The Fifth Turtle

The Fifth Turtle

Chapter 1: I’ve Got You

As she held it up, the turtle, Leo, pressed his hand against hers. Their three fingers matched perfectly, albeit 49’s hand was a bit smaller than his. 

“You’re like me,” 49 dared to say, her voice raspy and barely a whisper. 

His eyes widened. “Y-yeah.” He reached through the bars and squeezed her hand reassuringly, a tender smile spreading across his beak. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

At first Donnie had been skeptical, after a day or two of thinking about it, he had pointed out that this was probably a coincidentally accurate publicity stunt. However, Leo had pulled the leader card and insisted that they check it out. Donnie had wanted to argue, even though Raph and Mikey agreed to it, but the softshell had never seen his twin this serious. That was what convinced him. 

After some online research from the totally reliable internet, Donnie had narrowed down their search to a laboratory near Staten Island. It must be Bishop’s personal lab. That was where their mysterious turtle would be. 

“I can’t believe we are risking exposing our existence to this guy,” Donnie hissed as they drove there in the Turtle Tank. “And to a scientist no less!”

“We at least need to check it out,” Leo snapped, his eyes narrowed. “Remember, I’m the leader and I say we go.” 

Donnie returned his glower, his arms crossed. “I’m just saying, even if there was a mutant in there, there is no possible way they could be our sibling.”

Raph glared at him. “We’re not saving them because they’re a turtle! We’re saving them because we’re heroes, and heroes don’t leave a mutant behind.”

Donnie growled under breath as he turned off the auto-pilot. “We’re almost there. I just need to park the tank.”

As Donnie pulled the tank to a stop, Mikey suddenly grabbed the purple-masked turtle’s shoulder. “Hey D, I need an update.”

Donnie glanced at him. “For your phone again?”

The box turtle shook his head. “No, for the plan this time.”

“Sigh,” Donnie said, leaning back in his seat. “Okay, first we’ll sneak in there and get a look at the situation. Then, we’ll get out and devise a plan to come back later. Any questions?”

“Nope!” Mikey chirped, bouncing out the now opened door. “Thanks, Donnie.”

With Leo leading the way, they went outside, and disappeared into the shadows.

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The door slammed behind 49, making her jump. Usually the two goons that Bishop had hired would have brought her to testing, where Bishop was usually waiting. This time they brought her to a room.

It was pure white, no seams or cracks in the walls, everything was just a smooth, unbreaking white. However, there was a table in the middle of the room. It was a fold up table and had some books and pencils on top of it. After 49 scrabbled uselessly at the door for a bit, she turned her attention to the items sitting there. 

There was a book about crosswords and games, some blank sheets of paper, and a math workbook. The only thing that stopped 49 from bolting towards the table and reading was the fact that she knew someone was watching her. The lingering feeling on her shell told her that. She looked around. There were no cameras, but the itchy feeling remained. All 49 had to go by were her instincts and they were telling her someone was watching.

She stood frozen for a few moments, thinking. 49 remembered the people that had come to see her a few days ago. Bishop had shown her off like a rare, exotic animal. Then, he had let them get a chance to poke and prod at her in the testing room. They must have agreed to sponsor his research, she realized, glancing around. They must have paid for this room or something. They must be watching.

She quickly curled up in the corner, her heart racing. Gotta hide, GOTTA HIDE! She wished she could pop into her shell, she knew that box turtles were supposed to do that, but she couldn’t. In fact, she’d heard Bishop musing about it while he had been examining her. He had been saying that something must be wrong with the structure of her shell, something about an old injury.

Right now, all she wanted to do was curl up and let the darkness take her… and it did just that. 

49 woke up from the dream memory, gasping for breath. She remembered that she had spent days in that soulless white room. She rubbed her dry eyes, wincing in pain. 49’s throat burned. It felt like she’d swallowed the sun, but she hadn’t drank anything today, or yesterday for that matter. Her tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of her mouth. Her stomach hurt too. Bishop had to feed her today, he had to. 

She glanced down at her chained hands. Though I could just break out if I wanted to…

Thanks to the Ghost Lady, Karai or her “Gram-Gram,” 49 learned that she had magic. Gram-Gram had called it mystics but they sounded like the same thing. 

She had taught 49 how to summon her mystic weapon, a bow and arrows. The scrawny box turtle was so, so desperate to escape, but she was too weak.

49 remembered the other thing the spirit had told her. Gram-Gram told her that she had brothers. Other turtles, mutants, like her. Gram-Gram told her that they were coming to save her. The box turtle was still doubtful of course. It could have been a hallucination or one of Bishop’s sick mental tricks. 

Bishop wouldn’t do that, things like that weren’t his style. Hope was one of the only things she had, although she was losing it rapidly. I can wait, 49 decided, scratching her arms. After all, I’ve been waiting for a long time, what’s a few more weeks? I can wait. My brothers are coming. Brothers are coming. I have brothers, they are coming. I can wait. Brothers coming… 

Her thoughts trailed off as hours passed. She kept repeating those words in her head, until a feeling stopped her whirlwind of thoughts. A noise, accompanied with that lingering feeling, told her someone was here and watching. 49’s hands felt warm and her arms hurt. She barely registered the blood caked under her fingernails and the wounds that she had reopened. 

Her head whipped around, her muscles shivering with fear. Someone’s here, GOTTA HIDE!

She curled up in the corner trying to steady her breathing. Every puff of air scraped at her throat. 

“LEO!” 49 heard someone whisper shout. Leo? That doesn’t sound like one of the scientists.

She tensed as a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a turtle, like her. A mutant, like her. Hope soared through her. Brothers are here!

His skin was lime green with bright yellow stripes along his arms and red stripes near his eyes. The other thing that stood out was the blue bandanna over his face. The long tails swayed as he darted up to her cell.  

She practically felt giddy with happiness as he grabbed the bars, his three fingered hands wrapping around the cool metal. Three fingers, like her. “Are you okay?” He whispered, a worried look on his face. 

… Worried for me? Why?

Instead of replying, she cautiously crept up to him. Her limbs shaking with nerves and the effort of moving. She held her hand up to the bars, trembling. 

As she held it up, the turtle, Leo, pressed his hand against hers. Their three fingers matched perfectly, albeit 49’s hand was a bit smaller than his. 

“You’re like me,” 49 dared to say, her voice raspy and barely a whisper. 

His eyes widened. “Y-yeah.” He reached through the bars and squeezed her hand reassuringly, a tender smile spreading across his beak. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

A small, happy grin found its way to her face as she stared at their matching hands. Her mind-numbing joy was interrupted as a hulking figure emerged from the darkness. 49 scrambled backwards, shock and fear seizing her heart.

“Leo,” the giant, spiky turtle growled, a beam of moonlight lighting up his red mask. “I thought we agreed this was supposed to be a stealth mission! You can’t just run off like that.”

Leo glared at the turtle, his brow furrowed. “I know, but I couldn’t just leave her!” His worried gaze flicked back to her. “Aw man, look Raph, you scared her. Just chill out, okay?”

The turtle, who 49 could assume was Raph, turned to her, an anxious look on his face. “Raph’s sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, we’re here to help.”

Oh, right. Gram-Gram had said brothers, as in plural. Are they both my brothers?

In 49’s distraction, two other turtles had revealed themselves. One sported a purple bandanna with drawn on eyebrows and a hunk of metal on his back, and the other wore an orange mask and had bright orange spots. 

“Donnie, can you get this open?” Leo whispered, turning to the purple-masked turtle.

“Scoff, of course,” he responded in a flat tone, leaning down and inspecting the tricky lock. 49 had seen it enough times to know that it required an intricate code to open. Then the turtle, Donnie, pulled out a bo staff and made something out of thin air, the marking on his shoulders lighting up with a violet light.

49 watched with awe as bright purple light, mystics she would realize, ran up his staff. 

Multiple long, spiky things appeared at the end of the wooden staff. Letting out a hum of approval, he started tweaking with the lock. 

“Hi!” Someone whispered, catching her attention. She turned her head to see the smallest turtle pressing his face against the cage, his eyes wide. “I’m Mikey!” 49 locked gazes with him. He had baby blue eyes, just like hers. “Hey, you’re a box turtle like me,” he yelped happily. 

Like me? Like me! Another smile crept up to her face. 

Mikey gave her a toothy grin back, eyes sparkling. It was weird, but 49 felt something in her soul, like something had clicked back into place. She suddenly felt connected to Mikey, feeling the need to protect him and be by him. She let out a small chirp, walking up and touching noses with him. 

He stared at her in surprise, the shock being replaced by wonder. Mikey clicked in response, nuzzling her face. 49 squeaked gleefully, returning the soft nudge with a purr. 

Now that the joy and happiness spreading through her muscles resided, she felt weak. Pulling away, Mikey gave her a troubled look. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

49’s legs couldn’t hold her up anymore. She sat on the ground, a harsh wheeze escaping her throat. Her vision grew blurry.

“Donnie, get this thing open, now!” Leo suddenly snapped, turning to the purple-masked turtle. 49 flinched at his harsh tone, her body starting to tremble with exhaustion. Her head was pounding.

“I’m almost done!” Donnie hissed back, still working on the lock. “Just give me a second, Leo.”

They started arguing, their voices raising. “Guys,” Raph snarled. “Be quiet! This was supposed to be a stealth only mission.”

All 49 wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep, weariness dragging at her eyelids, but slow clapping snapped her awake. Her brothers froze, turning towards the sound. A man stepped out of the shadows, a sly smile on his face.

“Well, well, well,” Bishop said in a teasing voice. “What have we here? More mutant turtles?” His smile turned eerily wide, his hands falling down to his sides. “So nice of you to join us.”

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HEY YOU GO VOTE REPLICA + EMPYREAN WEEPING

@cupcakeslushie and @kathaynesart are both really cool dudes who make AMAZING art and are two of my favorite artists!

Please go vote for them! Also, have a frame redraw from EW :)

Replica - kathaynesart

Empyrean Weeping - cupcakeslushie

2AL - intotheelliwoods

Tiz Sep AU - Tizeline

Sep!Leo - dianagj-art

Final reminder, good luck and have fun everyone ;)

Batman/TMNT Comics 2 Scene

You know that one scene in the Batman/TMNT 2 comics where Donnie is almost killed by that foot soldier and he starts doubting himself and that starts the whole thing off? Well, it’s that scene but Riseified. I couldn’t get this idea out of my head but I didn’t want to write a whole fic so I decided to just write this one scene. (PS: I apologize in advance if your name is are Daryl or Wilbur) This takes place during Season 1, after Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man but while Baron Draxum has just taken control of the Foot Clan.

“Cowabunga!” Mikey yelled, as the turtles rode one of Donnie’s new inventions, the Sewer Slider, down the subway tunnel. The guy that had run away from them screamed and sprinted off into the darkness.

“I think we gave that guy a heart attack or something,” Leo called out from Donnie’s left. Wind whistled past the purple-masked turtle’s tympanum, whipping the slider’s words away immediately.

“It’s his own fault for walking through the subway with the lights out,” Raph pointed out. “And he should h— MIKEY IS THIS REALLY THE BEST TIME FOR A SNACK?!”

“You know what the ancient proverb says about pizza on a bagel,” Donatello’s little brother replied, snacking on said pizza bagel and pulling farther ahead of Leo and Donnie. 

“That’s from a commercial,” the snapper growled, his forehead creasing. “Remember, no eating on missions. We need to stay alert and vigi—”

“No fair,” Leo whined, interrupting him and pulling up alongside Mikey. “I want some! You gotta share little brother or I’ll take Raph’s side in the argument…”

The sharp wind carried Mikey’s response away as Donnie rolled his eyes. “Sigh, guys remember what I said about focusing when riding highly dangerous experimental machinery at eighty miles per hour?”

Only after Raph echoed Donnie did they quiet down. Dumb-dumbs, Donnie mentally grumbled. Why do they only listen to Raph? They should at least listen to me regarding my tech, right? … Right?

Donnie’s self doubt pity party was interrupted by a familiar raspy voice. “We agreed to leave! Why does Draxum want us dead?!” The far away conversation echoed down the tunnels, allowing the Mad Dogs to eavesdrop.

“You and Brute are not fit to lead us, Lieutenant,” an unfamiliar person responded. “In fact, you don’t even deserve those titles anymore, Daryl and Wilbur.”

“Daryl and Wilbur,” Leo snickered. “I would keep Lieutenant and Brute. Oh man, I’m totally going to tease them after we save their butts.”

A roar of rage echoed down the tunnel. “I think that we should hurry,” Donnie snapped, before more petty squabbling could break out between his brothers. 

“Donnie’s right!” Raph shouted, his bright red ninpo lighting up the dark tunnel. “Mad Dogs, ahoy!”

“I thought we agreed to save that for ship-based adventures, pal,” Donnie reminded his older brother. “Please don’t make me say that again; the viewers don’t like repetition.” ——————————————————————They were going so fast that tears stung at Leo’s eyes. They sped down the tunnel just in time to see some bulked up foot soldiers kick Lutentiant out of the ragged subway car. “No!” Brute yelled, just missing his friend’s out-stretched hand.

“Leo!” Raph barked.

“Already on it,” the slider said with a wink, picking up speed and catching Lutentiant on his Sewer Slider. “Hey, Wilbur!” He crowed smugly. “Need a lift?”

“YOU!” Lutentaint screeched, struggling out of Leo’s grip. “I had him! I do not need the help of children!” The flames on his head blazed with anger. “Also, how dare you suggest that my name is Wilbur, it is Daryl.”

Leo laughed, a smirk on his face. “Whoa, harsh, I thought we were pals. Well, not pals, but I thought that we were done trying to kill each other with this Baron Draxum thing happening. At least for now. Enemy of my enemy and all that jazz!”

Lutentiant finally freed himself from the blue-masked turtle’s hands and straightened, brushing himself off before pointing an accusing finger at Leo. “You turtles started this mess! It’s your fault that Draxum got the armor piece at the Botanical Gardens instead of us. Not to mention the fact that he is obsessed with you.”

Leo just rolled his eyes and surfed towards the subway car. “Whatever dude,” he called over his shoulder. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go save your boyfriend.”

The wind drowned out the former Lutentaint’s hoarse protests as he raced after his brothers. 

Leo arrived just in time to watch the show. “Hey losers!” Mikey called, jumping into the car, surprising and wrapping up the soldiers, paper and real, with his kusari-fundo. 

“I think this is your stop,” Raph finished, tearing up the paper soldiers. In the snapper’s haste, a few real foot soldiers broke out of the chain and fell out of the subway car.

“Hey, Raphie?” Leo called, joining them and dodging a hit. “I think one of the dudes that fell out of the car was the leader, the one with the freaky mask. Didn’t we leave Donnie back there?” He opened a portal, causing the paper soldiers that one of the human ones made teleport somewhere else. “Do you think…”

“Don’t worry, Leo!” The red-masked turtle responded, smashing a soldier into one of the walls and knocking her unconscious. “Donnie’s smarter than the rest of us put together. I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeve…” ——————————————————————Donnie equipped his newest invention to the train tracks, thrill at getting to test it out sparking through him. His weapon charged up as his quarry stumbled down the tunnel. “Y’know you guys should watch where you step down here,” he mused, his new invention making a buzzing noise and warming up in his hands. “The third rail can be quite deadly.”

He pointed the purple painted gun at them, artwork courtesy of Mikey, with a smug smile on his face. “And I only need a fraction of its power to charge this taser rifle I designed last night.” The tunnel lit up with electric green light, a sign that it was powered up and ready. “One hit, and you’ll be out for hours. Who wants to go first?”

His confidence vanished immediately as the ninja in the lead gave him a look of contempt that Donnie could see even through his weird mask. “Foolish child,” he spat, picking up his weapon and moving faster than the softshell could blink.

Donnie fired the taser, but it was too late. “You face ninja,” the foot leader sneered, nimbly leaping out of the way with his companion. They threw a couple of shuriken, one piercing Donnie’s shoulder and the other cutting through his power supply.

“Oh that’s not good,” the softshell yelped, trying to salvage his invention. “I can fix this! I can fix this! I CAN TOTALLY FIX THIS—” Donnie’s rambling was cut off as he took a blow to his plastron, flinging him across the tracks. “You know it turns out I cannot fix this…,” he finished weakly.

“You are not true ninja.” Pain ripped through his jaw as Mask Guy bashed his foot into his face. “You mask your deficiencies with cheap tricks. That is the way of the weak. You cannot best true strength and skill!”

“Scoff! I’m just smart enough to use every tool at my disposal,” Donnie retorted, pulling out his tech-bo. “Now eat plasma!”

The purple-masked turtle expected to use his battle shell to fly up into the air and blast the foot soldiers with his tech-bo. However, to his dismay, his battle shell gave a rumble and then fell off, exposing his vulnerable shell. His tech-bo short circuited and fell apart in his hands. “NO!”

“We have tools of our own,” Mask Guy continued triumphantly. His partner threw two more shurikens at the softshell. Donnie hissed in pain as one embedded itself in the edge of his shell. “Tools that our forebearers have mastered over centuries. Elevating the skill of their use into an art form. I can’t imagine what the great Lou Jitsu must think of you.”

Mask Guy’s words cut into Donatello’s heart, opening old wounds and bringing back long buried insecurities. His words hurt so much that the softshell didn’t see the chain that swept his legs out from under him. He let out a cry of pain as his shell hit the hard ground, gravel digging into it. The rail probably interfered with my tech! Donnie realized as he feebly attempted to block more shurikens as they cut into his arm.

He tried to activate his panic button, but Mask Guy knocked it out of his weak grip. Blood flew from his mouth as he took another hit to the face. “Perhaps this is mercy,” Mask Guy said maliciously, pointing his spear at Donnie’s throat. Panic clouded his senses as he stared at the sharp point as it lunged downwards…

His twin’s voice cut through his stupor. “GET AWAY FROM HIM!” Leo put Mask Guy in a headlock, his eyes narrowed with fury. 

Mask Guy grabbed the slider and threw him, smashing him into the opposite wall. “Don’t you see, boy? I am freeing you!” Fear sent Donnie’s heart racing as he turned back to him, his spear ready to strike again. “Imagine how strong you would be if you never had to protect the runt of your litter.”

Raph appeared out of the darkness, his face twisted with anger and fear. He punched Mask Guy in the face, so hard that he was sent flying farther down the dimly lit tunnel. “I’m plenty strong enough already,” he snarled, baring his teeth.

Leo helped Donnie up as Mikey turned towards the unconscious ninja, pure rage flashing across his face. “Just because Donnie’s as good a fighter as the rest of us, doesn’t mean that he’s not a million times better than bad guys like you!”

He then turned back to Donnie, his eyes wide with concern. “D, are you okay?! We totally thought you were a goner for a second there. Thank pizza supreme in the sky that we got down here in time!”

“Y-yeah,” Donnie stammered, shock still slowing his thoughts. “Thank pizza supreme in the sky…” ——————————————————————When they got back to the lair, Leo patched up his wounds as he and April chewed him out. “You’re lucky we got there,” Leo growled, not looking up from his wrapping. “You could have died, Donnie.”

“Ooooo I wish I was there,” April ranted. “I would have taught those jerks a lesson they would never forget! But seriously, D, you need to be more careful.”

“I know,” Donnie mumbled again, unable to meet his sister’s gaze. “I’m sorry.”

Her face softened. “We’re just worried about you, Donnie.”

“I know,” the softshell repeated, shifting around so his twin could treat his shell.

As April fell silent, the only noises for a few minutes were Raph and Mikey stuffing their faces with pizza. “Don’t listen to what that guy said,” Leo advised, putting the rest of the bandages away. “You don’t slow us down, Donnie. You’re all set, just no training for you for the next few days.”

As his twin and April retreated for pizza, Donnie was left alone with his thoughts. Leo might not believe it, he thought, shame burning a hole in his heart. But I do slow us down. He just doesn’t want to admit it. Dad probably is embarrassed by me, I bet all he said at that Demolition Derby was just another thing to get me to let him control the tank. Don’t worry, he comforted himself. That's all going to change soon, because I have a plan…

I thought about making this into a whole fic but I don’t want to. I feel like Donnie would try to become stronger by building a giant robot to help him fight. But the robot becomes sentient and almost destroys New York. Donnie would use more robot parts to try and stop the giant robot but the AI almost takes over his brain, forcing Donnie to believe in himself to break the control. He would also need the help of his brothers and FINALLY get even more approval from Splinter. Anyways, thanks for reading :)

So, I had an idea that won’t leave. What if I made a Rottmnt Mulan au but it’s just Leo wanting to be a boy?

…

GUYS I ALREADY WROTE A PROLOGUE WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME I NEED TO FINISH MY OTHER STUFF FIRST

I went to a TMNT 40th anniversary event at Time Blaster Toys and it was a blast!!! I got all kinds of goodies and got to see Michelle Ivey and her sister again :))))))))

There was this giant 2003 Mikey cutout that I was fighting the urge to steal 😭

They also had this kiddie ride that I really wanted to squeeze myself into

I got this pizza box thing with surprises inside. Kind of like a blind bag. IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT LOOK AT THIS WEIRD KRANG HAT I GOT I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 🩷🩷🩷

I also got a 2003 Donnie figure and Hot Wheels Monster Truck thing that I can’t stop looking lovingly at.

I also got this Last Ronin figure :D

And I got this pack of SUPER OLD cards. I don’t know why it was only four dollars because I think this came out a bit after the movie. There was a stick of gum stuck to the front card so it got damaged when I pulled it off 😭 My favorite is the Subway Assault card!

Thank you for listening to me talk about my new stuff! It was so fun and cool!!! I brought $60 in cash and it still wasn’t enough 😅

Edit: THERE WAS A RAFFLE BUT I DIDN’T WIN 😭

The Fifth Turtle Prologue

49’s mouth fell open at the sight of a shining… ghost lady? The ghost was wearing what looked like clothes from Japan. 49 had seen some in her Sensei’s dojo. Don’t think about him! She mentally kicked herself. 

The ghost lit up the room as she looked at 49 with kind eyes. The turtle had many questions, but was afraid to speak out loud in case this was a trick and Bishop was listening. 49 wasn’t even sure if she could speak. After all, she hadn’t spoken since Bishop took her.

“Do not worry,” Ghost Lady whispered softly, a tender look in her gaze. “I will not hurt you. However, I have much to tell you…”

(This is basically a little sister au)

49 was awakened by a light, yet warm, touch. She jerked sideways and tried to sit up, her arms burning with the effort. 49 half-closed her eyes because of the bright green light in front of her.

She shivered. Was this another one of Bishop’s horrible experiments? She heard a soft murmuring, “Oh my child…” Resisting the urge to scratch at her scars, her eyes adjusted to the green glow.

49’s mouth fell open at the sight of a shining… ghost lady? The ghost was wearing what looked like clothes from Japan. 49 had seen some in her Sensei’s dojo. Don’t think about him! She mentally kicked herself. 

The ghost lit up the room as she looked at 49 with kind eyes. The turtle had many questions, but was afraid to speak out loud in case this was a trick and Bishop was listening. 49 wasn’t even sure if she could speak. After all, she hadn’t spoken since Bishop took her.

“Do not worry,” Ghost Lady whispered softly, a tender look in her gaze. “I will not hurt you. However, I have much to tell you…”

Three months later…

Donnie’s phone rang as he was working on writing SHELLDON’s code in his lab. He rubbed his eyes, tired after staring at the screen, and reached for his phone. “You are conversing with Donatello,” he answered, holding back a yawn. 

“DONNIE!!!” April shouted from the other end. “Turn on the news!” Donnie flinched, feeling irritated. “Do you have to scream,” he grumbled, swiveling around and getting up from his seat.

“Just do it,” April commanded. “Trust me, and HURRY.” Donnie sighed, heading towards the living room. “I’m hurrying.”

“No time for sarcasm, D,” she shouted. “Yeeeesh, no need to yell, April,” Donnie quipped back. He could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

Donnie entered the room, spotting Leo quietly watching Jupiter Jim on the couch. Papa must still be asleep, he mused. No surprise, it’s four in the morning.

He snatched the remote and shut off the movie, earning a protest from his blue-masked brother. “Hey! I was watching that.” Leo scrambled towards him. “Give it back!”

Donnie ignored him, switching to the news channel. “April called, rudely interrupting me, might I add, and said to turn on the news so I’m just doing what she said. Unlike you’d like to argue with her, my dear brother.” Donnie waved the phone around. Leo shot him a glare followed by a shrug. “I don’t see the problem.”

“That’s what I thought,” Donnie said, sitting down beside his twin. He turned up the volume just as Raph stomped into the room, holding a sleepy, retracted Mikey. “It is four o’clock in the morning! I hope you have a good explanation for this argument.” 

Leo stuck his tongue out at Raph as Mikey slowly poked his head out his shell. “Oh come on we weren’t that loud, maybe you’re a light sleeper.”

Raph glared at Leo. “Look, I know you guys can’t sleep but can you at least let us sleep?” Leo gasped dramatically and fell off the couch.

“How dare you accuse me. Donnie started it!” Donnie rolled his eyes. “Gasp! How dare you accuse me Nardo.”

Raph let out a low grumble. “Both of you be quiet. Pops is still asleep.” Leo wouldn’t let the argument go that easily. “First of all, Donnie’s the one that stole the—”

“Ummm, guys,” Mikey interrupted, his limbs popping out of his shell. “You should look at the TV.” Everyone turned toward the screen in confusion.

The title on the screen read: Could There Be Monsters Hiding In Our City?

It showed a woman with a microphone, who was clearly a news reporter, and a man wearing a suit-lab coat hybrid looking thing, black shades, and slick black hair. 

“For those just tuning in, I am here with scientist Johnathon Bishop,” the woman announced, the thick hair piled into a bun on her head bouncing. “Do you mind telling us more about your amazing discovery?”

She handed the microphone over to the man. “Thank you, Irma,” he replied, a sly smile on his face. “I am but a humble researcher, rejected by my peers at a young age. However, despite all that, I clawed my way up to the top after making a startling discovery four years ago today.”

Irma pushed up the thick, square glasses that threatened to slide from her nose. “Everyone wants to know, Mr. Bishop. What is this breakthrough you keep mentioning? We have only heard rumors so far!”

Bishop held the microphone up to his lips, a twinkle in his eyes. “I have found the most peculiar creature. A humanoid animal, sentient and sapient. A mutant, a monster, a freak.”

Irma’s eyes widened. “A monster?!” She squeaked, fear sparking in her gaze. 

“Yes,” Bishop confirmed. “A monster. It is unpredictable and vicious, but don’t worry. We have contained it. It will soon be on display for scientific study and human enjoyment at the Peterman Zoo. It may be a turtle, but do not be fooled by its looks and fake docile nature.”

Donnie’s phone slipped out of his hand in shock as Bishop continued. “I don’t sugg—” Leo shut off the TV, his knuckles white from gripping the remote so hard. Not a noise was heard as everyone took in the news.

Donnie broke the silence. “Well, I guess I’ll start doing some research.”

Am I the only one that thinks Donnie sits in one of those super comfy swivel chairs that the teachers in 4-6 grade always tell you not to sit on but everyone sits in them anyway? I can also imagine him using it to spin around while stroking SHELLDON when someone enters the room, lol.

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