Mikey moaned and rolled over, trying desperately to escape the hands that were so roughly shaking him awake. There was a loud roaring in his ears and he heard someone shouting at him as if from a long distance. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and forced them open. Leo was standing there, his hands on Mikey's shell and a worried frown on his face. The roaring continued—Mikey was also able to distinguish a rumbling coming from beneath his bed.
He realized that Leo was still shaking him and shoved his hands off. The motion didn't cease, however, and Mikey looked up at his brother, instantly wide awake. "What's going on?" he shouted. He could barely hear his own voice over all the noise.
"Earthquake!" Leo yelled back, pulling him off the bed. The younger turtle grabbed his nunchucks and tucked them in his belt. He followed his brother out of the room unsteadily, stunned by how quickly and evenly the older ninja walked over the shaking ground. He glanced around the lair for the rest of his family but didn't see anyone.
Everything was a mess. Water was already leaking into the main area from every direction, the floor was littered with broken glass and fallen furniture, and the walls were beginning to crack. A loud crash from inside Don's lab caused Mikey to shudder. The brainy turtle would be devastated—there was a lot of delicate stuff in there. Leo headed toward the lair door, passing the elevator. Mikey ran to catch up with him, almost falling several times as the floor buckled beneath him.
Mikey motioned over his shoulder toward the elevator door. If this much water was leaking into the lair, the sewers had to be badly flooded. They should take the quickest way possible to the surface. Leo shook his head and mouthed, "Broken." Mikey gulped and continued toward their only way out.
Suddenly, the shaking ceased and the rumbling sound faded away. Mikey took a step and overcompensated, falling flat on his face. He pushed himself up, realizing that the roaring had only grown louder. Leo was at the door, looking at him over his shoulder. "Come on, Don says this place could come down any minute. We've got to get topside before we're either buried alive or flooded out," the older turtle called, punching in the code to open the door. Mikey hurried to his brother's side.
As soon as the door slid open water began to pour into the lair. Mikey almost lost his footing as it rushed past him but Leo grabbed his arm and steadied him. The roaring was much closer now, and he couldn't hear Leo anymore. The older turtle trudged through the knee-deep water, still holding Mikey's arm. They walked against the strong current side-by-side, making their way toward the nearest access ladder.
Suddenly Leo cried out beside Mikey and his grip on his arm tightened. Then his hand slipped from Mikey's elbow and there was a quiet splash, mostly drowned out by the continuous roaring. Mikey immediately plunged his arms into the icy water, thrashing around frantically in search of his older brother. His fingers brushed something hard that felt like a shell and his hand automatically closed around the edge. He heaved upward, praying that it was indeed Leo.
The older turtle broke the surface of the water, sputtering and coughing. He gasped for breath as he leaned against Mikey. Leo shouted something about debris in the water and began to walk forward once again, still coughing occasionally. He was walking with a pronounced limp, but Mikey knew there was nothing he could do for his brother until they reached the surface. For now, their first priority was getting out of the sewers alive.
Mikey reached forward and grabbed his brother's hand. The last thing they needed was one of them drowning if they were knocked over again. Leo looked over his shoulder and smiled encouragingly, squeezing his hand. Mikey managed a small smile in return.
A small tremor shook the ground beneath their feet and a few chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling of the dark tunnel. Mikey squeaked and scooted closer to Leo as splashes echoed over the deafening roar of the water. A few more aftershocks like that and New York City would be collapsing in on them.
Mikey could barely see Leo's form in front of him through the oppressive darkness, but he could tell he was tense. The katana-wielding ninja's shoulders were tight and his jaw was visibly clenched. The bones of Mikey's hands were being ground together in the ferocity of Leo's grip.
Leo came to an abrupt halt in front of him, causing Mikey to walk into his shell. "Ow!" he protested loudly, though not loudly enough to be heard. Leo pulled his hand forward and placed in on the cold metal rung of an access ladder, motioning for him to climb up first. The normally happy-go-lucky turtle gulped as he stumbled toward their escape, feeling the slippery rung beneath his green hand. He pulled himself up out of the water—which was now up to his mid-thighs—and began to climb slowly, careful not to slip. He recognized this ladder; it was one of the most-used ways top-side for the turtle quartet.
It was fairly close to the lair and came up not too far from April's apartment and Mikey's favorite pizza place. His stomach rumbled as he thought of pizza, but he shook his head, trying to forget his hunger.
Mikey reached the top of the ladder and pushed on the manhole cover. It barely gave way a half inch before he could no longer move it. Something was pinning it down. Mikey called down to Leo as loudly as he could, "It's stuck! Something's holding it down." Although Mike could barely hear himself, Leo seemed to get the message. He motioned to him to come back down and backed slightly away from the ladder, ready to catch the younger ninja if he fell.
Unfortunately, he did. Halfway back down the ladder Mikey's hand slipped from the wet metal and he fell backward, carried by the weight of his shell. He fell into Leo and heard his brother's breath rush out in an "oomph" sound that he would have found funny in any other situation. Instead, the two fell into the two-and-a-half feet deep water.
The freezing liquid rushed over Mikey's body and he gasped, breathing in a mouthful of the foul sewer water. He coughed and gasped some more, struggling to sit up. As soon as his head broke the water he realized that he was still on Leo, holding him under the surface. He forced himself to his feet and pulled his brother from under the water for the second time. They stood there for some time, coughing up the filthy water and shaking from the cold.
Eventually Leo straightened his trembling shoulders and started to fight his way against the strengthening flow of the water. Mikey sighed, glancing back at the access ladder in regret, and followed his brother. Mikey stared at Leo's shell. His arms were wrapped around his plastron for warmth and he didn't want to let go to hold onto his older brother, but he didn't want to lose him.
The two ninja turtles walked for some time without mishap before reaching another manhole. The water now reached Mikey's belt, and he figured they were getting closer to the source of the flood. Mikey again climbed up before Leo, but the going was much slower. Mikey's muscles were stiff from being submerged in cold water and his lungs still ached from breathing in the nasty water.
Mikey held his breath as he pushed on the metal cover, praying that it would open. It was heavier than normal, as if something was pressing it down, but it moved out of the way as Mikey slid it to his left. He flashed a grin back down into the tunnel, although he was pretty sure Leo couldn't see his face, and then climbed out of the hole.
It was dark outside—it couldn't be any later than two in the morning. Mikey squinted back into the hole he had just emerged from and heard Leo making his slow way up the ladder. Mikey listened to his leader's heavy, raspy breathing and noticed that he seemed to be climbing with only one leg. Maybe he had hurt himself worse than Mikey had thought….
Mikey's thoughts were abruptly cut off as another aftershock—this one much stronger—shook the alley he was kneeling in. He covered his head with his arms as a few loose bricks fell from the tall buildings on either side. It passed quickly, however, and Mikey breathed a sigh of relief as the horrible motion stopped. Without lifting his head, he called out to his brother, "Hey Leo, you okay?" He couldn't hear anything over the roaring of the water, but he hadn't really expected to. He inched his way over to the manhole and peered inside, searching for any sign of Leo.
The ladder was empty and for one agonizing minute, Mikey thought Leo had fallen and had been swept away by the swift current. Then he heard a familiar voice shout up from the darkness below, "Mikey? Michelangelo, are you alright?" The voice was faint but it filled Mikey with instant relief.
"Yeah, bro. What happened? Are you okay?" he called back as loudly as he could. A silent moment later he saw the slightly darker shape of Leonardo at the base of the ladder.
"I fell when the shock hit, but I'm fine. I'm coming up." Mikey knelt in the darkness until saw Leo's head appear in the opening, the reached down and helped his brother crawl out of the sewer. The two sprawled onto the ground, Mikey on his shell and Leo flat on his heaving plastron, breathing hard. They just lay there for some time, trying to catch their breaths and regain their bearings.
Finally Mikey pushed himself up and climbed slowly to his feet, using the wall of the building closest to him for support. "We should get going, Leo. The others will be worried." His companion grunted in reply and also staggered to his feet. They stumbled out of the alley and onto the cracked sidewalk, surveying the destruction around them.
Some buildings had collapsed, and a few others were on fire. Street lights and power lines were down, and wrecks littered the street. Concrete and asphalt alike were cracked and broken. Water spewed from fire hydrants and people stood huddled on debris-littered lawns, staring with shocked expressions at the remains of their homes.
Mikey shuddered and turned from the tragic scene, looking to his brother for directions. They stood in the dim light of a surprisingly still-standing street light, for once not afraid of being spotted. Leo was standing on his right leg only, obviously favoring the other. His left shin was bruised, but what scared Mikey the most was the ugly gash that traveled from his ankle up to his knee. The wound was leaking blood and was caked with gunk Mikey didn't want to know what it was. In fact, both of them were completely covered in filth from the sewer water, and Mikey cringed at the thought of how much both of them had ingested. Donny's gonna be mad, he thought.
Mikey's thoughts turned to the rest of his family as Leo lead him away from the alley, back toward the lair. He hoped they had gotten to the surface safely, but Leo didn't seem worried. Hopefully that meant that he knew they were safe and all they had to do was find them.
A siren sounded shrilly somewhere in the distance, and Mikey thought about how many lives had been taken, ruined, or changed forever in that one night. In the absence of the loud roaring, Mikey was bombarded with a plethora of new sounds—many of which he wished he couldn't hear. A baby crying in the distance… someone screaming from pain, fear, or shock… a car alarm going off… a fire crackling as it consumed someone's home or livelihood… Leo's painful limping ahead of him.
Mikey's mind froze even as he continued walking, suddenly thinking about April and Casey. Had their apartments been destroyed? Had they been hurt or even killed in the disaster? Were they just as worried about them? Mikey forced the thoughts from his mine, telling himself there was nothing he could do about it at the time. First they had to find their family; then they could look for their friends.
A sudden thought struck Mikey and he reached into his belt, searching for his shell cell. He pulled it out and flipped it open; it had been crushed when he fell and no longer worked. He tossed the now-useless device to the side, cursing his bad luck. He opened his mouth to ask about Leo's, but the blue-banded turtle anticipated his question. "I lost mine the first time I went down. I already checked," he said in a monotone voice.
Mikey suddenly realized that their "fearless leader" was worried. He shivered, suddenly afraid. Just knowing that Leo was nervous made Mikey feel much less secure. If Donny couldn't track them…. Mikey shook his head and continued after Leo. He had to trust his older brother to lead them to safety.
Mikey glanced at the ground and noticed with a sickening feeling that he was walking in a trail of bloody two-toed footprints. He grabbed Leo's arm and spun him around, nearly knocking both of the exhausted turtles off of their feet. Mikey clutched his brother, regaining his balance and looked sharply down at his shin. Blood was still seeping out of the cut and down his leg, coating his foot and leaving the gory prints behind.
Mikey suddenly wished Don was there as he looked up at Leo and mustered his very best authoritative voice; which, unfortunately, wasn't very good. "Leonardo, you are not going anywhere until we bandage that leg." He called on the power of full names, hoping it would be enough to make his brother listen. It wasn't.
"Mikey, we have to find the others. Donny'll bandage it as soon as we get to the Battle Shell," Leo replied, his voice strangely distant-sounding.
Mikey resorted to whining as he stomped his foot and sat down on the sidewalk. "Okay, fine! I'm not going anywhere until you let me bandage your leg." He stuck his bottom lip out stubbornly and glared defiantly up at Leo. The older brother looked ready to argue for a minute before sighing in defeat and joining Mikey on the ground.
"Fine," he said shortly, obviously displeased with the delay. But Mikey didn't care. He reached up and untied his mask, wrapping it around Leo's lower leg as many times as it would go. It covered only half the wound, so he motioned to Leo's own mask.
"Gimme your mask," he demanded, still maintaining his pouty voice. Leo silently untied the knot and handed it to him. Mikey pulled it tight around the wound, making Leo hiss quietly in pain. "Sorry, bro," Mikey murmured, tying the ends of the mask off. He surveyed his work, deciding it would have to do until they found the rest of their family.
"Thanks, Mikey," Leo said quietly. Mikey grinned at his brother, instantly dropping his sulky façade. He climbed to his feet and helped Leo up, pulling his arm over his shoulders. "Mikey," Leo said in an irritated but slightly amused voice. "I can walk on my own."
"But you don't have to," Mikey responded, using his best puppy-dog eyes. Leo had always been the most susceptible out of all his brothers to Mikey's charm. "Let me help you," he pleaded.
Leo sighed defeatedly, yet again, and Mikey felt a small twinge of guilt in his gut. He quickly pushed it away, however, and told himself it was for his own good. The two continued on in silence as they drew closer to the alley where they had first tried to escape the flooding sewers. Mikey heard voices coming from the alley and his heart rate quickened in excitement.
"Hurry, get this off the lid. They can't get out!" Raph was shouting.
"They're probably not even down there anymore. We should go look for them," Don's voice calmly replied. Mikey almost jumped for joy as he heard his brothers bickering. They were okay. He opened his mouth to call out to them when another aftershock brought him to his knees, dragging Leo along with him. He heard Raph call out in surprise and Don grunt in pain, but before he could call out to them he heard a loud cracking noise that filled him with fear.
The ground seemed to open up beneath him and suddenly he was flying through the air, though it felt like he was moving backward rather than down. He lost his grip on Leo and shouted hoarsely; his breath was forced out of his lungs as he landed on the ground, his eyes squeezed shut tightly. When nothing landed on him and he felt the ground stop shaking, he opened his eyes reluctantly and peered around him. He was lying next to a gaping hole in the street, his legs dangling into the chasm. He climbed to his hands and knees and looked for his brother. Leo wasn't anywhere to be seen.
With a sinking heart he crawled to the edge and peered over, searching for any sign of Leo. He was about to give up when he was a flash of blue from the rubble in the bottom of the crack. Leo's katana! he realized with panic. "Raph! Donny!" he shouted. There was no reply. Mikey suddenly felt very helpless and alone.
TMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNT
I don't know where I get my inspiration sometimes, but here is the first part of one of my random ideas. It was originally intended to be a one-shot, but it got long enough that I decided to do it in two parts. Anyway, I hope you like it. Thanks for reading!