Transient | A ROTTMNT Future Story

on the same day

There it was. Fresh off the press, steaming as it exited its containment, dawning a luster shine, like a brand new sports car, was R.A.P.H., or Raphael's Automaton, Palliate Hero. The acronym was actually supposed to be a work in progress, as Donnie wasn't exactly the best at naming things on the spot. The knowledge of the decoded four letters were only known to him and him alone. It healed him in some way. Because he knew that their situation wasn't going to get better, and someday the prototype R.A.P.H. was going to have to be used. And maybe even the rough sketches of his other substitute mechanical brothers would have to be used, too. The thought of having to unwillingly exchange his fleshy brothers for a robotic family seemed like a dream in theory, but it made Donnie sick to his stomach the more and more he dwelled on the nightmarish daydream.

Behind him whistled Donnie's just barely older brother. Leo's voice was deeper than he last remembered. Then again, these last few years' memories tended to blur together in an incoherent wash of magenta.

"Wow, Donnie. Newest passion project?" There was a hint of excitement in Leo's voice, something that rarely occurred as of late. "Are we all gonna have mech suits like this one?"

Donnie drew the curtains in front of the Automaton, bitter at the unknowingly insensitive comment Leo just made.

"It's not a mech suit, idiot. It's a cybernetic organism. Plus, I don't want to make any more of them."

"Why not? Not enough scrap metal? I can always ask Raph to arrange the group to go scavenging again-"

"Leo!" Donnie flipped the infrared goggles off of his eyes. "Not everything can be solved with supply runs. I just can't replicate it."

"...science block?" Leo cocked his head to the side, trying to meet his brother's gaze.

"Yeah. Whatever that is, I guess I have that." Donnie ran his fingers over his chin, soothing the itchy spot that had just inconveniently formed. "Though I'm pretty sure you just made that phrase up."

"Nuh uh." Leo wagged his index finger in the air in an ironic matter. "It's like writer's block, but for super mega nerds."

The sheer insult that was just delivered to Donatello was so incredibly childish and bizarre that it managed a small snort from yours truly. "You're so stupid."

Leo mocked a female curtsey, daintily raising his invisible skirt for his feet to move. "Thank you, I try."

"Okay, now get out."

"What!? So soon? I just got here!"

Donnie rapped his digits against the violet clipboard in between his grasp. "Unless you wanna help troubleshoot this thing. And I mean that literally. It will have trouble shooting the weapons I had installed in it."

Leo held his hands up defensively and slowly began to back up from Donnie. "Nooo thank you. I like being intact."

Donnie put his goggles back on and went to work on the more miniscule details. At last, Donnie had his makeshift lab all to himself...for about thirty seconds. The swooshing of curtains moving sounded behind him. Just as he was writing instructions on how to use R.A.P.H. on his tablet, too.

"What!" Donnie yelled exasperatedly, almost throwing his goggles off of his face.

"Happy bird-day!" A small child with voluminous short black hair waddled into the laboratory, running to greet his surrogate uncle.

Donnie sighed, internally chastising himself for losing his cool so easily. "Sorry, Casey. Thank you." Donnie grunted as he scooped the hefty toddler into his arms. "You little punk. Did Leo put you up to this?"