Catch me reposting a bunch of my stuff from this year because tumblr finally decided to stop throwing my shit into the void.
Anyway, I made this little snippet after “Battle Nexus: New York” because I was super angst ridden. Its kind of a “what if” scenario, like if everyone blamed Leo for Shredder coming back because it was HIS plan that sealed him away in the first place. I know it didn't happen, but at the time, I felt like something like this would:
Warning: angst, sad Leo 🥺
*at the lair*
The group groaned as they were left toppled on top of each other in the dojo of the lair, each member slowly starting to get up, despite the pain and adrenaline.
“Oh jeez, welp, this isn’t good!” Leo quipped halfheartedly, as he stretched and rubbed the back of his neck where he had fallen.
“Not good?” Raph questioned, turning around to face Leo with anger in his eyes, “NOT GOOD?!” He shouted, making Leo unintentionally flinch.
“Ok ok it’s really bad, but c’mon, we’ve defeated Shred Head before, and we can do it again!” Leo replied, not fully believing his own optimism.
“Correction: We defeated shredder with the help of big mama before, who, it turns out, was using him for her own deeds, as someone should have known when they decided it was a ‘good idea’ to make a deal with her,” Donnie said aloud, spitefully, along with angry air quotes.
Leo looked at his brother as his heart dropped, surprised to have heard something so genuinely distasteful come from Donnie’s mouth.
“C..c’mon Donnie, there was no way I could’ve known that!” Leo stuttered slightly, before shouting back at his brother, who was looking at the ground as Leo continued, barely acknowledging him.
“What do you mean, ‘no way you could’ve known’? She’s done this every time we’ve met up with her!” Mikey now joined the onslaught, legitimately mad, causing Leo to take a step back, trying to find another defense for himself.
“W-Well what was I supposed to do?! “ Leo yelled at his brothers, trying to hold back the tears as they all ganged up on him.
“If one of us were to have gone with dad, then none of this would be happening!” Raph exclaimed, motioning to himself, Mikey, and Donnie, “Matter of fact, April probably would have done well too, at least, she wouldn't have let this all play out!”
Leo was stunned. He couldn’t find any words to come back at Raph, and certainly none to defend himself, until he remembered his Father.
“Dad, c’mon, help me out here! There was no way I could’ve foreseen this; me or anyone else, right?!” Leo asked Splinter quickly, hoping that he wouldn’t have to suffer this torture anymore.
Leo’s hopes were dashed when his father simply kept looking down, dazed, with Leo’s sword in his hand.
“She’s...gone,” Splintered murmured as his facial expression turned from that of confusion to apathy.
Leo kept looking at his dad, half waiting for an answer, half knowing he wouldn’t get one.
“...Dad?” Leo muttered, slightly more reserved than his last question.
Finally looking like he heard Leo, Splinter turned to look at his blue son.
Leo couldn’t help his watery eyes as his father turned his head to the wall, which was, in a way, answering the question he was asked, without actually answering.
“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you,” Raph muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Leo to hear.
Leo’s head shot back, looking at everyone, trying to find some semblance of sympathy for his situation. The only even remotely sympathetic face was Baron Draxum’s, and even then, it was more confusion than sympathy, as, Draxum hadn’t really been there for the whole shredder ordeal; at least, after he summoned him.
Raph sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “Donnie, do you have any idea how we can fix this,” Raph asked, exasperated.
“Well, it looked like Shredder was being controlled by a mystic ring, so if I could isolate what the ring is made of, I could possibly reverse the mind control, but even then we’d still have the feral shredder on our heels, he just wouldn't be controlled by anyone,” Donnie replied, typing on his arm monitor.
“Great,” Raph said to no one in particular, but Leo couldn’t shake the fact that he was aiming the comment towards him.
After about 5 minutes, nearly everyone had left the room to their own devices, which consisted of figuring out ways to take down Shredder. The only person left was Leo, who had been brushed off by Donnie when he tried to help, then Mikey when he offered to train, and finally his own father, who didn’t even bother to look at him when he told Leon to leave him alone.
As Leo stood in the middle of the room, sure no one else was there to see him, he let the tears silently slide down his face.
“...I’m sorry,” Leo choked out quietly.
After a moment to himself, Leo cleared his throat and wiped the tears away with his arm, sadness replaced with anger, as he tensely walked out of the room.
Little did Leo know, someone behind a wall had been watching and listening. As Leo left, Draxum couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young turtle.