#so shell feed

        Initially, you were against this verdict. It wasn't your fault the pizza dropped! I mean it was, you most definitely dropped it, but it's because you were shocked at seeing giant mutant turtles!

        Totally within reason and therefore a proper excuse to not be held accountable for a $10 pizza.

        But you digress and paid for it anyway. Your phone was in the hands of a pizza-starved purple turtle, after all, and one tiny box was not going to be enough to satisfy all four of these guys.

        As April left to go fetch the pizza, you were shown around "the lair", as they called it, by three of the four turtles. Donatello immediately left you four the moment your precious phone's life was put into his three-fingered hands.

        Although you were nervous without April, you felt that strange sense of comfort around them again (something you thought happened pretty often when you interacted with this group - whether online or in person today) so your nerves were easily soothed as the trip among this VERY large 'home' continued.

        It brought that very thought to the forefront of your mind: meeting these four, as well as April, and even going to their hideout - all happened in the span of a few hours.

        It was probably nearing the 8:30 mark by now, and you winced. Yes, your mother trusted you to take care of yourself, and being away for a few hours never necessarily meant a big deal since you kept often communication with her, but it was also New York.

        That, and the fact that there have been rumors going around ever since that one popular chef was 'mysteriously transformed into a hideous beast' that there's been a bug-carried disease or something riddling the city itself.

        'Is that what happened to these guys?'

        Mikey's arm was tightly hooked around yours, and you could tell he was physically restraining himself from jumping and pulling you around to every location with excitement.

        The grin on his face was so wide, that it instantly lifted your mood as well.

        How did you know? Leo made sure to comment on how radiant your smile was.

        'You don't have to hide how excited you are to finally meet me, y'know,' were his exact words.

                You wanted to reply with 'we met less than 12 hours ago,' but you thought he was funny, so you went along with it anyway.

        As for Raphael - although he hadn't volunteered or offered to follow you guys around the lair, he most definitely was there.

        Definitely failing at 'spying' on you - not that it could've been helped. His stature and color scheme clashed too heavily with his attempts to hide behind humorously smaller items than him.

        "Since you've already familiarized yourself with the living room, I wanna show you the more exciting places of our humble abode!" Mikey grinned, "Starting with my FAVORITE place, the graffiti room!"

        Leo had a mischievous smile on his face, although the twitch in his eye made it evident that following around to whatever the 'graffiti room' was didn't meet his exact ideals.

        You watched him with a curious glint in your eye, but you sped up with the orange-clad turtle because honestly, you were just as excited to see graffiti as he was to show you.

        Mikey pulled you along a hallway lit in neon and blacklights, and part of you wondered how the hell these guys could pay for any form of an electric bill.

        Posters of retro Lou-Jitsu movies littered the dull cement walls, and near the bottom of said walls were doodles that looked to be in paint markers, and dated chalk of messy scribbles and tiny hand prints.

        The floor held a story, too. The same paint colors were splotched on the floor with little footprints and splatters. Someone made a mess whenever those were painted.

        You had a feeling you knew who all those little footprints belonged to, and although it seemed cute, a sympathetic pang hit deep in your heart.

        But you didn't have time to stop and analyze anything from the hallway, anyway.

        There wasn't a door, as the halls were sewer caverns, respectfully, but it did lead to another opening for a manhole.

        Once more, it was a room with a giant ladder that you assumed led up to another alleyway. Except this area was considerably less lit near the roof.

        More interestingly, though, it was the most gorgeous room you think you've ever seen.

        Paintings littered their way up to a good 3/4th of the entire ladderway, and they seemingly got more professional the higher up they went.

        "This is the room I've frequented the most in my childhood," Mikey informed you with a proud grin, "here, look! You can see how bad I was at drawing when I just started out. I was like four or something, but I've always held a love for drawing!"

        He scurried over to the lowest part of the ladderway, showing you the doodles 'Lil' Mike' drew in his youngest days.

        They were hard to make out, but the colors kind of reminded you of the brothers so you assumed he took most of his inspiration from his family back then.

        It was adorable.

        "After being introduced to comic books and movies - that's when I really started getting into it. I actually did some studies, too!"

        His hands gently ran themselves over the drawings, and he constantly looked from his drawings back to your cheerful expressions, as if he nervously gauged your reaction to his pieces; young to old.

        Your mouth was agape in a jovial wonder. "Mikey, you did all of this?" your voice raised in octaves, awe showing through every word, and it made him elated.

        Those honey-brown eyes of his shone with a giddy sparkle, unlike anything you've ever seen. "I did! Do you like it?"

        You made your way to climb up the ladder, eyes never leaving the beautiful pieces of art surrounding you.

        It was clear he had practiced many forms of art, but his favorite was graffiti, cartoon, and pop art. It was crazy to you, how talented he was.

        "Mikey, this is amazing!" you exclaimed, "look at the detail - the lining is so clean! You're an artist! Now I see how you got your name, aye?"

        Hopping off the ladder, you turned back to the turtle. He was busy wiping his tears off with his wristbands. "I can't show my art anywhere except on the So Shell, so it really means a lot that you like it!" He sheepishly chuckles.

        "Sorry, I'm a little overwhelmed!"

        You walked up to him with a small smile, "no worries, dude! I think it's so amazing, I can tell you really love drawing! You got any sketchbooks I can see?"

        The genuine interest in his craft made him gasp absurdly loud - and even louder, he screamed, "oh DO I - "

        All before Leo finally managed to speak up, patting Mikey's shoulder 'sympathetically,' whilst speaking, "Oh buddy it'll take AGES for you to get out of that - mmmm'nother time? 'Nother place? We still gotta show them MY favorite spot!"

        Unbeknownst to you, Leo had been patiently waiting for you to have your undivided attention on him.

        And seeing as he didn't want his first impression with you to be overly narcissistic and rude, he tried his best to compose himself from any sassy remarks and let Mikey have his little moment.

        But the praising and joking around with Mikey was... well, safe to say he got a little jealous.

        You were a new friend and it already looked like you were gonna find a real liking to his younger brother, but he'd hoped that he would have been able to snag you as his best friend, like how April and Donnie became so attached to the hip.

        He wanted a partner in crime so baaaad!! So forgive him, okay? He can still impress you, just wait till he takes you to THE spot.

        "Alright, Mikester, Raph-a-doodle - " You watched the looming, big shadow in the corner of the room jump as... attention was brought to it - "let's kindly take our guest towards the r - a - m - p, shall we?"

        ....Did he think you couldn't spell? Ramp. He spelled ramp. Were you not supposed to know that he wanted to take you to some ramp? Was this an acronym? You were so confused!

        Shaking your head, you sped up to match Leo's speed - this boy had legs, after all, and he could move quickly. Maybe it was the 'ninja' part of them Mikey's been informing you about.

        Leo, although making long strides, was pretty calm, and a lazy smile fell on his half-lidded gaze. His arms were crossed behind his head, allowing him to rest on them ever slightly. Although he didn't show it, a jolt of nervousness ran through his spine when you walked up next to him.

        Oh, right. He's probably supposed to talk like Mikey did, right? Better not let his little brother get the chance to sweep you off your feet again.

        "As I'm sure you're aware, our cozy little casa is a treasure trove filled with endless entertainment - as very much needed and deserved for the heroes of the city, after all," he began.

        You had no idea what he was talking about. Heroes of the city? What exactly have they done?

        You didn't ask to elaborate, and he continued anyway. "But there's one particular room that stands out among all others - and it's this one," he spoke in a leading voice, similar to an announcer for some wrestling match, and his arms outstretched as you turned the corner of the corridor.

        A giant opening was there. And you only wished that giant was an exaggeration.

        At the very bottom floor - where you currently resided - was a giant skate ramp. Next to it, laying half-hazardly, were color-coordinated boards. And they were pretty beat up, which meant they were loved? You guessed?

        You never really used skateboards.

        In all honesty, it was beautiful. There was floor after floor, once again leading to the city's streets at the very top - but here it was like the main directory for any location of the sewers you could have possibly wanted.

        Seriously, can you live here? You were positive there was more than enough room.

        "Woaaaah....!" another gasp left your lips, and it made Leo's ego do somersaults.

        "Yeah-hah-haaah, baby! Right here is the prime place to be for good times. This is where the real magic happens."

        Whilst the red-eared slider spoke, Mikey ran up alongside him to go fetch their boards.

        You noticed Raph didn't bother to hide himself in this room, not like he had any place to hide in here anyway, and took this time to walk up and talk with him.

        Shortly after the first introductions, you were informed that Raphael was the oldest of the four; then came Leo and Donnie, being the same age and referred to as 'the disaster twins,' and the youngest of the brothers being Michelangelo, naturally.

        "All of this is... incredible, how did you guys manage to put so much... well, stuff down here? It looks so... cozy. Like the teenage dream," you gushed to him.

        He hadn't been spying on you in any way to be offensive, and you knew that. He was the oldest child, and he loved his brothers. He just wanted to make sure you were okay - over-protective or overtly suspicious he may be. And you respected it, you admired it, even.

        For this reason, you'd expected him to have been at least a little bit harsh or maybe even withhold talking about personal stuff with you so early on into your relationship. You've still only known everyone for only a few good hours, after all. However, he was more than comfortable talking to you as if you were another friend.

        "It took a long time, for sure. A lot of this stuff was brought in only a few years ago since we finally had the strength and teamwork to enhance our home," he explained.

        "But back when we were kids, there were only a few rooms that pops cared to decorate."

        "Pops?" you asked with a curious tilt to your head.

        Raph let out a chuckle at your display. "Yeah. Master Splinter. He's not here right now, and I can't tell you why," a brow-like crease of his mask indicated an apologetic expression from him, and again, you understood the secrecy, so you shrugged to let him continue, "but he's the one that took care of us when we didn't have anyone. It's part of why we live down here."

        He lifted his gaze back up to his two brothers, "... But I think, back then, he needed us. Just as much as we needed him. He's not exactly a human, either. All we had was this family, but somehow, we were enough. And I don't think any of us would have wanted it any other way, y'know?"

        Midway through his little chat with you, his voice softened. Like he was pondering over the words he spoke to you, or maybe just took a moment to live in those words. A fondness showed through his eyes. Something of a look that you could only see in the eldest child.

        It hurt your heart. You wished you shared that connection with your siblings.

        "It's really touching to hear the kinda love you guys have for each other," it was your turn to speak softly, and you also turned your head to watch the two brothers set up their gear.

        "____, watch me hit this super cool air flip, alright? Mikey, cheer me on dude!"

        Leo's voice wavered in the distance (the ramp was REALLY tall), and he waved for your attention from the top of the half-pipe.

        You gave him a thumbs up and he grinned, noticing your attention. Mikey cheered him on with utmost passion.

        You quietly continued. "It's hard to see that kind of bond in humans, these days. We tend to leave that kind of stuff behind in favor of things like success, or physical desires," your arms crossed, matching Raphael's pose unintentionally.

        "But despite this day in age, I think Master Splinter did good teaching you all how important the bond between a family is..." you paused, thinking carefully with a small frown. "... A real family."

        Raphael noticed your correction, but all he did to react was simply give you a curious side-eye, not wanting to offend you by asking about it.

        A smile grew on his lips as his brother successfully started the routine for his special move. "It's something we're still learning ourselves, and it isn't easy. But it's worth the trouble."        

        As for Leo, currently picking up speed for his wicked airtime, sweat was trickling down his neck.

        Why did he do this? Why did he specifically bring this super hard trick shot to your attention, knowing that his success rate was literally in the 30s with this jump?

        If he misses it means a one-way ticket straight to crashtown, bruises all over his face, a completely ruined reputation and first impression, and endless embarrassment that he will never live down.

        He had to make this trick.

        Mikey's encouragement wasn't doing much to help the underlying panic, but it did well to keep a confident (enough) looking grin on the Slider's face.

        'This is it, Leo, now or never, the one trick to seal that best friend status with ___! Don't mess this up!'

        '.....What are you thinking, Leonard? You? Messing up? That's not biologically in your nature...!'

        He took the flip into the air,

        " - guess who's back with the pizza!"

        and flailed, lost his footing, and face slammed directly into the ramp, pathetically sliding down it in a muddled heap of an embarrassed turtle.

        'FUCK.'

        Luckily, you hadn't seen that horrible, embarrassing mess! The moment April's words spoke, you turned away from Leo soaring in the air to the brunette and trotted over without thinking.

        "April, you're back! Oh, sorry, Leo, did I miss it?!"

        Before you turned back towards the ramp, Leo made a lightning-quick recovery and stood straight, leaning slightly on the wobbling board with his head turned to the ground, rendering it impossible for you to see his face.

        He pressed a hand against his mouth, yawning loudly and dramatically to cover-up, "huh? Oh, yeah, you did, you really shoulda seen it! But it's fine, I'm actually a bit exhausted anyway so I might have to wait another time to build the energy for another one of those trick shots. Hey, I'm gonna go check on Donnie, I'll see you guys later!"

        And then he left.

        .....And then, you finally had time to process what just went down.

        You muttered a small, "uhhh... okay! Sorry about that! Another time then," and turned back to April, who shared another confused look with you.

        "Boys." She simply stated.

        Leo wasn't actually going to Donnie's lab. Instead, he went straight to his room down in the abandoned subway and splashed himself with cold water.

        His left cheek was swollen, and he could feel it panging, but looking in the mirror he noticed that he didn't look too bad.

         Maybe he could get away with a clever excuse.

        If she saw how horrible that drop was, he probably would have died. Thank the heavens for giving those four April.

        He whimpered pathetically and sat down on his bed.

        'Now what can I do? I ran away, giving the rest of them all the time they needed to sweep ____ of their feet!'

        He brought a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples in annoyance. If only you made that stupid trick shot, Leonard.

        'This is where the real magic happens,' yeah right.

        ....Magic.....

        Turning his head to the side, his gaze met the Mystic Sword resting against the door.

        He grinned.

        You, Raphael, April, and Mikey decided to chill out in the kitchen and chow down on some pizza. Meanwhile, you asked about their hidden lives.

        "So how did you guys end up meeting? Were you just as shocked as I was, April?"

        April laughed at the question, wiping tomato sauce off the side of her lip before she could answer.

        "I was really young, I think I was about 11 or 12 when I met them. But I grew up watching movies with aliens in them, y'know? And that's what they kind of looked like to me when I first saw them."

        You could hear Mikey and Raph groan at being compared to 'aliens,' but April continued.

        "So I don't think I was entirely thrown aback, being a kid super into the idea that aliens were real... actually, I'm pretty sure they were more terrified of me than I could ever be of them!"

        "That's true," Raph laughed, bashfully scratching at his cheek. "Master Splinter always warned us about being seen by humans. When we were really young, he said it's because they would've kidnapped and experimented on us, and we really believed it!"

        Raph and his baby brother laughed as if they figured it was some myth that had no chance of coming true.

        A drop of sweat rolled down your forehead, and you and April spared a glance at each other from the corner of your eyes.

        You let out a laugh through clenched teeth.

        As Raph's laughter died down, you spoke again before he could catch on to your nervous expression.

        "Dads, am I right? No matter the species they always wanna spook their kids, hahaha!"

        "Fo-real, I thought April was totally gonna go mad scientist on us!" Mikey added, "we already had enough of that with Donnie's experiments back then!"

        You caught the 'we still do,' grumble that April and Raph let out, and it made you giggle.

        "It sounds like all of you had a really exciting childhood, I'm kinda jealous," you teased. They all beamed at you.

        "Are you kidding? If anything, we're jealous of you!"

        "I know for one, it was always Donnie's biggest dream to attend school," Raphael explained.

        "We never got to go outside for more than half of our lives. Of course, we did it anyway, but there was always an underlying fear of how humans would treat us in the open."

        You couldn't help but frown. He was right to be scared - Splinter was right to teach him that, too.

        "....On the bright side, it looks like you're pretty good at picking out the good ones." April gave Raph a joking smile, giving you the opportunity to see a bright grin from the oldest.

        A beep sounded from April's watch, causing everyone to turn their heads toward her.

        "Oh, looks like Donnie's finished with your phone, ____."

        "Already?!" you yelped. "I haven't even been here for two hours!"

        The three laughed in a tone that said 'you have no idea,' and followed you out of the kitchen.

        It was time for you to finally see Donnie's lab.

        Donatello's lab had a massive door - one with several authorizations and passcodes that gave you a headache just after one look.

        Luckily his brothers noticed your visible distress, and Mikey was quick to press his hand against the scanner.

        "Who is it?"

        "It's your faaaavorite brother!"

        "Oh, come in, Mikey."

        "What?!" Raph yelled.

        Mikey giggled, turning his head around with a shit-eating grin to taunt Raph's offended demeanor, and cockily marched through the opening doors.

        You quickly followed behind him, then April, then a moping Raph.

        "I see you've come to retrieve your cellular device," Donatello didn't even bother to look at you, eyes closed as he smugly grinned, "prepare to be enraptured by my awesome tech-skills - no need to thank me, I know, I'm great."

        You wanted to punch his smug little face but he was right. And if there was any kind of character you loved: it was those who had bite to their bark.

        "Wow, Donnie... this phone - this is my phone?! How did you - " your eyes sparkled, and your mouth gawked as you tested out your new phone.

        He had to pretend he wasn't going insane over how dramatic your reactions were.

        Ego? Skyrocketing.

        "Not only did I fix your screen, add a DonTech VPN, and give you an extra 20 GB of storage - I also made sure that you were following meandlikedeverypostonmySoShellFeedyeahyou'rewelcome."

        He muttered the last bit in a hurried tone, but you couldn't mind due to how utterly astounded you were by the major upgrades.

        You could probably hold the entire collection of the internet's memes on your phone by now. AND STILL, HAVE STORAGE! Not only that, the resolution on your camera was fucking insane!

        "And you did all of this in - "

        "One hour and fourty-seven minutes? Yeah, I had to wait on the pizza before I could get my mojo on," he bragged.

        You know damn well that part was a lie but again, you didn't care. You let him feel good about his achievements because all of this was free.

        "I don't think I'll ever need a software update again...!" You whispered. The three accomodating compadres in the room laughed at you.

        "You won't - unless it's one of my updates. I tinker a lot, you should be aware it'll be VERY annoying for you," he grinned.

        Your smile was absolutely beaming when you turned to him. Flustered, his grin dropped and his eyes hurriedly shot around any other direction instead of on you.

        "Thank you so much, man! Seriously! You have no idea how grateful I am, this is sick!!!"

        He turned away from you in his swivel chair, leaning his head in his hands with his arms propped on the desk. "Uh yeah, yeah no problem." He played off his timidness with a bored-sounding voice, fiddling with a pen.

        "I will of course be needing to see your phone again soon; two hours didn't give me enough time to figure out how that dumb bug got into my app, yet."

        Oh, shoot, that's right! You needed to be heading home! You shot a look at April, and she nodded knowingly.

        "Um, of course!" you responded. "Maybe I'll revisit you guys soon! We can have an official hangout session then!"

        Mikey had stars in his eyes, and Raphael happily shrugged. "We'll be here anytime," he said.

        "And if you can't come over, just text me. I'm sure I can figure things out with a bit of vague QnA," Donatello informed. You nodded.

        Making your way out of the Lab was a bit of a bummer. You wanted to spend more time in there and really investigate all the cool inventions that the turtle genius made, but you really needed to be heading home.

        Speaking of Donnie's lab, though -

        "Hey, wasn't Leo supposed to be chilling here?" you asked April.

        Mikey answered for her with a shrug. "He's probably sleeping or reading comics. He does his own thing super often."

        Raph couldn't help but grumble, but didn't respond to it. You wondered why he seemed annoyed by that.

        But April, Raphael, Mikey, and Donnie ended up leading you out of the lair together. And when you finally made it to the ladders that once led you down here, you turned to them with another of your signature smiles.

        "Well, I've gotta be heading home. But it was really awesome that I could stop by on such short notice! I really appreciate you guys for letting me crash here for a bit. And for fixing my phone. Thanks a bunch, again."

        Donnie cracked a small smile and was quick to hide his face before you could see any full grin.

                The other two walked straight up to you - Mikey once again giving you a hug, and Raph settling with messing up your hair.

        "Not a problem, buddy! Make sure you come back soon, we'll always be happy to have ya! Text us when you get home, okay? It's dangerous out there at night."

        "Oh please, she's got O'Neil on her side," April scoffed jokingly. "I promised her a ride home, no biggie."

        You nodded anyway. "I'll text you guys, though. Oh, and tell Leo I said goodbye! It's a shame I wasn't able to talk with him longer!"

        "WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIIIT - YOU'RE LEAVING ALREADY?!"

        Speak of the devil and there shall he come. Leo frantically waved his arms as he ran toward you.

        Yeah. Frantically waving his arms. Running. With a giant, menacing sword in his hands.

        "CHEEBUS GRICE - LEO, DON'T RUN WITH THAT!" screamed April, guarding the two of you with her bat.

        "No, but I have to show ____ my super cool sword, they're gonna love it! Check this ou- woAAH !!!"

        As terrifyingly expected, Leonardo tripped on his own two feet and the sword went launching, slicing open some blue, mysterious portal in midair.

        The sword flew above you, and as he was falling he accidentally caught on to your jacket.

        ....Which, y'know, meant that you obviously fell into the portal with him.

        One moment you were standing at the bottom of the ladders leading up to the city. 

        The next moment, you were being held on for dear life by a turtle who was chasing you down with a sword.

        It was only at the very last moment when you were too late, did you realize that Leo had pushed you and him through a magical portal leading you to God knows where.

        Your first instinct was to scream until you stopped falling. Your second instinct was to keep your eyes shut for fear of seeing something that would cause your mind to go medically insane. In a world of turtles and magical swords that opened gateways to... wherever, that wasn't such a farfetched idea to go with.

        You don't think a single human being could stop you from screaming your precious little heart out (you were, coincidentally, terrified of the unknown) but Leo, being anything but human, fairly managed to grab ahold of your face and reassure you with a "calm down, you're kind of causing a scene."

        ....Well, you wouldn't exactly say reassure when all he did was piss you off with those words. Piss-assured. Pissed-assured?

        "Leonardo... I know you did not just say that to me." Your voice came out gritted and angry, sending a shiver down the Blue-clad turtle's spine. Although, if you're giving credit where it's due; he did manage to stop you from screaming.

        "You just threw us into a portal!!!" 

        ...Nevermind. More screaming ensues.

        "I know! I know! And I'm sorry, but it's cool, right? Look where you are right now, it's still exactly what I wanted to show you so it kind of worked, yeah?" Leo waved his hands frantically with an embarrassed smile. 

        You genuinely didn't have the patience for this right now. You thought Leo was cool, but this was seriously infuriating. 

        "LEE-O," your voice came out heavy, ignoring the pout that he gave as you angrily gripped his shoulders. It was only when you realized anger won't solve the problem of getting you home that you let out a sigh, calming your nerves and releasing the tension in your jaw.

        "Leo," this time you spoke calmly. "I think you're misunderstanding where I'm upset. It doesn't matter where we are. What matters is that we aren't where I need to be right now. My mom expects me to be home soon, and now I'm in the middle of nowhere!" 

        Your arms shot up dramatically, and you were close to having your anger issues resurfacing again.

        "No! That's totally okay!" he didn't even think about apologizing to you (you did NOT take that 'I'm sorry, but' to heart) - something that pissed you off endlessly. 

        But he continued, "I can just portal you right back to your house once I'm done showing you around!"

        "But I don't want you to show me around!"

        "PLEAAASE just trust me!! I promise it will be worth your while - you aren't even giving it a chance! Don't lie to me and say you've seen any of this before!"

        Although absolutely irate, your curiosity couldn't help but follow Leonardo's outstretched arm. It was only then that you indeed took sight of the place you and him were in.

                "....OH WHAT THE FUCK?"

        The scenery bloomed with color all around you; pillars, castles, and buildings littered every line of sight. Floating creatures and animals swooped past you high above, and the streets were flooded with monsters and creatures you only knew to compare to the four turtles.

        "See?!" Leo beamed. He proceeded to break into a little victory dance while you stood slack-jawed in awe. Or was it shock? 

        Maybe it was you mentally losing your mind; consciousness becoming aware of things the human brain was never met to comprehend. You fought the urge to roll your eyes to the back of your head.

        "This is all... This is seriously some Little Monsters sorta shit," you whispered.

        "I don't know what that is but I'm gonna take that as a compliment!" he answered you in a cocky tone, seemingly unaware of how utterly petrified you were. 

        Honestly, you weren't sure whether or not being petrified was logical for the current situation. On one hand, you wanted to trust Leo, on the other, your 'red-flag subconscious was profusely signaling to you that you were actually being viscously manipulated by four reptilian monsters and one mentally disturbed high schooler so that they may turn you into delicious toppings of a freshly bought pizza. 

        Your face paled. Surely not, right? Either way, one thing was for certain:

        When it came to putting your life into the hands of someone - of all people - maybe it shouldn't be Leonardo.

        Eyes never straying from the overwhelming sights before you, you slowly brought out your futuristically refurbished phone from your pocket. 

        Surprisingly, your phone didn't have a single dent or scratch from the portal fiasco moments before.

        [ 23 Unread Messages. ]

        A worrisome pit fell to the caverns of your stomach. No one was answering. Was there even reception here? Of course, right? You were clearly sending the messages?

        "So! Seeing as I am the only one here with you - and your only means of transportation back home, howsabout I take you on an exciting tour of the Hidden City? It'll be a BLAST, we might even be able to"

        "You kidnapped me."

        " - WHAT?!"

        "You totally kidnapped me!" you shot an accusing finger at Leo, making him jump back. 

        "I did not!....... Mean to! Ugh!" giving up, Leo slouched with another dramatic pout. You simply crossed your arms. 

        "Maybe it looks that way to you, but I didn't intend for it to! I was going to show you the cool tricks my sword could do, and where it could take us! I didn't think I'd trip, I just got so excited - "

        "So you ran towards me, with a sword, all because you were excited?!" 

        "Yes! Exactly! I was excited to show you! I wanted to impress you - "

        Oh shell, where was he going with this? If he told you he wanted to impress you so you'd think he was cool it would have the complete opposite effect of his goal!

                " - you're the first human we've met in seven years that wasn't trying to kill us or call us freaks!"

        Your anger dissipated as shock from his confession set in. Words couldn't find their way to your mouth, so he kept on.

        "You have no idea how rare this is for us! I just thought that if you were impressed by all the talents we have - all the fun that we can get into, you'd want to.... y'know, stick around." He didn't sound whiny or cheesy like one would imagine, rather like he was... tired.

        'Okay, Leo, not necessarily the reason, but it sounds believable enough, right? Makes you sound more brotherly than pathetic.... right???"

        As you processed his words, a frown began to pull at your lips. You pitied him - all of them, but didn't you just say you all could -

        He wasn't there to hear you say you were staying. To offer a proper hangout.

        All he saw was you getting ready to head out of the sewers. 

        Oh.

        "Leo, I don't exactly plan on leaving you guys anytime soon." Your response came out hesitant, "I don't exactly have any other friends I'd rather be hanging out with," the reasoning behind that sentence brought a foul taste to your mouth, but you didn't want to talk about it. 

        His demeanor quickly changed for the better: back to his usual flirty and hyperactive self. That iconic, charming grin he wore was once again present on his lips. 

        "None as radically cool as me, right?" he joked. "It'd be hard to top all of this," he smugly gestured to himself, making you roll your eyes.

        "Exactly," his face grew hot, "point is, I'm not going anywhere. You don't have to worry about that whatsoever." You took a moment to think.

        Your mom wouldn't be... that mad, right? 'Wait a minute... Gadoie, dingbat, why don't you just text her?'

        And so you did, face flushed in embarrassment and hands fumbling on the keyboard. You simply wrote: 'Momma, is it alright if I get pizza with my friends? It should only take an hour, maybe two. They offered to drive me home.'

        A lie, indeed, but there was some truth! Like the transportation home, and the staying out for two extra hours (that you definitely didn't hope for).

        'You can have up to 90 minutes. Be safe.'

        Her response came quicker than you anticipated, but you were grateful nonetheless. You texted her a short, 'thank you!' and turned your phone off, finally meeting Leo's gaze.

        "...Alright, I'm convinced. You've got forty minutes of my undivided attention, little boy blue." You couldn't help but smile watching him hoot and holler victoriously. "But if we get into any trouble, I'm counting on you to get me out of it."

        "Luckily for you, I am the best when it comes to the ninja-ing in the family." His smirk could not possibly be pulled any higher, and he swatted the ribbons of his mask over his shoulder as faux hair.

        "We're gonna have to count on it because I'll be a pretty horrifying ghost. Get me killed and my whole family comes after you, too. The risk is all yours to - "

        " - Yeah yeah, that's great let's go!"

        He interrupted you! In the middle of your threat for the sake of your very life!

        You let out a startled scream as he tugged you along. He broke out into a sprint, leaving you almost flying behind him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" you yelled out.

        He didn't look back when he responded to you, "you said only forty minutes! We can't spend all of that time with threats and jabs at each other! Forty minutes with Leonardo is forty minutes of fun!!!"

       He was crazy! But, you had to hand it to him, this high-speed running around was kinda fun. He acted as if you two were being chased. And to him, you were; being chased by the hands of a clock, looming over with a bloodthirsty grin ready to slice your held hands apart, tearing you away from him forever.

        You let out a laugh: a shrill, joyous giggle that drove Leo crazy. You were excited! Finally, he got you anticipating a day with him!

        Okay, maybe not a day - maybe 39 minutes, but he'll take what he can get!

        Looking around, he had to be honest with himself. He's not as familiar with the hidden city as he acted like; after all, they only rescued April Mayhem from it maybe two or three weeks ago. All he knew was that the city at least looked exciting. 

                But again, you two didn't have much time. At the very least, it was not enough time to go looking for the City's Tour Booth and snag a map, so he could only depend on trusting his gut and taking you to wherever he thought would be both safe and exciting.

        "We're really cutting it close with the time that we were given, but I think I know the perfect place to take you, mi amiga!" he lied, hand tightly wrapped around yours. You followed in blind faith.

        He led you 'downtown', where the street was littered with booths of food, street games, and performers. Each and every creature there were not human - making you feel like the alien out of all of them.

        "This is so surreal," you admitted quietly. You were busy staring at the performers while Leo spent his time eagerly staring at your mesmerized reactions.

                "Yeah? But it's kind of thrilling, right? Oh my god, wait, you have got to try this," easily distracted, the blue-clad turtle tugged you away from the acts to bring you up to a particular booth from the food vendors. 

        This booth had what looked to be a hairy, purple egg.... thing. It had a stem on the top indicating (hopefully, you thought) that it was not actually some alien pre-hatchling but instead a fruit or something.

        You had an idea of what Leo was about to suggest.

        Buying one of the eggs from the vendor was pretty easy for him - for some reason, the Hidden City accepted U.S. currency. You're gonna ignore the multitude of questions you had.

        "Eat! Eat! You're gonna LOVE this.... this thing!" 

        You knew it. You knew he was gonna pull this shit.

        "You want me to eat this thing?!" fear poured from your voice in waves. Leo nodded eagerly.

                "Yes! Oh just take a biiiite, it's not poison! I swear it tastes like 50 different meals at the same time and you can never describe any single one of them!"

        You pulled him away from the vendor in an anxious but polite manner, only so that you could dramatically decline Leo's offer without having to seem rude.

        "There is no way I'm gonna eat that! You don't even know what it's called, Leo!" 

        Leo wasn't looking at you - eyes focused on slicing the 'egg' with his sword instead. (Something that was actually quite humorous to see, if not insanely stress-inducing. This dude has no concern for blade safety!)

        "Yeah, good points are being made here, but, I also don't know the names of a lot of human food, too." Licking the excess juices off the odachi, Leo picked a slice from the egg and delicately placed it in your hand with a smirk.

                "Try it. Trust me."

        "Agh, okay, you've convinced me," you smiled, bringing the fruit up to your face to peer at it. 

        "Really?!" 

        "Nope!" and then you threw the slice behind your back. "Fuck you, Leo! I'm not trying to have an anaphylactic shock over egg fruit!"

       "That's not gonna happen, I don't even know what that word meansss," he cooed, waving another slice of the gooey, furry egg thing in front of your face, "and besides, on the offhanded hypothetical that something does happen to you, I'm sure Donnie can handle it with his nerdy science stuff. 'Cause he's a nerd." 

       You frowned, pushing the fruit away with a flat hand. "No thank you, Leo. I'll just take your word for how good it i-"

       Leo interrupted you for what felt like the 100th time today by shoving the fruit into your mouth. At first, you wanted to panic. But he was totally right.

        Whatever this food was, it was delicious. And Leo had so kindly peeled the furry skin off of this slice so the texture wouldn't make you cringe - oh my gosh, you don't think you've ever enjoyed food as much as this funky little egg.

        You wanted to be mad that he totally violated your boundaries, but you were legitimately in euphoria right now.

        "Riiiiight? I told you! UGH, SO GOOD!" He groaned satisfactorily, taking a bit out of another slice himself. "Nothing like mystic food, seriously! Except... maybe pizza."

        Mouth still full and hands grabbing for more slices, you laughed in agreement. These dudes love their pizza, huh? 

        Honestly, seeing Leo smile at you the way he was right now made your stomach flip. And not even in a romantic kind of way, you know? You were simply over the moon with how much fun you two were having. And in a mystic city?

        Your old, shitty friend group couldn't top this feat even if they tried! You hit the absolute jackpot with friends this time. 

[New Messages.]

        "Gotta say, Leo, you're a bit overzealous." You'd finally finished the fruit together, and although it was only a few slices it felt as if you ate a three-course meal. Now you simply sat at a bench watching as fireworks danced in the streets.

        Like literally, in the streets. Right by passersby. You chased some with Leo only a few moments before. He turned to you with a curious glint in his eye. 

        "Me? Overzealous? Nah, I think you mean I'm just eager for fun," he corrected you with a teasing tone, but your words actually shook him a bit. He hoped he wasn't scaring you away.

        "....I think I was right," you joked, "all the same - I'm kinda happy you pushed me to chill down here for a bit. You were right, I had no idea what I was missing."

        "Ah yes, right, as always," he bragged. His eyes closed and a smile grew on his face that showed off his canines. You shoved him lightly. 

        "Whatever. You're just lucky I let you pass the forty-minute mark," you joked.

        As soon as the words left your mouth, Leo's eyes widened back up. He turned to you curiously but then started to chuckle, "ohoho, you were totally selling me short! How long has it been since then?"

        You looked down at your phone. "Hmm... looks like I gave you an extra 30 minutes by now," that meant 20 minutes left till you're home. 

        "Are you serious? We've been here over an hour and I didn't even realize - but you realized! If I didn't know any better I'd say you actually like my company, amigo!" he poked at your stomach, pulling another laugh out of your lips. 

        "Nah, I think I'd have had a lot more fun with the others," you mocked. He replied with an 'oh I'm sure,' but you both continued to wildly grin. 

        "But really, I only have 20 minutes left till my mom expects me to be home. You think you can get that portal going yet?" 

        "Why of course I can," he put on an Old English accent, bowing with a wave of his sword before turning away from you. 

        Bringing his mystic odachi to his chest, he let a deep breath in and out to soothe his quaking nerves. Then, he turned back to you, arms gestured outward as he confidently posed. 

                "Watch and be amazed!" he announced, "I, Leo the great, will take you and me back to the lair in three, two...!"

        Slicing a cut through the air, he caught the 'one' in his lips as he choked. There was definitely a portal.

        But it was not at the lair. 

        The portal looked like a window to the leaning tower of Pisa.

        ".......Aheh. Funny." Although a bit frazzled you let yourself believe that he was probably teasing you again. You hoped he was teasing you.

        Sweat dripping down Leo's head, he turned to you anxiously. "Only joking, okay, real thing real thing," and sliced again.

        .....

        "Leonardo," you cautiously started, staring through Portal #2, "I really need to get home. Be serious now, I don't remember the lair being in Egypt."

        "Oh yeah, don't worry don't worryyy, sometimes this thing just likes to be a little funny, gimme a second," he mumbled out the last part of his sentence in a frustrated tone, vigorously shaking the odachi as if it was going to pour out portals like a salt shaker.

        "I'm going to trust you for three more minutes before I'm calling Donnie for help," you sighed. That sent him into a panic.

        "No no no no no, there's no need for that!" he anxiously stammered, "I've got you, ____! You don't need some turtle taxi when you've got me!" And it was going so well! What went wrong? Come on, you stupid little sword, make the portal!!!

        "I guess all I can do is wait and see," you mumbled. You picked at the black polish on your nails and gnawed on your cheek, nervously watching as Leonardo clearly struggled to make a correct portal. 

        "Ugh! This is so weird! It's like my sword wants me to break it," okay, now he was threatening his own weapon to comply. Suddenly, you were reminded of how peculiar your choice of friends was.

        With another frustrated groan, Leo threw his hands in the air. "Fine!" He sighed, "I guess we can call Donnie. But I'll get this thing to work and when I do we're so gonna have a better Leo and ____ day like we DESERVE!"

        Another portal - this time one that finally looked familiar..... Too familiar....

        'That place looks a lot like.... no, it is! That's my street!'

        "Leo!" you bounced out of your seat, jolting the boy out of his tantrum. "That's it! That's my street! How did you know?!"

        Leo's stare was blank - if anything, maybe baffled. "....Huh?!" his eyes flickered to the portal and his sword with lightning speed. 

        "No way, for real?" 

                "What do you mean for real? You made the portal, didn't you!"

        "N- Yeah! I totally did, yup, ahuh! See? What did I tell you, I totally had it covered!" quickly pulling a confident facade, Leo puffed out his chest with a heroic laugh. 

        You cheered alongside him without thinking of the implications. And when you did, a creeped-out shiver went up your spine.

        "...Wait... so then, does that mean you and Donnie found out where I lived?!"

        Leo's face paled. "We didn't!"

        'Shit, what should you say, Leon?!'

        "I lied!"

        'Way to go.'

        "Yeah, I actually had no idea. Maybe the sword knew? It's mystic, mystic swords can do that.... I think," he shrugged. "But we can ignore it because at least you're successfully home! Yippee!!!"

        Panic was seen throughout every pore of Leonardo's reptilian body. You, although still very put off, slowly agreed nonetheless. "Yeeeah.... Yippee."

        Deciding that you had suffered enough craziness today, you let out a heavy sigh. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Or maybe next week. After all the craziness I've had to go through in the span of a few hours, I might go into a coma," you spoke as you walked through the portal.

        Looking back at Leonardo still standing in the mystic city, you gave him a tired wave. "I'll text you guys that I made it home, okay? You do the same for me, yeah?"

        His sword lay limp next to his leg as he just stared at you. Only for a second though, because after he processed the night really did end for you and him, he smiled softly. "....'Kay. Don't sleep for too long though, I'll be so bored." His playful attitude returned.

        You laughed, "I'll try, homie," and turned away, heading down the street as the portal closed.

        And then it was just Leo left, watching the Hidden City move on by while he stood still......

        ".....Crap!" 

        'Seriously, Leo?! Lying to their face? ADMITTING TO IT? YOU LOOKED LIKE SUCH A DOOFUS!'

        "UuuUuuUuUuGHGHHGHG I NEED TO SLEEP THIS DAY OUT OF MY MIND!" Leon pulled at his face and ferociously shook his head, hoping that the humiliating scenes poured out from his brain and left him alone. 

        He tried for another portal. This time, it worked in one go. And when he stepped through the blue wisps to the lounge room of the lair, he was greeted by three brothers and an intensely worried April.

        "Leo!" they all exclaimed.

        He moved past them, trying to head to his room without a single word uttered. But they persisted.

        "Leo, where's ____?! Are they okay?" Mikey asked, pulling Leo by the arm. 

        He groaned, "they're fineee, I took them home," was all he said. Or I guess, wanted to say. They kept going. 

        "You were gone for almost two hours, what have you been doing? We have school in the morning!" It was April's turn to interrogate him, and her foot tapped against the floor as she waited for an explanation.

                "They said I could take them to walk around the Hidden City, all we did was eat and hang out! Sheesh, they were the ones that agreed to it!"

        "You're not getting the point, Leo!" of course it was Raph that started to lecture him once more. Leo quickly grew irritated as the oldest brother blocked him from entering the subway.

        With his classic, crossed-arms, furrow-browed look, Raph began again. "You can't just kidnap someone just because you don't want them to leave! They didn't intend to spend another two hours hanging out, they wanted to go!"

        Guilt tugged at Leo's chest, face reddening again as he felt another oncoming wave of humiliation. He hadn't even told Raph that you were initially against the idea, and he still found a way to be in the right.

        It made Leo seethe. "Whatever, they wanted to have fun, and they had fun! You're not the only one that read the group chat!" He pushed past Raph as fast as he could, more than ready to leave the conversation and just pass out on his couch.

        He ignored the small 'there's a group chat?' he heard from April and headed down the stairs, leaving the three brothers and human friend to watch his exit with equal, dumbfounded expressions.

                April only looked up at the rest of the three of them.

        "....Well, uh..." the air was tense and awkward, making her shuffle her feet anxiously. "I think I'm gonna head out, too. School night, as I said," she quietly reasoned. She said her goodbyes to the three turtles and they walked her to the ladder, watching as she exited the lair safely.

        Then, the three brothers turned to each other. 

        "Raise your hand if you feel bad for ___ for having to endure all of us," Donatello finally broke the silence, lifting his hand and watching his two brothers do the same. 

        "Oh good, I'm not the only one."

        Mikey felt his phone vibrate, and he pulled it out to find you had left a message in the group chat, indicating you made it home safely.

            Reading the messages, a giant grin grew on his face.

                "If they can handle us," Mikey shoved his phone in front of his brothers' faces - inches away from literally decking either of the two as he grinned mischievously, "I'm sure I make it worth their while! I'm sooo their favorite! Just watch, they're gonna be coming to the lair just to see ME!"

        Donnie shook his head, and Raph snatched the phone away from his smallest sibling. "Highly unlikely, my oblivious younger brother! They were so impressed by my amazing tech skills, they're gonna be over the moon when I give them a tour of my lab!" he threw a jab at Mikey and they quickly began to roughhouse.

        Raph chided the two, "no way! You should've seen how we connected! We're gonna be attached to the hip before you guys even know it!" and jumped into the fight, ignoring Leon's screams for them to shut up and let him sleep.

        And though they spent the rest of the night horseplaying, all of them could agree to at least one thing: