Who Stole My Stizzle Swick

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“Thought I’d find you up here.”

Leo glanced over to see April pull herself onto the roof he’s laying on. Morph, who had been laying on his chest, popped up with a chitter and flew over to her. She grinned as he circled her head a few times before nuzzling against her cheek.

“Oh. Hey.” He watched her approach and lay down next to him with Morph on her shoulder. 

“I’ve never seen anyone get so mad over their food getting eaten,” April says. Leo grimaced. 

“It was my food, but looking back on it,” Leo sheepishly chuckles, “I may have overreacted a little.”

“You called Mikey a ‘greedy little Benonian’, whatever that means.” Morph echoed “whatever that means.” “See? Even Morph doesn’t get it.”

Leo laughed. Don’t get him wrong, Mikey does resemble the amphibious sapients a bit. That’s no reason to call him one after he scarfed down his snack. 

“Yeah, probably shouldn’t have said that.” Leo shifted a bit and slipped his hands under his head. “Benonians have better manners.” Morph flew back over to him and settled under his chin.

April huffed a laugh. “I’ll take your word for it.”

They stare up at the twilight sky streaked with oranges, reds, and purples. The sounds of cars driving by, honking, and Morph’s churrs filled the space. Leo scrunched his brows.

“How do you do it?” he asks.

“Huh?” April lifts her head to get a good look at the slider’s expression.

“How do you get used to all of…that?” Leo vaguely gestures. “It’s so chaotic and so confusing. One moment they’re saying they love you and then the next they’re making fun of what you’re wearing. One second they’re doing something nice for you and the next they’re stealing your food! It’s so confusing!” Leo rolls onto his side and props himself on his arm. Morph squeaked in surprise at the sudden change of position and zipped up by Leo’s head. 

“You’ve been friends with them a long time. How’d you do it?”

April gazed at him for a moment. She shrugged.

“Dunno. They’ve always been a chaotic bunch, and I guess I just went along with it.” She smirked. “It helps when you’re already an agent of chaos.”

Leo huffed and dropped back down onto his back. Morph stays floating above him, churring. He can’t deny he’s never been an “agent of chaos.” Landing in juvie multiple times after committing petty crimes is evidence enough. Trouble seems to often wait for him around the corner, no matter where he is or what he’s doing. But being a brother and having siblings…that’s a whole other type of chaos. One he didn’t anticipate or even imagine. It’s hard to imagine or even prepare for something you’re not accustom to. Leo heaves a sigh.

“Whatcha thinking about?” April inquires.

“How severely underprepared I am to be a sibling.” He glances at her. “You’re an only child like me, though, right?” April nods and utters an agreement. “How can I get to where you are now with them? As a fellow only child.”

She hums in thought, turning her gaze up at the darkening sky.

“Maybe you could try being a friend first,” she muses, “and stop trying to dive into the deep sibling end.” She props up onto an arm facing him. “You’re causing yourself undue stress just trying to be something you’ve never been before. Seriously, how many times have they upset you by doing normal sibling things?” Leo scrunched up his face. “Exactly. Try talking to them, Leo. Let them know how you’ve been feeling lately about their treatment of you and see if you guys can start out as just friends.”

Leo picks at his nails. “And if they don’t listen?”

“They will.” April places a hand on his shoulder, drawing his gaze to her. She smiles. “They may be dumb-dumbs, but they care deeply about their family and friends. They’ll listen.”

Leo returns her smile. Given the small amount of time he’s gotten to know everyone, he’s inclined to believe her.

“Alright.” He pushes himself to his feet. Morph grins and rises with him. Leo holds his hand out to April. “Shall we go talk to them then?” 

April stares up at him and grins. She takes hold of his hand, and he pulls her onto her feet.

“I think you mean shall you go talk to them,” she says.

“Sure,” Leo shrugs, “but shouldn’t it be me who talks to them?” He gives her a cheeky look.

April scans his face and gives him a shove, a big smile on her face.

“You know what I mean.”

First and foremost, the Hamatos aren’t going out into space to find Leo, and that is because they don’t know where he is. They don’t know if he’s still on Earth or not, and space is incredibly vast. However, Leo, after much practice with his ninpo and growing confidence in his skill with it, goes to them with the guidance of his ancestors.

Leo and Silver confrontation

So…I have a confession to make.

I had decided that this Leo won’t have the usual dual katana like usual and instead have the cutlass-flintlock combo.

To put it plainly, I’m giving Leo a sword and a gun.

A laser gun, at that.

The cutlass would still be able to make portals. The flintlock also is able to make portals, but they’ll be more for quick, short-ranged portals.

Imagine Leo’s sacrifice against the Kraang being witnessed by Silver (and Sarah)

“-unless he looks at me like that.. BYE, LEO!”

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“Help me! Raph!”

Leo reached out to his green and red brother as the draconic man holding him jumped into the circle of bright light. Leo struggled in his grip. He manages to get a hold of the man’s arm and bit down hard. The man cried out and let him go, cursing under his breath.

“You’ll pay for that, you little brat!”

They tumbled down through the tunnel of light. The man reached for Leo, and the young turtle tries scrambling away. The draconian grabs his ankle; Leo kicks as hard as he can at him. The man lets go after a couple of kicks from the 2-year-old turtle. He falls further away from him, from home, from everything. Gravity pulls him toward a darkened end of the tunnel. Leo’s heart lurches as he plunges into the darkness.

Leo’s body jerks, and he grasps at the edges. His heart pounds in his chest, and his eyes dart around.

Where is he?

He takes in his surroundings. This…This isn’t… He huffs out a sigh and falls back into his hammock. Right. The RLS Legacy.

“Just a dream,” he breathes.

He sighs and rolls over. Soft purple light filters down from the grate above. Leo gazes up at it through Mr. Snuff’s dangling tentacles, mulling over whether to try going back to sleep or getting up earlier than usual. He groans and rolls out of his hammock on to the floor. He pulls on his boots while blinking the sleep from his eyes and stood. He grabs his jacket and slips it on as he heads toward the stairs with a stretched yawn.

The Legacy’s deck is awash with the soft light. Leo heads toward the starboard side. He leans against the side, gazing out at the distant stars. They’ve been sailing for a couple weeks now. Silver has been keeping him nonstop busy, but recently Leo has noticed a slight change in Silver’s treatment of him. Small gestures here and there. Though, Silver still keeps up some form of his tough boss routine. Don’t want anyone thinking he’s starting to go soft, it seems.

Leo stares out into the vast space, letting his thoughts drift a bit. They shift and turn toward the dream he had earlier. Parts of it he has already forgotten. For years he’s been getting recurring dreams about his past. No matter how much he tries, though, he could never coherently remember any of the people he sees in them. He wishes he could remember their names and faces. Some parts of how he got separated from them still remain in his memories, but where he comes from still escapes his reach.

He sighs through his nostrils and lays his chin down on top of his hands.

If he had the chance, he probably would’ve been able to pick out his kidnapper from a crowd. Now, he barely remembers the face. The draconian’s voice, however, will still echo through his head as though taunting and challenging Leo to come find him. In all honesty, he hopes to never run into that man again.

“Up early, are we, Leo?”

Leo’s head spins around to see Silver lumbering up the stairs with a big yawn. Morph shot up next to the old cyborg and beelined right for Leo, a big, chipper smile on his blobby face. He chirped and purred as he raced around Leo’s head before snuggling against his neck. Leo obliged him with a scratch to his head.

“I was rudely woken by a dream and couldn’t get back to sleep,” Leo says. Silver joins him by the rail and drapes himself over it.

“A dream, eh?” Silver muses. “What sort of pesky dream woke ya, if ya don’t mind me askin’?”

Leo glances at him as Morph repeats parts of the question. He brings the little shifter into his hands and stroked him. Morph chirrs.

“Oh, just something from my past,” he indulges with a shrug.

Silver looks over at him with a brow raised.

“Do ya often dream about yer past?” he asks.

“Sometimes.” Morph rolls over in Leo’s hand so his belly could get some pets. “They don’t bring me any closer to the answers I seek, so there’s no point in dwelling on them.”

Morph wiggles out from under Leo’s fingers, satisfied with the pets, and flew back over to Silver. Leo rests his arms back on the rail and picks at the dirt under his nails. Silver softly hums. Silence settles over them. Leo dug under his nails. He pursed his lips.

“I wish they would, though,” he mutters. It’d make it a whole lot easier to find out who he was and where he comes from. All those years of questions and tests that only brought up more questions would finally be answered, and he wouldn’t have to wake from any more dreams.

Of course, things don’t work that way in reality.

“Do you not know who you were, lad?” Silver inquires in disbelief.

Leo shrugs, the need to defend himself prickling up his shoulders. 

“I was separated from my family at a young age, so I don’t remember much of them. All I can remember about them is I had a dad and brothers. Anything beyond that is…hazy.”

He fidgets. “But aside from that traumatic event, I had a pretty good childhood.” Leo pulls at his nails. Agitation bristled along his shoulders, and he pushed back from the railing.

“Whelp, since we’re both up, shall we get started on our chores?” He quickly heads toward the mess before Silver could respond. No need to dump his trauma on the old cyborg. He’s already told enough, and he still suspects him to be the cyborg Bones warned him about.

Exploring the map

When the Hawkins adopted Leo, the book about Captain Flint is the first gift they give him. He’s adored and treasured that book ever since.

Leo be solving that map orb

Something I’ve been thinking a bit about lately is how April and Leo would get along. Since arriving to Earth, April has been the first person he’s met whose life has some similarities to his: they’re both an only child, and the two of them sometimes find themselves comparing and contrasting their school lives.

The entire movie is my favourite scene /j

Hmm. I’ll have to say the scene where Jim finds out that Silver is indeed the cyborg Bones warned him about is one of my favourites.

SILVER: Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins. You got the makings of greatness in ya, but you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls, and when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails and show what you're made of...well, I hope I'm there...catching some of the light coming off ya that day.

And Jim feels touched by his words he hugs catching Silver off guard.

Honestly one of the best memorable heart-touching moment in movie.

Yes, Silver is a father-figure, emphasis on figure. Silver taught valuable lessons hardly taught to Leo and helped him grow as a person and look forward to the future.

Splinter, however, is Leo’s father by blood/mutation. With that being known to him, there is pressure felt for him to bond with Splinter. And after being abandoned by his adoptive father, he’s more reluctant to get to know him.

The Hawkins take refuge at Delbert’s mansion after the Incident.

Choosing emotional violence today

Leo’s reluctance to bond with and accept Splinter as a father stems from his adoptive father leaving when he was about 10. He blames himself for it, even when told it’s not his fault.

Did a couple of my own drawings for this au, including the aftermath of Mikey getting a little too excited about meeting Morph.

Having grown up as an only child, Leo struggled with learning what it’s like to have and be a brother. The chaos, noise, and disregard of personal space were a shock to his system, causing him to nearly throw in the towel a few times. But with time and patience (and much needed alone time), he does bond with his siblings.