Alright, y'all! I wrote this over the summer, (for Christmas in July) but I wanted to wait and post it when it got cold. It was FREEZING today, so I'm going to post it! Leave a review, criticism, comment, anything! Enjoy! Oh, the title. It isn't really torture; that's what my friends and I call just dares. Sorry if that confused anyone!

Turtles, Torture, Tricks, and Tongues

"Do not forget your scarves!" Splinter called out to his four sons as they raced out of the lair. "It can get very chilly in the sewers this time of year!"

"Hai, Sensei!" Leonardo was the only turtle to respond. He glanced over his shoulder with a huge grin as he disappeared around the bend. "Bye, Sensei!"

Splinter sighed, "They grow up so fast!" To him, it seemed like just yesterday he was having to scavenge for old, wooly scarves and coats for his young tots. He was left alone, in the lair and in his memories.

"Did ya really get your scarf?" Raph scoffed as Leo hurried to catch up with them.

"Of course!" Leo replied. "It's cold out here!"

"Captain Ryan doesn't wear a scarf!" Mikey pointed out.

"AND space is freezing!" Donnie added, exchanging smirks with Raph.

"I, uh, well-" Leo hurriedly ripped off his old faded navy scarf off of his neck and shoved it into his coat pocket.

Raph let out a snort. "Nice going, Leo." He shook his head in mock shame, and Leo flashed him a grin.

"Anytime, bro!" Leo retorted mockingly, rolling his light blue eyes.

"Hate to break up y'all's little 'flirt' fest," Donnie smirked as Leo's face paled, and Raph's face grew greener than normal; "But where exactly are we going? We can't go to the surface yet; it's only 2:00!"

"How the heck should I know?" Raph snarled, peeved from Donnie's suggestive comment. Donnie turned his gaze to Mikey.

"Don't look at me!" The orange clad turtle shrugged. "I don't have the swords anymore!" Leo rolled his eyes, and Raph smacked the back of his head. "Ow! Hey!" Donnie winced at the sound of Raph's hand on Mikey's head. He knew hitting your head caused you to lose brain cells... Who knew how many Mikey had left!

Mikey still hadn't grasped the concept that even though they had switched weapons on Splinter's orders, doesn't mean that he was the new leader. Even though he lucked out with Leo's katanas, he still wasn't leader. Nobody would WANT him for leader!

"Hey... Do you guys remember that old, abandoned subway station that Splinter showed us? We used it as a skateboard rink!" Leo suggested. "That could be fun!"

"I'm in!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Fine by me," Donnie added. The blue, purple, and orange clad turtles turned to gaze at their hotheaded brother.

Raph shrugged. "Whatever."

Leo nodded and gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, does anyone remember where it is?"

Half an hour and 17 wrong turns later, the turtles managed to stumble upon their old skateboard rink.

"Finally!" Raph snarled, stalking into the huge room.

"I'm with ya there, bro!" Donnie glared at Leo as he went and stood beside his red clad brother.

"Hey! Not my fault! All the tunnels look the same!" Leo protested. Donnie didn't bother with a response, so the boys stood around in a awkward silence.

"ABRAHAM LINCOLN!" Mikey suddenly screamed, causing Leo and Donnie to jump. Even Raph looked up in alarm.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Raph spat.

"April said that whenever there's an awkward silence, someone is always thinking of Abraham Lincoln!"

"Do you even KNOW who Abraham Lincoln is?" Donnie questioned scornfully.

"Of course I do, bro! He was a... a... guy!"

"Nice recovery," Raph sneered.

"Thanks, Raph!" Mikey replied genuinely. Raph's sarcasm flew straight over his head.

"So what are we going to do? I mean, we've got the place, now we just need a game!" Donnie wondered out loud. Leo, Raph and Mikey exchanged blank glances.

"Skateboard?" Leo asked. Mikey waved the idea away with a flick of his hand.

"Nah. I left my board at home."

"Well, I for one am not just going to stand around!" Raph growled. "Come on already!"

"What about torture?" Donnie wondered out loud.

That caught Raph's attention.

"Torture?" Raph grinned sadistically. "I'm listening!" He sneered at Mikey, who gulped and hid behind Leo. You could just see the tips of his orange bandana tails over Leo's arm.

"No, it's like truth or dare," Donnie's explanation was interrupted by a loud groan from the violent turtle. "But it's just dares. No truths."

"AWESOME!" Mikey jumped up. "I'm in! Let's play that game!"

"Why not?" Raph rolled his eyes. "Better than dying of boredom, I suppose."

The turtles walked over to the last remaining and rusty bench. When they were tots, all four of them could fit on it, but now only three could. Mikey dashed over there first, forcing the remaining three to begin pushing and shoving each other to not be the one on the ground.

Raph was the last, but he shot Donnie a death glare so powerful that instantly the purple wearing turtle hopped down onto the ground in front of his brothers.

"Come on!" He whined, but at another glare from Raph he piped down.

"Who wants to start?" Leo quizzed.

"OOH! ME! ME! PICK ME!" Mikey jumped up and down in excitement, and Donnie quickly stole his seat while he was in the air. Raph fist pumped Donnie and exchanged a smug look.

"Thanks. He was getting on my nerves."

"Mine, too." Donnie grinned at his temperamental brother in a fleeting moment of brotherly love.

"Why not? Mikey, just go." Leo ended the bouncing by giving the youngest the all clear.

"Okay... Donnie!" Mikey's devilish grin caused the second youngest turtle to instantly become wary.
"Dare or Dare?"

"Hmm... Dare!" Donnie pretended to think about his answer, much to Leo's amusement. Mikey's face lit up.

"I dare you to scream as loud as you can, 'I LOVE APRIL O' NEIL!' As loud as you can!" The three other turtles all looked at Donnie with devilish gleams in their eyes. Donnie's face paled and his eyes grew wide.

"Guys, I can't do that! Come on!" Donnie protested weakly.

"Come on, Donnie! Let's hear this!" Raph elbowed his immediate younger brother. Donnie shook his head viciously. "We all know it's true!"

"Yeah, Donnie! You can't back down!" Leo added, shoving Donnie off the bench and into a standing position.

"Are you a chicken, Donnie?" Mikey made a pouty face. "Bawk bawk bawk bawk!" He flapped his arms like wings and strutted around the standing teen.

"No! Please, guys! Come on! I'll do anything else!" Donnie begged one last time. "PLEASE?"

"Well now ya gotta!" Leo sounded an awfully lot like Mikey in that one phrase, and Raph leaned away in caution.

"Fine!" Donnie snapped. "I LOVE APRIL O' NEIL!" He screamed out loudly. His voice echoed throughout the empty room, and traveled down the tunnels. Donnie collapsed onto the ground, his head in his hands; the taunting laughs from his brothers were seared into his brain... Forever.

"Well this just got interesting!" Raph threw his head back and laughed. "Alright, lover boy! Choose your victim!"

Donnie slowly raised his head up. Oh yes, he was going to get revenge... Yes, he was. "LEO," the genius gazed into Leo's eyes with a strange fire burning. "Dare? Or dare?" Leo gulped; he'd never seen that look in his usually peaceful brother's eyes before.

"Dare.." He whispered.

"I can't hear you!"

"DARE!" Leo yelled.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Donnie's sadistic grin matched Raph's perfectly. "I want you to tell Captain Ryan and the entire cast of 'Space Heroes' that you HATE them, and their show!" Donnie leaned back with a smug expression as Raph guffawed; Leo freaked.

"NONONONONONONO! ARE YOU CRAZY!? I CAN'T TELL CAPTAIN RYAN THAT? HE'S MY HERO!" Leo was full out fanboying. "HECK NO! NO, NO, NO! HE'LL HATE ME FOREVER! I CAN'T DO THAT!"

"Oh, but Leo, you have to..." Donnie leaned in and whispered in the eldest's ear. "Remember, that's what you told me..." The insane grin lit up his face.

"Yeah, Leo. Do it!" Raph taunted.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Mikey began chanting and Raph joined in. "Do it! Do it! Do it!"

"Nooo!" Leo wailed. "He'll hate me! I won't even be considered a Spacenik anymore!" Raph rolled his eyes. "The others will know..."

"I highly doubt any of them will find out. You're a mutant turtle living in the sewers."

"True.." Leo screwed up his beak. "But still!"

"Come ON Leo!" Raph was growing impatient. "Just do it!"

"No!" Leo protested.

In a single bound, Raph leapt from the bench and tackled his older brother. Leo was surprised; he didn't expect Raph to do that. He didn't even defend himself. Both boys tumbled to the cold cement. "Do it before I really lose my temper!" Raph hissed in Leo's ear. He was sitting on Leo's plastron and holding his arms down against the ground.

"I hate Captain Ryan," Leo whispered in defeat. "And I hate 'Space Heroes.'" Raph threw his head back and roared with laughter.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" He stood up and offered a hand down to Leo. Leo swatted it away as he continued to lay on his shell. He threw an arm over his eyes.

"CAPTAIN RYAN I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! SORRY!" Leo wailed, much to the amusement of his little brothers. "IT'S NOT TRUE!"

With a roll of his eyes, Raph grabbed the blue banded turtle's arm and yanked him up onto his feet. "Why do I always have to say it?"

Donnie shrugged. "Because I am not saying it! And do you really expect Mikey to remember that entire line?"

"HEY!"

"FINE! Get it together, Captain! You're our leader, so act like one!" He held up his fist and shook it dramatically. Donnie stifled a snicker.

Instantly, Leonardo straightened up. "Don't act like you know ANYTHING about 'Space Heroes!' You don't!"

"You're right! But what I do know is too much!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! And it's all from living with you!" Raph had turned to Leo with clenched fists and fire in his eyes. Leo was standing there with an annoyed scowl.

"You should be happy! After all, you live with me!" Leo flipped his bandana tails in an effort to be dramatic.

"Happy is NOT the word that comes to mind!"

"Ladies, ladies, stop arguing!" Mikey attempted to cut the tension with a joke. All he succeeded in was turning the attention onto him. He shrank down to the ground as both older boys turned to him with fire in their eyes. "Uh, Leo? It's your turn for a dare.." He said meekly.

Leo sat down onto the bench besides Donnie. "Raph, dare or dare?" Donnie's and Mikey's faces lit up with anticipation.

"Hit me with your best shot, bro!" Raph cracked his knuckles. "I'm ready!" Leo glanced around the station in an attempt to find a good dare to hand over to his annoying brother. His blue eyes danced when they landed on the perfect idea.

"I dare you to... Kiss a cockroach!" Leo cackled as Raph's face turned a sea green. He gagged at the very thought. Donnie's and Mikey's faces both sobered up at Leo's idea of a... harmless prank.

Leo stopped cackling once he realized he was the only one laughing. "What?"

"Dude, not cool!"

"Are you crazy?" Donnie spluttered. "You want RAPH to kiss a COCKROACH?" Raph's face grew paler, and suddenly he dashed over to the railing where the subway trains once were driven. Gagging and heaving, Raph leaned over the rusty bars.

"Kiss-" *BLARGH* "a-" *BLUGH* "cockroach?" *BLURGH*

"Dude, Leo, no way!" Mikey stuck up for his red banded bro. "He just battled that stupid spy-roach! Isn't that enough?"

Donnie had meandered over to his sick brother. "You okay, Raph?" He screwed up his face and covered his beak with his hand. Gently, he patted the rim of Raph's shell in a comforting gesture.

Raph groaned as he hung limply over the railing. "What does it look like, Brainiac?"

"I take that as a no?"

Raph rolled his green eyes as he pushed himself down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ugh... Does anyone have a breath mint?" He shot a death glare at his older brother.

"I may have a COCKROACH flavored mint-" Raph was hanging back over the railing in a heartbeat.

"LEO!" Donnie was appalled.

"Not again!" Mikey complained.

Once Raph finished tossing his cookies, and Leo finished getting lectured by Donnie, the teenagers moved their game over to the other side of the chamber; No one wanted to be any closer to the smell then necessary. It was also a wholehearted and unanimous decision that Raph was exempted from his dare.

"Okay, Raph," Donnie said. "It's your turn to dare someone-"

"PICK ME! PICK ME!" All of the turtles turned to look at their youngest brother jumping up and down. "I WANNA GO! CHOOSE ME, RAPHIE!"

"DON'T call me RAPHIE!" Raph snarled.

"ME! MEEEEE! I WANNA GO!" Mikey wailed again.

Donnie elbowed Raph. "Just choose him. I really don't wanna listen to him yell."

Raph sighed. "Fine. Mikey, I choose you."

"YAY!" Mikey cheered. "What's my dare?"

Raph paused for a moment. "Uhh... I dare you... to.. to... lick that pole in the middle of the room!" He pointed to the designated lick-spot.

"Ew! That's disgusting!" Leo screwed up his face. "Bluck!" Donnie made a face as well.

"Okay!" Mikey chirped. Raph meandered over, and Mikey skipped over to the pole Raph had pointed out for him. "This it?" At Raph's nod, he stuck out his tongue and pressed the tip of it to the structure.

"Put ALL of your tongue on there," Raph instructed; Mikey made a face, but pressed the rest of his tongue onto the pole. "Okay, that's it." Raph yawned. "That was lame!" He turned to walk back to the bench.

Mikey tried pulling his tongue off, but it wouldn't budge. "Hmm," he thought. "This is weird!" He tried again, but his tongue still wouldn't budge.

"Come ON, Mikey!" Raph yelled from his spot on the bench. "Hurry up! Let's get this show on the road!"

"I canpth!" Mikey started to panic. "I stuckth! I stuckth!" He began flapping his arms up and down and hopping from foot to foot. "HELPTH MEH!" He tried and tried again to pull away.

Leo, Raph, and Donnie exchanged surprised looks. "You can't... get loose?" Leo looked at Mike with a stern expression.

"NOTH!" Mikey wailed.

"Yeah right!" Raph stomped over to his baby brother and yanked hard on his arm.

"OWTH! STAHP IT! RAPTH THATH HURTH!" Mikey screamed in pain as Raph tugged harder. By now the other boys had come over, and they exchanged blank glances. In sync, all three of them laughed the hardest they had that day.

"Oh my GOSH!" Donnie gasped out. "He really is stuck!" Raph laughed even harder.

"HELPTH MEH!" The baby of the family was seriously panicking now. "THNOT THFUNNY GUYTH!" But apparently to his brothers, it was. All three older turtles just sat there rolling on their shells with laughter.

"Poor little Michelangelo!" Raph taunted, relishing in the snickers from his other brothers. "The good news is now we can leave you here! Maybe tonight the lair will actually be QUIET for once!"

"I can watch 'Space Heroes' in peace!"

"I can work on the upgrades for the Shellrazer!"

"PLEATH GUYTH! TITH NOTH THFUNNY THANYMORTH!" Mikey had hot tears sliding down his cheeks.

"Oh alright," Leo caved in to help his little brother. He could never deal with seeing his baby brothers in pain. "Raph, try to pull him off again."

Raph cracked his knuckles again. "Gladly!" He advanced towards the orange clad turtle with outstretched hands, but Mikey lost it.

"NOTH! NOTH! THATH HURTH!" Mikey tried squirming away. "PLEATH! THLEO!"

"Raph, stop it!" Leo protested halfheartedly. He turned to Donnie. "Donnie, how are we supposed to get him off of it now?"

"Well I suppose we could-"

"Yo, Leo?" Raph suddenly interrupted Donnie's train of thought.

"What?"

"Did you happen to bring your katanas?" A sadistic smile lit up his face at the sight of Mikey's fear-stricken eyes. "With one swipe you could-"

"That's ENOUGH, Raph!" Leo rolled his eyes at the downcast look on Raphael's face. "Go on, Donnie."

"As I was saying, we could always try to heat it off? Get something hot and place it near it." He shrugged. "Just an idea!"

"I guess it's worth a shot! What will we need?"

"I'll need you to run home and get something hot and some of that gauze April brought down the other day. It's in the third drawer down in my desk!" Donnie ordered. "And hurry! He is more prone to catch pneumonia this way!" Leo instantly darted out of the room.

"Really?" Raph asked. "Can't you die from that?" Mikey's eyes grew as big as dinner plates.

"Yeah, if it gets really bad!" Donnie nodded casually. "Probably doesn't help that we live in the cold sewers, either." Mikey froze up. "Come on, Raph. Let's go sit back down. No use standing around here!" Raph slung an arm over Donnie's shoulder as they walked back over to the bench, leaving Mikey all alone in the dark corner.

"Will he really get sick?" Raph whispered.

"Nah. I just wanted Leo to hurry up."

Raph tossed him a disbelieving look. "Really? That's all?"

"Well... Maybe I wanted to freak him out a little?" Another disbelieving look. "Okay, a LOT."

Raph grinned. "That's why you're awesome, bro!"

"I'm back!" Leo hollered as he skittered back Into the room. His arms were overloaded with the entire stock of Don's supplies, and he just barely was balancing Splinter's favorite teacup brimming with tea on top.

He turned towards Mikey and ran over, beating his other two brothers there. However, since Leo couldn't see over the top of the gauze, he tripped over a crack in the cement. The gauze tumbled and scattered all over Mikey, and the teacup seemed to fly in slow motion.

"NOOO!" Leo shook his head as he pushed himself up off the ground and thrust one arm out in the direction of the airborne cup.

The cup overturned as it flew, dumping the scalding tea all over Michelangelo's head and mouth. With a final yank, Mikey pushed back to avoid getting splattered more. The teacup fell against the ground and shattered.

"OW! YOWIE! THAT BURNS! OW OW OW!" He hopped up and down, wiping tea drops off of his head and gingerly poking his burned flesh. His tongue flopped uselessly out of his mouth. "I CAN'T FEEL MY TONGUE!"

Donnie was finishing picking up the scattered gauze, and Raph hauled Leo to his feet. "You two okay?" Donnie asked.

"No, I broke Splinter's teacup!" Leo panicked. "He's going to kill me!"

"No, he's not!" Donnie reassured, beginning to wrap some of the gauze around the 'injured' turtle's tongue.

"Oh he most certainly is!" Raph cackled gleefully. "Nice knowing ya, bro!"

"How and WHY in the world did you end up getting his cup, anyway?" Donnie asked, still wrapping gauze around the squirming teen. "HOLD STILL MIKEY!"

-
-flashback-

Leonardo was running faster than he ever had before. The tunnels flew by in various shades of gray. He leapt over scattered rocks and bumps in the pavement as he concentrated on making it home quickly. His breath was short, and he was beginning to tire.

"Come on, Leonardo," he said to himself. "Do it for Mikey!" With his extra boost of adrenaline, he was able to make it back to the lair in record time.

"Okay, first I gotta get that gauze." Leo made a sharp turn and bounded into Donnie's lab. he glimpsed the dresser and squatted in front of the desk. "What drawer was it again?" He yanked out the first one and rummaged through its contents. The second drawer got the exact same treatment.

"It had to be in the third one," Leo muttered as he gathered all of the desired first aid supplies. "I really need to talk to Don about reorganizing this junk!" He peered over the stack as he staggered out into the lair. "Now I need something hot! Huh, maybe we should just get Raph to stand real close! I bet his temper could get him free!" Leo snickered. Master Splinter was slowly meandering to the dojo with a steaming cup of tea in his hand.

"Oh, Leonardo!" Splinter smiled at his eldest son. "I did not know that you and your brothers were back yet!" Leonardo's eyes lit up at the teacup in his Sensei's paw. "Are you going to-"

"Hi, Sensei!" Leonardo snatched the cup from the Ninjitsu master's hand. "Bye, Sensei!" As quick as he came in, Leo flashed out, leaving a very annoyed rat without his daily cup of hot tea.

-end of flashback-

"Heh...heh..." Leo chuckled sheepishly. "Long story...?" Raph threw him an uninterested look.

"All done!" Donnie declared, swiftly tugging on the knot to make sure it was secure. Mikey patted the overwhelming amount of fabric.

"Eh canth thfeel meh thongue!" Mikey whined.

"Good!" Raph snapped.

"Raphael!" Leo scolded. Raph rolled his eyes. "If you hadn't dared him to do that we wouldn't even be in this mess!"

"Hey, at least it spiced things up a bit!"

"Shuth upth!" Mikey whined. Donnie rolled his eyes, and Raph snickered at the helpless turtle.

"Can't we go back now?" Donnie nudged Leonardo with his shoulder. "I mean, Mikey obviously can't do anything anymore. And I really don't want to have Raph dare me now!" He looked at his older brother with a scared expression, and Raph just glared in return.

"Yeah... With ya there, bro!" Leo admitted. "Come on, let's go," he ordered, shooing his brothers out the exit and down the tunnels.

"Do ya know the way this time?" Raph cautioned. "Maybe Donnie should lead this time,"

"NO!" Leo shouted. "I got this covered!"

"You sure?" Raph taunted. They had made a left a while back and had just walked up to a dead end.

"See! I told you I got it!" Leo laughed in delight as the brothers came upon their lair. "I told you, Raph!"

"Yeah but it was still one turn wrong too many!" Raph retorted. Leo punched Raph's shoulder.

"Whatever!" The boys all walked in high giving each other as they flipped and raced to the TV. Leo snatched the remote and flicked the channel to his favorite show, while Raph grabbed a magazine. Donnie was using a screwdriver to help fix some of the old dents in Metalhead's head. Mikey was busy trying to chomp down on an old leftover pizza crust he found lying next to the TV, but all the gauze was getting in his way. All four boys were going about their daily business. Only Michelangelo noticed when Splinter walked in.

"Ey, Sthensei!" He tried to grin, letting his tongue hang out like a dog's. Splinter looked at his youngest and stopped in his tracks. He blinked once, then resumed staring. "Heh," He tried to smile, but Mikey was already refascinated by the old gnawed on crust.

He turned to look at his next youngest, Donatello. Donatello gave him a slight gap-toothed grin before counting up the spilled screws. Raphael grunted in acknowledgment, but that was all Splinter was going to get out of him. He turned his gaze to his last son, which reminded him...

"LEONARDO!" The turtle turned away from the adventures of Captain Ryan to look at his father. With a confused look in his eye, he cocked his head in a silent question. "Where is my teacup?"

Leo's eyes grew wide in realization. "Oh, shell!"