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"OKAY, HERE'S THE PLAN. donnie, you're going to strike first." leonardo pointed to his brother.

his big finger pointing right between the genius' eyes.

you five were crouched down in a circle, trying to come up with a way to lend at least one hit on your sensei

you knew it was almost impossible, but one could hope right?

you met your leader eyes as that thought crossed your mind, he looked very convinced of his plan — even thought they usually failed against master splinter.

and even thought you had your doubt you kept them to yourself, instead nodding in leonardo's direction to let him know that you were with him.

"no, wait." his brother interrupted "you want me to come at splinter? i'll get pummeled." donatello's voice was a little higher than usual,  the anxiety of going against his father getting the best of him.

splinter was really good at throwing you all across the room.

"well, getting pummeled is yar specialty." smirked raphael making donatello growl at him.

"trust me. it's all part of my plan to catch splinter off-guard." smiled leonardo, even more confident of his plan now.

but michelangelo wasn't having the same feelings about it "uh, leo, don't take this the wrong way, but against splinter, your plans always get our butts whipped." explained the 'little' brother.

leonardo threw an hard glare at him "okay, new thought. mikey, you attack." he added.

mickey's head turned towards you "he took it the wrong way." he murmured in your ear.

"enough talk. let's do this." chimed in raphael, and you all shared a determined nod.

after you had circled your sensei, mikey tried to attack first just like leo had ordered.

but master splinter was fast, and he knew all of you inside out.

he grabbed his son legs, trowing him to the ground.

you took michelangelo's defeat as your clue to attack, and the four of you sprinted towards your sensei.

donatello tried to attack him, but master splinter used his terrapin body to kick both him and raphael against the wall.

he turned around hearing your steps, and as you jumped up in the air he kicked you away from his body, making you lend on the ground.

splinter noticed leonardo, he tried to hit the turtle, but the leader dodged the hits, he attacked back and he punched splinter in the face.

leonardo's expression morphed into a horrified and shocked one, as he couldn't believe he had hurt his father.

"sensei, i'm sorry." he spoke immediately, worrying about master splinter.

in seconds leonardo was pinned to the ground.

you four watched with wide eyes as master splinter held his punch up, ready to strike.

"oh, man. leo's a goner." talked donnie.

"oh, nodie dodie." added mickey.

but instead your sensei let his son go, looking down to him with an impressed face "well done, leonardo. but just when you had the advantage, you hesitated, and that made you vulnerable."

your leader started to get up as he answered "hai, sensei."

master splinter walked away as he signed the end of the training "now, that is all for today." he stopped in front of the door of his room "unless you care for a rematch."

"no, thanks." said donatello.

"i'm good." followed michelangelo.

"yeah, i think we're all set here." ended raphael as you all nodded nervously.

master splinter entered his room and you finally relaxed, moving to compliment your leader.

"leo!" you shouted as you jumped at his neck, hugging it tightly.

"not bad." commented raphael as he crossed his arms on his chest, his eyes lingering on you for a moment.

"dude, i can't believe you actually tagged sensei. that was epic." donatello's hands flied  around as he spoke.

michelangelo grabbed leonardo's left hand eyeing it "the hand that punched splinter. you know, you can never wash this again."

"mickey i think it was the other one" you laughed.

you let go of leonardo's neck as he spoke.

"i gotta say, guys, it was all teamwork." his eyes moved on you "we are definitely getting better." he added.

your smile became even bigger at his comment and — to stop the urge of choking him again — you punched his shoulder, making him let a small 'ouch'.

"think we might be catching up to splinter?" questioned donatello, hope filling his eyes.

"yeah, maybe soon, we won't need him to train us at all." answered michelangelo as you jokingly rolled your eyes.

"soon? more like in a hundred years" you added with a smile.

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splinter scream was what made you ran back to the dojo, your feet moving without you thinking.

you threw yourself at the entrance, your eyes scanning around the room until they landed on your sensei.

he was on the ground, holding his head in pain as leonardo and michelangelo observed him.

raphael and you up on your feet as the other two were crouched down.

suddenly donatello entered the room, stopping in front of his father face.

"sensei, are you okay?" asked donatello as he tried to meet master splinter eyes.

"i am fine." came his sensei reply.

but leonardo didn't seem so sure "are you sure you're all right? you don't seem-"

the chirping of birds interrupted leo as he tried to comfort his father, a confused expression on your face as you turned to the source of the sound, donatello.

"hey, that's april's ring tone." shouted donnie in a happy tone.

raphael and michelangelo wasted no time on annoying their brother and they decided to do kissy faces as the phone kept on ringing.

donatello pushed them both away and only then, when raphael tumbled back to the floor, you realized that you had been holding hands.

you quickly took it away, cleaning your sweat against your shirt.

in the meanwhile donnie tried to find the right words with the redhead "hey, april. i mean, hey, april. i mean-"

you couldn't hear the girl response but you could see donatello face as it morphed into a worried expression "we're coming."

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making the boys see the city during the daytime was something that you had wished for a long time.

but that wasn't what you had wanted them to see.

"oh, wow, the city is so beautiful in the daytime. except for the, you know, billions of rats." had commented michelangelo as you had ran from a rooftop to another.

the boys had bickered a little as you had looked around, the thousands of rats running on the street making you understand the problem.

it took you only some seconds to find april.

she was hugging the wooden pole with all her force, trying her best to not fall and get eaten alive.

you looked at her, and you noticed the fear in her face, as her nail dig into the wood.

"we're coming, april! don't go anywhere!" donatello's hand flew up as he stopped the girl from moving.

your voice overlapped the redhead's as you both answered the terrapin.

"where could i possibly go?" april held a blank look on her face.

your arms opened up as you spoke "where could she possibly go?"

leonardo and raphael used their grappling hooks to swung down on the pole as you and april agreed on the first thing in weeks.

you let your arms fall to the side, grabbing the hook before copying the two brothers.

your feet ended up against the pole, a couple of rats falling from the force of your jump, michelangelo and donatello went next.

you took a moment to make sure the hook was placed correctly, pulling on the cord; only when you were sure of its safety you started to climb, the turtles copying your movements.

it didn't took long for the rats to climb back on, for some reasons it was really important for them to succeed on eating the redhead — maybe if you had threw them a carrot they would've left you alone — they even jumped on your head to complete their task.

"these stupid rats are starting to get on my nerves." shouted raphael as he tried to stop the rodents.

"wait till i tell this to splinter" you commented with a teasing tone and his glare hardened at your comment.

donatello's brain switched, like every other time you had been talking about something he knew, and his mouth opened before he could even think about it "rats aren't stupid. despite their small brain size, they're remarkably-"

you laughed as a rat hit his face, a whole full laugh left your mouth as you watched his head fall back at the hit.

he groaned in pain as he looked up at his brother.

"i warned ya" responded raphael, and even thought there wasn't a smirk on his face you could imagine it pretty easily.

"raph, put down the rat and keep climbing." leonardo scolded his brother and donatello had to stop the urge of sticking his tongue out — probably cause he knew that he would've only earned another rat to his face.

"hurry!" shouted the redhead.

leonardo whipped his head down, giving you a stare that screamed 'don't respond.' and you gave him a wide, fake, smile in return.

'what?' you mouthed to him, and he rolled his eyes, looking back up.

suddenly the pole started to tip, a hole on the middle of it made you understand why you were starting to fall.

you decided that you had to shout "you damn rodents!" or you wouldn't have been happy with yourself.

the pole trembled as it came to an alt, and april's fingers — who had seemed like they were becoming one with the wood —  slipped from their places.

the redhead screamed as she looked at the sidewalk becoming more near every seconds but before you could do anything about it a turtle arm caught her in the air.

donatello was very proud of his saving and as he took in the hug the girl was giving him he shouted happily "whoo-hoo!"

his feet came in contact with the pole again, he gripped the rope of the hook as he gave the girl a moment to recollect her breath.

he spoke "as long as donnie's here, you have nothing to-" the noises of the rats biting the wood was enough to make him stop "oh, boy."

the pole fell even more this time and you had to let go of the rope, instead using your arms and legs to make sure you didn't fall on those rodents.

"okay. i appreciate you guys coming to help, but how is this better than getting eaten by rats?" questioned april, anger coming out of her voice.

you didn't like that, not even a little — okay maybe the fact that she talked back reminded you of yourself but that's not the point.

she was the one that had called you, she was the one that had needed your help; it hadn't been the first time and you were sure that it wouldn't have been the last one.

but you couldn't care less about arguing with her when you could hear the rodents gnawing in your ear.

"at least it'll be quick." spoke michelangelo "with rats, they chew and chew and chew and chew and chew-"

you used your arms muscle to pull yourself up, giving mickey a kick on his side to make him shut up.

"okay we get it" interrupted him the redhead, and for a moment you were thankful of her presence.

"let's move." and you didn't know why you had waited for those words to pull yourself on top of the pole.

speaking of the wood under your feet, it took only some fast steps before you heard it cracking.

"hurry" shouted donnie and you fastened your pace.

you successfully arrived to a rooftop — you actually landed pretty badly on it — and you sighed happily at the fact that you feet were back on the ground.

a green hand was in front of your face and you didn't even had to look up to know who it belonged too.

you gripped it, using all your weight to try and make it more difficult to pick you up but he didn't move, not even of a centimeter.

"you're boring red." you commented as you cleaned your clothes, a lot more then you needed but it was for dramatic purposes.

"'cause i'm strong?" raphael smirked at you, and you huffed in annoyance.

you turned your head to the other side, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, but the lack of response coming from your mouth was enough to let him now that he had win that round.

raph 1 - [name] 0

and you both knew that his win would last only for a couple hours.

you walked to the side of the roof and only then you realized that your hands were still clasped together.

your temperature rose up as you immediately let go of his three green fingers, before cleaning your human hand on your shirt.

"chew on that, rat finks!" you leader turned around before he could even finish his sentence, looking to the rest of you for your approval.

when all he got were blank stares he knew that he had said something bad once again and he groaned a reply as he looked at you "oh, come on. that sounded cool."

you grimaced as you made a so-so gesture with your hand.

"does anyone know what the heck is going on?" screamed april more than a little freaked out by the situation.

"you were the one out there for the whole day" you murmured as you crossed your arms and you earned a cold glare in response.

"i'm not sure." started donatello, either obvious to the situation or instead opting to ignore it "but whatever it is, this attack is extremely well coordinated. obviously, there is a higher intelligence at work here." his gaze fell to the ground as he spoke.

raphael opened his mouth, probably to insult his brother, but you interrupted him before he could even start "like a hive mind?" you questioned as your hands went to rest on your hips.

"yeah, someone or something is controlling every rat in the city." responded donnie.

your eyes widened at the end of his sentence and he tilted his head in confusion, almost as he hadn't registered his own words.

"wait a sec. every rat?" raphael asked, wanting to make sure that he wasn't overreacting.

"that means that splinter could be-" talked leonardo.

"-controlled" you all finished together.

a couple of cusses left your mouth as you let a hand pass trough your hair, the turtle hand touching you back doing only much against the chaos in your head.

but it didn't made raphael put his arm back down, instead leaving it there as he looked at your worried face.

"we've to go back." ordered your leader.

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it felt like it had took you years to go back to the lair, the streets had seemed infinite as you had tried to stretch your legs with every step.

thinking that if your legs had been just a little longer you could've reached him sooner.

when you had arrived you had threw yourself down the stairs, jumping half of the steps and nearly breaking your foot at the horrible landing.

you found him laying on the ground, his hands on his chest, and even thought you had seen him sleep more time than you could count the sight in front of you made your heart stop and you breath get caught in your throat.

"is he okay?" asked april after she had looked at his figure for a second.

"how the fuck should we now?" you barked back, and for the first time since you had know her you saw her flinch at your come back.

you didn't care in that moment — well, you did but you couldn't show it then — your only family was laying in front of you, looking dead, you had every right to be angry, and scared.

raphael broke the tension "donnie, you're the smart one. what do we do?"

and even thought you were thankful for the change of subject you didn't liked the way the weight fell into donatello's shoulder.

"maybe we should poke him." that's all that left the genius mouth, and in another situation you would've chuckled at the uncertainty in his voice.

"good idea. mikey, poke him." ordered leonardo moving his focus on his brother.

"no way, i'm not poking him." michelangelo replied scared, before he pointed at his leader "you poke him."

leonardo scoffed "okay, we'll put it to a vote."

you chuckled as the same name left all of your mouths "mickey."

the turtle groaned as he realized that his destiny was signed "i want a recount." he murmured.

you understood mickey fear, you sensei reflexes were amazing even when he was asleep and he knew that he wouldn't have succeeded on leaving his father side in time.

donatello gave him his bo, you looked between the two brothers as michelangelo looked at the wooden stick "fine."

he moved at his father's feet, trying to stay as far away as he could from his sensei.

he gripped the bo in his hands, slowly pushing it towards master splinter nose.

only then did donnie realize which side of his weapon was near his father face and he had to make sure that his brother didn't hurt your sensei "easy, easy. careful not to squeeze the-"

instead his words got the opposite effect; the spear activated and the blade came out of the wood mere centimeters away from the rodent nose.

scared scream came out of your throat, donnie grabbed the weapon from his brother hands before he turned it around "okay, let's try it from the other end." he said marking the last words.

you took notice of how your screams didn't wake your sensei and before michelangelo could get his hands on it you took the weapon.

you made sure to have the safe side  towards master splinter as you slowly poked his nose, the brothers looking at you with wide eyes.

they looked at their still sleeping father and mickey pushed you to the side, grabbing the stick from your hands "whoa, he is totally out of it. dudes, check out the nose nuggets." he commented as pushed against his sensei nose.

"michelangelo is awesome. he is the smartest, handsomest, butt-kicking-est of all my-" joked the terrapin as he kept on moving his father mouth.

it was that sentence that woke master splinter up — or maybe it was just a coincidence.

michelangelo was thrown to the ground, you ducked down to not get dragged with him, when he landed the bo was still in his hands as he hugged it like his whole life depended on it.

leonardo crouched down "sensei, are you okay?" he asked softly, a hint of worry in his tone.

his father got up on his feet, leaning on donatello's shoulder as he answered your leader "no, leonardo. i am not. it would appear that your former adversary, dr. falco, has returned." he explained as he started to move on his own legs.

donatello curiosity rose up "falco's behind this? how is that possible?" he questioned, still confused about the situation.

you and april helped master splinter to the dojo, one of your hands around his elbows, the other leaning on his back.

"somehow he has acquired a telepathic connection with every rat in new york. and he now calls himself 'the rat king.'" kept on talking master splinter, even thought the hint of pain could be heard in his voice.

"oh, great." michelangelo was angry "so now we're letting the bad guys name themselves? we gotta take him down." when you realized the reason of his strong emotion you weren't so surprised anymore.

"yes, michelangelo, you do." nodded splinter "the rat king will not rest until he has total control of this city - and my mind." his gaze moved to his little shelf.

"sensei?" called leonardo.

"everything i knew is gone." he reminded you as he grabbed the picture of his old, real, family in his paws "my wife, my daughter, my clan, even my humanity." his fist tightened "you five are all i have left." he looked to you behind his shoulder.

"don't you worry, sensei. we'll stop him." raphael didn't had even a hint of doubt in his phrase and you found comfort in the certainty of his words.

"but we gotta find him first." chimed in donatello and you nodded in agreement.

"sensei did he give you some hint about where he's hiding?" you asked doing a step towards master splinter.

"when the rat king attempted to take control of me, i could see into his mind." he confirmed as he looked into your eyes "you will find his lair in an abandoned utility junction beneath herald square."

"let's go play exterminator." talked raphael, and you ignored how happy he was at the idea of kicking somebody's butt.

splinter cry of pain made his expression change immediately and as he watched his father lean down he grabber your hand, a small reflex that none of you wanted to talk about.

"fight him, sensei." said leonardo as he tried to help him.

splinter groaned "i will. just hurry." he begged.

"it's okay, guys. you go after the rat king. i'll stay with sensei." you looked at the redhead as she carried splinter towards his room.

"thank you" you spoke sincerely, she gave you one last glance before she crossed the door, but you knew that a genuine smile was tugging at her lips.

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the sewers were silent as you walked trough them, and even thought the echo that they would usually cause would make your head hurt after a little, you couldn't say that you were happy with the peace.

mickey didn't had his usual smile on his face and none of the brothers were arguing.

the health of your sensei was the first thing in your minds.

"what's going to happen to splinter if we can't stop the rat king?" asked michelangelo as he broke the — quite uncomfortable — silence "which, by the way, lamest villain name ever." he added at the end.

you chuckled at his comment, even thought it was the fifth time he had brought it up, and you earned a small goofy smile in return.

"let it go already." groaned donatello in annoyance as he stopped in his track to look at his brothers.

you leaned your arm on raphael shoulder as he spoke "we're going to stop the rat king, and splinter's going to be fine." now the doubt in his tone could be heard pretty clearly and you were left to wonder if he had just been pretty convincing before, or if he had really believed his words "right, leo?" he tried to find comfort in his brother.

before your leader could answer a squeaking sound came from the ground, your gaze moved down, trying to find the source.

a small rat run past your legs, and you could heard something echoing in the back of the tunnel.

donatello had heard the same noise and he shushed all of you "do you guys hear that?" he asked.

you nodded slowly as you turned your head around, you could almost feel the walls trembling.

a massive horde of rats appeared at the end of the tunnel, your eyes widened at the image.

it looked more like an immense wave, and for a second you wondered if the fear you were feeling would've been the same if you were in front of the sea.

"you gotta be kidding." murmured raphael, his face blank as he tried to hide his own fear.

mickey tried to repeat his joke for the 15th time "aw, ra-" raphael hand came in contact with his mouth before he could finish the  word.

"leo, any ideas?" asked donatello anxiously donnie.

"just one. move!" screamed your leader as you started to ran.

you tried to outrun them but after some steps you all knew it was pointless, they were going to get to you.

the rats didn't look like they were going to stop running anytime soon and you could feel yourself starting to get out of breath.

the turtles jumped up in the air grabbing the pipes.

you copied their movement but your fingers slipped easily against the smooth metal.

"shit" you cussed as you felt the sole of your shoes come in contact with the ground again.

"cmon [name]" shouted raphael.

you took a small step back, the noises of the rodents squeaking and running rumbled in your ear.

you took the knives out while you ignored the calls of your name from the brothers.

you jumped to the left, using the wall as a leverage, you used your legs to push you up again and you grabbed at the tube with your knives.

you smirked as you realized you were secured, the rats running under your feet.

leonardo held a relieved smile on his face "keep moving." he ordered.

as you did just that your brain couldn't help but rethink the situation.

donnie had confirmed that it was a hive mind, so whatever those rats saw falco should've saw too.

or maybe you were just worrying too much about everything.

"i can think of a million better names than the rat king." michelangelo's voice brought you back to the boys "there's ratzilla" he started.

"but godzilla is not part of a hive mind is he?" you asked sincere, not wanting to say something false.

mickey looked around for a moment, thinking about your words "well, there's also the verminator, lord rattington-"

"can it, mikey. we're almost there." interrupted him your leader "the utility chamber should be on the other side of that wall."

your eyes laid on the 'wall', you squeezed your eyes as you took a good look at it.

little pink tails could be seen and as you moved near you noticed that it was in fact, a wall made of rats.

"uh, ya mean that disgusting, furry, squirming wall?" questioned raphael, making the leader notice his mistake.

"how are we supposed to get past that?" donatello's voice came from your right but you didn't bother to turn your head in his direction.

leonardo used a moment to took the whole situation in and you watched as his mouth twitched when he finally came up with a plan "raph, those barrels. ventilate 'em."

"you got it." answered the other terrapin before throwing two ninja stars.

oil started to leak from the metal containers and you started to understand you leader's plan.

"uh, leo, you do realize those chemicals are highly combustible." commented donatello, worried about his safety.

"i think that's the point" you replied happily with a smirk.

leonardo used his katana to cut an electric wire, and you observed as it fell against the barrels, causing a little explosion.

you covered your face with your arm as the rats fell from their spots.

"let's move." repeated leo.

it was only some more steps before you finally arrived at the rat king's lair — mickey's right that name was really lame.

you walked into the hideout, you looked up as you took in the place, there was the sound of droplets falling and it echoed around the four walls.

the smell of dirt and sweat plugged your nose.

only then your gaze landed on the man, falco.

he was standing far, looking down at you from his spot, couple of rats around him — was his ego so low that he had to use rats to feel stronger?

"ah, my turtle friends, we meet again." he spoke, his teeth were yellow and black, of different length.

he had bandages wrapping around his head, and his hands, a black hat and a coat of the same color to cover his body.

"they always forget about me" you murmured as you crossed your arms, faking offense at his phrase.

"except last time, falco, ya weren't wearing a sad halloween costume." commented raphael and a fit of laughter left your throats.

falco grew angry at your comments "i am the rat king!" he shouted.

"lame" mickey coughed into his fist.

"we could tell by the smell don't worry" you shouted back as you covered your nose and the turtles laughed again.

"sorry, we don't have any treats for you. but we've got a few tricks." started leonardo, sliding his fists.

suddenly donatello's phone ringed, the birds chirping giving away who was on the other side of the line.

you groaned as you threw your arms open.

"way to ruin the moment, donnie."  commented raphael as he looked back at his brother.

donatello answered the phone as you all crouched down near him, trying to understand what was the problem.

"uh, april, now's not really the best time." started the terrapin.

once again you heard april answering but you couldn't actually understand her words.

"what do you mean, 'gone'? gone where?" asked donnie, your eyes widening as you started to connect the pieces.

"here." his voice created goosebumps all over your skin.

he wasn't the sweet man you were so used to see, the one that had always a wise word to say and a soft glance to throw.

he was cold, and dark, his eyes shining with red.

he looked lifeless, and if he hadn't been up in his feet you would've thought that he was dead.

for the first time in your life you could say that you were scared of him.

you feared splinter.

"what's wrong with him?" asked leonardo.

donatello was quick with his response "it's like his brain is completely turned off."

raphael asked with a proud smile "ya mean like mickey?" but his voice was overlapped with michelangelo's.

"dude, you are so predictable." responded mickey.

"sensei, snap out of it." tried leo, his tone near a begging one.

"you waste your words." came master splinter, lifeless, response "this is where i belong, with my brothers."

"he is mine now." started falco "imagine my delight when i realized that controlling your master would not only make me invincible, but would also be the key to your demise." his laugh almost made you threw up on the spot, he was twisted, and the fact that he looked disgusting didn't help "splinter, destroy them."

master splinter started to walk, slowly, as he looked towards you.

"sensei, DON'T!" begged again leonardo, his breaking voice made your heart hurt.

at the sound of his son desperate tone splinter stopped in his track, his eyes widening.

for a second you thought it was over.

but then falco took his bandages away, revealing his horrendous face under it, and his little white eyes looked into your sensei mind.

and he was under his control again.

your sensei glare hardened and you took a small step back.

you took your sword out and donatello copied your action "are we really going to do this?" he asked to no one in particular.

raphael looked at you behind his shoulder as he answered his brother "remember, we did beat him once" he looked back in front of him "kind of." he added.

leonardo tried to sound more certain than the hothead "yeah, and we can beat him again. we can do this, guys. do not hesitate." you all took your fighting stances as splinter took out his own weapon.

there was a moment where you looked into his red eyes, and you tried to force yourself to think that he wasn't splinter anymore, he wasn't the man you knew and looked up to.

he was a threat.

"take sensei down." ordered your leader

you all charged at splinter, but he dodged all of your attacks, knocking you into different sides of the rooms.

it took a hit on the head to make donatello say what you had been thinking "i just had a horrible realization. he's been going easy on us all these years."

"i thought you knew." you shouted back from the other wall, which you were leaning against as you tried to get back up.

donnie glare hardened but not because of you, because of determination.

he looked at his father and before you could register it he tried to attack again.

sadly it was pointless and after some dodged hits he was disarmed, his bo flying trough air as donatello was thrown at the wall — again.

you heard michelangelo as he called for his brother.

he tried to use his nunchucks to grab master splinter's katana but it didn't work, he too ended up on the ground.

"nobody hits mickey but me." growled raphael as he tried to attack with his sais.

you watched as splinter backflipped over his son head but before he could lend a hit on his face you put your body between them, your weapon getting the kick.

it did pushed you against raph but it was better then ending up on the ground, as soon as that thought crossed your mind you felt a strong kick into your stomach.

the bricks coming in contact with your back made you understand where you had ended up.

you groaned as you tried to focus back onto the fight, you hated being a human.

leonardo was the only one standing "sensei, please" he begged again as he got ready to fight.

you closed you eyes as you watched his katana fly out of his hands, he ended up on the ground too, the end of the blade right in front of his face.

"wait" he said, and splinter stops.

"finish him." ordered falco from his spot, had you never wanted to hurt a man more.

"remember who you are, hamato yoshi." leonardo took out the photo of splinter's family and it momentarily distracted him "donnie, raph, [name] now!" he shouted.

you jumped on him, pinning his body down.

"please, father. we need you." you could fell the pain in leonardo's voice, and you knew that he had been fighting back tears.

you noticed splinter eyes softening and the corners of your mouth curled upward.

"don't listen to him, brother. your place is with me." falco was in front of you, two meters far from your hands.

a thought crossed your mind, jumping at him and leaving the boys to keep splinter down as you tried to understand what was wrong with this man.

but you knew that it would've been reckless.

so you stayed put.

you looked down into your sensei eyes and with the softest tone you could master you begged, just like leonardo had done before you "no, your place is with your sons"

splinter breaks free from your grasp, throwing you once again against the wall — was it the fourth time?.

he had leonardo under his right hand, a katana in the left one.

he was ready to strike and you watched him with eyes as he remained still "please" you desperately asked.

he closed his eyes before he spoke "my place is with my sons." he opened them again and you finally found his pupils.

no more red could be seen and a sigh of relief left your mouth.

master splinter used only one, final blow and the rat king was down, right in front of you.

"sensei!" you called together as you all threw your arms around him.

you felt him move a little and you knew hat he had almost lost his balance.

you chuckled happily as you felt his hands pet your heads.

the rats dragged falco away with them and you tried to not be too mad about it, at least you knew you wouldn't had seen him for some time.

mickey's fingers moved around the air "and that's the last we'll see of count ratula." he looked back at you for approval and you grimaced at his name "yeah, all right. it's rat king. but i'm naming the next one." he added.

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the walk back to the lair was slow but full of laughter, it was great to have the boys back, and their father too.

michelangelo kept on asking question about movies and you tried to answer all of them but sometimes you didn't know the answer and you were really happy that donatello was always there to invent something that mickey would believe.

raphael's eyes stayed on you during that small walk and leonardo gave his sensei a tilt of his head to make him look at his son.

master splinter held a small smile at the expression on the turtle face.

leonardo knew that it was time to annoy his brother.

when you finally got back to the dojo you let splinter have a moment of peace, you went to take a hot shower to clean yourself from the dirt and you scrubbed your skin you were sure that you could still fill those little rodents paws walking all over you.

you ignored the way your hands changed when you put shampoo on them because you didn't want to worry about your visions that day.

you grabbed a towel, throwing it around your body, before you moved to your closet to change in something more comfortable.

when you got out you knew that the brothers had had a routine similar to yours.

you passed the terrapins and you smelled the air "oh my god do i smell lavender?" you asked teasingly.

raphael had growled at you.

before then you could've had imagined you had ended up on the couch, watching the tv with michelangelo.

raphael's head leaning on your legs.

donatello on the other end of the sofa, typing on his computer.

"blue?" you asked and donatello moved his eyes from the screen after what felt like hours.

"he wanted to check up on sensei" he answered you quickly.

even if curiosity wanted to get the best of you you were a little scared of asking the genius what he was doing on that computer.

you tilted your head down to raph, who was already looking at you, and you asked him a question only with a look.

he smirked widely and you both got up.

"where are you going?" asked mickey.

you motioned for him to come before you looked towards the last brother, hai eyes down on the screen.

"donatello." you called sternly and his head shoot up, his eyes wide.

you motioned for him to come and he glared at you when he realized that you had just wanted his attention.

you walked on your tip toes as you tried to arrived to the dojo without getting noticed.

"i am fine, thanks to you. you did well, my son." you heard master splinter soft voice and you were proud of leonardo for getting the confirmation he deserved.

he was a good leader.

"well, you did hesitate, and hesitation leads to vulnerability." chuckled leo and your smile widened even more at that.

but michelangelo wanted his recognition too "we did pretty good, too, huh?" he asked and you were dragged trough the door by your wrist.

you smiled widely at your sensei after you had realized you were in line of sight.

"yes, i am proud of you all." replied master splinter.

"who knows, maybe one day we'll be even better martial artist than you." teased leonardo.

splinter focus moved back on your leader "remember my son, everything you know i've shown you." he took leonardo's arm and he threw them against the other wall "but i have not shown you everything i know." he ended as he walked away.

leo groaned from his spot against the wall and you chuckled at his position "it's great to have you back, sensei."

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a/n:
6644 words !!
this chapter was pretty boring to write cause nothing happens but sooner or later things will change ( a lot )
thank u for all the interactions and love for this story xoxox
-sa :)