Leonardo soars into the air with a howling cry of glee echoing over the treetops. He touches down on the forest floor and sprints away at a speed that would make any normal turtle incredibly jealous.
"I am a super," he starts, skidding to a stop as he clenches his fists and grins, "hero!"
"What does every superhero need?"
The low voice—one that rumbles and scratches as if the owner is gargling gravel as they speak—sends chills up Leonardo's spine. He turns in slow circles, searching for the source with narrowed blue eyes.
His jaw clenches. "Who's there?" he demands.
"Dire Beaver!" A dark silhouette with purple eyes appears behind him. He turns around, but the creature is already gone, leaving behind only a rustling of disturbed air. "I'm everything you've ever feared in one convenient, horrifying package, and I'm gonna teach you something about pain!"
Leonardo sucks in a sharp breath and tries to face the voice, only to be greeted with a slash across the shell. He's flung into a tree with a gasp of pain, his head spinning and his skin starting to bead with nervous sweat as he tries to roll over and stand up. A giant purple beaver with massive claws and uneven buck teeth places a foot on his plastron, laughing maniacally as he holds the turtle down. Leonardo flails and struggles, his eyes wide and his breaths fast as he shoves against the beaver's foot to no avail.
Michelangelo pokes his tongue out a little as he draws all over Leonardo's face with a marker. The sleeping turtle doesn't stir even as the inked lines swirl over the ridge of his snout and lips.
"Man, he must've been tired," Raphael comments as he watches his brother scrawl his artistic genius across the canvas of Leonardo's face.
"He looks good, though," Michelangelo says, pulling away. He holds his marker upwards with his thumb, poking his tongue out and squinting one eye. "Handsome."
The area around Leonardo's mouth has a more human nose drawn on beneath his mask, along with arrows that point to his drawling, snoozing mouth. "Insert pizza here" is written around his agape mouth in rather neat handwriting, right next to the arrows.
"Nice work," Raphael says before cracking a yawn. "You know, I'm pretty tired myself. A little shut-eye wouldn't hurt anything, right?" He flops into the nearest armchair, looping his arms over themselves.
Michelangelo yawns. "Me too. Destiny is on watch, right?" Raphael gives him a positive grunt and he grins, leaning closer to his brother with his marker at the ready.
"Don't even think about it," Raphael says, eyes still shut.
Michelangelo squeaks and backs up, dropping the marker as he sits down in the other armchair. Another yawn stretches his freckled face and he curls up. "Naps are nature's...hugs," he mumbles.
Outside, Casey and April pull up to the house and park the van. Diaval stands up from beneath his tree and jogs over to the car as April and Casey start unloading groceries. Diaval gives them an expectant look and April hands him the box with the least breakable items as Casey hurries on ahead, wordless to either of them.
"Anything spicy?" Diaval asks April as he shuffles along after her towards the front steps.
"I got more chilli flakes for your tea, but that store was barren," April says with a sigh, shifting the box in her arms. Diaval trips up the stairs and she jams herself in front of him, catching him. She smiles a little bit. "You're the most clumsy person I've ever met, Diaval."
YOU ARE READING
Forest Mutation (Book Two)
Fanfiction"In Saskatchewan, when I couldn't fall asleep, I'd watch the moon and think about how across the country and over the border, you were probably out on a rooftop beneath the same moon. You were the first person I enjoyed the moon with. Every other ti...
