*Surprise! I've had this plot bunny rolling around for a little over 24 hours, and I couldn't resist posting. If you're familiar with my usual stories, this little "fic-let" falls outside of my normal canon. It's closely associated with my other stand-alone fic, "The World I Know". The boys are only in their young teens, so keep that in mind when you consider their level of maturity. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I do not own the TMNT.
PS. You're going to hate me.
Michelangelo tried to stifle the chuckle that kept erupting in the back of his throat, but the effort wasn't enough to avoid Raphael's glare.
"I'm not gonna tell you again, shell-head," the red-masked turtle said threateningly. "You'd better shut it or else."
The fourteen-year-old orange-masked turtle cocked his head. "That's the third 'or else' you've given me today, Raph. Can you paint me a better picture?"
His older brother's hand clipped the back of his head fiercely. The motion was even more jarring than normal because Mike didn't see it coming in the darkness of the passageway.
"Is that clear enough for you?"
Mike recovered quickly. "You'd better watch it, Raphy. I can get you kicked out of here."
"That'll be the day, numb-skull. Your big mouth will get you tossed way before that happens."
"I guess we'll have to let Leo and Donny decide this one," Mike said dismissively.
Raphael grunted in irritation. "Shell, we've gotta be way behind them."
Mike laughed. "Don't worry about it, Bro. Anyone could get way-laid by a fifty-pound spider."
Raphael's hand found his head even harder so that Mike barely kept his balance.
"Ow, Raph," he complained, surprised by how much the blow hurt. Raph's "love-taps" usually stung, but didn't leave serious damage. The last strike left his head throbbing, and he suddenly didn't feel like laughing anymore.
"I'm sorry, okay? Can you just shut up about the spider so we can get moving?"
Mike folded his arms with a huff. "Whatever, Raph."
He remained silent as his older brother began walking again, the red-masked turtle traveling with more caution than he'd entered the haunted house with. Michelangelo had been looking forward to Halloween night for weeks as one of the only times—if not the only time, he mentally corrected, that he and his brothers could openly roam the streets without fear.
Visiting the attraction that night had been his idea, though he hadn't chosen to split up with his other brothers. At the last minute, Donatello had meekly requested to go through the milder side of the scare-house. Donny never did like this holiday too much. There's probably a good reason for that. Being the awesome oldest brother that he was (and knowing how much Michelangelo wanted the full thrill), Leonardo had volunteered to go through with the purple-masked turtle.
Mike had enjoyed himself so far, but his favorite moment had to have been Raphael's freak-out over a spider that was entirely too large and grotesque to be real. At least he had been enjoying himself.
Raphael cast a glance over his shoulder. "You getting bored with this already?"
"Bored? We've only been in here a few minutes," he protested.
"You're getting quiet on me. What am I s'pose to think?"
"If you weren't giving me concussions, I might be a little livelier."
"Look, I said I was sorry. Do you wanna leave or something?"
Mike shook his head. "Nah. We told Leo and Donny we were gonna hit the whole house. What would they think if I wanted to abandon ship early?"
Raphael snickered. "That you're as big of a scaredy-cat as Don?"
Mike glared at him. "He's not a scaredy-cat! Some people don't enjoy this stuff – that doesn't mean you gotta force it on them."
Raphael sighed. "I was joking, Mikey, I didn't mean it that way. C'mon…we're already here and we're supposed to be having fun. Bros?" He extended an arm toward him.
Michelangelo allowed his brother to get a hand around his shoulder. "In the spirit of the holiday, I accept." He grinned when the strains of spooky music picked up from nearby. "You hear that, Raph? I think we're about to enter another fun-zone."
As they approached the doorway at the end of the hall, fake smoke billowed across the floor and an eerie red light pierced through it. From somewhere in the distance, a cackle joined the canned music.
"Enter the Dungeon of Tortured Souls, if you dare."
Mike chuckled. "I dunno, Raph. Do we dare?" he stage-whispered.
Raphael gave him a smirk. "Let them give it their best shot."
The smoke was thicker inside the room, and a strobe light added to the confusion the attraction was attempting to create. However, the two figures that were hiding to the right of the turtles were so loud that they could have guided the ships through the fog.
Raphael nudged Mike's side, encouraging him to wait. Then the red-masked turtle lunged toward the crouching shadows with a menacing cry. The screams he received in return were so loud that they echoed through the room as the "scarers" fled for their lives.
Raphael guffawed as Mike bumped his fist approvingly. "Best. Night. Ever. I wanna do this every year, Mikey!"
Michelangelo and Raphael took their time to enjoy the rest of the haunted house, and the orange-masked turtle was a little sad when it was over. He'd had a great time with his brother, in spite of everything.
"Where are the guys?" Mike wondered of their missing brothers.
"Leo said they'd go back to the Battle Shell if they finished way ahead of us. They're probably waiting around the block."
Mike grinned and waved at other pedestrians as they walked back to where the van had been parked, well away from streetlights. He got some funny looks, but it didn't bother him. Just the fact that no one panicked and ran away at the sight of the turtles acting normally was too cool for words.
He caught Raphael giving him a side-long glance.
"This is gonna be your favorite holiday now, huh, Mikey?"
He shrugged. "You gotta admit that this is awesome."
"Better than sitting around watching some dumb parade," Raph muttered under his breath.
"Aw, no fears, Raphy. The Macy's parade will be on again before you know it."
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
When they rounded the corner, Mike saw the reflection of the moonlight off of the Battle Shell's back window, and his gait automatically picked up. Raphael trotted faster along with him, stretching out a hand to knock on the back door. There was no response to the older turtle's hail; the empty darkness inside the van remained intact.
Mike's brow furrowed. "Where do you think they are? They couldn't be taking this much longer than we did."
Raphael shook his head. "Dunno, Mike. Leo said they'd come back here."
Michelangelo trailed around the passenger side of the van, and stopped in his tracks when he spotted fresh stains on the vehicle. "Aw, Raph. We've been tagged."
"No freakin' way!" Raphael exclaimed darkly. "Lemme in there, Pipsqueak."
The red-masked turtle brushed a finger over the lettering and suddenly went stiff. "It's still wet, Mike," he said in a low voice. "And I don't think it's paint."
"What are you saying?"
Raphael slowly turned to the front passenger door. "It's unlocked."
"No. Donny would never leave it unlocked!"
His older brother ducked inside the van rather than responding, returning a moment later with a flashlight. He shone the beam on "graffiti", and the light shook slightly as Mike tried to read the message too.
One freak eliminated. Who's next?
Mike's heart-rate jumped. "Raph, what does it mean?" His voice sounded small inside his head.
"I don't know. I don't know what it means, Mikey, but…" Raphael trailed off, dropping down closer to the pavement. As the sound of his older brother's breathing got louder, Mike got more nervous.
"Raph?"
The red-masked turtle repeated the same curse several time.
"What is it?" Mike was fully alarmed.
When Raphael drew his hand out from underneath the van, he was clenching a piece of broken steel. Mike's heart dropped.
"Is it…"
"Yeah," his brother said flatly. "It's part of a katana. There's more blood down here too, Mike."
"You don't really think…" Mike faltered. "No one could take down Leo and Donny like that."
Raphael nodded, but didn't add any thoughts of his own. "There's something else down here. I can't reach it. If I hold the light, will you see if you can get your arm under there?"
Mike dropped to the sidewalk, but he didn't have to touch the object to know what it was under the flashlight's beam. The dark blue casing immediately gave it away. "It's Leo's phone," he said tightly. "Raph, what are we gonna do?"
"We're not going to stand around here," he snapped. "We should still be able to track Don's phone, right?"
Mike nodded hopefully.
"Okay. We're going to find them, Mike. Someone's gonna be sorry tonight, and it ain't going to be me."
