#poor raphie

[belierdigitalis]

Can someone please hug the devil?

[remmushound]

Part 12 of my bay/rise crossover! @brightlotusmoon @errorfreak88

It hurt. Everything hurt and he didn't know where he was and he felt sick. He bellowed out into the cold, dark room. He cried again, this time louder as he tried to stand on instead legs. His head spun. Powerful bounds around his wrists and ankles held him down, and moving sent electricity down the length of his body that made him roar. Something on his face covered his eyes— not his mask, something far darker. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t move— he couldn’t hear anything other than his own echo. He was alone.

****

“... come to find out it wasn’t really a car show. It was a destruction derby and I… he just wanted to use my car to win it so he could get another trophy.”

“I cannot understand how upsetting that must have been for you.” Splinter’s head was low as he watched the steam rise off of his tea, “I am certain you treasure your creations just as much as my Donatello. I am sure your father meant no harm, but even the best of intentions can come off as… less than that. When my son was having diffuclties as leader, he said and did many things that upset his brothers.”

“Really? My Raph’s never done anything like that.”

“Your Raphael?” Splinter looked to Donatello curiously as he sipped his tea.

“Yeah. I mean, he has his moments but he’s usually pretty chill toward us— the stress of being the leader leader gets to him sometimes but—“

Splinter choked on his tea. He dropped the cup in favor of covering his mouth during the intense coughing fit that followed. The cup shattered on the ground and spilled tea all across the cold stone of the lairs floor.

Donatello sipped his tea calmly. “You okay, buddy?”

Splinter waved that he was fine as he slowly recovered from the fit. Donatello helped himself to another buiscit.

“Ah— my apologizes, Donatello. Your words just started me is all.”

“Ok.” Donatello didn't ask why. “These are really good buiscit.”

“Thank you, but a… clarification question if I may?”

“Ok.”

“You did just state that your Raphael was your leader, correct?”

“Yeah? He’s the oldest, so leader by proxy. Why?”

“I apologize— when I stated my son was having some difficulties, I should’ve clarified it was Leonardo. The leader of my sons…”

“Gasp. Now it is my turn to choke.” Donatello put his cup to his lips and purposely inhaled some of it. He immediately fell to coughing just Splinter. “ACK! GAG! CHOKING NOISES!”

“You really are a curious fellow.” Splinter hid his mouth with another cough as he laughed. The mutant’s ears pricked to attention at the sound of a disturbance from the opposite side of the lair. “I believe we are not alone.”

Donatello wiped his mouth and looked behind him trying to see whatever Splinter had seen.

“Stay here.” Splinter gave Donatello a pat on the shoulder as he ran past.

Donatello gasped, and then squealed. “OH AM GOSH! A positive touch from a parent aged adult! Dreams really do come true!”

Donatello drank the rest of his tea happily, starting to wiggle in his seat to try and get his nervous energy out. All of the anxiety flooded right back into him when he heard Splinter’s loud scream.

“Splinter!” Donatello was on his feet and running before his mind could catch up, initially on the rats trail but quickly turning paces when he spotted a broom in a corner. He grabbed it, holding it like it was his own staff, and sprinted finally into the room Splinter had entered.

The rat had his own staff at the ready, backed into a corner with his eyes locked on the beast that filled a great deal of the room. The snapping turtle's jaws were frothing over with white foam in his panic, his tail lashing like a whip to further show the agitation of the red beast. Around his wrists and ankles were ropes that had once held him down, now snapped at the base and swinging as he struck out wildly and blindly toward the assumed attacker. Raphael couldn’t see them— his eyes were covered with a tight blindfold that made him lash his head back and forth trying to find any stimuli to tell him where he was.

Donatello recognized the fearful motions immediately— he’d lived with Raphael all his life and learned to recognize the motions his brother would go through for fear or anger or pain, and this wasn’t the second. But one so unused to recognizing the different cues that the snapping mutant had could easily misinterpret any one of them as an anger response.

Splinter brought his staff down at the bridge of Raphael’s shell trying to force him into a corner. Raphael roared in response and swiped a counter strike, just barely missing the staff's quick motions as it hit him in several more places though it was more like gentle, guiding taps.

“Wait— nonono!”

Raphael made a sharp movement when he heard Donatello’s voice and tried to search for it, colliding with Splinter and making the rat stumble slightly before he found a more secure footing.

“Raph, it’s me!” Donatello ran forward, trying to reach for the blindfold, but the moment he touched Raphael, the mutant shouted and slammed a massive fist into Donatello’s stomach.

Donatello stumbled back into the wall, gagging and clutching as he stomach as he tried to both catch the breath that had been knocked from him and try not to throw up. He did, of course, have plating over his plastron just as his brothers did— it was just covered with soft skin instead of hard keratin—but the bone only served to make the pain worse somehow as Raphael’s fist collided with enough force to knock a grown man off his feet.

Raphael immediately recognized who he had hit and started to panic even more.

“Don-nee?” His head thrashed back and forth trying to shake off the blindfold obscuring his vision.

Donatello tried to call out to him, but only a wheeze was produced.

“Donatello, stay where you are.” Splinter took a defensive pose in front of Donatello.

“Nah…” Donatello tried finally, pushing himself off the wall and trying to stumble to his brother's aid, but Splinter’s tail directed him back. “Don’t hurt—“

“I’m not.”

“But he doesn’t know that!”

Splinter jabbed the tip of his staff into Raphael’s chest, making the savage mutant grunt and try to grab at whoever kept poking him.

“I swear… ah…” Donatello felt his way across the wall trying to get behind Raphael without being hurt again or singled out— if he could separate his noise from the racket Splinter was making, then maybe— “I’m… so gonna beat those other turtles shells… if I have any spoons left by time they get back. RAFFEREL!”

Raphael grunted and turned quickly at the sound of the voice.

“Listen to me! Your name is Hamato Red, but when you were nine and me and Leo were eight and Mikey was seven we all chose names we thought were cooler from an old library book April gave us, and you became Hamato Sanzio Raphael.”

Raphael listened intently, his breathing still labored and body tensed, but all senses locked onto Donatello. Splinter stopped his assault to listen as well.

“And when we were little hatchlings and you’d go into your fits, dad always calmed you down with the Chūgoku lullaby. And Leo and Mikey and I were always jealous because you got your own lullaby, but every night Splinter would sing the Takeda lullaby to all of us before we went to sleep. Do you remember the Chūgoku lullaby?”

Raphael didn't respond.

“Come on. You know how it goes! Nenneko shasshari mase, neta ko no kawasi… okite naku ko no… nenkororo, tsura nikusa, nekororon, nenkororon…”

As Donatello went slowly through the lullaby, Raphael started to chur softly and sway. Halfway through he started to hum along, and once Donatello was sure Raphael was calm, he approached Raphael without stopping the song. Donatello reached gently to Raphael’s head, hesitating as the great beast flinched but quickly recovering enough to take off the blindfold.

As Raphael blinked in the sudden light, Donatello gently fell to unbinding the ropes from Raphael’s wrists, and the song wrapped up perfectly as he removed the final knot.

“There we are.”

“Don!”

Donatello screamed as he was yanked into a hug, then fell to growing as Raphael rubbed his cheek against Donatello’s battle shell.

“Oh come on Raph you know I’m afraid of togetherness—“

Raphael moved to rest his head on top of Donatello’s, holding the softshell tightly to his plastron. “You’re okay…”

“Of course I’m okay you idiot you threw yourself on top of me!”

Raphael kissed the top of Donatello’s head and continued to hum happily while the softshell struggled for his freedom.

“Oh, really? Really with the kiss? You were just trying to kill me two seconds ago!” Despite his words, Donatello’s heart flooded with warmth at the snapping turtles quick rebound from beast to brother.

“Donnie, I don’t feel good…” Raphael sniffled.

“What kind of don’t feel good?”

“Like I’m gonna be sick.” Raphael stuck his tongue out, “And my back hurts- it is bad—?”

Donatello grabbed Raphael’s face before he could turn around to look at the bandages, forcing the snapper to look back at him. “He probably just gave you oxycodone to help with the pain.”

“Oh okay.” Raphael nodded, not quite understanding but trusting his brother's judgement. “But uh. Who is ‘he’?”

“I may be able to help best.”

Raphael gave a confused grunt and turned around, pulling Donatello along with him as he saw Splinter for the first time.

“Hey, pops got taller! Good for him.”

“That’s not dad you idiot— well it is kinda— but not our dad!”

Raphael blinked. “Raph is confused!”

Splinter laughed, finally letting his staff back down into a relaxed position and resting on it. “I’m going to need so much more tea.”

[zelvaart]

this poor boy misses his pet, help him

[zelvaart]

[brushes-of-sage]

Behold this cursed image before you sleep...

I saw red bandanna tails. I reached for a Raph. I got a green Slenderman instead.

I kid you not, I nearly screeched and dropped him 😱

So enjoy this faceless boi 😶

But some good news:

I got myself a new one and named him Slash. Mostly ‘cause he’s got around the same coloration as IDW Slash :)

Made him a bandanna and everything. He’s a ninja turtle now 🐢

[raphared]

Raph and horses. I said it all.

[its-guntertime]

I know we’ve come a long way in the show since Slash and Destroy but I’m still not completely over it