Brother Turtle, Mother Rat

by Dawn Totadile

I know you all love your angst with Teng Shen's death, but here's a twist; she's the mother of the four turtles and Miwa, and she is alive. In this version, she and Donatello had a run in with the Foot clan and get oozed. How is the family going to deal with this as one by one they get mutated and forced into hiding thanks to a mad-man's anger?

2. Chapter 2

It had been a few months since Teng Shen and Donatello had disappeared. Her husband and children became worried when they could not call her and when the two did not come home that night. Hamato Yoshi put up missing people posters everywhere, trying to find his wife and third son.

Teng Shen found one such poster as it fluttered down the pipes to her new home with her son. Donatello was already trying to make this place better and learning to read and repair items. She put the poster up on one of the walls of her room, as there was enough space for the two of them to have a room. Donatello had even pointed out that there was enough room for all of their family to have their own room, a dojo for training, a kitchen, a living room, and a large bathroom. The bathroom was one of the first things Donatello had learned to fix.

Donatello noticed his mother's sadness and decided to pay a visit to his siblings and father, without his mother knowing. He snuck off in the silence of the night after he was sure that his mother was asleep. He made his way through the shadows and to his house. He noticed his brothers were still up and playing outside. He hid in the bushes just as the eldest of his siblings, his sister Miwa, turned towards him. Miwa gasped and pointed to the bush that was shaking. Though they were still toddlers, Donatello was able to understand both his parents, and all of his siblings while still talking like he was a few years older.

His tough and rough brother, Raphael, decided to charge into the bush, and ended up tussling with the young turtle boy. He only stopped once the two were out of the bush and in a slightly better light. He gasped as he recognized the mahogany eyes of his little brother. "Donnie!" He practically jumped off of the boy who slowly stood up.

The turtle boy was crying as the other children came close to him. He was a turtle boy! But he was also their brother, Donatello! Leonardo looked at him and then at the house. They were lucky that it was sunset and that no one else could see them. "Where have you been?"

"Hiding… me and mommy can't come back till we fix this…"

"Mommy's okay?" Michelangelo asked worriedly as he made his way to his turtle brother.

Donatello ruffled the youngest brother's hair. "She's a rat now. She's fine. We live in the sewers."

"We should tell father. He's been worried sick about you guys!" Leonardo clenched his fists.

"You can't! What will he think? I'm a turtle, and mommy's a rat! Those mean ninjas hit us with something and now I have a shell!" He turned and pointed to his shell while crying. "I have a shell!" Then he held up his hands. "I have three fingers now too! Mommy has fur and a tail!" Donatello started hiccupping as he cried.

The sounds brought out their father, Hamato Yoshi. He was shocked to see the young boy that was a turtle. He was even more shocked by his children surrounding it with kindness, trying to get it to calm down. "Children?"

Donatello gasped and ducked for the sewer hole that he had come up from. "Don, wait!" Michelangelo cried as he tried to reach for his brother. Raphael stopped him and shook his head. Michelangelo looked up at him, being shorter by a couple of inches, and started crying into his shoulder.

Hamato Yoshi gathered them and listened as they tried to explain what they had been told. He did not know whether or not to believe them, but for their sake, he chose that he would, for now. His wife and third son were still alive in New York, but they were changed. 'If I ever get the chance to take care of them again, I will. Oroku Saki, you shall pay for this. I know they were your ninjas. This will not stand.' He held his children in a hug, trying to comfort the four of them. "Do not worry. We shall find them one day. When we find them again, we shall protect them."

"How, father?" Leonardo spoke his first words with such determination and confusion that Yoshi couldn't help but smile.

"I will teach you ninjitsu so you can defend yourselves. We will not let this happen again." The four children nodded as they were led inside. Should the opportunity to protect their brother and mother again, they would take it. They were a family, and they would stick together, no matter what happened.