I live for art and writing

If you had told Sandro a few days ago that he would fall into a different universe, find out he was originally from there, get reunited with his bio dad, go on a small adventure to free and meet his bio mother, he would have asked if you ate some expired pizza.

But nope!

This was his new reality.

A reality where he had a real mother and father who loved him to bits; a couple of uncles doing their best; and just overall helping him embrace his monkey self.

…But why did he feel like he was missing something.

It couldn’t have been his family in the other universe; he would cross that bridge when he got there.

No, this was something missing from the group… or maybe it was someone?

His thoughts were cut off by his mother squishing his face again. Her eyes were still watery as she carefully rubbed her thumb across his cheek.

“My sweet boy… you have no idea how long I asked myself ‘Will I see you again’…” she took a shaky breath and brought him in for another hug. Sandro didn’t mind it. She was great at hugging.

A hand came on his shoulder as the Six Eared Macaque smiled softly at them.

“C’mon, dinner’s ready.”

The older monkey’s hands never left his son and wife’s shoulders as he guided them to the table. Bowl of fruit and steaming noodles filled the table. Amongst the dubbed ‘Noodle Gang’ sat around, talking and sharing stories, there was one that stuck out.

“And that’s how your Godmother ended up owing me 50 peaches. Man, you would have loved her.” Wukong spoke fondly while biting into a sliced peach. Macaque and Licao nodded sadly.

That’s who was missing!

“Why don’t you just call her?” Sandro asked.

The monkey’s flinched at the comment.

“Bud.” Macaque started. “You’re Godmother passed away a long time ago.”

“What? She’s not dead, she was the first person I met when I got here. Her name’s Lian right?”

All the monkeys looked at him with different levels of shock.

“What?”

…

…

…

It had been officially two weeks since Lian had finally completed her ‘punishment’ and one week of successfully avoiding the others.

Other than Nezha of course. He was letting her live in his place after all. Her place in the celestial realm was still available, but she couldn’t go there alone just yet. She needed her friend.

“You’re going to need to talk to them one way or another.” Nezha commented as he passed a mango to the anxious monkey. She bit into it and sighed. “You know its not that simple Nezha. How can I face them after lying to their face for so long? For enforcing the celestial rule so harshly?”

She turned to the deity. “Do you think Licao could forgive me for sealing her away twice?”

Nezha said nothing.

“But you do know that they are going to be asking questions on how the child arrived and who was the one who brought him here.”

Lian shrugged as she finished off the mango. “The kid probably doesn’t even remember my name, much less mention them that I am his godmother.”

Just as she was grabbing some dirty plates to wash, the door knocked.

Nezha stood up. “I’ll go see who it is.”

She nodded and went to wash the dishes. Halfway through rinsing, a bunch of loud footsteps was coming her way. She turned around with her sud-filled hands.

“Nezha? What—"

Her voice shut off immediately seeing the ginger fur monkey at the doorway.

They must have been mirroring each other’s shocked looks as they stood there, frozen, not daring to move an inch.

“Lian?” Wukong whispered like a prayer.

That voice and look was enough to break her.

Lian began to sob as her knees gave out. Her head was met with a peach scented chest holding her close. His arms wound tightly around her.

“Li—Oh my—Oh thank the stars—I thought I would never see you again.”

Lian returned the hug just as tightly after hearing his cracked voice and feeling the tears roll down. This wasn’t supposed to be how the reunion was supposed to go. She was supposed to beg for forgiveness and explain everything before judgement. Not a hug straight away.

…But by the stars above she missed her king’s hugs…

“I’ve got you… I’ve got you…” Lian whispered. “I’m here… I’m here…”

Chuan Kaihu was the pride and joy of Flower Fruit Mountain.

Not only being the youngest celestial ape, but for having such an impressive family.

His uncle and one of his mentors was the legendary Monkey King!

His other mentor and auntie was the Stone River Monkey!

Two former pilgrims of the infamous pilgrimage to the west!

Ever since he could remember, his auntie and uncle had always been there for him.

Child Kaihu was wandering around the waterfall cave. He was eagerly following the other monkeys that lived there. He suddenly trips and lands on his face. There was a big scrap on his knees. Giant tears start forming from the corners of his eyes. The monkey cooed him to calm down, something that did not work. Kaihu: “WWAAAAHHHH!!!” The waterfall lets out a burst of water that lands a foot away from him. Lian wore a worried look on his face. Lian: “Kaihu? Kaihu, honey, what’s wrong?” The child pointed at his knees as tears fell from his face. She knelt and gently cooed. Lian: “There, there, its alright. You’re okay. See, I’ll fix it.” She waved her fingers over the wounds. Fresh water from her gourd came out and gently cleaned the dirt from the knees. The older monkey then got out some bandages and wrapped them nicely. Lian: “See? Nothing to it.” Kaihu was still sniffling. Lian picked up the child and bopped his nose with her finger. Lian: “Lets see Uncle Wu then. Will that make you feel better?” The smaller monkey gripped onto his auntie’s shirt and nodded. A few minutes later… Lian walked into their shared house. Lian: “Wukong? Kaihu had a little scrape—” Monkey King suddenly appeared in front of the pair. Wukong: “He’s hurt!? Where!?” He began to turn the smaller monkey upside down looking for any major injuries. Kaihu laughed at his uncle’s antics. Lian: “Its just scrapes Wukong!” Wukong: “You don’t know that! What if he has an infection!?” Lian facepalmed. Lian: “I will personally get you some immortal peaches from the Celestial realm if he gets an infection from his scraped knees.” Wukong: “Deal. Now get me the med kit.” Lian: “I just wrapped them!” Wukong: “Well, now its my turn to do it the right way!” Lian: “… The only thing saving you right now ‘Great Sage’ is that child in your arms.” Sun “I know this child is saving me and I shouldn’t have said those things, but we are in too deep now” Wukong: “Yeah right.”

He was doted and loved by his auntie and uncle ever since he could remember.

Did Kaihu have parents?

Of course he did!

Where else would he have come from?

However, from what he was told, they had passed on a long time ago.

Auntie Lian would get sad for days whenever the topic was brought up, even a comment would have her fake smiling for a while.

She would tell him stories about them from time to time.

The best stories came around his birthday.

They were short stories, but better than what his uncle gave him.

Uncle Wukong never talked about it and always changed the topic.

Kid Kaihu: “Uncle Wukong! Look what I found!” The Monkey King looked over at his nephew and felt his heart drop. The smaller monkey was giggling at the long red scarf he had found. That was Mihou’s scarf… Wukong put on a fake smile. Wukong: “That’s great bud! But why don’t we give this to Auntie, so you don’t tear it?” Kaihu pouts but nods. The scarf was very pretty, and he didn’t want to accidentally break it. Kaihu: “Okay!” …But his uncle never said when he had to return it! Later that evening… Kaihu, who did not in fact return the scarf to his auntie, was burying his sleepy face in the plum scented scarf and snored lightly. His small hands clutching the clothing tightly. Wukong was watching from the door. He heard familiar quiet footsteps behind him. Lian stood beside him, wearing the same sad look on her face. Lian: “… Where did he find it?” Wukong shrugged. Lian shook her head. Of course he wouldn’t know… Lian: “… Mihou would have loved to see this.” Wukong’s ear flickered. Lian: “And Licao would have started squealing so much she would have woken—” She stops seeing the pinched look on her king’s face. Her hand hovers over his shoulder but decides against it. Lian: “I… I’ll be on patrol tonight, send a clone if something comes up.” Wukong: “Will do.”

Outside of the monkey family on Flower Fruit Mountain, Kaihu got to visit Uncle Ao Guang every so often.

He loved visiting the ocean and seeing the dragon’s court.

His auntie mentioned when he was much younger how he would follow his Uncle Ao Lie and Ao Bing around the court if the king was not around.

Kaihu did see the dragons, but Ao Lie left for some reason.

He tried to ask Ao Bing and Nezha, when he occasionally came to visit, but they didn’t know either.

No one knew.

Not even Auntie Lian knew.

But Kaihu’s Auntie Iron Fan and Uncle Bull were his favorite family members outside the mountain.

Uncle Bull, for what Kaihu could remember, was a great big figure who could shake the earth with every footstep.

He was warm, fluffy and warm.

Auntie Iron Fan, while she always tried to dress him in stuffy formal clothes, shared more stories about his mother and father.

She had the same sad look Auntie Lian would get but would try and balance it out.

Her way of balancing the stories out was by getting his cousin, Red Son.

A few weeks after DBK was imprisoned… Kid Kaihu and Kid Red Son were trying to eavesdrop on the conversation Lian and Iron Fan were having. The small bull prince had the monkey on his shoulders. Red Son: “Can you see anything?” Kaihu barely managed to see past the window seal. Kaihu: “Barely—Oh nuts! There’s a silence seal on the window!” Red Son: “Oh come on!” Kaihu: “Wait! I might understand what they are saying.” Red Son: “Since when do you read lips?” Kaihu: “I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try!” Red Son grumbles. Red Son: “How you are my cousin is beyond me.” Kaihu: “Older cousin!” The prince’s hair flared a bit, not too much to harm his cousin. Red Son: “Just look at what’s happening!” Kaihu: “Okay! Let’s see… Yeesh, it looks like your mom is very angry with auntie.” Red Son: “Maybe its because she is taking so long to find my father.” Kaihu rolled his eyes and continued to look. Kaihu: “Okay your mom’s shouting at auntie. Oh boy, auntie has the water gourd out and yelling. Wait now they stopped and—Red I think they are crying.” Red Son: “They are what!?” Kaihu winced. His new hearing had kicked in a few weeks ago and had been a pain on all three sets of ears. Kaihu: “Shh!” The young monkey stared harder and sucked in a breath. Both his aunties were sobbing and hugging on the ground. Kaihu: “Red… Red something bad just happened.” Red Son held a face of concern. Red Son: “How bad are we talking about?” Kaihu: “The fact that both of them are on the floor hugging each other while sobbing just as much as they did during that one shadow play, should indicate it.” Red Son: “Oh this is bad.”

Finding out his dear Uncle Wukong was the reason why Red Son didn’t have a father anymore was not a fun day for Kaihu.

How could his uncle do that!?

He wanted to stay angry with him, truly he did.

… But there was only so much anger a monkey could hold for such a close family member.

Kaihu did need time to process this, his auntie Lian happily helped him in getting a few days with Ao Guang and Auntie Iron fan.

Auntie Iron Fan hated the fact that he tried to apologize for the doings of his uncle.

Red Son, instead of being angry with him, decided to show him all the plans he had for rescuing his father.

Kaihu was on board with it and just grateful his cousin didn’t hate his guts.

It took a couple of months for the young monkey to finally get homesick.

As much as he loved the dragon court and bull castle, this monkey really needed to be in the mountains again.

It took a while for the small monkey family to recuperate.

Thankfully they did on the account that Kaihu’s powers had decided to kick in full force.

Kaihu had just finished water training with his auntie and was walking peacefully back to his nest. That was until a sharp ring came into his ears. He screeched in pain, trying to cover his ears. There was too much noise—and someone was picking him up?! Kaihu squirmed and cried out in pain before he was set in a dark room. The figure who had moved him passed a heavy blanket, a very nice flowery smelling blanket, and was trying to push something on his head. It took a bit of budging before they were set. Everything went quiet. Some magical earmuffs had been placed in his head. Kaihu blinked a couple of times before noticing the figure sitting beside him. It was his Uncle Wukong. His tail gently twined with the younger monkey’s tail, grounding him. Wukong: “Feeling better bud?” Kiahu blinked at how quiet his uncle’s whispers were. His uncle was never quiet like this. Kaihu nodded, not ready to trust his words. Wukong: “… You know, your father had this exact thing happen to him.” The younger monkey blinked surprised. His uncle never talked about his father. Never. Wukong continued. Wukong: “It would be on the days we least expected it. He always said it felt like dozens of bells, chimes and thunder gods snoring at once. Is that how you feel?” Kaihu resisted the urge to giggle and just nodded. Wukong gave a tired smile. He motioned the earmuffs. Wukong: “Those were your father’s and this…” He motioned to the heavy blanket. Wukong: “…was your mother’s… They are yours now.” Kaihu sniffled a bit and nodded. It was the only thing he could do. The Monkey King looked a bit nervous. Wukong: “Do you want me to be here?” Kaihu simply scooted closer to his uncle and pressed himself into his side. Wukong opened his arms and gave the younger monkey a secure hug. Wukong: “Shh… its okay bud… I gotcha… I gotcha… I know everything sucks right now, but it’ll be okay. I promise.” Kaihu sniffled the fat tears and slowly fell asleep to his uncle’s soothing words.

About 500 years had passed since his uncle Bull had been imprisoned.

Kaihu had finally started getting used to having such weird powers and even started joining his auntie on shoreline patrols!

It wasn’t the most exciting position or thing to do, but it did leave him room to text his new online friends!

After Red Son had given him a phone, Kaihu had managed to make some new friends online.

Maybe one day he could have adventures with them, like getting some relic or stopping a bad guy!

That is if he could manage to leave the island without either his uncle, auntie or any of the monkey’s finding out.

Kiahu was on one part of the island, bored out of his mind. Suddenly he heard a loud thud coming from one of the nearby beaches. He quickly shadow traveled over there, shocked to see some human boy getting poked by the smaller monkeys. He summons his staff and points it to the surprised boy. Kaihu: “Who are you and why have you come here?” The boy stammered before getting up. MK: “Well you see I was kinda punted through the air by Princess Iron Fan—” Kaihu: “Princess Iron Fan? Well, you must have done something to make her angry if she punted you here.” MK: “Argh! You don’t get it! She took Monkey King’s staff and—” Kaihu: “Excuse me what!?” MK: “And now the rest of the Bull Family is going to stomp the city to the ground if I don’t get Monkey King to help!” Kaihu: “Hold on a second.” Kaihu took out his phone and immediately tried to call Red Son. MK’s phone started ringing. Both boys looked at each other confused before looking at the name caller. Kaihu had accidentally called one of his best online friends… and MK was getting a call from his online friend too… Both jumped back after piecing two and two together. Kaihu: “OH MY GREAT SAGE! YOU’RE MK!” MK: “AND YOU’RE GREEN SHADOW!” Kaihu: “I’m actually Kaihu—ACK!” MK practically launched himself at the monkey happily. Maybe today wouldn’t turn out so badly! Kaihu hugged him back. Kaihu: “I’ll take you to Uncle Wukong, just hang on.” MK: “Your uncle is—AAAAAHHHHH!” The new duo had just shadow traveled from the beach to the Monkey King’s home. MK: “You have mystic monkey powers!” Kaihu puffed his chest. Kaihu: “Awesome right! Anyways, let’s get uncle—” Lian from inside the house: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DID NOTHING!? YOU JUST STOOD BY AND NEARLY LET THAT POOR BOY GET SQUISHED!” Wukong from inside the house: “He wasn’t going to—” Lian from inside the house: “IF I FIND ONE SCRATCH ON THAT BOY’S HEAD, I AM COMING FOR YOUR FURRY BUTT SUN WUKONG!” Kaihu: “Maybe we should wait a minute.” MK: “Yeah, maybe just a moment.”

The dreams had started becoming more vivid since that weird visit through the dimension doors.

Sandro hadn’t exactly told his brothers about it specifically, but they knew something was wrong.

As much as the monkey loved his brothers, this was something they couldn’t help him with.

His father, however, could at least guide him.

Sandro and Splinter are sitting in a circles of candles. They were getting ready to starts the deep meditation session. Splinter: “Are you ready, my son?” Sandro fidgeted with his fingers a bit before returning a smile. Sandro: “Ready!” Splinter paused. Splinter: “And may I take a guess to why you have decided to take part in this meditation session with me?” Sandro: “You can guess, but I don’t think you’d get it.” Splinter: “Hmm, perhaps it has something to do with you not getting enough sleep.” Sandro tensed as his ears went flat against his skull. He was bluffing, there was no way Master Splinter knew that. Splinter shows him a blurry picture on the T-phone of Sandro in the kitchen. Splinter: “I took this one at 4 in the morning when I tried to get some tea ready for breakfast.” Sandro: “Rats…”

Sandro does explain to his father about having more vivid dreams and thought that meditation could help.

Splinter was more than happy to help his son.

Midway through meditation, the giant rat had to step out of the room to get the pot of tea ready.

Sandro continued to meditate.

That was until he fell into his own shadow and landed in a strange room.

He was in the middle of some sort of circle with strange markings on the ground.

Outside the circle was a very startled looking monkey… a monkey that was kinda like him!

Sandro gripped his aching head while staring at the armored monkey in front of him. Sandro: “Umm, what’s going on?” The monkey chirped loudly before practically sprinting to him. Sandro thought this was about to end up in a fight. He was not expecting the monkey to crush him… in a hug. Sandro: “Okay… this is happening now…” Lian: “Chuan Kaihu… oh thank the stars you’re alright… My little godson has returned…” Sandro: “Godson!? Who?!” Lian chirped as she checked his head and ears. Lian: “You look just like your father. Bit of your mother here and there, but it looks like Mihou won the genetics race.” Sandro: “Father?! Mother?!” Lian: “No, I’m your Godmother.” Sandro: “Godmother!?” Nezha walks into the room. Nezha: “Lian I know we had a difficult discussion about how and when to do the ritual, but we need to be more prepared—” The lotus prince stared in shock at his ‘partner’ sobbing while clutching a young monkey that looked extremely similar to a shadow monkey they knew. Nezha: “You did the ritual!? Are you insane!? That could have cost you your life!” Sandro: “Ritual?! Man, I knew I would die in some weird way, but being sacrificed in a ritual was not on my list.”

It takes an uncomfortable amount of time to explain to ‘Sandro’ what was going on.

It started off poorly with the ‘godmother’ drop that the young monkey refused to believe in.

Though he slowly started believing in ‘Lian’s words after he caught a whiff of her fur.

He smelled exactly like ‘Mangos’ from his dream—

Oh!

Oh!

The poor monkey was not ready for the amount of information that was suddenly tossed at him.

For so long, he had managed to skirt by complicated backstories or mixed family problems thanks to being the ‘outlier’ of the group.

He was found by Splinter with no telling what his life was before and it was fine.

Until now.

Because what do you mean he was didn’t originate from the universe his brothers were from?!

That he originated in this universe and was somehow thrown into a different one?!

He had a real family here that had never stopped looking for him?!

What do you mean that the monkey in front of him really was his godmother, who had just risked her life to perform a risky ritual just to get him home?!

That he had real name his parents picked for him!?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE GUY IN PINK IS THE NEZHA HE READ ABOUT AS BEDTIME STORIES!?

Lian offered as much comfort as she could, but she had started getting very sleepy.

Her strength had been almost completely tapped out, the remaining energy was her stubbornness and refusal to just ‘leave’ her godson without a proper explanation to what was happening.

Nezha notices the monkey’s heavy eyelids and furrows his eyebrows. Nezha: “Lian, your power is almost gone.” Lian stiffened as her tail curled slightly around Sandro’s. He was a bit startled by the action, having never felt this before. …But it felt nice. Lian: “No its not, just a bit tired that’s all.” Sandro shared a look with Nezha. Even he could see how weak she was getting. Nezha: “Lian… he will still be here when you wake up, but you need rest.” Sandro pulled his best puppy dog eyes and looked at his godmother. Sandro: “You can take a nap. I promise not to get into any trouble… Please?” Lian looked conflicted. Nezha landed the final blow. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Nezha: “I swear I will look after him. But you need to go rest before you don’t have enough energy to keep your glamour up.” Lian sighed in defeat. Lian: “Alright, but you call me if anything happens.” She lightly ruffles Sandro’s head before smiling softly. He looked so much like his father and mother. The monkey placed her helmet on and placed a human looking glamour on herself before leaving the room. Sandro blinked. Sandro: “Did… Did she just pull a Mulan?”

Nezha knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep Kaihu/Sandro in the celestial realm.

If word got out that there was another stone monkey around…

As risky as his next plan was, Nezha didn’t see any other good option that wouldn’t freak out the boy.

Sandro and Nezha suddenly teleported to the Noodle Shop, more specifically in MK’s room.

… Which was Nezha’s mistake.

The boys got along way too well and way too fast.

MK: “You’re from another dimension but really from here?! That’s so cool!” Sandro: “And you’re another monkey! Wait what’s that?” Sandor points to the staff sitting on the bed. MK: “Oh that’s Monkey King’s staff—” Sandro: “YOU KNOW THE MONKEY KING!?” MK: “I’m his successor!” Sandro: “That’s so cool! Can I try and lift it?” MK: “You can give it a go.” Nezha: “Kai—I mean Sandro that may not be such a good idea. The staff can only be wielded—” Sandro starts twirling the staff like its nothing. MK: “You can lift the staff!” Sandro: “I can lift the staff!” MK: “Woah! The only other guys I know who can do that is Monkey King and Macaque!” Nezha: “Oh stars there’s two of them…”

Just when Nezha thought his luck couldn’t get any worse, Sandro displayed his powers.

Shadow powers.

Truly like father, like son.

Sudden footsteps alert the three of them.

Sandro jumped into MK’s shadow before the door flew open revealing Mei and a mildly annoyed Red Son.

Apparently, MK had forgotten that there would be a ‘Game Night’ and had come to bring him down.

And by extension, bring Nezha as well.

He pulled MK aside for a moment to make him promise not to reveal Sandro’s presence just yet.

The successor was confused, but seeing Nezha this stressed over something meant it was serious and promised.

During Game Night with most of the Noodle Gang, the prince occasionally kept looking at MK’s shadow for any sign of Sandro.

The occasional green eyes winked at him, letting him know everything was fine.

Sandro did promise to be on his best behavior after all.

A peaceful atmosphere that was quickly shattered by a much larger portal opening up and popping out two celestial apes.

Nezha wanted to scream.

Maybe they wouldn’t notice?

…Oh who was he fooling…

Everyone is chatting and having fun. Meanwhile Nezha is sweating bullets, trying to figure out what he is eventually going to try to explain Sandro without directly exposing Lian. She was almost done with her ‘punishment’, if they figured out she was alive, who knew what kind of trouble that could cause. Meanwhile Sandro was just staring at Macaque in wonder…until the older monkey suddenly turned his way. But there was no way he could have spotted—OH SWEET PIZZA GODS HE WAS PUTTING HIS HAND IN THE SHADOW! MK: “Macaque!? What are you doing!? Get out of there!” Macaque: “There’s someone in there!” MK: “He isn’t there!” Macaque: “Aha! You said he! Get back here!” The shadow monkey was practically digging in MK’s shadow while using his tail to anchor himself with the shadow’s owner. Wukong grabbed Macaque’s waist and tried to pull him out. Wukong: “Macaque! What’s gotten into you!?” Nezha also tried pulling the monkeys out. Nezha: “Stop this! You’re going to hurt him!” Macaque: “I knew I saw someone in there! Now get out of there!” With one final yank Macaque was pulled out of the shadow, gripping a very shocked Sandro. Sandro: “…” MK: “…” Wukong: “…” Macaque: “…” Nezha: “…” Everyone: “…” Sandro flicks his ears and awkwardly waves at the baffled crowd. Sandro: “Hi, I’m Sandro. I think you might be my dad.” THUD! THUD! Wukong and Macaque both fainted on the ground. Mac was still gripping Sandro. Sandro: “OH SWEET SUPREME PIZZA IN THE SKY!” MK: “OH MY GREAT SAGE!” Internal lotus prince screaming in the background.

“And you’re sure this will work?” Sandro questioned as the bike strap clicked neatly against his chin. Leo was inspecting his ‘handy work’ with making sure the strap was set correctly and that the giant metal hat wouldn’t fall over.

“Don’t worry Sandy. I’m about 85% sure that this will work.” Donnie chirped from his computer a few feet away.

Sandro deadpanned and glanced over at Mikey. “Mikey, if I die, you can take my stuff and put some roaches in D’s room.”

Mikey made a mock salute, which was quickly followed by a slap to the back of the head by Raph.

“No ones dying Sandy. Besides you think Donnie would let you in on that thing without knowing it was safe?”

Sandro briefly thought back on the stolen snacks he had accumulated from his brother and the number of times he switched his coffee into decaf.

“…I mean—”

The monkey was interrupted by a shifty whirl coming from above him. It sounded like a cheese grater against a chalk board.

“I thought you said this was sound proof!”

“Its mostly soundproof! Its only enough so you can hear what we have to say in case of emergency!”

“I will make you into a stew when this is over Donatello!”

White mist soon started emitting from the metal hat and slowly started spreading through the lair.

“Umm, Donnie? Remind a dude what this thing does again?” Mikey said uneasily.

“It’s a mind scanner. It looks through your subconscious and pulls out memories. Though with the calculations I’ll be pulling, I’m hoping to get access to Sandy’s dreams.” Donnie explained as the room went dark. The only source of light coming from the pale green glow from the metal hat and Donnie’s computer.

Sandro eased a bit as the ‘hats’ noise started decreasing to a gentle hum. At least now he could worry in the dark without a splitting headache. A few more seconds passed before the mist started to form and faintly light of with purple and green hues.

Two monkeys of colored mist sat on the floor, their ‘eyes’ shown with their respected colors.

“That’s…” Sandro choked. His heart squeezed for some reason seeing the two monkeys embrace. The turtle brothers just stared at the strange smoke monkey’s, mostly not believing that Donnie’s invention had actually worked.

“Do you have to leave right now?” The green monkey whispered sadly. The purple monkey looked at them, then at something behind them. “…Maybe I can stay for a little longer.”

The green monkey practically melted in the tight embrace. Purple began humming something while grooming Green’s fur. There was a mix of content and sad chirps between the couple. Sandro found himself starting to tear up at the monkey’s noises.

He knew those noises.

He just didn’t know where.

“Do you think he’s watching over us?” Green said quietly like a prayer. Purple stiffened before pressing his forehead against theirs. “He’s out there, peonies. We just need to keep looking. I promise you, we will find him. Now turn around, I need to get your back.” Green promptly turned around and squealed in surprised as Purple started tickling them. The pair started chirping and trilling before tussling around on the floor.

The turtles and Sandro couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the play fight as Purple was ‘defeated’ by Green. Some sort of noise alerted the pair as Purple hauled Green up. They held hands for a few long seconds before slowly letting go.

“I’ll be back. I promise.”

“I’ll wait for you. Safe travels my shadow.”

The computer beeped a couple of times before the smoke stopped pouring out of the ‘hat’. The smoke monkeys disappeared with a gust of air. The lights turned back on as the group stayed in silence, trying to understand what in the world they had just seen.

Donnie carefully walked over to his younger brother, undoing the straps and taking the ‘hat’ off his head and ears. Sandro just stared blankly at him, eyes shining and filled to the brim with tears. The purple banded turtle opened his arms. “Need a hug?”  

The turtle barely got any other word out before a ball of fur flung into his arms and began holding him tightly. Sandro’s tail wounded around his bicep as his arms went around his neck. His legs did their best to curve around his shell, alas a continuously losing battle on that front. The monkey simply buried his face into his older brother’s neck. Soft shudders and attempts to keep a sob at bay echoed through the lair.

Sandro sniffled. “I hope whoever they are trying to find happens soon.”

“And you’re sure this will work?” Sandro questioned as the bike strap clicked neatly against his chin. Leo was inspecting his ‘handy work’ with making sure the strap was set correctly and that the giant metal hat wouldn’t fall over.

“Don’t worry Sandy. I’m about 85% sure that this will work.” Donnie chirped from his computer a few feet away.

Sandro deadpanned and glanced over at Mikey. “Mikey, if I die, you can take my stuff and put some roaches in D’s room.”

Mikey made a mock salute, which was quickly followed by a slap to the back of the head by Raph.

“No ones dying Sandy. Besides you think Donnie would let you in on that thing without knowing it was safe?”

Sandro briefly thought back on the stolen snacks he had accumulated from his brother and the number of times he switched his coffee into decaf.

“…I mean—”

The monkey was interrupted by a shifty whirl coming from above him. It sounded like a cheese grater against a chalk board.

“I thought you said this was sound proof!”

“Its mostly soundproof! Its only enough so you can hear what we have to say in case of emergency!”

“I will make you into a stew when this is over Donatello!”

White mist soon started emitting from the metal hat and slowly started spreading through the lair.

“Umm, Donnie? Remind a dude what this thing does again?” Mikey said uneasily.

“It’s a mind scanner. It looks through your subconscious and pulls out memories. Though with the calculations I’ll be pulling, I’m hoping to get access to Sandy’s dreams.” Donnie explained as the room went dark. The only source of light coming from the pale green glow from the metal hat and Donnie’s computer.

Sandro eased a bit as the ‘hats’ noise started decreasing to a gentle hum. At least now he could worry in the dark without a splitting headache. A few more seconds passed before the mist started to form and faintly light of with purple and green hues.

Two monkeys of colored mist sat on the floor, their ‘eyes’ shown with their respected colors.

“That’s…” Sandro choked. His heart squeezed for some reason seeing the two monkeys embrace. The turtle brothers just stared at the strange smoke monkey’s, mostly not believing that Donnie’s invention had actually worked.

“Do you have to leave right now?” The green monkey whispered sadly. The purple monkey looked at them, then at something behind them. “…Maybe I can stay for a little longer.”

The green monkey practically melted in the tight embrace. Purple began humming something while grooming Green’s fur. There was a mix of content and sad chirps between the couple. Sandro found himself starting to tear up at the monkey’s noises.

He knew those noises.

He just didn’t know where.

“Do you think he’s watching over us?” Green said quietly like a prayer. Purple stiffened before pressing his forehead against theirs. “He’s out there, peonies. We just need to keep looking. I promise you, we will find him. Now turn around, I need to get your back.” Green promptly turned around and squealed in surprised as Purple started tickling them. The pair started chirping and trilling before tussling around on the floor.

The turtles and Sandro couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the play fight as Purple was ‘defeated’ by Green. Some sort of noise alerted the pair as Purple hauled Green up. They held hands for a few long seconds before slowly letting go.

“I’ll be back. I promise.”

“I’ll wait for you. Safe travels my shadow.”

The computer beeped a couple of times before the smoke stopped pouring out of the ‘hat’. The smoke monkeys disappeared with a gust of air. The lights turned back on as the group stayed in silence, trying to understand what in the world they had just seen.

Donnie carefully walked over to his younger brother, undoing the straps and taking the ‘hat’ off his head and ears. Sandro just stared blankly at him, eyes shining and filled to the brim with tears. The purple banded turtle opened his arms. “Need a hug?”  

The turtle barely got any other word out before a ball of fur flung into his arms and began holding him tightly. Sandro’s tail wounded around his bicep as his arms went around his neck. His legs did their best to curve around his shell, alas a continuously losing battle on that front. The monkey simply buried his face into his older brother’s neck. Soft shudders and attempts to keep a sob at bay echoed through the lair.

Sandro sniffled. “I hope whoever they are trying to find happens soon.”