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TMNT
"He's messing with our heads" Leo mutters, glaring at the door Shredder had used moments ago to leave the room again.
"Understatement of the year" Raph grumbles, looking up at Leo. Though, he never relinquished his grip on Mikey, allowing our youngest brother to lean against Raph to make sure he was as comfortable as could be.
"Is there anything we can do?" I ask softly, shuffling closer to Leo's side of the cage. He sighs, repeating the motion and sticking his arm through the cage, pulling me closer. I grimace slightly, the metal bars between us a rough reminder of the current situation, the inability to escape.
And Mikey laying next to me, still in pain.
"Dad will get us out, April and Casey will help us. So will the mutanimals" Leo tries to assure me, leaning his head against the bars, but I could hear the doubt in his voice.
"Why hasn't he come yet?" Mikey whispers, and I glance at him with a slight frown. He gazes at me, eyes moving but his head staying in place. He takes a deep breath, a tear pushing past his eyes. Raph glared at no one in particular, stroking the side of Mikey's face in comfort.
"Shredder doesn't want him finding us Mikey" Leo tries softly, but Mikey shakes his head ever so slightly.
"I get that… I just.. dad has offered for the Shredder to take him instead of hurting Miwa. Not like I want him to, but why hasn't he done the same?" He voices softly, and I could feel my breath hitching slightly. Just the thought of dad doing that, dad giving himself up to save us. He would know Shredder wouldn't let us go.
But he would still try.
He may be distant at times, but he had shown so many times that he cared so much about us. He had sacrificed his whole life for us, made sure we survived and could defend ourselves out there. He had put his own life at risk so many times to save us. He would do it again to save us from our current predicament.
"Unless Shredder doesn't want him to" Leo whispers, and I glance at him. "Think about it, by not telling dad.. he wouldn't know where we were, if we were still okay. And even if dad turns himself in, he can still tell others our location"
"So by not telling dad anything, he ensures that we aren't found, and hurt dad more" I finish grimly, and Leo nods almost reluctantly.
"He doesn't know if you are still alive, he only knows what Shredder did to me" Mikey whispers, and Leo nods again. I close my eyes, taking a shuddering breath again. The whole situation was just.. so messed up. We had all been prepared for the worst case scenario, scientists or Shredder.
Torture for scientific purposes, or to get to dad. But not having Shredder ask us, and not caring for the location of the sewers, was just too much. Even if none of us would ever tell, or sell dad out like that, there was truly no way out at this moment. Unless something happened, this would only end with all of us dead.
And dad staying behind, the last memory of us being the voice messages Shredder would send him.
And God knows what else he would send.
TMNT
"I have not seen Hamato Yoshi so distressed since he was a little boy" Shredder says lowly the moment he enters. "I can see it hurts him more than any wound I can inflict on him" He continues, and we all glare at him. He seemed so accomplishes, he had us where he wanted us to be.
"Why should we believe ya?" Raph growls lowly, shifting slightly so he was facing the Shredder instead. Mikey carefully scrambled upwards as well, curling his broken arm around his stomach. Despite the pain, which had lessened overnight, he was glaring at the man, venom dripping from his face almost.
I had rarely seen my immediate younger brother so mad, but it wasn't a face I had never seen. Instead, it was a face I wished I would never see in my life. To make Mikey that angry… something bad had to have happened.
The Shredder merely smirks behind the shadow of his kuro kabuto. But it didn't seem like he'd take the bait. He seemed more collected than we've seen him all those times we faced him, and I could only think of one explanation. He thought, and he truly believed, that he had won this time.
All he wanted was revenge on the man he thought to have taken Tang Shen from him, and what better way to get revenge on someone than by going after his sons?
"Maybe I will let you talk to him, would you like that?" Shredder continues with a grin, and I shudder at the way he spoke. It was so full of hatred and inhumanity, and yet, it sounded so foreign out of Shredder's mouth.
Neither of us answered, and Shredder glared, bailing his fists in frustration. He glared right back at us for a moment, before a smirk appeared on his face.
"Maybe I will" He repeated again, more to himself this time. "But first, I will finish what I came here to do" He didn't hurry, starting to walk around Raph's cage, and over to Mikey's entrance. Mikey whimpered slightly, his gaze following Shredder's figure and pressing himself further against the cage.
"Shredder don't do this!" Leo growls, grasping the bars. "Take me, please just take me" He calls out, and I could hear Raph shouting as well. But something told me, nothing would stop a madman. So instead of yelling at Shredder, a futile attempt either way, I turned to Mikey.
"I will be alright otouto, we're here, we're not leaving" I whisper, holding him tight and refusing to let go. I didn't care about getting hurt, didn't care about the fact that my arms were stuck through the bars, vulnerable to Shredder's weapons and rage. Mikey didn't respond, only grasping my hand tightly.
Yet, he still glared up as Shredder approached him, muscles tensing and twitching in anticipation, ready to fight.
But as injured as he already was, he stood no chance. Shredder shot forwards, and Mikey was helpless in that moment. He tried to roll out of the way, but Shredder wrapped his hand around Mikey's broken arm.
A cry of pain left Mikey's mouth, and his body went rigid. Then without much effort Shredder threw Mikey backwards to the middle of the cage. Mikey came to a stop, curling in on himself and groaning.
"SHREDDER!" Raph raged, charging forwards, but the bars didn't budge one bit. Shredder smirked sideways, reaching down and picking Mikey up by his arm again.
"Nggghh" Mikey groaned, tears leaking from his eyes, biting down on his tongue so hard I could see blood forming on his lips. Shredder struck out, slamming his fist in the side of Mikey's face. Blood flew out of Mikey's mouth.
"Please stop!" I cry out, feeling my hands wrap themselves around the bars, but Shredder didn't even react to our pleas, pulling his arm back again. Mikey's head snapped back with incredible force as Shredder's fist struck him hard in the face. More shouts came from my brothers, but I couldn't get any sound through my throat.
Shredder released Mikey, who crumbled to the ground instantly. Without skipping a beat, Shredder reached down again, grabbing Mikey's broken arm and yanking it behind his back, before forcing it upwards. A cry of agonising pain is forced out of Mikey's mouth, struggling in Shredder's hold.
But he was already weakened by the last beating, and the lack of sleep, and food and water.
Shredder growled lowly, putting Mikey's arm up even higher. Mikey screamed, a blood curdling scream that left me shuddering. I could only stare in horror, limbs frozen but hands unable to loosen or release the bars I was holding onto. But Shredder didn't let go, keeping the arm in place for what could have been minutes.
But felt like years.
Shredder suddenly released Mikey's arm, pushing him forwards. Mikey fell forward, awkwardly falling into the ground, and catching himself with his free right arm. But Shredder wasn't done, pushing Mikey over with his boot until he was laying on his shell. Mikey tried to roll over again, tried to scramble out of the way.
Shredder didn't speak at all, suddenly jamming one of his blades into Mikey's shoulder.
"NO!" I could hear Leo cry out, but the plea fell deaf under Mikey's scream of pain. Shredder waited for just a split second, staring down at Mikey's trembling figure. Arm crooked, body filled with bruises and specks of blood, sweat and tears dripping down his cheeks. Then, electricity crackled through the blade, traveling downwards towards Mikey.
I wince harshly, stumbling back as a wrecked scream ripped itself loose from Mikey's throat. He was convulsing on the ground, body wrecked with shocks as he tried to get away from the pain. But his shoulder was stuck to the ground, leaking blood and continuously electrocuting him.
"STOP!" Leo roared. "YOU'RE KILLING HIM" The sentence was like a blow to my stomach. I sank to the ground in shock, not even feeling my knees hit the ground. The screaming continued, and I could only watch as tears streamed down my cheeks.
Without any emotion, Shredder ripped out his blade from the shoulder. Mikey didn't even cry out, only slumping to the ground in a weird sense of relief. Shredder huffs, as if dissatisfied before retracting the blade. He kicks Mikey again, full in the side. Mikey groans, whimpering as he curls in on himself but the Shredder didn't pay attention, turning around and walking away.
The cage shut with immense force, locking electronically probably before he left the room altogether.
"Mikey. Mikey, otouto" Leo rambled, crouching down in the corner of the cage and sticking his arm through the bars. Mikey coughed weakly, uncurling himself almost hesitantly. A hand was firmly clasped over the wound on his shoulder, but his limbs were trembling massively.
"Mikey, can you get here?" I ask quietly, and Mikey nods breathlessly, not really looking at us. He took a few breaths, not moving for a few minutes. We all waited patiently, all too concerned to push our youngest brother. Mikey took another deep breath, slowly heaving himself up.
His steps were shaky, and we were lucky the cage wasn't big. It took a few moments for Mikey to get to the midpoint, and he collapsed against the bars immediately. And immediately, our hands stuck through the cages.
Mikey burst out in tears, lapping up the touch like a starved dog. His whole form was trembling. Eventually he ran out of tears, taking shuddering breaths and slowly lifting his head. Teary eyes stared at me, before going to Leo and Raph respectively.
"I'm okay" Mikey rasps, but even his voice was shaky, and it was clear that he was lying.
He was far from okay.
TMNT
"Donnie?" I open my eyes warily, glancing around the room. For a second I was confused where I was, but then I remembered. I grimace slightly, eyes focusing on the bars in front of me, my only little brother watching me from behind those bars.
"What?" I ask softly, heaving myself up slightly. He didn't seem to be getting worse. Pain was still evident in his eyes, but his body seemed as relaxed as he could be.
"Is dad safe?" He asks, and I frown. "I mean… is he in danger now Shredder has our phones?" My expression softens slightly at the question, and I shuffle over to him. Leo and Raph were still asleep, or at least, I think they are. It wouldn't surprise me if they were secretly awake.
Mikey didn't move, and I put my hand through the cage to reach his, slumping against the bars to get semi-comfortable myself.
"There's no way Shredder, or anyone, can hack them. It's impossible." I tell him gently, unable to tell him the truth. Shredder had this entire place bugged, if he knew.. that I had taught April… taught dad… Rockwell.. that our phones could be hacked from my main computer… Shredder would throw them away.
And right now, them being able to track us, might be our only chance. Didn't mean it was going to be easy, Shredder had no doubt blocked all signals, and it would take days, maybe even weeks to break through those barriers. But I was confident they could do it, and they would find us.
I just couldn't tell any of my brothers. Anything I said, in English or in Japanese, Shredder would hear it. Even if I whispered, I was still paranoid, and I wasn't about to take the chance, throw away our only option of getting out.
"I'm just scared I guess" Mikey mutters, closing his eyes for a moment. "I don't want any of you guys here, I don't want to think about Shredder finding our home" I nod numbly, gaze landing on the bags under Mikey's eyes.
"Did you sleep at all otouto?" I whisper, and Mikey looks at me with a guilty expression.
"I can't fall asleep" He admits, and I sigh softly, rubbing his hand with my thumb.
"I know, I know" I mumble, sighing again. "Close your eyes, you need your sleep" I continue, even if I knew it was futile to just say it. Of course Mikey couldn't sleep, of course he wouldn't just fall asleep because I said so. Shredder had beat him twice already, taunted us and locked us up.
He was still so clearly in pain, and sleep wouldn't come easy for him.
I keep rubbing his hand with my thumb, and Mikey nods shakily. It took him a few seconds before he actually closed his eyes, before he allowed himself to trust me enough. Mikey's breathing was still harsh, a dead giveaway that he wasn't asleep. I sigh, shifting slightly to look the other way.
I smile lazily, staring at Leo's sea blue eyes, that were looking at me intensely. Neither of us said anything, but the look on Leo's face said enough. He was worried about Mikey as well, he was worried about the whole situation. He was worried about leaving dad behind, and he was worried about his three younger brothers.
But he was also worried about Mikey's inability to sleep.
I close my eyes, taking a shuddering breath. I wasn't comfortable against the bars, but I could feel Mikey's muscles relax slightly, so I didn't move, kept rubbing his hand as a way to comfort him. It wasn't a secret that Mikey craved physical contact, and that it calmed him down.
So I pushed down my own discomfort to comfort Mikey.
I watched him warily, sleepily. But at the same time, I didn't want to fall asleep. I kept watching him, kept listening to his breaths evening out little by little. I don't know how long it had been, but eventually I stopped rubbing his hand, slowly retracting mine. He mumbled something, nose scrunching up. But he didn't wake.
I sigh, glancing at Raph and Leo. Raph was still asleep, and even Leo had closed his eyes again, but was now facing me again. I didn't feel like moving, so I just closed my eyes, sticking my hand through the cage again. I placed my hand on Mikey's hand, reassuring myself that he was still here when I closed my eyes.
His strong heartbeat.. the soft breathing telling me that he was still alright. And even when the bars were digging into my skin, I kept my eyes closed until everything disappeared.
TMNT