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Mikey was missing.
He had been missing for over a month. There was an incident during training, Mikey had walked out, and that was the last anyone had seen of him. Leo suspected Donnie may have had contact with him, but his brother denied it.
Don's time in customer service had toughened him in ways years of ninjutsu training hadn't.
(Leo also suspected Donnie agreed with Mikey.)
Now they had been searching the city for weeks, following every thin lead they could get, and asking their meager circle of friends and allies to keep an eye out for their absent brother. All over a simple misunderstanding.
Leo had scheduled a training session for a morning not long after the fight at Winters Corp. His brothers had held their own in that fight, but he couldn't assume they would treat patrol the same as an end of the world scenario. Based on Mikey's jokes during his last attempt at training, before it got interrupted and derailed by a monster, he had assumed they spent the better part of the past two years slacking off. He needed to get them back in shape as a team.
Obviously Raph had been keeping active with his Nightwatcher outings. But Donnie and Mikey…well, he'd had concerns. Donnie spent all day in a chair, stressed and forgetting food and uncaffeinated liquid while irate humans yelled at him over the phone. And Mikey entertained children.
He had explained all that.
Donnie and Mikey had shared a look, then Donnie had shrugged and Mikey had grinned. It had been…unsettling. Leo liked to think he still knew his brothers even after their time apart. But he hadn't recognized that grin.
Then Mikey had pushed himself to his feet, still fluid and graceful despite the lack of regular training. "So this is like, to see where we are compared to you?" he had asked, still grinning.
Leo had been relieved that someone finally seemed to understand. "Exactly. I've spent the past two years getting better, honing my skills. And I'd like to get everyone else on the same level—"
Leaning against the wall, Raph had rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"—but first I need to know where you are," Leo had continued, ignoring him.
"So…spar?" Mikey had suggested, expression still unsettlingly friendly.
Of course Leo had agreed. He was just glad someone was finally cooperating.
Then Mikey had wiped the floor with him.
Leaning over him, no longer grinning, Mikey had said, "What's that thing Master Splinter says about a true ninja bein' able to take lessons from anything?" The side of his mouth had ticked up. "Workin' with kids taught me patience. Spatial awareness. How to take a hit." He had tilted his head. "What'd you learn, bro?"
Leo had admittedly been nursing a bruised ego when he snapped, "Not to degrade myself for the amusement of humans."
The hint of amusement on his brother's face had vanished and Mikey had stared at him for a moment longer before straightening. "I'm out," he had said, turning and walking out of the dojo before Leo could even scramble to his feet and give chase.
By the time Leo had gotten up to follow, Mikey was gone.
When he returned to the dojo Donnie had given him an unimpressed look and coldly announced that his shift was starting soon and he needed to get to his computer. Raph had been a little more sympathetic, insulting him but then assuring him Mikey would return after blowing off some steam.
Mikey hadn't returned.
In fact, while they were searching for him they had noticed a steadily growing increase in Foot Clan activity. The Foot may have worked with them recently to save the world, but it would seem their temporary truce had ended. They had already had a few clashes with them, and Leo was getting more and more worried about Mikey's safety.
Now, Leo was standing on a rooftop staring out at the city with bitter failure churning in his gut. Millions of people crammed into one city and he couldn't find the only one that mattered.
Behind him there was the soft sound of roof gravel being displaced.
Instinct had Leo drawing his swords and whirling around before the sound even finished registering. The rooftop was full of shadows, but his interloper didn't appear interested in hiding from him.
It was the Foot warrior in the hooded cape again.
They were lounging on an AC unit, casually flicking gravel aside with one foot once they could see they had Leo's attention.
"What do you want?" Leo demanded, tensing.
This particular Foot soldier had appeared a few weeks ago, usually accompanying Karai. Only distinguished from the average Foot soldier by a silhouette-obscuring hood and cape worn over the standard uniform. They appeared to favor ranged weapons, those with chains or ropes, but didn't shy away from close combat or any number of weapons that worked better for it.
They slid off the AC and silently tilted their head at his question.
They also didn't speak. Not to Leo, and not to either of his brothers. He occasionally saw them lean in to Karai and whisper in her ear, usually something amusing based on her smiles, but never where any of the turtles could hear.
The silent standoff ended when the Foot warrior reached behind their back. Leo tensed in case he needed to dodge or knock away a thrown weapon, but whatever they were retrieving remained clenched in their fist.
Casually, the Foot warrior strolled across the roof, leaving the same amount of distance between them but getting far enough from the AC unit that they had room to maneuver. Then they held up the clenched fist and slowly opened it.
Leo's eyes widened at the flash of orange cloth fluttering in the night air.
"Mikey…" he whispered in horror, watching his brother's mask dangle from the Foot warrior's fingers. Clenching his teeth, he growled, "Where is he? What've you done to him?"
The Foot warrior shrugged, unconcerned. Then they daintily took the free end of the mask between the fingers of their other hand and mockingly held it up in front of their shadowed face.
"Where is he?!" Leo shouted, taking a step forward.
Taking a step back, the Foot warrior tucked the mask into their belt so both ends hung loose from it. Then they spread their hands and shrugged again.
With a snarl of rage, Leo rushed forward. The Foot warrior easily side-stepped away from his attack and backflipped onto the AC unit. Once on top of it, they struck a pose like a gymnast completing a set. In no mood to be toyed with, Leo lunged closer and struck out with a sword.
The Foot warrior easily hopped over the attack, then backflipped again, onto the roof's low parapet wall. Then they tilted their head, no doubt meeting Leo's eyes, before giving a lazy salute and turning to jump to the next roof over.
Without hesitating, Leo gave chase. The Foot warrior's taunting was the first lead he'd gotten on where Mikey had disappeared to. If the Foot clan had caught him…
If the Foot had been holding him the entire time…
Leo pushed those thoughts aside and focused on not losing the Foot warrior, running across rooftops almost at a sprint. Just when he thought he might catch up to them, they dodged to the side and started running in another direction.
Finally the Foot warrior slowed, the next building too high and far to jump to. As Leo landed on the roof behind them, they languidly turned around to face him. Leo took the opportunity to catch his breath, hoping it wasn't too obvious.
"Nowhere to go," he called out to them. "Just tell me where my brother is and I'll leave you alone."
The Foot warrior reached behind their back again. But this time instead of pulling out a memento of Leo's missing brother, they pulled out a kusarigama. Too late, Leo realized this rooftop was much emptier, one where the Foot warrior could more easily use their preferred ranged weapons. They weren't trapped, they had led him here on purpose.
Mentally cursing himself for getting distracted enough to be so easily tricked, Leo held up his swords while the Foot warrior started slowly spinning the kusarigama's weighted end. They held the kama at the ready in their other hand.
The fluttering orange mask hanging from their belt was the only color on the Foot warrior, and Leo's eyes kept catching on it. Given they had already distracted him with it once, he suspected that was on purpose.
The Foot warrior just kept spinning the fundo, posture relaxed as the metal blurred at their side.
Finally, Leo's patience ran out and he bolted forward, swords at the ready.
The fundo shot toward him, trailing its heavy chain, and tried to tangle up his legs. Leo jumped over them and brought his swords down, but was blocked by the sickle end of the kusarigama. They stayed locked together like that, but then the Foot warrior flicked their free hand and Leo found himself stumbling as a chain hit the back of his knees.
It was enough for the Foot warrior to flip away and put some distance between them, then give the fundo a few quick spins before throwing it out. Still off balance, Leo could do nothing as the chain unexpectedly wrapped around his sword, and a sharp yank had it flying from his hand. The Foot warrior caught the hilt with one hand, then held up the other and ticked a finger from side to side as if chiding him.
Furious, Leo adjusted his grip on his other sword and readied to attack. With a shrug, the Foot warrior switched both ends of the kusarigama to one hand while they held Leo's stolen sword in the other. Then, taunting him yet again, they mirrored his pose and curled their fingers to invite him to attack
With a wordless shout, Leo did just that.
Metal sang as they crossed swords, circling each other across the roof. Leo lashing out, Foot warrior meeting his attacks head-on or redirecting, never giving any indication they were tiring. They were so damnably light on their feet it was like they were dancing, Leo felt clumsy in comparison.
He struck out again and the Foot warrior blocked it, then Leo's eyes widened and he had to duck away as they swung their kusarigama's sickle at his neck. He ended up falling to the ground and rolling several feet away, staggering back to his feet.
The Foot warrior put a hand to their mouth and their shoulders jerked, silently laughing at him. Mocking him. Leo clenched his teeth and quietly growled his frustration.
Casually, the Foot warrior spun the stolen sword in one hand and the fundo with the other. They made no move to chase after him.
"I just want my brother back!" Leo shouted at them. "Tell me where he is!"
That made the Foot warrior pause, head cocking to one side. Then they tossed Leo's sword to the side, too far away for him to reasonably retrieve it, and with their freed hand they plucked Mikey's mask from their belt. Holding it up, they waggled it in front of them for a minute.
Then, so quickly Leo didn't realize what was happening until it was already done, they grabbed both ends of the mask in a fist, hooked the kama through the loop made from the middle of the mask, and jerked both hands away from each other.
The sound of Mikey's mask ripping in half was too quiet for Leo to hear it over the sounds of the city, even that late at night. Much too quiet to hear over the harsh pants of his own breath. Still, the phantom sound echoed in his ears as he watched the Foot warrior hold their arm out to the side and let go.
The two halves of Mikey's mask fluttered to the ground, battered and destroyed.
Leo's vision blurred as he stared at the crumpled scraps of fabric laying on the rooftop. Mind void of anything but anguish and retribution, he tightened his grip on his sword and charged.
The kama hooked around his sword and ripped it from his hands, the Foot warrior reared back to lift their knee and snap their booted foot out in a front thrust kick to the middle of his plastron, and the world spun.
Landing hard on his shell, Leo stared up at the night sky as he regained his bearings. The Foot warrior didn't seem to have any interest in pressing their advantage, idly twirling the fundo with a short length of chain as they watched him sit up.
Leo stared down at the roof, shoulders slumped as he caught his breath. His only lead in over a month and he wasn't good enough to follow it.
"Bro…" came a familiar raspy voice that had Leo looking up in shock. The Foot warrior slowly approached, silent steps becoming purposely loud. Tilting his head, he reached up to lower his hood and remove the black head-covering.
Mikey, face bare of his usual orange mask, smirked down at him and chuckled. "You're better than this…right?"