Chapter 2: Caught

Mikey wasn't really sure how long he had slept, or really what time it was. All he knew was 'ouch' and 'bluh'. He didn't feel remotely better. In fact, he was sure he had gotten worse from not eating all day and staying out in the chilly air.

"It couldn't have been long…" Mikey mumbled as he reached for his T-Phone, only to discover that it wasn't there. He must have left it in the lair. Fantastic… He wasn't even sure where he was since he was focusing on more important things and not his surroundings.

"Well… Baloney. This is superb." Mikey whispered as he tried his best to sit up, but ended up greeting a burst of dizziness in the process. Fear started to sink into the pit of his stomach as his circumstances smashed into him. No T-Phone, his brothers wouldn't be able to track or contact him. He's suffering from a flu or something, and can barely sit up, let alone walk back home. He has no idea where he is, and could find himself amongst trouble at any moment. He, Mikey, was in big trouble.

"Get yourself together, Mikey. It's going to be okay… You are the most radical ninja in the world… There's, nothing... you cannot do!" Mikey whispered softly in an attempt to reassure his panicking mind as he moved his hands underneath himself and pushed up, groaning as his shaky, weak legs heaved up his body. The youngest slowly looked around then shuffled to the edge of the building to have a look at his surroundings, trying to find anything that looked familiar. That's when he heard the thump. Mikey whirled around- nearly falling over- and found himself face to face with a large mutant dog.

"Dang it! I'm not in the mood for this Rahzar…! Go away! Shoo!" Mikey cried as he shifted his hands towards his belt for his nun-chuck, and moaned eternally when his hands met an empty slot where his weapons were supposed to be. The large dog rumbled in laughter then sneered with his great sharp teeth glinting dangerously.

"Not in the mood, ey? Well, what if I told you that I am?"

"Then I would say… Where's your honor, bro? Would you seriously beat up a poor, sick turtle that can barely stand? Cos, if you're a ninja, you must have honor! That's what keeps us sane!"

"I lost my honor when I was mutated, turtle."

"Pretty sure it's when you started working for the Shredder…" Mikey mumbled in response as his whole body yearned to lay back down again. His legs were shaking immensely, and falling to the ground wasn't only a possibility, it was becoming very probable.

"You know what I like about this situation?"

"Haven't got the faintest idea…"

"What I like about this situation is that it's just you and me. Capturing you will be like stealing candy from a baby. Then when your pathetic brothers realize that you're gone, they'll come looking for you. It's that simple." Rahzar growled as he took a couple large steps towards the trembling turtle.

"You know, this has been a really terrible day for me, so it would be very much appreciated if we did this whole turtle-napping thing another day… I just don't really think I can do this right now… Plus, I wouldn't want to share my super, duper, mega illness with you and all of Shredder's goons. That would cause you some serious beatings from your master, I bet…" Mikey whimpered as the mutant got closer. The youngest turtle's legs suddenly gave out, and he came plummeting into the ground, gaining a pretty gnarly scrape in the process.

"Heh. Pathetic!" Rahzar hissed as a claw sprung out and snatched Mikey's arm. Why did this have to happen of all days!? Sick, exhausted, defenseless, and not to mention he was completely on his own. Why didn't he just tell his brothers that he was sick?!

"Piece of cake." The mutant dog grumbled as he swung Mikey over his shoulder, and began to walk; "actually, that was easier than a piece of cake."

As sick and out of it as he was, there was still fear pulsing through him that was starting to give him the adrenaline he needed to attempt an escape. With one huge push, Mikey used as much strength as he could muster to spring away from Rahzar's grasp. It nearly worked too! If only Mikey had noticed the small detail where Rahzar was still gripping his arm.

"This is just too easy."

"Give me a break!" Mikey shouted, which was too much for his throat, and he started to hack loudly into the skeleton dog's neck.

"EH! Keep your disgusting germs to yourself! If you get me sick, I'm going to wipe you out right here and now!"

"S-sorry!"

"Amigo, I see you got one of the turtles, yes?" Mikey heard from behind him and groaned. Fantastic, FishFace! Could this day get any worse?! One, don't ever ask that question. And two, it absolutely could, but Mikey wasn't too keen to see how bad it could get.

"What do you think, Xever?" Rahzar grumbled in annoyance.

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Whatever. Shredder will be pleased with the present we have brought him."

"Turrrrtle soup."

"I can guarantee I won't taste like turtle soup! And by the way, eating turtles is just messed up, even if it's a chocolate bar. Chocolate Turtles… Please... Why couldn't they have called it chocolate Seahorses, or Octopuses, or any other sea creature?" Mikey coughed out then saw FishFace's smirk from the corner of his eye. This was truly an awful day. Where in the world were his brothers? Honestly, how could they have not noticed Mikey wasn't with them? Did they even care that he was missing? Maybe he had caused such a problem that they didn't even want to find him. Or, perhaps he really was as useless as Raph said... They failed to notice all the problems Mikey was having from his sickness. Perhaps, they really actually didn't care.

It nearly took twenty minutes for them to get to Shredder's lair. Mikey was so exhausted that if the fear wasn't keeping him awake, he would have definitely fallen asleep against Rahzar. Mikey almost wondered what they would have done if that had happened. Maybe they would have given him a nice warm bed with some pizza? Fat chance...

"Master Shredder. We have a gift for you." Rahzar grumbled once they had been admitted through the large doors. Mikey slowly cocked his fifty thousand pound head and looked up at the stone chair where the Shredder sat glaring at them.

"Bring him to me." The man said with a dangerous voice that made Mikey shiver, and this time it wasn't because of the fever. Rahzar walked across the tiled floor until he was nearly five feet away from the ninja master, then with swift movements, the mutant dropped Mikey onto the cold floor. The impact of his body hitting the ground caused a jolt of pain to lightning through the blue eyed turtle's head.

"He's sick, Sensei. His skin is burning up." Rahzar growled as the Shredder made his way down the stairs towards Mikey's limp form.

"You have done well, Bradford." Shredder growled darkly as he stood over the youngest. His one black eye penetrated Mikey's blue and caused more shivers to creep down his body. "Take him away. I'll deal with him later."

"Right away." Rahzar replied before yanking Mikey back up again, and walking down the hall to where Mikey could only guess. Mikey hated this whole place a bajillion times more than a thrown away slice of uneaten pizza. And that was saying something.

"What, makes you so sure that my brothers will come for me…?" Mikey mumbled softly as they moved into a large, dark chamber lined with many cells. This must be Shredder's dungeon...

"There's no doubt that they wouldn't come for you." Rahzar spat out before walking to a dim cell, unlocking it, and chucking Mikey in. The young turtle hit the ground and rolled slightly until he was laying on his plastron. 'There definitely could have been a nicer way to put me in.' Mikey thought as Rahzar snatched and yanked away all of Mikey's accessories. He didn't even leave the small orange mask on. What in the world is Mikey supposed to do with a mask that's hardly more than a foot long? Whip the whole clan to death? Somehow, Mikey didn't think that was gonna happen even if he was in a healthy state.

"Enjoy your stay, you pathetic turtle." Rahzar grumbled as he locked the door then marched away, leaving the small, weak terrapin by himself with a throbbing skull to accompany him.

Mikey woke up hours after falling asleep again. It was a mystery how he could fall asleep in such a horrific place such as this, but somehow he did. If he thought he was cold before, it was no where close to how cold he felt now. His teeth were rattling like a rattlesnake. He felt so weak that he could barely lift his head to look around in his dark cell. His heart was racing as though he had been sprinting for fifteen miles straight, and his brain was pulsing with constant pain.

"I… really want my brothers…" Mikey whispered as the thought of them bounced inside his head, and caused tears to well up in his eyes. What would he give to have medicine forced down his throat, and spoonfed noodle soup that all he had to do was open his mouth. And those three mother hens to hold him and take care of him, and worry about him until he was feeling better. He was being stubborn, and he owned that, but what would he give to go back in time and just come straight out and tell them that he was sick. He'd give up a whole day's worth of eating pizza to go back in time. If any of Mikey's brothers had heard Mikey think that last statement, they would have killed over backward in disbelief.

"Leo… Please… Please get me out of here… Raph, Donnie, I need you… I need you…"

It felt like a few more months had passed, or, maybe just a couple of hours before Rahzar walked up to the cell. His golden eyes glinted through the cell bars before there was a click and the door swung open.

"The Shredder has a little welcoming gift for you, turtle." Rahzar growled with a hint of excitement in his voice. Whatever it was, Mikey didn't want to find out, because honestly, Shredder's welcoming gifts were straight up bad news.

"Can I pass on that…?" Mikey croaked, "or maybe opt out completely?"

"There's no way out of this, turtle. No passes. No opting out."

"Worth a try…" Mikey coughed softly then groaned when Rahzar plucked him up. He hung limply in the bony claws, probably looking like a lifeless body to any passerby.

"Can, we call a truce…? I won't beat you up, if you let me go…" Mikey mumbled through his swollen throat. A soft rumble of laughter escaped Rahzar's lips as he walked down the dark hall that was illuminating with unnatural light.

"You can't even talk. What makes you think you can fight me, let alone beat me up?"

"You, do have a fair point…" Mikey agreed weakly then took a couple shallow breaths.

It wasn't long until the two mutants found themselves in the middle of Shredder's lair again as the Shredder stood in the middle of the walkway of his dingy mansion. His weapons were drawn and he looked like he was preparing to summon the grim reaper or something as he watched Mikey. Rahzar dumped the lime green turtle on the ground then took a step back, showing a look of anticipation and excitement as he watched the scene like it was some super great Tv show.

"You will provide me with answers, turtle, or you will find yourself scattered all over the city in pieces."

"That doesn't paint a very pretty pic-"

"Enough! Tell me where your Sensei is!" Shredder bellowed over Mikey's mumbles. The youngest watched as the dangerous monster of a man stalked closer to him, his blades glinting in the dim light.

"No… My, brothers will res-"

"Your brothers are dead. I killed them hours ago. They refused to answer me so I destroyed them."

Dead ...? Mikey stared at the horrible man above him and felt the color drain from his face. What kind of awful, sick joke is this...? He has to be lying, right…? His brothers can't die. No way, no how.

"Do you need more persuading.?" Shredder growled with a deadly tone as he moved the blade of his weapon towards Mikey's neck.

"I want, proof…" Mikey said barely above a whisper. He was afraid that it was true. Was that why his brothers didn't come for him? Were they really dead, and he was the only one alive now…?

"Fine. Bring out the bodies, Bradford." Shredder seethed furiously. Bodies..? Their bodies…?

Rahzar watched Shredder for a couple seconds then nodded before turning and walking away. The whole world was spinning before Mikey's eyes as tears blinded him from seeing clearly.

"Where is your Sensei, turtle!?" Shredder roared, startling Mikey.

"I!" Mikey cried softly as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Maybe after a little pain you'll talk." The man said before pushing the cold blade of his weapon into Mikey's neck. It stung so bad, causing Mikey to cry out in pain, only to make him start to cough harshly.

"Where is your SENSEI.?"

"Please…! Stop…!" Mikey begged as he tried to move his weak arms to his non-existing nun-chucks, only to start shivering from the movement.

"Get away from my brother, freak.!"

Mikey gasped out softly as he heard the dangerous voice. When Shredder took away the blade, Mikey turned his neck slightly to the right where he saw Raphael standing with his sais pointing murderously at Shredder. The red banded turtle had several new bruises spotting his body as though he had fought a small army to get here. Thank the pizza makers that the Shredder was lying! But like, seriously, of course he was! He's the Shredder! Gosh Mikey! Don't doubt your brothers, bro!

"Raph…" Mikey croaked as he tried to sit up, but his muscles failed him greatly, and his head pounded harder, causing his vision to blur up with black splotches.

"Turtle. You are in no match to fight me."

"Wanna bet?" Raph snarled right before Leo and Donnie dropped down from the roof with a couple of new friends. Slash and Leatherhead. Despite himself, Mikey started to cry in relief, which was the fourth time that day, not that anyone is counting. They came! They really came!

"You will give us back our baby brother, and make this easy, or we will unleash the pain. It's up to you. But either way, we aren't leaving without him." The second oldest hissed while Leo, Donnie, and the Mighty Mutanimals circled around the infuriated man.

They each unsheathed their weapons, breaking the dead silence right before the Shredder began to sprint to Raph with the blades of his sword swinging towards his neck. Second before the weapon would have made contact on Raphael's skin, Leonardo crashed blades with the man. As the sound of metal clashing against metal echoed around the lair, the fight enfolded. The Mighty Mutanimals and Donnie jumped into the battle as Foot soldiers entered while Raph sprinted to Mikey's side.

"What the heck is wrong with you!? You want to get yourself killed!? Why didn't you try to stop him?!" Raph yelled at the younger turtle; "you're not even in chains! You could have gotten up and gotten yourself out of here!"

"I'm, sick…! Okay!? I'm sorry that I choose the worst day to get captured!" Mikey replied softly with an angry tone.

"Sick!? Why didn't you say something!?"

"I don't know! I've been wondering the same thing ever since I got here!"

"Guys! This really isn't the time!" Leo yelled as reinforcements showed up to help Shredder.

"This conversation isn't over!" Raph growled as he slid his arms under Mikey's legs and shell, and stood up.

"Raph! Get Mikey out of here! Donnie, you go with Raph and take care of Mikey!" Leo ordered as he narrowly dodged one of Shredder's blades.

"But Leo!" Donnie cried as he swung a staff at a Footbot.

"Go! Now!"

"We'll help Leonardo!" Slash announced as his mace collided into Rahzar's chest. Raph looked at Donnie's fearful eyes then nodded, before sprinting towards the doors of the mansion.

"You idiot. You idiot. You frickin' idiot." Raph kept mumbling as he escaped Shredder's lair. Mikey wasn't really sure if the words were directed at him, but at the precise moment, he couldn't care less. He was finally safe, cradled in his dear Raphie's arms.

"I can't believe you're sick and you didn't tell me!" Donnie spoke up once they were sprinting across the rooftops.

"I can't believe you were dumb enough to go on a canister hunt like this! You must be more idiotic than I gave you credit for!"

"Maybe…" Mikey replied drowsily as he rested his head against Raph's neck, his eyes slowly closing.

"Guys! There's Footbots behind us!" Donnie cried out and Mikey slowly opened his eyes to peer behind them. Sure enough, seven black Footbots were dashing after them.

"Smoke bomb!" Raph ordered with a growl, and a second later there was a cloud of purple smoke surrounding them. The smoke made Mikey go into a coughing fit that made him more lightheaded, and the pounding in his head worse.

"They're gone! We're safe now!" Donnie announced to Raph once they were twenty blocks from where the smoke bomb went off.

"Good riddance. There would have been some serious damage to those robots if they kept following us."

"Raph…?" Mikey mumbled softly as his eyelids fluttered closed again, "how did you get so many bruises…?"

Silence greeted Mikey for a couple, long seconds before Raph mumbled, "that's not important right now. What is important is getting you back to the lair so you can get some medicine."

Mikey would have groaned, but after being trapped in a cell for several hours, medicine didn't seem that bad to him anymore.

It didn't take very long to get back to the lair, and right upon their entrance, Donnie immediately took off to whip out some medicine for the youngest. Raph walked over to the Tv pit, and carefully sat down with Mikey with a look of worry plastered across his face. It was probably because he left Leonardo with a murderous monster.

"You could have gotten killed, Mikey. Then those dumb nightmares I had last night would have came true. I can't believe you didn't tell Donnie, or Leo, or even me that you were sick." Raph grumbled as he placed Mikey on the couch next to himself. Mikey looked up at Raph's angry eyes, but noticed now that they showed a hint of fear that was emanating from his green irises.

"I'm really sorry, Raph… I didn't realize that it could have gotten this bad…."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, bro. We all put our lives in danger because of your stupid mistake."

"I…" Mikey began but couldn't find any words to fix his slip-up. Gosh, he really screwed this up, big time. And Raph was 100% right that he put them all in danger for his lack of confession. Way to go, Mikey, way to go.

"I've got some Tylenol that should help reduce the fever, and some Xofluza that will help with your flu. But before you take any of this, I need you to eat some soup that I have prepared for you. Leo didn't make it, so it should be edible." Donnie said as he stood in front of Mikey and held out the bowl of steaming noodle soup. It wasn't pizza, but Mikey supposed it would just have to do.

"Even if Leo made it, I would still force you to eat it." Raph grumbled as he took the bowl from Donnie's hands and shifted Mikey so his head was propped up on Raph's leg. This way Mikey could at least get the soup in his mouth without it dribbling all over.

"Donnie, I'll take care of the kid. I want you to go find Leo, and bring him home." Raph told the brown eyed turtle as he began to feed the youngest of their little clan. Mikey was utterly happy to accept the warm broth and noodles as it entered his dry mouth. It actually tasted really good.

"Are you sure you can take care of him? Give him the right dosage of medicine? Make sure that he's warm, but not overly warm? Make sure he's taking a lot of fluids, and getting a tone of rest, and-"

"I've lived under the same roof as you for fifteen long, excruciating years. I'll be fine, brainiac. Just go already."

Donnie didn't seem at all convinced, and the troublesome look on his face didn't falter as he booked it out of the lair to find their oldest brother.

"Does he think I'm not capable of taking care of a sick turtle?"

"Are you looking for an answer…? Or…"

"Shut up and keep eating." Raph interjected as he shoved a spoonful of broth into the youngest's mouth.

Taking pills has always been Mikey's least favorite thing about being sick, and Raph's ungentle way of going about it didn't make matters better. It wasn't Mikey's fault he kept spitting out the Tylenol, pills just never liked Mikey and were always trying to escape. But as much as he tried to explain this to Raph, the dude never showed any sympathy. In fact, after the seventh time of Mikey spitting the pill out, Raph grabbed the thing, shoved it into Mikey's mouth, and clamped an irritated hand over his beak and wouldn't let up until he was absolutely positive that he was positive that Mikey had swallowed it. Seriously? How much more forceful can you get?

"Is it gone? Did you swallow it?" Raph snarled as he watched the blue eyed turtle.

"Uhhuuuh!" Mikey mumbled from behind the dark green hand.

"Now for this medicine that has some ridiculous name that isn't important." Raph said before taking out the Xofluza and filling the tiny plastic cup to the correct measurement. The older of the two didn't take any time to wait until Mikey was ready before dumping the whole disgusting thing into the back of the freckled turtle's throat. It tasted sooo bad that Mikey wasn't sure how he survived the revolting taste.

"Do you think Leo and Donnie will come back safely…? And Slash and Leatherhead?" Mikey asked his older brother as he curled up against him. Raphael frowned at the contact but didn't move to reposition Mikey.

"I'm sure they will. Just go to sleep, bonehead." Raph responded as he reached to the side where a blanket lay bunched up on the couch, and softly draped it over the shivering turtle. He then gently rested his hand on Mikey's shell as he turned on the Tv.

It felt barely more than five seconds before Mikey was startled awake by Raph's TPhone echoing loudly throughout the lair. The ringing stopped abruptly before the second ring had a chance to sound out, and Raph's voice replied quickly, "Donnie?"

"If you want to see your brothers and friends again, I suggest you and your Sensei meet me at my mansion in thirty minutes or I will kill them all slowly and painfully, and you will never get the chance to see them again. And if you dare to enter my presence without your rat master, I will not hesitate to kill them and force you to watch."

"Oh, I'll be there alright. " Raph growled, "and you better not lay a single finger on them or you will find yourself meeting the slow and painful death. I will not be afraid to throttle you and spread your limbs all ov-" Raph stopped his flow of angry words when Mikey opened his eyes and glanced up at his older brother in shock. "...I'll leave your sick imagination to finish the rest of that sentence. But, if I find a single scratch on either of my brothers or my friends, you will surely regret it." Raph hung up and shoved his TPhone away angrily and pushed Mikey up enough to get out from underneath him.

"Wait, wait, I'm coming too…" Mikey said as Raph began to gear up with ninja stars and anything else he could carry.

"Absolutely not. This is your fault that we're in this mess. And I'm not about to send my sick, fever-stricken brother into a battle where it's practically suicide for him. You're staying here, and that's that." Raph growled.

"But since this is my fault, I need to fix it!" Mikey pleaded as he forced his aching muscles to sit completely up.

"If you try to come, I swear, I will knock you out, and chain you to your bed."

The two brothers locked eyes with each other, and Mikey knew that Raph was dead serious. There was no point in continuing this conversation. So to show that he, Raph, had won this round, Mikey slowly laid back down and curled up.

"Splinter and I got this. We're very intelligent mutants, and will be able to save our brothers and friends in no time." Raph grumbled, and Mikey was almost positive that Raphael was trying to convince himself in particular, and not his little brother. "We'll be back within a couple of hours."

"You promise?" Mikey asked and he hated how childish it sounded. But hated it even more when his brother took his sweet time answering before saying, "Yeah."

Splinter was an extremely advanced and an intelligent martial arts ninja master, but even for the coolest and most radical ninja in the world, this was still a suicide mission. And for the umpteenth time that day, Mikey wished very badly that he had just come out and said he was sick. The day still wasn't done yet, and Mikey honestly believed he would keep wishing that as he watched his father and brother sprint out of the lair.