If You Comment In The Tags I Would Die For You

Bō staff. Katana. Nunchucks. Sai.

He practiced with his brothers’ weapons when he missed them.

He practiced with his brothers’ weapons as often as his own.

The twirl of the bō, defensive and covering, allowing reach that could so easily be modified to fit any scenario.

The steady slice of a katana, sharp and deadly. It held power in every kata, every stance.

The twirl of nunchucks, their unpredictability, so hard to control but forceful in their impact. The fabric softening the handles no longer remembered its color.

The puncturing stab of a sai. He preferred its defensive ability, to snag and break a blade, protecting from damage, but he also knew that the blunted ends could do some good damage.

He kept up with all four, though his own trusty weapon stayed at his side. He stayed awake often, remembering the day their father gave it to him. He’d been so excited, practicing for days on end, no matter how many times he hurt himself.

But now he was here. Alone.

He knew his brothers were alive. They had to be. The old lair was cleaned out, so they must’ve just moved when they thought he’d died.

He’d find them one day.

“Wait, you aren’t just bald turtle yokai?”

April sighed, reaching over to smack Casey in the back of the head, “Of course not! Have you ever even met a kappa?”

Casey shook his head, “No! My pops hates yokai so I don’t exactly get a lot of chance to meet them.”

Raph snorted, “Great. A human with the IQ of April’s bat. Nice one to bring into our secret home, guys!”

Donnie rolled his eyes, “Don’t be rude. Casey saw April in trouble and jumped in to fight off a couple Foot ninjas and even managed to hold his own against them. His technique is brutal and inefficient, but I think he’d make a good addition to the team.”

Raph and Leo looked the boy over. He was messy, with a nose that had clearly been broken at least once before and greasy hair that was outgrowing its black dye. He had a hockey stick in hand and a pair of skates tied to his backpack. He wore a leather jacket covered in stains and patches that matched the rest of his battered and patchy clothes.

“What?” Casey frowned at the scrutiny, “You think I can’t keep up with you? Casey Jones can take anyone!”

Raph grinned, “I like that idea.” He wheeled himself over, “Fight me, Jones. We’ll see how you do and that can decide it.”

Casey immediately wilted, clearly taken aback by the guy in a wheelchair challenging him to a fight.

“I… uh…” He winced, “Are you…?”

Raph just smirked and turned away, wheeling away towards the dojo.

April sighed, clapping Casey on the arm, “Well, you’re doomed.” She tutted and walked off, “I’ll tell your sister you died like a hero.”

Casey was pleasantly surprised to see the turtles had made something akin to a dojo in one of the rooms of their lair. It was well lit and had one of those big Japanese mat things across the floor. There were some seats on the side, some weights and workout equipment pushed away, plus a couple of pretty bad-off punching bags with stitched together puncture marks.

All in all? A pretty badass space for fighting.

Leo and Donnie both offered him luck, which was concerning, and April threw a water bottle at his head, which he caught with just a little fumbling.

“Why am I fighting the disabled brother?” He asked, slipping off his jacket, “Like, I ain’t, uh, abled-phobic or anything, but man’s in an actual wheelchair.”

Donnie scoffed, “Jones, Raphael is the most skilled fighter of all of us. His legs are more lethal than any sword.” He smirked and pulled out his phone, “Short answer: get recked human boy.”

“Donnie, don’t antagonize my opponent.” Raph’s voice came through and Casey turned to look, stunned to see him standing, wearing a pair of leg braces that were stark white and covered in stickers.

“Oh shit.”

He was tall. Like, damn tall. Suddenly the little lip on his beak looked terrifying, especially in front of such an intimidating grin.

“That’s my job.” Raph smirked, tossing his sai aside.

The first fight was short. The second was longer, with Casey less stunned by the fact that Raph was not just capable- but skilled. They tussled for a while before Raph pinned him again in a headlock with Casey’s legs trapped under his.

The third was even better.

Raph went for Casey’s legs first, going for a swift knockout, but Casey jumped at the right moment and managed to get his knee right in Raph’s chin. They danced around each other for a while, trading blows while the trio on the side cheered, before Casey went for another hard hit.

Raph dropped, the punch whiffing over his head as he fell dead-drop into a split and swept his legs, slamming his fin hard into Casey’s knees and pulling him down. They wrestled on the floor for a couple moments, but Raph still won out in the end.

They got to their feet, both panting (though Casey far more than Raph).

“Alright, he can stay.” Raph finally decided, and the other three erupted into cheers.

“Hell yeah!”

“Casey! You did it!”

“Whoo hoo and all that.”

He ignored Donnie.

Raph clapped Casey on the shoulder, grinning, “Good fight, Jones. You got style.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” He teased back, slugging Raph’s arm, “Pretty tough.”

“Never underestimate your opponent and all that.” Raph wrapped an arm over Casey’s shoulders, grinning wide.

Casey looked up at him, at his dark brown eyes. Dark scales poked out from underneath his red mask, the same kind of scales that ran over his exposed shoulders, tough but smooth.

His gaze trailed down just slightly, to watch Raphael’s lips as they called to April, thanking her for finding him a new sparring partner.

Raph looked down at him, a wild kind of happiness in his face, and Casey had to quickly laugh it off.

Oh no.

Oh fuck.