Mistake
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Michelangelo sat at the dinner table, staring blankly at the toast and egg that had been laid out in front of him. It has been a little over a day since Master Splinter's soul had been lost within the astral plane. Though to his brothers, their father had experienced a stroke. Now, Master Splinter was laid up at Aprils apartment so he can receive more adequate care than if he were to stay in the lair. Mikey claimed no memory, no intention of hurting their master and most importantly, gave no hints that Master Splinter could be saved.
Instead, he sat there looking down at a meal he was not interested in eating, canceling out any noise around him as his brothers scurried around the kitchen for supplies and items to bring to their father.
"Mikey eat up already we gotta go." Donnie mentioned, grabbing Master Splinter's favorite tea.
"I don't wanna go." He mumbled, falling deaf on Donnies ears.
"Jesus Donnie, don't carry it all ya'rself. Come on Mikey get up." Raph said coming up to help Donnie carry come of the boxes of tea.
"I don't wanna go." Mikey said a little louder, barely registering to either of his brothers.
"Come on guys we need to start moving before the sun rises." Leo called out. Donnie and Raph filed out in a timely order but the youngest refused to move from his seat.
"Mikey Lets go." Leo said with a stern tone.
"I said no." He responded, not moving from his stare of his untouched breakfast.
"Mikey I'm not going to argue were moving out, now." Leo responded. Mikey slammed his fist to the table, tumbling over the fork to the ground and twisted to face his eldest brother.
"I am not going!" He hollered, making Donnie and Raph stand in their tracks. For a moment, it was silent between the eldest and the youngest, a stare down for the ages. Leonardo didn't have the patience for dealing with Mikey's violent outbursts today.
"Fine, stay in the lair and don't leave for any reason." He demanded as he turned to lead his two other brothers out of the lair. Mikey watched as they left their home in a scurry and turned to continue watching his meal go cold.
Leo lead Donnie and Raph down the shortest junction to April's apartment. Donnie couldn't help but keep looking back at their home, feeling some unease leaving Mikey there alone.
"Leo, you sure it was a good idea to have Mikey by himself?" Donnie asked, trying to keep up with his leader who was walking faster than normal.
"If he wants to throw a fit like a child let him. We need to attend to our master." Once again Donnie was noticing the strange behavior of their eldest. He was recently more short tempered and sharper in his tone than usual. Donnie slowed back down to contemplate the strange phenomenons happening in their family. He looked behind him to see Raph was falling behind slightly. His head was down and a scowl plastered on his face.
Raphael couldn't help the crawling feeling creeping down his neck. That thing did something to their master, it was that thing that has taken the form of Mikey and its that thing that was making him lose his mind. He couldn't stop feeling guilty. He was the one that told Master Splinter to try and figure out what was happening to Mikey and now their father was a vegetable. He growled to himself, catching the attention of Donnie. Before the purple banded turtle could speak, Raph's shell cell began to ring.
He jumped slightly at the noise and quickly answered without looking.
"Yeah?" He said with slight irritability.
"Yo, Raph its Case I was just about to head to the airport but I forgot I got them parts for ya." Raph sighed. He completely forgot about a month ago he asked Casey to pick him up some parts for his bike, but he was so caught up with everything that was happening with his family he had forgotten to hit Casey back up to get the parts. Now Casey was on his way out to Alaska to do a job for his uncle and had to get them now.
"Hey Case, sorry bro its be a little crazy." He stopped walking, causing Leo and Donnie to wait and listen.
"Ah no problem bro'. I saw Master Splinter yesterday. That shits crazy." Casey said.
"Yeah." Raph responded, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He heard a cough on the other end.
"Well I'm about 10 minutes from the lair. Can I drop it off real quick?" He asked.
"We're actually on our way to April's were about 5 minutes out." Raph explained.
"Shit, okay. Well I know how to get in I'll just drop it off and take off. Don't really feel like bringing it on the plane with me." A surge of panic went through Raph.
"No!" He yelled. "Uh, Mikey's there and he aint feeling so good. You know, mutant flu or something." He cleared his throat.
"Just leave it in the garage and I'll grab in when we get back. Just, don't go in the lair." He warned.
"Alright, that aint weird or anything. That's fine I'll put it in the garage on the workbench. See ya in a month." Casey said as he hung up the phone. Raph pulled it away from his head and sighed in relief. He looked up to see Leo and Donnie staring at him and could sense the same thing, everyone should keep a safe distance from their youngest brother.
Casey drove up on his motorcycle to the front of the turtles garage. He opened it with his personal clicker and went inside. He turned on the lights, singing a light tune to himself as he walked deeper into the garage to the work bench. He stood there and thought about it for a moment and decided it would be best if he would bring the stuff inside. These parts were pretty expensive and didn't want someone to break in and take them. And besides, he wanted to check up on the little ball of energy. He was kept up on the strange antics of the turtle family through April and was slightly concerned about Mikey. His friendly nature made it so that instead of stopping the garage, he went straight to the elevator and headed down into the lair.
The elevator alerted him that he made it to the lair and when the door opened, it was deadly quiet. He stepped out to see most of the lights were off except for the kitchen and Donnie's lab.
"Hello?" He called out. He went into the living room and placed the bag on the coffee table.
"Yo, Mikey you in here?" He called out again but gained no response. He walked in the kitchen to see nothing except a plate of toast and egg untouched. Casey huffed, thinking Mikey was really sick and probably was in bed. He turned to head out of the kitchen and jumped, seeing Mikey at the main entrance to the lair.
"Damn Mikey, ya' know I always forget how sneaky yous' ninjas are." He said with a laugh. Mikey was standing in the shadows, his lower body illuminated by the light from the kitchen, a eerie aura coming off of the youngest turtle.
"What are you doing here Casey?" He asked with a mellow tone.
"Oh I'm on my way to the airport and just dropped some parts off for Raph then I'm heading out. Just wanted to check up on ya, your bros said you weren't feeling too good."
"Oh? Is that what they said?" Mikey said, unmoving from his position.
"Yeah, said you was under the weather." Casey was starting to feel uneasy. There was something off about Mikey, more than a flu.
"Well kid, I gotta get going. I'll see ya' when I get back." Casey went to wave himself off but Mikey stopped him.
"Can you help me with something before you leave?" Mikey asked. "I'm not feeling good and I lost one of Klunks toys. It would really mean a lot." Casey was slightly thrown off about Mikey's demeanor. He would never ask for help over something so minuscule. April did tell him before that there had been something strange going on with the turtles and he tried to keep up as much as he could since he was busy with some of the odd jobs he had been doing around the city. So maybe Mikey really wasn't feeling all that well.
"Yeah sure bro, where at?" He asked. Mikey didn't respond. Instead he opened up the main lair door to the sewers and walked out. Casey sat there for a moment, slightly dumbfounded as to what he should do. Nature told him to follow, but his gut was telling him to run. With a short breath, he hesitant followed the young mutant out into the sewers.
"So uh, what exactly are we getting? Didn't think Klunk came out here ever in the first place." Casey tried to start conversation. Mikey didn't respond, instead he kept walking, making quick turns whenever he could. It was a left, then a right, then another left. Casey was having a hard time keeping up with the quick turtle and considering how dark it was, he was shocked he could still pick up on his outline. But he spoke too soon as the next quick left made it so that Casey lost sight of Michelangelo all together.
"Shit, Mikey where ya' at!?" He called out, rushing his pace.
Left.
Another left.
right .
Left again.
The tunnels felt they were never ending trying to find Mikey. Casey very rarely went down into the sewers and this is exactly why. He had no idea where he was going.
"Mikey! Come on bro I ain't playing!" Casey yelled, gaining his echo in response. He stood there in silence, listening to the rushing of water and realized he was close to the central junction. There was a man hole he could climb up to figure out where he was. He followed the flow of water till it started to get louder and louder.
"Casey." He turned quickly hearing the sound of his name above a whisper.
"Mikey?" He called, once again receiving no response.
"Fuck this shit." He mumbled to himself as he started to run towards the rushing water. He couldn't help but to feel eyes were on him as he ran.
He felt the change in ground from concrete to metal and realized he was getting close. A shrill of excitement filled him as he was able to briefly make out the outline of the ladder leading up to the surface, not paying attention to the large pool of water below him where the rest of the tunnels met.
As quickly as he could he snatched the end of the ladder and swinged to hook his foot in and start climbing up. He was about half way up when a sound of a snap caught his attention. He looked down to see a figure below him. It was too dark to see who it was exactly but whoever they were was directly below him. There was no words between he and the figure, the only noise that was audible was the rushing water under them. Casey could feel his heart pounding in his throat. He wasn't known for being scared. Hell, he's the knucklehead that faces danger head on. But this, this is something else all together. He quickly pulled out his hockey stick and pointed it at the figure below him.
"Alright fucker, I don't know who ya think ya' are but I ain't playing your' halloween bullshit!" He hollered. The figure didn't move. It just stood there, head down. Casey was only able to see the figure's pearly white teeth as its mouth was stretched out in a sinister grin. Casey could feel the sweat dripping down the back of his neck. This was too much, he didn't sign up for this.
"Casey." A whisper came from above.
He whipped around to look up to see Mikey was sprawled out at the top of the steps, almost like a spider in a web looking down at his with wide eyes. His mouth stretched out unnaturally wide.
"Thanks for the help." He spoke in a broken, eerie voice. Casey couldn't move, he couldn't react as Mikey lunged at him. His screams drowned out by the raging waters from below.
Donatello filled the cup with some hot water then placed one of the tea packets, allowing it to sit and disperse in the cup. He quickly blew on it to cool it and took it over to his master who was sitting up in the chair, eyes glazed over and staring down at the floor.
"Here, Master Splinter, your favorite." Donnie offer placing it on the arm rest next to his master. Splinter didn't move for it, mostly because he was unable to. Donnie's eyes grew sad. He looked over to see Raph sitting by the window and Leo at the table with April. April kept looking down at her phone, concerned about the fact she still hasn't received a text from Casey letting her know he made it to the airport. She was already put on edge especially after the boys brought in their half dead master to her home, her world has been restricted and in all honesty, her friends made her anxious.
She glanced up to her friend in blue, to see he simply was eyes down at his cup of tea, which he hasn't touched.
"Leo are you alright?" She asked, catching the attention of Raph and a side glance from Donnie. Leo picked up immediately, as if on cue.
"Sorry April." He responded. "Just sorting out my thoughts. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. I'm afraid to admit I might not know how to fix this." He said solemnly. April smiled softly.
"I understand Leo. I can't imagine what you all are going through. But we'll get through this together." She tried to lighten the mood. Raphael huffed and crossed his arms.
"Ain't nothing gonna get fixed till we figure out what the fuck is happening." He snapped, gaining no uprise from Leonardo, which Donnie took a mental note of. Raphael narrowed his eyes. "This is all my fault. I told Masta' Splinter to talk to Mikey now look what happened?"
"You dont think Mikey had something to do with it?" April asked.
"Don't know. Mikey don't remember a thing per usual." Raph said with some snark. "And can't exactly asked Splinter since he ain't got the means to talk."
"Raph." Donnie threatened, getting up from where he was kneeling.
"What? Sorry if I'm the only one who seems to be paranoid about this shit. We're stuck and nobody seems to have an answer!" He hollered.
"Raphael that's enough." leo spoke up in an even tone. "Yelling and screaming isn't gonna solve anything."
"Jesus Leo thought it was Donnie who was supposed to be the pacifist. Haven't heard a fucking opinion out of ye'r mouth since this whole thing fucking started."
"I don't like to jump to conclusions when I don't have all the facts." Leo said.
"We ain't ever gonna get all the facts Leo! We know nothing about anything going on! Donnie hasn't been able to find a thing on that cult and Mikey sure as hell can't tell us what the fuck is in his brain and I'm losing my shit to the point where I don't even know what's real anymore!" Raphael could feel the strain on his body from the his anxious outbursts and sleepless nights. This really was becoming too much.
"Well, I can talk to my pastor at the church. Father Mathew did a study on local cults a few years back. He might have some insight on that group you guys encountered." She explained.
"That can be useful actually April." Donnie said, subconsciously putting himself between Leo and Raph before a fight broke out. "Any information would really help at this point."
"Of course." She said with a smile. Leo was about to say something before he looked to see that the sun was about to rise.
"We gotta go guys. Sun's coming up." He started to maneuver towards the window, waving April goodbye on his way out. Donnie watched his eldest brother carefully and took another mental note that Leonardo didn't say goodbye to their Master.
Donnie opened the door to the lair and walked in followed by Leo and Raph. The Lair was quiet except for the blasting tv from the living room. Raphs skin crawled as it sounded all too normal for them to come home to their youngest mindlessly watching a show.
"Mikey?" Leo called.
"Hey guys!" Mikey popped his head out from the kitchen to show he had a mixing bowl in hand and what looked to be chocolate.
"What are you doing?" Donnie asked.
"Well, I felt kinda bad for snapping this morning and not coming along to Aprils. So I made you guys a nice meal since its been a while since the last time I cooked." Mikey explained with a smile as he lead his brothers to the kitchen to show the array of veggies, meats, and deserts he had laid out for them.
"Mikey this is wonderful. Thank you." Leo said patting his brother on the shoulder.
"Yeah thanks Mikey. Really nice of you." Donnie said following Leo into the kitchen to take a seat. Raphael didn't move towards the kitchen. Instead, he skimmed the living room and he felt his heart sink. On table of the black bag Casey came to deliver. He felt anxious considering that he told Casey to leave it upstairs.
"Mikey." He called out, immediately feeling his lips go dry.
"Yeah?" Mikey responded. Raph didn't take his eyes off of the bag.
"Did Casey drop that bag off?" he asked.
"Oh yeah. He called me and told me he left it upstairs so I grabbed it. Said there was some expensive stuff in there." He explained short and sweet.
"You didn't see him?" Raph asked.
"Hmm, nope don't believe so." Mikey said in a wistful tune, making Raphael shiver. He couldn't help but to feel a sinking feeling looking at the bag and feeling like something was wrong. Donnie was able to get him out of his faze and in the kitchen to eat. The food was mediocre and the conversations rehearsed. All seemed to be their version of normal, till they got the call saying Casey never made it to his flight.