Miwa, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo lived a regular life until the day they save April O'Neil from the Kraang. Now they spend part of their time protecting New York City from aliens and evil Ninjas led by an old enemy, The Shredder. Not easy being a Teenage Ninja.
Heroes in the Shadows is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) fanfic by Musical Ninja
/Time_Lady927, a fanfic where Tang Shen survived that faithful night and the Turtles are instead their human sons.
The fanfic can be read on Archive of Our Own here and Fanfiction Dot Net here.
Heroes in the Shadows provides examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Donatello says "take me to your leader" through Metalhead, April and Tang Shen laugh out loud.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Hamato Miwa was raised by both of her birth parents (as well as four brothers) and lived what was an otherwise normal life in New York (ninja training not-withstanding), unlike her canon counterpart who was raised by The Shredder.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- While the Shredder's motivation in the parent series was based on a wounded ego and envy over Yoshi's marriage to Tang Shen, all of this culminating in him blaming Yoshi for Tang Shen's death, here his Freudian Excuse is a little more reasonable, thinking Yoshi killed his son in revenge for killing Hamato Yuuta, unaware that he had raised him as a member of his own family.
- Likewise, Raphael holds fears that he is just like his biological father, even willing to turn himself in when he finds out that Shredder's vendetta is over him.
- Adaptational Badass: Thanks to Dr. Falco using him as an unwitting guinea pig, the Donatello of this version develops Psychic Powers similar to canon!April, including Telepathy.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In canon, Donatello and Dr. Rockwell have a very vitriolic relationship, their first meeting involving Rockwell beating Donatello within an inch of his life and later the two butting heads as their team's resident Smart Guys. Here Dr. Rockwell is Donatello's employer, Donnie having earned his way into his lab, and become protective of him whenever they are in danger.
- Adaptational Species Change: This version of the turtles are all instead Yoshi and Tang Shen's human children.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: When Yoshi accompanies Donatello and Raphael to the doctor, he does so in a t-shirt saying "#1 Dad" that Michelangelo got him much to their embarrassment.
- Big Brother Instinct:
- While Raphael isn't their biological brother, he is still fiercely protective of his younger brothers.
- Miwa develops an obsessive training regiment after Donatello gets kidnapped, worried sick over the idea of it happening to any of her other brothers.
- Crossover: Despite this being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) fanfic, various elements from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the Avengers and Nick Fury, also exist in this version.
- Distinguishing Mark: Raphael has a lightning-shaped birthmark on his chest similar to the crack in his canon-counterpart's shell.
- The Kindnapper: Much like canon!Shredder and Karai, Splinter took Saki's son Sousuke with him to America and raised him as his son Raphael, reasoning that someone like the Shredder would raise him to be a monster.
- Like Father, Like Son: Much like his biological father, Raphael was raised by his birth-clan's enemy and his defining personality traits are his Blood Knight love for battle and his temper. Unlike the Shredder however, Raphael was raised knowing full-well of his origins and being raised in a fairly functional family life with friends and many siblings, making him much less unstable than Saki.
- Mythology Gag: The antique store the Hamatos run — Second Time Around — is based on the antique store April O'Neil ran in the original Mirage comics and the live-action trilogy.
- Orc Raised by Elves: Recognizing the kind of horrors being raised by someone like the Shredder could bring about, Yoshi takes Saki's son Sousuke and flees with him to America along with Tang Shen, Miwa and Leonardo. He was raised as a member of the Hamato Clan, having been given the name "Raphael".
- Related in the Adaptation:
- While it is implied that the Turtles got their humanoid aspects from Splinter, making him their biological father in the loosest sense of the term, here he and Tang Shen are unmistakably Leo, Donatello and Michelangelo's parents, Leonardo being Miwa's fraternal twin.
- This version of Raphael is unrelated to his brothers and Splinter, instead the result of an affair Oroku Saki had with a random woman.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In this version, Tang Shen lived to raise her children in America.
- Teen Genius: While being a regular human in this version, Donatello is just as intelligent as his canon-counterpart. Unfortunately, this makes him an ideal asset to the Kraang, who try to kidnap him along with April because they think he could help them perfect their mutagen.
