Everything GREAT About Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem!

Day 24 and 25: Loss and Rebirth.

I think…that it took all four brothers from the future to save the past. Leo making the hard calls, Mikey opening the portals, Donnie and Raph making sure their brothers survived long enough to get them there..all so that the past can be re-written…so that love and protection can t transcend time…

@nickelodeon, if anything deserves to RISE from the ashes, it’s this show. Bring it back!

My first was the Moment of Clarity, (which was a trip,) then Damsel, Wraith, Razor, and Tower, and finally chose to repeat the cycle.

SLAY THE PRINCESS SPOILERS

Out of curiosity, what paths did everyone finish with on their first runs? I got Prisoner, Damsel, Stranger, Razor, and Tower in that order, and decided to repeat the cycle

Rise April Art Challenge 14: Spar

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Ao3 Link: Here

Sparing had never been fun for Donnie. It was tiring, and he would much rather be in his lab being a genius than in the dojo being a punching bag. It didn’t help that Donnie could never pull his punches correctly. He was never sure how much force to use, so he would either just barely tap his brothers or leave them with bad bruises that would last weeks. It was frustrating.

So, when Mikey had asked him to spar with him, Donnie had tried to redirect him to Leo or Raph. It wasn’t working.

“Come on, Dee!”

“Mikey, I don’t want to!”

“Just one round, please.”

“No. It’s never just one round!”

“It is this time! I promise!” Mikey’s wide eyes and puffed out lip were wearing down Donnie’s defenses, and the soft shell did not want to have to deal with a grumpy Mikey.

“Fine!” He groaned and walked towards the dojo. Mikey yelped in victory and followed behind.

Donnie picked up a wooden bo and swung it around, trying to adjust his mind into the right patterns for fighting his brother. He turned to face Mikey, only to find him kneeled down and fiddling with a boombox.

“Mikey, what are you doing?” His younger brother turned to him and smiled.

“I know you don’t like sparing, so I thought I could help make more fun.” He hit the play button on the box, and a fast electric song filled the room.

Mikey turned up the volume till it was blasting and nodded to the beat, picking up his nunchakus and lengthening the chain.  

Donnie knew this song. It was heavy on the base, so deep he could feel it in his bones. He felt spikes run up and down his arms, and his legs were tensing and relaxing to the swings of sound that the music used. He could feel the desire to move well up inside of him as the rhythmic, electric spikes pounded into the room.

“Did you go through my playlist?” He asked, but Mikey just swung his hips to the music.  

Right.

Left.  

Mike slid his way onto the mat and took a fighting stance. Donnie slowly followed suit.

The music spiked for a moment and Mikey struck. His chain whipped out, and Don brought up his bo to block it. But the move was different than normal.

Mike had swung with his whole body, spinning completely around causing his weapon to be drawn back. It was an ineffective move, revealing too many openings that Donnie could take advantage of if he wasn’t so confused. The music spiked again then fell, Mikey then swung his nunchakus one way, then the other.

Right  

Left

Another spike. His brother charged Donnie, moving to ensnare his chain around the soft shell's arm. He dogged (Spike) and Mikey swung for the other arm.

Right

Left

Donnie finally attacked back, knocking away his brother's second swing and going stab to the chest. Mike leaned back, (Spike) then leaned forward and spun his weapon. Donnie ducked before he even saw Mike go for his head, and before he even had time to question how he knew, he dropped to ground.

Spike. He swung for the legs.

Mikey jump back into a handstand and (Spike) flipped forward trying to land on Donnie back. Don rolled away and leapt to his feet and struck for Mikey’s shoulders.

Strike, Right

Strike, Left

He was doing it now.  

There was a lull in the music and the two looked at each other. Mikey had a smug and happy smile on his face. While Donnie just looked shocked.

“Why?” He asked, and Mikey shrugged.

“You like dancing. Fighting’s like dancing, all we needed was a beat.”

Donnie smiled and they both fell back in their fighting stances as the music picked up again.

-

“Come on, Dee! I wanna eat!”

“Just one more round, Mikey!”

“Uuuuhhhh. Worst idea ever!”

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Ao3 Link: Here

Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and take a look at @rise-april-art-challenge for more submissions from other fans. Feel free to give me some feedback if I should improve on something.

Rise April Challenge 21: Chaos

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Raph gripped the pillow under his head and tried not to shake with the force of his shivers. He hated being sick. Leo just smiled from his seat on the bed, looking down as he counted out pills from a bottle.

“Alright, big buy. Open up.”  Raph thought about saying no, but the sooner this was over with the better. He reached out and popped the pills in his mouth, accepting the straw from the cup Leo was holding. The cold drink felt very nice on his sore throat, and he grabbed the cup and drained it. Leo just smiled and patted Raph’s arm.

“So, how long do I need to stay in bed?” Raph asked, voice nasial and horse. Leo just shrugged.

“Till you feel better.” Raph groaned and buried his head in the pillow. “Oh, don't be like that, you big baby. You'll be in fighting shape in no time, if you don't get out of bed.”

Raph lifted his head and looked at Leo, ignoring the pounding in his skull.  

“Are you guys gonna be okay?”

“Hermano, were not tots.” Raph wanted to say that they could have fooled him, but he was too tired to try. He just snuggled deeper into his blankets and closed his eyes.

“I’m gonna take a nap now...” He slurred and felt his brother’s hand rub on his head.

“Night, bro. Call if you need me.”

-

Raph woke up to the sounds of crashing and screaming.

He was out of bed and halfway out the door before his eyes were fully open, bed sheet tangled around his legs.  

“Guys! What’s happening?! What’s wrong?!”

He stopped his frantic rush as his eyes landed on the mess that was the floor of the skate ramp. Paint cans, action figures, bundles of wires, books, and socks were scattered between water bottles, plastic balls, and what looked to be a curtain rood. In the middle of the disaster of random items was Mikey, lying on his back. Raph rushed over and bent over his brother.

“Mikey! Mikey! What happened? Are you ok?!”  

Mikey moaned and blinked at him.

“Raph? What are you doing up?”

“Nevermind that, are you hurt?”

“Naw, I just fell.” Raph relaxed at that and let out a sigh.

“You got to be more careful, Mike.”

“Indeed, you do.” Said a voice from across the room, and the two looked over to see Donnie and Leo coming out of Don’s lab.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mikey dismissed standing up and looked around at the clutter on the floor.  

“Alright,” Leo clapped his hands together. “No one's hurt and everything is fine. So, vamos hermano mayor, you’re on bed rest.”

Raph just blinked dumbly for a moment, the adrenaline wearing off, and the feeling of stiff joints and aching muscles reminding him that he wasn’t in the best shape.

But should he just leave his brothers to whatever they were doing? ...What were they doing actually?

He didn’t get a chance to ask before he had been shuffled back to bed by Leo and tucked in.

...Raph guessed it was nothing to worry about.

-

Raph was worried. Leo had woken him up to take more meds and the younger was covered in what looked stripes of paint, ash, and... feathers?

“What happened?” He asked. Leo just shrugged.

“Nothing important.”

Raph narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but the effect was ruined by a coughing fit, which Leo soothed with more cold water.

“It’s all good, Raph. I promise. You just sleep, I’ll wake you up when it’s lunch.” 

“You better not be lying.” Raph said, and accepted the meds Leo gave.

-

Raph had woken up about half an hour ago, and he was getting tired of just playing on his phone. Plus, he was starting to get really hungry. He was feeling well enough to get himself some soup or something, and if Leo was going to throw a fit about Raph getting out of bed, he could always point out how often Leo was out and about when he was meant to be on bedrest.

Raph put the ramen in the microwave and poured himself a cup a juice while he waited. He pulled the comforter he brought with him closer around him and sniffed loudly, he really hated being sick.

Just then, Donnie bolted around the corner and slid into the kitchen, throwing open the cabinets and frantically digging around inside. He likely didn’t find what he needed, because he whipped around to try another and froze when he saw Raph blinking at him.

The two just stared at each other till the microwave beeped loudly and broke the silence. Raph turned and opened the door, taking the bowl.

“You good, Don?” He asked. His words seem to snap the softshell out of whatever was going on his head. He stood up straight and cleared his throat.

“Yes, I am perfectly alright. What are you doing out of bed?” Raph lifted the bowl of ramen his hand, confused.

Donnie didn’t ask obvious questions like that.  

Donnie rocked on his heels and smiled stiffly.

“Wonderful,” the genius said. “In that case we should get you to bed right away. Chop, chop.” He was already trying to herd his big brother towards his room. Raph tried to protest, he may be tired, sick, and maybe a little slow on the uptake, but he wasn't stupid.

“Don, what’s going on? Why is everyone-”

“LOOK OUT!”

The brothers turned and saw Mikey flying towards them, riding on the back of...

What the heck was that?

Raph didn’t have much time to try and figure that out because he was being tackled out of the way by Donnie. The bowl of hot ramen flying out of his hand, while Mikey and his ride brailed screaming into the kitchen.

Oh, that did not feel good. The snapper leaned against the wall and tried to keep his head from spinning. He then squinted his eyes open to see the chaos unfolding in the room.

Donnie was tearing through the cabinets and shouting for Mikey to: “Hold it still! Watch the tail! THE TAIL, MIKE!” While Mikey tried to follow the instructions and yelled right back. “I SEE THE TAIL! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT, DONALD?! AHHHHH!”

The “it” that they were talking about was some cross between a chicken, a salamander and... a toaster? Yep, a shiny medal body with feathered wings flapping manically, and the toggle to start the toasting on its side jumping up and down, making that clicking-shinking noise. Its eyes were going in two different directions and jumping around. It had two tails too, one a roster’s plumage, all puffed out, and an electric cord that was trying to wrap around Mikey to throw him off.

…

Was Raph dreaming?  

Donnie yelled and whipped around with something in his hand.

“CATCH!” He yelled and threw a canister at Mikey. Mikey caught it, ripped off the lid and dumped whatever was inside over the monster's head. Raph just stared as a pile of breadcrumbs fell on the thing's eyes and it just... stopped. It settled down, and just stood still.  

Mikey and Donne relaxed and the youngest slid off the chicken-toaster thing, and then locked eyes with Raph and froze in the same way Donnie had earlier.

“Hey, Raph~” He drawled out.

Raph just pinched his stuffed nose, his headache worsening, and his body still shaking with chills. Dammit, he was too sick for this mess.

“Has it hurt anyone?”  He asked, not opening his eyes to look at the scene in front of him.

“No.”

“Are you going to be dealing with it?”

“Yes.”

“Do you need me for that?”

“No.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Not anymore.” Not ideal, but good enough.

“Great.” Raph turned and walked to his room. “Have Leo bring me some food when he can.”

-

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Raph asked when Leo came in with a bowl of soup and crackers. Leo just shuffled awkwardly.

“You were sick, and nothing you did could have helped. You would have been worried over nothing.” Raph looked up and prayed to whatever was up there for strength.  

“Alright, fine. I won’t give you all a lecture, even if you clearly deserve one, so long as we never have to talk or think about whatever the heck that was ever again.”

Leo smiled and handed over the food.

“Deal.”

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.

Rise April Challenge 24: Rebirth

Prev - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here

The yellow of the setting sun was painted over by the swirling pink of the hole in the sky. The wind whistled past Leo's ear as he listened to the young voice coming from his comm.  

“Just tell me when you’re home free, and I’ll pull the plug!”

Casey’s voice rang in his ears as he looked up at the hulking steal encased monster and the endless void of suffering just on the other side of the gate, marching towards him. Towards the city. Towards the world.

Towards his family.  

Maybe that shouldn’t be as high on his list. Maybe a real hero would do this for the world. But Leo isn’t a hero. Leo is selfish, arrogant, and a screw up.

But if there's one thing that Leo could consider good about himself, it was this: he was loyal and he loved his family more than anything. So, screw it.

“Casey, listen to me.” He says, not taking his eyes off the Krang. “When I get to the other side, you close that door.”  

He knows what he’s asking from the kid. Knows he is asking him to pull the trigger, to kill him. Leo knows he could have lied, could have told him to close it without telling him that he was still on the other side. But Casey shouldn’t have to live with the guilt of thinking that it was an accident, that Leo had a chance of making it out and Casey somehow screwed it up. He deserves to know that it was Leo’s choice. That there was no other way out.

“What? Sensei, no!”

Leo tunes out his response, his explanation, to focus on the enemy in front of him. He knows the way it will go, knows the words.

It feels like he’s already said them a thousand times.

Raph’s panicked voice brakes through his concentration. He’s begging, pleading, trying to reject what is happening, to demand and hold all of existence down so that is has no choice but to compile.

Leo did the same when he was dragged away by the escape pod.

He says something, a joke he forgets before it’s even out of his mouth. What he’s really saying is “I know this hurts. I know you’ll hate yourself for this. But you’ll live. You’ll be ok after a while. And that’s all I want.”

He stares at the end of everything he loves, and, with his body and mind collapsing inwards on itself like a dying star, he brings forward his Ninpō and rases his blades.

It’s a pitiful fight that’s over before it starts. But he feels his first blade in the void of the prison behind him and digs the one in his hand into foot pining him down.

“What you fail to understand is I missed on purpose.”

His Ninpō flared and he teleported deep into the prison.

In the moments between the disappearance and reappearance, Leo could swear that he could feel the weight of thousands of despairing eyes burn into his soul.  

The Krang tried to fight him, tried to run back towards the open doorway, and Leo knew he couldn’t keep him there for long.

“Casey, please.” He pleaded.

This is a plea that he knows, one that sings in his blood. Hamatos have always been forced to sacrifice everything for their family, for the world. And they always died the same way: begging their loved ones to understand. To forgive them for not coming home.

The portal closes, the Technodome explodes.

Leo let’s go of his hold and waits for death.  

-

Mikey opens a portal and saves him. He comes home.

But Leo is still waiting for death.  

He sits in his med bay cot and listens to the beeps of his heart monitor and waits for it to stop. He feels each breath and waits for it to be cut off.

Nothing happens.

It doesn’t feel real. He thinks back to when the Krang’s anger was trying to crush him, when it rained hits down to try and crack open his shell and rip apart whatever was inside.

He hadn’t been alone. He could feel them, watery eyes that watched with despair, hands that reached out and tried to hold him, voices that thanked him and whispered to him that “Anata wa hitori ja nai.”  

As he hugged the photo of his family to his chest and smiled, he felt a sense of familiarity well up in him. As if he had already done this 1000 times over. But it wasn't him, no, it was spirits that gathered around him. That could do nothing but reach out for him as he waited to die.

Leo wonders how many of his family sacrificed themselves for the ones they loved, how many died for some cause. How many deaths did it take to carve the knowledge of sacrifice into a bloodline?

But Leo hadn't died.  

He began to cry. He let the tears flow freely and he cried. Because even if his heart had never stopped beating, he still felt like he had died. Like whoever he was had disappeared into that dimension and left him a broken body to return to his family.

But that wasn’t true, he was alive. Scared and beaten and broken, but alive.

Why? Why him?

Out of everyone, out of all the souls that had reached out and shared his pain, why was he the one to come back home?  

What had he done to be brought back while they were mourned?  

No one answered.

After a minute Donnie would walk in on Leo still crying. He would grow stiff and reach out and grab his hand. Leo would cling to it and sob that he was sorry that he hadn’t listened to them, that he had put them in danger for his ego, that he had almost made them lose him.

Donnie would just cling right back and soon began to cry in turn, begging Leo to never do that again. To always be safe and with them, and Leo agreed.

Thus, Leo returned to life not with fire and ash but with tears and sobs. Nothing would be the same, nothing would be the way it was before, but they would always love each other and nothing else mattered.

Prev - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.\

@nickelodeon Bring Back Rise

One Part of My Brain: Ah yes, a beautiful piece of art.

The Rest Of My Brain: Baby. Baby. Babies. Yes, they are babies. They are small, and babies.

Turtle tots! 💚

April Rise Challenge 13: Umbrella

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Ao3 link: Here

Leo had been reading one of his comics when Donnie had barged in with a wide look in his eye.

“Woah, Hermano,” Leo said, catching his twin as he almost slipped and fell.  “What's got you in such a rush?”

Donnie's wide eyes turned to the slider, and he bared his teeth in an excited smile.

“Leo, it’s a Rain Day.”

Leo froze, and then his eyes bulged out.

“Really?! You’re sure?”

“Even if it wasn’t for my super advanced and accurate weather predicting system, I can see the storm clouds.” Leo broke into a smile and let go of Donnie so we could hop from foot to foot, whooping loudly.  

Rainy days were not unusual in any sense of the word. But Rain Days were different. They were only held on days when the water came down in sheets and the thunder rolled loud enough to drown out the city traffic. Rain Days only happened when there was a storm, and they were the best brother tradition the four of them had.

“How long do we have?” Leo asked, already looking around for his raincoat.

“About two hours,” Donnie responded. “So, we need to be ready in an hour and a half to get there in time. You-”

“Yeah yeah! I got this!” Leo cut in, scouring under the bed for his umbrella. “Take care of your own stuff, Tello!”

Donnie shrugged and rushed out of the room to get ready on his own. Leo felt giddy as he ran around, for once mad at himself for not keeping his room cleaner.

-

Within the hour, the four turtle brothers were all gathered at start of a long sewer tunnel. They were all dressed in rubber raincoats with either hoods or in mickey's case a rain hat. Raph had a bag under his arm that held towels and snacks, and each of them had a different colored umbrella. Mikey was bouncing on the balls of his feet, gleeful and unable to stand still.

“We all told dad where we’re going, right?” Raph asked glancing around.

“Of course,” Donnie said.

“Then let’s go already!” Mikey yelled, breaking into a sprint down the tunnel. The others quickly followed suit, whooping and hollering in excitement and anticipation.

It didn't take them long to reach the end of the tunnel where a large sewer grate was swung partially open. They all slowed as they neared it, allowing their noises to fade away into a heavy almost silence. They listened closely, but despite the heavy gray sky and the smell of electricity in the air, all they could hear was the distant sounds of the city.  

Raph reached out push the gate the rest of the way open stepping in the fresh air, and walking out of the tunnel to be bathed in the bit of sunlight that could peek through the wall of clouds above. The others followed behind, pulling their jackets tighter at the frosty cold.  

The outside of the tunnel was a long concrete canal that was far away from the rest of the city. The brothers walked silently down watching their breath appear in the cold air and float upwards. There was a rumble of thunder, and the boys stopped and waited. Leo felt the first drop of water land on his nose.

“It’s starting.” Leo said, and Mikey squealed in excitement. They all opened their umbrellas and continued walking.

By the time they reached their destination the rain had been consistently falling for a couple of minutes. A strange drum of water meeting plastic meeting each of their ears as the umbrellas prevented them getting wet.

Their destination was a small ladder that went up the side of the canal. Raph had already started climbing it, but Mikey couldn't wait any longer and simply ran up the side. Leo wanted to roll his eyes at his brother's enthusiasm, but he didn't want to be a hypocrite, so simply followed Raph up.  

On the top of the canal there was a singular huge tree, the last of the autumn leaves still clinging to its branches. In front of it was a shallow pit that they had dug when they were younger. It was big enough that Raph could lay down inside of it without having his feet hanging out. The bottom of it was coated with smooth rocks, and it was already filling with a shallow amount of rainwater. Mikey was sitting up in the branches of the tree, his umbrella hanging upside-down by its hook while he smiled down at them. The remaining three brothers sat beneath the tree branches and watched the sky, quietly waiting for the real rain to start. It didn't take long.

The sky opened and dumped the water down, thunder rolled loud enough to drown out the noise of the city, and the wind blew so hard that their umbrellas quickly became useless. Leo threw his up to Mikey who hung it upside down on a different branch than his own, which was already overflowing creating waterfalls down to the ground. The other two umbrellas swiftly followed. They hung like ornaments, catching the rain. It was a good thing that Donnie had reinforced all their umbrellas so they wouldn't break under the weight of the water.  

Once it was done Leo turned to the shallow pit which was filling up quite nicely. He smiled, stood up, walked to the edge, turned around and spread his hands.

“RAIN DAY!” he yelled, and on cue the thunder roared. Leo leaned back, allowed gravity to take hold, and fell shell first to the man-made pond.

The water was shockingly cold, and Leo was going to need a good cup of coffee after this was all done, but it felt heavenly.  

No matter how old they got, or how human they could act, some part of the Hamato brothers would always be turtles. It was a fact that could have been uncomfortable if they had not grown up with it. And on Rain Days four would allow themselves to be weak and indulge in the joy that rain brought to their amphibious minds.

As Leo sat up from the water, he heard his brother's yell and watched as Mikey ran and jumped into the water that came up to the box turtle’s knees.

Mickey wasn't an aquatic species of turtle, but for some reason he still loved Rain Days. Maybe it was simply hanging out with his brothers, or maybe he just enjoyed the rain for a normal reason. It didn't really matter.  

The youngest brother yelped and jumped at the temperature, making Leo laugh. While the other was distracted, the slidder reached over the side of the pit and grabbed a fistful of wet sticky mud. He aimed slowly as Mikey tried to get feeling back in his feet, and just when the orange turtle turned to him, Leo hurled it right into his face. It landed with a wet splat and Leo laughed at the look on his brother's face.

“So... You have chosen war, brother?” Mikey asked, and Leo knows he should be afraid but all he can do is smile and meet the challenge.

“Bring it.”

-

The day is spent with the four of them flinging mud and each other and splashing in the achingly cold water, and by the end of it they're all shivering with slightly blue fingers. And towards the end as the storm dies down, they all lie on their backs with their eyes closed underneath the old tree and feel the droplets fall on their faces until they decide to go home.

When they get back home, covered in mud and soaked to the bone, they'll take a lukewarm bath and sit with a hot drink under their heating lamp slowly bringing feeling back into their limbs. And the week will be filled with them complaining about their runny noses and how cold they all still are. But in the end, they'll be back to that old tree and shallow pit on the next Rain Day.

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Ao3 Link: Here

Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge for more submissions by other fans.

(Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this, I had a lot of schoolwork that needed to be done. I will be working on catching up with this.)

last straw

Beautiful!

Rise August Day 1: Mad Dogs

So... let's just pretend that I finished this on time and I'm TOTALLY not a day late on even my own art challenge, shall we?😅

Rise April Challange Day 3: Casey And Casey Jr

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Ao3 Link: here

!TW! Talk of Grief and Loss !TW!

Casey Jones doesn’t remember his mother well. He doesn’t mind too much; he’s lost so many people over his short life. Everyone in the future had, and he's still trying to get used to the idea that isn't normal here. So, he's kind of grateful that he only has vague and blurry memories of her. It means that he doesn’t have much to grieve for.  

He knows that’s shitty to say, but he thinks in his circumstances it’s fair. He’s lost so many people, he’s lost everyone, his whole world. Yeah, it was shitty, coated in blood, grime, and krang flesh. But it was his. He was born into it, it helped make him, and it held everything he had ever loved.  

Master Michelangelo, with his flowing movements and soft sparking magic lifting him high enough to see the world bathed in unworldly light and color that only the two of them could see.  

Commander O’Neil, hugging him with scared arms with a quite “Try to keep up, Jr.” Diving into battle, smiling with bloody teeth as she tore apart burning metal machine.  

The quiet and lonely shrine with a huge, spiked shell that hung on the wall with a pair of cracked purple goggles with red and blue lenses on the table below. Where his family always gathered before a mission, just sitting and holding each other, with hushed ‘I love you’s and ‘be safe’s on their tongues.  

And of course, Master Leonardo. Who had tried so hard to be a father to him, even though he was fighting a war that he knew he was losing, even as he held the lives of everyone on his shoulders. He had tried so hard to be a father that he always said Casey deserved.  

He had lost all of them.  

So... yeah. Casey was grateful that he didn’t have another person to morn.  

But... his mom was here. Alive. And he had to keep himself from panicking because he had time to figure out what to say when you're meeting a version of a mother you had never really known. He thought he had time. He didn’t.

-

Casey Jr sits ramrod straight on his spot on the couch, across from the intimating woman across from him. His mom (mom, mom, MOM!) Stares across from her with sharp eyes and narrowed in what looks like anger, and Casey's mind is very split on this.  

One half of his brain is just screaming that she’s here and alive and real! Not just a story, or a memory that he isn’t totally sure he didn’t just make up. She’s really sitting across from him, and he can see his eyes and hair on her face. And somehow this is the most earth-shattering thing that has happened to him. Or at least the only part of this disaster that he can process.  

The other half of him is trying to decide what should happen now, what he should do or say. He isn’t given the chance to figure out because she speaks first and Casey Jones the Second hears the first words he ever heard his mother say.  

“Do I need to start a collage fund?”  

It’s... it’s absurd, and out of nowhere, and said with such seriousness that it makes Casey break down into laughter that shakes his whole body. He bows over trying to get enough air into his lungs because this is so stupid and chaotic and that probably (is) the best thing you could say in a situation like this. What is his life?  

“No-No!” He says between laughs. “I don’t think-” He breaks into more laughter. “I don’t think I need that.”  

He continues to laugh as she stands, hesitates and then marches to the seat next to him, sits down just as straight as Jr had a moment ago, and stiffly hugs him to her side. He wheezes through his laughter.  

“What-what are you doing?” Casey manages to hiss out.  

“I have been told that mothers are meant to comfort their children when they are crying.”  

Crying? Was he- Oh... yes, he was. At some point his laughs had begun to turn into sobs, and tears had leaked down his face. Everything had just hit him all at once, and he just... couldn’t anymore. He leans down and wipes his nose and eyes, and just breathes.  

“Sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”  

“It’s alright.” Cassandra (Mom? Casey Sr?) responds, still holding his shoulder.  

It takes a miniate before either of them can do anything other than look over each other, looking over every similarity and difference. Then Mom (Cassandra?) meets his eyes and with a stone face asks what Casey thinks she’s been wanting to since she saw him.  

“Can you tell me how I die?” The time traveler looks away.  

“What makes you think you did?” He doesn’t think he can look at her right now.  

“Because I would not be so foolish or weak as to let my son travel through time!” She says it like he just insulted her, and he wants to argue but...  

“Infection.” He answers. “Which is impressive considering that when you were found you had one arm missing and had been impaled at least 5 times. You lasted about a week after that.” It’s easier to say than he likes. There is silence. Then:  

“I am... happy that I did not abandon you.” He turns to his mom, and she doesn’t look at him, staring past him and he makes a realization. That this whole conversation is as hard and awkward for her as it is for him, and he doesn’t know why it took him so long to realize that. Hell, they're almost the same age! He smiles and faces her completely, pulling on the quiet patience of Master Leonardo.

“I know that this is insane, and neither of us had time to really think about it. But if it helps, I don’t think we need to decide what or how we feel right now.” She pulls a face at the talk of “feelings,” but does relax slightly.  

“Very well. Until we become comfortable with the reality of this situation. Would you be amenable to the title of my brother? I... am uncertain of being refired to as a mother.” Brother? That could work. Casey grips Cassandra’s hand.   Yes, it's Cassandra for now. Maybe for forever, but that would be ok too.

“Sounds good.” 

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Please check out @zee-rambles as the one who came up with this challenge. Also take a look at @rise-april-art-challenge​ for more submissions. Please give feedback if I need to work on something.