Chapter Text
The Hidden City! A large, wonderful place, full of fun and adventure! New, strange things and people around every corner!
…And they were at a grocery store.
“This is so boring!” Leo groaned.
“Remind me again why we’re here,” Donnie said. “We’ve never gone shopping in the Hidden City before, so why now?”
Raph glanced up from the small piece of paper in his hand. “We’ve been here enough to know the lay of the land and Pops thinks that it’s about time we help out more. He trusted us to get the groceries, so we can’t mess this up.”
“What is there to mess up?” Leo asked. “We grab the food, pay, and leave.”
Donnie grabbed the paper from Raph. “This would go a lot smoother if Father didn’t have such terrible handwriting…” He unfolded the list so that it was twice as long. “And if the list was shorter.”
Mikey snatched the paper from Donnie. “Why don’t we divide and concur?”
“And how, pray tell, are we to do that?” Donnie asked, crossing his arms.
Mikey ripped the paper in half, then ripped the halves into halves. “Boom! There!” He handed each of his brothers a section of the list. “Now we all have less to get! We get what’s on our lists and meet back up at the checkout! It’ll be faster than what we’re doing right now,” he added, pointing at the cart which only held some weird-looking eggs and a carton of what they all hoped was milk.
Raph’s forehead creased. “I don’t really like the idea of all of us splitting up…”
Leo patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, big bro. We got this! Anyway, good luck guys, adiós mis hermanos !” He then jogged down the aisle and slipped around the corner.
Raph was about to yell after him, but sighed instead, knowing that Leo was already too far. He turned to his two remaining brothers. “Well, I guess we’re splitting up.”
“Don’t worry, Raph,” Mikey comforted with a soft smile. “We’ll meet up at the front of the store to check out together. We won’t be apart for too long!”
“I guess, you’re right,” Raph said, still looking a bit hesitant.
“Good luck,” Donnie said as he turned to go down a different aisle.
The store wasn’t as confusing as the Mystic Library, but it wasn’t a walk in the park either. Soon, Donnie was out of sight and it was just Raph and Mikey.
“This will be so much faster,” Mikey promised. “Then we’ll be back together again! I believe in you Raph! You can do this!”
Raph grinned at his little brother. “Thanks, big man! You’re right, I got this!” He gripped the bar of the cart and hurried in the direction of the next item on his section of the list.
Mikey let out a content sigh as he watched his oldest brother disappear in the sea of yokai.
He’s slowly getting better about his separation anxiety, Mikey thought. Good for him!
“Alrighty,” he said aloud, to himself, “let's see what’s on my list.” His eyes scanned the words, trying to find something that was legible. “What the– Does that say firemelon? Well, I guess my first stop will be at the fruit section!”
After getting lost a few times – and with some help from a nice yokai lady with a little kid – Mikey was finally able to locate the firemelons. They looked exactly like watermelons, but instead of having green rinds, the firemelons had a red and orange outside. They were in a large barrel that had a wedge of wood under one side so it was tilted, making it easier for the shoppers to look for the melon that they wanted.
Using my high intellect of food, I will find the best melon for Papa, Mikey thought in Donnie’s voice, giggling to himself as he imagined his genius brother speaking.
He leaned down, gently moving the fruits around until he found the perfect one. He had just wrapped his hands around it when he felt someone run into his shell. Mikey grabbed the melon and turned quickly to apologize, but he was met with a huge yokai towering over him.
“Oh, um, sorry,” Mikey apologized, clutching the firemelon to his plastron as his head shrunk down a few inches.
The yokai chuckled. A shiver ran down Mikey’s spine.
Seriously, this guy was ginormous. He was bigger than Raph! He looked like he was some kind of raccoon yokai. A giant raccoon yokai. His beady eyes glided over the turtle’s body, glimmering with something that Mikey couldn’t place.
“Hello, little turtle,” the yokai cooed.
Alarm bells started going off in the back of Mikey’s head, yelling at him to run. But that would be rude. He just said hello, why would Mikey run?
“Um, hi?” It came out as more of a question than Mikey intended. “Oh! Sorry that I got in your way,” Mikey quickly apologized again.
“It’s fine, sweetcheeks–”
Sweetcheeks? (Gag.)
“–but… you could make it up to me.”
“Um, sure,” Mikey said hesitantly. “How?”
“Come with me.”
Oh, Mikey did not like that. First lesson of not getting kidnapped: don’t let them move you to a secondary location.
Mikey had to think fast. He needed to say his words carefully. If this guy got mad, he could probably destroy half of the store.
“I can’t actually,” Mikey said quickly, shuffling his feet. “I’m here with my brothers and I have to meet up with them soon. They’ll be worried if I’m not there, so…”
“Don’t worry, little one,” the raccoon cooed. “We can be fast.”
Suddenly another voice joined the conversation. “Yeah, real fast!”
Mikey hadn’t even noticed the other yokai. He looked like some kind of bird – a vulture, maybe.
The box turtle was getting backed into a corner and he was not comfortable with it. Mikey moved so his back wasn’t so close to the wall. He had planned to scoot around the pair of yokai so he could leave easier, but he wasn’t paying enough attention to his surroundings.
Mikey let out a surprised squeak when he felt fingers brush the sensitive bridge of his plastron, causing a shiver to run up his spine.
“You got ticklish sides?” the raccoon purred, looking amused.
Mikey's grip tightened around the firemelon and he took a step away from the yokai. “I should really be going now…”
The turtle started to take a few steps backward when the raccoon suddenly grabbed his wrist. Mikey had to change his hold on the fruit so he didn’t drop it.
“Hey, we didn’t say you could leave.” The raccoon’s voice was darker than before. His grip tightened to prove his point. Mikey winced.
“Yeah, yeah,” the bird chimed in. “We haven’t even had any fun yet!”
“He’s right,” the raccoon said. “So, why don’t you just come with us and we can show you a good time.”
Mikey tried to pull his wrist away, but it was futile. “I really need to get back to my brothers,” he insisted.
The raccoon looked around. “I don’t see any other turtles nearby. We can help you find them.”
Mikey grimaced. “You’re hurting my wrist, can you please let go?”
“I don’t think I trust that you won’t run,” the raccoon replied. “Come on, let's go find your brothers.” He started dragging Mikey along behind him.
This isn’t good. Mikey may be slow sometimes, but he knew that these yokai weren’t leading him to his brothers. They were walking further from the entrance – which is where the check-out is located; aka the rondevu point. The box turtle looked around, hoping to find something that he could use to help his situation. But it was useless. He had the stupid melon in his arm, and the bird yokai was close behind him, blocking his exit.
Okay, time for Doctor Delicate Touch.
Mikey grounded his heels into the tiled floor, pulling them to a stop. The raccoon glanced back at him and Mikey saw surprise flash on the yokai’s face before he was able to hide it. He may be the smallest of his brothers, but Mikey wasn’t the weakest – sorry Donnie.
“Let me go,” Mikey demanded. “I’m done playing your game. I’m going back to my brothers.”
“Shhh,” the large yokai hushed. “Don’t make a scene. You’ll only embarrass yourself.”
Mikey opened his mouth to retort, but a roll of bread was shoved into it before he could get a word out. Mikey almost gagged on it.
“My buddy told ya to be quiet,” the bird yokai hissed in Mikey’s ear hole. He kicked the back of the turtle’s knee, forcing him to continue moving forward.
Well, that didn’t work. What do I do now? he thought, stumbling after the raccoon.
Mikey tried to speak, but the bread muffled his words. He tried to spit it out, but it was too big. He tried to chew it, but he couldn’t close his mouth fully.
“You look cute with your mouth stuffed like that,” the raccoon said, smirking over his shoulder. “Maybe we can stuff it with something else…”
What is he talking about?
Mikey was starting to get frantic. The raccoon was moving fast, not letting the turtle regain his balance or give him a chance to stop them again. The bird was still close behind and Mikey could see that he had another roll in his hand, ready if Mikey somehow was able to spit his out.
Just as Mikey started to fully panic, the large yokai in front of him stopped suddenly, causing Mikey to run into his back. He glanced around the raccoon and was relieved when he saw a familiar face.
Barry!
Standing in front of the trio with a raised eyebrow was Baron Draxum. He was wearing his “lunch lady” uniform and had a basket full of food tucked under his arm.
Mikey tried to smile at him, but the bread kept his mouth from moving too much.
Draxum made eye contact with the turtle and could quickly see that something was wrong.
“What is going on here?”
Mikey wanted to speak but that stupid bread was still in his mouth. He started trying to mash it with his tongue and teeth to get it smaller, so he would be able to spit it out easier.
“Nothing, sir,” the raccoon said, sounding a bit uneasy. “We were just taking our friend home.”
Draxum didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Uh-huh, and what is your friend’s name?”
“Orange!” the bird shouted out from behind Mikey.
The raccoon turned and glared at his buddy. Mikey would’ve laughed if his wrist wasn’t aching – and if he could get the bread out of his mouth!
“Orange,” Draxum said slowly. “Really?”
Finally – fucking finally – Mikey smooshed the bread smaller and spat it onto the ground.
“Barry!” he practically shouted, exasperated.
The raccoon froze. “You know him?” His voice was weak.
“He does,” Draxum answered. “And I suggest you let him go before something bad happens.”
The raccoon’s beady eyes shot from the sheep yokai and back to the turtle in his grasp. The raccoon growled softly.
“Whatever,” he said. He pulled Mikey in front of him and practically shoved the turtle at Draxum.
Mikey caught his balance, stopping himself from falling to the ground. He glanced back at the two yokai, but they were already walking away.
The raccoon turned back. “Next time we meet, little turtle, you’ll be alone.”
“And then we can have some real fun!” the bird chimed in, taking a bite out of the extra roll.
Then they turned a corner and disappeared.
Mikey shivered.
“What was that about?” Draxum asked.
Mikey wanted to hug him, but the melon was still in his arms. “Thank you, Barry! I don’t know what I would’ve done without you!”
“Woah, uh, you’re welcome? What did those two want with you?”
“I have no idea,” Mikey said with a sigh. His muscles were finally able to relax. “They were saying some weird stuff and wouldn’t let me get back to my bros.”
“Weird stuff?” Draxum repeated. “What kind of weird stuff? Where are your brothers? Why aren’t they with you?”
“What’s with the interrogation?” Mikey laughed.
Draxum frowned. “Let’s just get you back to the other turtles.”
“I don’t want to stop you from shopping,” Mikey said. “I can get to them by myself.”
“No, I insist,” Draxum said, leaving no room for discussion. “Which way?”
“We were gonna meet at the check-out area, but I haven’t gotten everything on my list…”
“I think your brothers will understand.” The yokai started to move in the direction of the check-out area.
Mikey jogged after him. “Understand what?”
Draxum looked at the turtle out of the corner of his eye. “You really don’t know what they wanted with you, do you?”
“Did they want the melon? There’s plenty more, I don’t know why they would want my melon.”
Draxum had to stop himself from facepalming. “No, Michelangelo, they did not want your melon.”
Mikey continued to think about what they could’ve possibly wanted from him as they made their way to the check-out lines.
…
When Raph arrived at their designated meet-up spot, he spotted Donnie swiping through his phone. As the larger turtle approached, Donnie glanced up and nodded his head to say hello.
“How did it go?” Raph asked, glad to finally be back with at least one of his brothers.
“This place is a lot more like a surface store than I thought it would be,” Donnie commented, holding up a plastic basket that held the item from his part of the list.
“Speak for yourself,” a voice grumbled from behind Raph.
Donnie looked around his oldest brother’s shoulder and had to fight to keep the laugh that had bubbled up from coming out.
Raph turned and had to force his face to remain serious.
“Hey, uh, Nardo,” Donnie said, covering his chuckles by clearing his throat, “what happened to you?”
Leo was standing with a bunch of different boxes and bags in his arms… And he was covered in a thin coating of green slime. It was dripping off of him in globs and creating a small pool around his feet.
“This isn’t–” he almost slipped, “isn’t funny, Don!”
“Leo, what did you do?” Raph questioned, worrying that his brother had somehow gotten into trouble in the small period of time they had been separated.
“ I didn’t do anything!” Leo practically screeched. He threw his groceries in Raph’s cart. “It was this fu– freaking smelly weird plant thing! I literally had to walk through a wall of slime to get to the stupid thing!”
“And why does Father need that?” Donnie asked.
“He wants Mikey to make him some kind of soup with this in it,” Leo explained, still pissed. “Something from his past or something.”
“Speaking of Mikey…” Raph said, looking around. “Anyone have eyes on him?”
The twins also looked around.
“There he is,” Leo said, motioning with his head.
Donnie squinted. “Is he with… Draxum?”
“Oh, great,” Leo said, monotone. “The guy who threw me off a roof gets to see me covered in slime. When will the torture end?”
“Looks like he’s only holding some kind of red melon,” Donnie noted. “Where do you suppose everything else that he was required to get is?”
“Maybe Draxum stole them just like he stole Dad,” Leo huffed.
“Okay, Leon, that slime is putting you in a really annoying mood,” Donnie said.
“It’s not my fault Mikey decided that he wants to bring over Dad’s greatest enemy.”
Raph shrugged. “I don't know, Splinter and Draxum act more like exes.”
Leo shuddered as a particular spider yokai came to mind. “No! No talking about Dad’s exes!”
“Plural?” Donnie questioned.
“Hey, guys!” Mikey called. He quickened his walking until he was in between Raph and Donnie. “Uh, Leo?”
“You better make the best soup with this herb,” was all Leo said.
“He’s in a bad mood,” Raph said, explaining why the slider was so snappy.
“Where’s the rest of your groceries?” Donnie asked.
“About that… I was going to get everything, but I had a little run-in with some yokai, but then Barry helped me out!” He smiled at the stone-faced yokai.
“A run-in?” A crease appeared on the eldest’s forehead. “What happened?”
Mikey shrugged. “Nothing much. One of them grabbed me and they were saying weird things, but it’s alright now.”
Donnie turned to the sheep yokai. “Care to elaborate?”
“Two yokai, a raccoon and a bearded vulture, were bothering your brother. They’ve tried messing with me before but,” he clenched his hand and a crazed smile came across his face, “I put them in their places.”
“Right…” Leo said, drawing out the word. “So, Mike, what exactly did they say to you?”
Mikey called on his superior memory, trying to remember what the yokai had said to him.
“There were a few things that were, let's say, questionable,” Mikey said. He looked around and everyone was staring at him. Mikey suddenly felt very embarrassed. Why was he making such a big deal out of this? They didn’t even do anything! Sure, they hurt his wrist a little, but he’ll live! “Um, could we, maybe, talk about this back at home?” He kept his eyes on the melon in his arms as he spoke.
The three older turtles all glanced at each other. They all had the same thought. What the hell did those yokai do to Mikey?
Draxum cleared his throat, getting the turtles’ attention. He nodded his head toward Mikey, who was busy messing with the small stem of the firemelon, but he looked like he was a thousand miles away.
Donnie placed a hand on the youngest’s shoulder. “Yeah, Angelo. We can go home.”
Mikey gave him a thankful smile.