Second Chance AU - Down With The Sickness/Minotaur Maze
And now we've reached a pair of episodes where one is definitely Leo-centric! But first:
Down With The Sickness:
This episode has a few changes. First, Leo is actually ashamed of himself to start because he's spent the last couple of years trying to develop a vaccine for Rat Flu. Clearly, it didn't work this time so he feels bad Splinter is sick.
Donnie and Mikey bring up their ideas of what to ask for, but Raph says that Leo should be the one to pick, which they immediately agree on! Leo tries to brush it off, saying their ideas are great and they should pick one of them, or have Raph pick! But the brothers have decided; Leo gets to choose.
(Leo is panicking because according to his very long list, it's Raph's turn to get picked when Leo's turn comes around, but Raph didn't say what he wanted so Leo can't give it! Also, he feels ashamed of his first idea of the unicorn onesies because why would his family want to wear matching onesies with him, he's so stupid!)
(His family would totally love to wear matching unicorn onesies with him.)
Stage one, Leo has blankets and warm coats prepared for the cold.
Stage two, Donnie sacrifices Mikey to the Wild Rat Man to buy time for Leo to finish putting on his hazmat suit. Mikey is not pleased and will remember that.
Stage 3, Mikey manages to steal Donnie's helmet so Donnie is the first brother down for the count. Leo mentally moves uranium up on the list.
Stage 4, some combat here, and then Mikey's suit gets pulled off by Donnie robot arms because Donnie will now have his revenge! Two brothers down.
Stage 5, Leo tries to ask Raph what he wants, but he can't hear Leo over the Karaoke love songs. They also get a call from April and warn her not to come, because no one is entirely sure what Rat Flu will do to a human. April just wishes that regular flu would give her cool ninja skills.
Stage 6, Leo tries again during Splinter's fanfiction, but Raph won't say anything because he knows Leo is going to try and say what Raph wants instead of what he wants. Leo tries using some clever wording, but Raph is firm.
Stage 6 1/2, thanks to Leo's vaccine, stage two is back. Which no one was expecting. Wild Rat Man Splinter lunges for Leo, who is saved when Raph takes the hit. Unfortunately, he does it in the same way Raph does in the movie...which means Leo's having a flashback.
He misses Stage 7 because he's having a panic attack, and only comes back after Splinter's regained his mind. Leo's rapidfire apologizing, but the family assumes it's due to the vaccine, not because of the flashback. As Raph gets quarantined, Splinter asks Leo what he wants, and Leo just asks for a hug. He gets it.
Minotaur Maze:
And here's the one we've been waiting for. Leo's been having nightmares about their first time at Run of the Mill for about a week now, so he's tired and very scared. But he knows what not to do, so he'll be fine, right?
He doesn't try to open the portal, so Raph gets them inside, and he doesn't even glance at the Hall of Champions. Leo keeps his eyes on his feet and slides first into the booth. His brothers then do some Rock Paper Scissors to decide who gets to sit next to him. Mikey wins, Donnie gets across from him, and Raph is diagonal. He pouts about it.
They talk and eat their pizza and Leo starts thinking it'll be fine. Sure, he didn't meet Hueso, but they'll have more chances and then...Mikey needs to use the bathroom. When he comes back, he's super excited because 'They have a maze! With prizes!'
Leo blanks out. He's back in the maze, with his family refusing to call him a champion (and he isn't, he's just a stupid selfish loser, why would they ever call him champion?) and Raph scolding him and Mikey's head on fire and Leo just doesn't hear anything, but then he starts feeling sick and he runs to the bathroom.
He throws up in the toilet, and his brothers try to follow, but they're stopped by Hueso. Hueso is about to be very offended that his pizza made someone sick, but he realizes that Leo is panicking. So he's very gentle with the turtle.
Donnie, Raph, and Mikey all decide that they should cheer Leo up, and what better way than getting him the World's Greatest Pizza? So the three of them rush into the maze...and they're never told mystic powers aren't allowed. Oops.
Hueso manages to talk Leo out of the bathroom, but Leo gets nervous when he can't find the others. So Hueso asks around, and learns they charged into the Maze of Death. Leo immediately starts hyperventilating, which gets worse when Hueso gets word that Raph has started just smashing through the walls.
Hueso arranges for a mystical video feed so he can see what they're doing, and is very upset about the mystic forces. Leo tries to calm him down, explaining it's their first time here and no one told them they couldn't use their powers, but Hueso says the Minotaur will not care. So Leo asks if he can go in and try to convince his brothers to leave peacefully. Hueso agrees.
Thanks to his past memories, Leo is able to catch up, but unfortunately, he finds his brothers trapped in a pit that opened up after they escaped the crushing walls. Leo manages to pull them out and explain about the 'no mystics' rule.
Donnie: So Raphala and Michael cheated, so I guess only the twins share the glory and the pizza. Science wins again!
Raph and Mikey: DONNIE!
Leo tries to get them to leave, but Raph isn't leaving without the pizza and punches through another wall to get them to the center of the maze. The Minotaur is here, and Hueso. Both are very angry because one, mystics, and two, that is not how you solve a maze! Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are disqualified.
Leo is confused as to why his name wasn't called and tries to add it, but Hueso smirks and points out that Leo didn't break any rules. And since he entered after his brothers, he's not part of the group disqualification. Despite his protests, Leo's photo is put on the Wall of Champions, across from the photo of his brothers on the Wall of Cheaters. Leo gets a box of the Champion Pizza to take home with him too.
Outside of Run of the Mill, Leo opens a portal to take everyone home. Once they're there, he puts the box on the floor so everyone, including Splinter, gets some pizza. Leo also opens another portal to throw April a slice. He almost manages to get away without eating any, but his brothers make sure he gets a slice.
