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‘’Hayah!’’ Mikey releases a strike to Donnie in front of him with his kusari-fundo, which Donnie easily blocks with his tech bow.
‘’Tsk, tsk, Angelo. Gotta do better than that.’’ He spins his bow, letting it rest on the building roof.
Mikey lets out a frustrated groan, dropping his weapon to the floor. ‘’Urgh, I’m never going to get better, am I?’’
‘’Now, don’t be ridiculous!’’ Donnie walks over, giving Mikey a sparkle of hope. Donnie then pulls out some data from his tech gauntlet. ‘’If you look here, your blocking went up with 2% and your overall fighting style went up 5%!’’
Mikey deflates, sitting down on the cold roof. ‘’5%...’’ He mutters, staring at his hands.
Donnie squads beside him. ‘’I don’t understand, why are you upset?’’ He rubs his chin.
‘’Why?’’ Mikey let his hands sink into his hands. ‘’Because we’ve been training for weeks and I only improved 5%!’’
Mikey feels a hand wrap around his shell. ‘’Bud, don’t be so hard on yourself! You’re improving, that’s what matters, right?’’
‘’Right…’’ Mikey sniffs. He stands up, causing Donnie’s hand to slip off. He then hops off the roof, back to the sewer lid.
Donnie sighs, following his little brother back to the lair.
As somber as Mikey entered the sewers, he manages to switch to his cheery self as soon as he moves into the lair.
‘’We’re back!’’ Mikey chirps with a pep in his step.
‘’Hey, guys! How was patrol?’’ Raph asks while lifting the weights in his hands.
‘’Yeah, any baddies on the street?’’ Leo shouts skating down the halfpipe, stopping in the middle. He flips the skateboard up, holding it under his arm.
‘’Nope! Nothing bad happened!’’ Donnie replies with a grin, though slightly sweating.
‘’Oh it was bad…’’ Mikey mutters as his mood plummets. His eyes stray to the floor. As soon as he notices that he let those words slip, he moves his hands frantically. ‘’Oh! I mean, Donnie! Donnie, he tripped real bad!’’ He then points to Donnie’s ankle, raising his eyes to Donnie’s confused gaze.
Leo and Raph share a puzzled look before both staring at Donnie.
Donnie then understood what Mikey was going for ‘’Ah yes! My ankle!’’ He uses Mikey for support. ‘’The pain of the twist of my ankle I completely forgot about until this point!’’
They both chuckle in a nervous manner.
Raph drops his weights on the ground with a loud thud.
‘’WHAT? How, where, when?!’’ Raph approaches fast, though, they both back away in response.
‘’That doesn’t matter! What does matter is that I treat it immediately!’’ Donnie’s grin twitches as he directs his face to Mikey. ‘’Right, Mikey?’’ He speaks through his clenched teeth.
‘’R-Right! So I will just go to his lab and-’’ Without finishing his sentence, he carries Donnie off.
‘’Wait!’’ Raph reaches out to them, but they won’t heed his words.
He turns to Leo, who’s climbing the ramp to continue his skating session.
‘’Hey Leo, was it just me, or were those two acting strange?’’ He asks, slight concern evident in his voice.
Leo’s head turns. ‘’Hm? I guess. Eh, it’s not that serious. You shouldn’t worry so much.’’ Leo shrugs, skating himself down the ramp.
‘’I don’t know… my brother senses are tingling.’’ He mumbles to himself, squinting into the distance.
Meanwhile, Donnie and Mikey make it to the lab. They check their surroundings before letting go of their act.
‘’Really?’’ Donnie raises an eyebrow at Mikey as he let his hand fall on the side of his shell.
‘’I’m sorry, D. It was the first thing that came to mind.’’ Mikey rubs the side of his arm, not looking his brother in the eye.
‘’ Sigh, I guess it could’ve been worse.’’ Donnie shrugs it off and takes a bandage from the medkit to tie around his ankle. ‘’Better make it more convincing while we’re at it.’’
His attention shifts to Mikey who looks deep in thought. ‘’You know, I still don’t get why you want this training to be a secret from the others-.’’ Donnie is silenced by Mikey’s hand.
‘’Not so loud, Donnie!’’ He whispers. ‘’What if they hear you?’’ Mikey peeks over his shoulder.
Donnie removes his hand with clear annoyance, pulling him down to his level. ‘’Look, I’m just saying that it’s not necessary to keep it a secret. They’re our brothers too, you know.’’
Mikey’s eyes sadden. ‘’I know… but I still don’t want them to know. Leo can’t keep a secret and Raph, the overprotective leader he is, will only get worried.’’
Donnie raises his index finger, wanting to retort, but he also knows that he is the best candidate to help him train.
‘’Fine, I won’t tell.’’ He finishes up wrapping the bandage. ‘’But, I still think it’s better if you tell them.’’
Mikey gives a low hum, as they get back on their feet.
Though, their attention is soon caught by something scuffling near the door.
Mikey’s eyes shake as he seeks reassurance from Donnie. He nods at him, giving him a sign to run when he holds 3 fingers up.
1…
2…
3!
They dash for the door, peeking around the corner to see what caused the noise.
‘’Wha- Raph?’’ Mikey is shocked to find Raph lurking around the corner. Raph gulps, frozen in place.
‘’Oh hi, guys!’’ He says in a high-pitched voice. ‘’I ehm, just wanted to check if Donnie was alright!’’ Raph then inspects his ankle. ‘’Yep, yep, looks great to me!’’ He nods. After checking the ankle, he steps backward. ‘’Well then, I better go lift some more weights!’’ He lets out a nervous laugh.
‘’How much did you hear?’’ Donnie breaks through Raph’s facade with ease.
‘’What? I didn’t hear anything.’’ Raph tenses up, his eyes darting away from them.
‘’Uh-huh. Then why do I smell your fear stank?’’ Donnie crosses his arms.
‘’Stop talking about my fear stank!’’ He shouts, releasing a sigh quickly after. He couldn’t escape Donnie’s judgemental gaze. ‘’Fine, yes, I heard some.’’
Donnie raises an eyebrow at him.
‘’Okay, okay, I heard all of it.’’ He then looks at Mikey, though he didn’t feel like facing him at all. ‘’Mikey, look, I was just-’’
‘’No.’’ Mikey interrupts him, making Raph jolt. Mikey bites his lip, looking at him directly with trembling eyes. ‘’This is exactly why I wanted this to be a secret! I don’t want you all worrying about me. I want to- I need to-’’ Mikey chokes on his words as he turns around. ‘’Nevermind…’’ With that, he runs off, small drops fall on the ground behind him.
‘’Mikey!’’ Raph calls out to him, but he’s already out of sight. Raph bashes his fist on the ground.
‘’You just had to eavesdrop, didn’t you?’’ Donnie rolls his eyes.
‘’I couldn’t help it! You guys were acting all wacky, so…’’ Raph's face drops forward. ‘’I got… worried.’’
Donnie takes hold of Raph’s shoulder. ‘’Let’s talk later. First, we got to go after Mikey.’’
‘’Okay.’’ Raph shakes off his feelings for now. ‘’Any idea where he’s at though?’’
Donnie cranes his neck upward. ‘’I have a good guess.’’
Donnie makes his way outside the lair, climbing the staircase to the roof where they always train. As he guessed, Mikey is there, sitting on the edge of the opposite side of the building.
Hearing familiar footsteps approaching, Mikey didn’t even turn around.
‘’What do you want.’’ Mikey sniffs, wiping his face with his hand.
Donnie opens his mouth, but is cut off before he could even speak.
‘’We just want to talk, Mike.’’
Startled, the teary-eyed Mikey turns his head. He sees Raph joined by Leo on the roof.
‘’Like Raph said, bud. We just want to talk.’’ Leo speaks up, stepping towards him.
Mikey sighs, his gaze directed to a smudge next to him.
‘’So now Leo knows too, huh?’’ He lets out a sad chuckle.
‘’I’m sorry, Mikey. I had to explain it to him when he tracked us down after the ruckus.’’ Raph answers, feeling his guilt piling up.
‘’I don’t get it though, why keep training a secret?’’ Leo jumps right in, halting on the middle of the roof.
Mikey clenches his fists. ‘’Maybe, I wanted to get better at fighting without constantly having my brothers worry about me.’’ He scrambles to his feet. ‘’And maybe, I don’t want to be the one needing protection all the time!’’ His sudden rise in voice shocks his brothers.
‘’But dude! You’re already so good at kicking butt!’’ Leo grabs the sword on his back and swings it around.
‘’Not good enough…’’ Mikey mumbles, staring down at his now shaking hands.
‘’Wait-’’ Raph shakes his head, clearing his mind. ‘’So, what you’re saying is, you didn’t tell us because you wanted to improve without our help?’’ He joins Leo’s side, pointing at both him and himself.
‘’Just saying he did ask me for help.’’ Donnie scoffs in the back.
Leo and Raph scowl at him before getting back into the conversation.
‘’Seriously though, Mikey. You’re already super good at fighting! Nobody can swing that weird yoyo as you do!” Raph smiles, setting another step forward.
“But… I’m not as strong as Raph, not as smart as Donnie, or as skilled as Leo.” Mikey balls his fists.
Two different hands rest on each of Mikey’s fists. Both Raph and Leo already made their way to him. They look at Mikey, as a soft smile forms on their faces, the setting sun reflects in their eyes.
“Bro. You’re perfect just the way you are.” Leo says, placing his other hand on Mikey’s shoulder.
“Exactly, we’re all good at something and that’s what makes us special,” Raph adds, tightening his grip on Mikey’s hand.
“Correct.” Donnie waltz in stuck-up.“You’re all aren’t near my IQ level-“ He shares a look with each of his brothers, his expression mellowing. “But I learned the hard way that I wouldn’t change you goofballs, even though it’s tempting to do sometimes.” He snickers as he gives them a wink.
Mikey can’t hold back his tears any longer. They spill down his face as his lip trembles.
Raph brings them all in for a big hug, maybe also to cover for him tearing up as well.
“Next time though, let us help you train. We’d love to see our little bro improve!” Raph rubs his face against Mikey’s, causing Mikey to snort.
“Heh.. heheh. I can’t do anything in secret with you guys around.” Mikey laughs through his tears.
“That’s right! So you better not keep any more secrets!” Leo pesters, grinning wide.
“I agree, though I’m not as loosely lipped as Leo, it was tiring to keep this a secret,” Donnie smirks at Leo, waving his eyebrows.
“Hey!” Triggered, Leo slips out of the embrace to go after the already running Donnie. They chase each other in circles on the roof.
Raph and Mikey can’t help but chuckle at the sight.
Raph lets his hand rest on Mikey’s shell.
“I love you, bro.”
Mikey scrubs his eyes before putting his hand on Raph’s.
“I love you too, Raphie.”
As they watch the hilarious scene and the setting sun. They relish the fact that they’re brothers. And there is no length they wouldn’t go for each other.