Leo
Frigid January air pushed my blue mask tails back as I maneuvered through the rooftops. Being a giant mutant reptile, I could safely assure you that winters are the worst thing in the world, especially New York winters. I wore my cowl and yoroi from back in the woods in our farmhouse days to keep my cold-blooded body somewhat at bay. My brothers were right behind me in their own yoroi, flipping over AC units and bounding off water towers and satellites, though I wouldn't have known this due to their learned furtiveness. We were shadows in the night, a gentle breeze, and no one could stealthily maneuver as well as us.
"Booyakasha!"
I flinched. And there it is.
"Did you see that wicked awesome flip I just did, D?" Mikey called obnoxiously.
If we were closer to Shredder's lair, I would have been chiding my little brother right then, but Mikey can't stay quiet for extended intervals. It would be best for him to belt out a few whoops and booyakashas now than later. Anyway, so much for silence.
"No, I didn't, Mikey," Donnie replied in an unamused monotone.
"Mikey, will you can it already?" My immediate younger brother wasn't as patient.
Our youngest brother landed swiftly with a huff. "No, but watch me can this sick handspring. Yow!"
I rolled my eyes. His sentence made absolutely no sense. My brothers and I watched Mikey leap and place his hands on the rooftop's edge, folding over and flipping downward until his grip made purchase on a fire escape railing, sliding until he touched down on a dumpster lid. We poked our heads from over the ledge, each casting down on him unamused glares.
"Totally rad, right?" Mikey yelled.
"Yeeaaahh," Donnie dragged out dryly.
I shot a knowing look at my brothers, to which Raphael returned with a smirk.
"Remember, he's your problem tonight, Fearless."
I shut my eyes and groaned. "Alright, Michelangelo. Fun's over—"
I had to break my sentence off as I looked back down at the alley, almost choking on my words. Mikey was gone! My brothers and I gasped in unison. Neither of us saw him move; he was just there. How could he have wandered off so quickly and so silently?
Of course, when he trails off is the time he wants to be sneaky.
"Oh, come on," I groaned, palming my face.
Raph growled and stood up. "Forget him! If he wants to travel to la-la land, let him! Let's just get to Shredder's lair already."
"I don't think so, Raph. Mikey tends to run into trouble," I said with a shrug.
"All the little twerp has done lately is slow down our missions! We can do one without him," Raph claimed, pacing the rooftop and twirling his sais impatiently.
Donatello clasped a hand on my shoulder. "I don't always side with Raph, but he's right; Mikey will be fine."
"Can we go already? I'm—"
A crash in the distance silenced my exasperated brother, and the three of us pivoted to the sudden noise a street away. It sounded like clashing metal, sending a flock of pigeons into flight.
Mikey?
We ran to the other side of the building and crouched as we spotted some familiar mutants stomping through an alleyway. Rahzar and Fish Face, but no Tiger Claw? The zombie wolf was face-palming himself after seemingly knocking over trash cans with his giant hands by mistake, and thank God he did. We knew who to spy on now. I held in a smirk. These guys always made it easy for us. Maybe things were finally going my way tonight. My brothers were right: Mikey could wait.
"Donnie?" I asked.
My brother in purple looked to his shoulder and smiled at one of his little spy roaches, to which I felt Raph shiver beside me. "Okay. Let's get closer, and I'll let this little guy do the rest."
"Alright, ninjas, move—"
"Yo, dudes! Look at what I found!"
My muscles tensed, and I sucked in a gasp. No. Not now. Please, not now.
The three of us turned to see Mikey with a dopey smile and a black cat in his hold. When I looked back at our enemies, they had disappeared. I trembled with anger at the thought that Mikey had left us for a stupid cat. Even after years of discipline and training, I was starting to think he'd never change. What made me angrier was that I let this happen.
"I named her Pepper. Isn't she cute?" Mikey asked. He lacked the social cues to pick up the growing rage and tension between the rest of us with those big, innocent eyes.
I stood from my stoop and marched over to Mikey with a glare I hoped pulled him to reality. The palm of my hand made firm contact with the back of his head. He whimpered, hugging his cat and flashing me those baby blue eyes that used to have a spell on me when he was little. But he wasn't little anymore. His pout told me I had jarred him a bit. Raph was usually the one to bop him over the head, and knowing I did seemed to have taken him aback. I would be lying if I said I didn't whack him harder than I should have. I couldn't help it; his antics were getting out of control lately.
Mikey rubbed the back of his head that was undoubtedly tender and squeaked, "What was that for?"
"Because of you, we just lost Rahzar and Fish Face," I said sternly. "Now we have to track them down."
"Oh, there will be no need for that," came a low, gravelly voice.
Rahzar clambered onto the rooftop behind Mikey. Fish Face's mechanical legs whirred behind me, probably taking a stance before my other brothers.
Okay, this could be worse.
I had to stop doing that to myself because a hoard of foot bots scaled their way to the top, entirely surrounding us now. I drew my twin katanas, the blades singing in my ears as I unsheathed them. The urge to shoot Mikey a glare took control, and he flashed me a guilty, nervous smile in return, dropping the cat and reaching for his nunchucks.
"Just the freaks we were looking for," Rahzar taunted.
Mikey scoffed next to me, his nunchucks twirling. "Freaks? You must not have looked in the mirror lately, Rahzar."
The zombie dog growled, bearing his jagged teeth at my baby brother with a threatening step. "You're mine, little turtle."
Bradford swung his claws down at Mikey, but I had already anticipated this, blocking his blow with my blades. I was mad at the kid that this encounter was happening, yes. But if anyone was going to hurt Mikey, it would be his older brothers…preferably somewhere safer.
This started a chain reaction. Everyone on the roof merged, slinging punches, kicks, and sparring weapons. Raph took on Fish Face as always; those two had an odd rhythm for enemies, an unspoken, twisted bond. Donnie began whacking foot bots with his bo. I knew he would be fine. The day we started worrying about measly foot bots was the day I would grow concerned. Trying not to let them easily distract us was the tricky part, but as long as at least one of my brothers kept them busy, I felt more confident taking on Rahzar, who had broken our little stand-off.
Mikey belted out a battle cry and flung his kusarigama, wrapping it around Rahzar's fist as it came raining down on me. He gave it a good heave and jerked the mutant's arm away, granting me time to swoop to the side and bring my elbow down on his arm. Bradford let out a snarly cry as the force of my elbow slam brought him to the ground.
I snuck a glance around me, spotting Raph and Fisface in a blade-to-blade stand-off, gritting their teeth at the other.
"And where's Shredder's little second-in-command, huh?" Raph asked. "Odd of him not to be here to ensure you two screw-ups do what you're supposed to."
"We don't need that Tiger Claw everywhere we go, you smug turtle!" Fish Face returned as he broke their stand-off.
Donnie had already effortlessly taken out half of the foot bots. Allowing myself to take a breath, I knew that we'd be in the clear if Mikey and I could take down Rahzar, who let out an angry howl into the night.
Bradford regained his strength as I bought a few seconds to check on my brothers, standing up and pulling back on the chain that Mikey had snared around his arm, yanking my youngest brother into his hold and slamming him down. Mikey released a breathless grunt, gritting his teeth as Rahzar placed a foot on his plastron. I tackled the zombie wolf to the ground, slamming a katana down and slicing the side of Rahzar's shoulder, who yowled once more. I leaped off as I caught a glimpse of his massive paw aiming for my head in my peripheral vision, standing my ground next to Mikey, who had recovered.
"Easy, doggie. We'll give you a treat if you stand down," Mikey taunted.
"Now, now, Mikey. You know what they say: you can't teach an old dog new tricks," I said, mimicking my little brother's smirk.
Raph cornered Xever next to Rahzar, who massaged the gash I gave him on his shoulder. The Fish mutant appeared even more beat up than his companion, with a swollen lip and a scrape across his front. Donnie flipped over to us, dropping the head of a foot bot at their feet with a gap-toothed simper. The four of us had backed the henchmen to the corner of the roof, brandishing our weapons, waiting for them to regain a second wind and strike.
"How about I teach them to play dead without the play part?" Raph asked with a malicious grin.
"Next time, you vile tortugas," Fish Face said.
Before my brothers and I could react, the pair of evil mutants jumped back and dropped from the building. We sheathed our weapons and ran to the edge, blinking at the empty street below.
"Darn, I was hoping that fight would last a little longer. I was itching for a good fight," Raph said, popping his knuckles. "Sushi and Dog Breath didn't bring their A-game tonight."
"We weren't supposed to be fighting at all," I uttered, turning to shoot Mikey another glare, but he wasn't where he was before.
"Oh no, dudes. This is awful!" Mikey said on the other side of the roof.
"What is it?" Donnie asked.
"Pepper is gone! Our fighting must have scared her away. Poor girl," Mikey said, scanning the streets from above.
"Are you serious?" Raph seethed. "You blew our recon mission, and all you care about is that stupid cat?"
"She's not stupid!" Mikey defended, but his gaze was still fixed below us.
I grabbed the kid's shoulder and made him look at my stern glower. "Raph's right. You need to fix your priorities, Michelangelo. Because of your wandering off, tonight was a bust."
"Well, not exactly," Donnie piped in quietly. I turned back at him, seeing his beak buried in his T-phone. "While Raph was fighting Fish Face, I was able to pull away from the foot bots just long enough to place a spy roach on him."
Raph wrapped Donnie under his burly arm, giving him a nuggie with a mischievous grin. "That's what I'm talking about, Donnie, you sneaky son-of-a—"
"Ow! Stop! I'm trying to check on the roach!" Donnie cried pitifully.
Mikey released a relieved chuckle, making me turn back to him with another scowl. "Heh, see, Leo? Everything worked out after all."
"Don't think you're off the hook, Mikey. We'll discuss this further when we reach the lair. Let's move, ninjas!"
My brothers followed my command with the point of my finger towards the north.
Mikey
The four of us tiredly entered our underground home, where Sensei patiently waited for us. At the sight of our arrival, he stood up and studied us, stroking his facial hair with a hum.
"What happened to stealth and recon, my sons?" he questioned.
Was it that obvious we got into a scuffle with Shredder's mutant goons?
"Why don't you answer that one, Mikey?" Leo asked me sourly, heading to the pit and removing his gear.
I scrunched up my face at him as he passed me with a look of disdain planted on his gaze. It was a sucky feeling when Leo was upset with you like there was this weight that could drag you down to the earth's core. It was more bitter than biting into a spoiled slice of pizza. Then I remembered Pepper's poor little face when I found her, alone and afraid, and then I was conflicted.
I nervously greeted Sensei's curious stare. "There was this poor little kitty, Father. I found her starving next to a dumpster."
"What does that have to do with your mission, Michelangelo?" Master Splinter asked me, clasping a warm paw on my shoulder.
"Mikey wandered away from us and ruined our spying on Shredder's goons with his loud mouth, Sensei," Leo answered for me.
I furrowed a brow at him, loathing when he had to take control of everything, even a conversation. "I don't have a loud mouth!"
Everyone flinched at my yell, and I timidly smiled at the fact that I had contradicted myself.
"Tell that to Rahzar and Fish Face, who attacked us because you gave away our position. If it weren't for Donnie, tonight would have been a total bust," Leo said, marching up to me and folding his arms.
"Lighten up, Leo! It all worked out. Just be mellow, dude," I begged.
"Mellow?" Leo repeated. He got in my face, and I instinctively pushed him away. "I'll be mellow when you stop being such a screw-up!" He shoved me back, his body tense until he looked into my sad eyes.
I'd be totally lying if I said that didn't hurt me. It had dawned on me that maybe I really was a screw-up. Raph was typically the one cramping my style, telling me that I was ruining everything, and to that, I would throw a taunt at him to get him riled up. But when Leo said it…something felt more real, like when he smacked me earlier on the rooftop. That spoiled pizza taste returned, and I could feel my cheeks burning red. My big brother's scowl faltered just before Father stepped in between us.
"YAME! That is enough. This is not how a team behaves, let alone brothers. Apologize, tattaima!"
Leo and I stood at attention, eyeing each other with soft eyes. He was the first to bow to me, muttering sadly, "I'm sorry, Michelangelo."
I returned with a bow of my own. "I'm sorry, Leo."
This felt so weird. Leo and Raph were usually the ones forced to apologize for fighting. I had never been in this position before. Either way, I still felt a twinge in my heart as I recalled the anger in Leo's eyes moments back. I'd really disappointed him. It's not like I meant to walk away from the mission. Once I saw Pepper in the alleyway, everything around me melted away, and she was my main focus. I had to get this under control, but that would require changing the way I think. And what if I could never do that? It was so hard to concentrate on just one thing.
Thinking about this made my eyes tickle with tears, and I had to blink them back as I locked eyes with my big brother. But Leo was very perceptive and noticed right away with a spreading frown.
"Leonardo, a word," Sensei said, pulling the two of us back to reality.
"Hai, Sensei," Leo agreed.
The three of us separated, the two of them heading to the dojo and me to my room. I shouldn't have stolen a glance back at them because Leo did the same. Again, we had awkwardly found each other. There was something longing about his gaze, like he wished to tell me something, but it would have to wait. I shamefully turned from him, wiping my eyes as I entered my room to sulk.
