Chapter Text
Leo always felt different from his brothers.
He was currently sitting on the sidelines as he watched his brothers train. He got done with training about 10 minutes ago but decided to sit and wait for his brothers to finish. He didn't have to wait, but he liked giving commentary to his brothers' training. This was a common sight. He could never explain why he could complete training so much faster than his brothers, only that he did.
"Come on, boys! Put your backs into it!" Leo yelled from the sidelines. He could see Raph, Mikey, and Donnie trying to copy a move their dad, Splinter showed them. "I can feel myself growing older waiting for you guys!"
"That's not helping, Leo!" Ralph shouted towards him. Out of all of them, Raph was probably having the most trouble. He just couldn't get the foot movements down. "Plus, why are you still here? You already got this move down in like, the third try!"
"Hey, it's not my fault I'm so skilled!" Leo brought his palms up as he shrugged his shoulders. He loved annoying his brothers as they continued to train. Definitely one of his top pastimes.
"It's not fair." Came a whine from the littlest turtle. Similarly to Raph, he also had trouble copying the movements. However, that was more due to his attention span. "How come you're so good at this?"
"Yes, I'd also like to know." Came the voice of his younger twin brother. While Donnie didn't have a lot of trouble doing these exercises, his performance tends to drop when away from his electronics for a prolonged period of time. A problem Donnie has because their dad forbids the use of technology during training. "I can feel myself start to develop hives from all this physical activity."
"Hey, if I knew, I'd tell ya!" He really would. He'd love to know why he's different from his brothers. He's optimized for battle, which is what he's learned so far. Everything that makes him different from his brothers makes him efficient in a fight. Strength, speed…violence.
Whenever he and his brothers would fight or spar, Leo would always know exactly where to strike and when. He hated how much he had to hold back against his brothers. Not because he wanted a tough fight, but because he knew he'd hurt them if he didn't. On some days, like today, he had to really put effort into holding back.
"Alright, boys." Leo's thoughts were, thankfully, interrupted as their dad, Splinter, got up from his chair. It was an old chair that they found in the dump and refurbished as well as Splinter's favorite chair. "That's enough for today. You all have progressed quite well for today. Plus, my show will be on in 30 minutes and you're blocking the TV!"
"Yes! Come on, guys. Let's go skateboarding!" Leo jumped up the moment Splinter dismissed them. "I saw a really good tunnel that we could ride through!"
"Sorry Leo, but Raph wants to get this move down before he goes skateboarding." Raph looked apologetic. He knew Leo was looking forward to this, but he needed to get this move down first. "I'll see if I can join you later."
"I also must take a rain check, Lee. I'm nearly done with the prototype of my tech-bo." There was a manic glint in his eyes that made Leo shudder.
"I swear, sometimes I think he's possessed by a demon," Leo muttered to Raph and Mikey, earning a small chuckle from the latter
"How about you, Miguel? You up for some skateboarding with your favorite brother?"
"But Donnie's not skateboarding with us." Mikey oh so innocently informed Leo. That statement hit Leo like a truck, devastating him.
"Wh-what? Donnie?! When did that happen!?" Leo quickly grabbed Donnie before he had a chance to escape. "What did you do!? How could you have taken my favorite sibling status from Mikey!"
Donnie tried getting away, but he couldn't get through Leo's iron grip. He has to admit, Leo could be pretty scary when he wanted to be. "W-who's to say…Guess he just realized how much cooler an older brother I am compared to you!
"He told me he'll make me a gas mask for spray painting if I said he was my favorite in front of you." Donnie flinched as Mikey ratted him out.
"You bribed him!?" Leo's iron grip turned into a steel one. "What kind of older brother bribes their innocent little brother!?"
"Right…innocent…" Judging by the evil smirk Mikey's currently giving him, he doesn't think 'innocent' is the correct term.
"Don't worry, Leo. I love all of you equally!" Mikey grabbed Leo, trying to drag him away, saving Donnie."Can we go now? I want to go skateboarding!"
"Oh, how could I say no to such an adorable face?" Leo let go of Donnie and allowed Mikey to drag him away. Before leaving, he made sure to grab Mikey's helmet and guards.
The walk to the tunnel was short but fun with Leo making sure Mikey's helmet and shin and wrist guards were on correctly. While he was upset that Donnie couldn't join and Raph would be joining later, he was glad that he had the opportunity to spend time with his baby brother. Mikey was special to him, to everyone. It was no secret that they had a special place in their heart for Mikey.
"Alright, little brother." As they reached the specific tunnel Leo and scoped out. It was a long, circular tunnel that stretched out for a little over a hundred feet. "I'm gonna show you how I get started then, once I'm done, I'll help you get started."
As the youngest, Mikey was still learning the basics of riding a skateboard. Unlike the rest of his brothers, who had to learn by themselves and YouTube videos, he got three older brothers to help him learn. "You watching, Mikey?"
With an enthusiastic 'Yeah!' from Mikey, he ran up the right side of the tunnel as high as he could. When he got as high as he could, he quickly brought the skateboard down and jumped on it. With the momentum he built, he rolled down the circular wall of the tunnel towards the opposite wall. He kept going as he went down the tunnel, giving himself more speed as he saw fit. Eventually he turned around and rode right back to Mikey. "Alright, Mikey! You ready to give it a try?"
"Yeah!" Mikey ran up to him with his skateboard in hand. With his help, he started to slowly ride through the tunnel. Leo let go of Mikey to let him ride through the tunnel. As Mikey rode off, he couldn't help but think of his interaction earlier with Donnie. He didn't mean to be that intense with Donnie. If it weren't Mikey stopping him, he feared he would've hurt him.
He got lost in thought as Mikey kept riding through the tunnel. Once he got to the end, he turned around to ride back to Leo. Seeing Leo so deep in thought, he had an idea. Out of everyone Mikey knew, Leo loved fighting the most and won nearly every fight between the brothers. With Leo distracted, Mikey took this as his opportunity to take him by surprise!
He sped up as he got closer and closer to Leo. As he reached a good enough speed, he bent down, waiting for when he's the perfect distance away. Mikey smiled as he finally got close enough and, with little effort, jumped from his board, directly on top of Leo. As he landed, the only thing he saw before falling unconscious was Leo's eyes. Unfocused and intense.
Leo didn't know what was happening. He was…fighting? Yeah, he was fighting. He didn't know why he was fighting but didn't really care. He loved to fight. Plus, it felt too good to stop, so why would he. He didn't know how long he was fighting for before he was suddenly punched and knocked onto the ground. What happened? Why was he stopped, he was having so much fun! He-
"What are you doing, Leo!"
What? Blinking his eyes a few times, he suddenly saw Raph, towering over him with his fists raised. His eyes were fierce and full of anger.
"W-what do you…mean…" Looking past Raph, he saw Mikey. Or rather, Mikey's unconscious and bloody body. "W-what happened…?"
"W-what happened? You happened! You were on top of Mikey, hurting him! I had to rip you off of him to get you to stop!"
"W-what?"