(4723 words)
Mikey walks down the halls at school, a smile planted on his freckled face while the people around him talk among themselves and glare at other students. It was like they all projected negative energy while his glowing personality blocks it all out from his view. He waves at a couple of people, flashing them his grin and continues on to his locker.
He plops a few books inside and yanks out a plastic bag with pizza flavored chips in it, being starving all the time. "Hey Michael." Mikey whips around and smiles. A kid from his gym class was standing in front of him, a sly smile aimed at his bag of chips should've stood out like a sore thumb, but not for Mikey.
"Hey Jake! It's Mikey actually, but what's up?" Mikey says, holding his hands in front of him, bent like he was typing at a computer with limp wrists. "Oh, nothing much, I'm just starving. My mom didn't get the right bread so I don't have a lunch today." Mikey holds his smile. "Moms right?" He says like he understood completely. "I could really use something to eat." Jake says, looking pointedly at Mikey's bag of chips.
"Oh! Do you want some of my chips? I don't really like them anyways." Mikey says, handing the bag over to the boy. "Ah, thanks man! I owe you one!" Quickly, Jake walks away from Mikey, eating the chips quickly. The cheerful boy's smile falters for less than a second before he moves on, heading to his next class.
His stomach grumbles and he walks a little faster. He gets to his class early and takes out his notebook and starts doodling. Nothing complex, just little characters doing things like jumping, kicking, playing, kissing. "Hey Mitch." A girl says from his right. "It's Mikey, but hi." Mikey says cheerfully. "We're friends right?" The girl says.
Mikey smiles awkwardly at her, putting his pencil down. "Yeah, I guess Jazz." Mikey was sure to memorize everyone's names just in case they decided to talk to him, he didn't want to waste time on introductions. "So, that guy over there, the one like right to your left? Blue shirt." Mikey looks and nods. It was a short Indian boy who was right in front of the window.
He looks back at Jazz and nods. "So, cute or nah?" she asks, a semi smirk on her face. "Oh, uh... I don't know, I guess. He's got nice hair." Mikey says with a shrug. "Oh, but like smash or pass." She asks again. Mikey shrinks in his chair a bit. "I-I don't know. Isn't that like a rude way to think about someone?"
"Of course not!" Jazz says, giggling a little. "Besides, it doesn't matter unless you're gay. He's gay, that's for sure, but like if you're straight then it doesn't matter, just helping a gal pal out." She puts a little bit of sugar sweetness into her voice and Mikey takes a moment to look at the boy and then back at Jazz. "Um... I guess uh smash? He's cute and nice and helped me with my homework that one time."
"OH EM GEE, MIKE'S TOTALLY GAY." Jazz says, much too loud, loud enough for the entire class to have heard and to start immediately gossiping about it. Mikey's eyes go wide and he sinks so low that he's just sitting under his desk, trying his hardest to hide his blush. His savior came in the form of the teacher settling down the class as he enters the room.
Mikey glances up at the desk to his left to see the boy they had been talking about laughing. Their eyes meet and there was half a second of pity and remorse in his glance before he lets out another laugh. Holding back tears, Mikey climbs out from under his desk and quickly asks if he can go to the bathroom. The teacher obviously could tell he was the center of this movement and let him go.
He rushes through the halls to the bathroom where he locks himself in a stall and sits on top of the tank of the toilet. He didn't like to cry. He liked being happy, he liked smiling and trying to make friends. This was just a bad day, or that's what he told himself. He just was off, he could normally take a class laughing at him, in fact he liked people to laugh at him. It meant he was making them happy.
None of that mattered though. All that mattered that he was here, in the bathroom, holding in the tears that he desperately needed to release. He thought back to what Raph had told him before. "I can make friends online..." He mumbles to himself. He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and turns it on. No messages. Well... One message from Leo telling him to remember his gym shoes.
He taps through a couple apps until he goes online, making a profile on a site he didn't care to read the name of. It was like any other social media. You can make posts, create profiles, friend people. As soon as his profile was made, using a photo of himself outside and sticking his tong out, winking almost as if he was a living emoji, an alert comes up. He had a friend.
He looks to see who it was but it looked like a spam bot so he discards the alert and starts searching for people he might know. He starts out looking for people who went to his school but eventually just starts looking for anybody. He looks up the name of one of his favorite stars, Chris Bradford. He had an old show of him doing different kinds of martial arts, teaching people through his videos.
He friends him and it's immediately accepted. Mikey smiles and wipes his eyes, his cheeks red under his orange-y freckles. He starts looking at different group chats and joins one but staying silent, just watching the people talk like an other worldly being watching people on earth go about their daily lives. Suddenly there's a ping on his phone. It was a message. From Chris Bradford.
Mikey's eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. He opens it with shaking hands. 'Hey! Haven't seen a fan of mine on here in a long time! How are you?' Mikey smiles and giggles to himself. 'Whoa, are you really talking to me!? This is so cool! I'm doing great!' He types back. Raph was so right, meeting people online was the best.
'That's good. So, you're not in school today? Your profile says you go to NYHS.' Mikey cringes. 'No, no school today, still off from a shooting thing a while ago.' Three little bobbing dots dance on the bottom of his screen as the man types back. 'That must be nice. You said you practiced martial arts correct? I actually had someone cancel class today and my office is in New York if you wanted to stop by.'
At first Mikey's heart jumps. He had an opportunity to go train with his favorite star, but he can't just leave school. He doesn't even know why he lied about having school. 'I'd love to but I don't know... My brother is home with me and he won't like it if I leave...' Mikey wasn't sure about leaving school but it couldn't be too bad being with Chris Bradford, He was a tv star, they never do anything wrong!
'I'm sure he won't mind for his brother to meet his hero! Besides, you don't have to stay long. What can I show you that you don't already know? ;)' Mikey laughs and looks at the time. He had already been in here for nearly ten minutes, someone would come to look for him soon. He had to act fast.
"April-" The sassy redhead turns around, hand on hip and glare strong. Raph, who was holding a now smashed piece of paper, shrinks back. "I'm sorry about the other night, it was really really stupid and I-I can't really excuse any of it but I wrote this for you and I really hope you can forgive me." It almost pained Raph to apologize like this but he'd gotten used to the pain in situations where he had to or he'd be hurt more.
April snatches the paper and reads. 'April, I can't tell you how absolutely idiotic and sorry I am, I know you probably hate me and would tell someone I was involved in a heartbeat if you hadn't told me you wouldn't. You stick to your word. That's admirable. I can tell you're caring and kind because if you weren't you probably wouldn't even be reading this. I can't give you anything else to make things up to you but if I can do anything else tell me. I also drew this for you because I heard you liked animals. Don't get used to it or show it to anyone, I don't draw ever.'
At the bottom of the page there was a realistic bunny with a few blades of grass and flowers around it's paws. After April finishes reading Raph's chicken scratch she folds the paper back up and holds it in her left hand, giving Raph a hug with her right. Once she lets go of the shocked teen she holds a sad face. "I can't totally forgive you right now, but this is a start. It's also kinda sweet, so thank you."
The two stand silently together for a minute before another joins their group. "April! Are you okay? I heard about that robbery and how you stood up to that guy! You're so strong, I hope he didn't hurt you." Donnie swoons over April, verbally pushing Raph out of the group. He waves and walks away, head low and hands in pockets, avoiding all eye-contact.
"I'm fine, he bolted as soon as I got down there. They- He only stole a couple things and only like one of them were actually valuable." April says, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm so glad you're okay." Donnie says, letting out a sigh like he was holding his breath. "If there's anything I can do to help just tell me. In fact, we can trade numbers so in case something like this happens again..."
Donnie trails off but April nods. "Sure, that'd be nice, like a personal security guard." She chuckles and pretends not to notice Donnie's vibrant blush. "I could use some help doing inventory and cleaning up a little if you want to help with that." April adds. Donnie smiles awkwardly. "I can come over whenever." April gives him a quick hug.
"Thanks so much! I'll text you or something later, I have to get to class early to make sure Casey actually did his homework." A rush of jealousy runs through the boy's veins but he lets it go after that hug. "O-Okay, see you later April." April smiles and walks away, leaving him alone in the hall.
It was the end of the school day, all the students were making their way out of the school and back home to unwind in their own ways. All but three. "Have you seen Mikey?" Leo asks Raph, the usually calm leader of a brother now looked restless and worried. "Nah, he wasn't even in science which blows cuz now I have no legible notes for today." Raph mumbles the last part.
Leo looks around the thinning crowds of teens, looking for the little ball of sunshine that was their little brother. "Mikey's normally the first one out here. He's always sprinting the halls to get out here first." Donnie comments, also looking around from his higher vantage point. "He probably just got caught up getting food from the vending machine or something." Raph says.
"I dunno" Leo mumbles. "He's really fast at everything he does after school to get out fast. And he's already fifteen minutes late." Soon there were only a few friend groups chatting around the stairs. Still no Mikey. "Guys, what if something really bad happened?" Donnie says, voicing the thought that was tucked away in the back of their minds.
No one spoke. Finally Leo perks his head up. "Oh! There's that marathon of old cartoons on today, Mikey probably went back without us to get started on that." Donnie and Raph nod in agreement. "Let's just go then, I'm fucking freezing just standing out here." Raph says, leaving the group. Donnie shrugs, following after. Leo sucks in a breath. "God I hope I'm right."
Mikey glances down at his phone and back up at the building he was standing in front of with a smile. It was a dojo not unlike his own. There was an apartment above it and a sign that said open out front. Without a second thought Mikey pushes the door open and a little bell rings, telling the empty room he had arrived. "Hang on! Uh- Would you mind meeting me upstairs?" A gruff familiar voice calls from up the stairs straight ahead.
As Mikey ascends the voice calls again. "Sorry, I was making something and I got a little caught up." Once Mikey is upstairs he takes in the apartment. It was much more spacious than his home, the living room being the size of his and his kitchen combined. "Whoa, Chris Bradford..." Mikey mumbles to himself as the man dumps a tray of what looked like botched cookies into the garbage.
He sets the tray down and walks over to the livingroom, sitting down on a couch with a 'womph'. "ahhh, sorry, I am exhausted. I had a trainee here earlier who got a hit to my back, right between my shoulder blades. Would you mind just pressing in on it?" Mikey nods and trots over. He couldn't say it wasn't a little underwhelming, he was meeting one of his heroes and he wanted a back massage?
He goes up and Bradford turns so that his back was facing the boy. Mikey starts massaging the older man's back and he groans in relief. "Ah, yeah, right there." He mumbles, making Mikey feel very uncomfortable. After a few more minutes of this Mikey stops an backs away. "So, should we go down to the dojo?" He asks, not liking spending time in his house.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, in a bit." He says. "Why don't we talk a little first?" He pats the couch beside him with a smile. "Uh, I guess..." Mikey replies. He sits down next to Bradford, a foot or so of space between them. The man quickly closes that gap. Mikey wrinkles his nose at the up close smell of sweat and... beer? He puts his arm around the young boy's shoulders and takes a deep breath.
"Uh-" Mikey starts, but he's cut off. "You're so cute, you know that?" Mikey shifts away but Bradford pulls him back, his grip tightening. "With that curly hair, you could put a little bow in it and look like a little girl." At this point Mikey was thoroughly creeped out and tries to get up. The man breathes in right next to his ear, making him shiver violently.
Mikey tries to elbow his way out of the man's grip but it was too tight. "What, you want to leave already?" The man asks in a fake voice. "I'm just getting started." It was then that the cheerful boy knew what exactly was going on and what his 'hero' planned to do. He uses his flexibility to his advantage, pulling his leg up and smashing the heel of his high-tops into the man's face, surprising him and pushing him back far enough to break free.
Just as fast as Mikey had acted so did Bradford, moving to block the door back to the dojo and eventually the exit. Mikey sprints to a separate room, locking it as soon as he was inside. Unfortunately he didn't know the layout of the apartment, leading him straight into the bathroom with no other exit.
Shakily Mikey pulls out his phone, thankful that he hadn't taken it out of his door nob rattles and he sucks in a breath, waiting for something to happen. "Come on out, there's nowhere for you to go in there." Bradford calls through the door. Mikey shakes his head and starts to dial in his brother's number before stopping. He shouldn't call. He'd hear and get away. Instead he starts texting each of his brothers one by one, making sure they each got the same message.
'Trapped, help, I can't get out.' Along with the location of his phone. Then he sat and waited, listening to the calls of his so called 'hero' outside enticing him to come out and join him. Mikey puts his head down on his knees. "This was a bad idea."
"Mikey?" Leo calls as he steps into the apartment. The place was silent besides the sound of the first of the classes their father taught downstairs. The three brothers walk around looking for their missing sibling. "Michael?" Donnie calls, looking into the bedrooms. No sign of Mikey. "Where the fuck is that idiot?" Raph says. "I-I don't know. I can try his phone again but he wasn't answering before."
Leo turns on his phone and the second he does his face goes pale. There was about thirty texts from Mikey all saying just about the same thing. "Guys we need to go, NOW." Without grabbing their coats they had already stripped of, they sprint back out the door, Leo's panic feeding into the other's. They didn't bother saying anything to their father as they dashed through the class.
The oldest boy doesn't even tell the others what happened until they were all three sprinting down the sidewalk. "Mikey's in trouble, He's trapped somewhere by some guy. He didn't say much but he has the address here. He glances at his phone and then back up to make sure he was going the right way. Shakily he types back to Mikey, letting him know they were coming.
"Shouldn't we like, you know, call the police?" Donnie says with annoyance in his voice. "Yeah, you do that." Leo replies absentmindedly. Donnie rolls his eyes and starts dialing nine-one-one himself. "I swear, I'm more responsible than you sometimes." Raph frowns. "Should we have told Da- your dad?" Raph sighs when no one answers but it comes out more as a huffing breath as he runs.
Soon Leo abruptly stops, wobbling on his feet. "We're here." Donnie stays on the phone but brings it away from his face. "They're coming but they told us not to go inside." Leo cringes and looks up at the building they were in front of. "I guess-" A scream comes from the upstairs window and Leo's words disapear into the cold air. Without another word he rips the front door open and goes inside.
"Never fucking mind then." Raph says with a shrug. He charges in himself, following after the usually calm leader. Donnie stands outside, conflicted. He wanted to help his brothers but the police had told him to wait outside. "Ngghh..." His brow furrows and he bounces on his toes. He looks to the street and sighs, starting to pace back and forth in front of the building.
Inside Leo and Raph barge into the apartment, moving past the living-room and straight to the bedroom. The bathroom door had been wrenched open, the wooden frame mangled. "GET OFF!" It was Mikey, the door busts open and they see Mikey resisting as best as he could against the large man who was caressing his face.
Raph acts first, slamming his fist into the man's face, knocking him back and stunning him just enough for Mikey to scramble away and behind Leo. As the eldest looks over their brother, Raph throws another punch but it's caught and blocked easily. Instead of straight punches he moves to kick him in the spine. It knocks him forward and in the perfect position for Raph to continue the beating.
He may or may not have been taking out his own aggressions out on the man from his past, but he deserved it either way. Raph continues beating the man until his knuckles are stained with not only the man's blood but his own too. A kick to the stomach ends the beating and gives the boy's time to shut the door and run. They go out the door and into the dojo but stop as they come face to face with a pair of police officers.
Mikey clings tightly to Leo's arm, leaving red marks. Leo didn't care. He just wanted to get his brother out. "Are you boys okay?" One police officer asks as his partner goes past, creeping up the stairs. They nod and he leads the three out to a distressed Donnie. Biting his knuckles he leaps towards Mikey, ripping him off of Leo and into a bone crushing hug.
"I'm gonna kill you." He murmurs. "Thanks Don... Can you put me down now?" Donnie squeezes him one more time before setting him back on the pavement. All four stand around Mikey as he speaks to the officer. Leo and Raph stay glaring at the doors, waiting for Bradford to be walked out in handcuffs, but it never happens.
The second officer comes back out alone. By now Donnie had called their father and he was on his way but that didn't help the sick feeling boiling in the boy's stomachs. The two officers step away for a moment, talking quietly, but not quiet enough. "I searched the whole place, there's no sign of anyone." The other officer sighs. "For a bigger guy, he sure has gotten away with a lot. Call in backup, we'll start a search... Again."
Mikey keeps a stiff grip on both Donnie and Leo's shirt hems. Like he would float away if he let go. Raph looks to an alley way just two buildings away. It made sense. Bradford could've gone out the fire escape in the back and down the back street. He glances to the police officers and glares at them. They weren't doing anything to go look for the criminal so he would. Raph turns and leaves, jogging towards the alley.
"What way would he have gone..." He mumbles to himself, starting down the alley. Raph jumps when a hand grabs him by the shoulder and he whips around to see the stern face of his foster father. "And just where do you thing you are going Raphael." Raph's face drops. "I-Uh- Mr. Hamato, He, that guy-" Yoshi shakes his head. "That is the authorities work my son. Leave it to them." Raph sighs and reluctantly follows the older man back to his brothers.
Once again, the day had passed with speaking to police and clearing things up. They had gone home late at night and everyone was ready to collapse onto their beds. It had taken a while but Donnie had fallen asleep first, too worried about not being able to sleep for school the next day. Leo was next, though he checked in on Mikey multiple times before allowing himself to even close his eyes.
Their father had left to meditate and no one really knew weather he had really been meditating or if he had fallen asleep somewhere. Things like this were what Mikey was thinking as he lay awake in bed, eyes wandering the ceiling for any kind of entertainment. Of course, he had gotten his phone taken away so he had no way of doing anything other than read a book while in bed.
He thought about getting up and watching t.v. in the living-room but the thought of getting up out of bed was laced with anxiety. He sits up and runs his hand through his curls, pulling his knees up to his chest. It seemed like everyone else was sound asleep but him. Mikey looks over at the bed across the room, watching his brother's chest go up and down, up and down, up and down. Slowly, evenly.
It was near calming. He could try and match his breathing to Leo's. Maybe he could sleep. With a quick glance at a clock burried in his pillows he plops down in bed. It was much too late for this. Or much too early. He closes his eyes and breathes steadily. His father always told him to slow his breathing and he'd fall asleep, but ten minutes had gone by and all that had happened was him focusing on breathing so much he couldn't sleep.
A cough from the hall takes away any sleep that could've been in his system. Quickly and quietly he swings his legs out of bed and pads to the door, creaking it open. There was a raspy clearing of a throat and Mikey looks down. "Raph?" Mikey whispers. He was sitting just outside the door to the right. His back was pressed up against the wall and his arms were draped over his knees lazily.
"What are you doing in the hall?" Mikey asks him. "Just sittin'" He mumbles with a shrug. Mikey clasps his hands together behind his back. "Can I join you?" Raph shrugs again and Mikey takes it as a 'yes' and sits down. "What are you doin' awake anyways?" Raph asks, holding back a yawn. "Eeeee-I... Couldn't sleep..." Mikey replies awkwardly. It was true. He couldn't sleep. Raph grunts and nudges the freckled boy.
"Ugh- Raph-... What if he comes back?" Mikey mumbles the last part. It had been on his mind since he was out of that building. They hadn't caught him. He could come find him. He knew what school he went to. "That's what I'm here for." Raph says, mostly emotionless. "It'll go away. You'll stop thinking about it after a while." Neither of them say anything for a minute. "Did you?" Raph's eyes doge away from their original position.
"I used to." He replies simply. Mikey lets his head droop onto Raph's shoulder. "You're gonna stay awake all night, aren't you." Mikey says. Raph nods and Mikey holds back a smile. It was just what he needed to fall asleep. Slowly he nods off into a relatively peaceful sleep. He'd dream about the day but it didn't matter. There were three knights to the rescue every time.
I have a heart that gets on everybody's nerves
They don't want the truth, they just want the words
Blah blah blah blah and I can sing until I'm dead
And none of you'll remember a single thing I said
"Nerves"
Icon For Hire
This chapter took me soooo long! I mean, I love it but it took me much longer than I had expected. I had it all planned out too. Just couldn't get myself to write! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, AAAAAND, If you want to see a piece of art that goes with this chapter, you can go to my deviantart- MissPunnyPuns and as of posting this, it's the second newest piece I've done!