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You know what TMNT character has an underated dynamic with their counterparts in TMNT crossovers?
The Leatherheads.
"My friend Donatello is one of the gentlest souls I've ever met." – Leatherhead (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 2003)
🐊What A Croc!🐊
🐢HAPPY (late) ANNIVERSARY TMNT 2003🐢
I'm only off by a day, but still! I wanted to do something for the 2003 TMNT, as it's what got me into TMNT in the first place!
Last year I did a piece with all the turtles, so this time around I had my Ko-Fi Server pick from my favs! So Leatherhead it is! 🐊
The Subway Station was barely livable when Leatherhead first moved in.
Cold, damp, the darkness creeped around every corner.
But it was defensible and safe. He could heal without fear of hurting others or being hurt himself. So he stayed.
Yet he was still jumping at shadows, he fixed some old dim lights to try to stop that. Then came cabinets for food, followed by some throw away bedding behind a pillar. As he did so he discovered more things about the place. A broken clock loomed over the station. Echo's traveled easily through the high ceilings. But what caught his eye the most was in the center of the station. Their the vague image of a winged figure covered by rubble. Cleaning it off revealed an angel with welcoming arms. How suiting.
Slowly it was becoming something more than broken remains alongside himself.
Then his friends showed up.
His loving, caring friends.
They brought gifts. A common custom referred to as "House Warming Gifts". It still amazing him what aspects of earth you can only learn through experience and direct interaction instead of the second hand experience his Utrom family gave them.
Cutlery, pots, and pans from Master Splinter, some restored bookcases from Donatello, salvaged books to fill those shelves from Leonardo, warm blankets, pillows, and a mattress from Raphael, a television set and table from Michelangelo, even their human friends showed with some plants, an old refrigerator, and a reclining chair. He found April O'Neil and Casey Jones to be very welcoming. Friends of a friends soon just became just friends. They spent a day alone clearing rubble, the center angel was revealed to be a fountain, the ground lowering below her feet.
But it was still cold.
There was darkness and shadows creeping in the corner of his vision.
So he savaged and created warm yellow UV lights. He found a ratty carpet for around his bed. He did little things to fix it up. Cleaning up rubble, cleaning stone and wood, looking into the issues of that fountain, mending cracks. A calming peace came over his mind. Even if he missed those the warm tones of his Utrom controlled birthplace. The subway was still becoming closer to home.
Leatherhead just wished his home was more comfortable when his friends needed him the most.
A chill settled in the tiles as he worked to saved Donatello, but nothing he did worked. Leonardo, switched between pacing around as he worked, and trying to drink tea with Master Splinter before it became cold. Raphael sat shivering on cool stone and leaned against the cold containment, whispering things to the brother who did not understand him. Michelangelo's eyes darting from entrance to entrance, a fear that left him appearing almost calm, every now and then looking for something familiar in his changed brother. And Leatherhead found himself only taking breaks when he heard April walk over to Splinter and remind him to eat. If April remembered to do that. Sometimes it had to be Casey to break them all away from their dread. They were no use if they were dead.
Cruel metal and glass that shadowed their minds. They're lucky that they did find a cure.
He just wished they didn't have to deal with the devil.
Leatherhead is not proud to say that he was a bit absent as Donatello recovered. Shadows winning over his mind, darkness looming in nightmares and wrecked masonry. Rumors began to fly if you went near the old subway station you could hear the weeping screams of unrest ghosts. If only it was ghosts.
A moment of change happened though.
The fountain angel, laid broken on his feet. This could not continue, he could not keep giving in like this. This relapse needed to be under control. So as he fixed the statue, he thought of avenues to look into. Humans wrote books about their minds, but he was never a human, so they would not fully apply. The need to bite and roll when enraged, now ever present in his mind could attest to that. But it was an option. Luckily it was not the only option. During his meditative fixing, he figured another way.
To his friend Splinter he went. The mutant was packing up, about to head to Japan with urgency, but he still had time for a friend. He told of ways to other worlds, of how you can jump across space and time. Of what he was given after the fall of shredder. What was hidden under the rubble of a destroyed outpost
Leatherhead searched through that broken lair, and found a familiar symbol. Technology that was like home for him.
He had contact with the Utrom.
And he talked.
When his friends came home from their adventure, another time the world has been saved, he let them rest. But invited them over. Much had changed from their last vist.
The cold was no longer there.
He had fixed the clock. A light ticking, grounded him as he brought his guests in. Warm red and orange lights, humidifiers, a small plant nursey laid in it's wake. Tables to create pharmaceutical drugs, both of the planet and not, lay organized and clean. The temperature kept controlled with off planet technology. A ring of atmosphere surrounded that did not leak through the curtains and fabrics that keep the echoing sounds at bay. Perfect for his fellow reptilian friends, though it did make rat fur and human hair quite frizzy. A set of cushions for all to sit, colors painstakingly matched, sat at a low table with a fresh polish. It was a lovely dinner.
After they left, he enjoyed a call from across the galaxy.
In the center of his home there's a fountain that flows with warm clean water, it's angelic statue welcoming visitors to this place of healing and safety.
51 💉 with 2003 Don and Leo! :)
💉 -> I know you hate needles but you need this!
“RAPH!”
When Leo had seen that briefcase under Leatherhead’s arm, he hadn’t gotten the chance to ask him about it. He barely gave it any notice, a meaningless glint of silver in Leatherhead’s claw when his brother was standing beside him, confused and smiling and normal.
He should have asked. He should have questioned him immediately.
What’s that saying? Hindsight is twenty-twenty?
“MIKEY!”
Leatherhead hadn’t said a word about it. Not until Donnie changed. Not until they got to see first-hand how a turtle turns into a beast.
They’d called Leatherhead to the lair in their panic.
And watched as it took three injections to bring their brother back.
“OVER HERE!”
“I don’t understand,” He’d whispered weakly, tired and sore. Four hours of fighting. Two hours of calming his family. More unending nightmares of raising a weapon to a brother, “He was better.”
“Bishop feared it would not be permanent,” Leatherhead admitted as he laid the vials on the table. “I did not want to scare you.”
But he did. They’d been scared. They were still scared. They were…
Leo was scared, every time his brother’s eyes took a demonizing tint.
“WATCH OUT!”
Leo tackles his brother to the floor, ignoring the animalistic snarls as he jabs the needle into his neck. The pitch shoots up into a screech, muscles quivering and bones cracking as the body contorts beneath him. The pain transforms into a wail that only trails off once the job is done, and Leo’s brother is now in his arms.
He’s sobbing as he squirms in his embrace, trying to get distance between them. Leo doesn’t blame him. He doesn’t release either.
“I can’t do it.” He’d whispered when Leo’d caught him trying to sneak out with the vials. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“I know you hate needles but you need this.”
“It’s not that. It’s not. It’s- It’s like acid. Like I’m pumping lava directly into my blood.” Donnie’d shuddered. “It’s like dying.”
“It’s supposed to help you.”
“It feels like it’s killing me.”
“You’re not going to die.”
“I almost wish I was.” He stared blankly at the vials in Leo’s hand, but he wouldn’t look at him. “Then it’d be over.”
“Please.” He gasps, “Please, please, please.”
“You’ll be okay.” Leo keeps the hold firm. “Be still. It’ll pass. It’ll pass.”
“No, no, no,” Donnie’s eyes are full of life again, desperate and glazed and looking at Leo like a brother should when he raised a blade or a tranquilizer gun to him. When he puts him through pain that he doesn’t deserve. And even now, he complies and stops the battle as tears stream down. “Just let me go. Please. Please.”
“I’m sorry.” Leo whispers. “I’m so sorry.”
And suddenly, the trap turns into a hug as a little brother seeks comfort and relief against agony, and Leo squeezes like he’ll never let go. Donnie made him promise that he wouldn’t let go after he came home from a world without him.
He can’t let him go. He won’t let go.
Leo promised.
Thanks! I have literally never wrote- no, that’s a lie. Quite possibly have never posted anything about the 2003 boys before this short. So, neat! New experiences! /is terrified
Hello!
[Just for fun question, so feel free not to answer. :) ]
Who is your favorite TMNT minor/non-turtle character?
💚🐢💚
Heya! I love the fun questions!
So, I consider the main characters to be the Turtles, Splinter, April, and Casey. Same for the main villains like Shredder, Kraang, and Bishop along with their respective minions (Bebop, Rocksteady, Tigerclaw, Stockman, etc.) That being said, I’ll give you a little bit for each series! 😊💚
2003 - Leatherhead holds a special place in my heart
2012 - Fungus Humungous is absolutely terrifying
Rise/2018 - Warren and Hypno play off each other in a way that is very entertaining to watch
1987 has A Lot of characters. Like alot alot. I also haven’t watched it in a hot minute. I enjoyed it growing up and plan to give it a rewatch soon. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet
Tales/Tottmnt - I haven’t watched it yet. I’m forcing myself to wait until I can happily binge watch it. Cliffhangers live rent free in my head and I haven’t been able to evict them. Probably never will.
Thanks for the ask! 🐢💚😊
Thinking about 2003!Leatherhead and how sad, beautiful and poetic his story arc is. He's such a great character and I feel like there weren't enough episodes with him. I need to see more of him and turtles hanging out together or just anything wholesome really
Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Leatherhead & The Turtles (TMNT), Leatherhead & Splinter (TMNT), Leatherhead & Leonardo (TMNT) Characters: Leatherhead (TMNT), Dr. Chaplin (TMNT), Leonardo (TMNT) Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Episode: s04e15 Scion of the Shredder, Episode: s04e16 Prodigal Son, Buried Alive, Implied/Referenced Torture, Canon-Typical Violence, Home Invasion, Leatherhead Has PTSD (TMNT), Good Friend Leatherhead (TMNT), Flashbacks, Suicidal Thoughts, Sort Of, Panic, Guilt, Abandonment, Fake Character Death, Canon to Scion of the Shredder, Don't worry, Splinter and the turtles are ok, Shredder Karai (TMNT), leatherhead-centric, Mention of injuries, Spying, Hacking, Hurt/Comfort, Claustrophobia, Emotional Roller Coaster, Apologies, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary:
Leatherhead thought it was a cave in.
If only he hadn't run away...
The second half of my little Leatherhead ficlet is now up.
