aka what has been going through their heads
@tmntaucompetition 2025
Donnie →
There’s an itch beneath Donatello’s scales, not caused by the grass he sits on. It grows with every passing glance, every sharp exclamation, every distant laugh. It was worse before, where every shoulder brushing wore at him till he was a thin wire ready to snap.
His brothers must have been in the same boat, as an hour ago they had, as a group, shuffled out of the main horde into the sidelines, and found this grassy hill to rest on.
Donnie twined some of the grass blades into a coil, twisting them tight, and tearing them with a pull. He rubbed the leaves between his fingers and thumb, feeling the smooth texture, broken up by the faintest of veins. He holds them up to his snout and takes a sniff.
Nothing.
With a scoff, he tosses them away, the figments disappearing into the rest of the grassy illusion. Honestly, he preferred the untextured blank void from before. It was at least honest.
The sun hangs in the sky, yet he feels no warmth; the temperature is pleasantly moderate, as stagnant and unchanging as a lab. The clouds move by overhead, and yet there is no wind. No sound of wildlife either. Just the distant chatter echoing throughout the fantasy town they’ve found themselves in.
He doesn’t doubt that these flaws in the illusion will be gone in a few hours, as the space they have found themselves in continues to flesh itself out. He can’t help feeling a twist of satisfaction, though in the meanwhile.
This space had lost its charm a while ago. He had run the scans and experiments on his wrist com that he could, but most of his technology and equipment were back in his lab. Surprisingly enough, there were no signs of the counterparts they had encountered before.
He supposes he should be grateful that he was snatched while tinkering in his lab, rather than out on his nightly patrol.
Some part of him is glad that they aren’t in the void anymore, as his mind couldn’t. Stop. THINKING. “Was that what it was like where Raph was trapped? What kind of psychological effects would arise from being stuck somewhere like that for years? Isolation has been shown to have a tremendous impact on the psyche and body after only a few hours. What would being trapped with Shredder add to the equation?”
Of course, this was all conjecture, as he had run the equations over and over again, constantly in the back of his mind like a maddening mumble. There was no chance that Raph was aliv-
Like a magnet, his gaze, inevitably, is pulled to his brothers.
He feels that familiar, dark curdling feeling in his gut, even as guilt arises at its presence. He doesn’t want to be mad at his brothers, not really, but it’s as natural as breathing at his point.
He wants to punch Leo, demand him to come back before he loses the family he has left, to give up on his pointless and useless quest.
Wants to grab Mikey by the shoulder, beg him to come back home, that he is both sorry, and that he has forgiven Mikey. Will let him burn the old pictures if that’s what it takes.
He turns away, knowing they wouldn’t listen, maybe just to spite him. His brothers have abandoned him, but that’s fine. Donatello taps on the screen of his wrist com, mind spiraling with plans as it whirls to life, and he begins to busy himself.
He just has to wait for this to be over.
