A Quiet Writing Corner: A Fan Fiction Writing Blog

Written by Katie

2006 to Present. Fandoms include Ninja Turtles (1987, 2003, 2012, Rise) Hetalia, Mystic Messenger, and Fullmetal Alchemist. Reblogs encouraged, comments loved!  

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Echos of Horror

Title: Echoes of Horror Fandom:  TMNT 2003 Word Count: 3207  Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating:  T Characters:  Donatello, Raphael Warning: SAINW Summary:  Lord Simultaneous had called Donnie’s nightmares “echoes in the timestream” and told them to deal with them. That was easy for him to say. If he was the one holding his twelve-year-old brother after he had just relived the most traumatizing event in his previous life’s experience, Raph was certain the short Time Master wouldn’t be so glib.     Notes:  Part of the Little Don AU, an AU I’ve had forming in my head where, during a crisis with the Time Scepter, Don sacrificed himself to save everything. Instead of it killing him, though, it turned him into a baby, and his family has needed to raise him all over again.  ff.net || AO3

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Echoes of Horror

Raph stretched as he padded softly into the lair, rolling his shoulder, trying to work out the soreness in it. He didn’t go out with Casey nearly as often as he used to, to bust heads, and he was starting to remember why. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, not even close at thirty-four, and Casey was older than him. They didn’t quite move or heal the same way. Still, though, sometimes he needed the release, and Casey was always happy to be his back up, just like Raph was for him. It let him get out some pent-up frustration and help a few people along the way.

Not wanting to wake anyone up, Raph moved quietly, heading first to the bathroom to clean up a bit, shower the grime of the city and the blood of some thugs off of him, and then, when that was done, to the kitchen, to grab an ice pack for his shoulder. It wouldn’t hurt him to have that.

The lair was silent, everyone in bed, and Raph couldn’t help but reflect on how it was kind of lonely. Mike wasn’t up playing his video games or watching his horror movies at all hours of the morning. Leo wasn’t training or perched somewhere reading a book. Splinter wasn’t taking his tea or watching his sons fondly. But the one that hit the hardest was that there was no sound of tinkering coming from the workshop. No lights on, no clacks of the keyboard, no random sounds of tools.

(ask from @nights-flying-fox for @tmntstorycomp for the story Sanctuary. Vote for Sanctuary here!)

Don blinked, and looked up at the voice. Another turtle, wearing blue. Likely a variant of Leo. Red stripes. Obviously, a red-eared slider. Don found it fascinating. There were a lot of variants that looked similar to this turtle, but almost none that he had seen that looked like him and his brothers.

Abruptly, he realized that he should probably answer this alternate Leo's question.

...Interesting, though, at the offer of comics. That was usually more Mikey's thing.

"I'm actually doing a little research now," Don said, "but I am curious." He glanced at the comics. "I've never heard of Jupiter Jim. Did you find those here? Are they accurate?"

Maybe this could help his theory.

(ask from @theawesomeninja-xd for @tmntstorycomp for the story Sanctuary. Vote for Sanctuary here!)

Raph put another book back on the shelf. He'd started skipping the ones that had no information on their spine. They were always blank. The ones.with titles or even partial titles could be hit or miss. He sighed. He had no idea what Donnie was looking for with this, but his big-brained brother obviously had some sort of idea turning around in his head.

He was about to move on when he felt something soft being pushed into his hands. Blinking, Raph looked down to see a small turtle tot trying to give him a blanket.

Raph gently took the blanket, but knelt down in front of the tot. "Hey there, kid," he said. "You out here alone? Where's your parents?"

Don would forgive him for pausing his research. This was more important.

(ask from @trixanimations for @tmntstorycomp for the story Sanctuary. Vote for Sanctuary here!)

Raph blinked at the two in front of him. He could guess that the turtle that stood in front of him was some alternate version of him--although he definitely looked like a different type of turtle--but he had no idea what the... creature?... on his shoulder was.

It talked though.

Mikey would have liked it.

He pushed aside thoughts of his brothers and focused on the two in front of him. Setting aside his task of figuring out what books were actually complete, and what books people were reading, he looked the two up and down.

"Unless it's a riot that's gonna get us all home, no thanks," he said bluntly. "And if yer friend group is tryin' to riot, you might wanna take another look at them, kid," he said.

Raph frowned. "Are you two here alone? And what exactly are you, fuzzball?"

(ask from @little-banjo-frog for @tmntstorycomp for the story Sanctuary. Vote for Sanctuary here!)

The scent of food caught Ms. Morrison's attention, just before she the individuals spoke.

"Treats?" She said with a smile. "Well, I'm not sure they're allowed in the library, but I won't tell."

If they were giving her treats, perhaps she could convince them to sit down and talk to her a bit. They might have some information that could help them.

She took another breath in, smelling the treats. "What did you bring? It smells like... muffins? Or maybe cookies. I would enjoy trying some, although I'll have to keep Lucy away," she said, petting her cat. "Perhaps you two could sit down for a moment and keep an old woman company."

She pat a chair near her, listening to hear if they sat down. "Why don't you two tell me about yourselves. I'm very curious about everyone here. I don't get out much."

(ask from @mochi-myles for @tmntstorycomp for the story Sanctuary. Vote here!)

Ms. Morrison moved her head in the direction of the voice. He sounded young, and a bit exasperated. But he was polite enough and she didn't see any harm in talking to him.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I haven't seen anyone." She chuckled. "It's a little hard to do that when you're blind. My nose, though, is quite sharp. While I've not smelled the scent of raspberry especially strongly, I do think I passed a small whiff of it back that way."

She gestured in the direction that she came from. "I'm sorry that I can't be more help than that, dear, but I do hope you find this Leon soon. If not, you're more than welcome to come sit with me for a while. I wouldn't mind getting to know a few more people around here."

TMNTStoryComp, Round One: To the Library!

(For @tmntstorycomp Round One Part 2 polls. Vote for Sanctuary here!)

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After receiving invitations, flowers, food, a card to a therapist—which Don saw Raph eyeing thoughtfully, before eyeing him, when he thought Don wasn’t looking—amongst other things, as well as bits and pieces of information, Raphael, Donatello, and Ms. Morrison had finally found a corner that felt relatively safe where they could sit down and compile what they knew.

“Alright,” Don said, pulling a notebook out of his duffle bag. “Let’s list what we’ve learned.”

Raph nodded, making sure that Ms. Morrison was comfortable and that Lucy was settled on her lap, before he let go of her and crossed his arms. “Well, for starters, we know that none of us are from here,” Raph said.

Don nodded. “Like a multiverse situation.”

“Multiverse?” Ms. Morrison asked, tilting her head.

“Yes, ma’am,” Don said. “In a nutshell, the multiverse is similar but not exact realities that exist at the same time. Think of it like when a group of people is asked to paint a bowl of fruit. Everyone will paint a bowl of fruit. But how each painting looks and what variations they paint of the fruits and the bowl will vary. They all still painted bowls of fruit. But each one is still different.”

“So, the people here, then, are different versions of people from our painting,” Ms. Morrison said.

“Exactly,” Don said, smiling.

Ms. Morrison hummed thoughtfully, clearing turning things over in her mind. “Thank you for explaining, Donatello,” she said.

“Not a problem,” Don said with a smile.

“Okay, so the multiverse is a given,” Raph said. “But we know that none of us came here willingly,”

Don nodded. “Right. Of the people we’ve talked to, it seems that we were all just here suddenly.”

“Including children, without their guardians,” Ms. Morrison said with a frown. “Although I heard that the nice man who gave you the card, Donatello, was looking after the children. We should check on them.”

“I’ll put a note by that,” Don said. “I’d like to talk to him again anyway. What else do we know?”

Ms. Morrison hummed. “Well, the young man who spoke to everyone earlier said this was some sort of competition.”

“Right.” Raph said. “But we don’t know what kind. Are we talking a fight? An exhibition? Parcheesi?”

“No one seemed to automatically assume that it would be violent,” Don said. “Although there are clearly some here that want it to be.”

“Yeah. As much as I like a good fight, I don’t like the fact that it would mean kids would be fighting,” Raph said.

“I don’t like the idea of you two fighting,” Ms. Morrison said. “You two are good boys. I don’t want you caught up in anything violent.”

Raph and Don exchanged a look.

“We appreciate that, Ms. Morrison,” Don said after a moment.

“Yeah, but if it comes down to it, don’t you worry,” Raph said. “We can take care of things.”

Don frowned. “Truthfully, I’d rather it didn’t come down to it either. Especially since it seems that some people here already have experience with other similar situations.”

“Yeah, I hear ya,” Raph said with a frown “We do got one other big piece of the puzzle.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “That guy is responsible for all of this.”

“That guy, who is just as much a puzzle as this place. We don’t even know his name yet,” Don said, his frown matching Raph’s as he glanced in the direction of the magical turtle. “And who apparently has some sort of magical ability.”

“Magic.” Ms. Morrison said. “I wouldn’t have believed such a thing before now. But I supposed if aliens exist, well, why not magic?” She tilted her head. “What does he look like?” she asked. “This young man?”

Raph and Don exchanged looks.

“Uh… well, kinda like a big turtle. Like a person-turtle,” Raph said. “His skin’s kinda an emerald green color, looks like his eyes are… orange? Or maybe a shade of yellow. He’s got some yellow stripes that seem to start on his head and go down his arms and legs. He’s got black… I guess you could call them skin-tight leg and arm warmers on, go up to his thighs and upper arms. He’s got poofy arm and leg warmers over that, yellow and orange, on opposite sides. He’s got a black mask with short mask tails over his eyes, and a necklace of some sort on. And…” Raph squinted. “Don, are his nails painted?”

Don blinked for a moment, pulled a set of binoculars out, looked and then nodded. “Yep. Alternating black and white.”

“Yeah,” Raph said. “He looks like a troublemaker.”

“He sounds like a child,” Ms. Morrison said.

“His necklace is a skull,” Don said, still looking through his binoculars. “And I don’t know if you noticed, Raph, but when he did his magic or whatever that was, his stripes turned black, with a yellow outlines to them. And they almost looked like they were giving off… circles? Blobs?... that float away.” He frowned. “I wonder if that speaks to the way his magic works, as if maybe he has to give part of himself away when does—uh oh.”

Raph and Ms. Morrison tensed.

“Uh-oh?” Raph said.

“Yeah, his stripes are starting to turn black again and—” Don put down the binoculars, stuffed everything in his bag, and reached out to hold onto Raph and Ms. Morrison while she held onto Lucy. “Hang on, he’s doing something!”

The world moved and swirled around them, and Raph and Don both tightened their grip on Ms. Morrison, just in case the chair she was sitting on suddenly disappeared. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to, but when the world resolved itself, they were standing in—

“A library?” Raph said, looking around, astonished.

“A library!” Don proclaimed eagerly.

“A library,” Ms.  Morrison hummed, holding onto her cat. “Well, once again I’m afraid that I won’t be much help to you boys here.”

“Not necessarily,” Don said. “There’s more than one way to gather information, or to compile and understand it. Something tells me that you can be a help to us that way.”

“And something tells me that you’re about to go crazy in here, Brainiac,” Raph said, reaching down to help Ms. Morrison up from her chair.

Don grinned at his brother. “You know me so well.” He reached over to pull a book from a shelf, and looked at it, surprise blooming on his face.

“What is it?” Raph asked.

“There’s no title or anything on the cover,” Don said. He opened it. “And it seems to be blank.” He reached for another one. “This one has a partial title on it, but the inside is incomplete.”

Raph looked around, putting Ms. Morrison’s hand on Don’s arm while he moved to a nearby railing. He could look down over the library that way, and he surveyed it, quickly.

“Well, obviously all of them aren’t that way,” he called back to his brother and the elderly woman. “I see people reading.”

Don and Ms. Morrison walked up to him, Don frowning. “So, some books are blank, some are partial, and some are complete.”

“But why?” Ms. Morrison asked.

Don hummed. “I have a theory, but no proof.” He looked at Raph. “We need to split up. Here.” He reached into his duffle and pulled out the pad and pencil from earlier. “Go look. See what books are complete and which ones aren’t. See what people are reading. Write it down. I’m going to do the same, and we can compare. We can meet up in the kid’s section in an hour. It seems to be fairly central.”

“Raphael,” Ms. Morrison said, tapping on his arm. “Why don’t you take me there first? Donatello can go ahead and get started, and I can stay there.”

“I ain’t leaving you alone,” Raph said. “You can’t read, but you can still help.”

“I will be helping,” she said. “If it’s central, then people will be passing through there. I can listen for information.” She gave them an amused smile. “My sense of hearing is pretty sharp for an old woman. Besides,” she said, petting Lucy, “A cat is bound to get people to stop.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Don said.

Raph frowned, clearly not entirely happy with the idea. “Donnie. Ya got an extra shell cell on you?”

Don nodded, already digging through his bag. “Excellent idea, Raph.”

Raph took it as soon as Don handed it to him, and he placed it in Ms. Morrison’s hands. “This is another one of our phones. Don builds ‘em for the fun of it.” He guided her hands over it. “If you need us, press this button right here, and we’ll come back as quick as we can, alright?”

“Alright,” Ms. Morrison said. “But I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Just humor me, okay, Ms. M?” Raph said.

She smiled indulgently at him. “Of course, dear.”

Don nodded. “Okay, so then we’re splitting up?”

Raph nodded. “I’ll get Ms. M down to the kid’s section and settled. But Don—be careful.”

“You three, as well,” Don said. “I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

“Don’t lose track of time,” Raph warned.

The group split up then, Don quickly heading to start working on his theory, Raph escorting Ms. Morrison to the children’s section and making sure that she and Lucy were settled before he started his own exploration.

Hopefully, the group would find some useful information here. After all, there were still lots of competitors to talk to.

(ask from @silver-fire-wolf-pokemon-lover for @tmntstorycomp for the story Sanctuary)

"Oh--thank you!"

Ms. Morrison took the flower crown gently in her hands, and ran her fingers on the petals and leaves, before bringing it up to her face so she could smell it.

"It smells lovely, and it feels well made," she complimented. "What kind of flowers are they?"

"Yours seems to be miniature pink roses," Donatello said. "With some baby's breath. Raph's is made out of poppies and leaves. Mine seems to be made out of a variety of violets and white daisies." he paused. "Would you like to hold mine for a moment?"

"I'd very much like to smell and feel them, if you don't mind," she said.

She felt of them and smelled both Donatello's and Raphael's before handing them back to the respective boys. Then she turned her attention more towards the people who had given them the flower crowns.

"Thank you very much for these. You've given an old blind woman and wonderful gift!"

Aftermath

Title: Aftermath          Word Count: 4384   Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating:  T  Characters: Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Splinter, Casey Jones, April O’Neil, Leatherhead    Warning: Seizures    Summary: “Donnie?” he asked softly. “You okay?” Don’s bo, which was in his hand, clattered to the ground, the sound echoing. Then, to Leo’s alarm, Don stiffened up, and fell. Notes: Seizure terminology has changed a little over the years. Considering that this fic would be set around 2003-2005, I’ve elected to use the terminology that was correct then. Grand Mal is the term that would have been used prior to 2017 for the type of seizure that Donnie has here. After 2017, this type of seizure has been renamed as Tonic-Clonic. It’s the same type of seizure, just with a different name due to new, more specific categorization. ff.net || AO3

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Aftermath

The door opened with a hiss that echoed in the empty lair. With plodding footsteps, the turtles and Splinter entered their home, accompanied by Leatherhead, Casey, and April. Between dealing with the Triceriton invasion, the run to keep Honeycutt safe, Agent Bishop, and Honeycutt’s funeral, the group was running on nearly empty.

“It’s good to be home,” Leo said with a sigh as they stepped inside.

“You’re telling me,” Mikey said, glancing back at Leo. “I think I wanna go stuff my face, and then collapse somewhere and not move for a few days.”

“I want a shower first,” Raph said, grimacing. “Get all this grime and stuff offa me.”

“A shower does sound nice,” April admitted, “as does a bed. This is exhausting. I don’t know how you guys do this all the time.”

“Yeah, yer telling me. After all a that, I could do with somethin’ ta drink.” Casey said. “I’m parched.”

“Tea,” Splinter said firmly, already turning towards the kitchen. “A cup of tea would do us all some good. I will prepare some for us.”

Leatherhead watched Splinter, and then turned towards Leo. “Are you positive about welcoming me into your home?” he asked. “I’m grateful, but I do not wish to intrude. Our last encounter was not… on the best of terms.”

“You’re fine,” Leo said. “It’s water under the bridge. Just come in and relax. I think we all could use it.”

“Food, drink, showers, sleep—all of it sounds good to me!” Mikey said with a grin, already heading towards the couch to take over the TV. Raph moved after him, the two settling into familiar fussing.

Leo glanced over at Don. He had been quiet during the conversation. He had been quiet on the way home, as well. Leo assumed that it was because of his grief and guilt over Professor Honeycutt’s death, and he had half expected him to head straight to his lab and immediately block out everyone else. But instead, Don was still standing near the entrance, seeming to stare off into nothing. Something about it seemed off, and it set Leo’s senses to tingling. Concerned, he turned more fully to face his brother, making his way towards him.

“Donnie?” he asked softly. “You okay?”

Don’s bo, which was in his hand, clattered to the ground, the sound echoing. Then, to Leo’s alarm, Don stiffened up, and fell.

@tmntstorycomp and @haro0o Ask directed to Sanctuary, a 2003 story.

"Um..." Don took the card from the rat mutant (?) that stood in front of him. "Thanks?"

This man looked like he had been through a lot, if the scars he bore meant anything. By all rights, Don should have been assuming that this was an alternate Splinter, but something about him didn't seem like Splinter. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was throwing him off a little, and he wasn't sure he liked that.

"Don?" Raph asked, half-eying the rat mutant as well, clearly not ready to trust just anyone here. "What's it say?"

"What did he give Donatello?" Ms. Morrison asked.

"It's a business card," Don said, looking down at the card in his hand. "For... a therapist?"

There was a beat of silence, and then Raph started laughing, his grip on Ms. Morrison loosening.

"Apparently, you ain't as good at hiding your trauma as you think, bro," he said, clapping a hand on his brother's shell. "If anyone needs a therapist, it's you."

Don shot his brother a withering look. "Thanks," he said, the word full of sarcasm.

Still, a lead was a lead, and Don turned his attention back to the rat man. "Maybe you can help us," he said, tucking the card into his belt. "We don't quite understand what's happening here. Can you explain it to us, or give us any more information about what's going on around here?"

@tmntstorycomp and @littlemissartemisia Ask directed to Sanctuary, a 2003 story.

Ms. Morrison came to a stop as she felt something small bump into her. Or more precisely, someone small. Raphael and Donatello had left her standing near a wall with Lucy, her cat, while they did... something. She still wasn't sure what, exactly. But they had promised to come back to her, and she believed them.

But now, however, it seemed that someone else had found her. Someone child-sized, it seemed. Lucy didn't seem bothered by the person, so Ms. Morrison carefully crouched down.

"Hello," she said, reaching out a hand towards where she thought the child was. "I'm Ms. Morrison. Where are you, dear? I'm blind, so I can't see you."

Hopefully this child wasn't here alone.

@tmntstorycomp and @kittynumyum Ask directed to Sanctuary, a 2003 story

Ms. Morrison tilted her head. "A what?" she asked.

Raph shot the two turtles in front of him a glare. Maybe he was being overprotective, but the invitation seemed like a bad idea.

"It's a video game," Don explain. "They're asking to play in a video game tournament."

"Well, I'm afraid I wouldn't do anyone much good with that," Ms. Morrison said with a smile. "I never played video games, and I don't think I'd be much good at them blind."

"We ain't interested," Raph said bluntly.

"Wait, Raph," Don said. He turned his attention back to the two in front of him. "Are there any strings attached for accepting his invitation?" he asked.

"Donnie, you can't possibly be thinking about playing a video tournament now!" Raph said. "You been spending too much time with Mikey?"

"Raphael," Ms. Morrison said, squeezing his arm. "Hush. Let Donatello talk."

Raphael grew silent, although he was obviously on edge.

"Pardon us for being suspicious," Don said to the other two. "But this whole experience is a bit unexpected. We're not sure who to trust. Are there any strings attached to this invitation? Or is it just a good-faith attempt at some fun? And if we say no, what happens then?"

Maybe they could glean at least some information from this opportunity.

@tmntstorycomp and @bambiraptorx Ask directed to Sanctuary, a 2003 story

"Uh, thanks," Raphael said, looking at this... version of his brother? With a pink child? He looked to Don for answers, but his brother was already lost in geek-land, he could tell.

"Fascinating," Don said, scrutinizing the other him with an excited grin, slowly starting to grow. "You're a different species! Tell me, are all of your brothers... hm. I'm going to say some sort of softshell turtle. Are all of your brothers some sort of softshell turtle, too?" he asked.

"Turtle?" Ms. Morrison asked.

Raph shot his brother a look, and Don looked back at him, realizing his mistake too late.

"Is that your kid?" Raph said, changing the topic.

Ms. Morrison's face lit up. "I thought someone else was here. Hello, little one," Ms. Morrison said. "Excuse me for not being more specific, but its hard to tell much about people immediately, when you're blind. How old is the child?"

"And can you tell us anything about what's going on?" Don asked. "We're a little low on information right now. One moment we're having tea with Ms. Morrison, and the next we're here."