Chapter Text
"So Leo is actually Piel's nephew? Wow, they do not look remotely alike."
"Adoption exists moron."
"I know that! There was going to be a 'but' at the end! Like 'But I can definitely see how their personalities are alike'. Wow Janus, defensive much?"
"I wish I had something smart to say back to that so I could whoop your sorry butt Sharky."
Goyle the gargoyle sighs in responsibility and wrangles both of his crewmates in with one look before they get too rowdy. Thankfully both of them decide to drop it, with Janus taking the lead on how they would figure out this whole . . . kid situation.
'They were pirates for fucks sake! Do you really expect them to be great caretakers?'
"Well from the descriptions of Leo's father- physically, his 'Papa' is just like who Captain rambles about when he is drunk." Janus, the snake yokai then speaks in a lower voice, " Albeit Piel usually curses his brother out in Spanish . But I think we get the general point. Both yokai are lanky bonemen that are perpetually tired."
"I guess that is one way to word that . . . " Goyle remarks tiredly, "But we are gonna need more to prove that they are related, because as much as I love to take a random kid's word for it because that would save us time. He's still a random kid."
He gives the two an even harsher glare, "No matter how much you two want to keep him."
"But Goyle!" They whine in unison.
"Don't 'But Goyle!' me! I know you two are gushing about Leo right now. But we actually have other pretty major problems, with emphasis on 'Captain Piel is lost and we do not know where he is at' ! So do not even start with me today." He snaps with no room for argument.
"Well I mean turtle-toddler over here is the guys' son and not an estranged brother of Cap', so I don't think they would think of the same person in the same way. So fact-checking that other perspective is kind of out of the picture. Damn ." Sharky, the other crewmate curses silently, "It sucks that we have none of the original crew from when Piel's brother was still here. All of them are retired or put in jail."
Goyle made a small realization. "Guys . . . what is even Piel's brother's name?"
The three pirate yokai stared at one another.
"Umm. That is actually a very good question."
"Yes, um . . . and we all have a very good answer to that, Goy."
They in fact did not have a very good answer to that.
'Out of all the crewmates Goyle had to be stuck with, of course it had to be with these two-'
Some ways away a young voice yelled, "Hueso! But just remember it has an 'h' in it. Then again everyone else calls him with the 'h' so I guess it does not matter that much."
Goyle had momentarily forgotten Leo had even existed. And it seemed like the other two pirates had forgotten as well.
"Oh, thanks Leo." Janus sighs in relief and turns around to thank hi- " OH MY GODS . LEO GET AWAY FROM THE EDGE! WE ARE LIKE FIFTY FEET IN THE AIR."
The toddler, the literal four year old toddler, was literally balancing while their ship was in mid-air. Did he have no self-preservation?
Janus slithers frantically to the edge, where Leo stoodand holds onto him tight. Goyle would be more worried too if it wasn't for that name . . . Hueso.
It was a good thing that Sharky recognized that name too.
"Wait. Are we talking about Captain's original first mate 'Hueso'? That one? They are related?! . . . Okay, that is connecting so many dots that I didn't even know were there. Oh my gods -"
Goyle felt a twinge of annoyance when the Captain's brother was mentioned. But he tries to not let that bother him.
The older yokai shrugs, "Well that settles it. We have got to figure out how to get Captain back. Before Hueso or Big Mama kills him."
Sharky frowns, "Don't act so hostile towards the guy, Goy. I'm sure he isn't too mad at Cap'. I mean . . . who wouldn't miss them brother? Especially one like Cap'?"
Goyle was going to answer, but the gargoyle had noticed Janus frantically trying to stop Leo from slashing Piel's sword and stopped in his tracks.
. . . shit the sword.
They forgot to take the sword back from the child! How could they forget that?!
Sharky was staring now too, "I don't think the kid knows that is metal and can cut people open. Should we-"
"No definitely. We need to steal that sword back before he stabs someone and creates a bloodbath just like his uncle . . . "
Silence.
Hueso stares at his brother.
His mind felt like . . . a unevenly cut-off side of a rope - frayed, uneven, and the little strings at the end are going in at least twenty different directions. There were a million different trains of thoughts Hueso could try and follow, but he failed to finish any of them. Well maybe except one . . .
Piel stole from Big Mama!?
¿Enserio es tan idiota? (Was he actually an idiot?)
Despite his many remarks on his hermano's . . . lack of brains to say, his brother has them. Buried, deep, deep down - somewhere in Piel's mind palace was some semblance of common sense.
And not stealing from Big Mama should be as simple as . . . No sé, ¡deletrear el alfabeto! ¡Es muy simple saber cómo no morir! (Hueso doesn't know! Singing the alphabet! It is really simple to know how to not die!)
But somehow, that does not translate into his big brother's mind that a yokai with hundreds of employees, millions of currency to expend, and has a habit of killing people who steals from her to, you know - not steal from her!
Hueso no sabe, pero en su humilde opinión, andar probando los límites de lo que podés robar de una poderosa jefa criminal es- no sé- una muy mala idea!
(Hueso doesn't know, but in his humble opinion, pushing the limitations of what you can steal from a very powerful crime boss is - he doesn't know - a very bad idea!)
The creeping soreness of Hueso's own throat and the bubbling in the feeling in his stomach just left the skeleton with a pissed-off feeling. And it was just not worth it but Hueso- Hueso could just not drop it. No. The thought of that made him only feel burning with anger.
He had dropped a lot of things. Just for the sake of Piel.
There were a lot of "no hay problema" o "está bien" ("No big deals" or "It's fine") he has said before to his brother. Most of the time in a very annoyed voice, but with a rather genuine feeling at heart.
It was nothing really new, because that is something that families do. It's what love is meant to do. It was the first lesson their father had ever told them: "Amor es el sinónimo de sacrificio (Love is the synonym of sacrifice)"
A molten lava bubble came to the surface.
Sacrificio (Sacrifice) . Hueso could never figure out where the line started or ended.
"Si no estás dispuesto a sacrificar algo por alguien que amas, enserio estas listo para amar? No lo creo, niño." ("If you are not willing to make a sacrifice for someone you love, then are you really ready to love? I do not think so, boy.")
No more then that was given as a clue to the skeleton yokai's questioning of the topic. Even as he grew older.
Piel, on the other hand, has never been sentimental for their father or his words.
Another bubble popped to the surface as Hueso remembers the night in the Hidden City Police Station, just waiting for his older brother to bust down the rock walls with a cannon so Hueso could chew out Piel for leaving him behind.
In truth Piel never came to take him home.
In a surprising turn of events, his Papa bailed him out of jail. After four years of never seeing each other, his father got him out of trouble in a matter of days.
Hubo una pequeña conversación. (There was little exchange of words.)
Hueso was too embarrassed and his father too stoic to make any conversation. Yes, it was awkward.
But somehow a deal was made between the government and his father. Hueso was not paying attention to the details at the time, but he does remember a lifetime's worth of savings of money going over the table which led to him having the best outcome of being exiled out of the Hidden City.
The worst feeling of it all was not the fact he was living with his father after he had basically chosen Piel over him. Although that was just plain terrible to deal with day-to-day.
It was processing the fact that Piel was not going to try and get him back. He was stuck with it. No tenía otra cosa en la que pensar que no sea su hermano. (He had nothing else to think about besides his brother) .
Sacrifice or brothers was not something Hueso really wanted to think about anymore. But for years, he could not think of anything else but that night.
Duele. Duele mucho que Piel no sacrificara un poco de su avaricia o ego por hueso (It hurts. It hurts a lot that Piel did not sacrifice some of his greed or pride for Hueso). Not that Hueso would ever admit that.
. . . Maybe it was about time Hueso did. He was sick of feeling this way.
Piel hesitantly opened his mouth, "Hermano-"
"You came here?!" Hueso did not even try to keep his voice this time, "¿¡Qué mierda te pasa?! ¡¿No te enteraste que podrías haber guiado a Big Mama derechito a mi casa?! (What the fuck is wrong with you?! You do realize that you could have brought Big Mama straight to my home?)"
"¡Supuestamente no ibas a estar aquí! (You were not supposed to be here!)" Piel answers pissily, his face of regret quickly contorting into anger, " This place was supposed to empty. You were supposed to be elsewhere. How was I supposed to know you stayed in this absolute lugar de mierda (shithole)!?"
Hueso scowls and spits out acid, "Because I had nowhere else left to go besides this 'lugar de mierda (shithole)' , you pedazo de boludo (piece of an idiot) ! ¿O es que no te acuerdas cuando me abandonaste? ¡Porque con gusto te hago recuerdo de cómo pasó! (Or do you just not remember leaving me behind? Because I can gladly remind you of the last time that happened!) "
"¡Bueno, ahora no tengo otro lugar adonde ir que no sea este lugar de mierda así que aunque sea puedes compartir! (Well, now I have nowhere else to go beside this shithole so you can at least share!)"
Despite what Piel says, Hueso largely disagrees that this place is a 'shithole'. Hueso had really tried to make the best out of this place. Especially for what it is now.
"¿Por qué debería? (Why should I?) " The skeleton curls up his fist, "Después de todo lo que pasé, ¿por qué debería? (After everything I have been through, why should I?) Just give me one good reason Piel!"
"I-"
He steps forward and cuts his hermano off before Piel even has a chance to think of a half-assed response.
"Especially now. When my life is stable. I am happy. Dios mio, when I have a kid to keep in mind now, Piel! Who, by the way, should not be even in the same universe as a woman like Big Mama." Hueso just glares at the other side of the room and continues in a cold voice, "When I have all of these things going for me, por qué concha debería cuando no te debo una mierda? (why fucking should I when I do not owe you one goddamn thing)?"
They took Tio's Leo's sword!
Literally that is the first thing they do when Leo is not paying attention. How dare they do this!
And to think he is these criminales (criminals) capitano!
This should be considered as high-level backstabbing or something. No one should disrespect him and Tío's his gran y hermosísimo (big and beautiful) hat.
Sneaky pirates and their sneaky pirate ways!
The turtle's hat dips downwards as he sulks - Leo scowls and fusses with the hat as it leans unevenly on one side of his head covering his view. But every time this happens it falls right back where Leo doesn't want it.
Quién diría que los sombreros serían así de complicados?(Who knew hats would be this complicated?)
In front of him, Janus sighs for what he thinks is the bajillionth time!
"Come on Leo, just give us the marbles please."
Leo huffs and turns away, clenching his hard earned marble pouch in one hand. He has earned it. Yes he technically might have accidentally borrowed it from his Tio but that was not his fault! It's not like Leo wanted to fall through this portal.
Señor Goyle grunts and tries to grab Leo's pouch.
While his hand might be made of stone, Leo's will was made or iron!
Leo, with his other hand, grabs the yokai's hands and bites down on them. His teeth cracking down on the man's stone exterior. His mouth sort of foaming because of how uncomfortable his mouth is.
"WHAT THE-"
The older yokai yanks his hand back making Leo let go of him.
"Dang, the kid has some pretty good teeth." Mr. Sharky remarks, "He probably brushes and flosses his teeth all the time. And has a bathroom. Dudes, what I would do for a non-communal bathroom-"
In a more panicked voice, Señor Goyle looks down at his arm, which has cracks surrounding the bite mark around it, "Oh gods, does he have rabies? This looks bad . . . How can I avenge Captain Piel if I have rabies?"
Leo tilts his head, "What are rabies?"
Janus coughs awkwardly, laughing nervously as her tail rattles behind her. "Uh nothing! And to answer your question Goyle, no turtles do not have rabies. With that said, gargoyles can not receive them either. So both of you are in the clear."
Señor Goyle sighs in relief.
Mr. Sharky raises his hand shooting it up in the air, "Ooh! Ooh! How about me?"
"Uhh, I do not believe fishes can have rabies. So no?"
"What even ARE rabies?" Leo thinks for a second more, "And why do they taste so bad?"
The three pirates just stare at him. But Leo was more worried about the day he encountered this . . . rabies food. Would it be like bananas and make him want to throw up when he eats them too fast?
Janus was the first to snap out of it, extending her hand out again, "Marbles first. Rabies later."
"So I can have a bite of rabies later then?" Leo asks, trying to out size Janus into giving his free stuff.
"Are we seriously having this conversation right now?"
Leo and Janus stare at each other with their arms crossed. Neither of them had given in to the other's terms yet, so the two were just sitting at a standstill in between one another.
"Here compromise." Janus offers a counteroffer, "You get a new sword. It will be even better than the last one. And then I get these old marbles."
Hmmm, Leo does not know. These marbles sound really important . . . Tío Piel would not appreciate them being given up by his backstabbing crew. It might not be worth it.
Señor Goyle makes it really clear that he thinks, "What? No! We are not giving the child another sword. Bad idea! Supremely bad idea!"
Bueno, si lo dice así… (Well, when he says it like that . . .)
"Really?!" Leo smiles in fake awe and takes Janus' offer, "I want a new sword! That would be so cool!"
The snake yokai smirks and turns to her fellow crewmate, "I told you he would want it. Sharks, you know what to do."
Señor Goyle kneels down to Leo's level (as he should), and questions his asombroso capitán (amazing captain) , "Why? You do not need a sword. Look at me brat. Repeat after me, I do not need a new sword. Go on, it is your turn now-"
Leo crossed his arms and huffs, "How do you know what I need!"
"Because you are four. You do not know what you need and what you want ."
"And you are an adult! Not a mind reader." Leo argues and adds with a huff, "Y definitivamente no mi papá (And definitely not my Papa) ."
The older rolls his eyes, "I don't know what the hell you just said, but if this had anything your dad-"
Janus' hissed at Señor Goyle quietly, "Stop it Goy, I need to make this trade before he goes back on this deal!"
Leo just smiled as the chaos began to unfold.
"Where would you even get a sword his size?!"
"Don't make him question me and my credibility! He already likes me better than you-"
"This is not a popularity contest, Janus!"
Leo wishes he had a nice warm meal that came with this. Only then he would rate the hospitality his tío keeps to a diez de diez (ten out of ten) , cinco (five) points were taken off earlier because of their meanness earlier.
Mr. Sharky busted open the door and pulled out a sword into the light.
"I found the sword!"
"Oh Sharks, you are a lifesaver."
That is when Leo laid eyes on it.
His mouth watered.
Leo staggered forward a few steps before dropping down on his knees as he basked in the glorious presence of that blade.
Nunca había visto algo tan perfecto en su vida. (He has never seen anything so perfect in life.)
It was the sword-iest out of all the swords Leo has seen in life and Leo just thinks he fell in love. With a sword.
It was definitely handcrafted. The etching of crayons on the handles. The wet glue dripping behind the gem in the center. Even the shape of it made it obvious!
Yes, it was made out of cardboard! But don't you dare ruin the magic because it was still that amazing.
Now here was the best part. Just wait for it. Okay?
In the center of the blade, was the writing written jaggedly in the brightest blue that lies the words: 'Leo da best' and had a cute drawing of Leo's face at the end.
A tear slipped from the young turtle's eye.
"No right-er words have ever been said." Leo had cried out.
Janus smirked, dangling the masterpiece in front of Leo, "Wanna have it?"
Leo scrambled to get back up and onto his feet and screamed, "¡Si! ¡Si! ¡Dámela ahora mismo! ¡Quiero sostenerla!(Yes! Yes! Give it to me now! I want to hold it!)"
Faint bits of laughter surrounded him as he tried to grab the cardboard sword, jumping on his tippy toes to nab it from the snake yokai.
"Aren't you forgetting something, hatchling?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"¿Qué?(What?)"
Leo stares up. Not really getting what the older yokai was getting at.
Janus pointed to the pouch and he laughed.
Oh right, the marbles ! Heh, he almost forgot about that.
He hands over the bag easily and greedily snatches the sword the first chance he gets. Holding it close, before admiring it in all of its glory.
Mr. Sharky kneels down to his level and ruffles the top of Leo's head.
Leo knows that Mr. Sharky is the one who crafted this beauty just by looking at his flippers, which were covered in glue and marker colors. And to say he had the utmost respect for Mr. Sharky was an understatement.
The shark yokai smirked, "You wanna test your sword out on the training dummy we have?"
Leo squealed and tackled Mr. Shaky into a hug, "¡Si, un millón de veces si! (Yes, a million times yes!) Let me start now!"
Hueso was still waiting for an answer from his brother when out of nowhere an electric purple portal appeared. Something was thrown on the ground and began to spin rapidly - It was a canister.
And it was gas that was making it spin around.
A flash of recognition shone through hermano's eyes and Piel shoved him to the side, "¡MUÉVETE! (MOVE!)"
A purple essense surrounded the room, making it hard to breathe despite the fact Hueso had no lungs. Both brothers coughed dryly as they were in the densest part of the gas.
Luckily, Piel had pushed Hueso into one of the dining room chairs to where the gas was thinner.
The skeleton bones almost collapse on itself if it wasn't for Hueso willing his bones to brace the impact.
Right next to him, Piel crashed into the table.
Hueso glared at his brother, "Más te vale pagar eso. (You better pay for that.)"
That did not stop the fog from slowly approaching.
"The gas- AGH! " Piel inhaled a large puff of smoke and put his hand over his mouth, "She must have got that new sleeping gas! That absolute bitch. Why does she always make escaping so hard!"
Through the haze, Hueso saw a human-like figure walk through the portal with a slight sway to
"My, my, my. What do we have here my belly-hoops?"
Hueso thinks it should be important to mention he has never met Big Mama before.
Sure, she has been a yokai that has existed for hundreds of years, yes, but that can only lead for many more years for rumors to circulate about her. And Hueso rather not test his already crummy luck today.
But he was expecting her to be a little more . . . He doesn't know. Larger than life? Scarier? He does not know . . . he can not see that well with puffs of clouds and her face being half-covered with a gas mask. But . . .
¿En serio esta es ella? (Was this actually her?)
Piel gave an annoying smirk and answered her question with earnest, "La persona que mató a cincuenta de tus empleados raritos (The person who killed fifty of your creepy employees) . Just so you know, I dumped all of those stalkers in trash cans, just in case you were wondering."
She gave a peeved smile back and- ah . Hueso could definitely see how she was pure trouble now. A new wave of dizziness passed over the two brothers, as they realized how much trouble they truly are in right now.
Big Mama snaps her fingers, "Restraints please, Bell-hoopies?"
Through the portal two of her employees jumped right out. One going for Hueso and the other for Piel.
"¡NUNCA ME VAN A AGARRAR VIVO! (YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!)"
Piel goes out fighting, because of course he does , and tries to sucker punch the one approaching him then tackle the other to the ground.
But in this altered state of mind, it was just too easy to dodge Piel.
Piel's face hits the ground and the other bellhop focuses his attention on Hueso.
Hueso's mind is telling him to run, because that is what feels right.
En serio debería correr de todo este peligro. (He really should be running away from all of this danger.)
And he would.
Just for karma's sake he would.
Hueso won't even lie to himself thinking for a moment that he would take the high ground and try to save Piel, because he wouldn't. Not after all this time.
He deserves to be mad.
He deserves to be furious.
(Él se merece una disculpa) ((He deserves an apology-))
Piel deserves what is coming his way. No matter how much Hueso wishes they could have met again under different circumstances.
But the yokai does feel as if he is forgetting one thing . . .
The only reason he is not portaling out this place this very second . . .
(And no- it was not Piel! Maybe? Hueso doesn't know if he misses his brother or not! But it is clear that this was not Piel. Even if it layed heavily on his mind- )
oh, Hueso es un idiota (Hueso is a idiot) .
He forgot about Leo.
Where was his son?
This was just like that time in the Maze of Death years ago, but this time Hueso had accepted that he was fit for this role. Because he was ready to be a father. But maybe . . . he was wrong? Maybe he was not really as ready for this as he thought if family drama like this is affecting-
Wait. No . He was not a bad dad. He was not bad dad.
. . .
Ok. Then why is Pepino gone then?
. . .
Ok, Hueso was such a bad dad.
How did he let this slip in between his fingers!? He should have had this whole parenting thing under control by now! He needed to make it up to Leo for leaving him for Piel of all people!
He really could not afford to get caught now. This was his honor as a father on the line.
He needs to get around this other bellhop.
Hueso puts his hands up ready for a fight-
But he was tired . . . so very tired. The skeleton's breathing ragged on as the oxygen became more and more sparse in this room. The others with gas masks made it apparent that they were doing better standing up tall.
Oh, Hueso just hates it when he gets caught up in things bigger than himmself.
"Pepino." He breathes out, not even thinking as he says it. Like it was one of the moments just between him and his boy, rather than this whole situation.
It put his mind at ease. But just for a moment.
"Oh, of course! I forgot about that little turtley-boo of yours." Big Mama laughs and walks closer to him, knowing fully well that his will is wavering as he crawls forward, "He's adorable, you son. I would know. The live feed on the camera's showed him playing pretend in the restaurant after hours. Truly can brighten your day. Isn't that right, Piel?"
She says it as if they are discussing the weather, like this was a normal occurrence that happened between them.
The statement was meant to get a rise out of the two of them. Hueso knows it. He has met this type before . But he could not help wanting to hiss at the lady to back off.
(He also wanted to hiss at himself for letting Leo out of his sight. But that was a thought he can deal with later.)
Piel scoffs and plays it cool, unlike Hueso who is glaring dagger at the spider and not even hiding it.
Big Mama does not care, easily pushing Hueso into a bellhop to which he is restrained.
"S'ugly. Dn't care f'r im." His brother responds.
Big Mama hums and gives the two of them an uncaring look.
"By the way . . . Why did'ja come all this way to see . . . dir'y work?" Piel asks, his voice slurring - which Hueso could only assume that his brother was very high right now. "Y'know, ah, I know y're not usually this invol'ed."
Big Mama chose not to respond to that question, "Bell-hoopies when your dears are done dealing with these two, can you find that pesky little turtle yokai hiding somewhere in the house? Don't worry, he most likely will be passed out by the amount of sleeping gas too."
If Hueso or Piel had something to say, they did not say it. Probably because the two of them were passed out on the ground.
"We could not find his nephew."
"Hm? Ah, well that is a shame. He will be back soon though. I can feel it. Leave a message for him then on the counter."
"And that will be?"
"Tu familia está en peligro. Si quieres ayudarlos, ve a esta dirección (Your family is in danger. If you want to help them, come to this address). Then put the Battle Nexus address at the end. Understood?"
"Yes, madam. You want me to write that whole bit-"
"In Spanish? Yes, I find it a lot more amusing."
Leo points at another object.
After Leo had accidentally pushed the training dummy off of the roof. He and Mr. Sharky decided they should play a new game.
'I Spy'.
He and Mr. Sharky have been playing 'I Spy' forever now. Although at this point the game evolved into 'I-don't-know-what-that-is-and-would-like-to-know Spy'. All because of Leo not knowing the names of a lot of the items that were around him.
"What are those?" He asks, curious.
"Clouds?" Mr. Sharky asked and Leo nodded along.
"What do they taste like?" Leo asking a follow-up question.
"Cotton Candy."
"What's that!?" Leo asks genuinely and could tell that he was going to like whatever it was, just by the look on Mr. Sharky's face.
The older yokai did a magical shake with his hands, "Fluffy candy."
Leo's mouth drooled at the thought, "Woahhh."
Mr. Sharky turns to the other two pirates, "Any luck on which marble Captain took yet?"
"If Piel would not use these so often maybe we could actually tell which one was the most recently used." Janus grumbled, picking up another marble "Another warm one. How often does he use these things!?
Señor Goyle picks a marble and sighs, "Pretty often. You know 'Cap needs to get from place to place quickly, especially for heists."
Janus muttered something and went back to work.
Leo poked Mr. Sharky, "What's a heist?"
"Stealing with style-" Oh, Leo could totally steal with style! He already does it in the kitchen when no one is watching, "-Or well. That is how I like to describe it. If you were to ask Captain Piel his face would turn all serious as he lectures you for hours on end on how to make a perfect heist."
Janus groans, "Don't even remind me! And the fact he does not even explain his plan till the last minute is so annoying too."
Leo feels his heart swell with pride, "So my tío is a great heist maker?"
He knows his tío was cool! Papa did not know what he was talking about when he said that tío was a loser. Maybe he was, but maybe not all the time!
"Best. Pushed the limits of what is possible." Mr. Sharky then coughed out, "Which is exactly how we ended in this situation in the first place. You see Leo, your uncle finally heist-ed a little too close to the sun, which made him numero uno on BM's hitlist. Which is very bad for plundering pirates."
'There goes that name again' , Leo thinks, 'They still are avoiding all my questions about Big Mama or BM . . . Argh, ¡no me gusta no saber quién es! (Ugh, I do not like not knowing who she is!)' but Leo pushes through and thinks of another question.
"What's a hitlist?"
"OH! Well you see here buddy-"
Here is a thing that Leo had noticed because Leo is just so cool and observant like that. It's that these pirates are in what adults like to call, a 'situation'. Now, Leo didn't say anything about the 'situation' because he knows what adults are like about their 'situations'.
For some people, like Mr. Frankie, it's easy to figure out. He does not like talking about money. So Leo chooses not to talk about money. Easy peasy.
For Papa, it's a lot more complicated for Leo to understand. But the one thing he does understand, that it is probably Tío Piel's fault.
Yep, 100%. Definitely. There is no other way to explain it. His blobfish uncle was the reason Papa was so hurt. The two yelling at each other even when the two were so clearly missing each made it easy enough for Leo to at least get the gist of what was going on.
Seriously though. Was Leo the only one that could see this? Why did he have to get it through two stubborn family member's skulls? Was the power of family just not strong enough yet? Did it need a recharge?-
His tío was the most frustrating. And it was not only because his 'situation' is also causing the pirates 'situation', although that was also a big headache.
Leo literally spent less than ten minutes with him and figured out that tío probably messed up on something big and did not have the guts to apologize. The cobarde (coward) !
Oh how Leo really wants to go to a juice bar with 'Sun-Sun and complain about his stupid family while chugging a bottle of apple juice.
Anyway, the turtle needs to come up with an ingenious way to corner his family members into talking to each other.
Well, Leo guesses they might be talking to each other right now . . . but for some reason he could only imagine them wrestling like the random brawls Miss Minnie does when she is bored. And that is not the same talking as Leo imagined.
Sunita once mentioned a 'Parent Trap' to him, but she also mentioned Leo needed a twin. So . . .
That was definitely crossed out.
Darn, if only Leo had a twin.
Guess the universe did not think two of him would create balance and harmony in the world.
You know, some yokai might wonder why Leo is going through such lengths to get his Papa and Tío along after a very old and stinky cheese drama. And the answer to that was easy.
Obviously he needs his Tío Piel around.
How else is he supposed to do bad things without Papa noticing?
His tío was the perfect train ticket for him learning those ways and getting away with it.
That, and Leo was always sort of jealous of the big families that passed by 'Run of the Mill'.
The other kids laughing or fighting, the parents trying to reign in their kids but failing miserably, . . . or maybe the cool tío's teaching their sobrino (nephew) something cool to the dismay of the parents.
Leo doesn't know! He is just throwing out some ideas. None of which should be looked too deeply into-
Going back on track! The plan:
OPERACIÓN: HACER QUE TÍO PIEL NO SEA TONTO Y SE DISCULPE CON PAPI
(OPERATION: MAKE TÍO PIEL NOT BE DUMB AND APOLOGIZE TO PAPA)
. . .
Ok. So Leo is not the best at naming things at times. So what? He does not have to be creative with every name!
The first step? Find Papa and tío.
This was kind of a problem because Leo kind of lost them.
Good thing Leo's awesome crew was willing to do all the work for him!
"-Captain is a great strategist if you take a look behind his ego. Makes him great at heists. His only fault is being too ambitious." Mr. Sharky says when Leo tunes in, and Leo feels his mind blanking, "Because he sure is an idiot when it comes to his ambitious side and overlooks the people he actually cares about- Why are you looking at me like that buddy?"
Leo blinks at the older yokai.
Oh, he totally spaced out during that whole explanation of what a hitlist is.
He needed to recover quickly, "Er-"
"Are you okay?"
Leo yawns and tries to be as sluggish as possible. The toddler rubs his eyes tiredly and glances over at the older, "'m tired."
And the final nail in the coffin?
Leo cuddles into Mr. Sharky's side and gives him the tired sleepy-sleepy eyes that could even make Papa's resting mean face crumble.
(No, Leo will not tell you how many times he used it on Papa.)
And the older yokai fell for it instantly, cooing and coddling at Leo the moment he realized what was going on. The turtle fed into it even more by pouting and moving tiredly along with it.
Janus gasps in surprise and glares at Mr. Sharky. Leo pretends not to notice when Mr. Sharky stuck his tongue out back.
Good.
Competition produces the best results. At least that is what Papa always says.
"Wasn't he just livid a second ago?"
Señor Goyle was not convinced.
"I hear toddlers have a lot of mood swings." Janus remarks offhandedly before glaring daggers at Mr. Sharky, "Also, screw you Sharks. You are abusing your power as a babysitter. If Leo was not on you right now I would tackle you to the ground right now."
"You will not be tackling anyone to the ground, because you will be focusing." Señor Goyle drags the snake yokai by the tail, "Captain has not been in this much trouble after a heist ever since Bassae Bank, and that was years ago. He needs the support this time around."
There goes another set of words that Leo does not know again, and this time it is related to Tío Piel.
"What's Bassae Banks?"
It takes a moment for anyone to answer.
"It was the first heist that Captain Piel did with first mate at the time, it did not end well. Captain almost got caught, and his first mate did get caught." The gargoyle yokai eyes Leo carefully, "But from what I hear? His first mate at the time was too scared of even doing the mission in the first place."
Before the turtle has the time to react, Janus shoves the stone-y pirate to the side and gives him a glare.
"What? He doesn't know."
Leo does not know what?
"You are a jerkface, you know that! You did not have to mention that. We don't even know the full story."
What is the full story?
"Both of you need to chill out." Mr. Sharky says, "Leo is tired."
Wait, no. Leo needs to know the drama!
Not sleepy! Not sleepy! He is as awake as an owl during the night!
"Fine." Both of the other pirates said in unison and Leo could not help but feel like he was in a blizzard with the amount of coldness being sprayed around.
Mr. Sharky sighs, "I hate it when I have to step up and be the responsible one. Like, yes, I am technically the oldest. Doesn't mean I have to act like it!"
The four of them settle back into silence, with Leo and Mr.Sharky giving sleepy talks while the other two pirates go back to their job going through marbles.
"OW, What the heck? This one burns!" Janus mutters.
Señor Goyle hisses, "Tch, found a searing hot one too."
Both gave each other a look before throwing their marbles into the ground and watched in marvel as two portals were made on the floor.
Leo pointed over at the portals, and with no words, willed Mr. Sharky to carry him towards the portals so he can check them out.
The four of them peered over the two portals.
One of them showed the back of a snake, gargoyle, shark, and turtle's head. Leo turned his head the other way and noticed that the other end of this portal was right on top of their heads. That is so cool.
'It is like an infinite loop!'
Leo had a sudden urge to jump in just to see what would happen.
He shifted his weight a bit and-
Mr. Sharky held him tighter.
"You are not jumping into that portal."
"Aw man."
"Hey Leo," Señor Goyle points at the other portal, "Is that your home?"
Leo was so distracted by the loop right in front of him, he didn't even realize that in the other portal was his home. But something . . . smelt off.
"Ew. ¿Por qué mi casa huele a lavanda? (Ew. Why does my house smell like lavender?) "
Piel is semi-panicking.
Good news! Hueso will probably be less mad after he knows that Leo did not get captured by Big Mama. Which actually led to the bad part that is . . . in fact - even Big Mama does not even know where Leo is!
So Piel lost his sobrino (nephew) . Maybe permanently. That part was still unclear.
Ha ha.
Should he mention that part to Hueso? It feels somewhat important. But he does not want the temporary feelings of sibling murder in his brother's mind at the moment.
Hueso was already pissed at him enough. Piel knew damn well that if Big Mama had not shown up the moment she did Piel would have died or become very . . . emotionally vulnerable. Piel did not know which one would be worse.
"You are the first to wake up."
The pirate was leaning towards dying to be the worse of the two evils right now.
"Well, you know," Piel smirks at the fox yokai, "I am rather used to getting hit with these glasses. I actually think I am getting rather immune."
He raises an eyebrow, "Hm, really? Next time we might have to use something a little stronger."
"Ah." Piel kindly shut up after that.
The Captain of the S.S. Alexis has never been detained before, well at least by the Hidden City Police. But those standards of breaking out were pretty low. All Piel had to do was to tell his crew to run over the jail cells with the ship.
But right now, Piel can not really afford to be flashy about it. He got caught. He is out-numbered and out-powered. Plus the final piece of leverage that the damned araña (spider) has on him was right next to him, in the same amount of danger.
Hueso was drooling on his shoulder at the moment.
And as disgusted Piel was, he knew deep down that he . . . no le gustaba ver a su hermano así (did not like seeing his brother like this) .
Yes, he was being a nasty trola rompe pelotas (little nerve-wracking bitch) earlier. But he rather his brother be with Leo now.
Why?
Because he actually saw his brother smile around that damned child.
And Hueso was right.
He was having a rather good life before Piel decided to crash it.
. . .
This might come as a surprise, but Piel was not good at feelings.
He does reflect a lot on his decisions in his life, where is he at right now, where he wants to go. Things like that. But that does not necessarily make him a "thinks-before-he-acts" sort of yokai in the heat of the moment.
Adrenaline is always faster than the afterthoughts. And his greed will always come into play when Piel thinks fast in moments.
He likes to think that this is what makes him a great pirate, who has earned much respect for his wits and cruelty.
But it is also the same things that built him into the yokai who was a shitty brother.
Un intercambio justo, supone Piel.
(A fair exchange Piel supposes).
Hueso begins to stir on his shoulder, "¿Eh?... ¿Qué está pasando? Donde es- PIEL! ¿¡Dónde mierda estamos?! (Huh? . . . What is going on? Where am I- PIEL! Where the fuck are we?!)"
It seems the hostility has not died down a single bit. Hueso, despite being tied up just like Piel, found a way threaten the other with a loose finger. Very fitting that it was brother's middle one.
"Ah it seems your brother has awoken too, Captain of the S.S. Alexis. You will be permitted to see Big Mama shortly. Best of luck. To the both of you."
"Necesito volver a casa (I need to go back home) ." Hueso gets off of Piel's shoulder much to the older man's own relief, and tries to crawl forward, "¡Espera-! (Wait-) . I said wait!"
But the fox already left the room.
And another thing went in.
One thing someone should know about older yokai, they treat anyone younger than a hundred as incompetent.
That is what Piel finds personally annoying about them anyway.
Old hags dishing out advice like they have any.
Why did Hueso listen to old hags rather than his brother?
Oh right.
Su hermano cabeza dura estaba muy enojado como para contarle a Piel la historia completa
(His thick-skulled brother was too angry to even let Piel tell the full story).
Which by the way, was a lot less twisted then what BM may have led his hermano to believe.
But still . . . why did Piel have some off feeling as that spider talks down to him and his brother? Besides Big Mama being herself. It did not sit right with Piel. He felt like he was being played fool.
Hueso froze, engaged and enraged in a conversation with her, "He stole what from you."
"A priceless artifact." That damned araña (spider) said with full sincerity and grievance that Piel thought at first a close friend of hers died.
Piel scoffs, "Oh, it was not half as bad as that mujer araña (spider woman) is making it out to be! Lying spider son of a-"
Hueso glares over, "Si no estuviera atado, te habría matado tantas, pero tantas veces (If I was not tied up, I would have killed you so many times over by now). "
"Ah, entonces deberías estar agradeciéndole a la mujer que nos capturó (Oh, then you should be singing praises to the woman that captured us then) ."
Piel also thanks the gods that his brother arms and legs up because Piel could not take another attack tonight from another family member.
"Hermanos. Siempre discutiendo (Brothers. Always arguing)." Big Mama then gives a sheepish smile when she notices that both brothers noticed her muttering, "Oh don't mind me darlings. You do not need to thank me for capturing both of you."
¿ELLA. HABLA. PUTO. ESPAÑOL? (SHE. FUCKING. SPEAKS. SPANISH?)
Piel wondered if she heard him when he called her . . . it is best not to think of that right now actually.
It was surprising that both of them recovered their poker faces quickly, though Hueso had more of a . . . 'resting bitch face'.
"I am no hermano of his." His brother spits out and Big Mama laughs and smiles at the two of them like a child playing with theri toys before a meal.
The two of them were entertaining a beast.
"Oh but shelly-skelly," The araña (spider) leans down and boops Hueso's non-existent nose, "I know that you are his brother! It was only a matter of time before he came to you. He had nowhere else to go! You two are family."
But home. Piel had no other place to go indeed.
But the home he was expecting was supposed to be abandoned.
" By accident! And I can not stress this enough. This was by accident." Piel adds, just for good measure because he can feel the surgical knives the woman is throwing at him. Her calculated words make him feel as if he's being picked apart and he has no choice but to defend himself.
She's hitting some rather close to home words. How much does she know about the two of them-
"Mistake or not, your brother came running back to you after he was in trouble, isn't that funny?" Big Mama hums, "Personally I am no believer in fate, but this seems like a subject that was meant to be."
Piel frowns, something is not right here.
She is putting too much emphasis on them being familia (family) , really rubbing it in. At first, the skin yokai's knee jerk reaction was that she liked to see Piel squirm, but then why was she focusing on . . .
Piel bares his teeth as he tries to pull himself in between Hueso and that woman, "What do you want from us? I get why you want me. But why do you suddenly need my brother as well? He's not interested. Never has been. So leave him out of this."
The woman's eyes widened in momentary surprise before going back to that same cold smile.
"I can answer that question. Albeit only privately."
"Piel, qué mierda piensas que estás- (Piel, what the hell do you think you are-)"
"Silencio (Quiet) Hueso, and actually think about what she is saying, thick-skull." Piel headbutted his brotherñs head before smiling at the other yokai, "Why, there are only the three of us in this room, señorita. So I don't see why this needs to be private."
"I think you misunderstand. I need this to be private between me and shelly-skelly."
"Him?" Piel growls.
"Me?" Hueso parrots.
"Mhm, you."
This is how Piel discovers, everything, is going to shit.
Raph stands in front of Pops' door.
It was kind of a weird door compared to the door of his, Mikey, and Donnie's room, but maybe that is just because Pops gets some nice adult treatment . . .
Raph knows he's been stalling.
He's seen the time tick and tock by as he is not getting any closer to knocking on Pops' door. It was almost embarrassing how long Raph stood outside, clenching his teddy bear.
"C'mon Walph! It is not thaf difficult." The turtle hisses while shaking his head, "It's jus Pops!'
The door slides open as Pops looks down at him.
"Red? Why are you awake at this hour?"
'POPS IS AWAKE? MISSION ABORT! MISSION ABORT-'
Ralph felt his mouth clamp shut. His jaw is locking in place.
He tries to think happy thoughts. Among other things . . . those other things were not stronger, but they did not have to be. They just had to be just loud enough that they could be heard.
And Raph heard them alright.
'Donnie is watching over Mikey. Donnie is watching Mikey better than ever Raph could. Maybe Raph should just-'
"Come inside. Let's talk, my son."
Or maybe not.
"Tea?" Pops offers but Raph shakes his head and looks at the ground, clenching his knees. He could already feel himself almost crying.
The turtle could not go back from this now. Pops noticed him.
Ralph shakes his head, finding a very interesting spot on the ground to stare at. It was very brown.
"Raphael. My son."
The oldest turtle could practically see Pop's expression without him looking up.
Raph forced his eyelids to look up at the exact face he was expecting from Pops.
And suddenly, he felt like he did not have to keep it in anymore. He stood up and yelled out:
"Mikwey was making me mad and I huwt him las nighwt!"
Pops just stared at him before slowly nodding, "Yes you did."
Raph falters for a moment before clenching his plastron.
That was not the reaction he was expecting.
Well, shoot dang it. What was he supposed to say now?
The turtle shuts his mouth before opening it again, shifting uncomfortably, "And jus las week I huwt Don. He jus wanted to show me something, but I pwushed him away."
Pops nodded again, "Yes, you did."
Raph looks his Pops straight in the eyes, "I wanna have fun with them. But I can't." The turtle closes in even further, "It is a problem. A big one."
Pops hums in deep thought, and the younger mutant hangs onto every expression his father is making.
Eventually his Pops laughs and smiles at him, "Huh. That is a problem."
That was not even a little bit helpful!
Raph pouts and makes it very clear that he did not like Pop's answer.
"I don like you vwery much wight now."
He expected Pops to do something! To help him! Because, well, Raph needed his Pops. It was just as simple as that.
"Do you want me to come closer?"
Obviously. He needs help.
Raph's lips just pouted even further as he bit his tongue. Saying that would not help with anything. And he knew that.
So Raph just nods his head allowing his Pops to scoot closer.
Pops scoots right next to him and tilts his head towards the younger turtle's direction, "You are scrunching up your face, you know? Like you ate something really sour."
"You are sour!"
Pop's eyes are blown really wide as he puts a hand over his chest. "I'm sour?"
He says it weirdly, like he could not believe what Ralph as saying.
Ralph nods his head, "Mhm, I am mad at you!"
Pops pretends to faint right on top of him, "Oh my dearest son! Pray tell, why are you mad at me?"
"Becauwse you are not hwelping me!" The turtle says as he pushes his rat-father off of him, "I need your hwelp and you are not hwelping! I do not like huwrting my brothewrs but can't they jus stop being annoying so I don't do this anymoe!"
Pops sits up and scoots to where he is right in front of his son.
"Well I figured I am helping you right now because this is the first time I have heard you talk all day. Not only that and you are talking about your feelings. Tell me Red, are you feeling lighter? The weight coming off your back?"
Pops just watches Raph, and he . . . Raph did not know just what exactly to do with that. Huh. Pops was right.
Ralph was feeling better now that he said his problem out loud.
But why couldn't Pops have just said that in the first place!
His Pops smiles, "You do, don't you? You have that look when you know I am right but don't want to admit it. But you are very much right Raphael, I am really not helping you solve your problem at the moment. Hmm . . . go grab Mikey's crayons. We will make a list of things to do when you are angry and see which ways will work the best!"
"But Pops, those are Mikey's-"
"Unless you want to take Donatello's pens-"
"Nope! Nope! I'll go get Mikey's stuff."
"Very good."
Raph thinks this was the best alone time he has with Pops since, well, ever.
Pops did alot between the three of them. But just for each one of them individually was harder to say. Pops was spread thin just between the three of them, and sometimes it showed when Pops was having one of those 'days'.
Good thing that today was not on of those 'days'.
"-Red, who wouldn't want to watch Lou Jitsu to blow off some steam? Watching his movies are like eating candy! They are the pinnacle of every child's happiness."
"Pops!"
"There is no way I am putting that space hooligan before Lou Jitsu. Not in my household, Red. Try something different."
"Can we-" Raphael looked dejected at the floor and realized it was probably a dumb idea, "Nevwermind."
Pops perks up, "Tell me."
"I know you said I shoul twy out knitting and non-mwean ways to let out my anger, but do you think maybe . . . you can also tweach me how to fight? Just like Lou Jitsu?"
"I- Erm. Red -"
"I know you know how. Please , Pops?! We can start out small!"
"Uh-huh. What do you think is small?"
"We can . . . pillow fight? "
Pops has a slow smile inching on his face before he grabs a pillow and holds it dramatically up in the air, "If it is a pillow fight you want, then it is a pillow fight you shall have!"
Ralph looked up. He was too much in shock that he did not even realize that Pops was already throwing a pillow his way.
He gives a high pitched laugh as he runs away from the pillow and grabs his own.
Everything was going to be alright.