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"Adrenaline rush! Wooh!" Leon cheers as he bounds out of the portal, arms thrown out as he spins on one foot. "Tiger Whip didn't even see that coming! Eye sure didn't!"
"He's no Tiger Claw, but the removable stripes are certainly something." Leo contemplates as he steps out of the portal behind him, unbothered when Michael shoves past him to bound to Leon's side. "How many puns do you have in you, anyway?"
Don groans as his counterpart and Mikey enter through the portal behind them. Leon slings an arm around his younger brother's shoulder and raises a hand in flourish. "Let me see..."
"It's truly sad, watching how much he struggles. No vision." Donald remarks with mock sympathy. "He truly thinks he's funny."
"The eye-rony isn't lost on me." Donnie agrees solemnly. Mikey giggles, and Donald grins at the aghast expression on his twin's expression, "Agreed. He's too cornea."
"Great. Now there's three of them." Raph grumbles as he slumps through the portal, disappointed at how quick the battle was. "Because we needed more Leons."
"There can only be one Leon!" Leon corrects as Raphael walks through. He dramatically stomps over to the geniuses as the portal closes behind them. "Back off the puns, eggheads! That's my thing!"
"Steal your puns from you?" Don puts a hand over his heart. "Eye would never!"
The room breaks into various levels of snickers and the twins exchange smirks. Kicking out a leg and falling onto it in a lazy walk, Leon feigns indignation. "Anyway~ Now that we're all here- we should celebrate!"
"Celebrate?" Mikey repeats hopefully.
"We beat our new crazed Foot leader in our first proper team up and no one was critically injured! And we all know what that means!"
"It's time to find somewhere with peace and quiet to mediatate upon the battle and contemplate how to better ourselves come the next?" Leo muses with an expression that Leon finds concerningly sincere.
"Ew." He wrinkles his beak, and Donald agrees, "That's for too dull for this series. We'll lose viewership."
Donnie blinks and he raises a finger as if to question it, but Leon throws out both hands, practically slamming him in the mouth. He steps back as the younger leader in blue proclaims, "Dance partayyy!"
"HECK YEAH!" Michael vibrates with enthusiasm as Raphael invites, "You guys are welcome to hang out and join us. Nothing like celebratory disco time to make a mission worth it!"
All the brothers' heads snap towards Leo and their sensei raises an eye ridge at Raph. The hothead only shrugs. "It's not a terrible idea."
The eldest shakes his head fondly. "You guys can stay if you want, but I'm going to head back."
"That's Leo for you." Raph grumbled. "Would rather take a sensei nap than hang out at a party."
"I could change my mind and begin a team training session." Leo crosses his arms. "What do you think?"
Donnie dives forward to clamp his hands over Raph's mouth as Mikey dashes in front of them, waving both arms frantically to attract attention away from the hothead. "Have fun meditating, we'll miss you loads, byyeeee!"
Leo chuckles and turns to head into Donald's lab, but he's intercepted by an insistent Leon. "No, no, no! I cannot let this stand! You gotta loosen up! There's gonna be a disco ball! Sodas! Pizza! We're celebrating!"
Donald looks up from his gauntlet. "Wait. I never said you could use my disco."
He is easily ignored. Michael grabs Leo's arms to spin him towards him, importantly insisting, "You gotta stress relieve, man. It's good for you! Join us!"
"Training and meditating is how I stress relieve." Leo replies, used to their boisterous natures by then. "Besides, it's necessary. Can't be a sensei without commitment and dedication."
"You're not a sensei! You're a teen!" Leon dramatically groans out the message that they've been trying to press into his head for days.
"You guys aren't going to change his mind." Donnie reports from where he is examining the line in the ground, looking over at the smug Donald and questioning, "There are really speakers down there? How-?"
"What he said." Leo steps around them. "I'm stubborn like that."
"He can out-stubborn a mule any day." Raph grumbles from where he leans on his counterparts side, something that they were learning was a show of trust and affection from him, similar to a tackle-hug from any of them.
"So we don't change his mind. We compromise!" Michael claps his hands together importantly. "You like training, right? Movement to unwind? That's exactly what dancing is!"
Leo stares at him as if he'd grown two heads. "Did you just compare the sacred, perfected art of ninjitsu to dancing?"
"If you think about it, they're pretty much the same!"
Leo opens his mouth, seems to think better of it, and the firmly states, "I don't dance."
"You used to." Mikey reminds, his subtle disappointment unnoticed by the sensei in blue, who only sighs and adds, "I don't dance anymore."
"What!?" Leon demands with dawning horror. "How do you keep up with the trends?!"
Raph snorts and Leo quirks an eye ridge. "I have more important things to do with my time than keep up with human trends that change weekly. Speaking of..."
He steps forward, lifting his arm when Michael goes to snatch it again, and fluidly moving around Leon as if he didn't just throw his entire body into keeping him from leaving. Leon watches him give a backward farewell wave over his head, noticing the older siblings that were pretending not to be interested in the conversation faces fall.
Michael shrugs with a frown. "Not much Dr. Feelings can do there. It's not a terrible coping method for a ninja."
"But that sensei thing..." Raphael trails off and Dr. Feelings nods.
"I OBJECT!" Leon cries out as he whirls around to point at his unimpressed twin. "Don. Mic me."
"You assume I carry around a microphone-"
"Life or death, Donnie! The fate of the mood is in your hands!"
A moment of pause, and then a microphone flies into his awaiting hand. A subtle tune pulsates through the room, and Leo pauses to glance over his shoulder when Leon sings his name into the mic, somehow in perfect harmony with the beat.
A smirk taking precedence over his features now that all eyes are on him, Leon approaches his fellow leader in blue. "How about we try this again?"
Leo stares. Raph facepalms. "He is not about to sing."
"What else would he want the mic for?"
"Hey, oh, come on!"
"Where is that even coming from?"
"Are there speakers in the walls too!?"
"Hey, hey, oh."
"He just tossed the mic- how is his voice registering-?!"
"Shhhh! Let's see where this goes!"
"Hey, ninja, ninja. Hey, ninja, ninja move!"
"What are these lyrics."
"He's improvising. You think making up lyrics on the fly is easy?"
"Shshshshsh!"
Leon stops in front of Leo, leaning into his personal bubble. "I've got to just do my thing."
He gestures the mic behind him, and Michael eagerly sings out, "Hey, ninja, ninja." Mikey isn't far behind. "Hey ninja, ninja move!"
"They aren't even close to any sort of microphone, how-?!"
"Donnie!"
"Yeah~" Leon hums as he leaves a flustered Leo's personal space. "I'll show you that it's one and the same. 'Jutizu, dancing, same game. It's easy!"
Both eyeridges fly up as Leon moonwalks away from him, doing a swift spin and then winking, arms crossed. "Give it a shot. Start movin'!"
"I'm gonna train hard now, that's all. This is what I do." A clearly amused Leo copies the stature, leaning a bit and crossing his arms. "It ain't no dance that you can show me." He mimics the smirk as he taunts. "Yeah~"
Leon closes the distance between them, opening his arms in invitation. "You'll never know."
Leo rolls his eyes, "Oh, I know."
"If you never try."
Leo shakes his head, allowing the smug posture to drop as he turns. "There's just one little thing, that stops me every time."
"Yeah~!" A blue portal appears underneath him before he's preparing to move, and then he's dropping back in the middle of the brothers. It disappears, and then Leon flips out of a new portal in front of him with a joyous, "Come on!"
Leo regains his balance. "I don't dance."
Leon pokes his plastron. "I know you can."
Leo swats his hand away. "Not a chance, no."
"If I could do this!" Leon backflips and then twirls in the air, landing on both feet and pointing at him in a swift, taunting gesture. "Well, you could do that."
Leo doesn't go for the bait. "But I don't dance."
Michael bounds up beside him, taking the mic as it flies towards him. "Knock it out of the park!"
"I don't dance."
Michael grins. "I say you can."
Leo waves the suggestion away. "There's not a chance, oh."
Leon drops out of a portal above him and Leo is ready, ducking before he can grab him and rolling to get out of his way, smoothing flipping onto his feet, all in an unconscious beat with the music.
Donnie and Mikey exchange interested looks, donning smiles as Michael narrates, "Ducks low, flipped high, grooving on the dance floor!"
Realizing what he'd done, Leo unnecessarily dusts off his plastron and huffs, "I don't dance, no."
"Hey, ninja, ninja. Hey, ninja, ninja, move!" Mikey and Donnie call out as they begin clapping to the beat, an excitement lurking underneath the tease.
Leo flushes a bit and Leon approaches him, taking an impromptu bow, the mic once more in hand. "I've got to just do my thing."
"Hey, ninja, ninja. Hey, ninja, ninja, move!" Raphael and Michael join the chorus, as Raph and Don nod their heads to the beat, both bad-boys pretending to be uninterested in the events taking place.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah~" Leon preforms a rapid motion that the leader can barely catch, sliding up to him before the leader realizes that his personal space has been invaded once more. He brings the mic to his mouth with a confident grin. "Two-steppin, time to bust a move. Music flowing, do your dance. It's easy!"
He slides back, giving him room. "Take your best shot, just feel it!"
"I've got what it takes. Doing my thing." Leo jutts his chin importantly, not about to let his tricky counterpart win. "So you better give up now. Not gonna sway me, yeah. It's not how I do."
Leon is not to be dismayed. "You'll never know!"
"Oh, I know."
Raphael and Michael chime in. "If you never try!"
"There's just one little thing." Raph mocks, earning a side-glare from the leader. "That stops him every time, yeah."
Mikey pops up at his side, grappling on his arm. "Come on!"
Leo politely shakes him off. "I don't dance."
Donnie scoffs. "We know you can."
It's more than obvious that no one is on his side. "Not a chance, no, no!"
Michael dives for Mikey and Mikey meets him head on, their hands locking as Mikey smoothly tosses the younger counterpart into the air, where he completes several flips, landing on Donald’s hovercompartment as he flies by.
Still on his feet as he's taken back to the ground, Michael encourages, "If I could do this, well, you could do that!"
"But I don't dance."
Leon resumes his power stance. "Knock it out of the park!"
"I don't dance!"
"I say you can."
"There's not a chance, oh no."
Their faces are so close that they're practically butting heads, and Leo challenges, "Not so useful, swinging on the dance floor." He turns away. "I. Don't. Dance. No!"
"Lean back, tuck it in, take a chance." Everyone spins to face Donald as he steps forward with a second mic, giving them an unimpressed look that taunts, 'what? You thought I didn't have a second microphone?'. "Swing it out, spin around, do the dance."
Leo frowns because the entire room is officially plotting against him. "I want a dojo, not dance hall. Hone the mind, not a curtain call."
Thrumming with new enthusiasm at his twin's support, Leon pulls out his odachi, spinning it his hands. "I can prove it to you til you know it's true. 'Cause I can swing it, I can bring it to the dojo too!"
Leo's expression relaxes with interest, and he removes his katanas, the siblings stepping back so their brothers in blue have space. Leo slips into a defensive stance, a small grin badly hidden. "You're talkin a lot, show me what you got."
Donald lifts the mic. "And, fight!"
"Heyyyy!" Leon dives for Leo and the elder in blue swerves to the side, aiming to knock the swords from his hands, only for Leon to expertly side-step his advances, never straying from matching the beat.
"Come on, do it like this!" He twirls, darting to the side and then playfully knocking Leo in the side, almost catching him off balance. Leo recovers quick and then swipes his swords, forcing Leon to pause in his moves to catch them.
He grins, but Leon smirks back. "Ooh, move!"
Leon abruptly bails, and Leo catches onto the pattern he's moving in now. He obeys the instinct to follow it, only partially aware that his steps now matched the beat as well. Leon leads him on, and Leo has to admit that it's actually fun to lose himself to the music, smoothly striking and being deflected by his fellows swordsman. "Jitterbug, just like that!"
He can't help the smile that form when Leon lunges and he twirls, moving out of the way in flourish, listening to the cheers as his mask tails flutter on his shoulder.
Don dabs and Leon squeals, "That's what I mean! That's how you move!"
Leo puts away his swords, playfully teasing. "You make a good point, but I don't groove."
Leon steps forward, slipping his odachi into its sheath. "I say you can."
"I know I can't." Leo taunts with a spin that counteracts his statement, winking at his youngest brother when he spots how big his grin is. "I don't dance."
Mikey accepts it as a invitation, unable to contain himself any longer, and slides to his side, knocking his hip into his older brother's.
Leo takes it in stride, ready when Mikey tackles him, both arms on his shoulder and feet on his plastron. He allows them to fall, Mikey ducking into his shell as they go. He tosses him into the air before his carapace hits the ground. The shell landing on his feet, and he spins it as if running, increasing speed before bringing his knees to his chest and tossing him once more.
He jumps to a crouch as his little brother's carapace knocks against the ground, spinning in a blur before slowing and releasing a giggling mess of a ninja turtle.
Leon smirks triumphantly. "You can do it!"
Leo gets to his feet, dusting off his hands. "I don't dance. No."
"Nothing to it." Raphael beams as Michael squeals, "Atta boy, atta boy, yeah!"
Leon puts a hand to his ear, "Hey, ninja, ninja. Hey ninja, ninja- what?"
Everyone is taken by surprise as the floor rumbles, two large speakers rising from the ground as the lights go out, a disco ball decorating the room with flashing colors. Satisfied with his new sense of control, Donald lands on the top of one of his speakers and shouts, "One, two, three, four, everybody move!"
Donnie appears at Leo's side and Raph helps their dizzy brother to his feet. The genius holds out a hand. "Come on!"
Leo raises an eye ridge. "I don't dance."
Donnie's gaze turns pleading. "I know you can."
"Not a chance." Leo takes his hand as Raph mocks, "No, no."
Donnie grins and pulls away, completing a fluid flow of moves that the leader's calculating gaze could just barely follow. He ends by grabbing Leo's hand and spinning the both of them, the abrupt momentum almost knocking them to the floor.
They manage to balance themselves out, and then an undeniably giddy Donnie steps back with a flourish wave. "If I could do this, well, you could do that!"
Leo steps back, readying to put his smug younger brother in his place. "But I don't dance."
He begins completing the routine with rigor, the music influencing him to add some steps of his own. He grabs his younger brother into the spin, leaving him panting by the end, but the glow on both youngest brothers' faces are so very worth it.
He turns to the final brother as Michael cheers. "Knocked it out of the park!"
Leo steps up to Raph, who cockily challenges. "I don't dance."
Leo can't help the laugh. "I say you can."
Raph flicks his forehead. "There's not a chance, oh."
Leo crosses into his personal bubble, whispering, "Gave in, gave up, loser on the dance floor."
Raph's grin turns malicious. "I don't dance, no."
He tackles the leader to the ground and Leo is prepared to account for the fall, tossing him to the side and bouncing back to his feet. The following dance is similar to the one Leon put him in, but their actions were in perfect sync, a blow never landing, and the moves never breaking beat. The eldest brothers circle each other, diving in and out, spinning, flipping, and tossing one another in a few minutes that seem to stretch on for thrilling hours.
Donnie and Mikey pump their fists in the air and cheer over the music, and the younger versions of them watch with dilated eyes, a sort of awe in their expression. Even Donald leaves his perch to get a closer look.
Then Leo missteps, and his brothers instinctively dart forward to catch him, only for the leader to crash into all three of them, knocking them to the floor. The lights come on as startled turtles leer over them to make sure they're all right. Leo rolls over, intending to apologize when he realizes that none of his brothers look remotely upset.
He smirks. "I told you I don't dance."
Nonsensical, uncontrollable laughter breaks out and Leo can't help but be pulled into it, surrounded by a music that was far better than any beat that any creature could create. They're wheezing when the laughter tampers off, and Leo sits up, wiping at his teary eyes.
The other turtles were on the floor too, Michael on his side, trapping in a fit of giggles and hiccups. The brothers appear unconcerned, so Leo assumes that it's normal. Leon's ego is sure to have swollen three times it's size by the smirk engraved on his face, but Leo decides that he can live with that.
He smiles, his cheeks a bit sore. "Thank you."
"As if I was going to stand by and let another universe make me boring." Leon scoffed as he tosses his mask tails behind his head. "Puu-lease."
"Right." He replies dryly as his brother sit up behind him. "You know, I'm reasonably certain I was promised drinks and pizza."
"Pizza is on it's way." Donald supplies as he scrolls his phone, bobbing his head in tune with the new beat flowing though their background.
Raphael jumps to his feet eagerly. "I got drinks! And chips!"
"Cookies!" Michael pleads as he pumps all limbs into the air. He hiccups and Raph lifts him up, taking him onto his back. "Let's get you some water, lil' man."
"Cookies, and marshmallows, and chocolate, and whipped cream! Can't forget the whipped cream!" Mikey requests, "Oh, oh, oh! And gummy worms!"
"Checking the kitchen for all junkfood!" Raphael proclaims, knocking his fist into his upper plastron. "Raph's got it!"
"Flavorless juice, please and thank you." Don calls to Raphael's back, getting to his feet. "Now, are we going to earn our thirst or what? As head DJ-"
"Who made you head DJ?!" Leon all but screeches.
"They're my speakers!"
"My idea!"
"My disco ball!"
"My idea!"
"My- give me my phone!"
Donald wrathfully shoots after the cackling Leon and Leo feels arms wrap around his shell, a content Mikey resting his chin on his shoulder. "I'm glad Leon convinced you to stay."
"Unorthodox methods, but effective."
"Can't believe it took all that."
"Our loving bros agree." Mikey hums. A moment of quiet as Leon and Don wrestle on the floor, listening to their cries of frustration, amusement, pride, and squawks of indignancy with insults thrown about.
Mikey leans his head against Leo's. "We should do this more often."
Leo leans back. "Dance?"
"Just... Celebrate." Mikey admits. "We deserve it. We gotta lot to be thankful for."
"Like being alive." Donnie mutters, seconded by Raph's grumbled, "I'll say."
"If we're doing one for each mission... We're way past due on parties."
"...You think you could make us a disco ball?"
A scoff. "Please."
Leo places a hand over Mikey's, speaking up so their brothers could hear him. "I won't make any promises, but... I think that's not a half-bad idea."
"I think he's actually considering it."
"We should have Leon sing at him more often."
Leo rolls his eyes and Raphael enters the room with an arm full of food, Michael now happily placed on his shoulder. "We got the goods!"
Leon tosses to phone to the side and Don lunges for it, plastron sliding on the floor as he reaches it before it hits the ground. Leon dives over to the table that Raphael and Michael are setting food on and announces, "Then let's get this party restarted!"
Leo's brothers look at him as he has Mikey release him. He stands and crosses his arms, smirking down at them, blue eyes shining mischievously. "Well?"
Blank faces stare back. His grin widens.
"May I have this dance?"