Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was 1am, everyone was asleep expect for Donnie. At least, he thought he was the only one up. He was up in his lab trying to make a potion. Making potions looked cool, so he wanted to try to make one. Though, Donnie doesn't know what this one does. All he knows it kind of looks like apple juice in a flask. He could figure out what it does tomorrow.

Donnie yawned and picked up the flask, bringing it to the kitchen to get a drink before going to bed. As he walked there, he heard a meow. Looking down, he saw the Mad Dogs' cat, Meatloaf. Mikey adopted her after the Krang.

"Hey girl." Donnie reached down with his free hand and petted the cat. She stepped closer and purred after getting petted. He smiled and stood back up. Meatloaf watched as Donnie walked to the kitchen and followed him.

When they got there, Donnie set the flask on the counter and opened the fridge. Which was bright when he opened it. His eyes squinted a bit, grabbed a drink and closed the door. Donnie then turned around as he took a sip. Only to see that Meatloaf has jumped onto the counter. Who was looking curiously at the flask.

"Hey! Leave the flask alone, it's not for cats. Actually, I don't even know what it does, but don't drink it." Donnie said, trying to get the cat to not drink the potion. He doesn't want something bad to happen to her, if it is something bad.

Meatloaf looked over at Donnie and laid down the the countertop. Not interested in drinking the mystery potion.

"Okay, good." Donnie sighed in relief. Then the panic rose again when Meatloaf tried to knock it off the counter. Why do cats do this? Especially out of all things, it had to be something that would be messy to clean up.

Donnie rushed over and grabbed the flask before it could be knocked over. He put his drink and the flask on the table. It would be easier to put it somewhere high up, but Meatloaf is a Maine Coon. She's like if Raph was a cat. He looked back over at her.

"That was a close one. Please don't do that again, we don't want you turning into something or whatever that potion would've done." Donnie was a bit stern at first, but then he sighed and petted her again. "It's okay. I know it was just cat instincts, we have turtle instincts. So, I get it."

Meatloaf rubbed her head against Donnie's hand and paused when she sees something or someone behind Donnie. She sat up and meowed, it sound friendly, so Donnie knew it must be one of his brothers or Splinter walking into the kitchen.

Donnie looked over his shoulder and saw two glowing eyes in the dark. Not going to lie, it looks creepy. But less creepy when you realize who it is. He could see the headgear and bear onesie.

"Hey Raph, still up?" Donnie waved at his older brother. Meatloaf jumped off the counter and walked to Raph.

"Hey Donnie, yeah, couldn't sleep." Raph yawned and noticed Meatloaf walking to him. He smiled and picked her up, making Meatloaf look like a normal sized cat compared to him. "Hey buddy!"

Donnie chuckled at the two and nodded. Makes sense for Raph, his species of turtle are nocturnal. He walked over to the table and picked up his drink. 

"Same, I've been up making a potion." Donnie said, taking a sip. "I don't know what it does yet. Since I'm getting ready to go to sleep, I'll see what it does in the morning."

Raph looked over at Donnie as he's petting the cat.

"Really? That's cool!" Raph smiled, proud of his brother. He then paused and looking down at the table before looking back up at Donnie. He looked a bit panicked. "Uh.. did it look like apple juice?"

The question made Donnie raise an eyebrow in confusion. How did Raph know it looked like apple juice? Unless Raph saw the potion in the flask. Donnie nodded.

"Yeah, why? Wait, what do you mean by 'did'?" Donnie asked. Raph started to look nervous and that made Donnie worry.

"Raph, don't tell me you drank the potion."

Raph laughed a bit nervously and let Meatloaf back down. On the table, was an empty flask.

"I might've did.. sorry, Raph didn't know it was a potion. I thought it was apple juice or somethin'."

"Why would I put apple juice in a flask??"

Donnie sighed, this isn't good. Raph seems to be okay, but not for long. He still doesn't know what it does. He picked up the flask and looked up.

"Raph, are you feeling any symptoms? If we figure out what it does, I could try to find a cur-.." Donnie was cut off when Raph was no longer there. Did his dum dum brother run off?? No, Raph wouldn't do that unless something was wrong. Also, he didn't even hear Raph move.

Great pizza supreme, first Meatloaf almost knocked the potion off the counter, then Raph drank it. His brother has a habit of eating and drinking things he shouldn't. Now he has to see what happened to his big brother.

"Raph? Are you okay, buddy?" Donnie was suspecting Raph fell, but again, he didn't hear Raph fall. He noticed Meatloaf looking at the other side of the table, so Raph probably was still here.

"Raph..?"

Donnie walked around the table, looking at the ground. Hoping Raph was okay.

What he saw shocked him. There was no longer a giant snapping turtle, but a tiny tot with spikes and a snaggletooth. The headgear and bear onesie were on the ground next to him, too big to fit him.

Donnie's eyes widen when he saw the tot. Well, now he knows what the potion does. It looks like it turned Raph into a baby. Toddler? Raph was 2 when the brothers got mutated, so most definitely a toddler.

Eugh boy..

Chapter Text

“Oh shit.”

Raph looked up to see what looked like one of his little brothers, but taller and wearing goggles instead of glasses. He made a confused chirp as Donnie crouched down to his level. 

“Are you okay, Raph?” Donnie asked.

The tot continued to stare at him, not sure if this is Donnie. His brother was a lot shorter and didn’t have goggles. Though he knows Raph’s name. Does he know him? He only knows his dad and his little brothers. Raph notices that the softshell looks older and makes another chirp, wondering if Donnie somehow made himself older.

Donnie hears the chirp, which he understands. He and Raph know how to speak turtle the most out of the brothers. After hearing it, he raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

“No, it's the opposite actually. You accidentally drank a potion and aged down. You used to be as old as us.” Donnie tried to explain that Raph used to be a teenager, 17. He wasn’t sure if Raph would get it, but he didn’t want to lie to him. He’s bad at lying anyways. “Basically, it made you younger. Me and everyone else are older. Does that make sense?”

Raph tilted his head to the side as he listened to Donnie. He opened and closed his mouth, tasting something as if he drank something earlier. Starting to understand, he nodded. If the potion does stuff if he drinks them, he should stay away from them. 

“Donnie!” Raph smiles when he realizes that he is Donnie. Suddenly, the tot stood up and walked to Donnie, wrapping his small arms around him in a hug. 

Donnie raised both of his eyebrows in surprise when Raph hugged him. He didn’t expect that, or Raph to say something. Though, he was glad Raph recognizes him now and seems to be okay.

“Yep, I’m Donnie.” He smiled back and returned the hug.

During the hug, they both heard a meow. Donnie lifted his head and looked over to see Meatloaf. She was still sitting by the table, probably been there the entire time. The cat was also looking at Raph curiously and possibly confused by... this whole situation.

Raph also looked over when he heard the meow. His face lit up and gasped in awe. When the turtles were tots, they rarely went topside. They mostly saw animals in books, on tv, or in drawings. So right now, this is Raph’s first time seeing an animal up close.

“Kitty?” Raph looked up at Donnie, pointing at Meatloaf. 

Donnie looked back at Raph and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s Meatloaf. Wanna pet her?” 

When Donnie asked that, Raph’s tail wagged and nodded. He let go of Donnie and walked over to the cat. Meatloaf cautiously sniffed Raph before recognizing it’s him. She then let Raph pet her, which was a bit rough compared to how Raph used to pet her. Raph is usually gentle due to being big and strong, and the oldest. But when he was a tot, he wasn’t as gentle.

Donnie noticed this and gently made Raph stop.

“Hey, not like that, bud. That’s too rough. Try to be a little gentle, like this.” Donnie showed Raph by gently petting Meatloaf. Raph watches Donnie pet Meatloaf and tries again, being more gentle this time. Meatloaf relaxed as the petting got gentler. “There you go, good job.”

Raph chirped, happy that he got to meet a cat. She was soft and bigger than him. He also copied some cat noises, like meows, which Donnie found funny.

The two continued to hangout until morning. Donnie couldn’t sleep because Raph suddenly wasn’t tired at all, being a nocturnal turtle, and no one else was up to watch over him. Soon, he will have to find a way to bring Raph back. For now, they’ll have to take care of a toddler version of him. Splinter and their brothers will definitely be surprised when they wake up.