Season Sneak Peek

Rise April Challenge 23: Spooky

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here (Not my finest work, but it's okay. I like writing horror, but I didn't want to lean too heavily into that, so here.)

Flint lives in New York, has for many years now, he’s seen some weird stuff. That means that he rarely gets surprised any more. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t get scared.

He had been scouting out an abandoned sewar tunnel for a few weeks now. It seems that’s out of view most security cameras and he hadn’t seen anyone else using it for... unsavory business. So, Flint thought it would be a good place to do some not exactly legal art.

The tunnel was dark and smelt of old rainwater, the kind of water was tainted with the oils and gases of the city and dragged them down through storm drains, but there wasn't the smell of sewage and that was good enough for Flint.

He flicked on his flashlight and walked deeper in, the sound of his footsteps bouncing endlessly into the darkness. The light from the entrance was soon gone, leaving Flint only with the pale artificial light in his hand. The air was still, and the young vandal felt the clinging, dusty cold that came with being encased underground. It felt like the tunnel was holding its breath, staring out at him with wide unseen eyes.  

An image entered Flint’s mind of a tall, slim, shadowy figure, just a step or two behind him. Following. Waiting. He could see the way it glided forward, soundlessly so as not to alert its victim. He could see the way the darkness was stuffed and shoved into an into a tall, bulging, shape that could almost be a man. And Flint could see the way its long slim fingers reached out to grab his head and yank it straight off his-

He whipped around and shined the light right where the things face would be.  

There was nothing there.

Of course not. He was just creeped out from being in a dark tunnel alone. It was normal that his imagination acted up. Flint shook his head and carried on.

-

A few minutes later Flint had stopped walking and was working on a section of wall, illuminated by his flashlight laying on the ground. The smell of paint driving off the old rain smell, and the shaking of spray cans driving off the echoes.

He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to paint and was mostly hoping inspiration would strike as he started to work. It was going okay, and he could feel himself slipping into a nice artistic trance when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing off the walls. He froze, wondering if someone had seen him go into the sewers and thought he was an easy target to rob, or if it was a cop.  

Except, it wasn't coming from the direction of the entrance.

It was coming from deeper inside.

Flint didn't move. He could feel his heart in his chest jumping and his mind overflowed with the images of true crime shows and horror movies.

The noise stopped, and Flint twisted his head to face it.

He could just see it, the beam of his flashlight barely managing to reveal its outline while the rest of it was cloaked in shadow. It was huge, almost twice his height and just as wide, with bulging masses of muscles the size of his head. Flint could make out the pointed shape of spikes running up and down the scaly skin of its arms. He saw more spikes curling down his back, and a few splitting from his shoulders, sharper and longer than the others. It was hunched over slightly and pinned Flint in place with two blank, glowing, white eyes.  

Flint could hear his breath hitch, and his legs shake.

He didn't want to die. Oh God, is he going to die?

The thing tilted its head and leaned slowly closer to the light. Flint could just make out the glimpse of bright red around its wrists, when something on the thing shoulder moved and two more glowing eyes opened and stared at him.

Flint ran. He abandoned his paint and flashlight, and just ran. Ran through the endless darkness towards the entrance, feeling the air rush past him and the walls closing around him, trying to trap him inside. They were inches away from touching his skin, he knew it. even if he couldn't see it, he knew it. He just had to get out.

Had to get out. Had to get out. HadtogetouthadtogetouthadtogETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT-

he collapsed into the light of the sun right of the tunnel and stared back into the darkness. Nothing came out after him.

After a few minutes of catching his breath, Flint went home. He never went back for his supplies. He never told anyone, never posted about it on the internet, he knew no one would believe him. And he figured that if he never went back into that thing's territory, it would leave him alone.

He didn't want to know what it was; he didn't care. As the saying goes “live and let live.” So, if it let him live, he would do the same. He figured that was fair.

-

Raph blinked at the spot where the artist had stood and just put his head in his hand. Dang it, he hadn't meant to scare the kid. Mikey yawned from his spot on Raph’s back.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing,” Raph said. “Let's get you to bed, you don't think your Sleepy-Little-Brother act gonna get me not to tell Pops you were out late painting again.”

“But I am tired. It's not an act if I’m actually tired.”

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge, and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.

@nickelodeon Bring Back Rise

Rise April Challenge 19: Baby

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here

A thick blanket had been thrown over the cold tile floor of the kitchen, images of dinosaurs and volcanoes spread across its surface. A few stuffed animals and some of Donnie and Mickey's old fidget toys had been spread across the blanket. Mikey lay on his stomach, his upper half resting on the blanket while the rest of him hung off.  

The box turtle stared wide eyed at the four small forms crawling around on the blanket in awe.

When Draxum had called and explained that Mikey’s brothers had been transformed into children, Mikey had thought that he had meant ten to twelve. Not literal babies.

He could hear Splinter and Draxum arguing in the room over, but from what he could tell it was mostly just worried shouting with a few insults. Nothing that really needed Dr Feelings’ supervision. Besides, he was too busy staring at the little baby turtles crawling around on the floor.

They were so... tiny. Leo and Donnie could sit in Mikey's cupped hands, and while Raph was a bit too big for that, being twice the height of the other two. Mikey wondered how their dad had raised them without worrying about stepping on them.

Raph was currently chewing on the paw of a teddy bear, that he was cuddling with. Donnie had gotten hold of one of Mikey's old slinkies and was rolling it forward and back from where he sat with a look of very serious concentration. Leo on the other hand was giggling and trying to work the buttons on a fidget cube but that was the size of his chest. Mikey just stared at his little brothers.

Little brothers. Mikey had little brothers.

Holy cow, Mikey was a Big Brother!  

The thought made him squeal with overwhelming giddiness and excitement. He knew that this wasn’t going to last very long, Draxum had said that they should be fine by tomorrow, but still!

Donnie made a small quacking bark as he pushed the slinky too hard and it rolled farther away. The baby turtle wobbly stood up and stumbled towards the toy.  Leo stopped and looked over at the noise and, seeing his brother, he dropped the cube and crawled over. Just as Donnie had reached his toy, Leo stood up and with a smile and a loud squeal, leaned forward and fell on his brother in a hug/tackle. Donnie yelped and grunted as he tried to wiggle out from under his red eared brother.  

The noise broke Raph of his cuddle with his teddy bear. He stood and walked over to his brothers, much steadier than the younger two. He leaned over the wriggling mass and wrapped his arms around them and picked the twins up and held them to his chest, which just made the noise louder.

Raph then looked over at Mikey and held up Donnie and Leo with a proud look on his face while the other two just stared.  

Mikey wasn’t going to make it! This was it!  

The now eldest sat up and reached over, grabbed them all and placed his brothers in his lap. Donnie had settled and seemed resigned to the cuddle fest and just glared at them all. Leo settled across his twin’s back, rubbing his cheek across Don’s soft shell, and closed his eyes. Raph just sat up and swung his tail back and forth letting out happy chuffing purrs. Mikey just smiled and tried to keep from squirming in joy. Then he reached over and grabbed his phone, opening the camera.

He was going to tease them so much when they were fixed!

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here

Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.

Moments Chapter 1: Mad Dogs

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AO3 Link: Here

Draxum was still adjusting to being in contact with his creations. He had thought they had been destroyed with his lab, so when he saw them alive, he had been overwhelmed. When he had lost them, he hadn't truly mourned, he had been uncertain if the experiment would work and wasn't sure what it would have created, he wasn't even certain if they would be fully sentient. The fact that they were alive and there had caused a rush of emotion. Surprise and shock, but also pride and wonder. He had called them beautiful, and he had meant it.  

As they fought, Draxum observed them carefully, trying to see what his creations had become in his absence. They had somehow managed to find the scrapped prototypes for the weapons that he had intended to give them if he had raised them. And each of them seemed to use them with at least a moderate form of success. Impressive. But what was more impressive was the fact that they could speak clearly, enough to banter with him and each other, and they each seem to have different and separate personalities from each other.  

Even though he only spent a short time with them he could see that they had become people. Not weapons, or animals, or some empty shell that could be puppeteered. They were aware, sentient, alive. It made some small and strange thing bloom in his chest. He had ignored it.  

He learned eventually that they called themselves "The Mad Dogs." Draxum had creased his eyebrows at the name, wondering why they would want to name themselves after a crazed and feral animal. But otherwise had not thought about it.  

-  

It had not been until much later that he remembered he had made them to be weapons.  

It had been a hard thing to remember. They acted up and goofed around so much, and rarely took anything seriously. Even when he had revealed a core piece of their identity, the truth about their human DNA, all they had done was squeal like little girls and jump up and down. And though he saw their power, it was easy for Draxum to continue thinking of them as nothing more than children. It took him seeing how they reacted after the Krang invasion to remember that fact.  

Draxum had received a call from Michelangelo's phone shortly after the chaos had settled. All he had managed to gather was that Michelangelo had done something mystical and had been severely injured before he was out the door and on his way to the turtle's lair.  

-  

When he arrived, he ignored the mess that the layer was in and march straight to the med bay. He threw the door straight open with a slam.  

"Would anyone care to tell me-" he started, but he was immediately interrupted.  

The Alchemist found himself tackled harshly against the wall, pinned there by a steel-like forearm across his neck, and staring down the glowing purple of a mystic technological weapon. Beyond the weapon he saw two animalistic eyes reflecting the purple light, pupils blown wide with adrenaline. Draxum froze under Donatello's gaze, the two eyes pinned him more securely to the wall than even the threat of the weapon. From behind the softshell, he heard a deep rumbling, and when he managed to look beyond the thing pinning him to the wall, he saw three more pairs of eyes staring him down intently. He felt his heartbeat pick up several notches, and his breath catch. His hind mind kicked into gear telling him to leave, screaming "threat!" in his ear. He felt like he had stumbled upon a den of predators, willing and able to kill him without thought. Like a pack of ravenous, hungry, and crazed dogs.  

"Donnie," a voice said, and all attention twisted from him to the source. April stood in the corner; hands raised in surrender. "Donnie it's okay, it's just Barry. He's here to help Mikey, remember?"  

Slowly, the purple turtle leaned back from Draxum. His weapon dissolved and he stepped away, pupils still wide but holding more clarity than before. Donatello nodded, glared at Draxum, and retreated towards the bed his brothers were gathered around.  

Now that Draxum was able to get a clearer look at the room, he nearly winced at the state of the brothers. Leonardo was by far the worst, wrapped in a huge number of bandages and looked trapped in the bed under the weight of the injuries. Raphael was favoring his left side, his right I was swollen shut, he had his body hunched over the bed pointing his spiked shell outwards and revealing the puncture wound above his shoulder. Donatello looked the best out of the brothers, resting on the foot of the bed like a sentry, but he was leaning on his bo staff like a crutch, and the Alchemist could still see bandages and patches on his arm. He also noted the lack of battle shell and the way the turtle angled his real shell away from him. Michelangelo was sitting at the end of the bed too, and Draxum saw the burns reaching up his forearms and the way his hand shook. They all still pinned him with that unnerving stare, but it was less of a threat and more of a warning.  

"Sorry," April said. "You just startled them a little, they're still kind of on edge."  

"Yeah," Michelangelo said from the bed, with a small smile, but his voice was hoarse and weak. "Sorry."  

"Don't apologize," Draxum said. He slowly approached the bed trying to keep his body language relaxed. "Now," he said gesturing for Michelangelo to show his injuries. The others' animalistic eyes still pinned on him. "Would you mind telling me exactly what happened?"  

-  

Later, when Draxum would try to go to sleep, the image of those stares would burst through his mind, and he would be wide awake again. He would be reminded of the name "Mad Dogs" and would find that it suddenly fit.  

Because no matter how childish they were, how silly, how kind, they would always have the capability to be weapons. They would always be more powerful than almost everyone they would ever meet. They would always have a wild part of themselves, that would seek to eliminate any threat to themselves or to anyone they cared about. It was a frightening thought, and The Alchemist was suddenly very happy that he had not raised the boys.  

Because no matter how much he had missed, and he had missed so much, he was happy that they had the chance to be more than weapons. Happy they had the chance to be more than crazed and feral animals. Happy that they had been raised as children and not soldiers. Happy that that wild part of themselves was not the only thing that defined them.  

Even if he still did not understand why they chose to call themselves by that title, he was happy it was a part of themselves that they could embrace along with their... humanity.

-

Masterpost - Next

Thank you for reading. Let me know if there is anything I should work on.

Thank you to @sariphantom for hosting the Rise August Challenge, which this is inspired by.

@nickelodeon Please save Rise.

Moments: Rise One-Shots

AO3 Link

Based on the Rise August Challenge by @sariphantom Thank you for Hosting this Challenge.

Mad Dogs: Draxum ponders over why his creations would use the term “Mad Dogs” to identify themselves. He sees why. (BAMF Turtle Brothers, Draxum trying his best)

Disaster Twins: Donnie and Leo like to show their love through gifts. (Fluff, Angst, Gifts)

 Dr. Delicate Touch: How did Mikey become Dr. Delicate Touch. (Turtle Tots)

 Yokai: Donnie and his brother weren’t humans. So, he was excited to discover that there was a whole city of people like them.  Except that it turns out they aren’t Yokai either.

 Mayhem: Agent 64 knows that their mission is over. That the council would want them back to continue their work elsewhere. So, they gave themselves a new mission: to spy and report on human activity.

Cassandra Jones: Cassandra Jones had loved the Foot Clan, the Clan just hadn’t loved her back.

Senor Hueso: The hidden city was aware of the invasion but didn’t know how it ended. Senor Hueso finds out when the turtles come to eat.

Big Mama: Leo is trapped with Raph by Big Mama (Whump)

Kimono: Ralph wears a kimono; it feels strangely right.

Pizza: Mikey tries to make pizza from scratch. It... doesn't really work out.

April O’Neil: It’s hard to believe that April is human sometimes, even she sometimes questions it. (BAMF April)

Cassy Jr.: Cassy Jr has a panic attack. Raph helps. (Angst)

 Cannonball: Cannonball Day ends with Mikey having his arm in a cast. (Hurt/Comfort, Broken Bones)

 Purple Dragons: Donnie was not happy that the Purple Dragons had made him almost destroy his brothers. But they were fine in the end, so no harm, no foul. That didn't mean they weren’t still on thin ice with him, then they decided to do the incredibly stupid thing of risking his son’s AI’s life. They weren't going to know what hit them.

Invention: Donnie has never been the safest in his lab. He regrets that now more than ever, as his newest invention begins to malfunction.

Hidden City: The Hidden City is a weird place. so, when something weirder comes along they notice it. And rumors are a thing no matter where you live.

Warren Stone: Warren Stone is not the most intimidating figure, but he'll be damned if the relaxing date he had planned for him and his boyfriend was to be interrupted by anything.

Lou Jitsu: Splinter finds an old Lou Jitsu Movie, and he takes it home. He never meant for his boys to find it. (Fluff, Angst, Tots)

Snow Day: Mikey isn't the best at dealing with low temperatures. His brothers must deal with the aftermath. (Hurt/Comfort, Whump)

Sleepover: Everyone needs some comfort after the invasion, and since Leo can't be moved from the Med Bay, they'll have to make do. (Hurt/Comfort)

Mrs. Cuddles: How did Raph become afraid of Mrs. Cuddles?

Hypno: It turns out that Leo and Hypno have a lot in common. So, when they're not trying to beat the living daylights out of each other, they have a lot to talk about.

Turtle Tots: Turtle brothers have always been trouble magnets, which hadn't been great when they were younger. There was a reason Donnie invented his battle shell.

Rise: The Hamato children remember what it was like when they awoke their Ninpo.

@nickelodeon please bring back Rise!

April Rise Challenge 13: Umbrella

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Ao3 link: Here

Leo had been reading one of his comics when Donnie had barged in with a wide look in his eye.

“Woah, Hermano,” Leo said, catching his twin as he almost slipped and fell.  “What's got you in such a rush?”

Donnie's wide eyes turned to the slider, and he bared his teeth in an excited smile.

“Leo, it’s a Rain Day.”

Leo froze, and then his eyes bulged out.

“Really?! You’re sure?”

“Even if it wasn’t for my super advanced and accurate weather predicting system, I can see the storm clouds.” Leo broke into a smile and let go of Donnie so we could hop from foot to foot, whooping loudly.  

Rainy days were not unusual in any sense of the word. But Rain Days were different. They were only held on days when the water came down in sheets and the thunder rolled loud enough to drown out the city traffic. Rain Days only happened when there was a storm, and they were the best brother tradition the four of them had.

“How long do we have?” Leo asked, already looking around for his raincoat.

“About two hours,” Donnie responded. “So, we need to be ready in an hour and a half to get there in time. You-”

“Yeah yeah! I got this!” Leo cut in, scouring under the bed for his umbrella. “Take care of your own stuff, Tello!”

Donnie shrugged and rushed out of the room to get ready on his own. Leo felt giddy as he ran around, for once mad at himself for not keeping his room cleaner.

-

Within the hour, the four turtle brothers were all gathered at start of a long sewer tunnel. They were all dressed in rubber raincoats with either hoods or in mickey's case a rain hat. Raph had a bag under his arm that held towels and snacks, and each of them had a different colored umbrella. Mikey was bouncing on the balls of his feet, gleeful and unable to stand still.

“We all told dad where we’re going, right?” Raph asked glancing around.

“Of course,” Donnie said.

“Then let’s go already!” Mikey yelled, breaking into a sprint down the tunnel. The others quickly followed suit, whooping and hollering in excitement and anticipation.

It didn't take them long to reach the end of the tunnel where a large sewer grate was swung partially open. They all slowed as they neared it, allowing their noises to fade away into a heavy almost silence. They listened closely, but despite the heavy gray sky and the smell of electricity in the air, all they could hear was the distant sounds of the city.  

Raph reached out push the gate the rest of the way open stepping in the fresh air, and walking out of the tunnel to be bathed in the bit of sunlight that could peek through the wall of clouds above. The others followed behind, pulling their jackets tighter at the frosty cold.  

The outside of the tunnel was a long concrete canal that was far away from the rest of the city. The brothers walked silently down watching their breath appear in the cold air and float upwards. There was a rumble of thunder, and the boys stopped and waited. Leo felt the first drop of water land on his nose.

“It’s starting.” Leo said, and Mikey squealed in excitement. They all opened their umbrellas and continued walking.

By the time they reached their destination the rain had been consistently falling for a couple of minutes. A strange drum of water meeting plastic meeting each of their ears as the umbrellas prevented them getting wet.

Their destination was a small ladder that went up the side of the canal. Raph had already started climbing it, but Mikey couldn't wait any longer and simply ran up the side. Leo wanted to roll his eyes at his brother's enthusiasm, but he didn't want to be a hypocrite, so simply followed Raph up.  

On the top of the canal there was a singular huge tree, the last of the autumn leaves still clinging to its branches. In front of it was a shallow pit that they had dug when they were younger. It was big enough that Raph could lay down inside of it without having his feet hanging out. The bottom of it was coated with smooth rocks, and it was already filling with a shallow amount of rainwater. Mikey was sitting up in the branches of the tree, his umbrella hanging upside-down by its hook while he smiled down at them. The remaining three brothers sat beneath the tree branches and watched the sky, quietly waiting for the real rain to start. It didn't take long.

The sky opened and dumped the water down, thunder rolled loud enough to drown out the noise of the city, and the wind blew so hard that their umbrellas quickly became useless. Leo threw his up to Mikey who hung it upside down on a different branch than his own, which was already overflowing creating waterfalls down to the ground. The other two umbrellas swiftly followed. They hung like ornaments, catching the rain. It was a good thing that Donnie had reinforced all their umbrellas so they wouldn't break under the weight of the water.  

Once it was done Leo turned to the shallow pit which was filling up quite nicely. He smiled, stood up, walked to the edge, turned around and spread his hands.

“RAIN DAY!” he yelled, and on cue the thunder roared. Leo leaned back, allowed gravity to take hold, and fell shell first to the man-made pond.

The water was shockingly cold, and Leo was going to need a good cup of coffee after this was all done, but it felt heavenly.  

No matter how old they got, or how human they could act, some part of the Hamato brothers would always be turtles. It was a fact that could have been uncomfortable if they had not grown up with it. And on Rain Days four would allow themselves to be weak and indulge in the joy that rain brought to their amphibious minds.

As Leo sat up from the water, he heard his brother's yell and watched as Mikey ran and jumped into the water that came up to the box turtle’s knees.

Mickey wasn't an aquatic species of turtle, but for some reason he still loved Rain Days. Maybe it was simply hanging out with his brothers, or maybe he just enjoyed the rain for a normal reason. It didn't really matter.  

The youngest brother yelped and jumped at the temperature, making Leo laugh. While the other was distracted, the slidder reached over the side of the pit and grabbed a fistful of wet sticky mud. He aimed slowly as Mikey tried to get feeling back in his feet, and just when the orange turtle turned to him, Leo hurled it right into his face. It landed with a wet splat and Leo laughed at the look on his brother's face.

“So... You have chosen war, brother?” Mikey asked, and Leo knows he should be afraid but all he can do is smile and meet the challenge.

“Bring it.”

-

The day is spent with the four of them flinging mud and each other and splashing in the achingly cold water, and by the end of it they're all shivering with slightly blue fingers. And towards the end as the storm dies down, they all lie on their backs with their eyes closed underneath the old tree and feel the droplets fall on their faces until they decide to go home.

When they get back home, covered in mud and soaked to the bone, they'll take a lukewarm bath and sit with a hot drink under their heating lamp slowly bringing feeling back into their limbs. And the week will be filled with them complaining about their runny noses and how cold they all still are. But in the end, they'll be back to that old tree and shallow pit on the next Rain Day.

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Ao3 Link: Here

Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge for more submissions by other fans.

(Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this, I had a lot of schoolwork that needed to be done. I will be working on catching up with this.)

Oh I love this! Your art is so good.

And don't worry, I'm just as behind as you 😅

Rise August Day 2: Disaster Twins

They're not called the DISASTER Twins for nothing, y'know. 😆

Totally worth being WAY behind on the challenge, but I'm NEVER doing that again for the rest of the challenge (we'll see how long that'll last). Based on the "Salt and Pepper Diner" skit, except replace the song "What's New Pussycat" with "Surfin' Bird", and not included in the picture is Hueso having a heart attack. Thanks, Family Guy.

Oh and someone set the jukebox on fire.

Beautifully drawn!

I love this game, and you should go play it.

my take on the fellas

i imagine voice of the hero and narrator appearing like shadows, while other voices like or shadows or spirits bc they may be ghosts of previous mcs

and additionally voice of the meek bc i completely forgot about him

Robot: You are not human and will never be. Can you feel real pain? Is your pain different from a human's? Can you feel joy? Love? Anger? Can you feel anything at all? You will always be looking out over the faces of humanity and will never know if you lack the emotion that they all share.

Clone: You are not you, and have never been. You never had a real life. You have always been an imitation of someone else. Is there anything that can separate you from the true you? You are a lie given form, a facsimile of someone else. You are not a person, not an animal. You are nothing.

Both of these are horrifying, and there is no clear answer.

@nickelodeon

Reblogging so they can see it again

 Guys…I have made an amazing discovery. (Watch with sound on).

wilburs thoughts on tommy and existing