Unknown Warrior
After the turtles get in a fight, Michelangelo is left home while his other brothers go top side on patrol. What our young turtle didn't realize was that while he was brewing over the latest incident his brothers would find themselves in a heap of trouble. Will our fun loving, pizza scarfing, care free turtle be able to save his brothers in time? And at what cost?
I don't own the TMNT and other characters that are related to the series.
"Damnit Mike, this is really gettin' old. I am tired of having to save your sorry ass when we run into a little trouble." The hotheaded turtle screamed at his youngest brother, "you're a ninja for heaven sakes, we can't keep fighting to defend ourselves AND you. You are such a liability". The night before, Mikey had failed to see the purple dragon that was coming at him with a gun. He was too busy taunting the other thug that was in front of him. Had it not been for Raphael stepping in and taking the felon down, he would have been shot in the back of the head. Michelangelo was now staring at his older brother, Leonardo, his eyes pleading for assistance in this fight.
"Raph's right, Mikey. You have become a liability to this team and I think its best that you stay in while the rest of us go top side. For once, maybe you can practice on focusing and learning how to fight like a ninja and not like a child". Leonardo walked away to the dojo to gather his weapons.
"But, if I get hurt than it's my fault right?" Mikey went after his brother, still pleading. "If I am such a liability to the team, than why not let me learn my own lesson?"
"That's where you are wrong Mikey", Leo picked up his katanas and placed them in the sheaths that lie on his back. "Remember that Battle Nexus re-match? Remember what I told you?" the youngest just shook his head in understanding. The blue banded brother narrowed his eyes "If one goes down, the rest of us go down. I am not going to let any of my brothers get hurt because they are acting stupid and careless".
"Donnie, you agree with me don't you?" Mikey turned to his bo wielding brother. "If I get hurt, it's my fault".
"Sorry Mikey, Leo and Raph are right. You have become a liability to this team and need extra training. You don't focus and you are usually too busy taunting the enemy instead of fighting. I can't keep watching out for you and myself. Call me selfish little brother, but you need to learn to defend yourself and grow up". Their words stung. Mikey expected to be scolded from Raph and Leo. But, Donnie too? Mikey opened his mouth to speak but no words came to mind. There was no use in defending himself anymore. All that was left to do was to walk out and shut himself in his room. Before he left, the three brothers saw tears forming in the youngest's eyes.
"Yeah, go cry yourself to sleep you little baby. I hope you realize what a pain in the ass you have become. You will never grow up!" Raph managed to yell before they heard Mikey's door slam shut.
"Maybe we were a little harsh guys" Donnie managed to say as they were exiting the lair.
"No, Michelangelo needs to learn his lesson. When Splinter comes back from his retreat, we will be working overtime in the dojo in order to get him to where he needs to be" Leonardo replied, "If he wants to run with the big boys and defend this family, than he needs to focus more on his skills". The other two brothers were silent as they made their way through the sewers.
Three hours later….
Michelangelo, eyes red from crying, slowly cracked open the door to his room. He peered out to see if there was any signs of his brothers. When the coast was clear, he made a dash to the bathroom. Turning on the sink, the turtle washed his face and dabbed his eyes with a cold wash cloth. Taking the rag away from his eyes, he glared at the turtle in the mirror. "Look at me, I am a baby. I practically cried the entire evening", he put his head down and looked at the sink, turning off the faucet, "I have become a reliability to the team. I need to apologize to my brothers and get this mess sorted out." With that he folded the cloth over the sink and darted out into the living room. To his surprise, there was nobody there. Had they not returned? He thought.
"Maybe they are in the kitchen" Mikey said as he made his way past the televisions and into the next room. "Hey guys…" he cut himself short because he was just facing an empty room. "I bet they haven't come home yet. I will go and see if I can meet up with them." He darted out of the lair, heading topside. I have to find them and apologize now. I can't wait for them to come home from patrol. If I don't, I will be wallowing in my self pity until they do return. He said to himself as he lifted the sewer cover and ascended out of the manhole.
He quickly took to the rooftops once reaching topside. Jumping from building to building, he still didn't see any sign of his brothers. The young turtle reached out his shell cell to see if he could track them. The red blip on the screen quickly showed the location of his brothers, just three blocks down! He quickly raced to the roof where the signal was coming from. To his surprise, there was no one on the roof top when he had reached his destination. "Leo? Donnie? Raph? I know you're here, the shell cell told me so.." he yelled. Where are they?
As Michelangelo turned to head home, with his head down in defeat, he saw it. Something shiny caught the corner of his eye. He turned to see Leo's katanas on the edge of the building. After he examined them, he noticed a crimson trail on the blade. "No" he muttered. He than tripped, falling onto the concrete roof, his knees and hands catching his fall. When he turned to see what he tripped on his stomach churned. Raph's sais and Donnie's bo he said to himself, mouth gaped open with shock.
A small black box layed shattered next to Donatello's bo. Mikey picked it up and determined that it was the remainder of one of his brother's shell cells. All Mikey could do was sit there and stare at the sight before him. Where are they? Who did this? As if something, or someone, heard his thoughts, an arrow came shooting out of the sky, landing on the ground, barely missing the turtle's thigh. Mikey pulled the arrow out of the ground and cross examined it.
Attached to it was a note: Turtle, if you want to find your brothers ALIVE meet me at my headquarters in one hour. Come alone. If not, your brothers will never see the light of day again! –Shredder.
"Great! Shredder has them! I can't face him alone!" he screamed, still clutching the note. Michelangelo started feel tears sting his eyes, "I'm weak, I'm reliability. How can I possibly face the Shredder alone?" The tears that were forming started to fall. All Mikey could do was scoop up his brothers weapons and sob.
As the sobs started to settle into forms of hicupping, Michelangelo's face went from sad to angry. "NO!" he shouted as he wiped his face full of tears, "I am done crying! I am not a baby! I have to save my brothers, whatever the cost. If Shredder wants to play, I'm going to play". He gathered Donatello's bo and tucked it in the back of his belt with his other brother's katanas. Raphael's sais found a new home next to Mike's chucks on the front of his belt. "I'm coming guys. This time I will be the one saving you" he declared. I promise.
Foot headquarters; Littered with foot ninja. Mikey never thought of it being surrounded with warriors. At least, until he had arrived. Gotta think of a way to get in. Michelangelo, think. Use your head. What would Leo do? He looked around and found a manhole cover that was just outside the gate to Foot HQ. That's it. "The element of surprise. Of course! In order to be invisible to the enemy, you can't be seen". He quickly climbed down into the sewers, quietly placing the manhole cover back on top of the hole in the streets.
Michelangelo walked what seemed like hours. He finally found the access way that would lead to the Shredder's hideout. Carefully, Michelangelo climbed the ladder and pushed the manhole cover up and over. When he peared out of the hole, he was greeted by five elite guards. Each carried a spear and had it pointed at the turtle's head. "Ah, you must be the welcoming committee," he stated as one of the elite guards lifted him out of the sewers, "Sorry I didn't knock before entering".
"Master Shredder has been waiting for you, turtle", the one who held Mikey by his arm exclaimed. Another guard pulled out what Mike assumed to be a walkie talkie.
"Master, the turtle has arrived, on time" he said into the device.
"Excellent, everything is going according to plan. I have him right where I want him" the voice said in return. "Bring him to my dojo, he will find his family waiting there for him. And turtle," the Shredder continued, "If you try to escape from my Elite Guards, I will kill each and every one of your brothers slowly and painfully. IF you want them alive when you arrive, then you will know not to try any shenanigans." With that, the guard put the communicator back in his belt. The guard that was holding the orange banned turtle pulled him by his arm and led him through the tower. I just hope he hasn't hurt them already Michelangelo thought as he was being led into the dojo at FHQ.
When they had reached their destination, the elite that was holding Mikey kicked open the door to the dojo and pushed Michelangelo in while the rest of the ninjas followed in behind him. Before Michelangelo could process his surroundings a loud laugh escaped the corner of the room.
"Well well well, I see you kept your end of the deal, turtle!" The Shredder stepped out of the shadows, making himself known. "Now the only question is, will you be able to survive long enough to save your brothers. You will fight my elite until the death. If you win, you will be able to leave with your brothers. If not, well, than you would have met your doom"
"No deal Shredder. Not until I know that my family is safe." Michelangelo stated.
"Very well, turtle. I guess it would be only fair for them to watch you die, helpless and defenseless against my elite ninja warriors." Shredder exclaimed. Just then, the wall from the left end of the dojo shifted and turned. In an instant, Michelangelo was face to face with his family, his brothers. Each turtle was bound to the wall with clamps holding their wrist and ankles on the wall. They were semi-conscious. Once they realized that the wall that they were bound to had moved, they started to stir. Raph was the first to realize where he was.
"Mikey, get the hell out of here! Leave us" He yelled to his orange masked brother.
"No I'm not leaving you" Mikey replied.
"Michelangelo, go! You can't do this alone! The Shredder is dis-honorable and will kill you" Leo hollored back at him.
"Mikey, do what he says and leave us!" Donatello managed to say, wincing from the injuries that he sustained from the kidnapping.
"NO! I will not leave you to die. I can do this! I won't let him hurt you" Mikey proclaimed as he went to reach for his chucks.
"Aw how touching. A family reunion" the Shredder stated, "guards, take his weapons. This turtle will know what it's like to face his enemy the old fashioned way." With that, the elite quickly stripped Michelangelo of his nunchucks. The guard behind him took the bo and katana that was nestled on the turtles shell and tossed to the other side of the room with his chucks and Raph's sais. "Elite, attack!"
"WAIT!" Michelangelo halted the fight. "Shredder," he turned to his enemy. "Why don't you just fight me yourself, you coward! Are you afraid that I would win?"
"Mikey what are you doing?" Raphael yelled.
"You can't take him on by yourself", Leonardo chimed in.
"Come on, shredhead! If you want to make sure I don't survive this fight, than why don't you attack me yourself. Why have your elite do your dirty work" the turtle taunted.
"Very well! Elite warriors leave us" The Shredder stated. The elite ninja vanished in a puff of smoke, blinding the young turtle. Before Michelangelo could collect his thoughts he was kicked across the room, his shoulder cracking as he hit the ground. "I am going to enjoy breaking every bone in your body, turtle".
Before Mikey could get up, a hand grabbed his throat and lifted him in the air. "Let's see if you like getting electricty jolted through your body" the Shredder than pulled out a taser from under his belt and placed it on Mikey's neck. Suddenly, volts of electricity shot through the turtles body and all he could do was scream. "You're weak. You are not a ninja warrior like you claim you are" the Shredder managed in between Michelangelo's screams.
Raphael has had enough. Trying to break free from the entrapment, he started shouting, "Mikey! NO!" His struggles weren't enough to free the red banded turtle. All he could do was watch as his brother endured agonizing pain. "Shredder, STOP!"
The Shredder heard the turtle's plea and continued to laugh. "I will not stop, this is too easy. There is nothing that you can do for your brother now!". Shredder than pulled the taser from Mikey's neck and hoisted the turtle's now limp form onto the ground. He kicked the turtle hard in the plastron several times, a crack escaping the turtles chest before he turned to face the others.
"Mikey, no!" Don cried, tears starting to form at the brim of his eyes.
A laugh escaped Shredder as he made his way over to the remaining brothers. "Your brother is nothing. He fights like a child! Now, I will finish you off. I think I should kill you from youngest to oldest, after all, I already succeeded in killing that pathetic little brother of yours."
Michelangelo heard the Shredder as he started to come back into consciousness. Oh man, he is going to kill my brothers if I don't do something. I gotta be strong. I gotta focus. With that, Michelangelo silently pulled himself up off of the floor and made his way over to his brother's weapons that were scattered in the corner. His shoulder and ribs started to ache in protest, but he ignored it. He picked up his brother's sai.
The Shredder raised his gauntlet and was about to come down on Donatello's head.
"Donnie, no" Leo yelled.
Just then the Shredder stopped mid-way. The sickening sound of flesh being pierced was all that the turtles could hear. The Shredder stepped aside, taking in a deep breath as he realized what had happened. Donatello, still waiting for the pain of the impact to hit, lifted his head. The three brothers managed to see a sai sticking out of the Shredder's back. Looking forward, they saw the youngest, armed with Leo's katana, ready to fight.
"Mikey! You're alive" Donnie managed to say as tears started to fall.
"Not for long he is" The Shredder reached behind him and pulled out the sai that was embedded in his back and threw it on the ground. "I am going to kill you turtle"
"Come on Shreddybear, let's dance!" The turtle crouched down, katana in the air, ready to strike. His eyes narrowed as the Shredder charged at him. When the Shredder reached the turtle, Mikey had jumped and kicked him in the chest, knocking the already injured warrior onto the ground.
"I will destroy you!" The Shredder pulled himself up and managed to slash Michelangelo's arm with his gauntlet. He didn't stop there. Quickly, he picked up the sai that was once used to stab him and shoved it in the turtles side in between his shell and plastron. The turtle winced in pain and then remembered his brother's weapon. He quickly snapped out of the trance he was briefly in and struck the Shredder with the katana, embedding the weapon in his chest. The Shredder stopped and slowly backed up from his attacker. But the turtle didn't let up. He pulled the katana out of the Shredder's chest and swiftly punched him in the face. He continued to throw punches and kicks at the Shredder, pushing him towards the window of the room.
"You messed with my family, you son of a bitch. I will never let you hurt them as long as I am living" the turtle managed to say before kicking the Shredder out of the window, meeting his death five stories below.
The turtle paused at the sight. Breathing heavily, he winced once more and looked down at his side. He grabbed the handle of the sai, getting ready to pull out the weapon when he heard a faint cry from the distance.
"Mikey, don't pull it out. Don't touch it." It was Donatello. Mike then remembered his family was still bound to the wall. He quickly ran over and using the katana, sliced open the cuffs that were once holding his family still against the wall.
Once they were free, Raphael was the first to run to his wounded brother's side. "Mike, you okay? You put up one hell of a fight back there bro," right before the red masked turtle could go put an arm around his brother, Michelangelo had succumbed to his injury and fell to his knees.
"Mikey" Donatello yelled as Raphael grabbed the back of his brother's shell for support.
"I'm okay, just need to rest" he stated "hurts."
"Stay with me Mikey" Leo was at his side grabbing his hand.
"Leo, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I am a liability to this team. You were right. And I was to," he managed to say in between breaths.
"About what?" the blue clad brother asked.
"I think I learned my lesson. I finally got hurt for once. I didn't have you guys protecting me and I let my guard down. If I would have focused…" he stopped as a sharp pain went up his side.
"Shhh, no Mike" Leo replied. The turtle cupped the youngest's face into his hands, "You did really good Mikey. You are a ninja and you fought hard. I'm proud of you. You saved us". Michelangelo smiled back at his brother before letting his eye lids shut. He drifted off into unconsciousness.
"No Mikey, don't die!" Raph cried.
"It's okay" Donnie put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "he just lost a lot of blood and lost consciousness, look he's still breathing" he comforted his older brother. "But we are running out of time, we need to get him back to the lair. He is going to need a transfusion. I already called Casey and April, they will be here in a minute with the chopper".
"I shouldn't have yelled at him Donnie. We shouldn't have.." Raph started to trail off. Tears started to form and bounce off of his eye mask.
"I know we shouldn't have. Who would have known that Mikey took what we said to heart. This whole time we were wrong. Mikey is a strong ninja who was able to overcome the odds and protect his family. Our brother..." Leonardo stated as he placed a hand on his youngest brothers forehead, "The unknown warrior".
Just then the sounds of the chopper could be heard. "Raph, can you carry Mikey?" Don asked. Without saying anything he nodded and scooped up his brother gently. As the chopper came closer they saw April open the side door, motioning them to hurry up.
Don and Leo jumped into the chopper and swiftly helped Raph and Mikey in. "Oh my god, Mikey!" April exclaimed, "Is he going to be alright, Donnie?"
Don replied, "I sure hope so April, I sure hope so".
"Casey get us home!" Leo said as the chopper pulled away from Foot Head Quarters.
"Hang on little bro," Raph grabbed Mikey's hand as he sat in the chopper, the turtle still clinging his brother against him, "Please, just hang on a little bit longer". The hotheaded brother placed his cheek on the youngest's head and finally let the tears fall, trailing down onto his brothers orange mask.
Two hours later:
April and Donatello exited the infirmary and was greeted with two brothers and Casey.
"Well, what's the verdict Doc?" Raph asked, breaking the silence.
"I was able to remove your sai from his side and bandage the wound. The blood transfusion that you gave him seems to be holding him for now. He has three broken ribs and shoulder was dislocated. April and I were able to put it back in place and thankfully he was unconscious for it. I don't know if he could have handled anymore pain. I can't imagine the shock that his body went through when Shredder used that taser. No one should have survived that amount of electricity going through them. He is resting but still not awake" Don stated as he buried his hands into his face.
"You did good Donny, he'll pull through, I know it" Leo tried to lighten the mood as he pulled his brother into a one-armed hug.
"I want to see him" but before anyone could protest, Raph was already walking through the infirmary. The sight that he was greeted with scared the turtle. His brother layed motionless except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. The injured turtle was pale and his chest was wrapped. Raph didn't know if it was to help with the broken ribs or if it was to hold the bandage that was on his side in place.
He sat next to his brother and grasped his hand into his. A sigh escaped his lips before he spoke, "Mike, I know you can hear me. Look, we're sorry." He stopped, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier to you. You can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but the truth is…" he stopped as tears started to form the third time that night. He could feel a lump start to settle in his throat. He swallowed and then continued. "You are my best friend. I can't live without you so please wake up. You are so brave for taking on the Shredder. Even I couldn't have done that. You're a hero" He buried his head in his hands, "I…I….I lov…"
"You love me?" a voice stated.
"Yes, I love you so much Mike that it hurts," Raph replied. He then realized who had answered him. "Mikey, you're awake" before the youngest could reply, a pair of strong arms surrounded him. Mikey could feel wet tears hit his shoulder as he returned the hug.
"Raph, I love you, bro and I'm sorry" the youngest muttered in his brother's shoulder. "I'm sorry I let myself get hurt and…"
"Don't do that Mike," Raph was still hugging the youngest, "We were the ones that were in the wrong. Just promise me one thing," he said pulling away, still holding his brothers shoulders gently with his hands.
"Don't ever take on the Shredder like that again," Leo announced as he walked in the room, taking a seat on the other side of his brother. Michelangelo was expecting a lecture but instead he found himself enveloped in another set of arms, his oldest brothers. "You were so brave Mike, but God, you were, you…"
"You scared us half to death," Donnie now joined in the reunion. He touched his youngest brothers arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, "I'm sorry too Mike. I'm sorry I told you to grow up. We were just upset at you earlier because we didn't want to see you get hurt. Not like this. Despite everything, it still ended up happening. How do you feel?"
"Like I got stabbed by a sai," the youngest replied as the others put their head down, "But actually okay. What kind of drugs did you give me Donnie, it doesn't hurt as much as it did?"
"Morphine," the purple banded turtle replied. "Now, get some rest. You will be out of commission for at least three weeks"
Leo and Donnie left the room, leaving Raph still on the bed with his brother. "Raph, what are you doing?" Mikey looked up curiously at his brother.
"I'm gonna stay right here with you bro, just in case you need anything. And just in case you have a bad dream or something" He replied.
"I'll be fine. Don't you know that I don't need to be protected anymore?" Mike stated with a smile on his face.
"Meh, it's actually not so bad protecting your little brother. You just rest now Mike," he gently placed his brother's head up against his plastron and wrapped his arm around Mike's shoulder. Mike took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he snuggled closer to his big brother.
"Hey Mike," Raph asked as he saw his brother drifting off.
"Hmmmm?" was the mumbled reply.
"Just out of curiosity, what made you so focused? Even after all we said to you. I mean, you have always been a good fighter but with dat taser and all, you should have been out da the fight for good. Instead, you came back and kicked da Shredder's ass. Not that we aren't happy that you did but…" Raph was cut off.
"Love you…Love you guys too much…to let Shredder win…could never be mad at you…" was the sleepy reply. That was all Raphael needed. He pulled the blanket that was draped over Mikey's side and pulled it closer to him, wrapping it around both of them.
Before letting sleep overcome him, Mike noticed a bandage on his older brother's arm. "Raph, did Shredder hurt you?" he said eyeing the bandage.
"What this?" Raph asked as he glanced at the white bandage on his arm. "I had to give you a little blood. No big deal. You needed it. Fearless was upset because he couldn't give you his for some reason".
"Thanks Raph….for being my brother…. You're my best friend too" was the faint reply. Mikey finally went to sleep.
Raph sighed and started to drift off himself. "Sleep tight little brother. Our little warrior…you did good today, kid." Raph managed to say before finally falling asleep.
AND COMPLETE! I am new to the FF community and this is my first story! I have been reading a lot of TMNT fanfiction as of late and this popped in my head. I know its not the most detailed story but please let me know what you think. Please review. THANKS!