TMNT- T-tots - Broken Toys

Donnie sat quietly in the living room, tinkering away on the latest broken toy his little brother Mikey brought to his attention. He was beginning to think it was Mikey himself breaking all the toys. He looked at all the different pieces he had to put back together, and without a diagram and number stickers. It was a test of logic. And Donnie loved logic games. He noticed each piece individually, paying close attention to the edges and how they would fit in with each other. He started trying to fit pieces together, like it was a puzzle. A puzzle with no completed version to reference.

Raph was, for once, sitting quietly in his room, "reading" an old comic book. He couldn't read just yet, he was only three after all, but he enjoyed looking at the pictures. Peace and quiet. That is, until Leo decided to pop in. "Hey, Raphie." Leo said, smiling. Raph sighed and looked up from his comic book, irritated. "I told you not to call me that! I'm reading, go away." He stated, shrugging Leo off. Leo's smile quickly turned into a face of anger and annoyance. "You're not reading it, you can't even READ!" He yelled. "Whatever Leo, who asked you anyways, ya big dummy!" Raph said angrily. Splinter was attempting to meditate when he heard his two eldest sons arguing. "Raphael! Do not insult your brother. I hope this is the final time I need to speak with you today." Splinter scolded, leaving the room. And with that, Leo blew a quick raspberry and skipped off. Raph would've normally fought back, but seeing as he was already on thin ice, he decided not to. It didn't change the fact that he was still VERY irritated. "I lost my place in my comic book now!" He yelled, stomping out of his room and into the living room, where the makeshift punching bag sat. He began pummeling it angrily, grunting loudly and muttering to himself; ignoring the fact that Donnie was sitting there attempting to concentrate on something.

Startled, Donnie dropped the pieces that he was holding in his hands when Raph stormed into the room. Raph was clearly angry about something, but Donnie didn't really care what. He just wanted to finish fixing the toy so he could go on to fix the next toy Mikey will break. He lost his concentration quickly as Raph beat away at the bag of beans suspended by a fishing pole. "Raph, please. Could you be a little quieter. I'm trying to work over here." Donnie explained nicely, despite being very annoyed that Raph was so inconsiderate. Hoping that Raph would respect his small request, he picked up the two pieces he dropped before and tried to fit them back together.

Raph quickly turned around angrily. "How about.. NO!" He yelled. He was already mad enough that Leo bothered him and made him lose his place in his comic book, and now when he wanted to pound it out; Donnie wanted to stop him. NOW he wanted a fight. Raph quickly tackled his brother, knocking him AND the toy he was attempting to the floor.

Donnie was, at first, confused. He didn't do anything wrong. He just told him to quiet down a bit. And now he was being attacked. None of made sense to the young Donnie. He tried to fight back, but he wasn't in a very aggressive mood, where Raph was always aggressive. "Raph, stop. Let me go! You're hurting me!" Donnie complained, trying to fight his way out from underneath Raph. He pushed against Raph's plastron and kicked his legs, hoping it would help even a little bit. But nothing worked. Raph wasn't going to give up.

Donnie quickly got up and hid behind his father, "He started it, sensei." Donnie cried, using his father’s robe to wipe his tears. "He just attacked me for no reason." He sobbed. Splinter picked up Donnie to examine the bruises and bite marks. Nothing was bleeding, but Donnie was sure to have some ugly black-and-blues forming in the next couple days. "Run along, Donatello. I will deal with Raphael's actions." Splinter smiled at Donnie. Donnie collected the broken pieces of the toy and ran off to his room to finish putting it together.

"Raphael." Splinter scolded. "I told you only 10 minutes ago to behave. You have disobeyed me again. I'm afraid I have no choice but to punish you." He grabbed Raphael's wrist and dragged him to the training dojo. "100 flips. Now." Splinter demanded.

This is so unfair! Raph thought to himself. Could this day get ANY worse for him? Great, now he had to do a whole 100 flips. For a minute he stood there, looking down at the floor with his arms crossed over his plastron. Then, with a wave of bravery, he decided to stand up for himself. "B-But Sensei! I was just hitting the punching bag! It’s not my fault he can't deal with noise!" He said angrily.

"Violence is never the answer, Raphael. There is never a reason to attack one of your brothers." Splinter smiled at Raph's attempt to defend himself. "Donatello was trying to concentrate, and your noise was distracting. There are much quieter ways to deal with anger." He explained. "I'll make a deal with you...you promise me you will never attack your brothers again, and I'll make your punishment 75 flips." He wagered. "Sound fair?"

Raph pouted, but didn't force the issue; he knew that earn him MUCH more than 75. He sighed deeply, then looked up at his father. "I promise.. Do I hafta do 'em all now?" He asked, really not wanting to have to do 75 flips.

Splinter chuckled a bit, remembering that Raph was only three years old. "No, Raphael. You may do 25 now, 25 after supper, and 25 before bed if you would like." He pet the small turtle on the head, seeing the relief in the young one.

Raph sighed heavily. He was glad Splinter wouldn't make him do them all at once. He nodded, looking up at his father. "Alright!" He said. Although he wasn't happy that it was punishment, Raph was happy to show off his skill. He did the 25 flips with ease, only stumbling on a few. For a three year old turtle, his training was already very obviously paying off.

Splinter watched as Raph did his flips. He could tell that, though he didn't enjoy doing flips, he enjoyed showing off. "Well done, Raphael." Splinter congratulated him after he finished. "Now there is one more thing I want you to do before you go off and play again." Splinter stood up and went over to Raph, who seemed a little disoriented from all the flipping.

Raph steadied himself, though he did sway a bit. "Hm?" He asked, wondering what more he had to do.

Splinter saw the worry in Raph's eyes. He thought it would be another laborious activity. "I want you to go apologize to Donatello. You could have really hurt him today." Splinter watched as Raph's previously firm posture awaiting the next punishment slipped into one of more ease. "You are much stronger than he is, Raphael. You must always remember that."

Raph nodded. "Okay." He said. Sometimes his anger simply got the best of him, and it would slip his mind that he was much stronger than his brothers. And with that, he set off to go find Donnie. "Donnie!" He yelled, looking for his purple-clad brother.

Donnie heard his name through the thin station walls and peeked his head out of his door, "Are you looking for me, Raph?" He asked, watching Raph run around the hallways.

Raph looked over at the sound of his brother's voice. "Yeah." He walked over to him, a slouch in his step. "Hey, I'm sorry." Though he’d never admit it, he truly was sorry for the way he acted earlier. He looked down at the ground as he spoke, trying to avoid eye contact, fearing the anger Donnie’s eyes would hold.

In all of his very few years, Donnie had never heard a more sincere apology from his hothead stuck-up brother. He stepped out from behind the door and into the hallway, smiling a little and looking at the bruises on his arms and legs. They would heal with time, he figured. Nothing to hold a grudge over. It wasn’t the first time he had been hurt and he guaranteed that it wouldn’t be the last. "It's okay, Raph. I'm sorry for annoying you." He gave Raph a light punch on the shoulder. Something brothers do, he guessed. The people on TV did it all the time.

Raph nodded. "It's ok." He replied smiling. If it weren’t for his hothead tough guy reputation, he would have tackled Donnie to the floor again, only this time, showing his brotherly affection with warm encasing hugs.

Donnie smiled and pulled Raph into his room to show him the toy, "Look. I fixed it." He grinned proudly showing Raph the toy all put together.

Raph had to admit, it was impressive. Donnie had put it together and it looked better than brand new. Knowing Mikey, it'd be broken again in a week, but it was still cool. "That's awesome!" Raph said, grinning at his brother.

Donnie smiled, showing off the gap in his teeth. "Thanks," His voice dripped with pride. He gave the toy to Raph, "Do you wanna try it out?" he blushed a little bit, bonding with the brother he feared only a little while ago.

Raph was a bit surprised. Considering he had attacked him and destroyed his progress a little while ago, he was surprised Donnie would let him use it. He held it, then looked up at Donnie and grinned. "Why don't we BOTH try it out?" He asked, smiling determinedly.

Donnie smiled, "Okay." He put a hand on the toy and held it with Raph.

After testing out the toy, Donnie and Raph decided they should give it back to Mikey. "Here ya go, Mikey. Donnie fixed it for ya." Raph stated, handing him the toy. "Coooooooollll! Thanks Donnie!" Mikey said, and disappeared into his room to play with the repaired toy.

Awkwardly, Donnie put his hand behind his head and grinned sheepishly. He was happy that Mikey was happy. "Well, I'll see you later then..." Donnie rubbed his toes on the floor and turned back to go to his room.

Finally, Raph couldn't help it. Donnie was just being too nice. He looked around, and sure enough, the coast was clear. He ran up behind Donnie and gave him a hug, and without saying another word, he ran quickly to his room.

Taken by surprise, Donnie stopped walking and turned around to face his attacker. He saw as Raph dashed back to his room and closed the door behind him. Embarrassed, he bit his lower lip. "Heh, love you too, Raph." he whispered and shook his head at his brothers cowardly retreat. He smiled and went back to his own room.