TMNT Fanfic - To Death And Back [Ch.1]: Hot Blood

Hello and welcome to my TMNT fanfic – To Death And Back! When the turtle brothers start becoming dysfunctional, Mikey suddenly stumbles across trouble – Karai and the entire Foot clan are out to get them, and with his brothers unable – and somewhat unwilling – to help, Mikey must come up with a plan and face the entire Foot league all alone.

I am thinking about making an Afterwords sequel to this fic, because there are a few lose ends I still want to tie up – and I still have so many ideas! Don’t forget to comment what you think, but most importantly -
enjoy!  


~

"Donnie?"

It was another normal day for the turtles. The fearsome four had gone topside last night and had had a session of Foot-clan-butt-kicking, and all of them were relaxing back in the sewers. However, there was a tension in the air, Mikey had noticed. For some reason, the others just hadn't been getting along very well, lately. Maybe it was something in the pizza, but everyone had been getting on everyone else's nerves a lot, and their rusty teamwork during more recent battles had left a lot more injuries afterward than usual - more injuries and more tempers. Raph and Leo had been fighting more frequently and more heatedly, and Donnie was snappy and best left alone. With nothing else to do, Mikey had been quietly amusing himself with his video games for the past few weeks, trying to stay out of the way.

Now if he could just remember where he set down his Xbox controller...

After rolling his eyes, Donnie replied, "What is it?"

"Have you seen my controller anywhere?" Mikey asked, flipping the couch cushions. "I can't find it."

"How should I know where it is?" Donnie growled, turning back to his work. He was tinkering with mechanical scraps, working on his seemingly half-finished, newest invention. "I don't have time for those baby playsets of yours."

Sighing, Mikey checked under the couch, and not finding his controller, sat back down with a huff, watching the blank TV screen. He wished it would hurry up and be nighttime already...he was planning on getting some much-needed fresh air, as soon as it was dark enough.

"And what about YOU, oh fearless leader?"

Donnie and Mikey both turned their heads toward the sound, and Mikey felt something like a rock drop into his gut. Raph and Leo, going at it again...the two walked into the main part of the lair, having just come back from checking out a blown circuit breaker in another part of the sewers for Donnie.

"Would you just cut it out?" Leo replied, a raw and testy tone to his voice. "Stop being such a whiner."

"Yeah? So I 'spose that it's NOT your fault that the Foot ninja got away last night? The one that was right under your nose, if I recall?" Raph shot back.

"There was no need to stop him, for the billionth time."

"You kiddin' me? After the kind of gig he pulled?" Raph and Leo stopped walking, and turned to face each other. "He'd just broken into that computer shop, remember? That guy hacked into a major corporation and had a whole barrage of new techno-data to take back to the Shredder - they could make a whole new breed of pain-in-the-butt weapons for their little Kraang buddies with that." Raph threw his hands in the air for emphasis. "An' not to mention the buttload of cash he hauled off with all those trinkets he stole, too! After YOU got in my way!"

"There's no reason to worry about the DATA he stole," Leo argued. "There's little chance the guy got any information the Kraang don't probably already know about. And I had no CHOICE but to let him get away," he said. "Going after him at that point would have been more trouble than it was worth."

"Tch, right! Good to know you put so much effort into stoppin' the bad guys!" Raph scoffed.

"If you were so mortified, why didn't YOU go after him!" Leo shouted, and the two snarled at each other.

"Would you two can it?" Donnie broke in, walking down to the pair. "Did you even find the circuit breaker?"

"Yeah, we found it," Raph said. "Right before Leo busted it up."

"I did not!" Leo snapped. "It was shorted out from the sewer water, and the rats had been gnawing it and eating the acid that was leaking out. There were dead, toxic rats all over it, so -"

"SO," Raph continued, "Mr. Genius here decided to open it with his katana."

"It was already busted, like I said," Leo retaliated. "That's why it blew out when I opened it."

Donnie put his hand to the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes. "You gotta be kidding me," he said, exasperated. "Great. That's just great. Now I gotta find parts to make another circuit breaker and hook it up somewhere out of reach of the sewer water, and figure out how to keep the rats off. It’s already a job just trying to find any kind of hiding place for them. You know how long that's going to take?"

"Why don'tcha just go buy another stupid gizmo-box?" Raph shot back.

"Don't be stupid! I can't risk going topside to buy one - and the kind I need is over four hundred dollars!"

"Well, bright idea putting it out where the rats'cn chew it ta' pieces, huh!"

Mikey sighed, sitting backwards on the couch on his knees to watch the others, resting his head on his arm as they started to argue furiously. What was he supposed to do...? He wished it would hurry up and be nighttime so he could get out, but even taking a break from all this nonsense wouldn't make it go away. He didn't like his brothers to be angry......just a few weeks ago, he could remember them all smiling, laughing at each others' stories and joking around - happy. After a minute listening to the others arguing, he decided he should say something.

"Hey, guys?" He piped up. "There's no need to get all worked up. Donnie, I can help you find pieces for a new circuit breaker, if you want." He chuckled. "And those rats chew our stuff up all the time, right? One time, when I was little, I left my favorite toy car out -"

"Butt out, Mikey!" Raph interrupted, making Mikey cut off and go silent. "This isn't one of your toys we're talking about."

"Raph's right," Donnie agreed. "It'll take weeks just to find the right parts - maybe months. You don't even know what to look for." Putting his hands to his head, he went back to his workshop. "This is going to take forever. I need that circuit breaker to power some stuff in my workshop. Geez!"

Irritated, Raph and Leo both stalked away, Leo to the training area and Raph to his room. Mikey hesitated, blinked, and heaved a sigh, collapsing on the couch and flipping on his Gameboy in defeated silence.

~

Later, it was finally dark out, and Mikey rushed to his room and grabbed his nunchuks in preparation to leave. He whipped up his iPod and stuck it in his waist strap, too - if he didn't have his brothers with him, he especially loved taking his music along. Peeking into the main part of the lair, he saw the other three - Raph watching TV, Leo in the kitchen area poking at his dinner with a fork, and Donnie at his workshop, as usual. They probably wouldn't care even if they did see him, Mikey figured, slinking out the entrance to the lair.

Time to go topside.



Racing out the nearest manhole, Mikey leaped up the buildingsides and, landing on the rooftop, launched into a full-out sprint. He laughed in exhilaration, pulling out his iPod. Wind in his face, the city lights lighting up the sky, unleashing his energy into the cool breeze and his favorite song in his ears - Mikey remembered again why night runs were one of his favorite pastimes.

After a few hours, Mikey went to his favorite rooftop - his secret spot even his brothers didn't know about - and settled down on the hidden ledge. It was a very old, very tall brick building on the shadier side of town, and Mikey could see a long way from the top. There was a small indentation, a little compartment in the side of the building that had a door going inside, with a small platform and iron rail guarding off the steep, 300-foot fall. It was kind of like a super-tiny, concrete porch. The door had a small ledge overhanging it, and Mikey loved to sit on the ledge and watch the city.

That's exactly where he was, swinging his feet and listening to his iPod, when he spotted the Foot ninja, way down on a rooftop below, converged in a hidden spot. Wondering what they were up to, Mikey started to make his way down, being extra careful not to be sensed.

Once he got close enough to the group of Foot ninja to hear, he realized Karai was with them. Hiding on the next building over in the shadows, he listened in on the conversation.

"...The turtles," she was saying. "If you have noticed, they have been uncharacteristically uncoordinated, as of late."

The Foot ninja looked at each other, mumbling.

"They are obviously not functioning as well. And with instability, comes vulnerability."

There was a hesitation, and some of the Foot ninja scratched their heads.

"They are weaker, you fools!" Karai hissed. "And with this dissension among them, we have our greatest opportunity as of yet." Karai smiled, and looked at the large squad of Foot ninja. "We will take this recent fallout as a chance to strike. With the data we've recently collected, our comrades the Kraang have completed a beta version of their Mutagen Tracker. Once we get a blood sample from one of the turtles, we should be able to find the rest of them with ease." She made a little smirk. "We will pick them off like flies."

"Like flies!" The Foot ninja proclaimed, scoffing and laughing at the idea of finally handing the turtles what they deserved. Mikey gasped, alarmed.

"We will watch and wait - it should not take long for one of the turtles to roam off, away from the others. Whomever first presents himself, strike ruthlessly and with full force - show no mercy. I want the streets running with his blood! We will take a sample and destroy him, and then lay traps for the rest. With the ability to track their movement, it will be a simple task. I want you to spear their heads and march them to the Shredder to hang as trophies! We will eliminate the green menaces!"

"Eliminate them!" The Foot ninja proclaimed with animal-like ferocity. Mikey watched the ninja go wild, shouting blood-thirsty threats more intense than anything Karai had said, hungrily anticipating the destruction of the "green menaces", and Karai standing over it all, an evil smile on her face. Shocked, and suddenly afraid of being there alone, he snuck back into the shadows and rushed for home.

He had to warn the others!

~

Arriving safely back at the base, Mikey hesitated before going inside. He paced back and forth, off to the side of the entrance, wondering what to do. He was still shivering, and felt nauseated.........he normally didn't think he'd be this shaken up, but he'd never heard the Foot plot to undermine his family in such a dark way, and right now, he was the only one who knew about it. It was already early in the morning, and everyone should be awake, Mikey thought with exhaustion. If they weren't planning on doing any night activity, the turtles generally slept at night and were more active during the day. He was going to have to tell them about what happened.

But SHOULD he tell them?

Of course, he had to do something to keep them out of danger, obviously. But if he simply told them Karai's plan, they'd just try to go stop her - which would just be handing themselves over on a silver platter, Mikey thought. They were tripping up and couldn't fight as well together, recently, and Karai was coordinating a full-force, no-mercy slaughter mission. As much as he hated to admit it, Karai was right - their incoordination was going to be their own downfall, if this kept up. So what, then? He had to do something to make sure they didn't split up, first and foremost - Karai and her ninja were waiting for them topside like hungry dogs.

Sighing, grabbing his arms to help with the shivering, Mikey turned to the entrance and went to walk inside. He'd have to do something about this, himself - he had to protect his brothers.

Walking inside, Leo immediately spotted him, and hurried over. "There you are," he said. "You look totally pale! Are you ok? Where were you? I never saw you go to bed. Did you just come back in from outside?"

"You look totally wiped out!" Raph said, also realizing Mikey was back. "What happened? You've got a look on your face like you just saw a box of puppies get run over."

"I-I'm ok," Mikey said. "I just went down to....check on that circuit breaker you guys were talking about yesterday." He said with a sigh. "I was wondering if there was anything I could do....."

"You sure?" Leo asked, unconvinced.

"That thing is totally blown," Donnie said, coming to join them. "I'm gonna have to replace it."

"That's right - heaven forbid it hold back his research for too long." Raph jeered, giving Donnie a sideways glare.

"You wanna get that bike part repaired?" Donnie retorted. "Then get off my shell."

"What'd you say, nerd-brain?" Raph asked, angrily facing Donnie.

"Guys -" Mikey started.

"Would you guys knock it off?" Leo hissed. "You're being a nuisance."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I upset the fearless leader?" Raph mocked. "Or are we just more trouble than it's worth for you?"

Sensing another fight coming, Mikey pushed Donnie out of the angry triangle and shoved in between Leo and Raph. "Would you stop fighting?" He said, holding them apart. "Look, it's nothing -"

"Darn right it's nothing," Raph scowled, and stormed off.

"Don't worry about him, Mikey," Leo sneered. "He's just being a short-tempered jerk." He turned on his heel and walked away, too, in the opposite direction of Raph. Mikey held his hand up after them, watching them walking away, wishing they would just come back and calm down a little, but not knowing what to say.

He turned to Donnie, who was watching the other two and shaking his head, a disdainful look on his face.

Gently trying to warm up to Donnie, Mikey made a careful, small smile and said, "...You know, Donnie, I can really help you out with that circuit breaker, if you want me to. Just tell me the parts you need and I'll -"

"Just drop it, Mikey." Donnie said, waving his hand at him and walking away with an irritable sigh. "I'll do it myself."

Standing there alone in the room, Mikey looked back in the direction of all his brothers, opened his mouth, closed it, and dropped his head. He trudged to his room and fell onto his bed, burying his head in his pillow and closing his eyes tight. He felt like he was gonna be sick.



Later that day, sometime in the evening, Mikey stumbled out of bed and, after a while, went out into the lair. He had tried his best to construct some kind of plan to stop Karai, but he was going to have to do something to make his brothers stay put. Looking around, he saw them again - looking more down than ever. Raph was on the couch again, gloomily flipping through the channels, but gave up and turned the TV off and just sat there, resting his head in his hand. Donnie tinkered once or twice with a couple small parts for a new circuit breaker, but after barely doing anything, sat back in his chair and sighed. Leo threw a few punches at the punching bag, and let it swing - it seemed like the only reason he was punching it was to watch it swing back and forth. And with Master Splinter meditating in a separate room, the whole main part of the lair just had a somewhat depressingly hopeless atmosphere.

Mikey sighed, and went to the kitchen to grab a snack. He had to head off soon - like before, everyone else seemed too uninterested to notice, but he wondered if the total silence would cause them to realize he was leaving. He didn't feel particularly hungry - actually, his stomach was filled with butterflies and the anxiety made him a little sick to think of eating. But he had to get at least a little energy before he went...

Suddenly, surprising everyone, Raph jumped up off the couch and shouted, "You know what? This is stupid!" And he kicked the chair beside him.

"What's gotten into YOU?" Donnie asked, grimacing.

"Everything!" He twirled around and grabbed the hilt of both his sais. "I'm gonna take a run. You babies have fun sitting around here."

A lump stuck in Mikey's throat and he choked on the crackers he was trying to eat. He scrambled to choke the food down and say something to stop Raph, but Leo beat him to it.

"Oh no you don't," he said, walking to Raph. "You can't go out right now. It's not completely dark yet."

"Heck to that!" Raph said, walking around him.

"Would you stop being so immature?" Leo said, pulling him back. "Don't be stupid. If you're so antsy, go train or something."

"Wouldn't make a lot of difference," Raph said, yanking his wrist from Leo's hand and cocking his head in a sneer. "Our fighting would still suck rotten pigfeed!"

"What are you even going on about?" Donnie asked, joining in. "If our fighting sucks, it's YOUR fault."

"MY fault?!" Raph asked, whirring to face Donnie full-on.

"Yeah, YOUR fault!" Donnie said, sticking his finger in Raph's face. "Your hot-headed stubbornness just gets in our way! You're right about one thing, though - not an ounce of training will fix YOUR problem!"

"Oh, well EXCUSE me, Mr. All-High-And-Mighty!" Raph said, smacking Donnie's hand aside. "And I suppose if we just all obeyed your law and did everything the way you ordained, the world would just be a peachy place! The universe doesn't revolve around you, you know!"

"Would you two stick a sock in it?" Leo ordered, pushing the two away from each other. "You're acting like pests. Go amuse yourselves if you're all so sorely restless!"

"Don't you get snooty with me!" Raph said, shoving Leo so he stumbled back. "Maybe I WOULD, Sir Perfection, if you'd GET OUTTA MY WAY!"

"You asking for a fight? 'Cause I'll give you one!" Leo threw back, clenching his fists. Raph started to draw his sais, Leo's hands went to his katana hilts, and Donnie whirled his bo.

"STOP!!"

Everyone's hot blood seemed to freeze. After an awkward minute, the three of them looked at Mikey. The seriousness and the fear in his voice surprised everyone, including himself, and he held a fist over his mouth. Shivering a little, Mikey swallowed dryly and forced himself to ignore the fact that he was on the verge of tears. Taking a breath to make sure he had his voice under control, he said, "Listen...I...I know things have been kind of - different, lately, but we can't just keep fighting like this," he used his hands for emphasis. "We're coming apart at the seams. Look at us. We're drawing our weapons on each other now - with serious plans to use them."

The three of them looked at each other, then at the ground.

"What's going on, guys?" He asked, earnestly searching their faces for answers, but not seeing any. "Why can't we get along anymore? What happened?"

After a moment, Raph turned, twirling his sais and re-sheathing them, walking away to his room. "I don't know," he said. "But I'm not sure I wanna."

Donnie, following his lead, shook his head and walked off to his own room, slamming his door shut. Two of his brothers gone, Mikey looked back at Leo with wide eyes, crushed, as if asking what he was gonna do.

Leo sighed and closed his eyes, and turned his back, as well, and walked off to his own room. Mikey stood in the center of the lair for a few seconds, and the sudden silence and emptiness shrouded over him.

A tear let loose and hit the floor, and Mikey stepped on it, walking away and biting back the rest. He couldn't let this stop him now. He had to save his brothers - no matter what.

~

Leo closed the door, slid down the back of it, and put his head in his hands with a heavy, exhausted sigh. After sitting like that for a little while, he started going back over everything that had happened in his head. What DID just happen? A big, stupid fight that got way out of hand, Leo thought. And he hadn't exactly done anything to help the situation. But his brothers were just so stubborn.....Leo shook his head. He didn't know what to do about it, or what to think. Right now, he just wanted to take a nap and forget about it for a little while.

But - blip!

His Tphone made a sound. New text message. Grudgingly digging it out of a little pocket in his waist strap, he checked to see who it was.

Mikey?

He opened it up, wondering, and read:

"Come to old sewer spot"

He knew what Mikey was referring to - they all called it that. There was a certain spot in the sewers he and the others played in all the time, when they were growing up. They had a lot of memories there...

The second line, however, make Leo's heart suddenly drop into his stomach.

"It's an emergency. Please hurry"

~