I have a confession to make: I effed this fanfic up. Bad. :P
While doing a reread of the fanfic as I've uploaded it to this site, I found that I have missed uploading the real chapter 4 entirely. Damn, the sudden transition to the fake one (which is supposed to be chapter 5) must have been horribly jarring and I deeply apologize for that.
(Locks self up in the corner of shame)
Err, anyway, I've added the missed chapter and put everything in order. It's not that big of a change and you can proceed without going back for it. But I would recommend that you do to have the complete experience.
Again, I'm so very sorry for the mistake. Hope this next installment makes up for it. Which happens to be the fight scene.
Eheheh...
(Goes back in the corner of shame)
会うは別かりの始まり- To meet is the beginning of parting
A midnight wind blew over the rooftop a near frosty breath. But for the lone turtle by the ledge, its cold was a surprising comfort.
Mikey didn't make a habit out of sneaking out of the Lair and especially not on an hour so late. Yet tonight, like every other night that he needed to just get away, he'd find himself lounging on this rooftop, not too far from the Lair but not near enough for him to be easily found.
Much as he loved his family, at times like these, he really needed to be alone. To hide this side of him that he'd keep from his family as much as he could.
It wasn't like he never cried in front of his family before, but the number of times he seriously did won't go beyond single digits (or hand). Contrary to popular belief, and while he loved it when people paid attention to him, Mikey hated what it did to his loved ones whenever they see him cry.
Sensei's ears would droop and his shoulders would sag with an immense sadness as heavy the world. Leo's face would become ashen in desperate panic because he'd make it his fault somehow. Raph would be torn between bewilderment at not knowing how to make it better and rage out of the need to kill somebody. And Don would…
"Mikey?"
"Gah?!" Mikey nearly fell off the ledge he was sitting on, whirling in surprise at the unexpected companion behind him. "Donnie! Don't scare a good turtle like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"It can't be that bad, compared to the actual one you just gave me a while ago!" Donnie huffed at the younger turtle with crossed arms. "You're lucky I was working with my laptop when I tracked one of the T-phones' signals to this building or no one would have known you were here let alone gone! I can't believe you'd actually do something like this! I would have expected sneaking out of the Lair would be a Raph thing to do!"
Mikey's eyes twitched at that. On top of everything he was feeling tonight, he was absolutely NOT in the mood to just shrug off another one of Donnie's primadonna-ish lectures like always.
That slightest bit of irritation made his mouth run before he could think. "Well, you know what? Sometimes, I just feel like being pulling a Raph too! Sometimes, he's not the only one who needs to get away from all this crazy shit we run into as ninjas! Have you guys ever thought of that, huh?!"
Maybe it was the youngest brother's choice of words or maybe it was the hard tone rarely associated with him, but Donnie's annoyed glare turned shocked before melting into concern. "M—Mikey?"
Well, shit, fart for brains Mikey, you've done it again!
Biting his lip, Mikey immediately turned away from his brother to the glare at night sky instead. Don't look at me like that, Donnie. Don't see me like this, please. "I'm sorry, Donnie. I just—I just needed some time alone and not in the Lair right now. I didn't mean to, y'know…"
The air was silent for a while, and for a moment, Mikey hoped that his brother had already left.
Turtle luck, of course, would dictate otherwise.
Mikey felt his body being turned before he heard his brother's voice, warm, gentle yet hesitant. Chocolate browns met baby blues before one of the hands on Mikey's shoulders tapped a damp cheek. "Is this…?"
Mikey froze. Oh no. "D-dude, it's not what you think—!"
"So you were crying? Is that why you left? How long has this been going on?" And this, boys and girls, is how Donnie reacts to an upset Mikey: clumsily fretting and furiously firing questions faster than shuriken can fly. "Why didn't you say something? You know you can talk to us about anything, right? You know we would have tried to help! What were you upset about anyway?"
"Geez, Donnie bro, take a breather! Like what I've just said, I'm fine. It doesn't matter—"
"Of course it matters to me, Mikey!" Donnie's eyes burned with feeling before they suddenly dimmed. "Was it about Mr. O'Neil?"
The younger turtle flinched and he knew Donnie knew he was spot on. It should have been obvious, all of them were feeling down after the mishap with the Kraang ended up mutating Mr. O'Neil and April walking out on them.
But as if Donnie needed any more hammer to head moments, he added. "What happened back then wasn't your fault, Mikey."
It amazed the little turtle, honestly. He figured Donnie of all people would blame him. It was his fault the mutagen canisters tumbled out of the ship and practically all over the city. It was his fault Mr. O'Neil got mutated. It was his fault Donnie may never see his crush again—
"And I'm certainly not blaming you for it either."
Dang, how many more nails do you need to hammer in, D? "I'm really, really sorry, bro…"
"If you're apologizing for making me worry about you, little brother, I'd take it. And that's everything you need to be sorry for tonight." Donnie said firmly.
The youngest turtle bit his lip while staring at his knees. "I was scared you guys would be so mad that you'd…"
"What happened was an accident, Mikey. None of us wanted that to happen."
"But if I had been more careful—!"
"It doesn't matter," The reply was equal parts firm and reassuring. "I could think of a hundred ways on how last night would have gone better but what's done is done. All we have to do now is to concentrate on finding the mutagen canisters and coming up with a retromutagen to turn April's dad back to normal. I don't know how long it'll take us, but we'll make this work, OK?"
Mikey sniffled a few times more before whispering. "…Please don't hate me."
Donnie made a choked noise before pulling his little brother to a tight, one-armed hug. "Don't be stupid, Mikey. That's never going to happen."
"Even when I screw up something real bad?"
"I'd definitely be pissed off if that happens, but not even that would make me hate you. Nothing ever would." Donnie said, squeezing Mikey's shoulder tightly, pleadingly. "You're the only little brother I've got, Mikey."
"…You promise?" The smaller turtle's brows furrowed before meeting his brother's gaze, soft and warm like velvety milk chocolate.
"I promise." Donnie answered, raising a fist. "B-team forever, right?"
"A-minus team, dude, but yeah, definitely." Mikey let out a watery laugh and returned the bro fist. "Thanks, Donnie-nii."
There was a pause, then a gap toothed smile brimming with affection. "Anytime, little brother, anytime."
"Mikey! Mikey, answer me! What the hell is going on?!"
"Not really the time, April!" Mikey shouted as he jumped out of the way of Donnie's bo staff, barely landing on his feet to duck at Raph's swing a split second later.
His mind was hardly in the fight going on right now, desperate denial making him detached from the impossibility that was happening before him.
It wasn't that he hadn't fought his bros before. Mikey had enough sparring sessions in his ninja-in-training resume to show for it. He even had to fight against his bros seriously once, though he still didn't know if it (Pizza Face) actually happened.
But this!
This was beyond anything Mikey had every encountered or expected! This time, his bros weren't sparring or clumsily held back by some weird pizza zombiemumbo jumbo—this was a serious, death match level fight and if he didn't watch out, one of them might actually succeed in killing him!
"Guys, it's me, Mikey! Come on, you can't all really under Shredhead's control!" Mikey cried pleadingly to them even as he sidestepped Leo's katana and slid under Tiger Claw's kick to deliver one of his own on the jungle cat mutant's leg. "Seriously, dudes, snap out of it already!"
But, to Mikey's shock, Raph, no Raphael, merely smirked. "Aww, what's this? Is little baby Mikey gonna cry now? Hah, I always knew you were too much of a wuss to be a decent ninja!"
W—what? "R-Raph, you can't mean that—"
"And why not?" Donatello added his input, twirling his bo staff expertly on Mikey's left. "Ever since we started training to become ninjas, you were always the weakest one, the one who makes the most mistakes because you fool around too much. Do you know how much trouble we would have saved ourselves from if we didn't have to put up with you in the first place?"
Mikey's bottom lip trembled at the harshness of both his brother's voice and words. No, Mikey, don't be fooled! That's the brain worm talking! You know they don't think that about—!
"Our enemies see him as our weakest link, and in some way, they are right."
NO! A momentary distraction left Mikey open for a knee to the trunk courtesy of Tiger Claw who then grabbed him by the shell and tossed him across the room. "GAH!"
In his plastron, he heard his friends' frantic cries. "Mikey!"
"Such a disappointing excuse for a ninja. I find it disgusting to think we're actually related." Leonardo was in front of him, one of his katanas going for Mikey's face.
"Mikey hasn't found it in himself to be a real ninja. He gets too loud and careless, he attracts too much attention."
The orange masked turtle was barely able to dodge the blade but was sent stumbling with a burning shoulder before he could recover, leaving him open for a good whack from Donatello's staff.
Mikey held onto his shoulder as he searched for what hit him. You've got to be—Buzz Kill?
Apparently, someone freed the fly mutant from Mikey's chains, enabling him to join the fray. The fly buzzed cruelly as he fired repetitively at the small turtle. Mikey gritted his teeth against the pain as he flipped his way out of danger, mindful of the other four ninjas out to get his shell.
Woah, dude, again? Not cool! Mikey mentally screamed as he slid past Donatello's next attempt to hit him and, with an apologetic grimace, gave his older brother a quick jab to the chest followed by an elbow. He wasn't even given a second to catch his breath before Leonardo was onto him, again. Aww, come on, seriously? How is this even a fair fight?
The adrenaline surging in his veins helped Mikey avoid most of the older turtle's deadly strikes before falling on all fours to the ground and doing a quick sweep that sent a shocked Leonardo onto his back. However, Mikey did not entirely avoid the last swing before getting to the floor, earning him a diagonal gash from his shoulder up to somewhere dangerously close to his neck.
Not good! Mikey winced at the feel of the sticky blood coming from his newest wound. At this rate, it won't be long before his five opponents wear him down what with all the wounds and bruises he'd been getting. Not to mention that his barely healed leg was already screaming in protest at the abuse it had to suffer.
But I can't leave my bros! I'm here to save them, not ditch them just because I can't do anything right again! Mikey protested. Come on, Mikey, think! There must be some way you can free them from the brain worm! You can't let it end like this!
Yet despite his willing mind and heart, his flesh was already pushed beyond its limits, forced against several above average enemies at once.
Mikey couldn't even scream when he could no longer dodge the last few blows from his brothers. The butt of Raphael's sai connected to his jaw, Donatello's staff smacked his abdomen once more and Leonardo slashed viciously at his side, sending him rolling to the end of the hall where he came from.
"Ha…ha…ha…" The smallest turtle's vision was swimming with dots, barely having the strength to lift his chest when a furred hand pinned his neck to the floor and the glint of a blade entered his peripheral vision.
"Let him go, Tiger Claw!" Raphael snarled somewhere from the side, and for a moment, Mikey thought it sounded like his fiercely protective Raphie. "That piece of shit is ours to kill!"
"That bonehead gets into more trouble during missions than all three of us combined!He needs to take being a ninja more seriously or it could get all of us in real trouble one day."
"So you say, but do you really have what it takes to do it?" Tiger Claw challenged. "Can you truly kill your own brother?"
Donatello scoffed, flicking his staff to bring out the bladed end. "That flailing, insignificant vermin is no brother of ours! Merely a filthy blemish that must be eliminated by our own hands."
"Only by cutting him down can our honor as true ninjas can be restored." Leonardo finished haughtily. "And you will not deny me or my brothers what we deserve!"
A tear leaked from each eye at his brothers' cruel words, each one more painful than all of the blows he had received tonight combined.
Leo, Raphie, Donnie…
"Know your place, Leonardo!" Tiger Claw sneered at the three indignant turtles next to him. "You and your brothers are but cubs in this clan. You have not yet earned the privilege to do anything I do not tell you to! If this turtle dies tonight, it will be by my blade!" Tiger Claw's lone eye met Mikey's. "Any last words, little kame?"
"B…Bros…" Mikey whispered, ignoring the roaring in his ears and the screams of fright he could hear from within his plastron. "Leo-nii, Raphie-nii, Donnie-nii…gomenasai."
Was this it? Is this truly the end for him, with nothing to show for this nearly eighteen years of existence but a string of failures to be topped off by this? Failing to save his beloved brothers?
A death without meaning?
Leo, Raphie, Don, I'm so sorry…
There was a second of stillness before the sching of a blade reached his ears, and Mikey shut his eyes.
I couldn't protect anything after all…
"GET OFFA HIM, YOU MANGY TIGER!"
…eh?
There was a roar, a loud swing and Tiger Claw grunting in pain before Mikey dared to open his eyes again, only for his jaw to drop in shock.
"S—Slash?"
"Michelangelo!" The turtle felt his body being picked up and cradled gently in strong, leathery arms, followed by another familiar voice calling his name.
"Leatherhead? Dr. Rockwell?" Mikey's voice cracked with disbelief and hope.
"And Pigeon Pete too," Dr. Rockwell's soothing voice assured him. "He's just somewhere far off catching up with his good buddy, Mr. Stockman."
"You guys, how did you—?"
"Took some time subduing the vicious canine and his slick tongued snakehead companion but good help makes things all the easier." Rockwell answered before clucking disapprovingly. "Help that, if I may add, you seem to be in direst need of."
"Slash." Raphael growled in the background over the familiar sound of spinning sais. Leonardo scoffed after him. "Always knew you could never keep your pet under control, Raph."
"Raphael?" Mikey caught the confusion in Slash's voice so he forced himself to speak.
"It's the Shredder, Slash! He used brain worms on Raph, Donnie and Leo, that's why they're acting so strange."
Leatherhead tensed while Dr. Rockwell gasped. "Great Scott!"
"Brainworms?! You have got to be kidding me!" Slash's bewilderment turned into anger. "Raphael, what the hell do you think you're doing? You gonna let that scarred freak use you like a puppet again?"
"Shut up, Slash! You know nothing!" Raphael answered mockingly. "It's because of the Shredder that we've learned what it really means to be a ninja. No more stupid rules, no more weaklings, no more screw ups! I'm free of what kept dragging me down for years and I'm not going to let you ruin it!"
Mikey whimpered at the obvious jab, making Leatherhead move to pat Mikey's head.
"Slash, we need to leave. Michelangelo's wounds need to be tended to, and we cannot hope to win against our friends." The giant crocodile said imploringly at the tortoise ninja who was standing defensively in front of them.
"Not a chance! You're not taking him anywhere!" Leonardo joined Raphael and Donatello in taking ready positions.
"You don't have to make things harder for any of you. All we want is that sniveling idiot." Donatello added. "If you hand him over quietly, we might consider letting you go this time."
NO! Mikey felt another surge of energy course through him at the realization. There was no way in heaven or hell he was letting anyone else take the fall for him! "Dr. Rockwell, I've got some smokebombs here. Think you can let loose the fireworks?"
The chimpanzee mutant tilted his head in confusion before brightening, "Of course, leave this to me!" while Mikey announced as loudly as he could. "OK, Slash, Pigeon Pete, its' time to go!"
Raphael's eyes flared. "We just told you—OOF!"
What Slash didn't have in speed, he made up for in strength by leaps and bounds. He was able to easily beat the other turtles aside to give the escaping group some more room. Meanwhile, Pigeon Pete, with a satisfactory hard peck in between his rival fly's eyes, flew right back to his team.
"Thank you for your hospitality boys, but I'm afraid it is time for us to bid adieu." Rockwell said with a smile. "Till next time then?"
Without waiting for a response from the enemies, Rockwell placed his hands to his helmet, and at once, Mikey's stash of smokebombs flew into the air and right at the older turtles' faces and one each to both Tiger Claw's and Buzz Kill's directions.
Leonardo protested. "NO—!"
But with a clap, all smoke bombs blew up, covering the room with thick purple clouds with stars. Furiously, Leonardo and his team desperately tried to wave the smoke away, weapons at the ready. But by the time the smoke cleared, the Mutanimals and Mikey were long gone.
Chuchi's Cultural Corner:
Niichan: the affectionate term for older brothers, root word being nii from ani (兄).
Adding -nii or its derivativesto the end of someone's name in Japanese (like Leo-nii) is another way to acknowledge older brothers or guys you have a close enough relationship that you view them as such.
FYI, Japanese have specific words denoting the gender, age difference and level of formality among siblings. Basically, Older brother is ani, then little brother is ototo (弟). Older sister is ane or nee (姉) and little sister is imoto (妹).
And the generally accepted word for siblings (brothers, sisters or mixed) is kyoudai (兄弟), as in Hamato kyoudai, even if the character combination is literally for big and little brothers.
Niichan-tachi: I didn't mention this in the previous chapter because the English translation is within the same sentence, but for those who missed it, it literally means big brothers.
When you add -tachi at the end of applicable singular words like the above example niichan or watashi or I(私), it means you are referring to a group of the same things or a group which includes the word before -tachi.
Examples: Adding -tachi to watashi makes it watashi-tachi which means we. Adding -tachi to niichan for niichan-tachi can mean that you are either referring to your big brothers collectively or to a group that includes your big brother/s.
Gomenasai: I'm sorry. It's a less formal way to apologize in Japanese, used among close friends or family. The more polite one used in everyday situations among strangers and equals is sumimasen.
Thank you so much again to all the reviewers/alerters/favers/readers! April's gonna be a busy month for me so the next chap might take a while. See you all in the next one! :)