Chapter Text
"Mikey?"
The freckled turtle jumped at the sound of his name and let out a yelp. He quickly turned toward the voice, hiding a small container behind his back.
"Leo!" he said as he attempted to hide how nervous he suddenly felt with a strained smile. His oldest brother was staring at him dubiously. "Fancy meeting you here!"
Leonardo crossed his arms and gave Michelangelo a withering look. Mikey seemed to squirm under his gaze, his eyes darting toward the partially open door Leo had just walked through.
"Well, this is my room," he replied flatly. Mikey was indeed standing in the middle of his small bedroom. He had entered to find his youngest brother suspiciously hovering over his bed with something in his hands. If there was one individual you did not want to find in such a position, it was "Dr. Prankenstein". Leo could only hope that he had caught the mischievous turtle before he had a chance to carry out whatever scheme he'd come up with this time. "Care to explain what you're doing in here?"
"Nope!" replied Mikey as he slowly tried to shuffle over to the doorway. "But you look tired. It was an awfully long day of training, after all. So I'll just go out, watch some TV, play some games, and leave you alone for a while. Bye!"
Before he could rush past Leo and out of the cramped room, the older turtle grabbed him by the shell.
"Not so fast," said Leo sternly.
Mikey briefly flailed his legs in a futile attempt to escape before realizing it was useless. He'd been caught, and he knew there was no escaping his big brother. Changing his approach, he tried to look as innocent as possible and turned his wide, baby blue eyes toward his sibling. "I was just -"
But Leo cut him off, well aware of Mikey's diversion tactics, "Save it. What were you doing in my room? And what's that you're carrying?" He pointed to the small container as Mikey clutched it tighter to his chest.
The nervous smile returned to the young turtle's face as his eyes darted away from Leo's intense stare. "What, this? It's just, uh... it's, um, you know..."
"Are you kidding me, Mikey!?" rang Donatello's voice suddenly through the lair.
Surprised, Leo turned toward Donnie's room as muffled curses could be heard from within. Mikey did not miss what he knew would be his only chance at escape. In the blink of an eye, he wiggled out of Leo's grasp and quickly darted through the hall toward the common area.
"Ha ha! Better luck next time, Leo!" he crowed. Realizing he was busted anyway, he tossed the container to his confused former captor and made his way toward the kitchen. Waltzing in with a victory dance, he noticed Raphael sitting at the table with a glass of water and some leftover pizza. The older turtle eyed him curiously as Leonardo's shouts soon echoed through the lair as well, causing quite the evil grin to light up Mikey's face.
"I don't wanna know," said Raph as he held up a hand to his baby brother who had plopped onto the seat across from him. As the newcomer glanced down at his sibling's plate, Raph not so discreetly used his other hand to protect his snack. "But I swear, if you're here to try whatever it is on me, I'm gonna wipe that stupid smirk off your face."
Mikey leaned forward on his stool, placing his elbows on the table and resting his head in his hands. His eyes never left his brother's slice of pizza. "Relax, bro. Leo caught me before I could make it to your room. Now I'll have to come up with something special just for you."
Raphael took a bite of his pizza and rolled his eyes as Mikey's devilish grin grew wider. Before he could swallow and retort, however, in stomped Donatello, Leonardo close on his heels. Donnie wasn't always successful in his attempts to appear intimidating, but it was hard to ignore the downright pissed off stare he was currently aiming at Michelangelo. Or the smell that followed him into the room.
"Phew! Geez, Donnie, some of us are trying to breathe here," Raph said loudly. He covered his nostrils and proceeded to try and wave away the air dramatically, relishing Donnie's darkening frown as his hands balled into tight fists. Raph glanced at Mikey who was squirming in his seat, trying not to laugh. While he hated being on the receiving end, Raph had to admit that his little brother's pranks could produce some highly amusing results.
"Would you care to explain how leaving rotten eggs in my room is supposed to be funny?" said Donnie shortly.
With a genuinely confused look, Mikey answered, "Does that really need an explanation?" Seeing Leo folding his arms with a dangerous expression, the young turtle quickly continued, "Come on, guys! I happen to find three perfectly good rotten eggs, and you expect me to just leave them there? I can't just waste them like that!"
Donnie groaned loudly as he grasped his head in frustration. "Mikey, if the eggs were rotten that means they were already 'wasted'! You could have just thrown them out, but no! You had to hide them in our rooms causing one of us to find one and spill it all over ourselves!"
"Well, that certainly explains why you smell like the inside of a dumpster," interrupted Raph with a smirk. That earned him another glare from Donnie - as well as a snort from Mikey - which he calmly ignored as he bit off more of his pizza.
"Raph, stay out of this," said Leo sternly, putting his hands on his hips. "The only reason you aren't pummeling Mikey right now is because you haven't found one in your room yet. I was lucky I knew the container was from Mikey so I was careful when opening it, but Donnie's room is going to smell awful for a week."
"Aw, lighten up, dudes. I was just having some fun," said the youngest turtle innocently. Even he, however, could see that neither of the two brothers he'd managed to prank were finding the situation particularly amusing. With all of their attention now back on him, he smiled nervously and quickly added, "I'll help him clean up."
"'Help' me clean up?" repeated Donnie, "I don't think there's any 'help' about it; you can handle that by yourself. In fact -"
He was unable to finish his rant, though, as he was interrupted by the whirring and clicking sounds of his mutagen tracker coming to life. Surprised by the sudden noise, he pulled it from his belt, his brothers watching curiously.
"Another mutagen canister?" asked Leo.
"Looks like it," replied Donnie solemnly. Normally he'd jump at the chance to get more mutagen off the streets and into his lab so he could work on creating a retromutagen. Right now, however, all he wanted was a long shower. He sighed, "At least it doesn't appear to be too far."
"Alright," said Leonardo, slipping into leader mode, "We'll grab the ooze, head back here, and while Donnie takes a shower, Mikey, you can clean his room."
"Aww..." groaned Michelangelo without protest, shoulders slumped.
"Why don't we let Donnie go on ahead. That way we can just smell our way to it," Raph taunted. Donatello rolled his eyes but said nothing, finally deciding it best to simply ignore his older brother. Instead he quietly made his way toward the kitchen's exit so he could grab his staff before they headed above ground.
"That's enough, Raph," warned Leo as he turned to leave as well, "Keep it up and I'll put that third egg in your room. And I won't leave it in a container."
Always happy to not be the only one in trouble, Mikey laughed, but it was cut short by a sharp whack to his head. "Ow!" he cried as Raph roughly pushed past him and out the doorway. Mikey's tongue shot out in a childish display of defiance, but his attention was quickly redirected to Raph's half eaten slice of pizza. He wasted no time snatching it up and practically inhaling it.
"Mmm!" he moaned happily as he licked his lips, "Bacon, avocado, and garlic - gotta remember that for next time." It didn't take long for his bliss to wear off, though, as he realized he could hear the Shellraiser's engine in the distance. Mikey bounded out of the kitchen.
"Hey, guys! Wait for me!"
"Stop here!" shouted Donatello suddenly.
The Shellraiser jerked to a halt as Leonardo hit the brakes. All four turtles scrambled to get out of the cramped space which had only made Donnie's foul stench all the more nauseating. No one had dared say a word about it during the trip, instead focusing on getting to their destination as quickly as possible.
Grateful to be out in the open air of the city at last, they swiftly scaled the nearest building and began scouting along the rooftops. Donnie took the lead, the beeping from his scanner growing more and more frantic. But the genius' footsteps slowed to a halt as he looked at his tracker, confused. He turned to his left and the beeping got stronger. Sticking his tongue out in concentration, he slowly turned back to the right, the beeping fading. That is, until he had turned a full 180 degrees when it returned in full force.
"What's wrong, Donnie?" asked Leo as he curiously watched his brother turn quickly from left to right and back to the left again.
The younger turtle finally stopped fidgeting though his eyes stayed glued to the device in his hands. "I think there are actually two canisters around here," said Donatello thoughtfully. "One signal is leading off a little further into the city, but the other is much stronger, indicating that there should be some mutagen in or near that playground." Donnie pointed to the park on his left at a small play area with a wooden, maze-like structure in the center.
"Then we'll split up," said Leo. "Donnie, you and I will head further into the city. Raph, you and Mikey stay and search the park. Call us if you find anything." As Leo turned to follow Donnie and his tracker, he glanced back to his remaining siblings and added, "And don't just mess around and get into trouble, ok?"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't have fun. Got it, chief," said Raph shortly as he dismissed their leader with a wave of his hand, much to his older brother's annoyance. He briefly watched Leo and Donnie run further into the city before turning to his own ooze hunting partner.
"Come on, Mikey," he said as he jumped down the nearest fire escape and headed toward the park. Michelangelo followed close behind him with a playful grin.
"Last one to find it's a -" the young turtle paused for dramatic effect, "- rotten egg!" He giggled gleefully at his own joke as he landed on the ground.
Raph groaned loudly, trying not to think about how long Mikey had been waiting to use that one. Sticking to the shadows, he peeked his head out of the alleyway and peered up and down the street they would have to cross to reach the park. His arm shot out just in time to keep Mikey from spilling out onto the sidewalk. Raph glared at his sibling and jabbed a finger at his forehead as Mikey laughed nervously.
Knowing they would be exposed in the well lit street, the two turtles waited silently for an opportunity to cross. When no cars were in sight and the few humans had walked far enough out of range, the ninjas made their move. They sprinted toward the park and leapt over the gate with practiced ease, never making a sound. The silence, however, didn't last long.
"Wow!" exclaimed Michelangelo as he stared wide-eyed at the small playground. "This place is awesome! Ooh! Check it out! They even have tire swings!" He bolted toward one of the hanging tires and jumped on it, causing the chain it was hanging from to let out a squeak in protest. "Push me, Raph!"
"I don't think so," answered Raphael, eyeing his brother wearily. "It sounds like that chain could let go any minute, and I don't want to be under you when that happens."
Leaving Mikey to his fun, Raph slowly surveyed the park. Aside from the two tire swings, there was what he presumed to be a short obstacle course consisting of wooden balance beams and stepping blocks as well as a separate fenced in area with swings for small children. The most impressive aspect, however, was the multilevel wooden structure in the center of a large sand pit, complete with rope ladders, lookout towers, monkey bars, and slides.
As he shuffled along the perimeter, he noticed the playground itself was completely fenced off and surrounded by trees. They had entered from the side, but there was a locked entrance leading to a small parking lot to the right. The area was dimly lit from the street lights, but the trees and play equipment cast long, dark shadows over the enclosed area.
Raphael tried to suppress a groan. Thinking about the amount of nooks and crannies the ooze could be hidden in was giving him a headache. He could only hope they were lucky enough to find it in the play area itself without having to wander off into the wooded park.
"Hopefully it's still in one piece, too," he muttered, imaging how many small children must have played in this very park since the city was first littered with mutagen canisters. Those thoughts were quickly dispelled, however, by his brother's yelling.
"You're it, bro!"
Raph began to turn at the sound of Mikey's voice, but he nearly toppled over as he felt two hands on his shoulders and watched his brother leap-frog over him from behind, flipping mid-air. Laughing, the young turtle landed facing Raph and jogged backwards, his tongue sticking out with his hands wagging on either side of his head.
Green eyes narrowed dangerously as Raph's hands balled into fists. An evil grin spread across his face as he cracked his neck.
"Oh, I'll show you who's 'it'. Get back here, you little -!" In an instant he was gone, barreling after the now scrambling Mikey like a charging bull.
Ducking his head and running at full speed, Mikey hurtled toward a nearby slide and ran up it. Grabbing the handrails at the very top, he flipped onto the small wooden platform and began maneuvering through the maze-like structure.
With all of the crisscrossing shadows, Raph would have had trouble keeping track of his younger sibling. Fortunately for him, Mikey was anything but quiet; the energetic turtle's laughter echoed through the otherwise silent night. Bypassing the slide, Raph launched himself directly onto a lower section in an attempt to cut his brother off.
"Nice try, bro!" called Mikey who had immediately jumped to another tower upon realizing his brother's tactic. He dashed across the wooden boards, balancing on top of some monkey bars and toward a tall, spiraling slide.
Jumping back onto the sandy ground, Raph bolted for the bottom of the slide. It was a gamble - if Michelangelo were to suddenly switch directions again, he would have to waste time climbing up the slide as there was no other good entrance onto the structure nearby. But he hoped his brother would be too preoccupied with getting away to notice him silently running across the sand.
It almost worked. Just as Mikey was about to hurl himself down the slide, he saw Raph's shadowed figure reaching the bottom. With a yelp, the young turtle frantically looked around. The metal from a short, enclosed slide directly across the way caught his eye in the dim light. Sucking in a deep breath, the ninja dove off the lip of the taller slide.
Raph looked up just in time to see his brother jumping over his head. As Mikey landed on top of the small slide, he let out a cry of victory.
"Aw yeah!" he cried as he propelled himself onto the wooden platform in front of him. "Too slow, Raph! Gotta try harder than that!"
Raphael growled as he watched his brother race across a suspended bridge. Realizing Mikey was running out of different platforms to jump to, he remained on the ground, feet pounding into the soft sand as he hurried after him.
"When I catch you, I'm gonna bury your face in this sand!" he threatened.
As Michelangelo turned to stick his tongue out at his easily angered sibling, something caught his eye. Glancing to his right, he looked past the nearby tire swings and through the tall fence encompassing the play area. There beneath a sturdy, old tree was a faint green glow. His face immediately lit up.
"Oh yeah! Found it!" cried Mikey as he quickly switched direction. He leapt onto the ground and sprinted for the tree. Jumping onto one of the benches on the perimeter, he flipped over the tall fence with ease. "You lose, dude!"
"Oh no ya don't!" Raph yelled. Truthfully, he'd practically forgotten all about searching for the missing mutagen. He chased after his little brother, not willing to let him to hog all the glory. But as his carefree sibling approached the tree, Raphael couldn't shake the ominous feeling that suddenly came over him. He shuddered in the cool night air, instantly on alert as his eyes darted around suspiciously.
"Might as well just give up now," taunted Mikey. But as he reached out to grab the canister, Raph's eyes widened as he finally realized what was making him so uneasy - the tree's shadow was far larger than it should have been.
As Mikey turned to his brother, holding the container above his head triumphantly, Raph could just barely make out the image of a large, spiked weapon being raised in the air above his baby brother's head.
"Look out!" cried Raph. Throwing a couple of shuriken at the shadowy figure, he scurried over the fence and slammed into his confused brother, knocking him out of the way as a rusty mace fell with a loud thud where the young turtle had just been standing.
With one hand still firmly on the mutagen canister, Mikey pushed himself into a sitting position and groaned. "What the - ?"
But Raph was already on his feet, standing in front of his brother like a shield, his sai drawn.
"Sure has been a while, huh Raph?" came a familiar gravely voice.
"Not long enough," growled Raphael darkly. His grip on his sai tightened.
Mikey's eyes grew wide, and he couldn't help but stare as their attacker emerged from the shadows. He gasped as he recognized the large turtle as none other than his brother's former beloved pet.
He gulped. "Oh man."
Slash stood before them in the dim light, a cruel grin spread across his masked face.