Stronger

Chapter Five

   "Mikey, you and I are fighting today," Raph said during breakfast.

   He grinned at his oldest brother. "Great! Leo, what are we doing after?"

   "I don't know," Leo said thoughtfully. "Hang around until night? Then go on patrol? Same as yesterday, I guess. Why?"

   "I was just wondering if I could go out for today."

   Donnie's head jerked up. "To where? And when?"

   "Well, I wanted to walk around the city after training," he answered slowly.

   "Bad idea," Leo said harshly. "Knowing you, you would find a way to attract attention to yourself. I would not even let Donnie go."

   "Hey!"

   "And he is the smartest," Leo said, ignoring Don. "So, no, you may not."

   "Ugh, fine," Mikey grumbled, leaning his arm against the counter. "It just gets boring around here."

   "We could train extra," Leo offered.

   Mikey paused, thinking. The man last night had said he was weak. Why not show him he was wrong by getting stronger? So he nodded. "I'd like that."

   His brothers gasped. "That's a first!" Raph declared.

   "Well, I would rather practice more than sit in my room the entire day."

   His siblings looked at each other and tensed up. "That actually sounds like a great idea," Don said.

   Mikey smiled wanly and placed his dishes in the sink. "I'll be in the Dojo if anybody wants me," he said, walking away.

   As he slipped through the doors, he made sure to leave it open slightly. A few seconds later, he could hear his brothers talking.

   "Donnie, can you check on Mikey after he is done training?" Leo asked. "Something is up with him."

   "That bozo probably finally figured out that he's too weak to carry his own in a battle, which showed yesterday," Raph scoffed.

   "He has a thick head," Leo shot. "I doubt that the thought ever entered into his head. The fact that he would rather workout than play video games is a huge fed flag."

   "Not that he would have been able to concentrate on his games anyway, thanks to us," Donnie grumbled. "But sure, I will check him out."

   "Hey, this is your fault, Don--"

   "Not again!" Mikey flinched at the rage in his brother's voice, and backed away from the door. "I did NOT touch him!"

   "Something that is dangerous should never be in your lab, Don!" Leo said sternly. "You know Mikey likes to go in there to see what you are working on now."

   "I read a lot of papers on the thing. Mostly everybody was perfectly fine, even the sick ones that were tested! How should I have known that Mikey would react to it when he is a literal picture of health? I tried to find a relation to everybody who got zapped by it, but there was none!"

   Mikey grabbed his nunchucks and started to spin them without really thinking. His brothers started arguing again, but the whirr of the handles slicing through the air muffled their words together. It calmed him down a little and he took a breath, before lashing out at a nearby wall. On it was a button that Donnie had installed a few years ago. When clicked, it would release a robot that they had to win in a battle in order to get out of the Dojo.

   When he clicked it, the door to the Dojo closed and a metal door slid over it. Mikey had to take several breaths to remind himself that he was not caged in forever. Then, a piece of the wall popped open and a silver robot taller than Mikey, like everything was, walked into the room, surveying everything. When its blue eyes found him, they blinked and it took up a fighting stance. A whirring sound filled the room while two katanas protruded from its wrists.