Hi all!
I plan that every chapter, by it's name will tell who's perspective it's in. Or at least which character it follows. This one's with Donnie now! I feel as if this is a slow burn story but I am planning on getting to the juicy. Just setting the stage for it!
I'm still debating on the voice of Raph. If I should rework his dialogue from the previous chapter or not. Lmk what you guys think!
Thanks and enjoy!
Donnatello pinched his brows together with his large thumb and index finger thinking profusely about his younger brother's hiding spots. He wasn't in his room, nor the living room. He wasn't here in the dojo, and I can infer that he's DEFINITELY not in Splinter's room. He walked down the suspended stairs into the living room and jumped off landing safely. He glanced at the kitchen where the incandescent lightbulb scattered it's light more brilliantly than before. Noting how much brighter the kitchen doorway was, the wheels began to turn in his mind.
Of course! Why didn't I check there after I checked Mikey's room?
He hurried into the kitchen, expecting the familiar sea green of his younger brother. Instead, his older brother Leonardo was sitting at the table maintaining his already perfect posture, cupping his hands around his handleless tea-cup which was filled with a mint colored tea. His expression was hard to read but if Donnie had any inkling from earlier he could assume that Leo was angry or at the very least annoyed. His supporting evidence- the delicate aroma of mint leaves paired with camomile was a dead giveaway for his leader since they both promoted calmness. I should be quick, the tension in here is unbearable-
"Hey Leo." Donnie greeted. Leo looked up at the Purple-masked Ninja to process who spoke to him and dipped his head in greeting. "By chance did Mikey come in here? Or that you know where he would be?"
"Have you checked the dojo?" Leo asked, bringing the cup to his own lips and sipping the warm liquid.
"I just did a minute ago. He wasn't in there. Maybe he went to see Splinter already?" Donnie weakly suggested, entertaining the thought.
Leonardo snorted, "Mikey doesn't go to Master Splinter to hide. And never to admit any of his mistakes." Donnie shifted his weight uncomfortable, feeling as if Leo mentally added onto his statement. He could read the slight wrinkles on Leo's face which described how he wanted to say 'how Michaelangelo and Raphael are similar in that regard'.
"I'm worried Leo. Hiding? At this time of night? Where would he go?" Donnatello could feel the forest skinned terrapin stare at him while Donnie was focused on speculating more of Mikey's hiding places. He heard his leader take another sip of his tea.
"If there's anyone Sensei trusts enough to find him, it's you Don." Donatello blinked hearing his brother address him by the nickname 'Don'. He must be really peeved if he's calling me that. "Anytime Mikey was missing, you've always been able to pinpoint where he is. Like when we were kids." Donnie cleared his mind, chuckling at their childhood memories that briefly took priority occupying his mind.
"Yea. I remember the chart I made which described each hiding spot Mikey ever had in the lair. I worked on that thing for months alone just calculating every nook and cranny to determine if Mikey would have thought it decent enough to try his luck. It did us some real good especially when he broke something." Donnie heard Leo make a quiet chuckle.
"And to this day Mikey still doesn't know." Donatello smiled as he thought about their childhood. Reminiscing like this with Leonardo felt like relief from the stress of the Kraang, Shredder and his goons, and staying hidden. It was a great change, but when they were kids it was much simpler back then.
For another moment, he remembered his older brothers earlier that night. Their eyes were fixed on each other filled with fury. Had Donnie not stepped in, he feared the two would end up bickering in his lab as he tried to patch them up only to break their stitches. When they were kids he didn't have to be forced into the role of caregiver, he was able to choose that role freely. Not in a million years did tiny Donnie ever think he would have to be concerned about Raph and Leo killing each other. Simpler times, with simpler conflict.
Donnie cleared his throat, "Well, thank you for your help anyway Leo." Leo nodded his head, before Donnatello turned around and left him alone to drink his tea in 'peace'.
Their conversation had him thinking while he walked in his lab, his eyes were forced to painfully adjust to the brightness of the room. Although that chart is wildly outdated and consists of scribblings from pre-teen Donatello, Leo is right. Mikey has his T-phone on him almost all the time! I can track him on the computer and find his location! Walking through his workspace, he sat at his desk that consisted of multiple turned computer monitors that emitted the painful blue light.
"Alright Mikey, where are you?" He said to himself as he sat in his chair, yawning for a moment from his lack of sleep, strained his eyes to look at his screen before typing on his keyboard rapidly. The clacks of his keyboard paired with the hums of his inventions all around him seemed to be the loudest noises in his laboratory. His right hand gripped the mouse, sliding the white cursor across the screen and clicking the turtle shell icon which started the program he created to monitor everyone's phones. Once it was loaded, he scrolled through the page to see everyone's names sprawled out on the screen. When Donnie first gave his brothers their T-Phone, they all had made their own personal name for their own cell phones. They assumed only they were the only ones who could see it. They were wrong and only Leonardo knew of this dirty secret.
Imagine the embarrassment on the other's faces if they knew that I knew what they named themselves! Too bad I value my neck. He chuckled remembering Leo's expression when he found out as he saw the name 'Ichiban turtle' under Leonardo's cell number. When Leonardo came in and saw that Donnie knew about his secret about calling himself 'Captain Leo', the flushed embarrassment on the normally calm and maintained expression on his leader's face was priceless. It became a secret shared with the two (Donatello not wanting the others to know that he knows their cell phone names; Leonardo not wanting his brothers to tease him for his lame name choices)
Then there was Raphael's T-cell which was named 'Bad Spice' which was laughable to the bo' wielder. He will never be able to conjure the right hypothesis about what forced Raphael to name himself that, however he'd never ask for his safety. Donatello waits for the day to pounce on his opportunity with blackmailing Raph. It would be a thrill for the cautious sibling.
He skimmed over his own T-Cell's name to see Mikey's or as he called himself, 'The Holy Chalupa'. Donatello could recall the sheer amount of name's his little brother decided to call himself-'BuzzBuzzinator, Pizzalord, Turflytle, The Mike-anator, Doctor Prankenstein'. The list was long but never ceased to amaze him and tickle his funny bone. He clicked on 'The Holy Chalupa' which had a quick dropdown menu and he clicked on the button 'Search on GPS' with the option to send it to his own phone.
"What?" Donnie's puzzled voice rang out echoing faintly within the sound-proofed room. As he stared at the blue-lit screen he felt baffled. According to the GPS, Mikey's location is here in the lab. He blinked, "There's no way." After doublechecking to make sure the GPS wasn't showing his last location, he stood up from his desk, picking his bo' staff that leaned against his desk before searching for Mikey's whereabouts.
He walked around, looking for the sea green terrapin, his eyes keen on finding any noticeable difference in his room. The lab had a lot of inventions, parts, and materials that appeared to have no place when it was the opposite. Many of the projects that weren't finished had piles of materials next to their respective contraption on his tables, or if the project was larger, in labeled bins nearby. He noticed towards the back of the lab where he had more bins that the pile of materials on a nearby table had been scrambled around along with some laying on the floor. He probably caused this mess when he was trying to hide, Donnie thought.
"Mikey!" He spoke loudly, "I know you're in here. Come out!"
Donnie waited, but there wasn't a response. He sighed, till he heard someone coughing inside a large bin he assumed was empty beforehand. Donatello crept towards the bin, wary of what he would find, and with his bo' staff pulled the lid off to see what made that noise.
"Oh-uh… H-hey D." Donatello sighed in relief when he saw his younger brother greet him with a weak grin. However it was short lived seeing the bad shape he was in. Mikey was covered head to toe with a dusting of soot, and had many cuts all over his body- the largest cuts gaped. He held a partially bloody square cloth flushed against his right arm putting pressure on the worst wound.
"Oh my shell! Mikey!" Donatello quickly pulled Mikey out of the box to stand weakly on his feet. Mikey leaned against Donatello on his good side while Donnie led him to a metal table and sat him atop it. He bent over to grab the first-aid kit underneath the table and pulled it out, placing it next to Mikey, his thumbs flicking the latches open. "Are you okay? What did you do? Why didn't you come get me?" Donnie frantically moved to the nearby sink in his lab, his foot found its way to a circular bin with a foot lever. Pressing his foot down on it, the lid popped open as he grabbed a couple of clean rags. Pulling his foot off, the bin closed with a metal bang, he moved closer to the sink and turned on the faucet producing clean water as he soaked the bundle.
"Uhh…" He scratched the back of his neck. "The toothfairy told me not to?" He answered factitiously, ending his sentence in a higher pitch.
"Mikey, be serious!" Donnie snapped as he walked over, cleaning the soot off him and pulling the bloody rag away inspecting his worst wound. "You're lucky these aren't too bad. If I didn't find you in time your injuries could have been infected!"
For a moment Michaelangelo was silent as Donnie finished cleaning him up. In a quiet voice he apologized. Donnie took a deep breath to calm himself as he prepared to clean Mikey's wounds. "Mikey," he started softly. "I know about Raph's Shellcycle-"
"DON'T TELL HIM!" Mikey cried out. Donatello shook his head as he brought the wet gauze to Mikey's cut, disinfecting it carefully, a hiss of pain emitted from the smaller turtle.
"Raph already knows." Donnie could feel Mikey's shocked stare bore into his head. "He was the one that found it. Now," He moved to the other cuts after he finished bandaging his arm. "Please explain what happened. Because Raphael feels as if you wanted to prank him by crashing his motorcycle."
"What?" He squeaked, "I would never, ever, never do that! Not to his shellcycle! That's shellah wrong on so many levels! That's like someone coming into my room and trashing all my comic books, action figures, and even my boxes of pizza! Or going into your lab and breaking your inventions! Or-or going to Leo's room, playing with his stuff, and breaking his traditional weapons!" Donatello raised an unamused eyebrow at Mikey since two out of three of the things that he said happens routinely. Mikey felt his sceptic stare and sighed. "I wouldn't do that to Raph. Not as a prank. Pranks are supposed to be funny, laughable, enjoyable! Not mean." Donatello saw his hurt expression from being accused of making a malicious prank. Mikey's baby-blue eyes watering in shame. He couldn't help sympathizing with Mikey.
"I believe you Mikey." Mikey sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Tell me what happened."
Mikey sighed, composing himself. "Uhh, well. I was. Uhhhhh-OWWW!" He hissed in pain when his older brother brought the moist gauze pad to the remainder of his cuts.
"Sorry, I'm almost done. Continue?"
"Well," He started again while twiddling his thumbs nervously. "I've been feeling like Raph hasn't been hanging out with me as much lately." That's interesting. "And for a few months I've been trying to get his attention. The best way I know how, being Doctor Prankenstein the best in the business!"
Ah, Donnie thought, That's why he seemed so relentless pranking Raphael.
"It hasn't been working out. So, I thought, 'Mikey?" He took a comedic approach to explaining his thought process. "'Why don't you just ask to hang out with him and do things he likes!', and I was like 'Woah bro, you're absolutely right!' So, I went to go ask him."
"And how did he respond?" Donatello asked as he placed Mikey's favorite colorful band-aids on his cuts.
"He said 'Not now Mikey!' That he was going to go out! I even asked about Carmen!" Carmen was the name Raphael sometimes addressed his motorcycle, but Donatello was surprised Mikey even remembered that detail. "And it didn't work!" he sighed exasperated, his hands gesturing outward to amplify his frustration. "So, what did I do then? Well, I obviously decided that If I couldn't hang out with Raph, I would PRETEND to be Raph!" He chuckled. "Genius, I know."
"Uh-huh."
"So I snuck in his room, snagged his keys, snuck out, and went to the garage. I sat on it and I pretended to be Raph. You know, acting like he does and pretended to drive his baby!" Donnie chuckled.
"That got old pretty fast, and I was feeling lame. I was pretending to be Raph, but I had to feel as cool as Raph. So, I put the keys in the-uhh." He paused frowning as he tried to find the word. "Ig-Ignition?"
"You're correct Mikey."
"Awesome! Well, I did that and shell, I felt even more cool. Cooler than Bradford! No wonder why Raph loved the Shellcycle, it was pretty awesome!" Mikey threw his hands up in the air, his feet kicking wildly from remembering the excitement he had. Then his arms drooped, one hand landing in his lap, the other scratching just behind the corner of his jawline as he made an awkward and uncomfortable smile. "Until I accidentally twisted the handle and that weird button, and slammed into the wall-"
"YOU USED THE TURBO BOOST?!" Donnie yelled surprised, making Michaelangelo flinch even after preparing for his older brother's outburst.
"Oh. Is that what that was?" Donnie facepalmed, hard enough to leave a mark 'till tomorrow. "Well, after that, I got scared-"
"Rightfully so."
"-I knew Raph would kill me. So I decided to hide in the one place no one would expect me to hide which also happens to be the one place Raph isn't allowed to be in when he's raging like an angry bull that got stung by a bee. Your lab!"
Donatello slowly nodded his head, understanding Mikey's thought process. That's a pretty smart getaway plan. My lab was his perfect hiding place! Soundproof, lots of places to hide, and most importantly Raph's not allowed in when he's mad. He made a good decision because by the look of Raph earlier, Mikey would've been turtle stew!
Donatello was brought out of his thoughts seeing Michaelangelo slump sad and defeated.
"I didn't mean to crash it. I just wanted to feel closer to Raph, y'know? He's always hanging out with Casey and April, or doing other things. He's always conveniently too busy." He said in a quiet voice. Donatello's heart swelled in pain from hearing his baby brother speak in that sad tone. Michelangelo looked back at Donatello, his eyes pricked with tears that threatened to escape down his freckled cheeks.
"Do-do you think Raphie will hate me forever?"
Donatello's eyes widened, "Of course not!" He gave Mikey a big hug, methodically placing his arms in areas where Mikey wasn't hurt. Mikey clutched onto Donnie's arms like a baby bat holds onto it's mama. "Mikey, Raph just needs time to cool off. It wasn't right what you did, but I'm sure he will understand. At least, if you ask Splinter for help in apologizing to him, he won't be as mad!"
Mikey's eyes started to shine with hope as he pulled away quickly. "You think so?"
Donnie nodded, "Besides. Splinter needs to talk with you. He was really worried."
"Oh."
"Don't worry." Donatello smiled. "Splinter will be happy that you're safe! It'll be a good moment to explain fully what happened and prove that it wasn't an accident."
The orange-masked turtle sighed in relief. "Thank you D, you're the best!" Mikey gave Donatello another quick hug before leaving the lab. Donatello watched him go, hopeful that their hot-headed older brother wouldn't intercept him on the way out.