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Mikey pulled himself to his feet, having been knocked to the ground during a fight with Warren and Hypno. They had been trying to hijack the broadcast for Warren’s old news station to broadcast a show to the city. Mikey hadn’t been paying much attention to what they had planned on broadcasting, but he assumed it was something to do with hypnotism, knowing those two.
He dusted himself off, hating the feeling of the grime on his skin. They’d ended up in a junkyard, thankfully not belonging to Repo Mantis, it had been where the villains ran into when trying to escape.
Mikey was startled by the sound of an engine revving, and more dust was kicked up into the air as the news van drove off, crashing through a fence in its getaway. The worm yelled something back at them as he and his partner sped off, but Mikey couldn’t hear it over him and his brothers coughing the dust up from their lungs.
Leo swiped the dust out of his eyes. “Those guys get stranger every time we see them, don’t they?”
“Eh, I’ll never complain at the chance to punch some villains in the face.” Raph let his shoulders drop as the mutants drove away into the distance, easing out of the fighting stance he’d assumed.
“Fair, but you’d think they’d be tired of getting their butts kicked.” Leo leaned against his sword. A sudden crash from a few feet away made him jump a little, and he groaned. “AND YOU THINK DONNIE WOULD GET TIRED OF LOOKING THROUGH THIS JUNK ALL THE TIME!!” He yelled to his purple-clad brother.
Donnie didn’t look up from the pile in front of him, he tossed things to each side as he rummaged through the junk. “You know I like to salvage what I can from these places, Nardo. It saves us money.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well it’s getting late and Splinter won’t like us being out much longer. Pizza’s on me. Sound good Mike?” Leo waited for a few moments but didn’t get a response. He looked to where his youngest brother was standing. “Mikey?”
The box turtle wasn’t paying much attention to what Leo was saying, instead he stood on the hill of garbage he’d been knocked onto during the fight, staring down the side opposite to his brothers.
“You see something up there, Angelo?” Donnie asked, finally looking up from the heap in front of him.
Mikey didn’t respond, again. Instead he suddenly leapt down to where he’d been staring, giggling with excitement.
Leo stood up straight and returned his sword to its spot on his shell. “Wha-? Miguel! You can’t just run off! Where are you going?” The three brothers ran around the pile that Mikey had been standing on, catching up to their brother where he stood with a small cardboard box at his feet. He was bouncing back and forth on his toes.
Leo, confused, peered over his brother’s shoulder and into the box. Inside was a large spotted egg. “Woah, what is that? A dinosaur?” Donnie scoffed at that, but his genius brother didn’t get a chance for a snarky response before Mikey cut in.
“You don’t know??” Mikey seemed appalled. “I’ve seen this before! In the prize corner at Albearto’s! It’s a T-Hex!”
“A what?” Raph cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t even know Albearto’s had a prize corner.”
“What do you think the tickets are for? It’s a little robot dino pet! I’ve always wanted one, but I could never get enough to afford it. Why would someone just throw this away?” Mikey leaned over further to peer into the box. Nothing else seemed to be in it.
“Well, that’s neat enough. We’ve no need for a children’s toy though.” Donnie shrugged, turning away. “So about that pizza-”
Mikey jumped up. “We can’t just leave it here!! It needs a home, the poor thing!”
Donnie pinched the space between his eyes. “Angelo...it’s a robot. I can assure you that this ‘T-Hex’ doesn’t have an AI intelligent enough to feel lonely.”
“It still deserves love!” Mikey whined. “Can we keep it?? Please?”
Leo shook his head. “Miguel, no. You know Splinter’s rules. No pets, breathing or not.”
“Raphie!!” Mikey turned to his eldest brother, using the nickname they’d used for him as kids.
Raph hesitated for a moment, but shook his head. “Sorry, big man. Rules are rules.”
Mikey pouted, but didn’t protest anymore. It was clear that he was upset, though. Leo patted his brother’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright little bro. Maybe one day you can get a pet, just not today.”
Mikey gave a little ‘hmph’ in response.
“Come on, cheer up, Mike! I’ll let you order whatever you want from Hueso’s to make up for it?”
A faint smile cracked onto Mikey’s face. “...promise?”
“Promise.” Leo grinned. “Come on, hermano. Let’s get out of this dump.”
Mikey nodded and followed behind his brothers out of the dump.
Just before the sun began to rise for the morning, an orange-clad turtle returned to the junkyard, a back-pack slung over his shoulder.
Mikey wandered through the yard, eventually recognizing the path and following it to where he remembered seeing the T-Hex. A crash from nearby startled him, and the ground shook slightly as it sounded like heavy footsteps were running away. Fearing that he’d been spotted by a human, Mikey quickly snatched the egg out of the box and stuffed it into the orange back-pack. He darted out of the junkyard and disappeared into a sewer grate.
He snuck back into the lair with ease. He’d told Leo that he went out to graffiti, hoping he would assume that there were spray-paints in the bag when he returned. His blue brother was confused to see him return so early.
“That was quick.” Leo noted. He paused at the top of the half-pipe that was the centerpiece of their home, kicking up his skateboard to eye his younger brother suspiciously.
Mikey cursed himself for not realizing that would be strange. He was so excited to retrieve the T-Hex, and he hadn’t expected to run into Leo when he was leaving, so he didn’t have time to come up with a perfect excuse. “I...uh, didn’t realize how close it was to sunrise. I was going to work on something close to a grate, but decided I didn’t want to risk it. Raph already doesn’t like me going far out into the sewers to paint.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed, but he shrugged. “Alright. Since you’re here, you wanna skate?”
Mikey shook his head. “I’m good. Bye!” He shuffled out quickly, ignoring the look Leo gave him as he left. He locked his curtain behind him as he made it to the safety of his room.
Mikey sat on the ground, legs crisscrossed, dropping the back-pack down in front of him. He unzips the bag and lifts the T-Hex egg out of it, discarding the bag on the floor of his room. He held the orange spotted egg close to his face, reading the little note taped to it aloud. “Give your T-Hex a hug...and it will hatch!”
He does as the note says, ignoring how strange a note taped to a toy is. Shouldn’t there be some kind of instruction manual instead? The egg almost explodes in his arms. He glances at the floor of his room, fearful for a moment that it would have left evidence of the egg on the ground, but there wasn’t anything there. Guess it dissolved?
Odd technology for a kid’s toy.
Nevermind that, he had a pet to take care of! It was adorable. Mikey held it out in front of him. Its head was much larger than its body, and Mikey was shocked that it could stand upright. The design of its body actually did look rather familiar, but Mikey didn’t know where he could have seen it before. It had a sort of overbite, and a few large teeth hung over the bottom jaw. Its teeth weren’t connected inside the mouth though, it was all connected from the top jaw. Its eyes glowed a light yellow.
It did seem a little odd to Mikey that a toy would have such sharp teeth. Its large eyes blinked back at him, tilting its head to the side...wait, it’s on? How does it have working batteries? What does it even run on? Was there no switch to turn it on or off?
Instructions would be very useful.
He placed the dino on the ground, it tilted its head back and forth, studying him. Mikey tapped at its snout. “Boop!” It made a sound that Mikey could only describe as a robotic chirp.
Mikey reached for a little toy cave-person, which had fallen out of the egg when the T-Hex hatched. He held it up in front of the robot. “Are you hungry, little buddy?”
The T-Hex chomped at the figure, its sharp teeth only barely missed Mikey’s hand. There was a metal clanging and whirring sound and the robot shook slightly before the figure popped out of the back of it and bounced across the room. It made another sound at him, head tilting around on a swivel neck.
Mikey frowned at how plain it looked. Its sleek, metal frame was in sharp contrast to the colorfulness and slight chaos of Mikey’s room.
That just wouldn’t do. Not Mikey’s pet.
He picked at the blue sticker he had on his lower plastron, peeling it off. He stuck it to the robot’s head, directly between its eyes. It almost seemed to smile, bouncing up and down, chirping excitedly.
Mikey couldn’t help but ‘awww’ at this, and he hugged the dino close to him. The nice moment didn’t last, however, as a gruff voice called out from someone else in the lair.
“Orange one?? Do I hear the tell-tale sounds of an electronic pet?”
Mikey’s eyes widened in panic. “NO DAD!”
“WHY is your curtain locked? PURPLE. We have a code beep-boop!” Splinter’s voice got louder as he seemed to be walking closer, Mikey looked around his room quickly, trying to find somewhere to hide the T-Hex.
Mikey threw the T-Hex under a hat that sat on a box near his hammock-bed. He jumped into the hammock and grabbed an old comic off the floor.
Just act casual!
A loud saw kicks up on the other side, cutting through and blasting Mikey’s room open. Donnie and Splinter stood where his metal curtain used to, his brother had a wicked grin on his face. He knows he’s just gonna have to fix that later, right?
Mikey looked up from the comic. He smiled, and whether on purpose or by nervousness, put on a fake stuffy voice. “Sup, Gentlemen. How may I help you?”
Splinter seemed unamused. He eyed Mikey suspiciously, and without looking away, instructed Donnie. “...Scan the room for an electronic pet.”
Donnie lifted his hand up to his goggles, studying the room. He glanced over Mikey’s belongings and furniture, eventually making his way over to the hat that the T-Hex hid under. Mikey felt his heart beat faster as Donnie reached for the hat, but when he lifted it, there was nothing there.
Donnie looked back at him, and Mikey realized there was clear relief and confusion on his face. He smiled, hoping Donnie hadn’t noticed. His purple-clad brother’s goggles flipped back up.
“He’s clean.” Donnie said with a suspicious glance at his brother. He stood suddenly and got close to Mikey’s face, searching his expression for some kind of tell. “Maybe a little TOO clean if you ask me.”
Splinter’s expression didn’t give away much of what he was thinking. “...Hmmm, Well keep it that way Orange .” Splinter said sternly, and left. Donnie looked back at Mikey and made an ‘I’m watching you’ motion with his hands, before turning away and following his father. Mikey’s eyes widened. The T-Hex clung to Donnie’s battle shell, hiding where the turtle couldn’t see it.
It hopped down and chirped at Mikey. Mikey motions for the T-Hex to be quiet, looking to where his brother and father had disappeared to, but thankfully it didn’t seem that they had heard. The T-Hex only tilted its head to the side, though didn’t make a sound until Mikey deemed them far enough away to speak again.
Mikey tossed the comic he’d been fake-reading to the side, standing up. “You clever little Dino!” He picked up the T-Hex, carrying it back to his hammock-bed in one arm.
“What should I name you? I can’t keep calling you T-Hex or Dino.” He gently knocked on the robot’s head, the T-Hex made a noise similar to giggling in response. “Hmmm...Metalhead? No, too easy. I’ve been saving Klunk for a cat, if Splinter ever lets me have one...”
The T-Hex tilts its head and chirps. Coming to his decision, Mikey snaps his fingers and smiles. “I’ll just switch it up! Klank! That’s your name now.”
Klank began to make sounds like barking, it almost seemed to smile. Mikey laughed, making a motion for it to quiet down.
Mikey pat Klank’s head. “You need to be quiet. My family can’t know you’re here, they’ll kick you out.”
It almost seemed like Klank understood, making a much quieter chirp in response. The turtle giggled. “Right, well, I haven’t rested since that fight. How about a nap? Do you even have a sleep mode?”
Suddenly, the T-Hex’s legs tucked into its body. Its eyes half-lidded to appear dormant, still having light in them but slightly dimmed. The turtle smiled, and hid the T-Hex in a corner of his room on a shelf, a clear view of the turtle’s entire room.
Mikey climbed into his hammock-bed, yawning and stretching. “Sweet dreams, Klank.” He mumbled as he settled into bed, shutting his eyes.
---
“Mikey!! Wha- What happened to your curtain?” Raph’s footsteps shook Mikey’s hammock as he approached the room. “Whatever. Donnie’s got an alert, meet us in the living room.”
Mikey woke gradually, peaking his eyes open just as his oldest brother walked away from his room. He sat up and stretched, looking up to the corner of his room as he remembered the events of the morning.
Wait- where was Klank?
Mikey panicked for a moment, thinking his brothers may have found it or it may have wandered off or something, before he looked down and realized it was sitting on the floor below him, staring at him.
Thank the pizza supreme in the sky that Raph was too distracted by the missing curtain to notice.
“Klank!” He whisper-yelled. “You can’t move around, my brothers can’t see you!” Klank made a quiet chirp.
“Can you shut down again?” Mikey frowned at the dino’s hurt look. “I know, it’s not the best arrangement, but I’ll figure something out. For now you need to stay in that corner.”
Klank sounded almost annoyed, but shut down. Its legs tucked into its little body and its head lowered, eyes dimming. Mikey picked it up and returned it to the corner of his room. He threw a blanket over it just in case. Until Donnie fixed his curtain any one of his brothers, or worse, Splinter, could walk by his room and see the T-Hex.
Mikey hopped out of his room, following his brothers to the TV room.
A little metal snout poked out from the blanket, jumping down to the floor. A quiet tap accompanied each step it took as it left the orange turtle’s room, sneaking past the voices in front of the TV and slipping into a purple lab.
Mikey rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he joined his brothers, still tying his mask back onto his face. Splinter was out getting groceries, and Donnie took that chance every time to get his brothers to meet anywhere outside his lab when there were alerts.
“There he is!” Leo smiled at his orange-clad brother. “Had me worried you were still upset about last night for a moment there, little brother.”
“Hm?” Mikey blinked, still slightly drowsy. “Oh. Yeah, yeah. I’m alright.”
Leo looked concerned for a moment, but brushed it off. “Right. Donnie, what have you got for us?”
“It’s not a crime alert. I got an alert that an unknown connection was established to the lair. I haven’t been able to track the signal yet, so I don’t know where it is here or where it is coming from.” Donnie typed something into the screen on his arm, Mikey couldn’t understand a thing on the screen.
“So, dear brothers, I want to know which one of you dum-dums got a tracker placed on you.” Donnie’s goggles clicked over his eyes.
“What? Who would put a tracker on us?” Raph jumped away from Donnie as the genius brother walked circles around the other turtles.
“Yeah, Donnie, are you sure your tech didn’t make a mistake or something?”
“Nardo, my tech doesn’t make mistakes and I am insulted that you would even suggest such a thing.” Leo jumped as Donnie appeared over his shoulders suddenly.
Leo frowned at his twin. “But the only fight we’ve been in for like, a month, was last night. You think Hypno and that-worm-guy-who's-name-I-forget are smart enough to make a tracker and place it on one of us without us noticing? If your tech doesn’t make any mistakes wouldn’t you have detected it way before now?”
“It may not have been activated until now.” Mikey tensed as Donnie passed by him. He was scary when he got like this.
After a few moments, Donnie’s goggles returned to their usual spot at the top of his head. He took a step back and faced them. “Hm, it’s not on one of you. But it must have been brought in. Did any of you bring outside tech into the lair without telling me?”
Donnie’s eyes wandered to look at each of his brothers, finally settling on the youngest. He was standing unusually still, his posture stiff. “...Mikey?”
The other two turned to look at him as well. Mikey had always been a terrible liar. He had no problem lying about something harmless, like a silly prank or game or something, but under any other circumstances? Mikey just couldn’t lie to his brothers. “H-how do we know that you didn’t bring it in?”
Mikey almost audibly sighed as the attention was turned away from him. “Yeah? What about you?” Raph added on as he turned to face his purple-clad brother.
“Oh, you are not pinning this on me, Angelo. You only do that when you’re up to something.”
“I would never!” Mikey feigned hurt, his voice getting slightly louder. “You were pinning it on us first!”
“Guys, this is getting nowhere.” Leo interrupted, recognizing the argument that was about to start. It was rare that Mikey and Donnie ever fought over anything, not seriously at least. They simply got along with each other.
Leo couldn’t think of a time that they had gotten genuinely angry at each other to the point of yelling.
Seeing an argument starting between them was discomforting.
“Let’s just leave it alone for now. No one is going to accuse anyone else of bringing anything into the lair until we know more.”
Leo could tell that Raph wanted to complain that he was the leader and should thus be the one making these decisions, but he didn’t say anything so Leo continued. “Donnie, try to find out where that signal is coming from. No one should bother him unless he asks for help with something.” He looked at Mikey as he said that last part.
Raph nodded. “And no one leaves the lair.”
The younger three brothers looked to Raph in astonishment. They didn’t get the chance to ask why before Raph started to explain anyway. “If someone really did put a tracker on us without us noticing, then who knows what else they are planning. We shouldn’t risk anything. Everyone stays put until we know what is going on.”
The brothers groaned. Raph made up his mind, and they knew they couldn’t change it.
“I’m serious.” The snapping turtle crossed his arms. “No one is leaving without my approval. It won’t be for long, I’m sure Donnie will find them in just a few hours.”
Leo waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah. No one leaves. Let’s just let Donnie get back to work.”
With that, the brothers went their own ways. Mikey felt a nervousness creep up on him as he returned to his room. If everyone was in the lair at all times, it would be much harder to hide Klank from them, and with Donnie working on trying to find where the signal was coming from, the softshell wouldn’t have any time to fix Mikey’s curtain.
Mikey just wouldn’t be able to let Klank out of his sight, then.
Mikey stepped into his room. Leo had gone back to skateboarding, Raph was in the game room, and Donnie had resigned to his lab to begin working. No one should come to check on him anytime soon.
The blanket that he’d thrown onto the T-Hex looked as though it had been moved, but Mikey didn’t think much of it until he lifted it. “Klank, I’m back-” He stopped.
Klank was gone.
“Not again!”
Mikey tossed the blanket to the side and quickly sped out of his room. He kept his eyes to the ground, searching for some kind of clue as to where the robot could have gone.
Before he could find anything, he heard a faint chirp coming from...
Pizza supreme, it’s in Donnie’s lab.
Mikey almost ran, until he remembered that he would pass by Leo. The box turtle began to tip-toe along the wall of the lair, making his way towards Donnie’s lab.
As he made his way along the wall, another chirp sounded from the lab, and Leo paused. He looked over to see Mikey inching along the wall to Donnie’s lab. Their eyes locked with each other.
An awkward silence followed.
“...so,” Leo said after a while, “What are you doing there, Mike?”
“I’m just...” Mikey wracked his brain to come up with a good lie. His eyes darted to the floor as he thought. He generally did better with half-truths, so it’d be better to admit he was getting something in the lab. “...getting my bean bag chair.”
“Why are you getting it now? Wasn’t ‘Disturbing Donnie’ the one thing I told you not to do?” Leo leaned on his skateboard.
“Well, if we’re stuck in the lair I figured I could at least sit down comfortably. That’s the one seat I have other than a hammock.”
“May I remind you that you did that to yourself, Miguel?”
“And it is a decision I do not regret.”
“Whatever. Just be quiet and don’t talk to him. You know he doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s ‘in the groove’.” Leo jumped onto his board once again and continued as he was before.
Mikey’s shoulders sagged in relief.
He slipped into Donnie’s lab, squinting his eyes to adjust to the purple hue of the lights. He looked to Donnie’s desk, hearing faint music come from his brother’s headphones. Good, he shouldn’t be able to hear him.
Even better, he couldn’t hear Klank’s footsteps and chirps throughout the lab.
The little robot seemed to walk with a purpose, which felt strange to Mikey, but he couldn’t dwell too much on it as he was panicking. Klank seemed to be hiding from Donnie, making sure to keep out of the turtle’s sight. Even though Donnie was focused on the monitor in front of him, Klank didn’t stay out in the open.
Mikey spotted Klank gnawing on a metal box near the corner Mikey usually sat in to draw. It had been set up specifically for him by Donnie. Mikey would bust into his brother’s lab often and sit on the ground to draw. They’d either enjoy the silence of each other's company or Donnie would rant to Mikey about whatever he was working on and the younger would simply listen. Donnie set up a corner specially made for Mikey so he wouldn’t have to sit on the floor anymore.
Mikey paused as he watched the T-Hex tear the door off of the box.
Donnie’s cable box.
Sure, Donnie had backups. Of course he did. It was Donnie.
But it would cut off his connection for at least a second.
Donnie would notice a second.
“NO!” Mikey yelled out of panic. Donnie jumped at the sudden yell as Mikey dived for the corner. He scooped up the T-Hex in his arms and stuffed it into the center of the bean bag chair, folding it over and clutching it to his chest.
Donnie paused his music and shifted his headphones to hear just in time to see Mikey getting to his feet, holding a bean bag. It moved slightly and he held it tighter. “Angelo?”
“S-sorry, Dee.” A hint of panic was clear in Mikey’s voice, it didn’t sound right on him. “I was just coming to grab my chair.”
Donnie cocked an eyebrow at his immediate younger brother. He glanced at the bean bag. “...is it moving?”
Mikey faked a laugh. “I’m holding it, of course it’s moving. I’m moving.”
“That’s not-”
“SORRYIDISTURBEDYOUGOTTAGOBYE” Mikey said quickly, sprinting out of the lab and right past Leo, who had climbed down from the half-pipe upon hearing Mikey yell.
Mikey could only hope that Donnie wouldn’t notice his wrecked cable box. He’d need to find a way to hide that later.
He wasn’t looking where he was going, and tripped on the little plastic cave person that had been lost on the ground when he first opened the T-Hex. He fell face first, his fall being slightly broken by the bean bag, but not by much considering the robot that was currently fighting its way out of his arms.
It clattered out of the bean bag and onto the floor of his room.
Thank pizza supreme he’d at least made it to his room.
Mikey’s jaw ached from where he’d slammed into the ground, and he swore he could taste blood, having bitten his cheek on impact.
Klank seemed unharmed from the fall, and it made several angry chirps and barks at him as it stood.
“Shhh!” Mikey hushed quickly, ignoring the flaring pain in his knees and elbows and he sat up, kneeling. Thank pizza supreme for knee pads.
“What were you doing in there?” Mikey whisper-yelled. “You’re gonna get me in trouble!”
Klank ignored Mikey’s warning to be quiet, making robotic barks as it stepped closer to the turtle.
“Shush! You can’t be loud! I’m sorry, but you can’t! And you can’t go in Donnie’s lab either!”
The T-Hex only seemed to get louder, taking another step closer to Mikey.
“Please! Be quiet!” Mikey grabbed Klank’s jaw with his left hand, holding it shut. Klank’s eyes flashed a bright red color for a moment, before it shook Mikey’s hand away. Its metal jaws swung open and snapped around Mikey’s hand, making the turtle yelp in pain.
Mikey quickly pulled his hand away. The robot’s sharp teeth had easily broken skin, and blood dripped down Mikey’s hand. His other hand quickly snapped to press against his now bleeding one, trying to prevent blood from dropping onto the floor.
When Mikey looked up again, Klank was gone. He could hear its footsteps echo elsewhere in the lair.
Mikey clutched his trembling hand, struggling to his feet. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
Not now, not now.
He left his room, poking his head into several places around the lair to try to find the little robot. He could feel blood pool in his hand and he held the wound tighter.
Thankfully Leo wasn’t skating anymore, but he could hear him talking with Donnie in his twin’s lab. Mikey didn’t care to listen in, but he could only assume they were talking about him. He was too distracted trying to find Klank before someone saw it.
Apparently he was also too distracted to remember Raph was in the game room.
“Mikey?” The box turtle jumped at the sound of his oldest brother’s voice. Raph paused whatever game he was playing to look at Mikey. “You need something?”
“I-I, uh-” Mikey didn’t get a chance to come up with a way to get out of the conversation before Raph was to his feet.
It simply wasn’t possible to lie past his overprotective brother instincts.
“You’re bleeding!” Even in the darkly-lit game room, it was easy to see the dark red stains that were gathering in Mikey’s hands. “Why didn’t you call me? You didn’t have to walk all the way over here!”
“No, I’m fine-” Mikey’s voice wobbled. He hated lying to his brothers so much.
“It’s alright. Raph’s got you. Let’s get you patched up in med bay.” Raph patted Mikey’s shell, gently nudging his brother out of the arcade and towards the medbay. Mikey gave up on protesting.
Mikey stayed silent as Raph instructed him to sit on a table in the med bay, they made sure to always have at least one bed or exam table set out in case of emergency. Raph rummaged through a few cabinets before returning with a first aid kit.
Leo was the dedicated medic of the family, but he had made each of his brothers learn at least some basic first aid. Mikey had never been much good at it, and with most things had trouble paying attention whenever Leo tried to teach him. While Mikey could never really pick it up, Donnie and Raph had no problem learning.
It’d become commonplace for Mikey to ask any of his brothers for help when he accidentally hurt himself, and it usually ended with situations just like this.
Though Mikey wasn’t usually bleeding so heavily from his hands with cuts in the shape of teeth marks.
Mikey never cried over small injuries before, either. He usually kept a smile on his face, insisting it didn’t hurt that bad, even if it really did.
Seeing Mikey barely hold back his tears, clutching his still bleeding hand so tightly, worried Raph.
“What did you do this time?” The older brother asked in a soft voice.
Mikey winced as Raph cleaned the blood off his hand. “I, uh...I tripped on something and fell in my room. There were scissors on the floor and I guess I cut my hand on them.”
Raph eyed his brother suspiciously. “Mikey...scissors don’t make cuts like this, especially if you just fell on them.”
“I really did fall, though. Honest.” Mikey used his free hand to gesture to his scuffed knees. “Look.”
Raph paused from bandaging Mikey’s hand, glancing down at his brother’s legs. His knee pads were scuffed, dirty as if he’d slid on the ground.
“That still doesn’t make sense, Mikey.”
Mikey lowered his head. He couldn’t look Raph in the eyes.
“...but I’m not gonna lecture you now. Just be more careful.”
He ripped the end of the bandage, returning it to the first aid kit.
Mikey looked over at his brother as he tucked away the first aid kit back into the cabinet he grabbed it from.
“Thank you-”
“BUT you will be hearing from me once we get this whole tracker thing figured out.”
Mikey couldn’t help but smile. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”
Before Raph could say anything more however, Leo appeared at the entrance to the med bay. “There you are-” He stopped, peering at Mikey’s hand. “...we’ll talk about that later. Donnie found the source.”
“You know where it’s coming from?” Raph asked, shutting the cabinet.
“That’s the weird part. It’s coming from an abandoned Albearto’s restaurant.”
Mikey sank into the table at the mention of Albearto’s. What were the odds?
“We better get going. Who knows what that mascot is planning.” Raph started out of the med bay, but stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “You coming Mikey?”
Mikey pushed himself off the table and onto his feet. “Of course, a few simple cuts aren’t gonna put me out of commission.” He tried to joke, but something about his tone was off.
He retrieved his kusari-fundō and joined his brothers in the garage. He forced himself to forget the fact that Klank was still nowhere to be found.
Just as the hatch to the turtle tank shut, a little dinosaur robot sped into the garage. A soft click-clack followed each step it took. It leapt towards the tank, latching its jaws around a ledge near the bottom. A few drops of blood still stained its metal teeth.
It wasn’t noticed as the turtle tank started up and left the lair, it stayed hooked on the back of the tank for the entire ride.
---
“Could this place be any more creepy?” Leo squinted his eyes as he looked at the dusty old Albearto’s. The sign had long since fallen, its broken state on the ground in front of the entrance was the only thing that made it clear what this building used to be.
“Doesn’t matter how creepy it looks. Someone is hiding out in there, and we need to show them they can’t mess with the mad dogs.” Raph stepped out of the driver’s seat, gripping his tonfā in his fists.
“Yes, they’ll never suspect us coming in our giant turtle-shaped tank parked right in their front yard. Very stealth.” Donnie didn’t look up, typing something into his arm.
“Exactly.” Raph smirked. “Come on brothers.”
Mikey was the last to leave the tank. He hadn’t spoken much on the way there.
Really, what were the odds?
He secretly brings a toy found in Albearto’s into the lair, a mysterious signal is detected, and it leads back to an abandoned Albearto’s restaurant.
At least Klank was safe at home.
If they destroyed whatever it could have been connecting to here, maybe Mikey could train it or something.
His brothers would come around. They had to.
There was no door to push open, it had rotted away a long time ago. The building was along the outskirts of the city, and it had turned to night in the drive over. It was pitch black inside, and lights extended out of Donnie’s battle shell on either side of his head. It didn’t do much, but it was useful to at least see a couple feet in front of them.
Mikey walked close to him.
He’d never really admitted it out loud, it was obvious enough that he didn’t have to, but Mikey was afraid of the dark. A little troubling for a ninja, but he’d found ways to work around it. It never unnerved him to the point of extreme fear in most cases, just made him uneasy. Only in specific circumstances was he really terrified.
This was a specific circumstance.
An abandoned building that smelled rotted and damp, shrouded in complete darkness along the outskirts of New York.
It wasn’t exactly a place that Mikey wanted to be in.
He felt worse as eyes lit up around the brothers just as they reached the center of the main room. Mikey squeaked as a large monitor lit up on the main stage, playing nothing but static. That tech certainly didn’t belong in an Albearto’s, especially not one as run down as this.
A familiar silhouette stood on the stage in front of the monitor, which Mikey realized had something of a control panel just beneath it. A single red eye was all that was visible.
The robotic voice stuttered and glitched. “Buongiorno, kiddies!”
Well, there goes any intimidation factor it had before.
“So rude of you to crash the party! We wanted to bring it to you!”
Leo blinked, adjusting his grip on his ōdachi. “Sorry, we? ”
“Yes.” Another familiar voice spoke up. “We.”
Finally, the room flooded with light. The brothers realized they were surrounded by a sea of little robots. Mikey shivered as he realized how similar they looked to Klank.
That can’t be coincidence.
“Baxter Stockboy?” Raph’s posture straightened slightly. “But you’ve been in kid-genius jail.”
The boy was in a compartment in Albearto’s abdomen, which had a new pair of arms sprouting from it. It looked like Albearto had undergone some new upgrades. Mikey saw some controls on a panel in front of the boy, but he couldn’t tell just how much he could control. “My parents bailed me out. I’ve been grounded ever since, you turtles are the reason I haven’t been able to upload any videos! What will my subscribers think?”
“You don’t have any!” Leo taunted.
“It doesn’t matter! This is the end of the road for you mutants. The new Stockbearto-”
“Albaxter.”
“What?”
The turtles looked back and forth from the two villains and each other as they began to quietly bicker over what to call themselves.
“It’s Albaxter.”
“Why does your name get to be first? I made the suit.”
“I control the most of it-”
“WHATEVER.” The boy tapped away at the control module in front of him. “We’ll discuss it later. It is time for my new and improved Mousers to shine.”
A slightly larger but similarly designed robot hopped up onto a flipped over table that was discarded near a wall to the left of the stage. Mikey’s heart sank as he recognized the red look in its eyes.
“...Mikey, why does that robot have your sticker on it?” Donnie lowered his tech-bō slightly as he glanced at his younger brother.
“Um...”
Mikey didn’t get to finish answering before Leo gasped offendedly. “No way! Miguel, is that the ‘T-Hex’?”
All of his brothers shifted to look at him. Even Klank seemed to be staring at him specifically from where it stood above the sea of Mousers.
“No!”
“It is!” Donnie sneered. “You lied! You did bring it home!”
“I didn’t-”
“Mikey, is that what cut you? No, bit you?” Raph didn’t look angry like Leo or Donnie did, just disappointed. Hurt, even, that he would lie when he was injured. That made Mikey feel even worse.
“It was my fault! I got too close to it, I-”
“Enough playtime!” Albearto interrupted the turtles’ argument. At that cue, Baxter pressed something else on the controls in front of him. Klank’s eyes lit up and it barked, causing the sea of Mousers to descend upon the brothers.
Mikey yelped as Mousers snapped at his feet. There were so many, there wasn’t any ground to run on. He swung his kusari-fundō upwards, wrapping it around a broken light fixture. He lifted himself off the ground, spinning himself around and kicking away the Mousers that surrounded him. When there was a break in the attacks, he swung himself onto a collapsed table on the opposite side of where Klank was.
Mikey shook his head, ignoring the dizziness that made the world spin slightly. Albaxter...Stockbearto? Now they were making him confused. The villains were caught in a fight with Raph, Albearto being the most active in the fight. Baxter seemed to be focused on something else, constantly typing and pressing things on the control module. He realized that Klank was still barking and chirping, in time with Baxter’s commands.
“Mikey!” Donnie’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He was on the stage, back-to-back with Leo. “It’s a hive mind! Get to the biggest one!”
“A what?”
“It’s like bees! They’re all controlled by a queen, basically. Baxter is using the T-Hex to distribute commands to all the Mousers!”
Mikey kicked at Mousers as they tried to climb up the table he was standing on. “What?? I can’t hurt Klank! It-”
“YOU NAMED IT?” That was Leo. “Oh, we are going to have a LONG talk after this, little brother.”
“Mikey! Just do it, we can’t fight all of them!” Donnie shouted, barely looking up from the fight in front of him.
“Are you sure we can’t just break the connection or-or something??”
“MIKEY.”
Mikey frowned, but didn’t say anything else.
He’d do whatever he could to make sure his brothers and him got out of this and Klank wouldn’t be destroyed.
He swung out his kusari-fundō again, wrapping it around another light fixture, and swung across the room. He landed another flipped table a few feet away from Klank.
“Klank! Hey!” He tried to call out, but the little robot didn’t seem to hear him. It continued to bark and chirp at the Mousers.
Wait...
An idea popped into Mikey’s brain, and he smiled slightly.
He leapt over the gap between the tables. It shook as he landed, causing Klank to stop and turn up at him. It opened its mouth, but Mikey grabbed its jaws and held them shut tight.
“Nuh-uh! None of that.” He grinned. He could hear the voice box inside the robot still making the faint sounds of chirps and barks, but it was too muffled to reach the Mousers. After a few moments, they became much less organized, giving his brothers much more freedom to move across the abandoned restaurant.
He smiled wider at his brothers being able to relax a bit more without having the probably thousands of mousers focus their attacks with such deathly accuracy. After a few moments, he looked back down at the T-Hex in his hands. He had crouched down to keep hold of it as it thrashed to try and escape his grip.
Its eyes softened, and it blinked a few times. Its eyes turned from the harsh red to the softer yellow it had had when he initially opened it.
It almost seemed afraid.
Mikey tensed. He loosened his grip.
As soon as he did, its eyes turned red once more. Seizing the opportunity, it thrashed out of Mikey’s hands and opened its jaws wide, biting down on the same hand it bit before.
Harder.
Mikey screamed, drawing his brothers’ attention away from their current fights and to the youngest. Klank’s teeth tore through bandages and skin, blood poured into the robot’s mouth and stained its teeth. Mikey heard a sickening crack as it dug deeper into his skin, jaw clamped around where his thumb and index finger connected.
Mikey could feel himself start to cry and he tried to pry the T-Hex off of him, but it wouldn’t budge.
Someone was yelling his name but he couldn’t recognize the voice, all he could focus on was the pain in his hand. It bit down harder. Another crack and the pain doubled.
Suddenly, it loosened, and fell from his hand. He kept his eyes shut, but he could hear the crashing of metal and the crackling of electricity. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he cracked an eye open to look at his blue brother kneeling in front of him.
“Mikey, hey. I need you to breathe for a moment. Let me see your hand.”
Leo was in full medic mode, and Mikey held out his trembling hand. He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath. Mikey flinched as Leo gently touched his hand, inspecting it. He winced.
“It broke a couple of your fingers. We need to get you home, quick.”
Mikey staggered to his feet with Leo’s help. He looked around.
Most of the Mousers were destroyed or deactivated. The control module that Baxter had been using was in a mangled heap on the ground, along with the body of Albearto. The head was missing, Baxter probably took it with him when he ran. Raph kicked the panel to the side as he walked over to his youngest brother, looking terrified.
Mikey’s eyes wandered to his purple brother. He looked furious, but not at Mikey. A mess of metal and wires was on the ground beneath him, and Mikey could make out the frame of metal jaws, still covered in blood. Mikey whimpered, holding back a sob.
Donnie looked up at Mikey, back to the remains of the T-Hex, and at Mikey again. “Mikey, you can’t possibly still-”
“Donnie. Later.” Leo was serious. “Do we still have an emergency med kit in the turtle tank?”
The softshell grumbled, but nodded.
“Donnie, you drive. Raph, you can help me with Mikey. Carry him to the tank.”
Neither brother responded, just immediately got to work with what they were assigned. Mikey, however, quickly protested as Raph scooped him up.
“Leo, Raph, I’m fine to walk on my own–”
“Miguel, you’ve been hurt enough for one day. Just let us help you.”
After a few moments, Mikey grumbled, but didn’t complain further on the ride home.
---
Mikey sat on a bed in the med bay, his hand freshly wrapped and bandaged. He couldn’t move his thumb or index finger much at all.
He was surprised when there was no lecture. At least, not immediately.
Mikey almost thought that the silence was worse. His brothers stood around him, Leo doing a final once-over on his hand.
Mikey hesitated. “...I’m sorry. For lying.”
“Mikey, two of your fingers are broken. We aren’t giving you the ‘lying’ talk until you’ve gotten some sleep.” Raph sounded exhausted.
“I can still apologize, can’t I? I mean it’s better sooner than later. It was stupid. I broke the rules and put you in danger because of it.”
“Mikey, you should have been honest the moment that I told you about the signal. Breaking the rules is not the problem here.” Donnie crossed his arms. “You couldn’t have known the T-Hex was dangerous, but as soon as you did know, you should have told us.”
“I think the exact moment would have been when it bit you.” Raph frowned. “Should have clued you in at that point.”
Mikey winced. Leo patted his brother’s shoulder. “Another day, guys. It’s naptime for Miguel here.”
Leaning back in the med bay bed, his brothers said a quick goodnight. Raph had volunteered to sit and keep an eye on Mikey to make sure he didn’t do anything to mess up his hand. He never stayed still when Leo told him to.
Just before Leo and Donnie left, Mikey got their attention.
“So me getting a pet wasn’t the problem?”
Donnie thought for a moment. “Well, technically, no. It’s really not as bad in comparison to the lying.”
“Does that mean you’ll let me get a cat?”
The brothers groaned in unison.
“NO.”