey asked. “I’m sure it isn’t too late.”
“Pssh, we don’t need that,” Leo said with a growing smile. “You went to all this work that it would be a shame to let it go to waste. The wedding is still on!”
Mikey blinked in surprise. “But…I thought you just said…”
“That’s before I heard your piece,” Leo said with a soft smile. “And I think you deserve to pretend just a little bit longer. You’re right – big things are coming. We all deserve one last moment of domestic peace before you go off to show everyone why you are the most rocking mystic master to ever exist.”
Mikey giggled to himself. “You’re just saying that.”
“No way,” Leo laughed and pulled Mikey tighter against him, his free hand in the air in front of them. “I can see it now. They are going to have your name engraved in the stars one day and I’m going to point it out to everyone I know.”
Mikey shook his head with a laugh and extracted himself from Leo, standing up to stretch his arms above his head. “We should call it a day. I’m sure Hueso wouldn’t mind if we stopped at his restaurant for some dinner, do you?”
“Mind?” Leo snorted and stood up from his chair. He pulled one of his swords from its sheath in preparation of opening a portal. “I’m sure he would love it.”
Mikey giggled and stepped aside for Leo to open the portal. Leo smiled and raised his arm to do so but then froze, letting his arm drop back down. Confused, Mikey tilted his head to the side. “Leo?”
“Hey, I’m just wondering, but you said that you have all the pieces to go see that god whenever you want. How come you haven’t?” Leo asked.
A disgruntled expression formed on Mikey’s face. “Figuratively speaking, I may have the last piece but I don’t know how the puzzle fits together yet,” Mikey sighed in disappointment. “Before I decided to give up to focus on letting everything be normal for now, I just couldn’t figure out how to create the spell that would allow me in.”
Leo nodded along. It was probably terrible for him to say but he was glad Mikey hadn’t figured it out yet. He wanted to be there when Mikey did and be there as support for whatever the hell this god of the multiverse wants with his brother.
Shaking his head, the smile came back onto Leo’s face. “C’mon, let’s go bother our Tio Hueso,” Leo laughed and slashed the space in front of him. A bright blue portal formed and waited for the two that called upon it to go through it.
Mikey giggled and skipped into it, Leo following after him.
Mikey took a long sip of his drink through its straw.
Sitting at a table disguised in his human form in a diner in Los Angeles, Mikey kicked his feet absently. The food in front of him was still warm from when it was brought out a few minutes ago. A tall glass of a vanilla milkshake sat opposite of him.
The bell at the front door rang as someone entered the diner and Mikey perked up when he saw who it was. “April!” Mikey cheered as his sister entered the restaurant.
April turned at the call of her name and smiled at the blond teenager waving her over to the table. Her long braids pulled up in a ponytail trailed after her like Mikey and his cloak, the yellow beads at the ends clinking against each other. She was dressed in her professional reporter attire with her usual iconic green letterman jacket thrown over her top. Mikey stood up as April approached and the two siblings hugged each other tight.
Pulling back, April smiled brightly at Mikey. “Oh, it is so good to see a familiar face,” she said before her smile turned into a smirk as she tucked a strand of the curly blond hair behind Mikey’s ear. “Well, a version of it at least.”
Mikey laughed and sat back down at the table, April following his lead. “How are you doing? You almost done yet here?”
April nodded and swiped the milkshake that Mikey had ordered for her. “Just about finished. Should be getting home with a few days to spare before Leo’s wedding,” she answered and then took a sip of her drink.
Mikey smiled at that – he had missed his sister. April had been on the opposite side of the country for a while now as she worked on a long-term news coverage story. Mikey was so proud of how far April had risen in the ranks to become the reporter she wanted to be but he missed her. Phone calls and texts could only do so much.
Luckily, April had two siblings that could portal to wherever they wanted so they didn’t have to go too long without seeing each other. Mikey had even brought April over to their side of the country for Leo’s and Yuichi’s proposal but she had to return quickly afterwards for an important interview. Seeing that it had been a while, Mikey had decided to pay April a visit.
“So, how goes the wedding preparations?” April asked.
Mikey shrugged. “Pretty much all set at this point. I kind of went psycho-planner mode so there isn’t too many details left before the wedding next week. I guess the only big thing is waiting for the big day and making sure both grooms show up to the alter.”
April giggled and took another sip of her milkshake. “Let me know if you need help with anything. We don’t want you taking another three-minute sudden power nap from all the stress of everything.”
“Excuse me?” Mikey asked in surprise.
“I heard about how you passed out while babysitting Arnie for a few minutes,” April explained as she picked up a fry from the basket in-between them.
Mikey furrowed his blond brows together. “A few minutes?”
“That’s what I was told,” April shrugged, throwing a fry into her mouth. “Donnie gave me the whole low down about how you were passed out but came back after a few minutes.”
Mikey’s brow pushed together as he thought back to his time with the Conscious. It had definitely been longer than a few minutes he was talking to the god of the multiverse. No matter how much he thought on it, the timeline didn’t line up.
“Mikey?” April asked carefully as her brother stayed quiet. “You good?”
But then a lightbulb went off in Mikey’s head.
A light twinkled in Mikey’s eyes and he looked up to meet April’s gaze. “Oh, I am more than good. You don’t know how much you just helped me,” Mikey smirked victoriously to himself.
Notes:
👀
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 9: Crunch Time
Notes:
Hello and welcome back to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mikey fiddled with the scrap of paper in his hand.
His brothers were going to kill him when they found out what he was planning.
But he had to.
“Mikey!”
Mikey looked up at the call of his name and smiled, slipping the paper back up the sleeve of his casual yakuta. The festival that the Hidden City had set up was buzzing with activity and yokai all around them. With how close it was to the wedding, Leo had the bright idea to make going to the festival his bachelor party. Yuichi’s family had whisked him away to some other event but both had decided on something small and intimate with their families.
Seeing that Mikey was handling the wedding, Donnie and Raph worked together to plan the bachelor party. Casey, Cassandra, and April had been dragged along for the fun with Splinter and Draxum volunteering to babysit Arnold so they all could have a night of young fun. Mikey was the only one below the legal of age of drinking but he still joined the fun with his own glass of lemonade. Raph opted out of drinking after his stint during Mikey’s self-inflicted isolation in the crystal and chose to the be the Designated Sober Chaperone.
And that was a very important job considering who all of his siblings were and their penchants for chaos.
Leo laughed loudly as he sauntered over to Mikey. His blue yakuta was half-open in the front and the sash looked like it could have been tied better. Leo kept listing to one side before catching himself.
“Lighten up, it’s a party!” Leo laughed. He swiped a simple and traditionally painted fox mask off the stand closest to them before slapping it onto Mikey’s face haphazardly. “Have some fun little brother!”
Mikey giggled as he adjusted the fox mask to rest on the top of his head so that he could still see. “How much have you had to drink already?”
Leo threw his head back and laughed loudly, his face growing red with alcohol. “Enough that I know I am going to regret this tomorrow,” Leo boldly proclaimed.
Mikey laughed along to that. In the background, he could see Cassandra throwing her arms up in victory as she won one of the stall’s shooting game. A large plush deer was handed over to her as a prize – nearly the size of Mikey himself – and Casey groaned as he smacked a hand to his face in acceptance of the fact that yet another larger than life plush was joining their collection at home. April clapped along in honor of Cass’s victory and snapped a picture of the ex-foot ninja with her prize.
Across the short distance, Raph was concentrating with his tongue sticking out as he aimed a dart at the balloon-filled wall at the far side of the stall. Donnie was also attempting the stall but there was a looseness to his form as he was just about as buzzed as Leo due to the twin’s competitive streak. Raph let his dart fly and cheered as it hit its mark to get him a prize. Donnie also threw his dart and it popped three balloons at the same time.
“How did you do that?” Raph asked with his mouth hanging open as he accepted his prize.
“I’m just that good,” Donnie answered with a shrug as he was handed his three prizes before hiccupping. “GG.”
Mikey stumbled forward and out of his people-watching as Leo threw an arm around Mikey’s shoulder. “You having fun, little brother?” Leo asked, his words slightly slurring.
“So much,” Mikey grinned. “Arnie is going to be so happy with all the plushies we are going to bring home for him.”
Leo looked Mikey over. “I don’t see any plushies on you.”
Mikey rooted around in the pocket of his sleeve and pulled out a small blue gem on a keychain. “Did you really expect me to carry all of that this entire time? Bro, I’ve got a bajillion pocket dimensions for reasons like that.”
Laughing, Leo took the gem and held it up to the torch near them to inspect it. “This is hella useful.”
“Take it,” Mikey told him. “I’ve got others I can use.” In the background again, Mikey saw Cassandra taping a dark gray crystal of her own to the giant plush and it disappeared in a flash of sparkles to be stored away. Raph and Donnie followed along by tapping their respective red and purple gems to their prizes.
“Thanks, little brother,” Leo said and tucked the blue gem into his yukata. Pushing away from Mikey, Leo stumbled back to their family. Looking over his shoulder, Leo smiled at Mikey. “C’mon! Let’s go have some fun!”
Mikey laughed and followed after Leo, letting himself get lost in the joy of all of them being together. For a few hours, Mikey played the games and ate the food of the festival. He took pictures when Donnie challenged Leo to various contests with Raph sighing in Big SiblingTM disappointment. He had laughed at how Cassandra won the arm-wrestling challenge even with the three strongest yokai working together and how Casey won second place. Mikey had smiled at the camera when April held it up for a selfie, laughing more as the rest of his siblings squeezed in.
“I think it’s time for some more drinks!” Donnie cheered as he brought a flight of shot glasses for Leo.
“Please tell me you don’t expect him to drink all of that,” Raph grimaced at the alcohol.
“It’s a bachelor’s party – of course we expect him to drink,” Donnie chuckled, Cassandra and April nodding along behind him.
Leo turned and pointed a metal finger at Mikey. “No drinking for you, young man. You’re not old enough yet.”
“Wasn’t trying to,” Mikey shrugged. “I’ll go get some juice for myself.”
“I saw a good smoothie stand a bit that way,” April said, pointing down the pathway.
“I’ll go grab one,” Mikey nodded, smiling at his family. Taking a step away, Mikey saluted lazily. “I’ll be back.”
“Hurry back,” Raph called after him but already turning his attention to how Leo approached the shots.
Mikey walked some distance away from his family, weaving in-between other yokais as he made his way to the stand. He got in line and turned back to his family, waving to Raph who had turned around to make sure Mikey was okay. Seeing that Mikey was fine and waiting to order his drink, Raph went back to making sure Leo didn’t give himself alcohol poisoning too fast.
Dropping his hand now that he knew the attention was off of him, Mikey stepped back out of the line. The next person happily moved up to take his place and covered Mikey from view of his family. Turning on his heel, Mikey walked farther into the festival. Off in the distance, Mikey could hear Cassandra laugh loudly and raucously about something.
Turning around, Mikey looked at his brothers. They were laughing about something and Raph had this aghast expression as Leo threw his head back as he swallowed shot after shot that Donnie brought him. Cassandra had somehow produced her own tray and was racing Leo for who could drink the most shots the fastest. April was cheering for Cassandra while Casey was cheering for Leo – though, the boy from the future was holding a glass of water for each of them for when they were done.
Mikey smiled ruefully about having to leave. He wanted to stay there and laugh alongside with them. Mikey wanted to enjoy the night for what it was.
As much as he wanted to stay, he couldn’t put this off any longer.
Mikey moved the fox mask over his face and the markings on it grew brighter when he pooled his magic into it. A wave of magic rolled over Mikey and he felt himself change in size as it transformed him. His entire being was calm as his mutant turtle self was replaced with an orange fox that sported his two mismatched eyes.
The yokais around him barely blinked and just stepped around him. Mikey, now as a fox, darted off to the side and into a bush. Instantly, the clamor of the festival lessened. The fox ran towards the yokai forest on the edge of the festival. He paused right on the edge of it, looking back to the joyous festivities he was leaving.
“I don’t see Mikey anymore,” Casey’s concerned voice drifted in.
“I don’t see him at the smoothie stand,” Raph added as he was the tallest and could see above everyone’s heads.
“Mikey?” Leo’s voice called out. “Where’d you go?”
The fluffy tail that Mikey now had twitched behind him. Part of him wanted to throw away the idea of what he was about to do and enjoy the normalcy that he had told Leo he wanted so bad for a little longer.
But he couldn’t afford it anymore.
Mikey didn’t answer as he darted off into a bush. The sounds of the festival behind him grew quieter the farther he ran. The voices calling his names also disappeared the farther he became from them. Just to really make sure they couldn’t find him, Mikey pulled on his magic and opened a small portal just ahead of him. The fox ran through it and was deposited in the middle of an alleyway he knew was faraway from where his family would be.
Stopping in place as the small portal closed behind him, Mikey used his magic to revert the transformation. A wave of orange energy ran over him and the fox body shifted to a mutant turtle body with Mikey’s hand over his face. With a move of his hand to shift the mask on his face, Mikey was fully back to himself.
Mikey reached into his yakuta and pulled out the small slip of paper out of his sleeve he had been looking at earlier. It was a simple design but it held all the key to the answers he was looking for. Taking a deep breath, Mikey threw the paper forward and it went rigid midair as if it was a wet paper towel thrown at a wall.
The scars and markings on Mikey lit up as he called upon his powers, his mismatched eyes glowing brightly. “Open the gateway,” Mikey commanded, a hand held out towards the paper.
The magic circle on the piece of paper lit up in response and the same magic circle bloomed outwards below Mikey’s feet. The paper shot back to Mikey’s hand and there was a small burning sensation. Hissing, Mikey kept his hand held out and felt the ground disappear from out underneath of him.
Mikey fell for a bit, his yakuta transforming into his iconic cloak on the way down. The piece of paper that held the magic circle flaked away into ash as the spell stayed behind on Mikey’s hand. After a moment, Mikey touched down onto smooth flooring in a dark space. Standing up carefully with his cloaking closing around him, Mikey looked up at the Conscious.
“That was quick,” the Conscious smirked. He whirled around so that his cloak that copied Michael’s fluttered in the air around him. The portholes that led to other universes shined behind him, the only light inside the darkness. “You work fast.”
“Someone gave me a hint,” Mikey smirked back, holding up his hand that now had a scar of the magic circled branded onto it. It depicted a magic circle that looked complex was so simple if one understood the fundamentals of it. From now on, as long as Mikey had that magic circle on his hand, he would forever be able to enter the Conscious’ space. “There, I’ve passed your test.”
“How did you figure it out?” the Conscious asked, floating down to be closer to Mikey’s level.
“April said I was only passed out for a few minutes in the real world but I was in here longer,” Mikey explained, looking around him at all the other universes. “Once I realized that you live outside the boundary of time, it was easy to take away the time constraint and work the formula to what I wanted.”
The Conscious gave a round of applause that had Mikey looking back to the god of the multiverse that chose to look like him. “An excellent job,” the Conscious told him with pride in his voice. “I expected nothing less from you.”
“So, why did you want me to find you?” Mikey demanded, eyes narrowing.
“What makes you think I wanted you to find me?” the Conscious shot back easily.
“Because I never felt your eyes before,” Mikey argued. “There are so many other universes around – I can see them all around us – which means my world can’t be your only focus. I’m sure you’ve checked in on us being the master of the multiverse and whatnot but this was different. You wanted me to feel you watching and you wanted me to find you. Why? Why now? Why me?”
The Conscious regarded Mikey for a long moment before his mouth pulled upwards in a large victorious smile.
“I knew you would be the best choice,” the Conscious said. The Conscious cracked his scarred fingers and then his neck, a large smile on his face. “Let’s get down to business then, shall we?”
“I am going to kill him,” Leo said with a bright smile on his face despite the words coming out of his mouth. It was now three days later – the day of the wedding – and Mikey never returned from his little quest of getting a smoothie. They had thought that perhaps Mikey stepped away for a moment to handle something but then the hours passed by and he wouldn’t return any of their calls or texts. “I am going to kill Mikey once I get my hands on him.”
“Now, Leo, let’s not be rash,” Raph tried to reason. Despite his words, he was one of the most worried.
The smile dropped from Leo’s face as he sneered at Raph. The two co-leaders stood straight across from each other in the middle of the lair. “Mikey lied to us – lied to me. He said he would keep us updated and not doing anything stupid without us.”
“Maybe he isn’t,” Raph said, poking his fingers together. “Maybe he’s off finishing up some last details for the wedding.”
“Draxum said he isn’t even in this universe right now,” Donnie cut in from where he was leaning against a wall not far from his brothers, taping at his wrist screen. Their creator had been the first person they had gone to when Mikey never returned to them the following morning and confirmed that Mikey was elsewhere. “Unless Draxum’s highly advanced tracking spell is busted, then Mikey is off somewhere not in this universe.”
Leo’s metal hand curled into a fist. He didn’t know what could have changed since his talk with Mikey. His brother had poured his heart out about wanting this last normal event as a family and then ditched them to go whatever mystic adventure was plaguing him. Slamming his fist against the wall nearest him, Leo turned around.
“I’m going to go find that brat,” Leo swore.
“Oh no, you’re not,” Donnie sighed and pushed off the wall.
Leo whirled around. “You gonna stop me?” Leo challenged.
Donnie took it easily and leaned back with a hand on his hip. “Nah, I’m going to help you. We are going to go find him.”
The fight deflated out of Leo a bit. “You are?”
“You’re going to need help,” Donnie shrugged. “Besides, with the two of us working together, there isn’t anywhere our baby brother can hide from us.”
“With the three of us,” Raph corrected as he approached the twins. “Raph ain’t going to let you hunt down Mikey without me.”
Leo grinned at his older brothers. Even if they butted heads at times, they were always ready to drop everything to help when needed. Leo twitched his flesh hand and one of his katanas flashed as it teleported into it. “Let’s go find our brother,” Leo announced.
Raising his katana in the air, Leo prepared to open a whole to another place. He didn’t have any idea where to start but that wasn’t going to stop him. All he knew that he was going to wring Mikey’s neck for making him worried once he got his hands on him.
“What are you guys doing?!” Mikey’s voice exclaimed behind them.
Leo paused in his position and the three elder brothers turned on their heels to see their missing youngest brother hopping out of a portal with three garment bags floating in the air next to him from his magic. Mikey was already dressed up in his formal attire and it was complete with the long silky version of his mask that only came out for special events. The bit of Mikey’s left prosthetic leg that could be seen was even buffed and shined.
Mikey huffed and crossed his arms, the portal closing behind him. “Honestly, I can’t leave any of you unattended for a big event for a minute,” Mikey huffed. He threw an arm at the garment bags in the air. “You all forgot your outfits. What would dad think if you all showed up without your kimonos?”
“Mikey?” Leo blinked in surprise. “You’re here?”
“Where else would I be?” Mikey scoffed. He jumped into the air to float and clapped his hands. The world around them went fuzzy for a moment before they were dropped back into the room they all knew to be Leo’s prep room at the venue. “Today is the big day and I will do everything in my power to make sure Leo and Yuichi get their happily ever after.”
“But…you’ve been gone for three days,” Raph pointed out.
“Had some things to take care of,” Mikey rolled his mismatched eyes and used his magic to float the garment bags over to the nearby clothes rack. “Did you know how much I had to barter with the local weather entity to make sure the weather was perfect?”
Looking out the window, Leo could see just how truly perfect of a day it was. The sun was out with a few sparse fluffy clouds off in the horizon. While sunny, it wasn’t overbearing and the air was just the perfect temperature.
“And the flowers!” Mikey huffed, throwing a bandaged hand into the air. “The florist did not arrange the flowers like we wanted them to so I had to go traveling all over to get all the flowers needed to redo it myself.”
Now that he noticed it, there was a strong scent of flowers wafting off of Mikey. In fact, there was a stray lily petal stuck in the knot of Mikey’s mask that he didn’t seem to notice. A smile started to form on Leo’s face.
“Let’s not forget the cake,” Mikey continued. “If I started it too early, then it would have gone bad by today. I spent all of yesterday baking it and the other treats for the dessert bar.”
There was a smear of icing on the side of Mikey’s cheek that verified his story. Mikey kept going on about the final details of the wedding preparation that Leo hadn’t even thought about despite being one of the grooms. Stepping forward, Leo licked his flesh thumb and rubbed it over the side of Mikey’s cheek to wipe off the icing.
“You did all of that just for me?” Leo asked with a soft smile.
“Well, why wouldn’t I?” Mikey asked, rubbing the back of his head. He stilled for a second and then pinched his fingers to pull out the lily petal that had been stuck in his mask’s knot. With a chuckle, he threw the petal off to the side. “You’re my big brother and it’s your special day.”
With his smile growing, Leo wrapped an arm around Mikey’s shoulders and pulled him in close for a side hug. “You’re my favorite little brother,” Leo laughed.
“I’m your only little brother,” Mikey deadpanned but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.
Clearing his throat, Leo regarded his brothers. “Mad Dogz, here is your mission!” Leo exclaimed, a finger of his free hand pointed in the air. “Get prepped and dressed! We have a wedding to pull off!”
Raph, Mikey, and Donnie threw their fists in the air in confirmation of their mission and excitement.
Notes:
👀
Anyways,
Let me know what you thought in the comments! Give your thoughts, theories, screams or fun emojis! I really look forward to hearing from you guys and it makes my day so much!
Kudos are appreciated! They are like little gold stars that let me know that I am doing a good job!
See you guys next chapter!
Chapter 10: The Wedding
Notes:
For the last time...hello and welcome to 'I Hear Wedding Bells'!
Full disclosure: I am not exactly happy with how this chapter turned out. This is the one chapter I didn't finish with the rest of the story as I got caught up with other things and I just feel like it doesn't flow right like the others. I also will admit that I feel like I cut this one short for what was needed but I just wanted it to be finished so I can go back to working on other things. Sorry if it doesn't measure up to the rest of the story.
Anyways, it's been fun to drop back into my first series. While I know this series hasn't been my best writing, it was my first and that will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you to everyone that has read along and know that I appreciate all of you.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the TMNT-verse.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“God, I hope I don’t mess up,” Casey mumbled as he pulled at the collar of his yukata. He gripped his notebook in his free hand tighter.
“You’ll do great,” Mikey grinned and clapped Casey on the shoulder. His hand was bandaged up to hide what was on his palm and he was lucky that no one seemed to notice when he returned yesterday.
“Is it too late to get someone else to do it?” Casey whined, looking out to the gathering crowd of friends and not-quite-family-but-almost-there members took their seats. Señor Hueso grumbled as he sat beside his brother a few rows back on the Hamato side of the seats. Hypno and Warren, who decided to leave their lives of crime behind aside for a few instances of mischief when bored to keep the turtles on their toes, sat near the back with their heads bowed as they read the wedding program in Warren’s grip.
Big Mama had shown up to support Leo as she had grown fond of the turtles even if they were her ex-almost fiancé’s children that she helped inadvertently create after she kidnapped Lou and sold him to Draxum. She sat in the second row as the first was reserved just for family but had her workers lay a cushion on her seat to make herself comfortable. Many of the yokais that had been invited and did not know about the Hamato’s connection to Big Mama whispered in awe to each other that one of the big bosses of the Hidden City had come to the wedding.
“Leo personally wanted you to do it,” Mikey pointed out.
“I guess I have to then,” Casey huffed a deep sigh, slouching in on himself. “Can’t let Leo down like that.”
“That’s the spirit,” Mikey laughed and fixed the front of his yukata. As he was doing so, he caught Cassandra’s eyes who was the only family member of their’s so far to be sitting in the front row. Cassandra was wearing a silvery yukata with the Hamato clan symbol stamped proud on her back like the rest of the family. She flashed him a smile and held up a thumbs-up with her camera in the other hand in preparation of taking pictures of Casey as the officiant. Mikey shot his own thumbs-up back and stepped away from Casey. “It’s almost time to get this wedding started so I’m going to go check on the grooms.”
“I’ll be here waiting,” Casey nodded.
With a nod of his own, Mikey turned on his heels and scooted around the edge of the seating arrangements to head to the back. On his way, Big Mama saw him and blew a kiss towards her ex’s youngest son. Mikey giggled and held up his hands in a heart at the boss before ducking out of the doors.
Outside the hall, Mikey turned on his heel and headed towards the bridegroom’s room that was his brother’s. Mikey knew that Leo was alone in there at the moment as he heard the rest of the wedding party off taking pictures with Sunita who had offered her services as the photographer for the night. Knocking on it, Mikey peeked his head inside. “Are you ready?”
Leo, dressed to the nines in his wedding attire, smiled. He smoothed out the front of his outfit before tying the back of his blue silk mask. It was the finest silk that Big Mama had personally gifted the turtle to wish him luck in his next grand adventure.
“A little nervous,” Leo admitted with a wince.
“You? Nervous?” Mikey snorted.
“Hey, even I can get nervous,” Leo laughed and crossed the room. He wrapped an arm around Mikey’s shoulders to pull him in for a side hug. “What if I trip or mess up my vows?”
“Then Donnie will have video of it to show every time he needs to win an argument,” Mikey answered cheekily.
“Brat.” Leo rolled his eyes. Mikey laughed, his mismatched eyes twinkling. Leo noticed the bandage around Mikey’s right hand and picked it up in his own hands. “Hey, what happened here?”
Mikey pulled his hand back and hid it behind his shell. “Just a burn,” he admitted. It was the truth by the reason behind the burn was conveniently left out.
Humming as he clocked that Mikey wasn’t lying to him, Leo nodded along. “Want me to take a look at it? Burns can hurt something nasty.”
“No way,” Mikey shook his head. “It’s your wedding. You get a break from being medic Leo.”
“With you, Don Ton, and Raphie as brothers, I don’t think that’s a choice for me,” Leo laughed.
“I promise that it’s nothing big,” Mikey swore and grabbed Leo’s hand to pull him towards the door. “If it is, I’ll go get Draxum to take a look at it. Take a break for today.”
“If you say so,” Leo relented and let himself be dragged along. “Where are you taking me?”
“It’s time to get this wedding moving,” Mikey grinned as he opened the door and pushed Leo out. “And there is a certain groom waiting at the staircase like planned for the first look.”
Leo perked up in interest and pulled away from his brother’s hands to trot away. His wedding outfit bounced with every movement with the Hamato crest proudly on full display on his back. Like he just remembered to, Leo turned around and waved at Mikey from down the room. “Thank you for everything, Mikey! I’ll see you in the ceremony!” Leo grinned before turning back around to head to where his groom was waiting.
Mikey smiled lightly and waved a hand at Leo’s retreating shell. Once Leo turned the corner and he was out of eyesight, Mikey dropped his smile and leaned against a nearby doorframe. The hand he had been waving with, the one with the burn, glared at him like a neon sign. Mikey hesitated before looking at his hand after pulling the bandage back. He sighed in relief at what he saw and bumped the back of his head against the doorframe.
Good, he still had time.
Mikey stood towards the back of the hall, leaning against the wall so he could hear anything on the other side of the door where the wedding party was getting into position. Since Mikey was the wedding planner, he had opted out and just watching the ceremony. It also helped to balance out the wedding party in the ceremony.
There was a knock on the other side of the wall – two sharp hits that Mikey knew to be the signal to start. Pushing off the wall, Mikey clapped his hands once. Power spilled out from them and an orange hue took over the piano in the corner. The piano arrangement of the wedding music filled the air as the ceremony started, the guests quieting down as they realized what was going on.
Casey stood up taller at the alter with his book that had his lines he had been practicing for weeks now inside in case he forgot. Mikey shot him a wink in luck before snapping his fingers, using his powers to open the door. In the front was the flower girl, Hana from Usagi’s family, that came skipping out. She wore a pretty dress and carried a basket on her arm full of flower petals that she sprinkled the ground with.
There was a glint from the basket and Mikey narrowed his eyes to look at – then laughed quietly to himself when he recognized the ninja stars hiding inside. Well, Leo did mention that there was one member of the Usagi family that was ninja. Looked like Yuichi couldn’t get away from them.
Next up was Raph and Gen walking out together, both wearing yukatas that matched the color scheme of the groom they were family with. Raph was first and then Gen because them walking side-by-side with their sizes would have been a tight squeeze. At the end of the aisle, Raph took left while Gen went right.
After them came Chizu and April in flowing dresses. They had the option for yakuta but they both chose to dress in a way that would let them party and dance later. Once they split off to their respective side to stand next to the previous wedding party members at the end of the aisle, the last of the wedding party came down in the form of Donnie and Kitsune. The fox made sure to pet Spot as she passed by while Donnie nodded his head at Big Mama.
The wedding music changed and everyone stood up, facing the door way. The grooms of the hour appeared with their chests puffed out. Leo held his arm out to Yuichi and the rabbit yokai laughed, interlocking their arms together.
Leo and Yuichi came strolling down the aisle arm-in-arm with dopey love-filled smiles on their faces. They stopped at the end and turned to face each other, giggling at the attention focused on them. Mikey’s heart warmed as he watched his brother starting his turn chapter in life and was thankful that he got to be a part of it.
The two made it to the end and finally the last member of the ceremony arrived. Mikey turned his body towards the door as Arnold stood there in a suit his size with a small pillow that had a pair of fake rings tied to it. While Arnold was a cute kid, he was still a kid – a kid that possessed Casey Jones’ blood – and they hadn’t wanted to worry about him losing the rings. The actual rings were currently split between the grooms inside a pocket on the inside of their yukatas.
But Leo still wanted to incorporate Arnold into the wedding somehow and he had argued that no wedding was complete with a ring bearer. Bending down to one knee, Leo held his arms out for Arnold. “Hey Arnie. Come to uncle Leo.”
Arnold perked up and laughed before running off in the manner that toddlers do. There were cooes all around the hall as Arnold ran down the aisle all the way to Leo’s arm. Leo closed his arms around his nephew and stood up, holding Arnold. “Good job, Arnie,” Yuichi praised his very soon to be nephew.
“Arnie good job!” Arnold cheered with a clap of his hands, making the rings on is pillow bounce around wildly. Cassandra took money pictures of the two and Mikey knew that there would be a photo album later of just Casey and Arnold in their parts of the wedding.
Cassandra put down her camera and came over to take Arnold from Leo. The mother and son sat back down in their seats. Arnold was placed down with the pillow still in his hands as it was more a toy for him at this point. Draxum and Splinter sat on the same aisle as them, watching the wedding of their son and his fiancé. Cassandra, with her hands free, went back to take pictures.
“Such a mom,” Mikey giggled softly to himself from the back of the room. “Who would’ve guessed?”
Casey cleared his throat before launching into his opening remarks. Mikey crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Leo and Yuichi looked at each other. Their vows had Mikey’s eyes misting up from the utter gooey warmth spilling from them. Raph had to be passed a tissue as he openly cried at the love while Donnie fake-gagged, making April elbow him in the side.
Finally, at the end, Leo and Yuichi reached inside their yukatas to pull out the wedding bands for each other. Leo went first, reaching forward to grab Yuichi’s left hand. “With this ring, I wed thee, Yuichi,” he said as he slipped the ring onto the rabbit’s finger.
Yuichi reached out to grab Leo’s left hand. “And with this ring, I wed thee, Leonardo,” Yuichi said as he slipped the ring onto the turtle’s finger.
Casey closed his book with a bright smile, holding it to his chest as he held an arm out to the couple. “With the power vested in me, it is my pleasure to announce for the first time, Leonardo and Yuichi Hamato-Usagi!” Casey announced with a beaming pride in his voice. “You may now kiss the groom!”
Leo and Yuichi raised their joined hands high in the air as cheers erupted from the guests. Flower petals that Mikey had laid out earlier on the guests’ seats were thrown at the couple to shower them. The husbands laughed loudly before Yuichi grabbed Leo to spin him around onto his back and kissed him. Leo melted into the kiss with a smile, hugging Yuichi tightly.
Mikey clapped along happily for his brother…happy that he didn’t miss the wedding with what was brewing on the horizon.
Mikey fiddled the bandage wrapped around his right hand.
He was leaning on the fence stopping yokai from tripping into the lake below. This part of the venue was built on a small cliff outcropping of land that suddenly dropped into the crystal water. The stars of the night sky reflected off of the water to create more gems to look upon.
Flipping over his hand to look at the back of it, Mikey pulled down the bandage to see how much time he had left. The spell placed on his hand by the Conscious to keep track of how much he had left before it was time for his task had nearly run its course. When it was first placed on his hand, Mikey felt like he had so much time. Now that it was nearly gone, Mikey was nervous. The time had gone so quickly and Mikey was getting scared for what was coming next.
Mikey separated into two and Angelo slouched forward against the fencing. He groaned and banged his forehead against the top plank. “How much longer do we have?” he asked aloud.
Michael huffed and looked up at the moon above him. His hands were lazily perched on the top plank with his hands hanging down. The bandaged right hand seemed to light up for a second underneath its wrappings. “Not much longer,” Michael answered. “Within in the next half hour or so if we push it.”
Angelo banged his forehead against the top plank again. “It’s too soon.”
“It will always be too soon,” Michael sighed, looking at the constellations surrounding the moon.
With a sigh, the two halves combined again. Mikey watched the moon with his chin on the wooden plank, thinking of how he would explain it to his family. Here they were still at the wedding but he would have to leave them soon. All that commotion about wanting one more normal night and here was he breaking that promise.
There was a crunch from behind Mikey and he peeked behind him to see the grooms with the rest of his family trailing behind. Leo and Yuichi were walking hand-in-hand while Donnie and Raph trailed behind, the eldest brothers looking at pictures Donnie’s drones had caught earlier. April was carrying her heels in her hands while flip flops adorned her feet in place of them, her long braids swinging in the air from their ponytail hairstyle. Cassandra had a sleeping Arnold on her hip and Casey was opening the collar of his yukata from being too hot. Draxum with Splinter on his shoulder took up the rear as they talked quietly amongst the two of them about the stars in the sky.
Taking a deep breath and pasting a fake smile on his face, Mikey turned to greet his family. “Look at the happy couple!” Mikey cheered with a clap of his hands. “How does it feel to be married?!”
“Not much different than before,” Yuichi laughed, brushing his shoulder up against Leo’s as he pecked his husband on the cheek. “Though, now we have fancy titles.”
“Now we have to get Raph and Mona on the chopping block,” April teased, rubbing her elbow against Raph’s arm.
“Hey, not yet,” Raph pouted. While he was happy and stable in his relationship, both Raph and Mona decided to take it slow.
“Don’t rush them,” Donnie tutted as he loosened the sash around his middle. “Besides, they have all the time in the world before they have to deal with party planner Mikey breathing down their necks.” The final part was said with a teasing wink at his younger brother.
That sentence struck a wrong chord in the orange banded turtle. Mikey’s smile became more strained in the corners and Leo noticed instantly. “Mikey, you okay?” Leo asked.
“Yeah, you’re the one that planned this wedding and looking forward to it but you aren’t enjoying it,” Yuichi added.
“Who said I wasn’t enjoying it?” Mikey asked, forcing the positivity into his voice just a little too much. “I’m just taking a little breather. You know how it goes.”
Donnie rolled his eyes. “Mikey, being a liar isn’t a good look for you,” Donnie scowled.
Mikey looked between everyone and realized that he was caught. Hunching his shoulder, Mikey separated into two again. Michael on the left with his glowing orange eyes and Angelo on the right with his glowing blue eyes. The two of them wore their version of their cloak with their lips pressed together in a flat line.
“I was hoping for some more time but it seems like we can’t push this any longer,” Angelo sighed in disappointment. His arms crossed over his plastron.
“Though, something of this scale can’t be put on pause just for a wedding,” Michael said.
“I mean, if we try very hard, I think it could be done,” Angelo pouted.
“Not even we could do that,” Michael rolled his eyes.
“Mikey, tell us what is going on,” Leo demanded.
The two halves of Mikey looked at each for a moment before nodding. Pulling down the bandage on their right hands, a healed burn in the shape of a magic circle on their palms was spotted as they turned it over to show their family the countdown on the back of the hand. They turned to face their family with their heads held high. “The multiverse is in grave danger and it needs our help.”
“The multiverse?” Donnie asked, intrigue coloring his tone.
Michael nodded his head, his usual apathic antagonization gone in the face of something more serious. “The Big Mama of a parallel universe is upsetting the balance of the multiverse. We are being pulled in to help before she does something that can’t be reversed.”
“Of course it is a Big Mama,” Draxum scoffed with a roll of his eyes.
April snickered and patted a hand on Draxum’s arm. “Your jealousy is showing,” she giggled. Splinter nodded along in agreement and Draxum grumbled under his breath.
“Who are you being called in by?” Raph asked.
“We’ve been in contact with the god we were trying to find before,” Michael continued. “It’s why they were reaching out to me before as it was a test to see if we measured up to their standards.”
Leo narrowed his eyes at his little brother. “You mean the same one that you swore you would try to contact with all of us with you?”
Angelo looked anywhere but his brother. “Whaaaaaat? I don’t remember promising that,” he said in a high-pitched voice.
“Mikey…” Leo growled in warning.
“Whether I did or not is not the point,” Michael interrupted, rolling his gold eyes. “The god has told me that if I don’t help, then this other Big Mama will be on an unstoppable path that will do so much harm.”
“Okay, okay,” Donnie nodded along, rubbing his chin. “I don’t doubt it. You are immensely powerful and from what the two of us have seen when peeking into the other universe—”
“You two did what?” Raph blinked in surprise.
“—then you are the only one that can stop this,” Donnie finished.
“Yeah, my murder machine is the best!” Cassandra cheered, hiking Arnold up on her hip. The toddler was out cold and even his mother’s booming voice wouldn’t wake him up.
“So, what’s the plan?” Casey asked, getting right to business.
“One of us is going to go into the universe that Big Mama is holding all of our stolen counterparts as a spy to wait for when the plan is to be enacted,” Angelo explained. “We also have to save the key person involved in the plan and fake his death.”
“And one of us is going to stay behind to make sure the veil we placed on our universe stays in places,” Michael explained. “Besides, if the Big Mama that is messing up the multiverse decides to branch out and targets us somehow, at least one of us will be here to stop her.”
“Which one of you is staying behind?” Donnie asked.
“Michael,” Angelo answered with a point of a finger at his other half. “He’s more likely to not hold back when annoyed. That’s good for defending our universe but not with spying.”
Michael shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say? I like a good fight,” he said with a flash of his gold eyes.
“Yeah, we know,” Angelo deadpanned at his other half.
Leo stepped up to both halves of his brother and placed a hand on one of their shoulders each. “Are you sure about this?” Leo asked, his face full of worry.
Both halves shrugged underneath his hands. “If we don’t help, there is no telling how far their Big Mama’s poison will infect the multiverse,” Michael said.
“Besides, it’s not like we are doing it on our own,” Angelo winked at his brother. He jumped forward to hug Leo tightly to which his brother quickly returned. “We are in this together. No solo missions.”
“If we feel that Angelo is in danger at any time, I will send all of you in to bring him out,” Michael told them. “Along with you all making sure that the turtle we save stays safe in our universe while the rest of the plan is in effect.”
“So, we’re back-up?” Raph asked.
“Back-up and on bodyguard duty,” Angelo gently corrected.
“Someone has to stop the turtle we bring in from running back in once he realizes that everyone else is dying,” Michael added with a nonchalant manner.
Casey took a step away from Michael. “What exactly is happening in this other universe?”
“We’ll catch you up,” Michael said dismissively with a wave of his hand. That didn’t settle Casey’s nerves at all.
Angelo looked down at the counter on his hand and sighed. “I can’t put this off any longer.”
“Well, I guess this is where we send you off,” Leo said, shifting on his feet. Sighing, he scratched the back of his head. “Man, you planned this awesome wedding and you won’t even be here to enjoy the rest of it.”
“It’s not like I’m going to miss it entirely,” Angelo giggled, jerking his chin at Michael. “We’ve got the other me here too.”
“Oh, goodie,” Michael grumbled. Even though he tried to hide it, they could hear the warmth to his words.
“You better be safe over wherever you’re going to be,” Leo warned his brother, pointing a finger at him. “Or else I’m coming after ya to drag your butt home.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Angelo giggled.
In a whirlwind of orange energy, Angelo was enveloped. A second later, Angelo was jumping out now in the form of a small orange fox with bright blue eyes. He landed deftly on the ground with his fluffy tail swishing in the air behind him.
“Please, my creation, do try and stay safe in this other universe,” Draxum said, folding his hands into his sleeves.
“Angelo, remember your training,” Splinter bowed his head towards Angelo.
“We’ll make sure to take lots of pictures for you,” April swore, holding a thumb-up at her youngest brother.
“Be sure to let me know when is a good time for me to drop in,” Donnie said, holding himself up tall. “I want to check out this other universe for myself and make sure everything is going according to plan.”
“I’ll make sure to save you a slice of the cake for when you pop back in for a visit,” Raph said. He bent down with a hard glimmer in his eyes. “And I expect you to stop by for a break at some point. If you don’t, big Raph here is going to come in to make sure you do.”
“If you need back-up breaking some bones or wills, make sure to call me in, murder machine, okay?” Cassandra winked at Angelo.
“I have quite a history of being a spy if you need a different perspective,” Casey said as he offered up his services.
Yuichi bowed forward in appreciation. “Thank you again for this wonderful wedding you’ve planned us. We will be awaiting your return.”
“Stay safe, Angelo,” Leo smiled warmly at his brother. “Thank you for everything you for the two of us. We will cherish this night for the rest of our lives.” Angelo blinked his blue eyes up at Leo, making the red-eared slider laugh. “Alright now, get on out of here. You have bigger stuff to worry about.”
Michael looked between all of his family and then at Angelo. “Why does it sound like they are sending us out to war together? I mean, I’m going to be here most of the time except when we switch off for the extraction.”
If it was possible, the fox smiled in amusement before trotting away some distance. With a flick of its tail, an orange-and-blue toned portal opened in front of it. Angelo hesitated for a moment before looking back to his family. They were all waving to him and Michael hovered above them. Angelo’s other half flashed his eyes, a silent promise that he would keep them safe while Angelo was gone.
Feeling like everything was in safe hands while he was gone, Angelo looked back at the blue and orange tinted portal in front of him. On the other side of it was another universe that was needing his help. Things would be okay while he was gone and he felt that deep in his heart.
And with that, the blue-eyed fox jumped into the portal to save the multiverse.
Notes:
To see where this continues, see the how adventure unfolds in 'For the Glory'!
And to those that have already read it, you know if you know ;)
Thank you to everyone that has rejoined me in my first series again for this little side adventure. It was nice to dip my toes back in for a bit. These version of the turtles I have written will always been very near and dear to my heart.
See you guys around in my other works!
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