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Chapter Text

     Leo sighed as Raph once again dismissed his concerns. 

     “Oh yeah, sure, let’s go straight into Big Mama’s hotel where literally every employee of her’s knows our faces and try to pretend we’re just waiters. Totally not gonna backfire on us.” the slider muttered angrily as he stalked back to his room. 

     Once inside, he set his sword aside and plopped onto his bed with his hands behind his head. As he lay there stewing in his frustration, the conversation he had with Raph replayed in his mind. 

     “Come on, Raph! You seriously think she’s not going to put two and two together? This is Big Mama we’re talking about!” 

     The elder brother rolled his eyes, “Which is why we’re going in disguise, Leo! It’s not rocket science I’m trying to explain here.”

     Donnie piped up, “And I can concur that Raph indeed cannot explain rocket science.” 

     Leo snorted at his younger twin’s interruption, “Whatever, the point is that Big Mama isn’t going to be fooled by this!”  

     “Don’t worry, little brother.” Raph commented, obviously trying to keep his own cool as he referred to Leo by his birthright, “Everything will be fine.”

     But Leo knew it would not be fine. Not when it came to Big Mama. The second they showed their recognizably handsome faces- or at least, in Leo’s case “handsome”- he knew that the spider lady would be on them like a… Well, a spider to a fly. They were practically handing themselves over with a plan like that. 

     “But do they ever listen to me? NoooOOOOoooo!” He grumbled, kicking his feet as if he were a petulant child. Deciding he was way too mature to keep acting like that, Leonardo flung himself upwards placing a finger to his chin. He furrowed his brow in thought, “I can’t let the guys walk into Big Mama’s hands… Er, claws? Whatever. There must be something…”

     “In other news, reports from locals have stated that disturbances in the area are due to a bull cryptid.”

     “Huh?” The sound of the news brought Leo out of his thoughts. Curious, the turtle stood up and made his way to the projector room. Leaning against the entryway, he watched the reporter lady try to interview a… Particularly weird looking wizard man. 

     “I saw it! I saw the cryptid! He was large and kept falling over my trash can! He wants the secrets I possess. But he shall not-!”

     The reporter shoved the man away from the camera and turned her attention to a woman holding three babies, “Ma’am, can you tell us what you saw?”

     The mother nodded, “I can do you one better! My husband caught a picture of the thing!” 

     “HA!” Splinter’s sudden laugh made Leo jump, “Oh, this ought to be good.” His dad muttered as he settled further into his recliner.

     On the news, the woman readjusted her babies so she could hold up a polaroid. Sure enough, in the picture there was a blurry image of something large and bull-like creeping around someone’s dumpster in an alley. It was hard to make out but Leo could tell the bull creature was wearing what looked like a shredded red suit. A very familiar looking red suit. 

     Leo gasped, “Bullhop!” 

     “SH!” Splinter tossed a popcorn kernel backwards that hit his son in the face. 

     The reporter turned back to the camera, “ There you have it, folks. Evidence. But is it enough to get the police involved or local paranormal investigators? Only time will tell. Let’s just hope it’s not all bull -crap. This is Angel Laird reporting for Channel 6 News. Back to you, Sid.”

     A light bulb flickered and went off. Leo reached above his head to screw in the loose light bulb so it stayed on. Raising an eyebrow in thought, the bluecladed turtle hummed to himself, “Police or paranormal investigators huh? Or how about… A few mutant turtles?”

     Over the course of the next few days as reports kept coming in about a mysterious bull creature wrecking alleyways and cars, Leo was able to convince his brothers that it was their fault the poor Jerry-Lewis-looking bellhop was now fumbling around New York like he was in a China shop. Was it really their fault? Well, yes, but that was beside the point. 

     Luckily, Raph had listened to Leo this time and agreed to let the Mad Dogs round up the poor guy. Which Leo knew he would do. He also knew that eventually the clumsy bull would get on everyone’s nerves which resulted in Dr. Delicate Touch giving the eviction notice. Cue the faceman in blue to “accidentally” spill the beans on sneaking in dressed as waiters in order to get Big Mama’s goo. 

     Did he know that Bullhop would be crazy enough to want to redeem himself by going solo on that mission? Yes. Did he also know that everything would turn out fine in the end and his brothers would be safer than they would have been in the first place? Also yes. Did he know that in the end, Bullhop would decide to follow his passion for dance and accept his fate as a clumsy mutated bull?

     …. Okay, THAT was a surprise. So was Big Mama falling for said bull.

     But yay! Mission successful! High-fives all around!

     That night, Leo went to bed with a smug grin on his face. He totally did not pat himself on the back once he was alone in his jammie-jams. 

     For a brief moment, Leo thought, “Man, why wasn’t I made leader?” But he quickly dismissed that thought with a shiver. No way he would ever want to be leader! Too much stress and not enough fun. Not to mention what that kind of pressure would do to his face with those worry lines like Raph had on his forehead. Ew, no thanks. 

     As he lay down with his hands behind his head and face mask in place, Leo knew he was perfectly content to be what he was; the Faceman.       

Chapter Text

Hello, dear readers! I have some good news, and I have some bad news. The bad news is this is not another chapter for this fic. The good news is, if you liked this story and are interested in more heartfelt moments and adventures written by yours truly, then what luck! I have a book that’s out! This was a passion project of mine for a few years now and finally it is coming true! Here is the summary:

“Lewis Ottofier does not believe in fate. He doesn’t believe in the gods, and he certainly doesn’t believe in letting a potential payday slip through his fingers. Unfortunately for him, all of his beliefs and morals are put to the test when he and his best friend, Naomi Khat’il are commissioned by King Ethor to retrieve a staff of mythical proportions.
Join Lewis as he tries to charm his new crewmates and embark on a high-seas adventure filled with monsters, obsessive pirates, and his own feelings as he faces his world like never before.”

What do you think? You interested? If so, you can find The Crescent Island by Kaitlyn Holloway on Amazon Kindle, it’s out now!

To be real though, I have been writing fanfics for a good chunk of years now and not only did it bring me joy to write them, it also brought me joy to entertain all of you. I do hope ya’ll check out my book and know it was such a blast to write it and hope it brings as much joy to you as it did to me.
And if you’re interested in seeing artwork for it and other updates on projects I’m working on, go ahead and give a follow on my Instagram @k_zittles

With Love,
K-Zittles