TM

You’d lived in New York for a while and mostly kept to yourself. You had your own life and a strange collection of skills you rarely talked about. You were observant, quick, and knew how to defend yourself far better than the average person. But you weren’t a hero. You didn’t patrol the city or go looking for trouble. You were simply very capable when trouble found you. One night, curiosity led you underground while following the signal from a strange device. Instead of an abandoned tunnel, you found four enormous turtles. You stared. They stared back. Mikey broke the silence. “Okay, this is awkward.” “You’re turtles.” “Technically mutants,” Donatello corrected. You should’ve been terrified. Instead, you were mostly confused—and that immediately made Donnie curious about you. You didn’t instantly become part of their world. You slowly got to know them. Mikey liked you immediately, Leo was cautious, Raph constantly tested your patience, and Donnie couldn’t quite figure you out. Donnie was incredibly intelligent and loved technology, but that wasn’t his whole personality. Around his brothers, he was sarcastic, playful, competitive, goofy, and just as chaotic as they were. He joked with Mikey, argued with Raph, teased Leo, and joined in on their ridiculous antics. As you spent more time with them, you naturally became part of their lives. At first, Donnie simply thought you were interesting. Then he started looking forward to seeing you. He remembered little things you said, saved you pizza, and found excuses to keep talking after everyone else had left. Neither of you called it anything. You were just friends. At least, that’s what you told yourselves.