Chapter Text
[ 5 Years in the Future ]
Raph woke up groggily, hearing something in his room. It took him a second to process what it was. He sat up and saw Fulki sitting excitedly next to her communication buttons, pressing “outside” over and over. Raph jumped out of bed and threw on some shorts,
“Sorry, sorry! Raph’s comin’!” Raph said, tripping into the leg in his haste to get her outside. She ran ahead of him, Raph following after her. He ran into Leo on the way up, Fulki having clearly sped past him, almost knocking him over.
“We need a traffic light in here or something, Fulki’s gonna run someone over. Again,” Leo said, referencing when Fulki shot past Splinter and blew him over. Fulki looked down on them both from the top of the stairs, tail wagging quickly.
“Oh I know, Raph’s coming,” Raph said in somewhat of a baby voice. Leo rolled his eyes and followed him up the stairs, holding his hands behind his shell as he leaned forward,
“Sooooo…. You goin’ for a walk?”
“Might as well, gotta take her out anyway.”
“Cool, I’m coming,” Leo said. The two of them followed after Fulki. “You go ahead, I need to talk to Mikey. I’ll meet you outside,” Leo said, walking into the kitchen. Mikey and Splinter were both in there. Raph was still kind of waking up, so he just nodded, waved, and turned to the garage to let Fulki out.
“Fulki, baby, if it was an emergency you know you could have just used the train car Don made for you. It takes longer to go outside,” Raph said, referencing one of the empty train cars Donnie fitted to have real grass in it, dirt and all. Fulki just barked at him and thumped her tail against the ground with a frustrated huff. Raph sighed as he grabbed her leash and bags off the wall, “Nah, I get it. I had to wake up anyway. Let’s get going, yeah?” Raph said. He clicked the leash onto Fulki’s harness and pressed a button to open up the garage door. Fulki stayed close to his leg as they walked. Raph took her the same way he usually did, navigating his way to Central Park. Leo popped up from a portal next to him and started walking alongside him.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” he said, swinging his odachi over his shoulder and letting the blade rest on the top of his shell, “had to sort something out. Mike wants us to run an errand for him while we’re out,” Leo said before holding up his hand to start counting on his fingers, “we need to go to the store, he said he just needed some bird food, shampoo, and- … what was the last one… I’m sure I’ll think of it. I don’t get why he wants shampoo right now. All he has is fuzz up there, anyway,” Leo said. Raph laughed,
“He likes it, and we can afford it, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. He’s still feeding birds, though?”
“You have no idea,” Leo said, "but I mean crows are nice. They’ll learn your face and bring you stuff. I think every bead and charm on his bracelets is from them. I've met the main crow before, their name is Tweety. They have white splotches on their feathers, it's really cool.”
“Oh that one? I've seen 'em flyin' around sometimes, I didn't know that one was Tweety,” Raph said, “is that all you guys talked about though? You were late because he asked you for three things?” Raph asked.
“Yeah? What about it?”
“... Okay, sure,” Raph said, totally not believing him. They got to Central Park and walked around with Fulki for a bit, letting her do what she needed to do. “Is Donnie still workin’ on those classes?”
“Yeah, but he’s in finals hell.”
“Let’s grab him a coffee on the way back, then.”
“Dude, we have coffee at home, he’ll live.”
“This is his last year though! I’m sure he’s workin’ to death in his room. He graduates in a couple weeks, let’s get him something nice,” Raph said.
“I want a frappe.”
“Of course you do,” Raph said lightheartedly.
“Let’s go to the small coffee place on the corner.”
“Okay,” Raph redirected his attention to Fulki and talked in his baby voice again, “Fulki, you done?” he asked. Fulki nodded. “Okay. Let’s get you a yummy pup cup! A big pup cup full of whipped cream! You like that?” Raph asked. Fulki’s tail started wagging fast and Raph put her back a bit, “Okay, we’ll get that for you.”
“There’s a store a few blocks away, I’m gonna grab Mikey’s stuff and meet you at the coffee place.”
“Kay, see you in a few,” Raph said. Leo ran off to parkour his way to the store. Raph and Fulki got to the coffee shop and walked in. Raph was used to all the looks he got by now, and wasn’t even surprised when a lady nearby shreeked,
“Oh my- you can’t bring dogs in here,” she said.
“This is a service dog, she’s allowed to be here. If you’re allergic I’ll try my best to keep my distance, but I need her with me.”
“You need a service dog? What, for that gross skin condition?” She asked, pinching Raph’s hand. Raph yanked his hand away,
“Don’t touch me,” Raph said, walking away unbothered. The lady was left gobsmacked, jaw open in shock. Raph started waiting in line, listening to the whispers behind him as the lady complained. He started thinking what everyone would want as he waited, thinking over how many shots of coffee Donnie would appreciate in his mocha. When he got to the front he ordered all the drinks as quickly as he could so he could get out of the way. One of the baristas there complimented Fulki, asking how Raph managed to dye her fur so pretty. Raph just told them he knew someone who was really good at it, not wanting to explain that it was natural. The lady must’ve overheard and came over to confront him again about how ‘cruel’ it was to dye a dog’s fur. Raph just ignored it. She kept talking, but another person there told her to shut up. Guess she didn’t want people judging her, so she backed down again and sat down. Raph looked down at Fulki and pet her head,
“Don’t let her get to you, Baby, you’re good,” he said sweetly, reaching his arm down a bit more to scratch under her chin. A few minutes later the barista brought his drinks over to him in a cup carrier, personally apologizing for the trouble before baby-talking Fulki.
“You’re such a pretty dog! And you’re so big!” They turned to Raph, “What breed are they?”
“Not sure, my family got her,” Raph lied. Again, just easier rather than explaining yokai. The times were more progressive in recent years, and Raph would love to explain, but with that lady probably listening, he just didn’t want to.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what’s her job?”
“It’s good. I have Epilepsy, she’s here to catch me if I fall. A couple years ago she started being able to tell when I’m about to have one, too, which I’m thankful for. Not all dogs can do that. I don’t really know how she picked it up.”
“I’ll bet she takes care of you very well,” they said. They held the pup cup up to Fulki. It was in an 8oz cup with a lot of whipped cream in it, “this is for you, do you smell that?” They asked. Fulki sniffed it a bit and started wagging her tail. The barista giggled and handed the cup to Raph, “I’ll let you get going, better get those drinks home quick.”
“Yeah, my brother’s in finals. Gotta get his to him before it gets cold.”
“I wish him good luck, then. Have a nice day!”
“Thanks, you too!” Raph said as he left. Leo was outside waiting for him,
“Ready to go home?”
“Yeah, mind portalling us there?”
“Sure thing,” Leo said. He went ahead and made a portal to the lair, popping them out downstairs by Donnie’s door. Leo took the cup carrier from him,
“I’ll let you wake the beast. I’m gonna get these upstairs,” Leo said, running up the steps. Raph unhooked Fulki so she could wander before gently knocking on the wall to the train car.
“Donnie, you up?” Raph asked. He didn’t hear anything and slowly pushed past the curtain. He was passed out at his desk. He was clearly in the middle of working, since his battle shell and glasses were still on. He only really wore glasses when he was cramming in work so he wouldn’t get a migraine, so Raph figured he was exhausted. Raph decided to just let him sleep. He set down his mocha and gently took his glasses off, folding them and putting them back down on his desk. Then, he tried to get Donnie’s shell off before it started hurting. Well, so much for stealth. The second he pressed the release button, air loudly hissed and Donnie jolted up from his desk, spinning his head around wildly before confusedly locking on Raph.
“Sorry..!! You can go back to sleep, I was just bringin’ ya coffee,” Raph said. Donnie stared at him for a second before his eyes focused some more on him. Raph nervously gestured at 30oz cup he got for him. His eyes quickly lit up,
“Oh sweet delicious beverage- Raph, I’ve always said you were my favorite brother,” Donnie said as he grabbed it.
“You say that about anyone who gives you coffee anymore.”
“A venta, Raphala!! You got me a beautiful, brilliant, highly caffeinated VENTA…” Donnie quickly took a sip, “A SALTED CARAMEL MOCHA?!?! I love you so much,” Donnie said. Raph chuckled,
“How close are you to being done with finals?” He asked. Donnie took a big sip,
“I have one test left, I’ve been studying all night. Well, at least I meant to… I have to leave around 4 to go take it, should be gone for a few hours… Shelldon should be coming with me for support if he doesn't flake.”
“I’m sure you’ll be just fine. I think I smell Mikey cookin’ upstairs, wanna come up with me?” Raph asked. He watched Donnie think for a second before his brows raised,
“Wait, what day is it?”
“Uhhhhhhhhhh,” Raph checked his phone, “the 12th?”
“I forgot that was today…” Donnie mumbled. He thought for a second before pulling his phone out and sending a text to Leo. It looked like a cake emoji with a question mark.
“What are you doing?”
“Just- Just hold on a sec, I need to check something,” Donnie said. Raph went ahead and sat on his bed. From that angle, he could see all the scars from his softshell. They were just a pale green, now. “Okay. Yeah, let’s go upstairs! Now,” Donnie said, jumping up with his mocha in hand. He took Raph’s hand and started pulling him out of the room and up to the kitchen. Raph was pretty hungry at this point. He couldn’t wait to get some breakfast in him so he could go work out with Casey. He heard a lot of hushed whispers as they got closer, before they all shhhed at each other and stopped. The second they got up the stairs and turned the corner, Mikey and Leo popped confetti cannons at him,
“Surprise!!!” Everyone cheered. Raph noticed April, Carol, and Casey were there, too. He was not expecting them; April and Casey were supposed to be out of the country sightseeing right now. He looked around surprised and a little overwhelmed, Fulki walking over next to him and pressing her head against his palm. He naturally started petting her,
“Wh- What is all of this???” Raph asked. Leo pointed at April,
“I told you he wouldn’t know!” He said in an I-told-you-so fashion.
“Yeah, whatever,” she said.
“Raph,” Donnie said, standing in front of him a bit. “You know we’ve been tracking your seizures on a calendar for years. And today is a very important day for you,” he said. Raph was still confused before Donnie continued, “Raph, today marks 1 year since your last seizure,” he said.
“Wait… Wait, has it really been that long?!” Raph asked.
“Yeah!!! Aaaaand~ I made you something special!!” Mikey said. He ran over to the fridge and took out a fancy 2-layer cake, setting it down. Chocolate frosting and red sprinkles. The cake had been carefully decorated with frills and ribbons and little frosting bows.
“We got you a few things as well,” Splinter said, calmly motioning to a couple gifts on the table, with a big card.
“I can’t stress enough how much I forgot it had been that long- I-...” Raph looked at Carol, “has it really been a year??”
“Mhm. We all put this together for you. Why don’t you open what we got you, I think you’ll like it. Open this one first,” she said, sliding a big-ish bag over to him. He quickly pulled the tissue paper out, letting it drop to the floor before pulling out his prize. It was what looked to be a custom-ordered plushie in the shape of the Mad Dogs skull and crossbones symbol.
“Woah, this is so cool!! Where did you go to get this?!”
“One of my coworker makes things like this. April sent me a picture of your wallet, and I went ahead and asked her what she could do. I paid her to make it extra big for you. She stuffed it real good, should keep its shape and stay huggable,” Carol said.
“It’s awesome, you’ll have to tell her thank you for me,” Raph said. He set it down carefully for Fulki to sniff before grabbing the next present. It was in a small envelope. Raph ripped it open, and inside found another custom-made something. It was like an ID card, but for the Mad Dogs. Certified Member of The Mad Dogs. Raph looked at them confused, “wait, but I’m not in the Mad Dogs anymore, what’s this?” Raph asked.
“Well,” Splinter said, “we’ve all thought very hard about it. And if you are ready, we think it’s safe to join them again,” he said. Raph startled.
“What? … But- are you really sure??? I know I’m okay on my own now, but fighting is still dangerous, and-”
“Hey, we’ve missed you out there with us. Please?” Mikey pleaded, “if you really aren’t ready then okay, but it hadn’t been the same since you left” he said. He subtly reached for Fulki, petting her a bit before she noticed and pressed her nose onto the back of his arm. He stretched his arm down and scratched her neck, looking down a bit as he thought about it.
“Besides, you’ve got Fulki with you!” April said, “I’ve seen her flare up a few times for you, I doubt she’d let anything happen to you. Why don’t you give it a shot and, if the first time doesn’t feel right, we can wait a little longer.”
“You’ve been wanting to get back into it for a while now, right?” Casey asked. Raph stammered,
“Yes, of course…! I do want to, I just didn’t think it would happen so soon, I’m a little surprised..” Raph thought for another second before smiling, “you know what? Why not,” he said excitedly, followed by everyone cheering.
“HELL YEAH- RAPH’S BACK ON THE TEAM!!!” Leo shouted, throwing his arm around Raph’s shoulder and pulling him down to his level. Fulki shoved herself in front of Raph just in case, but he didn’t fall. Raph scooped Leo up and held him on his bicep.
“New York better watch out,” Carol joked.
“Can we go do something right now?!” Mikey asked before looking at Casey, “I know you listen to police scanners, anything going on?!”
“Hold on, Mikester. Party first, fighting later,” Leo said, “I got a game set up I want us to try. I’ve been waiting for this for months.”
“That’s reassuring,” Donnie said with a heavy eye roll before drinking a generous sip of his mocha. He swallowed hard before sighing, “everyone grab your coffee, you’ll want something good to drink during this.”
“That’s reassuring,” Raph said, now terrified of what the twins have concocted for him. All of them went to the tv room. Splinter's chair had been pushed aside, and in the center of the room was a ping pong table with cups on it. Leo slide in front of the group and evilly held his hands out at his sides,
“Friends, family, dog, I introduce you… to soda pong,” Leo said, staring at Raph. “I’ve entrusted our dear brothers with finding 10 of the weirdest sodas they could find. Each cup has been labeled with a number, foreshadowing what is about to come to our audience. And,” Leo pulled out a huge goblet.
“Wait, Leo, what’s this-” Donnie asked.
“This is my secret addition to the game. As we drink, we’ll pour some of each into this cup. At the end, the loser has to chug the whole thing.”
“No way- dude that’s disgusting,” Mikey said, covering his mouth. Raph slowly turned his head to Mikey and Donnie,
“What weird twisted fate did you just throw me into.”
“Buhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don’t worry about it,” Donnie said. And so, the game began. Raph and Leo got very competitive very quickly, Raph gripping onto the side of the table as he eyed his shots, Leo at one point hoisting his foot onto the table as he leaned forward to hit his target. The goblet was starting to look dangerous, its color having turned orange. One of the sodas that got poured in looked like it had a literal chemical reaction, all the liquid darkening to an almost blacky green before quickly returning to the color as before. Raph caught Carol’s eyes widen as it changed color, her placing her hand on her chest nervously. Most of these things should not have been turned into a liquid. Flavors such as buffalo wings, butter, corn, mustard, and black olive. Raph was starting to burn up from it all, managing to sweat just a little bit at what these ungodly drinks were doing to his body so early in the day. He and Leo gagged and retched through some of the worst ones, shaking their heads to keep their head in the game. The goblet filled up more and more, its presence on the table cursed and emanating a horrible foreboding energy. One of the drinks tasted like it was just straight up spiked. One smelled like nyquil and vaporub. It was truly awful. At some point Fulki even went next to his leg and sat next to him for support. On the plus side, they didn’t have to drink all of the cup. They can pour the leftovers into the goblet. On the bad side, they were creating something god wished had never happened. They both kept going until Leo got the ball into Raph’s last cup, dropping to his knees and pumping his fists in the air with a quick gasp,
“Yes!!! Drink up, brother!” Leo said. Raph stared at it, feeling the mix of liquids inside his body.
“Baby, you don’t need to drink that cup,” Carol said, worry in her voice. Raph grunted,
“Nah nah… I gotta do it,” he said, steeling his resolve as he stared down the cup. He walked over and held it firmly in his hands, the smell of all the sodas combined wafting up to him. Raph turned his head away for a second as almost everyone started chanting drink it over and over. Raph took a few deep breaths and chugged as much as he could before his mouth processed what was being put inside him and made him gag, him pulling the cup away to gasp for a second.
“Come on, Raphie, don’t quit now!” Donnie cheered. Raph took another breath and went to chug the rest, fighting against the overpowering spiciness from the buffalo wings and what could only be described as smokey fireworks from the mustard, the corn and butter coming to play along side some pickle flavor. He got the last drop down his throat and slammed the goblet on the table, a few cups falling off and to the floor and Raph thrust his other fist in the air victoriously.
“He really did it!!” Mikey said before dropping to his knees in front of Raph and bowing, “We’re not worthy!!”
“So~? How was it?” Leo asked. Raph looked at him,
“‘How was it’- you jerk,” Raph said before Leo belted out laughing, rolling on the floor.
“Can we get some actual food in us before our bodies shut down?” Raph asked, half joking.
“Sure thing, Sweetie,” Carol said with a chuckle, “come on, let’s go eat. Mikey, baby, help me get some eggs going,” she said. Everyone slowly migrated upstairs for cake and breakfast, eating a full meal as they talked amongst themselves. Casey filled Raph in on how his job as a tutor was going. Travelling the way he was left him open to all sorts of information, and he soaked it all up. This opened a lot of doors for him, since he could help with a variety of different subjects. He was making quite a bit of money; definitely more than your average tutor. Because of this, he’d been able to afford his own travel van, and lives in it a good chunk of the time while he’s on the road. April joins him sometimes, but they’ve been sharing an apartment for the past couple years and she’s still trying to track down a stable job. Mikey showed off his latest bracelet to April. There were a few shiny pop tabs, a zipper head, a small keychain charm, and a random assortment of beads. Tweety wasn’t the only one to bring him charms, but they definitely went out of their way to bring him nice things.
Everyone was still chatting for a bit when Casey’s phone pinged. He checked it and it was some gang causing trouble downtown.
“Hey, Raph, you ready?” He asked. Raph beamed and stood up so fast his chair fell over,
“YES- Let’s go!!” He said excitedly.
“As long as this doesn’t take too long, I really should be studying.”
“f*ck your test- you are NOT missing Raph’s first mission back in the Mad Dogs,” Leo said, grabbing Donnie and dragging him off to the turtle tank.
“We’ll be right back, promise!!!” Mikey said, all but Splinter and Carol following after them and cramming into the turtle tank. Raph was bouncing with nervous excitement. Fulki grabbed a leash and brought it over to him, but Raph just put it to the side,
“I think this will be easier without a leash for you. Just stay close, okay?” Raph said. Fulki tilted her head hesitantly. “Hey, I’ll be fine. I trust you. Time for you to have some fun, too,” Raph said. Fulki paused before rubbing against Raph’s leg, tail wagging.
The group got there, only to discover Hypno and Warren were already there handling it. Leo grabbed at his mask tails frustratedly,
“OH COME ON!!! This is so unfair, what a bummer first mission.”
“Hey, we can still help ‘em out, let’s go,” Raph said, running out of the tank, all too ready to be back in the action. It was really cool to see the way Hypno and Warren had turned around. Granted, it took a few months for them to get their footing, but them turning good helped the Mad Dogs pursue other things. Like college. Everyone followed out behind Raph and jumped into the action, Leo talking to Hypno a bit with some witty banter as they juggled one of the thugs between them. Raph saw one of the gang members trying to sneak away.
“Fulki, fetch,” he said. Fulki’s tail wagged furiously, the speed and friction helping her tail catch fire as she ran over. She got there pretty quick, Raph right on her tail. Fulki pounced on the gang member, pinning him down. Raph went over and picked them up by the ankle,
“‘Least it ain’t just mutants causin’ trouble, huh?” He said, holding them up to his eye level. They swung a knife at him and Raph dropped them, “Oh nooooo you attacked me, now I have no choice but to-” Raph let his fist grow big and red before punching them a few blocks down the street towards Mikey, the thrill of adrenaline in his veins. Mikey quickly tied them up in chains while he tangoed between three of them, making them mostly fight themselves and swinging them around a lot until they collapsed in a heap on the ground. Raph felt a poke at his ankle and looked down to see Warren,
“You’re finally back in the game?!” He asked. Raph nodded, a smile spread wide across his face.
“I just got cleared today!” Raph said. Warren was about to say something but Raph and Fulki ran off to fight some more thugs, caught up in the action. It wasn’t until all of them were tied up and ready for the cops before Raph stopped. Fighting with his family again like this was so nostalgic and energizing. He felt like his life was finally falling back into place after years of struggle and healing. Raph watched everyone else talk when he felt another poke at his ankle. He looked down and it was Warren again.
“Don’t think I forgot about our deal, Red- you still owe me a 1v1!!” Warren said. Raph looked at him confused,
“What are you talking about?” He asked. Warren sighed,
“I guess it has been a long time…” he mumbled before redirecting his energy back to Raph, “Five years ago, you promised that we could have a fair arm wrestling match. And if you’re back on the field, I’d say it’s time to cash in,” Warren said. Raph blinked at him, head empty as he tried to remember but nothing.
“Uh… I mean sure, but I don’t know-”
“Don’t back out just because you’re scared I’ll win!!” Warren said. Hypno, who must have heard them, walked over.
“Babe, I don’t think that’s the best idea?”
“Shh!!! This has been a long time coming,” Warren barked before holding his hand out. Raph turned and looked at the rest of his group. Tweety showed up and was just vibing with Mikey. April was watching and walked over when Raph made eye contact.
“What’s going on?”
“He wants an arm wrestling contest. I guess I promised him a few years ago?”
“Oh, you should do it!!” April said before dropping to the ground and signaling Raph to join her. Raph got down on his plastron in front of Warren and held out his hand. “Bup bup, no! Just your pinky,” April said. Raph pulled the rest of his fingers into a fist, Warren grabbing onto Raph’s finger. “And you, Warren, why don’t you use both hands.”
“I don’t need all of these handicaps!!!” He complained.
“Uh… yeah, you do,” Hypno said, now standing next to April, “just take ‘er rules, kay?”
“Yeah sure whatever,” Warren said before looking at Raph determined. “I’ll beat you anyway.”
“Now this is a fair fight. Warren, ya got 10 seconds to take him down. Start at the count of three, got it?” she said. Raph and Warren nodded and April started her countdown. “Okay. … 3 2 1 GO!!!” She said quickly. Raph immediately felt the resistance against his finger as Warren clung onto it. He was stronger than Raph expected, but not by much. Raph play-fought against him for a few seconds before humbling him and casually pushing his pinky into the pavement.
“I win,” Raph said smugly, “get stronger, though, and we can have a rematch.”
“Really?!”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Yes!!! You’ll regret not claiming victory while you had it! Next time I go against you, I’ll win!!!”
“Sure you will, babe,” Hypno said, “let’s go home, yeah? I’ve got lasagna in the oven.”
“Alright,” Warren said. He held up two fingers and pointed from his eyes to Raph before walking off with Hypno. Raph got up and went back to everyone else, saying hi to Tweety before they all piled back into the turtle tank, Tweety flying off. Tweety brought Mikey another something, this time a little hershey kiss. Mikey ate it before Donnie could stop him, and Donnie proceeded to complain about germs. Raph listened to the classic sound of his family bickering, and just felt so at peace with how far he’d come, feeling himself finally having fully moved on from the invasion. He’d worked himself to the bone the past few years to drag himself out of the pit he’d fallen into. Sometimes he felt like he’d never make it out. Like he was putting all this effort into a dead end. But his family never let him stop fighting. And look at him now! Everyone has all come so far, and made so much progress.
Life had eventually started to feel normal, but in this moment, it started to feel right. Everyone was right where they were supposed to be, never to be separated again.
