Yay, my NaNoWriMo work is going real well! To commemorate hitting a milestone, here's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!
The Hour of the Wild One
Rating: T for adult language and violence
Universe: TMNT 2012
Pairings: None
Warnings: TMNT spoilers for Seasons 1 to 4, AU after Annihilation: Earth
二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず- One who chases after two hares won't catch even one
In the quiet of his room in the lair, Michelangelo Hamato sat on the floor, face scrunched up in a rare picture of crystal clear concentration.
Right on the floor before him, nearing completion, lay his best masterpiece.
With a flick of his tongue across his upper lip and his brush placed next to his palette, paints and other art supplies, Mikey leaned back with nothing short of immense pride at his work. Best Mutation Day present ever? You bet the last slice of pizza it is!
Mikey, his father and teacher, Master Splinter, and his three brothers, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello, have lived under the sewers for the longest time. It had been wonderful and Mikey wouldn't trade it for anything, though their situation left them wanting for many things, especially during the earlier years. It also left Mikey with limited options on where to get gifts for his family for mutation day.
Mutation day: the day when he, his brothers and Master Splinter changed from humble baby turtles and their human owner into four humanoid turtles and a human sized rat.
It was without doubt the most special day of the year for the family, which was why Mikey always gave it his all to make the celebrations memorable with the limited resources they have (that moss cake took ages to make, he'll have you know!)
However, their upcoming Mutation Day will be their eighteenth, and Mikey really wanted to make it super special awesome in a way that special has never been special before! No screw ups! Mikey had said in the beginning of his brainstorming for gift ideas. It has to be the best. It has to be perfect!
Thus, his painting project was born.
His family did not know this, but Mikey was an avid artist, inspired by his comics, TV shows and his seemingly bottomless well of creative ideas. If they had paper to spare, Mikey used them to draw doodles, ranging from visual novel or comic book style to even realism portraits, amassing filled sketchbooks of them over the years.
But getting bags of art supplies and dedicating a bit of time to his art was easier compared to completing his master project. It had been difficult, but with help, Mikey managed to sneak in three meter canvases into his room with his father and brothers being none the wiser, and was able to dedicate months to drafting and completing his painting late in the night. It meant losing hours of sleep, much so that it worried Leo to the point that Mikey was forced to cut back on his painting schedule.
Eventually though, Mikey succeeded, producing this painstakingly crafted and detailed family portrait worth three canvases that occupied the most of Mikey's floor (all tidy just for his project, for once).
"I did it!" Mikey cheered, leaning back to rest on the foot of his bed. "6 months of sleepless nights finally paid off. Now all I have to do is to wait for Mutation Day then viola! Oooh, I hope the guys will love this—wait."
Mikey then leaned forward, eyeing the canvases critically. "I didn't forget anybody, did I? Oh man, I made sure everybody was here. Let's see, bros, sensei, April, Casey, Ice Cream Kitty, Mutanimals, Karai, Renet, Fugitoid, Mona, Sal—"
"Mikey!" The small turtle heard Raph through his door. "Up and at 'em, little bro, it's time for training!"
Aww, man, no sleep again! Mikey groaned in his head but kept his voice cheerful for his brother. "I'm up, dude, I'm up. See you in a few!"
As he shuffled to hide his paintings under the bed, a huge smile graced Mikey's face despite the tiredness.
He really hoped his family will love this, because that would make all the sleepless nights in the world totally worth it.
Whatever Mikey was losing sleep over, Donnie really, really hoped it was worth it.
This was the tenth time he caught the youngest with bleary eyes and a poorly faked energetic bounce in his step (not that Donnie was really counting). Donnie didn't know for sure if he was just being too worried, because Mikey performed as well as he always did during today's training session but he couldn't help himself at the sight of the lines underneath the little turtle's eyes.
He once asked Mikey about it, and was promptly dismissed with a beaming smile.
("Who? Me? Relax, D, I'm totally OK!" Mikey said at the time. "Guess it's just, uh, spending way too much time on my comics? Dang, Spider Man just kicks so much ass he can make you forget about the world, you know?"
"Well then maybe you should consider cutting down the comics? Not getting enough sleep for a prolonged period of time can be detrimental to your health because it's during sleep that your body—"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, D. Oooh, what does this button do?"
"—MIKEY, DON'T TOUCH THAT!")
Donnie shook his head as he shifted his focus back on following Leo. The four turtles were currently on topside for their usual patrol, and were leaping between rooftops, searching for any sign of untoward activity.
"All clear on this side," Leo said once the brothers made a stop on top of a movie house. "What about you guys?"
"Nothing here too, dude!" Mikey said from next to Donnie. Raph grumbled the same from his side as well.
"Well, what do you know, looks like we're getting a quiet night for once." Donnie said with a little relief in his tone. It was no secret among his brothers that he abhorred fighting the most among them.
Definitely the opposite of Raph in that regard. "Quiet? More like, boring! Seriously, no action at all? I'd take fighting the PDs over not doing anything."
"Well, look on the bright side, at least we can get in some more training." Leo said cheerfully. His other three brothers shared a look before chorusing a groan. "Leo…"
"Oh come on guys, who said we can't make training a little more fun while we're at it?"
Donnie rolled his eyes at that. When it came to training, Leo was as much fun as their sensei was. And their oldest brother always wondered why Raph dubbed him "Splinter Jr." But before he could point out to Leo exactly just that, he heard Mikey. "Hey guys, check this out!"
The three older brothers quickly bounded up to where their youngest was pointing. A block from where they were, two very familiar figures were talking to a group of ninjas before getting into a van.
"Tiger Claw and Rahzar." Donnie breathed. So much for today being a peaceful night.
"Now we're talking!" Raph grinned excitedly.
Tiger Claw and Rahzar's van made a stop in a warehouse near the pier. The four turtles hung back in the shadows, watching the exchange between their two old enemies and another familiar group.
"Looks like this night just got even better." Raph smirked from his hiding place. "We get to kick both the Foot and the Kraang!"
"Not so fast, Raph." Leo said. "We still need to find out what they're up to."
"Well why don't we just kick their butts first then make them talk?"
"Guys, quiet! I'm trying to listen!" Donnie hissed at his older brothers while Mikey edged closer from his position at the roof. He hadn't said it yet, but Mikey had a terrible feeling swirling in his gut since the team followed the Foot's van. He couldn't figure out why but he felt that something really bad was going to happen.
His anxiety, coupled by his fatigue, was really wearing on his patience to stand still as he turned to the talking bad guys below.
"Is this everything Master Shredder asked for?" Tiger Claw asked gruffly, raising the large briefcase on his hand for emphasis.
"That is indeed that which the human known as the Shredder has requested from the Kraang." One of the Kraang droids answered. "The Kraang has fulfilled that which is the Kraang's part of the agreement and expects that the human known as the Shredder will do the same."
"As long as you'll uphold your end of the deal." Rahzar said. "We already sent you some of the first batch, didn't we?"
"Indeed, the Kraang has received that which is called the brain worm from the human known as the Shredder." Another Krang drone nodded. "But the Kraang is under the impression that the mutant known as the Stockman was able to make further improvements on that which is known as the brain worm?"
"It requires further testing but rest assured that once they are ready, you will receive your share as promised." Tiger Claw replied. "And have we not always delivered to our promises?"
"…The Kraang agrees with the mutant which is known as the Tiger Claw."
"Sounds like the brain worms have gotten some major upgrades, dudes." Mikey whispered.
Raphael grit his teeth at that. He had never fully forgiven himself for being put under Shredder's control because of that slimy thing. Leo's eyes narrowed hard, sharing the sentiment.
"So what's the plan now, Leo?" Donnie asked urgently. "It looks like they're about to leave."
"It looks like whatever's in that briefcase is important. We'll follow Tiger Claw and Rahzar out then make a—"
"GAH!" Mikey, whose lack of sleep was finally catching up to him, accidentally slipped of the beam he was standing on with a cry. The turtle was quick to catch his balance, but unfortunately, everyone else heard the orange masked turtle.
"It's the turtles!" Tiger Claw snarled, readying his freezing gun while Rahzar and the other Foot ninja took ready stances. The Kraang immediately drew their weapons and aimed at the four ninjas.
"MIKEY!" All three of his older brothers growled in annoyance. Said turtle sweatdropped. "I-I'm sorry!"
"GET THEM!"
So typical of Mikey, eh?
On a side note, I just watched the Moons of Thalos 3 episode. Can't say I'm too thrilled about the Raph/Mona bit (I'm not into the entire romance thing with TMNT anyway), though I did find that part with Sal Commander covering Mikey's eyes during the Raph/Mona kiss to be fricking hilarious! Great, even Sal can tell Mikey's the baby of the family.