#dismantled

Leo was drowning.

He was no Raph, but he was finally beginning to understand why he went savage when separated from his brothers. 

He had never been so desperate. 

As much as they wanted it to, their current method of knocking down every door in New York just wasn’t working. They needed resources. The problem was that the only one that could probably find Donnie was (you guessed it) Donnie himself. 

But where else could they possibly turn? It’s not like they had any other super geniuses on hand. Or even someone with enough resources to make up for it.

Unless… no. That never went well. 

But there was someone that he knew would have resources like that. Resources that would get Donnie home to them that much quicker.

But god, it was risky. And the others would never agree. Or maybe they would. Would they? What if he brought it up and he was shut down? 

Would it be worth it to just… keep it a little bit of a secret? It was always better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission, in his experience, but… this was a whole other thing. This wasn’t stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. This was a dangerous secret mission that could land him in some seriously hot water.

No. He didn’t care what he had to give up in exchange. He didn’t care what the price would be. Whatever it was, he would pay it and it would be worth it. His family would get over it, if it let them find Donnie alive.

He’d made up his mind. He was going to pay a little visit to the Hidden City’s favorite crime lord.

------

With his ōdachi on hand, sneaking out wasn’t the hard part. That would be everything that came after he landed in a heap on the floor of Big Mama’s office. 

If she was surprised at his rough entrance, she didn’t show it. She didn’t even look at him at first, reading over some papers in her gross spider claws. Did spiders have claws? Wait, that didn’t matter.

He opened his mouth to explain himself, but before he could get a single word out, she put up a… hand? He really wasn’t sure, but again, irrelevant. Anyway, she put up a hand or something, eyes not once leaving whatever she was so preoccupied with. 

Probably boring business stuff. Maybe taxes? Did someone like her even pay taxes?

He dusted himself off, sitting down in the chair he’d just slightly missed in his tumble through the portal. He sat up straight, crossing his arms and hoping that he was portraying just how serious he was. He wasn’t use to that, but there was a first time for everything.

After several minutes of Big Mama slowly (and he meant slowly, he was sure she was doing it on purpose) sifting through her forms, she finally straightened the stack with a few taps on her desk, before setting them down neatly.

Finally, she looked up, addressing him for the first time in the many minutes he’d been waiting around. “What a splendid surprise,” she said with a smile that oozed false sweetness. “To what do I owe the pleasure, turtley-boo?”

His stomach churned with anxiety. This was such a bad idea. Especially considering it could have been her who had taken Donnie all along! But… no, he’d made up his mind. He’d face the consequences it would bring. 

“My brother has gone missing,” he finally offered through grit teeth.

She nodded. “So I’ve heard! Quite the tragic tale, but I’m afraid I haven’t got a diddly-do to do with that!”

Big Mama was a lot of things. A liar, a manipulator, a crime lord… the list went on. But the most important thing she was? Flashy. If she’d taken Donnie, the whole yokai-world would know about it. So, against his better judgment… he was actually inclined to believe her. 

“I know,” he said, slumping slightly into his seat. That wasn’t to say he was letting his guard down. He’d be a fool to fall prey to her tricks again. “I want to…” was he really doing this?

The fear of what could have already become of his twin was enough to get the words out. “I want to make a deal.”

In an instant, Big Mama perked up, her many eyes zeroing in on him. “Oh, well why didn’t you say so, turtley-boo? What type of deal are we talking?”

No going back. He just had to commit. For his family. “I need your help,” he said, spitting it out before he could change his mind. “With your resources, finding Donnie will go so much faster and… I don’t know how much time he has left.”

“Ooh, tracking down a taken turtle sounds like quite the tiresome task! You do realize payment will be rather… high?”

Leo set his jaw, nodding. He knew. He knew, and it would be worth it. “Name your price, spider lady.”

She was grinning. He felt a lot like a fly wandering into her web.

------

Mikey closed the door of his bedroom as slowly and quietly as he could, one hand against the frame to reduce the noise of it finally clicking shut. He let out a breath, turning around — only to nearly crash into Leo.

He just barely stopped himself from colliding with his brother, falling back against the wall in his effort to re-direct himself. Leo stared at him with wide eyes. Aw, shit, he was totally busted.

Don’t give anything away, he told himself. Leo might not know what he was actually doing!

“Whatcha doing?” 

Mikey laughed awkwardly. “Oh, me? I was just gonna go to bed early… and stuff.”

“Okay.”

Wait, seriously? That had been easy.

“I think… I think I’m gonna do the same thing,” he agreed, punctuated with a heavy yawn. “G’night, Mike.”

“Night,” he echoed softly, watching until Leo stumbled down the hall to his own bedroom. The guy really did look exhausted, for some reason. But as far as Mikey knew, he hadn’t been out searching or anything, and that’s all they’d really been doing recently… 

But hey, Leo hadn’t questioned him, and that was what mattered, right now. He couldn’t believe he’d bought that!

Satisfied that no one else would come out to catch him, Mikey continued to the nearest sewer grate. 

It wasn’t that Mikey wanted to lie to his brothers. It was just that the only way he could do anyone any good was by going behind their backs! 

Here was the thing. He’d only initially planned to give a starving used-to-be-supervillain some food once. But he’d sort of… gone back a few times afterwards.

If the others knew, they’d put a stop to it immediately! They wouldn’t trust Draxum as far as they could throw him! That wasn’t to say that even Mikey fully trusted him yet… but he’d yet to try anything. And that spoke volumes, didn’t it? Even when he had been a bad guy, he’d never tried to really manipulate them into joining him. He figured that if he did try anything, it would be an outright attack. And… considering his state right now, Mikey kind of doubted that.

Generally, he could read people. Pretty well, if he did say so himself. Draxum just kind of seemed like a harmless, sad, and bitter old man now. It was just like the movie Up! Mikey had been a Todd Scout… so yeah, it was basically the same.

And slowly but surely, the Baron had begun to open up (not without a fight, of course). With just a little more time, he could start worming some knowledge out of him! And… even if he couldn’t, it wasn’t like rehabilitating the guy was a waste of time. Pushing someone from supervillainy to civilian…y, was still a good thing.

If Mikey couldn’t help Donnie, at least he could help someone. But oh, he would help Donnie. He wouldn’t stop until he did.

------

“So…” Mikey began as he took a bite of his food, “is there like… some kind of locator spell you might know of? Y’know… for people?”

From across the picnic table they’d settled at, Draxum chewed his rice, eyes narrowed at the orange-banded turtle. 

Mikey had been experimenting with different human cuisines, determined to figure out what Draxum did and didn’t like. He hadn’t threatened his life yet, so he’d kept coming back with new foods for him to try. He figured that for a homeless guy, he wasn’t really in the position to pass up free food. Tonight was Chinese take-out, complete with the fortune cookies.

“You’re not going to stop bothering me about this, are you?” he finally asked with a tired sigh.

Mikey’s beak twitched into a semi-apologetic frown. “Im sorry, I just — I know you can help. And I can repay you! I’m not like, super liquid right now, but I can do something else!”

Draxum looked unimpressed. “What could you possibly offer me?”

“Well, besides giving you free food all the time — you’re welcome,” he snarked, taking a moment to wrack his brain. “Uhh… okay, I don’t know right now, but I swear I’ll do whatever — I will literally get you an apartment, dude, just please help me.”

“An… apartment?” he asked, like he wasn’t entirely sure what that was. Yokai did have apartments, didn’t they?

“Think about it,” Mikey said, the idea coming to life in his brain, “you would have a roof over your head — protection from the elements! A place to store extra food!”

“And how exactly do you plan to do this?”

“Don’t… don’t even worry about that. I’ll figure it out. Are you in?”

Draxum just stared at him for a long time, the food all but forgotten. Finally, he let out a drawn-out groan. “Fine.”

“Ohmigosh, really?” Mikey squealed.

“Yes,” he sighed, “but don’t make me regret this.”

Protect.

PROTECT!

P R O T E C T!

The impulsive, irrational thoughts clouded his mind. The child was good. The child was his friend. His friend was in d a n g e r. Danger because of another bad, b a d animatronic. A r u l e b r e a k e r! R U L E B R E A K E R!

Bad!

BAD!

B A D!

He saw it! He saw it! Freddy was a R U L E B R E A K E R! They were trying to take a child! Trying to h u r t a child! That compartment was not safe! It was for oversized cakes! NOT for CHILDREN!

Out!

OUT!

O U T!

He had to get them O U T! That was not where children were meant to be! It wasn’t safe! It wasn’t safe! I T W A S N T S A F E! He could hear them! He could hear them C R Y I N G! The child was scared! The child was scared! The child was S C A R E D!

Out!

OUT!

O U T!

His fingers crushed the metal with astonishing easy. Freddy’s body crumpled beneath his grip as though it were paper. Wiring tore. Soldered joints ripped at the seams. He would ELIMINATE the threat. He would PROTECT the child!

“Gregory! RUN!”

The child was FREE! The child was F R E E! But it wasn’t enough! Freddy was dangerous! Freddy was DANGEROUS! Freddy was D A N G E R O U S! A bad bear! A RULEBREAKER! Freddy had to be punished! Freddy had to be PUNISHED! Freddy had to be P U N I S H E D!

Freddy had to be punished so that the child would be safe!

He would protect the child!

He would protect the child, because he was a good boy!