To J.J. Norris: Thank you! It's not easy portraying them, but I try. I'm glad you enjoy this story and I hope this chapter was worth looking forward to.
To Guest: Hope this was worth the wait! Also, don't put yourself down. I had to fix up quite a handful of typos, misspellings, and all that myself in the first few chapters of this story whenever I looked back on them, and will most likely do the same thing for this chapter and future ones, too! You just keep writing your stuff and learn from your mistakes alright?
To everyone: Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and or favorited this story. It's really appreciated.
How long have they've been searching?
A few minutes?
A few hours?
It honestly felt like days to him.
He didn't know.
He could just look at his T-phone again to check the time.
He could just ask Donnie for the time...but there was no time for that.
He had to find Mikey.
He has to find him now.
He was hoping that he would answer his call.
It didn't even ring.
Donnie made their T-phones waterproof, but it probably got damaged during...
The currents of the sewer water flushing down the septic tank did look pretty strong...
...
Focus.
He had to focus.
He has to.
Would they have a better chance of finding him if they split up?
Maybe.
Was it riskier?
Probably.
Who knows where those Squirrelanoids went.
Who knows where their brother went...
He shook his head.
He had to focus!
He had to keep searching.
...
Splitting up...what was he thinking?
Splitting up wasn't a good idea before, why would it be a good one now?
It just wasn't an option.
Not this time.
They had to search for Mikey together.
He and his brother have to stick together in order for them to find him.
Although, that reduced their chances to find him slightly...and without Raph to help them...
Chances were even lower.
...
...This shouldn't be a thing.
They shouldn't be in this situation right now.
He should have done something.
He should have stopped Mikey from running off.
How was he supposed to know he had a plan?
He should have pulled him up faster when they caught him.
How was he supposed to know that one of those mutant squirrel things would jump right out of the water and take Mikey...again?!
He should've...
What if they couldn't find him?
What if they find the Squirrelanoids instead of Mikey?
Their last fight with them didn't go so well...and that was when the four of them were all together!
Now it was just him and Donnie.
...What if Donnie was next?
He couldn't risk losing another...
He shook his head harder.
'Focus!'
What was he thinking?
He didn't lose Mikey...and he wasn't going to lose anybody!
Mikey was just...separated from them is all.
He was separated from them...and they would find him.
They will find him.
He will find him.
They had to.
He just...has to.
...His phone was ringing.
It has been an hour.
It has been an hour and forty-five minutes.
It has been exactly an hour and forty-five minutes...and 32 seconds since they've been searching for Michelangelo.
...Not that he was counting or anything.
It was just an estimated guess.
He sighed.
He felt a headache coming along.
Why?
Why now?
He rubbed his forehead.
Now was not the time to have a headache.
He had to find Mikey!
...
12 seconds went by.
It has been exactly an hour and forty-five minutes...and 44 seconds since they've been searching for Michelangelo.
...Give or take.
...
There were so many possibilities.
There were so many possibilities as to where his brother could be.
He could still be in sewage water with those mutated squirrels, being flush away to who knows where.
He could have surfaced.
He could have drowned.
The look on his brothers face...it didn't look like he had time to breathe in an essential amount of air.
...
Mikey had good lungs, though.
He has bragged about it before.
He could practically hear him say it.
'Like a turtle do!'
...That was technically incorrect.
Thanks to the mutagen, their lung capacity has been expanded.
The mutagen's properties altered their DNA, resulting in their abilities as turtles such as breathing and other skills, to be enhanced greatly.
Their lungs were much more evolved due to their transformation process, and thus, better and more capable than the average turtles.
However, they were still turtles.
Drowning was still a possibility, however.
Mutated turtle or not, they still needed air.
Mikey probably needed some air.
Despite having good lungs, air was still a requirement.
A necessity.
Without air, what good were lungs?
...
He shook his head.
5 minutes went by.
It has been exactly an hour and fifty minutes...and...22 seconds since they've been searching for Michelangelo.
...He thinks.
He wasn't sure.
Leo looked sure when he called Mikey.
He looked so sure he was going to receive an answer.
No didn't receive one.
No surprise there.
The likelihood of the T-phone surviving the massive water currents at the pressure and velocity it was going by the looks of it were slim.
The current most likely smashed his poor creation repeatedly into the sewer walls and floors with a tremendous force.
Another possibility were the mutated squirrels.
They could've damaged it too somehow...but if they did manage to get a hold of it and destroy it...
...
...Could Mikey survive an attack like that?
...
The headache was getting stronger by the minute.
His brother may have come up with a clever plan...but it came with consequences.
It came with risks.
Did Mikey know that?
Or did he just wing it?
He wasn't sure.
He was never sure with Mikey...
There was a possibility of him being fine.
A very low possibility.
The way those Squirrelanoids grabbed and attacked him...they would most likely find him with a few scratches.
With those claws of theirs...maybe more than just a few scratches.
Slashes.
Gashes.
Lacerations.
The list of possible injuries could go on and on.
Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.
Hopefully, he wouldn't have to make such a list.
...
10 minutes went by.
Two hours.
It has been two hours and...whatever minutes and seconds since...since...
Where is his little brother?!
...He heard a phone ring.
It wasn't his.
He called.
He heard it ring.
He waited for an answer.
...
It only took a second.
He heard his brothers voice.
"Leo!"
"Raph!"
He asked him where he was.
If he was with Donnie, or if they splitted up to search.
If they found Mikey or...
...
Still no Mikey.
He frowned.
He didn't like that answer.
He hoped Leo and Donnie already found him...or at least made some progress.
None.
Mikey didn't even pick up Leo's call.
They've made no progress.
Not even a single hint as to where he could be...
This wasn't good.
This wasn't good at all.
Leo didn't sound too good.
Neither did Donnie...
His own voice didn't sound too good when he responded, either.
They asked him if he was okay.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
He wasn't.
He lied.
They probably knew he lied.
They couldn't stop him even if they tried, though.
They probably knew that, too.
He was going to get a health lecture or something from Donnie later for sure.
Leo was probably going to lecture him, too...and just to tick him off!
'Could this day get any worse?!'
He sighed heavily.
There was nothing else left to say.
He knows where they are.
Now, all he has to do was catch up with them and help them search.
Call ended.
He growled as he put his T-phone away.
Today was just not their day.
When was it ever?
He ran faster.
...Should he have told them what happened to Sensei?
What would he have told them?
He wasn't even sure what happened himself.
That whole scene to him was...just too much.
It was too much for one day.
It was just...too much for him for one day.
...
He hoped things were looking brighter for Mikey.