Mikey

Raph zipped through China Town's north side while I trailed behind. He huffed angrily with every jump, stopping now and then to scope the area and then start right back up before I could make it over to him. I would normally flaunt my sick running skills and pass him with my tongue sticking out, but I just didn't feel like it.

I knew he and my other brothers thought I was an idiot sometimes. They probably thought I couldn't see what was going on between Raph and Leo, but even Murikami-san would be able to see it. I mean, I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I knew it was nothing good. They were fighting about something new every week. Whether it was about one going into the other's room or Raph protesting against Leo's orders. No matter how trivial or serious their disputes were, the heaviness in my heart always weighed the same.

Finally, Raph glanced behind him to ensure I was still there, slowing his pace. "Pick up your feet, Mikey!"

I quickened my pace and ran beside him, looking at him every now and then until he looked back, and I redirected my attention elsewhere. This went on for our entire sweep of the north side, then we decided to rest before heading back to Leo and Donnie at Murikami's.

Raph leaned against a wall, his emerald green eyes focused on the ground as he steadied the adrenaline pumping through him and the constant rise and fall of his chest. After a minute or two, he looked at me, and my eyes darted away too late.

"Alright, what's wrong?" he asked me impatiently.

"What are you talking about, bro?" I asked with a sheepish smile.

"I usually can't get you to shut up when we patrol together," Raph said with narrowed eyes. He marched over and plopped down next to me on the ground, flashing that stern look that told me he would beat it out of me if I didn't spill soon. But even when he stared at me like that, my fun side wanted to come out.

"Oh, so you want me to be annoying?" I asked with a mischievous smile quirking on my face.

There was a sudden jerk on my mask tails, and I instinctively recoiled with a yelp.

"You know what I'm saying, shell-for-brains," Raph said.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Why would something be wrong? I'm as cool as a cucumber, brah."

"I don't know," Raph sighed, and I saw that same glint of sadness in his eyes that I'd seen in just about everyone else's stare when they talked to me.

No, not you, too, Raphie.

"Maybe this whole business with the Heiwa no Buki's got your nerves worked up," Raph continued.

"Not me, dude," I said with a confident smile that I hoped he wouldn't see through.

Raph's green eyes found a strewn can lying on the ground, and he focused on that for a bit with a frown that made my heart sink. "Yeah, but… your fate and all."

My mouth quivered slightly. The urge to frown back was there, but I remained smiling for my bro. Gently, I placed a hand on Raph's arm and waited for a reaction. We rarely had moments like this, so I expected discomfort to reflect on his face, but it remained glued to the can on the ground.

"Bro, I'd be totally lying if I told you I wasn't scared, but Master Splinter told me to have faith in you guys, so that's what I'm going to do," I assured. "So, stop worrying about me; it's kind of freaking me out."

Raph's gaze broke, and a small grin appeared on his face. He rubbed my head, and I leaned into it like a puppy like I always did.

"Hey, Raph?" I asked after a moment of silence.

He only looked at me. I awkwardly pushed my fingers together, looking up at the buildings stretched to the sky.

"Are you and Leo chill?"

Raph's eye ridges furrowed a bit. He stood up and began anxiously twirling a sai. "When are we ever 'chill'?"

I frowned at that response and didn't have the time to cover it up before Raph saw.

"Oh, is that why you've been quiet?" he asked, almost nonchalantly. When I didn't answer, he leaned down and helped me stand, his grip on my hand firm. "Don't worry about it, little brother. We'll get over it soon."

"I know, " I sighed. "I just hate it when mom and dad fight."

Raph suppressed a chuckle and playfully shoved my head. I laughed and did the same.

"Come on, we need to get back to Murikami's before Leo-nerd-o has a conniption."

We raced back to our meeting point, and this time, I didn't let Raph forget who was the fastest. I zipped a few feet ahead of him, laughing at every empty threat he shouted into the night. At that moment, everything felt okay in the world. Raph stopped looking at me like I was fragile, and I was whooping while doing handsprings as I beat my big bro in a race. It was all chill.

But of course, like every good moment that seems to come into play, a bad one immediately takes over.

My feet skidded on the roof of a building as I heard a scream not too far away, and Raph bumped into my shell. He lowered his brow and opened his mouth to yell at me, but I put a finger to my lips and stopped him cold. The two of us stood there in silence until we heard it again. When it came, we busted into a full run as we realized the scream was Leo's.

I struggled to control my breathing as I was finally running with purpose, not to win a race, or maybe it was the sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins…or maybe I was scared for Leo. I couldn't tell; I was too panicked.

Raph and I scaled the building next to Murikami's to take in the possible danger, and what we saw made me gasp so loudly that Raph had to clamp a hand over my mouth.

Leo was under the mercy of Bebop and Rocksteady, held captive and crushed under the rhino's horn. Donnie was sprawled on the ground a few feet away, unconscious by the look of it, but I was scared at the fact that I was unsure.

"What do those dweebs want?" Raph growled under his breath.

"What are we going to do, dude?" I asked, gripping Raph's muscular arm and shaking.

Raph pried me off him, shooting me an angry glare. "We save 'em, meat head!"

"Yeah, duh. But how?" I asked.

I tried looking down at the situation to form a plan, but it was hard not to redirect my gaze to the pain on Leo's face. I watched him squirm as the rhino crushed both of his hands down, and Leo let out a cry through clenched teeth. If only Rocksteady's stupid horn wasn't there to hold him down…

That's it!

"We rush in. I'll handle Big Stupid, and you get the pig," Raph said.

I put a hand on his arm as he went to stand up. "Wait, bro! Let me handle Rocksteady. I have an idea."

Raph flashed me a worried look, but after meeting my confident smile, it faded into a smirk. We fist bumped before climbing down the other side of the building, darting around the corner until Leo and the evil mutants were in slight.

"Booyakasha!"

I slung my nunchuck at Rocksteady's horn, and when it attached, I soared over the stupid hulking rhino, tugging on the long chain with enough force to yank his head back just enough to release Leo. The grunt that followed told me I was successful just as I touched down on the concrete. I bolted to the nearest wall, and with an energetic bound, I zipped across the brick and used the momentum to jump, and Tarzan swung in circles until I had the giant mutant wrapped in chains. Rocksteady belted an animalistic roar as he came crashing to the ground, shaking the alley and knocking over nearby trashcans.

I laughed triumphantly before looking for Raph, who advanced on Bebop like we had planned. The warthog was too quick, literally dancing around my angry bro with impressive hip movements that only infuriated Raph more as he tried to jab him with his sais.

"Mikey!"

I flinched at Leo, who suddenly appeared on my right. He massaged his plastron, his ocean blue eyes wide, and trained on me in a way that made me feel sick and panicked.

"Get out of here. They're here for you," he pleaded.

My heart fell to my butt at the sound of the alarm in his cracked voice. Behind Leo's head, I saw Donnie sprawled on the concrete, his arms twitching in wakefulness. He needed help, and by the sound of Raph's infuriated screams behind me, he needed help too.

"Dude! I can't just leave," I protested.

Another animal-like roar pierced the night. Rocksteady ripped his arms free, shattering the chain of one of my nunchucks. He stood and faced Leo and me, his messed up, cloudy eye fixed on me specifically and caused me to shutter. Leo pulled me behind him, brandishing his katanas.

"Ah ha! Orange turtle came to rescue. How sweet," in a short swipe of his massive paw, he struck Leo like he was a pesky fly and sent him soaring into the closest wall, "and foolish!"

The rhino towered over me and threw down a fist. I dodged and leaped as high as possible, thwacking him twice across the face with my remaining chucks. When I landed, I ducked under his legs and spat a well-deserved raspberry in his direction.

Rocksteady may have me beat in size, but I would always have the advantage regarding speed.

"Hold still, turtle!" Rocksteady demanded, whirling around like a clumsy idiot. "Or I pummel you to pudding."

"Come and get me then, you stinky horn head!" I taunted, spanking my butt at him.

The hulking mutant dragged a foot across the ground and charged at my jeer. I yelped and busted into a sprint. A fire escape ladder above became my best friend once I kicked off the wall and grabbed it, climbing to the first level as Rocksteady attempted to copy me. He was too heavy, his fingers hardly touching the ladder.

"Ha! What are you going to do now, Rocksteady?" I mocked.

The rhino roared with anger. Leo took this moment to strike at him as his attention was aimed at me. He leaped, kicking the mutant's stomach and driving the hilt of a katana across his snout. When he landed, there was a pause, which was unlike Leo. He grimaced, gripping his plastron like I saw him do earlier. Something was wrong.

Rocksteady stumbled, wiped a red substance from his face, and released a low, scary growl at my bro. "You! You are becoming pain in my zadnitsa!"

He reached for his golden war hammer, raising it to throw it down on Leo's head, but my bro blocked it with the double blades, his teeth clenched in a rage I'd only seen on Raph. Speaking of my hot-headed bro, I looked for him in my leveled position, spotting him blindly stabbing his sais into the air. I'd guessed Bebop had gone invisible.

"Ha! You can do better than that, dog!" Bebop sang.

Raph growled, darting his eyes to the space he heard the sound. With a smirk, he swung a fist into what seemed like nothing. But after hearing a yelp that followed a thump, I knew he had successfully struck the warthog, who suddenly became visible and rubbed his piggy snout with a cry.

A raspy cry from Leo tore my attention away from Raph. I looked down to see that Rocksteady had broken their standoff with force from his hammer, making my big bro drop on his shell. He raised the hammer to bring it down on Leo's head again, but I had slung my kusarigama, wrapping it around the weapon and pulling as hard as I could to slow the descent. The hammer stopped just above Leo's beak, and Rocksteady growled frustratedly at me.

With a powerful jerk of my kusarigama chain, the mutant rhino yanked me back to ground level, nearly pulling my arms out of their sockets. He grabbed me by the shell and left me suspended with mocking laughter.

"Let me go, dude!" I grunted, desperately reaching behind my neck to pry his giant fingers loose.

Rocksteady was unfazed, turning to Bebop. "Zeck, we leave now!"

"Got it, G!" Bebop acknowledged, vanishing before Raph could land a punch.

"No!" Leo screamed.

I craned my neck as far as I could under Rocksteady's hold, seeing my big bro desperately trying to stand with a look of terror that met my own. He clenched his plastron again and lowered himself with a pained grunt.

Suddenly I was tucked under Rocksteady's muscular arm and pressed tightly against his body. I kicked and grunted, demanding that he let me go again, but it was useless.

"Mikey!" Raph cried.

He zipped over to my aid only to get trampled by Rocksteady, who bolted down the alley with tremoring footsteps.

This wasn't good! I couldn't be taken to Shredder. I didn't want to be used for evil! I was only fifteen, and there was so much I hadn't gotten to do. I never got to try pizza in New Jersey, or learn how to DJ, or build a rocket ship with Ice-Cream Kitty and fly to mars where we'd meet Martians and teach them sick ninjitsu moves before returning to earth!

Just before we reached the end of the alley, the familiar sound of singing metal zipped over my head, and tearing flesh followed directly after. Rocksteady roared with pain, and I found myself dropping, roughly smacking the concrete. I cheated a glance above me to see the rhino crying over multiple shuriken lodged in his bicep.

After crawling backward in confusion and horror, I stood up and sprinted in the opposite direction while the big guy was distracted. But an invisible force wrapped around my neck, nearly close-lining me. Bebop materialized, holding onto me with strength I didn't know he had. He aimed a paw at my face, threatening to shoot me with his laser as I resisted.

"Awe, no, you don't, suckah! I'll stun you like I did to your bro," he snorted in my ear.

Suddenly, a shadow dropped at the alley's end, throwing another round of guided shuriken but at the warthog, who dodged with me still in his hold. Bebop, Rocksteady, and I turned to the figure in bafflement.

My fear melted away at the sight of Big Leo standing his ground, his katanas crossed before his face and rage flaring in the total whiteness that was his eyes as his mask tails sailed in the wind.

"Another turtle?" Rocksteady asked.

Big Leo zoomed over to the rhino with superhuman-like speed, swiping a blade under Rocksteady's giant feet and cutting him down like a tree. Within seconds, he was right before my eyes, slinging his other katana against Bebop's palm that was aimed at my face. I winced at the sound of the pig's skin slicing directly in my ear. Bebop had no time to scream before Big Leo drove the hilt of another katana into his face after a swift twirl. When I blinked, the pig had dropped to the ground, and I was free.

I stood paralyzed as I tried to process what had just transpired before me. Big Leo was so fast, and his movements were nothing like I'd ever seen, even from the present Leo. There was something different about them, something angry.

"Are you hurt?" Big Leo asked, the white in his eyes remaining.

Trembling, I only shook my head.

"Go get the others." He shifted his attention to Rocksteady, who was stumbling to stand back up. He effortlessly flipped a blade with the flick of his wrist and charged with a fierce cry I never thought I would hear from him.

I bolted back down the alley, finding Raph on his knees and holding his head. He seemed okay for the time being, so I ran to the next bro I saw: Leo. My oldest bro leaned his body against a wall with a grimace that told me he was badly hurt. I couldn't control myself from wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling him close as gently as possible.

"Mikey," he gasped in surprise, then groaned at my embrace. "Easy, easy. My ribs…"

"Are you okay, dude?" I demanded.

"Don't worry about me. Go check on Donnie," Leo said.

"I've got 'im!" Raph offered, rushing to our genius brother and dropping next to him. He tapped Donnie's cheek with a worried look stitched to his face.

"Bebop said he stunned him," I informed.

"That stupid hog!" Raph grunted, lifting Donnie over his shoulder, who groaned weakly in protest.

"Come on, Mikey, we need to get you home before reinforcements arrive," Leo said sternly.

"What about Big Leo?"

"He's holding his own. Move," Leo ordered.

I threw his arm over my shoulder and let him lean on me, struggling to hold back a frown as we shuffled in the opposite direction of the alley. My bros were the ones battered and miserable, yet Leo was saying that I was the one that needed to get to safety. Just like when he told me to run in the middle of a fight earlier, it rubbed me the wrong way. If we weren't currently escaping danger, I would have brought it up right then.

Distantly, we heard Rocksteady bellowing in pain, and I shared an awkward glance with Raphael.

"Big Leo's kind of a savage, yo," I muttered to him.

Raph only nodded. "Tell me about it."


Hey, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I usually upload within every 5-7 days, but if I don't update before Friday, the next chapter might be over a week away. I'll be out of town and unable to write this coming weekend, and the weekends are when I get the most writing done. So my apologies if I can't get chapter 13 out before Friday! Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this chapter, as I love reading your comments, and I hope you have a wonderful day!