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“Now let me show you how they work!” Donnie exclaimed, eyes sparkling with excitement and joy. Raph simply smiled back at him, gently encouraging the soft shelled turtle to continue, which he gladly did.
“Now Micheal, your jumper will inflate when it detects that you are about to hit something, thus preventing you from getting hurt!” Mikey’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, looking down at the jumper. “...What? But-” ''Here it inflates like this!” Donnie interrupted, pressing a button on his wrist computer, smiling brightly as the jumper inflated, to Mikey’s horror. “Wait what!?” Mikey exclaimed, panic clear on his face. As soon as the jumper deflated, the orange clad threw off the offending article of clothing, glaring at Donnie.
“What the heck Dee!?” He shouted, crossing his arms. “You know I need my razzle and dazzle! I can’t razzle and dazzle in that… not-yummy marshmallow!” The turtle huffed, looking away from Donnie and glaring at the ground. Donnie blinked, face falling slightly. “Mikey!” Raph scolded before looking back at Donnie, smile straining a little. “I’m sure the other gifts are amazing!” He said encouragingly, pushing Leo towards Donnie. "What does Leo's collar do?" Donnie smiled again, albeit a bit more hesitantly. "It listens to every word he says and if it turns out to be a bad pun or one liner... well it'd be better if I showed you. Leon, a one liner please." Leo clicked his tongue, winking at Donnie. "I gotcha brother~," He cleared his throat and readjusted himself, looking straight at Donnie and grinning.
"Gotta say Donnie, even though clothes are usually my forte, you did amazing! Although technically it's not cl-"
He was cut off from his "witty" one liner by a very painful shock coursing through his system, causing him to shout in pain. Once the shock was over, Leo clutched his chest and glared up at Donnie with horror.
“What the f-” “Isn’t it amazing!? Now you can stop with those ridiculous puns and focus on fighting!” Donnie said, smile getting bigger. “No!” Leo snapped, unlatching the collar and throwing it down right next to Mikey’s jumper. “What the shell Donnie!? My one liners fire up the team, right?” Leo said, looking back at Raph and Mikey, waiting for the two to agree with him. The two turtles simply looked away, Raph whistling a little tune.
“Any. Way,” Leo continued, glaring at Donnie. “Your gifts are stupid and we hate them.”
Raph was inclined to agree with Leo’s, admittedly harsh but still true, statement, until he saw the absolutely crushed look on Donnie’s face. He swallowed nervously, stepping forward and putting a hand on Donnie’s shoulder. “What does my gift do?” Donnie sighed, looking away, mumbling. “It just reminds you to think of a plan, and gives you information to do so… go ahead and say you hate it already and throw it on the ground.” “...I-I… I love it Donnie.”
Donnie’s head shot up, looking at his eldest brother with a hopeful twinkle in his mismatched eyes. “R-really?” He asked, a grin slowly stretching across his face. “Y-yeah buddy, it’s really thoughtful. Thank you,” He lied, smiling nervously and scratching the back of his head. Donnie laughed in pure joy, hugging Raph tightly. “You are now my favorite brother!!!” he squealed, jumping up and down and clapping like a kid who was just given two desserts. “Heh I’m glad…” Raph said, patting the softshell’s back. “Now let’s go home, aight?” He offered, looking at his other two brothers, both of which seemed annoyed at his lies, Mikey shaking his head disapprovingly.
“Yeah, sure,” Leo scoffed, grabbing Mikey’s wrist and leading the youngest towards the nearest manhole cover. Raph winced at Leo’s attitude, offering a consoling pat on Donnie’s shoulder.
“...I’m gonna stay out for a bit, okay?” Donnie looked at Raph weirdly before shrugging, moving away from the snapper and walking towards the manhole cover that Leo and Mikey used. He quickly lifted it up and looked back at Raph. “Be careful,” he said, climbing down into the sewers, not giving Raph time to answer. Raph simply sighed, poking at the helmet resting on his head.
“Well… let’s see how this thing works…”
~
Raph sighed, idly resting his head on his hands. He was perched on top of a building, on the lookout for some crime after hearing from April about how this specific street corner was the hot spot for some recent disappearances. “Now come to papa…” he whispered, wincing when the helmet made a disapproving beep. “You shouldn’t be talking, Raph,” the helmet droned, the sarcastic voice grating against Raph’s ear drums.
Raph gritted his teeth, giving a curt nod. He rubbed at his eyes, silently yawning. He had been out there for at least two hours, just waiting for something to happen. Maybe he should just go…
CRASH!
Raph jolted, grabbing his tonfas in surprise. He looked down at the street corner, seeing a suspicious looking robed figure holding a brown sack, grumbling at an overturned trash can. The figure huffed before looking both ways and hurriedly crossing the street, obviously in a rush to go somewhere. Raph narrowed his eyes, jumping from building to building. As he squatted and mentally prepared himself to jump down onto the figure and demand what they were doing out at this time of night, the helmet chimed in and startled the snapper.
“You need a plan, Raph.” Raph barely managed to prevent himself from falling off the roof, glaring up at the helmet. “Don’t do-” “No talking, Raph”. He couldn’t even argue with the darned thing! Raph whispered under his breath exactly how the helmet made him feel, the helmet gasping in offense at the choice words Raph used. Raph scoffed quietly, deciding to instead follow the figure, deciding it was simply easier to follow what the helmet said versus fighting with it. The figure entered an abandoned restaurant, if the sign was anything to go by. (That name… Chateau Prétenche, sounds familiar. Weird.)
Raph hid behind some boxes, peeking around them and watching with bated breath as the figure slowly pulled their hood off, revealing a very piggish-looking face. A mutant!? Raph thought frantically, wondering if he should call in his siblings for backup. No, I can do this! he thought determinedly, trying not to be intimidated by the sheer size of the pig.
“Rushing in liKE A BOSS-!” He shouted, knocking over boxes he was hiding behind and charging straight at the mutant, tonfas glowing in preparation to aid Raph in smashing the pig’s face in. “YOU NEED A PLAN RAPH” The robotic screeching invading his eardrums made the snapper stumble, falling on top of the pig mutant with a shout.
Dang it!
The pig groaned and snarled, quickly throwing Raph off of him, the turtle hitting a wall with an almost painful CRACK. Raph groaned, trying to move before realizing he couldn’t, his spikes had dug deep into the wall, effectively pinning him there.
“Well well well~” The pig snorted, a wide smile appearing on his face that showed off jagged teeth. “I guess I now have a turtle all ready to be cooked and turned into turtle soup,” He laughed, getting a very sharp and deadly-looking knife, sharpening it. Raph’s eyes widened in fear as he thrashed, trying to get his spikes unstuck from the wall.
“You need a pl-” “I KNOW I NEED A PLAN!” Raph snapped at the annoying helmet, taking a deep breath and trying to clear his head and simply think of a way out of this very-quickly-turning-deadly pickle. “Sto-” “SHUT THE SHELL UP!” Raph shouted, startling the pig mutant so badly he nearly stabbed himself. “Who in the Heavens are you talking to, laddie?” The pig questioned, looking almost concerned for his next meal’s mental health. Raph ignored the mutant, gritting his teeth and getting an idea.
“Power smash jitsu!” He yelled, hitting his tonfas together. The weapons glowed and let out a burst of red, propelling Raph out of the wall and into the mutant yet again. The mutant squealed in pain and Raph winced as he felt the knife scrape against his plastron painfully. He quickly headbutted the mutant underneath him, the helmet shouting in protest. Raph sat up, punching the pig in the face before scrambling off and turning around to get some rope to tie him up. “That was a horrible plan, Raph,” the helmet sneered. “Shut u-” Thunk!
Raph stopped in his tracks when he felt pressure against his shell, more out of surprise than pain. He turned around just in time to see the pig running away, grumbling under his breath about losing one of his good knives. Raph gritted his teeth together, punching the wall in frustration. “You forgot to ma-” “Make sure the villain was knocked out yeah I got that,” Raph interrupted, sighing in defeat. “‘M goin’ home…” He muttered dejectedly, taking off the helmet and running back home.
~
For his big (and painfully spiky) frame, Raph was remarkably quiet. Which was a good thing when he was sneaking back into the Lair from an impromptu patrol. He sighed and cursed softly, rubbing where that pig mutant had nicked him. The plastron was scuffed, which required some buffing. What was the point of advanced healing if a little scuff wasn’t fixed!? Raph grumbled to himself, helmet under his arm as he sneaked in the shadows towards the MedBay.
He stopped in his tracks when he heard a soft sniffle coming from Donnie’s room. Big brother instincts won over the chance of worrying the second eldest, Raph peeking his head into the softshell’s room.
Donnie was curled up under his bed, wiping tears out of his eyes. He was wearing his battleshell and chewing aggressively on a rainbow block pendant, something he only did when he was truly distressed. Raph took a deep breath and gently knocked on the door. “...Who is it?” Donnie mumbled, not even bothering to take the toy out of his mouth. “It’s Raph,” Raph said softly, noting the lack of headphones on Donnie’s head. Donnie didn’t reply, simply getting up and putting on his headphones. “Fine.” He said, going back to chewing on the toy and Raph took that as his cue to walk in.
He swallowed and walked in the room, sitting down next to Donnie’s bed. Donnie’s eyes flicked over Raph, landing on the helmet still safely tucked under Raph’s arm. “You kept it…” He trailed off, eyes wide and hopeful. Raph gave a gentle smile, forcing a grimace back. “Of course I did! You made it for me, didn’t ya?” Donnie chuckled bitterly, looking away. “Micheal and Leon didn’t care,” He said bluntly, teeth clenching around the toy. Raph nodded, staying quiet and just letting Donnie rant, which he did. For two hours.
“-and that is why I gave Leon the shock collar!” He huffed out, yawning and rubbing his eyes, the chew toy dangling uselessly around his neck after falling out of Donnie’s mouth. “Come on buddy,” Raph urged softly, watching Donnie blink sleepily, “ya need t’ sleep. Here, lemme take yer stuff kay?” Donnie nodded, exhaustion probably hitting him like a freight train as it usually after a good cry and rant.
Raph removed the headphones, battleshell, and chew toy; putting them all up in their designated places. He tried to adjust them to fit the way Donnie liked them, noting how the chew toy was covered in an almost alarming amount of dried spit. “I’m gonna wash yer toy, don’t want it gettin’ dirty.” The only response received was a very tired grunt. Raph looked back at Donnie, chuckling softly to see the fourteen-year-old curled up on his bed, under his favorite weighted blanket. Raph shook his head, walking out with the helmet and chew toy. Raph looked down hesitantly at the helmet, swallowing nervously. Donnie put a lot of thought and work into these gifts, the very least he could do was use it. With that thought in mind, he determinedly marched forward towards the kitchen. For Donnie.
Hey when did a kitchen knife get stuck in his shell!?
~
It was two weeks before Raph broke.
Two whole weeks of that screeching electronic voice saying “You need a plan, Raph!”, of that blasted helmet insulting his intelligence, blaming him for every little thing that had gone wrong. Raph couldn’t take anymore, couldn’t deal with the constant reminder that he was a failure of a fighter, a failure of a ninja, and a failure of a leader. Today was the last straw.
Raph had gone out alone, trying to find that darned pig, Meat Sweats as Mikey called him after admitting to seeing some famous chef turn into said pig mutant on live television. Well, Raph found him alright. And nearly died going head-to-head with the fudger. Or would filleter be more accurate? Point is, he nearly got his head chopped off by an angry pig with a big butcher’s knife and the helmet did not help. In fact, Raph would argue the helmet made everything much, much worse. He stormed into the Lair, barely remembering to be quiet and holding his shoulder tightly.
“Good job, Raph,” the helmet said sarcastically. Raph really didn’t want to keep the helmet on, but had no choice when he was losing a concerning amount of blood. He rushed into the MedBay, grabbing a towel and pressing it against his cut. He applied steady pressure, focusing on taking deep breaths and calming down. He pushed down his anger, muttering to himself as to where the Betadine was.
“If you had a plan that wouldn’t have happened, Raph,” The helmet quipped oh-so helpfully.
Raph gritted his teeth, continuing to apply pressure for a good five minutes before checking the wound, relieved to see that it had stopped bleeding. He got up and gently washed the cut with the heavily-sterilized water that Donnie kept in the MedBay for this exact purpose. Once the wound was washed and dried, Raph got the Betadine out of a cabinet only he could reach, pouring some of it in water and stirring it around to dilute it. Raph then rewashed the wound with the diluted Betadine. Once that was done, he got some gauze out and dressed his wound, swallowing thickly.
The whole time Raph was patching himself up, the helmet did not let up on it’s relentless scolding and insults. “Shut u-” “No you shut up, Raph. You failed at catching Rupert Swaggert both times. You failed at dodging, resulting in serious injury. If you are this bad in battle, then you must be a horrible leader and brother!”
That last statement was the straw that broke the Raph’s psyche. “No I’m nOT-!” He shouted, taking the helmet and throwing it violently against the wall. It hit the wall with a shattering CRACK!, breaking into pieces and falling uselessly to the ground.
Raph’s eyes widened at the noise, watching with horror as all the pieces fell to the ground. Donnie worked so hard on this… Raph thought, tears welling up in eyes. With a shaking sob, Raph slowly slid down onto the floor, curling up and silently sobbing. The helmet was right, he is a bad brother… He just destroyed a gift Donnie gave him. How dare he. How could he be so selfish and so self centered!? Raph shoved a fist into his mouth as another sob escaped him, shaking like a leaf.
“Raphela!?” Donnie’s concerned voice cut through Raph’s tearful shakes, causing the older to look up to see Donnie’s blurry form standing next to the demoshield helmet. Raph quickly hid his face, trying to compose himself. He shouldn’t be crying like a little kid in front of his baby brother, that wasn’t what big brothers or leaders did. “Raph…? What’s wrong-what happened to my gi-,” Donnie stammered before letting out a deep sigh. “...Raph I-... agh why is this so hard!?” Donnie shouted, storming over to Raph loudly and sitting right next to the ninja. Raph sniffed loudly, peeking at the softshell. Donnie stared down at his hands, expression grim.
“You didn’t like the gift, did you?” Raph’s heart broke at thinly veiled pain in his little brother’s voice. “Buddy I-” “Raph. It’s okay. I-I… I’ve noticed your change in demeanor. The way you seem hesitant to put on the helmet. I… If you… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have programmed the helmet to be that harsh. ...Or gave her the ability to learn. I am so sorry Raph I-I didn’t… I never meant any harm and I-”
“I forgive you” Raph whispered, wiping his face and wrapping an arm around Donnie. Donnie looked up in shock, eyes wide and shiny. “Really?” Raph nodded, hugging him tightly. Donnie sniffed, resting his head against Raph’s shoulder. “Dee…” Raph started, swallowing “I know you only have the best intentions in mind but… ya can’t just change people. It’s not how that works, okay? We all have flaws and yer just gonna have to accept that.”
Donnie nodded, taking a breath. “I… I see that now. I-I love you Raph, and not despite your annoying and self destructive habit of rushing into things.” Raph laughed softly, playfully bonking his head against Donnie’s. The purple-clad turtle snickered, rubbing his arm.
“And… you’re not a bad leader. You’re an amazing leader a-and I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Raph sniffed and smiled widely, hugging Donnie tightly. “Thank you buddy… that means a lot. Now go and apologize t’ Mikey and Leo.”
Donnie groaned, pouting. “Do I have to?” Raph raised an eyebrow, unamused (okay, mildly amused). “Really Dee?” Donnie sighed and got up, stretching. “Fffffine,” he finally said, crossing his arms and slouching.
“But I won’t be happy about it.”
Raph smiled softly, getting up and patting Donnie’s shoulder. “Trust me, I think Leo and Mikey would greatly appreciate it. And I’m sure they’ll apologize too,” Raph reassured, very gently pushing Donnie towards the door. “Now go! Go apologize before I shove yer head in the toilet!” Donnie sighed, throwing up his hands. “I concede! I concede, I shall go and apologize to the little devils,” He said, walking out of the MedBay. “Don’t call yer brothers devils!” Raph shouted after him, shaking his head with a smile.
He got out a broom and started sweeping up the mess the helmet made, feeling relief as he threw the debris away. He leaned against a nearby wall and sighed, crossing his arms.
He still didn’t feel like he belonged, that he was good enough to be a leader, a ninja, or even a big brother, that much was true, but Donnie’s words echoed throughout his head, reminding him that at least one person thought he was the right mutant for the job.
“Heh…” he chuckled, moving away from the wall and walking out of the MedBay, rubbing his wounded arm. Now let’s see how long it takes everyone to notice the bandages on his shoulder.