When a brother is faced with a choice to save his family and friends what will he do? Go into battle as a…imposter?
I don't own them or any characters affiliated with them.
Trading Places
The turtles were out on a training run, skipping the rooftops of New York. Michelangelo was out in front of his brothers by half a roof top length laughing and joking as his brothers just couldn't catch up to the young turtle.
"Come on dudes, last one to the park is a rotten turtle egg" He yelled as he took to the next rooftop.
"I vote…we just leave him….in the park with….all the weirdos. Chuckles is really….getting on my nerves tonight," Raph said to Leo in between huffs.
"Come on Raph, it doesn't matter how much he gets on our nerves, he is still your brother" Leo replied with a grin.
"Leo, you know that we're talking about Mikey right? The one who put super glue on your katanas?" Donnie said without thinking.
"Whoa wait…" Leo skidded to a halt causing his brothers to stop and look behind them. "He did what to my katanas?"
"He may have put superglue on your katanas before we left this evening" Donnie replied with a sheepish grin on his face. The purple brother noticed the expression on his older brother's face changing to a sour expression. If he could see steam come from his brother's ears, by golly he would have seen it. "I take it you weren't aware of that…"
Leonardo reached up to the sheaths that housed his 'steak knives' as Raph called them; grabbing the hilt he pulled one off his back and tried to let go. When he couldn't seem to drop the weapon he started cursing, "Mikey, wait until I get my hands on that…"
"hahah guess ol' chuckle head pulled a fast one on you fearless" Raph could'nt help but laugh.
"Come here Leo, let me help you" Donnie said as he walked over to his brother.
"Hey guys, what happened to you, I totally beat you by like…" Michelangelo jumped on the rooftop that his brothers were standing on. When he saw his leader having a difficult time 'putting down his katana' he stopped and closed his mouth, trying to hold in the laughter. "What happened to your sword Leo, just can't seem to let go of it, huh?"
"Mikey when I get my hands on you.." he stopped and screamed mid-sentence as Don pulled his hand away from the hilt of the weapon, "Donnie that hurt, next time warn me you are going to do that" he said as he put pressure on his sore hand with his good one.
"Sorry Leo, but it's all better, see?" Donnie replied, pointing to the ground where the sword lay.
"Mikey…" Leo turned to face the youngest who was just staring at him. The grin that the jokester had on his face turned solemn. "I'm gonna kill you" he said as he leaped over to where Mikey was standing. Michelangelo tried to dodge his older brother but his legs didn't seem to be working as they were tired from running earlier.
Raphael and Donatello leaned up on the small building that was on the rooftop, watching the wrestling match that was unfolding. "I bet a pizza that Leo kicks Mikey's ass" Raphael looked at Donnie and smiled.
"Come on Raph, that's not fair, you know Leo has the upper hand and isn't the turtle to tangle with when he's angry" Donatello said. Raphael continued to stare at the purple banded turtle, smiling. "Alright, I bet a pizza on it" he caved, shaking his head. "How long should we let this go on?"
"Ah, Mike deserves it. I say until chuckle head cries Uncle" Raph was really enjoying this.
Leo was on top of Mikey who was laying on the ground. When he knew that his hold on the small turtle was strong, he pulled his arm back, "Alright Mikey, say it" he said trying to hold back a smile.
"Uncle, Uncle" Mikey cried.
"That's not what I mean little brother" he replied, pulling back on his arm a little tighter causing Mikey to hiss in pain.
"Alright, alright…Leo is the smartest and best big brother in the whole world", he replied.
"And…"
"He is the best fighter and I, Michelangelo, can never amount to his greatness" He replied. Leo suddenly let go of his arm and released his hold on the turtle.
"I see you have been taking notes from me, Leo" Raph said with a smile. Donatello and him just bursted out in laughter. Mikey on the other hand wasn't amused and just laid on the cold rooftop watching his brothers. Once again, his joke backfired and got the best of him.
"Come on Mikey, you have to admit you deserved it" Donatello said as he went over to give his only little brother a helping hand.
Before the young turtle could reply, a ninja star flew by the jokester's head, barely missing him and embedding in the rooftop below him. All four brothers looked up to see Karai and 20 foot ninjas standing on the rooftop that was slightly taller than the one they were standing on.
"Karai, what do you want?" Raphael asked, drawing his sais from his belt.
"Easy turtle, I just wanted to have a little chat about an exchange," she smiled.
"What type of exchange, Karai?" Leonardo asked.
"Why Leonardo, of course you would be interested. Foot soldiers, bring the captured ones to me" She turned and commanded the group. Three soldiers disappeared out of sight and came back with a tied up and unconscious April and Splinter.
"April" Donnie cried.
"Master Splinter" Leo said. Just as Leonardo was about to charge, Karai stepped over to where April was held and placed a knife to her throat.
"Not so fast, turtle" she said glaring at him, causing the team to stop in their tracks.
"Remember, this is just a chat about a little exchange" she continued, "I will let April and the rat go in exchange for you, Leonardo"
"No way, Karai, he's never going with you" Raphael answered for him, tightening his grip on his sais.
"Very well, then I guess I will have to let my father dispose of them" she bluntly stated. "Foot soldiers, attack these turtles, I have to deliver a package to my father" She commanded, grabbing a hold of April, while another solider drug Splinter off the roof.
"Plan fearless" Raphael said as he braced for the attack.
"We fight the soldiers with quick attacks, disable them, and then get Splinter and April" He replied, holding his katana.
"Booyakasha" Mikey cried as the turtles leapt into battle. The turtles started battling the foot, taking one out after the other.
Leonardo was surrounded by five soldiers. He started kicking and stabbing them with his katana. As more came, the turtle reached around to grab his other katana. He suddenly remembered his brother's prank but it was too late. His left hand was now glued to the hilt of his sword. The grip on the katana was awkward and the turtle just couldn't let it go. As he was trying to maneuver his hand around the weapon, one soldier got a lucky hit and knocked the free katana out of his hand and pushed him to the ground. Raphael saw this and immediately headed over to his falling brother.
"Leo" he said as he leapt in front of his brother and started taking out the rest of the soldiers that were around him.
At the end of the battle, the turtles regrouped. "What about Karai and our family?" Michelangelo asked out of breath.
"They got away Mikey" Raph stated as Donnie pulled Leo's hand off the katana hilt. When he got his hand free, Leo screamed in pain as his skin was pulled away from his weapon.
"We probably could have caught up to her if I had been able to use my weapons properly, Mikey" Leo said glaring at the youngest.
"Wait this isn't my fault!" The orange turtle replied.
"Not to mention, because Leo was distracted by your little prank, he could have gotten his shell creamed" Raph added. Mikey could do nothing but glance up at his purple banded brother, his eyes asking him if he could defend him.
"Sorry Mikey, but they are right. They have April and Splinter and we lost them. We probably could have been quicker if it hadn't been that…" Donnie replied.
"Okay, okay I get it. I screwed up…again" Mikey shamefully put his head down. "What do we do now?"
"Well, I could always go back to the lair and use the signal from April's shell cell on the turtle tracker" Donatello said.
"Alright, good. In the mean time we can regroup and come up with a plan" Leonardo said.
"I can help you Donnie," Mikey offered.
Before the genius could reply, Leonardo boldly said, "No Mikey, you've done enough damage this evening".
The turtles silently headed back home. No one spoke and the awkward silence was throwing Mikey into more of a guilt trip. What can I do to help? My bro's are mad and somehow the blame has been put back on me. Stupid prank. Think Michelangelo, what do I have to do to get our family back? The young turtle thought to himself. Karai said that she would release them in exchange for Leo. How is that going to work? What would Leo do? WAIT that's it! Why can't I become Leonardo? I can always go in there, say that I am Leonardo, shred-head would release our family in exchange for Leo, ergh I mean me. He would never know. I can't tell the guys my plan, I want to keep them out of this as much as possible. They would never agree to this anyway. Mikey entered the lair behind his brothers, keeping silent. He went up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him.
"He's really quiet. I think maybe we were a little harsh," Raph said to Leo as Donatello rushed into his lab to start tracking April and Splinter.
"He needs to grow up and fast. I could have been killed not to mention because of his little stunt, we lost time and our family" Leonardo replied. "Let him sit up there and think about it" he shook his head and went to Donnie's lab.
"Alright Mikey, think, where would Karai keep Splinter and April captive" Michelangelo started pacing his room. A memory suddenly struck him.
Flashback:
"Whacha doin Donnie?" Mikey asked as Donatello was working diligently on the T-phone at his work bench.
"Putting a tracking device in the T-phones. Just in case we get separated for one reason or another, we can track each other through our phones. Look see?" He said as he held up his phone, showing the screen that looked almost equivalent to a GPS map.
"The orange dot is you. It is showing that you are in the lair here next to me. I'm the purple dot". Donnie said excitingly.
"How do you track them?" Michelangelo said, his mind blown with his brother's new system.
"Just scroll through your phone contacts, select the person you want to track and voila! It will show you their location"
"Cool! Hey let me track Raph" Mikey said taking the phone from Donnie. He scrolled through and found Raph's name and selected it. "hahahah He's in the can". Donnie couldn't help but laugh at his younger brother.
Mikey laughed at the memory but quickly shook it off and pulled out his T-phone. "God I hope this works" he said as he scrolled through the contacts to April's name. He selected it and bingo, a little yellow dot lit up on his phone showing him the location. "She's keeping them at the docks on fifth and main. I gotta hurry" Michelangelo put the phone back in his belt. "But first, I have to change". The turtle took off his mask and threw it in the hamper. Opening the door, he went over to the wash room, just down the hall, where he found a basket full of clean bandannas. He searched through it frantically looking for the blue piece of cloth. When he found it, he tucked it in his belt and headed to the dojo.
As he entered, he started searching the weapon rack. Sure enough, he found a pair of twin katanas, Leo's katanas, sitting on the shelf. The remnants of the glue still on the hilt of the weapon. "Boy am I glad Master Splinter had us switch weapons a while back." He stated as he put on the belts around his shell to hold the weapons. "I have to get moving before my brothers suspect something". Just then, he heard a sound coming through the door. Panicking he took out the blue mask that was tucked in his belt and tied it around his head. He was able to fasten the knot up around his head just as Raphael walked in.
"Hey Fearless, Donnie I think found where they are keeping Master Splinter and April at" He said as Michelangelo started to head towards the exit. He stopped and instead of responding to his brother, he smiled and gave him a thumbs up as he continued on his way. Raph thought this was odd behavior and just shook it off as Leo just being weird because of the situation.
When Mikey turned the corner and saw the exit to the lair, he made a dash to the door. Looking behind him to see if Raph followed him, he took a deep breath and silently shut the door behind him. Tonight, I am Leonardo. He said to himself as he made his way to the nearest manhole, his rescue mission taking flight.
"Raph, Leo, I found where they are holding Splinter and April" Donnie peered out of the doorway to his lab and yelled for them. The two turtles quickly ran to the lab and looked at the giant computer screen. It looked like a blown up version of a GPS map. A yellow dot was placed in the middle of the screen showing the two's coordinates. "He is keeping them at the docks off of fifth and main" He replied when he felt his two brother's behind him.
"Hey Leo, you okay bro?" Raph said as he put his hand on his oldest brother's shoulder. "You acted kinda weird when I saw you in the dojo" Wait, where are Leo's swords? He just had them on his shell a few minutes ago.
"What are you talking about Raph, I wasn't in the dojo" Leo turned around locking eyes with the red masked turtle. Raph just shrugged it off, removing his hand off of Leo's shoulder.
"I guess we need to find Mikey and head out. I have a feeling we don't have much time" Donnie stated.
"Alright, Raph go get Mikey, I'll come up with a plan on the way" Leo said as he headed towards the dojo. Raphael left and headed up towards Mikey's room.
"My katanas, they're gone" Leo exclaimed when he entered the dojo. In its place was a pair of orange wrapped nun chucks. He picked up the chucks studying them. Wait, why did Mikey leave his chucks…
"Leo, Donnie, Mikey is gone!" Raph yelled from the top of the stairs. The sound of his brother's discovery snapped Leo out of whatever thought he was in and he quickly put two and two together.
"And I know where he went!" Leo said rushing out of the dojo. "And he took my katanas!"
"Wait a minute," Donnie said. "Karai said she would give up April and Splinter in exchange for you, Leo. Mikey didn't do what I think he did?"
"That chuckle head is so stupid! Why would he do this?" Raph said.
"Because we were harsh on him like you said. I guess we, I mean I kinda made him feel guilty for his prank. Now he's going to give himself up to that witch, making her think that he is me" Leo put his head down shamefully.
"Great, now this rescue mission just went more crucial. IF Karai finds out that it's not really you, she'll kill him the first chance she gets. She knows your fighting style, Leo, and will suspect something the moment he walks into the door" Donnie said as he placed his hand on Leo's shoulder.
"Let's go" Raph stated as he and the others rushed out the door.
"Alright, I'm here" Mikey said as he made it to the rooftop where the coordinates led him. "I am Leonardo, I can do this" he gulped as he broke through the skylight of the warehouse, lowering himself down on a grappling hook.
"Well well, if it isn't Leonardo" Karai said as she saw the turtle.
Mikey in his best Leo voice, "Games over Karai. I will give myself up in exchange for my family. Let them go".
She laughed, "Not without a fight, turtle. I think its only fitting that your father and precious sister, as you call her, watch you perish". Just then, a few soldiers came in with April and Splinter. Both were tied up but awake this time. Bruises littered April's body. Master Splinter just looked, old.
"Leo! Get out of here now! Leave us" April yelled before Karai kicked her.
"Leonardo" Splinter stopped. He looks smaller. Splinter took a moment to study him. He locked eyes with the imposter. Michelangelo, my son, what are you doing? "Leave this place" he urged.
"Not a chance" he said getting in the fighting stance. He grabbed the katanas that were on his back and looked ready to strike. "It's just between you and me, Karai. Let them go"
"Foolish turtle. I will destroy you" she said leaping off of the balcony she once stood on. April and Splinter watched the fight unfold in front of them.
"Splinter, what is Leonardo doing?" April whispered to the sensei.
"That is not Leonardo, it is Michelangelo" he stated, with tears in his eyes.
"He can't go up against her alone, why?" Tears started to form in the redheads eyes, "He's not strong enough".
Karai was circling "Leonardo" waiting for him to strike at any minute. "Come on Leo, you wouldn't hit a girl would you?" she taunted.
"Want to make a bet" he replied kicking her in the stomach. It sent the ninja princess flying into a pile of boxes.
"I thought we had something together, Leonardo" She said slowly getting back to her feet. "Join my father and me, and we will spare you your life" Karai locked eyes with Michelangelo, hoping to break his concentration. It was when she noticed. "those eyes," she stated, "Are not the eyes of Leonardo. Who are you, imposter?"
Michelangelo couldn't believe it. He had been found out. He tried to convince her otherwise. "What are you talking about, Karai?"
"You are not Leonardo," She said charging at the turtle. The ninja warrior drew her weapon and sent the young turtle flying into the wall across the room.
"Michelangelo!" April cried causing Karai to look up. Her expression turned solemn as she realized what she just did.
"So the littlest of the four imposes as his big brother. How sweet. What's wrong, the real Leonardo too chicken to show up?" She taunted.
Michelangelo rose to his feet, gripping his brother's katana tighter. "he doesn't know I'm here. Take me instead"
"It won't matter, I was planning on killing Leonardo. On second thought, killing his youngest brother does have its perks. He'll come looking for you, you know. And then I can trap him" she smiled at her new plan.
Michelangelo was angry. How could his brother have even fallen for this piece of ninja trash? "You will not hurt my family" He charged with the katanas over his head. He started fighting Karai with everything he had, blocking all of the blows she tried to give him.
I have never seen this much concentration from Michelangelo before. Splinter said to himself. I don't know how long he can hold out though. I hope my other sons are on their way.
"Why must you protect that big brother of yours? Why do you put yourself in danger?" Karai asked between attacks.
"It wouldn't matter what happens to me. Donnie is the brain, Raph is the brawn, Leo is the leader. I am just a screw up. It wouldn't matter if I live or die. They don't need a chuckle head like me around. Why not save a brother that matters?" The three turtles heard their brother as they made their way to the rooftop. They peered through the skylight, watching the fight take place. The turtles wore a sad expression on their face, the words of Michelangelo stinging them.
"Well then, I guess it wouldn't matter if I did this" she said as she took her katana and slashed it across the young turtles chest. Before he could process what happened, she took one more strike, embedding the blade between his plastron and shell. The young turtle was seeing white stars at this point, causing him to stop mid-fight. Karai took the opportunity to remove her blade from his side and kicked him. The young turtle flew into the shadows of the warehouse, losing consciousness as blood seeped from his side.
"Foolish turtle. I was the stronger one. You are right, you are the weakest link, that was too easy" Karai laughed as she turned her attention to her hostages. "now that he is out of the way, let's have a little girl talk, April". She jumped on the balcony where Splinter and April were seated, her katana blade still in her hands and stained with Mikey's blood. "I should have done this when I had the chance" she grinned, April and Splinter closed their eyes preparing for the blow. The young red head grabbed ahold of her sensei's hand for comfort.
The three turtles jumped through the skylight landing several feet away from Michelangelo.
"Get away from them," Leonardo said as he grabbed the katanas that laid at his fallen brother's feet. Donatello knelt down to check Mikey's vitals.
"Well look who decided to show up. Is it really you Leonardo?" Karai asked.
"You're going to pay for what you have done to my family" he screamed. Before Raphael or Donatello could stop him, he rammed his katana blade through Karai's chest. The young warrior froze and looked at her attacker in the eyes.
"I knew it wasn't you the first time. You have the most beautiful brown eyes Leonardo" she managed to croak out before falling backwards on the floor, losing consciousness.
"Master Splinter, are you and April okay" he stated as he untied them.
"yes my son, please check on…" Splinter was cut off
"Mikey!" Donatello yelled as he felt his brother's pulse grow weaker. "Come on bro, open your eyes" Splinter, Leo, and April jumped down to where the other three turtles were laying.
Tears were forming in the purple banded turtles eyes, "He's dying guys" he managed to say.
"We have to get him out of here, now" Raph stated as he lifted the blood stained turtle off the floor.
"guys…" Mikey managed to open his eyes when he felt his body being lifted.
"Mikey, hang on, we'll get you patched up" Raph said as he felt the blood of his brother run down his arms. "You can't die, or I will kill you myself" Michelangelo just winced when he heard the word, kill.
"Mikey, why did you do that?" Leo quickly asked his brother before he lost consciousness.
"Because, she wanted you. She couldn't have you, you're better than me" he said before the darkness consumed him.
My side hurts so bad Mikey thought as he became aware of his surroundings. He was back in the lair from what he could tell. He felt a bandage over his side and a warm blanket that was placed lightly overtop of his body. What happened? Oh, that's right, Karai. He started to slowly open his eyes when he heard voices.
"Come on Mikey, wake up" Raphael.
"You can do it" Donnie.
"Come back to us," Leonardo.
Michelangelo opened his eyelids to only be greeted with a bright light and three green blurs standing overtop of him. When he could finally focus his blue eyes, he smiled at the sight of his bro's. "hey…" he hoarsely replied to them.
"Mikey!" Leo stated with tears in his eyes. "you came back to us". Before he knew it, Michelangelo was being crushed up against his brother's plastron. A head rested on his, the sound of his brother's voice ringing through his ears, "Don't you ever do that again" Leonardo stated as he pulled away.
It was Donatello's turn next. Leo moved out of the way so his purple banded brother could hug the injured one. "Mikey," he said sobbing, "you know that you do matter, right?" Michelangelo's eyes grew wide at remembering what was said to Karai.
"I…I don't think I do matter" he said in reply.
"yes you do, chuckle head!" Raphael started to yell at him. When he noticed Mikey's eyes start showing fear, he calmed his voice before speaking further, "you may be a pain in the ass and always pissing us off, but we need you"
"I almost got you killed, Leo" Mikey started to defend his previous statement.
"You almost got yourself killed protecting me and our family" Leo reminded him.
"Mikey, you bought us time before your brothers showed up" April. She was standing at the doorway of the infirmary watching the situation. "Karai was going to kill us right before you showed up. Or should I say, right before Leo showed up" she started grinning.
"you know that was actually a good plan, but had you come to us about it first, we could have been there to back you up" Donatello said setting Mikey back down in his bed, pulling away from the embrace.
"Would you have listened to me?" Michelangelo asked. His brothers didn't have an answer. "My point exactly. You never listen to me anyway, and I have only myself to blame for that one. That is why I decided to set things right and I would do it again to"
"Mikey, we promise to listen to you from now on if you promise not to go parading around with my katanas and bandana again" Leo tried to steer away from the current topic.
Michelangelo's expression softened, "I promise"
"Good, now get some rest" Donatello said as he stood up and motioned for everyone to leave the room. April went over and placed a kiss on Mikey's cheek.
"That's for coming after us," she said as she smiled at the now grinning turtle.
"Hey Donnie, your girl kissed me before you," Mikey said loudly, causing the purple turtle to stop and blush. Before he could say anything in reply, April took Donnie by the hand and headed to his lab.
Leonardo took the mask off of Mikey's face before leaving. "Hey Leo, I think I look good in blue" Michelangelo said as his brother walked out of his room.
"Sure you do Mikey," He laughed, "you actually almost had Karai fooled". The blue banded turtle walked out of the room leaving the red turtle.
Mikey watched as Raphael didn't move. As tears started to from in his older brother's eyes he tried to speak, "Raph, what's…"
"Mikey, don't ever do that again," he stated before the youngest one could finish. "You died on us twice, you've been out of it for two days"
Wow, two days! No wonder everyone was all in an uproar. "but I'm here now," Mikey tried to make light of the situation.
"Yeah, you are and I never want to feel that pain that you put me through again," Raph said as he walked over to the bed and sat next to his brother.
Pain? Mikey thought as he was enveloped in another hug. Tears were hitting his shoulder as he listened to the vibrations of his brothers voice echo against his chest. "You're important to us, Mikey. Donnie was able to bring you back both times. I can't handle if something happened to you. Next time, just talk to us" Raph said in between tears.
Wow, mind blown! Mikey thought as the grip from his brother grew tighter. Out of all turtles, Raph is the softy?
"I promise" was all the little turtle managed to say before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep in his brother's hold.
Splinter walked to the door of the infirmary to check on his son as he was informed that he was awake. He stopped as he saw Raphael cradling the youngest so gently, both sound asleep on the bed. The old rat smiled and walked out. I think Michelangelo finally understands his value to this family. Everything will go back to normal with due time.
WHOA that was a long one. Please read and review. I was going to have Mikey free April and Splinter before being held captive but I think it would have been longer and I wanted to get this out and published. I couldn't make it any longer.