Out of My Shell

Chapter 12: Hit the Floor

Chapter 12. Hit the Floor

"They've been gone for hours!" Mikey stressed. His feet squished on the floor as he walked by, pacing back and forth past the water wrecked furniture, his mind on his brothers.
They should be back by now. Why was he the only one freaking out?!
"It hasn't been hours," Leo amended calmly.
"You don't know, Leo! What if they got flushed? ...Like toilet fish!" He couldn't help his imagination from running wild with that image, his brothers caught in the vortex of a giant flushing toilet.
"...Think about it logically," Leo reasoned. "Who do you suppose it was that unlocked the main drain to flood the lair in the first place?"
Mikey thought about it, but once his mind was on a hysterical tangent, it was kind of hard to dial it back. And one particularly horrifying scenario came to mind. "The Squirrelenoids?!"
"What? No! Mikey, it wasn't the Squirrelnoids.... I'm pretty sure it was Donnie. He would come up with an idea like that...... and I'm sure Raph's with him." Leo looked over to Sensei, as though for a bit of reassurance that he could actually put faith into his own words.
Because the truth was, he was just as worried as Mikey. Their T-phones, as waterproof as they were, had not withstood the night's abuse. There was just no way to get a hold of them. Leo didn't even know where his phone was.
It was hard to tell where anything was anymore. The lair was completely devastated. Everything they owned was broken, slashed, soaked through. The television had been smeared into the kitchen. There were parts of the couch caught in the turnstiles...
It barely even resembled their home anymore. It was just... destroyed.
The fact that Raph and Donnie were gone in the midst of it all just put a knot in his stomach. It took every ounce of self control he had not to drop everything and search for them. But right now, they needed to stay together. The power was still out and there was no telling if danger still lurked in the sewers.
All they could do was wait.
Leo decided to go check the damage in his bedroom, if anything, just to keep his mind off things. He weaved his way through the soaked rubble, only stopping once when something gross squish-stuck to the bottom of his foot.
"Ugh. What?" he lifted his foot up and cringed in disgust.
He had somehow stepped in liquefied ham. "That is seven types of nasty," he muttered, trying to scrape it off.
"You're telling me," Mikey said. "If you go in the shower, there's a huge chunk of ham stuck to the ceiling. Don't know how it's stayin' up there, but it totally is."
Leo sighed and continued his trek. "It's going to take forever to clean this place—Woah."
Their eyes instantly went wide on the bedroom. His door was literately dangling by its hinges; his once perfectly made bed broken in half and blocking part of the door.
"...Dude. It looks like your bed was straight chewed up and spat back out by Cthulu."
"Yeah... great." Leonardo muttered, pushing his bed aside. It instantly fell apart in a heap and he stepped inside, sadly peeling his favorite Space Heroes comic from the floor. He glanced around the ruins.
His posters were gone. His candles. His history books on feudal Japan were scattered about, stained and illegible, the ceiling dripping ominously over them.
Nothing had survived, save for a few well-sealed comics and a couple of action figures. And it couldn't help but bring him a certain wave of sadness.
His little brother noticed his demeanor and kindly put an arm around his shoulder. "Hey. If my room isn't totally trashed, you can stay with me. We'll be roomies—if you want..."
Leo gave a small smile at the gesture. "...Thanks."
Mikey smiled. "No problem, bro."
And then they heard something. A crash. Coming from the gate.
"Agh..."
Donnie. That was Donnie's voice.
Leo bolted out of the room and there Raph and Donnie were, draped over the turnstiles, bruised, bloody and weak. But they were alive. Home. And safe. Leo leapt and dodged nimbly through the mess of the living room to meet them, Mikey and Sensei right behind, relief singing in their chests.
"Guys!"
Donnie raised his battle-worn eyes. "...Raph's hurt," he muttered.
"Yeah, you're both hurt," Leonardo quickly took Raph around the shoulders and gently pulled him in past the turnstiles. "Come on," he encouraged.
Raph growled in pain, but Leo was happy to hear it. And he carefully led him to a choice piece of their wrecked couch to set him down, Master Splinter on his other arm.
"What happened to you guys?!" Mikey gushed. "We thought you had gotten flushed or eaten by a giant toilet squid~"
"I never thought that," Leo corrected, his hands already busy with tending Raph's foot.
"We got... ambushed," Donnie mumbled. "Mutadroid got into th' mutagen. There w're bugs... bio... cyber... metrrrric... morphic..... T-They went..... topside..."
Leo's eyes widened.
Mikey looked over him worriedly, noticing how his words had started to slur. "...Dude, are you okay? You're makin' less sense than usual."
"Mmmfzaadf Raph, RAPH!" Suddenly his eyes snapped wide and he whipped his head over to Mikey. "MIKEY! ARE WE SAFE?!"
"...Um... yes?" Mikey cowered a little.
.....
A hollow smile touched his features. "Great." And with that parting word, his knees buckled beneath him and before Mikey could even brace his weight, Donnie had collapsed dead weight to the floor.
"Donatello!" Master Splinter started and Leo and Mikey rushed to his side.
"Dude! Speak to us!"
Leo turned his face over, feeling his pulse. "He's unconscious!"
"He's fine," Raph interrupted calmly from his seat. "...He's asleep."
Leo and Mikey looked him over again. And they saw he was right. His chest rose and fell evenly beneath his shell. They could even hear the familiar sound of tiny snores.
"He hasn't slept in a few days," Raph continued numbly into the space. ".....And it's all my fault."
Leo and Mikey looked at each other, confused. "...Huh?"
Raphael quickly got up from his seat and gently lifted Donnie's limp form from the floor, hoisting him over his shoulder. "I'll take him to his room," he said.
"Raph, your foot..." Leo tried to object. His bandage was only half finished, but Raph didn't spare a thought over it, already halfway down to his door.
Leo and Mikey shared another puzzled glance. Suddenly Mikey's eyes grew large and he got up, scrambling after him quick. "WAIT!! RAPH!! DON'T OPEN THE--!"
But by the time Raph had heard, it was too late. His hand clasped the handle and with a firm tug, the door was yanked open.
WOOOSH!!!!
A wall of water came crashing down from the other side, the force knocking Raph backwards and sending Donnie sprawling halfway across the floor. Raph pulled himself up and watched as the last of the trapped water pooled past him, carrying off tools, flasks and broken glass until it left behind nothing but a hollow gutted space.
Mikey shook his head. "I told you not to open it..."
"NO, ya didn't!" he snapped.
Donnie shivered weakly from the cold floor, curling into himself even in sleep. Raphael quickly scooped him back into his arms and held him tightly to his chest. He had to get him somewhere warm to sleep before he caught fever.
Master Splinter bowed his head gravely. Their home was in such deep disrepair that it couldn't well accommodate them.
Normally in such circumstances, the five would take shelter under the kindness of the O'Neils and their friends. But right now, they were all exhausted and far too injured to make such a trip. Besides that, Donnie would have to be carried and there was probably still sunlight out around this time.
It would be uncomfortable to be sure, but they would have to make do here at least for the night.
"We will have to remain here," he told them. "We will rest now and start repairs in the morning."
"I checked the other rooms," Leo informed. "The only ones that have sort of survived are Raph's room and most of Mikey's. The Shellraiser and the garage are also fine, for the most part... The garage is up for debate..."
Raph paused at that. "How is Mikey's room okay?"
How was that room not trashed the worst?
"It's because my ham statue saved the day!" Mikey boasted proudly. "He must have blocked out the water with his ham..."
". . . .That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"How about this," Leo posed. "I'll stay in Mikey's room... and Raph, you take Donnie to your room."
"NO!" Raph blurted out flat.
He instantly knew how it sounded. He'd rejected it too loudly, too quickly. He tried to amend. "...Um... I mean... don'tchya think he'd be more comfortable with Mikey?"
Now Leonardo gave him a look. Raph was behaving strangely. Usually they were always on the same wavelength with stuff like this...
"Um..."
Raph turned and playfully knocked Mikey in the shoulder. "Whaddaya say Mikey?! Take Donnie?"
Mikey blinked. "Ummm..." he started, "there's a bunch of ham..."
"Great! That's perfect!" Without another moment's hesitation, Raph had hoisted Donnie up and was already carrying him off, leaving his other brothers alone again to exchange confused glances.
--
Slosh... slish... slush...
The empty sounds rolled down from the walls, the puddles slapping against his feet.
Raph waited until he was far under the cover of station's eve before he allowed himself to cringe. The water stung fiercely in his wound and he internally cursed Mikey's room for being so difficult to get to.
Of all the rooms he could have chosen...
Raph looked down at the sleeping form sprawled dead weight in his arms and narrowed his eyes accusingly. "Why are you so heavy?" he demanded.
A light, fluttering snore came back in reply as Donnie continued to snooze away against his chest, sleep-muttering some uninspired nonsense about quantifying algorithms.
Raph just stared at him. "...Can't even turn off the Nerd for sleep, huh?"
"Hm," Donnie hummed to himself and a peaceful smile spread over his features.
So Raph pushed off from the wall and continued his trek through the long puddles, rounding the corner until he reached the stuck wooden door and after a bit of effort, finally succeeded in kicking it open.
But what he found was far from welcoming.
"Auhh!"
Raph wished the room had been destroyed. It might have been an improvement!
Random puddles spread over the floor. Slabs of ham and aluminum cans littered the room in strange places. And on the side of the bed, perched atop the desk was a deformed, globbing mess of the congealed meat that had been abused and manipulated into what almost appeared to be a pink, half-eaten snowman.
"What the shell is that?"
...Oh, yeah. Mikey did say something about a ham statue awhile back.
Man, he really needed to have a talk with him about some of these disturbing hobbies of his. It almost felt like it was staring him.
He almost felt bad for leaving Donnie there, but it was the only real option. After all the recent awkwardness, the last thing anybody needed was for Donnie to wake up with him alone in his bed. He knew Leo probably thought oddly of his behavior, but there was no alternate universe where that was going down.
At least the room didn't smell. Raph kicked a few cans aside and carried Donnie over to the bed. Feeling it was dry, he peeled the blankets back to maneuver him into the covers. But he stopped when he noticed a thread of wetness clung to his chest, tapering to the corner of Donnie's mouth.
"Ugh, what?" he gaped in disgust. "Did you drool on me?!"
Don smacked his lips and soundly continued to snore. Raph's eyes narrowed. "Ya know, you're lucky I don't clock ya. You pass out in the living room, make me carry you all the way here and now you..."
Another tiny sound of sleep snuffed his bravado. And there came that stupid fluttering in the pit of his stomach...
Carrying with it that air-borne loneliness and sickening shame.
Raphael turned on his wounded heel out of the room, swallowing it down and shutting the door behind him.
--
--
The next morning started out a rather quiet grind. Leo had long gone from Raph's room, being the early riser that he was and was already working alongside Master Splinter to tackle the mess head on. After changing his bandages again, Raph joined. And some time later Mikey, did too, even if he was dragging his feet all the way.
Donnie hadn't woken up yet, but they all figured he could use the extra sleep and left him alone.
There was so much that needed to be done. Sweeping, scrubbing, mopping... gathering all the broken pieces to their belongings...
So many things would have to be replaced. Mikey sniffled as he swept up all the parts of their ex-television into the garbage pile. Every wet, rattling piece sifted into the dustpan another pang in his heart. His chin warbled.
"I can't do it guys!" he finally whined, running his hands through the beloved parts. "I loved her so much! How will I go on?!"
"We'll just have to get another TV," Leo reasoned.
"Easy for you to say!" His mouth pulled to pouty frown. "...Spoon killer."
Leonardo paused from his sweeping. "Are you still going on about that?"
"Yes! Hard not to when I 'm cleaning up the corpses of his brothers...!"
"They're spoons Mikey!" Raph growled from the floor.
"You weren't... there!" Mikey pointed accusingly.
"Yeah!" he agreed. "Glad I wasn't."
He was, too. The story was idiotic. And he felt like he'd heard it at least fifty times already that morning.
Mikey picked up a slivered piece of wood from the floor and stared at it sadly. He knew each one by name. "Peter~" He picked up another. "...K-Kevin...?" The last one made his eyes water. "Doug!"
Raph threw down his scrubbing brush. "For the hundredth time..." he got in his face. "THEY'RE SPOONS MIKEY!!"
"YEAH?! Well...! Wait. We get a new TV?" The realization stopped him completely and just like that Mikey's big blue eyes were lit up like stars again, all previous sadness instantly forgotten.
Raph just stared at him for a moment. Did he seriously have an attention span of a gnat?
"LEO! We get a new TV! You said so, right? Right Sensei?" Mikey clamored up to his father.
Master Splinter nodded, though his voice was stern. "After we are finished cleaning up here, then yes. You four may venture out tonight to retrieve supplies, so long as you stay together and exercise extreme caution."
"Hai Sensei," Leo dutifully promised.
Raph grabbed his brush back up again to continue his scrubbing. "First thing we're gonna do is get you a new bed, Leo."
Leo chuckled. "What? Already tired with having me as a roommate?"
"Well, I wouldn't be, if you weren't such a cover hog. And bed hog.... Actually... you're just a hog," Raph grinned.
Leo shot him a snarky look and punched him in the arm. "Yeah well, you aren't exactly a walk in the park either. Do you know you sleep talk? You kept muttering some nonsense about Donnie all night..... and tacos."
"Sleep tacos are best tacos," Mikey replied sagely and he got up, his cardboard box of garbage now filled to the brim. He grunted with the hefty weight and carried it out past the turnstiles, so it could be disposed of later. He sat it down, his eyes happening across the old tracks to find more of their things had been swept out here as well.
"HEY GUYS! I think I found the kitchen!" He called back.
Leo and Raph went over to the turnstiles. And sure enough, there was the sink, the contents of the fridge, and the latter half of their microwave, all lying in plain sight.
"See what can be salvaged," Leo ordered. "I'll join you in a minute after I finish up with the living room."
Raph looked over at Leo, the word sparking an idea. "Hey. Didn't Casey say something a few days ago about trying to get rid of an old TV?"
Leo's eyes widened at the memory. "Yeah! ...Though I think April and Casey might still be in the middle of their exams..."
"No hurt in calling 'em later though, right? And who knows, Leatherhead might have some stuff like bandages..."
Leo agreed. That was a pretty good idea.
At that moment, Mikey squeezed his way back in through the turnstiles, his face alight and his arms full. "Hey guys! You won't believe what I found!"
They waited.
"...It's the can opener!" Mikey's smile broadened and he comically pulled the unassuming machine from the box, displaying it for all to see.
"...Wow," Leo nodded in surprise. "Not a scratch on it."
"Yep! And I guarantee it still works!"
"What, so we can have more ham tonight?" Raph asked sarcastically.
Every one of them shuddered down to their shells. Between the meals and all the ham they had been cleaning up all morning, nobody so much as wanted to look at a piece of ham ever again! Even Master Splinter was getting tired of it.
...Maybe ordering a pizza later wouldn't be so bad...
Nevertheless, Mikey took the can opener back to its home in the kitchen and plugged it in, rewarded to hear its quiet whir. "Ohh yeahhh~! Still works!"
"That's great," Leo smiled, though it fell slightly as he looked at it more carefully. "Huh... did it always look like that?"
Now that he thought about it, he could have sworn he remembered it being smaller and a bit more simple...
"Iunno." Mikey shrugged. And Leonardo chocked it up to his overactive imagination.
"Hey!" Raph interrupted. "While you guys were slackin' off I already finished cleanin' up the living room... so... I think I'm gonna go check on Don..."
Leo nodded. "Alright."
And with that he left; the two behind quiet as they watched him go.
"...He's been really worried about him..."
"Yeah I know," Mikey agreed. "He's been checkin' up on him more times than you."
Leo blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
--
It was quiet in here now. Peaceful, gentle and waiting. So much so he almost seemed out of place. His eyes took measure from the doorway. The soft, flickering glow of a paper lantern doused the room in a lone, sleepy light. And Don remained as he had, eyes closed and lost to the modern world.
It was funny. Raph normally hated this kind of silence. But all day this is where he'd wanted to be.
He knew Don's injuries weren't life threatening. But out there, it just felt a little too familiar. Like another one of those battles that left one of them beaten within an inch of their lives.
But in here Donnie was safe. Just sleeping. And his heart was a little more calm.
Raph pushed off from Mikey's desk and retrieved the chair from across the room, dragging it across the floor and setting it up haphazard-backwards by the bedside.
He figured if he was going to be the creepy guy watchin' him sleep, he may as well make himself comfortable. So he plopped down loudly and folded his arms over the top of the chair.
...But for some reason it wasn't comfortable. Actually, he felt kinda stupid.
A few moments went by, mocked by the nothing and the paper light and Raph awkwardly dismounted the chair, turning it around to sit normally across from his brother. Then he crossed his arms tight, watching that warm glow play across his face.
.....He sure had a lot of bruises. But then again Mutadroid did throw his shell around pretty hard out there.
. . . . .
Why was it like this?
His head was such a mess. It had been for a long time. Before any of this had ever started. And he didn't even know where it stemmed from.
Perhaps it was... everything. April and Casey, the mutants and other dimensions...
It wasn't like when they were kids anymore. They weren't just monsters forever condemned to the bottom of the sewer.
Now they were more like urban legends. There were people out there who believed in them... that knew that they existed, hiding in the shadows protecting New York.
The belief that humans would never accept them no longer held value. The belief that they were the only mutants didn't either. There were aliens, other dimensions; a whole life that they were allowed to be a part of.
From the first time they had gone topside at fifteen, their whole lives had been turned upside down. Full of adventure and opportunity. Including simple ones they never hoped to toy with in their wildest dreams.
Things like love. Women. Romance. Lust.
--Or maybe it was something more carnal. That loneliness Raph kept crushed away and never spoke to anyone about; it had been eroding him silently. Like acid. And it ached.
He felt sour. And lonely.
How Donnie had gotten into the mix, he wasn't sure... but...
He knew Donnie was sour too. Donnie ached like him, craved like him... tried to bury his loneliness away. He knew April and Casey were together. Everyone did. They had been together for years now, even if they didn't speak about it outright in front of him. And although he stopped making trinkets and music boxes in her honor, that yearning was still there.
To most it would seem Donnie had even moved on, but Raph knew better. His eyes still followed her in a room when he was sure no one was looking. And it annoyed him. It had always annoyed him.
Because she didn't deserve him.
He deserved someone who could appreciate his nerdiness and his kindness. Someone who made him feel just as wanted as he made others feel. Don was a good guy. He was strong and hard working... and he never gave up for anything.
He had so much love to give...
....So why couldn't he be the one?
Because they were brothers. They were like two points too close together going in the opposite direction, both waiting on a miracle that would never happen.
But if Raph was truly honest with himself, he wasn't so sure he'd ever really wanted that. Humans never struck him that way. He kept everyone at arm's length, his world small. And of everyone who had their place in his world, Donnie was there. Always. He was that dark horse, hidden in the background. The one with all the answers. With his graphs, and equations and those big brown beautiful eyes...
He wondered if there was a graph in there for him, an equation to fix him hidden somewhere in that head of his...
Suddenly Don stirred in his sleep and Raphael froze.
But it was short lived. He only nestled tighter into his pillow, his purple mask now pushed askew, sloppily matted to the side on his face.
Raph almost had to stifle a laugh. And all he thought was the word: 'Cute.'
He tried to shake it off, knowing the stupidity and danger in it. But as the quiet resettled and the tail ends of his mask fluttered back and forth on his breath, he couldn't think of another word for it.
.....Who was he trying to kid anyway?
Donnie was cute....... He was adorable, actually. Even with all that nerdish, incessant chatter. It was part of his charm. Anyone could see that! Plus, he was kind of a badass. Heck, he took all of those chainbugs down single handedly! On no sleep too. That was near grounds for making him a superhero!
And who did he think he was, anyway? Running around the lair, trippin' over himself with that stupid smile of his...
Raph knew he shouldn't be thinking like this. It was dangerous territory. That sick turn in his stomach warned so. But it was warm and it was honest.
Maybe he had thought of Donnie like that once or twice. Maybe all the things he said before held some merit. At some point, he had started listening to that incessant chatter, hanging on it, marveling at him, following him with his eyes...
The events threaded together down to that moment he had fixed his bandage... That split moment where he'd wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
And then Raph stopped. It plummeted all the way down to his gut and made him sick.
........He liked Don.
What he'd said before was true. The jokes, those displaced feelings... everything. His eyes went wide and he couldn't breathe.
What was he going to do?
All at once Raph got angry at his stupid self and he pulled himself together. The answer was obvious. Nothing was going to happen. He had said they would be normal and they were going to be normal. Obviously, he would have to get over this on his own. This was his problem to deal with. Don had nothing to do with it, wanted nothing to do with him...
And that's how it should be.
He was probably just cooped up. He'd just have to... go out and meet some girls or something... he'd get over it. Everything was going to be fine. He'd work this through.
It was then Donnie tossed a little again in his rest, and a name mumbled into the blankets, almost too quiet to hear.
"—Raph..."
Raph lowered his eyes. His hands clenched into hard fists but it didn't fight the flip in his chest.
....He would have to deal with this quick. And hope he hadn't permanently ruined his relationship with him as his brother.
-
Mikey pressed his ear against his bedroom door, to straining for what he could hear. Raph had been gone for a super long time. Like, crazy long. And it wasn't like there was anything wrong with that, he was just sort of bored of cleaning and wanted to just check-up on him.
It seemed like Raph could use a break. He seemed a little off lately... or bored... or tense. Or something like that. He just hoped he wasn't interrupting anything.
But after a few moments being unable to hear anything, Mikey cocked his head to the side and cracked the door open to peek inside. And there he was, just sitting by his bedside lost in thought, watching Donnie sleep.
It was like he hadn't even noticed him. He opened the door a bit wider, stepping inside. "Hey Raph?"
Raph started at the whisper and looked over, his face hot.
"Dude. Chill." Mikey hushed. He tip-toed over and plopped down on the floor beside him, pulling out a bag of chips from out of nowhere. The bag rattled loud in his hand and Raph snatched away, now glaring daggers at him.
Who wanted who to be quiet?!
Mikey snickered to himself. At least Raph was a little more like his old self again and he looked over at Don. ".....You know he's goin' to be okay, right? He's just sleeping..."
"Yeah, I know."
"Well then loosen up," he encouraged kindly. "...Whatever happened with you guys, I'm sure will be totally fine once he wakes up..... Take a break or somethin'. Get something to eat. Take a shower..."
Raph momentarily wondered how Mikey knew something had happened, but as the words settled in he felt a little more at ease. "...Yeah..."
"No seriously dude." He sniffed the air around him and wrinkled his nose. "Take a shower. No offense but you're so rank right now I can't see straight~"
Raph blinked and took a self-conscious whiff under his arm and cringed. "Eesh."
Okay, a shower was definitely in order.
Mikey put a hand on his shoulder. "And hey. I'll totally keep an eye on him. I'll even let you know if he wakes up."
Raph smiled. "Thanks Mikey."
"No prob."
And with that Raph got up and headed off to the showers. Now by himself, Mikey grabbed his handheld on the table and he took it down, his eyes instantly narrowing in on the LED screen.
Level 42. His mortal enemy.
In nearly no time at all he was lost in the game, desperately dodging and weaving through enemy rays, techni-colored lasers dancing across his freckled face, his tongue bit in concentration.
He couldn't lose again. Not this time. Even if this took hours... days... he would win!
But his character was trapped in a corner, staring at the boss of all bosses! And a quarter health left! He was doomed~!
Mikey's eyes narrowed hard with determination. Defeat was not an option.
"It's Go Time," he muttered.
And he charged forward, his thumbs moving quick.
Right... Left... Duck... Jump Attack... Come onnnn... if he could just get that combo...
He hardly heard the sound.
"Hnngh Mm..... M-Mikey?"
"Quiet, D. I've got this." All at once Mikey blinked and his eyes leapt up from the screen in surprise.
Don was awake.