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Raph's always got his brothers' back, no matter what, so when on one fateful night his panic button goes off, he's racing out of his room, sloppily tossing his knitting needles in his basket and checks all his brother's rooms. As he's running through the atrium, he peeks behind the button to glance at the GPS embedded in the back, finding only 3 points in the lair, not including himself.
It's already starting to look like a tricky situation.
He looks up, bumping into his immediate youngest brother Leo.They exchange glances of acknowledgment as they continue heading to the opposite sides of the lair, Leo heading to Splinter's and Raph heading to the other brothers. He finds Mikey rushing to change into his gear, as he had turned in early that night. Raph knocks to state his presence, they lock eyes, and he moves on. When such an emergency happens, the protocol is front and foremost- find the problem first, then talk about it later, unless if you have info on said problem. So he books it to Donnie's room, the last immediate member of the family until he was going to check on their human older sister.
The bed is made in his room, and he finds that the techie's battle shell was in place where the spider shell is usually resting. He keeps the mental note and grows a hunch, next he scans the lab, the whirring of fans and humming engines low, and moves on. Finally, he climbs down to the humid, musky forge. All was quiet except for the constant crackle of flame. He returns to the center of the atrium and reunites with his family sans Donnie. Mikey bites his lip as he reports that it's not April because she had texted him for what had made her button go off.
So now, all they had to do was find 'our Donnie' was what Leo had cooly but hastily input. Splinter asks his sons if Purple had told them where he'd be. Raph furrows a brow, stating the obvious, and brainstorms locations where his brother would be at. First, his mind is racing, and jumping to conclusions. Kidnapped by the Foot? Trapped in the Hidden City? Somewhere far away and awful like New Jersey? But Mikey is the one to calm their anxiety, he claims to have remembered their genius brother talking about scraps and junk when he had visited the lab earlier that day. So, even though it wasn't a concrete lead, terribly vague actually, they still went through as a group to Repo's junkyard, Pops staying back in case his son returns home himself.
Leo's about to bang the mantis mutant's door down when Raph rests a hand on his shoulder. He claims that if they want to inspect Repo's yard thoroughly they should leave him sleeping. Leo counters that this is his yard and he would be able to help them locate their brother. Raph reminds him that Donnie shouldn't even be here in the first place, and would be wasting time by getting Repo pissed. So Leo shuts his mouth, and he and Mikey follow Raph deeper into the heaps and mounds of reaped materials. Raph is looking at the small GPS, waiting for the token blinking dot to appear. Mikey wonders aloud where else they should look if he wasn't here, internally he was trying to compensate for the potential borrowed time they could be spending if this was a dead end. Leo heads his suggestions, nodding, and hm-ing, but keeps his senses mostly peeled for outside disruptions. He hears it a moment's notice before Raph stops their train.
A cry.
Of pain, sadness, or for help he did not know. But they all silently and simultaneously agreed to follow it. It took them further to the west of the yard of mountains. The sounds became more distinct, then there was another that chimed in. Their hearing perked and movements slowed to a crawl, as they stayed stealthy. It was mere meters before they finally sounded familiar. Leo's eyes shot open wide and he could hear Mikey's breath hitch and saw Raph stiffen. They were lucky and had gotten to their brother on the first try, but there was someone with him, and he didn't know what to do as he glanced back to check on the littlest sibling.
Mikey distinguished Donnie's voice immediately, and tried placing the other's to a face or name, he came to the conclusion that since this was Repo's yard it could only be him - it started sounding more and more like him anyway as the group inched closer. What could Repo have done to warrant a panic button alarm? It must be pretty bad then, he steels himself. He soon enough heard words of threat and malice and little whimpers and grunts. He blanched and looked to the backs of his brothers, wondering what they would do next. Raph stops them and motions to flank to his side as they crouch behind a barrier of filth. He slips over and chances a peak. Oh god, it was bad. What had his brother gotten himself into? Raph had always warned the scientist of the dangers of crossing boundaries and the importance of earning respect but said brother waved him off, claiming he knew that there was nothing a greedy man could lose that was valuable. And he had hopped off on his merry way.
But now, pinned to the floor, shell removed and face etched in fear, he was only pitied by the mutant he was trying to avoid in the first place. Repo was screaming now, in anger and contempt. His words were hate-filled and spat them out with poison, going as far as calling mean names and forbidden phrases. Repo pushed against the softshell against the dirt, and Donatello wheezed. Mikey gasped as he saw blood trickling down. It dripped, staining the rest of the shell, the pincer, and the ground. He heard a growl next to him and jolted out of his trance. It seemed like his laid back brother had gotten startled too because his eyes were blown wide and had a harsh frown was put on as he gazed up. Mikey followed that look and found a steaming Raph, fists clenched with an ugly sneer plastered on that made his snaggletooth glimmer.
He couldn't help but flinch at the scene before him too. It was almost worse than what was happening to Donnie. Raph hadn't been this consciously mad in years. It made his skin prick and pinch and his stomach turns on itself. Leo tries reaching out a hand but stops himself, hesitantly trying to calm down the fierce storm brewing inside the oldest sibling, softly suggesting to form a plan of some sort. But Raph harshly clicks his tongue and screws his eyes shut as another ringing of agony radiates through the waste, both the younger brothers wrenching their faces to see what had occurred. Now they could see tears blotting down Donnie's cheeks as his mouth was pulled into a locked, toothy grimace and blurry eyes stared helplessly as his assailant pitched his voice down low. Too low was his voice to hear, but their brother's reaction more than made up for it as his bloodshot eyes flew open and he tried wringing himself out, pleading and begging the whole struggle. This time a truly feral and guttural bark of spite erupted out of Raph's throat, eyes glassy and thoughts of ill intent.
"Fuck the plan."
He spits out the crude comment then he roars and charges onward. His abrupt movements pulling the horror-struck brothers out of their stupor, and joining him in a maddened but deathly coordinated charge. Both victim and perpetrator have their attention yanked toward the direction of the savage howl and see 3 furious shadows swiftly setting upon them. Donnie had to take a moment to recollect his terror-stricken thoughts as he recognized that it was finally his brothers who had come for him.
Previously, he had just enough time to press his panic button before Repo had torn entirely off his already damaged shell - spider arms nowhere to be seen - by the belt, successfully compromising the GPS signal it had sent out. He cursed to himself as he took his chance and ran, his tech bo in hand. He threw his weight forward, paces quicker, and his feet swifter without the added weight of his artificial shell. Though it didn't take long for Repo to release his pincer from the shell and pursue after the child.
Of course, he knew that Donnie couldn't have been older than mere adolescence, but he was too ticked off to care, the consequences he would be giving tonight will be of real-world content, in the present, and no pulled punches. He'd show that sewer scum of a brat what happened to people when they become indebted and have to pay with unorthodox currency - as currently, the kid had no materialistic currency on him either now. He grinned devilishly and took a shortcut to cut off the teen. He almost missed him as his pincer just barely caught onto the teen's foot when he leaped from his impromptu foxhole right in time. He heard a hiss and saw that he had knicked the ankle he caught. He smirked and used it to drag the boy closer, seeing him scrabble his gloved hands in the dirt.
The kid had swung his stick around to counter his other pincer, it was made out of surprisingly tough material -probably his material he realized - as they began a scuffle on the ground, kicking up dirt and dust as they began a risky game of hit-dodge-and-counter. Until he was finally able to leverage the weapon against his pincer and bent it, iron alloy creaking and the sound of power shutting off as he made the kid gasp. He wrenched the strategic thing from his hands and tossed it into another random junk pile. Repo shoved him onto his plastron as he clamped the other pincer across the naked shell, letting his biological blade sink in - eliciting a yelp of pain in which he indulged.
He shouted profanities and obscenities that echoed through the chilly night and seemed to cut through the mist. He could barely hear the pathetic cries and begging past his manic screeching. He pressed down harder, an indirect way to tell the kid to shut the hell up, letting droplets of blood stain his pincer as he bent down and threatened the most perversely psychotic thing he could think of - not even knowing if he could pull through with it - but relished in the distress of the hollering and bucking kid underneath him. He could scarcely feel bad for him as he was about to laugh at his feebleness when a deranged cry shook him.
Donnie witnessed almost in slow motion the harsh jerk of a body being slammed down by a red, raging mass. The pressure instantly relieved off of his injured shell as he tried his best to straighten out, when he feels a small hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. He realizes it's just Michael, who's kneeling next to him and apologizing profusely after he's retracted his hand, asking him for his well-being and reassuring him that Raph is taking care of this whole situation. He just barely feels the tremors of fighting around him, all senses almost numb as he focused only on Mikey's presence, so he turns to witness the brawl and Mike's rambling dies down as well. He sees Raphael beating the snot out of Repo fiercely, as 'Nardo witnesses almost in satisfaction at the way his oldest brother pummels away mercilessly and demands answers for what he had just done to his brother. He barely clung to the words as he watched his abuser become bloody and bruised fairly quick, and with one last jab, he was knocked out.
It seemed Raph had almost gone for the kill when Leo had gathered his courage and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, praising him for the work he did and told him to try and not go 'weird' on them. Because whether he admitted it or not, Raph's attitude this evening had frightened him to his core, and wanted to get this business done with and bring their brother safely back home. Both older siblings turned to face the younger and their faces stretched in worry and concern as they jogged over. Raph's intense gaze of hatred shifted to one of concern so quickly it could've given anyone whiplash. But there he was, crouching and using a tender voice to express his concerns, and was just barely holding back his desperate urge to hold his frazzled brother in his arms - because if Mikey, the most affectionate one, wasn't already all over Donnie, then he shouldn't be either.
Mikey relayed that Donnie hadn't answered any of his questions, opting to look at the smackdown behind him. Raph nodded his head in response and refocused his gaze on Donnie, soothing him with words as he rubbed his brother's arm with his bloodstained, bandaged knuckles and stared into his unblinking eyes. Moments passed by before Donnie managed to compose himself and mumbled out that he wanted to go home. Leo humbly agreed and watched Raph scoop Donnie up like an infant, carefully minding the bruises and the long and thin but deep cut. Donnie had instantly buried his head into the eldest brother's plastron as gentle sobs tumbled out of him. Mikey worriedly stood on tiptoe as he peeked over and reached for his brother's hand, clasping it and letting his hand stay raised. Leo in turn opted to pat and rub his dangling legs, shushing him softly.
Like so, awkwardly but effectively, the group started home-bound, not minding the mess they left behind.