Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT in any form or iteration.
Inspired by 2003 TMNT where they turned into dragons, JazzTheTiger's 2012 TMNT Dragon artwork, and the lack of turtle dragons in the Rise Fandom. Sometimes you just have to write it yourself.
Splinter was asking for Baron Draxum's help. If that wasn't a sign something was seriously wrong, April wouldn't know what was. Well, Splinter saying there was a problem with the boys was a pretty good sign too.
Lunch had just finished for April when the call came. It was the home phone at the Lair, so someone must have a broken phone. They had gone out to the Hidden City last night, so things must have turned out crazy. That got her curious. Donnie and Splinter wouldn't call her during school hours, but the others would.
She barely got to say "hey" before Splinter cut her off.
"Get Draxum, there's a problem with the boys and we need his help." The call cut off a second later, but she heard what sounded almost like tearing metal in the distance.
April stopped in the middle of the crowd of students heading to class and almost got knocked over for it. Glancing out the window, there were no flying pigs or anything of the sort. She turned on her heel and pressed through the crowd back into the cafeteria, ignoring Dale's question as she went.
Once she was out of the crowd, she ran. Someone made a mention of running in the school halls and she ignored them as she vaulted over the cafeteria counter to get to the kitchen faster. Slamming her way through the doors, she grabbed Barry and was dragging him out.
"I don't have an explanation either, Splinter said something was wrong with the boys – Mikey included – and he needed your help." April rushed out, before pretending to keel over. "Pretend I'm sick and you're taking me home."
The school knew Barry was a family friend and neighbour of hers. With her parents so often at work, she'd put him as one of her emergency contacts on the off chance it would come in handy. While Splinter has done phone calls for her in the past, his appearance meant he hasn't been able to do much more than that.
As annoyed and baffled as April ordering him made him, Baron Draxum did play along. Even if his relationship with everyone wasn't the best yet – with Leo that's an understatement – he did care about his creations. Although Mikey was clearly the favourite.
The excuse worked, and soon April and Draxum were racing toward the Lair. Draxum asked about the phone call, and all April could tell him was that, along with the sound of metal tearing, Splinter spoke quietly, hung up quickly, and he sounded puffed.
Splinter was waiting for them outside the Lair when they arrived. He looked a right mess. Not only was his robe dishevelled and his bedhead still there, but his right arm was also in a makeshift sling and one of his cheeks was swelling up profusely.
April tried to recall if Splinter had also gone to the Hidden City with the boys last night. Did they get in a fight? How badly were the others hurt if Splinter was the one interacting with them and he looked like this?
"Why have you met us out here?" Draxum demanded. Before he could say a second sentence, Splinter's hand had wrenched his lips shut.
Draxum almost ripped Splinter's hand off but the rat man wasn't even looking at him. They all looked toward the locked door to the garage. Why was it locked? Why did Splinter almost look afraid of whatever was on the other side? Had the boys brought back a creature from the Hidden City and locked it in the garage after it attacked them?
Whatever was on the other side didn't react. The questions kept piling in April's brain but when she opened her mouth to ask them, Splinter pressed a finger to her lips to keep her quiet. Letting go of Draxum's in the process.
With a gesture to follow, he led the way to another entrance. After a careful look through a peephole, he had them sneak into and through the lair. They seemed to be heading to the bathroom.
In the Lair, Donnie had soundproofed a few rooms. The garage and his lab were obvious ones, and his old room and the room he won from Leo were also a part of the roster. The other ones were the bathrooms because allegedly, Donnie didn't want to hear anyone singing in the shower. April knew he just didn't want anyone to hear him singing in the shower.
It was the only reason she could think of why they'd be heading there. That could only leave her wondering what happened, or is happening, to Donnie's lab for that to not be where they're going. Like with the garage door to the outside, the doors to the lab were shut. In fact, they were set to maximum security. Not even Raph would be able to tear those down anytime soon.
April looked down towards the boys' rooms and almost stopped if Splinter hadn't grabbed her wrist to keep dragging her along. They looked ransacked. The curtains were gone, all of their bedding was gone, all of the clothes were missing from smashed drawers, Mikey's soft toys and even every single member of Raph's collection of stuffed animals were gone. Even the places where Leo and Donnie had hidden their comfort toys were open and empty.
There were claw marks, deep and huge, defacing the broken furniture. Said marks could also be found across the floor and on the walls. Not all the marks matched up. There were at least two different sets.
She focused on hurrying along after Splinter. The sooner they got to the bathroom, the sooner she'd get the answers.
Draxum was frowning towards the garage. The door on this side wasn't locked, it was actually a little open. Something could easily open it.
"Rat-!" Barry began, annoyed with what he thought was a prank. That was his first mistake.
Splinter quickly tripped the sheepman (probably a Satyr but April wasn't going to bother asking what he actually was), leaping on him to cover his mouth and prevent any further noises. Splinter's tail threw April away too.
Thankfully, her glasses didn't fall off and she managed to see just why Splinter had done this. The loud pop of jaws shutting on air - like in those videos of crocodiles and alligators Donnie had shown in the past - would have been pretty terrifying if she'd suddenly lost some of her vision.
Not that there was anything really reassuring about the sight she saw. The jaws that had snapped down right where Barry's head was, the fangs and teeth fully prepared and almost certainly powerful enough to break bone gleaming with spit, and the eyes that looked at her without any of the familiarity they should have did not help.
What did help was finally knowing some of what was going on.
The creature that just tried to bite Baron Draxum's head off was Leo. April didn't need to see the familiar blue mask on a dragon's head to know that was her brother. He still had his shell and marks. The colour of his scaly skin was the same.
His eyes weren't the same, but she's heard about Savage and met Doctor Delicate Touch. The bright green eye wasn't something she'd seen Leo have before, but it was still his. The pale golden eye should have been Donatello's though.
Leo would be ecstatic to have proof of the two being twins.
But those eyes were a sign Leo wasn't in his right mind. They weren't the intense, focused white, nor were they the normal dark eyes they inherited from Splinter.
Leo was running on four legs, tipped with claws. Flaring his wings as he jumped down after Splinter and Draxum, who'd gone down the skateboard ramp. A long neck allowed a differently shaped head to snap at his targets. His tail, at the end of which, was somehow his odachi - integrated with his flesh but the blade was still metal - sliced then smashed the skateboard ramp behind him. The other ramp did not escape the same fate as Leo tried to climb up it. Following Splinter and Draxum after they climbed it themselves.
That was her brother. Her brother that was now trying to attack- no, he was trying to kill – Barry and Splinter. A feral growl and hiss mix came from his throat as he launched himself at his fathers. Splinter throwing something in the water managed to momentarily distract Leo enough for Splinter to hide himself and Draxum.
April tried to get a better look at whatever it was, but Leo was suddenly there, swallowing whatever it was. Splinter's tail dragged her away from the edge, and the three didn't even breathe as they waited for Leo to leave. The clatter of his claws and faint scrape of the blade on his tail went off in the direction of the projection room.
There was a familiar tearing of metal, and that's what made Splinter let them out.
In silence, they raced to the bathroom. No one dared to make a sound until Splinter had locked and barred the door from the inside.
"Explain." April hissed, keeping her voice low.
The pondering look on Draxum's face sharpened into focus as Splinter began telling them what he knew. It was reassuring that Splinter was likely right that Draxum would know how to help. Unfortunately, Splinter's explanation didn't help much in finding out what happened.
Splinter woke to the sound of rustling behind his chair. The projector was still playing, so the boys must have just gotten back from their latest escapade to the Hidden City. Leo had said something about checking out the docks if he remembered right.
They must have gotten some mystic prank item and were about to test it on their poor, sleeping father. Well, he'll show them. Those boys still have a long way to go when it comes to stealth.
Feigning sleep, he adjusts himself to take a glance back. The rustling sounded like it was caused by one person, he just needed to figure out who it was so as to best embarrass them.
But his attempt at stealth was ruined when the screech of metal being cut and torn met his sensitive ears. He couldn't resist the urge to cover them, but that was a mistake. The metal being broken was the flooring – a grate, underneath which lay water. His sudden movement in his chair, paired with the movement from the floor, resulted in it being tipped over.
He slammed onto the floor with a yelp, and when he looked over to whichever of his sons that must have been responsible for this situation, he saw a mere glimpse of them before they slide into the water.
His eyesight was admittedly not the best, but he'd recognise a green limb holding an odachi as his Baby Blue's any day.
"Leonardo!" He yelled, righting his fallen seat as he got up. He strode forward to the hole in the floor, determined to yank his unusually destructive son out and ground him for this.
As he was saying the word grounded, his instincts screamed at him that danger was approaching from below. It was unexpected that he'd get such feelings in his own home, so he'd barely moved out of the way as the floor bent and bulged beneath where his feet had been. Water splashing everywhere and frothing the surface of the water below. He couldn't and didn't get to see what caused it, but when it came for a second pass at the spot, he did.
The floor erupted as a dragon clawed its way out of the water. Red markings, a blue mask, and the lightest shade of green belonging to his four sons. It was his Baby Blue. He was certain of it.
The Dragon Leonardo let out a sound similar to a growl and a hiss. Some of it was similar to the turtle noises he hasn't heard since the boys were babies. Bright green eyes looked at him, omnivorous teeth barred. He didn't recognise him. His son didn't recognise his father.
Dread filled him, but that didn't stop him from moving as Leonardo raced towards him.
Splinter had looked up what each of his sons was. He knew what their turtle species could and would do. Donatello was the only one he hadn't been able to train the habit of biting out of, but he didn't actually try eating his brothers anymore.
What happened to his brothers? Were they okay?
Splinter left out of the room and dodged to the side just in time. Leonardo crashed into the wall, but the impact didn't hinder him for as long as he had expected. His bloodied nose would though, and Splinter would be a fool to think that Leonardo's ability to smell did not improve after being transformed into a dragon. He could hide from him now.
Unfortunately, when Splinter dodged, he dodged the wrong way. Leonardo was between him and the rest of the lair. Considering that this Dragon form of Leonardo's was bigger - much bigger - than he was as a teenage turtle mutant. Splinter would not be able to get past him. The hallway had an exit to the sewer system, so Splinter wasn't trapped.
But while Splinter's eyesight had gotten worse after his mutation, his hearing had gotten better. He could hear something in the atrium, the possibility of it being at least one of his sons was too high for him to not try.
He paid for the attempt as Leonardo smashed his head into Splinter's face.
Splinter had tried going high, away from the reach of Leonardo's claws and tail. It meant getting past his fanged mouth, but one thing to pay attention to was better than five. The hallway kept his wings mostly pinned to his sides, so he wouldn't have to pay attention to them at all.
As he looked for the flash of white teeth, he got headbutted by red marked green. On the other hand, Splinter did get to confirm his son still had his blue-tinted shell. There was turtle to him still.
Red-Eared Sliders were aggressively territorial, but Splinter knows that as skilled though lazy as his blue son can be, he wouldn't be the one to win in a feral fight for territory with his brothers.
His Responsible Red… Snapping turtles – so likely Alligator Snapping Turtles – would bite off the heads of other turtles to protect their territory. And Splinter had seen the videos of his eldest son's species eating the species of his younger brothers.
He needed to get Leonardo away, on the likely off-chance that whatever happened to him had happened to his eldest brother too. On the chance that whatever happened to Leonardo didn't affect his brothers, and instead they were in the atrium, then Splinter still needed to get Leonardo away from them.
He ran for the exit, scampering fast enough to outrun his fastest son for once. The narrow hallways and the breadth the wings gave were hampering his blue son. Splinter should have accounted for it.
He ran through the door and only turned back when he heard the pound of flesh meeting a solid surface. Snarling and hissing, Leonardo tried clawing at him but was unable to get his wings and shell through the door. After a minute as Splinter stood there dumbstruck, Leonardo finally stopped trying to get through the reinforced concrete that helped hold up New York.
Leonardo's roar deafened him. His ears were ringing as Leonardo backed up and slammed the door closed. It warped under the force used, and when Splinter went to test it after he assumed Leonardo would have walked away, it wouldn't budge.
It wasn't the only entrance to the Lair though, and so Splinter raced towards another. The garage door was open from last night, and nothing had been done to change that. On his way through, his hearing thankfully returned and he paid a short visit to the room's usual inhabitant.
Buddy, otherwise known as Franken-Foot, was still in his closet, whole and intact. He told Buddy to remain and never come out of the closet unless he or his sons got him. Assuming at that point that his sons were normal again of course. Well, as normal as they ever could be.
The sounds of metal tearing in the projector room happened at odd intervals, along with some splashing. Orange was the only one of his sons to dislike water to any extent. Thankfully that love for water still seemed to be in Blue. Hopefully, he'll be distracted by the allure of water for a while.
When he got to see the main room of the lair, he was thankfully in a good position. Although what he saw was not the best-case scenario.
That spiked shell could belong to no one but his Red. Raphael's growth spurt as a dragon was impressive, and Splinter knew the only entrance he could have gotten into the Lair through was the one in the garage.
So, even though it came with complications of its own. Splinter quickly doubled back and locked that door shut. The threat of Raphael leaving was too disastrous to consider leaving it open. Perhaps he could lead and trap Raphael in Donatello's lab. It was the most structurally sound room in the entire lair. While Donatello would be mad to have a feral Raphael wreak havoc in his safe place, he'd see the reason easily enough.
That did leave the question though. Was Raphael as feral as Leonardo?
Typically in his Savage state, he could recognise his brothers. Perhaps, even though he's likely mindless, he might have more of his mind than his brothers' thanks to that state of being.
As Splinter cautiously approached his son, noting the wooden-like mace at the end of his tail and the metallic sai-like extra claws coming out of his knuckles, it began promisingly.
Dark, patterned eyes glanced back at him but ignored him to continue wrecking Leonardo's room. Raphael's own room was already a mess, everything soft within it having been dragged out into a pile. Everything soft in Leonardo's room was also being dragged out.
It was something he was not able to see if Leonardo could do, but Raphael's hands still worked as hands. They were clawed and spiked, but the fingers and thumbs were still dextrous. He could only use one hand at a time though. His weight was taken by the other arm every time he'd reach to grab something to add to the soft piles.
He was much stockier than Leonardo. His massive shell and wings pressed down on his upper body, forcing him onto all fours. While his feet resembled and could likely function as his normal feet, they might not be able to bare the weight alone.
A set of wings and a long tail meant his sons would have to lean forward to balance themselves. Leonardo's body, perhaps just in comparison to Red's, looked forcefully extended. Could it be why he was forced to traverse on all fours? Or did he lack the mental ability to know he can travel on two legs?
Did being like this hurt? How much did the process of this transformation hurt? Splinter could still vividly remember the agony of his body changing without his will after being exposed to Draxum's mutagen. He'd always been so glad his sons were too young to remember how it would have felt.
Now they might.
"Red? Raphael?" He whispered as his eldest son finished with Leonardo's room and turned to Donatello's.
The dragon wearing his son's mask glanced and made a noise at him. It wasn't hostile, but his gaze didn't show any recognition. Neither of his sons recognised their father. Splinter held his question about Purple and Orange back.
Still, the lack of hostility was a good sign. Even though it was most likely from the fact that the large Alligator Snapping Turtle Dragon just didn't see the tiny rat man as a threat and he wasn't currently hungry.
"My son, what happened?" He asked, knowing how unlikely it'd be that Raphael could communicate since Leonardo hadn't. "Are you alright?"
The second question was quieter, filled with the hope that his son wasn't currently in pain. Neither question was acknowledged. Splinter stepped closer.
He was prepared for it, even though he hoped it wouldn't happen. In one instant, Raphael was content to ignore him. The next, a roar made his ears ring again. The only difference between those moments was the last step Splinter had taken. Perhaps he had gotten too close, but the curtain under his bare foot suggested something else.
Raphael was hoarding soft things. Splinter had touched his hoard. The mace-ended tail slammed into his chest, sending him crashing up into a wall on the second floor.
He'd crashed through the paper wall of his room, so the damage wasn't severe. The throb in his ribs and the pain in his lungs were very reminiscent of previous times in which he's had his ribs fractured.
Splinter knew his room better than his sons, and at the sound of claws scraping at the floor and heavy thumps that came with every step Raphael made, he hid.
He hid in the vent that once connected his and Leonardo's old room until Donatello changed that. Peaking out of it, he got to see Raphael get distracted by the bedding and other soft things in his room.
He had to wait until Raphael was done ransacking it for his hoard, but his eldest son never noticed him. The room must smell like him enough for Raphael to not be able to track him as a Dragon.
If he could have, he would have gone through the vent to another exit. But Donatello had closed it off from the rest of the lair due to his 'snoring'. Leonardo had trouble sleeping through the nights well before Splinter had given him the room that he'd be able to hear inside from his room, just in case. His insomnia was definitely not because of some supposed snoring.
While in the vent, Splinter's stomach took the time to remind him he hadn't eaten breakfast yet. So when he was free to leave his room and Raphael was distracted with looting Michelangelo's room, he went for the kitchen.
The doors to the kitchen might be small enough that none of his now draconic sons could enter it. It would be a safe zone.
The dragon with an orange mask proved that thought very wrong.
Michelangelo remained smaller than his brothers, and so as it was when he was normal, the kitchen was his domain. Red eyes glared from the kitchen island table in the middle of the room. Splinter froze at the stare reminiscent of his youngest son's "Doctor Delicate Touch" persona, but foolishly believed he'd be allowed that split second of shock.
He wasn't. Because apparently, Michelangelo could breathe fire.
His tail ignited first, igniting worry for his son in his heart. The end of the tail had the end of his Kusari-Fundo. He'd heard how it could catch fire, but he hadn't properly seen it before. Spots curled around Michelangelo's very long tail, reminiscent of a chain wrapped around the limb. Since the fire blazed out of every spot on his son's body, it likely was the chain inside of him.
Splinter hoped that breathing fire wasn't boiling Michelangelo's insides as he rushed out of the doorway. He didn't dare remain and cause his son to breathe fire again. His tail burned from where it had brushed too close to the flames.
Luckily, Michelangelo didn't follow after him. Content to remain in his kitchen territory. The place where all the food should be congregated.
Splinter had never been so happy that his sons were slobs. Leonardo and Raphael would not need to intrude on Michelangelo's territory if Splinter could keep them distracted with the scraps of pizza left around.
Donatello had a minifridge in his lab. It was installed after one too many of those science binges of his.
It's also the most likely place for Donatello in his now draconic existence to be. After being transformed, the rest of his sons managed to find their way home. So either the transformation was delayed enough to happen at home, but Splinter just did not hear it, or his sons knew where their 'territory' was due to instincts.
Michelangelo was the ruler of the kitchen for many years now. Leonardo was the one after him to spend the most amount of time in the projector room. Many sleepless nights had been spent watching Spanish telenovelas. Raphael was likely to set up in the garage where they all trained, he was just in the process of collecting up his hoard.
The door to Donatello's lab was open. Splinter was as cautious as he could be as he peaked into the low light of the room.
From the darkness, glowing red eyes looked back. Shelldon jolted; a panicked response.
"Go! Get out of here! Donnie isn't in his right mind!" The AI yelled.
The hissing snarl, very similar to his twin's, told him he was right. Gold and green eyes, inverted to Leonardo's, shone in the dark as Splinter turned to the controls that would lock the lab from the rest of the Lair. To make sure his sons would be safe from each other, he had to.
Perhaps he should listen when his genius Purple would talk about his technology. He mashed the buttons, hoping something would work. Shelldon ended up having to yell out the correct combination to do what he was trying to do.
That yelling from the robot set Donatello off. While Splinter did not want Donatello to have to deal with the fact he had destroyed his robot while in a feral state after all of this, Shelldon could be put back together at any time.
If one of his sons attacked and killed another, that was not something he could fix, later or sooner.
But Donatello had not gone after Shelldon. The doors started closing as Donatello's mouth, filled only with fangs – like Raphael, but not like Leonardo or Michelangelo – closed on his arm. The bone snapped and Splinter could barely restrain the shout of pain he would have made. But he couldn't risk drawing Raphael's attention.
It may look like he was focused on dragging a mountain of soft things into the garage, but he was certainly close enough to hear any sounds of pain. Considering how hard Donatello was biting down, he only had a few seconds. He had to get through the pain and force the Spiny Softshell back into the lab where he'd be safely separated from his brothers.
Otherwise, Splinter would lose this arm, and Donatello would be crushed by the door.
Shelldon came to the rescue.
"Dad! Come here, I'm scared!" Shelldon's voice came, closely followed by turtle-like squeaks and clicks that only baby turtles could make.
The effect was instantaneous. Donatello let go of his arm and raced back into the lab, curling up around Shelldon and letting out a reassuring churr Splinter had heard Raphael make a lot as a child. Before the door closed, Splinter could just make out from the silhouette that Donatello made, that he was on a nest.
Donatello had returned to his lab and had either been tricked or recognised Shelldon as his offspring. Splinter hoped for the latter, though the former was more likely considering none of his sons had recognised their father and had no problems attempting to kill him for intruding or threatening what was theirs with his presence.
He retreated to the bathroom. The first-aid kit in there was used to fix up his arm, soothe his tail, bandage his ribs, and cool his swelling face. It was as he was doing all of that, he had the dreaded realisation.
He did not know how to help his sons.
However, they had this transformation due to their trip to the Hidden City last night. That left him with two people he could ask for help.
One was Big Mama, but he wouldn't dare give her the information that his sons had become feral lethal fighting machines. She would not be able to resist betraying the original deal to have them fight in her Battle Nexus, possibly against each other.
That left one other. Baron Draxum.
Unlike Big Mama, the crazy alchemist claimed to care for his sons. He was much more likely to help without asking for something Splinter could not give.
After a minute of talking himself into doing it, Splinter snuck over to the home phone to call April. He did not have the Baron's phone number, and if the clock and note near the phone were right, then his adopted daughter would still be in lunch right now. The perfect time to call her.
He hung up as soon as he heard Leonardo becoming active in the projector room again. The phone was too close to it for comfort. So he rushed back to the bathroom that was thankfully away from each of his son's territories.
He hoped April would get there soon, his sons had done a pretty good job cleaning up after themselves lately. It was unfortunate for once. It meant the amount of food he could use to distract the teenage boys were more limited than he'd like.
At least he wouldn't have to worry about Donatello and Michelangelo growing hungry. At least for today for his purple son.
"It is lucky that it is the weekend tomorrow. I'll return home and get to researching it. I have heard of this curse before. I'll work through the night. Keep them separated." Baron Draxum announced at the end of Splinter's tale.
April wasn't reassured by that first sentence. It made it sound like it would take days to fix. Days her brothers might not have. She was left behind as Splinter escorted Draxum out to safety. As soon as the rat returned though, her phone started ringing.
The caller ID was Donatello.