Chapter 15: The heart is a soft muscle.
Here's Chapter 15!
I'm going to be honest, this isn't on of my favourite chapters I've done so far. I feel like i haven't written it as well as i could of? and I'm afraid that something's are hard to understand?? Ugh! idk xD Lemme know whta you guys think?
S1 Final is coming up next!! :00
ProfessorYeti: Your reviews are always so long and fulled with love!! I can't- :'0000!!!
Thank you so much for liking this fic! it means so much!! and as for some of your questions, I have planned out to roughly the end of s3! i have a lot of drama and fluff in store so don't worry about that! :3 I have Miwa with her natural hair, as i feel Splinter, being a very traditional man, wouldn't like the idea of his daughter dying her hair, but she silently wants too, as she thinks it'll make her look cooler! Casey and Daiki meeting is something im looking for too, as i loved their werid bromance relationship they had going in s3, especially in race with the demon! And, i do have a few ideas on how I'm going to present Daiki's 'mental problems' to the others...:33
NOTE: This is based on the 2k12 series.
WARNING: 'Dyslexic Writer lol'.
As the sun started to set into the orange evening sky, hidden away behind the tall skyscrapers of the city. The four Hamato siblings, April and Daiki, sat still in lotus positions with their eyes closed, deep in a meditative trance.
The turtles and April had their normal gear and clothes on for the evening, and while Miwa was dressed in her usual armoured maroon shozoku, she chose to have her hair down, reaching just to her shoulders, with her bandana tied around her head to keep her fringe out of her face.
Daiki was wearing his sweatpants and hoodie, since he was yet to finish repairing his old foot uniform from his incident with Tigerclaw, though he had been having thoughts on whether or not he was ever going to repair it...
After Timothy's mutation had taken place a couple days ago, the Hamato siblings became more attentive to the Foot and Kraang activity going on in the city. Daiki even managed to hack into the Kraang's data base to find hidden labs dotted around the city.
Including one which was not too far from the lair, leading the five ninjas to an abandoned apartment complex, where the Kraang had been doing mutagen experiments on arthropods.
To say the least. The now mutant, giant wasps, turned out to be a type of arthropod that controls it's victims into watching over their young, until said young hatch and eat them.
The fact that the wasps managed to infect Leo by stinging him was bad enough, but under the influence of the virus, Leonardo had ended up biting Raph, Miwa and Daiki, passing on the virus and infecting them too.
The brunet was the last to be bitten, and hid himself and Mikey in the infirmary while he tried to create a cure in time, but he too, soon turned into a mindless zombie, and attacked Michelangelo.
Daiki couldn't help but feel thankful for two things that day. One, was that he had found some working chemical engineering equipment on one of his and Mikey's junkyard runs. And second, was that said turtle remembered his instructions on how to use the equipment as he slowly succumb to the parasitic wasps venom.
Mikey ended up saving the day, and wouldn't stop bragging about it for another three days to follow. Which eventually led them to today.
Daiki couldn't hold back his long held in sigh, as he opened his eyes to glance at the others. The five teens, aswell as Splinter, were all perfectly still, in their lotus positions with their arms in their laps, completely unfazed by the world around them. But the one thing that Daiki found unbearable, was that they did this, every day!
"You guys sure like to meditate, huh?" Daiki inquired sarcastically, finally giving up on meditating for the day.
"No, nah, not really, nope, yes." April, Raph, Miwa, Mikey and Leo replied in order.
Without opening his eyes, Splinter soon joined the conversation. "Meditation is a key skill to have, Morikawa. It is essential for any ninja to be in touch with his or hers spiritual self, as well as to have the ability to block out any distractions. So you can feel a sense of extreme calm and enhanced concentration, even when in battle."
"Huh," Daiki huffed out, he wasn't expecting such a detailed reason to sit with your eyes closed for an hour. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone in the Foot meditate before?"
"So what?" Raphael asked with a scoff. "You guys just fight all day?"
"Pretty much." Daiki replied blankly.
"Huh. Maybe I'm in the wrong clan?- OW!" Raph yelped as his father's jade cane came into contact with his head. Earning snickers from his siblings.
"Perhaps, we could do some actual training, Splinter-san?" Daiki asked with slight hope. He wouldn't lie, the constant meditation was going to be the death of him! He just couldn't clear his mind enough to achieve the level of peace the others could. That, and the fact that he'd been dying to get back into sparring, which was weird, even for him.
Ever since he moved into the lair, he felt like he was just a guest in their home. But he wanted to be more then that.
He wanted to be part of their team! And all he needed was a chance to show the others that he was a capable ninja who they could trust and believe in. And one way to do that, was to show them that he wasn't easily beaten...
"Not that I don't mind sitting on the floor with my eyes closed for the next three hours?" Daiki remarked casually, avoiding the rats eyes entirely.
Splinter raised a brow at the last comment, but chose to dismiss it. "Hmm. Very well. We will begin today's sparring session." He announced, before turning to his pupils. "I think it may help you all to understand the mind of a Foot soldier better if you train with one. So, one of you will be sparring with Morikawa."
"Finally!" Raphael yelled as he threw his hands in the air. He practically shot up from his spot on the floor and began to warm up. Joined soon by the others.
"So, who's up first?" Leonardo inquired with his Sensei as he pulled his arm into a stretch.
The rat looked around the room at the teens, noting their strengths and weaknesses, and making a mental training plan in his mind. "Morikawa, Raphael. You will spar first." He announces after a few seconds. "Leonardo, you will go against Miwa after. Then Michelangelo and April will finish."
"Alright!" The red-clad turtle called as he walked up to Splinter, followed closely by Daiki.
"Um, Sensei? Is that such a good idea?" Leo whispered to his teacher, making awkward eye contact with the brunet, who rolled his eyes at Leo's worries.
"Yeah, I mean, do you want Daiki back in the infirmary a few weeks after he left it?" Miwa added to her brother's comment, while tying her black hair into it's usual short ponytail.
Splinter gave his beard a final stroke in thought, "Hai. Morikawa, Raphael. Pick your weapons."
The two teens walked over to the weapons rack in the corner and picked up their weapons of choice. For Raphael, it was his worn and trusty Sais.
And for Daiki, it was a bō staff. Though this one was wooden, rather than his heavier metal one. But he liked the lighter feel to it, and couldn't help giving it a twirl in his hands before going back to the tatami mats.
The two teens bowed to each other and prepared themselves for the fight. Taking their stances as they got ready.
"Don't worry, Donnie," Raph said as he smirked wickedly. "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll go easy on yah."
"Don't do me any favors, Raphael." Daiki confidently remarked as he cast a glare to the red-clad turtle. "I won't go down so easily."
Splinter watched the two as they started to circle for a moment, before announcing, "Hajime!" And with that, the fight began.
Raphael lunged for Daiki with a fiery yell, making said human charge forward with a swing of his bō. But the turtle ducked, and avoided the hit, swinging himself back around to strike at Daiki's back. But the human raised the bō up over his shoulders to deflect the blow, as well as a couple smaller jabs. The human then jumped behind Raphael while he was momentarily distracted, and shoved the end of his bō into the turtle's shell. This made the red-clad turtle stumble for a moment to catch himself, which gave Daiki enough time to put the staff between his legs and smack his knees to weaken them, before sweeping the turtle off his feet and onto his shell on the tatami mats.
"Thanks for going easy on me." Daiki smirked with delight. "Maybe a little too easy though?" He couldn't help but jeer at the downed turtle.
What happened next was a blur of fast movement. One moment, Raphael had been down on his shell, then the next, he had managed to flip himself onto his front. Where he spun around and kicked Daiki's feet out from under him, making him fall onto his front with a grunt. Daiki shock his head and quickly rolled to the side, avoiding Raph's foot as it came crashing down where his chest had been.
Daiki got up again and prepared for hand to hand combat as Raphael had kicked his bō away, only for said turtle to strike down with one of his sais, catching Daiki's thin wrist between the blades. He used his strength to his advantage and practically dragged the smaller human around like a ragdoll, twisting his wrist around to bring him in front of his plastron and trapping his other wrist with his sai.
"Say hi to Mikey." Raph joked as he bent the sai up and down, making Daiki's wrist wave to the four teens and rat watching, and as if to add more to his humiliation, Raphael put on a high pitch voice as he did this, "Hi Mikey!"
"Donnie, haha! Amazing!" Mikey laughed in glee, befire turning to Leo. "I didn't even see his lips move! He's like a puppet who can throw his voice...to himself...wait." Mikey sat silent for a moment as the other three teens beside him groaned.
Splinter sighed heavily at his smug looking son, "Yame! Raphael, that is enough." He called off the spar, but happened to take note of the determined look pass by in Daiki's eyes.
Raphael looked almost disappointed that their match had been call off. So, still wanting to have a bit of fun, he used his sai to threw Daiki over his shoulder and onto the floor in front of him, where his plan was to sit on his chest for some more laughs. But once Raph made towards Daiki and sat down, he fell straight onto the tatami mats instead.
"I didn't tap out yet!" Daiki announced as he jabbed his bō staff into the back of Raph's shell, hitting a pressure point he knew would have the turtle slack for a few seconds.
"What-" Was the only response Raphael was able to make, before he felt his body seize up. He went stiff for a few moments before the tingling feeling of his nerves coming back greeted him.
But by then, it was too late. As an abrupt crushing pressure of a bō staff wrapping around his throat was all he could feel as Daiki stood behind his shell and pulled the staff back towards himself. Choking the red-clad turtle in the process.
The turtle could feel how the human struggled as he tried to bring his weight down, but eventually he did just that. He dragged Raphael backwards by his neck, pinning the heavier turtle on top of him and onto the floor. He strained from the added weight on top of his injured chest, but bared with it. He was determined to win this match.
Raphael on the other hand, tried to force his hands between the wooden bō staff and his throat, just enough to give himself some breathing room. But the weapon held firm, with no sign of letting up anytime soon.
So, in a final desperate attempt, Raphael started to thrash his legs and arms about, earning concerned looks from his siblings and April who were looking to their Sensei in hopes that he would stop the fight. The pinned turtle tried in frantic panic to grab at the bō once more, but the brunet simply added more pressure to his throat as the turtle finally managed to get a hold of the staff.
"Yame!" Splinter barked with such an authoritative tone, that it stopped the human teen in a instant.
Daiki moved the bō away, and Raphael practically threw himself away from the human. The turtle pushed himself onto all fours, and began gasping for large gulps of air. "He tried to kill me?!" Raph yelled between each inhale.
Splinter stood next to the youngest teen, as he pulled himself off the floor. "Morikawa, explain your tactic." Splinter's voice was unreadable, stroking his beard as he glanced to the human.
"This is a sparring session, is it not?" Daiki bit back a little more sarcastically then intended.
"It is." Splinter replied sternly.
"The point of sparring is too knock your opponent out. 'The last one standing wins'?" Daiki felt the need to remind him, and Splinter himself, was silent in thought. "And I had him! But you finished the fight before I could knock him out-"
The sound of the jade cane coming into contact with the floor shut Daiki up immediately, but also forced him into a position engraved in his mind. Daiki bowed before Splinter, practically on all fours, with his head to the floor, awaiting the punishment for speaking out of line.
"That is not the way we do things, Child." Splinter scolded as kindly as possible. He led a paw on Daiki's shoulder and brought him up off the floor, bringing the child to his full height at his chest.
"We use sparring to make both you and your partner better. It is not a competition on who can 'knock out' the other first." The rat explained carefully. "You should be trying to work with one another, while at the same time developing and enhancing your skills by learning different fighting techniques."
Daiki nodded his understanding, but choose to remain silent.
"The Shredder has clearly taught you to fight dishonorable." Splinter couldn't help but note, "but, we will fix that, Child."
Splinter guided him to the side of the tatami mats. "Watch as the others fight, and tell me what they do differently."
With that, Splinter set up the next match. And Daiki watched closely as the Miwa and Leonardo fought while avoiding the obvious glares burning his neck from Raphael.
"Morikawa," Splinter began, "Can you tell me how Miwa and Leonardo's fight was different from yours and Raphael's?"
"Um, they didn't choke each other?" The teen joked, but upon seeing no amusement in the old Rat's face, Daiki straightened up. "They worked together...?"
Splinter nodded, "Correct. They learnt from one another while improving themselves and each other. They have both learnt new tactics and ways to defeat the other." Splinter nodded to Leo and Miwa to take their seats, "That is the reason why we spar."
"It is important that you learn how to fight with others, before you fight with others. Otherwise, how can your team truly trust you?" Splinter informed him.
Daiki sighed slightly at the rat masters words, "You know, considering how well the others 'listened' to me the other day with Timothy. And the fact that I can't even spar right apparently? I'm gonna say that I'm better on my own."
"No one is better on their own, Morikawa." Splinter replied with a sad look.
"Sorry, but I just don't think being part of a team is something I'll good at..." So much for that plan. Daiki couldn't help but think as he glances away from Splinter, keeping his eyes on the floor ahead.
Raph scoffs quietly behind him. "Like he'll ever be part of this team..." he mutters to himself, luckily he was far enough away that none of his siblings or his father had heard him. And he wasn't aware of the sudden tension in Daiki's shoulders.
Raphael was furious, no, he was beyond furious! This kid really choked him and showed him up like that? He humiliated him in front of his whole family. And Raph was peeved to say the very least...
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Once training was over the Hamatos, April and Daiki made their way into the living room to cool off.
Raphael lent against the kitchen wall with pent up frustration. He still wanted to blow off some steam after being humiliated like he had, and he had originally planned to attack the training dummy, though as he waited for the last person to leave the dojo, he noted that the last person, also happened to be the reason for his sour mood.
So Raphael made a show to shove into Daiki as he walked passed him. Out of pure pettiness, he wasn't sure. But he was peeved and needed to let it out, so Daiki became his 'training dummy'. "Next time you want to show off, maybe do it on your own time"
Daiki was quick to straighten up after the shove, before glancing over to Raph in confusion. "I wasn't showing off?"
The turtle scoffed at him, "Sure you weren't."
"I wasn't!" The human tried to defend himself, "How was I supposed to know that you guys did spars like that?"
Raph glared while he crossed his arms in front of himself. "I think most spars don't end with you knocking the other out?"
Daiki sighed, knowing that fighting with Raphael when he was annoyed was never going to end in your favour. So he tried to defuse the situation as quickly as possible, "Look, I'm sorry ok? I wasn't trying to show off, or humiliate you, I just wanted to... I-I want to be..."
Raph snorts as he holds back a laugh, "What? Part of the team?" At the sudden redness in Daiki's cheeks, Raph knew he had hit the target. "Wow! That is so adorable! And sad. It's 'Sadorable'." He continued to jeer at Daiki, before forcing a finger into the human's chest and jabbing him, "If you wanna prove that you belong on this team or whatever, then you better leave me out of it."
And with that, Raphael turned away, making sure to push Daiki's shoulder with his own as he marched passed the kitchen, leaving the now hurt teen behind.
The brunet groaned mentally and began his track to the pit, where Mikey was chowing down some pizza, not that that was anything new, and took a seat beside him.
"Hey D!" The turtle's muffled voice from his pizza filled mouth greeted him.
Daiki smiled back, "Hey, Mikey..."
But Michelangelo knew his friend well enough now to know his smile was fake. He swallowed his load of pizza, "You good dude? I saw you and Raph talking over there?"
"Oh...yeah." Daiki stumbled with his words as he avoided looking in the red-clad turtle's direction. "I-I… um...I'm fine."
Without giving him any warning, Mikey wrapped his arms around Daiki's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. Daiki was slightly taken aback by the sudden affection, but was soon hugging him back.
"It's okay, Donnie," Mikey reassured as he kept him in his hold. "Whatever Raph said bro, ignore him. As far as I'm concerned, your awesome!"
"Yeah, the big baby's just moody that you clean the dojo with him." Miwa scoffed as she came up from behind them, with a plate full of pizza. Clearly having been in the kitchen previously.
Daiki smiled thankfully and nodded to the two of them as Miwa pats him on shoulder, before leaving to go sit in her beanbag.
The others were already doing their own things by the time the two youngest teens had finished their moment. With Raph and Leo now taking up the pinball machine, Miwa sitting on her beanbag with a book and her pizza beside her, while April scrolled through her laptop.
The living area around the pit was practically quiet, save for a few clicks and clacks and page flicks. Until a strange sound, like some sort of scrambled electronic noise, came from April's laptop.
"Not bad!" Mikey calls out as the five other teens move closer to April to investigate. "Needs more drums!"
The sound ends suddenly, and the previously opened tab vanishes just as quick. "What was that?" Leo asks in confusion.
April shook her head. "I don't know. Some random email I got. It just started playing on its own?"
"Sounds like some kind of telemetric sine wave sub carrier," Daiki said thoughtfully outloud.
"Uh, dumb that down a notch?" Leo asks carefully.
"It's an interference modulation used to encrypt covert transmi-" Daiki's explanation was cut off as Mikey presses a finger to his mouth.
"Not enough notches, dude." Mikey supplies as Daiki pushes his hand away.
"A secret message!" The brunet shouts back, as if the room was filled with two year olds.
"Who would be sending me a secret message?" April questions curiously, looking back to her email.
"I could have a look if you'd like?" Daiki asks the redhead, "I might be able to encrypt it to find out?"
"That'd be great, D!" April smiles gratefully and hands him the laptop, making Daiki blush slightly as he awkwardly chuckles and stumbles his way into the infirmary.
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Deciphering the secret message took Daiki a little more time then he initially thought it would, leading him right up until three am.
When he step out of the infirmary to grab a cup of coffee before going back to his hacking, the first thing he became aware of, was that all the others were practically out cold in the pit, save for April, who most likely returned to her room for the night.
Leaving Daiki as the only one awake, but that didn't bother him too much. He walked away into the kitchen and began to boil some water, losing himself momentarily in thought.
He couldn't help but cringe at the memory of him choking Raph. He felt so stupid, he should've known that other Sensei's would have other methods of teaching.
He had had three other Sensei's before Splinter decided to train him, but they all taught him the same methods. Mainly because his first Sensei was Saki, and his other two were pupils of Saki's. So really, it was obvious that they would teach the same as him.
And just when he started to feel like the Hamatos were accepting him too-
"Morikawa?"
"Ehk!" Daiki let out a rather undignified noise as he suddenly became aware of the rat Master behind him. "Anata wa watashinojinsei o kowagara seta...'You scared me...'"
Splinter smiled sympathetically, "I am sorry, I thought you heard me enter."
"No, I was um, i was thinking about something." Daiki replied tiredly, putting all his attention back on the boiling pot.
Splinter hums as he comes beside him, "I have noticed that you become easily distracted when you are in your head, Child."
Daiki shrugged, not really sure how to respond, "I've always been like that I guess."
"May I ask what it is that troubles you?" The rat asked with concern.
"I um..." Daiki started unsurely, "I just get the feeling that I'm doing something wrong?"
Splinter raised a brow at him, "How do you mean?"
The brunet felt himself shake slightly, but he wasn't sure if it was from frustration, or trying to keep his emotions in check. "How am I supposed to prove to the others that I'm worthy of fighting with them if I can't even train with them properly? What trust does that show if-"
A gentle paw on his shoulder made his words gradually fade off, "Morikawa, you do not have to prove yourselve to anyone?" Splinter tried to calm him, "I assure you, my children are already proud to fight alongside you."
Daiki looks away slightly, "Raphael isn't, he's made that crystal clear."
Splinter sighed, "Raphael is very prideful, and tends to take things to heart more quickly than his siblings. Especially losing." At Daiki's raised brow he strokes his beard with a slight smile. "This is not the first time he has been upset about losing in a spar, I can assure you. He just needs some time to cool down."
Daiki nods to Splinter, letting him know he heard him, and the rat ultimately decides to leave the brunet alone for the night.
But glancing at the teen's cup on the countertop, he can't help but leave some final advice, "Do not drink so much coffee. It is bad for you." And with that, the rat Master left the kitchen.
Once the pot had boiled, Daiki poured his much needed caffeine, and returned to the infirmary, which had become like his second home in the lair.
The infirmary was a much different place now then how it was a month ago when he first woke up. Splinter had kindly allowed him to use the infirmary as a makeshift lab, and he was quick to get to work.
Firstly, It was cleaned throughly, even the two large water supplies filled with algae water, and Daiki took it upon himself to organise and sort out the medical supplies littered randomly around the room. He managed to find some old draws to place tools in and shelves and cupboards to put remaining supplies.
He placed scientific posters around the sparse walls to give that extra nudge to creativity, and even Mikey added a few posters of his own, including one he found of turtle anatomy, which left a few questions on Daiki's behalf...
He cleared off a few tables in there and made room for some of his own stuff. One table was now full of electronic devices, such as his laptop, boxes of discarded metal, wires and even phones. As well as some smoke bombs he was still putting together.
And what looked like parts of multiple projects in the making were scattered around the remaining spaces, including some mobile phones, though the backing of the devices looked oddly like shells.
Even Metalhead now took up refuge in the infirmary/lab. Powered down in a corner nearby, awaiting his moment to shine.
Eventually, Daiki had chugged down the coffee and resumed his work. Sticking his tongue out in deep concentration as he messed around with the message, until he finally managed to crack it.
"April, it's dad." The voice of April's missing father played through the laptops speakers.
Daiki gasped, "Mr. O'Neil!" And leant further towards the laptop as Kirby continued.
"I pray you get this message. I've been moved to a secret Kraang facility. If you can, send help." The message ended, and flashed a map of the location. A red dot circling the facility.
"Oh, man." Daiki muttered in a panic, "Guys? Listen to-"
Raphael's voice from earlier seemed to drift into his mind at this moment. "If you wanna prove that you belong on this team or whatever, then you better leave me out of it."
Daiki knew how important April's father was to her, and he knew how much the Hamatos cared for April, and in turn, getting her father back. So, if he could sneak into this facility and break the man out, maybe then, he'll finally prove to them that he was trustworthy?
"We'll see who's 'Sadorable'." Daiki remarked as he grabbed his bō and left, leaving through the garage type doors and to the sewer tunnels.
Unaware, that a few minutes later, the others would wonder in to try and find him, only to see the encrypted message, the map and Daiki missing.
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Daiki leapt across the rooftops, being careful to stick to the shadows as the sun began to slowly rise. He followed the instructions on the map, until he came to rest on a water tower occupying one of the buildings.
Looking at the marked location on his phone, and then to the auto body repair shop infront of him, had him doubtful of the whole thing. "Huh. Doesn't seem very Kraang-y". He noted with a shrug, but nevertheless, made a move.
He jumped down the water tower to the fire escape, swinging down the ladders to the floor below. He snuck past a nearby shop and arrived at the garage door in seconds. Glancing down to notice the padlock.
Pulling out a lock pick from of his pocket, he made quick work of the lock and entered the building, pulling his bō out as he shut the door quietly behind him.
He walked deeper into the garage, noticing that the interior was definitely a mechanical shop, with cars held up in rows beside and above him, some were even still on the lifts, as well as the scattered tools you'd expect to see in a garage. Nothing out of the ordinary.
The sound of something hitting the floor behind him, had him pivoting on the spot, drawing his weapon out with a tighter grip. But nothing appeared to be out of place, so he continued on slowly, not taking notice of the Kraang-droid as it stalked up behind him.
"It is the one known as 'Donnie'." The droid announced as it bared it's gun at him.
"Seriously...?" The brunet couldn't help but mutter, spinning around to face the bot once it came fully out of hiding. Daiki knocked the gun away from the droid with a solid hit, smacking his bō across the bots face, knocking it off it's feet a few metres away and below a lift.
Daiki noted the button next to him, and sent the car on the lift crashing down onto the Kraang, making it squeal as its body was crushed.
"Looks like you could use a tune-up?" He joked cheerfully, not being able to help the laugh that escaped him from his own pun. He spins his staff, hand on hip as he remarks, "Who's the hero now?"
Only to receive pink lasers shooting past his head, causing him to duck and twist to avoid them with a shout of "Sein-aru ushi! 'Ho-ly cow!'" As he did so. The brunet looks back to see that three more Kraang had somehow managed to sneak up on him, firing at him from beside the fallen car.
"No response necessary!" He adds quickly as he dodges another round of lasers, taking cover behind the car he had dropped on the droid.
He searched the shop for a way out, spotting a car directly infront of him on one of the lower lifts, that would give him more cover, and a better look for an escape route. He took his chances and leapt onto the hood of the car, swinging his bō and smacking a nearby bot in the head as he jumped through the air, landing back down into a summersault. He knocked another droid down before bolting behind the car on the lift, taking the much needed shelter as the Kraang's lasers continued to rain down on him.
Daiki managed to poked his head out a few times, surveying the room a little bit before ducking again, only to witness a stray laser beam hit the control panel beside him. Making the box fizz and short circuit.
The entire lift jolted, and shook slightly, before dropping down. With the car and Daiki on it. "Noooo!" The brunet's screams died down as he continued to fall further and further into the darkness...
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The sun continued to rise in the morning sky, turning the streets lighter by the minute.
The Hamato siblings sprinted across the rooftops, being careful not to get spotted while also following after their leader holding the phone.
"Why would Daiki try to rescue April's dad by himself?" The turtle in blue thought out loud as he continued to lead his team to the location.
He leapt and jumped up onto the next building, before slowly down when he realized Raph had come to a complete stop, followed by Miwa and Mikey across the rooftop. Leo also noticed the guilty look pass by Raphael's emerald eyes as they landed on him nervously.
"Uhh… Maybe because I told him he has no place on the team?" The red-clad turtle said, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly.
"You what?!" Leo exclaimed, walking back towards him with readable anger on his face. "Why-"
"Because he was annoyed that Daiki was 'showing off' in training." Miwa snapped as she also came towards her tempered brother.
"You uh...heard that?" Raph asked confused. But at Miwa's scoff he looked away ashamed.
"Why would you tell him that!" This time the yell came from the youngest of the group, causing the older three to turn to him in shock, as his baby blue eyes filled with tears. "Donnie has been trying so hard for you guys to like him! He just wants you guys to want him around, to be part of the team! And you told him he has no place with us!"
Miwa put her hand on Mikey's shaking shoulders, to calm him down a bit, "If it wasn't for Daiki, we wouldn't have accomplished nearly half the stuff we've done." She felt the need to fill in for her tempered brother. "In my eyes, he's well past earned his place, not that he need to in the first place."
Leo glared at the red-clad turtle, "Raph, you shouldn't have said that to Daiki. You had no right to treat like that!"
"Look, I'm sorry ok? I didn't think he'd take it so much to heart!" Raph tried to justify his actions, but deep down, he knew he'd seriously messed up.
"And that, is your problem, Raphael," Miwa made sure to interrupt him, "You don't think before you act." She glared at him in silence after saying her piece, and Raph couldn't help but look away from his sister's cold glare, only to land upon Mikey's disappointed one.
They all continued to stare at Raph for a few more moments, before Leo decided to break it up. "Look, none of that matters right now. We have to get Daiki back before he gets himself hurt."
Leo turnt and continued running off, followed by Miwa once she'd given her red-wearing brother a solid punch to his arm.
Raph rubbed his forming bruise and huffed as he made to continue on, being stopped by Mikey who put his hand on Raph's shoulder.
"The heart's a soft muscle, man." the freckled turtle said soflty. "A soft muscle..." he made a slow closed fist, "Squish..." Imitating a heart being crushed, and sadly followed after his two oldest siblings
Raphael stood in thought for a moment, feeling a wave of guilt wash over him, before chasing after his siblings.
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Two Kraang-droids walked down the underground tunnels of the detention centre, unbeknownst to them that they had a watcher above.
As the two rounded the corner, Daiki jumped down from the support beams above, running straight passed the oblivious bots. He crouched behind a metal pillar a little further down the tunnel and catches witness of a single droid walking out of a door towards the end of the path.
Said bot, stood guard outside the security centre, and remained still as it watched a ringing cell phone suddenly slides towards it from the dark. The droid picks up the ringing phone and looks down at the picture of Daiki. Before the actual teenager smacks it upside the head, sending it crashing into the door.
The Kraang dropped the phone on impact, where Daiki collected it of the floor with a smug grin, "It's for me."
The Kraang starts to wake up in it's exoskeleton, only to be greeted by the end of Daiki's bō staff as it connects with it's head, sending it flying into the wall. "And that's for you."
The brunet grabs the discarded droids head and uses it on the eye scanner, opening the door and walking into the Kraang's security centre.
The circular room had a control panel in the centre and multiple screens around the sides of the room. All showing the prisoners in the detention cells. However, all of the cells seemed to be empty, except for one holding a middle aged redhaired man. "Mr O'Neil!" Daiki exclaims in triumph.
He glances over the controls once again, tapping and sliding his fingers across, until he eventually manages to get all the doors open. What he didn't realise, was that one of the other cells wasn't as empty as it looked. And a rogue alien captive stomped his way down the corridors as the teen left the control room...
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It took around ten minutes before the others arrived at the Kraang facility. It appeared to be a simple mechanic's shop, but the Hamatos still chose to be careful. They crouched down beside a nearby building, and snuck forwards, towards the mechanic shop, where they came across the garage door.
"You sure this is the right place?" Raph asked sceptically.
Leo didn't say anything, and instead, knelt down in front of the door where he picked something up, a recently picked sliver lock. "Either Daiki's here, or the garage mechanic stole his lock pick." Leo noted as he placed the lock back down.
"So the mechanic could break into his own place?" Mikey asked with annoyance towards his oldest brother. "Come on, Leo! Think this stuff through, dude. Let's move!"
Leo stood up quickly and glared his little brother down.
Mikey faltered for a second under his brother's gaze, before trying to laugh it off nervously. "Hehe, uh… you knew that."
"Hm." Leo nodded once.
"Alright…" Mikey began carefully, "you say it."
"Let's move!" Leo announced, lifting the door up, and walking inside.
Mikey cheered happily, to try and break the tension, but was cut off due to Raph walking up and smacking him in the back of the head before going inside himself.
Mikey glared at his brother, rubbing the back of his head. "Punk." The youngest turtle retorted as he followed in after his brothers, followed by Miwa shaking her head and closing the door behind them.
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Keeping aware of his surroundings, Daiki made his way down the tunnel, towards Mr. O'Neil's cell.
He hears a loud 'thud' from behind and whips around with his bō at the ready, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he continues on cautiously.
Walking up to the closest cell door to him, he gives it a tug, it unlocks and opens, and Daiki walks inside the cell to find Kirby sitting on the floor, with his head buried in his knees.
"Hello? Mr. O'Neil?" The brunet calls to him from the doorway, and the man looks up in surprise, squinting slightly from the light entering his cell.
Daiki stepped closer to the man. "I'm a friend of April's. I'm here to rescue you."
Mr. O'Neil practically beamed as the teen helped him to his feet. He pulled the boy into a surprise bear hug. "Thank goodness you've come." The man thanked him, "Donnie was it?"
"Oh..., No I'm actually...nevermind." Daiki muttered to himself hopelessly.
He began to shift awkwardly in the man's hold, but figured the guy could use the hug after being stuck with a bunch of aliens for the last few months. So he allowed Mr. O'Neil to get the long and awkward hug out of his system, before prompting the man towards their exit.
"Perhaps we should get going?" Daiki gestures to the door.
"Immediately." Mr O'Neil stated as he exits the cell first with Daiki following closely after.
The teen couldn't help but get an uncomfortable feeling around the man, sensing that something was amiss. But he dismissed this feeling, as the man looked perfectly fine, in fact, he looked great for someone who had been imprisoned for almost five months.
The two walked down the dimly lit tunnels, with Daiki keeping his eyes peeled for anymore Kraang. "I was hoping one of April's friends might be able to decipher my message." Mr. O'Neil speaks out, while eyeing Daiki proudly.
"Well, it wasn't so bad." Daiki shrugged as the two came beside each other, "You used a basic DVB scramble algorithm, so I just-"
"Flopped the ECM datastream!" The two shared a quick smile with each other before something moving past them grabs their attention.
Mr O'Neil then notes that all the other cell doors had been opened. "Donnie, why are all the other cells open?"
"I-I must've opened them when I let you out? But they were all empty?" Daiki explains with rushed urgency.
A shadow passes behind them, but when they turned around to look, there was nothing there. Only the distance sounds of an unusual growl echoing throughout the tunnels.
Mr. O'Neil paled slightly, "I'm not so sure about that..." More movements came from behind, followed by another roar, but yet again there was nothing there.
Daiki stepped in front of Mr. O'Neil protectively, holding his hand on the man's chest to slowly back away with him as he reached for his bō. "Okay, don't worry," Daiki tried to assured the spooked man. "Whatever this is, I'm sure I can handl-WHOH!"
Before Daiki could finish his sentence, a large black creature fell down from the support beams above, landing hard behind them. The sudden presence behind the two humans, knocked them forwards, as the creature roared at them with the same strange growl.
"On second thought, sir, you might want to worry just a little?" Daiki gulped as he took in the sight of the towering monster in front of him, backing away with Mr O'Neil beside him.
The creature then raised it's four fingered hand up, and began firing yellow lasers at them from a pair of white gauntlets around it's wrists, making the two humans scatter and duck for cover behind a support beam to the side of the tunnel.
"What is that thing!?" Daiki felt the need to ask as lasers fired around their hiding spot.
"You must have accidentally released one of the Kraang's alien experiments." Mr. O'Neil suggests, as Daiki looks around the corner, nearly getting his head blown off in the process.
Choosing to abandon their current spot, Daiki and Mr. O'Neil bolt down the tunnel, and away from the trigger-happy creature still growling after them.
"It looks like some family of salamandridae, if I'm not mistaken?" Daiki thinks out loud as he runs.
"With that proboscis?" Mr. O'Neil asked as he ran beside him. "It's clearly a Pleurodelinae. A newt."
The oversized newt, threw a glowing disc past them, hitting the wall just in front of the two humans. They turn to the newt, who snarls as it presses a button in its hand, exploding the disc.
Daiki manages to push Kirby out of the way as the disc ignites. "Newtralizer is more like it!" The teen exclaims as he gets up and leads Mr O'Neil away, down what he hoped was an exit. But not before leaning in towards the older man's ear and whispering, "By the way, I'd prefer if you don't tell Mikey I named something without him? I heard he's kinda protective about that."
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Miwa, Leo, Raph, and Mikey looked around in the garage, trying to spot any signs that their genius friend was still around. They wandered further in and happened upon a dropped car that smashed a Kraang-droid beneath it.
"Pretty sure Donnie took this guy out." Raph comments with a chuckle.
"How can you tell?" Leo asks him with a raised brow.
"He looks bored to death." Leo and Raph grin at each other, until they feel a hand come round the backs of their heads, knocking them practically off their feet.
"Move it, dorks." Miwa scolded as she forced them out of her way.
"Hey guys." The three oldest teens turn towards Mikey, who's sitting inside a red car on top of a lift. "Check out my ride." He hollers down to them as he turns on the headlights, causing the three others to blink in surprise before barrel rolling out of the way.
Mikey revs the car up and jumps, sending it straight towards the ground. The car crashes head first into the floor, before falling backwards and hitting a button.
The three teens who weren't in the vehicle stand back up and brush themselves off, looking over to where the red car had hit the now sparking control panel, and sent another car down a dark tunnel. A secret entrance.
"Nice Mikey!" Leo grins to his youngest brother.
"Oh yeah!" Mikey smiles as he shakes his head from the stars forming, and opens his mouth to add something else.
"Do not say 'I meant to do that'!" Raph interrupts him, crossing his arms in a annoyance. To which Mikey looks away sheepish.
"Let's move!" Leo orders and the three others jump down after him. They slide down the ropes holding the lift, and land on top of the car that was brought down, flipping off of the vehicle and to the floor. They all land ready and facing the dark tunnels ahead, apart from Mikey, who turns around when he notices he was facing the wrong way, giving a nervous smile when he saw Leo and Miwa shake their heads and leave. With Raphael staying behind long enough to point at his emerald eyes and then back to Mikey's.
They stealthily sneak around the tunnels and round a corner, to see a Kraang-droid exoskeleton laying limp, empty of it's driver, left near a door.
"He must've gone through this door." Raph puts together out loud, as he pulls at the door to try and get it open. Obvious to Leo shaking his head, and Miwa and Mikey's quiet chuckling.
The red-clad turtle tries multiple times, until he gives up and let's out a battle cry as he raises his sai up into the air, clearly intent on smashing his way through. But Leonardo grips his wrist before he makes contact with the door.
"Again, what would Daiki have done?" Leo stated flatly, dropping Raph's wrist.
Mikey starts to think to himself as Raphael's head literally begins steaming. He sees the discarded Kraang body and snaps his fingers. "I got it!"
The three boys grab hold of the robot, and started using it as a battering ram. Smashing it's head repeatedly into the door.
"I'm pretty sure Daiki wouldn't do this?" Miwa felt the need to clarify to her brothers, as they continued on with the assault on the door.
That was when a sudden alarm started to blare throughout the underground tunnels, warning the teens that they had been spotted.
"Boy, Donnie's idea was terrible!" Mikey exclaims.
Soon enough, four Kraang-droids appeared at the opposite end of the tunnel, charging up their laser guns when they saw the teens.
"We got company!" Leo warned as the Hamatos pulled out their weapons to deal with the bots, before charging.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the Kraang facility, Daiki and Mr O'Neil were currently running around in circles, trying to find an exit while also avoiding the newly dubbed, Newtralizer.
They take a sharp turn around a corner and end up coming to a halt as a few Kraang-droids show up in front of them, preparing to blast at them.
"Other way!" Daiki yells to Kirby, only to turn around and see the Newtralizer also readying his lasers towards them.
"Okaaaay...maybe the solo mission wasn't such a good idea." Daiki dutifully notes out loud.
In a final act of desperation to get himself and the recently freed man out of the way of the blasts, Daiki grabs Kirby and drags him into a nearby cell, slamming the door shut behind himself with a long sigh.
"You are aware this is a detention facility?" Mr. O'Neil asks as the two caught their breath. Causing the teen to momentarily freeze at the realization. "You just locked us in."
"Uhh, affirmative." Daiki acknowledged with a wince. Looking back at the locked door, "I think I can get us out-" He jumped back with a cry of alarm, as the Newtralizer suddenly slammed it's face against the small window, snarling at them. "Eventually!" Daiki finished with a yell.
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After they had gotten rid of the Kraang-droids blocking their path, the Hamatos were quick to move on, only stopping when they ended up in a tunnel littered with Kraang parts. Clearly not the work of Daiki from the many teeth marks embedded in the metal.
A loud crash, followed by animalistic snarl echoed around the tunnel, leaving the Hamatos feeling uneasy as they came closer towards the scattered bot parts and cell doors. Leo tried to tug at one of the closer doors, only to hear the noise once more. "I don't like the sound of that..." he frowns to his siblings.
"Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away?" Mikey suggests, yet the sounds continued to get louder and closer. "Someone's not ignoring it!" He yelled out worried.
Mikey's only response back was an incredibly large black and orange lizard swinging down and hang from the support beams in the ceiling in front of him and his siblings.
The enlarged newt snarled at them, before aiming what the Hamatos quickly realized was a missile launcher directly at them. Firing the little orange bullets towards them.
"Move!" Raphael yells and practically throws himself into Mikey to avoid the missiles. Miwa and Leo do the same, leading to all the stray bullets hitting a few of the cell doors, including one door in particular, which falls away at the hinges once the smoke clears up.
Miwa, Leo, Raph and Mikey look up to see Daiki and Mr. O'Neil coughing away at the smoke entering their cell.
"Donnie!" Raph exclaims when he sees the younger human safe. Charging into the cell and doing a once over on him, checking for any cuts or bumps.
"Uh. Hey Raph?" Daiki questions, not entirely sure what to make of the situation as Raph effortlessly picks him up and spins him round.
"Hah! You called him Donnie!" Miwa chuckles from beside them.
"Shut up!" The red-clad turtle snaps back, dropping Daiki in the process.
"Mr. O'Neil!" Leo says in surprise at the older man, who was still very dazed from the last couple of seconds.
"Big beady-eyed, lizardy thing with weapons!" Mikey points forward shakily.
The Newt began to make its way towards them, snarling as it slammed its feet in anger.
"Donnie calls it the Newtralizer." Mr. O'Neil adds blankly, as they all started to back away.
Only his words caused Mikey to freeze up in a state of pure shock, turning to glare at his human friend. "You named something without me?" he asked accusingly.
But the rain of lasers coming towards the group cut off the soon to turn ugly argument, as the ninjas bolted away from the deranged Newt, with Mr O'Neil being dragged with them.
They ran and screamed as the lasers continued, until they made it through the door to the security room, locking it tight behind them, as they all caught their breath.
Once they deemed themselves safe, Mikey rounded back onto Daiki with a betrayal written all over his face. "You named something withoutme?!"he repeated in a hurt tone.
"I didn't mean to, it just sort of slipped out!" Daiki tried to calm him, but Mikey pouted and turned his shell to the human.
"Mikey, you can punish him later!" Miwa told him with a scowl. "For now, let's just get out of here first!"
Mikey glared at Daiki one final time, just as the Newtralizer began to bang against the door, almost breaking it down beneath his fists.
"We gotta get outta this prison!" Leo states with urgency as the banging continues.
"Technically, this is a detention center," Mr. O'Neil started, "The difference being-"
"Not now, Daiki-" The red-clad turtle began to moan, clearly used to Daiki's random sciencey spouts by now, only to realise it wasn't him talking. "Ohh… sorry, Mr. O'Neil..." Raph apologizes with a sheepish look. He then glances back to Leo unamused. "Great. Now there's two of 'em." Obvious to the youngest human's eye roll.
A beep from behind alerts the group to the other door opening up. They gasp as a horde of Kraang-droids make their way into the control room with their guns ready, and the ninjas jump into attack mode as soon as the bots have entered.
They rushed them, with Mikey jumping up onto one of the bots and kicking him down. He then puts his hands on the ground and kicks out at another one, before flipping to kick one more away. Daiki jabs a bot with his staff, spinning the bō as he knocks another down. Miwa slashes at the bots with little remorse with her tantō, severing their arms from their bodies before kicking their limp forms down.
"Little help!" Mikey calls out as Daiki runs over to the control panel in the center of the room.
"How bout some big help?" The human teen exclaims as he begins to tap away at the controls.
Leo turns to him with a slice of his katana blades to a close bot, sending its arm and the torso sliding off of the rest of its body and to the floor. "Not really the time to check your email." He snarks to the brunet.
"I'm guessing if they had the Newtralizer locked up, it wasn't because he was their friend?" Daiki remarks as he slams a button and the opens the other door, giving the Newtralizer entrance to the room.
The giant newt grabs hold of one Kraang's head that unfortunately stood too close to the door, and ripped it right off like it was a small plaster. He snarls as he looks around the circular room to see more Kraang.
"Apparently, he likes trashing Kraang." Raph notes bluntly.
"Who doesn't?" Mikey chips in.
The Newtralizer raised both of his arm and started firing orange lasers around the room. Causing the Hamatos and the two humans to run and duck behind the Kraang's control panel. After only a few seconds, every Kraang-droid that had entered the room was shot down.
"YEAH!" The ninjas and Kirby all shouted, leaping to their feet and cheering.
The Newtralizer glared at them all before aiming his larger gun directly on them.
"NO!" The six shout in horror as the newt fires, and just like the cell door before, the exit behind the group blew up. After seeing that they now had a way out, the six of them all ran from the room screaming, bolting down the tunnels until they came across the red car on the lift that had brought them all down their in the first place.
They clambered onto the lift, with most of them on the actual car itself, as Daiki ran for the buttons to the side of the lift.
"We gotta access the control panel!" Daiki slams at it, trying to pry it open.
"Got it!" Raph announces as he raises his sai up, but Daiki grabs his wrist, stopping him.
"Raph, I got it." Daiki interrupts him.
"Oh, really?" Raph questions with a grin.
"Really." The brunet grins back, taking the sai from him, and stabbing it into the control panel.
The panels sparks, before sending the lift and all of them on it flying to the top level. Where the lift docked itself back in place so harshly that it threw the car Mikey had drove into the panel earlier, and the occupants on the lift into the air. Before crashing back down inside the mechanic shop.
Daiki grabs hold of Mr. O'Neil and jumps away from the now falling car, just before it crushes them.
"Close one, huh?" Daiki chuckled awkwardly to Mr O'Neil, who smiled gratefully beside him.
In a flash, a large figure shot up from the tunnels entrance and landed on top of the battered red car with a loud screech.
The Hamatos pulled out their weapons on the Newtralizer and stood in front of Daiki and Kirby protectively, "Let's split up," Leo orders. "Daiki, you get Mr. O'Neil out of here."
The Newtralizer rose his hands up and threw two of his discs at them, which the Hamatos narrowly missed by jumping out of the way. Leonardo, Miwa and Michelangelo went to one side, Daiki and Mr O'Neil to another, while Raphael charged the newt head on.
The red-clad turtle lands on top of the same car with a thud, leaping into the air where he starts to attack the Newtralizer. Slashing and punching the newt over and over again in its chest and face, until the larger mutant pushes Raphael away from him, only to be hit in the face by a flying tire. He snarls and lunged for Raph, who manages to move in time before the newt began firing his laser at him.
The Newtralizer stops his shooting as he soon realizes that the red-clad turtle had vanished, he does however, see Daiki guiding Mr O'Neil on top of the upper car lifts. And springs up to try and corner the two humans.
The newt blocks their path, being large enough to block the spaces between two cars, and stops the humans dead. Newtralizer snarls as he lunges forward to grab the older man and Daiki cried out with a "No!" As he had to throw himself and Kirby to the side to avoid the newt's hand.
The creature snarled at the teen, and Daiki shut him up quickly with a smoke bomb to his face, so he and Mr O'Neil could sneak away.
The largest mutant rubbed at his eyes and charged after them blinded, but not before Mikey managed to jumped down and leap off of the amphibians head, blowing a raspberry at him before climbing away. Causing the Newt to snarl in anger as he changed his course after the youngest mutant, who lead him up to the top platform where the three eldest ninjas were waiting for him.
The three teens narrowed their eyes before charging the mutant. They took turns to slash, punch and kick at the newt before the larger mutants tail sent them all tumbling over the edge and to the floor below.
The three older teens groaned in pain as the Newtralizer slammed down infront of them. He pointed his wrist towards them all and prepared to fire at the three, when a sudden screeching of tires came from above. Followed by a call of, "Booyakasha!" As Mikey drove a green van straight off the middle lift, slamming it on top of the Newtralizer's head. Where the engine and front of the van burst with smoke.
"MIKEY!" His three older siblings yelled in unison as they raced over to the van. Luckily, they were able to let out sighs of relief when their youngest brother poked his head out of the window with a grin, "Don't worry," Mikey announced cheerfully, "I wore my seatbelt!"
They all chuckle as Raph helps him out of the van. "Come on." He rubs Mikey on the head and wraps his arm around the freckled turtles shoulders bringing him closer, as Daiki and Mr O'Neil joined the Hamatos from the side.
Miwa and Leo smirked as Raphael suddenly grabs Daiki with his other arm and walks away laughing with the two youngest teens complaining about him grabbing them, while Leo guides Mr O'Neil to the door.
Miwa hangs back, stopping only for a second, to glance at the battered van, before closing and locking the door behind her.
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When the Hamatos, Daiki and Mr O'Neil first came through the turnstiles, they noticed that April and Splinter were both present in the pit, with April holding a strange white ball. But before any questions could be asked, Kirby practically ran down the stairs towards his daughter.
"April?" Mr. O'Neil calls out and the redhead stands up with a widening smile.
"Dad? Dad!" She runs up to him, and he pulls her into a tight hold. "Oh Dad, I can't believe it!" April wipes away at her lose tears as she turns to the others. "You guys saved my dad! Thank you so much."
The five teens and Splinter smiled at April's heartwarming moment, before Raphael sudden speaks up.
"The guy you really should be thanking is Donnie here." Raph puts his arm around a very surprised Daiki's shoulders, holding him still as the turtles large green hand patted his chest.
"Huh, I-" Daiki begins, only for Raph to continue.
"Seriously, you should've seen him!" He continues to brag, pushing the rest of the teens away. "He was all-" Raphael then demonstrates a couple of air chops, kicking and punching as he makes a few weird yells and shouts here and there.
Daiki quickly puts a hand on his shell, "Raphael, I think that's a little-"
Raphael throws his arm around Daiki once more, placing a hand on top of his head and patting it, before he practically throws Daiki away. "We kept saying, careful Donnie, it's too dangerous!" Raph waves his hand casually, "And he was like danger? ha! Nothing'll stop me!"
"Thank you!!" Daiki covered the turtles mouth as a last attempt to save himself from embarrassment, his cheeks already bright red, "Thank you, Raphael!" He chuckles awkwardly, patting the turtle's plastron gently before letting him go.
Daiki rubs the back of his head, "Uh, Those weren't my exact words-" April walks over to him and grabs him in a hug, and Daiki's mahogany eyes lite up ten times brighter as his whole body went stiff.
"Oh, thank you, Daiki!" April whispered gratefully, as she let him go to be with her father once more.
Daiki was still for a few seconds, before he felt his knees turn to jelly, and he began to fall backwards. Luckily for him, Mikey and Leo were there to catch him.
"Well, I tried." Raph snickers.
Miwa smirks to her brother as she looked over the teen. "I'd say it worked."
"Dude! You totally have a thing for April, Huh?" Mikey grins, as Daiki gives a weak chuckle as a response.
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As April and her father left to go to the dojo for some alone time together, the Hamatos made their way to the kitchen to start setting up for dinner.
Miwa and Leo left first to get everything ready, while Mikey followed soon after to start cooking, being the family's designated chef after all.
Daiki was also about to make his way to the kitchen, when he felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder. Turning round, he saw Raph shuffling awkwardly behind him, a very unusual position for the hot-head.
"Hey, uh...Daiki." the red-clad turtle asked with hardly any volume, "Can we talk?"
Daiki rose a brow, "Sure Raphael. Is everything ok?"
"I..." Raphael began, but cut himself off, "About what I said earlier... I didn't...I..." he muttered, almost struggling to get the words out. "I was angry...and I...UGH!" He growled at himself, at his dumb emotions, slapping himself in the face, leaving Daiki quite unsure of what was happening.
The Emerald eyed turtle took a deep breath in, before realising it. "You are part of this team, Daiki... and I'm sorry I made you doubt yourself."
Daiki smiled, knowing that apologising was a hard thing for Raph. "It's ok-"
"No its not ok!" The turtle barked back, clenching his fists, "After all you've been through, especially after you told us about Bradford's conversation the other day, I shouldn't of let my anger get the better of me!" He yelled, "Shell, all this, just because you beat me in training!"
"Raphael, it's ok!" Daiki shouted back, trying to get through to the venting turtle. "In hind sight, I probably shouldn't of shown off in training to begin with?"
"I knew it!" Raph pointed at him with victory in his eyes, before it faded to confusion, "Wait, why would you try and show off?"
This time, it was Daiki's turn to mutter and stumble over his words, "I-I was just worried that you guys wouldn't want me around if you thought I wasn't good enough for your team-"
"Good enough for us?" Raph suddenly shouted, catching Daiki of guard, "Have you met us?" He joked, "We're probably the most problematic group of ninjas there are? I mean, half of us are mutants for crying out loud." He gestured to his plastron for added emphasis. The turtle then placed his hand back on Daiki's shoulder, giving him a pat. "As far as I'm concerned, you fit in just fine, Brainiac."
Daiki nodded and felt his composer shake slightly, "Thank you, Raph."
Raph nodded back, now done and ready to move on from the emotional moment. "Good, coz first things first, we gotta teach you how to train properly."
"Heh, Thanks." The brunet replied with a gap-toothed chuckle.
"No problem, Donnie." Raph put him in a headlock, and began to scruff up his hair as the two made their way to the kitchen,
A quiet sniffle from beside the two broke their moment, as they looked towards the kitchen curtains to see Miwa and Leo watching on proudly, as well as Mikey tearing up at them.
"What the shell are you all staring at?!" Raphael bellows, and with no warning at all, charges after his three siblings. Leaving Daiki to laugh at the sounds of their panic, as Raph chased them around the kitchen.
"Morikawa," Splinter calm voice broke through his laughter as he turns to see the rat walking down the dojo stairs.
"Splinter-san, how long were you standing there?" The teen asked slightly embarrassed.
"Not long." Splinter reassured him. The rat then came closer, stroking his beard with a hint of pride in his eyes. "I see you have learnt something of value today."
Daiki thought to himself for a moment, but ultimately drew a blank, "I have?"
Splinter chuckled at the human child, "Yes." He smiled and placed a gentle paw on the teens shoulder. "That you do not have to prove yourselve to people who already believe in you."
A well timed crash sounded from behind the curtain, as well as Mikey's screams as the pursuit continued. The teen smirked at their antics while their father shock his head in playful annoyance. "Come, let us eat, before your siblings destroy the kitchen." Splinter remarked as he made his way into the kitchen to stop the havoc from continuing, unaware that Daiki was practically frozen to the spot.
"My...siblings?" He murmured to himself in realization. He couldn't tell if Splinter had meant it, or if perhaps, the old rat just got confused for a moment. But the thought of Raph, Mikey, Miwa, and Leo being his brothers and sister...sounded nice to him...
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! :'3
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