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Mikey wasn’t quite sure where everything had gone wrong but he was pretty sure that the blame could be laid at his older brothers’ feet. Raph was the one that had gotten the info that the Purple Dragons were stockpiling weapons in an old factory and Leo had been the one to do the reconnaissance. The responsibility for this mission lay totally in their court.
It was with this information that it was decided for the four of them to split up into pairs. Leo and Raph would go in the factory together to disable as many of the weapons as they could before anonymously calling the police. Don would take care of the security system so his brothers could slip in and out undetected. Mikey was there with Don to watch his back just in case something were to happen.
Something had happened and Mikey laid the blame completely at Raph and Leo’s feet. It turned out that the Purple Dragons weren’t working alone if they were even involved to begin with. The whole thing was a trap set up by the Foot and they had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Now instead of just trying to get some weapons off of the streets Don was frantically trying to disarm a bomb so his brothers inside the building weren’t blown up while Mikey fought the Foot ninjas that were trying to stop the olive green turtle by removing his head.
“You almost done over there Donnie?” Mikey yelled as he knocked out one ninja only to have two more take his place.
“I’m going as fast as I can,” Don yelled back as he sorted through the wires, a timer ticking down ominously. “If I’m not careful I could set off the bomb prematurely.”
Mikey merely grunted in response as he focused on stopping the enemy ninjas. The battle was proving to be more difficult than normal. While he was more than capable of dishing out punishment to those threatening himself or his family he was used to having more freedom during a fight.
Normally Mikey could bounce and move around in a fight throwing in unexpected attacks that his opponents never saw coming. This time though he was confined to a relatively small area in order to keep Don safe while he worked. Fight too close to his brother and Mikey risked getting in Don’s way. Fight too far away from his brother and Mikey risked a Foot ninja getting passed him and seriously injuring Don while he was unable to defend himself.
Mikey was fighting hard but he was outnumbered seven to one and it was starting to take his toll. Small cuts littered Mikey’s body and he was sure to have more than a few bruises by the time everything was finished. That was assuming that he was still alive when everything was finished.
Three enemies rushed at Mikey at the same time and he had a split second to decide what to do. Move away and he’d leave Don exposed. Stay where he was and there’d be no way to stop all of the attacks. In the end there was no choice. He wouldn’t be able to help his brother if he was dead.
Using a nunchuck to knock aside the sword of the closest ninja Mikey bounded up into the air and flipped over the ninja to give himself more room to move around. Mikey had barely landed back on his feet when two of the ninjas rounded on him and forced him into a retreat of a few steps to give himself some space and avoid being skewered.
Mikey swung his chucks around to gather speed and force before bringing them crashing down on his enemies. One ninja had the bones of his hand and wrist smashed causing him to drop his sword and clutch his ruined hand to his chest as he howled in pain. The other nunchuck slammed into the second ninja’s shoulder snapping the collarbone like a toothpick and leaving the arm hanging uselessly at the ninja’s side. A second quick attack knocked them both unconscious taking them out of their misery and out of the fight.
With those two immediate assailants taken care of Mikey now had a clear line of sight to the last of the group that had just attacked. Instead of coming after Mikey like the other two had done this one had turned his attention to the undefended Donatello. Mikey was just in time to see the Foot raise his naginata up in the air and bring the blunt end down across Don’s temple.
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut Don dropped limply to the ground and didn’t move. The world seemed to stand still for a long moment as Mikey’s blood turned to ice in his veins at the sight. Don lay limply across the rooftop making no move to protect himself or call out for help. As quickly as the world had come to a halt it sped back up again. The Foot ninja raised the naginata again with a very deadly intention. Mikey lunged himself forward with all of the speed that his body possessed.
Bringing one nunchuck up Mikey swung it with every ounce of strength that he had. Moving too fast for the enemy ninja to end his attack on Don and counteract the attack on himself. Mikey slammed his weapon into the Foot ninja’s throat crushing his trachea and snapping his neck vertebrae. The Foot ninja fell to the ground staring up at the sky with lifeless eyes.
Mikey stood over his motionless brother, adrenaline thrumming through his veins as he looked over the last three remaining Foot ninjas. The humans hesitated on the rooftop in the face of the furious turtle. Mikey’s eyes were narrowed in rage at the attack on his brother, his lip curled back in a snarl as a low growl rumbled from his chest. It was clear that Michelangelo was not a turtle to be messed with in that moment to the point of rivaling what the Shredder might do to them if they retreated.
In the end it was the certainty of death at the hands of the Shredder versus only the possibility of death at the hands of Michelangelo that spurred the ninjas forward. It was the wrong choice.
Spinning his weapons around too fast for the eye to follow Mikey made quick work of dispatching all three not bothering to check his strength. While he normally tried his best to merely incapacitate his enemies, right now Mikey didn’t care all that much if the Foot were dead or simply unconscious. All he cared about was checking that Don was going to be okay.
With all threats taken care of Mikey dropped to his knees beside Don’s limp body and began looking him over. Don may have been the one to fix up most of their injuries but he had also made sure that the rest of them knew basic first aid.
Two fingers to Don’s throat revealed a strong heartbeat and a quick examination of his neck showed no obvious injuries that would prevent Don from being moved. The side of his head where he had been hit however was a different story. There was a distinct lump already forming where the end of the naginata had struck and a decent sized cut that was still sluggish bleeding. Peeling back Don’s eyelids Mikey checked his pupils which, while slow, did respond to light so Mikey wasn’t too worried about Don’s brain bleeding but they would definitely need to watch out for a possible concussion.
Now that Mikey was sure that his brother wasn’t in any immediate danger he took a moment to breathe and let the relief flood through him. They were no strangers to danger in their lives but that didn’t make close calls like this any easier to deal with. As much as Mikey just wanted to enjoy knowing that his brother was going to be all right there was still the pressing issue of the bomb. Scrambling over to where Don had been working Mikey looked over what had been done while he pulled his phone out of his belt.
“Leo we have a problem,” Mikey said when his brother picked up on the second ring.
“What’s wrong?” Leo replied immediately.
“It was a trap Leo,” Mikey explained as he moved back to his unconscious brother. “The Foot wired the place to explode and knocked out Donnie. I just checked and he disarmed the bomb but he’s got a nasty bump on his head and we need to get him home right now.”
“Raph and I will be right out. Don you need help getting him down to the van?”
“No I’ve got him. Just make sure that you two get there in one piece,” Mikey said. “I don’t want to have to leave Don to come in and stage a rescue mission.”
Ending the call Mikey put his phone back into his belt and set about double checking Don's condition before carefully picking up his brother onto his back and making for the fire escape that would lead them back down to the ground. Each movement was slow and careful so as not to jostle Don anymore than Mikey could possibly help. As he climbed down Mikey didn't even bothering sparing a backwards glance at the men he left laying broken on the rooftop. They had gotten what they deserved for hurting his brother.
By the time Mikey got the where they had parked the van out of sight for tonight's mission it was already running and the back door swung open as he approached it. Raph reached out a hand and helped Mikey carefully lifting Don into the van. When Mikey climbed in after he immediately moved back to Don's side and held him close as Leo put the van into drive and started the trip back home so that they could get Don into the lab and take care of his injuries.
"You need a hand?" Raph asked doing his own check over Don needing to see for himself that Don, while hurt, was going to be okay.
"No I've got this," responded Mikey as his arms tightened around Don pulling him closer.
It had been his responsibility to defend Don while the brainy turtle was working and he had failed. Mikey knew that he had done everything in his power to protect his brother and that some things were beyond his control but that didn't take away the guilt that he felt from having watched Don be struck down while he was supposed to be protecting him.
Mikey leaned his head down until it was resting against Don's neck as he held his brother close and made a promise to himself and to his unconscious brother. He was to make sure that Don recovered and to train harder to make sure that things like this never happened again. That was a promise that Mikey had every intention of keeping.