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Michelangelo is, despite his constant goofing off and at times lazy behavior, still a highly trained ninja, so he notices when Dark Leonardo enters the room in spite of the fact that he's also deeply engrossed in his third favorite video game of the future: Super Smash: Zombie Invasion Raid!
"You're clearly the weakest link," Dark Leo growls, looking from the screen and down at Mikey with clear disapproval. "In the time I've been prisoner, I've never once seen you spar or even practice a single kata. How is that you've managed to defeat us in combat?"
Mikey can't help but wince a little as he pauses the game. "Dude, not cool. If anyone's the weakest link in our team, it's definitely not me. Besides," he adds with a cheeky grin, "you're looking at a turtle training right now!"
Dark Leo's sneer grows even deeper. "This isn't training," he scoffs. "You're just messing around like you always do."
On one hand, it kind of stings to be told that he's the weakest link of the team by someone, even if that person is just Dark Leo. But on the other hand, there's something oddly familiar about the dude's disapproving glare that keeps distracting him. He's seen this very same expression before; he just knows it.
But where?
"Video games aren't a waste of time," Mikey scoffs. "They're a great way to improve reaction times and finger dexterity, plus they can teach you how to be a better problem solver! And they do all this all while also being a ton of fun!"
"Training isn't supposed to be fun," Dark Leo retorts, and Mikey finally realizes why his expression seems so familiar: this is the same disapproving face the real Leo pulls whenever he's in Super Serious Leader Mode™ and happens to hears Mikey makes a hilarious wisecrack or joke. Dark Leonardo's right eye is crinkling in irritation just like his brother's does when he gets annoyed, and the way Dark Leo's frown tilts slightly to the left is also an exact imitation of the real deal. Sure, most of the details are warped, but the intent is still there.
It's kind of weird, seeing an faint echo of his brother in someone else's face, but at the same time, there's also something comforting about the familiarity.
"Who said that training can't be fun?" Mikey asks. "In fact, why don't you join me? This just so happens to be a two player game!"
Dark Leo still looks vaguely disapproving, but when Mikey offers him the second remote he takes it without protest. The control, which is already small compared to Mikey's hands, looks comedically tiny in Dark Leo's.
"Here, take a seat," Mikey offers, patting the couch cushion invitingly. "Take a load off your shell and relax, dude!"
Dark Leo glances dubiously at the couch for a couple seconds before he plunks himself down on the sofa, leaving a considerable amount of distance between them both. Which, to be honest, is just fine with Mikey.
"So," Dark Leo begins carefully, "what's the mission?"
"So, our characters are on a moon base, and it gets attacked by zombies, and we have to fight them off," Mikey explains. Really, the story's a lot more complicated than that, but he just wants to start playing again as soon as possible.
"Alright, I've added your remote to the system, which means you can now pick a character," Mikey explains, scrolling through the character's list.
Dark Leo considers the screen for several seconds before he selects a character.
"Good choice, dude. That's the Mysterious Man, and he's got psychic powers that he can use to zap zombies from a distance. My favorite character is Powerful Paul, cause he's the fastest and he has super punching powers. Okay, you ready? Let's begin!"
Level Start!
Their characters spawn in a small laboratory filled with zombies.
"Press B to shoot those dudes," Mikey instructs as he has Powerful Paul dropkick one of the undead into a nearby bookcase. Dark Leo aims and fires off a shot; the zombie collapses and then quickly vanishes in a puff of smoke.
"Nice shot!"
Between the two of them, the zombies are easily dispatched.
"Alright, now we can move onto the next room- look out, it's a mega zombie! Duck!"
Mikey's character ducks, but Dark Leonardo's character does not.
"Oh, I forgot to say that you need to press Q to jump."
Dark Leo has his character shoot the mega zombie, but this one, unlike the others, doesn't seem affected at all.
"This one's a lot stronger. I think we have to run, dude!"
As their characters sprint down the hallway, the mega-zombie remains in close pursuit.
"It's following us! We have to hide! Look for an air vent or something!"
They run into a crowd of smaller zombies. "Crud, we can't make it through!"
And then, the absolute worst happens: both of their characters collapse, and the screen turns dark.
LEVEL FAILED!
"Wanna try again?" Mikey asks.
Dark Leo doesn't let go of the controller, so Mikey takes that as a yes and restarts the level. When their characters respawn, they're in the same lab room as before- this time empty of any enemies.
"Okay, I think I see an air vent. Follow me. Oh, and press QR to crawl, and release it to stand back up."
"These air vents seem to be impractically large," Dark Leo scoffs.
"Awww, don't be such a hardass." Mikey teases. Without thinking, he reaches up and flicks the other turtle on the forehead.
The dude freezes for a second, and in that impossibly long moment Mikey thinks he's going to get mauled to death, but then Dark Leo says gruffly, "Are we going to just keep standing here or what?"
Mikey lets out a breath. "Nah, we can keep going. Watch out for the wobbling vents, otherwise you'll fall down."
They encounter a few smaller enemies along the way, but each one are easily dispatched with a single shot or punch.
Eventually, they reach a smaller door. "Okay, next is the chasm. I haven't been able to get past this area, so I have no clue what's next."
Now they're standing in a large room, a huge pit blocking them from the door on the other side.
"See those floating pipes? You can use them to cross. The platforms will shake when you land on it, and they're very slippery. oh! Sometimes zombies will fall from above, so you have to watch out for them too. Press B to grab onto things. Got it?"
Dark Leo nods.
Mikey starts leaping across each pipe, with Dark Leo's character close behind.
"Good skills, dude! Wha-"
Mikey's character slips, and Mikey furiously presses buttons as he clings to the pipes. "Shoot! Okay, keep going dude! Only one of us needs to make it to the end."
But instead of continuing forward, Dark Leo has his character reach down and pull Powerful Paul to relative safety.
"Thanks, dude!"
"Whatever."
Congratulations!
Level Complete!
"Fist bump!" Mikey cheers, holding up his fist in the usual celebratory gesture.
Dark Leo raises a brow. "Is this some sort of attack attempt? This seems rather pitiful, even by your standards."
"You don't know what a fist bump is?" Mikey asks. "Well, it's kind of easier to show than explain. Hold up your arm to my level, then curl your hand into a fist. Once I do the same, we bump our fists together. Then, as we both pull away, we shout 'WHOOSH!' Got it?"
"Hmph," Dark Leo grunts.
"Alright then, fist bump!" Mikey cheers.
"Fist bump," Dark Leo agrees, holding his fist out.
Per tradition, they bump their fists together.
"Great! Now we both pull away, and while we're doing that we say WHOOSH! Alright now...ready, set, WHOOSH!"
"Whoosh," Dark Leo intones flatly.
Mikey beams back. "Duuuudeee! You're becoming a real pro!"
And then Dark Leo actually smiles. A real smile too, not a mean or mocking one that comes from hurting people. It's a small one, and he can tell Dark Leo isn't even aware that he's smiling in the first place, but that only makes this moment seem much more important and genuine.
"So," Mikey says with a grin of his own, "wanna play the next level?"
"Hmph," Dark Leo scoffs. "Not like I have anything better to do."
"Awesome!" Mikey cheers.
When the Dark Turtles return from another failed mission, Darius rewards Dark Leonardo alone with meat. With Mikey's words about sharing still echoing in his mind, he splits the meal four ways.
"It's called sharing," Dark Leo explains to his confused brothers, not knowing if they'll ever do something similar for him in return, and surprisingly not caring one bit if they don't. "You should try it sometime."
"Pay attention, because I'm only going to say this once. There's an important move that I'm about to teach you, so just follow my lead," Dark Leo begins.
Dark Mikey eyes him suspiciously. "Is this some kind of trick? Because Purple already did something similar, and I ain't dumb enough to fall for the same prank twice...probably."
"This isn't a prank," Dark Leo groans. "Look, for once in your life can you trust me on this?"
His brother taps his chin thoughtfully several times with his unusually long tongue. "This is probably a trap, but....okay!"
Dark Leo rolls his eyes. "Alright, hold your hand in the air," he instructs. "Then, turn it into a fist."
Dark Mikey blanches. "Now I know for sure this is a trap! You want me to try and punch you in the face for some reason so you can get back at me for failing the last mission! Well, I may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid, so there's no way I'm-"
"There's not going to be any punching involved," Dark Leo interrupts, grabbing his startled brother's hand and manipulating it into a fist.
"Huh? What are you-"
"Now, watch closely," Dark Leo says, before carefully bumping their fists together. "This is a fist bump. You do it whenever something great happens. Got it?"
"And then what happens?"
"You pull your hand away and say WHOOSH. Got it?"
"Kind of? Sort of? Not really?"
Dark Leo lets out a long sigh. "Just try it on three. One...two...three!"
"Like this?" Dark Mikey asks as their fists bump.
"Exactly like that," Dark Leo agrees.
"And then you say whoosh?"
"Exactly."
"Whoosh!" Dark Mikey cheers, dancing wildly on the spot. "Whoosh!"
"Just like that," Dark Leo agrees. "Just like that."
And when his brother beams at him, the empty space in his chest that he hadn't even known existed up until this point begins to fill up with an unfamiliar yet still familiar sense of warmth.