Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"When I say 'Girls,' you say 'Night!' Girls!"

"Night!"

"Girls!"

"Night!"

April whooped and slung her arm over Sunita's shoulder. They cheered as Cassandra flipped and brandished her staff with another fervent cry of 'Girls Night!'

"So what does one do on this 'Girl's Night?'" Cassandra asked as she fell into step with the other two girls, raising a skeptical brow.

"Oh, you know, like, cool stuff," April shrugged as she led them around the corner and toward the lair's garage.

"Specifically tonight," Sunita said with shining eyes, "we have tickets fooooor 'RABID 'COON'S RALLYYYYY!'"

Cassandra and April oohed and stared at the tickets with stars in their eyes as Sunita triumphantly struck a pose and held them in the air.

"This is gonna be so awesome!" April pumped her fists. Cassandra took one of the tickets and brought it unnecessarily close to her narrowed eyes.

"What is this 'rally' and who is this 'Coon?"

"He's a raccoon yokai. He's like, a dude from the outskirts of the Hidden City who does races and stuff," April said.

"And tonight just so happens to be his bi-monthly all-out brawl at the DOOM DOME!" Sunita shook her fists, trembling as if holding in a scream. "Fifty drivers! One pit! No one exits until EVERYTHING is DESTROYED!"

April smiled as Sunita's eyes burned with flame, and sparkles surrounded Cassandra's wide eyes. She looked at the ticket in her hand with new reverence.

"We thought you'd like it."

"I am MOST GRATEFUL FOR YOUR INVITE!" Cassandra yelled, offering them a ninety-degree bow. Standing ramrod straight, she added eagerly, "Are we allowed to participate?"

April rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh, ah, not this time, Casey—"

"Because I will be using the tank tonight."

The girls startled as Splinter seemed to pop out of thin air in front of them.

"Huh, Splints?"

"Master Lou Jitsu!"

"Oh, hello! Pardon the intrusion…"

April crossed her arms as Cassandra bowed, and Sunita became sheepish. April raised a brow at the smiling rat.

"What exactly do you need the tank for, Splints? Aren't you usually glued to your infomercials around this time?"

Splinter jutted a pointer finger into the air, off of which the tank keys dangled on a ring.

"Yes, but tonight is the annual Lou Jitsu film festival in Boston. So I will need the tank to drive there to visit all my adoring fans."Splinter spun the keys in his hand, gave them a toss, and caught them.

"So sorry about your thing, but you can do it the next bi-monthly month."

The girls frowned, grouping together shoulder to shoulder to look down at the dismissive rat.

"Oh, come on, Splints. We don't need it the whole night. We just need a ride there and back!"

"The Hidden City public transport system is notoriously bad," Sunita agreed.

"So we are not participating?" Cassandra said regretfully. "Do none of you hunger for glory?"

"I already did," Splints shrugged, ignoring the other two girls and pointing at a trophy gleaming in a case in front of the garage. A picture of Splinter, Donatello, and Mikey grinning up at the camera with the trophy shoved between their faces was propped against it.

Cassandra oohed and moved to study the words 'NO GUTS, NO GLORY' inscribed under 'DEATH TUBE DEMOLITION DERBY' as April scowled.

"You can just drop us off!"

"It takes three hours to drive there!" Splinter insisted.

"It's only four o'clock! What time does it start?!"

"Nine."

"Then you can spare twenty minutes to take us to the rally!"

Splinter and April butted heads, lightning shooting between them as they squared up.

"Parking goes quickly! I need to be early!"

"Parking a bit away won't hurt you! You can just walk!"

"I always forget something in the car! I need it to be close by!"

"What are you forgetting?! You don't even have anything to bring!"

"But what about my lip balm and mints?!" Splinter shook the can of breath mints in April's face. She slapped them away and poked him in the chest with a finger.

"You don't need them! Give me the keys!"

April reached for the tank keys and Splinter slapped her hand away.

"No!"

"Give them to me!"

"I need good parking!"

"Splints!"

April struggled to reach for the keys, pushing Splinter's head down as her fingers grasped at the keys dangling from his tail. He flipped, and both jumped back, landing in fighting poses. April swung a fist. Splinter ducked, falling into a kick to establish some distance between them.

He rolled back and smirked at her, moving to open the garage door. April looked up and smiled, opening her fist to reveal the silver keys in her palm. Splinter's smile dropped as he launched at her.

"COMBAT!"

"Go, April!"

Their onlookers cheered, drawing the attention of Donnie, who was on the other side of the open garage door.

Donnie slid out from underneath the tank and raised a brow at the scuffle outside his garage. He accepted a clean rag from S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and toweled off the oil and grease on his hands as he got the jist of why his family was arguing this time.

Yet another pointless argument, it would seem.

Shaking his head, he walked forward, unnoticed by the members of the chaotic scene.

"You cannot have them! You are years away from defeating me, April. Give up!"

"Uh-huh? Heard that before. Just try and stop me, Splints!"

Both combatants eyed the keys, which had dramatically slid to the middle of the battlefield, an exact distance between them. Their narrowed eyes slid back and forth to each other and the keys, watching for the slightest movement.

Splinter's tail twitched. April's eyes widened.

They threw themselves forward, yelling battle cries. Arms reaching forward, they—

"Right, then," Donnie said.

—crashed into a pile as S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. flew in and whisked away the keys.

Splinter and April scrambled to get upright, shoving each other away, and looked up at Donnie, who claimed the keys from S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. with a fond pat on the drone's head. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. leaned into the attention and blew April a raspberry.

She rolled her eyes. The drone would never forgive her for forgetting to change his dang coolant on her first Girl's Night with Sunita. She'd never live it down.

Donnie handed the keys to one of his robot arms and put his hands on his hips. Their eyes followed the keys as the robot arm stored them in Donnie's shell.

"Donnie, we need the tank for—!"

"Purple, I need to borrow—!"

"Neither of you are using my baby," Donnie said coolly, "She's in maintenance. Which you all would already know if you checked her schedule."

Donnie stuck a thumb at the calendar haphazardly hung by the garage door, full of purple, red, orange, and blue sticky notes and propped up by no less than five thumbtacks. Across the entirety of this week, the word 'MAINTENANCE' had very obviously been written in Donnie's handwriting in bold purple ink.

"She's a very busy lady!" S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. said with a proud lift of his chin, earning another fond pet behind the ears from his creator, which he happily nuzzled into.

Their heads swiveled back to the purple turtle as he turned around, robot arms withdrawing, and began walking back to the tank.

"I would add that you wouldn't even need to have any variation of this argument if you all would just use the schedule properly! " he called over his shoulder as the garage door slowly descended behind him.

"So, should we just take a bus?" Sunita sighed as she slumped over the kitchen counter with her head in her hands. April paced the floor, glaring at her phone.

"Is it that far from the nearest portal? We cannot just walk?" Cassandra asked.

"The Death Dome is a franchise owned by Big Mama. The one we're going to is outskirts outskirts, she revamped some abandoned, old castle, so it'd take us at least three hours to walk. It starts in two. By the time we get there, the rally will be over!"

"Aha!"

Sunita and Cassandra turned their heads to April, who held up her phone triumphantly."Donnie keeps the spare keys in his lab closet!"

Sunita tilted her head and exchanged a puzzled look with Cassandra."How do you know that?"

"Mikey," April said, wiggling the phone at them.

[Hey Mikey 💚😘]

[think the tank keys got lost]

[do u know where D's spares are??? 🧐🔎👀]

[Sure! theyre in his closet! 😃😘🥰]

[Have a fun trip! 🧡🧡🧡]

April's smile turned mischievous."Now, who's ready for a Girl's Night heist?"

Identical grins, vicious and manic, tore across all three girls' faces. As they donned Cassandra's black ninja masks and slipped into the shadows, it was very clear how these three had become friends.

[You know it! ;) Girl's Night!!!]

April peeked into the lab and squinted her eyes. She made eye contact with Sunita, who stood on the other side of the doorway and nodded.

Sunita signaled, and Cassandra swooped inside, landing silently in a battle pose. She looked left and right and sheathed her dagger, giving the all-clear behind her back. She kept watch as Sunita and April crept into the lap, carefully stepping between tables filled with glass beakers, blueprints, wrenches, and various tools and parts. Sunita took a picture of a weird blob floating in a suspiciously glowing liquid with her phone before April caught her attention, gesturing to a door.

The three girls slunk in front of the lab closet door.

"It's password protected," Cassandra cursed.

"I got it," April said, reaching into his pocket and taking out her wallet. She took something out and fiddled with the door.

"The purple turtle tells you his passwords?" Cassandra asked.

"Nah," April smiled as the door clicked open, "just not my first time breaking in."

The girls ducked inside. Cassandra peered out at the darkness of the lab as she stepped into the closet, glaring at the cameras on the ceiling.

"This entire place is bugged," she whispered harshly as she closed the door behind them.

"Of course, it is. It's Donnie. He records everything," April rolled her eyes, "As long as he doesn't find out until after I get something to make it up to him, we'll be fine. Now, where are those keys?"

"Looking for these?"

Three heads whipped around. They instinctively fell into battle stances, looking upward at the shadowed figure hanging from a shelf. Splinter crouched above them, dressed head to toe in black, his own mask covering his face. Silver keys dangled from his fingertips.

"Amateurs. Professionals wouldn't be seen by cameras. But thanks for taking the fall for me."He jumped and grabbed onto the edge of an open vent. April cursed as he started scrambling into it.

"Dang ninja rat! Give us those keys!"

"You'll never take me alive!" Splinter said.

"Grab his feet!" April said.

Sunita's left shoulder hit the shelf behind her as a quiet scuffle broke out. She cursed as items rocked side to side from the impact of her body and lunged to grab them before they fell.

Cassandra tried to deck Splinter across the face only to receive a tail whip to her side, followed by a kick to her midsection that launched her back. She crashed into the door with a grunt, thankfully missing another shelf, and threw herself right back in to help April pin the rat down.

He was a slippery beast. They struggled to pin him as Splinter kept shooting for the vent, throwing kicks and punches with precision and force. Meanwhile, Sunita scrambled around the room on her hands and knees, trying to keep glass vials from breaking and falling boxes from making any noise.

"You're all going to get us caught!" She tried to tell them as loudly as she dared.

"TASTE MY VENGEANCE!" Cassandra yelled.

"Cassandra!" Sunita hissed, diving forward to save another vial full of a dark blue sparkly liquid. She quickly shoved the items in her hand onto the shelf and was moving to drag April and Cassandra away when the door clicked open.

They all froze—all except Sunita, who was mid-step and full of adrenaline. Instinctively, she threw whatever was in her hands at the opening door, the vial of the strange blue liquid. Time slowed as they watched it rotate midair.

Sunita made eye contact with the person in the doorway. Her eyes widened in horror, recognizing Leo's confused gaze.

"Hey, guys—?" Leo was saying.

April turned pale as a sheet, watching the vial spin through the air. Cassandra and Splinter looked up from the ground where they had been wrestling in stunned realization. The vial spun and spun—

"—what ar—?"

—and shattered on impact to Leo's face. The blue turtle blinked, stunned. Then, unceremoniously, he fainted.

"Oh my god!" April shouted. All at once, the room bowled forward to be the first to reach the downed turtle. They crouched over his unconscious form, staring at the glass and spilled blue liquid with terrified eyes.

"He's bleeding," Sunita said.

"Of course, he's bleeding! Look at all this glass! What if it cut his eyes?!" April reached toward Leo and thought twice, looking at the blue liquid. "What even is this stuff? His mouth was open, and he has cuts. There's no way it didn't get into him! What do we do?!"

"Chemical shower! Chemical shower!" Sunita urged, whipping her head back and forth. "We learned this in chemistry. Does Donnie have lab safety stuff?"

"In the corner! I got a towel!" Splinter said, squeezing between them, "Let's drag him over to it."

Between the four of them, it was quick work to drag Leo's unconscious body across the floor and stick him under the shower head, which promptly unloaded an absurd amount of water on top of him.

"He's going to drown!" Cassandra cursed.

"Don't just let him lie there! Stand him up!" Sunita said.

"Why isn't he waking up?! Do you think he has a concussion?! What do we do?!" Splinter asked.

"Stop shaking him, first of all!" April hissed.

Once the chemicals were all rinsed off Leo, the group hurried to treat his cuts and wrap him in towels. They circled around Leo's passed-out form and googled what to do.

"They don't have anything for something this specific!" April angrily waved off Splinter's reaching hands from her phone, "And I can't tell what the label says. It's written in Sharpie and the vial's all broken!"

"Should we call an ambulance?! Find a doctor?!" Splinter panicked, hands hovering over his son.

"Splints! He's a turtle, and you're a rat!"

"Should we call a vet then?!"

"We can find a Yokai doctor?" Cassandra said.

"Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh, I can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry!" Sunita said, staring at Leo and repeatedly checking for his pulse despite his visible breathing. Besides a cut on his cheek and the fact that he was asleep, Leo seemed fine.

As the group continued to panic, they failed to notice Leo's frown.

Mystic energy pulsed around the turtle, turning the air cold. A faint blue glow began to shine around Leo's form, unnoticeable under the piles of towels they had put him under. It began to take noticeable effect as it encompassed the turtle's body.

Leo started to shrink.

"That's it!" Splinter said, "We have to tell Purple!"

"He'll kill us!" April said, "You need to calm down, Splints. Donnie doesn't put anything dangerous anywhere he knows that we'll find it."

"Well, I'm sure Purple didn't expect Blue to get it dumped all over him with his mouth wide open!"

"No, I think that's exactly what Donnie would expect from his brothers," April said.

Sunita looked nervously back and forth between the two arguing ninjas. Feeling anxious, she reached down to take Leo's pulse again, and her hand met nothing. Sunita's breath caught. She moved her hand, and again—nothing. It wasn't that the pulse was gone.

Leo was.

Sunita moved the towels. Her hands started to shake. Her frantic search drew Cassandra's attention. Cassandra's eyes widened at the lack of unconscious mutant turtles on the floor. The two girls made eye contact and immediately began tearing the towels away. Expressions panicked, they looked down at the concrete floor of Donnie's lab, nothing on it but Leo’s sword and mask left behind.

"Guys!" Sunita said.

"O'Neil! Lou Jitsu!" Cassandra hissed.

Splinter and April continued arguing, deaf to their calls. Sunita and Cassandra took April and Splinter by the shoulders, bodily forcing them to meet their eyes.

"He's gone!"

All eyes shot to the flung towels and the space at the center, empty except for Leo's stuff.

The room went silent. Hearts stopped beating. They stared at the empty floor.

" Blue? " Splinter said. His knees gave out with a thud, bringing him to the floor. He began patting the bare space, hoping his son had become invisible and hadn't disintegrated into dust. "Leonardo?!"

Sunita stepped back and tripped over a stool, hitting her back against a nearby desk. Papers fell from the table as she fell onto her butt, staring at the shaking rat calling his son's name.

"Leo?! Leo?!" April joined in, eyes filling with tears as panic gripped her. Her head snapped left and right. Her breathing came fast as she stared into the shadows of Donnie's lab. "Turn on the lights!"

"Ok," Cassandra said solemnly, the calmest out of the group. Her face was blank as she moved across the room and flipped the switch. They all flinched from the bright light, but their eyes remained locked on the space where Leo's body had just been.

Dilated pupils and heavy breathing.

"Leonardo?! Leonardo?!"

A sob was about to force its way out of Splinter when a hand gripped the sleeve of his robe. Splinter whipped his head around, about to scream at whoever touched him when he met doe eyes under red stripes.

A little boy, a blue mask loose around his face, tugged at Splinter's robe with his thumb in his mouth, looking at him curiously.

"What, Dad?"

Leo glanced up and saw three people dressed in black staring at him, masks hiding their faces. He shifted nervously under their stare and stepped closer to his father. He looked up at his dad, a pout on his face, and said timidly:

"It wasn't me. It was Donnie."

Then he blinked and fell forward, lying prone on the floor.

"Omigosh, he's dead!" Splinter yelled.

The entire room screamed, pointing at the boy and grabbing their heads.

"Wait, wait, stop. My bad," Splinter said, sighing in relief as he moved the boy and saw his tiny snoring face, "He is just sleeping."

April's hands dropped from her head. She looked at the trash can where they had discarded the remains of the blue liquid's vial. The blue liquid.

"I just wanted to change its color! I swear it worked just fine before that. It just wasn't blue."

Donnie's accidental de-aging potion. April stared at Leo's child self, sleeping on the floor.

"I guess five-year-old Leo hadn't developed insomnia yet," April mumbled.

Splinter met her eyes and nodded with a slight uptick to his lips, something like nostalgia in his eyes.

"And it is nap time."

Chapter Text

"What do we do? We can't let Donnie find out we were in here."

April and Splinter were mirrors of each other as they paced across the floor. Cassandra watched them about-face in sync and moved her gaze to Sunita, who was cooing and taking pictures of the conked-out blue turtle child. Her eyes slipped back to the pacing pair with a raised brow.

"Should we not tell the purple one what has transpired?"

"Of course not!" They yelled, gazing at her as if she was insane.

"Would he not be the most informed source for what to do now?" She said slowly to the worked-up individuals.

"Yeah, him or Blue or the drone, who would tell on us anyway! None of them are options! We cannot let Purple know about this. He is a monster! I will have to sit through the educational channels for a month at minimum! And we don't even know what he will do to all of you!" He pointed at them wildly and then sat down heavily before Leo's small, sleeping form. Splinter's glaring eyes softened, watching the tot's chest rise and fall. He shook his head and pointed at them sternly. "You should be scared too!"

April crossed her arms.

"It's a mystic potion that's affected Donnie before. I'm pretty sure it has no side effects, and he'll change back after one to two days."

"Well, that's good then," Sunita said, "No one will notice he's gone for only one day, right? We can just come up with an excuse!"

"...maybe." April took out her phone and started tapping at it.

"What are you looking at?" Sunita asked.

April furrowed her brows and swiped rapidly on her phone, searching.

"Donnie's calendar," she said, " He posted the link to our chat so we wouldn't interrupt his experiment periods or whatevs. Here we go…"

April's voice trailed off. They waited patiently for a few moments before Splinter asked:

"Well?"

April moved her eyes from her phone to them and back to the phone.

"...what day is today?" she asked.

Cassandra raised a brow.

"December 17th."

"17th," April repeated.

"Yes."

"You sure?"

Of course, she was. Cassandra didn't let it bother her. The Hamato clan seemed prone to emotional outbursts. Slow processing skills were probably another side effect of not being evil.

"Yes."

"…Happy National Twins Day's Eve," April said distantly.

Splinter let his head fall forward.

"Of course, it would be," he sighed, “Hide the evidence. I know who we can go to.”

The girls quickly swept the glass away and cleared the floor. Sunita frowned at Leo’s odachi and mask on the floor. Unsure what to do with them, she wrapped the sword in the towel they had gotten and stowed it all under a cabinet in Donnie’s lab then gave the others a thumbs up.

15 minutes later...

April, Sunita, Cassandra, and Splinter stood in the elevator of a New York apartment building. Leo was wrapped in a blanket and strapped to Splinter's back like a backpack. Said rat glared grumpily at his feet, him and April both visibly displeased, as the Sunita and Cassandra hummed along to the elevator music.

"Maybe he'll believe that Leo just forgot?" Sunita asked, genuinely curious why the Splinter and April seemed so concerned.

"Blue? Forget about National Twin Day? Pssh-aaah!" Splinter scoffed, shifting the weight on his back and looking sulkily at his vague reflection in the elevator wall.

April sighed."Those two get up to all sorts of nonsense from dawn to dusk on National Twin Day every year. Leo spends all day trying to convince Donnie they're twins, and Donnie spends all day pretending he doesn't enjoy spending time with Leo."

The elevator reached their floor with a polite ding, opening its doors for them to leave. They filed out into the hallway as April continued.

"If Leo's not breaking his door down when he wakes up, Donnie's gonna know something's up immediately. Which is why—"

The girls stopped before a door with Splinter safely holding Leo behind them. Together, the girls lifted their feet and kicked the door open.

"BARRY!" April called.

"SHHHHHHH!!!"Splinter smacked their backs, looking over his shoulder in alarm at Leo, who had begun to squirm at the noise."Shhhh! Shh! Shh!" Splinter hissed.

They all tensed, looking at the distressed baby on Splinter's back. After a couple seconds, Leo's expression smoothed, and their shoulders relaxed.

"O'Neil! Why must you and your 'friends—?!'"

The girls slammed their hands over Draxum's mouth as he entered their view, harshly shushing him. Glaring at him to remain silent, they carefully removed their hands. 

Draxum crossed his arms.

"What is it?" he whispered harshly, "Why are you shushing me in my own place of residence?"

A soft cry drew all eyes back to the tot on Splinter's back.

Leo teared up at all the big, weird-looking strangers and the unfamiliar surroundings. One of them took a hesitant step forward, and he started to cry—afraid.

"Dad! Daddy!"

"Shh, Blue. It is okay. Daddy is here."

April, Sunita, and Cassandra looked disapprovingly at Draxum as Splinter comforted the tired, grumpy toddler.

"Is that—?"

"It's Leo." 

April frowned as Draxum looked at her suspiciously."And you came to me and not the purple one because…?"

April smiled sheepishly."Because he can't find out."

Draxum released a heavy sigh, head pounding along with the child's cries.

"I despise this family."

"—fascinating. Is it an art unique to your clan?" Cassandra watched Draxum stir his witch-esque cauldron curiously, looking at the runes drawn beneath his feet with some familiarity but mostly curiosity.

Draxum huffed and then chuckled.

"I got my title of baron from my achievements, not my lineage. You pick up a thing or two as a warring warrior scientist."

"Parenting skills aren't one of them," Splinter drawled, watching Leo tug on the yokai's shirt while the yokai persistently ignored him.

"Would one of you please get this child away from me?" Draxum said, "This ritual is very delicate. The measurements have to be extremely precise—"

"You don't need to tell me why you're an awful parent," Splinter said, "I already know. Come here, Blue."

Draxum glared at the lazily reclined rat.

Leo glanced between his dad and the fascinating man who wasn't human but wasn't a turtle or a rat, like his dad. It was so weird seeing someone else like himself. The goat man looked so funny.

The goat man looked down at him again, and Leo beamed. The goat man flinched and almost dropped the beaker, cursing and burning himself on the pot he was stirring instead.

Leo giggled as the goat man shook the pain from his hand.

"Why are your ears so different? I don't have ears," Leo said.

"You do have ears," Draxum gritted out, forcing himself to stand straight as the only useful one of O'Neil's friends—the ex-cultist—gave him a bowl of water to put his hand in. "They are just internal, while ours are external. I am a bovidae yokai."

Leo tilted his head.

"What's that mean?"

"Bovidae or yok—?'

"You use big words like Donnie. Do you know Donnie?"

"I am aware—"

"Donnie's my twin brother. His favorite color is purple, and guess what?"

"No."

"Yesterday, Donnie was playing with his blocks, and I accidentally knocked them over."

"...You are not actually—"

"Then—and then, listen. Then Raph, do you know Raph?"

"Please, I do not—"

"You know Raph, right? He's my biggest bro, and Mikey's our baby bro because he's little. Did you know I have three brothers and a dad?"

Draxum narrowed his eyes, seeing if the tot would interrupt him again. Leo only blinked and waited for his reply.

"...well, I know—"

"And do you know my favorite show?" Leo asked. Draxum groaned.

"I do not care—!"

"I like Jupiter Jim. I watched all the movies and all the shows, but I—I still am reading the comic books. It's hard."

"It is not hard. You have just not developed to that level yet."

Leo pouted angrily.

"It is hard!" he insisted, "Even though I'm a big boy! Even big boys have stuff that is diff-e-cut too."

"’Difficult," Draxum corrected him, "Referring to yourself as a 'big boy' is a term only used by children; therefore, you have proved my—"

"You're dumb!" Leo shouted with tears in his eyes.

Draxum's brows furrowed, frustrated.

"I am not dumb! I am Baron Draxum—!" Draxum's eyes went to Splinter's scowling face. He took a deep breath, reminding himself of the random hallmark card nonsense Mikey constantly spouted around him. "I am sure you find it hard to understand—"

"Stop talking like that!" Leo shouted, "I'm not dumb! You're dumb!"

"I didn't say—"

"Barry, stop arguing with him. He's a kid."

Draxum looked at April, gesturing at the repulsive tiny lifeform in front of him, who was obviously at fault.

"Me?! He's the one—ELP!"

Draxum's face turned an alarming shade of pink as Leo bit down on the hand waving in his face.

"ARGGGGH!"

The sheep yokai rammed his shoulder into the shelf behind him, where a vase slid off and broke on his head, some of the shards falling into the cauldron. The brew in the cauldron flashed and changed color. Now disoriented and still in pain, Draxum knocked into the cauldron beside him. It wobbled dangerously, drawing the eyes of all the room's inhabitants.

"Barry, stop flailing around!" April yelled.

"Watch out!" Sunita yelled.

Sunita hopped onto the couch as Draxum tried to steady himself with the shelf, Leo still chomping down on his hand. With a wild shake of Draxum's hand, Sunita watched as Leo lost his hold on the sheep and was tossed back into the air—

"Blue!" Splinter shouted.

—and into the cauldron.

"OMIGOSH!" Sunita exclaimed.

"Turtle stew," Cassandra muttered under her breath. Sunita shot her a glare as the rest of the room panicked. "I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"BARRY! GET HIM OUT!" April yelled. She and Splinter grabbed Draxum's clothes, tugging urgently on them.

"I would already have him out if you both stopped clinging to me!" Draxum said.

"Just take him out, dude! He's boiling, he's burning!" Splinter wailed, refusing to stop pulling on Draxum's clothes as he cried.

Draxum stuck the large fishing net (that he kept in his apartment, evidently) into the murky, purple liquid and swirled it around, muttering strong curses.

"Aha!" Draxum whipped the net out and over his head. Something green was in it, but it was much too small to be the child who had fallen in. The room became quiet as the net was plopped onto the countertop, and they all stared at Barry's catch.

Said catch—a tiny baby turtle, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand—stuck his head out of his shell. He looked up at them, eyes wide and curious, and then sneezed.

April slumped over, muttering 'no's' as she curled in on herself. Splinter groaned and covered his face with his hands. Cassandra pulled herself a chair and poked at the small creature with cautious interest. Sunita leaned over her shoulder and snapped a photo with her phone. Draxum massaged his forehead as Leo began giggling at Cassandra's pokes.

"It's like whatever I do… is just a joke to the forces that be," he sighed.

"On the bright side," Sunita mused, "He seems completely unharmed! Not a burn on the little guy. And look how cute he is, ohohoho, yes, you are. You are so cute, yes!"

A pleased little cry came from the tiny red slider on the counter as if to say, 'Yes, I am!' Leo flipped himself over and wiggled his limbs, trying to catch Cassandra's finger in his tiny hands so he could stick it in his mouth. Cassandra narrowed her eyes at the baby's actions. She gave him another darting poke, drawing her hand away as Leo burst into giggles, rocking helplessly side to side.

Sunita's finger rapidly tapped on her phone, furiously taking pictures as she moved around the table, stepping over April and Splinter's bodies like they weren't even there.

"So cute! So very cute~" she cooed.

"An infant." Cassandra narrowed her eyes, rolling the word over her tongue like she was identifying a foreign substance. Leo's eyes were drawn away from watching Sunita's antics to meet her eyes. He tilted his head curiously and then beamed. Cassandra blinked. She coughed into her fist, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her arms. She nodded to herself as she made her decision. "I would like several."

"Yeah? You want to be a mom one day?" Sunita asked as she cooed over Leo and tried to get him to crawl into her hands. Cassandra looked thoughtfully at the chirping baby and nodded to herself. She nodded again with more confidence and planted her foot on the table, raising a fist into the air.

"I will raise them into fine WARRIORS! They shall inherit my clan and RULE THE WORLD!"

"Every parent wants their child to have the world," Sunita hummed agreeably as Leo gave a tiny war cry and batted at her hands. "What do you think, April? Do you want kids?"

Sunita glanced under the table to look at her friend. April's head turned to Sunita, showing off her whited-out eyes and her open mouth, emitting what suspiciously looked like her soul leaving her body.

"The earth shall KNEEL before them! WORSHIPPING THEIR—!" Cassandra was shouting.

"Hmm, you look a little pale… both of you," Sunita said.

She gave Splinter a tiny poke, but the rat kept muttering to himself. Sunita caught the words 'silly clock exercises' and 'never going to see the ice tray lady again' before Draxum sighed and pulled her away.

"Leave them. They shall revive themselves in a moment. For now, we need to decide what to do next."

"—and only then! They will learn to FEAR OUR—!" Cassandra roared.

Sunita frowned. She glanced at where Cassandra seemed to be keeping Leo properly entertained—balanced precariously on a leaned chair, weapon held over her head, while the turtle hatchling watched from his place on the table with sparkly eyes—and nodded in agreement. Sunita interlocked her fingers and gripped them tightly, worry and guilt settling in now that her initial delight had faded.

"Can you turn him back?" she asked.

"I can," Draxum said.

"That's great—!"

Draxum held up a hand before her hope could rise too much, shaking his head.

"But I used up the necessary ingredients in that last batch."

Sunita dropped her hands, one to her hip and the other to tap on her chin."And I'm guessing it won't be so easy to get more?"

"—FEAST ON GLORY! UNTIL THERE—!" Cassandra roared.

"Correct."

"Oh, googlyschmootz," she cursed softly, casting a look at baby Leo, who had taken to clapping in delight, watching Cassandra walk around on her hands, still ranting. "What are our options?"

"—like this! AND THIS! None shall SUR—!" Cassandra continued.

"Either we embark on a quest through the wretched wastes on the outskirts of the Hidden City, making our way through the poisonous swamplands of Abbadon—" Draxum said.

Sunita nodded along, taking notes on a notepad with her tongue stuck out in concentration.

"—TASTE the sweet nectar of our VICTORY!" Cassandra roared.

"—toward the resplendent fields of Henry's lilies—" Draxum said.

"Oh, that doesn't sound too bad," Sunita said.

"—the treasures of the earth LAID BEFORE—!" Cassandra continued.

"—to the lava falls of judgment, climb up the deathly cold mountains of the Midnight Mare, scale the cliffs of Calamity—" Draxum said.

Cassandra jumped on the table, planted her foot on the top of a chair she had put on the countertop, and raised her hands, upon which Leo sat with gleaming eyes.

"—TO CERTAIN DOOM!" Cassandra said, accidentally finishing Draxum’s sentence.

Leo lifted his arms and yelled as Cassandra erupted into full-body cackles, holding the turtle aloft all the while.

"Yes, to ‘certain doom.’ That sums it up," Draxum shrugged, turning his attention off the duo and back to Sunita.

Sunita looked dubiously down at her doodled map. Notes saying 'sunscreen???' and 'ask mom for allergy medicine' and a poorly drawn doodle of baby Leo playing peekaboo under a flower annotated its margins. She added a couple hearts around the image of baby Leo and then glanced up at Draxum, who was waiting patiently for her to finish her notes.

"Uh…huh…" she said, frowning at her notepad, "and how long would it take us to do all that?"

"Hmm," Draxum crossed his arms and looked thoughtfully at the floor, "I'd say… at least two hours."

April shot up from beneath the table and slammed her hands down on the counter, startling Draxum, Cassandra, Sunita, and Leo, who all leaned away from her crazed eyes.

"We don't have that kind of time!" April hissed.

"April is right!" Splinter jumped onto the countertop and started pacing. Cassandra obediently hopped down from the table with Leo and her chair to allow him space. April hopped up to pace as well.

The four individuals left on the side tracked their movement back and forth, heads turning in sync. "It has already been an hour! Forget about good parking! If we do not figure this out soon, I will miss the entire event, and Purple will have all our heads!"

"I can't last a day without my phone! And if Mom finds out about this—which she will because Donnie's a snitch, and he'll find a way to tattle on me anonymously—I am so grounded! For life!" April groaned.

Left and right, left and right… Baby Leo put his hands over his eyes and made a little whine, dizzy.

"Can't you just order what you need online, Barry?!"

Draxum leaned away from April's pointed finger and coughed into his fist.

"I could, but normal delivery will take at least three days."

"What? Do they not have the same-day delivery options?" Splinter asked. Draxum scoffed.

"Sure, if you want to pay the prime membership fee. I live off a lunch lady's salary."

April and Splinter rolled back on their heels and crossed their arms, raising their brows in tandem.

"You need a membership to get same-day delivery?"

"For real?" April added.

"No, but it's either $9.99 monthly or $20 now for a single package."

"Man, that's highway robbery. For what? What do you even need?"

"About five grams of a mystic herb. The delivery would cost more than the item itself. It's criminal."

Everyone in the room murmured discontent. Even baby Leo made a face. Cassandra was the exception, muttering, 'Great idea,' clicking a pen and making a quick note to herself.

April surmised, "So it's either we cough up the money or nearly get ourselves iced for five grams of magic lavender."

"Well, there's one more option."

"And I'm not going to like it," April guessed.

"The purple one has some of what I require stocked."

Splinter plopped down to sit on the table and groaned, patting his tired knees.

"Oh, I don't like this option either. Why are all your options so baloney, dude?" Splinter huffed.

"Great. Just fantastic. All we need to do is grab whatever Barry needs right under Donnie's nose, without him finding out. Get the tank, drop us off at the arena, Splinter goes to his event, Leo and Donnie wake up none the wiser in the morning and do their weird stuff, and boom! Everyone's happy!" April's eye twitched a little.

Leo clapped joyfully and made grabby hands. Cassandra lifted him above her head and cooed.

"Someone's taking pain in another's suffering! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!" Cassandra bounced the baby in her hands as they began trudging out of Draxum's apartment. "Isn't the angry lady's face funny? Yes, it is. I know!"

They stopped, waiting for Draxum to lock his door, and Cassandra turned to Sunita."Am I doing this right?"

Sunita tilted her head, looking between the ex-Foot clan recruit and the de-aged ninja turtle in her palms. "What? Baby talk? I think so."

"Hmm. Good. Gaining proficiency now will be beneficial to me in the future." Leo nodded in agreement with Cassandra's words. However, it was anyone's guess if he understood what they were saying or was pretending to be part of their discussion. "Are you also training for motherhood?"

"Me?" Sunita's face scrunched at the thought as they filed into the elevator. Leo bounced up and down to the elevator music, seeming content to amuse himself as they chatted. "Well, I like kids, but I've always been more of the go-getter type. I need to spend more time on myself before I even consider having one. You know? Even then, I'm not sure I want to be a mother."

"A worthy aim regardless," Cassandra nodded approvingly.

Sunita clapped her hands and turned to the other with sparkling eyes.

"I think you'd be a great mother, though!"

Cassandra's face revealed a bit of insecurity as she glanced at the little life cupped in her hands and returned Sunita's smile unsurely.

"You think so?"

"Uh, totally! You'd be the best mom, Cassandra! You're so dedicated and passionate about everything and intent, y'know? You'd teach your kid self-confidence and determination—I bet they'd be the absolute sweetest!"

"Wah!" Leo cried out as if agreeing, patting Cassandra's hand as if to support her.

Cassandra cleared her throat, the slightest blush on her face as she smirked.

"My friends call me Casey."

The back of Draxum's head thumped against the elevator wall as the girls continued their incessant chatter, and O'Neil and Lou Jitsu got lost in their own dark delusions. The faster they turned the blue one back into a teenager, the quicker he could get away from these brain-numbing fools and their revolting, tooth-rotting conversations. Draxum could hardly wait.

Chapter Text

"Mikey, have you seen Leo?"

Mikey lowered the volume on his speaker and turned away from the mixing bowl to smile at his older brother.

"Nope, he hasn't been in here! Why are you looking for him?"

Donnie shrugged and moved away from the doorway he was leaning against. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. zoomed inside and did a flip above their heads to Mikey's amusement and Donnie's mild rebuke. The drone rolled his eyes and moved to peer over Mikey's shoulder. Donnie sighed in exasperation.

"Nothing much. Just had a question for him."

"What are you making, turtle dude?"

Donnie and Mikey turned their attention back to the drone, watching him zip around the kitchen, scanning the ingredients and tools the orange turtle had out.

"Tomorrow's National Twin Day! So, as tradition calls for~"

Donnie shook his head.

"Leo's favorite! Ta-da!" Mikey said, slipping over the recipe book for S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. to see.

"Pizza," the drone said, unimpressed.

"Leo's favorite pizza," the orange turtle corrected with a bop of the drone's snout. Mikey laughed, watching the drone and scientist pair roll their eyes in perfect sync.

"You never cook my favorite for National Twins Day," Donnie scoffed.

"Because you're on the losing side," Mikey replied in a sing-song, turning his back on the duo to sprinkle flour on the countertop.

"Au contraire, brother. I have yet to 'lose,' and all indications this year point—yet again!—to my victory," Donnie said as he headed out of the room.

"Uh-huh," Mikey gave the drone a small wave but didn't turn around to see his brother off, instead calling over his shoulder: "Tell Leo I'm making his favorite when you find him!"

Mikey returned to jamming to his tunes, kneading the pizza dough in time to the beat, and humming along pleasantly. He reached for more flour, and his hand met air.

"Hmm?"

The space next to the sink was bare. Mikey's head turned left and right. No sign of his bag of flour. But he was sure he had placed it right here…

Mikey's brows furrowed. He walked over to the sink and washed his hands, looking around with a frown. He had another bag, but he'd prefer not to open it while he still had a half-empty one lying somewhere. A tiny noise turned his head to a cupboard across the kitchen island. It swung the barest bit open, allowing a peek of the darkness inside.

He had probably just moved the flour and forgotten about it, but... Mikey dried his hands, eyes still watching the open cupboard warily.

Mikey had that weird feeling in his gut, telling him something was watching him.

He put his hand over his gut and bit his bottom lip, glancing nervously around for the flour again. The dough was still on the countertop, the vegetables were still on the cutting board, his knives… Four, five of them—he had them all.

Mikey looked at the open cupboard again and moved around the island, beginning to crouch.

"—'s on to us—"

"—uiet! He won't—if you just—"

Mikey frowned, straining his ears. He swore he could hear whispering. The whispering of multiple voices. He looked around again and wished Donnie hadn't left.

"—hhh! Shhh—!"

Shushing?! He just heard shushing. Should he open it? The ghosts didn't seem to want him there. Maybe he should go grab Raph first.

…but if there was nothing there, he'd have to deal with his brothers' babying and teasing again.

Gulping, Mikey extended a trembling hand toward the cupboard.

The murmurs went silent.

A chill ran down his spine. Cold sweat formed on his forehead. Taking a deep breath, Mikey slammed the cupboards open.

Nothing. Empty.

Mikey's breathing slowed, and he felt his heart melt in relief.

Oh thank—

And then the air vent finally gave out.

Mikey stared down at the pile of bodies at his feet in shock. Draxum, Sunita, Cassandra, April, and Splinter stared back at him from the floor, equally stunned. The orange turtle's gaze silently traveled upward to the small vent that'd barely fit their father on his weird days and back down to the group covered in dust, blinking back at him.

A tiny cough drew Mikey's attention to April's cupped hands. An unhappy whine came from them. A little head popped up, covered with tiny palms. The little head jerked, and hands slapped over the hatchling's mouth, nauseous. Feeling eyes on himself, the hatchling turned to look up at Mikey.

Mikey's jaw dropped when he saw the red stripes over the little turtle's eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment. Then, the hatchling threw up in April's hands. Mikey lurched forward, instinctively cooing low in concern for the miserable hatchling, only for a hand to lock over his mouth and drag him away.

Unceremoniously, Mikey was shoved into their food pantry with little regard for his muffled protests and kicking feet. He was forced back as the group crowded inside with frantic whispers.

"He's coming back!" Someone hissed, and the closet went silent. Mikey struggled to move the hand off his mouth, trying to yell at his family. Splinter gave him a stern look, and Mikey hesitated as Donnie's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Mikey? I heard a—omigosh. How'd the vent—? Mikey?! Where did you go?!"

"Tell him everything is fine," April hissed.

Mikey gave April a flat look and crossed his arms. They broke his kitchen, interrupted his dinner preparations, crammed him in a closet, and—wait.

Mikey narrowed his eyes and tapped at the hand over his mouth. Cautiously, the hand released him. Mikey took a deep, calming breath and then yelled.

"You de-aged my brother?!"

"Shhhhh!"

The hand was slapped back over his mouth. Mikey spat on it and continued to rage—muffled as it was. Barry, the person who was holding him, shuddered at the sensation of Mikey's spit but held firm.

"Michael?" Donnie's voice came from the other side of the door.

Mikey glared at Barry accusingly. He was pleased that at least the sheep yokai had the decency to look a little guilty. He could see that his efforts with the sheepman were bearing a bit of fruit, a silver lining to being stuffed in the food pantry.

"Are you in the pantry?" Donnie asked.

The handle being wiggled made everyone tense. Sunita held the handle still and used her weight to keep the door closed, looking equally guilty and fearful.

"Mikey? The door's locked. Are you okay?"

"Orange, tell your brother everything is fine."

Mikey glared at his dad. He swiveled his head back to Draxum and nailed him with a glower. He was glad to see the tall man shrink a bit. Draxum hesitantly removed his hand from Mikey's mouth. The orange turtle crossed his arms and harshly whispered.

"You really think he'll buy that now? What was that? Why were you all in the vent? I thought you were all supposed to be out tonight! I only made pizza for four, and I didn't make any baby fo—!"

"Shh! Shh! Okay, we get it, we'll explain—"

"Michael?! If you don't answer me, I'm blasting this door down!"

The handle moved harshly again. Sunita pulled the door, leaning her weight back to counteract Donnie's forceful attempts to open it, and adjusted her feet to hold it there, looking at the others in a silent plea to hurry.

"Just tell Donnie everything is fine!"

Mikey narrowed his eyes at her, looking her up and down as Donnie's voice grew more worried and his tugs on the door more fierce.

"Mikey?!"

"Please, Mikey—" April asked.

"The tank's in maintenance. You asked me where the spare keys are," Mikey said slowly. April smiled nervously and clasped her hands in front of herself.

"Please! You know how he'll be."

Mikey scrutinized his honorary older sister. She tightened her clasped hands and silently pleaded with her eyes. His expression was conflicted as he listened to his older brother bang on the door.

"Mikey?!" Donnie called, "S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.! Warm up your laser! The commercial one!"

The atmosphere inside the closet grew increasingly tense. April couldn't help breaking her eye contact with the orange turtle, glancing at the door.

Mikey looked at her pleading expression and then Draxum's, Sunita's, Splinter's, and Cassandra's. He bit his lip and clenched his fists. He slumped with a sigh.

"Donnie?" Mikey called.

All noise on the other side of the door ceased. Then Donnie's voice came again, sounding like he was pressing his ear against the door.

"Mikey?! You okay? What are you doing in there? Did you lock yourself inside?" Donnie asked in a tone that demanded his response.

Mikey sucked in his lips and fiddled with his fingers, feeling an uncomfortable swirl of guilt in his insides.

"O-oh, sorry, bro! I had my music in, and I didn't hear you. I'm just looking for flour; I misplaced it somewhere…" He trailed off with a strained laugh, sweating profusely.

"Are you okay? There's a vent broken out here. It seems to have burst. There's dust and plaster all over the ground…" Donnie trailed into concerned silence and added pointedly, " S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. is cleaning it up for you."

They heard the drone groan in loud protest, but the whine of the laser stopped and was replaced by the sounds of brooms and rags.

Mikey put his face into his hands.

"Oh, really, thanks! That's so weird. Guess I didn't hear it, haha. B-because of my music!"

Cassandra raised a brow. April joined Mikey in putting her head in her hands.

"Right…" came Donnie's careful reply, "Can you come out of the pantry, Michael?"

Sunita was pale as a sheet. Splinter put his head against the wall and closed his eyes. April looked up and met Mikey's nervous eyes.

"I just want to make sure you don't have any injuries," Donnie said, voice retreating as he gave the door space so Mikey could exit.

Mikey and April locked eyes—Mikey's eyes were hesitant, April's eyes were pleading. Mikey swallowed and replied in a chipper voice.

"Sure thing, one sec!"

April grabbed Draxum and Cassandra and hugged the wall beside Splinter. Sunita followed suit, moving away from the door and squeezing herself away behind it.

Mikey took a deep breath and plastered on a smile, opening the door to see Donnie's worried face looking down at him. Mikey's guilt wrung out his organs like it was making balloon animals out of them.

"Hold still, I'm going to scan you."

"'K-kay!" Mikey cleared his throat and gave his brother a simple thumbs-up. His heart began its slow ascent up his throat as Donnie's eyes thinned, eying his wide smile skeptically. He gave his tech brace a tap, and purple light washed over Mikey, cycling over a few times.

"Hmm, an elevated heart rate…" Donnie glanced up, narrowed eyes dissecting him.

Mikey felt his heart reach the top of his throat and swallowed it back down, hoping he didn't look as shaky as he felt.

Donnie gave him another look up and down, exchanging a look with S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. The drone hovered by his side, looking down at Mikey suspiciously.

Mikey's smile was cemented on his face, twitching slightly. It felt like the two were cataloging every drop of sweat on his forehead. Mikey shifted in place and laughed, leaning against the pantry door in an attempt to seem casual.

Donnie's eyes held him for a second more, and then his expression smoothed into its usual stoicness. He gave Mikey's head a fond ruffle.

"But other than that, you seem fine."

Mikey struggled not to gasp all his air out in relief, instead clapping his hands and shooing his brother toward the exit.

"Yep! Totally fine! You don't need to go all Raph on me!" Mikey said.

Donnie hummed vaguely—somewhere between agreement and acknowledgment.

"The dough you were making didn't seem salvageable, so we disposed of it in—"

"No problem! We'll just order in!" Mikey tried to usher them away, smiling anxiously at the drone, who hadn't dropped his scrutinizing stare. Mikey couldn't help glancing at the closed pantry door. His heart jumped when he saw that S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. had followed his gaze. The drone looked at the pantry, tilting his head curiously.

"Exactly what I was about to recommend, Michael," Donnie agreed, coming to a halt (to Mikey's frustration) and typing on his tech brace. "Shall I call Hueso's or the Brothers' pizza?"

"Hahaha, don't worry about it! I'll call them. Weren't you looking for Leo?"

"It is not urgent," Donnie said dismissively. "Also, I should take a closer look at that vent."

Donnie stepped around him, making his way over to look up at the broken vent. The floor underneath was now debris-free, sparkling with new shine from the drone's attention. Donnie flicked his goggles down and hummed in interest. Mikey rushed to spin his brother, attempting to push him back toward the door. Donnie ignored his efforts, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling, a hand on his chin.

"You shouldn't cook in here until I fix everything. I might have to replace the whole system depending on the reason it collapsed," Donnie said, eying the opening as his goggles filled with data. A little icon popped up in the corner of his view. Donnie's brows furrowed in confusion. He turned to look at Mikey, goggles filling with more data cataloging the orange turtle's vitals.

"Yup, okay," Mikey urged, pushing at Donnie's shoulder blades. "Don't worry about the pizza. I'll finish putting things away in here and call you guys when it gets here."

Mikey gave him another push, and Donnie allowed himself to be herded to the entryway.

"Hmm," Donnie replied agreeably. He planted his feet right before Mikey could shove him past the curtain and flipped up his goggles. His eyes met S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.'s. A brief exchange happened between them before Donnie narrowed them on his youngest brother one last time. "Are you sure everything is alright?"

"Yup!" Mikey gave another push as his shell, but Donnie held firm, waiting for the orange turtle to meet his eyes.

"And you don't know how the vent broke?" he asked.

Mikey smiled, gaze darting to and away from Donnie, rapidly back and forth.

"Yup! Now, schmoo, schmoo. Leave the master to his domain."

Mikey was extremely conscious of a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he smiled up at his brother. An eternity passed before Donnie sighed.

Mikey could have sobbed in relief as Donnie turned and walked out the door. He waited for a moment, listening to Donnie walk away, making sure the other didn't double back or vanish—a telling sign that one of his brothers had gone ninja mode to spy on him. Mikey strained his ears, hovering by the door until a whisper from behind broke his concentration.

"Psst. Mikey. Mikeyyyy."

Mikey looked to the ceiling. Anger filled him again as he stormed back to the dang pantry. He forcefully opened the door and watched the entire group waiting inside pour out onto the floor. He crossed his arms and glowered down at them thunderously. Sheepish, guilty smiles looked up at him. Mikey's face was cast in shadow, form like iron, staring down at them—waiting.

April winced.

"Okay, Mikey. Don't be mad—"

"You turned Leo into a BABY and made me lie to Donnie about it?!" He asked, a vein in his forehead twitching, an aura of rage rising around him. April put her hands up and backed up a bit. The group followed her lead, shifting back from the righteous young turtle.

"I can't lie, April!" Mikey began pacing, gritting his teeth and throwing his hands in the air, "I tried before! I'm too young and innocent for that life! It's not me, April!"

"I know, I know, sorry—"

"'Sorry?!' I need more than a sorry, baby! You best explain! Right now!"

The group hid behind April, who gestured for him to calm down.

"Ok, ok, lower your voice!" She hissed.

Quieter, Mikey gritted his teeth and forced out:

"Where's Leo?!"

"He's fine. We were getting the tank keys, and there was a bit of an accident, but he's right—"

April looked back at the group, who stared back at her like deer facing headlights. April's heart froze.

'Where's Leo?' She mouthed.

'You had him last,' Sunita mouthed back.

She did, and then he threw up on her, so she handed him to someone else so she could clean her hands!

A shadow fell on top of her.

April looked up, meeting the glaring eyes pinning her down like a hammer hitting a nail. The rest of Mikey's face was in shadow, but it wasn't hard to tell his feelings. Rage radiated off him in spades.

"You lost him?!"

[Meanwhile, Raph]

"Aww, you okay, little guy? What's a tiny thing like you doing here, huh?"

Raph cooed down at the happy little chirping thing at his feet that was patting at his toes. He bent down and brought it to his face, making kissy sounds that abruptly came to a stop.

Raph's eyes widened.

"Wait… red stripes?"

The tiny thing giggled and clapped its hands, dissolving into enthusiastic baby talk.

"Talkative and smiley?"

Raph brought a finger up for the tiny thing to grab, his chronic headache returning at what he saw.

"Tiny turtle with three finger-like fingers on each adorable tiny hand?"

A shutter fell over Raph's expression. He stared at the tiny thing suspiciously. The turtle hatchling stood on shaky legs and fell forward, landing on Raph's face and gripping his snout with a pleased purr.

Raph lowered the hatchling away, ignoring the tiny turtle's whine of protest, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Raph looked up at the ceiling and then let his eyes fall back down to narrow on the hatchling.

"That better not be you, Leo."

Leo gave his eldest brother a delighted squeal, thrilled to hear his name from the older turtle. He laughed as Raph touched his little cheek with a finger, nudging his head to the side. Leo grabbed it with both his hands and gave it a little kiss.

Raph clenched his unoccupied hand into a fist, trying to keep his glare stern. Then his head bent in defeat. He grasped at his heart and bit his lip.

"Darn! You're so cute, though!"

Leo giggled and spouted a babble of baby talk, imitating Raph.

Raph's heart squeezed violently.

"Okay. One picture… maybe two, and then we go find Donnie."

"Ah!" Leo cried in agreement, slapping a hand on Raph's mouth.

Raph squinted, face solid stone, and then he gave the hand a little kiss.

"Mm-muh," Leo said seriously, mimicking the sound of the kiss.

Here lies Raph.

Cause of Death: Adorableness Overdose resulting in Heart Failure.

RIP.

Chapter Text

"You lost him?!"

Nervous laughter and shuffling feet. Mikey's glare on the side of their faces was burning as they all avoided eye contact.

"Ok, ok, we don't have time to be pointing fingers—" Splinter flinched as the full weight of Mikey's pissed-off glare landed on him; he continued in a hurry, "—we need to find Blue!"

Everyone started talking at once, moving around the room and calling for Leo.

"Donnie!" Raph's voice distant call came.

The commotion in the room paused.

"Hey! Donnie!"

April's head whipped around, looking to Mikey. The orange turtle narrowed his eyes.

And then the entire room scrambled out the door.

"Donnie?! Hey, Don! Where are you?!"

"Ra! Bee!" Leo called in Raph's cupped hands.

"Donnie!"

"Gaa! Bee!"

"Hey, Don?!"

"Bahhhn?!"

Raph paused and lifted Leo up to his face. The little turtle turned around in his hands to face Raph, making a curious sound.

"Not 'Robbie' or 'Gabby' or 'Bahhhn.' 'Donnie.'"

Leo gave a questioning chirrup. Raph rumbled comfortingly and gently coaxed him.

"' Donnie.'"

Leo reached up to grab the bigger turtle's face, babbling incoherently.

"Can you say 'Donnie,' Leo? Don. Nie?"

"W-waa! Yaa!"

"'Don-nie.' Da, da—Don-nie. D sound, Leo. Can you make the D sound? Da, dah."

"Da!"

"Ohohoho—!" Raph nuzzled his face gently against his brother's. Leo chirped excitedly, hugging his brother's face with closed eyes and a beaming smile. "—good job! Don-nie!"

"DA! REE!"

"Oh, close." Raph lowered the turtle from his snout, offering his finger for the baby to num on when Leo made a protesting sound. "Da-on —Don."

"Ma ba ba ba BA!" Leo blew a raspberry and then tried to put Raph's finger in his mouth. Raph gently pushed the turtle backward, so Leo fell on his shell with a delighted giggle. Raph carefully rocked him side to side, and the little turtle burst into laughter. Raph chuckled with him.

"Da. On," Raph corrected.

"Ba! Bla blah buh!"

Leo rocked back up and wrapped his arms around Raph's finger, looking at him with a honey-sweet smile. Raph shook his head, moving it closer to his little brother.

"Da. On."

"FA! BA! BA!"

Raph gave Leo a little bop on the head and straightened, putting a hand on his hip and stopping in the hallway.

"Nuh-uh," he said.

"Nuh-uh!" Leo said clearly.

Raph sighed.

"Oh, that one you get."

Leo laughed at him. Raph rolled his eyes, resuming his task.

"Donnie, where are you?!"

"One second, Raph!" Donnie's voice came from a couple rooms over.

Raph readjusted his course to aim for his brother.

"Hey, Don! Raph needs to borrow you for a bit!"

"Understood, oh brother-o-mine. I shall join you in but one moment!"

Raph looked down at Leo, who was now intently focused on looking ahead, where Donnie's voice came from. He had stopped talking, but his tail was wagging up a storm.

"Well, he doesn't sound like he knows you're like this," Raph mused.

Leo spared him a glance but quickly turned back toward where they could hear Donnie's faint voice talking to S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. Leo urgently patted Raph's hand and pointed.

"Yeah, yeah," Raph sighed in mock exasperation, "Raph is go—"

"Found him!"

Hands grabbed onto Raph, slapping over his mouth and pulling him out of the hallway. Raph closed his hands around Leo protectively as he was yanked into the shadows.

"Sorry, Raph," Donnie sighed as he walked into the hallway, rubbing a kink out of the back of his neck. "The vent in the kitchen broke somehow, so I was looking at my… Raph?"

Donnie slowed to a stop, looking down an empty hallway.

"Hey, Raph? Raph?" Donnie turned in a slow circle, brows furrowed in confusion. "You needed me for something...?"

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. flew around the space, peeking into the rooms, and shrugged at Donnie. The purple turtle frowned.

"Raph?!"

Silence was all Donnie got in reply.

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and Donnie exchanged a look.

"What are you bozos up to?!" Was the first thing out of Raph's mouth when they let go of him. Then it was: "Did you know that Leo is—?!"

"Shhhh! Shh!" April hissed, "The garage door hasn't closed all the way yet!"

"Just for the record, I took no part in this. You have all made me into an unwilling accomplice!" Mikey said. Raph watched, confused, as the orange turtle pivoted to face the wall with a huff and a cross of his arms. Raph turned to Draxum as the sheep yokai began talking.

"I was unwillingly dragged into this as well. As far as I know, the blame lies, once again, with your immature father and O'Neil's frivolous 'Girls’ Night.'"

Raph looked at Sunita, who smiled sheepishly and avoided his eyes, Cassandra, who met his gaze challengingly, and April, who glared daggers at Draxum.

"Really, Barry?" she asked.

"My allegiance solely lies with myself," Draxum replied unapologetically.

"You're the one who turned him into a baby!" April said, "You made it worse!"

“He bit —!”

"Who cares?!" Splinter pulled the fur on his head, anxious, "If Purple finds out about that—"

Splinter pointed at Leo, who chirped in offence at being pointed at.

"—we will all be in the doghouse! Purple knows nooo mercy! You—!"

Sunita blinked.

"—are the one who threw the vial at Blue—!"

Sunita looked down at her feet shamefully.

"You masterminded the whole thing—!"

April moved to argue, but Splinter swiveled to point at Cassandra.

"You were accomplice number one—!"

Cassandra nodded, accepting.

"You turned my son even younger—!"

Draxum dragged a hand down his tired face.

"Orange lied to him—!"

"You all forced me to!" Mikey hissed, turning his head firmly away, "And I'm not talking to you!"

"Red is harboring the fugitive—!" Splinter continued, ignoring his son.

Raph gawked.

"Me?!” 

Leo mimicked Raph's exclamation of disbelief as if offended on his older brother's behalf.

“Raph was trying to—!"

"—and I stole his tank keys!" Splinter finished, brandishing said stolen keys in the air. The rat began pacing again, folding his hands behind his back and nodding seriously to himself, "Purple must not know, or we will never see good internet connection again! We cannot let that happen! We must work together!"

"Woah, hold on a minute!" Raph stood up and put his free hand on his hip. "Donnie's not going to believe Mikey lied without being talked into it—"

"Thank you!"

Mikey glared at the room as Raph continued.

"—and Raph was looking for him to ask him—!"

"We don't have time to have this argument—!" Splinter cut him off.

"I just need one ingredient—!" Draxum said.

The room erupted into argument.

"I'm not taking the fall for your guys' screw-ups!"

"—don't we just tell Donnie and get the whole thing over with?!" Sunita tried to interject.

"Could we not just deal with the blue turtle first?" Draxum asked.

"—dumb idea! Why didn't you just tell him in the first place?!" Mikey asked.

Leo put his hands over his ears and gave a small whimper.

"We cannot tell him!" Splinter was saying, "Purple will not—!"

"Raph thinks we should fix that whole situation before we even try to—!" Raph said.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't used me to steal the tank!" Mikey punctuated his statement with a jab of his finger into April's shoulder. 

April smacked it away. She opened her mouth to yell back but paused. April took a deep breath and put a hand on her forehead.

"I know, I know! But—!"

"No buts!" Splinter said, hiding a cough in his fist and stroking his beard. “We will tell Purple it was April's fault."

April leaned back. She closed her mouth and visibly swallowed her immediate retort. Shifting her weight onto one hip, she faced Splinter and spoke in a dangerously lowered voice.

"Ok. I'm about to punt you if you say just about one more word."

"Well, I am not at fault for this! I was in and out, bro!" Splinter argued. 

Before April could swing, Sunita shoved between them, starting to look just as peeved as everyone else in the room.

"We can't just keep arguing! Why don't we—?"

"Raph isn't involved in this! Raph refuses to take the fall again —!"

Leo released an alarmed chirp, curling into himself as he was jostled by Raph's gesturing and scared by the raised voices. His fearful noises went unnoticed under the din of the group's arguing. Another shout had Leo hiding in his shell, trembling. As Raph pivoted back and forth, the little turtle caught flashes of angry faces—Draxum glaring at Sunita and Sunita pointing a finger in his face, scowling; Splinter and April yelling at each other as Mikey and Raph took turns yelling over them with biting comments; Cassandra popping up here and there with fire in her eyes and a booming voice, demanding action.

Dad yelling.

Angry humans, angry strangers, angry brothers.

Why angry?

Because of him?

Not safe—scared.

Not safe.

Need to go somewhere safe.

Need to hide.

Leo bit his lip, trembling in his shell. His hands opened and closed, but he didn't move. Too scared, he couldn't move. Leo clenched his hands and gave a firm chirp to himself. This was a moment when he needed to be brave.

Twin wouldn't be scared.

Twin would be mad too.

Twin would hiss.

Twin would bite people.

Twin…

Leo heard Twin in the hallway.

Leo looked at the yelling, furious faces through the front hole of his shell. He felt a sob working its way up his neck. His lips trembled, and his eyes watered, but Leo clenched his hands. He forced out a determined squeak but a little calling cry for comfort slipped out too. The tiny turtle—eyes big with tears—scrunched his face, lifted his chin, and rigidly set his mouth shut.

Leo needed Twin.

With that thought in mind, Leo carefully moved his head out of his shell and looked around. Everyone was still shouting—still angry. Leo's limbs popped out next. The small red slider sat up and peeked off the edge of Raph's hand.

High… very high.

Leo gulped and sat back, crossing his legs. He looked up and saw Raph's peeved expression—furrowed brows, tense jaw, scowling lips. Leo turned his attention back down to the hand holding him and frowned. How was he supposed to get down?

If Twin was here… Hmm.

Leo crossed his arms, tilted his head, and gave a thoughtful chirp. He mulled it over for a moment more and then thought, well, why not?

And his jaw locked on Raph's flesh.

"OW!"

Raph's hand whipped outward instinctively. His face was immediately overcome with horror, realization coming over him as Leo's body was flung in the air. Shock and terror ripped through the garage.

"I got him!" Cassandra and Mikey shot forward to catch the flying hatchling and collided. In a fury of limbs, they only managed to volley Leo, who was back to hiding in his shell, to the other side of the room.

He sailed across the room toward Draxum, who reached his hands up and stepped backward, eyes wide with surprise. A tool of some sort, inconveniently positioned directly behind the goat yokai, sent him tumbling as shouts and screams erupted. Sunita jumped, slamming against Draxum's side as she reached for the spinning shell. Draxum, unprepared to take her weight, lost the hand he had gotten under himself and sent them both toward the floor. Sunita managed to get a hand on Leo, but the smooth shell slid easily over her cupped palm and ricocheted back into the air as she and Draxum collapsed.

Leo clattered onto one of Donnie's workbenches unharmed.

Realizing he had gained some sort of stability against gravity, Leo opened his eyes. He poked his head out of his shell. Leo looked left and right, saw Raph and Splinter running toward him and the rest of the group in disarray on the floor, and knew this was his moment.

He ran.

"Leo! Gah! NO!" Raph didn't have time to grab his head and groan. Leo threw himself from desk to chair to a quick slide to the ground and dashed.

"Oh, not again," Splinter muttered, stumbling to a halt to watch as Leo tore across the floor, diving under chairs and the small spaces beneath drawers and cabinets—screaming his little head off. 

Raph, trying to keep up and not step on Leo by accident, tripped on every single one of those things.

Brooms flew and chairs were thrown out of the way as the rest of the group got to their feet—and made everything worse. The room quickly found new depths of chaos. In the crash of shoulders and bumping heads—they lost eyes on the turtle, and Leo became a flash of green in the corner of their eyes.

"He's under the tank!" was quickly followed by a call across the room claiming—

"He's over there!"

“What? Where?”

"Watch out!" Sunita warned.

"YOU'RE GOING TO STEP ON HIM!" Mikey panicked, pointing at Raph's feet.

"What?! WHAT?!" Raph jumped onto a chair and didn't dare move, looking terrified out of his shell.

"HE'S EVERYWHERE!" Cassandra shouted in distress.

"He's not attacking us! Just scoop him up!" April dove forward, crashing and tipping over a cabinet containing various tools. "Got 'em!"

She opened her hands, found air, and cursed.

"There he goes!"

"Move, Draxum!"

"DON'T move! You'll step on him!"

"Chirp!"

All heads whipped to face the garage door. Eyes locked on Leo, who stood poised with his hand over a red button, propped on a stool that had been conveniently left out.

All movements ceased as they stared tensely at the little turtle.

"Nice, hatchling, good hatchling," Draxum cooed, "come to Barry."

Leo chirped and moved his hand closer to the big button. The room tensed.

"No, no, no, no—don't press that button, bro," Mikey whispered pleadingly.

"Come to Raphie, Leo, come here, buddy," Raph coaxed.

Leo chirped questioningly, tilting his head as if to say, 'So you want me to push it?' Then, he set his hand on the button.

"Come to Raphie, buddy," Raph's words rang out with a sob, tears rising to his eyes, "Please, come to Raphie, Leo!"

Leo moved his hand slightly away from the button.

"Good job—!" Sunita said, hands leaving her face.

"Yes, yes, yes—!" Cassandra breathed out.

"Come to Dada, Blue," Splinter sang, dropping to his knees and making grabby hands.

Leo moved his hand back to the button.

"No, no, no, no!"

"Bad turtle! Bad! Turtle!" Draxum scolded.

"Don't call him 'bad turtle,' you'll make him angry," Mikey hissed.

"Come to Raphie! Come to R-raphie!" Raph sobbed.

Leo moved it away.

"Yes, Leo! Good—!"

"That's right! Now come—!"

Leo moved it back.

"NO!"

"Please, Blue! Dad is begging you—!" Splinter fell to his knees and held up his clasped hands.

Away.

"Thank go—!" Mikey wheezed.

Back.

"Don't—" Cassandra said.

Away.

"Okay, good, good, good." April clapped.

Back.

"Noooooo—!" Raph sobbed.

Away.

"Just stay like—"

Back.

"Leo!"

Away.

"Yes!"

A giggle gushed from Leo. He clapped his hands in delight, grabbed his toes, and happily rocked back and forth.

"Now!" Draxum yelled. Throwing his hand up, vines ripped out of the ground and rushed forward. Splinter jumped and ran along them. April and Sunita sprang up, Raph dashed toward the turtle, Mikey stood, and Cassandra lunged.

Leo waved goodbye and pressed the button.

"NO—!"

Red lights flashed. Metal doors slammed down. The vines crashed into steel. Cassandra slid herself to a stop as Raph braked.

"24-hour lockdown initiated," An automated voice announced above their heads.

They all stared at the doors. Mikey plopped onto his back, soul leaving his body. 

April fell to her knees. "Did he just wave goodbye to us?"

Raph dropped his head into his hands and sighed. "Yep. That's Leo, alright."

"That is the most mobile baby I've ever seen," Cassandra muttered next to him, letting her head fall backward.

"Try handling four of them," Splinter huffed. He brought himself to sit and leaned over. Lying down now, he proceeded to roll himself across the ground, moving about five feet away before rolling himself back. Back and forth, again and again.

"Are we really unable to get out of here for 24 hours?" Draxum asked.

"And it's soundproof," April replied to Draxum dryly. Raph shot up and punched the door, trapping them inside.

"Raph can't do this again!" Raph's breath came quickly as he began to hyperventilate, eyes darting around the room as he spun around, looking for a way to escape. He turned back to the metal doors and started pounding on them with his fists. "HELP! HELP! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Did you not hear your human friend, red turtle?" Draxum scowled. "We are trapped. The doors are soundproof!"

Raph either didn't hear him over his panic or chose to ignore him, continuing his assault on the lockdown doors.

"Aren't you like a techno whizz, Barry?" Sunita asked. "Can’t you hack us out of this or something?"

Draxum turned his scowl on her.

"I am not a 'techno whizz.' I am a warrior scientist and former baron of the Yokai realm!"

"Oh right," Sunita said, "Sooo, you can't get us out?"

"I do not know. I've dabbled my fair share in mechanics and engineering. However, my expertise lies in biology. 'Hacking' the purple turtle's system is—"

"IT'S OPENING!"

All eyes shot to Raph, who had stopped pounding on the door. The mechanical whirring of the doors preparing to move became audible, and a small sliver of space appeared under the door that Raph latched on to, trying to make it rise faster.

"What are you—Raph?! Stop it! It took me 13 hours to install those!"

Everyone tensed at the voice on the other side of the door—Donnie's voice. Raph quickly let go. They all made eye contact in a moment of shocked panic, and then they were all scrambling around the room, trying to be as quiet as possible as they hid.

Donnie frowned as he heard something fall over on the other side of the door, which he regretted building so they would open so slowly. He raised a brow at the sound of something else clattering and shared another look with S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.

"Raph?" With the door now open enough for a soccer ball to slip under, Donnie got to his knees and looked into the garage. "Is Mikey in there with you?"

Raph and Mikey froze. 

Donnie raised a brow at their strange positions. 

Mikey was on all fours by a wall, under a vent. He was turned away from the door and looking over his shoulder with saucer-shaped eyes. 

Raph stood in profile to Donnie's position, hands on top of a blue tarp on one of Donnie's deconstructable tables that Donnie didn't remember putting out.

In a blink, his brothers assumed casual stances. Mikey leaned on the wall, and Raph sat on top of the table, both with strained grins on their faces. 

Donnie straightened as the door rose. He put his hands on his hips as S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. flew inside and suspiciously scanned the vent Mikey had been under. Donnie watched Raph and Mikey's eyes dart to the drone and instantly back to him like they'd been caught looking.

Riiiiight.

Donnie narrowed his eyes at his brothers and crossed his arms over his chest.

"...brethren?"

"Heeeeeey, Donnie!" Raph greeted him with a wave and a bright grin that twitched as Donnie turned the full force of his stare on him. "We were just about to go out and get pizza, right, Mikey?"

"Yup! Pizza! Love me some pizza. Mmmm —mm!" Mikey said too loudly. As Donnie stared at him, the orange turtle made some weird motions with his hands that Donnie assumed were supposed to be fireworks or confetti or something celebratory of the sort. "Excited for that twin daaaay, you know, bro?!"

Both turtles swallowed their lips as Donnie glanced at S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. over their shoulders. The drone's expression said it all—what?

Noticing his gaze, the drone made eye contact with him and they exchanged a look. His brothers were undoubtedly up to something stupid again.

"Totally—polite ahem—bro? He said naturally as if he wasn't suspicious at all," Donnie said without changing expression, watching his brothers with a wide-eyed stare.

"...riiiight?" Raph squeaked out, which was the wrong move. Donnie's eyes narrowed on him as fast as the lockdown doors slamming, and Raph flinched away at the sharpness of it.

"You were calling me earlier for something, Raph-a-la?" Donnie asked slowly.

"Huh?" Raph asked dumbly.

Raph looked over at Mikey, who gave him a pointed look. 

Donnie watched the interaction as S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. stopped hovering by the vent and moved to Raph's table. Donnie noticed Mikey's shoulders relax imperceptibly but kept his face impassive as if he hadn't seen a thing. Raph, on the other hand, grew noticeably more tense, sweat dripping down his face as he glanced at S.H.E.L.L.D.ON., acted like he didn't, and then rapidly started speaking.

"Well, you know, Donnie, it's Twin Day's Eve, so I just wanted to ask what you wanted for pizza, you know? I mean, usually, we always get what Leo likes, but I was thinking—since, uh, Mikey isn't cooking, right?"

Mikey shook his head at Raph, mouthing some words to him that made Raph's eyes flash with realization. Donnie taped his tech brace and casually recrossed his arms as if he hadn't.

"Right, since Mikey can't cook, I thought I'd ask what your favorite pizza is so we could order it and, um, you know—that's it," he finished awkwardly.

"That's it? You needed to 'borrow me for a bit' just for my favorite pizza? You know my favorite pizza, Raph."

"What if it changed?" Mikey said way too quickly. Donnie blinked at him.

'"What if it changed?"' Donnie repeated slowly, "When have you ever known me to change a favorite anything, 'Angelo? You know how particular my taste buds are."

"Right?!" Raph said loudly, moving over to slap Mikey on the back, still with that weird grin, "I told you, Mike! Donnie's picky! I told him! HA! HA!"

Donnie’s left eye twitched minutely at that—'picky'—as his brothers laughed loudly, slapping each other's backs in turn. He punched the bridge of his nose and gave himself a second for a calming breath before he addressed his brothers again.

"Why are you in here? The tank is on maintenance today, you can't take her out."

"Oh, you know what? We must have forgotten. What day is it?" Mikey asked.

"And why did you activate lockdown?” Donnie asked, “I would've thought your previous experiences with it would've kept you from being in a rush to push that particular button again?

"Raph didn't recognize it. Right, Raph?!" Mikey said. 

Raph nodded furiously.

Donnie's fingers tapped thoughtfully on his crossed arms.

"I don't believe I altered its appearance since the last time."

"Raph thought it was a different big, red, shiny button is all. Hahaha…"

Expressionless, Donnie studied his eldest brother.

"Is that so?"

"YUP!" Mikey burst in, hopping on top of Raph, who almost fell at the sudden weight (unusual). Mikey slapped Raph's shell enthusiastically as if urging him to run. "And now we really need to get that pizza! We are so late!"

"I thought you hadn't ordered it yet?" Donnie asked.

"Right?! If we don't get it now, it'll be past dinner already!" Raph agreed. Both turtles nodded at him as if waiting for him to nod with them. Donnie unraveled his arms and tapped again at his tech brace.

Raph and Mikey stopped nodding. They sweated as Donnie considered them until S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. flew over, drawing his attention away. Donnie gave S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. a brief pet on the head and an obligatory scratch behind the 'ears.'

"Hmm," Donnie hummed, turning around with S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., "I'll leave you to it then, gentlemen."

Loud laughter behind him, as if Donnie had told a joke, made him pause and stare at his youngest brother over his shoulder. 

Raph slapped a hand over Mikey's mouth, stopping the laugh. "Haha, Mikey's pre-pizza jitters…"

"Uh…huh… tell me when it'll be here."

"Huh?" Raph asked.

"The pizza," Donnie said slowly, "you're ordering it?"

"OH! Yup." Raph nodded with a sheepish smile.

"Well," Donnie and S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. exchanged another look, "we'll see you then."

Raph and Mikey listened to Donnie's footsteps as he walked down the hall. When the footsteps faded, and they strained to hear the sound of a door shutting, all the air left Mikey, and he sagged on his brother.

"We're dead," Raph said.

There was a clang behind them as a foot kicked the cover off the vent. Cassandra jumped down, executing a mid-air flip and landing in a combat-ready pose. A beat later, the rest of the group fell from the vent in a crumpled, groaning pile of limbs.

Splinter peaked out from under the tarp-covered table and shook his head.

"A true ninja always has a hiding place in mind."

"I put that table up for you, Dad," Raph reminded him.

"Or a lackey to make him one," Splinter shrugged.

"Why didn't we tell him the truth?" Mikey groaned atop Raph's head, "That was our chance to tell him!"

Raph covered his face with his hands.

"I don't know. He just looked at me with those eyes, and Raph panicked!"

"Enough whining!" Cassandra shouted, "Split up and look for the blue one!"

The rest of the room scrambled to their feet as Cassandra took off for the door.

"Stealthily!" April and Splinter hissed after her.

His brothers said nothing further as Donnie walked out the garage door and down the hall. The door of Donnie's lab closed behind him before he looked up at S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and asked, "How many?"

"Five. Seven with the turtle dudes."

"Leo, Raph, Mikey, April, Sunita, Cassandra, and Papá?" Donnie asked as he tapped at his tech brace and transferred his recordings to his main computer. He sat at his desk as the footage of Mikey mouthing something to Raph popped up on the screen. Donnie took his tablet out from his shell and powered it on. The garage wasn't hooked up to his system at the moment since he was doing maintenance. He'd have to grab the security footage after they left to see what they had been up to in his garage.

"All correct except Leo. Brah wasn't in there, but Draxum was," S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. told him, settling down at his bed on the console and inserting his USBs. A terminal opened on Donnie's tablet, showing his drone's code as S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. started trying to figure out how to read lips. The drone had been getting better and better at coding under Donnie's watchful eye with all the shenanigans his family got up to.

Donnie hummed in slight surprise as he considered S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.'s words. He had been thinking this was some kind of early start by Leo to 'prove' they were twins. But, he thought as he directed S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. to look over the last section of code again, if Leo wasn't with them—where was he?