Work Text:
Day 3
set up for failure | fingerprints | wrongfully arrested | "i warned you" + alternative prompt: used as bait
Despite it having been some five-odd years since Karai took control of the Foot Clan, Mikey still felt a certain sense of wrongness when walking through the Foot Headquarters.
Maybe it was just the fact that it was a cathedral, and every piece of media he ever consumed showed them as being some form of otherworldly places. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t used to walking freely around large groups of humans, let alone large groups of Foot ninja.
Maybe it was the fact that a few of those ninja glanced at him with contempt, eyes narrowed as they tracked his movements.
He swallowed after feeling the fifth pair of eyes on his shell that evening, and fought down the urge to huddle closer to his brothers. “So, what do you guys think Karai wants?” He asked, trying to distract himself.
“Maybe our help to stop another attempt at insurrection?” Raph replied dryly, silently telling Mikey he wasn’t the only one who felt the unwelcoming gazes. He allowed himself a relieved smile.
“Actually, I think it has something to do with the increased mutant activity we’ve had lately,” Donnie said, glancing at his shorter brothers. “Remember the mutant venus plant we had to fight?”
“How couldn’t I? It tried to eat Fearless over here,” Raph snickered, jerking a thumb at Leo.
The leader rolled his eyes. “It just tried to bite me, Raph. It couldn’t eat me, it was like, this high!” Leo put his hand a bit higher than his knee. “I was too tall for it. You or Mikey, however…”
“HEY!” The two growled at the same time. But while Mikey was content with just pouting, Raph jumped at Leo, starting an improv brawl between the two of them.
Donnie crossed his arms, shaking his head at his older brothers. “Typical.”
Mikey still felt eyes on him.
He chuckled uneasily. “Yeah…”
He stared at the fighting forms of his brothers for a while longer.
It felt like the more the squabble went on, the harder those eyes burned into him, marking him as something other.
Marking him as a threat.
He opened his mouth to ask Donnie if he felt it too, when a figure dropped from the ceiling, light as a feather.
Mikey yelled (he was sure he heard Donnie yell too, even if later the brainiac would try to deny it), and reached for his nunchunks, posture falling into a battle ready stance.
But then, the figure chuckled, standing up straight into the candlelight that illuminated the hallway. “Aw, is that any way to treat your sister? I thought we were past that—”
“Karai!” Mikey dropped his nunchunks, rushing into an hug with his sister. She received him, awkwardly yet calmly.
He heard a sigh. “You’re lucky I didn’t stab you.”
“Hello to you too, Leonardo,” she replied lightly.
“I thought you would wait for us at the throne room,” Donnie questioned her, while Mikey stepped back from the hug, still smiling hugely at Karai.
She shrugged. “I was getting tired of waiting.” She crooked at eyebrow at them. “You turtles were too slow.”
“Watch it, sister,” Raph replied, voice dripping aggressive sarcasm.
“What is this about, Karai?” Leo asked, stepping closer to her.
“Straight to the point like always, Leonardo,” she said with a light grin. Not a second later, her face fell into a more serious expression. “You guys remember that new building that’s been under construction for—?”
“—Seven years, five months, and six weeks,” Donnie completed easily, under his brothers confused glares. “I’m aware of it.”
Karai nodded. “That one. My Foot ninja have reported sightings of a mutant around the area.” She frowned, “A big one.”
“Uh, how big we talking?” Mikey asked, smiling nervously.
“They said around ten feet.” She replied with a straight face.
“Oh… cool…” Mikey said, hiding into his shell slightly.
“It’s only been seen around that particular area, and was never reported to be aggressive,” Karai continued. Mikey breathed out with relief, and noticed how his brothers seemed to relax a little. “We’re not sure of its mental state, so we were wondering—”
“If we could go and tell you if it’s a crazy one or not?” Raph huffed. “Why don’t you and your ninja go check yourselves?”
“Because my ninja don’t have much experience fighting giant mutants, and don’t have shells to hide into if things go wrong.” She replied, matter-of-fact. “As for me…” She sighed. “You know I can lose control in my mutant form. I’ll rather not risk it. I’ll ask Shinigami, but she’s in Japan.”
“And April is in college, so we’re all out of mind readers to help,” Donnie added, crossing his arms. “I guess we really are the only option, here.”
Leo sighed, “It seems so.” He turned to Karai, “Got any plans?”
“Not really, I wanted it to check if Fearless leader was free to help first or not,” she replied with a cocky grin, while Raph muttered under his breath how that was his nickname for Leo. “I will say, my Foot ninja did a general sweep of the place before finding out about the mutant, and they assured me the place was solidly built, despite being unfinished.”
“So that’s one less thing to worry about,” Leo turned to his brothers. “Okay guys, the plan is—”
“I’ll tell you what the plan is!” Mikey interrupted. He waited a second for dramatic effect—under his siblings’ confused looks—before continuing, “I’ll wait there for our mutant friend to show up, and then I’ll go up to them, say hi, maybe offer them a pizza. If they accept, they’re chill, if not, well they’re a monster and I’ll call you guys for back-up.”
He finished his—in his opinion—very detailed and logical plan, turning to his siblings for feedback.
They all looked at him with varying degrees of bemusement.
Finally, Raph spoke. “Is that your great idea for a plan? Did you forget that our ‘mutant friend’ is ten feet tall?”
“And did you forget you’re talking with Michelangelo, world-famous friend-maker of giant mutants?” Mikey shot back, smiling smugly as he pointed at himself with both hands.
“Y’know, he does seem to have a calming effect on certain mutants,” Donnie observed, completely disregarding Raph’s exasperated look.
“It’s all part of the Mikey charm,” The youngest boosted.
“Look, Mikey…” Leo started, fixing him with a concerned look. “That’s all good and fine if the mutant turns out to be friendly, but what if it isn’t? What if it attacks you, or—?”
“Oh, now you’re concerned? After all the times you used me as bait?” Mikey asked, shutting Leo up. “I’ll be fine, I can run like, super fast for a super long time, and—”
“And you can be bait again.” Karai said, seemingly considering it.
“Wait, what?” Raph turned to her.
Karai ignored him. “There’s an open area near the construction site my ninja have been using to keep watch. Mikey,” She approached the turtle in orange, “if the mutant can’t be reasoned with, I want you to lead it there, and we’ll handle it.”
“Wait—seriously?” Leo asked, unbelieving, while Mikey cheered silently. “Karai, are you seriously saying we should go with Mikey’s plan?”
“It’s perfectly solid, and besides, I’m not saying we should go for his plan.” She stood right next to him, smiling brightly. “I’m saying we will.”
“What?! But—”
“No ‘buts’, Leo!” Mikey cut him off, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on his face. “Karai’s the oldest, and what the oldest says, goes!”
Leo blinked at him, before slumping in defeat and nodding.
Snickering, Mikey raised a fist in Karai’s direction.
She bumped it.
“How’s it looking over there, Mikey?”
Mikey leaned into the small mic and earbud, hiding under his brightly colored mask. “No signs of the mutant yet. Over!”
A sigh was heard from the other end of the line. “You don’t have to say ‘over’ every single time you talk to us.” Donnie informed him.
He was alone, so he allowed himself a mischievous smile. “Copy that. Over!”
Donnie groaned.
He chuckled silently, before abruptly shutting up.
He saw something shift in the beams a few feet away from him, a shadow that moved ever so slightly in his direction.
His whole demeanor changed. He stood up straight, trying to keep his posture relaxed enough to not look like a threat, but alert enough to run or attack if need be. “Guys, I think I see the mutant. Keep it cool.” He ordered, a rare serious tone to his voice.
Then, he took a deep breath, putting on his nicest, sweetest smile on. “Uh, hey there! Is there any lonely mutant in this building who could use a totally awesome friend?” He asked, moving slowly but surely in the direction of the beams the mutant was hiding in.
This time, the shadows definitely moved.
He swallowed down his fear. “Cuz like, if there is, I’m more than happy to offer that dude a pizza, all on me!”
He heard a growl.
He chuckled awkwardly. “Or like, I could leave them alone! If they don’t…”
The figure came out into the light.
“…Like…”
It stared down at Michelangelo, two beady, shiny eyes fixated in on him.
“…Company.”
Mikey took them in. They looked even taller than the ten feet Karai described, although that might be just their wiry figure messing with him.
It was so thin, a single tube of silvery flesh making up their elongated torso, never widening to make space for a proper chest or internal organs. Their arms and legs were both equally long, unraveling at their ends like exposed cables, giving space for six sharp, claw like fingers.
It’s face was mostly covered by long, dark, oily hair, the only thing visibly being their eyes, shining with an ethereal, white light.
Mikey gulped. “Or… maybe they’d like a hug?” He offered, nervously.
The creature roared, opening a maw with several rows of sharp teeth, dark saliva spitting out of its mouth with the force of it.
Some fell on Mikey.
“Noted,” he dully said, before running.
The creature, of course, followed him.
“Guys!” Mikey cried into the mic, avoiding slashes and bites. “They’re not friendly, they’re definitely not friendly!” He jumped to dodge a bite that got a little too close to his heels. “And they’re very violent!”
“What?!” Karai cried out. “But my ninjas assured me that—”
“Who cares what your ninja said!” Raph snapped.
Leo took over. “Mikey! Bring it over to us!”
“Copy!” Mikey replied. Throwing his arms back and his body forward, he gained speed, his eyes going white as he focused on the task at hand.
He kept avoiding the mutant’s attacks, his movements zigzagging as he did so.
He focused on keeping his breathing steady. He had this, it was just another turn left and—
The creature jumped over him.
It stood at where he was heading, snapping its jaws in anticipation.
Mikey skidded to a stop, nearly tripping.
The mutant raised its hand.
It barely caught Mikey’s shells, scraping ineffectually against it as Mikey turned and ran the other direction.
Mikey panted. “Guys! It cut me off!”
“’Cut you off’?!” Donnie repeated. “What do you mean it ‘cut you off’?!”
“I’m taking a detour!” He said as a reply, already looking around for another path…
There. A few, carelessly left materials made something like a staircase into a higher floor of the unfinished building. Decidedly, he made his way there.
He jumped, from a pile of wooden planks to precariously stacked paint buckets to bags of dried cement, until his feet touched the rough, unfinished wood of the building’s floor. He ran across it, putting distance between him and the mutant—
It roared, and Mikey made the mistake of looking back.
He saw it mid jump, limbs extended like a spider.
It made eye contact with him.
It landed.
The whole floor shook.
Mikey quit looking at it. “Karai! Your ninja said the building was cool to walk on, right?”
“They did, yes,” she replied readily. “You should have no trouble going through it.”
“Okay,” Mikey sighed in relief. “That’s good to kno—”
One of the wooden planks beneath him gave away.
He screamed.
Looked down, at his now stuck leg.
Looked back, at the rapidly approaching mutant.
Tried to free himself.
Failed.
“Guys!” He shouted, fear beginning to bleed into his voice. “I’m stuck!”
“Stuck?!”
“The floor broke, and my leg’s stuck, and I—” He pulled at his leg, with no result. “I can’t get out!”
“Mikey, is okay!” Leo tried to soothe. By how breathless his voice sounded, he was already on his way. “Just hang in there, we’ll be with you soon!”
Mikey looked at the monster, getting closer, closer, closer— “That’s cool and all, but I think Wireframe is gonna beat you to it!”
“Who’s Wireframe— Oh my god,” Raph groaned. “Mikey, you named it already?!”
“It’s how I cope, okay—” Mikey cut himself off with a yell, seeing Wireframe jump the remaining distance to him. “It beat you already!”
“What?!”
“Mikey?!”
He didn’t reply.
He tried, one more time, to free his leg.
When that didn’t work, he hid his remaining limbs into his shell, and braced himself.
He felt the impact through the shell, like an echo.
He heard the wood finish breaking.
He felt himself plummeting.
He tucked his injured leg in before he hit the next floor.
He went through one more floor before hitting solid ground.
He felt vibrations travel against his entire body, his teeth clattering.
He groaned.
He felt his siblings’ voices from a distance away.
“Mikey?!”
“MICHELANGELO!”
He popped out of his shell, ignoring all the aches he had.
The earbud and mic were a distance away, apparently having dislodged from his mask at one point during his fall.
He reached for them.
He heard a roar above him.
He looked up.
Wireframe was staring down at him through the holes on in the wood.
It jumped down.
Mikey back away.
It landed.
For a few seconds, Mikey didn’t dare to breath.
He stood completely still, pupils reduced to pinpricks as he stared at Wireframe.
He didn’t even blink.
Wireframe didn’t move.
He gasped. Began breathing.
It didn’t move.
He blinked.
Nothing.
He exhaled heavily. “Hey… Wireframe…” The mutant kept staring at him. “Uh… maybe we got off in the wrong foot?” Mikey tried, awkwardly.
Wireframe tilted their head.
Mikey stood, slowly. “Look… it’s cool, just… stop attacking me, or anyone,” he hastily added, “and me and my siblings will help you, okay?”
He raised both hands, fingers outstretched to show himself as not a threat, and began approaching.
Wireframe blinked at him.
He got closer.
Extended his right arm.
Gently petted Wireframe’s oily hair.
Smiled with relief.
“See, I knew you were good—”
Something shined in its eyes.
Something dark.
Before he could react, Wireframe...
...Moved.
It bit into his arm faster than Mikey could move.
His pained shout broke the night.
“WIREFRAME! NO! LET GO!”
It didn’t.
It threw Mikey to the ground, biting deeper into his flesh, claws scratching against his plastron.
Mikey tried to kick it away.
Punch it.
Use his nunchunks to make it go away.
Nothing worked.
Wireframe keep biting and munching at his arm, blood splattering against the ground, the creature’s face, himself.
His vision began darkening around the edges.
The pain was all he could think about.
He chirped, pathetically.
…
He heard a hiss.
And then a shout.
“LET GO OF MY BROTHER!”
He felt Wireframe being torn away from him.
Felt how it took a bunch of meat with it.
He could only chirp. He didn’t have strength for anything else.
“No… oh no no no no no, Mikey…”
He opened his eyes slightly.
Saw a blur of green and purple approach him.
Closed his eyes again.
He was tired, so tired, and in so much pain.
“No… No, Mikey, c’mon, open your eyes, stay with us—”
“Please”
He woke up much later, if the dryness in his mouth was anything to go by.
He scrunched up his face. Trying to open his eyes, he was meet with a bright light that made them tear up.
“Mikey?”
He blinked heavily, sluggish.
He turned.
His brothers were all on his left, staring at him expectantly.
After a few seconds, he smiled at them. “Hey, bros…”
“Mikey!”
All of them rushed him into a hug, warm and familiar and desperate. Mikey giggled a bit at being jostled, and hugged them back…
…With his left arm.
His right felt heavy. Immobile.
He turned to it, finding the entire length of his arm covered in heavy, unwieldy bandages.
“You’re lucky, y’know,” Donnie spoke up. Mikey turned to him, finding an grim expression on his face. “Just a bit more and we wouldn’t have been able to save it.”
He contained a shudder. “That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea,” Raph replied, face stern. Then, his expression softened, and he threw an arm around Mikey’s shoulder, unbelievable gentle. “I’m glad you’re okay, little brother.”
Mikey smiled, before looking at Donnie. “I… will be okay, right?”
“I mean, you’ll have some very deep scars, and we’ll have to do physical therapy, but yes,” Donnie smiled at him. “You will be alright.”
“And you don’t have to worry about Wireframe, either.” Leo said, placing a hand on Mikey’s head. “We were able to contain him, and Donnie is working on a dose of retro-mutagen for him.”
Mikey sighed. “Okay, that’s good to know.”
He looked warmly at his brothers. Allowed himself to bask in the feeling of safety being near them brought.
And then, he opened his mouth. “So, can I have a drink? And something to eat? I’m starving.”
His brothers chuckled at him, good-naturedly. “Sure,” Leo said, standing, “let me go and—”
“Don’t worry, I got it.”
Mikey’s spirits lifted even more upon hearing that voice. “Karai, sis!”
Karai smiled at him. “Michelangelo,” she greeted. She was carrying a tray with a bowl and a water bottle, which she promptly left on Mikey’s lap. “Here you go.”
He smiled down at his meal, taking in the smell of what appeared to be miso soup. “Awesome, thanks Karai!” He picked up a spoon.
“You’re welcome. And…” Mikey halted his movements, looking at his sister. She looked… remorseful. “I’m… sorry, about all this. It wouldn’t have happened if I dealt with it myself.”
“Karai…” Mikey said, softly. “It wasn’t your fault—”
“It really wasn’t,” Raph interrupted. “You didn’t know those guys were trying to double cross you.”
Mikey’s face tightened in confusion. “Wait, wha…”
Leo cleared his throat. Mikey turned to him. “We… found out that there was a faction of the Foot ninja that really didn’t like us,” he explained. “Even going as far as giving Karai false information about the mutant’s mannerisms and the state of the building.”
“…O-kay, so…” Mikey looked at his siblings with a raised brow. “We were set up?”
“Basically, yeah,” Donnie nodded.
“They even went as far as mutating the poor man,” Karai said, clearly agitated. “He was just a guy working on the construction before they… did that.”
“O-oh…” Mikey dropped his head, looking at the soup.
Suddenly, there was a weight in his stomach that would make eating so much more difficult.
Karai sighed, “But… don’t worry about it.” She stood, gentle patting Mikey’s head once. “Were working to fix this, he’ll be alright in no time… and so will you.”
Mikey looked up, catching one of Karai’s warmest smile.
She turned around, making her way to the door.
“W-wait!” Mikey called out. She stopped, not turning back. “Uh… what happened to the dudes that did all this?” He asked.
He needed to know.
He saw Karai’s body tense.
When she spoke, her voice was artificially calm.
“Don’t worry about it, little brother.”
She turned, and for a fraction of a second, Mikey swore he saw slitted, green eyes in place of her golden ones.
“I took care of it.”