Happy New Year, everyone! :)
寝耳に水- Water in a Sleeping Ear
This can't be happening!
Mikey barely registered him and his father heading to Donnie's lab to attempt to track the missing brothers' T-phones. While he didn't understand most of the technical stuff Donnie did, what the purple masked turtle performed regularly—one of which was to track T-phone signals— Mikey could execute from pure memory.
But the hope that came from that knowledge was dashed when Donnie's tracking program revealed that Leo's, Raph's and Donnie's phones have lost their signal. Naturally, Mikey was beside himself with panic and worry because that meant that something must be really, terribly wrong!
"I can't find them, sensei!" Mikey's voice wavered like his hands over the keyboard. "Their signal, it's lost, I-I can't find them! Oh God, I can't—what am I supposed to do?!"
"Michelangelo—"
"What could have happened?! It's not like them to stay out like this! And in the middle of the day when they could be seen! D-do you think it was something really bad? Did they get into trouble? But why didn't they contact you with the cheese phone?!" So many possibilities flitted through Mikey's head that he had to hold it to keep it from exploding. "And it's Leo, Raph and Donnie! They're some of the best ninjas I know! They—they can't get caught! They're too good for that! They—!"
A pair of hands roughly grabbed Mikey by either shoulder.
"Calm yourself, Michelangelo." Splinter said in the firmest possible voice he could muster. "We must not lose our focus now. If we cannot find them with technology, then traditional reconnaissance will have to do. Do you have some clue as to where they could have gone to patrol that night?"
"Uhm," Mikey knew that he and his brothers always followed one of several set routes during their nightly prowls topside and it was Leo who usually chose which route to take on what day.
Focus, Mikey, gotta focus! "Hai, sensei. We always followed one of several planned route for patrol every night. As far as I know, there are six possible paths they could have taken."
"That will have to do." Splinter said. "We should call our allies to help with the search to cover the city much faster."
"Sure, sensei, but," It was with a strange clarity that Mikey made his way to Donnie's workstation for some paper and a pencil. "I should probably map out the routes first. I remember some of them will lead to common areas at some point. I'll have to sort through those out and maybe map out a new one so we won't end up searching the same area twice."
Thank goodness for photographic memory!
If Mikey had looked up to Splinter at the middle of his work, he would have seen the unmasked look of surprise and pride in the wise rat's face.
But right now, Mikey's mind was razor sharp on what he can do right now to make the situation better.
There will be time for panicking later. For now, Mikey had three lost brothers to find.
Leo, Raph, Donnie, you guys have got to be OK!
The rest of the morning and afternoon passed as Michelangelo finished his diagram of the routes after tracing it above a New York City map. He was able to combine all six paths to form one long route around the city which he then divided based on how many groups the Hamatos and their friends could divide themselves for the hunt.
Hurt leg be damned, Mikey was joining the search and he wasn't going to take no for an answer, not even from Splinter.
Splinter watched in bemused fascination as the wavering turtle questioning his self-worth the night before transformed into this focused and decisive ninja who calmly related the story to April, Casey and the Mighty Mutanimals, ending with a request for them to meet up at the Lair to hear the rest of the plan.
The rat never doubted that his youngest son was capable of great things he puts his mind into something. It just hurt that it had to take something like this to bring out the best in the small turtle who is now so single-mindedly determined to find their missing family members that it was bordering to frightening.
The Hamatos' allies did not take long to respond to Mikey's call. Within minutes, the pit was packed with frazzled mutants and humans alike. Mikey and Splinter shared a look before Mikey cleared his throat. "Uh, hey, guys."
"Mikey!" April exclaimed with Casey in tow as she hugged the small turtle. Behind them stood the Mighty Mutanimals Leatherhead, Slash, Dr. Rockwell, Pigeon Pete, Mondo Gecko and Muckman who returned Mikey's greeting with various nods and grunts.
"April? Casey? I thought you guys had school." Mikey asked while returning the hug.
"We came as soon as we heard, Mike." Casey said, his eyes shining with the same fear and worry in April's. "You think after you told us what happened we'd be OK with sitting around doing nothing?"
"You really couldn't find them with the T-phones, Mikey?" April asked weakly. Mikey nodded. "Tried that already, dudette, but we hit a dead end. So we gotta do this the old fashioned way."
Mikey unrolled the paper in his hand and laid it on the floor where his friends crowded around as Splinter continued to explain. "Michelangelo has mapped out all the possible places his brothers may have been to while on patrol last night. We will divide ourselves into teams, with each of us searching through a particular route. I must remind everyone that stealth is of utmost importance, as we cannot delay the search for them until nightfall."
"Sure thing, Master Splinter." Slash said firmly with a sidelong nod to Leatherhead who added. "We will do our best to remain the shadows. Rest assured, we will not be seen."
"Thanks, guys." Mikey smiled gratefully at his friends, but nearly hid his head into his shell when all eyes fell on him once more. Focus, Mikey, focus! "OK, I got four routes on the map for four teams. Lemme see, Pigeon Pete, Mondo and Rockwell, you take the north,"
Rockwell saluted. "Affirmative, Michelangelo."
"Slash, Muckman and Casey, you head west."
Casey looked distinctly uncomfortable at the thought of working with his team but determinedly set his mask down. "You got it, little dude."
"April, Leatherhead, you take the South. I know it seems unfair that there's only two of you in the team, but the South route's the shortest and Leatherhead's got your back, April, so—"
"Don't sweat it, Mikey. I'm a kunoichi too." April said, flicking her tessen to her wrist. "We can handle this."
Mikey smiled a bit. "That leaves the east side to me and sensei. I know April and Casey already have these but since Donnie's made us some spare T-phone ages back because, knowing us and what we do, my bros and end up losing or breaking them more times than I could count and sometimes I end up dropping it a lot because when I skate, I usually put it in my—"
"Michelangelo."
"—sorry, sensei!" Mikey's cheeks burned so hard he wondered why they were still attached. "Anyway, here are the phones, one for each team. I tweaked around with it a bit so that when you press that contact on screen, you'll trigger a four way call with the other teams' T-phones and mine. Goes without saying that you should call us pronto soon as you find something or when you get into any trouble. Though hopefully not the latter. It's too early for that sort of thing."
"I must say, my friend, it is a pleasant surprise to see this side of you taking charge." Leatherhead commented when Mikey handed him his team's T-phone.
"Thanks but I'm no Leo. I'm just doing what I can to find him and my bros." Mikey said, smiling shyly at his friend before his face became a serious mask. "So are we guys good?"
After the series of nods sent his way, Mikey raised a fist to the air.
"OK, everybody, let's do this! BOOYAKASHA!"
The east wind blew quietly over the two man searching party.
It's been roughly an hour and a half since the Hamatos launched their search for the missing turtle ninjas. Splinter and Mikey leapt from one roof to another with their eyes peeled to search for clues with no such luck so far.
Surprisingly, Mikey remained completely silent throughout the search.
The lack of information was biting at Mikey's already raw nerves, provoking the panic he had been trying so hard to ignore. Splinter by his side helped keep the dangerous thought at bay, but what if the rest of the day went without them finding anything?
With barely any leads to what could have happened or where they even were the night before, how was Mikey supposed to find them?
No, I can't give up yet! Mikey thought, his face set in a determined scowl. I'm going to find my bros even if I have to rip the earth apart to do it! Strange, I thought patrol's been quiet for the last few days. Raph's been complaining about nothing happening since that time with—
"You're lucky Master Shredder wants you alive or you won't be so lucky right now!"
Rahzar! Mikey skidded to a halt, eyes wide at the memory. That's right, back at the warehouse. He said he wasn't fighting to kill me because Shredhead wanted us alive. I didn't think he meant that back then but…
"Oh trust me turtle, Master Shredder has great plans for you and your pathetic brothers!"
He has plans for us? What did Rahzar mean by that? Mikey's eye ridges furrowed. Argh, why didn't I ask for more info? Mikey, you're such an idiot! What if the Foot has something to do with your bros being missing right now? You could have warned them about it if only you took Rahzar more seriously! Stupid Mikey, this is all your—!
"Michelangelo!"
Mikey snapped up from his musings to the direction of Splinter's cry, tight with emotion that it made Mikey's heart lurch. The rat's back was turned to him by the time Mikey flipped his way to where his master stood, rigid like a board.
"Sensei?"
The rat lifted a paw. "Look."
Mikey stepped in front of Splinter, following the direction pointed. It was then that the turtle barely caught himself from stumbling and choking in shock.
The rooftop they were on was littered with scratches of various depths and other signs of a lengthy struggle. Mikey turned even greener when he caught splotches of blood dotting the concrete.
But what sent Mikey reeling was what they found at the area where there was a significant amount of scorch marks forming a jagged circle.
"No…" Mikey whispered, dropping to his knees to the burnt floor, right next to the remains of Donnie's bo staff and a crushed T-phone. "Donnie…Raphie…Leo…"
His brothers…his beloved, indomitable big brothers…in the hands of their most hated enemy…
And their fool of a little brother just stood by and let it happen…
"My sons," He heard Splinter speak in muted horror, while Mikey cradled the damaged T-phone and his brother's broken staff as if they were dearest treasures. "How could this have happened?"
"I don't know how, sensei," Odd, Mikey sounded far calmer than he felt, but right next to the worry-induced hysteria was a slow burning rage when his eyes fell on the familiar claw marks etched on the concrete wall on his right. "But I know who's behind all this."
Leo groaned as a pulse of migraine forced him to consciousness. Groggily, he shook his head to clear the blurry vision before moving a hand in an attempt to massage his temples.
Only to find that both his arms were held fast to his side.
Wha—? A beat of growing awareness later, Leo found himself strapped to a table with leather straps running across his shoulders, arms, hips and legs.
A few beats more, and to Leo's horror, he found himself in a bare, unknown room of stone grey dimly lit by an overhead lamp, the wall around him decorated with various weapons of different shapes and sizes, his younger brothers, Raph and Donnie were on either side of him, bound the same way he was.
"Raph! Don!" He called out to them as he struggled against his bonds. "Raph, Don, guys, wake up!"
"Ugh…what the shell…?" Raph grunted, filling Leo with relief as the red masked turtle came to. From the leader's right, Donnie was slowly waking up as well. "R-Raph? Leo?"
"I'm here." Leo said as gently as he could, given their circumstance. "You guys OK?"
"Everything hurts, especially my head, but I'll live." Raph answered. Donnie blinked several times before nodding. "Same here. But what happened to us? And where are we?"
Leo grimaced at the memory. "I'm not sure, but as for what happened, Stockman got to us, remember?"
The sudden spark in Raph's eyes told Leo that the younger turtle did not remember until now. "Stinkmash! When I get my hands on that coward, I'll tear his wings off!"
"Shove them down both his mouths while you're at it too." Donnie growled. "I'm going to feel the aftershocks for—hold on, if it was Stockman who got to us, then shouldn't that mean we're at—?"
"I see you're finally awake, turtles," rasped a cold voice that made the three brothers flinch in both fear and anger.
Leo's eyes narrowed threateningly at the armored ninja who came into view. "Shredder."
Chuchi's Cultural Corner!
寝耳に水- A quote used to pertain to an unexpected and shocking occurence. Makes sense because how is it possible for someone asleep to accumulate water in his ear, really?