Chapter Text
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Leo groans, sitting upright on his bed. He may or may not be there due to a prank gone wrong. It was supposed to be his punishment, to be left alone in his room.
And what a punishment it was!
He flops on his bed, the mattress making his body bounce before settling. Scrunching up the blankets, Leo kicks his feet as if his little body could cause a stir loud enough to account for his feelings.
Anything to disrupt the silence.
"Aaaaaugh!"
The slider pants, feeling tears pinprick his eyes as he takes in deep breaths. His small tantrum made him feel both tired and even more upset.
"...Leo?"
Said turtle jolted up, tears rolling down chubby cheeks and eyes widening as they landed upon a small figure standing by the doorway.
Frantically he rubs his eyes to get rid of the evidence, but his sniffles give him away. He hopes Mikey doesn't mention anything about seeing him crying. Leo feels the bed dip, signaling another body joining him on top.
“Leo?” He hears his name spoken again. With a deep breath of courage, he stops rubbing his eyes and smiles at his younger brother. Mikey looks concerned, and we can't have that! His smile turns into a grin. The other smiles back but it seems uncertain.
“What's up, hermano?” Leo composed himself as Mikey came closer. “Lemme guess! Ya need something from your favorite big brother?” Leo says, already feeling his upset feeling slowly sap away in another's presence, turning the grin more genuine.
"Well... No, that's not... I mean, um, are you ok?" Mikey started to fiddle with his fingers, practically avoiding looking at Leo. He is glancing back and forth between his brother and his fingers.
Leo blinks. “Am I ok? Of course, why wouldn't I be?”
Mikey looks at Leo, gaze surprisingly analytical. “I heard you scream.”
“Oh, that? Ahaha!” He laughs a bit uncomfortable with the admission. “That wasn't just a scream. That was..” He pauses, finger tapping at his knee as he thinks. “That was a game! You know, the yelling game?”
“Yelling game?” Mikey mutters, looking unconvinced.
“Yup! The yelling game, where you just…” He spreads his arms out. “Yell randomly. Really refreshing, you should try it!” Leo nudged Mikey, encouraging him to believe Leo's lie.
“Oh! It was just a game.” Mikey finally smiles back, fisted hands jouncing up and down. “Can I try?”
Leo chuckles. “Uh, yeah, sure! Why not?”
The box turtle surveys the room before belting out. “AAAAAAAAAH” He quickly clasps his hands over his mouth, giggles leaking out between his fingers.
Leo checks the doorway, waiting for something to come. When nothing, or no one, does, he starts to snicker. “Ok ok, told ya it's a fun game!”
“Yeah!” Mikey beams at his older brother. Both relaxed, but something still felt off. Mikey glances at Leo, noting how the others' smile seems a bit stiff, body tensed in a way that implies a particular mood.
“You know… I actually did come in here for something!” Mikey says. At Leo's inquisitive look, Mikey continues, fingers poking together. “I was wondering since everyone's so busy right now..” He trails off.
“Yeah?” Leo urges Mikey to continue.
“I was wondering if maybe we could, um, you know… Go on an adventure together?” Mikey mumbles out.
Leo leans in to hear, catching the last part, and bounces in place. “An adventure, you say? Of course, we can! And you know what?” Leo beckons Mikey closer with a wave of his hand, his mind already filled with schemes and ideas. “I know exactly what kind of adventure we could go on!”
“You do?” Mikey gets closer only to be hugged one armed by Leo.
“Oh yeah, I do! How about a…” He paused for dramatic effect. “A topside adventure?”
Mikey gasps, eyes wide in both shock and a bit of hope. “Topside?” He parrots. “But won't we get in trouble?”
“Pssssh, nah! I go topside all the time, you just don't notice me doing it.” Leo fibs, rubbing his finger against his snout. “Come on!” He hops off the bed, motioning Mikey to do the same.
Leo hops to his clothes pile, pulling down a bright blue hoodie with sparkly letters spelling out “Fancy Boi”. “Now to get your clothes-” He said. Mikey tugs down another hoodie, this one with dog ears on the hood, and quickly puts it on before Leo can snatch it away. “Or not.” He sighs out.
“Woah, I never knew you went out! Does dada know?” Mikey ponders, hand held tightly in Leo’s as they travel away from their rooms.
“Uh, sure. Just keep it down a bit, for…uh, to hide from the ninjas. Yeah, our adventure is to make it topside without the ninjas noticing us!” He simpered, leading Mikey towards the end of their home in a sneaking manner. “Ninjas?!” Mikey peeps out before shushing himself. Both crouched behind furniture. Listening for any movement around them, for any sudden surprise attacks because of that slip-up.
Nothing happened, so they continued. “Dun dun dun duh dun..” Mikey couldn't help himself from whispering out the tune to a spy movie they recently watched as they snuck around a table. Leo turned, finger pressed to his lips to indicate the other to be quiet.
They stayed vigilant, even though it seemed like their father was too busy laughing in the other room to notice them.
“Yeah, ninjas.” Leo reiterated, peeking around their entryway to make sure the coast was clear. “Looks like we are in the clear, Miguel. Welp! Wanna be the first, or well, second tot to leave home?” He moves to the side, gesturing towards the doorway for Mikey to step out first.
“You sure? Why don’t you go first?” Mikey asks, making to move behind Leo. In which Leo steps aside.
“I’m giving you a golden opportunity here, bro! Don’t you want to step out first? Or I could just take that back and go first…” He gets interrupted by Mikey shaking his head rapidly.
Mikey looks towards Leo, feeling intimidated by the prospect of leaving home. Gulping, he takes a step out into the sewers, eyes squeezed shut like he would be attacked immediately upon entering the unknown zone. When that doesn’t happen, he squints open his eyes and then smiles. Mikey turns to Leo, hands on his hips like a hero. “I did it! Look, Leo! I did it!”
Leo laughs good-naturedly. “You sure did, rebel. How does it feel to be the second most cool turtle around?” He asks, stepping beside Mikey. “It feels awesome!” Mikey chirps up.
“Now the real journey to the west begins! Follow me, lil bro. I know exactly where we are going!” He marches ahead into the dark, not waiting for the little pitter-pattering of footsteps to follow.
Mikey squeaks, rushing beside Leo and grasping onto his hoodie. His wide eyes frantically look around them as they adjust to the new dank darkness.
Leo smiles to himself, confident steps echoing around them and drowning out the slight niggling uncertainty trying to spring forth from within him. He feels Mikey shivering next to him and decides to lighten the mood. “Hey, how does that one song from that one show, um, what was it… Mystic Magical Mage? How does it go again?”
“Huh? You mean Magical Mystic Mage, not the other way around. And it goes-“ Mikey starts to hum, a bit hesitant at first but gaining strength as he continues.
“Ooooh, yeah you’re right!” Leo joins the humming, taking a right turn at the intersection. Both their hums intermingled and it felt like the walls were brightening along to their singing. The echoes of their humming seemed to get louder as if someone was joining in on their little duet. A shiver runs down Leo’s back at this thought, his humming getting quiet to hear better but whatever that was seems to have quieted with him. He shrugs, must be the echoes getting to him.
“Ah, Leo?” Leo blinks back into the present hearing his name spoken by a quivering voice. “Are we lost?”
“Lost? No no, we aren’t lost, Mike! We just take this next le-EEK!” Leo yelped out, feeling a cold dribble run along the back of his neck. A droplet from an overhanging leaking sewer pipe made the little turtle squeal, like a maiden from one of Splinter’s old black-and-white movies.
“Le-Leo?” Mikey grapples at Leo’s hand. “Are you ok? Is this part of the yelling game?” Mikey peers at the darkness surrounding them, the uneven brick road ahead of them looks like a void. He can’t help but wonder if his big brother saw a monster slithering across like one of the creatures he read about in one of Raph’s comic books. He shuffles as close to his big brother as he can get.
“Left! I was so excited, I screamed like in the yelling game.” Shaking off the chill down his spine, he pointed at himself in false bravado. “Because I know where we are! This is my favorite left turn!”
“Your favorite?” Mikey mumbles, confused. “What makes it so special?”
Leo glances around quickly, a sound of triumph escaping him as he points at a rock on the ground. “That’s why! It’s a magical rock alien named Gerald, see how smooth he is?”
Mikey squints at the rock, noting the smooth glass-like quality of “Gerald” and the kaleidoscope of colors. “Oh wow! He’s very handsome! Hi, Gerald!” Mikey gives a cheeky smile as he waves one hand at the rock.
“Handsome? Not as handsome as me, I’d bet, but I guess he looks good..for a rock” Leo mutters the last bit, not to offend either Mikey or Gerald. A faint snicker could be heard as if teasing him. He quickly turns, inspecting the area behind them. He could’ve sworn he heard laughter.
There was nothing but darkness to greet him. Even squinting couldn't help him make out anything besides blurry shapes.
“Oh! Look! Look!” Mikey excitedly tugs at Leon’s sleeve, forcing him to turn to face what got the tot so excited.
Up ahead is a glimmer of light cascading down to cover the floor and walls. They walk towards the light, traveling quite a distance, hopping over rubble. They can make out details in the walls the closer they become. Looking upwards towards the light reveals a ladder, leading to a manhole covering.
“Would ya look at that, I knew where to go after all!” Leo can’t help but be proud of himself. “I mean, of course, I knew where we were going. I’m more than looks, ya know?” A tick forms as a scoff sounds out. His mind is really starting to annoy him.
“It looks like we can go topside there, right?” Mikey bobs in place like a buoy out at sea. “It looks open.”
“Lucky us! Ready for the next part of this adventure?” At Mikey’s enthusiastic nod, Leo grabs hold of the nearest rung. They hug the rungs with their whole bodies as they climb up slowly.
Once they finally manage to sit on the top rung, Leo stares out the gap of the manhole cover. It seemed big enough for them both to fit through. Most importantly, there wasn't a soul in sight. The night air chilled the exposed parts of his face. It was hard to make out features in this new type of darkness, but the glow of the moon cast shadows along with the stars that peeked through the cloudy night.
Signaling with his hands, Leo tries to convey that to Mikey. But by the confused look on the other's face, he can tell it did not work. With a sigh, Leo whispers. “No bogeys around.”
Understanding the term from a video game, Mikey makes a sound of acknowledgment. One by one, they scramble through the gap and into the open air of a dingy alleyway.
Leo judges the alleyway as he wipes his hands on his hoodie, getting the muk off from the ladder climb. “Hey!” He exclaimed as Mikey mimicked the same thing onto Leo's hoodie.
With a grumble, he accepted his fate as a napkin. “Alright. Now that we're here, we can practically go anywhere!” He grins at his little brother, who looks at him with sparkling eyes.
“Where ya wanna go?” Leo asks, ready to leave the alley behind them.