The Sewer Twins [PAUSED]

Chapter 14 - Compensation

Mikey looks at the clock, it's two hours past their curfew, Raph's not back yet, April too, none of the two are picking up his calls or answering his messages, this is not normal for them, Mikey is getting more and more worried, Casey is starting to show concern too, two of his three best friends are missing, that can't be good, Mikey assumes the worst, thinking his brother is dead or in some extreme danger, and despite of Casey's attempts to calm him down, Michelangelo just doesn't seem to budge, grabbing the boy by the arm and running off with him, he was so strong and fast that Casey felt like a rag doll being carried away, Mikey didn't really had a plan, he just wanted to find his big brother, he wanted to be there for him in case something terrible is happening to him, he can't just sit around and do nothing.

Mikey throws Casey over his shoulder and climbs up to a rooftop to start searching for Raph, jumping from building to building without a single worry for his life or safety, Casey was dizzy already, almost passing out from motion sickness, but Mikey didn't stop for a moment, until Casey accidentally threw up, which stopped Mikey on his tracks and convinced him to take a break.... kind of... it didn't took a single minute before Michelangelo took off again, leaving Casey behind for a moment while he recovered his strength, Mikey was reaching his breaking point at this point, he was tiring himself out and the anxiety only kept on growing, his exhausted mind was getting paranoid, thinking about all the things that could have happened to his brother and April.

Mikey manages to find his way to April's apartment building, just to find his brother and friend hanging out with the "villains", he was confused, had mixed feelings about what he was seeing, unsure of what to do, he was scared, he wanted to step in there and ask what's going on, but he also just wants to run away and hide, but what if they're in danger? What could he do to help? It was scary, what if he wasn't strong enough? They're armed and he's helplessly vulnerable, he had just recovered from a really bad injury and was not really good at fighting, besides, he had nothing to defend himself with, he looks around hoping to find something he can use as a weapon, but nothing seems so useful or promising.

That is, until he bumps his elbow on a flower vase that falls right by the side of the squad, startling them and bringing their attention to Michelangelo, who as soon as he's spotted, runs away as fast as he can for his dear life, Raphael immediately realizes what's going on and tries to run after his little brother, with April, Leo and Donnie following right after, which only scares Mikey even more as now, he thinks his brother and April have gotten brainwashed, believing they were probably gonna hurt him too, he's freaked out, thinking the people he loves are all after his head, the panic makes it hard to even think, Mikey instinctively returns to where Casey was to pick him up, which he does, Mikey grabs Casey by the hoodie and just carries him away frantically while trying to tell Casey what (he thinks) is going on, but all Casey can hear is gibberish blabbing from a guy that's scared out of his mind.

Casey sees the two new turtles chasing after them along with their friends, making him incredibly confused as to what is going on, but he decides to figure it out on his own, he convinces Mikey to let him down, saying that "he can run on his own" and Mikey just complies, but instead of running away from the apparent enemies, he runs right at them with his hockey bat in hands, ready to fight back, Michelangelo even tries to chase after him to get the punk back on the track, but the sight of all those people charging in is just too much for him to face and he ends up running off, leaving Casey on his own devices, praying he will be able to fend for himself, Casey swings his bat and prepares for a fight, the ninjas slow their pace, noticing the pose of combat the human was making, but as soon as the four stop running, Casey Jones lowers his weapon and speaks up.

⚫ - "Ok now, I don't know what is going on in here, but someone better give me a good explanation as to why Mikey just ran off like that! What did you guys do?"

🟡 - "Casey, listen we..."

🔴 - "It was a misunderstanding. We're sorting things out with these two ninja nutheads but I think Mikey got the wrong idea."

⚫ - "Ninja...?... Oh! Those two? Are these the same ninjas that attacked Mikey and April?"

🔴 - "You bet."

⚫ - "Well, no wonder Mikey seemed terrified."

Leo and Donnie just stood there awkwardly until they got the chance to speak up.

🔵 - "Uhhm... sorry about the mess... it's nice to meet you, mister....?"

⚫ - "The name's Casey Jones, but it's just Jones for you."

🟣 - "Rude..."

⚫ - "Says who?"

🟣 - "I'm Donatello, this is my older brother, Leonardo, and I don't like your attitude."

🟡 - "Guys! Can we just go check on Mikey before he has a mental breakdown?"

🔴 - "Gingerbread is right, the poor guy must be freaked out by now, while the three ladies over there get to know eachother, April and I are going to check on my brother, see ya later."

🔵 - "Wait up! We want to go too."

🔴 - "So Michelangelo can have a heart attack? In your dreams, loser."

🔵 - "Please, Raphael... I just wanna know my other brother too."

🔴 - "Urgh, ok... but with one condition."

🔵 - "I'm listening."

🔴 - "You're both putting your weapons away as soon as you set foot in our house, and you'll do whatever Mikey tells you to do if you want him to not run away from you again."

🔵 - "That's two..."

🔴 - "Any complaints?"

🔵 - "Uh, no! No... I'll do it."

🔴 - "The nerdy tower too."

🔵 - "Donnie? Alright, I promise to make sure he follows your demands."

🔴 - "I don't wanna hear any protests."

🔵 - "Understood."