Splinter Sons

Splinter Sons is the family ship between Master Splinter, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom.

Lone Rat and Cubs
One night Splinter gathers his younger turtles to tell them a story. He had previously told them their origin, but he has more to tell. Including how his job is too protect them, and teach him all he knows. But for tonight, he will just tell him the rest of their origin.

Years ago, Splinter returns to a water tower, where he mad his home with the baby newly mutated turtles. He throws them some food that he scavenged and they begin to eat. Splinter doesn't join them and looks to an old picture of his family, questioning what he had done to deserve this fate. A baby turtle crawls towards him, which gives him some semblance of comfort. A Kraang drone then arrives, and attacks, but Splinter is able to destroy it. He decides they need a new place to hide and packs up all their stuff and the turtles.

As they travel through the city, he continually checks on the turtles while simultaneously doing his best to avoid the Kraang. They're eventually found and Splinter fights them once they start firing. They throw Splinter back to the cart, and one of the turtles pops out and distracts it with a light flash. He then pulls out a nunchaku, only to see one of the turtles is sucking on the other end of it. He puts him back and escapes the Kraang, eventually finding a new hideout.

He lets the turtles roam, as he cleans up and they mess around. One of the babies plugging in a light, and Splinter patting him on the head when he does so. He then attempts to meditate, but all the boys just end up climbing all over him. He decides it's out of the question, and smiles when one of the turtles offers him food. He thanks him, and realizes that he should give them all names. He takes out an old art book and decides to name them after the artist from his favorite period of art, the Renaissance. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo. They cheer excitedly when he names them, but all get tired and he puts them to bed.

Mikey in the present interrupts the story to comment on how cute they were, especially him, and asks if Splinter can tell more about the robots. Leo tells Mikey to stop interrupting and Raph asks when younger him starts kicking butt. Donnie says that he remembers plugging in the light and that he was a baby genius. Splinter tells them to stop interrupting as the story has a purpose. Returning to telling it.

Splinter and the turtles would spend the days sleeping while nights were spent with him foraging for food. He would come home and feed them, then practice ninjutsu, which the baby turtles took to copying. When baby Mikey falls while practicing, Splinter picks him up and comforts him, the others quickly wanting attention as well. Splinter picks them all up, when they are suddenly found by the Kraang. He then gathers the boys and runs into the subway, the turtles giggling along the way. They're then found by a Kraang bot, which Raph lears at, but it causes the shopping cart holding the turtles to fall and Raph to fall out. He gets run over and Splinter rushes to him. Raph seems fine at first, but is then shown to have cracked the upper part of his shell.

Splinter is filled with rage and attacks the robot, while all the turtles hide, afraid of it. Except for Raph who copies Splinter's moves excitedly. After finishing it off, Splinter pets Raph's head and notes how much fury is still in him. Still needing to flee the Kraang, he runs through the train tunnels with them in pursuit.

He runs through the sewers when he's surrounded by Kraang. Leo knocks a sword to Splinter, and Splinter fights off the Kraang while the turtles watch. In the process they are knocked through a tunnel and fall into deep water, becoming trapped in the shopping cart. Splinter dives in after them, but can't lift the shopping cart to help them escape. A current comes by which aids him, and he is able to grab the turtles as it pulls them all away.

He awakens later to the turtles guiding him through the water. They then take a tunnel to an open area that would become their layer. Splinter is exhausted and the turtles huddle at his face. He has enough strength left to give them all a hug. He awakens again to the turtles waiting for him.

Splinter finishes his story, and says that he has gifts for them. Something that while they may chose, it is more likely that they chose them. He gives them each their signature weapons, and tells them it's time for their next level of training to begin.

Fanon
Splinter and the turtles is one of the staples of TMNT, and one of the most well beloved dynamics of the fandom.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION

Variations

 * Leotello — the ship between Leo and Donnie
 * LeonnieMikey — the ship between Leo, Donnie and Mikey
 * Mikeo — the ship between Mikey and Leo
 * MikeyDonnie — the ship between Mikey and Donnie
 * Ninja Turtles — the ship between Leo, Donnie, Raph and Mikey
 * Raphikey — the ship between Raph and Mikey
 * Rapheo — the ship between Leo and Raph
 * Raphlinter — the ship between Raph and Splinter
 * Raphonnie — the ship between Raph and Donnie